that Berdie, who held that office in the reign of the Conqueror, was a man of property. In the succeeding century, or soon afterwards, the title of REX JUGLATORUM, or king of the jugglers, was conferred upon the chief performer of the company, and the rest, I presume, were under his control. The king's juggler continued to have an establishment in the royal household till the time of Henry the Eighth; and in his reign the office and title seem to have been discontinued.

The profession of the juggler, with that of the minstrel, had fallen so low in the public estimation at the close of the reign of queen Elizabeth, that the performers were ranked, by the moral writers of the time, not only with "ruffians, blasphemers, thieves, and vagabonds;" but also with "Heretics, Jews, Pagans, and sorcerers;" and, indeed, at an earlier period they were treated with but little more respect, as appears from the following lines in Barclay's Eclogues :

Jugglers and pipers, bourders and flatterers,
Boudes and janglers, and cursed adouterers.

In another passage, he speaks of a disguised juggler, and a vile jester, or bourder; by the word disguised he refers perhaps to the clown, or mimic, who, as Comenius has just informed us, danced" disguised with a vizard." In more modern times, by way of derision, the juggler was called a hocus pocus, a term applicable to a pick-pocket, or a common cheat; and his performances were denominated juggelling

castes.'

These quotations will suffice to give an adequate idea of what may be expected from a perusal of the entire work.

It will readily be supposed that many of the pastimes of our ancestors, as here recorded, reflect no honour on their principles of humanity and their state of civilization; and we are glad to observe that Mr. Strutt mentions the barbarity of va rious sports with due reprobation and abhorrence. Why is the fable of the frogs forgotten, or neglected? Most of the feats which have been taught to different animals must have been accomplished by measures of the most cruel nature; and we are surprized to find that the author's feelings were not alive to this conviction, in his records of these unnatural undertakings. Bull-baiting and bull-running, however, he stigmatizes with deserved severity; and we cannot on this occasion, refrain from expressing our sincere regret at the failure of the late at tempt to entirely abolish such outrages in this country, as well as our amazement at the sophistry by which they have beensupported. Posterity will learn with astonishment that they could obtain protection from an English House of Parliament in the 19th century; and that a vote of the legislature should countenance the defamatory position, that a familiarity with cruelty was necessary to the preservation of courage among Britons at that period!-among Britons, too, who had been combating

combating for the preservation of order and morality, and the principles of Christianity, against a whole nation whose conduct was described as subversive of them all. The habitual cruelties of Nero could not inspire him with fortitude, in the moments of personal danger and merited punishment; and surely it is obvious that the practices of ferocity may produce a Spartacus, but will never form an Abercrombie; that they may contribute to the qualifications of a leader of banditti, but will never constitute the hero who promotes the honor of human nature while he defends the interests of his country.

ART. III. A Letter to Sir William Pulteney, Bart. Member for Shrewsbury, on the Subject of the Trade between India and Europe. By Sir George Dallas, Bart. Member for Newport. 4to. pp. 102. 5s. Boards. Stockdale. 1802.

IT appears from a note prefixed to this letter, that it was in

the press, and designed to be published, prior to the debate which took place on the subject of its contents in the House of Commons, on the 25th of November last: but that the printer was not able to get it in sufficient forwardness before the discussion on that day commenced.

So many different and even opposite sentiments, concerning the true interests of the East India Company, and the proper methods by which they should be pursued, have at various times existed both in debates and in publications, that we almost despair of ever seeing them brought to agreement. In the mean while, the company proceeds and prospers; and it is not for us to decide whether any other plan of conduct in the directors would render it more flourishing. Sir George Dallas's arguments tend to favour the policy of enlarging the privileges of the free merchants, in order to attract to this country as much of the trade of India as its capital and industry can reach; and at the same time he unfolds the principles on which such a position rests. He shews the utility of employing India-built ships preferably to all others, for the purpose of bringing home the surplus trade from that quarter of the globe; and he then proceeds to consider in what respect an indulgence of this nature is to be viewed, as, in effect, desiring the opening of the trade altogether: which imputation he refutes by a candid appeal to the charter of the company. It is not in our however, to accompany the worthy baronet through all the topics of his discourse; and it must suffice to say that he writes apparently with a thorough knowlege of his subject, and in a style sufficiently animated to excite and maintain attention.

After

After having discussed, at some length, the merits of the peace, Sir George concludes by saying:

On the duration, then, of his [Bonaparte's] authority and life, perhaps, the continuance of peace may much depend. In the altered situation of France, we are summoned to look forward to the future with additional anxiety. Without impeaching the sincerity or the intentions of France, we are called upon to look at her interests, and survey her situation. What have we seen? She has subdued the greater States of Europe, and been baffled by ourselves. She stands on the ruins of her own Empire, still heaving from the throes of internal faction, looking at the nations she has vanquished, yet turning, in the midst of their fall, an eye of hope to the surviving power of these United Kingdoms. Her enlarged dominion she feels but weak, while yet we maintain an Empire more universal than her own. What then will be her object, but to endeavour, by unremitting attention to her marine, to place it on that respectable footing that shall enable her, at a more convenient period, in conjunction with her vassal states, to dispute this Empire with us, and break down the barriers between her and universal sway? To revive and recruit this marine, will be the primary object of her care; and to strike us where most we are vulnerable, the first effort of her strength. Every encouragement will be given by her Government to increase the nursery of her seamen. The sails of commerce will be widely spread; and INDIA, as the most valuable and the most important of ours foreign dependencies, in the event of a future war, will be the ob ject of her attention, and the point of her attack. Imitating the policy of the Romans, our distant possessions will be her first aim. Sicily and Spain had yielded before Carthage fell. It is there, on the coasts of Hindoostan, that we may have to struggle for out sovereignty at home; and it is there that by every consideration of national policy, we are invited to strengthen ourselves. It is not by fleets and armies alone that we can preserve these distant dominions. Let us reign in the hearts of the people, and a bulwark more powerful is erected than even the walls of our glory. Let us attach to our cause and our interests both the Natives of the East and the Subjects of Great Britain, by extending to them all the blessings which a mild and beneficent Government is capable of imparting; and by shewing to them, that if we have reduced them to our dominion, it is only to improve their happiness. Let us not see the foreign flag streaming on the Ganges, to confer protection where we can yield it ourselves; and to bear away to foreign Europe the wealth of our subjects, when we ought to convey it to our own shores. Let us open the Thames to the flow of their gratitude, and the produce of their soil. Let us cast off the fetters of commercial restraint, and breathe the expansive sentiment of national greatness. The Natives: of India expect it from us. The Subjects of Britain claim it. voice of millions implores of their conquerors not to paralize the efforts of their industry, but to allow them, for their reciprocal benelit, freely to extract from their soil and their arts all the advantages of which they are capable. The Merchants and Manufacturers

