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adversaries. At our present distance in time from that period, we are sufficiently cool to perceive, that they did wrong, and even counteracted their own purpose, because that, in labouring to understand thoroughly any system of ideas, great assistance may be derived from an attention to what has been thought and said on the opposite side of the question. Had the most devout Christian of the present day been capable of advising his brethren of the centuries which followed the Age of Constantine, not a volume, not a pamphlet, scarce a line of Pagan or heretical controversy, however absurd, however scandalous and offensive to pious ears, or even to the 'moral feelings, would, we are persuaded, have been committed to the flames, and the consequence to us of these later times, would have been, that instead of groping our way through dark passages, when we are studying the ecclesiastical history of the first three and most interesting centuries of Christianity, every thing would have appeared clear and distinct; and the different prejudices of friends and of enemies being nicely weighed against each other, a result of pure and consistent truth might have been obtained.

The same principle will, we imagine, apply to the minutest branch of the same subject. The existence of such a man, and especially of such an author, as Edward Gibbon, may be considered as a wise permission of Divine Providence; nor is it surely by chance, that his characteristic vanity, that vanity which led him to commit to writing his most secret thoughts and sentiments, and carefully to preserve what he had once committed to writing, has laid open to us all the springs and motions of his extraordinary mind. The best use which we can make, we, who are concerned for the spread of pure Christianity, of the ingenuousness, as well as ingenuity of such an author, is, by thoroughly studying his character, to learn the nature and origin of infidelity, its origin, we mean, ia the human heart; that thus being well acquainted with the disease, we may proceed with the greater confidence in the application of the proper remedy, and so, through the blessing of God upon our endeavours, turn even his mistakes to the advantage of our species.

Nor are we without encouraging hopes, that, as the peculiar talents of Mr. Gibbon, and the dignified station in society which he occupied, have rendered his writings more especially deleterious to the upper and more elevated walks of life, so, by laying open the true source of all this mischief in the heart and life of the man, the restoration to truth and sobriety of the same exalted ranks. by a proper use of his works, may be at least as extensive, as was their departure from those principles, through their first tendency:

But, if there be any foundation for these hopes, it is obvious, that the more intimately we become acquainted with the man, the more completely we shall attain our end. The able writer himself, to whom we allude, acknowledges, that of so great a mind the progress and aberrations should be traced with exactness. But how can this be done, if any fruits of its aberrations are to be destroyed, previously to and without examination?

Let nothing then, we would say, be destroyed, which has proceeded from the pen of Gibbon; but let his noble friend continue, as he has begun, to deliberate long, and consider well, before he ushers any thing additional into the world. And in regard to such writings, if any such exist, as are absolutely improper for publication,-as we believe, that in the hands of their present possessor, they will be equally shut up from abuse, and left open to a well-ordered curiosity, so we trust, that he who has evinced so much judicious care hitherto, will not be wanting, to deposit properly, while it is yet in his power, what neither love for his late friend, nor regard for the British Public, would consent to leave to the selfish or random distribution of mercenary or heedless heirs.

Of the parallel case, by which the ingenious writer has illustrated his advice, we need only say, that it does not altogether apply to the circumstances before us; and that as far as it does apply, we should give exactly the same advice in that instance, as we have given in the present. He asks, Would not a lover of good morals destroy even the most excellent work of the statuary, if it represent an act highly seductive and offensive to good manners? Were there in such a work, whatever it might represent, any thing calculated to throw light on the knowledge of the human powers, or on human nature in general, we should certainly vote for its preservation, while we should at the same time anxiously recommend, to conceal it carefully from the public inspection. It is not for the sake of their ingenuity and learning alone or chiefly, but for their utility in the study of a most extraordinary human character, that we are so tender of the productions of our Author, and that we should give our vote for the careful and indiscriminate preservation of every scrap written by the pen of Gibbon. That vigorous thinker and writer has now appeared before the critical tribunal of our brother-reviewer, as well as before our own; we have examined him by different methods, though upon similar principles; we have beheld him, each of us in a distinct point of view; yet, after all our reading, thinking, and writing on the subject, it is not yet exhausted, Gibbon deserves to be still farther read, studied, and analysed.

