which must in time deftroy every attempt to help mankind. The greatest forrow is, that the most refpected names have given too much countenance to the practice. Linnæus, worthy of all praife, yet not without his faults, has given the names of Diofcorides's plants to new kinds found lately in America.' The paragraph is oddly concluded with faying, If fuch a method be not ftopped, good night to all.'-Good night to you, Doctor. POITICAL. Art. 11. A Refutation of a Pamphlet, called, Thoughts on the late Franfactions refpealing Falkland's Ifland. In a Letter addressed to the Author, and dedicated to Dr. Samuel Johnson. 8vo. 1sS. Evans. 1771. This publication fully refutes the fallacious reafonings employed in Dr. J.'s pamphlet *, and expofes the difingenuity of its Author. Art. 12. The original Power of the collective Body of the People of England examined and aferted. Addreffed to the King, Lords, and Commons. Necessary to be read at this alarming Crifis. 8vo. 15. Williams 1771. This appears to us to be an old tract; and it has evidently been indebted for its republication to its title, and not to its merit. DRAMATIC. Art. 13. He would if he could; or, an old Fool worse than any: A Burletta, as it is performed at the Theatre Royal in Drurylane. The Mafic by Mr. Dibdin. 8vo. 1 S. Griffin. 1771. Goes an eafy hand-gallop with the right foot foremost, in that kind of titupping burieique rhyme which feems ridiculously enough, and, therefore, well enough adapted to fubjects of this kind.—The old Fool marries his maid. Art. 14 The Fair Orphan: A comic Opera of Three Acts, as performed at the Theatre at Lynn, by Mr. G. A. Stevens's Company of Comedians. 8vo. I s. 6d. Nicoll. 1771. The plot inartificial, the dialogue unnatural, the characters ill diftinguished, the underplot impertinent, and the whole a heap of abfurdities. POETICAL. Art. 15. The Triumph of Fashion; a Vifion. 4to. Is. 6d. Griffin. 177!. Wit and Senfe are here reprefented as foolish enough to go to war with Fathion, and their campaign is, of course, unsuccessful. Dulness is made one of Fashion's generals, in which appointment we do not fee much propriety; but poffibly the Author's connection with the Goddefs might induce him to give her that preferment. Art. 16. An Elegy written in Covent Garden. 4to. 1 s. - Ridley. 1771. The progrefs of a thief to Tyburn, in a parody on the Elegy writ ten in a Country Church-yard. Here and there the Parodist affords us a droll itanza; but, upon the whole, it is a dull performance. See Review for April, p. 330 Art. 17. Art. 17. Penferofo; or, the penfive Philofopher in his Solitudes ; a Poem in fix Books. By the Rev. James Foot. 8vo. 4 s. Boards. Bathurst. 1771. Mr. Foot, in this poem, introduces an imaginary perfon of the name of Penferofo, reflecting upon the state of the moral and natural, the religious and civil world. He means very well, but he writes unhappily. His poem affords innumerable inftances of the Bathos and had it been publifhed before the treatife on that fubject was written, it would have faved the Authors the trouble of coining. The Macedonian Prince, with glory drunk. And fooping gods attentive hear his tale. Give me to pass within this facred dome, A warrior frowns in ftone, his legs across. The grinders loft, Or leffen'd, the digeftive power declines. ; Art. 18. The Prostitute; a Poem. The Author J. H. Wynne. 4to. 2 S.- Wheble. 1771. The old idea of a country parfon's daughter, debauched by a man of fortune, revived, and the story told in a very unequal manner; in fome places quite below mediocrity, trite and tedious; in others spirited and picturefque. How chang'd the fad Meliffa now appears! How counts her fighs, and drinks her falling tears! Ten thousand dreadful dreams of woe fupply. The critical Reader will perceive, in this fhort fpecimen, the inequalities we have mentioned; and the fair Reader will fee a true picture of ruined virtue, NOVELS. NOVEL S. Art. 19. Harriet; or, the Innocent Adulterefs. 12mo. 2 Vols. 5 s. Baldwin. The Author fteps forth a champion for the ladies, against the principle adopted in the caufe between the D. of C. and Lord Gr-r, which convicts the Lady, on prefumptive evidence; and in the fuppofed fituations, which he has artfully ftretched to the utmoft, he brings off his heroine as innocent, notwithstanding the ftrong and almoft irrefiftable circumstances which appeared upon the trial.