1032 Review of New Publications. way into the world before? the answer is obvious: because they are written in fuch; an intricate hand that no one would be at the trouble of making them out; nor, indeed, fhould I have undertaken the taik, had not the gratification of my own curiofity been a greater inducement than any advantage I expected to receive by it. "And though perhaps they may be thought too puritanical by fome, yet, I truft, they will not be the lefs acceptable, on that account, to others, for whole benefit, chiefly, I am induced to make them public; and, fhould they answer that end, I fhall not think my trouble ill bestowed. W. WALLIS. Whitchurch, Oxon, June 28, 1791." The fermons of that period must be perufed with a fuitable allowance for the manners which then prevailed, for the ftate of literature as it then exifted, and for the local circumftances of the preacher, of which we cannot now be adequate judges. But, independently of all thefe confiderations, the prefent volume will be found to contain what the most faftidious need not difdain, what the moralift will unequivocally approve, and what the humble Chriftian will perufe with pious pleasure and certain edification. They treat of plain, practical fubjects, about which all capacities are alike able to decide, in a perfpicuous and animated ftyle; and the ftrong good fenfe which every page exinbits makes ample amends for thofe technical divifions which are now rejected, as alike embarraffing to the preacher and his hearers, as well as for certain peculiarities of expreffion, which, though now esteemed quaint, were once perhaps felt as energetic, and admired as excellent. The volume contains XIII difcourfes, of which, if our limits would permit, we fhould be glad to speak at fome length.. They are on the following fubjects: [Nov. "And now," What shall we render unto 'the Lord for all his benefits* !' Or, rather, what fhall we not render? How can we but love him, who hath thus loved us first! and that too while we were yet enemies to him by wicked works.' And how should a fenfe of this love conftrain us to live a godly, righteous, and fober life!' conftrain us, from a principle of gratitude, to promote the glory of God! and not like Jehu, who deflroved the house of Ahab rather to establish his own kingdom than to fulfil the threatenings of God! We must not prefer our own ends to the commandments of God, and obey him but in a fubordinate way, as far as it may be fubfervient to our own ends; no, but whether we eat or drink, or what ever we do, do all to the glory of God. While piety and religion be in request and in time of trial, would prove to be faife. credit, there will be many profeffors, which, Judas will follow Chrift for the purfe, or in hopes of a temporal kingdom; but afterwards, for thirty pieces of filver, will betray him. And Demas will forfake Paul, to embrace this prefent world. This fort of profeffors will follow Chrift for his leaves and fishes, but feek him not for his miracles; they will follow him throngh cornfields, but will not help him bear his crofs. "If we are walking in any other way than that which is pleafing to God, it must furely be because we think it a better one: this, indeed, was the occafion of Adam's fall; he thought he had found out a better way than that in which God first placed him. But doth not God's infinite wifdom exceed our's? are we wifer than God, think ye? If then the ways of God are ordered by Infinite Wifdom, fhould we not fubmit to them? There is a way which feemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is death !' "Men think it is but a fmall matter that God requires of them; and that he is not fo ftrict as his minifters would fain make him. They think that he is too good and too merciful to punish temporal fin with eternal punishment; not confidering the spirituality of the Law, that if God was to proceed according to the rigour thereof, to mark what we have done amifs, we could not escape the damnation of hell. Curfed is every one '(faith God) that continueth rot in all things that is written in the book of the Law to 'do them. And thus they go on deceiving themfelves, crying Peace, Peace, when there is no peace, faith my God, to the ' wicked.' "I. The Nature and Defign of the Miffion and Commiflion of the Son of God. -II. Chrift's Invitation to Sinners.-II. The attractive Power of the Spirit of God. -IV. The Gofpel Light a fure Guide to Eternal Happiness.-V. The Believer's ineitimable Honour and Privilege.-VI. S. vation the free Gift of God.VII. The ineftimable Value of Faith in Chrift.-VIII. The Duty of Brotherly Love.-IX. The Believer's Combat.-X. The Tendency of Divine Revelation to promote Holinefs -X1. The great Duty of taking Heed to our Converfation and Deportment in Life.-XII. and Xlil. The Neccinity of pleafing the Lord in order to thefuch an one as thyfelf,' faith God f. But Enjoyment of Temporal Blethings." Chrift inftructs us otherwife: The way to * Pfalm cxvi. 12. + Pfalm 1. 