The

of

of England call upon the justice of Parliament to expand the spheres of their industry. The voice of the Nation speaks. It claims from its guardians renewed securities for its defence, when the great fabrick of civil society is rent asunder, and the elements of its safety are convulsed! These are the calls which attach to this question. INDIA asserts that permitting her ships to bring home her surplus produce to Great Britain, will animate her industry, revive her prosperity, augment her capital, quicken her productive powers in agriculture and manufactures, strengthen her allegiance, and increase the happiness of her peaceful children. GREAT BRITAIN affirms, that it will enlarge her navigation, her customs, and her trade. will destroy that Clandestine Commerce, which now invades her rights. It will gladden her Manufacturers, by augmenting the calls on their industry. It will render her Metropolis the mart of the Commerce of the East. It will encircle her with securities. Her harbours will be crowded with the fleets of Asia. The tide of abundance will be hers. The majesty of justice will exalt her power. And the generous principles by which she retains a distant Empire in subjection, in sealing the rights of humanity, will spread new glories round her Constitution!"

It

This work will be perused with interest by all those who are concerned in the subject which it discusses.

ART. IV. Notes, Critical and Dissertatory, on the Gospel and Epistles of St. John. By the Rev R. Shepherd, D.D. F.R.S. PP. 450. 11. 5s. Boards. Mawman *.

4to.

IF the stern churchman who peruses this work should say that Dr. Shepherd has overstepped the boundaries of rigid orthodoxy, it must be allowed that he has kept within the more sacred pale of candour and liberality. He discovers, indeed, an ingenuousness of mind which intitles him to our respect; and though we cannot uniformly agree with the commentator, we never cease to esteem the man. Some indulgence, also, is to be extended to the undertaking. The Gospel of St. John has a character peculiar to itself, and contains matter not to be found in any of the other Evangelists. It commences in a very singular manner, by employing a term which is suspected by some to have a Platonic origin, and which, after the introductory verses, never occurs again either in the Gospel or the Epistles. From the beginning to the end of the narrative of the actions and doctrines of Christ, he is never once called the Logos, though this word is introduced with such solemnity in what may be regarded as the exordium. The first eighteen verses of the first chapter make a part by themselves, and do

The date at the bottom of the title page is 1796: but, though the work was printed in that year, it was not published till 1801. REV. JUNE, 1802.

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not

not harmonize in expression with any portions of the Epistles of St. John or of his Gospel. As an extreme simplicity, also, marks his writings, it is surprizing that he should have employed a term of speculative controversy; and it is still more wonderful that, after having so formally introduced it as a thesis or topic of discourse, he should dismiss it (as it were) from his mind, and never in his subsequent writings bring it into use, nor apply it to any one purpose. Had this exordium to St. John's Gospel been in the same predicament with John, v. 7, it would have been easy to obviate the difficulty, by treating the passage as an interpolation: but, as it is to be found in the most antient MSS. the critic may not be justified in taking so bold a measure; and though by retaining it he is subject to great embarrassment, yet, if this part, which seems now to stand as a prefix made to St. John in a subsequent period, can fairly be reconciled with the whole of that Evangelist's writings, this method is preferable to that of

erasement.

Dr. Shepherd endeavours to accomplish this arduous task; and he begins with remarking that, while the other Evangelists were chiefly employed in giving historical details of the Life and Actions of our Lord during his ministry on earth, the object of St. John's Gospel was to ascertain and establish Doctrines. He often raises his eagle wing above the level of the human understanding; but, in his highest flights, he never contradicts human reason.'-To avoid the possibility of misrepresentation on our part, Dr. S. shall speak for himself respecting this work. Taking it for granted, which he might safely do, that the writings of this Apostle were designed to illustrate the truth as it was in Jesus, he conceived that on them, when properly understood, he might rely for a solution of doubts which had long agitated his mind relative to certain fundamental articles of the Christian Faith; and, he proceeds,

In confining my comment to an exposition of that Evangelist, the objects of investigation seemed to lie nearer at hand, and more direct for the purpose of free examination, than in a more extended illustration of the Scriptures they would have appeared. It is like taking a prospect in a small inclosure, where objects, being brought together in a little compass, are more distinctly observed and compared; than in a large extended plain, where the eye is lost in variety, and nothing is distinctly seen.

My original design was to have given to the Public my observations on St. John singly and unaccompanied with the text. But as I found these notes, which were at first intended only to explain and illustrate such doctrines as were the more immediate objects of my inquiry, multiply upon me; for a commodious perusal of the notes I found the text necessary and in giving that text I have neither entirely