ciently preferved in this drama; which commences immediately after her condemnation, and to the well known circumstances which attended it. adds fome of an interesting nature, which, though unwarranted by history, are not fo revolting to probability as to infpire dif guft. The chief of thefe additional circumftances is an interview between the two Queens, in which Elizabeth exhibits a studied haughtinefs and unfeeling barbarity, even beyond her real character, and Mary difplays a fpirit and vigour which gentle minds, when roufed by great provocation, are often found to poffefs. Some of her reproaches, however, we cannot approve. In an ingenious Preface, we are told that the original was performed in Germany with general applause, but that particular parts were cenfured. The only general fault we have obferved, namely, the great length of the drama, and indeed of many of the fpeeches, might be eafly obviated. Of particular objections, the most effential, in our opinion, are the character of Mortimer, who, though he appears interefting at firft, at laft proves little better than a madman, and the adminiftration of the Holy Sacrament on the ftage; which, notwithftanding the apology offered, we deem, and an English audience certainly would deem, wholly indefenfible. The characters are, for the moft part, as the tranflator has obferved, delineated with skill and judgment; though, we think Mary's confeffion of her guilt at con niving at the murder of Darnley, if expedient at all, fhould not have been made in a mere converfation with her fervant, or in the early part of the piece. Upon the whole, however, this Tragedy is, in our opi nion, as interefting as moft, and lefs exceptionable than any of the German dramas which have fallen within our notice. The following paflage, which exprefies the feelings of Mary when, after a ftrong though falfe hope of deliverance, the hears the fcaffold raifing for her execution, will afford a fair and not unfavourable specimen of the Tragedy. Mel. O God in Heav'n! O tell me then, how bore The Queen this terrible viciffitude? "Ken. [after a pause, in which he has fomewhat collected herself,] Not by degrees can we relinqu fh life; Quick, fudden, in the twinkling of an eye Himfelf for her: the deep, the heartfelt anguish Her own, 'twas other's woe which forc'd them from her, «Mela * Mel. Where is the now? Can you not lead me to her? "Ken. She spent the laft remainder of the night In pray't, and from her dearest friends she took Her it farewell in writing:-then she wrote Her will with her own hand. She now enjoy's A moment of repofe, the lareft lumber The tranflation appears to be fpirited and harmonious, and though we have not feen the original, we conclude it to be faithful, having been, as is intimated, performed under the infpection of the author; but, to please a British audience, it would be neceffary that many parts hould be altered, and the whole very much curtailed, NOVEL. ART. 22. Lætitia; or, the Cafile without a Spectre. By Mrs, Hunter, of Norwich. Four Volumes. 12mo. 11. is. Longman and Rees. 1801. This performance ought rather to have been entitled the three Latitias, for there are no less than circumftantial memoirs of three heroines of that name. The author poffeffes confiderable merit as a writer, as well as an obferver of human life and manners. Her difcriminations are just and accurate; and there is a variety in her epifodes, which, at the fame time that it fhows great vigour of imagination, fatigues the attention. The first volume is undoubtedly the best; but the whole is superior to the majority of fimilar publications. MEDICINE. ART. 23. A Treatife on the Cow-pox, containing the Hiftory of Vaccine Inoculation, and an Account of the various Publications which hasse appeared on that Subje&t in Great Britain and other Parts of the World. By John Ring, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. Part I. 8vo. 496 pp. 8s. J. Johnfon, St. Paul's Church-yard, London. 1801. We have here a full and comprehenfive account of the principal publications that have appeared on the subject of the cow pox, from its first introdution by Dr. Jenner to the prefent time; at least so it feems to us, as we do not recollect any work on the subject being omitted; but without doubt the author has further materials, as he only calls this part the firit. Throughout, the author or compiler is very liberal, and even diffufe in his comments and elucidations, and we will add, in his cenfures on those who have ventured to diffent from the general, and we think juft, opinion of the value of the dif covery. Thefe cenfures might have been fpared, or if thought neceffary, fhould have been conveyed in lefs offenfive