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pected to produce annually, in his turn, under the penalty of forfeiting half a guinea, an essay on some subject related to the art; and an original architectural design with critical illustrations, under the penalty of forfeiting two guineas. The contents of this first volume are four essays; one by Mr. Edmund Aikin on Modern Architecture, as compared with ancient; one by Mr. Samuel Beazley, Jun. on the Rise and Progress of Gothic Architecture, a neat comprehensive sketch; one by Mr. J. Woods, of considerable interest, on the Situations and Accompaniments of Villas; and another by the same gentleman briefly stating the law and practice relative to Dilapidations. In all the Essays, the candid artist, though he may not constantly acquiesce, will discern diligence and talent, and the unprofessional reader will be gratified with pleasing information and intelligent remarks.

Art. XXI. A Letter to the Governors, Legislatures, and Proprietors of Plantations, in the British West India Islands. By the Right Rev. Beilby Porteus, D. D. Bishop of London, 8vo. pp. 48. Price 1s. 6d. Cadell and Davies, 1808.

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IN the calm and solemn decline of a long and bright life, we find this venerable prelate still exerting his beneficent influence; and we should regard this pamphlet with unmingled pleasure, if we could reckon on its meeting with a reception corresponding to its value from the persons to whom it is directed. In recommending a plan for civilizing the negroes in the West India Islands, the Bishop confines himself, in the first place, and with very good reason, to the secular profit which it will yield the planters. The main point, to prove a measure right, is to prove it lucrative. The policy of this plan is rendered obvious, not only by the superior value which in the Danish Islands is set on the converted and civilized negroes, but from the urgent necessity, arising from the Abolition of the Slave Trade, of encouraging the native negro population. The prosperity, and even the existence of the plantations, must depend in future on the increase of the native negroes by births; the licentiousness of the negroes i at present a fatal obstacle to this increase; and nothing but religious instruction affords any hope of restraining this licentiousness. The Bishop acknowledges the difficulty of finding "clergymen of character disposed to undertake foreign missions, and properly qualified for the due discharge of them;" as an easy, cheap, and efficacious substitute, he recommends the establishment of parochial schools in every parish of the West India Islands. These schools, being conducted on the Madras plan, may be supported at an expense comparatively trivial. As resources for defraying it, he mentions a subscription in England, which he offers to commence with a donation of 500/., and to reinforce with a like sum if requisite; he looks with confidence to the support of the British Legislature, to the funds of the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves, of which he is President, and to the levying a very small parochial rate on the Plantations. There are some obstacles to the plan, beside the expense. As to the want of time, the author exhorts the planters to allow the adult negroes the whole Sunday for themselves; this indeed they have now, but it is of necessity employed in cultivating their little patches of land for subsistence, and selling the produce at the public market held on that day the market must therefore be abolished, and a few hours allowed to the negross in the course

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of the week. This is however no difficulty, in regard to the children. Two other prevalent objections are noticed and ably confuted; that a knowledge of reading lays the negroes open to the effect of pernicious books, and that making them good Christians would make them bad slaves. This part of the pamphlet deserves particular attention

Having demonstrated the policy and facility of establishing parochial schools, the worthy prelate enforces the duty of the proprietors with much force and fervency; and he exhorts them to emulation by the example of the Baptist Missionary Society (which is here spoken of as "the Asiatic Society," and "the Society formed in Bengal for the Translation of the Scriptures,") the British and Foreign Bible Society,

and the African Institution.

It will give us sincere pleasure to find this excellent letter produce the same sensation in the minds of West India Proprietors, which it must infallibly excite among all intelligent Christians. And we earnestly hope that the spirit of opposition to His Majesty in Council, and to Christianity itself, which at this moment maintains an ascendancy in the Corporation of Kingston, which at this moment menaces the negro who shall pray or sing within hearing, or attend the preaching of missionaries, except in working hours, with whipping and severe imprisonment, may not be so prevalent among the Planters, as to frustrate the efforts of this exemplary Prelate. We cannot leave the subject without remarking the great importance of genuine religion in the schoolmasters: and the much g eater importance of it in the parochial clergy, who, it is suggested, would be visiting Superintendants of the schools; but to enter into detail, on a plan that is before a tribunal of West India Proprietors, would perhaps be impolitic, and is undoubtedly superfluous.

The appendix contains a good sketch drawn up by Dr. Bell, of the new system of education for the poor, applied to the case of negroes. Art. XXII. A Letter to the King, on the State of the Established Church of England. 8vo. pp. 54. 1s. 6d. J. J. Stockdale. 1508,

To qualify a modern pamphleteer or journalist to discuss the grounds of schism, and he interests of the church, it seems chiefly necessary that the should have preserved his mind totally unbiassed by any authentic information on the subject; he must possess an entire ignorance of the distinguishing names, sentiments, and relative importance, of the several religious communities, with so much stupidity as not to see, or so much pride as not to care, in what light this ignorance is regarded among liberal and intelligent men. In this qualification, the author before us is nearly as accomplished as his brethren. We cannot say, however, that he is wholly exempt from just ideas. He is apprized that one of the causes of dissent is, the unsuitable character and deportment of individuals among the clergy; this he exemplifies by some curious facts, and proposes to remove by some inadequate remedies. He is grossly mistaken in supposing that the state of the liturgy, and the orthodoxy of the articles, is in any material degree a cause of dissent; it is not the cause, we will venture to say, in one case out of fifty.

