This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on Hbrary shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we liave taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at|http : //books . google . com/|
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW;
O R, LITERARY JOURNAL:
From Jan'uary to June, inclufivt. M.DCC.LXXXU.
By several HANDS.
VOLUME LXVI. S,
J^
LONDON: Printed for R. G R i F r i t h s : hrA Sold bf T. Bcckbt, CorDcrof ihe Adelfh:, Sirs^d. • M.DCC.LXZXII.
k -^^^^
Sm ^
3
TABLE
TO T HE
Titles, Authors NameSj &c. of the Publi- cations reviewed in this Volume.
N. B. For REMARKABLE PASSAGES, in the Crtttcifms and ExiraSIs^ fee the INDEX, at the End of the Volume.
A
A.
*^*« •»•• in Sackcloth and Aftjw,
Adam's Evangelical Sermons, 315
Address to tiic Interior Cabine% T41 ————— to (he independent Memberi, ^-c. 144.
■ to the People of the Nether-
land?, 470
Anp.LR ^rTHBODoit. See Genlis. Advsnturks of a Rupee, 395
Alkmbics^ new Method of ConAruCt- ing, ^ . 13S
Amkkica, Publicationt relat. to, 143,
»*^» 307. 3o*» SS6» 387, 40i| 4**' ANCIENT Scottifh Balladt, 19a
Andcbsok^s Intereft of Great Brit«|in,
42s An'die'b*8 Elaftic Trochar, &c. 77
AKDRK*f Cow-chrfce, a Poem, ^%
Anecdotes of Sir Richard Eafy^ &c.
475 Answer to Vamp, ire. 14%
AppolloniOs Rhodiufy Two Tranfu- tiuns of, 109 ApTHoa pe's Two Sermons, 154 — — Sermon on ibe BiAop of Gloucefler*s Confecririon, S40 AacH AOLOGiCAL Epiflic to the Re r. J-nmi^h Miilet, D.I3. &c. a94 A u ft I c tf L A, Cultuie off 47 6
B
B.
Acot'i Letter to Bell, 0AiJLMaNTs, SceJoHzs*
3^4
Bal(suy*s DivLoe Benevolence aflerted
4'Q Banditti, Songs in^ »3^
Barbauld*s Hymns in Profe forCb>l«
dreii, J 56
Beauties of Johnfon, 237
B K L L E *8 Stratagem, a Comedy, 387
Bexniaro, M. bis EfTiy on the Caout«
chouc, or Elaffic Gum, 139
Berthelot, M. his Mecbaniqui cp"
piiquie aux Artt^ Sec, 464
Be VER s Hiih of the Legal Polity of the
Roman Sute, 19/
' concluded, 241
Biographical Memoirs of Willian
Ged, 14S
Borch, Count det his Letters concerning
Sicily and the Ifle of Malta, 54S
Bottom L£Y*« Short Plea in Favour of
Infant B'ptifm, 479
Br issoT de Warville, M. his Theory of
Penal Laws, 46$
British Hero in Captivity^ 47s
Br Y AM T on the Poems of Rowleyi 433
C.
C*Aii SlLii Italici Jf BeJU Pm» I nico Sec undo Poema^ 8cc, See Lx«
FEBVRE OE ViLLEBRUNE.
Calcutta, Extra£t of a Letter from,
f4&
Candidates for the Society of Ami-
gallicans. Part IL 471
Candid Defence of Adminiftration, 149
Caoutchouc. SeeBBRHiARD.
A a Cart*
ir
CONTENTS.
CakTWbichts Clvt ut our Rights,
300
Causes of cur hte Difcontentty 469
Cjbot, M. his Memoirs concerning the
Hiflory^ Sciencei* &c. of the Chinefe,
466 Chectknham Guide, 147
Chester Guide, 397
Chit-chat, an Interlude, 74
Choice of Harlequin, 236
Chronol or, IE Phy/ifue des Ertipttem dis VcUiifH tttinti de ia France Ricridi' en^ff, &r. 4^7
Clai:.I3 of Irelan'l vindicated, 386
Clark's -nfwcr t«» Shaw's Inquiry con- cern.j.g OfTian'" Poems, 47 C1.0ACIK A Triumphant, 307 CoNDoi-ANcr., an Epifile from Bur- toynr loCornwallis 147 Colt. van's Kvery ManV Mcnitor, 155 C'i»Mc Scflioiis. Sie ViNCE. A.'oNiinzp. ATioKs on tiic picl'ent State ot the Wool Trade, 1^4
. ■ on the Tithe P.ill, 309
,. on Criniinil FrocceU-
ing;;, &c. 310
..i._ — ^...^ on the Attorney Ge-
neiaPs B'il, 385
CoNsoiATOEY THcughts on American
Independence, 387
CoNrriTL'TioNAL Defence of Govern-
ment,
;oi
Contrast $ or, a Ccmpariion between cur Woollen, Silk, Sec, Manufa£lur6::,
•^« CoRRESrONPENCI With the PvC-
V c>\ir', 79, 160, 940, 319, 400, 4?o Corruption ccrrc^cd, 468
CosMOCEArHiE ElcmtKtaire, Sec* 541 Count of Naibonn^, .♦ Tragedy, 64- Ccw ley's Beit's Struts, rnif 187
Craven, Lady, her M j mature Pldlu'e,
a Comedy, 74
Criterion, 468
Cursory Examination of Johnfon's
btnfiures on Gray, i%%
C Y ^ t H 2 A of Propertitti tranilated, 416
D.
T**t Alrymple's Queftion ccnfidered.
Damp I r.R*s FaA Sermon. 318
DcA i :: Sj gut Lodurug, King of Dn-
mirl:, 441
Debt yf the Nation, 71
Declakati:;n, fvc. of the fuffenng
Lo)diitt& III Ameiica, 38^
Decrce or £xchequ::r, on Ti '.c ot'
M.!c, , 30S
VzsLSA, Abbe, hi" Pi/litical and I'i-
. leiary Hiil, o, .'1:.. c, 549
Dickson *s Three Sermons, 7V
■ Sermon before the Echlin-
vile Volunteers, ib«
■ Sermon on the Death of the
Rev. James Armftrong, ib*
Dictionary. See Pbospectus. Diderot's En*ay on the Reigns of
Clauditis and Nero, 513
DiMSD ale's Trades on Inoculation, &c.
Disney's Fad Sermon, 318
DiTis CHORUS, 147
Divorce, :\ Farce, 147
Dramatic PuB'ers, 236
Dunbak*> Ellay on Mankind, 2d Edit.
39S Dur anhe's Chcmiflry, 134
E.
r* AsT Indies, Publication? rcl.itive to, 72, i^f. 30J. ;o7. 38S EcCLESiASTES, iiCA' 'i ru:.1.4l:un uf
fume Parts of, 515
EuucATioN> SeeKAiK»s. £:. r.c y en the Deatli ot Loiu R. Caven-
dlflj, 147
Eli m ic n s de CLymiCf Ac 1^4
Elliot's Flla^s en Phyfiol- ;:icjl Sub*
jc£lj, 239
Epistle, in the Style of ''v^^arth, 73 ^— -— '"mil Lady Woif.. ■. , 39a
EsSAj/ur lit PbyJlOgfiemtr^ &C, 48 X
fur .f Re^ne de CL'ude, ike. 513
Essay on I'rtjiidice, yz
— — — on the Ljiw of Celibacy, 156
— on De<enfive War, &c. '219
— — — <>n Co'i.edy, 30S
— — -^ on ih'.- Nature of r T.oan, 385
Estimate of the MiniP.ers (Lord N.'s)
abiliriet, 3.>6
FuDociA, 1 Poem, 305
Every Man's Monitor, 155 LxKTRACT of an or:o:nzl Letter from
Calcutta, 146
F.
FAbricius{ or. Letters to the Pconie, 337
Fair An erlcao, Si'r.fj ir, 475
Fair CiRrAS<>tAN, ; Tiajicdy, (9
Faithku l t'l^luief^r thr Tin.cs, a Ser-
mi-n lor trc Yea*" 1782, 317
FAi.crNtn'b Ren arki on the Influence
o: Clima'r 1*. c. ac
F » . ii u: N /. p I r Fo'.!'{ 5, 305
t .* wK £5 s Tiar.tiii. ot Afcllcnius Rhc-
r'.io*, 1C9
FiM \i E f>ibi;:lv, 394
Female Ilid...:^;crf, 473
FcEllCN
C^^P^U^fu^^ , J4LJL^
CONTENTS.
ass
ToiEION LiTllATURBy I34, I38,
375. 463» 48 f, 546 FossTKR^s ADfwer to Oalrymple on
Wool, 227
Sermon at Colchefter, 316
FonTCNATt Si0ei&, 474
Fouxrauv, M.dt, his Elementary In-
A:u£iion3 in Nat. Hi(V. and Chemiftry,
466 Francis, \frs. her Tranflation of Solo
ncoo"^ Song, Fm e r ard Serious Addrefs to the Chrifti'in
Laitv, lot
Fci£NosHip and Matrimony^ 474
G.
GED, William, Memoirs of, 14^ General Hid. of Conneflicu;,
251 CxKLiSy M^dam, her AJele aid Tht.i- duni? { or. Letters on Education, 461; T5eoor A?HY for Youth, 310
Ceorce Baceman, a Novel, 137
CIisi."'KVs Roman H»ft. concljt'eJ, 4^9 Gi3son'> JeruTaicfn deRroyed, a P><c u,
3 7 C I L B s p t' . Plin for the Relief and ^.-.w
ploy T.ciu of the Pcor, 44
— Obfervaiions on the Pooi's
Biilt, 311
CivE us our Rights, y^o
Glocester, i5i:hop of, his Faft hcr-
mun, 3 8
ConoARD^s Sermons, 157
Greenes frand ition of Apollonius Rho-
diii<, X09
Crt/ith's EfTiys, addrefTed to mar.
r:ro ^Vomen, 43 1
G * I v /. L pTs Rf fls£lioo8 on the Incqua-
iu\ among Men, 548
Grom^s tthics. 91
c; u 1 E 1 R T *i £ s^A Y on Tafitci, 39
H.
HA LT BUR ton's Gcorgics, 344 Ha MIL ton's Supplement to the Cimpi Pilegralf 476
H.^RRiNCTON*s Philof. Inquiry inr.> Animal and Ve|peiable Lite, 9S
Harriy^s Philological Inquiries, 428 Haw£s*s Scriptural Refutation of Ma- rtan'nn Pdly^amv, 117
H p N a Y*a Hiiiuxy ot Great Biitain, Vul.
iV. ss
yi Hi*T to a Patriot Parliament, 471
I-i X'. TO I E c Pti'bjnpl iqut ct Pulifi^ue^ Sec,
54» — Ji PAaJ, Riyale dei S:lcnces^
tec. for l:77i 4'j8
dtRuJ/Uf&c, 5i»
8
HiSTOiRi i/ePjirt de P Anttfu'iU. See
WlNCKELMANK*
Historical View of Surinam, 148 History of fack Juniper 131
' of the Lf ?al Polity of the Ro-
man Stiitr, conclu-ied, 341
■ ■ of Connecticut, 251
■ of LU. North's AdminiflratioOy Paitll. 469
— of the War In Germany. See
Lloyd. Homer's Kymn to Ceres, tianflated bf
l'Ura<:, 4r4
Hcpson's tnay en Fire, ^38
J
I.
Fkb's Letter to Sir R. Bernard, 71
I - NKINbON, L-ttcr 10, 70
NecoRd f<e^ to, 141
Ji.?»:lcn's Count of Narbjnne, a Tra-
grd), 64
Jermnhham'* Honoiia, 146
J V R 'J •; A L p M de(i roved, a Pcem, 307
Jew's Lftttrs, to VrlraJre, 54*
Im-'a:: riAL KcUcihuns i^n the late Ad.
fr,.^i(lralion, 468
Ino L' iR Y concerning Engi W-ols, 3S8
Jnicxestjng Sketch of Genteel
Life, 474
I s T 0 K I A foiitica e I'lterar'ta delta Grt. ia,
549
Johnson's Biographical Prefaces con-
cluicd, II J
Johnson, Beauties rf, 237
- his Siridurcs on Gray exa- mined, 238
. his Lives of the Poetr, 8vo«
Edit. 397
Jon i s's Difquifiuon*, &c. 9
■ Mahumcdan Law of 'SuccciTion,
44%
— his EfJay on the Law cf Biiit- mci.t^, 298
Ireland, Publications re-, to, 145, 386 Jumper, J^c!:, Hlftory of, 131
Just man's Life, 474
K.
KAims's Loofe Hints on Education,
Kp.kr's Nitr. ot the Rife of the Mahr^c- ta State, 145
L.
I A vat PR, M. his FfTiv on Phy- j fj. gijuiny, or the Arc of Reading Facrf, 481.
Landriani, Ctcv, his Phyfico-Chemi- cA 'ttciiiics, ^47
LZBRECHT,
^fB^^0^ i i^teyy ^ ypf //if.
/7
vi
CONTENTS*
Ci
I»SBRECHT» * JcWy Narrative of his
Coiivcrfon, 315
LE50KS Elementatrei d* Hijfohe NatureUty
et de Cbjmie, 466
Lefebvrr de ViLr,r.BRUNB M. his
Edit, of Silius Italicus, 467
Le 8S I ng'i Nathan the Wife, 307
Lessons in Reai'ing, 151
Leti e» to Mr. leni^infon, 70
■ fircond ditto to ditto, 141
■ ■ from a C.i'hoUc Chiiftian, 156
■ to Hdm. Darkcj V.(<\f on £>(}. India Affairs, 3S8
■ lecono to ditto, ib. — — — to G'lbcrt, 470 — — to the landed Clcntlrmc n of Lin-
colnlhircy 472
r— ' 10 the Cltrgy of the Church or
England, 4;g
Letters from an An^erican Var-
mcr, 4^-2
■ on Political LJSerfv, 5^1
LrTTRES fami/ieres de M. Pf'tf/kct-
Lettres de S^ueJqucs Ju'ifi Fcrfugats^
SiC. s^h Edit.
fur la S'ei/fy Arc.
54a Siz
L'EvFsq^ui's Hiftory of RufTia, Lbzioni, &c. See Tkoja. LlKK of Mrs. JuftrnJin, 474
I-ITE R AR Y Aioo!crrcnf«, ^.yu
Lf.o Y n's Continuation ol ihc Hift. of the
the War in Germany, 375
LoDBROG. SeeDf.ArH. LorT s Eudola, 305
London, a Satire, 151
LurAs*< Traiitlution of Homer's Hymn
fo Ceies, 414
Lucubrations during a fhort Receis,
Lyon's farther Proofs, &c. relative to Ele^ricity, 175
M.
MAcaolat's Trandation of Noodi't Difc9urjes on Sovereign
Powfr, &c. -501
M>\c cowan's Difcourfes on the Rook of
R..»h, _ 55^
Mac N ally's Retaliation, n Farce, 393 JMaiiomm£oan Law of Sucrenioii, 442 JMaret's Chenijftry, 134
Marriagr AO, a Farce, 147
AIason's Fngii/li Garden, B. 4. 405
Mechanics applied &c. See Ber-
THf LO r. MtLMoTH'i New Roman H'ftory, 475 Memoir E Sur U Cacutcbouc, Jkc. 139 M E M o I N c s ccpicer nant I' H:jioire, ies
SdeneeSf 8tc. See Ci a o t . ME^TtLLs's Elements of Cofmographr,
Ac, 541
Mickle's Almada Hitf, ^3^
MfiLFR's Enquiry into the Caufe oF
Motion, i8t
Milles's Edt'on of Rowley's Poems,
206 concTu«*ed,
Mineralogie Sni/'fnne, ^c,
MtNiATURT Pifture, a Comedy,
Modern Manners,
M») M N E u x's Queft ion-book,
Monro'? Works,
MoNT.'i's T</ar in ^'orth Wales. Sec. 148
32A
346
74 420
3^«
M.)R Vk.A u'sCrim lir
»34
Mose ley's Obf. on tt.e Dyfcntry of the WcfMiiairs 153
Mou\t Hennetb, a Novel, 129
Movsr an^ the Lyon, 307
Mucliston's Letter on Wool, 234
N.
NARRATIVE of Lebrech*^, 31?
Nautical Almanack, for 17.^^,
"51
Naval Arch '.tenure, 444
Nichols's Sufpicment to the Origin of Hr.nring, 153
Nixok's »'rof>dy made eafy, 476
Nooht's Two Dirc»:urfci on Sovereign Power, trahfla??d, 301
No u V E L L E ConJiruS'iSHf &c. Sec Al£.mbics.
O.
Observations on a Commutation of T'thcs, 309
Ode on the Surrender at York-Town,
*73 — to the Genius of the Lukes,
>■ ■ to tlie (ienius of Scandal,
OEnonk to Paris,
On the Debt of the Nation,
On the Longitude,
OpUfiCOLf, &c.
Origimal Minutes of the Governor of
Bengal, 7^
Or no and Rutha, 309
146
»3S
73
7«
353
547
P.
PA L E v's Ordination Sermon, 240 P A N c;s of a Patriot, 217
Parker's View of Society and Man- ners, &c, 475 Patriot known by Comparifon, 227 Pennant's Thoughts on our Militia La>AS, 309 Penrose's Poems, 3:14 Perfect's Cafes in Midwifery, 76
— Cafes of Infanity, 77
Pettman on the Cultivation of Youth,
«73 PjULXr^'f
• • •
CONTENTS.
vu
> - PHitiPs'iEle^ion C^Tcf, 559
Philosophical Tbansactions,
Vol. LXXI, Part I. 365
^^pLAiN Reafoos, Aec. rel. toWooI, t^i
Plan of Reconciliation wich America,
ti6
PoiTicAL Epiftle, in the Scile of Ho.
garth, 73
Political Ca^echlfm, 470
-— Obf. on Population, 3^^
Population. See Uncertainty. PowN all's Two Me Tfiorials, 387
Pratt's Fair CircilTun, a Tragedj, 50 I P««scNT Hour, ^85
Psi£STLEY*t Two Lctterc to. BiAop Newcombr, 1 5
PtiNciPLKS of Law and Government,
190! Printing. SeeNicHOLi. pRizc Sugars. not Foreifn, 75
Proofs that Great Bri rain was fucceii- ful before Ro<iney's ViN'>ory, 4 'p
PaOPKRTIUS. S*eCvNTHfA.
Propb iety of allowing a qualified Ev* portation of Wool , 2 30
Pbospectvs (Tune Ef:(ycft'/fedie Me^
Seaman*s Remarks on the Bntifli Ships of the Line, 304
Serious and AfFe^ionate Addrefs, to all Orders of Men, 15^
Sermons, by DiclcTon, 7^
■ by Ap'horpe, 154
■ by Goddard, 157
» ' ■ by Tatham, 385
■ by Adam, ji'e
^—^ — •— by Ramfay, 4-9
Single Sermons, T3S, 316, 40O, 479. SHrRiDAN*s Review uf the Tkree great N it'onal Qjeftions, &c, 145
Shfr lock's Letters on Sereral Sub- jects, 1 Short Alarm before the Fa((, 317 ' View of the Proceedings, &c. on Wiol, jqx SiEOE of Aubigny, 310 SiNCLAiR*sU bferva' Ions on the Scotti/h Dialed, '^51 " ' Lucubrations during a /h*>rc Recefs, 3S3
■ Tho'ights on the Naval
tJbodifue, Are. PuDD]cossE*t Faft Sermon,
o
Q.
^Uaibs to Lord Audley, R«
5»4 319
310
R
Amsay*s Eflay on the Duties of a Sea Officer, 38S
Sea Sermons, 479
Raynal, Abbe, his Hiflotrt Pbilefo' fbip/e, &C. new Edition, 54a
Raspe's Nathan the Wife, 307
Retaliation, a Farce,
3<«3
R BYES I Es of the Heart, 23S Statutes
Rilano*s Scriptural Piefervatite, Sec,
/* RoLLo on the Army-difeafea at St. Lu-
cu,
Ro vssB A v*4Confeffion^ ,.^(. - RoVal Naval Review,
■ Chafe, a Poeiji j^ RvssiA, complete N|i^{^y«l^ #^ Roth, SeeMACGowAN^ ^^ Kyko and Alpioj^ a Poem,
s{
'54. 53*
73 306
Strength of the Britifli Empire, 469 Sketches ot' the Lives, Sec, of Liten-
ry French Ladies, .397
SKY-roclcet, 396
^^ Solomon's Song. See Francis.
Songs, Sec, in the Carnival of Venice,
7J — , Sec, in the Banditti, 237
. Sec, in the Fair American, 473
Sou LAV! B, Abbe, his Pbyfiro-chrooo^
logical Account of exiinguiihed VoU
canos in the South of France, 4^7
Southampton Guide, 397
Spbcch in the AiTcmbly at St. Chrido-
pher's, 143
Stair, Lord, his Fafis, &c. 144
Stalkar T*s Naval Architedore, 444
State of India, 307
at large, 4to. Vol. XllI*
Study of the Scriptures recommended,
47S
Substance of the Charge of Mif*
ynanagement, Ssc %j^ ^Zt
Sugars. See Prize. ^^
Surinam. See Historical* 5i« System, a Poem,
J07 T.
47»
/ I iAsLES to be ufed with the Nao* X tical Ephemeris, tea
ST. NoK, Abbe, his P///«r(fti» Travels Tat ham's Sermons, »8^
through Naples, &c. 46; Taylor's Sexagefimal Tables, 153
Sab OS Mete^ohgt^ue^ 548 ■ Thoughts on the Grand Apo«
Scottish Ballads, %<)% fiacy, 457
■ DiaJeA, Obfervations on 351 THEODOsiA*sMifcel!anies, VoL IL 337
^coTT*s Rcficw of the TranlaAion* ^^ Theorie des Lo\x CtimintlUty 463
^cofalj 3C4 TiiiOAY of UieSjph9;i;iliuftrated, 180
Thick-
x^
^.■K^-.
-i'*.
viii
CONTENTS.
TaxCENiSht^ Mrs. Ler Sketches, Sec.
397 ■ Mr. his Queries to Lard
Audley, Jio
Tick ELL*s Carnival of Venice, 73
'ToALDOy Abbe, bis Meteorological Sw
rot, 54S
ToMLiNSOK*s Le:ters to the Admir^U
Tour. SccWyndham. See Month. Traiti delaSjgcflc, ftc. 149
Ti I A L between Sir R. Worfley and Cap. tain Bifler, a 59
TtiMM£R*s Sacred Hiftory, Vol. I. 313
War ton's Hiftory of Engli/h Poetrff Vol. III. St
— concluded, 16%
- EflHy. on Pope, Vol. It. 165
Wathen's Method of applying a Tube for the Cure of the F'tfiul^ Lacbrymalii,
77 I ■' Conduftor, and containing
Spiints, ib.
Ways and Means; or, a Sjle, &c* 382 West Indies. See Mosi^ley. See RoLLO.—- Political Fublicatioos rela- tive to, 143 Whim! I! or Maid(}one Bath, jjS Tsoj't* M. his Ledtured on Difordcrsof W|iitak£K*s Fafl Sermon, 319 the Eyes, 547 V/illiam^ on the Pfalms, Saipture Tucker's ReA:£\ions on the Price of Imprecations, &c. 169
Wools, &c. tiS -— — on the American War, 300
Ctii Bans, 271 JiWikkklmann*8 IJiilory of the fine
37> 518
47 a
T VR V B r's Sermon at Halifax, 79 '
'Tyers's Hiftoiical Rhapfody on Pope,
74
Arts,
hit Letters,
V^U.
V
ARitTY, a Comedy, s6o
which is the Man ?
a Poem, 306
ViNCE*s Elements of conic Sections, 151^- Uncertainty of the prefent Fopo-^^
htion, &c. 141 -
Voltaire, letters to, from certain
Portugaefe, German, and FoliAi Jews,
Voyage Pittoreffue, cu Defer iptiom det Rojaumet de NafUs et de Sidle, 465
Wise's Syjfem, a Poem, Wool, Pamphlets relative to, 71, 144, 117, 218, 230, 231, 234, 235, 392,
<7» WoRSLEY'iHIftoryofthcIfle of Wight,
— — "— Tiial, &c. 139
Lady, See Trial.
. See Whim ! ! !
— . See Epistle.
. See Anecdotes. WoRTNiNeTON't Sermon on Spilf- bury's Death, 406
Wynoham's Tour through Wales, &c.
149
W.
WAkeficlo's Efliy on Inrpira* lion, 43
Wales, Tour through, 148, 149
. Wal wyn's Elfay on Comedy, 30^
WanostrochT's Ficnch Grammar, Second Edition, 477
Y
V. OuNO Philofopher^ Z.
394
z
OgcH's few Words in behalf of the Poor, 311
THE
« •
V, -
\'
\ 1
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW,
For JANUARY, 1782.
@-^^€f*$€^JiF^^^^^@^OS^'^^€(^^^^^|?^^
Art. I. Lttttrs en /{<viral Suhjt^s. By the Rev. Merlin Sherlock* A.M. Chaplala to the Earl of B.iftoU izmo. 2 Vols* 5 •• fewed* Nicholi. 1781.
THIS Writer, whom we h^ve fo frequently introduced to the notice of our Readers, begins the Preface to his pre* fcnt publication with a compliment on the fweetnefs and placa- bility of his own temper; and then proceeds to complain, in a fort of mixed ftrain of gaiety and ferioufnefs, of the ill-nature of thofe critics, who have had* the prefumption to find fault with him, becaufe their feelings of his very fuperior excellencies were not fo lively and ardent as his own. But, notwithftanding all this glowing felf-complacency, Mr. Sherlock, we find, is a mtde/i man ! ** And who telis us fo ?"— Why, Mr. Sherlock himfcif ! ' I am perfuaded (fays he) that my mother was in a good humour when I was made* Now all tiie wit of this paf- lagc (for the Author defigned it to be a witty one) will efcape the Reader, unlefs, admoniflied by our good counfe), he turns his eyes on the oppofite page, where th:s reverend Gentleman, having a great Lady's f erf on in admiration — the Apoftle James would tell him, becaufe of advantage'^^n^ having complimented her Ladyfliip's ' bright eyes and rich (hape, appeals, with all the fang fr Old in the world, to his noble patronefs to bear teftimony Co his modejiy. ' You know me. Madam, to be a modeft man.' And in truth our Author feems to confider himfelf as privileged Co cake very uncommon methods to (hew his modcfty. But perhaps he will avail himfcif of Mr. Pope's plea for ^^ great wits:" and may think himlelf at liberty to ^^ ftart from vulgar rules.*' Colley Gibber thought the fame \ but be ufed this pri* vilege with more addrefs.
W^h. LXVI. B As
a Shcrlock'j Letters on feveral Subjeffs.
As the Author hath drawn the curtain, and introduced hit mnher in the fcene, and that too in a very critical part of the play, we cannot do pcrfcft juftice to his modejiy^ without re- marlcing, that this arrangement was more for his fake than for her*s ; for all the proof of his • mother's good-humour' is founded on the fwect and eafy temper of her fon. ' I am perfuaded my mother was in a good humour when I was made, for it is very hard to put me out of temper.' Excellent logician ! If this ar- gument were drawn out at full length, logic would be in a bet- ter moody and cut a better y?^«r/, than when (he
dajh'd thro* thin and thick
With German Crouzaz, and Dutch liurgerfdyck.
The fon however hath, in one refpeft, the advantage of the mo- ther, for (he was in a good humour when nothing elfe could be expe<^ed : and he — now, this is the argumentum a fortiori--* when fo many untoward circumftances concurred to put him out of temper ; — particularly, ' the fevcrity with which he had been treated by the critics/ * Mercy on me V he exclaims, very pathetically, * how they have maul* d me V Lamentable in- deed ! — But who thofe ruthlefs critics are, that have treated our Author with fuch * indignant' rage, and in fo * favage a mode,' we know not; nor are we concerned to enquire. Whoever they were, we think them moft prepofleroufly employed. Mr. Sherlock might well tax their ' indignation^ with injuftice. It was not his due. * Who'd crufh' — No — we will not put down the next word. We will not, for the fake of the jeft, forfeit our candour, and belie our convictions. Though Mr. Sher- lock's wings are of the ** pretty, fluttering" kind, yet they will fometimes take a bold and adventurous flight. We have fol- lowed them with pleafure : and though, in their airy rounds, they have often offended us with a falfe and fleeting dazzle ; yet many of their beauties are (iibflantial, and all their flights are not at random.
To point out the defcds, miflakes, and puerilities, to be found inthefe two volumes, would carry us beyond the limits of our Review; and fo it would, to point out the beauties and ex- cellencies. We think the latter to be indeed much more per- fpicuous, and alfo more numerous than the former; but the Author, too frequently depending on a kind of injlin^ive tafte, decides with an equal want of judgment and modefty, on points which required attention, and by no means warranted aflfurance. Mr. Sherlock writes in hafte — writes like a gentleman at eafe, and reminds us of what Perflus fays of the Roman nobles, and—
■ quicquid denique ledit
Scrihitur in citrcis.'
.Mr. Sherlock abo\jnds too much in fuperlatives^ when he praifcs ^ suid pronounces fentence on what he difltkes with an.
oracular
Shcrlock'j Letters oh feveral SubjeHu J
oracular concifcnefs. — * The grcaieft efFort of genius that per- haps was ever made was forming the plan of ClarifTa Harlowe/ ^ Mrs Sheridan, author of Nourjahad, Sidney fiiddulph, ofte of the firft female genuifcs that ever wrote.* * Ariofto is juftly to be reckoned among the firft geniufes that Nature hath pro- duced.* * Shakefpeare is the greateft genius that ever exiftcd/ ' Voltaire is the firft bel efprit that ever Jived/ * Who do yoa think. Reader, were the three greateft wits of this country ? I believe you will anfwer, Swift, Congrevc, and Mr. Sheridan/ * There are different degrees of good tafte. To pofl*efs the high* eft (as Lo'd Rriftol does}, one muft unite an unerring judgment to exquifite fenfibility/ ^ The country which has produced the fineft wits, after France, is Ireland.'— Fielding, however^ was an Englifliman, and we are fatisfied.
Mr. Sherlock's pofitions are fometimes founded on facts which have no exiftencc but in idle tradition. The following is an inftance that hath been pointed out to us : ' Genius is often' feen in works of very little compafs :
Vidit^ et erubuit lympba pudica Dmn, . was a line of genius that announced Dryden, and Bufby felt it/ Now, unfortunately for our Author, this line, in which he def-* cries with great fagacity the dawn of Dryden's genius, was really the production of CraJhatO^ and may be found in his works, which were publiftied before Dryden's genius was an* flounced to Bujhy. Now, who was Crajhaw? Let Mr, Sherlock read his Poems, and inform us, honeftly, if his ' notion' be right, viz. ^ That every perfon who has ftrength of imagina- tion fufficlent to produce any thing new, be that produdlioa' ever fo fmall [as for example^ this line), is a perfon of genius/ Is this notion right when applied to Craftiaw ; or would it only be right when applied to Dryden ? The latter was %. lucky name to ftrengthen the argument \ but it was not the true one. With regard to the line itfelf, we by no means think it' deferving of the applaufe that hath been beftowed on it. Mr.. Sherlock may, if he pleafes, charge us with dulnefs, and call our tafte in qucftion j but ftill, in oppofition to him and the. other admirers of this line, we think it but, at beft, quamt and fanciful: it is not elegant: it is not natural. It is highl]^ drained. The metapiiors are mixed, and no precife image i^. pre/ented by it. If Mr. Sherlock had retained the original word nympha^ one part of our objection would have been removed.. As he hath exhibited it, and as it hath been traditionally handed down from fchool-^boy to fchool-boy, he fiiould have favoured' tbe general readers of his Letters with the common tranflation, that they might have feen where the point of genius turned. We wlU fupply this defed.
•• The uiodeft mtfateTf aw*d by Pow'r divine, \
Beheld the God, and blufli'd— r>/^ rid^wineP'
B z W«
4 Sherlock*; Letters on feveral SuhjeHs,
Wc wifli i6 check Mr. Sherlock's confidence. He is too flip- pane ; too dogmatical. And we equally wifh to encourage hrs excellencies ; for he hath excellencies, and thofe too of the higher kind. His fentiments are often very (Iriking and beau- tiful ; and his language concife and elegant. Tulit punSlufn — and that too with an addrefs and felicity peculiar to himielf. As a fpecimen of his abilities, as a fprighdy, ingenious^ and fenfible Writer, we {hall prcfient our Readers with a few ex- tra£is from each volume, afluring them at the fame time, that, in fpite of our remarks, ihey will find themfelves well'recom- penfed by purchafing the whole.
Though our Author hath f^oltaird it in almoft every letter, and feems to aifedt the flyle and manner of the French wits, yec his partiality to the firft of them hath not fo far obfcured his judgment as to make him blind to his faults. This will appear from the following letters :
' You think Voltaire the firft bel efprit that ever lived. So do I. You think he had genius. 1 here I am ferry we difl^sr. If he had, it was fo little, I could never difcover it; and I looked for it often. But I can find genius in almoil every page of Shakfpeare. Though I have little learning, 1 fcarce ever dif- cover a beauty in Voltaire, without being able to ttll where the mother-idea of it is to be found. The works of Voltaire which (hould bed (hew his genius, if he had any, are Canuide^ and a poem which I daro not name. His imagination here was with- out reftraint ; and what has it produced ? Ridiculous extrava- gancies and abfurdities that difguft, Thefe, however, are the two produ<^ions that do moft honour to his talents; particu- larly the laft. There are as happy paflages in it for delicacy of vrit and brilliancy of ftyle as ever was read ; but the number of horrors with which it abounds makes it Shocking to men of de- cency, and difguding to all readers of tafte.
* As to the invention of this poem, every one knows that it belongs entirely to Chapelain and Ariofto ; as the ground work of Candide is borrowed from Swift. So that his admirers may give to thefe performances every other merit they plcafe, but as to genius, it is out of the queftion. — 1 am Voltairc^s friend and enemy. He is a very voluminous and a very unequal author. There is a great deal of good, and a great deal of bad in him. His writings fometimes breathe a fpirit of humanity, and a love of tolerance, which muft endear him to every reader. His ftylc is charming i always rapid, eafy, brilliant. Diftion in writing is like colouring in a picture ; it is the firft thing that flrikes, and with moft perfons the only thing. Splendid language and bright colours will dazzle ninety-nme people in an hundred, captivate their eye and tneir fancy, and impofe upon their un- derftanding. This has been the grand magic by which this fe-
ducing
Sherlock'/ Leitirs on feveral Subjects.' r
ducing writer has fafcinated almoft all clafTes of readers. No man ever wrote with greater elegance, delicacy, or grace. So poli(hed, fo agreeable, fo full of the tone of the bcft company, he mud pleafe every perfon who loves mankind, who admires wit, and who knows how to appreciate the charms of fine writing.
* Turn the medal, and what an unhappy reverfe ! Audacious preacher of infidelity, malignant calumniator of the moil virtu- ous characters, odious encourager of every fpecies of vice, he facrificed all human and divine ideas to his favourite pa ifions ; and proftituted talents, formed to adorn humanity, to a jmtfe- rable love of money and of fame, A proftitute he was, and of the mod defpicable clafs. Born to independence, and pofllfTed of affluence e.irly in life, he could not plead the folicitations of necc(fity ; and the innumerable pafTages of invedlive, licentiouf- nefs, and impiety, which abound in his works, make him fall an unpitied victim of his own innate bafencfs and depravitv. Here let it not be imagined I declaim againfl a philofopher, en* lightened and humane, I declaim againft him becaufe he was not humane. Was that man the lover of his race, who deprived the afflicted of their moft healing balm, and the aged of their grcateft confolation ? Let the aged and yffl (Sled anfwer the quef* tion. — Where lies the chief alleviation of their fufFcrings i Is it not in religion ? Was that man then the friend of mankind, who endeavoured to rob fo large a portion of it of their ftrongeft hope, and of their moft pleafing enjoyments ? Was that man the friend of mankind, who brought the Chevalier de la Barre to be broke alive upon the wheel ; and who fowed unhappinefs through the world as far as he propagated immorality ?
* His 'IVagedies, you'll fay, are moral and inflrudive. And why are they ? Becaufe to fill them with noble fentiments and found morality WuS the moft likely method to infure rheir fuc- ccfs/ Individuals love their own private vices. Bodies of men ever love m\6 countenance virtue. A romance or poem is writ- ten for an individual in the dark. A tragedy is addreiTed to a colle;itive body in (he face of day. He kntvv ail this; and, de^ firous only to pK-afe every palate, he ferved up virtue to the vir- tuous, and vice to the debauched ; and gave to both the higheft feafoning a luxu/ianr fancy could compoie. If you will permic me to follow this metaphor, and return to his talents, I will fay, Voltaire was a great literary cook. Give him good meats, no man knew better how to drefs then. But thiy muft be given him, for he was not rich enough to provide them himfelf. Don't you think his works referable Curinihian brafs ? He took the gold of Shakfpeare, Virgil, Corneille, Racine, Ariofto, . and Pope ; and the lilver of La Fare, Chaulieu, Fontencile, an4 Haa)iiton« aj;d melted them together in the crucible of his brain.
6 3 Tbo
f\.-
6 Sherlock*; Letters on feveral SuhjeSls.
The metal produced was neither pure, nor gold, norCIver; it was brafs ; but it was Corinthian brafs.
' But Voltaire's quantity aftonifhes. It never afionifhed me. He made verfes at twelve year^ old. By eighteen he had pub- lifted works, and was introduced by Ninon de L'Enclos to the mod poliihed people of Paris. From ei^^htcen to ti|^hty-four he never cea fed to labour ; and is it aftonifhing thiit in lixty-two years he produced about fix good volumes ? Will any impartial man fay, that there are more than fix volumes of his forty which arc really worth mentioning? Is there an advantage that an au- thor can have that this man w?.ntcd r Born independent ; fitu- ated at Paris; prote<5lcd by the great; courted, I may lay, by fovereigns ; his works purchafed with avidity by bookftllerb; devoured with greater avidity by the Public ; the advantages of learning, travel, and fo long a life ; what an aflemblage of hap- py circumftances ! Is it prodigious that one-fixth part of his works is worthy of praife ? I think Dryden was a man of bet- ter parts than Voltaire, But how different their fituations in ]ife ! The one never obliged to enter his cabinet, till to enter it gave him pleafure ; the other fat fhivering at the table, with famine flaring him in the face if he did not produce his four plays at the end of a year : one enjoying every luxury of life ; the other in want of i^Il its neceflaries : l^ryden living in a cli- mate unfavourable to fancy, and certainly forced to live upon malt liquors, which almoft kill the imagination : the meat and manner of drcffing it, the milk, cheefc, and butter, and every other article of life, decidedly conducing to thicken the blood, clog its motion, and confequently to deaden the fancy, Vol- taire breathing a pure and vivifying air; no heavy liquors; no grofs nourifliment ; every article of life the very rcverfe of what jc IS in England, The French poet living on the theatre of Eu- rope (a moft important circumftance) : the En;:lifli poet con- fined to the Britifh dominions. If Voltaire, at a iupper, pro- duced four happy lines, in fix weeks they had gone farther than Dryden's fame will poffibly ever reach : his language univerfally undcrftood ; his merit of confequence univerfally pit. Every thing that tends to raife and quicken the fpirits is of ufe to a man who works from fancy; and what raifcs the fpiri:s higher than the idea of univerfal admiration ? Every circumftance in France is favouf^able to talents : every circumftance is againft them in England, except one. They are recompcnfed here in a manner unknown to any other nation. The Earl of South- ampton gave Shakfpeare more in one prefe;jt, than Voltaire ever received from all the nobility of France. Dr. Robertfon re- ceived, I dare fay, fix times as much for his Hiftory of Charles V, ^s he could have got for it in any other capital in Europe, fup- po(ing the book had beea written in the language of the country^ ^ ^ ' Reward^
Sherl&ckV Latirs on fevnal ZuljiHs. j
Rewards like thcfe conquer climate and every other difadvan-- rage. But poor Dryden lived in a worthlefs reign, and was too happy not to die literally by hunger, as his contemporary Ot« way d^.
'* The Hcnriadc is a finer epic poem than the Iliad, the *.^ -Sneid, the Jerufalem Delivered, or than the Paradife Loft." Well faid, Lord Chefterfield, I like a man that has an opt* nion of his own : and this opinion was pofitivelv his Lordfliip's, unlefs^ as I have more than once been tempted to fufped, he ftole it from Voltaire, , To fupport this fingular judgment, he fays, ^^ It is all good fen fe from beginning to end." So it is ; and fo is the Hiftory of Lewis the Fourteenth ^ but that does not make it an epic poem. Lord Chefteriield might have faid a great deal more in its favour without annihilating poor Ho- mer, Virgil, Milton, and Taflb. But he fcems to me to have loved Greek as little as a Frenchman does ; and I am not fure that he had quite talents enough to praife well. Richardfon remarks veryjuftly, that poverty of genius is the reafun that men can't prailc one woman but by robbing the reft. The noble writer might have courted this author much better, bccaufe more truly, by faying. The Henriade is a fine poem, written with elegance, corre£lnefs, and dignity. The didion is rich and fplendid, the thoughts are juft, the fentiments noble, and the verfification as harmonious as French verfification can be. He might have told him; Your poem, notwithftanding its points and antithefes, has lefs defeds than either the j^neid or the Iliad ;— >and (this he need not have told him, but he fliould have thought it) — its only material faults are want of interefl^ want of enthufiafm, and want of original beauties. Some of his * portraits are bril- liant and bold. The de^th of f Coli^ny, the defcription of the X maflacre, and of the § Temple of Love, deferve the warmeft praife.
^ Thefe are the beft paflages in this poem ; and they are truly excellent. However, I cannot think they are fufficient toeclipfe the greaceft works that England, Italy, and Greece can boaft of. Indeed, my Lord Chcfterfield feems to have doubted himfelf of the truth of his aflertion ; for, forgetting his wonted good breeding, he has recourfe to fome of Lord Peter's || arguments, abd abufes grossly every one who prefumes to differ from him ia opinion.'
The. following obfervations on tafte are juft and elegant;
* Particularly that of the Duke of Guife, Chant 3. f Cbaot 2. X ^^'^' § Chant 9.
i Tale of t Tub.
B 4 though
ac
9 Sherlock*/ Letters on feveral Subje^s.
though the chief of them have been anticipated by Mr* Burke ♦.
^ Many people have a kind of happy in(lin<^ in matters of tafte, and determine often rightly upon difficult fubjejls, with- out having any principles to dire£( their judgments. It is evi- dent, that if thofe perfons natural faculties were cultivated, they would have better tafte than others. But tafte being a combina-r tion of a man's judgment and feelings, there never can be any certainty in the determination of a man whofe judgment is not formed. To form the judgment there is but one method, it is by making comparifons. To compare two objefls pcrfedUy, one muft underftand them both. And hence it follows, that the firft ftep towards acquiring a good tafte is knowledge. With- out knowledge no comparifon can be formed ; without compa« rifons the judgment cannot be chaftened ; without judgment there can be no fure tafte. I (hall explain myfelf by an example, which 1 (hall take from fculpture; becaufe, as it appears to me to be the fimpleft of all the arts, I (hall have lefs trouble to make myfelf underftood. A young man wants to acquire a tafte for fculpture. If nature has not given him feeling, he feeks an impoflibility. If (he has given him feeling, he mufl: then acquire knowledge to form his judgment, and this know- ledge is to be acquired but by feeing (tatues. A ftatue is the imitation of a man or a woman. The (irft one he fees, he will be able to fay, whether it refembles a woman or a man ; but he will not be able to fay, whether or no it is a good ftatue. Good is a relative : it is only by comparing that ftatue with a number of others, he can be able to afcertain its value. Apollo is always reprefented as a beautiful youth. A hundred fculp- tors, ancient and modern, have executed this fubjedV. Shew a very indifferent one to a young man ; and another very capital one to another young man ; let them be the firft flatues that either of them have feen ; and their judgments upon the two will be probably the fame. They will both fay that thefe two ftatues are Ane. He who has fecn the indifferent Apollo, will be as much charmed as he who has fcen the oiher; and bis tafte will be equally good. This ftatue is the beft he has ever fcen ; and he is' not to be blamed for admiring it. It is evident now, that this man's tafte is not fure; and it is evident that he is born with the means of making it fo. Let him then fee the Apollo of Girardon, that of Bernini, feveral others ancient and modern, and let him iini(b with the Apollo Belvedere. He will then have feen all that is moft perfect in the art. If he examines each of thefe ftatues feparately with attention, and afterwards
t*
* See bi& Inuodudion to his laquiry into the Sublime and Bcaa*
fMVlr
Jones'j Pbyftological Difquijklons. 9
compares them together, he will acquire the power of afcertain* ing the value of e;ich, and of ailigning to it its true ranlc. The knowledge that he has obtained will form his judgment ; his judgment will then dire£t his. feelings ; and that man will aC'- quire a fure and perfefi tafle. This reafoning appears to me to be juft, when applied to poetry, painting, eloquence, and all the other arts. The EngliQi education, bad as it is, is the bed in Europe. It is eflentially bad in one point *, and eflentially ftupld in another : bad, in not paying the fmallell attention to the cultivation of the Engllfli language, one of the fineft, in every point of view, that ever exified : ilupid, in making a youth pafs fourteen important years of his life, in learning as much Greek, Latin, and fcicnce, as might very eafily be ac- quired in (ix. However, there is none fo good any where elfe* Every man of birth in England goes through a courfc of Latin, Greek, French, Italian, fcience, and makes the tour of Europe. Thofe advantages are aflonifhingly great, and fuch as fcarceany Frenchman has. The profit that a lad derives from this de- pends upon himfelf, and upon the perfons to whom he is en- truded. He may read Cicero and Demofthenes, TaflTo and Milton, Racine and Moliere, and fee the Transfiguration and the Apollo, without an atom of improvement. If he has parts and feeling, the underftanding feveral languages, and feeing dif- ferent countries, are prodigious advantages. By multiplying thus the (lock of his ideas, he is enabled to make a multitude of comparifons ; thofe comparifons refine his judgment ; and thus, if, as 1 faid, he has naturally parts and feeling, he becomes a man of perfeA tafle. A Frenchman has not thofe advantages. He poflfefles only two languages, and he does not travel ; and tnis is the true and real caufe, why the few in England have a greater number of taftes, and more perfedi tafles, than the few in France.*
We muft now take leave of this fprightly, fenfible, and en- tertaining Writer. We have often been informed by him ; but more frequently amufed : and though fometimes difgufled with bis vanity, he has never fatigued us by dullnefs. -^ x^
A«T. If, PhyJiolcgUal D'/quiJiitont ; or l^ifcourfes on the Natural FkiUfipb^ of tbt EUments, t^c. By William Jonc?, F. R. S. &c, Author of am EJfay en tbc fi^Jf t*rinciphs of flaiural Fbilcfo^hy, 4tO» 1 1. I s. Boards. Rivington. 1 7^1.
IN our 27th volume, page 122, our Readers will meet with an account of the Kflay mentioned at the end of ^e title of the prefent work ; which may be confidered as a con- tinuation of the Author's fyftem, to which he was led * very firly in life/ as he now informs us, by bis having obfcrved, ^ • that
10 Jones'/ Phjiokgical Difquifitiom.
* that great effefls are produced in nature by the aSlionofthe eU* pnents on each other; and that ^ all philofophy tr\\g\it be reduced to one fimple and univerfal law, — iwx: 7iat urn I agency of the elements.*
Such Readers as with only for new ph'lo;up!iical fadis or ex- periments, will not be much gratified by the perufal of this very bulky volume. The Author may be faid rather to rcafon on ^hat is already well known, than to contribute much new mat- ter to the phiiofophical ftock of experiments. The nature of his work, ma.y indeed, in a great mcafure, be inferred from what he himfelf fays in the Introduction: —
• We have a ftrange propenfity to be looking either before us or. behind us for variety, inftead of cultivatipg the fruitful fpot we (land upon. If we are already in pofl'eflion of many great things, reafon demands that we fhould be niaking our ufe of them) rather than be fearching for novelties, which may be either of little value, or the fame for fubftance with what is already known. I have therefore preferred the profits of cul- ^re, to the pleafures of the chace ; and would rather pafs for a labourer than a fportfman upon phiiofophical ground.'
All this is very proper. A man of genius certainly may con- tribute very greatly to the extenfion of phiiofophical knowledge, merely by taking a comprehenfive furvcy, or making a happy application, of the difcovcries of others. We cannot however iay, that we meet with any fuch luminous expohtion of natural phenomena, or of phiiofophical experiments, in the theoretical part of this woik. Nevefthelefs, injufticeto the Author, we ihall add his fubfequent obfervation ; where he f«iys, that he ^ has reafon to think many things new will occur to the reader, if he has the patience to look for them ; and that the new things he will meet with, are fuch as will lead to a new train of experi- ments.'—We (hould obferve likewift-, that the Author docs not treat his fubjc6ts merely as a philolophicitl theorifl, or expt- rimenter ; but alfo confiJers them philologically, and with a view to the heathen mythology, as well as to the phiiofophical doflrines fuppofed to be found in the facred writings. In fheft the Author fhews himfelf to be a man of letters, and com- pletely orthodox ; whatever may be thought of his theoretical notions refpecling philofophy.
In the three firft of the nine difcourfcs which conftitute this volume, the Author treats — * Of Matter^ and the feveral Kinds ef Bodies \ — * Of the Nature and Caufes of Motion \ —
* and of the Nature and JJfes of the Elements.^ We willingly pafs over thefc dilcourks, partly as containing matters already .yery well known, and partly as they relate to the particular doctrines maintained by the Author in this and his former volume, re- fpc£ling a vacuum^ and the reciprocal a£iion of the elements ^ which 0o not appear to us^ to be of that importance which he is in- clined
Jones'i Pbyfiokgical Difqulfttlons. % %
clincd to afcribe to thera. Of this, however, his readers will judge for themfelves. For our part, we own we are dull enough not to perceive the great utility, or indeed the novehy^of the laft mentioned doftrine j on which the Author feems to lay fo much ftrcfs — * ihat the clcfnents aft on one another ? — Granted : and what then ?
In the fourth and fifth difcourfes, the Author treats of firg^ and of air. In the firft of thcfc, he defcribes and gives a draw* ing of a pyrometrical machine, or appararus conftrufted by him, for afcertaining the ex pan fion of bodies by heat. By means of this indrument, the flame of a farthing candle was found to be of fufficient force to lift a weight of 500 pounds. Bat to afp- certain the highcft degrees of heat, the Author employed the expedient of plunging a ftrongly heated body, a piece of iron for tnfiance, into a given quantity of mercury ; and then calcu^ lated by the heat which the mercury was found to have acquired ; what mufthave been the original heat of the immerfed body ?
According to a fcale of heat, deduced from the Author's expe- riments and calculations^ and adjufted to Fahrenheit's fcale, mer# cury is fuppofed to freeze at 350^ below 0: fpiritof wine, at 52% likewife below o : tin is found to melt at 490^ : oil of vitriol boils at 546^: lead melts at'6io^: mercury boils at 700- : iron juft red hot, in the dark, iqoo^ ; by day light, 1120° ; iroa with a heat almoft white, 2080 ^\ in fufion, 3000°, and up-r
wards. The inquifitive Reader will however undoubtedly
wifii that the Author had de(cribed his mode of operating with more minutenefs, that he might be, enabled to form fome judg«» ment with refpeft to the accuracy of thefe numbers.
In afcertaining the degree of the white fparkling heat of iron^ at a fmiih's forge, and which was founds 2780°, a very fln-» gular phenomenon prefented iifelf. It was very remarkable, ftyt * the Author, ^ that when the iron had been plunged with fo great an heat into the cold mercury, it contraflcd a thin but hard and durable coat of [quick] fiiver. Iron being the only metal to which mercury will not adhere, it has been the cuitom to fup- pofe fome repulfion or natural antipathy between their parts: but.thefe appearances are all over-rulod by the different degrees of heat and cold. In the hands ot iome pradlica! chemiflor me* chanic, this fad of the confolidation of quickfilvcr, might poffi- bly lead to fome new and uieful application of that wonderful fluid. The method of conloLdatir^ it, ferms to depend upon, communicating to it the high^rit poOible hear; and at the fame time preventing its evaporation.' — This fceming amalgamation of mercury with iron certainly deferves to be further inquired into.
In the next difcourfc on Air^ the Author — (to ufe his own pbrafei whic^i, we confefs, gives us not even th^ ibadow of an .
idea),
1 1 Joncs'j Phjifiolegical Dtfqutjltlom.
idea), confidcrs air and fire as * different conditions of the fame elementary matter of the heavens.* We meet with no motives to induce us to dwell long upon this difcourfc ; in which the Auihor likewiie fpeaksof * fixed air, and elaflic vapours ;' fuch as nitrous, inflammable, foul air, &c., Our phllofophical Readers will be content witK a very (bort pafTage extracted from this part of the. difcourfe :
* We may therefore fay of all thefe faditious airs, that they are nothing but ether combined with expandible matter. So many conjeftures have been formed on experiments of this kind, with fo many cranfitions from natural air to artificial, and from artifi- cial to natural, that M. Lavoifier, who reviewed them in the ftate they then were, obfcrvcd, with fome reafon, that the fubjeft
was in great pt-Tplexity.' How far the Author's * ether and
gxfandible matter* are likely to clear up this perplexity ; or what idea thefe two terms, thus united, ate defigned to convey, we pretend not even to guefs.
In the next difcourfc, ' On the philofophy of mufical founds,* among many other matters well known to the mufical theorift, the Author prefents him with a few others that have the merit of novelty. Treating of temperament^ and of the famous mufi- cal contmay — a fubjedl which we had lately occafion to difcufs very particularly *— he obferves that ^ that little comma wou\d af- ford a man work enough for his life; — and I apprehend he would find it untra£iable to the laft.' On this occafion, the Author prefents his Readers with the fubf^ance of fome manu- fcript papers of the hte Mr. Davis, who had attempted to re- duce the whole fyftem of keyed inftruments to an equal tempera" tnent. It appears, neverthelefs, that Mr. Davis had been antici- pated in this fcheme by fome former thcoritts, and even by Father Merfcnne. On the whole, the Author is * rather perfuaded that a variety, in the tones and femitones, is not only neceffary to fa- tisfy the proportions of the fcale ; but that even the extreme and kfs tuneable keys have their beauries, and affift the efFc6l of the more pcrfcft ones. A mufical Reader may, however, be curi- ous to try (he clftcl of this equality, and to compare it with the common methods. And for thorough-bafs in a concert, a harpfichord might anfwer better when tuned by this rule, than by any other.'
Treating of TartlniV third founds^ on which we ofTercd fome
conjeflurcs feveral years ago t> the Author gives us a folution of
the difficulty, propffed to nim by a learned friend, the Rev. Mr.
. Twining) which he confiders as the true one. We (hall give
h/» i(^^ * *^** ^^^ '^^ Review.^ *^Jr^' + See M, Review^ voK 4J. November \TJ\^ page 371 ; and Dc- • f ember, page 477*
It
■■9
Joncs'i Pbyfiolo^ical Dlfquiftilons. 1 j
It in the Author's own words; referring our muGcal Reatlcrs^ for an explanation of the fubjed, to the articles in our journal above alluded to.
* Suppofe the two notes that are founded are the fifteenth and the fevcnteench ; their vibrations coincide at every fifth pulfe of the upper note, and at every fourth pulfe of the lower note : and when they confpire, the vibrations of each become more intenfe, fo as to be di[)ingui(hed by the ear. But thtrir coincidence hap- pens exadlly at the fame intervals with the vibrations of the fun- damental note, or unifon ; and thence the unifon is heard as the third found. The lower tone would hit the unifon at everjr fourth vibration ; the higher would hit the unifon at every fifth vibration. Now let the unifon be removed, and they meet each other where each would meet the unifon; and then the fenfa- tion of the unifon is excited. Whether there is a third fphercof undulations, produced in the air by the concurrence of the other two, is a queftion of fome difficulty ; but without fuppofing it, the eifeiSl muft be referred rather to the imagination than the fenfes.*
In this difcourfe, the Author gives a well-authenticated ac- count of the invention, or rather peihaps the re-invention, of the Eolicn barpj by the late Mr. Olwald. To account for the produdiion ot the diflx'rent tones in this atrial mufu^ he fuppofes that air, like light, confifts of heterogeneous parts differently re- frangible ; and that ^ as colours are produced by inflexions and refradlions of the rays of light ; {(^ mufical founds are produced by fimilar refra£)ions of the air :' the air, in (hort, becoming vocal, by a kind of refraction occafioned by its paifing over the edge of an aperture; juft as light prcfents us with colours, not only by paffing through a prifm, but alfo by moving over the edge of a folid body.
This whimfical theory has no other foundation than the well- known) and, irobably, merely accidental, analogy between the fpaces occupied by the feven colours in the folar fpeilrum^ and the feven intervals which denote the tones and itmitoncs of the odave, in the fcale of mufic ; or rather in a fcale which is not new in ufs. The Author however goes further, and perceives an analogy between three of the feven colours, viz. nd^ yellow^ and Utu^ which he confiders as fimple and primary ; and the three principal tones which conditute the harmony of the o£iave, viz. the unifon^ the third, and the ffth.
For our part, we can fee no reafon tofuppoft^ th^ft4gny thing happens, in the refradlion or infie<Slion of light, mat can jufily be faid Co refemble any efFeds produced by the mere change of Jiriffhnj which a current of air fufiers in paHing through a narrow paflage, or over the edge of a body. In this lafl cafe, its injkxions are fuch as are common to any e!«ftic fluid, moving
in
1 4 J'oacs'i Phyjtological t)tfquifitioris.
•
^n fimilar circumftanccs. We doubt not but that, under the ame circumftanccs, mufical cones would be produced by fixed or phlogijlicated ;i\T^ or even by the elajiic vapour of water ^ from an eolopile: but we fhould not fufpcdt that any of thefe fluids would be decompoupdedy merely by their infle£tion, or change of courife, Tj^c analogy too between the folar fpe£!rum^ and the mufical dfla^'ve, evident^ fails, when we confider that a ray of light is not only aSiually decompounded by a prifm \ but that the decompofition \s permanent y and the parts remain feparate : whereas^ even granting that the air may confift of heterogeneous parti- cles of difrcrent magnitudes, &c. ; neither the nitrous^ or any other tej} of the integrity or purity of air, has yet exhibited to our modern experimcn .J philofophers any figns, or even induced any fufpidon, that that fluid is liable to be decompounded by a inufical iuflrumcnr, or an air-prifm^ as the Author terms the Eolian harp — Were we to attribute to the air, thus fuppofed to be affected, the qualities ufually afcribed to ^air decompounded^ we (hould be ready to apprehend, that an Eolian harp, placed at a window, would probably confume as much air as a lighted candle; and that huge * airprijm^ the crgan^ would, if played upon, refraSty and drccmpound as much air in an hour, as might ferve for the confumption of a moderate family for a whole week.
We (hould not overlook a pra(flical improvement of the Eolian harp, which is defcribcd, and has been executed by the Author. — * inflead of fixing the firings to the outfide,' fays* the Author, • I difpofe them upon a founding board or belly within fide a wooden cafe, and admit the wind to them through a horizontal aperture; fo that the affinity of the inftrument to an organ- pipe appears at firft fight : and thus it becomes portable, and ufeful any where in the open air, infiead of being confined to the houfe ; which is a great advantage ; and it is probable this new form may lead to fome new experiments.'
We have not yet noticed ihofe pans of the prefcnt Work-- in which the Author takes occafion to combine natural and experimental philofophy with philology^ theclogy^ ^c. Ideat- ing of the ufes and application of mufic, the Author makes his orthodoxy at leaft confpicuous, by citing, with complacency, a paiTage from &ymfon\ Chelyi \ in which that writer, dcfcantingon the three fundamental notes of the odtave — the unifon^ third, and ^^A— confiders them as affording us " a fignificant emblem of that fupreme and incomprehenfible three in one, governing, comprifing, and difpofing the whole machine of the world,, with all its included parts, in a mod perfed and ftupendous harmony." — * This phyfical trinity y adds the Author, * as an abfolute fa£^ in mufic, muft be evident to every beginner in the fcience ; and it is a trinity in unity : but it is a mirror, in which many eyes will difcern no image ;.— - With me it is a matter of
fmall
*« «.
PrieftleyV Letters t9 Bijbop Newcome. I j
fqiall concern, how fuch an allufion would be rcliflied by a
jUiddUion^ a Bayle^ or a Voltaire^ whofe minds were poifoned by ,j,i*'
adiufFir£lion to truth, &r. &c.'
In the 7ih and Sih difcourfes, the Author treats • of foffil bo- dies, with fome obfervations introdudory to a theory of the earth;' and * on phyfical geography, or the natural hiftory of the earth.' Thofe who wi£b to acquire a knowledge of the prin- ^
cipal marine (hell?, ano ocher animal and vegetable matters found in the bowels oi the earth, will here meet with defcriptions of feveral fuhjt^dls, illudratcd with plates ; toq^ether with reflections concernin<r the oric^in of marine foilils. The volume is termi* nated by a difcourfe ^ on the appearances, caufes, and prognoftic fisrns of the weather/ tl
« Art. III. Tivo Letters to Dr. "Nt^wcome^ Bijhep of JVaterford^ on tbi Duration of cur Saviour*! M.niftry. By JofepH PficHlcy, LL^ D« F. R. S. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. Johufon. 17B1.
THE firil of thefe Letters was prefixed to Dr. Priefiley's Englijh Harmony of the Evangelifii ; and our Read- ers will find an account of it in our Review of that publi« cation ^« It is here reprinted, * that the whole correfpondeace might be before the Reader in a more convenient form/ To this letter l^x. Newcome piblifhed sn anfwcr, in which, agree* ably to Dr. Pricftley's wi(hcs, bis Lordfhip entered into a parti- cular confideration of the fubjcCt, ftated the fa<5ls and circum- ftsuices upon which his opinion refpcdiing the duration of our Lord's minifiry. was founded, and made obfervations upon fome of the principal arguments which the Dodlor had alleged in farour of Mr. Mann's hypothefis. We gave our Readers an accouDt of his Lordfhip's publication in the Review for June la/L Thi^ fecond letter before us is in reply to Dr. Newcome. Dr. PrieAley begins with cxprcfiing the pleafure it gives him to find his Lord(hip enter fo fuiiy into the difcuilion of the fubje<S^, and his hope that fome new light may be thrown upon it, even though it (bould not be decided to general fatisfadion. He next apologizes to the Bifliop for not making a reply fooner, declares the high refpe£l that he entertains for him, and afiures him, tha( he cfteems it an honour to difcufs a queltion fo into* refting to many Chriftian crities, and which has never been prc^;>erly difcuiTed before, with a perfon of his LordOiip's Iearn« ing and candour. And then, after a few curfory reflections on the incidental advantages attending fcriptural inquiries, he ob* ferres, chaf, in order to introduce as much difttndtnefs as pof« fiUe into the conduct of the argument, and to render it lefs tire*
* Ji^eview for Febiuarjt ijBi, p. 84.
fome
♦
#
1 6 Priefllcy'i Letters to Bijhop Newcome.
fome both to his Lord(hip and to their readers, he (hall, in this^ and all fubfequent letters on the fubjef^, difcufs the feveral ar- ticles comprized in it in feparate fed^ions. The articles fpeci* fied by Dr. Prieftley in this letter, and which he has difcufTed in feparate fedbions, are. The teflimony of the Chriflian Fathers—^ the conduH of Luke in giving a date to the preaching of John the Baptiji — the ignorance of Herod^ and of other jfews^ concerning yefusj at the time of the death of John the Bapttft — the interpola- iion of the ti;«r^ Paffover, in John vi. 4, — the tranfpofttion of the ^th and 6th chapters of the Gofpel of John -^j our nies fuppofed to be mnitted in his 9 Dr. Prieftlcy'j, Harmony — the number of miles that Jefus has been fuppofed to travel per day - references to more than two Pajfovers in the Gofpel of Matthew ^ Marky and Luke --the ar^ ^ment for the probable duration of our Saviour's minijlry from the €bje£ls of it — the tranfaSiions of the firft Paffover — the flay that jefus made in Judea after the firfi Paffover^ the journey from Ju- dea to Galilee — whether Jefus vifited Capernaum or Nazareth firjl •— and, the harmony of the Gofpels according to the ancients^ efpe^ dally Eufebius and Epiphanius^ and fome of the moderns who have tnojl nearly followed them. To thefc the Doftor has added a fec- tion under the title of Mifcellaneous ObfervationSj containing the following articles. The firfl excurfion from Capernaum — the time of the journey to Nain — the fecond Sabbath after the firfl — and, the difciples of .John, As it is not in our power to go over all thefe fedions in their order, we (hall feledl fuch particulars as may conned with our former extrads and remarks on the fubjec^, or enable our Readers to form an idea of the ability and fpirit with which Dr. Prieitley continues to fupport his argument.
In order to prove, that the fpace of fifty days was not fuf- ficient for the tranfaftions fuppofed to have taken place between the PafTover, John ii. 13. and the Feaft of the Jews mentioned, John V. I. Dr. Newcome drew out a plan of our Lord's jour- nies during that period ; by which it appeared that he muft have travelled eight miles a day, including Sabbaths. As Dr. Prieft» ley's obfervations refpe£ting this reprefentation contain both his Lord(hip's plan and his own correction of it, and are followed by fome curious remarks on our Lord's manner of travelling, we (hall give them at length. Having mildly indnuated a charge againft his Lord(hip on account of his mixing their two fchemes together, fpecifying journics which he, the Dodor, docs not allow to be included in the period alluded to, and ex- tending others beyond his idea of their length, he proceeds :
* That we may examine this bufinefs with mdre attention, I muft beg your Lordfhip to turn to p. 9;) of your Letter, and we will look over the lift that your Lordfhip has there drawn of our Saviout's journies, and I will point out what articles I ad- mit^ and what I obje^ to* I will then allow the reft in your
I • #wn
Prieftley*/ Leiiert to Sf/bcp Nmcimil
If
Granted. Granted.
J Granted in part only;
Granted In part
Not granted.
own nambersy that you may not think that I will contend for trifles; and we (ball fee how the account of his daily progrefs really ftands upon my hypothefis, unmixed with your Lord- ibip's.
No. . Miles.
• I. " From Jerufalem to Judea 25."
• 2. ** From Judea to Cana - 50."
* 3. •* From Cana, through Na- ? ^ i»
zareth, to Capernaum - 5 becaufe I do not fuppofe Jefus to ha?e palled through Nazareth ; and for this» according to your Lordfhip's map, I ought to deduA more than I doy when fallow 20 miles.
« 4. " The circuit about Galilee 70.** I dedufi from this article at leaft two* thirds, becaufe I confine the circuit to the places in the neighbourhood of Capernaum, chiefly to the north of that town. I therefore call it 30 miles.
• 5. ** From Capernaum to Je-7 g „
Tufalem - - 1 \yith this' journey I have nothing at all to do, and I wonder your Lordihip (hould not have put to my account the journey back again as well as the journey thither, as one of them could not have been made without the other.
• 6. ** From Capernaum to Nain 20
* 7. ««ToChorarmand Bethfaida 5. This I do not admit, becaufe I fup- pofe the vifit to thofe places to be included in No 4:
* 8. •• The fecond circuit about 7 ^^ j
' Galilee - . . i 7^' See the reafons in the laft fedion.
* 9. *< Croffing the lake in a^
ihiptoGadara, and back > 12V to Capernaum - * 3
• 10. "To Nazareth - - 20.
* H. •• Teaching and preaching J ,
in the cities of Galilee - J 33* This journey I confine to the neighbourhood of Nazareth, and therefore (hall not allow much more than half the number of jafles, or 20. Kiv. Jan. 1782. C f If
9»
99
Granted. Not granted^
ft
99
99
Not grafted.
Granted.
Granted. Granted in part.
:fg TriMtfs tiffed h Sijbap Navtmr.
< If yoar Lordfiiip will now pleafe to caft up the number of ihilei, as I have correded them, you will find the whole amount to be 197, inftead of 400; that is, not quite half as much tra- velling. And dividing this number by 50, you will find that there is no occafion, on my hypothefis, to fuppofe our Lord ta Kave travelled <|uite four miles per day ; and where is the great improbability in this I Few men of an adive life, I believe, Walk lef^, and many perfons walk three or four times as mucb the whole year through.
* k is, beftdes, by no means certain, though it feems to be generally taken for granted, that our Saviour always travelled on foot. Luke informs us, chap. viii. 2. that in one of his pro- grefTcs through Galilee (and it was probably the fame \xi moft of the others), he was attended by ^^ Mary Magdalene, and other Women, who miniffered ta hkn of their fubftance."' Now thefe women cannot be Aippofed to have travelled on foot, and would they fuflFer the perfon on whom they attended, and whofe ex- pences they defrayed, to do fo,- at leaft always \ though this^ night be the cafe in Uttle excurftons from any more confiderabic place, to the neighbouring villages, where the women might not always attend him/
^ Thisy I own, ia eonje^hife. But if our Lord was attended by rich women at ail, I cannot tbink the fuppofitiooy of his not travelling always on foot, to be whblly without probability. The twelve A puftlcs alfo d6 not, by any means, appear to have been poor, or unable to provide mules for themfelvcs. Pete)*, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew, it is pretty certain, had fome property^ and none of the Apoftfes Wcte in the capaci^ of fervants, or in the loweft dafies of life.'
Thefe obfervations on our Saviour's manner of trairelling are jngenious, and may be }uft. We leave them, as matter of con* jecTure, to the judgment of the Reader. With refped to Dr* Prieftley's remarks on our Lord's joiirnies, it muft be allowed that Jefus might travel four, or even eight miles a day, for fifty days together, and deliver all the difcour/es, and perform all the miracles recorded ; but, as we formerly obferved *, we cannot think fueh a rapid progress through the country (iither probable in itfelf, or confident with the defign of his miffion and miniftry^ The Dbdor is of a different opinion. The Bifliop had.juftly obferved, that the adopters of an h)rpothefis, which obliges thent to recur ta ** a fingle mif acle publkly performed/* or '* to a» much lis was tranfadled at Capernaum in the evehing of a fingle day," as fuficient to jufiify the awful declaraltionsf of our Savi-i •ur refpeding the cities Chorafm and Bethfaida, muft find
• See lUvicw for Feb. 178U p. 8^
. Ihei
Prieftle// Letters to 6ijh9p hfewcttm* t^
themfclvea not a little embarrailed *• To this Dr. Prieftley rci* plies.
* Nowy my Lord, if I may be allowed to judge for myfelf^ I fed no embarraflhaeht at all in this cafe. On the contrary, I think your Lordfliip will find yourfelf not a little embarraiTed in Ihewing^ that even Capernaum itfelf, that /avoured city^ as you call it, enjoyed any more advantage than 1 fuppofe our Lord bad, at leaft time enough, upon my plan^ to allow both to Cborazin and Bethfaida. For all that we know of his perform- ing there was the cure of the demoniac in the fy nagogue, with the other tranfadions of that particular Sabbath ; his healing the centurion's fervant on his return from his firft excurlion, the cure of the paralytic perfon, and the railing of Jairus^s daugh- ter, with the other events of the day on which he called Mat* thew, and the difcourfe in the fynagogue^ related in the 6th chapter of John.
* Your Lordfliip may fuppofe much more than this to have been done, but this is all that is related', and, for my own part^ I fee no reafon for fuppofing any more. Your Lotdfhip majf fpeak as iliehtly as you pleafe of a fingle miracle publicly performed^ but certainly if the circumftances were fuch as to leave no doubc but that it was a real miracle^ it muft have been fufficient to have anfwered all the proper purpofes of miracles; and any thing fiirther, of that kind, muft have been fuperfluous. What could it have fignified to work repeated miracles before thofe that aferibed all our Lord's miracles to the power of Beelze<* bub ?
* As to mmral inftruitiens^ the delivering of them cannot be feid to have been our Lord's particular bulinefs. He certainly negleded no proper opportunity of giving ufeful lefTons to the people, and efpeciaUy of corredling the abufes which the Scribes and Pharifees had introduced into the interpretation of the law* Bat it ought not to be forgotten by us, that our Lord's proper bttCnefs (if we may be allowed to form a judgment concerning it from the tenor of the Oofpel hiftory) was to exhibit fufficient proofi that he was a teacher fent from God, and the promifcd Meffiab, and efpecially by his refurrefiion from the dead/
To the fame purpofe^ be fays upon another occafion,
* I muft again infift upon it, that unlefs, in any cafci tb amdi bttfioefs be AiAmSAy Jptcified^ as would neceflarily reqdire more time than my hypotheus admits, fupported as it is by va« rious external and independent evidence, I cannot relinquifli it. On a variety of occaiions, your Lordfiiip may think that more daie than my bypothefis admits would have been better. But \% ia oiough for me if it always allows fufficient time, though it
f See the paAige at kagtk. Review fiir Jane 1781. p» 4374
C a flMy
20 Pricftlcy'i Letters to Bijhop Newcomi*
may now and then be thought fcanty. In general, it givei more time than is wanted.'
If the GoifDcIs were complete hiftories of the a£lions, and con- tained Complete copies of the difcourfes of Jrfus, this reafoning might be admitted. To us this does not appear to be the cafe. Frequent intimations are given of miracles and difcourfes no€ recorded. And with refpea to thofe which are recorded, they are rather heads, or leading thoughts, or fo much as the writer could recoiled^, than difcourfes at length. That they are not given verbatim is evident from the variations obfervable in the fame difcourfes as recited by different Evangelifls, and efpecially from the different ftrain and phrafcology of the difcourfes re- corded by John, from any that are to be found in the other gofpels. With rcfpeci to moral injiru^ions^ they appear to us to have compof^d a more confiderable part of our Lord's dif- courfes, and to have entered more into the defign of his mini^ ftry, than Dr. Prieftley feems to imagine. The bulk and fijb- ftance of the difcourfes recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke confift of moral in/hu£f ions. And even through thofe which St* John has colledled, in which our Lord in a more particular manner calls the attention of the people to him, as a Teacher fent from G(id, and the promifed Mcffiab, a variety of moral inftrudions are interfperfed.
- Dr. Prieftley continues to urge, with great force, the impro- bability, he would be inclined to fay, impoffibility, that Herod ihould be ignorant of Jefus, if he had preached and wrought miracles in Judea and Galilee almoft two years ; he replies with much ine^nuiry and propriety to the feveral confiderations al- leged by ur, Newcome, for the purpofe of folving the difficulty; and juftly obferves, that his Lordfliip has hurt his own caufe, by remarking that ^ fome others, and even many of the Jewiih people' as well as Herod, were Grangers to Jefus before the death of John the Baptift.
Dr. Newcome had obferved, as a difficulty on both fchemes, that John did not fpeak of Jefus to Herod. I'o this Dr. Prieft- ley replies :
* But, my Lord, it (hould be confidered that John had twb diftind commiflions, though the one was fubfervient to the other; viz. the announcing the approach of the Mtffiah, and the preaching of repentance. We read of foldiers and publicans applying to him, to learn how they (hould condu6l themfelves. NoW'the application of Herod might be of the fame nature, and John might not think it necefTary to fay any thing to him more than tp them, about the Meffiah ; efpecially as this was fuffi- ctently the fubjed of his public preaching, Befides, at the be- ' ginning of his preaching, John had not feen Jefus, and pro- bably did not know U what diftance of time he was to foUovr
him ;
FdeonerVRemarh en tie tnfiuence ofOimaie^ fcc. 21
bim : (b that his having feen Jefus might have been after his interview with Hcrrod/
Upon thi reprefentation of things we be^ leave to remark^ that, to announce the approach of the Mefliah appears to have been the principal defign and proper commidion of John the Bapcift. This great event he urged as a motive (o repentance. Is it not furpriiing, that he fhould not urge it upon Herod ? The application of the foldiers and publicans to him was in conie- quence of his exhorting to repentance, becaufe the kingdom of heaven was at hand* That John had no connection or interview with Herod after he had fecn Jefus, is a conjedtijre void of foun- dation. We (hould judge from the hiftory that John had more interviews with Herod than one, and that his imprifonment was the immediatL' confequence of his taking the liberty to reprove Herod for h s marriage with Herodias.
Dr. Pricftlcy has fuggefted feveral particulars refpeSing the improbabilify of our Saviour's cleanfing the Temple twice \ and' has juftly obferved that the boldnefs of this a£lfon is hardly con-* fiftent with that caution and reft- rve, with which Dr. Newcome rightly fuppofes he condudled himfelf in the beginning of his public miniftry.
(n the conciufion of his letter, the DotS^or cxprefles his hope that he (hall foon have the pl^afure of hearing from his Lurdfhip again. Accordingly the Bi(hop has publiflied a reply to this fecond letter; of which we (hall lay an account before our Readers with all convenient expedition. 1&«m
■•'^-
Akt. !V Rtmarkt on the Influence of < hmate. Situation, Natun tf Conntry, Population^ Nature of Feed < and IVay of L'fe on the pif-
' pofiitons and Temper. Manner t ad Behaviour. JfitelUSi* Laius and Cufiomt, Form of Government^ and Reltgtoa of Mankind By WiU liam FalcoDcr, M. D- F. R. S. ^to. i^i. B >^rdi, Plly. I781.
THERE are fome problems which, from th-ir nature and extent, appear at tirft view to lie bcyon«l he reach of the human faculties. Perhaps that which the Author or this w.)rlc attempts to folve, may be pronounced to be of ihis kind There arc fach boundlcfs varieties in temper, manners, ca^)acity, cuf- toms, laws, forms of government, and modts of rd ipon aniong mankind, and fuch a combination of caufes operates to prcHJuce thefe varieties, that it feems an undertaking too vaft for any individual, fqlly to explain in what manner, and ditermi.re in what degree, thefe efFc*As are to be afcnbtd, to clnnate, tne fi^ tuation and nature of a country, population, the nature ot fuod^ and way of life.
Some light, however, may undoubtedly be ca(l upon thefe liibjeAi by an attentive gbfervation of nuqi^rgus fa^«, Indgf-
' ^ C3 ^rioun/
.::i
ta Falconer*! Rtmarks 9n iU Infiuifuk 9f Climatic itc.
trioufly colle£led and properly arranged : and this is all that Pr, Falconer profefles to have attempted. He gives out hia work to the public, * not as a complete difcuffion of the AibjeO^ but as a colle<3ion of fucb obfervations as occurred to him in confidering it.*
In treating of the (irft Aibjed, climate, he confiders the ef« fefis of a warm, a colJ, and a temperate climate, with ft(ftSt %o the feveral particulars above enumerated. In this detail, we frequently find his opinions well fupported by fads : but fome* times they appear to reft upon little more than bare conje£lures Sind at other times, the application of fa£is to his purpofe ftems far-fetched and unfatisfadory. And indeed it was impoi&ble it (hould be otherwife, in a work in which a very extenfive plan ia £rft laid down, in.fupport of which authorities are afterwards to be induftrioufly colleded from every quarter. Out of the great variety of materials which are brought together in this part pf the work, we (hall fele^i what our Author has faid concern* ing the tSc&% of a warm climate on manners ;
SECT. I. G$mralftatt •/ nuraU iif diffirM climMtii.
* In poiDt of .morality in general, it u, 1 believe, agreed^ tliat the manners of cold climatei far exteed tbofe of warm ; in the lat* ter, the paflioos are naturally ytty drone, and likewiie kept in at perpetual ftate of irritation from the high degree of fenfibility that prevails, which qaufes a great multiplication of crimes, by multiply* ing the objects of temptation. Many defires and paflions arife there, from caufcs that would either never occur in a cold climate, or be fU^^ reiifled ; but in a warm one, the paflion or inclination if
* nronger, and the power of reftraint lefi. In cold climates, the de* fires are but few, in comparifon. and not often of a vtty immoral kind ; and thofe reprefled with lefs difficulty, as they are feldom \trf violent. In temperate climates, the paiEoos are in a middle date, and generally inconflant in their nature; fufficiently firong, however, to furnifti motives for a^lion, though not fo powerful as to admit of no reihaint from confiderations of prudence, juftice, or religion^ B^t it will be proper to treat this matter more in detail,
♦ SECT. II, EfeBs oftbi/tnfiUlitj in/find hy a b^t (lm»U oh fht meruit.
* The qualities of a people, in this refpeft, are derived, in a great speafure, from tbedifpofition ; the confideration of which, will enable ps to account, in fome degree, for the differences of their moral cha« ra^er* The people then of a hot climate, pofleffing great fen^bility^ are liable to all its efFeds on their a6lions and behaviour,
^ < SRCT. HI Emotions •/ paffi^n.
* Hence the inhabitants of hot climates are difpofed to be quarrel* feme, palBonate ^9 litigious, and revengeful. They are, as it hat been before obfervtd, cruel from the fame canfe. In fome rare in* fiances, indeed, where a great degree of feniibiiity has been united with great abilities and goodnefs of heart, the happieft cfieds have
■ ■ ■ F ' ■■■■»■ ■» ■ ■ ■■ ■ I I ■ I ■■ , ■ ^
* AmRif Marcellin. lib. sivi. cap. 6. Cleghorn*! Introdofiion to kit Accoual ef Minoica* A4dUoVs TrsTclif Account of Nsf let, Ou Haiders Hiikorj of Chia a.
bee
FaJconer^i Rf maris w the Influenci rf^QUtpatiy l^rct f 2
bteo prodaced. The chtradfr«of d^e celebrated Marquis £eccaria ia XuUjr is an inftaace.
« SECT. IV. Fride.
' Pride alio appears to be a vice of hot climates, derived from tbtl iame Iburce. This we fee in almoft ^stry people in fuch a fituation« Numberiefs inftance^ of this are to be found in the circamftancei at* tending the eailern monarcbt« Herodotus * telh o^ that ^* the Per* £aas eAeem themfelves much more worthy in every thing than the reft of mei^^ and others to participate of virtue only in proportion to their nearntfi Of fitnation, alwsys acconnting tbofe the worft and the jDoft bafe who inhabit fartheft from tbera.*' The term of barbariaai was formerfy beftowed^ even by the Greeks and Romans, on all na* dons except their own: and what is more remarkable, and which ihewa how deep this idea was rooted, no left a man than Ariftotit imbibed a prejvdice of this kind fo ftrongly, as to lay it down in hia works t*, that his countrymen were originally formed by nature to lie fuperior, aad command the reft of mankind. The map of the world in China, was a (quare % plate, the greater part pf which waa occupied by the provinces of this vaft empire, leaviivg on its (kirts 4 ^w obfcu re comers, into which the wretched remains of mankind were fnppofed to be drivefi. If you have not the knowledge of oar books, or the nfe kA our letters, faid the learned Chinefe to the Eu- ropean miifionary, what literature or what fcience can you have? The pride of the Spaniards in Europe has aHb been long known. — I have taken thefe inftanoes of national pride from improved and po- Itiied nations, that it might not be afcribed to ignorance, which, in- dependently of dimate, produces the fsme effetls. Thus the Ru(^ fians, when in a barbarous ftate, called all other people by the name of Nemei, or dnmb nations; and held them in a proportionable Aiare of contempt. But when improvements prevailed among them, this difpofition vanifhed^ and at present, foreigners are no where iietter received or refpefled than in Ruffia,
* As the heat of the climate diminifhes, as in France, this pride if changed into vanity« This I take to be owing to a decreafe of the lenfibilitys where this is very great, every man has or pretends to have, fuch an idea of his own importance, as to ftand in no need of the applaofe of others ; but when the feelings are not fo quick* thia lelf-eltimatioa is not fufficient, and the praife of others becomes ite« qai6te, and forms the objed of defire* Strabo defcribes the vanity of the French nation, and its effeds on their condu^ in tenns that exactly fait their prefent charader« They have« faya that writer, added to their ignorance and ferocity, a great degree of arrogance and folly, and affedation of ornament. They wear golden chaina about their necks, and bracelets about dieir arms and wrifts ; and thofe who are in honourable ftations, wear garments dyed and varie* gated with sold. In confequence oif this levity of difpofition, they are, when foperior in war, extremely infolent and overbearing ; bat when defeated, ftupid aad helplefs. Strabon. lib. iv. Thus the frenchman afpires with eagernefs after what the Spaniard would efteem a derogation,
U j- Oa Rhetoric. X Du Halde, ?q1, i« p* H* ^
■* --C^
24 Falconer*/ Rnnarh on the Influena of Climatic &e»
♦ SECT. V. Gallantry and intri^ur
* From the fame fenfibility arifes the excefs of thofe paflions that are connefled wiih love. Thus intrigue and debauchery with women, are well known p be carried to a high degree in warm climatei, Even marriage is held but as a flight bv, and often confidered, where the women are at liberty, rather as a pretence fpr greater free- dom' of behaviour, than as a * reftrainr,
? SECT. VL Jiolou/j.
^ From the fame caufe arifes jealoufy, which in fuch a country, efpecially where pride prcdominatef, it carried to a great height* The glory of ancient defcent and great family are fenfibly injored by infidelity of thi& kind, and therefore againft fuch dilhonour the guard |a firiA, But in France, where vanity prevails, and the paflion of of lovr is not quite fo powerful,, jealoufy has little place. Were a fine f^oman to be confined there, as formerly in Spain, or in the Eaft, her buiband would lofe the gratification of his vanity, in being known to poiiefs a woman endowed with fuch qualities. The admiration paid %o her, is to hio) a fource of pleafure, and enhances his confequence %j the refpedl paid to him on her account.
•SECT. VII. Cowardice.
f Cowardice too, as before has been remarked, is owing in a great jpieafure to the fenfibility of the people, and is one of the vices of hoc ^mates. It may appear flrange, lo rank timidity, which may be foppofed not to be in our power to prevent, in the lill of crimes. Ic is, however, in fome circumftances undoubtedly criminal, and was cfietmed as fuch by the ancient f Germans, who puniihed it with death, inflided in the moil ignominious manner.
•SECT. VIII. Su/piehn. . * Sufpicion, coo, which almoll naturally attends a great degree of &nfibility, joined to timidity of dii'pofitioo, is obferved very fre- quently in hot climates. The profiigacv of manners in fuch fitua- tions, contributes greatly io encourage fuch a temper of mind, tvtry one fuppofing hit neighboiM' under little if any reUraint from prin* ciples of morality.
* SECT. IX. Fraud amd kHavery.
* It is likewifc remarked, that in hot climates there is much left probity apd honeOy in the common deilings of life; the prefent ob- je6l is there fo much attended to, that fcarcety any confideration it paid to future ponfequences, as there is but little reflexion. Every one, therefore, is ^nxious to make what advantage he can of the pre- fent mooMsnt ; and no regard is paid to the difcrcdit or lofs that may cnfue.
•SECT. X. Perjidy and imconftancy.
* The levity likewife of the people of warm climates, which is ul* timately derived from their fenfibility, it produ^ive of feveral vices. Thus they are remarkable for their perfidy and kiconftancy, even to a proverb. Livy X {2^^!%^ that the people of Africa are inconilant in
t Vide the Life of Petrarh, and the Lives of the Troubadours, elegantly tranf* ]f^ by Mt4. DobYon t whe e it appears, that addrefTes of love to married womca W^^ RC >nr.mon at that timei in France and Italy, at at prefent. ' f tacitf CermsAia* -^ t Livii, lib. lU, 4 c. lab, xixvi. § 17.
Falconer*! R/marks on the Injtuenci dfCltmati^ &c. t%
Actr expedationSy and faichlefs in tbeir difpofitioni. A (imilar cba* rader of them is given by Virgil f and Cicero (; to which Sallol! % adds, that they were not to be kept in order by either hope or || fear. A fimilar charadler of the Syrians and Afiatic Greeks, is given in another place by Livy^, and confirmed by -t- Vopifcus, It noighr^ perhaps* be imagined, as indeed Mr. Montefqaieu has done, that this charader of the people of Africa was exaggerated by the Romaa hifiorianSv from the hereditary antipathy between that people and the Carthaginians; and that it was vidory alone that caufed the proverb to be the Punic, rather than the Roman faith. This I believe to be ID (bme meafare true; but it is certain alfo, that the Phoenicians had a charader of this kind afcribed to them, long before the Roman pe» Hod. Homer, who we have no reafon to think lay under any tempt- ation to give them a worfe charadler than they merited •*, fpeaks of them in Hmilar terms. The crooked and intriguing politics of Italf have, as well as thofe of Carthage, formerly been notorious through the whole courfe of modern hifiory; nor were they different in former periods. The Romans ff were fcarcely lefs perfidious and di (honour- able than thofe whom they reproached with thofe vices; and it waa as much owing to their deep and iniidiotts %% policy, as to their arms, that they acquired the fovereignty of the world.
' But in what manner (ball we account for the punAilious honour of the Spaniards, who live in the fame latitude with the Italians, and aearly in the fame manner ; and who have, in all ages, been famoua for their honefty f [uflin mentions their fidelity in keeping whatever was intmfted to their care ; they have frequently fufFrred death ra- ther than reveal a fecret. They have dill the fame fidelity for whicii they were formerly diftingui(hed. All the nations who trade to Ca- dis^ trnft their fortunes to the Spaniards, and have never yet repented it. ' A notable inilance of this quality in that people^ occurred not naaf years fince, when the filver which was returned from America by their plate fleet, was debafed by one of the Governors, by whjicli the European traders, who fent goods to South America,
t Virgil ^oeid, lib. i.
t Carthaginchret fraudiilenri et mendaces. Cicero.
\ Salltiil. BcJl. Jugurth. de Nomidia loquens.— Modern writers give the fame ac* (•vttt of them.
I ** The craf^ and deceit of thefe people are equally grrac and inexplicable. To lie Ibr the iake of falfliood, and to over*re4ch in matters of no Tnomrnt, are paradoxrt pcctiltar to the Arabians.** . Adventuret in tbt C»u*fe of a V'^yage mp the Red Sea, dTc, h Bylet InKf'iM, RJq\ 4/0. I780, p- 54* See alfo Shaw*« Travels to the Levant and Barbary, where a umilar character is giv^n of there. Ingratitude and treachery, Uy% he Bma, are fo commoo among the Perfiant, that children make no fcruplc to cut oiF the can, flit the nofe, and cut the throat of their parent*, if the King requirea it, in 0rdcr re piocore what placet or fonooe they died potlefled cf. Le Bruo*s Traveb, vol.iv. p. 143, 4toed. 17S5.
^ Hie Syri & Ahatici Graeci funt } IcTiflima genera hominum. Livii, lib. xxxv«
4. Raratn ttt ot fidem fervent Syri ; imo di^cile* Aarelian* Vopifci.
•• Homer*! Odyfley, lib. xiv.
^f The fimilarity of the ancient Romans to the modern Italians, hai b«rn rc» parked by Mr. Ferguibo, in his moft iogeniout and elegant, as well as learn'd, Liuy po Civil Socitty.
1| Moatef<|«fieDf Gr|iidpif and Decline of the Roman Empire^ chap. vi.
^'' I would
mm
' * ■ -«*»^4Hi
96 Fikoner*! Rmuarh on At Influenci tfCEnuttf^ Utm
wottid htve been jg^reat lofcft. Tbe Spaoifh merchaoti, thoagh am way coDCcrned or anfwerable for tbe fraud* voluntarily took th« whole of the lofs upon themfelves, in order to prevent the national chara^er fafFering any * reproach. Perhaps the fiately pride and* kaughtinefsy fo effential to the Spani(h charadler, may have been of isrvice in preferving them from this fraudulent difpoficion, which it always connected with meannefs and cowardice. Perhaps this pride nay have been partly infpired by the peculiar fituation and circam- fiances that have attended the Spanilh monarchy, the fubjeds of which have been always led to depend upon their perfonal qualifica- tions, efpecially thofe of a military kind, and to difregard the im- portance produced by trade and commerce. But I offer this only at a c6njedure : if» however, it be true, it furniihes an obf ioos caulc tot the diffei ence of mannert.
* SECT. XI. UUmfi.
* This prevailf in a great degree in hot climates* The people of Achim t Ac^ proud and lazy ; thofe who have no (laves, hire one, if it be only to carry a qaart of rice an hundred paces ; they would bo ^ilhenoured if they carried it themfelves. In many places, people let their nails grow^ that all men may fee that they do not work. A fimilar difpofirion prevails throughout all the £aft. Buc idlenefa it apt only a vice itfelf, but ilill more milchievous at an incentive, or at kaft as affording an opportunity for others; it is indeed t ^ pr^lt^ siinary to every vice ; nor is floth ever unaccompanied wich fotoe wickednefs or other. What muff then be the ffate of morality } in a country where the greateft part of the people have no work, employ* aient, or calling, to occupy their thoughts ; and no idea of intellec* tual entertainment? The reverfe is no lefs true : ** Oblige men to work,** fays the elegant and fpirited commentator on the Marqiiia Beccaria, *' and you cerutnly make them honeff." It is well kAOwn« that atrocious crimes are not committed in the country, unlefs when there ii too much holiday, and confequently too much idlenefs; and^ •f courfe^ too much debauchery. I'his therefore, is no (mall caafil of the general depravity of manners in warm dimatet.
•SECT. XII. LuxMfy.
* Luxury Hkewife^ and effeminacy, the children of fenfibility and ''indolence, are carried to a high degree in hot climates. This wat
obferved of them from the || earlieft times, and is the ca(e at prefent*-
• SECT. Xm. Exct/sinMit. ^ There are however fome, though but few, inftancet in point of morals, in which the warmer climates are fuperior to the cold. Thus the vice of drunken nefs ^ is far lefs common among them ; and, of
* Vide RoWitfon*t America.
•f Dampier*! Voyages, vol, tii.
t Ulloa*s Travels, book v. chap. 5.
^ Vide alfo an excellent paper 00 tbe teadeocy of idleaeft to produce vice, in thi Itambler, No. 85.
I Vide the account of Tjre, by the Prophet £sekjel.«f-Xeaophoo*s Cjropcdia^ hook vii.
% Strong ]iq«ort, even at this day, tie not drank tmoag the Arabs. IrwiA*t Vojrap up the Ked Sea, p. %l$%
conCtquencc^
Falconer'/ Rtmaris m the Jnfiuerui ofCUmaiif &c. %j
cooleqaencf 9 the violence tnd difturbance which it (q often occafioDtt are not fo frequent ; nor is, I believe (though of this [ am not cer* tain), the laxury of eating cultivated as among ut. The heat requirea the diet to be moftly fimple, and compofed in a great meafare of vc« fecablea; and of confequence cutt oflF maoy of the llimulant provo* catives to appetite ; a large proportion of which arc of the animal kiiid^ which compofe the catalogue of thofc * articles that miDidei to ihia neaa aod defpicable paflion*
« SECT. XIV. Gamhf.
* I am likewife inclined to think, (thoogh of this alfo I am doobt- fol) that the ruinous and deilrudive vice of gaming, is lefs prevalent in warm than in cold climates.
* In the former of thefe, the people are more pleafed with what dire^ly produces fome pofitive fenfual pleafure, than with what* pleafes merely by intereding the mind, and putting it into a ftate of agitation. The latter of thefe would be too violent and robuft an tx« erciie for a hot climate, where any confiderable degree of even men* tal employment is a fatigue. But in northern countries, a machine, coarie and heavy, finds a pleafure in whatever is apt to roufe and agt« taie the fpiriu ; fuch as hunting, travelling, war, and wine : and it will not be denied, that gaming is at ieaft as likely to produce thia cfed as any of the foregoing*
' Experience feems to countenance this theory. Tacitus f informa ■s, that the ancient Germans were paffionately addided to this vtcet^ which is fiill, indeed, very prevalent among their modern fucceflbrs*. The { Canadian favage is equally fond of it, as it a/Fords an intered- lag occupation to him in the intervals of war and hunting, and fervea to difpel that jiaggifhnefs and inadivity, which the ufual affairs and. cranfadions of life have not fufficient ftimulus to efFtd. Warm cli« mates, on the contrary, are but little addided to this vice ; it it with them a matter of diverfion merely ; whereas, among the peoplo. of cold climates, it is a bufinefs, and one of the moft fenous nature, Thos the Turks, although fond of ferre kinds of play, chefs and draoghts for inftance, make it a rule not to play for money ||, but ufe it merely to confume an idle portion of time in an indolent amufe- ^ meat, which the climate would prevent being employed in an adlive occupation.' t
Dr. Falconer's remarks on the influence of fituation, Extent, and nature of country, are brief, and contain little that me- rits particular notice. The different efFecls of great and fmaU population he has clearly marked out, and fupporied his ob«
* Salluft hjtf that the people of Africa, an<l the NumUiani efpfctally, were nd* tlKf foo4 of faUt, or any other of >he ftimuUnti to appetite. Bell. Jugurthin.
'f Alcarn (quod'mirere) fo)>rii inter feria eiercent tanta lucraodi perdendive trme^ fitate ot cnoi omnia defeccruat extremo ft noviAmo ja£lu de libcrt«ce 4e de corpora conteodunt. Tacitut dc morib. Cernan. cap. zxiv.
X Lafitaeo Afwart 4e Savsfet. Charlevoix Hift, of Caaada.««CarYCr*t Travels,
I The Aiahf sever game for maney, or any thing valuable. AHventares in the •Dvrtie of a Voyage op the Red Sea, by Eyl^i Irwin, %(^ p, aSs.-vIt it forbid in Japea^ M pain of dentlu
fervationa
28 Falconer*/ Rimarks on the Influence of Climate^ &o.
fen^ations by many well chofen quotations. On the next to- pic, the nature of food, it will be expeded that his medical knowledge and experience (hould enable him to fpeak with par- ticular advantage. We (hall therefore lay before our Readers Kis remarks on the eflFc£ls of liquid food :
* Liquid food may be confidtred as fermented or nnf<*rfnected. Of tbe Uutr of thefe 1 ih4ll take w^ter as an inrtance, aii being the li- quor moitly ufcd as drink, either fimple, or at lead with fuch admix- ture only, at does not materially alier its properties in the light I mean to cooiider it»
• SECT. r. Water.
* Water, as it poflefles no (timulant quality, is not fubje£^ to pro« ^iice any irregular irritation of the * paiDons ; and hence, 1 believe« tbe drinking of it bas a tendency to render tbe temper even and re- gular.
* Likewife, as water bas no tendency ro pat people off their guard, by exhilaratiog their fpirits above the natural pitch, or by diforder« IDg tbe underltanding, thofe who drink it are apt to acquire a habit <if fecrecy and referve. This may, perhaps, be one caufe why the Turks are (o rcferved and filent, and perhaps of the fame qualities of tbe Spaniards, who, it is faid, drink very little wine.
• * The drinking of water is alfo, in fome refpedls, favourable to aiorality» by preventing the outrages which intoxication is fo apt to occafion.
* With regard to the intelle£ls» it is obferved, that water-drinkers aaoftly preferve their f fenics and faculties to a late period of lif«*| and are alfo more calm, prudent, and confiderate, than thofe who vfe fermented liquors. As for the laws and cuftoms, hoch civil and religious, regarding the drinking of water, as they are mollly d^rive4 from the climate, I have fpoken of them under that head.
« SECT. II. Fermtikttd liquon,
' I (hall next fpeak of fermented liquors : which, though of fere* fil forts, I (hall confider colle&ively as to their general qualities; adding, however, a few remarks, occafionally, on fome peculiar qua« lities of the diiFerent kinds.
' Fermented or fpirituous I'quors have ooivcrfally the effect of en- livening and exhilarating X the fpirits.
« Hence
til ■■■!■■ I ■■IM.II I ■ ^
* ShakC'peare obfcrvei, apparently io a laiicroos nntnner, the tendency of water- 4rinlc'>ng to increafe the gene ation oi ferralef, (>ee Fatft^ff's fprech in the fecond
part of Henry tbe fourth.) But the fair.e obrrrvation it to be foitnd m Hippocratei, Trcatlfe on Diet (lib i. ^ 20. )» and it it obferved in many partf of the Faft Indies, at this d^y, where they dtink no wine, that the number of women exceeds that of nen very confidcrabty.
\ Aquae purar qu« ab anno aetatii oAodccimo fola utor triboo, qaod poft tr>t in ful* gido folo fufceptoi microfcopicoi laboies omnibus lenfihus et ocuUs fotiflimum noa minus valeam quam poer valui.— Halleri Phyf. 1« xix. ^ 3.
I A very accurate account of t^e elf As of wine, and their progrefllive order in which they aA upon the mind, is given by A riflotle :•«-;' When a Tober, moderate, and fiient man, drinks winf in a quantity rather more 1 beral than ordinary, it has th« efTcA of cheri(hii g and roufing his fpirits and genios, and repdertng him mora Com* mttoicatifC j if taken i^ill 01019 freely, it lenders him i^iore talkitivci eloquent, aodf
Falconer'i Remarks on the Infiue\ice ofCUhiaUy itC» 19
* Hence thofe who ufe chem are fubiefl to a greater flow of fpirict than chofe who do not, though, at the fame time, they are le(t eqoable and regular. Fermenred liquors have alfo the efiVd of opea- iag the mind, and rendering focial intercourfe more free and cheer- ful, and individuals more communicative. Thus it is obferved by Tacicut *, chat the ancient Germans, whofe fondnefs for flroag li- quors he particularly^ mentions ufcd the time of drinking for that of public bafinefs, on account of the cfFed of the liquor in producing^ an elevation of mind, aild a freedom of debate and commuoication of lentiment«
* Perhaps the greater ufe of thefe liquors may accoaac, in general* for the greater opennefs and f franknefs of the northern nations; aii4 alfo for the great degree of hofpicaiity pradifed by them.
* Fermented liquors have been thought by fome wriiers to have a tendency to corrupt the morals of mankind. Thus, fome nationa have prohibited the planting of vines, and the ufe of wine, upon that account ; and X Livy tells us, that it was the tradition, that wine was introduced into Gaul for the purpofe of debauching the roannert of the people. Cxfar alfo gives a (in^ilar account of the opinioQ of that people concerning its cfftds. When taken to excefs, this opi* Bion of the effedts of intoxicating liquors is undoubtedly jull, as we found by experience in this country, before the law was made for re* Araining the inordinate ufe of fpirituous liquors; which wire found to be no lefs ruinous to the morals than the health of the people. Undoubtedly they fhould be taken very fparingly in hot climates; but the moderate ufe of them in cold countries appears natural, an4 well adapted to countera^ the efFc^s of the climate.
* Another effed afcribed to fermented liquois by fome wciterst is that of infpiring ^ genius and fentiment, ei'pecially of the poeti- cal
confident of bis powers and abiiities ; if taken in &M larger quantity, it makei biii| bold and daring, and defifout to exert hi iiielf in action ; if taken flill more iargeljr, itreodcfS hioi petulant and c< nturrelious ^ the next Ocp render^ him mad and outra- pe< vt { and if he proceed* farther ftill, he becomes Hupid and fen!elefs.**— ProblcmaC*
i JO
* Tanquam nullo tempore m^tgis aut ad (implices cogitationes patrat animus aut ad
■sagnas iociilefcat — -Tacit Gctwdnu.
The Perfiaat likewife, according to Hrrodotus (lib i) and Str a bo (hb. tv.) de- bated on the moft important affairs o\'rr their cupt, an) eliermrd the refolutiont taken by them in that ftate, as more reff^eflable and facred than thofe taken in a fiatc •f fobriety.
A fir liar account is given in the book of EAher, where the divorce of a Queen is 4eba'cd over cups.
•f A'henaeuft remarks tbe effj-fls of wine in making people fpeak truth.— Lib. ii,
4 ■ tflvexinTe lo Galiiam vinum illlciendie genus caufa Aruritem Clu/inuna
in cwro].Ut ozorit a Lucumone. — Livii, lib v.
Caefar lays, that the Sueyi do not allow any wine to be imported among them, left it Aoaid make rhem Jaz* and effetnioate.— Comm book iv. ch. t. '
Tbe N'rv i never drank wine, nor fui}'ered it .c be b:ought amongil them, for the frme reafons.— ^«far*s Comm. b<y)kii. ch. S.
4 Shakefpeare, altboogb he introduces it in » manner apparently burlefque, appears to have been aware of the effeft of wine in exciting ^rniut and quickening the un ler* ftindiog :'•»*< A good flierris fack hath a twoMd operatioa in it} it afcends AiC*^nto the brain j dries me there all the fuoli/bi dull, and crudy vapourt, which enviion it; it apprehcoiif e, ^uicky forgetive, full vf niabh, fierjr, and delegable Ibapca,
whichf
30 Falconer V Rmarls im tUinfluinct ofCUmate^ &&
cal * kind. Tbit, at firft figlit^ might (eem ladicrout, botis ferioaflf aflTerted by (everal stx^ grtve and eminent writers, and is, 1 believe, in fome degree, founded upon truth. Many of the ancient poets fpeak mi the connexion between wine and genius; and alihough we (hould aot believe all thefe expreffions to be meant to be underftood lite« rally ; yet it may ftill be inferred, that foroe connexion between them was fuppofed. Our own Milton, whofe temperance was remarkable ID every period of his life, haa czprelTed the fame f fentiment, and •alarged confiderably upon it.
* Malt-lfquor poiTeflcs, in many refpeAs, the fame > qualities witb wine, but has not the fame reputation for infpiring genias, and im- proving the t intelledis. This may be afcribed to feveral caofes : firftw the vifcidity of mah-liquor is fucb, as to prevent the efiedls of the fpirituoos part upon the nervous fyllem, by invifcating and entan- gling it in its fubftance; fecondly, malt>liqaor is very nutritious, and apt to encreafe corpulency, a circumftance by no means favourable to mental exertions ; laftly, malt-liquors have but little of the acid which accompanies wine, which is of great efficacy in caufing the lat- ter to paft off quickly by the fecretions, and prevents its loading the body, and powers of digeftion; whereas malt-liquors, for want of fome ftimulus of this kind, are nearly equally oppreffive with animal food. Diftilled fpirits might appear to have nearly the fame effedt
which, deUvered over to tht voice, the tongue, which it the birth, becomei excellent wU.**«-Second Part of Henrj IV. K€l iv,«— Athencvt makes a fimilar obfeivatioa^ lib. ii.
Haller maket the fame remark. Omai vino tommuoe eA calefacere s vires ittgentl et corporis augere — Halleri Phyfiol. lib. xix. fcA. 3.
• Halleri Phyfiolog. lib. xvii. fed t. ^ i3.—> •" Ingenium qood excitet vinam, ejr eo clarifitme intelligitur, quod ad poefin, que rei ingenii eft, mirifice oifponat. Per- petu6 ab antiquitate creditum eft« et ipfa ret docet, vini calorem poetarum furorem et impetom excitare, et Bacchi et Apollmii furorem unum cfle eundcmqae j qtamobicia Oinulios vino carent in exilio de fe cooqueritur.
Impctot ille facer, qui vatam pe£lo-a nutrit. Qui priui in nobis tSt foUbat, abeft.**
Hoffnaan. One of the fummits of ParoaiTut was fubjeA to Bacchns, the othtf Id Apollo.
Jam obfervamoi omnet hot popolot qui vino utuntur, long^ ingeniofioret efle rc» liqais omnibui. NuUibi enim artet liberales, et difciplinarum ftudia, melioi flome* runt et florent, quam diAis in locis s vina enim fovcnt vires, pituitam attenuanty mordacet curat bumanii mentibui infeftas abftergunt, vim animo redduot, fpiritua(* feotiam fangoinit promovent, iogeniumque acuunc \ unde non inept^ viattm poitaxmiA C^nus didus eft.^-Hoflfman Dc Temperaroento, Fundamento, &c, Are«
f Quid quererii refugam vino dapibufque pcefio ?
Carmen amat Bacchum, carmina Bacchut amat* Net poduit Phcebom viridei geftaffe corymbot,
Atqac hederam laaro prxpofQifTc fuse. Kafo Corallsit mala carmina itsifit ab agrit^
Non illic epuUr, non fata vitis crat. Qgid nifi vina roiaiqut racemifciurnqoe Lycnn
Cantavit brevibui Teia mofa modis ? Pbdaricofque inllat numerot Teumefius Evaoy
£t itdolet fumptom pagina quaque meram.
Slcgia fexta Idiltoni ad Carolum Deo dator fori coramoraatei^
\ Atheasns remarkf, that vrine taken too freely caofed the head to be more pain- ty but does aot ttader people (a heavy mmA kthafgtc as Balt*liqttor.«-»Lib. i.. mk
witk
Vtlcotnt^s Rsmaris #» thi lufiunui pfCSmaU^ 8(c; pi
mt\i wine, as being very * thia, light, and poflfefling netrly the fame powers of the f|nrit«oiis kind ; bat hi reality, wine and fpirituout ii^aort diier very much from one another. Didiiled fpirics want the acid of wines — which either does not nfe» or is deftroyed in the tfMillatioB— -and therefore remain longer in the body, and are more iafla»flMaory« 7 hey are alfo more narcotic, and produce worfe ef- k&B opon the nenroes fyAem, in debilitating it, than wine. They ait likewife deititute of fixible f air« to which wine, in a great meafore^ •wet ita invigorating aad cheering qaalities, but which is deftroyed or diffipated in the difttUation of fpirits. Hence their effedU upov the iotelleda are leU happy than tho(e of wine.
* At to laws refpeAiBg the nfe of wine, or the omiiBon of it alto* gether, 1 have before fpoken under the article of Climate.
' I know of ao peculiar or fpecific efie£ls of fermented liqaort Ott ihe form of government, or religion of mankind.
•SECT. m. Ifiaip/Tis.
^ As tea now makes fo large a part of the pleafuret, and indeed of the diet, of a great nnmber of people, efpeoially in our own country, a (cm remarks upon it may not be improper.
' Tea appears, from the ( beft experiments, to prodace iiKiativo eieds upon the nerves, diminifhing their energy, and the tone of the Bafenlar fibres, and inducing a^confiderable degree* both of fenfibi- Kiy and irritability, upon the whole fy ilem. It alio promotes the thinner evacuations very powerfully, and diminiihes the ftefii and bulk of thofe who nfe it. Thefe effedls tend to impair the firength, and promote the other cenfequences of it upon the nervous fyftem abovo deimbed. Hence the afe of tea has been fbnnd wery agreeable to the ftndioqs, efpecially thofe engaged in the compofition of works of geains and imagination, and hence is emphatically ilyled the poet'a friend. But, on the other hand» I believe that, at kaft wiih us, it has had the effect of enfeebling and enervating the bodies of our people, and of introducing feveral diforders that arife from laxity aad debility ; and has been of fiill more confequence in making way liar tbe ufe of fpiritnous liquors, which are often taken to relieve thM depteffion which tea occafions*
' From thefe effeds of tea, I cannot but think that its confer quencei, on the whole, have been highly prejudicial. It evidently. iajares die health, and, by the coniequences laft mentioned, tends to tomipt the morals of the people; and, in my opinion, by the effcda it produces upon the nerves, contributes to abate courage, vigour,
* Af oa eft occoho acvre et plurimo phlogifto ekria.«>»Halkri Pbyfiolog. lib. abr,
•f There appear to be two cnfei of iocbriatioa in fermented liqaort { one horn the iuUa air, aad eaelhcr from the ^ooos fpirit. That froas the fonner takes place fMaer, and it the more traniSeaC of the two, aad feeflm alio to do kfa injury to the eeaftitvtiea, aad is hkewife more apt.to excite cbcerfuloeft and good fpiriti. This ia very well kaowo to thole who hare compared the cfiedi of champaf nc with thofe ef the ftiDDfer winci.
The tee dMt§ with thofe of champagne are fooBd in feme mineral waters, efpe* ttaUjr ia th»iii of Spa aad Pyrmoat, and in ibme degree in th^Tf ef Batb| whca draiak §it§k at the fpriog.
1 tse Pr. iMr«m*s taioueas Eflay on thii lakjafti
9^
32 Falconer'/ Remarks on the tnjluinu of Climate^ UC.
aikl fteadineft of mind : circamftances furelf of themiclves fufficiett to difcredit iti ofe^ with thofe who are engaged in any fituacion of life that requires exertion and refolntion. Perhapi» however, in the hot climatei of China and India, the ufe of this liqaor may not be (b }>rejodic]al as in the colder ones ; it may there tend to abate the wea- rinefi occafiooed by heat, and, as a grateful diluent, promote the thinner evacuations ; which poflibly may, by caufing it to paft off quickly, counteradt, in fome meafure, its bad efiedls. But the || noxioat qualities of this plant are not unknown even in its native countries. The Japanese are fubjed to the diabetes, and to confumptive difor* 6^u refembling the atrophy, from its ufe; and the Chinefe, it is (aid, are ib fenfible of thefe confequences, that they rarely driok green tea at all, which is the moft remarkable for thefe efFeds. Perhaps the di* minutive flature, and cowardly, and at the fame time acute and trick- ing difpofition of the Chinefe, may be owing, in no (mall degree, to the ufe of this vegetable/
In treating on the influence of a favage ftate, the general pro* penfity to poetry is particularly noticed, and the caufes of this propenfity are well explained :
* Even forae qualifications, which we efteem to be matters of tade and elegance, and therefore leaft likely of any to be found in foch a Aate, have been difcovered among favage nations.
* Thus the talent for eloquence, and even for poetry, is faid to be found in high perfedion among them. Every idea, every concep- tioD, is cloathed in image and metaphor, ** The bones of our de^ ceafed countrymen lie an buried," fays an American orator *, ** they call oot to Qs to revenge their wrongs ; and we muft fatisfy thetr re* qoefl. Their fpirits cry out againft us, and they muft be appeafed* The genii, who are the guardians of our honour, infpire as with « refolutioe to (eek the enemies of our mordered brethren. Let us go and devour thofe by whom they were (lain. Let as confole the fpi* rits of the dead, and tell them they (hall be revenged."
* What is the caufe of this apparently extraordinary circumftance, IS diiiicult to explain. Is it that the unbounded liberty, enjoyed in this iiace, infpires this daring freedom into the language and expreA lion, as being the moft proper terras .in which fuch ardent fentimentt could be delivered ? or is it that his ignorance of abftrad ideas caufes bim to form analogies between the objeds which are al«vays prefeot before him, and thofe which occur to his onderftanding or memory-^ with which the fcantinefs of his language concurs — which compels bim to exprefs his fentiments in terms and expreftions derived from viiible objeds ?
' Nor is it in the expreffion and (enttment only, that thefe compo- fitions may be termed poetical. They are often exprefted in a kind of rhythm or numbers, which, though not reduced to eaad regularity of meafure, is fufficient to eoroe under the idea, though rodely, of ▼er(ifi cation, Czfar f , whofe judgment in matters of telle and fci*
I Tea bclons* to the Batnral ordtr of the Coadunatsr, which aie all of the narcotic kind.
* Ctrver'i Tratels, p. t99« too. tot^ tot« t Cci; Comm. Uh. ? i, (c^, if^
•BC«
FilconePi Rimarh on the Inflmnci ofCUmate^ &c. 33
eiice cannot be fofpcdedy fpeaks of the ibngs of the Gallic Droids tt poecictl pcrfbrmaocet ; and the fame epithet is beftowed on the fongt of the Gallic and German bardt, by Strabo | and Tacitus §. Am- Dtaaof Marcellinat || and Diodoros ^ SicnloSy are more particalar in this refped^ and inform ns» that thefe compofitions were not only metrical, bat alio adapted to mafical accompaniment; a circam- ftance which formerly, above all others, eiUblifhed a claim to tha poetical charader.
' The iame obfenration has been found to bold good of almoft eve< ry nation in its infant tiace, and efpecially of thofe, who in a fubfe- qoent period attained to the greateft height of improvement. Thoa Homer and Hefiod preceded any of the prole- writers in Greece, ei? ther noralifts or hifloriaos ; and the firft efforts towards the latter branch of compofitioa among the * Romans, were probably of a po* etical kind*
* Dan:e» alfo, and Petrarch preceded any profe-writers of eminence in modern Italy; and Corneille and Racine were prior to the age of good profe-compofition in France. Even in our country, fome of the moft early literary performances with which we are acquainted were poetical ; and this mode of writing amongft us appears co have been brought nearly to its higheft perfedion, before any confiderable advances were made in the other. Of ih s we have a remarkable iaftance in the greateft genius this country ever produced ; whole proie-compofitions, in general, though fraught with good fenfe, ftioag reafoning, and often with nervous didion, are moftly uncouth io phrafeology, obfcure in exprcffion, debaicd by volgarifms, and de« iicieat io harmony of period ; whtlA his poetical works— -though not ^■ite void of fcholaftic didion, afiedation of literature, and fome* times, though bot feldom, vulgar txpreffion— excel, not in plaot thonght» fentiment, and charader only, but alfo io purity of ftyle, elegance of words and epithets, harmony and variety of numbers^ not only all preceding writers^ but all that have fucceeded him. In« deed, his fuperiority in this way has been fo remarkable* that few of our poets have ventured to tread in his ileps ; and thofe that have at- tempted the fame metre, though far from deficient in the poetical chara&er, have (hewn their own inferiority fo much, as to deter others, in a great meafure, from a fimilar f emulation.
' Even the rude inhabitants of Otabeite, Kew Zealand, and (eve* ral other places mentioned in Forfter*s Voyage, appear to have been aoch addided to poetical performances. They bad evidently a rhythm or cadenced meafure ; and their poetry, which appears to
1 laffci fuv vfcfrmi 1} «tuiT«t.— Strabo, lib. iv* 4 Geraania, np. iii.
I Be bardi ^aMcm fortia vtronin Uluftriom fa^t heroicit compcfita vcrfibui cum Mcabvs Lyr« modnlii cantitarunt.-^Ammian. MarceU. lib* av. cap. 9. ^ Diod. Sic«l. lib. r. p. 113. * Ncvitti aod Eoniiit wrote the Romto hiftory in TCrie. Probably tht Annola
vatuas, mcmiooed by Horace, EpUk. i. lib. 2. might be of t hit kind, t Dr. Yoofig*s Might ThoQghtt, and Thoinibn*s Seafont, though fublime and WavCifol ptrforraaocei in maoy itfpcAt, are fo infericr to Milton io point of expref. fioo Mid hacoMoy, as lieaicely to be raakod in theXune ijk ol peetry with his con* popnohi*
' Ran Jatf; 178s* D kave
34 Hi/lory of ihe tjle of mght.
have been both rhyme and blank verfe. Many of them were likewi/^ the produf^ion cf the moment, like the ancient Carmina Amabcca ; apd were, like them, accompanied with moiic. What the original motives were, that caufed mankind to adopt Mi mode ofexpreiTion, is not clear* Is it, that for want of a permanent record of any fen- timent or tranfaflion — fuch as is afforded by writing— they expreft themfelves in fuch meafores as may, with the lead difiicutty, be re- tained by the memory ? or is it — which appears to be more probable —that the very cadence of numbers is natural to the language of fen- timent, and fcrves bed to exprefs thofe ideas that naturally prefent themTelves tn men in this ftate of life.'
We could with pleafure extend our extra£ls from this inge- nious publication ; but the paiTages we have fele£ted will be fuf- ficient to give our Readers an idea of the variety of entertain- ment which may be expe£led from the perufal of the whole work.
Dr. Falconer's obfervations will, we apprehend, be found in general agreeable to fad and experience : but whatever may be thought of his reafonings, his work cannot but be elleemcd of confiderable value, as a copious magazine of curious fads, col* leded from an extenftve cotirfe of reading. And tc i» no fmall recommendation of the work^ that for every materlkT hiftoricat fa£l which Che Author mentions, he quotes his aitthority in the itiafgjn ; judging it more eligible, to disfigure his page with noces^ and even to incur, from the ignorant and fuperiicial^ the charge of a pedantic afFedation of great erudition, than to oblige the reader to^ depend entirely upon the fidelity and accuracy of the writer. In this refped, we cannot but wi(h, that his ex- ample were univerfaily followed by all who write upon hHlorical fubjeds.
t^ A good Index to thefe Remarks on the Influence of CIi» mate, &c. has been printed ftnce the frrft publication of the book, which will be delivered to the purchafers. 'C
Mk
lAMbi
Art. V* TJifi Hiftorj of tbt JJU of Wight. 410. 1 1, 78. Dod-
(ley, &c. 1781.
FOR this valuable piece of topographical hiftory the Public fs indebted to Sir Richard Worfley, Baronet. It is drawn up from the manufcript of .his^ grandfather. Sir James Worfley, Bart, who began to prepare materials for it early in the prefent century, and profecuted the dcfign till his death in 1757; and fmrri additional papers of his father. Sir Thomas Worfley, Bart..^ It is likewife enriched by valuable communications from the gentlemen of the ifland. To thefe a work fo well written, and fo refpe^lably authenticsited, on a fubje6l on which they are; more immediately intereiled, will doubtlefs be particularly ac-^ ceptablc. £u( i:. will alio aiSbrd entertainment and information
1 V9^
Hlfiory of the IJle. df WighU JJ
i^bthers ; efptfcially in thofe parts which treat of the civil and military hiftory of the Ifland.
The following is a more minute account of the tranfadions which pafled during the confinement of Charles I. in Carif^ broolce Caftle than has hitherto been made public :
* It may be colle^ed from Sir Thomas Herbert; that on the firft arrival of the King in the ifland^ Colonel Hammond lodged him in Carifbrooke ca01e ; not as a prifoner, but as agued: there was not the leaft appearance of reflraiuc on any of bis actions; he rode out for his recreation when and where he pleafed ; his faithful fervanta were permitted to repair to him, and all who defired it, were ad- mitted into his prefence without diliindtion. Tiit iirft reilraint .oii this freedom was refpedling his Chaplains, I^t. Sheldon and Dr. Hammond, who were not long permitted to exercife their fund!ion8» a lofs the King fupplied by his private devotions, and, on the Lord's day by reading the Scriptures, and other pious books ; not being difpofed to hear thofe preachers who ufed the diredtory then adopted.
* The enjoyment of this degree of liberty was however of no long duration ; for, aboiit the middle of February, Hammond, one after- noon, informed the King, that he had received orders '^ot to permit the attendance of Mr. Aihburnham, Mr. Legg, or any other of hi^ fervants whiD were with him at Oxford, their continuance about his perfon being judged improper. The King, with a countenance thac betraye^ both furprize and trouble, comipunicated this order to Aih- burnham and the red of the perfons concerned, as a circumftance he did not expert, and which was by no means confident with the pro- likifes made him by fome confiderable perfons. The next day, after the King had dined, thefe gentlemen came all together, and proifrat-^ lag themfelves at his MajellyU ft^i^ offered up their prayers to God for his pi^fervation, and, kiiling his hands, departeds
' The day following, his imprifonment became no longer equivocal; he being denied the liberty of going about the country. Still, though he was limited by the walls of the caftle, they included a fufiicient rpace for the exercife of walking, and afforded good air, and a de* h'ghfal profped both by fea and *land ; and, for the King's recrea* tion. Colonel Hammond converted the Barbican, a fpacious ar<ra^ ufed as a parade, into a bo.wiing green, and at one fide erected an agreeable fammer-honfe fof his amufement, where the King pafTed his vacant hours, the caflle laying no gallery, room of ftatf, nor even a garden ; fo that his.Majefty co'nflantly exercifed himfelf in thd morning by walking on the raibparts^ and* in the afternoon in the bowling-green, at the fame time c^efully obferving Hated hours for writing and devotion. Mr. Harrington a^d Mr« Herbert conttnncd waiting on him in his bed-chamber; to the latter he gave the charge • of his books, of which he himfelf kept a catalogue. The books he fttoft ofaally r^ad were the facrcd Scriptures,. Bifbop AndrewsN Ser- aona* Hooker*s Ecdefiaftical Polity, Doftor Hammond's Wjrk%' VtlUlpandas upon Ezekiel, &e. Sandys*s Paraphrai^ upon David'f F*alms, Herbert's Divine Poems, Talfo's Jerufalem, in Italian, with- Fairfax's £nglifli tranflation, Arioflo, and Spencer *s Fairie Queen. ^'i this ciflie lie is fappoicd to have written his tujfiria "Rfgalia. the
D 2 * -iLaAtticrfp(
Bi/hry rf ihi IJh rf tr$gbi.
ntflofeript of which Mr, Herbert fbond among the books the King gave him 9 in hit own hand-writiog.
* Notwichftanding the dridnefs with which the King was goarded, many peribni foand means to prefent themielves to him at bis ofoal times of walking within the Unei, in order to be toucbed for the diP- eafe called the King'i-evil The Governor's chaplain, a young many named Tronghton, feldom failed attending in the prefence- chamber when the King dined ; he poflc/Tcd all ihe argaments in fa« vour of hii fed, in oppofition to Epifcopacy : the King ufed fre* qoentlv to walk about with him an hour after meals, and engage in familiar converfation on thofe fubjeds. Troughton maintained his arguments with great earneftnefs, and the King never difcouraged him ; bat being a better logician, and deeper read in hiftory and po* lemics, always obtained the advantage. Once, whilll they were in the heat of argument, Charles took a fword from the fide of one of his attendants, and drawing it fuddenly, frightened the young chap- lain; but another gentleman prefent, who better nnderftood the King's inrentions, foon quieted Troughton*s apprchenfions, by kneeU' ine down and receiving the honour of Knighthood *• This was Mr. John Dnncomb, who came into the ifland to concert meafures wiih the King for his efcape, when the King told him he had not at that time any better means of acknowledging his fervices. After the Re- iloration. Sir John Duncomb was made Chancellor of the Exclle- qner.
* Soon after the arrival of the King at Carifbrooke cadle, an at- tempt was made for his refcue by Captain Burley, mentioned in Sir John Dingley's letter as Captain of Yarmouth caAle : the particulars of this tranfadion are not handed down, but it appears that the plan was ib ill laid and condudUd, that he was himfelf apprehended and executed. This attempt, in the prefent fituation of affairs, was ex- tremely prejudicial to the King; the Army and Parliament were' contending for the fuperiority they had jointly gained, and as the poflcffion of the King's perfon was a matter of great moment to each party^ fo a prevention of his efcape was a point in which they were both intereiled. This therefore will account for the fubfequcnt ri» gour of his confinement.
^ Mr. Henry Pirebrace relates, that, having the honour to bo known to the King by feveral fervices rendered him during the treaty of Uxbridge, and elfewhere, he received a private letter from him, commanding him to haften to the Ifle of Wight, with what intelli- gence he could procure from the moft faithful of his friends about London. He accordingly applied to the Speaker of the Houfe of Commons* and other Commiffioners, for permiffion to attend his Ma- jefty, as one of the Pages of his Bed chamber; which precaution he made ufe of, that he might ferve him with more freedom and lefs fqfpidon* His fird objed after his arrival, was how fafely to deliver into the King's hands the letters he was charged with : having found a convenient and private place in his chamber for depofiting his dif- patches, he flipt a note into the King's hand, as he was retiring to fefi, informing htm where they were hidden : the liext morning Mr.
f Sir T. Herbett's Memoirs. *{* Rapin, vol. ii. p. 545.
Fire brace
Hijlvry ofihil/Iiof ITigbt. J7
Firebrace fpand a letter in the fame place, hy wh'ch hit Majeftf ex* prefled his approbation of what he had done, and directing a contt- aaatioQ of the fame mode of correfpondence ; which they ac' rdingly made ofe of for feveral weeks. Firebrace had, previooi to his leav- ing IiOndoBy fettled a good channel of commanication with the King's friends there, by means of two trufty and anfufpefled men^ always coming and going ; fo that his Majefty never wanted intelli- gence from the Qaeen, the Prince, and many of his friends, even at the time when the vote again ft any more addreiTes to him took place* Mr. Firebrace alfo in6nuated himfelf into favour with the perfons appointed by Colonel Hammond to watch the King, by turns, at the two doors of his bed-chamber by day, and at night to deep ia beds ict fo clofe again ft thefe doors, which opened outwards, fo that they were kept faft till the beds were removed. The King conftantl/ retired to his bed-chamber as foon as he had fupped. Firebrace, one aight, pretending he had no appetite, offered his fervice to one of chefe guards, promifing to fupply his place at the door opening to he back«» ttairsy whilft he eat his fupper; this offer being accepted, he enjoyed an uninterrupted freedom of converiing with the King ; who deiired him to renew the like opportunity as onen as he could. Firebracet fearing he might be furpriied with the door open by any one coming faddenly into the bed-chamber, cut a flit through the wall or parti- tion behind the hangings, which, on the leaft noife, he could ia« fiaotly let fall : in thefe converfations they frequently deliberated on feme means for, the King's efcape, his impriionment being by thia time grown intolerable. Among other fchemes, Firebrace propofed his getting oat of the chamber-window ; but fearing the bars might reader the paflage too narrow, he propofed cutting tbem with a (aw; hot the King objeAiog the danger of a difcovery, comifianded him to prepare all things elfe for his departure, being confident he could get through the window, having tried with his head, and judging that where the head conld pais> the body would eafily follow. Firebraca imparted the defign to fome trufty friends, and with them concerted the pbn of operation. Thefe were Mr. Edward Worfley, a gentle* man of the ifland mnch efteemed, afterwards knighted for his (tt'^ vices oo this occafion ; Mr. Richard Ofboroe, a gentleman appointed by the Parliament to attend the King ; and Mr John Newland, of Newport, who all proved them (elves worthy of the confidence repofed in them. The plan agreed upon was as follows : At the time ap- pointed, Firebrace was to throw fomething up agaiaft the window of the King's chamber, as a fignal that all was clear, on which ihe King was to come out and let himfelf down by a cord provided for that parpofe ; being defcended, Firebrace, under favour of the dark- ■efs, was to cooduA him crofs the court to the main wall of the caftlet from which he was again to defcend into the ditch, by means of another cord with a fiick fattened cro^s it, ferving as a feat; be- yond thia wall was the connterfcarpa which being low, might be ea- fily afcendedj near this place Mr. Worfley and Mr. Ofl>orne were to be ready mounted, having a fpare horfe, with pidols and boots for the King, while Mr. Newland remained at the fea-fide with a large boat, ready to have conveyed his Majefty wb'ereever he fliould have thought 4t M ^l^^f A^ t^e appointed timcj when ail thiols wcr^
P 3 '>^
•V»:'
39 Hijlory of tbi IJle of IFight^
in readineG, aiid every one inflrufled in his part, Fi»ebrace {^ave thii expected fignal, on which the King attempted to get out of the win- dow, but found, when it was too late, that he had been fatally ipif. taken, for although he found an eafy paflage for his head, he ilucif fad between the bread and ihoulders, without the power of advancing or returning; but having the indant before midruded fcmething of this nature, he had tied a piece of cord to the bar of the winc^ow, by the means of which he might force himfelf back ag;iin. Firebrace heard him groan, without being sble to a^ord hi>m the leall iilTiilance ; however, the King at length, v^ith much difHculiy, having relcafcd himfelf from the window, placed a candle in it, as an intimation that his attempt was fruflrated. Had not this unfortunate impcdimenc happened, there is the greated reafon to believe he might have ef* fedied hisefcape; every part of the plan being fojudiciouCy arrangcdf It now became necedary to give notice of the difappointmcnt to thof^ who waited without, which Firebrace could find no beuer mewns of doing, than by throwing dones from the top of the wall, froni whence the Ring was to have been let down, to the [^lace where thty were in waiting: this fo well anfwered his intention, that they went quietly away; without having caufed any alarm.
* After this difappointment, files and aqua fortis were fcnt for from London, to corrode or cut through the bars of the wioduw ; but in the interim, Hammond received a letter from Dorb)huufe, diredt-: ing him to keep a watchful eye over thofe about the King, as there ivere fome among them who gave him intelligence. This, though 4 general hint of fufpicion, was not pointed at any particular pciion ; Hammond therefore employed his emidarics to make difcovciies, whq gave him fo much light, that he entertained fome fulpicion of Fire* brace, and examined him ; but not being able to come at any mate* rial difcovery, he told him the reafons by which he was actuated. Some time after, Firebrace was again fent for by Hammand, who in- formed him he had received more letters of intelligence, which would oblige him to difmifs feveral of the King's attendants, himfelf among the Jt^ ; but thit he might, if he pleafed, remain three or four days longer. Firebrace plainly faw this permidion was an intended fnare : he ncverthelefs determined to accept of it, and guide himfelf accord- ingly ; informing the King of his fufpicions, and fettling with him fuch a mode of correfpondence, that his Majtdy received intelligence from his friends, and had his difpatches forwarded with the fame fuccefs as before *•
* Another inefTedkual attempt for the King's efcape wa? made after the departure of Mr. Firebrace, by his remaining adcciatcs : the particulars are thus related by Lord Clarendon, and alio by a private account drawn up by Sir Edward Worfley, The King remembering his former mifcarriage, owing to the bar of his windrow, now took care to have that impediment removed, either by aqua fortis, or i. faw; but when he was coming through the window, he perceivcc{ more perfons under it than he expeded. This made him fufpedl» what was but too true, that his intention was difcovered : he there- fore diut'his window, and returned to his bed: foon after which the
•~
Fircbrace's Nairativei in Herbert's Memoirs*
' Governor
GuibertV EJay on Tallies! 3^
Governor came into his chembery and examining the windov^, per* ceived the bar had been eaten away. It appears (bat Major Rolfe^ an officer of the caftJe, had To far infinuated himfeif into the confix dence of Mr. Olhorne, that he was deceived into an opinion tba< Rolfe would heartily join in any attempt for the King's deliverance 1; whereas his real defign was to kill him as he came through the win- dow. Hammond was privy to this intention, and alfo polled mu{'^ qaeteers near where the gentlemen were of ncceflity to pafs, an4 in riding oiF. they luckily received the fire unhurt, getting fafely to* the velTel that lay in readinefs to carry cW the King ; but as they cane ^itliont him^ the roafler refufed to take them on board, fo thar^ kaving their horfes on the fliore, they were obliged to conceal theni- ** felves for feveral days in the woods, finding means in the nit^ht, by- the afljflance of a kiufman of Mr. Worflev'?, to procure fuil^nance, and a vefTel to take them off from the {ouch fide of the ifland.
' Thefc unfuccefsful attempts afforded pretences to increafe the ri- gour of the King's confinement, who, from the time his iervantft were removed, had laid afide all care of his perfon, fuffering his hair and beard, grown co an extraordinary length, to hang diftievelled and negleded; a decrepid old man, employed to kindle his ^rCp whom he afterwards fhewed to Sir Philip Warwick-, was> as he af- firmed, the bell company he enjoyed for feveral months.'.
The work treats at full length of the natural, commercial, civil, ecclefiaftical, and military hiftory, and antiquities of the ifland. An Apj^endix is fubjoined, containing deeds, charters, records, and other original documents, at full length. The- Hiftory is ornamented with many copper-plate views, fome of them very elegant. ]£ <
Art. VL ji Gtrnral Effay on Topics; with an Introdu^ory Dif- couKe, &c. Tranflated from the French of Monf. Guibert. fy amCfffl^ir^n ^vOm 2 vols. 12 s. Boards. MiJlan. 1781.
WE have here an attempt, hut not a very fuccefsful one, towards a tranflation of Monf. Guibert's famous Trea* tife oin TaAics, already fo well known in the military world,
Our lively neighbours have, probably, the knack of faying more on this, or on any other fubje£^, than all the reft of the world ; and one book among them is often the fertile parent of many more ; an author being not only a fource of ideas in himfeif, but the caufe of ideas in others. Whether in thefe days we can do more than formerly, we can furely ta/Jt and turite as much as in any foregoing period, — and fortunately for us Re- viewers, and for feveral other trades, if Readers do not fall off, there appears as yet no threatening fcarcity of Authors. . The ^ngVifh nation has been confidered as rather deficient in military authors, but we certainly are not deftituteof good tranf
* Lieutenant Douglas^ of the North LincQlnfhire Militia. Vid* (lie Mvirii/emnts of the book.
P 4 latorsj
49 Guiben*! Effaj on TaHici.
lators ; and aosongft the great number who now underftand the French language, we are furprifed to fee a Tranflator ftep forth who is fo little qualified for the office f • His ftile is throughout ftiflF, bald, aukward, difagreeable, and fo unlike the original, that one might alm6ft imagine it was fo contrived, that the fpirit of the Author might the more eafily evaporate. Hap-hazard, the Translator appears to be often trying to guefs the meaning of his Author by x,\itfiund^ &c. which reminds us of the wag who rendered ille fi fronunoit fur Us gazons JUuriSf'-^hy'^^^ (he pro* mifed herfelf a piece of flowered gauze/' The Work feems, however, to improve a little as we advance, and we have reafon to wilh and to hope, that this gentleman may improve himfelf aot only in the French, but in his Englilh, and in grammar, be* fore his next attempt.
As to the original of this Eflay on Ta6)ics, Monf. Guibert is certainly an ingenious and fpirited writer, and (kilful officer ; who treats his fubjed in a mafterly manner, though he may be thought fometimes rather pofitive and conceited, — efpecially for fo young a man. But we muft allow for the vivacity of a Frenchman.
By the way, we cannot help thinking, that a number of the principal authors on thefe fubjeAs might be taken in the grofa, suid abridged by fomeof our military gentlemen ;"—theeirence of their works might be extraAed, and given to the Public, to be read and fludied by many, who either could not, or might not chufe to confult the originals. — Even our Monf G. a young author, ardent to give us all he knows, i'propos or not, might, we fancy, be confiderably abridged, 9nd much of his declantatory. and prefatory matter, might probably be fpared, without any great lofs to the £ngli(b reader, Monf. G. laments the want of authors, and probably expe&s too much from books.
It is a genera] opinion, that the art of printing will cer- tainly be the means of preferving all the other arts. It is .to be wifhed we may not deceive ourfelves in this : The caufes of the decline of arts and of empires may be too powerful to be ftoppe4 by the art of printing. We fear that tyranny and corruptioa
f He traDQatei, Ifes gouvtrmnuwt /oMit — Our goverDmentt it.
Memt far Its tr^iiiej, — The fame by the treaties, meaniog even by, &c. C4ci lis ar«r#,— This rifes them in arms. Fmrt plact^ — M<ike place. Jlfaut q^i*elU (onduify dcfroni toutisUs parties deladmhiftratitn^^^ThtJ
mad be the precurfe of every circomftance which pertains to admi-
niftpation. y /'Mt/f,— Through envy, meaning tn competition* Em s^afprpchant 9^ In having a nearer proximiry* I///,^Hc done, ^c. &c.
Guibert*/ EJfaj on TaElia^ 41
miy poflibly overtake the arts, and may ftop or divert their pro- gre6 : and we know that fomc of the moft uicful have already been driven from certain countries in this manner, even fince th« invention of printing, Befides, there are arts and trades which probably cannot be taught or preferved by any writing \ and efcn among all thofe cleimentary books, which Monf. G. feemi to think To neceflary, we have feldom heard of any that could ea? tirely fupply the place of tn apprenticelhip in any of the com* mon trades. And though many good hints might be gathered from the Works of Monf^. &c. by officers of every rank, from the general to the drill* ferjeant, yet we much doubt if any one of them could be completely formed by all the books in the world.
Monf. G.\ Work begins by a preliminary dilcourie, a noted and elegant piece of declamation, containing likewife the plan of another publication with which he purpofes to favour, the world, and of which the prelent Eflay is only a part Then follow an introdudion, ^nd the Work itfelf, containing the whole Science of Ta£lics, from the drill, or education of troops^ aa he ftiies it, to the grand manoeuvres or fcience of the general, ' with all our Author's improvements, which feem to be very confiderable, and, confequently, (hould require time and reflec«^ tion before they -can be introduced, however warmly and clearly Ipe may ftate their fuperiority over all other fyficms and improve-* Bents.
He divides Tallies into i. Elementary firfl principles ; and 2. The complicated and fublime fcience of the general, which (hould unite all the different parts, and comprehend every branch of knowledge. He obferves, that this fublime part was loft with the fall of the Roman empire; — revived again by Guftavus and Nallau, — but there it ftopped, — then chance and routine go* veroed. The genius of Saxe had a glimpfe of this great art, which he had not time to create ; — that was referved for the King of Pruffia,— -to manage ioo,oco men as eafily as loco. He has been copied without being underftood. National differences, chara^rs, governments, now difappear ; all are modelled on each other, efpecially in whatever is military; and all equally indolent and efieminate, aukward and averfe to manly exercifes, and tacitly agreed in depending on fire arms and long thin lines.
Our policy appears moft wretched when compared with that of Greece and Rome, where, he obferves, during a (hort t'me, more great and eood men were produced, than in all the reft of the world ever fince.
* Syftems of government are now formed, not on the happinef;, but on the oppreffion of the people, who, fo far from chufing, loving, or fupporting their prefect governments, would all gUally hseak their cbainsy and change their laws and mafters,
if
4t Guibert'j Effay on TaiJici.
if they were not fo ftrongly bound by vices, habits, or force.'-^ Each lives for himfelf ; there is no public : Governments at war with their fubjedbs, corrupting one part to rule the reft, in dread of their being inftrutSed ;• - promoting luxury and vice, fo as to weaken and impoverifh, abforbing the riche<>, &c. In ihort, to ^|^eaken and divide, fo as to govern more eafily, — to op- prefs with impunity, — is now mifcalled the fcunce of government^ Defended by the moft defpicable and miferable of their fubjedts, •— preferved from the mutual and malignant vengeance of each other, more by weaknefs and refemblance, than by any of their little cunning fyftems of balance of power or trade, of ntrgocia- tiiig, cheating, &c. on which they fcem fo much to depend.— ^ Their peace eftablifhments, already beyond their finances, zni yet they declare war, drain and ruin each other ; till forced to peace by inability, each refts feated on his own ruins, ftrivrng tc^ patch up his affairs, to pay his debts, and whet his arms afrefh/
Our Author has hazarded a prophetic furmife of the increafmg fuperiorjty of our nation over hisown, which he may probably live to fie Contradi^ed.
. He juftly cenfures t^e want of nnity and greatnefs in our go- vernments, and all th^fe little partial ichcmes and interefls ot fo inany feparate departments. >
Some kings and minifters, he fays, have procured to their coun- try a little temporary fuccefs ; but no nation has ever had any real- and durable profperity, * except where the nature of their govern- ment gave them fome permanent ihftitution, or body of people, to colled the knowledge and reduce the interefts of the ftate to a fyftem, — to unite the paft, prefent, future : In fhort, a conjii- tution formed on the principles of freedom, wircom,and dura- tion.'
* The great fcience of politics, as it improves, muft thereby be- come more fimple, folid, and eafy. Liberty, proteftion, (ecu- rity, would form the whole commercial code. 'All pares of po*' licy and of war would, in like manner, be fimplified.
* It is a melancholy reflcdlion, that the firft art invented by men fhould have betn that of deftroying each other; and that, fince the beginning of time, more fchemes and talents have been employed to injure than to benefit humanity.
Our Author traces the progrefs of War round the globe, and- fees her flying the rich and enlightened nations, and rcfiding chiefly with thofe that areruftic and poor ; as, for inftancc, the Perfiins, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, before they were corrupt- ed.— He fays, * That the invention of gunpowder did not tend to perfedfc or improve the military art, while it helped to deftroy that enviable inftitution of Chivalry :— That changes have fince been introduced, fatal to humanity and to the progrefs of the art, as thofe numerous and unwieldy armies, with their immenfe ar-
tillcry^
-^v
WakficldV EJfay on In/piratm. 45
tillery, &c. the management of which has been underftood only ly a few, and has never been properly taught. Hence wars be- come ftill lefs decifive, more frequent, tedious, and fatal to na* tions and their population/ He recommends fimplifying and diminiOiing our armies and manoeuvres, and declaims againft the many bad efFe£^s of our prefcnt policy, &c. But the dawa of morning banifhes the night, and gives hopes of day. When the propagation of knowledge fhall become general among all ranks, the world will be happy; — and his hopes of this happy period proceed from the chance of virtue and genius being bora together on the Throne. While arts and letters have been po- liOiing mankind, their governments have permitted thofe reme- dies to turn to poifon. War is become a kind of polite amufe- mcnt. r^urope is now peopled with a fet of miferable artiits and tradefmen, equally indifferent to, and incapable of, the defence of their country. Nations now depend for their very exiflencc on a bafe and mercenary foldiery, badly conftitutcd, and un- interefted in viftory or defeat. The whole of the people ibould be taught the ufe of arms, and military difcipline ought ID be an indifpcnfible part of education.'
We wi(h that our limits, as well as our abilities, had been more equal to our defire of doing juflice to this fpirited and in* genious officer; who promifes the public (lill more of the fruits of his application, which may be ftill more mature and ufeful: He may then have acquired a greater portion of what he obferyeg to be a rare and neccflary talent, and only to be obtained with years,— that of coolly expreffing what we warmly feel.' --. -^^ • *
Art. VII. Jh EJfay on In/piration, ccnjtdered chiefly with rt/ptS to x' ^t,/, the Evangelijis. tJy Gilbert Wakefield, B. A. laic Fellow of Jcfus College, Cambridge, and now clafTiCbl Tutor at Warrington. 8vo*
'21. 6d. Johnfon. 1781.
THIS Writer is a fierce advocate for free inquiry; and as fierce and formidable an enemy to Creeds, Catechifms, and Articles of Faith. He is terrible in his wrath againft ^ the damnable Athanafian hcrefy ;' and cafiing about his firebrands (though not in /port) he cries Havocif and lets loofe — the thunder pf *• his red right hand" — rubente dextra facras jaculutus arces — * to demolifii the outworks which the blind and timid credulity of darker ages aiTifted to ere£l for the entrenchment of fuperfti- tion and ecclefiaftical fupremacy.'
'* Gon, Drum, Trumpet, Blunderbufs, and Thunder!'' You have here fine work cut out for you.
But we will beat a parley for a moment, to read the mamftft9 which tbi$ champion hath exhibited as a plea for a declaratloa pf war againft Fathers, Councils, Synods, Afiemblies, Convo-
cationSy
44 Gilbert'^ Plan for the ReUifof the Poor^ &c#
cations, I. e. againft ignorance, policy, bigotry, prieftcraft, fu* perftition, and the ground of M^pUnary infpiration! Hear liim.
* The notion of a plenary infpiration, oppofed in this eflay, ii one of thofe many fancies that have impaired the ftrength and tarniOied the beauty of our religion : it hath conduced to extin«* gui(h the light of reafon, that candle of the Lord which illumi* nateth every man that cometh into the world. Reafon is re- iuflantly borne away in triumph without a temporary permiffion to advertife the conqueror of his frailty and fallibility* Reallj this is a lamentable complaint ! But this hero of Warrington is determined to bind the ftrong man armed : — to kill t;he great giantt Infpiration^ that hath fo long (hut up Dame Reafon in his enchanted caftle, and treated her with fcorn and negleA; to put the fceptre in her hand, and lead her forward to head * the CHOSEN FEW of our own day, who (as Mr. Wakefield (ays— ^ for be is one of the number) may be of fome fervice in enlight- ening the minds, and dilating the hearts of our poflcri.ty, by fur* nifliing right notions of Chriftian truth and Chriftian liberty/
This Writer, in the * ardor' of his zeal againft * an ignoble acquiefcence in the decifions of our forefathers,' applies two lines of Mr. Pope to thofe ignoble (laves to antiquity^
Who fcorn a lad fliould teach hit father ikiil* .Aod baviDg once been wrong, will be fo Hill.
We fuppofe Mr. Wakefield to be the lad referred to by tbia quotation. We hope for his own fake, that he is nothing more^ ■and would have him refled, before he publi(hes any more efTaya on facred fubjeds, on two other lines of the fame great poet :
We think oar fathers fools^^io wile we grow !
Our wifer fons, no doubt, will think us/o* ^P^, ••llW«
Art. VIIL Plan for thi hotttr Rtlitf and Empleymtut of tbt Poor, for tnforcimg and amending the Laivt rtfpeBing Houjet of CorreQion and Vagrantx^ and for impro*ving the Pelice of this Country ; together nvi/h Bllst intended to he offtred to Parliament /or tbefe PmrpofeSm By Thomas Gilbert, £fq. 8vo. as. 6d. Witkie, 1781.
THE imperfedions of the prefent fyftem of our Poor Lawi (as they are called) have long been felt and complained of; and the two oppofite defers have been imputed to them, of intolerable expence, and deplorable inefficacy. To bring about a reformation in fo important a part of our police, * to
* proniote induftry by compelling every poor perfon to labour
* who is able to work, to take proper care of thofe who are
* not fo, to reform the difTolute and refradory by puni(hmenta f well adapted to their offences ; and, by a feafonable and pru* f dent oeconomy, to guard againft every impofition| and unne-
S jc(&ry
— • " •
Gilbert*! Plan fir tbi Riluf of the Poifj &c* 45
' cfflaiy expence/ ace the great and benevolent purpofes of the very refpedable fenator who gives this plan to the Public. To enter into a particular detail of the three^ills he has drawn up, would lead us too far; to pronounce upon their merits miffht be a violation of decorum, efpecially as they are now under the revifion of that great Corps of LAwRfiviEWERs, the two houfcs of parliament : We (hall juft make one obfer- nation, which is applicable to all plans that are extenfive, and meant to be carried into general ufe, namely, that it requires lictle lefs virtue and pxiblic fpirit in the different orders of men who are to execute a falutary law, than it does wifdom and en- largement of mind to frame it. The condudi of overfeers and parilh-officers has too often been fuch, as to make any very raoguine hopes of their cooperation in a law which depends much on them for its fuccefs, appeaf fomething like ^ixoti/m. With regard to juftices of the peace, as they are, or ought to be, men of education and property, we are defirous to en-* certmio the fame opinion as Mr. Gilbert, whofe animated fenti* ments on this fubje£l do him the highelt honour ; and we hope bis generous labours in the fervice of the Public will not lofe their efled.
' I have heard itobferved, that although the plan of tbefe Bills is confe£cdl]r a good one, yet the juftices of peace (upon whofe (honl- the great burden liei) will not give themfeives the trouble to [ecote it. This is the langaage kA Jlotb and timidity^ which has long prevailed, and well-nigh ruined the internal police of this cooacfy» which 1 am moil anxious to revive. I will not judge (b uafsvoorably of my fellow- juiiices, as to imagine, that when they fee their country at the very brink of deftruftion. they will not lend a hand to lave her, by executing a law which is plain, eafy, priCflicable, and pffMiifiii|^ an effe^ual relief.
' The magiftratei, who facrifice their time, and expence too« ia the cxecatioD of the laws of their country, without fee or reward, have safiaite merit, and andoobcedly ought to be treated with very peat refped.
* It IS an office of great trod and importance, upon which the wtU-bdag of this country, in a great meafure, depcndi. It grieves oae to iea gentlemen of fortune and ability, in every county, de* diaiag co iSt. The principal cabfe alleged is, the difficohy and per* ykxity af" the laws.
* I chink every endeavour (hould be ufed to make the laws as plant aad intelligible as poffible ; and, for thac purpofe, if a gentleman or two^ edacaced at the bar, were to be appointed, by fome of the great iadicial officers of the law, with fnitable falaries, to infped all pub* flC hiUs, before they are pafl^d, during the feffions of parliament, and ariatervals; and, during the receft of parliament, to be employed ia colleding and digefting the fiatntes upon particular heads, when diey are numerous, in order to their being reduced into one ad, in a facare feffiona ; and if there (hoold be a (landing committee ap- foiasttd so foperintcnd thofe proceedings, it might be the means of
preventing
46 ^ Gilbert'^ Plan for the ReKef of thi Poor; &c;
preventing many inaccuracies in penning the new aAs» and wbok! loon render the rclt eafy and intelligible. •
* To the fame he^il may be referred another difficulry and embar- rafTmcnc attending jiilUcts of the poacs, which I think ought to be , prevented. They kre at a great cxpcnce iu purchafing ti^e afls of parlianieut ; and complaints are frequently brought to thenn, upon new laws, before they have been able to procure the aft*.
* 1 (hould hope fome means may be found to obviate this, withcoC XDuch expence either to his Majelly or the Public,
* Thefe bills, with the ob(ervacions I have made upon them» con* vey nay reotinsents, upon a fubjcft the moll interelling and impor-* taut to the future «%eifare and proiperity of this country, that can po0ibly come btrfore parliament ; formed, not hallily, but upon the mod matuie deliberation.
* I can aiTurc the reader, whoever he may be, high, low, rich, or poor, that I have no purpofes of my own to fervc, no views to gratify, no expectation of reward for my labours, but uhatarifes' from the pleating refieclion of my own mind ; that J have, for many years pad, devoted a great fhare of my time, not without confider^ft ' able expence, to an objedt, pleafing to niyfelf, and, 1 prefume, not • unworthy the attention of fuch as have at heart the welfare of their country, — /i6a/ of difeo*vtring^ and tndta'UQuriHg to relit<vit tbi dif* tnjfn of many hundred tboufandi of our flionv-crcaturtSy who fall an* . der the reach of thefe bills.
* I do not pretend to reprefent thefe bills as perfe^ and fit» ia ^ their prefent (late, to be paiTed into laws; but as the didrefTes of ^ the poor, and the burden upon thofe who maintain ihcm, are fo great, and daily increafing, I could not prevail upon myfelf, any longer, to poftpone bringing the fubje6t, fairly and openly, in the , ibape it now is, before parliament ; having found, after waiting many . years, that no other gentleman was inclined to undertake it, nor any plan propofed, for bringing forward fo very cflTential a work, by . thofe who are at the head of our public affairs. Nor have I been . deterred from fleadily purfuing the objefl to its prefent crifis, by ' meeting with the frowns, inllcad of receiving the countenance^ of. fdme perfons, which, from their iituation, and the great importance . of the fubjed, I thought I had good reafon to expect.
* The utmoft of my wifhes are, that the plan and bills may be' ' confidered, dating the courfe of the fummer, by the members of botb . houfes, and particularly thofe of the long robe ; and alfo by magif- , trates,' and others converfant in the fubjefl ; and that they may be . fairly and candidly difcufTed the next felTion, in a manner which the magnitude of the fubje^ deferves. *
' If they (hould, after proper correal ion and amendments, be found . admiflible, it will afford me great faiisfaclion ; if not, I hope they will be the means of producing fome others, better digeilcd, and adapted to the purpofe ; as my defircs are, that this nectfl'ary fervice ' may be rendered to the Public i not being at all anxious iiom whofe hands it fhall come' rp
Art*
( 47 )
A XT. 1\. Supi^hrr.ent to Mr. Cilberrs Plan and Bills for tht RtlUf tf tbi Peer, CJf. Delivered Gratis to the Purchafers of the Plan,
THIS fupplcment Ci>nta:,ns foinc further explanations, and judicious alterations, of the bills as originally framed j and liicewifc a ihort index to the material parts of each. — ^
Art, X An /,*ifnv?r to Afr. ^lf.nv*s Enquiry into tht Authenticity of the Pams afcribed to 0{Jian, Dy John Clark, Tranflaior of the CaiedoDian Bards ft and Member of the Society of dcots Anti* quariea, 8vo. i .s CaJeil, 1781.
1 N our late review of Mr. Shaw's Enquiry *, wc expreflti I an opinion, in ftrong terms, of the neceffity of a full and clear anfwer to it. His charges were direct, and perfonal ; and ftrucic deep at the credit of I'ome refpedable charad^ers. Their veracity was impeached by the moft forcible and pointed r;flcr- tions ; and feveral gentlemen, in whofc honour we had the fuileft confiJence, were held up to the Public as the wilful abet- tors of an impofture.
Amongft others, the ingenious and learned Dr. Fergufon, profefTur of moral philofophy at Edinburgh, was reprefented by Mr. Shaw as a co-adjutor in the fraud of Mr. Macphcrfon, by introducing to Dr. Percy a Highland ftucicnr, to rehcarfe ferae parts of Oflian in the pretended original, which, in fad^^ Mr, Shaw declares were tranllated from Englilh into Gaelic, in order to carry on the impofition. Dr, Fcrgufon, by a pub- lic advertifcment in the St. James's Chronicle, and other pa- pers, not only denied the more ferious part of the charge, which fo deeply affe<Sted his honour, but alfo declared that he never was prefent at fuch a recital ; and that every circumilance ia the charge was falfc. One part of Dr. Fergu ion's declaration, however, hath been cbntradickd in the fame papers by Dr. Percy himfelf — but with a politenefs and delicacy beoming the charader of that ingenious and worthy divine. He would not fiippoie that, if any fraud was ai^ted. Dr. Fcrgufon was privy to it ; and is willing to believe, that his having been prefenc at the recital abovementioned had efcaped his recollection. For,. in fa£t^ it appears, that Dr. Fvrgulon was prefent^ together. with Dr. Blair; and was alfo the very pcrfon who introduced Che Highland (ludent to Dr. Percy, and gave the Dodor, who Wat fceptical about Oflian's poems, an invitation to his own houfe, for the purpofe of convincing him or ihcir authenticity by means of this very recital.
^ f For oor account of the Caledonian Ba:d*, Ac Re/, vol. li.x. p. 367. * See Review for iall awnilk.
The
48 CIark*i Anfwir to Shawns Enjuifj^
The author of this pamphlet informs us, that ^ he perfonally applied to Dr. Blair, and Proftflbr Fergufon, and they autho- rifed him to aflfure the Public, that the whole is, in exfiry par- ticular, a falfthcod. If Mr. Shaw wifliei to clear himfelf of this dire£l charge of writing a falfchood, he may apply to Dr« Percy, the refpedable Dean of Carliflc, for his authority to contradid it in public* Dr. Percy informed the Public, that he entered, with the greateft reludance, into the controvcrfy | but that he was compelled, by truth, to relate what he knew of the aflPair.
We think it due to Mr. Shaw to give thefe particulars to the Public, with their full evidence. How far his having been cleared by fo uncontrovertible an authority, from the direA charge oi falfehoed^ in one inftance, may leflen the weight of other charges of a fimilar nature alledged againft him, is a point we muft leave to be decided by every man for himfelf. We have already obferved, that impoftun muji txiji finuwbire or other. Mr. Clark avers, that it exifts wholly and entirely with Mr. Shaw ; and, to convince the Public that this is really the cafe, he bath not only attempted to confute Mr. Shaw'a Enquiry by argument, but by teftimony ;— -and fuch teftimony» (00, as appears to be in a very great meafure deciflve.
As we have ftated Mr. dhaw's evidence at large, the fame juftice is due to Mr. Clark ; and we will fully difcharge the obligation.
We were indeed aware, that much depended on the perfona! credit of Mr. Shaw; and, from fome enquiries concerning his charader, we were not difpofed to rejedl his teftimony as. wholly fpurious : nor could we willingly allow ourfelves to think that he was fo far loft to honour, and even common precau* Cion^ as to crowd his book, not only withevafive and equivocal reafonings, but with aflertions fo palpably falfe, as to open the evident door to detection and confutation^ However, we are forry to fay, that Mr. Clark feems to have fucceedcd too well in e'xpofing Mr. Shaw's ^ pretenjkns to truth :' for if we might comprife the prefent attempt into a brief yet comprehenfive account of its general defign, we might call it— ^ The Lii. direA to Mr. William Shaw.' — This gentleman, who was fo eager to fix the charge of impofition on his countryman, and who flood forward as the only Scotchman who had the honefl^y Qt the courage to fpeak the truth, is here held forth to public view, in the horrid light of an abandoned and unprincipled man, whofe fole motive was intereft, combined with revenge : »^a miferable outcaft from his country, and his country's e& teem ; a venal apoflate from the Church of Scotland \ an in* grate to bis bcft friend, and a mean paraluc of Oilian's worft
eae*
Clark' J Anfwer to S haw V Enqutfj.- 49
encmj — Dr. Johnfon. This— if wc may credit Mr. Clark— \ii$ is Mr, Shaw.
After fome general remarks on Mr. Shaw's, birth, edu^ cation, and profeflion, Mr. Clark expofes his Gaelic erudition with the aioft pointed feverity ; and particularly obferves, with refped to his DiSlionary^ that * inftead of adhering to thedialeA fpiken in the Highlands of Scotland, he haih thrown into hit work all the words he cou4d collect /rom vocabularies of the different dia*> lefts of the Celtic ; particularly that which it ufcd in Irelapd.f This corrupt mixrare is attriburcd, by our author, to Mr, Shawns having fpent the former part of his life in his native ide of A*ran^ ' where a dialed of the Gaelic tongue is ufed, fo corrupt in the wordii, ind fo vciou^ in the pronunciation^ as ro be almod unintelligible \xx the other weftern iflands, and the oppofie continent of the High- lands* where the langu^tge is fpoken with elegance and purity.'
To the fingle and unfupported aflertions of Mr. Shaw, his anfwcrer oppofes the direft and explicit teftimonies of foveral very refpeclable gentlemen ; and hath even oppofcd Mr. ^haw's aflertions by hU own teflimony, in part col ledlcd from his Anar Ijlfis^ which is before the Pubiic, and in part from privi(te let- ters, which arc in the potnflion of the Author himfelf.
With refpcS to the authenticity of the poems of Offian^ which it was the dtfign of Mr. Shaw's Enquiry totally to inva^* lidate, Mr. Clark grants, that < he never, indeed, heard the fimi^al and Ttmtra rchcarfed by any Jingit Highlander in the fame irraAgemenc in which iVlr. Macpherfon liath publifhed them ' But he alicrtf, that * he hsh frequently heard, from different per fons, almoft every pafTige in ihc^e two poems/with no more difference from the tranflation than uhat the genius of the language required $ and oot near fo much as there is between the different editions of tkefe poems in thcr different parts of the Highlands. This variation was well accounted fur (fay 9 Mr. Clark) by Mr. Shaw himfelf [viz. in his AMaljfis]^ before he thoirght it his intereft to difguife the uoih.'
There was a time, it feems, when Mr. Shaw was fo firmly perfuaded of the authent.city of thefe poems, that * he pro* pofcd to me (fays Mr. Clark), to print propofals for a general col- IcAion of them» as well as of oihers, and to arrange the whole Am- ply as they are rehrarfcd by the people, without making them up into epic pieces; wb'ch I accordingly did. The originahy and tranl- lations were to have1>rcn publilhed in fepar^te volumes. Mr. Shaw liimfelfy with the g^eateil enthufiafm, voluntarily undertook to pro* cure fobfcribers for me in England, and wrote me fevcral letters on that fubjed from London, affuring me in the moil pofitive manntr of his fuccefs. But indead of performing what he had thus fponta* BCOiifly promifed, the very next part of his conduct towards me was 10 bold me forth as an impnffor to the Public'
Mr. Shaw, we find, was angry with Mr. Macpherfon, not
for palming fiAitious poems on the Public, but lor curtailing
Rev. J«in. 1782. £ the
5d Glark*i Anjwir U SbawV Enfuiry.
the originftls. Tht Maid of Craca^ an cpifode in Fingal, wai omitted by the editor, but is now in the pofleffion of Mr. Clark. It extends to fome hundred lines, and is a large com- plete poem of itfelf,
Mr. Shaw, in his Enquiry^ fpeaks very particularly of his vifits to Mr. Mackenzie, treafurer of the Highland Society^ for the purpofe of infpeding Gaelic MSS. ; and records a fingu* lar circumftance, which we quoted in our laft Review. Ii; i^ fit we Ihould prefent the res^der with Mr. Mackenzie's own ac- count of this tranfa^ion*
' To prove (fays our inthor), beyond the power of contradiflioii^ the difingejiiiity» as well as the grofs ignoraoce of Mr. Shaw, on ft fnbjed which he preteadi to aDderftand better than any nan liviii|» I will lay before the reader the following fads. Mr. Mackenzie haib authorifed me to fay, ** that Mr. Shaw had feen the MSS. in hit caftody before the poblicatton of his pamphlet ; had looked at them^ and turned over the leaves ; but at that time bad read only a few words np and down in different places, but not one complete (cn« tcnce, though requeued fo to do by Mr. Mackenzie at that time. That fince ine pubiication of his pamplet, Mr. Shaw hath again ieeit thofe MSS. and again read fingle words in different parts ; but opod being preffed by Mr. Mackenzie, in prefence of another gentleman, to try to read a few fentences» he applied htmfelf to one page of a MS., in verfe ; and, after poring about a quarter of an hour, he made out three lines, which related, as read aloud by Mr. Shaw himfeir, l§ Ofcar thi fin tf Offiam, Upon being aiked how thofii lines agreed with the dodrine of his pamphlet ? Mr. Shaw anfweredt that he believed" they were the compofitions of the 1 5th century ,aad not of Oflian.'
After remarking fome curious inftances of Mr. Shaw*s al« leged ignorance, contradidion, and vanity, our Author gives u$ a piece of valuable information. Dr. Johnfon, on being in- formed that fome part of Offian's poems had been found in the Saxon charaSer, remarks, in his * Journey to the Weflern Iflands,' that the * editor of QfEan had difcovered, by fome pe- culiar fortune, an unwritten language, written in a chara£ler ^^ which the natives probably never behdd.' ' Here,' fays Mr, Clark, ' Dr. Johnfon betrays ignorance incompatible with his high
fireteniions to letters. There is not a man in Great Britain, or Ire- and, at all ^onverfant with old MSS. but knows, that the Sazoas» Highlanders, and IriOi wrote their feveral languages in the felf-fane charadter. Whether the Iri(h and Highlanders had them originally from the Saxons, or the Saxons from them is a matter of no moment. They are undoubtedly the fame, and came originally from the Ro- mans, who were certunly the introducers of letters into Great Bri- < tain ; from which they were tranfplanted, with the Chriftian religion, into Ireland. St. Patrick, who was a Scotchman, is faid to have been the iirfl who introduced letters into Ireland; and if that was the cafe, it is probable that the Irifh, Scotch, and Saxons, received the Roman letters through the hands of the ancient Britons*'
2 At
Chrk'i Ahfimr U Shaw'i Enquiry^ 51
As the ancient and even modern ftate of the Highlands is not \
generally underftoodi Mr. Clark lays a fliort iketch of it before the Reader, from which he will eafily fee how their ancienc Poems came to be preferved.
* When St. Columba, in the 6th centvry, gathered the monks into adtoaieries, the Gaelic was die only language of Scotland and Ire- liad : ftDd Roman learning began to be cultivated in thole monafie* net ^* At there was a conftant intercourfe betVireen the inhabitants of both iflandft as the defcendants of one common parent^ and as their faiBgaage was materially the fame, it was reduced to writing m the fame chsHrader, and on the fame grammatical principles» by both* The policy of the clergy induced them, to confine ail learning to thdr own order, by which means they not only kept the vulgar in •we with greater eale, bat often aimed at the moft eminent civil oficet in tbs ftate. At the genius of Chriflianicy did m>t, like that of Dmtdifm, admit of a jua^ioii becweea the bardi and the clergy, the former we^e prevented ^m partaking of the advantages arifing ham the cnhivatioii of letters. The poetic trade, however> conti- Boed, not oaty hoaourable, but lucrative. As books were unknown to thr people^ the (bags of the b4rdi became the only amufements of iheir hsifure hourS» The authors were careiTed* honoured, and re- warded by a people cnthuiiallicaHy fond of the memory of their fore« Others* As the mind was not dorcd with any other fubjefls of con- templation except chofe poems, they were learned with a degree ot qai^khefs, and preferved with a purity, which, to perfons accuftoitie^ to the ofe of books, is m>t eafily conceivable. His bard was to the ancient chief, what a library is to the modern one. Public aeade^ Bies were inftitutcd for the Audy of the poetic art; and it is nor to be ioiagined that candidates would be wanting for fuch an employ- aeot. When the pious Chriftian went on a pilgrimage to the tomb of his fiivoartte fatnt, thb bard, with equal enthufiafm, travelled to the hahitatioa of his favourite poet, to learn his compofitions. When the compofitions of one conntry had been acquired, tHofe of another woe fought after ; Ireland and Scotland were alternately vifited by the bards of each nation.
* Although literature was thus negle£led by the bards, it was xn- daftr^nfly caMvated by the clergy of the Highlands and Ifles, befori the reformflMon. Bat the arc of printing ivas unhappily little pra^- dfed 10 our country before that period, and the maDnf:ripts, a few excepted, fliired the fate of the monafteries, which perilhtd by the cathafiafttc zeal of the times.
* The modern ftate of the Highlands prefents a view fomewhat difiereat, which eafily accounts for the negled of Celtic literature, of* late.
* The people of fortune fend their children, when very young tb the low conntry, to be edocated, who, as the Gaelic language ii utterly ookoown at the univeritties, have not an equal opportunitt of iteniiTg it with other branches of literature. ... On his knowledge
«
^ Particulary at that illuilrious feat of learning I^coUmb^kiU, 4e* feoffliaated from its founder, St, Columia. Rev.
£ 2 of
52 Clark'/ Anfwer to. Shaw^i Etifuiry.
of clafljcal learning, and the £ngli(h language, every promotion through life is thought encirel]^depend. Whrn his education is compleated, he ]s fixed in fome prolSflion, the knowledge of which takes up the next period of his life. • • • Hence poetry [the Gaeffc] is with a few exceptions, negleded by the learned in the Highlands* We (hall sexc fee by whom it is preferred.
* When the rich fend their fons to the univerfity to fearch for fci- ence, the poor fend theirs to the mountains to look after their cat- tle. Thefe, as the land is not in general favourable to agriculture, conflicute the principal wealth of the country ; and confequently their prefervation becomes the firft objc6l of attention. The moon- tains on which they feed being extenfive, little time ia exhaufted in attending them. Leifure and retirenr.cnt beget refleflion ; and the mind, ondifturbed by the bullle of fociety, has full time to look back 10 the tales of other years. The fcenery of ancient poetry it familiar to the eye; and the bread, hitherto vacant, is prepared for its reception* Thus the inferior fort of people fearch for perfons whoxan rehearfe thofe poems; and they learn them with incredible facility. And in this manner they acquire an early acquaintasce with the illuftri- ous chara6\ers celebrated in the traditions of their country.'
Though Mr. Macpherfon hath declined to appear in perfon in a controverfy which he himfelf hath excited, and whitih for fome time hath fubflfted on his credit, yet on his authority Mr. Clark informs us, that what Mr. Shaw relates concerninz his interview with Mr. Macpherfon contains the mod grofs and wilful falfehcods. The Author of this pamphlet declares, that be is authorized poiitively to deny Mr. Shaw's infidious charge againft the editor of Offian, viz. tf^at on defiring to fee the QaelU manufcrtpts he was always put off with fome evafive apology. Mr. Macpherfon never recolle£is Mr. Shaw's having prclumed to afk for a fight of them : though if he had made the requefl-, Mr; Macpherfon believes he (hould not have granted it, as he dif- liked the man, and was convinced of his ignorance. Mr. M. farther declares, that the manufcripts depofited with Mr. Becket contain no Irifh genealogies, as Mr. Shaw would infi- nuate, were never in Mr. Mackenzie's hands, and never out of Mr. Macpherfon's poiTeffion, fince they were taken from Becket's (hop.
Mr. Clark makes a modeft apology for his own attempt to Juftify himfelf from the charge of impofition direSly brought againft him by Mr. Shaw. For the particulars of his vindica* cation we muft refer the curious Reader to the pamphlet itfelf. Mr. Clark gives a flat denial to Mr. Shaw's aflertions ; and after offering fome bbfervations to credit his own, he hath the following bold and flriking expreflions. ^ I am tired, and I ^MX I have tired the Reader much more with joining falfehood to the name of Mr. William Shaw ; though downright fictions merit little more than a flat contradiction. And yet I am roufed to a repetition lof thefc difagreeable contradidlons in every page of bis pampbL-i;
5..'
ClarkV Anfwer to Shaw'i Enquiry. 5 J
for there is not a page that Is not replete with the moft impadent ftlfehoods. Aroidft the agicacioil whkh an honeft man feels at tstty daring violation of veracity, 1 fomecimes hefitate whether the re* fped due to trcthyOr the good manners to «vhich the Reader is en- titled, (hould preJominare, But as an attention to truth is itfelf com* siendable, 1 trufl I ihall be excufed for expreflions, which under that COflfitleration cannot be deemed too fevqre.'
A letter under profeflbr M^Leod's own hand, addreflld to our Author, contains a dire£l and unequivocal denial of what Mr. Shaw aflerted in hrs enquiry, viz, ** that he ofFered hicn half a crown per word for all that he could produce of OSan's poetry, above fix lines." The profeflbr's letter con- tains the following curious particulars, '' Mr, Macpherfon, ** with whom J had the happinefs of commencing a very early ^ acquaintance at college, read a confiJerable part of thofe ^^ poems to me in the original Gaelic, before the publication of '* his verfion : and it was owing to ^ny own engagements at ^* the time, and not to any baclcwardnefs on his part, that I •* had not the pleafure of hearing him read the whole. He ** lately indulged me with the original of feveral paffagrs of •• both the poems of Fingal and Tcmora, to gratify a third ** gentleman, who wi(hed to have thofe pafCiges in the Gaelic: '* and I have not the leaft doubt of his dilpofition to oblige ** me, or any man who applies to him as a gentleman, in the ^* fame way again } or by giving any other fatlsfaflion on the " fubjefi, that can be reafpnably dcfircd."
We did not confidcr the affair on ih^ fcalioped Jhcll in a fcrious light; and fufpcdcd either ridicule on one fide, or mifiake or exaggeration on the other. The whole ftory is heie very fatis- fadonly explained • — but by no means, we fear, to the credit of Mr. Shaw, in point of honour or gratitude.
As to the clergyman who offered to I'upporf, by an oath, the impofture of Offian, if Mr. Shaw would join in carrying it into execution, Mr. Clark cannot guefs at his name; and with- out hefitation concludes it to be a mere fif^iun of this lover 9f truths — as he ironically calls William Shaw,
We are next prefented with a letter from Mr, M^Nicol, Our former acquaintance with this gentleman, did not greatly prepoflefs us in his favour : and we are forry on the prefciu occafion to find har(h language and idle petulance: — and all out of pure zeal for Caledonia and her t>ards ! ~ inUead of plain faiS^
and folid argument. This *' fretful porcupine*' but we
have already faid enough of Mr. M*Nicol— It is nectlfary how* ever to obfcrve, that he difclaims all acquaintance wrth Mr. Shaw, though he was able, it feems, to have aflfiftcd him very materially in his 'enquiries : — that Mr. Shaw knew this^ and only avoided him^ becaufe of his attack on his great patron Dr. Jyluiigo* ' Mr« M^Nicol charges Mr. Shaw wiib Tome inAances
E 3 Of -
% \
54 Clark'i Anfwir to Shaw'i Enqulrj.
of difingenuous condufi ; and obferves that his behaviour waf fuch as difgufted the fenfible, and (hocked the religious part of his countrymen ; and by his rudenefs, vanity, and want of honour^ he loft many advantages, which might otherwife have been fecured.
After having convided Mr. Shaw of the moft notorious and aggravated violations of truth by the teftimony of others, Mr.' Clark obferves, * that there is Aill another evidence to be ad- duced, whofe teftimony would not probably be taken on any other fubje^l, but that under confideration.' This evidence is Mr. Shaw himfelf, whom bis anfwerer calls to the bar of the Public as a witnefs againft his own aflfertions. This part of the prefent Work is entitled, Shaw contra Shaw^ and confifts of extrads from his Analyjis^ and his Enquiry \ by which this gentleman is convi^ed of the moft glaring inconfiftencies and contradidions.
With thefe extra£b Mr. Clark fliould have concluded his AnfwiT to the Enquiry. We are forry that his indignatioa againft Mr. Shaw ibould have betrayed him into a ftep very unworthy the charader of a gentleman. In feveral inftances he hath defcended to minute and quibbling altercations which would difgrace the beft caufe ; and hath fometimes gone out of his way in order to colled anecdotes to double the confufioa and infamy of his antagonift. We <^an anticipate his apology: but it will have no weight with the unbiafied part of mankind. His endeavouring to procure private intelligence refpeding Mr. Shaw, from a mean and fufpicious quarter — from a difcarded and difappointed fervant — (hews too great tagernefi to blaft Mr. Shaw's reputation, and might have the contrary efied to what this pamphlet was defigned to produce, with fome nice and fcrupulous enquirers. At all events it was unnecefTary, and in every view, ungentlemanlike.
In other refpefis this anfwer appears to have been written with fairnefs and precifion. Its appeals are direA \ and its af- fertions well fupported. The Author feels moft deeply his in« tereft in the caufe ; and in general defends it with judgment, fpirit, and addrefs.
What reply Mr. Shaw will make ; or whether he will make any at all, will foon be feen } for it muft be madey^^i?, or it will avail him little. If his reputation be worth preferving, he will atleaft,make an effort to defend it from afi entire diflblution. If he be indeed, as he boafts, a friend and' acquaintance of Dr« Johnfon, he will doubtlefs find himfelf obliged, in order tofup^ port fo reputable a connexion, to clear himfelf of the charges alleged againft him. He will remember the fate of his coun- tryman Lauder. Dr. Johnfon's own integrity made him for % while the ioftrument of that impoftox's deceit : but when the
fraud
Hcnry*i Hlflorfof Gnat Britain. Vol. IV. 55
fraud was deteded» the Dr. immediately acknowledged his own precipitation, and execrated the wretch who had artfully prac- tifed on his credulity.
The prefent Work, together with Mr. Shaw's, hath excited in us various refleiSions. We are often mifled by ftrong afier* tions, and plaufible pretences ; and while on the one hand we endeavour to avoid an irrefolute fcepticifm, we may fometimes appear to betray too eager a belief. It is only the prefent evi- dence which can influence us : and on the weight of fa^is, or probrinticy of arguments our judgment muft in a great degree depend. What an antagonift may adduce in reply to plaufible leafonings, or pretended fads, muft be unknown, or can be' but faintly guefled at. Without fufficient reafon to oppofe thofe which do appear, would be obftinacy : to be aware of every thing that can be urged in reply, would require a penetration which we have not the prefumption to boaft of.
We may perhaps be obliged to this plea, in reviewing a con- troverfv which hath been renewed with fre(h fpirit, by two learned gentlemen, refpeding the authenticity of the poems at- tributed to Rowley. We mean to refume it on its original ground : to give it a candid and attentive confideration : to ex- prefs our doubts whence they exift, and to relinquifli any poft we may have formerly aflTumed, which we may deem no longer tenable. Future difcoveries may entirely change the appear- ance of the cootroverfy, and our opinion mull neceflarily be governed by the information we receive.
Stiice this Article was written. Dr. Fergufon hath again pofi- tiveiv and publicly denied every part of Dr. Percy's relation con* cemmg the Highland Student We Ihouldbeforry to impute falfe- liood, or even equivocation, to Gentlemen of fuch refpedtable cha- rafters as Dean Percy and Profeflbr Fergufon. Candor leads us to conclude that there muft be fome miftake in this matter ^ and that themiftake is to be attributed to forgetfulnefsj and no-
Art. Xf. The Hiftorj of Great Britaim, from the firft Invaiion of it by the Romans under Jaliot Czfar. By Robert Henry, D. D. one of the Mintfteriof Edinbargh. Vol. IV. 4C0. 1 1. is. Boards. Cadeli, &c. 1781.
IN our Review of the preceding volumes of this work, we gave an account of the Author's plan, mi^ our opt- inH Aioo of bis merit in the execution of it. We hazard nothiri^ when we fay, that the farther he proceeds in the profecution of bis defigOy the more ftriking marks he gives of his judgment^ accuraqr» ^nd impartiality. In the volume now before us, his ftyle apoears to be improved, and to flow more eafily and na* curally i in a word, we are ftill of opiniooi that every perfon, *' E 4 who
<«
►5$ Hcnry'-j Eljlory of Grtai Britain^ Vol. J^V.
who is deiirous of being well acquainted with the hrdory of the conftitution, govcrnmfnt, law5, civil and military affairs, reli- gion, learning, arts, commerce, fliippinj:^. manners, drcfi, re- markable cuitoms, &c. of Great Britain, will think himfelf much indebted to Dr. Henry for the pains he Jias taken to col- ic £1 almod every thing that is ncc(flary to be known concern- ing the feveral heads already mentioned, and for the judgaicnr he has (hewn in the arrangement of his materials.
This Volume continues the hlflory frcm the death of Kirg John, A. D. 1216, to the accefljon of Henry IV. in 139Q. — In the fecbr.d fcdlion of the third chapter, we have a (bort but dif- X\ti& account of the important changes that were made in the conftitution, government, and laws (if this country in the reign of Edward I., who, though iiluftrious as a general, was fiiil more illuflrious as a legiflator. To prevent confufion in our views of this fubj'fl. Dr. Henry confiders the changes that were made at this period, i. In the conflitution of the parliament; 2. In the magillraies and courts of iufticc ; 3. In the ftatutc- i^w ; 4. In the common law; 5. In the prerogatives of the crown; and, 6. In the royal revenues.
As the parliaments of England have been the guardians of its liberties, the framers of its laws, the impofeis of its taxes, the great counfellois of its Kirgs, and the fupreme judges of the fives and properties ofits people, in every age, the ilate of thofe illuflrious afTemblies, their conHituent m.embers, and other cir« cumftances, claim, our Author jufily obfcrvcs, the firft and chief attention of all who wifh to trace the hiftory of theconflr* tption with any degree of accuracy. Accoidingly, in the fourth and fifth fe£lions of the third chapter of this volume, he givts us a clear and concife view of this important fubjc^^*
In the third feftion of the fourth chapter we have the hiftory of the chief feminaries of learning in Great Britain from A. D. 12 16, to A. D. 1399* A very great and advantageous ch'^nge in thcLftate of our two unTverfitits took place, we are told, in this period, and merits our attention. It had been ufual, before this time, for teachers and fcholars to lodge and ftudy in private houfes or halls, which they rented from the citizens. This was attended with many inconveniencies, and gave occafion to fre- quent quarrels between the ftudents and citizens about the rents. Various methods were employed to prevent thefe quarrels, which difturbcd the peace, and even thieatened the deflrudlion, of the univerfities. In particular, Henry III., A. 'D. 1231, appointed two refpcdlable citiztns, and two muflcrs of arts, to be chofeh 'annually, and inverted with authority to dctfimine all difputes 'between the citizens and ftudents about the rents of boufcs : 'But this, and all other methods for prefcrving peace between the lownlmen and fcholar?, while this occafion of contention conti- ' ' « ' 3 ■ -nued^.
•■ ^
Hcnry'tHI/Iory of Qnat Britain. Vol; IV* 57
Autd, proved inefFeflual. At length, fome generous pcrfon^ (determined to deliver the members of the univerfities from their too great dependence on the townfmen) purchafed or built large houfes, and admitted both teachers and fcholars to refide in them, without paying any rem. Thofc munificent friends of learning fuon difcQvcred that many ingenious young men, ad- n)itted into their houfcs, were but ill provided wich th? means of rewarding their teachers, purchaiing books, and procuring other neceffaries, which induced them and others to enlarge their cha- rity, and to endow thofe houfes wiih lands, tenements, and re- venues, for the maintenance of a certain number of teachers and ftudents. By thefe fteps the building and endowing of colleges became the prevailing tafte of the rich and generous in this pe- riod, as the building and endowing of monjfterics had been in former times. In cocfequence of this prevailing tafle, fever^l noble halls and colleges were ere<^ed and endowed in both our univerfities, chiefly between the middle of the thirteenth and the middle of the fourteenth century.
The fevench chapter contains the hiftory of the manners, rc- msrkable cuftoms, language, dicfs, diverfions, &c. of the people of Great Britain, during the period already mentioned. A (horC extra«Sl from this chapter may not be unacceptable to our Readers. ' '
* What could exbibic a more fantallical appearance than an £0^- li(h beau of che fourteenth century ? He wore long- pointed (hoes, fattened to his knees by gold or filver chains; hofe of one colour oa one leg, and of another colour on the other; (hort breeches, which did cot reach to the middle of his thighs, and difclofed the(h«peofall the parti included in them ; a coat, one half white, and the other half black or blue ; along beard ; a fill&.ho> d, buttoned under his chin, eoo- broidered with grotefque figures of animals, dancing inen,^c. and fome- times ornamented with gold, fiiver, and preciou& fione^. This AiA was che very top of the mode in the reign of Edward the Third.
' The drefs of rhe gay and f^fhionabie ladies, who frequented the pobKc diverfions of thcfe times, was not more decent or becoming.— It \% thus defcribed by Kayghton, A. D. 134^. ** Thefe tooma^ tnenti are attended by many ladies of the tirlVrank and greateft beau- ty, bat not always of the mofl untatnted reputation. Thcfe ladiet ^xt^rt^a*:^ in party-coloured tunics, one half being of one colooj% aod the o;her halt of another; their lirripipes or tippets are very (hort ; cheir caps .remarkably, little, and wrapt about their headia with cords; their gijdlcs and pouches are ornamented with gold and (jUer, and they wear (hort fwords^ called (iagg%rs^ before tbeiDv alitcle below th^r navels; xkty are mounted on the finetl horfes, with the fichel) furniture. Thus equipped, they iide.frbm pl.ice to pUi^ in queil of tournaments, by which they diflipate their fortunes, and ruin their reputations." — The head-dreiles of the ladies underwent many changes in the courfe of this period. They were foraetimet ccormouOy high, ri^og almoU three feet above the head, in the (hape ',\\ ^ of
%
58 Hcnry'x Hifiiry of Gnat Britain. Vol. IV*
of fugtr-loavety with ftreaotert of fine (Ilk flowing from the top of fhem to thegroand. Upon the whole» I am fully perfaaded, that we have no good reafon to pay any compliments to our ancellors of this period, at the expeoce of oar contemporaries, cither for the frogality, elegance, or decency of their drefs.*
The Appendix to this volume contains the great charter of King Henry IIT., granted November ]2th, A. D. 1216, in the firft year of his reign, with a tranflation of the fame ; his char- ter, A. D. 1258, in the vulgar £ngli(h of that time, with a lite- ral tranflation interlined ; and an account of the provifions, &c« at the inftallation feaft of Ralph de Borne, Abbot of St. Auftin's Abbey, Canterbury, with their prices A. D. 1309* This we fhall inferc for the entertainment of our Readers.
|
Wheat, 53 loads, price - - ^ |
:-i9 |
0 |
0 |
|
Malt, 58 loads ... |
*7 |
10 |
0 |
|
Wine,' 1 1 tuns . . - |
24 |
0 |
0 |
|
Oats, 20 loads ... |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
Spices - • - - |
28 |
0 |
0 |
|
Wax, 300 pounds |
8 |
0 |
0 |
|
Almonds, 500 pounds • • . |
3 |
18 |
0 |
|
'CarcafTes of beef, 30 - • |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hogs, 100 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sheep, 200 . . • |
30 |
0 |
0 |
|
Gecfe, 1000 - - |
16 |
0 |
6 |
|
Capons and hens, 500 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
|
Chickens, 463 - - - |
3 |
H |
0 |
|
pigs, 200 - |
5 |
0 |
0 |
|
Swans, 34 - - . • |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
Rabbits, 600 ... |
IS |
0 |
0 |
|
Shields of Braun, 17 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
|
Partridges, mallardS|||tterns, larks |
18 |
0 |
0 |
|
Earthen pots^ lOCC |
0 |
'5 |
0 |
|
Salt, 9 loads - - - - |
0 |
10 |
0 |
|
Cups 1400, difhes and plates 3300, bafons, &c. |
8 |
4 |
0 |
|
rUh, cheefe, milk, garlic |
2 |
10 |
0 |
|
£gs, 9600 - - - |
4 |
10 |
0 |
|
Saffron and pepper |
I |
14 |
0 |
|
jCoala, cafks, furnaces |
2 |
8 |
0 |
|
Makiiig^tables, treflles, drefTers, |
I |
14 |
0 |
|
Canvas, 300 ells - . • |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
To "cooks and their boys |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
To minftrels - • • |
3 |
10 |
0 |
How times are altered I
:Bo
Art.
■s
( 59 )
AitI X!I. Thi Fair Cir(aJpM^ a Tragedy. As performed at the Theatre- Royal, Drury-Iane, ^y Mr. Pratc» Author of Sjmfa-
tbj^ a Poem*. 8vo. i s. 6d. Baldwin. 1781.
•
HA WKESWORTH'8 oricBtal talc of Aim^ran and Hamtt was infcribed to His Majefty. The Fair Circaffian is of- ftfed to the Prince of Wales ; and Mr. Pratt pronounces tiiat at * an age when the heart opens to the moft. warm and gene* rous impreffions, the precepts of Ornar^ and the pradice of Hamet, as drawn by Hawkefworth, and dramaiiznt by the Au- thor of this tragedy, will win upon his Royal Highnefs*s at-» teation.'
The draught of Hawkefworth is indeed worthy fuch tttea- tion i but this tragedy can, in our opinion, very little coniri?' bute to tb^ young Prince's inftrudion or eniertainment.
To the Dedication fucceeds a Preface, couched in the fol- lowing terms.
' This tragedy borrows its general flory, and fome of its iqcf* dents» with as oiach of its fentiroent as could ha preferved, ffooi the very beauiiful '* Almoram and Ham$i'^ of Hawkefworth* Pid npt troth and jafticf require foch acknowledgment, it would have been OQacccflaiy ; for what can be added to the fame of a work as known as aoiverfally celebrated ? The original machinery has been rejeQedt becanfe it would have been too daring an attempt to interweave it with the fable of a modern compofition« and perhaps too mighty a « talk to nanage, without Violating the firft great law of dramatick pro« / babiltty. Nevertbelcft it has been the Author's endeavour, to ** ^on« vert the fencentioQS difpUy of eallern wifdom, aa far as ehsrsfter would permit, into the language of paflion, varied by t^tvf motive which might aflFed the human mind in the mod warm and iaterefting fitoatiotts.'' Thefe are the words of a critic, who feems fully to have penetrated the defign. The lines with inverted comas were omitted in the reprefentation, to favour the rapidity of the adlion. They are retained in the printed copy, not more at the tnltance of partico- lar friends, than on general experience, that thofe paiTaget which retard the force of the paffion on the theatre, are frequently read with fatisfadion in the dofet.
' ThePUy ftill continuing to be received on the i!age with the moft brilliant fnccefs, the Author would but half difcharge the debt of equity, were he to confefs obligations only to Hawkefworth. The lit>eral, perhaps the unparalleled fupport which the managers have aSbrded by the drefles and fcenery, the intereding manner in which Mr. Linley has fet the Epi^halamium, the ca.^e of Mr. De Louther* -f berg, and the fplendour which the performers have thrown over the charaders by their excellent reprefentation, demand and receive the moft warm and pointed expreflions of gratitude. There remains but one tribute of juilice more, and that is due to Mr. Sheridan, whofe atuntion has been friendfhip, and whofe afliftance mult always be lame«*
From
* See Review for September laft, p. 220.
6o Thi Fair Cif^affian, a Tragedy,
From this Preface we learn, that could any reputation b^ added to the celebrity of the tale of Hawkcfworth, its fame would be increafed by the prefcnt Tragedy j in which the ori- ginal machinery is rejefled, but wi/dom and pajfton are mingled, and that fome lines omitted in reprefcntation, are retained ia print, to oblige particular friends, and to pleafe the Public ia general ;— that the phy ^ill continues on rhe ftage with the mofl brilliant fuecefs ! — that the tailor, and fcene- pa inters, the com- pofer and machinift, the performers and managers, have all confpired to fliew their friendfhip to the Author by their atten* tion, and to eftabliih his fame by their aififtance.
Amjdft all this crowd of friends, this fplendid hod of pa- trons and upholders, we ftand like Cordelia m the prefence of Lear, on the partition of his kingdom ; and we moft heartily wifh that we could, like Cordelia, when demanded to declare our fentiments, anfwer — kothing ! But being conftrained to fpeak, we will anfwer according to our bond, nor more, nor lefs.
Whoever has perufed the oriental talc of Hawkefworth, will, we truft, acknowledge that it required uncommon addrefs to adapt it to the ftage. The machinery^ as Mr. Pratt calls it, cpnllfts chiefly of perfonal transformation^ which is not only par- ticularly unfutuble to tragic exhibition, but is by Hawkef- worth \o clofely interwovei> in the bufinefs of the ftory, that it is almoft impoffible to carry on the main incidents without its affiftance. This however has been attempted, and, in our opi- nion, moft clumfily executed by the Author of The Fair Cir* cajjian. In the Tale, every circumftance is clear ; in the Tragedy, all is confufion. The charadiers are ftript of all their intercft and delicacy ; the fentiments, though trite, appear forced ; the didlion is generally bald and inelegant, and often conveyed in the moft hobbling verfitication. Thefe being our real fenti- ments, we cannot join the afliftants in the numerous cavalcade, who, like the proceffion of the mock-mafons, blow theif cow* horns, and poft- horns, and beat their butter-tubs, in the thea- trical triumph of the Author ; nor can we defcend to a more minute inveftigation of the merits of his work : but from re- fpe£l/5 the brilliant fuccefi with which it fcems, by the Author's own report, to have been received on the ftage, we (hall fub- mit to our Readers, a fcene in the fourth a<St, between the two principal perfonages i» the drama,
• S C E N E VIU. The UJide of thi SeragUo, Mufic Mutis atliudin^.
* J.'meida, O vain magnificence of iropioos grandeur — f
Poor incffedual gildings to fet off*
Th' imprifon'd vi^im with a (hew of pleafare^
Oh 1 for Circadia's unpolluted ihores.
And
»/*T.- '-
And all the unblemifii'd fcenei ofguiklefa life! Tell ioc» ye infiromeoti of PerUa's , tyrant — Tell IDC. with inilant fpeed — Alas I ye dare not-— ChainM by your haplefs flavtry, to filence. Vain is to yea the bleffed power of fpeecb i Retire, retire — Ye may not give me comfort ! Torn froo^ my father, Omar, Hamet too— From Hamet— hold my heart — what have I ikid ? It wakes a thoaght fo foil of tender forrow I cannot bear it — it overwhelms my ibol !
« SCENE IX. Emtir Almoran h Almeida.
* AhMTM. The burfting anguiOi rolhes to her eye^
And her fair foi'm^ more lovely in diftrefs.
Droops like the tender bloflbm of thb (pring»
Beat by the gather'd force of pitilefs ihowers.
Fierce as 1 am, unbidden (bftnefs fteals,
lagentkll fighs from an unwonted fource. ^ '
My very heart's fubdued; Almeida; ceafe—
Reprefs thofe tears, this angaifh, this defpair* •- '^^
I come to fmoothe thcf tomnlts of thy bofom»
And at thy feet to lay the PerGan fceptre. * Almtida. The Perfian fceptre ! — Why mod I reproach t(ee ?
Sach trappings are, alas ! thy fole dependance.
Keep tbemy taj lord, toawe the vulgar inind.
The ^cepter'd confcience wants no crown to grace it* ' jtlmcran. For thee, behold, J leave the Perfian throne—
For thee, forgetting empire and command,
Lo ! Almoran now bends his knee to earthy
And with a fubjefi's low humility, ..."
Thus deigns to court the froile of fair Almeida. [kMttIs, ^ jtLmeiJa. And doft thou ftrip me of each dearer joy.
Fix the fell poignard in the quivering heart.
And, as the raddy life blood gulhes from it.
Calmly furvey thy work, and bid me fmile ? ' AbuBtan^ By heav*n, you charge unjallly, my Almeida.
* Almeida. Oh i Almoran, the human form is thine, 4H
Yet where's the honour that (hould mark thy manhood ^ \
•Relodant thoufandscall thee mighty fovereign ;
Yet where*6 the virtues that (hould grace thy ftation?
But leave me to myfeif— I'll not upbraid thee.
One mournful boon is all that I (hall a(k;
I beg the privilege to weep alone. ' Almoran, Sorrow and folitude be far away !
Thoa*rt too feverc, Almeida. Long I drove
To hide my love in pity to my brother. ^ Almilda* He talks of pity too. who never felt it.
Where is thy brother, tyrant ?—> Where is Hamet ?
* Almoran, He lives — is fttt — Bot wherefore talk of him—
Regard him not—
* Almtida, Mark me, Almoran.
Thoa bid'ft me not regard him — then obferve me!
If
^ #^ Tbi Fair CirtAjjbm^ a Trageij.
Iftliy oolidlow'd, defolatinl; htn4. In utter dtrknefi ccmld that fpark extingaifli. That viewlefs, vital fpark of heatCD-borD fire. Which the Onitiipotefit in this croe breaft Hath kindly kindled, here to glow for ever. Pure ai the (burce that firft fopplied the ffamd, Then might thy ^foner ceafe to think of Hamet ; Bat lotg at that infpirei my faithful fondutfi. Though Waters wide as yonder heaven ffom earth. Though worlds remote as planets from each oth^^ Should frbte his hoaour'd prnfence far divide m^, Still (hoold Almeida's prayers be offerM for him — Still (hottld h«r ardent tendernefs increaie— And^&ill, as now, in all bis pride of fplendoar» 'Midft the vain glitter of his vacant grcatncfs.— Still fliould perfidious Almoran be fcorned I
' AhuTOM. Then be t% fio— Lsdy, 'tis well— I'll not complain. For the cuM'd ftripKng can obftrud no more.
< Almiim. H«!— how !— What faid'll thou ?— Is it poflible^ Thoq man of blood j— Sore thy barbarian hand— And yet I fear-^for in thy fanguineeye Minder's inlcrib'd l-^Yes^ yes, thy filence ^aks!— ' Thacharaders of death afre legibla In every cruel feature ! Oh, difiradion ! * Here then unnatural — here, well-pleafed, behold^
Indulge thy ffeaius — take thy fill of blood. Point thy iniatiate fabre here— yes, ftrike 1 Think me a ik^tx^ and enjoy the flanghter.
* Almoran. By neaven he lives, nndrcumfcrib'd he walks
Thro' Perfia's reakn, fave this one dear apartment. ' Almtida. Prais'd be the guardian god that ihields bis virtues ; AdorM the power that watches all his ways I
* Almoram. Ah ! lavifh not thefe raptures on a wretch,
fiat kindly treat thy heav*n-allotted huiband. ' * Almida. Speak'ft thou of heav'n ?— and after foul deieaion ?—
Wm, Of heav'n, where fcepter'd virtue fits enthron*d,
I I Sul>lime, amid'ft the ftars, to regifter
The decids of human kind. ** Oh, bethink thee: ** Can he who hangs, in yonder fpangled vaultt *' The even ficaleof jaftice» e'er ordain *' That I fliould violate this wretched form, '* And weary out a life of lovelefs perfidy ?" ^y^ No Almorao, thy priefts have kd thee wrong :
Whata'er is made thy deity— ah! think not Thou doft him honour, when thou mak'ft him pleas'd With what ofiends the fecret judge within thee—* Yes, flart ; but know, infidions king. E'en now, thou ftand'ft beneath a piercing eye. That notes thy crimes, and will one day requite them* f Alm%rMM, I thought to have found thee, lady, lefs reluctant; ril talk no more — nor have I time to lofe In idle parly with a haughty beauty*
Thus
Tbi Fair Grcajpitn^ a Tragidf. gj
Thus in a word — if thou, with yielding kindfleff. Within an hoBr, con fen t to croorn my wiihes. The next (hall honour thee as Perfia^s qoeen, (Something thoa feed I tan allow to pride) If not, then learn the ifTue— That vile boy Who hath ufurp'd a gem, than crown n^ore worths* The throne of thy a&dlions — think upoi it— Diet the facceeding inflant — fo refolvc.
