fulness will depend on the habits of order in their domestic economy. We admire the little publication before us, because it directs the attention of the Public to the Cottage, and is calculated for the Cottager. How much is it to be lamented that country-gentlemen have considered a large Poor-House, or House of Industry, as preferable to a village of decent cottages; and that the Poor, from a mistaken notion of their being better managed and more cheaply fed by the Parish, have been forced from under their lowly roofs to take refuge in these vast Monasteries of Indigence! By the enormous increase of the Poor-rates, the Public begin to be awakened to a sense of the error of the old system; and it may be presumed, since Parliament will now have leisure for the discussion, that the state of the Poor will undergo a minute inquiry. Should this be the case, we hope that the labours of the Society with which this little work originates will not be disregarded.-While the Nation at large is invited to weigh the superior advantages of the Cottage system, suitable advice is here given to the cottage-inhabitant; with a paper on the comforts of the poor, golden rules for their instruction, and several very useful receipts for stewing, for making beer and bread, for preparing rice, &c. &c.

Art. 41. Observations on Friendly Societies, for the Maintenance of the Industrious Classes, during Sickness, Infirmity, Old Age, and other Exigencies. By Sir Frederick Morton Eden, Bart. 8vo. White. 1801. IS.

Of all plans for extending relief to the sick and suffering Poor, that of Friendly Societies has been thought to be least exceptionable; and it is benevolent to consider its advantages and present defects, in order that this system may be brought to as much perfection as is possible; that the Poor in every place may be induced to form Institutions of this kind; and that, finding themselves adequate with prudence and forethought to their own support, they may avoid the miserable idea of dying in a work-house :-the desirable consequence of which would be that the Public might be exonerated from those bounties on idleness, (as Dr. Franklin called them,) the Poor-rates.

We are entirely of opinion, with this humane and judicious Baronet, that Contagion, moral as well as physical, is frequently the result of multitudinous assemblies ;' and therefore we have expressed ourselves partial to those plans which enable the Poor to live apart, rather than to those which congregate them. Friendly Societies, as consonant with the system of Individuality, merit encouragement. Sir F. M. Eden reckons the aggregate number of these clubs in England and Wales at 7200; which, on an average of ༡༠ members for each club, makes a total of 648,000 persons united, throughout the kingdom, in Friendly Societies. Wishing to promote the cause of the Poor, he discusses the present imperfections of these associations; and he advises that there be formed a National Institution, or Insurance Office, from which the industrious classes might, on just and equitable principles, secure a provision against the various exigencies to which they are exposed. Such an establishment, he thinks, would render Friendly Societies more popular, and their advantages less equivocal. A Benchit Society on a very simple principle, says the Baronet, is established

established in the county of Ayr in Scotland. It consists of about 50 members, and is called the Penny or Halfpenny Society. It has no funds which can be embezzled: but, when a brother is confined to his bed by sickness, every member pays hím a penny weekly; and if he should be able to go out, but not to work, a halfpenny. We admire the simplicity of this plan, and deem it intitled to consideration. Art. 42. Another Essence of Malone, or the Beauties of Shakspeare's Editor. Second Part. 8vo. pp. 190. 58. Becket. 1801. We have already had occasion to notice two publications of this author, to each of which he had given the appellation of The Essence of Malone.'-Is he not aware that, if he continues his productions, (no difficult task, when we consider the manner in which they are executed,) he should change his title, and christen them the Substance of Malone?-Pope says

"There are whom Heav'n has blest with store of wit,
Yet want as much again to manage it"-

a couplet which he afterward exchanged for the following;
"Some, to whom Heav'n in wit has been profuse,

Want as much more to turn it to its use."

This censure of the Poet is not deserved by Mr. Hardinge; he is not so reprehensible for the use to which he has turned his wit, as for the absence of that quality; for.it must be allowed, in the language of Butler, that

"He was very shy of using it.",

We observed, in our former article, that this critic discovered more instances of ill-will towards the object of his attack, than either ability or judgment; a sentence which, in the present instance, is still more decidedly merited. If Mr. Malone be not censurable for his productions, we certainly are to be pitied for their consequences, when they introduce such a race of

"Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,
Their generation's so equivocal."-

Art. 43. New Joe Miller; or, the Tickler. Containing near two thousand good Things, many of which are original, and the others selected from the best Authors. Vol. II. 12mo. 35. sewed. Ridgway. 1801.

