He obferves, that with fewer fhips, they might make fix voyages with as much fafety as they now make four, one half of the veffels lying in wet docks, with their timbers, rigging, and ftores, perifhing. There are fufficient private motives for engaging a fuperfluous number of ships; the whole bufinefs being a very intricate crafty fytem of peculation, which would cover the parties with fhame, if their numbers, and enormous gains, aid not elevate them above it. The Author fupports his arguments with calculations, which have alt the appearance of being fairly ftated; but thefe must be referred to perfons better acquainted with, and more interested in, the subject: the conclufion drawn from them is as follows:

By the propofed fcheme of the Company's building and navigating their own hips, it can hardly be imagined to intend, that they fhould really become fhip builders themfelves, efpecially in England'; but that they should contract for their building in the fame manner the hip-hufhands do at prefent, under the infpection of the proper officers; nor is it intended by any means, that any fhip already built. or now building, by permiffion of the Company, fhould be laid afide until the ufual term be completed; but that by the time each ship fhall be worn out, another may be ready to replace her; fo that a few new fhips only will be neceffary to be provided at a time, though the fooner they are prepared for, and the longer a time they are building, the more lerviceable they will be found. Neither will there be any confiderable fund neceffary for the purpofe, as it appears very evidently, that a large fhip, according to the ufual prices that have been paid by the Company for 'freight, will amply repay the first coft, and all expences of her voyage, with infurance and intereft, by the return of her firft cargo; and by the return of the fecond cargo, fhe will have produced a fufficient profit to pay for a fecond new fhip, and her firft outfet; fo that by the profits faved on thirty to forty cargoes, all the fhipping that can be neceffary for the Company's ufe, will, in fact, be paid for; and after compleating that business, all the fubfequent cargoes will be brought home at 151. per ton for freight, and all future fhips provided without any additional expence.'

Other confiderations are added ;-but an advocate appears on the contrary fide of the argument, who lavs claim to an equal hearing. N. Art. 15. Dangers and Difadvantages to the Public, and EaftIndia Company, from that Company building and navigating their own Ships. 8vo. Sewell. 1778. I S.

Minifterial influence is but too extenfive over every clafs and order of the people, and was therefore too popular and advantageous an argument not to be made the most of, in defending the caufe of the Ship-hufbands. So that, according to thefe counter reprefentations, the Company are, like Milo in the cleft oak, pinched between the fhipping intereft on one fide, and Government on the other; in truth, a most pitiable fituation!

L A W.

N. Art. 16. An interefting Addrefs to the independent Part of the People of England, on Libels, and the unconstitutional Mode of Prosecution by Information ex officio, practised by the Attorney General. With a View of the Cafe of John Horne, Efq; and a candid Refutation of the Doctrine of Informations, as laid down

in

in Blackstone's Commentaries: Dedicated to all the Gentlemen of the Law. Very useful for thofe worthy Gentlemen who glory in Trial by jury, and who may hereafter be impannelled in Cafes of Public Libel. 8vo. 1 s. 6d. Kearsley. 1777.

Whatever truths this pamphlet may contain (and it contains fome which are of great importance), it is written in language too vulgar, and in a ftrain too virulent and abufive, to produce any good effect. It is not to fuch advocates as thefe, that we must look for the defence of the great caufe of civil liberty; it is not by fuch judges, that the public rights and interefts of the community are to be determined.

MEDICA L.

Art. 17. Obfervations and Experiments on the Power of the Mephitic Acid in diffolving Stones in the Bladder. In a Letter to Dr. Percival. By William Saunders, M. D. one of the Phyficians to Guy's Hofpital. 8vo. i s. Murray. 1777

As Dr. Saunders's Letter was first published by Dr. Percival, in the third volume of his Philofophical. Medical, and Experimental Effays*, we fhall, now, only give the following extract from the preface to the prefent edition of this pamphlet:

This fubject has been fince profecuted by Dr. Percival, and Dr. Falconer of Bath, who have confirmed by their experiments that my opinion of the folvent power of the mephytic acid on human calculi was well founded.

I am fully convinced from a variety of trials, that water impreg nated with this acid is carried in circulation unchanged to the human bladder, and that this remedy has done great fervice in calculous complaints.

The only folvent now in ufe is the lixivium, which is recom mended to the public under various forms as a specific remedy in calculous diforders; the irritation and pain which it generally produces is bell removed by joining to it an opiate.

