what authority does he either add to, or diminish from, that standard of mutual reference?-yet this is a part of his crime. Nevertheless, Mr. S. shall serve as an occasion of reprimand to those who express, what they intend as truth, so very incautiously,that in their language it ceases to be truth. He complains, p. 23, of those who "declare their firm belief, that Jesus is the self-existent Jehovah." That may be perfectly true of the Christ, which is not true of the humanity, restrictively and it is an abuse of terms to apply emphatically to one part of a compeund character, that description, appellation, or designation, which is proper to the other part of that character, and which may be applied to the union of both, by a practice sufficiently familiar, without violating either language or logic. We shall be glad if this hint produces its effect, as it will in cultivated and considerate minds; as to others, they are neither fair standards of orthodox language, nor of correct opinion. Mr. S. was ordained in 1762. He was served with a citation on the part of the bishop of London, April 10, 1807, to answer for the errors professed ex cathedrá, as it were, in his visitation sermon, which was noticed Panorama, Vol. I. p. 255. India, have been especially excited, by my hearing that a Society exists in this country, thechief" object of which is the "univer sal" dissemination of the Christian Faith; particularly amongst those nations of the East to whom we possess a safe facility of access, and whose minds and doctrines are known to be most obscured by the darkness of infidelity. Upon this topic, so delicate and solemn, I shall for the present, make but one observation. I shall only observe, that if a society having such objects in view, does exist, and if the leading members of that Society are also leading members of the East India Company; and not only of the EastIndia Company, but of the Court of Directors; nay, Sir, not only of the Court of Directors, but of the Board of Control; if, I say, these alarming hypotheses are true, then, Sir, are our Possessions in the East already in a situation of most imminent and unprecedented peril; and no less a danger than the threatened extermination of our eastern sovereignty, commands us to step forth, and arrest the progress of such rashi and unwarrantable proceedings. The President is Lord Teignmouth, late Governor-General of India, and now a mem ber of the Board of Control: Mr. Grant, at present Deputy-Chairman of the East-India Company, and, of course, successor to the chair, next year, is one of the Vice-Presidents. Mr. Thornton, also, the Director, is one of the most distinguished members of the Society. Mr. Thornton's brother is Treasurer to the Society. Certainly, as far as respects Indian Conversion, the Society could not have had more "suitable patronage." A Letter to the Chairman of the East-India Company, on the Danger of InterferMr. T. then gives twenty pages of exing in the Religious Opinions of the Na-tracts from the Reports of the British and tives of India; and on the Views of the British and Foreign Bible Society, as directed to India, By Thomas Twining, late Senior Merchant on the Company's Bengal Establishment. pp. 31. price 1s. 6d. London: Ridgway, 1807. In the preface to this second edition of his letter, Mr. T. complains of those who imputed his writing to party considerations, to motives of party resentment towards certain individuals, and of party hostility towards the East-India Company." We shall accept his protest against these imputations. But had those who thus charged him, complained of his want of argument, and his unqualified assumptions, we could not so easily have relieved him from the charge. He shall speak for himself. I must then, Sir, observe, that my fears of attempts to disturb the religious systems of Foreign Bible Society, and Mr. Buchanan's memoir on the propagation of Christianity in India. [He should have added others from Mr. Kerr's report, vide Panorama vol. III p. 341], and exclaims, Here, Sir, ends the second chapter which Mr. Buchanan has devoted to this subject, and here, Sir, my extracts from this work must terminate, for I really cannot cut open the leaves which contain the sequel of such sanguinary doctrine. Again, and again, Sir, I must insist upon the extreme danger to our very existence in India, from the disclosure of such opinions and views to the native inhabitants of that country. What must the natives of India think, when they shall know, as most assuredly they will, that Mr. Buchanan has been permitted to engage the National Universities of this country, in discussing and determining, the best means of diffusing the Christian religion through India. It is a fact, and, I think, a, most improper, and a most alarming fact, that the Vice Provost of the Company's col- | been determined by the votes at Leadenlege at Fort William, has actually bestowed hall-street, before our publication appears. a prize of £500, at each of the Universities, for the best dissertation on the following question; viz." What are the best means of civilizing the subjects of British India, and of diffusing the light of the Christian religion through the eastern world?" An Address to the Chairman of the East India Company, occasioned by Mr. Twining's Letter to that Gentleman, &c. By the Rev. John Owen, M. A. Curate of, Fulham, and one of the Gratuitous Secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 8vo. pp. 27. Price 1s. 6d. Hatchard, London, 1807. Now, if Mr. T. had proved that certain regiments of devotees, vi et armis, that is to say, with swords and guns, and military weapons, had been levied, no matter by whom, for the purpose of making converts in India, we should have joined him in crying out, "shame! and murMR. TWINING closed his letter, which der!"