riety of publications, and repeated over and over in almost every poffible form through the medium of the Reviews, will infinuate itself in fecret; and we shall have the melancholy reflection, upon obferving unwary minds misled into error, to enhance our forrow that, in preach ing only, we have neglected one half of our obvious duty to preferve them from it. "I call, then, upon every individual whofe confcience preferves its integrity, and, who has had the fortitude in thinking for himself to refift the artifices by which he has been befieged, to take his stand individually in the ranks which have already ftepped forward in oppofition to this nefarious fcheme, and that immediately; and where opportunity offers, let combinations be entered into to oppose the monftrous attempts: let every honeft man feel himself bound no longer in any way to encourage or circulate publications evidently in the intetereft of the grand confpiracy against religion, liberty, and property: let him be warned by the example of France, and let him prefs that example upon the minds of the ingenuous who have been mifled, as containing a clear, practical, and explicit anfwer to the fophiftry, political, metaphyfical, legal, and moral, by which their unwary minds have been unhappily darkened. The experiment has been actually tried, which thefe boafters called for in oppofition to the declared opinions of men of greater depth of thought; and the result is fairly known to be POLITICAL DESTRUCTION." The fentiments of this writer fo perfectly correfpond with our own, that we have nothing to add to them but the expreffion of an earnest wish, that his admonitions will meet with that attention to which, from the importance of their object, they are fo unquestionably entitled. In the present ftate of the focial world, if every individual be not active in his exertions for the prefervation of fociety from the greatest curses that were ever permitted to afflict mankind, its only fupport, religion, morals, and good government, must inevi tably be swept away by the overwhelming torrent of atheism, immorality, and anarchy, which has already laid waste a very confiderable part of the continent of Europe. ART. II. Gifford's Second Letter to Erskine, &c. WE E now come to confider those mistatements of Mr. Erfkine which are claffed, by his antagonist, under the charge of infidelity. "After commenting, in your own manner, on the efforts of Meffrs. Fox and GREY, in the winter of 1793, to perfuade the King to disgrace himself and his people by cfpoufing the cause of NO. VIII. VOL. II. E e the the regicide faction at Paris, you obferve, that his Majesty's minifters, on the 21ft of January, with greater fincerity than has in ge neral characterized their proceedings, boldly and plainly avowed the prin tiple on which the war had been begun, and was to be profecuted, viz. To oppofe that wife and deftructive fyftem of rapine, anarchy, impiety, and irreligion, the effects of which, as they had been manifefted in France, furnifhed a dreadful, but ufeful, leffon to the prefent age and pofterity.' (p. 69) This is, indifputably, the moft garbled and falfified quotation that the advocate of any party ever ventured to bring forward in the field of difputation. And you have the mo defty to affirm, that this declaration of minifters directly refuted their own unfounded affertion, that the war had proceeded from France." (P. 70.) I will endeavour to enable the public to decide what credit is due to your affirmations; and if the expofure of the most grofs perverfion can raise a blufh on the cheek of a partifan, yours fhall be tinged with the dye of fhame. The whole paffage of the King's Speech, of which you have profeffed to give a part, is as follows: My Lords and Gentlemen-In all your deliberations, you will undoubtedly bear in mind the true grounds and origin of the war. 'AN ATTACK WAS MADE ON US, AND ON OUR ALLIES, foun ded on principles which tend to deftroy all property, to fubvert the laws and religion of every civilized nation, and to introduce univerfally that wild and deftructive fyftem,' &c. &c. &c. "Here the reader will perceive that, fo far from any thing like a refutation of the juft affirmation that the war proceeded from France, the King exprefsly afferts that our enemies were the aggreffors. What you mean by obferving, that not a word is faid in the Speech upon the footing of territory and conqueft, although Mentz had been recaptured, and foon after Valenciennes, Condé, and Quefnoy taken, and although Holland had been delivered from an impending invafion,' I cannot divine. The fact is, that the Speech, at the very outlet, particularly mentions the recovery of the Netherlands, the recapture of Mentz, and the preservation of Holland, His Majefty alfo (after regretting the neceffary continuance of the war) fays, he fhould ill confult the effential interefts of his people, if he were defirous of peace on any grounds but fuch as may provide for their permanent fafety, and for the independence and fecurity of Europe. It muft farther be remembered, that the King then proceeds to lay before Parliament a copy of his declaration of October, 1793, which contains all the grounds of the war fully discussed. "In your extreme anxiety to degrade the government in the eyes of the nation, you represent the minifters as afking for peace, but afking for it in vain ;' (P. 72) which is a direct confeffion, that the continuance of the war is not to be imputed as a fault to them; a confeffion which totally destroys the effect of all the latter part of your pamphlet." This is a fpecimen of fuppreffion 6 "As any attempt at compreffion would be an act of injustice to you, I fhall quote the paffage in your own language: As the anar chy chy of France was in a manner admitted to be at an end, what was to come next? A government capable of