The mifchief which arifes from perfevering in the use of this alkaline remedy, and the bad effects on the body from the animal and putrefcent regimen neceffary for the prefervation of its powers, are fully pointed out in the following letter, as well as the abfurdity in the belief of one Univerfal Solvent of Human Calculi, which in their component and elementary parts fo effentially differ.' The following P. S is added:

+ Dr. Hulme has lately favoured the public with an account of the fuccefs of the Mephytic Acid in a man of feventy-two years, who after having employed the lixivium and other medicines in general ufe to no purpofe, had recourfe to this remedy; he was foon relieved from the most excruciating pain, and paffed with great ease large quantities of lones, which evidently appeared to have been diminished by folution. He is at prefent without any complaint.

An ingenious friend of mine has lately experienced the efficacy of water impregnated with this acid, and has been relieved from much pain which attended the difcharge of fmall ftones.

* Our Readers will find an abtract of this letter, in the 56th vol. of our Review, (Feb. 1777) p. 120.

† Oratio de re Medica, &c. 419. 1777,

8

E.

• This

This remedy has the advantage over all others, that it may be prefcribed either in the form of medicine or diet, and is well adapted to the weakest ftomachs.'

A Chemical inveftigation of the urine of a calculous patient will best determine the nature of the ftone, and direct to the ufe of the moft proper folvent,'

POLITICAL.

Art. 18. The Analysis of Patriotism; or, an Inquiry whether Oppofition to Government, in the prefent State of Affairs, is confipient with the Principles of a Patriot. Izmo. 6 d. Keeble, &c.

The Author determines his question in the negative, by a fuperfi cial investigation of the conduct of thofe who endeavour to obftruct the measures of government with refpect to American affairs. He thinks the times call rather for aflittance than oppofition; and, therefore, he totally condemns thofe party men who, at this critical juncture, impede rather than forward the motions of the ftate machine-taking, we fuppofe, for granted, the wisdom and rectitude of thofe measures in which, at all events, he advises every lover of his country to concur.-But fhould he not confider, that concurrence would be criminal in those who disapprove; and that if adminittration should ever adopt a fyftem of conduct which, to honelt, intelligent, by-flanders may feem pregnant with evil confequences to the community, oppofition rather than affiftance would be their duty, -if they would act confiftently with the true principles of patriotifm. POETICA L.

Art. 19. The Camp Guide; in a Series of Letters from Enfign Tommy Toothpick, to Lady Sarah Toothpick, and from vifs Nelly Brifk, to Mifs Gadabout 4to. 1s. Fielding and Walker. A frivolous imitation of a lively bagatelle - All noniente, about tents, and drums, and fifes, and Cupids arrows, and Chloe's eyes, and Captain Mac Thunder - Hence, ye triflers! Ye remind us of the fiddlers at Port Royal, when the place was fwallowed up by an earthquake.

Art. o. An Epiftle from the Earl of Chatham to the King Written during his laft Illness. 4to. I S. Oxford printed; and told

by Goldfmith in London.

If Lord C. had really fent a farewell epistle to his Majefly, he, probably, would not have written in verfe; and his letter would, certainly, have been conceived in a train fuperior to that of this little elegiac performance: which may be conucered as the lamentation of patrio ifmver the departed genius of Britain Art. 21. A Vifit from the Shades; or, Earl Chatham's Adieu to bis Friend Lord Camden To which is added, an Epitaphial Infcription to the Memory of Wilham Pitt, Earl of Chatham; and a propofed Sketch for a Monument fuitable thereto. By Henry Lucas, Efq of the Middle Temple, Author of The Tears of Alawick, &c. 4to. 2. 6d. Hooper and Co.

For The Tears of Alnwick, an elegs, in memory of the Duchefs of Northumberland, fee Rev. vol. Ivi. p. 55. We could not greatly

Antley's Bath-Guide.

applaud

applaud that poem; and the Author does not feem to have yet proceeded much higher up the fteep of Parnaffus. Art. 22. The Travellers; a Satire. 4to.

1778.

2 s. 6 d. Shatwell.

The travelled youth of this country have long been the objects of fatirical caftigation, but never were they more harshly treated than by the fcribbling youth who has attacked them in this firtling of a plain but artiefs mufe.' Many of our extravagant, thoughtless young men of fashion (and fome who have not the frailty of youth to plead in excufe for their vices and follies) are here particularly held up to public derifion and contempt; and fome of another timp are introduced; particularly the famous Abyffinian traveller, who is treated as a mere Mandeville.

This poem, though it breathes a manly fpirit, is by no means a first-rate performance. It contains fome feeble paffages, and many unfinished, or aukward, lines:

But when proud vice in gilded ftate does roll,'

reminds us of a poetical defcription of a journey to Ipswich, in which the horses did trot.'

