rank † and distinction abroad: whofe names, one would imagine, could never be made ufe of, and prostituted to serve the fordid purpofes of quackery. In a preliminary advertisement, the Author, or his Translator, we are not certain which, earnestly recommends this balfam of life, to the FACULTY, as the greatest antifceptie ever difcovered, both for external and internal application.' If this be true, has he not mistaken the CLASS to which he has thus recommended his medicine? In fuch a Sceptical age as this, the CLERGY (and not the physicians, whofe miniftry is confined to bodily difeafes) are the proper doctors, to difpenfe this noftrum, in cafes where they find their own--fermons inefficacious. And, truly, who knows how far the well-fcowering of a free-thinker's intestines may operate towards the purification of his brain, and rectifying the diforder of his head? But, pollibly, our Author, Translator, or Printer, whoever be the party here concerned, may tell us, that we mistake the matter entirely; that we are drawing erroneous conclufions from an error of the prefs; and that, for antifceptic, we should read antiseptic.-No matter: the medicine is still a refifter of corruption; and may, for ought we know, prove equally fuccefsful in mental as in corporal cafes. Therefore, whoever may be troubled with the ague or atheism, fcurvy or fcepticifm, fever or freethinking, we advise them to take Beaume de Vie,-quantum fufficit. + Among which are, the Marquis de Havringcourt, the French ambaffador at the court of Sweden, Count Treffau, Lieut. Gen. of the King's forces, and member of the Royal Society, &c. &c. The difcafes, printed in Italics, are among those for which this medicine is faid to be a never-failing cure. POETICA L. Art. 17. Mifcellaneous Pieces of Poetry, felected from various eminent Authors. Among which are interfperfed a few Originals. Small 8vo.. 3s. Edinburgh, printed for W. Gray. To please every palate, is generally the aim of every collector of mifcellaneous pieces; and, accordingly, in this poetical collection, we have the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Here Mefirs. Akenfide, Grey, Weft, Ogilvie, Langhorne, Mafon, and Lord Lyttelton, with fome others of no mean fame, figure in with Duik, Savage, Mofes Brown, Sam. Boyce, and a variety of magazine-poets. The Gentleman's Magazine, in particular, has been heavily taxed on this occafion. Among the originals, we do not obferve one piece that we can fuppofe any of the above-mentioned bards would be proud to fee joined with their productions. For inftance, what does the Reader think of fuch verfes as thefe; from a poem to Belinda, with a copy of Pope and Mitchell's Works :', Surprifing power of harmony, To foften the most stubborn foul, The The late Rev. Mr. B.' (Author of the foregoing lines) feems to have entirely forgot the rhimes which fhould have been in the fecond ftanza. From this fhort fpecimen, our Readers will perceive that the Editor's taste is not over-nice; and from these verfes, too, they may form a tolerable guess what kind of a selection he has been cap able of making, Art. 18. A Paftoral Elegy, on the Death of his Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland. By J. P. Stock, Á. M. 4to: 6 d. Peate. What should be great, Mr. Stock, you turn to farce. For inftance: Ye fwains of Windfor, chiefly you may moan, His name but mention'd with the mighty dead. Such a curious fpecimen of Mr. Stock's poetical abilities will natu→ rally turn the reader's attention from the melancholy fubject of this paftoral, to its Author; and Who is Mr. Stock?' will be the queftion. Stock! Stock! Is it a real or a fictitious name?' Surely never was the found of it heard in the mufes' train before! Stock, and black, indeed, are terms which frequently occur, in mentioning the appurtenances of a farm, &c. but, unluckily, the farms on Mount Parnaffus have neither Stock nor block belonging to them. Art. 19. A Monody, on the Deceafe of his Royal Highness William Auguftus, Duke of Cumberland. 4to. Is. Becket and De Hondt. This Monody is feveral degrees fuperiour to the Paftoral abovementioned;-but, alas! the English Achilles hath not yet found an Homer! NOVEL S. Art. 20. The Hiftory of Mifs Clarinda Cathcart, and Mifs Fanny Renton. 12mo. 2 Vols. 5s. few'd. Noble. If there are no marks of uncommon genius in thefe letters, they contain no extravagant flights beyond the boundaries of nature. If the Writer has not produced any extraordinary or high-wrought characters, the (for this work is the production of a female pen) has, however, sketched out fome very agreeable ones;-and if the scenes and fituations which the defcribes are not the most brilliant, or the most deeply affecting, she has, nevertheless, the art and the power of keeping up the attention of her readers; and of interefting them in the bufinefs of her drama, and in the fates of the feveral perfonages by whom the principal parts are acted. In brief, the work is both entertaining and INNOCENT: which is faying not a little in recommendation of a modern novel; and much more than one half of them deserve, MISCELLANEOUS. Art. 21. The Book of Lamentations for the Lofs of his Royal Highnefs the Duke of Cumberland. Folio. 