difclaims the character in words: but ftill, by an unaccountable inconfiftency, he hesitates not to pronounce thofe to be in error, who differ from him; fo that this fallible guide is qualified to decide infallibly. On what has the church of England always juftified her feparation from that of Rome ? On the right of private judgment on the right of individuals to think, to examine, to weigh, to difcufs, and ultimately to decide, for themfelves. What name, then, fhall we give to the conduct of those who admit a principle, but punish or perfecute thofe who act on it;-who have one measure for themfelves, and another for their neighbours ;-who claim it as a right to exercife their own judgment, and to differ from a religion which, at the origin of the difference, was the established religion of almost ail Europe, but who declare all thofe to be heretics who prefume to follow their example, and ftand by the decifion of their judgment; who reject the doctrine of infallibility as unfcriptural, and yet expect that others fhould fubfcribe to it, by receiving as infallible the decifions of their national church? Such a conduct is as infulting as it is unreasonable; and the Rector who takes his fhare in it ought to blush for his inconfistency. The writer of this letter appears to be afhamed at not being able to live with as much fplendor on his eftate as had been displayed by his ancestors. This furely is a weakness. Had his eftate been diminished by his own folly or extravagance, he might well blush at the confequence: but when the diminution had been occafioned by the will of his father, made with the letter-writer's full approbation, which divided the paternal inheritance between all the children, without regard to primogeniture, he had much lefs caufe for blushing than for feeling a manly and honeft pride in an event which he had generously concurred with his father to produce. Guilt alone fhould hang down its head. The nil confcire fibi, nullá pallefcere culpá, should be the author's fupport; and, while he was confcious that the economy which he was obliged to practice originated in prudence and justice, and proceeded from no fordid motive, he might fmile at those who fhould ignorantly or ill-naturedly ascribe it to avarice. On the whole, we are of opinion that, had this gentleman poffeffed a little more firmness of mind, a little more philofophy, he might have found, except folely in point of religious liberty, as much ease and quiet in England as he is likely to experience on the other fide of the Atlantic. Art. 66. A Picture of the Isle of Wight, delineated on the Spot, in the Year 1793. By Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, [of Salisbury.] 8vo. 55. Boards. Egerton. Mr.Wyndham informs us that, having paffed a few fummers in the Ifle of Wight, he thought he could not employ fome leisure hours more agreeably to himfelf, nor more ufefully to the public, than in tranfmitting to paper the obfervations which he occafionally made in his repeated excurfions. He adds, I was the more induced to this amufement, becaufe I felt, myfelf, the want of proper instructions, on my first acquaintance with the island, which might point out the beautiful varieties of its little district, or which might connect them them in fuch a manner, as to make them acceffible to the best advantage.' In carrying his idea into execution, we think that Mr. W. has fucceeded, we may fay, admirably, for a work of this kind; in which fo many points of information were to be detailed with care and accuracy, as well as with tafte and judgment. We have seen a variety of accounts of this favourite fpot, and we have perambulated the island itself with perhaps more attention, and more extenfively, than the generality of thofe fummer-travellers who make the fashionable tour of Hampshire;-and, on the whole, we really confider this volume as the most complete and comprehenfive guide or directory through the Isle of Wight that has yet appeared, within the fame compafs. The defcriptive parts may poffibly be confidered as drawn with too much warmth of picturesque colouring, with too much epithetic admiration of the fcenic beauties: but all this exuberance may be excufable in a traveller who is endowed with a lively imagination, and may be justly placed to the account of grateful acknowlegement of the pleasure afforded him in his excurfions through this, perhaps unequalled, affemblage of grand and fingular objects, and of delightful profpects. Art. 67. De Rhythmo Græcorum, liber fingularis; in ufum juventutis Coll. En. Naf. olim confcriptus, et nunc demum in lucem editus. 12mo. PP. 150. 35. 6d. Oxonii, Fletcher. 1789. Londini, Rivington. This little tract on Greek rhythm has accidentally fo long escaped our notice, that we must now content ourselves with merely registering it in our pages, that fuch of our readers, as may not otherwife have heard of it, may know that it is replete with ingenious and learned remarks on the mufical, the poetical, and the profaic rhythm of the Greeks, and every where discovers an erudition worthy of its Right Rev. Author, whom we understand to be the prefent Bishop of Chefter, Dr. Cleaver. Art. 68. Silva Critica: five in Auctores Sacros Profanofque Commentarius Philologus: concinnavit Gilbertus Wakefield, A. B. et Coll. Jefu apud Cantab. Nuper Socius. Quibus accedunt Tres Hymni Orphici, e Condicibus MSS. nunc primum Doctis in Lucem Dati. Pars Quarta. 