ly of importance to a free nation to enquire how the government is administered, and they have an undoubted right to exprefs their fentiments concerning public measures: But by hom the government fhall be adminiftered, is no part of their confideration, the conftitution having lodged the power of appointment in the crown. R-d Art. 2. A Letter from an independent Man to his Friend, on a late Pamphlet, entitled, Obfervations on the Papers relative to the War with Spain. 8vo. 6d. Cooke. Contains fome fenfible animadverfions on the Obfervations. Review, March, p. 230. POETICA L. Art 3. The Apology. Addreffed to the Reviewers. By This blank, Efq; having been freely told that disagreeable truth which, impeaching his abilities, no Author ever yet believed, falls upon the Reviewers, in return for their honeft information, and lets them know that he holds their Performances as cheap as they hold his Verfes. This is all fair. The, Efq; hath certainly as good a right to his own judgment of us, as we had to condemn his dirty Rhymes, as he now confeffes them to have been. We are glad, however, to find that he hath refolved to profit by our advice, and to leave the vain delights of Poetry; or, according to his Motto, which we hope he will abide by, Nunc itaque et Verfus, et cætera ludicra pono. Art. 4. Two Odes to Indolence and to Impudence. 4to. I s. Dodfley. It was obferved by a celebrated Critic of the Auguftan age, that neither Gods, nor Men, nor Bookfeller's Shops, could bear indifferent Poets: but whatever the fons of Mediocrity might do in Rome, it is certain they find access to the Shops of Bookfellers by multitudes in London. Perhaps the Author of thefe Odes, had he been willing to take a little more pains, might have been exempted from this clafs; his Poetry is by no means deftitute either of harmony or imagery but, whether through negligence or want of judgment, we cannot take upon us to fay, he has confounded his images, the elegant with the burlefque, and the abftracted with the familiar. So it fares likewife with his expreffion, which is fometimes very unhappy, as in the following line: No more can Sweetest phyfic now attract. If this epithet were intended as ironical, it has little propriety, because the fpirit of the ftanza is not fo; if otherwife, it is ftill worle. In the Ode to Impudence the Author defcribes the power and influence of that Goddess as particularly prevalent in the kingdom of 6 Ireland, Ireland, and defcants on the wondrous efficacy of the river Shannon, in bronzing the brow of Modefty. But notwithstanding his cruel raillery on the poor Hibernians, we are inclined to believe that he is a native of the fame foil; for furely none but an Irishman could have wrote the following line: And they were wife before their beards had hairs. Our Poet himself, perhaps, has been actually plunged in the Shannon, though he affects to wifh for it; at leaft here is ftrong prefumptive evidence: Were there no Impudence in the world, fays he, then Each with his real merit would appear, And MY WELL-POLISH'D LINES WOULD CHARM EACH FEELING MISCELLANEOUS. (EAR. La. Art. 5. An Explanation of the propofed Scheme for better paving, repairing, cleaning, and lighting the Squares, Streets, and Lanes, of the City and Liberty of Westminster, and the adjacent Parishes. To which is annexed, a Plan, defcribing the District over which the fame is propofed to extend. By a Member of Parliament. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Jeffries. From the different qualities of the ftones used to pave the Streets, and the irregularity in repairing Pavement at the precarious option of House-keepers, the expediency of the Act lately paffed for an uniform improvement in these refpects, is clearly fhewn, as well as the neceffity of cleaning and lighting the Streets, notwithstanding the prejudices of thofe who have oppofed the Act, for want of underftanding it. From the Explanation of the Scheme here given, it appears to be a truly public-fpirited undertaking, founded on reafonable principles, and far from proceeding from thofe finifter views to which it has been afcribed. Art. 6. The Life and Adventures of Chriftopher Wagstaffe, Gent. Grandfather to Triftram Shandy, &c. &c. Small Octavo. 