Mr. James Bannantine here avows himself to be the editor of this volume, as well as of its precursor, which we mentioned in our Numbet for April last; and he says that, notwithstanding the arbitrary remark that the Scotch are deficient in wit, he has thus ventured on the task of compiling and circulating his own wit and that of others,' though he had the misfortune to be born beyond the Tweed.'-We should certainly dispute this national reflection, on general grounds, and we think that Mr. B. affords an individual proof of its falsity: but the nature of many of the good things here recorded, both his own compositions and those of others, requires us again to remind him that mere indecency is not wit, and that even sterling wit is lamentably depreciated by the mixture of obscenity. He endeavours to repel any

supposed

supposed objections against the trifling quality of his work, by asserting the beneficial tendency of any publication that promotes innocent mirth:' we agree in his idea: but we cannot deem that mirth innocent which would put modesty to the blush, and encourage ideas which contaminate the mind. We observed that jests and epigrams of this description were too frequent in Mr. B.'s former volume; and both this remark, and the general character which we gave of that compilation, are equally applicable in the present instance.

We shall copy, for our Christmas readers, one or two of those jokes that may tickle without wounding:

་

When a Jew, who was condemned to be hanged, was brought to the gallows, and just on the point of being turned off, a reprieve arrived when Moses was informed of this, it was expected he would have instantly quitted the cart, but he staid to see his two fellow-travellers hanged, and when asked, why he did not get about his busin- <s, said, "He waited to see if he could bargain with Maisther Ketch for the true gentlement's clothes."

Epigram.

Tom prais'd his friend, who chang'd his state,
For binding fast himself and Kate

In union so divine:

"Wedlock's the end of life," he cried :

"Too true, alas!" said Jack, and sigh'd-
“'T'will be the end of mine !”

A man sitting one evening at an alehouse, thinking how to get provision for the next day, saw a fellow dead drunk upon the opposite bench. "Do you not wish to get rid of this sot?" said he to the landiord. "I do, and half a crown shall speak my thanks," was the reply. "Agreed," said the other; "get me a sack." A sack was procured, and put over the drunken guest. Away trudged the man with his burden, till he came to the house of a noted resurrectionist, at whose door he knocked. "Who's there?" said a voice from within. "I have brought you a subject," replied the man: "so come, quick, give me my fee." The money was immediately paid, and the sack, with its contents, deposited in the surgery. The mo. tion of quick walking had nearly recovered the poor victim, who, before the other was gone five minutes, endeavoured to extricate himself from the sack. The purchaser, enraged at being thus outwitted, ran after the man who had deceived him, collared him, and cried out, "Why, you dog, the man's alive."-" Alive!" answered the other; so much the better; kill him when you want him.”—

66

Lord Mansfield, being one time upon the home circuit, a man was brought before him charged with stealing a silver ladle, and, in the course of the evidence, the counsel for the crown was rather severe upon the prisoner for being an attorney. "Come, come," said his Lordship in a whisper to the counsellor, "don't exaggerate matters. If the fellow had been an attorney, you may depend upon it he would have stolen the bowl as well as the ladle."

The following Epigram is so well founded, that we could not object to its point, even if it were more likely to scratch:

• Innocence.

• Innocence.

• If Eve in her innocence could not be blam'd
Because going naked she was not asham'd;
Whosoe'er views the ladies, as ladies now dress,
That again they grow innocent sure will confess;
And that artfully too they retaliate the evil :

By the devil once tempted, they now tempt the devil.

A number of political squibs in this volume proclaim the editor a warm anti-ministerialist ;-equally an anti-Pittite, and an anti-Addingtonian. What would this Gentleman have? Perhaps he would - hope to be prime minister himself, if a merry Charles II. now filled

the throne.

SINGLE SERMONS.

