any judgment of men and things, which he may have prema turely formed: although it might be more fatisfactory to the public in fuch a cafe, that, inftead of filently rejecting whole paragraphs, a reafon fhould be given for their alteration.

Among the letters and poems contained in these volumes, there are befides thofe of Mr. Pope, a number of witty and entertaining productions by Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, Lord Middlefex, Mr. Congreve, Sir John Vanburg, Mr. Prior, Dr. Swift, Dr. Garth, Mr. Gay, Soame Jenyns, Efq. and many others. We fhall felect the two

following for the amufement of our readers.

"Sir Charles Hanbury to Sir Hans Sloane, who saved his life, and defired him to fend over all the rarities he could find in his travels.

Since dear Doctor, fav'd my life,

you,

To blefs by turns and plague my wife,
In confcience I'm oblig'd to do
Whatever is enjoin'd by you.

According then to your command,
That I fhould fearch the western land
For curious things of ev'ry kind,

And fend you all that I fhould find,

I've ravag'd air, earth, feas, and caverns,

Men, women, children, towns, and taverns;

And greater rarities can fhew,

Than Grefham's children ever knew,
Which carrier Dick fhall bring you down,
Next time his waggon comes to town.

Firft, I've three drops of that fame fhower
Which Jove in Danae's lap did pour;
From Carthage brought, the fword I'll fend
Which brought Queen Dido to her end ;
The ftone whereby Goliath dy'd,
Which cures the head-ach well apply'd ;
The fnake-fkin, which you may believe,
The devil caft who tempted Eve;
A fig-leaf apron-it's the fame
That Adam wore to hide his fhame,
But now wants darning; I've befide,
The blow by which poor Abel dy'd;
A whetstone worn exceeding small,
Time us'd to whet his fcythe withal;
The pigeon fluff'd, which Noah fent
To tell him where the waters went.
A ring I've got of Samfon's hair,
The fame which Dalilah did wear;
Saint Dunstan's tongs, which flory fhews,
Did pinch the devil by the nofe;
The very fhaft, as all may fee,
Which Cupid fhot at Antony;

Anl,

I've got a ray of Phoebus' fhine,
Found in the bottom of a mine;
A lawyer's confcience, large and fair,
Fit for a judge himself to wear.
I've a choice noftrum fit to make
An oath a catholick will take.
In a thumb vial you fhall fee,
Close cork'd, fome drops of honesty,
Which after searching kingdoms round,
At laft, were in a cottage found.
An antidote, if such there be,
Against the charms of flattery.
1 ha'nt collected any care,
Of that there's plenty ev'ry where;
But after wond'rous labour fpent,
I've got one grain of rich content.
This is my wifh-it is my glory-
To furnish your nicknackatory;
I only beg that when you fhew 'em,
You'll tell your friends to whom you owe 'em;
Which may your other patients teach

To know, as has done yours, C. H.

A defeription of Dr. Delany's villa, by Dr. Sheridan.

Would you that Delville I describe,

Believe me, fir, I will not gibe;

For who would be fatirical

Upon a thing fo very small?

You scarce upon the borders enter,

Before you're at the very centre.

A fingle crow can make it night,

When o'er your farm fhe takes her flight,
Yet in this narrow compass, we

VOL. III.

Obferve a great variety;

Both walks, walls, meadows, and parterres,
Windows, and doors, and rooms and stairs;

X x

And

And hills and dales, and woods and fields,
And hay, and grafs, and corn it yields;
All to your haggard brought fo cheap in,
Without the mowing or the reaping:
A razor, tho' to say't I'm loth,"
Would fhave you and your meadows both.
Tho' fmall's the farm, yet here's a house,
Full large to entertain a mouse ;
But where a rat is dreaded more

Than favage Caledonian boar:
For, if tis enter'd by a rat,
There is no room to bring a cat.
A little rivulet seems to fteal
Down thro' a thing you call a vale;
Like tears a-down a wrinkled cheek,
Or rain along a blade of leek;

And this you call your sweet meander,
Which might be fuck'd up by a gander,
Could he but force his nether bill
To scoop the channel of the rill:
I'm fure you'd make a mighty clutter,
Were it as big as city gutter.

Next come I to your kitchen garden,
Which one poor flug would fare but hard in:
And round his garden is a walk,
No longer than a taylor's chalk:
Thus I compute what space is in it,
A fnail creeps round it in a minute.
One lettuce makes a fhift to squeeze
Up thro' a tuft you call your trees;'
And once a year a single rofe

Peeps from the bud, but never blows:
In vain you then expect its bloom;

It cannot blow for want of room.

In fhort, in all your boafted feat,

There's nothing, but yourself, that's great.'

In this mifcellany is included a comedy, entitled, Three Hours after Marriage, written by Pope, Arbuthnot, and Gay: the humour of which is too stiff and scientific to please the generality of readers; in confequence of which, though it was the production of three of the first-rate wits, it failed in its reprefentation on the stage.

K.

The Philofophy of Rhetoric. By George Campbell, D. D. Principal of the Marefchal College, Aberdeen. Continued from p. 403. To do justice to this treatife (were it confiftent with our plan, and no injuftice to its author) we fhould be tempted to quote the whole.

whole. At the fame time, of fo comprehenfive and well-digefted a theory, comprized in so small a compass, it is hardly poffible to give a tolerable abstract. We must, perforce, content ourselves therefore, with tracing, as in our former article, a sketch of the contents, of the feveral books and chapters; inferting a section or two, by way of specimen, and for the gratification of our readers.