* JimeiJd, The very image hnrriei me to phrenzy.
See, cmel, fee Almdda at thy feet ;
She condefcends to kneel— for whom ?-^Thy brother.
Is human pity quite extin^y my lord ^ — Oh» kcttVeh I
Where is thy natare that it fleeps fii ibnnd ?
Nay, tarn not from me — fpare the generoaa Hamet*—
Shed not thy brother's biood^-Thou wilt not kill kirn I
* ji*m§r€tm. *T\% in Almeida's power to fave or ruin,
* Almddm. Oh, name the means — Almeida dies to fave him.
* Almtraiu IVe markM oat eafier terms» thoa kaow*(l.
' Alnuida. See Sultan, fee ! behold! — ye fhall not &ir'-« ' Jlmmram. By hell he dies this moment — nay, thdb
Shalt aai hitu ftmgglii^g in the pangs of death ;
That hoary traitor t6o» thy fire AboaHal,
He from the palace fllall be dragg'd —
* Jlmiidm^ l&y hxYnx !
« Almoran. Yes ; thoa (halt gaze upon them—powerlefs gaze««» With frantic hand tear thofe luxuriant locks. And (hriek» aad weary the reverberant air With unavailing, impotent complainings \ Thy tears, thy itrugglings, and thy woman's arts* Aflail in vain. Away, and hang not thus Idly npon me, for I now can hate thee-— Go-^ Go and prepare for angai(h, bloody and horror. [ BxiU
'SCENE X.
* JImeida. Oh, barbarous, barbarous man, inhuman tyrant !'—
Then they mud die : Well, well, I will not weep, . Am I not very patient, righteous gods ? Am I not vtry calm ? — Yes, let them bleed. The pitying heavens (hall open to receive thfem. Bleed ! whom bleed ?*-My lord, my love, my fether i Oh, (hrouding darknefs, hide me from the figkt^ And I, I murther them— What can I do ? Point out the path to me, fome kindly power, Ia(b'u£l my daggering fenfes how to a£t. And fave the innocent from the aflaflin. It (hall not be — I cannot bear the thought! Oh, I will fave their lov'd. their precious lives; Prevent the faul blow, or with them die !'
Two very indifferent prologues precede the piece, and a mod elegant and excellent epilogue is fubjoined to it : we wi(b it wete in our power to point out the author.
C. Art.
, . (^ .64 . )
/ Art, XIIF. The Count 0/ Narhonne, a Tragedy As it !• a£lfd at rhe Theatre Royal in Coyent Garden. By Robert Jephson, Elq; 8vo. I s. 6'd. Cadell. 1781.
THIS Tragedy is infcribcd, with great propriety, to the Hon. Horace Walpole, not only as a diftinguKhed patron and cultivator of Mteratu re, but as the avowed author of the fin-
fular ftory on which the drama itfelf is profeiTedly founded. — ; Raymond of Narbonne is, by poetical tranfmigration, or, if you pleafe^ U'anfubftantiation, no other than Manfred of Ocranto, at leaft a reileclion from him ; and, like a reflf ^iion, fainter than the original. The CaJiU of Otranto^ with all its peculiarities, inuft be alFowed to be a much more tnterefting and animat- ed compofition than the Count of Narbonne ; and had the au- thor of the Gothic Story chofen to have given his work a di^e£t dramatic form, he would moft probably have- exhibited a per- formance very different from the tragedy before uSv l^is magic might perhaps have appeared, in fpectacle, at the th'eatre ; or, at leaft, he wbohazakrded a ludicrous fimplicity, in the deportment of the domeflics, would not, like his theatrical follower, have allotted to all his perfonages a fsmenefs of language and charac- ter. Certain it is, that a coldnefs and ohfcurity pervades tho prefent fcenes, from a perpetual, but indiflincl, reference to 2 work which, entertaining as it is, hath not perhaps been read by the million, and is not, even by thofe who have read it, fuffi- ciently remembered, to enable them to maintain the thread of the a<^ioii in the reprefentation. Fables may be borrowed ; but borrowed or original, the drama fhould unfold itfelf, indepen- ^nt t>f all foreign matter. The Count of Narbonne^ on the contrary, requires a conftant commentary from the CajUe of O- tranto. The very opening is perplexed and obfcgie. The death of the fon, and the flight of Ifabcl, are fo blended, that neither are interefting, or indeed intelligible. Godfrey's challenge too is opened rather darkly. The appearance of the herald might have given it adion, and have fpared a cold narration, together with the heavy perfonage of Fabian, who is made a dull and unmoved hearer and retailer of the ftory, to injinuate the plot into the boxes.
In many other particulars the fable is unfuccefdfully traced from the novel, which almoft every where rifes fuperior, much fuperior, to the drama ! and in no inftance more eminently than in the delineation and conduA of the two female charaiElers, Ifabella and Matilda, which are fuftained by the honourable no- velift with the moft delicate addrefs, fo managed as to render each of them refpedively amiable, as well as to add much force and intereft to the fituation of Theodore, who appears in the Tragedy a mere drawing after Dorilas, Tancred, and Douglas.
On
^ht Count of Nor bonne J a Tragedy. 65
On the whole, the fable of the Count of Narbonne 1?, in our opinion, maimed and defedtive. It \% jsM mii iilifurn .' All the leading incidents, inftead of coming forth in dramatic a£lion» are loft in narration, and touch not the pafBons. Segnius irri- tant animum^ DEMISSA PER AUR£$.
One circumftance in the third aft, a circumftance however long hackneyed on the ftage, engages our attention ; and the ca- faftrophe again revives it, after the moft languifliing fourth aft: that ever exhaufted a writer, or fatigued his reader and auditor* Xhe cataftrophe, however, is much inferior to the maflacre at the altar, in Foltaires Mahomet^ to which it is extremely fi- milar. The abfence of Ifabella in the play is much to be re- gretted. Befides the lofs of many other pleadng incidents, her union with Theodore, as it ftands in the novel, mitigates, in fome meafure^ the feverity of the morale which is enforced with aggravated horror in the Tragedy.
The Charalfers are not happily difcriminated. They are co- pies from books, not originals from Nature. Their prototypes, or counterparts, may be found in other dramas. The Count is defigned and coloured afcer Macbeth, but not with the happy boldnefs of the Great Majler, The youthful Adelaide often ex- hibits a faint likenefs of Juliet; and even Hortenfia, venerable matron as (he is, difplays the features of Imogen and Defdcmona. Auftin is the moft refpeftable figure of the groupe.
The fentimentSy though many of them are trite, are generally juft, and often very happily expreffed. The reader will un- doubtedly approve and admire the following paiTages, as well as fume others which he will find in the Tragedy.
* Great Ipiriti, confcious of their inborn worth. Scorn by demand to force the praife they meri; ; Thfy fed a flame beyond their brighteft deeds.
And leave the weak to note them, and to wonder.'^-
* Think, confcience is the deeped fource of angoifh: A bofom, free like yourt, has life's bed funihine ; 'Tis the warm blaze in the poor herdftnan'a hut. That, when the Uorm howls o*er his humble thatch. Brightens his clay-bailt walls, and che^^rs his foul.' —
But the diSiion^ as in the reft of the Author's pieces, has been the principal objeft of attention ; yet the diftion, though often highly commendable, is unequal, and frequently reminds us of Claudio's converfation, as defcribed by Benedick: — ^^ A very iantafticai banquet,— *fo many ftrange difhes !" Shakefpearc affords the chief regale ; but there are many little entremets and fide*plates from Otway, Rowe, Mafon, Gray, and our more humble modern dramatifts. It is Harlequm's Snufi^, a pinch from every man's box ! Almoft every expreftioa is carefully cull- ed and traofplanted from the hot and cold beds of tragedy ; and
Rev. Jan. J 782, F - there
Jl
66 735^ Count of iJarhonne^ a tragedy*
there is fcarce a fpeech that does not call up to the memory a fpeech in fome other play. Among a number of minute in^ fiances which niight be adduced of the expreffion borrowed, not always very judicioufly, we will only mention two pafiages where the idia^ as well as the phraje^ is palpably drawn from Shakefpeare. The death of Raymond, defcribed at the end of the firft aft, is a fervile copy of the deaths of Duke Humphry and Cardinal Beaufort, in the fecond part of Henry the Sixth ; and the tranfport of Narbonne at the Tight of Theodore, in the beginning of the fifth a<3, is an imitation of Macbeth's diforder on the appearance of the ghoft of Banquo at the banquet.
The inequalities of the plays of King Henry the Sixth, tho' they abound with fine paiTages, having occafioncd their being but feldom examined, we wi(h to refer the Reader to the fcenes above mentioned, both which he will find in the third act of the fecond part. In the mean time the following ihort parallels will ferve to fhew Mr. Jephfon's intimate acquaintance with
them.
— ■ * Methinks I fee him !
Hit afiiy hue, his grizzled brililiDg hair» His palms fpread wide.' Count of N» p. i6.
" Oi ajhy fimblanci^ meagre, pale, and bloodlefs,
• • #
Butfyl his face is black, and full of blood ;
//// bah vprtard, his noftrils Hretch'd wide ftraggling»
His bandi abroad difplaydV"
The beautiful horror of the fcveral defcriptions in Shakefpeare tempted his imitator to blend them together, and betrayed him into the impropriety of afcribing to the guiky death- bed fome of the circumftances originally afcribed to the obje£t innocently murdered.
There has of late years fprung up amongft us a clan of poets, who compofe £ngli(h verfe on the fame principle as boys at fchool compofe their Latin exercifes, taking half a line from one clafEc, and half a line from another, feldom or ever introducing half a line of their own original invention or manufadlure. — Gray^ excellent as he was, had a touch of this quality. A friend of Gray has had perhaps more than a touch of it : but the imita- tors ofGrayj and the friend ofGray^ have imitated themj and thofe whom they hav^ imitated, till they have gone through every leaf of the modern Gradus ad Parnafjum*
The Author of /^^ Count of Narbonnij with talents perhaps for original excellence, has cramped thofe talents by the ftudy and pradice of dramatic mimiery^ in which hemuft be allowed to be a proficient. But this is poor ambition, and unworthy of real genius ! Idly as we have been accufed of political republican- ifm, we muft confeis ourfelves to be a kind of republicans in li- terature
^e Ccunt of Isiarbontiff a Tragidjl £7
tf raturc. We are avowed friends to the independency of Par* nafliis ! confident, that to cut and fritter out the ftate into a number of petty principalities, will only multiply infignificanc fovereigns, while it diminiflies the real grandeut of the empire* Such literary defpots are, each in their turp, fet up bj their pa- rafites and adherents, as a kind of King Log, falling with a mighty fplafh into the Heliconian puddle^ ai^d ftrijcing a terror into the miferable croakers around them, till, on dete&ion of their weaknefs, they become objeAs of infuit and contempt !
We cannot give a more favourable fpecimcn of the Tragedy of the Count ofNarhonne than the difcovcry of Auftii) and Theo- dore in the third aft. The circumftances of Theodorc!*s birth and fortune are, perhaps, rather too abruptly mentipDed pn his part, as well as too haftily catched at by Aufiin \ but the i^tnt is, we think, on tfae whole, the moft fpirited and a&Qjpg in the play,
* S C E N E Vs To /ij/ Coynt and Auflin, Theodore brought in.
Come Dear, thou wretch ! Whc;D cali'd before ipe firft,'
Witb jDoft unwonted patience I endur'd
Thy bold avowal of the wrong thou did*f! n^e;
A wrong (b great, that, bat for fooliih pity,
Thy head that inflant (hould have made atonement ;
But now, convidied of a greater crime,
Mercy is qoench'd ; therefore prepare to die !
* Tbeod. Indeed ! and ia this all ? — \\s (omewbat jCiiddeiu
I was a captive long 'mongft infidels^ Whom falfely I deem'd favage, (ince I find Even Tunis and Algiers, thofe nefts of ruffians. Might teach civility to polifh'd France, ]f life dependd but on a tyrant's frown. ' Ciunt. Out with thy holy truodpery, pried I delay not; Or, if he tru.ts in Mahomet, and fco/ns thee. Away with him this inHant.
* Aufliit. Hold, I charge you !
* Tbeod, The turban'd mifbeliever makcS Tome Ihow
Of jufticc, io.his deadly proc^flcs; Nor drinks the fabre blopd thus wantonly. Where men are valued lefs than nobler beafts.— ' Of what am 1 accufed ?
* Count. Of infojence ;
Of bold preTomplivv love, (hat dares afpire U^ttif To mix the vilenefs of thy fprdid \tt^ With the rich current ^{ h baron's blood. ^ ' Auftin. My hear! is touch'd for Um^^M^ich injur'd yonh, Supprefs awhUe this fwelling indignation i Plead for thy life !
* Tbeod. I will not meanly plead ;
Nor were vaj neck bow'd to his bloody block, If love*s my crime, would J difowa jmy love. ' Count, Then, by my foul, thoa died.
6S !^# Count of Uarlormej a T^ragidy*
* Tbtidm And lee me die :
With my lad breath Til blefs her. My fpirit, free Prom earth's encumbering clogs, (hall foar above thee« Anxious, LS once in life. III hover round her. Teach her new courage to fuftain this blow. And guard her, Tyrarit ! fiom thy cruelty, ' Count. Ha ! give me way !
• Aujiin. Why ihis is madnefs, youth :
You but inflame the rage you (hould appeafe. ' Tbiod. He thinks me vile. 'Tis true indeed I feem (b : But tho' thefe humble weeds obtcure my oui^de, I have a foul difdains his contumely ; A guiltlefs fpirity that provokes no wron^r. Nor from a monarch would endure it offered: UninjurM, lamb*like; but a lion, roused. Know, too iijurious lord, here Hands before tbeet The eqaal of thy birth.
• Count. Away, bafe clod !—
Obey me, ilaves! — What, all amazed with lies ? ' Aufiiu, Yet, hear him, Narbonne: that ingenuous face Looks not a lie. Thou faid'l) thou wert a captive—* Turn not away ! we 2>re not all like him. Something, I know not what, rooft friendly to thee. Nay, more than friendly, like a parent's care. And anxious, even to pain, bids me enquire—-
* TheoJ. My ftory% brief. My mother and myfelf,
(I then an infant) in my father's abft:nce. Were on our frontiers feiz'd by Saracens*
* Count. A likely tale ! a well devised impofture !
Wto will believe thee ?
• Aufiin. O deceiving hope?
A gleam fhouts thro' me ; and my Aarcled foul. Fearful and eager, (brinks from its own wi(h : I Ihake. and fcarce have power enough to beg thee, Go on, fay'all.
• Tbtod. To the (ierce Balhaw, Hamct,
That fcourge and terror of the Chhltian coalls. Were we made (laves at Tunis. « Auftin. Ha! at Tunis!
Seiz'd wiih rhy mother ? Live (he, gentle youth ?
* Tbtod, Ah no, dear faint ! fa:e ended (vjon her woes.
In pity ended. On her dying couch, She pray'd for bleflings on roe.
* Auftin. Be thou bleflTed !
O fail not, Nature, but fupport this conflidf 'Tis not deluiion fure. It muft be he. — But one thing more ;— did (he not tell thee too Thy wretched father's name ?
• Tbtod. The Lord of Clarinfal.
Why do yon look {o earneftly upon me f If yet be lives, and thou know'ft Clarinfal, Tell him my tale.
Aujiin.
Tb^ Count of Narbonnij a Tra^eJf.
' Auftin. MylUrious Providence !
• Count, (Afide,) What's this, the old roan trembles and torns pale.
* Tbtbd. He will not lee his ofFspring's cimelefs ghoft
Walk unappeasM, but on this cruel head £xa6l full vengeance for his (laughter d fon* ' Auftin. O Giver of all good ! eternal Lord I Am 1 fo bkfs'd at lall to fee my ion^
• Tbtod. Let me be deaf for ever, il my ears
Deceive me now ! did he not fay h's Ton ?
* Auftin^ 1 didy I did ; let this, and th>s convince thee.
lam that Clarinfal ; I am thy father.
• Cfiuni, (Afidi,) Why works this foolifli moifiure to my eyes \
Down, Nature ! What hat thou to do with vengeance \
* Tbeod^ Oh, Sir! thus bendin(v, let me clafp your knees ;
Now, in this .precious moment, pay at once The long, long debt of a loft fon's afFedion. ^ Cauni, (AfiJi,) Dedrudion fcizc ihcm both ! Mull I behold Their tranfports, ne'er perhaps again to know A fon's obedience, or a f<ither*8 fondnefs !
• Auftin, Dear boy ! what miracle prcferv'd chee thus.
To give thee back to France?
• Tbcod, No miracle,
But common chance. A warlike bark of Spain Bore down, and feiz*d our veflel, as we rov'd Intent on fpotl ; (for many times, ahis ! Was Icompell'dto join their hated league. And ftrike with inhdcls ) My coui Cry known. The courteous captain fent me to the ihore ; Where vain were my fond ho.^es to find my father ! 'Twas defoiat!on all : a hw poor fwains Told me, the rumour ran he had renounc'd A hated world, and here in Languedoc Devoted bis remains of life to heaven. ' Auftin. They told thee truth ; and heaven (hall have my prayers^ My fdul poar*d out in endlefs gradrude. For this unhoped, immeafurable blcffing; But thou fhalt have my care, my love, my life*
* Count. Thus far, fond man ! 1 have Hllen'd to the tale ;
And think it, as it is, a grofs contrivance, A trick, devisM to cheat my credulous reafon. And thaw me to a woman's milkinefs.
* Auftin. And art thou fo un(killM in nature's language.
Still to midruft us ? Could our tongues deceive. Credit, what ne'er was feign*d, the genuine heart : Believe thefe pang*, thefe tears of joy and anguiOi ! ^ Count. Or true, or falie, to me it matters not. I fee thou haft an intereil in his life. And by that link I hold thee. Would'il thou favehim (Thou know'lt already what my foul is fet on), Teach thy proud heart compliance with my will: If not— >but now oo more. — Hear all, and mark me— jCeep fpecial guard, that none, but by my ordeii
F 3 PaTa
^^•^■^^^^■— "i-* - ■-^■" _ ■■ ■ 11 ^M^^^^^^Pig
y(> MxJNTMLY Catalocue, Political.
Pafs from tlie caftlc. By my hopes of heaven. His head goes off, who dares to difobey me.
Farewel I if he be dear lb thee, remember.'
[Exit Count,
The Prologue is intended to (how the horrid fin and dangler of criticifm; and the firft of the Epilogues, for there are iw?^ written by Edmond Maloncy Efq\ has many touches of humour and pleafantry. r^
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For J A N U A R y, 1782.
Political.
Art. 14* A Letter to the Right Honourable Charles ytnkinfon.
4to. 2 8. Debrct. 1781.
PRETENDS to give the fccret hiftory of Mr. Jenkiiifon's ootfct and progrcfs in the public offices. He aiTerts the exitience of two cabinet councils, by Qne of which the affairs of this nation are §fiinfibly ^XTcQit^t by the other effcQually concrouled ; the official and the efficient; the Utter the dofet of bufinefs^ the other of form. The Author places Mr. JeDkinfon at the head of the efficient counfellors, ading there as locum ttnent for Lord Bute *. He afcribes the American war, and all the other (late meafureft, and policic&l manoeuvres [here totally condemned], to the efficient council, or in- yijibie, and therefore uneonji it ut tonal power. ' Now, fays he, let us view, for a moment only, 10 what danger does this innovation in our Conftittttion lead. It a^umes to pervade not only 4II executive go-> vernment, but all legiilative and judicial authority; all civil and mi- litary power, as well as regulation, it ufurps a general fweepiog, arbitrary domination, from which no perfon is fafe, no property ex^ cmpt. Nd means of redrefs can be inftituted againd ii, becaufe it is cognizable no where. It is a leviathan and a non-entity ; an inviiible hydra : a phosnix rifing out of the aihes of the old conftitoiion of the old inquifiiion, or rather, to drop all figure (/> is timt /), from ^ing a government according to law, this mio power makes it a government according to difcretion, without refponiibility in the ad« vifers.'
Having fufficiently expatiated on this head, and trod the whole ground of our prefent ' difagreeable and melancholy' fiCuation, the Author, after treating Mr. Jenkinfon in the mod cavalier manner, at length condefcends * earnellly to intreat him, as chairman, matter, leader, or ptincipal, of the efficient council, not to make another campaign in America.' — ' Abandon the American war. Say nothing more about it ; bat withdraw the troops, and employ them elfewhere. Make no peace with America only^ Leave all difcuffioo with Ame-
* Yet in one place our Author fayi, ' Lord North ii called the pfl^afible * MiniOer ; you, Sir [Mr. JcnkiofoB], the r^/one.^
Monthly CATAtocuB, PoKtiud. Ji
rxt to a general peace, — Follow Lord Chatham's plan ; you cannot follow a better. The houfe of Bourbon was always his ofajeft.— >' Sach b our Author's advice i but it is not the njuboU of his advice. He recommends ttf/tfiafUi to government, by the council of fit and able men — would government but condefcend to afk their aid ; and here he names the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Shelburne (the difciple of Lord Chatham), Lord Camden, &c« "&C. — From the fervices of fuch men, ' we may expeft different mea- farea ; and the public (Irength will gain new vigour, by a reftoration of loft confidence.' — His concluding fentence is — * Confidena in tht Mimifters *wouU en/urt /ucct/i to the exertions of the people.* But where ia the infurance^cffice ? Art. 15. A Letter to Sir Robert Bernard, Bart. Chairman of
the Huntingdon (hire Committee. By John Jebb, M. D. F.R. S.
8vo« 6d, Stockdale. 1782.
This Letter may be con/idered as the worthy Writer*8 apologetical cxpofition of bis notions refpeding the patriotic fcheme of parlia- xaentary reformation *. He dififers, in one or two capital points, from the County Committees, though he agrees with them as to the naio objed of their refolutions. He is a (launch advocate, with Major Cartwright, &c. for the relloratlon of annual parliaments ; and he has Itaricd what feems to be a great improvement of the pro* pofal for adding 100 members to the county reprefentation, viz. the (nbf^rading 100 from the towns and boroughs : by which means, the number of deputies in the Houfe of Commons^ already numerous enough for all the purpofes of the infiitution, would be preierved liom an unneceflary, perhaps an impolitic increafe.
Various other particulars are comprehended in this little tti€t, which well deferve the attention of the Public. Art. 1 6. On the Debt 0/ the Nation, compared with its Reire-
Due ; and the Impoflibility of carrying on the War without public
(Economy. 8vo. 2 s. Debrett. 1781.
We have in this performance a plain^ difpaflionate inquiry intooor* political circumftances, under the articles of national debt; annual' Kvennes ; the charges of coUedling them ; reports of the commiffion- en for examining public accounts ; the expenditure of the civil lift ; with ftriAures on the army and navy expences, compared with their ' amoont in the laft war. From this extenfive^ and not very pleaGog fnrvey, the Author deduces fuch wholefome documents for domeftic oeconomy, and for the future operations of our prefent unhappy and difafirous war, as will convince every Reader, that inftead of being aduated by party views, he honeftly wiihes to promote the irne wel- fare of his country. ]/• Art. 17. The ^eftion confidered. Whether Wool ihould be
allowed to be exported* when the Price is low at Honie ; on pay*
log a Duty to the Public. By Sir John Dalrymple, Bart. 8vo.
6d. Cadell. 1781.
The low price of wool has long been an obje£k of ferious co^i- plainr> both in the firft inftance, and in its confequencei. ' Sir John
* Vid. Addieffea from the Yoiklhire .Commiltef 1 and other pub- licatioA^.
F ^ Dalrymple»
72 Monthly Catalogue, Eajl-Indies.
Dalrymple, therefore^ offers (hort and plain reafbns for allowing the exportation of wool under a limiud price, fubjed to a doty. Thia meafure, he contend.^ will operate like the bounty on the exporta- tion of corn, to improve that valuable article and keep it at a me- dium price. It is well known, that great quantities are always ex- ported by fmugglers, fubjcd to the rifles attending clandefline traufadions. A duty therefore proportioned to the rifles and eura- ordinary expences attending fmuggling, would convert the fmuggler, for fecurity, into a legal exporter, and produce a revenue . fo that the nation would be bettered by fuch a regulation in every point of view. 7 he fubjefl certainly deferves mature legiflative confidera-
East Indies. Art. 18. Original Minutes of the Governor -^-General and Council of Fort H^illiam in Bengal^ on the Appointment recomfi^ended and car- ried by Mr. Ballings in O^lpber 1780, of Sir Elijah Impey, to be Judge of the Sudder Duany Adawky, «ith a Salary of Five Thou- fand Six Hundred Sicca Rupees a Month, or Seven Thoufand Seven Hundred and Ninety-five Pounds Four Shillings per Ann« 8vo. 1 s. Debrett. 1781.
Little as we may be fuppofed acquainted with the nature of the Qri^^ntal provincial courts under their local names, thus much may at leall be co]le;^!led from the Minu:es publifhed, that our Eallern do* minions ftill remain fuhjedl to powers not well defined or even under- ilood ; but liable to clafh on the flighted occafion, and to renew the difcords by which they uere To lately didraded. '
Poetical. N
Art. 19. The Cow Chace : an Heroic Poem, in Three Cantos^
Written at New York, 178c, by the late Major Andre, With
Explanatory Notes by the Editor. 4to. is. Fielding. 1781.
There is no other voucher for the authenticity of this poem than the adertion of an anonymous Editor. As it contains no marks ei- ther of that liberality of fentiment, or elegance of manners, which we ihould have expeded in a compofiiion of the accomplifhed ofHcer to whom it is attributed, we fball fcarcely be thought uncandid in fuf- pedling it to be one of thofe impofitions which the prefs is almofl every day obtruding upon the credulity of the Public. It is pro- bable, however, that this mock-heroic was firil printed in America* Jta principal objed is to ridicule General Wayne's unfuccefsful at^ tempt to carry off feme cattle. C^t^^
Art. 20. Jin EJfay on Prejudla \ a Poetical Epifile to the Ho« nourable C. J. Fox, 4to. is. Faulder. 1781.
In this Writer's vocabulary, prejudice, hypocrify, bigotry, and re- ligion are fynonymous terms. His general principles are fummed up in the following lines :
Fool, wilt thou from a fubHance turn.
To grafp an empty (hade : The faireft fruits of Nature fpurn.
And let her flowers fade ?
Fair was the fcene, till griefs begQil'd« And bafelefs fears oppfcfs'd —
For
Monthly Catalogue, Dramatic^ yj
For when (he form'd her f&voarice child*
She form'd him to be blfil. PJac*d in a world, where joy with joy,
Pleafure with pleafure vic^i ; With fenfe, fiie faidy thy time employ.
Be happy, and be wife. The prefent's thine — fate rules the rell—
No future terrors fear ; — Enjoy the fleeting hour; be bleft — i^^P^fr
And make thy heaven here. ^ C JJ p
Art. II. Oimne to Paris: An Epiftle tranflatcd from Ovid*
4to. 6 d. Law. 1781.
A fecond rate c^py from a firft rate original, CL^f^"^ •
Art, 22. The Royal Naval Review^ or a late Trip to the
Nore. Being a Poetical Epidle from Hodge in Town to Dick ia
the Country. Whh Notes Critical and EAplanatory. By a De-
fcendant of the Great Scriblerus. 4to. is. 6 d. Kearfley.
1781.
Hodge probably might (hine as compofer for the ballad- fingers at a country wake ; but he much miftakes his own province, if he thinks himfelf equal to any thing elfe. His intention is to give a ludicrous and fatirical defcription of a late celebrated Naval Revieiv : but hit powers of execution and his intention are utterly at variance. Q^'^'tf^^t^^
Art. 23. A Poetical Epifile; attempted in the Style of Chur- chill's Kpiftle to Hogarth. 4to. IS. Fielding. 1781.
A feeble^ unmeaning, and petulant invedlve : but againft whom it is levelled, or by what provocation it is excited, does not appear. The poetry of this piece is as contemptible, as the principle by #hich it appears to have been diflated is malevolent. ^l^«fe— t^.
Dramatic. Art. 24. Songs^ DuoSy Trios^ Cboruffesy &c. in the Comic
Opera of the Carnival of Venice, as it is performed at the Theatre
Royal Drury-Lane. 8vo. 6d. Baldwin. 1781.
Thefe Songs have much more poetical merit than ufually falls to the lot of airs in a comic opera. The Reader, we think, will be j^leafed with the two following :
'AIR, by Mr. Bannister,
I. Soon as the bufy Day is o'er.
And Evening comes with pleafant (hzdc. We Gondoliers from fliore to fhore. Merrily ply our jovial trade.
And while the Moon (hines on the dream.
And as foft mufic breathes around ; The feathering oar returns the gleam. And dips in concert to the found.
II. Down by fomc Convent's mould 'ring walls
Oft we bear the enamour'd Youth ; Softly the watchful Fair he calls, Wno whifpers vows of Love and Troth.
And while the Moon, &c.
III.
t
* 7^ MovTHLY Catalogue, Mtfcellamous^
III.
*• And oft where the Rialto fwelU,
** With h<ippier pairs wc circle round; ^' Whofi fecrct f!ghs fond Eccho tells,
<* Whole murmur'd vows ilie bids rcToucd.
And while the Mooiij &c, IV. " Then joys the Vcuth thai Love conccaFd,
'* That fearful Love mud own its fighs ; *' Then fmiles the Maid, to h^ar revcal'd ** How more tbaa ever ibe complies."
And while, &c,
AIR, by Mr. Du Bellamy.
I Not for thy wings, oh God of Love ! Sighs the Youth that wou'd not rove ; Not for thy arrow pants the heart* Bleft to feel the mutual dart.
U. But that I ne*er may jealous llve^ Me thy carelefs childhood give. And» to fecure unchanged delight* / Share thy bind, and veil my fight.
Moll of the other airs are equally plcafing. Thi Petit Maitre^i pay is a lively piece of humour, and. Toung Luhim a moft affe^ing little palloral. No name is prefixed to this colledion ; but we uo- deriland it to be the avowed work of the ingenious Mr. Tickell, of* whofe poetical talents the world has before received the moft pro-
iung fpeclm<*n?. C»#
25. The ATtmature Figure \ a Comedy, in Three Afis *, - Performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury>Late. 8vo. is. 6 df Riley. 1781.
This Miniature is confeiTedly a bally fketch, not originally in- tended for public exhibition. The Prologue and Epilogue are two brilliants annexed to it : the ^rft is of the tiril water. C^ •
/Vrt. 26. Chit-Chat \ or the Penance of Polygamy. An In- terlude. Now performed at the Thtatre-Royal in Covent Gar-* den. Written by B. WalwynJ 8vo, 6d. Murray. 1781. A dramatic fquib at the dodlrinc of Thelyphthora. w*
Miscellaneous. /^rt. 27. ^n HiftoricaLRhapfody on Mr. Pope. By the Editor
of The Political Conferences \. 8vo. 2 s. Cadell. 1782. We have commended this Writer's Political Conferences t» in which he ihewed his judgment ; in the prefent performance be mani- } feds at lead an agreeable portion of vivacity. He rambles, obferves,
y quotes, and talks, in the loofe dcfultory way which his title-page
( implies and warrants, concerning Mr. Pope, and fifty other perfons,
piatters, and things ; — and young Readers will, particularly, be en-
* Said to be the produ^ion of Lady Craven.
t Thomas Tyers, |£fq,
1 See Review for June 17809 and May 1781.
teitaiaed
aiiur^ Art.
Monthly Catalogue, Mtfcellaneous. 75
t^r'aired by b's anecdotes, and numerous citations from elegant and popular authors. The old, the grave* and the fdiiidi3us, wiU DOt be fo eafily plea fed ; and fome of them may, perhaps, farcailt- cally rehear fe upon him the reply which CiWbcr rqade to his liitie dftogh'er, when (he iilked him what was a Rhapfodifl ? — '* A Rhap- A>diH,*' faid LoMey, •* is like you. my dear, a prat tie- hex, '^ Art. 28. Prize Sugar not Foreign, An EiYAy intended to vindicate the Rights of the Public 10 the Ufe of the Prize Sagars ; and to ihe«v the Impolicy, as well as Ir.juftice, of forcing the Prize Cargoes out of the Kingdom, at a Time when the Manufa^ory if languifhing through the Want of due Employmcrnr, and the People arc aggrieved by the exceflive Price of the Commodity, Witli Obfervationi on the Eirport Trade of Raw and Ri^ncd Sugars, ozt the Drawbacks aod Bounties; and an Inquiiy into the proper Means of moderating the Price of this necciiiry Article. Svo. j«. 6d. C^clL 178*. /
This well written eflay^appears to be the proHuv^ion of a man -y cf boGnefs, and contains reprefentalions which claim early and due r confideration. The exorbicmt rife of fugar, is a fad that comet home to the knowledge of every one : aad wz learn that the events of war have reduced the imporcation'of Bri:i:h fa^^ar, fo that in the bit £ve yearsy the average advance of raw fu^ar in pdce has been nearly 80 fir cent, while the revenue from this article has during the four laft years, decreafed 150,000!. per annum, 'The anxieties of tbofe who were engaged in the manufaAory, are not einly defcribcd; they foond tbemfelves on a fadden reduced to the alternative of flaking cbeir property, on a dangerous rifque, or of iUnding^ under a prodi^ gioas burden of e^pences* idle fpet^ators of the game. Tirt;d of each experiment, and lofing under either, feveral withdrew, and more would hare followed them, if they could have found purchafers for their premifes and utenfils. The occupied fugar-hcufes in London, which before the war exceeded one hundred and forty, were become reduced to about an hundred, and feveral of thofc were oH^ered to be let : ia Briftol, Literpool, and other parts of England, the manufac- tory prefented the fame gloomy ap|>earance.'
Plain fenfe would dilate, that as thefe difadvanrages flow from the wir, we (hould counterafl them by the means which the fame war forniOief; and fupply our lofles from our captures. A iegiflative power for this purpofe has been folicited without effeA; fo that, while we remain under thefe hardships at heme, our French antago- nifts are permitted to avail tbemfelves of
' ift. All that part of the fttgars produced in the French idands, which arrives fafe in Prance.
* 2d, All that part of the fugars produced in the French iflands^ which is captured by the Englifii, in its courfe home.
' 3d. All the produce of the iilands which had been furrcndered by the GngliOi, during the war.
' 4th. All cargoes of Britifh plantation fu^ar, which the chance of wsr at any time may ghrc them, and which in this initance (far behind ns in politenefs), they never think of returning for our ufe.
* Thus (and ftranger things happen) if an homeward-bound Ja- paici, or other EngUfii fugar fleet were inteicepted, and carried into
France;
* 7^ Monthly Catalooue, MgdlcaL
France ; and, in the fame feafon, a French fugar fleet (hould ha bought into our ports, what would be the refult? — The French would have them both ; — they would keep our's and we ihould fend tbem back their own! — In vain it would be urged, that the mana- fa^ory was at a (land, from the lofs we had fuftained ; that the trade was finking in every part of the kingdom, for the want of a neceffary liipply ; that the revenue had fuffered a deficiency, which other taxet muil make good ; and that it was but jull and reafonable, that we Ihould apply what the good fortune of war had thrown in our way, ■ to alleviate the damage which its untoward events had occafioned.
Surely the night of abfurdiiy will not lad for ever ; may we not hope that the dawn of reafon is at hand ? The condud of the Legiflature* ill matters analogous to thi.s fully authorifes this hope: prize to- lyacco, cotton, tea, and other Eall-India goods (notwichAanding the monopoly vefled by charter in the (Laft-India Company, andrccog- jtfzed by feveral aCtb of parliament), now fotm a part of the public IU)ck, and circulating through all the channels of indullry, contri- birte to fupport the heahh of the body politic. But the reafonable^ nefs and propriety of applying the prize fugnrs to every purpofe» / which can promote the welfare of the people^ to whofe arms ihey
; have been Surrendered, I may fafely trull to the rcHedlion of ihp
leader.'
* In no event could the manufadlory of the prize fugars prove httrtful to the Britilh planter, provided the policy of the- ilate gave { due encouragement for the exportation of them when manufadured;
' let the reader fteadily reflect on this pofition, and I trult he will find
\ it well founded ; the capture of a fmall number of the enemies (hips,
[ of courfe could have but a weak operation ; and if whole fleets (hould
be captured what would follow ? — a demand upon this market from that which had loll its ordinary fupply, and an advance of price pro* portioned to that demand. 1 have been favoured with an anecdote^ which (eems quite elucidatory of this matter — T'vo years ago, whea cm r Liverpool privateeis brought in feveral French Eall India jnea» fhe holders of fome kinds of bale goods which had been bought at I" the Company's fales were alarmed ; they apprehended that the fales
I of thofe cargoes, would overilock the maiket with fuch goods; bat
the contrary event took place ; French and oiher foreign buyers fol- lowed the goods hither, and thry were rapidly bought up. The true danger i^, that the adopcion ol the piizc iugars, would not in the prefent Aate of the fugar trade prove a relief proportioned to the wants of either the revenue, the coafumer, the manufadory, or th^ trade.'
We have endeavoured briefly to give an obvious view of this im- portant fubjefl, without following the Author through the more clofe profedional arguments he produces. Alas, this is but one article ii| the long lid of our prefenr public difHculties and grievances ! «»
Medical. ^*
Art. 29. Cafes in Midwifery \ with References, Quotations, and Remarks By William Vttit^^ Si/rgeon, of Welt Mailing, in Kent. Vol. I. 8vo, 6 i. Rocheiler printed ; Sold by Dodu ley, &c, 178 1.
This publication coaHfls of 69 cafes 'n the Author*! owd pra£lice,
7 beiides
\
Monthly Catalogue, Medic-ah 77
l>c(ides namerous references at the end of each, by way cf iiludra- tioD from other wri crs. The ^hole may be coniidered aa a va- loab'e cotledtion of fads in thi^ important part of chirurgical praf^ice, by ifch'ich the mod rational and improved mode of treatment in a variety of circumiiances is attempted to be elUblilhed. That th« greater part of the cafes related are not (ingular or uncommon, will l>e DO objedion, as to the utilitv of the work, to one who coniiders, that the mote fre<|uently any dangerous cafe occurs, the more im- portant it is to have the moil efiectuai method of relief properly af- certained.
1^ A new edition, t^ith feveral additions, of the fame Author^i Cafis of Infanitj^ &c. is ajfo lately publiOied, price 3 s. The iii^ edition was noticed in a former Review* at the time of its publica- tion. ^. Art. 30. Account of an Elajlic TrochaVy conftruScd on a new Principley for tapping the Hydrocele, or Watery Rupture, &c« &c« By John Andree, Surgeon to the Magdalen Hofpital, and the Finibarv Dilpenfary. 8vo. is. Caflon, &c. 1781. It is well known, that the common trochar and canula cannot fafely be ufed for tapping either the fcrotum or belly, without a coa* fiderable quantity of water -firfl colle£led in the cavity, in order to 4!efend the fobjactnt parts from the point of the perforator, whick nod be pufhed in with force and quicknefs, to carry the canula clear in with it. Mr. Andree's new invention (of which a figure is given) appears very ingeououfly to obviate this difficulty, and therefore it well entitled to the notice of Suryeons. A^^ Art. 31, A raw and eafy Method of applying a Tube for the Cure of the Fijlula Lachtymafts. By Jonathan Wathen^ Surgeon* F. A. S. 4to. IS. Cadet). 1781
Mr. Wathen, nbferving the frequent failure of fuccefs in the com- mon methods of clearing the ob!lructed lachrymal du6t by pieces of bougie, leaden plummets, &c. conceived hopes of fucceeding better by leaving a metal tube in the dudl, and healing the external wound over it. Jn order to introduce the tube properly, be contrived a kind of ftyle fitted to it, which, with the tube, is here figured. The sictbod appears an ingenious one, and the Author afTures us of its being found to anfwer. jC^ ^
Art. 32. The Condu^or and Containing Splints ; or a Defcrip- tioQ of two Inttruments lor the fdfer Conveyance and more perfedl Care of ffadlnred Legs : To which is now added, an Account of Two Tourniquets upon a new Conllru^ion. Ihe whole illullratcd with Copper-plates, reprefenting the Inttruments treated of. By Jonathan Wathen, Surgeon^ F. A. §• Svo. is. 6 d. Cadell. 1781.
The account of the machines for fradured legs is here reprinted from a former edition. The tourniquets are deiigned as improve- ments apon Petit's. No particular dcfcription is given of them, but tJu reader is referred to the figures, or the inHruments themfelves. ^
Rcucious*
I
*
fr
t
78 Monthly Cataloqve^' ReH^ious.
Religious. Art. 33. Sermons, on the fcUowing SuhjeS} 5. I. The Advantaged
of national RepencaDce. il. Tne ruiocus Etfeds of Civil War.
}ll. The Coming of the Son of Man, IV. The Hope of meeting,
kflowlntr, and rejoicing with viituou^ Fiiends in a future Wcrld.
By Vv'ilh^m S:ccl DickfoD. izmo. is. Bel fail, printed.
The publication of the two (ird of t\ie/e (ermoos, we are told, had been refufcd to the warm folicitation of many friends; but the cir- culation of Tome reports concerning political fenilments, faid to be contaircd in them, obliged the Auinor to expofe them in ht9 own vindication. They were each preached on a Faft Day, on^ ia De- cember 1776, the other in Feb. 177S. They are plain, fi^nfible, and calculated to be ufcful. The former recommends national repent- ance and the recovery of national virtue, in which tvtry iodividujal fhould unite, as the probable means of averting calamities, and re- lloring trancjuilliiy. The fecond gives a juil aiid aFeding defcrip- tion cf rke evils and uiiieries which attend cii^il difcords and commo- tions. Here it may be fuppofed he is led to fpeak of the (late of our own r^ation, and from hence it ii probabie d i fad van tageo us re- ports were circulated. It is plain, that he disapproves and laments the war with A.ii'.'rica. He condemns it as unnatural and inhuman ; at the fame time he does not vindicate the condud of America,, but, allowir.g her offences iO be great, he afks, • Are we to facrilice our all to a point of honour? Or, to ufe a favourite mode ofexpreffion, docs authority require that a parent fhould rifque his own perdition in an attempt to chaAife the ingratitude of a child, whea experience ihews that be is unequal to the talk?'
The third difcourfe contains a very ferrous and afFefling, as well at ienfible admonition to the diligent improvement of life, and prepa- ration for that eternity on the brink of which we Hand. The fourth, is en a curious fubjedt, and ofirers feverai confiderations from natural reafoo, as well as from revelation, to eftablilh the belief, that pious and virtuous friends will know each other, and be the more happy in the renewal of former friend (hips, in a future (late of felicity,
SERMONS.
J, Om the Propriety and Ad'vantages of acquiring the KnonjuUdgt and
V/e of jirmSf in Times of public Danger \ preached before the Ech-
linvile Volunteers, March 28, 1779* ^i^d publi(bed at their Re-
quett. By the Rev. W. S. Dickfon. Svo. 6 d. Belfail, printed.
A difcourfe adapted to awaken proper fentiments in the mind of
every Chridian Protedant, and offering many feafonable and afefui
admonitions to the volunteers who were prefent. ]|
11. Occafioned by the Death uf the Rev. James Armflrong, late
Froteflant Diffenting Minifler of Portaferry : Preached and pub*
lifhed b) DeGre of the Congregation of that Place. By W. Steel
Dickfoo. 8vo. 6d. Belfaft, printed, 1780.
The immediate purpofe of this difcourfe, is, * to enquire what par«
ticular happincfs the fpirits of the jufl fhall derive from Cbrift, who
38 their life, when they fliall appear with him in glory; and whac
fnpport the caufe of virtue may derive from the hope of this happi-
iicfi amidft the troubles and temptations of the prefent world.' Thia
fermoD,
Correspondence, yg
(brrooD, like the former, does credic to the piety and good feofe of thel ^ -Author. ^{§
UL S/, Paul's Sftt/e cf Souudne/t and Religion, Before an Aflembf/
of Procedanc Difleoiing MiniHers, at Hai'tfax in the County of
York, May 30, 1781. By William Turner, 8vo. 6 d. John-
Ibo. 1781.
The account given, in this plain and Qfeful difcourfe, ^f /oundfte/s in matteis of religion, is as follows : — ' A (incere and deadfall belief io the Gofpel, and a faithful reprefentation of it to otherf^ as a di- vine infiitution of the grace of God, by the mediation of Jcfus Cbrid, for reforming mankind from ^^n^ and engaging them dili- gently to pradife all holiocfs, or to condud their lives in fmcere obedience to the precepts of iheGofpcl, requiring piety towards God, parity in ourfelves, and righteoufncfs and gcodncfs to all men ; ani- mated heieio by a iiim belief in the promiies which God hath made OS by Jefus Cbrid, a llcadfad expeflauon of a future judgment at Cbrift's appearing in glory, and an efHcacious hope of eternal life from him, — Thos to believe, and thus to przftiie, is to be y2tf«^//K the failb i and to teach and exhort others 10 believe thefe things^ and thereupon to praftife their proper duties, is to tt^zh found doc^ trimt — according to the Apoftle*s fenfe of the words. On the con* crary-»to amufe ourfelves with difHcult quellions. fpeculative notions, and zealous contentions al>out high and myAerious points, of little or no tendency to improve the heart or amend the pradice ; or to adopt and place a dependance on the precepts, obfcrvances, and or- dioanees of men, or on any external rites, privileges, and practices, CO the neglefl and prejudice of real goodcefs—is to be unfound in ihi faith. — And to pervert the attentiqn and abufe the credulity of others by leaching them fuch unprofitable and vain matters, and thereby to take them off from the fubfUntial and indifpenfable duties oPholinefs in heart and life, is to ttacb unfound do&rint.^
Such it the reprefentation here made, and we mull add, that tbrt
reprefentation is fully fupported by the authority, and the exprefs
declarations, of St. Paul. The Pteacher*s text is Tituc ii. i, Bt^
fptaktboutht things nvhiih btcome Jound dc^rim. Ail the pafiages in,
which the terms y^irW or unfound in refped to faith or do^rine are
ufed, are brought under a review ; and it appears in a manner fuf-
iiciently plain, we fhould fuppofe, for the conviction of any fair and
nnprejudiced reader, that the above explication contains their triKS
intent and meaning. Nay, we (hould apprehend that fuch readers
might infer this from the paHTages themfelves carefully coniidered in
their connedion, without any comment or paraphrafe at alK t^
— . . XT.#
CORRESPONDE NCE.
[ToourReaders.]
Our infcrtion cf Mr. Roberts's Letter concerning the rot io (heep» at the end of our Review for November, has procured us the favour of the following remarks on the fame fubjed, from another Gentleman* — Fflrhapi we ought to make an apology to our Readers, for having, bj the adffiillion of fuch difcuOions, departed from the immediate parpofe and plan of a literary journal ; but when the importance of the inqoinr is confidered, we. farelv, may hope fcf abfolation.^-
ShoiilJ
--■J
82 Warton'i Hlftorj of EngUJh PoUrj^ Vol. III.
' This yoang nobleman^ who a}(b bore other titles and hoiioart» was the child of Henry's afFedtion : coc fo xnach on account of his hopeful abilities, as for a reafon infinuated by Lord Herbert, and at which thofe who know Henry's hitlorj and chara^er will not be fur- prifed, becaufe he equally and drongly refcmbUd both his father and mother.
' A friend (hip of the clofeft kind commencing between thefe two inufirious yoaths, about the year 1530, they were both' removed ro Cardinal WoIfey*s College at Oxford, then univerfally frequented^ as well for the excellence as the novelty of its inftitution ; for it was one of the fird feminaries of an £ngli(h Univerfity» that profefTed to explode the pedantries of the old barbarous phiIoibphy» and to cul* tivare the graces of polite literature. Two years afterwards, for the purpofe of acquiring tvtty accomplilhment of an elegant education* the Earl accompanied his noble friend and fellow-popil into France* where they received King Henry, on his arrival at Calais to vific Francis the Pirfl, with a moft magnificent retinue. The friendfhtp of thefe two young noblemen was foon lirengthened'by a new tie; for Richmond married the Lady Mary Howard* Surrey's fitter. Richmond, however, appears to have died in the year 1536, about the aee of feventeen, having never cohabited with his wife *. It was long oefore Surrey forgot the untimely lofs of this amiable youth* the friend and aflbciate of his childhood, and who nearly refembled kimfelf in genius* refinement of manners, and liberal acquifitions*
* The FAIR Geraldine* the general objed of liOrd Surrey's paA fionacc foancts, is connmonty faid to have lived at Florence, and to^ have been of the family of the Geraldi of that city. This is a mif- take, yet not entirely without grounds, propagated by an eafy mi(^ apprehenfion cf an expreflion in one of our poet's odes, and a paf*
, fage in Drayton's heroic epiftles. She was undoubtedly one of the daufthters of Gerald Fitzgerald. Earl of Kildare.'
The reafons for this fuppofition were originally fuggefted by Mr. Walpole f, whofe key to the genealogy of the matchlefs GeraMine Mr. Warton his adopted.
* it is not preci(«r]y known at what period the Earl of Sarrey began his travels. They have the air of a romance. He made the to«r of Europe in the true fpirit of chivalry, and with the ideas of an Ama- dis; proclaiming the unparalleled charms of his millrefs* and pre* jMred to deftnd the caufe of her beauty with the weapons of knighc- errantry. Nor was this adventurous journey performed without the intervention of an enchanter. The firft city in Italy which he pro* pofed to vifit was Florence, the capital of Tufcany, and the original feat of the anceftors of his Geraldine. In his way ihither* he pafied a few days at the Emperor^s court ; where he became ac^ainied with Cornelius Agrippa* a celebrated adept in iMtural magic* This vifionary philofopher Ihewed our hero, in a mirror of glafs, a living image of Geraldine, redioing on a couch, iick, and reading one of
* Wood, Atb. OxoD. i. 68.
t Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. ir5 edit.
1759.
his
, r
Warton*/ . Hijlory ofEngKJh Poetry^ Vol. III. 83
liU moft tender fonneta by a waxen taper *. His im agination, whtch. wanted not the flattering rcprefeniations and artificial incentives of ilJnfion» wai heated anetv by this intereiling and a£fe£ling Tpedtacle. Inflamed with every enibafiafin of the mofl romantic paflion, be haf-^ tened co Florence : and, on his arrival, immediately publi(hed a dep . fiance againtl any perfon who could handle a lance and was in love^ whether Chriftian, Jew, Turk, Saracen, or Canibal, who Ihould pre* lane to difpute the fuperiority of Geraldine*s beanty. As the lady was pretended to be of Tafcan extraflion, the pride of the Floren- tines was flattered 00 this occa'lon : and the Grand Duke of Tufcany;, permitted a general and unmoleiled ingrcfs in(o his dominioDs of the combatants of all conntries, till this important trial (houll be de* cided. The challenge was accepted, and the Earl vid^iriou f . The ihield which he prefepted to the Duke before the tournament began*, is exhibited in Vertue's valuable plate of the Artindcl family, and' waa adually in the pofleflion of the late duke of Norfolk %,
* Thefe heroic vanities did not, however, fo totally engrofs the time which Surrey fpent in Italy, as to alienate his miod from let* ters : he ftudied with the greateft fuccef* a critical knowledge of the Italian tongue, and, that he might give new luftre to the name of Geraldine» attained a jjft tafle for the peculiar graces of the Ita- lian poetry.
* He was recalled to England for fome idle reafon by the King, moch fooner than he expected : and he returned home, the mofl ele* ganc traveller, the moft polite lover, the moil learned nobleman, and the moft accompliflied gentleman, of his age. Dexierity in tilting^ and gracefttlneis in managing a hor(e under arms, were excellenciea now viewed with a critical eye, and pradifed with a high degree of emulation. In K40, at a tournament held in the prefence of the Court at Weftminfter, and in whicb the principal of the nobility were engaged^ burrey was diftinguifhed above the reft for his addrefa in the uie and exerciie of isrms. But hu martial fkill was not folely difplayed in the parade and oftentation of thefe domeftic dombatt. In 15 f2, he marched into Scotland, as a chief commander in his fa* ther*s army ; and was confpicuous for his condudl and bravery at the memorable battle of Flodden- field, where James the Fourth of Scot- land was killed. The next year, we fipd the career of his vi^oriea impeded by an obftacle which no valour could refift. The cenfurea of the church have humiliated the greateft heroes : and he was im- prifooed in Windfor-caftle for eating fle(h in Lent. The prohibition had been renewed or ftrengthened by a recent proclamation of the King. 1 mention this circumftance, not only as it marks his cha- ncer, impatient of any controul, and carelefs of very ferious confe- quences wnich often arife from a contempt of petty formalities, but ai it gave occafion to one of his moft fentimental and pathetic fon- nets ^. In i $44, he was Field-marftial of the Engliih army in the expedition to Bologne, which betook. In that age, love and arma
conftantly went together : and it was amid the fatigues of this pro-
# ^^^^
* Drayton, Her. Epift.-^Howard to Geraldine, v. 57.
t Wood, ubi fupra. % Walpole, Anecd. Paint, i. 76.
JFol. 6,7.
G z traAed
84' \^on's Hijlorf'of Efignjb Poetry, Vol. Ill; '
tdided cabptigOy that he compofed hu IsfH fonnet called the Fansis of a *wtaritd Lovtr * .
*/ But iu Sarrey*8 popnlarity increifled, his intereft declined with the Sing :' whofe caprices and jealoufies grew nmre violent with hit yeiarfs and'infiriniiifcs. The brilliancy of Surrey *s charader* his ce- lebrity in the military fcience, his general abili'ties» his wit* learn* ing, and affiibility, were' viewed by Henry with difguH and fufpicion. It- was in vain that he po^eiTed e\tTj advantageous aaalification* wliich could adorn the {cholar, the courtier, and the foldier. In pro- portion as he was amiable in the eyes of the people, he became for- lAidable to the King. His rifing reputation wai^ mifconftrued into a dangerogs ambition, aftd gave birth to accufations equally ground- lefs and frivolous. He was fufpeded of a defign to marry the Prin- ctfs Mary; and by that alliance, of 'approaching to a poflibiliry of Wearing the crown. It was infinoaited, that he converfed with fo- reigners, and held a' cqrrefpondence with Cardinal Pole. ^ * The addition of the efcocheon of Edward the Confeflbr to his own, although ufed by the family of Norfolk for many years, and juttified by the authority of the heralds, was a fufficient foundation for an i impeachment of high treafon. Thefe motives were privately aggtavated b/Yhofe prejudices, witb which Henry remembered the miibebaviour of Catharine Howard,. and which were extended to all that lady's relations. At length, the Bar! of Surrey fell a facrifice to tjie'peeviih irjuflice of a mercilefs and Qngrateful mafter. . Notwith- fianding his eloouent and mafcullne defence,, which, even in the Caufe of guilt itfeif i^rould have proVed a powerful perfoarive, he was condemned by the prepared foffrage of a fervile'and cbfequioos jury, and beheaded on Tower-hill in the year 1947 f. In the mean time we ihould remember, that Surrey*s public cond6£l was not on all oc- cafions quite unexceptionable. In the affair of Bologne he had wade A falfe Hep. This had ofiended the Ring. But Henry, when once ofiendedy could never forgive. And when Hertford Was fent into France to take the command, he could not refrain from dropping fome reproachful expreflions againtt a meafure which fecmed to im- peach his per(onal courage. Coofcious of his high birth and capa- city, he was above the little attentions Of caution and r^(tTy:t ; and Be too frequently negle^ed to confult his own fituation, and the King's temper. It was his misfortune to ttivt a monarch, whofe re- fentments, which were eafily provoked, could ohly be fatisfied by the moH i'evere revenge. Henry brought thofe'men to the block, which other monarchs would have only difgraced.
* Among thefe anecdotes of Surrey's life, I had almoft forgot to mention what became of his amour uiih the fair Geraldine. We la- ment to End, that Surrey's devotion to this lady did not end in a wedding, and that all his gallantries and verfe^ availed (b little ! No mcmo.rs of that incurious age have informed us^ whether her beauty was equs^led by her cruelty ; or v^hcther her ambition prevailed io far over her gratitude, as to tempt her to prefer the (bird glories of a
* Fol. 18./ See Dugd. Barooag. ii. p. z;^. f See Stowe, Chron. p. 592. Challoner, de R^pubk ^Aagl. In- ftaorand. lib. ii. p. 45.
mo;e
^ Wtrton'i Hijlorf tfEngli/h Pairy^ Vol. lUi JBk
noire fplendid title and ample fortune, to the challenges a«(l the cpq|»
^^ plimeocs of fo , ma|rnanixnpus« To faithful, and fo cloouent a Ipv^r.
^ She appears, however, to have been afterwards the third wife bf Ba-
Or ward Clinton, earl of Lincoln. Such alfo is the power of^time'iliii
"^ accident over amorous vows, that even Surrey himfelf outlived tl\e
« violeace of his pafllon. He married Frances, daughter of ]ohn Eafl
of Oxford, by whom he left feveral children. One of his danghteti,
Jane Countefs of Weflmoreland, was among the learned' latfiek'6f
that age, arid became famous for her knowledge of the Greek anil
Latin languages *.'
The friend and poetical allbciate of Surrey was Sir Thomas
Wyat tbe Elder, who though inferior to Surrey as a writer bf
fonnets, yet, as a moral poet, had confiderable merit. Bcfides
tbefe. Sir. Francis Bryan, George Boleyn, Earl of Roch ford,
J^^and Lord Vaulx, were profeiled rhymers and fonnet-writers,
H X And large contributors to thelirft printed poetical mifcellany ia
•^ C) the Englifh language, puhlifhed by Tottel in the year 1557*
r Even the favage Henry caught the infection of the times, and
^jT compofed fonnets and madrigah. I have been told, fays Mr.
^|lLWarton, * that the late Lord Eglincoun had a genuine book of
\l Xianufcnpt fonnets, written by King Henry the Eighth. I'here is an
It" old madrigal, fet to mu(ic by William Bird, fuppoied to be written
^ by Henryjyhen be firfl fell in love with Anne fioleyn f. It begins.
The eagles force fubdues eche byrde that flyes. What metal can vtiy^t the flamyng iyit ? Poth not the funne da^&le the cleareilc eyes, And melt the yce, and make the frolle retyre }
It appeared in Bird's Pfalms, Songs, and Sonnets, printed with ma- fical notes, in 161 1 %• Poetry and rouic are congenial; and it is certain, that Henry was (killed in mniical compofition. Erafmus itt* tefts, that he compofed fome church fervices § : and one of his at* thems ftill continues to be performed in the choir of Chrhl-chorch ht Czforid, of his foundation. It is in an admirable ftyle, and is fbr four voices. Henry, although a fcholar, had little tatle fbr the daf- iical elegancies which now began to be known in England. His edo- cation ftems to have been altogether theological : and, whether it beft fnited his cade or ht^ intereft, polemical divinity feems to have bean his favourite fcience. He was a patron of learned men, when tliey hnmoared his vanities ; and were wife enough not to interropt bis pleafnres.' his convenience, or' his ambition,'
To trace this indefatigable antiquary through all the curious, if not interefting, matter which this volume contains, woidd far exceed the limits of our defign, ' To pafs over, therefore,
m
* Dagd Baron, i. 533. ii. 27 V
t I muft not forget, that a fpng is af(;ribed to Anne Boleyn, but
with little probability, calii^ !her Complaint. See Hawkins, Hill*
Mnf. iii. 32, v. 480. .• . •
X See alfo Nugx Antiquae^ n'z^Z,
5 See Hawkins, Hill. MufH. 535.
63 " " - what
J
Ar
86 Warton'i Ktjtt^ of EngUJb Pottrj^ Vol. III. ^^
what we (hould otherwife wifli to d .ell upon, let us proceed tm ■' ^
that feSion in which are pointed out the eiTefls of the rrforma* /
tion on our poetry : ^ ^ .
' 1 he reformaiion of cor church produced an alteration for a time if
in the general fyliem of fludy, and changed the charaAer and fob- * je£b of oar poetry. Every mind, both learned and nnlearned. was
pofied in religious fpeculation ; and every pen was employed in re- « commending, illuftrating, and familiarifing the Bible, which was now laid open to the people.
* The poetical annals of King Edward the Sixth, who removed jO thofe chain.^ of btgocry which his father Henry had only loofened, a are marked with metrical tranilations of various part> of the facred . Scripture. Of thcfc the chief is the verfification of the Pfalter by ^ > Stern hold and Hopkins ; a performance, which has acquired an im- ^
-portance, and confeqoently claims a place 4n our feries, not fo muchl f from any merit of its own, as from the circumftances with which it is^> |V connedked. ^ rr. ^ .
* It is extraordinary, that the Proteftant churches ihould be in-^ / debted to a country in which the reformation had never begun to« vi. make any progreff , and even to the indulgence of a fociety which re- A mains to this <iay the grand bulwark of the Catholic theology, for pT '^ very diHinguilhing and eflencial part of their ritual.
* About the year i ^^o, Clement Marot, a valet of the bed-cbam*
her to King Francis the Fird, was the fivourite poet of France. ^• Thi& writer, having attained an unufaal elegance and facility of fiyle, added msny new embellifhmenis to the rude ftate of the French poe- try. It is not the leaft of his praifes that La Fonuine ufed to call him his mailer. He was the inventor of the rondeau, and the re- i^orer of the madrigal : but he became chiefly eminent for his pafto- rals, ballads, fables, elegies, epigrams, and tranflations from Ovrid and Petrarch. At length, being tired of the vanities of profane poe- try, or: rather privately tindlured with the principles of Lutheranifm, he attempted, with the affi (lance of his friena Theodore Beza, and by the encouragement of the ProfisfTor of Hebrew in the Univerfity of Pari?, a verfion of David's Pfalms into French rhymes. This tranfla- tion, which did not aim at any innovation in the public worlhip, and which received the fandion of the Sorbonne as containing nothing contrary to found doArine, he dedicated to his mafler, Francis the Firll, and to the Ladies of France. In the dedication to the Ladies, or Us Damn da France^ whom be had often before addreiTed in the tendered ftrains of paffion or compliment, he feems anxious to depre- cate the raillery which the new tone of his verfihcatien wa* likely to incur, and is embarraiTed how to find an apojogy for turning faint. Confcious of his apollacy from the levities of life, in a fpirit of reli- gious gallantry, he declares that his defign is to add to the happi- nafs of his fair readers, by fubllicuting divine hymns in the place of cbamjoms d* amour ^ to infpire their fufceptible hearts with a paflion in whicn there is no torment, to banifh that fickle and fantallic • eity Cupid from the world, and to fill their apartments with the praifcs, not of the Utile god^ but of the true Jehovah.
£ voz doigts fur lei efpincttes
PourdiresAiNTEs chamsonkttii.
He
Warton'i Hiflorj $fEngliJh Pottry^ Vol. III. 87
* He adtii» that the golden age woaki now be re(!ored, when we (honld (ee* tbe peafant at his plough, the carman in the ftreecs, and the mechanic in his ft)op, folacing their toils with pfalms and can* tides: and the fhepherd and (hepherdefs repoiing in the (hade, and teaching the rocici to echo the name of the Creator.
Le Laboureur a fa charrac,
Le Charretier parmi le rue,
£t TArtifan a en fa boutique,
Avecques un P^baume ou CantiquE,
En Ton labour fe (bu lager.
Heoreuz qui orra le Berger
Et la Bergcre aa bois eflans.
Fair que rochers et eftangs,
Aprea eux chantant la hauteur
Du faind nom de Crcateur *.
* Marot*s Pfalms foon eclipfed the brilliancy of his madrigals and fonneta.* Not fufpeding how prejudicial the predominant rage of pfalm-finging might prove to the ancient religioa of Europe, the Ca- tholics theroAslves adopted thefe facred fongs as ferious ballads, and as a more rational fpecies of domcllic merriment. They were the commoo accompaniments of the fiddic. They were fold fo rapidly, that the printers could not fupply the Public with copies. In the feflive and fplendid court of Francis the Fir(l» of a fudden nothing was heard but the Pfalms of Clement Marot. fiy each of the royal family and the principal nobility of the court a pfalm was chofen^ and fitted to the ballad tune which each liked beft. The Dauphin* Prince Henry, who delighted in hunting, was fond of Aiijiquon •it U or/ Sruirtf or. Like ms tbi ban dtfirttb tbi water ireeh, which he coniiintiy fang in going out to the chafe* Madanie de Valentinois, between whom and the young Prince there was an attachment, took Du/omJ d$ ma pinfi$^ or, Frmm tbi Deptb •f my btart^ O Lord. The Queeo's favoarite was, Nt viuUki pm*^ O Sirg^ that is, O Lon^, re- bmke mi mt in tbi/u imdigmatiiM, which (he fung to a fafhionable jtg, Antony King of Navarre fung, Reveugi mijt prtn U quenlU^ or. Stand mf^ O Lmrd^ /• rrmngi my qkarrel^ to the air of a dance of Pot- ton f. It was on very different principles that pfalmody flourifhed in the gloomy coort of Cromwell, rhis fafliion does not feem in the )aA to hive diminiflied tbe gaiety and good humour of the court of Francis.
* At this period John Calvin, in oppodtioo to the difcipline and dodrines of Rome, was framing his novel church at Geneva: in which the whole fubdance and form of divine worlhip was reduced to praying, preaching, and lingtng. In the lad of thefe three, he chofe to depart widely from the Catholic ufage : ^nd, either becaufe he thought that novelty was fure to fucceed, that the practice of an- tiphonal chanting was fuperditious, or that the people were excluded
• Let Oeuvrcs de Clement Marot dc Qahors, vjilet de chambre du
Roy, &c. A Lyon, 1551. izmo. See ad calc. Traduftions, &c*
p. 192.
t See Baylc's Dift. V. Marot.
Q /^ from
88 Warton'j Htjlory of EngUJh Poetry^ Vol. III.
from bearing a part in the more folemn and elaborate performance of ecdefiadical muiic, or chat the old PapiAic hymns were unedifyingr, or that verfe was better remembered than profe, he proje£\ed, with the advice of Luther, a fpecics of religious fong, confiding of por- tions of the Pfalms intelligibly tranflaied into the vernacular lair- guage, and adapred to pl^in and eafy melodies, which a!l might learn, and in which ail might join. 1 his fcheme, cither by defign or accident, was luckily fccondcd by the publication of Marot's me- trical Pfalm) at Paris, which Calvin immediatfly introduced into his congregation at Geneva. Being fet to fimple and almoU monotonous notes by Guillaume de Franc, th^y were foon eRabliihed as the prin- cipal branch in that reformer's new devotion, and became a charac- teriilical mark or badge of the Calviniflic worihip and profeilion. Nor were they fung only in his chnrches. They exhilarated the con- vivial airemblies of the Calvinifts, were commonly heaid in the iireets, ard accompanied the labours of the artificer. The weavers ftnd woollen manui'a^urers of Flanders, many of whom left the loom and entered into the miniftry, are faid to have been the capital per- formers in this fcience. At length Marot's Pfalms formed an appen- dix to the catechifm of Geneva, and were interdi£ted to the Catholics under the mod (tyftxt penalties. In the language of the orthodoXf pfalm- tinging and herefy were fynonimous terms.*
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
' The infe^ious frenzy of facred fong foon reached England, at the ytry critical point of time when it had juft embraced the re- formation : and the new pfalmody was obtrudckl on the new Bngliih liturgy by fome few ollicious eealots» who favoured the difcipline of Geneva, and who wifhed to abolifh, not only the choral mode of worfhtp in generaU bttt more particularly to foppiteTs the Te Dbum, BEK2DicTuSy Maonificat, JuBiLATB, NuNc DIM1TT1S, and the reft of ihe Hturgic hymns, which were fappofed to be contaminated by their long and ancient conneflion with the Roman mifial, or at leail in their profaic form, to be unfuitable to the new fyflem of worihip.
' Although Wyat arid Surrey bad before made tranfiationa of the Pfalms into methe, Thomas Sterphold was the firft whofe metrical ▼eriion of the Pfalms was ufed in t4ie church of England. Sternhold was a native of tiampfhire, and probably edueated at Wiachefter col- lege. Having pafled fome time at Oxford, he became groom of the robes to King Hei^ry the Eighth. In this depirtment, either his di- ligent fervices^ or his knack at rhyming, (b pleafed the King, that his l\4aje(!y beqocathed him a legacy of one hundred marks. He con- tinned in the fame office under Edward the Sixth; and is faid* to have acquired fome degree of reputation about the court for his poetry. Being of a ferious difpoiition, and an enthufiaft to reforma- tion, he was much offended at the lafcivious ballads which prevailed among the courtiers : and, with a laudable defign ro check thefe in- decencies, undertook ^ metrical verfion of the Pfalier, ** thinking ** thereby, fays Antony Wood, that the courtiers would fing them •* inflead of their fonnets, I^Mi did not^ only fome few excepted ••"
' • i^th. Oion^ u 76.
Here
Wirtbii^i Hifiory ^EngUJh PQitrj^ Vol. III. 89
Here wts the zeal, if not the Aiccefs, of bis fellow labourer ClemeBt Marot. A (i Dgo I ar coincidence of cireamttances is, notwithftanding, to be remarked on this occafion. Vernacnlar verfions for general nfe of the Pfalter were firft publtQied both In France and England* hj laymen 9 by coo rt- poets, and by (ervants of the coorc. Nor were the refpe^ive tranHations entirely completed' by therofelves: and yet ihey tranflated nearly an equal number of pfalms, Marot having ver- fified fifty, and Sterhhold fifty-one. Siernbold died in the yclr 1^49. His Hrty-one pfalms were printed the fame vear by Edward Whitchurcb, under the following tide. ** All fsch Pfalms of David ** as Thomas Sternholde late Groihe of the Kinoes Maieflxes robes «**dfd in his lyfctyme draweinto Englyihe metre." They are with- out'the roniical notes, as is the fecond edition in 1552. He pro- bably lived to prepare the firft edition for the prefs» as it is dedicated by himfelf to King Edward the Sixth.'
This may be faid to be the aera of puritanical poetry. But the religious application was not confined to the Puritans alone; it feems to have been the general vehicle of ecclefiaftical con- trover fy.
* When the EngliO) Liturgy was reftored at the acceflion of Ellfa* bethy after its fupprefOon under Mary, the Papids renewed their hoftiiiiies from theflage; and again tried the intelligible mode of attack by ballads, farces, and interludes. A new injundlion was then iieceflary» and it was again eqa^ed in. i^^99 that no perfon, but under heavy forfeitures, (hould abufe |be Common Prayer in *' any £nterludes» Plays, fongsor rimes *•'' *%at under Henry the Eighth^ fo early as the year 1542, before the Reformation was fixed or even intended on its present liberal ellablilhmenty yet when men had be- gan to difcern and to reprobate- many of the impoftures of Popery, it became an objed of the Legiilature to curb the bold and feditious fpirit of popular poetry. No fooner were the Scripturei tranflated and permitted in Engliih, than they were brought upon the ftage: they were not only mifinterpreted and mifundcrllood by the multi- tude, but profaned or burlefqued in comedies and mummeries. £f* fe£lually to rellrain thefe abufes, Henry» who loved to create a fub* jed for perfecution, who commonly proceeded to difannul what he had juil confirmed, and who found that a freedom of enquiry tended to Ihake his ecclefialiical fupremacy, framed a law, that not only Tyndale*s Englifh Bible, and all the printed Engliih commentaries, cxpofitiphs, annotations, defences, replies, and fermons, whether orthodox or heretical, which it had bccafioned, fhould be uttierly abolifhed; but that the kingdom fhould alfo be purged and chan/ed of all religious plays, interludes, rhymes, ballads, and fongs, which Sire c^^iXiy ffftifireus and noyfomt to the peace of the church f.
' Henry appears to have been piqued, as an author and a iheologift, in adding the claufe concerning his own Institution of a Ch«is« TiAN Man, which had been treated with the faine fort of ridicule^
* Ann. i« £li2»
t ^tai. Aun. 34* 35 Hen. Vill. .Ctp- i» Tyndaie's Bible was printed at Paris 1536. .: Yet
90 WartonV Hiflory ofEniUJb Poitry^ Vol. III.
Yet ander the g^eneral injonflioa of fopprcffing all Englifli books oa religious fubje^t, be fbrmalljr excepts, among others, fome not pro- perly belonging to thacciafst foch as the Canterbury Tales, the works of Chaucer and Gower, Chronicles, and Stories of aiENs LIVES t* There is alio an exception added aboat plays, and thofe only are allowed which were called Moralities, or perhapa interludes of real charader juid adion, " for the rebuking and re- '* proaching of vices, and the fetting forth of virtue." Myster i es are totally rcjeded §. The refervations which follow, concerning the ■fe of a corrected Bnglifli Bible, which was permitted, are curioqa for their quainc parciafiiyy and they ihew the embarraflment of ad- Biiniftracion, in the difficult bufineis of confining that benefit tm A few, from which all might reap advantage, but woich threatcatd to become a general evil, without fdme degrees of re&ridlion. It is ab^ iblocely forbidden to be read or expounded in the church. The Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the Houie of Commons, Capiaintt •/ tbi ^vars, Jutlices of the peace, and Recorders of cities, may quote pat fages to enforce their public harangues, at has been accmftnaid, A nobleman or gentleman may read it, ia his houfe, •rcbards^ or gar^ dtm^ yet quietly, and wiihout difturbance '* of good order.'* A mer> chant alfo may read it to bimftlf pri*vately. But the common people, who had already abufed this liberty to the purpofe of divifioB and diHenfions, and under the denomination of nvomem^ artificers, ap* prentices, journeymen, and fervingmen, are to be ponifhad with one month's imprifonmenc, as often as chey are detected in reading the Bible either privately or opealy*
* It (hottld be obferved, thai few of thefe bad now learned to read. But foch was the privilege of peerage, that ladies of quality might read ** to themfelves and alone, and not to others,*' any chapter ei- ther in the Old or New Teftament *. This hu the air of a fump-
"^toary law, which indulges the nobiH^ with many fuperb articles of inery, that are interdided to thofe of inferior degree f • Undoubt* ediy the Ducbefles and Countefles of this age, if not firom principles
) Stat. 34, 35 Hen. Vill. Cap. i. Artie, vii. \ Ibid. Artie, ix.
• Ibid. Artie, x. feq,
t • And of an old uietarie for the Clergy^ I think by Archbifliop Cranmer, in which an A'chbilhop is allowed to have two fwans or two capons in a di(h, a Bifhop two. An Archbilhop fix blackbirds at once, a BiOiop five, a Dean four, an Archdeacon two. If a Dean Iras foor difhes in his firft coorfe, he is not afterwards to have coftards or fritters. An Archbifliop may have fix fnipes, an Archdeacon only two. Rabbits, )ark», pheafants, and partridges, are allowed in theie proportions. A Canon Refidentiary is to have a fwan only on a SuA- day^ A Hc^or of fixteen marks, only three blackbirds ia a week. See a fimilar inftrument, Strype*s Parker^ Appind, p. 6;.*
' In the Britifh Mufenm. there is a beautiful manufcripton velltfm ofi Pftnl:1) tranQation of the Bible; which was found in the tent of King John, King of France, after the battle of Poidliers. Perhapa Ins Majefty pofltfled this, book on the plan of an exclafive royal right.*
7 of
Grofe'i Ethics. 9!
ef piety* ftt lesft from motives of curiofity, became eager to read a book which was made inacccflible to three parts of the oation. But the partial diftributioD of a treafore* to which all had a right, could not loog remain. This was a manna to be gatbertd by t<vtry mam* The claim of the people was too powerful to be over-ruled by the bi- gotry* the prejodice, or the caprice of Henry.'
Mr. Warton then makes fotne pertinent remarks on the in« fluence which the tranflation of the Bible had, in fixing the £ngli(h language* With thefe remarks we (hall for the prefent fufpend our review of this very entertaining performance :
* 1 muft add here* in reference to my general fobjed, that the tranf- latioa of the Bible, which in the reign of Edward the Sixth was ad- mincd into thecharches, is fuppofed to have fixed our language. It certainly has tranfmitted and perpetuated many antient words which woald otherwiie have been obfolete or unintelligible. I have never feen it remarked* that at the fame time this tranflacioo contributed to enrich oor native Englifli at an early period* by importing and familarifiog many Latin words *.
* Thefe were fuggelied by the Latin volgate, which was ufed as m medium by the tranflators. Some of thefe* however* now inter- woven into onr common fpeech* could not have been under flood by many readers even above the rank of the vulgar, when the Bible firli appeared in Eogliih. Bilhop Gardiner had therefore much lefs reafdn than we now imagine, for complaining of the too great clearnefs of the tranflation* when, with an tnfidious view of keeping the people hi their ancient ignorance, he prooofed, that inftead of always nfing Bngliih phrafes, many Latin words (hoald ftill be prefer ved, becaufe they contained an inherent fij^rnificance and a genuine dignity* to which the common tongue afforded no correfpondenc expreffions of fnfficieBt energy f •'
* More particularly in the Latin derivative fubftantives, foch as^ dMmathMp f§rditi§n^ adoption^ mami/eftati^m^ confol^tion. eontrihuiiom^ mdmimtfirmii§m, cP^mtmMuUssn, recenciliati§m, oprratiowt c§mmuiucaiieMt rttribttiidm^ preparathn, smm9r/siity, princfpalUj^ Sec, &€. And in Other words* /rmfirati^ imxcu/abUf traatfigun, comcupi/anci^ &c. &c.
f Sock as, idolatriat contritust hdocuufia^ fM(ramtntum% tltmtuta^ htmilitms^ /aiis/aSi; tiremonia^ ahfoluthy mjfltrium, pinittntia^ Sec. See Gardioer'> propofals in Burnet, Hifi. Re/, vol. i. B. iii. p. 315. And FoUer* Ch. Htft. B. v. Cent. xvi. p. 238. i^ ^ ^
AtT. IL Ethics, Rational and Throloj^ical* with corfory Re- flexions on the general Principles of Deifm. By John Grofe* F.A S. 8vo. 6 s. fewed. Faulder, &c.
AN Author who fets the critics at defiance, betrays a feciiet appreheniton that his writings will not bear to be tried by the approved rules of coropofition. This is a remark which frequently fuggefis itfelf to us in the courfe of our lucubrations. We are led to make it at this time by the fdlowing paflage in BAr. Grofe's prcfiice. * The moft undifceming,' fays he, * will
eafily
92 Grdre^i Ethics.
rafily perceive numerbus defeds in this unicrtikitig^ but it if on the candid t\i2X the Author folely relies : as to the critics, or a legion of their time- ferving adherents, he would adopt the words of a celebrated genius, ** Making human opinion tht ftandard of trtithy is like making the camelion the ftandard of co- lour." Nor to mention that this obfervation has little or no
affinity with the fubjed^ it is brought to illuflrate, we would afk, Are candour and criticifm then incompatible ideas ? Is it a mark of want of difcernment to perceive the defc£ts and ble- ini(bes of a literary performance ? Or is no regard to be paid to the general opinion and judgment of mankind in matters of this nature ? Various and uncertain as human opinion may be, no one, furely, but an Author, confcious that wh^t he has written will not ftand the ted of examination, and dreading the public fentence, would anfwer thefe queftions in the afHrmative.
The publication before us confifts of diftindt cfTays on a va- riety of fubjedts relating to morality and religion, in which the Author has introduced fome particular theological fentihnents, with a view to evince the expediency and necffHty of a Divine revelation. To thefe are fubjoined, as cxpreflcd in the title, curfory reflcd^ions on the general principles of Deifm. Several of the efiays, as we learn from the Preface, have appeared in fome of the periodical prints. We are forry that any of the Author's friends (hould fo far flatter him, as to induce him to coiled and pubiifli them, with others of the fame kind, in a vo- lume; as wc cannot thfnk that they are calculated to yield him any reputation as a Writer, or th^t they have any tendency \o increafe the number of rational Chriftians. His (lyle is turgid, quaint, and fometimes incorred. Among other anomalies, the firft perfon lingular is generally omitted before the vetb; a^d the feveral members of a fentence are afiededly fcparated, after the manner of Sterne, but without his fpirit, by Ihort lines. The train of thought and reafoning in the effays is frequently unconnedcd and inconclufive. The views which the Author has given of human nature are degrading and unjaft. And confcQuently, the theological fentiments which he has advanced, • A"^ irrational and indefenfible. C^ur Readers, we doubt not, will be of our opinion, when they have perufed the following quotations and romarks.
We need go no further than the firft paragraph of the fiift efTay, On Happinefs^ for a fpec men of the affefted ftyle of this work, or for an inllance of the; faKe views which the Author has given of the charadqr and condition of mankind,
' UQiercd into a ftaie of e^ttUnce* where the Battering voice of
pleafure, — and the threatening Uogoage of pain alternately refouod ;
•v-where vice is arrayed with (pJcndor^-r-aDd virtue /carcely fecn ;—
. where honour is applied to folly,— and efleem where Ibame is d*^ ;
a wbe.e
Grofe'x Etbicf^ 9j
where favour leans to intcreft, — and where fjurit is bot a mami ;«-* where friend/hip is a proftituteJ term, — and gaim includes refpe^ :— in this iu^vertii paradife, deluded man goes far in fearck of beffi- mtfs'
In the fequel of this elDvj, having, noticed, the difappoint- mentto Which fcveral other chara£^rs are expofed in their pur- (uit of happinefs, he adds,' * The pbilofopher^ likewife, who regulates his condud by reafon,— is a (Granger to this refined acquifi- doOf — and though he fuppofes himfelf a participant of it;— yet, in the end, finds himfelf deceived. — Froii) the perplexity annexed to a cirode fyfteh) of adion, be; often embafralTes his mind, and is deluded ID the objcd : in the dark reijearches of myftery he is bewilderedy— ' and as reaipn is overpowc^red by injinttkdtt — his difcoveries terminate* his coriofity is checked, — his wifdom confounded, — and hb happi'-
wifi iudtd y
What idear, it may be aflced, does our Author entertain of neafon and philofophy ? Can he be. fajd ./« rigtdatibU C9udu£i ty Tfqfin^ 9r can he .have any pretenfions to the charafier of « pbiUfipbirj wl)o alicpts axrui^ fyftm, $/ M^iiout or who fuflfeis him&lf to be {feipiUUrid in the dark refearcbei of myjlery ?
In a fubfequjcnt eflfay. On Philofipby^ he fays^--*^ from the CxiStnce of reafon, it is plain the will is vitiated \ otherwife ic would ^aye needed no guide/ Thi^ i§ the fir ft time, we be- Ueye, that reafon has been confidered as a proof of,depravity« An uavttjated will without ceafon^ if any meaning can be af** fixed to the expreiOion, is re^tude without underflanding, an4 benevolence without wifdom.
' Philofophy,' fays he, in another part of the fame eflay, ' Phild- fiiphy at biefl can be no more than precept, — and without the Will is made fubfervienti it will never be pat in pradice. The extent of PhrJofophy is Natare, and here it is loft in wonder,— and coafufed ia mjttrj,
* As it was by man invented, how can it inform us conceminj^ 6od ? Idea is iu. common agent, and mere fuggellion its fupport,— « eke one is immcfrfed in matter, — and the other expofed to ao in* leUeAive chaos. Caufes are proved by their e^£t, and fubje^ls are ^daced to our comprehenfion, by the light of Nature, and the radi- ncntt of Reafon.'
' Again, * This fclence is deiervedly admired in thofe branches of it Aat relate to logic and rhetoric ; but with regard to Ethics or Moral Philofophy, it fervcs only to (hew us how exceeding ignorant the vifeft of men are, refpe6liag human nature, when left to the mere
didatet of abttradl reafoning. Natural religion may be compared
to the laathorns we ufe on a dark night, that afford only a partica- lar diicovery, whilft the greatelL part remains it* iis original dark- aeia*
' Philofophy, as refpefling man, is indeed the religion of Nature,
X N. B. In thefe, and all our qnotations, we have exa^ly copied tha breaks and lulics of the original.
ading
94 Qrofe*/ Eibies»
ailing by opiiiion» and guided by fcnie. *' Virtue, tcoording to Aiiflotle, it founded upon Nature " A ditt£k contradidUon this to the Cbriftian fyftem of Philofopby, fince Revelation autborifes os to aflert, that vice is founded upon Natures Md virtae only founded upon Grace/
In the next eflay^ On Ethics^ is the foUowisg paragraph :
* Were ftoicifm irrefiiUbly prevalent, and a blind fatality our ani- ▼erfai creed, our hopes at beft would be a fruitleft elibrt of endu- rance ; and our confelation a miferable uncertainty. — But a far more pleafing fcene ia exhibited, and from the opaque abodes of conjednre, rnfbes forth the perfpicaity of truth i— our borrowed poweri ftrain
, every nerve in our behalf, bat at laft implicitly yield to infallible
Suidance.— We view ourfelves at men fubjed to various incidents,— epraved and mortal, — but we fee likewise our ymffort ;— we behold the road to never-ending felicity, w§i ftrewed with knfual delighu,— - or immured between tranquillity and eafe, but powerfully iecured from everv invader, beyond the reach of injury/
Referring the fentiments, the reafoning, and the ftyle of thefe paflagcs to th^ remtrki of the Reader, we (ball only obferve, that fentiments equally extr7.vagant, metaphora equally harfli, and language equally inflated, may be found in every part of this extraordinary publication. But left we fliould be thought to do injoftice to the Author by partial quotations, we (hall ex- trad an intire efTay, which we feled, as being one of the iborteft, and as conuining the principal fentiments refpeding human nature and divine revelation, which are repeatedly ad« vanced in the courfe of the work :
• On Vice.
* At the earlieft. period of time, when innocence ornamented ho* maoity,— -and purity worf an earthly form, extatic bliii reigned with uninterrupted fway, and illuminated tvtiy trace of being.— Danger was hitherto unknown, — fear had never (hewn its affrighted afped, — Dordi^efs its armed hoft. Refledlion yielded afucceffion of increafing joys — thought was the feed-time of apparent eafe, and revolving momeou as the bar veil of complete fruition. — Encircled by the cheering rays of unremitting blifs, Nature exhilarated the happy pair with continual delights, and proved, in majeftic Inftre, its Au- thor to be divine.— But, fad to re!ate,-*the fatal hour arrived when ipotlefs innocence exchanged its beauteous garb for that of vice.— A midnight gloom pervades the tragic fcene ;— and ihame veils guilt with awe. Horror Aalks into the maze of life, and fonorous ven- geance is in idea heard, — rcfentment is the expe£led meflenger of woe, and injured jufltce the executioner of man. What conlcious innocence had emboldened to enjoy, goilt with acrimony forbids, and flight proves the fancied refuge ot an enfeebled^fallen crea- ture.
* Vice here prefcnts os with a dreadful view of the dejpravity of human nature, the guilt it has contra£Ud,«— and the punifliment it has incurred. It has efledled an awful feparation b<ftween the crea- ture and the Creator,-— and occafioned enmity between God and
man.
Grofe'x Ethics. 95
nan, fink tod eontentUNi— cavy and malice,— pride and revengt,-— with diieafes and deatb^ every evil in the world it has entailed oa the Tons of men* Notwithftanding the dellro^ive nature of vice,— we are too apt to liften to iti voice, thoogh confcience declares what will neceiTarily enfue. How vitiated ! — how fallen !— how frail, then» is humanity, to become a willing Have to vice ;— which threaten9, thoogh it may invite !— Its promifet are riches— pkafu re— -or profit, bat thefe it cannot give. — It invites to happinefs, — but woe alone appears ;^to riches, but poverty impends ;-^to profit, but lofs, yea dreadful lofs, enfnes.— Thus, at bell, it is a deceiver.— The many fpecious forms which vice, on almoft evenr occaiion can afluoe,— reiidera it a more invincible adverfary,— for it has a bait conftantly foited to every genius and inclinatioa.
' Plato fays, ** Vice is involuntary ; for no man can purfue ill, aa foch, without a proipeA of ibme gooid, or fear of greater evil/'— > Had hnmanity retained its original purity and innocence, it would have appeared formidable ;— but our natures being depraved, it ia fitly adapted to osr will and inclination. — Though many unite ia condemning vice in the sheory, their reaibn teflifying againft ir,— yet how few pradically dtfavow it ? The caufe hereof is a vitiated aaiarr,— the efieft is vice in the pra£kice. Vice comprifes, in one fiagle term, every degree of (in, and in tvery aA is oppofed to virtue* It la a principle coanterading and oppofing every human virtue,— calculated to deftroy our peace in the views of comfort, and to pro- cure as mifery in the hopes of joy. — ft is an infatiabic and inordinate principle ;— infatiablcy inafmuch as the gratification of one palfioa leads to many, — and the gratification of many leads to more* Inor* dinate, as it denies all anthority,«-claiming obedience to its will ; and fubmiffion to its commands. The fervants of vice are willing ilaves to a moft cruel tyrant ; — ^bnt fond of their chains, are happy ia a fad delnfion. Vice, regardlefi of its promifes, binds its wretched fens with finters of alluring woe ;-— while virtue, with its gentle hand, condads us to the plains of bKfi.— Its reward is ruin, and its wagei death, — hofiilities commence between vice and reafon, when the firft prevails ;— fince paflion, the promoter, is itfeif irrational.
' This principle is the common eaemy of Nature,— though we are aacantUy inclined to it. Every faculty of the mind — the whole ho- aMtt fyflem is immediately afifeded by its influence, — and it is their Mutual intereft to refill its force, and withftand its flattering charms, —but fb blinded are we to oor common welfare, and fb fubtle is thia dangerous foe, that he meets with little oppofition. Inftead of mak- iw the fmallefl eflfbrts to coonteradt the latent and ruinous porpofea otvice,-— we are conftantly extenuating — palliating — and ibmetimea viadkating its baneful exertions. Under the idea oi iihnality •fftn^ iiwumft we become (ceptical and unbelieving, — under the veil of rv- Jimnumi, diflipated— prophane, — in the garb of Ammjw, we affimilate CO the ferocity of the favage,-*in the mafic of politenefs, hypocritical — nader the aufpices of refinement, indulge a levity of mannen— with the plea of modeft tf^^jir/— indelicate, amazonian,— and in the livery of cuftom,— >fafhionably abandoned.
* If vices, by the ufurped authority of the vicious, can be tranf^ ibrmed into virtues,— and immoralities jullified on the fcore of necef-
fity.
0 Grofc'j Ethics.
•
fity, we caiinot Ibng hefitate io detetwiflg wherefore they zre fo get neraily pra^i fed •?-« There is no iaiUnc^ ia which man a£ls fo con« trary to his own intereft, as in the- performance of evil, for whateFer pJeafore may be derived from a. temporary gratificapon, — it invarif libly reveru injurtpufly .to himrelf.— Though fads preach fo loudly to pa the confe(}iiences of vice>. and every day prefents us with fome tefti- IBOny of its deftradlive ipfluence,-*-though it robs us of almoft every comfort,— our peace of mind, — ^repq tation^r-friends* — though it an- nihilates our moil valuable enjoy ments^ and renders our aninaal f>T- lem as a diHempered prifon>— (hough it enervates the vigour of youths and entails the infirmities of age, — thOMgl)> it threatens prefenr, and fature mifery^— yet we blindly purfue it.— If we are thus infacuaced in the flavery of vice— it mull indifputabljf arife from an innate dc^ pravicy of mind, that fnrmounts even the dilates of reafon, or the ftill more powerful voice of felf-iniereft.
* Vice acquired by our firfi parents is hereditary^— conditutio^alf— ftnd tranfmitted to their whole pofterity. The conceoders for hu- nan dignity deny thb glaring truth, — but the vitioEiy of me.n and manners in general are a fufticient . teftiroony.— 'Far greater thaa corporeal * ruin is produced by it, iince it endangers every mental power» and the foul itfelf. Not fatisfied with the wrecks of plunder and devaltation in the human framet it extends its poifonous darta unto the feat of life ; and that which was formed for biiisful immor- tality* it threatens with eternal woe*
: ' Vice is the friend of Death, and the filler of Deftcaflion ; the former it has enfured, the latter it defires. \i is diftiaguilhed from virtue, as the former is the path to mifery, the latter 4be rpad to bsppine(s. Vice admits of degree^t and though an uaJverff 1 evil* DOt of equal prevalence. Were it to reign triumphant over the men- tal fliorety and cladm nnlimited domain, man would exceed the beaft, and brutality might claim the preference. The whole t^p fenies become impaired by it, and ruin effeded through the whole natural fyftem.. The fight or underftanding is blinded to every fenie of virtue,—- the hearing deaf to the yoice of reafon, or prudence ;-^ the fmelling.infenfible of the ioathfome nature of vice ;— the tafie naoieated with the fruits of virtue^ (b as to loath and abhor it;— <tnd the feeling benumbed by the deHroying winter of fin*
* Thus vice threatens every faculty of foul and body with dellruc- lion. Happinefs and contentment afford no aCylum — peace and comr fort no retreat^— ruin founds the dread alarm* and the (battered building falls a wretched yi^im. Beauty, now becomes deformed,--- wifdom, fooliihaefs, — and ricbesi— poverty. It frequently effieda ihefe changes*
* Original, as well as aflnal guilt, is in eluded in the prefcnt theme ;*-th€ former fomedeoy, the latter all confefs.— Reafon proves chem true, and Revelation now confirms it.— A man mud be apprized of danger, before he (eeks relief.— >Hence fo many are eafy in the ilavery of vice, fince they are not apprehenfive of their danger.
* It (hould have been corporal,
t Of this metaphor the Author is fo fond, that he has twice made nfe of it.
Philofophers
Gfofe'i Etiics» 97
Vhilobphtn woald rtkr us to re^fon ai a «t^arDing; bat vice over» 'rolti reafbn, and drowos it in the depth of madoeis. Her^ oioralicjr iiataftand, and its lioifCs finilh ;— ft condeiiuic»— dehorts and rc^ proves ;— bat cannot change. — Nature being depraved, cannot be changed by natare.— This is a rational patadosr. There mad be Ibawchsog fttpernecoral to change nature, Hoce fnperiorky of power is itqaired ao effaft » oaioral pur poie. Learning, fa^ the retsonaliftt is an ac^aifiHPe ; wBl not ihat efic^ the defign ? Prudence is a ra- tional yirtoe, feaiad ip thf ninds wiU not that produce the change? The negative rea&nabJ/ replies.---Accordiog tp the philofophic no*
ans» vice cannot exift in the fool of man, or in the rational par(t ich they call the micd, bccaufe nature oppofes it. Natare icfelf^ betny depraved, ailentsto,— inilead of opposing, viee. — The mind it* felf ja vitiaudt coofciyienxiy rcuafon elooe cannot eradicate this in- grafted eviK
' Vice, fo far as it prevails, ha« dominion over rea(bn, though the conqueft if not complete. Prodeoce yields to vice, fiece natnre ia itfelf inclined thereunto. Every human refuge failing, whilhermuft ofeaders feeic for pardoo? Reyelatfon« farfuperior to all other means of knowledge, direds the inquiring penitent to a medium, in which every divine attribute fhines with equal luftre.^Juftice and nsfrcy embrace each other, and are mutually exaltedL The offender is pro* nonnced righteoos, and the ofTendtd Deity reconciled. Here human realbn is confounded. Nature teaches moral obedience, though- Jo« capacitated for the duty. Reafon- fecks for human fatisfatiioo^ but natu/e canAOt^rant it.
* Omnipotence furmoonts thefe d'flicuhies, and wiith fupernatoral wifdom prmdes a way, in which vice can be atoned for, and the Af- mtgh^ jaft.<^To the adonifhment of all ages— and the confnfion of the nnbelieving worlds we are piefented in the facred pages of -Reve^ latiottt with a vitw of pcricdl equity and confummate caercy,— anil* iog in one aA o( dieine munififience*— Enemies become the favoof- ites of heaven* and rebda the heirs q( »n eternal inheritance.— The offended is the propitiaiory (acr^fice for offenders,— »aod man, who had no daim to favour enjoys it uninterruptedly. Do "ve boaft of fympathy or compa0ion ?— Is benevolence in anywife the cbara6krii*- tic of man ? Does the dillrefs of others affail our moil refined feel- ings? Csn we prefer the intereft — the pleafure— (he happintft of others to oifr own f If a fpark of philanthropy dwells in our b'calt, •^what a diffiifive flame of boandkfs compafuon has appeared- in the reSoration of n ruined world !*— i^very benefit we derive in common -—all that we can expe^ in ftftare,^arires /slt^ from this fource qf nhimate fciicity,— While Virtue holds forth every ft^al bleiOng, — — Vice^ every impending evil,— may infinite Wifdoin diied oiir choice— that while we purfue the one,— avoid the other 1'
Tbofe of our Readers who can digeft the abfurdity of an of^ fended Deity becoming a propitiatory facrifice. fqr the offcndera, 0ia; have a Judgment and tafte fufficiently perverted to approve of our Autnor^ manner of writing. The more rational and judioous will, we believe, equally condemn his fiyle and fen* timents. Tlie reflections on the principles of Dcifm are indeed
Rev. Fc6. 1^82. ' H written
98 HarringtonV Pbilofophieal and Experimintal Enquiry^ &c.
written in rather a more fober manner : but the Au thorns pro^ penfity to the falfe fublime frequently betrays itfelf, and the £ime kind of involved and inconduiive reafoning is here em- ployed as in the cfiays.
It is with fome regret that we give fo unfavourable a charaAer of this publication^ as the Author appears to have written with a good defign, and to be a man of a benevolent and liberal turn of mind. The ancients^ from whom he fo frequently quotes, might at leaft have taught him, that eafe and JmpUcitj are eflen- tiaf properties of good writing. jtt
A a T. III. J Pbik/epbical ^mi Expifim$i9tal Enquiry int§ ihi firjt mni gtmral PrincipUs of Animal tmd ytgetabU Lift : likt^wifi ii§tt Mm§* fpbirieal Air^ 5ec. With n Refutation of Dr. Pricft'ey'f Doaring §f Air : Prowug^ fy Exptrimtnt^ that the Breatting ef Ammals^ Pm* trefu&ien, SiC, do mt phhgijliiate^ hut dephUgiJIicate the Air \ and that the Office of that ejentiai Organ, the Lungt. is not to difcharge PhUgifton to the Air, hut to receive it from the Air By Robert Harriogioo, of the Corporation of «>urgconfs Loodoa. 8vo. 5 s* Boards. Cadeli. i;8i.
A S the title' page of this performance, and particularly /A the laft part of it, which indicates a refutation of Dr« rrieftley's dodlrine of Air, will naturally excite fome curiofity among our pbilofophieal Readers ; we (ball give a fuller account of it than it is intitled to from its intriofic merits, or import- ance. It is evidently the work of a perfon, who, having early adopted a particular hypothefis, afterwards fees every pbilofo- phieal hGt through that particular medium only which beft corw refponds with his preconceived theory. Of a pnilofophtcal work, founded on fuch a bafis, little is to be faid : fome fpecimens, however, of the Author's manner may be expe£bd, in jufliifi- cation of what we have alreatfy intimated. We ihall principally confine ourfclves to that part of the Author's work, in which, according to the tjtle-page, he undertakes to (hew, * by experi- ment, that the. breathing of animals, putrefaAion, &c. do not phlogifticate, but dephlogifticatc the air ;' or rather to two ex- periments which he adduces, in proof of this ftrange dodrine.
^ One animal/ fays the Author, ^ will fwallow another when alive, throwing into h\$J!omach all the effete and noxious fumes of phlQgifton, which the devoured animal poltefled ^ yet it is fo .for 'from killing the devoiirer, that it is fo immediate to its life, ft could not hvc without it. I took a dog, and after making him very hungry, he /erocioufly devoured two quarts of blocd.
(hdkn^
• • • • . • - . -
asiningi(»i*s Phihfophical and Ejcpirinunial Enquiry^ &e. ^(^
them ; and infieaJ of killing the dog, as from the Dbdor^s the* ory migh^ be ex|>e6ied9 they ferifibly chkrtjhei hiRl> making htni eat with greater glee ahd ra|)lidity. In this fa£(, the noxioul . fumes and effete mitter not only Entered the ftomach in im- ihenfe quantity, but wa% likewife received by tbef lUngj ; yet, fd far from taking life was tht.Cbnfequehce, it Was the lupport and feeder of life/
The Author '^^i To adventurous— -ahd this is his fecond ex- periment— as to introdute His heiid intoaveflcl <fontaInii)g fbmd warm bu1Iock*s blood, ^ I argued,^ fays he, ^ from rational and philofophical principles, a priori^ that if this fume is (6 very noxious and effetd, is the Doftoj* caills itj that it would kill me, &c. — nobody being along with me at the time^ to drag roe from thofe pernicious fumeS, in cafe I had beeri cdnvulfed : but inftead of its having that fcrlous confequence, I found not the leaft bad efieds from it ; on the cohtrary, I foudd the tiving prindpU entertaimdhj it, feeding its appetite ^"^
On the ftrength of theie experiments, the Author^s good opi« nion of phlogifton has iince carried him fofar as to bx6tt ^ con* fumptive patients to attend flaughter-houfei, and to hang thei^ heads over large colleAions of warm blood ; and, that they might imbibe as much of the effluvia as poffible, to give the blood motion with a ftick ; and their tender difeafed lungs havd
found the advantage of it/ Nay, butchers, he tells tis, whd
according to Dr. Prieftley*s dodrine ought not to * live five minutes,* in their flaughter-houfes, thrive and grow fat there :•— the lucky, but ignorant, rogues, it feems, owing all their thrift and fat to phlogifton.
Soch are the Author's experiments. They incontrovertible prove that a hungry hound can tofs ddwn two quarts of warik blobd into his Jlomach with great glee, and hiuch to bis advan- tage s and that a hardy experimenter may fnufF tip the fleanf aHfing from a bucket oif blood, wiihdut beihg thrown into con- vttlfions. Farther than this, our logic will not carry us.
We fliall give one curious inllance mote of the Authdr^f ittode of teafoning; where he undertakes to prove^ tliat^ in r^^ fpiration, putrefadion, and other phlogiftic proCeflh, ail they ate called, the air is not phlogifticated, but dbphhgiJHiatid^ oi robbed of iti phlogifton. We muft b^g leave to abridge eohfi'^ derably his pompous account of ^ putfefyiAg animal fubftanc^ Which is diffufed through four pages.
Take, fays he, that part of the anittial^ which Is moft ftff^^ ceptible of putrehtAion^ viz. the animal inuciis. You will find it to be an infipid, inodorous body, pofleffing /r/iAr $r no phU^ gplM ; tiay, if you throw it into the fire, // iuili ab/olmify m^ ftnguifi iff like Crater. Expdfe it to xhb air, and you will foon find that k has aci^uired a (6tii tadavcrous fnoell, and a taftt
H a moft
ICO IlarringtonV PhUofipbical and Exp^imsnial Bnfmrj^ (cc«
moft pungent and noxms ; and, io ihorr, that it mw (o teems with phlogifton, that it is become inHammahle^ and will burn.^^ * Hcrt/ fays he, * is a moft pointea and wonderful falf* Some ereat and important proccfs in nature muft have taken place. Here is a body wbich^ before it was expofed to the atr^ pofTefled little or no pUo^ifton ; and now, after fuch expofure^ it con- tains, comparatively, nothing elfe. This immenfe quantity pf phlogfftpq, thprefore, has been all ftolcn from thf air; for the iQucus fcarce contained an atom of that principle^ till it had op- portunity and time to rob th^ air of it ; which accordingly hay bpen defhhfifticated by the Jlinking mucus.— But hear thf Au- thor bimfea exulting towards the end of his demonjlration^ as he d^ems It :
^ Where does ail this phlogifton come from ? Will any pnc he fo ridicukujfy abfurd as to (ay it came from the animal mucus ? —If there is any one fo projsly ab/urdy J pity him i being not defirous, nor (hall I offcr^ to refute him : out, as it is ^ cle^r as any demonfiraiion in Euclid it could not come from the mucus, therefore, as tbtre was no third body^ it muft have come from the air, by decompounding of it ; in cpnfequence it is not pblp* gifticating the air, bi{t dephlogifticating of it.'
Will no logician ftep forth here— for we fcarce feem to want a cbemifi-^vfhQ can And out fome other iblution of this * pointed :uid wonderfvl h€t V To a perfon almoft wholly ignorant of chemiftry, it will naturally occur, netwithftanding (be Author** pretended demonftration, that it was foJ/ibUt at kfift, that thia i^e mucus^ in it% found ftate, mij^ht contain as much phlogifton t^a cheniift woufd fay, more) concealed in it, in confequencc of its vrift uttion with the other principles ; as prefents itfelf after- iprards, when the phlogtfion is Ut hofe in the putrefaflive pro- ccfs, and is rendered apparent, in confequence of the difunion of the principles that conuitute the mucus.
Sulphur, or flowers of fulphur, for inftance, have nearly as little imell, or tafte, and exhibit as few of the obvious marks of ^ preftncc of phlogiftoo, as the Author's mucus : but exp4>(e thia ftilphur Amply to fire^ as the Author expofed his mucui to air 9 and prefentlv there will appear abundance of phlogifton (to iay nothing of the acid). According to the Author's mode of reafooing, we Ibould fay, that as the fulphur, before its ex- po/ure, fcarce fliewed any (igns of its containing phlogifton, it IS demonftrable that itYnuft nave fiolep the phlogifton from ihc fire^ which it has accordingly dephlogifticated. ^ The reafoning throughout the wbok of this work ia nearly of Iht fame kind^ Thua the Author will allow little or no pblo- ^ftonto refide in vegetables that conftitute the food of animals; and gives reafons juft as cogent JiA thofe above a/Iigoedt Oo ^be other band^ be is exceedin^jr liberal in beftowing this prin*
cipl^
Harnhgton*! Phtldfipkicaf and E^epiHrneHtal Enfuiry^ &c« i<h
eiple on other fubftadces, where chemtfts wduld not think of looking f6r it. We fiiall only metitioti an exi^tnple or two :'
* Saltpetre/ (ays the Author, * at chemifts know, Or at le^ ought to know, is principal^ phkgifion.^ Thfa h dimonJltabU^ lie afterwards fays, from its being pro<iuce<f in greater 'poHty and abundaifce in hot cownxxitt ; and from hs high ftateof Ar- Jlammahitlty^ which is proved froih its being tile bafis of gtJir* powder. Again, in, (peaking of the C<)inm6n experiment Hf decompounding Iime*water, by m^afis <^f fixed air^ the Aushot tells us that a decompofition takes plaCe^ becaufe the fiafed iff neutfalifes itfcif with ^ the phhgtftm of iU iDaUfy Which k«t* the lime in iolution.' The Author furety dd6fd^^dt l^arn theifc "flrange doarines in the fchool of Dr. Blatt; by whom, life teHs us, be * had the honour a^d happlnefj t6 be taught ch^«> ^llft^y.*
Having TuiEcientTy exhibited 6ur opini6ri df thf^ performance, i^ bir^ir to give our Readers the Author's opini()n df his own Twfrk ; wtrich is indeed very different from -ottrsi— — * I chink now,' ikys be, ' after eftarbliihtng this gnat doSirine in this |>la*n, obvious, and concife relation, which we have in thfs book laid dow», that it Will open to> us the |^cat arcana o( ivat#re, which all phitofophers have beeii aiming aC^ and which *as been fo long fo great' a bar to (Cfcncv ) hiving eluded the refearches of fuch a number of learned ages; aAd yet, h^on MipubUcMthu^ ^aviag boen almoft as far from being dtfcovered as ever ; fitm $ftbt laU doctrines ttnding rather to obfcure it* • The philofophical Reader will not, we apprehend, be muck |>rfjudiced in favour of ^ the grtat do^frine* here faid to be efta- bliibtd in this work; when he is told that the Author s fup* pofed discoveries relating to air, animal life, and more particu- larly phlogifton, arc the refults of a new * planetary fyftem of Jms owfl,^ which he bad previoufly * eftabtiAed/ and < which i\&n^ ia fome points, coniiderably from Newton's/—' Here,^ ^ya ha, ^ I found out what phlogifton is, and what are iis pollers and cffc£ls; — fo that after I had thoroughly digefte^d my pUmgUtry fy(ie0i upon paper, and then attended to its effet^s oa #Bima), vegetable, and mineral life, I found not a great deal of dificuhy in eUcidating them, as I found out the great key be« fofe, ift (earching for planetary life*
It givos u« pain to mortify a young adventurer in philofbphyi ivbO| ia mimerous paflages, exprciles his high opinion of the great knpcMtance of faia difcoyeriesj and who does not ap<* ^ear to ba ia the kaft degras confcious that his extravagant the- ory, of his < great <Io&ioe,' as be calls it^ is confuted by a choufand fa<9s or experiments, relating to phlogiflon in particu- Wf wcilluiQwo to every perfon converiam in inquiries of thia
H 2 nature.
^2 4 fi^^ mii firiout Aiirtp U iht CWtfiian Latij:
pature. Though h^ exprefics his hopes, that the world will not * too feverdy critjcife upon his youthful labours \* we can** 0ot avoid hinting to hjm — having an eyjs to the future worics, the publication of which he announces in this performance-^* that his progrefs in trui phllofophy would have been greater, if, jofte^d pf Ipoking up to the ^iScrif^j fof infprmationi with refped jU> the fMbieds pf this treatife, he had concjefcended to cultivate |Dore affiououPy that humbler kind of knowledge which is to bo flicquired in the elabQratpry, and in the works o> thofe who have pf late fo greatly enligjitened the world by their experimental ^nveftigatiQnSy Even with refpeft to thi^ laft article, the philo- fophers of th.e pfcfent day will expe^ from him experimen^i letter ptapned apd e^i^utrd \ qbfervations more dire& and apr jpofite tp the fpbjed of inquiry ; and a mode of re^foning much clofer, than are to be found in any part of this treatife; the language of whic{i is, befideSi in every page, remarkably \Ln^ grammatical. -^
Art. IV. Afirn mid /erious Jddrtfi t§ tht Chriftiam Lmtj^ t/pe* f tally Juch at^ tm^rmeiwg UmitifriaM Siniimimts^ tomform t§ Trinitmrimw W^J^. To which is prefixed. An lotrodudion ; wherein the Wor&iip pf the Holy Scriptpret is contrafted with tke Worikip of the Churfh of England, an4 of Qifleat«rs- 8ro« M* 6d* JohnfoB. 1781.
TlfE Aibjed of this publication is a matter of the greateft importance. The Author has treated it with a becoming ferioufners and eameflnefs. The doArine of the Trinity is nof only contained iq the articles, but alfo interwoven with all the devotional fervices of the Church of England. The devotional pxercifes of the greater number of Diflenting congregations are likewife formed upon it. With what propriety, or good con* fciencci c;^n Unitarians join in worihip conducted in a manner fo repugnant to their ftntiments ? The pious i^uthor of this Addref^ endeavours^ from a variety of topics, to convince them that it is their duty to feparate ^hemfelves, and to form difttnA ibcieties. In order to givp the greater weight to his arguments^ iie has prefixed an Introduction, in which he hss pla^ upon pppofite pages, a number of rules, dincAions, and examples, re- fpe£ltng ttie objed of wprChip, prayers, bcnedidions, and doxo- Ibgies, colledea from the New Teftament, aiyd others contained in the Liturgy of the Church of ij^ngland, and in the writings pf fome eminent Dii&nters. The contiaft is manifeft, and cao hardly fail of ftriking the moft carelefs, or the moft prejudiced j^eadcTf ^€ |ball jrire a fpe<;imeo or two ;
4 fra anifirioui Minfs U thi CbriftioH Lai^. 16}
* DiuQims^ &c. in thi New ^ DinSfions^ &c. in tbt Liturg Tijiamifit. 9f thi Church of England.
* Matth. tv. I o. Then faith
yifus unto himy Git tha hena^
oatan ; for it is written^ Thou
Jbab vmjhip thi Lord, thy God,
4mi him omjjhalt thoufirvi.^^
• vi. 6, 9. But thouy
whin thou prayijl^ pray to thy Father which is inficntj and thy Facber, which f nth infecrh^Jball riward tha opiniy,-
<< The Catholic faith is this^ that we wor(hip one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unt* ty.*' Jthanajlan Cracf*
*^ Almighty and ererlafting God, who haft given unto us, thy fervants, grace, by the con- feffion of a true faith, to ac-* knowledge the glory of tbi; itirnal Trinity y an3 in the powet of the divine Majtfty to wor« fliip thel/iwVy."
Colka for Trinity Sitnd.'
*' Above all things ye muft give moft humble arid hearty thanks to God thi Fathir^ th$ ^ouf an4 thi Holy Ghofl^ for the redemption of the world by the death and paflion of our Saviour Chrift,— -To him therefore, with the Father and the* Bidly Ghoft, let us give (as we are ■noft bounden) continual (hanks."
Exhort, at thi Commun.
« •
^* Ye have prayed that out Lqrd Jefus Chrift would vouch- safe to receive him, to releafe him of his fins, to fiinSify him with the Holy Ghpft, to givr him the kingdom of Heaven, and ev^flafting life/^
Public Baft, fir fnfantu
* N. B. This is the firft mention that oi^r |liord makes of prayer being offered up to God in his name. And it is remark- able, that though he tells them that he will do thofe things for them, which they (hall aik of the Father ; yet he does not bid them tp a(k thofe things of him, but of the Fathor in bis name* Surely, if in any cafe he had intended to direA them to offer up prayer to himfclf, it would have been in thofe cafes, where he ^uld i>e the perfon to do thofo things for them ^hich they afked.
P 4 —\^
* John IV. 21, 23. Jefus faith unto thi woman^ Believe jvm^ the hour comithy whin yeJhaU.mithir in this nuuntainj nor yot at y#-
rufalem worflnp thi Father.
But thi hour coniithf and now is^ when the trui worjhippirf Jhall worjhip tl^e Father in Jpirit and in truth ; for the Father fakith fuch to worjlfip him*^
* John xiv. 13, 14. And whatjiuvir yo. Jhall ajk in my uamij that will I do^ that thi Father may bi glorifiid in thi Son. Jf yi Jhall aJk any things in my tfifm^ J will 4^ it.*
f 04 A frig mtifirkuM Jdirrfi u thi ChriJiUm LluPf.
—Is not this inference neccflarily to be drawn from hence. That Mr Saviour intended to inftrudl h}< dtfdples, that prayer was thtpicuSar bdndur due tf^ the Father, the fame at under the Old
TeftaoiQf^t, and sii the|i|hjt,of reafon dirtfls? -An Jmfsrtial
Sfifuiry what is the TEST of our Saviour's Miracles, &c. Printed fo.*^Noon, 1750, p. 56, 57/
* cb. xyi. 23. jfnJ in thai day ycJbaUaJk me nothing: vi- rify, Virily^ I fay unto youy wbft* jiiver ye maU ajk the Father in (hy name^ be will givo it you.
»
. * N.B» Left they fbould inifta|ie and think they were to pray 10 hirn for any thing when he left them, and returned to the Father, he ejtprefsly forbids tb^m to do it. *' tn that day (fays bc)» ye ibaU 4ik me Nothing."
The Author produces maf)y other pafiages both from the GoijpeU and from the Epidles, in which the Father is repre- sented as the fole objed of, prayer and praife. We proceed to make gii extr»St froin another fe^ion of the introdu£)ion :
^ Addrefles, Prayers, and Be-
nedidions, found in thi IfevJ Tiftanient*
* Malih. vh 9« fO« Jfkrtbis wtanner iherefofi pray ye : Our father, which aft in, Heamm^ hallowed be thy name ; Thy king'' dem €$me. Thy will be done in Sarth as it is in Heaven.* ^^
. *--T— xi. 25, 26. At thai tfme Jefui mfiuered and faid^ 1 ibpik tbee^ 6 Father, Lerd of heaven and Earthy becaufe Thou haji hid thefednngs from the wife and frudenty ami ha/l revealed them unto babei. Even fo^ Fa« thtT^forfo itfiemidgcodin Thy /gbt/
• Pniyefff, Addrefles, &c. in the Book of Comfnon Prayer^ bit*^ fides thoft Sfeifly offered itp ti Gad the Pitrther.
<< Thou art the King of taory, O Cbrift," Te Deum.
** We therefore pray thee to help thy fervants whom thou haft redeemed with thy precious bl«od/\ Thifame.
*^ O God the Son, Redeem- er of the world have mercy up* on^ us, mifecable finners.
« O* God the Holy Ghoft. proceeding from the Father and the Son, have mercy upon us, miferable finners.
•♦ O boly, bif fled, an* glo- rious Trinity, three Parfona^ and orre God, bave mercy upon u?, mrferabfe finners.
" Son of God, we beftech thee to hear as.
** O Lamb of God that fak- eft iway the fins of the worM. 3 • John
J firH 9mi firhus JitUrip iiihi
LO^ lOf
' « Jollii xv\\. t. J, Thefe WirdtJM^ Jifuts and lifi up hit £yp to Hioven^ andjdid^ Pathei* she hour is comtf gUrify iky Son^ ihai fhSM alfi mofghri^ ThM. This is fife etirnal that fhtf might haw T he^f the otify true Gody and y^us Ghrift whom thou bafi/entJ And fo chrotfghout.
• 2 Cor. 1.3. Biffed be G«*^
#Mv the fzihtrefour LorUJefus
Qbrifty the Father efmer^iiSj tmd
the God 6f all cof^frrty who eom^
fortesk MS //f 4ll 4ur trihulaUotu* ,
./
« Epb. i. 3. BleJJid he the God and Father of our Lord Jefus thrifix ivi'^ hath bUJfed us mtb allfftrtiiiaUi^titgs In hid- ifenly places in Chrijf.*
^ poxolagies eoJURed fr^m thi New Tejlament, »
• Mattb. ?i. 11. Tor Thinc; is the kingdom^ thi power ^ an4 iie glory. An^u!
* Rom. xvi. 25. 27. Now to him that is tf fowor to^aUiJb jOMj according tomyGofpel^ and fhe preaching of Jefus Chrift^-^ To God 9 onjty wfe^ be glory thro* ^ofus Chriji^for ever. Amon*
^ Gal. i. 4, 5* According to $he will ff God the Father, U whom be glory /or over andover^ ./Uun^
' ^ Have tfMTcy vpM fi8» ^ O Chrift hctr us. ^ *^ Graeiottfljf hear «I9| O ChrUt : grackmfly hctr bt, O LordChfift. ^xAhyw
•• O Lord, the tinXy bcgot^ ten Son, JeOi Chrift, O L6ff4 God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takeft awaj the fins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou, that takeft away the fins of the wofid, liave ^nercy upon >us» Thou th»t takeft away the fina of tfieworjil) receive pMr prayeK. Thou that fitteft at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.
** For thou only art holy, thou onl/ art the Lord ; Thou cnty, O Chlrift/wiih fhe'rfoly Ghdft; ait mtift high m the jjloiy of God the' Father.** Trayer afiir thi CommuhiotL
* Dire£lions, &c. as to the Oh-' jeSi oflVorfhip\ and Doxolo^ T 6'es colkftcdyir^m /*< fVrii-' PigsofDiVUnitn.
** The fecood P^t <>/ V^^ is adoration^ l^^ it contains^ (j), A mcation of bis nastire aa Gog I and this includes^ bis moft original propatie^ and perfec* tUmu His unity of eitence, thai there is no other God bo^ £d^s him. His indonccdvable iubfifteoc^ inThfce Pe^^tbns, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which mjftery of the Trinity is a moft proper objeA of our adoration and Wonder | iiace k fa much furpafles diur underfiandiog.''
/Tatts's Guide to fr^er^ p. 6.
* Ephet
T«6r AftA ndfirinn'JMrtfs t$ ibi Chriftum Lmi^
* EpKtf. ill. 20, 2t. Now tmto him that is. 4Mr U do ixcnd- big ahundmntlf akvi all tb^t- we gfi or tbink^ auording to tbo foiwor that workith in us^ unto Him bt glory in tbe Cburcb by Cbtrijijejus^ tbrougbout nU ages^ ^mrU Vfitb^ut eneU Anun*- ^- .
• • Phil. iv. 10. Now unio God, even our Father, be ghrj Jot ever emd ev&% Amn^
•• W© muft give boiK^urto the Three Perfons in the God*
head diftinaiy/'
• *♦ We pay our homage to the Three that bear record in Heaven, tbe Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoft, for thefe Three are One. We pay our bomagt tothceicalted Redeem- er, who is the faithful Witnefs. We alfo worlbip the Holy Ohoft, the Comforter." , . Henry 4 Metbod of Prayer.
** Now to God the Father, the Son, aiid the Holy Ghoft, that great name into which I was baptized, be honour and glory, dominion and praife, for ever and* ever. Amen/'
Tbo fame*
^^ Now unto the Kinp eter^ nal, immortal, invifible, the only wife God, and our God, in Three Perfbns, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, be honour and glory, dominion and praife^ henceforth and for ever. A* men." 1 be fame.*
Such is the difieirence and oppoiition between the doArine and langtiage of the New Teftament, re(peding the. objeA of woribip, and itiofe of modern Chriftians.* — This Introduaion Kkewtfe tontaffis the devout wjbet found in the New l^eftament^ and Doxolopes% applied to God the Father and to Chrift, and to Cbrift alone ; with remarks, partly the Author's own^ and part- ly colleAed from other writers.
- In the Addrefs itfelf, among other topics from which out At^tbor argues, are the foHoiinng: the fublimity and fimplicity of the form of worfhip prefcribed in the New Teftament— its authority — the awful confe<)uences of deviating tn fo important a matter from the Divine^ppointment, exemplified in the cafes of Nadab and Abihu^ and of tbe Corinthians^ the infincerity, the duplicity chargeable on tbofe who join in forms of worfhip (o vepumant to their fentiments, and in fuch an important point as the Vijeil of worJbip-^xYit countenance hereby afforded to what they cannot but look upon as a ereat corruption of Chriftianity ; uA the ill efied of their conduS if) preventing a reformation —
♦ i}iat
< I Tin* i. 17* Now unto the King eUmalf imsnortalj in^ vijiUe^tbe only wife God, be bo- Uour and glory i for ever a) jtmn*
Aftu andfiri^us Addrtft U tU Cii/lian Ldhp 107
that Trinitarian worihip is idolatr§u$'^znA the importance of conducing oorfdvca in fuch a manner, as that we may look forward to the appearance of Cbrift as Judge of the world, with a pleaGng hope and confidence.
To enable our Readers to form a. judgment of the Autbor'a manner of writing and reafoning, wie ihsul by before them the following paragraphs :
* It is a leading and eflential qualification of Cbriftian devo* tion, that we worihip the Father in fpirit and in truth. Exter* nal worihip is a duty onl^ as it is beahns our rcfiimony to the belief of aGod and his Providence, and is calculated co imprefs and diffufe fentiments of piety around us» But it cannot be genuine* and acceptable to the Being, wholoolceth at the heart, any further than as ir is dilated by the in ward, veneration of his name, an^ is correfpondent to the fentiments of the hjpart. Were we to addrefs a fellow-creature under acharafier which we are con- vinced doth not belong to him, merely in compliance with fome eftablifhed forms of compliment, our own minds muft accufe us of infincerity ; and di4 others know the diijbnance between our language and our fentiments, they would condemn our hypo* criiy. How much more blameable is our duplicity ia the wor* (hip of the God of Truth 7
* Did you certainly know that any who join in aAs of public worihip Inwardly believed in their hearts that there was na God, or that he was not to be worihipped, nor would rewarl them that diligently feek him, would you not judge fuch peribns as afting an mconftftent and infincere part i as cdntradiftin^' their own convidions, and afluming falle appearances? Couli
{ou regard fuch as bomji men ? Be perfuaded then to refieA ow nearly your conduS refembletb thiein, if you continue to join in the worfbip of beings, who, you are conyioccd^ have no claim, on the authority ot our only rule, to fuch prayer an4 praifes as are o^red to them. Can you exculpate yourfelvci^ in this cafe^ froni the charge of infincerity V p. 63, 64.
* Your concurrence in the Trimtariam woruip of the Church. t^fEfiflani^ or of any other church, gives countenance and fup-. port to that fyftem by which numbers are kept in ignorance of the true charader and government of G^d^ are led to worfliip 4ie Almiehty under a falfe cbarader — and are warped afide frooi the nmplicity of the Gofpel, by the dint of authority and fbe fear of pepetraling into awful myfteries* Your feparation and proteft would ferve to awaken the attention of others, to qccite a ferioqs and impartial inouiry, and to (hake that flavi(k reverence for public forms, ai)d the eftabliOied religion which fcreen$ abfurdity ai)d myfticifm from a free examination. It would /acilitate the fpread of the Scriptural worihip, and a ra* iipi^al fervicc of God in the room of ao obfcurc \^^fuu It ia
ict A fin tmdfiftQUi AJdnfs to tht Cbrifiian tatty.
ho wonder if many, offended with the harfli founds and the irreconcileable principles of the cftablifbed Liturgy, forfake the tflemblies of public worAip,' and are prejudiced againR Cbrifti- apiw* Will it not be a lervice to fuch to fee them an example 6f oiftiogoiihing between the Gofpel and the corruptions of it? Will it not afford them a faTr opportunity to judee of its truth, if you exhibit it in its plain, and native drefs I Let them fee ^at Chriftianity is in itf$^. Your continued conformity mif- Iqads rheiD, and contributes to keep out of fight tl^ real and genuine Gofpel. Every error retained obRrudls a further re- fi>matix>n, and obfcures the light and glory of the Gofpel. Do niftice then to Chriftianity/ p. 87.
* It is not ea(y, methinks, to evade the force of thefe remon-* ihfiuiees aetd periuafions : and yet (bme may feel a great difficulty bow io aft in this cafe. To thofe of you, who live near to any ibciety of Dilleitters, where the puritv of Chr4{{ian worflbip is ptt^jyftiy Mi the One God and Father of all is adored and praifed through Jifut Chrifl^ the path to be purfued is plain and dbvious, if you regard the convictions o^yeurown minds, and the truth of God. If your fituation be not fo favourable to your femithents and wifhcs,' yet by commiuiicating your fcnti« ments to others, you may perhaps find a fuficient number to join yoti in forhiing a new fbciety, which, like the refpcdable ^Mie that che^s at EJJix chapel in the Strand^ (ball have for x\m ^rttcular objeA of its aflbciation, the worjhip •/ ibt $ni tiving imd tmt tjod the PathiT. A number of perfons united upon this frlnciple, ar^ Eke a ctty Jit upon a hill: their conduA inflruds ttf n : it ferves to diflcmiDate far and wide the priiKiples of true Chriffian Jl^offhipy and to^di^uTc a fpirit of (erious and rational teat. They af% at 6nce diiftinguiflied examples of fiocerity and integrity lit' religion, and of attachment to the authority and' Kmplicity of the Gofpel. But if your fituation be ftill lefa ItfroaraMe to tAe profecution of a condud| which is conibnanC to your <ron'v)AionB and a feofe of duty, permit me to aik, wke- l!her it be (ffintial to fhe utility and acceptablenefa of focial v^fiilp, that numbers ihould be afiembled together in a boufis dchroted to public Worfhipi and with all the attendants of a mi-* stifter xtwAix\y educated, and other officers ? In the firfl ages 0^ Chriftianity, we read of churcbe$ that did not extend beyond the circle of a family, nor even always to that ; as the church in Csefof^^ houfe, and that in the houfe of Pbikmon^ ice. It cannot admit a doubt, whether it be not preferable to wor(hip ttre only true God With ont^s family only^ agreeable to the Scrip- ture^, and in the language of fincerity and truth, than to joia the largeft fociety, with every circumftance of ftate, convenience, and fplendor, in a worship the Scriptures forbid, and our hearts difapprove. The judicious and pious bead of ah houfe, by
devoting;
dcTOtiiig the fame portion of time tc regular worlbip iahls qwo^ dwellingt with the aid of good fermons and prc>-compofed fwayers (of which the EngliOi lao^uaffe affords a variety and abundance) will procure weight to, and reflect dignity on, hit own charaAer^^-evince his own finoerity — edify his own boufe —and hotd forth an InftruAive pattern to others/ p* 1 12, &c«
The fentiments contained in the latter part of this paragraph^' refpeAing focial worfliip) cannot, we think, but approve tbeni^, frlves to every liberal-minded Chriftiao. Upon the who(^* though the prefent publication is not a mafterly performance^ ill regard Co either (lyle or compofition, it contains many thion worthy the moft ferious conuderation. of tbofe to whom it tsi addrtl&d : and the Author is much to be commended for the frankncft with which he has exprefled his own fentiments, zuA fpr the earneftnefs with which he hath addrefled his fellow Cbriftian8» upon a fubjed which every ferious mind amft con-! fider as of the firft importance* » _
n%m ■ ' I 11. ■ .1 I I i^M^— —^^^—1 ^— »
AsT. V. Thi Arg9Mu»kt tfAp9lUmms RbodiMS^ in Fovr Book8» by Fraocif Fawket : The whole reviiedt correOedt and coon^leted* by kii Coadjotor and Editor; who has aooexed a Tfaailatioa oC C9lutbus*s Grf«k Poem 00 the Rape of Helen, or the Origin of the Trojan War; with Notes. 8vo. 6$. Dodiley. 1780*
Art. VL Tbt Argomautic ExpiMHon. Tranflsted from the Orcek of Apollooiiii Rbodiosy into EagUih Verie, with critical, hi ftori*. cal, aad explanatory Remaikg, and prefatory £flay% with a iaigif Appendix. Inieribed to his Grace the Doke of Marlborough^ £vo« 2 VoIs^« 7 8. 10 Boards. Payne. 1780.
IT is not ill obferved by the Editor of Mr. Fawkes's tranila* tton, that Apollonius's nobleft eulogy is to be found in tho writinp of VirgiL The paiTages which th^t judicious poet has bOTrowed from his Grecian predeceilbr^ and tranfplanted into the iEoeidy are as well known as they are numerous; and yety notwithftanding that there are many paflages to be met with in the Argooantics* which the Roman bard did not think uq«« worthy 6i adoption ; with refped to the general charadet of that performance^ ncidier Longinus nor Quintilian have^ wt apprehend^ decided uncandidiy, when they afign it but a fuh* ordinate rank in the fcale of poetical excel ieoce. j
Longinus in difcuffing the queftion^ whether the great and fublime in compofitioni though accompanied by apfiaient ine- qnality^ is to be preferred to a faultlefs medbcrity ? after deter*
* Two very elej^ant editions of the original have laceiy been pubf liihed from the Ciareodoa prefs : the one in quarto, the other ii^cwo volamet o^avo. The ingenious Editor ii Mr. John Shaw, Fellow of Magdaieo College, Oxlord. Sold by Mr. Elmfley ia the Strand.
■' mDininir
f tor 7^/ Argonautlcs of ApdUnius Rho£u$m
mining the queflion in the affirmative, proceeds, firijoi yi noLi
«» /(*aXXo», « AroXXttViOf td'iXof^ ^vftrd'ai ; The cenfure of Quintilian is perhaps ftitl mbre degrading: Non con tern nendum cdidic opus st^uali qudJam niidiocritate. Inft. Orac* Lib. x. cap. f.
But it is not merely from a llavifli rubmiflion to the authority of cither of thefe refpefUble critics that the poem of Apollo* nius is not held in higher eftimation, or at lew more generally read by the moderns. To his countrvnien the Argonautic ex« pedition was^ perhaps, one of the molt flattering fubjedls that a Grecian poet could have made choice of. But at this remote period, whether it be confidered, as moft probably it was con- fidered by the Greeks, as an hiftorical event ; or, according to later opinions, as a mythological allegory ; it appears through » very different medium from that through which it was viewed b%App|)onius's cotemporaries. The difficulty of making the merely £nglt(h reader intereft himfelf in mythological allufions* which he could rarely underftand, or in evenu which bear no lelatioD to any thing now exiftin|, and which he cannot believe, may have been the principal reafon why only detached parts of this poem, previous to the prefent attempts, have hitherto ap* peared in our language. Thefe attempts we are now to intro- duce to our Readers.
Mr. Fawkes's reputation, as a tranflator, has been lone efta- bliflied. The favourable reception which his verfions of Ana<* crcon and Theocritus have met with, has fufficiently proved he was not miftaken in his talents when he applied them to tranfla- tion ; an employment for which^ indeed, hi appears to have been not ill qualified. His verfification is, for the moft part, ifafy, fli/ent, and perfpicuous. And though bis language, it muft be confefled, is too frequently deficient in elevation and dignity, yet that deficiency is in fome degree compenfated for by a clearnefs of expreffion, which feld(^ tails to reflefi the fenfe of the original with a diftindnefs and truth not always to be met with in tranflition. Were we to draw any comparifon be<^ tween Mr. Fawkes'ii tranflatioo and that of bis competitor, efpe*« cially after what has been premifed, it might appear to be invi^ dious : let each, therefore, fpeak for itfelf.
The pafTage we fhall (eled is that very beautiful one in which Medea's paffion firft discovers itfelf. Which Tranflator ap^ proaches neareft to the exquifite (implicity of the original, a fiav plicity, not unworthy of the great father of the epic himiclf, let the learned Reader determine.
Oi^irio'toy f iv irxa'i jucreifpcirer Ai(rov0C uior
A^I^M vufA Ai^^pnv ^o,ufv9) ^nvTQ KaXvirffnvf
Tbi Argonautics of Apollonivs RhJtuii 1 1 i
JTup a^n fffivx^ci^ wbc #f 01, kvt chi^oC, Epirv^uy Tifrorfilo [xtr ij^wa wero'ofAf»ofo.
Kd&/»xaXi/bi»( ^otXoLfAovii o'uv utaerii^ ot^-i fS^isxcu AuT(tf? JT at; Mritm furrrij^i; roXAa ^Jc ^Jcam 0^fjL»ip\ offcr» T 'pwTK^ iJrotf uwq-i |ufXi(r5au n^orpo J* a(k -cf^xXfAuf rri 01 (v^^i^Afro votrroi* Auro^ y Oioc iDi'y 010(0*1 Ti fot^fony uro,
H(c»* uii nif^ oiXXov oico'«i'« Top^Avroi EfAfAitfot^ eufi^ Toiov* fvsoM'i / aifir epeofifi .
AniTU^ ^lo-ftCT* oivpixo f uuTi vafAiTa^ Hin riS^¥U6olx* rtfp i% qI ofAft irapux^ AcM^udf uiyoraru tXto fit xii^oo'vyijo'iy. Hxa ^e, fjLvpofAtifn Xiyiuti MftHixaro jtAu3o»f TivT« /At iuXaifi¥ ToJ* IX" »X^» ciSVoj'i Twnwf ^S'lo-fTAi .i}pii}w» yr pcf irctf^f un ^ipnAfi^f EfpfTtf* D ^fk €f iXXi» ftXD^t^ iSa(XM(d«i. Nai Jn THTo yif votyei Bta fIipo-i»<t griXoiro* OixaJi f om^Ki ^t^irv fAOfoif* t% ti fxiy atlra Af(i)dtivai uiro Pso-f, ro^i moirotjpoid'i ^ftiiny
Mr. Fawkes's trinflation :
' Fir o*er the re((, in grace tremttch^d tIone# And chaript foperior'yonthfol Jafon (hone. Him thro* her veil the love-diftraAcd maid With melting eyes, and glance oblique fanre/d: Her mind, as in a dreamt bewilder'd ran. And traced the footftepa of the godlike man. Sorrowing they went : to flinn the monarch'a ire. With fond Chalciope her foos retire ; Medea follow'd, bnt with cares opprefs*d ; Such caret ai love had raisM within her breaft* His graceful image in her'mnid (he bore* His gait, hit manner* and thie robe he wore^' His pointed words*: thro* earth's remote^ bound No pnnce ihe deem'd with fnch perfediona crowa'd. Hia coneful voice ftill, ftillilie ftema to hear, '
btill the fweet accents charm her liflening.ear. The ball* and wrAhf^l Kingexcitie.her dread : , , She mooma hta fate, as if already dead. From her bright eyes the fhowcr of angni(h breaks. And thus, overwhelmed with woe, /Medea fpeaks : ^ ^
*• Why fall the tcart of forrow frort my eyes, ' ' * •' Though he the firftor laft of heroes dies f :. . i
^ Qnere tvayu>j<oiA*u
" Perifli
112 Th jfrgottoutus ff ApoUoniui RkdiaH
^* Periih the nanl-^DO. bfidy lex \dm &il; , ** And may mir prayer, kind. Hecate, prevail ! *' Safe fail be home: bot» ah! if doom *d to bleedy ** Teach him, that I rejoice !i6t in the deed.^'
Mr. Green's tranflatipn :
* Each foileof beaotyt each attra^ve grace Bright o'er bii form* aad inahly in bis face« ^ ,
Great Jafon ftood ; oh ! nuch-enan^urM aiaid Beneath the veil with varidnt tintt difp1ay*d Still the dear youth oMi^ac thy looki parfde ; There fix'd indulge the ftd)y>pkafiBg vievr. As in a dream ebibrb*df n whirliBg maae She creeps, Ae fiica where'er her |a£>a ftreyt. Sorrowing the h^rou waadef !*<-froiB her fire The mother throbbing wkb a8e£tion's fire Her chamber &ekt, proteiQivt of her foes; A (ifter'i office nor Medea flinnt* Such tidei of angutlh in her bolbm roll As fwell the ftoriD, when love nfarps the finil. All, all of Jafon fills her tlbje&s* fcene. The flawing yeftment end Cbt j^adient mlea ; Eafe, his depottmeit, while ke italks, er itS) The dome wkb aetive mejeily be quits s Perfe6lion'*s theme the ic^ni ideas ftait s * Earth never bore tby Uke. thou more than man !' » Still fweecly tuii'd his jpctiiog voipe (he hears* The thrilljng mufic dies npon her ears : \
Deep was* he^ anguifli, left' the warrior's hiHA Sink by the monarch, or his bolls, to death* At onoe (be ihrieks; (hegives Urn to the deed. Her paly cheeks the tear of pity (bed* PourM from afiiAion's channel ; filent grief» 'Till the (bbb*d acceats figh a fweet relief. ** Ah! why, where'er i look, the (igbt of woe? ** If doom'd my Jafon to the (bades below,
A God in worth, or dadard in his might*
Be his to periih 1-^yet a wiib 1— the fight
Uninjar*d clofe he 4 be his cooqueft ftingt
Aafpicioos Goddefi^ .thou (rem Perfeus (pruog!
Be his the bleding of his native ftate!
Bat if bis hapUfs fail ih^ voice of fate, •* Ohi tell him, Hecat, his Medea's love " Coiiid o'er her Jaibo's deaib affliOioa prove !"
This latter, to the uttUamid Reader, will be ignQium per ignotitts; while the more learned one rmift refer to the original for the fenfe of the tranSatidtu Mr. Green's tranflation is ac- companied by a long, a very long, Appendik ; in which almoft every thin^ is intro&ced except what relates to his Author, The greate({ (hare of it is indeed pccupied by' Mr. Green*s theo- logical connundrums ; matters tbac a^ ^ckcd with as liule pro- priety
Jobofoft'x BiogrephkalPn/acis* J13
priety to the 'Argari?.u tics of Apollbnius, as would be a profound diflertation on the Maforetic points to a new edition of the hif- tory of Tom Thumb. gi ^/j^^
■•■ftMai««
AnT. VII. JohnfirCs Biographical Pnfaces^ concluded*
THE life we are now entering upon is that of Dr. Young, written, at the requeft of Dr. Johnfon, by Mr. Herbert Croft, junior, of Lincoln's Inn, a friend of the poet*s fon.
From the narrative part of this well- writ ten piece of biogra* phy, we learn, that Dr. Young's father was Edward Young, at that time Fellow of Winchefter College, and Reftor of Up- ham ; afterwards Dean of ^arum, and Chaplain to King Wil- liam and Queeii Mary. He was a learned and ingenious man, and is flill remembered as the Author of two volumes of fcr- tnons.
Young, the Poet, was educated at Winchefter. Remaining (here,, till he was in his nineteenth year, he mifled the oppor- tunity,'being fuperannuated.by the £tatutes, of being elected u{ion the foundation at New College in Oxford. He was, however, admitted an independent member of that fociety, in 0(Sober 1703. Here he continued only three months. The Warden, who was a particular friend of his father, dying, he removed to Corpus ; invited there alfo by another friend of his father, the Prefident of the College ; who, in order to leiTen his academical expences, accommodated him, as had the Warden of New College, at his own lodgings. In 1708, he was nomi- nated by Archbifhop Tennifon to a Law Fellowfhip at All Souls. In 1714, he took the degree of Batchelor of Civil Law, and the degree of Dodor in 1719.
' There are who relate, « fays Mr, Croft,* that, when firft Young found himfelf independent, and hia own reader at All Souls, he was cot the ornament to religion and morality which be afterwards be« came. The authority of his father, indeed, had ceafed by his death in 170; ; and Young was certainly not aihamed to be patronized by the infamous Wharton. But Wharton befriended in Ydnng, per* baps, the poet, and particularly the tragedian. IF virtuous authors rauft be patronized only by virtuous peers, who ihall point theia put V
Mr. Croft afterwards accounts for the connexion between them from motives which, while they exculpate. the poet, do credit to the peer:
' Young's father bad been well acquainted with Lady Aaoe Whar- ton, the Arft wife of Thomas Wharcoo, £fq; afterwards Marquis of Wharton — ^a Lady celebrated for her poetical talents by Burnet and by Waller. To t^ie Dean of Sarom*s viiitation fermon, alteady men- lioned, were added (bme copies.of ver(ct '* by that excellent poeteft y Mrs. Anne Wharton/' upon .iu jieing (nuiflaCfd inlo 9«gliflh at
JL;v. Feb. 1782. I the
114 JohnfoilV Biographical jPnfacis:
•
the infianc^ of Waller* by At wood. Whtrtoii« after he became eo« Bobled» did not drop the Ton of hit old fneod. In him* darinj^ the Ihort time he lived, Young found a patron , and in his diflblote • ^delkendJlit a friend and a companion. The Marquis died in April 1715/
Sometime about the year 172 1 he made an unfuccefsful at* tempt, through the fupport of his patron, to get into parlia- ment. He did not take orders till the year 1728, foon after which he was appointed chaplain to George the Second.
' In July 1730 he was prefented by his College to the TtCiory pf Wel^^yn in Hertfordshire, In April 1732 he married Lady Eliza- beth Lee, daughter of the Earl of Licchfield. and widow of Colonel Lee. His connexion with this Lady arofe from his father's acquaint- ance, already mentioned, with Lady Anne Wharton, who was co* heirefs of Sir Henry Lee of DitchUy, in Oxfordfliire.'
This conne£lion lafted only till the year 1740 ; death not only depriving him of his lady, but of her amiable daughter, the child of her former huiband, who was juft married to Mr* Temple, fon of Lord Palmerfton. Dr. Young's lady brought him one fon, Frederic, now living; a gentleman whom the world, with a malignant cruelty fcarcely to be paralleled, has for many years fuppofed to have fat for the pidureof Lorenzo in the Night Thoughts. The refutation of this infamous flan- der we Ihall give in the words of Mr. Croft :
* The humanity of the world, little fatisfied with inventing a me* lancholy difpofition for the father, proceeds next to invent an argo* ment in fupport of their invention, and choofes that Lorenzo (honld be Young's own fon. The Biographia pretty roundly alTerts this to be the fa^ ; of the abfolute impoifibility of which the Biographia it* felf, in particular dates, contains undenisible evidence. Readers I know there are of a iirange turn of mind, who will hereafter perufe the i/tghi Thoughts with lefs fati^faflion ; who will wiih they had ftill been deceived ; who will quarrel with me for difcovering that no fuch character as Lorenzo ever yet difgraced human nature, or broke a father's heartl Yet would thefe admirers of the fublime and ter- rible be offended, fhould you fet them down for cruel and for favage.
' Of this report, inhuman to the furviving fon, if it be untrue, in proportion as the character of Lorenzo is diabolical, where are we to find the proofs ? Perhaps it is clear from the performance itfelf. From the firft line to the laft of the Night Thought s no one ezpreffion can be difcovered which betrays any thing like the father. In the fecond Night I find an expreifion which betrays fomething clfe ; that Lorenzo was his friend ; one, it is poflible, of his former com pa* Dions ; one of the Duke of Wharton's fett. The Poet (liles him Gaj Fritmd — an appellation not very natural from a pious incenfed father to fuch a being as he paints Lorenzo, and chat being his fon.
* Buc let us fee how he has iketched this dreadful portrait, from the fight of fome of whofe features the artift hirafelf muft have turned
away with horror! A fufajefl more Qiockingi if his only child
really fat to him, than the crucifixion of Michael Angelo ; upon the Jiorrid fiory told of whidt, YouAJg compofed a ihort poem of foorteea
liaea
J A.
Johnfon*f Biographicat Prifackf. if*
!bes in the eirly part of his life, which he did not think dtftrved ta be repobliflied.
' In the firft Uigbty the addrefs to the Poet's fuppofed fon v^ Lorenzo, Fortune makes her court to thee*
' In the fifth A>;^^/
And burns Loren:&o Hill fOr the fubHoie Of life ? To hang his airy neft on high ? Is this a pidla^e of the Ton of the xtOiOt Of Wellwyn }
• Eighth JUtght—^
In foreign reslms (for thon haft travellM far)-— ^s which even now does not tpply tO his ibn*
• In Night fist =.
So wept Lorenso &tr ClarifTa's fatd.
Who gave tbtt angel- boy On whom hd ddtet^
And died to give him^ orphaned in his birth !
• At the beginning of the fifth Night we find— -^
Lorenzo ! tp recriminate is joft«
1 grant the man is vain who writes for pnufi^.
' But, to cut (hort all enquiry, if any one of thefe paflkges, if aa^ pafifage in the poems be applicable, my friend fhali pafs for Lorenzo. The fon of the author of the Night Tboughh was not old enongb* when the Night Thoughts were written^ to recriminate^ or to be a fii* ther. The Night Thoughts were begun immediately after the rnonm* ful events of 174.0. I'he ^t^ Nights appear in the Stationers booki as the property of Robert Dodfley, in 1743. The Preface to Nigbi Seven is dated July the yth, 1744. '^^^ marriage, in cSonfequenceof which the fuppofed Lorenzo was born, happen^ in April 173 a* Young's child was not born till June 17^3* In 1 740 this Lorenzo^ this finilhed infidel, i\i\% father^ to whole education Vice had for foma years put the laft hand^ was only >^<vf« years old. An aaecdote ot this crnel fort, fo open to con tradition, fo impoifible to be trne» who could propagate ? Thus eafily are blafted the reputations of the living and of the dead.*
Having in vain panted after advancement^ and (we ire toxrf to add) courted it by all the arts of adulation through everv pe« riod of bis life, he at laft, at the age of fourfcorc, was appointed^ in 1761, Clerk of the Clofet to the Princefs Dowager of Walesi He lived to be fourfcorce and four^ dying in April 1765.
How Young, with every advantage in his favour that a can* didate for preferment could wi(h for, (hould end his days aC eighty-fouf upon a College living, is a problem not eafily to b0 folved. It has been faid, and indeed feems probable^ that his talents, or at leaft the mariner in Which he tta^lojtA them^ procured him a penfion of 200 /• per anhittn from the late King* For Young's poetical life we muft refer tq Mr. Croft | hav« iog no room to iofert what he has faid on that fubjeA^^^nter* taining as it is, in this place. With refpedi to the Itile of Mr* Crcrftfs compofition^ the ^ead^r will .be amufed to obferve bow well he has taken off the manner of hii friend, Dr, Johnfoa*
I a H«
1 x6 Johofon*i Biographical Prefacts.
He has done it, inde,ed, fa ingenjoufly, that it muft be a flirewd critic who, from internal evidence, would fufpetSl that the life ef 'Y^uog was not wriaen by the fame pen .which produced the reft of the Uvea in this colk^ion.
Young's poetical chara£ier has, however, devolved upon Dr. Johnfon ; and he'has drawn it with impaicialiiy and precificn :
* Of Young's Poemt it is difficult to give asy general charader ; for he has no u^iformiiy of manner : ope of his pieces has no great refemblance to another; He began to write early, apd continued long; and-at.diiF<ven( (im^s had different modes of poetical excel- lence in view. His numbers are fometinies fmoothy and fometimes rugged ; his (lile is fomedmes concatenated, .and fometimes abrupt ; fometimes diffuiivey and fometimes concife. His plan feems to have ilarted in his mind at the prefent moment, and , his thoughts appear the eifedls of chance* fometimes adverfe* and fometimes lucky, with ▼cry little operation of judgment.^
* In his NigBt Though/ Sf he his exhibited a very wide difplay of original poetry, variegated with deq> refledions and ftriking allu- £on8, a wildeirnefs of thought, in which the fertility of fancy feat*
*|€ri flowers of every hue and of every odonr. This is one of the few .poems in which blank verfe could not be changed for rhyme bucwith «dtftdvantage. The wild diiTufion of the fentiments* and the digref- •five fallies of imagination, would have been coqiipreiTed and re ft rained *h>y regard to rhyme* The excellence of this work is not exadloefs, Jbnt copioufnefs ; particular lines are not to be regarded ; the power if in. the whole,, and in. the whole there, is a magniBcence like that -afcribed f Chinefe Plantation, the magnificence of vaft extent and ^ndlefs diverlity.^
• . ' It muft be allowed of Young's poetry, that it abounds in thought, :bnt without much accuracy or lekdion* When he lays bold of an alloflratioii, he purfuesit.beyond.expe£lation, f6metimes happily,. as in his parallel of ^ic^Jfiver with Fkafurty which L have; heard re- f)eated with, approbation by a Lady *, ofwhofe praife be would have been jufily proud, and which is very ingenious, very fubtle, and al- fnoil exa£b; but ibmetimer be is lefs lucky, as when, in his Night VbpughtSt having it dropped into his mind, that the orbs, Hoaiiog in ^ace, .might.be called the tlufttr of Creation, he thinks on a clufter
."
• Dr» Jo^infon is pointedly fevere upon Pope for makinc: an oilen- tadout difplay. of. his intimacy with tht Gnat. If t(ie principle upon ^rhich he cenfuies him be juft, it may with equal propriety be ap- j^fifd tOihimfelf with refped to tht Fair; wiph uhom the Do6lpr ^akes frequ^nt^ opportunities, as in the paiTage abpve, of hinting ^at he lives in the gr^a^cft familiarity. Jn truth, no one, not troubled. with the fpleen, wi)l think there is much room for re pre- henfion in either cafe: why might not the Poet very innocently men- Vbn thofe with whom it was well known he conAantiy affociated ? Vid why may not the Critic be permihed r6 go a little out of hh^ way to pay a compliment to the anonymous Ladfes, by wkofe ftuies and approbation.. he appears^ and, mt prciume* . not wiihoot Jufi»o»^.bciahighlygrati&d.i . r
7 of
- >A
Joh n fon *j Biographical Prefaces. 1 1 j
of grapes, and fays, that they all hang on the great V!ne» drinking' ^t miHartout juice of immortal Lifi^ ^ « •
' His veffcFs are 'fornfed by no certain ' model ; for he is no mot'e like himfelf in his different prcdb^tions than he is like other^/ He^ feetns never to have ftiidied profody, ndr to have had any direCkion.' but from his own ear. But» with all his defeds, he wai a nran oiT geniuf, anda'|:k3et/
The next in fucccflion is Dyer; the flend^i'. particulars oP whore life being already known, it were nredlcfs to repeat' them.
In the yeir 1757 hfe publiflfed the Fleect, his greateft poetical work ; * of which,' fays Dr. Johnfon, * I will not fupprefs a lu- dicrous ftory. Dodfley tbe bookfeller was one day. mentioning it to a critical vifiter, with more expedation of ifucccfs than the* other could eafily admit. In the con\^erfation the author's age was afked ; and being reprefented as advanced in life, He w»U^\ faid the cridc, be buried in woolkn*
With moft profound fubmi^ion to the recorder of this ludi- crous ftory, asit is here called, the criticM vifiter*? remark is,- furely, as lame an attempt at wit as ever dHgrac^d the vileft' pages of the vlleft jcft book.
Of Grongar HiU^ Dyer's earlieft produflion, we" arc tolcT,' that when it is once read, it will be read again ; of the Ruins of Rome^ thit the titTe raifes greater expe(9ation than the perform- ance gratifies. And of the Fleece^ which never became populart' that it is now unrverfally neglefled, and that little can be faid, likely to recal it to attention. * The woolcomber and the poety, appear to me fnch difcordant natutes, that an attempt to bring them', together is to toup/e the fixpent txjitb the fowl. When Dyer, who(e mind was not unpoetical, has done his utmoil, by interefting hia' reader in our native cornmoditj, by interfperfing rural imagery and incidental digreflions, by cloathing fmall images in great words, and by all the writer's arts of deluiion, the meannefs naturally adhering*, and the irreverence habitoally annexed, to trade and mahafaAore^' iitak him ondfe^ infuperable oppreflion ; and the dif^gaft which blank' ytt{t^ entumbering and encumbered', fuperadds to an unplesliin^' fdbjeA, foon repels the reader, however willing to be pi^afbd.
* Let me however honeAIy report whatever may counterbalance thh weight pf cenfure. I have been told that Akenfide; who, upon - a poetical queftion, has a right to be heard, faid, " That he would regulate his opinion of the reigning tafle by the fate of Dyer's Fleece i for, if that were ill- received, he Hiouid not think it any longer rpa- fonable to expefl fame from excellence.''
We fear it is more owing to a decline of poetical tafte than to any defe^b that are hefe poiAted out, that Dyer's Fleece has been ' fo undefervedly neglefied. Indeed, if the time would permit,] it would be no difficult undertaking to prove, that the grealeft part of the objediions that Dr. Johnfon has raifed againft this excellent poem might with equal juftice be brought againft the
I 3 Gcorgics
'- J-
••>•
Ii8 Johnfon'j Biographical Prefaces^
G^orgics of Virgil, a performance which, neverthelefs, will be admired as long as poetry is underftood.
Of David Mallet, having no written memorial, I am, fays his Biographer, able to give no other account than foch as is fupplied by the anapthorifed loquacity of common fame, and a very flight per- £>oal knowledge.
* He was by hu original one of the Macgregori, a clan that be- came, aboQt fixty years ago, under the conduct of Robin Roy, fo Ibrmi4ab|e and fo infamous for violence and robbery, that the name was annulled by a legal abolition i and when they were all to deno- minate theinfelves anew, the father, ( fuppofe, of this iiuthor called himfelf Mailoch.'
He had bis education at Edinburgh, and was afterwards en^ gaged by the Duke of Montrofe as tutor to his fons. Through (bis connexion, he got introduced into the capita] ;
f Having cleared his tongue from his native pronnadation fo as to b0 no longer diftinguiflied as a Scot| he feems inclined to difencum- ))er himfelf from all adherences of his Original, and took upon him to change his name from Scotch Maihtb to Englifli ^mUa, without #By imaginable reafon of preference which the eye or ear can dif- covar. What other proofs he j^ave of difrcfped to bis native country I know not ; but it was remarked of him, that he was the only Scot fvhom Scotchmen did not commend.'
If what ^fc die told ii) a fubfequent part of this narrative be truci his countrymen are fully iuilified in withholding their fommcf^dation from him :
* In the beginning of the lad war, when the nation was exafpe* rated by ill fuccefs, he was employed to turn the public Vengeance upon Byng, and wrote a letter of sccufation under the charader of a f^Iafn Mom, The paper was with great induftry circulated and dif- per fed ; and he, for his feafon^ble intervention, had a confiderable penfion bellowed upon him, which he retained to his death/
We are not to be furprifed, that they, who were every moment eypeding the tide of public yengfeaitce to overwhelm them, (bould make little fcruple to facrifice another to favour their own efcape. Sut what fentiments are we to entertain of that humap bloodhound, who could be bafe enough to under* take, from the ineaneft of all motives, the diabolical buiinefs of hunting down a wounded, perhaps an innocent, man ! If the enormity of the crime be confideird in its full extent, as afie£i« ing not only the unfortunate vi£lim, but his remoteft con^P nexions, the aifaffin, who at once plants a dagger in your heart» }s^ compared with fuch a monfter as this, a chara£ler of inno- cence. It is wonderful there coiild be found any one to exe- ic'ute fuch a fiend-like employment. But \t is ftill more woii* derful^ that Dr. Johnfon, the delicacy of whpfe moral feelings c;ui on fome occaflons aflume f^ch exqiiifite fenfibility, ihouTd fcooliy pafs over fo atrocious ^n inftance of unprincipled depra- vity a9 this, ^ith np other remark than, that ^ for his feafonable i^^rventiofi be had a| confiderable pepfion t>eftowed upon him.
JohnfbnV Biographical Prefaces* 119
which he retained to his death/ We may fay in the words of the poet.
Are thefe the paths that lead to penfion'd eafe 1
But let us turn from fuch a charader as this, and contemplate the features of benevolence and humanity in the blamelefs life of Shenftone.
Shenftone was born in November 17 14, at the Leafowes in Hales-Owen, near Hagley. After being awhile at the Gram« mar-fchool in Hales-Owen, he was placed with Mr. Crumpton, an eminent fchool-mafter at Solihul. From fchool he was fent in 1732 to Pembroke-College in Oxford, of which fociety, though he took no degree, he continued a member ten years* In 1737, he publiflied a fmall mifcellany, without his name* ^ ' He then for a time wandered about, to acqaaint himfelf with life; and was fometimes at London, fometiines at Bath» or any other place of poblic refort ; bat he did not forget his poetry. He pnb- liflied in ij/^ohitJudgmeMt of Hereuhs^ addrefled to Hr. Lyttelton* whofe intered he fupported with* great warmth at an cJeAibo : this was two years afterwards followed by the School- mj^re/s*
* Mr. Dolman, to whofe care he was indebted for his eafe and lei- fure, died in i74)t and the care of his own fortune now fell upon him. He tried to efcape it a while, and lived at hishoofe with his tenants* who were diftantly related; hat finding that imperfed pof* feffion inconvenient, be took the whole ellate into his own hands, more to the improvement of its beauty than the increafe of its pro- dnce.
* Now began his delight in rdral pleafores, and his ambition of rarai elegance : he began from this time to point his profpeds, to diveriify his furface, to entangle his walks, and to wind his waters; which he did with fach judgment and fach fancy, as made his little domain the envy of the great, and the admiration of the (kilfnl ; a place to be vifited by travellers, and copied by defigners.'
How exquifite Dr. Johnfon's tafle is in matters of this kind may be coUeded from his comment on what he calls the ambi- tion of rural elegance. ' Whether to plant a walk in undulat- ing curves, and to place a bench at every turn whcfe there is an obje^ to catch the view ; to make water run where it will be heard, or to ftagnate where it will be feen; tq legve intervals where the eye will be pleafed, and to thicken the plantation where there is fomething to be hidden, demands any ereat powers of mind, I will not enqtiirej perhaps a fullen and furly fpeculator may think fuch performances rather the fport than the bufinefs^ of human reafon.' Thefe fplenetic remarks are, how* ever, in fome degree qualified by what follows : ^ But, continues he, it muft at leaft be confeflfed, that to embellifh the form of Nature is an innocent amufement \ and fome praife muft be al- lowed, by the moft fupercilious obferver, to him, yfh% dqes be|( what iucii multitudes are contending to do wel^'
I ^ Shei)«
12^ Johnfdn*j Bi^^ipUtaT Pnfacis*
Shenftone^s doath, which his anxieties probably contrtbated to haften, was occafioned by a putrid fever, February 1763.
His poems confift of elegies, odes, and ballad^:, humourous failles, and pioral pieces. * Of his elegies. Dr. Johnfon re- narksy that the thoughts are pure andfimple; but, wanting com- bination» they want variety. The lines are Ibmetimes, foch as elegy requires, fmooth and eafy ; but to this praife his claim is not con- Hant : his didbn is often- haHih", improper, and af{^AeH ; bis words ill-fcoined, oriH-ch(>fen« and his pbralb unflcilfully inverted.
* The Lyric poems are almoft aJi of thr light apd airy kind, fuch as tripiightly and nimbly alojtg, without the- load of any weighty meaning. From thefe, however, RurtU Elegaiiti has fooie right to be excepted.' / mm beard it fruifid by a *very Uarmtd lady ; and tfaongh the lines are irregular* and the thoughts difTufed with loo much verbofityt yet it cannot be denied to contain both phjlofopliiiii cal argument anq poetical fpirit.'
Speaking of. the Faftoral Ballad, Dr. Johnfon fays, ' I cannot biit regret that it is paBoral; an intelligent reader, acquainted ivith the iceaes of real, life, fickens at the mention of the crocl^ Cdt pipt^ the fifttp, and the'i/V/^ which it is not neceflary to bring forward to no- tice, for the poet's art. is fcledion, and he ought to fl)ew the beauties, without the grofliijcfs of the country life/
So far from agreeing with the Dd£l'6r, in regretting that it is paftoral, we fbould regret (and we believe moft readers .would join with ua) if it were any thing elfe than what it is. An in* telligept reader >nuiy lie allowed to ficken at the mention of the crook, the pipe, the Iheep, and the kids, by
A Pafioral Poet in Leaden hsl)*ili-eet;
but he muft be unacquainted with the fcenes of real life (unleTa Dr. Johnfon confine the idea of real life to the fmoke of a-city) who khows not that paftoral images, to a man, who, like Shen- flone, employed* the chi^f part' of his time in cultivating and cmbelltfliing his grounds, are obvious and faniiUar, and, confe^^ quently, their introdudibn irita hrs poetry is^ natural and in charadter. The groflhcfs of fiich" inrrges as are nei'ther phyfi- cally impure, nor in their own nature difgufting, it is not eafy to ciifcover/
Dr. Akenfide, whofe life and poHical charader come next in review, was a native of Newcaftic upon Tyne, where his father was a butcher. At the age of eighteen he was fent to Edinburgh; that he might qualify himfelf for the office of a DifTenting Minifter"; his inclination, however, direftcd him to the ftudy of^hjrfic. * WhctHtr, when he rcfoWed not to be a Diflcnting MinMlcr, he ccafcd to be a Diffenter, fays Dr. John- fon, I know not. He certainly retained an unneceflary and outrageous zeal for what he called and thought liberty.* This unmcijfarj and outrageous zeal for liberty feems to have given bis Biographer ( who fcldom overlooks that objed) great ofiFence,
as
John(&n'i Btogrnphicat Prefaett. 1 tXT '
as he has ftigmatized it in almoft every page of this fliort hlf- tory.
In 1741 he went in purfuit of medical knowledge to Leyderk ' He there took the degree of DoStor of Phyfic. On hiB return to England he firft pra(ftifed at Northampton; From thence he ' removed to Hampflvad, which, after two years refidence, he quitted for London. ^ At London he was known as a poet^* but was dill to make his way as'aphyfician^ and would perhaps have been reduced to great exigencies, but that Mr. Dyfon, • with an ardour of friendfliip that has not many examples, af* lowed him three hundred pounds a year.'
He lived only to be forty-eight; dying in June 1776,
Of his great work, the Pleafures of the Imagination, Or. Johnfon fpeaks in terms of approbation. To his Lyric compo- iitions he is lefs favourable*
I'he remaining lives to be confiJered arethofe of Lytteltoh'^ Weft, and Gray. Of Lyttelton we are told, * he was a very : cariV writer, both in verfe and profe, His Progrefs of L9n)i^ and'hil Ferfian Letters^ were both written when' he was very young'; and; ' indeed, the chi^rafler of a young man is very vifible in both, The^< Verfes cant of (hepherds and flocks, and crboks drcHed with flower'i \ and the Letters have fomething of that indillind and headittxyn;^ ir*' door for liberty which a man of genius always catches 'wtien hi ei^ • tcrs the world, and alwjy^ fuffers to ct)o] as he paffes forwatd.'
This laft remark is, furely, neither ju ft with refpcA- to 'the ' perfon againft whom it is particularly ^\xt(A^ 5 nor is^it triife in its more general application. Lord Lytteltbn's fubfeqiicnt life and writings fully evince, that tHb fentiments of liberty which ' he imbibed in youth he retainec! tp old age. There is, perhaps, . no paflion, when once it has taken';firm pofleffion of the mind, that burns with-more unabating ardour than that which has lir beriy for its objeii : and for this very obvious reafon ; liberty is an ob]e£l that is^ equally defirable through every period of life*
Gilbert Wleft was the fon of the -Reverend Dr; Weft ; hia mother was fitter to Sir. Richard Ttmple, afterward* Ia^vA • Cobham. In the early part of 'life? he had a commiffion in a troop or* horfe ; finding himfelf afterwards more' inclined t6 civil employment, he laid down Kis comniilfioii and engaged in bufinefs under Lord Townfliend, then Secretary of Siate, Hi's adherence to Lord Townlhend does not appear to have been at« tended with very lucrative advantages ; it ended in nothing but . a nomination (May 1729) to be Clerk Extraordinary of the Privj^ Council, which produced no immediate prbfit. It win not till the year 1752 that he r^ctWed any benefit from his no* mination. ' It is reported th^t the education of the young Prince was offered to him, but that he required a more exiettfivi power of fuperintendence than was thought proper to allow him* This amiable and exemplary man was taken off by a firokc of
the
122 Johnfon*! Biographical Prefaas.
the palfy in March 1756. His poetry and its charader, which is here confirmed, are both fufficiently known.
In eftimating the poetical pretenfions of Mr. Gray, Dr. Jobnfon deviates fo widely from the general opinion, that ic may not be amifs to pay more than ufual attention to what he has advanced on this fubje£l. We (hall confine ourfelves, how- ever, to his critique on what he calls The wonderful wonder of wonders^ the two Sifter Odes; ^ by which, fays he, though cither vulgar ignorance or common (etiie at Hrft univerfally rejefted them, many have been fince perfaaded to think tbemfelvcs delighced* I am one of thofe that are willing to be pleafed, ind therefore would gladly £nd the meaning of the firft flanza of the Progrefs of Poetry.
* Gray feems in his rapture to confound the images oi /preading Jomtd and running nvater, A Jlream of mufick may be allowed ; but where doei Mujick^ howtvtr /moofh and frong, after having vifited the 'uerdant 'vales, roivi dovjn the Jleep amain, fo at that rocks and modding gro*ws rebellonjo to the roar f If this be faid of Mufick^ ic is Boafenfe; if it be faid of Waier^ it is nothing to the purpole*
' The fecond danza, exhibiting Man's car and Jove's eagle, is vnworthy of further notice. Criticifm difdaics to chafe a fchoul boy to his common places.
* To the third it may likewife be objected, that it is drawn from Mythology, though fuch as may be more eafily aflimilated to real life. Idalia*s 'ueT*vet green has fomething of cant. An epithet or ■letaphor drawn from Nature ennobles Art : an epithet or metaphor drawn from Art degrades Nature. Gray is too fond of words arbi- trarily compounded. Manj-tiuinUing was formerly cenfured as not analogical ; we may fay manj'fp^ttedj but fcarcely manj^fpottingm This Aanza, however, has fomething pleafing.
* Of the fecond ternary of llanzas, the iirft endeavoors to tell Ibmething, and would have told it. had it not been crofled by Hy- perion : the fecond defcribes well enough the univerfal prevalence of Poetry ; but I am afraid that the conclufion will not rife from the premifes. The caverns of the North and the plains of Chili are not the refidences of Glory and generous Shame » fint that Poetry and Vir- tue go always together is an opinion fo pleaiing» that I can forgive him who refolves to think it true.
' The third ftanza founds big with Delphi, and Egesm, and Ilijpi*^ and MeaneUr^ and hallonued fountain and folemn Jound\ but in all Gray*s odes there is a kind of cumbrous fplendor which we wifh away. His pofition is at lad falfe : in the time of Dante and Pe- trarch, from whom he derives our firft fchool of Poetry, Italy was over-run by tyrant power and coward vice ; nor was our ftate much better when we lirfl borrowed the Italian arts.
' Of the third ternary, the firll gives a mythological birth of Shakefpeare. What is faid of that mighty genius is true; but it is not faid happily : the real efFe6ls of his poetical power are put out of fight by the pomp of machinery. Where truth is fufficient to fill the mind, fiAion is worfe than ufelefs ; the counterfeit debafes the genuine.
' His account of Milton's blindnefs, if we fuppofe it caufcd by flttdy in the formation of his poem, a fuppo&tion furely allowable, is
poetically
•lA
Johnfon*; Bkgrapbical Prefaces* 12J
poetically true, and happily ima^ioed. But the car ofDrydcii, witk hit t^o c9Mrfirs^ has nothing in it peculiar ; it is a car in which aojT other rider may be placed.
* The Bard appears, at the fird view, to be» aj Algarotti aad others have remarked, an imitation of the prophecy of Nereos* Al« garotti thinks it fuperior to its original ; and^ if preference dependa only on the imagery and animation of the two poems, his judgment is right. There is in The Bard more force, more thoughts and mof* variety. Bat to copy is lefs than to invent, and the copy has beem unhappily produced at a wrong time. 7 he fiftion of Horace waa to the Romans credible; but its revival difgoftt us with apparent and unconquerable falfehood. Imtredulms edi^
* To feledl a fingular event, and f«well it to a giant's bulk by fa- bulous appendages of fpedrea and prediAions, has little difficulty^ for he that forfakes the probable may always find the marvelloua ;- and it has little ofe, we are affeded only as we believe ; we are im- proved only as we find fomething to be be imitated or declined. I do not fee that Ti?f Bard promotes any troth, moral or political.
' His (Lanzas are too long, efpecially hie epodes ; the ode h finiOied before the ear has learned its meafures, aad confeqvently be* lore it can receive pleafure from their confpnanc^ and recurrence.
* Of the firft (lanza the abrupt beginning has been celabrated ; bot technical bicauties can give praife only to the inventor. Jt is in the power of any man to ru(h abruptly upoa hi^ fubjed^ tliat has read the ballad of Johnny Armjireng,
h there ever a man in edl Scotland ^--^^
* Hie initial refemblances, or alliterations, rw/ir, rutbU/s^ helm aW iauherJt, are below the grandeur of a poem that endeavours at fnbN* ' limity.
* In the fecond ftanza the Bard is well defcribed ; bot in the third ' we have the puerilities of obfolete mythology. When we are told that Cadwaile bvjt^d the ftermy main^ and that Modred made bng0 PJinlimmsn hew his cloud-to fd bead^ attention recoils from the repeti- tion of a tale that, even when it was firft heard, was heard witk fcorn.
' The njoeawing of the winding Jheet he borrowed, as he owns, from the northern Bards ; but their texture, however, was very properlr the work of female powers, as the art of fpinning the thread of iiM IS another mythology. Theft is alway dangerous ; Gray has mado weavers of his (laughtered bards, by a fidion outrageous and incon- gruous. They are then called upon to IVeanfe the wmrp^ and weavf $he tuoof^ perhaps with no great propriety ; for it is by crolFiDg the <uw^with the warp that men weave the web or piece; and the firft line was dearly bought by the admiflion of its wretched correfpon- dent, d'ye eueffli r$pm ancf *perge enough. He has, however, no other line as bad.
f The third ftanza of the fecond ternary is commended, I think, beyond its merit. The perfonification is indiftind. TbirJI and HuM'^ ger are not alike ; and their features, to mafce the imagery perfed, ihould have been difcriminatcd. We are told, in the fame ftanza, how towers are fed. But I will no longer look for particular faults ; ]f t I^t it be obferved, th4t thf o4c might (lave been cpocluded with
4
lij^, Jobnfon'j Biographical Prefaau
aii adlion of better example ; but fuicide Is always to be had, withont* ex)>erf)ce of thought.
/ Thefe odes are marked by glittering acCaroulations of ungrace- fdt bt-naments ; they flrike rather than pleafe; the images are magni- fied by affectation ; the language is laboured into harlhoefs. The mfnd of the writer feeth^ to Work with unnatural violence. Dcuble^ diuhkf toil snd trouhli. He has a kind of ilrutting dignity, and is till by walkhig on tiptbe. His art and hil Uruggle are too vifible, add there is too, little appearance of eafe or nature.
'* To fay that be has no beauties would be'unjdiV: a man like him, o(^ gteitt'learilirig' and great indullry, cbuld n6t but produce feme- thing valuable.. When he pUafbs leal?, it c^n only be faid that a ' gdbd defigA was ill dir'ea'ed/ ^
•Dri JohnfohTets oill with telling his Readers, that7;< is one of iBoJi that are willing to be pleafedy and that, confequently, he wpuld be glad/ to find; the meaning of the firft ftanza of the Progref^ of Poetry^ It feems rather, that he is lefs dcfirous of . fisdifle^ the roeaning of it bimfelf, than of preventins; others frani finding- it. Nothing can be more obvious and intelligible, we ha^almoitfiid trite, than the allegory with which the Pro- g#rfs of 'PbWr^y'comTntnces. It is true, there is an inaccuracy iff fafFering the conciealed idea to break through the figi^rative ' estt^rtiffibn, as i( does in the feventh line :
Now the rich dream of mufic winds along.
Qf this, little as it can add to the embarrafTment of the fcene, the Critic has, however, fpared to pains no avail himfelf.
The obje(Elion to the fecond ftanza (part of which, indeed, islborrowed froth Pindar) will lofe much of its force if we ad- vdrt only to the afmoft infeparable conne£lion between the poe* ' tiy of the dn^ienM and their mythology : we (hall then perceive, th^t the influence of the poetical art upon the inhabitants of G?re^ccmay not be improperly defcribed by claffical imagery.
.What is, faid of the fecond ternary of (lanzas will be found, wjs are of opinion, a continued tiiTue of mifreprefentation. . * .The iirft, fays he, endeavours to tell fomething, and would have tol J it^ had it not been crojfed by Hyperion. The liberality and candour of this criticifm will beft appear, by confronting it with the beautiful pnflage againft which it is levelled :
Man's feeble race what ills await, I.aboOrj and penury, the racks of paini Difcafe, and Sorrow's weeping train. And death,' fad reTuge from the ftorms'of fate ! ■ The- fond complaint, my fong, difprove, Apd juftify the laws of Jove. Say, hiis he giv*n in vain the Iicav'nly Mule? I^ighc, and all her iickly dews, Her fpeflres wan, and birds of boding cry, tic gives to range the dreary Iky :
TUl
Johafon'i .Bicgraphical JPrefaces. i %^
Till down ^he pzAzm cliffis 9far
Hyperion's march ihcy fpy, and glittering (htfrs of war.
■ Gray is next rcprefented as telling his readers that the 94-
vcrns of the North and the plains of Chili are the refidence 9f
Glory and gtneroui Shanu, Whoever will look into the ftansa
.from whence this information is colleSed, will fii)d that he faju
na Aich thing. All that be tells his leaders, (divefiixig it of \ts
•puctieal language) is, that there have .been poets .evfn aniOQg
• the natives of Greenland and Chili; and thkt in thofe breafft,
that are fufct piible of the imprcllions of, poetry,, thefe.is the t^^
lidence of Glory,
And generous, (|iame» Th' unconquerable Mind, ard Freedom's holy gg;ne
An afllrtion not only poetical, but, if taken with that degree of latitude with, ^hich a general aflertion ought to be, pbilofoi* phi^ally truf.
It was fufficient to aflert, that The Bard is but a copy from the prophecy of Nereus ^an , aflertion, however, which every oilc lyill not, .probably, agree to), without degrading it by a f:har^e «f a fiill meaner plagiarifm: it certainly requirea fingular ing?- nuity to find out, that the abrupt manner in which it oj>ens wsit fp^gefted by the ballad of Johnny Armftrong ! The,\^eaving 9f thcLwinding-fi^eet may be given up : Gray was no Spitalfields ^oet.
That * his odes are marked by glittering accumulations of ungraceful ornaments, that flrike rather than pleafe; and that his images are magnified bv afTefiation,' wiil, at leaft, be thought fevere : but it is, furely, more than fevere to fay, that ^ he has a ftrutting kind of dignity, and that he is tall by walk- ing on tip-toe/
It is not to be wondered at, if, to the profefled admirers of yiv. Gray, the manner in which he has been treated by Dr. Johnfon (hould appear not only hoAile, but malignant : and if they once entertain an opinion that there is malignity in his cenfure, they will fufpeil, it is to be fea.ed, that there is trea- chery in his praife ; the pAflag^, upon which he has beilpwed his warmeft commendations, being, perhaps, the moft excep« tionable that the feverity of cridcifm coulJ have fele£ied. It is .that in which he. accounts for Milton's bhndnefs :
Nor fecond he, that rode fublime Upon the feraph wiugs of excafy, The iec-ets of rh' abyls to fpy. He pafTcd the flaming bounds of place and time : The living throne, the lapphireblazj, Where ^n^els ifcmble while they gaze. He iuw ; but blaited wi;h excefs of lights Closed his eyes in eodlefs night.
Jt
126 Johnfon^x BiograpMeal Pnfauu
Ic is not to be denied that the images he employs are Tplen^* didly magnificent : but that the exertions of intelleAual vifion fliould extinguifb the poet's cofporeal eyes, is a forced and un- natural idea. It is one of thofe falfe and hyperbolical thoughts, which, though they may poffibly be admired in the poetry of Spiin, thechaftefimplicity of claflicalcompofi'ion ought not to admit of. But even fuppofing the pofGbility of the fad, the confe- quence is inadequate to its caul'e ; lo that, whichever way the ienciment be examined, it comes under the clafs of the falfe liibHir.e : for if juft, it is an anticlimax } if not, it is bombaft. And yet it is this fentiment which Dr. Johnfon has particularly marked as * poetically true and happily imagined.'
But, peace to the manes of the Poet I
The esgie towVing in his pride of place is ftill an eagle, notwithftanding a defeAive feather in his wing.
After the minute and particular attention that has been be- flowed upon thefe volumes as they came before us in fucceffion, to enter into a general difcui&on of them colle6liveIy would be fuperfluous. It may nor, however, be unneceflary to obferve, notwithftanding they contain a fund of profound and original criticifm, which, perhaps, no other pen but the Dodor's could have fupplied, that fome caution is, neverthelefs, required to perufe them with advantage. Inftances too frequently occur, in which the Critic's judgment feems altogether under Uie domi- nion of predilection or prejudice. To think for himfelf in cri- tical, as in a1! other, matters, is a privilege to which every one is undoubtedly in titled : this privilege of critical independence, an affedation of (ingularity, or fome other principle, not imme- diately vifible, is for ever betraying him into a dogmatical fpirit of contradidiion to received opinions. Of this there need no farther proofs than his aimoft uniform attempt to depreciate the wciters of blank verfe, and his rough treatment of Gray. He obferves of Shenftone, that he fet little value upon thofe parts of knowledge which he had not cultivated himfclf ; his own tafle of poetry fcems in fome degree regulated by a fimilar ftandard : method, ratiocination, and argument, efpecially if the vehicle be rhyme, oftentimes obtaining his regard and commendation, while the bold and enthufiaftic, though perhaps irregular^ flights of imagination, are pail by with perverfe.and obftinate indifitf- 4rence. It is not, then, to be wondered at, that the panegyrift of Blackmore (hould withhold from Collins and Gray what he has beftowed upon Savage and Yalden. Through the whole of his performance the dcfire of praife, excepting in the cafe of fome ^ti^ favourite author, is aimoft always overpowered by his (iifpoution to cenfure; and while beauties are palled over * with the neutrality of a ftranger and the coidnefs of a critic,* tfie flighted blemilh is examined with microfcopical fagacity.
The
Ha weis'x Scriptural Rifutallon of Madan. 1 27
The truth of this obfervation is particularly obvious when he defcends to his cotemporaries ; for whom, indeed, he appears to have little more brotherly kindnefs than they might have ex- peded at Conftantinople. And fo vifibly does thefaftidioufnefe of his criticifm increafe, as his work approaches to a conclufion, that his Readers will fcarcely forbear exclaiming, with honeft Candide, What a wonderful genius is this Pococurante ! No- thing can pleafe him I ^ a %
Art. VII f. A Sriptural Refutation of tbt Argumtnti for Polygamy^ advanced in a Treatife entitled Thelypbtbora. ^i T. Haweis^ LL. B. ReAor of All Saints, Aldwinckle. Svo. 1 •• 6d« Dilly. I7>^i.
TH £ Author informs us, that at the firft appearance of Thelypchora, it was his intention to exert his beft talents to refute its pernicious principles, and counterad, as far as he was able, its fatal influence on the peace and morals of fociety, A long ftate of ill health prevented him from making the pro- grefs he hoped \ but as foon as he was able be refumed (he ca(k.
Mr. Haweis modeftly difclaims all pretenfions to fuperior erudition, or fuperior piety. He flatters himfelf that he hath enough of the former to confute Mr. Maden \ and enough of the latter to credit his profeffions of zeal for the purity of the gofpel.
We think that the Author hath taken a very proper method to confute the prevailing errors of Thelypthora. He proceeds on plain, fcriptural grounds, and hath examined, with great perfpicuity, all thofe texts of the New Teftament in which mar- riage is either dire&ly treated of, or incidentally referred to.
On the whole, we think the prefent work calculated to an- fwer the good intentions of the Author. It is deiigned for general ufe ; and is a good antidote for the impiety and the im- purity, which ^Mr. Madan's Treatife was too well calculated to promote.
Mr. Haweis was originally one of Mr. Madan's moft intimate friends. Perhaps it may be thought, that it was fcarcely con- ,/iflent with the remembrance of fuch a connexion, to treat Thelyphthora with fuch unfparing rigour, as Mr. Haweis hath exercifed On it, and (which will (bock the nicer cafuifts in friend- ship ftill more) on the lucklefs author himfelf ! We leave thefe delicate queftions to be decided hy fentimintal critics.
We never had the honour of Mr. Madan's acquaintance ; we pever faw his face : and as to the writer of the feveral criticifms on Thelyphthora, he is certain that Mr. Madan never heard of his name, and almoft as certain that he never will. He conjec- tured from Mr. Madan's own works that be was not a man of
folid
. iz8 • Haweis V Scriptural Refutation of Madan.
(olid learning, and bad dealt abundantly more in tranflatioris • than in originals* His old frieiYd Mr. Haweis Aeps forwards, and confirms the conjedure; and from a long and intimate ac- quaintance with the man — his (ludies, acquiiitions, and abili- ties— declares it to be his firm opinion, that Mr. Madan * can no more underfland a page of a Greek claffic, or a chapter of tbe< Hebrew prophets, without a tranflation, than the Chinefe ;* |Mf4 fOtlHth (landing his infolcnt and magiftcrial treatment of the primitive Fathers, Mr. Haweis fufpefls, with our Critic, 5 that he is not converfant in their writings ; and that whatever 4)arade. of learning he may ma Ice in his Thelyphthora, that he is not ^^/^ to-read the^n, except through the medium of k tranf- lation.'
Mr. Haweis juftly confiders Mr. Madan's Thelyphthora * a^ one of the mofl dangerous attacks on the Chrifiian religion which this age hath produced; mod calculated to harden the -hearts of infidels, and confirm their prejudices againfl Divine -Revelation.'
•We have already exprefled our fatisfaAion at the abhorrence which the Methodifls have univerfally {hewn to this fpecious and wiciced performance of a man fo long held in veneration by the moft eminent of their minifters— Their eyes arc now opened.
But there is a clafs of men, who, though they defpife Mr. Madan'b fanaticifm, are yet flrongly difpofed to favour his The- lyphthora. Half'fceptics^ who with fome remains of reverence for the Bible, are neverthelefs very eager to bring Mr. Madan's fyflem into repute. The only obflacle which they had to the in- dulgence of thofe licentious paeons with which they are fwayed, arolc from fome fecret fear of the confequenccsj which fear, as it was originally begotten by a Chriftian education, they could not entirely fubdue, becaufe they could not wholly renounce the -facred Scriptures. Now Mr. Madan, by accommodating thefc Scriptures to their inclinations, hath removed the only barrier to the full freedom of indulgence.
Thelyphthora is perfeflly iuited to flatter the wifhes of a gentle- man of fortune, who comes under the predicament we have juft mentioned. He flouts at the forms and ceremonies of marriage ; perfonal union is the-/^c /^/i/iyj ;— this is God's holy and fimplc ordinance !
In confequence of this perfuafion, a rich man feduce?, or, as he would call it, marries the girl whom he wifhes to enjoy. Were he bound to adhere not only to this woman, by all '^ due •benevolence," but to her alone^ he would be more cautious of the connection, and in all probability would not indulge his ap- petite at the expence of his liberty. But on Mr. Madan's plan, a farther provifion is made for his lufis* He may marry (in the
jaiTii
Mount Hefmeth : A 'NoveU Itg :
fiiffti manntr) another and another ;. and as many as he may find , it " expedient" for his fortune to fupport.
But (it may be faid) *^ till the laws of the land give a fanfiion! to Mr. Madan's fyftem, the propofal of it in thecry can do.np other harm, but that which arifes from the altercations of cri- tics." Yes it may :--and very probably will produce more fe* rious efFc^s. The gentlemen, whom we have been juft de«\ fcribing, will content themfelves with acting z$ cottjciefu^ 6ire&$p and the /(?«; ^/'G^^/juftifios— that isj on the cafuiftry of The-, lyphihora. They will recur, and very naturally, on the prin* ciples offiuh a cafui(^, to this fpecious plea, ** Why ihouiJ wi be in needlefs bondage, when ^ the word of God is not bound V Shall human governments fubvert the divine oeconomy of Hea^ ven'sown legiflator ? No. But our own fecurity calls us to ad. with precaution. We will a<Sl prudently. We will not openlf infult that government to which we are obliged, and which wc, are unable, to re^ify. We will accommodate matters between public in tereft and private indulgence. The latter we are al-. lowed by the word of God \ and the former we muft endeavour to fecure.by faving appearances, till human laws being reduced to the ftandard of the divine, we fhall no longer be obliged to • fccrecy for our prote<2ion."
Thefc, we are convinced, will be the reafonings of many who can bring themfelves, by the help of Thelyphthora, to be- lieve, that marriage requires no forms ; and ih^t polygamy may ii praSifed with impunity by a Christian. To the man who. would atten^pt to eflablifli fo wicked a pofition, we would makjs, no fcruple to apply the words of Plautus — Impudens^ impurus^ inverecundijjimus*
We (hall now quit this fubjefl. We believe our Readers arc tired of it. We will allure them we are: and our Critic ex- claims, that be is fick at heart ! ^ . i • ll
>••
Aur.lK. Movnt Henne/h: A Novel. 2 Vols. 12010. 6 s. Lowndes.
1782.
WE (houlJ be' indeed mortified, if the very fenfible and^ ingenious Author of this Novel meant a fatire on' the* Monthly Reviewers, 'by the little Critique which he himfelf hath drawn upon his own performance. Was there ever a w6rk like the prefent, that even in the fulnefs of their fpitc, they, were fo uojuftor (o foolifh as to pronounce deftitute of* Wit, humour, plot, charader or keeping ?' Let him point it out^if he can. *
In the mean time, we think we fhall be much better em- ployed no, not in pointing out the various beauties of Hen-^
fifth Cafile — for that would employ too large a portion of our Re- yjcw — b»it in recommending it/ with the moft (lAcere convic-
Rkv. Feb. 1782; K tioa
I^d Hdtant Hitmtth : A IfwiU
tion of its foperior merit, to the perufal of our Read^r^; kH we do not remember that we have, for many years, had tht fli« tfsfa£tion of reviewing a work of this kind, that abenads with more lively ftrokes of wit, or fallics of fancy; with nnoreju-' dicious reftedions, or pleafing and interefting charaAert^ ll» fentiments are liberal and manly, the tendency of it is per- fectly moral ; for its whole defign is to infufe into the heart, by the moft- engaging examples, the principles of honour and truth, focial love, and general benevolence.
To abridge this Novel, or even to give a general outline of its characters, plot, or denouement^ would exceed the limits of our Work: we (hall therefore prefent our Readers with only the following little epifode, as a fpecimen of the Author's fprightly manner of reafoning on a fubjeA which graver politi- cians have not difcufled with more folid argument, in long orations in the houfe, or in laboured produdions from the prefs.
^ Carthage had fettled colonies in the Hefperides, which in time grew to be worth fomething. Carthage defired to tax thefe fortunate iflands. The fortunate iflands did not deiire to be taxed.
The marrow of their negociattons may be comprifed in the following (bort Dialogue :
* Carth. We are to defire you, gentlemen, to fubmit patiently and lovingly to a few taxes which our country will d6 itfelf the honour to lay upon yours, as times and occafions may offer.
^ Hefp. We mu(t beg the favour of you to permit us to tax ourfelves, as the people of your good country are accuftomed to do, whom we are fond of imitating, and of calling our friends and brethren upon all occafions.
* C Tq tax yourfclves will not anfwer ff»r purpofe; for how*' can you be judges of what we vrant ?
^ //. At tcaft as well as you can be of what we are able to pay. •if £f.Btf if you give us no more than yon like, that will pro«^ baWy be too little.
* H. And if you take from us what you pleafe, that will probably be too much.
' C. We have laid a heavy 4oad on ourfelves for your emolu-. ment. Gratitude ought to, induce you to fubmit to our demands.
* H. Honeidly, aow» did you do this fbr our fake or ymr dun? But be it for ours, we are making your people a large return, by working for them with all our might. The greateft' part of the whole profit of our induftry has been always yours. Permit it to continue fo. Turn all our trade into your own har- bours, as yoi^ are wont. Tax in your own country the commo- dities you make us buy; but let us be favoured with the privi- lege your people fo juflly boaft of as their greatefl ikfeguard i let us give and grant our own money.
Hijiitr^ rf^chn JiiHipit, Bfi, lj|
* C. As to the benefit of your trade, it may be fbitietbi^g t^ oux people in general. But what is that to the neceffiiies of go* vernment ? We want a benefit flowing full and faft into (hf exchequer. We don't undecftand your round-about way of (ending it through the body of the |>eopte«
* /f. We believe it ; otherwife you would certainly be coti^ tent with receiving it as you do^ in the beft maooer pofiiblc, U^ the good of the whole.
* C What we bffoi already we have no rt^&tk to demand* —More, gentlemen, more ;-*and by the ftrait forward roadt
^ H, We cannot coofent to it.
^ C Then, by G — d, we will dragooci yoii till yoU do«
* H. Pray, gentlemen, confider.— Let us beg you ta bea^ what we have to fay.^Let ua beg it for both our Ulu%i geotlo* oie».
* C. Implicit obedience-i-uiiconditiohal (iibmiAoa— and yoot OKMiey, are the things We want^ and will bavt.
* H^ Win them and wear tb^m.
.^ ■ And fo Carthage feot out ^eets aiid afmie^, and
(pent as much of her own money in five years, as (he had es* pe£Ud to get of her colonies in one hundred J* A* cl*H<
!««»■
Art. X. Tbi Hijlory of John Juniper, E/q\ alias Jmuifer Jack: Con- taining the Birtb» Pareotage^ Edacatioo, Ufe», Advencuree* and Charader, of that ooS wonderful and furprifing Gentleman. 6|r tile Editor of the Adventures of a Oninea. izmo. 3 ^oli. 99. fr^ed. Baldwin. 1781.
THE general and predominant charadet of this ' moft wod^ derful and furprifing gentleman,' majr in fome good <fegree be guefied at from the motto Which is prefixed to his Hiftory.
Judi aUquid brevibus GyarU ei careers dignum Si vis effe aliquis,
tn plain Englifli — ^^ If a man is ambitious of being diAiii- guiflied 9»fimehdy^ let him do fimeibiftg that will intitle hm 14 die gailoms.*' This wholefinu lefibn of adtrice was not, we ate told^ loft on juniper Jack. It met Ms early wi(he»} and frotm au child he difcovcred a ftrong propenfity ta put it in practice* It mingled with all the fchemes of future life^ and amidft the va>- nous chacaders he difplayed, artful viUany was the ruling prin- ciple.
The Author very frequently^ and with an air of triumph not ofiten aflumed by faithful narrators of. plain and fimple fa^s^ calls this < a true hiftory.'—But it is with zfalve that he adopts this title for the work before us. ^ Though (fays he) every hSt is true^ the aflemblage that nntkes the apparent charader is iovariably fiditious, and defignedly grouped in fuch a manner^
K 2 t»
t3* liijiory of John Jumper^ Efq\
ts not to refcmblc any one pcrfon living.* Of the truth of this afiertion we leave our Readers to judge by the following out* line of the hero's character.
* Hefquints like the devil from his birth ; and the obliquity of his mind is only (hadowed forth by that of his eyes. The tricks of his youth favour only of mifchief ; and the fubtilty of his underftanding is only equalled by the wickednefs of his heart. He is a mimick and a hypocrite from his very cradle ; faithlefs and fickle through every icene of youth : and in riper years, what he wants in vigour he makes up in craft and malig- nity.— Moreover Juniper was a thief! not that he robbed for the fake of the moneys but for the fake of what the money would
procure him; -which, we verily believe, is the cafe with the
greatefl part of ihofe worthy gentlemen who " do things worthy of Tyburn !" In fhori, to fum up Mr. Juniper's rcfpcftable charader in the words of his ^' true and faithful hiftorian,'' ^ He bubbled and was bubbled. He borrowed without defign- ing to pay : he lent without expeding to be paid. He profefkd what he meant not : he fuffered himfelf to be duped by profef- iions which he faw through. He talked of honour in the mo^ Jlrfnl^.h^vas committing the bafeft villany ; and was ready to face death in defence of a character to which every zStion of his life gave the lie.'
It is, however, from our Jack's political chara<9er that we difcern the mofl ftriking features of the perfon whom this hiftpry was defighed more particularly to delintrate. When our hero's affairs grew defperate ; when he found himfelf totally incapa«- citated to difcharge his debts, whether thofe which are deno- minated Idgalj or thofe which have been called, by the courtefy of the famionable world, debts oT honour (as if honour and law flood in oppofirion to one another), he ^ turned his hand (as his hiflorian fays.) to politics;^ and thus applied himfelf to the affairs of the Public when he had none of his own to mind.
^* For this purpofe, as he Icnew the ladder of ambition muft be fixed in the dirt to prevent its flipping, he immediately made it his bufmefs to mix with the people, in that %le of familiarity which never fails to conciliate their favour, by freeing thtm for the time from the irkfome diftindions and diftance of. rank. And as he knew alfo that the human heart is nK>f): fenfible of impreiGon when warmed by the fecial cup,- he linked himfelf a member of all the clubs formed for the patriotic purpofes of promoting the interefl of their country, by the confumption of its own produce, and thofe of its colonies, beer, punch, and to* bacco ; and watching over the conftitution, by abufing the rninillers and meafures of government, in the true fpirit of En^lifh liberty} a fpirit, by the judicious dircdion of which . . 7 . h«
% rt
HlJIoryofJohn Juntpery Efq\ 1 33
fie had fccn men climb up to confequence, witliput any other qualification or merit whatfocver.
* Tnere cannot be conceived an inftance in which the FnconA fiftency of the human heart appears more glaring, than that a man, whofe life was one continued infult to honour, honefty, and truth, who gloried in the grofleft violations of every moral* virtue, and founded his pretentions to wit, on turning religion into ridicule, (hould gain fuch credit with the people, as to be^. come of confequence to the ftate. Yet fo it was : \o eafily it; man perfuaded of the truth of what he wtfhes to be true, that> the very perfons who would not truft to his probity for the pay^ ment of a penny ; who, if he faid the fun (hone at nooif^ would not believe without feeing it, merely becaufe he faid fo ;i not only gave implicit credit to his calumnies (though unfup»r ported by the appearance of probability, though inconfiftenC; with each other, and ofcen contrary to tbeic own knowiedg^)'^ but gave their money alfo with a liberality (not often (hewn in «• better caufe) to fupport him in the propagation of them, becaufo they tended to bring down to their own level thofe whom they-, could never hope to-rife to a level with.
* Nor did his credit appear to be confined to thofe who knew no better. Many whofe fuperior a6lions raifed them above thfi| reach of fuch grofs impofition, were not a(hamed to carefs t. man whom they equally defpifcd and detefted ; and to give the ianflion of their acceptance to (landers which they knew to be groundiefs, becaufe they knew alfo, that when thofe danders, ihould have worked their eflfed, they could turn that ^StBt to their own ufe.*
But what (the Reader will naturally afk) becomes of this ^ moft wonderful and furprifing gentleman' at laft ? Is he hanged ? • His ^ faiihful hilloian' anticipates the quefiion, and makes the following Jly remark on it : ^ I make no doubt but ibme of thofe nice-nofed gentry, called critics, have fmelled a fault, in my not having given my hero fo exalted ^n end as his exploits deferved ; which 1 am well aware they will call a viola-, tion of poetical juftice. — But a word in their ears : Were every man to meet bis deferts in that way, perhaps there might not be fo many critics at leifure to find faults.' We might whifper a word in our Author's ear about ^ true and faithful hiftorians,'. and inform him, that if they were to meet with their defer ts^ they would not find leifure to record the crimes^ or adjudge the punijb^ zrtent of their fellow -JinnerSj having enough to caU their attention /# ti.n,Jeha, B • 4. k . .
JC 3 Art*
V
( 13+ )
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
fk9iff. XI. BUmfm A Cbpnk^ lie. Eltroenrs of Chemiftry, io The-* : ery an^ Pra^lice ( 4i{eR#d e€oordin^ to a new Method, and after modern Difcoverie*, Ice. i zmo. 3 Vols. Dijon.
THOUGH the firft volume of this excellent fyftem was pub* tiihed three or four years ago, the two following, which eCMipIete the work, have not reached us till lately. Theydeferve 10 be made letdown to thofe who wifii to cultivate the fcieAoe of diemiftry : we fliill therefore give a (hort account of the me- thod adopted fay the authors (Meflrs. de Morveau, Maret, and Pur^nde), which i( emirely new, and weU adapted to facilitate tht ftudy of that fcience ; the hounds of which have of Iat« ve«r$ been fo greatly enlarged. Though an elementary work, ]| is not SI mere compilation ; but contains many original obfer- ^tions made by the authors, as well as feveral new procefles licccuted by them. We (hall k\c6t one of the moft interefting fif thefe Iaft| and a4d t few obfervations of our own relative t»it.
The authors adopt, as M. Bergman has likcwife done, the mat law of attraction, as moft clearly aad fatisfaiSorily ex-^ Iflaining f^tl the phenomena of chemtal offmitf. The applica- tion of this principle is carried fo far by the authors, in the theoretical part of this woik ; that, in the firft voiu^ne, the re- ftilts of fome ftfilofipbical cxpenmetitB are related, in which the ftaraifian §/ ahifion of mercury to polifliefl plates, all of the jfhlne fuperficial dimensions, and formed of ten different metals pr metallic fubftances, is afcertained, and actually denoted in tmnAin\ which, it muft be obferved, correspond in a very fin- gidar manner with the refpediye chemical offinitUs of that fluid to piofe febftanccs.