21. • heaven Let a fingle fpecimen of our author's manner of writing fuffice: "They entertain low thoughts of God; fuch as may be agreeable to their own hearts. They make a God of their own, in their fancies, and conform him to the model of their own brains. Thou thinkeit I am heaven (faith he) is ftraight and narrow; and few there are that find it.' Now men are loth to keep this ftraight way, but muft have a way of their own, like him that bleffed himself in his heart, and faid, "It fhall be well with me, though I walk after the ftubbornness of my own heart, adding drunkennefs to thirst,' &c. To fuch an one Solomon's reproof would not be unfeas fonable: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart chear thee in the ways of thy heart, and in the fight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all thefe things God will bring thee to judgment Thefe fort of men make the way to heaven broader than God ever made it; and would fain find a way thither which God hath never pointed out. Which is just as if a man were to put on fpectacles to go over a narrow bridge; who, infead of making the bridge wider, falls headlong into the water. And though it would be hard to find one that will confefs he defires not to pleafe God, which, in the eyes of the most wicked, appears too notorious; yet, if you seriously examine them upon interrogatories, they cannot but acknowledge thofe ways that they take to be very far from pleafing God. "It is acknowledged by all (at least 1 am perfuaded that there are none fo wicked but will grant) that we ought to please God; it fhould therefore be our chief care to walk in Such a way as is moft pleafing to him. Hence the Apostle Paul, That they may know what is that good and acceptable (or wellpleafing) will of God; and not that they fhould know it only, but also that they should do it. That they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleafing, or pleafing him in 'all things.' "The work of a Christian is no easy task. It is far more difficult to please the Lord than people in general are aware of; and therefore it is not fo eafy a matter to be a real Chrif tian as they fuppofe, who take fuch little pains to be fo." 184. The Theatre, by Sir Richard Steele. To bich are added, The Anti-Theatre; the Character of Sir John Edgar; Steele's Cafe with the Lord Chamberlain; the Crifts of Property, with the Sequel, Two Pajquins, &c. &c. Illuftrated with Literary and Hif torical Anecdotes, by John Nichols. 2 Vols. crown 8vo. As long as elegant Literature shall be cultivated in this country, the name of STEELE will always have a refpe&table portion of esteem and praife. It has been, till very lately, the fashion to regard him more as the friend of ADDI SON and POPE, and as borrowing a re flected fplendour from their fuperior * Ecclef. xi. 9. CENT. MAG. November, 1791. luftre, than as entitled to great reputation, on his own account, as an original writer, as poffeffed of genius diffufing no inconfiderable light from itself, as improving our language, and as a warm and fteady friend to liberty and morals. But at this period, when prejudices of all kinds are the more rigorously exa mined, the more fixed they feem, and the more antient they are, it is clearly afcertained and acknowledged that Steele's talents as a man, and skill as a writer, required no adventitious aid. Whether we confider his polished diction, his acutenefs in controverfy, of the variety and depth of his obfervation, his claims to our esteem are fo ftrong, that to us it seems probable they will be the more readily acknowledged the farther our advances in refinement fhall incline us to examine them. We fpeak of that refinement which admits no claims without investigation; and we allude to fuch an examination as is prompted by ingenuous curiofity, and conducted by liberality and candour. To the Editor of the prefent work the friends and admirers of Steele owe many obligations. His induftry, and, we may add, his acuteness, have been fuccefsfully exercifed to render the cloud which obfcured Steele's reputa tion lefs and lefs denfe. His partial. care has raifed him from amongst the groupe in which he was fometimes confounded and often overlooked, and placed him on a separate pedeftal, where he attracts and obtains his proper share of attention and praise. There are but very few, partial as they may have been to Steele's writings, or curious in collecting the periodical publications of that period, who have feen an entire collection of the THEATRE; and yet we may be juftified in afferting that it would be difficult to produce better writing from either the Spectators, Tallers, or Guardians. To those who are curious in investigating the hiftory of the English Rage, they must be peculiarly interefting; and to the works of Steele already published in the fame form and manner, they form a neceffary and valuable Appendix. The author of the ANTI-THEATRE we fhould be very glad to know; thefe papers are certainly the production of a man Steele's equal as a writer, and much his fuperior in erudition. The other tracts which accompany The Theatre tend to illuminate the hiftory of a period 1034 Review of New Publications. period to which the Politician and the Scholar can never be indifferent; they prove the versatile powers of a mind comprehending various branches of literature, and which was at the fame time friendly to the cause of morality, and firmly tenacious of the true rights and liberty of his countrymen. It gives us no fmall pleasure to find that Steele's Epiftolary Correfpondence is about to be reprinted in a fize correfponding with the Spectator, Guardian, &c. &c. and the volume before us. We fhail then poffefs, in one uniform collection, what the greatest talents and beft writers which adorn our annals have combined to produce. 