24. A Letter to the Rt. Hon. Lord North, concerning the intended Application to Parliament for Relief in the Matter of SubScription, &c. 4to. Is. Bladon.

This letter is keen and fpirited. The author endeavours to fhew, that fubfcription to the Thirty-nine Articles and Liturgy of our church is extremely prejudicial to the cause of genuine Christianity, and to the interests of truth and virtue; that no real advantage is, or poffibly can be, derived from it; and that there is nothing in the spirit of the times, or temper of the people, that is in the leaft unfavourable to the petitioners; but, on the contrary, extremely friendly and favourable to them.

This writer too often indulges himself in groundless and unreasonable invectives against the clergy.

I mean, fays he to Lord North, to give you my thoughts on the intended application to parliament, &c. with an openness and freedom, which few, if any, of the clergy, with whom your lordship converses, will, for many obvious reafons, venture to do.'

This writer can have no reason to infinuate, that scarcely one of the clergy, with whom Lord North is acquainted, will speak his fentiments on the fubject in queftion, with a proper opennels and freedom.

In fome respects, he tells us, a layman is better qualified for handling fuch a fubject than any clergyman.'

This is a paradox, which requires all the fubtilty of this ingenious author to explain. Was not Dr. Clarke as well qualified to write on the Trinity as Mr. Nelfon, or any other layman ? And why is it to be fuppofed, that fome of the clergy of the prefent æra are not as well qualified, in every respect, to treat of the Thirty-nine Articles, as any of their cotemporaries among the laity? efpecially, if it may be fafely affirmed, as our author fays it may, that that there is not one layman in ten thousand, who either understands them, or gives himself any concern about them.'

The clergy, fays this layman, have ever been enemies to reformation.

How uncandid! how falfe! Let the impartial reader only look back to the Reformation, and fee how many of the clergy diftinguished themselves by their zeal and intrepidity on that glorious occafion! how many of them afferted the caufe of Proteftantifm by their indefatigable labours, their writings, and their blood!

25. Confiderations on the projected Reformation of the Church of England. 4to. Is. "Robinfon.

This writer endeavours to expofe the arguments which have been advanced in favour of the petition; and represents to Lord North fome of the pernicious confequences, which he thinks would attend the abolition of subscriptions and the alteration of the Liturgy.

If, fays he, our governors fhould be inclined to preferve the peace among the various fects, which would be affembled in the church, according to the new fcheme, and to frame a liturgy and VOL. XXXIII. January, 1772.

G

con

conftitution which might fuit them all, the divinity of our Saviour must be rejected to please the Arians; and his fatisfaction, to gratify the Socinians; the Prefbyterians would object to epifcopacy, the Independants to Prefbytery, and the Quakers to all three, together with the facraments of baptifm, and the Lord's fupper. Thus you fee, my lord, what we are to lofe. Your lordship will perhaps afk what we fhall get?-A very fine idea of Christianity in general, ftripped of every thing that is particular to it.'

We do not remember to have met with any writer who declares his affent and consent to the Articles more fully and heartily than the author of this letter.

For mine own part, fays he, I have read the Proposals, and the Thoughts on the Articles; I have alfo read the Confeffional, the Ef Jay on Spirit, the Independant Whig, and many other good books; notwithstanding which, I fhall ftill continue to fubscribe without the leaft remorfe, or uneafinefs, though I fhould not get fix-pence by it.'

author.

In the conclufion he tells us, that nothing folid, fenfible, or ferious can be advanced in defence of the fcheme in agitation.— But his readers, we apprehend, will not find, that he has evinced this point fo clearly as he himfelf feems to imagine. 26. Two Difcourfes. I. On the Sufficiency of the Scriptures, &c. I. On the Doctrine of the Trinity. 8vo. is. Evans. These discourses feem to be the productions of a young They are written with fome degree of vivacity, and are not deAtitute of good fenfe; but they are fuch as may be very easily composed in three or four hours. Thefe expreffions- The reveries of the book-worm fhall change his fhallow-grounded religion into infidelity. Reftraints upon the will are hackles, which only ferve as a mask for hypocrify,' &c. denote the author's precipitation.