The particalarift^W which the authors have adopted, in or« der to prefent the nuofverous iubftanccs, which are the objech of ohemiftry, in one general and clear point of view, is that of poniidering th<m as foboenU or fohends \ and that too recipro- Ctlly : for a body, which is the folvent in one cafe, becomes the folvend in another. Thus mercury which, in one cafe, is the folvent oi gold, lead, &c. is irfelf diflolved by various sicids, &c. : but» in fa^, as the authors, after Gellert, obferve, all bodies a<5l Jimultatiecujh upon each other : and the difTolving power cannot properly be laid to refide more in the a^uafirps in iHiich marble is diflolved, than in the marble. The authors, however,, very gfPpcrly reftrain the appellation of folvent, to that of fhe ^wo^hdies which pofleiTcs the eflTential condition of all folutions, j|?m^^'/y.
. ^Accordingly, after fome neccflary preliminary obfervations, the authors proceed regularly through the various claflcs of foU vents. They treat fucce$vely oi—dijiltaions efFe^cd by fire ;
—by
Foreign LiTtitATURB. 135
-i-fcy air;-— by water; — by the three miiieraf actds, 2nd aqita ngia ; — by arfenic ;— by the fedative acid ; — the acetous ;•— and tlic add of tartar ; — by the phofplioric acid ; — by- the ^cge- table, iciGAj and volatile alkalis ; — ^ vinous fpiritt; — %y ctlrer ; — by the eiTcntial and fat oils ;— 4>y the a/Mngent friu* W^fr;— and la(tiy, by merci*ry. Under thcfc tew he«ds, the authors have had the addrefs ^ reduce nearly all the priociiial operations of chcmiftry.
The refolts of all thefe folutions are oompiiehended and oon- denfed in one Iar?e flieet \ in which, at one view, is 5>refefittd ^ a fynopcical table of chemical fol vents, and of their miSi iimple bafes/ or folvends : the foraicr anranged horimontall^y and the latttr perpendicularly ; while the compound, or the produd of the union of the two bodies^ ia foand at the coiii- cidence of the two lines, ^
As a fpecimen of the new matter to ^he found in this worky we (hall abridge only one of their proceflTes ; as furniftingHs with an bpponunit\ of adding foare further partioolars to the account we have already given of the curious and eafy il^ethod of procuring the fhofphoric acid from hmes^ originaHy diicoveiad by M. Scheele* : adding occafionally a few obfervations made4|y Ourfelves, refpe<%ing the detail of fuch paits of the proceft ia they have overlooked, or which require further explanation.
They ufed twelve pounds of bones calcined to whitenefi» iinf^ly powdered and fifted, and added to thetn ^ a fufficimt quantity of the common or ftrong oil of vitriol, Wtf an ifftt~ vefcence no longer appeared.* They then added a lirtle more Df the acid, and afterwards a little water^ in order to promote the adion of the acid upon the earth.
Wc^ (hall here ftop to obfervc that the direAion ahow given, of a<10!»)g a fufficient quantity of the oil of vitriol, iiil the effif'* Vijccncc difappears^ is not only too indefinite ; but, in fad, the effervefcence appears to us to have no neceffiary connexion with the main proccfs, or the expulfion of the phofphoric acid firQfti the bone^, as it depends only on the expulfion of a certain quantity k)( fixeki air contained in them. In this, as well as m M. Macqutr's, and indeed every other account of this procefa that we have yet feen, the quantity of the oil of vitriol has na^ been afcertained. A quantity of the ftrong fpirit fufficient on- ly to bring the powder into a kind of femi-fluid ftate, would, as we have experienced, be abundantly too large, for the put* pofe of extricating the phofphoric acid from thecakincd bones. The expence, indeed, of an excefs of vitriolic acid is trifling;
■ i-m ■ . - - - -- - ■■ -^
^ See oar account of the new edition of Mr. Macquer*i Chefliicai Bifttonary, in the Appendix to our LXIIId valamej December i7io, p. co8.
K 4 but
136 . Foreign Literature.
'.but the fubfequlent expulfion of it greatly increafcs the trouble
of the operator.
For the fake of thofe who may wi(h to procure, for the pur-
pofe of experiments, an acid hitherto fo cofVIy, by a very eafy . procefs, we (hall fupply the abovcmentioned deficiency fropi
our own experience, — by adding, that in a procefs of this kind . (in which the produce of phofphoric acid was comparatively
as great as that hereafter mentioned by the authors), ten
ounces, in weight, of the firohgeft oil of vitriol, were added to •'iight ounces of burnt hart(born, or the CCC of the (hops, i Tbci powder was far from being even thoroughly nmjlmid /jby this quantity of acid; yet in the fubfequent (tagcs of the 1- procefs, or towards the end of the evaporation of the diluted .liquor, it was found that more than a fufficient quantity of vi- triolic acid had been employed. Perhaps the diluted acid might , properly be iifed at firft ; though of this we are not certain. But . to return to the procefs of our authors.
'They afterwards boiled this matter for a long time, and ! added a large quantity of water, which was afterwards filtered ; .and the matter remaining in the filtre was repeatedly edulcorated .vith.hot water. The whole quantity was then fet to evapo- i rate k firft in earthen vefTels, and afterwards in capfulcs of
glafs or china ware. The felenite depofited during the evapp- /Ration was likewife wafhtd with fre(h water. Even the white ; matter^ which appeared afterwards on the fides of the vefTels,
when, the acid vapours had begun to rife, was found to con- itain more phofphoric acid than felenite : for on drying it,
and laying it on burning coals, it was converted into a vitreous
fubflance.
To expel the vitriolic acid from the liquor thus concentrated,
M* Scheel^ dire^s that it (bould be dilUlled to dryncfs, in a
- glafa retort placed in a reverberatory furnace. The authors cf- fe^ed this expuldon with lefs trouble in the glafs capfules ; and
. then put the dry matter into a crucible, where it was ke^t in
.fufion,'till it ceafed to yield fulphureous vapours. It was then
.poured out of the crucible in a vitreous (late; and was found
to weigh two pounds nine ounces, cxclufivc of what adhered to
- the crucible.
.. ' When the vitrification has been complete,* fay the authors, ,^ the matter appears to be a glafs of a milky hue, which ii mt fi ubli iViti in hot ling water J*
With refpe£i to this laft circumflance, we (hall obferve that, though a piece of the vitreous fubflance, which we obtained in the procefs abovcmentioned, may, when firfl poured out of the crucible, be kept in the mouth fome time, before any fenfible acidity be perceived ; yet it is certain that it afterwards becomes foluble and acid, probably by the united powers of (tir and
njoiflure;
Foreign Lztiraturs. tjj
ffiotfture : for on keeping the matter fome weeks expofed to the air in a tea faucer, or even in an open vial, this feemingly in- foluble fubftance deliquefces, and the liquor into which it is refolved is intenfely acid. What fhare the air may have in this change we have not enquired *.
To procure the phofphoric acid, however, in a ftate of greater purity, or more free from felenite, or earth, it is proper firft to convert it into phofphorus. For this purpofe, the authors bav^ ing reduced the whole of the viterous fubflance into powder^ and mixed it with one-third of its weight of powdered char- coal, the mixture was dlftilled in an earthen retort. From the quantity of calcined bones abovementioned they obtained ^ •unces and /even drachms of excellent phofphorus. From this, the acid may eafily be afterwards obtained in its pureft ftate, by
the ufual method of accenfion, &c. We have elfewbere
learned that the phofphoric acid may be procured, in ftill greater quantity, from egg-JhclU ; and that it has even been found in
. the min^T^?/ kingdom, and obtained from certain white lead ores.
We (hall only further notice two curious particulars relating
to this acid. In the attempts made by the authors to procure
. a phofphoric ether^ they did not completely fucceed ; but the re^ Ailts were Angular. On diftilling equal parts of phofphoric acid and reflitied fpirits, the fpirit was found to have acquired fome new properties, the moft remarkable of which^ perhaps,
. was, that it came over exceedingly acid. This (hews that there had been an adual combination of the fpirit with the phof- phoric acid ; which laft, alone, as is well known, cannot be raifed into vapours even with a ftrong red heat, but is converted into a glafs. A ftiort account is likewife given of a proccfs, in which the phofphoric acid appears to have been attrad^cd from the powder of calcined bones, dire^Jy^ by means of an alca* line fait fufcd together with it in a crucible. In this cafe, the alcali is found to be neutralifed by the phofphoric acid, which it muft have attracted immtdiately from the bones.
* Since this was written, we have found that if the matter be expofed for a long time, to a very intenie heat, the phofphoric {^lafs will not {o readily, or perhaps at all, deliquefce in the air. The deliqoei^ cence is therefore probably, in part, owing to fome remaining vitri- olic acid, which had not been expelled by the heat. In a procc(f, where a much fmaller proportion of the oil of vitriol than that which we have above indicated, was ufcd, viz. only half the weight of the Ce C, a glaG was procured, as tranfparent^ colourleff, and infoloble ^s ciown glafs.
B
• •
Art.
1 j8 FonwcBi LrrirttAtviit,
. AftT. XII. Kotmdli C^mJb'iUiwmt ^c, A i»«w Method oF conftraflmg Akfflbica, ibr tlie Purppie of Dift^aupa of Urge Qs^taicA ; fo ai to cncreafe the Produd, and Icfien tiie Expeoce of the Opera- tion. 4to» 1781.
THIS publication appears ti> us to contain fome confi- derabie impfovemams in tbe art of diftiDition, which 4eferve to be generally known. One edition of it has been 'priatcd oflT^ with a view to its being diftributed gratk^ thiDughout all the provinces of France. It contains a vtry particular defcription of an improved method of condufiinfg 'ibe diftillation of fpirituous liquors ; as well as of procuring frefli water from that of the fea. This method has been re- 4uced «o praAice on a large feale, with fuccefs^ under the in- ^leAion, and with the approbation, of fome of the moft difticl- ttriflied peribns in France, both with refped to rank and •Kienoe ; particularly M. Turgot, comptroller- general of the 'finances, M. Trudaine, Meflrs. Macquer, Le Koi, Lairoiiier^ and many others.
In the preface fome hints are given as if Dr. Irwin, who is CM -to have received a reward of 5000 /. from the Britiih parltameiit, Wright poffibly have availed himfelf of fome of the prefect ano- Bymdus author's improvements ; the principal of which, though 'they now appear for the firft time iA print, were well known to many perfons at Paris, fo long ago as the year 1773. Accord- ing to the authors' own account, however. Dr. lrwin*s appa* mtus very little refembles his own ; and his defer iption of it, Ibr the purpofe of diftilllng fea water, was publi(hcd in 1774, id the account of the voyage to the north pole, undertaken in 1773 ; and it is reafonable to fuppofe that fome confi<i?rable time muft have elapfed, before Dr. Irwin*s invention could have made iti way into the nary.
The mode of diftiilation here defcribed appears to us to be preferable, in theory at leaft, to any hithefto propofed, both with refpe^ to the diftilling of vinous fpirits, and the flill snore ufeful art of procuring frefli water from that of the fea. With refped to the latter, in particular, the author fixes his -dfftiliing veiTel in fuch a fttuation between the two fire-places that are ufed for the cooking of the captain's and the fliip's company's provifions, in two-decked fhips, that little or no ad- ditional fuel is requisite : but the following is the principal cit- cumftance that diftinguiihes this new conftrudion from all others.
The tube^or Vgrm as it is called, ufed in the common dif- tilling app^fJwis,* ^lerally confids of a fmdll cylindrical pipe, which quickly acquires from the vapour a conflderable degree of bear, that is very foon communicated to the water in the re- frigeratory,
4
FoReioK LtTBRArvus. f 39
fri^ratory, or to the other fubftances employea to cool and condenfexfic vapoor. The aatbor, for this porpofe, ufes a ca- pacious fquan tube, formed of tin-plates, twelve feet long, or I9f a till greater length, «ach fide of which meafures civlitat fen inches. This is inclofed within another fquare tube, the fides of which are diftanc from thofeof the other above half til inch. Through this fpiice, or between ttie two tubes, a ftream 4>r hrniina of cold water ia continually paffing and run* ning off. This cold water is admitted from a rcfervoir p)acud abo^ % and which is replenilbed, in parc«cular at fea, by means of a pump which cooimunicates with the fea water.
The vapour, being thus expofed to a very Unrgg furfatt^ kept continually cold by the water moving in comaA with its fbvt fides, is readily and copioufly condenfed : To that, with an ap^ paratus of a much fmaller iize than that which is here propoied for the fea fervioe, the author has, in the prefence of the ^efi* tlemen abovementioned, diftilled above fifteen Fmnch piirtH^ ID an hour. But allowing that the fire may not be conftantly kept uplothe fame ^jegree, and that only 12 French ^mf^/ are dtf«- lilled in an hour, the dailv produce Will amount to itSfhaes^
On the whole, the author '6 prcje^k appears to be founM mi true phiiofophical principles, and u> be pradicable at fea ai well as on ihore. i he detail is minutely defcribed, and the toiiftnidion of every memi>er of the apparatus, particularly at fea, is very iatisfa^rily delineated on four large copper* plates.
t Wc believe that the Fraoch >M/r is aboat equal to an Ea^ifli
AaT. XIII. Mimoin/Mr U Ca$ittcJ^oiie, lit. An EiTay 00 the Ctfoar- cbouc^ known by the Name of the Elafiic Gmm, By M. Berniard.
IN the Jfpmdix to our 46th volume, June 1772, page 689, we gave a pretty full account of M. Macquer*s curious experiments on this Angular vegetable produdion ; which might be applied to numerous ufeful purpofes in cxperimentar phfp* lofophy, and the arts, if an eafy method of dilTolviilg it, with-* out depriving it of its moft material properties, conid bedif-^ covered. This little eflay, which feems to have been lately reprinted from fome periodical journal, contains a feries of ex** periments made on this fubftance : and though the author faaa Wkoi fully fucceeded in his principal deiign, a knowledge of the nefults of fome of his trials ooay lead otisen to mora fucGe&fol
attempts. .v £1
Some portions! hSvmg been digefted with reflified fpirit^ were only fo far aded upon by the menftruum, as to (hew the
aunner
140 Foreign Litsraturb,
manner in which the fpecienens which we receive from South America in the form of bothies, are manufadured. Each frag* ment was found to be compofed of twenty*feven didind la* mifUTf feverally diftinguiihed from each other by a blackiih line. This laft appearance, as the author fuppofes, has been pro- duced by the fucceffive application of fmoke to each layer of |he milky juice, in order to givje it a certain degree of con- fiftence, before a frefli portion of the juice of the plant was applied to the mould.
The author failed in diflblving the Caoutchouc in vitriolic ether^ though he fpllowed M. Macquer's dire<^ions ; which he com- plains-are not fufiBciently particular. He found, however, that Sfirivfix. ether a£led upon this fubftance, but not inifuch a man- ner as to promife any ufeful refuJt, rather decompounding than diilqlving it : for the feeming folution was found, on evapora- tion^ to he totally foluble in fpirit of wine, and in fa<St a true lefin, but n$t ilaftic*
Certain eflential oils, however, and even the common oil of turpentine, afllifted by hear, appear to have a£lually difiblved the Caoutchouc^ in the proportion of nine drachms to one ounce of the oil. After proper evaporation, a matter was left of an ad- hefive nature like pitch, but neyertheleis elaftic, and which weighed twelve drachms. Though the author kept this fub- ftance in the chimney during the winter, it did not in all. that time lofe its pitchy and adhefive quality. He therefore thinks it impoITible to derive any advantage from this manner of ope- rating on the Caoutchouc.
. It appears afterwards, however, in an attempt to analyfe this (<^j\^e alone, in a glafs retort, that a volatile alcali came ovfcr ; and the author accounts very plaufibly for this (ingu<« lar product, by fuppofmg that it proceeds from ihc/moh which the Indians fucce^vely apply, with a view to dry the different layers of the original vegetable juice. We are furprifed that the author (hould have delifted from profecuting this experiment farther ; and would hint whether this oily folution of the Caout" ihouc might not be deprived of its pitchy and adhefive quality, or made perfcdtiy dry, by proceeding with it in the fame man- ner as is pra£iiied by the Indians; tharis, by applying it fuc- ceffivtly to a proper fubftance, or mould, and then attempting the drying of each layer by means of fmoke. Poilibly the VO" latile alcali^ or fome of the other principles in the fmoke, may produce this defireable effc£^, independent of the mere heat em- ployed at the fame time. He himfelf (hews that oil (huiU grajfe) is one of the two confiituent principles of this Angular fublUuce. -Xk m.M
« ^
MONTHLY
( HI )
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For F E B R U A R Y, 1782.
Political.
Art. 14, A Second Letter to the Right HwourahU Charles Jm^
kinjQH. bvo. IS. Murray. 1781.
THE Writer of xVw fecond^ Letter to the prcfcnt Secretary at War, may, in fome refpefts, be confidei^ed, as the Anfwerer of the firft. He figns himfelf * A Citizen of the World,*' and dates from BriaJ/'eh; but he Hands forth in the character of a Briton, lau- dably concerned for the honour and welfareof his native conntry. He combats many affertions and reprefentations contained in the former Letter; and, in genera), he is the ftrenuoas defender (ihoogh, in fome inilances, rather the modeft apologift) of our Oatefmen : ytt^ at the fame time, he candidly acknowledges that the performance of hit opponent ' has great merit ; aod particularly that it contains many juA cenfures on the condufl aod ineafures of Adixriniftraiion in Bri- tain \ the advifers ivbereof fhoatd be made to anJWer to the naiioa with their fortunes and lives.'
This candid and inelligent policiciin, not being entirely fatiified with the liberty taken by the Author of the former Letter, Mn rooting out the prefent fet of men in Admintdracion, ftump and rump,' vea* tores to propofe, by way of party-conciliation (which alo^b, he it perfuaded, can reObre this nation to its former fplcndor, &c.) aoo- Iber groape of noblemen and gentlemen, feleAed from ^a/^ pjftits* . He is juftly confcious, however, that both the former Letter-writer and himfelf have, in tbefe their proje^ed arrangements, * arrogated a privilege, the exercife of which is indelicjite ;' — and we eniiieiy ac- qoiefce in the fentimenr.
Art. 15. //» Addrefs to the Interior Cabinet. 4to. 2 8. Dc-
bret. 17S2.
This Addrefs appears to come from the Writer of The Lether to Mr* Jtnkin/on^ It is fignrd, as that publication wa-, An Indeptndeni iFbig\ and it fets out with the following formal profelTton; Ibat < after making the 6rll compliments to the principal of the hoafe, ic is afual to pay otir devoirs to the reft of the familv. A ^ilure [be adds] in this etiquette of ^litenefs is ccmmotily called a want of good breeding. The proprie y therefore, of addr^fTm? yoo, OcntlemeBf after'p4ving the firft compliment to Mr. JenkinTon, being a fettled point ofgood inanncrs. a rotal negledl of this attention could not be afcribed to iMiy uthef modve than a premeditated public aii'robt.* *
A/Tuming, then, a^ a datum- granted and iodifputible, iheexiflence of an internal Cabmei, or * dark i^ominatien ; and confident in the certainty of what he fees in his Peep 6ebind the turtaim, where the ejicient gcn Jemen are pulling the wires, and dancing the offi ial pup-
i
* For an account of 'he Firft Letter (the Author of which ilgiia himfeif ^ Indefcndent Wbig\^ ice oar laft Month's Caulog.e«.
petJ,
142 Monthly CATALOGifB, Political
pets, — \it proceeds to a review of their whole political {y^tvtif pTan* And condud, from the time when, * in ike phrafe of Audlcy Oreet/ the ' hjlituticn commenced of an interior Cabinet, confiding of con- fidential friends at Ltictfi49^hitf^ before the peace of Aix laCbapelle, under the aufpices of a Prince, whofc memory and charafler are not honoured by a patronage as dangeroo* to the Contlitution as it was ungraieful to ihe friends of his' family.' — This review is carried on fo the ti^wfaltioot of the year l/Si> inctafive; and exbibitt a moft ^rmidable charge of mal-adminiftrationt The Addreifer is particu- larly ievere on Lord Sandwich* and the Admiralty Board ; and ha appears to bave fuppoxted bis accufations of abufe of trad, want of ttitrtloii, and mifapplication of Public money, by fucb documents as. Ibim ta laerit the ilrid ejiamliuition of tbofe who are dnly qualified IQ judge of their validity. The pamphlet abounds with matter of «(ewi aad ioporta&t invefiigation ; but if it had cootained lels of* ftrcafa aod afperity f , we (hould have beei» lefs relerved io com- aMndlng it to the notice of our Readers. Alt. 1 6. An Anfwif U Vamp Ovtr^nacb's LetUr to the Right
Hon. W. C. Jeokrafen. Wrkteo in the Chriftmai Holidays, by
)lf r. Jcakmibii's Poster. 4to« i s. Smith.
This truly /srisri^' Writer charges a ccruia booIUelier, whom he Barnes Vamp, with the crime of having written the Letter to Mr* Jeokinfoa. The honeft Porter, with the zeal of a iervaat, laudably attached to a good mailer, abo(es the Bookfeller moft plentifally % a»d whUe be ravev» and flings bis ilaver aboot, a large qnaatity of ic Ugbis on the Monthly Reviewers, From this circamftance* it may* witb probab>lity« be i»ferred» that the prefeat pamphktit not the fif& fipnits of the Porter's autborlhip, and thai he has, on fone qooadam oceafio^, fmarted frosa the ilroke of the critics rod. The poor man SMift, ittdeecU have been much bust, aad deeply (luag with refeot-. Missit, — for he is prodrgioufly earaged 1 We are forry tor his miibapi, but, we fear, it is impoffible for us to afford him any redrcfs He aafi procure an old fen of his aiaftcr'St leave off fikhimg^ and write better, before we can commend his prodafiions. ArL 1 7. A Candid Ihfena of AdmimpraUany agaioft the iil-^ feondcd Charges of 0//^/s«. 8vo. is. Wilkie. 1781.
The Aaihor, witb great proleflions of candor, enumerates the ge- nernlr the mod popelar objedioos againft the prefent Adminiftration# end aniWera them in the moA geikeral aad popular way. Netbii»g is weoegt eitcepton the part of the pMrit$, as be, in contempt, ftylca the l^ers of Oppefition, and all who concur with them in cenfaring j^blic maaTures. 'Tif this cenfure, is ieeoM* aad tiiis abne, wbicb does all the mifchief 1 Art. t8. Vnartaimy of tU preJiM Population $f this Kitigd0m %
dedoced from a candid Review of the Accounts lately given of it
a Dr. Price on the one Hand, Mr. Eden, Mr. Wnlea, aad Mr* »wlett, fm the otber« Svo^ 6 d. Richardson and Urqnbnrt*
As it is not incumbent on us to remove the ancertatnty profefled hlf this writer, we (hall only obferve, that the uncertainty applied in
«■
^ Webnd ibe-fetne objeaion le the Letctr te Mr* Jeokinfoa.
. the
MoiiTifLY Catalogue^ P§liik4tL 14.}
tlM titU-pagc to the fubje^L at large^ i& in tht panpUei wholly tt*- ierred to the data and ividmut produced on t\Lt fa^uanrahlt fidi pfthi ' ^M$fiM, agmft th«i difcouragiog coqclufiana of Dr. Price* The per* iQcmaDCe appears indeed to be nothing more than a fitQfy attempt to gaia time on a qaeflion that calU for clofe confideracjoQ and precifioa in every one who undertakes to difeufs it. No writer ever made m more convenient n(e of the conjunflion if, or made a better ufe of his opportunities to bewilder hia readers among d9uhts zx^^/vggeftiMu^ to di&ra£k their attention.
Before the fubjed is diffnifled, it may be worth while to try, whe- ther the particle j/*may not be converted to fome ufe on the agreeable fide of the queftion of population. If thea» as Dr. Price and hit co« mdJQtor admit *, that in the counties of York, Lancader, Chefter^ Cumberland, fuch places as Liverpool, Manchefter, Sheffield, the vicioity of London, &c. the increafed population has been the afto- Bifiunent of every traveller ; how does it appear, that the depopula^ tion of the reft of the kingdom, has been fo doubly aftonifhing, a» to ablbrb all this acknowledged increale, fo as to determine the ag- ^^pegate amount of population on the unfavourable fide ? Were thia CtDf, vaft dtftri£b muA A>me,where evidently lie uncultivated and de« itxvtdi ; with their farm-houfea and villages, in the fituation d'efcribed* by the fanciful Goldfmith, in ruins, over-run with brambles and gftfa! Bui we may fafely afk, where fuch fcenes of deflation are to be found? for though to juftify both the politician and the poet, they ooght to be fufficiently vifible; yet^be if remembered, they are not as yet pointed out.
The vaA number of chapel^ of ea(e erefled in the north of Eog* land tt this Author begs leave to remark, ought to have been con- cealed ; as they have occaiioned a confufioh in the pariih regifters* by which births have been doubly entered. But if they have been' four, or even ten times doubled, what becomes of the chapels? Were they needlefily ere^ed ? A previous acknowledgment fays no ; for the increafed population there has been the auoniihment of everjT crajveHer ! Nor is it alTerted that they are now converted into barns and ftables. If they were, even that might prove fomething ; bat ic IS time to leave this unctrtain Writer to the coniideration of Meffirt* Waleaand Howlctt, if they deem him worth attention. 31 <
Art* 19. A &pi$ch which was fpoken in the Houfe of Aflem* biy at St* Chriftopher, on a Mouon made, November 6th 1781 » lor prefenting an Addrefi to his Majefty relative to the Proceemngs of Admiral Rodney and General Vaughan at St. Euftatius; apd the prefent dangerous Sitaation of the Weil India lilands. 8vo« 1 1. Debrett. 1782.
A fpirited remonftrance agajnft the indifcriminate confifcation of private property at St. Euftatiiis ; alleging that the plea for fuch con* fifcation, on account of its havine been a ftorehoufe for the fupply of our enemies^ came with a very ill grace, when the (lores fold there by the captors, were conveyed, under protection againft our cruizers, diredly into the ports of our enemies. If Admir^ R. be not fairly exculpated from the charges exprefsly brought againll him by thia
• ?• i8r, 19. 27. X P. 27.
Weft
144 fttoNTHLY CATAlooub, PoKticaL
Weft rndian legidaror, moft readers of this Speech may conclude thaC
he defervcs the treatment which he here receives. JjT ^
Art. ao. Conjiderations on the prefent State of the tVoolTrade^
' the Laws made conterning that Article, and how far the fame are
cpnfifteDt with true Policy, and the real Intereft of the State. By
a Gentleman refident on his Eftate in Lincolnfhire. 8vo. i s*
Elmfley. 1781.
• The prefent Writer afcribes the low price of wool to the increafe of that article, owing to the great number of indofurcs that have taken place all over the kingdom ; and from the diminution in the confumption owing to the alterations of fafhion, which has intro- duced linen and cotton among thofe ranks who formerly wore wool- len lluiFs. From a review of the (latute-book, he finds that the ex- portation of wool was never prohibited till the time of the Refloration ; and yet that the woollen manufa^ure had eftabliOied icfelf under the allowance of exportation. He therefore contends for the liberty of fending wool to a foreign market ; becaufe whenever the manufac- turer is able to give an adequate price for his material^ the prohibi- tion of exportation becomes nugatory. ^^ Art» 21. An Addrefs to the independent Members of both Hoafcs
of Parliament. 8vo. is. Faulder. 17$2. The particular delcription of indtrpendent members to whom our Author addre(res himfelf, is given in the following words, — thofe who, ' however they may difapprove of Minillers, or their meafures, fiill the dread of a change, introducing anarchy and con fu (ion into the Hate, deters them from declaring their diilike to thofe in power.*
The AddreiTer takes a candid view of the prefent very critical (ito-. ation of oar public aifairs, and without declaring himfelf in favour of Oppofiiion, feems to think not only that a change of Adminiftra- tion is necefTary, but that the change * cannot be for the worfe.* He, therefore, conjures the moderate, or rather cautious Lords and Gen- tlemen, whom he addrefTes, to ' take an a£live par:,* to declare their real fentiments, to chufe their (ide, to exert, ' ere it is too late, the hidden though important powers tl^ey poiTefs, and apply them to the great purpoles of national prefervation.' This Writer is temperate* g|id appears to be intelligent.
"ft. 22. Fa^s and their Confequences^ fubmitted to the Confi- deration of the Public at large ; but more particularly to that of the Finance Mi trfier,' Sind of thofe who are, or mean to become. Creditors of the S:ate. By John Earl of Stair. 8vo, 1 s. Stockdale. 1782. ' In our Review, Vol. LI V. No. for April 1766; we commended to the notice of our Readers, a former inftance * of the laudable atfeti- tion paid by this patriotic nobleman, to the political welfare of his country. — in his prefent inveftigation of our national circumflaDces, particularly with regard to the article of finance, his Lordlhip con- nnes himfelf to the /«//rf/? and annual burdens brought on, and to' be brought on the State, fmce the commencement of the * detef!ed American war,'— As to the principal^ what, or how enormous that
* < State of the Niiional Debt> Nauonal Income, and National EYpcnditure.* ...
jna/
MoNtHLY Catalogvx^ Jffairs of Ireland. 145-
may be, his Lordfhip pronounces it lofa of tim6 to calculate, fince, he* obferves, < 00 man is wild enough to expe£l ever to fee a ihilling of it paid.'
The noble Author's flatement, 00 this ground, of oar public account, and his dedudions from it, are fufHcient to ftrike with ter« ror the boldell advocate for the prefent meafures of government. la ihort, from the reprefentation here given, the fitaacion oi thofe who. are, as he expreiTes it, ' creditors to the State,* feems defperate in- deed! His conclufion is, that ' nothing remains in our power, but among evils, to chufe the leail. Preiied in frdnt by foreign enemies* to whom we have nothing of nearly- equal force to oppofe, gv^aded> behind by domeiUc indigence, and the well-grounded appreheniiona of public bankruptcy, and its fure confcquences, anarchy and civil - commotion, no peace, (hort of .abfolute ruin, can be pronounced a bad one : all but this, is either phrei<zy, folly, or 6attery.'
Affairs of Ireland. Art. 23. A Review of the Three great National ^uejfions^ rc» Jative to a Declaration of Right, Po\ ning's Law^ and cue Mutiny fiill. 8vo. 2s. Dublin printed; London reprinted. Dod£Ley«
1781.
•iTThe Author of this maderly pamphlet inveftigates the above men* troned three great national queiHons [which have been, for fome timepaft, eagerly agitated in Ireland, both in Parliament and in. pnntj,afld determines them, in a manner very fuitable to the mea* fares of Government, and pcrfedlly agreeable to its friends ; but which may fail of exaAly meeting the withes of the general body of the people, and the views of gentlemen in oppofition on the other {xd^t of the water. The Writer (faid to be Counfellor bheridan) is undoubt- edly to be confidered as a court-writer; but whatever may be his at* tachments, or his caufe, he is certainly a vtr^j able champion. He reafons clofeiy, controverts liberally, and writes corre^ly. The Reader who wilhes to gain, or revive, a competent knowicdge of the fnbjefls difcuiTed in thefe differtations, will find great fati&fa^Uon in * peruixng them. He will fee what a wide diiFerence there is between the cool obfervations of a well-informed and difpafTionace re;)foner, and the inflammatory harangues of a hot headed declaimer. — His ge« neral concludoos are, that the Mutiny Bill hath not that dangerous tendency which fome have attributed to i: ; nor is the limitation of it fo highly requilite ; — that the repeal or modification of Poyning's Law, would not be of any very elTential benefit to Ireland ; — and, * bftly, that a Declaration of Right would tend more to create a jea- lonfy in England, than qfTedually to eftabliOi the independency of the I/ilh Parliament. mv
East Indies. iV#
Art. 24. A Jhort HIJlorical Narrative of the Rife and rapid Ad^
Hiancement of the Mabratta Statt^ to the prefent Strength and Con*
fcqaence it has acquired in the Ball. Written originailv in Per-
£an ; and tranflated into Englilh by an Officer in the Bail India
Company's Service. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. Cadell. 1782.
This narrative of provincial intrigues and flaughter, obfcared by
local terms, though a ihort gloffary is added, being fubordinate to
the general hiftory of the empire of Indoftan, will not be very in-
RfiY. Feb. l^%u L teUigible
146 MosiTHLY Catalogue, PatUal.
teitigible to thofe who hare not • prcvioos knowledge of the latt^/ It was originally written, ai we are informed in the Preface, by a Mahometan native of Indoiian; retained by Mr. Kerr, the tranHator, ma a teacher of the. Perfian laaguage ; and coroateoces about two hiuidfed years back, with the origin of the Mabratta Siate, which now takes fo a^ive a part in the diftvrbance of India. J^^
Art. 25. Extras of an Original Letter frBtn Calcutta^ relative
10 the Adminiilration of JuDice by Sir Elijah Impey. 8vo. is. 6d.
Dtbrctt. 1781.
After ftating the manifed defeCis in the confHtution of the Sopreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, and the inconfiflences in the prefer. t mdntniflration of juftice there, the intelligent writer recommends trial by juries, in civil as well as in criminal cafes; to avoid the mockery of appeals to England, which are almoft impra^icabfe, againft the decifions of the Judges. As the Supreme Court was in- ftituted profefTcdlv by way of experiment, and as its effeds have now been fuily experienced ; data, cannot be wanting, if the powers ac home are equal- (o the regulation of powers ac fuch a diftance, to harmonize a plan of jurifprudence to provincial circumlliancca, fo as to protect the many againfl the few, inHead of Arengthening the hands of oppreiSon, Jl ^
Poetical. Art. 26. Honoriit: or the Day of All Souls*, a Poem, With other poetical Pieces. By Mr. Jerningham. 410* is* 6d. Robfon. 1782.
To the tendernefs and Ihnfibility of Mr. Jerningham's Mufe we have had frequent opportunities of bearing telUmony. She wiil lofe no credit by the pieces which form this colle£lion : as a (hott fped« mcnof ir, take the following, in titled Benfihilitj.
Celeftial fpring ! to Nature's favourites given.
Fed by the dews that bathe the flow'rs of heaven :
From the pure cryftal of thy fountain flow
The tears that trickle at another's woe ;
The nient drop that calms our own diflrefs ;
The gufh of rapture at a friend's fuccefs ;
Thine the foft fhow'rs down Beauty's breaft that flealf
To foothe the heart-wounds they can never heal ;
Thine too the tears of extafy that roll.
When Genius wbifpers to the liflening foul ;
And thine the hallowed flood that drowns the eye, /^ a. 1*
When warm Religion lifts the thought on high ? C^a**"
Art. 27. Ode to the Genius of the Lakes in the North of Eng^ \f land. 4 to. 2 8. Richardfon and Uriquhart.
* This Ode, though by no means a finifhed perfarmance, contains feme pleating images, and fome harmonious lines ; witnefli the fbl« lowing :
* The fcece of this poem is fuppofed to be in the great church of St. Arobrofe at Milan, the 2d of November, on which day the moft folemn olEce is performed for the repofe of the dead. \
Scr
\
MoNtHLY Catalogue, Dramatic. 147
See» from the hilh coil onward to tbe plaios.
Streams white with foam dowD rocky channels leap* Till join'd the lal^r, fome fretfal fpe^d remains. But there« at once, they all in quiet ileep.
Peace fmiles opon the deep ! So, many a train of bufy cares, x Which hart the human mind. In Tafte's fair bofom, uoawareSj A foft oblivion find ; With gentleft lapfe life's mingled waters glide. And fair refleded (kies dill gild the placid tide.. Towards the concluiion the Author pays a compliment to his aiu five coantry (for fuch we prefume it is) as being the birth-pls^ce oj( many very diftinguilhed oien ; a catalogue of whom is to be met with ^^ ^ ^ in a note at the end of the poem. .:0*v*t».
Art. 28. The Cheltenham Guides or^ Memoirs of the B-o-r;^ Family continued, in a Series of poetical Epiitles. 8vo. 2 s. 6d.' Harriion.. 1781. , , , .
Thefe Memoirs are pretended to be written by the brother of our*
Jomourons friend Simkin B-n-r-d j. but. Simkin, we prefume, wil( Ifdaim him. — In the^opijiion of our learned alTociate MA,iLTiNtJS» who is an excellent genealogill, the Cheltenham Guide is not even a /V* diftan't relation. ^ Aa'*
Art. 29. Condolence.: An Elegiac ^piftlc from Lieut. General B— rg — yne, captured at Saratoga, 061. 17th, 1777. to Lieut. Geo* Earl C — rnw— 11— 8, captured at York-Town, Odk. 17th, i7J8i# With Notes by the Editor. 4to. 1 s. 6d« Evans, Strand. 1782. . The Reader will eafily anticipate (he topics of condolence which this ironical Bard puts into the mouth of the captured General whofe charadtei* he has aflumed. The chief fault of this carelefs and haH/^Y- epiAle, for foch it appears to be, is that it U too long. .^^ «
Art. JO. Ditis Chorus; or. Hell broke loofc. A. Poem.* Tranilated from the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, and faithfully adapted to the Times. 4to. is. 6d. Kirby. 1781. /^0
Too contemptible for criticifm ! j^ .^P •
Art. 31. EUgf on the Death of Lord Bachard Cavendijh. 4to*
IS. DodiUy. 1781. A juft, and not inelegant, compliment to the memory of a yfttf Ct^ accompliihed and refpefted nobleman. ^^*
Dramatic. Art. 32. Tin Marriage A£l : A Farce. In Two ASs. As it is performed at tbe Theatre Royal in Coven t Garden. 8vo. 1 s, ^. Kearfley. 1 781.
' Whoever will take the trouble of turning to the Spedator, No. ^i i^* will fee bow much more agreeably the fubje^ is there treated in an ^ efTay, than it is here handled in a clum fy ballad farce. w •
Art. 33. Xht Divorce^ a Farce, as it was performed at the TJieatre Royad in Drury-Lane. 8vo. is. KeaiHcy. 1781., .Though this farce turns on a moil nnnatural idea, that 0/ a pre* meditated . f«4rtf^#a/ divorce between a fond and fafhionable couple, with an inteatioa to furprife the world by a fecond marriage, yee« there u mudi addrefi ihewn in the condu^ and charaders of the
L 2 piece*
• ■ I •
I48 Monthly Catalogue, Mlfcellamous.
piece. Mod of the incidents and perfonages are pleafant. ^itam and Difinis Dogherty have each more than a to!erablc portion ot far- cical bamour. fi
Miscellaneous. ^'
Art. 34. Biographical Memoirs of William Gtd\ including a
particular Account of his Progrefs in the Art of Block- printing.
8vo. IS. Nichols. 17H1.
We have here ' fome authentic documents of an ingeniotis, though unfuccefsful invention ; and fome fugitive memoirs of the inventor and his family.' Mr. Ged's fcheme for block-printing, with his ex- ecution of the fpccimens which be produced, were certainly curious ; but had his invention been found, in all refpefls, fupcrior to. the niethod of printing by fingle types, we cannot fuppofe that it would Bave proved * unfuccefsfol.' SufHcient trial was made, and though perhaps fome unfair pradices were chargeable on certain perfons who 'were intereded in oppo&ng or undermining Mr. Ged's undertaking, yet both our Univeriities and private Printers feem to have been * nothing loch' in conitgning not only the artift, but his performances, to that oblivion, from which thefe Memoirs are deligned to refcue them. Art. 35. An Hijlorical and Political View of the prefent and ancient
State of the Cclcny of Surinam in South America; wi;h the Settle*
fnents of Demcrary and Iflcquibo. By a Perfon who lived there Ten
Years. 8vo, 3 s.. Nicoll. 1781.
In a prefatory advcrtifcment we are informed, that the Work from whence this publication is extracted and tranflated, was written by Philip Fermen, M. D. of Maeftricht, and appeared in 177.3. Ic contains a hillory and defcription of Surinam, &c. the government, produce, commerce, and revenues of the country, and the caufes of its decay. Its fer:ility in the produce of fugar, cofTcc, cocoa, and cotton, has been fo great, as to introduce a fatal degree of luxury
• ^4nto the fettlement; and the commerce from Europe thither has been
palhed with fuch eagernefs, that the fchemes of adventurers, pro- ducing monopoly, uiury, and relaxation of government, added to the - « indifcretio^of the colonials, who treated their negro flaves wiih fo
• '-jnuch rigour, that (cttlements of refugees ai'e formed, againfl whom
they are engaged in perpetual war. Ail thefe caufes are fald to have operated to the decline of a colony naturally formed to profper under %« prudent management.
•^. We underftand that Surinam belongs, one third part of it to the Dutch Ball India Company, another to the town of AmAerdam, and that the fibitd is in private hands. The Wiitcr recommends, as bath- been done in a like cafe with us, chat theitate ihooid take it into their Own management for ihe reformation o^ abufcs. lt\^
Art. 36. A Month's Tour in North JValts^ Dublin^ and its En- *vhcni, with Obfervations upon their Manners and Police, in the 4 Year 1780. i zmo. 25. Keardy. 1781.
The celebrated Mr. Yorick, in his " Sentimental Journey," hath made a curious arrangement of our modern traveiiers and tour^ makers, and claffed them under various heads, expreilive of their charaderiflic differences. " There is the idle traveller ;'* the " in- quiiitive traveller;" the " anfortunate,'' and *' innocent traveller :" and moreover there ii the ^^ Jtmple travcLer/'— Noi? chat^ gentle
Keader,
<-% «
Monthly Catalogue, MlfceUamous. 149
Reader^ is our traveller ! — and- fo we need go no farther onward in the catalogue.
We confefs the xtrmjimpli is a term of equivocal import; but you are heartily welcume in the prefent cafe to take it o* this fide or th«t» — before or behind, — any way, or every way, and apply it to your liking.
" There is the fimplicity of babes and fucklings;" and fo there is of the mother's milk that feeds them. Ic is foriuoate that Nature hath matched one (imple thing with another. You would not force your tender infant to fwallow a bottle of Champaign. Its food muft be of the mo^ Jtmple kind ;— ic muft be ntxt to nothing at all ; — it maft bs like our trauelUr and our traveller's book ! 3*<I«1^
Art. 37. Traiit fur Us Principes Fondamentaux de la Sageffi ou
Plnlofophit Moralt. A lUfage de la Jeunefle. Par MademJfelle
£. Cac^oualt de la Mimardiere. / i, A Treatife on the Funda«
mental Principles of Wifdom, or Moral Pbilofophy. Defigned for
the Inftrudion of Vouch, izmo. 31. London. 17SJ. Sold
by Hookham, Elmdy, Sec,
This iit:lc Tradl fcems to be intended for a fchoolbook; and in that view deferves fome attention. It confifb of.very (hort differta** tions on mora! fubjeds ; fuch, for inftance, as * the Knowledge of ourfclvcs,' the * Pafiiona, Pride, Humility, Avarice, Caprice,' &c. SiC. They are as plain as they are conctfe, without the pride of learning, or the affedation of fcience. The Writer of this Treatife acknowledges that her language is not her own : and judice com* pels us to obferve, that (he is very defedive in point of idiom. The t\a>rds arc Frenqh, but the language is Englijh^ as to the form and - (Irudure of compofuion, Idium, however, is the Uft acqaifitiottt while the more early attempt to acquire words is fomerimes embar- raiTed, and often retarded by it. We fubmit it, therefore, to fchool* ' mailers by profcilioD, whether thofe books which are not written ac* cording ro the (Irided rules of idiom, may not be at leaft equally ufe- ful in acquiring the Hrd principles of a language, with thofe in which fuch rules are more rigidly preserved. If fo, the prefent performance (0\^ may be found ufeful, and deferves recommendation. ^^ '
Art, 38. A Tour through Monmouthjhire and IVales^ made in the .Mv>nth8 of June and July 17 '4» and in the Months of June, July^
and Auguft, 1777« By Henry Penruddocke Wyndham. The Se* .<oiid Edition* . 4to. 1 1. is. in Boards. .Wilkie. .1781.
The hrd of thefe combined Tours was publiHied in an oftavo fize, in the year 1775 * \ and the preface to this fecOnd edition,^ which bjr irs enlargements, and the embeiliihment of engravings, may be con- fidered in the light of a new publication, thus exprefles the improve^ mpnts made in it.
/ In the prefent volume, the Reader will find, many places de- fcribed, which, for wane of necelfary information, were omitted* in the firil edition ; and will moreover fee fome of the mod iocerrfliog objed8< illuHrated by engravings, made from very faithful defignt* Thefe will give him that general idea of the face of ^he C'^unr-^y,. to
^^*ri
" ^<t Rev. Vol. lii. p. ^55. where, from mUUken intorm4Uon» the Authcr's name is faid to be Wynne.
L 3 which
150 Monthly Catalogue, Mt/cellamouu
wfkich mere defcription is inadequate, and enable him to form a much ■lo^e acctrrate eftnnate of itrbeiacies, both* of nature iind arf, tbaii be could have done without tbofe auxiliaries.
•' As this Tonr is rather intended Ibr the general traveller, than for the particular inhabitant, the Acrthor has endeavoured to confine his obfervationt to chofe things only which he ihonght mod necefTary to be known, or molt deferring to be fcen. For this reafon the Au- thor has not attempted to defcribe every pleaiing fpot or profpefh which occurred to him in his tours ; though he will venture tb aflert, that he has left nothing undefcribed which was uncommonly grahd or beautiful, or which deferved to be pointed out to the attention of a firanger.
•^Ic may probably be obje^led, that the engravings which arc in- firted in this, volume have nor been* properly fele^ed ; and that many of the mod romantic ruins whicH are to be found within the limits of the tour, have been omitted. If, for inflance, fuch buildings as thofe of Qhepdow, Tiotern, Pembroke, Conway^ &c. have not met with a place in this work, it is becaufe they have been freduentl/ publi(hed| and are too well known to be again repeated : thow only have been here introduced, which havb either never been ei^rivea, or which have not be^n made familiar to the world by the Ute na- jiierous publications/
Befides a plate of antiquities, the obje^ reprefented are — A View from thePont Aberglaflyn — Church of £wcny Priory — Chapter>houfe of Margam— Catarad of Melincoort-*— Cilgarran Caftle — View from the Devil's Bridge>-Pooi of the Three Grains-^Fatl of Dol y Myl- liA^Valeof Tan yBwlch— The Pont Aberglaflyn— Caernarvon Caftie -^Dolbadern Caille— Bridge of Llanrwft — Abbey of Vallis Crucis— • JJantony Abbey'*
To what we formerly declared on the iappearance of the firft edi« tioa of this Tour, it only remains to add, that the plates now fup« plied are welidefigned, and executed in a pleating ftyle.
With refped to the foregoing declaration, that * nothing uncom- monly grand or beantifol has been left undeferibed,' 8cc, we have lean a hw remarks, in fome of the public prints, in which it is af- -ferted, that the Author has left unnoticed feveral beautiful romantic fcenes, highly meritingf the attention of a curious traveller. Thefc will poQibly excite the regard of our Author, with a view to his next edition.— See particularly Public Advertifer, Sept. 29, 1781. Vf«
Art. 39. SuppUment to the Origin of Printing. 8vo* l s* 6 d,
Nichols.
The Treatife on the Origin of Printing, by the late Mr. Bowycr, bas been fome years in the pofleffion of the Public. The firft edi- tion appeared in 1774 ; and a circumftantial account of it was given in the. 5 2d volume of our Review, p. 51, &c. The fecond editioa was printed in 1776. This fupplement, for which we are indebted to Mr. Nichols, the fuccefibr of Mr. Bowyer, contains a number of p>artt- calafs relative to the earlier printers in this country, that will gratify the curiofity of the antiouary, and others whofe tafle may lead them torefearches into thehiltory and progrefs of the arts. Some pieces^ written by the late Mr. Meprman. and Dr. Docarel, are inferted in
ihia
Monthly Catalooue, MathemMtku \%\
ihii Appeodix. The Editor, Mr. Nichols, has. with his Dfual in* duHry and attention, added notes and remarks, by way of anecdote^ or illuftratlon of the fubje^s under inquiry*
Art. 40. London: A Satire^* 8vo. i s. Stockdale.
This may becoofidered as a pi<flure of London in caricatura. The painter (but we will drop the iigure, and fay thi Author) like Hudi« brai*s Fame with her nitlnr trump, makes an evil, and only an evil report of our ^reat metropolis, the admired miiirefs of the world 1 According to his reprefentation, London may be confidered only at the grand receptable of knaves and fools, of every d.fcription : he fpeaks of nont that duth goody no not one. If this were altogether a juft report, the wonder would be that, like Sodom and Gomorrah, the capital of the Britifh empire hath fo long remained nnconfumed by 6 re and brimftone from heaven !
Exaggerated, however, and extravagant as this fatire will be deemed by thofe who know the city as well he does, and who maf» perhaps, be more inclined to do it juClice, it mu(! be acknowledged that we have met with many good, as well as ihrewd remarks, in thit new kind of London Spy. The objeds of our Author's unfavourable exhibition are — the City in general — the Prifons^the Inns of Court — the Courts of Juilice — the Jullices of the Peace— the Sheriff's Ofi» cers [a fet of people peculiarly obnoxious to us authors] — the Woawft of the Town— the Pawnbroke s—the Theatres — the Gaming-hoafei —the Churches (or rather the clergy) — the Tower, as a depofttor/ df inftruments for the daughter of the hnmtn fpecies — the Cuftoaa* houfe — the India houfe — the Excife Office— the Bank— Bedlam — the Royal Exchange— the Manfion-houfe, Guildhall, whh the Lottery, ^c— Doftor's Commons — the College of Phyficians — Bridewell— Weftminfter Abbey««-and, to crown all, the Parliament, whofe t^\^% are, on account of the unequal reprefentation of the people, pro- nounced to be, to the greater part of the inhabitants, literally theedifia of the monarch. We wiQi this obfervation were iefs fuccefsfully made out than it is, by this poliiical cynic, within the compafs of two or three (hort paragraphs Ar(. 41. Lejfms in Reading : or Mifcellaneous Pieces in Prole
and Verfe ; fele^ed from the beft EngHih Authors, for the hn*
provement of the Youth of both Sexes, lamo. as. 6d. Aber*
deen. Taylor, 1780.
This Medley (the greater part of which is copied feriatim^ with- out any acknowledgment, from Enfield's Speaker, PerciofaPs Moral Taleif and other late publications of the fame kind), is (o contempt- ibly executed with refpefl to type and paper ; that it deferves only to be circulated by the travelling venders of godly books and ballads* <g
Mathematics. Art, 4.2. The Elements of the Conic SeSfiontj as preparatory to the
reading of Sir I. Newton'ti Pnncipia. By the Rev. S* Vince,'
A* M. 28. 6d. fewed* Rivington, &c. 1781.
Though thefe Elements are faid, in ttie title- page, to be prepara- tory to the reading of the Prindpia, it is neccffary that the kamer fliOQld have fome knowledge of the doflrine of quatitricfs m heir eranefcent (late, as delivered in that work, before he begins ihtrfe Elemeotsi For the Author has not demonilrattd lome of the mof^
I, 4 £mple
v#^ A/y^^^^ ^lAi/^^ ^^^^^0tr
I5tt Monthly Cataiogue, Mathematics.
fimple properties of the feAionsy namely, tho(e neceflary to be knows ift order \o draw tangents to them, without making ufc of the pro- perties that arife from the relation of lines that are indefinitely near each other.
He begins with the properties that furnifh the mod ufual method of dcicribinj;: the fedions in piano ; and from thence deduces the equations of the ab^cifTa^ and ordinates rightly applied : but he does it in an operufe manner r and in the ellipfis, in order to come at the equation, when tne ordinates are obliquely applied, he firfl demon* ilrat<fs it to bj the reprefentation of a circle in piano. But, if it was neced'ary to introduce the dcmonAraticn of this, could rot the book have begun here ? Are not all the general properties of the etiiptis, that ret'pedt its diameters, ordinates, and tangents, moil elegantly deduced, by thus coniidering it as the frflion of a cylinder? Does not every one of thtm, then, flow from its correfpondcnt one in the circle piven in Euclid^s Elements ? As to the properties arifing from the excentrjcity of ihe ellipfis, do they not naturally follow when ti-e others are demonllrated ? Has not every ellipiis two pair of conju- gate hyperbolas, entirely depending upon it, fo that when the pro- pertie<: of the one are known, the correfpondent ones in the others naturally flow from them, without laborious algebraical operations ? And wouid not all the mofl ufeful leading properties of the parabola follow, from thofe of the ellipfis, confidcred with refpe^l to its dired- riz ? And all this without tranfgreiUng the bounds of the pureil geo- metrical method, or enlarging the bulk of the tra^, ^ftl Art. 4-^. Tables requtfueto he uftd with the Nautical Ephemeris for
finding the Latitude and Longitude at Sea, Publifhed by Order of the
Commifiioners ot Longitude. '1 he Second Edition, coiretfled and
improved 8vo. ; s. fewcd. Nourfe, &c. 1781, ■ To the tables publilhed with the firit Nautical Ephemeris (of which feme account is given in our Reviensj for May 1767, Vol. xxxvi. p. 39)* fome conflderable alterations and addition;; 8re here made.
iAtiL Lyon's atd Dunthorne^s methods of finding the eflft^ds of re- frac ion and parallax are rendered eafier. And in order to obtain the difiaiice o^ the moOn from the ilar or fun by a more (imple operation, fome of Mr. Lyon's tables are omitted, and new rules given. Inftead of Ml. Dunchorne's rule, in which natural fines are ufed, a more conciie o:<e, by logarithms, is given, and fo as to make the dif- tindlioii of cafes unneceflary. With this view two of his tables have been much fxttndcd.
beveral uitful tables have moreover been computed for, and others copied in:o this edition, which were not in the former ; viz Table 6th> fQf reducing the fun's declination at noon for Greenwich, to Any other time under that meridian, or to noon under ary other. Tab. 16. Logarithmic, finding the latitude from two obferyed alti- tudes of the fun, and the tin;e be:vvecn ; taken frop the Nautical Al- manacks for 1? I, ard 17H1. rabic 17. Natural fines. x8- Lo- garithms. 19 Logaiiihmlc fines, tangents, and fecants. 20. Lon- gitudes and latitudes of places, from obiervatiops or furveys. 21. For reducing the time of the moon's palTage over the meridian of Green- wich, to that of its palfage over any other meridian. 22. For leduciog the moon's declination, a> given in the Nautical Almanack
for
Monthly Catalogue, Mediiah 15J
lor noon and midnight at Greenwicby to toy other time under that miridian^ or to noon or midnight under any otbtr, 23. For reducin9 the fun's right afcci fion in time, as given in the Nautical AlmaDicK for noon at GreeniAjicb^ to any other cime under that meridian, or 10 noon under any other meridian.
We are here told, that the new tables, with their explanation aiNi ufe, were drawn up by W. Walc5, F. R. S. Matter of the Royal Ma- thematical School in Chriil's Hofpital, a perfon well verfed both is the theory and pra^^ice of ailronomy and navigation.
By way of Appendix arc added two other methods, one by the Aftronomer-royal ; the other by Mr. G. Wicchel, F. R. S. for COr* reding the apparent diftance of the moon from the fun» or a ilar, oa account of refraflion and parallax.
We are glad to find that this fcientific method of navigation gains fo mucn ground, as to have exbaullfd the drW edition fince 1767^ « though it confilled often thoufand copies. VQ^X*
Art. 44. The Nautical Almanack^ and AJirommUal Epbemeris^ for 1780. Pubiiftied by Order of the Commiffioneri of Longitadcw 8'0. 3 s. 6 d. fcwed. Nourfe, &c. 1781, »^
Similar to thofe for former years. ^^
Art. 4;. A Scxageftmal Table \ ixhihlting^ at Sights the Refult «f any Proportion, luhen the Termt do not exceed Jixty Minutes, Alio Tables of the Equation of Stcond Difference ; and Tables for turning the lower Denominations of EngliOi Money, Weightft, and Meafures, into Sexagefimals of the higher, and o^/Vf <x;/r/«. And the Sexagefimal Table turned into Seconds, as far as the 1 000th Column ; being a very ufeful Millefimal Table of proportional Parts, With Precepts and Examples. Ufeful for Aftronomert, Math^maricianr, Navigators, and Pcrfons in Trade, By Michael Taylor, Publilhed by Order of the CommiJJioners of Longitudtm Qjarto. 158. ftwed. Nourfe. 1780.
Tne Author fays, that he took the fame care in corre6ling the prefs, as in the cunllrudion of the tables ; and hopes they will be lounJ as corredt as any extant. They confiH of 315 paget, printed on an excellent type and paper, and are illullrattd with plenty ^f^0 examples. ^^»
Art. 46. The ^eJlion-Book : or, A Pra£lical Introdu£lion to Arithmetic. Containing a great Variety of Examples in all the fundamental Rules. By Thomas Molinentc, lamo. 2 a, bound* Bathurft. 1781. ^
This book may be very ufeful to alt idle fchoolmafters. //^
Medical. Art. 47. Obfervations on the Dyfcntery of the Wejl Indies ; with a new and fuccefsfu! Manner ot creating it. By Benjamin Mofeley^ Surgeon at Kingdom in Jamaica. 8vo» i s. Jamaica^ printed, London reprinted, for Becket. 1781. ^
The fubftance of this (hort tr^^i is comprifed in the following fum- y ' mary given by the Author: * That the dyfentery \% a fe^vet of the in* n/?ines ; (hat the caufe is ohftruSed ferfpiration \ and that the cure if, in calling back the circulation to the furface of the body, and ia- creafing the feahble perfpiration by the moA a^ive Sudorifics.'
Thu
f 14 MOKTHLY GATAI.OGUK, Riligi$UU
■ 7hU i^f a ii ^ercaialy not upw* though pcfhaps the extent to which i( ia pvvfuird io prafli^e by the Writer u a v^^riAUon from the commoQ IVPthPci of treacoienc. The remedies principally recommended by llin>f afe> sntimopi^l vi\x\^ yfi'nh Uudgnuoi, and Ja;ne&'s powder. He keeps up the fweac, when begun, by wrapping up in a blanker. tnd giving warm dijueprs ; avoiding carefully any llreams of cold air. He appeals to his fuccefs for con^rmation of hi» dodrine \ and bia 9ftho4 certainly claims the attention of thofe concerned in the ma- i| nagement of the fame alarming and fatal difc^afe. j\ %
Art. 4.8. Obfervatlons on the Dlfeafes wbih appeared in the Army M St. Luda, in 1778 an^ 1779* ^^ which are prefixed^ Remarks calculated to alTill in afcertaining the caufes, and in explaining the Treatment, of thofe Difeafes. With an Appendix, containing a fkort Addrefs to Military Gentlemen, on the Meant of preferving I^eahb in the Weft Indies. i2mo. 2 s. Dilly. 1781, > The utility of local obfcrvatipns on Difeafes has been evinced by fo aaity excellent nnodern Publications, tkat it is needlefs to confirm by attgttooenc, what experience has eiUbliihed. The amazing exten(ton . ^f the commercial and n^ilitary operations of this country has rendered ' iuch communications peculiarly neceifary and uftful in our days, ll^fo, many new fourcct of danger from unwholefome climates, and Vfafoal difeafes, have unfoi^tunately been opened. Every attempt, therefore, to add to the (lock of knowledge in this refp«d, deferves UttcntioD and indulgence.
The Author before us, who figns himfelf ychn Rolio •, has very concifely defcribed the iiland of St. Lucia» with a view to the degree of fp^ubrity of its fevcral parts ; and has, with equal brevity, given a pillory of the difeafes which prevailed there among our troopa, for ^booc fix months. Though neither the morbid phenomena, nor the ippd^ of treatment, offer any thing materially di^crent from what has before been obferved in fimiiar climates, the Work may, however, 1^ uft fully c«nfulted by medical gentlemen employed on the fame ^,vice. The concluding Addrefs to Gentlemen of the Army contains fptf^e advice which they would, doubtlefs, dnd advantage in fol-
Ipwilig. A
Religious. *^*
Art. 49. Two Simons. I. At St. Bridget's Church, before the Lord M^yor and the Governors of the fcveral Hoifit^ls, in Baiter y/eek, 17S0, 11. At St. Paul's, Sept. 2. 1730, being the annual Commemoration of the Fire of London. By £a(i Apihorp, D. D* Redor of Su Mary-le-Bow. 4to. i s. Law« The firft difcourfe gives a fiiorc hidorical account of the origin of hpfpitals in this conntry, after the diflblution of the monafteries ; and pa^s a joft tribute to the munificence of their founders, and the ex- cellence of their inftitution.
The fecond confifts of pious and candid reflexions on the conduft of Divine Providencef particularly with refped to that terrible event which this Sermon was deligned to commemorate. The leading ob- jeA of it is to enforce the principles of humility and reiignation ; that
^ Sargeon in the Royal ArtiUeryi now in the Weft ladies.
nndet
Monthly CATALopgz, ReEgiat. 155
inder ;fae ioAuence pf [h« foTmer we fpay improve oar meiciei, aiuf
the lid of tie laticr may detire benefit from oar B^iflioni. R J li
SJ' __,._. ,.,.,....„..
Art. 50. Emry Mant Menmr; or the Univcrfal CounffflorJ
In Ptore >nd VeHe. Being a Colleaion offelca Septencet, cho'jc?
Maximi, add divine Precepii ; fuiicd buih for Youili' and Age of
every Se9 4&d Decomination. aa long ai Tim^ cnduiet. By Jpba
CqltnsD. gvo. ^2 1. 6d. Buckland, 1781.
Among [be ' choice maxims' of cnii book, tbc foIlQwtng is tli^ th^ttfi.
' Poverty is a creature oftlie/dK^jr.'
Cum/AUr Coltmao would defervc a fc;, if he could matci; good hti * inixiiD* 10 the' rai'itfaAiop of ' balf-darv'd hackney raanetEeeii,' and — l'i, /Mr Kcvjeweri ! — ^oc alai ! all our riches lie 'iafantj, an^ our poverty ii the lerrlble rtality wg have [o compluaol — ' judv ^fi ^toner-time !' ^ff*
Art. 51'. A firitus and affeillonate Jdflrtfi it aliOrdtrtof Mtni
adaptidu ihii ai/jful Crijii. [n whicb at^ ^ainr^l^ (fi^tunrntm^fl - the Work! of the late Rev. William Law, A. Ifl. To 'whicl\ a/n
addedTbree Leiters written by Mr. Law to i&eAatliQr. 8vo. i a.
Robinfon. plji.
't'lie AutV °f ''■<> ' ^ertODs and affeAioqaie Addrels,' U a g^at adnlirer oflhe' itiyftic ariter), |nd cai^ddefi M/ I.jw's works as ^b DuiDtedence'of't'faat ' di'uiui phiii/cphj wbic^' njurv-loufly i-bfoldt all thfe mTlleriei of uai/trt and grac^, and immutably elUhlilhci ^s CSr0ieii ritigUn on its own filf-evident and eiernal principlei.'
7he AuiTior hath recorded the laft words of ihij ituly pious ifiA excellent man. " Aw^y with ihefe.fiUhy ^atmcnis, fsid iKii dying fkinf: — I feel, a facred fire kiodied. in my. fp^I. which tyiji dclUMr every tiling contrary to iifelf, and barn s^s a^tne of dii'ine love to>U eternity.' * In fuch a iriumph of holy joy did thiscxiiaoidinary li;r- *aftt of God moll devontly refign hii blelTcd fpiric inio ihi: hands of fais beloved Lord and MaOer, at the pJace,o£ his Qatirityi the toiva oTKiwg't-Clift, in the county of l^srtliampisn. And in the Church- yard of that parilh he lies interred ui/dcir a^ handfome tomb, creQ^ iblfi* nemory by a particular and dear, friend, who lived many yean with bim, and therefore had long known, and highly and jaftljr. JeScened his fingular worth.'
The infcripcioD on his tonjb it ai fnlloirs ;
" Here lieth the bodv of the late Rev. Wdliam Law, A M, vho died April 9. 1761, aged 75. He was known to tbe world In 4, nomber of truly ChriOian, ploui writing! ; excmpliGcd by a Ii|$ fpent in a manner faitable to a worthy and true difciple of his heii^' veoly, divine, crucili'.'d Mailer and Saviour Jefus Chtitt, who J!nnjf< «id,>^#in him and by him. In his younger days he fuScici^t)|r. diSjogailli'd himfelf by his pans and progrcfi in human literatnit. J^f^rwards taking chc advice of our Savipur to the rich yoapg maj|» lie totally renounced the world, and fbllowed ChriK in meekqefs, !ib> Plility, and felf denial : and in hit lall years be was wholly abfoibed in love to God and mankind ; fo that virtue in bim was nothipg but )i«aveiily love and heavenly flame."
The. Author of this Addrefs fecm) to have imbibed the feDtimCDtt ()f.iJ)e m^K upuble inyftics; he cxpteiTeihimfdffofgGwbat after. the
156 Monthly Catalogue, Reltgtous,
manner of good old Peter Sterry of Cromwellian memory ; and like ^him and Jeremy White, efpoufes the dodnne of a Univer sal Resti- tution. jB'i- Art. 52. Hymns in Pnfe for ChiUren, By the Author of Le(-^ fons for Children, izmo. is. Johnibn. 17'M. The defign of ihefc Hymns is to iraprels the infant mind with early ideas of God, by coonedling religion with a variety oi fcnfible obje£ls> and with every thing that aifeft* it with wonder or delight ; and thus, by deep, llrong, and permanent aiTociaiions, to lay the bell foundation for pradtical devotion in future life.
Speaking of hymns in \tt(e^ adapted to the capacities of children, Mrs. Barbaald has a very judicious obfervation : *' It may well be doubted whether poetry ought to be lowered to the capacities of chil- dren, or whether they (hould not rather be kept from reading verfe till they are able to reliih good verfe : for the very effence of poetry is an elevation in thought and ftyle above the common (laadard ; and if it wants this charadler, it wants all that renders it valuable.'* ]2* Art. 53. A Letter from a Catholic Chrifttan to his Roman Catholic
Friend. 8vo« 6d. Worcefter, printed. 1780. Art. 54. An EJfay on the Law of Celibacy impofed on the Clergy of the Roman Catholic Churchy and obferved in all the Orders abroad ; in which are delineated its Rife and Progrefs, from the mod early Ages of its £\iilence, down to the preient Times : and the Impro- priety of this Ecclefiaftical Conllitution is fhewn, whether it be confidered in a moral, a phyfical, or a political Light. As alfo a fummary Account is given of the monadic Life; of the Pre- judices which chiefly contributed to introduce it; and in what Manner thefe have been perpetuated, &c. Interfperfed with va- rious Remarks on feveral other Obfervances of the Roman Catholic difcipline. 8vo. 3 s. Worceller, printed. London, fold by Rivington, 1781,
We unite thefe two pamphlets in one article, as they have both the fame author, and their fubjedts are connedled. ]^n the firft we Hnd the Writer modellly and handfomely apologizing for his having feparated liimfelf from the church of Rome, in which he had been educated, ordained a pried, and continued for feme time to difcharge the fundlions annexed to that character. This letter is written with an apparent candour and integrity, which does the Author honour. Ife Hill confiders himfelf as a Chriftian minifter. Among other remarks, he JTuppofes the queftion to be propofed. Whether he ilill intends to continue in a (late of celibacy ? To this he replies in the negative. And by this means he is led to enquire a little into the grounds of this pradfce in the Romifli church ; which gave rife to the fecond very feniible pamphlet, the fubjefls of which are particularized in the above title. In general, to Proteftants, efpecially fuch who have ufed a little refleflion, it is unnecelTiry to offer much in order to prove the unreafonable and abfurd condudl of the church of Rome on this point of celibacy, as well as others ; and accordingly our Author remarks :
* This labour may appear, perhaps, at firft fight, fnperfluous, and the whole controverfy of little importance, in a kicgdom where nei- ther the obliga ion, nor propriety of fuch a law, it'itta irefpeft to the
numerous
Monthly Catalogue-, Religious. fjy-
numerous body of the Chridian clergy, is admitted. But as it is a fad, chat thefe inliicutiocs are not oaly revered as facred by many of> our fellow-citizens, who fly to a voluntary exile in foreign climates, to the prejud ce of their mother*country, and by thoufands of either fex in every date where the Roman Catholic difcipline prevails, to the detriment of fociety in general, it. is the intereH of every indin* dual, of every citizen of the world, to have this matter, duly canvaf^ ftd, and exhibited in its proper light. Thus confidered, it is no longer a fubjed 6t merely for private fpeculation and debate, bat be- comes of public concern, and claims the attention of all who have mt heart the general advantage of mankind, and are willing to promote, its welfare '
To the above we may add a farther pafTage, in which it is faid, ' My 1 ffvifh is rather to be ufeful, by co»>tri bating to fupport what 1 really •cftccm the caufe of truth, than to feck Uiimcrited and unfaiisfadorjr. applaufe, by advancir^g any opinions which may diflurb the peace of the community On the contrary, it is in the defence of its moft fa- cred rights that I have here prefumed to (land forth, without any: other preter.Gons to the favour of the Public, than what the merits of the caufe itfelf may dci'ervc, I have combated miAaken notions thte have long prevailed ; but I have neither treated them ludicroufly nor with contempt. Ancient prejudices dcferve at all times a ctrtain de* gree of refped ; but our deference for them (bould not be carried fo far as to command our filent homage, when they evidently tend to deftroy the happinefs of mankind.'
The Au:hor s fpirit^and manner of writing are agreeable to thefe profeflions. He appears like an honed man, a man who feels him- felf Ijappy in being releafcd from chains by which he once was (hack* led, and at the fame time does not feem to entertain any of that ran* cour and bittcrnefs of temper which new converts, efpecially if hafty and intereiled, have fomeiimes difcovered ; but writes at once like a nan, a fcholar, and a Chridian. Ic needs hardly be faid, that lie eilablifheb his point : in feveral controverfies it is difficult to affirm this on either fide, but here, we aporehend, it may be done with Aifety. Bofluet's faying concerning theatrical entertainments is pro- perly applied on this occafion : II y a di grands exemplet four, mai$ de fortes rai/onscPtttre. It may be pleaded for from great examples, ^ but there are folid arguments againil th« pradice. \i»
Art. 55. Sermons preached before the Univerfity of Cam- bridge. By Peter Stephen Goddard, D.D. Mailer of Clare- Hall. 8vo* 4s. Boardi). Rivington. 1701.
In thefe Sermons Dr. G. infills on the following topics; A true and zealous Chriftian the greatell and beft of charadters ; Eternal life clearly and fully revealed by the Gofpel only ; Ridicule no ted of trnth; The freedom of man's will confident with the grace of God ; Our Lord's treatment of the woman of Canaan explained and jnlli- - £ed ; Needlefs curiofity ; A day of grace and a day of wrath ; fins of infirmity and fins of prefumption; Covetoufnefs idolatry; Criminal compliance with prevailing culloms ; Hezekiah's behaviour on re- ceiving the melT^ge from God by Ifaiah ; The duty of prayer ; Duty both of the preacher and his hearers : — To which is added^ Conci§ ad . CleruM, a Latin oration delivered in 1761.
2 Thefe
tjfi S i R M O N S.
Thef^ difcourfes are principally recbmmeoded by folid tcnfe, and a tit^^ncy 10 improve and amend the heart ; which, after all, are the bed recommendations that pulpit connpofitioos can have : they are not remarkable for the beauties of langQa^e, or elegance of fenti- lAent and exprefTion ; but they are grave, ferious, plain , pradica'l, mtid judicious ; adapted bo peri'uide men to attend with diligjcnc^ to thofo objci^ts which are of the greatell moment to their prcknt and f&tore welfare.
^h^ drift and aim of the dtfcoarfes is to do good to the heart; the/ preftnt thofe weighty rcfledlfons and pertinent addrelTes which are likeTy to have an Sappy influence on thofe who will perufe them with doe attention.
if he CoHcic ad Clerum is to be regarded as an ingenious Latin bra*
SERMONS.
!• Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, tt St. Mary*i, No« vember 5th, 1781. By William Crowe» LL.B. Fellow of New College. 4to. 1 s. Cadell. 1781.
This is a well- written difcourfe, and in fome refpe^s remarkable. While the Author properly celebrates the events which moft ever Tttiitf the 4th and 5th days of November memorable in the Engliih aonils» he pleads in favour of thofe Roman Catholics refideht among QSy from the confiderations» that their number is inconfider'abley their difpofition peaceable and loytU and farther^ that the Romifli power is no longer an obje6l of dread. It may be faid, in anfwe^ to this» that if the real principles of Popery have always the fame ten- dency, they mnft be unfriendly to liberty. But we will not di(pute the. point. We mnft, however, objeA, as we have ofteq done on other occifions, to the infinuation, that the late dreadful and furious havock id London wal efFeded by the Prbteftant Aflbciation* No fnfficient reafon hat yet appeared to induce us to believe this, and there is great caufe to think otherwife. What renders this Oxford Difcourfe prin- cipally remarkable, is the proper manner in which the Author fpeaks o« the fubje^ of religious liberty, and the account that is ffiven of the prefent ftate of our country, when he mentions our unfortunate .difpute with America as * a war of appreheniion and difmay,' and fays,' * Surely that (late cannot but be in a perilous condition, where^ on one hand, 'corruption maintains a wide and increafing influence, acknowledged but nncontrouled, and prodigal bevond example : on the other, a people indulge themfelves in idle and luxurious diflipa- tion, fo to avoid reflexions too ferious and too diftrefsful, becaufe they care not, or defpair of the commonwealth. Yet thefe, and other pra£iices as bad as thefe, are but as difeafes which a found conftitution may throw off, and again recover its priftine health. Much worfe is the cafe, when national principles are vitiated ; when, for in'Jance, it is aflerted with a wicked boldnefs, that corruption is nfefal and neceflary to the government ; or when thofe plain and fa- cred dodrines of civil liberty, which no fophiftry can perplex, and BO ftrengih of argument confute, are flandered with the injurious name of empty fpeculations* — l^efe are dreadful and fatal tokens,
S and
Sermons* 15^
atrd unkis fome tnndote can fubdue their malignity, tht tonftittrfidi ID which they are found will foon decline into that Hate of agony AiiJi defpair, when its evils (hall be both in'to)etab)e and ineofA(>Te.*
From this gloomy profpcft the Preacher tarns himfelf to th'i<t gfttic Being who only can deliver, and with homble, earnetl piety, fuppift. cates his guidance and his aid. And with this reverent addrefs ihe ^ Sermon concludes. J^ ^
IL Preached in the Carhedral at York, Jtilyr 20t i78r, at the AffteHi
By Samuel Beilby, M. A. Chaplaii^ to the Duke of Racland, Reb*
tor of FoHcton, &c. 8vo« is. Baldwin.
An injreaioas harangue againll flander and detradlion, from 'tithnf ifi. 2. S/entJk tvil 0/ no man. At the fame time recommeiitfin^ if * proper, manly, conilitutional obedience to magiilrates ;' arid ciL* honing us to * fupporc the fpirit of the gofpel with vigour and' ^^* ^ 4<nce, blettded wrth meeknefb and moderation.' While th)i PriatB'di^' laments the diftionour brought on the Chriflian caufe by tAe i/iMlhKft- tMtable condudof many of its profeflbrs, he add^, * Let us fot^tit it ^ poi&ble, the late daring attempts ofjanafid/m to overawe the icgittw^ ture» to dellroy oar fenators, aod to/r/ girt capital.* We particularize this paflage, becaufe it cafts an odium on a fet of people, who, po(^ fibly, do not deferve it, and therefbre if unju(!, becomes propeilr a JUfdtr. ]t has not yet appeared with any cerurnfy, thiat th'e b^-' rid devafiatioh which lately difgraced our metropolis, wa^ r^Uy ^adtf by the petitioners againfi Popery. In truth, it rather feems to HihriftT been efteted by the felons, &c. who were, by t general g^ol-dfclS^' veiy, let dot of the prifons by the rioters, in order to A^tat Hb^riy Kk0 foch of their companions as had been taken iiito cuftodyl i^ *
III. Th$ Cbriflian Duty 0/ cuUrvating a Spirit ofuni^erfal BenttfiHeiki'
moMlfl tht prefint unhappy national Hofiilftiis. Prcadtetf ]^^' \*
1781 9 tt Bradford in Yorkihire, before an Aflembly of Diflenthsg
Mieifiers. By William Wood. 8v6. 6d. JohnfOn.
In (hit ingenioas, lively difcourfe, the Preacher's aim iir to peF- fuade uty * while we love our country, and fervently pray thac/r#- fptrity may h$ within htr palaces, to be careful that we dd not hate tM reft of mankind.' Had it been preachied bt;fbrethofe depirdatdi's.iii' the Eaft Indies, who have difgraced the Bnglilh riatnd; oF biiftM' others abroad and at home, whofe deflre and labbur is to enHch* «fid' aggrandize them(elves with the fpoil and plunder of their owH' 6i other countries, it had been very feafonable, and might have proYlifl^' ttfeful. Univerfal benevolence, good-will and good wiihes towards aU onen, without d i Hi n (Hon, is, however, agreeable to the excdlebt fpirit of the gofpel. and ihoold be incnltated and cherifte^ \Pf cWify bnman being ; at the fame time that their more direA attention muft be paid to immediate connexions,. and to their own coantry.
Though this kingdom is unhappily' engaged in war with different nations, we hope that our people, in general, do not maintain a fpi- rit of hatred and rancour even towards thofe who, in a more public view, may be deemed enemies. Such a fpirit may indeed be politi- cally cherifiied among fome ranks, or may be excited in thofe who are more immediate fpedators of the calamities and cruellies of v^ar ; bnt we truft it is not generally prevalent. This Sermon agreeably re- commendt aa oppofite temper, aad arget us (o be UnMj afftQiontd ro
tht
X60 Cor &ESPON DEKCE.
tbe whole haman raCe, as children of one Almighty and All gracicYos
Parent^
IV. Preached at the Anniverfary Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy,
in the Cathedral of St. Paal, May ii, 1780. By John Law.
D.D. Archdeacon of Rochctler, &c. 4:0. is. Cadcll, &c.
This Difcourfe, from Pfalm Ixviii. ^. i& well calculated for iheocca- * '^fion on which it was diredtly delivered. The Preacher endeavours to *^yeinove certain objections which might poflibly be urged* and then offers fome affecling and weighty confideracions to enforce an atten* tion to this charity. Particular notice is taken of a late generous be- nefadrefs, Mrs* Elizabeth Dongworth, lace of Durham, who be- queathed the fum of 1000 1. which was received in July 1780. The ttcretary to this charity having found that his delign, of publiQiing an exaCi lift of the ftewards and preachers, is approved has now pro* cor^d a more accurate account than has heretofore been given, and has alHxed it to this Difcourfe, together with the Sums colleded at the anniverfary meetings, fince the year 1721. XT
CORRESPONDENCE.
%• A " Friend and conflant Reader,*' who dates at •* Norwich, Jioaary 20tb,*' expreffes his diffatiifadion in regard to the account of Art* 28. in our Catalogue for December, as we have therein ^iven BO opinion of the merits of the feveral Thefes contained in Dr. Web-
Acr'a Colleftion. In our Review for February iali, we mentioned
tlie two preceding volumes of the Dodor's publication ; and had oor '<%0>rrefpondent peruftd that Article, he would, perhaps, have taken our word as to the ** impoflibility" of our giving more than " a lift of thcfubjeds, with the names of the refpedtive authors;" and would litve faved himfelf the trouble of writing. If this apology does not meet his comprehenfipn, let him become a Reviewer : let him an- derttke to cleanfe the Augean (lable [no reftedion on the Work to which he alludes], and then he will be convinced that none but an Hercules is perfectly equal to the tafk.— Befide, the Iliad is not to be written in a Nutiheil. — Indeed were every Review a folio, we are perfuaded that we (houldftill, from the multiplicity of thejnew psb- lications that come before us, be obliged to difmifs many articles in the fummary way which this Correfpondcnc refers to, in a fingle in* fitnce.
^■MBHaaan^ avaVBaaiW^ a^amia^B^
f+t Two Letters are received, concerning the rot in Jbtep ; with Others on different fubjeds^which will be noticed hereafter.
^n^
■ mU
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW,
For M A R C H, lyS,^.
^•$^^^^@9®^^^^@®S^^®9^^^{§^@^9j8»
Art. I. Warton'i iti/fory ofEngUjb Pttrj, Vol. III. concLUOED*
See laft Month's Review.
THE interval of darknefs, which occupies the annals of Englifli Poetry from Surrey to Spenfer, was illuminated^ and, as Mr. Warton juftly obferves, with uncommon luftjne, by that once very popular work, Ths Mirror for Magiftrates, Its plan was confefledly borrowed from Boccace's De Cafibus Prim* apum. A company is feigned to be ailembled, each perfon oi which, one excepted, by turns perfonates the character of one of the great unfortunate. The whole was to form a kind of dra* matic interlude, including a feries of independent follloquies. In the execution of this piece, it is well known many were concerned : but its moft diftinguifhed contributor, and, indeed^ its. inventor, was Thomas Sackville, the firft Lord Buckburft, as alfo the firft Earl of Dorfet. He is no lels celebrated as the author of Gordobuc^ the firft legitimate tragedy in the Englifh language. Of his (hare in this work, namely, thi Indu&ion^ and thi Gomplaynt of Henryi Duke of Buciingbam, Mr, Warton has given an analyiis. His examination of the InduAion fS accompanied by a general view of Dante's Italian poem, en* titled Commidioj containing a defcription of Hell, Paradife, and Purgatory *. This juxtapofition of performances on iimi]aj( fubjeAs, as is rightly remarked, ill uftrates and afcertains the re- fpe&ive merits and genius of the different poets. We are ibrry that we cannot make room for this ingenious criticifm. . ■■ \ ,1
* The printipal fidlion of Sackville's Indudliofi is a defeat into Hell.
Vot. LXVI. ' M " ThU
|6l WartonV Hlflory of Englijh Poetry ^ Vol. III.
This volume is brought down to the commencement of Queen Elizabeth's reign. And the concluding fedlion of it contains a general view and charader of poetry at that period. It is not Mr. Warton's principal merit, that he inveftigates his fubjed with the patience of an antiquary and the acutenefs of a critic ; from his accurate delineation of charader, it is evident^ that he has infpeded the manners of mankind, as they occa- iibnally pafs before him, with the penetrating eye of a philo- fopher.
* Enough has been opened of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to afford us an opportanity of forming feme general reflexions, tending to eftablifh a AiIl efymace of tlje genius of the poetry of that reign ; and which, by drawing conclojions from what has been faid, and di- rcding the Reader to what he is to expedk, will at once be recapitu- latory and preparatory. Such a furvey perhaps might have ttood with more propriety as an introdndion to this reign. Bat it was firft neceflary to clear the way, by many drcumSantial details, and the regular narration of thofe particulars, which lay the foundation of principles, and fuggeft matter for di£:.arfive obfervatton, My fenti- inetits on this fabjed fhall therefore compofe the concluding fe£lion of the prefent volume.
'The age of Qi^ecn plifabeth is commonly called the goMnn ag^ of Englifh poetry. It certainly may not improperly bi ftyled the moft POETICAL age of thefe annals.
' Among the great features which ftrike us in the poetry of this period, are the predominancy of fable, of fiAion, and fiincy, and a predileftioa for ioterefting adventures and pathetic evcms. I will •ndeavoor to afljgn and explain the canie •! this charadciriftic dif- tinftion, which may chiefly be referred to chp following priqeiplcft ibmetimes blended, apd fomt^iqAes operating (ingiy : the re?ival and yfriiacular verfioni of the daflies^ the tmportatioo and trandation of lulian nov(hf the vifionary reveries or refinement^ of falfe philofp- phy» a degree of fupcrilition fufficient for the purpofes of poetry, the adoption of the machineries of romance, and the frequency and im- provements of allegoric exhibition in the popolar fpeClades.
* When the corruptions and impoftnres of popery were abolifhed, the faihion of cultivating the Greek and Roman learning became ■niverfiil i and ilpe literary charader was .no longer appropriated to Molars by pro£eflion> but affueied by the nobility and gentry. The ecciefiailics had fbnqd it iheif intfreft to keep the languages of aati- qiiicy to themfelvet, and anen w^re eager to knpw what had been fo long injariottfly concealed. Trnth propagates truth, and the mantle of oyftery was removed not only from religion bi)C from literature* The laity, who had now been taught toi^ert their natural privileges^ became impatient of the old monopoly of knowledge, and demaMed admittance to the nfurpations of the clergy. The general curioiity for new dtfcoveriea» heightened either by j«(l or imaginary Sdeaf of the treafares contained in the Greek and Roman writers, excited all peribns of leifure and fortune to fiady the claflics. The pedantry of the prefent age was the politenefs of the laft^ An accurate compre* hciifion of the phrafcology and peeiiliarities of the ancient poeti„ bif^
toriansy
WATtooV Hift^ $f EngUfi P^f Vol. Uh |£ j
torians, and orators, which ytt feldom went farther than a kind of tecboical erudition, was an iodirpenlablet and tlmofl the prioQ^^I obje^ }n the circJe of a gentleman's educAtioo*. Evtry yoaog U4f of fiihioQ was carefully inliituted in cia0ic#l letters: and the da4^)ir Ur of fk duchefs was taught, not only lo diilii Aroog watofs^ bim^ coQiiroe Greek. Among the learned (emalof of b|gh dUtioSdnfji^ Queen Elifabeth herlelf was the moft coafpiciious* Rogjer Afchaim her preceptor, fpeaks with rapture of her aOopiihing progreis ia thf Greek nouns ; and decJarei, with no fmall degree of triuaiph» d^ during a long reiidence at Windlbr-cadle, ihe was accuHomed to t^ii Biore Greek in a day, than *' fome Prebendary of that churcl^ ^14 L«cin, in one week*." And although perhaps a Priocefs lookyng out words in a lexicon, and writing down hard phrafes from P|ar larch's Lives, cnay be thought at prefect a more incumpatible ao^ extraordinary chara^er, than a canon of Wiod(br ander^nding uq Greek and but little Latin> yet Eliiabet^'s pa^n for theie acqi4fit tioos was then nataral, and refuUed fjnopa (he geoiat and habitndo of her age.
* The books of antiquity being ttini familiarifed to the greatt every thing was tin^ured with ancient hiftory and mythology. The heathen gods, although difconntenanced by the Calvinifta on a/i&^t^ cion of their tending to cheriih and revive a fpirit of idolatry, Cfifai$ into general vogue. When the Queen paraded through a countrX'r totyoy almoft every pageant was a pantheon. When (he paid a vjttf at the hoofe of any of her nobility, at entering tfie hail iht waajbr Ittted by the Penates, and conduced to her priyy-chamber by NjEfir* cory. £veB the paflry-cooks were e;cper^ mythologies* At diniMrf (kle€t transformations of Ovid's metaoorphofea were c;xhil^itfi(l in coQt fedionary : and the fplendid iceingof an immenfe hiftoricplamb-cab^ waaembofled with a delicious baiTo relievo of the defirudion of Tr<^. In the afternoon, when flie condefcep^led to walk in the garden, the lake wes covered with Tritons and Nereids: th^ P*g€> of the fanuly were converted into wood-nymphs, who peeped from every bower: u»d the footmen gamboled over the lawns in the figure of Satyrs. I fpeak it without de&gning to ipfinnate any pp/avourable fufpicipiitt but it feems difficult to lay, why Elifabeth's virginity (hould bava been made the theme of perpetual and cxcefllve panegyric ; nor dpee it immediately appear, that there is lefs merit or glory in a married than in a maiden Qtte';n. Yet, the next mprning, after flceping ia a room hung with the tapeflry of the voyage of Eoeaa, when her M^- jefty hunted ia the Park, (he was met by Dj^na, who pronouncing our royal prnde to be the brighter paragon of )infpoued chaftity, »!• vited her to groves free from the intrufions of A^eoa. The troth U, ihe was fo profufely ilatterf*d fo;- diis virtue, becaofe it was eAeemed the charaderiftical ornamezu of the heroines, ^s fantaftic honour WM the chief pride of the champions, of tliie old barbarous rom^ce. It waa in conformity to the fpnti^ae^ts of chivalry, which iill continued in vogue, that (he va« celebrated for chf ^ty : the compliment, hoir« ever» n$* paid in n daffical allnfion, t
■ ■ 'i I 1 III. ■ 11 . ■ r* I I »i i I J J HU .
• Sfhpbmajfer, pTTlQ- b. edit. 1589. 4to« ^
^ M 2 *Qdeen»
t
$64 Warton^j Mijt^ry rf EngUJb Pettry, Vol. lit,
^ Qoceni mud be ridicaloas when they would appear as women'* The fofter attradions of fex vanilh on the throne. Elifabeth fooghc alloccafions of beicg extolled for her beaaty» of which indeed, in the
Erime of her youth, fhe poflefied hot a finall (hare, whatever might •ie been her pretenfions to abfohite virginity. Notwithllanding her •x^|;gcrated habiti of dignity and ctremony^and a certain affedatjon of -inpciial feverity^ (he did not perceive thii ambition, of being complimented for beauty, to be an idle amd on pardonable levity, to- tally inconlillent with her high ftation and charader. As (he con* qotred all nation with her arms, it matieri not what were the tri* ■^hs of her eyes. Of what confequence was the complexion of tho siiRrefs of the world ? Not left vain of her perfon than her politics, this (lately coqaet» thegoardian of the Proteftant faith, the terror of tbd fea, the mediatrix of the factions of France, and the fcourge of Spain, was infinitely mortified, if an ambt(rador, at the hr^ audience, dtd not tell her (he was the fineft woman ni Europe. No negociation fncceeded irnlefs (he was addre(fird as a goddefa. Encomiaftic ha« rangues drawn from this topic, even on the fuppofition of yonth and Beanty, were fbrely fuper^ons, nnfuitable, and nnwonhy ; and were offered and received with an eqnal impropriety. Yet when (he rode through the ftreets of the city of Norwich, Copid, at the com- flNknd of the Mayor and Aldermen, advancing from a groope of gods Hfho had left Olympns to grace the procefiion, gave her a golden ar- row, the mod etfe£i\vt weapon of his wellfurni(hed quiver, which, sdder the influence of fuch irrefiftible charms was fure to wound the ahoift obdurate heart. ** A gift, fays honed Holling(hed> which her Majefty, now verging to her fiftieth year, received very thankful- Ke^*.'' In one of the fnlfome interludes at court, where (he was pre- letft, the finging-boys of her chapel prefented the (lory of the three rival goddefles on mount Ida, to which her Majefty was ingenionfly added as a fourth : and Paris was arraigned in form for adjudging the golden apple to Venns, which was due to the Queen alone.'
* Thif inundation of clialfical pedantry foon infeded our poetry. Our writers, already trained in the fchool of fancy, werefuddenky datsled with thefe novel imaginations, and the divinities and heroes of pagan antiquity decorated every compofition. The perpetual al- lufions to ancient fable were often introduced without the leaft regard to propriety. Shakefpeare's Mrs. Page, who is not intended in any degree to be a learned or an affeded lady, laughing at the cumber- fome courtthip of her corpulent lover Falltaffe, fays, *' I had rather lie a giantefs, and lie under mount Pelion f*" This familiarity with the Pagan ftory was not, however, fo much owing to the prevailing Uttdy of the original authors, as to the numerous Englilh verfions of them, which were confequently made. T9ie tranflations of the daf- fies, which now employed tvtry pen, gave a currency and a cele- brity to ihefe fancies, and had t^e efie^ of difiFufing them amone the people. No fooner were they delivered from the pale of the ?cho« laiic languages, than they acquired a g^eral notoriety. Ovid's metamorphofes, juft tranflated by Golding,>to inftaace no farther, dif- clqfed a new world of fidioo, even to 4he Uliterate. As we had now
■4-
; if.t^M* ill* f. 1207. Af/rry fFiva^ AAix. Sc. i.
all
Warton'j lE/ltry of EngKjh Poetry^ Vol. Ill/ li|
an the ancient fables in RDglifh, letrned aTlnfibns, whether 10 a poem or a pageant, were no longer obfcure and unintelligible- to . common readers and comhion fpe&itors* Anti here we are led Co obferre, that at this rellbration of the claffics, we were firft firock' only with their fabulous inventions. We did iiot attend to their'Ve-' galarity of defign and juftiiefs of fentiment. A rude age, beginnlnr to read thefe writers, imitated their extravagat^cies, not their natt/rai beauties. And thefe, like other novelties, were parfoed toablaiAe*- able excefs. '
^ * I have before given a'&etch of the sntroduAion of claffical fto- rtes, ia the fplendid fhow' exhibited at the coronation of Qoeen (iUXkp Boleyn. But that is a rare and a premature inilance : and the Pa^an fidions are there complicated with the barbfrifms of the Catholic worihip, and the dodrines of fcholaftic theology. Claffical learBM|t' was not then fo widely fpread, either by ftudy or tranflation, ajf 'to ^ring thefe learned fpedacles into faihion, to frame them with fbffi--* cient (kill, and to prefent them with propriety. *' ■•
' Another capital fource of the poetry peculiar to this period, toil*, fiftcd in the numerous tranflations of Italian tal^s into Eitglilh. TUeib narratives, not dealing altogether in romanticinventions, but in ittlX' life and manners, and in artful arrangement^ of fifliiions yet {Jro^*. bable events, sfForded a new gratification to ^people which yet^*. tttined their ancient reiifh for tale-telling, and became the fafiiionimie amufement of all who profeiTed to read for pleafure. Tbfy gaveriib to innumerable plays and poems, which wo&ld not otherwiie bkvp; exiAed ; and turned the thoughts of our writers to new invention! of the fame kind. Before thefe booits became common, afiefling fi^t-* tions, the combination of incident, and the pathos of catalFrophey were almod unknown. DiHrefs, efpecially that arifing from the con«» ^i61s of the tender paffion, had not yet been ihewn in its mod inte- refting forms. It was hence our poets, particularly the dramatic, borrowed ideas of a legitimate plot, and the complication of fads neceflary to conflitute a (lory either of the comic or tragic fpecfet. In proportion as knowledge increafed, genius had wanted fubj6^ and materials. Thefe pieces ufurped the placfe of legends and chro« niclea. And although the old hillorical fongs of the minftrels con* tained much bold adventure, heroic enterprife, and ftrong touches of rude delineation, yet they failed in that maltiplication and difpofi* tfon of circomftances, and in that description of charaflers and eveatt approaching nearer to truth and reality, which were demanded by a aoore difcerning and curious age. Even the fugged features of the original Gothic romance were foftened by this fort of reading : and the Italian pailoral, yet with fome mixture of the kind of incidents defcribed in Heliodorus's Ethiopic hiftory now newly tranflated, wai engrafted on the feudal manners in Sydney's Arcadia,
* But the Reformation had not yet dellroyed every delufion, nor dfifinchanted all the ftrong holds of fuperftttion. A few dim cha- radert were yet legible in the mouldering creed of tradition. Every goblin of ignorance did not vaniih at the firft glimmerings of the morning of fcience. Reafon fuffered a few demons ftill to linger, which Sit chofe to retain in her fe^vice under the guidance of poetry. Men believed^ or were willing to believei that ipirits wire yet ho*
M 3 Tciing
^ Warton'i HiJI$ry of Englljb Pattj, Vol. UI.
rn^BEg areoikdy who broogkt with them mrs fr$m btrnvin^ §r blajfs fnm Jbiiif that the ffhoft wm duely rele»r«4 from hit prifon of tor«> moot at the (bond of tbe curfae, and that fairies imprinted m^fteri- c»M;Cjrcie8 on the turf by moonlight. Much of this credulity was ev^n consecrated by the name of fcience and profbond fpecalatton, Frofpero bad not yet iroktm aud bwritd bit flaff* nor drtwmtd bis bc§if AifiT tban did ever flimimtt fiund. It was now that the alcbymift^ ana the jadicial aflrologer^ condufted his occult operations by the potent intercourfe of fome preternatural being* who came obfeqaious tohircaHy and was bound to accomplifli his fevereft fervices, under certain conditions, and for a limiced duration of time. It was aftoafly one of the pretended feats of thefe fancaftic philofophers, to evoke the Queen of tl^e Fairies in the foUtqde of a gloomy grove, wli9» preceded by a fodden ruftHng of the leaves, appeared in robes qf tranfcendent luftre *^, The Shakefpeare of a more ioftrudtd and pot^med age, would not have given as a magician darkening the fun Ht Boon, the fabbath of the witches, and the caoldroo of iocsHitacion. % Undoubtedly moft of thefe notions were credited and entertaintd liri^much higher degree, in the preceding periods. But the arts of cpmpbfition had not then made a fuificient progrefs, nor would the poets of thofe periods have managed them wiib fo much addrefs and jedgment* We were now arrived at tl^at point, when the national creouUty, chaftened by reafon, had produced a fort of civilized fu- perdition, and left a ^t of traditions fanciful enough for poetic de- coraiioa, and yet not too violent and chimerical for corromon fenfe, iio](^bes, although no friend to this dodrine, obferves happily, '* In a good poend both judgment and fancy are required ; but the fency S|ia& be more eminent, becaufe they pleafe for the ExraAVACANCY, Vot 6ught not to difpleafe by indiscretion f."
' In the mean time the Gothic romance, although ibraewhat (hook iv the cUffical fidlions, and by the tales of Boccace and Bandello, mil mainuined its ground ; and the daring machineries of giants tiragona, and inchanted caillet, borrowed from the magic ftorchoufo of Betardo, Ariofto, and TafTo, began to be employed by the £pic iSlttft. Thefe ornaments have been cenfored by the bigotry of pre- ciui and iervile critics, as abounding in whimfical abfurdities, and as •nwarrantable deviations ^om the pradice of Homer and Virgil* rthe aotbor 6f Jh l&nqnirj int§ tbt L9/9 ami Writings o/HAmtr^ is will* ing to allow a fertility of genius, and a felicity of exprefiion, to TaA> and Ariofto ; boc at the fame time complains, that, ** quitting life, they betook themfelves to aerial beings and Utopian charaAers, end filled their works whh Charms and Viiions, the modern Supple* ments of the Marvellous and Siiblinoe. The beft poets copy Nature, and give it fuch as they find it. When once they lofe fight of this^ iWy write falfe, be their talents ever fo great!." Bui wbaf fball we fav of thefe Utopians, the Cyck>pea and the Leftrigoas in the 0dirfieyjf '|'be hippogrif of Ariofto pkZff be oppofed to the harpies of VirgtL i( {eaTes are turned into (hips in the Orlando, nymphs ere tFansformed into (^ips in the Eneid* Cacos is a more unnatural
*•■' ■■— i^W>^*i^
• Lilly's Lifip, p. 151, f l.eviath. Paj^t i. eh. viii.
I 8e«. V. p. 69. • * ^
fayage
Warton'j Hiflvry ofEngltfi Poetry, Vol. HI. f^
ftvige than Caliban* Nor am I coi&vinced» that tk« iaagcry of Ifoaeno's necromantic foreft in the Giernfaicttiiie Libcraca» j^aardcd by walls and battlements of fire, is lefs roarveliotls and Aiblimei thaB the leap of jono's horfes in the Iliad, celebrated by JUonginus for ita fiogular magnificence and dignity *• On the principkt of this cri* tic, Voltaire's Henriad may be placed ac the head of the modern epic. But I forbtar to anticipate my opinion of a fyftem, wbkk will more properly be confidered, when 1 come to fpeak of Spenier^ I mulV, however, cbferve here, that the Gothic and Pagan fi^iona were now frequently blended and incorporated. The Lady of the Lake floated in the fuite of Neptune before Queen klifabeth at Ke- nUworth ; Ariel afTumes the fcmblance of a fea-nympb, andHecaia^ hy an eafy aflbciation, condudls the ritfs of the weird fifters itt Mae* beth.
* Allec^ory had been derived from the religious dramas into 6iir civil fpcdacles. The mafques and pageaairies of the age of Elifa* beth were not only farniihed by the Heathen divinities, bat often by the virtues and vices imperibnated, fignificantly decorated, accurately 4i(Hngoi(hed by their proper types, and represented by living it^rai^ The ancient fymbolical (hews of this fort began now to loft their old barbarifm and a mixture of religion, and to aiTume a degree of poetical elegance and precifion. Nor was it only in the con^ornMi* tioo of particular figures that much fancy was (hewn, bet :JQ thf^ contexture of fome of the fables or devices prefented by groiipct oif ideAl^fonages. Thefe exhibitions quicHcened creative Tnventioo» and refleAed baek on poetry what poetry had given* From t^eif fjiH fifiliarity lind peblic nature, they formed a national ufie (^ tllegorj.i ttld (be allegorical poets were now writing to the people. Even 19* toaoco was turned into this channel. In the Fairy Qu^n, allegoiy fa wronji^ht npon chivalry, and the feats f and figmeata of Arthpr'a fo0ii4 table are moralifed. The virtues of magnificenee and ^hafti^ are here perfonified : bat they are imaged with the forms, and under i\k€ agency « of romantic knights and dapifcls* What was an after* tb^glht in Taflb^ appears to have been Spenfdr's premeditated ao4 ^i'lmary defign. In the mean time, we moil not confbond theie mo* rat combatanis of the Fairy Qaeen with fome of its other embodk4 AllftraA»ons^ which are purely and profeiiedly allegorical. .
* It may h^re be added, that Only a feW critital treatiies, and bot tfkt drt if Pceifjt were now written. Sentiments and images wero Mt ablblutely deteriliined by the canons of compofitions nor was go- 6ias awed by the confcioufnefs of a future and final arraignment aft the tribunal of tafte. A certain dignity of inattention to niceties ia liow vifible in our wfiters4 Without too dofely confultlng a crito^ #ion of correal nef>, every man indulged his oWn capricioufneia of ia«* veotion* The poet's 8j>peal was cbieBy to his own volunury (eel* iapa, his own immediate and ptouliar mode of conception. And this fj^iedbm of thought was often fxprelTed in an nndifguifed frank* %tb of diftidn. A cifcumiUnce, by the way, that greatly coatriboied to giv^ the iidwing modulation which now marked the meafurea of oor poets, and which foon degenerated into the oppofite extreme of
* Iliad, V. 770. Longin. 5. ix.
M 4 diiTonance
i
jW Warton'i Hj/?«y of Englijh Poetry^ Vol. 111.
difibnaQce and afperity* Sele^ion and difcrxmination were often overlooked. Shakefpeare wandered in purfuit of univerfal nature. The glancinga of his eye are from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven. We behold him breaking the barriers of imaginary method. In the fame fcene, he defcends from his meridian of the oobleft tragic foblimity to pans and quibbles, to the meaneil merriments of «
Stebeian farce. In the midft of his dignity, he refembles his own ichard the Second, \\kt Jkippittg Kingt who fometimes difcarding the (late of a monarch,
Mingled his royalty with carping fools *•
fie feems not to have feen any impropriety, in the mod abrupt tran- fitions, from Dukes to bu^oons, from Senators to faiiors, fron^ Counfellors to conflables, and from Kings to clowns. Like Virgil's v^eiUc oak,
■ Quantum vertice ad aurat
i£theria8, untum radtce in Tartara tendit f,
* No Satirett properly fo called, were written till towards the lat* ter end of the Queen's rejgn, and then but a few. Pictures drawn fl large of the vices of the times, did not fuit readers who loved to itrander in the regions of artificial manners. The Mufe, like the people, was too folemn and referved, too ceremonious and pedantic^ fo ftoop to common life« Satire is the poetry of a nation highly po* lifted.
* The importance of the female character was not yet acknowr
ledged> nor were women admitted into the general commerce of fo*
eiety. The e^dl of that interconrfe had not imparted a comic air to
pocftry. nor foftened the feverer tone of our verification with che
levities of gallantry, and the familiarities of compliment, fometimea
perhaps operating on ferious fubjeds, and imperceptibly fpreading
tfelemftlves in the general habits of ftyle and thonght. I do not mean
fo infinoate, that oar poetry has faffered froo& the great change: of
jDaanerSf which this afibmption of the gentler fex, or rather the im-
^rerved flate of female education, hu produced, by giving elegancq
and vaffcty to life, by enlarging the fphere of 'converfation, and by
inoltiplying the topics and enriching the (lores of wit and humour.
But I am marking the peculiarities of compolition : and my meaning
4rmi to fugged, that the abfence of fo important a circnmdance from
the modes and confti^ution of ancient life, muft have influenced the
cotemporary poetry. Of the date of manners among our ancedort
fefpe£ling this point, many traces remain. Their dyle of coort(bip
nay be collected from the love- dialogues of Hamlet, young Percy,
Henry the Fifth, and Mader Fenton. Their tragic heroines, their
Defdemonas and Ophelias, although of fo much confequence in the
piece, are degraded to the back*ground. In comedy, their ladies
are nothing more than merry wives, plain and cheerful matrons,
who dand upon the cbaritufi 9/ tbtir bpnifij. In the fmaller poems,
^ a lover praifes his midrefs, (he is complimented in drains neither
polite nor pathetic, without elegance and without affection : (he ia
Firft fart flcnry IV. A^ Wu Sc ii. f G?o»'g- »• 29»-
• T
Wflliamsy Bo$k of Pfalms. 1 69
defcribeJ, not id the ^ddrefs of intelligible yet artful panefryric, not io the real colourf, aod wiih the genuine accompHQimenc^, of nature^ but as an eccentric ideal being of another fyllcm, and as infpirin^ fentiments equally unmeanirg, hyperbolical, and unnatural.
* All pr mod of thefe circumftances, contributed to give a deA:np* tive, a pidurefque, and a figurative cad to the poetical language. This efTfd appears even in the profe compofitions of the reign cf Elifabeth. in the fubfcquent age, profe btcame the language of poetry.
* In the mean time, general knowledge was encreafing with a wido diS'jfioD and a hady rapidity. Books began to be multiplied, and 4 variety of the mod ufeful and rational topics had been difcuiTed iiL our own language. But fcience had not made too great advance^ On the whole, we were now arrived at that period, propitious to the operations of original and true poetry, when the coynefs of fancjr was not always proof again d the approaches of reafon, when geniot was rather directed than governed by judgment, and when tade an<l learning had fo far only oifciplined imagination, as to fud^cr its ex«i ce^es to pafs without cenfure or controul, for the fake of the beaaticf
to which they were allied. |i j; /r
Art. II. Tht Book cf P/afms, as tranflated, paraphrafed, or imi<» rated, by fome of the mod eminent EngliHi Poets, viz. Addifon,' Blacklock, Carter, Merrick, Watts, Sec and adapted to Chriftiait Wordiip, in a Form the mod likely to give general SatisfaAioft* To which is prefixed, A Didertation on Scripture IroprecationStf By Benjamin Williams. 8vo* 4 s. fewed. johnfoo. i78f«
THE dilTertation prefixed to thIscoJIcSion, is written * with the view of vindicating the facred writers In general, and fhe Pfalmifts in particular, againft the heavy, but happily ill- founded charge, of indulgiiig and countenancing a malevolent fpirit.' The diflertator obfervcs, that the imprtfcatory paflages which are to be found in the Englifb trandation of the Old Tcftament, arid more efpccially the Pfalms, have given great and juft offence, and been the caufe of much painful difquietud^ (0 ferious, unlearned Chriftians of all denominations. They had alfo (he remarks) been employed in the hands of infidelity* as one of the moft powerful engines to undermine the credit of Divine Revelation in general, and the moft fuccefsful means of expofing it to contempt and ridicule.
To give fome proof of this laft aflertion, the atithor appeals to the " Hiftory of the Man after God's own Heart j" and ob- ferves, that the ^ facetious hiftorian' hath availed himfelf of •* the ekeings out of Meflrs. Thomas Sternhold and John Hop- kins/' to charge David himfelf with pouring out, even in his devotions, the mod rancorous curfes on his enemies. He ac- knowledges that the ^ hiftorian's' reflexions would be as juft as (hejr are (brewd and farcaftic, if Sternhold and Hopkins bad
5 been
iyo Williams^ B99i of Pfalms.
Bcfcn faithful interpreters of David's Pfalms. But as they were not, the infidel's attack muft, of confequence, be impotent : and at the utmoft difcover only what he wi(hed| not what he could prove.
After fome general obfervations on the benevolent defign of ikkt Old Teftament, Mr. Williams attempts to eftabiifli the fol- lowing pofition, that * the Hebrew texts exprefs no kind of wijh^ but are only fo many denunciations of the jufl: difpleafurc 6f God againft thofe, who were or (hould be guilty of the fe- i^ral fins there mentioned, and of the judgments they might yeafonably expert to follow, unlefs prevented by a timely and (borough repentance. And, agi'eeably to this, the facred texts ought to have been rendered, ** Curfed they ; or ** curfed are they,'* and not ** curfed hi they," in the fenfe of Lit them hi mrfid: the word bi^ though inferted in our tranflation, having nothing anfwerable to it in the Hebrew.' • In a preliminary difcourfe the Author fpeaks of his objedi in , tbe pro^ent copioub coIie£lion \ and briefly confiders the compa- jative excellencies of the three principal vcrdons of the Pfalms, viz. By Watts, by Tate and Brady, and by Merrick. He clafles Dr. Watts in the very firft rank, as a divine poet : and iuppofes that his verlion, or rather imitation of the Pfalms, is, upon the whole, bett;er fitted for ChriJIian worOiip than any cicher compofition. * The Dodor (fays Mr* Williams) Was a perfon of exemplary meeknefs and humility, fo perfectly good-' Datured, and of fuch unconfined charity, that he withed ta avoid every word and fyllable, that was likely to give the fmalleft of- fence to ferious Chriftians of any denomination. And when he found, in the latter part of life, he had not been fo fuccefsful in this refpe£l as he had aimed to be, he wi(bed for nothing more ardently, than fufficient health and tim^. to revife both his rfalms and Hymns, in order to render them wholly unexceptionable to every Chrlftian profeflbr.'
In a note the Author bbferves, that ^ this account was re- Reived from Dr. Watts hinifelf, a few years before his death, by the late Dr. Amory, and by him given to one of his pupils, who communicated it to the Editor. The Editor has alfo good au- thority to add, that the nvifal^ fo fervently wifbcd for, was undertaken and finifhed, and would moft certainly have been fMbliJhedi had not the Author's death unhappily prevented It,'
That the D^flor had altered his opinion with refpe£i to fome points, of what is called Orthodsxy^ it undeniable. T'his is a fiibjedt that fome of his encomiafTs (brink from with concealed mortification, and would, if poilible, confign to oblivion, as it cannot be remembered, without bringing fome re$e£lion either on the Dofior himfeif or their own darling caufe. But it would ^e in vain to deny a fadt known to manyy who were intcrcfted iii
making
f.. ■ .' ^ ••■ -'*''*• *'Y*^*
Waiiams*i fi^l of Pfilm. 171
making it public. It wm known ta Dr. Lardner, and by him communicated to the late excellent Mr. Merivale of £xetef» from whofe mouth the Writer of the prefent Article immediateljr received it. Dr. Watts's papers (many of which contained the mod explicit renunciations of fome of his former fentiments with refpcd to the doctrine of the Trinity) were mutilated and pub* lifhed in a very imperfeA manner. Some were wboify fupprtfid^ and it ^s with difficulty that Dr. poddridge could refcue from deftrufiion a certain curious paper refpe^ing the Trinitarian coa- troverfy, publifbed among his pofthumous works, entitled a &i!rimi Addrcji to the Deity ^ ice. The condu£t of fome of Dr. Watts's friends in this affair was fo difingenuous, that it called forth very loud complaints from thofe who were acquainted with the 6« cret : and it was but a (hort time before Dr. Doddridge em* barked for Lifbon, that he complained to Mr. Merivale of unfair condud both with refped to Dr. Watts and himfelf, to wbofil charge, in conjun6lion with the late Dr. David Jennings, hit papers were entruded for publication.
But to return to our Author. He remarks, that ^ the verfiQa of Mr. Tate and Dr. Brady may in fome reipeds juftly claim the preference even to Dr. Watts's. It is (fa>8 he) not only in many places highly poetical, but moreover (o plain, as to be level to the meaneft capacities. And as it is a clo/er tranflation of the original te>^r, it naturally contains many ufcfui and proper fub^ jc&s for Pfalmody, that could not obtain a place in a prof^id fmitBtion*
(Ji Mr. Merrick's verHon the Author fpeaks very highly, and* ^t think, juftly. * This Gentleman* (fays he) was juft fuch a poet as the excellent Dr. Watts had formed an idea of, and ferw vently wtthed fome time or other to arife, though with verjf feeble hopes that his idea would ever be realized, it being fcarce)^ to be fupp^fed, that fo many eflential, requifite qualities, (hould at any time be combined m one perfon.' ... * As to the feveril other veifions, fuffice it to obferve, that they extend only to fome particular Pfalms^ or Parts of Pialms ; yet the compiler prefumes, that they poflefs fome fupcrior excellency peculiar tb themfelves, and will afford an agreeable variety.'
\n the prefent colie^ion the compiler hath attempted to adapt himfelf to the general fervice of Chriftian churches. He batil omitted every thing peculiar to yudaifm^ and with great cars hath ^voided the infertion of any words or phrafes of a £9ntr$» vMid meaning; concluding with this pertinent and benevolent refle£lion ; vis. That * without adhering to the univerfal rule of charity, conformity to the Apoftolical precept, ^' to make melody in the heart to the Lord," would with refpe£l to wbcile affemblies of Chriflian worfhippers be utterly impra6licable, ^i^ tbm faith ? this or the other opinion different from what
fome
k
17ft DimrJaVj TnUIi on InMtUftUn.
fonic of thy fellow ChriOians may entertain, be it \i\ itfclf ever (o harmlefs and juft, keip it to thyfi'f^ rather than be the qcxa- iion of diminifhing, in any degr^, either the pleafure or profit cf focial worfhip ; or of diilurbing the devotion of a fellow* wor- shipper. Therefore, let all o\xx things be done in charity/
We think the pre fen t colkdion^ though too multifarious^ is in general calculated to anfwer the charitable end defigned by the Author. xi ', *
Art. III. Tra3s on Inoculation^ written and publifbed at St Peter/bur||^ in the year 1 768, by cominaod of her Imperial Majefty, the Emprtit of all the Roflias: with additional Ohf^rvations on Epidemic Sinall. pox, on the Nature of that Difeafe, and on the diifereot Succefs of the various Modes of Inoculation. By the Hon. Baron T. pimfdalc, Phyfician and a^ual Counfellor of State to her Imperial M<*jeily» the Emprefs of all the Ruifias, and ?, R. S» 8vo. 3 f, G^enp &c. 1781.
THIS volume may be confidered as a kind of legacy left by the author to this country, on his late departure for Kuilia. Its contents are fuch as may either gratify common curiofity, or convey inftruAion to the medical reader; arid the deferved reputation of the author entitles it to attentive con- ^deration.
The firft chapter, containing *' fome account of a journey Id Ruflia, and of the introdu<3ion of inoculation into that coun- ty/^ affords little matter for quotation or remark. We rather Fiefcr to the work itfelf for the curious and intercfting particu- lara of the inpeulatioo of her Imperial Majefty, and the Grand Duke, in. which he will find additional reafon to admire the good fenfe and magnanimity of the great Catharine. One anecdote we cannot forbear relating, as tending powerfully to impcefs that horror of defpotifm, which we hope will never be effaced from the minds of Englilhmen.
It was, it feems, a popular opinion in Ruffia, tbat the perfon from whom m^itter for inoculation was taken, would infallibly die*, fiaron Dimfdale, hearing of a child in the fmall-pox, "went to procure matter from it. On entering the room, he found horror exprefied in every countenance ; and the mother, throwing herfelf at bis feet, entreated him to fpare the life of her child. The Baron's humanity was (hocked, and he order- ed his interpreter to fay every thing that might remove her pre- juditres, and if this did not fucceed, to aflfure her that he would give up the point, an^ retire. As the interpreter was converfmg with the family, he obferved a good-looking man talk for fome time with the mother, who then acquainted the interpreter, that the woman confented. This man was the father ; and the fiaron afterwards learned \^'bat his difcourfe was. After finding
on
4. A
' ■ t ..
Dimfdale'f TraSf on Inoculaticfi^ ty J
on enquiry, that they came by the exprefs comtnlRd of the iLmprefs, he turned to his wife, ** My dear," fays he, "I *^ would no nDore than yourfelf confent to lofe our child, for *^ the advantage of any perfon breathing ; but you hear that ** this gentleman comes by her Majefty's orders; and if her ** Majefty bad commanded the hands or feet of our child to be . ^^ cut off, which would have been worfe than death, we muft '* have fubmitced \ let us therefore (hew our obedience, and ^^ not oppofe the orders of her Majefty." It is but juft to add, that the method taken by the Emprefs, to remove this unhappy prejudice, was to have feveral inoculated with matter taken from herfelf. >
With refpe£t to a very flrange and grofs miftake in cakula- tion, in one fedion of this chapter, relative to the number ru|>- pofed to die annually of the fmatUpox in Ruffia, as it has been very amply expofed by one of the fiaron's mod rancorous ad« verfaries, and is in fome degree corredled by himfelf in a note, we fhall fay nothing further about it.
In the fecond chapter, containing ^^ Additional Obfervations*^ to the Baron's former much-efteemed treacife on inoculatfon. there are feveral things proper for the information of our medi^ cal readers. <
The friends of early inoculation will ararl themfelves of the writer's conceflion, that although he ftill difapproves of inocu« lating children under two years of age, he has frequently prac- tifed it without a Angle mifcarriage.
Repeated experience has confirmed an opinion he formerly et>» tertained, that the whole of the preparatory courfe of regimen and medicine, before the operation, may be difpenfed with, by fuch as are in a good ftate of health. He is alfo perfuaded that much mifchief has been done by too ftri3 an abftmence, and the ufe of mercurial and other powerful medicines. ^
The method of communicating the infedion which he now prefers, is thus defer ibed. '* The point of a lancet flightl^ dipped in the recent variolous matter, uhich I prefer taking during the eruptive fever, is introduced obliquely between' the cuticula and cutis, fo as to make the fmalleit pundure poiKbie, rardv producing a drop of blood. The finger is then gently prefied on the lancet while introduced, which being turned, is withdrawn." This method, he fays, is more certain than the fimple fcratch he formerly recommended.
With regard to expofure to Cold air, we find a ycvy confide- rable relaxation from his former pra£lice in this point. When the eruption is completed, and is abundant, he now enjoini amfimment to the chamber^ which is to be of fucb a temperature u to be agraabfy warm t$Mhofe Jhting in it. ^
.... r . -,...... -In
Ij^ Difnrdate*i Tra^s $h Inocuhtlon.
In cafes where, after eruption, the fever keeps up, with a tenfe dry (kin, and fore throat, he finds great advanta^^e from applying a fmall blifter diredly upon the incifioo, which gives little pain, and procures w^vy {^^tcdy rehcf.
To the WjX of anomalous fymptoms fometimes attending ino« culation, the following is added by the Baron. A patient, after having apparently paiTd through the difeafe with a fmali eruption, has been unexpededly attacked with a fmart feycr, ac« companied with great rcilltfl'nefs, and, in children^ with un^ common fits of crying* The cnufe of this he at length dif<* covcKcd to be, puftules oii the internal part of the niouth, or on the membranous parts of the nofe or osfophagus. The com? plaint is removed in 24 hours by moderate cordials, producing a flight perfpiration.
In a chapter upon Epidemic Small- pox, the Baron clearly ftates his opinion, how far this difeafe may ever be termed epi* dcmical ? On the whole, though he allows that certain conili** tutions of the air may favour its fpread more than others, yet be denies that it is ever generated without contagion, and afierts, fbal its fuppofed periodical returns, in certain places, depend more upon the number of fubjedts capable of receiving and propa'* gating contagion, than upon any hidden caufe in the atmofphere. This is certainly the fa£t, as we could produce numberlefs inftances to evince.
Another chapter is ^^ in favour of the opinion that the true fmall-pox attacks the fame perfon but once/' Here we meet with fome curious inftances of the chicken-pox being taken for the fmalUpox, and of inoculations with the matter of the Ghicken*pox having been performed by miftake, after which the patients were attacked with the real fmall-pox, to the great dif«. credit of inoculation, till the true cafe was afcertained. Prac-> titioners cannot be too much on their guard with refpe^l to this circumftanee. Under this head, we meet with a very fen- fible, and, as we think, a fati-fadory critique on a remarkable fafi, publi&ed by Mr. Mudge, which we remember to haveat- tM^ed our particular notice at the time. Thirty perfons at Plymouth were inoculated with crude maaer taken from the arm of a woman, five days after (be herfelf had been tnocplated. The arms of all thefe perfons inflamed, but none had either fever or eruption; and all being afterwards inoculated with concoAed matter, bad the difeaie regularly. Mr. Mudge ad^ duces this hiftory to prove the uncertainty of snoeulating with crude variolous matter. If it proves any thing, it proves a great deal too much ; and abfolutely contradids the whole pradice of Baron Dimfdale and other celebrated inoculators, who give the preference to crude matter. The Baron, faowcver, is clear, that the matter from which the 30 perfons were inoculated, was 6 not
lj^on*s Farther Pr^ofs^ bfc^ lyt
not variolous matter, bat fome other morbid humour, acci^ dentally depofited updh the inflamed part ; as a fufHcienc proof of which he aflfcrts, that never, in the courfe of all bis expe* rience, does be remember an inftance, in which even four per- Tons could have been inoculated from the arm of any one patient fo early as the filth day.
The 6th chapter contains *• obfervations to prove, that though a perfon has been expofed to the natural fmall-pox^ if be is inoculated in time, the inoculation will fuperfede the natural difeafe/' In the 7th and lafl are given ^^ conjedurea on the probable caufes of the different kinds and degrees o£ natural fmall pox, and on the different fuccefs of the methodt adopted in the pra^ice of inoculation." Thefe chapters, not properly admitting of abridgment or extrai^s, we refer oih^ readers, defirous of further information, to the work itfelf^ which is extremely well worthy the perufal of chofe who are ia* cerefied in the fubjed. a
Art. IV^. Farthtr Proofs that Gla/s U ftrmeahlt hyfht EUQric Efflwvtm^ and that the Eleclric Par tides are pajjeffid of a Pttlar Firtui ; '^utitb Ri^ marks on the M$Hthlj Revie<wers Amimad^trfions on a Uitt Wwk^ intittH Udf Experimeats aod Obfervations made with a View to poiotovttli* Errors in the prefent received Theory of Electricity. By thfl Rev« Jokfl Lyon, of Dover. 4(0. 3 s« &wf i. Dodfley* 17S1*
01 irXtovt^ Ko^xoi, fi^id old Bias-—*' The majority are evU\ tiid the ailertion i^ at leaft as true in letters as in morals. The majority of books are evil ; and confequentiy the juft difchargtt of our duty, even in the mofi tender manner, unavoidably ex<A pofes us to much ill humour from the numerous members of the literary majority : we ncvcrthelefs fcarce remember our having met with To unjuft and unexpected an attack as is her6 made upon us by this reverend and moft intolerant £le£lriciaii. ' It is true, we have not held Mr. Lyon up to the world unde^ the (piendid character of a victorious fubverter of the FrankliniaA fyftem^ ; which, be modeftly telis us, was * an hypothe(is pfo^ * pofed in the infancy of elefiricity.' We hare propofed doubts, and requefted explanations; and have gone fo far as €0 gueftion^ whether the author might not poflibly be deceived iii making fome of his experiments ? We likewife took the very allowable li^rty, furely, of expreffing our good opinion of tb^ Franklinian theory ; on our not finding that Mr. I^yon haA fubfikuted a better^ or indeed any other, in its ftead *. On thefe accounts we are here, to our great aflonifliment, reprefent- cd by the author under the titles of his JJverfaries ^nd OpponenisT
* See M. Review, January 178;, pag. i» &Ct
otif
iy6 iLyon's Partber Proo/s, t^fc*
our remarks are treated as tUlberal^ and zs defervirtg coniempii and we are charged^ either dircd^ly or by implication, with fupprgjjlons and evafions. Nay, the author defcends to that mean and antiquated refource of difappointed authors— the throwing out hints of bribery and corruption.
' I am apprehenfive,' fays he, * that I have been thought
* wanting, in neither prcfcnting incenfe^ or a peace- offerings at
* the altar of criticifm, as pra£iifed by fome authors, as a
* powerful antidote againft the cenfurcs of the Critic' — He ftoutly declares, however, that he ^ never did, nor will, take
* any indired method to procure' praife unmerited^ or to avoid cenfure undeferved.
In the article above referred to, we related one of the leaft complex of his intricate experiments, relative to the fending an elefirical (hock through a pane of glafs; and in the mod candid manner exprefled our readinefs to communicate to the public any cAspIanations with which he would favour us. We not only printed' every word in the letter he fent us, relative to the Tub- jeA of our inquiry^ [M. Rev. April, 1781, pag. 318] but ex- tended our good-nature ^o far, as to tranfcribe three additional paragraphs, with the friendly view of informing the world that the author bad made a variety of new experiments, both in cledlricity and magnetifm; which he was inclined to publi(h, if he met with a very moderate degree of encouragement from the public.
In return for our good-nature and condefcenfion, in publifh- \ng fo much of his letter, this grateful electrician accufes us of ' having fupprefled the beginning and the conclufion of it i and afterwards, for reafons to which we are utter Grangers, declares that ^ he experts no quarters from the candour of his Anta- ^ gonifts;' — that he ^ makes no doubt but they will dip their ^ pen in the bittereft gall^ and dwell upon every flip of the pen
* with ^fecret delight^ &c.'— Stunned as we are with all this unexpeAed and unprovoked violence of language, we find it as difficult to anfwer it, as we are ignorant of what can have given occafion to it. With refped however to the beginning and conclufion of Mr. Lyon's letter, with xht fupprejjion of which he charges us, we could not expofe his unchnftian con- dud more efFedually, than by here printing the whole of the three paragraphs that were omitted : but they are, as he muft know, (o thoroughly uninterefting, that we ought to beg par- don of our readers for the allotting any part of our page, though in our own defence, to the giving here a fhort abftradi of them. In the firft, Mr. Lyon exprefles fome furprize at our requefiing further explanations relative to his fixth experiment. In the fecond, be only talks about * truth^ and of his readinefs to fubmit to it's ^ unerring teft:* and^ in the third and laft^ telle
tISj
Lyon's Farther Pr^fs^ l^c. IJJ
us, that he has pcrufcd Mr. Wilfon's Short View of Ele^ricityt Which we had recommended to him ; and quotes a paflage from it, which, he muft know^ we had before very particularly no- ticed, in the very page s^moft iitimediately following our Re- view of his own work. [M. R. January 1781, pag. 8.]
Mr. Lyon's prefent work contains, as we fuppjfe, thofe new experiments in eledricity and magnetifm, which we officioufly, though with a kind intention towards him, announced to the public, in the copious extraft we gave of his above-mention- ed letter to us, in our Review for April laft. The following are the contents.
* Chap. 1 . Containing a fet of experiments^ with remarks^ to
* Jhew the eUSlric effluvia do pafs through glafs : with a defcription
* of the apparatus ufed in perjorming the experiments*
* Chap. 2. Containing a new fet of experiments^ with remarks on
* themy to Jhew the direftion of the electric fluid in charging and
* difcharging coated jars,*
* Chap. 3. Containing a fet of eleSirie and magnetic experiments^
* to Jhew that all the phenomena in thefe two branches of fcienee are
* to be rationally explained^ by granting a polar virtue in each of « the particles *
With refpedt to the experiments contained in the firft of thefe chapten, we muft repeat the fame offenfwe language which we employed before ; — that Mr. Lyon ** has not made us converts to ** his opinion ; though we are far from being difpofed to quejlion his ** ajferiion^ &c." His new experiments are diverfifications of the foi'mer; and from them, in general, it appears, if we under- iland his machinery, that a fenfible part of a charge, fometimes even fufficient to fet fire to fpirit of wine, may be tranfmitted from the knob of ajar charged pofitively, to that of another jar charged negatively, by means of a pointed wire ufed as a dif- charging rod, and which is inferted into a glafs tube that ter- minates in a thin glafs ball : the point of the wire being in con- tzSt with the inner furface of the ball. The charge is here faid to pafs from the point of th£ wire, through the glafs ball, to the ijpirit.
Suppofing the truth of the experiment, we, who are not poflelled of the Author's alacrity in drawing conclufions, caa only infer from this and (imilar experiments related in this chap- ter, that a part of a charge may, now and then, and under pe* culiar circumjiances — for Mr. L. owns that this is an exceeding difficult experiment to ^ perform' — be conveyed from a metallic point to the adjoining parts of the infide furface of a glafs ball ; and confequently, according to Dr. Franklin's theory, expel an equal portion of eledric fire from the oppofite parts 0f the out- lide furface ; although neither of thefe fur faces he coated. This laft mentioned circumftance is the only one that caAs an air of fin-
RfiV, March 1782* N gularity
178 IjyoTi^s Farther Proofs^ t^c.
gularity over the experiment. Were the glafs ball coated, there ii^ould be nothing uncommon in it : and there are few eledri* clans who are ignorant that uncoaud ghk is capable of receiving a' charge.
But the author's alacrity in drawing concluHons is dill more confpicuous in the fecond chapter ; where he denies, in the moft |k>fitive and unmeafured terms, one of the moil clearly eflablifhed fads in the whole fcience of electricity. The fa£t is, that whereas metals, &c. cannot retain the e1e£lric fire communi- cated to them, unlefs they are infulated ; a glafs vial or jar, on the contrary^ cannot be charged with eledtricity, if it be in- fulated ; or unlefs one of its furfaces have a communication with the earth, or at lealt with the cufiiion of the eledrical machine. {lere is the experimem, nearly in his own words, which he
Jiroduces, to (hew the blindnfjs of eledricians for upwards of orty years paft.
Take, fays he, a pane of glafs, dry, warm, 'and clean. Place an uncharged Leydm-phlal upon the middle of it, with its knob in conta(^ with the prime conduCior. Turn the cylinder of the machine, and charge it. * As the ele£lric fluid is con- senting in the jar [phial], you may fee it (hooting in corrufca- tions round the bottom of the jar to a confiderable diftaince : (bmetimes two inches, or more.^ And who doubts it ? He diay even charge the pane of glafs, on which the phial (lands, in this manner, with a wry little trouble, if he pleafes. But here follow his *^ Remarks" on this curious experiment, verbatim :
* It has not onjy Been confidently ajjertedy but gencraUy be- lieved, that a jar cannot be charged if ini'ulated, viz* (landing on an ekflric ; unle(s a communication, be found between its coating and the floor.
* That this (hould have been received as a fundamentaV axiom by eledricians, in the infancy of ele^ricity^ is not fur- prizing } as they hardly knew any thing more of the fubjt<^ than how to collefl the cleflric efliuvia in a coated jar. As light has been gradually ridng upon this fubjeA for upwards of forty years, it is ajlonifhing that they (hould blindly and impli^ citly follow each other fo long in the beaten track ; when the fal- lacy of this axiom might have been fo eafily detedled by only placing ajar upon a pane of glafs, and trying the refult in en- deavouring to charge it.'
We own, we cannot even yet get rid of this * fallacy,' of forty years (landing ; nor can we find any difficulty in account- ing, according to tbe * popular hypothefis,' for the * corrufca- tions' above mentioned, (hooting round the bottom of the jar placed on the pane of glafs. But the principal intention of the Author, in this fecond chapter, is to (hew the direction of the cleric fluids in the charging and difcharging coated jars« Had
2 ^
Lyon'i Farihir Prodfsj He. 175
«
He afcertain^d this matter, the philofophical world would Have been much obliged to him : but notwichftanding the promifing titles prefixed to his experiments, we do not here meet with one decifive or even plaufibleejjperiment to this purpofe.
We all know that the tra<k of the eledric fluid may be, and has loitg been, rendered vifible by the perforations made by it \a pafteboard, &c. by the difperiion of bran and other light bodies, and by the marks which it leaves of its paflage en the naked or uncoated part of the furfaceof the Leyden phial, after a fpontaneous explofion. The Author exhibits its tracks either by means of a little bran, or by a thin coating of tallow given to a glafs pane; but the Reader has only Mr. Lyon's/))/? dixit for its particular dire£iion\ for wheiever he ufes the phrafes,
* pouring downy and running off\ another philofopher has jull as good a right to read, rifingup^ and entering in ; and in dead' of
• a cone of rays converging to his finger,' he may, with equal confidence, read, diverging from his finger :— at leaft fo far as wc can judge, after beflowing much time aod confideration mjiuc^^ ing his experiments 5 which are made with an apparatus moil wonderfully complex. — Why would not he adopt the luminous /implicity of the philofopher whofc fyftem he is fo ambitious to fubvert ; and who, in a few familiar letters, dcfcribed and ex- plained the principal and mofl difficult phenomena of eiedtri* city, almofl without putting the Reader to the trouble of even once cafting his eye on the fcanty plate at the end of the col* lefllon ?
Of the third chapter, we fcarce need to fay more, than that it treats of what the Author calls * His Polar Syflem :' but of this fyflem, and of its particular application towards explaining the phenomena of the Leyden phial, Mr. Lyon has not yet enabled*
us to give a confiflcnt, or indeed any, account. ^Whcn the
Leyden phial is charging, as much fire feems to pafs from the outfide, as feems to enter within ; and yet the phial chus, and thus only, acquires a charge ! Dr. Franklin's theory, and the hypothefisof /w^eleflric fluids, are the only fyftems with which we are acquainted that afford us an explanation of this diiHculty, or give the mind the leafl fatisfa£lion on the fubjedt. If there be a third fyftem contained in this and the Author's former per- formance ; it is fo imperfe£^, is enveloped in fuch obfcurity, and overwhelmed in fuch a confufed mafs of machinerv, that we have nor, with all our care and attention, been able to difcover it ; and yet few, we believe, will fubmit to fludy his text and ma- chinery with fo much patience as ourfelves ; or be difpofed to treat this captious, ungrateful, and vain- glorious Eledlrician, with more refped than we have (hewn both to himfclf and iiis writings,
N z Uu
j8^ 7%e Tl*iOry df the Syphon illiffiratM.
Mr. Lyon avows his intention * never, in future, to tatce
to which he, we fear, fomewhat toa confidently appeals, wemoft 'Cheerfully confign him, "B—^
- ^
A%T, V. The. Theory of the Syphon plainly and nuthodically iiluftrated ; containing, bcfides the chief Properties of the Inftrument, feme new Remarks on its Ufe in accounting for reciprocating Springe^ 8vo» is.6d. Richardfon and Urqahart* 1781.
TN this fmatl Tra£t, the Author has endeavoured to lay down the chief principles and properties of this ufeful in- flrument, m a methodical manner, and to form them into an uniform fyi^em, in hopes, he fays^ that it may not only be of fervice to the pradbical artifan, but yield fome amufement to the fpeculative enquirer. The firfl, from gaining a thorough know- ledge of the inftrument, may generally be enabled to fee the event of any application of it, without the rifque of an ex- penfive experiment; and the latter will meet with his own jde;is of the fubjed, reduced to fome kind of order. The Author be- lieves too, that he has pointed out fome limits lo the operation of the fyphon^ not hitherto obferved.
The principles on which he explains the power of the inflru- ment, are the fame as thofe ufed by Pafcat, Sturmius, and others ; and he remarks, fince the fum of the defcending forces of a fyphon, cannot exceed twice the meafiire of the preflure of the atmofphere, the greateft height to which a (yphon can raife water over an obftacle, muft be fomething lefs than half this quantity, or lefs tban the height of 35 feet*
The principles on which he explains the caufes of recipro- cating fprings, are fimilar to the theory of the running of the famous fKrtemburg fyphon.
It is advanced by Chambers, in his Dictionary, as quoted by this Author, *^ that a fyphon once fet a-running will perfift in its motion, though removed into the moff perfed vacuum our air-pumps can make ; and that therefore this extraordinary and well-known phenomenon (i.e. the working of a common fy- phon) needs fome farther difquifition." In anfwer to this, we are here told^ that it may be pretty fafely aflerted, that, if there has been no deception in thele experiments, nor unfaithfulnefs in their relation, the effedls muft be owing to fome adventitious circumftance, which can have no place in the explanation of the kind of fyphon meant in this trad. . • • But the fyphon here treated on is no other than the common one, neither has this Author adduced any experiments to coatradiA what is ad.
• vanced
jMillerV Enquiry rnto the Caufe cf Motion* i6i
vanced by Chambers^ who doubtlefs had the beft means of in- /brmation, and fpealcs very pofitively as to the fad \ he certainly .therefore claims fome credit. 'Tis true, Martin, in his P&i/y* fophia Britanmcaj under the head of Hydraulics, ejcplaining the theory of the fyphon, fays, ^* that when the air is drawn out by the mouth-piece, the preflure of the air, on the furface of the water in the veiTcl, caufes it to rife into and fill the fyphon/' — which is certainly (rue; but the proof that he adduces is this^ that " we need only put a fyphon, while working, under there*- ceiver of an air-pump; for, uponexhaufting all the air, the fyphon will ceafe running/' So that here is quite a contradidion between Martin and Chacnbers : but dill Martin does not fay that he has adiually tried the experiment, and, for fome particular reafons^ which we cannot give here, we are inclined to think that whac Chambers has advanced is the truth; and would recommend it to any gentleman who is furniflied with the proper apparatus^ to try fo curious and ^jfefui an experiment. xwf
Wi^ ,
Art. VI. Ah Enquiry into thi Cauft of Motion ; or, t general TheOff of Pbyfic?, grounded on the primary Qualities of Matter. Illui^ trated with Copper-plates. By 6. Miller. 4:0. 10 s.^d. Boards. £thriogton, &c. 1781.
THE moft ancient philofophy,-*that which came out of Phoenicia into Greece, made a vacuum and atoms, and the gravity of atoms, the fxrft principles of fcience j but whether this was fuggefted from obfervation of the operations of nature^ or derived from fome other origin, does not now appear. In procefs of time, diiFerent fyftems were propofed, and thefe an- cient principles were varioufly interwoven with the particular tenets of Succeeding philofophers, being the fountain of the xnoft uniform part of their very various opinions. They taught that nothing was made out of nothing, that no fubftanceis ge« nerated or deftroyed, and that colour and ufte are not in the ob» jeds but in the perceptions ; which appear to be the genuine prin- ciples of this atomical philofophy among the Greeks. The oiore ancient atomifts feem to have taught that there were living fubftances alfo, which pre-exifled before the union of the fyftemi of thofe elementary corpufcles, and continued to exift after their diflblution. They faw the neceffity of admitting adive as well as paiive principles ^ life, as well as mechanifm, throughout the world. But this philofophy was afterwards difmembered, and one fort of permanent fubftance was thought fufficient. One party retained the paffive matter only, and from the fortuitoua concourfe of its corpufcles, pretended to explain the formation of the univerfe« Others afcribed reality and permanency to ac- tive incorporeal fubftances chiefly, or only. And fucb were their diviuons and difputes, that a third fort fectn to have re-
N3 JcAcd
1 82 Miller* J Enquiry into tlj€ Caufe of Motion.
jtGtti the reality of both, maintaining that there was no ftability cither of efltnce or knowledge to be found, but that both were fantaflical and relative only : till at laft, as we learn from Plato, PfOtagoras the Abderite taught, that man was the meafure of truth to himfelf in all things ; and that every opinion or fancy of everv one was true. As to Thales, and his fucceflbrs of the Ioni€ fchool, one of them is faid to have made Water the prin- ciple of all things; another. choTe air; a third fire; a fourth earth ; and fome took them all in, and made thefe four the elements of all things. So early did (he padion for fyflems be- gin ; and difputes were the neceffary confequence. We find however fome hints of the gravitation of the celeftial bodies, in what is related of the do^rines of thefe Ionic philofophers ; and tbiSy perhaps, is what Pythagoras meant to infer, from what he taught concerning the harmony of the fpheres; but his dif- ciples, though poflefled of the true fyflem of the univerfe, could not, jt ^ems, defend their do<E^rines ; for Ariftotle feemingly re- fute* ^hem with the appearance of truth on his fide, in the treatiG: de Cceloy afcribed to Ariftotle, it is pretended to be de- monftrated, that the matter of the heavens is ungenerated, in- corruptible, and immutable; and it is fuppofed that the ftarsare carried round the earth in folid orbs. TheCe dodrines were ge- /lerally held, till Tycho, by his obfervations, and Galileo, by bis arguments, expofed their fallacy. For the opinion of Arif- totle was long allowed to ftand upon a level with reafon and truth itfelf, and univerfally prev;iiled, fo that the Pythagorean dodrines were quite forgot, and folid orbs and epicycles were multiplied to anfwer every appearance: till on the reftitution of the Pythagorean fyftem by Copernicus, they were fet afide by Kepler; who, in his Epitome of JJironomy^ fuppofes that the motion of the fun on his axis is prefer vcd by fome inherent rital principle ; that a certain virtue, or immaterial image of the fu;i, IS diffufed with his rays into the circumambient fpaces, and revolving with the body of the fun on his axis, takes hold on the planets, and carries them along with it in the fame diredion, as a loadftone, turned round in the neighbourhood of a magnetic needle, makes it turn round at the fame time. The planet, ac- cor<}ing to him, by its inertia ^ endeavours to continue in its place, and the adion of the fun^s image, and this inertia are in a perpetual ftruggle. He adds, th»t this adion of the fun, like l^is light, decreafes as the diftance from him increafes ; and ther^rore moves the fame planet with the geeater velocity, the lieiir^r it is to the fun. To accourK for the planets approaching this.flin as it moves towards the perihelion, and then receding from him, he fuppofes that the fun atcra6h one part of each planet, and repels the oppoiite part, and that the- parr which is «ttra£ted is turned- towards the fun ifi the acceft, an^ that the
• other
MiWtr^s Enguiry into ih Cauje of AMfKi 1 83
other part is towards Kim In the rocefs. By ijuppoiti ws of Ums kind be endeavoured to account for all the va^ictks of Uve ^cekf- tial notions.
As both Copernicus and Kepler appear to hav^eJiad notions ^f univerfal gravita«tion, fo this tbepr)^ oi Kepler's may be confidertd as the firft attempt to (bew what it was, and how it a^d % or, in other words, to explain the caufe of motion^ It would be ftepping too much oat of our way to give tbe obj«dio|is tojKefl- ler's theory here; but after him X>es Cartas, taking the high priori road, endeavoured, fron) our knowledge of thf^.Dei^bioi- felf, to deduce the explication of^aJl hip works. Tbemaonerf ^^ and particular tenets of this philofopher, and the ob}e£tio||a that have been made to thexn, ai;e too weU ki^own^. aad too nu* merous, for us to pretend to give an account of them here* Freifi his placing the eflence of matter in extgiiion, ^^nA zfUnum^-it was, that Spinoza took occafuxn to draw the mod fionftrovs conclufions. Leibnitz, calling Spinozifm u» tarufianifmin^tri^ retained the fubtle matter of Des Cartes, with the plenum a«d vortices, and reprefented the univerfe as a machine that ftould proceed for ever, by the Jaws of mecbanifm, in the moft perfect ftate, by an abfolute unavoidable neceffity. Jn ibme things, he differs from Des Cartes, whofe dof^rine has been often altered, and varioufly mended fince its fir ft promulgation, by inge- nious men, fuch as the Bernoullis and Euler, who have ufed their utmoft efforts to patch it up, and fupport its credit, againft Newton and his followers : but it feems to have been to little purpofe,— the do£)rine of attradion, or univerCal gravitation, has been ftill gaining ground, in fpite of all oppofitiisin, fo th^t the defenders of Des Cartes, at this day, appear to be very few. ^
The great obje£lion to the theory of univerfaJ gravitation h^ that it is an occult caufe, aixi fuch as the propofer bii»felf could not explain* This, it muft be allowed, is true, /10 probabde to- count of it having been given, either by Sir I(aa^ Newton^ or any one elfe, though Several attempts have been majde. Indeed the illuftrious propofer was well aware of the diCcnky of aiCr counting for the caufe of^attra&ion or gravitation, a^d there- fore he only propofes it as a known effe6^, that extends tbrougli all nature. That great bodies, fuch as the fun and planeM^ Ibotild emit operative particles^m .thennfelves, is very caify to conceive ; but then italfo fEXfn3 ^ vi4ei^« tba^t theie would ^ime a repellent, and not an attractive effeiSl ; fev«ral attewpts have therefore been made to' (hew ho^v an a^^adive effect might be produced by a r^pelL^t cau^, h^it their fucoefs has been fuch as might be expededi from fo abfurd an hypothefis. It is, ^Z doubtlefs, "^ti"^ dejlir^ble that the caufe of gravitation or ^
attra<^io4i^ ^ e&n^ fo univer,ial and .powerful^ Muld be de^
N 4 fined
184 Miller^ Enquiry into the Caufe of Motion.
fined and illuftnted, fo as to involve no contradictions, but to (hew how it extended and operated through all natbre. It would be a noble contemplation. — We imagined that the Work before lis, from its title, would have proved an attempt of this kind ; and are forry to find ourfelves miftaken : the defigo of the Au- thor being to overthrow what we were in hopes he meant to iupport and explain. However, as truth ought to prevail, he has a right to be heard, and that his fyftem be tried, to fee whether it is confonant to truth, or whether it involves contradidions and faUacies (o as to confute itfelf. ) The foundation of this Aythor's theory, as laid down by him- felf, is as follows—
* Since neither attradion nor gravity ought to he confidered otherwife than as neceflary effeds, flowing from fome perma- nent caufe, it is obvious our enquiries (hould penetrate deeper,
' even to the primary caufe thereof; having minutely inveftigated, combined, and compared the various operations of the phyfical world, it has induced me to lay down the following as general principles, (viz.)
* FirJI, That all bodies whatever are compofed of two dif- tin£l heterogeneous fpecies of particles, which I will call Am- ply inert particles, or particles of paffive matter; and elaftic particles, or particles of adive matter,
^ Secondly. That the inert paflive particles, are particles of
water,. being perfectly incompreffible and inelaftic ; and that
all other particles of matter are as perfectly volatile, com-
rpreifible, and elaftic, having the properties of expanding them-
felves ad infinitum.
^ Thirdly. That from their incompreffibility, and inelafti* city, the watery particles have no power but of fimply falling into any diredion,
* Fourthly. That from their being direded to a centre, by the caufe hereafter explained, arifes al! that power of gravity obferved in the various phenomena.
* Fifthly. That the afiive, compreffible, elaftic particles, are under every ftate of compreffion indiqable to motion.
^ Sixthly. That this elaitic power in matter, is the caufe of cobefim^ gravitation^ fermentation^ coagulation^ ebullition^ &c» iic.
^ Seventhly. That the inelaftic paffive, and the elaillc aCtive matter, are the only perfeA elements, by the varied combina- tion whereof every fubflance is produced : it feems evident thefe two are the only primary principles ; for the particles of all bodies which come under our obfervation being feparated, refolve into thefe two heterogeneous fpecies of matter/
Thus far our Author ; but what is afierted in the fecond of tbef^, that all particlca.of matter (except thpfe of water) are as ' perfcdljf
Miller'j Enquiry into the Cavfe of Motion. 1 85
perfeflly volatile and elaftic, having the property of expanding them" Jilves AD infinitum! is certainly the ercatcft of all miracles. That a particle of matter, Icfs than the leaft body imaginable, Ihould have in itfclf the property of expanding or extending it- felf fo as to fill the whole univerfe (for fo much ad infinitum fignifies) furcly furpafles all probability and belief! Yet fuch is the foundation, it feems from his own word.*;, of this author's fyftem : and in fupport of this he aflerts, that Sir Ifaac Newton, as well as all our modern philofophers, have agreed that the particles of aflive matter have this inherent property, of feparat- ing and expanding themfelves ad infinitum^ and that they are perfeftly volatile and comprcfEble. But we may reafonably enough entertain fome doubt of the truth of this afTertion ; and he has adduced no evidence thereof, but Sir Ifaac's definition of light and fire, in which it does not appear, however his words may be didorted, that he had any fuch meaning. The New- tonians indeed aflcrt, that matter is divifible in infinitum^ but there feems to be nothing that is very contradidory to reafon in this, for it may be poHible for this to be done, although it be out of men's power to efFecSl it. However all impoflible pofi- tions generally carry their own confutation along with them ; let us then try this luppofition of our Author's by the ftandard of reafon and common fenfe; if the adlive particles have a power of expanding themfelves in infinitum^ they muft alfo have a power of acquiring a velocity greater than the grcateft af- fignableone; and fince their power of expanfion muft be the greater, the iefs the fpace is into which they are compreffcd, therefore taking away the compreffion, the velocity muft be greateft the firft inftant, and confequently infinite ; hence if the quantity of matter in thefe elaftic particles, bears any finite pro- portion to that in the non-elaftic one;;, fince the former mufl: almoft inftantaneoufly have the power of expanding wiih an in* finite velocity, and confequently with an infinite momentum, they muft likewife impel the others with the fame momentum; and the confequence muft be, that, fo far from there being any fuch thing as reft, there could not exift any fuch thing as finite velocity in the univerfe, which is abfurd, and contrary to all fad. Here then the neceflary dedudlion is, that thefe particles have not the power of expanding themfelves ad infinitum \ con- fequently there muft be fuch a thing as their natural ftate, in which they are under no compreflion, and confequently have no further power of expanfion.
Air is perhaps the only elaftic fluid that wc are in any degree \i;rell acquainted with, and experiments feem to prove that its power of expanfion is as the comprefiion nearly ; and we find, that when the comprefEon is taken oiF, as in the experiments on (h^ wiod-gMn, although only imperfedlly, it has the power of
expanding
l86 MillcrV Enquiry into the Caufe of Motion.
expanding itfclf with a very great momentum ; and hence it may be conceived with what a momentum a medium like this Au- thor's^ that has an infinite power of expanding itfelf, would fly tbefirft inftant.
7^he above mentioned law of the power of expanfion in the air, may be fo near the truth, as to make it impoffible for us to obfcrvc any defeft therein, by the niceft experiments that we can make ; and yet it will by no means hinder, but that there may be fuch a thing as air with the particles in their natural flatc, or when they are not at all compreffed, and confequcntly can have no power of cxpanfion which ceafes with the compreN fion. This natural ftate cannot poflibly be higher than the point of equal gravitation towards the moon and earth ; and may not be at ^ greater height than 48 or 49 miles, for any thing we can prove to the contrary. If a fpring of elaftic metal be prefTcd out of its natural (late, we know that it has a power of putting itfelf in motion ; but it by no means follows from hence, that it may not be in fuch a ftate as to have no fuch power, for we certainly know the contrary : and to fuppofe that any thing can prefs or move without a caufe, or be perfectly vola- tile and elaftic in this Author's fenfe of the words, is certainly abfurd. And as it is probable that there are no bodies in the ' univerfc thus pcrfeftly elaftic ; fo alfo perfcdlly non-elaftic ones are perhaps to be reckoned among the non-entities. As to water, it is known not to be compreflible by us in any great de- gree, but it by no means follows from hence that it is pcrfedly iion-elaftic. And how this Author came to fuppofe that the particles of water are inelaftic, is not eafy to fay; for that they are elaftic in a very confidcrable degree, is a well known truth.
The power of expanfion in the air, or that by which it is put in motion when the compreflion is lefTened, being propor- tional to the compreftion ; it follows, that when there is no com- • prc(Kon, there can be no expanfion ; and that the one being leftened, the other muft be fo too, confequently the air has no fuch property, as that *' the motion of the particles (hould increafe in proportion to their rarity.** But the power of cx- panfion in the air being allovyed to be only proportional to its compreflion ; then, in a medium that has a greater proportional power, the particles nearer the furface being more denfe muft force off the rarer ones, and thefe them that are ftill rarer, &c. till the whole medium would fly off from the central body, after it had by this means acquired an uniform denfity, unlefs we fup- pofe fome other central power to a6l to prevent this.
The Author fays, ♦ that the particles of elaftic matter^ being continually preflcd upon by the weight of the inelaftic, muft pf courfc be furrounded by tbofe particles.* This is his
firft
MilkrV Enquiry InU the Cauji xf Abtion. 1 87
V
fir ft pofition for the folutioo of the phenomena of the heavenljr bodies. But what is this, but begging the queftion, or arguing in a circle? If the particles of bodips hai^ weight, they muft have a tendency to a centre ; for without fuch a tendency, there is no fuch thing a^ weight. And if the inelaftic particles have weight, and the elaftic ones none ; then, even if they had this infinite power of expanfion, they could produce no motion^ when they are, as he fays, ^ of courfe furrounded by the pthers. And then what becomes of his fecond petition, (at (c£l. 3.) * That the adive particles muft be conftantiy forcing through^ ieparattng and carrying upwards the paffive watery particle^ ?*— « And if the adive particles have weight ; then, with whatever velocity they are projected from the central body, that weight muft continually diminifli it\ which is quite contrary to all his fuppofttions, and aftertions. Such being (he foundation oa which he builds, what muft become of the fuperftru6lure?
Let us iee then whether thefe principles of his, if true, coul4 po(Ebly be fufficient to account for the various phenomena of the motions of the celeftial bodies. He fays, at p. 32. * The particles of fine adive matter are continually ifTuing from the body of the fun, from the bodies Q(f the planets, and from the bodies of the fixed ftars, in every dire£iion with great velocity ; light pafles from the fun to the earth in 8 ^ minutes, which is at the rate of 164,494 miles in a fecond ; and as the motion of the elaftic f>articles increafes in proportion to their rarity, their velocity muft be greater at the orbit of the earth, than at their firft emiftion from the fun's furface, and will continually in* creafe in proportion as the diftance and rarity increafes ; fo that the velocity of the particles, even at the orb of Saturn, muft be extreme ; hence the momentum muft be inconceivably great when the particles of matter emitted by the fun, and thofe emitted by the fixed ftars, meet and refift each other ; whjch will be the cafe (as appears by the phenomena of magnetiGn and cledlricity) where the particles are of fimilar denlity.'
* Now as the fixed ftars are not of equal magnitudes, nor at equal diftances from the fun, nor from each other, it follows, that the momecitum or lefiftance cannot be equal on every fide; from this unequal refiftance, unequal rea&ion mufteofue, an4 thereby motion is communicated to the body of the fun/
BiK ihis is not ftiewing the caufe of motion, it is only ihifti«g it frem one thing to another, from the fun to the ft^rs, and from theic «o others, till the mind is bewildered in the jmukiplkity tf ebje6l8 ; and, after all, it is evideacly neceflary, to fuppofcfo^ie firft caufe continually ading. Again, though the particles front the f4jR^ and thofe from the ftars, when of iimilar denfii;/, befup- pefed to meet and refift etfch other with ever fuch an ioconceivr ably great momentum) Aill \k is very eafy to be demonftrs^t^
that
iCT MlllcrV Enquiry into the Caufe of Motion.
that this can have no tSt&, at all vpon the body of the fun^ to caufe him to turn round on his own axis, till fuch time as the ' velocity of every particle, between that place of fimilar denfity^ and the body of the fun be deftroyed, and the whole becomes one compa6i orb. <-> So here again the hypothecs deftroys itfelf. • • . . And the fame will appear, if we try how the motions of a planet are hereby accounted for.— •
He fuppofes the particles of aftive matter to revolve with the fun about his axis, as if they conftituted one body with him ; and that, by their aftivity, they give motion to the planets ; for he fttppofes thefe to be quite inert, having neither proje£lile nor rotatory motion, excepting fuch as is caufed by or commu- nicated to them by thefe adive particles. Let us then, waving for this time the neceffity for folid orbs, confider the confequence cf this hypothefis.
Thefe a£tive particles, having a progreffive motion from the centre of the fun, and a rotatory one about his axis, muft flrike a planet in the diagonal of a parallelogram, or, in a direction oblique to the right line joining the fun and planet, and confe- quentiy, as the Author rejects projedile force, would drive the planet oiF in that direction ; but it will be /aid that the matter from the fixed ftars, ading in a contrary direction, would pre* vent this ; be it fo, then the planet having no projedlile velo- city, if this a£iion be equal and contrary to the other, the planet muft (land ftiU, as no motion at all could enfue. And if the ac- tion be unequal on oppoAte hemifpheres of the planet, as he f ippofes, this would indeed produce motion ; but ftill a rotatory motion about its centre of gravity, could not hereby be pro- duced, without giving the planet icfelf another motion, about a fpontaneous centre of rotation, making it recede from the cen- tral body, in a path that for a fmall time would differ but little from a prolate cycloid, quite different from any thing obferved k\ nature ; neither could a planet by this means be made to re« volve about the fun at all.
Since then the hypothcAs on which this work is built, is con- tradictory to itfelf, fince neither the motion of the fun about his axis, nor that of a planet about the fun can be accounted for by it, it is perhaps needlefs to purfue our remarks any fur- ther. • • This Author, however, appears to blame Mr. Fergufon without any juft grounds, as having given a defedive theory of the tidesy at p. 3 1 f . of bis Trads ; and hence he takes occaiion to draw this extraordinary conclufion, viz. that the Newtonian theory of the laws of motion, is erroneoufly founded. But it is evident, that Mr. Fergufon's deAgn was only to give a popu- lar account of the matter, fuited to (be capacity of ordinary readers, or, at leail, fuch as were not verfed in the higher Waochcs of the matheovitics ^ to whono, a deoaonftratioa
founded
Miller*i Enquiry into the Caufe rf M9ti&n» j2^
founded on the iriveftigation of the fpheroidal figure^ into which the waters would be put by the attraction of the fun and moon, would fcarcely have been intelligible, and therefore very improper for him to give in that place.
One thing we would advenife this Author of> namehr, that force and weight are different things, that admit of no kind of coroparifon with each other, any more than furface and folidi- ty, or vis inertis and accelerative gravity (vide p, 128 of his book).
However, his chief objeAion to the Newtonian theory, or that which he feems to lay the moft firefs upon, is that the ex- perimental path of projectiles near the earth's furface, is yerjff different from that given by the theory. But this may be wholly owing to the refiflan^of the air, for any thing that has yet appeared to the contri^ ; the theory hitherto given of that refiflance being wholly hypothetical, and the exadt power thereof, and the law by which it varies, are yet unknown.
He fays, at p. 84. * But a phenomena [phcenomenon] which till of late efcaped the obfervation of the philofophical world, throws a new light upon this fubj.e£t, proving that gravity is a more innate operation, and not theeffedl of any aitradive pro- perty lodged in the particles of matter of which the earth is com- pofed, I allude to this well known fadt, that if two bodies of iimilar [equal] diameters, but of different denfities, are projected with equal force, the heaviefl body will fly farther than the light one; e. g. fuppofe two cannons, loaded with a ball each^ whofe fuperficies are equal, but the one fpecifically as heavy again as the other, are difcbarged with the fame force of pow- der, the heavieft ball will be proje<£led to confiderably the greateft diflance. This circumf^ance, attentively confidered, will be found abfolutely to demonftrate that the whole force of gra- vity, when a body is projecftcd horizontally [with] above a cer- tain degree of velocity, is not dire£led towards the centre of the earth ; that the earth does not attraSi bodies in proportion to their quantity of matter, and of courfe that every particle in nature does not aitra^ every other particle. Perhaps it may be urged, the reflftance of the air occafions the earlier defcent of the light body ; but as the atmofphere can only prefs upon the furfaces which are equal, it is impofBble that fhould be the cafe. • •
But, granting that we have no true theory of the motion of proje&iles, certainly the world has not been quite To ignorant as this Author fuppofes.— 'Tis very evident, gravity and vis hiertiae being out of the queflton, that the adtion of the air upon the lighter of thefe bodies, will deflroy its velocity fooner than that of the heavier. What, does this Author think that it has till lately efcaped the obfervation of the philofophical world,
5 that
I go Principles of Laiv and GovifnmenU
tliat the wind, ftriking agalnft an ounce weight, and againft a feather, would drive away the latter with the greateft velocity ! Siippofe two fuch balls as he mentions to be projected with a velocity. of looo feet per fecond, then he fays that the velocity of the lighter Will bedeftroyed fooner than that of the heavier. But certainly this is no proof that the whole of gravity, as he fays, is not diredcd to the centre of the earth, Suppofe the Ame two bafls to be laid on a perfedly frhooth horizontal plane, and that the air or wind impinges agalnft each of them with a velocity of lOOO feet per fecond j is it not very evident, that it will in the fame time generate a greater velocity iri the lighter body than in the heavier ? And here gravity is out of the quef- tion. Cpnfequently, in the former cafe, when they are pro- je£ted with the fame velocity, fbp lighter muft fly to the lefs diftance \ without any need for fuppofing the dire^ion, or force of gravity to be altered.
At p. 134, the Author has advanced the appearance of a fadt, in fupport of his hypothefis, in the following
* Query, Is it not from Sirius that the fun meets the greateii refiftance ? Is not the vicinity of this body the grand caufe of all the motion in' our fyftem ? Is not this idea fupported by the earth being found neareft the fun (when between thofe two bodies), as from the nature of compreffion this would be an in- evitable confequcnce ?*
To this we anfwer, that the earth is never between Sirius ancf the fun, becaufe the ftar is not in the ecliptrc, but has 39 ^ 32' fouth latitude; that when the diftitnce between the earth and ftar, meafured on a great circle of the fphere, is the leaft, the earth is not then accurately in its perihelion ; the longitude of Sirius being 3 figns 11 ^ 15% and the place of (he perihelion of the earth 3 figns 9® 13' 16''; befides, that place is continu- ally altering, and the motion of the perihelion being at the rate of 66'^ and the ftar's alteration of longitude at about the rate of 50"" per annum ; the ftar's place in longitude has in former ages been more diftant from the perihelion point; and even if tTiey had been always together, if this Author's confequence were jtift, the fame reafon ftlould make the perihelia of the other planets in the fame place ; whereas, the contrary is too well known for us to multiply words about it hei-e, ^9 , Wt*
Art. VII • PrincipUs 0/ Law attd Go'utrtfmtiit , with ao Inqairy into the JulUce and Policy of the prefect War, and moll cfFeefutl Means of obtaining an honourable, permanent, and advanta^cout Peace. 410. 7 8.6d. Boards. Murray. 178 u
1 F the political dodrines of the iHuftriotB Locke be juft, ^ and fuch as have a Undeacy to inereafe the kapyinefB of
mankind.
• • •
Principles of Law and Government. 191
nlartkind, the writer who endeavours to illuftratey confirm, and difieminate them, may be numbered among the friends of hu- n^anity. — In this predicament ftands the Author of the * Prin- ciples of Law and Government.' But though a difciple of Mr« Locke, for as fuch he may be conridered^.he does not implicidjf follow him; he ventures to think and to judge for himfelf^ and in fome fubordinate paints, todiflent from his maftcr.
' He has endeavoured/ he tells us, ' to divelt htmfelf of prejudice and partiality, and to vie^r events^ charaAers and cirCttmA'aacev with the unimpaffioDed eye of calm philofophy. If he' can truft hia own feelings, his heart bears witnefs to the difintereiled parity of bia antctftioas. He cannot ftoop to the low arts of popularity, *' with do^rioes fotted to the varying hour :*' and as he doe not wi^ to do*
coive, he cannot eondefcend to flatter. ^Unconnected with party,
and uninfluenced by fadion, he ufes no artful InQnuations, willingly aifrepreftncs no fadls» or draws any iniidious inferences ; and however ardent the zeal with which he is adluated, however great bis affedioa for his country; yet he flatters himfelf, he is not (6 much influenced, by narrow illiberality of fentiment, as to forget for one moment tbac he if a citizen of the world; or in any inilance to prefer the advan* cages of his country, to thofe of humanity.
* Bold in confcious innocence, and animated by the rectitude of hit intentions, he gives full fcope, to the wiihes of his heart ; he writes with freedom, and a perfe6V contempt of perfonal confe- qoences; but he has avoided perfonal abufe. lets measures, not lien, he wifhes either to cerfure or recommend; and if his work con- tains any thing, that may i^ivcjull offence, that may wound the bofont of innocence' » or be prcdudive of any pernicious confrquences ; he C3B only fay, that it wa^ not iniencionstl ; and that if he had beta finrfible of it while he wrote, the repenting tear had wiped it out.
This Work confifts of two parts, the one containing * Principles, &c/ the other * an Inquiry, &c. The former of thefc commences with an account of fome of the opinions which have been held concerning the origin of fociety, in which the Author takes occafion to remark, and we think juf^ly, fhaC the phrafe ^' natural equality" does not diftinguifb, with fuffi- cienc precifion, the kind of equality which is fuppofed to have (iibfifted among mankind, pri.jr to a ftate of fociety. For as mankiod are not naturally equal, with refpecl to the poflcflioii of either mental or corporeal powers, but only in having th0 fime clafm to freedom and independence, the above phrafe is
certatiriy too indefinite Inftead, therefore, of caUing this
tqaality, the * natural equality of mankind,' the Writer would nfe a more appropriate language, and call it the * natural poli- tical equality of mankind.' — He is aware, however, of the appa- redt impropriety of denominatmg any thing in a ftate of nature, political) — * but' fays he, * as this equality refpefts political power only, I am really at a lofs fur a more proper ittm^ and ihould gladly adopt a better/
That
192 Principlis $f Law and Government,
That mankind are naturally in a ftate of political equality, i$ a propofition, he obferves, that appears to be felf-evident.
* If rulers/ fays he, ' derive their political fuperibrity from divine rigbt» that divine right has not been promulgated to mortals, either by reafon or revelatioo ; and I cannot avoid regarding it at an im- picas, as well as an abford and fervile dodrine, which invefts one fee of meo with the power of tyrannizing over and trampling on their fellow-creatoresy and which pretends to derive that right, from a Being infinitely wife and good — that clothes, with the power and authority of the Almighty, thofe who, from the defeats of their edu* cation, and the peculiar difadvantages attending their iitaation, are frequently among the weaked and mod vicious ofmortala,'
After exploding the dofirine of paflive obedience, inculcat* ing that of refiftance, and ihowing, that it i$ the incumbent duty of all to maintain their natural and juft rights inviolate^ he contends, in oppofition to Sir William Blackfione and others, that the wants and fears of mankind do not form the bond of voluntary fociety. Thefe, indeed, fays he, may ^ make them aflbciate, but it is juKice alone that cements the union/
In treating, Se£^. 2. of the nature and exercife of the legif- lative, executive, and judicial powers, the Author obferves, in a note upon the laft ot thefe heads, that ^ the number of jurors fiiould be determined and eiiabliihed by law for each particular trial, as well as the number that may be peremptorily challenged ; for if the latter number is fpecified and not the former, the privilege of challenging in this manner, may be rendered of very little effe^, if not altogether abortive. The accnfed, befides being allowed counfel* ihould not be denied the privilege, of fpeaking in his own defence. Counfel may mifapprehend, or (from undue influence) mifreprefent fafls, and many circumftances render the accufed more proper, for Hating and elucidating the matter, for juftifying his intentions, and proving his innocence. Counfel (hould be allowed the accufed for afliiling them, not as a pretence for depriving them of the privilege of fpeaking in their own defence, or proving their innocence. To pre* tend that the judge will ad in all cafes as the friend and counfel of the accufed, is in the laft degree abfurd, and is contradidled by ex- perience. The judges are the creatures, and often the inftruments of the executive power, and frequently (particularly in cafes of high treafon) a6l as counfel againft the accufed, and regard it as their bu- iinefs rather to criminate than exculpate* The fpirit of £pfom and Dudley will never be extinfl, and a Jeffries, if tolerated, will never be wanting. The crime of high treafon, in particular, (hould be dif- tindlly and accurately defined. To find among the lift of legal crimes^ fuch a one as conftruAive treafon, muft be a difgrac^. on a free peo- ple ; if fuch a people can juftly be called free.'
The light in which the conduct of judges is placed in the above note, is a very unfavourable one indeed, but in this light we fear it will be viewed by the eye of impartiality, as long as an exemplar (hall remain of that '^ Libel on Judges/* as a vene- rablejudge once called the State Trials,
As
Prindphs of Law and Gofimmefi. j§^
As juftice, according to our Author, is the onlf cement o^ Voluntary fociety, the prevention of injuftice, he thinks, ought to be the principle which (hould influence every human law ; agreeable to which * laws may be defined, ordinances of the fuprame power for the prevention of injufiicc/ Juftice, in our language, as well as in others, he remarks, admits of minjr different fignifications ; but injuftice, he apprehends, * admits only of one precife, determinate meaning) and may be dt« lined, not rendering every one bis due,*
Adopting the diftindion made by the moral writers, betweeft perfeA and imperfeS rights, and alfo the divifion of perfect rights, into perfonal rights, and rights of property ; thefe he again divides into natural and political.
A crime, he defines to be an a£l of injuftice. The divifioa of crimes into thofe of commiffion and omiffion, is, he thinks^ unncceflary, fince * properly, they are all of commiffion, as he who omits a juft duty, commits injuftice/ Equally unneceflary^ and ill-founded, in his opinion, is the divifion of them into public and private, fince, * he who injures the individual injures the Public, and he who injures the public injures the individual.*
This favours however, too much of verbal nicety and refine* menc. Nor is the Author at all accurate in the ufe of his terms. We have read and heard o(^ns of omijjion^ but what particular offences cognizable by human tribunals, are, or ever were, in- cluded under Crimes of omifiion, we do not exadly uader*^ fland. As little do we Comprehend what he precifely means hy private fr/m«.— Private injuries had been a jufter term.
The objects of human puniQiment, ought, in the judgment of our Author, to be— the reparation of the injury } — the amendment of the delinquent; — the prevention of crimes by deterring others ;-^and laftly, the prevention of crimes by de« priving the criminal of the power of doing future mifchief.— — « With refpcdl to the firft of thefe objeds, he remarks, that, * reparation of the injury, or redrefs co the injured, in many cafes, is entirely negleded by the EngliOi crioiinal Uw ; and what, if poffibJe, is flill more anjoft and abfard, the injared are dill further injured, by being obliged to be at the cxpence of the profecntioo. This h giving additional bitcernefs to the cup of adverfity. It is coonceraaing the very intention of political fociety* which is to pro- ted and affiil the weak^efs of the individual, by the oniud ftrength and powers of the cooimanity, and an unjuft attempt, to make the poor and weak individual, when ftili further weakened by injufUce, proted the community.*
Here our Author feems to want information with refbeft to the fubje£l be writes upon. We refer him to Sttt. 25 Geo* II. c. 36. where he will find the treafurer of the county is ordered to difburfe to the profecutor his reafooable expences^
Rev. March, 1782. O on
I ^ .Principles of Law and Gwirnment.
on applicatron to the court, before whom the felon Is eon*
The de^rine of Precedent^ which has long prevailed in CQurjLs of judicature, and thereby in tStOt giving to precedents the .force of law,-^a dodlrioe, in favour of which many ftiong axguments have been offered, and againft which foone ingenious 4nfi plauitble dbjcAions have been urged, this Writer coofiders ^.unreafonable in itfelf, and dangerous in its confequences*
' The dodrine of precedent^ which ajt prefent kaf fo much weight ID law procfedingt, (hould be entirely difregarded in the giviog of judgment ; as coDferring, ia eiFe£t, a legiilauve aiithoriiy on lawyers and judgei; and as being, in many cafes^ contrary to julUce; for thoagh the dccifiQa mi^ht have beei). equicable when made ; yet, the alteration which time may occafion, in the manners ^nd circumfiances of the people, may render a repetition of it, or a £milar judgment, highly injurious and ur.juft. A judge, in his ju- dicial cupacity, fliould pay no refped to authorities i aod be influ- jeofied by law and equity only. r
Q ' i^omt^ but thoie who have a jufi right to make lawSf or f«ch as they
^^ jQ^ay appoiji; for that pvrpofe, can have a jaU rrgbt to aUer, expound, or ii>terpret them.'
We are forry to obf<^rve, from, the conclMding part of this extraA, that the Author appears not to .have well dige(le4 hi« ideas upon this fubje^. He has ftrangely c^nfpuod^d together two very diflind things ; the power of altering the laws, and the province of interpireting them. The on^ is clearly legifla-^ tive, the other only judicial. In propoiing that judges^ in jtheir political capacity, ihoutld pay no rcfpedl to authorities; he would place more confidence in their uprightnefs and ^ifdopn, than feems to be in any wife confiAent with the general fpirit and tenor of bis work. (See his awn fentiments in one of the pre- ceding extracts.) How different, yet how much more accurate, jind more juft, is the opinion of the learned and ingenious JpNfs on this fubje6^ though written with a view only to the Englifh municipal Jaw: notbing^ faid Mr. Juftice Powell, em« phaMcal]y, is^ law^ thatch not reafon : a maxim, in. theory excel* knt, but in pradice dangerous; as many rules, true in the abi)ra£^, are falfe in the concrete; for fince the reafon oiTitius tna)s and frequently does, difivr from the reafon of Septimius^ no man who is not a lawyer would ever know how to ad, and no itian who is a lawyer would, in many i^nftances, know what to advife, unflefi^' courts were bound by authority, as firmly as the Pagan deities were fuppofed to be bound by the decrees of
ktef-"
• • •
w . ) .1 . will
t" »^
* EJitf on tht Lenv of Bmlmenu% by W. JoNts, Efq.— Of this iogeniout-law tia^ hc Iball give an account in our next Review.
5 In
Principles of Law and Government 1^5
In Seft. 3. — the different forms of government are enu-
tkierated, and the nature, of them explained. — Of thefe formsi
.t>ur Author gives the preference to that of a Democracy, which,
uader proper regulations, he endeavours to (how is the beft ;
and chat of an Ariflocracy the word :
' Defpotifni, whecber regal or ariftocraticti, depends on the vio- lence of the few, the timidity of tke many, and the ignorance, folly, and vices of the whole.
' The flaves who are opprefTed are not lefs culpable, than the ty- rants who opprefs them. It is their daty to aflert, vindicate and maintain thofe rights^ which, as human creatures, they are juftly en- titled to enjoy, by all the laws of God and nature. Nor are the op- j^refllbrs more happy than the opprefTed. It involves the whole com- BBunity in mifery and wretchednefs. It debafes human nature, pre- vents the acquifition of knowledge, depreffes, or rather annihilates^ genios; and every exalted, every noble, and generous fentiment or exertion of the human mind. Man becomes the enemy of his race; opprefles, and is oppreiled by turns. Nowabjedi mean, and fervile, at the beads of burden, bafely fawning, and feemingly courting the yoke. Now haughty, afTuming, bloody and rapacious, " more fierce than empty tygers, and the roaring fea.** At all times, fu(picious, crafty, cruel, infidious and revengeful; fociety becomes a Icene of lorror, meanneff, and infamy ; and confifti only of flavet, robbers^ asd murderers.'
The duration of parliaments for fo long a term as feven Teara^ he confiders as one of the fundamental defers of the Brittfli conftitution. — The remedy he propofet, and in favour of which he ftrenuoufly contends^ is (hortening the above term to one year.-^This meafure, he conceives, would, in the pre- fent ftate of things, be produdlive of the mod falutary ttkSiSm But efFedually to prevent the corruption of parliaments, it is not only neceflary, he thinks, that they (hould be annual^ but alfo, that no perfon (hould be eligible as a member for more than three parliaments out of fix *•
Id Sed. 4 entitled, * of deviations from the true principIeSy and of the diflblution of law and government,' be treats oj^ ttfurpation, tyranny, and rebellion.
Hifr fentiments on thefe topics are delivered with great plain<* ncfs, but they are fuch, as are neither calculated to gratify thofe who dired the affairs of ftate, nor thofe who are endea- vouring to fupplant them, — they are too liberal to be pleding to either.
^Quere? as to this remedy. — Would it not be unwrfe in any ftattt to deprive itfelf volontarily of the fervices and abilities of its greateft political cfaaraAers for joft owe haff oi their lives; elpeeially wheil wt re€ed on the. paucity of really great men, the (hortaefs of iMmko life» and the very few years of their rtry (hort> Kves, thac devoee to nkt fervice of tfaeiv eouaf ry }
0% Th«
I-
"1
196 Principles of Law and Gowmnunt.
The refult of the enquiry into the juftice and policy of the war with America, is, as the Reader will naturally conjedure, unfavourable to the pretenfions of Great Britain.
A fcederal league, or union, between this country and Ame- rica, according to the plan propofed by our Author, which is, that each kingdom (hall have a Houfe of Peers and a Honfe ol Commons ; that the former (hail be created by the common Sovereign, George the Third, in whom the executive powei (hall be invefted ; that there (hall be a convention of (late foi ai&iling in managing the general concerns of the empire, &c. &c — might once, perhaps, have appeared to America as defire- able ; but whether (he would now permit the executive powei of that people who have endeavoured to reduce her to uncondi- tional obedience, and whofe ftrength is exhaufted in the fruit- lefs attempt, to have that controul over her, which this plan propofes, is a queftion that needs no difcuffion.
The typographical and other errors, of which indeed we have met with a con(iderable number in the perufal of this performance, and which the Author fays, ^ hafte and particular circum* ftances' prevented him from correding, we (hall pafs over with only obferving, that hafte in itfelf is far from being a fufficient excufe for appearing before the Public in a literary di(habille.— ^ As for the ^ particular ctrcum(lances', to which the Author al- ludes^ whether they were of a nature fimilar to thofe which impelled the poetafter whom Pope defer ibes,
— •• to print before ttrm ends.*'— or whether they were of a lefs important kind, we do not think it delicate in us to inquire. But when he prefers the fame apo* ]ogy for * omitting to acknowledge the obligations he is under to fome of the authors of whofe works he has availed himfelf,* ^e cannot help faying, that it has the appearance of a Afmgf^ nuous mode of proceeding, and argues a confcioufnefs on the part of the Author, that if he was to * reftore every bird his proj^r feather,' he would leave himfelf and his work but few original fentiments. It is the undoubted privilege of every writer to avail himfelf of the knowledge and learned labours of his predeceflbrs ; but then it becomes .a debt of juftice to mark the fpeciiic fources : and, according to this Author's own dif« tindfon, above quoted, * he who omits a juft duty, commits injuAice/
Upon the whole, notwithftanding fome few objeAions that have occurred, we have read this Work with confiderable plea* fure. There is a liberality of fentiment throughout that is highly commendable. It leans ftrongly (as we intimated on the commencement of this Article) to the caufe of freedom tod virtue.— -The language is lively and fpirited ; though in fomo parts too florid and decUmatory, and too much overrun with the /alfe glitter and tinfel-eloquencc of the French Writers.
A._-« «*aT «
( 197 )
AnT. VIII. Thi Hiftory of tbt Legal PoHtf of tht Roman State ; and of (he RI(e, Prog:refs» and Ezcesc of (be Roman Laws. By Tho- mas Be ver, LL.D. 4(0. 18 s. Boards. Cadell. 1781.
TH E objeiSts proper to engage the notice of the general hiftorian are fo numerous, that it is extremely difficult to allow to each that (hare of attention which is its due. It commonly happens, that the writer is direded in the choice of his principal objefls, and the train of his reflexions, rather by his own particular caft of mind, or his previous ftudies and habit of thinicing, than by the nature of the materials which lie before him : the confequence of which is, that many of the moft interefting topics in hiflory are often treated fuperficially^ or entirely overlooked. It is therefore a material improvement in hiftorical writing, introduced by the moderns, to treat of the feveral fubjedls which merit the attention of the hiflorian, not promifcuoufly, but in feparatc works, or in difiindl divifions of (be fame work.
The hiftory of the ancient Romans furnilhes ample materials for treatifes of this kind,"" on national chara^r, and private manner^, on military operations, on religion, and on policy and laws. This latter fubje£l, in particular, merits the attentive ftudy, not only of ftatefmen and civilians, but of all who are defirous of becoming perfectly acquainted with the moft fplen- did period in the hiftory of the world. T he Roman govern- ment appeared in fuch a variety of forms, and underwent fuch extraordinary changes, and (he laws of Rome rofe into confe- quence from fuch fmall beginnings, and by fteps fo ftrongly marked in the pages of hiftory, that they afford an extenfivc field for philofophical fpeculation. And the civil law, in the digefted ftate in which it was left by Jufiinian, having been uoiverfally admired on account of the extent, variety, and methodical arrangement of its contents, and having been al- lowed a confidcrable fhare of authority in aimoft every legal eftablifliment in modern times, the ftudy of this code is be- come an important branch of education, and is a necefTary foundation for the thorough knowledge of the laws and policy of the prefent ftates of Europe.
Ipterefting however as this fubjedl is, and frequently as the Roman tale has been related in different forms in the Englifli (angtfage, the conftitution and laws of Rome are now, for the £rft lime, treated of at large in an bifiorical narrative by aq Englifh Writer. But, befides that Dr. Bever has the merit of novelty in the defign of his work, he has likewife that o^ having executed his plan, as far as he has proceeded, with af- fiduous induftry and great ability. We fee in his perforo^ance, ftot the carelefs hand of a needy compiler, but the evident marks
O3 of
198 BevcrV Hljtorfof tbi Legal Polity 0/ the Raman StaH.
of cloffl ftudy, and extcnfive erudieion. The flyle in which the work is written, is, in general, correal and perfpicuous, ^nd withal fufficiently ornamented to anf^ver the purpofes of hifto- rical writing. We wiOi it were in our power to complete this eulogium, by adding to it, thofe eflential charaders of a goo^ hiftorian, an unbiaffed judgment, and a liberal fpirit. But in thefe refpedts, we are apprehenfive, that, in the courfe of our ftridures upon the work, our Readers will find much occafion to pronounce it materially defeftive.
In this undertaking. Dr. B. appears to have had two leading objedls in view— to mark the rife and progrefs of the Roman ]aw, — and to exhibit a view of the political conftitution of Rome, in the feveral forms which it aflumed through the feveral periods of the (late. In what manner each of thefe defigns is executed, we (hall diftindly examine: and firft, let us view our Author in the charader of a civilian.
Having marked the origin of legiflation among the RomanI in the diftribution of the people, under Romulus, into tribes and curii^i and into patricians, knights, and plebeians, our Au- thor enumerates the regulations which were made under the feveral kings, to improve the civil police, increafe the military f^rength, or in other ways advance the profperity of the ftate. At the introdu<5lion of the con fular government, and thecreation of tribunes, the changes which took place in the ftate of the laws are clearly marked, particularly the introduAion of the law of Valerius Poplicola, by which perfons accu(ed of crimen were authorized to appeal from the fupreme magiftrates to the aflembly of the people, without whofe confent no capital pu« nifhment could be inflicted.
A diiiinA view is next given of the primitive fources of the Roman law, as contained in the Papyrian law^ or digeft of the laws which had been enaded under the kings, and were ftill in force under the charaSer of ancient ufages ; the twelve tables^ formed by the decemviri ; the ^ori difputatimes^ or opinions of men (killed in the law given in private focieties : the refpmja prudentumj or decifions of learned lawyers, given profeffionally and publicly at their houfea ; and the legis aSfienes^ or e(bbli(hea writs, or forms of adminifleringjuftice, introduced for the fake of preferving regularity in iudicial proceedings ; which toge-» ther conftitute what is called the ancient jurifprudence. After which are particularly explained the feveral kinds of kiwsy pnder the heads of leges plebifcita fenattis eonfulta^ and jus hon§^ rariutttj with the forms obferved in the fenate and the aflembliea of thr people, in voting and enafting laws,
Tliis general view of the rife of the civil law under the com- m(m wealth, is clofed by a particular account of the progrefs of the Jgrarian hwt^ whicb^ becaufe the fabjeA is interefting, and
holds
Bcvcr*i Htjiory of the Legal Polity of the Roman StaU. 199
holds a confpicuous place in the Roman hiftory, we fliall lay before our Readers. .
* As cbe Romans grtdaally extended tkeir viAorious arms over the weaker ilates of Italy, they were accuftomed to take a certain portioa of the conquered lands into their own poiTeffion ; part of which was fold by audion for the ufe of the public ; and the reft divided among the poorer citia^nit on the payment of a fmall quit- rent to the treafury, in acknowledgment of the tenure.
* For the better regulation of thefe diftribations, various laws had been paiTed from time to timCy under the title of Agrarian. The firft of thefe was the CaJJian Laixj^ ena£ted not many years afser the beginning of the confular government; which was fol- lowed, at different periods, by many others of the fame import ; though the introdu^ion of them was commonly attended with riot and difconcent.
' The comforts arifing from the enjoyment of feparate property are more apt to ilimulate, than to fatisfy, the appetite ; and though a fimplkity of manners, and a happy ignorance of the fuperfluitiet of life, may, for a while, reftrain the importunities of the human pafr fioAS, they will naturally afife in their demands, with the abilities of the llate to indulge them. Cato the cenfor, therefore, of honeft and fregal memory, clearly forefeeing that Rome was hafteniog to cor- ruption through her own greatnefs, vigoroully oppofed the increaflng luxury of the age, both by his example and authority. For this he was lewarded with a llatue, by the fufFrages of a grateful people; •nd yet, by a ftrange.inconiiftency, more common than accountable* ia the contra^ed fphere of worldly politics, he fufFered his inveterate prejudices againft an unfortunate rival to counterad his own zeal, and efiedually to defeat his favourite plan of reformation. The de* ftz-adion of Carthage eafed Rome of her fears ; and thus the malady grew every day worfe, by the removal of the only check that could have prevented it.
* The richer citiaens getting pofleilion of large trafls of wade landf and being confirmed in them by long prefcription ; adding to thefe likewife, either by force or purchafe, the fmaller pittances of their poor neighbours, by degrees became mailers of territories inAead of farms. As a further grievance, the management of thefe was often committed to the care of flaves; whereby the multiplication of the free inhabitants was impeded ; fuch as remained were opprefled by ;penory, exadions, and military fervici^s; or, if left unemployed* were enervated by idlenefs, without lands of their own to occupy ; and excluded the privtle^ of earaing their bread upon thofe of others, by captives and foreigners.
* Such enormous monopolies once more raifed the indignatiop of ■ Cribonitian patriotifm, and gave birth to the famous Licinsas Co^- fo dcBominaced from ita author, Licinius Stolo. By this it waa ordaiacd, that no citizen, of what ftatioo (bever, ihould poflefs m^ro than -five hundred acres to his own (hare ; nor maintain more Chan one hundred head of large, and five hundred of fmall, cattle^ and that a certain number of free men fliould be conftantly em|lDsr4r in the bniinefs of httibandry*
O 4 "Wj
aoo Bever'i Hiftory of the Ugal Politf oftbe Raman Sfati.
' Thli law was admirably faited to the modeft ideas of a repah* lie ; and well calculated to preferve the juft eqaipoife between the higher and lower orders of the conntonity. While it fupplied the nobles with fafficient afiloence to command all that refped which was due to their ftation, it deprived them of the power of corrapting or depreffing the poor: and while it fupported that diftinftioo of rank, which is elTenti^l to the dignity and good order of civil
§overnment, it prevented the common people from becoming a bar- en to the (late, by enabling them to maintain their families with their daily labour. That no fan€lion might be wanting to infnre the operation of a law of fuch extenfive importance, it was guarded like- wife by oaths, fined, and forfeiture.
* It might well have been expe^ed that thefe heavy penalties, enforced by ftch folemn obligations, would have checked the growth of this crying evil for ages to come. But the befi- concerted de- figns of human wifdom foon become impotent and ineffictcions, wlien oppofed by the cravings of avarice, the infolence of power, and the audacity of ambition. No fooner was the law paiTcd, than it was broken by the author himfelf ; who is the firft upon record that be- came the objfd of its feverity.
* This well-timed-example, mod probably, put a ftep to any grofs and open violation of it for the prefent ; though it was far from being a fufficient birrier againft the future courfe of the evil itfelf. The more cautious and circumfpe^ evaded the prohibitions, by making purcbafes under borrowed names ; while others, more dar- ing, fet tnem at open defiance. A law, defigned to humble the pride of riches, and give countenance to parfimony, was ill adapted to the afpiring views of the conquerors of Carthage and Numantia. The anticnt abufes gathered (liength from the fuccefles of the ftate; and were daily renewed, with many aggravations, threatening the utter ruin of the indudrious hnlhandmaui and the eztindlion of popular li* berty.
* While avarice and rapine were thus ranging at Utt quarter over the patrimony of the poor, one firenuous effort was made to repel their hodile invafions, by the virtoe and courage of the famous Tiberius Scmpronius Gracchus ; a yoathful hero, adorned with tstry valuable accomplifhment of the genuine Roman. Melting with pity at the defolate view of the Hetrurian plains, forfaken by their native inhabitants, and over-run by foreign (laves ; animated likewife by the tries of the whole people, who importunately demanded the reftitu- tion of the alienated hndf| he refolately iiood forth the advocate of their defertrd caufe.
* Atmcd with the power of the tribunate, he meditated an excel- lent fcheme of it^rth ; and engaged feveral other eminent perfbns, who had yet efcaped the general contagion, to fopport it with their onitftd authority. The candid and equitable principle upon which thii low was framed, is a convincing proof both of his wifdom and toibderiition } for it may be truly affirmed, that a gentler remedy was nevir before applied tofo defptirate a mifchief. Free from the impolitic an^ialevoient defiredf reducing all orders to one common level, his on^obj^d was to preferve rhe proper diilinAion between each ; by
ll^rigging back tl.f rich witbio the ]^^\t of thofe laws which they had
fo
Be verV Hlftory of the Ligal Polity of the Roman StaU. 20 f
b flianefully tranrgrefled ; and by reftoring the poor to tkofe rightt of which they had been fo uojuftly deprived. To quiet the appre* henfioos of the offenders, he remitted the fines inflided by the Ltci- sian law ; and to alleviate their hardihips, directed that the value of the lands to be refigoed ihould be repaid out of the public treafniy* As a farther indulgence, he allowed the heir of the family to retaint two hundred and fifty acres, over and above the eftatepoflefied by his lather.
* The humble commonalty, amply fatisfied with the propoftd reformations, would willingly have buried all former ads of injuf- tice in total oblivion, on condition only of having their poflefiiona fecured from any future incroachments. But the opulent landholders* enraged at the law by the iniligations of avarice, and at the author by refentment and perverfeners, drove to alarm the jealoufy of the people again fi Tiberius, by charging him with a defign to introduce innovations, and excite commotions in the fitte. The powers of eloquence, however, exerted in fo juft a caufe, rendered him invind* ble ; and bis adverfaries, confounded by the force of it, had reoourie to the common expedient of dividing the tribunitian authority againft itfelf ; by prevailing upon Odavius, another of the fame body, to an- terpoie his negative.
' But this injudicious refiftance ferved only to aggravate the evil* which it meant to remove. It inflamed the seal of the intrepid Tiberius ; provoked him to abandon the mild and humane deiign of bis Brd law, and to bring in another, much more fevere upon the engroflers of lands ; enjoining thef«i to give up immediately whatever they poiTeiTed, contrary to the permiflion of the laws then in being* The difTenfions dill encreafing, he went further ; fnfpended the mif giftrates from the cxercife of their refpeflive jurifdidions, fealed op the treafury, and put an entire fiop to the ordinary courie of publie bufinefs.
* After various fruitlefs attempts to reconcile the contending par- ties, Tiberius, by his fuperior influence over the people, depofed Odavius from his office of tribune ; and having thus violently overpowered all oppofition, his law was confirmed by the voice of the ** comicia/' and himfelf appointed one of the commiflioneri to regulate the intended diftribution. At the fame time, to fecure the affedion of his fellow-citizens, he took advantage of a fingular be- quefl| lately made by Attains King of Pergamus, of his whole domi- nions and fortune to the Roman people ; and propofed that the ready money, left by this infatuated prijice, (houid be divided among fuch of the poor as had obtained a fliare of the public lands* to enable them to improve their farms; and as to the cities and territories, he denied the difpofal of them to the fenate, infilling that the right belonged to the people in general, whofe pleafure he (hoold confult upoii that occafion.
' To proted him againft the malice of the exafperated nobles, he waseleded tribune for another year; andj^ ftrengtbened by this re- newal of his authority, gave daily proofs of the nncereft attachment to the popular caufe. But his enemies, watching his mol! innocent motions with an eye of prejudice, carried the folly of fufpicio^ to fe great a Ipngth, as to interpret a fudden elevation of his band toward
202 Bevcr^j HlJIory of the Legal Poltty of the Roman State.
his head (defigned by himfelf only as a fignal of diflrefs in the hestt of a tamult) into the demand of a diadem. What was fuggeftioo only in the ** (orom," was truth in the feoate. The members of that haughty body, trembling for their ufurped property, were cla- noroQs with the conful to avenge them of the tyrant. But thatwifh tod juft nagilUate refufing to pafs fentence before the guilt wa) proved, Scipio NaGca, whom fear and fclf interefl alone had fudden- ly trinjformed into a champion of liberty, rulhed oot, at the head of a band of defperate partizant, upon the defencelefs tribune ; and put him to a barbarous and ignominious death with a vile weapon, the life of which could only have been excufcd againll a favage and noxious animal : and thus fell Tiberius Gracchus, an illullrioub vic- tim to a rapacious and implacable fenate/
After difcourfing at large concerning the nature and caufes of the political revolutions which took place, from the latter period of the commonwealth through a long fucceflion of em- perors (of which we (hall afterwards take more particular nor tke), our Author proceeds to explain the manner in which the emperors iiTued their mandates from their council or confif- tory, in the feveral forms of refcripts, decrees, and edids. In treating of the ftate of the profeffion of law under the emperors, he gives a particular account of the two remarkable fe6ls called Sahinians and ProcuUianSy who introduced the fubtle difputations of metaphyfics into the fcience of jurifprudcnce j of the feft of Moderators, who afterwards rofe up under the name of AUdii et Hercifiundiy and endeavoured to reconcile the contrarieties with which the former difputants had perplexed the law; and of leveral eminent lawyers who diftinguiflied this period.
Dr. B. next enumerates the alterations and improvements which took place in the Roman law under Conftantine, and takes notice of feveral attempts, which were made by Theo- dofius and others, to methodize the laws. His account of Juflt- nian'fi great itndertaking for this purpofe, is as follows :
* When Jullinian afcended the imperial throne, the laws, being dlfperfed, with the other writings of the antient magiftrates and pro- fefiors, among no lefs than two hundred thoufand volumes, or lolls, were now grown almoll ufelefs, and were lofl in their own immenfiiy. Juftinian, at this time in his full vigour of body and mind, conceived vaft defigns for the refloration of the empire to its original fplendour, as well as for the improvement of its conditution. Of the many former attempts to methodize the laws, none had ever yet been carried into execution, fuch detached colledlions only ex- cepted as have been already mentioned. But thefe, being all very partiad and confined, both in refneft to their fubjeQ- matter, and the periods wherein they .were enaded, fell far (hort of that noble and comprehepfive plan wnich Jallinian had projeded in his own mind, .Xhi^ WAS, to take a minute and careful furvey of this indigefted mafs , of diffiordant materials; to fenarate and arrange its. parts, and from thence to form one rejgular and welUconneded body of laws, to be the future ftandard of juilice for the whole empire^
' A fcheme
Be vcr*i Hiftorj of the Legal Polity of <A# Roman State. 103
* A fcheme (o fall of confcqaences to the future we]fare of the Sate requiring the utmoft ctrcumfpeAion, he entrufted the manage^ meDt of it to a committee of ten perfons of the mo& approved learn- ing and abilities, who had borne fome of the higheft oflices above the court; intruding them to begin their work with a careful re^ifaloJF the three foregoing Codes, and of all the other imperial conftitaciona of his predecefTors, whether Pagan or Chrillian, as well before as fince the time of the fecond Theodoiius. From hence the^ were to extract a feries of plain and concife laws ; omitting the former fuper* fluous preamble!, as well as all other matters that carried a too iimi« )ar or too oppoiite a meaning ; but with liberty either to exten4 or limit their fenfe, or to alter them, in whatever manner they (hould think moft likely to facilitate their future ofe and operation. Thia done, they were to arrange them under feparate tides ; that, by thua bringing whatever related to the fame fubjedt under one point of view, their import might be the better underilood. Several djrec« tions werelikewife given concerning the order in which they were to Hand according to their dates, and the Confols in whofe times thejr were publifhed ; with fome other lefs material particulars, which re- late more to their internal form, than to their binding authority.
* The whole, thus compiled, was called the CcJe bearing his own name; from whence alone, for the quicker difpatch of bufinefs, the imperial conftitutions were to be quoted on all future judicial dec!- fions. It was divided into twelve books, and each book into feveral titles* with other fmaller fubdivifions ; and includes all the imperial laws that were thought worth prefervlng, from Hadrian to Judinian. Being thus finifhed, in the third year of his reign, it received his pub- lic and folemn confirmatiooi by a refcript direded to Meanaj the Praetorian Prxfedl.
* Joilinian appears to have confidered the Code only as an intro- dodion to a work of much greater extent and utility, which was to go back to the very beginning of the Roman governtnent itfelf, and to comprehend every branch of the antient jurifprudence, which has been the fubjed of our former inquiries. The chief of thefe were the Reffonfes of the Lawyers, and the Edi3s of the Magiftrates 5 which, with the comments of fubfequent annoiators, were fcattered aboQt in two thoufand volumes, and were fubdivided into more than three hundred thoufand verfes or fentences. The emporor himfelf feems alarmed and ftaggared at the difficulty of the undertaking ; bar, with the Divine favour, determines to perfevere to its final com- pletion.
' To this end, he iflued a mandate to Tribonian, whom he calla the ^ueftor 9/ hit Palace^ committing the whole to his direftion ; and empowering him to call to his afliftance any number of the moft ikil- fbl advocates, ftateOnen, and politicians, that he (hould approve. Their firft bufinefs was, to perufe the writings of all the great profef- fors, whom former princes had intruded with the power of interpret- ing the law ; and from thence to feled the moft material parts* rejed- ing all fuperfloities and contradidions, fo that one principle might iiiffice for one fubjed. In their determinations upon queftions either of expediency or equity, they were nottofuffer their judgments to be biafled by the mnltitude of authorities ; as (he fingle opinion of an
inferior
204 Bever^i Hifioryiff the Legal Polity ofthi Roman Statu
inferior writer iiii^ht« in fome inftafices, be preferable to that of a najority : (6 that if any dodrine could be extraded from wriciogt of left general inerit» that was capable of throwing a better light upon a paflage even of Papinian himfelf, it (hoold be inferted without hcil- Ution. They were likewife indulged with the fame liberty, as before in the Code, to admit, rejedy or alter whatever they thought rood conducive to the perfedion of the work; and what they fo adopted was to be received as law, without being liable to be impeached or invalidated, in confequence of any difference from the original,
* Thefe colledions were to be diftribuied into fifty books, and tbefe again into certain titles, in imitation either of the Cole, or of the Pirpttual EdiS^ as the compilers (bould judge mod proper. They were to contain the whole of the antient Uw, for near fourteen hundred years patl ; and the opinions of t^tery author therein pre- ferved were to be treated with an equal degree of refped, in thoie branches of the fcience in which each was particularly known to excel ; none of ihem being alike excellent in all. Upon the whole, no laws were to be revived which had been abolifhed by long difufe ; bot thofe only were to prevail which had been the moil cooftantly pradifed in courts of jutt ice, or approved by the uniform reception of the meuopolis; according to the maxim of Salvius Julian, who lays it down at a principle, that all other cities (hall follow the cuftom •f Rome ; by which the emperor uo*w means, not only the primitive city, but that likewife in which he prefides.