8vo. pp. 253. 5s. fewed. Robinsons. 1793. Few perfons, who are capable of understanding and relishing works of learning, are unacquainted with Mr. Wakefield's talents for criticifm, or need to be informed of the nature and merit of the work of which the prefent volume is a continuation. It is fufficient merely to announce the publication to the learned world, and to fay that the author, with his ufual induftry and ingenuity, has commented on various paffages in the Scriptures and in profane authors; every where offering new elucidations and emendations of difficult paffages, and illuftrating and confirming his remarks by pertinent quotations. * Among a few rather quaint expreffions, that of a rational bill, at a house of entertaininent, fhould not be allowed to stand in a fecond edition. It is not without regret that we learn from the title, and more par ticularly from the preface to this volume, that Mr. Wakefield has not been indulged, as before, with the privilege of printing his learned lucubrations at the Cambridge Prefs. It might have been expected that Mr. W.'s alma mater would have efteemed the honour of having produced fuch a scholar a fufficient compenfation for a few heretical eccentricities, and would have done herfelf the credit of keeping him under her patronage; and thus it was in better days :-but times are changed, and herely is now an offence for which no learning, talents, nor perfonal merit can atone. This, however, is not the cafe univerfally for we have the pleasure of adding, that one of the members of this feminary, Mr. Tyrwhitt, fellow of Jefus College, has generously taken on himfelf the whole expence of printing this volume. The author intimates a design of adding one volume more to the work. : For our notices of the former parts of this production, see our New Series, vols. v. and viii. Art. 69. A Cure for Canting; or the Grand Impoftors of St. Stephen's and of Surrey Chapels unmasked: in a Letter to Sir Richard Hill, Bart. With a few modeft Hints to the Right Hen. William Pitt. By the Rev. W. Woolley, A. M. Chaplain of the Marshalfea. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Jordan. Art. 70. A Detection of Grofs Falfhood, and a Display of Black Ingratitude: Being an Answer to a Pamphlet lately published by fome evil-minded Ferfon under the Name of The Rev. W. Woolley, filing himself A. M. and addreffed to Sir Richard Hill, Bart. and to his Brother the Rev. Rowland Hill, as the two Grand Impoftors of St. Stephen's and of Surrey Chapels. By Sir Richard Hill, Bart. M. P. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Stockdale. The Court of King's Bench has been before us, as we understand, in reviewing the former of thefe pamphlets, and has pronounced it a Libel; and our perufal of it has convinced us of the juftice of the decifion. The latter pamphlet is a vindication of Sir Richard Hill, and of his brother the Rev. Rowland Hill, against the fcurrilous falfhoods and affertions of Mr. Woolley, (prepared and almof printed before the intention to profecute,) in which Sir R. fully juftifies his own and his brother's conduct: but in which we lament his imitation of the low and vulgar wit which appears in the pamphlet of their traducer. The flyle of the letters figned Wm. Woolley, adduced in Sir R. H.'s pamphlet, and that of the "Cure for Canting," is fo very different, that Sir R. may well doubt their being written by the fame perfon. For the trial of Mr. Woolley, on the diftinct profecutions of Sir R. Hill, and the Rev. Rowland Hill, for a libel, fee the fubfequent article. -The judgment of the court was deferred to the next term. LAW. Art. 71. The Trials of the Rev. William Woolley, Clerk, for publishing a Libel on Sir Richard Hill, Bart. and on the Rev. Rowland Hill, Clerk, intituled, "A Cure for Canting; or the Grand Impoltors of St. Stephen's and of Surrey Chapels unmasked," &c. Before Lord Kenyon and a Special Jury at Westminster Hall, Dec. 9th, 1794. Taken in Short-hand by Marfon and Ramfay. 8vo. IS. Debrett, &c. Such a torrent of low, inveterate, and vile fcurrility, as that which came out in the courfe of thefe proceedings, is, we believe, unparalleled in the annals of libel and blackguardifm. That a poor, difappointed, and exasperated man, in the wretched fituation to which the defendant in this caufe had been reduced, fhould be provoked to fuch extreme intemperance of language, may be expected from the depravity to which human nature is fometimes liable: but that Mr. W.'s profecutors could fo far forget what was due to their own characters as gentlemen, when they stripped to box with such an antagonist, is an uncommon inftance of felf-degradation. We do not here allude to the conteft in Weftminster Hall, but to the previous correfpondence between the difagreeing parties. See our notice of the pamphlets on both fides, (previously to the law-proceedings,) inferted in the preceding article. Art. 72. The Trial at large of Robert Gordon, Esquire, for Adultery with Mrs. Bifcoe, Wife of Jofeph Seymour Bifcoe*, Efquire; who was found guilty in five Thousand Pounds Damages. Alfo the Trial at large of the Rev. Mr. Scoolt, Curate of St. Olave, Southwark, for feducing Mifs Reddie, a beautiful young Lady of nineteen Years of Age. Before Lord Kenyon, and Special Juries, in the Sittings after Michaelmas Term, 1794. Taken in Short-hand, by a Student of the Inner Temple. 