that their attachment to liberty cannot be better fhewn, than by treating their fn with disrespect. It would appear from this Letter, however, that the c-m-n c-1 is influenced or led by the nofe by fome infignificant individual, who has raised himself to a kind of importance in that affembly by impudence and -d-t-n. To prevent fuch an abfurdity for the time to come, fays our author, I would have you, at the next previous meeting in Cheapfide, prevail upon that prodigy of ora tory, and judgment, who cuts fuch a capital figure in print-fhops, explaining Magna-charta to his little boy; (and who, fo highly to your honour, directs the principal part of your operations) to draw up a set of rules and orders for his majefty's ufe, directing what minifters he fhall employ, and what measures he fhall adopt but above all things commanding him to remove a certain right honourable judge for ever from his prefence, for daring to commit this your bell-weather to durance fome few years ago, notwithstanding the common-council Cicero, with all the forcible rhetoric of fighs and tears, endeavoured to excite his lordship's compaffion, and promifed to shrink into his primeval infignificance for the future.'

16. A Vindication of the Whigs again the Clamours of a Tory Mcb; with an Address to the City. Svo. Pr. 15. Moran.

This pamphlet is a very flimfy performance, and contains nothing but mere declamation. The author, in his Dedica tion, or Addrefs (as he calls it) to the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of London, abuses that most reSpectable body in the most outrageous terms, for a late Ad drefs. He then converts the title of his pamphlet into a vindication of the miniftry (the prefent we fuppofe), in which he represents all their opponents as a pack of inconfiftent, abfurd, ridiculous fools and madmen. Indeed we are forry to fay, that his farcafms are not entirely deftitute of foundation in truth; efpecially as he reprefents the préfent minifters as being the very perfons whom, in their oppofition to the laft two miniftries, they pointed out for the very pofts they now enjoy. The pamphlet concludes with a fulfome encomium. upon his prefent majefty, whofe virtues are far above the abi lities of fuch a panegyrift to defcribe. And thus, reader, with the help of fome fcraps of poetry, you have a pamphlet, price one fhilling,

17. The Merits of the New Adminiftration truly flated; in answer 10 the feveral Pamphlets and Papers published against them. 8vo, Pr. Is.

Williams.

This pamphlet is wrote on the fide of the prefent adminiftration

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ftration with great decency and ftrength of reafon. The author endeavours to prove that the prefent minifters are fuch as, had their offices been elective, would, upon Mr. Pitt's declenfion, have been chofen by the independent part of the nation. He charges the partifans of the late miniftry with having abused the prefent, before they had done any thing to merit either cenfure or praife, and with endeavouring to introduce a government, not by king, lords, or commons, nor by one of the three feparately, but by a daily news paper; meaning, we fuppofe, the invectives thrown out against the present minifters by one who figns himself Anti-Sejanus in the daily papers, and his affociates.

The pretended charges against them, continues this author, contained in the several papers and pamphlets, are few in number, with the disadvantages of appearing fome of them falfe, and fome ridiculous. Iftate them fairly, in affirming, that they amount to no more than this; that the new minifters are under the influence of the Favourite, which appears to be false; that they are recommended to the crown by the D- of Cwhich does them honour; that they are difavowed by Mr. Pitt, which has not yet been proved; that they are young, which is partly true, and not pertinent; and that their adminiftration will not be lafting, which is more than either they can deny, or their enemies affirm, with certainty. This mixture of falfhood, encomium, prefumption, and conjecture, is repeated and diverfified every day, in order to make the impreffion, which a plain and interefting truth would have made upon the understandings of men, without repetition or ornament. I fhall confider each of these charges, but muft premife, that the only one, which, in my humble opinion, deferves confideration, is that of the Favourite's influence, upon which the greatest stress has been laid, as being the most popular.'

The reft of this pamphlet is written in the fame calm and difpaffionate ftrain; but though we are fully of opinion that the author has made good his point, we cannot fee the great importance of the controverfy, nor how it can concern the public, whether the new minifters are, or are not, publickly countenanced by Mr. Pitt, or privately introduced by the earl of B. Their own actions must answer for them. If those are virtuous and public-fpirited, it is not a rush to Great-Britain to whom they owe their elevation; but it will always do honour to the difcernment of that patriot prince who appointed them,

18. Remarks on the Importance of the Study of political Pamphlets, weekly Papers, periodical Papers, daily Papers, political Mufic, &c. 8vo. Pr. Is. Nicoll.

This is a fhrewd effort of irony to bring into difgrace with the public a fet of the most contemptible politicians that ever peftered this nation with their writings. The author, by levelling his ridicule particularly at the reigning prejudice against our fellow fubjects of North Britain, gives reason to fuppofe that he himself was born on the other fide of the Tweed.

19. Thoughts on the Times, and the Silk Manufacture; shewing its Utility, and the great Lofs that is occafioned by the Importation of French and Italian wrought Silks. With the Cause of the Weavers Diffatisfaction. And a Remedy against any future Apprehenfions of a Disturbance of the public Peace by their Dif content. 8.v0. Pr. 15. Wilkie.

