Ghoft be in, and experienced by you, it will confirm you in the doctrine of the Trinity, without doubting the truth or cavilling at the incomprehenfible nature of it,' Art. 65. A brief Account of the Moral and Political Acts of the Kings and Queens of England, from William the Conqueror to the Revolution in the Year 1688 with Reflections tending to prove the Neceffity of a Reform in Parliament. 8vo. pp. 281. 55. Boards. Symonds. 1795. A faithful delineation of public characters is not to be expected from violent partizans of any clafs. The author of this account, who appears to be a decided enemy to regal government, has sketched portraits of the kings of England, which are evidently intended to leave on the mind of the reader an impreffion unfriendly to monarchs. The pictures are, it is true, in the main, confonant to history: but the painter discovers a strong propenfity to catch only the difpleafing lines of the original; and even these he draws with a degree of coarfe pefs and rudeness, which, however well fuited to answer the purposes of temporary excitement, is ill adapted to affift the reader in forming a difpaffionate and impartial judgment of men and things. Art. 66. On the Neceffity of adopting fome Measures to reduce the prefent Number of Dogs; with a fhort Account of Hydrophobia, and the most approved Remedies against it. A Letter to Francis Annesley, Efq. M. P. By the Rev. Edward Barry, M. D. 8vo. 19. Richardson. We fee nothing in this fhort performance that can justify us in recommending it to the notice of our readers. Art. 67. A new, correct, and much-improved Hiftory of the Isle of Wight, from the earliest Times of authentic Information, to the prefent Period: comprehending whatever is curious or worthy of Attention in Natural Hiftory, with its Civil, Ecclefiaftical, and Military State in the various Ages, both antient and modern. 8vo. pp. 666. 8s. Boards. Newport, printed for and by J. Albin, and fold by Scatcherd and Whitaker, London. 1795. Confidering that the Isle of Wight was not long ago made the fubject of a refpectable quarto volume by Sir Richard Worfley, and has fince employed the pen of more than one tourist, we should not have imagined that an accurate and copious hiftory of it was ftill a defideratum. The compiler of the prefent volume, however, impreffed with the importance of the defign, has taken much pains to accumulate every fpecies of information which might gratify the curiofity of his readers. To those who are not peculiarly interefted in the ifland, we cannot, indeed, promife much amufement from a perufal of the contents; which will for the most part feem as unimportant in their nature, as they are dry from the mode of narration. A very good map is, however, annexed to the volume; which, we are informed, is fold feparately, together with the appendix, indicating the three principal routes taken by thofe who wish to furvey the fingular beauties of the island; and which, indeed, are well worth the attention of the obferving tourist. On the whole, Mr. Albin's hiftorical details form no improper fupplement to the defcriptive accounts of this charming ifland; which wants nothing but turnpike roads to render it, in every refpect, delightful to the fummer traveller. Art. 68. An Efay on the Progrefs of Human Understanding. `By J. A. 1795. A virulent attack on religion and monarchy in general, and on Christianity in particular: concluding with A Sketch on the Literature of New Philofophy,' purporting to be an explanation of the outlines of a fyftem of moral philofophy, by Profeffor Kant, which has excited confiderable notice on the Continent. The mutilated ftate in which this new fyftem is here prefented to us precludes any remarks on the fubject: nor would it be worth while, in such an abundance of greater faults, to defcend to the more minute tranfgreffions againft grammar and idiomatic propriety. SINGLE SERMONS. Art. 69. The Gospel Miffion, or the Teftimony of the Spirit effential to the Impofition of Hands. Preached before the Bishop of London, and the Candidates for Holy Orders, at the General Ordination at Fulham Palace, June 21, 1795. By John Owen, A. M. 8vo. Is. Cadell jun. and Davies. The object of this fermon is to fet forth the qualifications neceffary in a minifter of the gofpel, for the proper and confcientious discharge of his daty. A plain man, who had no guide but common fenfe, in difcourfing on this fubject, might have confidered purity of heart, regularity of conduct, a competent fhare of learning, and above all a firm belief in the doctrines of Chriftianity, accompanied with a zeal for their propagation tempered by candour and exalted by univerfal benevolence, as fully fufficient to enable a perfon to fill even that im portant station in life with fatisfaction to himself and great advantage to the community: but Mr. Owen feems to pass over qualifications of this fort as mere human attainments, and