8vo. 15. 6d. Ridgeway. These two trials, taken in connexion with the many late fimilar proceedings, too plainly evince the very alarming progrefs which the abominable vices of adultery and feduction have made in this country, even within thefe few years!-It is, however, to be hoped, that the marked abhorrence of fuch a fhameful corruption of morals and manners, implied in the ample damages awarded by our juries in favour of fo many injured plaintiffs, will be fome check, though fhame may have no effect, on the rapid career of debauchery, among our unprincipled people of rank and fortune. The virtuous zeal with which Lord Kenyon has uniformly pursued this fpecies of delinquents will, in our apprehenfion, yield him immortal honour! With regard to the trial of the reverend Curate of St. Olave, we cannot but obferve, in the words of Lord Kenyon, (as here given,) "This infamous man ought to be drummed out of fociety!" The trial is imperfectly reported. SINGLE SERMON S. Art. 73. The Duty of Allegiance enforced from its Connection with Benevolence and Religion. Preached in the Parish Church of St. Mary, Colchester, on the 29th of Sept. 1794, before the Mayor and Corporation, and published at their Requeft. By Thomas Twining, M. A. Rector of the faid Parish. 8vo. Is. Cadell. The alliance between piety and loyalty has been frequently made a topic of difcourfe; while a third duty, equally important, and in * Mr. Bifcoe is grandfon to the late Duke of Somerset. timately timately connected with the two former, has been overlooked. The author of this fermon very judicioufly treats of these three duties conjointly, according to the fuggeftion of his text: "Love the brotherhood, fear God, honour the king." The obligation of allegiance and fubmiffion to government he refts on its only true foundation, a concern for the public good, or, which is the fame thing, conformity to the will of God, which has for its object the happiness of his creatures. The discourse is in sentiment moderate, and in ftyle perfpicuous and correct. Art. 74. Civil Liberty guarded againft Abufe. Preached Sept. 1, 1794, in St. Mary's Chapel, Brecon; before the Hon. George Hardinge and Abel Moyfey, Efquires, his Majesty's Juftices upon the Brecon Circuit. By E. Edwards, Archdeacon of Brecon. 4to. Is. Wilkie. When the very phrafe, Rights of Man, is in difcredit with a numerous clafs of politicians, it is no inconfiderable merit in the preacher of an affize fermon to give it an honourable place in his discourse, by making an explicit avowal of the principle, that these rights are the true and fole bafis of every legitimate government. Mr. Edwards exprefsly disclaims the lately revived doctrine of the divine right of kings; afferting that the fcriptures prefcribe no particular form of government, and reft all the right, and all the ftability, of civil power on its tendency to promote the general good. Yet, as if he would pull down with one hand what he has built up with the other, he difcourages every public exertion in this country for the purpose of rendering our political freedom more perfect, and afferts that the only reform which can give fresh energy to our government, and thereby increase the national profperity, is a moral reform of ourselves. Timid, however, as the preacher appears to be on this head, he pleads the caufe of religion and morality with energy; ftrenuously maintaining that, without them, liberty itfelf would become a curfe. You might as well expect, (fays he,) to fave the ivy when you fell the oak it grows to, as the civil conftitution amidst the ruins of religion.' Art. 75. How far Methodism conduces to the Interests of Chriftianity, and the Welfare of Society; impartially confidered. Preached at the Vifitation of the Right Rev. William Lord Bishop of Chester; holden at Boroughbridge, Yorkfhire, Sept. 2, 1794. By the Rev. Samuel Clapham, M. A. 4to. Is. Johnfon. This attack on the methodists, in which Mr. Clapham accufes them of having made a dangerous divifion in the established church, confifts of three parts: 1ft, The preacher confiders what good, whether real or fuppofed, has accrued to Chriftianity and to fociety from the introduction of their doctrines. 2dly, What are the evils, whether inherent in, or refulting from them? 3dly, Why methodifm has fo increased, and by what means it is fupported. Under thefe heads, Mr. C. offers many remarks which merit the attention of the clergy, and all rational Chriftians. While he developes the caufes and confequences of methodifm, he urges the clergy to a vigi lant |