27. A Sermon preached before the Governors, &c. of the Infirma ry, at Newcastle upon Tyne. By John Rotheram, M. A. 8vo. 6d. Robfon.

The author illuftrates this expreffion of the Pfalmift, 1, will praife thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Pfalm cxxxix. 14. He lays before his readers fome inferences arifing from the fubject; and, at the conclufion, prefents them with a short sketch of the character of the late Dr. Richard Trevor, bishop of Durham. His difcourfe is elegant and ingenious.

CHIRURG ICA L.

28. An Appendix to the Obfervations upon Mr. Pott's General

Remarks on Fractures. 8vo. 6d. Becket.

This Appendix contains a cafe of a diflocated thigh, which the author has published as a fupplement to his former remarks on diflocations, with a view to explode the use of violent extenfion, commonly practised on fuch occafions. In the cafe here related, the head of the thigh bone paffed inward towards the foramen ovale of the os pubis. A reduction of it was attempted, by force, after putting the muscles in a relaxed state, but without fuccefs.

Dr.

Dr. Kirkland therefore tried the following method. The patient being fecured upon a bed upon his right fide, and the thigh put in a right angle with his body, two men extended it by a towel. fixed above the knee, upon which was made a lever of the thighbone. The ancle was then pushed outward, and the head of the bone flipped into its place without noise, and with the utmost ease.

NOVEL S.

29 The Lovers; or the Memoirs of Lady Mary Sc and the Hon. Mifs Amelia B. Vol. II. 5s. fewed. Evans. The volume before us does not indeed contain fo many grofs exceptionable paffages as are to be found in most of our lively author's licentious compofitions; but there are too many indelicacies scattered through it to fuffer us to recommend it to the rufal of a modeft woman.

pe

30. The Storm: or the Hiftory of Lucy and Nancy. Two Volumes. 12mo. 5s. Noble.

This novel begins and ends with a ftorm, and there is a great deal of changeable weather in the middle of it; fome foul, fome fair, much in the April way. The part relating to Lucy deferves the attention of all thofe young ladies, whofe notions concerning female felicity are fimilar to her's. By reflecting properly upon the confequences refulting from an imprudent conduct, they may be deterred from acting in such a manner as to merit her unhappy fate.

31. The Trial: or the Hiftory of Charles Horton, Efq. In Three Volumes. 12mo. 7s. 6d. Vernor and Chater.

The volumes before us are among those which we have read with fome degree of pleasure. They contain many fenfible reflections, well-fupported characters, unexpected turns, and trying fituations: they are, at once, entertaining and inftructive. The author deferves to be particularly commended for his ftrictures against the loofe licentious productions of a foreign novelwriter's proftituted pen. The ftrictures are fevere, but the man whofe writings are calculated to increase the immoralities of the age, by inflaming the paffions of both fexes, cannot be fatirifed with too much afperity. 32. The Advantages of Deliberation or the Folly of Indifcretion. Two Volumes, 12mo. 5s. Robinson.

These volumes are evidently written with a defign to deter thoughtless women from beholding libertines in too favourable a light, and to induce them to believe that conjugal felicity cannot be expected from men of a roving difpofition.

The two principal characters in this novel are females; the one, by her deliberation, is the happieft; the other, by her indif cretion, is the unhappiest of her fex ; both by their oppofite conduct, prove the advantages of the former, and the folly of the

latter.

33. The Perplexities of Riches. Two Volumes. 12mo.

Robinson..

The author of the novel before us has exhibited his hero in fituations occafioned by a series of profperous events, in which nobody, we imagine, will envy him. Many of his Perplexities are laughable, and many of them would render him an object of pity, did he not make a very ill ufe of the favours of fortune. We are not fo little acquainted with the world as to fuppofe that the moral of this ftory will have fuch an effect upon the minds of those who read it, while they feel themselves in affluent circumftances, as to excite in them the fmalleft defire to have their fplendid income diminished; but fome of those who are moderate in their wishes, and placed in the middle ftate of life, may, poffibly, during the perufal of Sir Charles Trent's diftreffes, feel a keener relish for the bleffings of mediocrity, 34. The Reclaimed Proffitute: or the Adventures of Amelia Sydney. Two Volumes. 12mo. 5s. Rofon.

