of grafs is the natural produce of the foil, the three roods on which the bones were laid have hardly any of it, but on the contrary have all along produced the finest graffes.

"Laft year, I dreffed two acres with bones in two different fields prepared for turnips, fixty bushels to the acre, and had the pleasure to find the turnips greatly fuperior to the others managed in the common way. I have no doubt but these two acres will preferve their fuperiority for many years to come, if I may be allowed to prognofticate from former experiments most attentively conducted.

"I alfo dreffed an acre of grafs ground with bones in October (1774) and rolled them in. The fucceeding crop of hay was an exceeding good one. However, I have found from repeated experience that, upon grafs ground, this kind of manure exerts itself more powerfully the fecond year than the first.

"It must be obvious to every perfon, that the bones fhould be well broken before they can be equally spread upon the land. No pieces fhould exceed the fize of marbles. To perform this neceffary operation, I would recommend the bones to be fufficiently bruised by putting them under a circular stone, which being moved round upon its edge by means of a horse, in the manner that tanners grind their bark, will very expeditiously effect the purpose. At Sheffield it is now become a trade to grind bones for the ufe of the farmer. Some people break them fmall with hammers upon a piece of iron, but that method is inferior to grinding. To afcertain the comparative merit of ground and unground bones, I laft year dreffed two acres of turnips with large bones, in the fame field where the ground ones were used; the refult of this experiment was, that the unground materials did not perform the least service; while thofe parts of the field on which the ground bones were laid were greatly benefited.

"I find that bones of all kinds will anfwer the purposes of a rich dreffing, but thofe of fat cattle, I apprehend, are the beft. The London bones, as I am informed, undergo the action of boiling water, for which reason they must be much inferior to fuch as retain their oily parts; and this is another of the many proofs given in these effays that oil is the food of plants. The farmers in this neighbourhood are become fo fond of this kind of manure, that the price is now advanced to one fhilling and fourpence per bushel, and even at that price they fend fixteen miles for it.

"I have found it a judicious practice to mix ashes with the bones; and this winter I have fix acres of meadow land dressed with that compoft. A cart load of afhes may be put to thirty or forty bushels of bones, and when they have heated for twenty-four hours (which may be known by the fmoaking of the heap), let the whole be turned. After laying ten days longer, this moft excellent dreffing will be fit

for use."

My very excellent friend, Edward M. Mundy, Efq; of Shipley, in the county of Derby, this moment informs me, that a gentleman in the neighbourhood of Matlock has lately erected a mill for grinding bones, which he profitably applies both to pafture and arable lands.'

The only thing we shall remark is, that Mr. St. Leger's method of breaking the bones by means of a circular stone drawn by a horse, is not

the

the most common, and, we believe, not the most approved method. The operation is ufually performed with a hammer, worked in the fame manner as the hammer of a forge. But a ftill better method is to grind the bones between two caft-metal cylinders. Mills are very rarely erected purposely for this business, as, at a very trifling expence, the apparatus may be added to any common water-mill. POLITICAL.

Art. 14. Oppofition Mornings: With Betty's Remarks. 8vo. Wilkie. 1779.

I s. 6 d.

Fun for the Majority, at the expence of the Minority. It is written in fomewhat of Mr. Tickell's manner of party-ridicule; nor is it unworthy of that Gentleman's pen :-his pinchbeck, fteel pen, we mean; which having been touched by the political magnet, always veers toward the North.

Art. 15. The Green Box of Monfieur De Sartine, found at Made

moifelle Du The's Lodgings. From the French of the Hague Edition; revised and corrected by thofe of Leipfic and Amfterdam. 8vo. I s. 6d. Becket, &c. 1779.

It now appears that this pretended English tranflation is the original work, as it came from the ludicrous pen of Mr. Tickell, author of ANTICIPATION; and that the French edition, from which we extracted the character of this Performance, as given in our laft Month's Review, was only a circumftance in the joke:-but this ingenious party politician, and wag, fhould have taken care not to spoil his joke by the faults of a French verfion, which only ferved to let the cat out of the bag.

Art. 16. Examination of Lieutenant General the Earl of Cornwallis, before the Committee of the Houfe of Commons, upon Sir William Howe's Papers. 8vo. I S. Robfon. 1779.

.