-We should have thought the bu- we have noticed in the foregoing article, siness "" sanguinary" indeed; and have and to which this is an answer, by hoping vented our execrations accordingly. We "that our native subjects in every part of abominate force in matters of Religion; the East will be permitted quietly to follow it never did any real good to Christianity; their own religious prejudices and abit never can do any; and those who adopt surdities, until it shall please the Omniit, are no Christians, whatever be their potent Power of Heaven to lead them profession. But, if no such regiments into the paths of LIGHT and TRUTH." The have been raised, nor have any orders hope is worthy of an apostle; for till the been given for raising them; nor, in fact, paths of light and truth be pointed out, any other orders by the Court of Direc- of what use were any interruption of those tors, except those for indigoes and cot- peoples' quiet? The question at issue, tons, as usual, nor by the Board of Con- is, whether the means taken by the Bible troul, then we think Mr. T.'s terrors Society, be such as promise to lead into might have been postponed, till a future the paths of light and truth? On this day. In our judgment Mr. T. has over- subject we shelter ourselves under the shot his mark he accuses of violence, authority of Sir William Jones, who dewhen his purpose required he should acsired that certain parts of scripture, (as cuse of insidiousness: had he argued that the prophecies of Isaiah, with such exit is best to crush a viper in the egg, that tracts from the gospels as shewed their to prevent the operation of that leaven fulfilment) should be translated into the which may silently spread its effects, un-language of Hindoostan, and be left to noticed and almost unknown, is good policy, we might have considered his inference as valid: but to infer, that because the chairman of the India Company is a member of a certain society, that society designs to raise a rebellion in India, appears to us preposterous. We should rather have concluded that to whatever so ciety the chairman of the India Company belonged, that society by such a circumstance, itself, was safe enough, from designing any injury to India. We think it a very poor compliment to the sagacity of Lord Teignmouth and Mr. Grant, to suppose that they would patronize any measures contrary to the true welfare of India; or that any society under their sanction should even be so much as permitted to suggest such measures. We purposely refrain from considering the main question, since that will have work their effect on the minds of the na tives. Time in such a case, he thought, might accomplish much, In his answer to Mr. Twining, Mr. Owen adopts principles not wholly unallied to those we have stated. He says, The society which I undertake to defend, which he accuses it; nor does it belong to does not answer to the designation under that class in which he has placed it. Whatever may be the end which the society contemplates, that only can be considered as its object, towards which its means are directed, arki in which they all converge and terminate. That central, that ultimate point, in the case of the society under consideration, is, as we have seen, Sir,-not" the dissemination of the Christian faith," but "the circulation of the Scriptures." In this respect, Sir, the society possesses a characteristic feature, which discriminates it from every voluntary associa tion on an extensive scale for religious purpo ses now in existence, and brings the question of its merits or demerits within very narrow and convenient bounds. It can do but one act for the propagation of Christianity it can distribute but one Book; and that Book-the Bible. It can support no missionaries, erect no churches, endow no schools, disseminate no tracts, it cannot issue even a dissertation to recommend the Bible, nor annex a single note to explain it. Its designation and its object confiue it to the circulation of the Scriptures: it can do nothing out of these limits, it can do nothing beyond them. Speaking of the Indian patronage enjoyed by the society, Mr. O. thus expresses himself, I believe in my conscience that they have the interest of the institution at heart, and would gladly embrace every opportunity to promote it. But it does so happen, that neither of these gentlemen has, to my knowledge, attended a single committee-meeting of the society during a period of more than three years and a half, that it has existed; though they are severally qualified to do so, but I think, Sir, it must be obvious, that they would never have allowed such a privilege to lie dormant, had they entertained the design insinuated by their accuser, of influencing the society to particular measures, and employing it as an instrument to disturb the