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She feeks in vain: for ah! her ecchoing yell
With double fury bursts upon her ear.

In doubling mazes now fhe feeks to foil

Th' approaching foe: but mind yon steddy hound
(Whofe age, experience in the pleasing chace
Oft times has taught) now with a glorious thirst
Of generous ardor eager fpeed his way;

A certain fign, that now the finks-and dies.
The ftrepent horn confirms the joyful news,
And all around fhrill propagates the found.
Thefe are the fports of Welchmen: did ye know
The luxury of fleep, ye fons of ease,
Oft got by rural paftime, ye would fcorn
The blandishments of down, and all the arts
Emollient, which difgrace the race of men.

Some very faulty lines, and useless epithets, we have observed in this poem; but as the good-humoured Author appears to be quite fnug and happy in his elbow-chair, we are unwilling to disturb him by defcending to particular animadverfions: and more especially as the random, incoherent nature of the piece may feem to claim an exemption from a too rigid trial by the laws of criticism.

THEATRICAL.

Art. 21. Daphne and Amintor: A Comic Opera, in One Alt, as it is performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. 8vo. I s. Newbery, Becket,'&c.

This is the third time that The Oracle of M. St. Foix has been cooked up for the palates of English readers and English audiences. It was firft tranflated, literally, about twenty years ago, by an anonymous hand. Next, it was tranflated by Mrs. Cibber, in 1752; and acted for her benefit, at Covent-Garden-house*: and now Mr. Ifaac Bickerstaff, Author of Love in a Village, and The Maid of the Mill, hath taken up this pretty trifle, made fome alteration in the plan, and added to it feveral poor and prepofterous fongs, unworthy of himfelf, by whom they were written, unworthy of Mr. Garrick, by whom this mess was fuffered to be ferved up for the public entertainment, and unworthy of the toleration the piece met with from a goodnatured, fhall we fay ? or a taftelefs audience!As to his music, we have not heard it; take, therefore, his own account of it:

With regard to the mufic, fays Mr. B. I apprehend it must pleafe, as it has been felected with the greatest attention, both to the beauty of the airs, and its effect upon the theatre. There are, indeed, fome people who may poffibly be of opinion, that I ought to have chofen old English or Scotch ballads; or got mufic compofed in the fame tafte. But in fact such sort of compofitions fcarce deferve the name of mufic at all; at least they can have little or no merit on the ftage; where every thing ought to be fupported by a degree of action and character.'

Yes, gentle Reader, thou mayeft well ftare but, diftruft not us. It is really in the book, and we have faithfully tranfcribed the paffage,

See Review, Vol. VI.

in which Mr. B. hath afferted that the mufic of the old English and Scotch ballads scarce deferves the name of mufic at all! ~ -To think of refuting fuch a declaration as this, would be almoft as abfurd as the declaration itself.--There is fuch a piece as THE BEGGAR'S OPERA: turn to that juftly admired† performance, Mr. B. then turn to thy own Daphne and Amintor,—and be dumb for ever!

+ We intend this epithet only for the ballads: for as to this celebrated burlefque opera, confidered as a dramatic compofition, we do not think it entitled to any commendation: its very plan having an immoral tendency.

Art. 22. The Merry Midnight Miftake, or Comfortable Conclufion : A new Comedy. By David Ogborne. 8vo. 1s. Chelmsford printed; and fold by Williams in London.

We never before met with any thing in the dramatic form fo mean, low, and ftupid as this Chelmsford Comedy. As we never heard of Mr. David Ogborne before; fo we heartily with we may never hear of him again, or meet with any more of his miserable productions.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 32. The Entertaining Inftructor: In French and English. Being a Collection of judicious Sayings, fmart Repartees, short Stories, &c. Extracted from the most celebrated French Authors, and particularly the Books in Ana. By the Author of the Hif tory of England by Queftion and Anfwer; the Roman Hif-, tory, &c. Intended chiefly for the Ufe of Schools. 3s. Millar.

12mo.

