events which are paffing around him; no man ought to be indifferent, but is called upon by every motive of prudence, as well as duty, to contribute his endeavours to restore order in the moral world;” and we, in a more particular manner, fent to the doctrine, that a clergyman may here, as on many other occafions, exert himself in a way at once laudable and effectual. As the decided and profeffed fupporters of the establishments, as now exifting in church and state, we rejoice in the increafing activity of the clergy for the defence of religion and focial order; and we fincerely hope that no falfe principle of modera tion, no deceitful fentiment of liberality, may for a moment diminish the important labour.

There is fcarcely any event of modern times, to which fomething like a parallel may not be found in the facred writings of the old testa. ment, and few circumftances make a ftronger impreffion on a Christian congregation than an apt and judicious illuftration of fuch fimilitudes. The comparifon of the fituation of Judah, when furrounded by inveterate enemies, with the ftate of this country, as drawn in this fermon, is ftriking and manifeft, and we truft that they who read it will obferve the means by which it (Judah) was relieved from the difficulties which affailed it. It is not in our power, as we have before declared, to notice, particularly, the contents of every single fermon; we muft, without they have more than common claims to our attention, be fatisfied with commending those which we think deferv. ing, and holding up thofe to public cenfure which we conceive worthy of our reprehenfion. The fermon before us is of the former fort. The language is vigorous and manly, and the applications of the various portions of history are, in general, clofe, and to the purpose. We will not conclude our short notice of it without offering a fpecimen of the ftyle. The preacher finishes his exhortations to the practice of religion and loyalty in the following animating manner :

"Purfaing this line of conduct, we not only preferve to ourselves every thing that is dear to us, but, like affectionate fathers and confcientious stewards, we fhall hand down to pofterity an improved eftate, and when the children which are yet unborn fhall read the lamentable hiftory of the laft nine years, they will revere the memory, and aspire after the virtues, of those ancestors, who, in one of the most eventful and arduous periods of the world, with enemies of a new and unknown caft almoft at their very door, fometimes endeavouring to entrap them under the fpecious charm of liberty, at other times holding out threats of extermi nation, had the wildom to fee, and the fortitude to adhere, to their true interests. When this new race fhall be involved in difficulties, which religious valour only can furmount, the virtues of the dead will read an interefting leffon to the living; they will know where to apply for an antidote to their troubles; they will go to the God of their fathers, and, appealing to that mercy which extends to thoufands of generations, they will fay, our fathers hoped in thee, they trusted in thee, and thou did deliver them. Yea, Lord, we do hope in thee, we do truft in thee, that that protection which thou haft to often extended to this favoured ifle will not now be withholden. Let not the Heathen fay, where is now their God? Who are they among all the Gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord fhould deliver Jerufalem out of mine hand? But fay to our enemies, as thou didit of old to the proud king of Allyria, He shall not come into this city, faith the Lord. Kings, xix. 32, 33) Lo we that are thy people, and sheep of thy paflure, fhall give thee thanks for ever, and will always be fhewing forth thy praise, from generation to generation." (Pfalms lix. 14.) ·

ART.

ART. XXII. A Difcourfe delivered to the Military Affociations for the Torn and District of Shaftesbury, on Monday, Dec. 3, 1798, and published at the Requeft of the Mayor, and Officers of the refpective Corps. By the Rev. W. L. Bowles. 4to. Pp. 8. Rivingtons, London. 1799.

IN this address Mr. B. attempts to prove that the Armed Affocia tions of this country are as juftifiable from the tenor and spirit of Christianity, as thofe laws are which punish the robber and the murderer. We are not inclined to difpute this pofition, for if the contrary doctrine were established, we might wait in ftupid and infenfible laffitude until the prefent fpoilers of the earth had accomplished upon us the utmost extent of their atrocious defigns. In defending this country againft the enemies of human happiness, we think that we are defending religion herself, and heaven forbid that our efforts should be palfied by adopting the pernicious tenets of those men who "conftrue the words of fcripture in their literal acceptation" on one occafion, and in a figurative fenfe on another. But on the opinions of the feet here alluded to, other opportunities may occur to fpeak. Mr. B.'s is a refpectable difcourfe for the purpofe, and we doubt not, from the circumftance which gave rife to its publication, it was heard with the attention it merits.

ART. XXIII. The Unchangeableness of God's Providence over the Welfare of thefe Kingdoms, displayed in the extraordinary Suitableness of the following excellent Sermon, preached by Dr. Samuel Clarke, on the 22d of November, 1709, to the Events which occafioned the Appointment of a Public Thanksgiving on the 29th of November, in the prefent Year 1798. Pp. 22. Price 3d, Hatchard, London. 1798.