religious systems of India." He also observes that mis His present Majesty's great grandfather, to his immortal honour, patronized the first mission that went among the Hindoos; and if the nerves of your correspondent will allow him to cut open a few more pages of Dr. Buchanan's "Sanguinary" Memoir, he will find copies of two letters from that truly Christian monarch to the primitive sionaries, written in a spirit very different from that which it is the object of Mr. Twining's letter to infuse into the Court of Proprietors. His present Majesty is not less distinguished than was his roval ancestor, by the encouragement which he has given to Religion. It will not, I should think, be very easy to persuade him, that he has endangered his government, either at home or abroad, by admitting, or rather adopting, into his councils, a nobleman whose only fault is that he loves the Scriptures, presides over a society that promotes their circulation, and differs from certain individuals in thinking, that their translation and distribution in the vernacular tongues of India, will strengthen the allegiance, evalt the morals, and improve the happiness of our Hindoo and Mahoinetan subjects. We hinted on Mr. Twining's pamphlet, that he had been ill provided with facts; and that his apprehensions were both more numerous and more weighty than his arguments. The present writer has not failed to expose this deficiency in a spirited manner. The pamphlet is the production of a capable mind, roused hastily to exertion. The ways of Providence are so intricate, and the present situation of the world is so mysterious, that we know not what to think of any determined means as necessary to accom. plish a certain end. Yet if Mr. T. intends we should wait for miracles, we must beg leave to prefer rational proceedings for the present. Gulliver and Munchausen outdone, by. Peter Vandergoose. A Truth to try the Patience of a Stoick. sm. 8vo. pp. 260. Price 4s. 6d. Jordan and Maxwell. London, 1807. THAT man undertakes a bold task who attempts to outdo Gulliver; and, indeed, the writer before us appears to have been sensible of this truth, though rather late, and when the knowledge of it was of little advantage to him. It is not every genius that can "exceed the bounds of place and time," or under the guidance of "a muse of fire ascend the very Heaven of invention." Mr. Vandergoose will not be placed by the judicious on the same rank with Swift: his knowledge of nature and of the human mind is more limited, his satire less pungent, and his representations of the ridi culous less provocative of laughter. In point of extravagance however, we shall allow him to rival Munchausen; and if any wish to enjoy a specimen of impossibilities, Mr. Van. may furnish it. Knowing that the work was derived from the pen of a very intelligent foreigner, we were in hopes to have profited by his remarks on our mauners and institutions as a people. This the writer intended: but he has depicted the order of our courts of law, and the principles of our criminal justice, without a perfect knowledge of their character. He has brought his hero to trial for a murder, from which he is acquitted under very dubious cir cumstances; and has contrived that he should be condemned for stealing a game cock, under circumstances, which most certainly were never submitted to a jury, and terminated fatally. We might remind Mr. Van. that one instance of the game cock law being enforced, was in the case of the famous Turpin, called "the flying Highwayman." He had shot a man, but, that fact though well known, could not be proved, for want of evidence where, then, was the injustice of delivering society from such a disgrace and detriment by executing strictly the law which he had broken by shooting a game cock? Nevertheless, and to those who delight in extravaganzas, Mr. Peter Vandergoose may prove acceptable and amusing. Another Word or Two; or, Architectural Hints continued, in Lines to those Royal Academicians who are Painters, addressed to them on the Re-election of Benjamin West, Esq. to the President's chair, 10th December, 1806. By Fabricia Nunnez, Spinster. 8vo. pp. 90. Thomas Payne, London, 1807. Priče 3s. FALSE colours never are favourable to those who display them. The writer of this pamphlet is neither a Spaniard, however Spanish he may think his name, nor a lady, however he may affect the dress of the sex. He has indulged his fancy, no doubt, in assuming the character under which he appears : but though truth may be told under a masque, yet it is not generally expected from the wearer of that disguise. The purpose of this poem is, to congratulate the Royal Academy, on its return to rationality, which it has evinced by re-electing Mr. West into the President's chair. We ought not to expect extraordinary merit in the composition of a trifle, run up to serve a transitory purpose. If the author, like Zeuxis, paints for eternity," he does not write for eternity. If he had not trusted to his power of embellishing his poem with a series of amusing notes, by way of chitchat on his canter, he would not have bestridden his Pegasus. We perfectly agree with him, that discord is ruinous to the arts, as it is to institutions of every kind; rist of Mr.West, an artist in whose works, we have always found much to admire, though