In our Review (N. S.) vol. vi. p. 172, we gave an account of Mr. Wilkinson's Memoirs, and, on that occafion, we paffed a degree of commendation on the lively talents of the writer. The work was light Summer-reading; and if we were not much inftructed, nor deeply inte refied, in the perufal of it, we do not remember that we yawned above three or four times in going through the four volumes. The prefent publication, which is to be confidered as a fequel to Mr. Manager Wilkinson's Memoirs, feems to share the common fate of fecond parts; for the Wanderings are certainly inferior to the Memoirs. In what relates to the author himself, we are often more or lefs interested; and his prattle-box manner of talking over the viciffitudes of his affairs is generally, in fome degree, entertaining: but his anecdotes of the inferior adventurers on the boards, who, from time to time, enlifted under his theatrical banners, and which are perpetually obtruded on the reader's patience, are, in our opinion, a confiderable drawback on the merit of a work calculated merely for diverfion. To the ladies and gentlemen,' indeed, of the Theatres Royal of Drury Lane, Covent Garden, Bath, Norwich, Dublin, Edinburgh, &c. with the more extenfive range of every company performing in Great Britain and Ireland, the Patentee's details may appear to be matter of more importance: but what are they, (though fufficiently numerous,) to the reft of the world! Poffibly, indeed, Mr.W. thinks that all the world's a ftage, and all the men and women merely players;"-if fo, we muft beg his pardon for the ftricture which we have juft made. As our author gives us to underftand, at the clofe of his 4th volume, that he here takes leave of the public in his biographical capacity, we are willing to part with him in perfect good humour;-and fo, heartily wifhing him a long continuance of his vivacity, that he may pafs the remainder of his days as chearfully as the times and the pockets of the public will let him,' we here kindly bid adieu to a genius who has, for fo many years, contributed to the entertainment of many a well-pleafed audience. SINGLE SERMONS. Art. 57. On the Death of Samuel Stennett, D. D. By Dan. Taylor. In allufion to the text (1 Tim. iv. 6.) this difcourfe has for its title, A good minifter of Jefus Chrift.' Such a character belonged, we doubt not, to Dr. Stennett. The fermon has no particular claim to diftinction, but it bears the marks, as do others of this writer's publications, of upright, pious, and benevolent intentions. It is orthodox, but, we are perfuaded, breathes a truly candid and charitable fpirit: alike friendly to liberty and to virtue. It is perhaps more diffufe and lefs accurately compofed than the event feems to have required but it pays that tribute of refpect to Dr. Stennett's memory in which all who knew or heard of him are, we apprehend, prepared to concur. Dr. Stennett died in his fixty-eighth year. * See particularly, M. R. (New Series), vol. vi. p. 108. Art. Art. 58. Preached in the Church of Croxton-Kyriel, Leiceflerfhire, March 15, 1795. By Samuel Beilby, D. D. Vicar of that Parish. 4to. 1s. Robinsons. Implicit acquiefcence in the measures of adminiftration, and steady perfeverance in vigorous exertions against the ancient and implacable enemies of our religious and civil liberties,' are the topics of this difcourfe. It is not marked either by peculiar elegance of ftyle, or by great originality of fentiment, but it is not ill fuited to the general spirit and temper of the times. Art. 59. Preached at Aughton, near Ormskirk, in the County of Lancafter, Feb. 28, 1794, being the Day appointed for a General Faft. By George Vanbrugh, LL. B. Rector of Aughton. 8vo. 1s. Robinsons. 1795. From the awkwardness and incorrectnefs which we observe in the compofition of this fermon, and from the long quotation from Dr. Halifax's fermon before the House of Lords with which it is eked out, we conclude that the writer is not much in the habit of fermonizing. In the fentiments, we find little either to admire or to cenfure. The author deprecates the calamities of war, admires the British conftitution, and recommends trust in God and obedience to his laws, as the beft national security and defence. Art. 60. Preached at the Meeting-houfe in the Old Jewry, June 28, 1795, on Occafion of the Death of the Rev. Roger Flexman, D.D. who departed this Life on the 14th Day of the fame Month, in the 88th Year of his Age. By Abraham Rees, D. D. F.R. S. 8vo. Is. Robinfons. In a funeral fermon, on the common topic of the value of Chriftianity in fortifying the human mind against the fear of death, much novelty of thought is not to be expected. It will be a fufficient recommendation of the prefent difcourfe, to fay that it is written with a degree of fimplicity, gravity, and dignity, fuited to the fubject and occafion. The account of Dr. Flexman is highly encomiaftic of his perfonal and ministerial character; and it will be chiefly interesting to the public as far as refpects his literary labours. Dr. F. was employed on various occafions as an editor, and prefixed, respectively, to their works, an account of the writings of Bp. Burnet, of the life and writings of the