VOL. IV. N. S,

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ART. XII. SELECT LITERARY INFORMATION.

* Gentlemen and Publishers who have works in the press, will oblige the Conductors of the ECLECTIC REVIEW, by sending Information (post paid) of the subject, extent, and probable price of such works; which they may depend upon being communicated to the Public, if consistent with its plan.

Mr. Bowyer, of Pall-Mall, is preparing for publication, under the express patronage of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, a splendid illustrated Work on the late brilliant Campaign of Waterloo. It will be in folio, and will correspond with the illustrated record of the memorable Campaigns of Moscow, Leipsic, and France, in the years 1812 and 1814, which are publishing at the present moment. The plates are from drawings made on the spot by a distinguished Artist, consisting of views of Waterloo, Mount St. Jean, Belle Alliance, Hougomont, -Quatre Bras, &c. &c. Also a View on a large scale of the Battle on the 18th of June, as it appeared at 7 o'clock in the evening, when the grand charge - was made on the whole of the French line. This drawing it seems has been done under the immediate inspection of an Officer who was one of the Aid-duCamps to the Most Noble the Marquis of Anglesey. Mr. Bowyer professes to have spared neither pains nor expence to produce for posterity a permanent memorial of British valour, generosity, and fortitude.

In the course of next month will be published, Part I. of an Historical Account of the Battle of Waterloo, by Mr. Mudford; accompanied with a series of splendid Engravings, (twenty in number,) illustrative of the country between Brussels and Waterloo.-The work will be printed in super-royal quarto, and hot pressed. The Drawings from which the Plates are taken were all made upon the spot. There will be a Map also, earefully laid down from actual survey, and exhibiting the exact positions of the different corps and divisions of the allied armies. The work will be completed in Four Parts.

The future parts of the new Edition of Sir William Dugdale's Monasticon, will be conducted by John Caley, Esq. Keeper of the Augmentation Records, Henry Ellis, Esq. Keep of the MSS. in the British

Museum, and the Rev. Bulkeley Bandenel, Keeper of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the former sole Editor.

The Mirror for Magistrates, edited by Joseph Haslewood, Esq. with the various readings from all the preceding Editions, and numerous illustrative Notes, is now ready for publication. The impression is limited to one hundred and sixty copies, nearly the whole of which are engaged.

Mr. Bliss has just published the Second Volume of the Athenæ Oxonienses, and proceeds to press with the third without interruption.

The Rev. R. Morehead is preparing a second volume of Discourses on the Principles of Religious Belief.

J. T. James, Esq. student of Christ Church, Oxford, has in the press, a Journal of a Tour on the Continent in 1813-14, in a quarto vol. with plates.

Mr. Wm. West, of Shaftesbury, is preparing a History of Cranborn Chace, from the reign of Henry II to the present time, including an inquiry into the origin of the Chace.

Colonel Keatinge has in the press, Travels in Europe and Africa, in a quarto volume, with 34 engravings from drawings made by the author.

Mr. Field, barrister, has in the press, in a small volume, Shakspeare his own Biographer, containing particulars of the life of the poet, derived from an examination of his beautiful sonnets.

Mr. C. Taylor has two works in the press, a Treatise on Architecture, and on Landscape, each with fifty plates, and each intended to ne published in four parts.

Mr. Sutcliffe, of Huddersfield, civil engineer, will soon publish a work particularly calculated to interest the mechanic, the manufacturer, the canalproprietor, the farmer, the corn-dealer, and the miller.

Captain Brown, of the Forfar militia, will soon publish, an Introduction to Conchology.

Harold the Dauntless, a poem in

two cantos, by the author of the Bridal of Triermain, will soon appear.

Mr. Southey, poet laureate, is pre. paring a History of the late War in Spain and Portugal, which will form two quarto volumes.

