4to.

Pole, Bart. of Shute, &c. in Devonshire. PP. 586. 11. 11. 63. Boards. Nichols. 1791. Of this performance we need not fay much more than what may be collected from the editor's introduction, and from the titles allotted to the different parts into which it is divided. Sir W. P. was a member of the Inner Temple; and having attained a degree of eminence in his profeffion, received fome marks of diftinction: at his country refidence, he was a Julice of the Peace, and alfo ferved the office of High Sheriff. His leisure hours seem to have been fedulously employed in gathering materials toward a Defcription of Devonshire. Several of his manuscripts, more valuable, probably, than the prefent, are faid to have perifhed by different accidents; which confideration has operated as an additional incitement to the prefent publication. That it had been long the fubject of Sir William's attention, appears from an original letter written by him, preferved in the British Museum, dated 27th April 1604. It is addreffed to one of the Reynel family, which is ancient in this county. It relates (according to the orthography of that time,) to the petegree of the houfe: among other expreffions, are the following: I protest I am so far from partiall dealing in these my studies that I will not derogate from myne enemyes, nor add yt I cannot authentically prove for my friends. I purpose (God willing,) to fet out fomething for the antiquities of Devonshire. And therefore doe pray you of your help weh fhall not want pub. lick acknowledgment by mee. For I hold it good right every man posses his owne. Thus with my kindeft falutations, doe very hartily commend over my very loving affections to your gentle en tertaynment.'

Mr. Rifdon, who wrote the Survey of Devon, and was contemporary with Sir William Pole,-and Mr. Prince, who, about the close of the last century, published the Worthies of Devon,-speak with great regard both of Sir William, and of his manuscripts, to which they exprefs their obligations.

The first part of this work relates to the baronies of the county, and then acquaints us with thofe perfons who held their lands im. mediately from the crown, and with the names of those who have had the largest poffeffions, from the time of William the Conqueror to that of the writer. We have alfo a brief account of eminent men, heriffs, baronets, judges, juftices, &c. The third book of the first part introduces, what may properly be called, the Survey of Devon, commencing with Excefter; after a very fhort defcription of which, it is carried on throughout this book and also in the fecond part of the volume, of which it conftitutes a principal portion. The whole is concluded by a verbal delineation of the arms of nobles and gentlemen who have anciently refided, or do at prefent refide, in the county; with the names of fuch as have been distinguifhed, but are now not found there, and of others who, in this writer's time, retained their lands and their abode in this part of the kingdom.

Should the reader imagine that in his progrefs through the va riety of towns and villages here enumerated, he will find what may

be

Em

be termed their hiftory, his disappointment will be great; fince he will meet with little more than dry genealogies, formed, we doubt not, with great labour, and with accuracy: but in truth, uniaAtructive, uninterefting, and for the greater part, ufelefs. ployment, of any kind, if it be innocent, is fo far commendable: but furely, unless neceffity constrained, a man must be caft in a peculiar mould who could devote a confiderable part of his time, as this writer feems to have done, to this kind of study.

In the anecdotes of eminent men, one paffage particularly ftruck us as amufing and remarkable, which we fhall here add, according to the manner in which it appears in the volume:- St John de Sully, renowned for his exploits in the holy land, in which he was weakned by many wounds, return'd home after many yeares difcontinuance, where, upon his officeres bringing in the accounts of his rent, which amounted to a great maffe of mony; he caused his cloake, being of cloth of gold, to be spread on the ground, and commanding the mony to be put therein, caft himself thereinto, that it might be fayed for once he tumbled in gold and filver, whereof he afterward, gave one part to his wife, a 2nd to his officers and tenants, a 3d pte to the poor.'

The future Devonshire hiftorian may, without doubt, reap advantage from this collection ;-yet it appears to us improper to fuppofe that the whole of this tedious volume will be employed in the new defcription of the county, which is undertaken by the Rev. Mr. Polwhele :-that work, we hear, is in confiderable forwardness. Art. 60.

Letters between the Honourable and Right Reverend Father in God Shute, by Divine Providence, Lord Bishop of Durham, Count of the County Palatine, Earl of Sadberge, Baron Evenwood, &c. &c. and Percival Stockdale: A Correspondence interefting to every Lover of Literature, Freedom, and Religion. PP. 67. 2s. 6d. Ridgway. 1792.

8vo.

