and to teach it, It will become the fcience of sciences, and then, properly speaking, it will no longer be a fcience-but fenfation, the prompt and lively fentiment of human nature. Then it would be madness to form it into a science; we should immediately fee writing upon writing, difpute upon difpute, courfes of phyfiognomy opened, and thenceforward it would cease to be, what it ought to be-the first fcience of humanity.

On what then fhall I refolve? Shall I treat phyfiognomy scientifically? Yes, and no: fometimes I fhall present obfervations the moft determinate-at other times I fhall communicate fimple fenfations only, leaving it to the obferver to inveftigate the characters of them, and to the philofopher to fix the determinations.-On many occafions I fhall only invite the eye to fee, and the heart to feel; and fometimes, addreffing myfelf to an indolent fpectator, fhall fay, that I may not appear altogether a fimpleton in his eyes, fhall fay to him in a whifper, Here is fomething fuited to your level; and this may lead you to conjecture that, in thefe matters, others may have more difcernment than yourself.'

Allow me to conclude this fragment by applying to my subject fome ideas of a great man, who, to fingular and profound erudition, had fuperadded the gift of difcerning fpirits; a gift which he poffeffed to fuch a degree that, by the external look only, he decided whether a fick man, whom all the fkill of the phyfician could not relieve, had nevertheless faith to be healed.

Now we know but in part, and our explanations, our commentaries are nothing but fragments; but when perfection is come, thefe feeble effays fhall be abolished. For they are hitherto only the ill'articulated language of a child; and thefe fame ideas, these efforts fhall appear childish to me, when I arrive at maturity. Now we fee the glory of man darkly as through a veil; we shall ere long behold face to face.-Now we know but imperfectly, but I fhall foon know, as I myself have been known, of Him who is the principle, the prime mover, and the end of all things! To him be honour and glory to all eternity! Amen,'

ADDITION

A.

The reader will undoubtedly expect that I fhould endeavour to prove, by fome inftances, that it is poffible to reduce phyfiognomy to a fcience. I mean to produce only a few preliminary examples; as my chief aim is to encourage the reader himself to engage in the career of obfervation.-Befides, my work will furnish continual proofs of what I advance, though I am very far from believing that the age we live in is deftined to produce a fcientific fyftem on phyfionomies, and much less that I am the perfon to whom the world is to owe the obligation. Let us begin only by collecting a fufficient number of obfervations, and endeavouring to characterife them with all the precifion, all the accuracy of which we are capable. As to myself, my utmoft

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atmost ambition is to prepare materials for the next age; to leave memoirs, relative to my great object, to fome man poffeffed of ten times more leifure, and of talents and philofophic genius far fuperior to and bequeath to him, if I may fo exprefs myself, this truth, A fyftem of phyfiognomy is a poffibility.'

mine;

The principal point in question is to discover what is evidently determined in the features, and to fix the characteristic figns, the expreffion of which is generally acknowledged. All I afk, therefore, at prefent is, whether or not the small head below be fcientifically determinable from the outline of the forehead and eyebrows? whether this forehead and thefe eyebrows do not announce a character entirely different from what it would be, did the contour of the forehead form a ftraight line, or if the eyebrows were raised in the form of an arch? I afk no more.'

We have already, in two former Reviews*, taken notice of the French original, and have only to add here that we dare fay the public will receive the tranflation with pleasure. It will afford amufement to the idle, and, as announcing a new science, will occupy the attention of the thinking mind. And though the philofopher will not meet with a regular and correct theory of phyfiognomy, which the author does not promise, nor indeed was to be expected from the labours of one man, yet he will admire the ingenuity, acutenefs, and various knowledge, of the writer, will be astonished at his ardour and energy of mind, and pay that just tribute to his benevolence of heart which it fo highly deferves. Nor will he rife up without improvement from the perufal of the work; for though, like the alchymifts in former days, he may not fucceed in his main object, viz. in difcovering an unerring criterion to determine the qualities of the heart and mind from the outward form, yet the fearch will reward him with much useful knowledge. To the amateur this publication must be a real acquifition, as, according to the prefent value of engravings, the prints alone it contains are fully equivalent to the price he pays for the whole work, and the letter-prefs may be confidered as given gratis.

