1

will, every judicious attempt to obviate the mean exclufive par tialities of the Jews, and the effects of thofe narrow and circumfcribed fystems which have prevailed among too many fects of Chriftians, deferve the attention and gratitude of mankind. Amongst fuch may be reckoned the liberal Effay before us. The author, who, amidst the tumults and alarms of war, and the diftraction and confufion of a garrifon and camp, with which he was connected at the time of writing it, must have contemplated the benevolence of the Deity, in the general order of his creation and providence, with peculiar conviction and impartiality, as his judgment appears to have fuffered no biafs from the natural emotions of the heart, or impulfes of the ima gination, under fo difturbed and calamitous an aspect of things, as a state of war, in all its forms, must exhibit.

The plan of this Effay is, firft, to point out what appears. as well from nature and reason, as from revelation, to be the defign and extent of the mediatorial character and government of the Redeemer.-And, fecondly, to fuggeft fome idea of the happy effects of his undertaking, and of that glorious and important confummation, which we expect as the ultimate end and object of it.'

Mr. Brown has treated these points with confiderable learning, and with a degree of argument, to which every welldifpofed mind must wish to allow its full weight: the subject admits not demonftration. The author's ftyle is perfpicuous and elegant, though perhaps too diffufe for a philofophical Effay; a light, however, in which it may be fcarcely candid to confider it, as it was, not improbably, first written for the pulpit. This Effay, on the whole, abounds with fuch enlarged and confolatory views of the divine administration as to make it worthy of attentive perufal.

A Difcourfe upon Repentance. By Thomas Scott, Curate of Olney and Wefton-Underwood. 12mo. 9d. Johnson.

Mr. Scott treats his fubject under five distinct heads. 1. The Neceffity of Repentance. 2. Its Nature. 3. Encouragements to it. 4 The proper Seafon for it. 5. The Means of Repent

ance.

This Difcourfe is warm, earneft, and pious; it was originally addreffed, at least in part, to the author's congregations in the country. The style of it is plain and energetic, and feems well calculated to produce effect. We are forry to meet with expreffions which favour of the cant of the tabernacle, fuch as ftoney-ground bearers, experiences, manifeftations, feafons of peculiar melting, an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom, &c. The anility of this fort of language is often apt to excite prejudices against performances, in other refpects not! meriting cenfure.

We are not fo fure, as we wish to be, that our author does not incline to the myftic interpretation of the new birth or regene ration

ration, which many rational divines, taking them differently, have confidered only as figurative terms to express an entire reformation of life; or, in an appropriated fenfe, as meaning our being engrafted into Chrift's church, and our becoming the fons of God by adoption, of which baptifm is the vifible fign and feal.

POETRY.

Plantagenet, A Poem. 4to. 15. Almon,

The defign of this production is to give a thort sketch of the civil wars between the houfes of York and Lancalter; and to defcribe the horrors of thofe times. Happily for us, the fketch is indeed fhort; but what fhall we fay of the author's abilities, when, notwithstanding its shortness, we have found it exceedingly tedious? Whether he had any fuch application in view, is best known to himfelf; but he certainly defcribes the horrors of thofe times in horrible poetry,

Royal Tears! Sacred to Filial Pięty. By William Whitmore. 4to. 25. Debrett.

་་་

The domeftic diftreffes attending the abdication of king James, which form the fubject of this poem, cannot now be interefting to many readers; and the language of the poem is, befides, too much laboured, as well as obfcure, to excite the tender emotions which genuine elegy is calculated to infpire. The Royal Dream; or the P in a Panic. An Eclogue. 4to. 25. Forres.

A fantastic eclogue, neither confpicuous for its poetical merit nor moral tendency.

The Power of Oratory. An Ode. 15. Shepperfon and Reynolds.

The fubject of this Ode is the anecdote related by Plutarch, of the extraordinary effects of Cicero's oration for Ligarius on the mind of Cæfar. It has been fet to mufic by Dr. Hayes, profeffor of mufic at Oxford; and, though containing a few blemishes, is, upon the whole, a favourable fpecimen of poe tical genius.

The Efopiad. A Poem. Printed at Dublin.

This poem is intended as a critique on the merits of the performers at the Theatre-Royal, Smock-Alley. Those whom the author chiefly applauds are Kemble and Rider; but of the juft nefs of his remarks on many of them, as being unknown to us, we muft leave andetermined.

DRAMATIC

DRAMA TI C.

The Choleric Fathers. A Comic Opera, Performed at the Theatre Royal in Covent-Garden. By Thomas Holcroft. 8vo. 15. 6d. Robinfon.

Mr. Holcroft deferves all poffible commendation, for the ardour of his induftry, and the versatility of his exertions.-The piece before us has as ftrong claims to approbation as most of the modern productions of the like name and defcription. The characters are whimfically imagined, the humour of most of them well fuftained, and their conduct laughable: that of Ifa bel, however, feems to require a little improvement. The incidents, in general, are natural, and comic. Perhaps that which is calculated to facilitate the catastrophe, is rather improbable; but, in the compofition of operas, custom has fanc tioned liberties that would not be allowed in the construction of a regular drama,

The fongs of this Opera are written with greater attention to poetry and fenfe than is ufual in works of this nature, which are more frequently intended for entertainment, by the medium of ftage-reprefentation, than for perufal in the clofet. The thoughts in many of the fongs are well conceived, and the expreffion often neat and pointed. Where they are songs of humour, calculated to produce a laughable effect only, the aim is happily attained.

The mufic is exquifitely compofed by Mr. Shield; and can not fail to add to the reputation of that ingenious artist.