From the extreme referve and caution of this noble examinant, and his inflexible refolution to speak to no question that involved any matter of opinion, the Committee could extract but little information from his Lordship's evidence. General Gray was more open, and hath, accordingly, been applauded as more manly. If the knowledge of his opinion concerning the conduct and circumftances of the American war could be of any fervice to his country, he thought the House had a right to it, and he frankly, it is faid, added they were welcome to the fruits of his experience and obfervation. This, fay the Patriots, certainly spoke an independence of mind which did him honour. Sorry are we to add, that his opinion and experience were by no means favorable to the minifterial idea of coercive meafures for the reduction of revolted America *.-Both his Lordship's evidence, however, and that of the General, were greatly in favour of the conduct of Lord Howe, and his brother Sir William, the Commanders in Chief; who appear to have accomplished all that, in their fituation, could have been accomplished, for the good of the fervice in which they were engaged.

* We derive some confolation, however, from the different opinion of General Robertfon. According to that Gentleman's evidence, the British intereft in North-America is not altogether in fo hopeless a way as it seemed to be, on General Gray's examination. I i

REV. June, 1779.

Art,

Art. 17. Hiftorical Anecdotes, civil and military: In a Series of Letters, written from America, in the Years 1777 and 1778, to different Perfons in England; containing Obfervations on the general Management of the War, and on the Conduct of our principal Commanders, in the revolted Colonies. 8vo. I s. 6d.

Bew.

We fufpect that thefe Letters, whether genuine or not (we rather fuppofe that they are genuine), have been made public chiefly with defign to arraign the conduct of Lord and General Howe; but chiefly that of the latter. The Letters feem to have been all written by a zealous North British Loyalift; who chufes to demonftrate his averfion to the Rebels and their caufe, by beftowing, moft liberally, on both, the choiceft flowers of fcurrility.-He thinks, or profeffes to think, that if our commanders had done their duty, an end would, long fince, have been put to American refiftance; but, for our confolation, he expreffes the warmest hopes, and highest expectations, from the fuperior ability, and more vigorous exertions, of Sir Henry Clinton.-This feems to be all party-work. The best commentary on thefe Letters will be found in Almon's Register + of what lately paffed in the House of Commons, relative to the conduct of the American war.

Art. 18. Sketches from Nature, in high Prefervation, by the molt honourable Mafters, 4to. 2 s. Kearly. 1779.

Although neither the wit nor the fatire of thefe allufive but rather too occult paintings, will be obvious to every beholder, yet the performances, taken all together, evidently proclaim the pencil of an artist.

The hint of this publication feems to have been taken from the catalogues diftributed at our annual exhibitions, and from the ftrictures on thofe exhibitions ufually given in the public prints.

The characters here alluded to, are, chiefly, thofe of the Dukes of Cu- -d, Gr-n, An—r, and Qu y; the A-hb-p of Cay; the Earls of B-te, S -h, Ch-y, B-1, D-h, and M———-d; the Lords N—h, T——————], W— -h, Ca -le, H-ke; the Bishop of Gl r; Admiral K-1, General C―――g, Charles F-x, Mr. B-ke, Mr. J―n; and many

A

others.

--

POETICA L.

Art. 19. On the Preference of Virtue to Genius. A Poetical Epifle. 4to. is. 6 d. Cadell. 1779.

That Genius and Virtue fhould ever be fet in oppofition to each other, feems at firit view unnatural; yet, if we quit fpeculation, and confine curfelves to facts, we thall have the mortification to find them too frequently at variance. To reconcile them, as well as to decide which is to have the preference, seems to have been intended by the Author of this ethic epistle. After expatiating on the fupe

*We have formed this conjecture, on fome expreffions which certainly are not English: fuch as "fo foon as," instead of as soon as; "Washington wrote a genteel enough letter," &c. &c.