Every one acquainted with works of this kind, where fo many artists are employed,, must know that unexpected delays are unavoidable; we cannot therefore join in fome complaints which we have heard against the proprietors for dilatoriness in the publication. We are rather furprised that they have been able to do fo much, than angry at their having done too little; and we dare fay that gratitude for the encouragement they have met with, as well as their own interest, will keep their best exertions awake, that they may meet the ardour, and merit the further approbation of the public.

ART. II. The Scotch Preacher; or, A Collection of Sermons, by
Some of the most eminent Clergymen of the Church of Scotland,
Vol. IV. 12mo. 3s. fewed. Dickfon, Edinburgh; Elliot
and Kay, London, 1789.

THE

HE public have had for fome time before them two works in divinity, the one entitled The English Preacher,' the other The Scotch Preacher.' The firft is a judicious compilation from the most celebrated English authors, and forms a very useful body of practical divinity.

The Scotch preacher, now in its fourth volume, is an original work, being a publication of difcourfes by fundry Scotch divines of the prefent day, and uniting in its plan both variety and novelty.

Confidering this volume as a joint effort of a community, it lays claim to more of our attention than any fingle volume publifhed by an individual, where one quotation would serve to point out a general manner, and where remarks on the ftyle of one fermon would be applicable to all the reft. We fhall therefore be more minute and difcriminating in our examination of The Scotch Preacher ;' and shall first call the attention of our readers to the 1ft, 2d, and 8th fermons of the work before us; which appear to be the production of men of fuperior parts, and are at the fame time written in that fplendid manner on which the public feem moft willing to beftow their approbation.

Let the following description of our Saviour's refurrection bear teftimony to our opinion:

Twice had the fun gone down upon the earth, and all as yet was quiet at the fepulchre; death held his fceptre over the Son of God; fill and filent the hours paffed on; the guards flood by their poft, the rays of the midnight moon gleamed on their helmets, and on their fpears; the enemies of Chrift exulted in their fuccefs; the hearts of his friends were funk in defpondency and in forrow; the fpirits of glory waited in anxious fufpenfe to behold the event, and wondered at the depth of the ways of God. At length the morningftar arifing in the east announced the approach of light; the third day began to dawn upon the world, when on a fudden the earth trembled to its centre, and the powers of heaven were fhaken; an angel of God defcended, the guards fhrunk back from the terror of his prefence, and fell proftrate on the ground; his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment was white as fnow :' he rolled away the ftone from the door of the fepulchre, and fat upon it. But who is this that cometh forth from the tomb, with dyed-garments from the bed of death? He that is glorious in his appearance, walking in the greatnefs of his ftrength! It is thy prince, O Zion! Chriftian, it is your Lord. He hath trodden the wine-prefs alone; he hath ftained

stained his raiment with blood; but now, as the first-born from the womb of nature, he meets the morning of his refurrection. He arises a conqueror from the grave; he returns with bleffings from the world of fpirits; he brings falvation to the fons of men. Never did the

returning fun usher in a day fo glorious! it was the jubilee of the univerfe. The morning-ftars fung together, and all the fons of God fhouted aloud for joy; the Father of Mercies looked down from his throne in the heavens; with complacency he beheld his world reftored; he saw his work that it was good. Then did the defert rejoice; the face of nature was gladdened before him, when the bleffings of the Eternal defcended as the dew of heaven for the refreshing of the nations.'

In this happy effort on a difficult topic it is with reluctance we object to the introduction of the poffible or probable circumstance of the moon fhining on the armour of the guard. In an enumeration of the circumstances and truths connected with the cardinal doctrine of Chriftianity, nothing fhould have been admitted which had not an immediate foundation in fcripture record.

