Art. 17. Impartial Thoughts on a Free Trade to the Kingdom of

Ireland. In a Letter to Lord North. Recommended to the Confideration of every British Senator, Merchant, and Manufacturer, in this Kingdom. 8vo. I s. Millidge. 1779.

This may probably be the fame letter-writer trying his dexterity on the other fide of the question; and it is not easy to decide between them, on the preference of execution.

POLITICAL.

N

Art. 18. Renovation without Violence yet poffible. 8vo. 6 d. Longman. 1780.

The renovation here recommended to our attention, is that of the British conftitution of government; which conflitution the Author confiders as reduced to a state of debility and corruption. His plan is, to unite into one body of confederate ftates, the feveral distinct parts of the empire, including North America, and the Eaft and Welt Indies. He feems to be rather warmly attached to his project; but, though not a very difpaffionate writer, he offers fome striking obfervations and in times like thefe, or in any times, every man fhould be heard, who has any thing to propofe for the welfare of the community-Solomon hath afferted, (and who fhall difpute with Solomon) that "in the multitude of counsellors there is fafety." Art. 19. A Letter to the Whigs. 8vo. 1s. Almon. 1780. An honest, teily, plain, old-fashioned difciple of John Locke (for fuch he profeffes himfelf) here avows his utter abhorrence of the reviving doctrines of paffive obedience and non-refiftance, with all their odious train of defpotic ideas. He earnestly expatiates on the manifold corruptions of the ftate, and recommends truly patriotic affociations, as the only means of working out our political falvation. This zealous Whig feems to exprefs the dictates of a warm heart, in a blunt, unequivocal style, which, to many readers, will be more acceptable than the fmoother ftrain of more polifhed writers, and more refined reafoners.

Art. 20. The Republican Form of Prayer, which OUGHT to be ufed in all Churches and Chapels, &c. on Friday the 4th of February, being the Day appointed for a General Faft, &c. Without his Majesty's fpecial Command. 8vo. 19 Pages for I s. Bladon.

1780.

Republican politics in fcripture language; or, the Bible turn'd American.

Art. 21. Difpaffionate Thoughts on the American War; addreffed to the Moderate of all Parties. 8vo. I S. Wilkie. 1780. Truly difpaffionate, and fenfible. The advice given by this mo derate and judicious Writer, is, that we fhould immediately relinquith the American war, as a fcheme not only impracticable, but impolitic; and then to turn our whole national ftrength against the hole of Bourbon: with whom, he thinks, we are able to cope, with every profpe&t of fuccefs. What he urges on this very important fubject, is the more worthy of attention, as he does not feem to be a party-man. If he appears to lean any way, it is toward adminiftra

ion.

Art.

Art. 22. The Detector, No. I. to be continued occafionally, during the prefent Seffion of Parliament. 8vo. 6d. Becket. 1780.

SPECIMEN. To prevent thefe little fqualls from gathering into a hurricane, government fhould fend fome prefs-gangs to attend thefe county affociations; for many of thofe who are appointed to the Committee of Correfpondence, as well at York as at Middlesex, come within the meaning of the act; and I am of opinion they would appear more refpectable in the fubordinate character of a foldier, than a politician, as they feem to have more fpirit than wifdom, more ardour than difcretion, and more folly than judgment.' The Senfe of the People: In a Letter to Edmund Burke, Efq; on his intended Motion in the House of Commons, the 11th Init. Containing fome Obfervations on the Petitions now fabricating, and the propofed Affociations. 8vo. 1 s. Becket. 1780.

Intended to prove that the fenfe of the affociators, &c. is not the fenfe of the people: a very fmall proportion of whom (the Author contend) have acquiefced in the refolutions of those who have affifted at the county meetings. This feems to be a hafty writer, animated rather by an excels of zeal for the caufe of administration, than by knowledge or judgment.

Art. 24. The Conflitution of England; in Five Letters: As they were published in the GAZETTEER in the Month of January, 1778; and now appear to merit a Republication, as they do, in a very clear and masterly Manner, fhew the conftitutional Right of the collective Body of the People to affemble and to declare their general Opinion on Matters of Government. To which is added, an Obfervation on the Impropriety of Petitions preferred by the conflituent Body to the Houfe of Commons, or to either of the other two Branches of parliamentary Power. By a Freeholder of Middlefex; but no Petitioner. 8vo. 1 S. E. Johnfon. 1780. Thefe letters contain many good, and fome uncommon, obfervations on the nature of our FREE conftitution: a fubject which very few of us attend to, and which fill fewer among us understand. Art. 25. Four Letters to the Earl of Carlisle, from William Eden, Efq; The Third Edition. To which is added, a Fifth Letter. 8vo. 4. fewed. White, &c. 1780.