† Howe-Papers.

rior

rior excellence of Virtue, he proceeds to confider the influence the will neceffarily have both on the conduct of individuals and the Public, whenever he holds that rank in the eftimation of the world to which her fuperiority entitles her. As a fpecimen of this Writer's manner take the following extract:

In various ways,
To feek the PUBLIC good is Virtue's praise :
And firft, in what advances it alone
More than the power or splendour of a throne,
Prevailing MANNERS claim her earliest care;
And will each Solon's chief attention fhare.
Here of the public fafety lies the fource;
To ftrength and glory here the certain course.
An Indian conqueft, and a captive king,
To guilty hands, ill-fated wealth may bring;
The noble arch, the villa may arise,

The lofty column feem to touch the skies;
Sad monuments! if Virtue leaves the land,
And vice ufurps an uncontrouled command;
No rural worthies left, of middle state,

To stem the tide, and awe the vicious great.
Trained to the yoke, and bound with fervile cords,
A fallen race fhall bend to tyrant lords,
Or dying freedom, roufed (fuch Sampson's end),
In one great ruin all this fplendour blend.
This the true statesman knows,
Unless the peft of vice he can reftrain,
And thofe once valued qualities can raife,
Which form a people's most exalted praife;
By which the rising state to manhood grows,
The dread of tyrants and infidious foes.

but knows in vain,

"Say in what realm the minister is found,
Who dares to ftand on Virtue's folid ground?
Sworn to a master's arbitrary sway,
Compelled the royal mandate to obey,
Subfervient to the whim of every hour,
A pandar to the luft of boundless power,
To make an empire happy never taught,
How can the good of thofe he rules be fought?
Headlong he drives and into ruin goes,
Blind to the dreadful train of future woes.
A thousand enfigned slaves await his nod,
And bow before their patron and their God,
Model the laws according to his will,
And all his fatal purposes fulfil.

• Where then shall truft have place, or hope arifé ?
Where but in Virtue's friends, the good and wife?

•

• Ye truly great-whom not a monarch's love,
Nor flattering fmile, to wrong your trust can move;
Whose freeborn fouls difdain the yoke of flaves;
Defpife the frown of power, and arts of knaves;

Ii 2

Whom

Whom neither wealth, nor grandeur can allure;
With whom our choiceft bleffings are secure;
Arise to save, once more, your native isle,
And Virtue still on Alfred's realm shall smile.
Ye the defpotic refcript can refcind,
And give the cruel edict to the wind,
Repair the honoured paths of old renown,
Tranfmit our rights to diftant ages down,
Recal our armies o'er the Atlantic flood,
(Compelled no more to fhed a brother's blood,)
Commerce, and ancient amity, restore,

While fhouts of joy refound from shore to shore.'

GENIUS facrificing to VIRTUE is an object which must ever be contemplated with pleasure and veneration; and yet, we are not to let our veneration for the action make us inattentive to the manner in which it is performed. This poem is certainly not fo highly finished as it might have been: had this amiable Writer exerted himfelf, we doubt not but that he might have produced a poem which would not have been deficient either in ftrength or elegance. Art. 20. The Noble Cricketers. A poetical and familiar Epiftle, addreffed to Two of the idleft Lords in his Majefty's Three Kingdoms. 4to. 1 S. Bew.

The two idleft Lords in his Majefty's three kingdoms are undoubtedly very fair objects of fatire. Were our Author as happy in the execution of his performance as in the choice of his subject, he might poffibly be entitled to fome praife; as it is, we doubt whether SAM SMALL, LUMPY, or even HORSE FLESH, Would not blush to have written fuch ribaldry.

Art. 21. The Aufpices of War; an Ode. Infcribed to the Memory of Admiral Bofcawen. To which is added, the Prophecy of the Union; a narrative Poem. 4to. 1s. Dodfley. 1779.

6

As this Writer pleads that he is not an old offender,' we are the lefs difpofed to be fevere in our fentence upon him. He is to ob. ferve, however, that as this apology will not avail him in future, he muft, when he next appears before the tribunal of the Public, bring with him fome more effectual plea to entitle him to its indulgence; of which, indeed, we by no means defpair. The prefent fpecimen of his abilities is far from being unpromifing. Art. 22. Poems on various Subjects. By Ann Murry, Author of Mentoria. 4to. 5 s. fewed. Dilly, &c. 1779. The greater part of thefe Poems, as the Writer tells us, were defigned to defcribe the advantages resulting from rectitude of manners; to imprefs on others the conviction produced in her own heart of the inftability of human happiness; and to direct the mind to what ought to be the chief object of its attention, the hope of attaining a state, "where the wicked ceafe from troubling, and the weary are at reft." That they may answer the ends for which they were written, cannot but be the wish of every good mind. In fome of thefe pieces, though there be inaccuracies to which the faftidious will object, and in others a gravity, which, for the diffipated and thoughtlefs, may have no great charms of allurement, yet there are many readers to whom they will prove both inftructive and amufing.

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Art.