2 Vols. 5s. bound. Hinxman." ance. A lively and facetious imitation of Mr. Sterne's famous performBut if the Author merits praise for his ingenuity, he deferves chaftifement for his prefumptuoufnefs: he speaks evil of dignities; he has even dared to attack the REVIEWERS! A cunning elf! He has taken the field before us, and forced us to act upon the defensive. "And now (fays this exulting bold-face) every thing you fay mult, in this cafe, be demonftrably dictated by paffion and refini You cannot be Jupp fed to be impartial. I am before-band with you. I have nick'd you. You must either fay nothing about this Performance, or fpeak in its praife." What an arch r! But, as an unlucky boy may make a good man, and as this feems to be his firft offence, we forgive him this time, in hopes of his coming to a right fenfe of his duty, and fhewing better manners for the future: we shall see how he behaves in his third Volume. ment. 5 Art. 7 Art. 7. The Students, a Comedy. Altered from Shakespear's Love's Labour Loft, and adapted to the Stage. Evo. Is. 6d. Hope. It is very easy to retrench the fuperfluities of fo exuberant a genius as Shakespeare. This Editor has, we apprehend, fucceeded in most of his alterations of this Comedy; but to what end has so much pains been taken? If his Students do not previously make their appearance upon the stage, we apprehend they will never find their way into the closet. Art. 8. A fresh Complaint lately exhibited by the Dutch EaftIndia Company, against the Servants of the English Eaft-India Company in Bengal. Tranflated from the original Dutch, printed by Authority. 4to. Is. Becket. Since the Convention between the English and Dutch, in the year 1759, the Nabob in alliance with the former has been making depredations upon the latter; has razed one of their forts, and extorted a great fum of money from them. The Complaint against the Englifh imports, that they were the unjuft inftigators of all this mifchief. -If our East-India Company can anfwer this Charge as fatisfactorily as they have answered the former Complaint from the States, our induftrious neighbour, Nic. Frog, will have nothing left for it, but to defift from all his cunning tricks, and to copy the open, fair, and downright behaviour of his old friend John Bull; who, we dare anfwer for him, will never do any thing to hurt Nic, while Nic behaves as he should do. Art. 9. The Hiftory of Mecklenburgh, from the firft Settlement of the Vandals in that Country, to the prefent Time; including a Period of about three thousand Years. 8vo. 5s. Newbery. The Author has traced the History of this Branch of the Germanic Empire from the earliest accounts. The ftyle is eafy, and the materials appear to be faithfully collected from Authors of credit. Bufching, who is no where referred to in this Collection, appears to be the best authority for accounts of any part of Germany. * See Review for February laft, wherein we began an account of Bufching's performance, which is concluded in this Number. Art. 10. The Orators. As it is now performing at the new Theatre in the Hay-Market. Written by Mr. Foote. 8vo. Is. 6d. Coote. The fuccefs attending Mr. Sheridan's late public I ectures on Oratory has furnished this arch-droll, this eminent Professor of Mimicry, with a fine opportunity for raising a fummer's-contribution on the Public; no unusual expedient with Mr. Foote, who has made many a lucky campaign of this kind. Indeed, as far as the excellence of buffoonry goes, this comical Genius is certainly excellent, and seldom fails to divert us with his lively freaks and whimsical grimace. If the indulgence of our natural rifibility be conducive to health, this egregious mimic hath alfo, not only undoubted merit in his way, but may not be efteemed altogether an useless member of fociety. At leaft, let his enemies fay what they will, while he continues to do fomething for a livelihood, he cannot be charged with eating the bread of idleness: but, though we allow him all the merit of a buffoon, we can fay very little in his favour as a Writer. The piece before us, like the rest of his productions, is much better calculated for the Stage than the Prefs. This, it is true, muft neceffarily be the cafe with fuch IMITATIVE performances as the prefent. Could our Orator have printed the figures, gefture, and declamation of himself and his pupils, his Readers might have had an opportunity to laugh with his Spectators and Auditors; but in vain do we turn over the leaves of this Pamphlet, in search of the entertainment, that so agree. ably engaged our eyes and tickled our ears at the Hay-Market: in vain do we enquire after the modern Orator's Fun, as the Reader of old did after the ancient Orator's