We have only to state further, that the author recommends the more liberal introduction of painting, music, and sculpture, into our churches; and that he retails nearly all the falsehoods and misrepresentations which VOL. IV.

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have been broached to the discredit of dissenters. We have too much candour to be unwilling to respect his intentions, but before he writes again on this subject, we would recommend that he should endeavour to understand it.

Art. XXIII. On the Education of the Lower Orders of Society. A Ser-. mon, preached at St. Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, July 15, 1806, before the Society of the Orphan Hospital, and published at their Request by David Dickson, one of the Ministers of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. With an Appendix, containing an Account of the Progress and Present State of the Institution. 8vo pp. 62. Price 1s. 6d. Edinburgh, Simpson.

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HIS is a well reasoned and well written discourse. The preacher defines, in the first place, the nature and extent of the education which it is desirable to give to the lower orders, including religious instruction, and the knowledge requisite for their station in life; he then demonstrates the importance of providing them with the means of such an education, to promote their personal interest, their social usefulness, and the national welfare. The following extract will furnish the reader with a specimen of those just and enlightened views, which he may expect to meet with on the several important topics mentioned in our analysis.

To those, who doubt the possibility of communicating any just notions of religion to children, the following questions may be suggested. Are not children early susceptible of love and hatred? acquainted with the difference between right and wrong? inquisitive about the characters of men, as well as the properties of external objects? conscious of the propriety, even of the restraints, to which they are unwilling to submit? and capable of believing facts, on the testimony of those who, they are convinced, have no intention to deceive them? May they not, therefore, be as early taught, that they ought to love God and hate sin; to restrain their passions, and obey his law; to read his word, and pray for his blessing? Are not they as capable of believing the great facts recorded in scripture, especially those concerning the Saviour, who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God?" And may they not be led to feel an interest in the history of his life and sufferings which are so admirably fitted to excite every generous and tender emotion of the heart? Or, finally, is it deemed of importance to instruct them in their duties to their fellow creatures? Must it not be, at least, of equal importance, to teach them their perpetual, their innumerable obligations to Him, in whose hand their breath is, and whose are all their ways?

Were it proposed merely to load their memory with a number of theological words, the meaning of which it might be as difficult for the teacher to explain, as for his pupils to understand, the objection would have considerable force. But as the knowledge to be communicated is, in every part, of a practical tendency, directly bearing on the dispositions, the temper, and the habits, of those who receive it, the difficulty respecting the possibility of conveying just notions of religion to children, vanishes into air before the importance of the object, and the probability of attaining it. Wherefore, let not parents and teachers undervalue the capacities of the young; but rather let them guide their opening powers of reason to the truth as it is in Jesus. In the morning let them sow the seed, and in

the evening let them not withhold their hand; so may their children grow up like the palm tree, and, planted in the house of the Lord, flourish in the courts of our God.' pp. 17-19.

Art. XXIV. The Proceedings of a General Court Martial, held at Chelsea Hospital, on Thursday, January 28, 1808, and continued, by Adjourn ment, till Tuesday, March 15, for the Trial of Lieut. Gen. Whitelocke, late Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in South America. Taken in Short-Hand, by Mr. Gurney. With the Defence copied from the Original, by Permission of Gen. Whitelocke; also all the Documents produced on the trial. 2 Vols. 8vo. pp. 870. Price 11. 1s. boards. Portsmouth, Mottley; Longman & Co. 1808.

Is it true, that the facility of obtaining promotion without deserving it, in the several professions, is almost precisely in an inverse proportion to their respective importance? Let the reader judge of this importance and this facility, when he considers the state of the professions that are intrusted with the management or the decision of a horse-cause, with the amputation of a limb, with the lives of an army, and the care of souls.

We shall make no other comment on a subject, unhappily so familiar to the public mind as the catastrophe of Buenos Ayres. A most honourable tribunal, has given a satisfactory decision; and there is nothing left for us to add, but our earnest wishes that the melancholy event may not have happened in vain. Mr. Gurney's name is an ample pledge for the authenticity and accuracy of this publication; which is distinctly printed, and accompanied with two plans, the one of Buenos Ayres, the other of the movements of the troops.

Art. XXV. A Statement of the Numbers, the Duties, the Families, and the Livings, of the Clergy of Scotland. Drawn up in 1807, by the Rev. William Singers, Minister at Kirkpatrick-Juxta. 8vo. pp. 71. Price 28. H. Pack, Edinburgh; Harding. 1808.