to confider divine influence as the only effential requifite. That the operation of the Holy Spirit on the preaching of the apoftles, and above all on the miracles which they wrought, was fufficiently manifeft, few Chriftians will deny; and that they communicated their spiritual gifts to their immediate fucceffors is likewife generally acknowleged. How long those miracu lous gifts continued has been much difputed by the learned: but, in the prefent age, we fhould conceive that no perfon, without great prefumption, could lay claim to divine illumination. We are therefore much furprifed that Mr. Owen fhould think that it requires, to enforce the doctrines of Chriftianity with fuccefs, a fpecies of eloquence which fhall pass the limits of rational perfuafion,-combining the influence of God with the energies of man, and fuperadding to the form of found words the demonftration of the spirit and power. It may, however, be granted that this conclufion feems to be a fair refult from his premifes: for he afferts that the truths which Christianity reveals are myfteries infcrutable to worldly wisdom; pofitions grounded rather on record than demonftration; in whose difcuffion the powers of the mind enjoy but a limited privilege, and reafon finds only a fubordinate employ-This paffage is fo loofely worded, that it is capable of two meanings: meanings: if by the truths of Chriftianity he means the incarnation, the atonement, and the other mysterious doctrines which God has thought proper to reveal to us by the miniftration of Jesus Christ, it is true, but not to the purpose: if he includes, under the general term truths, every doctrine contained in the gofpel, it is to his purpose, but not true for the moral duties inculcated by the great Author of our religion are easy, plain, and intelligible; and fo far are they from being contrary, that they are strictly conformable, to uncorrupted reafon, and confequently must be approved by every unprejudiced mind. We must therefore differ from Mr. Owen, and declare it as our opinion that human reason, when properly cultivated and judiciously directed, is at leaft equal to the task of enforcing with good effect thofe great and important truths which are revealed to us in the gospel, and which involve in them our prefent comfort and future happiness. Through the whole of this difcourfe, the author feems to be infected with a gloomy and melancholy caft of devotion; and, in the fad picture which he draws of human corruption, he appears not fufficiently to have confidered that, in too many inftances, the vices of men and their confequent misery proceed rather from the perverfeness of the will than from the error of the understanding. Most of us know and feel the force of moral and religious truths; and we should act conformably to their dictates, were not that conviction too frequently overpowered by our appetites and irregular paffions. Art. 70. A Word of Comfort to the Poor in their prefent Neceffity: preached in the Parish Church of Wanftead, Effex, July 19, 1795. By the Rev. Samuel Glaffe, D. D. F.R. S. &c. 8vo. 6d. Rivingtons. In every calamity, the human mind naturally flies to religion for relief; and it is feldom, if ever, difappointed. As it is, therefore, the duty of the parochial clergy, in times of fcarcity and distress, to administer to the people committed to their care every confolation in their power, we are not surprised that fuch a man as Dr. Glaffe, refpectable for his learning and for his piety, fhould address his parishioners on fo interefting a fubject. The fermon before us is plain, fenfible, and calculated to do good: but it is not embellished with any peculiar elegancies of language, and the duties which it inculcates are not enforced by any uncommon ftrength of argument or powers of genius. Indeed they were not to be expected on the occafion. Art. 71. Preached in the Church at Falmouth, Nova-Scotia, 10th of May 1793. Being the Day appointed by Proclamation for a General Fast and Humiliation before Almighty God. By the Rev. Wm. Cochran, Prefident of the King's College, Windfor. 8vo. Pp. 15. Printed at Halifax. The author of this difcourfe, proceeding on the general doctrine of faft-fermons that God vifits nations for their fins, afcribes to the crimes of the French the miferies which they experienced, and exhorts us to take warning and repent, left we should fall under fimilar vifitations. The text is Jer. v. 9. We wish that all who read his fermon, whether in Nova-Scotia or England, may liften to fuch good advice: but we fear that many of us are more inclined to reprobate French infidelity and immorality than to practife Chriftian virtue.. Art. Art. 72. The Age of Unbelief, a fecond Part to The Man of Sin. Of the first part of Mr. Jones's very orthodox opinions on the above-mentioned fubjects, we gave an account in the M. R. for Thofe who admired that difcourfe will, without doubt, be no lefs pleased with this kindred compofition, which is equally rational and edifying. May 1794 Art. 73. The Lofs of the Righteous lamented and improved. Preached Aug. 10, 1794, to a Congregation of Proteftant Diffenters, at Ebenezer Chapel, Leeds, on the Death of the Rev. William Price, - their late Minifter. By Edward Parfons. 