In a fucceeding Number we fhall endeavour to give fome idea of the Hiftory of Elizabeth herself, with a short account of the original papers that are now firft publifhed. In the mean time, we cannot help congratulating France on the acquifition of this valuable Hiftory of England, as favourable to the principles of humanity, and the natural rights of mankind. As we have no doubt but that a translation of this work into English will be attempted, it may not be improper to remark, that we have taken notice of feveral typographical errors, which, being of importance, fhould be adverted to. Thofe that appeared to be of moft confequence relate to dates and proper names, which, by being fometimes erroneously printed, may lead thofe who are but little acquainted with the fubject into great confufion and perplexity. A few of thefe errors that catched our notice, on a curfory perufal of these three firft volumes, are marked in the margin *. A tranflator would do well to verify all the dates, and to attend particularly to the proper names as he goes along. An...n. [To be continued.] A 3 T. XII. The Hitopades of Veifenoo-Sarma; in a Series of connected Fables interfperfed with moral, prudential, and political Maxims; tranflated from an ancient Manufcript in the Sankreet Language. With explanatory Notes, by Charles Wilkins. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Nourfe. London. 1787. HE apologue is undoubtedly of very high antiquity. Like other things of which the utility is obvious, and the invention eafy, it seems to have exifted at a very early period, and to have held, in many inftances, no inconfiderable rank among thofe compofitions which mark the gradual progrefs of a people from barbarifm to civilization. This has been frequently the cafe even in countries where the powers of the imagination droop beneath the rigours of the climate. In others, therefore, where these powers are moft active, a fpecies of writing which blends fiction with truth, and fancy with inftruction, may be fupposed to have been cultivated with enthufiafm, and confequently with fuccefs. If we add to this, that the dread of * Vol. I. p. 170, 1613 is put for 1513.-P. 305, Wriolhefely for Wriethefly.-P. 365, note, Hen. VIII. is put twice for Hen. VII.— Vol. II. p. 55. Ifith for Leith.-P. 149, 1602 for 1562.-P. 245, Henry VIII. for Henry VII.-P. 356, note, Maniana for Mariana.— P. 404, Ville de Nentherbow for Port de Netherbow.-P. 449, revolu tion for refolution.-P. 539, inftruction twice for inftrument. Vol. III. 29th for 19th April.-P. 103, Leifs for Leith.-P. 207, Kirkentbright for Kirkudbright.- Many other lefs errors of the prefs occur. fpeaking fpeaking offenfive truths has induced many to exchange the preceptive and fatiric ftyle, for the fafer and lefs invidious language of parable, it should feem to follow alfo, that in defpotic governments, where fuch caution is moft neceffary, men of the greatest talents and erudition would make it the vehicle of moral and political philofophy; and thus beftow on it all that correctnefs of defign, and beauty of ornament, which every kind of writing receives from the finishing hand of a mafter. Upon thefe principles we might naturally confider Afia not only as the parent of fable, but as its moft liberal benefactrefs. That the apologue, however, received its moft perfect form in the warmer climates, and in the defpotic governments of the East, were at leaft a dangerous affertion; nor would it derive much fupport from the character of the work before us. Common sense, as well as good tafte, requires eafe and perfpicuity, as effential to a perfect apologue. Elegantly fimple both in its defign and execution, it effects the great purpose of inftruction by a judicious felection of natural incidents, all tending to the fame point; and by that chastity of ftyle and language which is beft adapted to didactive narrative. The ftyle, indeed, of the Heetopades is not, like fome Perfian imitations of it, loaded with epithet and metaphor. In this refpect the work is not deficient in fimplicity but from its general plan, and from the economy of its feveral parts, we muft withhold even this fhare of negative commendation. We are constrained to do this, even though the arrangement and connection of the feveral fables has been confidered by fome writers as one of the peculiar excellencies of the work. It profeffes, indeed, to be a series of apologues, arranged under four general heads; "the acquifition of a friend; the feparation of a favourite; of difputing; and of making peace." That the fables have all of them fome relation to the