185. The Happy Retreat. By the Rev. James Thompson. 3 vols. 12mo. THE ftyle of this work is very unequal: there is a great affectation of fine words, fet fpeeches, and foliloquies; nevertheless, when the author fuffers himself to glide into the fimple narra tive, he has frequently the power of interefting his reader. Many fhrewd re marks are interfperfed throughout this work, fome found reasoning, and much morality; but it exhibits no great knowledge of the world, or its com moneft forms: and there are fome whole pages which bring Swift's "Fluttering fpread thy purple pinions" Arongly to remembrance. The fecond and third volumes are far, very far fuperior to the firft; but we had often occafion to quarrel with the forced introduction of fuch words as confentaneous, contradictious, erratic, spontaneity, capa citated, and the like. On the whole, amongst the multitude of novels which are daily poured forth, this ranks on the better fide of mediocrity. 186. Iphigenia: A Novel. 3 vols. 12190. THE name of a novel, as times go, is by no means an unimportant confideration; and how often, in things of far greater magnitude, do names lead the multitude with the easiest ductility! This novel was written by a lady under circumstances of the heaviest affliction. The name he had given her book was Agatba; the publisher, doubtless for fufficient reafons, changed it to Ipbige nia. We are induced to think and Speak favourably of this publication from every motive of fenfibility and Compaffion. A woman, deferted in ber utmoft need, employing her pen, and retouching the impreflions of an early [Nov. good education, to fupply the urgent neceffities of the moment, is a spectacle at which the critick's rigour melts into tenderness.-But, without fuffering fuch impulfes to mislead us too far from our duty, we are authorised in saying that this is an interefting tale, fuperior to the run of novels. They who are more inclined to point out faults than beauties would perhaps remark, that it is too much fpun out, and that the events are fometimes too complicated and improbable. They might add, that the heroine, fatisfied with acting right, difre gards too much the opinion of the world. The reader's feelings, how. ever, are kept alive, through the work, to fo great a degree, that the various and wonderful difcoveries which it involves provoke no difguft. Many of the characters are well drawn; particularly Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries. If the authorefs fhall again employ her pen in this manner, we venture to predict, that, under circumftances of more eafe and leifure, which we fincerely wifh may be her lot, he will be entitled to a ftill more confi derable portion of regard. 187. The Iliad and Odyffey of Homer, tranf lated into Blank Verfe, by W. Cowper. (Continued from p. 930). WE before intimated with how great reluctance we found ourselves obliged to forego the pleafure of following our author with minute attention through his elaborate and valuable performance. We are induced to repeat this our regret from perceiving that the farther we proceed, the greater occafion we find to praife the beft talents fuccefsfully employed; to perceive a correct judgement combined with elegance of tafte, and altogether to admire a production which muft ever be confidered as an ornament to our country. The inaccuracies we have to point out are certainly not thofe of ignorance, far lefs of dulness, bug fuch only as are unavoidably incident to every work of magnitude and labour. In the opening of Book II. Mr. Cowper feems to have omitted a fair opportunity of adhering to that close interpretation which he himself deemed to be indifpenfably neceffary to the accom⚫ plifhment of his purpose. Δια δ' εκ εχε νήδυμος ύπνος. "But fweet fleep held not Jove." This sweet and fimple reddition, if it may be fo termed, is by no means adequately rendered by "But not the Sire of all." Line 40. Her fate is on the wing, is an expreffion highly poetical and impreffive, but there is nothing like it in the original. We cannot refift the pleafure of tranfcribing what we think a most happy and beautiful version : Lines 67, &c. Line 62: "Thy lyre, thy locks, thy person, fpecious gifts Of partial Venus, will avail thee nought.” "Nequicquam Veneris præfidio ferox "He would his downcaft eyes Ovid, in his XIIIth book, defcribes Line 146. Strike truce will be ob jected to by fome readers, as harth and inelegant. The phrafe of firiking hands, is Ariking a bargain, is common, but certainly vulgar. The ferire fœdus of the Latins contained an obvious allufion to the venerable ceremonies of facrifice, and was