as foon: and officers (if valour confifts in lace or fringe) the • most brave and intrepid of the universe. Says Bates, “tho" "they know little, I would forgive that, as it is not their daily "trade, (only comes once a year) but why will they affect "to know fo much?" For now endeavouring to explain • fome part of the manual exercise to a most noble lieutenant'colonel (common council man of Candlewick ward, and dryfalter) the fringed hero, with contemptuous eye, answers, "Mind your own bufinefs. The, city by their charter, are "free from such warment as you. Go back from whence you "came." Sir! says Bates.- "Sir! replies the colonel, "give me my title! have I no title? Aye and as good a one

66

as any lobfter about the smoke of the palace. We can de"fend ourselves without any courtier's affiftance (for you "feem by your fine talk to come thereabouts). We have as "brave an army as any the duke of Marlborough ever had un❝der him (barring numbers ;) 10,000 fighting men, upon "occafion; headed, not by half starved beggarly officers of "the court,No, no.- -There's a colonel! Where have "you fuch a one? He weighs at least a plumb."-Weighs fays Bates. "Aye, folid gold." "Oh! I miftook,"

The word of command being foon to be given, the colo'nel, who was very loudly whisper'd by the serjeant to say, "march-cries," no, it's July yet.-Come, my lads !-walk.

་

-There's men for you, says the colonel :-I thank heaven, "I have not a foldier in my own company, and I hope there are "none among the reft.-wheel."-And fo they did, by catch⚫ing hold of each others arms, and at last making an Irish <ring. —“There's men, says the colonel."-When now, calling for his beaft, the better to furvey the whole crooked line, (whether the beer he had that day drank, or whether • the beef he had ate to breakfast, dinner, and afternoon-lunch❝eon, or whether it was the natural tendency of his pate, but) on clamb'ring up the outside of his war-horse, he hung ⚫ over his faddle, with his head downwards, like the fign of the golden fleece (for he was indeed all gold.) Thrice he effay'd to raise himself, thrice he failed; when descending again (the better to accomplish his defign) fome valiant fer

jeants,

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jeants, who faw his diftrefs with concern, ran to his affift ance; and (over eager to fave the credit of the regiment and their colonel) they jointly put their hands under his crupper fo violently, that he fell over the other fide of his horfe, who luckily having been hard work'd in a colourmill, (for he borrow'd him that morning) ftood quiet enough, ⚫ or Mr. Colonel muft have been the only dead man that day, < except the many who were only dead drunk. Bates, now to be a little revenged (the fecond time he was ever cruel in • all his life, Mr. Paradox's fcourging being the firft) faid, "Noble colonel, you had rather fall ten times, I believe that way, than once in battle." The colonel, now in wrath, ⚫ orders a file of mufqueteers to turn him out of the field, as ⚫ a dangerous and fufpected perfon,-crying, "when we want you, we'll fend for you; we can defend ourselves by our "charter."-Bates walked folitary home, thinking how ridiculous it is to appear in any character unfit for us; and concluded by faying, "all the fhame we feel in life is generally ❝owing to our endeavouring to pass for what we are not.”• But this colonel, faid he, had no fhame.-Perhaps his face was too red to admit of it.'

There are fome characters here and there fketched from the life, and the following one of Bladder may be easily applied.

"Please your honour, fays Cohern, a young lad, who "loves engineering and gunnery; has been in France on pur"pose to improve, and is come here in pure good nature to "inftruct us." Damn him, fays captain Bladder, (that was "the name of this bloated commander, and I fhall never for"get him or his name) 'tis a fcheme; fome frenchified pa"pifh, coming here to blow up the magazine, perhaps,-be"fides, I don't like your learning new ways,—we are skilled "enough; no country has more knowing people in our way, "-have we not near 500 bombardiers? half as many mi"ners? No, no,-fend him packing,-I fee into the fellow, "-he's a bite,-follow the way you are taught,'tis an ex"cellent one, you can never find a better ;-we want no "inftructions,-bid him take up his books of pothooks and hangers, we never use books,all by the head, which

----

" is more certain ;-there, ufe him well, fays Bladder,"but fee him clear of the town;-I'll feal up his books of "gunnery, as he impudently, or rather foolishly, calls them, "and fend them to the council,-I shall perhaps advance my"self by it ;—he's a spy, and writes in cypher ;-the pro

per officer shall have them,—and I warrant we'll find him "out;buying powder, to be fure, is an excellent blind! "why, we have not a matrofs (much more an officer) but "would do as much." Then turning into his guard room, Bates faw him in lefs than half a minute, asleep in an easy "chair, ordering himself not to be waked, and that they would not practise that evening, by any means, for fear of 'disturbing his repofe, which, to be fure, he much wanted, ⚫ for he rose about noon that day, and had only walk'd to the 'place where Bates was practifing and back again.'

