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Stronger and ftronger dares imbibe the fun,
Nor, wat'ring, twinkle at unfolded day.

Sight, all-expreflive! Tho' the feeling fenfe
Thrills from Ianthe's hand; at Handel's lyre
Tingles the ear; tho' fmell from blossom'd beans,
Arabian fpirit gathers; and the draught
Sparkling from Burgundy's exalted vines,
Streams Nectar on the Palate: yet, O Sight!
Weak their fenfations, when compar'd with thee.

The laft book, ftiled The Thanksgiving, is replete with much devout and animated Gratitude. The following Parody of a very poetical paffage in the Pfalms, feems well executed.

For me, (how late

A neighbour of the worms!) when I forget
The wonders of thy goodness ray'd on me,
And cease to celebrate, with matin harp,
Cr vefper forg, thy plenitude of love'

And healing mercy; may the nightly Poav'r,·
Which whispers on my flumbers, ceafe to breathe
Her modulating impulie through my foul;
Untun'd, unhallow'd! Difcord string my lyre,
Idly, my finger prefs the fretted gold,
Rebellious to the dictates of my hand,

When indolent to fwell the notes for thee,

FATHER of Heaven and Earth.

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With regard to the tragedy of Gondibert and Birtha, the fable of which is taken from Sir William Davenant's poem of Gondibert, our Author fays, it was chiefly composed when he was an Under-graduate, as an innocent relaxation from feverer ftudies; and that he has caufed it (with all its juvenile • imperfections on its head) to be printed as it was first written; and has even added the original motto, that it might be all of a piece.' This motto is Scribere just AMOR; and the Reader muft certainly obferve it was wrote, when the young Poet's foul was high-tuned to that tender emotion of nature; when the paffion is quite new, romanticly fweet; and, perhaps, at the utmost purity which is compatible with defire. It seems very little adapted to the ftage, being much more poetical than dramatic. But our learned and ingenious Author's conceffions must have fuperceded all ftrictures on this head, and leave us chiefly to obferve, that his early conceptions of Love, of Friendfhip, and of Virtue, were very warm and elevated. They feem rather fuch as he had collected from an acquaintance with the illustrious dead, than from being hackneyed, as Shakespear calls it, in the ways of men; as he appears more delighted with

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what Syphax malignantly calls the extravagance of virtue, than experienced in a knowlege of the world, and the ordinary conduct of mankind.

K

The Proteftant System: Containing Difcourfes on the principal Doctrines of Natural and Revealed Religion. Compiled from the Works of the following Proteftant Diffenters, viz. Abernethy, Amory, Barker, Benfon, Bulkley, Chandler, Doddridge, Duchal, Emlyn, Fordvce, Fofter, Grove, Holland, Leechman, Mafon, Morris, Newman, &c. &c. To which are added, Four Difcourfes never before printed. 8vo. 2 vols. Griffiths.

12s.

TH

HE Editor's Advertisement, containing a fufficient account of this Compilation, a transcript thereof may suffice for the prefent article, viz.

He tells us, that his defign, in this collection, was to prefent the public with a feries of Difcourfes on the principal doc⚫trines both of natural and revealed Religion. And as juft and honourable fentiments concerning the Divine Nature and Per•fections are of the utmost importance in every enquiry wherein Religion is concerned, he has introduced his collection with feveral of Abernethy's Difcourfes on the Being and Perfections of God, which, for folidity of argument, ftrength ⚫ and clearness of reasoning, and juftnefs of fentiment, are equal, if not fuperior, to any thing of the kind in the English language.

The Difcourfes on the Divine Perfections are immediately followed by others on the immutable difference between moral good and evil, Providence, a Future State, and the moral Government of God; all containing, in the Editor's opinion, clear, and rational views of thefe important and moft interefting fubjects.

In the Difcourfes which follow thofe upon the feveral branches of natural Religion, the evidences, and principal • doctrines of Chriftianity, the right of private judgment, with ⚫ several other ufeful fubjects of a practical nature, are treated of. Throughout the whole work, the Editor has endeavoured to confult the interefts of manly, rational piety, and of free en•quiry; and has inferted nothing that has, in his opinion, the leaft tendency to inflame a party-fpirit, or to favour the cause of bigotry and enthufiafm. His collection, therefore, he •hopes

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hopes, will be read with pleasure and advantage by every con fiftent Proteftant, by every one who is defirous of building his faith and practice upon a rational and folid foundation; as for narrow bigots and wild enthufiafts, they will find no< thing in it that can give them any pleasure, nor did the Edi⚫tor ever intend they fhould.

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N. B. The four new Sermons, mentioned in the title-page,

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are thofe by Mr. Fordyce, Mr. Mafon, Mr. Grigg, and • Mr. Clark.'

G

The British Herbal: an Hiftory of Plants and Trees, Natives of
Britain, cultivated for Ufe, or raifed for Beauty. By John
Hill, M. D. Folio. 11. 10s. Ofborne, &c.

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Onfidering the many important fervices derived to mankind from the Vegetable world, we are not to wonder, that this equally curious and useful part of Nature's productions fhould have attracted the attention of the ftudious and intelli gent in all ages. Thus it is recorded among the excellencies of Solomon's wisdom, that he spake of trees, from the Cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the Hyffop that fpringeth out of • the wall.'