The Rev. Joseph Fletcher's Lectures on the Principles and Institutions of the Roman Catholic Religion, will shortly appear, in one large 8vo. vol. price 8s.

A third volume of Paris Chit Chat is in the press, and also a new edition of the preceding volumes.

Mr. Flindell, of Exeter, proposes to publish, in an octavo volume, the Political Tracts of the late patriotic Francis Gregor, Esq. of Trewarthenick, in Cornwall.

Mr. A. Jewitt, of Kimberworth, near Rotherham, has in the press, Amusements of Minority, a selection of poetical pieces, embellished with engravings on wood.

Mr. Meadley, Author of the Memoirs of Algernon Sidney and Dr. Paley, is collecting materials for a Life of John Hampden.

Dr. George Edward Male, Physician to the Birmingham Hospital, has in the press, and nearly ready for publication, in octavo, an Epitome of Judicial, or Forensic Medicine, containing the Tests and Antidotes of Poisons; with Observations on Hanging, Drowning, Lunacy, Child-Murder, Abortion, &c. &c. Work which has long been greatly wanted in the English Language.

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In the press, a new and large edition of Brown's (of Haddington) small Catechisms in Gaelic for the use of the Scottish Highlanders in Argyleshire and Ross-shire; also, a new edition of the Westminster Confession of Faith, in Gaelic, is ready for the press. A translation of this excellent work was made and published, by order of the Synod of Argyle, in the beginning of the last century, but this was in Irish Gaelic, and is now almost unknown: the present translation is made by a good Gaelic scholar, and in the dialect generally used in the West and

North.

A Volume of Evangelical Sermons, by Mr. David Wilson, London, is designed for speedy publication; they were left in a state of preparation for the press.

Dr. Colquhoun of Leith, designs soon to publish, a Treatise on the Law and the Gospel.

Mr. Allen has in the press, a Work to be entitled, Modern Judaism, or

a brief account of the Opinions, Traditions, Rites and Ceremonies, maintained and practised by the Jews in modern times.

C. J. Metcalfe, Esq. is preparing for publication, a new Translation of a Selection of the Letters of Ganganelli (Pope Clement XIV.) to which will be prefixed a short Sketch of his Life; in one duodecimo volume.

Dr. Henning, of the Hot-Wells, Bristol, author of an Inquiry into the Pathology of Scrophula, is preparing for the press, a work on Pulmonary Consumption, which will be ready for pub. lication early in the Spring.

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Mr. George Woodley has in the press of Mesers. Michell and Co. of Truro, a Poem in twenty Books, intituled "Redemption," which has engaged the Author's periods of leisure for nearly ten years, and we understand is the last poetical work on which he intends to engage. Competent judges, whose perusal various parts of the poem have been submitted, are unanimous in ascribing both to the design and execution, a greater degree of praise. than was attached to the "ChurchYard" of the same Author, of which the Reviewers spoke in favourable terms. The typographical department is proceeding in a stile of great neatness, and the poem (making two large 8vo. volumes) will be ready for delivery early in February next.

The Rev. Joshua Marsden, Missionary, has nearly ready for publication, a Narrative of a Thirteen Years' Mission to Nova Scotia, New Brnnswick, and the Somer Islands : to which will be appended "The Mis sion." A Poem.

Mr. Sumner's Treatise on theeing and Attributes of God, to which the Premium of 4001. was adjudged at Aberdeen, is in the Press, and will be published in about a month, in 2 Vols. 8vo. The First Volume relates principally to the historical Evidence of the Creation, derived from the Hebrew Records: the Second contains an Inquiry into the Principle of Population, its Effects upon human Society, and its Consistency with the Wisdom and Goodness of the Creator.

