Arguments by the Duke of Buckingham, the Earls of Nottingham, Stanhope, Sunderland, Jersey, and many of his productions. One of his many plans he thus unfolds, in a Letter dated Feb. 18, 1801: "I have often thought, since the appearance of Warton's Edition of Pope, that a new Edition, upon a new plan, would be well received. I mean an Editio expurgata, upon the plan of Hurd's Cowley, intituled, Select Works, in Verse and Prose, of Alexander Pope.' Such an edition might, perhaps, be comprized in three large octavo volumes; and, if you would run the risk, solus cum solo, or jointly with any of your brethren, I should have no objection to engage in the task of revising, abridging, and annotating. Let me know what you think of this plan; and, if you approve of it, you shall have my ideas respecting it more in detail in a future Letter. I'am sanguine in my expectation that such an exhibition of Pope as I have in my mind's eye would be acceptable to the Public. A. M." Having communicated to him my own ideas on the subject, he thus writes more fully, March 4, "The more I think of Pope, the more I am convinced the thing would answer, provided it were executed properly: I mean, with taste, discrimination, and judgment, Several pieces that appeared in Warburton's Edition ought to be expunged; as well as some that have been introduced into Warton's. The Poetry might either be arranged in the exact order of chronology, or under the various heads of Descriptive, Didactic, Satirical, Translations, Imitations, Miscellaneous. The Prose should be arranged under the heads of Prefaces, Essays, and Select Epistles. The Notes should be short, to illustrate beauties, to mark deviations from the principles of taste, or the canons of sound criticism; to elucidate obscurities, and to give biographical sketches of the writers and characters who figure in his works. Not many of Warburton's Annotations are worth preserving. Warton has encumbered his Edition with too many Notes; the quintessence of them should be extracted for a new Edition. A new Life should be prefixed, containing the substance of Warburton, Warton, Ruffhead, and Johnson. Now, I think, all this might be comprized in half the bulk of Warton's Edition; and, in my humble opinion, greatly to the advancement of Pope's fair fame with the present and future times. I agree with you, that the present Proprietors of Pope's Works would be the proper persons to be Principals in such an undertaking. I should be glad if you would sound some of the leading men upon the business, mentioning my name, and let me know what they think of the project. If the plan is relished, we can then talk of terms."-I shall close this long Note by observing, that it originates from the sincerest regard for a worthy and exemplary Divine; whose friendship I have long enjoyed, and to whose talents, benevolence, and integrity, I am proud to give this public testimony. Ilay, Lord Viscount Townshend, the Lords North and Grey, Coningsby, and Lansdowne*." 8vo. "The Rudiments of Mathematicks; designed for the use of Students at the Universities; containing an Introduction to Algebra, Remarks on the first Six Books of Euclid, the Elements of Plane Trigonometry. By William Ludlam, late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. The Third Edition," Svo. "Considerations on the Expediency of revising the Liturgy and Articles of the Church of England" 8vo. Two Editions. "The Supplementary Volume to the Leicestershire Views; containing a Series of Excursions, in the Year 1790, in the Villages and Places of Note in the County. By John Throsby §. To which are This was an impartial account of the Debates on both sides, printed from the original MS. of the Reporters; and the Speech of Lord Lansdowne, in answer to Bishop Gibson, from the handwriting of Bishop Atterbury.-The result of this debate was, the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Bills; but the Test and Corporation Acts remained unaltered. † Of this very able Mathematician, see vol. III. p. 639. See an account of this able Pamphlet (which was printed under the auspices of the late Duke of Grafton, and generally attributed to the Bishop of Landaff) in Gent. Mag. LXI. 498. § Mr. Throsby, who was for many years Parish-clerk of St. Martin's at Leicester, was a man of strong natural genius; and, during the vicissitudes of a life remarkably chequered, rendered himself conspicuous as a Draughtsman and Topographer. He attempted many expedients for the maintenance of a numerous family, few of which answered his purpose; and his last days would have been shaded with penury and disappointment, but for the assistance of those friends who knew his worth, and justly appreciated him as a man of honesty, integrity, and merit. He died Feb. 3, 1803, æt. 63; and is recorded, on a tablet over the vestry door at St. Martin's, to have been of a peaceful disposition; who lived respected, and died an humble Member of the Church of Christ."-His publications were, "The Memoirs of the Town and County of Leicester, 1777," 6 vols. 12mo. "Select Views in Leicestershire, from Original Drawings, 1789," 4to. He next published the above-mentioned work, which was followed by "The History and Antiquities of the antient Town of Leicester, 1791," 4to. "Letter to the Earl of Leicester, on the Roman Cloaca, or Sewer, at Leices ter; added, in Notes, the most valuable Parts of Burton, Nichols, and other antecedent Writers on Leicestershire," 4to. 1791. "Twelve Discourses on the Influence of the Christian Religion on Civil Society. By the Rev. James Douglas *, F. A. S." 8vo. "Baron Inigo Born's new Process of Amalgamation of Gold and Silver Ores, and other Metallic Mixtures, as, by his late Imperial Majesty's Commands, introduced in Hungary and Bohemia. From the Baron's Account in German. Translated into English by R. E. Rasper. With Twenty-two Copper-plates. To which are added, A Supplement, or a Comparative View of the former Method of Melting and Refining; and an Address to the Subscribers, giving an Account of its latest Improvements, and of the Quicksilver Trade," 4to. ter; with some Thoughts on the Jewry Wall, 1793," 8vo. Thoughts on the Provincial Corps raised, and now raising, in Support of the British Constitution at this awful Period, by a Private in the Leicestershire, 1795," 8vo. "Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire, re-published with large Additions, and embellished with Picturesque and Select Views of Seats of the Nobility and Gentry, Towns, Villages, Churches, and Ruins, 1797," 3 vols. 4to. A good Portrait of him is prefixed to his "Select Views in Leicestershire." * Author of the “Nenia Britannica;" of whom see before, p. 8. "The Writer of these Discourses obviously possesses a cultivated mind; his language is sometimes energetic, and always manly. We are obliged to remark, occasionally, a fondness for abstruse words, and sometimes a want of perspicuity; but these Discourses will be read by many with satisfaction, and be read by all with improvement." Gent. Mag. vol. LXII. p. 648. † See vol. III. pp. 217. 