loft, we can only bring Nennius as an evidence in their praise, who afferts, that the bards of his age were men of excellent genius. The poems which are extant contain many things deferving of notice, and throw a great light upon the historical events of that age. At the fame time they are difficult to be understood, owing, in part, to the careleffpefs of tranfcribers, and in part to the language itself, become obfolete from its very great antiquity. Aneurin, to whom his country gave the honourable diftinction of Mychdeirn-Beirdh, or monarch of the bards, in a poem entitled Gododin, relates that he had been engaged in a battle against the Saxons. Taliefin, called likewife Pen-Beirdh, or the prince of the bards, refided at the courts of Maelgwyn Gwynedh, and Urien Reged, prince of Cumberland. Llywarch-hen, or the aged, who was kinfman to the last-mentioned prince, was himself a fovereign in a part of Cumbria, and had paffed his youthful days in the court of King Arthur. There are extant fome manufcript poems of his, wherein he recites that he was driven by the Saxons into Powis; that he had twenty-four fons, all of whom were diffinguished by golden torquefes; and that they all died in defence of their country. Befides thofe already mentioned, there were other bards who flourished during this period, the most eminent of whom was Merddin Wyllt, who compofed a poem called Afallenau, or the Orchard. From the fixth to the tenth century it is difficult to meet with any of the writings of the bards, owing, it is probable, to the devaftas tions of war, and to the civil diffenfions among the Welsh. Such was the refpect in which the bards were held, that it was enacted, by a law of Howel Dha, that whoever should strike any one of this order muft compound for the offence, by paying to the party aggrieved one fourth more than was necefiary to be paid to any other person of the fame degree. The election of the bards was made every year, in an affembly of the princes and chieftains of the country; in which they were affigned precedence, and emolument fuitable to their merit; but the bard moft highly diftinguifhed for his talents was folemnly chaired, and had likewife a badge given him of a filver chair. This congrefs of the bards was ufually held at the three royal refidences of the princes of Wales; the fovereign himself prefiding in that affembly. There were three different claffes of this order in Wales. The firft was called Beirdhs, and were the compofers of verfes and odes, in various measures; it was neceflary that thefe fhould poffefs a genius for poetry, and that genius tinctured with a high degree of enthufiafm. They were likewife the recorders of the arms of the Welf gentry, and the grand repofitories of the genealogies of families. This clafs was accounted the moft honourable, and was high in the public eftimation. The fecond clafs, called Minstrels, were performers upon inftruments, chiefly the harp and the crwth. The third were they who fung to thofe inftruments, and were called Datgeiniaid. In the reign of Gryffydh ap Cynan a law was enacted to afcertain the privileges of the bards and minstrels, and to restrain their licentious manners. This ftatute prefcribed the emoluments each was to receive, as well as the perfons on whom fuch emoluments were impofed. It was likewise enacted, that neither the bards nor the minstrels fhould lead the lives of vagabonds, nor fing verfes in houses of public refort; that they should not be intoxicated with liquor, or be quarrelfome perfons, or be addicted to women; and that they fhould neither be thieves themselves, nor be the companions of fuch; they were prohibited likewife from entering into any houfe, or making fatirical fongs on any perfon, without the licence of the parties concerned. If a bard or a minstrel fhould violate these restraints on their conduct, by a fingular and unexampled feverity, every man was made an officer of juftice, and was authorifed not only to arrest and to punifh difcretionally, but to feize on whatever property the of fender had about him. This ftatute, the feverity of which, in fomé degree, points out its neceffity, has been frequently put in force by the reigning authority of the country, as appears by feveral commiffions directing the better regulation of the order.' Mr. Warrington, after relating fome feeble infurrections in favour of liberty, and the contrivances of Edward to footh the minds, and conciliate the obedience of a people fimple, and easily won by any appearance of regard and accommodation to their prejudices, briefly connects the Welsh, in the fame manner in which the