The Rev. Reginald Heber's Bampton Lectures will shortly appear in one 8vo. volume. Likewise, in one volume, Letters on the constrained celibacy of the Clergy of the Church of Rome. A Tour to Alet and la Grande Char

treuse, by Dom Claude Lancelot; with some Account of the Monastery and Abbot Reformer of la Trappe; also, Biographical Sketches of the Abbé of St. Cyran, of Jansenius; and a brief View of the Institution of Port Royal. By Mary Anne Schimmel penninck, Authon of Theory on the Classification of Beauty and Deformity. A New Edition, considerably enlarged, in 2 Vol. crown 8vo. In the press.

Also, a Narrative of the Demolition of the Monastery of Port Royal des Champs, including Biographical Memoirs of its latter Inhabitants. By Mary Anne Scimmelpenninck, Author of the preceding Work, &c.

Mr. Ackerman is preparing for publication a work drawn and engraved in imitation of Chalk in a very bold style, by Prout, representing the various characters of Boats, Barges, and rustic Cottages, designed to assist the young student in Landscape and Marine drawings. It will appear in eight monthly numbers in royal 4to.

The same publisher also announces a highly interesting and useful work under the title of Rowlandson's World in Miniature, which will consist of 12 numbers in royal 8vo. each to contain five engravings of small groups of figures of every possible kind, for landscape decoration. The ease and order with which Mr. Rowlandson composes his groups, promise high gratification to the lovers of landscape drawing and painting. The first number will appear on the 1st of February, and with the last will be given an instructive Treatise on Grouping.

Mr. John Varley, the celebrated landscape painter, has nearly ready, a new System of Perspective, in which he has succeeded in simplifying that complex art in a very ingenious manner. It will be published in a few days by Mr. Ackermann.

The first number of the History of the Royal Colleges and Schools of Winchester, Eton, Westminster, St. Paul's, Christ's Hospital, Charter House, Harrow, Merchant Taylor's, and Rugby, some time since announced, has just been published by Mr. Ackerman. It will extend to 12 monthly numbers forming a handsome volume, as an Appendix to his History of the Universities of Oxford and Cambrdge.

A new edition, being the third, of Mr. Accum's useful work on the ap plication of Gas to the purpose of illumination is in the press. ;

Cheetham's College and Christ's Church, Manchester. The first number of this Work may be shortly expected. It will be published in Quarto ; and, it is conjectured, will not exceed Six Numbers, at 10s. 6d. each; each Number to contain four or five Plates, engraved in the Line Manner, forming an interesting and copious History of these noble Foundations from their Origin to the present Period. Fifty copies only wili be struck off on large paper, at 16s. each, with first Impressions of the Plates; and the whole will be strictly delivered according to Priority of Subscription.-The whole of the Drawings, with Specimens of the Engravings, may be seen at Mr. Ford's, Bookseller, Manchester, where Subscriptions are received, and Prospectuses may be had..

In the press, to be published in the course of the Spring, elegantly printed in imperial Quarto, illustrated by numerous Plates of Views, and other Embellishments, many of which will be coloured, so as to produce á Facsimile of the original Drawings: Fragments on Landscape Gardening and Architecture, as connected with Rural Scenery. By H. Repton, Esq. assisted by his Son, J. Adey Repton, F.S.A.Price Six Guineas to Subscribers.

In the press, the Veracity of the Evangelists Demonstrated, by a Comparative View of their Histories. Dedicated, by Permission, to the Bishop of Durham. By the Rev. Robert Nares, A.M. F.R.S. &c. In 12mo. Price 8s.

Also, The Connection between the Sacred Writings and the Literature of Jewish and Heathen Authors, particularly that of the Classical Ages, illustrated. By Robert Gray, D.D. Prebendary of Durham and of Chichester, Rector of Bishop Wearmouth, and Author of the Key to the Old Testament, &c.

A Treatise on Greyhounds, with Observations on the treatment and disorders of them, is in the press.

Mr. Booth has in the press, an interesting Treatise on Flower Painting, containing familiar and easy instructions for acquiring a perfect knowledge of the art also directions for producing the various tints by G. Brookshaw, Esq. The work will appear early in February, and will contain 23 Plates, including 12 to be accurately coloured from Nature.

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