In our Review for December laft, we gave fome account, from the first edition, of Mr. Eden's very fenfible and elegant correspondence with Lord Carlile, his brother Commiffioner, on the late unfuccefsful bufinefs of our overtures to America. We there remarked, among other obfervations, that thefe Letters contain a ferious, accurate, and comprehenfive review of the prefent political fituation of this country; including diftin&t eftimates of our public difficulties, and our national refources: from all which the very ingenious Writer" fees, or thinks he fees, [his own words] much folid ground for hope, and none for defpondency."-We added, that whatever are Mr. Eden's principles (for he is undoubtedly partial to adminiftration) he writes with a maflerly pen-that his mode of argu

M 4

ment

ment is candid, and his manner agreeable. We may here, too, oh, ferve, that he all along preferves fuch an air of moderation, and decent regard to the characters and opinions of refpectable men, wha entertain different fentiments, both of measures and profpects, as cannot fail of procuring for himself, and for his reafonings, a great degree of approbation, and deference, from all parties, where violence does not exclude candour, and prejudice fhut the door against conviction.

In the fifth Letter, added in the prefent edition, the Author treats on POPULATION; on certain REVENUE LAWS and REGULATIONS, connected with the interells of COMMERCE; and on PUBLIC OECO. NOMY. On all thefe fubjects, he is the meffenger of glad tidings, His fpeculations are of a complexion very oppofite to thofe of Dr. Price, whole estimates, and moft alarming deductions, he endeavours to refute; while he oppofes him in a manner becoming the character of a Gentleman, and with that conciliating urbanity, from which men of letters should never depart.-Though Mr. Eden is confidered as a minifterial advocate, he treats Dr. P. with that politeness and refpe&t which are undoubtedly due not only to the Doctor's abilities, but to his truly patriotic views as a public writer: and he candidly acknowledges himself indebted to his reverend antagonist for that liberality of mind with which,' fays Mr. Eden, he has communicated to me the knowledge of fome of my own errors, at the fame time that he differed from me, as to the principal pofitions which I had wished to establish.'-This is handfome; and it will feem not only HANDSOME but GENEROUS, if we allow that he has the advantage of the Doctor on the fubjects of the Coinage, and of the Population of England. We cannot pretend, here, to enter into the calculations made by thefe ingenious writers, with respect to the laft mentioned fubject, nor to examine the data on which they are founded; but we hope, at leaft, that Mr. Eden is right in his attempt to prove, in oppofition to Dr. P. that this country is not in a decreafing flate of population.

Art. 26. The Sytem. Occafioned by the Speech of Leonard Smeit, Elq; late Sub-governor to their Royal Highnefies the Prince of Wales and Bishop of Ofnaburgh, at the Meeting at York, Dec. 30, 1779. 8vo. bd. Almon.

A very good whiggish fermon, to which Mr. Smelt's fpeech ferves for a text. The Author writes with a becoming decency of language, but his fentiments and reafonings are not the lefs weighty or energetic on this account; nor is the view that he has given of our politica! fituation the lefs alarming for the difpaffionate terms in which he expatiates concerning the dangerous inroads that have been made on the British conftitution of government; and which are all refolved into the Syftem' that (as it is affirmed) hath been adopted by the fecret couniellors of the crown.'

See, aifo, The Yorkshire Question,' in our laft Month's Catalogue, Art. 13.

POETICAL.

POETICA L.

Art. 27. The Ancient English Wake; a Poem. By Mr. Jerningham. 4to. I s. 6d. Robfon. 1779.

That primitive fimplicity of manners, fo oppofite to the artificial refinements of polished life, and which is fuppofed to characterize our uncultivated ancestors, is not eafy to delineate. It will therefore be thought no flender compliment to the abilities of this ingenious Writer to fay that, in this part of his prefent work, he has displayed the fame judgment and taste which have been remarked in fome of his former publications.