6d. Cooke... A foolish A foolish application of phrafes culled from the prophetical parts of the Old Teftament, to a fubject which rather called for the most fe rious concern, for a genuine, a manly expreffion of that forrow, which every true friend to this country must naturally feel, on the late melancholy occafion. Art. 22. The Reformation of the Church of England, reformed; or Proposals for recovering and fixing it in its former Purity, and upon its original Eftablishment. In a ferious Addrefs to the Parifhioners of St. Stephen, Coleman-freet, on the prefent, and late Management of their Parochial Affairs. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Nicoll. A mot ridiculous rhapfodical account of fome alledged mifmanagement of affairs in the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman-ftreet. The Author is prodigioufly angry with one Mr. Shank; and, indeed, with almost every body elle in the parish. But he is most of all of fended at the shameful and impious proftitution of the once HOLY and REVEREND Office of CHURCHWARDEN: for, he affures us, that nothing is fo common, of late years, as to chufe into this facred office, Atheists, Deifts, Heretics, yea, Jews and Mahometans! This is monstrous indeed! but how comes it that the Author forgot the Papifts? He fhould by no means have left them out of this worshipful group; for, to our certain knowlege, they have as good a right to figure in with the reft, as ever an Heretic or Mahometan of them all. By the way, though, where did he pick up his Mahometan churchwardens. Oh! belike they were fome of the Turks who lately came over as attendants on the zebra, the elephants, or the little Indian mare.-Well, to be impartial, we must allow, it was wrong to make fuch people churchwardens. Art. 23. Moral and Political Dialogues; with Letters on Chivalry and Romance. By the Rev. Mr. Hurd. The Third Edition. Small 8vo. 3 Vols. 95. Millar, &c. The former editions of thefe Dialogues (of which we gave an account, as alfo of the Letters on Chivalry†, at the time of their first publication) were given to the public without a name, and under the fictitious perfon of an Editor: not for any purpose fo filly as that of impofing on the public; but for reafons of another kind, which it is not difficult to apprehend.' Pref. p. 1. The learned and ingenious Author hath now thought it proper to affix his name to these pieces; and to preface them with a differtation on the manner of writing dialogue; which is of itself a confiderable tract, extending to no less than fixty pages. In this prefatory difcourfe, he confiders the antients as the best models for the dialogue-form of writing; and what he hath faid on the fubject is well worth the critical reader's attention. * See Rev. Vol. XXI. + Ib. Vol. XXVII. Art. 24. Stemmata Chicheleana: Or, a Genealogical Account of fome of the Families derived from Thomas Chichele, of Higham-Ferrers, in the County of Northampton; all whofe Defcendants are held to be entitled to Fellowships in All Souls College, Oxford; by Virtue of their Confanguinity to Arch Archbishop Chichele, the Founder. Oxford, printed at the Clarendon Prefs, 1765. 4to. 10s. 6d. few'd. T. Payne. The following tables of defcents are publifhed with a view of pointing out fome of the traces of the blood of Thomas Chichele, of Higham-Ferrers, which may be found in the families of the nobility and gentry of Great Britain and Ireland; in order to facilitate the enquiries of thofe gentlemen who may be inclined to become candidates for Fellowships at All Souls College in Oxford, on the claim of colla-, teral confanguinity with his fon Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury, the founder. This qualification is now, indeed, abfolutely neceffary to form their approaches to thefe competitions; and to endeavour to make the way plain and level before them, and to widen it, where it may be properly done, fo as to admit a greater number of adventurers, and to give a larger and freer choice to the college at all future elections, will, it is hoped, be no unacceptable fervice to the public and to fociety.' Pref. These tables are numerous indeed; the founder's kindred having increafed prodigiously! Archbishop Chichele flourished about three hundred years ago; and his collateral defcendants, among the nobility, gentry and commonalty of these kingdoms, are, in this work, traced (computing by the names in the index) through about 1200 families. The Editor, in his preface, acquaints his readers, by what means he has been enabled to collect fuch a great number of pedigrees; and makes the proper acknowledgments in respect to the gentleman who first fet about this laborious tafk; as well as to thofe who have fince contributed to the completion of the defign. Art. 25. An Account of the Destruction of the Jefuits in France. By M. D'Alembert. 