Appearance is against them. A Farce, in Two Acts, as it is alled at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. 8vo. Is. Robinson.

This farce is the production of Mrs. Inchbald, an actress in the Covent Garden company. It poffeffes fufficient merit to make us hope for fomething more from the fame pen.-The principal incident is flight, and the ufe made of it not quite natural; but every confequence that follows from the freedom ufed with the Shawl of lady Margaret Magpie, is pof fible to have happened: of this circumftance it cannot be denied, that the fair author has ingeniously availed herself. The dialogue is fprightly, and the equivoque in the fecond act, where a fimple clown and lady Margaret are at crosspurposes, in confequence of an error into which they have been eventually led, is extremely diverting.

The Lawyer's Panic; or Weftminster Hall in an Uproar, A Pri lude, acted at the Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden. By John Dent. 8vo. Is. 15. Bladon.

It is probable that this author fympathifed with the panic which he describes; for though the incident, which forms the

bafis of the prelude, was no doubt ludicrous, it is worked up in this production with very little humour.

Adventures of George Maitland, Efq. 3 Vols. 12mo. 75. 6α. Murray.

If it be a pleasure to meet an old acquaintance in an unexpected manner, it is difagreeable to find him in a disguise, on no very good defign. This is the fituation in which we behold James Ramble, efq. metamorphofed into George Maitland. The names are changed; the ftory, with the minutest incidents, is the fame. Lord George is now lord William; Mr. Pounce is Mr. Kelly; and almost all the inferior perfonages of the drama are adorned with new titles. Mrs. Gentle is tranfformed to Willis, and an excellent characteristic pun of the old fteward's is loft by the change: as the fpeech how appears, it is nonfenfe. The tranfcriber, by his inattention, has difcovered himself: Kelly, the quondam Pounce, tells Maitland that lord George will be glad to see him. It is fo in the original; but when we proceed farther, no lord George appears. This literary imposture deserves the feverest reprehenfion; and the harfheft term in our language may be aptly applied to it. We have done our duty in detecting the plagiarist; and now, fir, to breakfast with what appetite you may.'

Confiance. A Novel. By a Young Lady. In Four Volumes. 12mo. I 25. Hookham.

In this artless narrative, the incidents are numerous and ftriking, the fituations interefting and pathetic, the morality unexceptionable. The ftory is intricate without confufion; and the mistakes are explained without violence. We have felt, in the perufal, the author's power to harrow up the foul, or, in turn, to expand it by the warmest, the moft benevolent and focial feelings in many of thefe refpects our young lady' does not yield to female novellifts of the highest rank. It is, however, from incidents and fituations, that our greatest interest and entertainment are derived: the story is common almost to trite nefs, and the characters are not new. Is it from want of in

vention, faid a gentleman (fpeaking of an eminent painter's landscape) that he ufes no more than two colours; or from an excefs of it, that he can produce fuch great effects by means of two only?? Indeed we think the author of Conftance might make every literary quid-nunc ashamed of his eagerness after novelty.

If the young lady purfues this line of writing, we would advife that her language fhould be lefs embarraffed, and her plan lefs extenfive. A few typographical and historical mistakes alfo, of little real confequence, if avoided, would, like the birth-place of the king of Bohemia, make the ftory look better in the face,'

Francis

Francis the Philanthropift; an unfashionable Tale. In Three Vo lumes. 12mo. 95. Lane.

This is a fcyon from a venerable ftock, which sprouts with vigour, if not with luxuriance. In plainer English, the -author has left the fashionable mode of expanding his story, by the uninterefting exclamations of infipid correfpondents, and adopted that of difcriminated defcription, and interefting Gruation. His language is free and eafy; his obfervations neither tritely fuperficial, nor affectedly philofophical; and his drawings preferve a roughnefs, not perhaps effential to good pic tures, but not unfuitable to characteristic sketches. The author chiefly excels in fhrewd, unexpected remarks; but good fenfe animates the whole, and he is occafionally pathetic and moral, We have been much entertained with the work before us; and wish to see the author again engaged in a fimilar undertaking,

Warbeck. A pathetic Tale. In Two Volumes. 12mo. 55. ferved

Lane.

This is a tranflation from the French, of the story of Peter Warbeck, who, under the femblance of the duke of York, endangered the throne of that gloomy unfeeling tyrant, Henry the Seventh. The conduct of the novel closely imitates the real events; but the force is weakened by exclamations, by converfations, and reflections. Some parts are related with addrefs; but the whole is not very interefting. English literature would have fuftained little lofs, if the French work had been still neglected.

The Quaker. A Novel. In a Series of Letters. By a Lady. In Three Vols. 12mo. 75. 6d. Sewed. Lane.

There is little merit in the management of the ftory, or novelty in the characters. The Quaker is diftinguished by her drefs and her language, but has no great connection with the moft interesting parts of the work. We hope that a fcrupulous and nice fenfe of honour is not confidered by the author as peculiar to this fect; and we can find no other diftinction. The Episode of Mifs Moftyn is interefting; but poffeffes no other merit. On the whole this is, in our opinion, an indifferent performance.

Love in a Cottage. A Novel. By B. Walwyn, Author of the Errors of Nature. In Two Vols. 12mo. 55. Shepperson and Reynolds.

This is an interefting little ftory, though fome of the inci dents are fcarcely within the bounds of probability. The ladies are, however, little obliged to Mr. Walwyn for the examples of the weakness and mutability of their fex. The lions are, in their turn, painters; but they do not feem difpofed to retaliate the tender texture of the female mind does not per

haps