Thunder. If the present Profeffor, indeed, had confulted his literary credit, he would have reflected on the difadvantages which thus attend all oratorial productions, and have fuppreffed the publication of his Piece. By his prefuming to publifh it, however, he seems to maintain its claim to approbation, as a dramatic performance: it may be doing Mr. Foote, therefore, a friendly office, perhaps, to acquaint him that he is by no means qualified to fhine in print. To accommodate wit, fpirit, or humour, to the model of literary compofition, requires the genius and underftanding of a MAN. The fhining talents of the prefent Writer refemble those of an animal of an inferior fpecies; fo that, placing his admiring audience in a rank of beings fomething higher than himself, we may make a little variation in the words of the Poet, and transfer their application with propriety from a Newton to a Foote : Superior Beings, when of late they faw A Wag take off the Senate and the Law, And prais'd a Foote as one would praise an Ape. K-n-K Art. 11. The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat, Daughter of the late Admiral Yeo, of Plymouth. Written by herself. 12mo. 2 Vols. 5s. fewed. Printed for Mrs. Jemmat, at Mr. Walker's, Shoemaker, Charing-Crofs. Mrs. Jemmat is, in fome measure, a fecond Pilkington, both in fortune (or rather misfortune) and in genius; but as the British Lady does not appear to have been reduced fo low in circumstances as the unhappy Hibernian, neither do her abilities entitle to rank so high in the Republic of Letters. She poffeffes, however, an ingenious pen; and both her Memoirs and her Verfes may induce her compaffionate Readers to pity her fituation, while they are entertained with her performance. Art. 12. Art. 6. The Hißory of the Excellence and Decline of the Conftitution, Religion, Laws, Manners, and Genius of the Sumatrans, &c. Vol. I. 8vo. 4s. Kcarfly. This is fuch a fatyrical review of our Religion, Laws, Manners, &c. as might be expected from the Milanthropic pen of Dr. Shebbeare; who, notwithstanding his ill-nature, his virulence, and incorrect writing, is a man of fome obfervation and fancy. There are even strokes, of genius in this production, which almost compensate for its defects and extravagancies. Art. 13. The Citizen of the World: Or, Letters from a Chinese Philofopher in London, to his Friend in the Eaft. 12mo. 2 Vols. 6s. Newbery. Although this Chinese Philofopher has nothing Afiatic about him, and is as errant an European as the Philofopher of Malmesbury; yet he has fome excellent remarks upon men, manners, and things-as the phrafe goes. But the Public have been already made fufficiently acquainted with the merit of thefe entertaining Letters, which were firft printed in The Ledger; and are fuppofed to have contributed not a little towards the fuccefs of that Paper. They are said to be the work of the lively and ingenious Writer of An Enquiry into the prefent State of Polite Learning in Europe; a Writer, whom, it seems, we undefignedly offended, by fome Strictures on the conduct of many of our modern Scribblers. As the obfervation was entirely general, in its intention, we were furprized to hear that this Gentleman had imagined himself in any degree pointed at, as we conceive nothing can be more illiberal in a Writer, or more foreign to the character of a Literary Journal, than to defcend to the meannefs of perfonal reflection. It is hoped that a charge of this fort can never be juftly brought against the Monthly Review. Art. 14. The Yearly Chronicle, for 1761: Or, A Collection of the most interesting and striking Essays, Letters, &c. which appeared in the St. James's Chronicle for that Year. To which is added, a Diary of the most remarkable Events. The whole ferving as a complete Register of the Politics, News, Literature, &c. of that Period. 8vo. 5s. 6d. in Boards. Becket, &c. The temporary importance, which popularity gives to various infignificant fubjects, makes a great deal of literary trash abfolutely neceffary among the feveral ingredients of a News-paper. A felect Collection, however, of the most ingenious Tracts and Obfervations on the different Occurrences and Topics of the Times, as they become fucceffively popular, cannot fail to prove at once extremely useful, inftructive, and entertaining. For however contemptible the opinion in which some perfons affect to hold the occafional Productions of the Day, we will venture to declare, we know of no other fund 1 |