-His manner is very fprightly; and the agreeable train of his writing might entitle him to approbation, could we, with propriety, commend a work which the just feverity of moral criticifm muft certainly condemn, as having too much the air of an apology for that heinous though fashionable crime, which feems, in thefe licentious times, and in the higher ranks of life, to need no degree of encouragement. Art. 20. Letters from Clara; or, the Effufions of the Heart. Izmo. 2 Vols. 5 s. fewed. Wilkie. 1771. The Author of thefe Letters, unacquainted with real life, and poffeffed of no powers of imagination, has had the prefumption to imagine that he could compofe an affecting novel. But the heart has no concern in his Effufions. Cold, infipid, and devoid of circumftances, they display neither intrigue nor paffion. The morality, indeed, which they inculcate, is pure and commendable; but though they have this advantage in their favour, we fcruple not to confign them to the peaceful regions of obscurity. Art. 21. The Man of Feeling. 12mo. 2 s. 6d. fewed. Cadell. 1771. This performance is written after the manner of Sterne; but it follows at a prodigious diftance the fteps of that ingenious and fentimental writer. It is not however totally deftitute of merit; and the Reader, who weeps not over fome of the fcenes it defcribes, has no fenfibility of mind. But it is to be observed, that the knowledge of men it contains, appears to be rather gathered from books than experience; and that, with regard to compofition, it is carelefs, and abounds in provincial and Scottish idioms. It is probably a first work; and from the fpecimen it affords of the talents of its Author, we should not be disposed to think that he will ever attain to any great eminence in literature. He may amufe himfelf at the foot of Parnaffus; but to afcend the fteeps of the mountain must be the task of thofe on whom their benignant ftars have bestowed the rare gifts of true genius. Art. 22. The Curate of Coventry: A Tale. By John Potter, Author of the History and Adventures of Arthur O'Bradley. 12mo. z Vols. s. fewed. Newbery. 1771. The economy of this piece has fome degree of merit. In other refpects it is unworthy of attention. Readers of the lower claffes may hind fomething to please them in it; but for thofe who have fenfibility, and who can diftinguish the ftrokes of genius, it will have fewer charms. LAW. 2 Vols. Art. 23. Cafes argued and determined in the High Court of Chancery, in the Time of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, from the Year 1746-7 to 1755. With Tables, Notes, and References. By Fran31. 3 S. cis Veley, LL. D. Barritter at Law. Folio. Cadell. 1771. For our thoughts on the utility of publications of this kind, and on the importance of the doctrine of precedents, in general; also on the judicial character of Lord Hardwicke, and the great credit of his decifions in particular; we refer to the article in which we gave an account of the first † volume of Atkins's Reports: fee Review, vol. xxxiii. p. 107. Many of the cafes in this collection are the fame with thofe reported by Atkins, and they are not lefs judiciously recited. There are others, not to be found in the latter; and, on the whole, Dr. Vefey's work will, we doubt not, prove very acceptable to those gentlemen for whofe ufe it was intended by the diligent and accurate Reporter. RELIGIOUS and CONTROVERSIAL. Art. 24. An Efay on the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Addreffed to the Inhabitants of a populous Parish near London. By a Layman, living in the faid Parish. 12mo. 2s. Robfon. 1771. The Writer of this little treatise appears to be a well-meaning worthy man, who wishes to promote the welfare of his neighbours and friends, to whom he addreffes himself in a fhort preface; expreffing the great concern it gives him to obferve how much the facrament of the Lord's Supper is neglected, not only by the profane and irreligious, but by many, very many, honeft well difpofed Chriftians, who regularly attend the common fervice of the church, but as commonly turn their backs on this ordinance, which he confiders as being the most important and beneficial of all.' He fears that great part of what has been wrote upon the subject is not expreffed in fo clear and plain a manner