155. MONBONDO's Ancient Metaphysics, 191 - - Epifle to the Aushor of a Pa. MOORE's Seaman's Daily Afiftant, . 192 raphrase, &c. Moral and Historical Memoirs, 46 POLITICAL Mirror, MURDIN'S Three Sermons, 395 Poor Crocus, POVOLERI'' Rules for reading Italian, PRIESTLEY, Dr. Publications rela- A TANNONI on the Hydrocele, 316 tive to his Notions concerning Neces. NEWTON's Works, new Edition, 28 ral Philosophy, concluded, 163 Sermon on the Divine In. 258 Aluence on the Human Mind, 397 NIGHT-THOUGHTS, Author of, a fixth PROLOGUES and Epilogues, Collection 78 Proposals for the Uniformity of Weights and Measures in Scotland, 21 - on “ A Short History R Reflections on the Doctrine - on the Tragedy of al. Remarks on the Rescript of the Court Ode to the Privateer Commanders, zo to the Genius of Great Britain, REMONTRANCE des Naturalifles, 238 235 REPLY to Burgoyne's Letter, - See ENGLAND's Defiance. REPORTS of the Humane Society, for OSSORY, Bishop of, his Harmony of the of Cares. See Brown. REYNOLDS's Discourse to the Royal ROBINSON, Lewis, his Evers Patient his - 64 , Robert, his Translation of DARAPHRASE on Anlley's Paraphrase, Claude's Elay on the Composition of a PARNASSIAN Sprigs, - his Plan of Ledures on PETRSFACTIONS. Sep WALCOTT. ROCHESTER, Bishop of, his Sermons, 75 310 36 PICTURES of Men, Manners, &c. 156 PIGEON Fancier, 397 SCOTLAND. See PROPOSAL. 152 396, 479 by Bishop Pearce, 319 SERMONS bina, 225 76 jim, 396 SHORT Hiftory of the Opposition, TITHE. See BATEMAN, - Defence of the Oppoqtion, 228 TOBACCO. See CARVER. - Appeal to the Public, 236 TOLLER's Sermon for propagating Chris- - Higory of Administration, 456 tian Knowledge, SHORTER Answer to the Short History Townson's Vifitation Sermon, 396 315 TREATISE on counting Nores, 75 TRELAWNEY's Sermon at Taunton, Sıx old Plays, on which Shakespeare founded his King Lear, &c, 296 Turner's View of the Earth, 157 ŚMITH, Capt. his Military Di&ionary, Iew of the Evidence relative to the of the present State of Ireland SORE-THROAT, putrid, Treatise on, SPEARMAN'S Supplement to Hutchin- SPEECH intended to have been spoken at the General Court of the East India W A LCOTT's Description of Petri. - intended to have been spoken at W factions found near Bath, 73 148 WESKET T's Preliminary Discourse of STEVENSON'S Method of treating the Jasurance, STRICTURES on the French King's WHITE's Svriac Philoxenian Verhon ot STURGES's Confiderations on the Church - - Specimen of the Inftitutes of SUBSTANCE of Debates, on the King's WHITEHEAD'S Materialism considered, SUPPLEMENT to Swift Works, Vol. II. WILLIS's Sacrifice, WILMER'S Cases in Surgery, 390 SURGERY, Cases in. See WILMER. Wilson's Experiments on electrical CONTENTS of the FOREIGN ARTICLES in the APPENDIX to this Volume. N. B. For the CONTENTS of the Foreign Articles in the Cor. RESPONDENCE, inserted in the Reviews for Juiy, August, Sep- 558 559 ANQUETIL DU PERRON on Oriental ORAZI, Profeffor, his Treatise on the 559 555 Changes and Revolutions of the Globe, : 550 531 PASCAL's Works, new and complete CASARIS de Horatiis, &c. See ORA. edition, PLINY's Natural History, with Emen- CHOISE U L's Travels through Greece, dations and Notes, by M. Brotier, Coptic Language. See Tukr. RELIGION, Treatise on, by a Man of D'ALEMBERT's Eulogies, read at the the World, Dr Girteriana De Vitalitate Miferis Ægsprioca, SAURI, M. nis Treatise on the Means De la Religion, par un Homme du Monde, of rendering one Sex more numerous DPARA's Course of Metaphyfics, 484 SCIENZA della Natura, SENNEBIER's descriptive Catalogue of Sex, 554 the MSS, in the Library of Geneva; THEORIE des Etres Insepsibles, 484 GENEVA, Library of. See SENNEBIER. TIRABOSCHI's Hiftory of Italian Lite 557 TORRE, J. M. Della, his Science of Na- HISTORY of the Royal Academy of ture, &c. Part III. aris, for 1773, 489 Tuki, Raphael, his Rudiments of the of lialian Literature, 522 Coptic Language, - --, Natural. See BUFFON. VEDAM, See EZOUR. 553 VISDELOU and GALAND, their Oriental MEMOIRS of the Royal Academy of Library, Sciences at Ber'in, for 1776, 508 VOYAGE Pittoresque de la Grece, Ch. IV. - of the Royal Academy of In VOLTAIR'I, Memoirs of his Life and feriptions and Belles Lettres at Paris, Death, ZECHINT, M. his Treatise on the viral 557 500 Τ Η Ε :: AE MONTHLY REVIEW, For J U L Y, . 1779. A&t. I. The Works of the Englis Poets, with Prefaces Biographical and Critical. By Samuel Johnson. "The Heads engraved by Bar. tolozzi, &c. Small vo. 60 Vols. 71. 