doubtless the consciousness of this, his forte, that makes him lay himself fo notoriously open for to those who can fo magnanimously fupport a defeat, it is of little confequence who gets the victory.

Art. 16. A Dialogue in the Elyfian Fields, between two D-k-s. Folio. 6d. Hooper.

The Dukes here meant, are their late Graces of Dev-n-re and B-1--n; who are both reprefented as owning themfelves to have been the dupes of party and faction. The pamphlet is a very infignificant performance.

Art. 17. A Letter to the E- of B-. 8vo. 1s. Wilkie. Arraigns the political conduct of his lordship; fets forth the odium of being a favourite, and concludes with the following piece of advice: If any thing contained within thefe fheets, my Lord, should be fo fortunate to fir within your breaft fome faint emotion, whether of remorfe, fear, fname, or a fentation compounded perhaps of all toge ther; cherish, my Lord, the gracious instinct; ripen it into virtue, and endeavour, in fome measure, to repair the injuries you have done your country, by voluntarily abfenting yourfelf from it for ever."

POETICA L.

Briftol, printed by S. Farley; and fold by Baldwin, in London. 4to. 6d.

Art. 18. Churchill, an Elegy.

Pen,
Again.

Sweet,

Wit.

Quill,
Feel.

Liberty,
He.

The above are specimens of this Author's rhimes: we have obferved nothing more remarkable in his poem.

Art. 19. The Will of a certain Northern Vicar: Carefully espied from the Original, depofited in his cwn Cabinet at N upon T. 4to. 6d. Bunce.

Here are rhimes and couplets infinitely tranfcending any contained in the foregoing elegy:

My felf.

With many others, equally curious. Perhaps the humourous Author thought fuch barbarifms allowable in a burlesque performance; but we fhould imagine them intolerable to every ear accuftomed to harmony, If a writer profeffes to entertain his readers with rhime, he should, certainly, give them rhimes; and not couple his lines with words that have no fimilarity of found. Such ridiculous verfe-tagging, reminds us of the publican who, fucceeding another, that had kept the fign of the Robin Hood, to which had been affixed a proper rhime taken from yeomER good; thus altered the couplet :

Since Robin Hood is dead and gone,

Come in, and drink with-Simon Welfter,

As to the defign of this pamphlet, entitled The Will of a certain Northern Vicar, we know nothing of the perfon here attempted to be held up to public ridicule. The last paragraph will let our Readers as much into the fecret as we have been from a perufal of the whole:

But as to all my flock of wealth,

By G, I'd keep that to myfelf.-—
Sign'd, feal'd, deliver'd, in SIXTY-ONE.
By me, the Vicar of B-d---g--n.

B-d---g--n is, probably, fome vicarage in the neighbourhood of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Art. 20. An Ode to the People of England. 4to. 6d. Longford.

The common place objection against the new miniftry, as, that it is compofed of young, inexperienced men,' with other depreciating circumftances, are here thrown into the form of an ode; and the stanzas are fmart enough: as for example:

See here a knave,and there a fool,
With many a boy, just come from school,
Grim fages old as Priam ;

A motly tribe, you'll fay to rule,
The best of them, to B-- a tool,

Or fame doth much belye 'em.

This, however, is rather abufe than wit; and merits only cudgel criticism.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 21. The Chinese Spy, or Emiffary from the Court of Pekin, commiffioned to examine into the prefent State of Europe. 6 Vols. 12mo. 18s. Bladon.

Having offered our opinion of this work in general, on the appear, ance of the French original, there remains nothing for us to fay farther on the fubject, than to give our Readers fome fpecimen of the tranflation; which is full as fpiritlefs and inelegant as the original is quaint and infignificant. It must be owned, indeed, that the pertness and vivacity of ftyle in the French feemed better adapted to the fuperficial, common-place fentiments of the work, than the dullness and frigidity of expreffion, generally made ufe of by the Tranflator.