as it ought, and therefore, with a very good defign, he offers this Effay to the public. What he fays concerning it is, however, nearly the fame with what may be met with in other orthodox writers, and therefore will not require any more particular notice here. His book concludes with two appendixes, one addressed to parents and others who have the care of youth, in which, among other points, he advifes that children fhould not be brought to church till they are fully inftructed in the nature of prayer and public worship, and are capable of joining in it with their hearts and understandings, as well as their mouths. The fecond appendix is a friendly admonition to the Methodists,' exhorting and entreating them, as their principles correfpond with the articles of the established church, not to forfake its communion, or if they have forfaken it, to return without delay; and this he particularly applies to his own parish, adding, I am certain that the worthy man, who has for fo many years had the care of this parish, can give you no The 2d and 3d volumes of Atkins's Reports have been fince publifhed. just juft caufe of offence; he preaches true chriftianity-found orthodox doctrine, and, what is no less neceffary, found morality." Art. 25. An Effay towards a Contrast between Quakerism and Methodism wherein the Mystery of filent Meetings is confidered and explained: In an Addrefs to thofe of both Denominations. By Johannes Catholicus. 8vo. 6d. Briftol printed, and fold by Johnson in London. The Author enters upon his preface with faying, In my neighbourhood, when the good housewife wants fire in her cabin, the takes a wifp of ftraw, and borrows fire from her neighbour's, and by and by, in her own turn, becomes herself capable of lending a little fire to them. And in a fimilar fpiritual view, as I have long been intimately converfant with Chriftians of the two denominations in my title-page, I here beg leave to offer some hints, by an humble attention to which, I hope and believe they may become of mutual fervice to each other.' The honeft man's fimile is but a fimple one, but his intention we fuppofe to be very good, and the resemblance which he traces between the people called Quakers, and the Band Societies, as they are here termed, feems greater than would be at firft expected. We fhall difmifs the pamphlet with juft taking notice of fome of the reafons affigned for filent meetings, after he has obferved that they agree with other Chriftians in an esteem for the miniftry: the first reafon offered is an admirable one, and must be allowed fufficient; it is this, the want of the proper qualification to fpeak to this is added, an unfanctified heart ;' farther, it is remarked, If abfolute filence had been incompatible with the state of the faints in heaven, John the Divine had never told us, that when the Lamb of God had opened the feventh feal, there was filence in heaven for half an hour, as he does in the 8th of the Revelation.' Befide these he infifts on fome advantage which he fuppofes to be derived from this filent thought and mental prayer when allowed in public focieties, as well as in private retirements: concerning all which every perfon must be left to reason, and determine as he thinks to be moft for his own improvement. Art. 26. An Atteftation to divine Truth. In which are pointed out the universal Love of the Deity; the Display of his Wifdom; the most certain Truth and high Importance of the Ground of the Mystery of Nature and Grace opened in the Teutonic Theofopher; the Caufes of the great Corruption in the World; and the Defign and Completion of our Exiftence. 4to. 1 s. 6 d. Boards. Parker, Brown, &c. 1770. This tract appears to be the production of fome person whose head is confused and bewildered by myftical and rhapfodical notions and writings; for though many ferious and plain reflections are here thrown together, they have all their foundation in a particular and whimfical fyftem of divinity. We cannot mistake what kind of reafoners or Chriftians we are fallen among when we read that God, incomprehenfible in his abyffal nature inhabiting light inacceffible, in his triune manifeftation in nature and creature of divine fire, and light, and fpirit, is the true life, and light and power of divine love in all intelligent beings, and the glory of the universe: and that |