tendency to break the unity of design, and to interrupt the direct tendency of his discourse to the end proposed by the text. We shall therefore only observe that the argument in this sermon, (from Psal. cl. 6.) as appropriate to the occasion, takes a physical turn, and the text becomes little more than a motto. The general approbation of the audience is a sufficient proof that it was a seasonable and welcome discourse; and we congratulate the Right Rev. Author in the bene£cial effect of his pious exertions in behalf of the Humane Society. Man Art. 44. A Discourse on the Christian Doctrine of Atonement, or Reconciliation of the World to God by Jesus Christ. By R. Wright. J2mo. IS. Vidler. Persuaded that the common idea concerning the Atonement, and that of the Scriptures, are at variance, Mr. Wright endeavours, in a brief yet perspicuous manner, to rectify the prevailing misapprehension, and to give a view of the doctrine which shall be exonerated from the objections attached to the notion of appeasing or placating the Deity by a vicarious sacrifice. He first, in order to ascertain its precise meaning, considers the derivation of the term Atonement, which is purely of English origin, being compounded of at and one, with the termination ment; making at-one-ment. To atone is therefore to set at one persons or things which were at a distance from each other, and atonement consists in their being set at one.' Hence atonement is synonimous with reconcilement; and it is by this latter word that xTahay in Rom. v. 11. (the text) should have been rendered, in accordance with the translation of the same term in other places. Advancing from words to things, Mr. W. observes that, in his text, men, not God, are said to have received the atonement or reconciliation; and this, he remarks, ought to decide the point that it is men, not God, whom Christ atones or reconciles. Christ patiently submitted to all his sufferings, not that he might appease the wrath of an incensed God and reconcile him to the world, but that he might effect the reconciliation of the world to God; and this reconciliation was made in a progressive way. It began by the introduction of the gospel, it proceeds by the personal reconciliation of sinners by the inBuence of the gospel, and it will be completed by the restitution of all things.'-Thus great importance is stamped on the work of Christ, without depreciating the character of the Father, or making (as on the common system) the salvation of man a matter of justice in the Deity, and not of mercy. We recommend this sermon to the perusal of such of our theologi. cal readers, as are desirous of thinking correctly on controverted doctrines. POLITICA L. Art. 45. Letters intercepted on board the Admiral Aplin (East Indiaman), captured by the French; and inserted by the French Government in the Moniteur and two supplementary Sheets, 16 Sept. 1804. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Westley. The English translator of these papers makes a few prefatory remarks on the act of the French government in printing them, and on the Mo-y. the propriety of submitting them to the British public; intimates his suspicions of interpolations; and then observes that he declines all farther comments, leaving the letters to speak for themselves. Considerable curiosity has been excited by the appearance of this private correspondence: but we think that very few of the letters are calculated to gratify that feeling, or to convey any information. A few there are of that description, which have been sufficiently circulated in the newspapers. It appears to us that there can be no doubt of the reality of the correspondence, but against its genuineness in all its parts many reasons may be urged: though a reference to the originals could alone disclose all the liberties which may have been taken with them. G. 2. Art. 46. Proofs relative to the Falsification of the intercepted Correspondence in the Admiral Aplin Indiaman. By William Playfair, 8vo. Is. 6d. All Booksellers. Mr. Playfair argues that proofs of the falsification of these papers may be drawn from various circumstances: but he relies principally on a letter which he received from a friend in Holland, dated 15th Sept. of whose integrity and information he speaks in high terms, and in which he was told; An English Indiaman has been taken near the Mauritius, with a correspondence on board, which Mr. O'Connor and Mr. O'Neil were occupied in altering and translating, to be put into the newspapers, when I left Paris. I cannot tell you the exact alterations; but the purpose for which they were made is to persuade the people and the army, that Bonaparte is ruining England with more certainty than if he invaded it. This is meant to be the use of the letters for France; and for England, they will be altered so as to set individuals at variance, and create uneasiness and jealousy-you may depend on this information, and that the paper dated at the Mauritius is printed in Paris, and not there.'-We see little other improbability in this statement, than that the circumstances should come to the knowlege of this letter-writer. The soul of deception is secrecy; and the stratagems of the French government ever were, and still are, peculiarly well concealed. Art. 47. A full Report of the Speeches of Sir Francis Burdett at the late Election; including those at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, of which but imperfect Sketches were given in the Newspapers, The legal Arguments upon the last Day of the Election, particuJarly the admired Speech of Mr. Plumer, are given at full length: together with a Selection of the Papers published during the Election; and a Preface, in which a Review is taken by the Editor, of the Conduct, Character, and Connections of Sir Francis Burdett, and also of the Conduct and Characters of his Opponents. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Symonds. So ample a statement of the contents of this pamphlet is conveyed to the reader by the title page, that no information on that point is requisite from us; and we have only to add that the editor is a very elaborate supporter and warm admirer of the character and conduct of Sir Francis Burdett. Do Do CORRES Our readers will recollect that, in the last Number of our Review (pp. 186, 187.) an extract was made from a work purporting to give the Correspondence of a Gentleman at Berlin with a Person of Distinction in London, in which the writer pretended to state certain facts respecting the British Embassy at St. Petersburgh. — It is gratifying to our national feelings, and to our respect for the nobleman who then represented this country at the Russian Court, to be enabled now to assure the public, on evidence which we consider as unquestionable, that the relation there given of several circumstances, which the author of that work supposes to have happened at St Petersburgh, during Lord St. Helens's embassy to that Court in 1801, is wholly without foundatian; that no such occurrences, in any shape or degree, ever took place; and that, the premises being false, the inferences are in course erroneous.