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mercantile city of Briftol; and an Epitaph intended for the rev, Mr. Eccles, late of Bath.

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The first article, which is moft confiderable, we have already mentioned in a preceding Review; the fecond was honoured with the myrtle at Bath-Eafton; and the third, we make no doubt, was applauded, when it was spoken by Mr. Cautherly, on the stage at Bristol, in 1777.

Divine Philanthropy or the Love of God. A Poetical Effay. By John Beatfon. 12mo. 1. 6d. Rivington.

The author has divided his work into three parts. In the firft he defcribes the Love of the Father; in the fecond the Love of the Redeemer; and in the third the Love of the Holy Spirit. -The refurrection of Christ is thus described :

No fooner had the twilight faint announc'd
The third morn come, fince the Redeemer lept
Incavern'd in the grave's capacious womb,
As Jonah in the bowels of the whale,
Than lo, the gates of death wide open burst
Inftant at His command! The fhiver'd bars
Fly diverse, and their mighty captive free,
Unable to detain Him! Hell's dread powers
Beneath His feet He treads, difarms His foes,
And maugre all their efforts springs to life.'

They who can read a work of this nature for edification, and be content with tolerable poetry, will not be displeased with this poem, as the subject is extensive and interefting.

An Elegy on the Death of David Garrick, Efq. The Second Edition, with Additions. 4to. 15. Dodfley.

This production is not deftitute of poetical merit; but the author has purfued no regular train of thought. The Mufes are called upon to declare, why they did not prolong the life of Mr. Garrick; though the poet afterwards acknowleges that Melpomene could not fave him. They are invited to found the plaintive ftring, that the banks of Avon may re-echo; for the fwans upon that river, we are told,'fing no more.'-By the way this is nothing extraordinary: for fwans are no more qualified to fing than geefe.-The Mufes are then defired to bring odours, and fhed them upon the head of Rofcius, till he is depofited in the tomb. This is an office unworthy of those learned ladies, and might as well have been configned to the Graces. In the mean time the daughters of Britannia are employed in throwing violets over his bier, &c.

So far the fentiment is trivial. Some of the following ftanzas have more meaning, force, and dignity.

Ye Mufe-infpir'd, lament his end,
Who, living, was the Mufes' friend,

The

The drama's lofs deplore!
Where is afpiring Richard fled ?
In Rofcius' grave, Macbeth lies dead;
And Hamlet is no more!

• Ye fons of mirth and gallantry,
No more your fprightly Ranger fee!
Or Benedict admire;

Loft with the archness of his eye,
Drugger and Leon breathlefs lie,
And Kitely shall expire.

• With Shakspeare's fire his breaft was fraught,
"Twas he embodied Shakspeare's thought;
Where the bard's fancy flew,
He caught the phrenzy in his eye,
(Rolling from earth unto the sky,)
And gave the portrait true.'

If the author could have extended thefe very juft and poetical, fentiments; and given us a more diftinct view of this great actor, in all the characters, which he represented upon the stage, his performance would have been infinitely more useful, agreeable, and interefting to every reader.

DRAMATI C.

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The Fathers: or, the Good-Natur'd Man. A Comedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By the late Henry, Fielding, Efq. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Cadell.

It appears that this Comedy was written by the late Henry Fielding fome years before his death, but has by accident, till lately, remained unknown to the public. Confidered either in point of fable or character, it can have no claim to the praise of a finished dramatic compofition. The dialogue, however, is in feveral places interefting, and contains traces of that humour for which the author was diftinguished.

Buthred; a Tragedy. As it is a&ed at the Theatre Royal in Coi vent-Garden. 8vo. 11. 6d. Newbery.

In every effential requifite of tragedy this production is defective. It is faid to have been written twenty years ago, notwithstanding which, it is brought on the stage prematurely.

The Law of Lombardy; a Tragedy: as it is performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. Written by Robert Jephfon, Esq. Is. 6d. Evans.