Rev. Sam. Bourn of Birmingham, and of the writings of Dr. Chandler and Dr. Amory. His original productions were, feveral occafional fermons ; a defence of the diffenting plan of divine worship; and a critical, hiftorical, and political mifcellany, containing remarks on various authors. He was appointed one of the compilers of the General Index to the Journals of the Houfe of Commons: the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th volumes, from 1660 to 1697, were affigned to him, and the execution was much approved, and liberally rewarded. Art. 61. Preached at the French Proteftant Chapel, in St. John's Street, Bethnal Green, 25th of February 1795; being the Day appointed for a public Faft. By the Rev. D. H. Durand, Minifter of the French Proteftant Church, London. Tranflated from the French by a Layman. 8vo. Is Rivingtons. This fermon, which is prefented to the public both in French and English, we can confider in no other light than as an extravagant piece of rant. It exhibits a caricatured picture both of French and English manners, and of the ftate of the two nations; and it is rather adapted to excite, or cherish, a mutual bias to hoftility, than, according to the true fpirit of the Chriftian doctrine, to promote moderation and encourage pacific meafures. The tranflator, who in other refpects has executed his tafk faithfully, has omitted the prayers before and after the fermon given in the original, which is published feparately. CORRESPONDENCE. To the AUTHORS of the MONTHLY REVIEW. THE honourable teftimony which you have borne to the merits of Mr. Prefton's Letter, induces me to request room for a few obfervations. It is not my intention, however, to write an answer to the Letter: a full reply, on a fubject so thoroughly exhaufted, would not be read by the public, and a short one would answer no purpose.-All that I afk, is permiffion to offer a few words in my own defence. Mr. Prefton intimates that the aim of my book, among other things, is to prove that the negroes are an inferior fpecies of beings, grofs in their intellects, and perverfe in their difpofitions; that they are only to be governed by feverity, and do not deserve to be confidered or treated as men." (Letter, p. 4.) Now, Gentlemen, my book is before the public, and I appeal to the candour of my readers, whether any fuch language is held, or fuch doctrines inculcated, or even implied, in any part of it; from the first page to the laft. If this charge can be made good against me, I do hereby become pledged to humble myself before the public; I will confefs, with fhame, forrow, and contrition, that I ftand convicted of an abuse of my faculties, a violation of truth, an outrage against humanity, and an offence towards God! Under the ftrong impreffion which an accufation of this nature, from fo refpectable a quarter, has made on my mind, you will not think it ftrange if I do not confider that I owe any thanks to Mr. Prefton for the compliments he has paid me in fome parts of his Letter. If the charge which he has brought be well founded, and if I really poffeffed those talents, and that skill in writing, which he is pleased to ascribe to me, my offence is fo much the greater: but, Gentlemen, I abfolutely deny the charge. Have the goodness, I beseech you, to turn to the account of Antigua, in the first volume of my Hiftory, and refer to what I have there faid of the labours and fucceffes of the Moravian miffionaries, in converting the negroes of that island to Chriftianity. You will find that I have fought occafion to hold out the conduct of those pious miffionaries as an example to be imitated; and that I have strongly urged to my brother planters to confider "that the unhappy negroes are of equal importance with ourselves in the eyes of an all-seeing and impartial Governor of the univerfe." Thofe are my words; and is this the language of one who maintains that the negroes are not to be confidered or treated * Letter to Bryan Edwards, Efq. containing obfervations on his Hiftory of the Weft Indies. See Monthly Review for September, p. 86. as as men? Surely Mr. Prefton owes me the amende honorable for so gross a mifconstruction, or misconception, of my fentiments. Again, in page 25 of this Letter, Mr. Prefton addreffes me as follows: "You dwell on the fuppofed inferior nature and blameable propenities of the negroes; their flowness of apprehenfion, their loquacity and difpofition to thieving and lying, as a juftification of the feverities exercifed on them, and a pretence for retaining them in flavery." I complain of this paffage as a moft cruel misreprefentation. My book, Gentlemen, as you well know, is defcriptive and hiflorical; and it was my duty to paint the negroes as I found them, with truth and impar tiality. This I hope I have done; and therefore I have not confined my obfervations to the fhades in their character, as Mr. Prefton infinuates in the above quotation. I have pointed out their good qualities as well as their bad ones. I have dwelt with pleasure on their filial affection, their tenderness to old age, and their fympathy towards their brethren in captivity; and I have adduced facts to demonftrate that they have minds very capable of