8vo. 6d. Matthews. Though the author of this fermon has not fuffered the pillars of his orthodoxy to be fhaken by philofophy, he has ventured to decorate the antient edifice with a few modern ornaments. Old puritanical fentiments he expreffes in a neat and pointed ftyle, not taught in the fchools of his ancestors; and he fometimes embellishes his difcourfe with a poetical quotation, as modern tafte often patches an old Gothic church with an elegant altar-piece, executed by some fashionable artist. CORRESPONDENCE. To the MONTHLY REVIEWERS. GENTLEMEN, IN your laft Review, p. 247, the mistake you notice in the old French quotation is evidently a typographical error. Instead of fils and pere, it has been in the original fils and frere; Thomas of Lancaster having been fon of Henry the IVth, and brother to Henry the Vth, ftyled alfo the King of France. The author, though writing in French, feems to have been too good an English courtier to allow Charles VI. or Charles VII. any notice or title in their native domain. The combat, which in that and the fucceeding pages you defcribe, did not perhaps take place till after the fucceffion of Richard II. This is probable not only from Edward the IIId's laft fickness being mentioned as fome time preceding that combat, but from the concourfe of people being compared to that of the coronation. If Richard was on the throne, the coronation would be an apposite and seasonable allusion; which it could fcarcely be at the end of Edward's long reign. For inftance, if in the prefent day we compare any crowd to a coronation, it will feem far fetched, and many will not be able to appreciate the fimile: but fome of you may remember that, thirty odd years ago, the coronation was a familiar comparison for every numerous or splendid assemA BORDERER.' blage of people. • GENTLEMEN, 'IN reviewing Mr. Parfons's Work on Monuments, (Nov. p. 267.) Immatura perî : fed tu felicior annos Quodque Quodque mihi eripuit for fimmatura juventa,. • GENTLEMEN, 'A. FRESTON." THE editor of Curiofities of Literature, obferving your article respecting his criticisms on Virgil, (Rev. Nov. p. 355-6,) is defirous of informing you, that they are merely gathered from the various Ana; with as much faithfulness and as little discernment, as some verbal commentators have lately fhewn. He acknowledges the remark refpecting Virgil's Simile of the Nightingale; but that objectionable paffage is literally taken from Huet; and he confeffes that he was led away, at a juvenile period of life, by the ftri&ures of this great scholar, who he now perceives had more erudition than tafte. As for fome of the obfervations he deems them to be juft. But was it ever fuppofed that Virgil's reputation was in the least endangered by such obfervations, by any one, but the anonymous author who has contrived to form an apology, by Leaping annotations upon annotations?" +*+ F. V. will excuse our not printing his polite letter, as we have read fo many different accounts of the point in difpute, that we cannot agree with him in thinking that it is decided. St§ We should be glad to oblige J. C. but his request leads to a matter that is really quite out of our province. The Gentleman's Magazine might be a proper repofitory for his quæré. IIS Were we to ftate and to answer the arguments of A Friend to the Poor, on a fpeculative point in politics, we fhould be led into a difcufion for which we cannot afford the requifite time and space. I To W. D.-Mental Improvement is, we hope, in a progreffive ftate: Leifure Hours have not yet fallen to our lot. ¶¶ Mr. Williams's letter is unavoidably poftponed. ttt Mr. Prefton's letter arrived too late for infertion in this No. Itt In the laft Review, p. 275. 1. 13. from bottom, for drougyos read δημιουργος. P. 278. 1. 6. from bottom, for τυγχανεν read τυγχανικο P. 279. 1. 3. for αγνωσω read ayowsw. P. 319. 1. 8. from bottom, · and as an,' &c. dele'as." We understand that thofe readers of the Review, who live in the country, are fometimes mis-informed that the Appendix to each volume is not published at the end of the first month after the commencement of a new volume, with the number for that month, but in the middle of the enfuing month. We therefore think it neceffary to fay that an Appendix is invariably published on the 1ft day of February, with the Review for January, on the 1ft of June, with the No. for May, and on the 1st of October, with the Review for September: fo that, if any of our readers do not receive the Appendix regularly at thefe times, the fault lies with the bookfeller by whom they are fupplied. |