* This learned body of men obeyed the imperial mandate with the greateft alacrity ; and, though allowed ten years, a time (hort enough tor fo extenfive a work, conuived to perform it in about three; fan- cying^ perhaps, there was more merit in expedition than in ac- curacy. But, whether it was owing to this caufe, or to the want of attention in the compilers, it was certainly not executed with that precifion and exadnefs which the emperor, from his inftrudionx, appears to have intended ; and which, if ftridly purfued, would have made it the pride of human wifdom and policy. Notwith- flanding his exprefs diredions to tbeoi, to avoid all contradidory Jaws, and to preferve fuch a general concord among them, tbit they ihould all lead to one confequence^ nothing is more com- mon, than to find the judgment fufpended by doctrines of a qui;e oppofite tenor; upon tne (Irengih of which, an acure advocate may eaDly maintain either fide of a controverted quellion with equal confidence .'
* Thus was this elaborate work completed, and ufhercd into the world under two folemn inftrumeoCs of confirmation, addreffed jointly to the bcniate and People. The name by which it is mod ufualty known is the Digeft^ from the order into which it is re- duced ; bur, from the comprehentiveners- of ais plan, it is likewife called the Paudias .*
* While the Digeft was preparing for publication, the emperor gave orders to Tribonian* in conjuodjon with two other eminent profeiTors, Dorotheus and Theophiius, to colled all the fundamen* tal principles of the antient. law into a fmall manual, containing fpur books ; which he diftinguiOied by the title of lmfiitut9t^ in imitation of the InHitutions of Caius, meniioned upon a former
6 occafion^
Bever*i Hiftory of the Legal Pciity of the Rman State. 205
occafion, Tbefe be defigned principally for the ufe of noviciates ; whoy by making themfelves firll perfedly acquainted with the ele- ments, might, with greater eafe and ceruinty, proceed to an in- vefiigation of the more deep and abtlrufe parts of the fcience. Ic was publiihed about a month before the Digeft, by way of an in- troduAion. thoagh they both received their legal confirmation at the fame time.
* This little work is fo troly admirable, both for its method and concifenefft, as well as for the elegance of its compofition, that ic has been imitated by almoft every nation in Europe, that hath ever made any attempt to reduce its own laws to a regular and fdentific form, h has paffed through a vaA variety of editions, with com* mentaries fuiied to the particular conftitntions of thofe countries where they were publiihed : and whoever will take the pains to compare it with the antient writers on the Laws of England, from the twelfth century downwards, will find, that the very beft of them lie under the greateft obligation to this work of Jnftinian, not barely for their models alone, but alfo for the chief part of their rules and principles, and in feme inftances, where the fubjed require^ for whole titles aJmoft literally cranfcribed from thence; how much foever their more modern fucceflbrs in the fame<hononrable profeffiom may sfifrdt an ignorance or contempt of thole fertile fbortes of juri- dical learning.
* In the fame interval, Juftinian having obfenredy that many qnef* tions had occurred, and controverfies arifen, which had never re« ceived any determination, either by the antient imperial C0Bftil»» tions, or by his own Code, he ordered that work to£e revifed, and republifhed, with feveral correflions and alterations, together witk fifty ftw decifions upon feme other doubtful points ; ftili prefi^'ving tb§ Sv>^ form, brder, books, and titles, as in the former. Thia was called the Coiiex Ripeiita PraUShnh^ and is the fame that is now extant ; the firft edition having been purpofely fopprefled oa account of it» incorredtnefi, fo that no remains of ic have ever reached poller ity«
* Though juftinian had thus completed this nfefnl defxgn of re- forming the ancienY laws, the buHnefs of legiflation continued always to be his favorite object. He fcized ^vtry opportunity^ which a long reign gave him, of enlarging his orignal plan, by the addition of fuch laws as the exigencies of the fucceeding times de- manded. Tbefe, he eafily forefaw, would gradually increafe to fiiek a bulk, as to fornilh ma;erials for another colledion ; which, there- fore, he intended to make, and to publiih them all together, as a fupplement to the former| under the name of Novelty or Nenn Comjiiiuticns. But thefe, though ena^ed on purpofe to fapply the Omilfions, and correal the faults, of the preceding publications, want much of that brevity, dignity, and foltdity, which fo remarkably dif* tit)gui(h the juridical compofitions of the ancients* Thtir fenfe is too ofien either obfcu red by barbarifms, or loft in a labyrinth of nnne* cefTsry phrafes. Many of them, however, are of acknowledged merit and utility : witnefs, in particular, the hundred and eighteenth Novel, to which the Engliih Icj^iilature will be for ever obliged, for
feme
\ \
ao6 MilfesV Edit, of Rowley^i Poems.
ibiD« of Uie mod ofeful principles of cbat famoua and exeell<r»i fiatate for the diilributioo of intetUte effcds«
* Thefe laws were originally compofed in Greek, a very few only excepted, ibat being the vernacular language of ihe Eaftcro em- pire. But, whether they were co]le£led together by Jaftinian him* ielfy according to his own propofition, is a matter of controversy among the learned ; though the moil general opinion is, that this part of tb» plan was undertaken by fome anooymons hands after his death ; to which was added a ytry minute verbal tranflation, from whence they obtained the name of Auilnntits^ Bot* in the mean while, JuliaDy an eminent profeflTor in the academy at Conftantinople Qoder the reign of Jnilin the Second, publifhed an abridgment of them, with an elegant Latis verfion of his own, chiefly calculated for private ofe; as the former alone carried the authority of law.
' The four principal parts above mentioned, colledively taken, Cflinftitiite the Body of the Qvvil Lawt to be generally received and obeyed through every part of the Roman dominioni; and to be ocmBdered either M /r0«ai(^#di^ or rsm/^ri/ by Jaftinian. Under the irft defcripcion are included all the Novels, and thofe Cooftitutions of the Code that were expreGly eaaded by himfelf; under the latter, the Inftitutet, Digei^» and remainder of the Code, that were already framed to his h^nds, but were only reduced to better order, and re* pablifhed under his aufpices.'
. Th« Hiftory clofes with an account of the progrefs and de- cline of JiiiUnian's laws, and their revival in the 12th century \ §m the parttcalars of which we muft refer to the work itfelf, mVkdk %^ % Hiftoij of Civil LaWy is a valuable addition to our Hock of Englifli literature. Its merit as a hiftory of the Roman Gonftitution^ we (hall examine in a future article. fip
>*«
At r. iX. ttoimi Jkppoftd to ha^ut been 'wriittn at Briftol in the 1 ^tb C^«- tMry. By Thomas Rowley, Prieft, &c. With a Commentary, in which the Antiquity of them is confidered and defended. By Je- remiah Milles, D. D. Dean of Exeter. 4to. 1 1. is. boards* Payne. 1782.
THE revival of this curious controverfy hath excited us to examine its merits with renewed attention ; and as we would e?er wiih to make impartial conviction the ground-work of all our decffions, we hefitate not to declare, that our fenti- iiients refpeding thefe Poems* have undergone a very confider* able revolt^tion, and that we find ourfelves neceffitated to quit that ground which we formerly held. We prepared our Read- ers for this declaration at the conclufion of our account of Mr* Clark's Anfwer to Mr. Shaw *. Neverthclcfs, we pretend not to Ufi that all difficulties refpedling this controverfy have been fo totally vaoquiflied in our minds as to admit of no doubt. There
iMhi
* Vid. Rev. Jan* Art. to.
M'lWcs' r Edit. 9/ Rowlcy'j P&trm^ 70J
h femeibifi^ ytK myfterious which eludes our fnquified; and at the moment when we are ^-eady to flatter ourfclves with the pof- fcifion of the truth, fome inexplic^^hle cloud arifes before it, which, if it doth not wholly darken its fubftance, yet at leaft ob feu res its form.
To take up the matter in a general view, we would propoie the following remarks to the inquiiitive and critical reader of Rowley's Poems.
As a literary impofition is fufpe^led, it is incamb^nt on the partisans of this fide of the controverfy to prove clearly, that un- equivocal and decifive circumftances are entirely incompatible with what hath been prefumed and aflerted by the advocates for the authenticity of thefe Poems. This proof vrilfeafily reft oil the ftyle and language of the poems, the fentiments and allufioffy which occur in them, and the form and ftrudure, complexieir and finifhing, of the moft confiderable of them. Here vtrbai critmfm bath alarge fcope, but that of tajlt is ftill more ex- teniive.
On the other hand, the fupportcrs of the authentfcity of thefc Poems ou^ht to combat fuch ftrong objedfpns with perfpccuity and precinon,. not by an implicit reliance on the aifeverations of Chatterton, whom they themfelves calumniatd as ^^'uiiprinr cipled," and who indeed contradtfied himfelf in the vefy outfet of his adventure, and freely acknowledged the impodtion wbicb be had not taken fufficient pains to guard j-^not by partial qucK tattons from the Poems themfcUes, for a difplay of antiquated words and 'obfcure expreffions ; nor by quotations ftill more partial, from one or two old £ngli(h poets, in ord«r to fliew^ how pojftble'xt was for them to produce, now and then, an iMihaN' fij monious coincidence of words. All this is nothing,co ttre pur* pofe. The man of tq/icj who hath alfo been converfaiit witb the poets of the 1.5th century, feels every argument oh xhis head ^ . to be de^ve, by an emotion which is fuperior to all labourejL i^ / reafonings, but which, neverthelefs, ^vtvy reafon, ainl everj^ /
examination ftill more ftrongJy concur to fupport. ]% alfo bc«n boves the gentlemen on this fide of the argument to provie'thae Chatterton was unequal to this literary fraud; both*- as to^m genius and acquired knowledge, by a fair and cihdid conrrparr* fon of thefe Poems, with thofe produ&ions which* ilc atcknow* ledged to have been his own. This latter hath been attempted 'i^ but in our opinion the comparifon hath been conduced- witE! great unfairpefs and partiality. Of this, we iluU fpcak more particularly hereafter.
Dr. MilleSy the learned prefideotcf the Antiquariad.Soctety^. bath here ftepped forward with an honeft zeal, ^^Xo gjivehoDOur to whom honour is due,'' and to fubftantiatd a claim which had? been judged ideal by feme of our beft critics — ptrtietilarly lAn
Tyrwhitt
2oS Millea'x E£f. of Rowley'i Poemt.
Tyrwbitt and Mr. Thomas Warton. He is ardent in the caufe of the * gode priefte/ and has exerted his bcft endeavours to
' -— — roaze him ap before the jodgcnent daie^
To fay what be as clergyood can keone.
And bow be fojourn'd in the vale of men.'
Entroiua. to EIUu
* It is to be remarked (fays the Dean) in the firft place, that- cvery circumftance relating to this uncommon difcovery feems to reduce us to this alternative, either to believe that ihey were really copied by Chatterton from parchments found in RadclifFe church, or that they virere written by himfelf, and produced to the world under that falfe title/ We are willing to join iflue with the learned prelident on this ground ; for the intervention of a third perfon is, we think, too improbable to be admitted on any fuppofition whatever : at leaft it is a conjecture built on fuch ideal props, that to admit it, inftead of removing the main difficulties, would only add to their number, and increafe their weight.
With refpe£): to Chatterton, the prefent Editor obferves, that ' in the former editioos we may fee fome general lineaments of this C3traordinary youth. But as the fads and circumilances attending his progreft through a very (hort and unhappy life, will fupply many topics of argument to illuflrate the prefent fubjed, it may not be im- proper to produce the refults of a mod exa^ and diligent enquiry made by a gentleman of great credit and veracity, from Chatterton's mother and fifter, and from fuch of his farviving friends who were able to give him information on this fobjedk.
*• His mother fays, chat be wu born Nov. 20. 17^2, and bap* tized at Raddiff church the ift of January following. That be went to (c\gp\ at five years of age ; was admitted into Colfton's charity* ftkoolAag., 3» 1 761; was bound apprentice to Mr. John Lambert* attorney at Briftol, for feven years, on the ift of July 1767, removing the fame day from the fchool to his mailer's hoa£. The inftrudlioivs at Colftob^ fchool were confined to reading, writing, and arith- metic ; the honrs appointed for it doring the fummer half-year were from feven to twelve, and from one to five ; in the winter, two hours kfs each day. He was always in bed by eight of the clock, and never permitted to be abfent, except on Saturdays and faints days, firom between one and two, till between fovea and eight at night. When he firft west to fchpol he was obferved to be of (low apprenen- fion, and uncommonly dull ; was about five years old before he knew bis letters ; his writing-mafier, Mr. Low, who fucceeded Chatterton's father as mafterof the fchool In Pile-Ureet, thought it was impoflible to make him learn them ; and he bad a fancy to oe taught them by his mother from the illuminated initials in an old vellum French ma- Bufoript treatife on mnfic, and which moft probably came from Rid-* difiFcharch. She taught him afterwards to read from a black-lettered Teftament (as ihe called it), meaning a Bible, Bot before he left that fchool he grew fond of reading, and borrowed from Mr. Long and Mr. ShorelifiFi and particularly from Mr. Green, who ha^i the
largeft
Milles*j Edit, (f Rowley V Poemu 209
laretd colle£lion of aoy bookfeller in Bridol (and to whom he was obliged for Speght's Chaucer)^ fuch books as their (hops produced. Bat he knew nothing of the parchments taken from Radcliff* church,. nor of their contents, till he had \th Mr. Colflon's fchool. The of- fice hours at Mr. Lambert's were from feven in the n>oroing till eight at night ; and Mr. Lambert, who atiefts ths regularity of his attendance, fays, that he was never once known to be out of the hoafe after ten of the clock ac nighc ; but he then went to bed very late, and rofe ytty early, feldom fpending more time with his mother and fitter than from eighc to rine in the evening. He left Mr* Lambert in April 1770, and went to London, where it is fuppofed he put an. end to bis miferable life in the month of Auguft following.
** As to the parchments, Mrs. Chattercon fays, that her hufband't uncle, John Chatter:on, was chofen fexton of RadcliiF church, March z^, ^7^S' ^^^ ^y'*'^g ^^ ^^^^ ofHce 174^, was fucceeded by Hump. Perrot, who died May 17^6. That her hufband keeping a writing fchool in Piie-ftreet, the uncle furnifhed htm with many old parchments for covering the boys copy books, a litJe before the death of Mr. Gibbs, vicar of RadcliiF, which parchments were taken oa^ of fome ancient cheils, in the room over the north porch of RadcUfF chnrch'(now empty, and dill to be feen in the room). Tha: the cha*' rity-boys belonging to the fchool in Pile-ftreet brought thefe parch* ments to her hufband^'s houfe ; and that they filled a large mannd baiket : That many of them had feals, the figure of a pope or a bifhop in a chair; others had no feals : That her hu/band put them in cup* boards in the fchool, for the purpofe of covering the boys writing* books; the beft of them were put to that ufe, and the reft remained in the cupboard. She thinks her hufband read fome of them, but does not know that he tranfcribed any, or was acquainted with their value ; but being particularly fond of mufic, he employed his leifure hoars in writing it for the cathedral, of which he was a finging man* He had been employed in London in engrofiing deeds for the attor* nieSf and was probably acquainted with the old hands. He had alio been writing ulher to a fchool where the clafiics were taught, and thereby knew a little of the Latin tongue. He died Augufl 1753^ abont three months before his fon was born. She fays, That the parchments in quedion, at the time of her hufband*!! deat^, were con- tained in a cupboard in the fchool-room, where they remained at long as the widow remained in the houfe, which was an indulgence granted her for fome time after her hufband's death. On her removal from thence, (he emptied the cupboard of its contents, partly into a long, large deal box, where her hufband ufed to keep his cloathi, and partly into a fquare box of a much fmaller fize, carrying both, Vfiih their contents, to her lodgings, where, according to her ac- count, they continued negle£led and undiflurbed, till her fon firft dif- covered their value ; who having examined their contents, told his mother that '^ he had found a treafure, and was fo glad nothing coald be like it." That he then removed all thefe parchments out of the. long, large deal box, under the bed, in which his father ufed to keep his doaths, into a fquare oak box of a fmaller fize. That he waa perpetually rummaging and ranfacking every corner for more parch- ments, and from time to time carried away thofe he had already
Rfiv. March, 1782. P found
lio Millcs** Edit, of Rowley 'i Poms.'
found by pockets-foll. That one day happening to fee Clarke's Hiilory of the Bible covered with one of thefe parchments, he fi» ore a great oath, and ftripping^the book, put the parchment into his
Socket, and carried it away ; at the fame time Gripping a common ttle bible, but finding no writing on the cover, replaced it again Tcry leifurely. Twenty bibles were prefentcd to the charity-boys of File-ftreet, of which Chatterton was mafter, by the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, vicar of RadcHfF church, under whofe appointment Chatterton adied; which bibles were afterwards covered wi:h the parchments taken from l^e room over the porch. Upon his being informed by his mother from whence and by what means his father hr(l procured thefe parch- ments; he went himfeif to the place, and picked up four more» which, if Mrs. Chatterton remembers right, Mr. Barret has at this time in his pofleffion. Mr. Barret confirms this tedimony with re- gard to Chatterton*s bringing parchments to him, which be took fh>m the room over the porch, who alfo faid, that he had been there more than once. But Mr. Barret obferves, that thefe parchments contained deeds of land, &c. in Latin ; and that Chatterton defired Mr. Barret to read them to him, as he neither underllood the lan- guage nor charadler in which they were written. ' * Mrs. Newton, his Gfler, being afked, if (he remembers his having mentioned Rowley's Poems after the difcovery of the parchments ? Ays, that he was perpetually talking on that fubjeft ; and once in particular (about two years before he left Brillcl), when a relation, one Mr. Stephens of Salifbury, made them a vilic, he talked of no* thing el^; which Mr. Stephens hath fi nee confirmed, as to the ge- neral tenor of the converfation, though at fuch a diftance of time he doch not charge his memory with particulars. — That he ufed to read Rowley vtty often to her, and fometimes his own poems ; but as the latter were ahnoll wholly fatyr'T^l, the mother and grandmother grew imeafy, fearing chat they Jhould involve him in fomefcrape; after which he chiefly read Rowley to her. One of the poems on Our La- dy's church (bu: which of the two (he doth not know) he read from a parchment, and (as (he believevs) the Battle of Haltings alfo, but is not certain. Being afked, if (he remembered any particular pafTages which he read ? (he replied, " The language was fo old, that I could not nnderDand them ; (hey were all to me a blank ; [ had no kind of relifh for them. This my brother ufed fometimes to perceive ; would grow angry, and fccid at me for want of tallc. But what I fickened my poor brother with, 1 remember very well, was my inat- tention to the Battle of HaRings, which before he ufed to be perpe- tually repeating." When he was ccmnunicative he would read the play of Ella to his fiHcr ; and (lie recollcdls his having mentioned the names o( Target and John Stow. She never faw him copying the parchments at his mother's, but concludes that he did it at Mr. Lam- bert's office, where once^ and once only, (he thinks that (he faw hfrn tranfcribing one of them. She defcribes thefe parchments as curled and crumpled^ and green about the edges,*
To thefe curious relations refpefting Chatterton and his dif- coveries, fucceeds his iifler's letter, originally publilhed in a pamphlet entitled Love and Madnef$f by the extenfivc circula- tion
Mi]lti*s Edit, of Rowley 'x Poims, an
tion of which this letter is fo well known, that we (hall not tranfcribe it. We (hall only remark, that we have Ofiea read It, and every time with fre(h emotions of fympathetic ten- dernefs. Its unaiFedled fimplicity feizeth on the heart; the en- thuflafm of fancy kindles as we read ; we feel the greatnefs of a i rtiing genius, and deplore the cataftrophe that fo foon and fo faully ftopped its progrefs, and robbed the world of a being equally formed to aftonifli and delight mankind.— —But we are got on ground as delufive as the land of Fairies we muft retreat before fancy's enchanted cup hath made us forget the ii9»t duty ^ of fober and unbiafled critics.
• From Mrs. Newton's letter refpe&ing her brother, the learned Dean draws fome inferences, tending to eftabli(h the authenticity of thefe Poems. . The firft inference is, * that there did exift, and come into young Chatterton's poiTeflfon, parchments be- longing to his father, which appear by other accounts to have been taken from the room over the porch of RadclifF church.' We objedl not to this inference ; and we believe it is agreed on all (ides, that a number of parchments came into Chatterton's hands 'by thefe means. But ftill the evidence to their contents is vague and indeterminate in the higheft degree. Mrs. Newton was no judge of them, nor the o^her witnefles that the Dean bath produced to corroborate and add to her teftimony* They univerfally exprefs themfelves in language which bears a quef- tionable (hape. Not that we mean to lufped their veracity ; but from their own confeiEon we take the liberty of fufpedting their judirments. They faw MSS. but they could not read them. How then were they certain that they contained the Pc^ms which have been Ance publifbed under the name of Rowley ? Why, they are certain of it, becaufe Chatttrton faid they were. 7^his is a very inconclufive method of reafoning indeed ! For on the fuppofition of impofture, Chatterton. doubtlefs would not have faid otherwife. And was it lefs an im- pofture becaufe they were not let into the fecrctf He that was capable of the main fraud, was furely capable of thofe fubordi- jiate artifices which were defigned to give it credit.
With rerpe<a to thofe parchments of which we have heard (o much, we have very little reafon to believe them to have been any thing more than gr^nrs to the church, deeds of lands, in- dulgences, L^c. &c. This appears from the feals which are faid to have been affixed to them, and which well agree with fuch inftruments. There may have been alfo fome hiftorical records lodged iiuMuniment Room, and from them Chatterton might poflibly fuvc received information rcfpcdling fevcral events it* corded in the Poems. But that Ptems (hould have been con- (igncd to a cheft, locked with fix keys, lodged in a private room belonging to the church of Radcliff, which cheft was only to be
p 2 Opened
ii2 Millcs*j Edit, of Rowley*/ Poms^
opened by the mutual confent of fix perfons, and that in gene- ral only once a year, at a fet feftival, is a fuppofition equally improbable and abfurd. We can account for theic particular reftri(ftions relpcSing a cheft that contained deeds, grants, re- gifters, records, &c. &c. which reTpet^ed the church or the city ; but no piaufible reafon can be given why poems, confiding of tragedies, ballads, epilUes, eclogues, epitaphs, &c. &c, (hould have been configned to the fame depofit, and fubjeiled to the fame regulations, efpecially, too, when it is confrJcred that this pretended arrangement took place after the introduftion of printing. A fingle poem might have been unnoticed; but that fuch a number (hould have been huddled amongft pamphlets of lb very different a nature, with which they had no connexion : that having been once known, they (hould have lain in a ftate of abfoluie negleS, at a time too when poetry had begun to be in reqiicft,' and when the multiplying of copies was rendered cafy by means of the prefs — The fuppofition contains in it fo many improbabilities, that we need evidences and fadls much f^rongtr thanthofe which have hitherto appeared, to give it any fort of credit whatever.
As to the MSS. which were given to Mr. Barret, we will only fay, that if they are of the fame nature with that which Mr. Strutt hath engraved in a fac fimile^ we (hould Have no fcruple in pronouncing them to be impofitions. The latter is evidently fuch. It contains no fpecies of hand- writing that ever exifled in any age ; and could only have been read by the pcrfod who writ it. Will Mr. Barret (land forv/ard, and declare as a tiian of honour, that in his conicience he believes it to be ah authentic original r — and that the MS. which contained the Song of Ella, with Lydgate's Anfwer, was the fame ?
To proceed with the Dean's inferences from Mrs. Newton's letter : He obferves from it, * that Chatterton very early dif- covered a thirft for pre-eminence; that his temper was proud and imperious ; that his ambition made him fpeaic in great rap- tures of the undoubted fuccefs of his plan for future life.' Agreed. And what then ? What inference would the Dean draw from Mrs. Newtim's very (iriking account of the natural turn of her brother's difpofition and purfuits, which the oppo- nents of Rowley mi^ht not avail themfelves of with mucK greater advantage to fupport their own hypothefis ? In (hort, biT account ftrongly tends to credit the fuppofition, that Rowley and Chatterton were the fame. Could any thing more Ihik- ingly mark the features of genius than the following ira'tts which Mrs. Newton hath given of her brother. ** i remem- ber (fays (he) his early ihirlt for pre-etninence ; and that be- fore be was five years old he would always prefide over his
1 p'*y-
M'\\]es*s Ed$t. of RowUy^s Poms. 2ij
play*mates as their mafter, and they his hired fervants.— — About his joth year he began to hire books from the circu- lating library with the trifle allowed him for pocket* money, and made a rapid progrefs (as his u (her fa id) in arithmetic. Be* tween his i ith and 12th years he wrote a catalogue of the books he had read, to the number of feventy. His fchooUmatca faid, that he retired to read at the hours allotted for play. About the age of twelve, he wrote vcrfcs on the Laft Day— para- phrafed the ninth chapter of Job, and fome chapters of Ifaiab* Soon after he wrote fome fatirical * pieces, — His fpirits were ra- ther uneven ; fometimes fo gloom'J, that for many days toge- ther he wodd fay very little, and that by conftraint; at other times exceeding cheerful. When he was in fpirits, he wouM enjoy his rifiiig fame : confident of advancement, be would pro- mife my mother and me (hould be partakers of his fuccefs." It is faid that he enjoyed his rifmg Fame, after the difco very of the . pretended MSS. ^^t tranfcribing oi another*^ vtorks qo\x\6 ne^ ver have infpired him with fo much confidence. No— it was the confcioufnefs— rthe fecret, but ardent feeling of his. own abi- lities, fitted to almoft every purfuit in literature, and capable of rivaling almoft any poet of any age.
The third inference which the learned Dean hath deduced from Mrs. Newton's letter, is founded. on a very curious, and fomewhat laughable miftake.— * Chatterton could not be charged with venality.^ — The Dean is willing to make the moft of this inference, and brings it a fecond time in play, by way of de-> ducing an inference from it. ^ It is highly incredible (fays he) that he who was above venality^ and fo great a lover of truths (hould make himlelf a living lie.' Gravely reafoned !^but^ like fome other ^r^tw reafons made ufe of in this argument, the inference in queftion is wholly founded on Mrs. Newton's ufrng
the word venality as a more decent term for . Tb«
Reader will judge what (he meant, by permitting her to fpeak for herfelf. *^ My brother would frequently walk the Col- lege-green with the young girls that ftatedly paraded there to (hew their finery ; but I really believe he was no Debauchee (though fome have reported it) : the dear unhappy boy hid faults enough : I faw with concern he was proud, and exceed- ingly imperious : hut that of Venality he could not be jujlly accufed with,'*
The laft inference from Mrs. Newton's letter rcfpefls Chat- terton's love for truth. " He was a lover of truth from the earlieft dawn of reafon ; and nothing could move him fo much
* Perhaps that fatirical piece, entitled Apojiate Hill, puWifhfd by the author of * Lov^ and Madaefs/ might haye been one of the nuoiT
P3 . w
214 MillcsV EJt(. of Rowley V Poems,
as being belied. His mailer depended on his veracity on all oc* cafions." So fays Mrs. Newton ; and we efteem her for her honeft zeal for the reputation of her deceafed brother. But of ivhat ufe can this teftimony be to the Dean ? Very great, ho thinks. We, on the contrary, think it of little avail to eila* biiih the auth^fity of Rowley. Chatterton's attachment to truth muft, at leaft, be proved to have been uniform^ before any concluiion can be formed from it. Now the Dean himfelf hath laboured to prove him a liar in two inflances; the firft re^ fpeds the paper concerning the Bridge^ publiflicd in Farley^ Journal ; and the fecond refpe<3s cme of the pieces entitled the BattU ojf Hajiings. Both of thefe Chatterton acknowledged himfelf to have written : but in fpite of this declaration the Dean will allow him no credit ; and of a fudden, this lover of truth makes ** himfelf a living He!** What then btcomes of the fourth inference ? and what becomes of the Dean's confiftcncy ? «<-*-We cannot avoid inflancing another unfair mode of argument in the Preliminary Difcourfe. When the authenticity of Row- ley's Poems is to be efta&lifhed by the help of Chatterton 's de- clarations, the Dean appeals to his fitter's Letter in behalf of the young man's moral charadler : but when the Poems them- felves are appealed to for their intrinfic merit ; and their moral leiTons and pure tendency are difplayed in order to fupport their claim to z facerdoial origin^ then we no longer hear of Chatter- ton's morality ! then the epithets oi debauched^ unprincipled^ irre^ kgiouSy are applied to the unfortunate youth ; and he wtio before was too good for the impofition, becomes at laft too bad to write Aich verfips ! Yet take the matter in any view, and we cannot fee that it will tend much to eftablifh the Dean's reafoiiing. Chatterton's love for truth might have been naturally very great, and yet, as the impofition only tended to flatter his va- nity, without doing any injury to the world, he might imagine that he did not materially wound his veracity by this curious trial of his ingenuity. He had fome refpe£(able examples before him : and though, as rigid moral ifts, we muft condemn fuch con- du£^, yet when we confider his youth, our cenfure is relaxed, and in his misfortunes we forget his errors. His refcntmcnt at being belied might arife from that pride, of which, according to his fifler's account, he poflTeiTed a fufficient (hare. He at Icaft knew the importance of trath, and the credit it bore in the world ; and that alone was enough to irritate a fpirit like his, when any thing fo difgraceful as a lie was imputed to him. But granting that Chatterton had been the flagitious and un- principled youth he hath been reprcfented, we fee no great ad- vantage that the Dean can make of the conceffion. The fineft leflbns of morality and religion are often inculcated with great eloquence and pathos by men whofe hearts are totally cftranged
from
Millcs'x Edit, of Rowlcjr'i P$mtk 115
from their influence, and whofe condu£l is a perpetual contra- di£lion to their own infiru£tions. It would be invidious to point out examples ; — and we are forry to fay, that fuch examples are fo numerous, that it would be unneceflary. We learn frooa Mrs. Newton's Letter, that hijiory and divinity were the chieif fubjedls of his (tudy, from the earlieft period of it. The knovr ledge that he acquired of both in the courfe of four or five years, added to that aftoniOiinjg genius which nature had endued nim with, was perhaps fufficienc to render him. equa) to all the compoiitions which he gave out under the name of Rowley. That he was capable of writing on a religious fubjeA with great appearance of devotion, is evident from his Ode to Rifignati$n^ publiflied in Love and Madmjs^ in which we fcarcely knovr whether mofk to admire, the piety of its fentiments, or the beauty of its poetry.
The other tefti monies which the Dean hath produced in fa^ vour of his hypothefis, ftill manifeftly tend to confirm our opi- nion (if it needed any confirmation beyond his own writings)^ of the extraordinary genius and abilities of Chatterton. Thefe tefiimonies, as far as they are produced to prove the authenticitjf of the Poems, carry little or no weight in our account ( and we have already given a reafon for regarding them as triflii^g and unfatisfadtory. The fuccefs of Chatterton depended on hif ficrejy. He had no accomplice ; he was above looking out for one. He difdained afSftance ; and iuiew too that not one of hia acquaintance was capable of affording him any eflential aid ta the profecution of his fcheme. It was fufficient for him to re* ceive applaufe by oblique means, when perhaps it would have been denied him by thofe that were plain and dired. Whc||i Rowley was admired, he knew, to whom the praife was due: and this fecret exultation will fully account for the tranfport he difcovercd in reading the Battlt of Haflings to his fifter, and other poems, which he called Rowley s, to his friend Mr» Smith.
* Tney (fays the Dean) who are willing to think Cbatterton's time and abilities equal to all that is attributed to him, mud confider the great compafs and variety of knowledge neceilary to qualify him for fo ex ten five a forgery. He muft have been converfant, to a certain difgrec, with the language of oar ancient poets, with the meanin|; and inflexion of their words, and with the rules of grammar whicS they obfervcd. He mutt have formed a vocabulary from their books, which muil have been previoufly read and underftood by him, as the ground-work of his imitation, and undoubtedly the moft difficult part pf the undertaking.'
To the Jfuih of thefe obfervations we in a great degree fubfcribe ; and yet are by no means convinced that Cbattercoa was unequal to the talk in queftioa.
P + , Thii
2i6 Millc8*i Edit, of Rowley V Pcems.
The furprifing prematurity of Chatterton's abilities hath been already noticed, together with his very early application to lludies, and indefatigable affiduity in the purfuit of thofe branches of literature which particularly qualified him for this undertaking. His fifter obferves in her letter (and it is worthy of attention), that though he was conftantly in his matter's of- fice ^^i« isgbt in the morning to eight in the evenings yet that hi bad littli of his mafler's hujinefs to doyfometimes not above two hours in a day; which ((he adds) gave him an opportunity to purfue his 'genius. We know from Mr. Catcot's own teftimony, that this -uncominon youth had a moft remarkable facility in compofition ; and as an inftance of it, the following curious anecdote is re- lated by the author of Love and Madnefs \ viz, that Catcot talk- ing one day with Chatterton about happinefs, the latter averred that he had never turned his thoughts on the fubjeS, but that lie would. The next day he produced a poem, confifting of up- ^9rds of a hundred lines, in heroic meafure, and prefenting it to Catcot, informed him that it contained his creed of happinefs« The poem is undoubtedly irreligious ; but it bears the ftrongeft inarks^of genius, fagacity, and acutenefs, and convinces us of the great extent and variety of his abilities.
Chatterton was undoubtedly converfant with the writings of our ancient Englifh poets ; and feems to have had a very early prediledlion for old words, and black- leiier- lore. He had not only read Chaucer, but had with his own hand tranfcribed Speght's Gloflary. The copy is now in the pofieffion of Dr. Glynne. What is alfo deferving remark is a circumdanc re- lated of him by. his fitter, \\z* that foon after his apprenticc- ihip, and fome months before he was fifteen, he wrote a letter to em oldfchool mate (then at New York), confifting of a collection of all the bard words in the Englijb language^ and requejied him to an" fwerit. He that could colled hard words for a letter, might colled old ones for a poem.
But heie we are frequently aflced, " Where were his re- fourccs ?" To this we might reply, That as wc never faw the catalogue of the books he had read (confitting, when he went to X^ondon, of fome hundreds, according to his fitter's account)^ we cannot exadly enumerate them ; but that the poems which he writ, under the name ofRow]ey,did not requireany other rclources ^han we may naturally fuppofe he had accefs to. Many fruitlcfs queftions have been ftarted on this fubjed, and much idle learn- ing hath been expended, to prove that it was not poffihle for the •* illiterate boy Chatterton" to have been acquainted with fafls recorded in the Potms» nor with the names and iitrms which occur in (hem. If we had a fight of the catalogue of the many learned books which he had read, we doubt not but that we ](}lo^ld be able to reply to every argumcfit that bath been urged
• • tp
Milks*j Edit, of Rowley's Poems. iij
to prove Chatterton's want of rcfources. But who will under- take pofitively to aflert that fuch refources were wanting, only becaufe it is out of the power of any one to point them out par- ticularly, and to bring teftimony to his having availed himfelf of them. But we arc convinced that the learning and informa* tion that were neceflfary for the compofition of thofe Poems by no means required fuch rare and fecret refources as hath been pretended, by feme learned gentlemen who have fufFered them- felves to be deluded on this head ; and with a gravity wbidi hath frequently made us fmile, have been digging deep for that which lay on the fur face. ^ Where (fays the learned Oean) could Chatterton meet with the word gouU^ but in a Latin glol^ farift whom he did not underftand ? Why, he met with the ^^^/* word in Bailey's Didlionary. ^^ Where (fays another learned ^^U* advocate for Rowley) — where could Chatterton — the illiterate / boy Chatterton, find out the word Hfbr^icej which comes from the 0/ Greek, befides a multitude of words that are almoft Latin ?" / Why, in Bailey's DiSionary. " What, and Zabulus too, the old barbarous Latin word ufed by Tertullian ai}d St. Cypriaa for the devil — is Zabulus to be found in fo common a didio- nary ?" Yes it is ; and ^eed too, the old Saxon word for the fame perfonage. Yea, Cberifaunie for Cherifaume^ and Be/ioiki ior Bejlwike^ may be found alfo in this fame Bailey, to the total difcomliture of ftveral hundred words which have been moft learn* ediy employed to prove, and even to demonJiraU (demonftrate I) that Chatterton muil have had an original manufcript before him^ and was fo ignorant as to miftake a c for an /, and a ft; for ai dipthong ! Alas ! Bailey's £)i(5iionary will explain the whole !
Mr. Tyrwhitt, the original Editor of Rowley's Poems, hath attempted to convi£l Chaticrcon of the impofition, by producing a lifl of words which were either not ancient, or not ufed by ancient Englifh writers in the fcnfe given to them in the Poems- He alfo attempts to account for the various miflakes into which the Author was betrayed. But if this ingenious and learned gentleman, inflead of confulting Skinner's Etymologlcon^ had turned to Kerfey or Bailey, he would have been able more fa* (isfa(Slorily to have accounted for Chatterton's blunders.
Amidfl: the variety of miftakes into which this youth was led by depending with too great confidence on the definitions of thofe didtionary-makers, we will n*ention one which hath not been noticed, and which, in our opinion, tends as much as any thing to ftrike at the authenticity of thefe roems.
In the En^lijh Met amor pljofu^ the word houton occurs, which, the Dean fays, Chatterton hath mifinterprcted. We believe he hath ; but unfortunately for the credit of the " gode pricfte,'* the Poet, as well as the Commentatori muft have mifiook it alfo. Let our Readers judge,
• The
2tS Millffi'j E^t. of Rowley 'i Poms*
' The goddes,. who kenned the adliooi of the wyghte. To leg|rfn the fadde happe of twayne (o 'ayre, HomtoH dyd make the mountabe bie the.r mighte : Forth from Sabryna ran a ryverre clecrc, Roarynge and roilcynge on.* &c. ^c.
The meaning of which paflage is evidently this : — That ^ when the gods jaw what the giant had done at the inftigation ofthi jealous queen Gondolyne^ they lejjcned the calamity of the fair Elflrld end her daughter Sabrtna^ by making an opening In the mountain tvhich the giant had thrown upon them^ In order that Sabrlna might tj/ue forth as a beautiful and dlfilnguljhed river.
Chatcerton underfiood the paflage in this fenfc ; and hath in* tcrpreted the word houton by hollow.
Bot the Dean in a note obferves, that *• the word doth not mfean hollow ; nor could that circumflance be any alleviation to . the fate of Elflrid and Sabrlna, But hawten is explained in the \^1'. Prompt. parv» by exaho^ andfn this fenfe is ufcd by Peter Lang- toft \ and hautaln in old French fignifies proud or lofty. The file and height of the mountain are mentioned as an exertion of tniglit by the gods, to add dignity to tlmr fate ; and with the fame idea the Poet hath chofen the higheft hill in Wales for the knonument of the giant/ What abfurd and con trad iftory rea- fbntng is this ! Drawn out at full length it comes to this incon- Itftency, vl%. That the gods, to •* leflen the fadde happe" of two fair ladies, on whom a mountain had been thrown by a hor* fible giant, made this mountain high and lofty to add dignity to their fate : and on the cruel monfter, whom the vengeance of thefe gods purfued, and deftroyed with lightning, as he hafiened to tell the bloody tidings to his bafe employer, Gcndolyne— —
on this accurfed giant thofc very gods reared a high and lofty
mountain/ even the higheft in Wales, the mountain Snowdon : undoubtedly, on the ground of the Dean's logic, to add dignity to his fate ; and on the Poet's, to leggen his fadde happe I Now this is a reduSflo ad abfurdum.
But the learned Dean is as unfortunate in his example to il* luftrate, as in his reafoning to confirm his acceptation of the the word houton. * In this fenfe (fays he at the conclufion of his note), we may alfo underftand that line in Robert Canning's epitaph ;
* Houton are wordes for to tell his doc.' f. e, * it required lofty^ not hollow^ words to celebrate his praife.* This is a forced and unnatural interpretation of the line. The Dean, by a mo(t unwarrantable licence, underflands are fub* jundively, as if the Poet had faid, *^ Words that exprefs his worth y^«A/£f lofty and magnificent.' But the meaning is—-
* The dory of thia metamorpbofift is told in the Mirror of Magi" firaies.
« His
EJpi^ on Difenftvf W^in %\q
^< His worth is beyond all expre^on. Words 419 defiant to give a juft account of his merits.*'
Wc will readily, then, fubfcribe to the Dean's opinipn re- fpedihg the original and ancient meaning of this t^rcn. Bi|t while we allow of a miftake in the comment, we muft equally admit it in the text. Poet and gloflarift are perfedly agreed : and this is not to be wondered at, when both are indebted for the word, and its interpretation, tcf Bailey'9 Didionary {
[To be continufd.l T^ J It
Art. X. 4|ff £ffay on Dtfenfim War and a Confliintional Militia^ with an Acconot of Q^ Elizabeth^s ArraogemeiAti. By an Officer^ 3yo. 48. Boards. Evaoi, &c. 1782.
ANY new and good ideas, or information, on the above-men- tioned interefting fubje^^s, muft certainly be feafonable at t*his time, and, we believe, have often been wi(hed for by magy of the military part of the community ; and that party according to our Author, fhould now comprehend almoft all that are able to bear arms. Hence we think this eflay cannot fail of being acceptable to many^ and may animate others to purfue the fub« jed, as it is written with great fpirit, and contains more in* formation and good fenfe than may at firft appear from an irre- gular and unequal ftyle, and from being compofed of parts in fome refpeds diflimilar to each other.
This young Author, as we muft fuppofe him to be, feems often warmed by his fubjef^, to a degree of enthufiafm, whjch carries him at leaft to the extreme limits of good tafte, or good fenfe ; and which may give, to fome people, rather too much ground to confider him as an inflammatory party-writer : to which, however, we cannot fubfcribe. Wc confefs ourfelves happy to difcover, as we fometimes do, the warm and honeft^ though it may be incorred, pen of the independent gentleman^ among the crowd oi profejfed and party writers.
There are periods during which it is perhaps fortunately im- poiiible to avoid talcing a fide, or joining fome party, even though there fhould be none of whofe condu£l and principles we r/r- tlrcly approve ; and this will generally be the cafe on certain oc- cafions, till DESPOTISM (hall have brought all fpirits nearly to a level, by ihedding her drowfy indifference over the whole
community.
The fubjeft of defenfive war is certainly of the otmoft im- portance,— even^ poffibly, of more than appears in the pages of this Author. On the knowledge and practice of fuch principles as his, being more or lefs generally difTeminated, and habitually known, depends, perhaps, the future fate of Europe :— as, whe- ther it is to become, gradually, a half-peopled defart, belonging
to
520 EJfay on Defenjwe War,
to a few tyrants, or a great colledion of populous and induf- trious nations, virtuous, brave ? &c«
In this country, whatever be .our danger, which feems to approach while we write,— whether France and Holland may be inclined to peace, or mean only to deceive ? or how long they may be in preparing and determining co take all advant^es of 'their fituation, and other circumftances, to invade us ? And where ? — how ?-rand in what manner ? it is impoflible for us • A totfore^ or calculate exadly ; but whether they invade us or not, we entirely agree with our Author, that we ought all to be ready for fuch an event ; and th6 neceility, which feems yearly to increafe, of preparing fome plan to repel invasion, cannot be too much inculcated. The Joldiir properly prepared was never conquered, according to the proverb, which may flill more properly be applied to a nation.
Whatever may be the refult of the prefent war, we hope it may ferve to turn the attention, not only of individuals but of government, more efirclually towards the objeds of this publi- cation ; and if the duties and pra^ice of arms, with the relative eftabli(hments, (hould thereby become generally difFufed and un- derflopd^ we may be gainers on the whole, even though we fliould be invaded, and lofe one>third of the empire — fuch is the importance of the ufe and habit of arms !
Since feudal anarchy, and a more general ufe of arms, have been driven out of Europe, we have not been well provided with any eftablifbment to fupply that national or feudal militia ; and no nation, except the Swifs, have had boldnefs or wifdom enough to attempt it.
The divifion of labour, and the modes of indudry neceflTary in our arts and manufaSures, have confined each individual to a fingle proftifion, or even to part of one, in a manner that tends to render him ufelefs for any other purpofe ; and it feems not yet decidedly known what will be the ultimate efFe(3s of this new and uncertain ftatc of fociety ; — whether the commer- ciil good increafes the moral evil \ in (hort, whether the art of government be not now lefs underflood than it was 2coo years ago ? — One evil is, the general perfuafion that the greateft num- ber may, and hence they adiually do, become unfit to defend tbemfelves, and arc therefore content to remain ignorant of the common ufe of arms ; confenting to be defended by others, who muft thereby inevitably become their mafters. — There is fcarce any good without its concomitant evil. The people having thus, w th a view to eafe and riches, given up all power, and right to liberty and fecuricy, fubfcribe to unlimited obedience } and can have no other influence on government, but as they may individually become ufeful to their ma fters,-— who, for fome timCi Will continue to deceive them with a few
forms
EJfey on Deftnfcue IVofm 221
forms or laws, which they wilU execute as long as the/ ^/tt^u^ro %
may fincLconvenient. Unlefs the people are thrown into feme
form in which they can eafily meet, afl, vote, &c. and of
which the ufe of arms muft make an efl'encial part, they may as
well ceafe to amufe themfelves with any public queftion, in none
of which they can have any influence but fuch as is worfe than
none, that of an unformed and lawlefs mob.
That influence proceeding from the divifion of wealth, which has different meafures according to manners, &c. and is at length rcfolved into natural ftrength, will ever be precarious and ihort-lived) and will be gradually turned againd the people bjr being confined to fewer hands, as all governments, in their na- ^
tural progrefs towards d> fpotifm, mufl gradually fcize on all funds, and their fources; and muft as infallibly drain and mif- apply them by tyranny, and a carelefs and infolent mifmanage* ment, — to which ail human beings invefted with power are na- turally prone.
We have been accuftomed, in thefe latter ages, to fee philofo- phy and improvements, commerce and riches, all on one fide, combating and undermining ancient tyranny, ignorance, and fuperftition, by dividing and incprafmg property, &c. and the conteft is not yet decided : but from defc<Sive governments» ihofe very bleflings may bring in their train other kinds of ty- •
ranny and weaknefs with luxury ; and again throw all property and power into a few hands on one fide, leaving only poverty, dependance, and an increafe of wants with the multitude on the other: fo that our golden chains may have been forging for us in other climes, to be iinifhcd and fitted at home.
Sumptuary laws feem to be confldercd as impracticable and even injurious in a great and rich empire. — None can fay to ARTS and LUXURY, thus far (ball ye go and no farther. Whether there be any pffibiiity of ftoppirig or diredling this progrefs, few feem inclined to try ; which affords, of itfelf, but a bad appearance of the conflru^ion of our governments. Nay, governments have been chiefly employed in corrupting the people, and then holdmg them up to (hew how unfit they are to govern themfelves, in every rcfpeft, and as examples to enforce the prin- ciplcs of defpotifm: — and the defign will probably fucceed. — They will eafily gain over to fuch principles moft of thofe who think themfelves in any degree above the people, and are thereby doubly flattered with pretentions to be their mafters ; all thofe who look no farther than the prefent ftate and example : and the principles of natural liberty, and equality in rights, may foon be worn out. If any efFcdual remedies for thefe, and many other fuch defeds, be now pradicable, we think feme of the loofe hints of our Author would form a neceflary part of them ; and if he bad chalked out for us, and for government^ a little mor^of
that
ail ijfay on Defenjive Jt^ar%
that rational outline which he mentions, towards fome fySem or arrangement fo neceffary to the execution of what he pro- pofes, we conceive it mighc have been of more ufe than all his fine writing about it. — It the divifion of hundreds, compofed of the lefler ones of tythings, be inconvenient, as he fays, we Ihould have been glad to know why ; and he that would divide this ifland properly for thefe purpofes, in the fame view and manner that Alfred did, might probably be of greater fervico to his country than all the writers and ftatefman of the age.
We hope much might yet be done in this country towards its lk>litical reftoration, or to ftop its decline, if government had the courage, and were really willing to try, and were to begin, by giving to the whole nation the ufe of arms on a proper plan. The people once accul^omed to aflemble,— to arm,— to confult together, in fmall contiguous divifions, properly commanded and direded, would thereby have made the firrc and greateft ftep, not only towards the greateft quantity and beft quality of national force, but likewife towards, perhaps, the beft kind of government of which men are capable, whatever be their ftock or fpecies of virtue. — How eafy then to make them a£l, vote| confult — to obtain the fenfe of a whole nation on any queftion r There are a few to which they are adequate, neceiTary, and competent. — Such are always the happy efFefis of every wife and good principle, that, like thofe of nature, each anfwers hiany more purpofes than one, and many more than at firft may be forefeen.
Something of this kind has been hinted now and then, by ibme of our beft heads, and particularly of late, in a pamphlet intitled, A Plan of AfTociation on Conftitucional Principles * (Kearfly) — and by a great and patriotic nobleman in a fpeech and plan, &c.— rbut thefe things feem to die away, and are un* attended to, amidft the rage of military and political madnefs i and the authors (perhaps in defpair, but we think unadvifedly} ivithdraw their endeavours for the Public weaK
But we fear fuch principles will not long be admitted even in theory, and much lefs fubmitted to experiment, in any mo- narchy in Europe, — not even the principles and pradice of the arbitrary Elizabeth, — fuch is too generally ^' their guilt or their error.'* In the defpotic progrei&on of all governments there is a ftrange timidity, which (eems to increafe as the motives or caufes of it diminifb, and will form a growing impediment to all be- neficial eftabliftiments for arming or improving the people, and prove an increafing caufe of national decay, Weaknefs, and bar- barifm. We, however, would flill willingly hope, in fpite of
the inflammatory declamations of one party, or the deceitful cn^
■ I ■ ■ ■ ■
* See Review for Augaft tyBo, Arc. 15. of the CaiaU^M.
deavourt
EJfaj on Defenftve War. laj
diiavours of the other, that this nation is not yet quite fo far gone as fome others; and that thofe little cowardly fears of arm- ing the people are only the fentimetlts o^ fome few individaah, and not yet the ftanding maxims of government, intailed on us by any miftaken, private, or family views : — and that the peopte arc not yet fo irrecoverably loft as the court may hope, or as their r thermometer of corruption may indicate. — We would gladly belreve with our Author, that there is flill virtue enough left ik this kingdom to avenge any fudden or violent attempt of their emv tnie$y foreign or dome/lie: but fome form or mode muft be given^ whereby either is to be done ; without which, our nambers, oor laws, and conftitution, are but empty founds.
We have ftudied human nature a little, as well as his Ma- jefty's Miniilers ; and, we believe, that if all the people wer6 in fome meafure trained to arms, inftead of being more turbu« lent and dangerous, they would be juft the contrary (/. /• foe any good purpofe), and would certainly improve in their beha- viour and moral charader as they become more pleafed with thcmfelves. — When once a little habituated to the regularity and order of parades, exercife, and command, they would b^ come more orderly, peaceable, and obedient, and ac<)uire tbe rfalstj^ of that charader, of which the foldier, by profeffion, i% obliged to aflfume only the appearance.
A military life m^y be viewed in the fame light with fome me-^ dictnes; a little of it may do good, and improve the man, while a ^ great deal poiibns, and rtindwrs him fit for riothing-elfc. WhefiX**^lMf jfhf 1 embraced as an only proftffion, we find that the way of life,— -its/5^i^^^S^«^*^l not being fufficient occupation, &ic. all tend to produce an idle, vitioud, and oftrn a flagitious charadler.— Thefc are confidera* tions furely not unwortny of a place among the numerous rea- fons for diminiOiing our Handing armies, and for increaixng our militias, of different kinds.
Tbe prevailing political maxims of the laft generation feem to be nearly worn out among us, and other nations ; even our enemies, are aftoniihed at our fudden change, and to fee fo many of us agree, not only to throw away our colonies, but alfo to abandon the real fource of all our greatnefs, viz, the confti- tution of our government, fo much admired by the reft of the #orld. It would furely be prudent at leaft not to be quite ia fach a hurry. Gradation makes every change eafy. We had better be tenacious of the few rights and pofieflions we have yet left, which, if once loft, are probably irrecoverable ; and in or- der to make the moft of them, take our Author's advice, and fet about forming the whole nation into a conftitutional militia and armed aiTociations ; efpecially, as it is perhaps the only me«- tbod by which our ineftimable Coaftitution can be reltored and* improved.
7 The
a 24 ^F^ ^^ De/enjrue ffan
The importance of the fubjetEb, and perhaps the Author^s ir-* regular warmth and freedom, fugged ideas, and lead us to in- dulge, like him, in this (ort of circuitous courfe of refledlions, fd as to take a comprehenfive though curfory view of thefe mat* ters; and we hope our Readers will excufe boih him and us.
The prefent performance confifts of five chapters, and an Ap- pendix ; the three firfl are chiefly hiftorical, to (hew what has been done in national defence, &c. and they contain fome cu- rious aitd ftriking information.
It appears, that in Elizabeth's time there were once about 70,000 militia, armed and trained ; which was probably then a greater proportion of the inhabitants than arc, now^ both army and militia; and that the able-bodied men, in England and Wales, trained or ready to be trained, and all ready to do fome- thing againft the enemy, amounted to upwards of 320,000.
The work will be thought to improve on advancing through it. The two taft chapters, in particular, contain many things that merit the moft ferious attention of the Public. The great utility of AfTociations, fo much approved by Elizabeth, and of Con/litutional Militias^ are clearly, and indeed forcibly, fiated.
The Author obferves, that, * referring to the origin of power, it will be found delegated for the gcner^ii good, aid any acqui- cfcence under it on any other terms, is to abandon thoie very principles they were feleftcd to prote£l,
* The fovercign can only fpeak the voice of the people, and the fubjeds can obey no other, fo long as they continue the guardians of the nation's rights, and not the ilaves of perverted authority.' —
But flill there is a great difficulty as to the point when^ and themannerZ^fftt;, this acquiefcence and obedience (hould ceafe, — and who are to be the judges ?
Though thefe points cannot all perhaps be well defined, and muft only be felc; yet, when the mode of difcovering, arrang- ing, and di reeling thofe feelings, the manner of doing the mofl: material things towards the prefervation and improvement of ths Conftitution, are wanting, we fear that Coniiitution muft be allowed to be fo far defefiive, and muft probably decline in- iiead of improving.
We could wim our Author's fancy not quite fo replete with the flalh and brilliancy of wit, figure, fentimcnt, and ardor : cfpecially where they might fo well be fparcd— -where they are obvioufly intruding theilifclves into tlie company of ferious good fenfe and realbn.— But to indulge in a figurative and de- clamatory ftyle, inftead of being at the trouble to write and reafon with coolnefs and fimpliclty, may be a part of modern authoribip.
.Though
i
Epyi on Dtfrn/hr Jl^ar^ ^f
Though the quackery of fhapfody and declamation may have too often fucceeided in mifleading both Authors and Public, and^ though, amidft the gfeat uncertaintiea and changes in the tafle of the age, we cannot pretend to determine which is the mode o^ writing the moft calculated for fale, we know that there have^ been periods when a more rational and fober manner of writing would have been more generally stppcoved^ But even now, wc' believe, there are many who will not like, in works of thh^"^ kind, to be carried To frequently and fo far out of their Way b]r' the metaphors and cptibdes of poetic fancy; — as, amidft a difcujt^' fion of defenfive war, to be led away by a digreffion on nsftional pride, and then by another on education, both of them rather fmart and clever, than apropos or profotmd'^His treadfe ^ neveir wandering among the madowy landfcapes of imagination, or ' phtlofbphifing through the magic lanthorn of hypothefis/ Again— -^ Political corruption being an infedion, — the Egyp- tian darknefs, the univerfal menftruum of opinion, the Alge- braic charafier, the philofopher^s ftone, the Deftinies thatco-** vered Troy,* are furely too many figures for one fentence j aod * thefe^ with fome other fimilar phrafes, are rather too poetical for ' plain profe. Little pert witticifm and alliteration was alfo be- neath fo ingenious a writer, as ^ the fooleries of the firelock, -—the puppyifms of parade repeated.*
However, with thefe few faults, and though the work fivours of the hurry and occupations of a camp, where it was confeff* edly written; — though m^ny things are imperfeftly exprefled,"-* with more warmth than correft judgment ; with more levitjf than truth and elegance ; and though a refined tafte may ob- ferve both defers and redundancies, much good matter will ftill remain ; many excellent, patriotic, and liberal fentiments, and a great deal of military infocmation. We wilh the Wftter had proceeded to give us a little more of what he regrets that we ihould yet wane, viz, a chapter^ or a few more leflbns, on Field Fortification, or the defence oif a country; an important art^ to whiah we may foon be forced to have recourfe. He ofiers- fome Mmirable hints on that fubjed^, fufiicient to make us re- gret he does not go on to give us more.
Where truth accompanies elegance of declamation, all muft admire.-*£x. Where he delineates the peculiar talent or fa- culty of blundering in our Councils, — * That meafures wick- edly adopted, were weakly executed, might eafily be imagined ; but furely fome daemon muft have ftiaken his baneful piAioila^ over the Council Board, if every thing operated exadly con- trary to their intentions. When the Minifter firuck at wealth^, national beggary was the refuit. His endeavours to divide ^ America united the whole continent. His fliutting up their porta deftroyed half the commerce of England, and ruined the '
&av. March 1782* Q^ Weft
--t-. ^
4 f
n^ MoNTHtr.CATALOOOB, Pilituat. ^^
Weft Inc[ies.-*His with-bo]ding our oncrchandife eftablifli^ new manufadures for thfemfcUes : bit reftraining their fiflierics manned tbeir navy : bis burning tbeir villages recruited tbeir army ; and his attempt at unconditional fubmiffion promifes to terminate in unlimited independence/
Again, ' 'I'he penfioned conftellation * of party literature ja the uime work, where he goes out of bis way to call Hampdm- ibi fualat §/ nbtUion^ remarks the infenfibility of James the Se- cond's courtiers to the dangeis of the precipice they ftood on. What could appear more bopelefs than the revolution, when anothec ZiaUt ofrtbilUon^ the gallant Ruflel, lamented its impof- ilbility, becau/e we had no great men left. Yet even his father lived to fee the weak monarch taught, that royalty in fuch hands, is but the gilded weathercock that tops the ftrudure of the date. A (lorm rends its fides, an earthquake roots up the foundation, and the atom periflies, unenquired for, in the ruin. A blaft, too impotent to (bake the walls, may overfet the bauble, and leave the fabric, unimpaired, to ftand the wonder of fuc« ceeding ages, with the illuftrious dignified names of Brunfwick or Naflau/
Such fentiments cannot be too generally known throughout the nation ; but we muft refer to the Author bimfelf, of whom we cannot help entertaining a hope of his being one day a va- luable acquifition to the literary world, when the warmth and poetic fancy of youth come to be allayed with experience, and a more refined taUe and judgment.
On the wholr, this treatife, with all its faults and negligen- ces, will be found to contain more new and important ideas oiv thefe fubje£ts than any work of the kind that, to the beft of our recolIe£lion, hath been produced in this country for a long time^ —if we except thbfe of General Llovd f*
• Urfa Major.
f We owe to the Pablie an account of this Oeatleoian's continoa- ti«n of his Hiftory of the Lace War in Germany ; and we mean to difcbarge the debt as foon as poffible. f
■ ' ■ ■ ... - 1,1 ■ ■
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For MARCH, 1782.
Political.
Art. If. J Plan of Reconciliation with America \ confiftent with the Dignity and Intereft of both Countries. Humbly ad* drtfled to the King. £vo. i f. Coghlao, &c. 178a.
THIS plan hath an appearance as rational, and promiiing, as any fcheme of the kind that hath yet occurred to oor notice; and the Writer generally expreifes himfelf with proprcty of language;
bot we maft pAiticolArljr except what has fallen from bif pen, wber« he rpeaks oJF a political diftin^ion liiade by the ]ate Lord CHATHAifr^^^ relative to American refiftance, at being the diftindion * of a blocks ^4/'— This i« iQOgroft^ as well at too alfurd, to require any com* nient.
His plan yields to America every thing bat the <ivW indepeB4* deocy. He would conciliate with heron terms fimiiar to thoTe of oor coonedion with Ireland, but undogged with any thing like Foya* ing't Law. — This is coming nearly to Lord Stair's idei : Peace oa any terms better than no peace ' Art. 12. Tlic Patriot known hy Comparifon% beirig a Difquifitiofi
of ibme great Charaders. By a Friend to the Frofperiiy of tbo
Briti£h £mpire, 8vo. 1 s. Wilkie^
A rhapsodical invedive j^^io^ the Opposition^ under the ridi« tilled name of Patriots. The Writer (who gives us this piece as t WUudtH perforinance) fays nothing worth repeating^ or cenfuring. Arc. 13. Thi Pangs of a Patriot i expreflcd in 'a Letter to %
Nobleman, 00 the unfortunate Capture of Lord Comwailis. 8ro»
6d. Walker. 1782^ .
If the Nobleman to whom this Letter is addrefled hath received from it no more entertainment, or indrudlian, than it hath afforded to us, his Lof d(hip will not be violently difpofed to encourage a con* isnoance of the correfpondence.
Pampblits on tbo Woollen Manufacture*
Art. X4. An An/iver to Sir John DalrympU*s Pamphlet upon tha
Exporiatiom o/Wtol. By Nathaniel Foraer, D. D. Re^or of AU
8aints» Colchefter» 8vo« is. Robinfon. 1782.
Sir John Dalrymple'a pamphlet, which was briefly mentioned it oar Rev. Jan* p. 71. contains many fpecious arguments for a regu* Jated exportation of wool; which received foroe countenance frooL coaparing his propoCll with the cftablifhed regulations for the export- ation of corn. His reverend opponent, however, enters deeply into the fnfajtfiy di(p]ayi the impropriety and danger of the expedient 1 and charges the Baronet with inconfiftency in different parts of hit leaibning. As it will not be expeded that we (hould enter into thit detail, we (hall juft exhibit his anfwer to Sir John Dalrymple's aflertiony that—** every argument for the exportation of corn, when the price b low, applies equally to the exportation of wool when the price ia low."
'* Answer. This is indeed furprlzing* For fnrely no two cai^ were erer more diflimilar, in every circumftance. Corn is, ,to all pnrpofesof exportation, a maoufadiure, a finilhed manufafture f ■" Wool, a raw produce. To the raifing of corn, much labour is re« quired— To the growing of wooU Tcarce any* The return for corep confequently, aBFords to thoufands the means of fubfiftence, over and abore the rent to the land-owoer, and the profit to the farmer — Tlio letttrn for wool amounts to little more than fuch rent, and fuck
* That truly great man,— in every thing but his ptorago. ^ t The tayior in the one cafe may fairly be iet againtt t)ie miller and the baker in the other.
CLa pfofit
228 MovTHLY CAtAtOQVM^ H^MUiH MaHufoifurii
pfofit* By ezporudon of coro, we provide (bod for otker coontneiy at thtir cofl— B/ exportation of woof, foreign nations tre enabled to provide clothes for tnemfelvei and otheri, at •ur coft. By the export- ation of corn, we enfore do'mellic indullry, of the moft afefnl kind— By the exportation of wool, we deftroy the very means ofindaft/f; Laftly, by the exportation of corn, we increafe its growth for the home confuroption, and, at the fame time (taking into account thtf regulations of the import- trade) diminifli its home price, upon thi whole — By the exportation of wool, we increafe its growth for lb- reign confomption, with a certainty, nay, with a view» ofraifiifglti price, at home* So poinied is the oppofition, between thefe two cafes, one of which is here held out to us u a mle for the other.
The parallel, indeed, between the exporntion of corn, and that of a finilhed manafadnre, is fufficiently ejtatt. And the fame trgo* feents may be applied, with nearly equal force, to both cafes* ,Thd very lame encooyragements too might in fimllar circnmfiances be at flfefuliy employed, in the one inftance, as in the other. A fum oF public money could not be better expended, than la giving a bounty upon exported wooUep** Qiould foreigners, by any untoward crents On our part, be enabled to underiell us.''
This IS rather an aukward feafon for pointing out new applicaHon) of pubKc moneys but whether we can adopt the meaforeor aoe, ao way afieds the propriety of it* Ad verie circnmftances abroad, oogki to redouble our attentioiv to thofe of aa iaieraal iiatafe» efpeduly fttch as are affected by any temporary. inconveniences ,: and among Chefe» what can be inftanced of higher importance than the woolhns asann&f^ure \ Dr. Porfter, very juftly obferves, ' If there be any falvation for this country, it moft be by the prefervation of its r#- Jwrces, That is, by keeping the people in ptriuttnnt ability, to lap- port the burthens laid upon them. £very tax wHl indeed, ta fomt de«*
free, affeft either lands or trade, or, as is generally the cafe, both* ttt there is a wide difference, between laying an additional burthen opon men's fhoulders, and difabling them from bearing any burthew at all* A tree may be wounded in its braitches, without hazard of ittf life or vigour, but a blow at the root will be mortal, and at Oncede' cifive of its fate. The meafure propofed has this dired aim. ie ftrikes at the original fources of all national ability, and, coofeqnent*
S, of all revenue— at induftry — at population—at that confampttoa, erefbre, as well of foreign, as of home, produce, whence a revenue can alone arife."« ■ But more difcuifions of this fubjed crowd upon 08* iH
Art. 15* JUfli^ions on the prefmt Low Price ofcoarfe JVoohy its immediate Caufes, and iti probable Remedies. By Jofiah Tucker, D* D. Dean of Gloucefter. 8vo. is. Cadell. 1782. Dr. Tucker is a bold adventurer; but when he defcetids from abftrad politics to qucilions of commercial fafls, that is, from the lofty region; of imagination to the plains of common fenfe, he knows Ihe ground better, and is not in fach peril of wandering till he lolbs himftdf : thus, whatever may be thought of his fpeculations on govern- mear, his hints and obfervations on commerce defervedly claim our tfttrntioB. On this ibbyeA, he attributes the low price of coarfe wool to four caufes, which more or lefs all certainly combine to operate a«' faint ^hu naaufadurers of that ioiportanc article.
I. An
I. Am obftradioa to tbe exportation of our coarfe cloths^ blanket* iagf rugt, fergeiy ^c. to foreign countries, particolarly to America ; owing to the preient war. On this, however, he does not laj (b poch ftrefs at fomemajr do; he confiders tbe home confumption as of iH^re oonieauence than a foreign demand ; the iaccer only draining off the overflowings of the home market. ^ n« The principal cao(e he affirms to be the great and general difnfeof Goarfe woollen goods throogbout the kingdom. Females of aH ages and conditions^ from her grace in the drawing-room, down ^ tbe i(:ulLioa in her kitchen, hardRy nfe any woollens except of tbe ioeft texture. Silks, cottons, linens, diverfified under names witbont noimbar; together with chinu and other prohibited articles, are now become almoft the univerfal wear : Ci'cn the men nfe ten times the cot* iMi and (Uks they formerly did ; and rugs, with other coarfe article«^ |MC in a sianner bani(bed from ^11 hoofes both in town and country! Tbeieare certainly notorious fa£ls, that need only«to be mentionti 19 extort conftffion ; and prove that pride and oAentation are deaf tp ill ^icy, both private and/if^/'V.
If this^iring circumdance, which no individual will pay the lent IM^rd.to, in private oecoaomy, needed any illuftration, it cannot be isor^ ftroogly furniflied than in the Dean's own words.
' But though theexiftenceof the prefent evil may thus be accounted lor,— tbe magnitude and extent thereof remain dill to be confidernL In a natipo coniifting at leaft of 7,000,000 of fouls, it is but a very moderate calculation to allow, that 2,oco,oco of thefe may have abandoned the ufe of woollens in their garments, bedding and fnr- Aitere, to that degree, as to confume annually five pounds weight per bead, at an avcfrage, l^s than their grandfathers and grandmothen were wont to do. Now this feemingly trifling quantity of wool re« %ieAing each individual, amounts in the whole to 10,000,000 qf ■pounds weight ! And furely, furely, were ten millions of pounds weight of coarfe wool now to be bought up [na^matter on what oo> scafien] there would be no complaint, that this commodity wu % 4img, and bore no price.'
III. The diminution of cottagers in country villages, a clafs of people withont whom it is impofiible for us to fubfilt, and yet who have perpetual war made upon them by two ibrts of relentlefs ene* nies, tbe parifli officers, and the aflbciation for pre(l;rving the game; 4he one left they Ihould become paupers, and tbe other left tbq^ ftioold kill hares and partridges !
^ IV. While thefe alarming circumflances tend fo dl^ly to diM- iiifli tbe confumption of coarfe wool, ihe quantity of tint article ba# iikcreafed, by the breaking up of wafte grounds, druning of mar/bca» end the cnlrure of turnips and artificial graifes, which enable farmiees to enlarge their Hocks. The (beep alfo, by having greater plenty of food throughout the yeara bear heavier flccfca, ,lx>tb longer .aid eoarier.
Such, briefly, are the caufes to which tbe Deaq afcribis the dif- treflea of the woollen manufuaAure ; and we apprehend their op^a* tion can be no more contefted than their exiftence. W^ Ihall nO|it|at* tend to the remedies he prefcribes againA the malady*
He jnft hints at a permiffion to export ipm wool»fabje^.Co a Ikbt
4aqr # and the produce of this duty to be aFpii^ k <boaA|^ ^W
X Q^j • ~ espbrutioa
%jfi MoKTHiY Catalooub^ H^doSiH MmufaBwr:
exportation of coarfe woollens and worfteds of oar own manufa6lare|[ a reeulition which, he obferves, would operate as well co carry cv our oianufadlurei at onr wool; and while the duty and charges of ex- porting the wool would enhance the raw material to the foreigneri our own workmen would be rewarded by the premittm on the ex- portation of their labours.
Lefty however, fuch a fcheme (hould not be liftened to, he waves it in favour of a bounty on the exportation of coarie woollens and worfteds to any of the ports within the Baltic, fimilar to that on the exportation of coarfe linens. Ihe peafants in the North of Europe^ partictilarly jn the Ukraine, he obferves, ftand in need of warm cloathSog^during their fevere and long winters, and are not yet ar* rived at fo ^reat a degree of pride and luxury as to difdain the coarfeft of our wooIleDS, did they know where to purchafe then at prices not ejipceeding their abilities. To raife the propbfed boonfjr^ the Dean recommends withdrawing one- third of the l^nnty on the exportation of coarfe linens, and one-third of that for grain ; theft (WQ articles having been at nurfe for many years,- and oar coarfa woollen goods now demanding our nurfing care. He adds,
' The propofal is now laid in full view before the reader* And pn the whole of this plan for opening a new market to diftent, fe- Tcign countries, for the vent of Engliih coarfe woollens, I have but one remark more to make: viz. that the greateft objediok againft It remains yet to be mentioned : which, however, 1 ought not to conceal from the unprejudiced reader. It if this, — That ma there would be no colonizing in the cafe, there would of conrft be no charters to be granted,— no fees or perquifites for clerks to t%m ceive, — no governments, no places or iinecures for miniftera to be- Bow, — no difputes about privileges, no grievances, no remonftrancei, |io nnalienable rights for patriots to declaim upon,— no hopei of faf- ceeding to the places of thofe who (hould be turned out,— no food for inflammatory paragraphs in news-papers, — no jobs for contradors,— - knd no monopolies for fel6(h traders and manofa£lurera :-^tberefore the fcheme, however feafible in iifelf, and how much foever calcu- lated for the public good, is in great danger of mifcarrving ;-*unle(s inore public virtue fhould be exerted in this cafe, than hat been nfoal on the like occafions.'
Another remedy is, by raifing up fuch a generation as (hall, Inr their ftation in life, be obliged to be clad in garments of coarft voollen, and to ufe the like materials for bedding and furniture. ^is the 0||an would accompli(h, by eftabliihing a police for the ^r^tion of cottages for militia men and their »milies, on wafte land near tornpike roads, on a new plan, and with new refoorcea. But for the particulars of this e(!abli(hment> we muft refor the Reader to the pamphlet, where they are explained at large. J^
Alt. 16. Hit Profrkty of alhwing a qualifiid Exportation of Woof
difcoffed hiftorically. Fo which is added an Appendix, contain*
Ing a Table, which (hews the full Value of the Woollen Goods of
every Kind, that were entered for Exportation at the Cafton- 'konfe from 1697 to lytfOi inclufive, as well as the Prices of Wool
In Engird, during: all that Period. 8vo. 2 s. Elmfley. 1782. '^f aitvcr might be ihevaloe of the hiftorical fads colleAed by this ^Kritdr, Were 'tkiy digefted by other haada, hf hi^ a^ the h^ppf
MoNTHtT Catalqoue, £^/b» Munufiiauri. 931
^ft of exhibiting them in a dear point of vie«r ; nor are hit re- narki dofely direded 10 the principles he laboori to eftabliih s fo that he it freqaently congratalating hinifelf on difcoveriet that the leader does not enjoy with him. At length, in one ill exprefTed pa- ragraph, p. ^5, where the caofea of the low price of wool are enn* merated, and where one of them it fplit into two, we difcover that Dean Tacker's pamphlet had jaft farnilhed him with hit condofioie. On the whole, inftead of coofideriDg wool at an article that good policy hat didated to us to retain at macb atpoffiUe in oar own handt^ until oor manofiid^arert have worked it op into goodt for confenp- tion» he treatt the raw nuterial merely at an article of trade, and complaint moch of the operation of a monopolizing fpirir, in proM- )>iting itt exportation. The expediency of coantenanciog the ex*' portation of a commodity that afibrds employment for fuch numbera of our own people, to enable oar neighbourt to work for themftlvea (and if they did not want it they would not bay it), is indeed a mofft 4dicate queftion to decide. But how the retention of raw. wool, 10 be worked up before it is fold abroad, can be termed a monopoly, la difficolt to conceive ! We have ever anderftood a monopoly to mean n privilege of trade or manufadnre enjoyed by one, or by a fe#, to the excluiion of others, in fome particular country or dinHft. To confine an advantage to a country at large, has hitherto been termed patriot! fm ; yet if oar Author chufet to fnbftitute the term BMMiopoly for patriotiim, we fhail difpnte the propriety of hii dioice; for patriotifm it certainly a national fdfiihneft, of which we do not eafily diveft ourlelvet. That thit Writer has not got quite tfa^ better of thit national felfifhnefs, appeart from hit recommending ,mily a fira/^#y exportation of wool « which is only a qnalified free- dom of trade, or a qualified monopoly, let him fabfcribe to whidi of the expofitions he pleafet. [^
Aft. 17. Plain Reajinsy addrefled to the Peopk of Great Britaroy againft the intended Petition to Parliament from the Ownert and Occupiers of ]l,and in the County of Lincoln, for Leave to export Wool. With fome Remarkt on Sir John Dalrymple't Treatife, lately publiihed, in Favour of a generd Exporution of WooL Svo. I s. Robinfon. 1782.
If any credit is due to the prefent Writer, whodatet from Leedt, tho alarm raifed, of the ftagnation of oor wool in the handt of the grower^ ijprings from a mere locd and temporary inconvenience. The fa£k, aa he ftatet it, it no more than thit e-** The farmert and other occupiers of land in the county of Lincoln, have, for fome yeart paft, paid great attention to their wool ; and had their modet of improvement been direfled with as much wifdom, at they had been purfued with dili- gence, both themfelves and their country would have been benefited .by them. In too eager purfoit of ihdr prefent intereft, while wool was of ready fale and at a high price, they loft fight of it in time to come, when a change ihould take place, when the demand for wool .fhould be ief?, and the price lower.
* They have uniformly endeavoared to increafe the length of the woo], and the weight of the fleece, regardleft of ite other quditiet ; and though they have frequendy been warned by the dedetis and ma* paf«Afifcrt, tw^icy wertonkbg tMrjfOot'Wift ibr ttegcnerd
0^4 aannbanret
%%i AdoMTHLY Catalooue, JFtmUiM Mamfram^.
manafaftttref of tkU coantry ; ditt tht y iveold redoce it to fack « Ibte ibat they coold only hope to vend it mt a psnicuUr market, nnd would of confeqnence be greatly <iiSrefled if that market ikcpuld fail, they have ftill perfifted.— In niaiiy parts of Ltocolmftiire, where £rvc» . fix, or feven fleeces afed to make np a todd, it will now i)e made .np of two or thrce.--Their Iheep are 'grown very larger-their wooi long and coarie.
' Before the preient war broke Ottt» goods nmufadnred from this fort of wool, found a market principnily in Spain, and partly in America and Holland..— But finoe the greatcft part of oor trade to . thefe places has cetfed, and there has been left demand -Ibr goods of this particular fort, the wool from which they were made, baa not ■ the ready fale it uAmI to have, and if confaquently mnch decrenied in its value,
* This is, 1 4ipprehead, a fair Hate ef the origin and extent of tbe prefent grievance ; the inconveniences complained of «« Ital and ttmforary ; the mode of redrefs wh»th they feem to wi(h to adopt, would produce othe» which are gtwtral and ptrnummi,
* As there is nogentral redundancy of wool in the nation, for Aort and £ne wool uicd in making cloth, and alfo fine combing wool, hns advanced in price for fome years paft (and thefe two fons comprbe much the greateft part of the national ftock), we are onwilttngto fuppofe the Liftcolnfii ire wool-growers wi(h to propofe fo deljperate Hn expedient as a general exportation of all forts of wool ; but only of that fpecies which they fet forth to be redundant, namely, long coarfe wool. The lofs fufPered by the nation from the eKpormtion of fuch wool^s oor mannfaAorers nre in want o& 'and are able 4o work up and vend at four or five times its original valne^ is too ob- vious to miention.
' In the firft place, a permiflion to export long ccarfe wool, mnft aft .as # general |)ermiffion to export all inu of wool. Long and ihtnt, coarfe and fine, are relative terms; impartial men, who had no in- tereft in the cafe to. miflcad them, would often find themfelves at a lofs to decide under which of* thefe general deferiptions a particular ^parcel of wool ought to be ranked, tiow then Giall a coAom*honfe ofiicer determine, which wooi the law will call long or. fiiorti coarfe jor fine ?
' This diflkoliy is much augmented from the confideratioft, that eke execution of a penal Aatute mnft in all cafes depend upon its being accurately detef mined, «nd that opon oath. What an opportoniiy would this aSbrd fot exporting the mod vahiable wool in tbe king* dom, that which onr own manofa^lnres have die greateft want of; and what temptation would itcanfe for fraud and perjury ?
* But ffcondly, ihort «nd fine wool would be indofed in the fleeces of theloi^ and coMfe* This, it i« to -be fieared, would becomes very .general praAinc* «nd for the foUowtng reafoos :
* Be^i^e the (horter «nd finer fort of our wool of which dock it made, add oor fineft combing woo^ <ore mote wanted abroad ; wonki confeqoently bo' of readier fele, «Bd «fibrd a mnch higher profit to the exporter than tbe coarfe lom^ wool; ftr^the duty on exportation mnft .V laid in a -^Itttrainate fom o« dwry pound of wod exported^ licttcib ^^ Ctttfe io^t maol, of ikmll snlut by the poand, migk^
•• «
e
MOHTMLT Catalog VI, JEFMIoi Mmmfaikafi, lj3
be the legal and ofteftfibk objeA of the exporter, yet fine wool wouM "be dM real one; as thte duty would beer <a much gaeater proportion to the price of che iomier, than to tbac of the latter.
* Alfo, bccaofe the wools defcribed jabove might be thus exported^ almoft wfthoot fear of detedioa ; it being only oot impoffible for cof- tom-houfe officers to find it oot, withoot opening erery package, OAi ODwrapping every «fleeGe.
* The grief ances therefore of the wool-gcowert tn Ltocdlaihive* however real, are the necefTary coofeqneficet of their own iajndicioefl Alterations in the Aaple Of their wool : and she remedy they with liNTf would deftroy the trade of their coontry.*
If fnch is the real flcte of the cafe, the remedy, as well os the d!(l .order, will be local, whhout calling for any national esenioot. The Writer adds, ' I f«ppof<^, by this tiaie^ they perceive that their laie akeratioos have been attended with pernicions confeqaences, and that theirpwn experience has uoght them, what the dealers and mannfiic- tnrers attempted to do withoat cfied. The caofe of the compkiiot ihas been gradeal and progreffive ; {o moft the remedy be. alfb. Let them feed their ewes which have the longei and coar^ft fleeces, ami introdoee rains of a finer and ihorter wool, and let them qfe evetj method which their ingenuity and thetr intereft fhall Aiggeft to them to improve the quality, rather than to incieaie the weight, of the fleece. If the carcafe oip the fheep becomes radier (mailer, they wilt Jhave the more in number upon the fame ground* If they have left wool, they will be amply compmifated by the iocreafe of price by the todd ; and being of general ufe in the maouiadlares of their country, they will always have a fare market lor it, without being at the mercy of contingencies, as they have been of late*. .
' When any particular fort of mennfadnre, from change Of faihton, or from any other more fabfhintial caufe becomes unfaleable, or even ivhen the demand iot it decreafes to any confiderable degree, and the <value, of confisquence, is diminiihed, the manu&dnrer immediaceiy changes it for fome other more fa(hionable and more faleable article ; mid though it be no fmall hardihip and lofs to him, to quit a kind of laboer to which he has been long accnflomed, and in which he is grown dexterous by habit, and to take up a fort that is new to him, he cheerfully fabmits to what he confiders as a common event in hit profei&oo.
'Why then fhould not the wpoUgrower imitate the manufaflurer ia this mode of proceeding, and endeavour to accommodate the produoe pf his flocks to the demands of the trade of his country ^
* If it fhall be objected to this mode of redrefs (snd I know of no other objection), that it will take fbme time to produce its ef&dl, and that many of the wool^growers will be hurt before they can be ttm lieved by it^ I beg. leave ^ obferve, that they are only in rhe condi* tion of many others, who have not attended to the nciffitodes cif trade, aad that their cafe is i»t quite fo bad as has been repfereiite4. In many, perhaps in mod, of the paru of Lincolnfhire from whence iktSt comf^nts proceed, they now (bear double the weight of wool Jrom their flieen which they nfed to do twenty or thirty years ago. If then they are able to fell it at half the fom per todd which they did ttthnt time^ h will prddnce the lame value.
4 tit
* It b probable alfo, thst the prefest redundaocy of wool in Liii« colofliir^ may be fonewrhat g|ener» fix>Bi a caafe which 1 fuppofe tho fitrroer woald not chofe to metttion, a» contrtbutinK to hit JoiiL Tb« foc among flieep, which ufed to viiic them at swy £oit intervalt» hat» foi the laft tea yeart, at I am credibly informed, done rery iittte - damage.*
Sir John Dalrymple, with the Writer of the preceding pamphlet^
Ctd the great extent of fmaggling to extenuate the eFtls apprc^ ided from a legal permiffion to export wool. The prefent Wrttet» is his re^darks oo Sir John^ difpotet the faQ with fome appearance ^ reafoo.
' I beg (fayt he) the indolgence of my reader for any miftake I may make in a point of fach importance, and on which {q little it^ 0r probably can be» known with certainty, while I ftate to him Ibme reaibnt why woo] cannot eafily be fmuggled abroad to any great nmoanr, together with ibme canfe to believe that it it not.
< Wool if a large bnikj commodity, difficalt to be difgaked in ita Ipacknge, and conjeqoently very difficult to be conveyed abroad ii| great quantities witboot detedUon.
* The penalty is very high, fo that the contraband exporter of wool ii utterly mined, if he it deceAcd. Few people thererore, who lave credit to porchafii wool for fmoggling, wonld ehoofe to ran the fUbae of ruin upon fo dangerous an expedient.
^ The fmoggler of wool muft, from the natnre of the commodity, which, as we have obferved, is large and bulky, have many fervants and other dependants privy to it ; and as any one of thefe w6u]d have it in bis power to benefit himfelf bv informing againft his employet, the rifqae would, on this account, be greatly increafed,
' I nibmit to my readers the folfowing rcafon why much wo<rf is aot fmuggled abroad. In the time of »ar, when we have fo many ftips of war, cutter5, and other armed veffels on the coaft, their leixores of wool muft be frequent and Urge, which w^ do not find to be the cafo.
* But if it (hould be a real faft, that much of our wool is a^ually carried abroad by the fmuggler, it is nndoubtedly in the power ci the Brittib legiflatnre to prevent it, whenever the evil ihall be worfe than the remedy. By an aft prohibiting the conveying of wool by water at all, or even upon the fait water, fmuggling would be efiecr mally fopprefled ; and the onhr mtlchief arifing from it would be, that the price of the carriege of it from one part of the kingdom to another, by land, would ht higher than it is by water/
However the teftimony immediately before us may influence us for
the moment, yet in an affair of foch magnitude^ and amidft fuch con*
tradtdory allegations, all we ought to do it to exhibit the moft
triking differences and arguments, leaTing our Readers to decide ac-
e»Mding to their own knovHedge or jedf^ment, 11^
Art. ]8. A LettiT on tbi SuhjiSi 9/ lV$olj interfperfed witb Rcr
marks on Cotton ; addrefTed to the Public at large, but more par^
ticttlsrly to the Committee of Merchants and Mtnufa^urers at
Leeds. By W. MugliAon, a Manufa^orrer of Hoiiery.at Alfretoa.
\ivo. 6 6, Fvans. 1782.
Friend Mugliiion has a« undoubted prfvilege« from the nature W bis profeffion, to give his opinion on the fubjed of wool; ti^ unly
one.
MotfTtttY Catai.ogvi» Fmri€tlm s^
ooe, perliapt, on which we wiih to fee kirn declart hit fendmentf, becaofe be appears to apderftaiKl it to hit own nght» without muck extrinfical affiance. He conBnbi what the Author of PUim Ruffims y allegety that the prefent conplainu origtamte from the rcdondaut prodoce of the loof* coaHe, I^tncplQfliire ^^tces. He alfo givei hia verdi^ agaiaft allowing raw wool to be exported; and thinka s fffluggling veffely load^ with Britifli wool, almoft at rare a» a pho^ tax i wheieai a permiflioo to export it> noder a doty, wooU oofcf mock Ulidt traffic of that kiad.
Art. 19. Tbi (kntrafti or a Conparifon between our Woolleiit Linen, Cotton, and Silk Manufadoret : Shewing the Utility, of each, both in a national and commercial View ; wherein the trae I^iportance of the Fleece, the firft and great Staple pf oi|r Land* will appear evident ; the fflFedl that moft nataralljr ^i(e ftrom tho Syftem we now porfoe, and the Confeqoeocea we may rational^ hope for from a contrary Policy. 8vo. 1 t. Bucklaod. Vffz^ An honeft, well-meaning Writer, who if willing /o tell utalliis knows on the fobjeds mentioned in hit difbfive iBlli^ge, He is clear- ly againft allowing the exportatbn of wool ; and to prevent (mngglinf it abroad, if for cftablilhing wool-hallt ifi all the manofaaorinf ^onnties, to which the fleeces ihoold be fent and lodged, after the/ fre fliorn; to be received and delivered under permits; with a heav/ penalty on all wool found at large after clipping. m
Poetical. W«
/Lrt. 20f An 04^ f9 tbi Genius of Scandal. 4to. ,1 s. Kear«
fley. i78i. This rhapibdical performance is not without merit : the featnrea pr Scandal, though perliaps not delineated by the hand of a maftcrt j|re yet iketched with a vtry livelv pencil :
Hafte thee^ then, ana with thee bring. Many a little venomM ding ; Many a tale that no one knows Of ChaH-be-namelefs belles and beaux; J oil-imported curtain ledlores, Winks^ and nods, and flirewd conjedures t • Half a dozen flrange fufpicbns Built on flrilnger fuppofitions ; Unknown marriages fome twenty. Private child-bed linen plenty ; And horns juft fitted to fome people's heads* And certain powder'd coats, and certain tumbled beds ! The dramatic air that is given to this piece, by the introdudion of a young lady driven to dillra^on by the artifices of calumny ; and of a veteran foldier by the fame bafe arts rendered miferable and undone, has an interefting cfeA. We would recommend it, how- ever, to t^is young Writer (for fuch we prefume he it) to coniidert whether he has not rather tranforefled the bounds of probability, ivheoy in defcribing the anguifh of his warrior, he tells aS| To wild impatience madly wrought, With fodden ftamp the ground he beats. As Memory paints bis former fepts, * ^^ How
*
%l% MomrffLY CATAf.osuB, Drmutie.
fibw OAce iaaJitp m Uo§d ImmowtMj he Aooi^ Bee
IttCf pctkaps, it nay be (kM in apology, tihat tlie old g^tkman*! imagiBadon beiBf^-bevrikfered, his meipory deceived bim. Be tt fo. t An. 21. Tkt JVUmH ! or, Tbe Maidftone Bath. A Kent-
kh Poetic. Dedicated to Lady Woriley. 440. 1 •• 6d. Wil-
liaoM. * SoiDed«feBeraie4cioa, f|>rai>g from tbe venerable root of good Matter Thooias Sternhoid, here proftitotet the honeft Eke^-and-Aye Mafeof bitpioM aoceftor; forcing her to fiag the onhallowcd deeds of tbe HampfbifC Mefla(iBa.--'0 Skamr^ nvlfire is thy hht^!
Dramatic. Art. 22. TJf Dnmatic fuffers^ a Prdudc ; as performed at
the Theatre Royal Cbrent Uarden. Bro. 6d. Kearfley. 1762.^
A flight ootwerk of a tkeafrical fortification. C
Art. 23. yjf Ch^ici of Harlequin \ or, The Indian Chief. A
A Pantonnmical fincertainilient ; as it is a^ed at the Theatre Royal
Covent Garden. 8vo. i s. Riley. 1782.
Pantomime Smtrtainrnintj (fo they are calUd!) thongh acted with the HIGHEST ArpLAUSEy are commonly rtrnd with the Tery hmft degree of fatisfaAion or delight. The following fcene is fup* j^ofed to contain a corre6k exhibition of the mMnntrs and langui^e of fbt place it it intended to reprefent :
'SCENE Vni. BridtwiU. A French macaroni— a modern bean — a well»drefled Jew — two genteel harlots — a black one drdTed in white— an infarance-office keeper — and a hackney coachpiao, dif- covered beating hemp. Keepers overlooking. They force Juno and . the maid to worlc. One of the keepers comes forward and ftrikes at Harlequin with a rattan. He avoids the blow, jumps over the wall, and efcapes. A keeper enters, and fings the following fbng :
Ye fcamps, ye pads, ye divers, and all upon the lay*
In Tothill-fields gay (beep walk, like lambs ye fport and play,
llattling op your darbieij^ come hither at my call;
Vm jigger-dubber here, and yon're welcome to mill doll.
IFith my tfw, dero^w, tsTr. The game youVe play'd my kiddy, youVe always ^re to win. At yoor infarance-officct the flats youVe taken in, Firft yon touch tbe fhiners— the number up, you break ; With your iarariag policies, Vd not infure your neck.
Jfith mjf toWf dtrctv, He, The French with trotters nimble coold fly from EngliJh blowj, And they've got nimble daddies, as Monfieur plainly (hews. Be thus the foot of Britain bang'd ; ay, thump away, Monfieur; The hemp you're beating now, will make you a folitaire.
JFith my /^au, dgr^w, tfr.- My peepers! who've we here ? Why, this is fure black Moll ; Why, ma'am, you're of the fair ((Bx, and welcome to mill doll; The dull with you jwho'd venAnre into a fnoozii^-ken. Like bladuunooi Othello, Ihould-*-" put out the light, and then —
I f.y.
MoRTHLH Catahooub, Nm$h. 337
I rty» my Mky co«chflian» tkM yeu^H taise btttcf cif%
Nor for a Ihcle tHib. come the flaog i^on yo«r ftiM»
Your jazy ptyi the ganii(h» aolcfs the fees yoa dp?
Tho* youVe a lafhy coachnan, here the Oat^ger boMa dw whip.
CHORUS. W^nfiMt^t^mHt^prndi^iSA:
A deal of OrUmal Uarmkg may alio be coHeHed from the Qfdtr§f Ai'Fnftjpon^ in which Hircarrtrt and fhJkMmkwfdari^ Ssjmmmgat with ?««r-74»«r/, Ramjanmits and Tickta'wtt.Co^lk* tmd IMit/ttJ^ ajpb pear withont number f * €^«
Af{; 24. S^j, Dstfx, Trios^.Cboruffii^ &c. &c.- i* the CooiiO •
Opera ef Or Batfilittkx at performed at the Theatre Jtoyal^
Covent Garden. The Mufic hy Dr. Arnold. SfO; 6i.< Gi*
dell.
Thefe verfes feem to hare been pemied with a riew of JtawnwiMj' rather than p§etical expreffioo» and might perhapt prcKhuBa the ia^ tended effeA in their placet in the drama. At a detached oMiMuM of SoMgif therr merit is very moderate. /*|
Novel. v^»
Art. 25. Gtorge BaUfhan. 3 Vols. I2tna. ^s. 6d.ftwetf»
Dodfley. lytu "
The Authore/} (for (b fhe ftiles \;^tCclf, though the difthfUoa wat unneceflary, fince many *' minuiias** concurred to evince her ftx) hath related a plain and fimple tale, in an agreeable i^hef. She ^. tempt5» however^ the bow of UlyfTes, without llrength to hend it C9 advantage, by endeavouring fometimei to imitate Fielding, and st Qiher cimei the Author of ** £rclina.** On the whole, however, ae a novel, this work is much fuperior to the ufual furniture of a circa^ Uting library ; and though it will not bear the feverity of criticifmt yet it fome'times affeds tbf heart without offending the jadgmenti and entertains the fancy without wounding the modefty of the moft delicate and innocent of her fex. The adventures follow each other with rapidity ; but though we have often been difgufted by a tedioua minutenefs in fimilar publications, we could not help regretting, in this work, that the little iketches of nature are fo foon clofed, and that we are often feparated from the company of agreeable acqnaxnc- ance, whom we wi(hed to have carried with us to the end.
Since the above was written, we have heard that the Writer ia Mi(s E. Blower. ^ e ll^
MiSCELLAKEOUS. -^ • Ct% K #
^.•|^t|f%^ Beauties ofjobnfin: Confifiing of Maxims and Obfervations, Moral, Critical, and Mifcellaneous, accurately ex- traded from the Works of Dr. Samuel John fbn ; and arranged itf alphabetical Order, after the Manner of the Duke de la Roche- foocaidt's Maxims. 8vo. a Vols. 4s. 6d. fewed. Kearfly. 1782. • •
The merit of Dr. John (on, as a moral and critical writer, is (6 welf kaown, that it would be fvperfluous to point it out. His greatf excellence, however, lies in deep obfervations and acute remarks on' * men and manners, worthy both of the Sage and the Wit : With thefe, he iiitcrweavei reAc^Ians, whidi arc admirably calculated to imprefi
the
tbe heirt with a finife of the beauty of virtaa, and the obligations o^ religion. The ColleAor of hit Maximi fofficieotljr exprcflet tbe de* fign of thit publication in the Ticle- page i and we heartily wi(h it focceff anong the yoong, for whofe improvemeDt and coaTehience^ particolarly in fchooli^ it feemt principallr intended. "9^. A It
Art. 27. Cwrfirj Examnaim rf Dr. jtbnJmU Strh^ttres on SJ^ tjrie fnfmrwuMcu rf Gray, 8 vo. 1 s. Crowder. 1781.
Thit curfory Bxamination, though apparently the prodndion of
liaftet is written with liberality and candour. Thofe who interetf
I themfelfet in the poetical reputation of oiir modem Pindar, will read
it with pleafure. ... C^-t^.t
Arc. 2D« RiViries rfthe Hutrt ; during a Tour through Part of
Bnglaad and France, In n Series of Letters to a Friend, izno.
s Vols. 4S. fewed. Tohnfon. 1781.
By accident this agreeable Medley hath been too long ne^leded ; and wa hope the candoor of the Author will excufe an omi&on that was lK)t iataadadt eithey as a flight to him or hit performance.
The title fofidently exprefles the defign of the work ; and the txt* cution is fuch as merits at lead indulgence, if not applaufe. A lively yeia of Shandean hilarity runs through it» fuperior at leafl to foma of the modern imitators of Sterne,— >the bungling menders of his old and worn-oat pen I
SoBia will undoubtedly find fault with the Author for many Ytrf anneceitary, and even liceodous atlufioas to fcripture, and charge bim with profanenefs and infidelity, ^ And indeed with ibme reaiba. This freedom with facred cbara£lers is unwarrantable in vttjj view» and generally arifes from ignorance, siFeAaKion, or fpleen. The y^riter of thefe Reveiies may poflibly have feen much to difguft him among the dafs of people who have aiTumed a prefcriptive title to or* thodoxy. and who would monopolize all the excellence of the earth within their narrow circle. On artam mindi this early impreffioa is often unfortunate ; for Horace hath obferved,
Stulti /'« coMtrana curruni.
Though not woUmt/j attached to the miniftry, we are equally dif- pleafed with this Writer's virulence, and direuiled at his tedious re- petitions of national grievances, to double, it poffible, the odium of government.
At prefent this Tour-maker is not got out of England. We tremble for the very fmall remnant of religion which he Teems to pof- left, when'he (hall arrive in France. The fight of Dr. Franklin wiU certainly make him forget the ff cond commandment ! ! ! «* ^ ..
Philosophical. 9*#*'Jl
Art. 29. An Effiy on Fire. To which is anmxed an JpptmBx :
Bv C. R. Hopibn, M. D. 8vo. as. 6d. Rivington. 1781.
There are two a^thodsof enlightening the world in philofophical matters. The firft, to which we moll readily give the preference, confifts ia inveftigating the properties of bodies by new and appro- priate experiments ; and the fecond, in deducing conieqaences, and forming theories from the phenomena already known, and the expe- rimental inveftigations of others. The prefent performance is flri&ly of the lattc!^ dafs; as it does not contain any new experiment of the Author's, whofe principal view appears to be, to prefent us with a
4 theory
Monthly Catalogue, Zm^, i^-
t)»fory which be hat fbrmej, to tccoant for \\kt pbenoacBa of whkh the phiiofophical world rs already in pofleflion.
Had the Aitbor produced any new and intereftin^ experineatt on the curiOQi fubjc^s of which he treats; we (hoold, as it our oonftaac' pradlice, have taken a pleafare in extending the knowledge of them among ouft phttflt^plI16KrreaJcrs7"But an ft^d^nt oFa mere theorf^ on a dark and involved fubjed» poald. not gratify, much lefs en- lighttn, any of oar readers; efpecially in the .narrow liofiics to .which. we are confined : unlcfs, indeed* the Author had the goQd fortune to* hit upon fome finipleand luminoas priricipl^, by dteant 'of which the phenomena into which he inquires might be explained within a mo* derate compafi.
Nocwithftanding thefe remarks, we would have it nnderftood, that. though %fce <vilh the Author h^d gi' us fome new ixferimintsg rathei^ than bypothtfiSy on fire, phlogi(lon» &c, yet he appears to be well acquainted wi.h what has been written on thefe fabje^t ; and hi^ I '"fpecuUtioni and rcafoaings on them may poffibly fogged new ideu, and furaifh hints for new cxperiment9» to others. For this laft rea^' ion principally, we (hall briefly fpecify the heads of the Aatho/a chapters.
His principal hypothecs, which forms the fobjed of the firll thret chapters is, that firt (which he confiders as a fuhft^na^ and act %. mere quality) is not an element ; as it confifts of two componeot partit Ugbt and btat : and that pblogifton conlifls likewife of the (ame two principles ; and accordingly is fre, but in a ftate of fixity. In the following chapters he treats of the communication, and the prodac^ ^l ido4|of heat ; — of the proceiTes in general, in which the air is phlogif- ticated ;— of inflammation and combuftion ; — of the deflagration of aitre;— of the explofion of gunpowder and /if/v/#ywW««ff/, as like* wife of aurum fulminans^ zn^ the fulminating mercurial precipitatea of M. Bayen. A thefis on the fubjed of fircy publilhed by the An* thor in 1767, is fubjoined, under the whimfical title of ' Ttntsmtm * Tbjfif-cbimcQ* mtdicum di trihus im umo* 3^ • « • V •
Art* 30. EJays on Phjfiohgical Subjt^ls: By J. Elliot. 8Tro.J^*
is. 6d. Johnfon. 1780. Thefe EflTays, which have throngb accident been loi>g overlooked by OS, contain feveral mifcellaneous obfervations, hypothefet, hints^ &c 00 various fubjeds of phyfiology, which bear a relation to the ingenious Author's former publication [Pbilo/hpbical Ob/iroariamip &c« See M. R. January ]7So.]f and principally to his obfervationa on animal heat* For many reafons, we muft refer oar philoibphicat readers, who have a tafte for mere byfotbi/esp to the Pamphlet itfelf* ^ q
Law. y)»
Art. 31. Tbi Trials with the Whole of the Evidence, between the Right Hon. Sir Richard Worfley, Bart. Comptroller of his Majefty's Houihold, Governor of the Ifle of Wight, Meinber of Parliament for the Borough of Newport, One of his Majelly*s Moft Hon. Privy Council, &c. PAif«/f^,— aad Giorgi Maurict Bifi^ ftt^ Efq; Dtftndant\ for Criminal Coavcrfation with the PlaintiflF'a Wife : ^ziox^ the Right Hon. William, Earl of Mansfield, and n Special Jury, in the Court of King's Beach, Weftminfter Hall,
Feb»
140 S B t U O K 8«
Pebbaf, i7Si* Talmi in SiMfff Hind bjrR. P. Doakiia. 4ft>^ J t. Kearily.
One iHiLLiHO DmmMgisi -^^Houp aortifying t* the injured b«£-
ipk to the vicioat ! O amform! O mmrts I
\mxA ! Whtt a trion]^
S £ R li O N Sv
I. /« iMikit ,Chafd^ at the Coafecration of Dr. S. HtlHftx, Lord
Bidiop of Glooceftcr» Odob. 28, I781. ^^j £aft Apthorp, D. D.
4to. I s. Cadell.
Ad ingeidoat bat flattering enlogium on Bpifcoptcy and the Con* ftitatiqo of the Charch of Eoglaod^ There U an affiaation ia thU Writer*! Syle and manner wUcb favoort of great vanity : if the yonng divine can difpenfe with tb^^ we woold recommend to hit attention Dr. Apthorp't jadiciont hints re(peding the fludy of theology as a Icience^ affiled to the prefcnt difcooiie, ^ J ^
n. Jdw€9 mddr^df thi yonng Clirgj of the Dioceie of Carlifle;^ ^^
preached at a general Ordination bolden at Rofe Caftle, Joly 29,
1781. By William Paley, M. A« ChapUin to the Bifhop of Car-
lifle. 4to. $d. Fanldcr.
Wa have peruiled this fermoa with nore than common pleafare.
For the jaftnefs of its refledions» the propriety of ics language, and
the bcnevolenct, good ienfe» and piety which breathe through the
whole, we have rarely met with its equal. That young divine muft
be ftupid 01 vicious to the laft degree^ who can read it without being
afc6ted and improved by it. -q j fj
I Jl»el«y
%* In anfwer to the Correfpondent who enquires concerning the Mr. Joaes who is the Author of Piyjhhgicnl DifynifitUns, men» tinned in our Review for Januarv lail^ Art. )1. we are to obferve, that the Difqaifitor is the Rev. Mr. Jones, Redorof Pafton in Northamp* tonflurc. Our Correfpondent is miftaken in fuppofine the Writer ter^^eaati co be William Jones, Bfq. The laft named Gentleman is of the Law ; and one of the £rft literary charadlers of the age.
tif- In anfwer to B. D.*8 Letter, dated from CotefbiU, Dec. 8th, 1781, we can oaly fay, that we know of no Work, on the fubjcd ht mentions, that will give him fo much pleafure and inftrn^on at Millot's Ancient and Modern Hiftory. If B. D. onderfiands the French language, we would recommend the original Work to him ; if he doesi not, theie is a good Tranilation of it, publiflied for Mr. Cadell. -^
ty The Sermons on the late Gener^ Fajf in our next : Alfi) tba Letters on the £•/ im ^mf^ mentioned ac the end of our laft month*a Review.
MtiMBMiMMMaai^iiMMaaMaipMMiMBnMaHwni^Maai
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW,
For APRIL, 1782.
Art. h Btver*s Hiftoty tf tht Ltgd Pdity tf tb§ Remum Static CONCLUDED. Sec our ]aft Month's Review.
HAVING paid the refpeft which we judged to be due to the. ingenious Author of this work, under the chandet of a civilian, we ihall now attempt to do juftioe to hit merit under'the other charafler in which this hiftory places him befim the public, that of a politician.
' It is certainly a degradation of the dignity of hiftorical writ*' ing, and neceuarily creates fufpicions of partiality, to admit local and temporary politics into general hiftory. The hiflo* rian who fteps out of his way to apply his narrative to the timet In which he writes, muft not be furpriftki if his readers fuppofe, that he has fome favourite caufe to ferve, or fyftem to eftabliflu How far Dr. B. has given occafion for fuch fufpicions, may perhaps in fome meafure appear from what follows.
Concerning the extindion of the regal government at the ez^] pulfion of Tarquiii, our*^Author fays :
' Fortunate as thii event really was ia itielf, eonfideied at » dtliveraiica from one accidental tyrant; yet the anarchy and con- fafion which immediately enfued, was a very poor exchange for the tranquillity th^ enjoyed under their primitive kingly govern* meat* In thofe golden days, when the people were kept in fubjec* tioo by the influence of manners, rather than by the dint of antho- rity ; where a happy mediocrity, both of fortune and defires, pre- vailed irniverfally through all orders and ranks of the ftate ; each en- joyed his lot in content and fecurity* Wealthy luxury and ambition, the certain (bnrces of licentioufneisy vice, and diforder, had not then invaded their innocent manfions. The laws were few» many being luineceflary ; and they were obeyed with cheerfuhnefs, bccsufe in their obedience the people faw their intereft*
VoL.LXII, ^'R • !Li>yi
* •
H2 Bevtr^s Hj/tory of the Legal Polity of the Roman Stafel
*'^ Li?7, therefore, jtiftly obferves f» that " Had another Bratui vrifted (He fcepcre out of the hands of any of the former kings, it mud ba?€ been fatal to the very being of the (late. For what evila would not hare arifen from a tamaltnons rabble of (hepherdi and re- fugees, who bad obtained liberty, or rather impunity, under the in* violable fanduary of a temple ; when uncontrolled by regal autho* rity ; agitated by the florms of tribanitian fury ; and engaged in conteCs with the patricians in a ftrange city ; before the pledges of wives and children, and an affedion for the foil itielf,-to which dme only could reconcile them, had cordially united their minds ? Difcord would have totally diflbWed their infant date, which the mild hand of regal government careliilly cheri(hed» and gradually brought to foch a perfedtion of ftreng th and maturity, tbmt they were well pre* pared to fupport To violent a convulHon ; and to enjoy, with eafe, the full harveft of liberty.*'
On this pafTage it is an obvious remark, that, in their repre- fentatrons of the confequences of this event, the Englifli and the Roman hiftorian materially differ; the former reprefenting the happinefs of the Roman people as much greater in the gol- flen days ' of the kinjgs,' than under the confuls ; the latter de« fcribing the period of the regal government as a courfe pf pre- paratory difcipline, neceflary to train up the ftate for enjoying thfc full harveft of liberty.
In the beginning of our Author's detail of the early revolu- tiohs in the confular ftate of Rome, we find him treating with contempt the general voice of hiftory, which has pronounced the firft Briitu^ a oiodel of patriotifm— holding up his conduft befcke the death of Lucretia to ridicule— reprefenting this great fcvolution as the tStBt of envy and jealoufy in the patricians, who employed the popular cry of liberty to accompliih their ambitious defigns— and pronouncing the change which was then made in the political fyftem of Rome an zSt cf injujiice.
' *jrntua has been held up to all following ages, as a confummate model of genuine patriotiOsi ; yet it was a (udden accident only that called forth his virtues into adion, and made him the fortunate inftroflMat of his country's deliverance. If we look back upon this
f ''*' Neque ambigitur, qnin Brutus idem, out tantnm glorisB, So- perbb fsrado rege, meruit, pefCmo publico id fadnrns fuerit, ii li- bertatis'immaturae cnpidine priorum regum alrcui regnum extorfiilet. Quid eniita'fuiuriun fuir, fi ilia paftorum convenarumque plebs tranP- fttga ex fais popolis, fnb tutela inviolati templi, aut libertatem, aut certe impunitatem adepta, iblnta regio metn, agitari cxpta ell tribu- nidis proccllis ? Et in aliena nrbe cum patribus ferere certamina, prinfquam pignora conjugum ac liberorum, caritafque ipfius foil, ctti longo tempore alTuefcitur, animos eorum confocisffet ? Diflipatse res, nondum aduUae, difcordia forent: quas fovit tranqailla modern* tio imperil, eoqne nutriendo perduxit, ut boaam frugem libertatii maittxi^ jam viribus Itxit poiTcntt'* Liv. il. i.
inflexible
Be vcr 'j HiJIory of the Legal PiUiy ^f. tht Roman State. 243
loflexible adverfary to the regal office, daring the earliii'part 6f hit time^ and till the prefent critical moinent ; we fi^all fee him fubmit^ ting, in filent and fullen patience* to an uninterrupted courfe of the xnoH cruel and mortifying indignities, for the tediooa fpace of twea^ ty-five years ; and coodel'cending to preferve a comfortlefs life tff htt- miliation and ignominy, by an affected renunciation of the \iCe olT his underflanding. Even at lad, had not Lucretia been violated** Rome, perhaps, hsd never been frte. Bat vengeicce was now' gout forth. Tarquin was deftined to expiate the crimes of a long reign | and becaufe the tyrant bad joftly drawn upon hia*Qwn head the whole weight of the national refentment* the king* at onjuftiy) was for ever to be degraded from the throne. To tSc6t ihefe fandamen^ tal changes in the political fyftem* the concurrence of the people wm
necefTaxyy and /i^erfy was the word ; yet, among the many new
fchemes of government at firfl propofed, that only*. viFhich favoured the intereft of the ariftocratical party, met with any t(>rdial eiidoa£ ragement.' *
In this manner does Dr. B. by one ftroke of his pen, d'afl^ out all the virtue of Brutus, and all the patriotifm of thofe who took up the fword in defence of the liberties of their country^ ' by whofe glorious efforts the Romans (in the judgment of their great hiftorian Livy *) ' from that time became a free people/ How contradidlory this novel opinion is to the do£lrine of our moft eminent lawyers and ftatefmen, it is fcarcely neceflary Co Ibow. Blackftone (on whom Dr. B. has pafled a laboured eu* logium has faid, that ^ whenever any queftion arifes between k focicty at large, and any magiilrate vefted witl^ powers origin nally delegated by that fociety, it muft be decided by the voice of that fociety itfclf, for there is not upon earth any other tri- bunal to decide it/ And Bolingbroke (whom no one will fuf* pcSt of favouring republic;in principles) aflerti, that ^ the king, in a limited monarchy, is but the firft fervant of the people/ On thefe principles, eftablifhed by the authority of the moft refpedable names, and by the higher authority of reafon, the Roman people had an undoubted right to difmifs their ferVanC Tarquin, when he became a tyrant ; and were guilty of no injtt/iici, when they adopted a new mode of government from which they expeded greater public h^ppinefs than they had hi* therto enjoyed.
Dr. B. boldly charaAerizes the confular government asa/pe* cies of defpotifm, adapted to give the patricians an opportunity of becoming, in their turn, ^ annual tyrants,' but * not tQ en* large the circle of general liberty f / • That thi& is an afiertioa eontradided by fads* fofficiently appears (without entering into a minute hiftorical detail) from the power which the people en-
* Liberl jam hinc populi Romani res. . Liy. II. It
R 2 joyad
144 Bever's Hift^ry •/ the Ligd Polity $/ the Roman Stau*
joyed in their general aflemblies, of finally determining many important matters of ftate, and particularly the inflidion of ca-
{ lital punifhments ; and from the conftitutional guard of their iberties which they obtained, in the tribunes of the people. On this latter circumftance, with the increafe of popular liberty whicn followed it. Dr. £• infifts at large ; vehemently declaim- ing againft the ^ daily ufurpations of thofe reftlefs demagogues, and their daring invafions of the rights of the other orders * ;' md acknowle^tns that ^ in thefe ftruggles the fcale generally
{preponderated in nivour of the popular party :' With what
degree of confiftency with his aflertion that the change from kiegal to confular government did not enlarge the circle of ge- ineral liberty, we mall not undertake to determine. Our Au« thorns idea of the Roman government under the confuls, is fully expreiled in the following paflage :
. * Great and profperoot at it a£tually became in the coarfe of time* It owed very litde of that grandeur to any regular chain of poKiical reafonings, or to the prophetic deduftions of deep*fighted pbilofo- ^hy ; bat rather, to a diligent and unremitting attention to the va- ^us incidents, that occafionally offered themfelves, in the feveral ftronles and diAcoltiet in which this adive people were fo fre- Iqoently involved. By taking a proper advantage of thefe. at they liappened, and by always chafing the moft promifing and beneficial, they arrived^ (ays Polyhitfs, at ine very fame end that Lycargos at- tallied, and formed the moft beautifal fyftem of government then ex- ifting*
* In contemplating, therefore, its rapid increafe ; Its tfn'erampied focceft ; the profound awe and veneration which it imprefled upon the whole ancidnt world ; we ma^ be tempted to believe, tbtt the va- rioas parts of it were to ing^ioufly contrived, and the rtfpedive 'powers of each order to equally -poifed, at to fecare to It an unin- terrupted fiate of union and ftability ; and, from hence, to accede 'to the opinion of the fame writer, that ' it was not pofiible for hn- 4Baii, wifdom to invent a more perfed fcbeme of civil policy.'
' It is to, be feared, however, that this eminent author wss too
nnch dazzled by the laftre of the period in which be wrote ; and
that he ffave a higher colouring to his piflure, than coald be well
joflified from a view of the original. By the final fabje^libn of her
moft potent and formidable rival, the republic was then advanced to
the brighteft sera of her glory ; when (he might, indeed, beft deferve
to flattering m compliment, at the Icaft expence of fincerity and
troth. Bat, with all his knowledge of Roman affairs, the fidelity
of the hiftbrian feems to have yielded too much to the partiality of
the paaegyrift,. in fiivour of that ftate, which had atchieved fach
•.wonders, by the hand, efpecially, of his pupil, friend, and patron.
. . ' In die cooler moments of his reflexion, he well knew, that the
. inoft valuable produflions, both of the political and phyfical world,
carried within themfelves their own congenial defeds ; infomncb.
* Page 46, 48.
that
Sever'/ Hijhry tf the Ltgal Polity ofthi RmoB StaU. 245
that, thoQgh they might chance to efcape external iojuiiei» they were liable to be corroded and deftroyed by certain internal principlea of corra prion, implanted in their vitalf by the hand of Natnre. Sodl was the contexture of the Roman conftitntion* which, even in the fammit of itt felicity, was plentifally fiored with the feedt of iti own diflblotion. The fame powert, that, by an amicable coM>peni-> tion with each other, cemented itt variont parta in one firm bondf of union and friendfhip, by any wilful abofe or mifapplicationy be* came, with the fame facility, the canfef of the moft ruinous difcord*
' The time was not very far diftant, when the pride of'vidory, ae^ the deccitfulnefs of profperity, were to extinguiib that patient bra* very, that nnafiedled purity of manners, which had hitherto diredUd her feet in the paths of true glory. The meek fpirit of obedience^ which it the foul of political order, was now to give way to a tnr* bnlent impatience of legal reftraint, and to an overweening conceit of felf^confequence ; when every pert demagogue wat to think him* felf at liberty to difturb the decorum of popular aiTemblies by Ida -(editipus declamations ; as if effrontery of face, and volubility of tongttf , were the only oeceflary accompliOimentt of an orator and f ibtefman.
* When, therefore, we confider thit celebrated conftitutaon, wii;^ all thefe precarious and uncertain effeds ; there will be no injnfticp in faying, that, in almoft every period of its exiffence^ it wat more excellent in its parts, than in the whole* Though the materialt QJf which it was compofed were good in their kind, yet they wanted the hand of one able architect, to give (hem that nniibrmity and har- mony, which axe eflential both to the ftrength and beauty of the edi* ice. The numerous conflituentt of this vaft find complex body were generally much too independent of each other : they too often ne- gledled, or even purpofely avoided, that mutual communication of fen- ciments, which the nature of legiflation always requires ; confequently» .the laws made by each refpe^ively, bore too partial a relation to the intereft of their own order, to be of any extend ve nfe to the whole community. This was particularly the cafe in the more nnfettled and difira^ed times of the republic ; when laws were frequently pafTed, even as it were in fpite ; and were di£iated by a jealonfy of each other*t fnperiority, rather than by a difinterefted xeal for die common caofe of focial tranquillity. Thus, the balance of orderly policy could never fettle into itt due equilibrium ; but was kept in n continued ffate of ofcillation between both extremes, till it finally preponderated in favour of one great leviathan of power, who bik came, of himfelf, more than equal to all the reft together ; a fatal confequence, that will ever refult from popular liberty, when moee eagerly coveted, than well understood i and mOre tnmultuonfly ailert* cd, than temperately enjoyed,
* Under the prefent view, therefore, of the legal polity of thia 3* loftrions ilate, it may be well compared to a plentiful magaxine dF heterogeneous merchandizes, which, when thrown together in one undiftinguiihed mafs, difguHs the eye with its confufed and (hapelefii appearance; but, when the feveral parts are judicloufly felededt end difftt&d through their regular channels, makes glad the henrt
&3 of
44.6 Bcvcr^ Hijory of the Legal Polity of the Roman State.
of man* and enriches the aniverfe with the abundance of its trea-r fo.-es.'
It is impo/Sble iiot to remark, in this picture, the Audled contempt with wbiph the author treats the voice of the pubIiC| and the facility with wbieh be cenfures the ftruggle of the ple- beians for their rights, as a tumultuous afTertion of popular li- berty, and ftigmatiees freedom of fpeech with the opprobrious character of ^ feditious declamations,' didated by a ^ turbulent impatience of legal reftraint/ There is alfo a manifeft incon- (iftency between nis former cenfure of the reftlefs fpirit of the demagogues, and his prefent aflertion, that * the meek fpirit of obedience, which is the foul of political order, was now giving pjay^ &c. &c.' It was not till long after this period, that the aera of this meek fpirit, fo much admired by our author, com- menced.
Concerningths appointment of Sylla to the office of perpe- tual didator, Dr. B. fays :
* By a la\y paiTed in the general afTembly of the people tbemrelves, at thp inftance of the ' Inter-rex/ Valerius Flaccus» the famoas Cor- nelias Sylla was, by a moft onprecedeoted compliment, created dic- tator for a time aniimited ; all his former a6t8» however irregular and nnconftitutionaly were ratified ; and a full power was given him over the lives and fprtones of his fellow-fubjedts ; a power which he cxerdfed with the feveriry of a tyrant, and abdicated with the fere- nity of a philofopher. Bot it was too late, by this n£t of affedled moderation, to prevent the fatal contagion of his former example. He left far too many faithful imitators of his violence and ufurpa- tions, but not a fingle one of his voluntary humiliation, A felf-dct- aying ordinance was not likely to gain much ground, in thofe ages of corruption, voloptuonfnefs, and iniquity. The people tbemfelves» indeed, were grown weary of a conflirution, under which, with the form and femblance of freedom, they fafFered every evil both of anarchy and defpotifm. They thought one tyrant more tolerable than 8 tboufand ; and, therefore, were eafily drawn in to aid the ambicioui Tiews of thofe afpiriog potentates, who fucceflively grafped at the fu- preme command ; and infenfibiy co»operated with them in forging thofe chains, which were to hold both themfelves and their poilerity in everlafling bondage.
* May this melancholy and afFefling example humble the infolence of republican licentioufnefs ! May it point out to ail fadions oppo- fers of lawful authority, the very thin partitions which divide the extremes of liberty from thd extremes of tyranny I and convince tbem, that without the reflraint, no lefs than the protedlion, of regu* ]ar government, men would daily worry and dei'oor each other, like the favage beafts of the def^irt ! M^y it difpofe chem to look up with ijpverence, doty, and gratitude, to that conflitucion of which they ai% members ; a condicution that is the pride of civil policy ; and nn^er whofe wife and benign aufpices, they muft be their own preateflf enemies, if they do not enjoy every bluffing that man can
'^afonably expefl, in the coiDpoond und impexfcd Hate of human Society 1'
The
BevePi Hiftiry of the Legal PoUty rf tbi Rhnan ^tate^. J47
The application of the hiftory of Sylla's difiatorihip, as a warning againft entrufting too much power in the hands of one Dian, woald have been fufficiently obvious ; but how a volun- tary grant of power to one man, in full though miftaken con* fidence that he would fave his country from ruin, can be con* ftrued into an affeding example, to humble the infolence of re- publican licentioufnefs, it is not fo cafy to conceive. We, however, heartily agree with our Author in admiring the Bri- ti(h conftitution as a glorious ftrufiure, the pride of civil po- licy. We refpedi and revere the memory of that long fucccf- fion of patriots, who have, from age to age, been employed in founding, ereding, and adorning this venerable pile -who^ refolutely oppoiing every invafion of the liberties of Britain, have at length eftabliffaed them on the firm bails of law. And, although we cannot fuppofe the Britiih conftitution fo entirely exempt from that imperfe£iion which is the common lot of all things human, as to be incapable of improvement, yet, we look up to it with reverence, and acknowledge it to be the in- tereft and duty of every Briton to exert himfelf for its defence and prefervation, againft iil/a^lous oppo/ers of the authority of the laws, and the fpirit of the conftitution, whether their op- poiition arifes from the ^ infolence of republican licentioufnefs! on the one hand, or on the other from the bafenefs of that meek fpirit, which crouches under the yoke of defpotifm. Why our Author, who is fo * feelingly alive at every pore,' with re* (pcSt to the former evil, has not given the latter a place in his pious deprecation, we muft not ftay to enquire.
In the view which Dr. B. next proceeds to giv^ of the events which gave birth to the imperial government, we find the moft fevere cenfures caft upon thofe who exerted themfelvet to preferve the freedom of Rome, and the moft laboured apo- logy for the conduct of Caefar, in taking upon himfelf the ma- nagement of the ftate, at a period when, in our Author's opi- nion, it was no longer able to regulate its own aftairs. Cicero, in particular, is traduced as an tnfidious orator, ^ who by the word republic only meant the fenate and its friends, and by li* berty, the right of the ariftocracy to tyrannize at pleafure over the common people *,' — and, it is infinuated, was capable of any abfurdity or inconfiftency of political condud, from ihf hope of honour, profit, or applaufe.— — The narrow limits to which we are obliged to confine our remarks,, will not admit of our entering into the detail which would be necefiary in jafr tifying the political principles and character of this grea.c maiv But we appeal to the whole courfe of his£ondu6t prior to his
• Page i|8. 146.. . :
R4 cxilei
248 Be? er*/ HiJI$ij $fiht Ligal PoUty of the Xoman ^Mi.'
exile, as an undoubted proof, that, with whatever foibles he might be chargeable, he zStcd with great ability ^and firmnefa in fupport of public liberty, and merited the appellation of the father of his country. If, towards the latter part of his life^ he difcovered fome degree of puiillanimity an(] unfteadinefs, it clearly appears, from the general hiftory of the times, and from bis own private letters *, that it arofe not from any defertion of his principles, but from defpair of being able, amidft the
gneral corruption which was fpread through all parties, to pro- ;ute hit patriotic views with any profpefiof fuccefs. He faw that the people were now become too degenerate to wi(h for political falvation, and hejudged that it would be in vain to at- tiempt to iave them againft their will. It was a maxim which he adopted from Plato, Tantum contendin in npubJica^ quanium frobm^ tuts iivihis pojfis ; vim neque partntiy neque patria^ adftm 0pmrUri.
Our Author's reprefentation of the condud of Julius Caefar is too ftrongly marked with contradiction to be pafled by with- out particular notice.
When Caefar was one of the triumvirate with Pompey aiid CraflTus, in Dr. B.'s opinion * the only common principle which united them was the love of power f ', and their government ti>at ati ^ ufurpation ;'— -while Pompey was conful he < (hewed how far he dared infult a mighty people by unconftitutional ex* erti<mt joF unlimited power % ;*— during the whole of this pe* fiod * the wounded conftitution lay bleeding at every vein,' < whatever was the name of the tyrani^ Marius or Sylla, Pom* pev or Caefar 1/ The decifive adion which gave Caefar an in- delible tide to the appellation of tyrant, when in defiance of the authority of the ftate he paflfed the Rubicon, Dr. B. ac- knowledges Co have laid the foundation of abfolute monarchy in Rome, «md laments it as « ^ triumph of defpotifm, at which every generous mind muft feel deep concern §/ And after his death, when the imperial government is eftabli(hed in Auguftusi he- calls upon his readers to ^ marie with the minuteft attention the progiefs of this power, as it afibrds an infirudive lefTon to the fubjeds of all free ftates to guard, with the moft jealous cir-* comfpediont the inefiimable bleffing of political liberty, and to )>feventtheai from being too lavifli of their conceffions even to the moft virtuous foveretgn **•*
What could a Locke or a Sydney have (aid tnore ? But, aiu^ ifkiram partim. No fooner has this ufurper and tyrant, at the hrnd of a powerful «rmy, poifclTtd himfelf of the capital of the
"♦ THdcEpift. 1. 8. LcBtuL & Attic, i. 19, f P* Hi*
X P, 163, II P. 165.. f P. 167. *? P. 203.
empirCj
Bever'i Hiftory of the Legal Polity pf ihi Raman SiaU. 249
empire, ^ with a full opportuaity of feizing wbaitever degree of power beft fuited the views either of his revenge or ambition ^, and extorted from the peofrie * a fervile renunciation of theic political liberty t»' than he becomes the ' friend and deliverer of bis country, and the brighteft ornament of the Roniaa world J.'
* He now applied himfelf, with a truly patriotic zeal, to the com^ pletion of the great objedl of his wifhes ; which was to dofe the wounds of his bleeding coaotry ; to reform and new-model the brokes conftitution ; and to repair the many injuries it had fufFered from the late unhappy diviiions : and had not the untradtable arrogance of the ariftocratical fa<niony alike unfriendly both to regal and popular government, difconcerted his befl endeavours, there is every reafbm to believe, that be would have given them a more liberal and ra* tional (cheme of civil policy, than had ever been known among them fince the days of Romulus ; and hate convinced them, that his de* fire was *' not to command, but to prefide ; not to tyrannize, but to govern."—-*
* A regular feries of political improvements, purfued with fuck warmth and perftverance, is not to be afcribed to the fudden falliea of pomp and oftentation, as if defigned for no better purpofe, than to difguife ambition, and palliate defpotifm ; but has a perfed right to be confidered as the deliberate refult of a long and mature re- flexion $ as the fuggellion of an ardent and patriotic compallioa for the deplorable ftate of his declining country* So careful likewife was Caefar in every thing that concerned the public welfare, that Iw formed no refolution of coniequence without firft a(king the advice of the fenate ; and therefore, though feveral of bis laws carry upon the face of them a tincture of feverity, they were amply juilified by ever/ fandUon, that the concurrence of fo venerable an aAembly could pol^ fibly give them.' •
' * To deliver this difeafed and debilitated conftitution from the com^ plicated miferies under which it then lay expiring, certainly required no fmall effort of power ; but fuch a power, as was far from being incompatible with the rights of nature and civil liberty.'
Thus does the mighty charm of military force, change the ambition of this daring invader of his country's rights, into <^n / ardent and patriotic compaffion for its deplorable ftate.' His tyranny becomes ^ a libera) and rational fcheme of civil policy :' his edifis, liTued under the mock authority of a fervile and inti» midated aflembly of fenators, are ^ juftified by every fanction of a Roman fenate ;' and his power is * not incompatible with the rights of nature, and civil liberty/
With thefe ideas of civil liberty, it is not at all furprifing, that our Author (hould feel an invincible antipathy to the me- mory of thofe patriotic fpirits, who made the lali unfu^cefsful ftru^le to recover the dying liberties of Rome ; and that he
P. 176. + p. i78t X P. 199»
ibould
tja BeverV HiJIory of the Legal Polity of the Roman Stati.-
Aould charge them with having * proftitutfd the facred znA ado^ rable name of liberty to the bafeft and moft rancorous purpofes 61 oppofition, fadion and murder *, and brand them with the appellation of ^ infatuated afTaflins f /
Our Hiftorian, finding fome difficulty in reconciling his re- prefentations of the political views and conduct of Julius Cae- tkv with the ancient records of that period, maintains, that the prejudices which have been entertained againft his chara^er have * derived their orgin from the writings of his avowed ene- mies %.* He therefore kindly correds thefe prejudices, by con- tinually referring his readers to an hiftorian, whom he charac- terizes as very difcerning, very faithful, well-informed, judi- cious and candid. The learned will be furprifed to find fuch a multitude of commendatory epithets thrown away upon — Dio Cassius, a writer who fiouriihed in the reign of Alexander Se- 5perus, and cannot deferve to be confidered as an original autho- rity with refpeA to affairs which happened near 300 years before bis time; — who wrote under the ftrongeft imprefTion of court influence, to which he yielded fuch implicit obedience, that he kept his fiation and honours under five fucceffive em- perors, among whom were Caracalla and Heliogabalus ; — who pretends to write under the impulfe of an invifible fpirit : and lafily, who inveighs with fuch bitternefs againft many refpec- table charaflers, that Voffius fays concerning him, ^adam fru judicii feu morum pravitate^ virtutn fuo pretio eflimare nefcit ; fed virus fuum ejaculatur in optimos et prajtantijpmos viros, ut Ciee» Tdnem^ et Brutnm^ Caffiumque et L. Senecam. Omnino hac aut imfignem judicii defe^um^ aut malam mentem^ arguunt ||. — Con- cerning this hiftorian, fo highly in confidence with Dr. B, ,Mr. Hayley gives the following particulars §.
^^ Dion Caffius, the fordid advocate of defpotifm, endeavour- ed to depreciate the charafler of Cicero, by inferting in his biftory the moft indecent oration that ever difgraced the page of an hiftorian. in the opening of his 46th book, he intro- duces Q^ Fufius Calenus haranguing the Roman fenate againfl the great ornament of that aflembly, calling Cicero a magician, and accufing him of proftituting his wife, and committing in- ceft with his daughter." — Againft writers of fuch a fpirit, what
good man will not exclaim with the poet § :
' Go gild v^ich adulations feeble ray The imperial pageant of your paHiDg day ! Nor hope to (lain, on bdfc detratlion's fcroll, . A Tully's morals, or a 'ix)^Xity*% foul !
• P- 194. t P. 204. t P. 175. II Voflittt
de Hifloncis Grscis, 11. 15. § Hay ley's EfT-y pn Hillory,
tp. iii note 8. § ib. Ep. iit. vcr. ijj. *
Juft
BcvcrV Hijlorj of the Legal Pility of the Roman State. %$t
Jaft nature will abbor» and virtue fcorn. That pen, though eloquence its page adoro. Which 9 brib*d by incereft, or from vain- pretence To fu brier wit, and deep difcerning (enfe. Would blot the praife on public toili beftoiv'd. And patriot paifions as a jell explode.' Dr, B. employs a large chapter of his work in determining fhe nature and extent of that declarative aS of the ftate which is fuppofed to have taken place in tly reign of Auguftus, ufuall]f called the Lex Regia^ and takes much pains to prove, that this %& did not imply an entire rcfignation of the ancient confit- tutional rights of the people. But the queftion is of no mo- ment; for, when the ineftimable bleffing of public liberty is gone, it is of little confequence to a people, that its (hadow, in fhe unfubftantial form of words and ceremonies, remains. It would be a poor confolacion to thofe of the Romans who were capablyf comparing the times of flavery with thofe of freedom, to feef Tcringing and daftardly herd of courtiers, ftamping the fignature of the Roman fenate upon every capricious or cruel edidt, which it might pleafe their imperial lord, (upported by the military power of the fiate, to iflue forth, PoilirJy, how- ever, it might happen, that when the Roman people loft the pofleffion of liberty, they loft all idea of its value, and felt no regret when they faw all their rights and powers transferred to the emperor by law *, and received the decree of the fenate ; which * releafed f him from all coercive power of the laws, leaving him at liberty to do, or not to do, what was moft agrees able to his own inclination/ In this comfortable ftate of poli- tical lethargy, they might poffibly fancy (as it feems our Au- thor- in the like fituation would have done) that they < expe- rienced a more folid and rational happinefs, than had ever been known in the pureft ages of the democracy, when they were the moft uncontrolled repofitaries and guardians of their owa conftitutional liberties %•*
To thofe, however, who underftand the value of political li- berty, it can never be a matter of indifference, whether they enjoy protedion and happinefs at the pleafure of their prince, or under the fecurity of their own laws, liven the voluntary fubmiffion of Theodofius and Valentin tan to the reftraints of law, and their declaration *• by the oracle of an edi£f^ what li- berties they did not think (it to allow themfeives,' wiil be fo far from being thought by them, ' words that ought to be written
• htgt antiqua qu2 regia nuncupatur, omne jus, omoifque po- teftas populi Romani in imperatoriam rranilata funt poteftatem. Jaf* ^D. cap. 2. 17. 1. 2. -f Dio Caff. 53. 28, } ?• 23 1«
la
%jt Gitural Hi/lory of Conm^cutm
in letters of gold over every throne in the univirfi %% that they will be confidered as the explicit language of defpotifm. The king of a free people will not fay * We do not think meet to allow ourfelves fuch and fuch liberties;' but ^ We con- fent to aflume to ourfelves naliberties beyond thofe which are given us by the laws of our country/ A defpot may limit hit own power by a gracious edi£t \ but in a free ftate, the monarch can make no fuch edi&, for his power is already limited bj Law. "^
From thefe remarks we Ihall deduce no conclufion with re* fpcA to our Author's political principles ; but leave the public to judfi;ey whether his work be free from * the flighteft tendency towards the principles of arbitrary power, and the Author from * the ren^oteft deiire to foften its terrific vifage ^/
Dr. B. propofes, in a fecond volume, to trace the progrefi of the civil, feudal, and canon laws conjointly, from the 12th century to the prefent time. f|^
^ar. II. A Gtmral Hiftery of ConneSicut^ from iti firft Settlement under G^rge Fenwick, £fq; to its lateft Period of Amity with Great Britain ; including a Defcription of the Country, and many carioQi and interefting Anecdotes. To which is added, an Appen* dix, wherein new and the true Sources of the prefent Rebellion in America are pointed out ; together with the particular Part taken by the People of Conneflicut in its Promotion, fiy a Gentleman of the Province. 8vo. 5s. 5d. Boards. Bew. 1781.
^« T AM bold to aflert," fays this Gentleman, << that I have \^ followed the line of truth freely, and unbiafled by par- tiality or prejudice." The aflertion is indeed fuificiently lold: but, in this puffing age, in which almofl every writer thinks it necefiary to exhibit his own merit in the title-page or preface to his work, if it were withal irue^ we could eafily pardon the «Author*s confidence, for the fake of his impartiality. On per- uiing this hiftory, however, we find it defiitute of every claim to this rare quality ; and obferve in it fo many marks of party* 'fpleen and idle credulity, that we do not hefitate to pronounce it altogether unworthy of the public attention.
In proof of the malignant fpirit with which this hiftory is
'written, nothing farther is necefiary than to gather up a few of
the brilliant phrafes, belonging to that branch of rhetoric which
confiils in calling foul names, which are fcattered through al*
jBoft every page.
So high doth the fpirit of holy indignation in our Author iu*ife againii the difciples of Luther and Calvin, that he boldly afferts, that ^ few of them are willing to obey either civil or fpiritual mafters.' The feveral feds of thefe difciples in New- »—*——— I 11 III I I ■
} Db Ca£ p. 353« ) P. loo.
York,
Gmrtd Hijhry §f eomimM. itsi
York, diftinguifhed by the appellatioil of Old Lights be callt
• mongrel Chriftians, whofe policy ind felf-incereft have al* waya domineered over confcience and morality/ To the poor inhabitants of Newhaven he cannot allow the fmalleft portion of honefty, and fpeaica of it with furprize, that * the fmiis of Newhaven, exad in tithing mint, /or once affiffed the weightier matters of juftice/— His account, of the relighn and giVimmifrt of Connedicut, he introduces thus: « Properly fpeaking, the Connedicutenfians have witbir^ nor ever bad.** At one ftroke he annihilates all the good-faith of the country :
* Treachery,* fays he, « is the ftaple commodity of the four New*£ngland Provinces/ In the ardour of his seal agaiaft « Sober diffentws,' he ridicules their minifters for following the Bible as their rule. Speaking contemptuoufly of a conven«- tion or ailembly of divines, held at Saybrook, he fays, ^ Tim tondufion of this reverend and venerabU body \%^ the Bible ii cor rule/
Thefe fpecimens of the language of this hiftorian may ferve to ^ive eur Readers fome idea of his fpirit, and enable them to judge how far he is free from partiality and prejudice.
The following fitly and improbable tales will be abundantly ItiiEcient toexpofe the Author's credulity, and ihew how little tredit is due to his narrative.
Speaking of the town of Windham, he fays, ^ One night, in July 1758, the frogs of an artificial pond, three miles fquare, and about five from Windham, finding the water dried up, left the place in a body, and marched, or rather hopped, towards Winnomantic river. They were under the neceffity of taking the road^ and going through the town, which they entered about midnight. The bull frogs were the leaders, and the pipers followed without number. They filled a road 40 yards wide for four miles in length, and were for feveral 'hours paffing through the town, unufually clamorous. The inhabitants were equally perplexed and frightened : fome ex- pefled to find an army of French and Indians ; others feared an iiarthquake, and difiblution of nature. The confkrnation was univerfal. Old and young, male and female, fled naked from their beds, with worfe (hriekings than thofe of the frogs. The event was fatal to feveral women. The men, after a flight of half a mile, in which they met with many broken fliiiM, find- ing no enemies in purfuit of them, made a halt, and fummoned refolution enough to venture back to their wives and children ; when they diftin&ly heard from the enemv's camp thefe words; Wigbt^ HiUerken^ Dier Titi. This laft he thought meant iriatj ; and pluckine up courage, they fent a triumvirate to capitulate with die luppofed French and Indians. TheYe three nteo approached in their fliiris^ and begged to fpeak with the
3 Gcr.tTAl ;
9j(4 Gitieral HiJIdrf of Conne&Uutm
General ; but it beine darlt, and no anfwer given, they wer6 forely agitated for fome time betwixt hope, and fear ; at lengthy liowever^ they dffcovered that the dreaded inimical army was ftn army of thirfty frogs going to the river for a little water/ • The following is his defcription of the tree-frog.
^ The tree-frog canpot be called an infed, a jeptile^ or one (dT the winged hoft. He has four legs, the two foremdl ihort^ with claws (harp as thofe of a fqoirrei : the hind legs five inches long, and folding by three joints. His body is about as big as the firft joint of a man's thumb. Under his throat is a wind* tog, which affifts him in finging the word Lja^ac^ all the night; "When it rains, and is very dark, he fings the loudeft. His Ifoice is not fopleafingas that of a liighting^e; biit this would be a venial imperfedion, if he would but keep filence on Sa* turday nights, and not for ever prefer l-fa-ac to Abraham and
' '^acob* He has more elafticity in his long legs than any other creature yet known. By this means he will leap five yards up i tree, fattening himfelf to it by his f6re-feet; and in a mo- ment will hop or fpring as far from one tree to another. It is from the finging of the tree-frog, that the Americans have ac« quired the name of Littli Ifaac. Indeed, like a certain part of them, the creature appears very devout, noify, arbitrary, and phlegmatic, and afibciates with none but what agree with him ■jnhis wajrs.' • Of the river Connedicut this Gentleman gives the following wonderful account.
' * This vaft river is 50Q miles long, and four miles wide at its mouth : its channel, or inner banks, in general, half a mile wide. It takes its rife from the White Hills, in the north of New- England, where alfo fprings the river Kennebec. Above 500 rivulets, which ifl!ue from lakes, ponds, and drowned lands, fall into it : many of them are larger than the Thames at London. In March, when the rain and lun melt the fnowand jce, each ftream is overcharged, and kindly baftens to this
'ffreat river, to overflow, fertilife, and preferve its trembling nieadows. They lift up enormous cakes of ice, burfting from their frozen beds with threatening intentions of plowing up the frighted earth, and carry them rapidly down the falls, where they are dafhed in pieces, and rife in mift. Except at thefe falls, of which there are five, the firft fixty miles from its mouth, the river is navigable throughout. In its northern parts are three great bendings, called cohoflTes, about 100 miles afunder. Two hundred miles from the Sound is a narrow of five yards only,
formed by two (helving mountains of folid rock, whofe tops intercept the clouds. Through this chafm are compelled to pafs all the waters which in the time of the floods bury the northern country. At the upper cohoi the river then fpreads
' * 24 miles
I
General Hijiory tf CwneSfUut. 255 ^
^4 miles wide, and for five or fix weeks (hips of war might fail o?er lands, that afterwards produce the greateft crops of hay and grain in all America. People who can bear the fight, the groans, the tremblings, and furly motion of water, trees, and ice, through this awful paiTage, view with aflonifliment otie of the greatefl phenomenons in nature. Here water is confolidated, without froft, by prefiure, by fwiftnefs, between the pinching, fturdy rocks, to fuch a degree oi induration, that no iron crow can be forced Into it : — here iron, lead, and cork, have one common weight -.—here, fteady as time, and harder thaa marble, the Aream pafTes irrefidible, if not fwift as lightning :— • the eledric fire rends trees in pieces with no greater eafe, than does this mighty water. The pafiage is about 400 yards ia length, and of a zigzag form, with obtufe corners/
From this time, let no incredulous philofopher doubt of the compreilibility of water \ let him ilep over the Atlantic, and vifitthe river Connecticut, where he may fee water confolidated by preiTure, and the laws of fpecific gravity fufpended.
Having now enabled our Readers to form fome judgment concerning the merits of this work, we (hould take our leave of it without further notice ; but that we apprehend the foUowrtig extradl from the code of laws, made in the dominion of New* haven, at its firft fettlement, will be thought a fpecimen of the opinions and manners of thefe fcttlers, too curious to be over* looked.
* The Governor and Magiflrates, convened in general Aflem- bly, are the fupreme power under God of this independent Dominion.
*' From the determination of the Afiiembly no appeal ihall be made.
* The Governor is amenable to the voice of the people.
^ The Governor ihall have only a fingle vote in determining any queftion ; except a cafting vote, when the Aflembly ma/ be equally divided.
^ The Aflembly of the people (hall not be difmifled by the Governor, but (hall difmifs itfelf.
* Confpiracy againft this Dominion (hall be puniflied with death.
^ Whoever fays there is a power and jurifdiClion above and over this Dominion, (hall fuffer death and lofs of property.
^ Whoever attempts to change or overturn this Dominion (hall fuffer death.
< The judges (hall determine controverfies without a jury.
^ No one (hall be a freeman, or give a vote, uniefs he- be converted, and a member in full communion of one of the Churches allowed in this Dominion.
4 ' No
1
256 Gineral Hiflory rf Cmu^icui,
•
* No man (hall hold any office, who is not (bund in tkc faith, and faithful to this Dominion, and whoever gives a vote to fuch a perfon, (hall pay a fine of il. For a fecond ofFence, lie fliall hedisfranchifed.
^ Each freeman (hall fwear by the bleflfed God to beair true allegiance to this Dominion, and that Jefus is the only King.
^ No quaker or diiTenter from the eftabli(bed wor(hip of thia Dominion (hall he allowed to give a vote for the eledion of Magiftrates, or any officer.
* No food or lodging (hall be afforded to a Quaker, Adamite, or other Heretic.
^ If any perfon turns Quaker, he (hall be bani(hed, and not fufFered to return but upon pain of death.
^ No Prieft (hall abide in the Dominion : he (hall be bani(hed, and fuffer death on his return. Priefts may be fei:&ed by any one without a warrant.
* No one to crofs a river, but with an authorized ferry- man.
^ No pne (hall run on the Sabbath-day, or walk in his gar- den or elfewhere, except revjerently to and from pieeting.
^ No one (hall travel, code viduals, make beds, fweep houfe, cut hair, or (have, on the Sabbath*day.
^ No woman (hall kifs her child on the Sabbath or fafting* day.
* The Sabbath (hall begin at funfet on Saturday.
* To pick an eiar of corn growing in a neighbour's garden, fiiall be deem^ theft.
^ A perfon accu fed of trefpafs in the night (hall be judged guilty, unlefs he clear himfelf by his oath.
< When it appears that an accufed has confederates, and he refufes to difcover them, he may be racked.
^ No one (hall buy or fell lands without permiffion of the iele£lmen.
* A drunkard (ball have a mafter appointed by the fele^men^ who are to debar him from the liberty of buying and felling.
* Whoever publilhes a lie to the prejudice of hia neighbour^ (ball fit in the ftdckt, or be whipped fifteen (faripes.
* No Minifter (hall keep a fchool.
* Every rateable perfon, who refufes to pay his proportion tothefupport of the Minifter of the town or parifli, (hall be fined by the Court 2L and 41. every quarter^ until be or (he pay the rate to the Minifter.
* Men-ftealers (hall fuffer death.
' * Whoever wears cloaths trimmed with gold, filver, or bone laoe,. above two (hillings by the yard, (ball be prefented by the grand jurors, and the fele^mea (hall tax the offender at 500U eftate.
< AdebtM}
General Hiflory rf ComeSflcut. 257
^ A debtor iri prifon^ fwearinghe has noeftate, (hall be let* out, and ibid, to make fatisfa<^ion. > -■*
* Whoever fets a fire in the woods, and it bums a houlc«< fhall fafFer death ; and perfons fofpeSed of this crime. fliaU- be ipfiprifoned, without benefit of bail.
' Whoever brings cards or dice into this Pominion (ball pay a fine pf 5I. .
^ No one (hall read cdmmpn^prayer, keep Chriftiiias or Saints days, make minced pies, dance, play, cards, or play dn any inftrumcnt of mufic, except the drum^ tri^pet^ apd jews-harp.
^ No gofpelmtnifter fhall join people in marriage ; xYit Mi* gifirates only fhall join in marriage, as they may do it. with Icfs fcandal to Chrift'i church* ^ ' ^
* Whpn parents refufe their children convenient marriagesl the Magiffrates (ball determine the point.
* The fele(5l men, on finding children ignorant, m^y tak'eT them away from their parents, and* put them into hotter hands^' at the expence of their parents* \ 1
^ ForMcation fhall be punifhed by compelling mafrtige^'or as the Court may think proper. ' ' ".
* Adultery fhall be punifhed with death. '
^ A man that ftrikes his wife (hall pay a fine 6f lol. i a womafit that ftrikes her hufband fhall be punifhed as the Court diredv; ^ A wife fhall be deemed good evidence agaSnfl her hufband. ' V No man fhall court a maid in pcrfon, Or by letter, '^ith* out firft obtaining corifent of her parents : 5I. penalty fcQr tbc^ firfl offence; icf. for the fecond ; and, for the third, impri- fonment during the pleafure of the Court.
*l Married, perfons muft live together, or be imprifoned. *
^ Every male fh^ll have his hair cut round a'ccording to a
cap t/ : •
Confidered as a fpecimen of the wifdom'ahd fpirit of the times, thefe Blue-Laws (as they are called) give us no very fa- vourable idea of eithe.r. But that the (ame fpirit flill prevails, and is the caufc of the prefent alienation of* America from Great Britain, are ajTertions which thi^ Gentleman maintains without fufficient proof. The Author himfelf allows, that human nature is every where the fame ; and that in thofe times the mitred Lord and canting Puritan were equally dan- gerous, both agreeing in the unchriftian do<ftrine of perfecu- tion : but he ihould have recolledied another- <)bvious axiom*
• The Savage Pawawwers, or Prielh, never concern themfolves with marriages; but leave them to the Ptnie(h; ^r-Mtfgiftrat^s.
t The Levjiical law forbidi cutting the hair, or rooodiog the head.
Re?. April, 1782. S that
^9 FrtfdekV Swg of SAnrn.
that iimiTar c^iufes produce fimilar eiFefis; and confeijii^tiy^
that the fame improvement in the fpirtt of the times which bar
rendered the mitred Lord inofienfive, may poffibly have givea
the canting Puritan tome portion of jBodesation and catho*-^
licilm* «^
K •
AaT. Ill* J Poeticml TraHjlatioH of tht Song, §/ Soidmon, from thr oirigiwal Hibtrw, With preliminary Difcoarfe aod Noteft» hiftori- • caH critical and explanatory. By Ana Fraocit* 4to, 7 s. 6d» fev(red. Dodfley. 1781.
THE Author feeras aware that an apo|ogy for thia under- taking was abfolutely neceflary ; and fhe bath attempted lo make one. How far it will excufe her with the Uamei of our fex who might be difpofed to condemn her prefumption, or tlie dilUati of her own, who might be ready to tax her modefty, we wilt jK>t determine. She at leaft deems herfclf entitled ta the merit of induftry : and if fte will be content with that praife^ we have it very fiberally to beftow.
The Preliminary Difcourfe is a very inflated and injudicious pfece of declamation. The tranfiation is very unequal. A f(BW elegant expreffions occur : and here and there a ner- vous line. But in general the verfification is weak, fantafti- caly and inharmonious ;. and the figures and comparifons of the tranfiation are ftlK more extravagant and unnatural than thoie Qf th^ original. The mod curious part of the notes is extraded fromuhe ingenious and learned produ^ona of Dean Percy, and Mr. liarmar^ on this fubjed; and the Author acknowledges herfelf efientially indebted to Mr. Parkharft, the learned He- bracan, for affiftance in the ftudy of the original. ^ The Author confiders the Sonj; of Solomon as a (acred, hy- ineneal drama ; .divides it into aSa and fcenes ; and gives the following lift of the perfons who are fuppofed to bear a part tn k«
. . SOLOMOK.
N^Us of Zion attendant on the King. Ch. vi« l^
NoUes of Zion. Ch. iii. 1 1.
The Egyptian Spoufe. Ch. i. 16.
Choral yirgins of Egypt. Ch. i. 5*
Choral Virgins of Jerufalenu Ch. i. 2.
Virgins rfJervJaUm attendant on the ^ewijb ^een. Cht
iii. 7« Choral Virgins of Zion. Ch. iv. i.
The whole i^ fuppofed by tht Author to have a myftical re« ference to the ftate of the Jewiib and Chriftian church ; anil * Solomon is confidere^i as a lively and ftriking type of Jcfua Cbrifl^*
Giowtiif
Franci^'i S$ng of Sil^m. ^^
blowing with the Tubjef^, our Author (hakes off theihackle$ bf vulgar profj^ and burfts into blank verfe, in. the following eulogy on her beloved Song.—* The Song of Songs is n6 humari compoiition, but the work of an infpired penman : and the fame God who tuned to melody the tongue of the Jewifli bard w6uld likewife chai*m to reverence the Chriftian Reader's heart, would he but yield up that heart to Kim, attend the Jfr'aiH nnd inark the f acred import. JVbj not attempt to dritw ajtde tbi myjiic veil, and in the eartbfy^ view the heavenly Solomon ^*—
As a fpecirhen of the tranflation we will prefent our Readers with the following curious addrefs of Solomon to one of his (queens;— the time^ the evening of the iixth day; tht fcene^ t chiofk in the royal garden, [vid. chap. vii. of the Canticles*J
' V. I. How beautiful thy feet, O noble fair !
Adorn*d with fahdals wrought with niceft caret Where gold and threads of variegated hue8» Tby cap^ivfli lbv^r» all ienraptttr'd views. Thy ftately legs the curious draw'rs infold^ Deckt as with graven Ornaineoti of go]d. Where, b^ the toilfome artifi's ileady hand. The mimic buds and leaves and flow'rs expand. V. i. Thy clafp is like a goblet round
Where jtoingled liqiiors filay. Where wines with manding rtibies crowh'ci Reflect the changeful ray. Thy waift is like a heap of golden grain. With lilies bounded ri6ng from the plain. V. 3. Thy two fair breafts'like two young rocs appear^
The tender daughters of the vernal year. • V. 4. Thy tapef neck, inimitably fair !
Nature hath form'd with more than common care : From thy fine (houlders we behold it rife I ike fome white tower, afcending from the gropnd $ Whole lofty fommit (hoots into thfc fkies. Still leffening to the view its fpiring round. Thy large full eyes with humid luitrefhine. Like Heihbon's ample pools, unftain'd and clears Serenely mild, and amiably benign, •WC faithful tokens of a heart iincere; Thy nofe arifeth with refifllefs grace, DifFufing majeAy o*er all thy face; Such grace adorns fam d Lebanon's high towV^ Whole jull proportion charms the judging vievV^ Which Hands a monument of regal pow>, Rais'd ^liU nice ^rt,cominenfurate and true. V. 5* Thy ftately head mijeftically high
With various flowerets elegantly grac'dy Of ev'ry (hade, and tv*ry vivid dye*
With wond'rous (kill and lively fancy ptac'd. Appears like Carmera top with vefdore crown'd Where flow'Tsi and plantsi and od*rou» (hriibs aboniid#
S i Thy
264' V^riiiy ; a Comedjr;
Thy plaited hair in gaudy trelTes flows As in the cryftal wave the royal pnrple glows V« 6. How beautifal art tbou my love I
How charming to the fight f More fragrant than the fpicy grove. And fbrm'd forfofc delight. V. /• PleasM 1 behold thy gracefol flature rife
As (bme ilrait palm-tree of majeflic iize. V. 8« I faid* with ardent love poiTedy
Up to'this (lately palm Fll go. And dafp her cluflers to my bread, — Her clnfters nbh, where daces luxurious grow. Like clufters of the vine thy breads appear. Thro' the light gauze, too exquifiteiy clear! More fweet the breath thy fragrant nofe exhales Than citron groves, refrelh*d by morning gales/
On the laft verfe^ our Author hath the following obfervation, which we produce as a fpecimen of her ikill in the note-v^zj.
Vcrf. 8. line 6» Tkro* thi light gauze---^^* I am here aware of an obfervation of the critic. ** Gau^e, cries he, is made of filk; and filk this lady tells us was not known in Judea in the days of Solomon/' But^auze is likewife made of thread. The Scotch gauze hath no fuk in it, yet is equally tranfparent. The Lacedemoniah maidens wore gauze-like vedments; and the Greeks and Romans had fiich tranfparent ftuiFs long before filks were commonly worn among them. It is not to be fup* pofed that the ladies' neck was quite concealed : but more natu- ral and confiftent with the prefent' mode of the Ariatics to conclude, that the fliape and colour of the bofom appeared ad- vantageoufly through the light trantparent covering, as Lady M. W. Montague informs us her*s did, through her Jhlft of gauze which was fattened under her chin with a diamond button ;'— or, we may add, as the Duchefs of Kingfton's Iphigmia once ap- peared at the mafquerade*
* Thro* the light gauze. /^^ exquifiteiy clear!*
But enough of myfiic fymbols ! and (hadowy veils ! our duty lies in the naked truth. % -r
Art. IV. Variety \ a Comedy, in Five A6ls : as it is performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. 8vo. is. 6 d. " Becket.
1782.
T^ARIETYx A Comedy !— Every Comedy ihould undoubt- edly be compofed of varied incidents, varied chara£^ers, and varied dialogue ; but a regular fabte (hould as neceflarily connect the whole; or the work, inftead of engaging the at- tention by an agreeable variety^ will excite difguft by its ab- furdity and cvnfyhn* A prevailing iatereft Ihould pervade the
drama^
^m «- -->
FarUtyi a Comedy.; a(|
^rama, like harmony in a mufical compofition* A mttltif^icitj of charafterS) engaged in detached and feparate purfuiCSy though regiilered in the ^me lift of dramatis pirfina^ cannot be coim- dered as confticuents of a legitimate fable ) they rather refenUe a number of muficians, feated indeed in the fame orcheftra^ but employed in a Dutch concert, where every man playy his owa tune!
The Author of the Comedy before us has multiplied, wttbv out nieafure or order, irrelative perfonages, and disjointed ..14* cidents \ and feems to have thrown together the fraementa of- 1 dramatic common- place book, giving to the indigefted maft tbf title otFariity^ merely becaufe it was impoffible to point out any leading circumftance, or predominant colour, in the medlij compofition of the drama.
The fabUf if it may be fo called, inftead of being finpU and pniy is to loft in complications, that it fplita itfelf into divers little fables, independent on each other ; not admiffible even as epifodes, growing out of the main ftory, but unnaturally forced into it by the arbitrary ^ volo of the writer.
The fabUs alfo, feparately taken, are but inartificially con* duded, even according to the apparent idea and intention of the Author. Can it be fuppofed, that Midi Harriet Temple, the daughter of a General Officer, a young lady of remarkable de- licacy, fliould refufe the prote£lion of a repuuble relation of hitt own fex, and prefer to her. hofpiuble roof a mean lodging, in which, as far as we can colled, ibe is fupported by a young officer, who has conducted her from America, and whom (he concludes to be enamoured of her ? Again » can it be fdppofed that a woman of honour, fituated like Lady Courtney, would fend a billet of affignation to Lord Frankly ? or could MtT* Morley, the lover of Lady Courtney, who overhears their con- ference, come forth from the clofet, in which the Author haa placed him, without a convidion of the mutual guilt of Lady Courtney and Lord Frankly ? The audience, it is true, are aware that the Writer meant to reprefent the lady at leaft as perfedly innocent ; but, for want of due dramatic art and ad- drefs, (be is involved in an appearance of culpability, from which (he is not properly extricated. It would not indeed ha^ been cafy to cfFed it ; and as it is, it feems impoffible for a man, of a much kYs jealous complexion than Morley, thrown into his iltuation, not to be aflUred of her perfidy.
Tke chara^ers are but faintly drawn. The moft natural (ketches (for they are but (ketches) are thofe of Sir Frederic and Lady Fallal. The Commodore and the Major are coloured in the old manner : one is given as zfea^piece^ the other as a hattig^ piici : their language is wholly tachnical^ the Commodore uiii% Haval^ add the'MajOt miUtary terms, throOgh their whole diV
t6l Varteiy ; a Comedy.
iQgue. ^ / mujl qmekin my march to prevent the young iog firon^ JTurrendering as prifoner for life/ fays the Major ; and immedi- ately after, ^ I muft frejh$n fail to come, up with him in time, in order to keep this brifk lad from getting the windward gage of my niece,' fays ihi Commodon, The Major alfo is firft intro- duced as an humble imitation of Sterne's admirable Uncle Toby ; but this Scene, the book informs us, is omitted in reprefenta- fion. Sir Timothy Valerian is a ftrange excrefcence indeed, a wart or wen of the drama, adding to its bulk, and taking from its confeouence. Sir Timothy runs to and fro, forces himfelf in at the door, and jumps but at the window, for no vifible end or purpofe. Lady Courtney is the moft infipid woman of qua- lity ever exhibited ; and the other females are but faint copies of originals, long familiar to the eye of the Public.
The dialogue, though not corred, nor remarkably brilliant, is the leaft exceptionable part of this drama. The beginning of the fecond Ad affords no unfavourable fpecimen :
' f ACT. 11. SCENE I. 5/r Frederick FallaPi HtMfi. * Sir Frederick hllin^ in a Chair, Lady Fallal Jtttittg at Work.
* Laij FaUal. Upon my word now. Sir Frederick, I wonder howr joa find time to be fo indolent; for my parr, I have always fo much to do, that I can never get a minote to myfelf all tbc day loog^ if I |iad ever fo mat a mini to do nothing.
* ^f> Frturick* Really, my dear^ I fee not the lead reafon for har- rrying— my'time never hangs heavy on my. bands, and i( ii always fofficicBt for my occupations.
' IfO^ FallaL Qccnpations 1 and a very pretty fort they are to bf fare.' ^o get np every 4iy at two o'clock, and fit ilretcbing an4 gaping there, like a wide>moathe4 frog, till they give you yoi^ preaknft t then take a turn in Kotten-row, and with difiicolcy get
I oar French monkey to make that wig you wear look like your own «r, by fix o'clock in the evening ; and to tell you a fecret. Sir Fre- derick, I woold never have gone within a mile of a chorch with yoo, if I had known yoa wore the leaft bit oi falfity about you ; for, in 'Sny coontry, the men fcorn to hide any thing, and you may always Ipy their defers as well as their perfedions v^ith a €ouf d^ceil, or a knock of the eye, as the French call it.
• Sir Frederiek, But, my dear, you quite (hock me by faying I wear a wigf ^hy, this hair yoa fee is all my own, except a couple of elaftic carls at the fides, and a little addition I^hind, to Ilrengthen ihe chincn,
• Laify Fallal. Well, we will leave it fo, Sir Frederick ; bat to be fure 1 can't help a(king myfelf ten times a day, and I'm never the wifer for it neither, bow I came to marry yoa at all, at all.
• Sir Fndiriik. I fancy, my dear, there were not many prettier fiellows than Sir Frederick Fallal in the Bog of Allan.
< Lady Fallal, IVby, I could not help liking you to be fare, becaufe you called me your Angtl, and/yoor Goddeis, and feemed mighty fond of me^but you had no other charm that I can tdJ, except yqpr being eafy and carelefs, like myfclf.
^ ' ' •Sir
'•'Sir TmieHci. Well, my dear, Md an*t I ftill ai mSf aad carcl«ft «s ever I was ?
^ iMfyFMllaL O! letyoa alone for that, Sir Frederick, bat Fd hav^ you underdand that a carelefs acquaintance may be mighty agreeable, bat a carelefs hviband is qatte the contrary — the one may pay you now and then a pretty little fiiort viffit, but the other is f vifitation for life.
* Sir Fnderiei. Now indeed, my dear, you are quite on reasonable ; have not i ftiewn the greacell amciecy for your improvement, ever fince we have been married } Did 1 not provide the Mi mafter a€ Paris to teach you to move with grace f
< Lai^FaUaL And a pretty thing he was te be fare, to teach mt motion and grace. A fawning, iliff, fnafFy old fright — But I have the fatisfii£tion to think I puni(hed him more than he did me, for f took care to fall on his old toes, every time I was to make a jomp^ jull for the |:fleafure of hearing him fay ** by Gar, iier Ladyflup did liif foot a too much honour."
' Sir Frtdtrick, I'm not much furprifed at the vail progrefs yo« made, if that was rhe way yoii employed your time ; but J was juft going to mention to 3fou, my dear, that I had appointed Signor Ada* gio, this very day, to -give you a few leflbns in linging, as f apn of opinion that feme knowledge of harmony might poffibly help toina« diilate, or foften oflT a little of your delightful brogue.
' lady FalUL What's that you are faying, ^ir Frederick ? Softes
off a little of my brogue? Then indeed you may fpare yourfelf the
{rouble, and fo may Signor Dagio too : for I would not part with any thing I brought from my own dear country upon any account what* ever; and I'd have you to know, that I think my brogue, as you call ft, the prettied feather in my cap ; becaufe it tells tstty body, with* out their afking, that I am an Irifh woman ; and I aflure you, 1 am
frouder of that title, than I am of being called my Lady Fallal. For don't believe there^s a Fallal to be found in all Ireiaod, except my' felf ; and V,m out of it.
' Sir Frtdmck. No, I flatter myfelf the Fallala are «f a foreign ex- traflion.
^ Lad^ Fallal. Well now« Sir Frederick, will you pleafe to anfwer me one queftion ?
* Sir Frtderick. Moft willingfy^ my dear, if it don't require much confideration ; but in that cafe I muft beg leave to be excufed — for I hate confideration — it quite fatiguej me— and when I am obliged to refled, I feel as if I had a great weight to lift, and 1 expice at the ^^Tj apprebenfion of it.
' Enitr 8ir Timothy Valerian.
* Sir Tim9tby, Right, Sir Frederick, thought is an abfolute enemyi to digeftion ; and I am fo thoroughly perfnaded of it, that i wouM give half my fortune to be entirely deprived of ihe poweri of reflec* tion.
* Lady Fallal. O, then it is a pity you can't ; for I beliene iic lK>dy «v^ould ever mifs it. \.^Jidim
* Sir Timothy. Yet, upon fecond thoughts, nephew, I think your ^aknnefs amountt to a greater degree of imnity than Jl (boi4d in%
S ^ ta
1^64 Varuty i' a Comedy*
to poffefi ; it riAer ipproaches to a torpid date — Do yoa fleep welf at nights ?
< £aJj Falla!. [SirFredtrkk takn a bock.1 O, that he does, I aflure yoa ; and aij day too — Why, he's dozing now.
' Sir Timotiy. Aye, very likely — I wi(h I had my apparatus here «r-bat as foon as I get all my cle£trical inftroments home, V\\ fet gp Sir Frederick with a touch— It is a failing I know, buc 1 can't help it« I o>vo, I do love to ferve my friends.
. * Lady FaUd. O, if it will give him but a little life, Sir Timo« thy» let us have, the inftro men ts dire^ly, and Til play upon them snyfelf, for I have tried lively tunes, and dull tunes, and all forts of tunes with him, but I never couid get him out of a minuet ftep,
* Sir Fndtrici. You are very kind, bir Timothy, to confider my pife fo minutely— but as 1 am not at all alarmed at it — and as none of my friends, thank iieaven, are members of the (Iroog club— X flatter myfelf they will like me better as I am, than if I were to firike fire at them from every pore — fo i hope you will excufe my attending the-confultatioD any looger. [Exit.
Sir. Timothy. MoA readily nephew — I woi\]d not force health upon you, if you do not chafe it — but he (hall have a touch of the Prome^ thean torch for all that, when he leail expedis it— I'll (hake hands vyith him fome day, and ele^rify him frbm top to toe, without hi| knowing it* . . , [Exit Jirttcbing bimfilf,
• J?«r//r Harriet Temple.
^ Ladj Fallal, My dear Harriet, Tm mighty glad to fee yon ; but what*s the matter with you to-day, that you look fo chearful? for I think, fince you came from America, 1 have never feen a fmile upon your countenance before.
* Harriet. Can f look ocherwife than happy when tvtry moment I cxpe6l to fee my Seafort, my dear William, whom 1 have fo oftea mentioned to you.
' Lddy Fallal. Faith then, I am as glad of it as if he was coming to fee myfelf— that's the gentleman I fuppofe that awoke poor Sir Frederick this morning, with the noife he made in the hall, when he heard you were not here ; — but pray, my dear, if you expedt him tycry moment, why would you (lir out, for who knows but you may find him gone before you get home again ?
' I/cirritf. I know your friendship will excufe a liberty I mean to take
* Lady Fallal. That you may be fure of, my dear, though I don't know what it is — fo^ there*s nothing in the world 1 would not par* don in a friend except a too great want of freedom.
' Harriet. Jt is, th«t I would wi(h to meet toy Seafort here, he knows 00 other addrefs to me at prefent; for though he is acquainted jwith my father's death, he is yet ignorant of the fad jcverfe of for- tune whica hab attended me from that unhappy moment— and I would not wi(h to pain his generous breaft, by difcovering to him my wretched ilation. No, I would hide myfelf for ever from him, uither than make him a (harcr io my poverty.
' Lady Fallal. That's a plain proof, Harriet, that jroa love him a great .dieal bctier than yon love me; for you nake me a (barer of
Warton^ EJfaj on the Genius and fFriihgs ^Peff^ 9$jp
yoar poverty every day» by refofing to partake of my little abnn* dance, when you know mighty well that I never found any pleafur* in a heavy purfe in my life, but when it could lighten the heart of a friend.
' Harritt. My dear coufin, I am fure your kindnefs ever iighteni iDine.
* Lady Fallal, Then why will yon vex me, by refuting continually to come and live with me entirely ; when I have told you over and over again, that if you had a houfe of your own, and I «vent hot within a mile of it, I would ftay there for a twelvemonth or longeri^ if I liked it, and think 1 did you a great favour all the time ; for to be fure there is no condefcenfion fo great at that of receiving an ob« ligation.
* Harriet. I am fare I have always coniidered your honfe ai my own.
* Lady Fallal, Yes, my dear, and fo you ufe it, juft as the fine folks ^o theirs, by being feldom in it;. but now Harriet, that yoar gallant Seaforc is arrived, you will (bon have a houfe, oratleafti| ihip of your own.
. * Harriet. I do not doobt my Seafort's love, and I know that if be were pofTeiTor of a throoe, with joy he'd place me on it — but I aJfo know that his fortune is confined, and that his marrying roe, asL now am, without a (hilling, and againil his father's confenc — miift fhut out all his opening profpeds; and though, amidtl that affluence which furrounded me duiing my father's life, my fondeil hope was that of becoming Seaforf 8 wife, I no\v Hy from the idea.
* Lady Fallal, And pray then, my dear, will yoo tell me what other idea you fly to ? tor we feldom part with a pleafant hope» till we meet with an agreeable certainty.
' Harriet, Then 1 have none but that of being wretched.
* Entit a Servamt. Madam, there's a gentleman below detires to fee Mifs Temple*
* Lady Fallal, Shew him up diredtly. [Exit 5/rv.]— I believe^ mf dear, you'll be able to entertain the young gentleman without my afliftance — fo you will excufe my impolitenel's in leaving you. [Exit J
The Prologue, humcuroufly and poetically written, but in* accurately printed, is the produ(%on of Mr. Tickell ; and the Epilogue muft, we conceive, have a very t>leafant efie£l, whea delivered by an adroit comic a£lrefs in the theatre. #|
■ ■ - ■ '■ ■.,■■■■■■■...■. — <i^— fc^
Art. V. Jm EJfay on tU Gemius and IFritings of Pope. Vol. II.
8vo. 7 s. bound. Dodflcy. 1782.
IT is now upwards of twenty years fince the firft part of this celebrated performance Arft made its appearance. In the volume then publifhed. Dr. Jofeph Warton, following the arrangement of Warburton, commenced his critical examina* tion with the Pajioralsy and terminated it with the epiille of Eloifa to Abelard, This publication before us comprthtnds, exciufive of his Homcr^ the remainder of the poet's works.
I ' Uwing
t66 WartonV BJij on thi Wf^ritif^s and Genius of Pope.
Owing to caufes which the Author has not thought proper td ijpecify, and into which the public has no right to enquire, the prefent volume, though a confiderable part of it has been ac- tually printed near twenty years, has been wich*held from pub- lication till now ; and probably its appearance might have beeil ftill farther delayed, had not the opinions which Dr. Warton was fuppofed to have advanced been indire£Uy controverted by a critic, whofe decifions, though not always free from preju- dice or partiality, have defervedly great influence in the literary world ; and, confequently, demand the attention of thofe, at ]eaft> againft whofe opinions they militate. Our Author flat- ters bimfelf, however, that no obfervations in this work can be fo perverfely mifinterpreted and tortured, as to make him in- finuate, contrary to his opinion and inclination, that Pope wai not a fTiot poet : be only fays, and thinks, be was not the gnauji*
Nothing can be fairer or more candid than the manner in which the fcrutiny, upon which Dr. Warton has entered, is conduced. Each piece is feparately and diftindly examined, and its particular beauties and defe£b ar^accurately poihted out. The imitations of Horace are compared with, the originals, and the refpedive merits of the originals and imitations are judici- oufly dcertained. Add to this, thofe pafiages (and they are numerous) which the Twickenham bard has borrowed, or adopted, without acknowledgment, from others, are here re* llored to their rightful owners. Nothing, in fliort, feems to bave efcaped Dr. Wtrton's attention, which has either collateral connexion with, or even diftind relation to, the object of his enquiry. His work abounds alfo with mifcellaneous criticifm, and literary anecdotes : of the laft, it muft be confefied, that Ibme of them want the recommendation of novelty ; — in that part of the work, we mean, which has been fo long printed ; they having, during that incerval, found their way to the pub- lic through other channels of communication. In the midft of fiich variety of entertainment which this lively and drgreffive ^wMter has provided for us, we are almoft bewildered in the fe- Jefinon. Take, however, what he fays on dwilling in genera^
' Like fomt lent Chartreux flands the good old hall, Siliftci without, aod fails within the wall ; No raftir^d roofs with dance and tabor found. No noontidi bell invites the country round : Tenants with fighs the /moakU/s cow'rs furvey. And tarn th' unwilling fteeds another way : Benigbud tjuandirirs^ the forefl o>r, Cors'd the fw^dcoMili^ and unop^ning door ; While the gaunt inafUff grvnvling at the gate» Jffrighu the beggar, whom he longs to eat.
In
I
WartonV EJfaj en ihi Genius and JVritlnp %f P§pi. a6y
In the word inn*s worft rooosy with mat i^^^-hang^ The floors of pUifltr, and the avails cf iung^ On once a flock'\it^^ but repaired with ftraiw^ With tapt'ifd curtains, never meant to drav^. The George and Garter dangling from chat bed Where ta^wdry yelloiu llrovc ivitb dirty rtd. Great Viliers lies.
* The ufe, the force, and the excellence of langaagf, certainly con* (fts in raiiing r/z^r, complete, and cir cum/I antial images, and io torn* Ing readers into fpe9ators, I have quoted the two preceding paflages as eminent examples of this excellence, of all others the motl eiTen- tial in poetry. Every epithet, here ufed, paints its objeft, at\6 painu It diftin3ly. After having paiTed over the moat full of crepes, d» ■ you not aQually find yourfelf in the middle coart of this, forlorn and folicary maniion, overgrown with docks and nettles f And do you not hear the dog that is going to afl*ault you ? — Among the other fortunate circumJlances that attended Homer, it was not one of the lead, that he wrote before general and abfiraS terms were invented. •Hence his Mufe (like his own Helen Handing on the walls of Troy) points our twtxy per/om. and thing, accurately and fercibfy. AD the views and profpeds he lays before us, appear as fully ^tid perfeSly to ^he eye, as that which engaged the attention of Neptune^ when te yiras fitting (Iliad, b. 13. v. 12.)
* Tkofe who are fond oi generalities, may thick the nnmber of mi* fural, little circumdances, introduced in the beautiful narration of the expedition of D lon andDiOMEo (Book the 10th) too parUcnUr and tricing, and below the dignity of Epic poetry. B\it tvcry reader of a juil talle will always admire the minute defcription of the helmet and creft, at verfe the 257th; the clapping of the wings pf the heron which they could not fee ; ihe/jnatting down among the dead bodiet till Dolon had pafTed ; UlyHes /?fj/jng to Diomed as a iigoaJ ; the firiking the horfes with his bow, bccaufe he had forgotten to bring hia whip with him; and the innumerable circumftances which make this narr4don fo lively, fo dramatic, and fo interefling. Half the Iliad and the QdyiTey might be quoted as examples of tnis way of writing. So different from the unfinifhcd, half-formed figures, prefented tp na by many modern writers. How much is the pathetic heightened by Sophocles, when, fpealtingol Deianira determined 10 deflroy herfelf, and taking leave of her palace, he adds, a circuffillaoce that VoUairM would have difdained !
— K7.«ii ^ o^yjeyjw ct»
Among the Roman poets» Lucretius will furnifh many inllaocet of this fore pf ftrung painting* Witnefs his portrait of a jeaioua mani Book the 4th, v. 1 1 30.
Aut quod in ambigao tier bum jaeulata reltqaitt
Aut nimiumytfi7/ir# oculos, aliumve tueri
Quod putat, in voltuque videt *veftigia rif^.
* Tracbioiacy t. 92a;
Of
1^68 Warton*4 EJfay ^n the Genius and IVritings rfPtffi^
Of Iphigeixia going to be facrificed, at the moment* when» — — maedum ante aras aftare parcntem Sen fir, & hunc propter ferrum celart miniilros *•
Of Fear, in Book lii. V. i^t;.
Sudorem xt^que & palhrem exidere toto
Corpore; & /^iVr^/ linguam ; vocemque aboriri ;
Cdiigart oculos ; Jonert aures ; fucciden artus.
• Without fpccifying the various /r^i// of nature, with which Vil^ ^il has defcribed the prognoftics of the weather in his firft Georgic, £rt ni only confider with what energy he has tnumtrated and pariUm^ faritud the gefiurea and attitudes of hi^ dying Dido. No five verfcs l^rer contaitied more imagei, or images more diftinQly exprelTed* "* Ilia gra*ues ocuUs conata attoUertt rorfus
Dificit ; infixam ftridit fub peftore vulnas : % ^er fefe atioUns^ cubittqut innixa levavit.
Tor revoluta ior9 eft : 9culi/qui trramtihus^ alto '
Quaeiivit caelo lucem, imgemMttqut reperta f
The *wdrds of Virgil have here painted the dying lyxdo^ Zip^wtrfitllj ai the pencil of Reynolds has done, when (he is juft dead.
*■ But none of the Roman writers has di(played a greater force and vjgour of imagination than Tacitus ; who was in truth a grtmt ptt. With what an aiTemblage of mallerly iirokes has he exhibited the dif* uefs of the Roman army under Cacina, in the firft book of the An- »a)s! Nox per diverfa inquies ; cum barbari feftis epulis, l^eto cantu^ ant iruci fonore, fubjefla vallium ac refuttantes faltns, complcrenti Apud Romanos, in^validi ignes, intirrupti^ voces, atqne ipfi pafiim mdjactrtnt vallo, oherrartnt tentoriis, infomnes magis quam pervigiles, iliicemqoe terruit dira quigu And what a fpeftre he then imme- diately calls up, in the ftyle of Michae.l Angelo 1 Nam Quintilium Varom, /anguine oblitum, Sc paludibus emerjum^ cernere 8c audire vifua tip veiat vecanum, non tamen eb/ecutus, Sc manum intendentis repu- liffe.
' A celebrated foreigner, the Count Algarotti, has paiTed^ the foU lowing cenfure on our poetry, as deficient in this reipe^.
'* La pcefia dei popult fetuntrionali pare a me, che, generalmente parlando, confida pi^ di penjteri^ che d* imm^gini, fi compiacci^ delle riflefiione cq aalmence che del fentimenii : non fia co^ pariic$lareggiata, e plticTffca come e la noftra* Virgilio a cagione d'efempio rappre- fcntando Didune quando efce alia caccio fa una tal defcrrzione del iuo vciiimento, che tutti i ritrattifti, leggendo quel paflb, la veftireb- bono a un modo :
Tandem progreditur, magna (lipante caterva, Sidoniam pidlo chtamydem circuihdata limbo; Cui pharetra ex auro, crines nodantur in aurum, Aurea purpuream fubne^ii fibuU veftem.
Non cofi il MiLTONO quando defcrive la nnda belleaza di Eva ;
G'ace was in all her (!ept, heav*n in her eye. In every gefture, dignity and love.
■ ' .1 ■ ■ .. ■ , ^ . Ill I
•Booki. V. 21. -^-^ f^n.iv. 688,
Coa
Walton'/ EJfaj en the Geniu) tiiid tTnitfigs of Poff. 26^-
Con qaellft parole generale, e aftraiu idee di grizit, cielo, amore* e tnaella noo pare a lei che ognano fi formi in mcnce una Eva a pote faa • ?'•
«
' It muft indeed be granted^ that this pa/Tage givci fiodiftind and particalar idea of the perfon of Eve; but in bow many others hat Milton drawn his fgrnrts^ and expreiTcd hit images ^ with tntrgy aodi diftimamfs I
Under a coronet his flowing*hair In cnrls on either cheek play*d ; ,wiog^ he wore Of many a colour'd plume fprinkled with gold ; His habit fit for fpeed fuccin6t» and held Before his decent ftcps a iilver wand f.
Dire was the tofllng, deep the groans; Dbspaih
Tended the Tick, buftell from couch to couch ; \
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook* but delayed to lb ike |.
From his (lack hmd the garland, wreathed for E?e» Down dropr, and all the faded rofes (bed; Speechlefs he ftood, and pa]e§ !
Aud Spbnc^r. the mafter of Milton, fo much abounds in portraits peculiarly marked, and ftrongly created, that it is difficult to koo«r which to feleA from this copious magazine of the moil lively paiot*^ ing. The fame may be faid of Shake-peare; whofe little toochea of nature it is no wonder Voltairf could not relifh, who afibrdt sa example of this beauty in bis Henriade^ and gives no proofs of a //c** tmri/qki famcj^ in a work that abounds more in dtclamatiou, in moral and political refle£\ions than in poetic images ; in which there is Tittle cbaraSier and lefs nature^ and in which the author himfeif mf^ ftars throughout tht piea, and is bimfclf tht hero of his poem.
* I have dwelc the longer on this fubjeft, becaufe I think I cam perceive many fymptoms, even among writers of eminence, of de« parting from thefe true and li^vely^ and minute, reprefentations of Na* ture, and of dwMug in generalities. To thefe I oppofe the teftimonf of, perhaps the molt judicious and elegant critic among the ancienti* Procttl dobio qui dicit expugnatam efle civitatem, compleflitnr omnia quxconque talis fortuna recipit: fed in affe^us minus penetrat brevia hie velut nuntius. At fi aperias hxc quse verbo uno inclufa erant» apparehunt effiifx per domos ac templa Jlamm^, & rucntium teAorom- fragor, 8c ex diverfis clamoribus unus quidem Tonus; «//orirm fuga incerta ; alii in extremo ccmplexu fuorum cohsrentes, & iofanriuin feminaramque ploratus, U male ufque in ilium diem fervati fato fenes ; turn ilia profanorum facrorumque direptio, eff.tentium prardts, repetentiusnque difcurfus, 5e e^i ante fuum quifque pra:donem eatenati^ & conata retintre infantem fuum mater, 8c licubi majus lucrum edt pogna inter viAorCt. Licet enim hsec omnia, nt dixi, compledlatar e'verfio. Minus est tambn totum dicbrb quam omnia {].
<mm
•i;
* See his works. Leghorn, t. 8. ' f Par. Lod, B. iii. V. C40. X ^'Xi. V. 489. S B. ix. V. 892. II QuiNi iLiAK.
lib. viii* cap. 3.
Not-
VfO Wtrton'/ Effay 9H the Geniui and IFritings ofPopii
Notvrithftanding the principles that are here laid down^ aikt which, indeed, ^are incontrovertible, fome caution is neceflary againft carrying them too far \ *^ great efFeds," according to the oDfervation of an ingenious writer, *' not being produced by minute details, but by the general fpirit of the whole piece *." And it will admit of a doubt, whether minute reprefentations of Nature, though they are the foul of defcriptivc poetry, and add to and enliven the tender impreffions of the pathetic, may not wtaken the force of the fublime.
To regulate the fcale by which the comparative merit of poe'i* tical pretentions is to be eftimated, is one of the moft difficult undertakings of criticifm : fomething of this kind is, however^ attempted, and not unfuccefsfutly, in the concluding pages of this work, in which the poetical qualifications of Pope are as candidly examined, as they are judicioufly difcriminated :
* Thus have *wi\ Indeavoored to give a critical accoont, with fircedoin, ' hot it is hoped with impartialtty, of each of Pope's works ; by which review it will appear, that the largtfi portion of them is of the did^aic^ morah and Jatyric kind ; aod coofeqoently, mot of the moft fottic fpecies of poetry ; wheoce it is roanifeft, that ^oid/iHjk and judgmtnt were his chara^eriftica! excellencies, rather nhwti/aMcj and iM^entiea ; not that the author of the Rapi 9/ tbi Lock, and Elei/a, can be thought to w^iot imagination^ but becaofe his imm* ^iMotiom was not his predominant tstlent, becaufe he indulsed it noc« and becaufe be gave not fo foany proofs of tJbis talent as of the sthif. This torn of miad led him to admire French models; he flndied BoHiau attentively; formed himfcif upon him, as Milton formed him^ lelf upon the Grecian and Italian fons oi Fancy, He gradually be« cane one of the mod corre^, even, and txadl poets that ever wrote | poliihing his pieces with a care and afCduity, that no bufincfs or avo- cation ever interrupted : fo that if he docs not frequently raviih and tranfport his reader, yet be does not difguft him with unexpected in- equalities, and abfurd improprieties. Whatever poetical enthufiafot l^e aftnally pofleiTed, he with hf id and (liBed* The perufal of him afiefts not our minds with fuch Hrong emotions as we feel from Honuf and MiltQn ; fo that no man of a true poetical fpirit is maftir o/bim^ JilfnvhiU bt reads them. Hence, he is a writer fit for univerfal per-« nial; adapted to all ages and ftations ; for the old and for the young; the man of bufinefs and the fcholar. He who would think PalamoM and Artite, the Temptjl or Comus^ childiih and romantic^ might re* lifli Pope. Surely it is no narrow and niggardly encomium to fay, he b the great Poet of Rcafon, the Fir^ of Ethleal authors in verfe* »i .1 ' . ■ II.- — ~ «
^ See Jones% admirable Eflay on the Arts commonly called Imtta> tive, printed at the end of the volume of his Englifli Poems* . f Wby<w#? Dr. W. do^ not appear to have an aflbciate. T0 avoid an egotifm> by uiing the plural number, is a method as clnmfy as it is abfnrd. Second'-rate authors are mnch given to this filly af* fetation of modefty ; in which, it is to be feared, the example af fitd| a writer as Dr. W. will help to con£xtt them*
TuckrrV Cut B$n$ f tjt
Aod this fpccies of writing if, after a]l» the fartft road to an extea* five reputation. It lies more level to the general capacitiet of men^ than the higher flights of more genuine poetry. We all remember when even a Cburcbili was more in vogue than a Grmu He that treats of fafhionable follies, and the topics of the ity^ that deicribea prefent perfons and recent events, finds many readers, whofe nnder- ftandings and whofe paflions he gratifies. The name of OheJhrfoU on one hand, and of fVstlpoU on the other, failed not to make n poea bought up and calked of. And it cannot be doubted^ that the Odea of Horace which celebrated, and the iatires which ridiculed, well- known and real charaders at Rome, were more eagerly read, and more frequently cited, than theiEneid and the Georgic of Vii;^!.
' i^'hert then, according to the queilion prooofed at the htginninf 9f ikii Effaj, (hall we with iuilice be authorized to place our admired PoPB f Not, afiiiredly, in the fame rank with Sptnctr^ Shaki/piore^ and MilioH ; however juftly we may applaud the Elot/a and Ri^ of the L9ck ; but, confidering the correftneft, elegance, and utility of kit works, the weight of A^ntiment, and the knowledge of man they contain, we may venture to affign him a place, mxt to Milton^ and Jmft above Drydtm, Yet, to bring our minds fietdily to make this de* c^oa, we moil forget, for a moment, the divine Mufic Odi of Drj^ dtu ; and may perhaps then be compelled to confeis, that thougk Orydin be the greater genius, yet Pope is the better artift*
* The preference here given to Popb, above other modern EngUlh poets, it moll be remembered, is foufided on the excellencies of hia works in gemraif and taken all toztther\ for there are paru and pn/^ Juget in other modem authors, in Young and in ThcmfoHi for inftance^ eqaal to any of Pope ; and he has written nothing in a drain fo tiuly faDlime^ at the Bard of Gra^'
Before we difmifs this Article, it muft be obferved, that Dr« Warton, though often happy in the metaphors and analogical illuftrations which he borrows from painting, introduces then with a frequency, not to fay afFe^tation^ that favours too much of the pedantry of connoilTeurfliip. His ftyle, though clear and fpirited, will poffibly, to the faftldious critic, appear in many ioftances (to ufe an expreflion of bis own) too familiar and gfif" /Sping* And the rambling, defultory manner in which he di* gre&s into fubje6ls of general criticifm, (hould have pointed out to him the neceffity of an Index.
It muft not be inferred, that by hinting at fuch trivial defi- ciencies, we wifli to detradt from the merit of a work abounding with information, learning, and juft principles of taftc. C^^t^if •
AaT, VI. Cni bono? or^ an Inquiry, what Benefits can arife either to the GngliOi or the Aoiericansy the French, Spaniards, or Dutch,
{rom the gicated Victories, or SoccefTes, in the prefent War f leing a Series of Letters, addreifed to MonHeur Necker, lace Con«> troUer General of the binances of France. By Jofiah Tucker, D. D. Dean of Glocefter. 8vo. as. Cadell. 1782.
THE principal delign of this publication is to prove, that whichever way the prefent unhappy war may serminnte, 2 na
itft tucktt*s Cut Bono ?
tio party will be a gainer bj it. With refped to the European powers, the Author's opinion may, in all probability, be right : for even fuppofing (what the Dean by no means will admit) that every commercial advantage is to be reaped by the power that may be fucceffful ; yet what commercial advantages can be (lut in the fcale to counterbalance that efftifion of human blood which a war, like this we are engaged in, muft occaiion i The fiime reafoning which is applied to the European powers, will- not, however, extend to America. Though (he, no doubt, may have formed, and not unjuftly, very flattering expectations of commercial advantages; yet thefe, however great, are, in her eftimation, perhaps, but fecondary confiderations : her views are profefledly extended to a nobler objt£l, the eftablifii« ment of that equal freedom, which, as it is the birthright of all, fo it is the duty of all to ailert. This is an objeCl of fuch mag- nitude, that, compared to it, the temporary calamities of war are but as the dud of the balance. How far her ideas on this fub^ jt6t are juft or erroneous, this is not the place to enquire: fuf« iice it, that (he herfelf is perfuaded of the jufticeof hercaufe,* and then victory muft to her appear as the moft fortunate of human events. But thefe anticipations of happinefs and free- dom are, fays this reverend politician, vifiooary smd delufive. No fopner, he tells us, will the Americans have eftabli(hed their independency on the parent ftate, than they will be enflaved by their prefent rulers, the Members of Congrefs, who will go- vern them with a rod of iron. The moment they are at peace with England, they will quarrel among themfelves ; and, with the fury of fami(hed wolves, they will endeavour to tear eadi other in pieces. Nay farther: in thecourfeof afewyears, thofe, whom by their violence or their crimes they had compelled to migrate into the interior parts of the continent, will, after the manner of the Afiatic and European Tartars, invade them with a numerous and irrififlible body of cavalry ! ! ! With refped to trade, their fituation will be ftill more deplorable — but it wduM encroach too much upon ours, and the readers time, were we to follow this reverend fortune-teller through the whole of his malignant prophecy; in which oiir American brethren (for fuch we hope ftill to call them] are fcarcely treated with Chriftian eh^ ity : as a nation, thev are reprefented as^ cruel, perfidious, and unjuft ; as individuals, little better than rafcals and Olarp- ers. It muft be obfervcd, however, that the Dean has had fo much art, not to fay decency, as to contrive for ^he fputterings of his exafperated venom not to come immediately from his own mouth, but from that of a patriotic American orator, who, he fuppofes, will on fome future occaflon make ufe of an harangue fuch as this which he has given him. His plan for a gencr^il pa* cification, which is the fubjeft of bis laft letter, and which has
been
fceco retailed in mod of the news-papers, is too chimerical ta ifeerit attention. ^ ^ 4k
■■ ■ ■ 11 'I ■ ■ -I- *
AitT. VIL Ah Ejffay coHcerning thi Profrisijf mnd iht tiMnmr §/ cul* ti^uatifigt if Cbidrtn and Ttnth, m Difptfititi U, mnJ cf in/firing them <witb an Inelinathn for^ any particular Ofia, Pr9feffi9mt Tradt^ or EmfUymiMt, *wbicb Partmti may think pnptr f laakt CAtiee rffit tbem, hy William Petcmaiiy of Sandwich, in Kent. lano. ai« iewed. Law. 1781.
WE know not but this Author may be right in th6 fuppo« fition, that greater ftrefs is frequently laid on confult- ing the inclination of children and youth, as to their future employment in life, than truth and reafon Will fupport and jufti- fj. Some attention it may be right to pay to fuch choice; but, at that early fcafon, youth, unleTs in fome few excepted cafes^ are but little qualified to determine on fo important a pdint. This Writer's opinion may be colle^d from what follows : * At fo early an age, he fays, as would be requifite for the parent to make a final determination, the efforts of genius can but be few and trifling, and confequently not much to be regarded or depended on. And if it really does fo happen, ^* that many a man runs bis head againft a pulpit, who might have done his country ex- cellent fervice at a plough-tail V' ^^ ^^ >P ^^ probability owing much more to a want of induftry, inclination, and ftudy, in his profeffion, than to any real deficiency of mind^ or want of ge- nius.'
Further, it is obferved, in another place, — * an attachment to the genius of children, does not appear to be attntdid with all thofe advantages, which are, in general, fuppofed to accrue there* fhm. It being well known, that the labours of thofe who pur« fue what their genius diftates, are feldom attended with profit* Very rarely indeed do they raife a man one degree above me* diocrity. very frequently do they render him obnoxious to in* tonveniencies and embarrafiments, from which he is unable to extricate himfelf.' Again it is remarked, * The onlv teft of genius is invention. Imitation, as it refembles, fo alk> may ic bt miftaken for genius, but in reality it makes no part thereof^ JlLt who has nothing to boaft of but what he has received from others, has difcovered no figns of genius. He, therefore, who waits tod ifpofe of his children according to their genius, may perhaps leave them finally undifpofed of. A capacity to receive^ retain, and underftand any in£bru&ions that may be given, is, too frequently,''ttiiftaken for genius. An intenfe application of mind is no lefs frequently miftaken by the fuperficial ohferver,
^ Dr. Soaih.
Rsv. April 178a. T for
174 Pfttman^/ EJfay on Cultivating Youthj tec:
for duincfs.— Labour and diligence, will provide a man with ^oofd^aM raiment ; and induftry, application, and perfeverance, "will furni(k the mind with learning «nd knowledge : fo that he who wants genius may want neither of thefe. This is a com- fortable ^eflefl ion, and will, *in many refpefts, amply compen- fate for the want of genius. — Ability is equally neceflary in every line of life. Nor are we to fuppofe that men in general are (6 defiitute of ability as they may appear to be. When a man, by purfuing the drift of his own inclinations, or by an ha- bitual lev4ty of difpofition, negleds the duties of bis calling, to employ his talents on matters foreign to the proper bunnefs thereof, the eiFeAs of fucK mifc'ondu^ are frequently attributed to the want of ability. Whereas, had he but made his inclina- tions fubfervient to his knowledge and his duty, he might have pafied without exception for a man poflefled of very competent abilities : our notion of ability being generally formed from the knowledge which a man appears to have of the bufincis, profeffion, or calling, which he takes on him to follow. And indeed, a man's ability is founded in the proper application of his knowledge in the difcharge of his refpedive duties : it being the union of knowledge, with pra£iice, that conftitutes ability. And fuch are the abilities of children, that, at beft, they are j^ut lame and deceitful guides, and fuch as will afford but little, if any adiftance to the fcrupulous parent ; becaufe in thofe early days, it is impofUble for him to form an adequate judgment of what they may be, by what they then are capable of. The pa- rent therefore muft follow the didlates of common fenfe and prudence in the difpofal of his child, and leave the refult to Pro- vidence/
From thefe extrads the Reader may form fome judgment con- cerning this work. L«t us add the following paflages ; * In a word, the want of genius is feldom to be regretted in any courfe of lift*, where inclination excites a man to be diligent in the dif- charge of his duty. And inclination will feldom, if ever, be wanting in any courfe of life, if proper means have but been made uie of by the parent, to beget and fecure it in the child/ 1'his is the point which our Author has principally in view.
* Our notions, fays he, of education are too frequently con- fined to the learning and knowledge that is acquired at fchool. This, however, is but a part of education. It is that part only which tends to quality youth for fome future occupation. The moft important one, that of infpiring them with a love of feme oi\e particular profeffion, office, or trade, 4)as, perhaps, hitlieno been but little thought on, if not totally negleded. A want QL.Sil£.Ot*'pn this, that jDOthlng can juftify, fo long asman is cjpublc oi awti;i^ NViih deliberation and dcllgn.'
From
■ . ■ ...
Ifloyd'i Hlftory tf tht War in Germanf. ajf^
. Fi'om confideratioos of this and the like kind,, this Writer proceeds * to point out the mod cfteSiual means of eftablithing an early and a perpianent influence over thepafSons and inclina- tions of children, in order to fecMre their actachhfient to fbch purfuits as they are intended fur,' which puriuits, he recomi l&ends^ to propofe to them as foon as poffible, as the worthy oh|e£l of their more particular regard.
. The love of praife is a principk, for the cultivation of which Mr. Pettman ^ya^mly pleads ; flrongly urging the parent t6 aim at exciting a fpirit of emulation in the youthful bofom. In a degree this is certainly proper, out there may be an excefs whicH will be followed by pernicious confequehces. A defire to exi:el IS laudable, if it means a defire of making every poffible im- provement in the particular employment to which perfons are called: a mere defire of excelling others may be accompanied with hurtful paflions \ and when a youth attains thfe end, hist seal for farther improvement may droop, till be finks into He- gli^nce and. inac^vity.
On the whole, the.fubje£l of this little volume muft be ac- knowledged of great importance. The Writer's refle<Stions are feofible and pertinent | though he is at times rather difFufe, and does not give much attention to ftyle. Parents and goard- ians, and youth too, may reap benefit from duly conflderiiig what he offers to their refledion. He laments, and it is to be lamented, that the early modes of education, both at home and at fchools, are not feldom unfavourable to thofe fituations in which youth arc likely to be afterwards placed : too frequently they are fuch as tend to .divert young minds from, or raife then! above, thofe occupations and purfuits to which, by circumftances and ftation, they are naturally and properly directed. Tob often an indifpofition to fuitable employments, and a fancied fupe- riority of genius, are nothing more than a love for indolence, ex- travagance and pleafure. It will be happy if this, or any cthftt publication, may be a means of correcting fuch «yils. u
Art. VIII. Gtneral Lloyd's Cv/tHnuMion tf tht Hiftwy tf the War ik Germany. 410. i 1. 68. 6d. Boards. With the iVIaps coloured, 1 1. 13 s. Hooper.