230. may "There is no danger of Mr. Raspe having anywhere misunderstood the sense of his originals, or of having expressed himself inadequately in our language-but justice requires us to add, that he appears to have had this business much at heart; and he intimates, in consequence of a Mineralogical Survey which at that time (1790) employed him in the Northern parts of the Island, that Great Britain has a chance to have quick "The Eulogies of Howard*, a Vision," Svo. "The Theatre, by Sir Richard Steele. To which silver mines of her own, nor any longer in that respect to be dependant on foreign regulations of finance, speculation, and monopoly'." M. Rev. N. S. VIII. 174. It is not generally known that this beautiful little Volume was the production of Mr. Hayley. "Panegyric was never more honourably bestowed than in celebrating the merit of Howard; and she here performs her office in a manner by no means unworthy of the subject. Such a tribute to the memory of a good man, must be read with pleasure by the good." M. Rev. N. S. VII. 416.-" Concerning the merits and virtues of the departed Howard there seems to exist but one opinion, amongst all ranks and characters of men. Even they who intimate that his conduct was tinctured with enthusiasm, allow it to be an enthusiasm of the most amiable nature, equally deserving of imitation and reward. The pen which produced the present performance is certainly no mean one, and must have its effect in contributing to the final accomplishment of what the friends of Benevolence and Howard have in view. This beatific vision represents another and a better world, in which the three more distinguished Professions concur in acknowledging the services of Howard to mankind to have deserved a permanent and immortal compensation. Three different Eulogies are pronounced in his name, by three illustrious characters, in the separate heaven assigned to the Professors of Divinity, Medicine, and Law. A Funeral Sermon is added; which, perhaps, with respect to the composition, is the best part of the work. The whole is entitled to our praise, and has our best wishes for its success." Gent. Mag. vol. LXI. p. 657. "As long as elegant Literature shall be cultivated in this country, the name of Steele will always have a respectable portion of esteem and praise. It has been, till very lately, the fashion to regard him more as the Friend of Addison and Pope, and as borrowing a reflected splendour from their superior lustre, than as entitled to great reputation on his own account, as an original Writer, as possessed of genius diffusing no inconsiderable light from itself, as improving our language, and as a warm and steady friend to liberty and morals. But at this period, when prejudices of all kinds are the more rigorously examined, the more fixed they seem, and the more antient they are, it is clearly ascertained and acknowledged, that Steele's talents as a man, and skill as a writer, required no adventitious aid. Whether we consider his polished diction, his acuteness in controversy, or the variety and depth of his observation; his claims to our esteem are so strong, that to us it seems probable they will be the more readily acknowledged, the farther our advances in refinement shall incline us to examine them. We speak of that refine are added, The Anti-Theatre; the Character of Sir John Edgar; Steele's Case with the Lord Chamberlain; the Crisis of Property, with the Sequel, Two Pasquins, &c. &c. Illustrated with Literary and Historical Anecdotes, by John Nichols," 8vo. "A Descriptive Catalogue* of a General Collection of Antient and Modern engraved Gems, Ca refinement which admits no claims without investigation; and we allude to such an examination as is prompted by ingenuous curiosity, and conducted by liberality and candour.-To the Editor of the present Work the friends and admirers of Steele owe many obligations. His industry, and, we may add, his acuteness, have been successfully exercised to render the cloud which obscured Steele's reputation less and less dense. His partial care has raised Steele from amongst the groupe in which he was sometimes confounded, and often overlooked; and placed him on a separate pedestal, where he attracts and obtains his proper share of attention and praise. There are but very few, partial as they may have been to Steele's writings, or curious in collecting the periodical publications of that period, who have seen an entire collection of the Theatre;' and yet we may be justified in asserting, that it would be difficult to produce better writing from either the Spectators, Tatlers, or Guardians. To those who are curious in investigating the history of the English Stage, they must be peculiarly interesting; and to the works of Steele already published in the same form and manner, they form a necessary and valuable Appendix.-The Author of the Anti-Theatre' we should be very glad to know; these papers are certainly the production of a man Steele's equal as a writer, and much his superior in erudition. The other tracts which accompany the 'Theatre' tend to illuminate the history of a period to which the Politician and the Scholar can never be indifferent; they prove the versatile powers of a mind comprehending various branches of Literature, and which was at the same time friendly to the cause of morality, and firmly tenacious of the true rights and liberty of his countrymen. It gives us no small pleasure to find that Steele's Epistolary Correspondence is about to be reprinted in a size corresponding with the Tatler, Spectator, Guardian, &c. &c. and the volume before us. We shall then possess, in one uniform collection, what the greatest talents and best Writers which adorn our annals have combined to produce." Gent. Mag. LXI. 1033. 6 * Mr. Tassie's Collection is so generally known, and so universally admired, that it stands not in need of our recommendation. It is the greatest that ever was made, containing upwards of 15,000 articles; and amazing as this number must appear, the Collection is still more precious, on account of the beauty and value of the original Gems, and the accuracy and perfection with |
