and bridges. One or other of thefe venerable veftiges of the paft, or chearful habitations of the prefent times, characterise almoft every scene. "Thefe works of art are, however, of much greater ufe in artificial, than in natural landscape. In pursuing the beauties of nature, we range at large among forefts, lakes, rocks, and mountains. The various fcenes we meet with furnish an inexhaufted fource of pleafure. And though the works of art may often give animation and contraft to thefe fcenes; yet ftill they are not neceffary. We can be amufed with out them. But when we introduce a fcene on canvas--when the eye is to be confined within the frame of a picture, and can no longer range among the varieties of nature; the aids of art become more neceffary; and we want the caftle, or the abbey, to give confequence to the fcene. And indeed the landfcape painter feldom thinks his view perfect, without characterizing it by fome object of this kind." We shall not, at prefent, give any further quotation from this work, but shall occafionally lay before our readers, fome of its most striking paffages, in that department of our Magazine which is allotted to mifcellaneous productions. Gospel of St. Matthew; with Notes, cri- ART. II. A new Tranflation of the tical, hiftorical, and explanatory. By Gilbert THE author was once a member of the Church of England: he doth not now appear to be a member of any church. His opinions are of a fingular caft, and we know of no fociety of Chriftians that have adopted them profeffedly, though fome individuals a mong the Socinians may perhaps have entertained principles equally free with Mr. Wakefield. He doth not believe in the infpiration of the fcriptures: and very frequently finds fault with the reafonings employed in them to eftablish particular doctrines, or illuftrate particular events. He thinks the Evangelifts, though in general faithful narrators of facts that came under their cognizance, yet were fometimes miftaken in their accounts of fome particular circumftances that were of little moment to the hiftory; and he boldly avers that none of the paffages which they have quoted from the Old Teftament and applied to the conception, life, fufferings, and death of Jefus Chrift, have originally any reference to him, or can properly be regarded in the light of prophecies. He confiders Christ as a mere man who had no exiftence before the Virgin Mary was with child (as he tranflates it) or a holy Spirit, or in other words, was made pregnant by a divine impulfe: for Mr. Wakefield doth not believe in the perfonality of the Holy Ghoft: but maintains that the expreflion is merely fi gurative, and denotes nothing more than an attribute of the Divinity, or at the utmost it is only a perfonification of the divine power particularly manifefted in the establishment of the Chriftian difpenfation. By the fame mode of interpretation this author af ferts very pofitively (for he is fuperior to diffidence, and fpeaks without referve or qualification on moft occafions) that the words Satan and the Devil are merely figurative, and imply nothing more than evil in the abstract. There is no devil in reality; nor any wicked fpirits that tempt mankind: hence, he fays, that our Saviour's temptation in the Wildernefs is nothing but an allegorical reprefentation of the temptations and difficulties he was expofed to in the courfe of his miniftry: and Satan's departing from him means nothing more than his conquering the oppofitions that the paffions and prejudices of mankind, and the wants and weaknesses of human nature threw in his way to divert or terrify him from his great work. Mr. Wakefield hath other fingularities (particularly with refpect to baptifm) which will afford little entertainment to our readers to recount. He feems to poffefs a strong inclination to quarrel with generally received opinions; and if a practice is established by cuf tom and authority he feems predispofed to find fault with it. In his reflections on on orthodoxy, he is moft indecently outrageous. He keeps no terms with the doctrines of the trinity, the atonement, &c. &c. &c. but lavishes on them and on their abettors all the opprobrium that mingled zeal and hatred can fupply. As a commentary this work is very deficient and very cenfurable: and inftead of feeing the true critic, and the folid expofitor of God's word, we ART. III. Memoirs of the THE adventures here recorded are faid to have been founded on fact. We fee no reason to difcredit the affertion. They are in themselves extremely probable, and they are described in a manner that gives them very much the appearance of truth. But whether real or fictitious this little work is both in fcarcely fee any thing but the furious declaimer, and the conceited pedagogue. He cannot write without a motto, as Hudibras could not fpeak without a trope. His book is ftuffed with quotations from the claffics, and all the idle parade of impertinent erudition. In fhort, he is a mere cock-chafer of criticifm, who fpins-and fpins, and will fpin himself to death. Manftein Family. 