In Letter 56 of the third volume, our fuppofed emiffary gives the following account of Purgatory:

There was formerly a terrible circumftance in the Christian religion. Believers, who had finned, though but flightly, were condemned to eternal burnings: this was very hard for those who had not finned on, purpose. After many deliberations, about an expedient for preventing fach numbers of well-meaning finners from being hurled down to hell for ever, purgatory was hit on,

I wish I could explain to you what this fame purgatory is. The Europeans, who are full of fictions in all things, have a fable of the

• See our Appendix to Review, Vol. XXXI, p. 534.

river called Lethe, the water of which makes one forget every thing that is paft. Now purgatory is a kind of river Lethe; God forgets that he was offended, and expunges his juftice. Purgatory may be alfo looked on as a proteft for finners against the power of the devil.

It is very hot in purgatory, but far lefs than in hell. Its flames burn, but without confuming; they are only of a purifying quality. At the end of fome centuries, the finner comes out as clear as crystal, and goes and takes his feat in heaven, as if nothing had been the

matter.

Christianity has scarce a project which comes up to this: at the end of the world, God would otherwife have been almost alone in paradife; whereas purgatory is continually fupplying it with elect.

It is pity fuch a glorious plan fhould have any thing mercenary in it; but purgatory must be purchased; and the bonzes and ecclefiaftical mandarins have fet two prices: they, who are afraid of being burnt, buy it outright, and are released almost in an inftant; but to go thus directly to heaven, with only being finged in their flight through Purgatory, requires a large fum: I have been told, that fome half-reprobate Chriftians have paid above fifty thousand taels to redeem themselves from thefe purifying flames.

As to those who cannot purchase a deliverance, they quietly broil from generation to generation.

Not a few European philofophers have reprefented riches as of little or no value; but it must be owned, that the inflitution of purgasory has made them good for fomething.

Every body is a gainer in this market. Continual collections are making for the fouls in purgatory; and thofe Chriftians who fide with the pope, are continually giving alms. Boxes fet up for this purpose fill every day; but the fouls in purgatory fee little of the money. Laftly, pagods, from being very poor, fince the invention of purgatory, are grown exceffively opulent.

This inftitution, however, is only for venial fins; had a purgatory been likewife erected for the mortal, it would then have been a good thing to be a chriftian. Such an inftitution is a rare encouragement for the finners of this feet. What matters it to offend the Supreme Being? Money will keep one from going to hell.

Perhaps, there are not in the world greater calculators than the Europeans. I have been told of a computation, containing the number of fouls refcued from the flames of purgatory fince the inftitution thereof: the number is immenfe, and confifts of Chriftians of all ranks, callings, and conditions, except popes, except kings, except minifters of ftate, except monks, except financiers, except devotees; all thefe folks go di rectly to hell.'

Our Readers will doubtlefs conceive the fubject of the above letter, to be a very trite object of fatire; they may find, in thefe fix volumes, nevertheless, many more that are equally hackneyed and unimportant.

Art. 22. The Geography and Hiftory of England: Done in the Manner of Gordon's and Salmon's Geographical Grammars. In Two Parts. In the First Part, each County is confidered under the following Heads-The Name, Situation, Air, Soil, Commo

dities, Rivers, Chief Towns, Noblemen's Seats, Curiofities, Remarkable Perfons, &c. To the whole is prefixed, a compleat Map, from the latest Obfervations; fhewing the chief Towns, Rivers, and Roads, both direct and acrofs. Alfo, a feparate Map of the Roads, of the Channel, and a Plan of London. The Second Part contains, a Concife Hiftory of England; or, the Revolutions of the British Conftitution. And, by way of Introduction to the whole, a clear and diftinct View of our Conflitution, and every Branch of the Legislature. 8vo. 8vo. 6s. Dodsley.

This is a new edition of the work entitled The Geography of England, first published by Mr. Dodfley, about 20 years ago. The work, as we are informed, for we have not the first edition at hand, is now improved in refpect of the maps; and the concife Hiftory of England, in the fecond part, is faid to be entirely new. It is carried down to the death of Will. III. and is written with fome degree of elegance, but with more precipitance than correctness.

Art. 23. Some Particulars relative to the Difcovery of the Longi tude; mentioning feveral foreign Premiums, and exactly narrating the Particulars of the British Acts of Parliament, refpecting that Affair. With a With a Lift of the present Commissioners, &c. 8va.

IS.

Burnet.

The above title is abundantly fufficient to inform the Reader what he may expect to meet with in this pamphlet, which does not however appear to be the production of a very masterly hand.

