nothing when contrafted with his vanity and his zeal. His vanity makes him pert, and his zeal renders him outrageous. He is, in truth, the Luke Milbourne of the Diffenters :- and, "Curfe ye Meroz-curfe ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the Lord-to the help of the Lord against the mighty"-would have been a very proper text for most of his lectures. Such writers are little calculated to do credit to any caufe; and leaft of all to nonconformity. They lose by their fury, what they might have fecured by their mo deration; and forfeit by petulance what might have been granted to modefty.-Granted ?-Why, what would Mr. Robinson have? What can even he wish for, beyond what hath been granted? He hath his liberty; he reads his lectures; and he prints them. He is indulged in the freedom of abusing the eftablished Church, and speaking evil of its dignitaries. He hath the liberty of making as many converts as he can, and of baptizing them in his own way, and on his own terms. He can receive his pay, without any impoft, and he may spend it in the manner which may be agreeable to his inclinations. He is fubject to no fines; or if he ever was liable to them, were they ever demanded? He need not fear ftar-chamber arraignments-nor five mile acts, nor dread the malice of a skulking informer. He hath then his freedom; and he makes a very free ufe of it; Now what would the man have more?-The hiftory of the godly friars of the laft century, is not yet forgotten: and we may learn by it, that ENVY is frequently the parent of zeal, and when it becomes united with power, it fcarce ever fails to produce oppreffion.

A few extracts from thefe Lectures-or rather this fyllabus of Lectures [a fketch or outline to be filled up by others]-will be fufficient to juftify our reflections; and from them the impartial reader may judge how far fuch a fpirit as the Author difcovers is like to promote the cause of liberal nonconformity—or (which is higher moment) the great ends of living in fociety, and a tru preparation for the world of eternal peace and love.

Spe ng of the public liturgy of the Church of England, he inftr ; his brethren to reprefent it to their catecumens, as a 'defective book, in every point of view-that there are errors in it of every kind, viz. literary, philofophical, philological, and theological-that the very fcriptures are burlefqued by being turned into queftion and anfwer-that the whole is unneceffary and unwarrantable-and that the impofition of it is defpotical.' Again he fays, the whole ritual is unordained by Godunprofitable in divine worship-expenfive-heterogeneous and hurtful to popular piety, by employing the little time and capacities of the common people about trifles, generally rendered hateful to them by the flovenly manner in which they are per

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formed and were the ceremonies got decently through, they would be filly enough to take them for piety, which now they hate for its pretended garb.'

Mr. Robinson's rancour against Bishops appears almost in every page. He exhorts thofe to whom this plan of lectures is adapted to reprefent prelacy as lopery reftrained by civil power-that nonconformity is reafon and religion-that monarchy would ftand fafer without the incumbrance of epifcopacy than with it:-that the entire abolition of prelacy is to be effected without any civil inconvenience, and with great advantages to the nation and to religion:-that in God's due time the gofpel will effect it-and that till then the fervants of Chrift nuft prophesy in fackcloth-and that they who do fo, merit the higheft efteem here, and will fhine with peculiar glory hereafter.' Is not this fomething like a revival of the old cant? - But though we are not ftaunch for epifcopacy, we hope never to fee the old game played over again. We would rather fee prophet Robinfon in fackcloth and afhes; and all the brethren and fifters of the affociation throwing duft on their heads, and fighing and groaning for "Babylon the great-the mother of harlots, and the abomination of the earth."

In apologizing for his brethren the Quakers,' Mr. Robinfon delivers his principles on the doctrine of tythes. The Quakers (fays he) feem to confider eftablished priests as privateers, and their Church as a kind of letter of marque vefiel, allowed by authority indeed to plunder a fuppofed enemy, and to make reprisals: but having no equitable conftitutional claim on their property. The notion is certainly right.' Thus he gives his probatum to the principle: but evades the force of it by flying to the refuge of prudence. Perhaps (fays he) it is not prudent to act on it.'-Here the Quaker is more confiftent than the Independent; but the Independent is more politic than the Quaker for, balancing the account between compliance and refiftance, he finds that the gain turns on the fide of the former, and that all that can be got by the latter, is the empty fatisfaction of having acted on principle.-This is to be wife in his generation.'

