し extraordinary a genius. There is fomething altogether striking in the novelty of his ideas. JUSTICE he reprefents as a bird of paffage : See Justice haften to forfake the land, And to fome happier country wing her flight! The VIRTUES as lamp-lighters, just going to set up in the Strand : And go to bless the Pagan world with light. Mr. Whitefield's tongue, he tells us, was loos'd by prayer; and what then?-Why, then he was filent : Prayer loos'd his guilt-bound tongue, his lifted hands In filent rapture then his God ador'd. He next informs us what this great man endured; and that was→ what every body elfe endures! Each feafon's various changes he endured. L. Art. 45. Elegy to the Memory of the Right Honourable the Marquis of Granby. 4to. 6 d. DodЛley. One of thofe things that come under the fickly title of mediocrity; but has not the printer made a mistake in the poet's address to the prefent Lord Granby? Great was his foul; but happier shalt thou be, By being not fo great as he. What, if we should read, Great was his foul, but greater shalt thou be, By being not fo great as he! น. Art. 46. Epiftola Politica-An Epiftle on the Times, a Poem, 4to. I s. Bladon. A Latin poem about Wilkes and Liberty, which has the merit of a decent fchoolboy's exercife. NOVEL S. L. Art. 47. The Falfe Step; or the Hiftory of Mrs. Brudenal. 12mo. 2 Vols. 5 s. fewed. Almon. The false step which is here fet forth as a warning to young female Readers, is the heroine's deferting her parents, and running away with an agreeable but worthless fellow, in order to a clandeftine marriage. The fatal confequences of this first indifcretion, which is here, not unnaturally, productive of other falfe fteps, in a character extremely amiable in all other refpects, form the principal incidents of this hiftory; which is thrown into the modifh form of letters, and diverfified by an epifodical part, lefs interesting and lefs exemplary than the main ftory. The work, if not a brilliant performance, is a moral one; which ought not to be confidered as a flight commendation. The language, if not elegant, is eafy, and might pafs very well, were it not for two or three uncouth expreffions, and an affectation of French phrafes, which is become ridi A fine Gentleman exclaims against his mistress for making his rival happy, without any demurrage; and a fine Lady talks of wearing that he never faw two people fo exactly alike: but we must do the writer the juftice to obferve, that faults like thefe are not very Common in this work. culously culously fashionable. There is hardly a page plain English to be met with in our modern productions: it is all firiped, though we feldom meet with any of the right Parifian pattern. Art. 48. Authentic Memoirs of the Countess de Barré, the French King's Miftrefs, carefully collated from a Manufcript in the Poffeffion of the Duchefs of Villeroy. By Sir Francis N 12mo. 3 s. bound. Rofon. 1771. Another heap of rubbish, fwept out of Monf. de Vergy's garret. This foreigner, who has fo impudently thruft himself into the English Grubean fociety, appears determined to fill all our bookfellers hops, ftalls, and circulating libraries, with lies and obfcenity; the only ftudies in which he feems ambitious of excelling. In truth, we are forry to fee the Chevalier fo grofsly mifapplying his talents; for he certainly is capable of better things. Art. 49. The Adventures of a Jefuit: interfperfed with several remarkable Characters, and Scenes in real Life. Izmo. 2 Vols. 5 s. fewed. Cook. 1771. The adventures of this Jefuit may very well ferve as a fecond part to the adventures of Luke Antony Gavin, as recorded in his famous Master-key to Popery. Art. 50. Memoirs of Mr. Wilson or the Providential Adultery. 12mo. 2 Vols. 5 s. fewed. Hall. Although this romance abounds with the groffeft abfurdities, and most ridiculous flights of imagination, it is not, however, a dull performance. We cannot give it a better character, confiftently with 2 due regard to our own. MEDICAL. Art. 51. The prefent State of Midwifery in Paris. With a Theory of the Caufe and Mechanism of Labour. By A. Tolver, Manmidwife. 8vo, 1 s. 6 d. Cadell, 1770. France, as Mr. Tolver obferves, was not long ago regarded as the fountain of chirurgical knowledge; but the feat of this part of learning, he adds, is now removed, and the great fource of midwifery, in particular, has been long dried up.' By this equivocal phrafe, however, our Author, who in general writes rather too figuratively for a man-midwife, means only to exprefs that, in confequence of the levity and indecent behaviour of the French ftudents, the doors of the lying-in wards of the Hôtel-dieu have been fhut against them. The principles of the obstetric art are nevertheless taught by many in Paris; though there are but two profeffors of eminence in that city; M. Levret, well known to the medical world by his writings, and M. Payen, profeffor at St. Come. The lectures given by the firit, and noft eminent, of thefe two gentlemen, are