AFTER waiting feveral years, with fomc degree df impa- tience, for the profccution of this much approved hiflory^ we are at length favoured with a volume, which is rather an mterrupilon than a coht'tnuaiion Cf the work, as fpecified in the :itle, and prom i fed in a former part *• We have here, in the iiiddle of the war, a volume of fpeculations or theories on the
* SecRtv. Vol. XXKV. Aogaft 1766,
T 2 Tlvf
1)6 Ueji*s Hiftorj §f the War hi Gemumfm
art in gentral, without a word more at yet of the promifed hif-
This might have pafled very well, and thefe fpeculation$ Would have been read with pleafure at the beginning or end of fuch a treatife ; but now they rather produce difappointment, put us out of humour, and make us fo mueh the readier to find fault, and join the cry againft the arts of book^makins or au* thor-craft, which, when taken up as a trade, we fhoufd think unworthy the exertions of fo reputable an officer, unlefs forced to it by ' dire neceffity,* which would indeed be a very ftriking eammple of the bad fortune of great abilities, and of the ingra- titude and illiberality of the many princes whom the General^ aa we learn, has ferved with great fucccfs and reputation*
We are forry to fee in this volume fo many of thofe ideaSy which may now be ftiled military common*place, joined with what is obvioufly the refult of long experience, deep refloAion, and real genius ;— together with fome controverted and almoft exploded opinions, mingled with, the beft and moft evident prin- ciples of the art. We hope aU this was not fo contrived, as in many other works, merely for the purpofe of fwelling the vo* lume, or making an additional one ; nor ihall we mend the mat- ter much by fuppofing this a manoeuvre, forming a part of A>me other defign. If the General's talents, and thofe of many others, are not employed as they ought to be, it is evidently not i^fficient for a nation to poflefs men of the greateft knowledge and virtue, if without a head, or method, fit to place, employ^ and dired fuch members.
Our Author fets out with a long preface, which he had pub- nihed before, to the firft volume ; and ends by riiking fome iiafty opinions on the war in America— though he has never Veen there, and has formed his notions of it lb dogmatically and inconsiderately, that we fancy they will be ridiculed by the officers who have ferved in that part of the world. This Wi|f|ifi|t aAing like a cautious General ; and his chufing a line of operations (as he ftiles it), or of penetration from Bofton Streight to Albany, inftead of fome navig»ble river, &c. was incompatible with his own rules, which direA to the (horteft, eafieft, and fafeft lines, &c. — Permitting even one fuch careleb idea to flip into a work, may do it more injury than the Author ia perhaps aware of«
Thus, having vented fome of our ill-^humour, after farther perufal and candid reflection, wc begin to difcover in this vo« lume very conficterable merit; much good fenfe, real experi- ence, and folid judg ent^— juft and great principles, fueh aa fona induhicahk. m4rks of xy^i. miliiary genius. Though few may at firft be difpoied to (c<ucli lor thefe treafurcs, wc fancy
that
Att Aich will be nearly the progreffive fentiments of moft of his military readers, who have ftudied their profeffipn.
It ihoald be confidered that no work can be of equal merit throughout ; that many good heads have been lately employed nearly in the fame way ; that we muft therefore often meet With the (ame or fimilar ideas ; and that it was not to be ex- fi^Bttd that our Guifchards, Mczeroys, Guiberts, Lloyds, &c« cmild keep quite clear of each other, while fleering fo nearly in the fame courfe. Some repetition, common-place^ &c* muft ever be tolerated ; — we (bould recoiled that men were pro- bably born to differ as much as to agree; and that through the great varieties of opinion, lies the way to truth. Thoueh we may not adopt all the opinions of our Author, either m politics, roetaphyfics, morality, religion, &c. (for he touches on all fubje£ls), yet it were well if we could profit by fome of his excellent leflbns, and learn from fuch refpe^abh becaufe frmSiical authority.
There certainly never was an age that furnilhed more in« ftrudion, of every kind, or a greater abundance of writers on every fubjed, than this : — but whether we are proportionablv improved in condud and virtue, is, we think, at leaft doubtful* Though knowledge and virtue are not natural enemies, we fee they are not infeparable friends, as many have fuppofed. We have reafon to fufped, that the number of socd Generals does sot increafe in proportion to that of the military authors, and that the age of fine writing is not Infallibly that of the moffc virtue, and heroic adion. There were probably many great poets before Homer ; and before Ariflotle and Plato, as great and ufeful philofophers as either of them, though perhaps they could BOt write fo welL The men who have done the greateil and beft things, have feldom been able to write an account of them.
We fee that the general charaflcr and merits of the indivi- duals that compofe a nation may be of one kind, and that of its government of quite another. Numberlefs fenfible and learned volumes may be written on war, policy, and govern- ment, while all are very badly conduced. — As our Author ob- ferves, a bad government dcflroys the refources of the moft Powerful kingdoms.
The fudden rife, and more fudden'decline of this nation, amidft fuch ftores of knowledge, arts, fcience, and tafle, may form an iiftance, equally new and flriking, of the truth and application 3f thefe obfervations, and of our being, with all our learning, till ignorant of, or unable to reduce to pra(9i(e, the principles Ml which national ftrength and profperity depend ; and theex* imple may give rife to new opinions on thofe fubje^ls, which may aft till driven out by others taken from other events. — Such is
T 3 the
ayS Lloyd'x Hijiorj of the War in Oernumji.
the progreflioi) of human wifdom and error ! and our greateft #nd beft efForts muft probably ev^r have a mixture of both. put it Qiould be engravca in the heart of every (Vatefman, that falfc principles can never be adopted vf'ith impunity : fuch is the eternal mpfa} connexion pf things. The caufe once given, tne efi^4^ fnuft follov^. At leaft half the miferies of the world liavc been owing to errors in government and policy : — both thp
food and bad principles, the right and wrong, go farther, and pro* uce more confequcnces, than the wifeft could ever yet forefcc. ISrrors and abufes hang together like falfehocds, as in a chain ; one lie qVeatcp 3 nrcefRty for more : nay the confequences of fvcn one may be a!mo(l infinite. Men may be thoufands of years in difcoyeripg their error, and then flying to the ether cx- freme, niay continue vibrating foi- many ages between oppofitc crrofs and extremes. Nations may repeatedly fmk and revive, before they difcover or fettle oh truth: and the people who, ^itb their pyes open, permit blundering fiatefmen to lead theip l^e known way to ruin, and cannot be perfuaded to adopt any eflFeftual remedy or preventative, arc probably too far gone, arid Iiot to be favcd, nor worth laving. Perhaps they mud fmk on to fope period, where they may be either again reftbred or wound up by fome violent revolution, or failmg in the attempt, plunge fiill deeper into flavery, and become a province of fome neigh- t?ouring power.
Wc are naturally led to fuch reflexions by our ingenious Author, who treats thefc and other fubjefts, connedlcd with wa^ ;^nd policy, in a mafterly manner.
This volume confifts of five parts, each divided into chapters, |)cfidcs the former preface, i. Of the compofition of armies* g. The philofophy of war. 3. Of the diflerent fpccies of go- vernments, and their nulitary charadlers. 4. Mifcellaneous ; And, 5. Of the frontiers of the different nations of Europe.
In the (hort fpace fince the invention of gun-powder, and £nce the moderns began to ftudy the ancients, mure alterations and iofiprovcments have bej?n introduced into the art of war, as well as many other arts, than during perhaps jooo years before. Mod of our diftinguifheci generals have agreed in recommend- ing feme things which have not yet been adopted, nor fairly jriecj. lyiany have confidertd (he prefent almoft entire depend- ance on fire arms, and long thin lines, abandoning the pike and all other arms arid methods, as rather unfafe, as hafty and )remature, and done at a time before we knew, or could eitimate :hc effedh of fire arms. Latterly, fince more adequate ideas of tbefe eflb6ls have beeri acquired, and it is found that not above one (}jot in four hundred takes place, many begin to regret the iiifc of hand weapons, of defenfive armour, and a thicker order, ppable of more weight and vigour of attack : fometimes by ' ' ' • columns
Lloyd*i Hijory of the War tn Germany. 279
columns or plcfions ; — all of which our Author joins to recom- mend.
It is not eafy to account for thefe things being fo often re* commended and never tried. Use King of Prujpa^ by aiTuming the lead in military matters, and knowing how to take advantage of that fituation under which other nations have fo readily ac- quiefced, has probably contributed not a little towards retarding the improvement of his neighbours in the art of war, by keep- ing them employed in fuch trifling changes. — Moft nations, without the fame kind of genius and judgment at their head, have fervilely imitated his inftitutions apd manoeuvres, inftead of forming their own on fimilar or national principles ; and liave copied indifcriminately the good and bad : thofe pecu- liarly adapted to his circumftances, with others, thrown out perhaps as a tub to the whale, purpofely to amufe his enemies, and imitators ; and he has, by thefe and other means, fucceeded wonderfully during thefe two wars.
Indeed, without a monarch of equal or fimilar genius and ap- plication, a nation is perhaps fafer by walking the plain track of imitation, than by attempting the wide and pathlefs field of invention, fubjed to the perpetual changes of fucceeding com- manders ^.id favourites. No perfon, who ranks as a fubjedl, is Jure of being equal to the tafk, or of being fupported through- out in making any great national changes, efpecially againfl former habits and prejudices. There are certain things, m/V/- tary in particular, which, once adopted by one nation, mufl be followed by the reft of our European republic ; and fo far the imitation of each other becomes abfolutdy necefTary.
Our Author gives us fome excellent lefTons on thefe, and other fubjefls, connected with war : fome of which we (hall endeavour to extracSl, in an abbreviated manner.
He calls an army an inftrument which fhould have the three requifites oi Jlrengthj agility^ and univerfality.
He maintains that fuccefs depends mofl on the greateft ve- locity.
He dire£t8 to mix cavalry and infantry in the line.
Though apartizan forclofe fight, herejeds tht Roman fwor J. But we think it will ^probably again be found to be the beft weapon for that purpofe, if the art of war does not decline.
He fays, that difcipline fhould be founded on national cha- racter, and not on fear. The cane may make a tolerable Jlave^ but can never make a hero*
That chance has much more influence on the events of bat- tles than human prudence.
That moft engineers know only what they have been taught, whereas their art fhould depend on the nature and face of coun* Cries, which arc infinitely varied.
T4 He
%Zo LloydV Hlfi&rj rf thi War in Gtrmanj.
He recommends firing bjr ranks, and the third, not the front rank, to begin— or (bmetimes by files. But he thinks firing only ufeful when they cannot get at each other, as in defenfivc war ; — that the mufquet is the rcfource of prudence and weak- nefs ; — that hand weapons are the arms of valour and vigour,-— the one protrafiive, the other decifive.;: — that we (hould have both miffiie and hand weapons, if one cannot be made to ferve ts both ; — that wars are/iot now decifive, being only terminated by the want of means to go on ;— that no kingdoms, being over* turned, the fubjofts alone feel the calamities of war, while the monarch, ignorant of their miferies, fits down in peace, and en- joys his pleafures, regardlefs of the ultimate event, becaufe it fefdom aneds the throne : he makes war to gratify his own caprice or ambition, or that of a favourite.
Our Author goes on to obferve, that the art of war, which was fimple and decifive with the ancients, is complicated and fcientific lunong the moderns } — -that we ftudy camps, pofitions, and lines snore than they did; — that our armies of long thin lines are weak ^d inadive \ — that a line of thirty battalions and fifty fquadrons being five or fix miles long, cannot move or attack together :— ^nd that the order of three ranks, with only fire-arms, is de« fedive in the three requifites before mentioned.
Only huflars, but not the reft of the cavalry, he would allow
to have muftets* Velocity is of fnore importance than weight.
Hence the Spanifli cavalry are ranked among the beft in Europe*
He points out many defe£ls from our making the mulket the
general infirument, and adapting to it the formation of troops
Und orders of battle. He propofes a fourth rank, the talleft,
with twelve-feet pikes, a febre, and.piftols; all to have fome
defenfive armour, as a hat and cuirafs of bend-leather, con-
jicEtzA together with wire chains. The other three ranks to
have a four-feet lance, inftead of a bayonet, to fix on the piece*
The cavalry to have a feven*feet lance, a four-feet fabre,
and piftols. The drefs, arms, and exercife to be formed only
with a view to health, and the purpofes of war*
A battalion to confift of 4 companies heavy = 512; and one company light =: 200* In all =:: 7 or 800 men*
An aftny, of ^60 battalions and 40 fquadrons = 48,000 } only one* eighth or 5 or 600 of them to be cavalry, and only 100 foot and 40 horfe to reconnoitre* In order of battle, the battalions to be drawn up with intervals equal to their front % with 4 pounders and 7 or 8 inch howitzers on their flanks ; with the light infantry to aim and a£k at liberty before, and the ca* valry behind thofe intervals; with only thirty or forty 12 pounders in batteries on chofen fituations*
This army and order of battle fcem to have feveral advan* lips OYCJT the preient, and to refemblc more in ftrength and
^divity
lAoji*s mjlory of the War in Gtrmmtf. s8t
lAivity that of the Rdmans : and fomething of this kind may probably at length prevail, if Europe and the art of war do not decline.
When artillery and cavalry increafe fo as to keep the enemy at a diftance, we fear it is too ftrong an indication tbtt the in* fantry and the miliury art itfelf are on the^iecline.
He fays there were above 500 pieces of heavy artillery at the battle of Prague, and that they niuft coft more than 40,000 foot.
He has three objedions to a numerous artillery,— the ex^ pence; the number of horfes ; and the delays.
To fupport an army, he propofes fixed quarters or barrack^ with land. The cultivation, doathing, &c. to be done by themfelves, women, old, wounded, and children. In (hort, military colonies, which we fear would create a feparation be- tween them and the reft of the people, too favourable to that power which ibould command them, unlets all were fufficientty mixed to form only one obvious intereft, by giving to all toe ufe of arms, and their turn to ferve in fuch regiments, quartera^ and camps. But even then, without a variety of precautions^ whoever commanded them, would command the whole natioo: —and without fome method of fecuring the beft poffible com- manding officers of corps, &c. (perhaps by elefiion), this would produce a form of fociety defpotic and intolerable to tbemCcives and to the nation.
He alTerts, that forty years peace does not atone for fix years
war ; and that the Ruffians, during their laft war, raifed above
300,000 men, for an army which was not 50,000 at the peace.
His philofophy of war, though it may (eem an itk&cA title,
contains many mafterly and well ftudied obfervatioris.
That a general benevolence and affedion create fimilar fenti-* Bients in others:— pride is fullen and difdainful, — vanity open and loquacious, to intemperance.— That rewards fliould go be- yond, and punifliments below the mark ; for no man is infallible, and errors muft be forgiven. — That adivity is only exerted during the interval between the time of wifiiing for and that of acquir- ing a thing, and hence only found in the intermediate clafies.
We are not obliged to adopt all the fpeculative opinions of our Author ; and many will believe, that other motives may aduate men befides the defire of pre-eminence and glory. We cannot reafonably expe<^ a great General to be equally deep in philofophy as in war, though his pradical cbfervations on meii and things may be of more utility than all the theories of the fchools.
He is juftly furprlfed to find generals fuppofing fear to be the only principle of a^on in a foldier, as if he were an ani<v
mal
aSi Lloyd'i Hijlory of the JVarjn Germany^
mal of ?i different fpecies ; fo^ furely they will not acknowledge it as the motive of their own aftions !
Wherever there is a ce/tainty of the nobility obtaining the lewards and emoluments, and the equal certainty of not obtain* ing them in the other clafTes, the principles .of heroifm will be cxtrnguifbed in all.
A few republics have produced more great men than all the monarchies put together. In one, the utility of the whole, in the other, the favour of the prince, is the chief objeft.
A foldier's rewards and enjoyments flioqld be (hort, and his hopes ever kept alive*
Our wants and dependance increafe together, and produce a voluntary fubmifHon to thofc who can gratify them ; but when no advantage attends compliance, every command is an oppref- £on. Man has only a certain degree of fuffcrance, beyond which lies defpair ; and that, with a little means and wif- d|om, is invincible. Tremble, ye mighty monarchs, and be- ware; the effects of defpair are terrible !— But this period of defpair may arrive fooner with fome people than with othtrrs, according to their chara^r for fpirit, integrity, &c. Ex, The -difference in this between a fet of poor Jews and Englifh of the lame rank would be great. Our colonies had little to complain or defpair about ; but happily for them, and perhaps for man- l^ind, they wifely forefaw and nobly exerted themfclvcs, to pre- vent the evils and oppreHions before they came, when it would perhaps have been too late;.
But he obfcrvcs, that the exertions of rcvolters dlminifn with fuccefs, and as their dangers leffen, if no longer attacked and irritated. Had Tarquin, — had Spain, given the revolters time to cool, and diflembled their refentmenfs, a more favourable op- portunity would have offered, and perhaps the Roman and Dutch icpoblics would never have exifted.
Men truly animated with the fire of liberty are, he obferves, fuperior to thofe who fight for the power and emoluments of a mailer.
He fays, that no religion offers more powerful motives to aflion than the Mahometan, and none lefs than the Chriftian, whofe rewards are vague and incomprehenfible, its general te- nor peace and fubmiffion, and therefore proper to promote the defigns of tyranny and defpotifm ; yet the ambition of its clergy has covered the earth with blood and flaughter. — That the attachment between the fexes is much ftronger in the lower and middling clafles, than in the more elevated ; — that women ibould carefully ftudy our focial as well as animal wants ; — that could they be made the recompence of honourable anions, we ihould fee great exertions, in order to deferve their efteeoi and
^ He
JAoyd* s Hi/lory tf tbi ffl^r in G^nuntff 283
' He remarks that an Afiatic province is not zfocUtj conneded bv mutual ties an^ obligations, but a fimple aggregation of individuals^ like a flock of flieep, whofe ex jftence depends on the will of the Pacha, — I'hat wherever tbe property is fixed and hereditary, fome civil liberty mud fubfift. In Europe, induftry hath produced ^ new order of men : the people bepaqie free, acquired riches, privi- leges, 9nd power. A diftribution'of power into King, Lords, |ind Commons, feems the mo(l perfe£l plan, if they can be kept feparate and independent of each other. Such diitribution was general in Europe for fome centuries, till the executive power, the king's, dellroyed the reft. By introducing (landing armies^ parade, and expence, he foon reduced the nobility to want and dependance; by ading conflantly and fyftematically with thd forces and revenues in hand, he reduced the whole to fervitude, —That an occafional militia was long found fufficient: the crown, always inimical to liberty, pretended it was infufficient, and pro« jcured the railing and command of (landing armies. Political liber- ty vani(hed, and civil liberty became precarious. The army h no jonger a clafs in the (late, but an inftrument of power in the hands of the crown. When the clafs of the law is reduced to few, and eafily intimidated and corrupted, a civil tyranny will enfue, as at Rome under the Caefars. But armies will concur to enforce arbitrary power only to a certain length, unlefs the foldiers are entirely unconnected with the ftate ; but even then, they are equally fatal to the nation and to the fovereign.
He fays, That all armies degenerate by a long peace, and phiefly thole of a defpot\ — but their attacks are violent and im- .petuous from irregularity, &c. and if you break, you are undone by their numerous borfc. — But they are weak when attacked ; and refinance diminKhes as you approach the capital, where it vani(hcs : and that the armies of monarchies often want .vigour, celerity, and confiftency, unlefs when led by the mo* narch in perfon. The court, full of intrigue, is weak and fluctuating as the charader of the favourites, who often rapidly change; — that a republican army muft be a militia of citizens who cannot a6t far from their country, are fufficient for de- fence, and exert themfelves in proportion as they arc prefTed ;— that long and diflant wars, fupported only by money and mer- cenaries, brought Carthage into diftrefs, and finally to deftruc- tion ; — that when the different powers in a ftate are balanced, it will foon incline to the fide of the executive power, unlefs it be kept entirely feparate and independent of the legiflative, and Piould in no cafe be a part of it;— that there can be no civil wars where the nobility have no influence over the people to unite them, which can only be done now by permanent motives of great importance ;— and that the more extenfivc a country, |h^ more eafily is it defended — by its army being fupplied from
every
^84 li&fA^s Ulftory tftbe War in Girmmtj.
crciy pointy and the attackers only from one, who will be wafted bgr fruitlefs exertions more languid as repeated. If not decided in the beginnings it fliould be given up.
On camps, marches, forming and opening columns, &c. be has fome very good obfervations. He fays, that the pro*^ jeAing points or baftions of every place, fituation, and country
nottid be fortified, and hence firft attacked ; that it is bcft
to encamp icrofs your enemy*s fiank, and aA on his line of operations. To ihorten the columns on almoft all marches \ — and that 100,000 light cavalry, like the Tartars, would lay all Europe wafte, in fpite of our fine armies chained to their ma* gazines and fortrefles.
The line between the army and the place from whence it draws its fupplies, he ftiles tht lim of opiration ; on the choice and importance of which he \% fedulous and learned.
He thinks, that 50 or 60,000 men cannot fubfift 100 miles within an enemy's country \ and even 25,000 muft either go to meet their convoy, difperfe, or periih, if their enemy can foffibly keep the field : fo that the (hortcfl: line of operation, and beft protected muft cet. par. at laft prevail.
On an ofienfive or invading war, he has likewife general lef- Ibns which merit attention ; though probably each cafe has fomething fo peculiar to itfelf, as to render it of little ufe to him who (hould obftinately or literally adopt it, without confi- dering the particular circvmftances which commonly prevent the entire application of general rules.
Thofe who contribute any thing towards rendering defenfive war equal or fuperior to the ofieilUve, are friends to humanity. Our author takes great pains in pointing out the many advan- tages which the defenders of a country have over the attackers ; and does not forget the old and excellent ruie, to Jkirmijh often^ end avoid a battle ; to aA on the enemy's line of operations, cutting oflF his convoys, &c. — On the oiFcnfive, he would only have a few light troops for obfervation ; but on the defenfive, half the army might aA as light troops.
The diviflon of the earth into kingdoms, &c. has been very yariable. The divifions of nature, and of compaA, have been often difregarded by the ambition, cruelty, and injuftice of man; and thefe vices belong ftill more to colleAions of men, or na- tions. From Fletcher of Saltoun, down to the prefent time, many have thought that Europe might be better divided for the good of mankind ; but we know of none who have fpeculated on better principles than he. Our Author too, we fee, has many ideas on that fubjeA ; and his arrangement and examina« tion of the prefent frontiers of the difirrent European nations^ opens a large field for miliury and political inveftigation.
Sudi
Tatfaam'i Difcmfa m th$ Studf §/ Dharnkf^ tt j
Such are fomt of our able General's leflbni auid refle£HoAS|^ for the length or number of which we furely need noC apologize^ as they cannot be too n^ucb known and reflefied oo. lianj of them are obvioufly written from afiual oblervation and ex« perience, which gives them a vaft advantage over the ideas of writers who are only learned ; and though he may fometimea give IIS what might have been gucfled or known before, we da Qot therefore confider fuch as repetitions or plagtarifms^ but uke every thing from fuch mcn> with a degree of refpeA and attention, not to be granted to the merely fpiotkthi or jjki writer.
tf Since the above was written, we are happy lo (ee ib ftrong and unexpeded a gleam of hope arife for the falvatkMiof this Country; — that the people are yet capable of adopting a i«* medy, and, we further hope, of obftinately andfkadiiy goiagofif through all its confequences. •
Art. IX. Twsivi Di/c^ur/a Intro Jua^rj /« ili Stmff tfDMmtjt im mfbicbtht PrincifUs of tbi Cbrifiian Religion an atttmftid H bi UH ^own ivitb Plainm/s and Pnctfiftn, By Edward Tatham, A. M« 8vo. 5 8« Boards. Ricbardfoo, and Urquhart. 1780.
TH E Author in the Introdudlion to his laft Difcourfir^ gives a recapitulation of the leading fubjeds of this vo- lume. We ihall prcfent our Readers with it, both as a fpeci« men of the matter and manner of thefe Sermons.
^ Before we clofe this immortal argument, let us draw tcge* ther the heads of this compendious fyftem, and exhibit them in a fingle poiiit of view, in order to difplay the EN 11 of our religion in the moft ftriking light, as well as the M£ans which are to conduct us to it.
* ^ Happinefs in a future life is the end of religion. The hu* man foul is the fubjed which is to enjoy it. God is the obje£k from whom it muil proceed. — We traced the will of God by the lights of confcicnce, reafon, and revelation ; and by th« fame lights difcbvered man's native inability to perform it«— — m f God created him originally able both to know and to do htf duty, and engaged to make him happy on the performance of it i this is the covenant of works. -r-His depravation was derived from the voluntary difobedience of his primitive parents, whence fin and death enfued with lofs of happinefs. ■ ■ % The iovq of God interpofed and projed^ed the plan of man's redemption^ by which his immortal attributes are reconciled^ and our title to happinefs founded anew. He gave his eccrnal Son to take
^^—— ■■■■ ■■ I'l II ^ »l.ii^tl,l. .Mill,
* Difc. I. Kom. vi. 23. f II. Rm. v. 12. t HI. Rm. v« i8» f^
mpoa
^^." ■ Me nr- :-^ n:g itirre : 'ni.':i ;n', .ind ::i :o :.;une ior
I
CowleyV Beliefs Stratagem'. l8^
our religion ; a review of them as they ftand in the irrcverfihle decrees of God, may form no improper concludon to thefe Dif- courfes. Devote we^ therefore this occadon to contemplate-^ * the refurredtion, future judgment, and the kingdom of thd juft.*
We imagine that this fpecimen will not greatly prepoflefs the judicious Reader in favour of thefe Difcourfes. The Author flatters himfelf too much, when he fuppofes that * he hath had the good fortune to adopt a ftylc that is fimple, nervous, and fuited to the fubjeft.' It is too affected to be fimple ; and too vcrbofe to be nervous. On the whole, the predominant feature of thefe Difcourfes is vanity ; the next is orthodoxy ; — both arc enlivened with a certain degree of elegance and vivacity, which may pafs them ofF with fome readers ior fine Difcourfes^ M \a V
Art. X. The Beliefs Stratagem ; a Comedy, as a^cd ac the Theatre Royal in Lovent- Garden. By Mrs Cowley. 8vo. is. 6d. CadelL
1782.
AND what, enquires a lady, was the Belle's Stratagem ? VVe cannot give a more precife anfwer to th<it quefiion, or more properly commence our examination of the Comedy before us, than by tranfcrlbing a Scene in the iirft AdV, which ferves as
a key to the reft of the drama.
' Enter Leticia.
* Letitia, (gi-ves her clcak to hsr maid ) Order Du Qacfnc never to come again ; he (hall poRcively drefs my h?.ir no more. \Exie Alaid.] And this odious iillc, how anbecoming it is! — I w£s be- witched to chufc it. (Thro'ivifig her/elf on a fcpha^ and leaking in a
pockttglaft, Mrs. Racket Jiaring at bir.) Did you ever fee iuch a fright as I am to day ?
* Mrs, R/ick. Yes, I have fccn you look much worfe.
* Letit, How can you be fo provoking ? If I do not look th:s morning worfe than ever I looked in my life, I am naturally a fright. You fhall have it which way you will.
' Mrs, Rack. J nil as you pleafe ; but pray what is the meaning of all this?
' Letit, (rtfing ) Men are all difTemblers, flatterers ! deceivers ! — Have 1 not heard a thoufand times of my air, my eyes, my (hape — all made for victory ! and to-day, when I bent my whole heart on one poor conqueit, I have proved that all thofe imputed charms amount 10 nothing ; — for Doricourt faw them unmov'd — A hulb.md of fifteen months could not have examined me with more cutting indiiFererce.
* Mrs, Rack, Then you return it like a wife cf fifteen months, and be as indifferent as he.
* Lttit, Aye, there's the fling! The blooming boy, who left his image in my young heart, is, at four and twenty, improved in every grace that fix'd him there, it is the fame face that my memory, and my dreams conflantly painted tome; but its graces are iinilhed*
* Difc, XII. Afis, xvii. 30, 31,
and
tS8 Cowley VJ?^ttV Straiaiim^
and every betuty Iieigbtened. How morufying, to feel nyielf at the £uDe moment his (lave, and an objed of perfect indifference to him !
* Mrs. Rack. How are you certain that was the cafe ? Did you ex- pert him to kneel down before the lawyer* his clerks, and your father* to make oath of your beauty ?
' Litit. No; bat he (hould'haye look'd as if a fadden ray had pierced him ; be ihould have been breathlefs ! fpeecfalefs I ior , oh ! CaroJinei all this was L
* Mrs. Rmk. I am ibrry yoa was fuch a fool. Can you expe£l % aiafi, who has courted* and been courted, by half the £ne women in Ibuope, to feel like a girl from « boarding-fchool ? He is the prettieft fellow you have feeo, and in courfe bewilders your imagination ; but ke has feen a million of pretty women, child, before he law you; and kit firil feelings have been over long ago.
* Litit. jQiat raillery diftrefies me ; but I will touch his heart, or • f eveji^e his wife.
''^"^flrx. BjadL Abfnrd and romantic ! If you have no rea(bn to be- lieve his heart pre-engaged* be fatisfied; if he is a man of honour*, 'yoa'll have notjiing to complain of.
* Litit. Nothing to complain of! Heavens ! (hall I marry the man I adore* wit^i fi^ch an expedation as that?
* Mrt. Rmek. P^tkd when you have fretted yoorfelf pale* my dear « you'll have mended your expectation greatly*
* Litit. (pAufiug.J Yet I have one hope. If there is any power wkoit peculiar care is faithful love, that power I invoke to aid me.
* Entir Mr. Hardy,
* Hardy. Well, now; wasn't I right? k^t^ Letty! Aye, Coufin Racket ! wasn't I right ? I knew 'twould be fo. He was all agog to fee her before he went abroad ; and, if he had, he'd have thought BO more of her face, may be, than his own.
' Mrs. RsKk. May be, not half fo much.
' tfardy. Aye, may be fo : — but I fee into things ; exa£Uy as I Ibrefaw* to-day he fell defperately in love with the wench, he f he ! ke!
' Lttii. Indeed, Sir ! how did yoa perceive it ?
* Hwtdy. That's a pretty queftion ! How do I perceive every thing ? How did I forefee the fall of corn, and the rife of taxes \ How did 1 know, that if we quarrelled with America, Norway deals wouM be dearer ? How did I foretel that a war would fink the funds? How did I forewarn Parfon Homily, that if he didn't fome way or other contrive ro get more votes than Rubrick, he'd lofe the le£lare(hip ?
How did I But what the devil makes you fo dull, Letitia? I
thought to have found you popping about as briik as the jacks of your karpfichord.
* Lttit. Surely, Sir* 'tis a very fertouseccafion.
* Hardy. Pho* pho ! girls fliould never be grave before marriage. How did you feel, Coufin, beforehand ? Aye!
< Mrs, Rack. Feel, why exceedingly full of cares. « Hardy, Did you ?
« Mrs. Rack. I could not fleep for thinking of my coach, my Ii* Teries, and my chairmeB ; the taAe of dothea I ihoald be preieoted in^
diftradea
Gowhfs Beik's Straiageik. £89
^itrzikei mk for a week ; and whttber I ii^^li be married id wkice or lilac* fare me the moft cruel anxiety.
* Leiii. And is it poffible tbat you felt no other care i
* Hardy, And pray, of what fort may your, cares be, Mri* Letitia ? I begin to forefee now that you have taken a diilike to I>oricourc,
' Lit it. indeed. Sir, I have not.
' Hardy, Then what*s all this melancholy abont i A'n't yoo go- ing to be married ? and, whac*8 more, to a fenfibl^ oaan ? and, what't more to a young girl, to a bandfome man? And what'i alitbUme* lincholy for, I fay ?
* Mrs, Rack, Why, bectofe he // kandibme and fenfible, and be« caufe fhe^sover head and ears in love with bim ; all wbkh, it feemst your foreknowledge bad not told you a word of.
' Letit, Fye, Caroline \
* Hardy, Well, come, do you tell me whatS the natter then ? If you don't like bim, hang the tigning and fealing, be (ha'n't have ye ; and yet I can't fay that neither ; for you know that eftace, tbat coft bis father and me upwards of fourfcore thoofand pounds, moil gO all to him if you won't have bim : if be won't have you, indeed, Will be dll yours. Ail that's clear, engrofs'd upon parchment, and the poOrdear man fet bis band to it whilil he was a-dying.-**** Ah !'* faidt, ** 1 fore-^ " fee you'll never live to fee 'em come together ; bat their filft fon *^ fhall becbriftened Jeremiah after you, that t promife yau«'*-^But come, I fay, what is the matter? DoD*t you like him ?
' Lttit, I fear, Sir— if I rauft fpeak— I fear I was Ifft agreeable in Mr. Doricourt*s eyes, than be appeared in mine.
* Hardy. There you are miftaken ; for I afl^ed him, and he told me be liked you vadly. Don't you think he miid have taken a fancy to her }
* Mrs, Rack, Why really I think fo, at I was not by.
* Litit, My dear Sir, 1 am convinced he has not ; but if there Is (pirit or invention in woman, he (hall.
' Hardy, Right, Girl ; go to your toilette
' Litit. It is not my toilette tbat can ferve me : but a plan bas ftrock me, if yon will not oppofe it^ which flatters me with brilliant fuccefs.
' Hardy, Oppofe it ! not I indeed ! What is it ?
' Letit, Why, Sir — it may feem a little paradoxical ; but, as h« does not like me enough, I want bim to like me dill lef», and will at our next interview endeavour to heighten his indilFerence intodiilike*
* Hardy, Who the devil could have foref^fen that?
* Mrs, Rack. Heaven and earth 1 Letitia, are you ferions ?
* Litit, As ferious as the mod important buflnefs of my life de- mands.
* Mrs, Rack, Why endeavour to mike him diflike yoo ?
* Lifit, Becaufe 'tis much eafier to convert a fentimeot into ita Oppofite, than to transform indifierence into tender pafiion.
* Mrs. Rack. That may be good pbilofopby ; bot 1 am afraid yoo'U find it a bad maxim.
' Lftit, 1 have the (Irongeft confidence in it. I am lAfpired witk onufuBl fpirits, and on this hazard willingly flake my ehance for irappinefa. I am impatient to begin my meafarcs* [BMk Lcdsia.*
Rev. April 1782. U la
ft^fO Cowley *i Belli s Stratagem.
In the next interview, wherein Letitia endeavours to heighten Doricourt's indifference into difliice, fhe fucceeds in her purpofe ; which is what we can hardly fay for the Author : fince that in- terview exhibits little more than a vapid imitation of the ideot behaviour of Maria in The Citizen. The Author indeed feems to fink under the idea of imitation ; and rifes proportionably, as it were by rcbouiid, when fhe proceeds to exhibit her heroine, in all her attractions, at the mafquerade. Mrs. Cowley is then triumphant, as well as Mifs Hardy; and we will tranfcribe the paffage, as we cannot lay a more favourable fpecimen of the comedy before our Readers :
' DoricourC dmJLtXiM come fomuari*
* Dtr* By Heavens ! I never was charinM till now. — Englifh beau- ty— French vivacity — wit — elegance. Your name, my Angel! — cell ^e yoar name* though yoii periift in concealing your face.
' Ltt. My name has a fpeli in it.
< Dor, I thought (o ; it mad be Charming.
* Let. Batif reveal'd^ the charm is broke.
* Dor. I'll aniWer for its force.
* Let. Suppofe it Harrier, or Charlotte, or Maria, or
' Dor. Hang Harriet, and Charlotte, and Maria — the name your Father gave ye!
* Let. That can't be worth knowing, 'tis fo tranfient a thing. ' Dor. How^ tranfient?
* Let. Heaven forbid my name fhould be lajling till I am married. ' Dor. Married! The chains of Matrimony are too heavy and vul*
gar for fnch a fpirit as yours. The flowery wreaths of Cupid arc
the only bands you (hould wear.
' Let. They are the lighted, I believe : but 'tis pofOble to wear thofe of marriage gracefully. — Throw 'em loofely round, and twift 'em in a Trae-Lover's Knot for the Bofom.
'^ D&r. An Angel! But what will you be when a Wife \
* Let. A Woman. — If my hufband Ihould prove a Churl, a Fool « or a Tyrant, Td break his heart, ruin his fortune, elope with the firft pretty Fellow that aflc'd me— and return the contempt of the world with fcorn, whillt my feelings prey'd upon my life.
' Dor. Amazing' [4/i^] What if you lov'd him, and he were worthy of your love ?
« Let. Why, then I'd be any thing — and all! — Grave, gay, ca- pricious— the foul of whim, the fpirit of variety — live with him in the eye of fafhion, or in the (hade of retirement — chan{;e my country, my fex,— feaft with him in an Eiquimaux hut, or a Perfian pavilion —join him in the vidorious war-dance on the borders of Lake Onta- UOp or fleep to the foft breathings of the flute in the cinnamon groves of Ceylon — dig with him in the mines of Golgonda, or enter the dangerous precindts of the Mogul's Seraglio — cheat him of his wilhes, and overturn his empire, to reltore the Hufband of my Heart to the bleflings of Liberty and Love.
• * Dor. Delightful wil^lnefs! Oh, -to catch thee, and hold thee for ever in this little cage ! {^Attrnfting to clafp htr.
• Let.
dovrieyV BtU^s StratagMl i^t
* Let. Hold, Sir I Though Cupid muft give the bait that tempts tne to the foare, 'tit Hymen muft fpread the net to catch me.
' Dor. 'Tit in vain to aflume airt of coldatft — Fate hat cffdain'd you mine.
* Let, How do you kntfw ?
' Dor. I feel it hen, 1 never met with a woman To perfeflly t(> my tafte ; and I won't believe it form'd you To, on purpofe to tanta- lize me.
* Let, This moment it worth my whole etifieiice. [JfiA.
* Dor. Come, ihew me your face, and rivet my chains*
* Let. To-morrow you (hall be fatisfied* ' Dor. To-morrow! and not to-night?
* Let. No.
' Dor. Where then (hall I wait on you to-niorrow? Where (tt
yon?
* Let. You (hall fee me in an hour when you leaft expe£l me.
* Dor, Why all this myftery ?
' Let. I like to be myfterious. At prefent be content to know that I am a Woman of Family and Fortune. Adieu !
• Enter Hardy.
* Har. Adieu! Then T am come at the fag end. [Jjide.']
* Dor. Let me fee you to your carriage,
* Lh. As yon value knowing me, ftir not a dep. If I am. fol* low'd, you never fee me more. \J£xit.^
Moft of the fable, that relates to Lxtitia's ftratagem, is con- duced with adroitnefs, elegance, and vivacity ; but there is un- fortunately grafted on it, after the manner of our late comedies^ an underplot, which divides the intereft, and interrupts the current of the (lory. The idea of the charader of Sir George Touchwood, with the little circumftance of his jealous cruelty to the bird, is, if we recolleA, taken from i\it Contes Moraux of Marmontel ; but, borrowed or original, the interefts o^ Sir George and his Lady might have been more advantageoufly dif« played, and had better have been made the ground of a feparate drama, than thus interwoven with the adventures of Mifs Hardy.
In regard to the manners and dialogue^ though the play con- tains many lively traits of charader, as well as lucky hits of wit and humour, yet they do not feem to proceed from a perfon familiarly acquainted with the habits of high tife, or theconver- fation of men ; the reprefen rations of both which the Author fcems to have gathered from hovels and news-papers, rather than to have tranfcribed them from the book of Nature. Some of the dialogue is indeed in a ftyle that we never before met with in any writings, or any converfation. ' I could (fays Sir George Touchwood) weep over that purity, expofed io the fu I lying breath of falhion, and the ten^ in whofe lafitudineiry vortex chaf- tity bcrfelf can fcarcely more unfpotted !'
U f The
1^2 Sc9tiijh Ballaif.
^ The charafleri ^rc not fll difcriminatcd. Thofc of the He-
roine, Doricourt, and Hardy, arc pre-eminent. On the whole, the Comedy of The Belle's Stratagim approaches much nearer to dramatic excellence, than any other piece yet produced by Mrs. Cowley. r%
Akt,XL Scoft/Jb BmUaiis, Small 8 vo. as. 6d. fewcd. Nichols. ijSi.
BESIDES a correded edition of fuch tragic Ballads as are to be met with in former collections, this publication con- tains four others, that have hitherto been preferved only by tra- dition, and a fecond Part or continuation of the beautiful frag- ment of Hardyknutc. For the recovery of this laft the Editor acknowledges himfelf indebted to the metmryof a Lady^ The Public will recolledl that it was to fomething more than to the memory of a Lady they were indebted for the former Part ♦. Our Editor, however, fturdily denies the pojftbility of Mrs- Wardlaw, or^ indeed, any one of modern times, having that (bare in its produdion which Dr. Percy, and all competent and impartial judges, have hitherto fuppofed^ ^ That fhe did not re- fttfe the name,' fii}*) he, * of being the original compofer is a ftrange argument : would not the firft poet of Europe think it added to his reputation ?' We are as ready as the Editor to think it would : but it implies a ftrange opinion of the fpirit and honefty of fuch poet, to fuppofe he wodd fubmitto be indebted for his reputation to a lye. But even though the antiquity of the former Part refted upon the mod immoveable bafis, we Aiould have had many doubts refped^ing the authenticity of this; which, though not without merit, is evidently the produdion of a very inferior hand.
As the Reader may perhaps wiih to have fome fpecimen of thefe reliques of traditional poetry, we (hall lay before t|iem the following; which, however,, as far as its antiquity is conccfned^ muft be taken upon the faith of the Editor.
* THE DEATH OF M£NT£ITU.
* Shrilly fhriek'd (he raging wind.
And rodelie blew the blalt ; We awfum biink, throucb the dark 1m>
The fpeidjr lichcoiog paft*
* See Reliques of ancient Engliih Poetry, Vol. II. p. 87. dee aifiy the fame worK, Vet III. p. 98. 1. 109* where the Reader will find i^ cbe ballad of Child Maurice, or as it Uy perhaps, improperly flilcd. Gill Maarice, a ftanza and half which the prefent Editor hat omitted, at the interpdlatioii of a moderft and very iDferior hand s but furefy wkhoat rcaioa.
• O hear
Sc^tijb BaUad$. 3gjf
0 bear ye nae* fni^ mid the loch*
* A rife a deidly grane ? Sae evir doei the fpiric warn*
* Whan we fa^ detbe maon mane,
1 feir, I feir me, gude Sir JohOj ' Ye are nae fafe wi me : What wae wald fiJI my hairc gin ye
* Sold in my caftle driel*
' Ye oeid nae fcir^ my leman dcir, '* I'm ay fafe whan wi thee ;
< And gin I maun nae wi tbee live, '* I here wad wifli to die.
His man cam rinning to the ha
Wi wallow cheik belyv« :
Sir John Meoteitb, yo^r faes are neir^
' And ye maun flie or ftrive.
< Whac count fyne leidt the cruel knicht l^
* Thrie fpeirmen to your ane : I red ye Die, my mafter deir,
* We fpcid, or ye'll be flain.'
' Tak ye this gown, my deir Sir John
•* To hide your fhyning mail : * A boat waits at the hinder port
" Owr the braid loch to fail.'*
' O whstten a piteous fhriek was yoa •• That fbogh'd upo my eir r " Nae piteous S)riek I trow, ladie, ' But the rouch blaft ye heir/
They focht the caflle, till the morn»
Whan they were bown'd to gae. The faw the boat turn'd on the loch,
Sir John's corfe on the brae.'
Prefixed to thefe Ballads are two introdudlory Diflertationa ; on the Oral Tradition of Poetry, and on the Tragic Ballad* They tell us a great deal about ^gypt and Ofiris, and rhe Magi and Mofes, and Deborah and the Druids, &c. with eru* dite references to Ariftot. ; Scalig. ; Dubos ; Trapp ; Burke; Herodot. ; Diodor. Sicul.; Jambl. de vit, Pythag. ; -flElian. Var. Hift. ; Ammian. Marcel. ; Saxo Grammat. ; Jo. Mag. Forfac. ; Jones Comment. Ahtiq. Hibern. ; DilTert. de Bar.; Roufleau DiSt» de Muf. ; Hickes Ling. Vet. Thcf. ; Le Clerc Biblioth. Univ. ; Ol. Worm. ; Macpherfon, &c, &c. &c. And what is all thlsdif- p!ay of ma^ profound and marvellous erudition to prqve? Wt^y^ tliat before men could write, they rrufted to tl^eir mefnories; aod that oral tradition is both fafe and cafy ; and, irgo (for |hi$ feenfis to be .the principal| though concealed ^ drift pf^he whole)^ that tfee* long poems of Oifian have h^cn faithfully tranfmitted down to ua^ Jiz it fo : as wc mean not, at prefent, to take any deciQve part in
U 3 the
_ m
104 Jrchadogtcal EpiftU to the Rgv. Dr. ATtlUs.
the Oflianian controverfy, we (hall not prefume to difpute any thing that may relate to it ; yea, even though it fhould pleafe Mr. Macphcrfon to tranflate (which, for ought we know, he may do) forty volumes more from the fame authentic materials from which he has tranflated his Fingal and Temora.
There is fomething fo fingularly modeft in the following pa- ragraph, that it might be injuftice, both to the Author and our Readers, to with- hold it : * We may laugh at Sir Jfaac Niwtorty as we have at Defcartes ; but we (hall always admire a Homer, an OfTian, or a Shakefpeare/ At what may the admirers of O/Han NOT laugh ? in (bortj what may the Admirers of Offian NOT do? /^ - , •
_ 5%.,-^
I » I
^RT, Xir. Jm Archadogical Epifllt to tht Revtrtnd and Worjbip^
Jul Jgretniah MilUs^ D. D, Dean of Exeter, Prefident of the Society
of Antiquaries, and Editor of a fupeib Edition of the Poems of
Thonnas Rowley, Pried. To which is added a GlofTary, extrafted
from that of the learned Dean. 4to, is. Nichols, Walter, &c. 1782.
THE reverend and worfliipful Editor of Rowley hath laid himfclf fo open to the fliafis of wit, that if he had isfcaped, it would have been almoA as wonderful as the Caufe he hath undertaken to defend. Unluckily for the Dean, his Op- ponents cannot be repulfed by the y2rin^ weapons with which they have aflaulted him. A critic, who thinks the Poems attri- buted to Rowley to b6 modern, has an ample field for ridicule ; for there can fcarcely be a more laughable circumftance ima- gined, than the delufion and gravity oTthofe learned gentlemen who have defended iheir antiquity. The nature of their argu- ment obliges them to be grave. They dare not laugh, even in felf-defence. And fo mortifying is the pod they have taken, that while they hold it, the laugh muft be againfl them ; and if they are determined to maintain it, they mud afTume a graver and ftill gratrer countenance, till folemnity, drained beyond its own powers, fuddenly gives way; and he who thought he looked important to the world, feels how foolifh he looks to bimfelf !
To the r^tf/^ judicious part of marrkind it will be no recom- mendation of wit to fay, that with the generality it hath the ad- vantage of argument ; and that the belt reafons have loft their )effie£l on the public, only becaufe the chance of literary war bath turned the weapons of ridicule on them. The learned Dean cannot avail himfelf of fuch conceffions as thefe; for, un- fortunately for him, in the prefent inftance, Truth feems to be on flic fide of JVit ; and Reafon and Ridiculi only fcrvc, in the con- troverfy concerning Rowley, to lend their cordial aififtance to tach oihcf,
la
^ArchaoUpcal EpiftU U tii Rev. Dr. XSiilii. 295
In the preface to this little poem, the Reader will find much food for laughter, furniflied at the expvnce of more dodors than one : anil the comparative merits of archaeologic and lexi» phanlc lore are eftimated with that pleafant irony, which fre- quently cuts deeper into a bad argument, than the graveft rea- foning, or the mod poignant fatire.
The ingenious Author concludes his ironical panygeric on archaeological learning in the following manner :
< Bat the lad and belt thing I (hall mention it, that great and ori* fpeaicableemolumentwhich the Anglo-Saxon prefix jr, brings to a ne« ceflitated verfifier ; as yprauncing {or prauncing^ ynenging for mmgitig^ Sec, By having this always at his beck, that poet who cannot .write a fmooth line in any given number offyilables, deferves, in my opi- nion, never to write a line at all. For this dear little jp comes and goes juft as one pleafes, and may be truly called the arch xological poec*s toad-eater. In ftiort, with a little variation, we may apply that eulogy to it which Dryden has givea to St. Cecilia's mufic ; it hath
' Enlarged the former, narrow bounds, And added length to any founds.
Such, with a great many more, are the advantages that attend this date of poetry. It is noc, therefore, I think, greatly to be wopdnrd at, that either a prieft of the 15th century, or a boy of fifteen yeara of age (take which you pleafe), fhould, write with greater facility at leall, if not greater fpirit, than thofe mifcrable vernacular poets^ who are fo poor, comparatively, in point of rhirae, that they hurp not one to throw at a dog : who are tied fo tight to the whipping* pod of grammar, and fixed fo fall in thc.ftciiBs of orthography, that they have hardly an idea at liberty ; and which is word of all, cannot eke out a halting Hoe by any other method than a totally differing exprediGn. Oh! if you reflet coolly on thefe things, my dear bre* thren of the quill, I am fully perfuaded, that all of you, like me^ will turn Archseologids.
* Havirg thus carforily (hewn what great benefits this dyle con- fers upon writers, 1 might now proceed to prove what fup'.rior de- leflation '^t affords to readers But here I am forelUIlcd by the learned Dean, who in his Preliminary, and all his other maderly dif* fertatious on the works of my predccedbr, hath irrefragably proved the point. Indeed, as Prefident of the Societ> of /^ ntiquarief, and Editor of their valuable Arcbaologia, he has, I ihiuk, an abfiolute prefcriptive right to diflert on this fubjedl. I am nor, therefore, without my hopes, that he will one day coinnien: on the following epilUc, which, if it wants any thing, I am bold to fay, wants only the illuftrarive notes of fo fagarious an editor.
' P. S. I have lately conceived that as. Dryden, Pope, &c. em- ployed their c^reat talents in trandating Vir^ri), Homer, &c. that It would be a very commendable employment for the poets of the prefenr age to treat fome of the better fort of their predecedbrs, fuch as Shakefpeare and Milton, in a fimllar manner, by putting them into archexological language. This, however, I woold not caU ffan/lation, bat tra^/mutnttMy for a very obvious reafon. It is, I be*
U 4 1»«^
a^ 4rcb4fohgUal BpifiU U ihi Riv. Dr. MiUa.
Xif^ve^ a fettled point among the critics, with Dr. JohDfon at their Jiead» .that the greateft fault of Milton (exclafive ot his political te- Tf^txi) is, that he writ in blank ver(e. See then, and admire, hov^ ^afily this may be remedied.
' pAiADisE Lost. 6. 1. Oftt mantles fyrfte bykroos volonde woUe I finge^
And ofFe the fraide ofFs yatte caltyfnyd tre Whofe lethal tafie into tbys worlde dydde brynge Bothe morche and tene to all poftcritie. How ¥ery ftear alfo (in point of dramatic excellence) would Shake** /peare come to the author of ^lla, if fome of his beft pieces were ti>H5 tranfmpc^d! As, for inftance, the foliloqay of Hamlet, *^ 7« tft cr mt to be*'
To biynne or not to biynne the denwere is ; Gtf it be bf tte wy thin the fpryte to beare Thebawfin floes aod tackels of dydreife, And by forloyning amennfe them clere.
^at I throw thefe trifles oat only to whet the appetite of die reader, for what he is to feaft on in the fubfequent pages/
The * Epiftclle to Doftourp Milles/ (as the fecond title gives it} is a moft fuCcefsful imitation of Chatterton's mode of joifguifing tnodern poetry, to make it bear the appearance of an- tiquity ; and if its merit is to be eftimated in proportion to the number of obfolete terms and quaint phrafes which may be found Tusk it, the boy of Briftol is, we think, fairly foiled on his own ground, and wkh his own weapons too !
As a fpecimen of our Author's happy talent in this line, we will prefent our Readers with the two firft ftanza^ of bi^
* As whanne agronfer ' with ardurous'glowe^ Han ' from the mees ♦ lichc ? fweltrie ^ fun arift 7,
The lordyn^c ■ toad awhaped'creepethe flowe
To hilic *° his jrrotcd ** wcam ** in mokic " kifte •♦;
Palettes yblente *' alyche dooc flizzc *^ awaie.
In ivye- wympled '^ ihade to glomb '' in dipe difmaie.
ir.
So dygne * Deane Mylles, whanne as ihie wytte * fo ranj Han Rowley's amen ufed' fame chevy fed ♦,
His foemenne ' iillc forlettc * theyre ^rofHQi ^ gare, Whyche in theyre hooton fprytcs? theic han devyfed :
Whanne thee theic ken ^ wythc poyntcL*^ in thic honde.
Enroned^* lyche an lace^* fell, or lyche a burly-bronde".'
— I III'." I ^ - —
EXPLANATION.
Stanza I. ^ A meteor, ^Burning, ^ Hath. ^ MeaJ^ws, ^ Like* f Sultry. ' Are/e. " Standing on bis hind legs, rather heavy, Jltig- gijh. » Aftonijhed. *° H'de, »* SiuelUd. " H'omb or body '^ ^/^^^, ♦t Coffin »» DaKvded ** Fly away. "^ lyy.mantUd. *" Fr<w}^.
Stanza II. ' Worthy or glorious » * Wi/dom, ^ Diminified or /«•
jured, ♦ Reftored, ' Enemies, ' * Relinqui/b. ^ Uach/il cau/e*
! Haughty Simls. f Sa. *^ Pim. " BrandiJM. " Swrd. '^ Fh-
Whs faUhioHt 4
'• ' ' ^ After
Jrclaologlcal Bpiftk to the Rw. Dr. Miles. 297
After wearing this amique gulfe through fourteen ftanzas, the poet drops it very gracefully, and appears in a modern drefs. ^hich fiU on hiqfi with e^fe and elegance.
< each line fhall flow as fweet and clear
As Roivlcy*s felfhad writ them in hit roll, So they perchance may fooch thy fapient ear»
If au^ht httt pbfolete can touch thy fool. Poliih'd fo pure hy my poetic hand, That kings then^felvee may read» and courtier^ anderfianiL
XVI. ^
O mighty Milles, who o'er the realms of fenfe
Hall fpread thy marky antiquarian cloud. Which blots out truch, eclipfes evidence.
And tafle and judgment veils in fable (hroodf Which makes a beardlefs boy a^onkiih prieft. Makes Homer firing his lyre, and Milton ape his jeft«
xyii.
Expand thy cloud ftill broader, wond'roas Dcto I
In pity to thy poor Britannia's fate, . Spread it^her pad and prefent (late between.
Hide from her memory that (he e'er was great ;. That e'er her trident aw'd the fubjed iea. Or e'er bid Gallia bow the proad, reUdant ktee*
XVIII. Tell her, for thou haft more than Molgrave's wit.
That France has long her naval ftrength farpa^. That Sandwich and Gcrmatn« alone ore fie
To ihield her from the defoliating blaft ; And prove the fa£t as Rowley's being clear. That loans on loans and loans. her empty purfe wilt bear.
XIX. pid all her Lords, obfequious to command
As Lords that belt befit a land like this. Take 'valiant Vifcount Sackville by the hand^
Bid Biihops greet him with a holy kifs. For fcming plans to quell the rebel tribe, Whofe execution foil'd all bravery and all bribe.
XX. Teach her, two Britilh armies both fabdaed.
That flill the free American will yield. Like Macbeth's witch bid her *' fpill much more blood/'
And Ilain with brethren's gore the flooded field. Nor fl\eath the fword, till o'er one little ifle, Jo fnug domeflic pomp her King (hall reign and fmile,
^ XXL So frcmi a dean'ry '* rifmg in thy trade,'*
And puflfM with lawn by Byfhoppe-millanere'y
EXPLANATION. ' Bylhoppemillanere: — the word is formed from horie-milli/ic^ (Vid. Rowley's Ballad of Charitie), and means the R^bi-makir^ ^^ $emfj]rt/f oitbi L9rdj SfirituaL
• * — ■
Ev'n
3o8 JonesV Law of BailmentSm
Ev*n glommed * York, of thy amede * afraid.
At Lollard's ^ cower with fpyryng ' eye (hall peer Where thoo* likei£lU's fpryte^ (halt glare on high* The triple crown to feizc, if old Cornwallis die.
* All Readers (fays our ingenious and witty Author) will, I tro(^» applaud this concluding Hanza, which returns to the ftyle in which the Epiille began, in judicious fubferviency to the rule of Horace.
" /emjttur ad Imum
^alij ab inctpto proctffirit^ IS Jibi c§n/let* From the fpirit and ftyle of this little piece we (hould be in- clined to attribute it to the author of the Heroic Epiftle to Sir William Chambers. It difcovers the fame freedom of political principles ; the fame acute and fpirited irony ; and may in fome refpedts vie with that admired poem in pointedncfs of expreffion» and facility of numbers.
EXPLANATION.
* Sullen^ chtufyt or dijtStd, ' Prefermiut, ♦ The highejl toioer in thi palace of Lambtth, ^ Ajpiring^ or ambitious.
^' A'X.
Art. XITI. An EJfay on the Lanjo of Bailments, By William Jones, Efq; of th^ Middle Temple. 8vo. a s. Dilly 1781.
FEW perfons are apprized of the nature and extent of this pradical branch of the law of England, and yet perhaps there is hardly any part of our law which enters more into com- mon lifct or is more neceflary to be known by ev^ry rank and condition of men. If we are compelled to fmile at the fimpli- cityof the honeft man who difcovered, to his great furprize, that he had talked profe all his life, without knowing it, we cannot but remark how mai^y perfons are inv^olved in the do£lrine of Bailments, who perhaps never fo much as heard of the term. Mr- Jones defines it to mean ' a delivery of goods on a condi- tion, cxprefled or implied, that they (hall be redored by the bailee to the, bailor; or, according to his dire£lions, as foon as the purpofe for which they were bailed (hall be anfwered :' he juftly obferves, that there is hardly a man of any age or (lation who does not every week, and almoft every day, contra£t the ob- ligations, or acquire the rights, of a hirer or a letter to hire, of a borrower or a lender ^ of a depofitary or a perfon depofitingy of a eommijjtoner or an employer^ of a receiver or a giver in p'edge : and * what can be more abfurd, adds he, as well as more dangerous, than frequently to be bound by duties, without knowing the na- ture or extent of them, and to enjoy rights of which we have no ju(l idea ? Nor muft it ever be forgotten, that the contrads above mentioned are among the principal fprings and wheels of civil fociety ; that, if a want of mutual confidence, or any other Caufe^i were to weaken them^ or obftrud their motionj the whole
machino
Jones^x Law of Sailmifiit. S99
machine would inftantly be broken to pieces : preferve tbcm^ and various accidents may ftill deprive men of happinefs; but deftroy them, and the whole fpecies muft infallibly be miferable. It fee ms therefore aftonifliing, that fo important a branch of jurifprudence fliould have been fo long and fo ftrangely un* fettled in a great commercial country ; and that, from the reiga of Elizabeth to the reign of Anne, the dodrine of bailments Ihould have produced more contradictions and confufion, more diverfity of opinion and inconilftency of argument, than any other parr, perhaps, of juridical learning; at leaft, than atlj other part equally fimple.'
After this handfomc difplay of the importance of the fubjed^ in which fomething mufl: be allowed to the warmth of fancy^ and fomething to a proper addrefs of the Writer in conciliatii^ his Reader's attention to a dry fyftem of law, he proceeds to treat the fubje£l with the /kill of a mafter.
It is evident, that whoever has the goods of another delivered to him upon a trud to reftore them, is under a legal, a^ well Hi a moral, obligation to take care of them ; and is refponfiblc to the owner, if they are either loft or damaged through his default,: but the degree of care that he is bound to beftow varies with the nature of the contradl or bailment. In fome cafes he i^ an- fwerable at all events, in others for ordinary, and in others for grofs neg)e<3 ; and good fenfe and common honefty will portion the refponfibility to the truft, with as nice a difcrimination of circumftances as tomes of cafuijiry^ or the diffliiidions of a thou- fand commentators, can do. In making this obfervation, we do not mean to throw any refle£lion on Mr. Jones's ingenioos and learned performance. He has treated the fubjeft with all the perfpicuity and grace of which it is fufceptible ; and the luminous method he has purfued (firft, of tracing it analyticallj^ or to the principles of natural reafon ; then htftorically^ by (bow- ing the harmony with which thefe principles have been recog« nized by the Roman, Knglifb, and other laws, and when pro* perly underftood \ and laftly, fyntheticallyy by recapitulating the do£(rine he has expounded in the courfe of his performance, with the rules and definitions that flow from it), is the jufteft model of a Law-tra6V that we recollect any where to have met with. We aflert this with the greater pleafure^ as the Pttb!i6 has reafon toexped, from the pen of this able Writer, fomc fur- ther attempts to digeft and methodize the laws of his country. * If the method ufed in this little tra£l be approved, I may pof- fibly (fays he) not want inclination, if I do not want leifure, to difcu fs, in the fame form, every branch of Englifh Law, Civil and Criminal, Private and Public/ He concludes with his ufual fpirit and dignity ;
« The
200 Monthly CATAioour, Political.
^ The ^reat CyHem of jarirprudence, like that of the Unii^erfet coniifts of many fubordioate {yfUmv, all of which are connedled by Bice links and beautiful dependencies ; and each of them, as I have lolly perfuaded myfelf, is reducible to a few plain elements^ either the wife maxims of national policy and general convenience, or the poji^ ti*ot rules of our forefathers, which are feldom deficient in wifdom or utility : if Law bt a fcience, and realJy deferve fo fublime a name, it aduft be founded on principle, and claim an exalted rank in the em- i/Mt of nn/oM ; but, if it be minlj an unconneded feries of decrees and ordinances, ito ufe may remain, though its dignity be leiTened, VlA He will become the greateft lawyer, who has the flrongeft habi- tnal or artificial memory. In prafiice, law certainly employs two of the mental faculties; na/on, in the primary invefligaiion and de- eifion of points enfi rely new; SLnd memory, in tranfmitting to us the ftafon of fage and learned men, to which our own ought invariably 10 yield, if not from a becoming modefty, at lead from a jud atren- Hon to that objef^, for which all laws are framed, and all focieties inftituted, the good of mankind.' m^
r? : ■ '
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For APRIL, ijSi.
Political.
^rt. 14. Confiderations on the American IVoTy under the follow- ing Heads : American Independei.cy,— Purfuit of the War, — War of PoVs, — Plan of Operations, — French Policy, By Jofeph Wil- liaihs, Efq. 4to. 2 s. Hookham. 1782.
MR. Williams having ferved four years as a mtluary officer ia America, and having for twenty years employed himfcif alfo in political fiudies, appears to have acquired fuch a knowledge of the fubjeds above-mentioned, as (he prefumes) gives him at lead as good * a title to write upon them as Dean T ucker claims, by fpe- culating out of the pale of his profefiion/ — Accordingly he offers to the Public his thoughts on the pad and future condud of the Ameri- can war ; with all its adual and probable confequences. He ftrohgly inculcates the idea of relaxing our refentment againft the revolted co- lonifts ; of a total change in our military operations againft them ; of withdrawing our troops, except what (hoold remain for the defence of particnlar polls which he points out ; and diredHog our whole Iforce, attention, and expence, to the navy : — in order to recover the dominion of the fea, and cru(h the rifing power of France on that element. In this way, and in this only, he apprehends, we may be able to prevent the American fcheme of independence from becoming fata] to Great Britain : and be fupports this notion by a variety of (enfible renisrks and propofals under each of the heads above enu- sserated. His reafoning is clear, though his language is incorred. Art. 15. Give us our. Rights! Or, A Letter to the prefent Electors of Middlefex and the Mstropolis, (hewing what thofe RiQMTstfr^; and that, according to a jail and equal Reprefenta-
lion,
Monthly Ca* Atooui, PdMeoi 301
tion, Middlefex and the Metropolis are entitled to tare Fift^ Members in the Commons' Hoof^ of Parliachent; Forty of wfaoni are now placed thereby decayed Cinque Ports, and almoft nnpeo- pled Boroughs; to the perpetual Nnrture of Corruption, and the Rnin of the State. By John Cartwright, Efq; Major to thO Notcidghamfhire Militia. 8v6. is. Dtlly, &c. \j%t. This is one of the moft important political trads that hath ap- peared during the prefent feffion ofParliatnent. It was written, th^ Author tells us, in his Preface, fix months ago. He adds, *■ that when it went to the prefs, he did not fbrefee a removal of minideri fo fooH as that event afiually happened ; bat that, however, as no alteration, no amendment, with refpe(5t to the fubjeft of it. hath yet taken place, he apprehends the pohlication cannot be Impertinent 's and although he trails and believes, that no Adminiflration can now be formed out of the oppofers of the late peftilent miniftry, that will not, that mud not have Reformation for its bafis, perhaps it ma;^ not be u/thfs. Its intention is, to (hew the rights of the People, and the duty of Statesmen with regard to thofc rights.'
The fpiriicd, judicious, and patriotic Writer proceeds in his pre* fatory obfervations, as follows : *
* The removal of wicked mitiiflers can produce no permanent efiefts, onlefs followed up by an iminediate overthrow of Corrup* TiON. It was corruption that fo long fupported fuch miniOen, and enabled them to plunge their country into the depths of calamity, and to bring it to the very brink of ruin and defpair, before the tor- pid beings who fill the Commons' Hoafe of Parliament coold be roozed and flimulated to a ftnfe of their duty. Comtptitm therefor^ is what we have moft to dread. It mud be torn up by the roots, hewn to pieces, and cad into the fire of reformation to be utterly confumed, or we are undone. Of fo generative a facolty is it pofTefled, that if bat a branch, a fprig, a bud of it efcape the fire, wherever tc fallii 'twill again take root, and flourifh as luxuriant and rampant as ever. The Stptennial and the Triennial A6ts, and the Sfalutt of Ditfranchift'* ivm/of the 8th of Hen. YI. mud be cad into the dames. They are the difgrace, as they have proved the -curfe, of oar country. They carry Havery in every line, and every word is a link in the chain that binds us. Once freed from thefc fettters, nothing then remains want* ing to fccare our freedom but a fingle bill, fuch as that of the Dake of Richmond in 1780, for regulating the detail of eledttons. GiVB us OUR RIGHTS* and thiu all <ujili hi fafe r This diort extrafl may fudice to intimate the main purport of thia animated addrefs. The nature and importance of thofe ?yhk< Rights^ for which the worthy Major fo drenuoudy contends, are amply, and in our apprcheofion, fatisfaOorily fet forth, in this very feafonablt performance; a performance which we heartily recommend to the perufal and mod ferious attention of our countryman of every rtnk^ from the peer to the cottager : for ail are interefted in the fobjc6^. Art. 1 6* AConJiitutional DtfenceofG^^m'nment. ^vo* is.6d.
Wilkte. Among other principles advanced in this aaticonditutional defene^^ of the late adminiflration, as this jramphlet Ought properly to be ftiled, one is, that the people at large} htieg nwrdy cyphers is the
fiate.
jost Monthly Catalogue^ PMucah
ftttty have no bufinefi whatever to concern or trouble themfelvet •boat public affairs ; and that aftef the confiituent body, i. e. the iorcy Oiiliing freeholders and borgefles have eleded their reprefenta^^ dves. from that moment their inflaence ceafes^ and it is their duty to acquiefcein the determination of thofe to whom they have delegated their power; and con(eqaently» to murmur or petition, whatever nay be the motive, is little ihort of mutiny and creaibn. We are told alfoy that atherifF, convening an aflembly of his county for any •ther purpofe than to eled a reprefentative, lays bimfelf atthe mercy af an attorney-general. How far the dodtrines contained in this performance might coincide with the ideas of thofe, to whom the Writer evidently appears as a retainer* we prefume not to determine* With refped to the prefent ad mini (I ration, however we will hope Non tali auxilio, non difin/orihus iftis, &c. In a fawning dedication of coniiderable length, the Writer has bad the prefumption, we will not fay audacity, to endeavour to make bis poifon palatable to an amiable perfonage of high rank,
And in the ear of £ve, familiar toad, ^ Half froth, half venom, fpits himfelf abroad. C^ / •> 't' Art. 17. A ^««^« «^«4& in Sackcloth and A(hes; or, a Copy Hieroglyphic, of a lad Will and Tellament, political, tem- poral, fpiritual, &c. Found at the Outfide of the Door of St.
Stephen's Chapel. 8vo. 6d. Debrer. 1782. A fatirical exultation over (bme (politically) defundl (latefman,— Lord North, belike: but there is no being fare of the Author's mean- ing, either as to the general deiign of his performance, or the parti- cular aim of his various llrokes of wit and humour, — for witty and humourous, no doubt he intended them to be. His Satire, however,
aafo completely hid under his numerous 5, and • • • • • ♦s,
that we imagine nobody will feel, and few will find it out. Art. 1 8. Two Difcottrfes ; on Sovereign Power, and Liberty of Confcience; translated from the Latin of G. Noodt, formerly Profeflbr of Law in the Univerftty of Leyden ; by A. Macaulay, A* M. : to which are added, the Notes and lUuftrations of Barbey- rac, with Remarks by the Tranilator. 8vo. 5 s. Boards. Dilty. 1781.
When the Re£lor of the Univerfity of Leyden refigns his office, which he holds only for a year, it is cuftomary to deliver an harangue* This cuftom produced the Difcourfes of which Mr. Macaulay has now prefented the Public with a tranflation. Of the Difcourfes them- lelves, which have been long publiihed, it may be fufficient to fay, that their celebrated Author has proceeded upon the fame principles that have diftinguifiied the writings of our countrymen, Locke, HoadJev^and Milton. The Tranilator appears not only to have exe- cated his verfion with exadlnefs and fidelity, but has given convin- cing evidence of the found nefs of his underftanding, and of the jodnefs of his fentiments, by the very jutlicious and excellent remarks with which his performance is enriched. Were it not that plain common fenfe muft of itfelf rejed fnch ill-difgnifed poifon with loathing, the firft of thefe Difcourfes, with the notes that accompany it, might ferve at a very efFtdual antidote to a late Treatife on Government. How diffixnilar Mr. Macaulay'i ideas are from thofe of the author alluded
to
Monthly Catalogue, EnJl^InXts^ 30| *
to above, oh another fubjed on wbkh he hat lately exercifed hie pea, may be feen in the foUowiog remark mi\i which his commentary oa the firA Difcourfe concedes.
' Whether the features of the prefent age difcover any of thofe fatal fymptoms which have io former ages portended th« faJi of em« pire, we will not pretend to determine ; but this we may (afely ven- ture to affirm, that the inroads of fenfuality, luxury, and avarice, will gradually relax the noble finews of our conftitution ; and chat the confequent decay and lofs of public virtue will complete the cata- ftrophe. In the gloomy profpedi of our downfal, it is, however, m comfortable refledion, that when the boaHed conflitttcion of firiiaia ihall have funk — as iink it mull — a happy afylum will be opened be* yond the Atlantic for freedom, arts, and fciences. We may look npon America as deftined, in the courfeof Piovidence, to be tbeieac of empire ; and it is a confideration which ought to fwell the heart of every generous Briton, that our name, our language, oar arts» cuftoms, manners, and forms of education, but, above d\\^ oorliberty^ are deftined to furvive us, and to be fpread over the immenfe cOBii- nent of North America. Greece and Home live only in the annals of /ame ; but Britain will revive in America like a Phcenix from her alhes.'
The Gentleman to whom the Public are indebted for thi? poblica* j tion, is curate of Claybrooke, in Leicenerfhire. C^-^i"^ ^ »
Art. 19. Fabricius: or Letters to the People of Great Britain ;
on the Abfurdity and Mifchiefs of defeniive Operations onljf imbe.
American War; and on the Failure in the Southern OperaCHMit«
8vo, 2 s. Wilkie. 1782.
Befide what the Author fays on the Abfurdity, &c«of oar profecutinj; the American War on defenfive principles only, we have here a ftd^ enquiry into» and an animated difplay of, the cuufes from whence our failures, and the fources of all our national misfortunes, ia that par^ of the world, have fprung. The Author is particularly fevere, toward the concluiion of his correfpondence, on the noble commander in the late unfortunate Southern expedition. Thefe Letters were originally poblifhed in the news papers, and are fuppofcd to have come f/om the very able pen of Mr. Galloway, formerly a member of Congrefs, who has favoured the Public with a great number of fenfible, acute, and intereiting remarks on the American Tragedy of '* All in thi
WRONG 1"
East-Indies. Art. 10. Stait of India ; in Two Letters from Warrca HafUngs, Efq; to the Court of Diredors ; and One from the Na- bob AftifuJ Dowla, Subadar of Owde. To which are added, a Series of Explanatory Fads and Remarks. 8vo« i s. 6d. De- brett. f Si i»A 1782.
This reprefentation, which appears to originate on the part of Mr« Francis and Mr. Wheeler, Members of the Council at Fort William^ tends to impeach the difcrecionary condu<^ of Mr. Hadings, by charging him perfonally with producing the Maratta war ; and wiih oegociating a difgraceful accommodation, by which the treafury there was exhaultcd, and the province of Bengal reduced, in thre« ;^ars, from a fecure and proiperoua AatCf to the ataoH degree of dii^
3 trciii
J
trefs and danger. In tratb, the Company at home, and efpeciallj^ their agents abroad, ft«m to extend their Views and exertions to on- dertakings too micbty for, and incociident wkb, the natural objefts of a commercial eftablifliment* Af •
Art. 21. ^ Short Review of the Tranfa^tom in Bengal^ during
the laft Ten Years. By Major Joho Scott. 8vo. 2 s. Debrett.
1782.
This review, authenticated with the name of the Writer, fets the aifiitrs of Bengal, the condo^ of Governor Haftings, and the oppo- iltion formed in the Council againii bim> in a far different point of view from the preccdfng reprefentations. Which fide is in the right in this contention, or whether either fide can claim the exclufive pof- ftffion of it, are points that .we, whofe ^ock (in grey goofe quills)- will not introduce us to the General Courts of the Company, can* tfot undertake to determine : we only recoiled on fuch occafions, the final exclamation attributed to gued King Jamie* when hit curiofity once prevailed on him to attend the difcordant pleadings in our courta of law ! T^
Naval Affairs. ♦^
Art. 22. J Seaman*s Remarks on the BrittJJj Ships of the Lini\
from the id of January 17^69 to the id of January 1782. With
fome occafional Obfervations oa the Fleet of the Houfe of Bour«
bon. 8vo. 6d. Debret.
According to this fenfible letter, uhich is afcribed to the fon of a late diilinguilhed Admiral, alEfted by his noble father's papers, our prefent naval inferiority to the houfe of Bourbon has arifen from a fatal error in pra^ice^ of late years, proceeding from an opinion, that (hips fpeedily built, or, as they are termed, green (hipsi are unfit Ibr fervice : and that, to render them durable, the frames muft remain a confiderable time on the docks to feafin. Thus we are told, that * the Polypheme of 64 guns, the St. George, and Glory, of 98, and ibe Royal Sovereign of too, fet on in 1774, ^^l^ continue on thd fiocks; and that the fame blind ill-fated fyftem is flill purfued, which chills tvtry manly effort, and blafts tstry exertion in the caufe of our country.' In the mean while how have our enemies aded? * It is well known, they completed a three-decker of 110 guns in fourteen months at Bred, two fixty-fours in feven months at Toujon ; and a ieventy-four, in the fleet which engaged Admiral Kempenfelc, was built, launched, rigged, and dored, in ninety-five days at Bred.* Thefe fa^s, for fuch they may now be deemed, having been before fiatcd in Parliament, are beyond expreffion melancholy, when we con- fider the time thus lod under an infatuation ! If we fuder ourfelves to be vanqnifiird by green diips until our frames are feafoned, what are we to do then? Shall we not be feafoning (hips for the ufe of our enemies ? But the Writer diews, from chronological tables of our Jhips of war for many years back, that this notion of feafoning (hips it a fpecnlative midake. Were it alloM able to defpalr of the common* wealth, it might be judly inferred, that quern Deus vult ftrdtre prtm tkmeniat. «^
Poetical.
Monthly Catalogue, Poetiui^ 3M
Poetical. Art. 23. Eudojia : or, a Poem on the Univerfe. By Capel LoSr, Efq. bsnall ftvo. 20. 6d. fewcd. Dilly. 1781. The magnitade of this Writer's atcempt may be gaefied ac by the bare enumeration of the fobje^fls of each of the feven books into which his poem is divided. TheySry? treats of the Earth ; the fecond of the Planets; the thirt/ of the Seafons and the Zodiac; the /ourih of the Fixed Stars; iht fifib of Eclipfes, Phafes of the Planets, Tides, Light and Colours; tikt Jixtb of Comets, the Elements, and Eledlri- cit/. The iaft book is appropriated to the human Anatomy, and the Microfcope,
Mr. LofFt writes like one who having an extenfive knowledge of the fubjedls on which he is treating, wifhes to communicate that knowledge to others. tJis work is, therefore, argumentative and preceptive, rather than entertaining and amnfive. His great obje^ being to convey information, he rarely digrefles in fearch of adven* titioas embelli(hments. As a fpecimen of this performance, with refpefl to the pc^etry, we fhall lay before our Readers the lines with which it concludes, and in which are recapitulated the fcveral fub« jedls that have been difcufled in it :
* Here, my EUOOSIA, let as paufe: and view
The range which we have made. Obferving firft
The powers of Mattir, on the Earth we caft
Our medicating eye ; faw it a Globe ;
Noted its annual and diurnal courfe ;
Beheld how little to the Universe :
The Order of the Planets view'd, and faw
Their DiftoMCi^ and admir'd their Magnitude \
With awe explored the glories of the fix'o.
And Gravitation's universal Reign:
The laws of Light and Sbadi ; the varying Fhafii
The Eclip/e, the Tidt ; the comet ary Orbs;
The powers of Jir; the laws which Fluids own.
Common to all their clafles : thence afpir'd,
* " * ' ^OfEU^riciJjf ; and hit the Framt^
The Ponutrs of Man ; his Dutj^ Bli/s^ and Endi
To caltivate benevolence, and know,
^— As in his works or in his word reveal'd —
And love, the infinitely Great and Good:
According with iht phila/ofbic choir
Oi every age^ and faithful to the voice
Of Con/ciencet and the impulfe of the Hearty , ^f And thus in happy onion may we walk ^ The allotted fpace of life : Philosopht
Divinely charming us in full content :
And whether rural Solitude delight^
Or if the cro*wded Capital engage,
Whether fair Health her porple wings difplay, *^
Shedding delight and peace upon my head.
Or paleey'd Sicine/j o'er my couch extend
Her fable pinions, may ibe fpare* at leaft : Jtiv. April 178?. X Thy
^
Monthly Catalogue^ T$ausL
Thy tendir EUgtuui of Ftrm and Mind, Thy gentle converfe never may I lofe. My mild Fhihfiphtf^ my better felf !
' And O! to humanife and blefs the world. May the high ftody of great Nature's works Prevail; fuhduing Ignorance and Vice, Adding new grace XoftmaU L^n^tUmifs^ Attemperine and confirnning mamlj fTortb ; Of private blifs and public good profufe ; Bright in progr$Jfi*vi Virtue, from the dawn To the Miridtan ; never to decline. Or be thenceforth obfcur*d. O come, gremt Dmj! When neither Pain nor Death. Error nor Fice^ Nor partial Imterefi^ nor fancied Good, Shall reign : but pureft Sympathy and Love, Freedom^ and all the Heaven official Peace, Guile, War, and baneful Tjremny extind; While Man, not flave to local prejudice. Shall triumph in the happineft of Man, Wherever plac*d : Friend to his nati^ve foil. Bat PATaioT of the World : nor lefs attan'd To the beft plea fu ret oidomeftie life; Parent and Cbild^ and the endearing tie Which Reafim, Choice, and PaJJion^ and Efteem, And Love's m/ftcrious union cloietl binds— Hufiand: {o powerful o'er his foal diffui'dp The fcnfe of univerfal Harmony, Ecftaiie, pnre^ diwne I and felfilh pride. Sordid ptirfaits, and bafe, corrupt, delight So loft, in contemplation of the whole.
' Thai Ihall the renoveUed Earth with joy Confefs her great Creator ; and his name Fill all his worlds with awe and facre d blifs. Triumphant through the boundlefs Universe !* To the poem are fubjoined feveral very ufefol Tablet ; and Notet» both inftrodive and explanatory. (^^^^ t #
Art. 24. 7%# R$yal Cbact ; a Poem. Wherein are defcribed ibme hnmbarout Incidentt of a Hunt at Windsor. The whole in- cluding an Addrefs to his R— y— 1 H— gh— (a the P c of Wales. 4C0. It. Kearfley.
This poein, if the moft infipid verfet that ever were fabricated can be called a poem, contains, notwithftaoding the homonrous inci- dents that are promifed in the title-page, neither incident nor homonr. It is one of the moft unmeaning things that we ever were compelled to announce in our monthtv bills of mortality. Vi
Art# 25. Varietyy or Witch is the Man i A Poem. Dedicated toLadyW— fl — y. 410. it. Swift. 1782. Lady Worfley's motoriens frailty wat a lucky thing for the catch* penny authors, verfcmen, and protemen. Thit^ Grobean perform- ance comet from one of the firft named tribe. One or two otbera were lately mentioned in our Journal : a diftindioa which fsck * ' \% owe to the nniverfality of iu plan*
Art.
(
I
M<HiTHLY Catalogvb, Dromotsa 307
Art. i6« Tbi Moufi and the Lion : a Tale. Infcribed to the . very if%eread and Icarocd The Dean of Glocefter. 4(0. is« r Stockdjb.
The Author of thii Tale hai done us the honour to adopt an idem which dropped from os in reviewing Dr. Tucker's Treatife on Go* vernment *, and to make it the ground work of his poem. We are fully feniible of the compliment : but at it is not in our power ho* ncftly to repay it with tliat (hare of praife to which the Writer ma/ think himfelf intitled, it will be moft advifeable to (ay nothing. ^O Art. 27. Jerufakm dejirojid : a Poem, in three Cantos. By **
William Gibfoo, M. A. of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. 410*
2s. Cadell. 1781.
This Kifltogbury bard is a lineal defendant from Blackmore: He* like Sir Richard» rnmbling« rough, and fierce. With arms, and Jews and Gentiles crowds the ver(e. Rends with tremendous founds your ears afander, ^g
With ftorm, fire, frenzy, broiling babes, and thunder. V^
Art. 28. RyH9 and ytlpin : zPocm, 410. la. 6d. Swift. 1782*
A father, under the fuppoficion of his fon having been flam in bittle, goes to mourn over his grave. In his progreis to the place^ the father and the fon meet; a converfation enfues, and they mo* tually difcover each other. Such are the outlines of a performance^ which comes, as we are informed, from the pen of a juvenile («ve imagine a very juvenile). Writer. Thole who are acquainted witk this circumftance will, therefore, perufe it with fome indulgence: of which the Author ftands in much need. We do not mean, howeveft by the (bftnefs of this cenfure, to encourage the young gentleman ta proceed* or quit any ufeful calling for this ' idle trade? ^#
Art. 29. Cleacina Triumphant: confifting of the foUowinsT
Poems; wz. Bett's Wedding; Anticipation; Pfowzilinda; U
Fawufi D^ttmn JMtmMdmto; Hafty Pudding; Tom Tofspotf
The Miftake, &c. 4to. !•• 6d« ^ Bew. 178a.
Witty, and nafiy.
Dramatic. Art. 30. Nathan thi JVifi. A Philofophic Drama. Frov the German of G. B. Leffing, late Librarian to the Doke of Bronfwick. Tranflated into Englifli by R. B. Rafpe. 8vo« IS. 6d. Fielding. 1781. '' One defign of this drama is to (heW| what fnrely no perfbn was ever filly or illiberal enough to dpabt of» or deny, that men of virtue and principle are to be found among the profeflbrs of t!9tTj religtoa. Another objed which the Author has in view» is, to infinnaee that the Chriftian, the Jew, >4ind the Mahommedan, have each of thea equal reafon to believe their own religion th§ trm mv. The inference from this is, that u all cannot be true, it is moft probable that all are falfe. So much for the philofophic candour, which, according to the Preface, breathes through the whole of this compofitioe. CShh fidered merely as a drama, whatever may be the Aothor's repotados in Germany, it is unworthy of notice. — We are forry to lee the time^ .. — ■ ■ . <
« Vid. M. Review, Od. 1781. Aruc. IV.
X a uA
368 MoKtHlY Cataloove, MfciOoMuu
aad ike Very refpcdaMe taletiti of Mi;. Refpe employed to fo liuie' adviouge, either to the Pobiic, or himielf, /^ X A
MiSCBLLANBOUS. W* U « C»
Art. 31. An EJfay on Comidy. ByB.Walwyn. 8vo. I8.6d.
Hookham. 1782.
After m DtJieaiUm to Edmond Borke, Efq; followed by a Prtfiut^ aa which Mr. Walwyo bequeaths to the Public his inttHticn of pro- 46ui9g mjkhftqum work on this fart oftbi irmma^ annexieg an aAht- J^lfmna^ by way of codicil, in £iirour of a certain admirer of the EflSiyift* called PbiU-Drmia^ Mr. Walwyn proceeds to open hit eflay with a definition of comedy; faying, that * the reafen of his chus attempting to define tubat bos mfpiorod by tbo ixpUeaiUms op the QRBATitT CRiTict iNDBFiNiTt! If no Other than to (hew firem whence the difficulty hath arifen ; they confidered that only m fmint- iMgf which wtt tbi nml rofltOiom of natnrt.* Ariftotle» however, the jMteft of the great critics, calls it neither fmming nor tfftoBion^ Di^fimply M imiiMtion. Mr. Walwyn's definition is indeed imtirefy sM%v. " CoMBDY, concludes he, is a ' rifit^ng pMmiimg — in other words, a dramatic cambe a I* The comedy, we foppofe, of the An- tipodes I— To this he fabjoins , in a note, a definition of Trt^ulj^ WBoft as curious* * Tragidy^ fiiys Mr. Walwyn, is a DRAHAnc MicaoBCoPt, that enlarges the virtues and vices of human nature, in Older to make the greater impreffion on the heart and mind of tho obfarvers/ Thus Tragedy is a m%tt magnifying gU^s % while Corner dy« like Colman*s Beggar's Opera in the Haymarketi toms all cha- vaAers topfy-tnrvy. And here you have in two words the whole na^ Mral philoibphy of the drama f 2f|^o the general ignorance of this acute definition, Mr. Walwjrs Cttributet ail the defers of Comedy $ alternately finking iu natural dignity, by force of which the fock attempu to go pari pajjk with the bufltin ; or weakening its humour, when its exuberance overflows the * ihallow banks of common, narrow, criticifm.
Mr. Walwyn then proceeds to examine ibi compauui parts of C«- midyi which are, according to his esu mention, * tbe pkt^ cbarac^ 4wv» Monnifft incidoms^ and unit iot !
All other ancient and modern critics mnft yield the palm in theie narticnlar defignations, as well as in the general definition of Come- dy, to Mr. Walwyn. They have not only mentioned tbt fintisnonti and dsaiogm u component paru of the drama, but they have fwp- fo(ed tbi inadinis to conftitnte tbo plot, and have uniformly fpokea pf ibi €baraBirSf and tbi mamurs, as one and the very fiime thing. Ifr, Walwyn^ however, fcorns the common accepution of the tec£- lical terms of criticifm, and confiders tbi manmrt not merely in the svceiv^ ienfe, the nuns botninnm of Horace, but as the peculiar Jlplo nod mammr of the Jsubor, as well as the bnmonrs of tbi pir» JonoMs^ of Comedy; and, in an EfiQiy 00 Comedy, feleds, as the OMm eUgible infiances of vicious manmrifis^ no other drapiatifts than the troigii poeu Lee and Rowe !
la the coorfii of this e/Iay, Mr« Walwyn makes ibme other curtoni ^ilcovcriea,. oarticularly, that criticifm Jias (aid, am umdtr pUt is in* difpinfihlii tnat Ben Jonfon's Every Man in his Homoor was flolen i^rnn Shakefpeare'^s Merry Wives otWindfor; that there is fcarce A«y
pirUptibU
Monthly Catalogus, JURfallanHusZ JO9
pireeptihli diffirtna betwam Sballenv and D9*wnrigbt % and that Gair- rick's Ciptaia Flafti \% far fuptrior to Ben Jonfon's Bobadil !
Afcer this iroperfeA analyds of Mr. Walwyn's E/Tay, to wUch it is impoflible to do entire juftice, any more than to the learned con* troverfy between him and his friend and admirer, Philo-Drama, ao- jiexed to his EfTay ; after looking back with wonder on his dtfiniti9nt and di/cavniett we doubt not bat we (hall leave the Public loft, like oorfelves, in filent admiration, and remaining, like us, in ardent and anxious expectation of Mr. Walwyn's fuh/equent work on tbu fori 9/^ ibi drama I ^/ ^
Art. 32. Fra Thoughts on our Militia Laws^ by Thomas Pen« nant> Efq. Addreifed to the Poor Inhabitants of North Wales. jH ,,"8vo. 6d. White. 1782.
To explain, to the apprehensions of the common people, fuch lawa ^s intimately affed them, it doing a kind office ; but this paraphrase of the Militia laws has a littl^acrimony in it, tending rather to iU« malate that litigious fpirit attributed to the people of Wales, than to inftruA them in a quiet conformity to thofe legal obligations, which are fometimes thought to condicute one of their moft valuable pnvi-^. leges. JVe
Art. 33. Conjiderations on the Tithe Billj for Commutation of Tithes, now depending in Parliament. Wherein the Argamentt on both Sides of the Qoeftion are candidly difcufled, and a Plaa foggefled that may conciliate both Parties in the Debate. 4(0* IS. L.Davis. 1782. Art. 34.. Obfervations on a general Commutation of Tithes^ for Land, or a Corn Rent, in a Letter addrefled to the Lord High ^ (^Chancellor of Great Britain, and the Lord Biihop of St. Davids* In which the principal Objedions urged agatnft Tithes are confi* dered, and a Proof of the Inexpediency and Injullice of a general - Commutation is attempted. By a Mafter of Arts of the Univer£tjr of Cambridge. 8vo. is. Cadell. 1782. The two foregoing pamphlets being both on one fubjedl, and aiming to prove the ill policy and probable injuftice of fubflituting any com- ,||>enration for the aboIiOiment of tithes, are clafled together. Thear* .^ament in each turns on the difHculty of fettling a permanent equiva- lent for the aflual tithe under all circumftances; and the ill con (e- quences of converting the fpiritual paftor into a worldly-minded landholder and dealer. In a matter for parliamentary decifion, all that needs to be faid is, that the farmer and his paftor being, generally, equally tenacious of what they efteem their right, it may prove a tender point to unfettle long e^abliflicd ufages. If the ufage itfelf excites occafional ill- blood where harmony ought to prevail, a no- velty impofed on them will hardlv mend their tempers. IT Art. 35. Otho and Rutha. A dramatic Talc. By a Lady,
I2ffi0. 2s. 6d. Bew.
' The Author's defign (as we are informed by an Advertifement)
is to inculcate fuch truths as are of eternal and eflential importance
. to human life : i. That its whole oeconomy is fuperintended and re-
.gulatcd by a wife and beneficent Providence, which renders its moft
gloomy vicifTitudes and adverfe occurrences ultimately prodadive of
Uie higheft felicity» nqt only to communities, bat even to individaals:
X 3 2. That
:a
3it Monthly Catalogus, Ldw.
2. Tlitt every external advantage wbich man cAn either tcqniic or poflefs is laborious in its attainmeot^ faithlefs in its pretences, and and onfatisfadory in its fruition : 3* That piety and virtue, improved ssd cultivated, conftitute the fupreme happinefs of an intelligent creature.'
The defign is commendable ; we wifli the execution had been more worthy of it* But as juftice to the Public is of more importance than complaifance to a Lady, we are compelled, by the necefltty of I vdaty, to pronounce this work deficient in almoft every requifice of a JDramatic f^i/r. The language is difguAingly cumid ; full of (ble» cifms and grammatical inaccuracies. The nfirrative is infnfferably tedious : and we are never more iaclined to laugh, than when the Aotbor is w§li/itlj bent on making us weep! .ID** Ik
Arc. 36. Giography ftr Youth^ or a plain and eafy Introduc- tion to the Science of Geography, for the Ufe of young Gentle- men and Ladies : Containing an accurate Dekriptioo of the (cveral Parts of the known World. To which are added, Geographical Queftions, and a Table of the Longitude and Latitude of the moft lemarkable Places in the terraqueous Globe, llluftrated by Eight Maps, on which are delineated the new Difcovcries made by Com- modore Byron, and the Captains Wallis, Carteret, and Cooke. i2mo. 31, bound, Lowndes. 1782.
This litile treatife, we think, may be ufefnlly employed by fchool- mafters or private tutors as a guide and afliftant in the iedures they filve to youth. Young perfons themfelves may alfo hereby attain some competent knowledge of the fubjedt, though they will neceflari- ly require the far;her explications and remarjcs of a judicious in- llrnflor. ^1 ^
Art; 37. Tin Siigt cf Aubigny. An Hiftprical Tale, SmSRl
8vo. 2 s. Hookham. A Utile tale- of female heroifm, from the hillory of Henry IV. of France dreifed up a im modt di Paris^ for the tranfient amufement of our young countrywomen, who love to read with rapidity \ any one of whom would require three or four fnch /«as«/ as this, to fill up the gap between dinner and tea time. Jf^
Art. 38. ^eriis to Lord AudUy, By Philip Thicknefle, Senior^ 8vo. £ight Pages, if. Davis in Picadilly. 1782. Id thefe queries, Mr. Thicknefle, father to Lord Audley, fets forth the extraordinary ill treatment he has received, through the cruel and unfeeling behaviour of bis fon, towards him. The particulars are here exhibited in a variety of fuch tnftances as will not fail to (hock the Reader's humanity. — It muft, however, be remembered that we .^ have httt only one fide of the queftion. •rl Law*.
• Art. 39^ Confiderations on thi Criminal ProcaMngs of this Country ; On tbe Danger of CoiSviflions on circumftanciai £vidence ; on the Cafe of Mr. Donnellan, and on the alarming Confequences of Pre- judice in the Adminiftration of Juftice. To which are annested. Cafes of innocent Peribni cbndemned and executed on circumftan* tial Evidence; with Remarks. By a Barrifier of the Inner Tem- ple. 8vo. 38. 6 d. Boards. Hodper, &c. 1781. ^ As the law at preiirnt flands, the perfon'wko ku the miafortsae ' ' to
Monthly Catalogue, PmtIakwu jii
to be tccttfed of a capital crtme» has by no means a chance for eqiml juftice.* Such it the alarining pofition of thii Writer, which he hach attempted to evince from the trial of Mr. Donnellan, and a loaf firing of Cafes of many innocent perfons condemned and executed oa drcumftantial evidence ; and the refult is indeed a mortifying refle6doa- on the fallability of human judgment ; but is no more a reflexion oa* the criminal law of England, than acolledion of inftances where mea have been occaiionally miftaken upon the moft important fubjeflt, would be a fair argument againft the admiffion of reafoning and phi* lofophy on any fubjedt. The latter might indeed promote univerfal fcepticifm : and the pains this Wiiter has taken to (hew, that in the (Irongeft apparent cafes of guilt, men have afterwards proved to be innocent, would naturally operate to fufpend all decifioo in cri* mioal juftice, till mathematical demonllration can be had on fubje^a that are not theobjeds of mathematical evidence ; but, qui nimis fr§* iaif mibilfrohat
It will be raid that no manS life is fafe, * if circumftantial evidenct if to be admitted.' It may be anfwered, No man's life is fafe evea though pofitive proof be required, ai long as the hardinefs of deli* - berate perjury may be allowed to iSc6t it. Moft of the cafes, which the Writer produces, are on diredl andpofittve evideoce of this fort; which, as we have before obferved, is lefs to be confidered u a refledion on the laws of England* than on human wickednefs. He appears to us to be little acquainted with the general nature of evi* dence, or be would have diKovered, that a circumdanttal proof, aril^ ing from a number of independent fads, though apparently minote^ and eftabtifhed by circumftances and by witoefles anconneded with each other, is often a fpecies of evidence fo ftrong and convincinigt that a jary, bound to decide upon their oaths, can no more refift ita force, than a man, with his eyes open can avoid feeing an objeA that 18 prefented to him in the face of day.
This learned Birrifler has appropriated fe^enty-etgkt pages to tba confideration of Mr. D3nnellan's cafe, and his reaibningrs upon iCt are ingenious and plaofible. We do not much admire this kind of hfuifitio poft morttm. We think however be has made out one point; that if the full benefit of counfel were allowed to prifoners in all ca* pital cafes (which he ftrongly recommends), many a criminal might efcape, who poffibly deferves hanging more than Mr. Donnellan. _
Poor Laws. ^T\
Art. 40. Obfervations on the Bills for amending and rendering more effiedual the Laws relative to Hoafes of CorreAton ; for tha better Relief and Employment of the Poor, and for amending aad rendering more efFeflual the Laws relative to Rognet, VaMboadt, and Beggars ; with a Table annexed, for theDiredion of the fhve* ral Officers and Perfons to adjuft and paft their Accounts^ under tha ' Direelion of the A£t, in the eafieft and mod concife yi^untr. B/ T. Gilbert, Efq. M. P. giro. 6d. Wilkie. 178a. See the enfuing Article. Art. 41. A Few Words in Behalf of the Poor; Being Remtrks upon a Plan propored by Mr. Gilbert, lor improvingtbe Police of' this Country. Alfo Remarks upon the Three Bills which are to ht offered to Parliament refpeding, i. The Poor,— a. Honfei of
X 4 ComfiioBft
3ia Monthly CATALocuit P$or Laws.
CorreftioDy 3. Vagrants. By H. Zooch, a Joftice of tho
Peace* 4to» 6d. Robinfoo*
While this importaDt Aifajed is under the deliberation of Parlia- ment, it were to be wiihed that magiftrates and others who are led» bf their daty and habits of life, to confider it with attention, would commanicate their obfervations upon the bills now depending. Mr# Zonch is of opinion, that the innovations propofed by Mr. uiibert in liis celebrated Plan, are liable to much exception ; and he has given Ilia reafons to the Public with a fincerity that does him honour, tkoogh perhaps with a degree of harlhnefs, that borders opon cynical aorofenefs.^-Every gentleman who devotes hii labours to the public good, is highly refpedlable in the eyes of the community ; and has a right to the utmoft candour and fairnefs of interpretation. We con- mt ourfelves highly pleafed with the liberal condnd of Mr. Gilbert, Ia inviting the afliftance and emendations of others. It appears that die Bills he has brought forward, are already in a flate of much gireater maturity and improvement, than that in which they were ori* ginally offered to Parliament. The Oh/er<vmtioHs mentioned on the other fide, comprize an abitradt of the improved plan, and are intra* duc^d with the following Addrefs to the Reader.
* Having, the laft year, publiihed my thoughts upon thefe Three Bills, of the greateft national importance, and having been encouraged by the favourable reception which that fmall pamphlet found, in all parts of the kingdom, to profecute the Plan, I accordingly prefented the Three Bills to the Houfe, which were afterwards read a firfl and fecond Time, without the leaft oppofition. They have fince alfo been very fully examined and difcuiTed in Committees, attended by members from tvtry part of the kingdom, from wbofe fuggeftions, alterations, and addfitioos, now inferted in feveral parts of the Bills, they have received confiderable amendments.
* Every member who attended the Committee faw the infinite im- portance of the matter, and moft generonfly offered his aflilUnce to sdapt the Bills to the circumftances and fituation of every part of this country. Whenever a difference of opinion arofe in the committee, e«ch member expreffed his ientiments with the ntmoft candour ; and, after the general fenfe of the committee was colleded, the claufe vader coafideration was poftponed, in order to have it amended, if the amendments were not very numerous ; or. if they were, to have it jp^hdrawn, and a new claufe propofed, which might better anfwer the pnrpofes of the Public, and be moft agreeable to the ientiments and wiihes of the committee. Thefe amendments, or new claaies, when Ibnnd neceffary, were afterwards produced, examined, and approved by the committee, and received into the Bill.
' In this manner, and by thefe means, have the Three Bills gone tbrough the committees, without a fiagle divifion.
* They have fince been reported to the Houfe, and ordered to be ie))rinted with the amendments.
* A larger number than ufual have been printed, in order to circu- late them amongft the magiftrates, and others who may be difpofed to confider them» and fuggeft any amendments which may be farther Acccflary^ befoff they pais the Hoafe of Commoni*
Mt
MoKTflty Catalogo£» Ri^kki^ jif
^ It it therefore propofed to mote the Hoafe* at foom ai pOffiUc after the adjdammeat for Bajiir hoKdays, to have th« Bilb recoaii* nitted, that che errors aod defeat which nay be difcorered (and of whichy from my own more accurate obfervation, I acknowledge theri were many) may be corrected; aod that tbefe Bills, upon which to moti • fif ^J^P^fpt Order, and good Government in the Police of thsa coontry depends, may go as ptrfed to the Honfe of Lords as they cat be made.' fi^ff
Religious. <!•
Art. 42. Sacred Hijinj^ feleded from the Scriptures, with Annotations an4 Kefiedions, fuited to the Comprehenfion of young Minds: particularly calculated to facilitate the Stttdy of the Holy Scriptures in Schools and Families, and to reader this im* portant Branch of Education eafy to the Teacher, and pleafing 10 the^ Pupil. Vol. I. From the Creation* to the numbering of thO Ifraeliies before their Departnie from Mount Sinai. By Mrs* Trimmer, Aathor of An Eafy Introduflion to the Knowledge of Naturc^&c. i2mo4 3 s. Dodfley, &c. 1782. We had the pleafurc fome time ago to recommend a former publi- cation of this Author's in oar Review for January, 1781. The pre» fent volume equally merits the attention of the Public. In the Oe* dication to the Queen (which is jnft, fenfible, and polite), Mrs, T. informs Her Majelly, that this Work was compofed with a view to aifift young minds in the acquifition of religious knowledge, bf removing the difficulties which prevent their attaining an early ac* quaintance with the Holy Scriptures : and that (he prefumes to'hopo her deiign will excufe her, both to Ifcr Majefty, and the world, for the boldnefs of her undertaking, and the defedls in the execution of it. In the Preface, (he obferves that the objedions that have beett made by fome of our beft authors (Mr. Locke and Dr. Watts in their treatifes on education) to the indifcriminate ufe of the Scriptofoi^ have great weight, for numberlefs paflages both in the Old and New Teftament, abound with incidents and dodlrines much beyond th0 comprehenfion of young perfons ; and there is reafon to apprehend^ . that if the words of Scripture become familiar to their ears, withoqt having proper ideas annexed to them, they will not afterwards be fnf* ficiently afFeded with that beautiful fimplicity of language^ and fob*, limity of fentiment, which fo peculiarly diftinguifii rhe facred volume. But on the other hand, in this age, when it muft be acknowledged there is too great an indifference for religion, it is particularly necef- fary to point out the (Irait path of doty ; and how can this be fo ef« " fednally done, as by having recourfo to the word of God ?
As we (hall not attempt, by any extracts from this Work, to do ju(^ tice to its merit, we leave our Readers therefore to judge for them- felves: and we believe they will not think their time loft in pemfingi it. They will, we doubt not, agree with os, that the deiign is gooda^ « »a94i9hat the execation is fuch as cannot fail of promoting rational religion, and virtue amongft the rifing generation.
We moft not take leave of this prodoStion without noticing the fbl* lowing palTage in the Preface. < I beg leavt to obferve^ that it (eems to me highly necafiiry, that
a book
\
314 MovTBLY Catalog vBy RtEgt$u$.
% book profcffedly pabliihed fov/ih—is^ ihoold contain nothing cOD« tfwy to the do&rinet of the natioDal religion.' —
This expreffion night lead as to fappofey chat the Authorcondemna lie principles of the reformation ; but from what follows, it is plain fte means nothing more than this,— 'that children (bould not bo' tffoiibled with re iigions controverfie^. ^-^iL^ Uf%
Art. 43* J Lattr tQ tb$ Rru. WiUiam BiUy D. D. Prebendary v^pf St. Peter's Weftminfter» on the 5ubjedt of his late Fabrications
* (pon the Authority, Nature, and Defigo of the Lord's Supper. By Lewis Bagot *, LL. D. Dean of Chriii-Church. 8iro. i s. Ri*. vington* 1781.
It was not to be expend that fo plain and rational an account of the Lord's Supper, as that given by Dr. Bell in his late publications f m the fubjed, (hould pafs uncenfured by thoie whofe inclination or antereft atuchcs them to obfcnricy and myftery. That no immediate attempt has been made to fubvert his doArine, or confute his reifon-* ittg, may be juftly impated to the truth of his poiitions, and the Jbree of his argument. I'he prefent is an attack upon the author, anther than upon his doArine. The Prebendary of St. Peter's is ac- Cttfed of advancing principles ' inconiiilent with the Public Doc- tirines and Ser%'ice of the eftabliflied Church.'
According to Dr. Bagot, to endeavour to undeceive the unlearned believer with refpcfl to any miftake into which his Prayer Book may luive led htm, ii * to trifle with the confciences of men, and can only tend to weaken the influence of religious principle.' The unlearned who wants inftruAion on any religious fubjed ought to apply to the minitter of his parilh ; * and that miniller, on fuch application ought 10 refer him,' not to the Bible, but * to his catechifm and to cho church fervice, as moft competent to determine his judgnoent.'
Such are the principles, and fuch is the fpirit of this publication ; ^|ad in our opinion, they are as inconfiftent with thofe of protelUntifm, m any thing in Dr, Bell's Tradt can be with the do£irines and (ervices of the cilabliihcd church.
Near the clofe of his Letter, the Dean has infinuated a charge of difingenuity againfl Dt* Bell, becabfe in his PraSical Enquiry^ p. 19. ■Ij. he has mentioned a paiTage in St. John's golpel, and another in St. Paul's firil Epiftle to the CorinthiAus, as haviog been falfcly fappofed to relate to the Lord's fupper^ for the proof of which he lefers to the <^ppendix and notes of his Jtttmpt /# a/artmin, &c. ib§ Natun of chat Inllitution ; whereas in that larger work no notice at all is taken of the paiHige in St John's gofpsl. Candour would have imputed this to inadvertence. The charge may be eafily obviated whenever another edition of either of Dr. Bell's publications is called for. Surely, even Dr. Ba^ot himfelf cannot believe, that any part of the vi. chap, of St. John's gofpel has a reference to the Lord's (up- per. In our opinion, it requires but a little more credulity to under* iiand the exprciliuns, as the Papilh do, in their literal fenfe* fiTDe
• ^ Promoted to a feat in the Epifcppal Bench, fince the pnbltcation of this Letter.
f See a large account of Dr. Bell's *' Attempt to afotrtaby &c.*' in oar Review for December, 1780. p. 448.
Art.
MoNTHLT CATALOOUI9 RiUgimt. 315
Art. 44. Ah Authentic Narrathe vf ih$ Lift and CMVtrJkn tf /• C Lebertebt^ a Jew, who died in rbe Faith of the Son ofGoa^ November i3ch» 1776, at Koningiberg, in Proffia. To which ia added, a remarkable Account of three Jewifii Children of Berlia* Founded on Faft. 12 mo. 3d. Waliis,
The Editor of this account profeflet bis hope' that it majr obratt what he terms, a ralh and oojoft pre^dice 'which has been formed, ▼ic. * That a Jew can never become a Chriftian, and that all bap* tiaed Jews return to Jndaifm before their death.* The narrative majr poffibly be true ; bot it contains nothing that will greatly excite at- tention. It is however very happy when any perfon, who hu beea under miftakes of an important kind, is convinced of his error, eai* braces troth, and aAs under its influence. Tpim
Art. 45. Evangelical Sermons. By Thomas Adam, Redor of Wintriogham, Lincoln/hire. 8vo. 6t. boand. Bnckland*
The number of thefe Sermons is eleven : they are ibmewhaf loi^ and feveral of them are divided into two parts. They are ftiled, Evmem gtHcalp a term which certain writers are very fond of aflnming, and confining to themfelves, bat which mnft, neverthdefs, belong en others who fincerely endeavour to make divine revelation Sidr fludy and guide.
, pjhefe Difcourles are in the calviniftical ftrain, of the dedamatoijr kind, very warm and argent, and appear to proceed from a beaic fervently defirous of doing good to mankind. We are informed, that the Author, being incapacitated through age and infirmities from appearing in the pulpit, is defirous of contributing to the benefit of^^ his fellow-creatures by fuch means as are yet in his power. ' Xn •
Art. 46. A New Tranjlation^ with a Paraphrafe rffime Paris $f
EefUfiafies, 12 mo. id. Leicefter, printed, Lowndes. 178 1«
This, though indeed a little performance, deferves fome attentioe, cfpecially as ic may be defigned as a fpecimen of a larger work« ' It was intended, we are told, to print only a few copiea of this paper, to be given to the Tranflator's particular friends ; but on confidera* tion, that the more it it difperfed, the better the (entiments of the Public in general concerning it muft be known, the Tranflator baa ordered a number to be printed, and Ibid.' To give our Readen . fnme view of this Tranflation, we (hall rele£l two or three verfes fron the account of old age, or of ficknefs and diforders to which the buman conftitution is liable, in the twelfth chapter.
' V. 4. IVhitt the gates of difcowrfs Jball hi kept fimt hecaufi tha
veUe is lo^v and dejiituts efgrmce^ and founds like the voice of m liStb
bird, and all reiijb for mufixkJkaU be Uft%
• V. ^, Thin bills tn tbt wajf Jbeul frigbten, and ivaters terrific bintp and be Jhall grow negligent of bufinejs^ and feafting JbaU (§ trouhlifime to bim^ and tbe love of quiet fitall grow on bim, as tb§ man dra*ws tovnardi hie long bomCf eud bis friends tome about bim in tbefireet mttitb condolence,
* V • 6 . Before tbefcbtmes of getting sanney are laid afide^ and tbe pleafure of [polfefiing] gold be naeakened^ sued infiead •ffyrinnng bote^ be Jball iave [only] a proj^eff of dijolution^ and tbe ieheAhe rolled into the pit.*
6 To
3t6 £ B R M O V 9.
To etcli of the irerfet it added a kind of paraplirafe, but the A«*
tkw does aot farniOi hia readers with particular criticifms, or aflign
Jiis reaibia for the feveral aod great al:era:iuns which he makes in
tke text* We moft leave this for the cootemplation of Hebricians,
and ihall finifli oar article by adding the following paiTage from thia
fttit poblkatioa. ' The Tranilacor confiders the Hebrew text aa it
appears in our printed Biblef, mtrtly u a tranflation : the original
acxc being the letters withoat vowel points, withoat paafes, and even
witiioat any divtfion into words. He therefore thinks himfelf at li-
^^erty, whenever the context requires it, either to read with different
points, or to divide the letters differently into words or fentences,
lie fuppofesiiimfelf too at liberty to read fome forts of words either
^\ ^with or withoat a vow, with or without a jr^/. For ail readers have
ieen and allowed the neceffity of doing this in many inftances, and
therefore it may be neceflary in others, which they are not aware of.
He has too, now and then, taken the liberty of applying that com-
JB«B rale» LiterM irtm^gemi^, fivt mnim orgaaifacilt inUr/g pirmmium^
Jiar I where no application of it has been made before* And theie
are all the liberties he has prefumed to take, except he has in a fingle
•aeftance foppofed a word (hould be read with an AUfb efimtbtticum^
'9M is done in the prefent way of reading the text in many places/
N. B. A fecond, a macb larger, part of this work is publilhed ; •arhich we (hall duly notice. ^
SERMONS.
.1. Grace ivitb§ui Emtbtifimjm. Preached at All Saints, Colchef-
tt ter, on Trinity Sunday, 1781. By Nathaniel Forfter, D. D. Rec- ^. tor of the faid Parifli, and Chaplain to the Coontefs Dowager of Northington. 8vo. ^d. Robinfon^ &c.
The extravagant ideas that have been entertained by ancient and modern enthnfiafts, refpeding the influence and operation of the holy fpirit on the human mind, are well known, and cannot but be fin* cerely lamented by every fober minded Chriiliao. It is the profeffed dcfign of Dr. Forfter, in this Difcoorfe, io to explain the dodrine as to guard againft the abufe of it, and to reconcile his explanation to the articles and liturgy of the Church of England,
' Now there is one obvious way' fays he, ' in which the holy Spi*
fit may very properly be faid to afiift all Chriftians, as well in the
' knowledge, as in the practice of their duty ; and that without any in*
fringement upon the freedom of our rational powers (for it is by the
free exercife of thcfe powers that fuch aflillance can alone be ob->
' tained), and this is, by that plain role of lifey-^which is laid before us
in the Gofpel, and the powerful motives held out by the fame Gof-
' pel, to the obfervance of it. ** All Scripture is given by infpiration
* of God." When therefore we are taught, are converted, are com- ' forted, by thofe Scriptures, we may very properly be Tatd to be ' taught, to be converted, to be comforted, by God, the Author of
them. When we are thus led into the paths of truth, of virtue, and
* happinefs, by the word of God, it is God himfelf who is our teacher, our leader, and our guide. He hath revealed his will to us, by the mouth of his infpii^ Apoftles and Prophets, which have been iince the world began. He hath opened life and immortality 10 onr view.
S £ It M o N •• 3i]fr
as tlie great reward of all our libo«rt« by fbe Gofpel of bit Son, Ho hath moreover given us reafon and anderftanding (wiiboot wbicli cfcry other bleffing would have been loft to at) to Know bit will, «a tius related, and to weigh the force of tbo(e motives wbicb are far JMote 1^ in thU revelation. All therefore that we know, all that we think, and all that we do^ in confequence of tbeia ligbu, whether from without or within us, whatever virtne» whatever praifc there laaybe, in our own endeavoura, and an oorowaimproveneatt anden them, it, in this view, ultiiaately aad folely to be referred so God : is to be afcribed to his unbounded benevolence, thos plaialy fttewiag na what is good, and what he reqoiretb; aad aft>rdtng as the noft powerfal motives to perfcvere in that path of daty, which he hath pro- fcribed.'
This is ratioaal and jodicioos. By Hopping bete, Dr» Porfiev would, in our opinion, have much more eCedlnally gaarded hia pa« rifliiooers agatnft * enthuiiailic deloiioai,' than by talkinf* as ho afterwards does, of a communication, infltience, aad operatioa of cho fpirit, of which wf have no cM/dw/Mi/i^ or fir€^ti$m ; the efie^ of which cannot be diftinguifhed from the natural foggeitions of oar own minds ; from which * no hnmaa beiag can ever fay, that any chooghty any word, any work of hia» itmmsduUify, mnch kla «ik/v« frodji proceeds ;' and which no mortal can ever kaow, withoat a mi* racle, that be is favoured with. Boc perhaps the faatimeata contaiaed in the former paragraph, however conibnant to reafon or Scripcaia* aiight not have been fo eafily reconciled to the articles or litorgy of Che church of England.
In a note, profeiledly defigned lor the -' philofophical reader*, Dr, F. hat foggefted, that vttM^ moral and free ageat bcia^ deteraniaedi by motives, and the Almighty having the abfolaie diredioa of every motive in nature, a wide field is opened for the divine ageacy, aad interpofitioa, without the leaft infringement of human Htoty* Bat he had previoafly aiierted in the Difconrfe icfelf, chat * the ftrongeft motives are no motives, to thofe whofe hearta are tnfenfible to their imprefion.' So that in order to give efficacy to motives, there mo€ be fome operation upon the naind itielf ; which, thoagh according co the Dodor*a fuppofition, we be not conicioos of it, it will be diiicalt CO prove entirely confifleat with moral and free agency* ^_
Previous to thb csMEaAL Fast, Pebroary a8, 1782.
!• A Short Alarm bifin tbi Fafi, in 1782 ; . and to be ierionfly
I * .^ confidered after. By a Friend 10 his Country. 6vo. 1 a. DiUy*
A warm advocate Ibr America, makes no icruple, in thia lixdt
piece, to arraign ^hecondud of ^vernment in the moft bitter Ian*
gaage, and to load even royalty with opprobrium* AmiM'the
.>^.Biai^s of degeneracy which appear with fach aggravated colonri on
* ^the face of our country, we may rank, as one 0? the moft alarming^
that cwtsmft illegal authomiyy which this pamphlet ia evidently eal*
calated to promote amidli the lower- ranks of people : ic ia-oae of the
left fymptoms of a fslling ftate ! • ]|}« ,|^^
if. Ji Faithful Piaur$ rf tb$ Titmt ;' beiag a Sermon for the Year
'^(t ' '7^'* addreiTed to the Xing, Nobility^ Cler^, aad Laiqr of tkim
***" profligate and perKhing Kingdom. By a Belicigirof the axploflail
'- • % and
J-.*
Jit PAST-d^AY SeRMOKS*
and fttmoft andqaated Dodrinet of Chriftianity. lamo, ad.- Biadon*
A frightful r«fYr^«r« /— not a Fmitb/Mi PiQun : at lead it ia
orercharged» if npc diftorted* ^ #
Fas t-D ay Sermon s,
III. A Sermoa preached before Lords Spiritual and Temporal, in
the Abbef Church of Weftmiaftery oo the late Faft. By SamneU
Lord BiQiop of Gloucefter. 4*0. i s. Cadeli.
This is a very elegaot and ffotible Difcoarfe. The objc6l of it ia to prove that war cannot be the natural date of man : — that one great canfe of the Ruin of public commanitics, is the power of internal corruption ; which corroption, ariiing from infidelity and an indif- Icrance to all religioa* manifefts itfelf in all the forms of vice and immorality ; and that tha only probable meant of averting impend- ing judgments, and recovering the peace and profperiiy of this country, coaiift in what ought to be the ruling principles of a Fast ^-humility, repentance, and reforaaation.
The following refledions, which icem principally levelled at the infiauating and pernicious fyftem of education inculcated by Lord Cbefterfieldy are as juft as they are elegant, * The time was, when a ierious regard to the commands of God was thought to be the fared foundation on which to ereft the ftruAure of virtue ; when in>> ptefling maxims of probity on the young and yielding mind waa judged to be the bed fecurity from the dominion of inward paffion, or thcfudden violence of outward temptation. But a ferviie refpefl to the will of a fuperior, we are told, would deftroy the merit of obedi- ence; and infnfing early habits of felf government, would cramp the efforts of natural genius. An eafier difcipline hath been in* vented, in which the fevere and antiquated roles of morality aredif* carded, and other regulations introdaced, better fuited to the capri- cioas delicacy of modern manners. In this fehool of polite inftruc* doo, a prudent accomodation to the modes of thinking and a£iing» which prevail in faihionable life, is inculcated as the great leflbn to be learnt by every afpirant to worldly diftindions, the cardinal ex« ceHence which is to lead to certain honour and fortune. An obfe* qnioui and unmeaning civility, in which the affediions have no con* cern, is taught to affume the air and ufnrp the place of benevolence ; and a ftudied attention to exterior accomplifhments, ferves as a decent veil to hide the hoilownefs and corruption of the heart/ 3. « ]
1V«— Before the Honfe of Commons. By Thomas Dampier, D, D. Prebendary of Durham. 410. i s. Payne.
A plain and pradical Difcourfe on Ezek. xviii. 30. <* Repent and fura yourfelves ftom your iniquities, and fo fin (hall not be youf ^^
V.—Preached ia the Parifh Church of Swinderby, in the County of Liacola. ^y JohaDifney, D. D* F. A. S. 8vo. 6d. Johnfon* Spirited and Utti perhaps it will be thought too much fo idt the Dccafioa I for the idea of a faft implies modelly and meeknefs. Bat the wound is deep and dangeroai $ and the Do^or thinks it his duty^^^ 90 probe it to the quick. D<-
Cor ABapoNDENCE.- 319
VL— Pretched it FitzRoy Chapel. Bj J. N. Puddicombf^ Miniier.
4to. 1 •• jobnfon. Another fpirited decljumer !— bat on the 9ibir fide of theqaeftm* Dr. Difney haraDgaei on the parent's cruelty to the child, and Mr. Puddicombe on the child's ingratitnde to the parent. Much may te fatd on both fides !— and much may be faid againft both ! T^^
VIL— At St. John's Clerkcnwell. By the Key. E. W. Whitaker* B. A« Re6ior of that Parifli. 4to. 1 a. Rtvingtoo. A well drawn parallel between the people of ancient Ifrael anl mcyiern Britain, both with refpefi to their privilegu on the tme f vli^d, and their abufe of them on the other. This Sermon breathes a ipirit of piety and moderation. The Preacher avoids all polkkat difcufiiont ; and very properly confines himfelf to what is of mOfff
Seneral concern ; and more becoming the duty of a Chriftiaa i&iai* er on a day of fafiing and humiliation* ^0
*^* Tbi Remaimfer tf tbi Fmft Sermnu in ntr wxt.
.i
CORRESPONDENCE. ^
7e/Ar Authors {/*/A^ Monthly Review*
Gbmtlbmbn,
MOT doubting your readinefi to convey any literary infbr»i» tion compatible with the plan of your work, I take the libert]f to make an obfervation on a pafifage in yonr Review, for Februaijr Jaft. page 85, quoted from Mr. Thomas Warton*s ingenious Hiftoc^ of Engliih Poetry. ** There is an old madrigal fet to mufick bf William Bird, foppofed to be written by Henry * when he fell ialOfV with Ann Boleyn. It begins*
** The eagle's force fubdues each birde that fliea What mortal can refifte the flaming fyre ? Dothe not the fun daxzle the clearefte tye% And melt the eyce, and make the froft retire f^
When 1 firft read thefe verfei in the Nu^it Jntiqua they (um»L to me too good to be written by a king ; and I have fioce found that their real author was Thomas Churchyard, a poet of Queen Eliaa- bethytime, andoneof the ailiftantsinthe Mirror 9/ MagiftnU^Sm The lines in queftion are part of a ftanaa in Churchyard's legend of Jane Shore, and may be found in Mrs. C—ftr*s Hufit Libr4irj^ ^vo« 1741. p. 122. — Confidering Mr. Warton's very exteuGve acquaint- ance with old Engliih poetry, it b ftrange this circumftance fliould have e(caped him* Royalty (hould not have been deprived of thia little fprig of bays which former flattery, or prefent accident hasgiveft. it,— but for the confideration that every author dead» or lifing, oogkC to have the merit of his own works, be it what it may.
I am Gentlemen, Yoarty ^c«
• The VlUth.
M '/^
JIO CORRESPONDBNCS.
f 4't We tcknowledge the receipt of m Letter relative to t late pofthomoui publication, from a perfon who figns himfclf * jin Emmy t§ pious Frauds ;' and who charges the Editor of that work with having * been guilty of a trefpafi againft fidelity, as an Editor, which nothing .^^canexcufc.* ' We rather wonder that our ingenious but anonymous Correfpondenc ihould not perceive the manifeft innpropriety of oar publifhing a charge of a vtxy ferious kind, on the telUmony of an unknown per- fon : nor indeed is it our buiinefs to make oarfclves parties in dif-
cuffions of this kind, even on the beft authority. -t\ _
-ld««Jf«
1^ A fecond letter on the rot in iheep, has been received from bar obliging correfpondent Mr, Robtrts, Another ingenious corre- fpdndent, who figns himfclf PbiUpatria^ has alfo favoured us with
'^ne on the fame fubjed. We are forry that neither the nature nor the limits of our undertaking permit us to engage any further in this excurfive inquiry. From our general rule of admitting nothing
^bu not relation either immediately or remotely to literature/ 1K[e uJ iha^deviated in the firft induce, fcdoced merely by the importance of the fubjeA, and by the hope of awakening the general attention to a natter of fuch great national importance. As this efifedl is in fome degrele anfwered, we muft here take leave of our correfpon dents. — They will no doubt find fome other vehicle of public intercourfe, to the nature of which their commnnicationi will be more fuitable. — We #•- Ussdid to infert thefe letters entire ; but on re*perufing them, we per- ceive that, befidei their being of a length that would encroach too snnchon our limits, as well as on the immediate obje£t of our journal, they wear fomewhat of a controverfial complexion, with an appear- ance oi pn/onalitj*, to which we can by no means aflR)rd admit- tance.
* This is lefs applicable to one of the letters than to the other. ^^J^;
*J^ Our Readers are requefted to correal the following errata in the article of Milles's edition of Rowley's Poems, in our lad Review, viE.
Page 207. 1. 30. for ' unharmonious coincidence of words/ read harmonious,
— L 34, for • decifive*, r. dilufinte. -~ 201. towards the bottom, r. * thi muniment room.*
— 214. 1. 6. for ^ authority,' r. authenticity.
— 2i6. near the bottom, for ' forms,* r. ttrmsm
— 217, 1. 16. for ' Embrice/ r, Etuhria. For fome fmaller mifiakes, we beg the Reader's indulgence,
CO which the hurry often attending periodical works gives theni 4111 efpecial claim.
1^ We are obliged to poilpone our conclufion of the review of , Dean Millei^'j edition of Rowley ; but it will certainly appear in the Mxt MoaQi^s Rfivifew.
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW,
For MAY, ly^c^.
^@<^SJ-:&®SS^®a®®^^®@^(^^S?®^©§@<SKjF
Art. I. Dt^an Milhs^s Edition of ltonjohy*s Poems CoKCLUDip.
i>ec Review for March.
THERE are two points which may be regarded ^ the main hinges on which this controverfy turns. The firft xc- fpeds the genius 2nd abilities of Chatterton : the fecond, the aera of the fuppofed Rowley. The oppofers of the authenticity of thefe Poems have, at the utmoft, only an extraordinary, or, if it mujl be fo Called, an improbabli circumftancc to ftruggle with : but thofe who dcftnd it, have an abfolute impoflibility to fur- mount.
We have already delivered our opinion refpefting the fingular genius and abilities of Chatterton ; and in proportion to our acquaintance with the hiftory and acknowledged produdlions of this extraordinary youth, fo are we the more (irnnly convince^ that he was fully equal to the impufition of Rowley. The fup» pofition might at firfl confound a carelefs and uninformed en* quirer; and indeed there are few perfons who would not be flaggered to have luch a qijefHon as the following propofed t^ them on a fudJen, or without any previous acquaintance with the chara<f):er of Chatterton ; — ** How was it poifible for a low-bred boy, juft emancipated from the rii^orous bondage of a charity* fchool, to have written poems which evidently beai the deep traces of antiquity, reflexion, learning, and genius ?" We grant the fail to be extraordfnary to a very high degree. Let it even be called improbable. It was^a circumftance not likely to hap- pen in the courfe of a century. But what then ? The fa£t im- plies no abfurdity — no contradiction, it is at leaft poHible: «ind we think it on^ of thofe \ti^ figgular eyents that fometimes ^ occurs to amufe and altonilb mankind, Chatterton was hin^
Vol. LXVI, Y fclf
322 Millcs'x Edit, of Rowley^ Poems.
.fisif a wonderful being; and can we be furprifed that he (hould projeft fomething as extraordinary as himfelf ? By his own con- fcffion he wrote the firft part of the Battle of Haftings ; the ac- count, originally publiChed in Farley's Briftol Journal, refpedl- ing the ceremonies ufed at the opening of the bridge in the fif- teenth century, was acknowledged by himfelf to be a fi£tion of his own : and we are afTured by Mr. Rudhall, one of his confi- dential friends, that he blackened parchment, and imitated the old mode of writing, in order to give his MS. the appearance of an- tiquity. If the truth of his own acknowledgments be queftion- ed, we have at leaft ftrong internal evidence to appeal to for their fupport; and that fupport is afforded very amply, not only to one poem, but to all ; for the marks of impofition are uni- form and univerfal. If his confef&on receives ciedit (and why (hould it not ?), it at leafts afFofds a fufpicion, that he who was capable of a fraud (and a fraud too fo very ingenious) in one cafe, was capable of varying the impofition, and of devifing fictions without number, in a line fo congenial to the bent of his genius and the habit of his fludies. If he was more guarded in the language, fentiments, and allufions of the fecond part of the Battle of Haftings, than in the firft, it only tends more forcibly to fupport the fuppofttion of impofture. The imitations of Chevy Chace, in the firft part, were fo flagrant and palpable, that we apprehend they muft have ftrucic Mr. Barret himfelf, to whom the poem was at firft given. His fufpicions very proba- bly made him fo eager (as we find he was) to prefs for the origi- nal MS. When it could not be produced, the fufpicion of an impofture was undoubtedly confirmed in Mr. Barret's mind, and very reafonably. What was the ifliue of this tranfaSion ? Why, we are fairly informed by Mr. Barret himfelf, that Chattcrton confeiTed the whole was a trick ; — that the poem was his own ; and that he wrote it at the folicitation of a friend ! This con* fe/fion was very natural, on the fuppofition of Chatterton's having aAed the part of an impoftor ; but in any other view, it Is unnatural and improbable in the higheft degree. If he had been in poiTeflion of the original MS. what fbould have hinder- ed his producing it? and if he had at any time pofleiTed it, what Qiould have tempted him to have deftroyed it P If he wi(b- cd to give credit to his pretenfions, how could he betcer have effected his purpofc than by (hewing his originals? What (we a(k again) could have been his motive for deftroying them, under the fuppofition of his having pofleflfed them? — This queftion was never anfwercd ; and we believe it out of the power of any advocate for Rowley to give any anfwer to it, that can afford the leaft fatisfa£tion to an impartial enquirer.
To return to Mr. Barret. When Chattcrton confefled the impofition in the firft Battle of Haftings, bccaufe having been
prefled
MillcsV Edit, of Rowley'/ Poems^ 343
prefled for the original MS. he was incapable of producing it, he promifed to fupply the defed^ and, in fome mcafurc, to atone for his fraudulent attempt, by prefenting him with a poem on the fame fubje£l, that Oiould undoubtedly be original. The producing of fuch an original was now abfolutely necefTary to his credit ; and it mud have (truck him with double force, that if his firft attempt was fufpeded for want of evidence, the fecond would be more ftrongly fufpedled on the fame grolind ; efpe* cially as he had engaged to furnifh the evidence which was re* quifite to* give credit to his pretenfions. The objection to the authenticity of the fecond part of the Battle of Haftings woold have been, in every degree, more weighty than that which was urged againft the firft, if it was after all found deficient in evi* dence, fo eafy to have been produced, if it could have been pro* duced at all ; — for what fo eafy as the producing the MS. from.^ 'which the tranfcript was profeffed to have been taken? — We would aflc Mr, Barret the foiiowing queftions : — What made him fufpe6l the authenticity of the firft poem which Chatterton gave him ? Did he believe Chatterton when he aftured him that the poem was his own ? If Chatterton only faid this to avoid all further enquiries refpe£ling the MS., from whence it might be fuppofed to have been taken, did he fufpedl that the MS. was in Chatterton's hand, or that he had deftroyed it ? If it was in his hand what motive could he have for refufing to (hew it, which might not have induced him to have kept other MSS. of the fame ^r//^ffif^/ antiquity, concealed with the fame care ? If he had deftroyed, or accidentally loft this MS. would he not have been more careful to havepreferved the other ^ in order to have given Mr. Barret that fatisfa£tion which was both exped^ed and promifed I When Chatterton produced the copy of the fecond part of the Battle of Haftings, did not Mr. Barret afk, as in the former cafe, to fee the original ? If this requeft was refufed, what rea- fon was given for the refufal ? If no MS. was produced, but Chatterton's pretended tranfcript, what could have induced Mr« Barret to give it that credit which he had denied to the former ? Would Hfe not naturally have faid, — *' Young man, I am not to be deceived a fecond time. You acknowledge yourfelf to have made an attempt on my credulity in a former inftance. Do you imagine me to be fo great a fool as not to be guarded againft a fecond attempt? My objedlion recurs with additional forcew Produce the MS., nor pay fo poor a compliment to my under* ftanding as to fuppofe that I ftiall always be a dupe to your ar- tifices."— Would not this have been the language of any man of fenfe in Mr. Barret's fituation ? Was it not his i We wifli he would inform us.
Thefe queftions ara not confined to the poems we have been fpeaking of^ but to all th^ reft } and efpecially to the Tragedy
Y a qI
324 Milles*i Edit, of Rowlcy'x P^ems.
ofiElla. — The faft ' was, Chattcrton confined bis attempts at forging MSS. to fmallcr pieces ; but in thefc he failed. How much more would he have failed in poems of any confiderable length ? The attempt was too daring even for his adventurous pen !
The Dean imagines thnt the Uteraiiire difcovered in thofe I'oems is decifive againft Chatlerton. We are, on the contrary, fully perfuaded that the literature difplayed in them eafily fell within the compafs of Chatiert(»n's reading, and perfetSlly level to an underflanding like his. But, after all, what is the litcra- tUfe of ihefe Poems ? It is common, familiar, and by no means fp various or fo recondite as fome have pompoufly reprefented it, in order to prove that it was impoflible to hav^ been the acqul- iition of a youth fo uneducated as Chattcrton. It is a tafk of no great difficulty to point outfuch fourcesof information, as he might eafily have had recourfe to, for all the learning and know- ledge which thofe Poems exhibit. Common glofiaries and die* tionaries furniflied him with moft of the obfoletc terms which he hath introduced ; and common hiftories, with mof^ of the fadls he hath alluded to. But of this we fhall fpealc more particu- larly in our review of Mr. Bryant's Obfervations.
Yet, although it was eafy for Chattcrton to copy antient wordsj it was, however, by no means fo eafy for him to copy antient^///. Here lies the main defc<Sl in the impofition ; and by thisy and this aloncy the controverfy may, we think, be fairly decided to the fatisfadlion of every perfon ot tafte and judgment. The old words, thickly laid on, form an antique crufl on the language, which, at firft view, impofes on the eye ; but which, on examination, appears sot to belong originally to it. It was put on, the better to cover the impofuion ; but, like moft impo- fttions, it is overloaded with difguife, and difcovcrs itfelf by the very means which were defigned to hide it. The words arc of no uniform ftandard, either as to age or country. They were taken from general glofTaries ; and they were chofen indifcri- minately for their meanings without a due care to avoid an in- termixture of terms, which were peculiar to a particular |>eriod or a particular province. The words are Saxon and Anglo- Saxon, and Scottifb and Englifh. We have provincial terms of the North and of the South ; we have Chaucer and Pope, and Skelton and Gray ; and that frequently within the ihorc compafs of a finglc verfe !
The ^//f of thcfe Poems is modern; the vcrfificatlon is of modern date ; and the general flrudture and form of the Poems, as well as a thoufand particular turns of exprefHon, fentiment, and allufion, are evidently modern. It is impoffibie that a poer^ of the age of Edward IV., could have written in a language and manner totally unknown in that age. It was imj)of&ble for *• him
Millcs'i Edit, of Rowley'i Pomu %%%
him to have adopted fuch modes of expreflion as were the tStSt cf habits which, at that time, had no exiftcnce, and of which, perhaps, no pcrfon had the leafl conception. This obfervation refers to all the poems ufhered into the world under the name of Rowley ; and more particularly refpf(5ls thofe of the greateft confequence, fuch as the Battle of Haftings, and the Tragedy
An exprcflion here and there may, with great difficulty, be collected from antient poems, to fhow how pojfible it was for the authors of them to Aide into fmoothncfs of verfification and re- finement of fentiment ; but for one example to illuftrate this inftance, we can produce a thoufand to confront it. Aukward attempts at fomcthing; which looks like metre and rhyme; af- feded conceits of exprcflion ; dull and trite refl^rdiions; or te- dious and unadorned narratives, make up the general fum of what was called poetry in the age in which Rowley is fuppoied to have writtrn with the fpirit of Dryden and the judgment of Pope ! The Poems of Rowley are uniformly good. They are the produdlions nf)t only of genius but of tafte ; — a tafte which could not pofTibly have been acquired on a fudden, or by any fpontancous efforts, or by a penetration or feeling which anticU pated the improvements of a poliftied age ; but by an intimate acquaintance with the manners and fentiments of the prefenC times, and a diligent ftudy of the beft produflions of our mo« dern poets.
The above remark refpcfls the general cafl an^ complexion (if we may fo fpeak) of the Poems; and we are furprifed that it (hould not h^t felt by every perfon that hath been converfant witb the writings of the fifteenth century, whether in profe or verfe. To this general pofition we may add a great variety of particu- lar inflanccs by way of illuftration. We could demonftrate evi- dent traces of plagiarifm ; fuch traces as are decifive proofs of imitation in a modern author j fuch as r\o antient writer could poflibly have ftumbled on even by accident ; but fuch as it was next to impofTible for a mere modern wholly to have avoided. Of thefe infla/ices of imitation we had made a large catalogue ; but we hnve been anticipated by two very ingenious writers, viz, the Author of the Remarks on the Poems o\ Rowley, published in the Gentleman s Magazine ; and the Author of the Parallel Paf- fages in the St, Jameses Chronicle, The imitations are fo flagrant and fo numerous, that it feems to be out of the power of preju- dice itfelf to evade the inference which arifes from them. For it is to be obferved, that the imitations are not of a general and equivocal nature ; they do not belong to thofe indefinite clafles under which may be ranged thofe habits of thinking and fpeak- ing which are too obvious and too common to be particular or appropriate ; but thefe imitations are particular — they are ap-
Y 3 propriaie.
3^6 MillesV Edit, of Rowley 'j Pomt.
proprlate^ — they poflefs/Atf/ which isdifcriminaiive; a fcmething which two perfons could not have hit upon without fuch a va- riation in the form as would have placed a boundary of diilinc- tion between them. To give an example or two.
The Ballad of Chevy-Chace is frequently imitated (as we have already obferved) in the firft part of the Battle of Hayings; and in the following lines the imitation is fo palpable^ that U muft ftrike the mod carelefs eye.
Battle of Hajlings. Pa r t I .
T'bt grty-goo/e pynion that thereon was /ett Efcfoons with fmokynk crymfon bloodde 'was ivei*
Chevy-Chace.
So right his (haft he/et.
The grey "goof e *wing that was thereon In his heart's hlood nuas *wtt.
The learned Commentator is indeed aware of a fimilarity be-» tween the two palTages ; but attempts to evade the force of the objection which arifes from fo ftrong an appearance of imitation. We will grant all he fays relating to the hiftory of the grey-goofe tvingi — the ufe made of it in antient battles and in antient poems. But all this is nothing to the pvirpofe. We dill ad- here to cTur own pofition, that the fimilarity between the two pafTages was not accidental and fortuitous ; but, on the con- trary, that the one was borrowed from the other : for it is not the fhing expreflcd (which may be common enough}, but it is the peculiarity of the exprejfton which clearly points out the imita- tion^ One word may fometimes be fufficient to efFeft this. There may be that in its pofition and conne£lion which will very clearly difcover the paffcige which the writer thought of when he made ufe of i^. Th^ word unakmird^ in the follow-^ ing line^
Their fouls from corpfes unaincird depzrt,
was evidently borrowed from a wrong reading in Warburton's edition of Shakefpeare. [Vide the celebrated fpeech of the ghoft in Hamlet, — *' Unhoufell'd, unanointed, unaknelFdy^ — inftead of unaneaFd,] Ouphant fairies y and the race of defiiny^ in the Bat- tle of Haftings, are indebted for their name and employment to the defcription of thefe imaginary beings in the Merry Wives of Wind for. Vide Warburton's edition, where the old reading, ** orphan airs of fixed deftiny" was firft altered to ouphen. The Dean gravely infers, from the ufe of this word in Rowley, that Warburton's emendation was right. The inference we would draw from it is, that the poet borrowed from the critic ; for as the word ouphant is not to be found in the old gloilarifts, we cannot account for the ufe of it by a poet of the fifteenth cen- ' ^ury, but can clearly (he \y how Chaicerton came by it.
Millcs^s Edit, of Kovr\ty*s Pcems* 327
The expreffion, ^^ fleeve unravelsy was evidently borrowed from Shakefpcare, — '* the ravelVd jleeve of care," There is fomething fo/>^rz////7r in this expreflion, that it ought to have great weight in determining the poem to be modern ; and, by the way, it is a ftronger inftance than hath yet been brought by the defenders of the authenticity of thefe poems, to prove that Chatterton did not always undcrftand the terms he made ufe of. Birt this inftance would have been fatal to their argument.
In the Battle of Haftings we meet with an expreflion flill more peculiar, viz. Clouds of Carnage* This is literally taken from one of Gray's Odes ; and we believe an exprefljon fo ytry uncommoa, not to fay bombaft, would have fallen from no pen but his.
Scatters night* s remains from out (he fky,
!€ a very (Iriking imitation of a line in Milton, viz.
Scatters ths rear of darknefs thin.
The following plagiarifm is really barefaced :
Battle of Hastings.
With thiik a force it did bis body gore^ That in hs tender guts it entered, in verity, a full cloth -yard or more»
Chevy-Chace. Withfuch a/orcesLnd vehement might
He did his body gore, 41
The fpcar went thro' the other fide
A large cloth yard and more.
The Dean's learned remarks on the cloth yard^ have juft as much to do with the controverfy, rcCpefling the authenticity of the Poems of Rowley, as thofe which he had before made on the grey-goofe wing. He may be true in his premifes, but he is cer- tainly wrong in his conclufions. Two warriors might ufefpears and arrows of the fame length, but doth it follow, that two poets would give the fame literal description of their force and execu* tion ? By no means ; unlefs the one fhould borrow from the other.
It is fomewhat remarkable that the Dean, inftead of quoting the above verfc from the old ballad in which the refemblance is fo Angularly obvious at the very firft fight, produces another ♦ in which the traces of imitation are fcarcely apparent. We confider this as an inftance of great difingenuity ; and we can- not avoid thinking, that the Dean himfelf was confcious, that if the two paflages were viewed together, the refemblance would be too glaring to credit his hypothcfis.
* Viz. ** An arrow of a cloth-yard long '^ Up to the head drew hfi.**
V4 It
328 Milles*j £<///. of Rowley*/ Voemu
It would be an endlefs talk to point out all the inftances of weak and contradidtory reafoning which occur in this volunne \ and as endlefs to remark on the learned Editor's want of a re- fined and critical tafte. As endlefs alfo would it be 10 enume- rate every imitation of the moderns in thofe poems, and to point out the perpetual recurrence of modern cpiiheis, language, and ilyle, amidft the rude garb of antiquity which hath h^tu forced on themi
The Appendix to this voluminous Work confifts of what the Dean is pleafed to call. Additional Evidet7cey to corroborate the authenticity of thefe Poems. This additional evidence chiefly arifes from the tcftimony of a Mr. Thiftlethwaite, viho, it feems, was the intimate friend of voune: Chatterion. Of this Mr. Thiftlethwaite we know nothing more than may be inferred from his letter; and as fo much (trvfs is laid on it by the Dean, to whom it was addrefTed, it is at leall candid to ;'roduce ic.
••SIR,
** IN obedience to your rcqueft, ard my own promife, I fit down Co give you the bed accounc in my power of the rife, progref?, and termination of Oiy acquaintance with the late unfortunate Thomas Chatterton.
** In the fummcr of 1763, being then in the twelfth year of my age, I contradled an intimacy with one Thomas Phillips, who was fome time uQier or aflidant- mailer of an hofpital, or chariry-fchool, founded for the education and maintenance of youth at B illol, by Edward Colfton, Efq. Phillips, notvvithftanding the dlfadvaniagc of a very confined education, poflefTcd a liftc lor hiliory and poetry ; of the latter the magazines, aad other periodicals of thai time, furnifh- cd no \try contemptible fpecimen.
** Towards the latter end of that year, by means of my infimacy with Phillips, I formed a conne£\ion with Chatfertc n, who was on the foundation of that fchool, and aboiit fourtcn months younger than myfelf, ITie poetical attempts of Phillips had excited a kind of literary emulation amongil the elder claiTes of the fcho'ais : the love of fame animated their bofoms, and a variety of competitors appear- ed to difpute the laurel with him. Their endeavours however, in genera], did not meet with the fuccefs which their zeal and afliduiiy deferved ; and Phillips iUIl, to the ir.OiMlicatioB of his opponents, came off viflorious and unhurt.
** In all thefe trifling conttntionr, the fruits of which are now, and have been long fince defervedly and er.tirely forgotten, Chatter- ton appeared merely as an idle fpeiU.or, nv-way- interefled in the bttfinefs of the drama, fimply contenting himfelf with the fports and padimes more immediately adapted to his age ; he apparently poflVlf- cd neither iaclination, nor iodeea ability, for literary purfuics; nor do 1 believe (notwithilanding the evidence adduced to the contrary by the Author of Love and Madnefs) that he attempted the compofi- tion of a (ingle couplet during the firll three years of roy acquaint- ance with him*
•* Going
Millcs'i EJU. of Rowley*i Poems^ 329
*' Going down Horfeftreet, near the fchool, one da/, during th« fuoimer of 1764, I accidentally met with Chacterton. Entering into converfation with him, the fubjetfl of which I do not now recolledl» he informed me that he was in poffcflion of certain old MSS., which had been found depofued in a cheft in RedclifFe church, and that he bad lent feme or one of them to Phillips. Within a day or two after this I faw Phillips, and repeated to him the information I had re* ceived from Chatterton.' Phillips produced a MS. on parchment or vellum, which, 1 am confident, was EUnoure and Juga, a kind of paf- toral eclogue, afterwards publifhed in the Town and Country Maga» zine for May 1769. The parchment or vellum appeared to have been clofely pared round the margin, for what purpoft*, or by what accident. I know not ; but the words were evidently entire and un* mutilated. As the writing was yellow and pale, manifelUy (as I con- ceive) occafioncd by age, and confequently difiicult to cecypher, Phillips had with his- pen traced and gone over feveral of the lines (whith, as far as my recoilccUon ferves, were written in the manner of profe), labouring to attain the objecl of his purfuit, an inveftigatioa of th<:ir meaning. I endeavoured to alfiil him ; but, from an almoft total ignorance of the charaders, manners, language, and orthogra* phy of the age in which the lines were written, all our efforts were unproHtably exerted; and although we arrived at an explanation of, and connected many of, the words^ ilill the fenfe was notoriouHy de* iicient. For my own part, having little or no taile for fuch (ludiea, I repined not at the difappoiniment. Phillips, on the contrary, was to all appearance mortified; indeed much more fo than at that time I thought the objed defcrved ; exprefTing his forrow at his want of fuccefs and repeatedly declaring his intention of rcfuming the at* tempt at a future period. Whether he kept his word or not is a cir« cumilance 1 am entirely unacquainted with, nor do I conceive a de- termination thereof anyways material at prefcnt.
*' In the year 176;, I was put apprentice to a (lationer at Briflof, at which period my acquaintance and correfponderce with Chatterton and Phillips feem to have undergone a temporary diiTolution ; how* ever, tovvards the latter end of 1767, or at the beginning of 1768, bring fentto the oiHce of Mr. Lambert, an attorney then refident at Briliol, for feme books which wanted binding, in the execution of that errand I found Chatterton, who was an articled clerk to Mr. Lambert; and who, as I cclledled from hii own converfation, had been adventuring in ths fields ol Parnailus, having produced feveral t'iiies both in p ole and \x:f(Qt which had then lately made their ap* pearance in the public prints.
** In the courfeof the years 1768 and 1769, wherein I frequently faw and converfed with Chatterton ; the excentricity of his mind, and the verfatility of his difpoliion, feem to have been fingolarly dif- played. One day he might be found bufily employed in the iludy of heraldry and Englini antiquities, both cf which are numbered amongft the favourite of his purfuits ; the next difcovered him deeply en- gaged, confounded, and perplexed, amidd the fubtleties of metapby- iical difquifnior, or lod and bewildered in the abiirufe labyrinth of mathematical refearches; and thefe in an inilant again neglefled and thrown aftde, to make room for aftronomy and muHCi of both whicti
fcience?
330 Millcs'j Edit, cf Rowley 'j Pcems.
fciences his knowlcd^ was entirely confined to theory. Even phyfic «vas DOC without a charm to tllure his imagination, and he would talk of Galen, Hippocrates, and Paracelfus, with all the confidence and familiarity of a modern empiric.
** To a genius fo fickle and wavering, however comprehenfivc the mind may be, no real or folid attainment could reafonably be expecl- ed. True it is, that by not confining himfelf to one fcience only, he contraded an acquaintance with many, but fuch as, fuperficial in it- fclf, neither contributed to his intered nor his credit.
•* During the year |-68. at divers vifits 1 made him, I found him employed in copying Rowley, from what I then confidered, and do ftill confider, as authentic and undoubted originals. By theafliQarrce be received from the glofTary to Chaucer, he was enabled to jvad^ with great facility* even the mod difficult of them ; and, unlefs my memory very much deceive me, I once faw him confulting the £/_/- mologicom Lingua /fttglicarrt^ of Sk\r\T\cr.
•' Amongll others, I perfedlly remember to have read fcveral ilanzas copied from the D fat be of Syr Charles Ba^wdini the original of which then lay before him. The beautiful fimplicity, animation, and pathos*, that fo abundantly prevail through the courfe of that poem, made a lading imprclBon on my memory : 1 am nevertheless of opinion, that (he'language, as I then faw it, was much more obfolete than it appears in the edition publilhed by Mr. Tyrwhitt, probably occafioned by certain interpolations of Chatterton ; ignoraatly made with an intenrfon, as he thought, of improving them.
*^ Several piects, which afterwards made their appearance in the Town and Country Magazine, notwithftanding their more modern date, were written by him during this year 1768; particularly cer- tain pretended tranflations from the Saxon and aniient BritiOi ; very bumble, and, in fome inflances, very unfuccefsful attempts at the manner and llile of O/Tian. Chatterton, whenever afked for the ori- ginals of thefe pieces, hefitated not to confefs, that they exided only in his own imscination, and were merely the offspring and invention of fancy ; on the contrary^ his declaration, whenever qaeftioned as to aothent-city of the poems attributed to Rowley, was invariably and uniformly in fupport of their antiquity, and the reputation of their author Rowley; inflantly facrificing thereby all the credit he might, without a pofiibility of detediou, have taken to himfeJf, by a/Turning a charader to which he was confcious he had no legal claim ; a cir- cumdance which I am affured could not, in its effe^, fail of opera« ting upon a roind like his, prone to vav^ity, and eager of applaufe even to an extreme. With rcfpCdl to the firil poem of the Battle of Haftings, it has been faid, th^c Chatterton kimfelf acknowledged it to be a forgery of his own ; but let any unprejudiced perfon, of com- mon difceroment, advert only for a moment to the fltuation in which Chatterton then flood, and the reafon and neceility of fuch a decla- ration will be apparent.
'• The very contra^ed (late of his finances, aided by a vain defire of appearing fuperior to what his circumilances afforded, induced him, from time to time, to difpofe of the poems in his poffcflion to thofe from *whofe generofity and patronage he expelled to derive fome confiderable pecuniary advantages ; i wiJl not hciitacc to aiTert,
aad
Milles*j Edit, of RowleyV Poems. 331'
•
and I fpeak from no lefs authority than Cbatterion himfelf, that he was dKappointed in this expectation, and thought himfelf not fufiU ciendy lewarded by his Bnliol patrons, in proportion to what he thou^iht his communications deferved. From this circuroftance, it is eafy 10 account for the anfwer given to Mr. Barret, on his repeated folicitaticns for the original, viz. That he himfelf wrote that poem for a friend, — thinking, perhaps, that if he parted with the original poem, he might not be proptrly rewarded for the lofs of it.
'* That vanity, and an inordinate thiril after praife, eminently didinguiihed Chatterton, all who knew him will readily admit.-— From a long and intimate acquaintance with him, I venture to a/Terr* that, from the date of his 6r(l poetical attempt, until the final period of his departure from liriftol, he never wrote any piece, however trifling in its nature, aud even unworthy of himfelf, but he iirilcom- municated it to every acquaintance he met, indifcriminately, ai wilh* ing to derive applaufe f.om produdlioos which, I ain afTured, were he DOW living, he would be heartily aihamed of; from a full aiTurance of the truth of which propofuion I concei/te myi'elf at liberty to draw the following inference : That, had Chatterton been the author of the poems imputed to Rowley, fo far from fecreiing fuch a circumllance» he would have made it his Brit, his greaceil pride ; for to fuppofe him ignorant of the intriniic boauty of thofe cumpoiitioos, would be a mod unpardonable prefumption,
'• Towards the fpring of 1770, fome difFercnces having previouflf thereto arifen between Chatterton and his mafler Mr. Lambert, the former publicly expreiTed his intention of quitting his fituation, and repairing to the metropolis, which, he flattered himfelf, would afford him a more enlarged held for the fuccefsful exercife and difplay of his abilities ; accordingly, in April, he began making the neceflarjf preparations for his journey : Anxious for his welfare, I interrogated him as to the obje^l of his views and expeflations, and what mode* * of life he intended to purlue on his arrival at London : The anfwer I received was a memorable one: *' My firll attempt, faid he, ihali be in the literary 'way ; the procDifes I have received are fufiicient to difpel doubt ; but ihould I, contrary to my expeOations, find myfelf Received, 1 will, in that cafe, turn Methodift preacher — Credulity is at potent a deity as ever, and a r ew fed may eaiily be devifed ; bat if that too Ihould fail me, my lad and Hnal refource is a piflol."
*' That fpirit of literary Quixotifm which he pofFefTed, and which had the immediate afcendency over every other confideratioo» had been much encreafed by correfpondence with divers bookfelleri and printers^ uho, finding bim of advantage to them in their publications^ were by no means fparing of their praiArs and compliments, adding thereto the mod liberal promifes of afliHance and employmenr* (hoold he choofe to make London the place uf his refidence.
•• Thefe were the hopes upon which he relied ; this it was which induced him to quit the place of his nativity, and throw himfelf, for a precarious fubfidence upon drangers. It is unneceiTary to re- mark how far his expeditions were an iwered. His unfortunatate and untimely exit deplorably (hews ihe fallacy of his hopes, and the ex- treme deficiency of his knowledge of the world ; who could for a ipom^nt idly fuppofe that the moft didinguifhed talenti, anpatronized,
would
J32 Milhes'j Edit, of Rowley'i Poems.
would meet with faccefs, and lift him to that eminence which he flat* Ured himfelf he merited.
** Thus, Sir, I have atceir.ptcd. in a hafty and curfory manner, to prefent you with whatever comes within the limits of my own ob- ftrvation and knowledge relative to this extraordinary youih, in re- fpcd to whofe memory I beg leave to make one further remark.
** It has been faid, that he was an unprincipled libertine, depraved in his mind, and profligate in his morals; whole abilities were pro- ftiiuced to ftrve the cauic of vice ; and whofe leifure hours were waded in continued fcenes of debauchery and obfcenity. . •* Mr. Warton tells us, tnat he was * an hirelivg in the trade of li~ Uf At ure^ unprincipled y and compelled to fuhftjl by expedients.* (Sie his Emendations to the Jicond 'volume of the Hijhry of Poetry J And ano- ther gentleman tells u?, that his death 'was of no great conftquence, fince hi could not long have efcaped being hanged, (tee Love and Madnej}^ f, i;2) V\hciheraiiy or all of thcfe epithets are mcaat as argu- ments to prove that Lhattcrion is the author of Rowley's Prems, abounding, as they do, with piety and morality, and the moil refined fentiment, I know not ; but I cannot help obfcrving, that fuch cv- preiTions (anfupported, as they appear to be, by truth and reafon) neither do credit to the heads or to the hearts of ihofo who fo uncha- ritably bellow them.
** I admit, that amongft Chatterton's papers may be found many paf- figesnot only immoral, but bordering upon a libertinifm grofs and un- pardonable.—It is not my intention to attempt a vindication of thofe parages, which, for the regard I bear his memory, I wiih he had ne- ver written, but which I neverthelcfs believe to have originated rather from a warmth of imagination, aided by a vain afTeOation of fingu- Hrity, than from any natural depravity, or from a heart vitiated ty •vtl example.
•* The opportunities which a loncj acquaintance with him afforded me, jullify mc in faying, that, whilil he lived in Brillol, he was not the debauched charader rtprefented. Temperate in his living, moderate in his pleafures, and regular m his cxcrcifes ; he was nndeferving of the afperfioa. What change London might have eilc^llcd in him I know not; but from the drain of his letters to his mother and filler, and his condud lo^vards them after- he quitted Brillol, and aifo from the fertimony of thofe with whom he lodged, I have no doubt but the intemperances and irregularities laid to hi>> charge did either not exitt at all, or, at the word, are coniiderably aggravated beyond what can- dour can approve.
I am, Sir, with the utmof^ refped,
J^th Jpril, I ySl* , your moii humble fcrvant,
J AS. This r LET HWAiTL."
What inferences our Readers may draw from this letter we would not take upon us to determine. Let every man judge for himfelf.
In the firft part of this Article, wc have freely given our opinion fffpe£ling the other tcftimonies adduced by the Dean in defence of his bypocfacfisj and in the prefent cafe we take the liberty of
obierving,
Millcb'i EJlt, of Rowley'i Poems. 33J
obferving, that Mr. Thiftlethwaiie's letter, fo far from altering, hath, oji ihe contrary, confirmed our ftntiments with refpcdl to the genius of this wondcrfuJ and enterprizing youth. We by no means allow the companions and play*mates of Chatterton to be the proper jud^t-s of his merit. VVe know the efie6l of fami«^ liarity : *' Rowley was venerable 5 but what was Tommy Chai" tert^nf* The influence of a prepoileflion like this is v^ry powerful ; and pcrluns of more experience than Mr. Cary, and Mr. Smith, and Mr. Thiftlethwaite, and more wifdom too (we n^ean no offence to thefe gentlemen), might not cafily get rid of fo partial and 10 unfavourable an impreffion. — There was a briU liancc in Charterton's genius that could not but be difccrned by theduiieft and ntoft ignorant of his fchool fellows. It is for their credit to acknowledge, that it was not loft on them. It is even acknowledged by the Dean. But the vanity which pretends to have feen and felt the genius of Chatterton in its more obvioos exertions, is unwilling to confeft how much their fagactty was bnfflcd by its more fccrtt and difguifed operations. And yet it. was in thefe deep and hidden recefles that this wonderful genius was proud to work. But becaufe all his intimates were not en- trufted with his fchemes, are we to fuppofe he planned and exe« cuted none ? Thtir vanity would fay — ** Yes." But — Chat* terton knew tbfm — and knew himself.
The other part of the Appendix contains an anfwer to Mr. Tyrwhitt, who had attempted to prove the Poems of Rowley to be modern, by the mifapplication and mifconftrudion of a va* riety of antient words^ as well as by the i n trod ucHon of others totally unknown to the writers of the fifteenth century. Wc muft acknowledge, that fome of Mr. Tyrwhiit's objections ai« fatisfaC^orily anfwercd by the Dean. But there are others which, with all his ingenuity, he is unable to furmount. We (hall noc point out a variety of inftances (Mr. Tyrwhitt will do this hini- felf } ; but we cannot avoid remarking, that the Dean's account of the word 6j^^, ufed twice in the Poems of Rowley, is equal l]f fotJft'a'nB^nfatistaftory. We will give our Readers Mr. Tyrwhitt's lemark, and the Dean's anfwer, in their own words.
'* Calfce. {Tragedy of Goodwin yh. 2^.) Cq/l, Chatterton. Calked. (Eclogue I. L. 49.) cajl out^ ejecled. Chatterton. f ^. B» Chatterton gives thofe explanations of ihe word in his glojfary.^ This word appears to have been formed upon a m i fa p pre hen (ion of the following article in Skinner : *^ dll&Cti exp. Cdft. credo Cdft up." Chatterton did not attend to the dift'erence betweea cajiing out and cajling up \ i. e. cajiing up Figures in caUulatimm That the iatrer was Skinner's meaning may be dolle£ied fromr the next article. «« CalkcD for CalCUlareO ; Chaucer in the fVanktleyne's Tale." Ic is probable too, I think^ that in both
articles
J34 Penrofc'i Poems.
articles Skinner refers by miftake to a line of the Frankelein^s Taki which in common editions (lands thus : —
*• Ful fubiclly he had calM all this.*' Where calieJ is a mere mifprint for calculated^ the reading of the MS. See the late edit. verf. 11596."
To this judicious remark the Dean makes the following effort at fomething which is at lead to bear the femblance of a reply. What it is let the Reader judge.
' Calked, ca/i out^ eje£ied. This explanation of Chatter- ton feems to be taken from Speght's rendering it by the general word caji. Had he confulted Skinner, that author's remark could hardly have efcaped him, '* Credoy caft up.^* In the paf- fage of Godwin, where this word occurs, — Calke away the hours ^ may be eafiiy fuppofed a mi flake for Cajle away the hours. And if the paflTage [Eel. I. v. 49,] Calked from every joy^ will not bear the fame interpretation, we may change it for the word cachitf ufed by Bifhop Douglas to figni fy drive ^ and which the Prompt. Parv. explains by abigo.'
This poor refuge of conje£lure only demonftrates how weak the caufe is which the learned Dean hath undertaken to fup-
Srt ! As to the word in queftion, it may be found in Bailey's idlionary, in the double fenfe of ca/iirtg up and cajling cut. Chatterton chofe the latter fenfe, when he faid, calked from every joy; and finding in Speght's glofTary to Chaucer (a work he was known to have tranfcribed), that the word was explained by the general and equivocal term caji^ he, without farther fcruple, adopted one of the fenfes in which that term is ufed • and becaufe it would have been modern to fay, ca^ the hours away^ he chofe to look as antient as poiBble, and fo altered cajl to calke ! Thus Chatterton's blunder (for an egregious one it is !} can be eafiiy accounted for ; but it would exceed the faga- city of even a prefident of an antiquarian fociety, to give a ra- tional and fatisfadory account of this, and fimilar blunders, in a poet of the reign of Edward the Fourth. ^
• • •
Art. II. Poems by the Rev. Thomas Penrof*, late Reflor of Beck- ington and Standerwick, Somerfeilhire. 8vo. 38. fewed. Wai- ter. 1781.
AS we naturally feel a fort of perfonal regard for thofe writers who, in the exercife of our critical employment, have given us pleafure, it cannot but be with regret, that we enter upon the melancholy office of attending the obfequies of departed genius in the pofthumous edition of their works.
This ingenious and amiable Author, whofe poetical remains are now colle£led into a volume, ' was fon of the Reverend Mr. Penrofc, Reftor of Newbury, Berks ; a man of high cbarader
5 and
Penrofe'i Potmt.
335
urd abilities, c^cfcended from an ancient Cornifh familjr, beloved and refpe^led by all who knew him; Mr. Penrofe, jun. beina intended ioT the Church, purfucd his lludics wiih fuccefs, at Chrift Churchy CJxv)n, until the fuminer of 1762, when his eager turn to the Naval and Military line overpowering his attachment to his real interefl, he left his College, and cmbaxked in the unfortunate expedition againft Nova Colonia, in South America, under the command of Captain Macnaraara. The ilTue was fatal. — The Clive (the largeft veflel) was burnt — And though the Ambufcade efcaped (on board of wbich Mr. Penrofe, ailing as Lieutenant of Marines, was wounded), yet the hardfhips which he afterwards fuftained in a prize (loop, in whtch he was (lacioncd, utterly ruined his conftitution. Returning to Eng- land, with ample tellimonials of his gallantry and good behaviour^ he finifhed, at Hertford College, Oxon, his courfe of ftudies; and^ having taken Orders, accepted the curacy of Newbury, the income of which, by the voluntary fubfcription of the inhabitants, was con» fiderably augmented. After he had continued in that ftation about nine years, it feemed As if the clouds of difappointment, which had hitherto overOiadawed his profpeds, and tinctured his Poetical EfTays with gloom, were clearing away ; for he was then prefented by a friendy who knew his worth, and honouced his abilities, to a living worth near 500I. per annum. It came howevei' too late; for the date of Mr. Penrose's health >vaa now fuch as left little hope, except in the aflillance of the waters of Friflol. Thither he went, and there iie died, in 1779, aged 36 years. In 1768, he married Mifs Mary Siocock, of Newbury, by whom he had one child, Thomas, now on the foundation of Winton College.
' Mr. Penrofe was refpedted for his exteniive erodition, admired for his eloqi!ience, and equally beloved and efteemed for his focial qualities. — By the poor, towards whom he was liberal to his utmoft ability, he was venerared to the higheft degree. In oratory and com- polition his talents were great. — His pencil was ready as his pen, and on fubjefks of humour had uncommon merit. To his poetical abili- ties, the Public, by their reception of his • Flights ofFancy^ &c. have given a favourable teilimony. To fum up the whole, his figure and addrefs were as pleafing as his mind was ornamented.'
Such was Mr. Penrofe ; to whofe memory, fays his Editor, Mr. J. P. Andrews, ' I pay this jud and willing tribute, and to whom I condder it as an honour to be related.
Mult is illt bonis flehilit 9ccidit Nuili flebilior quarH mihi»*
It is not to be expeSed, that in a collection of this kind every piece will be equally correct and iiniOied, as it might have been had the Author lived to have fuperintended the publication him- felf: it neverthelefs contains feveral pieces not unworthy of the lame pen which produced that excellent Ode intitled, Madnefs^ noticed with fo much approbation in the volume of our Review, referred to in the note below, page 140. Of thefe not the leaft beau ti f u 1 is the Field of Battle :
• See Review, Vol. LUL
' I. FaintI/
336 Penrofc'j Potms.
I.
• Faintly bray'd the battle's roar
Diilanc down the hollow wind; Panting terror fled bciorc.
Wounds and death were kfc behind.
II. The War- fiend cursM the funken day.
That check'd his fierce puriuit too foon ; While, fcarcely lighting to the prey,
Low hung, and lour'd, the bloody xnooo.
III. The Field, (o late the hero's pride,
Was now with various carnage fpread ; And floated with a crimfbn tide.
That dreoch'd the dying and the dead.
IV. 0*er the fad fcene of dreariefl view,
Abandon'd all to horrors wild. With frantic ftep Maria flew,
Maria, Sorrow's early child ;
V.
By duty led, for every vein
Was warm'd by HynMm's pureft flame:
With Edgar o'er the wintry main
She, lovely, faithful, wanderer, came.
VI. For well flie thought a friend fo dear
In darkefl hours might joy impart; Her warrior, faint with toil, might chear.
Or foothe her bleeding warrior's fmart*
VIL
• Tho' lookM for long— in chill affright,
(The torrent burfting from her eye) She heard the iignal for the fight — While her foul trembled in a figh^—
VIII. She heard, and clafp'd him to her bread.
Yet fcarce could urge th' inglorious (lay; His manly heart the charm confefl —
Then broke the charm, — and rufh'd away*
IX. Too foon in few-^bot deadly words,
Some flying ftraggler breath'd to tell. That, in the foremoll flrile of fwords. The young, the gallant Edgar fell.
X. She preft to hear — (he caught the tale —
At every found her blood congealed ;«^ With terror bold — with terror pale. She fprung to fearch the fatal field.
7 On
Thcodofid'x Mifcellantous Pieces in Verfe and Prefe. jjj^
XI. OVr the fad fcene in dire amaze
She weat — with courage doc her own-^ On many a corpfe (he caft her gaze —
And turn'd her ear to many a groan*
xri.
Drear an^uifh urged her to preia
Full many a hand, as wild (he oiourn'd;— «
«--Of comfort glad^ the drear carefs The dampy chill, dying hand returnM*
xiii.
Her ghadly hope was well nigh fled—
When late pale Edgar i form (he foand, Half-bury.M with the hoftile dead.
And bor'd with many a gridy wound.
XIV. She knew — (he funk— ^he night bird fcream'dy i
— ^The moon withdrew her troubled light. And Uft the Fair, — tho* fall'n (he feem'd — -
To worfe than death — and deepeii night.'
To the Reader of fenfibility it will be needlefs to point oat the particular merit of the loth, iith, and 12th ftanzas; efp^- cialiy of that exquifitely pathetic and natural thought contained in the laft of them,
— th/B drjeajr careft The damp, chill* dying hand returned— ^
a thought which would Tcarc^ly have fuggefted itfelf to any one who had not been adually an eye-witnefs of the affeSing fcenea fubfequent to a military engagement ; and who had not, pro* bably, experienced from the hand of fome expiring friend a re- turn limilar to what he has fo feelingly defcribed. /^ • i L
Art. III. Mi/iiUaneous Pieces im Verfe and Prefi. Vol. Ill, By
Theodo(ia. izmo, 31. Cadell.
THE two former volumes were noticed with approbation in our Review, Vol. xxii. p. 32 !• The prefcnt, though a pofthumous publication, was prepared for the prefs, and put into the hands of the Rev. Caleb Evans of Briftol, the Editor^ fome months before her deceafe.
The Lady, to whom the Public is indebted for thefe pious efFufions (for they are chiefly devotional), was Mrs. Anne Steel, daughter to a diflenting minifter, of refpe£lable character, at Broughton in Hampfhire. As her life, fays her Editor, * was for the moft part a life of retirement in the peaceful village where fhe began' and ended her days, it cannot be expe£bd to furnifli fuch a variety of incidents as arife in the hiftory of thofe who have moved in circles of greater aAivity. The duties of friend* ihip and religion occupied her time, and the pleafures of both
Rev. May 1782* Z ^ conftituted
^38 Thcodofia'i Mtfcettamous Pieces in Verfe and Profe.
conftituted her delight. Her heart was, " apt to feel," too often to a degree too painful for her own felicity, but always with the mod tender and generous fympathies for her friends. Yet, united with this exquifite feniibility, (he pofTeflfed a native cheerfulnefs of difpofition, which not even the uncommon and agonizing pains (he endured in the latter part of her life could deprive her of. In every (hort interval of abated fufFering, ihe would, in a variety of ways, as well as by her enlivening converfation, give pleafure to all around her. Her life was t life of una (Felted hu- mility, warm benevolence, fincere friendfliip, and genuine devo- tion. A life, which it is not eafy truly to defcribe, or faithfully to imitate.'
And he afterwards adds, * that as Theodofia was placed by Providence in a flate of independence, and religfoufly devoted the profits .arifing from the fale of the former edition of her works to the purpofes of benevolence | fo the profits which may arife from this edition are appropriated, by her furviving rela- tives, to the ufc of The Bristol Education Society. An
'ihifitution worthy of fuch pitronage, and which thinks itfelf honoured in receiving it*'
- They iMbo ate acquainted with this Lady's former produdions^ will know what is to be expeded from the prefent ; and the fol- lowing £hort fpecimen Will inform thofe who are not :
• 6* « Day of Prayer for Suec(/s in War.
' Lord» hbw dull wretched fioners dare Look up to thy divine abode ? Or oiler their im|>erfe6t pray€r Before a j oft a holy God ?
• A • A • J Bright terrors ftiard thy awful feat.
And dazzling glories veil thy face! Yet mercy calls as to thy feer» Thy throne it itili a throne of grace.
.0 nay oor fouls thy crace adore. May Jeftts plead. our humble claims While thy prbte^idn we implore. In his prevailingy glorious name \ With all the boafted pomp of war lo vain we dare the hoftiie field : In vain, nnlefs the Lord be there ; Thy arm alone is Britain's (hield.
Let pafl experieboe of thy care Support our hope, our truft invite 1 Again attend our humble prayer. Again be mercy thy delight !
Oor arms fucceed, our councils guide. Let thy right hand our caufe maintain ; Till war*s deftrudtive rage fnbfide. And peace refume ker gentle reignt
O whc«
MickleV Abnada Hill. §3^
O when fliall time the period bring When raging war (hall watte no more 1 When peace fiiaJl ftrecch her balmy wing From Europe's coaftto India's ihore?
When (hall the gofpefs healing ray (Kind (burce of amity divine!) Spread o'er the world cekfUal day f When ihall the nationty Lord, be thine ?'
£^.-e.
Art. IV. Almada HtU: an EpifUe from Lifbon. By William Julias
Mickle. 4to» 2t.6d. Bew. ijSi*
NO form of compoiition, in poetry. or prqfc, admits of greater variety than the Epiftolary ; there being, indeed, few fxibjeQs^ whether light or ferious, that may not with pro« priety be di(buired in it. But the epiftolary form has advantages peculiar toitfelf: by placing the Reader in the fituation of a particular friend, it creates, as it were, a kind of perfonal con* nexion between him and the Author, which in fome degree has an influence in pre-engaging the attention ; and, from its ani- mated and dramatic nature, it is enabled to make a more for- cible and lafting impreffion on the mind, than could be expected from a compoCtion merely narjrativc, or dida&ict Of thefe ad« vantages Mr. Mickle has not^ perluips, availed faimfelf ib much as he might have done. Excepting at the commencement of his poem, he feems in^reat meafure to have loft fight of the friend to whom the Epiftle is addrefled : he is, indeed, twtiie after* wards adverted to, btit, from the manner in which it is done, it feems as much with the view to fill up the meafure of the verfe, as to awaiken and dire6l the attention to any particularly ftriking objedt. The writer of epiftles, if he wi(bes -to make them as intereftiog as their nature will admit, (bouid lofe no opportunity of appealing, whea it can judicioufly be done, to the feelings and fentiments of thofe to whom he is fuppofed to be immediately addfeiSng himfelf.
The Poet opens his Epiftle with a well-drawn pi£hire of a joylefs winter's day in England, contrafted with tbs genial in* fluence of a warmer clime :
* Yet dill regardful of my native (hore. In every fcene my roaming eyes explore, Whate'er its afpedt. dill, by memory brotog[ht. My fading country ru(hes on my thought/
After hinting at what will probably be the caufes^f our poH« tical decay, he enters more immediately upon hisfitfbjed.
The defcriptive parts of this poem are, the Author tells us, ftri£Uy local. In confirmation of this affertion, we inay venture to produce the foUowing laodfcape^ which basj what defcriptive
Z z poefry
340 Mickle'i Jlmada Hill
poetry is To frequently deficient in, every appearance of being truly chara6leriftical and appropriate :
* Where high o>r Tago^s flood Almada lowers*
Amid the folemn pomp of moaldering towers
Supinely feated, wide and far around
My eye delighted wanders.— "Here the bound
Of fair Europa o'er the Ocean rears « ^ ^Au wedern edge ; where dimly difappears ^ • • .!jrhe Atlantic wavej» the flow defcending day
Mild beaming pours ferene the gentle ray
Of Lufitania's winter, filvering o'er
The tower-like fummits of the mountain ihore ;
Dappling the lofty cliffs that coldly throw
Their fable horrors o*er the vales below. ^ Far round the llately-ihoulder^d river bends
Its giant arms, and fea-like wide extends
Its midland bays, with fertile iflands crown'd» ^ And lawns for Englifli valour dill renown'd :
Given \o Cornwallia's gallant fons of yore>
Cornwallia's name the fmiling paftures bore ;
And flill their Lord his Eogli(h lineage boafts
From RoIIand, famous in the Croifade Hofts.
Where fea-ward narrower rolls the (hining tide
Through hills by hills embofom'd on each fide>
Monaftic walls in every glen arife • * In coldeft white, fair gliSening to the fkies
Amid the brcwn-brow'd rocks ; and« far as fights t Proud d6mes and villages arrayed in white f
. ^ Climb o'er the fteeps, and thro' the dufky green
Of olive groves, and orange bowers between, ^ Speckled with glowing red, unnumberM gleam-—
And Lifboa, towering o'er the lordly (Iream^
Her marble palaces and temples fpreads
Wildly magnific o'er the loaded heads
Of bending hills, along whofe high-piled btfe
The port -capacious, in a moon'd embrace.
Throws her maft-foreft, waving on the gale
The vanes of every (hore that hoills the (ail.'
After curforily pointing out
What mighty deeds the lofty hills of Spain
Of old have wimefs'd— ^ he next notices the change of manners that hath prevailed, in con- fequence of the fubverfion of the Roman empire, by the irrup- tion of the Goths and other northern tribes ; and though the caufes he affigns for that peculiar charader, which has fmce marked each of the different divifions of Europe, may not be hif- torically true, yet the ideas he has darted on this fubjefi are at lead poetical and ingenious :
f The houfes in Portugal are generally whitened on the outiide, white being eftcemed as repuliiveof the rays of the Sun.
' - -When
t •
MxMtV Almada ma. ' 34I
* When R</nie's wide empire, a laxarioos prefr Dcbifed in faife rcHnement nervelcfs lay. The northern hords on Europe's varioot climet Planted their ruling virtues and their crimes. Cloiderd by Tyber*s ftream the flothful (laid. To Seine and Loire the gay and friv'Jous ftray'd^ A fordid groupe the Belgian marihes plea/ed And Saxony *s wild foreils Freedom feized. There held her juries, poifed the legal fcales;— And Spain's romantic hills and lonely dales The penfive Lover fought; and Spain became The land of gallantry and amorous Hame. Hail, favour'd clime ! whofe lone retreats xnfpire The fofteft dreanois of languifhing defire^ Aft'edlions trembling with a glow all holy. Wildly fublime, and fweetly melancholy ; 'Till rapt devotion to the Fair, refine And beod each pafllon low at Honour's (hrine. bo felt the iron Goth when here he broughc His worfhip of the Fair with valour fraught : Soon as Iberia's mountains fixe his home. He rofe a charadler unknown to Rome ; Hit manners wildly colonr*d as the flowers And flaunting plumage of Brazilian bowers : New to the world as thefe, yet poli(h*d more Than e*er the pupil of the Attic lore Might proudly boaft. On man's bold arm roboft The tender Fair reclines with fondeft trnft : With Nature's fined touch exulting glows The manly breaft which that fond aid bellows: That firft of generous joys on man bellow'd. In Gothic Spain in all its fervour glow'd. Then high burn'd honour; and the dread alarms Of danger then aflumed the deareft charms. What for the Fair was dared or fuffiered, bore A faint-like merit, and was envied more; 'Till led by love-fick Fancy's dazzled flight, FrQm Court to Court forth roam*d Adventure's Knight ; And tiles and tournaments, in mimic wars. Supplied the triumphs and the honour'd fears Of arduous battles for their country fought, 'Till the keen relifli of the marvellous wrought All wild and.fever'd ; and each peaceful (hade. With batter'd armour deckt, its Knight difplay'dji In foothing tranfport, liAening to the flrain Of dwarfs and giants, and of roonfters flaio | Of fpells all horror, and enchanters dire. And the fweet banquet of the amorous fire. When Knights and Ladies chafte, relieved from thrallf Hold Love's high holiday In bower and hall.
* 'Twas thus, all pleafing to the languid thonghty With magic power the ules of magic wrought i
Z 3 Till
34^ Mickle'^ Almaia HtB.
Till, by the Mofes armed, in all the ire
or wit, refiftlefs as ele^ric fire.
Forth rode La Maocha's Knight ; and fadden fled
Goblins and beaateoui nymphs, and Pagans dreadi
An the delirious dreim of ficknefs flies.
When health returning fmiles from vernal ikies/
It is needlefs to point out the happy illuftration of the roman- tic charader he has been painting, contained in the following fimile ;
His manners wildly celour'd as the flowers And flaunting plumage of Brazilian bowers.
There is (p. 19.} another beautiful fimile on the fame fubje£l :
As through the pidured abbey. window gleams The evening Sun with bold though fading' beams. So through the reverend (hide of ancient days Gleam thofe bold deeds with dim yet golden rays.
The influence of chivalry in freeing Europe from the growing dominion of the Moors, is next adverted to :
'But turn we new from Chivalry difeafed, To Chivalry when Honour's wreath (he feized From Wifdom^s hand.-^From Taurus* rugged deep* And Caucafus, iar round with headlong fweep* As wolves wild howling from their fami(h'd deOf Ru(h'd the devouring bands of Sarazen : Their favage genius, giant-llke and blind. Trampling with fullen joy on human kind* A(ryria lay its own uncovered grave. And Gallia trembled to th' Atlantic wav< : In awful wafle the faireft cities moan*d. And human Liberty expiring groan'd When Chivalry arofe : — Her ardent eye Sublime, that fondly mingled with the (ky. Where patience watchM, and fledfaft purpofe frown'd Mixt with Devotion's £re, (he darted round. Stern and indignant ; on her glittering fliiield The CroCi fhp bore, and proudly to the field High plum'd (he rufh'd; by Honour's dazzling 6red, Confcious ot Heaven's own caufe, and all infpircd By holy vows, as on the frowning tower The lightning vollies, on the crefled power Of Sarazen Die wing'd her javelin's way, *-
And the wide-wafting giant proftrate lay.*
Then drawing a comparifon between the prefent ftate of thofe parts of Europe that are flill under the yoke of the Turks, and of others from whence they have been driven, he thus very per* tinently.clofes it:
— A(k what Chriftian Earope owes the high ^
And l^rdent foul of gallant Chivalry, i
Aik, an4 l^t T«rkiQi EutoftU gfoans reply ! J
The
Mickle'x 4lmada HiU. 343,
■ • ^
The naval glory of the Portuguere, during the time they firft, eftabli(hed themfelves in Afla, and their fubfequent degener^cjf, and decline, are next confidered : and here, in every fcene, ,
His fading country rufhes on his thqugbc. But the oaral^l, according to Mr. Mickle, is not likely to bold unlverfalTy ; xortugal is fo ficuated, that though (he may be oc- cafionally deprefled, (he is fure in time to, emerge agai^i into
confequence : not fo his fading country
When Albion falls, (he falls to rife no morr«
Were not Mr. Mickle's poetical character already afcertalned by his excellent tranflation of the Portuguefe Homer*, thcf Reader might eafily be enabled, from the fpecimens we have given, to make a proper eftimate of his abilities. His verfifica* tion is undoubtedly fpirited ^nd harmonious ; but we think it would be more fo, did he lefs frequently make a pra£tice of running one verfe into another.
Has not the Poet violated the propriety of our language in the
following line i
Great Albuquerk renown ditn generous pride.
And has he not alfo violated metaphorical propriety in
Iberia's fields with rich and genuine ore Of ancient manners woo the traveller's eye?
To woo the eye with ore of ancient manners is certainly a moft un» ufual figure of fpeech. Thefe, however, are blemi(hes too tri- vial to detrad from the general merit of the poem.
It may be a pleafing piece of intelligence to moft Readers to acquaint, them that the Royal Academy of Lifbon, of which Mr. Mickle, who was prefent at the ceremony of its commencement^ had the honour to be admitted a member, is under the prefi- dency of one of the moft iiluftrious charaflers of the age. Prince Don John of Braganza, Duke of Lafoens. ** His Grace, who has within thefe few years returned to his native country, was about twenty-two years abfent from it. During the late war^ he was a volunteer in the army of the Emprefs Queen, in which he ferved as Lieutenant General, and particularly diftinguifhed himfelf at the battle of Maxen^ where the PruiSans were de* feated* After the peace, he not only vifited every court of Eu- rope, moft of whofe languages he fpeaks fluently, but alfo tra- velled to Turkey and Egypt, and even to Lapland. His Grace is no lefs diftinguifhed by his tafte for the Belles Lettres, thaa for his extenfive knowledge of Hiftory and Science."
It is with Angular complacency we look forward to the revo- lution fuch a character as this is capable of producing in the
• For our account of the Tranflation of the LnfiAd of Cdmoens^ fee
Review, Vols, LIV. and LV. In bor 59th volame, we iikewift
mentioned the ad edition of that valaaUe work.
Z 4 manners
J44 Halyburton*j Georgia.
mtnners of his countrymen : under fuch patronage, and with fetch an exalted example of imitation to Simulate and urge them on, the day may, poffibly, be not far diftant when even Portu* gal may rival the reft of Europe in Arts, in Letters, and Hu«
Art. V. Georgia^ In a Series of Letters to a Friend. By William Halyburton, D. D. 8vo. 68. fewed. Edinbargh printed. Sold by Donaldfon in London. 1782.
FROM the title of this book, we were led to imagine it might poilibly be formed upon a plan fimilar to that of the Georgics of Virgil. We find we were miftaken. Virgil's poem is merely didactic ; this is of a fubiimer fpecies : nothing lefs than epic honours will gratify the ambition of Dr. Haly* burton. And, if an epic poem be rightly defined, '* a fable related in verfe (and elevated profe is nearly the fame thing), to infpire admiration, in reprefenting to us the a£lion of an hero, favoured and affided by heaven, who executes fome grand de- fign, notwithftanding all the obftacles that oppofe him," the Doftor's title is indifputable. We will venture to pronounce this performance to be as unexceptionable in its conftituent parts, as in its general conftruSion. The fable, the charaAers, the fentiments, the language, the machinery, are all in their fe- veral kinds perfect and complete. The afbion, in obedience to a precept of Aridotle, is great, one, and entire. It is no lefs than the producing from an eftate, yielding at prefent only the paltry fum of 3,700 \. per annum^ an annual^ revenue of upwards of 70,00.01. exclufive of timber, fufScient for the building an Armada; wool, as much as will lengthen all the fillibegs in the Highlands into breeches ; and honey, as a fubfli- tute for fugar, more than will compenfate for the lofs of the Weft Indies. To the creative imagination of Homer, the Author has united the judgment of Virgil. He never deviates into any wanton or ufelefs digreflions: his epifodes, fuch as that of the chimney and the gun- barrel, the manufadluring of pea-chicks, the converfion of the Highlands into a rice-garden, &c. are all connected with his fubje£l, fubfervient to his principal defign, and cfTentially necefTary to the conduct of his fable, in the em- ployment of his machinery he had no occafion to advert to the Horatian precept,
Na dem inierjit^ nifi dignus vindice Nodus
Inciderli.
Here is dignus vindice Nodus enough, with a witnefs, to au-
thori?:e the appearance of all'the divinities of the Pantheon.
Afferting, therefore, the poet's charter of quidJihet audendi, the
Author introduces Miner va, or the genius of Scotland (for tho
* . fcenc
HalyburtonV Georgics* 345
fcene lies in that country), afluming the perfon of Dr. Halybur* ton, and conducting the hero of this epico-didadic romance through variety of adventures and enchantments, to his Fairf palace on the banks of Fairbroolc. And here, Reader, fhall yoa be introduced to the hero and his conduflor :
' 5ir, 1 know not where you could pafs fix or eight weeks of tb^ fummer fo agreeably as on your own improved eftate. To mark the increafing fertility of the fields, the growth of hedges and creet lA progrcfOon from the laft to the firft plantation, your numerous handy- works on Fairbrook and its banks, and above all, a mulciplying racft of happy men, mud give great delight. ^
' One quaternion will fuffice for head-quarters. Forage for « dozen horles will not be felt. By (hifting from one quaternion to another, you obtain a minute detail of the oeconomy of the whole*
* As you approach, the fmiling babes are lifping your name; the herds» the flocks exult, while trees in fre(her foliage, and pailuret and corns in deepening verdure, bail the coming pretence.
* Hofpital'ty, cha:ad^er, gratitude call on you, to make every thing agreeable to your fummer fociety. From chem your people catch a complacent urbanity of manners. Even neighbouring fquiret» divelled of fullen ferocity, learn to relifh the joys o^ polilhed life.
* Afs milk can be had by fubllituting fhe-adcs for goats in anyone quaternion. The whole waters of fouch, and half thofeof fouth-eaft quaternion, in confluence at Millville triangle, enable you to have baths of ail forts. Let the building be elegant, though fmall. Our climate and clothing render bathing of little ufe to the healthfel* Greeks, Kontans and Hebrews, under an elevated fun, were clothed in frowzy woollen. Collc^^ed in his imperatorial purple, the might/ Julius met the fate of dire antbition, without a (hirt to his back.
* A tower of ico yards on the top of your fugar*]oaf mount wooU be highly ornamental, and would give a commandirg view of feaand jand, and terminating mountains. The materials are at hand. la making the afcent, where fpades, pickaxes and fledges fa*l, recourfe can be bad to vinegar, fire, and gunpowder. The whole expence it below yoor notice.
' 1 have faid nothing of dry rice, nor of Spanifli, Sicilian and Siryrna fpring- wheats, nor of the Siberian wheat, nor of the new po- tatoes, nor of the new grafl*es from America and elfewheie, becauie their utility is nor as yet fufFiCiently afcertained.
' Jt were proper you planted one-third of your wheat land, with that bearded fort called by bakers rivets and cones. Though the mixture embrowns, it gives a talieful juicintfs to bread.
* Your wheat will weigh not lefs than 64 lib. the bufliel, which {>ives (;6 lib. flour, which makes of flandard bread 69^ lib. The quarter then gives bread 556 lib. The annual bread of a man at 1} Jib. daily, in a leap year, amounts only to 549 lib. Your oats give 3^ iib. meal the bufliel. Along with one pint flwimmed milk ale* bourer^s break fad is i half pound oatmeal made into pottage. His anrual oatmeal then is 183 lib. or five bufliels, 18 lib. His fmall beer is 1 d. a-day, and his ftrong for 60 holidays, whereof San* days make ^2, is^ (^ s. per annwm. His flefli is 9 d. and fifli 3 d. a week. Tulk is better than cod-flfli for winter, and will not coft
more
2^6 Halyburton*/ Gecrgicu
npne tban 149* the qointaL His batter is 12 ouncet, and cheefe one lib. a* week. His rice eight ounces, and honey two. Barley cighr, and peafe four ounces, and eggs one dozen a-week. The Goodman's large garden gives pot-herbs, j^reens and roots.'
Then follows the labourer's annual bill of fare. A few pages more conduA us to the laft chapter ; which we (hall give as a farther fpecimen :
* By the fimple rule of doing one thing at once. Mynheer Jan de Witiz did more bufinefs than any one man in Europe, and found fpare time befides for difplaying thofe gentlemanly accomplifhmenti he fo liberally pofTeiTed.
* Amidft your Columella's regular multiplicity of affairs, his bnH- iiefs diredl is with the fix firft Goodmen, the mill-mafler, hog-mailer» gardener, bee-mader, and mafter-forel^er.
* Among your fervants, lee the fcale of preferment reach from the jrounged plow boy to the fenior firfl Goodman. Thus you will pro- duce and encourage merit.
* Goodmen's deputies are picked from the inferior fervants. De* poties in courfe fucceed Goodmen. Of the fix iiril Goodmen you can have a gradation of 75, 85, 95, lo^t m^* and 125 1. a-year.
* For the fame reafon why millers wane poultry, your threfhers are unmarried.
* Your feftivals are four, according to the feafons. Their utility if felf-apparent. This or fome fuch may be the order.
* The quaternions, and fo forth, being put under the care of mar- ried women, in the morning the people^ in their bed array, rendez- vous on the fchool-green.
* You take your ftation on horfeback in front of the inn, and the procfflion begins.
* Preceded by a band of mufic, march the Goodmen's deputies, vitb iheep-hooks in their bands. They are led by amaller-fhepherd ^le^ed by tbemfelves, who has a filver iheep-hook, with which he iaiuces as with a fpontoon*
' Next come 96 milk-maids, followed by 24 boys on poneys, fol- lowed by 24 dairy- miftrefTes on palfreys. The dairy-miftrefTes falute wifh the right-hand*
* They are followed by 18 Goodmen on horfeback, one of them bearing a llandard with rural fymbolical devices. Next comes Colo* mella, fingle, followed at proper diftance by the fix iirll Goodmen. A\\ th.efe falute with the hat.
' Next conne 92 threftiers, then 70 plowmen, then 48 cowherds, then 24 hogherds, then 48 feeders, followed by 120 lads and boys. Follows the bee*mafter at the head of beemen, gardeners and foreft- Cr^, followed by the mafter-gardener and mafter-foreller. The maf- tcrs falute with the hat. Next comes the mill-mailer on horfeback, leading your fervants of Millville, whoCe rear is brought up by the hog-mafler on horfeback. The rnaders falute.
* Next comes a band of mufic. Then the fchoolmader who fa< lutes, and is followed by bis fcholars, followed by the ufhers, who fa- Jute : then the other inhabitants of Millville, and the whole of PariQi- town pioperly difpofcd, who all faluic.
The
Halyburtoo'i Georgia. 347
* The weather permitting^ the proceffion is fucceedecl by a con- cert on the mill-pond. The people then difperfe to their homes, and after a plentiful good dinner, pafs the reft of the day in dancing and innocent revelry. In the evenings of winter and ^ring feafts, fire- work:i are played o£ from the Tower. The article of 406 1. 13 s. annual liberalities will pay yoar whole expences of theie» and four other holiday s» *viz, new year, your birth- day , and two parochial wedding-days.
* Proportioned to your eflate unimproved, the peafantry of all England fall (hort of 3.600,000 fouls. Proportioned to the fame im- proved, they would be io,8oo,ooo»
* From the encouragement given to marriage, your annual births will not be fewer than 1 20, or the 224 part of the whole. From the found good food, and the cleanly well-aired dwellings, your burials will not exceed 70. Your annual fupernumeraries then are ;o.
' This extended to all England, the annual increafe were 200,000. In time of the hotted war, here were recruits for a navy and army of half a million of natives. In times of peace, after recruiting both, after recruiting the overgrown devouring metropolis, and fupplying the demands of trading navigation, there would remain s numerous accretion to colonies.
' Before I conclude, let me be indulged with a retrofpedive glance at the quantity of human food annually produced 00 your eftate; it being underftood beforehand.
\mOf That each article be valued at the price it is worth to a full* growp man, whofe liberal annual fare is equal to lol. 10 8«; while that of each perfon taken in grofs is 7 1. or two*thirds of the abofe fnm*
idot That honey and fruit be left out of the account, as few land- holders can be fnppofed pofleiled of your advantageous iituation for fuch culture.
' 3//0, That fuperabundance can be bartered for deficiency, and for wha^^cy v\^^ ^^^^ Thus yon fuperabound in wheat and pork, are dencient in4>arley and oats, and plant neither hops nor pea&.
* Annual Predu^ 0/ human Food on thtEfiatt of Parijhtvwn^ tin Apiary
and Gardtn ixchifive. Wheat, 7224. quarters, at30 8. • - /
Barley, 5670 quarters, at 16 s. 8 d« Oats, 7087^ quarters, at 13 s* 4d« Potatoes, 86,400 buihels, at i s. Poultry at 2 d. per lib. only, - - .
£ggs At 3 d« per dozen, • • •
7800 hogs, at 35 s. only, • - -
6240 pigs, at 1 8. 6 d. only, • • .
484 cows, at 25 !• 366 ditto, at 21 1. Trouts, at i d. per lib. only. Beef, reared, at 3 d. per lib. - * •
Ditto, ftall-fed, ■ ■ increafed.
Ditto, grafi-fed, on two farms.
Carried over, £. 71 1849 17 o
Brought
|
10,83b |
0 |
0 |
|
4725 |
0 |
0 |
|
472'; |
0 |
0 |
|
4320 |
0 |
0 |
|
3801 |
8 |
0 |
|
>737 |
9 |
0 |
|
I3»650 |
0 |
0 |
|
468 |
0 |
0 |
|
12,100 |
0 |
0 |
|
7686 |
0 |
0 |
|
1000 |
0 |
0 |
|
3600 |
0 |
0 |
|
3840 |
0 |
0 |
|
360 |
0 |
0 |
J48 Lord KaimsV Loofe Hints upon Education.
Brought over ^. 71,84.9 17 b
gi20 Umbs, ati2s*6d« - - - 1950 o o
Milk of ewesy - - . 10^8 o o
864 wcddcfs, at 25 s. - - - lv8o o o
48 > old cwcs, - - • - 480 o o
Goac5y fay only, . - . 360 o o
Hoots of Forcft wick only, t - • 6co 11 4
>C- 78.377 8 4 To be fubtraaed, 8125 8 4
Balance, j^. 70,252 o o which is eqaal to the annual fare of 10,036 people in grofs.
To be fubtraaed.
Corn to 4950 hogs at 1 1 s. - • £, 2722 10 o
Picto 10 396 roolts at 50 8. - - - 990 o o
Ditto to trouts, - . . • 434 3 4
Potatoes to 396 fows, 91^ bafliels, « • 1806 15 o
Ditto to ^96 roods, ... 1806 15 o
Meat to 80 dogiy at 1 1. //r ^/m, - ^ 3^S S ^
C 8«25 8 4
* Tt follows, that the arable of all England, broaght tb fuch height of cultivation, would liberally feed above forty millions of inhabitants.
* 1 bus, Sir, in compliance with yoor dtfirt, have I given you ray vnreferved opinion. JnHead of a (harper among Iharpers, I have de- )infacfd a patriarch loving and beloved, bleifing and blefied by a great family, if ought I have written prove beneficial to yourfelf and my corcmporarjes, I have my reward.*
More lafl words^ Our Author has added a Poetical Dialogue between Agriculturb and Commerce. It is a difpute fpr precedence, and u carried on with humour. i 1, m
Art. VI, Loo/e Hints upon Education, cbitfiy concerning the Culture of the Hearts ^vo. 5 s. £ell, Edinburgh; Morrsyi London,
1781.
WE have fo often been entertained by the ingenious writ- ings of the refpeflab?e Author of this work. Lord Kaims, that it is with much regret we announce a publication from his pen, in which we difcover little of that keen penctra- tion, and vigorous conception, which we always expci^ in his productions. The obfervations are, in general, too obvious to be intereftlng: ; the example* are for the moft part trivial ; there is a nc;;ligence in the flyle, fcarcely to be pardoned in the Au- thor of Elements of Criticifm\ and the work is encumbered with a colleclion of talcs and vcrfcs, in the fcledlion of which the Editor has exerted but a fmall portion of his wonted judgment and tafte. PVom a writer of fuch reputation, we are apprehcn- f;ve it will hardly be aduutted as a fufficient apology, that the 6 ' Author
Lord Kaims*i Locfi Hints upon Education^ 349
Author onljf profefies to write Loofi HintSy upon Education. The fubjedt was fo important, and, after all that has been writ*- fen upon it, is fo far from being exhaufted, that it deferred, and required this eminent Writer's wtlUdigeJied thoughts.
The following remarks, refpe<9ing the improvement of the aftive virtues, are a favourable fpecimen of the piece:
* With regard to adive virtue?, there is a beauiy in candour and plain dealing. Which procures good will and affection even above many virtues that make a more fplendid figure. Nature prompts to this virtue; for no perfon ever recurred to diflimulation but to hide fome wrong. Candour is indeed a great fweetener in fociety ; for wirbout it there can be no friendfhip nor mutual confidence. Marifchal de Turenne, when he commanded in Germany, was offered a confiderable fu«i. by a neutral city, to march another way. " I cannot accept, faid the Marifchal, beaaufe I do not intend to take the road to your city." This fingle flroke of charader, was fufiicieac CO endear that great man, even to the enemies of his country : fodi candour is fcarce confiflent with any vice. As children are naturally candid, it is an eafy and pleafant taflc to keep them {0, If their con- fidence be gained by kindly treatment, they will never think of dif- fembling.
* 24^, In the foregoing fe£lion it was obferved, that the way to ifl« vigorate compaflion in a child, is to fhow it objedls in diftrefs. Yoa may now add inftruflion to fight. Make your children fenfible that none are fecure againft misfortunes, and that neither birth, heaith^ nor riches afford proteAion. Give them inftances of the viciffitudet of fortune, of men in high life reduced like Haman to bitter roiierjr. Cicero, talking of Caefar in one of his pleadings, paints in lively co- lours his martial atchievements, overcoming feafons as well as ene« mies ; but mentions wi:h more fatisfadlion, the generous protedioa he gave to an old friend, who, by an unforefeen event, had fallen not only into mifery but into di/grace. *' Conqueft, fays he, makes a man immortal ; and who would not exert every power to become im- mortal ! Adts of private friend ihip can have no motive but goodneft of heart. And coofidering Caefar, at the top of human grandeur, continuing attentive, like a private perfon, to the neceffities of the unhappy, I efleem him a greater man than in the midft of his vido~ ries."