observation. Even in detailing their blameable propenfities, I have been careful not to charge thofe propenfities to the account of unperverted nature, but folely to their hopeless condition in life; and I have declared in exprefs words "that I am no friend to flavery, in any shape, or under any modification." I have faid that 66 every enlightened mind must admit the existence of its miferies; and that every good mind must deplore them." In what refpect then, let, me afk, have I "proftituted the dignity of the historic page to the propagation of error?" and how ungenerous and unjuft is the charge brought against me, in direct terms, (Letter, p. 9.) that “whenever I Speak of the negroes I speak of them as mere animals, and do not admit the feelings of the mind as forming any part of my eflimate of their fufferings."-Nothing can be more ill founded. It is very certain, Gentlemen, that I have endeavoured to relieve the Weft India planters from that load of obloquy, with which it has been the fashion to opprefs them; and I think I have fhewn, by a detail of facts which cannot be controverted, that they have been moft injuriously and ignominiously treated. I might have gone further, and have proved that many of thofe perfons, who gave evidence against them before the House of Commons, were men of degraded characters, and utterly unworthy of credit. -Some of them, to my knowledge, were driven from the Weft Indies by the united voice of the community, for the infamy of their condnet. I have alfo afferted that a general emancipation of the flaves would anfwer no one good purpose; and I am ftill of opinion that fuch a measure, in their prefent state of barbarity and ignorance, without the capacity of felf-government, would prove to them, inftead of a bleffing, the fource of misfortune and mifery.Concerning the flave-trade, the force of my argument goes no farther than this:-that its fuppreffion, by the British government only, other nations continuing the trade as ufual, who would of course seize on what we furrender, would not answer the purposes of humanity, either to the negroes in Africa, or to those already in the Weft Indies; and I have quoted, in fupport of this opinion, the authorities of men (naval commanders and others) who are intimately acquainted with the trade, though no ways interested in its continuance; and I have not yet met with any evidence or arguments to invalidate their teftimony. Here too, I might go a ftep further, and venture to affert that the measure itself, admitting it were proper, is abfolutely impracticable! These then are the points, and the only points, concerning which I difagree with Mr. Prefton on the fubject of flavery and the flave-trade,-The arguments pro and con are before the public, and and the public muft judge of them. All that I meant by this addrefs to you, Gentlemen, is accomplished, and I now take my leave of the subject. I am, &c. 'B. EDWARDS.' P. S. If any proof were wanting that I always confidered the enflaved Africans in the light of fellow-men, and was never afraid to avow my fentiments, I might appeal to the whole tenor of my conduct towards the negroes on my own plantations, during a long refidence in Jamaica.-Yet I do not claim the merit of fingularity in this respect.My neighbours, I believe, treated their African labourers with equal tendernefs. May I be forgiven if I add in this place a trifling circumftance, the relation of which, though it may have the appearance of egotifm, will at leaft ferve ftill further to meet the charge brought against me by Mr. Prefton? It is this: At the place of my abode in Jamaica, my negroes had chofen for their burial ground, a retired spot, in a grove of piemento, or all-fpice. It was a place extremely folemn and fingu larly beautiful, and I directed, in cafe of my death in that country, that I fhould be buried in the midst of them. As the ground was exposed to the intrufions of cattle, I caufed a fence to be raised round it, and infcribed the following lines on the little wicket at the entrance. If they do no honour to my head, I trust they will not be thought to reflect dif credit on my heart. INSCRIPTION. "Stranger! whoe'er thou art, with rev'rence tread; Nor idly deem, altho' not here are found The fpot lefs facred;-o'er the turf-built fhrine Where virtue fleeps, prefides the POWER DIVINE !" The refpectability of the Gentlemen concerned in the preceding communication, and the nature of the allegation advanced by the one and repelled by the other, have induced us to devote to it a part of that fpace which we often refufe to fimilar applications, and which, indeed, we can ill afford to grant. Should Mr. Prefton deem it neceffary to reply, we muft urge him to be as brief as poffible. + We have received various letters which require no particular anfwer, or contain requests with which we have neither time nor space fuficient to comply. Of the former defeription are thofe figned Ignoramus - A conftant Reader-J. W-d, Cambridge, &c.; and of the latter, the letters of Mr. M.Phail, H. of Norwich, &c. In the laft Appendix, p. 552. 1. 31. for November,' read September. In the Review for September, p. 52. line 10 from bottom, for him,' read, the perfon. |