fupported with geometrical reafoning and demonftration,' and are confequently too abitrufe for the generality of learners. His machines too are finished in a very flovenly manner, and their contrivance far inferior to our own.' He is characterised by the Author as a perfon of ftrong natural parts, and poffeffed of fome advantages of education; but partial to a fyftem, he treats different opinions with too little refpect, and fees every effort of genius that does not tend to elucidate his own theory, with the eye of malevolence. Hence, adds our florid Accoucheur, He bas fettered the free expansion of his capacity; and with the affectation of originality, often blends the errors of prejudice and fancy with the moft folid reafoning.' -The Author fpeaks with much lefs refpect of M. Payen's courfe. It is less expenfive and scientifical than M. Levret's, and is accordingly more frequented: his auditory confifting of a promifcuous and diforderly affembly of barbers, women, and regulars. His machinery is indeed preferable to that of M. Levret; but the cafes on which he operates are ftudied and improbable, and the manuel often ridiculous and abfurd. The Author gives an humorous fpecimen of the genius and abilities of this profeffor, defcribing him as applying, in his course, a pair of brafs callipers to the hips of a woman, in order to take the distance between the os facrum and pubis, and to discover the structure and proportion of her pelvis, with all the gravity of a bombardier furveying the dimenfions of a mortar-Such is Mr. Tolver's reprefentation of the prefent ftate of the capital schools of midwifery in Paris. The remainder, which is indeed the principal part of this pamphlet, confifts of notes or general obfervations, chiefly taken from M. Levret's lectures; to which are added fhort defcriptions of his method of extraction in fourteen different cafes, on which he gives examples on his machines, and to which he reduces all others that can poffibly happen. In the fhort effay at the end, on the cause and mechanifin of labour, the Author, or rather Dr. Petit, whofe theory he here feems to deliver, attributes, with fome preceding theorists, the act of parturition to the irritability of the womb, excited by the diftention of its fibres to a certain degree; but we find very little new light thrown upon the subject. B--Y. Art. 52. Remarks on the Compofition, Ufe, and Effects of the Extrait of Lead of M. Goulard, and of his Vegeto-mineral Water. By G. Arnaud, M. D. &c. 12mo, Is. Elmiley. Of the great and extenfive virtues afcribed by M. Goulard to his folution of lead in the pure acetous acid, and of its method of operating on the human body, when applied externally, our readers will find a fuccinct account in our 41ft volume *, extracted from a Treatife on this fubject, published by the inventor. M. Arnaud, who confiders this preparation as the best and most univerfal topic which has hitherto been employed in furgery, offers a few obfervations, in the prefent fmall pamphlet, arifing from an accurate confideration of its compofition, with a view of improving this remedy, and of extending the use of it. He lays great, it may be thought improper, ftrefs on the quality of the vinegar employed in the folution of the metal; not only obferving that pure or natural vinegar contains an effential oil, which diffolves lead, while its acid only divides its parts ;' but adding that M. Goulard has difcovered that it is the property of fome particular vinegars only of the province he lives in, to diffolve this metal perfectly, as they contain more effential oil than the reft.' The fac Monthly Review, Oftober 1769, page 311. 7 titious titious vegetable acids, M. Arnaud obferves, (fuch, for example, as are brewed in England, and in the northern countries, under the name of vinegar) which receive their power of action from the acrid ingredients only mixed with them, are not only rendered incapable of perfectly diffolving the lead; but likewife communicate an inflammatory quality to the extract, very different from the cooling and calming one natural to it, when made with the best vinegar.' Without ftopping to controvert what may appear questionable in the preceding quotations, we fhall only add, that those who are dif pofed to make trial of preparations of lead, in any of thofe cafes in which they are recommended by M. Goulard, as cooling, difcutient, or refolvent applications, will undoubtedly do well to prefer thofe prepared by the inventor; from whom the Author of this pamphlet, convinced by long experience of the fuperior virtues of his extract, has procured a quantity of it, accompanied with an exclufive privilege of vending it in this country. B--y L A W. Art. 53. The Trial of John Almon Bookfeller, upon an Information filed ex officio, by his Majefty's Attorney-General, for Selling Junius's Letter to the K- -g, before Lord Mansfield and a special jury, in the Court of King's Bench, Westminster, June 2, 1770. Tọ which is prefixed a Copy of