The fubjects of the remaining chapters of Book the second, are the following:

"Chap. V. Of the qualities of ftile ftrictly rhetorical.-Chap. VI. Of Perfpicuity.-Sect. 1. The obfcure.-Part 1. From defect.Part 2. From bad arrangement.-Part 3. From ufing the fame word in different fenfes.-Part 4. From an uncertain reference in pronouns and relatives.-Part 5. From too artificial a structure of the fentence. -Part 6. From technical terms.-Part 7. From long fentences.Sec. 2. The double meaning.-Part 1. Equivocation.-Part 2. Ambiguity. Sect. 3. The unintelligible.-Part 1. From confufion of thought.-Part 2. From affectation of excellence.-Part 3. From want of meaning. Under this the various kinds of nonfenfe, 1. The puerile. 2. The learned. 3. The profound. 4. The marvellous. --Chap. VII. What is the cause that nonfenfe so often efcapes being detected, both by the writer and by the reader.-Sect. 1. The nature and power of figns, both in speaking and in thinking.—Sect. 2. The application of the preceding principles.-Chap. VIII. The extenfive usefulness of perfpicuity.-Sect. 1. When is obfcurity oppofite, if ever it be oppofite, and what kind?-Sect. 2. Objections aufwered. Chap. IX. May there not be an excefs of perfpicuity?"

Amidst fuch a variety of topics, almoft equally interefting and well difcuffed, it is difficult to make choice of quotation. The following extracts from our author's obfervations on the several fpecies of nonfenfe, to be found in fome of our most admired writers, will perhaps be as acceptable as any.

"The firft I fhall mention is the puerile, which is always produced when an author runs on in a fpecious verbofity, amusing his reader with fynonimous terms and identical propofitions, well-turned periods, and high-founding words; but, at the fame time, using thofe words fo indefinitely, that the latter can either affix no meaning to them at all, or may almoft affix any meaning to them he pleases. If 'tis afked,' fays a late writer, whence arifes this harmony or beauty of language? what are the rules for obtaining it? The anfwer is obvious, whatever renders a period fweet and pleasant, 'makes it also graceful; a good ear is the gift of Nature, it may be 'much improved, but not acquired by art; whoever is poffeffed of it, will fcarcely need dry critical precepts to enable him to judge of a true rhythmus, and melody of compofition: juft numbers, accurate proportions, a mufical fymphony, magnificent figures, and that decorum, which is the refult of all thefe, are unifon to the human mind; we are fo framed by Nature, that their charm is irrefiftible. X x 2

L

• Hence

• Hence all ages and nations have been fmit with the love of the mufes." Who can now be at a loss to know whence the harmony and beauty of language arifes, or what the rules for obtaining it, are? Through the whole paragraph, the author proceeds in the fame careless and defultory manner, not much unlike that of the tritical effay upon the faculties of the mind; affording at times fome glimmerings of fenfe, and perpetually ringing the changes on a few favourite words and phrafes.. A poetical example of the fame fignature, in which there is not a glimpse of meaning, we have in the following lines of Dryden :

From harmony, from heavenly harmony

This univerfal frame began:

From harmony to harmony

Thro' all the compafs of the notes it ran,
The diapafon clofing full in man.†

In general it may be faid, that in writings of this ftamp, we muft accept of found inflead of fenfe, being affured at leaft, that if we meet with little that can inform the judgment, we fhall find nothing that will offend the ear.

"Another fort I fhall here fpecify is the learned nonsense. I know not a more fruitful fource of this fpecies, than fcholaftical theology. The more incomprehenfible the fubject is, the greater fcope has the declaimer to talk plaufibly without any meaning. A fpecimen of this I fhall give from an author, who fhould have efcaped this animadverfion, had he not introduced from the pulpit a jargon which (if we can fay without impropriety, that it was fit for any thing) was furely fitter for the cloifter. For what cannot in the leaft contribute to the inftruction of a chriftian fociety, may afford excellent matter of contemplative amazement to dronifh monks. Although we read of leveral properties attributed to God in fcripture, as wifdom, goodnefs, juftice, &c. we muft not apprehend them to be feveral powers, habits, or qualities, as they are in us; for as they are in God, they are neither diftinguished from one another, nor from his nature or effence in whom they are faid to be. In whom, I fay, they are faid to be: for, to speak properly, they are not in him, but are his very effence or nature itfelf; which, acting feverally upon feveral objects, seems to us to act from feveral properties or perfections in him; whereas, all the difference is only in our different apprehenfions of the fame thing. God in himself is a moft fimple and pure act, and therefore cannot have any thing in him, but what is that moft fimple and pure act itself; which, feeing it bringeth upon every creature what it deferves, we conceive of it as of feveral divine perfections in the fame almighty Being. Whereas God, whofe understanding is infinite as himself, doth not apprehend himself under the diftinct notions of wifdom, or goodness, or juftice, or the like, but only as Jehovah. How edifying muft it have been to the hearers to be made acquainted with thefe deep difcoveries of the men of fcience; divine attributes, which are no attri

Geddes on the compofition of the Ancients, fect. i. + Song for St. Cecilia's day, 1687.

Beveridge's Sermons.

butes,