The Bishop of Durham's part in this correfpondence is very short, while Mr. Stockdale's Letters, and introductory obfervations, make the pamphlet. The facts are thefe. Mr. Stockdale prefented the Bishop of Durham with his Poetical Thoughts and Views on the Banks of the Wear, (noticed in our laft Review, p. 227) in which the Bishop is praised; this complimentary offering of the Mufes was followed, fome time after, with an application for the living of Hartburn, about to be vacant by the expected death of Dr Sharp. The Bishop replied that, when Mr. Stockdale afked for the living, Dr. Sharp was alive; he moreover expreffed his furprize that Mr. Stockdale fhould folicit more preferment in a county, whofe fevere climate he had urged as a plea for non-refidence. Mr Stockdale rejoined that the living of Hartburn would make him affluent; that he would encounter the climate with pleafure, notwithstanding it had not agreed with him; and that, by fuch an inftance of good fortune, his best feelings and fentiments would be unspeakably enriched. In answer to thefe reafons, with which he urged his request, Bishop Barrington returned the following laconic card: "The Bishop of Durham acquaints Mr. Stockdale that the living of Hartburn is difpofed of." On this, Mr. S. grew angry, repented him of the

praife which he lately beftowed, and expoftulated fharply with the Prelate. He then requested an interview, to which the Bishop agreed, on condition that Mr. Jerningham be prefent. At this condition, Mr. Stockdale grew more angry, and threatened to publish the correspondence.

He has been as good as his word: but we cannot commend his prudence. Much as we wish profperity and cafe to Mr. Stockdale, we do not, on the face of this publication, perceive fufficient ground for his attack on the Bishop of Durham, for refufing to give him the folid pudding of Hartburn in return for his empty praife. It does not appear that the Bishop ever promifed him preferment: but, fays Mr. Stockdale, I feel fentiments within me which deferve good fortune.' Other clergymen may feel the fame fentiments; and it muft lie with the Bishop to determine whofe feelings fhall be gratified.

Art. 61. Advice to the Poor, with a fhort Remonftrance to those in higher Circumstances. By James Stovin, Efq. 12mo. pp. 66. IS. Clarke. 1792.

This is a fhort fummary of ufeful philofophical hints to the rich as well as to the poor; which both may read to advantage: but, as is ufual in all fuch cafes, those who have the greatest need of good counfel, are the perfons who will not receive it. The bulk of mankind are incorrigible in habits dictated by their paffions; and fcorn to feek for knowlege in books: they are thinking individuals only who are wife enough to know the value of good advice, to accept it cordially, and to profit by it. To all fuch, this little manual may be recommended, as containing more profitable and ftriking truths than might be expected in a monitor of so humble a fize, and with fo plain and unaffuming a title.

Art. 62. A Treatise on the Game of Cribbage; fhewing the Laws and Rules of the Game, as now played at St. James's, Bath, and New Market: with the beft Methods of laying out your Cards, and expofing all the unfair Arts practifed by Sharpers. By Anthony Pafquin, Efq. 16°. pp. 96. 2s. 6d. Ridgway, &c. That cribbage is a favourite game at court, &c. will be news to many of our readers in the country. Mr. Pafquin affirms the fact, and we dare not difpute fuch authority. He, we understand, is " a man of wit and pleasure about town," and frequents the scenes of grandeur and gaiety;-fcenes, of which we recollect but little: for it is a long time fince the early days of Geo. II. when we now and then contrived to take a peep at what was going forward in the fashionable world.-Aye! thofe were pleafant days, when Harry Lintot used to lend us his father's old coats with embroidered buttonholes under favour of which, we could take a peep up the great ftairs at St. James's; or folace ourselves with an evening's regale at Vauxhall, and Cuper's Gardens :-but, now, fic tranfit gloria mundi! Art. 63. Of the Proportions of Eclipfe. By Mr. Charles Vial de Saint Bel, Equerry to the King, and Head of the Academy at Lions; antient Profeffor of the Royal Veterinary School of the fame City; Demonftrator in Comparative Anatomy at Montpellier; and Profeffor of the Veterinary College of London. 4to. French and English. pp. 67. 11. 18. Edwards, &c. 1791. Prefuming

Prefuming that it may gratify fome of our Equeftrian readers to know how the proportions of a horfe are determined fcientifically, we fhall copy the defcription of this high mettled racer, according to a table of the geometrical proportions ufed by the pupils of the veterinary schools in France.

ift, In that table, the horse fhould measure three heads in height, counting from the foretop to the ground. Eclipfe meafured upward of three heads and a half.

zdly, The neck fhould measure but one head in length; that of Ecliple measured a head and a half.