the Information, taken in fhort Hand. 8vo. 1 S. Miller. It appears from the Trial before us, that no proof was established perfonally against the defendant. Prefumptive evidence was thought fufficient to afcertain his guilt. But the injury done to Mr. Almon is, by no means, the chief ground of exception in the prefent cafe. The liberty of the prefs is evidently ftruck at, and a precedent is given, in confequence of which it may be effectually deftroyed by future decifions. If ever there shall come a time, when judgments of this kind fhall cease to be canvaffed, and fhall no longer excite the public indignation, it may fafely be pronounced, that the boafted freedom of Englifhmen is at an end. St. Art. 54. A fecond Poffcript to a late Pamphlet, entitled, A Letter to Mr. Almon, in Matter of Libel. By the Author of that Letter*. 8vo. 1 S. Miller. 1770. The judgment of the court of King's-Bench in the cafe, King against Woodfall, has given occafion to this Poftfcript. According to this decifion, our Author conceives, that juries, in matter of libel, are not to be confidered as judges of the intent or criminality of the writing, and that, if they declare they have acted in this manner, it will annul their verdict. This pernicious doctrine he combats with great ftrength of argument; he afferts the juft rights of an English jury; he appeals to history and precedents; and explains the danger which must refult to the liberty of this country, from the infringement of fo invaluable a branch of the constitution. His publication difcovers a truly patriotic fpirit, and deferves to be read with at tention. See Review for October 1770, p. 288. St. Art. Art. 55. A Collection of Decifions of the Court of King's Bench, upon the Poor's Laws, down to the prefent Time. In which are contained many Cafes never before published. Extracted from the Notes of a very eminent Barrifter deceased. The whole digested in a regular Order. By a Barrister at Law of the Inner-Temple. 8vo. 6s. Uriel, &c. 1771. The nature and defign of this work cannot be better explained than has been done by the learned Barrister himself, in the advertisement prefixed to it. The number of collections on this fubject already published, might feem, he obferves, to render any work of this nature ufelefs. But he adds, the want of method and accuracy, evident, in a greater or lefs degree, in all of them, precludes any further apology. The number of years elapfed fince the publication of the lateft of them caufes an unavoidable infufficiency in them. A great number of very nice and important queftions upon the poor-laws have been lately determined by the court of King's-Bench. Of these Mr. Burrow has favoured the world with an excellent report; but from the fize of that collection, it is rendered too expenfive for the purchafe of parish officers, and inconvenient for gentlemen who attend at the feffions. Dr. Burn deferves the highest refpect for his Juftice of Peace; but as only the last edition of that excellent work is enriched by extracts from Mr. Burrow's reports, all the former editions, fall fhort of that perfection which their ingenious Authors would now have been able to bestow upon them. Dr. Burn's Juftice of Peace contains likewife a great number of matters which are not the objects of the jurifdiction of the quarter feffions, and of the attention of parish officers, for whofe ufe this prefent compilation is more particularly intended. The fame obfervations likewife may be applied to Lord Ward's Country Juftice. I flatter myfelf therefore, that this com pilation will correct the errors, fupply the defects, and, as far as it extends, more fully affift the practitioner than any of the former collections. Reports only of unexceptionable authorities have been confulted in forming this Compilation, which has likewife been improved by a great number of extracts from a manufcript collection of cafes by the late John Ford, Efq; The cafes marked MSS. in the following fheets, are all of them taken from that manufcript. The Compiler has very feldom hazarded any obfervations of his own, nor ventured to make any alterations in the ftyle of the reporters, however uncouth it might appear to him. He has diftributed, under their proper heads, fome notes of cafes which have been determined in the court of King's-Bench fince the publication of Mr. Burrow's cafes of fettlements. Whether the order in which the cafes are diftributed might not be changed for a better, the Compiler is in doubt; yet he hopes that is of no great importance. But while he has endea voured to correct the deficiencies, or inaccuracies of others, he is fenfible, that he has much indulgence to afk for his own. Many of these are owing to the intricacy of the fubject, and still more to the Compiler's frequent abfence from the prefs. He flatters himself, however, upon the whole, that the utility of this undertaking will compenfate for its defect, and that the humility of his attempt may reprefs the feverity of cenfure.' |