-The nature of the topics discussed by this writer in his different publications, the peculiarities attending their appearance, the boldness of his sentiments, and the acuteness of his speculations, excited from us considerable attention: but, since his information thus stands convicted of fallacy in one material instance, his authority in others will become suspicious. We deem ourselves obliged by the letter of a Correspondent, who dates from Trinity College, Cambridge; and we shall not fail to attend to his communication, at the proper time and place. If Amicus will reconsider the nature of his statement, he must see that the insertion of it would lead us into very unpleasant controversy. Though we discuss principles, we must not intermix them with personalities; and even if the information of Amicus be correct in the latter point of view, it does not affect the general argument. We thank a Constant Reader,' whose letter bears the Norwich Post-mark, for his biographical particulars; and we shall very shortly take notice of the object of his postscript. Does J. C. intend to maintain that Shakspeare must be admitted as, authority for the use of any low, indecent, or ungrammatical word or phrase which may be found in the chequered writings of that extraordinary genius? If he does, we must assure him that we cannot abide by such a decision. Our friend near Lestwithiel' will find, on farther investigation, that we were justified in our remark. In the last Appendix, p. 457. 1. 19. for cultoris,' x. cultioris; and 1. 22. put a full stop instead of the interrogative mark after 'verborum. P. 458. 1. 11. for quam,' r. quum. In the Review for September, p. 58. 1. 10. from bottom, put comma after 'as.' P. 91. 1. 7. from bott. dele dn.' P. 99. I. 15. for 'caritatis,' r. caritales. P. 106. last line, put a comma after 'vice, and take it away after like.' Rev. for Oct. p. 199. note, dele the s în erratas. Ersors, pp. 259,323. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For DECEMBER, 1804. ART. I. Lord Teignmouth's Memoirs of Sir William Jones. [Article concluded from pp. 225—236.] WE very much approve the plan adopted by the noble author of this work, in making the subject of it in a great degree his own historian, by means of the correspondence which he maintained with various friends; and the letters which passed between him and several learned foreigners,― Count Reviczki, Schultens, Bayer, and others, are eminently interesting. To Count R., who had complained to him of the 'turbulence which he had witnessed at a Middlesex election, Mr. Jones thus replies: If I were not a sincere lover of truth, and averse from all dissimulation, I should lament that our capital has fallen under your inspection in these times of turbulence and distraction, when the liberty of my country, so universally celebrated, has degenerated into unbridled licentiousness, not to say outrage. The original form of our constitution is almost divine;-to such a degree, that no state of Rome or Greece, could ever boast one superior to it, nor could Plato, Aristotle, nor any legislator, even conceive a more perfect model of a state. The three parts which compose it are so harmoniously blended and incorporated, that neither the flute of Aristoxenus, nor the lyre of Timotheus, ever produced more perfect concord. What can be more difficult than to devise a constitution, which, while it guards the dignity of the sovereign and liberty of the people, from any encroachment by the influence and power of the nobility, preserves the force and majesty of the laws from violation, by the popular liberty? This was the case formerly in our island, and would be so still, if the folly of some had not prompted them to spur on the populace instead of holding them in. I cannot therefore restrain my indignation against Wilkes, a bold and able, but turbulent man, the very torch and firebrand of sedition; but what can be said in defence of the honour and consistency of some of our nobility, who, after having given him their countenance and support, shamefully deserted and betrayed him. If you wish to obtain more accurate information respecting our laws and customs, I recommend to your perusal Smith's Treatise on VOL. XLV. the ( the English Constitution, and the Dialogue of Fortescue in praise of the Laws of England. Thomas Smith was the English ambassador in France in the reign of Elizabeth, and his work is in Latin, and not inelegantly written. To Fortescue's little tract we may apply the words of Xenophon, to the Teleboas," it is not large, but beautiful." He was Chancellor of England under Henry the VIth, and was compelled by the distractions of the times, to take refuge with his pupil Prince Edward in France, where, in an advanced age, he composed his little golden dialogue. These books will convince you that our laws are framed with the greatest wisdom, and that as Pindar, quoted by Plato in his Gorgias, says, • When I reflect on our constitution, I seem as it were to con template a game at chess, a recreation in which we both delight. For we have a king whose dignity we strenuously defend, but whose power is very limited; the knights and rooks, and other pieces, have some kind of resemblance to the orders of nobility, who are employed in war, and in the management of public affairs; but the principal strength is in the pawns or people; if these are firmly united they are sure of victory, but if divided and separated, the battle is lost. The motions of all, as in the game of chess, are regulated by fixed laws: lastly, when I consider myself, I seem like a spectator, contemplating for his mere amusement the two parties at the game; but if it ever should be my lot, to be concerned in the administration of affairs, I will renounce gain and popularity, and pursue one object, and one only, to preserve our beautiful constitution inviolate.' Mr. Jones's literary enthusiasm is apparent from a letter which he wrote about this time to Lady Spencer, detailing the particulars of his visit to Forest-hill, situated within three miles of Oxford, which had been the residence of Milton during the three years that followed his first marriage; and where Mr. J. discovered the original scene, described in a most beautiful passage in the L'Allegro. The poet's house was close to the church, the greatest part of it has been pulled down, and what remains, belongs to an adjacent farm. I am informed that several papers in Milton's own hand, were found by the gentleman who was last in possession of the estate. The tradition of his having lived there is current among the villagers: one of them shewed us a ruinous wall that made part of his chamber, and I was much pleased with another, who had forgotten the name of Milton, but recollected him by the title of The Poet. It must not be omitted that the groves near this village are famous for nightingales, which are so elegantly described in the Peuseroso. Most of the cottage windows are overgrown with sweetbriars, vines, and honey-suckles, and that Milton's habitation had the same |