that parish." In this discourse the Doctor entered into a description of the notions then so generally circulated respecting the natural liberty and equality of men in society, which he combated with so much energy and argument, that the association at the Crown and Anchor, set on foot by the noted John Reeves, applied to the Doctor for leave to print and circulate a cheap edition of it. This was granted, and above twenty thousand copies of the sermon were dispersed in and about London, besides great numbers. in various parts of the kingdom. It was also reprinted at Bath, Canterbury, Gloucester, and other places; a sufficient and very honourable testimony of its accommodation to the feelings of the times.

His next performance was entitled, "The Origination of the Greek Verb and Hypothesis, 8vo." which, however, in the second edition, was altered to this, "The Greck Verb Analyzed." That there is much learning and considerable acuteness displayed in the discussion of the subject, must be allowed by all who are competent to judge of it; but it must also be acknowledged, that there is a good deal of fancy in the Doctor's essay, and that he assumes more than will easily be granted by the sober philologist. This pamphlet was answered with much asperity, but, at the same time, with some humour and success, in a piece entitled "Hermes Unmasked."

Our author's next publication was a dissertation "De Legione Manliana Quæstio, ex Livio desumpta, et rei Militares Romanæ Studiosis proposita." In 1799 appeared his greatest work, "The Voyage of Nearchus

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Nearchus to the Euphrates, collected from the original journal, preserved by Arrian, and illustrated by authorities ancient and modern, containing an account of the first navigation attempted by Europeans in the Indian Ocean, &c." 4to.

In this truly erudite performance, which has been translated into French, the Doctor has displayed an uncommon knowledge of ancient and modern geography, as he also has in his next work, entitled, "The Periplus of the Erythean Sea, part I. containing an account of the navigation of the ancients, from the Red Sea to the coast of Zanquebar, with dissertations," 4to. 1800.

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In the present year he has published "A Defence of Public Education, in a Letter to the Lord Bishop of Meath, 8vo." The occasion of this tract, which has excited no small notice and animadversion, was this: Dr. Rennel, Master of the Temple, in a sermon preached before the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, at the annual meeting of the charity schools in St. Paul's, 1799, remarked, in rather sharp terms, on the prevailing neglect of religion in our public seminaries of education. At this Dr. Vincent took fire; and, indeed, not without some reason, standing, as he then did, at the very head of the numerous and respectable body who were thus assailed by a preacher of Dr. Rennel's high character.

A private correspondence between these two learned divines ensued; and Dr. Rennell, having made concessions and explanations which Dr. Vincent considered as satisfactory, all further observations

were

were suspended. But this pacification proved of short continuance, for the Bishop of Meath having delivered a sermon on the same occasion, and in the same pulpit, in 1800, and which was printed at the request of the Society, thought proper to subjoin a note, in which he repeats Dr. Rennell's accusation, with some severe additions of his own against public schools.

This was enough to rouse any man; and that Dr. Vincent felt himself hurt at the repetition of such charges is not to be wondered at. He applied to the Society for leave to insert in their parcels, a justificatory paper, by way of repelling the evil impression which the Bishop's note might make upon the minds of its readers. This request the Society did not think proper to grant, as not chusing to take any part in the controversy. The doctor, then, as ⚫ his last resource, appealed to the public in one of the most masterly apologies that ever appeared in print. It is true he speaks in a high tone, and, perhaps, in some respects he is too keen upon the Bishop and Dr. Rennell. But it must be admitted, that the former went greatly out of his way, and that in an unfair manner, to meddle with a point on which he had little information; and the latter, with a strange degree of inconsistency, censured the very seminaries for that which, on another occasion, he had defended them, namely, what he calls "a pagan education."*

This is a curious circumstance; and as it was not mentioned by Dr. Vincent in his admirable tract, we shall here adduce it. Dr. Rennell, in a note to his sermon before the Society, in 1799,

Neither of these excellent divines, however, have made any sort of reply to Dr. Vincent, though certainly something might have been expected from them, either to confirm their assertions, or in the

expressed himself thus: "There is scarcely any internal danger which we fear, but what is to be ascribed to a Pagan education, under Christian establishments in a Christian country.." Now the same Dr. Rennell, in a note to another sermon, preached before the University of Cambridge commencement Sunday, 1798, says, "Under these principles I know of no subject so pregnant in important consequences, as a consideration of the extremes of weakness and strength exhibited by the ancient Greek philosophers. These circumstances, if duly weighed, will point out to the wisdom of this University, the extreme importance of combining the study of the ancient Greek philosophy with our theological researches. The foundations of the evidences of revelation will be greatly strengthened, by observing, with accuracy, the light the Pagans actually obtained, and in discovering the insurmountable boundary which interrupted their further progress. I have ever considered the works of Plato, Aristotle, and the moral writings of Cicero and Plutarch, as an avenue and portico to Christianity. I am convinced, from some experience, that minds embued with the precepts of these men, strengthened with their wisdom, and elevated with their dignity, will be strongly predisposed, both from a review of their excellencies and defects, to close in with the evidences of that gospel, which brought life and immortality to light. The minds of our young men so formed, would be inaccessible to the silly and ignorant sophisms of Voltaire, Rousseau, Condorcet, d'Alembert, and Volney."

How these two passages can be fairly reconciled, must be left to the casuistical genius of the author of them. Plain readers will be apt to think, that the latter is a full and decisive refutation of the former, and that it constitutes an elaborate defence of PAGAN EDUCATION!

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way of retractation. Other writers, however, have entered into the dispute, and that with a forwardness which indicates more zeal than judgment. It might have been expected that some other heads of schools would have entered their caveat also against the charges brought against them, but it seems that they rested satisfied with what has been so ably urged by Dr. Vincent in his Defence of Public Education.

Since the agitation of this question, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge have properly passed a resolution, that, for the future, nothing shall be appended to any sermon preached before them but what has previously met with their sanction. This measure, however, was not carried without violent opposition.

On the day appointed for a general thanksgiving on account of the peace, Dr. Vincent preached a most eloquent and energetic discourse before the House of Commons, at St. Margaret's, which discourse is since published.

As a pulpit orator, the Doctor is distinguished by great animation, a clear and sonorous articulation, and a graceful dignity of manner. His sermons are the compositions of a mind richly embued with divine and human learning, elegant in their language, yet sufficiently levelled to the plainest understandings.

W.