fubjects they are intended to illuftrate, cannot be denied. There are inftances, however, in which this relation is too remote. The mode in which they are connected is frequently inartificial; and fometimes the different parts feem rather to have been jumbled together by external violence, than to have coaJefced upon any regular principle of attraction or fimilarity. There is a kind of order preferved, which we know not how to defcribe, but by placing it in oppofition to the lucidus ordo of Horace; while the frequent, nay almoft perpetual interruptions, which arife from the infertion of moral maxims, ferve only to render the darkness more vifible. Many of the fables, taken feparately, are fufficiently neat and perfpicuous but there are alfo many, in which the incidents are felected with little judgment, and combined with as little skill. We might add, if we were indulged in the expreffion, that the characters characters and manners of the feveral animals, are not always confiftently preferved. Dialogues on the authority and doctrines of the Shafter found awkwardly from the mouths of jackals and cats. Dryden, it is well known, transformed his hind and panther into polemical divines; but it is obvious also, that much juft cenfure has fallen on this metamorphofis, and that European criticifm will with difficulty forgive in an Indian fabulift what it has fo loudly condemned in one of its most deserving favourites. But whatever our opinion may be of the merits of the Heetopades, confidered as a compofition, we readily admit its claim to a very confiderable antiquity. It is undoubtedly the original of thofe fables which, under various forms, have appeared in almoft all the known languages upon earth, as the Fables of Pilpay, an ancient Indian Brahman; though, from the title of the work before us, and from the total ignorance of the modern Brahmans with respect to the name of Pilpay, it may reasonably be doubted whether any fuch philofopher ever exifted. The fame of these fables had reached Perfia fo early as the latter end of the fixth century, when Noufchirvan, the fovereign of that country, is faid to have difpatched a phyfician of his court, who was eminently skilled in languages, to India, for the fole purpose of obtaining a copy of a work which was fuppofed to contain the choiceft treasures of Eaftern wifdom, and the moft perfect rules for the government of a people. In this attempt, various and stubborn were the obstacles which the learned Perfian had to encounter; for the book was preferved by the Rajahs with the utmost care among the moft facred arcana of government, and concealed from the infpection of the natives as well as of foreigners. At length, however, after a few years refidence in India, he returned to his own country, and foon after prefented Noufchirvan with a Perfian tranflation of this celebrated work. From this verfion, which was written in the Pehluvi, or ancient Perfian dialect, various tranflations, both profaic and poetical, were afterwards made into the modern Perfian and Arabic, and thence into the Turkish, and even the Greek languages. Thefe tranflations have fince been followed by others into Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and English, with various alterations, however, to accommodate them to the tafte and genius of thofe for whose inftruction or amusement they were defigned. The immediate original of the English Inftructive and entertaining Fables of Pilpay, feems to have been the French verfion, made from the Perfian of Abul Mala *Simeon Sethus tranflated the Kalilah ve Dimna into Greek, in the year 1100, with this title, Tà xarà separionu xj izrnnárn. See Fabricii Biblioth. Græc. lib. v. cap. 42. 4 Naffer Naffer Allah Muftofi, which was published in the year 1709, with the title of Les Confeils & les Maximes de Pilpay, Philofophe Indien, fur les divers Etats de la Vie. As a favourable fpecimen of the work, we fhall tranfcribe the following fable, between which and the ftory of Alnaschar *, in the Arabian Nights, there feems to be a fimilarity too exact to be accidental. In the city of Devēē-kōttä †, there was a Brahmăn, whofe name was Devǎ-Sărmā 1. One lucky evening, he found a curious difh §, which he took with him into a potter's warehoufe, full of earthen-ware, and throwing himfelf upon a bed which happened to be there, it being night, he began to exprefs his thoughts upon the occafion in this manner:-" If I difpofe of this difh, I fhall get ten kipărdăkis ¶ for it; and with that fum I may purchafe many pots and pans, the fale of which will increase my capital fo much, that I fhall be