WE cannot fpeak too highly of the motives which occafioned the republication of the fermon before us in its prefent form; but we fear that the comparison of the fituation of the country at the different periods alluded to, to any beneficial purpose of estimation, is above the capacity of thofe for whofe ufe it is principally defigned. This fermon is not an object for our criticifm; we fhall only exprefs our fincere hopes that it may be productive of the good intended.

ART. XXIV. England's Caufe for Thankfulness. A Sermon preached on the Day appointed for a General Thanksgiving, Nov. 1798. By a Curate in the Country. 8vo. Pp. 18. Price 63. Teffeyman, York. 1798.

GREAT piety and good intention are viñble in this fermon, and we hall rejoice if our good report of it can promote its cir culation.

ART. XXV. The faithful Soldier and true Chriftian; and the Miferies of Rebellion, confidered in tavo Sermons preached at the Parish Church of All-Saints, Northampton, September 9th, 1798. By the Rev. Wm. Agutter, A. M. Chaplain and Secretary to the Afylum. 12mo, Pp. 24. Price 6d, Rivingtons, Lon. don. 1798.

IN the firft of thefe difcourfes, the pious preacher takes occafion, from the admonition of the Apostle, "endure hardness as a good foldier of Jefus Chrift," to explain the refpective duties of a Soldier and a Chriftian; and in the fecond, from the first of Samuel c. xv. v. 23. "REBELLION is as the fin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry," to point out the dreadful confequences of civil warfare, and to indicate the caufes, which tend to produce it. The fubjects are well chofen, and are treated with zeal and ability,

MISCELLANIES,

ART. XXVI. The Beauties of the Anti-Jacobin, or Weekly Examiner; containing every Article of permanent Intereft or permanent Utility in that valuable and highly esteemed Paper, Literary and Political; the whole of the excellent Poetry; together with Explana. tory Notes, Biographical Anecdotes, and a Prefatory Advertife ment by the Editor. 12mo. Pp. 323. Price 56. Chapple, 66, Pall-Mall, London, 1799,

As we fhall have occafion to criticile the papers, of which this

volume profeffes to contain the Beauties, in another department of our Review, we shall confine our notice to the "Prefatory Adver tifement of the Editor," who thus affigns his motives for the publication of the book before us :

"Being one of those persons who were of opinion that the paper entitled The ANTI-JACOBIN, or WEEKLY EXAMINER was calculated to produce the moft beneficial effects on the public mind, I waited in earneft expectation of feeing it republished in fuch a form as would bring its purchase within the reach of that clafs of fociety to which the inftruction which it imparted was, perhaps, more immediately neceffary than to any other members of the community. Difappointed in this expectation, from what cause it is needlefs here to enquire, I determined to select what appeared to me moft permanently useful, and meft permanently interefting, from those highly useful and highly interefting papers, and to publish it at fuch a price as would merely defray the incidental expences of publication. This project was conceived, and nearly completed, before the octavo edition, in two volumes, was announced. Its appearance, it is fuper fluous to obferve, was better calculated to ftrengthen, than to change, my original intention. The price, eighteen fhillings, is fuch as muft unavoidably limit its circulation, and confine it to the shelves of the opulent, where it will form a refpectable affociate for the best periodical works of the prefent age. This little volume afpires to no fuch honour; it is intended to occupy a place on the

tables

tables, or in the pockets, of the middle clafs of fociety, of which I am myself a member--a clafs eminently ufeful itself in the social circle, and able to appreciate what is useful in others."

The editor then proceeds to point out the difference between the friends and the enemies of the conftitution, in their conduct to each other, as well as in their "judicious management of THE PRESS;" and we are forry to say that his inference, in affigning the fuperiority of advantage to the latter, is but too juft. We perfectly accede to the propriety of the following obfervations: inattention to this effential point deftroyed the monarchy of France:

"In the present state of Europe, it is as much the duty of those who are entrufted with the government of ftates, to attend to the Press, as to the army, or to the revenue. The call upon them is imperious; to evade it would be treacherous; to refift it criminal. In ordinary times, when the acquifition of power, between rival parties, is the object of contention, government may, without danger, filently contemplate the fquabble, and remain paffive and inert. But when the object of competition is the focial and civilized world, with all its venerable train of religious duties and moral feelings, no individual can be neutral and virtuous; no government can be inactive and innocent. Partial unconnected exertions, under fuch circumftances, would be unavailing; method must be oppofed by method; fyftem met by fyftem; no selfish paffions muft be allowed to interfere with the general plan; no cold parfimony* be fuffered to mar its fuccefs. The magnitude of the effort must be proportioned to the importance of the stake."