10 s. half bound. : Bathurst, &c. 1779. bas at length made its appearance, Promises that are delayed too frequently, end in disappointment; but to this remark the present publication is an exception. We must ingenuously confess, that, from the first of its being advertised, we considered Dr. Johnson's name merely as a lure which the proprietors of the work had obtained, to draw in the unwary in purchaser ; taking.it for granted that he would have just allotted, as he owns he originally intended, to every poet, an advertisement, like those which are found in the French miscel. Janies, containing a few dates, and a general character; an una dertaking, as he observes, not very tedious or difficult; and, we may add, an undertaking also that would have conferred not much reputation upon the Writer, nor have communicated much information to his readers. Happily for both, the honeft defire of giving useful pleasure, to borrow his own expression, has led him beyond his first intention. This honest desire is very amply gratified. In the walk of biography and criticism, Dr. Johnson has long been without a rival. It is barely justice to acknowledge that he still maintains his superiority. The present work is no way inferior to the best of his very celebrated productions of the same class. Of the four volumes of his Prefaces already published (more lives being promised), the first is allotted to Cowley and Waller, the second to Milton and Butler, the third is appropriated entirely to Dryden, and the fourth is divided between poets of inferior name, Denham, Sprat, Roscommon, Rochester, Yalden, OtVOL, LXI, way, way, Duke, Dorset, Hätiesx, Stepney, Walth, Garth, King, J. Philips, Smith, Poin fret, and Hughes. In the narrative.of Cowley's life there is little, except the manner in which it is told, that is new; but this deficiency, which was not in the Biographer's power to remedy, is fully compensated for in the review of his writings, which abounds in original colteism. Cowley's poetical character is introduced with an account of a race of writers who appeared about the beginning.pl.che seventeenth century, whom Dr. Johnson terms the Metaphysical Poets. The metaphysical poets, says he, were men of learning, and to thew.theit learning was their whole endeavour; but, unluckily resolving to thew it in rhyme, instead of writing poetry, they only Aturote verses, and very often such verses as stood the trial of the fingår better than of the ear; for the modulation was so imperfect, that shey were only found to be verses by counting the syllables. . . If the father of criticism has rightly denominated poetry rhyun peripheralo xer, an imitative art, there writers will, without great wrong, lose their right to the name of poets ; for they cannot be said to have imitated any thing: they neither copied nature nor life ; neither painted the forms of matter, nor represented the operations of in. tellect. · Those however who deny them to be poets, allow them to be wits. Dryden confeffes of himself and his contemporaries, that they fall below Donne in wit, but maintains that they surpass him in poetry. • If Wit be well described by Pope, as being " that which has been often thought, but was never before so well expressed,” they certainly never attained, nor ever lought it; for they endeavoured to be ângular in their thoughts, and were careless of their diction. But Pope's account of wit is undoubtedly erroneous : he depresies it below its natural dignity, and reduces it from itrength of thought to happiness of language, • If by a more noble and more adequate conception that be confidered as Wit, which is at once natural and new, that which, though not obvious, is, upon its first production, acknowledged to be juit ; if it be that, which he that never found it, wonders how he mifred; to wit of this kind the metaphysical poets have seldom rifen, Their thoughts are often new, but feldom natural; they are not obvious, but neither are they just; and the reader, far from woodering that he miff:d them, wonders more frequently by what perverfeness of industry they were ever foond. • But Wit, abtracted froin its effects upon the bearer, may be more rigorously and philosophicaily condidered as a kind of discordia concers : a combination of disimilar images, or discovery of occult resemblances ia thiogs apparently unlike. Or wit, thus detined, they have more than enough. The most heterogeascus ideas are yoked by violence together; pasure and art are ransacked for il. luftrations, comparisoas, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtilty surprites; but the reader commonly thinks his improve nco |