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Mr. Robinfon is very fond of metaphors, allegories, and other figures of fpeech. A fimple Quaker would never have thought of calling the clergy privateers,'-and the Church of England a letter of marque vessel,' if he had not been helped to thefe polite expreffions by the abundant wit and ingenuity of Mr. Robinfon.--Speaking of Prefbyterianifm as a leffer kind of religious tyranny, he hath this moft delectable comparison: It differs from Popery only as a kept miftress differs from a ftreetwalking prostitute; or as a mufket differs from a cannon.'Baptift-independency is, we prefume, the true and legitimate.

bride! But though she may not be able to manage a cannon, or fhoulder a mufquet, yet we would not truft her, for all her meeknefs, with a piftol in her hand:-for (to ufe another of Mr. Robinfon's polite and pious metaphors, page 31) this good wife might, in a fit of paffion, play the devil' with us! But amidst the redundancy of Mr. Robinfon's figures of fpeech, we moft heartily approve of one towards the conclufion of his book, in which he fo truly fketches his own figure, that we cannot avoid prefenting it to our Readers.-After an humble confeffion of his freedom, and afking forgiveness for the fame, he frankly acknowledges, that he is only an inconfiderable errand goer in the Church of God.'-Dixit.

ART. VIII. Remarks on Mr. Robinson's Plan of Lectures on the Prin ciples of Nonconformity. By Candidus. Printed for the Author, and fold by H. Trapp, and at the Printing-Office, Fair Street, Horfly-down. 8vo. 6 d. 1779.

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HIS pamphlet will go but a little way in establishing the Author's claim to the title of a candid man. He hath all the bigotry of Mr. Robinson, without one grain of his wit and vivacity. 'Tis the mere caput mortuum of flow and folemn zeal! His preface is a formal fhew of profound ratiocination: in which he takes up two pages to express what any man of a clear understanding might have explained in two fhort fentences. In feveral places the Writer perverts or misapprehends Mr. Robinfon's meaning. He carps at trifles-mutilates paffagesfets up a man of ftraw-knocks him down-re-flays the flain, and vaunts in his imagined prowefs. In the delineation which he hath given of the diffenting mode of worship, he difcovers an eager defire to find fault, but unluckily he mistakes his object, and betrays his ignorance. Hear this folemn Querift:

Can the moft zealous advocate for nonconformity aflign any juft reason why the Bible is not read amongst them? Are thefe the people who are for free inquiry, that omit communicating the only true fountain of knowledge itfelf, otherwife than by preaching? The liturgy, human as it may be, abounds with many portions of fcripture: fo far divine.' [There's reafoning for ye. Who dare difpute this irrefragable conclufion?] Thus until the Nonconformifts can furmount this charge of omiffion, they difpute againft epifcopacy to little purpose. Saying the Lord's Prayer is alfo generally omitted by them, though exprefsly commanded by our Lord and Saviour. The reading of the law is also totally neglected, as though they had never heard. of it. These are the friends of free inquiry!" By the law (fays St. Paul) is the knowledge of fin." But here the law is not fo much as heard-unless occafionally adverted to in the fermon. These are the perfons who profefs to take the fcrip

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tures for the rule of their faith and practice, and yet introduce little or none of it in their worship. Until Mr. Robinson can vindicate fuch capital omiffions, he need not even attempt to vindicate nonconformity, fince it is evident they do not in this respect conform to the commands of reason.'

To balance the prefent Writer's fagacity with his candour, we shall transcribe one short paffage, and then take our leave of this poor controverfy. He apprehends that Mr. Robinfon ' is rather deceived when he fays that churchmen are for claiming the excellencies of other communities; whereas (fays he) I am inclined to believe they fcarce fee any excellency in them.' We leave it to others to decide on the truth of this honeft acknowledgment.