'< 3^, There cannot be a more inftruflive lefTon to young perfons, than that happinefs depends not on pomp and grandeur, nor on other external circumitances. The feat of happinefs is in the heart : one contented with his lot cannot be unhappy. AuguHus, after prevail- ing over his rivah, governed during 40 years a mighty empire. Hit immenfe power, however, could not proted him from affiiAion. It did not prevent him from exclaiming againft Varus, for the lofs of his German le j^ns ; nor from beating his head againft the wall, and filling his palace with lamentations. What availed his conquefts, when his intimate friends plotted againft his life ? His grandeur did not prevent the mifcondudl of fome of his relations, nor the death of all. He himfelf, the laft of his family, was mifled by his wife to name a monfter for his fucccftbr. Such was the miferable fate of
that
35^ 2^^ KaimsV Loofi Htnls upcn Mducathfti
-thtt mafler of the world ; thoof h prononnced tbe bappfeft of men hf
likoCe who can pierce no deeper thin the forface.
' 4ii, Taile is one of oar faculties that is the flowed in its progreft toward natarity ; and yet may receire fome improvement, during the courfe of domeftic education. Compare with your pupils two poems on the fame fubjed^ or two paflages. Take the lead in point- ing out beaaties and blemifhes, in tbe fimpleft manner. After fome time, let them take the lead under your correAion, You cannot kave a better book for that exercife than the SpeSaior* A pleafing Teio of genteel humour runs through every one of Addifen's Papers, which like the fweet flavour of a hyacinth, conftantly cheers, and sever overpowers. Steele's Papers, on the contrary, are little better than trafh : there is fcarce a thought or fentiment that is worthy to be transferred into a common-place book. My pupil reads a few Papers daily, without a fingle obfervation on my part« After fome time, I remark to him the difference of compofitton ; which, in the courfe of reading, becomes more and more apparent. The laft Hep is to put him on diilinguiihing the two authors. He at firft makes an aukward figure; but I know from trial, that he may be brought to diftinguifh fo readily, as fometimes to name the author from the very firft period. *' Fob ! fays he, that is Steele, wq'Il have no
.l^ore of him.^
* ^th. During infancy, authority fhould be abfolote without re- laxation. But let the parents or governor watch the firft dawn of reafon, which ought to be laid hold of for giving exercife to the judment of their pupil. They may begin with prefendng two fimple
. things, and bidding him choofe for himfelf. Let them proceed flow- If to things lefs fimple. After fome exercife of this kind, it is time to demand a reafon for his choice. If he be at a lofs, a reafon may be fuggefted fo fly]y> as to make him think it his own, which will raife a defire to find out reafon s. Exercife is not more falutary to tbe body than to tbe mind. When be wants to have any thing done^ let him firft try what he can do himfelf. A favage having none to apply to for advice or diredlion, is reduced to judge for himfelf at every turn : he makes not a fingle flep, without thinking before-hand what is to follow ; by which meani , a young favage is commonly endued with more penetration, than an Oxford or Cambridge (cho- lar. In point of education, I hold it better for a young man to tn ibmetimes on hii own judgment, than to follow implicitly tbe more mature judgment of his preceptor. A boy who is never per- mitted CO think for himfelf till he is fifteen, wil^^probably continue a boy for life/
This book is dedicated to the Queen, in a ftrain of good fenfe, and manly freedom, which does great credit Co tbe ua* derAandiog and heart of tbe Writer.
Art,
( 3St )
Akt. VII. Oi/irvatiens on iht Sccttijb Dihha. By John Sincfadr, Efq; M.P. 8vo. 4t. Boards. Cadeil. 1782.
MR. Sinclair's defign is laudable. He profefleth to remove the difagreeable diftindion which a difFerent dialed hath produced between nations united under the fame government, and connected by fimilar cuftoms and laws. It will, however, be at once obvious, that this muft be imperfeAly done, unlefs the pronunciation and tone be changed as veell as the words. The latter can only be acquired by habit and attention, for no rules can teach it; and for the former, our neighbours have a very refped)abie afBftant in Mr. Sheridan.
The prefent performance may, we imagine, be very ufeful for the purpofes intended : and we have little doubt but that it will be favourably received by thofe who think the £ngli£h language an objed worthy their attainment. It would be un« candid to obje61, that the execution is hitherto incomplete, fince the Author fairly allows it, and politely requefis aififiance for a future edition. .We vnfh it were in our power to fuppiy his deficiencies ; but fuch details would be very unentertarnrog to the greater part of our Readers. He will however allow us to fuggeft to him, that the perufal of his work hath led us to fufped, that he bath been chiefly converfant with the inbm- bitants of the northern and eaftern coafts of Scotland ; for an inhabitant of Edinburgh would, we are convinced, have afford* ed him much of the affiftance he wanted. It is not, perhaps, univerfally known, that the Englifli language doth not degene- rate in txzSt proportion of the diftance from the capital, it is very indiiierent in Yorkfhire ; it is Worfe in Northumberland ; and ftill more corrupt in the Lothians; but it amends in Inver- nefslhire; it is very tolerable in Aberdeen, and not materially worfe in BamfF and Caithnefs. In the northern counties of Scotland, the Gaelic, or Erfe (a branch of the old Celtic root), is the language commonly fpoken by the people. The Engliih (which is derived from the Gothic) was originally introduced by people of diftindlion, who became polifhed in their language and manners from their intercourfe and connexion with this country ; hence it is comparatively pure iYi thofe places where the ancient language of Scotland chiefly abounds.
It hath been frequently obferved, that the provincial dialefis are the real remains of the old Englifh : and approach the near- eft to the Saxon original. This work aflbrds, in many inftances, a ftriking proof of it ; for where the words are not influenced by the ancient connexion between the Scotch and the French, ^
we have been credibly, informed, that they frequently re- femble the bngyage^ a very diftdnt county in England [De- vonlbire^. '^* StOLefi^e alfo, who often disfigured his Ian*
5 g"2ge
35t Sinclair*i Obfervitiom M tht Scoftijh DtaleSt.
guage by the dialed of his native county, often ufes wor(fs which are now thought peculiar to Scotland \ and we have rea- fon to think, that fome of his plays would be better underftood by an untutored inhabitant of Edinburgh, than of London. A Scotchman would at once perceive the precife point of diftinc- tion in the exprcflion of Miranda in the Tempcft — ** He's^/«//f and not fearful." — *' Enterprises of great ^//A and moment," is a phrafe perfcAiy familiar to him. It would be endlefs to point out fimilar inftances.
As we have exprefled our approbation of the attempt and execution in general, it is equally our duty to point out fome defe£ls and miftakes, which it will be eafy fd^r the Author to reAify in a future edition.
Wc would firft fuggeft to him, that the arrangement is fome* . times too complicated ; and at other times too deficient. The different phrafes peculiar to Scotland often depend on the force , of a Angle word ; fo that the labour of the learner would be much facilitated, if they were reduced into the alphabet under that word. Again \ as it is often troublefome to trace the words from verbs to participles, and fometimes to adjedives, we would fccommend it to the Author, to unite many of thofe alphabets; and this (hould the rather be done, becaufe a variefy of words, at firft ufed profeilionally, become at laft entirely colloquial. We thought h|? had omitted the phrafe, * condefcend on* — which is fometimes ufed in converfation, and often in the pul- pit : we looked for it under the colloquial verbs without effe£i ; and at laft unexpectedly found it among the law-phrafes. As EngUJhmen we muft inform our Author, that ^ grates' have the fame denomination, whether moveable or not : that * flum' is probably a contraction of ^ flummery' — a word exprefHve of the little folidity of flattering fpeeches, and ufed in the fame fenfe in many counties of England. We would not prefume to contend with Mr. Sinclair in his own language ; but we would wi(h to aflc him, whether hantle doth not generally fignify ^ large quart" tity. We have reafon to imagine, that * liiigh,' when applied to a houfe, means fomewhat befides * low.' It implies, gene- rally, that you enter into it on a level with the ftreet. * Whins* are alfo a fpecies oi Jlone^ as well as * furze;' and it is of this fione that Salifbury Craigs, near Edinburgh, are compofed^ from whence it was brought to pave the ftreets of London.
Mr. Sinclair attributes the elegant paftoral of the ^ Gentle Shepherd' to Allan Ramfay. It is furely fupcrior to the other produdions of that poet. We have heard that it was compofed by a gentleman of a moft elevated charaflcr and rank in the 0>urc of Seffion. We (hall be obliged to any of our Readers for information on this head. ^
( 353 )
Art. VIII. 0/1 iht LoHgltudt: In a Letter, to the Honourable (he
Commiflioners of that Board^^ootainin^, Remarks on the Ac* A'Ki^^ counts given of a Clock at Manheim, and that of a Pocket Chro- nometer at Greenwich ; both made by Mr. John Arnold. 4(0. 2 9. 6d. Robinfon. i 81.
THAT we may introduce the Author of this publication to our Readers in a manner which cannot, we apprehend, be difagreeable to himfelf, we (hall tranfcribe the two following paragraphs from p. 53 of his work. Speaking of the laft adb which was made for giving a public reward for improving the method^, already in pra£lice, for finding the longitude at Tea, he fays, * At the time of enading this ad, they were fo fen* fible of having been fairly bilked out of the firft reward, that they were determined to rcferve a power to themfelves of bilking every future competitor for the fecond. This cannot fail of difcouraging good artifls, who have but fmall intereft, and few trumpeters to found their praife, and proclaim their difcoveries. Such obftacles thrown in the way of Dr. Hook, the father of me- chanical inventions, and of Mr. Hutchinson, the prince ofphi^ Icfophers^ though of an unhappy talent for writing, have deprived the world of two valuable machines in this way, which had been examined and approved of, by per Tons well qualified, and pub- licly appointed for that purpofe/
* It is fiill further to be lamented, that this a& caft^ven dif* Acuities in the way of aftronomers, who attempt to find the lon- gitude by perfecting the lunar theory : as it is not fpecified, whether the next preceding, or fubfequent, or any other period of the moon's nodes, an interval of eighteen years and an half, is to be chofen for the trial of his theory. Another infuperable impediment lies alfo in his road ; his theory and tables are to be confined entirely to the principles of gravitation laid down by Sir Kaac Newton, though they never exifted in the univerfe.*
Thefe two paragraphs will bring our Readers, who, no doubt, are philofophers of one fort or other, perfedly acquainted with the Author. All that we fear is, they will be immediately fplic into parties, and will form different opinions concerning the truth or falfehood of his aflcrtions, for he deals in little elfe, as we produce them, one by one, for their confideration : one clafs believing, without hefitation, every word he fays, while another will be very cautious how they credit any of them* Let us obferve how the two feds and our Author jog on to- gether.
The Author, p. 4, fays, *' The ingenious Mr. Harrifon has,, fo fortunately for himfelf, obtained the firft reward of 20,cooK when his machine was attended with only a temporary fuccefi^ and has ever fince bepn fo far from anfwering the purpofe, fo \ Rtv. May 1782. A a much
354 ^^ ^^^ Longitude.
much wanted and deflred in navigation, that it is now totally
•^ laid afidc* Very true ! [(baking their heads] fay the Mofaic
•-•* ^ * fhilofophers : this is all found realoning. It is adircS falfehood,
lay the other party : — The bcft watch that has ever yet been
tried at fea, and of the going of which any authentic account
has been handed to the Public, was not only made on Mr.
Harrifon*s principles, as indeed every watch muft that performs
^ well, but exa£Hy according to his mode of conftruflion alfo ;
^^i/rci-^yf and during more than feven years wImIi* it has been at fea in
two voyages, from the latter of which it is but lately returned, the manner wherein it has performed has been the admiration of every one who is^cquaintcd with it : See Obftrvattons modi in the Courfe of a Voyage towards the South Pole and round the Worlds pUbliOied by order of the Board of Longitude, The account of the going of this watch in its latter voyage, together with the going of a watch made by Mr. Kendall^ according to another mode of conftru6lion, is preparing for the prefs by order of the ftfme Board.
A^7,ain, p. 5, * The Public muft Hill bear in memory, fays our Author, to what dcgiee Dr. Majkelyne exerted hit prejudice agrtinft the performance of Mr. Harrifon^s time-keepers, even thofc not under his immediate examination, to make way for the lunar method of determining the longitude, by obfervations on the diftanccs of the fun and ftars from the moon.' Bravo ! cries the Prince of Philofephers. Trim them, Billy ! ^ Down \ ^ down to the bottomlefs pit with thofe who pay no regard to
truth, fays Gravitation : Dr. Mafkelyne never exerted his preju- dice^ if you pleafe, againft any of Mr. Harrifon's time-keepers but one, and that was immediately under his examination. So far from it, that he exerted all his influence at the Board to procure another to be made cxadly according to Mr. Harrifon's model, by another artift; and it is this watch which has performed fc» well.
Our Author goes on, * He [Dr. Maflcelyne] engaged him- felf to render it [the lunar method] prafticablc j which he has accomplifhed to great perfeftion, by the affiftanct of the ho- nourable Commiffioners of the Board of Longitude, in pub)i(h« ing a Nautical Ephemeris, The management of this affords the Doctor a very hand feme recom pence for his trouble and afliduity, fince his fcheme failed in point, certamty, and accu- racy, required by Parliament to entitle him to become a compc- titbr with Mr. Harrifon for the reward.* Right again, fays Revealed Philofophy. Brother I thou fpeakeft by infpiration ! Agreed, fay the Newtonians ; btit^' we'apprehend, it is bv the i-nfpiracion of an evil fpirit : for although we have no doubt that Dr. Mafkelyne feels himfelf amply rewarded both for what he has done, and is ftill doing, for hit country in this ttfft&i 6 'bit
-N
On thi Lcnghtidt: 355
hU reward is literally, as this Author exprefies it — iy managing thi publication of the Nautical Almanac ; and therefore, the fpirit^ if a good one,, would, we apprehend, have taken care to addy ** without any pecuniary reward whatfoever,"
In this nuinner, we have reafon to think. Readers might ep wrangling on through every page of this extraordinary pub- lication ; but as we imagine one part, at Icaft, of our Readers have before them a fulEcient fpecimen of the hiftorical abilities and integrity of this Author, we (ball clofe our examination of •him in this refped with drawing the fubftance of what we have quoted above into one point. Dn Majkilyne^ we find, has brought the lunar method of determining the longitude to great ferfe£fion ; it is, notwithftanding, fo far (hort of Mr. Harrtfon*^ method, both in point of certainty and accuracy, that theljoc- tor could not be a competitor with Mr. Harrijon for the reward ; and yet Mr. Harrifon^s is fo defeftive as to be * attended with only a temporary fuccefs \ and has ever fince been fo far from anfwering the purpofes, fo much wanted and deiired in naviga* tion, that it is now totally laid afide !!!'
We will now proceed to examine our Author's (kill in the arts of clock and watch-making. But before we begin, it may not be improper to acquaint our Readers, that the principal de« fign of this pamphlet feems to be the demolition of Mr. Ar* nold's reputation in thefe two branches of mechanics j and that the rage which is vented on every one elfe is only fubordinate to this grand point. What Mr. A. may have done to lay bare the red right arm of this Herculean opponent, is beft known to themfelves : the Preface to the Tranflation of 6\ Mayer*z Ac- count of the going of one of Mr. JrnoUtz Clocks is the often* fible caufe. It is true, that Preface, as we have elfewhere ob« ferved, is written with a fufficient degree of oftentation ahd ill- nature, as well as want of knowledge of the fubjed it relates to i but there is no reafon for fuppofing that it was written by Mr» Arnold ; and if it were, it glances at no perfon for whom the Author of the pamphlet before us feems to have the leaft refpcft} and, confequently, we cannot help fuppofing, that the fore it deeper than it appears to be. But let us proceed to the exa- mination.
Page II, « He [the Preface-writer] fays this Author, pro- ceeds on a wrong fuppofition, in taking for granted, that this compound pendulum, nl^de in the ufual way, compenfated only for the expanfion and contraSion of the middle rod, fuftaining the ball, without any confideration had to the ball itfelf, which is by no means the cafe ; and he feems not to know, that they are firft put together as nearly as theory will dire£l, and then adjufted ail together, practically or by trial, as Mr. Cumming has (hewn j which leaves it immatcrhd what part of the ball is
A a 2 fixed
35^ On ibi LwgltuJiX
fixed to the rod : whether at bottom, middle, top, or any otfaef part of it, fo long as they zSt in conjundion, though neither of them would be true when fcparate, which is never required ; yet this unneceflary article is all Mr. ^mold's contrivance can boaft of; and whoever turns to Fig. 7, 8, 9, and 12, in Plate 23, and what is faid oF them in the French work here referred to *, cannot help being convinced of it : nor can the 12th Fig. and the ift in Plate 28) with the account of them, leave any one at a lofs for this mode of either fufpending the ball, or compofing a pendulum with only five rods, as it is there exa<91y delineated. And the 8th Figure in the 23d Plate is, I prefume, capable of being improved to go with a Angle rod and a folid ball, much preferable to Mr. tllicoi's, where the centre of the ball is cut out; or that where the thermometer is fufpended at reft while the whole pendulum is in motion ; the iimple wooden pendu- lum ; the compound pendulum, with the ball divided into two parts ; the gridiron pendulum with a folid ball ; or any other I have feen.
^ Our ingenious countryman, Mr» Shelton^ has been long be- fore*hand with both Mefirs. Berthoud and Arnold^ in confidering this cafe of fufpending the ball ; and by the help of the very geometrical problem, which the latter obtained a folution to from Dr. Majkelyne^ and others, he efFedled the fame thing, in a better manner than either, by means of a pin and feveral pin- holes through both the rod and ball, and then adjufted them to- gether, as Mr. EUlcoi has direScd for hisf j which at once corre6led every error either in the rods or ball; hereby he avoid- ed many incoriveniencies which muft attend the lofs of a centre, or a divifion of the ball, as in Mr, Arnold's way, fo highly efteemed by the author and tranflator, as a new, advantageous, and fttrprifing difcovery.'
What is here faid relative to the gridiron pendulum, as it is ufually called, (hews, that this Author is but little acquainted with the nature of it ; for it is utterly impoflible to adjuft it accurately in the manner he defcribes. It is true, it has not been ufual to adjuft it in any other manner than that here fpokenof; but it is as true, that this method can never adjuft it abfi* lutelyi becaufe the rods which compofe the gridiron are, on ac- count of their flender form, fo much more fufceptible of heat
«and cold than the ball is. Moreover, the ball will, on account of its mafiivenefs, retain any certain degree of heat which it
;may have received, much longer than the rods will. On thefe two accounts, it is pofBble, that the ball may be expanding, while the heat of the rods is decreafing ; and, confequently, if
2 * E/Tai fur 1 HorJogerie, par M.^erdinand Berthoud.
^ f Pbilofopbical Traaf«aioof, Vol. xliti. p. 488.
any
On the Longitude. 357
any provifion is made in the adjuftment of the rods for correfting the expanfion of the ball, both may be adling at one time, fo as to (horten the diftance between the points of fufpenfion and oTcilJation. That the irregularities which arife from this caufe in the going of clocks are confined within very narrow limits is obvious, from the performance of many clocks which have gridiron pendulums, with the ball fupported at the bottom ; but that fome errors muft arife from fuch a mode of fupporting it is as obvious to every one who is capable of entering into the merits of the fubjc£t ; and Mr. Arnold ^^9i0miirf merited commendation, rather than cenfure, for attempting to remove them. If Mr, Shelton^ as our Author afTerts, had efFefted the fame thing long before, by means of a pin, and feveral pin- holes, which pafled through both the rod and ball, he deferved in that, as he did in many other refped^s, great praife alfo: but granting that he had done this, Mr. Arnold's mud be allowed to be a more fcientific, as well as a more mechanical method of doing it than Mr. Shelton's was; becaufe after Mr. Shelton had thus pinned the ball to the rod, the pendulum could not be al- tered to bring the clock to go mean, or fydercal time, if it hap- pened not to be pinned right at firft, which is a thoufand to one it would not. On this fcore, therefore, Mr. Arnold deferved praife, even if he had heard what Mr, Shelton had done before him ; which it is probable he had nor, any more than ourfelves. Indeed, we rather fufpeft that our Author is miftaken in this point, and that he has confounded a device which Mr. Shelton (after Mr. Graham) ufcd for adjufting the rods of his pendulums one to another *, as we have never taken notice of any fuch thing in any of Mr. Shelton's clocks, though we are acquainted with many of them. If we are wrong in this refped^, we (hall be glad to be fet right by a reference to fome clock of Mr. Sheltcn*s making, where this contrivance is put in execution.
If we underltand our Author right, he fuppofes, that the bi- fedion of the ball is necefTary to the mode which Mr. Arnold has adopted of fupporting it in his pendulums, or to the con- ftrudion of them with five bars only, in which he is entirely miftaken ; for it has no relation to either. Indeed, neither he nor Mr. Mayer ^ if we may judge from the manner in which
* What we allude to here is this: In many gridiron pendulums the lower part of the middle rod^ which pafTes down through the ba I, is compofed of three flat bars; tvvo of brafs and (be oihtr, which is in the middle, of Heel, with feveral pin-holes through ihem ; fo that . by putting a pin through one or the other of thefe \\v\zi. a greater or lefs part of the brafs bars comes into a6\ion ; and, uf courfe, a greater or left degree of expanfion will be given to the ptnduluni ^owDtvards.
Aa 3 they
258 On ibi Longltudtm
they exprefs tbemfelves, feem to have any di&in^ idea of iu tife, which appears to be neither more nor lefs than to expofe that part of the pendulum^rod, which is within the ball, to the iirft, and moft minute, alterations in the heat of the atmofphere, and by that means render it equally fufceptible with the rods of the gridiron. The aflertion, that a pendulum with a fingle rod and folid ball may be made to go better than either Mr. Arnold's^ Mr. Ellicot's, or the gridiron pendulum, requires no com* ment.
Before we quit the fubje£l of pendulums, we cannot help ob- ferving, that both the Author of the Preface to the tranflation of Mayer*s Letter and this Writer, notwithftanding one of them has taken upon him to attack, and the other to defend it, are equally unacquainted with the meaning of A^r. Cummingy when he fays, tha^ ** Though, in theory, five bars only are neceilary conftrufling a gridiron, nine are requifite in praaice," as they themfelves mutt have feen, if they had read four lines farther \ for he adds, ^' in order that the bar to which the pendulum is immediately fufpended may be equally fupp^ted on each fide, to prevent fuch tremulous motion, or bending of the rods, as might otherwife take place." It is here evident, that Mr. C. had no refpedl to any thing hut the conftrud^ion of the gridiron pendulum as it was originally made by its truly ingenious in-i ventor, and his declaration, that ^^ Nine bars are neceilary in pradice," relates to that mode of conftrudion, and not to any other method of conftruAing it, cither with five bars of brafs and (leel, when thoie bars are all of them made longer than ufual ; nor when the bars which expand upwards are made of any other fubftance (as zinck), which expands more than brafs does with the fame degree of heat. The former of thefe modes, it is well known, has been adopted by M. Beriboudi and, if we are not mifiaken, the latter of them by Mr. Arnold. We are^ however, far from being convinced that any confiderable advan- tages will be derived from either of them ; for M^ Btrtboud's bars mud defcend into the ball, in which cafe the a<3ion of heat and cold will not be fo regular as it is in the common form ; and in the latter, the ^inck bars muft be made thicker than the fleel ones, to compenfate for the brittlenefs of the matter, and, of courfe, may not feel fmall changes, nor indeed any change in the (late of the air, fo foon as the ilecl ones will. But let ex«> perience decide in this matter.
* Either ignorance^ or partial prejudice^* fays our Author, * mufl have influenced both Dr. Majkelyne and Mr. Arnold in applying rubies to the pallets and pivot holes of the fwing wheel to the clock at Greenwich, oft the principle of Mr* Graham*^ efcapemcnt, in preference to thofe made by Mr. Cumming', where each pallet has its own ^rbor, with an horia^ontal arm and
' a fmall
On the LongUuflk% 359
a fmall weight upon it, moveable at pleafure ; thefe arms, and their refpedtive weights, always falling alternately from tho fame height, communicate the maintaining power to the pendu* lum at each defcent, with all the uniformity of gravity itfelfr^ Here no variation of weight to the clock, no different denfity of the air, no fridlion or candying of the oil upon the pivots, and teeth of the wheels, even had it the tenacity of treacle itfelf, through the whole train, and upon the pallets themfclves, no expanfion and contra<ftion of the arbors, pivots, leaves, and teeth, can have the leaft influence on the going of the clock, when properly executed j whereas all thefe impediments muft neceflarily take place in every clock on Mr. Graham's efcapc- ment, even were the pallets made of diamonds inftead of rubies/ What a curious paragraph is this ! We make no remarks on the abufive terms with which it fets out, nor on the confufed and obfcure manner in which he has exprefledhimfelf through- out, becaufe they are common almod to every paragraph in the pamphlet ; but tlw extravagance of his aflertions muft not be p^iTed over. He anerts, that no different denfities of the air can afFe£l the going of a clock with Mr. Cumming's efcapement : but if he had known in what manner the motion of pendulums is afFetSed by different denfities of the atmofphere, he muft have feen that his pendulum is more liable to be afFedled by thiscaufe than others are ; for it is liable to the fame adion on the ball and rods that they are ; and, what is worfe, the motion of the fmall weights which communicate the maintaining power to it is liable to be affeded alfo, on which account thefe balls will not ^ communicate the maintaining power with all the uniform-* ity of gravity itfelf.' But there is another, and a much greater caufe than this, why thefe balls do not * communicate the main* taining power to the pendulum with all the uniformity of gra- vity itfelf,' which is this : notwithftanding the efFeds of that oil, which is applied to the train, does not zSt& the going of clocks which have Mr. Cumming's efcapement ; the oil which is put to the pivots on which the balls move, that communicate the maintaining power, does, by preventing thefe balls from de- fcending fo freely when the oil is foul, as they do when it is clean and fluid ; and, of courfe, fo much power is not communicated to the pendulum in the former cafe as in the latter. Moreover, the tenacity of the oil which is applied to the arms of the pen* dulum, where the balls z6t (and oil muft be ufed there), will prevent the balls from quitting the arms at all times with the fame freedom ; and we are not clear that the tenacity may not be great enough in this part to ftop the clock ; the efFtifl of it may, undoubtedly, be very great : much greater, probably, than all the oil that is applied to Mr. Graham's whole train and pal- leis alfo. If our Author attempts to evade this argument by a
A a 4 . diied
■" V
360 On the LcngUudi.
dire£l denial of the fa£l, let him tell us, why Mr. Cumming's clocks have never yet gone fo well as Mr. Graham's. As to the
* expanfion and contradion of the arbors, pivots, leaves, and teeth,' it is well known, that they can have no influence on the going of any clock, * when properly executed,* as every artift knows, notwichftanding this Author's confident aflertion to the contrary.
So much for our Author's knowledge in clock-making; and it might be (hewn, from many parts of his pamphlet, that he is sot better acquainted with the principles on which watches are made : but we find ourfelvcs running this article to a greater length than it merits, and fhail therefore only take notice of one aflfertion on this head, which is as follows : P* 14, he fays,
* I readily grant, the efcapement, the mode of applying a ther- mometer,' and that of a cylindrical fpiral fpring to the verge or balance, are new, at lead to me ; and all wherein it differs from a common watch. But I believe it will puzzle Mr. Arnold, and every artift in the world, to (hew from||rhat principle, or ai&gn any reafon why thefe (hould perform better than a com- mon watch, when the fuzce is as well adjufted to the muiiH fpring, and a thermometer added to it.'
We are no profe(red artifts, and yet we have vanity enough to think we can fee fome reafons why this conftruSion (hould perform better than the common one. By applying the ther- mometer in the balance^ where it adls with the greateft advan- tage, it has the lefs to do ; and as its a£tion is here the leaft, the irregularities of that adtion will be lead alfo: befides it ads there in the moft free and fimplc manner that is poflible for it to z8t in, and with much more fteadinefs than it does when ;)p- plied in the ufual way, where it keeps wriggling to and from by the adion of the fpring upon it. We do not profefs to be acquainted with the conftru£lion of Mr. Arnold's efcapement, farther than that it is of the kind which watch-makers call the efcapement of free vibrations ; and our Author's dcfcription of it has not contributed, in the leaft, to increafe our knowledge in this re fpe£l— .indeed we acknowledge ourfelves fo dull as not to underftand a line of it; and all the comfort we have is, that two of the firft watch-makers in London are exaflly in the fame predicament: we (ball therefore only remark, that muv'h has been faid both for and againft this kind of efcapement by men of the firft character in this branch of mechanics, and that we believe, experience alone can determine on which fide the ad- vantage lies; but with refped to the form of the balance-fpring which Mr. Arnold applies to his watches, we have no doubt but that it contributes greatly towards rendering the longer and ihorter vibrations of the balance ifochronous. for as this fpring a£l^ every whercj that is in every part of it, at the fame di(tanc^
' from
On tht Longitude^ 3(1.
from the verge, it is evident it muft be every where of the fame ftrengch, to coil, or unbend itfelf in every part alike, as it ought to do; it is therefore much eafier to execute than the fpiral fpring, which muft taper continually towards that end which it fixed to the verge, in fuch a manner as will allow the feveral coils of it to have an equal degree of action. If this is not the cafe, and experience has {hewn, that it is totally impoffiblc to make it fo, at Jeaft generally, the pivots of the verge will be urged, by the unequal a£iiops of the fpring, more forciUf a againft the fides^ of the holes in one part of the vibration than ^ they Will in another ; and, of courfe, the times in which thole ;
parts of each vibration are performed where the fridlion is great* eft, will be different from what they would have been if no fuch extraordinary friAion had taken place. And when it happens^ as it generally will, near the extremity of the vibrations, it n evident, that the fliort vibrations will be performed in more or lefs time than the long ones will : if the greateft fridlion (houU take place near t^ point of reft, it is ftill evident, that the ftiorter vibrations will be performed in fhorter or longer time than the long ones will; and thefe irregularities Mr. Arnold's fpring ap^ prars to us well calculated to corre«Ll.
tfCt us now inquire, whether our Author be more fkilful in the fcience of calculation, than he is in the arcs of clock and watch*making: or, if more fkilful, whether his integrity be. greater here than in hiftory« He fets out with objecting to the method of taking the mean of a great number of daily compari* fons of a watch's af^ual rates of going, in order to determine the rate which it ought to keep in future. And, to illuftrate his objections to this mode of proceeding, tells us a long ftory of a cock and a bull travelling from London to York ; which, as far as we can dif6ern, anfwers no other purpofe but that of filling up feveral pages of his book; for it has no relation to tlje point in queftion. In taking the mean of feveral days ad^ual rates of the watches going, we have no view towards determining the time which would be (hewn by the watch at any afTtgnable in- ftant within the limits of that time which is taken up in deter- mining its rate of going; but to aflign, without material error, the time which will be ftiewn by it at fome future, diftant point of time ; fuppojing the watch continues to go in the fame manner it did during the interval which was employed in objerving it : and that this is the beft, indeed the only, method that can be made life of, is obvious to common fenfe ; nor has this Author at* tempted, as far as we can fee, to point out any other. But to convince, even the moft fuperficial Reader of this Author's want t)f knowledge in the fubje6t he has taken upon him to decide on, or his want of integrity, for it may be either, we need only quote a paflage from P. 26, where he fays, * If any perfon can
36a
On tbt Longitude.
7
fltU want convi£lion of the impropriety and error arifing from taking fuch mean rates of the chronometer's going, let him turn to the beginning of this account [Going of Mr. Arnold's watch at Greenwich], where Mr. Arnold has put down the mean rates for each month ; according to which it loft no. more than 7^\64 in the period of 13 months; whereas, according to the daily rate, as clocks ihould always be reckoned, he has put it down at no lefs than 3' 56^^74 for twelve months, about 34 times more than reckoning by the mean in each month — a plain evi- dence of the truth of fuch mean rates for periods longer than 24 hours.'
Mr. Arnold has put down, at the beginning of his account, tlie mean daily rate at which his watch went for each of the 13 months that it was at the Obfervatory at Greenwich. Thefe twelve mean daily rates our Author has colledled into one fum, and finds that they make only 7^ ,64 ; which, he wi(hes to inA- nuate, is the whole quantity the watch ought to have loft in the 12 months to which they belong, according to thefe rates. But who does not fee, that the mean daily rate for each month ought to have been multiplied by the number of days in that month, and the feveral produds colleded into one fum, to give the to- tal lofs of the watch in the 12 months, according to thefe rates. And if this be done, the adual lofs of the watch at the end of each month, and its lofs according to thefe rates, when ftated correctly, for Mr. Arnold, or his computer, has committed fe- Teral errors in deducing them, will ftands as follows :
|
Month. |
M |
ean daily Rare. |
|
// |
||
|
March - |
— 1,37 |
|
|
April - May - |
— 1,89 — i>34 |
|
|
June - - July . |
— i»47 — 0,32 |
|
|
Augult - |
— 0,55 |
|
|
September Odober |
"■ |
- o>44 h o,3« |
|
November December |
- |
- 0,04 - o,so |
|
January |
- o,6| |
|
|
February |
- |
- c,6o |
|
Lois by tne |
Actual L0I9 |
|
mean daily |
of the |
|
Rate. |
Watch. |
|
/ /^ |
/ ^/ |
|
0 39.73 |
0 39.84 |
|
i 3<5»43 |
« 36.44 |
|
i «7»y7 |
2 18,07 |
|
3 2,07 |
3 2,40 |
|
3 J'.6« |
3 ".22 |
|
3 28.73 |
3 29,23 |
|
3 15.53 |
3 '5.9« |
|
3 3.75 |
3 4»oi |
|
3 2.55 |
3 2,62 |
|
i ^I^IS |
3 i8.«5 |
|
3 39.45 |
3 39.29 |
|
I 3 sMs |
3 56.74 |
This Table, without truth of fuch mean rates
a fneer, is * a plain evidence of the fur longer periods than 24 hours.' Ic
is.
On tbi Longhudi* jjS^
is, indeed, abfolutely impoffible they (hould beotherwife, in chi« cafe, as every one muft fee who will, and who knows that twice two malie four, and that, in confequence, there muft be two twos in four : and all that our Author has been able to (ay againft mean rates holds true only when the comparifons are made at very diftant times, or when the daily irregularities of the machine are fo great as to merit confideration } neither of which. has any thing to do in the cafe we are fpeaking of; that is, in the comparifons of the chronometer at Grreenwich, where they were made every day, and where the greatcft difference be- tween any two daily rates, in the fpace of 13 months, does not amount to 7 fee. In the comparifons of the clock at Manheim^ by M. Mayer ^ the cafe is very different ; although our Author cannot, or will not fee it. What muft we think of the man who, from this palpable, this glaring miftake of his own, has taken upon him to apply to another fome of the moft fevere ex- preffions that the Englifh language can with any degree of de- cency admit of?
We (hall make but one remark more on this extraordinary publication^ P. 31, the Author fays, * Kepler, Dr. Hooke^ and others, have given hints of an inequality in the daily mo- tion of the earth upon her axis ; and not only fufpeded it to be performed in lefs time about her periheliouy than that of her aphelion ; but even, that equal parts, any where taken in the fame revolution, were defcribed in unequal times: and the true phyfical caufe of her motion eafily leads to both thefe irregular!* tics as neceflary confequences.* * Indeed/ adds he, * the in- equalities of motion, in equal parts of the fame revolution, ia^ I believe, fo minute in the earth, that it will ever furpafs all the art of man in the conftrudiion of inftruments, and all hie ikill in the ufe of them, to difcover it. But my own obferva- tions have long convinced me, that the other inequality of the earth's rotation, at her perihelion and aphelion, may be afcei^ taincJ ; and I am furpriied that the diligence and accuracy of Dr. Maiktrlyne never diredled his attention towards difcovering it : for, were this a proper place, I would undertake to deduee a fufficicnt proof of the fa£l from his own obiervations *, at alfo from thofe given to the Public by Mr. Ludlamf, Dr. Wooiaflon Xy ^^- > &<id that the quantity of this equation for the earth wnl prove to be about four feconds of time/
It is much to be regretted, that our Author has not told ni what ^ the true phyfical caufe of the earth's motion' is ; or that
* See the Account of the Going of Mr. Harrifon's Watch. Alfo A(lronoznicai ObfervatioDS made at Greenwich, t Obiervatioof made at St. John's College, Cambridge* ; Phii. TraQiaa. Vol. LXl, LXIU, and LXIV.
be
3^4 ^ ^^^ Ltmgttudi.
he has not given us * his own obfervations' that convinced him of the inequality of its motion round its axis;. as, unfortunately^ areording to our conception of the matter, none of the obferva- ttons which he has quoted prove any fuch thing. Mr. Lud- lam's clock, the firft he mentions, gained at the rate of 6 tenths of a fecond a day at the time of the perihelion in Dec. 17679 and at the rate of eight- tenths of a fecond at the time of the aphelion in June 1768, which inftead of ^^' gives but a varia- tion of 2-ioths for the equation in queftion, which is a lefs quantity than any clock which has yet been made can be trufted i&r. Mr. Woolafton's clock, it is true, went fatter by about iT at the aphelion in June 1772, than it did at the time of the perihelion in December 1771 ; and about 4'' fatter in the aphe- lion of June 1773, than it did at the perihelion in the Decem- ber preceding : but the man who attempts to eredt catties in the air, is not wilder than he who would build an hypothecs of this nature on the going of a clock, with a pendulum rod of wood, which is fubje^t to warp, and to be influenced by every change which happens in the moitture or drynefs of the atmo- fphere ; and where the fubftance of the rod is fo heterogeneous that no two rods, perhaps, that have yet been made, obferve the fame law in their variations. Mr. Woolafton*s pendulum is itfelf a remarkable proof that thefe rods are not to be depended on ; its variation one year being double what it was in the year before. With refped to Dr. Mafkelync's obfervations, f{*om which our Author aflerts, that a proof of this inequality may be drawn ; and for which he refers us to The Account of the Going of Mr. Harrifon's Watch, and to his Obfervations, pub- liflied by the Royal Society ; it may be obferved, that the pendu- lum was altered between the time of the aphelion in June 1 766, and the perihelion in December afterwards, namely, in the begin-? ning of Auguft, and therefore nothing can be inferred from thence : if any thing could be derived from it, it would be, that ibe clock went fatteft about the middle of September, and flow- eft about the middle of February ; that is, nearly at thofe two times when the true motion of the earth agreed with the mean motion, which is direSly contrary to this gentleman's hypothefis. It appears, moreover, to us, that nothing can be drawn with certainty from his Obfervations, pub)i(hed by the Royal So- ciety, either for or againtt this dod^rine before the time of the perihelion in December 1771, on account of the frequent alter- ations which were madein the clock and pendulum; but ^he going of this mott excellent clock fince that time, is an irrefragable proof of the falfehood of this whimfical hypothefis : and for the fatisfaiSlion of the curious in thefe matters, we have been at the pains to make out ttfe following (bore abttrad of it :
At
Phthfcphical TranfallmSy for the Tear 1 78T . 365
At iliciiinc of the Perihelion, Dec. 30th, 1771, the Clock gained o I3
■ Aphelion, June 30th, 1772, loft o 31
■ Perihelion, Dec. 30th, I772, loft 0,4;
. Aphelion, June 3otb, 1773, — t^ loft o.-jt
Perihelion, Dec. 30th, 1773.- loft o,2i
■ Aphelion, Jane 3oih, 1774, loft 0,7^
■ Perihelion, Dec. 3o:h, 1774, -— loft i,oi
Dat Deus immiti cornua curta bsvi.
TC:
Art. IX. PHrLo^oPHiCAL Transactions of the Rcyal Sociefj ^ London, Vol. LXXI. For the Year 1781. Pare I. 410. 76. 64* ftwtd. Davis.
Papers relating to Natural History.
Article I. Natural Hijiory and Defcription of the Tyg^T-Q?Lty of the Cape of Good Hope : ^^j John Rcinhold Forfter, LL.P* F. R. and A. S.
THE firft defcription of this curious animal, which could be of any ufe to a natural hiftorian, was given by Mr. Pqi« nant, in his SynopHs of Quadrupeds. When Dr. Forfter and his fon touched the fecond time at the Cape of Good Hope, ia the year 17759 an animal of this fpecies was offered to him for purchafe. He here defcribes it ; and his defcription is accpm* panied by a very accurate drawing of the animal, taken by his fon.
Article 4. ^n Account of the Harmattan^ a fingular African mnd: By Matthew Dobfon, M.D. F.R.S. This wind, which blows periodically, on thecoafl of Guii)ci^ from the interior parts of Africa towards the Atlantic Ocean^ it polTefled of very peculiar qualities; the moft reOMrkable of whi<^h are, that, whereas ^fog^ or haze^ always acco.n^ipanies ii^ fo that the rays of the fun can fcarce pierce through it, except about noon \ yet extreme drynefi is one of its moft diftinguilbablc properties. The grafs withers when it blows, and becomes dry like hay ; fo that the natives take this opportunity of fettifig fire to the grafs and young trees, efpecially near their rosdsi not only to keep thofe road^i open to travellers, but to defiroy the (hclter which long grafs, and thickets of young trees, would afford to (kulking parties of their enemies. The branches of various trees droop, the leaves become flaccid ; and, if this wind continues to blow for ten or twelve days, are fo parched as to be eafily rubbed to dufl between the fingers. The pannels of doors and of wainfcot fplit; and the joints of a welUlaid floor of feafoned wood opeo fufficiently to admit a man's finger be- tween them \ but become as ciofe as before on the ceafing of the Harmattan.
I The
366 Thitofiphical TranfaffidnSj for the itear 1781.
The parching cfFefls of this wind are fenfibly felt on the parf^ of the body expofed to it. The eves, noftrils, lips, and palace, become dry ; and in the fpace of nx or feven days the fcarf-fkin peeU off from the face, hands, and other parts. The fweat ex- cited by exercife on thofe parts which are covered is peculiarly acrid," and taftes like volatile fpirics of hartfhorn diluted with water. Salt of tartar expofed even to the night-air, inflead of runntf^ per deliquium^ not only remains dry ; but if moiftened fo is to run upon a tile, very foon becomes dry. From fome experiments made by Mr. Norris, Dr. Dobfon calculates, that if Ais wind blew the whole year, the annual evaporation would amount to more than 133 inches. He had found that the an- nual evaporation at Liverpool amounted to only 36 inches.
This wind, which is fo pernicious to vegetable life, is remark- ably falubrious. It ftops the progrefs of putrid diforders % and thofe labouring under fevers or fluxes, and fmtcing under eva<^ cuations, are almoft certain of a fpeedy recovery, when a Har- mattan comes on. The ingenious Dr. Lind gives this wind a very different charader ; but the baneful effects which have been imputed to it are by Dr. Dobfon afcribed to the offenfive Tapours, raifed by the beat of the fun from the periodical rains, which fall in this country during the months of March and April.
Article 6. An Account of the Turkey : By Thomas Pennant^
'Efqj F.R.S,
In his cUffical dcfcription of this bird, the ingenious Author maintains^, that it was unknown to the Ancients ^ and that it is not a native of Europe, Ada, or Africa, but was imported hither firom America. A drawing accompanies this Article, reprefent- ing the verv extraordinary appearance of a /harp and crooked claw, exadiy refembling that of a rapacious bird, which grew out of the thigh of a turkey, bred io the Author's poultry yard« and which was killed a few years ago for the table. Article 9. An Account of the Ganges and Burrampooter Rivers:
By James Rennel, Efqj F.R.S.
This Article not only contains many Curious obfervations re* fpefiing thefe two immenfe rivers ; but like wile feveral others which are well adapted to throw light on various circumdancea relating to rivers in general ; fuch as the inflections or finuofi« tic8 of their currents ; the formation of new iflands; the de- ftrofiion of others \ the gradual, but in fome cafes quick, changes of their beds \ their overflowings, and many other cu* rkmt particulars.
Extenfive iflands are formed in the channels of the Ganges^ during an interval of time far (hort of that of a man's life 3 fo diat the whole procefs is completed in a period that falls within the compafii of bis obfcrvation. The changes of the beds in
fome
Philofsphical TranficihnSj fir the Tear 1781 J 367
fomc of the rivers that flow into the Ganges^ have been particu- larly attended to and marked by the Author. During eleven years of his refidence in Bengal, the outlet or head of the Jel- linghy river was at length gradually removed three quarters of a mile farther down ; and by two furveys of a part of the adja- cent bank of the Ganges^ taken about the diftance of nine years from each other, it appeared that the breadth of an £ngli(h mile and a half had betn taken away, A mile, however, in ten or twelve years is the ufual rate of incroachment, in places where the current ftrikes with the greattft force ; that is, where two adjoining reaches approach neareft to a right angle.
• There arc not wanting inftances, the Author obferves, of a total change of courfe, in fome of the Bengal rivers. The Cofa river, equal to the Rhine, once ran by Purneah^ and joined the Ganges oppofite Rajemal. Its junction is now forty-Jm miles higher up. Gour^ the ancient capital of Bengal, ftood 011 the banks of the Ganges.* — The Author (hould have informed the European reader, unacquainted with the topography of the country, how far this ancient capital is ruw dtftant from tbe banks of that river.
Our geography, with refpedi to the BurraTtrpooter river, has dll lately been very defedive. As a capital river, it was unknoira in Europe till the year 1765. On tracing it in that year, the Author was furprifed at finding it rather laf^r than xhcGangni and that its courfe, previous to its entering Bengal, was ftaUk the Eaft, although all the former accounts reprefented it as from the North. It meets the Ganges about 40 miles from the fea; and almoft perfedly refembles it during a courfe of 400 niilea through Bengal. Even during the laft 60 miles before its junc- tion with that river, it forms a body of water which is regur larly from four to five miles wide ; and which might pafs for an arm of the fea, were it not for its freflmefs.
By means of thefe twin ftftersy as thefe two rivers are called by the Author, on account of the contiguity of their fpringy (though they afterwards proceed in oppofite diredions), an inland navigation is carried on, which gives conftant employment to 30,000 boatmen ; by whom all the fait, and a large proportioti of the food confumed by ten millions of people, are conveyed within the kingdom of Bengal, and its dependenetes ; t(^;e^ ther with commercial exports and imports, probably to the amount of two millions flerling per ofmum. The Ganges alone^ the lefler river of the two, receives, in its courfe through tbe plains, eleven rivers, fome of which are equal to the Rhine, and none fmalier than the Thames. In the annual inundation of this immenfe river, the country is overflowed to the extent of more than 100 miles in width ; nothing appearing bet vilbget and trees, excepting very rarely the tup of an elevated fpot, the
artificial
36 8 Pbihffphical Tranfa^hnsy for the Tear 1781%
artificial mound of fome deferted village, appearing like an ifund. The rife of the water is, on an average, about 31 feet. Aruvie !i. Some Account of the Termites, which are found in
Africa, and other hot Climates: By Mr. Henry Smeathoian^
of Clement's Inn.
The whole compafs of Natural Hiflory, fruitful and exten- five as it is, does not perhaps furnifh fuch wonderful inftances of fagacity, power, and dotneftic ceconomy, in the brute crea- tion, as are exhibited in this \tty curious account of the Termes of Linnsus, or the ff^ite jfnty as it has been called by the ge- nerality of travellers. The works, in particular, conftruded by thefe infe£ls furpafs thofe of the bees, wafps, beavers, and other animals, as much at leaft as thofe of the moft polifhed European nations excel thofe of the lead cultivated fa vases. And, even with regard to man, his greateft works, the boaited Pyramids, fall comparatively far (hort, even in fize alone, of the firu£tures raifed by thefe infers. The labourers among theni employed in this fervice are not a quarter of an inch in length i but the ftruAures which they ered rife to 10 or 12 feet and upwards above the furface of the earth. Suppofing the height of a man to be fix feet, the Author calculates that the buildings of thefe infers may be confidered, relatively to their fize. and that of man, as being raifed to near five times the height of the grtateft of the Egyptian pyramids ; that is, corrcfponding with confiderably more than half a mile. We may add, that, with lefpedi to the interior confiruSion, and the various members and difpofitions of the parts of the building, they appear greatly to exceed that or any other work of human conftrudlion.
The moft ftriking parts of thefe ftrucStures are — the royal apartments, the nurferies, magazines of provifions, arched cl^aynbers and galleries, with their various communications; the ranges of Gothic fliaped arches, projecSted, and not formed by mere excavation, fome of which are two or three feet high, but which diminifii rapidly, like the arches of ailes in perfpeclives ; the various roads, floping ftaircafes, and bridges, confiding of one vaft arch, and conftru^ed to fiiorten the diftance between the feyeral parts of the building, which would otherwife com- municate only by winding paiTages, Thefe aftonifliing ftruc- tures are the works of an inicA only a quarter of an inch long, and twenty-five of which weigh only one grain. — But thefe and many other curious inftances of the great (agacity and powers of thefe infedls cannot be underftood, without viewing the plates in which their feeble frames, and comparatively ftupendous works are delineated.
The ceconomy of thefe induftrious infeds appears to have been very attentively obferved by the ingenious Author, as well as their buildings. There arc three diftind ranks^ or orders,
among
Pbihfipkical franfaaimj fir the Tear I'jUi 36^
tmortg them, conftituting a well-regulated community* Theft are, firft, the labourers^ or working infeds ; next, the foUiers^ or fighting order, who do no kind of labour, and are about twice as long as the former, and equal in bulk to about fifteen of them ; and laftly, the winged or perfed infeds, who may be called the Nobility or Gentry of the fiate ; for they neither labour nor fight, being fcarcely capable even of felf-dcfence. — • Thefe only are capable of being elefted Kings or ^eens ; and nature has To ordered it, that they emigrate within a few weeks after they are elevated to this ftate, and either eftablifb new king*^ doms, or perifb within a day or two/
I'his laift mentioned order differs fo much from the other two^ that they have not hitherto been fuppofed to belong to the fame community. In fad, they are not to be difcovered in the neft, till juft before the commencement of the rainy feafon; when they undergo the laft change, which is preparative to the forma- tion of new colonies. They are equal in bulk to two foUiersi and about thirty labourers 'y and are furni(hed with four wings^ with which they are deftined to roam about for a few hours ; at the end of which time, they lofe their wings, and become the prey of innumerable birds, reptiles, and infeds : while proba- bly not a pair out of many millions of this unhappy race get into a place of fafety, fulfil the firft law of nature, and lay the foundation of a new community. In this ftate many fall into the neighbouring waters, and are eat with avidity by the Afri- cans. The Author found them delicate, nourifliing, and whole* fome ; without fauce or other help from cookery, than merely roafting them in the manner of coffee.
The few fortunate pairs, who happen to Airvive this annual maflacre and deftruiSlion, are reprefented by the Author as being cafually found by fome of the labourers^ that are continually running about on the furface of the ground; and are eleSied^ Kings and Queens of new dates. Thofe who are not fo elected and preferved, certainly perifli ; and moft probably in the courfe of the following day. By thefe induftrious creatures the King and Queen eledt are immediately protected from their innume- rable enemies, by inclofing them in a chamber of clay ; where the bufinefs of propagation foon commences. Their * voluntarf fubjeSls* then bufy themfelves in conftruding wooden nurferiei, or apartments entirely compofed of wooden materials, feemingly joined together with gums. Into thefe they afterwards carry
* A fimilar tUaion^ though in a different (lage of eziftence, takes place among the bees, according to M. Schirach's ingenious hypo- thefis, feemingly founded on incontrovertible e^fperimcnts ; thejuf- tice of which, however, has of late been denied. See Af. Riview, Vol. XLVIU. Appendix to June 1773» P^§* S^^*
Rev. May 1782. Bb the
370 PbikfipbUal Tranfa^Uns^ for ihi Tiar ijSu
the eggs produced from the ^een ; lodging them there as faft as they can obtain them from her. The Author even furniflies us with plaufible reafons to believe, that they here form a kind of garden for the cultivation of a fpecies of microfcopical mu(h« room ; which Mr. Konig (in an Eflay on the Eaft Indian 2Vr- mitis, read before the Society of Naturalifts of Berlin) conjec-> tures to be the food of the young infeSs. — But perhaps the moft wonderful, and at the fame time bed authenticated, pare of the hiflory of thefe iingular infers is that which relates to the ^uetn^ or Mother of the Community, in her pregnant ftate.
After impregnation, a very extraordinary change begins ta tale place in her perfon, or rather in her abdomen only. It gra- dually incrt^afes in bulk, and at length becomes of fuch ai^ enormous fize as to exceed the bulk of the reft of her body 1500 or 2000 times. She becomes 1000 times heavier than her con- fort ; and exceeds 20,000 or 30,000 times the bulk of one of the labourers. In this ftate, the matrix, has a conftant periftaltic or undulating motion ; the confcquence of which is (as the Au* tbor nas counted them) the protrulion of 8q,000 eggs in twenty- four hours.
Thefe eggs, fays the Author, * are inftantly taken from her body by her attendants (of whom there always are, in the royal chamber and the galleries adjacent, a fufficient number in wait- ing) and carried to the nurleries — which are fometimes four or five feet diftant in a ftraight line. — Here, after they are hatched, the young are attended, and provided with every, thing neceiTary, until they are able to fliift for themfelves, and take their fliare of the labours of the community.'
Many curious and ftriking particulars are related of the great devaftations committed by this powerful community ; who con-» firu£t roads, or rather covered ways, diverging in all directions, from the neft, and leading to every obje£l of plunder within their reach. Though the mifchiefs they commit are very great, fuch is the ceconomy of nature, that it is probably counterba- lanced by the good produced by them ; in quickly deftroying. dead trees, and other fubftances, which, as the Author obferves, would, by a tedious decay, ferve only to encumber the face of the earth. Such is their alacrity and difpatch in this office, that the total deftru£lion of deferted towns is fo efF^Ciually accom- pliftied, that in two or three years a thick wood fills the fpace; and not the leaft veftige of a houfe is to be difcovered.
From the many fingular accounts here given of the police of thefe in fedls, we fhall feledt and abridge only one ; refpecting the different funftions of the labourers and foldiersy 01 the civil and military eftabliftiments in this community, on an attempt to examine their neft or city.
On
Phihfophical Tranfa^ionSf for thi Year 1 78 f « 37 1
On making a breach in any part of the ftrufiure with a hoc
6r pick-axe, z foldier immediately appears, and walks about thd
breach ; as if to fee whether the enemy is gone, or to examine
whence the attack proceeds. In a f^ort time he is followed by
two or three others, and foon afterwards by a numerous body,
who ru(h out as faft as the breach will permit them i theii"
numbers increafing, as tong as any one continues to batter the
buildings During this time they are in the mod violent bullle
and agitation; while fomeof them are employed in beating with
their forceps upon the building, fo as to make a noife that may
be heard at three or four feet diftance^ On ceafing to difturb
them, the foldiers retire, and are fucceeded by the labourer$i
who haften in various direfiions towards the breach ; each with
a burden of mortar in his mouth, ready tempered. Though
there are millions of them, they never (lop or embarrafs each
other ; and a wall gradually arifes that fills up the chafm. A
foldier attends every fix hundred or thoufand of the labourers^
feemingly as a diredor of the works ; for he never touches the
the mortar, either to lift or carrv it. One in particular places
himfelf clofe to the wall which they are repairing, and fre*
quently makes the noife above mentioned; which is conftanily
anfwered by a loud hifs from all the labourers within the dome 2
and at every fuch fignal, they evidently redouble their pace^
and work as faft again.
The work being completed, a renewal of the attack con- ftantly produces the fame e(Fe£ls. The foldiers agaii^ ru(h our^ and then retreat, and are followed by the labourers, loaded with mortar, and as active and diligent as before. — * Thus,' fays the Author, ^ the pleafure of feeing them come out to fight or to work alternately may be obtained, as often as curiofity excitesf^ or time permits : and it will certainly be foui^d, that the one order never attempts to fight, or the other to work, let thd emergency be ever fo great.' — The obAinacy of the foldiers is remarkable.—^ They nght to the very laft, difputing every inch of ground fo well as often to drive away the Negroes, who are without (hoes, and make white people bleed plentifully through their (lockings.'
Such is the ftrength of the buildings ere£led by thefe puif^ infeds, tfhat when they have been raifed to little more than half their height, it is always the pra£tice of the wild bulls to ftand as centinels upon them, while the reft of the herd is ruminating below. When at their full height of 10 or 12 feet, they are iifed by the Europeans as places to look out from^ over the top of the grafs, which here grows to the height of 13 feet upon an average. The Author has ftood with four men, on the top of one of thefe build ings, in order to get a view ol any veflfel that night come in fight,
B br 1 , Article
37« Phthfophkal Traftfafflons, fir iht Tear 1781.
•
Article 12. An Account of feviral Earthquakes fek in Waki :
By Thomas rennant, Efq; r.R. S.
From this very (bort account we (ball only extract an ob- fervation of the Author's. He lives ^ near a mineral country, in a fituation between lead mines and coal mines; in a fort of neu- tral trad, about a mile diftant from the firft, and half a mile from the laft/ In the earthquakes which he has felt, he could not difcover, on the ftrideft inquiry, that either the neighbour- Ing miners or colliers were ever fenfible of the (hock under ground : rior have they ever pferceived, when the ihocks in queftion have happened, any falls of the loofe and (battery Jtrata^ in which the lad efpecially work ; yet, at the fame time, (he earthquakes have had violence fufficient to terrify the inha* bitants of the furface.
The Author draws no coticlufions from this circum(tance ; but were the obfervation found to be general, it would, in our Opinion, tend to (Irenghten the bypothefls, that earthquakes are OCcafioned by the eU£lric matter » It pafTes, it may be faid, freely through the earth, a good conduAor of that fluid ; and Ihen only produces a concuffion When it arrives at its furfiace, atnd enters into the air, an imperfect condudor.
Cbbmistry. Article 2. Experiments and Obfervatians on the fpecific Gravities
and attra^ive Powers of various faline Sub/fances: By Richard
Kirwan, Efqj F.RS.
In this ingenious paper — which however may perhaps in fome ^arts be thought too learned, and confequently be obfcore to ftiany, who neverthelefs cultivate philofophtcal diemiftry not un* fucccfsfully— the Author, from a feries of experiments, and cal- culations founded upon them, endeavours to afcertain the vari- ous degrees of force of chemical attraction ; and to determine the proponion of the conftituent parts of the principal neutral falts, together with ^he fpecific gravity of their refpedive acids, Tn their pureft ftate, or confidered as p^Tfc&)y free from water. To undei'ftand the principles from which his conclu(ions are deduced, it is abfolutely necelTary to perufc, and indeed (ludy very attentively, the article itfelf. As the fubjcd is of a com- plex nature, we (hall only extrad fome of the rcfults ; without* undertaking to explain the means by which the Author obtained them.
He firft attempts to difcover the exaft quantity of pure acid, %ni confequently of water, contained in fpirit of fait of any given fpecific gravity, and i/i the other acid liquors. He after* wards determines the proportions of acid, alcali, and water, contained in various neutral fairs. Tht refohs, Wtth refpeS to e(fffip6unds fotifotd with the three mineral acids, are-^thatin 100 grains of pcrfeAly dry £ge/Uve faU tbere«rtontairked i9
grains
Philofopbical Tmnfa^ihnty for the Tear 178/. 37 J
grains of acid^ 6.55 of water, and (5.4 of fixed alcali. In th^ fame quantity of dry nitrty there are contained 28.48 grains of acid, ^.2 of water, and 66.^2 of fixed alcali. In loo grains of vitriolated tartar^ he finds 28.5 1 grains of acid, 4.82 of water^ and 66.67 of alcali.
Some of the inferences deducible from the Author's expcrw ments are, — that a given quantity of the ^hree mineral, an^ probably of all pure acids, is qualified to neutralize or faturatf one and the fame quantity of fixed vegetable alcjiU : (p th^ff 100 parts, for inftance, of pure or caufiic alc^i, th^t is, frpo^ which its fixed air has been ^xpelled, would be fatur^ted l^y 42.4 parts of acid^ confidered generally ; and that it fc^opf therefore that alcalis have a certain determinate capacity of unit^ ing themfclves to a given weight of any purt acid iodifcrimi^ nately : this weight being about 2.35 of the weight of the alcali} —-that we may difcover the qqaotity of res^l or pure acid in the more complex acid fubfiances, fuch as the fedative falu ?xl4 thf various vegetable and animal acids, by knowing the quantity oif oU or fal tartar* necefTary to faturate them ; — and that, c»cf vtrfa^ the quantity of real acid in uny neutral compound, being known, that of the alcali, by which it has been neutralized^ may eafily be afcertained.
From the Author's experiments and calculations, Fixed air, or the Mepbitic Acid^ as it has been called, appears, in its fixtil ftate, or when combined with calcareous earths in particular, to be the heaviiji of all acids, or even of all bodies yet known : gold, and platina excepted.
The Article is terminated by fome obfervations on fixed ve» getable alcali ; from which we learn, that 100 grains of thi$ fgbftance contain about 6.7 grains of an earth which, according to M. Bergman, is filiceous. When this alcali is cauftic, or freed from its fixed air, this earth pafTes the filtre with it ; fo that it feems to be held in folution, as in the liquor Jilicum. The Author found too, that 100 grains of dry vegetable fixed alcali contained, at a medium, about 21 grains of fixed air.
Mathematical and Astronomical Papers.
Article 5* EJfay on a new Method of employing the Screw: Bf
Mr. William Hunter, Surgeon. This paper contains an account of an ingenioijs method of applying the fcrew to agronomical, and various (fther purpofes^ on a plan fomewhat fimilar to Noniuses divifion of the circle. This mechod however cannot be rendered intelligible, without an infpe£lion of the plate accompanying the article. Its prin- cipal ufes are, the raifing great weights a little way from the ground i and the anfwering the purpoRs pf a micrometer.
iJb j Article
374 PUkfipbical TranfaHms^ for the Year 1781.
Article 1 o. Jflronomical Obfervatwns on the Rotation of the Pla^ nets round their /txes^ made with a View to determine^ whether the Earth* s diurnal Motion is perfectly equable : I3y Mr. Wil- liam Herfchcl of Bath. ^ It is very difficult, as the ingenious Author of this paper ob- ferves, to find a proper ftandard by which we may meafure the earth's diurnal rotation round its axis, or afcertain whether it be perfedly equable, or not; becaufe that very motion is ufed as the ftandard by which we meafure all the other motions. Ic fhould feem, however, that if there were any very material perio- liical irregularity in this motion, the great perfedlion to which Dur artifis have brought our prefenc time*pieces muft have enabled us to difcover it : and yet the Author afks, whether any clock, though ever fo accurate, would have deteded the aberration of the fixed ftars; which, he ventures to affirm, would for ever have remained a fecret to us, if it had not been fbund out by other methods than time-keepers.
The Author endeavoured to afcertain this matter, by obferva- tions made on the diurnal rotation of fome of the other planets; particularly of Jupiter and Mars, as exhibited by the motion of their fpots : but he found that Jupiter was not a planet fit for tKis purpofe ; as the refults were very various at different times: fo as to indicate that the fpots are probably congeries of large black clouds or vapours, impelled by equatorial winds, poffibly give them an unequal motion.
Mr. Herfchel had better fuccefs in his obfervations on the fpots of the planet Mars. The^ moft ftriking particulars of his obfervations given in this Article are illuftrated by two plates, reprefenting the pbafes both of Jupiter and Mars \ as obferved through a Newtonian refleilor of twenty feet^ with a power of 300, and two other reflcSors of ten and fevcn feet. — The im- provements which, as we have been informed, have been lately made in that inftrument, by the very ingenious Author of this paper, greatly excite the attention and aftonifhment of the phi* lofophical world.
Undtr this clafs we fliould notice Article 7, containing a (hort account of a Nebula in Coma Berenices y by Edward Pigot, Elq; and Article 8, in which the fame gentleman gives the de- termination of the places of three doqhle ftars, fuppofed not to l\ave been obferved before. The laft Articlt of this clafs is a very fhort extrad of a letter from the Right Hon. Philip Earl Stanhope, |**. R. S. ; containing fome obfervations on the roots pf adfefled equations.
Miscellaneous Articles. Article 3. contains a curious ihout.'h fhort account, by Owea Salufl)ury Brereton, Efq; of the many fingular and terrible tf- ^t(X^ of a violent ftorm of lightning) at Kaflbeurn in Suilex, in
the
Foreign Literature. 375
the houfe of James Adair, Efq; particularly on the perfon of that gentleman, as well as of 4) is coachman and footman, who were both ftruck dead ; and of his butler, who felt only a vio- lent preflure on his fkull and back ; though his hat and wig were driven to fome diftance, and a telefcope which he held in his hand was forced in pieces from him. A young lady and her maid too were driven to a diftant part of the room, and ren« dered infenfible for fome time, but not hurt ; though the pofts of a bed which the lady had juft left were all (hivered to pieces, the bell wires deflroyed, and the chimney thrown down on the roof.
Mr. Adair's right arm, right fide, and thigh, were miferabljr fcorched, and the flefli torn ; and one of his toes fplit almoft to the bone ; but though the foot of the {locking and the (hoe were torn in feveral places between the toe end of the (hoe and a broad filver buckle, which he had on at the time; the latter was not in the leaft degree injured, or even marked, but re* mained buckled as before. At the time of the (Iroke, he was thrown on his back; in which pofture, with both his legs up- right in the air^ he remained fixed for a long time : fenfible of his fituation, but unable to open his eyes, or fpeak ; and with- out having the leaft power of motion in any of his limbs for a confidcrable time afterwards* The coachman's body was found totally black, but without a wound. The footman however had a very large wound in his fide, which penetrated near his heart ; and yet very little, if any, blood came from it.
The only remaining papers are Article 14, containing an ex* trafl of two Meteorological journals of the weather, oblerved at Nain in 57^ N. latitude, and at Okak^ in 57** 20'; both on the coaft of Labradore \ by M. de la Trobe : — and the Meteor- ological Journal of the Royal Society for the year 1780. The mean of the Obfervations of the Variation of the Magnetic needir, in June, was 22 degrees 41 minutes. The Dipping needle varied at the fame time from 72" 3^ to 72** 32'.
An early account (hall be given of the Second Part of this volume, juft publilhed. 'JX ^ ^ ^-e^^
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
Art. X. Hifloin dt I' Art dt PAntiquhey &c. The Hiftory of the Fine Arts among the AncicDts : By M. Winkelmann: Tranflated from the German by M. Huber. In threp Volumes Quarto. 2I. I2S. 6d. fewed. Leipfic. 1781.
TO thofe who cultivate, or intereft themfelves in, the fine arts, the prefent elegant publication cannot fail of being acceptable^ It is a new tranflation, from the German, but with very material correiSionSy improvements, and ^tdditions^ of ^
B b 4 work
376 Foreign Literature/
worlr which the deceafed Author publilhed at Drefdcn, iii ail nnperfe£l flate, about eighteen years ago, in one volume in quarto. In its prefent form, it may indeed be confidered as ai new work. It is not a biographical hiftory of ^rtlAs, or a mere chronological narrative of the revolutions which the arts of painting, fculpture, &c. have undergone; but a kind oifyfitma'^ tical treatiji of the arts themfelves, though treated in an hifiori* rtf/ manner ; and in which the learned Author traces their origin, progrefs, and decline, in different ages, and among different people: developing the principles of the refpe^ive arts, and at the fame time illuftrating and confirming his obfervations by continual references to ancient and modern writers ; and to the various ftatueS) paintings, medals, and other valuable monu- ments of antiquity, which have come down to us.
The principal objeA of the laff fatal journey which the Au- thor undertook, and in which, on his return to Italy, he wa$ aflafBnated, fcems to have been to make the proper arrangements for publifting a French edition of the prefent work. The Ger- man manufcript, intended for his future tranflation, was found among .his cffe6ls at the time of his death ; and being carried to Vienna, was not till eight years afterwards, or in 1776, there publiibed ; but with numerous im^^erfedions, feveral of which are noticed by the prefent Tranfiator and Editor ; who has un- dertaken the ta(k, and facrificed, as he fays, much of his timet as well as fortune, through zeal and a love of the fine arts; added to an ardent defire to enable foreigners to read a work which docs fo much honour to Germany, his native country.
In the firft volume, the Author treats in particular of the ori- gin and progrefs of jfrt (including under this general title the artsof painting, fculpture, modelling, &c.) among the Egyptians and Etrufcans. In the fecohd, Greece furniihes the fiobleft materials, or fubjeds of his inquiries. Thefe are continued through a part of the third volume, and down to the death of Auguftus Cafar ; and the work is terminated by the fubfequent hiftory of Aft among the Romans.
A fatisf^ftory account of the life and writings of Winkelmann IS prefixed to the firft volume, principally compiled fron^ his own private letters to his moft intimate friends aiul patrons in Germany. We might cxtrad many curious circumftances from this part of the work ; and particularly thofc which exhibit, in the mod natural colours, that irrefiftible paffion for literature, and particularly for antiquities, which, ip the early part of his life, made this fon of a poor German (hoemaker in the Marche of Brandcnburgh difcontented with his fituation in his own coun<^ try, and refttefs till he had vifited Italy, and particularly Rome ; where be at length procured a refpedable eftabliihment ; and Wbert^ in one of bis firft letter^, written from thence to one of
bis
Foreign Literature. 377
hi« friends, he exprefles his rapture at meeting with all the trea* fures of antiquity — the fupreme goddefs of his idolatry — coU U&td together. The never-fading beauties of Rome did not cloy this genuine antiquary after long pofief&on. In a letter written only four months before his death, he difplays with en* thufiafm the happinefs of his fituation at the villa of the Cardi« nal Albinoni, viewing the fca with the more luxury, becaufe feated under the portico of the ancient Temple of Fortuni.^^-'-^K few of the more interefting particulars, feleaed from this ac» count oi his life, cannot fail of giving enteruinment to our Readers in general.
It is well known, that travellers of diAindion were glad to avail themfdves of the Abbe Winkelmann's extenfive knowledgo of the antiquities of Rome, and courted his aififtance. In Tome of his letters to his intimate friends, he frankly gives bis opi« nion of their chara£lers ; and relates the impreffions they made on him. From motives of delicacy, we fhall fupprefs the names of fome of our BritiOi travellers who fell under the Abbe's ob<> fervation ; and on the other hand we ihall take a pleafure in naming others. It would be ridiculous, and perhaps to little purpoie, to fupprefs the name, or rather /////, of the firft of thi» group, ' I
' 1 have kd^^ fays he, ^ through Rome, fome weeks paft, an EngliOi Lord^ my Lord Baltimore, whofe character I have learned on this occafion. We fpent a quarter of an hour in our vifit to the Villa Borghefe. He is weary of every thing, and baa found nothing that iuits his tafie at Rome, except the church of St. Peici's, and the Appollo of Belvedere.^
^ This Lord,' fays he elfewhere, ' is an original that tnerlta a defcription. He imagines that he has too much underftand* ing ; and that God would have done well in giving hifn a fmaihr ihare of intelligence. — He is one of thofe uneafy Englilh^ inen, who have loft all tafte, both phyfical and moral. He is about forty years of age, and came hither in company with a young and handfome £ngli(hwoman ; but he now wants a fel* Jow travtlier of our fex, whom he will not eafily find here. He 13 going to Conftantinople, nnerely becaufe he does not know how CO difpofe of himfclf. This man became at length fo in^ fupportable to me, that I frankly declared my mind to him. I no longer vific him, though he prefles me ftrongly to accom* pany hiin to Naples. He has an annual revenue of 30,0001. fter- ling, which he knows not how to enjoy. — Laft year we had here tijc Duke of iie « «, one of the fame ftamp.'
* I have been obliged,' he fays in another letter, * to defer my journey to Naples ; having been entreated by fome Englifli Lords, the Duke of «««, my Lord miHk his brother, and D)y Lord 41 ii^ «, to be their conductor at Rome^ and to attend
37^ FOUEIGN LiTERATURI.
each of them feparately. I undertook this matter, much more with the view of obliging Cardinal Albinoni, than from my 0wn inclination ; but I got rid of this engagement in a few days — Bot having met with the leaft tafte, or a fenfe of the beautiful^ in any of thefe gentlemen* Th« iirft of them, as motionlefs as a log in his chariot, did not exhibit the leaft fymptom of life, while I was difplaying before him the beauty of the aniiqui^ in the moft chofen terms, and under the moft fublime imagery. Accordingly, I have made a vow never to be fo complaifant for the future ; and to beftow mj attention on thofe only whom I I think worthy of it/
To (hew that the Abbe was not influenced by any prejudices which be might entertain againft the Englilh in particular, his ktographer tranfcribes part of one of his letters, in which he fpeaks with the greateft cfieem of two other travellers of the fame country.
* I devote two hours, every week, to two gentlemen of great merit and learning. Thefe are Mr. (Sir William) Hamilton^ Minifler plenipotentiary from the court of London to that of Naples, and My Lord Stormont, the Englilh Ambaflador at the court of Vienna. This Lord is one of the moft learned men that 1 know: he is even well verfed in the Greek language. He had married a Countefe de Bunau, wKofe death had very fcnfibly afFccied him. His rc^rete for the lofs of her, and the melancholy occafioned by it, brought him hither. According- ly, the dark vapours which ciouded his mind have been diffi- pated in this happy climate, by the contemplation of a thoufand objcds of curiofity.*
In other letters, he relates his intr rcourfe with the Prince of Anhalt Deffau^ and the Prince of BrunfwU. Speaking of the former, in a letter to his friend, Frankc, he fays — * The Prince •f jlnhalt — IS a fage^ born for the happinefs and delight of his fubjeds. The hrft time that I iaw him, he entered my chain« ber at night, with a walking ftick in his hand, and without any attendant. — 1 am De Dejfau^ my dear Winkelmann* faid he; I tm come to Rome for information, and I have need of you. He remained with me till midnight ; and I have (bed tears of joy, on felicitating my country on its having produced fucb a cha- radlcr.'
In a letter written to the fame friend, not much more than m year before his death, fpeaking of the Prince of Brunfwic, he iays — * I have for this fortnight paft conftantly «titeiided the Jlchilks of Brunfwic^ the hereditary Prince. — He has received here all the public honours due to his rank and perfonal quali- ties. I can boaft of having been on the moft familiar footing with him. He one day expreifed a defire to run with me; ana we have fometimes excrcifed ouriclvcs in this WAy^ wah a view
of
Foreign Literature. 379
bf tiring ourfclves ; and have fometimes fo well fueceeded, as to take away our appetites for our dinners. I have taken every op- portunity of fpeaking certain truths to thefe fpoiled children of fortune. One thing which I have frequently repeated to them is, that I (incerely returned thanks to Providence, for my not having been born in a rank fo elevated. It is certain, that true content is not their lot. How often have I not told this amiable . Prince, that I was poflefled of more refources for happinefs than himfelf ! An intimate connexion with the great is the beft fchool of content for people of our rank.'
It will immediately appear, however, that the poor Abbe, ia bis lower rank of life, was doomed foon to experience that dif- content which he here fo feelingly imputes to thofe who move in the more elevated fituations : though poflibly the fubfequenC extraordinary change in the ftateof his own mind might pro- ceed only from phyfical caufes, or fome corporeal derangement* The moft aflfeding part of thefe Memoirs of his life is perhaps that which prefents the Abbe himfelf in this uncomfortable^ indeed horrible fituation ; efpecially as it was the pre-difpoliog or diftant caufe of his untimely death.
After a refidence of about 12 or 13 years at Rome, the Abb8 projected a vifit to his native country, in which he promifed himfelf much pleafure ; for he announced his ttitentions to his German friends in a manner which expreflfed the higheft fatiC* fadlon. He was accompanied by M. Cavaceppi, a celebrated Roman fculptor ; who has given a particular account of thefiiw gular alteration in his humour, and particularly the unaccount* able depreffion of fpirits, which fuddenly feized his companion foon after they had fet oiF on their journey. As they were ad« vancing in their paflra^e through the Alps, at the foot of the mountains, he fuddenly changed countenance ; and M. Cava^ ceppi firft perceived this change in the mind of his fellow-tra«> veller. The view of the mountains ofiended him, and he ex* claimed, * See, my friend, what a horrible afped they prefenCf and what frightful heights I' Soon afterwards, on entering the German territory, the appearance of the houfes gave him equal ofFence.— * What miferable architefiure,' he' cried, * have we here ! See how the roofs of the houfes terminate in angles I' Heexprefled with vehemence his difguft at what hefaw; and paid not the leaft attention to the reprefentations of his friend, who reminded him of the grand and fublime afped of the moun- tains ; and of the convenience refulting from the pyramidal form of the roofs, in a climate where fnow falls in great quantities. He reprefented to him how little this delicacy became a philofo- pher like him; and endeavoured to roufe and enliven him by quoting fome epigrams of Catullus againft ill-humour and ca- price : but in vain. The Abbe infwered that he (bould be raw
ferable^
]8o Foreign Literatu&b,
ferabIC) if he proceeded further ; and tried to perfuade him to return with him to Italy. In their rout to Munich^ the confiant anfwer which he gave to all M. Cavaceppi's railleries, intreaties, remonftrances, and reproofs, was ^ Torniamo a Roma^ let us return to Rome.' His conduct in this refpeft bordered almoft on infanity : he owned that he was in the wrong; but faid, that he felt a violent impulfe to return to Italy, which he could not poflibly rcftft: and all that his friend could extort from him, was his confent to proceed as far as Vienna.
The Abbe every where met with the honours due to his me-r rit: but thefe diftin£lions were not capable of diUipating the dark vapours which clouded his intel)e£l; and he every where followed me, fays M. Cavaceppi, like a criminal. At Ratify bon, adds M. C, he refolved to leave me; and I afFet^ied to bo extremely offended with him on this account. The Abbe wa9 himfelf fully Cenfible of the difordered ftate of his mind ; as ap** pears from a letter here given, which he wrote to M. de Stofch ; in which he informs him of his refolutioo of returning to Rome by the way of IViefie. This rout he unfortunately took. ^
He left Vienna loaded with civilities, and various prefeBts#
Not far from Triefte, where he defigned to embark for Aneona,
) in his way to Rome, he unfortunately met with a perfon, a nil*
tive of Piftoia, in Tufcany, whofe name was Frani^ois Archan^ geli, who had been cook to the Count of Cataldo at Vienna* He had been condemned to death for various crimes \ but b^ lately obtained a pardon, and his liberty. ^
To this convici, Winkelmann^ ignorant of his charafier, ii| the fimplicity of his heart, confided all his fecrets ; and parti* cularly fliewcd him the gold medals with which he had been prefentcd at the court of Vienna, together with a purfe well filled. This villain had zSc&t6 a great love of the arts, and an extreme attachment to the Abbe's perfon. When they arrived at Triefte, the Abbe, not choofing to vifit any perfon in the town, ftaid at home ; amufing himfelf \n reading, writing let^ ters of thanks to the friends he bad left at Vienna, and making fpme additions to the prefent work. He diverged himfelf too in chatting with a child at the inn ; of whom he had become fond, on account of his agrt^eable prattle. During this time. Arch* angeli appeared to buiy himfelf much in his affairs ; and particii* larly in looking out for a veflel to carry the Abbe to Ancona.
On the 8th of June 1768, as we learn from our Biographer^ about two in the afternoon, Winkelmann was fitting at a table, writing particular dtiedions to the future editor of this work ; particularly with refpcci to the imprefiion. He had written two words of the fourth paragraph, when Archaogeli enters and in- terrupts him ; telling him, with much feeming concern, that he was obliged to leave him immediately \ in order to fet off for the
Sute
I
Foreign Literature. 381
State of Venice. After he had taken a tender farewell of him. Archangel!, as if he had fuddenly recolleded himfelf, begs of him to (hew him once more his medals, the better to in)prinC them on his memory. The poor Abbe, in hade to give him this fatisfadlion, rifcs, goes to his trunk, and kneels down, in order to open it. The villain fteals behind him, and drawing out of his pocket a cord with a running knot, throws it over his head, in order to ftrangle him ; but the cord having been flopped at his chin, he could not accomplifh his defign. The Abbe now roufed from his lethargy, fei^es and keeps a ftrong hold of the cord ; though the aflaffin wounds his fingers re- peatedly with a knife whkrh he had provided. At length he throws himfrlf upon him, and plunges the knife five times into his belly. He would have difpatched him inftantly on the fpot, had not the child, of whom the Abbe was fo fond, at that in- ftant rapped at the door, in order to be let in. On this alarm, the villain immediately fled, without flopping to feize the me- dals which had tempted him to commit thi« horrid crime. The unfortunate Winkelmann received immediate afliftance ; but his wounds were found to be mortal. He forgives his murderer, receives the facraments, dictates his Jail will with the great- eft prefence of mind, and dies in feven hours. The aiTaifin was feized, and brought to Triefle; where he received the reward of his crimes.
The murderer afterwards confefled that he had fully intended to have aflaffinated the Abbe the day before ; but that juft as he was on the point of executing this refolution, the good Abbe had invited him with fo much benignity to partake of his break- foft, that his heart failed him, and he found it out of his power to proceed in his horrid purpofe.
Though the Abbe publifhed many other works, replete with erudition and found eriticifm, and which have greatly contri- buted to infpire a true tafte for the objects of antiquity ; this is doubtlefs his capital performance. It is indeed an Unique in its kind, and contains every thing eflential to the (ludy of antiqui- ties. We fhail only at prefent add, that, in this enlarged and improved edition, the beginning and end of each of the nume* rous chapters into which the work is divided, are ornamented with engravings which reprefent ibme capital remains of anti- quity. We hope foon to have an opportunity \;>f giving our Readers a few fpecimens of the work itfelf.
MONTHLY
I.
' 0 I
1
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For MAY, 1782.
Political.
Art* ir. tyays and Means: or a Sale of the L*««s S«"*"*l
and T******J, by R»*«I ?••••••••!, ; prcmifing the Rcfolationt
which fanfli tied fo irregular a Meafure, and exhibiting the Merits^ Price, and DeilinatioD of the feveral Lots, with the Names of ihc Furchafers. ^.to. 3s. Kearfly. 1782.
T has* of late, been faihiosable wit to (ketch ont the ckara^rs* or alluiioni to the cbaraderty of eminent perfons, by apt quou<« tions of applicable paflages, from the works of celebrated authors* ancient and modern. In the piece before us, fuch chara^eritics are attempted in the high flowa langoage of a tomijb aadUoncer: Lord North being the Cbrifi'n of the occafion.
aP£CIM£NS.
« Tif Earl of •.
* A man of gallantryy a qu^nJam Minider of /«//^r//y ; .and, to fum up has perfedions, a lot of incomparable nnrtu. Old, yet not decrepid ; a debauchee, yet warm as beauty could wiih to fancy him ;
|A without a penny, in bis pocket, yet carelefs, and exulting as the deity
who guards him from the ikirniiftes of unequal lore, and iecures him from the deHined hazards of impeaclimenr. At the n — y board, or at a cacch club, abfoiute and unrivalled. In his fenatorial, or his do- meflic capacity, inimitably wonderful ; in his houfe, great, in Mo* ther *s, greater : In addrefs, incomparable ; in undreft»
ravifhing ! A hundred thoufand guineas !
* The Town of H L'^ooJ
« Tbt Earl fl/- ... J.
* A Prelate rather amiable than exalted, rather idolized than learned. Yet in the fchools of literature few have excelled him, ia the united grandeur of perfonal and hereditary hotfdurs, no one equals him. Sage morality, myfterious fcience, and polifhed eruditioii» have joined in forming for his brow a triple wreath of genuine excel- lence. Wit and vivacity mark him for their own, and focial philan- fhropy enriches him with every teilinony of partial kindnefs. Ten thoufand pounds for this ineHimable purchafe.
* The Primate of I—— d. "^^30.000/ In this manner the noble au^ioneer goes through the whole lift of the Upper Houfe ; and he (hews himfelf to be equally dextrous and adroit at handling the white-waih and the blacking-bruih. The money accruing from the fale, a prodigious fum ! is to be appro* priated to government fervice. Poflibly this is intended as a ftroke of xidicule on certain new plans of public ceconomy. An advertifement fron) d»e piiliflier, in the news-papers, gives the honour of this pro* dudioLto the ingenious author ^i KilkbamfUn' Abbey.
• Sandwich. t ^nM.
MoWTHLY Catalogue, Political. 383
Arti 12. Political Obfervations en the Population of Conntrieu
8vo. 18. Elmfly. I782. An extrafl or two from thefe Cbfervaiions will fuinciently infbrai the reader of the general principle that is maintained through tht whole ; which not being extteoiely clear in icfelf, to our apprehenfioni^ we mud alfo confcTs that no eodeavoars of the Author have been able to ittt ic from obfcurity.
* Ic has been obferved, that where commons have been inclofed, the fame tra6l of land which was before interfperfed with cottages, each of which contained a family, has afterwards been thrown into one laree farm with only one houfe upon it. The fame has alfo been obierved where (he fmall farms* into which the country was formerljr divided, are united and lett to one tenant, I (hall not contend for ' thejodiceor inju (lice of thefe obfervations; for whether the num* bers of the people have been diminifhed or encreafed, the cultivation of the land has been undoubtedly improved, and its produce aug« mented; and therefore the diminution of inhabitants, if ic has taken place, is far from being an evil. On the contrary, the confumpnon being decreafed with the numbers of the confumers, and the produce increafed by the improvements of arts and indudry, the fuperfluitjr which remains to be employed againft the enemies of the date U greater •.'
* Inftead therefore of complaining of a diminution of inhabitaatat fuppofing fuch a diminution has happened, we ought rather to rejoice that we have been relieved from a burdenfome fuperfluitv, and to wi(h the diminution more rapid* fince a change of circumttances has rendered us unable to find employment for thofe we have. If every perfon maintained by parochial taxes were to emigrate. I believe there is no one will deny that the parliamentary taxes would be le(s burdenfome, of courfe the public more capable of great exertions. This decreafe of population would of itfelf ccafe, as foon as it ceafed to be beneficial. As trade recovered, and the demand for labour in-* creafed, the natural love of gain would fupply as with inhabiunts ai fad as we could profitably employ them ; for population, if not con- fined by artificial oblUu^tions, will preferve asexadt a level by the at- traflive power of private incerell, as water doe& by iheatcraflive power of the earth. There may be local afHuxc.H and influxes of the one at well as the other ; but both will return to their natural equilibriuoij as foon as the contingent or periodical caufes of variation are re- moved ||.'
Thofe who apprehend, and join in thefe remarks, will doubtlele wifh to fee the whole ; and may be more fortunate than we have been in the faii8raiiir>n it may afford them. If^
Art. I ^. Lucubrations during ajhort RiCi/s, By ^ — — , Efqi
Member of Parliament tonne V-cuiiCy ot ?^vo. is. 6<l*
Debrett.
Thefe lucubrations are not conceived and penned Co as to difcredic the chara^er intimated in the title-paee. The objed of the pamphlet is a reformation of the parliamentary lepretcntation of the people; which the Auihor, in common with other tpeculatids, propofes to
•p. 7. IP.4S.
384. Monthly Catalooub, PoKticat.
\ cfTe^ by taking away an hundred Members from the mod inconlider
able boroughs, either wholly or fn part, and transferring them to thi > counties ; the coilcdivc b<.*dy of the Houfe of Commons dill remain*
lag the fame in number. To obviate the objection of injufticc 11 . depriving men of their franchifes, he recommends porchafing, 01
I giving to boroughs fome compenfation for, the rights fo withdrawn \
but there appears no great reafon for fuch an expenditure, opon t little reflexion. The right of (ending members 10 parliament in cor porate bodies, has, from the inflances our Author produces, beec always of a flo6luating nature; and 'the caufe is obvious, land beinj permanent, but popular aifociations variable ; fince the change oi circumdances that dilated former alterations may juftify new regu- lations, efpecially fuch as do not operate to diminiih the aggregate \ reprefentative body. If the freeholders of Gatton, and the freeholder]
■ of Old Sarum, (hould complain ofthelofs of their Mcrmbers, with
liow much more judice may the inhabitants of Mancheder, Shcfiicldi and Birmingham (all of whom, by the bye, are totaUy overlooked b ' by our Author, who transfers ninety-five Members from the trading
[ to the landed intered*), complain thai they have no a^liv^ participa-
\ tion in the political conditution ? If corporations acquired voices in
X the legiflative body on commercial confiderations, thofe coofiderationi
' 4 ought to govern them, and attend to the alterations they uodergo \
( of courfe, a new claim from a populous, flouridiing town, has every
:^* , conditutional advantage over the weak, venal voice of an expiring
1^ borough, funk into private property ! The grand council of the na<
tion is the only tribunal competent to corred the irregularities tim^ fliay have occafioned in pailiamentary reprefentation ; and if a de- cayed borough is declared, by the reprefentatives of the whole hodj of the people, to have lod its conditutional claim to fend burgefici into parliament, what is the purchafe of an extin£l right ? Are z/rui ignorant, needy wretches to be indemnified for being deprived d powers they abufe ? Is the Public to allow them compenfation for thi lofs of their feptennial bribes ? Or is the feudal Lord of fuck bafii Tadfals to have the feptennial fale of his borough made up to htm lirom the public purfe ? Thefe are proper quedions ; and an unqoali- fied negative is the only proper anfwer. It is to be hoped, it is tc be expelled, that no nobleman or gentleman who forms a part oi the prefent Minidry, or who now joins to fupport the adminidratioa of his country, will ever be found to tradic away his boroughs, but rather to emancipate them by a formal furrender of all undue politi- cal infloeace o^er them ? But what would the country be (he bettei lor fuch virtuous felf-denial f Thofe boroughs would only make tb< •l^better bargains for themfelves as principals, than they now do ia Ibbordination to their barons ! The good of the country, therefore, calls loudly for -the extindioa of fuch pernicious privileges, as fap the vitals of our conditution.
The author confiders the reformation fo warmly urged by fomi popular gentlemen, of (hortening the duration of parliaments ; bai to this expedient he dates fuch objections, as we confefs appear to bt { fiifficiently cogent : but we cannot enlarge.
[ — ^
l^ * He adds two to Loodoo^ two to WedmiAdera and one to South-
wark« ^^
«• Art
;.>• ^
Monthly Catalogue, PoUtkdii 385
r
Art. 14. Subftanct of the Cbargt of Mtfmanagtment in his Ma^
jeflfiHa'val Jffiursy in the Y«ar 178', compared with aotbeati^
Papers Iiid before the Hoofe, on Mr. Fox's Motion» in the Month
of February, 1782. lo which is added^ a complete Lift of t&e
Divifion, 8vo, is. Stockdale.
All that this pamphlet contains, except perhaps the lifts of tli# diviiion, has already appeared in the news-papers, and is now obfo- lete, from an alteration of circumftances ; and it is ardently to bs hoped we may be able to congratulate ourfelves, that all our execd* five departments are under new managers : efpeciaiiy as the prefent managers are thofe who fo ftrenuoufly pointed oat» and remonftratei againfty the mifconduft of their predeceflbrs. "tf
Art. 15. An EJfay on thi Nature of a Loan; being jih Intrb^ dudion to the Knowledge of Public Accounts. 8yo. 6d. Dc. brett. 1782.
A ftiort gloftary of the terms £«««, tntertjt^ C$mmm\ffiou^ Infttranee^ jfMMwitj, Three fir Cents. Four per Cemte, Premiutk, Bm^s, and Difceumt { which are almoft all the noun fubftantives nfed in the pecoliar language of the Stock Exchange ; with an application of them to the twolaft Ibanl as lefTons of bad funding ; in like manner as grammarlans'for^ecimei inftrn^ their fcholars by leflbnsof bad language. The authot's inten* tion is to qualify all who are defirous to rummage the odds and ends in the minifterial budget, which is opened once a year to patch ufl the old ftate ketile, whereas two holes fometimes burft out in the ftoppage of one. If this tra£l is well received, he promifes a larger work, to which this is to be confidered as an introduction. W,
Art. 16. The Prefent Hour. 8vo. is. Dcbrctt; lySa* The delcriber of the prefent hour promifes us much from the le- torrnptibli integrity of the prefent cabinet : And in fober truths i^ they poflfefs it not in the fulleft extent, after fuch abundant pfofeflions ; —but we will not anticipate difappointments ; fot if the leaft iralne is fet upon good fame, no men furely ever gave ftronger verbal fecerit/ for the redlitude of their intentions ! New brooms are faid, by good houfewivcf, to fweep clean ; and our new miniftm having lodg la« boured to get brooms into their hands, it is certainly now to be ex* peded. that not a cobweb will be overlooked in any of the apart* ihents, or departments, of the ftate. ^«
Art. 17. Cohfidimtvons on the Attorney dHiraFs Pr^ofition fef a Bill /or the Eftahlijhment of Peace 'with America, By an old Member of Parliament. 8vo. is. 6d. Debrett. 178a. This writer has an averfion to lawyer*politicians, and' to the offer of peace being made by parliament : the former, he fays, all declare that to be legal which Mtnifters deem expedient, or are ttidy to drair i)p a bill to make it legal : as to the latter, be thinks it the duty of the King's fervahts to oifer peace ; but a degradation of the coiimry for the offtr to come from parliament. Befide^ now parliamenury pro- ceedings are made public, the defign and the meafure are known to the enemy before the execution is attempted ; which is therefore ren* dered abortive. His wifties for a thorough change of the Miniftrjr are now fulfilled.
R£V. May 1782. C c Art*
/
3^6 Monthly Catalogue, Affain of Inland^ &c.
Art. l8. ACandidEjllmateoftheMiniJ!c'r'sAbUit7et. 8vo. 6 J/
Siockdale. 1782.
Lord North weighed in the balance, and foand waniiog. This traft was publiilied jull before the late political Revolutioo. The re* fttlc of the author's methodical invedigaiion is thus compreflfcdy in a few lines, by way of concluding paragr<iph :
* I mud afTer:, that hi^ Lardlhip's hearc is better than his head; that he is to be edeemrd as a g od man, th )ugh he cannot be ad- mired.as a great one. His ambition is greater than his abilities, and too ftrong for his reafon His eloquence is the gift of nartire ; he iioflvflcs no other requifites to the pcrfc£l character, nor will ever ' pbiTefs them. Culture will never remedy inhrrent barrehnefs. Other qualificatipns he has, lefs fpkndid indeed, but more ofeful. The' moderate and agreeable virtues which infure the happinefs atid honour of domedic life, which are exad without rigc^ir, and alTumed without ollentation, are thofe which embellish and dignify his condufl. To tie poll in which he now {lands he is unequal ; that beit Hacion oF humanity which conoe£ls eafe with dignity, and virtue with letters, no man could fill better ; and when he retires, or when h.-* h driven fcom public eminence, he may perhaps ack' owlcdge thf utility of thefe remarks, and coofefs that. the language of ;ruth was once ip'oken by the writer of a pamphlet, 9
Affairs of Ireland. Art. 19. The Claims of Ireland^ and the Refolutions of the Vo^ "* luntttrt^ mndicatid \ on the Principles ofSeidcn, Sidney, Locke, .&c. &c. .&€. By Leonard M^c^ally, Efq; 8vo. is. 6u. Jobnfon*
A fpiriced comment on the Refolutions. The author argues iia fapport of tbt claimi on, what he apprehends to be, cunriituiional principles ; and we think it will not be an cafy matter for' any oppo- nent, on the fame ground, to invalidate his rcafonings, or concla- fions*
America. Art. 20. Hh Declaration and Addrefs of his Majefty's fuffcring
Loyalillsy to the People of America. 4to. is, 6d. fieckec.
<« Many readers, on our fide the Atlantic, will, perhaps, confider this Maniftfto as the lalt eifort of expiring Loyalty in North America* It docs not appear who is the author, or who are rhi authors, or fubfchbers to it ;.bttt it comes to us as the ultimate re/cl^t of many in ill the provinces, never to.fubmit to the ufurped dominion of the Congifefoi who are be^e digmatifed as a (et of tyrants, whofe govern- ment ia not Icfs //tr^Arij^/r than fV/^^o/. The ecitor tells us, in his preface, that this tra£l )iath had a very exteniive circulation through (he Colonies, notwithflanding the endeavours of Corgrefs to fucpreL it* iFclie number of dfterfnjmd hojTXi^s be as gr-eai as this Addrefs fett forth, and if they ptrfevere in their declared rric^iutions, a for- midable oppofition to the new republican governirent may be main- tained, even though Great Britain (hou.d relirquifh the war, and leave our deferted adherents vq proud themielvcs.
. Tkere it great vehemence ai\4 bitterneis of rcfentment expreffed in
ihifpamphitft bat it contains fuch a reprefentation of ih? 'flare of
•^ I public
Monthly Catalogus, America. ^38^
public afTairs in that coantry, as may prove acceptable to vsrioas readers at home. Tbofc readers^ however, will judge for themfelvta . ywhat Credit they ought to afford lo^dnonymous rej^refentation's.
Afcer all, perhaps, this Declaration mav be corfidered only as a manorwvref which has originated at New Vorkf. Hut this is ofF^'red merely as a random conjedare, in which we may be uicerlv mif- caken.
Art. 21. C^nfilatory Thoughts on American Independence; (hewing the great Advantages that will arife from it to the Mann* fadares, the Ai);riculture, and Commercial Intereft of Britain and . Ireland. Publiihed for the Benefit of the Orphan Hofpital at Edinburgh. By a Merchant. Svo. is. Edinburgh printed' bj Donaldfon. 1782.
'i his well-meaning writer, on the profpedl of the eUablifhment of ;' independence in the American province;, confoles as with a reprefen- tation of the advantages that will be derived from a general frtedoofi of trade to ail the American ports; in which he coincides with thofe writers who think that this. QK)ttld be the bafis of a general pacifica- tion. J^^ Art. 22. Two Memorials^ not originally intended for Publica- tion, now poblifhed ; with an Explanatory Preface. By Governor Powrall. }Jvo. IS. 6d. Dodflcy. 1782.
The Governor has, in thcfe Memorials, fobmitted to his Majefty'a coniideration, * on the grounds of fa^, firil, how the fovereignty (over America) cxifleJ in cfficicncv, prior to the revolt : fecondly, oa what ground it mud now (land, as the ilate of our negotiations have placed ic : and thirdly, having in his fecond memorial, by a detailed itat: of (he fervice, (hewn how it ftands ccmmitred, in confequence ; jof the events of the war ; cannot perceive that he exceeds the bounds ■^of du:y, which a faithful fubjtdt owes to bis kirg ard country, whea he recommended, in his fecofid memorial, the withdrawing the troops iron) a fubordinate conced in North America, t^hich mult be decided by o:her events clfewhcrc ; or that he offends againft the llriiUll bonds of his allegiance, when he recommends the ir^eating with the Americans as with free dates, for a truce in terms of n/i pojjedethf as preliminary to a general congrefs of Europe; while, faving the ho- nour of ihe crown, he removes the dnmbling block which lies in U^ niUt and recommends what may be made praClicible : Nor that he could incur the imputation of betraying the crown, if he was a Mi* nillcr. and (hould advife, in cafe the fovereignty can neither be pre- served by arms, nor re-etlablithed by treaty, not a furrenrier or a cedion, but a withdrawing fro(n the difmancied ruins of a iortrefs^ ' no loii?:er dsfcnfible or tenable.* Jn thefc memorials the Governor offered hi^ fervices to undertake the ncgociaiion of aninjctinite truce,' as a preliminary to a treaty of.peace. But the memorials containing inatter of adminidration, they were communicated to his Maje!ly*a Minillcrs, prior to the offcr^ of them to the King himfelf. Some of them, however, not agreeing to the meafure of opening any foch ne- gociation with the perfons referred to, as being authorifed by the
f I: is dated January 8, 1782 ; but no f /ace mentioned.
C c 2 Americana
« «
388 .. Monthly Catalooue^ Edfl-lndieu
y^merlcans to treat for a peace, the memorials were delivered baek and pever prefented ; and to this rejedlian we owe the pabiicatioo of them. %\
East-Indies. *^^
Art. 23. A Letter to Edmund Burke^ Efq\ on the latter Part of the late Report of the SeieA Committee on the State of Juftice ia Bengal. With Tome carious Particulars and original Anecdotes concerning the Forgery committed by Maha Rajah Nundcomar B»- hadar, on the Proof of which he loft his Life. Together with fome Remarks on the Condudl of the Mnjority of the Civil Gorernnent at that Time in Fort William, Bengal, proper and aecelTary to be perufed and duly weighed by every Member of both Hoo(et of Parliament, before they proceed to determine on the evidence given up in the Firft Report of the Seledl Committee of theHoaie of Commons. 8vo. as. 6d. No bookfeller's name.* Ij
Art. 24. A Second Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burte^ £fq; on the Subjeft of the Evidence referred to in the Second Report of the Select Committee of the Houfe of Commons, ap- pointed to inquire into the State of Juftice in the provinces of Ben* gal, Bahar, and OriiTa. With a complete Refutation of every Fa* xagraph in the Letter of Mr. Philip Francis to the Court of Direc- tors of the Eaft India Company, copied from No. 7 of the Appen* . dix to the faid Report. 8vo. is. 6d. Whitaker. . Thia writer warmly fupportt the charader of Governor Haftinga againft the accafations of Mr. Francis ; and for any thing we know to ihe contrary, every word he writes may be ftriAly true ; but this w« will venture to add^ that had he been more temperate in his laa« ^uage, and fuperior to the ufe of farcaftic afperities, Mr. HaHinga would have been under greater obligations to his advocate* ^
NavalAffairs. W
Art. 25. Letters addrejfed to the Admiraby^ on the Naval and Commercial Interefts of this Kingdom. By Lieutenant Tom* linfon. Recommended to the rooft ferious Attention of the Legif* Jature. $vo* is. Debrett. 1782.
From thefe letters we find that Lieutenant Tomlinfon having, frooi ill health, fofficient opportunity for ftudy, was for fome time at alofa on what fubjed he fbould employ his thoughts^ that might be offer- vice to the nation, and of advantage to himfelf. At length be recol- ledled the fpeedy decay of fhips of war ; and therefore flndied th« feafoning of (hip timber. Accordingly he has written an effayon thia fubjedt, which he confidently afierts will teach how to make (hips laft three times as long as thofe feafoned in the common methods ; that he can build them fo faft, that all the maritime powers of Europe ^all not be able to keep pace with us in the increafe of their fleets ; that from the direfl anfwer to a fimple queftion, he can tell the worft part of any fhip without ever feeing her ; that he has a certain method of procuring able Teamen to man our (hips ; and that after a peace he knows how to employ twenty thoufand fcamen under the direCtioa cf the Admiralty, to the fatisfattion of the men, and to the advantage of the nation. ^
* Wbitaktr it in the advcrtifefflcntt.
H«
MoifTHLY Catalogue, W^oUen Trade. 389
He apprized the Admiralty of thefe difcoveries in asftrong terms as if he had alrtady float (hips to produce, more than twice the age of any in the navy; with hints of cxpeding fome advantage from the com* municaiion of his efTay. He was referred to the navy board, who in- vited him to fhew his papers; this» however, he declined; but has continued for three years to fend Lord Sandwich, Lord Mulgrave, l<ord Hilllborough, and Mr. Stephens, occafional letters, as news- paper intelligence infpired him, without having any farther notice, taken of his correfpondence.
It might appear cruel to treat a man Indicroufly who has laboured io long under negledt ; but though he may. be credited with meaning, the welfare of his country as the firft confideration, and his private advantage only in fubordination to that grand objedl ; yet as the publication of thefe letters is a dired appeal to the public againft our marine minifters, we cannot avoid hinting, that there is (omething throogbout, both the matter and flile of all his addreifes, that feems to C0untera6l the aflur antes he fo liberally makes of the value and cer- tainty of his difcoveries, \k Art. 26. An EJfay on the Duty and Salifications of a Sea Officer.
Written originally. Anno 17(10, for the Ufe of two young Otiiceia.
By the Rev. James Ramfay, Chaplain in his Majefly's Navy. The
third Edition improved. 8vo. is. 6i. Robinfon. 1780.
The firil edition of this ytiy ufeful compendium was publiihed la the Year i765t, when, as we are now informed, the profits of the impreflion were appropriated by the benevolent author to the Mag* dalen and Britifh Lying-in hofpitals ; as that of the fecond and third editions are, to the Maritime bchool, or in cafe of its failure, to the Marine Society. Thos^ while our authoi- dedicates hia time in a twofold capacity to the fisrvice of the navy, he demonflrates his fin- cerity by his difinterefiednefs ; and if the performance, which is now corre^ed and enlarged, is attended to in proportion to its merit, our ofEcers will gain many practical hints not unworthy the notice of the mod experienced, and the iecondary views of the Writer will bo fttitably anfwered. ^^
Woollen Trade. W*
Art. 27. Jtt Inquiry into the Nature and ^alities of Englifl)
fVoah, and the Variations of Breed in Sheep : with iome ihort
Remarks on the Dean pf Gloucefler's Pamphlet on coarfe Wools ;
and Propofals for relieving the Wool Growers by a Mode which
will not prejudice the ManafaAorers. By a. Gentleman Farmer.
Svo. IS. Evans. Pater Nofter Row. 1782.
According to this intelligent writer, there are bat two diflindlions of Iheep, in which we are envied by foreigners ; thefe are firll, the Aieep of Suffolk, Norfolk, Northamptonihire, Devonihire? and par* ticularly Herefordihire ; all more or lefs remarkable for the finenefs of their fleeces ; fecondly, thofe of Warwickshire and Lincoln(hire» jKrhich are not peculiar in the finenefs of their Wool, but in the quantity they yield, and in the length of the ilaple. He argues, that thefe are not different in fpecies from the other iheep in the ifland, bat derive their peculiar qualities from the paftqre on which they feed ; (b
t See Rev. vol. XXXIIL p. 88. CC3
tbat
t/ie
390 Monthly Catalogue, WoolhnTradi.
that a breed ofheavy fleeced Lipcolnfhire (heep, conveyed to the looca*
tains oi Wale, would foon degenerate to the flandard of the native
^^ mouniaincei's there. In the fine forts, he obferves, there is litt]6
dange* of rivailhip on the continent, Spain excepted ; but in the coarfe kirds our only faperiority is in the quantity of the pro.iuc^ The preference given abroad to Britiih woollen goods, he attributes to thf fuperiority of our workman(hip. To this we are not a little in- debted for our rrpu.atinn in the finer ar:icles, but alfo in the var-ous kinds of coarfe ftufFs, the e>cportation of which is the mod confiderab*e part of our woollen trade. Hence he docs cot apprehend fo much^ evil in a temporary allowance of exporting coarfe wool, to relieve the grower as (ome do; 'hough i c would not recommend fuch an expe* dient) but as a dernier re/ert in failure of all other means to carry it off in a maru'adlore l(ate.
in afligning the caufes of the prefent (lagnation of the woollen ma* BufaOurr, the author differs materially from Dr. Tucker* ; as well as in the remedies he recommends for its relief. Under the former head
'^fcrves, • Tht Dean of Gly ucciler fuppofes that the prefent !ow price of roarfe wool? entirely arifcs from our difufc of &c 'vcar of coarfe woollen m^nufa^ures at home, and from 0'..r war i\i»h Ame- rica; the firlt he fuppo ts to be the principal, the latter only thcie- conciary caufe of the evil. 1 cm forry to be under the necefhty of widely differing from fo refpt-dabl:' an authority Our difufc of coarfe woollen goods cannot be denied : it is obvious to every perfon who pay* the fmaHeft attention to things, that even women fervants wear fewer Huff j^owns than formerly, and men hardly any woollen waifc- coats and breeches; all v\hch, with the -^mertcaa war, mufl be fup- pofed to have made no fmali diminution inrur home corfiimption. But fhv Doito' fTiiftakcs prcritlv in fippofing '^ur home confumption of coarfe woollens i*, or ever was, *■ mach grcaier ihan anv ex;:ortariofi which can be f ppolcd to .' foreign market ' C:i the coitrary, had he enquiied at thof»- manu.f./r:urin|( places uhcre :he c. iirfc wools are ©fed, which are grown in d ftVrent parts of the krjjjd m, hat par%i- Utulailyir Ltnii,!njhir€t froiu whcnc* ihe compluints artit, he woufd '. ^^avc been infpimcx that three fourth?, if not tc r ;.f. ;.i o\ ihf'm, arc ufed up in the manufacture of i^ufTs totaMy defigfitd for a forei^Mi market, the very names of which 1 believe are known to tew people of the idand but the manufacturers themfeh^s ; and their appearance is fo fingularly gaudy anvi (xcrav&gant, that 1 ^aic {^y they were never yet feen ud the back of an Engliftiman.
* The e»il which the Do:tor complains of has been encreafing for feme time : h is n^t within this ten or twenty years that all this change of garment at home has taken place, and yet it is no longer ago than the years 177^ and 1777, that wool bore a very hi^h price, not only in Limoinjhirey bat in every other part of the kingdom, and our fvoollen maiiuta£iures never fiourifhed more in any period than they did between the years 1770 anti 1778; which will likewife prove, that they were not materially afFc6ted by the Aiwerican war. — Some particular branches of manufactures, which were principally confumcd at home, and in America, may have been greatly aftedted ; bat thcfe
^ The DeiMi'^ Ua£l c^as mentioned in oar Catalogue for March.
...... *• : . were
Monthly Catalogue, WoollenTrades 391
vers. only pa-tial m^s'ortones, and no conclufion (hould be drawn from ihfiD, refpcdlingfo large a concern as the woollen trade of chi^ kingdom in general. —The drcrafe in our internal and Arrerican confunip'ion, ha' never materially afpefled this country; it ha^ been quite abforbed in the immenfity of our foreign trade to Spain, iialy, 'I'urkey, Holland, Germnny, and Rudia, which was fo great of late years, that the demand for raw wool has aflualiy increased iince tiie commenc m< nt of the American war, and lon^ (incc the difufe of co;irr* woollen cIoa:hing became very general in £ngland.
' The Hagn tion in nur woollen trade may be dated from the com- mencement of our war with Spain. The Dean of Glouc-tter, I dare favt is not ignorant, that no* only mod of the religious, but alfo manjr of the other in habicans rf that country, as well asof theirfettlemenit on the vh/1 continent of S'>uth Amfrica, are cloathed with Britiih manufav ures ; the lofs of the Spanifh trade was therefore a deadly blow to us, and yet ii is not the deprivation of their trade alone whfc^ com^'etes ihe whole misfortune of the Spanilh war; for by thc^r blocking up G'bratrar, and pofTediu^ the command of the Streights^ . they prevent our woollens g^ing to Italy and Turkey, which are heavy good.*, and cannot be trarlportcJ by land, in the manner we now re- ceive the rasv filks from Piedmont, The only alternanveour manii- fii^turers have, is to lliip their goods for Italy and Turkey in neutral vcffeLs, or fend ihem by way of Oilend ; but thefc conveyances a;c ia- toLrablv expcnlive, and ^.fi'.rd only a fmali relief, not a cure, for the •X* complaint.
*^- * The war which has (ince taken place with the Dutch, has completed the ftagmtion of our mar u failures, Thefe people wore great quaa* tities of both our (I'ght and heavy woollens, which were in great vogoe amougii them ; it is na'ural theref>re to imagine,- that their trade muft hive been hrge, eipecir^llv when one rrfleds that Holland, for its event, is the mofl popjious country in Europe, When it is con- iidered that rhere only remain Germany and Ruflia, of all thoie places to which we rid an open trade for our manufadures, it will not appear furprizing that our wool g.u^vers can find no demand for their rai? xxia:erials.'
Our suthrr points «nt feve^al articles of caltivatton adapted to the I.incoJnfbire To:!, thai wo ild relieve the farmer from railing wool which he ca* not fe!i, particularly flax ; bat it is much ea6er 10 coi- ve.-t grs.'s TO a/abi*^, 'i<An to reilore it to paflure; and what n to be* conrie of rhe manuf;2durcrs in ihe mean while? When the (hcep are go::e to m.^ket, and the m-^nufafturers to other countries, how ia • r. our rtaple .nanufj^flure to be recovered? Hence he infers, that • • change cf pgriculture would bring a heavier and more lading ciiftreft up(.i) our aniiicers, than any which can arife from a temporary ex- po.'iation of raw wool.'
in the fcheme propofed by Dean Tucker« of inirodqciog our coarfe woollen goods into the Ukraine, he liates, that (he DcfQ write? under mifconceptions ; add to which that the coarfcil of oi^r woollens sire too fine and too dear for the native^ of the interior. pants of that wild and forlorn country ; and that in the impofuion of duties on foreign articles, the plan of the Emprefs of Ruilia is to encourage manufaSurct at boaie«
Cc4 We
/
39^ Monthly Catalogue, PoetUaL
We now come to oar Author*! propofitions, which are briefif thefe : Heobfeivesy that our commuaication op the Mediterranean is now carried 6ii tedioufly, chargeably* and hazardoijifly by neutral
- veiiels : He therefore propofes, that the trade to Italy and the Le-
vant (hould be attended with regular convoys. The trade to Turkey with woollen goods he deems an unwrought mine tp our manufac- tures ; it being an empire whofe Sovereign will not beat the trouble of forming plans for encouraging home manufadnrers in prtfercnce to thofe of foreigners.
He alfo thinks a trade may be cultivated with Sweden and Deo- inarky by procuring the prohibition of Briti(h woollens to be taken off In tho/e countries. This fcheme» however, may be as vifionary
^ as he deems that of Dean Tucker; for though he fuppofes Sweden
cannot as yet fupply her own confumption, the very exiftence of a
I * prohibition argues an effort that may not eafily give way to any ne-
gotiation to that end.
A third more certain method of encouraging our manufa^ures, ii defcribed to be by granting a bounty of ten per cent, on the exporta^ tioB of our coarfe wQollen cloths to thofe places where the trade con- tinues open, to bring our woollens more upon a level with thofe made
i in Saxony; and to be paid at lead during the war with Spain and
i Holland.
Such are briefly the contents of this well- written Inquiry ; for the
I derail of reafoning, the more interefted reader on this fubjedl will aa*
>^ turally wi(h to confult the pamphlet at large.
ujjt Art. 28. J Short View of the Proceedings of tbefeveral Commit-
I* tees and Meetings held in con/tfuence ^ iht intenM Petition to Parlia
i' «!#«/, from the County pf tincoin, for <i iin^ited exportation of IVool \
together with Mr* R. Glover's Letter on that Subjtd. To which is added, a Lift of the Pamphlets on Wool lately publiihedy wilt
i fome £xtrads. 8vo. 6d, Stockdale.
From fhis colleAive view of the fenciments of the manufadluren and merchtnts in feveral parts pf the kingdom, the exportation oj iiw wool under any qualification whatever, appears to be a vtty un- popular expedient. It remaips, therefore, to find out means to fend it off worked up into proper articles ready for ufe : the difficulty is^ thofe who may want them moft, ippear to be the Icaft able to become purchafers. This little tradt is to be confidered as a collection of im- portant matte^, the refult of naeet^ngs all over the country ; whicli ^ inight have been burled in oblivion, had they not been giveo to th< public in the compreheniive view now before us.
POETICA^..
Art. 29. /n EfiJUi from L y W y to Sir R— — c
W— — y, Bart. 410. is. Wright. If Lady W. pofTeiTes any remain's of that modefty which conftitutei *i the moii amiable di0in£lion of her fex, (he will feel herfelf feverejj
• cbaftifed for any ^aft mifdemeanors, in the licentious and obfcen<
trafh which hath come recommended in her name to the Public, (inc(
the late judieialX invedigation of her condu^. — The Authors of fuel
t- - ■»
X See account of the trial between Sir R. W* and C^pt. Billet, foi Cnm. C0«« Rev. Maicb« p. zy^. ' iMng
f
, I
t
■t
■ •
MoHTHLY Catalogue, Dramatic. 393
thingi fts tbe prefent Epiftle, may be confidered as the beadles znd hangmen of Parnaflui; who adminifter the puniihments due to cri- minals whom other laws and other executioners cannot reach.
Dramatic. Art. 30. Retaliation^ a Farce, in two Ads, as it is performed^ with nQiverfal Applaafe, at the Theatre Royal, Coven t-Gardeo* By Leonard Mac Nally, Efq. 8vo. is. Biych, &c. 1782. ** What is the plot good for (fays Bayes)^ but to bring in good things V* This feems to have been the idea of the author oi Rttaliatiom^ who has, however, unlike the original BaytSt really produced the reed things he intended. The fable is thin, hacknied, and impro* mble; the chara^ers. Precipe excepted^ are not vtry ftrongly marked ; but the dialogue abounds wiih ftrokesof wit, and is feafoned, perhaps, rather too highly with temporary allufioni, the common faft of the modern drama. The charafter of the Attorney bears the (lamp pf an able pradlicioner, as may appear by the following fpecimen :
£ntir ?RJECifE andFtiAVK,
(Precipe in am M-faJhiened neeval uniferm and hat ^ a fword^ Jlic\^
and black patch on one eye,)
Frank, This uniform fits you exactly. Sir, I borrowed it from an eld fea officer in the neighbourhood-^ You really look as brave, an4 fea-man-like, as if you were one of the Admirals in Wedminfler Abbey, defcended from his monument.
Precipe. I wi(h fome of them had defcended, they have been want* ing Matter Frank— But I obje^ to this black patch on my eye ; it brings me under (latate ninth of George the Firft, chapter twenty<« fecond, which makes it felony without clergy to go with the face dif<^ gulfed.
Frank, That a£( muft have loft its force. Sir, or what would be* come of the painted beauties of London ?
Pntcipe, Then, at a body may fay, I am only a feaman by fic« tion ; but the law fays, fictions are beneficial — But then, f»y» the law again, no fidlion ihall work an injury* Very well ; there can bo- no injury in my marrying a woman of fortune*
Frank, True, Sir.
Precipe, Let us moot the ca(e — In fiAion fubfids equity and juftlce, fay the books — then will I marry Mifs Fairport in the equity of fidlioB| ^nd afterwards be happy. —
Frank, In reality, bir ?—
Pnecipe* If not happy, we can feparate by fidlion — I'll Hate yoa 1 cafe in point — A brings his aAion oi trim, cen, againll B ; now though the caufc of adion had been tranfadled in the moft loving manner be* tween B, and the wife of A, yet muft A fiate in his declaration, that the faid B did wickedly and maliciOufly, with force and arms^ that is to (ly, with (licks, clubs, ftaves, fwords, guns, and other offenfive Weapons, feduce and--rf ^f^^^^% ^^ ^i^<^ P^ '^^ ^^i^ A— Do you un-* deriiand me ?
Frank. Perfedly.
Pracipe, Bat this is not all — for though A and wife had lived together like cat and dog, as the faying is, yet mud A iT*r, that B deprived him of all worldly comfort*— Oh| Mafter Frank, many a
good
394 Monthly Catalogue, Navtit-
fine! r<irtiinc h» been inaOe bv the fiftlon of trim. con. but npw j
pla'n-.ltFcan fcarM -ecovcr » Jhilhng. F'.u.k Andii th;>l w, Sirl
/'lif, Y.5, it is la-.v;bji ncihin; towbat (hey doat the Adminltyi whcie ti e aljMicocein ibr.'wjilii ujvm drv land— Jt was bit the o;bc( day a p rale »vjs triej tor lohiiiou.l/ ruli^iing the p>-y\ Ihip Si- Ja firph, on ilic hi^'h fcut, luur Uaj^ucs off Cape St, Viocent, in t!:< COi.r:vofNof-i:;.
/r<i«i. N'^w y';u j-krirder:). Mr P,.-u ipe'
ftttcpt Joke! ibc'Jtvil aj kt ' V^hv mao it ha* bren prowd te
the ra':s|jai>u uf iheviviliani .'.id .hi b.i'r. that the Ti>i(t<.'t;a L'oloniej
«t' Aiiiutica are iituate in, a'>d pait '''fthe county uf, £<.a[. A
Novels. ^
Art. 31. Fcnudt St Ability, «r ihc Hiftory of Mils Bclvillc. In
a -.r'.-^'if Lc^cis U^ the iaic MiU I'^lmer. isuio. ; VoU.
1,. N ft!w-y i7»-.
Ir I r..!!': H'Cie no: lb frequenrfy and r» Ihamel^My pr (li-.uted to ignoiance or intcrell, as we daily fee 11 is io the p'Cli-t -t^e, lbi« novel migh-. b^ pirliiLited, from the very hif>h encn>ii>uiii- b«i:owell on ii in the pubilc pnnr , to be uurthyof generul a.ieii'Kiii. Com- pla'TiLCc, tea, migh: rp..rc i!u fiir ftx, and hnmantiy >e'l 'he rrron of lljc lie.H. Tfu b roivt-er ti;i,i;e- a conducl the *rtv np^-ipfre la pa.iia' ll>:ii:iy : at d H-hilc our tribunal it relpeiled by [he Public, jullice Icrbids ui 10 iiuI1.mi1 rhcir »pi- ion-.
Wiihitefi- fcntim.n a we cannoL pa^ any diftingiiilhrd cctnptiinent to the work be;ore u*. A% a com;"lition it it ci<-k;iivc j aiid a» « pi£tu-e of TCil rfe ic is erroneous. X li in iti innr^iity aloni: thai k I u-fxcepML'nKble. The <raf:er vilirori of a circiil.iiing library will h-'Oi.ver linil an iimuli''g. irn^'l an hi^hlt in^<.'rellii](> !i cv : arid pcr- lips l.e t(i d;r h; aticd fetiilr will b<: bewailed of her fcari, by the fuiTcing. of Adeline a d :n Kt-linK) of J^ouifj. Except in ttir con- dutl of thr heroi e, -' ferial.; I) ibitiiv" ii n .1 the virtue of many of the liidic» t'f .iie ;ile ; a Icait i; it ('• impeifi'Ctly obferved, that Hie wl^o ruLordt ihcir Itory is cbl geo to achnovrlrdgc ihcir imp<.'i!e>'iiaa. I'lii* rovel abi'unds wi(h ivvditii>g», and bite Mr-, c^iliv.,!; s Limine* pi . ; .vt: ■■■■rv '■•« .-I i( r- f r,a3.;s in " li-i-le bltfl-dntf*." » A:t -iL. Jbc Y^iiiz Phihfipbir; or ihc N-lur^I Son. A dra-
Th'' fceiiij ;o t:c a ttanlldur,n from iht FiCdCh ; at there are fome e'ro J in g'.im :ijr not »ery conlii'tm with The lively and amtc ar- jurn;;!):! cbfit.cd to other pjrls of the performance. The young phi;- r ;)he', like tT,.-.'iy nt his t^ibe, falls a tidiiD to the arti of a dc-
vers (rom hii erors and ii h-- 7 wi;h lU- o' jefl of hii more »irtui.ui wilhss. There are fom-; <.ha jcmn in thi^ novel ibac are dratin »iih k lively, iht^ugh carelef' in'-A. hey aie dilcrjminikted bitert'II.>. u if leaipeilun.^i's haj fa: to th.- psinler. But ihey are nn-ri; ou:li'it^, with one Of two exci'piion: ; ^<J they capu\a;e, ra.ticr froi:i tlitir fingulari y iha.-) thtir ir<erii 1 I". conii.'tf,i(ions a:e animated and fenlible ; and tlic iV..; •ilium ii;:;reitin^. We ihould iccoiDincnd it Dore warmly, il we were not a^aro. (hit when pleifure is adorned with fcdilcicg Cbiour:, the bcft rc^foolns) ot philMuphy lolie' their cf-
ied:
*
Monthly Catalogue, Novibw 395
fed: and frcqnently the mod awful rmflionsof religion find their influence but weak, when oppofed to the delafions ot wit and the force of pailion. JR— k#
Art. 33. Fajhionahle Follies. A Novel, containing the U\C^
tory of a Parihan Family, lamo. 2 Vols, f s. Dodllcy. 1781.
The number of foUies recorded in this work is 501 ! one more might have been added to the ca:aIogue, and that is, the fil/y of a fcr.fib't iiirlior in recc;cling the moft deteflable crimes under fo {gentle a till?; and in relarin^^ with gaiety what oaghc nt'ver rc^ be thoucrht of without abhorrence. Bu: as Solomon truly obferves — ** foolt make a mecJ^ of (in !** Art. 34. The yfdveniures of a Rupee: wherein are interfperfeJ
various Anecdctes, Afiatic acd European 8vo. 3s. boards*
Murray. 1782.
This performance is ufhered into the world by a preface of a verjr fingular call, which begins in thi^ manner. *• Ye modern writers of novels who excite fily paflion? in Jily people by nxjretched language* —It may be (u. And wiiit then \ -^ by U'»doubrcdly, this novel iswricien to (hew how a lui/e mjn can excite ^ife p:»irionb by excdlent language! And yet — for mod ell y and wi(d ^m ar.-: iifepa^abte ! -• the writer * pro^eds that the prefeot performance is in his own opiniom fo iiHgnilicant, that he ihould btujh to affix bis name, to it, if he did not thifik it might bear fome rank among the perform tnces of the farte (pedes which every hour engenders.' • My work, fays he, ia bavin of incident : and whdt inciucnr it has may no: be, in its kind, of irriponancc : but my nbfcrvaMoiis from human na<ure are neither fo fir»qii.nt por fo great as ♦^hc ir(igniricant and »»norant imitators of Sterne • nd other novcliiU d«;Iy exhibit in thci. iitlcted and foolifh produ' lion^* To this we fully afjcnt \ .but tha^ a mart fo deeply coa- icious of his inabili'y thould pLbliOi this -.vrrk, nnlv b-^caure .'h-.'rs have fxbihltcd produ6lton$ mc^e flfffQtd and mure fo.hjb than hit ovj/ip would appear icmcwhai tx!r;.oruiii -ry, if tne au'hor had not decU- td» that he would not purmit • criticilm' ro d^T'tit op his dcfrjrts ! I hit precaution was a w;fe !lep in a confcious author; bc.aul'c a lour critic micrht oth. fwife have parodied ihe apoloi^v hy r.llKl^kin^';^, ih u witb cqu-il propnety a thief may julHfy his pickisjv; a p .".ke^ by the more darirg example (fihofe who ror> .^nd murder on rr. ; ipphwjy !
Thrfe Adventures of a Rupee arc r)n":ewh:»t f^r.Ked on the model of i\\z Adventures of a Guinea: but they have nc:t;^er the (hrewd reflec- tions nor the varied entertainment oi* tht;la" cr.
The roppe p?fliVs through feverni hands an i !« made to fympath'ze ▼cry cordially, with the joys ar.d forrovvs r\' «he pofTefTor. At Mifs Melville';* meeting her lover alter a lorg nrleice, our run e fee. nt particularly afFcf^ed, and ar:(ulJy th.ov.f, li.;- ihe painter cf antiqui- ty, a veil over fcencs too tender to hv. cxp'-^'fT-u. ** Ths mode that mortals hairc adopted cf exprLfling idca^ by words now fails me (faya Rufee) entirely : for
" Who can paint the lovers as ihcy food ?**
However, they did not long continue in this attit ide. Rupee '^^d th? inexprc(riblc fati?fac\ion to (cc ' ih*- yon.n;; pair united by Hvincn, while HeiifuiC fatimiling ea tbe waA.'
A F'.er
V
Vv.
E
J96 Mc!«THtY CataloguK) Aftfitttaneouu
Afttr feveral Afiatic and Europeam adventures, our Rupu becomci the properly of a certain ' good man, who chough not a rich inaa* ^ y\ liad been Governor of a rich ifland; and what is more furprifing^ this Governor of a rich illand» who i» not a rich man, is a foidicr and yet a fcholar.' * This gentleman (fays Rupee) happening to fee me, refolved to purchafe me of my crooiced mafter $ for I think I have before obferved, that gold never before improved itfelf to the degree that I have dome* A ^try modeft compliment ! But Rupee had feen m deal of good company : and con/chus merit will infpire a fort of «9- Jeft aflurance. However Rupee is to wander no longer abroad. He bath feen enough of the world ; and the world hath feen enough of bim. * I am (fays he) fafely laid up in a ftorehouf: of a fociety o£ ,- antiquarians, where with medals, buds, infcriptiom^ and ether of my
learned brethren^ I fpend my hours in feparating Truth from the ajhei
cf Timi ! A curious kind of employment for Rupee and his hrethrem /
And as curious an account he gives of it too ! *. Our c)es can pene-
. ' irate, with the fame eafe, the fiade of antiquity, and the prejuiicu
/ that furround the prefent day. We fay, without fear of pnniihmenty
that Alexander the Great was a man \ and that Julius Cxfar was a bold man.* Courageous Rupee! Who can match thee and thy brethren for freedom of fpeech ? However, as Rupee^ by his own ac- count, is * like to pafs a number of years' in the tahinety we hope he will fuffer nonie of i:s fccrets to tranfpire, through a fooliOi ambition of discovering his own importance ; but reft in peace amidft * the
: • ^A' of Timer S.^.K.
^j,,' Miscellaneous.
^ ; Art. 35. 7bi Sky-Rocket ; or Thoughts during the Eaftei
\ Reccfs of Parliament, on feveral very important Subjeds, and oa
iv,^ feveral recent eveuts. By ■ , Efq. M^o^ber fo|
the County of qf^^Svo, i s. Matthews.
The Sky-Rocket ! Ana why, in the names of all poflible tropei sad figure , a (ky-rocket ? Perhaps, for we are really at a lofs, htn canfe a Iky- rocket is inclofed in paper, and thefe thoughts are aifo contained in paper \ but (we do not mention it to alarm the honour- able writer's appreheniions on what is poflible to happen) fo fome-« . times 18 a pound of butter. Again, a paper cafe is no iky-rock)et»
\ Bofefs it is filled with a due mixture of combuftibles; and we caa
I ^ affure our readers, that the contents of thefe iheeta are peHedly in-
ofienfive* Once more, 4 (ky-rocket, when fired, rifes in a uniform diredion» whereas thefe thoughts go off in fuch a zig-zag manner* that if we muft compare the pamphlet to any fpecies of fireworks, we will call it a cracker. Firft, the author ia ill-natured enough, being boliday-time by confeflion, to Eing it among the legs of the difcarde^ MiniQers, to make them jump. Th^n it bounces into the old cafi- efiF mintfterial budget, where it ^ingt^ ibme of the propofed taxes ; particularly one that was ruAioured on fervantrmaids. It fprings next into the playhoufe, where it makes a fprious explofion to alarm bot)^ the aflors and the auditors. At lad it bounces back tgain into the lioufe of Commons, among the irreligious part of the Members :— but we mud now difmifs the metaphor fuggefted by the author; for, in (bort, after various rambles, his conclufionis qnitea fermon, on ^he difperfion of the Jews, on the propagation of the gofpdj Qtk tM ne.
7^ /4^e^C-^ a^^P -^r ffUmtd^ /fp^
Moi^tHlV CATAtoCtTE, MifciUomcui. 397
gk6l of the Members in attending the dated prayeri of the Hoofe, and on the prophanation of the Lord's day. it is a rerioas compofition, which thie author endeavoars to enliven with humour ; and there ia juft enough of the one to deftroy the cfFeft of the other. ^
Art. 36. Sketches of the Lives and Writings of the Ladies of France.
By Ann I'hickneiie. i2mo. 3 Vols. 10 s. 6 d. DoolJey, &c.
In our 58th vol. p. 466. (No. for jane, 1778) we gave an account of the tirlt volume of thefe Biographical Sketches ; the fecond vol* of the fet now before os bears date 1780; and the third was printed in 1781.
With refpedi to the literary merit of this work, we mufi repeat what we have already* faid« in the article above referred to» that though the language of thefe Sketches is not every where correA» yet they abound wiih traits of hiftory, and with entertaining anecdotes of the principal ladief, which cannot fail to procure them a coniider* able number of readers — efpecially among the fair fex. Our prin*' cipal obje^ion to Mrs. ThickneiTeV performance is, that (as mentioii* ed befoce) i'eversl trifling articles, relating to perfons of whom little is faid, aod who merit ftill lefs* are in(Vrced in it. We readily, how- ever, fubfcribe to the juftnefs of thef||^r writer's own apology for the imperfcflioos of her publication ; which is as follows: (he tntreata the candid reader to overlook the many errors of the Editor [the lady modettly declining the fnperior title of Author], and to remember^ that the extrads Irom the female writers of France are only given aa crude (ketches : ' but we have endeavoured, adds (he, to omit every thing that could awaken vice, and to feledlonly the moral fentiments, and ihe iniereiUng anecdotes which we have found among a vaft pro- fufion of inflammatory love-tales.' Mrs. T. concludes her apology, with expreiiing, h9,x^ properly, her concern to obferve, \\\%i Juch tales feem to be * the rage of this kingdom, as well as in France.' This, ihe fears, * has been the caufe' [it may have been one caufe] * of that levity of behaviour among us, which was, till of late years, charaderiftic of French women only,^
Art. 37. The Chejier Guide \ or, an Account of the ancient and prefent State of that City. 8vo. is. Lowndes. 1781.
CheHer is a very fingular, as well as a very confiderable city. Our Readers had an ample account of it in our Extrads from Mr. Peo- Aant*s Tours. See, particularly, Rev^ vol. Ix. p. 34. Art. 38. The Southampton Guide i or, an Account of the ancient
and prefent State of that Town. A new Edition, enlarged. 8to. , IS. Law. 1781.
Southampton is a moft agreeable place; and this account of it will be uleful and entertaining to thole who repair thither for bufi* nefs or amufrment. Art. 39. The Lives of the moji eminent Englijh Poets ; with cri*
tical Obfervations on their Works. By Samuel Johnfon. Sro*
4 Vols. il. IS. Boards. Cadell, &c. 1781.
This large o3a*vo edition comprehends all the Bic^graphical Prefacea of Dr.' Johuton, detached from the ten volumes of the original fmall duodecimo edition, which was lately given to the Public, in connexion ^j(h the elegant imprefiion, in (ixty-eighc volumes, of the works of tho molt eminent ftingliih poets* witJi heads by Bartolosxi, Shcrwin, Urc
—Of
• ^
I
^8 MoNTHtY Cataloooe, Medkal^ &c.
—Of that edition we have given an ample accoant, in feveraF die* tached artidf*.
Art, 40. EJ/cr^s en the Hijlory of Mankind^ in rude and in culti^ <vated ^gfs. By James Du..bar, LL. D. Proteflbr of Fhilpfop'ry in the King'a College and Univerficy of Aberdeen. The fecond Edition, wiih Additions. 8vo 6 s. bound. Cadcll. 1782. In oar Review for D?c. I '. 80, we gave an account of the firll edition of (hefe in^eniou^ EA'iys ; and we are happy to find our opinion oi their merit confirm ed by thiit of the Public in {general. Among the additions made to ^he work, in this rew imprefTion, we obferve a very extraordinary character of Dean Tucker — For the honour oi ^oman natare, we hope the pi^ure bears very little refemblance to the original.-'There has been a literary quarrel between thefe Gen- tlemen ; they have put each other cut of humour; and we muil not « mind what people fay when they are in a paflion. «^
■^ Medical J*
) ' Art. 41. 77;f Works of Alexander Monro^ M. D. F, R. S. Fellow
of the Royal College t.f l'h)iic:anf, «»*.d late Prolt-ffbr of Medicine and Anatomy in the Univcrlity of Edinburgh. Publilhed by hta ^on, Alexander Monro, M. V). &c. &c. To which is prefixed^ the Life of the Author. Illuilratcd with Copper-plates. 4to« ' ^ I 1. 5 $. Robinfon. x'ji.l.
Wc cannot better announce this valuable publication, than by ' copying the Advertifement prefixed by the Editor, the juftly cele-
brated fucccflbr of his father in the profcflional chiiir. Li'' * I flatter myfelf, that this colleflion of the works of my father*
V I will prove not only acceptable to his pupils and fricnc's, but nfeful
■" to the Poblrc, as many of them treat exprefbly on praftxal fubjcdki,
>^«^ and that in all of them feme application to pradice is pointed out.
• To the works printed under his own infpe^tion, I have added two piece.c .
• The firft is an Oration /)? Quticula Humana, delivered by him above 40 years ago in the Cca.mon Hall <.f thi- Univerfity, in which many conous circumflances are defcribed which had efcaped the obferva- tion of former Anatomilh, panicuhrly the appearanve of the fibres
^ that conned the Coticula to the Cutis Vera, which (ince that time
( has been annually dcmonllrated in the Anatomical : heatre of this
place.
• The other piece is an Fffay on Comparative Anatomy, compofed I from notes ta!:cn at his Ledures, and publilhed at Loiidor. in 1744.
! ' • * But as Ills EJjuy was publilhed without hi^ co^nfeot or koowlt'i^ge,
^ . and that of courlc m.iny rrrOiL ii-vi cr:pt into it, 1 have endeavoured
to cQrred thcfe, and ma'ie a lew .iiMitiors to it, from obfervationt collcdcd b;. himftf:f wi h a view to a lii;^?-r wjtk on.il.at 1 iHed| but which, by various avocations, h-* w?s prevented fru*n ^vorrc" « g.
• To the whole are prefixed an cn^-ravii g. executed bv M Ba- , Jire, from un cxccllert Portmit ot my F"tl cr hy A'..un kamiaj hlq;
and an Account of his Lik*, compoftd ^"^ my brotiici D.. Dunaid^ Phyficiaa a: London.* A
Law. ^^*
Art. 42. Tiu Decree of the Barons of the Exchequer^ oclivered before S*f Jumei Eyre, Nov. 17, 1777, in ihc great v^aufr of
liihc
Monthly Catalogue, Religious. 399
Tiihe Mi !», bcfween the Rev, Dr. BofNVor'h, Limbriclc, and others, as talcen in >hnrc Hand by Mr. Gurney. With an Ap- penHit from the {.\n.c OeCree. rrfr^'C^inf the Havmcnt of Agillment Tithes for V ari'r krp'. in one P:;itli and ofed in another; and the Manner of tythinj:; Pc atces and ripples. To which is added, the Form of a Notice p'O'i.r to be delivered to the Payer! of Tithe- Milk in K'nd. 2 ■(>, 18. B.ildwin. 17*9. The fgrmers, it fc? ms, fct out Dr. jiofivoith's tithe- milk every fifch evening, ss being the tcnih meal ; th? Do6lor complained that 11c was injiif^fd b*- the ever.ir;* rnitk rot btirj* f) much in 'quantity at that pivcn in- 'he mwrni«r' ; and p'cjdcd, that he ou^jht to have a inornincr an.^ evcr.iig ire^I r.irerr.r.tolv, ur the VNhole meal every tenth .day. No, D cl'3r, fay the fly larme'S, you are intitled to the tenth meal ; if ^c j^iw it \iu al.erni»tely. mornings and evening, *ve [jive you i»lc rnjiicly I'.c nii.ch and ele\<n h; snd :f ue pive you ihe tciiih day's miik ais^c.l.cr, \uu will ihen ha^c the Lir-cteenth and twen- tieth in.als, inllc.-.d f-f th: ttnth : ar.d eivhsrr uay h a departure frrm the rule laid dcui., iIm: the p.irron is tniivkJ 10 th:: /enflf nn.eJil ! in- deed the rfvercr.d Ouc»cr ap|/?a'3 to have had foii.e rc'uipn to grumble at rcceiv'n'j Hi jri n.i;.'i:u;e ; for it it ii:)p.>iTij] r 10 avoid 'COiarkin^'. tiiii the gra\.eLTs hiii'-.m im^n v.4 re net co.; plaiiant enough to a'lcr tr.c cveniric por:io:) 'ct ihe morninj; ! J'hf Larons, howevef, over- ri:lvd I'^e wicked quibble^, and ettablidicd the Dodlor*s right to the icnih d y'> p-(d«»ce; which, if the cows are fairly milked, and co ro: take p-.i't with their refractory mailer?:, bv now and then kicking down (he p^A, msy end thi:> iniereit.ng contell How cordiality is 10 be reitored, depL*nds greatly on the quality and meafure of the Doc- tor's milk if the word ; oi which we hope the farmers will take their due Qiare ir. return.
Dj^or Do'i'wortb alfo complained, that his tithe of potatoes^ apples. Sec, was uDfairiy fet out; in which he was all-) decreed f^tif-^^ faction. H'JW can fjV^ rituals mingle with fjch carnal fqu-ibblfrs? Jll
Art. 43. The Statutes at Large : from the Sixteenth Year of the Reign o' King Gi*orge the I h id \o ihe Twentieth Year of the kcign of K'og G'orrre the Third, inciufive« lo which is pre- fixed, A T. bk of the Titles of all the Public and Private Statutes during ilat 1 ime. With a ccpious Index. Vol. XIII, 410. I I. 78. bound. Kino's Pri' ters. 1780.
Our Read 'r:> will i.c, by the ;.bove da e, that this volume of the S'atuie.s oup/it to have been nni-ourcea fome time ago,— but our Co^teftor was ^c^Tlii■c^.t. — With rtfped to ihs character and uiility of this quarto euitun, the Public (land in n'*ed of no informdti<^o. Our opinion of it has bc-n repcatcdlv given. Sc" Review, Vols. XXVlII; XXXII. XLV XLIX. ar.d LV. For the /r// account, confult the Table 6/ Content Sf Article Ruffhead.
Religious.
Art. 44. The Scriptural Prefcrvathe of tVemen from Rum by SedudioH and *'roftitu:vin, at re*vealed in the Di^vine Lww. In a Letter to a Friend, dci.gnedly written for the particular uf^ of yoqng unmarried Perfont. By the Rev. John Riland, M. i\. Chaplain of 6t. Mary's iiirmingham. 8vo, is. Hogg. 1782.: * Seduction and proflituuon,' Uyt Mr. Riland, * with adultery at
tiicir
\v..
1^
400 S K ■ M O H , itC,
Ibeir Rdt, are monfleri [hat Ilalk ibroad. De*iMilce. they go pp ar dcWD) fecking whom ibey may dcTOar. And they Save devourc thauraodi aUeady; and, uolef* taken and deRroyed, will dcvai . thouritiili more ; fo that teoi of tboufand* iavt failed, are fallinj and will fill before them.' Tbe Author having declaimed oa the CRievANCES, mikei hii muhn, viz. That ibi ftvjir of thefe moi Hen hatb i*ertafid, is infriafing, aad ought to be dtminiikei We are afraid, ihat if the motion be canied by the majority, I iudtJi, the grievance complaioed of will flill remain 1 — and ai tt Author fays—' ■ numberlefi number of meo and women in thti lai «;i// live like brute bcalli; men, like bnlli, horfes, and dogi; an women, tike cows, marei, and biicbec. So beaflly' — but thi« fee btafilj ! — no more of Mr. Riland, at tbii [itne! ^ ^
SERMON Occafioned by the Death of the Rev. Mr. Francis Spillbaiy, wl departed ihii Life, March 3, 1782 in the 77th Year of hia Age Preached at Sal ter'i Hill, March i7ih. To wbicb it added, il Oration delivered at hit Interment. By Hngb WorthibgtoOf Jui Kvo. 6 d. Buckland, &c.
A juQ tribute of refpeA to a very refpeflablc charaAer; tnd apti . per improvetneni of the folemn occafion.
CORRESPONDENCE.
W. M.'( Letter, relative to a Foreign Article in oiir lift Afptmdi.
11 lent to THB CoHTtneNT,— where the Gentleman who drew i
that Article refidet ; and to whom the matter propofed by W. K
mull be ultimately referred. In tht mean time, our Correfpondei
may rell alTured, that we embrace, with pleafore, every opportunii
J • of obliging and ferving our Readeit, to the utmoA of our ahilir
I W^ We oQJy lament, that our power u not, on alt occaiioni, ai boosdlc
S> are our wifbci.
4 tl The Gttgt d*AmiUi cuoot be accepted on thi term* on whit it ii offered. The Writer of the Articlei in queftian, fubjeA, lit Qihcr mortali, to the fiilingi of humanity, it not confciou* of bavin fubmitted hit pen to the guidance of flattery or refeDCment, an meant to purfue the line of honeH and impartiaJ criticifm, untoucbc by compliment, and unmored by ioveClire. m
*,* A Letter, (igned Iwctg^titm, expoBuUtea with ni for havir overlooked a publication entitled " The HiHory of the Holy Bibl by a Lady ;" printed at Ipfwicb.— This tetter hu given os (be £1 notice we ever received concerning the work to which it teferi. n biTc never feen the Lady'i HiKory of the Bible *{ having no Com ipondent at Ipfwich.
* Nor any mivtrtifimtat of tti
E^ In oar next ire Siall givo an account of the corioni and rc; intetefting Ltlltrifrtm a» Jmiriemi Farmtr,
■*^
THE
MONTHLY REVIEW,
For JUNE, 1783.
^•S'S@'^^@S':^^^@^^^^ii^^^^&iii'^'^^^-S^
Art. r. Lettin from an Amtrlcan T armer \ defcribinj; certain pro- vincial Situations, Manners, and Cultoms, not generally knoM^n ; and conveying fome Idea of the lare and prefent interior Circum-' Hances of the Britiih Colonics in North America. Written for the Information of a Friend in England, by J. Heftor St. John, A Farmer in Penofylvania. 8vo. 5 s. Boards. Davis. 1782.
AS the long wi(hed-for period is not, it is imagined, far diftant, when the animofities between this country and America will be terminated, thefe authentic and curious Let- ters from an American Farmer are publifhed at ^ time when they cannot fail of being interefting to every one who wiflies to be acquainted with a country that will fo foon, it is to be hoped» become an object not only of general attention, but of fraternal regard.
Were it poflible to entertain any doubts of the authenticity of this publication, its internal evidence would alone be fuiE« cient to remove then\. The Writer profcflls himfdf to be a fimple cultivator of thct^arth, with little other preteniion to li- terary attainments than^hat he deriv-ifis^ from a few mifcella* neous volumes, that wer^ carried over from England by his grandfather. Nature, however, feems to have made up to him the defers of education : he poflefles a ftrong and enlightened underftanding, a perception quick and intuitive, and a philofo- phical fpirit of refiedtion, that has not only furnlfhed his mind with many new and original ideas, but may have, pofTibYy, eradi- cated from' it thofe prejudices which books as. often contribute to confirm as to remove.
Of thefe Letters, which are twelve in number, the firft is merely introductory. Tbe fituation, feelings, and pleafurcs of
Vol. LXVI. D d an
402 St. John'/ Letters from an American Farmer.
an American farnocr make the fubjed of the fecond. The next is an anfwer to the queftion. What is an American ? The fix fubfequent Letters are more particular and local. In thefe we have a very curious and intereftins account of the iflands of Nantucket, and Martha*s Vineyard. In which are confidered the manners, trade, cuftoms, education and employments of the inhabitants. They contain alfo fome particulars refpeAing Charleftown in South Carolina. The tenth Letter, which is folely appropriated to Natural Hiftory, will be Angularly ac* ceptable to the lovers of that fcience. As will alfo the next letter from a Ruffian gentleman, a correfpondent of Mr. St. John's, defcribing his vifit to Mr. John Bertram, the cele* brated Pennfylvanian botanift. The twelfth and laft Letter cannot fail of fuggefting, to thofe who are not totally loft to the tender fympathies of humanity, fome of the moft pathetic and aiFeding ideas by which the human heart is capable of being imprefled. * The diftreflcs of a frontier-man' muft have been adually felt in all their novel and aggravating circumftances, or Mr* St. John could not poffibly have painted them with fuch cxquifite fenfibility ! But we ihall turn (for the prefent at leaft) from this melancholy pidure, to contemplate the more pleafing one of the Author's fituation and feelings, previous to the com- mencement of an unfortunate war, which, while it has deluged the one country with blood, has (in the opinion of many wife and good men) ftained the other with the guilt of it :
* At yoo are the firft enlightened European I have ever had the pleafare of being acqoaioted with, you will not be farpriM that I Aould, according to your earned defire and my promife* appear aoxioQS of preserving yoor friendfliip and correfpondeoce* By yonr accoontSy I oblerve a material difference fobfitts between your hof* haadry, roodtt, and coftoms, and oort ; ewttj thing is local ; cooJd we enjoy the advantages of the Eoglifli farmer, we (hould be moch happier, indcedi bat this wiih, lilte many others, implies a contra- tradiAion ; and coald the Englifh farmer have fome of thofe privi- leges we polTefi, they would he the firft of their clafs in the world. Good and evil I fee ii to be fo|ind in all focietiet, and it is in vain to feek for any fpot where thofe ingredients are not mixed. I therefore teft fatiified, and thank God that my lot is to be an American farm- er, iailead of a Ruffian boor, or aa Hungarian peafaat. I think yon kindly for the idea, however dreadful, which yoii-^ve given ae of their lot and condition ; yoor obfervations have confirmed me in the juftoefs of my ideas, and 1 am happier now than I thought my- ielf before. It is Itrange, that mifery, when viewed in others, (houl4 become to ni a fort of real good, tbongh I am far from rejoicing to hear that there are in the world men io thoroughly wretched ; they are no doubt as harmlefs, indudrions, and willing to work as we are. Hard is their fate to be thus condemned to a flavery Worle than that Of our negroes. Yet when young I entertained fome thoughts of felling my farau i thought it afforded but % dpli repetition of the
• - laaie
St. John V Ltttertfrtm an Amirican Farnurl 4OJ
(kme labonrs and pletfores. T thongbt the former tedious ind hearf, the latter few and infipid; but when f came to confider myfelf aa" divefted of my farm, I then found the world fo wide» and every placfl fo full, that 1 began to fear left there would be no room for me. Mf farm, my houfe, my barn, prefented to my imagination, objefla from which 1 adduced <]U!te new ideas; they were more forcible cbaa before. Why fhould not I find myfelf happy, faid f, where my fii« tber was before ? He left me no gocd books it is true, he gave me nO other educucion than the an of reading and writing; but he left ma a good farm, and his experience; he left me free from debts, and 00 kind of difficulties to ftruggle with. — I married, and this perfedUf reconciled me to my (ituation ; my wife rendered my houfe all ar once chearful and pleafing ; it no longer iappeared gloomy and fbli* tary as before ; when I went to work in my fields I worked with more aUcrity and fprightlinefs ; I felt that I did not work for myfelf alone, and this encouraged me much. My wife would often eomtf with her knitting in her hand, and fit under the fhady trees, prsufin^ the Hraightnefs of my furrows, and the docility of my horfes ; tkit fwclled my heart and made every thing light and pleafant, and I ra-» gretted that 1 had not married before. 1 felt myfelf happy in mf new fituation, and where is that ftation which can confer a mora fublUntial fyftem of felicity than that of an American farmer, pof^ fefTing freedom of action, freedom of thoughts, ruled by a mode of government which requires but little from us? I owe nothing, but tt pepper-corn to my country, a fmall tribute to my King, with \tyz\tf and due tt(]pc€i ; I know no other landlord than the Lord of all lan^t to whom I owe the moft fincere gratitude. My father lef^ me tbretf hundred and feventy-one acres of land, fbrty-feven of which are good timothy meadow, an excellent orchard, a good faonfe, and a febmi« tial barn. It is my duty to think how happy I am that be lived tO build and to pay for all thefe improvements ; what are the labooPiA which I have to undergo, what are my fatigues when compared f(B his, who had every thing to do, from the firft tree he felled to tlHf £nifhing of his houfe ? Every year I kill firom i;oo to 2000 weigiri of poik, t2oo of beeef, half a dozen of good wethers in barveftt of fowls my wife has always a great ftock : what can I wifh jnore? Mjf negroes are tolerably faithful and healthy ; by a long feries of ki« durlry and honeft dealings, my father left behind him the name of t good man ; I have but to tread his paths to be happy and a good man like him. 1 know enough of the law to regulate my little coo^ cerns wiih propriety, nor do I dread irt power | thefe are the grand ouilines of my fitnation, but as I can feel much more than I am ablo to exprefs, I hardly know how to proceed. When my firft fon wai born, the whole train of my ideas was fiiddenly altered ; never wii there a charm that aded fo quickly and powerfully ; I ceaicd tO Gamble in imagination through the wide world { my excniiont fioeO have ndt e?:ceeded the bounds of my farm, and all my priocipnl-pte#- fures are now centered within its fcanty limits: but at the famodasa there is not an operation belonging to it in which 1 do not find Ibnii food for ufeful refleflions. This is the rcafon, I foppofe, thatnrkeft you wis here, you ufed, in your refined ftile, to dfnofninate ne tho farmef of feelings ; ho^ rnde muft rhofe feelings be to him who datir
Dd a 1^(41
I .404. Su John^i Litunfrcm an Atnerican Farmer 0
hplds the axe or the plough, how moch more refined on the contrary thofe of the Enropeao, whofe mird it improved by education* ex- mnpltft books, and by every acquired advantage! Thoie feelings, however, 1 will delineate as well at I can, agreeably to your earneft reqneft. When I contemplate my wife, by my fire-fide, while (he either fpins, knita, darns, or fuckles our child, 1 cannot defcribe the turious emotions of love, of gratitude, of coofcious pride which thrill in my heart, and often overflow in involuntary tears. I feel the ne- ceffity, the fweet pleafure of ading my part, the part of an hulband and father, with an intention and propriety which may entitle me to my good fortune. It is true, thefe pleafing images vanifh with the Aiioke of my pipe ; but though they difappear from my mind, the ioprcflion they have made 00 my heart is indelible. When I play urith the infao^my warm imagination runs forward, and eagerly an* ticipates his future temper and conftitution. I would willingly open the book of fate, and know in which page his dediny is delineated ; alas! where is theliither who, in thcfe moments of paternal extscy, ^n delineate one half of the thoughts which dilate his heart? I am fare I cannot ; then again I fear for the health of thoie who are be- come fo dear to me, and in their ficknefTes 1 feverely pay for the joys i'experienced while they «ere well. Whenever J go abroad it is al- ways involuntary. I never return home without feeling fome pleaf- ing emotion, which I often fupprefs as ufelefs and foolifh. jjThe inftant I enter on my own land, the bright idea of property, of ex- dofive right, of independence exalt mv mind. Precious foil, I fay to myfelf, by what fingular cudom of Jaw is it that thou waft made la confiitute the riches of the freeholder ? What fhould we American farmers be without the diftindl poflefiion of that foil ? It feeds, it dpthes OS, from it we draw even a great exuberancy, our bed meat, oar richeft drink, the ytry honey of oar bees comes from this privi- leged fpot. No wonder we (hould thus cheriQi its pofleifion, no ivonder that fg many Europeans, who have never been able to fay that fttch portion of land was theirs, crofs the Atlantic, to rcaliste that happineis* This formerly rude foil has been converted by my father into t pleafant farm, and in return it has eftablifhed all our rights ; 9njt is founded our rank, our freedom, our power as citizens, our importance as inhabitants of fuch a diftri^l. Thele images, 1 muft ftoiifefs, ,1 always behold with pleafure, and extend them as far as my iqnagination can reach : for this is what may be called the true and ehe-only philofbphy of an American farmer. Pray do not laugh in thus feeing an artlefs countryman tracing himfelf through the firople modifications of his life; remember that you have required it, there- Anre with candour, though with diffidence, I endeavour to follow the li^ead of my feedings, but. 1 cannot tell you all. Often when I ^l<Hi^h my low ground, I place my little Boy on a chair which icrews iS>^ the beam of the plough>~its motion and that of the horfes pleafe 4U4I ; he is perfedtly happy, and begins to chat. As I lean over the JJMiBfUe, various i^re the thoughts which croud into my mind. I am JUNV doing {ot him,_l fay, what my father formerly did.for me, may i#.od enable him- to live, that he may perform the fame operations for 4ke Amc porpoTes when I am worn out and old I I relieve his mother iftfulboie trouble while I have him with me, the odoriferonsYorro\f
exUIaratea
Mafon'/ Englijh Garden. 405
exhilarates his fpirirs, and feems to do the child a great deal of good/ for he looks more blooming fince I have adopted that practice ; can' more pleafure, more dignity be added to that primary occopatioo ? The father thus ploughing with his child» and to feed his family, is- inferior only to the Emperor of China ploughing as an example to his kingdom." ^
With what heart- felt regret muft our honeft Pennfylvanian look back to thefe happy moments of his exiftence, when the' innocence, the fimplicity, and the rational employments of his life could only have been equalled in the primitive ages of ipan*' kind!
Aureus banc vitam in terris Saturnus agebat.
Necdum eciam audicraoc inflari daffica, oecdum
Impofitof duris crepitare incudibus enles ,
Scd nos immenfum fpatiis confecimus xquor.
[ To be continued, ] A m^ JL
Art. ir. Tbi EngUp Gardtn: a Poem. In Four Books. Book IV. By W. Mafon, M. A. 410. as. 6d. Dodfley. 1781.
THE firft Book of this elegant Poem made its appearance in the year 1772, of which the Reader will find a very ample account in the forty-fixth volume of our Journal, p. 219. Of the fecond and third Books no other notice was taken at the time of their publication, than barely to announce them ; as we waited for the completion of the Writer's plan, that the whole might be included in one general critique. The Poem being now brought to a conclufion, it is with pleafure we re- fume the confideration of it.
Perhaps we cannot give the Reader a jufter idea of the plan and condud of this plcafing performance, than in the words of Mr. Mafon's own analyfis of it, as it is fketched out in hia General Poftfcript. ' Tlie firft Book,* fays he, « contains the general Principles of the Art, which are (hewn to be no other than thofe which conftitute Beauty in the filler art of Landfcape Painting; Beauty which refults froni a well* chofen variety of curves ; in contradifVini^on to that of Archi- tedture, which arifes from a judicious fymmetry of /Ight lines, and which is there (hewn to hav^ afforded the principle on which that formal difpofition of Garden Ground, which our an- ceftors borrowed from the French and Dutch, procce4ed. A principle never adopted by Nature herfelf, and therefore con- flantly to be avoided by thofe whofe bufinefs it i» to embellifh Nature.'
* The fecond Book proceeds to a more pradical diiculOon of the fubjed, but confines itfelf to oae point only, the difpofition of the ground-plan, and, that v«ry material bufinefs immediately united with it, the proper difpofition and formation of the paths and fences. T^t neccfiity of attending conftantly 10 the coirilineir principle ft
Ddj iirft
4o6 Mafon'i EngUjb Gariin.
firft (hewD, not only in the formacion of the groondphio with refpe^l to its exteroal boondary, but ia its interoal fweliiDgs and finkicgf» where til abruptneft or angular appearances are as much to be avoided 9t in the foroi of the outline that furrounds the whole.
* The pathways or walks are next confidered, and that peculiar curve recommended for their imi:ation which ii fo frequently found in common roads> foot-paths* &c. and v^hich being cafoally pro- duced appears to be the general curve of Nature.
' The reft of the book is employed in minutely defcribing the me- thod of making funk fences, and other neceiTary divitions of the pleafure-ground or lawn from the adjacent field or park ; a part of the art which is of liioil eflential confequence, and which is fre- quently very difficult both to defign and rxecure/
This Book dofes with the appofite (lory of Abdalominus, who neas found working in his garden when Alexander came to im* pofe upon* or rather, to reftore to him, the crow^ of Sidon.
* The tyird Book proceeds to add natural ornament to that ground- plan which the fecond Book had afcercained, in its two capital Drancheji, Wood and Water.'
' Fadiitious or artificial ornamentf, in contradil!in£lion to natural ones lall treated, form the general fubjed of the fourth Book» snd conclude the plan, ^y thefe is meant not only every aid which the art borrows from architeflure ; but thofe fmaller pieces of feparate fcenery appropriated either to ornament or ufr, which .do not make a neceiTary part of the whole ; and which, if admitted into it, would frequently occafion a littlenefs ill fuitiog with that unity and fimpli- city which (hould ever be principally attended to ia an extcnfive pleafure-ground.'
Appreh^nfive that defcfiptive poetry, however varied, might pall when continued through fo long a poeno^ Mr. Mafon hat contrived * to interweave a tale with the general theme.' ' The idea, fays he, was new, and I found the execution of it feme- what difficult.' In juftice, however, to the Poet's art, it muft be acknowledged, his fuccefs has been more than equal to the difficulty of tne attempt. This interefting ftory is thus inuo- 4uced:
' Bc|t precep s tir9» and this faftidious age Rqe£ls the ilrain didadic: Try we then In livelier Narrative the troths to veil We dare not dilate. Sons of Albion, hear ! The tale X tell is full of ftrange event. And piteous eircumftance; yet deem not ye. If narnes I feign, that therefore fads are feigo'd : Kor hence refwie (what moft angmeats tha chara Of fiofled woe) that fond credulity Which binds th' attentive foul in cloier chains.'
Faffing over the introdufiory defcriptioo of Alcander*s do- main, aad its fituation on the coaft, proceed we to the com- mencement of this afFeding, though romantic and improbabk oarrativet fo full * of firan^ event and piteous eircumftance/
One
Mafon'^ EtigUJb Garitn. 407
* One verm! room, at orging here tbe work Surroupded by bit biodt, from mild to cold The fetfon chang'd, from cold to fuddcn ftormp From ilorm to whirlwind. To the angry main Swiftly he turni» and feet a laden ihip Difmafted by itt rage. " Hie. hie we al|/» Alcander cry'dy " quick to the neighboring beach.'* They flew ; they came, bat only to behold» Tremendout fight ! the veflcl dafli itt poop Amid the boiliog breakert. Need I teJl What ftreooout artt were at'd, when all were atM» To fave the finking Crew? One tender Maid Alone efcapMy fav*d by ALCANDER*t arm. Who boldly fwam to fnatch her from the plank To which flie feebly clong ; fwiftly to (hore. And fwifter to hit home, the yoath convey'd Hit day-cold price, who at hit portal firft By one deep figh a iign of Life betray*d. A Maid fo fav^, if but by Nature bleft With common charmt, had foon awak'd a flame More ftroDg than Pity, in that melting heart Which Pity warm'd before. But (he wat fair At Poett piaure Hebe, or the Spring ; Graceful withal, as if each limb were cal^ In that ideal mould whence Raphael drew Hit Galatea * : Yet, th' impaflion'd Youth Felt more than pity when he view*d her charmt* Yet (he, (ah, ftrange to tell) tho* much he lov*d, Suppreft at much that fympatheric flame Which Love like hit (hould kindle : Did he knee! In rapture at her feet ? flie bow'd the head. And coldly bad him rife ; or did he plead. In termt of pureft paflton, for a fmile ? She gave him but a tear : his manly form. Hit virtoet, ev'n the courage that preferv'd Her life, befeeni'd no fenciment to wake Warmer than gratitude ; and yet the love Withheld from him flie freely gave hit fcenet ; On all their charmt a jull applaofe beflow*d % And, if (he e er was happy, only then When wandering where thofe charms were moll difplay*d*
' At thro' a neighboring Grove, where ancient beech Their awful foliage flung, Alcandbr led The penfive Maid along, *• Tell me," flie cry'd,
* Alluding to a letter of that famous painter, written to hit friend Count Baltafer Caftiglione, when he wat painting hit celebrated pic- tare of Galaiea, in which he tellt him, '* eflendo careftia di fcwlle donne, io mi fervo di certa idea che viene alia mente.** See Bellori Di/crix, dtUt imagimi ^tpintt da Raffatllo d^Urhint^ or the Life of B. Cafliglione, pre&zcd to the London edition of hit book entitled, // C9rUgian§.
Dd4 /?Whf
4o8 , Mafon'i EngUJb GarJen.
ti
€€ €t
Why, on tbefe fored features all-intent, " Forbears my friend fome fcene diflind to give ** To Flora and her fragrance ? Well I know ** That in the general Landfcape's broad expanfe *' Their liule blooms are loft ; but here are glades, ** Circled with (hade, yet pervious to the fun, *' Where, if enamellM with their rainbow- hues,
The eye would catch their fplendor : turn thy Tafle,
Ev'n in this grafly circle where we (Und,
To form their plots ; there weave a woodbine Bower» ** And call that Bower Nerina*s/* At the word Alcander fmird ; his fancy inftant formM The fragrant fcene (he wi(h*d; and Love, with Art Uniting, foon produced the finifh'd whole.
* Down to the South the glade by Nature Iean*d ; Art form'd the dope ftill fofier, opening there Its foliage, and to each Etefian gale Admittance Utt difpenfiog ; thickeft (hade Guarded the reft. His tafte will bed conceive The new arrangement, whofe free footfteps, usM To foreft haunts, have pierc'd their opening dells. Where frequent tufts of fweetbriar, box or thorn. Steal on the green fward, but admit fair fpace For many a mof[y msze to wind between. So here did Art arrange her flow*ry groups Irregular, yet not in patches quaint *, But interpos'd between the wandering lines Of (haven turf which twilled to the path. Gravel or fand, that in as wild a wave Stole round the verdant limits of the fcene : Leading the eye to many a fculptorM buft On (liapely pedeftal, of Sage or Bard, Bright heirs of fame, who living lov'd the haunts So fragrant, fo (eqoefter*d. Many an Urn There too had place, with Votive lay infcribM To Freedom, Friend(hip, Solitude, or Love.
' And now each (low'r that bears tranfplanting change. Or blooms indigenous, adorn'd the fcene ; Only Nbrina's wifti, her woodbine bower,
^ There is nothing in pidlurefque Gardening which (hould oo^ have its archetype in unadorned Nature. Now, as we never fee any of her plains dotted with dilTevered patches of any fort of vegetables, except, perhaps, fome of her more barren heaths, where even Furze can grow but fparingly, and which form the moil difagreeable of heir fcenes, therefore the pre(ent common mode of dotting clumps of flowers, or (hrubs on a grafs-plat, without union, and without other meaning than that of appearing irregular, ought to be avoided. It it the form and eafy flow of the grafly interftices (if I may focall them) |hat the dcfigner ought firft to have a regard to; and if thefe be well formed, the fpaccs for flowers or Ihrobbery wiU be at the fame time afceftained* ^ |^cmam*4
Mafon'i EngUJh Garden* '40^'
RemainM to crown the whole. Here, far beyond That humble wifh, her Lover's Genius form'd A glittering Fane, where rare and alien plants Might fafely flourifh * ; where the Citron fwcct. And fragrant Orange, rich in fruit and flowers. Might hang their fiiver (lars, cheir golden globes. On the fame odorous Item : Yet fcoming there The glafly pcnthoufe of ignoble form. High on Ionic Ihafts he bad it tower A proud Rorunda ; to its fides conjoined Two broad Piazzas in theairic curve, Knding in equal Porticos fublime. Glafs rooPd the whoIe> and fidelong to the South 'Twixr ev'ry fluted column* lightly rear*d Its wall pellucid. All within was day. Was genii*! Summer's day, for fecret ftoves Thro' all the pile {oKHtial warmth convey 'd.
* Thcfe led thro* iflcs of Fragrance to the Dome» Each way in circling quadrant* That bright (pace Guarded the fpicy tribes from Afric's ihore. Or Ind, or Araby, Sabaran Plants Weeping with nard, and balfam. In the midft A Statue flood* the work of Attic Art; Its thin light drapery, cafl in fluid folds. Proclaimed its antientry ; all fave the head. Which flole (for love is prone to gentle thefts) The features of N£rina ; yet that head. So perfedl in refemblance ; all its air So tenderly impaflion'd ; to the trunk. Which Grecian (kill had formed, fo aptly joinM, Phidias himfelf might feera to have infpir'd The chifl*el, brib'd to do the amVous fraud. One graceful hand held forth a flow'ry wreath. The other prefl her zone; while round the bafe Dolphins, and Triton fliells, and plants marine Proclaimed, that Venus, rifing from the fea, Had veiPd in Flora's miodefl veft her charms*'
Alcander, as the Reader will fuppofe, aiSfted by the tafte and fancy of Nerina, carries the embelii(hments of his villa to fuch a pitch of fuperior elegance, as to excite general curiofity and admiration :
Rumour fpreads Its praUes faiy and many a flranger flops
* M, Li Giradimt in an elegant French Eflay, written on the fame fubjed, and formed on the fame principles, with this Poem, is the only writer that I have feen (or at Iraft recoiled) who has attempted to give a ftove or liot-houfe a pidurefque efl^ed* It is his hint, pur- fued and confiderably dilated, which forms the defcription of Al« candel's Con(ei:vatory. SeehisEflayi Dtla Cmfofiii^m da Pajfagts. Centva^ 1777.
With
i^io Mafon'j EngUJh Gardtn. ■
With carioQi eye to cenfure or admire. To all his Lawns are pervious ; gft himfelf With courteous greeting will the critic hail* And join him in the circuit. Give we here (If Candour will with patient ear attend) The focial dialogue Alcander held With one* a Youth of mild yet manly mien. Who feem'd to tafte the beauties he furvey'd.
This dialogue, which contains an elegant difcuffion of feme of the leading principles of the art which the Poet is purpofing to teach, we muft omit, that we may have room for the pathe- tic and well-wrought cataftropbe of this interefting epifode :
< On they paft Thro* a wild thicket, till the perfum'd air Gave to another fenfe its prelude rich On what the ey<^ (hould feaft. But now the grove Expands ; and now the Rofe, the garden's Queen, Amidft her blooming fubjeds' humbler charms* On ^v^ry pl<)t her cnmfon pomp difplays. ** Oh» Paradife !" the entVing youth exclaimM, ** Groves whoiis rich trees weep odorous gums and balm, '* Others whofe fruit, burnifh'd with golden rind, '* Hang amiable, Hefperian fables true, '* If true, here only V Thus, in Milton's phrafe Sublime, the youth his admiration pour*d, While pafljng to the dome ; his next (hoi t ilep Unveird the central ftatue : *' Heav'ns! juft Heav'ns,** He cry'd, " Vis my Nerina." *« Thine, mad Youth ? *' Forego the word,'' Alcandpr fiud, and paus'd; His utterance fiiPd ; a thoufaod duft'ring thoughts. And all of blacked omen to his peace, Recoil'd upon his brain, deaden'd all fen(e. And at the ilatoe's bafe him headlong caft, A lifelefs load of being. — Ye, whole hearts Are ready at Humanity's foft call To drop the tear, I charge you weep not yet. But fearfully fufpend the burfting woe : NiaiNA's felf appears; the farther ifle She, fatt-diredcd, treads. Does (he too faint ? Would Heav'n (he could ! it were a happy fwoon Might foften her fix'd form, more rigid now Than is her marble femblance. One fliff hand Lies leaden on her breaft ; the other rais'd To heav'n, and half-way dench'd ; fledfaft her eyes. Yet viewlefs ; and her lips, which op*d to ihriek. Can neither fiiriek nor clofe : bo might (he ftand For ever : He, whofe fight caus'd the dread change, Tho' now he dafps her in his anxious arrns^ Pails to unbend one finew of her frame ; ■ ■■ ■ ■ ' ' — i— ^— ■ ■
f See Milton's Paradife Loft, Book iv. ver, 248, &c«
*Tia
MafonV EngUJb Garden^ 4,11
*Ti8 ice; 'tis fieel. Bat fee, Alcander wakes; And waking, as by magic fympacbyy Nerina whifpersy *' All is well, my friend; •* ' Fwas but a vifion ; I may yet revive ** But ftill his arm fupporta me ; aid him, friend, *' And bear me fvviftly co my woodbine bower; *' For there indeed I wi(h to breathe my laft.**
* So faying, her cold cheek, and parched brow, Turn*d to a livid palenefs ; her dim eyes
Sunk in their fockets ; (harp contradtibn preft Her temples, ears and noftrils : fifrns well known To thofe :hat tend the dying *. fioth the yooths Perceiv'd the change ; and had ftern Death himfelf WayM his black banner vifual o'er their head?. It could not more appall. With trembling Hep, And filen:, both convey'd her to the bower«
* Her languid limbs there decently compos*d. She thus her fpeech refum'd : *' Attend my words
** Brave Cleom 1 dear Alcander! generous Pair:
" For both have tender intereft in this heart
** Which foon (hall beat no more. That I am thine
'* By a dear Father's juft commands I own,
** Much honoured CleonI take the hand he gvtt^
** And with it. Oh, if 1 coold give my heart»
** Thou wert its worthy owner. All I can^
** (And that preferv'd with chafteft fealty)
** Duteous I give thee, Cleon it is thine ;
** Not ev'n this dear preferver, e*er could gain
'* More from my foul than Friend(hip — that be his;
^* Yet let me own, what, dying, fooths the pang. That, had thyfelf and duty ne'er been known. He mud have had my love." She paus'd ; and dropt
A filent tear ; then preli the Stranger's band ;
Then bow*d her head upon Alcander's breaft ;
And " blefs them both, kind Heav'n !*' (he pray'd and died, ^* And bleft art thou," cry'd Cleon, (in a voice
Struggling with grief for utterance) '* bleft to die hre thou hadft quedionM me, and I perforce Had told a tale which muft have fent thy foul In horror from thy bofom. Now it leavea A fmile of peace upon thole pallid lips,
*' That fpeaks its parting happy. Go fair faint! Go to thy paIm-crown*d father I thron'd in blifs.
4< 4(
«(
* Thefe lines arc taken from the famous parage in Hippocrates in his book of Prognoftics, which has been held fo accurately defcriptive» that dying per fons are, from kence, ufually faid to have the facia Hippocratica. The p^<ige if as folk>w : P»$ o(ir«, o^oAfMt «o»Aoi/ x^aUpoi ^vfiwivluuoTKit irtc ^X^» 19 ivnr«i?^»^9 «c^ 0 XoCci rwy £tu¥ anrpafcfuyoi, at) r^hfiAtt T« «v^ ro ffMlttnroir, o^n^or rt n^ iri^iIflafUMv x^
••And
412 Mafon'i En^l/Jb Garden.
'* And feated by his fide, thoa wilt not novv '* Deplore the (avage (Iroke that fcal'd his doom; •* Go hymn the Foutt of Mercy, who, from ill ^' Educing good, makes ev'n a death like his, " A life furcharg'd with tender woes like :hire, ** The road to Joys eternal. Maid, farewell ! *' I leave the cafket that thy virtues held *' To Him whofebreaft fulUins it; more leIov'd» " Perhaps more worthy, yet not loving more *' Than did thy wretched Clkon." At the word He bath'd in tears the hand (he dying gave. Returned it to her fide, and hafty rofe. Alcander, darting from his trance of grief, Cry'd, " flay, I charge thee flay ;' •* and flmll he ftay,'» Cleon reply'd, '* whofe prefence ftabb*d thy peace? '* Hear this before we part : That breaihlcfb Maid " Was daughter to a venerable Sage. *' Whom Bofton, when with peace and fafety bled. In rapture heard poor from his haflow'd tongue Religion's pureA didtates. 'Twas my chance* In early period of our civil broils, " To fave his precious life : And hence the Sire '* Did to my love his Daughter's charms confign ; *' But, till the war fliould ceafe, if ever ceafe, ** Deferr*d our nuptials. Whither ihe was fent ** In fearch of fafety, well, I truil, thou know'd; *' He meant to follow ; but thofe ruthlefs flames, •* That fpar'd nor friend nor foe^ nor fex nor age, *' Involved the village, whereon fickly couch He lay confin'd, and whiiher he had fled Awhile to fojourn. There (I fee thee ihrink) ** Was he that gave Nerina being burnt ! " Burnt by thy Countrymen! to Alhes burnt! *' Fraternal hands and Chriftian lit the flame. — ** Oh thou haft caufe to (hudder. 1 meanwhile " With his brave fon a diilant warfare wag'd ; *^ And him, now I have found the p'ize I fought, " And, finding, loft, I haflen to rejoin ; •* Vengeance and glory call me.** At the word. Not fiercer does the Tigrefs quit her cave To feize the hinds that robb*d her of her young. Than he the bower. " Swy, 1 conjure thee, flay," Alcander cry'd, but ere the word was fpoke Cleon was feen no more. " Then be it fo," The youth continuM, dafping to his heart The beauteous corfe, and fmiling as he fpoke, (Yet fuch a fmile at far oui*forrows tears) *' Now thou art mine entirely — Now no more '* Shall Doty dare difturb us — Love alone — *' But hark I he comes again — Away vain fearf •* 'Twas bpt the fluttering of thy feather'dfiock. *' True to their cuftom'd hourj behold they troop
" From
«<
Mafon'i Englijh Gar Jem 413
** From ifland, grove, and lake. Aiife my Love, '* Extend thy hand — I lift it, bat it falls. '* Hence then, fond fools, and pine I NEftrNA's band *' Has loft the power to feed yoo. Hence and die*"
Thus plaining, to bis lips the icy palm He lifted, and with ardent pafiion kift^ Then cry'd in agony, *' on this dear hand, " Once tremblingly alive to Love** foft touch, " I hop'd to feal my faith:'* This thought awak*d Another fad folilrquy, which they, Whoe'er have lov*d, will from their hearts fupply. And they who have not will but hear and fmile.'
To point out every beauty, by which this little dramatic tale is didinguifhcd, would be to comment on almoft every line; there is one, however, of peculiar excellence : Yet fuch a fmile as far ouc-forrows tears—* an idea that could fuggeft itfelf only to a W^riter of the mod exquifite fenfibility, and who at the fame time was intimately acquainted with the feelings of the human heait in its tei^dereft emotions.
Though Mr. Mafon has given (bme ingenious, and, perhaps^ convincing, reafons why he has preferred blank verfe to rhyme^ yet, when he tells us, ^ that numbers of the mod varied kind are the propcreft to illuftrate a fubje£t whofe every charm fprings from variety^ and which painting Nature, as /corning controul^ (bould employ a verfification for that tn^ as unfettered as Na- ture itfelf,' we cannot but obferve, that the analogy, which he iijppQfA to fubfift between his fubje£l and the manner in which he has treated it, feems to be more fanciful than juft. Neither does the fplenetic conclufion, which he afterwards draws, ftcnt Co arife from his premifes : ^ I was well aware, that by choofing to write in blank verfe, I (hould not court popularity, becauie I perceived it was growing much out of vogue; but this reafon^ as may be fuppoleJ, did not weigh miich with a writer, who meant to combat Fafliion in the very theme he intended to write upon j and who was alfo convinced that a mode of Englifli ver- iiAcation, in which fo many good poems, with Paradife Lofl: at their head, have been written, could either not long continue unfafhionable; or if it did, that Faihion bad fo completely de« flroyed I alle, it would not be worth any writer's while, who aimed at more than the reputation .of (he jday, to endeavour to amufe the Public*
It does not folk>w that a writer who combats fafhion muft be inJift'erent to popularity : there have been, indeed, many in« iiances in which writers have obtainetl .popularity with no other claim than that of having combated /ifliionable opinions. But fuppofing this propoiitioA to be true, how does it apply to Mr. Mafoa i In what fenf^ be caa be £iid: to have combated falbjon
in
414 LucasV Hcmer^s Hymn to dut.
in the (heme he has written upon is not rery obvious ; bis pot m may rather be faid to vindicate fafliion than to combat it, as the Principles of Gardening which it inculcates are the fa;ne that have prevailed for fome years : it cannot, however, be denied that the manner in which he has unfolded and explained thofe principles may be the means of makinc; them better and more generally underftood. His other propoution, that all tafte muft be deftroyed when blank verfe ceafes to be fafiiionahle, (lands upon no better grounds than the former. If Mr. Mafon means to iniinuate that the writer of rhyme Js to expe<^ nothing further than the reputation of the day, what is to. become of Dryden, Pope, or his immortal friend. Gray ? and we. might add, of many others among the living ? whofe names we forbear to men- tion, as a fele£tion among fuch numbers as are intitled to notice, might appear to be invidious.
After all that can be faid on this fubjeA, vcrfe being nothing more than the cloathing of poetry, it is the poei*s privilege to choofe what drefs his mufe (hall appear in ; in which, indeed^ grace and convenience ought equally to be confuixed. And though the fa(hion of the times might, poffibly, give an im- proper bias to his choice, we muft not therefore conclude that all tafte is completely deftroyed. Such a conclu(ion would be almoft as precipitate as his, who taking offence at the want of that elegant (implicity in the drefs of a modern fine lady which chara£lerizes the drapery of a Grecian Venus, (bould decifively pronounce that female beauty was no longer attra&ive. ^
Aar. III. HomtrU Hymn u dnt. Tranflated into Englifh Weriit% with Notes, critical and iUoftrattve. To which is prefixed, a Tranflation of (he Preface of the Editor* David Rahnkeaias. By the Rev. Robert Locat, of Triaity College, Cambridge. 410. 38. fewed. Robfon. 1781.
OF the original Hymn (which, whether it be really the produdion of Homer^ or of any other early writer of anti- quity feems not yet to be determined) a very ample account waa given in the Appendix to the 63d volume of our Review. It was natural to fuppofe that the attention not only of the anti- quary and the fcholar, but of the man of tafte and ingenuity would be attraded by a. literary curioiity of fo (ingular a kind. As a proof of this we need only to adduce the elegant tranflatioA by Mr. Hole (fee M. R. for Aoguft 1781) and this of Mr. Lu- cas, which is before us.
In the examination of rival performances, there Js one mlt
that ought rarely, if ever, to be deviated from, which is, to
let each performance fpeak, as much aa poffible, for itfelf. In
original produdions great latitude it left to the caAdosr and dif^
% cletioii
LucasV Homer* s Hymn todnsm 41J
cretton of the Critic in feleding fueh paflages as may appear to be fimilar. But in traoflations it is otherwife : he has no longer a difcretionary power, as the correfponding paflages point out themfelves ; all he has, therefore, to do is t6 bring each pafiag^ impartially before the tribunal of the Public. In conformity with this equitable rule we (hall lay before our Readers that part of Mr. Lucas's Tranflation which correfponds with our firfr>, quoution from Mr. Hole's :
< To graceful C£ RES, now, who widely wields Her golden fceptre o er the fruitfo! fields, I raife the fong ; which Proserpjnb Khali ihare. Her violated daughter, fwifc and fair ; Whom while the watchful thondcrer betrayed. Rapacious Pluto fnatched the trembling maid.
* The fair, from Ceres guardian eye efcaped. To Uyfa^i fragrant plain hercourfe (he (haped ; And there in fport with Or#a«'s daughters Hrove, Whofe fwelline bofoms tempt the look of love. Here, each inviting flower that roand her grows She plucks ; the hyacinth and fragrant roie ; The purple violet now invites her eye. The crocus and the foft anemony : Above the reft a fweet Narcissus grew. Id fplendid beauty, on her raptured view : Earth and confederate Jove pat forth the fnare. To tempt, for Plato's fake, th* unconfcious fair; The gods themfelves the prod ad might admire ! From one broad root an haadred hesds afpire ! All nature loon die fpreading fragrance foand. And heaven, and earth, and ocean fmile around !
She (aw — and, at the fight, with joy entranced^ On, to the beauteoos bait, in hafte advanced ; But when t*obtain the charming prize (he tried. The treacherous earth beneath her opened wide ; And from the yawning cbtTn— 'tis firaoge to tell ! Forth ifioed the grim majefty of hell ! His eager arms th' affrighted maid embraced. And in his golden chariot infiant placed ; Swift from the plain his ftceds imitiortal prefs^ Regard lefs of her cries and dc^p diftreii. And now her utmofl voice is raifed in vain. Her father Jove, fupreme and juft, to gain : Alas ! nor god, nor man, would Ikear her Cry, ( Whifft e*eo the grove itfelf denies reply) Sdve Ptrfa^ yoothfnl daughter, &c.*
Mr. Hole, concurring with Ruhnkenius^ that the expre&oo §Ly\Mxa^9^ sXami is corrupted and unintelligible, propofes^ with a happinefs 4>f conjediire that does great credit to bis faga- city^ to read ayA^Mpirot ireufw^ j^^^fy*^ ^^ interpretation of
4i6 Pr^irtii MombibUt*
ayXaoKx^TTOi by the authority of Pindar. Mr. Lucas, howcTeff adheres to the firft reading, which he explains very ingenioully. ' The original of this palTage rum chos:
On the lad part ija ayXooirarpirot iXmaut the editor fayi in a note, '* hare non capio: videant acutiores.'* After fuch a declaration, I coold not fiope to difcover the meaning of thefe words, if it depended oo a learned penecration : hot, as the fenfe of them feems to me to lie on the furface (the reafon probably why the editor has overlooked it) I may venture my idea of it. Nothing is more common with poets than to feign an attention in mountains, woods, rivers, to perfbns £ngiog or bewailing ; which no doubt took its life from the echoes which nfually proceed from thofe places. Virgil, Ed. x. 8.
Neu canimus/urdis^ rtfpnudtni omnia fylv^* JEn» xii. 928.
Con/urgumt gemitu Rutuit\ Wufyue remugit Mont circnmf it *uo€tm iaii nemora mlia nmiiiunt. I take, therefore, ^ ayXoocdtp-oi i^usum to mean fimply this; that the fruitful oli've gro<vts^ which were near, beard not, or were inattentive to, the cries of Proferpine ; and gave no anfwer to them with their accuflomed echoes.' if ^^ j^l^ •
Art. IV. Proptrtii MonobibUs : Or, That Book of the Elegies of Propertius, enutled Cynthia; tranflated into Englifh Verfe : With Claflical Notes. 8vo. 2s. 6d. fewed. Nichols. 1782.
R' EVIEWERS have been cenfured, and in fome inftances perhaps, it is to be feared, not unjuftly, for deviating from that unbending line which ftrift impartiality points out to them. It may, however, very truly be faid, that were every thing, by which their judgments may be impofed upon, taken into full confideration, greatly would it abate the feverity of their con- demnation. No one, who had not been in a fimilar fituation, can be aware of the variety of artifices that are daily put in prac- tice to avert their ccnfure or to fecure their apprc^ation. We have fometimes thought of making A ColUSliw of Litters difre* catory and complimental t$ thi Monthly Riviewers. But fettiog afide the violence fuch a publication might do to our modefty, there are other motives which rcftrain us from it : The arts of literary adulation, which, indeed, are but too well underftood already, would be laid open to every one \ and we might alfo be fufpedted of wanting to take an unchriftian-like revenge of many a good gentleman, who in public aiFe£ls to treat our decifions with innnite contempt, and yet in his ptivati corrijpmditici con^ defcends to folicit our applaule by every method which the roean- nefs of flattery or fupplication can fuggeft to him ; nay even Co treat us with a refpcd little lefs profound than could have been
5 pai*
Propiriii Mdnobibbs* 417
paid to Apollo himfeir, prefiding at his own Court of Crlticifcn on ParnaflTds. BuC befides thefe modes of attack, there are others more oblique, which, as they are lefs apt to befufpeded, it requires greater circumfpeftion to guard againft. Bur, per- haps, the greateft trial of our critical integrity is, when the fm* cerity of the compliment, by which our vanity may begratiEcd^ admits notof fufpicion*
Wc were led into this train of reflexions by an involuntary wifli to ihew every reafonable indulgence to the performance be- fore us, arifing in our minds from dtfcovering, from the preface^ that it had been undertaken in confequence of a hint formerly dropped in our Review, that fuch a work would be acceptable. Sorry, however, are we to add, that this Tranflation by no means corrcfponds with the idea we had formed of fuch a work. Though its fidelity and clofeaefs evince the learning and indufiry of the Tranflator, the elegance of the original too frequently evaporates in the tranflation. The verfification is commonly harfh, and the rhymes are difibnant. This cenfure, however^ does not extend to each individual Elegy ; for inftance, the foU lowing, — in which, if proper allowance be made for the difliculty of tranflating fo clofely as that each line in the tranflation (hall have its correfjpondent one in the original, will be thought not deflitute of merit:
* Go then, on Tiber's velvet banks recline ; And in Mentorean cups ^uafFLefliian wine : Go view thy rapid wherriei cleave the tide. Or drawn by cords thy barges flowly glide ; *
View thy tall trees their caltur'd ranges fpread. Like woods that burden'd Caocafat o'erfiiade : Yet what are thefe compared with my fond joys ? Love will not yield to all that wealth fapplies I Metbinks if e*er with me flie fpends the night. Or kindly wades the day in dear delight ; Beneath my roof Padkolas rolls itsftores, And gems 1 cull on Erythraean (hores :
' Tu Well abje^as Tiberina mollitur nnd&
Lefbla Mentoreo vina bibas opere: £t modo tarn ccleres mireris currere lin^res,
£t mod6 tarn tardas funibus ire rates : £t nemos omne fatas intendat vertice fllvas, ^
Urgetnr qoaotis Caucafas arboribus : ' Non tamen itta meo valeant contendere amori.
Nefcit Amor magnis cedere divitiis. Nam five optatam mecum trabic ille qnictetD,
Seu facta totom ducit amore diem : lO
Turn mihi PaAoli veniant fob tefla liqaores,
Et iegitar robris gemma fub seqaoriboi.
Rev, June, 1782. E e TheQ
41 § Pfipirtii •MoH9bsbht0
Then beyond kan^ my joyr proclaidi me bled; May thefe reoiaiD, while life (hall wariti rhu breaft! If crofs'd in paffioiiy who will riches heed ? When Venas fmiles not* then we're poor indeed! She lays the hero's boafted vigour low, 'Tis Venus uielts the hardeft heart to woe; She on Arabian thresholds dares to tread, Th' empurpled conch, O Tullus ! dares inrade ; She on hts bed can ftfetch thefigfiing Twain, Then o'er it fpreade the piAur'd filk in vain.— *^
Propitions prove*, thioo charmer of the (kie« ! And thrones I'll fcorn, Alcinous' wealth defpiie !'
Tnm mihi ceiTuros fpondent mea gandia reget :
Quas maneant, dum me fata perire volent* Nam qnis divitiit adverfo gandec amoref 15
Nulla mihi tridi praemia fint Venerea Ilia poteft magnas heronm in frin^re vires :
Ilia etiam duris mentibus tSc dolor. Ilia neque Arabium metait tranfcendere limen^
Nee timet cdrino^ Tulle, fubire toro : 20
£t miferum toto juvenem verfare cubili.
Qnid relevant variis ferica cextilibus ? QnB mihi dum placata aderit, non ulla verebor
Regna, nee Alcinoi munera defpicere.*
No TBS, iy tbi TranfiaHr.
* He addrelTeshis friend Tullus ; with whofe riches he fets in com- pecitjon the pleafure refulting from his love. This elegy, fays Vul- pius, is moft fweet, florid, fprightly, and polilhed ; it breathes the utmoil freedom, and its numbers are fimple, foft, roond, well turned; in a word they are Propertian ; and we may fay of oar bard, what Cowley faid of Anacreon, in the charader of Love :
AU thy verfe is fofrer far,
Than the downy feathers are
Of my wings, or of my arrows.
Of my mother *s doves, or fparrows ;
Graceful, cleanly, fmooth, and round;
All with Venns' girdle bound. Broukhufins informs us, that Joannes Secnndus has beautifuHy imi- tated this elegy, together with EUg. 3. Lib. 3. of Tibuilus, in the ie- cond eleev ot his firil book.
* I . Tiiirifia undo] From this paflage, as well at from many othert, a^ appears, that Tullus was no mean perfoaage ; fince, like other Ro- tnans of condition, he had his villa on the banks of the Tiber.
* 2. MintoTio »ptrt :"] So high* wrought drinking cops arecalled» by way of excellence. Mentor was a famous fcuiptor or embo/Ter ; of whofe workmaafliip Pliny informs us, Lib, 33. Cap, ii. that the orator Lucius Crafius bought two goblets, at an hundred HSS. Mar* tial frequently fpeaks of Mentorean cups; and Cicero, at well as manjr others, mention them. We may here remark, that the antients made their more coftly drinking- cups of gold, gems, and a compofitioa called wutrrka, about which aniiquariea are to much divided ; fome
contend
Properiti Mohob'M. 419.
contend it was tlie Tame with the oilyx; but MoDtfaucbn, who givef various fpecimens of the antieiit driDking-vafesy is convinced front what Arrian fays» that it was a feparate matter : the murrhinian cupt were mod efteemed of all others, as well for their gold and purple ihades, as for their natural perfume; they were firil brought into Rome by Pompey, when he returned in triomph from the Eal^.
' 2* Lejbia wtia] This wine is noted by Horace, as a light wine fit for the fummer, and not intoxicating; Athenxus terms it oiy^y^iov; it is the fame with what Virgil, do. 2. and our poet, £leg, 9. Li6, 4. call Methymtneum^ from Methymna, a city of Lefbos. See what Ari- ilotle fays of Leibian wine» according to Aulu3 Gellius, Lib. i z. Cap, 5. ' ^, /knibuj iro rates:] The aDciencsi like us, not only navigated vefTcIs along rivers with fails and oarsj but alfo drew them along with cords faflened to men and beads : thus Aafonios in Mo/iiic,
Tu duplices fortiti mias ; et quum amnt fieundo
Labtris, ut celeres feriant *vada concita rtmi :
Et quum per ripas nufquam cejfante nmulco
Iniendunt collo maUrum vi/icu/a naut^t.
* ^. Jatasjil'va$^ Livineius injudicioufly writes >2rrrtf/^a;ii/ ; but PafTeratius jullly interprets ihefc words, tnts planted in attain ranks or orders ; {at filva is often put, as he clearly proves, for a (ingle tree ; in fuch ranks, Virgil, Geor, 2. recommends the planting of vines, at well for utility as ornament* The Romans went to an imroenfe ex- pence in the culture of their woods, or parks belonging to their villas. See an excellent note, and applicable (lory upon this fubjed, in Grainger's Tiballus, Eleg 3. Lib. 3,
* 8. Nefcit Amory &c.J See our poet, EUg, 5.
Ntfcit Amor pri/cis ctdere imaginibus,
* 9. trabit quietensy] Pafferacius interprets this pafTage by; rtf«/ria<^. ingy Jhortiking tbi nigbt ; for the night, to a very fond lover, when with bis miftrefs, never feems long enough ; but I think that trabtrt here fimply means ducere, as Virgil ufes it, ^ntid, 4,
Nate dea^ potis hoc fub ca/u ducert /omnos f '12./. rubris gemma /nb aquoribnsJ] 1 he Erythrean fea fo named by the Greeks from its King Erythra, is called by the Latins marermbrum ; perhaps fays Pliny, Lib, 8. Cap, 22. from its waters being tinged red* by the reverberation of the folar rays ; perhaps from the colour of its fands, or foil; or from Uie natural redoefs of its waters. And in his Proem, to Lib, 12. he informs us, that on its banks were found ia «great quantities pearls and curious (hells, particalarly the murex, from which a purple dye was extra6led.
* 14. dummefatapirirea/oient,] BroukhuGus cannot perfuade him- felf, that Propertius wrote thus ; for, fays he, it is dura atque inauf' ficata loeutioi from which, he adds, that the Romans religioufly ab- llained ; and he would fain fobftitute in its room venire^ or manere : but let thofe fubfcribe to this refinement who chufe it,
' i6. trifti\ This word here means, unkind, unpropitions; as ior Tibullus, El. 7, Z. i.
Semper t ut imducary blandos offers mibi 'vnlfus : Poft temen es mi/ero triftis et a/per ^ Amor,
* 16. pr^emia] This wor4 is ufurped for pecuniar/ richei, bjr N«^ vittSy after Prifcianus.
£ c 2 ^ ig. A*
420 Modern MannefU
' 19. jfrahtam tran/cenJeri limen,] Some editors write lefs elegant!/ iQnfcenderi^ By Arabian threfhclds, or doors, are anderftood fuch valuable ones as are made of ooyx, or alabailer, which is found in Arabia, See Diodorus Siculus, Lib, 2* upon Arabian marble ; and Pliny, Lib. 36. Cap* 7. The wealthy Romans tncruAed ibeir whole houfes with marble ; and we are inforo^ed by Plioy, that Mtmufra Formianus, a Roman knight, whom Catullus la{hes with fych deter- mined virulence, was the firft in Rome who fo decorated his houfe.
* %%. 'uariii ferica ttxtilibui f^ Woven coverlids for beds, as well as all other woven manufa^uies. Bahyhnica firagula tt ptriftrtmata^ were firft invented by the Egyptians, as Pliny tells us, Lib, 7 cap. 56. thofe of filk were particularly coftly ; for (illc was but little known among the Romans : Theophanes, the Byzantine hiftorian, tells 08» that a certain Perfian fir A brought filk- worms from the nation of the Seres, the prefent Chine fe. to ConiUncinoplei ander the Emperor Juftinian, and tanght the Komans how filk was produced. Salmafius, ' in Vopijc, cbferves, that the ancients had, like us, filk Huffs woven with thread one way, and filk another; which they calledy&i^/Vr and tramo/irici \ but fuch as were entirely of filk they called boloftrici^ and efteemed at high value. Spartianns informs us, that the magnificent emperor Hsliogabalus was the fird whoworea garment wholly cf filk; and Vopifcus remark*, that, in the tinie of Aurelian, a poond of (ilk was worth a pound of gold.
' 24. JUiuoi muntra] The riches ofAlcinous king of the Phaea- cians; and the vaft gifts he laviflied upon UlyfTef, at his departtfrc from Corcyra, are amply defcribtd by Homer, Ot/yjl 7, et ^'^•^ffM
Ari.V. MoJirn Mannrrs : In a Series of Familiar £piiHes« 8vo.
2s. 6d» Faulder. 1781.
AProfcfled imitation of the Bath Guide, and one of the beft that we recoIl^A to have feen of that, exquifite original. The characters are, an old Country 'Squire, his Nephew and Niece, and an old maiden Aunt, who come up (o town on a vifit to a modern fine lady. As a fpecimen of this writer's man* ner, take the following detached pafTages from the 7th eplfilc. ' My Lord, t'other evening when dinner was done. And bottles and glaiTes, and fruit, were fet on. Said, he d juft got a card from my Lady Chattony, Whobeg'd him to come to her Conuir/atione : Go with me, he cried, and 1*11 promife a treat ; There the gay, and the grave, and the learned will meet : There men 0^ all taties, and all humours you'll find. And may join in the party that's moll ro your mind. 1 was pleas'd with this thing, I ne'er heard of before, i-o his Lordfhip commanded the coach to the door: Away then they drove us, but when we got there. The room was fo full we cuuld fcarcefind a chair: K^TEgot to the (bpha^ by young \AdY HoRNta, Whom fhc*d feen at my Lord's— -Gporgb popp'd down In a corner. For my part, poor mortal I I Ui down behind, Twixc the window and door, in a cuneac of wind ;
That
Mpdtm Manners* 421
That rm quite hositft this morning, yoo need not l^ told, Vou know thorough air always gives n^e a coijl. Then ihe cofFee and ce^ Were pourd out d'ye fee, la the parlour below by the livery 'd fquire i And indeed I mui\ own, Tho' cold as a flone. As firong and as bicier as heart could deGre^ When they'd handed aboqt To all the gay rout, Two cups of the lic^uor which Indies adortf; Quickly out of our iight* It altonifh'd me quite. The cake and the coffee, and tea*thing8 they bore, Without afking us once if we chofe any more.