therefore, at the fame time, forcible and familiar. Its correfpondent term in English, to firike a bargain, being imperfectly understood as to its ori gin, is applied on the commoneft uccafions, without dignity or force, and has been always rejected from grave and fententious compofitions. Lines 165 to 184 are truly admirable, in whatever point of view they are confidered. Line 268. In piercing accents Aridulous. Stridulous is perhaps not a bad word, but it is of very rare occurrence, and never, we believe, to be found in our best writers. Befides, its proper meaning is, making a small noife; and thus it is properly explained in our Dictionaries; fo that, applied to piercing accents, it involves a folecifen. A little farther on, though from the mouth of Therfites we object to the expreflion but tub for be flent, fo we do alfo, in the following page, to many a bloody whelk. Both are vulgarifms. Mr. Cowper is very fuccefsful in rendering the speech of Agamemnon, lines 443 to 472; nor is he lefs fo in his catalogue of the fhips, by no means the eafielt part of his labour. meratos Suftulit ad proceres———" Line 330. Agamemnon's invocation very beautiful: "Jove, father, who from Ida stretchest forth All-feeing and all-hearing exprefs, with "My foul confides In that all-bealing and all-forming power And calmed it with a glance” rendered by "Hero of the amber locks" The whole of the third book does the highest honour to the author of The Tafk. The beautiful epifodes which it contains prefented a favourable object for the exercife of his talents as a poet, of which he has most happily availed himself. is Book IV. line 4: His next too abrupt, and certainly inelegant. The repetition is, in this place, without Line 190. This I know, know surely. force, and by no means equal to Ευ γαρ εξω τοδε οιδα καλα φρενα και κατα θυμον 1036 Review of New Publications. "As when the waves, by Zephyrus up- Crowd faft toward fome founding fhore, at first Borne turgid, fcatter far the showery spray- out, Such din from Thprus' wide-spread host arose. Thefe Pallas azure-eyed: nor Terror thence Her towering creft lifts gradual to the skies. Of the above quotation may be faid what Johnfon remarked of Gray's Elegy: "It were vain to blame and ufelefs to praise it." (To be continued.) 188. Paradife Reviewed: containing a Series of Elays, in subich are deduced our Duties in Life from Man's Nature and Origination; and in which is attempted to be defcribed the univerfal Power of Beauty; with a philofophical Efay on Love. OUR ideas of paradife being deduced from the beautiful defcriptions of that primæval state of our first parents which we have read many years ago, and fill continue to peruse with equal fatisfaction, in Milton's works, we hope the well-meaning writer of this rhapsody will excufe our enlarging further than his own title goes.. [Nor. 189. Chriflianity confiftent with a Love of Freedom; being an Answer to a Serm lately published by the Rev. John Clayton, By Robert Hall, M. A. 61 THE preface, dated from Cambridge, Sept. 17, ftates, that "thefe, animad"verfions did not arife from any con"viction of there being any thing even "of plausibility in Mr. Clayton's reafoning, but from an apprehenfion that certain accidental and occafi"opal prejudices might give fome "degree of weight to one of the weak: "eft defences of a bad caufe that was 66 ever undertaken. I have taken up "more time in fhewing that there is no «rian doctrine and the principles of proper connexion between the Unitarequire; but this will not be thought liberty than the fubject may feem to "fuperfluous by those who recollect "that that idea feems to be the great 66 binge of Mr. Clayton's difcourfe, and " and that it appears, among the ortho"dox part of the Diffenters, to have "been productive, already, of unhappy "effects. I fhall only add, that thefe "remarks would have appeared much "fooner but for fevere indifpofition, " and that I was induced to write them "chiefly from a perfuafion that they "might, perhaps, in the prefent in "stance, have fome additional weight, as coming from one who is not an "Unitarian."-Mr. Clayton is reprefented, p. 2, as a Diffenting-minifter, coming forth to the publick under the character of a flatterer of power, and an accufer af bis brethren: his favourite maxim of the inconfiflency of Chriftianity with political fcience as a fervile maxim; and his argument, that a Chriftian cannot lawfully interfere in the adminiftration of government, drawn from our Saviour's filence on that fub. ject, as a circumftance of itself fufficient to fupport a quite contrary conclufion. After detailing the accustomed arguments in favour of the Diffenting-minifters counteracting the Dignitaries of the Hierarchy, and promoting improve ments in civil government, he confeffes his difapprobation of the religious tenets of Dr. Priestley, as erroneous in the extreme, but pays high compliments to his abilities. All is panegyrick on this fide; all is invective on the other. The objections to the doctrine, from Scripture, are by no means removed. "The " zeal Unitarians have difplayed in de "fence of civil and religious liberty is the |