able to lay in a large ftock of cloth, and the like; which having difpofed of at a great advance, I fhall have accumulated a fortune of a lack ** of money. With this I will marry four wives; and of thefe I will amufe myfelf with her who may prove the hand fomeft. This will create jealoufy; fo when the rival wives fhall be quarrelling, then will I, overwhelmed with anger, hurl my flick at them thus!"Saying which, he flung his walking-flick out of his hand with fuch force, that he not only broke his curious dish, but deftroyed many of the pots and pans in the fhop; the mafter of which hearing the noife, came in, and difcovering the cause, difgraced the Brahman, and turned him out of doors ++. We fhall conclude this article in the words of the learned Fabricius, which, with some limitation, exprefs our own opinion of the Heetopades: "Sententiæ graves, fpiffa; fabellæ non infuaves, rebus accommodatæ, vegeta, evidentes; frequens tamen earum, ficuti et fententiarum ufus, narrationem fæpiffime obftruit, et lectorem turbat." * Night clxxvi. + The City of the Goddefs. Its fituation is forgotten.' "The peace of God.' § Curious difb. In the original, Säktŏŏbhooks rāvă, a dish to eat tarts.' || Ic is very common to fee a small bedftead in the fhops in India." ¶ Ten Kăpărdăkas. Ten Cowries.' ** A lack. In Sanfkreet, läksha, one hundred thousand (rupees).' cording to the original, turned him out of the shop.' ART. XIII. 十 • Ac Verhandelingen raakende den Natuurlyk en geopenbaarden Godsdienft. i. e. Prize Differtations relative to Natural and Revealed Religion; published by Teyler's Theological Society at Haarlem. Vol. VII. 4to. Haarlem. 1787.1 THE HE volume before us contains three Differtations, On the folly of fcepticism; the abfurdity of dogmatizing on religious fubjects; and the proper medium to be observed between these two ex tremes. tremes. The firft of thefe, which obtained the gold medal, was written in English by the Rev. William Laurence Brown, D. D. Minifter of the English church at Utrecht, and lately appointed Profeffor of Moral Philofophy and Ecclefiaftical History in the univerfity of that city. Dr. Brown introduces his fubject with an observation of Plato's, that every thing arifes from its contrary: this he thinks is applicable to the extremes of dogmatifm and fcepticism, which between them have divided a great extent of philofophical and religious ground, and, by their tares, have almoft conftantly choaked the rich crops they would otherwife have produced.' This has particularly been the cafe in metaphyfics, in morals, and in religion. He divides his Differtation into three parts, analogous to the order in which the fubject is propofed by the Society. In the first he fhews the folly of fcepticism; in the fecond, the absurdity of dogmatifm; and in the third Part he endeavours to flate the proper medium to be observed between these two extremes. In order to expofe the folly of fcepticism, he firft gives a fhort account of its rife and progrefs: he obferves, that it owed its birth to an abufe of the excellent method adopted by Socrates to confound the arrogance of the Sophifts, by which this philofopher meant, not to inculcate univerfal doubt, but only to evince the neceflity of enquiry and investigation, before opinions were formed, or fyftems established. Hence he traces its progrefs in the Middle Academy founded by Arcefilaus, and the fceptical fect established by Pyrrho, down to that period, when all the other schools of philofophy were abforbed in that of Alexandria, With the revival of letters, and the reformation of religion, fcepticism alfo revived; and for its fecond birth was indebted to the fame causes that firft produced it. In order to overturn the abfurd philofophy of the schools, and the religious fyftems founded upon it, it was neceffary to fhew the folly of implicit faith, and the reafonabieness of free inquiry. The utility of doubt, before any one principle be admitted, was inculcated, with respect to metaphyfics and natural philofophy, by Bacon, Des Cartes, Malebranche, &c. Montaigne introduced this method into morals, and it has been adopted by many, in order to undermine the foundation of moral obligation. Hence fcepticifm directed its attacks, not merely against revelation, but even against the principles of natural religion, and, as Dr. Brown expreffes it, endeavoured not only to wreft from man kind the most glorious gift of heaven, but even to deprive the world of its Father!' Scepticism, it is juftly obferved, has been employed, not only to overturn, but alfo to defend religion. The votaries of the church |