However important thefe articles of faith are, and however fufceptible of folid proof, any or all of them may be thought, we confels we fee no great merit in believing them by rote, without any knowledge of the arguments by which they are fupported. Though there should refult fome ill effects (as Mr. Knox fuppofes) from proving truths already admitted, if they were admitted without examining, thefe effects ought to be hazatded. Religion need not farink from the moft rigid difcuffon. She cannot fuffer from the freeft inquiries and to inquire and to judge is the bu finefs of all, in proportion to their means and opportunities of doing it. We do not entertain any high refpect for that defeription of men whom the poet characterizes Unlettered Chriftians (who believe in grofs), ་ We have already taken notice of Mr. Knox's enmity to logic, and metaphyfics. In his Effay On Speculative Criticifm and on Genius,' he relaxes fomewhat of this hoftile difpofition; and in defining genius, he feems to have delineated the qualities which form a logician, rather than the ingredients which constitute the poet. He fuppofes genius to be an extraordinary power of attention; a capacity in the mind of attaching itfelf closely and, ftrongly, at a glance, to every object that folicits its regard; of taking in the whole of it, in all its diftant relations, dependen cies, modifications, origin, and confequences,' If attention be allowed to ufurp the name and honours of genius, what becomes of enthufiafm? what becomes of invention, and of the creative power of imagination, which Shakspeare tells us, bodies forth the forms of things unknown, &c. and which has been ever confidered as the very effence of genjus? :: In remarking thefe accidental points in which we differ from, Mr. Knox, we do not mean to detract from the general merit of his performances. Perhaps there are few writers who have entered into fo great a variety of fubjects to whom we could have objected fo little. We ftill adhere to the fame favourable fentiments which we * at first formed of this gentleman. It were a want of candour to exclude him from that indulgence which in his concluding Effay he has folicited for other literary adventurers. W The fpirit of adventure in literary undertakings, as well as in politics, commerce, and war, must not be difcouraged. If it produces that which is worth little notice, neglect is eafy. There is a great probability, however, that it will often exhibit fomething conducive to pleafure and improvement. But when every new attempt is checked by feverity, or regarded with indifference, learning ftag nates, and the mind is depreffed, till its productions fo far degene Vide Review above referred to, for the account of the first vo lume of Effays Moral and Literary. rate ate as to justify difregard. Taste and literature are never long ftationary. When they cease to advance, they become retrograde. Every libera! attempt to give a liberal entertainment is entitled to a kind excufe, though its execution should not have a claim to praife. For the fake of encouraging fubfequent endeavours, lenity fhould be difplayed where there is no appearance of incorrigible ftupidity, of affuming ignorance, and of empty conceit, Severity chills the opening powers, as the froft nips the bud that would elfe have been a bloffom. --It is blameable morofenefs to cenfure thofe who fincerely mean to please, and fail only from caufes not in their own dif; ofal. The praif, however, of well meaning has ufually been allowed with a facility of conceffion which leads to fufpect that it was thought of little value. It has also been received with apparent mortification, This furely is the refult of a perverted judgment; "för intention is in the power of every man, though he cannot command ability." T. ART. X. An Appeal from the Proteftant Affociation to the People of Great Britain, concerning the probable Tendency of the late Act of Parliament in Favour of Papills. 8vo. 6d. Dodfley, 1779. W E hold the principles of popery in as much abhorrence, and its abfurdities in as much contempt, as the most zealous member of the Proteftant Affociation. But fince a bill hath paffed both Houfes of Parliament, and gained the royal affent, in favour of Roman Catholics, we are apprehenfive that it bears too much the appearance of a popifh fpirit, to endeavour to procure a repeal of it. Proteftants have (and with great reafon) accused the Papifts of a bigotted and intolerant fpirit;and have appealed to the decrees of their councils,-the decifions of their ableft and moft approved advocates, and above all, to the inconteftible evidence of facts, to authenticate their