2 vols. terefting and entertaining.. The language is free and familiar, yet delicate and elegant. The fentiments are sometimes lively and acute; at other times pathetic and affecting; and at all times pertinent and fenfible. The morality is pure; and the whole tendency of it virtuous and benevolent. ART. IV. Letters from a celebrated Nobleman to his Heir, never before published. Small 8vo. Nichols. THE collection of letters now be fore us is prefented to the public as the production of the late Lord Chefterfield. We believe them to be genuine, and grant with the editor, that they may be confidered very properly as a fupplement to the "Art of Pleafing," a relic by the fame pen, lately published. The letters addreffed to Mr. Stanhope were very juftly characterised by the great Dr. Johnson, whofe virtues deferve even a higher panegyric than his literary talents. He ftyled them the fcoundrel's vade mecum, and afferted that they inculcated the morals of a whoremonger, and the manners of a dancing-mafter. Such was the ftrong language of knowledge and integrity. This new collection does not, indeed, deferve fo fevere a cenfure. Nothing, perhaps, can be found in it offenfive to the caufe of virtue, but then we can point out as little to promote science, or teach wisdom. When a work is offered to the public, we require more than that it fhould be harmlefs. Letters to a boy under twelve can afford little interefting matter, from the head even of a Chefterfield, and these letters and extracts addreffed to the heir of that nobleman at fuch an age, had, perhaps, better have been fuppreffed. They did not, at any rate, merit the warm eulogium with which the editor has honoured them, though they carry fome few marks of the eafe, elegance, and wit which fhone in the epiftolary style of that nobleman. The editor in his advertisement likewife complains, that fome parts of the Art of Pleafing, were "thrown out, in a mutilated ftate,, and degraded by the monthly, hackneyed vehicle of a fixpenny magazine!" On this account, from a dread left these letters should fhare the fame hard fate, he has kindly laid them before the public. Now, for any mutilations which they might fuffer from the cruel flafhing, and harfh and uncivil ftrokes of a magazine editor's pen, we cannot answer. We will, however, affert, and we do it with the confidence of confcious dignity, that there are very few pages in the whole of this fupplement to that unfortunate work, which feem to merit a place in fuch a mifcellany. Our monthly compilations are not intended for the perufal of children, and to thofe alone can we recommend these letters, though we do not think that they will be of half fo much real utility erility to them, as they may derive from the little books written by the ingenious Mrs. Barbauld, for the inftraction of early youth. In our fentence againft this collection, there are two letters which we with to except. The former, which we fhall prefent to our readers, is on the fubject of letter-writing, and though the purport of it was in grafted into various parts of the epiftles formerly publifhed by Mrs. Stanhope, yet it merits a perufal. The latter, which clofes this book, is fuppofed to have been written by the Earl of Chesterfield, to his heir, to be delivered after his decease. As this is of fome length, and as quotations are anathematized by the editor, we muft content ourfelves with merely mentioning it, and clofe our remarks with the former. "I fhall write to you pretty often, and only require of you in return one letter every fortnight. This will ufe you to the EPISTOLARY STYLE, which every gentleman fhould know, to a certain degree at least. Ufe will make it infenfibly eafy to you; and good letters fhould be in an eafy, but at the fame time in a pure and elegant ftyle. They fhould not fmell of the lamp, nor, on the other hand, be in a negligent and flatternly ftyle. You will hear many people fay, that when you write to any body, you should fuppofe yourfelf in company with that perfon; and only write what you would fay to him, were you with him. But this is not fo. For though the ftyle of letters fhould by no means be ftiff and formal, yet it fhould as little be inaccurate and incorrect. For though litthe errors are pardonable, and will be pardoned, in the rapidity of converfation, they will not be excufed in writing, where every man has time to think, if he can think. There is also a ftyle appropriated to the feveral forts of letters. Letters of bufinefs require only great clearnefs and precifion; fo that the reader may not be obliged to read any one paragraph twice, in order to understand it. Familiar letters give a greater latitude; for though they must be equally clear and intelligible, they admit of fome levity; and the writer may throw into them all the wit that he is mafter of. I need not mention to you yet, the proper ftyle of billetsdoux, which fhould be only tender, and feem to come merely from the heart, whether they do or not. We have but two confiderable collections of letters among the ancients, and thofe are the Letters of Cicero, and of the younger Pliny. The former are the models of good letters, the latter of pretty ones. Among the moderns there are three fuper-eminent ones. Voiture excels in the agreeable badinage*. Comte de Buffy in the polite genteel ftyle of a man of quality, who has a great deal of wit and knowledge of the world; and Madame de Sevigné excels them both, by a talent peculiarly her own. The Graces feem to have dictated her letters. We have millions of letters in our own language, but few good ones. In general, they want that genteel, eafy air, that distinguishes the french ones which I have mentioned. The next time I fee you, I will give you a volume of Comte de Buffy's Letters, among which there are feveral of Madame de Sevigné's inferted. They were near relations and friends." ART. V. Differtations moral and critical. By James Beattie, LL. D. Profeffor of Moral Philofophy and Logick in the Marifchal College and University of Aberdeen; and Member of the Zealand Society of Arts and Sciences. 4to. Cadell, in London; and Creech, at Edinburgh. 