*" The author of the Pursuits of Literature has, in his laft publication, ‹The Shade of Alexander Pope on the Banks of the Thames,' cenfured Mr. Pitt for having used the expreffion cold economy' in the Houfe of Commons; and he fupports the juftice of his cenfure by the words of Cicero, Magnum vectigal eft parfimonia. An admonition to economy came with as good a grace from the mouth of Cicero as it would come from the lips of Mr. Sheridan; for if any credit be due to the accounts which we have of his life and conduct, no man ever paid less attention to œconomy, in his private concerns, than Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Roman, like the British, orator, had a splendid town refidence, and various country villas; Cicero bought his house, on the Palatine Hill, with borrowed money; Sheridan purchased his feat in Surrey without any money at all. The comparifon might be pursued with advantage to the English fenator, who certainly has difplayed the greatest portion of fiscal ability, by atchieving the greatest purposes with the leaft means. But, to return to the subject, Cicero was too much of a statefman to recommend that fpecies of economy which fetters the operations of government, confines them to feeble or impotent exertions, reduces them to the neceffity of adopting a vicious system of half-measures, and thus tends to the protraction of war, and, ultimately, to the increafe of the public expence. Surely the reproach of extravagance is very ill applied to the Minister, who has done, what none of his predeceffors dared to do, by the establishment of a Committee of Finance, for the exprefs purpofe of inveftigating every branch of the public expenditure, and laying the whole before the world in a perfpicuous and authoritative form; during whofe adminiftration, fuch economical retrenchments have been made in the collection and management of the revenue, that there are actually seven hundred and forty-feven perfons lefs employed now, to manage a revenue of 12,100,000l. than were employed, when the present Minister first came into office, to manage a revenue of less than half the amount, 6,000,000 only; and by whofe prudent arrangement also a reduction has been effected, in the excife, of four hundred and fifty-nine officers, (employed in the falt department, which he has abolished,) by which an annual faving to the public has been atchieved of 26,9521. and in the cuftoms eighty-five finecure places have been fuppreffed, to which salaries were annexed, varying from 1001. to 2000l. a year!"

M m 4

Some

Some notice is taken of the conductors of the Anti-Jacobin, and a tribute of juftice paid to their talents and exertions. A letter figned Mucius, which, no doubt from the best motive, has been excluded from the octavo edition, is here given, and the editor affigns fome fatisfactory reafons for retaining it. Indeed, he appears, in his felection, to have confulted the weekly paper exclufively. He gives the following account of the contents of the volume, which, upon close examination, we have found to be just :

"I do not believe that, in this volume, I have omitted to infert any one of the Effays contained in the original papers; and fuch articles only are omitted as related to fubjects of a mere temporary nature; of this defcription are the Foreign Intelligence, and, more particularly, the Weekly Examiner, So that it may be literally faid to contain every part of the Paper that can properly be deemed permanently interefting. The whole of the Poetry is given, and it includes many excellent fpecimens of genius, humour, and tafte, that will outlive the age in which they were firft exhibited. Of thefe, the Poem entitled New Morality,' indifputably claim the pre-eminence. The few notes which have been added are chiefly intended to explain or illuftrate the text, where explanation or illuftration appeared to be defirable for the generality of readers. I truft that this attempt to contribute to the gratification of the Public, at an easy rate, will not be unacceptable to them for whofe fake it was made; and that this endeavour to extend the circulation of a work, containing found principles, and important truths, will not be difpleafing to those Gentlemen who had the prin cipal fhare in its compofition."

We have only to add that the volume is neatly printed, and that it appears to us a valuable acquifition to those who either cannot afford to purchase the larger work, or may not choose to incur fuch an expence,

ART. XXVII. The Beauties of the late Right Hon. Edmund Burke, felected from Writings, &c. of that extraordinary Man, alphabetically arranged. To which is prefixed, a Sketch of his Life ; with jome original Anecdotes of Mr. Burke. 8vo. 2 Vols. Pp. 656. Price 105. Weft and Chapple, London. 1798.

THE Sketch of Mr. Burke's Life, prefixed to this felection from his works, is, indeed, a mere outline, neither remarkable for ftrength of refemblance, nor delicacy of colouring. The writer has, evidently, undertaken a task much above his ability; but as it is #tated to be the first attempt of a trembling pen in the biographic line, we fall fpare the defects of the compofition from regard for the modefty of the author. We cannot, however, but exprefs a wish that his practice had better corresponded with his profeffions, and that his remarks on the last years of Mr. Burke's political life, and particu larly on his conduct to Mr. Fox, had difplayed lefs confidence and more justice. The painter may analyze the beauties of the face, but the critic cannot analyze the beauties of the mind; at least, the colleéted beauties of fuch a writer as Burke. We fhall only obferve, therefore, that the felection before us, compared with the extent of the author's writings, is copious, and may ferve to gratify those readers who are too indelent to perufe, or too poor to purchafe, the original works from which they are extracted,

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