Then they got into parties, as fui.ed them beft. Each fet by theoifelves turn'd their backs on the reft : To be fure fuch gay people knew well what was right, But I fhould have thought it not quite fo polite. Firfl 1 fat by a duller of beauties and beaus,
^ho talk*d of 6ne ponies, fine women, fine cloaths.
« « « « ♦
* Next a party of critics and authors I joinM, And thought I bad found out a fet to my mind : Cries a little black man, ** I'm convinc'd. Dr. Guzzle,
'Tis a poor paltry book that s juft wrote by one Puzzle* < Fm told tOQ that Ratsbane and Screhphqwl abufe it— r
Have yoo, my dearDoftor, had time to perufe itf" *• O, yes, I've juft fkimm*d it — 'ti« terrible tralb.
An cleo of nonfenfe, an ill-favour'd btijh,^
Sir, good IVIr. Shuttlecock's pamphlet (depend oo't)
Which he's going to publilh, will Tooi) make an end on't.-*r
I heard," cries another, at C^^deli^'s, to*day.
That Johnson's in town, and is writing away ;'
I was charm'd with his M 1 lton \ what judgment and fp'rif ! *' Mr. Regicide, fure you 11 allow thi^ has merit ^ •• you've read it, no doubt, Sir,"—** Not I. Sir, indeed— •* Read Johnson I— l*d fooner fubf<;ribe to the creed ! ■ ■ ** His opinions, religious and civil, 1 hi^te . ■ •• Sir, he'd make us all flavcs to the chujch and the ftate !"— • •• Gud Sir," cries a Scot, fpringing up from behind,^ And prefenting his rnu/F box, *• you're quite o' my mind ;
Tho* the dodor would fain give all poets the law,
Q' the fpirit of verfe he kncvys nothing at a'«
in fpiteofhis critique, \ canne' perceive, *^ What there is in your poem of Adam and Eve \
An you read OssiAN, Milton canna ga douo,
'Tig lik aficr a virgin a mefyo' the t'on :
On this fubjedt the'Do^or does nothing but dreaip^ f ^or be is tou purblind to ken the luDlccmc.''*—
E c 3 ApTt
«<
f <
«•
• c (I «<
• <
4« «(
«< <<
( «a )
JifLT. Vf. W# ImiiriS of Gnat Britain^ wth f^gati U hir AfmrUat^ Colomiis confidtnd : To which is added an Appendix, containing the Outlines of a Plan for a general Pacification. By James An- derfofi) M. A. Author of Qbfervations on the Means of exciting a Spirit of National Induilry,&c. 8vo. 29. 6d. Cadell. 1782.
IN times when fubjefis of general importance engage the at- tention of the Public, and teeming heads are delivered of thoughts for their own cafe and the benefit of others, any perfon, whatever his opinions may be; can be furnifhed with ready-made arguments to fupport them, that will fit them as neatly, as a tall, ihort, fat, lean, ftrait, or crooked man, may be fitted with a fuit of cloaths at Monmouth- fireet or Rofemary-Iane ; It is indeed as happy for communities as for individuals, that we bave fuch a facility in accommodating our thoughts to circum- fiances as they arife; for the train of reafoning purfued in this very fenfible eflTay, which, perhaps, the ingenious Author him- felf never conceived, till it was dilated by events, may no^ operate as a cordial, by its novelty, though the tafte of it would have been totally difreliOied at the clofe of the late war, when we were fluflied with conquefts, and congratulated ourfelves on the recent extenfion of the Bricifh empire. After having been repeatedly told, both in print and in the fenate, that our wel- fare as a nation, depended on prefcrving the fupreme govern* snent over our American colonies ; we are now comforted under the lofs of them, by a difquifition, the refult of which is,
* That our American colonies, inilead of promoting the trade and snanufaflures of Great Britain, have tended in a xpofl powerfal man- ner to deprefs them. That inftead of adding (Irength and (lability to the empire, they have necefTarily weakened it to a great degree, and cxpofed it to the molt imminent danger. That, therefore, the fettling of thefe colonies at firft was unwife, and the fubftquent encourage- ment that was given them highly impolitic'
To maintain thefe pofitions may be deemed an arduous talk, by thofe who have ever confidered American colonization in a dire6l contrary point of view ; but it is undertaken by a writer, whofe abilities we have, on more than one occafion^ found to be refpeAable, Inftead of extending this article by attempting an abridged detail of the whole work, which, from the con- nexion of the ieveral parts, mu4l be injured by curtailing, we ihall confine ourfelves to th^ chapter which treats of the confe* quences that refult from extended dominion, as an abflraSt queftion ; and our choice is the rather direS^d to tbi^ pa^ge, as the argument of it points dircfily at certain current opinions^ as well relating to ourfelves as to the new- formed American States, the validity qf which is generally fuppofed incontro- vertible, and may ferve to reconcile us to difappointments, that« Siccording to the writer, ought rather to give us fii^tisfa^ion.
Andcrfon'j Interift rf GnatBrUain^ ice. 423
It IS, ftys our Author, admitted, that of two countries con- taining an equal number of inhabitants, the fmalleft in extent of territory will be the moft powerful. The larger the territory, the more difficult it is to be defended ; many garrifons and nu- merous troops being required to fecure an extended country from infult and danger. The fame reafoning applies to the in- ternal police of the country ; the difficulty of obtaining prompt juftice againft tranfgreflbrs, being much greater in countries where the people are thinly fcattered,' than where they are more numerous, or live clofer together : if therefore equal fecurity is obtained in each, it will be much more chargeable in the large, than in the fmall country. In a well-peopled country, the la- bourer and manufadurer are fo near neighbours, that they ex<- change the produce of their induftry with great facility, and with the leaft poffible wafte of labour ; therefore the produce of the fields, and manufa6iures, can be afforded at the loweft pof- fible rate. But if a country be thinly peopled, z\l commodities muft be carried confiderable diftances to market ; and the ex- pence of carriage enhances the price of goods without adding to their value : To this muft be added, the labour and charge attending making and fupporting extenfive roads of com* munication between different parts of the country.
It is for fuch reafons ^r. Anderfon calls the large country, thinly peopled, the ^^^r country ; the fmaller, and more popu- lous, the rich country: and the taxes required for fupporting the civil and military eftablilhment, are raifed cheaper, and are of courfe more produ£tive, in the latter than in the former. The poor country therefore is doubly opprefled, as being more fe- verely taxed, and being after all, much weaker than the rich one. He extends the parallel to a greater variety of circum- ftances than we can attend to, and concludes that the only ftates where the felicity of the people has been confiderable and dur- able, have been thofe whofe want of power precluded any ideas of conqueft to enlarge their territories* After this general doc- trine, he comes to the application :
' If/ fays he, ' the preceding reafoning b^ well founded, we hare room to doubt if our forefathers aded with prudence, when they ihewed fo much folicitude to extend the bounds of the firiti(h empire in America, We thus acquired, it it true^ an immenfe tra6l of country, abundantly fertile, and capable of maintaining an innume- rable multitude of people, but that country totally deilitute of inha- bitants. As individuals in Britain have been accuftomed to value their poflelions, by the extent and fertility of the foil which belonged to them, we naturally enough applied the fame rvie to judge of the value of thofe countries that have been annexed to the firitifh empirvt not properly adverting to the difference of circumftances between onr- ielves and the wellern continent. Hed Raffia, which it a thioiy peo|>led, and in many places a fertile countryi ac(|uir€i| tke(e,poi-
S e i|. feffions,
%
424 Andcrfon'i Interefl of Great Britain^ &c.
feflions, individoali there would have judged of their valoe after a different manner. They know that at home ic ii neither the extent of their pofleflionsy nor the richnefa of the foil; that conflitotes the valoe of an eiUte, but the number of people it contains. In trancferring mn edate, therefore, they mentiou not the nuinber of its acres, but the Bomber of its people, and according to that number they eflimate itt value. Jn Ruflia, therefore, thofe immenfe territories we have ac- quired wichont any inhabitants, upon ihe poflVflion of which we plume ourfelves fo much, would not have been accounted of any valoe at all. Whether does the RuHlan or Briton in this cafe judge rooft wifely ^ Klary particulars mult be attended to before this quettion can be pro- perly decided. It is only neceffary he^e to remark, that they both judge from habit rather than from reafoning, and that they are of courfe equally liable to be miftaken. Ic it not thus that mankind ihould judge in matters of fo much importance.
* From what has already bet-n faid, it ^^ill appear evident, that al- though America had been contiguous to Briiaioy fo as to have ad- mitted of being united with ic into oneconne^ed kingdom, alihcagh It would in that cafe have been more eafily defended and governed than at prefent, yet on account of the difperiion of our people that would neceflarily take place, upon the acquifition of fuch an extended territory, the empire mud have been weakened, and its indullry di* miniOied. Ic follow?, that as America is fituaced. disjoined from Britain by fuch a trade of ocean, and iherefo^e fo much more difiicolc to be protefled or governed, thefe inconveniences mud be felt in a ilill (Ironger degree, unlefs their bad effeds are counterbalanced by fome favourable circumliance^, that have not yet been taken into the account.'
None fuch however appear, bccaufc the interefis of different comrruniiics will ever be diftinS.
' If one man feels that bis interefl is hurt by another, he will fub- mit to that as a hardfhip, fo long as he hi»ds he cannot avoid ic with- out fubjfdting himfelf to a greater inconvenience, but no longer: and this is iiili mere obvioufly the cafe with re;>ard to nations. It- is r«<-^ Ureji alone which eftablilhei the rt^htt of government, and p§wer that ]n<»i*){ains them.*
As the principles here advanced are ably fupported, and will not be cafily overturned, they may at leaft filence thofe who are not convinced that we can have raifed and carried on fuch a bufy intercourle with powerful colonies, on m:ftakcn notions: while others may liften to them, with that kind of reluflant afTent that •onfills in making a virtue of necdlity. But all the while, h•'»^^ i-ver we may reafon, and however we may afl, it is beyond our power to counterwork the natural tendency of caufes to pro- duce their certain cfFcdis. Phyficol tvils arrive at a crifis which produces their cure; the fame courfe takes place in political evils, cnly as the agency of man oper.ues in the latter, they mav either aggravate them to partial defiructicns, or bring them to a more gentle and favourable rern^jnation. A different condud^ in our commanders, at the bcgir.ni ig of American hofiilmes, might ^ bdve
Anderfon'i Interefl ef Great Brttaki, Sec. 425 I
have deftroyed the credit of certain confident declarations, which
are now as confidently quoted as predidions ; but the moft de- '
cifive fucccfs could only have retarded events that muft after«
wards have talccn place: And on the principles Mr. Anderfon
fo ftrongly urges, we have as little reafon to be diflatisfied with
the event of the conteft, as to be fatisfied with ibeir execution of ^
the trufts repofcd in them. It remains only to ad wifely from
prefenc circumftances. i
Our heavy oational burdens are confiftently with the above *
paflage, afcribed to (his diftant continental connexion. ?
' The amoant of our taxes has indeed afforded a fobjed for moch declamation ; but the caufei of the great incrcafe of the national ex- pence which occaiions thefe taxei, has feldom been thought of. The prelTure of our taxes has been complained of, but it has not been fug- geHed that this prefTure has been greatly augmented in confequenceof (he paucity of our people, which hat be^n iiP'a great meafure occa* fioned by the emigrations to America, and our exertions in its defence. When our manufddurers have been thrown out of employment, fiomi a (lagnatton of demand in foreign markers, occaftoned by thecircum* fiances above-named, indcad of contriving means to alleviate their burthens, and to furnifh them with employment at home, allurements have been held out to entice them to the colonies, where taxes were liardly known and protedion has been tifhrdcd grafts^ It does not feem to have been adverted to by thofe who promored thefe meafures, that in confeqoence pf the migra'ions arifing from thefe caofes« the taxes on thofe behind would reqi^ire to be augmented, and that of courfe, the evil complained of would be increafed, and greater mi- grations become necefTary ; which, if the fame conduct is to be ob« krved, mull go on increafing till the total depopulation of the ftate puts a ftop to them,*
The truth of this pofition depends on what was faid before; for if the former dodtrine is accepted as valid, no obje£lion re- mains againft this inference from it.
Our Author infifts ftrongly on the colonies having operated as a continual drain to carry o{FufefuI inhabitants from this coun* try ; which has probably been too much the cafe : and heafcribes the increafe of inhabitants there more to this influx, than to the alleged fpeedy population among themfelyes,
' Ic is,' fays he, ' grrerally believed, that mankind increafe fo much falter in America by naiutal procreation, than in Britain, that the diminuiioo of the inhabitants of this country bears no fort of pro* portion to their increafe in the colonies, and that by confequcnce the iofs we have fuftained by the fettiing of America, is much more than ipadeupto us by ^he gain we reap from the commerce of the colonies.
* [ have examined this queOion with attention, but have not been able to meet with any fadl that tendi to corrobarate the opinion^ un- I'tfs it be the fmgle circumftance of the rapid population of fomc of the provinces of America. But from this circumttance alone, we well know, that no ft\ch inference can be drawn. The. inhabitants of London, Liverpool^ Manchelter, and many other places in Britain,
l^ave.
426 Anderfon's InUrefl of Great Britain^ &c»
liaye^ in like manQer» increafcd in a mod rapid progreflion ; bat no man, becaM^e of ibit cJrcmnil^jQce, has ever believed ibac cbofe places are more fajiroarable for population than others. It is on the contrary well kaovuai, that.i^tere it not for the continual fopplies of people they con- ilantly draw froAi the country, the inhabitant! of thofe placet would probably diminiih inftead of increaiing. The fame inference may be made with regard to the population of America, onlefs other fads are produced to prove a contrary opinion.
* From the moft accurate enquiry I could make, I have not net with a fiogle circumllance chat tQnds to frvut^ that the inhabitants of America incresfe. by natural procreation in the Gnalleft degree fafter tKan they do in ihe country, and diilant provinces of Britain. To af- certain this fadt^ 1 have enquired after parochial regillers ; but thofe of America could not be obtained. And if they could, unlefi they are kept with .more than ordinary care, it would Aot be fafe impli* citly to rely on them.
' For want of meanf^of better information, I then had recourie to an expedient, which the reader may eafijy adopt if he inclines : ic was, to put fome of the American refugees (who at prefent abound in this country) upon recolle^ing the number of children in fnch fami- lies as they knew in America, whofe parents were either dead, or paft hopes of increafing their families; and comparing thefe with an equal number of families in Britain, in fimilar circumftances, taken alfo at random, from the recolledion of perfons who had l>cver been out of the ifland. Upon this trial I could find no perceptible advantage mn the fide of America over the country places and ditlant provinces (for it was jto thefcplaces [confined m^ enquiry) in Great Britain. It is not contended that very gi:eat accuracy could be obtained by thia mode of enquiry^ but it is prefumed that had the difparity in this ref* pe£l been near fo great as has been contended lor, a fenfible difference mud have been perceived even by [his mode of trial**
The hiftorical proofs he brings of emigration to America, and the great \yafte of lives before permanent fettlements were formed, which hefuppofes ftill to continue under the hardfliips endured ia extending the fettlements wedward, may fervehis argument bet- ter than this mode of comparing the procreative powers in Britain and Americ;a; for families of children may be admitted to be as large in one place as in the other, and yet population goon fafter f here, from a confideration fo obvious, that it is rather a wonder to find it overlooked. When matrimonial connexions are form* ed, we may conclude caUris paribus^ they may, for any caufe that appears to the contrary, be as produdlive here as in Ameri- ca : But jc is generally argued, that from the difficulties of fup- porting a famuy among us, peop!e are more reludant in fubje^- ing themfelves to the burden ; and that hence from living in ce« libacy, families are not fo numerous here as in America. To afcertain this point we are not to compare twenty families with twenty families, to find their produce of children ; but in parts 9/ each country, as nearly fimilar as c^n be foundj^ to nufnber one^
AnderfonV InUnft of Great Britain^ tie. 4IJ
two^ or more parifhes in each, and from a determinate number of reddent inhabitants compare the refpcSive proportions of the married to the fingle. If this could be ^ly ^cgomplifbed, it would (hen appear how far our Author was juftified in the po« licy he attributes to the Americans. ' It was the interest of the people in America to induce as oiany perfoqs as poifible to migrate to America, and therefore it has been their ftudy to ex^ hi bit as flattering a pi6);ure as poffible to the public of the falu* brity and other excellencies of their country.' In the mean^ while this will not be deemed a forced conje6lure, and when it met a perfuafion of the fame nature on this fide the Atlantic, it would operate accordingly.
Having (hewn that great part of our national expences are to be charged to the account of our colonies; the Author alfo confiders the commercial advantages y/c are fuppofed to have reaped from them : but even thefe he deems fallacious, and fiates a cafe to (hew, that from the lofs of the numbers who have left this country to fettle there, and taking into the ac- count the articles of life confumed by them, the balance is againft us •. The temptation this connexion a(Fords for fre- quent wars ; the wafte of people, and (he oppreffions on the re- mainder to carry them on ; the hazards liberty is expofed to linder an extended empire ; are all infifted on with great force of argument. The inquiry is no lefs cprious than interefting; and the Author has at the clofe of it drawn up and recommended a tieaty of general pacification, founded on a freedom of trade to America, guaranteed by a confederacy of the European powers : in which he partitions out the American provinces be- tween Great Britain and the new States in that country. But however fair all this may appear to the fpeculator in his clofet ; we cannot on the review of them avoid recolle£iing, that * it is intereft alone which eftabli(hes the rights of government, and power that maintains them.' According to whrch principle, it is natural to think, that right will be toiaUy out of the queflion ii^ driving the bargain at a negociation ; where each of the con- tracting parties will infiil on the terms their fwords have carve^ out for them. 4|#
■ ■ —————— —^—ii^—^—^^— —
* He maintains that we have internal refources in (his ifland, and in the due cultivation of the EOieries round it, to fupport, at lea(l^ ^A jiu^drcd tifue^ tj^e oumbtf of iababiuAtt it con.uifii*
A^T-
It
I-
( 428 )
AtT. VII. Pbilokgieal Enquirits, in Three Parts, by James Harris, Efq, 8vo. 2 Vols. 8 s, 6d. Boards. Noorfe. 1781.
WE have here a poflhumous work of a Writer highly and defervedly refpeded in the republic of letters. It was intended by the Author for publication, and the whole of it was printed before his death.
It is divided into three Parts ; the firft of which is an invefti* gation of the rife and different fpecies of criticifm and critics ; the Second— tfn illuflration of critical do^rines and principles^ as they appear in diftinguifhed Authors, as well antient as modern ; the third is rather hiftorical than critical^ being an effay on the taji^ and literature of toe middle age,
Jn the pcrufal of thefe Enquiries^ the Reader's attention will feldom be fatigued with thofe metaphyficaj refinements, and fhat fubtle erudition, with which the Author's Philofophical Ar^ rangements were thought, even by perfons well verfed m ancienc ^earning and metaphyfics, to abound too much. On the con-r trary, he will be pleafed with the fimple and perfpicuous detail pf critical fpeculations, which, though rarely new, are always rlcgant and curious, and very frequently interfperfed with fa£ls, particulars, and anecdotes, dcferving Xo be more generally )Lnown than they are.
If any peffons^ nqt deeply learned, are defirous of forming fhemfelyes t« 9 corre^ relifli of the bed models in compofition, and to 9^ tfue judgment in u^atters of literary tafte, there is^ Scarcely any book that can be more properly recommended to their perufal than that now before us. Amidft many topics of encomium^ on which we could enlarge with pleafure, we beg leave to rfm^rl^ tha( one iingula^ excellence, and perhaps the fhief qrierit of this work is, that the charade^ of the Author Aands for(h to vieiy in ey/try page ; marked with peculiarities indeed, but peculiarities of the mod amiable and refpeSable kind. As we read, we feen) liftening to the converfation of an ^legant fcholar, a gentleman, a perfon of the greateft candour^ iipcerity, and worth ; defirous of imprefling his own liberal fen* (ii^ents on the minds of others.
Far from having his mind CQntra£)ed by that faftidious fqueamiflinefs, which long habits of admiring the bed models are apt to produce, Mr. Harris is very earncft in recom- mending the ftores of Arabian literature to the attention of the learned in Europe, and takes pleafure in giving, perhaps, more than their juft praife to the ft^ writers who defcrve to be dif* tinguiflied amid the darknefs of Gothic times. With the fame liberality of mind, he haftcns to introduce to public notice the I^te appearances of clafiical literature, and of good tafte^ in the dominions of the Eoiprefs of Rul^,
Balguy'f Divim BemvoUnti ajftrttd^ ^t^
80 far indeed is he from being mifled by that blind attach- tnent to the antients, which men of his great learning and claf- fical cafte are apt to contrad, that, in a very beautiful criticifm^ he has boldly compared the plan of LilU*s Fatal Curiojiiy with that of the Oedipus Tyrannus of the Grecian poet.
In the Appendix to the Enquirits^ we have an account of the Arabic manufcriptSi belonging to the Efcurial Library in Spain ; — ^f the manufcripts of Livy in the fame library — of the Greek manufcripts of Cebes, in the library of the King of France, ac Paris, — together with fome account of literature in Ruflia, and of the progrefs towards civilization in that country, ^x
Art. VIII. Divine Be/tevoltmce ajerttd, and vindicated /rom fife QB" jiffiens of ancitnt and modirm Sceptics, By I'homas Balgay, D, D« Archdeacon of Winchefter. Odavo. 2 1. 6 d. Davit.
IN the Author's Advertifement, prefixed to this treatife, we are told, that it is a fpecimen of a larger work on the fubjed of natural religion. Every one that is capable of reading it with that degree of attention which it deferves, and of judgingof its merit, will be impatient to fee thefe outlines filled up. Dr. B. appears to be mafter of his fubjeft, and to have beftowed all that attention upon it, which its importance deferves. We do not remember, indeed, to have feen any treatife more ftrongly marked with precifion, accuracy, and metaphyfical acumen.
Nothing, furely, can give greater pleafure and comfort to perfons of a ferious and contemplative turn, than to have their faith in the goodnefs of the Supreme Being firmly eftabliflied on the bafis of folid argument and juft reafoning ; and we know not where fuch perfons can have a more fatisfaaory view of this very interefling point than in the treatife before us.
The fubjefi of natural religion is reducible to three general heads : God's Being, his Perfedion, and his Moral Govern- ment— Goodnefs is that part of the fubjed which is how ofFered to the Public.
The Author introduces it with obferving, that the Divine goodnefs is confidered by fome writers as confiding wholly in benevolence \ by others, as comprehending fome other moral per- fections, not perhaps reducible to this head ; but that the idea of benevolence is by all writers included under that of goodnefs^ and is at leaft a very affeding and interefling part of it.
He goes on to mention, very briefly, the arguments by which different writers (fome of them of great authority) have endea- voured to prove that the Author of nature has been influenced by a benevolent principle, both in framing and preferving the univerfe, viz, the degree of happinefs a^ually produced in this fyftem, the prepoUency of good, &c. — It may be more fatisfafiory,
ke
43^ ftifguy^ Dt^Otni 6lmtt;oleffCi afflnrtei.
he obfcrves, td'cdnfidcr feparatcly the various caufes of plcifiirc and pain ; and td e^ttilne' hbW far thcfe oppofite e^eHs were defignedot atct denial \ i, c. Whether either or both vfttc ultimati gnds. By thef W6fd uUlmhte he only means the htt dijfcfrmHe intention. Ourpfefent ftAte may haVe rcfereitce to other ftates* and other fyA^n^s ; but this berng unlcndWn; proves nothing for, or agarnft, the divine gdodnefs. If thre conftitution and laws of fvery part of nature' appear ultimately intended to pro- duce good ; it cannbt biit be the joint intention of a/l the parts. Nor mall v^ehave' arty fufScient reafoh, be fays, to rejcS this* conclnfion, if lyurnjr of the phafenomena; not all, fliew an inten- tion of prtidudng good : and no ptrtf or circamftance, (hew an* intention of producing evil, except only xnfubordination to good ; which, to the purpofe of the prefent enquiry, is in truth no ex- ception at all;
The various intentions difcernible in the works of nature, are all reducible, we are told, to thefe two : i. To produce a re- gular fncceflion of men and animals ; including the birth, tem- porary prefervation, decay, and diflblution of each individual ; 3. To furnifh them with the means and occadons of exercifing their various powers of perception and a£tion. The Dbdor fliews, that thefe intentions concur in the various works of na- ture, and that the iirft is fubordinate to the fecond.
Pirception and aSIiottj therefore, being the file ends (within the compafs of human reafon) propofed by the Author of nature, it remains to enquire, what ikind of perception was intended by him, whether pleafant, or painful, or both. And here, previous to a particular enquiry, our Author points out fome circum- ftances, which form a ftrong prefumptive proof, that pleafitnt perceptions only were intended ; and that the pains are ticct- dental confequences, attending the means of producing pleafure; f . e. the pains ariHng on the prefent fyftem of things are not ul- timate ends ; but unhappy appendages of a fcheme formed with DO other dedgn than the produ6lion of good.
He now proceeds, more dire<^ly and particularly, to examine and lay open the fubjeft before him, viz. Whether the f^veral parts of the univerfe, and the laws to which they are fubjedi, were defigned by the Author of them for the production of good. In other words, whether the fuccefEve exiftence, perceptions, and a£lions, of the various animals which inhabit the globe, and the caufes on which they depend, all of them proceeding from the intention of their Maker, be reducible to a higher^ or more general intention^ viz. the produftion of happinefs.
To judge of the general principle, which includes all the ends difcernible in the conftitiition of things, we muft coniider, our Author fays, the nature and condition of men and other animalsi during their abode on this globe, i. r. Whether their
5 frame
■i
Griffith^/ EJfays to young married IVomnhi if Jt
frame and circutnftances be adapted to make them happy of miferable. In the purfuit of this inquiry, he confiders, i. The conftitution of the bodies of animals : 2. The external caofes which are capable of affe&ing them ; 3. The powers and facuU ties of the human mind ; 4. The mutual dependence of men and other animals ; 5. The mutual dependence of mankind.
As a previous remark he tells us, that an intention of pro- ducing good-will be fufficiently apparent in any particular in- ftance, if the thing confidered can neither be changed nor taken away, without lofs or harm, all other things continuing the famtm Were we to fuppofe various things in the fyftem changed atonce^ we could neither judge of the poifibility, nor the confequenced, of the change, having no degree of experience ro dired us. This remark, we are told, is to be carried along through the whole proof of Divine benevolence.
Having confidered the difftrent parts of the conftitution of nature, and the particular laws to which each of them is fubjeft, our Author proceeds, in the fecond part of his treatife^ to en^ quire into thofe more general law^, which extend through God's whole adroiniftration ; and thefe alfo, he fays, will be found td fjggeft probable arguments of a benevolent intention in the Author of nature; certainly to aiibrd no prefumption of a con* trary intention.
This part of his enquiry comprehends an anfwer to the fol- lowing queftions: i. Whether the more general laWs of divine adminiftration aflFord any prefumption of good or iH intention in the Deity ? 2. Whether any additional evidence arifes, on either part, from the uniformity and conftancy with which God^s laws are adminiftered ? 3. Whether the continual oppofition made to Divine adminiftration by human agents, affords us any caufe to doubt of the benevolence of our Maker?
In the third and laft part, our Author fliew», from the ap« parent intentions of nature, that good, prepolknt good, is the refult of all, and anfwers objedions.
From the general view we have given of the contents of this treatife, the Reader, who is converfant with fuch fubjeds, will naturally exped much inftru£lion from it, and, if we are not. miftaken, he will not be difappointed in his expcdations. Con- fidering the variety of matter contained within a narrow comf- pafs, it was impomble for us to do any thing more than give a ihort abfira^t of the^fiontents. 'O
Art. IX. EJfayi addrejfed to jouug married Women. By Mrs* GrifHih. izmo. as. 6d. fewed. Cadell. 1782.
MRS. Griffith's reputation, as an elegant Moralift, is fo perfedly eftablifhed, that it wants 00 fuccour from our applaufe.
In
^3^ Ofiffith*j EJays to young marrlid tVonun*
In thefe Eflays we fee religion giving dignity to youth and beauty ; while politenefs receives no incumbrance from form- ality : nor is cheerfulnefs retrained by fuperdition. Mrs. G. unices the pleaHng with the ufeful. Her maxims are the pureft that innocence can imbibe for its protection \ and on the bails of female virtue (he hath reared that fupeidrudlure, which in the end will be found to be the only temple of happinefs.
Thcfc EfTays profeflcdiy treat of the following fubje£ls, viz. Keligion ; Conjugal Afiedion ; Temper; Neatnefs ; Domeftic Amufement } rriend(hip { Parental and Filial AiFedion ; and OEconomy. Each of thefe fubje£ls is difcufled with much good fenfe; and with a delicacy of fentiment and elegance of lan- guage peculiar to Mrs. Griffith.
* As thefe Eflays are meant to be generally ufeful, it would be impoffible, fays this amiable and ingenious Writer, to confine their precepts to any particular rank or fituation ; of courfe there can be no rules laid down for the condud of individuals under any particular circumftances : and indeed the whole work may rather be conftdered as a fketch, from which the intelligent mind may deduce inferences, and make applications, than a regular plan to be diligently purfued.'
The Author's fentiments on friendfliip are not the vain effii- fions of a frothv and fickle fancy ; but the fVeady and permanent convi&ions of judgment and experience. We will prefent our Readers with one extradl from this eflay ; and we do it the ra- ther, in order to correA a moft obvious blunder of the prefs ; for we regret that any thing fo beautiful (hould be naarred by carelefTnefs :
* As the word friendfbip is at prefent generally underflood to be a term of little import, or at moll extending merely to a pre- ference of liking, orefleem, I would by no means exclude my fair Readers from that kind of commerce which is now accepted under that title, in fociety. But even this fort of connexion requires much caution in the choice of its objed ; for I (hould wifh it might be reflrained to one ; and that one ought to ob- tain this preference, from the qualities of the heart, rather than thofe of the head. A long and intimate acquaintance can alone difcover the former ; the latter are eafily and willingly difpiayed —For love without efleem is as a Jhower^ foon fpent. The heart is iYitfpring of a&c£lions, but tl)e mind is their refervoir* p. 82, afid 83. «. -W
Art,
r 433 ]
Art. X Olfer'vcticns en tht Poems of Thomas Roivley : In which ihfi AuthentTcity of ihofe Poems is afccrtaincd. by Jacob Bryant^ Efq. 2 vola. 8/0. 8s. 6cl, boards. Payne, 1781.
THE learned and ingenious Author of the prefent work re- minds us of that celebrated Quixote in Chemlftry, Para- celfus, who, though he failed in dil'covering the philofopher's ftone, yet, in his wild ranges through nature, made difcoveriesof much greater confequence, and opened a field of entertainment and information which amply recompenfed his a(fiduity, how- ever diftant it might leave him from the original objedt of his purfuit. This remark is more particularly applicable to Mr, BryantV 0/:/i Palmariumy The Analysis; yet it is not wholly inapplicable to the work now under review, notwithftanding its obje6l is of far lefs confequcncc, and the learning and ingenuity diiplaycd in it be in every view inferior. It feems, however, to be the peculiar fate of Mr. Bryant to undertake the defence of paradoxes and hypothefcs, which have no exigence but in fan- cy and fidion, and to be in earneft where others are in jcft ! Fairy land is holy ground to him; and caftles in the air are as facred as the temples of divinity !
In the prefent inaufpicious attempt we are prefented with fome- thing to amufe curiofity, and fomething to afford information : but we have more to excite our furprize at the author's temerity j and ftill more to raife a fmile at his credulity. We never faw learning fo debafed by weak reafoning, nor ingenuity (o blended with abfurdity, A ftuditd attempt to render the caufe of Row- Icy ridiculous, could not have anfwered that purpofe more effec- tually than the laboured efforts of this author to make it ferious ; and in the very moment when he is moft gravely engaged in re- pelling its enemies, he fupplies them with weapons to facilitate his own defeat.
The firft pofition which is laid down by Mr. Bryant is the fol- lowing : viz. ' That the poems of Rowley were written in a pro- vincial dialedl, according to the idiom of the people in whofe country the author refided and was probably born.* To illuftrate this pofition, Mr. Bryant examines the writings of fome of our older poets, and hath given two or three ample fpecimens of pro- vincial terms and modes of exprefHon, from the Chronicle of Robert 'oi Gloucefier, and from a curious MS. which belongs to the library of King's College in Cambridge, written in the thirteenth century, under the patronage of Humfiey Bohun, Earl of Hereford, who was nephew to Kmg Kdward the Second* * The language of the former is, as our Author obferveb, very broad and coarfe, and the whole favours ftrongly of the county of which he appears to be a native,' The latter from a certain provincial mode of expreffion^ he conjedlures to have
R£V. June, 1782. Ff formed
43+ Bryan t'j Obfervatlom on Rowley s Poems,
formed his languaj^e on the dialed of fome of the weftcrn coun- ties, and moft probably of Hereford or Glouccfter. In like man- ner the diction of Rowley is fuppofed to be ptovincial ; and this, our author imagines, may be proved from the numberlefs peculi- arities with which it abounds. Inilances, fays he, to this pur- pofe are very obvious ; and as a proof he produces fome exam- ples. Unfortunately for the caufe of Rowley, the examples produced tend ftrongly to confirm the aflcriion we made in the fecond partof the Review of Dean Milles, viz. That the language of the Poems is a patch-work of every fpecies of dialed^, old and new : that the words were picked up at random, and nothi: g was tonfulted but their fignification. In the examples of provincial terms produced by Mr. Bryant, we find feveral that may be met with in moft of our old poets, particularly in Chaucer and Spen- fer, who furely dil not write according to the dialeft of Row- ley's fuppofed county ; and as to the reft, they are moftly com- mon terms difguifed by an appearance of antientfpelling. Aliffel^ for myfelfy is undoubtedly very coarfe, and favours ftrongly of Somerfetfhire ; but it ftiould be confidered that Chatterton, as well as the pretended Rowley, was a native of that county. Sheen^ fox Jhine^ 2ind pais^dy for pois'd^ are a fpecies of the fame corrupt dialed^; however they are not peculiar to the old writers of Somerfet or Devon, fince both occur in Chaucer, and even in Spenfer, and therefore cannot be determinative of the point for which they are adduced by our Author. Mr. Bryant ob- ferves, *That there are numbers of entire words in every page [of Rowley] which have been for a long time obfolete ; fome of thefe probably were never in general ufe, but confined to parti- cular provinces.* We thoroughly agree with him here ; but the inference we would draw from this remark is the very leverfe of that which he attempts to eftablifli. Many of the words intro- duced into the poems were obfolete, even in the age in which it is pretended they were written. They by no means mix with the general language of the poems ; for the ground of them is mo« dern, and the obfolete terms are patched on it^ and appear not originally to belong to it. Out of the examples produced by Mr. Bryant of obfolece and provincial terms, there are but two or three that may not be found in Bailey's Di^lionary, withpre- cifely the fame fignification that is given to them in the Poems, and in Chatterton's Gloflary. The difference in fpelling from that diflionary, or from Kerfey's, is in general fo trifling as not to deferve any regard ; and when there is any difference in that refpedl it is evidently a piece of affedlation, in order the better to fupport the farce of antiquity. Thus an additional e was fup- pofed by Ghatterton to help the difguife, and he generally made a very free ufe of it, more free indeed than was neceflary, or than was done by any of the antients whom he attempted to copy. The
converting
Bryant^i Ohfervationt on RowIey^s Potmu 43^
converting an / into z y^ sl u into an 0, &c. &c. was anothet trick of this young adventurer to deceive the eye, and he per- formed wonders with it ! An a and a ^ at the beginning of a word, had the fame magical efFed with an e at the end ; and thus n-dygne znd y-hrochsci make antiquity look more antient ftill ! It is curious however to obferve^ that Mr. Bryant, in order to prove that Rowley wrote according to the provincial dia]e£k of the wcflern counties, ihould produce words which are entirely of northern extra6iion, and perhaps were at no time intelligible to the inhabitants of that pare of the kingdom for whofe cntertaiD-^ ment Rowley is fuppofed to have written. It was enough for Chatterton that he found old words : it was enough foJ* him that they were all grown obfolete. But Rowley j who wrote to be un« derftood, would only have adopted thofe which were in ufe, and not have jumbled together all the dialers of the nation, and words of every date. We are thoroughly convinced that there was not one in a thoufand, ncr perhaps ten thoufand^ that would have undcrdood the poems of Rowley in the age in which they are fdid to have bern written. i
Mr. Bryant having attempted to edablifh the claim of the old Prieji to thofe Poems, from the confiJeration of their abounding^ in provincial terms, proceeds to an argument of ftill greater pith and moment ! Let us examine the ftrength of it« * Befides thefe terms, which, though obfolete, are native, there are others which are foreign, being partly borrowed, and partly framed from other languag(.'s. Thefe languages are the French and Italian, toge^ thcr with the Latin and Greek, with none of which we prefume that Chatterton was at all acquainted. l*he writers of thetimes in queflion afix:f)ed a (hew of learning, and they often coined new words, and adopted others by way of enriching their compo- fitions. It is therefore not to be wondered at, if, in Rowley's Poems there ihould be expreHions of this nature,*which were not in general acceptation.' Mr. Bryant produces many examples of this kind. But here he is again unfortunate. The words are all common, and might have been known to a youth of far lefs reading and underftanding than Chatterton. The greater part of the words produced by Mr. Bryant may be found in Bailey, ejpecially thofe which are the moft uncommon and lie moft out of the Imeof general reading. Such zxt Eubrice 2Lnd Zabulus^vihich we have noted in a former Review.
Mr. Bryant produces after this a lift of French words which occur in the Poems of Rowley, and from them draws a frefh ar- gumefit to (upport their authenticity. His ill luck, however^ doubles on him, for all the wordsy except one (and that a very common one) may be found in Bailey I Not knowing indeed that fo much learning in Latin, Greeks and French, could be gained at fo cheap a rate^ and from a book fo much beneath the
F f 2 attention
436( Bryant'; Obfervations on Rowley's Pants.
attrntton of a fcholar, our Author gravely remarks ^ that from thefe and other circumdances we may be ajfured that thofe poems were written in the Anglo-Norman ftile j the fame of which the learned Hickes, in his Fhefaurus, treats at large. And without any previous knowledge of the real author, we might be certain thathewas<7 man of learnings and well acquainted with fever al lan- guages, Thefe few examples, out of many, I lay before the reader, to whom at every turn of the book more wiJI prefent themfelves, (hould he choofe to make farther enquiry. I never heard it furmifed that Chatterton was in the lead acquainted with the French language, much lefs with the Latin and Greek. Whence then was it pojjible for him to have made fuch an exotic collection?' We cannot forbear fmiling at all this folemniry ! for it exceeds all power of face to be grave^ when we anfwer Mr. Bryant as we anfwered the Dean, and inform him whence Chat- terton had his CoU^clion !
It is not perhaps unworthy of obfervation, that in the two lifts of words cxtradfed from the Chronicle of Robert of Glouccfter, and the MS. of King's College, we meet but with very few words that can be found either in Bailey, or in the Gloilary to Chaucer, which Chatterton tranfcribed, as we have already remarked, with his own hand. Out of upwards of a hundred and fixty words we can fcarcely find twenty in the di£iionary or the gloflary ; whereas there is hardly one uncommon word in a hundred in the Poems of Rowley, but may be traced out in either of them. We leave the Reader to draw his own inference from this curious circumftance.
Mr. Bryant, after thefe general remarks on the language of Rowley, proceeds to prove, by an indu<5iion of particulars, that the poems mufl be antienr, and that it was impoflible for Chat- terton to have been the author of them. To this end he lays down fome few pojlulata^ which, he thinks, cannot be denied him, and which are neceflary to be premifcd. Thefe pojiulata will appear to the beft advantage in his own language; for they Will lofe much of their importance if we attempt to put them out of their original form !
* 1 lay it down tor a 6xrd principle, that if a perfon tranfmits to jne a learned and ifxceltenc compofuioD, and does noc undcriland the contexty he cannoc be the author.
* I lay it down for a certainty, if a perfon, in any fuch compofition, has in tranfcribiiig var.ed any of the terms through ignorance, -and the true reading appears from the context, ihat he cannot have been the author. II, as the antient vicsr i faid to have done in rcfptwi to a portion of the gofpcl, he for Jtt::*/imus^ reads uniformly m{/w;);^//r&/, he never ccmpofed the treatife in s<\\\ h he is fo gror>Iy m liukcn. If a perfon »n his notes upon a poefn, n>iMakcs Liber B<iCchus, for Li- ber, a Book; or when he meets with Liber, a fiock. he interprets ic Liber, ¥tet, he certainly did not compofe the poeoi where thofcte.ins occiif. He had not parts and le^roiog to effcd it.
8 ' In
Bryant'j Ohfervatiom on Rowley^s Poems. 437
* In fliort, every writer moft know his own meaning; and if any perfon by his gloflary, or «ny oihtr explai.ation, (hews, that he could not arrive at fuch a meaning, he sfFjrds convincing proof that the original was by another hand. This ignorance will be found in Chatterton, and many miftakes in conrrqurnce of it be feen ; of which miitakes and ignorance. I will lay before the reader many examj)Ies: when thefe have been afcertained, Jet the reade- judt;c, vhether this unexpcrrienced and unleuered boy could have been the author of the poems in quellion/
Mr. Bryant divides his work into feveral parts for the fake of order and perfpicuity. The fird divifion confifts o^ A Lift of fome particular Terms which occur in the Poems of Rowley j the jec.;nd, of References to ant icnt Hijhry \ the third, contains Aw thsriiiesfor Per fans mentioned in the Battle of Hajiings \ the fourth ci;ters i:Uo A Comparifon of Rowley s Poems, with Compo fit ions of other IP^riters \ tht firth divifion is entitled. Some Obfervations upon the real Poems of Chatter ton ^ to which he put his Name ; of his Alijiakes'y alfo^ of his Parti and Attainments^ &fc. alfn, ObfervO'^ tvons upon the Notion of fome third Perfon bein^ the Authir.
Aft'.r the dilcuifion of ihelie points, m which the internal evi^ dence is more particularly and critically examined, the Author proceeds to coiilidcr the external evidence^ and the proofs arifing out of it in favour of the authenticity of the poems of Row- ley.
In the conclufion, the leading objecSs of the whole work arc preicnted to the readier in a concife view, by way of Recapitula^ tion. It IS drawn up in a very clear manner, and we cannot give our Renders a better idea of Mr, Bryant's attempts in this curious controverfy, tnan by prefenting the whole of it to them in his own words.
Recapitulation.
' If we confider lil tnut has been faid, we ihall Hnd, that th<fe has bf-n full evidence jfForded to the following i^tisi Firll, That Mr. William Canynge, \>y the alftftance cf his friend and coni'cflbr, Tho- mas ;<<,wlcy, did make a valuable colk^^ion of writings: That they were Jepouted in a lirfj;e chtil, in a room over the north porch in St, Mary RfjclifFe, ai BritJol : That he took the utmoft care for the pre- fervaton of :his valuable depoJit. by having fix keys to the chert, and as m.r.y trulleoj, who v^erc to perform an ^u\ ual viiitiiiun. Of Row- ley, whole cxilUr.c; was doubled, there has been affoided fut^icienc tciiiinony from the reg Her of Wells ; and it has been farther (hewn from the L d?,cr of S:. twin, that in his liinc there were at Briftolfe- vcal refpc'cftable pcrfois of that n tme ; and, as we m;4y reafonably infer, of his familv. It has been lliewn that the wr.rinps thus laid up, were prefervcd very fafejy, till the )ear 1757, at which lime the chert was broken open, and part of ihe parchments c<>rriedto another room : That the remainder lay e:!fpored, and was carried away by dif- ferent perfons: That Chatterton's father bad a large (hare, of which a great deal was by him mifapplied and ruined^ What was lefc at his death hii widow put tnto a box, and upoa her removal.
F f 3 €arri«4
438 Bryan t'i Ohfervailons on Roivlefs Pcems,
carried to her own boufe. That this box was fome years aftfrwands diicovered by her fon, when he was about fifcecn ycarj o'd ; and tha: he at times carried oiTthe wri:ing<, which he lludied and copied ac his mailer's office. Mention has b^cn made of his joy, when he /bund QUI their value ; of his ex'.afy in fpeak'ng of ihem ; and when he read them to his friends of his indignation at their being dtfregarded, which he fometimrs exprelfed in very opprc.brious terms. It hat beea proved, that he never took the merit of them to himfeif, but always unifcrmly fpokeofihem as Rcwley*^. For th*is we have the evidence of his mother and fifter, and every one of his mod intimate friends. Perfons have been applied to who faw the originals; who faw him fvicH the parchment*" in his hand ; who heard him read from them| and were prefent at the time he was copying. Several of the originals arc dill in the hands ot Mr, Barreit. 1 have fhewn his fm^Il preteo- fions tv*) lecrning, from his firll companions; from thofe who knew him aficrwards ; from the maimer who taught him ; and lafllv, from his own teilimony; from the writings under his own /ignature, the iironpell evidence of all. That he had originals before him, is plain fxom the htrlps to which he applied to get information, Thefc were Skinner, Xerfey, the fmall Saxon Dictionary, and Chancer with the gloffary, Thefe he obtained when he had been in pofTrfTion of t^e l^ianufcripts above a year and an half; fo that at that feafoo, though he had copied many of them, he was net perlcilly mailer of the lan- guage. Indeed, he never attained to ir. And to this were owing the lal e glolTes and deviations of which a real author could not have been guilty. Indeed, nothing can be more inconfillent than to fup- pofe him* the author ; for it is plain, if he compofed the poemt*, that he d'rd not kno^v his own meaning; if he penned the origiq^ls, he could not lead his own writing, but was obliged toothers to 6nd out his pur pofe. This induces me to dwell a little longer upon the books ^hich he l^orrowed, as the inference which naturally refults from that ciicumflancc feems to be of confequence. They were obtained partly from Mr. Barrett, 2ind partly froip tylr. Green's circulating library, after hp hzdgiven to Mr. Catcoit and Mr. Earrett many copies of the poems, and fpoken of others, as being in his polTcflion. This fhe«^s that rhcy were not of his own compoiition : I-'or who ever conllruclea a coem, and then a year or two afterwards turned to a dit^iooafy to pndcrlUnd it? It may be faid, that he had recourfe to ihefe helps in order to form a g'ofTary; but if he had cofT?pofed the vcrfe?, furcly he could have miv-ic a glOiTary without the help of either Kerfey or Skinner ; o:herwife, as I have urged before, he mull have written what he did not uttderiland ; and that fucli fine poetry wa« t^e rcfult pf ignoranpe, is not to be Lclieved, That the world arcfe frrym choai I can eafily imagine, becaufo it was by means of a divine h^ind ; but ihat a jargon of words fiiould produce an Iliad, I cannot conceive; it \$ therefore plain that. he was not the author.
f I haift mentioned mary of his iniltakes and mifconceptlon?, and (he miflakes of others, which he through ignorance adopi^^d ; it 19 wiph regret that I am obliged to recur :o ihofe inllances of his want of knoiivleqge in his Saxon and African poems; in the latrcr of which, Cabo Lopez Gonfalvo is ch^nged to the rock of Lupa and the cave of Lobar ; the defarC of Zaira tu the palaces of Zeira ; and liie river
' ■' ' ' • Tiber
BryantV Obfervatiom on Rowley $ Poems^ 439
Tiber is made to run through Arabia! How is it pofiible for a perfon of fo little experience to h*vc attained 10 that (lore of knowledge, to that ab!lruCc and recondite hiflory, with «^hich thefe poems are fraught? Turgott and Rowley knew the perfons of whom they treat- ed, and the circumflances which they dcfcribed ; but Chatterton hid not this knowledge ; he lived at a great diilance of time ; and had neither experience nor hiflory of thefe events which be is fappofed to commemorate. How could he pofTibly know the names cf tne Saxoa Earls which occur in the hittle of Haftings, and which are not to be found in any hiflorKan ? They are indeed authenticated by Doomfday Book; but did he ever hear of that book ? or if he did, had he ever accefs to it? VVe may be aHured that he never had. The names of Bartram, Normanne, and many others, were too far out of his reach to have been ever attained by him. The nature of this evidence is fuch as mud fee afide all fcruples and farmifes ; nor can it be effcded by any of the popular (lories of Chatterton, and his inventive faculty ; nor by the high and unwarrantable notions of his parts and genius. As I have before faid. let him have had every natural qualificatioa with which man can be blell, yet he was not gifted with infpiration ; and without thar, he could not have arrived at the truths contained in Rowley : and let him have forged volumes, yet he never cojnpofed thefe poems, nor the manufcripis with whch they are conneded. Ic was impoi'lib'e for him to have hit upon (o many hillorical truthr, without any hidory to dire^ him. How could he have any intelli- gence ab'^ui the marriage defigned for Canynge into the family of the Widevilles, concerning which there was no known hiflory ? or of the cruel fine impofcd upon him for his refufal, which was equally un- known ? The fame mav be a(ked concerning any perfori who may be (ubitituted as the author in the room of Rowley. Thefe evicences not only (hew who did r.ot compofe the poems, but point out who ^iV/. They prove that the intelligence came from RtdcliEe Tower, and to- tally make void the notion of an imaginary third perfon. Rowley mult have been apprifed of Canynge's marriage ; he lived at the time, and was inirulled in the affair, and it was from him that the hiilory was tranfmittcd. The whole has fmce been very fortunately authen- ticared. as 1 have Hiewn ; the very articles of King Edward being at Briilol in the year 14^^;, could hardly h::ve been difcovered by Chat- terton, as it is, I believe, mentioned but by one hillorian. Indeed he does not pretend to have known the year, nor is it any where (^c^ cifi^d hy R)wNy, yet it has been verified by means of the Worceller Regider, and every circumflance about Can> nge's ordination has btea verified from thence. We have the like evidence about the burning of Redcliirc fpire Rowley muft have been, in fome degree, an eyc- witnefs of tiie event ; but Chatterton had no hiHory of it, no record^ excepting what muit have ccme froAi Rowley. He could not have mentioned it without fome previous intimation from th<it quarter, for tio account wa& el fc where to be had : Thi^, like the two articlc^A above, has. fince his d<fdtli, been arteQed, and by the tePiiroony of William cf WoiceOer. U the manufcrip:s were forgeries by Chatterton, ihefe hiilor:es mull have been his invention ; but we have fecn them paft contradi6lion certified, which could not have been the cafe if they bad been forgeries j they therefore cannot have been the mere fiigh:sofa
F f 4 boyiih
440 Bryant'j Obfervailom on Rowley s Poems,
hoyifh imagination, but are genuine hi(!orical truths ; and as he uni- iormly iaid that he had them from Rowley, as we cannot reafooably Conceive any other means, it is abfard to* afcribe them (o any orhrr perfon. If all thofe who knew the young man, and have given their atteftation to the antiquity of the poems, were to be warped in their principles, or to be found millaken, or were even to reirad their evi- dence, yet it would avail nothing agafnll their proofs. We mav pro- ceed upon the fame principles with refpe^l to the Temple Church, \vhich was faid to have been fo badly conllrudied by the firil builder, that it fubfided and bulged ; bat a better architect preferved it, by laying a (Ironger bails founded on piles. If this account were a for- gery by Chatterton, it could never have been by any means authen- ticated ; but we iind that it was * verified in the year 1774, about four years after his dea^h. Thefe are events for which Chatter ton had Ho voucher, if wc do not allow him Rowley. But even thefe pcrfops, and thefe events, which have collateral hillory for thfir <onhr.j.ation, are often tooobfcure to be eafily met v^ith, and could not co.-?>e wiih- in the fphereof a boy's intelligence. We have feen that he m'«ke6 a foldier, whowas larer than i ubb^ the Dane, contemporary with Htn- gilly and fpeaksof an Inca':> fleet upon the coatl of calabar. Can we . imagine fuch a novice to be an adept in the mod remote and fecrec parts af hiftory ? It cannot be foppofel. How could he knrw any thing of the Blue Briton and I invan ? of PowiAand and Mairavrtl ; and the hiftory of Howel ap Jevah r Add to thefe the numberlefs re- ferences and d^rk allufions which continually prelent themfeives to the reader in every part of Rowley.
' Such is the evidence wiih which thefe poems are attended. In the proccfs of my enquiry I have brought accumulated proof of the MSS. having been fecn, and acknowledged as authentic. I have mentioned the manner of t eir being carried away and fccreted ; of their being afterwards copied ; and of the perfon who tranfcribed them being feen in the article of tranfcribing ; ot their being uni- formly attributed to the real au.hor, Ro^viey, concerning - whom no doubts were ever entertained by the beft judges, the people upon the fpot who were eye-witnefles to the (^th upon which n»y evidence i«i founded, not the Icafl lufpicion preva:led, nil fcruplea and difiiculties arofe at a diiUrice. Thts exter^ial evi<itnce is r.ecefla- rilv biendtd with the interna!; and through the wh> le c )urre ot my enquiry, I have endeavoured to prove ihat thcfc ccmpoli.'oni re- quirtd far more learning than fell to the lot of the young mai^at Briitol ; I have (he^n that he many tines did not comprvhi nd 'he purport of the lihes which he copied, a »d that he miitook rhe very cla-
* rh'S evidence was obtained from fomo ovrrlecrs and wokci.en u ho were emp'oytd in repairing the ga.es Ivaviing 10 he IVniplc C'hurch-yajdi They had not otjiar denioriitianon ct' the pilcb. :\\c u::rer came in fo fall upon them ; but in di^^^^iiig ihey came 10 the fourd t'on above-mentioned, which conlifted • fan eifOrn»'.'U* m if-- of ftonc over a vvatcy fwamp; now ihc greater the mafs. ij «• more nr^J tncie wa'. for a fecoj.dary fupport, at;d in luch a htuation ro oiKtr fi»ppnr: bat piles can be well c nceived. F'it f^i?, ana much other iLteliig^nce, I am iod^bied to Mr. George Caccotc.
radcrs
\
Down man's Tranjlation of Ladbrogs Death Song, 441
raflers, in which they were defcribed. fo that he iubftituted one word for another. This alone, I think, falls little (hort of denion(lratioo, that the poems were by another hand. On this account I muft recur to the propofition with which I fet out, that every author mult know his own meaning; and whoever brings a copy of a prior writing, and does not underf'and that writing, that perfon c<innot be the author. In (hort, if a boy produces a reputable exercife, and cannot conlhue it, there is not an uiher at a boarding-fchool bat will tell him he did not make it.
In our next Review we {hall examine the force of fome of Mr. Bryant's leading arguments, and doubt not of making it appear to the fatisUiStion of our.Readcrs that they are founded on mif- take and fallacy, however ingenioufly contrived, or learnedly fupportfd. ^ f^
AkT. XI. Tbi Death Stn^ of Ragnar hodbrach^ or Lodhrog, kiig cf Denmark : TranA.iKd fruiti toc Laiio of Olaui Wormius. fiy Hu;;n D wnm^n, M. D. 410. 1 s. Fielding. 1781.
THIS Poem, if we m-iv credit tradition, was compofed by Lodbrog himfelf, who, after having carried on his depre- dations with fucccfs for many years, and rendered himltlf the terror of Lurope, was at length taken prifoner by Ella, King of Northumberland, and put to dearh by him, being caft into a dungeon full of fcrpents. The Tranflaror however juftly remarks, * that it muft have been the production of fome Scald or Bard, probably to do honour to the memory of his deceafed King, to place before the eyes of his fubjecls his heroic ac- chievemenis, and urge them and his fon ( or y^«j according to the Poem iticif) to rcvenjic.* We are farther informed that this curious remnant of antiquity is preferved by Olaus Wormius in his book de L'ttcratura Runica^ and was firft taken notice of a- * mongll us bv bir VVilItam I'trnple, ascharadteriflic of that fero- cicy wh;ch was fo peculiar to the northern nations. /L proud contempt of death, and a favage grandeur of lentimertfjl|pervadc the whole poem \ but it is totally deflitute of all the* fofier and more poli(hcd graces.
The mode in which this performance is exhibited to the pub* lie in the prefent tranflation ib fomewhat peculiar, and in our op;n!(;n is not attended with the heft tfFedt. We are /i(ft pre- fentcd with a feiSion in Englifh, then with its correfpondcnt one in the Laiiii, and fo on alternately to the conclufion, The trandation itfelf is, however, nervou« and fpirited ; and if it (houid fitigue by the repetition of the Time fcntiments, and that want of Varied images which is fo generally complained of in the poems of the illiterate bards of the North, the fault is to be charged to the account of the original. The Tranilator hath
done
. , t
44^ Jonf s'i Mahomedan Law of Succeffim.
done his duty; and as a fpecimcn, wcgive our Readers the con* clufion of this poem in Dr. Downman's vcrfion : * Full hffy limes I trod the ficlH.
My Handardrcar'd and poi^'J my OiitlJ,
\^'ar's willing guell ; nor dcecn'd ihc f.irce
Of human hand would check my cpurfe.
Panting to gain a matcble^ name.
And i'oar o'er every King in fdfrc.
For well in earlielt years I taught
My fword to drink the crimfon draught.
'^1 he Sifters • now my fteps invite,
Unmov'd I quit the realms of light.
' VVarn'd from within— —break off the lay ! t ^F^' *"*'^"'*S fjfters chide my ftay ;
' ^ ' ' * ^Jy Odin fcnt, I hear their call,
1 hey bid me to his fatal hall.
With them high-thron*d. the circling bowl
Of foaming mead (hall chear my foul.
With joy I yield my vital breath.
And laogh in the laft pangs of death. It Is worthy of obfervation, that to this hero wcarc indebted, Jf we may credit Olaus Worraius f , for the trial by twelve men. The Tranflator, through midake fays, that he flouriftied in the eighth century ; but Wormius informs us that he began his reign in the year 820; and it is fuppofed by lome commentators % O" the laws of England, that our Ethtlrcd borrowed the noble io- ftitution from him. They are called in the Danilh law Sande- marty which is rendered viri veraces. The trial by the jury of twelve men was likcwife formerly thccuftom in Sweden, though now abol idled : A fate, wc hope, it will never experience in jLngland !
• The Dir4f, or TFiird Sifters. f Mon« Dan. Lib. 1, Cap. 10.
A X Vide Barringcon's Obleivations on the Statutes, &c. p. 18.^ «
Art. XI F. The Mahomedan Law of SucceJJion to the P roper fj of /*- teftates^ in Arabic: Engraved on Copper- plates from an anticnt NJanuicnpt ; with a verbal Trandation and explanatory Notes. Py William Jones, Efq. of the Middle Temple. 410. 5s. fewed. Dilly. l%z.
THE reputation of Mr. Jones in eaftern learning is defervedly eminent; and, on the prefent occafion, he has exerted his great knowledge in this department, with the view of promot- ing the exerci(e of juftice in India. By the late {latute concern- ing the adminiftration of Bengal, it is provided, that ^11 HcElions or fuits about property * fliall he determined, in the cafe of Ma* V homedans by the laws and ufagcs of Mahomedan s \ and, where, Qniy one of ths parties (ball be a Alahamedan^ by the laws and
ufages
Joncs'i Mahomcdan Law of Sucajfton, 443
^fages of the defendant *.' Now, it is obvious, that the judges in India cannot adminiQer legally between Mahomedan parties, without being inflrucled in the maxims of that law by which thty are bound to dire<ffc ihemfelves. Mr. Jones, therefore, that he might facilitate the ftudy of Mahomedan jurifprudcncc has publifhed this little worlc which he found in the Bodleian libr^jy, among the colleclions of the learned Pocock.
The Arabic manufcript which he now fubmits to thcobferva- tion of the public is nearly five hundred years old, and having been traced fkilfully through tranfparent paper, the engravings arc not lefs valuable, than the original hand- writing of which they J arc a reprefentation or a pifture.
With regard to the authority of the work, it is not to be con- troverted. For the author, who was a native of Mefopotamia, was himfelf an Iman ; and it appears that he drew his knowledge from the fyftem oiZaid^ of whom Mahomed entcrUincd Co high an opinion, that he accounted him to be the fureft interpreter of his laws.
The form of this treatife may fcera remarkable to thofc who are acquainted only with the legal trads of the prefent age. It is in a loofe poetical meafure ; a mode of compofition which is ufual in Afia in the graveft performances. For even the Koran itfelf, which is the fource of the laws of the Mahomedans, is compofed in modulated fentences. In his verfion Mr. Jones does not af- fume any liberties. He facrifices elegance to exa6lnefs ; and tc was his intention * to render the yfrabian treatife, line for line, and word fur word, with a fidelity almoft religioufly fcrupu- lous f.'
Befide the lights which this Arabian publication may throw upon the Mahomedan law, there is another purpofe for which it is intended. As the hand>writing 6f the Arabic tranfcriber is accurately engraved, the ftudent of the Eaftern lal^uages, by an attention to the plates, may habituate himfelf t^the reading pf the old Arabian manufcripts. But, as even this talk is diffi> cult, Mr. Jones, for the fake of the novice in oriental literature, has printed the whole tra*^ in Roman letters, ^ diflinguilhing; every confonant and long vowel {the Jhort ones are too vague and indeterminate) by a chara(5^er invariably appropriated to it, fo as fo give every full found its own fpecific fymbol \ an advantage whicti hardly any iilpha^et has, but which all ought to have X*' * f*^
♦ Sea. 17. t The Preface. %? tehee.
Art,
( 444 )
Art. XIIl. Naval Jrcbite£iure: or the Rudiments and Rules of Ship-Building, excmpIiHed in a Series of Draughts and Plaos, with Obfervacions, tending to the further Improvement of that import- ant Art. By Marmaduke Sialkartt. Folio. 61. 68. Seivel], &c. 1781.
BEFORE we attempt any account of this publication, it may be ncceffary to premife, that our Readers are not to cxpe£l from us any positive opinion concerning its merit: we freely acknowledge ourfelves unequal to the ta(k ; and therefore (hall on!y give a general account of the obj;^ whicb is aimed ac in it, and in what manner^ and by what means, the Author propofes to tS^6i it. This method fcems to us to be the only one we can purfue with refpedt to the Ar- ticle under confiderarion, as it will not be fuppofed that the Authors of the Monthly Review are (hip builders by profrdion ; and if they were it is much to be doubted whether Oiip- builders themfelves, afliiled by the judgment of the bell feamtn in B:itain (and if in Britain, in the world] could decide, without trying the experiment, whether the aU terationi which are hcjc propofcd will fully anfuer the very fanguinc cxpcdlationj of the Author ? The principal improvements propofcd by M^. Sialkartt contiil in placing the mid-Oiip be d ; that is, the greateil breadth of the ihip, conAderably farther lorwaid than it has been cuilomary to |JaCe it; and in ufingytfir inllcad oi hcilcw «vater- lines.
But it is not to be underftood that the whole cf this publication it taken up in exphining thefe two principles, and (hewing the advan- tage of them : It comprehends the whole practice of flup-buiioirig. It exhibits the rudiments and rules of the art in a regular and pro- ^reflive feries of defigns and intlruftions, beginning with a lorg-boat, and ending with a ftvcnty-ffjur gun (hip. All the bunnefs of the mould-loft is explained, wiih the various methods that are pra^tifed in laying down and difpcfing every efTential part of a (hip. In doing this, our Auihor profciies to have been more anxious to (ludy per- fpicuity than elegance of itile, under a pcrfuaiion that his wurk is calculated fl^re for ufe than entertainment. But whatever may be thought of tm language, nothing can exceed the mailerly roanner in which the defigns are drawn and executed.
This elegant and expeniive work is divided into feven books, and each book into fcverai fedions or chapters, befii e an iotrodudory dii'courfe, in whicb the Author explains the nature of the fubjeft which is treated in that book, as well as the advantages which he pr pofcs to derive from thofe iteps which arc contrary to the general p^rh.*.\'cc of ihip-bo!lders at pr:fent.
^i) ihc fi*Il book, Mr. S. treats of the art of ivh-ie- men l^ifrg, which ij a msihoJ of forming the principal part of a (hip, vcilei. or boat, by means of a mould, made to the miiifitp hind and continued as far fere and aft as the form of the midjhip-btnd, and the curve of the riji''g Hnty are fuitably difpoied to each other. Btfore the arc of ihip- buinijng was brought to its prefent degree of perfcclion, this method oi 'u.holc-moulding was in great repu e, and much pr^Ctifed by the un- (kilful, as wtil a& by thofe whofe bufinefs required expedi:ion ; but ii!icc fome late improvements have been m&ue by diligent i\d6y and
api lication
Stalkartt'i Naval ArchiteSlure. 445
application to the theory of the art, it has been lefs approved of int the conftrufiion of (hips; which require the form of the mUJhip'bttul to be fuch, that if they were n^vhole- moulded wtWforvjard and ap, they would not only rife with difEculty in a heavy fea, but be deprived^ in a great meafure, of the proper ufe of their rudder: for in 'whoU^ moulding, the* body is narrowed no more at the floor than it is at the main breadth ; neither mud the rijiag lime lift more than the lowec height cf 'breadth, which, according to the form of fome midjbipbemds^ would have a very difa^reeable efFedl at the foremod and afrermoft Jloor timbers^ if the *wbole moulding wert continued fo far. How far ^wbole moulding may be carried without injuring the form of the body, Mr. Staikartc has endeavoured to explain and exemplify in the con- ilru^lion of a long boar, which might, perhaps, be 'uihole-moulded (torn the (lem to the Uern-poil without any material inconvenience, pro. vided the form of the midjhip-bend (hould be approved for the tran^ fom.
This book is illudrated with fix figures :
1. The elevation^ or flieer- draught.
2. A proje6ion or view of the timbers which form the body, and the manner in which they come together.
3. Half breadth lines at dilFerent horizontal fedions. . 4. Mid(hip-bend.
5. Lower futtock mould.
o. Beveling boards for the after and fore^bodics.
Book II. exhibits the manner of delineating and conflru£ling one of thofe fmall veiTtls ufually denominated Yachts : in the conitrudlioii of which, velocity and ftiiFr.efs are the principal confiderations ; iiow* age being no farther coniidered than to give her fo much as is a£lually necefTary for acrommoda(ion ; and when tbefe qualities are happily united in a vefTel of this kind, they render her on ferns occafions, a mod ufeful, as well as agreeable appendage, to the more noble (Iruc* Cures of Naval Archite^ure.
In the fecond chapter of this book, Mr. Stalkartt lays down the reafons which induce him to place the midfljip-bend fo^much farther forward than other naval archite^h have thought propef to place it ; and alfo for preferring /ii/r luaterlines^ and conilruding his vefTvls to fail on an e<ven keel, Ic was formerly the opinion of artiil?» fays hct that the midjbip-bend ought, in every inftance without exception, to be in the centre of the (hip, under a fuppofition that (he would then pitch the lead, and confcquenily ride the fafer at anchor. But ex- perience, the only guide in tnefe things, has taught the prcfent age CO move the midJhip-bend rather more forward than this point, buc not by far fo much forward as Mr. Staikartc tninks it ought lO be ; for by placing the midpip-bend coniiderably before the centre of the ihip, the water will (ooner have paiTrd the greateil breadth of the fhip, and of courfe will occafion lefs refinance to her motion : it will alio Hnd a more dired, and a freer pafTage to the rudder, than ic can po(rbly do when the miajhip bemd'is farther aft.
That the water will find a freer paH'age to the rudder when a (hip is Ct'nliruded on Mr. S:alkartt's plan feems to us uncontrovertible; buc '.he arguments which he has brought to prove that (he v/iil mcv*c with leift rciiitance from the wa;cr« are not, in our opinion ^ quite fo
unexcc>n;un*rb]e.
\
446 SralkarttV Naval ArcbiteaUre,
unexceptionable. Hit words are thefe : * As the prciTure of cbe water on the fides of the ibip is equal to the weight of Che ve<icf), ic foilows, that the more forvward the mid(hip-bend is placed, if the (hip begins immrdiatiiy to narrow, the greater is the length, and confequeoti/ the eftcd of the prcfFure of water, 10 incre^fe her velocity.' But iVflr. 8. fcems here to have forgor, that the effea of the prcfTure of a drop of wkter, ei.her to accelerate or impede the motion of a (hip, i^, fridion excepted, a« the cofine of the angle which a line, perpen> dicular to the fide of the (hip at the point where the drop a£ls, makes with another line which is the diredlion of the ihip*s motion ; and therefore that the aggregate of all thefe efF<:dh may be the fame, oot- withltanding the lengths of the tpace which they adl on are different.
Mr. St&lkarit thinks alfo, that it is reafonable to believe the (hip will ride at anchor with more eafe if the midjhfp-htnd be placed far- ther forward than it is ufual to place it ; and oiore efpecially, if the form of her body be fuch as is ufually termed clean fore and aft : for then, being buoyed up in the middle, and wanting bearings both fore and alt, ^t will be much more liable to pitch, than (he will be when the mdjhip-hind^ or greateft breadth, is pretty well forward. He alfo combats, with con(iderable force ot argument, the opinioit xii thofe who maintain that a (hip can never fail well on an even keel. uhich floats confiderably by the Hern when (he is firll launched, and beiore any baiUH is put on board ber ; as every one mn((, in which the midfhip-bend is placed confiderably before the middle of the (hip. ' Experience, fays he, convinces as that many (hips, when tirlt launched, will fwim four feet by the llern, and yet, wheir trimmed for failing, are found to go faiteft on an even keel, or there* abouts; and 1 imagine they receive little or no damage from it, if carefully and properly (lowed.' Some (hips are fo dean aft, that they require to fail by the (lern, becaule they have no bearin? for fifteen or twenty feet from aft until the buttock is brought weS down into the water. Such (hips are very liable to be (trained by thf overhar.girg of the dern, when the fea leaves the buttock; and the next fea generally (Irikes her under the (lera, as it falls, with fo much force as fometimes to endanger her mads. With refped to fuch (hips as are built to fail four feet by the (lern, on account of their infufnciency abaft, it is Mr. Stalkartt's opinion, that if a line were drawn to cut the lower (ide of the keel, in the middle of the (hip, and the dern-pod at two feet from the bottom of the keel ; and that part of the keel and dead wood which are below this line wat taken olF and placed under the (ore part of the kecf> with that part forward which was aft before, fo as to make (he lower (ide of the keel drcight again, the (hip would fail fomcn^hat failer for it, and be be:tcr in other refpedls* For when a (hip is brought fo much down by the dern as is here fpoken of, the ktel not being parallel to the fur face of the water, it mud occadon a refidance proportional to the weight of the water difplaced, and the angle which the underfjde of the keel makes with the furface of the water : and although the re* fillance arifing from this caufe may appear to be of little confequence to fome, yet Mr. S. is of opinion it may be in fome meafure the reafon why many diips, which are defigned by the builder 10 fail by the ^zivk^ go bed on an even keel.
Amor.gft
Stalkartt'j Naval Anhite^ure. 447
Amongft other argumfnts, brought by our Author in fapporC of his opinion, for placing the midlhip-bend farcher forwards than ufual, he tells us, that fuch a difpoHcion of ic is clearly pointed out to us by na.ure, in her formation of animals which are dellined to move in fo deofe a fluid as «vater. * It is not a novel obferva- tion, fays he, that the form of fiih is the bed calculated for velocity : but, although the obfervation has been made, the example remains yet to be followed. We fcem to require more than the evidence of nature to overcome the errors which aiife from prejudice.' We know not whether it will be allowed to be a nenu obftrnjathn^ but we are certain it is a true one, that it has been a str'^f common pradice to hold forth the operations of Nature as rules to be followed in the produ6tions of art ; but not often with fo much propriety as many may think. la our endeavours to draw rules from the produdions of Nature, wc (hould be extremely careful to obferve, that the thinga which we mean :o apply them to, are (imilsr in t^txy refped to thofe from which we make the induflion: for if ihey are not, this method of proceeding may fonietimes lead us into great, and stxy dangerous errors. For example; in the cafe before us, a ihip is designed to fwim on the furface of the water, but a fi(h underneath ic: of courfe the motion of the waves can never caufe the water to leave the tail of a fi(h unfupported, in the manner it fometimet leaves the after part of a fliip. Moreover, the bodies of fifties are flexible and light; that of a (hip rigid, maflive, and heavy. We might add, that to fay the difpofition of the midjhip bend is pointed out by the form of a filh, is faying, in fa£l, nochir^g at all ; for the forms of fiihes are exceeding various ; and in fome the broadcft and thickeft parts arc as far back- ward, as it has ever been ufual to placeUhe midjhiphend oi zny vefTel whatever. If it be urged, that the form of that fi(h ought to be made choice of which is capable of making its way in the wjCler with the greatefl velocity ; it may be replied, (hat the velocities of fifties^ exceedingly different in their form, appear to be fo. nearly the fame, that it will be impoflible ever to determine any thing on this head from thence : befide, there is great reafon for believing, that the ve> loci ties of li'ving bodies do not depend fo much on their form, aa oa their organization.
Our Readers will not imagine, that by thefe remarks we mean to invalidate Mr. Stalkartt's notions concerning the moft proper fltua* tion of the midjhip htnd. We have already acknowledged our infuf- ficiency to judge properly of things of this nature : and we siTare them, that, as far as our judgment will- direfl us, we moll heartily approve them. All we wiOi to inculcate is, that the reafons for this difpofition of it cannot be draun from the form of fifhes, and the nature of their motion ; but mull be fought for in the principles of mechanics, and the laws of motion: and even thefe can a^rd us no more than general dirciflions in phyiical enquiries.— Abfolute cei* tainry mull be the refuh of experiment.
Mr. Stalkartt, after confider'ing, very maturely, every circumftance which can aitend fixing the niidihip-bend in this or that part of the ihip, concludes, at length, to fix it fo that one third part of the keel may be before it, and two third parts after it ; and thinks, that if it be placed farther forwards j fome inconvenieAce might arife when
the
448 Stalkartt*i Naval ArchlteHure.
the (hip IS turning to wintJward, by its m;iking her too full forwards to divide the Huid, and by that means fubj^'d h r to receive the whole ihock of the Tea: and if it be placed faither a)':, he thinks ihe will be tco apt (o plunge, and bury herfclf in the fea, when going large, from being too thin forwards.
This book is illuflrated wich one large plate concainiog ten figiires*
1. The elevation or iheer-drau^hr.
2. Horizontal fcdlions ; or half-breadth linc^.
3. The body plan, or view of the timbers which compofe it.
4. The ftcrr.
5. Mold of the fa(hion>piece»
6. Cant timbers.
7. The plan of the upper deck.
8. 1 he phn of the quurer deck.
9. The pi .n of the lower dtck.
10. The plan of the cabir* floor,
Mr. Stalkarit obfcrves, that it is requifite, in every draught of a fhip or other vtflll, to draw the plans of the decks, in order 10 (hew that the form of the fh^p is fuch as will give room on each deck for the accommodations and conveniences which are required to be on ic ; but that they were particularly r.ecenary in his work, to convince the curious that his vc/TcJs are conHru^ed according to the original dcfign ; and to !hcw, nctwithftandirg the waicrltncs are fo ytty clean abatt, that the article of ftowcge has not been fori»ot, but that there is as much room as any gentleman can require, either for ufe or plea* fure, in fo fmall a vcfTel as a yacht, which is chicHy calculated for fwift failing.
In the third book, our Author (hews how to lay down and con- ftruft a floop of war. Sloops of war arc fmall three-mafled veffels, which carry any number of guns lefs than twenty, and are chiefly ufed tocruife af:er, and diflrefs the trade of an enemy ; or as tenders to (hips of war. To defign (hips from fpeculative ideas requires the niccd attention; for to yield too ra(hly to fpeculation without cxpe* riment, and to adopt every ha(!y idea which might occar in an ob- je£l of fuch great magnitude, would be altogether unpardonable : on the contrary, puifuir^g, as he is, the improvement of the art, it would be fcrvilc and nugatory to perfevere in an old, or indeed in any one track. It is by exploring unknown regions that new coun- tries are difcovered ; and it is only by the union of experience aod fpeculation that we advance in arts: but there is no art in which invention oughc to be more deliberate than in Ihip-building. The fmalled error, even in known rules, produces important confequences; and therefore prudence ought ever to watch over and corre^ the ef- forts of genius. On thefc confiderations it is that Mr. S. profefTes to be very circumfpedl and cautious, when he ventures to llep out of the common road, or to fix proportions which have not been 6xed be- fore. The (ird thing to b; confidered in the plan of a fhip is, un- doubtedly, the principal dimentions; but for the determination of this we have no fixed and certain rule, bccaufe the proportions of (hips mud- always vary according to the various purpoles which they are intended to anfwer. Thus the yachc was conilrufled chiefly for failing, and the accommodation of paiTenger^; and confeqoently
the
Stalkartt'i Naval Archite^uru .449
the heigbt of her, above water, wat not very material. But the floop requiring to have one deck referved for gum, which mall be difpofed clear of the water duriog adtioo, and at the fame time an allowance made for the eSe(X of a moderate wind, it is plain there mud be more depth of top-Jide to anfwer this purpoie than was ne- ceiTary in the yachr. The principal dimeofions being thai left ao* confined by rules, every builder u at liberty to fix them as he things bell : and at every artift has Bot equal judgment, nor the fame artift equal judgment in the conflrudion of every kind of vc{[cU they fre- quently drop into very capiul errors. It is therefore greatly to be •wifhed, that fuch proportions between the principal dimeniions of the fame kind of veiTels could be fettled and fixed on, as feem by experience to be beft adapted to the purpofe they are intended for. Thus, in the (loop Mr. Stalkartt thinks the breadth mf^ulded, ihould be ^^ of the extreme length ; the heighth of the top hreaaib, at the lowed part, \i of the extreme length ; heighth of the wing Cranfom ^ of the extreme lengthy and the heighth of the load-water- line about \ of the lop hreadih.
The 13th and 14th chapters of this book contain very clear and ample diredions for planking the bottom and (ides of a Ihip, fo that the butts or ends of the planks may fall to the greateft advantage* both for the ftrength of the (hip, and difpofition of timber^
The fubje^ of this book is illuftrated by three large plates* III* 17, and V. Plate III. contains four figures.
J. The (heer draught.
2. Horizontal fedlions* or half*brefldth lines.
3* The body plan.
4. Horizontal view of the ftern.
Plate IV. contains ten figures* illoftrating as follows :
I. The fore part of the (heer draught.
t. The after part of the (heer-draught.
3* So much of the body-plan as was aeceflary to correfpond with figures u and 2.
^* [ Half-breadth plans for the fore and after bodiesr Cant- timbers for the fore and after bodies.
%\
8. Moulding-edges of the tranfomt*
9. Horizontal view of the ftern.
' ic. The Hern laid o£F on the rake.
Plate V. exhibits the bottom and top-fide expanded.
Book IV. treats of the method of laying down and framing the .(everal parts of a 44. gun (hip, defigned to carry her {^uns on two decks* as mod of the 44 gnn (hips do in cur fervice. The author obferves, chat (hips of this kind are the moll didant from good pro- portion of any two-decked (hips that are built ; becaufe the cop* -^de mud be too high above the water for tht- cufiomary length and breadth, to enable her to carry her lower deck guns fulHciently clear of the water. For the heieht of the lower deck ports from the water, the height between decks, and ccnfeqnently the depth in the waift, cannot be much iefs than in a (hip of 74 guns ; and therefore it cannot be expedltd that fi^ch a (hip can be duly pro-
Rav. Jttnc 1782. ^ Z . portioned
450 Stalkartt*! Naval Arcbke£fure.
portioned in the w&cer ; that it« fhe cannot be brongbt dtnm (d three-fifihs of the height of the top*breadth, which is a7k>wed't»be the beft failing trim for (hips in general, if their bodies arc properly eonftru6ted. On accoant of this difproportioned height of 44 gon ihips above water, it appears evident, that a (hip of this kind can fi^ver chafe a frieate of 32 or 36 guos with any probability of foc- cefs ; and (hoold the 44 gun (hip, by any accident, come up with a firigate of this foree, if the wind blows hard, (he will be liable to be taken by her ; as the 44 gon (hip will not be able to open het lower deck ports without danger of filling, both on account of thofb ports being nearer to the water than the frigate's ports are, and as ih^ is alfo much more liable to roll on accoant of her deep top'/Ut: Bat as 44 gon (hipf, notwithftanding all thefe inconveniencies» are Tery afefurve(rels, on account of the great weight of metal which they are able to carry on their lower decks, Mr. Stalkaat thinks a snan's time would be very ufefolly employed in endeavoofing to re- duce thefe defefbs as much as the nature of the ve(rel will admit of: and as iufeems to him not probable that the 44 gun (hip can ever be formed fo as to chafe a frigate with fuccefs, he has bent his en* deavours to conftru^t her fo that fhe may always be able to open her lower deck ports, and of courfe not be liable to be taken by a ve/Tel of an inferior force ; and to this pnrpofe he propofcs the fol- lowing dimen(ions :
Extreme length from the fore fide of the dern to the after part of the (lern-poft, at the height of the wing-tranfom, 143 feet* Heighth of the wing-tranfom -^j of the length. Heighth of the top^breadth | of the length; but if occeflary it may made ^^^ of the length.
The load draught of water fiiould be j of the top>breadih, at lead ; or 17 feet 10 j inches ; but to have the lower deck porta /ufiicieptty above water, the load- draught muH not be more than 15 feet 6 inches: eonfequtntly ihe will be too high above water hy 2 feet 4'^ inches.
The ujual dimenfion for breadth is -^^ of the length, which is 40 feet Cv: inch, to which Mr. S. thinks there Ihoold be added -'th of 2 feet 4.4 ittchess on account of her being that quantity higher out of the water than (he (hould be to make her (lififiBr» and to enable her the better to ufe her lower deck guns : he adds 6 in(^bes more for planking, fo that her extreme breadth will be 41 feet one Jnch and an half.
The moulded breadth at the after part he makes | of tkc moulded bretidth of the mid-Jhip bend.
The fubjecl of this hook is illuflrated by three large plates, nqai* bered VI. Vif. and VI I. Phne VI. contains two figures, namely, I. The (heer-draught of the veflel. ^«
'2. Plans of half-breadth lines.
Plate VII. contains eight figures for illullrating different parts of ■ the (hip, in a mire particular manner than could be doue in a gencv ^al drawing of the whole. They are as follow :
1. Sheer draught, ^
2. Half bread. h, SCO the fore body,
3. Haif breadth of the water lines, 3
Stalkartt'i Naval Architeiiuri^ 4^1
• *• u ?/k^"'!.^I!*' \ of the after.body. c. Half brcadihs, J '
6. Body pUn.
7, l^anfoms.
9. Plao of the harpin^s* Plate Vitl. contains two figure*, for explaioifig I* The ihifc of the planks in the top fide. 2. DifpofitioD of the timbers in the top-fide. Id the fifth book our author proceeds to give dire£liont /or layiag dovkQ the plan of a 74 gun fitip ; and he feti out with obfervingt that it it a maxim founded on experience, that of the feveral clafiSa of (hips built upon fimtlar principles, the largelt is always the moft eligible. Of all Chips ^hich carry their gupi 0poD one deck, the frigate of 32 or 36 gpi^s is allowed to be the bed ; and in the lame manner, of ihofe which tarry them on two decks, the 74 gun (hip is mod approved of. And the rrafon is evident. That (hip» tne top* fide of which is (halloweft in proportion to her capacity onder water, will be the (lifted, and will hold the lead wind % but the guns of a (loop (hould be as much hhovt wa.er as thof^ of the largrd frigate, or rather more fo, if pofiible, e^eqally if their iii« menfions art fimilar, becaufe the larger the d)4p» the lefs die will be prefled down into the water by carrying fail. For the fameTCg- fon, in two-decked (hips, the 74 gun diip will require but little more fp^fide than that of 44 guns wiH» and therefore it xsm^ be rationally expected that the former will work almoA as eafy as the latter.
Were we to examine the 90 gun di:p, we diould find her, like that of 44 guns, \tt^ irregular and difproportioned : for if a 74 gun (hip can carry her guns on two decks, the three deck dilp may us well be calculated to bear roo guns as 90. But Ihips,. fo bulky jn their dimenfipns as thefe are, though they may be ufeful on par- ticular occafions, are far from being generally fo : their fails are (b epcceedingly heavy, that they are worked wi:h, the utmod difficulty, efpecially when the wind blows drong. Oo the contrary, the 74 gun d)ip partaker, at once, both of the properties of the fird rate and frigate; as die will not din'nk from an eD90,qnter with a diip pf 100 guns, on account of the fuperior weight of her tiieta)^ nor libandon the chace of a friga'.e for want of fwiftnefs. The union of thtfe two qualities hath therefore, with ji:\dice» made the 74 gun fhip the principal ohjedl of rraritime attectioo ; and given her fo dif- tinguidied a pre eminence in our line of battle.
Mr. Stalkartt diredls the 74 gun diip to be cooftrudlcd accordiaj| to the following; dimepfions :
Feet. Irch. Extreme length, 172 o
(ieighth of the top Irtadih \ of the length, 34 4 1
Heighth of the ivifig tranjom ^\ of the lengthy ^5 9I
Breadth, moulded, /j ^f ^^ l.CQgth, 48 2
Fxtreme breadth, 48 10
This booK concludes with tl^e method which is afually madi|o(e of by builiiers for meafuriog a^d calculating th$ tooA^gi^.of i^ips; w)} jch is thia « '
* •
451 StalkarttV Naval Archiu^ure.
They allow 2 i inches for every foot in the perpendicular hd^hth of the wing tranfom (25 feet 9^ inches) ; for the r^ke of the ftem* poft, which ii 5 feet 47 inches. They allow alfo | of the extreme breadth for the rake of the (lem ; which, on the above dimepfion (48 f. 10 inch.), ii 29 feet if inches. The fum of thefc two being taken from 172 feet the extreme length, leaves 137 feet 4 inches, the length of the keel for tonnage. They then multiply together, the extreme breadth, the half breadth, and the length of the keel ' lor tonnage, and divide the produd by 94 ; the quotient is the number of tons boilder's meafure, and the remainder is fo maiiy 94th parti of a ton. Thus, in the 74 gun (hips, the dimenfions of which are given above, the product of thefe three dimenfions will be 163749 feet, which being divided by 94, gives 1742 /^ tons.
This book is illaflrated by three plates, numbered JX« Xi> and XL Plate IX* contains four figures.
1. The fheer draught.
2. Half breadth lines.
3. Body plan.
4« Horizonul view of the ftern- frame.
Plate X. is, by miftake, omitted in the book before as ; and plate XI. conuins three figures, which are defigned as fpecimens of de* oration for a 74 gnn (hip.
1. A full horizontal view of theftern,
2. A view of the quarter.
a* A view of the head, and railing.
Book VU is chiefly concerned in explaining the methods of !«• ' ducing and enlarging plans and '(hewing how to find i\it enJimgs %f Unis ; all which are exemplified in draughts of a cutter. The fub- jed of this book is illnftrated by two plates which contain eight fi- gures : but as there are nothing very remarkable, either in the mat- ter, or manner of treating the fubjed of this book, we (hall hafien * to the (eventh, and lall ; which contains the explanation and draught of another frigate, drawn on the fame principles with thofe which have been recommended in the foregoing work by our Author, and with which he was fitvoured by Benjamin Thomt>fon, E(q. F. R. S. and nnder*fecretary of (late for the American department.
Mr. Thompfon infiorms us, that he made feme i^ttempts to get a frigate built on thia plan in one or other of the royal yards, hot without fuccefs : he afterwards endeavoured to get the plan carried into execution by a private fub(cription, and feveral of his friends offered to (ubfcribe very generoufly for that purpofe ; but fo large ;•« fum of money was wanted, and {o great a length of time was nece/Tary to complete the undertaking; and thde circumflancet added to the uncertainty of the continuation of the war, prevented him from accompli(hing his defign this way. Mr. Thompibn^a plan and defign will be belt feen by the propofals which he^im one on thia occafion ; they are as follow : /"
* The eflential benefit to the national fervice which is attained
by every maurial difcovery tha^ direOly leads to naval excellence,
-and gives a decided fuperiority at (ea, cannot bot be an objed of
< tiie firft concern to thofe who feel for the reputation and fiifety of
their
Sulkarei'x N^al ArMuHuru 453,
tlieir cooBtry, and zkt anxious for the fuccefs and glory of his Ma- jeily's armsk
2. ' The annexed drawing, has received the approbation of fome of the beft and mod acknowledged judges of naval architedlure, both profeflional and practical men; who all concur in opinion, that a ihip upon this conftrudlion nuft neceiTarily fail much fatter than any . veflel that has yet been buiic; and that, from the manner of arming her, (he will be greatly fuperior in force to any frigate in the fervice.
3* * It is therefore prefumed, that naval architecture will be brought much nearer perfedliop by the improvement in the form of. this vefTel, and a more advantageous fy (lem of arming (hips of war be introduced, than is atprefent adopted by any maiicime power.
4. ' As it may be proper to make fome ex|jlanacion to fuch profef- iional men as may have thefe propofals under" their eye, of the pecu- liar conilrudion of this frigate, and of the manner in which it is propofed to arm her, it will be nece/Tary to obferve, that to fail faft being the great leading principle which governs her whole conftruc* tion, all the water-lines are perfedlly fair ; and her body is formed in the mod exad and beautiful proportions. This extreme delicacy of form, which is moil con fpicuous near the keel, will not, however* prevent her giving ample flowsge for four months proviiions* befidea all her (lores; and her great length and breadth above the water will, at the fame time, furni(h more commodious room for the men'a births, and better accommodation for the officers, than any frigate in the navy. Her great length, breadth upon the beam, and good bearings, are qualities that will not only enable her to carry a prefs of fail, but prevent her rolling and pitching 100 violently in a rough iea.
5. ' It is propofed to give her the mafts, yards, and fails of a thirty-two gun frigate, and alfo the fame cables and anchors. And as it fometimes happens in calm weather, that very heavy going (hips make their efcape from the fsftell failers, under favour of light airs, which often extend bat to a fmall diilance ; to prevent fo mortifying an event, and alfo to enable this frigate to avail herfelf of any of thofe favourable opportunities which fometimes occur for attacking (hips of force aa they lie becalmed, (he will be prepared for rowing with thirty oars amd one hundred and twenty men ; each oar to be twenty five feet in length/ and to be worked by four men. All the oara are to be worked between decks, by running them oat at the fcuttlea, that ferve occafionally for airing the ihip.
6. * Her length upon the main deck being one hundred and fifty feet, it is propofed to pierce her for thirty guns on this deckr and (he will carry ten guns upon be* quarter-deck; to which may be added two chace guns upon her forecaftle. All the gnns upon the main deck are to be thirty-two pounders, upon a new conilru£lion»- weighii^ twenty«(ix hundred each; and tha quarter deck guns will be ligliliirtie pounders.
7. * As thirty- two pounder carronades, which are not half fo heavy aa the propofed thirty- two pounders, have been proved ^w|^th very farge charges of powder, there can be no doubt that the(b guns may be made to iland fire with perfe^ fafety ; and that they, will dO fufiv> (ient exec^ition, and be manageable on (bip-boardi will appiear evi*
Cg 3 ^^"^
45+
Stalkartt^ Naval Archltelluril
dent, wben It it conftdered, that many of the thirtf-two ponsdert DOW in ofe in the navy weigh no more than iihy^iwo hoDdreds, and . tRat they may be fired with two bulled at a time, with the greauft p6ffiblc cfFcfl, and without rendering the recoil at all too violent; for it is experimentally true, that one bullet may be fired from a gaa weighing tvventy fix hundreds wiih the fame velocity* and confe* qaently to the fame dilUnce when the elevation is the fame, as two fired at once from a piece weighing fifty»two hundreds; and the ve* locity of the recoil is the fame, the drain upon the breachings will be as the weight of the gun. 7'he force of the recoil, therefore, of thefe new pieces will be but half as great as that of the thircy*two pounders now in ofe; and therefore there can be no doabt but they may eafily be managed. ;
8. * The (}aarter deck guns are formed upon the fame priDcip]e» and are Jull half the weight of the heavieft twelve poundera in the fervicf.
9. * In order to facititate the work of the guns, it is propofed to snoont them all on Hiding carriages ; the bed upon which the car* riages run to be moveable upon an hinge, fattened to the fill of the port, io fuch a manner that the bed may be always k^pt in a bori* K6nta1 pofition, however the ftiip may lie along; by which meant the weather guns may be fooght at all times, and the lee guns till their muzzles come down to the water ; and that with as teach ea(e abd expedition, as if the (hip was upright upon her keeU'
10. * itillead of fmall arms for the tops^ and for the quarter deck atid forecaftle, it is propofed to make ufe of muflcecoons, on fuch a contirudion as to mount on f«^ ivel Hocks, and vb be ofrd occafiooaily, either on fhipboard or in a boat, Thefe pieces havicg a bore of about three feet in length, and one ir>ch and an half in diametef, will carry a grape of nine muflcet bullets, or eighteen, or twenty*fonr piftol-bullets, as the objedl is at a greater or Ufsdillarce; or, occa* ffonaily, a fingle leaden bullet of twelve ounces, if execution is meant to be done at a very great diftance.
* ji enrnparatinji View 6f the Dimtnfions of the propofed Frigate^ and of the Lark Frigate of ^i GunSf luhich ivas out It after a Dra*witig of ibf lafi Mr. Batslj.
Propofed JTh,L,rf,. Frigate, j
Length of the kee! • •
Length on the gon-deck • Extreme breadth Tx r r f Forward,
Dwft of water. | ^b.ft.
Area of t^afifverfe ft Aion of the immtrfed of the body at the mid/hip frame
Burthen 10 builders tonage
Jlcal capacity of the immcrfed part of body, to the load waterlioe
Iteai borthea . ^ r
part
the
}
!
|
Feet. Inch. |
: f ett. lorbi |
|
128 - 0 |
III 0 |
|
150 0 |
132 0 |
|
59 6 »> 9 15 9 |
34 0 I," 6 16 6 |
|
3'> .0^ loooT. |
|
|
31784F. |
JZ198 F. |
|
91 S T. |
898', T. |
|
Mr. |
Stalkartt'i Naval Archiu&wre. 45 j
Mr. Thompfon doea not give either the data which he conpoted from, or the method by which he computed the real capacity of thefe two ve/Teli ; but he produces the following certificate of the truth of bis conclufions on thii head, which we apprehend will be fufficient aatbority with thofe who iroow the perfon who has figned it.
* I have examined Mr. Thompfon 's calculations for determining the capacity of the Lark frigate, and of a frigate on a new conftruc* tion, propofed by. him to be built by fubfcription, and am of opioioa that the capacities of both thefe frigates are very exadlly computed.
(Signed) • CHARLES HUTTON,
* ProfeiTor of Mathematics, Royal Military Academy.* Woolwich, April 29, 1780.
Farther teftimoniesof the advantages which a frigate, bailt on thit plan, appears to have over thofe which are already in ufe.
Copy of a Letter from Rear Admiral Kempenfelt.
' Dear Sir, I have viewed the plans for the con(lru£lion of yoar in* tended frigate, and think, as far as 1 can judge, that (he will anfwer what you ex ped. Her great length favours the water-lines, by di- minilhing their infleflions, and confequeotly rendering their angles at the extremities more acute. Thismufl greatly facilitate her move- ment through the water. At the fame time, this length of keel, to- gether with the great breadth, will enable her to fupport mnch fail, fo thar, from this, and the delicacy of her bottom, it may be con*^. eluded (he will go very faft.
* The manner you propofc to arm this frigate, will render her the moil formidable, of foity guns, that has yet appeared at fea.
* To conclude, you have ftruck out fomething new, both for the conHruAing and arming of a frigate, which in both promifes to be a great improvement upon this ufe/ul.ckfs of vciTeb. And upon this principle, wi:hoat talcing in other cociiderations, your propofalt merit all encouragement.
• I am, &c. RD. KEMPENFELT^
* To B. Thompfon, Efq.^
Copy of a Letter from Sir Charles Douglas, Bart»
' Sir, I mod fincerely acknowledge myfelf beyond meafure obliged to you, for having regaled me with the examination of your plan of the frigate of war you propofe building, and halving maturely con- iidered the fame. 1 fcropl^ not to give it as my humble opinion, that her intended water lines are betterformed for dividing and leaving the fluid, than anyl have ever yet ieen laid down upon paper. Asalfo, that her general form is fuch as will infore arequifite degree of^iffnefs on- 6ti fail, with far lefs ballad than (hips, as they ufoally are (haped, of necefiity require ; which drikingcircamfiance cannot butbe prododliva of great additional velocity, by keeping fuch part of her body above the water as is the lead proper lot ftparating and leaving it, and which mud otherwife be immerfed ; likewife of the defirable eifedl of carrying her guns higher. Nor have 1 time fufficiently to expatiate Qpon thefe, or to enumerate all the concomitant advantages, whicb^ I iincerely think, the frigate in queftion will have beyond all fack at 1 have had any knowledge of, belonging to this or any other country.
G g 4 I maeia
4s6 Stalkartt'i NaviA JrcbiteSiun.
I much approve too, of yoor ballafttog her with iron ; with yoor le- probating the ufe of (hingle for chat parpofe, and never departiog from the general principles of ballafting with the denfeft attaioabie matter, ever to be placed as low as poffible» that with leis weight thereof, than with materials lefs denfe, can be eiFeded, the reqai£te fliffoefs under fail may be produced ; to the great end, that the very important purpofes mentioned, and exteniively allnded to in the fore- going, may be anfwered. Upon the whole, then, 1 do not entertain a doubt of this your propoftd frigate failing with fuch fwiftnefs as will occafion furprize, nor of her p^^flefling every other eligible quality a fhip can have, to a mod eminent degree. Her force too, will evidently far exceed that of any (hip carrying the fame number of men and guns heretofore fent to fea, at lead that I have ever feen or beard of. For the fake then of the public weal, (o moch depending upon im- provement in our naval architeAure, may this your plan, fo eminently fending thereto, meet with all pofTibleand immediate encouragement; and that you may enjoy perfedt health to fee the fame quickly carried into execution and trial, as alfo long to enjoy the deferved froits thereof, is mod fincerely and ardently wi(hed by. Sir, &c.
• CHARLES DOUGLAS.' • To B. Thompfon, Efq.'
(COPY.)
* I having feen and examined a draught of a frigate propofed by Mr. Thompfon, to be built by private fubfcription ; am of opinion, that the faid frigate is likely to fail fader than any (hip on the prefenc condrudlion in the navy, and likewife that (he promifes to be (liiF un- der fail, carry ber guns well, and be a good (ea-boat; and I think that many advantages will probably be derived to the pubTic from the experiment* W. WELLS/
(COPY.)
* I having feen and examined a draught of a frigate propofed by Mr. Thompiba to be built by private fubfcription ; am of opinion, that the faid frigate is likely to fail fader than any (hip oo the prefent condrudlion in the navy ; and likewife that (he promifes to be difF under fail, carry her guns well, and be a good fea- boat ; and I think that many advantages will probably be derived to the public from t|ie experiment. JOHN HALLET.'
(COPY.)
' Having feen and examined the drawing of a frigate upon a new condrudiioB, propofed by Mr. Thompfon to be built by fubfcription^ we are of opinion that the faid frigate bids fair to fail fader than any vedel that has yet been built; thst die will be very difF under the fai( that is propofed to give her, and will be a good fea boat ; that (he will carry her gunt well out of the water, and from her great length and breadth upon the guD-deck, will fight them to great advantage. And as it is very probable that many important improvements may b« derived to the art of (hip*building from the propofed experiment, we think it well worthy of a trial. W^ BARNARD.
JOHN DUDMAN.*
This fcheme of Mr. Thompfon*s appears (o.us in fo favourable % light, that we think we cannot employ a page or two of our Review ii^^ than in endeayoaxipg to m^ta it more generally known than it
3 "
Taylor*! Thoughts on thi Naturt of the Grand Jpofiacy. 457
is perhtps tt prefcnt. The expence of ctrryiog fuch ft thtng into exe" cutioDy if it fails, canoot poffibly bear any proportion to the advan^ tagf s which nrnft be derived from il if it facceeds ; and we chinic tkere is the greateft reafon to exped it will.
The work concludes with a (hort diAionary of the terms ufed io na- val architefture; bat too ihorty we apprehend, to be of any confider- able ufe to thofe who are not already ac<}uainted with them ; and thofe who are cannot need fuch a help. Itf^
Art. XIV. Tb$ugbts $11 thg Natuti of thi Grand JpBflaty. With ReRedlions and Obfervations on the 15th Chapter of Mr. Gibbon's Hiilory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. To which are added, Three LiHertations:— i. On the Paroufia of Chrifl: 2. On the Millennium : And the 3d, by the late Rev. Mr. Richard Wavell, on Prophecy. By Henry Taylor, Rcdor of Crawley, and Vicar of Ponfmouth, in Hnts; Author of Ben Moidecai's Apo- logy for embracing Chritliaoiiy. 8vo. 31. od. Johnlbn.
SUCH of our Readers as are acquainted with Ben AUrdecaVs ^polo^y*^ will naturally be prejudiced in favour of what- ever comes from the Author's pen, and the Thoughts here offered to the Public, we may venture to afiure them, will not leflen him in their opinion. None of Mr. Gibbon's anfwerers^ indeed, have fhewn more learning, fagacity, and critical acu* men than Mr. Taylor ; and if there are any who have aot yet formed a decided opinion concerning Mr. Gibbon's Hiftory, and, particularly, his 15th chapter, fuch perfons will receive both pleafure and inftru£lion from many of Mr. Taylor's ob- fervations, which (hew not only a very confiderable (hare of learning) but, in general, an enlarged and liberal way of chink«% ing.
There is a vein of pleafantry and humour in his Preface, which cannot fail of entertaining Readers of almoft every dafs. He introduces it with telling us, that he finds in a Note of Dr, Maclainis^ in his Letters to Mr. Soame Jinyns^ as well as by other information, that many worthy and ienfidle men are of- fended at Mr. Gibbon^ for what the Dodor calls unnatjfary fmers^ and for apcing the manneis of the French philofophera, in a country where he might fpealc freely without danger i and that the Do£lor looks upon this as diflxonouring his fubjeS.
If Dr. Maclaine had confidered the many ufes of a fneer, he would not, perhaps, have fpoken of it, our Author fays, in fo flight a manner : a few of its ufes he points out for general in^ formation. And, i. A fneer, we are told, entertains the Reader, puts him in a good humour, and conciliates him to the fide of. the fneerer. 2. It is better adapted lo the apprebcnfion of the
♦ Sec Rev. Vol. xlvii. p. 293.
generality
— *<v
458 Tayfor'i TbHigbts bu tbi Naiun tftht Grand Apojtaey. '
generality of writers, as well as Readers, than more folid rea*^ Ibning. 3. It is of admirable ufe in evading the force of an argument which the fneerer is unable to anfwer, by leading the reader away from the prrcife ftate of the queftion ; in (hort, it ferves not only to conceal a thoufand imperfedions, but, as Sancho Tancba fays of flcep, it covers the fneerer all over like a tXo^X'^thougbts and all \ by which means he lies as fecure and ^Bf^fUfom all poffibility of an attack, as a fcuttle-fifii under a clouo of its own making. — But we muft refer our Readers for tbe reft of (he Preface to the work itfelf, as the fpirit of it would be loft by our endeavouring to abridge it« * Mr. Gibbon, in the 15th Chapter of his Hiftory, propofes an enquiry into the pr9grefs and eftahlijbment of Chriftianity-^ but the TRUTH of it, Mr. Taylor fays, is no part of the en- quiry. The progrcfs of the Church, or, as Mr. Gibbon fome- times calls it, the progrefs of Chriftianity, is a very different thing from the progrefs of the truth ; and has often fucceeded by fuch means as have caufed the purity of the rAiTH to fuiFer fhipwreck.— This our Author bef^s his readers to keep in mind, that they may not imagine an addition to the Church has always been an addition to the number of true Believers, or a benefit to the TRUTH. When Mr. Gibbon fpealcs of the caufes which promoted the progrefs of Chriflianity, we muft always un- derftand him to mean an addition to the Society.
After fome general reflections on the grand apo/facy^ or the corruption of Chriftianity, Mr. Taylor proceeds to examine the nature and eflfe^s of the five fecoivdary caufes fpecified by Mr. Gibbon, as arifing from the paffions of mankind, and permitted by God on purpofe to favour the progrefs of Chriftianity, or fecond the influence of revelation.
Mr. Gibbon and Mr. Taylor agree in thinking, that the Chrif^ian faith obtained a Mmarlcable victory over all the efta* blifhed religions of the earth by the convincing evidence 6f the doArine ftfeif, and the ruling providence o( its Author; but here they differ : the Hiftorian fuppofes the Church would not have made fo great a progre(€ without the alBftance of the fin? caufes he has fpecified ; his Anfwerer is of opinion that thefe caufes, either jointly or feparately, prevented not only the purity of Chriftian faith, but its univerialtty ; and that the kingdom of God and his Chrifl will not prevail over all, till the very exiftence of thofe caufes iball ceafe which firft produced the apoftaCy.
In the courfe of our Authol^'s examination of the nature and cffc<£)s of Mr. Gibbon's leobndary caufes, feveral things are undoubtedly mentioned which are of inconfiderable import* ance : thete are others, however, which well defcrve Mr. 6ib«i> boa's fcrious attention, and that of every Reader^ who is con*
verfaat
Cibbon'/ Hijlorj 9f ihi JRMman Emfart^ 459
verPaDt with (^uch fubjcAs^ and thinks them well defemngof m, free.) liberal, an3 accurate difcu/Ii^n*
In regard to the Diflertations, few of our Readers, we ap- prehend, will a^rree with Mr. Taylor, in what he fays of the Millennium, &c. though they will be pleafcd to fee what fo able a Writer advances in fupport of his opinions. *JL^#
Art. iV. CoHcUfion of tbt Account •/ Mr. Gibbon 'i H'iji§ry cf the Dictim and Fall of tbt Roman Empin.
IN confequcnce oF our having fo long delayed concluding our account of Mr. Gibbon's Hiftory, we are enabled to com- municate to our Readers a piece of intelligence, which, Wi£ have every rcalon to believe, will he as acceptable to them as It is agreeable to us. It is contained in the Preface to the laft edi- tion of the Hi (lory.
• An Auin ). {{^yb Mr. Gibbon) eafily perfuades him felf that the public optink)n is (UI1 favourable to his labours ; and I have now embraced th^ ferious refoiunoo of proceeding t4 the laft period of my original dcBj^n. and of the Roman Empire, the taking of Con- (lan inopie by the Turks in the year 14^3. The moil patieat Header, .who computes that three ponderous volumes have been aU leady employed on the events of four centuries, may, perhaps, be* alarmed ac the iotie profpe^l of nine hundred years. But it is 00c tny intention to expatiate with the fame minutenefs on the whole fe- ries of the Byzantine hillory. At our entrance into this period, the reign of Juihnian, and the conqueiU of the Mahometaof, willdefexye atid d<rtain our atcen:ion, and the laH age of Coniiantioople (the Crufades and the Turks) is connected with the revoJatioos of modere Europe. From the feventh to the eleventh century, the obfcure io- terval will be fupplied by a concife narrative of fuch fads, ai ma/ iliH appear either interelliog or important.*
Every candid Reader, who is acquainted- with Mr. Gib- bon's merit as an Hiflorian, and a competent judge of his abi- lities, will, we are perCuaded, j.^in his fmcere wi(hes to ours, that nothing may happen to prevent his carrying his defign iolo execution.
We now proceed to the 32d Chapter of his Hiftory, which contains an account of the reign of Arcadius ; the adminiflra- tion and difgrace of Eutropius ; the revolt of Gainas ; the Per- fian war ; the divifion oi Armenia, &c. together with an impar* tial and judicious view of the charader and condudk of Chry- foftom, Pulcher:j, and the Emprefs Eudocia.
In the 33d, 34.ih, 35th, and 3(>th Chapters, we have an ac*^ count of the de^ith of Honorius ; the adminiAration of Placidia; the conqueft of Africa by the Vandals ; the charader, con- queds, and court of Attila, King of the Huns; the death of Tbeodofius the yoUnger ; the elevation of Marcian to the em- pire of the Eaft ; the invafion of Gaul by Attila ; the fack of Rome by Genferic, King of the Vandals; the total extindioa
of
t I
4S&' Gibbon*i KJtory of the Roman imphtk^
ot the Wcftcrn empire, and the reign of Odoacrr, the firft Bar- ' barian King of Italy.— It is impoffible to read thefe chapters with the attention they deferve, without entertaining a very high opinion of the induftry, accuracy, and difcemment of the Hift(ujan, who has formed fo agreeable and interefting a nar- •atiyi/rom fuch fcanty and imperfefl materials. The character which Mr. Gibbon gives of the Marquis Scipio Maffei may, with great juftice, be applied to himfelf — viz. That bt is equallj capable of tnlarged viiws and minuU Mfquifaions.
The indiflbluble connexion of civil and ecdciiafticat affairs, he fays, has compelled and encouraged him to relate the pro-^ grefs, the perfecutions, the eftabli(hment, the diviflons, the final triumph, and the gradual corruption of Chrifllanicy; and he has purpofely delayed the confideration of two religious events, iDterefting in the nudy of human nature, and important in the Decline and Fall of tbe Roman Empire ; i. The infiitution of the monaftic life; and, 2. The converfion of the Northern Barbarians. Thefe important events are the fubjed of the 37th Chapter, which is introduced in the following manner :
* Profpcrity and peace introdaced the diltinflion of the vulgar and the Afiitic Chriftiam, The loofe and imperfed pradice of reHgion latisfied the confcieoce of the multitude. The prince or magiftjace, the foldier or merchant, reconciled their fervent zeal, and impUcit ' ftith> with the exerciie of their profeflion, the purfnit of their iote* reft, and the isdolgence of their paiTions: but the Afcetics, who obeyed and abufed the rigid precepts of the gofpel, were infpired by the favage enthufiafm, which reprefents man as a criminal, and God as a tyrant. They feriunfly renounced the bufincfs, and the pleafures, of the age; abjured the ufe of wine, of fle(h, and of aii/- riage ; challifcd their body, mortified their afFedliont, and embraced a life of mifery, as the price of eternal happinefs. In the reiga of Conftantine, the Afcetics Hed from a profane and degenerate world, to perpetual folitude, or religious fociety. Like the firft ChriHians of Jerufalem, they re fig ned the ufe, or the property, of their tem- poral poffcflion^ ; eftabliihed regular communities of the fame fex, and a fimilar difpoiition ; and aiiumed the name& of Hermits^ M^uh, and Anacborets^ expreiTive of their lonely retreat in a natural or arti- ficial defert. They foon acquired the refpeft of the worlds which .they defpifed ; and the loudeft applaufe was bellowed on this Divinb Philosophy, which furpafTed, without the aid of fcience or reafoa, the laborious virtues of the Grecian fchools* The monks might indeed contend with the Stoics, in the contempt of fortune, of pain, and of death: the Pythagorean fiknce and rubmiiTion vi<ere revived in their fervile difcipline ; and they difdalned, as firmly as the Cynics themfelves, all the forms ard decencies of civil fociety. fiut the vo- taries of this Divine Philofophy sfpired to imitate a purer and more pcrfc£l model. They trod in the footPeps of the prophets, who had retired to the defert.; and they rcflored the devout and contedipla- t^e life, which had been inllitutcd by the EiTenians, in Paieftfoe 9nd Egypt. The philofophic eye of Pliny .had forveyed with ailoniih-
meat
Gibbon'i Hiji^rj •f the Reman Emfirh 461
inent a folicary people, who dwelt amoog the palm-troet toe^ die Dead Sea ; who fubfiflcd withont money, who were propagated with- out women ; and who derived from the difgoft and repentance of mankind, a perpetual fupply of Tolnntary aflbciates.*
Mr. Gibbon concludes this very curious and interefting chap* ter with what follows :
' As fooo as the Barbarians withdrew their powerful fappon, the unpopular herefy of Ariui funk into contempt and oblivion, fiat the Greeks (kill retained their fnbtle and loquacious difpofition : the eftablifhment of an obfcure doArine fnggefted new qiieilionf» and new difputes ; and it was always in the power of an ambitious pre* Jate» or a fanatic monk« to violate the peac^ of the church, andt perhaps* of the empire. The hiftorian of the empire may overlook thofe difputes which were confined to the obfcurity of fchools and fynods. The Manichzans^ who laboured to roconcile the reitgiona irf Chrift and of Zoroafter, had fecretly introduced themfelves into the provinces : but thefe foreign fedaries were involved m tiie com* mon difgrace of the GnoiUcSy and the Imperial laws were eaecuted by the public hatred. The rational opinions of the Pelagtms were propagated from Britain to Rome, Africa* and Pakfti^ey end filently expired in a fuperftitioos age. Bat the Baft was diftni^d hf die Neftorian and Butychian controveriies ; whkh attempted to explain the mydery of the incarnation, and hallened the ruin of Chriftianity in her native land. Thefe controveriies were firft agitated under the reign of the younger Theodoiius : but their important confequences extend far beyond the limits of the prefent volume. The metaphy- £cal chain of argument, the contefts of ecclefiafHcal ambition, and their political influence on the decline of the Byzantine empire, may afford an intereding and inftrudive feries of hiftory, from the general councils of Ephefus and Chalcedon, to the conqueft of the Ball by the fuccelTors of Mahomet.'
The gSth Chapter contains the hiftory of the reign and con* verfion of Clovis, the eftablifliment of the French monarchy in Gaul^ the fiate of the Romans, and the conqueft of Britain by the Saxons. Mr. Gibbon concludes his third volume with fome general Obfcrvations on the fall of thf Roman empire in the Weft :
* The rife of a city, fays he, which fwelled ieto an empire, may de- ferve, as a lingular prodigy» the reEe^ioe of a philoibphic mind. But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effed of immoderate greatnefs. Profperity ripened the principle of decay ; the caufes of deftrudlion multiplied witli the extent of conqueft; and as foon as time or accident had removed the artificial fupport9> the ftupendous fabric yielded to the preflure of its own weight. The (lory of its ruiA is fimple and obvious ; and inftead of enquiring «iv^ the Roman em- pire was deilroyed, we ihould rather be furprifed that it had fubfifled fo long. The vidorious legions^ who, in diftant wars, acquired the •vices of ftrangers and mercenaries, £t& oppreiTcd the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majeily of the Purple. The emperors, anxious for their perfonal laiety and the public peace, were reduced to the bafe expedient of corropting the difciplioii which ren- dered
461 GibbonV Hifiofy of tht Roman Empin.
dered them alike formidable to their fovereign and to the enemy ; the vigour of tbe mriitary governmeDt wat relaxed, and finally dif- iolt^t^^ by tbe parcial inltitations of CoDilantine; apd the Roman world was overwhelmed by a delete of Barbanan»»
* Tbe decay of Rome has been frequently afcribsd to tbe tranilatfOfi of tbe feat of empire; but this hillory has already (bcwo, that tbe powers of government were dMded^ rather than rem^'i^d, X'^^ throne of Coodaoiinople was erected ia the Eall ; while the Weft was 6ill pofle(red by a ferics of emperors who held their refidmce in Icaly^ mnd claimed their eqaai inheritance of the legions and pravi«cu« Thia dangerous novelty impaired the Arength, and fomented tbe ▼ices, of a dcvuUl" reign : the iniiruments of an oppretfive apd arbi- trary fyftem were multiplied ; and a vain emulation of laxary, not of merit, was introduced and fupported between the degenerate factef* fors of Theodofius. Extreme diftrefs, which unites the virtue of a free people* embitters the fatlions of a declining mon rchy* H^Ke koilile favouritet of Arcadius and Honorios betrayed the republic lb its common enemies ; and the Byzartine court beheld with indiffer* ence» perbf pi with plcaf^re, the disgrace of Rome, the mitfbrcunea of Iuly# and the iofi of the We;l Coder the fucceeding reigns, thp sHiaiMof tbe two empires w^s reflore>:i ; but ibe aid of the Oriental Romana waa tardy, doobtfo], and inefTeflual ; and the national fchifni ofthe Greeks and Litios was enlarged by the perpetual difference of language and manners, of intercil, and even of religion. Yet tbe f%* lutary event approved in fome meafure the judgment of Conftantine, During a long period of decay, his impregnable cicy repelled tbe vi^oriotts armies of Barbarians, preceded the weaKh of Ada, and commanded, both in peace and war, the important ftreigbts which conned the Euxine and Mediterranean feas. Ttie foundation of Conftanlinople more efleotially contributed to the preferv^tioa of tl^ £aft, than to the ruin of the Wed.
* At the bappinefiiof a future Wit is the great olgedi of religioD^ «ve may hear without furprife or fcandal^ that the introdudion, or at leall the abuie, of Chriliianity, had fome ioRuence 01^ the de^lii^e and fall of the Roman empire. The clergy fuccefsfqlly preached tht doctrines of patience and puiillanlmity ; the adtive virroes of A>ciety were difconraged ; and the Uil remains of military fpirit were buried in the doyfter : a large portion of public and private wealth was coor grated to the fpecious demands of charity and devotion; and the foldiers pay was la^(hed on the ufelefs multitudes of both fexes, wbp coald only plead the merits of abftinence and chaftity. Faith, zeal, curiofity, and the njore earthly paifions of laaliceand ambition, kin- dled the flame of theologies difcord ; the church, and evea the ftate« were diftra^^ed by religioos fa^ions, whofe conflids were fometimes bloody, and always implacable ; the attention of the emperors was diverted from camps to fyoods ; the Roman world was opprcfled by a sew fpecies of tyranny ; and the perfecuted M\s became the fecret enemies of their country. Yet party-fpirit, however pernicious or abfiird, H a principle of onion as well a« of diHention. The biikopt » from cigbteeo hundred pulpits,, inculcated the duty of paiCve obedi- ence to a lawful and orthodox fovereign ; their frequent a^emblies nod perfetaal correr|}ood(ncej aiaiouined thq communion of diHaAJt
(hurcb^i)
Foreign LitIiratuiie. 463
<barches ; and the benevolent tempfr of the gofpet wzt ftreij^thened though confined, by the fpriiual teitiancc of the Catholics. The fm- cred indolence of the monks was devoutly embraced by a iervile and effeminate »^^ ; but if fuperAitioi^ had not afforded a decent retreat the fame vices would have tempted the anworchjr Romans to defert^ from bafer motives, the lUrdard of the republic. ReJigioi^is precepts are eafily obeyed, wl)ich iiidulge and fandify the natural incliDatioaf «f their votaries ; but the pure and genuine tnrlueoce of Chriftianity may be traced in its bene^cial, though imperfedl, tStCts on the Bar« barian profelytesof the North. If the decline of the Roman etnpird was haftened by the converfien of Conflantine, his vi^orious religtoa broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the ferocioos cemper of the conquerors.
' This awful revolution may be uiefully applied to the inftratfoa of the prefeot age. It is the doty of a patriot to prefer and promote the exclofive intereft and glory of his native country : but a philoib* pher may be permitted to enlarge his views^ and to confider Europe as on^ great republic, whofe various inhabitants have attained aloioft the fame level of politenels and coliiratioq. The balance of poner will continue ro fiudoate, and the profperity of our own^ or the neighbouring kingdoms, may be alternately exalted or depreiTed; but thefe partial events cannot eiTeatially injure our general ftate of bappinefs, the fyilem of arts, and laws, and manners, which ibad-r vantageottfly diftinguifti, above |he reft of mankind, the Europeans and their colonies. The favage nations of the globe are the commoii enemies of civilized fociety ^ and we may enquire with anxious c«- riofity* whether Europe is dill threateqed with a repetition of thol^ calamities, whicb formerly oppreffed the arms and inditutions of Rome. Perhaps the fame refieAtons will illuitrate; the fall of that mighty empire, and ejrplain the probable caufes of oar adlual lecu* rity.'
The remaining obfervations, wherewith our Hiftorian clofes his third yolumc, breathe the fame liberal fpirit, and Ihew evt- dently, to every Reader of tafie and judgment, that there are few Writers who are capable of taking fo enlarged and comprehen- five a view of a fubjeA as Mr. Gibbon. We cannot take our leave, withotK returning the Matter of the Fcaft our fincere and hearty thanks for the very elegant and agreeable manner in which he has entertained u», and ihall only/ fay to him, at parting, Macte inoemo, ac virtutr esto. m
FOREIGN LITERATURE,
«
FRANCE.
I. T i/ Theerii4is Loix Critmnellts : i. c, The Theory of Penal -^ Laws in criminal Cafes, iiy i^.J^RissuT D& WAAViLLe. 9 Vols. 8vo. Paris. 1 781.-*^ This Author merits attention, 9$ bis views feem upright and humane, and as the fubje^ he fce4(s 41 of ^rc|i( cvniec^u^n^e tp all civlVi^zd nations^ but wt^
iee
' \
' 464 FoRSiGN Literature.
fee no very ftriking marks of capacity and genius 10 his work, and his ftile appears to be aSeded, and frequently obfcure. There are, however, good materials in this publication, and many bints and remarks, that may fuggeft falutary views and iifeful meafures to legiflators ; but we cannot approve of the too great propenfity which this writer difcovers to modify penal re- ttrainfs according to the reigning manners of the time; For though this is prudent in fome cafes, yejt it may favour corrup* tion in others ^ and it is one of the purpofes of penal legiflation to corredl the manners of a people, as well as to prevent thofe snorraities, that ftrike at the fubfiftence of civil fociety, — though here we acknowledge, indeed, the imperfection of its influence..
The work before us contains thru Parts, In the firft, the Author fixes the nature of crimes, and places them in feveral clafies, Agreeably to their names, kinds, and importance, which vary, increafe, or diminifh, according to the climate, govern* ment, manners, and religion of the country in which they are committed. To the lift of crimes is annexed a correfpondent lift of punilhments, all adapted to the nature and moment of the crimes. In tht ficond Party our Author examines the .na* ture and ftrength of the difierent kinds of evidence, direA or prefuniptive, that are generally adopted in the trial of delin* quents. A matter of the higheft confequence^ and not injudi« Cloudy difcuiTed. The third Part exhibits a plain and eafy me- thod of procedure, adapted to avenge, fpeedily, the injured citizen, without infringing upon the rights of the accufed. But if it is of confequence to fociety that puniihment be infllQed upon the difturbers of its peace, it is ftill more ellential tore^ ftrain the hitud of the delinquent, and to prevent the v^iolation of juftice and order. Our Author, therefor/r, treats two queftipns Teiative to this important object. The firft, regards the beft method of preventing crimes ; the fecond, relates to the execu- tion of good laws, with which the public tribunals are intruftedv The number and conftitution of thefe tribunals, the nomina- tion of the judges, and the permanent or temporary duration of their functions are amply confidered under this article.
IWila Mechanique appUquee aux ArtSy aux MqnufaSltireSy a rJffltulturey et a la Guerre : i. e. Mechanics applied to Arts, Manufactures, Agriculture, and Military Operations. By M. Berthelot, Mechanical-Engineer to the King. Volume I. 410, 141 Pages. Enriched with 120 Plates. Paris. 1782. —This curious and valuable work is. the fruit of intenfe appli- cation and expenfive experiments, carried on during forty ycar^ and compenlated by many ufeful difcoveries. The King and the Royal Academy of Sciences have honoured the inventions of this ingenii»us Mechanician with folld proofs of their appro- 1)ation 3 his mills have been con ftruded at Bicitrey by the order
pf
Foreign LiTERATURt, 465
of government, and his carriages for cannon have been adopted in ail the fortified cities and pjrts of France. We find here a multitude of curious machines circumAantially defcribcd, and reprefented in engravings; and the Author ofFers his ailiftance to thofe, who may be defirous of having any of them con- ftruflcd.
III. Voyage Pitiorefque^ ou Defcription des Royaumes de Naples et de SiciUj &c. i. e. Travels, reprefented in a Series of Engrav^ ingt, through Naples and Sicily, together with a Defcription of thefe Kingdoms. Part I. Containing an Account of their Revolutions— Maps, Plans, and Views of the Kingdom and city of Naples, its Palaces, and Sepulchral Monuments — an Account of its Poets, Painters, and Muficians — a Defcription of Mount Vefuvius, and a Hiilory of its Eruptions — a View of the Manners and Cuftoms of the Neapolitans, and of the Go- vernment, Commerce, and natural Produdions of their Coun- try. Folio, 250 Pa'^es. Enriched with 50 Plates, together with 40 Head-pieces^ reprefenting Medals, Portraits, and Paint- ings. Price about Six Pounds Sterling. Paris. 1781. Thefe beautiful engravings, preceded the defcription which is here publifticd, and appeared fucceffively in feparate numbers Cnce the year 1778. The drawings' were made upon the fpot by Meffrs. Dejpres^ Renard^ Chatelet^ Parisy &c. and they were engraved by Meflrs. Prevoty St, Aubirtj Aliamet^ &c. all artifts of the firft merit. The explication is the work of the Abbe St. NoJty and the part of this publication that is relative to Natural Philofophy and the Arts, has been revifcd by learned men of the greateft eminence, and by the moft celebrated artifts. — Tne Second Part, which will foon be publilhed, and of which feme of the plates have already appeared, will contain accounts of Henulaneuniy Pompeia^ the Campi PhUgraiy Campania^ or the environs of Naples and Capua, and a D.iTertation on the Ro- man Shows. — The two following parts or volumes will contain defer ipNons of Magna Gracia and i^icily,
IV. Adele et I'heodoke ; ouy Lettres fur tEducation^ i^c. i. t. Adele and Theodorus ; or, Letteis concerning Educa- tion ; containing all the Principles, that are relative to the dif- ferent Plans of Education, which are to be followed in forming the Charadlcrs of Princts, and Perfons of b^jth Sexes in Civil Socieiy. 3 Vols. 8vo. Paris. 1782. — The Public is in«- debtcd for this performance^ which has very great merit amidft feveral imperfe6lions, to Madam Genlis, whofe Theatre^ which has alfo education for its object, is well known *. Thefe let- ters undoubtedly contain wife and ufetui inftrudion, conveyed
* An Englilh traofl.tion of it was recommended^ in oor Review for April 178 1.
Kev. June 1782. Hh ' io
466 FontiGN Literature.
in a mod entertaining and agreeable manner. The imagination of this French Lady is lively, and fometimes leads her a dance (as the faying is) ; but, neverthelefs, found reafon, good tafte, and an cxtenfive knowledge of hannan nature and human life prevail in this work, which is one of thofe fenfible and well defigned romances, that are adapted to form the manners of jouth, and to ferve the caufe of virtue. There is a great va« riety of portraits in thefe letters, and malicious interpreters have confidered many of them as perfonal reprefentations ; — but fuch fufpicions are illiberal : that is levelled at me^ may often be a cry againft moral writers, who paint hfe, and catch the manners living OS they rife ; but it proves no more than that the com- plainant has looked at himfelf in the glafs, — not that the glafs was particularly held up for him.— Thefe letters will be of An- gular ufe to thofe who prelide over, or are concerned in the education of youth, and indeed for fuch they feem to have been principally intended. l*be ftile is lively, eafy, and elegant : it has all the tone of a woman who has kept the beft company ; and we find often in the expreifion, and in the refledlions that reign in this performance, the true philofopher, though without the beard.
V. Lemons elementaires a Hijioire Naturelle it de Chymie^ &c. i.e. Elementary Inftru<Stions in Natural Hiftory and Chemif- try, in which it is propofed, ift, To give a methodical Suoi* mary of all the Chemical Knowledge that has been obtained from the firft Periods of that Science to the prefent Time ; and 2dly, To exhibit a comparative View of the Dodrines o( Stablj and of fome celebrated modern Chemifts. By M. de Four- CROY, M. D. Member of the Royal Society of Medicine at Paris. 8vo. 2 Vols. Price la Livres. Paris.- 1782. — This work IS ufeful for beginner?, may affiitihofe that have proceeded fome length in the endlefs path, and will be read with pleafure even by adepts.
VI. Memoir es concernant T hlijhire^ les Sciences <i Us Arts^ &c. i. e. Memoirs concerning the Hiflory, Sciences, Arts, Manners and Cufioms of the Chinefe. By the Miifionaries of Peking. V6ls. Vn.and VIIL 4to. Pr. 21 Livres. Paris. 1782. — The publi(hers of .this work are much obliged to the labours of the late Father Amiot, whofe pen was always in motion, till death iijopped it, for the materials of thefe two volumes. But we are furprifed to fee the whole feventh volume filled with a Treatife on the Alilitary Art of the Chijiefe^ compiled and tranflated by
^ that learned Father from Chinefe authors, and which was pub* . lifted in the year 1772. This ftews pretty clearly, that the \. materials for the continuation of ihck Memoirs are not abun-
dant. There is a Supplement to this treatife, publifiied at the end of the bth volume. At the head of this volume, we find ^. 5 the
Foreign Litbhaturb. 467
the chara^ers of fevcral famous men among the Chjnefe, tranf* latcd by F. Am'tot from the writers of that country. Thefe are followed by two effays ; one on the hierogliphical manner of writ' ingy the other on the Chinefe language, Thefe are the labours of M. CiBOT, who has treated thefe fubje£is with erudition and acutenefs, and enriched his Eflays with ample notes, in which ^jhe difcufles feveral points, hitherto little known, relative to the ^%atural hiftory of Cliina, and the ftate of arts, fciences, an4 manners in that empire. We are indebted to the fame author for the Diflertation on the Chinefe Pleafure-gardens, in which there are fome curious details. But upon the whole, thefe two volumes do not permit us to fay of this work, Crefcit eundo,
VII. Chronologie Phyjique des Eruptions des Volcans eteints de la France Meridionale^ depuis celles qui avoijinent la Formation de la Terre^
jufqua celles qui font decrites dans PHifloire* i. e. A Phyftco*' Chronological Account of the Eruptions of the Volcanos (no^ extinguilhed) in the South of France, from thofe Eruptions that were near the Period of the Earth's Formation, to thofe which are recorded in Hiftory. By the Abbe Giraud SoulaviB. Paris. — Though this publication forms the 4th volume of this Author's Natural Hifiory of the Southern Parts of France^ yet it may be confidered as a work apart, and is accordingly fold fepa- rately. Our philofophical traveller flops fhort in his excur- fions through the mountains, to meditate on their ancient con- flagrations, and avails himfelf of their modern eruptions to de« termine the times and periods of thofe which they muft have undergone in the rcmotcft ages. Three methods of inve{liga« tion, founded on the following plain and palpable truths, are employed by this ingenious Naturalift : one current of lava that appears under another, is the anterior of the two— when found on a (helly rock, it announces a fubmarine volcano— when it covers a flaty or Jchiflous fubftance, with impreflions of plants, it (hews that the place was enriched with vegetable's before the eruption — when found on the pudding-^one^ it indicates the an- cient courfe of a ftream, which has been changed by a volcanic eSufion. On thefe plain principles our Author builds his hif- tory of theextinguiihed Volcanos in the South of France, which forms fix diftindt fucceflive epochas.
VIII. Caii Silii Italici^/ Belle Punico fecundo Poema^ adfi- dem Veterum Monimentorum Cafiigatum Fragmento Operis Integri JuRum\ Editio Princeps^ Curante J. B. Lefebvre de Ville- BRUN£. 4 Vols. 8vo. 1782. —This is the firft correS edition we have of this Roman poet. The happy and elegant correc* tions of the text have been drawn from four manulcripts, and the firft edition pabliQitd by Pomponius in the year 1471, which feems to have been unknown to all former editors. The woric is alfo rendered more complete by a long fragment, found ir
11 h 2 the
46t MoKTfiLt CATALOOUff PiUtlcat.
^ihe library of the King of France, and the whole is accompanied lirith a French tranflation, and enriched with a learned and ju- dicious prefate, which contains, among other things, a compa- rative view of the epic poets, ancient and modern. Thofe who deiire tb purchafe this valuable edition of Silius Italicus without the French tranflation, may be furnifhed with the Latin pocn alone, which Mr. Lefebvre de Villebrune has publifhed apart. ^
MONTHLY CATALOGUE,
For JUNE, 178a.
Political.
Arf. 17. Orruption c^rre^id: Or the Axe laid to the Root
4to. IS. fiew. 1782.
• A MIDST the acclamations of hii country, the author thinici ke ^X 1)*' *" uodoubted right to difcharge his rocket ; and like a fehool boy in the rear of ao applauding multitude, to exprefs, by an Ufar-fiiout^ hit fccbie approbation.' Apology prefixed, p. i.— la this jf/tir-SbBut we have Huzza for Fox! Huzza for Burke L Shelburnb for ever! Ke?P£L for ever! Camden! Conway! BarreM Rockingham! Richmond! &c. &c. Huzza for All!
In difcriminating the fpecies of oratory by which Demollbenes aod
Toliy are refpeftively chara(5)eri^'ed (in order to introduca fooe
remarks on the eloquence of Mr. Fox), the author juftly con fiders the
illu'.lrious modern a^ * perhaps the nioft convincing aad interefting
oratsr that ha< yet i>ppeared on the (laj^e of public life.*
Art. 18. The Criterion : Or, Difquifitions on the pre fen t Ad -
miniflration, addrcHed to Sir George Saville, Bart. By Jofeph
Williams, E^q; .-luihor of Qcnfiderations •n the American War, ^to*
IS. Hookham. 178^.
Mr. VViliiams appears to be a man of fenfe, birt, in this perform* ance^ at had, he (hews himfelf to be a defultory writer; throwing Out lii'nts ard remarks in a Ibofe, abrupt, unconnef^rd way. He triads the whole circle of political ground; but it is difficolt for the reader to afcertain, with precilion, what the Author would eOabliih or avow, except it be his utter reproba:ioB of every idea of Americaa Independency: A point on which he infilled more at large in his ** Confide; aiions on the American War," mentioned in our Revtei^ for April, p. 300. — What he now fteans by his title of*** Tke Ca- terion," is cot very-obvious to us.
Art. 19, Impartial ReJieSiions on the Condu^ of the late Admini' nijl ration and Qppujition, and of thi American Con^re/s : In which the Caofes and Confequenccs uf the defti u£live War between Great Britain and the Revoied Colonies are particularly considered, anj an immediate Sufpenfion of HolliJities is earcellly recprnmended. 8vo. 1 8 6d. Nicoll:
This Writer improves the many opportonitifs aKbrded him of blaming the errors of all parties ; of courts all parties wUl be even with him, aod defpif« his ceofare. He makes cccaiionaUy a aBJ&ber
8 of
Monthly CATALOGUt, PoStlcQL 469
•
of pertinent obrervacioos, but being defaltory^ they poircfi noiggre« gare force. ^J
Art. 20. The Caufes of our late DifconUnts : Thcif Confequences
and the :'vemedics. in a Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Hawke*
8vo, 1 *. Hooper.
Tbefe Caufet are furomed up in loofe general articles of moral im^ peachment of the late miuiHry; fiich as may be brought againd any miniflry of any country^ until a nation can be found, where the a4t f inioiftration of c;rvf rnment is in the hands of perfeft fnen ! %f
Art. 21. Thoughts on the Naval Strength of the Britijh Empire?^* By John Sinclair, Efq; iVj. P. 8vo. is. Cadtll. 1782.
Lord Mulg'ave^ to fuit a temporary porpofe, was fo far off )lil jTuard, as to declare in the Houfe of Coonroonsy that the navy of France always ^as, and always muH be, fuperior to that of England, whenever the F«ench di red their whole attention to that particular department. The public^fpirited writer of this trafl clearly refutes this afTertion, by comparing the natural advantages of each natioii for marine exertions, and by giving a hilorical view of oar moft iU luftrious naval exploits from the reign of Queen hlixabeth downward. That we are capable of doing great things on the fea, appears fronri what we have done; and though it is true vce did nothing at the time when a Lord of the Admiralty endeavoured to convince us that wo could do nothing, yet, Heaven be praifed, we (eem inclined to beftir ourfelves again in our ufual manner. M
Art. 22. The Second Part ♦ oftht Hijiory of Lord North's Ad-^ minijiratien, 8vo. 3 s. Wilkie. ^7^Z* ^|f Befide the above title, a general title page is given to the two parts^ ifrith Si direction to cancel the others ; it reads thus:
' A View of the Hidory of Great Britain during the A^i^ini^''^* tion of Lord North, to the Second Seilion of the Fifteenth Parliament. In Two parts. With Statements of the Public Expenditure in that Period.' ^
This title is much more proper than the former, as it allows the Jathude taken, of gtving a general difplay of national affairs, inilead of rellriding the detail to the perfonal tranfadioni of the minider.
7 he cbarader given of the former part, may, to fave rcpeii:ion, be extended to this ; in which the narrative in generM it not badly kep( np, in the manner of the Annual Regifter. Qiit a profefled hidory of the adminiliration of a particular miniAer, implies foroe information beyond a mere cbronolcgxal chain of occurrences and parliamentary debarei, all of them wirhin memory : No fecret views of pariie?, or private fprings of adion, arc however here onfolded, to gratify the eager curiofity of the reader, or any thing beyond what may be found in a well compiled periodical colledlion, like the Annual Rcyii^er above r« ferred to. There are indeed (ome political charafltrs Jr^wn, particularly that of (he celebrated i^r. Franklin^t which appears to be 4ery impartially delineated.
It muil be obfervcd, ihat this hidnry clofes with the redufkion of the army under Lord Cornwallis; fo that the late xninillerial revolution.
♦ For the lirft Part, Ac Rev. vol. LXIV. p. 4JIC
Hh 3 '^ ^
470 Monthly Catalogue, PolUicaU
.flpd the immediate 'leading caufes of it were poft-publicatioo ^ invents.
Art. 23. A Political Catechifni* 8vo. as. Buckland, &c.
1782. Dialogues on the general principles of civil policy, foppofed to pafs between a father and a fon during a holiday vacation. There is nothing refined or abftrufe in them beyond the dilates of cominoA ftnfe ; and they may be of great fervice to corred the potions oFthoff^ •Who have a political turn of mind, without opportunitiei of col- lecting infoimation from a more exteofii'e coarfe of reading. Wa much approve the principles inculcated in this ufeful tra£t. ^H^
f Art. 24. Jn Addrefs U the People of the Netherlands^ on the
prefent alarming and moft dangerous S:taation of the Repobiic of Holland : Shewing the true Motives of the mod unpardonable De- lays of the Executive Power in putting the Republic into a proper I ' State of Defence, and the Advantages of an Alliance <u;//i& Hoi*
^ land. France, and America, ^y a Dutchman. Tranflated from
the Dutch Original. 8vo. 2f. 6d. Stockdaie. 1732. [ According to this bitter invcdlive, the Princes of the Houie of
Orange, have been uniformly the tyrants of their country, ever finct
* tike firft eflablifhment of the Republic of the Seven United Provioces.
• The '' deteflable Englilh," their '* perfidious oppreflbrs ;*' — aod to
crown the whole, the French, their deliverers from Spani(h flavery,
. Vusnd their natural allies ! — From fuch an outline it may eafily be ' guefled bow the fubordinate parts are filled up and coloured.
The tranflaror informs us that a great reward was ciFered in Hoi- ^ land for the difcovery of the author. II
Art. 25. A Letter to Thomas Gilbert^ Efq\ M. P. on his Plan fop
for the better Relief and Employment of the Poor: Shewing the
Utility and Expediency of ellablilhing a Poor-houfe in every PariOi ;
that the fame may be done at a fmall Expence, and extremely be-
'; neficial both to the Parilh and to the Poor ; with a Set of Rules
for th6 regulating and condoling thereof, very proper for the con* \ fideration of every Parilh burdened with Poor. To which is added
A Comparative View of the feveral Poor-houfes in the City of
York, Beverley, CoUingham, Driffield, and Leckonfield, in the
^. Eall Riding of the Cotinty of York« and for the incorporated bun*
\ drcds of Loes and Wilford, in the County of Suffolk^ containing
J thirty- three Parilhes. To the whole are fubjoined Dr. Stonehoufe*s
Receipts for making cheap and wholefome Food, Beer, and Yeaft* ', 8vo. I s. Richardfoo and Urquhart.
? The title of this letter gives a full fummary of its contents. The
Author is of opinion that the uniting parifhes is proceeding upon too
large a fca!ey for many reafons that he fpecifies ; and which are in-
* deed fufficienily obvious; he is therefore for going back to the old
eilablifhment of parochial poor-houfes under an improved plan of ma- j nagemenr, of which he exhibits a rpc'cimen. ji|
Art. 26. Proofs that Great Britain w^fs fuccefsful againft each j j of her numerous Enemies before the late Vi^ory of Sir George
\k Brydges Rodney. 4to, 2s. Law, &c. 1782.
'\ We hav| here a comparative view of the fuccefTes, and the defeats,
j \ If ff^e^ively obtained « and fuffered, by «/, and by our enemies y fince
Monthly Catalogue, PoHikah 4p
the commencement of the American war ; by which it appears, that the balance of account, military and predatory, by Tea and land, i\ greatly in oar favour; from whence it i» inferred, that there was, in reality, no canfe to defpair of the nation, as many of us did, before our late naval vi^lory in the Weil Indies. The Author's tabular ac- counts feem to be v«ry accurately ilated. H^ alfo endeavours to ren- der it manifeft, by commercial eilimates and deductions, that if we eventually lofe " all the rebellious colonies," England will not be thereby materially afFcAed ; — but tbis^ we apprehend, is a matter that will require a more profound, and a more extended inveHiga- tion.
Art. 27. A Hint to a Patriot * Parliament » 8vo. 6d. De-
brett.
A hint to a patriotic Parliament! Good! In a nation of politi* cianSy like ours, many are the hints ready to be offered from tirtry corner of the land, without exception: and while they are prefeoted in a way that encourages trade, without obliging the Parliament to appoint Committees to fpend time in examining them ; fome advan- tage refults to the community, fome fatisfaClion to the poblic-fpirited 'Vropofers, from the idea of difchargtng their duty, and no harm is mne to any one.
This Hint is dated from Elmrood Grange; and the Writer pro- pofes, as a fpur to the zeal of the immediate officers under 'the Crown, that the falaries of efficient Minitters (hoald rife and fall ac- cording to the fuccefs of their Adminillration, regulated by the price of the Three per Cent, confolidated (lock. Bat if the projedor at Elmrood Grange is ferious, he may be afked, what idea he wonld form of a Minilter whofc attention to the national welfare (hould be animated by the hope of raifing his emoluments three-eighths or a quarter /^r Cent.? Some people are apt to think Minifters dabble too much in (lock-jobbing already. It is doing the Writer credit to iuppofe him a joker. It
Art. 28. Candidates for the Society of Antigallicans. A Second Part. Being the Correfpondence of various Perfons with the Au- thor upon the Subje^. 8vo. 2?. Buckland. To the account we gave of the former Part of this odd compofi- tion t, we have now to add, that at the end of the Firfl Part, the Author invited the correfpondence of all who intereded themfelves in the fubjecl of it; though what that was, we found rather difficult to define. This part confifts of letters profe (Ted to have been received in confequence of fuch invitation; but which, from the uniformity of their complexion, we fcruplenot to pronounce to have been addrefTed by him to himfelf. The general fubjedt of cenfure in them, is, the behaviour of many French refugees, who are reproached with la- bonring to drop the chara£ler of Frenchmen, with deferting their brethren and their native principles, and affimilating with the Eng- gi(h natives. The whole is a Rrange puerile jumble ! ^
* For patriotic. t R«^« Vol. LVJI, p. 404,
H h 4 Woollen
7*
47t Monthly Catalogue, fToolUn Tradt^, (fc.
Woollen Trade, Art. 29> A Littir to thi Landed Gentlemen and Gravuers of Lin*
iclnjhire : In which are pointed out the principal Laulesof the pre*
fenc Redundancy of Wool, and the Exportation of it proved to be
impoliiicand dangerour ; together with the Propofal of a more fafi»
and certain Remedy. Occalionrd by,^ and interfperfed with» Ob-
fervations upon, Sir John Dalrymple's QpeiHon upon thac Sab-
je^. By a Friend and Neighbour. 8vo. is. Cadell, &c. 1782.
This writer fuccefsfoliy oppofes Sir John DaJrympJe'i expedient of
allowing the exportation of raw wool, bat appeais to fall into a more
dangerous error hi mfelf» by recommendng the exportation of bread*
corn, te. with the expreis intention of raifiug the price of provifioni,
to oblige the manufadlurer to work harder tor fubfifteikce. It is a
plaufible general inference fiom particular known inftances, that a
inan who can live * by four days labour will not work fix : but woold
it not be tyrannical cruelly to treat the whole raafa of the people ac*
cording to this principle ? Alas ! they nee^ it not. Taxes already
liave this operation ; but when fucb a tendency is not io view« and
the accumulated burdens laid on the people are the fpbjeA of decla*
mation, far different conclufions are drawn from the premiies! %t
Poetical. Art. 30. 7i5/ Sji/fem. A Poem, in Five Books. By the Rev. Jofeph Wjfcr. 8vo. ^ s. 6d. Fauldcr, 1781. Of this nsecaphyfico theological poem^ which we profefs our ina- bility to analyze* the reader may form his own opinion from the following extfaA :
' Lo, this material Sydero roie, to be The feat of Spirits, fccne of Trial frcei Dnubtlefs, with juOeU correfpdndence grtvf. The nobler intelledlusi Syfiem too. ^ ' Gocf's firfl prodo£\ion in this wond'rous plan^
• vl Tfbe chief reveaTd, the chief concerning man.
Was that great Being, Wifdcm call'd, and H ord \ ; Next under God this Syftcm's ruling Lord. *
}^^y /tirtn of God, and in God's bofom bleft. Was Po'ijuer, was f^ i/dom, born to form the reft.
• To li've or to mainteitt him, elf, are vc;y loofe ex predion s« Of two n^en equally improvident and difpofed to ertjov all they earn, and who can both earn in four day;; enough ro fubGd on during feveo, the o'>e \vhf> loves eafe, n\ y incline to make three davs K<bour io the wiek (Lfiicc; while the o her who lo^es ^ocd eating better than lazi- ncis. n:ay cheerfully work the full fix days. Even to deprefs their J wa^cs would be too extrnlive an opeiation, as it woitid punifh \^fg%
families alon;? with heedlefs fipg e men ; butio raife the price of pro- vision^ would be more exteplie n*||, and en»ail mifery en labourera in^#neral. to make particular clafTcs of manufafturers induUHoos.
+ Proverbs viii. iz, ITai. xlii. Wi'd Sol. xii. Rccles. xvii 18. Jrhn i. (Jo), f. Jexyifli Parajrhrall:, Pnilo, all the ChriRian Fatheia bcib/e Lhe £rfl Nicene Council.
N^xt,
Monthly Catalogue, Dramath* |7j
Next, fix compeers, his janiors, rofe, to (bare With him God^s prefen^e and the general care* Thefe made with future orbs the number even f ; $bven prime archangels, as prime planets feven* ' \ Thefe form'd the council for this Syftem meaat^ Equal in rankf the ^W^^ their PreGdent. Inferior orders in fuccefTion came ; Cherubs air-wing*d, and ferap^s wing*d with flame.' Thefe to inijpeA each orb, each lUce, were given. Under the general Inqueft of the feven.* The notes, which are added to the end of each book, and whidi \
make a principal part of the volume, prove their Author, notwith* Aanding the pfcoliariry of his notions, to be a man of learning and candour, atid warmly zealous in fupport of thofe opinions thac he thinks to be true. With refped to bis poetry, it will fpeak for *
icfelf, in the fliorr but fufHcienc fpecimen which we have given. Cr*^~^j
Art. 31. Thi Female Kidnappers \ or the Rape of the Infant.
A poem. 4to. is. 6d. Willis, 1782. This poem is built on the well- known adventure of the widow G— - and the young gentleman with whom Ihe eloped into Scot- i
land, and whofe father afterwards brought an aflion againft her for running aw«y with his infant * fon. Thefe veriei^ though much \
too good for the fabje£t. are, as eafily may be fuppofed, too bad {
for (eleflion. The reader will readily guefs in what they are excep« ^^^ tionable. i^
Art. 32. The Britj/h Hero in Captivity. A Poem. 410. is. 6d*
Robfon. 1782.
The mod we can fay of this profaic, though laboured performance
is, that it is a well-intended compliment to the gallant Cornwallit^ ^
the unfortunate Andrce> and the generous Arnold. JD^
^rt. 33. Ode on the Surrender at Tork Town. To the Honour- \
able Wiliiai^ Pitt. 4;o. 6d. Bowen, &c. 1782. i
An invocation to Mr. Pitt, to interpofe his patriotic endeavours (
between his country and that complication of difafters which feerot
to threaten it* Toe poetry, though not bad, contains nothing that
is ilrikiog, iTlk^
Dramatic. ^-^»
Art. 34. Songi^ Duets y ^c. in the Fair American: A Comic Opera, as performed at the Theatre Royal in DruryLane. 8vo. ^d. Evans. 1782. Thefe Songs are but indifferent, though in fome of them there it
SLnaJfe^ation of potiry. As for example:
SONG. Anoblica. I. ' How ferenely the morning firft opes its meek eye. And looks like an angel with fmiles from the fky ; ^ Yet ere noon fome black tempell with terror Ihall foand. And the fpring's tender bloifom is blown to the ground.
t Zech. iii. 9. Dan. x. Tobit xii. Rev. i, & v, 6. Job. * A itrapping young fellow about eighteen.
U. Thoa
\
I
J^)4 Monthly Catalogue, Novelsm
I
II.
Thus It fares with oor hopes ; when love fills the heart.
In i'ori-ftjinethcy rife, and in clouds lliil depart;
But Venus Ler/el/ ne*ver Jhines in her fphtre^
Hill that mourner the night bathei htr chttk n»ith a ttar* /*
Novels. ^^
Art. 35. Thi Life of Mrs. Juflman. 2 vols. iimo. 6$*
Lewis. 1782, The Author, wc undcrftand, complains of the negligence of the rlnter, and v^e think with re&fon; fcr we have feldonn feen any thing b mangled ar.d mucihted. Sevtraty-five pages of the original MS. have, we find, been burnt by foine accident ! But on this occafion, indead of ofTcring our condolence, we prefcnc our congratulations both to the Author and the Reader. For our parts we felt the obli- g^ation in a ve'^y high degree ; and as for the Author, he hath various ^ ' ' ' ; ^ffeafons to confole himfeif with whenever he thinks of it. ' If the cri- tical reader (hould complain (as probably he will, (hould/uch a reader ever condcfcend to pcrufe thefe volumes) of the improbability of the / Aory, he may expert to hear of the fatal fire. If he ihould find fault / witA the abfurd, incoherent, and contradiflory political reafoning
with which thefe volumes abound, the progrefs of his criticifm will
be flopped by the fame fire. It is by the lucky intervention of this
clement, that the Author is fo admirably excufed from making it ap-
^\ pear credible or probable that a man could court the fame lady three
$ «' times : have two children by her at different intervals and in different
i chara^lers, and yet not know her to be the fame perfon! The
principal fufferers by the fire fecm to be the fate miniders; for our Author wifhed to make them appear pure and unblameable : but ala; ! the fire burnt all up like ** hay andjlubbk ;*' and thefe minillers— — but Sepulchres are f;)cred ; and we have too much delicacy to dif- turb the AsHPs ^/M^ Dead I ^.,
Art. 36. An Intere/iing Sketch of Genteel Life : By a Lady. '^ I 3 vols. 12 mo. 6s. fewed. Law. 1782.
This ' intereLfting Sketch' is one of the mofl tedious and iMrintereA- ing things imaginable : unlefs (as in this fair ladyU eflimation !) love ^ ^A Sid marriage fbould be deemed the only ends of our exigence. I'he
I ladies are all beautiful and accomplished ; the men (one indeed ex-
cepted) are deferving of their charms ; ^nd after a Uw changes and ebantti they are united — •• with every qualificacion necciTary to make the roarriage-flaic happy 1" — We will not be fo ungrateful as to moleft n tbcir repofe, fince they have fo effcdually contributed to ours ! «/
Art. 37, Tlje Fortunate Si/iers ; or the Hiftory of Fanny and Sophia Bemont. . i2mo. 2 vols. 63. Noble. ipSa* ^
The hackni^d cant of a novel-writer by profcfiion ? >
Art, 38. Freendjhrp and Matrimony ; or the Hiftory of Emilia
and Hcivy : ot L Jid and Lady P , and of Frederick and
Fanny* Now firll publilhed, from the feveral Originals as found among the Papers of the late Henry Manfcl. Efq. With an occa- • fional Preface, ^c. izmo. 2 vols. 6s. Noble. 1782.
The preface infurins us that the editor received thefe papers a%a rcttaid of hi' great £nt;it ^s a ccftjiircr f We ilipujd ooi have gueflcd
at
i
'.I
} I
Monthly Catalogue, Mlfcellamous* ' 475
at t\t editor's or author's pofTefling /ucb merit, if we had not beea ill formed of it by /ucb authority.
However, ic is fit co apprize (he reader, that the idea of conjaration only entered into the beads of two country bumpkins, who, we doubt not,^ere fools enough (o fappofe that even (he parfon of the parifli^^ WIS a conjurer too! — Oh ! rare Dick, and Colin Clout f J^f
Art, 39 . Genuine AnecdoUi of Sir Richard Eafyand Lady Wagtail.
I zmo. 2S. 6d. Goadby. An obfcene and moft wretched catchpenny, written from prin- ciples which mull excite the deteHation of all men of goodnefs. and in a manner which muil provoke the contempt of all men of fcnfe. Cf^ rf Miscellaneous. ^^
Art. 40. J New J Complete^ andUniverfal Roman Hijlory^ from - the earlieft authentic Accounts of that great Empire to the De* . iiru6lion of Rome 6y the Goths and Vandals under Augollulus; and the taking of Conilantioople by the Saracens and Turks, 10 the Reign of CoulUntine Palaeologus. Containing a genuine and circumllantial Account of alJ the remarkable Events and fin* gular Occurrences, during a Period of above Two thoufand Years. In which the Political LuHomi and Ufage of the Romans are particularly attended to, and the various Modes of Government which were adopted by them to prefcrve the 8tate« In Five Parts. Including new Remtrks on the Rife and Progrefs of the Empire; on its D^line and Fall in the Weft after the Death of Conftaa- tine the Great, and on the Events which baftened its utter Rain in the Eaft at a later Period. Together with a complete Table pf the Kings and iimperors* Illullrated with Notes, and inter* fperfed with Reflexions, applicable to the Gorernmenc of all cvn* lized States, and particularly adapted to the Genius of a free People ; being abfolutely neceflary to be perufed by all true Friends to the Britiih Conftitution at this Time. The whole carefully digefted in regular Order, and colleded from the beft Authorities. By William Henry Melmoth, Efq; Editor of the new Univerfal Siory Teller. i2mo. js. Hogg. 1781. All this in 378 duodecimo pages! 'Tis impoflible. When wilt tjhe race of quacks be extind ? — When the ftock of human eulUhi' lity is exhauiled, and men have learned to ufe their common fenfe in rejeding what lies beyond the limits of poflibility. Till then, ye quack* divines, do£lors, authors and bookfellers — labour with aU your might, for the harveft is plenteous I ^
Art. 41 . A View of Society and Manners in High and Low Life : Being the Adventures in EngUnd, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Sec. of Mr. G. Parker. In which is comprized a Hillory * of the Suge Itinerant. i2mo. 2 vols. 6s. iewed. Whieldon* 1781.^
The Author feems to have given as his real hillory, and it is not an unentcrtaining one. He appears to have borrowed nothing bat the general title of his book, for which he ftands indebted to the in- genious Dr. Moore; but he Ihould not have promifed us a view of Society and I^^anners in -High Life, as we have fcarce a peep bft» yond the limits of the ionuer fphtre. Mr. Parker is however a lively wricfr, poiTcHed of confiderable natural talentSi by the aid of which
he
f
I
476 MoMTHLY Catalogue, Natural Htftory^ IScm
ke contrives to intered as in the perofal of his adventures, in the ca* paciiy firfl of a StrMng Player, and afterwards in chat of an Itimerani LtSanTt on a plan iimilar to that of the celebrated George Alexander bceveas.— Among oiher amufing particulars, he has given perhaps tiie oioft complete account of the various aris and tricks pradifed by
*; t4)e multifarious tribe cf fwindjers *, iharperf, and cheats, for whicli the prefent age and nation^ we had almoll faid, is become infamous. This part of Mr. Farker*s work may realjy prove fcrviceable to the Public. Art. 41. Literary Amufements ; or Evening Entertainer. By «
H^ Female Hand. I^mo. z vols. 6s. Noble. 1782.
' " * Amuferoenis for the illiterate ! TX \
Natural History. ^-O^^^J
Art. 43. Supplement to the Campi Phi hgr^i: Being an Ac* count of the great Eruption of Mount Vcfuvius, in A gud 1779. Communicated to the Roy&] Society of London by Sir VViiiiaoi Ha- milu}n, K. B. F. R. S. his Britannic MajcHy^s Envoy £xtraordi« nary and Plenipocenciary at the Cour: 01 Naples. Folto. 2I. 12s. 6d. Boards. Naples, printed in 17; 91 ^nd fold by Cadell in I London.
Of Sir William Hsmilcon's mc(l fplendid and curious work, the
Campi FHLccRiEi, we gave an account in the 56ch volume of our
Review, p. 3S0. The narrative part of this Supplement was prin.ed
i in the fir ft part of the Philcrophical Tranfadlions for 1780 ; and aa
\ abdradl of it appeared in cur Review for April i;^! ; but our limits
I' allowed us to mention very few of the pharnomena, nor could s^t make
room for any confiderable part of the Author's highly entertaining de- fcription ; tbe whole of \vhich we have. wi;h inexprefTibJe fatisfadiou^ reperufeif, in the prefent vtry fine edition. — Sir W:Uiam has here 9i6^t6 a French tranilation of the letter- preis part of his work, which is printed in oppofice columns; and the whole is beautifuly illuf- tratcd by coloured prints from the drawings of M. Peter F^bris : boik 1' . •j%\ the drawings and illuminations being copied from Da'ure, under the
infpedion of our very ir.geniops and indefatigable Author.
Horticulture.
] Art. 44. A Treatife on the Culture and Management of tht.
I Bear's Ear\ or Auricula Urfi : With Direftions for raifing it Irom
Seed. 3y a Florift. Small i2mo. is. Wallis. 1782.
ji' . To tbofe who find gratification in the healihfuU innocent, and ra-
\ •*«tional amufements of the Bower-garden, and are ford of cultivating
one of its mod beautiful ornaments, we recommend this little trea* V'fe, which contains ^stxy thing ncceffliry to be known upon ihe (ub- je^, either by the fimpje gardcoer, or the 9andi<iaie £ur the firft ho- nours at a florift's fead. yf
School-Boo K. C?
Art. 45, Profody made eajy. By the Rev. William Nixon^ A.B. lately Principal of the Dublin Academy; and now ap*
fi
• Mr. Parker gives the following derivation of this term : * It it derived from ihe Ottman, in which language Schwindel ftgni£«s /* eheat.^ TJiis is, ifideed, one acceptation qi the German word.
pointed
i
h
Monthly Catalogue, Sclml'B9Qks. 477
pointed Mailer of the Endowed School of Yooghal, by hii 6 race
the Duke of Devoofhire* 8vo» 2s. Cork priDCcd, sod fold by
Bucklaod in London. 178 1.
An acquaintance with the rules of profody ts cfTential to accuracy in the pronunciation of the Latin language. The pra^ice of verfifi- cation facilitates fo neceffary an acquilicion ; and, as far as our knowledge extends, is eftablifhed in all the greater fchooli^ and ac the UniverHties, where the clafScs are (ludied on an elegant footing; though we have been informed that it is negle^cd by the generality of the DiiTencing tutors :— hence it is, that we feldom meet with a Diflenting miniller who can read 6ve line^-of profe or verfe without fome miilake in the pronunciation. We do not fay this to charge them with ignorance, but to awaken their induftry.
Every attempt to facilitate this elegant arc (without which the great beauties of Latin poetry will be loil) deferves commendation, Jn this view Mr. Nixon is entitled to the public regard for the paint he hath taken in unfolding the principles^ and iliullrating, by ciaiiic examples, the various meafurcs of Latin verfification; and the moft eafy and certain methods of fcanning, in particular, the beautiful Odes of Horace. But while we pay oar Author (bis general com- pliment for his diligence and ingenuity* we cannot avoid pointing out a very flagrant error in grammar, which we a^e furprifed fiiould have efcaped his eye, or th? eye of chofe learned fchool-mallers who have affixed their names to it by way of recommendation.
In Rule 9th, App. [Fi^. page 15.] the Author fays — •Virgil lengthens y^iifVr?.- — and then produces the fcllovving line from th6 Roman poet to illuilrate his remark:
'* Sub terras foderc lar^m pcnituique repert;c.*'
Doth Mr. Nixon fuppofeyWrr^ to be th< infimiii'ui mood of the vtrbf If he doth, he is egregioufly millaken. It is the third perfoa plaral, preterperfed ten fe, indicative mood. It is wrong to make r# in fn* ker^ and ia in larei to be long. The tWo tard fyllables of fodere he makes fhort; whereas, in the perfed renfe they arc always long. Mr. Nixon yery properly make^ /a in laris [RJt 15.4. psge 18.] to
Hbe fhort; and yet, in App. I. p. 19, he lays — * Virgil lengthens Urem/
Tne above line, by Mr. Nixon*s leave, fhould be thus fcanned ;
^iib ter | la fo | dere la | rem peni | tufque re j pertar.
On the whole, we think this little treatife to be a very ufcful ma- .rual to the Undent of the Latin clarfics ; and we very cordially join our recommendation to that of Mr. Rider ♦ and iVir. Parerfon f. f\^^^^
Art. 46. yf Prs£iical Grammar of the French Languagt^ by N;
Wanoilrocht. The Second Edition, with Aciditions und Improve*
ments, by the Author, iimo. 3 s. Johnfon. it^z.
Having already cxprefTed our approbation of this Gracirrar, we DOW only mention it to inform onr Readers, thai it appcar^t in this
4dition with confiderable improvcmencs. Mk
: *•
• Sar-maftrr of St. Paul's S:hno!. "- *
f I ate Miller of,Mi»fon'> Yard Academy, and Author of the Latin Terl'c traadation of ?ope*s Wind for F«^reit, &c &c. dec. ■
RELlGIOUf.
J
i
i
4^8 MonrniY Cat ALocvE J Refighus*
Religious. Art. 47. The Stvdy of the Scriptures recommended. An Attempt to in u ft rate the beauty of fome Parts of Scripture ; parcicolarly the Song of Mofes in the 3 2d Chapter 6f Deoterononyy and the Epinie of St. Paul to Philemon* With an Eodeavoor to vindicate that PafTage in the qth Chapter of Romans* where the Apoftle fays, " He could wi(h himfelf accorfcd from Chrift for his Bre- thren." To which is added a (hort moral EfTay. By Crito. 8? o« 2 9. Coventry printed. London, fold by Rivington. This pamphlet is written, to nfe the Aothor\own words in his odd preface, in an unconnedled and digrtjf^ry manner. When he * fab- mits it with all its faults to the candour of the good-natared,' he Adds a promife ' (as fome amends for what might not be approved), of a little moral eHay at the end^ that (hall afford both profit and pleafare ;' this moral effay, he fays, ' is not my compofition (as the reader will eafily perceive), but what I accidentally met with.' Af« ter all this, when we come towards the endy we find the mora] efTay, , from which fuch high expedtations were to be formed, wholly omit-
' ted ; and the Author farther tells us that a learned friend informs
him, that this, which he intended as a piincipal ornament of bis publication, has been before printed. His trad on the Song of lWofe« prefents us with feveral obfervattons from different writers, particularly from Dr. Smithes Longinus. Dr. Pordyce comes in for y/tty high praifes, for this Author fays, he took the hint of his pie- )^ fent attempt from a fermon which he beard the Doflor deliver.
The illuftration of St. Paul's Epiftle to Philemon contains remarks which have been often made on that beautiful compofition. In con- fidering that particular paffage in the EpiHle to the Romans, «s mentioned in the title-page, our y^uthor oppofes an interpretAtton ofi«red fome time ago by Dr. Bandinel *, and endeavonrs to efla- bliih what has been more generally received. We are at a loft to j conjeflure what ihould have induced this writer to publifli his luca*
brations ; but, no doubt, he had his motives. He wanders often from his immediate fubjeft, but he properly recommends the ftudy \ of the Scriptnres, and fpcaks very juflly of their excellence. T^
I Art. 48. A Litter to the Clergy of the Church of England. 8vo,*'
I s. Baldwin. 1781. y Something — but we hardly know what — about (eflarie?, heretics,
infidels :— defigns to undermine the Church by maligning its mini- fiers, feducing its partizans, difTolving the tics of fubordination and ft gp * fellowfhip which conned them : dangers arifing from the abufes of * '^ * * religious freedom; the necelDty of a firm union among the clergy, who are to repel all attacks on their ofHce and chara^er; who are to confider themfelves, both feparately and colleflively, as the guardians of the truth, and whofe office ic is to prevent any violences being committed againft it.
What thoie formidable attacks are, and how the enemy is to be repelled, is left to the Reader to find out— if he can ! ^
t
• Vide ojir Review, vol. LXIV. p. 97.
Art,
\\
Fas t-D ay Sermoks* 4m
Aft. 49, A Jhort Pita in Favour cf Infant Baptifm ; and of ad- mimtlering ic by Sprinkling. By Samuel Boccomley, of Scarbo- rough. 8vo. 6d. Leed5, printed. 1781. ^ The fobje^ of this pamphlet has To often fallen under oar review in difftrenc forms, that it is annece/Tary for us now to add to oar for- mer remarks. We fhall therefore ooly obferve that this treatife ap* pears to proceed from an honefl mind, and to be written with can*^^ dour and attention. Js # Art. 50. Sea Sermons: or a Series of Dlfcourfcs for the Ufc of the Royal Navy. By the Rev. James Ramfay. 8vo. 48. bound. Rivington. 1781,
It would contribute not a little towards increafing the nfefulnefs of pulpit-difcourfes, if preachers would not content themfelves with gene- ral harangues on virtue and vice, and general views of the principle! and obligations of religion, but would adapt their difcourfes to the pre- vailing chara6ler of the times, and the particular circumftancet of their hearers. Such a plan of preaching would furniih them with an end* kfs variety of intereding matter, and give an air of originality to their difcourfes, never to be obtained in the way of common»place de- clamation. It would at the fame time bring home the piecepts of morality to every man's bofom, and render preaching, much more than it is at prefent, the means of promoting public order and hap- pinefs.
We obferve with pleafure this plan of preaching attempted, and executed with great fuccefs, in thefe Dilcourfes. They were drawa ; op for the ufc of His Majclly's fliip Prince of Wales, and arc parti- cularly adapted to thecircumdances and characters of feamen.
The fubjcAs treated of are, — Virtue the Foundation of Succefs.— - The Duty o\ exerting ourfelves in the Caufe of our Country,— The Sinfulnefs oFMutiny, — The Sinfulnefs of Defertion. — On Drunken- nefr»—- On common Swearing,-^ View of Man's Duty, in Six Dif- courfes.
If fome of thefe Difcourfes were printed in a che^p form, and clr* culared at the public expence among our feamen, pofTibly fome good ^ efFed might be produced. £«
^ Fas t-D ay Sermons.
I. Preached at the Parifh Churches of Relaugh, and Scottow, ia Norfolk, ^y the Rev. Lancader Adkin, M. A. 8vo. 6 d. Baldwin.
The Author afFcft^ the pathetic; but his declamation is too ge- neral and too diffufe to excite eny emotions of the tender k^ud ; and as for inftruClion, this difcouife gives us juft that fpccics of i; which any fchoolboy migh: have given in a iheme upon a fail-day.^ ^ It is trite, jejune, and fuperficial. JB— ^•*^»
II. IVhat mtan youly /his Ser*utcc ? A Qcpftion prcpofed and di(^ cuffed in a Sermon preached on the late FaU. By John Martin* 8vo. 6d. Buckland.
Treats of the nature and obje^^s of a fa ft, with ferioufnefs, can- dour, and plainnefs. ' The dclhudion of our national eneraiea (fays this good roan}, is I fear the ardent wiih of iome. I cannott
however^
V-
^gO COR&ESPONOENCB.
kowevert icdiilge a defire like this. I wi(h their converGoo, not their deihudtion. I defire it both in a civil and in a moral fenfe. [ ardently wi(h that rebellion, bo^ to God and man, mighrcekfe; ftnd that envy and ambition* pride and oppreflion might at once ex- pire 1 Till then may our enemies abroad or at home be unable to i«jure us, and we unwilling to injure chem. Coniinuing to be what they are, may they be fubducd, but not dellroyed/ We love • I ?ll<c principle v^hich excites fuch generous wiihes. But the politician will aCc ihc preacher, — What mufl be ihe altcrnacive, if enemies cannot be lubdutd without beir.g dtjitiytd? Can conqueft at all timfs be feparaied from fiaughccr ? — Tne huiranc heart is ilaggered by the quelUon. Chnluanity filcncly withdraws frcm the p/oundhefs contention, and leaves the difpute to be decided by oiher judge?«^^
""" CORRESPONDENCE, '
A very (light attention to the nature and limits of our plan mi^ht have convinced the Author of ** PrinctfUi cf La-ju jnd Oj^trnmtt.t^* of the impoilibility of our infercing his Obfcrvations upon our Cri* ticifm of that work. Wc are more difpofed to fmile at the modefly of Ills requifition in demanding the infertion of a letter of twenty pages quarto, than to be angry at the peremptory tone in which the demand is made. This gentltman (eems to have fo lofty an opinioa of h t own powers and performances, that we doubt not he will find other
I channels of communicating his thoughts to the Public. The prefs is
open to him, but we mull beg. leave to decline the honour ol being
'- bis puhlilhers, ft
I '
j' •^^ We are obliged to our Corrcfpondent S S. for hit hint ; and
^-' • from it take this opportunity of apprizing our Readers of a circum-
dance proper to be noted, viz. That the old words io Rowley's
Poems are to be found (at leall for the greater parr) in the common
wQa'vo edition of Biiley's Ditlionary, and not in the folio, publiihtd
either by him or Scott; for we are informed, that many perfons who
bave tne Utter (and naturally fuppottug that it contained all chat was
' in the former) have fearched f6r thofc words in vain in that edition.
a^«d have bccu led to imagine, that the Reviewer was not fo accura;e
in his authority as he ought to have L.een. ^
Errata in the /?t<y/>if for April.
P. 2^f. (In the account of Taiham's Sermons) for **and the Writers of them have been capable,** read ** to have been capable,*' ^c.
— 292. 1. I. (Art. Bsllc's S:racagem) for •* the characters arc not a;/ dUcrimina;cd,** r, '* rot iJ difcriniina:ed.'*
I — 300, In the title of Art. 14, for *' war of /^r//," r.. **/«/?/.
I r :• ». 320. In the Note concerning our late Corrcfpondence relative to
the rot in (heep» I. 7. and 8. r. thoj, '* From our general rule cf '* ad:i\i:ting nothing that has not relation, either immediately Of ■ ** remotely, to literature, we deviated in the firll iaiiance, &.c.'
Errata U lafi Month's Rt*vie*w.
P. 3^3. par. 2. I. 1. for cajl^ r. <oft3,
— 55 .. Note * U>x Pit di Hand ^ r. I er din and,
-— 361. .!• 10. take away the comma afur Jidts.
r
%
APPENDIX
T O T HE
MONtttLY REVIEW,
Volume the Sixty-sixth.
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
Art. I.
EJJfai fur la Phyftoghtmit dejline a fain conhoitrt /* Homme et a U fain aimer, i.e. An Eflay on Pbyliognomy (or the Arc of Reading Faces) defllncd to promote the Knowledge and Love of Man. l^y John Gaspard Lavater, Citizen of Zurich, and Pal? or of that City. Printed at the Hague. In large 4 to. Firfl Part^ 290 Page«» illullrated by a great Number of curious Engravings.
WE formerly made mention of the very ingenious, fingu- lar, and entertaining German work, of which this now before us is a tranflation, or rather a new modification. The German eflTay appeared to u§ fuch a (Irange mixture of genius and enthufiafm, fenfe and jargon, tafte and oddity, that we fcarcely Jcnew what to make of it. Diffident of our own taftc and fa- gacity, as well as of our knowledge of the language in which ic was written, we did not prefumc to enter largely into an ac- count of its very Angular contents. We were alfo afraid to dp or fay any thing incompatible with the high and fmccre refpetft we have for the piety, virtue, and great talents of the worthy and ingenious author, who is efteemed by the wife, half-deified by the myftical, though beheld with a farcaftical leer by a num- ber of obfervers, who are not initiated into the fectets of Face^ readings and only ftand profanely peeping at the outer-gate of the ran£luary, to the great o^encc of fcveral good men, and ele6t ladies.
M. Lavater, informed of the expediency of rendering his work legible by thofe who do not underftand the German lan- guage, and alfo of making fome changes that might render it more intelligible to thofe V)h9 doy undertook to cloihe his ideas
App. Vol. LXVI, li in
482 Lavatcr'j EJfay en Phjftognomj.
in a French garment^ which has been trimmed and embeUUhec} by the elegant hand of one or more afTociates in this com« mendable undertaki^^^ This emboldens us to approach once more to the work, and to make it farther known to the Engliih reader than it has hitherto been. The tranflator or tranflators feem to have done their bufinefs with fpirit, tafte, and intelli- gence. Their ftile is both elegant and expreffive.
This FlR*?T PARTConfifts of two prefaces, an introdudion, and twenty fragments, Thofe who think they have compofed a complete and regular fyftem of any fcicncr, divide it ufvally into books and chapters \ but as our author, however adventurous in point of genius, is modeft enough to look upon the fcienceof phyHognomy as far from being completed, and judges a perfeA treatife upon the fubjccl to be neither the work of ^^^ man, nor one -vcademy, nor even of a whole century, he only pretends to give here fome members of a beautiful body, which may be one day aflembled, and form a whole ; and therefore he calls his chapi- ters/V^^w^w/j. It is thus that the meteorologlfts (if we may be allowed the comp^rifon) give us fiom time to time fcraps and fradions of the features of the atmofphcrc, in the plcafing ex- pectation that they will one day bring us to a complete ae^ quaintance with the whole face^ and enable us to predial and pre- pare for its changes Who (hall fee the cad ?
The lnirodu£llon exhibits fome poetical cjfufions concernirig the dignity of human nature, which may be re;:d with utility as an antidote againft Swift's vlllanous dcfcription of the Yahocs, We have here a fublime account of the original ftate of man, when his mind was a pure image of the Deity ; and his body, as yet uncor- rupted, was the beautiful mirrour and reprefentative of his mind. This is foUowed by the firft Fragment^ in which M. Lavater in* forms us of the occaflon that kd him to refearchcs of this nature* He had arrived at the age of five and twenty, before he had either read or thought upon the fubjcdl; he had often, indeed, been feized with an emotion^ and tvcix Jfarted ^t the firft fight of cer- tain faces ; which agitaiicn continued for fome time after the departure of the perfon, without his knowing the caufe, or even thinking of the face that had produced it. Thefe fudden im- prcffions led him fomctimes to form judgments ; * but, fays he^
* my decifions were laughed at. I blu(hed at them myfelf, and
* became more prudent/ He was, however, very fond of drawing, and he delineated frequently fome of the lines that he found the moft ftriking in the countenances of his friends, which he ftudied with attention. This occupation opened to him interefting views of human organization, and its reprefenta- tive powers or charaders. But the epocha of his application to phyfiognomical refearches, was a ftrong imprclTion he received from the countenance of a foldier, who was paffing with hit
^ 2 troop
f
u-
Lavater's Ejfay on Phyjiognomyl 48^
frrop before a window, where M. Lavatkr wasflahdihg ^xth M. Zimmerman^ the King's phyfician at Hanover. His re^ itiarks upon the military phix ftruck the ingenious and fentimen- €al phyfician) who encouraged him to carry on his refcarches^ and propofed to him feveral qiieftions about face^ and charndcrs. ' I anfwcrcd feveral of them^ fays M. Lavater, but my anfwers
* were for the mod part miferable, as they did not proteed from 4 *' fudden impulfion^ a kind of infpiration.^ In (bort, it appears, that even after correfpondrng on the fubje£^ for fome time with M. Zimmerman, and drawing imaginary fac^stn abundance, to which he annexed his remarks, he laid afide this branch of ftudy for feveral years : • I laughed^ fays hc^ at my firft eflays sind ob-
* fervations, and I neither read nor wrote any more on thd
* matter.* Nevcrthelefs M. Zimmerman brought the truant back to his work ; and then, on he went at a great rate. He has, however, got no farther than a colleftloti of 6bfervations and conjeflures, which are often entertaining, frequently in- ftrudive, but fometimes obfcure and unfatisfadory. — Though he i.s perfuaded that the fcience cf phyfiognoitiy i) founded on folid principles, yet he does not pretend to have brought this fcience to perfedlion. He acknowledges that there are faces, of which he can form no judgment; and he is willing to let hiiS decifions pafs for reveries and conjectures i this is mode A, but we csn fcarcely believe ^^ thinks them fuch. When he refumed the ftudy, he did not purfue it in books, but in nature ; he could not bear the jargon of the greatcft part of writers on that fub- jc£t, who are little more ch/in the echoes of Ariftotle. ' I ac-
cuftomed myfelf, fays he^ to contemplate the beautiful, the grand, the noble, and the pcrfed^ in nature, and in the images that reprefent her, to render them familiar to my eye^ and to give a new degree of energy to the impreffion they made upon me. Obftacles arofe every day, but the means of furmounting them were proportionably multiplied. I con- tinually fell into midakes ; but I acquired daily more light and firmncfs in the line I was purfuing. I was praifed, blameii, rallicJ, and extollfd, and I could not help laughing^ as 1 kns'.v very w^ell, t!iatall this was undefcrved. But 1 in- dulged myfeif daily more and more in the pleafmg thought that my vi-ork would be produftive of utility and entertain- ment, and this refrelhcs and comforts mc under the burthen I have laid on my (houlJeis. And now, in the very moment I am writing, I have m4(ie fuch progrifs^ that if there arc fe- veral faces or phyGognomie.t on wnich I can pronounce no iudgment at al), there are, on the other hand, a great num« bcr of lines and features on which I can pafs judgment, with a convidion «f truth and evidence, equal to that which per«
lit * fuadet
1^
\
484 Lavatcr*j i.Jfay en PhyftolnGtity.
* fuadesmeof my own exiftence.' Here we fee rome^hingor the Alan. Let us proceed to his work.
The 2d Fragment (which is the 5th in the German edi- tion) treats of human natun^ as the firft bafis of phyfiognomi- cal fcience. Man, the mod perfect of terreftrial beings, has a threefold life, the animal^ the intelleSfual^ and the moral. En- dowed with the faculties of knowtngy defiring^ and a£lingy he is to himfelf an objcd of obfervation. The phyfica), intelleSual, and moral life^ however fpiritual and immaterial their internal prtHcipU may be, can only become perceivable and vifiblc by iheir correfpondence with that body in which their principle rc- ftdes and moves, as in its element ^ and the properties and vir- tues of mind are only difcoverable by external relations, which are the obje£^s of fenfe : in a more particular manner, the face, as every body knows, is the mod lively and powerful expreflicn of moral life ^ 1. /. of the dcfircs, padions, and determinations of the will. Farther, —the fe three different kinds of life^ are fc- paratdy lodged, like diilindl families, in different apartments of the human body, and form, by their combination, a regular tuhle 'y yet each fpecies of vital power has a particular feat or place in the body, where it exerts and manifefts itfelf preferably to all others. Thus animal or phyfical power, though it operates in all parts of the body, yet ads with a peculiar and pre- eminent energy in the arms, — and intel!c£lual life and faculties, t)iough, to the eye of an attentive obferver, they be perceivable in afl the points or particles of the body (we are far from having the fagacity of fuch obftrvcrs), on account of its harmony and homogeneity^ yet they manifeft themfelves more particularly in ihefiruSiure and fituation of the bones of the head, and efpecial- ]y of the forehead. It is certain, that the faculty of thinking refides, neither in the fctt, nor in the hands, but in the head, and in the interior of the forehead. The moral life, as hath been already obfervcd, is reprefenteJ by the lines and features of the face, whofe repofe or agitation is always combined with ealm or palpitation and tumult in the region of the hc-^^rt and in the breaih We {hall fay nothing of the three Jiones (with their three centres, the ^«'tf^, the/!>rfl//, and — - — ), which our author ma«ks out in our corporeal ftrudturc, as the peculiar feats of the three kinds of life, — becaufe (as he hin.fclf cb-Orvet) our morals are loo depraved, and our ideas too loofe, to permit cir- tumftantial difcufijons ot this kind. There is, indeed, a fadti- tious modeRy, which corruption has rendered a vittue, vice h«s produced fhame, and by an unhappy affociation of id.ea«, the rakednefs of the proftitute obliges us to throw a veil over the naked nefs of the Indian.
. 'I^hc ;d Fr.v(/Ment (which is the 2d in the German edi- tion) fcts out with a deiiniticn of phyfcgns^i^ony^ confidcred as
aa
Lavatcr'i EJfay on Phyftognomy, 485
an art. It is, fays our author, the art of difcerning the inte- rior of Man by his exterior, or of perceiving, by certain natural indications anc! chara£tcriftics, cjuaiicies and objedis which are inacceffil^lc to the external fcnfcs. In a general icnfe, the whole body, its furface, lines, and contours, whether in a ftatcof reft or adtivity, come within the fpherc of this fcience,— in a ijiore li- mited fcnfe, the countenance, alone, is the fubjedt of its de- cifions. He dW\dt^ phyjiognomy^ or iJkihtx phyjiognomofjy (for this latter is the proper term) \wto phyfishgical^ anatomidA^ conjUtutiori' aly medical^ morale and intelle^itdaL All ihefe fhew that our bold and lively author occupies more ground than he can cultivate. He acknowledges it himfelf, good man ! but he does not like to have his imagination checked, — he whips on, and throws the bridle on its neck \ but it muft be owned that the airy ilccd often carries him through pleafant regions.
Hunfian nature, in Tijiate of reft ^ or in a Jlote of motion and aEliony furniflics our author with materials for new definitions in the 4th Fragment". The latter ftate is the fphere of that •fcicnce which he Cd^Ws pathognsmony^ which defcribcs man in the prefent moment, and not in his general (late and charafter ; ic rifes (as the branch from the root) from p/jy/!agn cms ny, which gives a general v\rw of the faculties, «^;;-cxerted. As the partions have often dillimulation to iirugglc with, their exprtfiioii becomes more or lefs equivocal on thut accounr, and this renders the reports of the latter fcience lefs fallacious than that of pa* thognomony 'y and as it isalfo lefs known than the other, it is t^e principal objedl of our author's attention in the couife of this work; but the two fciences, fays he, are infeparable, the one is the root and ftallc of the other, or, rather,, the ground in which it is planted ; and the friend of truth niuft ftudy both.-— The author fometimes employs phyftognomy in a ytiy extenfiye fenfe; but then we think that he takes it out of its proper fenfe. 'I'ruc it is, that we may often form fhrewd judgments of many internal lines of a man*s charadlcr, by his drcfs, his habit.ition^ his conncdlions, and that it is not his naked figure and gei^ures alone that announce his internal powers and their exertions ; buC it is equally true, that every indication of chara<Sler, th^t arifes from other figns than thofe exhibited by the countenance, is im^ properly comprehended under the ttim phyfiognomy^ as that term has been always undcrftood. M. LavatiiR may give fuch fig-* nifications to words as pleafe /;/Vn, but he will have foaiQ difficulty in bringing us to call a tm^n'sjhocs or breechts his phyft- (iognomy; we cannot accuftom ourfclves eafily to fuch nrctchr ing of terms. Befides, this manner of proceeding may furnifll fubterfuges to efcape judgment : A man, who is condemned by one of tnofc faces on which nature has v^ritten rogu^ in legible
\ \ -i chara£terS|
486 Lavater's EJay on PJjyJugnomy*
chara£^crS) may appeal to the curvature of his neck% the fafhion of hid coat, the furniture of his houfe, or the arrange- ment of his garden, for a farther trial. And this trial may not only be long and tedious, but may often (as the wife man fays) darhn courifel by words without knowledge. Our author will reply, that all the other charaders will be analogical, and correfpon* dent to the face.— -It may be fo. — Nature is harmonious in all her operations ; but the nice connexions, the fecret caufes, the mutua) dependencies, that form the principles cf this harmony, ^retoo remote from mortal ken, to encourage the hopes of feeing fuch an extenfive fyftem, as M. Lavaier has flcctched out, com- pleted in this world ; — and, in another, the fcience will be rafy, as our bodies will probably be more tranfparent than our preient terreftrial mafles.
The fifth Fragment (which is the yth in the German edition) 18 drfigncd to afcertain the truth and reality of the fcltnce under coniideration, and to prove ihat there is 2^ phyfiognomy^ which is the true and vifible expreUion pf internal qualities, which, in themfelves, are invjfible. As this is the burthen of the fong through the whole work, the Author does not give a- formal diliertarion upon i^ herej he only lays down fome introrfu^^tory phftrvailons, that are relative to this great objedt. He obfcrves x\s\i 2\\ faces ^ forms ^ and crepicd beings differ from each other, pot only in their claffes, kinds, and fpecies, but alfo in their individuality ^ that every individual differs from every other in- dividual, even of his own fpecies, and that notwithftandingihea- fialogy between a rofe and a rofe, one man and another, and the ftriking appearances of fimilarity that often take place between individual perCons or beings of the fame fpecies, tnis fimilarity is never perftd^. This truth M. Lavater confidtis as the Itafis of phyfiognomical fcience, as it regards man^ and he thinks it evident from hence alone, that there muil neccfiarily be a certain relation, a /ytf/^r^/ analogy and affinity between ths fxterrial diveriity of countenance and figure, and the internal fliverfity of intelleAual and moral chara£)er, that avowedly di(i<n- guiOies every individual of the human fpecies, one from another. He evep a^rms that the internal diverfity is the cauje of the ex« ternal \ and he is much furprifed that any dare deny this to be the cafe. As for uS| we fee no reafon for calling this internal fliverfity of capacity and charadier the caufe of the external diver« fity of form and organi;pation, unlefs it were proved that each foul, by an efficient energy^ formed its body, as the marine
^ The curvature of the neck of the foldier, vbove inentiooed, who formed the epocba of our author'* initiation into the icience in Queftion, w^s tl^e ^xr from ubivh fpi^tencc was pronounced on hit charader.
U
Lavater'i EJfaj on Phjftognomy. 487
iiife£is form their corallines or habitations. We fee, in the ▼ariety of face, form and feature that diftinguifli individuals from each other, a wife and admirable arrangement of provi- dence to prevent the hideous diforder that would arife from our confoundm^ them ; and though we believe that in the organi- zation of different individuals, there is a variety adapted to their various capacities of perception, yet wc cannot fee that every in* fiance of diverfity between bodies muft neceflarily reprefent a correfpondent divtrficy between minds. That joy and forrow^ pleafure and pain, love and hatred, trouble and ferenity of mind, envy and benevolence, have peculiar expreilions and cha- radlers reprefenting them in the human countenance, non« will deny : that the eye, more efpecially, has great expreffion, both with refpcd to inteiledual and moral charader, indicating acute* nefs or flupidity, beaming fweet ferenity, or fpeaking trouble and deje£lion, announcing, in a word, all the render and vio- lent, all the benevolent and terrible emotions of the mind, is not to be difputed : but that the fame contour, fituation, or ob- liquity of a forehead — the fame angles formed by the external contour of the point of a nofe — the fame (bape and di men (ions of a chin, though y^M///m/x indeed expreifive, (hould ahvays in* dicate the fame lines and degrees of intelle£tual and moral chara<3er ; this we cannot admit, without more fatisfaSory proof than our Author alleges : obfervation and experience can only prove this, and, if we are not miftaken, they often con- trad i(^ it. But all nature is phyjiogncmy in the immenfe hypo- thefis of M* Lavater, and every thing external is on its colour, fize, (Irudlure, or iii\x2ii\QT\^ exprejftve : it is by the afpe£t of things that we judge of their qualities, fays ^ ; and it is often by judging fo, fay we^ that men are egreg'oufly deceived. That we have a natural propenftty to form judgments on the ex* terior afpe(3 of things is certain ; but experience (hews us, in a multitude of cafes, that thefe judgments are ill-grounded, or, at leaft, (land frequently in need of corredion. Nay, it is per- haps a fad, that the phyfiognomy of the various inanimate beings, which our author mentions, is lefs fufceprible of er- roneous interpretations than the human figure. The farmer (to ufe our Author's examples) who promifcs liimfelf a good harveft from the phyfiognomy of the opening b]c{r::ms, the ftalks^ and ears; and the merchant, who purchafes goods from a con- fideration of their external afped, judge more fur^ly, than a phyfiognomift can do of an internal and mora] character by the tip of a nofe, the curvature of an eye-lid, or the fliape of a chin, nay even by the caft of an eye, though this latter be the oioft excellent of all intelledual and moral reprefentatives. The reafon is plain, — for the- phyfiognomies (if they muft be fo called) of inanimate beings, have a natural and homogeneous
I i 4 aftnity
488 Lavater*; EJpxy on Phyjiegnamy*
affinity with the beini^s themfclves, whereas the forms and mo- difications of nnatter can only be arbitrary figns (figns by pofitive appointment, however uniformly employed) of the qualities and characters of minds. Be that as it may, whatever rays of truth or p.'obability may be deduclble from phyfiognomical inveftiga- tion of the moral kind ^ the facility of miftalcing is great, theca- pacity o\ interpreting, except in the expreffions of paffion, ii rare, and the exceptions to what may be admitted as general rules, are very nimerous. It is therefore going too far to fay, as oar author docs, * that phyfiognomy is the fource of all our
* jn-'rr '^icnts, efforts, actions, hopes, and fears, — that it is our
* gu. ic . '• rul ffwrn the cradle to the grave,— that it is by
* Its made ().' J MCi j tion or ta(Sl, that the infe£l knows its friend
* an * r.c'^n',' (which is not true, unlefs an inviiible effluvia or fr.cll puis f.)! phyfiognomy) and many other ftrange and incf.i)*ijcratv li'nj^s to the fame purpofe.
Th'- 1 hjcdi of the 6th FRAGMENT is \\it prejudicis^ that an entc}t.:iKia a^ainj} phyftogmmical fc'tence : thefe arife, fays our Aiithiif, trutii the abiuid manner in which enthufiafls have treat* cd it — from the falfe and pernicious judgments to which it may give occafion in civil fociety — from the incapacity of tbofe who have not the talent or reflexion that are neceflfary to nadfaces^ and who are too indolent to acquire them,— from the roodefty and haoiility of thofe in whom a pleating outfide covers moral defects — trom the juft appreheniion of an honeft and virtuous heart, which may lie concealed under an unpleailng countenance, end from the fear which the hypocrite and the wicked have of being cifcovered.
^To thefe prejudices our Author oppofes auihoritus in the 7th Fragment. Several exprefBons of Solomon, and fome paf- f2V;i:es from Cicero^ Moniagnt^ Bacon^ LeibniiT^ EmeJIi^ * Suhur^ l^olf^ Gellert^ and other writers of note, are adduced here to prove, what we believe none will deny,— that there is great cor- re/pjnilence between mind and body, and that the lines of the latter often indicate the ftate of the former. Among thefe paf* fages there is a very animated piSlurt of the principal parts of the human body, taken from a treatife of M. Herder of Berlin, concerning Form and Figure^ or what he calls the Plaftic ; from whence we (hall fele£t fome lines : ^ Who (hall attempt to ap- proach that fubdance that is lodged in the head of man ? — The Deity has covered this facred fummit, the elaboratory of the moft fecret and wonderful operations, with a foreft, which is an emblem of thofe religious groves, where myfleries were cele- brated in ancient times.— -The neck<^ on which the head reds, announces fometimes liberty 2Ltid Jiedfaftntfi^ and fometimes fofu nefs and a gentle fiexihility* At one time its noble smd difengaged attiiude expreiles dignity of flation and femiaieot^ at anoiher,
iti
Lavatcr*i EJJaj on Phyftognomjm 485
Its bending form exhibits the refignation of the affllcS^ed ; and again, it appears like a pillar of Herculean flrength and firmnefs, —Let us proceed to the human face, the mirror of the foul, the image of the Deity (i. e. zve fuppofe^ of Jupit^r^ whether Tonans 0r Subridens). — 'The front is the feat of ferenity, joy, black me- lancholy, anguifh, ftupidity, ignorance, and malignity, - How can a forehead ever appear to be an indifferent obje6l ? ~ Wh?re the forehead lowers, or falls away, that is the place where the under" Jlanding feems to blend itfelf with the will. It is here that the foul takes its ftand, and afTembles its powers to prepare for re- iiflance,
' Beneath the forehead commences its beautiful frontier the eye-broWy the rainbow of peace, or the bended bow of wrath and difcord, as it is differently afTefted by the inward movements of the foul. — A fine an^le, well delineated, and which terminates gracefully between the forehead and the eye, is one of the moft attrafling obje6ts for an enlightened obferver,
* The nofe i» the point of union, that forms all the features of the face into one regular whole. The nofe a£ts a principal part in M. Lavater's fyflem : its root, its ridge, its point, its cartilage, its noftrih, arc highly exprcflive of intelligence and moral charadler. The eyes^ to judge of them only by the touch, are thewindows of the foul, diaphanous globes, fourccs of light and life. — Their form and fize are objc£ls of great confequence to an obferver, as is alfo the decree in which the cdc^es of their orbits advance or retire imperceptibly. The temples have like- wife their reprefentative chara6iers, according as their furface is even or hollow,
* In general, that portion of the face, where the mutual re- lations between the eye-brows^ the eyes^ and the fio/e have their centre of union, is the feat of expreOion with rcfptrdk to the will and a^ive life.
* The lower part of the human face difciofes the lines of fenfuality^ and hence Nature has (haded it, in the males, with a kind of covering.' (If this be the final caufe cf the kearBy our Author perhaps thinks the Jex flood in no need of it on account cf their peculiar modejly ) * Every one knows how flronLlv the upper lip exprefl'es the amorous ta/le, propcnfity and pajjiou. I his lip is bent into a curve by pride and an8.cr : it is ll^arpcned by cun- ning and ingenuity: it is rounded and enlarged by gocdncfs: it is enervated and withered by libertinifm :' (ail this is for the Jharp- fight ed^ the initiated) * The under-lip is its fupportt:: — and gives tne firfl line of f rn\ation to the chin^ which is tcrrrinaltd, on both fides, by ihe jmu-hone. As the chin rounds and termi- nates the elliptical form of ihc coiintrnance, it is as the kcyfione in the vault. According to the fine Grecian prc^porticn it muft neither be pointed, ncr hollow, but even in iis fur face, and im«
perceptible
490 Lavatcr'j EJfay on Phyjiogmmy:
perceptible in its defccnt or declivity. Its deformity is hideous/ — Wc have given a large exiraft of this citation from Mr. Htr^ dir^ becaufc ii really contains fome of the great and leading prin- ciples of our Author's fyftcm.
In the 8ch Fragment, our Author confiders^i^^^^ji^w^if^^/ tf fcitnce. He acknowledges, that hitherto it has not fully at- tained to this charader; but afRrms, that it may become a fciencc as well as phyfics, medicine, theology, mathematics, belles lettres, painting, — to all of which it ii intimately related. It may be reduced, fays he, to fixed rules, and aflTume inva- riable lines and chara£ters, which may be taught and learned. But here, as in all other fciences, much mud be allowed to ge- nius, opinion, and feeling ; in many of its parts it is yet unfur- nifhed with charadeis and principles, determinate or deccr- ininable. — There arc really fome excellent thoughts in this Fragment, which difcover true genius, hold foars into the ideal regions, and no mean fpirit of philofophical invefiigation. Several profiles are added to illuftrate our Author's views, and the following paflage will give fome notion of the man^ and bh way of proceeding.
Afccr having obferved ihat phyjiognomony will become fcientific, in proportion to the improvement that is made in the art of ob- ferving, the art of fpeaking, the art of drawing, and the fiudy of man, he goes on thus: * Then it will become the fcience of fciences ; but then, properly fpeaking, it will ceafe to be a fci- ence, it will be no more than a fenfation, a quick and lively perception of human nature : — then it would be fooliOi to re- duce it /tf, or to treat it as, a fcience, for as long as it is an object of controverfy, interpretation and difcu0ion, phyfiognomica! fcience is not what it ought to be — the firft and leading fcience
of human nature. Weil then— what am I to do? fhall 1 neat
phyfiognomony as a fcience? Yes — and No: — Offen 1 fhall prefent the reader with the moft determinate $bf(rvaU6ns — Often I (hall communicate nothing but mere feelings, JenfatUns^ leav- ing it to the obferver to inveftigate their characters, and to the
phiiofopher to point out and afcertain their determinations
Often I ihall only invite the eyes to fee, and exhort the heart to feel — and addrcffingmyfelf fometimes to an indolent fpedator, I fliall (that I may not appear to him quite ignorant) whifper in his ear: Here, Sir, here are fome things that arc within the reach of ysur capacity, and thefe may fuffice to make you con* je^ure that others know much more of the matter.'
This Fragment concludes with an inf>eniou5 paraphrafe of the nth and 12th verfes of the r3th chap, of the ift Epiftle to the Corinthiansy applied to the fcience under conflderation. 7'his application, at the fetting out, made us fmile : * Now we fee only in part^ and our explications and commentaries are no
onore
L^^vaterV EJfay on Phyftognemy. 491
more than fragments: bur when perfe&ion fliall come, thcfe feeble cffays (hall be abollfhed ; for they arc only ihc ill-articu« lated language i^^ an infant ! and all thefe ideas, and efforts wil! af>pear childiih to me, when I (hall have arrived at ma« tunty,' ire.