Human infirmities very early evinced the medicinal efficacy. of plants. Chance, perhaps, at firft directed the application, but Reafon and Experiments confirmed their utility. Primitive Phyfic knew few other remedies. As difeafes increafed, or af fumed new appearances, a greater variety of medicines became requifite; new fupplies were drawn from the fame source, and the ftudy of vegetables became a neceffary branch of medical knowlege.

The earliest Phyficians were not acquainted with a great number of plants; even Diofcorides, who profeffedly ftudied them, has taken notice of only about fix hundred: but they diligently applied themselves to inveftigate the refpective properties of fuch as they knew; and their defcriptions, tho' imple and concife, were for the moft part fufficiently expreffive.The ancient Botany fuffered confiderably from the tranflations and commentaries of the Arabians, who terribly confounded the names of plants, and frequently appear to have grossly mif interpreted their originals; nevertheless, it must be admitted, that they added to its ftores, not only by defcriptions of new plants,

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plants, but also by the difcovery of fome virtues, utterly unknown to the Greeks, in the old ones *.

Upon the revival of learning in Europe, the Curious bufied themselves rather in endeavouring to comprehend what had been taught by their predeceffors, than in making new difcoveries: it was not till the fixteenth century that Nature's felf was properly confulted. Botany then became a fcience eagerly purfued. by feveral affiduous Naturalifts; the extenfion of commerce furnished it with new fupplies from every quarter of the world, till the abundance of names neceffary to fuch a variety of plants became unequal to the retention of a common memory.

To remedy this inconvenience, later Botanifts had recourfe to a more methodical diftribution of plants; according to their correfpondence in the form and difpofition of fome particular parts, they were arranged under feveral Genera; and as they differed or agreed in other parts, each Genus was fubdivided into fo many diftinct Species. Nevertheless, tho' the study of Botany was hereby confiderably facilitated, it was not freed fro:.. all perplexities; the profeffors of this fcience were not perfectly agreed as to the parts that ought to confli:ute the generical characters whence each had his refpective fyttem. The old familiar names of plants were difcarded; and many new terms were invented, the knowlege of which was not lefs difficult to be acquired than the old ones, from their number, were to be remembered.

Dr. Hill, in the work at prefent under confideration, profeffes to examine the advantages and defects of every preceding fyftem of Botany, and, out of the whole, to form one more comprehenfive and familiar than has yet appeared, in the following order.

First, he propofes to establish the Genus of every plant, and give the characters by which it is diftinguished from all others; then to defcend to the Species, and affign each its ufual English and moft common Latin name. -II. To defcribe 1. its rect; 2, its radical or lower leaves; 3, its ftalk; 4, the leaves which grow on the flaik; 5, its flower; and 6, its fruit or feed.--III. To give the names under which it is defcribed in Authors of the most established reputation.-IV. To acquaint his Readers with its place of growth, and time of flowering, and finally clofe with an account of its virtues and ufes.

The public having been favoured with fome former famples of our Author's abilities for enquiries of this fort, the fewer obiervations will be neceffary on the prefent occafion. The Doctor has

*Friend's Hiftory of Phyfic, vol. II.
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thought

thought fit to treat with much freedom, the several systems of all antecedent botanical Writers; he announces his opinions, with refpect to method, quafi e cathedrâ, and authoritatively determines the virtues of a great variety of plants upon his own experience, in fuch a manner, as may, perhaps, induce strangers to fuppofe him, one of the most univerfal practitioners in Europe. However, as he is not always wrong, it seems to have been a ftanding maxim with him, to put it out of any person's power to accuse him of bashfulness.-This work has also one advantage over any other of the kind, in that the figure of every plant is delineated on copper-plates, which, if not elegantly engraved, are accurately defcriptive of their feveral fubjects.

That Our Readers may the better inform themfelves of the Doctor's manner, and improvements, we have inferted the following fpecimen.

CLASS III.

Plants whofe flower confifts of a SINGLE PETAL, and is fucceeded by SEVERAL CAPSULES.

'TH

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HIS is a clafs not diftinguished by any author, though eftablished by nature in the plaineft, moft determiC nate, and most diftin&t manner. It contains only a few genera, but it serves very happily in forming a natural method, and it is wonderful men of fcience have overlooked it: not that Linnæus has, for his attention has been wholly bent on the leffer, fo that he must naturally lofe fight of these greater objects but that Ray in particular fhould not obferve it, is ftrange,

It is here the firft inftance occurs of the neceffity there is in a work of this kind, after confulting the beft authors, to ⚫ examine nature; and where they are defective, to compleat the fyftem from her ftores.

We have begun with plants whofe flower confifting of feveral petals is followed by many naked feeds; we have given in the fecond clafs plants whofe flower confifts, as in thofe in the first, of feveral petals, and is followed by feveral capfules containing the feeds: from thefe, following our method in thofe plants whofe flowers are largeft, plaineft, and moft con fpicuous, we should he led, if the fyftems of others only were our guides, to thofe plants whofe flower confifts of a fingle petal, and is followed by a fingle capfule; but observing nature, we perceive that he has placed between these an • intermediate class; this confists of those plants which have a

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