T is impossible to give, within moderate limits, any abstract of the various information, contained in this pamphlet We shall therefore content ourselves with mentioning its object and plan. It is intended as an argument for revising and improving the means of subsistence at present enjoyed by the clergy of Scotland; whose stipends, in many instances, have been exceedingly reduced by the depreciation of money, and other causes. It therefore includes a comprehensive view of the history and present state of the livings, compared with the necessary expences of the incumbents. The number of ministers is 936, the ave rage number of their families, including servants, nine; the average income 1501. The author seems to have executed his task well, and has received the thanks of the General Assembly. To those who would feel interested in a detailed critique on this subject, we recommend the pamphlet itself, which is replete with information, perspicuously arranged, though expressed in idiomatic and forensic terms, that may not always be quite intelligible to an English reader.

ART. XXVI. SELECT LITERARY INFORMATION.

GREAT BRITAIN.

The Rev. Robert Adams of Edinburgh, will shortly send to the press a work on which he has long been engaged, and which is designed to comprise a View of the Reigions of the World, comprehending Paganism, Judaism, Mahometanism, and Christianity; with a more detailed account of the various sects and parties into which many of them, and Christianity more especially, may have been divided. The work will form two volumes in octavo.

The Rev. Thomas Le Mesurier will shortly publish a Volume of Bampton Lectures, on the sin and ill-consequence of Schism, including a short Sketch of English Ecclesiastical History from the Reformation, with a view of distinguishing the case of the separation which took place between the several protestant churches and the church of Rome from that of the dissenters in this country.

A new Edition of Robinson's Scripture Characters, in 4 vols. is in the press, and will speedily be published.

The Rev. George Cook, Laurence-kirk, (N. B.) has nearly ready for publication, an illustration of the General Evidence establishing the reality of Christ's Resurrection.

Soon will appear, a Diamond Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. By the Rev. John Brown of Haddington. This little work is intended to bind with small po ket bibles: it has been between two and three years in the press. The price will be 4s. in boards.

The Rev. Mr. Hill, of Homerton, is preparing for the press, Animadversions on the Rev. W. Parry's "Strictures on the Origin of Moral Evi, &c." with an Appendix containing Strictures on the Rev. W: Bennet's "Remarks on a recent Hypothesis on the Origin of Moral Evil, &c."

Mr. Robinson, late of Seaford, will shortly publish two volumes of Poems, on Moral and Patriotic Subjects.

Mr. Tart, of Liverpool, has a volume of Poems consisting of Odes, Sonnets, &c. ready for the Press.

as written by Mr. Langhorne and Dr. Johnson. The Notes contain also Biographical Remarks and Anecdotes of the Poet, which have escaped the notice of those Biographers.

Mis. Sewell is preparing a third volume of Poems and Essays, to be published by subscription.

The Fisher's Boy, a poetical Work, on the plan of the Fariner's Bay, is in the press.

Mr. Raymond will shortly publish The Passions, written by William Collins, embellished with sixteen superb engravings, by Anthony Cardon, from designs by Robert Ker Porter; with Notes and a Comparative Review, by the Editor of the Life of Collins,

Shortly will be published in 1 vol. 8vo. with Engravings, Hints on the Economy of feeding Stock, and bettering the Condition of the Poor; by J. C. Curwen, Esq. M. P. Workington, Cumberland.'

A Gentleman of Edinburgh is about to publish an original work on Political Economy, contain ng an inquiry into the extent and stability of National Resources. The object of the publication is much the same as that of the popular publication of Mr. Speace, to prove that the decay of commerce is not attended with such injurious consequen es as have generally been supposed,

Mr. Octavius Gilchrist, has been for some time occupied in collecting and arranging materials for a new edition of the old Plays, on the foundation originally laid by Dodsley.

Mr. John Brown, of Kingston, Surry, will shortly publish a small work on the education of youth,

The twentieth number (which completes the work) of Cary's General Atlas, imperial sheet, will soon appear. It will contain maps of England, Canada, Nova Scotią, Newfoundland; price 9s. fully coloured, 7s. 6d. outlined.

The Proprietor of this work announces, that he is reducing it to a large Quarto size, and many of the plates are already engraved. It will be published in numbers,

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The Rev. Mr. Williams of Halifax, has in the press a short and familiar introduction to Geography.

Mr Dewar, of Edinburgh, has just completed Essays Historical and Critical, on some parts of the History of Scotland, and more particularly of the Highlands, which he proposes shortly to put to press.

The Asiatic Annual Register for 1806 will speedily appear.

A work of Mr. Jeremy Bentham's which hitherto has been inaccessible but to a very few persons, is about to be made public. Its object is a Scotch Reform, considered with reference to the plan proposed in the late Parliament, for the regulation of the Courts, and the administration of justice in Scotland; with illustrations from English Nonreform, in the course of which, divers imperfections, abuses, and corruptions, in the administration of justice, with their causes,

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