afylum of thofe, who will naturally come to implore your juftice or your clemency; the more eafy you are of access to your fubjects, the more will you augment its fplendor and majefty. And is it not juft, that the nation which of all the world best loves its mafters, fhould alfo have moft right to approach them? Oh, Prince! fhew to your people all thofe amiable gifts and talents, wherewith heaven hath endowed you; let them have a near view of that happiness which they expect from your reign. The charms and majefty of your perfon, the goodnefs and rectitude of your heart, will always better fecure to you the homage due to your rank, than your authority and your power can do.

Thofe invifible and effeminate Princes; thofe Ahafuerufes, before whom it was a crime worthy of death for Efther hertelf to venture to appear without being ordered; and whofe prefence alone froze the very blood in the veins of their fuppliants; -when once feen near, were nothing but female idols, without foul, or life, or courage, or virtue,-in the very heart of their palaces delivered up to vile flaves; feparated from all commerce, as if they had not been worthy of fhewing themfelves to mankind; or as if men, made like themselves, had not been worthy to fee them :-men, in fhort, whofe obfcurity and folitude conftituted all their majesty.

There is a fort of felf-confidence in affability, which fits well upon the great; which makes them never afraid of debas ing themselves by their humility, and is in fome measure a fpecies of valour and pacific courage. To be inacceffible and haughty, is to be weak and timid.

Again; the moft inexcufable circumftance attending those princes and great men, who never offer to their people any thing but a difdainful and severe countenance, is, that it cofts them fo little to conciliate their hearts to them. For this purpofe, there needs neither labour nor ftudy;-a fingle word, a gracious fmile, a look only, is fufficient. The people reckon them as every thing; their rank gives value to every thing. The ferenity of the King's countenance alone, faith the fcripture, is the life and felicity of the people; and his gentle and humane demeanour, is to the hearts of his fubjects, as the dew of the evening to dry and thirsty lands." In the light of the King's countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain."--Prov. xvi. 15.

And can any man fuffer thofe hearts to be alienated from him, which may be gained at fo low a price? Is it not debating onefelf, thus to undervalue all humanity? Does he deferve th: name of great, who knows not even how to discern the value of men?

• Hath

Hath not nature already impofed a penalty heavy enough upon the people, and upon the unfortunate, in having made them be born in dependance, and, as it were, in flavery? Is it not enough that the meannefs or unhappiness of their condition, makes it a duty, a kind of law with them, to crouch, and to pay homage? Muft their yoke be ftill aggravated by contempt, and by a haughtiness which is itself fo worthy of that contempt? Is it not enough that their dependence is a pain? muft they ftill be made to blush at it as a crime? and if any one is to be afhamed of his condition, who should it be-the poor man who fuffers it, or the great man who abuses it?

Indeed, very often, humour alone, rather than pride, effaces from the countenances of the great that ferenity, which renders them acceffible and affable; it is an unevennefs proceeding from caprice, rather than haughtiness. Engroffed by their pleasures, and fatigued with the homage paid them, they no longer receive them but with difguft; it feems as if affability would become a tiresome duty, and put them to trouble. In confequence of being honoured, they are fatigued with the honours beftowed upon them; and they often withdraw themfelves from the public homage, in order to fcreen themselves from the fatigue of appearing fenfible of it. But with how little tender feeling muft he be born, who fancies it painful to appear humane! Is it not barbarity, to receive, not only without being touched, but even with difguft, thofe marks of love and refpect, which are prefented to us by our humble inferiors? Is it not not declaring aloud, that he merits not the affection of the people, who thwarts the tendereft evidences of it? Shall those moments of humour and chagrin, which the cares of grandeur and authority draw after them, be pleaded in this cafe-But is hutnour then fuch a privilege of the great, that it may be urged in excufe of their vices?