charge. But shall we condemn ourselves, by imitating their conduct? Shall we act like Papifts in fupporting Protestantism? No. Let our actions convince them of the diffimilarity of our principles. Let us fhew them, that in efpoufing the caufe of Proteftantifm, we are not vindicating the claims of a fect, but that our dif pofition is as benevolent as Chriftianity, and our object as extenfive as Human Nature. This conduct would, in the nobleft. fenfe of the expreffion, heap coals of fire on their heads:" and convince them (if any thing could convince them) that Proteftants have imbibed the amiable and exalted fpirit of theif. divine Master, who came not to deftroy men's lives, but to fave them.' But the members of the Affociation are prepared to tell us, that the question at prefent is not fo much about a point of religion, as a matter of vil polity. They do not oppose Popery because it is a fyftem of errors and abfurdities; but be cause of its ftate maxims, and the malignant afpect which it bears on the civil and religious rights of mankind. Hence,. F 2 what what is highly ridiculous when feen in a fpeculative point of view, becomes infinitely dangerous when placed in a political light and our contempt of its principles is almost lost in our dread of its confequences. To enter into the arguments that have been advanced on both fides of the queftion, would lead us beyond the limits of our journal: we shall therefore content ourselves with offering to our readers a brief outline of the prefent performance. The first fection contains, thoughts on Toleration, and how far it is confiftent with our civil conftitution, and the prefervation of the Proteftant religion, to extend it to the Papifts." Under this head, the perfecuting spirit of the Church of Rome, from one period to another, is exposed; and the doctrine of the Pope's fupremacy is particularly confidered as derogatory to the effential maxims of a free ftate. From a view of the inherent nature and invariable tendency of Popery, the gentlemen of the Affociation infer, that to tolerate its opinions, is to infult the natural and moral perfections of that God who gave us reafon and immortality, and to encourage the practice of idolatry, by law, in a Chriftian country. To tolerate Popery, is to be inftrumental to the perdition of immortal fouls now exifting, and of millions of fpirits that at prefent have no exiftence but in the prescience of God; and is the direct way to provoke the vengeance of an holy and jealous God, to bring down deftruc tion upon our fleets and armies, and ruin on ourselves and our posterity.' This was the language of Bonner when he gave orders for the fires in Smithfield-of Calvin when he fent Servetus to the ftake-and of Laud when he condemned Leighton to the pillory. Shall we tolerate opinions (faid they) which are inftrumental to the perdition of immortal fouls? So far as any religious fyftem refpects the worship of God, and a future ftate, fo far it hath an undoubted claim to every poffible indulgence. As a fyftem of opinions, no state under heaven hath any concern with it. The matter wholly relates to the all-feeing God, and the dictates of private confcience. It is not the bufinefs of government to provide for men's fafety' in a future ftate, any farther than by guarding their morals and fitting them for the offices of civil life. Of what remains to be done to qualify the foul for Heaven, every man must judge for himself. The second section prefents the reader with a view of the principal laws that were in force against Papifts before they were altered by the late act; and of the fpirit in which they were executed. Section the third offers Confiderations on the late Act of Parliament; and the alterations made thereby in the penal laws against againft Papifts. Under this head, we meet with the following remarks: If we attend to the form of the oath to be now taken by the Papifts, in the last Act of Parliament, we shall obferve a very striking variation between that and the oath of fupremacy of Geo. I. Stat. II. Cap. 13. By that, every Proteftant, and all other perfons, are required, on their oath, to declare, that no foreign prince, perfon, prelate, ftate, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurifdiction, power, fuperiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclefiaftical or fpiritual, within thefe realms. But in the laft ftatute, to accommodate the Papifts, and to avoid encroaching on their obedience and fubmiffion to their spiritual father, the words " ecclefiaftical ecclefiaftical or fpiritual" are omitted, and the words "temporal or civil" fubftituted; by which it is plainly declared, that