language. Perfonal abufe is not likely to make converts. The objections to the in troduction troduction of the cow-pox, are either founded on reafon, and the nature of the thing, or on prejudice and mifinformation. If on the former, time, and multiplied experiments with the difcafe, will eftablish them; if on prejudice and mistake only, left to the fame teft, their fallacy will be detected. The bufinefs is now fairly before the public, and experiments are making, by inoculating with cow-pox matter, in all parts of the globe. All reafoning, therefore, on the power of the difeafe in fecuring the conftitution from the fmall-pox, or of its leaving any flain in the body, rendering it liable to ferofulous or any other difeafe, appears to be fuperfluous. The author is an entire convert to the opinion given by Dr. Jenner, that the difeafe is originally produced by the matter of the greafe taken from a horfe's heel. We are altonithed to find that this opinion, founded on such equivocal and defective evidence, and fo higly im probable in itfelf, delended with pertinacity; as it certainly does not contribute to remove the principal, and perhaps only prejudice remain ing against the general diffufion of the cow-pox. Thote perfons who think it wrong, perhaps criminal, to infert a particle of a limpid fluid, taken from a puitule on the nipple of a cow, whence proceeds that falubrious draught which forms fo large a part of the food of our children, will not be cured of that prejudice by being told, that the puftule was produced by the filthy matter of the greafe taken from a horse. We fhall only add, thofe who are defirous of poffeffing a full account of all that has been published on the fubject of the cowpox, either in feparate pamphlets, in letters and differtations, in various magazines, medical journals, reviews, &c. will here find them collected together, with abundant commentaries, as we have faid before, by the collector, who will not, we truft, be offended at finding we have indulged ourselves in a temperate ufe of that liberty, of giv ing our opinion of the errors he has committed, which he has fo freely taken with others. DIVINITY. ART. 24. A Difcourfe delivered at the Vifitation of the Right Worship. ful Robert Markham, M. A. Archdeacon of York, at Doncafter, June 5, 1801. By John Lowe, M. A. Curate of Wentworth, and Domeftic Chaplain to the Right Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam. Published at the Requeft of many of the Clergy. 8vo. 18. Mawman. 1801. This is a very manly and emphatic addrefs to the hearers, who may be fuppofed to have been principally clergymen, on the fubject of "preaching the word." The various branches of their profeffional duty are pointed out with much energy and precision; and the preacher endeavours to imprefs his brethren with the important and folemn conviction, that they are to preach the word faithfully, earneftly, with plainnefs and fimplicity, and that the ftability of their faith thould be evinced by their conduct, as example is the life of precept. This excellent difcourfe concludes with a fuitable exhortation to fuch part of the audience as were not clergymen. ART. ART. 25. Reflections occafioned by the Diftreffes of the Times, a Sermon, preached in the Parish Church of Leeds, being One of the Lent Lectures there for 1801. By the Rev. James Milner, A. M. 4to. 6d. Rivingtons. 1801. This was a very seasonable exhortation at the period when, and the place at which, it was delivered. Fortunately, through the bleffing of heaven, the calamities of war and of famine have been removed from us; yet we doubt much, with this pious preacher, whether the vices of the people will be lefs, under the favours with which we have recently been bleed, than they were in the time of the visitation, which he with fo much energy deplores. ART. 25. The Unjuftifiableness of Cruelty to the Brute Creation, and the Obligations we are under to treat it with Lenity and Compaffion. A Sermon. 8vo. Is. Rivingtons. 1801. It is impoffible to withold our commendation from the amiable and benevolent fpirit which pervades this difcourfe. The author has forcibly introduced every argument in his caufe which reafon can furnish, and which religion enjoins. What is faid in the notes, on the subject of flaughtering cattle, merits not only the confideration of every feeling mind, but also the attention of the magiftrate; fo alfo do the obfervations of this writer, on the treatment of affes in the neighbourhood of the collieries. ART. 27. A practical Improvement of the Divine Counsel and Condu, attempted in a Sermon occafioned by the Deceafe of William Cowper, Efq. preached at Olney, 18 May, 1800. By Samuel Greathead. 