820.

Though the outlines of this piece are formed upon the principles of the drama, it exhibits neither that fymmetry nor regular gradation of well-arranged incident, which is neceffary in tragic compofition. In fome parts the pathos is extinguished by a cloud of unfeasonable fentiments; and in others by an injudicious attempt to render the diftrefs more affecting. The cataftrophe is difagreeably fufpended, after a premature anticipation; and diffimilitude of character is almost totally oblite rated in the general fimilarity of the language. DIVINITY.

DIVINITY:

A Sermon preached at the Vifitation holden for the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, by the Archdeacons of Lincoln and Leicester, in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, Aug. 24, 1778. By Roger Watkins, M. A. 8vo. 6d. Crowder.

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Modest and ingenious obfervations on the ufe of reason in religious enquiries, and the abfurdity of fuppofing, that every thing in divine Revelation fhould be comprehenfible by the human understanding. Reason, fays he, is invited to fearch, to examine, and to judge of itself. But what is it to search, to examine, and to form its judgment upon? Not certainly things which are above the reach of its faculties.'

This pofition is fair and reasonable. But the difficulty ftill remains, and must remain, till it can be determined, in what particular inftances reafon is not to interfere. Those instances, we apprehend, are much fewer than the generality of writers imagine. For example, it is granted, that we cannot comprehend the mystery of the Trinity; and admitting that this doctrine is clearly taught in the gofpel, reafon has nothing to do but fubmit. But the true queftion is, whether it is, or is not, to be found in Scripture. In this enquiry reason is properly employed.

Chriflianity, an eafy and liberal Syftem; that of Popery, abfurd and burdenfome. A Sermon preached at Salter's-Hall, Nov. 5, 1778. By Hugh Worthington, Jun. 8vo. 6d. Buckland.

A contraft between the fimple, rational, and eafy doctrines of genuine Christianity; and the intricate, abfurd, and burdenfome doctrines of popery.

The Remembrance of former Days. A Sermon preached at Broadmead, Bristol, Nov. 5, 1778. By Caleb Evans, M. A, 12m0. 44. Buckland.

The author declares himself an infidel, as to the fuppofed alteration in the spirit of popery; and thinks it his duty to cry aloud and fpare not, befeeching his countrymen to call to remembrance the former days, left through their own fupineness and inattention, those days fhould return with redoubled horror. The Old Fashion Farmer's Motives for leaving the Church of England, and embracing the Roman Catholic Faith. 8vo. 2s. 6d.

Robinson.

This publication is the production of fome zealous papist, who takes advantage of the lenity of the times to vilify the Reformation, and recommend the Roman Catholic faith. His' work is calculated to captivate the ignorant and injudicious reader. The author dreffes up popery in the fpecious garb of reafon, moderation, and fanctity, at the fame time keeping its turpitude and corruptions out of fight. In defence of purgatory, tranfubftantiation, and fome other points, he produces a few texts of Scripture, which are grofsly mifapplied. MEDICAL.

MEDICAL.

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The Complete English Phyfician; or an Univerfal Library of Fas mily Medicines. By Alexander Gordon, M. D. 8vo. Hogg.

The various diseases are here concisely defcribed, and the moft approved methods of cure pointed out. This treatise, therefore, may be useful to private families, as far as a very com pendious abftract can be fuppofed to afford practical informa

tion.

Every Patient his own Doctor; or, the Sick Man's Triumph over Death and the Grave. By Lewis Robinson, M. D. 8vo. IS. Cooke.

There is a certain degree of abridgement beyond which a science must be rendered unintelligible to those who are unacquainted with its principles. This proper boundary the author of the prefent manual feems not to have kept in view, and has thence precluded the beneficial effects of that knowledge which he meant to convey.