50 hearers had been of riper years, or more "In the Differtation on Language The reputation which Dr. Beattie has fo defervedly acquired as a writer, will not be leffened by thefe differtations, if their merit is to be estimated, as it certainly ought, by what he profeffes to be his defign in publifhing them. They are well calculated for the entertainment and inftruction of youth; fhew a correct and elegant tafte; are written in a plain and perfpicuous ftyle; and are replete with a variety of pertinent illuftrations. Few writers, indeed, appear to be more defirous of promoting the interefts of virtue and literature than Dr. Beattie, and there are very few who poffefs, in fo confiderable a degree, the happy talent of blending critical knowledge with ufeful and practical truths. In the firft differtation he treats of memory and imagination. He fets out 4 with marking the difference between The doctor goes on to make fome Dreaming is the fubject of the next differtation; fome extracts from which were published in a periodical paper called The Mirror, and the whole is now given, as it was at firft compofed. As it is impoffible to give any philofophical or fatisfactory account of fo extraordinary a phenomenon as that of dreaming, this part of the doctor's work will probably be confidered by the generality of readers as the most uninterefting. He does not attempt, however, to explore the efficient caufe of this phenomenon, but contents himself with making a few unconnected remarks upon it, chiefly with a view to point out its final caufe, and to obviate thofe fuperftitions in regard to it, which have fometimes troubled weak minds. He is far from being pofitive in what he fuggefts, for, on a fubject like this, in which our experience can never be accurate, our knowledge, as he juftly obferves, can hardly be fuppofed to rife higher than conjecture. The fubject of the next differtation is the theory of language, and it is divided into two parts; the first of which treats of the origin and general nature of fpeech, and the fecond of univerfal grammar. This differtation takes up more than a third of the work; but, though perhaps too diffufe, it will am ply ply reward the young ftudent, who gives it a diligent and attentive perufal. The differtation on the theory of language is followed by a very entertaining one on fable and romance. The doctor introduces it with fome general remarks on ancient and oriental profe fable; with a fhort character of the Greek apologues afcribed to Efop, the Latin ones of Phedrus, &c. and then proceeds to what is his principal purpofe in this differtation, viz. to enquire into the origin and nature of the modern romance. The profe fable of the moderns he divides into four fpecies, and treats of each in their order: 1. The hiftorical allegory. 2. The moral allegory. 3. The poetical and ferious fable. 4. The poetical and comic fable. Thefe two laft he comprehends under the general term ROMANCE. "The FABULOUS HISTORICAL ALLEGORY, fays he, exhibits real hiftory, difguifed by feigned names, and embellished with fictitious adventures. This fort of fable may also be fubdivided into the ferious and the comic. 1. Of the former, the belt fpecimen I know is the Argenis; written in Latin, about the beginning of the last century, by John Barclay, a Scotchman: and fuppofed to contain an allegorical account of the civil wars of France during the reign of Henry the Third. I have read only part of the work: and what I read I never took the trouble to decypher, by means of the key which in fome editions is fubjoined to it, or to compare the fictitious adventures of Meleander and Lycogemes with the real adventures that are alluded to. I, therefore, am not qualified to criticize the performance: but can freely recommend it, as in fome places very entertaining, as abounding in lively defcription, and remarkable for the most part, though not uniformly, for the elegance of the language. "2. We have a comic fpecimen of the hiftorical allegory, in the History of John Bull; a pamphlet written by the learned and witty Dr. Arbuthnot, and commonly printed among the works of Swift. It was published in Queen Anne's time; and intended as a fatire on the Duke of Marlborough, and the reft of the whig miniftry, who were averfe to the treaty of peace that was foon after concluded at Utrecht. The war, which the Queen carried on against the French and Spaniards, is defcribed under the form of a law-fuit, that John Bull, or England, is faid to have been engaged in with fome litigious neighbours. A candid account of facts is not to be expected in an allegorical tale, written with the express defign to make a party ridiculous. The work, however, has been much read, and frequently imitated. It is full of low humour, which in this piece the author affected; but which he could have avoided if he had thought proper; as he undoubtedly poffeffed more wit and learning, as well as virtue, than any other writer of his time, Addison excepted. In John Bull, great things are reprefented as mean; the ftyle is confequently burlefque, and the phrafeology, and most of the allufions, are taken from low life. There is a key printed, in the late editions, at the foot of each page, to mark the coincidence of the fable with the hiftory of that period. "II. The fecond fpecies of modern fabulous profe I diftinguished by the name of the Moral Allegory. Moral and religious allegories were frequent in Europe about two hundred and fifty years ago. Almoft all the dramatic exhibitions of that time were of this character. In them, not only human virtues and vices were perfonified, but also angels both good and evil, and beings more exalted than angels, were introduced, acting and fpeaking, as perfons of the drama. Thofe plays, however, notwithstanding their incongruity, were written for the moft part with the lau dable defign of exemplifying religious or moral truth; and hence were called moralities. The public exhibition of them in England ceafed about the time of Shakspeare, or in the end of the fixteenth century: but feveral of the English moralities are extant, and may be feen in fome late collections of old plays. In Spain and Italy they continued longer in fashion. When Milton was on his travels, he happened to H 2 witnefs |