12mo. 2s. 6d. few'd. Bocket and Co. In our laft Appendix we gave, as a foreign article, a very full abftract of the performance here tranflated; from which our Readers have already received a competent idea of what fo excellent and fo free a writer as M. D'Alembert had to fay on fo extraordinary a subject, as the expulfion of the Jefuits from France.If our opinion of the tranflation be expected, we fhall only fay, that it is like moft other modern tranflations. This illuftrious Frenchman has not been fo fortunate, in this refpect, as the famous citizen of Geneva; whofe Eloifa and Emilius make fo refpectable an appearance in the English language. Art. 26. The Trial of Katherine Nairn and Patrick Ogilvie, for the Crimes of Inceft and Murder. Containing the whole Procedure of the High Court of Justiciary, upon the 5th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Days of August, 1765. Edinburgh printed: London reprinted. 8vo. 2s. Becket and De Hondt. Genuine;-and tolerably free from thofe peculiar terms and phrafes which commonly render the law-proceedings in Scotland unintelligible to English Readers. Some of thefe, however, are, perhaps neceffarily, retained in this publication; which, together with a few. vulgar Scotticifms, may need explanation: and which ought to have been explained in marginal notes, or by a glossary at the end of the pamphlet. For instance, what will the generality of readers on this ide the Tweed, understand by malicious alledgeances, by relevant, relevancy, and irrelevant; compeared, and compearance; inftructing a fact; a perfon being inhabile to be received as a witnefs; caufe remove the faid Anne Clerk from the room where fhe and the other two women are prefently staying; the clashing people of the country;" you daft dog,' and are you daft? condefcending on defects, condefcendence relative to the malice of, &c.' a fhake-down for the deponent's lying all night in Mrs. Ogilvie's room; he would fend her a phial of laudanum, how foon his cheft should arrive; the laigh room, a laigh word, and the laigh council house; fynding the bowl with water, or with broath; rouped the flocking upon the farm;' remeid of law :-this laft may be eafily gueffed at by every reader; but what are filling-feeds, happings, biggings, and penny-flone caft distance? what trade is a portioner? and what is meant, p. 46, by Mrs. O. being troublefome to her paramour? These might all have been as eafily explained as the fwarf, that happened to Mr. Ogilvie on the hill: i. e. he had fwarfed or fainted." But our greatest objection is to the form of the criminal indictment raifed and purfued at the inftance of Thomas Miller, Efq; his Majefty's advocate, for his Majefty's intereft, against Katherine Nairn, &c.' What must foreigners, especially fuch as have the misfortune to live under arbitrary and oppreffive governments, think of this open declaration of his Britannic Majefty being interested in the iflue of a criminal profecution? and what may they not be led to conclude when they read, at the bottom of the fentence, that all the moveable goods and gear,' of the perfon doomed to fuffer death, be efcheat and inbrought to his Majesty's ufe? One of our English poets fays wretches hang, that jurymen may dine;' and, from what is above quoted, may not the world be led to imagine, that in Scotland, as in Turkey, wretches hang, that their moveables may move into the royal coffers ? 6 CORRESPONDENCE. H. F.'s letter in relation to Mr. Jeacocke's Vindication of the Moral Character of St. Paul, appears to have been quite unneceffary. Nobody, we apprehend, could ever have drawn, from the Reviewers account of that publication*, any inference to the prejudice of the writer's character, as a real believer in Chriftianity;' for fuch Mr. Jeacocke undoubtedly (as H. F. remarks) appears to be, through the whole of his pamphlet.' What was faid of the apostle Paul's being vindicated at the expence of St. Peter, was rather pleasantly than fe verely obferved; and the paffage on which the obfervation was founded, was fairly quoted: from whence every reader might judge for himself, both as to the propriety and tendency of Mr. J.'s argument, and of what the Reviewer faid on the fubject.- On the whole, the Reviewers do entirely concur with H. F. in his opinion, although the thought is not a new one, that it is a great evidence of the integrity of the facred writers, that they have recorded the faults as well as the excellencies of the characters they have mentioned.' See Review for Auguft laft, p. 156. |