Upon the whole, the Life of Corporal Bates feems, if not the production of a fellow of the college of St. Luke's Moorfields, at least the work of a correspondent of that respectable body, who here discharges a torrent of fcurrility and invective, which like the venom of the toad, for that a toad has venom is still by fome afferted, can never reach far enough to do mischief. We shall not here examine the loofeness and want of connection of his materials; neither shall we enter into a difquifition of his ftile; these are every where so obviously contemptible, so full of ignorance, and so open to ridicule, that to engage our reader in fuch a review would be an infult on his understanding. Our author is however happy in one thing, that is, the firft part of his title: there are, both in în army and navy neglected, and confequently broken-hearted, men of merit; too many we fear, whom our miscarriages may at length teach us to prefer. In the mean time, we must declare this neglect a subject which wou'd appear to admirable advantage handled by a man of abilities.

ART. VII. St. Peter's Chriftian Apology, as fet forth in a Sermon on 1-Pet. iii. 15, 16. lately published at the Request of the ViceChancellor of the University of Oxford, and other Heads of Houfes, by Thomas Patten, D. D. Fellow of Corpus Chrifti

College;

College; farther illustrated, and maintained against the Mifre prefentations and Objections of the Rev. Mr. Ralph Heathcote, Preacher-Affiftant at Lincoln's Inn. By the Author of the Sermon. Pr. 1 s. Rivington.

HE Reverend Mr. Heathcote, in a pamphlet entitled, The

TUfe of Reason alerted in Matters of Religion, having

attacked Dr. Patten's fermon preached before the university of Oxford, the Doctor, in the little tract before us, defends with much warmth and spirit the opinions which he had there advanced, and replies to Mr. Heathcote's objections against them. As we are not very fond of religious controverfy, especially between fuch acrimonious difputants, our readers will we hope excuse our entering minutely into this:

Non noftrum eft tantas componere lites.

We fhall not however pass over this performance without a few extracts, which may serve to convey fome idea of our author's merit, and to convince us that he has argued in fome places not unlearnedly against learning, and not unreafonably against reafon; and that he is not without parts and capacity, and greatly fuperior in understanding and abilities to any of that idle fect of vifionary enthufiafts whom he seems to have taken under his protection.

The advocates for human reafon having afferted, that Christianity cannot be proved by its miracles to be a Divine Revelation, unless Chriftians can evince, that the nature, end, and purposes of it are conformable with certain supposed natural notions of religion and morality; the Doctor sets out with obferving, that, to place the authenticity of the word of God on this footing muft weaken, in a great measure, the weight and efficacy of it; because every man was by this theology admitted to fit in judgment upon every command and inftitution of God, and to interpret it according to his own reason, that is, his own fancy or opinion; and that the principles of natural religion, how clear foever we may suppose them to be, are not fufficient guides: because, their coincidence or repugnancy with the facts and doctrines of the Bible can never evidently appear, until the things of God

The Hutchinfenians.

God fhall be, what they cannot be unless he fhall reveal them, compleatly known: God hath not thought fitting to indulge to mankind fuch an infight into his fecret councils, as is requifite for explaining the grounds and reasons of his Revelation. Let thofe commands therefore (fays Dr. Patten) and ordinances of God, whofe grounds and reafons he hath not himself explained, nor directed us to explain, be received with the implicit obedience and reverence of faith. Human reafon is weak in this point, from the want of proper data and materials to work withal; fhe therefore must have recourfe to imagination and conjecture, which can only furnish her with ingenious guess and uncertainty, instead of the decifive authority of the word of God, confirmed by the miracles to which it hath expressly appealed. Such are the learned Doctor's opinions concerning a point which we must allow to be of great importance; to thefe Mr. Heathcote can by no means affent: the contending writers have treated the fubject at large, not without fome degree of asperity on both fides. For a view of the whole we must refer our readers to the two pamphlets, extracting only a few paffages of the Doctor's, which contain, in our opinion, that part of his arguments against Mr. Heathcote which appear moft fatisfactory.

Let us proceed (fays he, p. 47.) to Mr. Heathcote's third C argument, which hath not indeed, like its fellows, mistaken 'the point in debate. For if we are really cautioned, (as this argument pretendeth to have proved) by the express authority of the Scriptures themselves, against refting the truth of • Chriftianity upon the fimple teftimony of its miracles, then • Mr. Heathcote's affirmation must be true, That miracles, fingly confidered, are not sufficient to establish the divinity of the • Gospel.

'Where, then, do the Scriptures exprefsly caution us against refting the truth of Chriftianity upon the fimple teftimony of its miracles? If Mr. Heathcote can prove this, he will help infidelity to a compendious and effectual method of ⚫ overthrowing the Scriptures, fince we have produced many 'paffages, wherein Jefus Chrift refteth the truth of Christianity upon the fimple teftimony of its miracles; upon which footing it was likewife placed by his Apoftles; fo that, in this cafe, L ' the