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As for the reft of this pamphlet, we can only fay, in the Remarker's own figurative language (for he, like Mr. Robinfon, cuts a figure now and then), that the channels of his declamatory conveyance are dreadfully clogged with the mud of error,'

ART. IX. Six old Plays, on which Shakespeare founded his Meafure for Mcafure. Comedy of Errors. Taming the Shrew. King John. K. Henry IV. and K. Henry V. King Lear. 8vo. 2 Vols. 6 s. fewed. Leacroft, &c. 1779.

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ROM the dunghill of Ennius, Virgil is faid to have collected gold. We have now before us a much meaner dunghill, from which that great chemift Shakespeare contrived to extract fomething more precious. The perufal of thefe old plays will rather ferve to raife than depreciate his genius in the eftimation of the reader, and will fhew that the delicacy of his tafle, and foundnefs of his judgment, were almoft as remarkable as the richnefs of his fancy. That he could prefent the world with fuch copies of Lear and Henry the Fifth, having before him fuch originals, is the ftrongest evidence of his poffeffing the poet's frenzy-rolling eye, as well as his imagination. to body forth things unfubftantial, and his pen to give them fhape.

The following extract is part of a fcene of "the History of King Lear and his Three Daughters :"

Cordella. Ah, good old father, tell to me thy griefe,
Ile forrow with thee, if not adde reliefe.
Leir. Ah, good young daughter, I may call thee fo;
For thou art like a daughter I did owe.

Cor. Do you not owe her till? what, is fhe dead?
Leir. No, God forbid: but all my intereft's gone,
By fhewing my felfe too much unnatural;
So have I lost the title of a father,
And may be call'd a stranger to her rather.

Cor. Your title's good fill: for tis alwayes knowne,
A man may do as him lift with his owne.

But have you but one daughter then in all?
Leir. Yes, I have more by two, then would I had.
Cor. O, fay not fo, but rather fee the end;

They that are bad, may have the grace to mend:
But how have they offended you so much?
Leir. If from the firit I fhould relate the cause,
'Twould make a heart of adamant to weepe;
And thou, poore foule, kind-hearted as thou art,
Dott weepe already, ere I do begin.

Cor. For Gods love tell it; and when you have done,
Ile tell the reason why I weepe so foone.

Leir. Then know this firit, I am a Brittaine borne,
And had three daughters by one loving wife:
And though I fay it, of beauty they were sped;
Especially the youngest of the three,

For her perfections hardly macht could be:
On thefe I doted with a jelous love,

And thought to try which of them lov'd me best,
By afking them, which would do most for me?
The first and fecond flattred me with words,
And vowd they lov'd me better then their lives:
The youngest faid, the loved me as a child
Might do her anfwere I efteem'd most vild,
And prefently in an outragious mood,
I turnd her from me to go finke or swim:
And all I had, even to the very clothes,
I gave in dowry with the other two:
And the that belt deferv'd the greatest fhare,
I gave ber nothing, but difgrace and care.
Now mark the fequel: when I had done thus,
I fojoured in my eldest daughters houfe,
Where for a time I was intreated well,
And fiv'd in flate fufticing my content:
But every day her kindneffe did grow cold,
Which I with patience put up well ynough,
And feemed not to fee the things I faw:
But at the last she grew fo far incenft
With moody fury, and with causlesse hate,
That in moft vild and contumelious termes,

She bade me pack, and harbour fomewhere else.
Then was I faine for refuge to repaire

Unto my other daughter for reliefe ;

Who gave me pleafing and most courteous words;
But in her actions fhewed her felfe fo fore,

As never any daughter did before:

She prayd me in a morning out betime,

To go to a thicket two miles from the court,

Pointing that there fhe would come talke with me:
There he had fet a fhag haird murdring wretch,
To maffacre my honest friend and me.

Then