MISCELLANIES.

ART. 38. Letters from France in 1802. By Henry Redhead Yorke, Efq. In Two Volumes. 8vo. 15s. Symonds. 1804.

This gentleman complains in his Preface," that the unforgiving hand of profcription till weighs heavily upon him, in defpight of every gratuitous conceffion, of recantation public, folemn, and uninvited, of feven years of difintereffed and ardent zeal in the cause of his King and Country, accompanied by the greatest voluntary perfonal facrifices", &c. &c. We were prepared to think that he had indeed been treated with injuftice; but on opening the volume, we confefs our zeal in his behalf was a little checked by finding that, on his arrival at Paris, he immediately fought and renewed a former intimacy with the notorious -Tom Paine, fcorned by every wife, and abhorred by every pious man, an avowed enemy to that King and that Country, for which this author avows himself fo warm an advocate. He condefcended also to vifit Mifs Helen Maria Williams, living with the notorious Mr. Stone, a married man, in virtuous, philofophical, Platonic friendship. These are certainly circumftances that will, in fome minds, excite fufpicions of the integrity of the author's profelytifm.

The Letters are entertaining enough; but, except the anecdotes which are told of Paine, Joel Barlow, and Madam Williams, we do not find any thing particularly ftriking, or indeed very new. Mr. Holcroft and fifty more have exhausted all that can be related of modern Paris, its museums, inflitutions, literature, and, laftly, of Conful and Madam Bonaparte.

ART. 39. Obfervations made at Paris during the Peace, and Remarks in a Tour from London to Paris, through Picardy, and to England, by the Route of Normandy; containing a full Defcription of every Object of Curiofity in the French Metropolis and its Environs; a Critical Review of the Theatres, Actors, &c. and every interesting Particular that may ferve as a useful Companion to the Stranger, and amuse the Mind of the curious and scientific. By Edmund John Eyre, formerly of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, now of the Theatres Royal Bath and Bristol, Author of various dramatic and poetic Compofitions." Svo. 10s. 6d. Longman and Rees. 1803.

Mr. Holcroft, for his two ponderous volumes about Paris, demanded the enormous fum of five guineas; Mr. Eyre, with far more modefty, gives us, for half a guinea, a full account of every object of curiofity in Paris, with every interesting particular that may be useful to the ftranger, that can aimufe the mind of the curious, or inftruct the fcientific. All this is compreffed in one volume, of less than four hundred pages. Utrum borum mavis? The traveller who wishes for general

general information about public places, buildings, taverns, &c. will find Mr. Eyre's book very convenient and useful; but particularly fo if he should vifit Paris for the luxuries of eating, no less than fourteen pages being occupied with a tranfcript of the bill of fare, with the prices of each article annexed, of one of the most fashionable eatinghoufes of Paris. Anecdotes are but very thinly scattered; and of the principal perfonage in France scarcely any mention is made; nevertheless, and in fpite of the vaunting title-page, the author has produced an agreeable volume, and facetiously promifes a fecond. In. this fecond, fhould it appear, we wish the author not to use fuch words as extortionate for extortionating, exhumation for taking from the grave, fubteraneous for fubterraneous, and the like.

ART. 40. The Scarborough Tour in 1803. By W. Hutton, F. A. S. S. 8vo. 7s. Rivingtons. 1804.

The fame amiable principle, namely, parental affection, which induced the venerable author and traveller to vifit Wales, carried him from Birmingham to Scarborough in the fummer of last year. The fame motive also has led him to publish an account of his Tour, namely, that the pleasure of the journey was doubled by recording it. The intermediate places are defcribed in the author's ufual manner, with the introduction of various local and hiftorical anecdotes, which show an intimate knowledge of his own country and its annals. From the entertaining defcription given in this volume of York and its antiquities, we should be very glad, as we do not recollect any extended work on the fubject, if Mr. Hutton will, at fome future interval of leifure, increase the materials he must have, and oblige us with a more circumftantial account of this ancient and interefting city. Notwithftanding that we exprefs a general fatisfaction with Mr. Hutton's publications, we beg leave to enter our protest against many of his remarks, and particularly against fome unbecoming infinuations against our church establishment and its ministers.

