that point, or naturally of a bad taste," replied Charles; "for really several monuments that have been highly praised by these gentlemen, appear to me to be absurd in their very principles." "How so?" asked a connoisseur, who had particularly distinguished himself by descanting on their various merits. "Nay," said Charles, "I do not pretend to set up my judgment in opposition to what seems the general and approved taste of men who have made these subjects their study; but I must confess, it appears to me absolutely ridiculous to see so many naked limbs, in direct opposition to the habits and manners, not only of the periods in which they lived, but of any nation in Europe for these several centuries past. My friend and I were puzzling our brains to find out a cause, or, to speak truly, an excuse for this taste; but I must own it was beyond our comprehension." "Very like," replied the connoisseur, somewhat nettled: "yet still there are reasons, which to men of talents have appeared sufficient to justify this practice." As the company seemed to listen to this dispute without any of them interposing, after a short pause, Charles replied, “I should be glad to hear of them, Sir, if it is not too much trouble." By no means," said the other: "in the first place, the Roman garb, both civil and military, is well calculated to shew the art of the sculptor, and the shape of the limbs; the toga, thrown in graceful folds over the shoulders, and round the body, is beyond doubt infinitely more elegant than the modern coat; and, on the other hand, the short military garb serves to shew the turn of the limbs, and enables the sculptor to display

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the muscles to the greatest advantage: add to this, the ancient garb being now obsolete has become a sort of classical dress, which will be equally an invariable standard a thousand years hence, as it has been for these two centuries past: whereas, our dress is perpetually varying; and a statue in this dress, even of our grandfathers, with long waistcoat flaps, high pocket-holes, huge wig and rapier, stockings rolled over the knee, and broad-toed shoes, would cut rather a ridiculous figure in Westminster Abbey." "Not so much so," cried Charles, as an English admiral in a Roman dress leaning upon a cannon, as in the monument of Admiral Holmes; or as another brave seaman standing between two palm-trees, with his left foot upon the rostrum, or back of an ancient gallery, as that of Admiral Watson; or General Wolfe dying on the field of battle stark naked; or the monument of General Ligonier, in which battering rams are mixed with cannons and bombs, and muskets with shields, as ornaments and supporters. Such incongruities appeared both to my friend and myself as absolutely unpardonable, although, I must confess, your ingenious defence has rendered the custom somewhat more excusable in my eyes than it appeared this morning." After thanking him for the compliment, as the company seemed still willing to hear more upon the subject by not interfering, or changing the conversation, the gentleman went on: "But you still have not weakened my objection to the statues of our great men being represented with modern garbs, namely, the absurd appearance they will make a hundred years hence." "To tell you the

truth, Sir,” replied Charles, "your objection did not appear to me of any great weight. In the valley where I was born lived a gentleman of a very ancient family, an intimate friend of my father's, named Berkeley amongst other portraits, he has one at full length of his great-grandfather, who was slain at the battle of Edge Hill: notwithstanding he is represented very strictly in the dress of those times, and such as would certainly be reckoned preposterous at the present day, I never saw a nobler countenance and figure; and certainly no person ever feels the smallest inclination to criticise his dress. Now, had this brave man been represented in marble as on canvass, I cannot conceive any absurdity in the idea. On the contrary, as paintings are so much more perishable than statuary, I should wish to see our illustrious men represented in stone and marble with the dresses they wore, even to the minutest article, when they performed the very actions for which their country has thought proper to present them with memorials."

"Recollect yourself a little, young gentleman," replied the connoisseur: "you surely admit as legal the use which is made in English poetry of the heathen mythology and allusions. Perhaps you sometimes mount your Pegasus, wish to drink deep of the Pierian spring, or call upon the muses to inspire you with bright ideas: now, as such expressions and invocations are universally allowed in our writers, in like manner, I contend, a latitude should be given to statuaries, to dress their heroes as they please; and, if they do not chuse to give them

a coat and breeches, why not shew them off in a toga, and no breeches at all?" This remark made the company laugh, which so pleased the connoisseur, that he began to think his victory secure, and that Charles would have no more to say. The young man, however, joined in the laugh, and when it had subsided, returned again to the charge. He contended that Helicon, Parnassus, Pegasus, and the like, were mere words of course, borrowed from the ancients, and employed metaphorically, because we had no corresponding expressions in our language: but he affirmed, that it was not so with painting and sculpture, which were confined to representing objects as they really were, or might be at that time; that Cato, with

"Long wig and lacquer'd chain,"

was not more absurd than a modern European in the senatorial robes of Cato: and, in short, recapitulated what he had before advanced. As his antagonist had now nothing more to observe, the conversation would probably have terminated without being decided either way, had not another of the company repeated a remark on the stiffness of dress of a modern soldier compared to that of the ancients. This, with other similar observations, by degrees roused Edward for the honour of this profession, of which, being young, he was a zealous supporter in all its branches. After sitting, therefore, full of impatience for a short time, he stretched out his hand, and addressed himself to the connoisseur. "Sir," said he, "if the dress of an English soldier were a thousand times more ridiculous, when compared to that of a Roman, than it is, I still

think, that so many brave men have fought and bled in it, as to render it for ever honourable, and worthy of being transmitted to future ages. Surely the uniform in which a Marlborough conquered, and a Wolfe fell, and which so many gallant officers are now wearing at this moment, ought to be no object of contempt to a chipper of marble. Think how many brave heroes wore this uniform at Hochstet, Ramillies, and Oudenarde; at Minden, and even at Fontenoy, where they so dearly maintained its honour: and tell me, if ever Grecian or Roman garb was more ennobled. I need say nothing of our sea officers: if their dress be not worthy of sculpture, where shall we seek one more so?"

These observations, which were made in a most impetuous manner, were allowed to be conclusive on the subject, and judgment was passed in toto upon all English artists representing their countrymen in Roman dresses, which not only they never wore, but perhaps never saw.

REFUTATION OF DEISM;

BEING REMARKS ON THE CELEBRATED WORK OF DAVID HUME, ENTITLED DIALOGUES ON NATURAL RELIGION..

If you were so unacquainted with mankind, that this character might be announced to you as a rare or singular phenomenon, your conjectures at the process through which the mind has been conducted, would tend towards something marvellous; you might expect, for one thing, to behold the marks of an ex