celebrated Dr. Robertfon connects the Scottish history, with that of England. Our author writes in an eafy and perfpicubus ftile. In some instances, as when he talks of a fpirit of Quixotism, and of different parties fpreading with the fury of wildfire, he exchanges the dignity of the hiftorical, for the light familiarity of vulgar and colloquial ftile. In fome inftances he neglects the juft conftruction of his fentences, introducing firft what fhould be laft, and that laft which fhould be firft. For example, he writes, which we have quoted above, that HOWEL, prince of South Wales, collected into one code, the ancient cuftoms and laws of Wales, "which had nearly loft their "efficacy and weight, in the lapfe of ages, and in the confufion and turbulency of the times." How much more elegant and forcible is the following arrangement?" Which, in the lapfe of ages, and in the confufion and turbulency of "the times, had nearly loft their efficacy and weight." Sometimes our author has been inattentive to what may be called hiftorical preparation. At the treacherous interview, which we have quoted, between the Saxon and British chiefs, we are furprifed with the following circumftance: "When the fef 66 tivity was at the height, and probably in the unguarded moments of intoxication, Hengift gave the fignal, &c." That a feast was intended and prepared, fhould have been previously announced to the reader. Thefe little negligencies may eafily be corrected in a future edition. Dd4 There There is a fault in this work of a more important kind, which we have already hinted. The author has imbibed a predilection for the Welsh nation, and is blind to their fail ings and faults; infomuch that his general character of them is repugnant not only to the facts he records, but to the acknowledgments he makes concerning their levity, weakness, impolicy, and ferocity of manners. To give, as a character of the Welsh nation, an almoft literal tranflation of the partial Cambrian Giraldus, is an inftance of great thoughtlessness and fimplicity, bordering on that of the ancient Britons. His violent predilection for the Welsh appears in the first paragraph of his preface. • The circumstances and actions of the people, whose hiftory is related in this work, ftand fingle and original in the annals of the world. A nation, who, from remote antiquity, were distinguished by their independency of fpirit, defending, for ages, the rights of nature and of liberty in the bofom of their native mountains, affords a fpec tacle fufficiently interesting to awaken curiofity, to excite admiration, and to call forth every liberal fentiment. The efforts of the Welsh for liberty do not stand fingle and priginal in the annals of the world. Other nations, ancient and modern, have ftruggled as hard for liberty as the Welsh; and, though not with greater patriotism and bravery, yet with more wisdom, and better fuccefs. It is a common fault for authors, unknown to themselves, to magnify in their imaginations, and to fwell their fubjects beyond the bounds of nature and truth. To be free from all prepoffeffions, and, at the fame time, to feel thofe emotions, whether of admiration, of regret, of hatred, or of contempt, that animate a writer in the laborious work, for it is laborious, of lengthened compofition, is indeed a very difficult matter. Yet writers ought to check and reyife their feelings, and chaften their minds by a cool appeal to truth, viewed on all fides, and in the various lights of multiplied comparifon, To pre-eftablish any fyftem or doctrine in the mind, and to dispose all fubordinate facts as outworks to defend or confirm them, may be panegyric, invective, or apology; but it is not legitimate hiftory. CANDOUR is not only the chief of virtues, fince, where candour is found, every virtue may be introduced; but it affords a mighty advantage to the writer on every fubject that admits at all of difpute; and, therefore, may be confidered not only as a moral quality, but, in fome measure, as a high accomplish ment. It is not intended, by this digreffion on candour, and freedom from bias and prejudice, to infinuate that Mr. Warrington has violated the laws of truth by willingly concealing facts, ༢༣ as fome hiftorians have done, or boldly affirming falsehoods, as has been done by others. He has been, in fome inftances, feduced, by a predilection for the Ancient Britons, not to dif guife, but to give truth the colouring of his own genuine feelings and conceptions. But, on the whole, it is justice to fay, that Mr. Warrington enters fully into the nature and spi rit of hiftorical compofition; knows how to bring forward