we do not profess to be enraptured with all his large pictures, or his portraits. Mr. West has distinguished himself sufficiently, whether the Academy places him in its chair, or not; he is also a gentleman; in manners respectable, and of acknowledged integrity; a man of virtue, and a man of wisdom, too, since he prefers the decorums of private life before the envied dignities of office. As we expect to be favoured by a friend to our work, with a narrative in which the unhappy result of divisions among the artists, will be strongly marked, we shall do no more on this occasion, than give a sample of the Poetry of Mrs. Fabricia Nunnez, with an extract or two from her notes. Such of our readers as desire further acquaintance with the interior of the Royal Academy, will buy the book; in which they will find remarks not undeserving the attention of the R. A.'s, and also, of other public and popular bodies. Most worthy Sirs, each Squire and Knight, Did you not find Fabricia right? Did not her words, from truth, prevail? Did not she tell a candid tale? True as the dial to the sun, Trace out the way your course would run? Lifting her voice in Graphic story, To summon you to former glory. Back to his place you've sent your choice, Which found him, on a close inspection, The chair with dignity to fill In active sway and graphic skill. You've stamp'd! she speaks it with compas sion What ills arise from heated passion! NOTES. From jealousy and baneful strife.]—Jealousy seems to be an inherent passion in the spire more elevated sentiments. The antient Arts, or rather among Artists-the Arts inand as his intention is, to banish that acMasters indeed set the example to the mocursed spirit from the regions of taste, we derns;-Giorgione, for instance, was shall applaud his principles, and honour his jealous of Titian's abilities, that he forbade endeavours. He appears, as the panegy-him his house, fearful lest he should have rivalled him by discovering the new manner David Teniers and Adrian van de Velde did the same, in innumerable instances; and De Piles mentions, that "Lucas van Leyden, and Albert Durer carried on a friendly correspondence together, and were amateurs of each other's works, without jealousy. O let my tale this lesson give! ed upon with the disagreements of the Acade The king has been more than once intrud applied to, by Ilis Majesty, in order to give my, and a high professional character was his opinion respecting their differences*; and Fabricia cannot help fancying, that she sees a grave Attorney General in full robes and expansive wig, seated in the very midst of the muses, languishing, and listening attentively to their grievances with complacent affability: in a good humoured caricature, to grace Faa subjeet worthy the pencil of Mr. Gillray, ture on the arts, not on the Attorney General. bricia's title page. But it would be a carica ed complaint, that there is an unreasonable It has been a complaint and a well-foundattachment shown to old masters at the expense of the living artist. But if the modern tunately but too frequent grounds for that artist despise the ancient, and there is unfor those who will not consult fine models, and read remark, the fault in a great measure rests with authorities of admitted perfection; and thus render their works, by that means, more When each, from pride, would rule alone.] -Fabricia does not hesitate to say, and facts have confirmed it, by the subsequent conduct of the Academy, that the choice of the ex-worthy of being placed beside them. ForPresident, the preceding year, arose from jealousy among the portrait painters, who did not choose Mr. Wyatt as the fittest person to fill the chair, but as a consenting party to fill up the gap till they could settle among themselves to whom the presidentship should be next assigned, or to whom it ought to be regularly conceded: but When Greek met Greek, then came the tug of war; and the struggle for next priority might have endured as long as the siege of Troy, had they not recalled Mr. West, who, like Achilles, withdrew when likely to be deprived of the fair fruits of his active services in the common cause. Be it remembered also, that it was when Achilles had retired from the field that the Greeks found his value. There is not only truth in this representation, but we suppose Mrs. Fabrica could easily have identified that particular portrait painter, who thought his merit as well deserving of the chair as Mr. West's. merly, indeed, it was difficult to procure the sight of fine pictures, and there was some excuse; but the facility with which artists can tage be taken, prove highly conducive to funow contemplate them, will, if proper advan ture benefit. Mr. Henry Hope first, and the Marquis of Stafford subsequently, set a generous example, in submitting their pictures to inspection, (under proper regulation,) a plan which it is sincerely to be wished other noblemen and gentlemen will follow and though Mr. Angerstein has not yet laid open his rich stores in the same way, and devoted a peculiar day in each week for their display, the same advantage has been attainable, on a proper appli cation. instances these, of a love for the arts! Truly honourable, and truly patriotic *This refers to the well known disputes between the Council and other members of the Academy. |