As the mere English Reader will, probably, be at a loss to know what Mr. Lockman (the compiler and tranflator of these anecdotes, &c.) means by the books in Ana,' we shall give our Author's own account of thefe Anas.

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ANA is a word of no fignification in itfelf, and merely a Latin termination of noun adjectives plural, of the neuter gender. But as of late years, thefe kinds of adjectives have been made titles to books, and even to fome writ in French, which form a collection of wife fayings, fmart repartees, &c. of certain learned and ingenious men ; fuch compofitions are called books in Ana. Wolfius has given us the hiftory of thefe books in his preface to the Caufaboniana. He therein obferves, that though this is a new fort of title, yet the thing itself is of very remote antiquity: that the books of Xenophon, concerning the fayings and actions of Socrates, form a Socratiana: that the apophthegms of the philofophers collected by Diogenes Laertius, the fentences of Pythagoras, thofe of Epictetus, the works of Athenæus, Stobæus, and feveral others, are books in Ana.The Scaligerana was the first of the Anas, it being drawn from the papers of Vaffant and Verthunian; who, we are told, took the whole from the mouth of Scaliger.Afterwards appeared Perroniana, Thuana, Naudeana, Patiniana, Sorberiana, Menagiana, Anti-Menagiana, Fureteriana, Choreana, Sc. down to Arlequiniana.which books the Menagiana is looked upon as the best.'

Of all

With

With regard to the prefent collection, the induftrious Author has himself given a very fair and impartial account of it in his preface. Some of the articles, fays he, are of a ferious, and others of a jocofe turn; but certainly none of a loose or immodest caft: for as they are intended principally for our youth, of both fexes, the compiler would have thought himfelf highly criminal, had he introduced even a fingle thought which might contribute to deprave their morals. The variety is very great; and the compiler himfelf perceives a wide difference in the materials of which this book is compofed; fome ar ticles having infinitely more merit than others. However, he hopes that the whole will not be rejected on that account; but that fuch as are of real value, will compenfate for those which may be judged otherwife. In a repofitory of jewels, every ftone is not a diamond.Some of the articles introduced here are found in other books of the fame fort; but a greater number, he believes, never appeared in English before.The original here is the French, all the English being tranflation. This the compiler has fometimes attempted in a free manner, and fo as, if poffible, to give his verfion the air of an original; except on fuch occafions as he judged it of more atility to the pupil, to keep close to the French idiom.--Altho' this fmall performance is calculated more immediately for youth, yet it may be judged noways unfit for the perufal of perfons of riper years; as containing reflections and obfervations on men and things, worthy the notice of the graveft and most intelligent perfons.-Some will perhaps think that many of thefe maxims may be ufeful to fchools, for making of Latin exercifes.'- -Thus far our honeft Compiler; to whofe account we have only to add our opinion, that his book feems very well calculated to anfwer, in general, the useful purposes above-mentioned.

SERMONS.

1.The Wisdom and Righteousness of the Divine Providence, illufirated from the Character of fob.-At Honiton, Aug. 25, 1765; being the firit Sunday after the late dreadful fire. By Richard Harrison. Buckland, &c.

The profits arising from the fale of this difcourfe, are to be applied toward the relief of the jufferers.

11. Baptifm a Divine Commandment to be obferved.-At the baptim of the Kev. Mr. Robert Carmichael, Minifter of the Gospel at Edin burgh; Oct. 9, 1765. By John Gill. D. D. Keith.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The Remarks on Voltaire, figned PHILALETHES, are more proper for a Magazine than the Review. We are far from thinking them impertinent, or unworthy of a place in any mifcellaneous publication; but we fhould deviate too much from the immediate business of a literary journal, were we to admit every original effay that may be fent us.

The fecond letter from Tamworth, figned alfo Philalethes, is acknowledged. The Reviewers are obliged to the Writer for his kind hints; to which they will pay all due regard; but beg leave to decline the continuance of the little controverfy they have had with him: the farther pursuit of which would lead them too far beyond the boundaries of their plan.