It has bten objcflrd, that phyfiognomony^ were it really a fci^n r, \\'.>ul(l H r»c-rniou>us to iociety j— and we muft confefs, thai M. Lavater has anl'wered this objection with found fenfe and Ti^cnuity in the q{\\ Fragment. Here he proves the »jti!;iv of inc fciciicc in qi.tftioi», cjnHdered firft as a branch of knowie/tgfy which is ufc^ul in genera], though, like all other good rhiiigs, i: may be ill employed ; /dly, as the knowUdgt of $imn^ rht proper nnd the nobleft itudy of a rational being— -and^ jdly, as the cxpc rimcntal knowledge of human nature. — Wc muil, howevrr, obfcrve, that almoft all the real advantages (ex- cep:irg the plealures of philofophical (peculation, which we ac« knowledge 10 be real aUb, and that in a high degree) that are deducibie from face-reading, belong rather to that natural percep* lion of qii.ihties in the countenancf, which is totally independent on (ludy and fydcm, than to fciencificdimenfions of nofes, chins^ and eye-brows, which form the arcana of phyflognomical fci- enre. Aniong the faces which have a language (for many have little or none when paffions don*t operate), an open air, a friendly countenance, an infldious look, a rapacious phiz, a difdainful air, an envious or malignant leer, are eafily inter- preted, ab it were, by an inflin£iive power; and thus the indi* viduals, who are unknown to each other, receive anticipating notices of the perfons wh(»m they meet with in human inter- courfe. This is confirmed by what M. Lavater fays of his Irady, in another pan of his work. * My wife, fayi he^ though (he be not in the lead concerned in my phyfiognomical works and rpeculations, never miflakes a face : — where we have dif* fercd in judging of perlons unknown, by their features, (he has always been in the right, which has often made me afraid to give my opinion in her prefcnce. And it is only from the cx- preflion of the eyes that (he judges. Though flic has no erudi- tion, no acquaintance with ihc rules of logic, and has not re- ceived any improvement from ftudy, yet by a natural fcnfe (a fimple ta^^ as the French happily exprels it) which flic never fetks to rcdify, refine, or fpoil, by the perufal of my works en phyfiognomical fcience, (he has carried the knack at face^ reifding fo far, that it is impoflible for me to conceal or difguife any fecret feeling of joy or uneafinefs, fo a^ that it (hall elcape ber fagacity.'
T)xtinconvemenciesziitf\6\ng phyfio;?nomical fcience are treated in the loth Fragment, and the objedions againii it, which ^e deduced from it^em f^e fully ^ivititd. Thefe inconveni-
encies
4f)2 Lavater'i EJ^y on PLy/tornofny.
rncics are, to:it it will encourage a propenfity to judge and cen- fu:c our neighbours, and will nourifh vanity^ To as to make many affe»5t ihe appearances of virtues which rhey do not pof- fcfs. — Bcfides other good obftrrvations which we find in this Fragment, theie is one which fcems fufHcient for the Author's purpofe*, viz. that he is not publishing ^ fecrety a noftrum, or a fyftem o^ necromancy ; but elucidating the principles of a kind of knowledge that is, in greater or lels degrees, univerfally d;flFufed, of an a;t which many (bcfidcs iVIrs. Lavat^) excrcifc by a natural and infiini^ive impulfe. — There are excellent things in. this fragment. Such a pious, fenfibje, ingenious, laughable, philofophical, humane, benevolent madcap, we have never yet met with, and are not likely to meet with again.
Let not gentlemen or ladies (whicjj latter, our Author fays, are bed qualified by nature for phyfiognomical rtiearches) be difcouragcd from coming to M. Lavatcr's fchool by the diffi- culty of this ftudy, for we learn in the nth Fragment that the fcience in quellion is Q^{y in fevcral refpecks. The objcfts of this fcience are perpetually before our eyes. We can every mo- ment obferve and compare exprefiions of fentiment and charac- ter; and if nature fpeaks an important and uniform language in phyfiognomy, it is not to be fuppofcd, that this language is cither unintelligible or fo difficult as is alleged. Tne ftudy then is eafy, according to our Author, and the proper method of pro- ceeding in it will be pointed out in one of the fuccecding vo- lumes.— \Vc were glad to hear thit this fcience is fo eafy, and happy to learn, in the 12th Fragment, that the phyfiognomical Jenfe (taft) is fo univerfal, that there is no man, nor animal, without it ; that is to fay, no mail, nor animal^ in whom cer- tain countenances do not excite fentiments and conjcflurcs con- cerning the moral charader or capacity of thofe who poffefs them. Encouraged by all thi?, we were forming the d^fign of going tt> M. Lavater's fchool, when we learned, to our morti- ticirion, in the 13th Fragment, that notwithftanding xht facility ana univerfality of the fcience of Phyfiognomics, a whole vo- lume would not be fuflicient to contain a difpUy and enumera- tion of the diffiaUies with which it is attended. Our Author acknowledges, that the confiJcration of thefe had of en tempted him to renounce this ftudy; but he was ftill encouraged to rc- fumc it by the number of fuccefbful obfcrvations that he daily made on the fiices of his fellow-creatures. — * It is true, fays he, the fmallell inftanccs of diverfity, a line prolonged or Oiortened no more than a hair- breadth — the leaft elevation or cavity, the flighteft obi q^uity are fufficient to make a fenfiblc change in a countenance, and to announce diverfity of charader; and thus two fjgns, whofe diverfity is fo fmall as to be vifibie only to the moft ex- pel icnced eye, will often exprefs very different charaSers. The part or Im? , that is exprcilive of a chara(£ler or of fome of its quali«
LavaterV EJJdj on Phjjiognonty, 493
ties, may be fo concealed, mafked, or enveloped, that it can only appear in fome modifications and changes of the countenance^ which may rarely take place, and thefe fugitive indications may difappcar before they arc correcStly obfcrvcd, or have made an impredion fufficicnt to form a judgment. Befides, phyficai ac- cidents, bodily diford^rs, dr&Ts, attitude, the efFedl of light and (hade, may often prefent a countenance under a delufive point of view, and the prejudices and partiality of the obfervcr may frequently render his judgments erroneous. — The examples, by which M. Lavater (hews the number and magnitude of the difficulties that accompany his favourite fcicnce, are chofca with uncommon tafle and intelligence; and his manner of pre- fenting them difcovers a profound knowledge of human nature, and exhibits beautiful and lively defcriptions of the niceft lines of vrrtuous fentiment and moral charadler* He own^^, in con- cluding this Fragment, that Phyfiognsmsny will have innumerable difficulties to encounter, as long as it is only taught by nun, and not by angels.
The 14th Fragment, in which our Author (hews, that the talent of obferving Phyjlognomies accurately is \tTy rare, may furnifh new objections againft the facility of this fcience. His definition, or rather defcription, of a true chftrver^ is juft and philofophical in the higheft degree ; snd fucn oblervers are in- deed rare. How difficult to perceive Al the Ades and afoedls of a complex obj^£>, its feparate parts, their diverfity or rcfem- bl^tncc, their conne6lion in a whole^ and how they contribute to form it ; and the difference of that uhole, from other compofi- tions that ftrfrn to refemble it perfectly, yet differ from it eilen- tially? The facility of confouriding things rcallv diftir.ft is here illuftrated by four profilis of female heads, w^ich fcem to re- femble each other — thn c caricatures of the late Lord Anfon^ and three ideal h^ads from Raph/id, - VV^e cnnnot fay, that in all o\xt Author's obfcrvations on the exprclli^n) of thefe heads, we have found that perfpicuity and evidence which truth demands, and we would deiire : aud this Confeffion we are obliged to make wuh refpe£t to many parts of this work.
It will be fufficient to deter any mortal from affuming pro- feffedly the office of a phyftognomtjl to read the i5ih FRAGMtNT, in which the chara(Sler and qijulitics of a true pnyfiognomift arc delineated. Hear him : — The phyfio^nomill muft have an ad- vantageous figure — a vigorous conilitution — and a fine organiza- tion. * As the blind, the lame, the crooked, and the flat-nofed were not formerly allowed to approach the altar of the Lord, io neither ought thofe who come to the temple of Phyfiognomony with a fquinting eye, a crooked mouth, or an ili-fhaped (ore- head be admitted into that pure manfion.'— This is whimfical : what follows is more to the purpofe ; The phyfiognomifl muft
iu'e
' 494 Lavatcr*i EJfay on Phyfiognamf.
have the external fenfes in a good flate, quick, and capable df tranrmitting faithfully to the foul the impreffion of outward ob- jefts, a penetrating Jook, a fubtle, ready, fure and extenfive fptrit of ohfervation ; deep attention ; an exquifire, mature, and folid judgment; profound fagacity, a ftromj; and lively imaeina* tion, and not only a perfeft acquaintance with language, in its greateft extent of known ex predion, but al fo a power of-creatinf^, as it were, a new language, equally accurate, agreeable, natu* ral, and intelligible. All the proriu3ions of the natural world, all the works of genius, arr, and tallc; all the ma^^azines of words and terms nuift be laid undf r contribution to fupply his wants. He muft fludy dffiininij, anatomy, ami phvfxology: he muft ftudy the human heait in goiRr^l, and hi? own heart m par- ticular : his foul muf^ be firm, mild, innocent, and calm, and his heart muft he exempt fr.->m wild, fierce, and intractable pa(^ fions : he muft travel, km-w the world, have extenfive connec- tions, live with ariifts and men or learning, converfe with the knowing and the ignorant, with the virtuous and the vicious, and even with children in thrir ciaule, and hoys at play. * In delineating thus, fays M Lav.ater, the character of a phy- fiognomift, I have pronounced fentcnce againft myfclf. It is not falfe modefty, but an inward convidiion, that engages me to fay, that I am very far from being a fhyfiognomiji » I am only the fragment of one, as my work, inltead of being a com- plete treatife, is no more than a fragment of the fcience/ Bj this we fee that the phyfiognomift, like the fage of the Stoics, is a glorious being, nay every thing you pleafe, except a real being. Well — but let not this ideal portrait of the perfect phy- fiognomift difcourage any candidate for this fublime profeiEon. We have fecn above, that Mrs. Lavater, our Author's rib, has an excellent knack at reading faces^ though (he be neither anatomift, phyfiologift, traveller, poetefs, fcholar, nor artift; we conclude therefore, with our Author, that with a decent portion of thefe acquirements (he would be ftill more improved in the exercife of her talent. — This is undoubtedly the cafe of her hufband. We muft therefore, in phyfiognomony, as well as in other fciences, go on towards perfe<£tion, without flattering ourfelves that we (hall arrive at lU Ejl quoddam prodire tenus^ ft lion datur ultra.
A great number of judicious obfervations and acute reflexions appear in the i6th Fragment ; in which the ingenious Author treats of the harmony between moral and natural beauty^ beauty of mind and beauty of body. He does not mean, that hard- favoured perfons carry about with th^m, always, the corporeal exprcflion of mental deformity, or, that a handfome figure is al« ways the exprcflion of mental beauty \ for this hypotheiis would be extravagantly falfe. — He means, that it is the tendency of virtuous and benevolent fentiments and habits lo embeiiiih the air of a
face
Lavatcr*i EJfay on Phyjiogtumy, 49J
face by imprinting upon it pleating lines, which become perma- nent throfigh repetition, and form, at length, an agreeable caft of countenance ; while vicious and malevolent afFedions produce the contrary efFe£ls. This our philofophical painter of mind and body proves with full evidence, and anfwers the fpecious obje^ions that may be raifed againft it. He unfolds his doc- trine on this fubjeft with all the fpirit of a fine obfcrver : — he draws moral pi£^ures, that would make our immortal Wifi fmile applaufe ; and he illuftrates his principles by twelve plates, of which the figures are well engraved, Jome of them after wclJ- known pictures, fuch as, the Democritus of Rubens, 2 Chriji after Holbein, and one of the fcenes in Hogarth's Apprentice. — Others, ideal, but highly exprcffive of truth and nature, arc added to thefe.
The 17th Fragment is wholly employed in determining the charafter of Socrates^ whofc phyfiognomy was interpreted by Zopyrus^ as exhibiting the exprcflions of ftupidity, brutality, voiuptuoufnefs, and a propcnfity to drunlcennefs. This judg- ment of Zopyrus has furnifhed objections againft the certainty and folidity of phyf.ognomical fcicnce ; but the anfwer of So- crates removed thefe objedions ; for he acknowledged his na- tural propenfiry to thefe vices, though he had correcStcd it by fuccersful efforts, and a virtuous pradiice. — Refide, the phyfV- ognomiH: mic^ht have been miftaken ; and in this cafe the error was imputable to the man, and not to the fcience. As, how- ever, the unanimous voices of antiquity proclaim the deformity of Socrates; and Alcibiades, a good and an ocular judge, faid, that he refemhled a Silenus ; our Author makes this anecdote the fubjedl of an interefting and ample difquifition, which draws phyfiognomy out of the fcrape, and which we have read with profit and pleafure. Among other things, wc admire the ufe he has made of a diftinClion, too little attended to, between dif- fofitions and their development — between talents or faculties and their application and exertion — between x\\t folid and foft parts of the countenance — between permanent lines ur features, and thofc that are tranfient. — Socrates (fays he) may have retained remains of corruption in the folid parts, and yet have difplayed,. in the allion of the fofter and more flexible parts, lines of virtue and moral amendment, which the pencil or the chifel could not tranfmit. The head of Socratei^ finely engraved after Rubens^ and eight excellent profiles of the Grecian fage, copied from an- cient gems, are here delineated, to illuftrate the acute obferva- tlons of our Author.
The obfervations of a learned German, who agrees with our Author in ^v^ry thing that rdates to the phyfiognomical ex- preflion of Pajftms and Moral CharaSier^ but does not thinlc that this expreffion extends to inteUe^ual faculties and talents^
and
49^ Lavater*/ Ejay en Pb}fu>gn§mfi
and the kind of vocation for which each individual Is propert eniplov M. Lavater in the i8th Fragment. It it here that he extends phytiognomical fcience amazingly, and wich a pro- phetic fpirit, or, at leaft, tone, announces it as the inftrument that (hall banilh error and fraud from the earth, and introduce a new (late of things. His German adverfary, who feems to be a man of great acutenefs, alleges a multitude of examples of (lupid, heavy, and ignoble faces, which have been the un- promifing outiide of fine talle, elevated genius, eminent ta- lents, and great acutenefs and penetration ; and he affirms that fuch a crowd of exceptions are fui&cient to fuffocate the general rule. *^ Hume (fays he) had a vulgar ftupid countenance, Goldfmith looked like an idiot, and Churchill Wkt a bear-keeper.
Samuel Johnfon has the afpeft of a ; and neither his
look, nor a (ingle line of his mouth, announce the man of deep thought, learning and genius.", M. Lavater hears this volley of objedlions and examples fired at him, and does not flinch. His courage is undaunted, and his movements are in- genious : — but, to us, his victory appears often doubtful. We muft obfcrve here, that the two drawings of Dr. Johnfon 's head, from the forehead, eye^ and chin of which M. Lava- ter arms himfelf againft his advtrfary, do not, in our opi- nion, refemble the original either in their general flrudure or particular features. There are fome faint lines of (imilitude; but they do not form a juft refemblance. It is with regret that we pafs over in filence many ingenious reflexions of this anonymous adverfary, who writes with great fpirit and energy ; but we have already drawn out this extract to fuch a lengthy that we mufl refift the temptation of enlarging farther on the entertaining objeds and difcuflions which we find in this work.
The two laft Fragments (19, 20.) of this firft part, or volume, contain general reJUxiom un the obje^icns to phyliog- nomony, and the refutation of fome particular arguments Em- ployed by objedors. A great number of heads, ancient and modern, are delineated here from gems and medals, to illuftrate our Author's reafoning. The antique heads are ill copied.
The moft formidable adverfarv, both on account of bis acutenefs and feverity, that M. Lavater has met with, is the learned and ingenious Profeflbr Lichtenberg^ of Gottingcni whofe eloquent and witty dijfertation is examined in a long feries of remarks, which concludes this volume. The contelt is keen, and the metaphyfical difcuflions in which it engages our Author are interefiing and profound, but not always illu- minated with perfpicuity and evidence. We have only feparate fragments of M. Lichtenberg's Difiertation, with the remarks thereupon. One of the principal quefUons here is, fflbetber^
in
Lavater'/ EJfay on Phyftognomyl 497
in reality y the powers and faculties of the 'mind have reprefentativi Jigns in the solid parts of the countenance?" Our Aujtbor maintains the affirmative againft his adverCiry, and brings a multitude of profiles, bufls, fimple contours of faces, and fome countenances delineated in the ftate of death (where no traO'- fient motion of the foft parts can announce charader), to fup« port his hypothefis. There are, undoubtedly, in the fimple contours he gives us of the foreheads, nofes, mouths, and chins of feveral ideal faces, ftriking marks of intelligence and ftupidity : among others, there are in one page twelve dif- ferent reprefcntations of imbecility or idiotifm, and others of contrary qualities ; all highly expreffive, though, in each ex* ample, there be no more than one line, drawn from the fummit of the head, and forming in its progrefs the outlines of the parts already mentioned* But when Mr. Lavater tells us, that the contours of the ear, nofe, and upper lip, i^c. of the Abbe Raynal announce a thinker capable of analyflng with accuracy and detail, of embracing and combining with rapidity a great number of objeds, and endowed with a facility of re<- prefenting what he has obferved in new forms, we fufped that this judgment may be derived (be it true or falfe) from the philofophical hijiory of that writer, as much as from the folid parts of his face and fkull ; and we would be glad to know whe- ther fimilar configurations of nofe and ear may not be fouhd among the heroes of a Dunciad.
Upon the whole, this work, which will be finifhed in three fuccecding volumes, confidered as a produdion of tafle and genius, has great merit : if it difcovers many flights of an un- bridled fancy that mufl make a fober reader fiare, it is replete with curious refearches,. and original views and obfervations, that fhew a very uncommon acquaintance with the niceft move- ments of the human mind. The philofopher will read it with efleem, and the lover of the fine arts, who fludies and copies both a<Elual and ideal nature, will read it with pleafure. M. Lavater is a philofophical painter, a patient and fagacious obferyer, a lover of religion, virtue, and mankind ; and we know not any book that breathes a nobler . and warmer fpirit of univerfal be- nevolence, than that now before us. We fuppofe the rules of phyjiognomy (for rules it mufl have, if it be a fcience) will be laid down more fully and regularly in the fucceeding volumes ; for they are here only treated in a curfory and defultory man- ner. General precepts and examples are all that we have in this volume ; but we want rules for particular applications of the former, and for afcertaining the conclufions deduced from the latter. He appeals often to our feelings for the truth of his explications ; but what (hall we conclude (when we do not feel in unifon with him), if there be not certain rules to m^ke
App. Vol. LXVI. K k us,
Wj:
' 498 Mifl^rj §f the Royal Acad, of Sciences ai Parisy fir x 7 77,
vs, at leaft, perceive what and why hefiels? It has often hap^
pened to us in the perufal of this volume, not to fee in heads,
' what he has feen in them, and to find his explications of ccr-
' tain lines and contours, arbitrary and unfatisfadory. We are
willing to attribute this, in fome degree, to our fiupidity or igno-
' ranee ; — but we cannot help thinking that a part of it is owing
to theenthufufm of our Author, which fuggefts views or vilions
which we arc not favoured with.
We cannot conclude without obferving, that the typographi- cal part of this volume is nobly executed ; letter, paper, and preCs*work unite to render the edition eleeant aod fpkndid. ' The figures are engraved by able artifts. The whole work, confiding of three volumes (at three guineas each), will con- f tain a hundred plates, and 400 headpieces: the fucceeding ' volumes will confequently be much richer in drawings and fi- ' gurcs than this, in which the preliminary fragments take up the principal place.
Art. it.
Hifioire de tjieademii RojaU dts SderueSf &:c. i. e. The Kifiory and Memoire of the Royal Academy of Scieocee at Paris for the Year ^777 *• 4^®« 1780.
General Physics.
THE Memoirs relative to this clafs arenas follow : Memoir I. Experiments^ made by Ordir of the Academy^ on the Cold of the Year 1776. By Meflrs. Bezout, La- ' voisiER, and Vansermonde. In our laft Appendix we ' gave an account of the ample and circumftantial memoir of M. Mejfter on this fubjed. Among the curious things, in the Memoir now before us, we may reckon a multitude of experi- ments made on the old thermometers of M. de Reaumur, and a table of comparifon containing 3S thermometers, by which the cold i>f the year 1776 was obferved at Paris. Th4s oe- ' moir may be almoft confidered as a traatife on thermometers ; and it contains curious obfervations on the methods of remov- ing the difficulties and inconveniencies that arife frona con- ftruding thefe inftruments with fpirit of wine.
Memoir 11. A Jinguhr Obfervation of a prodigious Quuititj of fmall Globules that paj/ed before tie Dijk of the Sun^ tbt %'}tb of Jtme 1777, from 4& to 51 Minutes after Eleven in the Fore* noon^ made at the Obfervatory of the Marino. By M. MfissiXR.
* The preceding volumes, for feverat years pai!, have regularly beeoi reviewed in our Appendixci, iccm
■ • ■ . ^A
tjijlory 9/ the koyal Acai. of Sciences at Parii^fir 1 777. 499
«— A (bower of hail, feen at a great diftance, was probably the whole matter. It is true thefe globules Teemed to afcend, though obliquely : but F. Bofcowick and M. Wallot have ex« plained this Angularity, by (hewing how hail, which falls, may feem to rife, according to the diredion it has, and thediftance at which it is feen.
Memoirs III. and IV. Extract yr^w the Memoirs of the Academy of Sweden^ for the Three laji Months of the Year 1775. Continuation of the Obfervations on the Dipping or Inclination of the Magnetic Needle^ compared with the firfl which have been hitherto verified in the South Sea. By M. Je Mqnnibr. This afliduous obferver continues his magnetic labours and re« fearches with unremitting induftry : he here examines the ob- fervations made by Mr. Elcelberg, an officer of the Swedi(h marine, in his voages to China, the refult of which is, that the magnetic equator, or the circle where the needle has no in- clination, palTes from fouth to north, near the Ifles of the Afcenfion^ &c. and crofies the equinoctial line between China and Peru : thus the pofition of the magnetic eqi^ator is fo well known, as to render it poflible, in time, to determine all the variations it (hall undergo.
Memoir V. Obfervations on the Inclination of the Magnetic Needle^ made in the Indian Seas^ and in the Atlantic Ocean. By
M. L£ GfiNTIL.
Memoir VI. Remarks and Obfervations coUeSled in a Voyage
through Italy in 1775* By M. Cassini, the Son. Thefe
remarks are, for the moft part, anfwers to queftions that feveral academicians propofed to M. Cassini at his fetting out for Italy, and they are relative to thj: natural hiftory of that country. We find here firft an account of the different kinds of mulberry trees that grow in Tufcany, none of which (as the celebrated Targioni aflured our academician) bear flowers and fruits on the fame trunk, each fpecies having diftinft indi- viduals of different fexes, that is, male trees, which only pro- duce flowers, and female which only bear fruity This remark^ which places the trees in queftion among the Dioacia in the aad clafs, furni(bes a corre^ion to the method of Linnaeus, who places them among the Monoecia : however, the black mul- berry in our gardens evidently belongs to this latter clafs* The white mulberry is the beft food for the filk worm in its tender and infant flbte, bat iffterwards the leaves of the black, which are ftronger and more nouri(hing, may be ufed for this purpofe with fuccefs« There are many farther curious details re- lative to this objed, which the botanical reader will find ufeful and inftrudive.
M. Cassini mentions thq very Angular cafe of a Ruffian gentleman, whom he met with at Florence, who, during two
K k 2 different
500 Hifioty of the IbfdJcai. of Sciences at Parisyfir ijjji
(different years of bis life, had in his body an eledrical Tirtiie^ iimilar to that of the torpedo ; as alfo the cafe of a woman, who, though fix months advanced in her pregnancy, fuckled a ichiid, and had frequently repeated this praAice with fuccefs.— The next objeA we meet with is a defcription of the alum- mines in. the neighbourhood of the Lake of Bolfena^ in the en- virons of Latera^ about 25 leagues from Rome. This curious defcription comes from the pen of the Abbe Fortis^ a Venetian maturalift, who vifited thefe mines at the requefl of M. Cas- 8INI, whofe want of health prevented him from being of the party. All the mines of fulphur, in the diftrid of Latera^ art filled with mephitic exhalations, which render them almoftinac- ceffible. It is remarkable, that the dead animals that have been found in thefe fubterraneous regions bear no marks of putre- fa£lion, fcarcely any of alteration \ their hair, fkin, ^nd pleni- tude of flefh remain frefh and unchanged. The Abbe rortis defcendcd into one of thefe mephitic cavities, and when hfe had remained there for about fix minutes, his ^es grew hot, and, during a quarter of an hour after he returned, he was af- feded with a painful difficulty of breathing, and with a copi- ous fweat, which he confidered as an emanation of the fulphu- reoas acid. This, no doubt, was fome confolation. We re- fer the reader to the memoir itfelf for an Interefting defcription of the mine Del Mulino^ which produces the mofl heaUitifol plume-alum, cryflallized in fmall needle forms; and of fbveral acid fprings, of which M. CafSni has brought home famples^ which have been analyfed by M» Lavoifur.
Memoir VII. Concerning the ref racing Power of Liquors^ whether JimpU or compounded. By Meflrs. Cadbt and Brisson. »■ It is well known of what importance it is, in the ufe of burning lenfes formed by a fluid contained within two plates of gtafs, to chufe among different tranfparent liquors thofe whofe refrafiing power is the greateft. Our academicians, therefore, obferved, with the fame lens, filled fucceffively with different liquors, the fame obje£l, placed always at the fame diftance from the lens, and they judged of the length or difhinceof the focus, by the point where the obferver was obliged to take his ftand in order to have a diftin£l view of the image of that obje£t. It was thus that they compared the refradting povirer of a great number of fubftances. In the courfe of thefe expe- riments they remarked, that there is in the fpirit of fait a re- fraAing power, which, is ftill augmented by its combination with volatile alkali, though the fpirit of fait is of no very great denfity, and volatile alkali, when alone, does not produce any confiderable effe£l. They al/b obferved, that lenfes, with li- quors, might be much improved by fijling them with a folution of fal ammoniac^ in diftillcd water, or rather with elTential oil
of
mjl^ry 9fthi Soyal Acad, ofScUnces at Paris^fir IJJJ* 50X
of turpentine^ which it \ery tranfparcnt, and has a ftrqng re* Trading power, though by difperiing confiderably it diminifhes the force of the burning focus. The great lens of four feet diameter, which was conftru6)ed fome years ago by the order of M. Trudainiy and with which various experiments were performed by Meflrs. Cadet and Brisson at the Louvre,, gave occafion to this memoir. They have found, by the means of a fmall lens of fix inches, that the great lens would have eleven feet and eleven inches of focus, when filled with dif- ttlled water ; — ten feet and ten inches with fpirit of wine, and feven feet when filled with liquid turpentine : and thefe fa£b furniflied the refults abovementioned.
Anatomy;
Memoir I. Concerning the Defcription of the Nerves of tb^ fecond and third Cervical Pair — (according to Haller's manned of counting, who confiders as the Jirfl Cervical Pair^ that which fome authors call the Tenth Pair of the Brain), By M. Vic d'AzYR. This memoir is filled with ihofe minute de- tails, which do not feem at firft fight to reward the labour and patience they require with any viable or near profpedl of uti- lity. They will, however, appear interefting to philofophical obfervers, who confider them as neceflTary to complete anato« mical fcience, and know, that they may bring forth important and unexpedled difcoveries, and often furni(h the explication of Angular fads, of which it is of confequence to find out thd caufes. It is with this view, that the celebrated academician enters into a circumftantial defcription of the nerves, mention- ed in the title of this memoir. After having followed thefe nerves in all their ramifications, he points out the parts with which they correfpond,'the other nerves with which they have a communication, and thus explains the fympathy obferved be- tween the different parts of the human body. The utility of fuch obfervations is unqueft ion able ; for the caufe of an ail- ment is often at a confiderable diftance from the place where a part of the ailment is felt.
Memoir II. Concerning the NeceJJity of performing the Cafarian Operation upon IVomen^ who die in a State of Pregnancy^ and the Means of refioring to Life their Children^ who feem to be dead.
By M. BoRDENAUE. The utility and importance of this
memoir cannot be called in queftion. It often happens, fays the humane Author, that children appear with all the fymptoms of death, when the vital principle ftill fubfifls. A child, which has never breathed, retains life with more facility, than one who has already performed that fundion. The mecha-* nical difpofition of the parts is fufficient for the maintenance of circulation without rcfpiration. Coldnefs, palenefs, a livid cor
K k 3 lour^
501 Hiftcrjofthi Royal Acad of Sciences at Paris^far l^^^•
lour, nay even the abfence of the pulfe, are not abfo- lute fignt of death ; putrefadion alone indicates it with cer- tainty ; and even this mud not be confounded with a gangren- ous difpofition, which may refult from compreffion, or be tho effed of a contufion. All the methods proper to be employed in the cafe of apparent death, to excite the adion of the nerves and to reftore circulation, are circumftantially related in this memoir ; the infufflation of air into the lungs is what our Au* thor principally infiAs on. The multitude of infants that have been faved by the performance of the Csefarian operation oa women that have died in pregnancy, is an urgent reafon for this praiflice. * In the fpace of nine years, in the town of Sambuca in Sicily, from 22 women, who died pregnant, 18 children were extruded living, and of the other four, three l\ad died before the mother, as appeared by the putrefadiop of their bodies, and the fourth was found under the bed-clothes, where it had been fufFocated, having probably come fpontaneoufly into the world in the laft moments of the mother's life/ We did not think that fuch ufeful and provident things were done at Sambuca ! — There are many curious relations of this kind in the memoir before us, and they are principally drawn from a work, too little known, of the Abbe Cangiamila^ a canon of Palermo, which was publiflied in the year 1758, under the fol- lowing title, Embryologia facra^ five de officio facerdotum^ mcdi" corum et aliorum^ circa aternam parvulorum in utero exi/ientium falutem. Though this title bears the fymptom^ of peccant mat* ter in the theological parts, yet it contains a variety of fada and obfervations, which defcrve the attentioii of medical pra^i* (ioners.
Memoir III. Concerning certain Difeafes of the Liver ^ which are attributed to other Vilccra, or Parts of the Body — and alfo concerning thofe Difeafes which are fuppofed^ though erroneoufh^ to have their Seat (n the Liver. By M. Portal.— As the Liver performs important fund^ions in the animal oeconomy, and it one of the vifcera, of which the alterations are theleaft known, M. PortaFs Memoir muft attrad particular attention, and ma^ contribute to diminifli the multitude of medical errors t|iat af* Aid humanity.
Natural. History.
Memoir I. Concerning the Improvement of Sheep* By M, Daubentoi^:. — Wool, and its improvement in France, arc the obje£^s of this memoir, which was compofed at the requeft of M. Trudaine^ a refpedable minifter, who gave all his atten- tion to the arts of peace and national felicity, and met with no recompenfe but oppofition and difficulties. The methods cm* ployed by JVI. DAUfieN'^ON, and their good eiFeSs^ defervq
Hifiory of the Royal Acad, ofSciencts at Paris^for 1 777. 503
the notice of hufbandmen and rural patriots in all countries. *< It is principally by the rams, that our academician betters the - breed and improves the wool ; but we cannot give a clear idea ^ of his ways and aieana^ without fwelling this article to an im- proper length.
Memoir II. A third Memoir concerning the Gritts of Foun- tainbUau^ or an Analyfis of thofe Stones^ and particularly of Cry* JlalUzed Gritts. By M. de Lassome. ,
Chemistry.
Memoir I, Concermng the Comhuflion of the Phofphorus if Kunckel^ and the Nature of the Acid which refults from that Com* hujiion. By M. Lavoisier. Firfi Part,
Memoir II. Experiments ^ relative to the Combination of Alum ' with Coaly Subjlances^ and to the Alterations which happen in the Airy in which Pyrophorus has been burnt. By the fame.
Memoir III, Concerning the VitrioUzation of Martial Pyrites, By the fame.
Memoir IV. Concerning the Solution of Mercury in the ^- triolic Acidy and the Refolution of that Acid into a fulphureous aeriform Acid^ and into Air eminently refpirable> By the fame.
Memoir V, Concerning the burning of Candles in Atmofphe* rical Air^ and in Air eminently refpirable (i. e. dephlogifticated Air in Dr. Prieftley's Nonncnclature). By the fame.
Memoir VI. Containing Experiments on the Refpiration of Animals^ and the Changes which the Air undergoes by pajjing through fheit Lungs. By the fame «
Memoir VII. Concerning the Combination of Fire^ or the Tg^
neous Matter with Fluids fufceptibU of Evaporation^ and alfo con^"
cerning the Formation of elajltc^ aeriform Fluids. By the fame.
Memoir VIII. Concerning Combujiion in general. By the
fame.
This feries of Memoirs contains, certainly, curious re- iearches and interefting obfervations, relative to the influence of different kinds of air on the phenomena of chemiftry. A multitude of experiments have proved, that thofe expanflble^ tranfparent fluids, which are difengaged from bodies by a va- riety of chemical operations, are diftin£l fubflances, or at lead cannot be reduced to the fame principles by any known means ; •—that our atmofphere, inftead of being a fimple fluid, difFer- cntly modifiable, contains feveral fluids that may be eflentiaHy feparated from each other, and that chemical operations, ani- mal refpiration, and vegetation, change the proportion of thefe fluids in a given mafs of air. — M. Lavoisier, therefore, thinks it efTential to pay a ftri£t attention to all thefe fubftances or fluids (hitherto too much negleded] in all chemical expe- iriments, to examine, in each phasnomenon^ what is due to the ,
K k 4. influence
504 Hiflofry dfthi Rcyal Acad, of Sciences at Paris^fir tjyj*
influence of thefe fubftances, to analyze the fubftsnces them- felves, in order to reduce them to the fmalkft number and the gfeateft fimplicity pof&ble, and, for this purpofe, to repeat all the known chemical analyfes, and review all the theories that have hitherto been adopted. Such is the laborious ufk that this etninent Academician has undertaken, and partly executed in the eight Memoirs, of which we have here given the. titles. With rcfpcA to the different kinds of aeriform fluids he has adopted a particular nomenclature, as little remote as poffible from vulgar language, expreiBng each fubftance or fluid by fome characleriftical property, which has no connedtion with any particular hypothefis. Thefe denominations may therefore be adopted by all, however different their opinions may be con- cerning the nature of the fluids in queftion. Thus what we call Jixed air^ M. Lavoisier call an aeriform chalky acid. The dephlogifticated air of Dr. Prieftley, our Author calls viV/r/^/r; with other novel denominations mentioned in a preface, which the Hifiorian of the academy has prefixed to his' account t>f thefe curious Memoirs.
The other Memoirs in the clafs of chemiflry are, Mem. IX. Experiments on the AJhes employed by the ManufaSfurers of Saltpetre at Paris ^ and Obfervations on their Ufe in the Formation of Saltpetre* By M. Lavoisier. Mem. X. Concerning Zinc: Fifth Memoir^ by M. de Lassonb. The Academician examines here the ac* tion of cauflic volatile alkali, of fixed mineral alkalies cauflic and not cauftic, and of radical vinegar upon zinc. He termi-^ nates this ample Memoir by fome obfervations on the medical virtues, attributed by Gaubius and other phyficians to the flowers of this femi- metal. He never found any proofs of their fedative quality in convulfive or nervous complaints ; but on the other hand, he does not believe that there is any danger attend* ins the ufe of them.
Memoir XL Concerning an Aeriform Subftance^ that proceeds by Emanation from the Human Body^ and the Manner of coUe£iing it. By the Count de Milly. Memoir XIL Concerning Animal Gas. By the fame. While the Count was bathing, he per- ceived fmall bubbles of air forming themfelves on different parts 6f his body, and afterwards rifing to the furface of the water, and mingling themfelves with the atmofpherical air. This our academician confiders, as the matter, that is evacuatied by in« fenfible perfpiraiion, or at leaft the part of that matter that is not immediately mixable with water. He gathered a certain portion of it ; aild, after feveral experiments, he found, that in its properties it rekmhhd fxed air in a ftriking manner.
Memoir XIIL Experiments defined to Jhew^ that what is callii Concrete Phofphoric Acid, derived from calcined Bonetf accoreiing to Scheete'i Method^ is not a pure Acid^ but is combined under the Form ofGlafs^ incapable of Solution in Water.
Memoir
Hljiorj of the Royal Acad. ofSctntces at PartSf for 1777. 505
Memoir XIV. Obftrvations on the Phofphoric Acid obtaintd per
Deliquium from Phofphorus^ and on the Neutral Salts which re*
fult from the Combination of that Acid with the Alkalies, By M,
Sage. Memoir XV. Obfervations on the Concrete Acid obtained
from Sugar* By the fame.
Astronomy.
Memoir !• ^ew Analytical Methods of calculating the Eclipfes cf the Sun^ the Occupations of the fixed Stars and Planets^ by the Moon, &c. This is a continuation of M. Dionis de Scjour's Xllth Memoir, mentioned in our laft Appendix, p. 486. Here this eminent aftronomer gives us firft an equation of curves cf extinSfion^ as he calls it, or the expreflion of the diminution of the intenficy of the light of the fun in the atinofphere, re- latively to the rays proceeding from different points of the folar difk. He alfo determines the quantity of light, which is re- ceived by the centre of the earth's (hadow, or by any'(>oint whatfoever of the moon, when eclipfed ; and he explains thereby the reafon of the moon's difappearingy^;77^//Wj totally towards the perigeum. He afterwards examines the intenfity of the light, which is tranfmitted from the earth to that part of the mooa which is not enlightened by the fun, at different elongations. He moreover indicates the times when the ring of Saturn is projedled beyond the diameter of that planet, as is the cafe be- tween June 1769 and July 1784, and he applies minutely and circumitantially this phenomenon to the different months of the years in which the quantity of this projedion varies on account of the fituation of the earth. He then returns to the eclipfes of the fun, to determine their greateft poflible duration* This me- moir contains very near a hundred pages.
Memoir II. Contains an Obfervation of the Moon. By M. jEAUi^AT, in which he corrects errors of longitude and lati- tude in the tables of Mayer and Clairaut. The error of longi- tude in the tables of Mayer^ was 8 feconds, and 26 in thofe of Clairaut. That of latitude was one of 12 feconds in the former, and of 16 in the latter. This feems to give, at leaft, a temporary fuperiority to the tables of Mayer. However, as thefe tables have been corre^ed by obfervations, and thofe of Clairaut were formed by theory alone, time only can (hew, whether this fuperiority will be always maintained.
Tht four Memoirs of M. Maraldi, containing Obfervations on the Satellites of Jupiter^ made in the years 1774, I775> 1776, 1777, ijjHf in the County of Nice j at Perinaldoy and alfo ofOccuU tations of the fixed StarSy are worthy the attention of aftrono- mical adepts -, as they muft contribute greatly to the improve- ment of the tables of the Satellites.
In two Memoirs of M. Messier, we have an ample account of his Obfervations of the Comets of 1771 and 1772, charts of their
courfesy
5o6 Hifiory oftbt Rtyal Acad, of ScUnces at Parish/or 1 777« .
oourfes, tables of the ftars which contributed to determine them, the elements of their orbits, calculated by Meflrs. Pingri and De la Lande, and all the obfervations of his correfpondents, which tend to afcertain exadly the courfes of thefe two comets* Thus M. Messier continues his aftrcnomical labours with the keened perfeverance. A great number of comets have been ob* ferved by him, and the importance of his labours, in this ftarry walk, will be feafibly felt when tfiefe comets make their ap« pearance again.
The other Memoirs of this clafs, are an Obfervatlon of the Conjun^ion of Mercury ^ with the Conciliation of Gemini^ which afcertains the accuracy of M. De la Lande's tables of that planet, publiibed in his z^xonomy^^Obfervations on the Longitude of Padua^on the longitude and latitude of Madrid— oa a Neui flebulous Star ^ on Three Aurora Boreales. i* Mechanics.
This clafs furnifhes but one Memoir^ in which M. Peron* NIT propofes to determine the Degree of Thicknefs or Bulk to which the Piers of Bridges may be reduced^ and the Curvature which ought to be given to the Arches y in order to facilitate the free Paffage of the Water through them. One of the great objects of this excellent . Memoir is to find a curvature, that may render the arches of a bridge equally firm, though lefs maffive and bulky than they ufually are.
The clafs of Mathematics contains Three Memoirs, re- lative to Series^ and the Methods of Approximations for Different' tial Equations.
Among the hooks and machines prefented to the academy, we cannot pafs over in filence two inftruments invented by the very ingenious Abbe Rochon, for meafuring the angles, or rather angular diftances, and the apparent diameters of objeds.
The obfervations on which the theory of the firft inftrument is founded, are remarkable for their fimplicicy. Suppofe a prifm of rock-crydaly which has been rendered achromatic, by its being combined with one of ordinary glafs : as rock-cryftal has a double refra£lion, the ob)e£ls, viewed through this prifm, will appear double. Suppofe farther that the obferver, keeping his eye at a certain didance from this prifm, views an objeA, and recedes until the two images of the objed become contiguous, then, as in dire(St vifion, the following proportion may take place : ** the diftance of the objeR from the eye is to its diame- ter, as the whole fine is to the tangent of the angle, under which the obje<Sb is feen, or to the apparent diameter of the ob- jeA. If now the eye approaches to, or recedes from the prifm until the tv/o images of another objef^, which is viewed at any diftance whatfoever, become contiguous, a new proportion arifesi; as follows ;'' the apparent diameter of iiii% fecond o\>yt8t
Hijhrj of thi Rojal Acad. ofScienas at Paris^for 1777. ' 5^7 '
is to the apparent diameter of the firfl^ as the diftance of the eye from the prifm in obferving the fecond obje£t, is, to the diftance of the eye from the prifm in obferving the firft.
It is on thefe plain obfervations that the theory of the firft in- . flrument is foiinded by the Abbe Rochon. He begins by forming a prifm of rock cryftal fenfibly achromatic : (and this he executes with facility by methods, of which he htmfelf is the inventor) he* places this prifm in the infide of a telefcope, near the obje£l glafs, and meafures accurately the diftance be- tween the prifm and the focus of the objed-glafs : he after- wards views an obje£t, meafured with the moft exad precifion, with the telefcope that is furnilhed with this prifm. He recedes until the two images of the obje£t become contiguous. He then meafures accurately the diftance of the objed from the focus of the object- glafs, and deduces from thence the apparent diame- ter of the objed. This fundamental operation is manifeftly fuf- ceptible of the greateft precifion. If, after this, the prifm is moved along the tube or axis of the telefcope until the two images of an objed^, whofe diameter is to be meafured, become contiguous, this diameter will be eafily known; becaufe it is to the known diameter of the firft objed obferved, as the diftance pf the focus of the objedl-glafs from the prifm is to the diftance of the fame focus from the point where the prifm had been placed in the fundamental operation.
This inftrument (as the Hiftorian of the academy (hews by a variety of cafes and examples, to which we refer the curious Reader) is fufceptible of a high degree of precidon, and may be fuccefsfully employed in determining accurately the apparent diameters of the Heavenly bodies, thofe of Saturn's ring, the phafes of eclipfes, and even to make a multitude of new and in- terefting obfervations, which the imperfedion of the microme- ters, hitherto known, has difcouraged aftronomers from attempt- ing. More efpecially in all geographical operations, in furvey- ing (whofe operations it muft render more fpeedy and lefs ex- peofive), and in dire^ing the courfe of veftels along the coafts during the night *, it will be of Angular ufe.
It is true this inftrument can only meafure apparent diameters or angular diftances of 20 minutes ; but the ingenious Abbe has
contrived another, which is capable of meafuring larger angles*
— ii . . , , . - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
* The Hidorian illudrates this latter objefl of otility by the foU lowing example : Suppofe a tower or ligbt-houfe, on which four lights are placed in form of a crofs, whoie diftance is knows ; the inftrument in queftion will give the diftance of the (hip from the light- houfe by an obfervation of the two pirptndicular lights, and the pofition of the fhip, with refpe^ to the fame light-hoofe« by an ob- fervati Jn of the |wo horizontal lights.
. He
508 Hiflarfoftbi Royal Acai. ofSditHiS atP^ris^fir lyjj^
He employs, for this purpofe, two achromatic prifms, to which he gives (the one upon the other) a circular motion: thefe will therefore reprefent fucceffively all prifms,. from the plane to the prifm, whofe angle is the double of that of each prifm ; thus the obferver, viewing the fame objed, at the fame time, direAly and through this prifm, and turning the prifm till it comes to the point where the two images of the obje£l will only touch one another, the angle of the prifm will then give the apparent diameter of the objeft. The accuracy of the mftrument here, depends upon the means of knowing exaftly the angle of a given prifm, and the Abbe Rochon has found out means for this end, whofe precifion and efficacy may be entirely depended upon, A defcription of thefe inftruments was read by the Abbe to the Royal Academy in the year 1777, fo that, though the Author has neither publiflied as yet the conftru<£lion, nor the diflFerent ufes of his inftruments, they may he conftdered as known to the public fmce that epocha. This is a good cavtat againft fuch as may be difpofed to ufurp the merit of other men's inventions.
The part of this volume, that is confecrated to the memory of deceafed academicians, contains the Eulogies of four men, eminent, indeed, for their talents and their virtues : Meflieurs, Trudainej De JuJ/ieu^ Bourdelin^ and Holier. Many amiable and interefting lines might be prefented to our readers from the charaders of thefe illuftrious men ; but want of fpace obliges us to confine ourfelves to fome particularities, of the life and renius of the late M» Haller, Member of the Sovereign Council at Bern, and of all the academies of Europe, who may be juftly cunfidered as one of the prodigies of the prefent age.
He was born of a family, where piety feemed to be hereditary, and,, at four years of age, he ufed to addrefs exhortations from texts of fcripture to his father's domeftics. ^ At the age of Nine, he had compofed, for his own ufe, a Chaldaic Gram- mar, a Hebrew and Greek Lexicon, and an Hiftorical Di£lion* ary, containing near two thoufand articles, extraSed from- Bayli and Morers. The care taken of his education had no part in this monftrous progrefs; he had a fevere and difgufting preceptor, who had made fuch impreffions on his mind at this early period, that he never met him, in riper years, without feeling an involuntary emotion of terror. He was born a poet, and had a paffion for this fine art, which he exercifed with all the fuccefs, that attends true tafte and elevated genius, and with which he embellifhed and foftened hisphilofophical labours. The iludy of nature was, however, his great and predominant propenfity, and it was with a^ view to gratify it, that he chofe ihe medical profci&on, which allowed him to purfue this (hidy
withouc
g
ISJlory of the Royal Acad, of Schncis at Paris^ for r777. 509
Vithout reftraint. He ftudifd at Tubingen, under Camerariiis and Duvernoi ; at Leyden, under Boerhaave and Albinus ; at 'London he enjoyed the intimacy of Sir Hans Sloane, Cherelden» ^nd Douglas ; and at Paris he followed the directions of Win- flow and Juffieu. He began to travel at the age of fixteen, and at that dangerous and critical period, he was confirmed for the -reft of his life in the paths of virtue, by the difguft which he 'felt once, at a view of the excefs committed in a licentious party 'of pleafure into which his fellow-ftudents had drawn him at Tubingen* From that period he never tafted wine any more, and impofed upon himfelf a fevere difcipline with refped to morals. His lively imagination, and warm feelings, rendered . this difcipline wife and expedient.
M. Haller returned to Switzerland about the year 1730, in the 22d year of his age. The prafiice of phyfic, vaft anatomi- cal enterprizes and labours, excurfions into the mountains of Switzerland, where he extended his ardent attention to all the branches of natural hiftory, all thefe were not fufficient Co fill up his time. His mufe invited him toftrikethe lyre amidft the beautiful and magnificent fcenes of nature. But the philofopher always accompanied the poet, and kept him in the arms of real nature. He defcribed What Yitfaw^ when he climed rocks of eternal ice, and traverfed the awful fummits of the Alpine mountains. He defcribed what he felt^ when he painted the fweets of friendfliip and of rural life, the pleafures that accom* pany fimplicity of manners, the charms of the mild and gentle virtues, and the happinefs that floWs from the facrifices that are required by the more auftere. His mufe even founded the depth of metaphyfical and moral fcience ; fhe fung alfo the fublime delights of religion, and its genuine fruits, charity, and con* cord, and drew the hideous forms of hypocrify and perfecution in the moft odious and natural colours. The poems of Hal- ler were foon tranflated into aimoft all the European languages, and the poets^ and wits of the age, were furprized to learn, that thefe elegant and fublime compofiions, came from the pen of a man, who pafled his days in diileding bodies, culling plants, and prying into the fecrets of animal and vegetable organization. The philologifts and antiquarians muft have been equally fur- prized, at leaft, to find this two*fold Ton of Apollo, while he was teaching anatomy, and directing a famous hofpiul at Bern , at the age ot 26, charged with the infpe£tion of the public li- brary, and the arrangement of a cabinet of five thoufand an- cient medals.
His reputation grew rapidly, and was fpread abroad, though not yet diftmguifhed by -any great work in the line of his pro- feffion. Several diflertations had announced him, however, to anotomifts, as a young man of fuperior genius, whea
2 George
•510 Kifttry $fih$ Ibfol Acai. ofSdifUaat Parh^fir tjjj.
George II. honoured him with an invitation to the uoiverfitjr of Goctingen, where a chair of anatomy, botany, and furgery was ereded for him. Here he palled 17 years of hia life in the moft intenfe application to ftudy, and found his labours alle- viated by the pleafure which a generous mind muft feel from diftinguifhed fuccefs and univerfal applaufe. His principal ob- jtSt was phyfiology, that important branch of medical fcience, which, confidertng the ftruAure of the body in its minuteft parts, examines the laws by which the human being is formed, developed, grows, lives, propagates, declines, and dies, — bow each organ performs its funAions and repairs its ftrength by nouriihment and fleep, by what mechanifm an unknown power produces thofe voluntary and involuntary motions, that are effential to the eitiftence, prefervation, and happinefs of man, — how the changes in the bodily organs are fooietimes the eaujiy and fometimes the effeR ,ol the diforder of the viul fundions, and how remedies of every kind may contribute, by their adion on thefe organs, to reftore order in the animal oeco* nomy. M. Haller brought about a fignal and happy revo- lution in physiological fcience, which had long been fubjedled to the tyranny of fyftem, and became, on that account, an objed of fufpicion and diffidence to the Phitofopbica! Obferver of Nature. He propofed to (hew that phyfiology was a fcience as real and certain as any other ; — the key of the knowledge of man to the philofopher, and the bafis of medical practice to the phyfician. For this purpofe he eftablifhed phyfiology on its true foundations, on the anatomy of the human body, and on that
- of other animals, which latter has fo often revealed fecrets in the conftitution of man, that the ftudy of the human body alone would not have difcovered. He baniflied from it that kind
. of metaphyfics, which had long concealed profound ignorance under the cover of fcientific terms, and thofe theories, whether mathematical or chemical, which were employed with the moft confidence, and adopted with the moft refpefi, bv thofe who were the moft ignorant of mathematics and chemiftry. In the
. place of all thefe fyftems and theories, he fubftituted general
. fa£ls afcertained by obfervation and experience ; and, to prepare himfelf for embracing the fcience of phyfiology in all its extent, he compofed a long feries of difiertations, in which he difcuffisd
» the niceft, the moft difficult and important queftions, relative to refpiration, the circulation of the blood, generation, and
- offification. After all thefe labours, he gave the firft edition of his phyfiology, the modeft title of a Sietchj and it was only at the end of thirty years, employed in the moft laborious difledions, experiments, and refearches, that he ventured to give his work
. the title it deferved. AH the learned, in all countries, know the merit of this immortal work ; they know the multitude of
errors
Hijlory oj the Royal Acad, of Sciences at Paris^for I777« ' 5"
errors it has removed, the new fa£ts it has difcovcred, the in- genious and extenfive views with which it abounds, the doubts it has cleared up, and the theories it has rectified or ini* proved.
But the labours which perhaps contributed moft to eftablifli the fame of M. Haller, as one of the firft men of his age in philofophical genius, were his refearches into the myfteries of generation^ ojpfication^ and irritability. Here be appears with all the luftre of an original obferver and thinker, who opens for himfelF paths of inveCligation untrod before, and follows a lamp that is lighted only by his own genius. But while he was fo ardent and fuccefsful in the difcovery of curious and, important truths, the nature of his experiments expofed bim to miftakes, and feveral of thefe he candidly acknowledged : he even placed at the head of one of his works a compafs for a device, with this motto, Fidem non abJluUt error. This (hewed his candour, and at tl^ fame time his juft confidence in the refult of his labours. It would fwell this extrad to an undue length, even to enumerate (imply the different branches of (ludy and objedis of literature that occupied this great man at the fame time, during his refidence at GottiBgen ; where in confequence of his intereft with the late king, he founded an academy of fciences, a feminary for furgery, a lying-in hofpi- tal, a fchool for.drawing or defigning, and other eftabliduneats for the improvement of fcience, and the relief of humanity;
In the year 1753, M. Haller returned 'to Bern, where he was chofen member of the fovereign council, and thus entered upon a new fccne. In the fphere of magiftracy he appeared with dignity and reputation ; and in the adminiftration of the government and police of that republic he was more efpecially employed in thofe branches which require the fpirit of a pbi- lofopher, and the knowledge of nature. Public education, or- phan-houfes, eftablifhments for promoting the health of the ci- tizens and pcafants, particularly the Council of Health formed at Bern, the fuperintendence of the falt-works ; all thefe and other obje£ls of police and public utility, were under the more immediate infpe^ion and influence of this patriotic and philo- fophical magiilrate. Amidft the laborious and ufcful occupa- tions they gave hini, he (till found leifure for fiudy and writ- ing : for it was amidft thefe occupations that he compofed and publifhed a regular fyftem of political economy, in three pro- duAions, which have the form -of romances, but convey in* ftru£tive views of fovereignty in monarchical, mixed, and ^rif- tocratical governments. It was alfo during thefe occupations that he completed his phyfiology, compofed, in an excellent fiile, a great number of anatomical and medical articles for the Encyclopedie of Paris, and continued to fend Memoirs to all the 6 learned
512 L'Evefquc'i Hi/Urj of RuJJia*
learned actdemies of Europe of which be was a member* * The Academy of Sciences (fays our panegyrift) inferted fe- veral of thefe into iti colledtion, and thefe would have beea fufficient materials for the eulogy of any man but Haller.''
His a£^tvity was unexampled ; his library was a perpetual fcene of inftrudion, communicated to his friends, his fellow- citizens, his wife and children, with whom he was furrounded, and who read, converfed, delineated plants and animals under bis infpe&iop. After having adorned life and filled time, as we have been feeing, he died with the pious tranquillity of a Chriftian hero : he faw his end approach flowly, and beheld it without either fear or regret. The artery beats no more^ faid be, with the utmoft calm, to the phyfician that attended hioi, and then expired.
Art. III.
Hiftoire de Rnffie^ tiret des Chrtniques originaUs et des meiUturs Hi/- toriem de ia Nathw, &z. i. e. A Hillory of Ruffiiy drawn from authentic Records, and the bed hiftorical Writers of that Nttion. By M. L'EvisQUB, Profe/Tor in tbe Imperial Corpt of Cadets at Peter/burgh. 5 Vols, in izmo, enriched with Two Maps of Ea- (Urn and Weftern Raflla. Paris, 1782. Price 1$ Livres.
THIS Hiftory is 'recommended to the attention and curio- fity of the public by a variety of circumftances. Its Au- thor has refided long in Ruffia, has made himfelf mafter not only of the modern language of that country, but alfo of the ancient Sclavonian dialed of that language, and has certainly employed great induftry and perfeverance in ftudying all the va- rious chronicles and records, ancient and modern, that could furnifh materials for his work, which is the firft complete hif* tory of Ruffia that has been yet publilhed. Prefixed to this ufeful and inftruAive work, we find an account of the true or- thography of the Ruffian names of perfons and places, which the Author has followed as far as was prafiicable |— -a critical catalogue of the records and writers that have furniflied him with materials ; — a learned diflertation on the antiquity and re- ligion of the SclavonianSf from whom the modern Ruffians de- rive principally their origin, and on the palpable analogy which their language bears to that of the ancient inliabiunts of La- tium.
This valuable hiflory of Ruffia is brought down to the pre* fent time ; and we have no doubt but it will be well received thoughout Europe in general.
Art.
( 513 )
Art. IV.
tjai fur Its kegms ii Claudt it it Nerok, it Jkr lit Maters it Iti Ecrits de Seniqutf &c. i. e» Ao Eflay oa the Reigns of Claodios and Nero, and on the Morals and Writings of Seneca, defigned aft a Preparation for the Perafal of this Roman Philofopher. 2 Vols« in iimo, with the Title of London, 1782.
WE hope and think that the London preft has ndt been dilhonoured with this new efFufion of vindifiive gall, fpouted by M. DiDEkoT on the afiies of that honeft^ inge* nious and whimfical man, tUuffiau. The minute philofopheet of Paris, or rather this Drawcanfir of the (t&^ will not let poor Rouffeau fletp in his grave. They lcno\i^ that he has un*' niafked them in the memoirs of his lif?, which are yet unpub« lifhed, and they labour, with a mixture of vengeance and ter* ror, to tarnifh his reputation, that he may not be believed. But invedives fo exaggerated as thofe contained in this nb# l^dition of the work before us, can hurt no man^s chara^er, asr they only form a mafs of illiberal abufe. This dealer in in- Ve^ives does not produce a fingle fadl that impeaches the in* tegrity of the upright enthufiaft, who is the obje6l of his mer-^ cilefs perfecution. Sleep then Roufieau in thy filent tomb 1*^ Reft |k)or perturbtd fpirit ! The man who calla thee an «»- ' gratifut ^iilairij an atrocious profligtite^ is the iaifae man who juftines thofe part^ of the condu6l of Seneca at the courts of Claudius and Nero, that make hift candid admirers caft their eyes downward with aiSidion and (hame. Thfe man, who rakes in and defiles thy aflies, is .the fame who has taught pub* licly, that * diitance of .time and place remove the atnfchufnefs tf guilty let the crime be ever (o enormous^ and that the. mur- derer, who has aflfaffinated on the banks of the &cifie^ is free from remorfe when he efcapes to China, becaufe remarfe arifes, not (o much from diiitisfaSlkn. with oriels f^ as from x\itftar oF others, and ow^ its exlftencc le(s to the turpitude of a trime, than to the apprehmfim of difcovery and punijhment ^* In a word^ Seneca, compoiing .the funeral oration of the infa- mous ClaiHiiuSy and the letter of Nero to the fcnate concern^' ing the murder of Agrippina, beholding the aifaflinations of O^avia, Burrhus, Thrafeaand Pcetus, and the conflagration of Rome, is excufable, in the eye of M. DiDERor, while Roufll'aii is a vile and odious profligate, becaufe in his Confejffions (or Memoirs) he rs fuppofed to have faid what he knew of the
philofophifts of Paris !
•■III. ■ ■ I I — ^— i I PI ——1 II 1— —■——».
* Sec two difTercations of Diderpt prefixed, very prepoileroi»fly> to the fplcndid edition of Gefoer's poej&s, pobiiflicd at Paris in French.
Aff. Rev. Vol. LXVI. L 1 Art. Y.
( 5t4 )
A R T. V.
Prospectus i^um EncyUttdii yetb9dsqut, &c. i. c. Prepo/kh /h' puhlijhing a Initb^dical Cyclopedia or DiSUnary 9/ Sciences^ digtjiti according to the natural Order amd Connexiem of the Smhje3t treated* By a SociBTY of learned Men and Arti&ts. Parii*
THIS work, properly fpeaking, is not t didioniry, bat in aflemblage of fyftems of all the fciences. To give it, boweveri fomething of 1 lexical form and charader, there will be prefixed to it a univerfal yllphahitical Vocabulaty^ by which the reader will be (hewn, where he is to look for any particu- lar article which may be the objed of his enquiry. l*he work is to be publifhed in 4to, in two columns, and will be com- prifed in 53 volumes of text, and 7 of figures. The fubfcrip- tion-price is 672 livres, about 33/. fterling.
In this new plan (which is to beconfidered as a new edition of the Encychpedie) every fcience will have its didionary, or fyften^^ apart J fo that the rambling enquirer, and the regular and perfe- vering ftudent will be equally gratified. This was not the cafe in the firft edition of this enormous work, in which the articles were Scattered in confufion, at the difcretion of the alphabet ; and were not, indeed, fo compofed as that their reunion could form a complete and confiflhent body of dodrine. We have given formerly our opinion of this difcordant mafs, which was too voluminous for a didionary (whofe proper objeA is to ex^ plain termsy more or lefs amply), and was not good for any thing elie than to amufe or perplex fuperficial and defohory readers. But here we are to have a granJj perftSly and emt/iflent work : for the principal objects, propofed in this new edition^ are, ift. The corre^ion ofahofe errors which all the capacity and attention of the authors could not avoid in the former publica- tion— (this fuppofes that the new Authors have obtained a larger grant of both), ^dly. The addition of the omitted articles, and of the branches of each art and fcience that were not for* merly treated, as alfo of the difcoveries that have been made fince the firft edition was publi(hed. 3dly, A more complete nomencIat\irc of all the parts of this fcientific and literary edi- fice. 4thly, A ftri6^ and accurate correfpondence of the text and figures. Sthly, The fuppreffion of ufelefs plates, and the fubftitutionof ufeful ones in their place.
A preliminary difcourfcy and an analytical table will be pre- fixed to each di£lionary, to point out the order in which all the words are to be placed, as if each dictionary was only to be confidered as a didadlic fyftcm. This table will render refe- rences lefs frequf nt ; but where they are neceflary they will be accurately obfervcd.
Wc
Prepofab for pubUJhing a mitbo£cal CychpatUa^ 515
I
We learn farther from this ample Prospectus, that all th» accurate articles of the firft edition will be inferted, that others will be abridged or augmented, modified and cojrreded, as may be requifite to render them more perfed, and that a multitude of new ones will be added. But who are the labourers, that are to difplay their induftry and powers in- this immenfe field of fcience i
ifl. The mathematics part is to be under the direSion of the Abbe Bossut, aififted by M. de la Lakde in the aflro- nomical branch of that fcience, and it will occupy 2 volumes* Great improvements are promifed in this part of the work, for the fpecious and alluring enumeration of which we muft refer our readers to the plan before us. M. D'Alembert's health and occupations do not allow him to take an a&ive part in this enterprize ; but his former labours will make an eilen^ tial part of this article. We ihould have been glad to have feen the names of Baillie^ Dionit di Sejour^ and De la Placif as co-operators in the allronomical part of this work : theip excellent produdions will no doubt be employed to give it new degrees of merit arid improvement, as it is particularly pro* poled to give a hiflory of the great difcovertes in aflronomy, in a chronological order ; to impart a clear idea of the methods that have been, and are flill employed to determine accurately the circumflances of the celeftial motions, and to indicate the laft refults of ^11 the refearches which, for a century paf(, have extended or improved aflronomical fcience.
IL Phyjics^ or Natural Philofophy^ is committed to the care of M. DE MoNCE, member of the Royal Academy of fciences. I'he general principles of this fcience remain in their former ftate : but its particular branches, fuch zsfire^ flame^ heat^ cold^ elajiic fiuidsy thermometers, &c. will furnifh new articles, and water ^ ice^ congelation^ ebullitiony evaporation^ fmoke^ fire-engines^ aqueoui meteors^ rain^ mijiy deWy fnow^ &c. will be treated in a manner abfolutely new : by whom — we know not ; perhaps by M. D£ MoNGE, of whom we know but little. BriJfon*s diAionary of natural philofophy will be here laid under contribu- tion.
III. The medical pTiVt is afligned to M. Vicq d'Azyr, mem- ber of the Academy of Sciences, and fecretary to the Royal Society of Medicine; — no doubt, a very able and ingenious man, from whom good things may be expeded.
IV. /fnatomyy together with fimple and comparative pbyfiology^ will be much indebted to the induflry and capacity of M. Dau- BENTON, who fo long difplaycd bis labor improbus in the natural hiflory of M. de Buffbn. The animal cbemiftry^ that belongs to this department, is to be treated by an anonymous hand ; which gives Icfs reafon for hope than fear ; for chough there are excel-
Ll 2 lent*
5i6 Pnpifaisfir pubRJbitig a mitboiKcal Cycbp^Jiiti
lent writers in theology, morak, and politics, who chufc ta ft" main unknown through modcfty or prudence \ y^t this is kfs co be expend, from the nature of the things among natural pbi- Ipfophers and cbenifts \ nor do we, at tbia infiam, recolledl any trcatifc on theft fciences, that made its appearance without the name of its Author.
V. Chimijlry^ Metallurgy^ and Pharmacy^ which coinpole two tolumes, are under the dire6iion of ML de Morveau for the firftt M. Du Ham£L for the fecond, isd M. Maret for the tbfrd ; and rhey could fcarcely be in better hands. . VL Ci&/r«r^^ is the department of M.Louis, perpetual fe* cretary of the Royal Acadeaiy of chirurgery : a man of eminent merit in that line.
VII. JlgricuUitfi^ Csrdimng, Plantings comprehending the whole detail of rural labour and indufiry, and defcriptions of all the mttbods, inftruments, and operations employed in its dif» ferent departments, and all the terms of rural art (which are enumerated at great length in this prorpefius) are treated by the Abbe TESsiBRy regeac of the Medical Faculty at Paris, M. TH0UIN9 chief ganlener to the King, and M. Fouceroux ds BoNDARoy, in a vols.
VIII. The Natural HiJI^rf •/ Animals^ divided into fix clafles^ and comprehended in 3 volsf is aifigned to Meflr^. Daubln-
TOK, MaUDUIT, and GUfflEAU DE MoNTBElLLARB, and
will derive rich materials from the natural h fiory of M. D£ BuFFON. Thefc are certainly mca of eminent reputation \tk this branch.
IX. Botany^ in % vols. By the Chevalier i>t la MarcK, of the Royal Academy of Sciences \ who promifes at the head of tWe volumes, zPrgUminary DifaurfiyOVi the origin, progref^, and pieiirnt ftate of botany, the various fyfiems and methods of the principal faotanifts, the natural order of vegetables, and the fiimilies and fpeciesof plants.
X. The Natural Hiftory of Mimrah. By M. Daubenton. in one volume.
XI. 7 bi Natural Hiftory of the Earthy containing its Phyfx^* Geography y or General l^henomena. By M. Desmarfst.
XII. /tncient and J4odern Geograthy- H^ Mei}^. Rlbeet, Masson de Morvilliers, and MtNTE' lb, 2 vciU, accom- panied wjth an atlas (which the fublcnbtrs are at libercv to t)urchafc or not) con tain iiig about 60 maps, with ail the rcccAi gjBOgraphical difcoverics.
XIII < Antiquities^ Infcriptiens^ Chronology ^ the Art of verifying Dates f the Science ofAu'eOalSf MxpUcation oj Fakles^ Ohoin cf An^ tient CuJhmSj belon;;!^ to the acp<irc.iv. nt 0/ M» Lf-URT dl G&« B£LIN, and will be created in one vol a me.
XIV. Uifto^y* By M.GajjUpARc, ^r thej^rmich Af^qen^y^ and alfo oicmbtr of the Acadj^my pi Ixiicnptions^ in % volumes.
Prop^fibfir pullijhing a methstScal CfcIapteMa* .'5 1^
XV. neology By the ASbe Bergicr, a learned man, wha has here undertaken a Herculean tafk, even to lop* off till xht fuperfluities, corred n// the errors, and fuppiy all that is wanting in the theological articles of the ancient Entyrlepedit'^ Labor im^ brobusy in 2 volumes.
XVI. /indent and Modem Philofophy^ in i volume. ByM. Naigeon, whom we have not the honour to know, but whofe taflc is already finifiied to his hand, by Bnuier^s Abridgment of his own great Work, and later publications. He fpeaks^ indeed, of Brucker with a kind of contempt : (o muck the worfe for M. Naigeon.
XVII. MetaphyJicSy Logk^ and Moral Phtlofipby^ in i volume, are committed to the care of M. GuaN£ AU de MoNTBfiaLLARD, the fame who has undertaken the defcription of inJcSls in the eighth Article.
XVIII. Grammar and Literatures in which great cdrrefiiona and confiderable additions are promrfed, are affighed ta a focietjr of men of letters, in which we find the names of Marmon^ TEL and Beaus££'; the former a fa^joiiable critic, and the latter a metaphvfical, knottf grammarian jpJUr^n^r/mjri^, in i vol.
XIX. Jurifprudfnce^ in.Ri Various bra#tfaes, comprehending civil, canon, beneficial, and penal laWf, and alfo the moft in^ terefting queftions, relative to the laws of nature and nations^ will be treated by a fociety of Ct^rilians, with the Abbe Remt^ advocate, at their head, and comprized in 3 volumes.
XX. Finances (a fcience fanta m^it\ By M. DiGEOK, who propofes to give us an idea of their adminiftration in the differ tent ftates of Europe, particularfy in France^ together with the hiftory of taxation in all its forms, and the proper methods of improving and reforming it, in 1 volume.
XXI. Polrtical Oeconomyt comprehending the duties and rights of the delegates or depoficaries of the fupreme power, their in- fluence on landed proprietors, cultivators, manafafturei's, traders, artifts, &c« in 1 volame, with a Preliminary Difcourfej confining an oecononiical anaiyfis of civilised ftates, and a feries of the prin* cipirs that conftitute political fcience. By the Abbe Baudeau*
XXII. Commerce^ in all its details and appendages; fuch as weights, meafures, trading companieS|^ bank«, exchange, con- fular jurisdichons, contraSs, Vc. in #. volume. By the fame Author, and M. Bbnoit. v.^,
XXIfl. Marine Science 2tnd ddminijhmiwi in 2 volumes. By M. Vial de Clairbois, of the Royal Marine Academy, and M. Blonde au. Royal Profeflbr iii Mathematics and Mydro* graphy in the Marine Schoola^ &f^.
XXIV. AJilharj Screndj in a vMumes. By M. de Ker alto. Knight of the Military O^der of St. Lewis ; and the articles rela* tive to the artillery, by M. de Pomme&suiU
^13 XXV.
l^fS ' Vnn\x\mtnn*s FamiFiar Littirs.
XXV. The Fine Arts. By the Abbe Arn aud» of the French Academy and Infcriptions, and M. Suard, i volume. M. fV^U" let has confented to renounce the fcparate publication of hisZ>/f« tionary of Paintings which he has been long preparing for the prefs, and has generoufly refolved to melt it down into this article, be* fides which valuable acquifttion, the Authors propofe foraging ia the books of all nations, which have treated of the fine arts.
XXVL Mechanics^ Arts^ and TraJku By a fociety of learned men and artifts, and among others by'Meflfr?. Roland de la Platierb, Perier, Fougeroux db BoNDARoYy and Des* MARETS, 4 volumes. They will have only to cooiprefb the great Di^imary of Arts into this fmaU fpace.
The Univerfal Vocabularbf^ which was mentioned above, as de- figned to be an Indixto the mrhole work, will form the firfi volume. Prefixed to it will be the PrtBminary Dlfcourfe of M. D' Albm- BERT, the fcientific tree of Lord Chancellor Bacon, the feverai prefaces of the ancient Encfdopadli^ and the hiftory of that work.
In this ProfpeSfus^ mention is m«deof a defign to publi(h the work in 4to and 8vo^ But in a late advertifemcnt we find that the odavo edition wilt not take place* The price for thofe who have not fubfcribed will be (from May to April 1783) 751 livres^ and after this date 888 livres. For farther particulars we muft ^•cfcr the Reader to the Profpe&us itfelf (which is a literary whei nicely didilled), ^MhWfh^^ by Panckoucke^ the undertaker of ihia edition at Paris. In contains 107 pages, from which we have cxtra&ed the particulars here given.
1- H W I I ' <l ■' 1 ■ pi ■ 11 IP
A R T. VL
Lifiirtt Familieret it Af. Winkilmann^ i. e. Familiar Letters of M. WiMKELMANN, 2 volumcs, 8vo. Amfterdam. Paris 1781,
THESE Letters, which are the efFufions of a good heart, and a fine and fervid immagination, contain fcveral in* ftru£ttve and interefting anedotes relative to the arts, and to the life and character of this ingenious and learned man. Wikkbl- MANN, indeed, had his failings. He often judges with levity and precipitation of authors, whom we have rraton to appre- hend he had not read with attention, if he had read them at all ; and his open-hearjM, credulous confidence in connoifleur?, who often play roguifll:^^|ficks, betrayed him fometimes into very hafty decifionS| even with refpeA to the produdions of ancient artiAs, which he, however, ufually ftudied with a pure tafte and a difcerning eye. Some lapfes, and thefc not inconfiderable, alfo proceeded from the ardour of his enthufiafm, which never«- thelefs was of the nobleft kind| and produced fruits that make ample amends for the mifiakes that may have been occafioned by i^s eiFcrvcfcence. He W46 certainljT) with all his defeAs, a fur- prizing
Winkelmann'i Familiar Litttrt. 519
prizing inftance of the force of genius and innate tafte, ftrug« gling againft the difficulties of obfcurity and poverty, that ftrove in vain to damp his fpirit in the early period of his life. When we fee him labouring, as a pedagogue, for above fix years in a country fchool, and afterwards copying old chronicles and regifters in the famous liberary of Count Bunau, in which jgnobk occupations he fpent his days until he was in his 30th year, we arc juftly amazed to fee him fpringing forth, like a butterfly from iis nymph ftate, into the higher regions of genius and tafie, and paffing from flower to flower in the wide field of ancient literature and arts. However, even in the gloom of his primitive obfcurity, he felt the powerful calls of nature point- ing out his future dcftination, and heard her voice, though he could not fee her through the cloud that covered him. An in- ternal impulfe led him to Homer and Sophocles^ who were his guides and confolation, amidft the occupations of a country fchool; and at length, ^^r varios cafus^ he direfied bis flight to Italy, and alighted upon the Vatican.
The iirft volume of this entertaining publication contains the Eulogy of IVinkelmanny compofed by M. Heym^ Counfellor of the £lc(Sloral Court of Brunfwtck, Profcflfor of Eloquence and Poetry in the Univerfity of Gottingen, and juftly celebrated for his edition of Virgil, enriched with notes, which furpafs^ in pure erudition and claffical tafte, any commentaries we have yet feen on that immortal Bard. This eulogy obtained the prize, propofed by the fociety of Antiquaries at CafTel, in favour of the Author, who fhould bed appreciate the *merit of Winkelmann, and the improvements he introduced into the ftudy of antiquity and the fine arts. The piece, indeed, is excellent : it djfcovers an exquifite judgment, and a perfeA acquaintance with the precious remains of ancient painting and fculpture ; and if the learned Profeflbr celebrates, with a kind of enthufiafm, the genius, tafle, and erudition of the famous German Connoifleur, he is by no means blind to his errors and defeats, but points them out with great impartiality and freedom. The reft of this volume contains the letters which Winkelmann wrote to his friends in Germany. We are indebted for their publication to M. Dafidorf^ Keeper of the Eledoral Library at Drefden, who has accompanied them with feveral curious and learned notes* Winlcelmann's Remarks on the Archite£iure of the Antient TempU of Girgenti icrmiiMc this volume*
The fecond part or volume contains the Abbe's letters to his friends in Switzerland. The greateft part of them were publiflied in the original German at Zurich ; but feveral are here added^ which fee the light for the firft time. All thefe letters give a clearer idea of the character, humour, fancy, genius, tafte^ virtues, paifionsy and prejudices of Winkelmann, than can be
L 1 4 derived
fio WinKelmann*/ Familiar tetters^
derived from the bed compofed piece of biography: for tto man has really turned hitnfelf infide out in thefe letters. They alfo relate the circumftances of his life, with all the charafiers of open hearted franknefs and veracity. The only letter, tirhere we obferved embarraflment and conftraint is, that curious one, where he confeOes to Count Bunaa his change of religion, with the confufion of a man, who is afbamed of what he has done, or the inquietude of a truant boy, who ftars a whipping. This embarraflment has rendered the letter one of the mod complete and laughable compofitions, in point of Donfenfe, that we have met with. Winkelmann was cerninly ' a Proteftant, and he had, moreover, religious feelings, that partook of the vivacity of his imagination : but h\% familiar it" Thon y^2S perpetually holding up to his enchanted fancy the re« mains of ancient authors and artifts as obje£^s of Idolatry ; and he became fo intoxicated with the fplendor of thefe idols, that he was difpoftd to make every facrifice that might procure him the pleafure of worfhipping them at his eafe. It is therefore certain, (and he intimates it himfelf in feveral places) that he, drew a Poptjh furtovt ov^x his Lutheran waiftcoat, that he might have a more aflured and unmoleftcd accefs to the ineftimable treafures of the Vatican. Some extrafis from thefe letters will, no doubt, be acceptable to our Readers, who will find in them not only anecdotes relative to Winkelmann, but fome alfo, which regard feveral of our Britifh travellers. We (hall take along with us, in thefe extraAs, the circumftances of Winkel* mann's life, that gave occafion to them.
One of the remarkable fines of this Angular man's charaAer, was contentment and moderation in his defires of the outward ad- vantages of life. He drank with pleafure a cheerful cup when he had it ; but the mbft frugal table, the plaineft coat, and the other ncceffaries of life, in iheif greatcft fimplicity, anfwcred abundantly his wifhes. " In the fcale of the balance, which is oppofitc to that in which God has placed us, there is (fays he in his letter to M. Fuefsli, 1764} a weight which he dimini(bes 6r augments for rcafons unknown to us. We ought, like Children at table, to be fatisfied with what is given us, without murmuring. I was many years a fchool-mafter, with a4l poiiibie fubmifflon to my lot; and taught the A. B. Cv to a 'parcel of fcabby-hesided boys, though I was inceflantly afpiring after the knowledge of the 70 xaX«v (true beauty) and repeating ta my* ielf the fublimeft pafiagcs of Sophocles and Homer* In Saxt>ny 1 copied all ddy long diplomas and old chronicles, or w^s obliged to pore over the lives of the Saints, while I pafled the night in the ftudy of the Grecian poets. During that period of (rial| I faid often to inyfclf^ and I often repeat now the fame
language
Winkcltnann'i FdmUiar Letteri. Jlf
lanjrwae^, hejiillj my heart. Patience ! — thou l^ajl fujiained greater hardjhlps r
No fooncr was Winkelmann fettled at Rome, than he fet about vifiting, with unremitting ardour, the venerable remains and monuments of antiquity, the cabinets of the curious, arid the mod celebrated libraries. He had free accefs, at all times^ to the library and converfation of the Czr dinzX Pajfionei \ ^ho treated him with every mark of efteem and regard, and whofe charafter and merit are well defcribed in feveral parts of thefe let* ters. Hut his great patron and prote£bor was theCardinal Alexander ^Ihaniy in whofe palace he refided many years, and to whorh he left his medals and papers by a will, made in his Idl mo- ments, after he had fallen by the infernal hand of the afllaffin Ar» cangeli. His account of this amiable and refpcftablc Prelate is in- terefting: " Cardinal Albani (fays he in a letter to M. Fran- keii) is, perhaps, the moft profound antiquary and the greateft connoifleur in Italy. He has juft finifhed his elegant and noble Vii/a^ and has adorned it with ftatues and apcient monuments^ which have been hitherto unknown. The columns of porphyry, granite, and oriental alabaftcr, that arc diftributed throughout this charming feat, are innumerable. After the church of St. Peter, this villa furpaffes the beft ftrudlures of mndcrn times. its only architect was the Cardinal himfelfy who formed the ground, drew the plans, and prefided over their execution. He has another vslla at Nettunoy near the fea, ered^ed on the ruirisof Antium, in which ihofc who have feen the famous villa of Adrian difcern all the tafte and magnificence of that Roman Kmperor. He has formed a third at Cafteilo, at a fmall diftanctf from Albano. The moft pleafing qualities are united With eminent talents in thi* amiable man, who lives upon the moft perfrfl footing of eafeand familiarity with every one about hint; He has now (that is, in 1765) paffcd his fcvcnty-third year; but h:s head is the head of a man fcarcely turned of fixty, and he builds as if he were aflured of living yet twenty years." Seventeen of thefe twenty he has lived, and his health ar:d fpTits arc fo good at prefent, in his 90th year, that he waf talked of as one of the Cardinals thai was to accompany the Pope in his fublime vifit to the Kmperor.
Winkelmann formed, foon after his arrival at Rome, the dcfi^n of compofing a work concerning the Rtjicratiofi of thi yfrtcicnt 5/^/ttrj,^another concerning the tafie of the Gnciun Artifhy and a third containing a defcriprion of ail the gall, i us of pic* tures and flatues in Rome and Italy. No man cvi had a more enterpnzing genius in the Ime of ViriUy than this ruau, and every circumitance contributed to keep his enthufiaim alivv, nd to animate his efforts. His Reflexions on the Imitation of the Grecian Produ^ions in Painting and Scul^ture^ wiiicii were p'u-
liui.i
jii. WinkelmannV Familiar Letters*
liihed at Drefdcn, by the advice of the Pope's Nuncio (as adapted to make an impreffion in his favour at Rome) vrere jeceived with applaufe. He found proteSors in BenediA XIV, and the two Cardinals already mentioned, who were the orna« ments of the Papal court. The Chevalier MengSy who was as great in the theory as in the pra^ice of his art, difcerned im-. mediately the genius of Winkelmann, and encouraged and d'lfciktd him with the mod generous zeal, which became ftncere and cordial friend(hip, when he faw the difinterefted fpirit of probity and fimplicity that formed the chara^Ster of this afpiring irirtiioro. The works above mentioned did not all appear fe- parately : the two firft were blended with the Hijicry ofthtArts^ iatcly republi(hed, with additions and improvements, in 3 vols. 4to. and the third was never iiniihed. His moHununti anticbi JneJtti are well known.
The literary anecdotes and remarks, ^s well as the obferva- tions on arts and artifls, fcattered through thefe letters, are in- numerable ; but they read more agreeably in the book, than they would do, when taken out of their connexion. Notices of manufcripts, — converfations with men of learning and tafte, — defcriptions of places, villas, and libraries, — remarks on fta- tues and pictures,— obfervations on ancient and modern artifts-^ Accounts of the travelling Pfinces, Noblemen, and Literati^ whom the Abbe met with at Rome, — his free opinions of thofe whom he knew, with a multitude of fuch relations, as flow ra- pidly and negligently from the pen of a man, who, with an amazing flow of animal fpirics of the fined fort, writes familiarly to his friends, — all thefe are better read in the book than elfe- where. The activity of Winkelmann is inconceivable, and its fervour and its obje£ls are perfedly described in thefe letters. He is every where and with every perfon and objed of confe- quence, — we find him compofing five different works at the Same time, and forming plans of many more in imagination.
He defcribes his fituation in the palace of his great prote^or C. Alex. Albani, in the following manner: ^* I have nothing to do (in the way of obligation or conflraint) but to vifit the Cardinal in the afternoon, at his magnificent villa, which fur- paflTes every thing, that has been attempted even by monarchs^ in modern times. The palace, where 1 have my apartments in in the city *, is fituated in the mod beautiful part of Rome ; I have the fined profpe£l in the world ! From my windows my eye wanders through the gardens and ruins of Rome and of its
* The Cardinal gave him four apartmentt, but the Abbe furnidied tKem at bis own expence. This is ufaal among the Roman nobility: they have vail palaces, and cxteniive chambers; but within thtfe edifices, look like places uninhabitedi fo fcaatily are they farnidied.
environ)
Winkdmann'i FamtUar LeiUrU 523
environs, and takes in an ample view of the villas of Frefcati and Caftel-Gandolfo. At this latter place the Cardinal has a feat on the fea-fhore, where I often retire and pafs many de* lightful hours of tranquillity and meditation*'* In the fame ftrain is a letter he wrote from the Cardinal's feat at Port$ iTAnxio^ four months before his death. Here, my friend, is the fweet retreat, where I tafte the pure pleafures of retirement ; and how happy (hould I be to enjoy them with you ! to walk with you, removed from anxiety and care along this beautiful and peaceful coaft, from whofe verdant hills planted with myrtles I take in a profpc£l of nature, in her moft elegant and (lately afpe£ls, or, fitting under the portico of the ancient TimpU of Fortune^ behold, at my eafe, the foaming furjj^ of the tempeftuous ocean. A month's reftdence in fuch a place, where nature and art exhibit the mod enchaiting fcenes, raifen the mind from the languor that opprelTes it amidft tile noifc and tumult of the crowded city, gives a new fpring to. the mental powers and furpaflTes infinitely the vain pomp and fplendour of Courtc."
Winkelmann's reputation as a connoifleur and a man of - ^ learning was fo great, that he was not only eftcemed by all the St* men of diftinftion in Italy, who were patrons or lovers of the arts and fciences, but was invited fucceflively to an honourable and advantageous fettlement at Vienna, . Berlin, Drefden, Brunfwick, Hanover, and Gottingen : but having fucceeded the Abbe Venuti, in the year 1763, as PrefiJent of the Anti- quities of the Vatican, he found himfelf in fuch an honourable, ^ eafy and independent (ituation, that he renounced all the offers that had been made to him from thefe and other quarters. All the Englifb, French, and German travellers add refifed themfelves to him ; and many of their chara^ers are freely fketched in thefe letters. His very unfavourable account of the late Lord Haiti* more, was given in our Review for May laft : Art. Winkel- Mann's, Hiftory of the Fin$ Arts^ p. 377.
He fpeaks in very high terms of Lord Stormont and Sir tViliiam Hamilton^ to whole tafle, learning, and merit he does juflice. Some of their North-Britiib noblemen do not come fo well off. Our Abbe is in general a greater admirer of the Englifh* than of any other nation : but he cenfures feveral
♦ «* Would you believe ir," (fays WiDkeltnann in one of his letters to M. Prankeo) " they (the KngliOi) are the only nation that are wife aad folid : what difmjil and forry perfonages are our German noble- men who travel^ when compared with the Engliih ?*' He does not however always fpeak of the Engliih in this ftrain. He always wrote AS be felt; but he did not feel always in the (kme fflacner, even with refpe^ tp the fame objedls. -^
Individ ualsy
524 WifAf Imaon*i PamiRar LeiUrs^
indiviJuals, #ifh a fpirit of fatrre that favours Cff mfpcrhji There are aTfo anercfotet of Englifli travellers, ftill alive and vreU^ which the Editor of this Work might and eugit to have fuppreficd ; becaufe thej mav be difagreeable to the pcrfons con- cerned, and are of no conffquence to ths public* But the Abbe was lively, )'»quacious^ ami frank, and every thing that came into his head and in>aginatfon fell into his pen, when he was writing to his friends. He feems to hold the Ffench in little efteem, though he makes tht exception^, that impartiality and candour require, when they fpeak lufidly. We fay when they fpeak htuify ; for if they dotf't bawl, the Abbe is too much an Antigallican to hear them. He criticizes Count Caylus felrere- ly til ibme places, and he applauds him in none : he however fpLakSi with high encomiums, of feveral Frenchmen he had met whh at Rome. His account of the well-known Mr. JVcrtUf Montagu^f Wiih whom he was pcrfonaliy acquainted, is veryjuf^, and there it, toward* the end of the fecond volume, a cu<^ rious letter of this ftradge, excentric, ingenious man to the Abbe, concerning the places where porphyry is found, and
H • air> coTtccrniry: the monuments of porphyry difcovtred atAong
.Ift the ruins of Kjsypt.
The reigning Prince of B'^ifnfwlckt the Prince of Mecklen- b irg (brother to the Queen), and the reigning Prir^^e of An* hair DtiTiu, are highly celebrated in ftJvtral of thefe letters. •* The Prince of Anhalt (fays our Abbe) is one of the greateft Princes I know : I fee in him a fage, born for the good ot hu* manlty, at lead for the happinefs of his fubjeds. He would deferve a crown, if crowns were appointed for thofe who de«> frrve welt of mankind : I tiv6 wi'h him here (at Rome) oa the fhoft familiar footing of friendfbip.'* But the perfon he fpeaks of with the greateft ardour of praife, is the Count de Firmian, Chancellor of the Duchy of Milan, whom he re- preftnts as the greatef^, wifeft, moft learnt and humane nobleman he had ever met With. The Ahhi is oileofthofe warm and honed hearted men, who neither withhoMs praife nor blamt', where he thiirits them due, — and fomttimes he is chargeable with a certain degree of exaggeration in bftth.
The following paflages will make the Reader fsrrtber ac- i^uainted with the character and feelings of Out' Author. ** I thank you (fays he to a Saxon friend) for your affe^onate letter. I (hall not renew the forrow your heart has felt by the lofs of your excellent Lady ; but I muft tell you, friend, that eternity and its profpe£)s are the only true confolation of man : every thing elfe is but the pleafure of a moment: hope therefore of fumething more ftable ought to lie deep and firm in the hu- man heait. God has taken trom yoii a fource of fatisfaAion in
depriving
Winkclxnana*i Familiar Littirt. 52$
dq)riving you of a worthy partner; but be has delivered yon frooi the axigui(h you felt^ by being % fpedator of her paioful and incurable fufFerings. Tbiere are fipw evils without compen- fiAtion. I never was a woman-hater, as fome have reprelented me: but my circumftances and fiudies kept me alvvsys at % dill*iRce from conjugal bonds, and this continence has given, per* hapsy additional vigour and energy to my mind in the line of fludy and occuputioo I have been purfuing."
To Baroji Rjidhezel-^h^ writes thus : *' Oh, how I long for your arrival ! our cunverfaticns will have no limits — no .end. We (ball vifit the (^iirinal, CailcUo, Tivoli, aisd the Villa Ma- dona. Dry bread and herbs -with you will be more delicious than the table of the Cardinal. Til rife, with my friend^ nbove all that the world cfteems great, and wander in im^gijuat^ a« long the banks of the IlifTus and the Eurotas. We will cpn- templatt: together eternal beauty, embclliihed by frieii4^ip.— — « It is a giu-ai and important truth, my friend, that.i^ngle mo* ment of internal fatisfadion is preferable to the iauaprfal fame of future a;5es/'
In a letter to his learned friend M Frankin of Dreiden, we find the following fentimtntal pafTages : ^^ 1 wilh I could pour out mv whole foul upon the paper, in return for the charming letter I have received fiorn you this moment. I call up ail my feeling to enjoy your friendfhip. My life here is a<9ive a^d U- borious be}ond what I can cpiprefs, or you can conceive: but the Uufon of refl will come, at lengthy In thjoCb maafiojis whc;re wc fbatl furjly mret and enjoy all the fweet^ of qautpal friend- &ip : when I think of this, a fccrct pleafure diffufes icfelf tbrpugb my foul, and I (hed icurs of joy. — 1 ihall fpeed my way to tbefe oianllons, light and difcngaged^ as I came into the world. \ conlecrate tnc te^irs, W'hich 1 flied at this monxent, to that fub- liine iiicoduiip whicb I have found in you, and which I pQn- fidcr as an viQunarion Trom the Eternal Source of Love*".- . ■ This Ivtt^i was wri:tcn about four mouths before M. WZNlLEL* MA^'n'> uiiUinely end.
The b^iiv'volcnce and philanthropjf of our Abbe did :nat pre* vent his l l-:::i^ his adverfants foijietimes with a confidcrablc d> .;ic^e of k'A'iHies and ajfpcriry. Lord FCaim^, i4i hi$ Sketches ot i>ij H:Auf> or Al'.n, having laid it down as a principle, thjiC deip 'jiiiin wab the tfv:v caufe 0^ the decline of the aris ip Greece^ ooftrves, tiut Winkcidiami had not peiceiv'il tkis caule, and Ij^u^d '.;uLfjr otiitr?, iidic.u".ou> enough, in V. l^ajCcrculu«. Thip u(.;.:ii.i: oi Ww, iorJli;;;j ib iaLO;kiiJ<:iace and ill-fqun ted. Ihc 1: ;jn; rjs Ski:uhc^ o.ii^bt to have perceived, tnat Winkelmann. 'jiU jiot iliritr clic;i:iii!v friiTi him with rcipedt to the otjeft ia (ju'v'ltiuii. No nua \\u^ a greater en^hufuii ii^: lih^iny than
I Wia-
5*6 Winkclmann'i Familiar Lettert.
Winlcelmann ; and no man was more perfuaded of the inflaence of freedom and independence upon the fuccefsful purfuit of thf foblime and the beautiful in the fine arcs : but he icnevr human - nature too well to attribute the decline of the arts to defpotifm alone. Defpotifm, indeed, contrails and degrades the mind; but, under the (hade of liberty, luxuriance of fancy, and an im- moderate paflion for novelty, may give rife to falfe and vicious refinements ; and the arts fuflFer in both thefe ways. The views of Winkelmann on this fubje£i were much more extenfive than thofe of Lord Kaims, and nothing is more ridiculous than to hear this Author maintaining, that the Abb£ drew his ideas, with refped to the decline of the arts, from V, Paterculus. No fuch thing truly. — He drew them from a rich fund of genius, im- proved by an affiduous ftudy of the Greeic and Roman authors in the original languages, and a very extenfive acquaintance with the fprings and powers, the feelings and paffions of human nature. Upon the whole, it feems, that thefe two ingenious men bad no very high opinion of each other ; for Winkelmann fpeaks in the mod harfli and contemptuous manner of the EU^ menu rf Criticifm^ which he confiders as iht babbling tf a puny mitaphyjician\ and particularly of the chapter concerning Beauty, in that work, which, he fays, an inhabitant of Greenland might have compofed.— -Thefe gentlemen appear to have been both in a fit of ill-humour, when they judged each other.
The Abbe had certainlv his fulky moments; but perhaps (here never was a heart, that felt the power and pleafures of friendfliip with more purity and rapture than his did. His let- ters to the very ingenious and amiable M. Fuefili^ in the fccond volume, (hew this in the moft convincing manner. His letters to Gefmr are as paftoral, blooming, and full of amenity as the the fweet ftrains of that immortal poet. ** I have received (fays he at the conclufion of one of thefe letters) an account of the Brutus of Hirzel, which enables me to form a clear idea of that noble production. I long to read it on the fpot where I feek for the veftiges of Brutus and of celefiial liberty. Thefe produc- tions will be eternal monuments of the ignominy of our German princes, who are difgufted when they hear any thing read in their native language. The frivolous French have fpoiled and corrupted every thing.' I wifli you had not read my letters to any body but Fuefsli — for there was but little in them— fuch letters, addreflled to you from Romi^ refemble (hips that return from Peru without a cargo ; and when they are read to others, the writer feems like an adior, who appears upon the ftage only to make a bow to the fpeAators, and then retire.**
Winkelmann, and his fublime idol Mekgs, get certainly often into the clouds when they dcfcant upon Beauty: if itmuft
Wtnkelmann's Familiar Letters. 517
be acknowledged chat they are fplendid clouds, it is nevertheless certain, at lead with refped to us^ that they dazzle even to blindnefs. Gefner was in our cafe: he hid read Mengs's Thoughts concerning Beauty^ andTaJlein Painting* : He found his definition and defcription oF beauty obfcure, and he exprcfled ta our Author his deiire oF a clearer explication of the matter. What do you chink, curious reader, was Winkelmann's anfwer? It was (hortly this : ** My dear friend, I cannot blame you for defiring a more exa£t explication of the idea of Beauty ; never- thelefs, this is requiring too much. Mengs was fennbie of the liifficulty of communicating t clear and palpable notion of this objed, which no writer has ever yet been capable of giving; but the (ketch or image he has given of it is fo fublime, chac I could never read it wichout emotion, and I thank heaven that ic has endowed man with fuch depth of thought." All this is verjr
?;ood for thofe that have been, or may be, initiated into the anduary of beauty and the myfteries of virtili and. we are per« fuaded that the human mind is fo conftituted as to be capable of receiving, from certain external forms, fentiments, or'fetlinga^ that baffle analyfis and fpurn definition, and which we calf grace^ beauty^ and perJeHion \ — but whv then attempt the analyfis, and hold forth the cloudy definition r We do not mean to difcourage inquiry on this fine and delightful fubjedl; and we do not des- pair to fee it one day illuftrated with not lefs tafte and feelings and with flill more accuracy and precision, than we have yet ob« ferved in the beft writers who have treated it : But we are mortal enemies to jargon^ however metaphyfical and folemn its afpe& may be, and both Mengs and Winkelmann Aide frequent!/ into this jargon* wichout perceiving it f. They feem to have received fome flafks of neSar from Apollo, of which, like thirfty Germans, they have drank deep, without confidering what their heads would bear, or knowing that the liquor, which only rt*
• Thefe Thoughts^ together with a very ingenioat treatifc, entitled, general Rules for judging eonctming Painters^ their ProduQions^ and the Degree of Improvement at ivbicb thy have mrti'ved, have been tran- flated into French, and were publiQied at Amflerdam (i e. Parii) laft year, unde the title o^ Oewvret Jm Chevalier Ant, Raphael Mengs.
t There is nevertheleff, 10 chat work of Mengs, now mentioned, a treafure of excellent and truly philofophical ideas; and we fee the man of genius even amJdft the obfcority of his metaphyfical inveRi« gacions. But he is very far from being obfcure al*ways or even gene* rally. There is great perfpicuity, folidtcy,. and judgment, as well as proofs of exten live knowledge, in hU Thoughtt on Painting, and in his Rules for judging of Arcilh. — For our account of the Work?, and the Life of Mengs, by the Chevalier d'Aaara, ice Review tct Au^uli X/b'x, -and the Ap^'endijc following.
Jrejbes
1'
■ F
5lS Wiokelmann's Familiar Letiirii
frejhes the Immortals, is ftrong enough to intoxicate man* Thuf they have got PlatonicalJy iipfy ; but there is no harm done: Julie ejl defipere inloco^ — they rave elegantly ; and thofe whofefpi- rits are are not exalted by a cheerful glafs, are, generally /peak* ing, inGpid when they are fober. This latter is never the cafe of our two Germans. The upfliot of the matter is, that until ve come at clearer theoretical notions of Beauty than have yet been exhibited, we muft content ourfelves with examining the objetSis whofe contemplation excites its ftnfation in the mind. Take the pupil of nature and virtu from the myftical philofopby of Plato^ and carry hinn to nature in her faireft and nobleft forms, and from thence to the works of the ancient artifts ; to the produfiions of Raphael, Corregio, Mengs, Weft and Rey« oolds, and the landfcapes o\ Claude Lorrain, Pouflin, and Lou- iherbcrg ;— there let him look, combine, compare^ and feel ; — and then, though he never may be able to define Beauty, he will certainly know within himrelf what it is, and what it is not.— « ^oi nequio difcere etfentio tantum,
WlKK£LMANN had a certain opinion concerning the beauty of the fojfos^ which the ladies will not judge orthodox, and ttie gentlemen. If they are civil, will ftill lefs adopt, and of which theyy perhaps, alone can judge fairly, who have no fex at all ; which fcems to have been pretty nearly the cafe of our Abbe. After having obfcrved, that in the clailes of inferior animals thcL male is always (he ought .to have faid generally) more beautiful than the female, he proceeds audacioufly, and affirms, that the {$mc rule holds good in the huqian fpecics. ' In all cities (fays he) there isagceater number of line men than of fine women : I ne^ver faw fuch great beauties in theperfonof a woman, as I have obferved in our fex. What character of beauty does any woman poflefs, that is not vifiblc in fome man ? You muft not allege a^ainft me the charms of the female bre^ ; for the beauty of this is of (hort duration, and nature did not deffgn this part for beautyj but for utility (why notfor both Mr. Tnnieimannf\ even for the nourilhment of the offspring ; and of confequence it can- not remain beautiful.' True, but becaufe a rofe fades, does this prove that it never had any bloom or beauty ? — However, let us proceed ; what follows is more worthy of attention. ^ Beauty exifts in man in an advanced age, and it may be faid of mv^f hoary heads, that they are truly b»eautiful ; but I never heard o£ a beautiful old woman.' — No ! Let us fee: — at firft fight there appears to be fomething plaufible in this remark ; but it requires and deferves difcuffion. Beauty in the fexes is not the fame in its nature, ,its forms, proportions, oxpreffion and colour, though it may have fome common characters in both. Vigour and ener- gy are the diftinftive characters of mafculine beauty : Elegance,
delicacy.
\^inL'eTmann^ Famsliar Letters. . 529
delicacy, foft expreiSoh, roundncfs and fincncfs of contour, and j6l tender bloom, are the peculiar lines of female beauty. Age is, indeed, more detrimental to thefe, than to the ftrong features oif mafculine beauty: the former exhale like an aerial vapour; thie latter, though altered by years, leave noble remains, that rendef even the ridged front of Old age venerable* Again, wcjadgc with lefs feverity of the beauty of men, bccaufe beauty is not the principal quality upon which we value them, and their ta- lents and virtues, when they are endowed with any that are ic* iparkable, add an imaginary dignity even to their figure; where- «8 the fex, too generally fpcaking, attrad by their beauty alone (whether through their or ear fault, we ihall not decide) ; and ^
therefore we are lefs indulgent perhaps towards them on this ar- ticle, fie this as it may, we have feen feveral fine old women^ though we acknowledge that they began to look fometbing like men.
We muft copy the following paffage of one of our Author'l letters to Mr. Fuefsliy as it may fervc as a hint to our C9untry- men who travel ; though it is very abfurd in M. WlNKEti«ANW or any one elfe to judge of the manners of a people by th«fe of ^ few individuals. * l*he amiable Baron de Riedefel has vifited every corner of Sicily. His defcripiion of the ruins of the temple of Jupiter at Girgenti is excellent— —He praifes warmly the Si* cilians for their hofpitality ; from whence it would appear that all travellers do not meet with tbe faiiK kind of reception, for the Englifh do not agree with Riedefel op this head. No wonder : they enter into the houfes ftifFts (takes, their beads and eyes clouded with fplenetic vapours, as if they had no fcnfaiion of the .pleafures of life, and as if joy and amenity were foreign to their nature. How can a hoft open a well-pleafed and bofpitabie heart to fuch cold, referved, and filent guefts ? I was lately in com* -pany with fome Englifh noblemen, one of whom was My Lord
S ^. and I aflureyou, that during the three hours that we
were together, not one of thefe gentlemen deigned to fmile.*
We find frequent mention in thefe letters of the famous Baron Stofch, whofename is fo well known among the literati and the connoifleurs of the prefcnt age. One of the firft performances that difcovered the merit of Winkelmann as an excellent 9
fcholar and a man of tafte^ was his learned Defcription of the ColIe£lioh of antient Gims, made by that celebrated antiquary. This collection *, together with an Atlas confifl:*
* The cabinet of B^ Stofch was one of the firft ih Earope. Tb« geiris alone (including fome impreiiioas of rare aoiiqucs taken ia pafte) amounted to the number of two thoufand fivt; buudrcd.
App, Vol. LXVt Mm log
53!0 RouflTcau'j ConfeJJtons.
ing of 3(^0 volumes, and valued formerly at 24,000 crown^ (ecus (TAlUmagne) were fold to the King of Pruffia by Mr. Muz- zel Stofch, a man of tafte and great merit, who inherited tbein of his uncle, together with a precious colledion of medals and drawings of the greateft maflers, and a noble library*
Wefhould be glad toknovi who^ znAwhtrey is the pofieflbrof a Venus, difcovcred by an £ngli(h gentleman at Rome (Mr. Jenkins), about twenty years ago, * This ilatue (fays our Au- thor) furpaffesall the other Venufes^ even the Venus of Florence, and is a produ£lion worthy of the chifel of Praxite/n. It is fo perfe£lly well preferved that it does not want even a finger ; and its beauty is fo enchanting, that it would be worth while to come to Rome to fee it alone.'
Thefe entertaining letters have carried us imperceptibly beyond the bounds that we ufually prefcribe to our accounts of works of this kind. They are terminated by a very ingenious and inte- refting letter of M. Fuefsli, addrefTed to the German tranllator of Mr. TVebb^s Refearches concerning the Beauties rf Painting, This letter, from which we have here only extra£(5, contains an ad* niirable defcription of the moft famous ftatues, antient and modern, as alfo of the mod capital pidlures that are to be feen at Rome. It muft give high pleafure to connoifTeurs, and may ferve as a rich fourcc of inilruf^ion to young artrfts. We have rarely met with greater powers of description,' than this excel- lent Connoifleur difplays through the whole of this letter, and more efpecially in his account of the famous groupe of Niobe in the Villa Medicis^ of the Hermaphrodite, in the ViUa Borgbefe^ and of the landfcape-ftile of Claude Lorrain.
Art. VII.
Les ConfeJ/jons de J» y. Rcujfcau^ Suiiies des Reveries du Prcmenemr Silitaire, i. e. The ContellioDs of J. J. Rousshau, to which are fubjoined the Reveries (or rather the Sublime Havings) of a Soli* tary Walker. la 2 Volumes, with the Title of Geneva. 1782*
WHO is the man (we were going to fay the mifcreant) that has expofed to the light of noon-day this ftrange mixture of fecret, perfonal hiftory, with the wild but fometimes ingenious efFufions of an over- heated brain? They rather de* ierved oblivion, and if poor RoufTcau was foolifti enough to write them, no honcfl or humane man would have been fordid or malignant enough to publiHi them. It was perchance fome greedy French bookfcller, or fome tool of the Parif«an philo* fophers. It looks rather like a publication of the latter, who by ways and means have got hold of the manufcrlpt; for the anec- dotes of thcfe philofophers, which were i'uppofcd to make a con«
■ • • iidcrable
Roufleau'i Confejfions: 5jl
Cderabic part of the long*expe£led Memoirs of Roujfeau^s Life (and the dread of whofe appearance had made the whole fi^ tremble), are entirely left out of this hiftory, in which we fee Roufleau only expofng himself. He fpcaks, indeed, iii his walks^ which form the Second PArt of this Work, of the periecutions he had to fufFer from thefe pretended fage« ; he de- fcribes the attacks, fometimes imperious and violent, fometimea alluring and infidious, always fophidical and deftitute of evi- dence, that they made upon his principles of morality and reli« gion : but we have none of thole particular fa5li^ that Rous- seau is known to have colleded, and which he has, more than once, reprefented as containing a myftery of iniquity.
St. Auguftin^ who publifhed his confejjiohsy fpared himfelf as little as our Author has done, and if be edified the Saints by his fmcerity^ he entertained the wags by his materials, — for very frippery ftories indeed he had to tell. Rousseau is therefore miilaken, when he fays, at fetting out, that he has formed an enterprife without example. It iS true the citizen of Geneva has followed a more cxtenfive plan than the B'lfhop of Hippo^ for he tells us every thing he has done, even to the dealing of an apple ; but there are certainly many of his materials that will entertain no clafs of readers, and we are often difgufted at that felf importance in this honeft man, which makes him thinks that t\tsy little ftory, c4iat regards himfelf, or his aunt, or his coufln mufi be interefting to the public. It mufl be confefTed^ that very trivial facSls receive 2, feafoning from RoussEAU*s man- ner of difhing zn^ fending them up ; but that is really but a very middling entertainment, in which the merit of almoft all the di(hes depends upon the fauce; — and this is palpably the cafe with the intelledual and moral entertainiiient, to which we are invited to (it down in the Work before us.
This we obferve only, with reipcfl to the Confefftons^ which are comprifed in fix books and fill 300 pages. In regard to the reveries 01 folita^y walks^ which fill little more than a third of tbatfpace, though they alfo contain many infipid and vulgar anec- dotes, fuch as may happen to every barber's boy who carries home the wig that his mafter has drefTed, yet they exhibit entertain- ment of a higher kind, of which we (hall give, in their place, fome fpecimens, that will diminifh the unfavourable impreffions, which thefe confe/fions may produce.
Since thefe Confejftons have been publifhed, we {hall not pafs them over in filence ; htc^uk fome account of the private hiftory of this extraordinary man may be an obje£^ of curiofity ; tho' the whole account, as it here lies before us, muft certainly pro- duce fatiety. There are very few men^ whoic whoU lives are fit to be exhibited to public view.
M m 2 J- J*
c^t RoufTeau^i Confeffidnit
J. J. Rousseau was born at Geneva (which is now a prey to (he fatal confequences of his romantic principles) in the year 17 12. His father was a watch-maker, a man of parts, who had been liberally educated, as is very frequently the cafe with the tradefmen of that city. This man read romances with his ion, almoft without interruption, until the boy had arrived at his 8th year. Plutarch's Lives fucceeded the romances : * And by thefe (fays he) and the converfations, they occafioned between my father and me,- was formed within me, that free republican,' proud, invincible fpirit, that could bear no yoke, and which has tormented mc through the whole courfe of my life, even in cir-
cumftances the leaft adapted to its exertion/ * I looked upon
ihyfelf as a Greek or a Roman : T became the perfon whofe life I read y — the recital of ftriking inftances of intreprdity and con- ftancy of mind made my eyes fparkle, and gave the tone of thunder to my voice. One day, while I was telling, at table, the ftory of Scxvola, I frighted the company almoft out of their wits, by laying hold of a chafing-di(h to a£t the part over sigain.*
He was, neverthelefs, a good boy, was carefully educated^ and had good examples about him, as he tells us the momentf after. * I had, indeed, fays he^ the defeAs incident to this early l^eriod of life : I was a prattler, a glutton, and fometimes a liar, I made no fcruple of pilfering fruit, fweet-meats, and eatables } But I never took pleafure in doing mifchief, in accufing my play-fellows, or in tormenting flies or any other animals. 1 however recal to my memory, my having once pifled in the tea* kettle of Mrs. Clot, one of our neighbours, when the old Ladf was at church. I ev^n confefsy that when I think of this, I ftilf fall a laughing ; for Mrs. Clot, though no bad fort of woman^ was a grumbler of the firft order. Here then 1 have given a' Ihort, but faithful hiftory of the mifdemeanors of my in* fancy.'
When he was getting out of infancy, he was deprived of the prefence of his father, who had been obliged to retire from Ge- neva to Nion, on account of a quarrel he had with an ofllcer. On this occafion his uncle Bernard^ who became his guardian^ ftnt him with his own fon, to board with M. Lamhercier^ va\^' nifter of a village, who was to inftrudl them in Latin and other branches of fchool- education. Nothing certainly Can be more trivial than the events of this period, and yet we afe told they had a predominant influence upon the fentiments and charaAer' of this old man during the whole courfe of his life. We fhall' abridge the account of a whipping, which Roufieaa received* (probably on his pofteriors) from Mrs. Lamberner^ the fchool^ mafter's Mer, becaufe it gives occafion to fome very fivgttlaf feilexk)ns. ^ Mrs. Lambercier had for us, fays he, a maternal
5 affedion^
RoufleauV Cmfefftons. Jjj
lifFe£lion, but (he had alfo over us the authority of a mother, 9nd carried it fo far as to puni(h us when we defer ved it. A'ter many threatnings, (he at kngtb in^i£led corporal chaftifement, and though ihe apprebenfion of this punifhment was terrible* its execution was fo far from being fo, that it excited in me al new degret of afFe£lion for the perion who inflidled it. I found in the pain, and even in the (hame, excited by this chaftifement, a tnixturi of Jenfuality^ which left behind it rather a defire thaa an apprehenkon of being punifhed ag^in by the fame hand. |^ even longed for a repetition of this corredlion, and 1 would cer« ^ainJy have done fomething to deferve it in order to obtain it, had not my aflFeftion for Mrs. Lambercier^ and my fear of of- fending her retrained me. No doubt, fome inftin^ive per* ception of her fex was at the bottom of this defire; for the fame correiStion from the hand of her brother would not at all have pleafcd me.— -Who would believe that this punifhmenr, infliifled upon me in my nijith year, fixed the tenor of my pro* penfities, defires, paffions, and charaAer for the reft of my life^ and fixed it in a line or dire^ion, contrary to that which it ought naturally to have produced : though the fire of paffion was kindled, my defires were fo little inftrudled, that they acquiefced in what I had already experienced, and fought no other gratifi« jcation.' * With the warmeft conftitutiui?) which burned with fenfuality even from my birth, I kept myfelf pure from all pUmiJh until the time of life when the coldeft complexions, anfi| the moft tardy and backward propenfities, develope their ardour/ * The following pages are a glaring contradifSlion to this affirm* ^tion, and though the female connexions of this odd mortal^ this aggregate of contradictions, are defcribed with a certaid decency of phrafe, they (hew, through this gauze, proceedings and objeds which we have no inclination to exhibit to oui: j^eaders.
All thefe things took place before Rousseau had paflTed his 12th year, and tbey fill a great number of tirefome pages full of repetitions, trifles, and contradidions, which are fcarcely gendered fupportable by fome juft and interefting reflexions. He was then bound apprentice to an attorney, who turned him oflTon account of his negligence ; afterw^irds to an engraver, wh6(e profeifion he liked, but whofe tyranny and fcverity led him to icontrad ftrong habits of lying, idlencfs, and thievery. He ftole almoft every thing but money ; and he gives us a long firing of reafons for his abftinence from this kind of theft, (uch as the impreflions of education, the fear of infamy, and the gallows^ and fo on. But one. of his curious reafons for not ftealing money, is, that it is almoft good for nothing. ' To make ufe pf money, fays ht^ we muft cheapen, buy, pay well, and be iU ^rved. I want fomethine good in ita kind ^ for money I am
M m 3 ftfre
534 * Rouffeau'i Confejfions.
fure to have it bad : I buy dear a frefli egg and find tt ftale : \ love good wine, but if I purchafe it from a wine merchant, I am fure it will be abominable. And if I will abfolutely be well ferved, what cares, v^hat perplexities afiail me ? I muft pro«* cure friends and correfpondents, give commiffions, write, go, come, wait, and all this often to be duped ! So that I had no temptation to fteal money : a fingle Iheet of paper, proper for defigning:, tempted me more, wb^n I was in my apprenticefliipi than a fum of money that would have procured me a ream. ^his oddity is connected with one of the iingularities of my charadter, which has had fuch a remarkable influence on my con- dud^, that it is neceflary to be more explicit on this head. I have yery warm paffions ; and while they are in motion, nothing can ^qual my impetuofi-y : In thefe mon.ents, neither reftraint, nor refpedl, nor fear, nor decency, have any hold upon me ; I am cynical, impudent, violent, and intrepid ^ neither fliame can check, nor danger affright me. — Except the objed that then pccupies me exclufively, the whole univerfe is nothing to me: but all this is only the bufjnefs of a moment, and the fucceeding one throws me jnto a (late of annihilation. But take me in a calm moment, and then I am all indolence and tirporoufnefs it- iclf : every things alarms me j every thing difcourages me ; the buzzing of a ny fcares me ; a word that I muft pronounce, ^ gcilure terrifies my lazinefs, fear and (hame domineer over me to fuch. a degree, that f (hould be glad to hide myfelf from every hunian eye. If I am obliged to a£l^ I know not what to do: If I am obliged to fpeak, I know not what to fay : and if any one looks at me, I am difconcerted. \Vhen I grow warm, 1 can fometimes exprefs myfelf well, and find words in abuo- fiance; but in ordinary converfation I am totally barren \ I can* not find a phrafe, and therefore it is to me unfupportable, be- caufe I am obliged to fpeak.' foor man I
RoufTeau did not ferye out his time with the engraver, where (as he tells us himfelf) he had fallen from tht fublimity of hereifm to the degradation of a worthUfs dog. This degradation was nor, however, entire ; for he had rtcourfe to reading', to fill up the void that confumed his heart, and which neither the la* bours of his profeilion, nor the amufements that fatisfied other?, could fill. This cured him of feveral childifh propenftties and I low habit<:, and prefented to him objeds that contributed to fave him from himfelf^ and to fiem the torrent (thefe are his own cxprtfli'.ns) of his growing Jenfuality. * Thus (fays he) I ar- rived at my fixteenth year, rcfUcfj, difcontcntcd wiih every thing and with myfelf, without an inclination for my profefiion, con^ fumed with defires, of which I knew not the true objed^, ffgh* Ing, I knew not why — and carcfling tenderly my fincicf, fof want of realities that better deferved my attachment/
RoufleauV Confeffhrn. 53$
At this time the fear of chaftifement from his fcvcre mafter, prompted him to fave himfelf by flight. This opens a new fcene, and a Angular one, which his defcription of its circumftances renders ftill more intereiting than the circumftances themfelves^ while feveral excellent refle£tions (for 'tis a ftrange head and heart!) cry mercy and indulgence for the follies that it exhi* bits. Returning too late to Geneva after an evening walk, and iinding the gates (hut, he formed the defign of breaking his chain, and feeking his fortune elfewhere. Away he went, and under the influence of his dawning liberty, his imagination built enchanted cafties, and created the moft delicious phantoms of future felicity. However, even in this field of fancy, his defires were not immoderate, nor his views over ambitious : he fore- saw, indeed, every fource of pleafure pouring forth its ftreams at his feet, feafts, happy adventures, Wends to fcrve him, mif- treflfes to pleafe Ivim : ^ But, fays be^ I did not want all this. The charms of a good fociety were fuflicient. My moderatUn circumfcribed me within a narrow, but delicious fphere, where I could be afTured of ruling. My ambition was limited to one caftle; where I fliould be the favourite of the Lord and Lady of the manfion, their daughter's lover ^ their ion* s friend^ the /»r^- ii^9r of their neighbours. With this I (hould be contented ; I fhould feek no more.' You may think Reader that he jokes, but we fay Ecce Homo !
In the mean time, he trotted from village to village, living upon the hofpitality of benevolent peafants. At length, in the tcriitory of Savoy, he met with a curate (M. dc Pontverre) who received him well, talked to him of the heretics of Geneva, of the authority of the Holy Mother Church, ufed many arguments to convert him, and gave him a good dinner. Civility and gra- titude prevented him from vigorbufly anfwering arguments that had fuch an engaging conclufion ; and he makes a Jong and in- genious apology for the weaknefs of his oppofition, or rather for his filence, and fomeobfequious nods, that gave the curate hopes of his converfion. The curate, who had no other end in view but to gain a profelyte, fent him to Annecy to a Mrs. lVaren%y a new convert, who had fled from her hufband at Laufanne, and to whom the King of Sardinia had given a peniion, which was to be partly employed by her zeal in works of piety The charms and qualities of this Angular and alluring (hepherdefs of wandering fouls are amply defcribed here \ and the Author muft have been tvarm^ for he has certainly not been barren of words on the occaiion. His firft interview with this Lady is, indeed, fnoft entertaining : his defcription of her perfon, is one of the moft animated pictures of interefting beauty and grace which we have ever met with $ and her loving and gentle charader, ber fympathj with the iinhappV) her inexhauftible goodnefs, her
M m 4. decpn(
53^ Rpttilbau'j CmfiJJbm^
decent gaiety, her amiable fraokneft and candour, and tl ferenity that reigned in her benevolent mind through aH ti trials and vicKBtudes of her life, areexprelTed in the fineft lines,! and with the richeft colouring. Yet this angelic creature^ as ap-l pears in theprogrefsof thefe C0if//^ju, condefcended to a^soil humanity to her Reward, and alfo to our Author, which do not come within \\\^ moral fphere of beneficence. Here, howevcrj pur adventurer tell us, that her condud was totally difintereftti^ and her motives pure, her compliances being no more than ge- perous rewards for faithful fervice and attachment, which (he beftowed without any views or feelings but thofe of benevo- lence.
However that mav have been, Roufieau had hitherto no title fo his Lady's benevolence, and a youth of fixteen was, in the eye of fame, a critical objetSl for this agreeable woman, in her 28th year. She therefore Tent him to Turin, to have his con- yerfion to popery completed, by the ecclcfiaftics of that city. This opens again a new fcene, which really defer vcs to be prefented to our Readers, The circomflances are fo much the more interefting, as we are fure that they are true. The Editor of this Work ought to have feledied interefling fa£ls and rcfl ^icns from this manufcript, inftead of pubhOiing the whole.
Away then he went to Turin, in company with a Mr. and Mrs. Sabran, to whofe care Mrs. Warens had committed him. * I was, at this moment, jays he-, in the happieft fituation of mind and body, that I have ever found myfelf in the whole courfc of my life. Young, vigorous, healtby) fe^ure, full of confidence in myfelf and in others, I was juft in that tranfitory but precious period of hfc^ when iu ^xpanfive plenitude extends, as it were, our being by all our fenfations, and embel{i(hes all nature with the charm of our exigence. Young 4^fire, en- chanting hope, and fplendid proje^s, filled my mind.' He paiTed fcven days in the mod delightful reveries and expefiationi between Annecy and Turin. And as he travelled through a beautiful countiy, his hopes and projects were of a rufal kind ; he fancied to himfelf padoral fcenes of felicity, which he here defcribej with the pen of a Gefner. When he arrived at Turin, the fumes of ambition got up to his brain: < I already looked upon m)felf as infinitely exalted above my former condition of an apprentice, and was far from apprehending that I was going io fall rpuch below it,' The fall, indeed, was- terrible^ an4 the vifionary landfcape was converted ipto a filthy pfiire.
His fellow-travellers had defrayed bis charges, but be wa^ pbliged to reimburfe them, which exhaufted his fmall (lock, ^nd reduced him to a defti(ufc cgnd^tiont ■ m He had^
however,
Roufleau'x ConfeJ^ns, 532
i however, letters to the heads of the feminnry. of the Catechu- I ii'»ens, where he v/as to purchafe a fubfiftence, by the facrificQ i of his fincerity. His defcription of the place, of the iron crofs* barred gate, that was ftut and douhlc-loclced, with a hideous clangor on his heels as foon as he pafTcd the threfhold^-of two vagabond Sclavonians, who called themfclves Jews, that were to be admitted with him into the bofom of MothGr-church, and of the emotions, fentimcnts, and conflicts, that pafTed in his mind in this dii'gufting period of his degradation, is curious and afFeding. The reflexions he malces on this occaiion ^re va- rious and excellent. ^ The fophifm by which I was undone (fays he) is a pretty general fourcc of illufion amoog men, who complain of the want of power, when it is too late to employ it. It is our fault if virtue is dif&cult; for if we were alway$ provident and cautious, we (hould have rarely occafion for its painful exertions. But propenfities, which might be eafily overcome, meet with no refiftance : we yield to light tempta^ tioos, of which we defpife the danger : we fall imperceptibly into perilous (ituations, which might have been avoided with little difficulty, but from which we cannot extricate ourfclves without heroic efforts, that we behold with terror ; and at length, we fall into the abyfs, and complain that God framed us fo weak and yielding. But, in the midft of our illufipns and complaints, the Deity addrefT^s to our confciences the following language: I made thee too weak to deliver thyfelf fron) the abyfs, becaufe I made xhttjlrong enough not to fall into it/
Our poor adventurer got into the abyfs. He difputed a little with the Abb6*s, and then yielding, was fent to the inquifitor to obtain abfolution for the herefy in which he had been edu^ Gated. He received about twenty florins for his apoftacy, which had been collefied from the fpcaators of the ceremony that ac- companied it. However, he got out of the ecclefuftical prifon, ^nd the keen fenfation of recovered liberty made him, for a mo* ment, forget his mifery and his difgracc. The twenty florins appeared to him an inexhauftible treafure, and he formed nevv ^opf$ as vifionary as the preceding, and as ignoble iri the event. He ran about the city to fee the new fet of ob« je<3s it exhibited to his curiofity, and finiflied the fatigues of the day in a lodging he had hired for a penny a night, in the homely cabin qf a foldier*s wife. The objedls of magnificence and fplendor he faw at the Court and about the city, raifed in bim only a ilupid admiration vvithout exciting any .defire.' The only thing, fays he^ that excited my curiofity, when I faw the cutfide of the Court, was to know, whether there was not fome Princefs within^ who deferyed my homage, and with whom I might a^ a rooiao^e,*
CIA.- -
538 RoufleatiV Confeffkns,
Inftead of a romance with a Princefs, he was empToyecf iqI the (hop of a certain Madame BaJUfy with whom his connediooj was y^ry tender, though pure and fentimental, and is htiv largely and warmly defcribed, with a pencil like Sterne's^ when he was not indecent. Turned out of this houfe by a jealous hufband, he returned to his old penny lodging, and was re- commended by the foldter's wife to a domeftic, who recommend* cd him to the Countefs of Vercellisy into whofe fervice he was admitted upon a footing fomewhat higher than that of a liverv* ierrant. Here he told a lie, which tormented him through the whole courfe of his days, and which he now relates in ail its circumftances with the bittereft and moft afFeding expreffions of remorfe. The obje(9 was trifling — the theft was ignoble ; but the lie was indeed, villanous : he had filched a ribbon, and when it was difcovered in his pofleffion, he laid the theft to the charge of Marion^ an innocent and amiable girl of the family, and in prefence of all the fervants aflVmbled, with a view to find out the tranfgreflar, he affirmed to her face that (he had fiolen the ribbon and given it to him. The truth was, that he had ftolen it, with an intention to give it to her : but nothing can exceed his lively and pathetic defcription of his guilr, the motives that occafioned the lie, the innocent fimplicity of Marion, and the inextinguifhable remorfe of her unjuft ac- cufer. RouiTeau left this houfe after the death of the CounteCs^ whofe lad moments, as here reprefented, would have left a pleafing impreiHon of refpe6l on the mind of the Reader, had not the relation been terminated by a ridiculous incident which excites laughter.
In the fucceflion of his ideas and connexions, RoufiTeau had been hitherto, as he expreffes it himfelf, an Jchil/esor a Therjitis^ a hero, or a worthlefs dog. He met with a Mr. Gainu^ who took pains to call him to reflexion, to fhew him to himfelf, without difcouraging him on the one hand, or fparing his pride on the other, • He drew to me (fays be) a true pidure of human life, — while he fpolce advantageoufly of my natural charader and talents, he told me frankly, that they were not likely to place me in the fun-(hine of fortune, though they might furnifh refources that would enable me to fupport the want of it. He lowered my admiration of human grandeur, by proving to me that thofe, who ruled others, were neither wifer nor happier than them, — and that if each individual could read what pafled in the hearts of all Ms fellow-creatures, more would be ktn difpofed to defcend, than afpiring to rife. He was the firft who gave me true ideas of moral beauty and virtue, which my flighty and high fwollen imagination had never contemplated or diicerned but in their extremes. He made me perceive that the enthufiafm of fublime virtues was of littk ufc in fociety, — ^that
thoff
Roufieau'i Cmfeffwis. ^29
H fhofe who fuared too high were mod expofed to fall, and chat
■I the even tenor of fmaller duties, well performed, required as
i great ftrength as heroic deeds, and was attended with more
i' peaceful and happy fruits, and that it was infinitely more eli-
I gible to obtain the efidtm of men, than to be fometimes the ob<v
je^Js of their admiration,* Good lefTons ! had they been reduced to
pradlice. They, however, left profound traces in the. mind of
our fublime vagabond, and were certainly a. prefervative againft
the temptations that aflailed him.
He now entered into the family of the Count de Gouvon^ firft Equerry to the Queen, and head of the iilufirious houfe of Solar. The fon of this nobleman, who was an Abbe, and a man of letters, raifed him from the ftate of domedic, in which he was for fome time, to a better rank, or, at leaft, treated him as one in whom he might one day plac6 confidence and employ in a reputable fphere. He taught 'hfm Latin, more or lefs (for Rouifeau never made any confiJerable proficiency ia that language), was pleafed with his capacity and genius, gave him inftru£iions in the Belles Lettres, and particularly in Italiaii literature, in which our difciple made a great progrefs. £ver]r thing in this new fituation had the moft promifing arpe£l with refped to his future fortune : he was efteemed in the family uni- verfaily, was looked upon as a young man of whom the higheft expedations might be entertained, and was defigned to be em- ployed as a perfon of capacity and confidence, under fucb of the branches of that noble Houfe as might be promoted to em- baffies or minifterial departments. * But (fays he) thefe profpeds were too folid for my head, which was always running after uncommon adventures: they required a long fubjeftion, and the plan appeared to me tedious and infipid, as I faw no woman concerned in it. That is the very circumftance that ought to have recommended it, if I had not been deftitute of common fenie/ In the mean time, what happened i A comi- cal fellow from Geneva called Bacle^ fell in his way at Turin, and amufed him with his buffoonery and lively humour. He contracted fuch an attachment for this merry companion, that he refolved to break all his prefent connections, and to fet off* with him from Turin, for, —he knew not where. Accordingly, he neglected bis duty, his profpeCts, and his benefaCtors, got himfelf turned out of doors, and after having wandered from place to place with this vagabond, during fix weeks, he return- ed with fear, and almoft with defpair, to the houfe of Mrs, IVarens at Anneqy, for whom he had ftill retained a tender affcdion, and of whom (as he had faid at parting from her) he confidered nimfelf as the pupil, the friend, if not the lover.— 1 he lover, certainly, in the whole extent of that term. The paraJuxical refinements of this paffion in his brain, its ferment-
atioii
J4^ RoufleauV Confejj^ns.
ation in the reft of his frame, the manner of livfng of thrt Dukima^ with a thaufand trifling incidents, which are circum* ftanciaMy related (that nothing, forfooth, which can contrtbuteta make this importnrst perfonagi^ our Author, icnown may be con- cealed from the public) occupy a coniiderabie number of pages.
Mrs. War em formed fchemes for placing Roufftauy who was now advanced in his 19th year. A relation of hers, M« D^ Auhonne^ a man of parts and enterprize, who pai(cd through Annccy in his way to Turin, examined the young man at ker requeft, and pronounced htm ^ dcditute of acquired knowledge^ and {o fcantily furnifhed wiih parts and ideas, that he did hoc ieem dedined for any thing more exalted than the cu/acy of % village. On this occafion Roufieau gives an account of his io<^ tellers, which, no doubt, will furprizc the Reader. By this account it appears, that he was as flow in thinking as he wa^ quick and lively in feeling, — that he arranged his ideas with th« greateft difHculty, — that he wrote with pain and labour, as the innumerable blots and corcedtons in his manufcripts, and the neceifity he was under of cranfcribing them four or Ave times^ before they went to the prefs, abundantly teftify,-^that the for* mation of a fmgle period fomecimes coft him: threel or four flights : — that he could never attain to the quick facility and readinefs which are eflfenfeial to the epiftolary ftile, and that all bis writings were carried on andi finiflied by dint of labour^ ilowly and painfuUy. Who will belteye this who knows that bold thought and ftrong feeling force exprei&on, nay force it rapidly \ But our Author, it (eems, was a (iiigular man, and unlike any other individual of his fpecies ;*and to perfuade ua of this (which is his favourite idea, his hobby hoffe), we really believe that he fometimes tells fibs, without knowing it.
Mrs X^r^i/x difappears for fome time: fome fecret views car* ried her fuddenly to Paris. During her abfence Roufleau wandered about from place to place, teaching mufic, of which, as yet, he knew very little, to gain ^ fubfiftence, that was fcarcdy fuch as kept him above iharp indigence. In the environs of Laufanne he met with a Greek bifhop, who was making a colledion for the reftoration of the holy fepulchre. The pre^ iate and our Author took a liking to each other, and our ad- venturer thus became ailiftant and interpreter to the archman- drite of Jcrufaiem. He would probably have vifited the Holy L md, had not the Marquis 6f Bonac, the French ambafTador at Soleure, perfuaded him to renounce this new employment. and taken him into his houfe with a yicw to provide for him* Otir pilgrim remained, however, but a fliort time with the Marquis, who, perhaps, on perceiving his impatience and n>- manuck call of niiiid, was latisfied to get rid 1^ hlm« This
he
Mentcllc*5 Ekmenis of Cofinograph^ Sec. j^i
^he efFeded by recommending him to an old Swifs Colonel at Paris, who fought a tutor for his nephew. This plan did not fuccecd ; fo that after many attempts to find a fubfiflencc^ he returned back to his dear Mrs. fFarens^ who was now fet- tled at Cham berry, and there, by her means, he obtained the place of one of the writers or fecretaries, to a commifHon which the King of Sardinia bad appointed for furveying and taxing the lands. In this employment he applied himfelf to the fludy of arithmetic and geometry, and feveral occafiona were prefented of improving his mufical knowledge. In (hort, muftc became his paffion, and after having laboured two years in his fcribbling vocation, which was infipid and even difguii- ing by its circumftances, he refigned it, and became mufiic mafter at Chamberry. This change he had no reafon to re- pent fi: his income was rather increafed than diminifhed b^ his n8w vocation, which, befidcs, introduced him into the be(t company, where he was well received. Here he fpent near eight years in mufic, and the (ludy of modern philofophy, and in the moil intimate connexion with Mrs. If^arens^ from \vhich, however, he made digreffions that did little honour to his pretended delicacy of fentiment. At length a coldnefs took place between them, which ended in his removal to Lyons^ where, by the recommendation of this lady, he was appointed
tutor to the children of M.. de Mably. Here the confeffions
end ; they go no farther than RouiTeau's 30th year, and are terminated by anobfcure fentence, which infmuates, that there is fome reafon for carrying them no farther. * If my me- mory (fays he) is handed down to pofterity, it will then be know^ what I had farther to fay, and why I now ketp fi- len«JB
We fliall give fome extrafts from the walh and revtriei in » fucceeding Review-^and a farther account of this extraordinary
Art. VIII.
Co/mographie Elcmintahn divijet tH parties AflronomiqMi et Gtcgrapljifue^ &c.-^The Elements of Cofmography, Aftronotnical, and Geogra- phical, in which the principal Truth?, in the Theory of Aitrono- iny, ire made intelligible to thofe who are unacquainted with Ma- thematics. With Plates and Maps. Dedicated to the Duke d'AngouIeme, by M. Mentelle, Hiiloriographer to the Count d'Artois, and Member of the Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres, in Rouen. 8vo. 7s. fewed. Paris* 1782% Imported by Beclcet.
THE judicious and ufeful elementary work here offered to- the poHic is divided into two parts. In the firft part, which treats of aftronomy, the Author relates briefly^ but with
much
541 Litters (f ctrtatn Portuguefe^ &c. ^Ms.
much clearncfs, the principal phaenomena of the folar iydenf and fixed ftars ; explains the laws of gravitation, and, as far as was pra<5licable, without introducing mathematical demon- ftrations or calculations, draws a diftindl outline of the New« tonian theory. To this the Author has added a brief biftorical ▼lew of the progrefs of aftronomical knowledge, and a defcrip*^ tion of fome of the moft ufeful aftronomical inftruments« The method is clear, — the language is plain and perfpicuous, — and the treatife, on the whole, as a general popular view of aftro- xiomy, has great merit. The geographical part of the work IS drawn up with concifenefs, and includes only what is properly elementary in this branch of fcience. This book may be made life of with great advantage, where the objed is, to obtain a ge-* neral idea of aftronomy and geography, without entering into the fcientific labours of the fchools. m
Art. IX.
Litlru di ^elques Jutfs Portugais^ AlUmand it PoUnois a M, de VaU taire. — Letters of certain Porcuguefe, German, and Polilh Jews, tor M. de Vohaire. With a (hort Commentary, cxrradcd from a greater. The 5th Edition revifed, corrededy and much enlarged^ In 3 Volumes* 8vo'. Paris. 1781.
AS we have formerly * taken notice of this work, written by the ingenious Abbe Gueneky we now only mention it to inform our Readers, that in the prefent edition it appears with many material corredions and editions ; particularly a further juftincation of Mofes and the Jewifli law, againft the cenfures of Voltaire, in his Old Man ofCaucafus. ^
A R T. X.
hiJl^A^hhjiphique it* mm/ique da Eftablijfemtns ei du Cummer a de$ Europeans dans Its deux indes. Par Guillaume-Thomas RajuaL 8vo, 10 Vols, Geneva. 1781. Sold by T. Becker, London.
THIS great work, which has engaged fo general an atten* tion throughout Europe, and which, amidft the different opinions which men of different religions or political principles have formed concerning its doctrines, is univerfally acknow- ledged to be the produdion of an eminent mafter, is now brought to a concluiion. In this edition, confifting of ten vo« lumes, the two laft are new. In the qinth volume, the Author treats of the original fettlement and prefent^fiateof Pennfylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, Georgia and Florida. This
• Sec Review, Vol. XLI. p. 562.
% volume
RaynaVi PhlUfophlcal and PoGtUal Hlflorj^ 54 J
tolume likewife contains a general view of the natural hiftorf of North Ameria, with reflexions on its prefent Aate with re- fpecl to population, manners and commerce. Thefe reflections introduce a fer ies of obfervations on the prefent interciling coa« teft between Great Britain and America, of which, as a fepa* rate work, an Englifli tranflation has been given, under the title of. The Revolution of America^ printed for L. Davis : a publi- cation which we have already noticed, with fome intimation of a fufpicion, which then feemed to us well-grounded, but which now appears to have been taken up without fuflicient founda- tion.— To this volume are prefixed the following tables : The ftatc of the French fiflieries in Newfoundland, &c. The im- ports and exports between Great Britain and her Colonies, froni 1697 to 1773: The trade of North-America with the Weft- Indies, Africa, Great Britain, and the Continent of Europe, for the year 1769 ; and a general table of the (hipping of North- America for the fame year. This laft table contains fuch ufe* ful information, that we (hall lay it before our Readers.
/
544
< O
H
H . CO J^
a
at
2^
Q ^
o
<
H
Raynal'f Phllofophuat and PoUthaf Hifiorj.
<
O h
CO
O
&
o;
H
CO
O
M
h
<
< <
M Q
-
^
'«5
H 0« m ^ ^ i^ c«
« I I
I I 1 I I
>
H u
<
c
0© 00 -»
•* M \0 M M Ct
r*« v/^ M <*t
4 N
IT!
*
«
mm *■
« ^1*
9
OS
I
** fl
»• ro •* ri
CO
a.
<
O *H
H U4
H
Oi
w c/
<<
PS
<
A BO
U c
^<
o
*0 rt .
-+ ^*» t^ I - •* _ _ _ *r. »/% tJ- I «« M •^OO 0^ O
— O O r«
VO
I
c^^o ^ e^ •^ c^
<-tl
I ., i I M I U i - )
r '^ I I I I I I I I
k >
M 9 M
I
crW
I I
o o
K 3 f«
C
^ * 4* * #« ^ ■» flh
1 =
5 •" o »j I
i I
0\ M ro r>» el rt
^
1^.
/
JS
*• I * "O
L "
Om
I -
vr. \o u^oo M O — O v> b^ao r>. «#% in^ ^ o M « rs.t*^.o oso «^ 5^T?> o^ 5 J^ ^
M CO M ^O ^ Xi-
« »o
I I -
O eo o H» 30 CO ^ m
ii a « I
•ill I
f • H
- I J"
N *o ON -^00 H «o o oc oo'i» »* en
O OC
0
rs
II
90
3
rx
r*
^
O
O
i«t«o OO ««
0^
I __
if fi-* tvoo M oc ^ CI tn a^ ♦->«*> o^»^oo S « *o e*^vc o r- »^ »^ »o*o «^ »o 1^ ^
f4 ^ M M
C
O
.;; I
^»-i cne%-«C ONr^«« ♦^M r«.%o w%^ S^
M>otv«sro^i^trt( «/nmO
•0>0 CO
•«
eo
f«
o
h
M
(0
M
H
o
M
»s-s
• «
I
I I
e
51 2
£• ■
c "S
^^ «J CS A'
« i* « V ^ C ^
~ a i •-oya
t •
» CO
• V I!
O 3 • •••S
Jhj?
Sir's S i**^^-
• .s
•4 ^ <
kaynal'i Phllofapbkal and PqKucmI Hi/lory, l^c. 545
v4 O
00 00 Q ^ w^ >0 so O ^
^ ^00 0^0 OsQyO n O ••«6 »*O0
t^ "^ !>» tO«0 SO 00 vO •< H vO M M H
O
^ M rriso f« ^ c« r» ij\ 9s a\ rrvO «;o O w-t f«t ^»nH •-• rloo« <*-m w->\o >o tx «/> -< ^ m
CO
D
CO
Jz;
w
h
< O
M
H &« ft)
CO
M
S
<
*^
M a
<
E^S
• ki •*
•* 6 el K o* o^ r«» en •• ^ «n rt 00 >o 1^ ^00
M C« M
r<>« en ^ Ov ^ M
r^ OS O « "^ »'> «
00
sO O ^0 ^'^ O ^
♦no m »<■
O *h
»n
cvO rt «/% »• to »n O
O00«^M00H>-t>.
«^ ♦so ♦ r« w^ o\ ^ 0% w^O so «A («
I « M I tn I
r
1 1 1 1 u I - 1 ri 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1
o
00 m r^oo o\ u^ c« 0% ««oo M o to
T
*^9* ^ •* ■" O 00
O ♦ «0 H M
cn
,3-
H 8
O O «n o 00 Qo " O O OS «<-»
«0 M
M "^00 OS OS l>. »o
OsvO »r» rt *o — o O^OO
^^ ON r) ^^ »^so t>.oo rt
H M ^00 (^ en
OtH O C4 i-«
SO OS
»o
OOOOOHvorsOsw I
'^ 1^ w
-J—
-I
SO t^ »*»
Os OS H
tnso
W^sO H «*1 t* 30
OS »noo •«
O
SO
•'^ »A O O »'^vo ^nO moo OS "^ ►* OS t« ^ so H
«A O snir»«Ao O o^ »n O o<nc«^os(jOHnO •^•^ r^OsOl>»ro»o»-»
0%
SI?
en
5 K
TiTT LU-I.
r« tn •* w w io €♦%
vO
M e« •! «| tv en
>4 OS
m m
(OsO
C 9
H ^
c - 2 I
5 S a S 5 a
so t^ toM 00 1^
5»02 OS »n •* en rl O ^ cn%0 ei
I
m -t "t* '^ ♦ m OSOO t^ fN 10 r-^— u^mr>«t^vno «no>r><. Ost^^ ^•oenetso m5 «*»
OS- rTso o OsW^H M
t so
SOS
M
N. ^-OO 00 O 00 t>% M O ♦so so 5t>enM M vnc^o « en»r»»i* H
rv OS o r*^^ so
?r
A?p. kev. Vol. LXVl.
Na
Th«
546 Foreign Correspondence.
The tenth and laft volume confifts entirely of general re- fledlions on the following fubjedls : religion, government, po- licy^ war, naval affairs, commerce, agriculture, manufadures, population, taxes, public credit, the fine arts, philofophjr, mo- rals, and the tSeds of the difcovery of America. In this part of the work, the Author unfolds his opinions at large, and without reierve : and they art for the moft part fo ori- ginal and curious, and often fo contrary to the notions which are commonly received, that there is no doubt of their enga- ging a very confiderable (hare of the public attention, and con« ^quently, on fome future occafion paifing again under our in- fpedlion. T,his expectation, together with the great difficulty of making a feledion from materials which are fo intereftiog throughout, induce us at prefent to content ourfelves with a general notice of thefe volumes.
To this edition of the Abb^ Raynal's Hiftory is added, in quarto> an Atlas, drawn up on purpofe for the work, confift- ing of 49 maps ; to which is prefixed a fuccinif analyjis^ ex- plaining the maps, and enumerating the authorities on which they are conRrudled. M
Art. XI.
Use following Correspondence was intendid for the Monibof
June^ but came too late for Infertion*
ITALY.
NATURAL hiftory, which is now become doubly inteitfi- ing by its new alliance with chemiftry and experimental philofophy, fees its votaries multiply daily, and is culti- vated in Italy with unremitting ardour and fuccefs. A new produfiion in this line has been lately publiihed at Turin and Milan under the follo\^ing title, Mineralogie Sicilienne^ Doti* maftique et Metallurgique^ &c. i. e, Sicilian, docimaftic, and metallurgical mineralogy, or an account of all the minerals con- tained in the ifland of Sicily, with a circumftantial defcription of- the mines and quarries, and a hiflory of all the works that have been carried on in them, both in ancient and modern times. To which is fubjoined, a Sicilian minero-hydr^hgy^ or a defcription of ail the mineral waters of that ifland^ together with 13 tables, containing the earths, (tones, falts, bitumens, metals, femi-metals, mineralizers, mineral waters hot and cold, which are known in Sicily. By the author of the SicUiam Li- tholocy. 8vo. Price 5 French livres. 1782.
Lettres fur la Sicile et fur life de Malte^ &c. /. /. Letters concerning Sicily and the Ifle of Malta, written in the Years 1776 and 1777, by Count d£ BorcH^ Member of fevera) Aca- demic^
l^'oREiGN Correspondence* 547
demies, to the Count C. of V. and dcfigned as a Supplement to Mr. Brydone's Travels in Sicily and Malta. 2 vols. 8vo, Turin, 1782. Price ii French livres. Thcfc letters contain fome new inftru^ion ; and Count BoRCH has augmented the number of intercfting obfervations made on this famous iflind by preceding travellers. This work is enriched with 27 plates^ engraven by Mr. Chr. De I'Acqua, of Vicenza, an ar- tift of the nrft rate; as alfo with three maps, which reprefent ancient and modern Sicily, and the environs of Mount iEtna. All thefe plates and maps were engraven after the original drawings of Count BoRCH, except the view of the temple of JunO'Lucina^ at jfgrigentum^ which is executed after the draw- ing of Mr. Ph. Hoekert^ whofe prodiwSioas arc well known to the connoifTeurs.
Opiifcolt^ &c. /. /. PhyJicO'Chymical Treatifes (Opufcula\ by M. Landriani, 8vo. Milan, 1781. The Chevalier Lan- DRiANi is an adept in experimental philofophy and chemiftry^ and has already given the public feveral proofs of his know- ' ledge and talents in thefe combined walks of fcience. Of the five treatifes contained in the work before us, the firft exhibits an account of a machine invented by him, by means of which it may be known, at a fingle obfervation, how much rain has falien in a day, as affo the time and duration of its fall. The fecond contains a method of varnifhing butterflies and other infers, in order to preferve their form and colours. The fubjc£t of the third is the converfion of all acids into one. The Author undertakes to demonftrate, that all acids may be changed into fixed air, /. e» into aerial acid ; and he concludes from thence, that the acid of fixed air ought to be confidered as the univerfal acid. The fourth treat ife contains an account of all the difcoveries that have been hitherto made relative to that kind of fire which exifts in bodies, without giving any external mark of its prefence ; this matter is ilFuilrated by new experiments and obfervations. In the fifth and lafl, M. Lan« BRIANI (hews, that dephlogifticated air may be obtained not only from the nitrous acid^ but alfo from the vitriolic, marine^ and arfenical acids.
Lezioniy &c. 1. /. Le£)ures on Diforders of the Eyes, for the Ufe of the New Univerfity, founded by the King of Naples, in the Hofp tal for Incurables. By M. Michael Troja, Royal ProfefTor in that Univerfity. 8vo. 403 Pages, with Two Plates. Naples, 1781*— The fixteen lectures, contained in this volume, are divided into three fedions. The y&y? treats of the anatomy of the eye, and of every part of it relative to vifion. The fecond^ of the diforders incident to the external parts that furround the globe of the eye. The thirdy of the diforders of the eye itfelf, and of its various membranes.
N n a RiJUJfuni^
I
548' Foreign CoRREsrosDiwcE.
RifleJJioniy &c. i. c. Reflexions concerning the Inequality ohferih able among Men. By the Marquis F. A. Grimaldi. 3 vols. 8vo. Naples. — Thefe reflexions contain interefting materials for a hijiory of man^ whofe inequalities on diifimilar afpefis
^ this noble author confiders with refpeS to his fhyjical^- fnora!^
and civil ftate. He has been carefully on his guard againft the
/ jllufion of fancy and fyflematic prejudices in this philofophical
I fablature of human nature, >yhich difcovcrs no common degree
i of fagacity, judgment and learning.
! Zr/ Saros Meteor ologi que y ou EJTai tun nouveau Cycle pour k
retour des Saifons. i. e. Ihe Meteorological Saros, or an EfTay concerning a new Cycle of Seafons. By the Abbe ToALDo, Profeifor of Aftronomy at Padua. 15 pages 4to. This very learned aftronomer, in the fecond edition of his me- teorological effay on the influence of the heavenly bodies^ mentioned a curious difcovery he had made of a period in the return of the feafons, or a leries, at the end of which the fame tempera- ture of feafons returns in regular revolutions* The illuftration and proofs of this dircovery are contained in the (hort Memoir before us. Saros is the denomination of a period, among the
j ancients, of which the real duration is unknown, but which
fome authors fuppofe to have been the period of eighteen years, mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy^ which brings back the edipfes and inequalities of the moon in the fame order, and was for- merly employed to predift eclipfes. The Abbe Toaldo has found this period as important for the fcicnce of meteorology, as for that of aftronomy, as it has appeared to him to bring back, nearly in the fame order, dry and rainy, cold and warm years. This he proves by a table of obfervations, made from
J the year 1725 to 178 1, The refemblance of the three periods,
contained in this fpace of time is remarkable. In the period, for example, between 1743 and 1 7 60, there are 68 lunations or months marked as very moift, and in the fuccetding period,
^ from 1761 to 1778, there is exa£lly the fame number of
months marked in the fame way. There are, indeed, fome- what fewer lunations fo marked in the firft of the three periods contained in this table, and this might bring up to the rerocm« brance of an obje£lor the old proverb, that two fwaliows Jo not
' make a fummer\ our Abbe, however, tells us, that the Brtt faros
or period refembles the two others, notwitbftanding this fmall difference.
The months that are marked as moderately moift, correfpond nearly with each other in the three periods. Of 90 lunations taken from each period there are more than 30 that agree per« fedly in all the three. Our Author has more than once ob- fcrved, that a ftorm, or a violent guft of wind has been re- peated
Foreign Correspondence. 549
peated at the end of 18 years and 11 days, which is the txzSt duration of the agronomical period : but, generally fpeaking, ic is in the duration of a lunar month, fometimes of the pre« ceding or fucceeding lunation, that the refemblance is the mod palpable.
The Jares may be confulted, not only for rains, but alfo for falls of fnow, thunder- (lorms, fpgs and inundations.—- This he (hews by feveral examples. It is true, the obfer- vations of this eminent invcdigator of nature have been con^ fined to the climate of Padua; but furely, it is a confiderable ftep made, to have difcovcred even here the meteorogical cycle or period, which is the objeft of this Memoir. The pe- riod may perhaps exhibit fewer examples of correfpondence and regularity in northern countries, as incidental caoTes that afFedt the temperature of the feafons, fuch as thunder- ftorms, are more diverfified arid irregular in thefe countries than in fouthern climates. However, obfervers in all countries^ will, no doubt, be ^engaged by the example of M. ToalOo, to examine how far this lunar period of the feafons is verified io their refpe£liye climates.
I/iork PoUtica i Litierarla della Gncia^ ifc, i. c. A Political tnd Literary Hiftory of Greece. By Charles Denjna. Profcflbr of Eloquence in the Royal Univcrfity of Turin, Di- rector of the ClafTes of Hiftory and Belles Lettres in the Royal Academy, &c. Vol. I. and IL 8vo. 1781. — The learning and tafte of the Abbe Denika are well known, and his Rg^ volutions of Italy have given him a high and deferved reputa* tion. Much inftrudion and entercainment may therefore be expedled from this important work, of which we have here only the two firft volumes. The whole is to be comprifed ia eight volumes. The Hi/lory of Greece^ in a Stati of Lihtrty^ treated in 15 books, will occupy the firft four, which take ia the moft remote period of Grecian ftory, and carry the work down to the death of Philip of Macedon, '^4.4 years before the Chriftian a^ra. The four laft volumes will contain the Hijlory of Greeci under the Kings of Macedon^ which takes in a period of 190 years, from the reign of Philip to the reduflion of Ma* cedoDia into a Roman province, 140 years before Chrift.
The two firft volumes go fo far down as the year 4^8 be* fore Chrift, and contain eight books. In the two firjl^ the Author treats of the fabulous and heroic period of the Grecian hiftory, down to the aera of the Olympiads, where it approaches to the borders of truth, or at leaft of credibility. Here both bis erudition and his critical touch are put to the trial, and ap- pear to advantage; and the ufe he fometimes makes of alle- gory, and fometimes of hiftorical probability, to illuftrate an enormous accumulation of fables, i^ chafte and judicious.
N n 3 More
5S0
FoREICH CORKESPONDYKCI.
More efpccially, his accounr of the manners and cuffoms i Greeks, in thefe rude and early ages, diTplays a very ext acquaintance with ancient learning and philoibphy ; aniJ the into which he enters in dcfcribing ihefood, raiment, and dor life of this famuus people, their civil and political fyftem, religion and morals, I heir progiefs in literature and military fci is curiuuf and tnteriaining. The legiflation of Lycurgus Spartan cr-mmon wealth, the general progrcfs of p<ilicy am litary difcipline in tlie ffatcs ot Greece, the ellablifhtnei Grecian colonics in Alia Minor, Thrace, Italy, and places, tne rife of their commerce with the Egyptians Afiatics, the efFefls of popular infurre£lions and commc towards the advancement of tyranny^' are amply treated ii third ijot, which concludes with the hiflory of the yfr/? « (he Grecian philofophy, and particularlyof Thales and feven f^gcs.
jflhens and SsUh difptay their luflre in the fourjh icai, » begins with »n tjjity on the progrefs of Grecittn lileram this period. Here the faiirical, dramatic, and lyric poet ftlfo the philofophers, pafs in review. In this book, the ei which the Grrci^n ftatcs h»d derived from the legiHatii Lycurgiis and Solon, and which enabled them to make a : againfl the Perflan monarchy, rendered formidable by its queils in Afia and Egypt, is well reprefemcd in its caufei pfFefts, and all the illullrious charaders and events that a and enliven this great and fliining period of hiSory* are a lately exhibited to our view.
The fecond volume and fifth hwk begin with a genera] of the origin and grandeur of the Perfian monarchy, whole of this book i; taken up in relating the firft and fei Perfian wjrs, and concludes with the famous- battle of Sail Tbe other events of this war irc related in the fixth b which brings us to the end of the adminiftration of Peri liere we fee Greece at the fummit of tatlc, magnificence ixjwer, enriched with ftatcfmeti, generals, philofophers, ora hiftorians, poets and artills, that raifed her reputation tc lligheft pitch. This view oF Grecian taOe and learning if kibited in an ample and brilliant re pre fen tat ion '\a the fe took, and forms an agreeable reding- place for the readei tween the Pfrfian war and the famous and fatal war of I ponnefus, which was the ruin of Greece. It is in this (hat the Abbe Denjna peculiarly difplays his Ulle for th< aris that embellifhed this noble period of Greciati profp< ^nd (hews his extenlivc acquaintance with the literature philufophy of the ancients. The ttghth hfi, which tertnii ihis fecond^ vol utne, relates the principal events of ttie 1 ponneitan war, an^' vriU f»tuially excite the impatieace o|
:^;^^
■ •«•
LiitiTS on fsJitical Libtrty. 551
reader for the publication of the fucceeding books. We gave^ in one of our former Reviews, an account of another woik of this kind, compofcd by M. Cousin Despreaox. The two ' hiftorians of Greece are worthy to be compared ; and we may perhaps attempt this comparifon, when the Abbe Denina's work is iinifhed.
BRITISH PUBLICATIONS. Art. XIL
Letter% on PoUttcal Liierfyl^Addreffcd to a Member of the Engli0i Houfe of Commons, on his being chofen into the Commiuee of an Aflbciating County. 8vo« is. 6d. Evans. 1782^
^T 7E have here fomething new, though the fubjeft is old/ V'V 2nd we believe from a new Author in the political line ; and one who wc think promifes fair to go beyond moft of his* cotemporaries as a theorift. Nay, we do not recolleft to have obferved, /ince Monte fquieu, a p^n that bids fairer to advance the great and important fcience of politics, fome few fteps at* Icaft. '
May it not be hoped, now, on fome appearance of a revival of public virtue, that many more will ftep forth and exert them* felves, who would never have been known but for the late changes of men and meafures, and who would have died in ob* fcurity, defpairing of their country ? And if this nation be not too far gone in the decline to recover, we hope fuch men mayi produce great and good em!£ls, and may draw the attention and exertions of the public to the very interefting fubje3 of thefe letters.
Our Author, invifmg me., of knowledge to treat Politics as a fcience, obferves, * That government has been referred to the appointment of the deity ; to the regulations of patriarchs ; to the phyfical influence of climates ; to the ebullition of accidental cir« cumftances producing the fpirit of a nation ; to a divine right in certain favoured families ; to fuperiority of talents ; to the pre- valence of force ; to ii)herent rights i to a compad, &c. . If Government be referable to any of thefe caufes, it may be to alU
* Politics, aiTuming the rank of fcience, would not be left, as it is, to men of bufinefs, whofe a£live faculties may be as afto* nifhing as their powers of reflexion are inconfiderablc.
* At this time the greateft man in every ftate, exciept China^ are only paflengers in veflels conduced by ignorant mariners, and applying themfelves to every thine but the icience on which their fafety depends : When the veflels are loft, philofophers are
N n 4 funk
S5»
tehert t» PeHltaiJ Lihtrty*
funfc in the ibYCs in common with the vermin which inl them. The firft concern of every roan Diould be the natun conftruSioR of the machine in which be it embarlced on the age of hfe.'
He eAabttfbes and preferves the ditlinftton hitherto not i cientl]^tUDd|dJ|^beCween civi) and political liberty ; the Ixing the reiult^naws and regulitions which define the bou rics of men's aAions u citizens of the fame community, leave tbem free within thofe boundaries. Political liberty 1 reference merely to (he grand diviiions of the ftate, the pop the executive, and legillativc, and confifls in their freedom i the incroachments of each other, Thps, a community ha political liberty, whofe executive power influences or Comnt the Icgiflative, and where the people have no regular and pr cable method of checking or controuling all the power* of vctnment, when tticy tranfgrefs (heir proper boundaries.
Ac the Revolution, and^nccthe acceffion of the Hanove. mily, our civil liber(iei have been improved, while politic) berty has been almofl annihila(ed. — But when he fays, * conflitution pre fen ti to (he view of the world one of the i twkward and unmanageable fabrics which has ever been duced by human folly,' we hope he rather exaggerates, and as this country affords yet greater fecurity, and more numc -inccndves to indullry and exertion than any other we know hope ill conftitution may yet contain the feeds of politic) berly; and whatever obflacles lie in the way, it is one of moJl improveable of the remaining Gothic fonditutiovs, il people can be made willing to rcnore and improve .it.
He obfervcs, that the offices of all the meoibera of any bod fociety are difltn£t, and cannot encroach on each other witi inconvenience and mifchief: and power, without a refil and balancing power, a always hurtful. A Icgljlatton and giilracy, without an a£lual power in the people to preferve i political liberty, are abfurdiiies, or they are mafques foi the tures of defpotifm.
A wcll-conflituted Hate with perfedly fcparate bodies to o law?, to execute them, and to confine all within their per limics, is perhaps a fcientific idea; but philofophers, our Author, do well lo hold )c up. The pretended differ between thearj and prail'ue has ever been the expedient of kn and blockheads.
Tha( patdcular men may be averfe to re formation, is accou for in a maflerly, (hough fatirical manner.
He obferves, tha[ in the (ime af (he Saxons the flate enjoj
bigh degree of political liberty, of which he gives a Diort
elegant hiftory j— and that a new conflituiion was forined ai
Rerolui
LiiUrs M Pdlitual Liberty^ 553
Revolution, when, by providing for civil and not for political liberty, we have preferred the iefler to the greater bleiling.
But our limits do not permit tranfcribing or explaining fo much as we could wifli, and we muft refer to the original, which we would recommend to all who are interefted about their coun- try, and difpofed to think ; for the matter is exceedingly com- prefled, and the Letters are much in the manner of Tacitus^ written with great fpirit, precifion, and intelligence.
The Writer diftingui(hesthe populace and people, and repro* bates the doiStrine that pretends to render the firft magiftrate not refponiible for his own anions. — Obferves, that nine-tenths of the property of the nation was in the hands of thofe who were averfe to the injury intended againft America, — and it began to appear, that property is not the fure foundation of political power and liberty.
' When fuch writers appear, an old fubjed feems new again, or but little advanced. Men feem not yet fufficiently clear, with our Author, whether it be the prspirty or the perfons that confti- tute the flate, and fiiould be represented. In the prefent com* mercial and avaricious difpofitions of mankind, fome palliative medium between thefe, is probably the beft chat can be expeded of them: Rich individuals, &c. are likely always to have fome influence on government, hxxxfuch influence will vary with pub- lic virtue. We apprehend men would as yet feel bewildered, if property were to ceafe its ufual efFeds. We fear thofe who pof- fefs riches, and thofe who do not, will be found equally unwiU ling to reduce their value and importance. The oppofition to limit the number of Peers proceeded from the Houfe of Commons* But the legifl'iture that is conftituted, or makes laws oi^fuch principles, muft be wrong, unjuft, and inadequate.
But how to weed and keep out fuch natural vices and errors-i-« to draw, the line round the fubjeds to which the people arc ne- cefl'ary and competent— to limit — to decide many other quef- tions that naturally arife, will deferve the further explanation of fuch as our Author, and we hope the fubjcftwill not reft here.
I'he people pofleiltng and exercifing an acknowledged and re* gularpower of controul over the legiflative and executive powers, though delegated fiom the people, is now, we fear, fo new an idea, or fo long loft, that it may require much time, various trials and events, before it can be again underfiood, pradifed, and eftablifhed ; and we muft perhaps be content to arrive at it by fuch flow degrees and irregular aflbciations as America, or Ireland, &c. and it ftems to require fome great or critical occa* fion.
He not only ftates the evil in a mafterly manner, but propofes the remedy; and though here dolors may difter, we confefs at prefent a parciality for his plan, according to whicb^ by means of
divifion
554- Lmin m PtUtieal LibiTtj.
divifion and Jrrangcment, like organization, of the diTpo of an army, tlie grcattft oiultiiude may b« made to feel, juilg &c. without confufton, riot, or danger. His liberal unat againfl the timid or deligning dread of innovation, are pi a^id elegant. We hope men differ lefs in opinion as the Vance in knowledge, though they fecm to become thcreby timid and cautious of innovations. They need not fear. V ever has been long fixed and ellabltfiied becomes but too diJ to move when nectflary/ Some may tbink thii plan deviati much from our prefeni formi and manners, though it ii o revival of what Alfred probably pra£ticcd or meant, and altli the nrioft llriking part is occafionally pradlifed in Scotland, i the people ele£t the ele£lors of their members ; but it is in : manner, and ibcy are not reprefentativet chofen by ballot.
Many and various are yet the abettors of defpotifm. hive aconfufed fancy (hat Government, meaning the exec power, fliould not be conttaul;d, right oi wrong. Moll of bred at our univerfities have imbibed fuch prejudices, for v itiJeed they were originally cflabliQied, though out Author be an exception.
Fewer, but far more ufeful, are thofe bold innovator: philofophcri, fuch as our Author, who adopt their theoric principles of perfection, and freely follow wherever they lead. Such men, however fanciful and vilianaty, are far being the dangerous monfters ihat the timid, ignorant, or dious, would make us believe; they are generally the moft i cent and liberal, though unfuccefiful benefaSors of manV What is imprai^icable to-day may not be fo next century, ifaeir memory may be revered by pofterily.
Though we 2dm.irc the great outline, the knowledge, 1 and elegance with which thefe letters are written, yet wc i the plan not fufficiently developed. Where he differs Irom oi he does not take the iroub'e to expUin. A few cafes am amples would help to illultrate. He wields his pen and bis ciples with too much cafe and dexterity to be at a lofs in re, ing any difficulties and ohjcAions that wc can yet forefcc.
Jt appears here wc have loA our political libetty, fo tha our civil rights are infecure, and at the mercy of a corruj gillature, inRuenccd and led by an executive power, which lately had not many Heps to advance, in order to get into a atjon where they might make or unmake what Jaws ihej' pi and fmile at all tbe efforts the people can ever be broug make ; for while unarranged, they can do notbing— but chid.
Any minider who really wifhcs to ferve ibe people, « probably do more good by bringing together a few of tlw beads wno have thought the dccpcft on thcfc fubje^, tha
Macgoviran*! Difcottrfis on thi Book of Rtab. 555
tfaer by means of parliamcnls, who are inadequate and improper to judge or adt in their own caufe, or by confufed and numerous aflbciattons.
By fuch a minifier and fuch men a political fociety might be formed, where the comprefTed fcicnce of our author, the dif- fuftve knowledge of a Gibbon, the rapid Sagacity of a Fox, the verfatile genius of Burke, and the popular talents of other men and writers, might ferment and generate the cleared and moft pradlicable plain. • _ ^
Art. XIII.
Di/cour/is 0tt tbf Book of Ruth, and other importsnt Subjc£)s; whereio the Wondcn of Providence, the Ricliei of Grace, the Privileges of 3<:l overs, and the. Condition of binnersy are judi- ciously and faithfully exemplified and improved. By the late Rev. Joiin Macgowan. 8vo. 5 s. Kclih. 17B1.
TH£ fpiritualizing the hiftorical parts of Scripture may plead a very refpedlable authority. The learned Father, St. Origen, fet the example ; and his followers have been nu« merous. Few, indeed, of his imitators have been endowed with bis abilities ; and fcw^r ftill have arrived to that erudition for which he was fo eminently diftinguiflied. In (bort, the greater puml^r who have ftarted as adventurers in this line, have dif- graced their profeflion ; and having adopted the worft part of their predecefTors example, leave us to deplore the want of that better part of ic which ferved as a countcrpoife to mydipifm and extravagance.
This abfurd cqftom of allegorizing the Old Teiiament pre* vailed mightily in the laft age among the Puritans and Noncon« formifts \ and was the reigning fafliion in thofe deplorable times when royalty made no part of the ftate, and decency no part of the church I ^^ when authority was fncrificed at the (brine of re- bellion; and enthuiiafm, viaddining round the land^ laid wafte the tempK'$ of religion, and, in her eyikjs ragi^ dragged her mi- nifters from the altar. It was in thofe dark and peftilent times, when the learning of Hammond gave way to the crabbed and cloudy jargon of Qwen ; and all the fenfe and eloquence of Barrow was neglected for the puerile conceits of Dyer, Brookes, and Watfon — names juftly condgned to eternal oblivioQ; and whofc works, if they Jhould be ^ound hereafter, will only izi^i^ ^s the humiliating, but ftriking monuments of an age, when hypocrify was miitaken forfanSity; and the wildeft delufioas pf a fanatic fancy were blafphemoufly fathered on the Holy Spi- rit of Qod I
We were led into thefe refledlons by the perufal of the work ))cfofe us, I( afrpi!) called forth the memory of thufe wretched
days;
tai
556 Macgowan'f Difiawfit m tbi Bati of Rtah.
day> : and tht ghefti ef dtfuna teachers were conjured np fombrous migic, to fcowl with their accufiomcd malignii (he beaiiienus forms of Wifdom, Simpiicity, and Religun.
The prefent work is ulhered in by k Preface, writlei perfon who figns himfelf, J. Reynolds. It confifls chieii canting panegyric on the Author; and gives an sci:ount o of hia tdijyhg expreffions in his laft ficknefi, ' when (faj Prcfacer} he took occafion, as opportunity oflivred, of o[
,me hisffhole heait.' * At one time he was in great da M lamented exceedingly the withdravjings of th fence of God. Two things he faid had deeply exercif thoughts. The one was, how thofc heavy and comp!iC4t fli£tions which God had fcen fit to lay upon hin) could w as to promote his real good. The other was, that God, h frlenti, ftiould Jietp at a dijhict from his foul, whtH ht inn much his mind was diflrelTed for the light of his counict ** O !" faid he, turning to me, and fpeaking with great ca fiefs, ** my foul longeth and panteth for God, for the God. His ifvt-vifits would cheer my foul, and make the affliflion fit light upon me. The wonted prefcnce of Jefu Redeemer, 1 eannet do vAlhaut. I iruft he will return ta mi yea, I inaw ht will, in his own time ; for he knows bow I need the influence of his grace."
This is being on very familiar terms with the Lord _ But faintf have peculiar privileges ; and they rwver fat] to a very free ufc of them. What in a faint would be filial li would in a finner be downright impudence I Thia k being on an eafy faoting with the Lord, reminds us of a c Prefbyterian preacher of the laft age, who, in a ferDnon the Rump parliament, laboured by a long train of puticu prove, that ielievert ought not to ftand upon mcetitt with but to prefs the point, whatever it may be, fo home to hi to put him out of countenance if he fiiould prove backwi giving what they foi;cit.
The experUrui (as it is called) of thefc faints is like an day!— alternate tain and funfliine I And the change is alnc fudden too! Mr. Macgowan, atone vifit of his taififfir, w clouded with ' htarteorrupiimti' at another, he * had as m hfovtn tti hi auli held.' So much of it indeed, that, acct to Mr Reynolds, it tan out of his eyes, though it could fi vent at his mouth ! ' Thus, I left, fays Mr. Reynold: much efleemed friend and brotheri and the nfxt news I he him waf, that on Saturday evening (Nov. 95, i;8o, in il year oF his age) his immortal fpiiit left the body, to go U'.)r)d pi li^hc and bHT', and Lecp an eternal Sabbath with angel;;, 'ori faints.' Now, thiS is dying in the sublimbI- mucu fur the Author and the Editor to«T — Ai for tbc work
Macgowan'i Difcourfes on the Book of Ruth. 557*
us, it IS pojihumous. It is conduced, on what is afFc£ledIy called thi fpiritual plan : and our Author's guide through this faery land of the faints — we cry the ghoft of Spenfer Mercy ! — was one Mr. Chriftopher Nefs, an eje(Sed Nonconformift minifter of the laft century, who, as the Editor informs us, was Mr. Macgowan's * favourite writer ;* and no wonder;— for thi« Mr. Chriftopher Nefs, whofe name, for aught we know, may be found in Calamy, publiflied a work that would fafcinate a faint by the title, though fome wicked wits may make ufe of the more precious part of it only by way of banter and ridicule^ viz. — ** The HiJIory and Myjlery of the Old and New Tefta- ment." Now, that the H'tftory of Ruth hath a precious myfiery in it, is the defign of the prefent work to demonftrate. It may lie deep \ but it is the more precious for that, when once we are fo lucky as to get at it. It doth not lie on the furface, obvious to common eyes. No ! It is the bufinefs of occult divines to dig for itj or dive for it; for fometimes it is hidden beneath the n>ot of a Hebrew word ; and at other times, like an oyfter, it lies at the bottom of a muddy pool, and when it is unwedged from its bed, it requires a dextrous hand to get the pearl out of it!
As a fpecimen of our Author's dexterity in getting the pearl out of the oyfler, take, gentle Reader, the following : Ruth i. 1,2. ** Now it came to pafs in the days when the Judges ruled, thai there was a famine in the land ; and a certain man of Beth- lehem Judah went to fojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife, and his two fons. And the name of the man was £li- nftlecb, and the name of his wife Naomi,'^ &c« &c.— So much forthcA^^jr; now for the /wjyf^rjr / 'The believing church is Chrift's Naomi, his fweet and pleafant one; and he is her £li- melech, her God the King. For her he forfook the man/ions of plenty and dplight— >with her he fojourned in a Moabitifll world, amongft enemies to the God of Ifrael— there he died an accurfed death, to accomplilh her falvation — there he was buried, to purify the grave for her ufe; rofe again, to trample on all her enemies; and is now gone to Bethlehem, the houfe of bread, to prepare a place for his Naomi, on her arrival from the land of Moab.'
Thefe, however, arc but the fuperficial gleanings of myfti- cifm ! The preacher who had the honour of cutting into this holy ground with the boldeft hand, .and who threw away the ///-> ter of Scripture like chaff before the wind^ to get at the true feed of the Spirit^ was Dr. John Everard. Now, Dr. John Everard had the Angular honour of being the precurfor of thofe gentle- men who have been fuch fhining ornaments, for the laft cen- tury, to the houfe of fa^ion and fanaticifm ! He had the honour of abuitng Archbiihop Laud to his face within the very walls of
Lambetht
55? Macgowan'i Difcourfes on thi B9ck ff RuAm
Lambeth. He had the honour of betne called Dr« Nevir-out t>y King James of punning memory \ for if he w^s Ice out of prifon one day for the fake of his friends, he was fure to be \n agaia the next for K\iz fah of a good cmfiiena 1 For Dr. Ererard was not content to walk by common rule* * His lips were bis own, and who was Lord over him ?' As a proof of his (ing^uJarity we need nut appeal to bis hiftory, but to his fermons ; and as bis explanation of one text of the Old Tcftament contains the very quinteflence of all that hath been faid, or tan be faid by the profoundeft adepts in the hijlorj and m2/?^ry of things j and as there is an iiigenuity and originality in it, that the minar pro* ftflbrs of this art, not excepting Mr. Chriilopher Ncfs and Mr. John Macgowan, could never attain to, we will beg leave to to prefent it to our Readers, by way of fpecimen of that favoury oratory, which the ruling rabble of the times ere£fed their ears to imbibe. The text is as follows, Jo(h. 15, 16, 17. * And Caleb faid, he that fmitcth Kerjathfepher and taketh it, to him will I gave Achfah my daughter to wife ; and Otbniel the (oa of Kenaz, the brother. of Caleb took it, and he gave him Achfah his daughter to wife/ The pieacher having ftepped over the threfhold of the hijiory^ enters into the folemn trtnpleofthc myjUry^ and puihes his way forward, even to the moft facred and hidden recc lies !— And there — there, the fecret comes out! Like another Archimedes the preacher cries out fuprxa I * Here, fays he, triumphantly — here is Kerjathfepher and Caleb, and Othniel and Afchfah ! See what fecrets and myfteries the Holy Spirit hath couched under thcfe veils ! For, as the names are in Hebrew, they exprefs nothing to an Englifh Reader; but read thofe in £ngli(h — take o(F their veil, and you may fee what ' honey will come out of the mouth of the eater, and out of the fling, what fweetnefs.* Come tal^e and fee, and Ut us fall t9 in the name of the Lord.
^ What then is Kerjathfepher ? In Hebrew it fignifies, tbi city of the hook^ or the city of the letter.
^ in the next place, what is Achfah ? In Hebrew it figni- fies, the rending of the VeiL
^ And then what fignifies Caleb? In the Hebrew it is as much as to (ay, my hiart^ or a perfect heart,
*• And what then is Othniel r in Hebrew it is God^s time^ or the Lord'ift opportunity,
* The text, Beloved, in Englifli, is to be read thus : — And my heart, or a good heart faid, that whofoever taketh and fmiteth the city of the letter, to him will I give the tearing or the rending of the Veil. And Otbniel took it, as being God's fit time or opportunity, and he married Achfah, that is, he en^ pyed the opening or the rending of the Veil^ and thereby obtained the bleHing pofltiTed by Achfah ^ for by this Veil being rent,
5 he
JS!U^s0n Cafes* .559
he. became pofiefied both of the upper fpringSi and of the nether Springs'
In applying this doflrine to common ufe, the preacher exhorts his hearers to ftrike at the letter of fcripture with the vigor of Othniel, in order to get at the pofleffion of the fpiritual meaning, which like the coy Achfah, veiled from the public eye, muft be fought with affiduity before it can be enjoyed with freedom I • htt z good hearty fays this good DoSor, ufe the letter of the word and fpare not. Take it, ftrike it, fmite it, tear it, chew it all to pieces; not becaufe he hates the letter, but as men do by meat, they tear it, champ it, chew it between their teeth, not becaufe they hate meat, but becaufe they would get all the nou- rifhment of it they poifibly can/
This reminds us of Rabelais' dog ; and the great pains the poor animal took in cracking a very hard and a very dry bone* 'Twas all for the fake of a little marrow! — So very little^ in truth, that if the dog had not been very hungry, he would not have given himfelf the trouble.
Some perfons may think that we have treated this fubjed with an unbecoming levity. We are not confcious however of the lead defign to ridicule what is ferious ; and fuch is our veneration for the holy fcriptures, that to fee them burlefqued by miftake, excites our pity, as to fee them burlefqued by defign, would ex* cite our indignation. The fanaticifm of Mr. Macgowan is that in earneft, which the infidelity of Woolfton was difguifed with
Art. XIV.
EleQiou Cafest determined during the fir ft Seffion of the Fifteenth Parliament of Great Britain, by Committees of the Houte of Com- xnonsi appointed by virtue of Stat. 10 Geo. IIU Reported by John Phillips, Barrilter, of the Inner Temple. Vol.1. 8vo. 58» Boards. Cadell. 1782.
THE important improvement in the trial of controverted eleAions, proje£led and carried into a law, by the late Mr. Grenville, wanted nothing to affimilate it to a regular court of judicature, but an able and judicious reporter of the determinations of the refpedive committees. Though their de- cifions may perhaps want fome of the properties which give to precedents a binding force, and make them a rule of conduct to fucceeding times \ yet it is impoflible that former decifions on the fame points (hould not carry weight with other committees, as at leaft ai&fting their determinations, if not concluding their judgments. The only queftion then is, whether it be not more defireable to have recourfe to printed reports of fuch decifions, than that they (hould be merely cited from memory, which is fubje<5l to fo many fallacies, and is fo little to be depended upon,
where
S6o
£k£thn Cafit^
where the fads are numerous and complicated, and whei Jaw is to arife from the h&%.
The Grenv'tllc afl (as it li called) wai fortunate Iti this re that a Gentleman of abilities at the bar attended the el< committees the very firft Seffion after the tSt was perpetual gave to the public a valuable collection of the moll imp< decifions during that Parliament. His Work •, of whic gave an account, appeared in our Review at the time of itt licalion, has been of fignal benefit in giving unifbrmit; confifleney to the determinations of this new Judicature comprized in the whole about 35 cafes, and tr.o6.oi the re were enriched with nores by the reporter, containing mucfc lateral information and parliamentary learning.
The prefent publication takes in only four eledion cafes of which have been determined in the prefent Parliunent, Ayrfhire, Sudbury, Milborne Port, and Lyme-Regis. are introduced with the following (bort advertifement :
* My engagements at the Coventry ele^ioni led me to a' the bearing of that petition befisre the committee ; and, write Ibort-hand with fome expedition, I took minutes o: proceedings. The favourable opinion which fome Genii entertained of thofe minutes, added to the requeft of my frii induced me to attend other committees.— When I had take ▼eral cafee, fame of the counfel, who are at the head of the fefilon, advifed me to print them ; and it has been no fmal
ffitfwdB" '"^ ^° '° ^°* ''''* ^^^^ ^^'^ pteafed to rc»d a^nove o^nem. But I confefs, that I fhould have publ the proceedings on the AyrQiire petition with morefatiifa^ if 1 had been better acquainted with the laws and cuftoi Scotland, The great length of the cafes, has obliged me mit almoft all the notes which were originally intended foi fertion.'
This apology for omitting the notes will hardly be de iatisfaSory to thofe who obierve the very little matter tl contained in this volume, though by the dexterity of the 1 ter, it is expanded to 4.00 pages, with the help of a I margin (and other ingenious methods, which appear to been firll invented, and brought to perfe^ion by the dealt light fummer reading for laJiesJ. The Ayrfliire cafe, oi 9 the reporter fpeaks fo modefily, takes up near one third o whole volume, and is as dry in the report as, we doubt n< was at the trial.
On the whole, thefe reports for the reafon given above better than no reports at al) ; and will derive an advent)
■ Hiltory of the Cafei of CoarraveHcd KleakMii, by SilvaAcr glai, Efq. See Review, VqIi. LIU. and LIX.
6 1
Burtenfhaw'x Specimens of Jujiice^ &ff. 561
value, when bound up in the fame fet with the cafes, pubiifhc^ by Mr. Douglas, whom we arc forry we cannot felicitate on the fucceflbr, who has thus taken up the pen which he has laid down^ — Non ftmili frondefcit virga metallo, r-w^
Art. XV.
Sftcimens of Juftice, Humility^ and Uniformity, in another Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Mao&fitld. By Mr. Burtcnfhaw. 4to. 3 1. Kearfley. 1782.
AS fome literary cooks have, of late, ferved up to the Pub. lie divers ra^^outs and olios under the (lile and title of the Beauties of Johnfon, the Beauties of Sterne, &c. Mr. Burtenfhaw is willing to difplay to the world the Beauties of Lord Mansfield. The fpecimcns, however, of jufticc, humility, and uniformity, which his title-page announces, are to be un- derftood in an ironical fenfe ; and the great man, to whom the letter is addreflTed, will probably feel no very lively emotions of gratitude for the pains the writer has taken to illuftrate his ju- dicial chara£br. Lord Mansfield, it feems, has had the mif« fortune to decide more than one caufe in which Mr. Burten- fhaw*s property has materially been af^eAed, and to this fource will the world be apt to attribute the fpleen which tin£lurcs his pen. If ic be a (landing maxim, that no man is to be received as a witnefs in his own favour on a queftion of Fafi ; it mufl be equally true, that no man is a proper judge in his own caufe, on a queflion of Law. As a lawyer, Mr. Burtenfhaw's autho- rity, when weighed in the fc«lc againit that of Lord Mansfield, and the other Judges, will, we apprehend, make few profclytes» As a writer, we have given our opinion of him on a former oc- cafion*. He is verbofe, and rambling ; with a mixture of wic and humour, uncontrouled by a corred judgment. Cafes and metaphors are jumbled together; law and poetry, argument and banter, take place alternately. The Reader is firil dazzled, and then difgufted ; and finds neither fuiEcient inflrudion, nor fufficient amufement to repay him for the fpace he travels over.
• ^* LttUrs to Lord Man:field^' Rev. July 1781. p. 44.
X^ The * Difquifttions on fiver at Suhje6ii^ and Dr, Toners* s Vindication of Loike*s Political i^rimipUs^ a^ainjl Dean Tucker ^ in our next.
T
Afp. Rev. Vol. LXVI, O o
ERRATA in tbh V O L U M Ej
Page 55, ]. 7, from the bottom, for ' indi' r. nuith.
— 60, I. 6. from the bottomt for * of,' r. /■.
— 65, I. 1. Del. the words ' It it cold and obfcure.* —— 67, 1. 10. For ' prcfumptive,' j. prtfumptatut,
—~ 1S3, I. 3. from the bottom, del. the comma at * cxpe^
— 194, 1. 18. Del. the comma after * none.'
—— 337, par. 4. 1. It. For ' anhatrooniai.' r. barmeniKt, — — — — I. 15. For ' dec! five,' r, iilafivt.
— 211, 1. 1;. from the bottom, for * in mooiment,' t, im t
mint ream, &c. _— — — 1, 6. For ' Anthority,' r. AnlbtutUiiy. ^~— 1 16, 1. 4. from the bottom, for ' farmi/ r. Itrm,
— 217, I. 16. For ' embrice,' r. tviirU*.
— Ill, I. I. For ' they will execute/ r. ibtj luill aJhei
ixtcutt, &c. ^_ ]. 2. For ' they may find convenient,' r. thif an
tBauinitnt. . ' ?2;, par. 3. 1. 3. for * and render! bim fit for DOihiDg
aidruiai hit ionfiitutitn.
_ 292, I. I. for 'all,' x.iU.
^— 300. In the title of the firft article of the cataloguct for
ports' T.-u.-arc/pc/i. _ _
I - 310. In the Sth line' of the par, concerning the rot 10 fhe<
away ' tiaf,' and place it belvrc inj, in the line preci ^—353. par. I. line 1. for 'call,' x.tafli. ~— 356. (the note) for * Ferdinand,' r. Firdinand.
561, I. I. del. the comma after •/./<».'
■^■— 362, I. 4- from boTt. col. jd. for o", 61, r, o", 67.
. 4''7, par. 4- I- 8. for ' laren,' r. lanm.
50''), par. 2. 1. 3. for ' di,' t. Du ; and ellewhere,' at
the name of M. Dionii du Scjsur occuis.
INDEX
To the Remarkable Passages in this Volume*
N. B, To find any particular Book, or Pamphlet, fee the Table of Contents, prefixed to the Volume.
ACiD, phofphoric, how to pro- cu'c, in a flatc of more than common purity, 137. Adair, Mr, tcniblc effcfts of a ilo^m of lightning at his houfc^
37S- Adele et Theodore, 465.
AKENSiDg, Dr. anecdotes rel« to,
I20.
Alcander, a poetic tale, by Ma- Ton, 407.
Alembic, improved conftru^ion of, for the diftiUation of large (j[uanti(ie8, fo as to tncrcafe the produ^ion, and lefTen the ex- pcncc, 1 38.
ALLM-mincs, in Italy, feme ac- count of, 500.
America, \i<x d fpote wijh Great Brit, fet in a ftiikinj> light, 1 30, General Table of her (liipping, in 1769, 443.
Amiot, M. See Miss[onaries,
Ancles, and angular dillanccf.
See ROCHOK.
Antj. See : 1£:imites. Arnold, Mr. c.n trove. fy rel. to
his lime ke^oers, 355. AzYR, M. Vicq, d [ his memoir
on the 2u .i[id 3d crrvicai p/iir
cfneivjt, 5CI,
TD\iLMEXTs complete definiiion . of, 2^ . Law of, funhcr il- luilriiied, 29.J,
Beauty, philofophical definitions of, 527.
Derth^lot, M. his mechanicft &:c. 464,
Bezout, M. engaged with MefT. Lavoifier and Vandermonde, in thermomet. experiments, 49«j.
Bible. See Language.
Bordenue, M. his Mem. on the neceffity of performing the Ce- farian operation on women who die in pregnancy, ^0|.
Brereton, Mr. his ace. of th<^ terrible efFeds of lightning ftt Eaftburn, 374.
Brisson, M. his exper. on the re- fracting power of liquors, 500,
Bristol, Earl of, [and Biihop] Sketch of his character, 382.
BuLL-fiogs, Aroericao, ilrange llory of, 253.
Bu R K A M FOOTER, Hver, defcribed,
Abinft Councils, rjfficial anl clhitnt, 7c. Cadet, M. itis memoir on the re- fracting po'.ver of liquors, 500. Caoutchouc, curious expcri- n.ents en that fingular vegetable* piodudion, 139. Cassini, M. hiT obf. rel. to Nat. Hilt, in his travels in Italy, 499. Hi: ace, of a {)eotU'mdn uHo had in h.s body an elecliic qua- C> o 2 Ity
INDEX.
/
lity fimlbr to that of the tor- redo, 409, 500.
CELIBACY, as impofed on the clergy, by the church of Rome, jullly exploded, i;5.
CiiARLi s I. circumftantial account of his imprifonmcnt in Carif- brock C'.ille, 35. Of his at- tempt to e.'cape, 37.
Chatterton, ace. of him, and his publications, 208.
Chemistry, various obf. andtx- penments rcL to, 99, 134, 372,
593- Chivalry poetically defcribed,
3^2.
Chr'st, the duration of his mi- niltrv, 16.
C n •; ON 0 LOTTIE phyjifiut dis trap^ tions etiints de la France^ ^b-j.
CiBOT, M. See Missir^NARiE*;.
C I MATE, influence of, on the niiral charatter of man, 2?.
Colonies, American, in wh.it re- fpi<fls raiher hurtful than advan- tageous to Great Britain, 425.
Cr:::sECTicuT-river, dcfcrip;ion of, 2^4.
Coi.sTRr, poor or rich according to its po^'>ul-uion, 423.
Croft, Mr. hi^ biographical anec- dotes of Dr. Young, 1 1 3.
r^ \"n':NTO?:, ^T. his m?»hoJs ot improving the breed oi (heep, qf^z.
DzAiH of Menteiih, an ancient bcof.irh baiinc', 292.
DiMSDALF, Rj'on, his la^ p'^bl:- citi'^n rcl'.tive to inocuiafon, I "2. Cu'ious anecdote rcl. to hi«i prict ce in R'l.iia, 172.
DisTii lat!ov. Sec ALt?.:Dic.
DoE'ON, Dr. his ace. of a lingu- lar vtricnn u»n*], 56:.
Doiirla*, 6ir Chn-lcs, his Letrer to
D<r.ss ^^ i^c beau-^ of t'.iis c^on- iry, in the t.: :h c::r:'.rj-y, ^7.
Dyk'., thj pu.r, oblcrv. 0:1 I:i5 Vvriiirge, 1:7.
gARTiiQUAKU, in Wales, art* markable circumHaoce relatxre to, 372.
Education, thoughts on, 349.
Electricity, remarks aod ez« peri men cs rel. to, 175.
— — -— — . See alfb Cassint.
Elizabeth, Q, her reign, and the 9ge (he lived in, favoarable to poetry, 162.
Encycloi'Edie — the celebrated French Dictionary of Arts and Sc'cnccfj, frojpeaus of a new edit, of, with a different ar- rangement of the materials, 5 14.
p A r M ER , Amtficam^ pleafing^ cc- fcription of the life of, before the bre.ich with England, 402.
Feast, curioas account of one, with the prices of the provifions, in the 14th century, 58.
Fe R M E V, Dr. his hiii. of Surioam, tranflatcd, 14^.
Forster. J. keinhoid, defcribe<, in the Philof. Tranfaidlions, the tyger-cat of the Cape of Good Hope, 365.^
Forti^, Abbe, his acc, of alum- mines in Italy, 500.
Fourcroy, \K his demeotary inilrudions in natural hift. &c. 406.
(^Amixc IcH? prevalent in warm
than in cold dimates, 27. Ganges, fiver, ace. of, 366. Sec
alfo BcR^AMPOOTElt.
Garden, EnpliOi, Mr. Malbn^ poem on, ccmpleted, 405.
Gen LIS, Mad. her Adele, &c« or Letters on Education, 4.63.
G'^verkmekt, and law, prin- ciples of difcofTed, 191 — 196.
Gravitation, Kepler's theory o^ 1^2. Other notions of, 183,
C ?. AY, the poet, his writings cri-
ticiied, 12 2.
Gi'LNt'f, Abbe, author of the Je^v's Letrers to Voltaire, 542. A new edition of that much ap- plauded work, ib»
3 Hauler,
INDEX.
pJALLERt memoirs of, and eu- lo^ium on, that great phyfio-
logftl, ^08. Exemplary manner
of his death, :;i2. Harlatan, a fingular African
wind, defcribed, 365. FIenry VJil. his talent for poe-
Herschel, Mr. hts adronomical ubf. on the rotation of the pla- nets round their axes, made with a view to L^etermine whe- ther the earth's diurnal motion is perfcdiy equable, 374.
Highlands, ofScotland^ ancient and moHern Hate of, with refpedl to literature and poetry, 51.
Hunter, William, his new me- thod of employing the fcrfw^
373- Hut TON, Mr, his certificate in fa- vour of Mr. Thompfon's im- provement in the conllru6lion of a frigate, 455.
Tdlevess the vice of hot cli- mates, 26,
jEAi.ousr, lefs prevalent in northern than in fouthcrn cli- mates, 2J,
Jeurat, M. his obferv, of the moon, 505.
Infants, whore mothers have died in pregnancy, favcd by the Cefaiian operation, 501.
Inoculation for the fmalUpor, Baron Dimfdale's prefent method oi performing, 173.
Johnson, Sam. remarks on a fen- timcnt of his, unfavourable to liberty, 121.
Justices of the peace, remarks rel. 10 their office, 45.
Justinian, Emperor, his ufeful dcfign of reforming the ancient Roman leg flaiion 205^
T^Empenfelt, Adm'ral, his let- ter m bthaU of Mr. Thomp- fon's plan for improwements in theconltnn5tion of frigate*, 459.
KjilwaNj Mr. his ex^er. on the
fpecific gravhies atid attraffitftf powers of various faline fub*
(lances, 372,
T Anguage, Engliffi, how in- fluenced by the tranflation of the bible, 91. •
Lavoisier, M. his VIII. Che- mical Memoirs. See Bezout.
Law, William, his lall words, and infcription on his tomb, 155.
LE90NS tlemanmtires it bift. »jtf« // de cbymie^ 466.
Lefebvrb ^ Villbrane^ his edit, of Silius [talicus, 467.
Lens, burning. See Cadet. See Bri5son.
Liquors, fermented, cuftomary drinking of, its influence on the morals and manners of men, 28* On their health, &c. 29.
Liver. See Portal.
Lomgitude, contraverfy rel. to. See Arnold.
Luxury, carried to the higheft degrees in hot climates, 26.
Lyttelton Ld. ftrifturc on his poetry, 121.
J^Allet, David, his charaAcr,
1 18.
Maraldi, M. his obf. on the Sa^ tcllues of Jupiter, :;C5.
Ma rot, Clement, his poetical charafter, 86. — His veriion of the p(a!ms, ib. Brings pfalm* finding into fafliion at the court of France, 87. — Ufe made of them by Calvin, 88.
Meghan iquE appUquU auxarts^ &c. 464.
Me moires concern. Vhiftoire^ let fciences, &c. Vols. VIl. and VUI. By the miflionaries of Peking, 466.
Mengs. the painter, his obfcore explication of beauty, 527.
Messier, M. his obf. of a prodi* gious quantity of fmall globules paffing before the fun's djriC,498. on the comets of 1771
and 1772, 505.
MiLLT.
1 N D
, Count de, his mem. cor- I
1.1 1'MON ARIES of Peking, their
mem. if ?'■>■ aris, manners, ^c.
of ihc Cliinclb, Vols. VII. and
VJII. ^66. ftloNiFR. M. Ir, hi; obf. 00 the
inclinaiian of the mignctic
r.cfdlc, 4'jg. Mvstvchm, in religion, ridi-
Mtiic. See Sounds.
^AvAL srehiicflo'c. 44).
NtEDLE,magnt:ik,t.i>f.ont!ic
inclinatioii of, by M. le Mob-
nier, 499. — — — by M. leGcniil, ib. Nekves, of ihe id and 3d cer- vical pair, ohf. rel. tr>, jsi- ^eM, Abbi Se. hi* navels, re-
prefenied in a fcries ofengiav-
ings, 46;. K£WHAVE>, in Conoeflicut, lu-
rioua code of lawi cfi^blilhcd
ihere, ijj.
f\DB to the memcry of Captain ^ Cook, 71.
OsitjkH, controverfy relat. tn. 4a.
pEsNAKT, Mr. hi? account of ;hs ^ Turkey. 566 Offcveial
earthquaWei in Walej, 371 PtNitosr, Mr. liischar.naer, 335.
His Field of Bjcle, a poem,
35''- TtRtiTiV, lefa prevalent in cold . in hoi
S X.
Poetry, the natural pn
of mankind to, pfailofo;
conCteied. 31- Engliih. ohf.
Date of, in (be age of £li Pope, Mr. his poetical q
lioiis candidly dircrii»iT:.i:i Portal, M. his mem. co;
ce>:aiii difL-afes of the
C02. PopuLATiow of Englani
on the prirl'ent ftaie ol
383, 4^3- P.-^LUi, hilioiicM aceo
French and E gliih trar
of, 86. — '■ vindicated fio;it the
of inculcating a malcvoli
Pr[DE, the vice of hot c!
TiKOvnsT. M. his mcmsi the piers of bii.lee;, 5C6.
on, (9. FiirsiocKiMv conf.dercd as a
fcience, 4S;, .97. Planets, otil. oh the rotation of,
lotind their axes. bc£ Hek-
pLOi.'GH, ma.!e ufc of for extr-
Cyclopedia, or nevf a ment of [he great E»tj in jj 4to. vol:. 514.
WEnnel, Mr. his acco.JB •* Ganeej and Burrai
u.
Rc;i:ON, .4bb:, his invent iEea:~uiing singular dillar.t apparent dianieiets of tc6. Lo^:.t^s, ii:(ir Itgal pol veiiigated, tg'i. — impto' in under Co:iiljnt:ne, St J.f.ini^n CoJe. 3-3.- governmcnt under the I 244. .'lp;-oiti;ment of the olTice of perpetual 1 14..
Rome, reflexions on the 46 r.
Rot, in (ieer, enquif i csuf,: of, 79. The t
iA^.'eaoJ'J- J- his tne buied, by DiJirol, 513.
his c.;.,f(
his ow:i fnultj, 5:c. s;a. i'r;ces of the fitll 30 ytai
Index.
fcowLBiANControverfy, 206, 32 1,
433- Russia, a complete hidory of,
publilhed at Paris, 512.
CAndwich, Earl of, (ketch of his character, 3 82.
Saros, or cycle of feafons, ne^ difcoveryof, 548*
Screw, new method of employ- ing, to allronomicai and other purpofcs, 37^.
SfjouR, M. Dienh du, his con- tinuation of his new pjalytical methods of calculating eciipfcs of the fun, &c, 505.
Sheep, French memoir concern- ing the improvement of, 502.
Shenstonb, the poet, fonie ac- count of him, and his works, 119.
Snip-building, plan for improve- ment in, with refpedt to fii- gates, &c« 44^.
Shipping, of N. America, gene- ral, table of, 543-
Silius Icalicus, correct edit, of, 4C7.
SmeatiiMan, Mr. his curious account of the termites, or white ants, of Africa, &c. 368.
Song of Solomon, fpecimcn of a new tranflation of, by a Lady, 258.
SouLAViE, ABoe, his account of extin(>ui(hed Volcanoes in the S, of France, 467.
Soundness in religious matters, what, 79. What it is nct^ ib.
Sounds, muilcal, the phiiolophy of, 12.
SrFEL, Mrs. Anne, her excellent charadlcr, 337. Specimen of her poetry, 338.
Sugars, impolicy and injuflice of forcing the pristc Ciifj^ocs of out of the kingdom, 75.
Surinam, brief account of Fer- ments hiil. of, 1^8.
Surrey. Earl of, his poeticnl ch*;:a:kr, 8i, — Menioirsof his ]ifj nddcaih, %it
Syphon, fome new remarks ie]«
to that inllrument, 180.
'pAcTics, remarks rel. to 41, Tea, its efFcdls on thofc who arc cuilomary drinkers of it, 3i«
Termites. See Smfathman.
Thelyphthora criticifed, 127.
Tk .. OR I fi des loix criminelUsy \()^*
Thermometer. SccBezo-jt.
Thistlethwayte, Mr. his let- ter concerning Chatterton, i^z^,
TREE-frog, in America, dcicrip- tion of, 254.
Trinity, do^rineof, contrafl.rd with the Uhharinn principles in- culcated in the New Tell. 103.
TurkeV originally brought frtni America, 366*
\7Andermonde, SeeBEzouT. Vice philofophically conli-
dcred, 9*. Universities of Great Britain,
anecdotes rel. to the llate of, i<i
the 13th and i4:h ccnturie-, 5O- Voltaire, his inenr, as a j^e-
nius appretiated, 4. VoYAG E pitton/quey cu defcription
di Naples^ &c. 465.
^I^Arville's theory of penal
laws, 463, Water, the cuftomary dr'rkirjj
of, favourable to morality 2S,
In \vhat refpedts conducive td
health, ib. Watts, Dr. lefs orthodox in !vi
Uicr than in his earlier yt-ur?^
170, Wells, Mr. his ccrtiHcite In T^.-
vour of Mr. Thomloii'* pro-
pofed fri;raic, 45^. V/es T, Gilbert, feme account of,
121.
WiLMLS, John, his charaflcr fa- tiricdly fivCtcheJ, 132.
WiNKiLMAN-^, ^bbe, anecdotes re!, to his life and chara^icr, 377. Account of his unfcrtu- r.acc di^th by aiTaQinati^n, 381.
r'ariiicf
Mj^
1 N 0 E X.
Firtb-r «c. of thii very rcfpeft- Wr at. Sir Tho, s mr
ablr .oMiiuary, p8. Hii Fami- confiJctabk mcrii, 1-
liar Lemurs ib.
WooDHousE, Mr. his account of VOunr, Dr. hit life,
the rci in Iheep, 8o. poecicil cbaratter, Woot., and woolen trade, contro-
vcrJial in&t re), to, 227, 389. 7Ink, M, LalTone't m
Scealfii Daubenti
. SC4.
END OF VOL. LXVI,
i
iV-\