in perfpective the great outlines of his fubject, which he judi ciously fills up in detail. He arranges his matter under general views, and paffes, by eafy tranfitions, from one topic to another. He marks the conduct of the paffions, and traces, with confiderable fuccefs, the links that form the chain of events. With matter, and even facts, not generally interefting, he has mixed much general entertainment and instruction. He is the first regular historian of Wales; all other authors, on the affairs of that country, being mere chroniclers and antiquarians. He has been judicious in the choice of a subject, and not unfuccefsful in the execution of his design. ART. V. Medical Sketches: In Two Parts. By J. Moore, M. D. 8vo. 6s. boards. Cadell. London, 1786. SUCH is the awe which accompanies the very name of a favourite with the public, that, fhould he appear, in the character of an author, during one of thofe moments when weakness fteals into the heart of the wifeft, it is unhappily neceflary for the reviewer to fcrutinife his defects, and lay them out at full length before the reader. He cannot, as in the case of a writer not known, or not refpected, remit him to the Monthly Catalogue, among thofe whofe labours demand but a farcafn, or an exclamation. The chief merit, we apprehend, of Dr. Moore's former works lies in his agreeable anecdotes, and threwd remarks. Wherever there is an opportunity, in thefe Sketches, for exercifing this talent, it ftill appears to advantage; but, in the great body of the work, we can difcern but few vestiges of thofe qualities that render a medical book worthy of praife; the ftile, indeed, must be excepted; fuch fimplicity and neatnefs are very uncommon among the compofitions of authors of his profeffion; who, from the nature of their education, being, in general, unacquainted with the propriety, and still more with the elegance of language, and, at the fame time, haying caught the prevailing paffion for a frothy and affected tile, bring forth an heterogeneous mals of metaphor and folecifm, folecifm. If, as HAWKESWORTH fuggefts, all who cannot write English, were to be degraded from the rank of regulars, how much would the product of the tax upon quack medicines be increased? Notwithstanding Dr. Moore gives a a ratio operis in his preface, it is not unlikely that he was impelled to this undertak ing by that general motive which actuates so large a portion of the civilized part of the human race, the determination to write a book. The contents are scarce confiftent with any other fuppofition. The latter part, from p. 265 to 426, is evidently defigned for the information of thofe who practile medicine. The firft fketch (on the practice of medicine) oné muft fuppofe to be intended for the fame purpofe. The remainder of the work will furely not inftruct the ftudent who has read one elementary book, or heard one course of anato mical lectures. "It is an attempt to explain, in familiar lan guage, certain proceffes continually carried on in the ani"mal economy," the knowledge of which must be "as in"terefting to mankind as any other part of natural philofo phy." These proceffes, to obferve it by the way, fall under the head of natural hiftory, if this be diftinguished, as it ought to be, from natural philofophy. This explanation, then, is evidently intended for the uninitiated; the rest of the work for the faculty. So much for the defign-we fhall now attempt to analyse the firft sketch; the reader will eafily fee the amount of the gold that is extracted. We learn, p. 1, that the mind is apt to fall into a ftate of fufpence in ftudying medicine; and that this fufpence is often increased by further inquiry - that the art itself is probably uncertain and conjectural.--P. 2, that fome phyficians are very confident of their own talents, and the efficacy of medicines-that others, "men of real pene"tration, who understand character, imagine that the former "are oftentatious, weak, and fuperficial."-P. 3. A state of conftant fcepticifm is irkfome to a mind eager in the fearch of truth; but it is better than arrogance, implicit faith in any fyftem, or credulity with refpect to facts. Great men once fupported doctrines now exploded, which ought to reprefs prefumption.-P. 4. The medical ftudent fhould ftudy fuch theories, because they are ingenious; becaufe fuch exercife improves the faculties; and becaufe they may ferve to guard us from like mistakes.-P. 5, 6, and 7. Reafonings, a priori, have feldom led to the cure of diseases; obfervation only could difcover the effects of remedies; "fince all the sense and • In the Adventurer, "learning |