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THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For NOVEMBER, 1765.

Continuation of the Account of Mr. Maclaine's Tranflation of Dr.
Mofheim's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory.

H

AVING, in our Review for Auguft laft, given a gene

ral account of the plan of this valuable work, together with fome extracts from the learned Author's history of the firft century of the Chriftian church; we now proceed, without pretending to perform the laborious task of giving a regular abtract of fo elaborate a compilation, to lay before our Readers fome farther extracts from fuch parts of the work as we think are both entertaining and inftructive, in order to enable them to form a juft idea of the abilities and judgment of the Author.

In treating of the ftate of letters and philofophy during the Tecond century, our Author obferves that, under the reign of Trajan, they came forth from the retreat where they had languished during the favage tyranny of his predeceffors, and, by the aufpicious protection of this excellent prince, were, in fome measure, restored to their former luftre. This happy revolution in the republic of letters, was, indeed, but of a fhort duration, as it was not fupported by the fucceeding emperors, who were, for the most part, averfe to literary pursuits. Even Marcus Antoninus, who furpaffed them all in learning, gave protection and encouragement to the ftoics alone, and, after the example of that fupercilious fect, treated the arts and fciences with contempt. And here we fee the true reafon, the Hiftorian fays, why the writers of this century are, in general, fo much inferior to thofe of the former, in point of elegance and purity, eloquence and tafte.

This degeneracy of erudition and tafte, however, did not amount, we are farther told, to an utter extinction of them for, even in this century, flourished men of genius and abilities, who fet off, in the moft advantageous manner, the learning of the times in which they lived. Among the learned Grecians, VOL. XXXIII,

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the first place is due to PLUTARCH, a man of vaft erudition, whofe knowlege was various but indigefted, and whose philofophical tafte was corrupted by the fceptical tenets of the academics. There were, likewise, in all the more confiderable cities of the Roman empire, rhetoricians, fophifts, and grammarians, who, by a variety of learned exercises, feemed zealous in forming the youth to the arts of eloquence and declamation, and in rendering them fit, by their talents and their acquifitions, to be ufeful to their country. But the inftruction acquired in these schools was more fpecious than folid; and the youth who received their education in them, diftinguished themselves at their entrance upon the active ftage of life, rather by empty declamation, than by true eloquence; more by pompous erudition, than by wisdom and dexterity in the management of public affairs.

The ftoical fect, the Author obferves, was not in the highest efteem, during this century; the rigour and aufterity of its doctrines being by no means fuited to the diffolute manners of the times. The Platonic fchools were more frequented for several reafons; and particularly for thefe two, that their moral precepts were lefs rigorous and fevere, than thofe of the Stoics, and their doctrines more conformable to, or, rather, lefs incompatible with, the common opinions concerning the gods. But of all the philofophers, the Epicureans enjoyed the highest reputation, and had the greatest number of followers; because their opinions tended to encourage the indolent fecurity of a voluptuous and effeminate life, and to banish the remorfe and terrors that haunt vice, and naturally incommode the wicked in their fenfual pursuits.

Towards the conclufion of this century, fays our Author, a new fect of philofophers arofe of a fudden, fpread with amazing rapidity through the greateft. part of the Roman empire, fwallowed up almost all the other fects, and was extremely detrimental to the cause of Chriftianity. Alexandria in Egypt, which had been, for a long time, the feat of learning, and, as it were, the center of all the liberal arts and sciences, gave birth to this new philofophy. Its votaries chofe to be called Platonics, though, far from adhering to all the tenets of Plato, they collected, from the different fects, fuch doctrines as they thought conformable to truth, and formed thereof one general fyftem. The reason then, why they diftinguished themselves by the title of Platonics, was, that they thought the fentiments of Plato, concerning that most noble part of philofophy, which has the deity and things invifible for its objects, much more rational and fublime, than those of the other philofophers.

What gave to this new philofophy a fuperior air of reason and dignity, was, the unprejudiced spirit of candour and impar

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