The following couplet is not English:

But, ev'n amidst this clafs of men, you'll fay,

A vein of worth, perchance, may hidden lay'

Many poems of this kind have met with public neglect, chiefly owing to the obfcurity in which the fatire is involved, by the objects remaining concealed behind a veil compofed of initial lettersbreaks afterifms, and dashes. This defect, which perhaps arises merely from prudence (for even POETS have been taught prudence in Westminster-hall) is confpicuous in the piece now before us; in which few readers, we imagine, will be able to decypher the A-s, and B-s, and C-s, and D-s.

By the Au4to. 2 s. Bew.

Art. 23. Sketches for Tabernacle Frames; a Poem. thor of The Saints, a Satire, Perfection, &c. The fame biting Satirilt continues his unmerciful attack on Mr. Wefley, his affociates, and his followers: fee Rev. January last, p. 3; alfo April, p. 305. He continues, as ufual, his Hogarthian copper plate frontifpieces; and he feems to have a fhrewd talent for designs of this ludicrous kind. Mr. W. figures, here, as a medical, political, and religious quack.

Art. 24. The Love-Feaft; a Poem. By the Author of The Saints, &c. &c. 4to. 2s. 6d. Bew. 1778.

More cou.ging of W-f-y, Ro-e, Ha-s, and their "mock faints. This indefatigable, angry OLDHA the fecond, feems determined to write down the Methodists †,-or himself.-An ungodly frontispiece, as ufual.

+ Inuit of the Foundery are meant; for the Whitfieldians feem to have been, fomeway, screened from his refentment. He, likewife, takes fome pains to let the world fee that he does not mean to extend the fury of his cat-o' nie-tails to the Diffenters in general, particularly thofe whom he datinguishes as "rational Diffenters, 'in oppofition to the "wild fanatics" who are the peculiar objects of

his fatire.

Art.

4to. 2 S.

Art. 25. The Temple of Impofture; a Poem. By the Author of The Saints, a Satire, &c. Bew. 1778. Yet more rhyming, engraving, and raving against Holy Impoftors, and "Priettcraft," and " Foundery Saints"-pious cheats, and flavish politics. In this vifionary poem (for it is devifed. like Bunyan's Pilgrim, in the fimilitude of a dream) the Poet celebrates a number of well-known characters, fuch as he deems proper to figure in the TEMPLE of IMPO TURE, from Mahomet and Loyola, down to Mrs. Tofts the rabbit-breeder, Fanny the Cock-lane gholt, and our Author's grand favourite, J-n W-y. There is a great deal of good poetry in this wicked performance; for wicked it will be deemed by more than Tabernacle and Foundery readers; as this religious knight-errant has tilted his furious point at one or two characters which are held in veneration by Chriftians of other denominations. We hint this circumftance to the ingenious Writer, purely with a view to put him a little more on his guard, if he means to proceed in this rather invidious path; in the purfuit of which he may provoke many, but reform none.

Art. 26. An Epifile to William E-1 of M-f--d, the most unpopular Man in the Kingdom, except his

By the Author of Royal Perfeverance, &c. 4to. 1778.

and L-d B

I s. 6d. Bew.

Dull, malignant, and frantic abufe of Lord M-f-d, and the whole Scottish nation.

DRAMATIC.

1778.

Art. 27. Bonduca. A Tragedy, written by Beaumont and Fletcher. With Alterations. As it is performed at the TheatreI S. Cadell. Royal in the Hay Market. 8vo. To this play is prefixed the following thort advertisement: The play, now fubmitted to the Public, contains scarce any variations from the BONDUCA of Beaumont and Fletcher, except thofe arifing from omifiion and tranfpofition; each of which have in fome places been hazarded, in order to accommodate it to the modern flage. The particular alterations it is almoft impoffible to point oat, but by a reference to the original authors; of whofe dramas a moft elegant edition has been very lately published.'

We had often perufed the Bonduca of Beaumont and Fletcher with a mixture of concern and admiration; admiration of its various beauties and exalted flights of poetry, and concern at the feeming impoffibility of the reprefentation of the piece, which abounds with irregularities, on the modern ftage. This difficulty, however, the Director of the Hay-market has not only furmounted, but effected his purpose, as he candidly proteffes, by the fimple means of omiffion and tranfpofition: and indeed it is, as he declares, almost impoffible, without a reference to the original authors,' to discover the uncommon addrefs, deep knowledge of the drama, and familiar acquaintance with the ftage, difplayed in this alteration. The features of Bonduca, and the two favage daughters of Prafutagus, are confiderably foftened, even thofe of Caratach and Hengo are fomewhat fubdued and tempered, and yet in each the character is preferved, and even a bold likeness retained. The dotage of Junius is judiciously abridged, and that of Petillius, together with his abominable