main fufpended, or to rife, in the air: only the one is common and feen every day, the other is not fo; the one is according to, the other varies from, the course of nature, but BOTH are equally miraculous, and both "beyond the power of human natrue to caufe or to explain."

If this diftinction then be properly regarded, it will evidently appear that a miraculous fact, contrary to the common courfe of nature, is very poffible, if directed by that Almighty hand which created all things, and gave them laws, from which indeed they should not deviate but at the will of their Divine Director.

And now, Mr. Hume, what becomes of your boasted experience, that infallible mirror? You fee, fir, it is faithlefs, and reflects a falfe and deceitful image.'

In the fecond Dialogue lord Herbert endeavours to convince Mr. Hume, that the fuperior purity, which appears in modern authors, when compared with the ancients, is not owing to the caufes afligned by the latter in his Effay on the Rife of Arts and Sciences, but to the influence of Chriftianity.

In the third difcourfe Shakspeare pays many deferved compliments to Mr. Garrick; but objects to fome particulars in his action, to his calling him in the Jubilee, the God of our idolatry, &c.

With respect to the first he fays, in fome parts of Richard the Third, his violent exertion of voice and earnest action, both exceeded thofe bounds, which juft nature has fixed to propriety. But, he adds, I will do myself and you the jus tice to obferve, that thofe paffages, in which you thus offended, were the alterations of Cibber, who ftudied more the stage trick of rant and noife, than the genuine emotions of ambition or defpair.'

On this paffage the author has fubjoined the following

note :

• In pronouncing these laft words of Richard's foliloquy on confcience,

"Great men chufe greater fins-ambition's mine,"

all the actors I ever faw (Mr. Garrick not excepted) raifed both hands erect above the head, in the ridiculous attitude of a perfon endeavouring to get rid of a hiccough, or in act to leap.

Now I am upon the fubject of alteration, I cannot but observe, that many of Shakespeare's plays are altered for the worfe, and many fine paffages entirely omitted. Two of which I fhall take notice of. One is in Macbeth; when an account of the murder of his family is brought to Macduff, he cries out,'

« My

"My children too!".

And then, after a pathetic paufe, goes on,

66

Did you fay, all -What! all?"

"The other omiffion is in Lear; who, when he is driven to the extremity of diftrefs in the laft act, is no longer able to fupport the weight of affliction, but, bursting as it were with anguifh, he cries,

"Pray you undo this button;"

and inftantly expires. This beautiful ftroke of nature is, and must be neceffarily, loft by the prefent alteration. It was too fine a thought however to efcape the notice of the ingenious author of Sidney Bidulph: when one of her capital perfons (Mr. Warner) is fuddenly affected with an unexpected ftroke of generofity, he fays nothing but "Good God! Good God, and, undoing two or three buttons at his breaft, fobbed as if his bofom was bursting." A paffage which I could never read without melting into tears.'

In favour of the prefent alteration it may be faid that a low idea, or a vulgar expreffion, fuch as that of undoing a button, may unfortunately throw an air of burlesque over the moft affecting incident.

In the fourth Dialogue Fielding paffes the highest encomiums on Mr. Melmoth; but cautions him against the introduction of vicious characters, loose ideas, and wanton allufions to the fcripture, in feveral of his publications, particularly in his Liberal Opinions. Yet, after all, Mr. Melmoth must, in this inftance, acknowlege the hand of a friend.

The charge exhibited by Sherlock against Mr. Jenyns is, that the latter has not treated Chriftianity as if he wished to ferve its caufe; that he has argued weakly; which, if not defignedly, is not to be accounted for in a writer of his acknowleged judgement and good fenfe; that he has used many expreffions carrying with them an air of ridicule, which if ferious, are on such a fubje& unaccountable; that he has furnished deifts and freethinkers with unanfwered objections against the cause of religion; and enforced his arguments and drawn up his conclufions, with fuch liftleffnefs, and in fuch a ftyle of rock-water, as if he did not wish to have them believed.'

In the two following paffages, as he obferves, there are hints of doubt and hesitation, which would not have been thrown out by a real friend.

I will venture to affirm, fays Mr. Jenyns, that Christianity is not the offspring of fraud or fiction; fuch, on a fuperficial view, I know, it must appear to any man of good fenfe. It is well worth every man's while, who either is, or intends to be virtuous, to believe Chriftianity, if he can?

Mr.

Mr. Jenyns, treating of humility, chooses to ftyle it poor ness of spirit,' on which Sherlock makes this remark:

• You are not to be told, that these words, however good their real meaning, convey to the generality of readers a mean and despicable idea; they ought therefore to be avoided : but you feem to be particularly fond of them, and very frequently repeat them. Surely there never were two ftranger fentences on one and the fame fubject, than the following: "By poornefs of fpirit is to be understood a difpofition of mind, meek, humble, fubmiffive to power, and void of ambition." Pride was not made for man, but humility, meeknefs, and refignation; that is, poorness of spirit." What chiming, and changing, and repeating is here! Will this reprefentation of a Chriftian virtue, think ye, ferve the Chriftian caufe? Is it ferious? Well; be it fo: I only obferve, that in Mr. Hume, the enemy of Chriftianity, who fpeaks in much the fame ftrain of the fame virtue, fuch folemn ridicule might be natural; but in you, a profeffed friend, I cannot think it fuch a strain of expreffion as might have been expected.'

Sherlock having afferted, that Mr. Jenyns has furnished the Deifts with unanfwered arguments, produces one as an instance, which Mr. Jenyns lays down with minute exactness, and applauds in these terms: This would be an argument worthy of rational deifts, and demand a refpectful attention.'