8vo. 47 PP. 1 S. Williams, Stationers'-Court, &c. 1800. We have read with earneft attention thefe interefting and affecting memorials, of a man moft eminently diftinguifhed for abilities, and we cannot but confider the difcourfe, and the facts it relates, as an awful warning against the errors of Methodifin. Cowper, of an anxious and melancholy difpofition, after fhrinking from public bufinefs, and being overwhelmed with a morbid defperation in confequence of that ftep, fell under the tuition of an eminent methodistical divine. From the progrefs and nature of his fufferings, it appears almoft demonftrably certain, that they arofe principally, if not entirely, from this caufe. His active imagination, too attentive in fome refpects to its own movements, exaggerated both his religious comforts and his religious fears; and both were regarded, according to the doctrines he had unfortunately imbibed, as actual intimations from heaven. Of confequence, when his conftitutional infirmity inclined him to melancholy, it became a religious melancholy of the blackest and most oppreffive kind; and thirty years of an innocent and very pious life were paffed under the horrors of habituate defperation. Had he converfed at first with a divine, more able to give him found inftructions in the Gofpel, all this mifery would moft probably have been avoided, and the violent derangement of his mind, which occafionally recurred, would never have happened. In justice to Mr. Greathead we muft fay, that he warns his hearers very ftrongly against the danger into which the fubject of his Sermon fell; that of fubftituting their own internal feelings for the word of God: but ftill he fhows fufficiently, in various places, that fuch is the rendency of nature, under the inftructions received in their congregations. "As I fear that fimilar temptations may not be unco:nion to minds, whofe natural melancholy affects their religious experience, I think it my duty to be explicit on this fubject." P. 43. But the misfortune is, that he still encourages the delufion, by calling the private fancies and mental wanderings of individuals, their religions experience: This is the grand fource of the evil, and till they are curea of these imaginations, fanatical joy and forrow will conftantly be agi'ating their minds. At the fame time it must be allowed, that Mr. Greathead's difcourfe is full of fincere and earneft piety, and as well calculated to counteract these evils, as any can be which does not actually avoid the principles of danger. ART. 28. A concife View of History and Prophecy, of the great Predictiers in the Sacred Writings that have been fulfilled; aljo of thofe ibat are now fulfilling, and that remain to be accomplished. By Francit Dobbs, Eja. Member for the Borough of Charlemont in Ireland. In Letters to his eldef? Son. 8vo. 279 pp. 6s. Sael and Co. 1800. The defign of thefe Letters is in the highest degree laudable; the execution very far from adequate. From the Deluge, the author pafles at once to the reign of Solomon, and then back, as rapidly, to Abraham and Lot. His views of hiftory are too de'ultory and im◄ perfect to be of real fervice, and his notions of prophecy cannot be better exemplified than by the following fpecimen : "Though no man knoweth the day and hour [of the Lord's com ing] an event that has lately taken place induces me ftrongly to believe it will happen this year, or early in the next; it is the law enacted by the British and Irish Parliaments, for uniting England and Ireland into one kingdom. This appears to me contrary to the great defigns of God; for it is making Ireland a part of the image of Daniel which was completed in 408. Now if fo, no imperial law will ever have force in Ireland; and as the imperial parliament will meet the first of January, 1801, and in a month or two after may pafs a law that would be enforced in the ordinary courfe of things, I think that meafure will be defeated, by the appearance of the Meffiah in Ireland, of which I fhall fay more hereafter." P. 146. Similar to this is the author's opinion delivered in a parliamentary fpeech, which he introduces as his Preface, and which indeed gives a very characteristic notion of the speaker. It is very lamentable, that well-meaning enthufiafm, fhould fo frequently expofe divine prophecy to unmerited contempt, by vainly endeavouring to prophefy, under the guife of interpretation. Such attempts will ever be baffled, as this has been already. In an Advertisement prefixed, we are told of nine fmall volumes of univerfal hiftory published by Mr. Dobbs. Thefe have never come into our hands; and, from the fpecimen afforded by the present vo lume, we are not very anxious to view them. LAW. |