From the 2d fermon we give the following extract, as an instance of animated reafoning, and of good compofition. The preacher is recommending to his hearers attendance upon public worfhip from the confideration of the regard they owe to their brethren; the audience feems to have been compofed of the higher ranks of life:

Think of the condition of those who are beneath you, your dependents, your brethren, to whofe virtue and happiness some regard is due. Think of the condition of your humbler brethren-toiling to procure a fcanty fubfiftance, with hardly a fufficient interval of repofe to recruit their fpirits for the renewal of their labours, they are left with minds uncultivated by education, to encounter the temptations of want and wretchedness, while no leifure is afforded them to review their conduct, or to think of the purpose for which they are placed on the earth. From perfons thus circumftanced what could we expect? how barren and defolate would their minds be! how grovelling their views! how precarious their virtue! were it not for the regular return of thofe inftitutions of the gofpel by which they are raised to the knowledge of God and of their duty. To them is it not of the mercies of heaven' that a day is confecrated in which they are permitted to repofe from the cares of life, in which they are invited to approach the temple of the Lord, to pour out their fouls before Him who made them, and to indulge their truft in that gracious Providence, which careth for the happiness of every creature that lives? Is it not of the mercies of heaven' that a day is confecrated in which they are called upon, by men appointed to the task, confider the things that belong to their peace;' in which they are warned of the fnares and temptations of life; in which they are inAructed in the duties which God hath required of them, and folaced

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with the hopes which the gofpel opens to sweeten their existence, and to animate their virtue?

And will you, whom God hath bleffed with fo many other means of inftruction and comfort, will you teach your lefs fortunate brethren to defpife the most precious advantages of their condition? will you declare to them that there is no truth in the doctrines which religion reveals; that there is no obligation to the duties which it enjoins; that there is no reality in the confolations which it adminifters, confolations which are open alike to the rich and to the poor, and which can gladden the hearts of those who are strangers to every other joy? Such, however, is the language of your conduct, when you omit to affemble yourselves in the house of God.

There may, indeed, be a fecret refpect for religion in the hearts of fome, who mingle not in its outward inflitutions. But the ignorant, whom your behaviour muft influence, are incapable of making the diftinétion; they regard your forfaking the fanctuary as a public declaration on your part that you have abandoned the religious character, and they are led, by their imitation of you, to renounce that faith in God which is the firmeft guardian of their happinefs and their virtue.

Let me exhort you, then, to respect the inftitutions of the gospel, were it only for the fake of those to whom you cannot but acknowledge that they are neceffary. Go before them in the path to heaven, and lead them, by the light of your example, to the fear and the love of that God on whom all alike depend. It is no unreasonable fervice in which we exhort you to mingle. If you were called," as in the days of pagan darkness, to bow before the fhrines of ima. ginary deities, whofe characters were ftained by folly and vice, and whofe praifes were to be celebrated by a thoufand idle ceremonies, in which reafon and virtue might blush to fhare; if this were the worship in which we exhorted you to join, you might contemplate with horror the impious fcene, and imagine that you were contributing to the beft interefts of your brethren while you were labouring to break the bands of a fuperftition so dishonourable to God, and fo debafing to man.

But it is a pure religion which is established in our land. It hath evidences of its truth which we trust will be fufficient to convince the candid; and it is the leaft that can be faid of it, even by its enemies themselves, that it is a fyftem adapted to the best principles of the human mind, neither tainted by any mixture of those grofs fuperftitions which for fo many ages prevailed in the earth, nor difgraced by thofe barbarous and unhallowed rites by which the blinded nations paid their homage to their gods. It prefcribes a refined and rational worship, the worship of the understanding and the heart,' offered to one God, the creator of the world, through Mediator between God and man.' It inculcates on its profeffors a pure morality, fitted to lead them to all that is excellent in conduct, and opens to them hopes that are congenial to their nature, and which every virtuous mind will rejoice to cherish. • This is that true light which the nations defired to behold, and which the prophets faw from afar, and were glad.' Rejoice that on us who

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