There is nothing either very striking or uncommon in these Thoughts, which (though generally juft enough) are as trite as the pavement of Cornhill or Cheapfide. The author complains in the usual stile, of our wearing foreign filks, stuffs, and laces, and encouraging French barbers, taylors, milliners, cooks, valet-de-chambres, &c. to the prejudice of British manufactures and English fervants: but he does not seem to hit upon the true reafon of that preference, which is this: The foreign filks, &c. are very near twice as cheap as thofe of our own manufacture; and foreign frifeurs and fervants are in general infinitely more expert, handy, diligent, fober, and obliging, than those of the fame station in this country. If it is expected, therefore, that we should wear nothing but British manufacture, and entertain no other than English barbers and domeftics, let the British manufacturer fell his goods for a reafonable profit, and his wife learn to live as becomes her station, without jewels, rout, affembly, chariot, and country-house; let our hair-dressers learn their business; and our fervants be lefs idle, infolent and expensive.

20. queries georgical political phyfiological and really in some instances bordering upon the polemical. Folio. Pr. 6d. Becket.

This is the production of fome genius of North Britain, who refolved to amaze the public with fomething that should be very humorous and very fingular. -He would not for the world employ a capital either in the title, or the text; or fuffer his performance to be stitched up like any other pamphlet ;

or

or methodize his matter according to the ufual forms of com pofition but he has thrown out his thoughts as they rofe, in the form of queries; three-fourths of which are (in our opinion) not worth an answer.

21. A Defcription of a Chart of Biography; with a Catalogue of all the Names inferted in it, and the Dates annexed to them. By jo feph Prieftly, LL. D. Price of the Chart, &c. 10s. 6d.

Bowles.

Though Jofeph Priestley, L L. D. as we apprehend, has not the honour of inventing the principles upon which this chart of biography is conftructed, we must do him the justice to own that his application of them is new, and that fo far as a square, a compass, and great plenty of index-reading, can qualify an author, he has his merits. We fhall therefore beg leave to infert his own sketch of the chart before us.

This chart, which is about three feet in length, and two feet in breadth, reprefents the interval of time between the year 1z00 before the Chriftian æra, and 1800 after Chrift, divided by an equal fcale into centuries. It contains about two thousand names of perfons the most distinguished in the annals of fame; the length of whofe lives is here represented by lines drawn in proportion to their real duration, and terminated in fuch a manner as to correspond to the dates of their births and deaths in univerfal time. Thefe names are diftributed into feveral claffes, by lines running the whole length of the chart, the contents of each division being expreffed at the end of it. The chronology is noted in the margin, on the upper fide by year before and after Chrift, and on the lower by the fame æra, and alfo by the following fucceffions of kings, as the most distinguished in the whole period. The kings of Judah and of Perfia; Alexander, and his fucceffors in the Ptolemys of Egypt; the emperors of Rome, contained in the eaftern branch; and the kings of England from William the Conqueror.'

the

In the catalogue of the books the author has confulted for this work, which, in the whole amount to about eleven, we fee Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting. But though we did ourfelves the pleasure of reviewing that work, we hope with fome degree of accuracy, (See Crit. Rev. vol. xiii. p. 233, 338. and vol. xvii. p. 113.) we do not perfectly recollect in what manner that book could be ferviceable to this compiler; and cannot help obferving, that he has omitted the mention of a work that would have been of more real fervice to him with regard to chriftian biography than all he has mentioned, we mean Mofheim's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, where the tables at the

end

end of the fecond volume are of the fame nature with the chart before us; and if Joseph Prieftly, L L. D. has not really confulted them in the two editions of his chart already publifhed, we heartily recommend the perufal of them before his third edition goes to the rolling prefs.

Upon the whole, we shall never be wanting to do justice even to the appearance of merit, let it be ever so disputable; and we take this opportunity of acknowledging that the conftruction of the chart before us is not only new, but ingenious, and may be of great fervice to young gentlemen in the ftudy of history.

22. The celebrated Lecture on Heads. Fol. Pr. 4d. Pridden. When Milo read the fpeech that his friend Tully pronounced in his favour, Cicero (faid he) must have been in a terrible fright when he spoke this fine oration, otherwise I should not now be eating oyfters in exile.' He meant, that if the orator had fpoke it with his ufual emphasis, it must have had fuch an effect upon the people, that they would have recalled him (Milo) from banishment. As the oration for Milo mifcarried for want of those graces of elocution; fo these orations of Mr. George Alexander Stevens have, in our opinion, owed their fuccefs chiefly to certain oratorial arts of gefticulation, of which the compofition itself gives us no idea.

73. A Defence of Free Masonry, as practifed in the Regular Lodges, both Foreign and Domeftic, under the Conftitution of the English Grand-Mafter. In which is contained, a Refutation of Mr. Dermotr's abfurd and ridiculous Account of Free-Masonry, in his Book, entitled Ahiman Rezon; and the feveral Queries therein, reflecting on the Regular Mafons, briefly confidered, and answered, 8vo. Pr. Is. Flexney.

This author is fo much of a Free Mafon, that his whole performance is a mystery.-We have read it from beginning to end, without being able to discover the fecret of it; and yet we have had the honour to be admitted into a juft and truly conftituted lodge.-We fhall fay nothing further on the fubject; knowing that a Mafon's tongue fhould always hang in a brother's defence, and never lie against him.

24. The Female-Barbers, an Irish Tale, after the Manner of Prior. 4to. Pr. 6d. Williams.

This Irish tale, though the ftuff is not ill woven, has fo much fmut upon it, that we would advise fending it to the fcowrer.

25. The