Art. 44. The unjustifiableness of Cruelty to the Brute Creation, and the Obligations we are under to treat it with Lenity and Compassion. 8vo. Is. Seeley. 1801.

If this sermon has never been preached, we see no reason why it should not; for while we may find one which is superior, we are doomed to read fifty that are not so good. Indeed, it has given us so much real pleasure, as being completely in unison with our sentiments and feelings, that we request the writer to accept of our warmest thanks for his humane effort in behalf of the Brute Creation We admire his eloquence in favour of the poor Ass; (an animal whom not even superstition has been able to befriend;) and we think that he might also have opened his mouth (text Prov. xxxi. 8.) for the timid hare but, being himself, perhaps, pártial to hunting, he has only contemplated the pleasures of the pursuing and not the misery of the pursued animals. The importance of checking the mischievous and eruel dispositions of children is properly maintained. May the representation produce a good effect !-In the following short address. to sensibility, we discern the traits of an amiable mind:

O SENSIBILITY! thou that art justly so called; may thy endearing name never be prostituted to a purpose so contrary to thy nature, as the wilfully, and at the same time unnecessarily afflicting any of God's creatures! May thy benign influence be diffused through the whole human race! May it add a gentleness to manly strength and vigour, uniting in a firmness of mind, ever prepared to aid and protect the weaker and more defenceless part of our own species, and scorning cowardly to trample on the lowest classes in the scale of animated beings!'

The author does not strenuously urge the doctrine of the "future existence" of brutes; nor does he incline to the Gentoo principle : he wishes us, however, to regard mercy towards them as a duty, and "till we end the Being, make it blest.”

Art. 45. The Unity of Wisdom and Integrity recommended delivered at Bridport, Dorsetshire, July 1, 1801, before the Society of A-Unitarian Christians, established in the West of England, for promoting Christian Knowlege and the Practice of Virtue by the -Distribution of Books. By John Prior Estlin. 12mo. Johnson.

IS.

Mr.

Mr. Estlin appears to be a sensible, ingenuous, and amiable man; and his present discourse must give him credit even with those who' may not admire his principles. He neatly explains what is meant by having the wisdom of the serpent combined with the harmlessness of the dove, (the text, Matth. x. 16.) and exhorts his hearers to be 'ardent without bigotry, honest without weakness, wise without craft, prudent without selfishness, and steady without obstinacy. To a manly avowal of his belief in the Unity of God and the Humanity of Christ, he adds the mental process by which, though educated in different sentiments, he arrived at this conviction. Many Christians will probably be dissatisfied with Mr. E.'s explanations of those passages, which are commonly adduced as evidences of the preexistence but they cannot question his religious integrity, nor his piety, though they should join with us in objecting to his description of the Deity as the great master of the Drama.'

Art. 46. Delivered in the Parish Church of Wimbledon, Surrey, before the Wimbledon Volunteer Cavalry and Infantry, Sept. 28, 1800. To which is added an Appendix, containing the Nature of the Engagements to which the Members of Volunteer Corps pledge themselves at the Time of their Association. By S. Hodson, M. B. Rector of Thrapston in Northamptonshire. 8vo. 18. Hatchard. By recounting the series of our national blessings, Mr. H. exhorted his audience to religious gratitude; and by describing the nature of the danger with which we were threatened at the time of the delivery of this sermon, he endeavoured to awaken them to proper unanimity and exertion. His reflections are suited to the occasion; and, in the Appendix, he has concisely delineated the duty of Volunteer asso

ciators.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Burdon's letter has reached us, but we never saw the publication to which it refers, and of which it is now almost too late to take notice, with propriety.

Mr. Ashdowne will probably derive some satisfaction, on the point of his inquiry, from the vinth Article of this Number. Respecting the particular work which he mentions, we cannot give him any information.

We have received a letter from Mr. Pearson, of Rempstone, but it came too late for farther notice at present.

The letter signed Corvinus, and others, are under the same circum

stances.

The APPENDIX to Vol. XXXVI. of the MONTHLY REVIEW will be published with the Number for January, as usual; and will contain a variety of articles of FOREIGN LITERATURE, with the General Title, &c. for that Volume.