It is not usual, fays the bishop, with a warm friend to furnish enemies with weapons, which may wound the cause, they wish [he wishes] to serve.'

After many other remarks, his lordship thus concludes;

• Hear me then, Mr. Jenyns, and with patience;-you have written a fenfible treatife on the Chriftian religion, to which religion you have profeffed yourself a friend: I must believe your profeffions. In your work there are many excellent things, well worthy your great understanding, and in it there are many as utterly unworthy. A trange and unaccountable mixture! But had you concluded the whole with fome earnestness, preffed it upon the heart of your reader with a becoming spirit and gravity (you will not fufpect me of pleading for loofe and unmeaning declamation), it would have feemed more like conviction, and have appeared to flow from the heart. Whereas, on the contrary, you have drawn up your conclufion with fo little force, fuch faint and unergetic liftleffnefs, as if you were very little interested in your reader's belief of the premises. "If there were a few more true Chriftians in the world, it would be more beneficial to themselves, and by no means detrimental to the public."-Cold, careless, and unanimated! and on such a subject-You could but speak in a strain like this, when drawing on your shoe-" If it were a little larger across,

it would be of more service to me, and by no means trouble. fome to the foot."

No man, when reasoning on a great and important subject, should intermix a declamatory earneftnefs in the course of his argument, nor attempt to move the paffions, while he fhould convince the understanding: but when he has propofed and proved his arguments with ftrength and clearness, then not to enforce them with a juft and heart-felt warmth, appears affected, indifferent, and unnatural :-unnatural, furely! for if the head and heart go together in the cause of religion, both will exert themselves with equal force, each in their proper place, the one in the course, and the other in the conclufion, of the work.

"It was not with this cold indifference that I enforced the divine truths of Chriftianity, after I had endeavoured to prove them ;-no, I preffed them home to the heart of the Deift, which I wished to warm, to animate, and alarm. In a ftrong apostrophe, I directed him to go to his natural religion, bid him compare the true prophet with the falfe, and then fay which is the prophet of God:-I urged him to mark the ex preffive answer which Nature gave, when viewing the scene of the crucifixion, through the eyes of the centurion who attended at the cross-how ftrongly by him she spoke, and faid, "Truly this man was the fon of God."

"Here was warmth and energy, which flowed, and which feemed to flow, from the heart, Had I urged this comparison in a cold and unaffecting manner-had I concluded it with affuring the Deift, that a little conviction, arifing from this comparison, would be beneficial to himself, and by no means detrimental to the public," I fhould have thought, and not have been furprised if others had thought, that I had betrayed the cause which yet I wished to serve.'

The subject of the fixth dialogue is the omiffion of fome beautiful paffages in the edition of Cowley's Works, lately published by Dr. Hurd: viz.

The only cheap and universal cure, &c.'

The Dialogue between Addison and Dr. Johnfon chiefly turns on what the former is pleased to call the affected and uncouth expreffions' of the latter, and the rugged severity of his thoughts.'

*

The converfation between archbishop Langton and Mr. Gibbon is introduced by the following paffage in the History

#6 By whofe advice and encouragement the people of England af ferted their liberties, and Magna Charta was obtained from the hand of an unrelenting and unwilling tyrant.'

VOL. XLVII. June, 1779.

Gg

of

of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. • Such is the connection between the throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very feldom been seen on the fide of the people.' The archbishop endeavours to refute this reflection, and then proceeds to fhew, that the hiftorian has unjustly depreciated the Chriftian religion in feveral inftances. Towards the conclufion, he thus expoftulates with him on his conduct in general.

Why, fir, this zeal, why this earnestness to fubvert that holy religion? What good end can it answer? Does the gospel teach an Epicurean morality? Does it inculcate malice, covetoufnefs, revenge? In a word, does it encourage vice of any kind? If it did, you could but profecute it with unremitting zeal. But as it teaches a pure fyftem of morals; as it inculcates peace, generofity, forgiveness; as it encourages virtue of every kind, why it is thus infidiously and earnestly attacked, let the hearts of its enemies declare. But the revilers of Christianity act a preposterous part: they endeavour to remove that excellent religion, and attempt to fubftitute nothing in its room.At least give the world a purer and more reasonable rule of life, ere you try to blast its dearest hopes both here and hereafter.'

There are several paffages in this conference, which we could extract with pleasure, would the extent of our Review admit of any farther quotations.

In the last dialogue Cicely duchefs of York, is fuppofed to prefent herself, in the courfe of an annual penance for her pride and ambition, before an oppofite, and, by consequence, an amiable character of her own fex; to fuffer the anguish of relating her own hiftory and drawing her own character, as well as to do painful juftice to another by delineating and applauding her virtue. This affords the author an opportunity of paying fome genteel compliments to lady S.

This work is written with an agreeable vivacity, and contains many just observations.

The English Poets, with Prefaces biographical and critical to each Author. By Samuel Johnson, L.L. D. Illuftrated with Heads, engraved by Bartolozzi, Caldwall, Hall, Sherwin, Walker, &c. 60 vols. Small 8vo. 71. 10s. half bound. Printed for the principal Bookfellers. [Continued, from p. 362.]

OF F the two first volumes of this ingenious work we gave an account in our laft Review. The third and fourth remain to be confidered, which are written with the fame fpi

Cicely Neville, daughter of R. Neville, earl of Westmorland. wife of Richard, duke of York, and the mother of Edward IV. and Richard III.

rit,