Whatever may be the difficulties that the poet encounters, whọ attempts to defcribe manners at a distance fo remote from the prefent, they are, in a great meafure, counterbalanced by the advantages he will gain in the construction of his fable. Unrestrained by an attention to that propriety of conduct and occurrences which is expected in modern ftory, he may give a loofe to the reins of fiction, without danger of exciting either weariness or difguft. Events, which in themselves are not only romantic but improbable, will frequently, when viewed through the medium of antiquity, affume an air which is at once both graceful and engaging. That falfe glare of colouring, which fhocks the eye of the fpectator when brought too near, will, when placed at due diftance, acquire a mellowness which has every effect of just painting. This obfervation may, with peculiar propriety, be applied to the principal incident in the poem

before us.

As a fpecimen of the poem, and as a juftification of the opinion we have given of it, we thail fubjoin the following extract:

The hoary paftor near the village-fane

Receiv'd the honour'd chief and all his train:
This holy, meek, difinterefted man

Had form'd his ufeful life on duty's plan :
Unpractis'd in thofe arts that teach to rife,
The vacant mitre ne'er aliur'd his eyes.
Regardless fill of diffipation's call,
He feldom tarried at the festive hall,
Where all around the storied texture hung,

Where pfaltries founded, and where minstrels fung
But to the humble cot's neglected door

The facred man the balm of comfort bore:
Still would he liften to the injur'd swain,

For he who liftens mitigates the pain :
There was he feen reclining o'er the bed,

Where the pale maiden bow'd her anguish'd head;
Where, reft of hope, the yielding victim lay,
And like a wreath of fnow diffolv'd away:
With feeling foul the paftor oft enquir'd
Where the meek train of filent grief retir'd,
Shame that declines her forrows to impart,
The drooping fpirit, and the broken heart.
He ne'er the friar's gaping wallet fed,
But to the widow fent his loaf of bread:

His fee to ROME reluctantly he paid,
And call'd the Pardoner's a pilf'ring trade.
The facred Pfalter well he knew to gloss,
And on its page illuminate the Cross:
The written Mislal on the altar feen,
Inclos'd in velvet of the richest green,
Difplay'd initials by his fancy plann'd,
Whole brilliant colours own'd his fkilful hand.
This gaily-letter'd book his art devis'd,
The temple's only ornament compriz'd:
The hallow'd fervice of this modeft fane
(Far from the fplendour of a choral train)

Could boat no labour'd chaunt, no folemn rites,
No clouds of incenfe, and no pomp of lights,
But at the plain and lowly altar ftands
The village-prieft with pure uplifted hands,
Invoking from above, Heav'n's guardian care,
In all the meek fimplicity of pray'r.'

c..t.

Art. 28. Epifle from the Honourable Charles Fox, PartridgeShooting, to the Honourable John Townshend, cruifing. 4to. is. Faulder. 1779.

Few poems that we have lately met with have afforded us more It is not pleasure than the little epiftle which is now before us. only terfe and elegant, but replete, alfo, with a kind of pleasantry which is, in fome degree, peculiar to itfelf; a pleafantry unembittered by the gall of party or perfonal fatire: it is very rarely that true humour and good humour are fo happily blended.

The Epistle opens with the following lines:

While you, dear TOWNSHEND, o'er the billows ride,
MULGRAVE in front, and HANGER by thy fide,
Me it delights the woods and wilds to court,
For ruftic feats and unambitious fport.

At that dim hour when fading lamps expire,
When the last, ling'ring clubs to bed retire,
I rife!-how fhould I then thy feelings fhock,
Unfhav'd, unpowder'd, in my shooting frock!

What frock? thou crieit-I'll tell thee-the old brown;
Trimm'd to a jacket, with the skirts cut down-

Thou laugh'; I know, thou do'ft; but check that fneer;
What though no fashion'd fportfman I appear,
Yet hence thy CHARLES's voice gains fhriller force;
Ah! Jack, if DUNNING hot, he'd not be hoarse.
• Nor deem ev'n here the cares of ftate forgot,
I wad with gazettes ev'ry fecond shot:

ALMON's bold fheets the intervals fupply;

And ftill, methinks, his charges farthest fly.'

The company and entertainment with which he purposes to celebrate his friend's return, bear fuch evident marks of taste and good judgment, that we fhould efteem curfeives happy in having a card of invitation to be of the party :

That night, to feftive wit and friendship due,
That night thy CHARLES's board fhall welcome you.

Sallads,