the legiflature, confcious of the jurifdiction of the Pope over every Papift within this realm, and that the Papists, as fuch, could never confcientiously abjure the fame; have defignedly changed thofe material words, and thereby recognized, within thefe realms, the ecclefiaftical and fpiritual jurifdiction of the Pope, and all in authority under him.' This circumftance feems to affect Dr. Ibbet fon moft ftrongly; who having publicly avowed his approbation of the plan, adopted by the members of the Proteftant Affociation, expreffes his doubts relating to the propriety of a Proteftant's taking the oath of fupremacy, in the form in which it is at prefent adminiftered. He feems to think, that the authority of the Roman pontiff in matters of an ecclefi aflical and fpiritual nature is, at leaft, virtually acknowledged by the legislature, from the omiffion of the words [piritual and ecclefiaftical] in the oath that hath been framed to accommodate the Papifts. We do not fee the matter in the serious light in which it is viewed by the learned Archdeacon. A Proteftant may juftly fwear, that no prince, power, flate, &c. hath any authority in Great Britain. The Pope hath, in fact, no more power than he had before the late indulgence granted to the Papifts took place. No authority hath been explicitly delegated to the fee of Rome: and all the claim it hath, exifts only (as it did before) in the creed of the Papift. To a Proteftant, it is a mere negation; and cannot in the leaft affect his confcience in the matter of the oath, which difavows the active, pofitive right and legal exiftence of the Pope's fupremacy over the ecclefiaftical conftitution of these lands.. The fourth fection contains, Obfervations on the manner in which the late Act was obtained; on the principal arguments in its favour; and on the fatal confequences which will most probably refult from it." The conclufion treats of the abfolute neceffity of an application to Parliament for redrefs; and the conftitutional mode of obtaining it.' F 3 Nothing B-k Nothing (fays the Affociation) but a law to repeal and qualify the late Act, can keep the Papifts within the bounds of allegiance and decency. Our conftitution hath marked out the mode of obtaining redrefs; and declares it to be the right of the subject to petition. Let petitions be circulated throughout the kingdom; let the clergy of the eftablished church, and Proteftant minifters of every denomination, and all who are zealous for the welfare and fafety of the Proteftant religion, cordially unite, and ftrenuously exert themfelves on this important occafion, Let petitions against the Popifh bill be fent to Parliament, with numerous fignatures from every county, city, and corporation, and from other refpectable bodies of people. Let our reprefentatives be inftructed by their constituents, to fupport these petitions in the house; and as the eve of a general election is approaching, we have reafon to hope that thefe inftructions will be attended to. Should they be neglected, we foon fhall have an opportunity of electing members more attentive to the voice of the people, and the prefervation of the Proteftant intereft.We prefume, it would be better if the late Act of Parliament were totally repealed, and the laws against the Papifts placed on their former footing; but if that cannot be obtained, a qualifying Act, with fome reftrictions, feems abfolutely neceffary. Thus the Papifts would be curbed, but not crushed; they would not be perfecuted, nor could they perfecute: the grand objects of this ASSOCIATION Would be obtained; the Proteftant religion would be preferved; the British conftitution would be fecured, and the Hanoverian fucceffion established, upon the firmest basis." B... FOREIGN LITERATURE. ART. XI. Toberni Bergman, Chemia Profefforis, &c. Opufcula Phyfica & Che• mica, e-Philofophical and Chemical Effays, collected and revifed by the Author, with Additions. By Tobern Bergman, Profeffor of Chemistry, F. R. S. &c. Illuftrated with Plates, Vol 1. Upfal, &c. 1779. 8vo. 7. s. 6d. fewed. London, imported by Lowndes. N this valuable publication, the philofophical world are prefented with a collection of excellent chemical effays, on feveral curious and interefting fubjects. Some of them have for merly been publified feparately, in the Swedish, French, or Latin languages. After having been revifed by the Author, they are here collected into one volume; which, we are affured, will be followed by feveral others. We fhall confider them in the order in which the Author has prefented them: extracting fuch particulars as may be moft acceptable to our philofophical Readers. Differtation |