ART. 41. The Life of Robert Ferguson, the Scottish Poet. By Thomas Sommers, Burgess and Freeman of Edinburgh, and his Majefty's Glazier for Scotland. 12mo. 25. Longman and Rees. 1803.

This is an account by an intimate acquaintance of an ingenious youth, who died at the premature age of twenty-four; but who, in that short period, greatly diftinguithed himself by his poetical tafte and talents. His Poems were first published in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, but were afterwards collected into a volume. His fate is fhocking to humanity; a contufion on his brain deftroyed his reafon, and he died in a mad house.

ART.

'ART. 42. Buonaparte in the West Indies; or, the Hiftory of Touffaint Louverture, the African Hero. Parts I. II. III. The third Edition, 3d. each, or 2s. 6d. per dozen. 8vo, Hatchard. 1893.

We know not the quarter from which this work proceeds; but affuredly it is from no common hand. It is here fhown, trom a very minute examination of the best documents which could be obtained; nay, from the public acknowledgments of the Chief Conful, his Generals, and other agents, that Touffaint was indeed A HERO. Hir hiftory is too little known; it deferves to be handed down to future generations, and it ought to be deeply imprinted on the minds of all thofe in the prefent generation, who can affift by their valour, or their counfel, in averting from their country the miferies which " Busnaparte in the Weft-Indies" has produced, This man appears to be a compound of cunning and cruelty. Yet his cunning, like that of all other creatures, often turns out to be mere folly; but his cruelty, alas! feldom miffes its aim. Touffaint did not furrender, as many have fuppofed; he was feized in his own house, in a time of peace-hurried to France, with his wife and children, and his whole family; and there he was starved to death in a dungeon-all of them feem to have been destroyed. These tracts are fo well written, in familiar language, that they will gratify the most intelligent, as well as the humbleft readers,

ART. 43. Letters of a Mameluke, or a moral and critical Picture of the Manners of Paris. With Notes by the Tranflator. From the French of Jofeph Lavallee, of the Philotechnic Society, &c. &c. Sc. Trun Volumes. 1200. 98. Murray. 1804.

A Mameluke is here made to write his fentiments of Paris, just as Perfian, Turkish, Jewish, Peruvian, Chinese, and other vifitors have been made to do before. There is much of the pertness, and many of the prejudices of a Frenchman in it, but little of ingenuity to diftinguish it from other productions of a fimilar kind. The chief attraction is, that it fatirizes Paris as it is; but, in general, not on topies that are interefting to English readers. That the remarks are unfuitable to the fuppofed character of the writer, feems to have been perceived, even by the author himself. There is no probability main, tained in that respect.

ART. 41. The British Mufcum, or elegant Repository of Natural History. By William. Holloway and John Branch. Two Volumes. 12mo, s. Badcock. 1804..

Within these few years, curiofity on fubjects of natural history has become fo widely circulated, that it has been found expedient and profitable to publifh various compendiums, for the convenience and inftruction of young perfons. Many of thefe will be found noticed with deferved commendation in different articles of our Review; and

the

the prefent is, with refpect to its fize, advantages, and price, as defireable a manual as we have feen. It fhould be observed, that this publication is at prefent confined to quadrupeds only; and that the coloured copies are feven, and the plain only five fhillings, which we think very cheap. It is intended to continue it to the other parts natural history.

of

ART. 45. Addreffes to Young Men. By Joshua Toulmin, D.D. 8vo. 188 pp. 35. Johnfon. 1803.

The compofition of the firft of these Addreffes, or (as the author modeftly and properly defcribes them) hints, was fuggested by "an anxious concern for the future conduct and happiness of feveral young gentlemen on removing from under his tuition, and gave birth to thofe which follow. They are now printed, from an earnest defire to serve the rifing generation." We think them well calculated for this good purpofe; not indeed by any novelty or liveliness and vigour which pervade them; bat by their plainnefs and folidity. They seem to be intended, chiefly, but not folely, for the ufe of young perfons destined to trade or merchandize. The subjects of them are-fober-mindednefs; religion; pursuit of knowledge; company; converfation; fympathy towards the fex, and marriage; application to trade, or a profeffion.