CORRESPONDENCE.

WE take rib, un path, and a more early notice would have been

E take in good part the letter figned Philaethes, dated from

taken of it, but that the gentleman, to whofe province it more immediately belonged, has for fome time been abfent upon a journey.

Mr. Bulkley, in his Oeconomy of the Gospel, fays, The death of Chrift was a clear, authentic, public, and most awful declaration of the divine difpleasure against fin; and defigned in the wifdom of divine providence to be an everlasting memorial of it.'-In our Review for laft April, p. 261, animadverting upon the chapter of Chrifl's Atonement, we took the liberty to fay, that we did not remember any one paffage in the New Teftament that declares this to be the end or intention of the death of Chrifl; and tho' this notion had been often advanced, by those who are esteemed rational divines, we confidered it as no more than an hypothefis to throw a veil over the difficulties which attend this fubje&t.'This, it feems, hath given great offence to our Correfpondent, on account, he fays, of the many great names it afperfes; and is a remark that ought not to have been made without many and clear convictions of its truth.

-After all the veneration that is due to the many respectable names, which the Letter-writer hath in his view, we prefume we are not to be cenfured for paying a greater veneration to truth, than to their authority: we think the remark was not made without clear conviction

of

of its truth, and was the refait of careful examination; at least nothing that our Correfpondent hath said, hath, as yet, had weight enough with us, to induce us to alter our opinion.He fays, the death of Chrift was intended to reconcile finful man to God; now where there is no difpleafure conceived, there can be no need of reconciliation; therefore the death of Chrift was a clear, authentic, public and most awful declaration of the divine difpleafare against fin.

It will be readily allowed that the divine difpleasure against fin, in the way of reafening and inference, may be deduced with great probability, from the death of Chrift: and fo it may in general from his manifeftation in the world; from the doctrines he taught, and from the high offices he futtained, as the prophet and meflenger of God. The fame might likewife be deduced from the inftitution of the law of Mofes ; from the conftitution of the human mind; from our natural approbation of virtue, and difapprobation of vice; from the natural confequences of virtue and vice in the prefent world, and indeed from all the difpenfations of the providence of God, which have the interefts of virtue and religion for their object. But we apprehend there is a very material difference between a dired and pofitive declaration and a probable deducible confe quence: from the death of Christ we may deduce an excellent argument for the divine difpleasure against fin: but it doth not from hence follow that a declaration of this was the principal and ultimate intention of God in the death of his Son.

But, to put the matter out of debate, the Writer produces a text, which, he apprehends, exprefsly declares this to be the end and intention of the death of Chrift, viz. Rom. viii. 3. For what the law could not da in that it was weak through the fefb, God fending his own San in the likenfs of finful flesh, and for fin, condemned fin in the fiefh; and then asks with great confidence, rehat can the frong word Kain be, but an awful declaration of the divine displeasure againfi fin, by ibe mission and death of Jesus Chrift?

Confequentially it may be; but pofitively and directly by no means: for the obvious intention of the apoftle, in this place, is to affert the fuperior efficacy of the Chriftian inftitution above the law of Mofes, in deftroying the power of fin in the minds and lives of men. And thus that able critic, the late Rev. Dr. Taylor, hath paraphrafed the verfe, For whereas the law could not deliver from the dominion of fin and reftore to a new life of holiness, because it was weak, and all the perfect rules of action it prefcribed were ineffectual through the prevalency of fleshly lufts; God, by fending his Son to live, as we do, in flesh, frail and liable to fin; and by fending him about the affair of fin, to fandlify and redeem us from all iniquity, hath mercifully fupplied the defect of the law, by a plentiful provifion of means for deftoying of fin, for patting it to death in our flesh, or for enabling us to get the maftery over out fefhly propenfities,'

If our Correfpondent be at a lofs for an authority to juftify the fenfe here given of the word Kalaxw, he will meet with feveral,. taken from St. Paul's own writings, referred to by Mr. Locke, in his notes upon this paffage, an attention to which might have faved himself, and as, this unneceffary trouble.

We will not retort the charge of precipitation upon the Letter-writer; but beg leave to recommend it to him, to extend that candour to others, which by this time perhaps he may think he sometimes ftands in need of himself.