Alas! If any might be allowed to be gloomy, capricious, and melancholy,-a burden to others and to themselves, it fhould furely be those unfortunates, who are furrounded by hunger and mifery, by domeftic wants and calamities, and all the blackest cares of human exiftence !-they would be much more worthy of excufe, if frequently bearing grief, bitterness, and defpair in their hearts, they fhould let fome symptoms of it efcape them. But that the great,-that the happy ones of the world, with whom every thing fmiles, whom joy and pleasure every where accompany; that thefe fhould pretend to derive a privilege from their felicity itfelf, to excufe their fantaftical ill humours and caprice! that the fe fhould be permitted to be angry, uneafy, and forbidding, because truly they are more happy!—that these should regard it as a right acquired by

their prosperity, to load ftill more heavily with their tempers, the unhappy, who already groan under the yoke of their authority and power!-Great God! what shall we call this?— the privilege of the great, or a punishment of the ill use they make of their greatnefs?-For certain it is, that caprice, gloominefs and care, feem to be the peculiar lot of the great, and the innocency of joy and ferenity only that of the people.

But affability, which takes its fource in humility, is not one of thofe fuperficial virtues which dwell only upon the countenance: it is a fenfation which fprings from the tendernefs and goodness of the heart. Affability would be but an infult and a derifion to the unhappy, if while it fhewed them a fmooth and open countenance, it shut up our bowels against them; and rendered us more acceffible to their complaints, only to render us more infenfible of their pains.'

As we cannot be too cautious of importing the principles of foreign Roman Catholic priests, on the interesting topics of religion and government, however unexceptionable their fentiments may fometimes be, on moral subjects, we are forry to obferve that Dr. Dodd hath not expunged every thing which, as PROTESTANTS and BRITONS, we might justly object to, in fome of the prefent, otherwife excellent difcourfes; efpecially as they are now addreffed to the heir apparent of the British throne. None, furely, can be ignorant, that the early impreffions made on the minds of young Princes, may prove of the utmost good or ill confequence to the people over whom they are deftined to fway the fceptre of royalty; and can it, for inftance, be deemed proper, or expedient, that fuch fentiments as the following, on the fubjection of the regal power to church-authority, fhould be inculcated within the walls of St. James's? viz.

Princes, fays MASSILLON, ought to touch religion only to defend it. Their zeal is only of ufe to the church where it is requested by its paftors.-They fhould referve to themfelves only the honour of protection, and wave that of decifion and judgment. The Bishops are their fubjects, but they are their fathers according to the faith: their birth fubjects them to the authority of the throne; but as concerning myfteries of faith, the authority of the throne glories in fubmitting itself to that of the church.-Princes have no other right than to enforce the execution of her decrees, and by firft fubmitting to thofe decrees themselves, to give an example of fubmiffion to other believers.'--Are thefe flavish ideas of church authority the fentiments which Dr. Dodd would imprefs on the tender, ductile mind of the young Prince, whole royal father is, by the law and conftitution of this REV. April 1770.

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realm,

realm, the fupreme head of the church? We fay no more, but we recommend it to the reverend Tranflator, as a Protestant divine, to be more attentive to the contents of this book, fhould it come to a fecond Edition.-As to the merit of the tranflation, it will be fufficient to obferve, without defcending to particulars, that thofe who are acquainted with the Bishop of Clermont in his character as a French orator, and those who see him only in his English dress, will have very different ideas of his literary and oratorical abilities.

ART. III. Letters of Baron Bielfield, Secretary of Legation to the King of Pruffia, Preceptor to Prince Ferdinand, Chancellor of the Universities in the Dominions of his Pruffian Majefty, F. R. A. B. &c. Author of the Political Inflitutes. Containing original Anecdotes of the Pruffian Court for the last twenty Years. Tranflated from the German, by Mr. Hooper. Vols. 11. and Iv. 12mo. 5 s. fewed. Robinson and Roberts, &c. 1770.