maintaining the relations of amity? No! this conclufion would have been too rapid a motion towards a negociation. We were therefore told That the distraction and anarchy which had prevailed in France had led to a crifis, of which it was as yet impoffible to forefee the iffue; but which, in all human probability, must produce confequences highly important to the interefts of Europe. This bold and penetrating declaration led the way, as might be expected, to the old néceffity of profecuting the war with vigour and alacrity. P. 82. Here you have again garbled the King's Speech, quoting only fuch part of it as would fuit the purpole of mifreprefentation, and feparating it from that which would tend to elucidate the pofition, and fupply the means of confuting your argument. If that were not your object, why did you suppress the paffage that immediately follows? It is this; fhould this crifis terminate in any order of things compatible with the tranquillity of other countries, and affording a reafonable expectation of fecurity and permanence in any treaty which might be concluded, the appearance of a difpofition to negociate for a general peace, on juft and fuitable terms, would not fail to be met, on my part, with an earnest defire to give it the fulleft and SPEEDIEST effect,' There is policy at leaft in your fuppreflion of this paffage, because it nearly overturns all your reafoning on the subject, and certainly displays your cenfure of minifters for not advising his Majesty to connect the communication of this important event (the establishment of the new constitution in France) with the profpect of immediate peace in a most auk ward point of view." It is impoffible in a Review to exhibit every fpecimen of want of candour and impartiality detected by Mr. Gifford. He clearly difproves Mr. Erfkine's affertions, relative to the negociation at Paris, by a verification of dates; and exhibits the perfidy of the French who had prepared Hoche's armament at Breft, while the treaty was depending, and which failed against Ireland before Lord Malmesbury's difmiffal. Even the Analytical Review has not the effrontery to affert that Mr. G. has detected no inaccuracy in Mr. Erfkine's dates, (Vol. XXVI. P. 290) for a few days are fhewn to be more than Six months in one place, and fix weeks in another. This pamphlet well merits the perufal of every reader, that occafionally affociates with the admirers of Mr. Erskine, or boafts of the extraordinary abilities of the rhetorical and pathetic barrister, or his incontrovertible arguments. His View is proved to be partial, his reasoning inconclufive, his statements inaccurate, his language puerile; and his Caufes and Confequences of the War are afcribed to false affumptions, and deduced from fallacious principles. The loyalty loan has been fo much vilified, and the friends of government fo much afperfed for demanding juftice from the Houfe of Commons, that we are happy to find a champion EE 2 step step forth to vindicate their conduct from the malignity with. which difaffected men have affailed them. Whoever reads thefe pages will be convinced that, fo far from deferving reproach for selfishness, they afforded the most incontrovertible proofs of public fpirit. The difcuffion of this interesting topic is to be found from Pp. 57 to 64. The author has himself taken the trouble to review the Reviewers' accounts of his publication, and we fhall extract his review of the Monthly Reviewer, as a specimen of his skill in this branch of criticism. The MONTHLY REVIEW (for July, 1797.) "Affectation and hypocrify, fays Mr. G. (P. 170) which the refinement of modern philofophy has dignified with the equivocal appellation of liberality and moderation, are not the weapons of TRUTH. Under the influence of this principle, in its utmost latitude, the prelent publication appears to have been written. It is VIOLENT,* fcurrilous, and abufive; yet wITHOUT FORCE, fatire, or humour. It concludes with this paragraph: A firm determination to suffer no impofition to be practiled upon the public, in a point of such extreme importance to the nation, and a wish to display the conduct of your party in a proper point of view, led me to fubmit, in a ftate of health but ill-calculated for mental exertion of any kind, to the trouble of perufing your tract and expofing its defects. To ufe your own language-Thefe confiderations induced me to travel through one of the moft dull, defpicable, and miferable perform ances that ever I had been doomed to read.' "And this is called criticifm!!! God help the poor nation whofe literary tafte is to be directed by fuch critics as these. I was once fo unfortunate as to incur the commendation of these gentlemen, and, ftrange as it may appear, for a political tract written on the very fame fubject as that which is here fo unmercifully treated, containing arguments founded on the very fame data, enforcing the very fame principles, and having the very fame object and end!-But, Quid refert diftis ignofcat Mucius, an non? I cannot be very anxious to court the praise, or to avert the cenfure, of men, who can class the author of the book on Political Juftice' and of The Enquirer,' whofe object appears to be to reverse the admonition of Saint PAUL, and to render every man discontented with his lot, among the benevolent philofophers and enlightened refor mers of the age; and who can reprefent our public feminaries of education as initiatory fchools of vice."t [The *Violence, force; violent, forcible, acting with ftrength.' Johnfon.---To be forcible without force is a talent which I was not confcious of poffeifing; thank ye, fapient critics, for the difcovery!" + See Monthly Review for July 1797---Pp. 293, 294.---One mode by which these potent figniors frequently fhew their appro bation or dislike of a publication is by accelerating or retarding their |