The Adventures of Amelia Sydney are the most uninteresting we have ever met with, and related in the leaft entertaining manner. Triteneffes, vulgarifms, and improbabilities appear in almost every page, and nothing can equal-but the vo lumes will be forgotten before this article goes to the prefs!

POETRY.

35. Sanitas, Daughter of Efculapius. To D. Garrick, Efq. A Poem. 4to. 25. Kearfly.

Sanitas, or Hygeia, is here defcribed as prefenting herself be fore Apollo, to receive his commands relative to the prayers which the poet fuppofes conftantly to afcend to him from mortals. The tragic and comic Mufes appear in the shape of Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Abington, as fuppliants in behalf of their favourite, Mr. Garrick. In confequence of their request, Sanitas is fent to restore him to health, and relates the petitions of the morning. The perfons from whom these ascend are, a glutton, a drunkard, a beau, an old rake, three public fingers, a plagiary, and a faded beauty. At the dawn of the morning Apollo makes fome fatirical remarks on a masquerade, from which the mafques are fuppofed to be juft retiring. An engraving is pre

the poem, representing Sanitas defcending from heaven, with a ferpent, the emblem of health, in her hand, and addreffing Mr. Garrick, who reclines upon a fettee. Below the figures are the four laft lines of the concluding paragraph of the poem.

This poem, we are informed, was fent to Mr. Garrick in his late illness. It may therefore be confidered as a hafty production. But though neither the fable nor fentiments have a claim o much originality, the author has reprefented the characters in natural light, and we must admit the whole to be ingeniously executed, for the purpofe of blending entertainment with a complimentary addrefs,

36. An Irregular Ode, on the Death of Mr. Gray. 4to.1s.White. We should have pleasure in applauding the only literary tribute which has hitherto been paid to the memory of the late ingenious Mr. Gray; yet, unless the avowed irregularity of this ode can be admitted as an apology for its faults, it would be a reprehenfible extention of indulgence to exempt it from all cenfure. It poffeffes neither much fublimity nor remarkable tendernefs of fentiment; and the defcriptive part, which is very fhort, is void of the beauties of poetical diction. The firft ftanza will fupport our opinion in regard to the circumstance laft mentioned.

The expreffion of waters buddling down, and forming a ripple, founds very uncouth in the language of poetry, especially when applied to the Pierian fprings.

In the eleventh ftanza the author has both violated poetic truth,' and fallen into the wordy torrent,' which his own imagination had created.

We are forry that this panegyrift could not celebrate the fame of the justly esteemed poet, without adopting the practice of fome favage nations, of facrificing human victims to the manes of the deceased. This method of displaying an attachment he has imitated in the conclufion of his poem, by a very unneceffary difparagement of two other refpectable authors, who have alfo paid the debt of nature. Acknowledged merit can never stand in need of any invidious comparison to support it.

Almoft the whole of this poem is reprefented as flowing from the mouth of Calliope; and, notwithstanding the paffages on which we have animadverted, it contains feveral ftanzas that are not unworthy of the Muse.

37:

The Patriot's Guide. A Poem. 4to. 2s. 6d. Wheble. Alas! poor patriots, to be the fcorn of fo mean a writer. 38. An Elegy on the Death of Dr. John Gill. By John Fellows. 8vo. 6d. Robiníon.

The fame both of Dr. Gill and Melpomene is prostituted in this lamentable Elegy.

39. The Fashionable Lover. A Comedy. By R. Cumberland, Efq. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Griffin.

The author of this comedy has modeftly obferved, he cannot flatter himself that the fame applaufe which has attended this production on the ftage will follow it to the closet. But without paying any compliment to a diffidence fo amiable, when accompanied with genius, we must acknowledge that we entertain a much higher opinion of its merit. Though the piece be not entirely void of blemishes, it contains many strokes of humour and fentiment, which command our approbation. The characters likewise are marked with strong expreffion; and the pleasure it affords upon the whole inclines us to hope, that the public will continue to be favoured with other dramatic compofitions by this ingenious author.-Some, however, may be of opinion that he has fhewn too much partiality to the Scots, in the character of Colin Macleod, who is really the hero of the play.