1

A Letter to Dr. Hardy, Phyfician, on the Hints he has given concerning the Origin of the Gout, on his late Publication on the Devonshire Cholic. By Francis Riollay. 8vo. 15. Rivington. Last year Dr. Hardy published A Candid Examination of what has been advanced on the Colic of Poitou and Devonfhire; to which he fubjoined, Some Remarks and Experiments refpecting the Nature of the Gout. This disease he was inclined to afcribe to the fame caufe with the fort. r; but the probability of fuch an opinion is strongly contefted by the author of the Letter, who manages the argument with a confiderable degree of ingenuity.

Synopfis Medica: or a Short View of the Modern Practice of Phyfic: with a Pharmacopoeia Extemporanea. Vol. I. Small 8vo. 6. Bew.

This volume is divided into twenty-four chapters, which are feverally employed in fevers and inflammatory diforders. Confidered as an abridgement, it is fufficiently copious; but it fometimes fails in point of perfpicuity, and of accuracy in compofition.

MISCELLANEOUS. Eulogy on M. de Voltaire. Tranflated from the French of M. Paliffot. 8vo. IS. Hookham.

On a former occafion + we gave an account of the Panegyric of Voltaire written by the king of Pruffia. The work before us contains almoft the fame materials, differently arranged; but Mr. Paliffot has been lefs fortunate in a tranflator than the king of Pruffia. We are inclined to doubt whether the tranflator

See Crit. Rev. vol. xlv. P. 330. + Crit. Rev. for January, P78.

of

of the prefent Eulogy be a native of this kingdom. The French idiom prevails throughout; and though the words be English, the construction is in general fo uncouth and unnatural, that we can only guess at the meaning. As an example, we fhall quote the first paragraph of the Eulogy.

The glory of M. de Voltaire is not confined folely to his own country. It is then to all Europe, who will be attentive to the firft opinions given on this celebrated writer; it is to the present age and to pofterity always juft, yet always fevere, that we shall be refponfible for that which we now prefent to the public; and we ftrongly inculcate in ourselves this truth, to guard us against all partiality, against all enthusiasm. To praife or to condemn with candour will be our aim, endeavouring to feize with juftness whatever may characterise to after-ages, fo fingular a man; or, to anticipate the expreffions of our defcendants, fo vaft, fo incomprehen- fible a genius.'

Though the original of Mr. Paliffot may, as a literary compofition, rival the production of his Pruffian majefty, yet the prefent tranflation cannot give any fort of fatisfaction to a reader of tafte and judgment.

A Phyfical Journal kept on Board bis Majefty's Ship Rainbow, dur ing three Voyages to the Coaft of Africa, and Weft-Indies, in the Years 1772, 1773, and 1774, &c. By Robert Robertfon, 410. 125. ferved. Dilly.

Thefe obfervations contain an account, apparently very accurate, of the weather and diseases on the coaft of Africa, and in the WefIndies. They evince the judgment, as well as the great attention, paid by Mr. Robertfon, the author, to the bufinefs of his department, and may prove useful to fuch as practife in those parts.

An Oration at the Dedication of Free Mafon's Hall in Sunderland, in the County of Durham, on the 16th Day of July, 1778. By Brother W. Hutchinfon. 4to. IS. Baldwin.

This writer, who has given us only a fpecious declamation upon the fubject, concludes, that as the fociety of free mafons has continued through innumerable ages, anfhaken in its principles, and uncorrupted by innovations, it is fupported by the pureft maxims.

Here the premises and the conclufion are both exceptionable. There must have been mafons, we grant, in all ages, fince the invention of brick and mortar, or the first erection of ftone-walls. But this does not form a period of innumerable ages. Yet admitting, that this expreffion is allowable, there is a wide difference between the invention of architecture, and the inftitution of the fociety of Free Mafons. The one may be ancient, and the other of modern date. It is likewife illogical to infer the excellence of the fociety from the antiquity of the profeffion. The pure maxims of religion and morality have no more connexion with this particular craft, than they have with that of the feamftrefs, which may be derived from a more remote antiquity, the introduction of the fig leaves in paradise.

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