3dly, The height of the body fhould be equal to its length; the height of Eclipfe exceeded his length by one fifth.

4thly, A perpendicular line falling from the ftifle, should touch the toe; this line in Eclipfe touched the ground at the distance of half a head before the toe.

5thly, The distance from the elbow to the bend of the knee, fhould be the fame as from the bend of the knee to the ground; these two distances were unequal in Eclipfe, the former being two parts of a head longer than the latter.'

Thus it is established, that this univerfal victor, of unequalled speed, had not one true proportion of a good horse about him! This appears to be rather an aukward difcovery: but the comparative anatomist may perhaps be reconciled to it by the remainder of the work. This we have ftudied with great defire to understand it, and find the easiest way is, to grant all the author's pofitions; for they are fo elaborate and technical, that we, who know no more of the turf than we gain by our pedestrian exercises on it, to breathe a little fresh air after our labours, dare not prefume to doubt them. Art. 64. Memoirs of the Life of Charles Lee, Efq. Lieutenant Colonel of the Forty-fourth Regiment, Colonel in the Portuguese Service, Major General, and Aid du Camp to the King of Poland, and fecond in Command in Service of the United States of America during the Revolution: to which are added, his Political and Military Effays; alfo Letters to and from many diftinguished Characters both in Europe and America. 8vo. pp. 439. 5. Boards. Jordan. 1792.

General Lee was of Cheshire parentage; he entered young into the

The head, divided into 22 equal parts, is the common meafure for every part of the body. If the head appears too long or too fhort in a horfe, that common measure must be abandoned, and the height of the body taken from the top of the withers to the ground. This height being divided into three equal parts, one of these three parts fubdivided into 22 equal parts, will give a just geometrical length, fuch as the head would have given had it been rightly proportioned.'

If the head appears too long or too short,' how appears? Does the writer mean by the eye? If he does, the ftandard of measure begins in fancy. If fo, the alternative, or pofitive height of the body, appears to be the furer ftandard, though only offered as a fecondary refource.

army,

army, gained fome experience in America, attained the rank of Colonel, and ferved under General Burgoyne in Portugal. He appears to have been a man of fpirit, and to have had the failing incident to fuch a character, that of irritability; he was, in brief, a Hotspur. Unfortunately for Mr. Lee, his pen was as ready as his fword; and by using it contrary to the wishes of the miniftry, he excluded himself from all expectation of profeffional advancement. He then entered the Polish service, and, on the commencement of our American disturbances, went over to the fcene of action, and took a warm part in the cause of the Colonies.

It is infinuated that General Lee's military credit in America gained him a strong party in the congrefs to raise him to the firft command there; and that the rivalfhip between him and General Washington ended in the difgrace of the former, by his conduct at the battle of Monmouth: where fome management is hinted, as tending to injure the credit of Mr. Washington, who directed the operations; fomething akin to the battle of Minden. Be this as it may, an altercation took place between them; the result of which was the trial of Mr. Lee by a court martial, which fufpended him for twelve months. On this unfavourable turn of affairs, which took place in 1778, the General retired to his plantation in Berkeley County, Virginia; and at the clofe of 1782, being weary of fo obfcure a fituation, he left it, and died of a fever, at an inn in Philadelphia.

General Lee is reprefented as the firft fuggeftor of the declaration of American independence; and, from the impetuofity of his temper, the credit of promoting this measure may not be denied him, wherever it originated. The editor confeffes that his most difficult task in arranging thefe pofthumous papers, arofe from a defire of not giving offence to fuch characters as had been the object of the General's averfion and refentment. Unhappily his difappointments had foured his temper; the affair of Monmouth, feveral pieces of fcurrility from the prefs, and numerous inftances of private flander and defamation, fo far got the better of his philofophy, as to provoke him in the highest degree, and he became, as it were, angry with all mankind * This teftinefs appears in his writings, here published; and to complete his character, we may add what his editer acknowleges in the preface, So little of the courtier had he about him, that he never defcended to intimate any thing. Whatever he spoke or wrote, was in the fulleft ftyle of expreffion, or ftrong figure. He used to fay of Mr. Paine, the author of Commer Senfe in America, and fince, of the Rights of Man in England, that he burst forth upon the world, like Jove in thunder;" and this ftrength of conception, fo natural to General Lee, had it not been mixed with as ftrong a turn for fatire, and too much eccentricity of temper, would have rendered his converfation perpetually entertaining t."

A man who is hardy enough to wage war with all mankind, will foon find himself overwhelmed by numbers, whether they are right or wrong in the conteft.