E fhould have renewed our acquaintance with the lively,

WE free and easy Baron Bielfield, in the English dress,

with much more pleasure, had he been attended with any other gentleman-ufher than this odd humorist of a translator; whofe affected peculiarities were remarked in our account of the former volumes. Nor can we yet difcover by what_principles, beyond thofe of arbitrary whim, he impofes on his Readers the obligation of ftudying a debafed orthography before they can clearly understand their mother tongue according to his model. That decency which every writer ought to obferve, to maintain a good understanding with his readers, required at least some apology or juftification, for liberties, which, as the affair stands, are neither genteel nor agreeable.

Thefe letters, though pofterior in publication, are antecedent in date to the two former volumes: yet letter xxx. containing remarks on the public fports of the English, and which is dated in 1741, gives an account, among other things, of the affair of the bottle-conjuror, which did not happen till about the time of the peace at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748: this paffage, therefore, must be an interpolation fupplied long after the writing of the letter in which it appears, and might have figured better in

a note.

We are feldom gratified with mifcellaneous productions which contain fuch a variety of entertainment in a small compafs as may be found in the letters of this agreeable German. Letters iii and iv, give an account of his prefent Pruffian majefty's being made a free-mafon, clandeftinely, during the lifetime of his royal

Review, vol. xxxix. p. 276.

father.

father. Letter vii, defcribes Potzdam, and the famous gigantic regiment of which the late king was fo fond, in an agreeable excurfion to that elegant place.

In all the letters in which the Baron mentions the then prince of Pruffia, he appears to have formed the highest idea of the talents and difpofition of his R. H. tho' he was once a sufferer by one of his fallies of humour, in which the ladies of the prince's court were too mifchievously good-natured to withhold their feducing affiftance. This difafter the Baron thus defcribes :

'But as there is no felicity that is abfolutely perfect, fo the pleafures that I have enjoyd at Rheinsberg, have been dafhd with bitternes by a fingular accident, of which, Madam, I fhall here give an account; as you will foon fee me return to Hamburg, with two wounds on my forehead, a fable eye, and a cheek coverd with all the colors of the rainbow; it is proper that I apprife you of this cataftrophe. We feldom fail to feel the effects of a debauch, and it was at a bacchanalian rout that I acquired all thofe ornaments. About a fortnight fince, the prince was in a humor of extraordinary gayety, at table. His gayety animated all the reft; and fome glaffes of champagne still more enlivend our mirth. The prince, perceiving our difpofition, was willing to promote it; and on rifing from table, told us he was determind we fhould recommence our jollity at fupper, and in the fame place where we had left off. Toward evening I was calld to the concert; at the end of which the prince faid to me, Go now to the princesses apartment, and when he has finifhd, her play we will fit down to table, and went quit it till the lights are out, and we are fomwhat enlightend with champagne. I regarded this .hreat as a pleafantry, for I knew that partys which are exprefly intended for this purpose, feldom fucceed, but commonly becom more dull than joyous. On entring the princenes apartment, however, her highnes convinced me that the affair was very ferious, and prognofticated with a smile, that I fhould not be able to defend myself againft the princes attack. In fact, we were fcarce feated before he began, by drinking a number of interesting healths, which there was a neceffity of pledging. This first firmifh being over, it was followd by an inceffant flow of fallys and repartees, by the prince and the company; the most contracted countenances became expanded, the gayety was general, even the lady's affifted in promoting our jollity. After about two hours, we found that the largest refervoirs, by perpetually filling, might be overflown: neceffity has no law; and the greateft refpect could not prevent fome of us, from going to take the fresh air in the veftibule. I was one of the number: when I went out I found myself sober enough, but the air feized me, and on entering the hall, I perceived a fort of vapour that feemed to cloud my reafon. I had placed before me a large glafs of water, which the princefs, oppofit to whom I had the honour to fit, in a vein of mifchievous pleafantry, had ordered to be emptyd, and had filld it with fellery wine, which was as clear as rock water; to that, having already loft my tafte, I mixd my wine with wine; and thinking to refresh myself, I became joyous, but it was a kind of joy that leand Boward intoxication. To finish my picture, the prince ordered me .

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