ART. 46. The Hiftory of Free-Masonry, drawn from authentic Sources of Information, with an Account of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, from its Inftitution in 1736, to the prefent Time, compiled from the Records; and an Appendix of Original Papers. 8vo. 75. Longman and Rees. 1804.

As none of our fraternity are Free-Mafons, we do not undertake to decide on the accuracy of this Hiftory. The object of the publication is certainly commendable, namely, to refute the affeverations which lately have been brought against the fraternity. By this account it certainly appears, that the principles of Free-Masonry are as oppofite as poffible to any thing connected with revolutionary anarchy. To prove this, is the bufinefs of the first part of this work. The fecond is occupied with the Hiftory of Scottish Free-Mafonry, from its inftitution in 1736, to the prefent period. This laft is entirely new, and communicates fome important and interesting facts. The reader will alfo find two ancient charters, from the Scottish Mafons to the Sinclairs of Rollin, taken from Hay's manufcript in the Advocate's Library.

ART. 47. Two Mafonic Addresses delivered in the Lodge of Freedom, No. 89, Gravefend, December 27, 1803; being the Anniversary of the Feftival of St. John the Evangelift. By Brother Killick, R. W. M. and Brother John Bryan, J. W. Published at the Requeft of the Lodge. 8vo. 22 pp. J. Afperne. 1804.

Brother K. puts fome home questions, and gives well-fquared advice to Mafons. He particularly guards them againft the foul machi

་་

nations

nations of impiety and profaneness"; against thofe " peftilential cha racters, which may have had opportunities of corrupting the minds of the brethren wite irreligious notions." P. 10.

Brother B. with much animation, feconds the efforts of the Right Worshipful Mafier; afferting the clofe connection between "Religion and Masonry"; and "contemplating with pain those odious characters, which have crept in among them, and after having been foftered in the bofom of Mafonry, have with viperous malignity, been bafely endeavouring to fting her to the heart." P. 18. Thefe Addreffes may be read with fatisfaction, not only by Mafonic Brethren, but by those alfo who are not "members of the fabric"; and may tend to preferve to the order, in England, fome of that efteem which it has generally forfeited in other countries,

ART. 48. An Addrefs to the Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, on their excommunicating fuch of their Members as marry those of other religious Profeffions. 8vo. 48 pp. 1s. 6d. Rickman, &c. 1804.

A philippic againft Quakers; with inuendoes far more extended; by one who feems to be of no fect, church, or religion what ever. Writers of this ftamp would do well, to make themselves acquainted with the doctrines of any church, before they venture to prate about them; at pp, 12, 13, we read, "it does not appear that it [the marriage ceremony] is looked upon by them [the clergy of the church of England] as a facramental performance; no declaration to that effect having been made by them". Had the author's Sponfors "taken care that he be inftructed in the Church Catechifm"; he would there have learned, that "Chrift hath ordained in his church Sacraments only; that is to fay, Baptifm, and the Supper of the Lord". The whole feems to be a fpecimen of unneceffary and indecorous intermeddling in the concerns of others. The Quaker have certainly a right to make their own regulations, as well as other bodies; and they are not to give up what they think religion, because others choose to term it fuperftition.

ART. 49. Ecclefiaftical Dignities, Ecclefiaftical Grievances, if not speedily reformed; with Obfervations on Sir William Scott's Refidence Bill, and Extracts from Simpfon's Plea for Religion, Addreffed to the Right Hon. Lard Grenville. 8vo. 28 pp. 1s. Jordan, &c.

MALEVOLENCE perfonified, affifted by IGNORANCE and IMPUDENCE, to give her counfel and courage, would probably have writen fuch a book as this on the fame fubject.

FOREIGN