Art. 52. Occasioned by the Death of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Priestley, delivered in the Dissenting Chapel in Monkwell-street, April 15, 1804. By John Edwards. 8vo. 1s. 63. Johnson. After some introductory declamation on the structure of the material universe, on the dignity of man as a Being endued with intelligence, and on the importance of the gospel as intended to train him to virtue, and to prepare him for that immortality which it reveals, the preacher advances to the immediate object of his discourse; viz. to do justice to the memory of Dr. Priestley as a Christian minister, as a philosopher, as a scholar, and as a man. The details of Dr. P.'s life are similar to those which are given in Mr. Belsham's short memoir. In delineating the character of the deceased, Mr. E. observes, The prophet, it is true, had, comparatively speaking, but little honour in his own country, though now we trust that error is past away, and his country, repentant and grateful, will inshrine his me. mory along with that of her noble army of sages, heroes, and martyrs ; and bid the genius of the sculptor place his monumental honours next to those of Verulam, or Newton. • And then, what science is there that must not weave a chaplet to adorn his brow, or hang a wreath of cypress on his tomb ! • Consider him as a minister of the Gospel, and what man of his age has done any thing that can be compared with his labours in its cause? His unblemished morals, and his various and extensive know. ledge, clad him with impenetrable armour on the right hand and on the left. And then he drank the sacred streams of Zion, at the wellhead, and spring-the living spring, pure, and crystalline, as it flows "fast by the throne of God." Yes, he bathed his great mind in the fountain itself of heavenly light, and then, how it's irradiated powers, spurned at the corruptions, which human weakness, and human vice, had contrived to stamp with the image and superscription of Heaven's Eternal King.' Mr. Edwards speaks of the riots at Birmingham, in which Dr. P.'s house, laboratory, and MSS. were destroyed, as throwing a broad blot on our annals, on which future historians will comment with virtuous indignation. Art. 53. A Biographical Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. Joseph 8vo. 1s. 6d. Johnson. Dismissing all general observations, which might have been heard with impatience, Dr. Toulmin proceeds immediately to the professed object of his discourse, and gives a fuller account of Dr. P.'s life than is exhibited in either Mr. Belsham's sermon or Mr. Edwards's address. With great judgment, the preacher adduces various wellchosen quotations from Dr. P.'s writings, in order to combat those prejudices against him which have been entertained, and to evince his liberality Moy liberality and generous turn of mind. Proud of his theme, Dr. T. observes: The relation which, as a Pastor, Dr. Priestley bore to you, will do you honour in the page of history. In the page of history, when passions have subsided, and prejudices have died away, his name will live, with unsullied glory, as an ornament to his country; to that country which violated his rights; and it will stand with a BACON If ever and a BcYLE, a LOCKE and a NEWTON, those friends of science and truth, on the immortal scroll that perpetuates their names. it were an affront to mention the name of Priestley in promiscuous company, and in the higher circles, that has been only a local and Even at the temporary detraction from his illustrious fame; an evanescent spot on its brightness, like a dark cloud passing over the sun. same time, in other countries, his fame was great, and his character was revered; and his name stood enrolled in the Academies of Europe.' of The letter of Mr. Kentish might have been spared: but we supmemory pose that he wished to throw in his mite of praise to the the deceased. The Resolutions of the Special Meeting of the Congregation are declarative of their high veneration for their late pastor; they express the determination of the whole Society to wear mourning for two months, to put the pulpit and desk in mourning, and to erect a tablet of white marble with a suitable inscription, within the Meeting House, testifying their sense of Dr. Priestley's character and ser vices. Art. 54. Preached in the Unitarian Chapel in Essex-street, London, April 15, 1804, on occasion of the Death of the Rev. Joseph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S. &c. &c. &c. who died at Northumberland in Pennsylvania, North America, Feb. 6, 1804. Published at particular Request. By John Disney, D.D. F.S.A. 8vo. 19. Johnson. In his eulogy on the deceased philosopher and theologian, Dr. Disney, if less dilated, is not less warm than any of the preceding orators, and is more pointed in his censure of that outrage which destroyed the residence of Dr. Priestley; terming it the unanswered and uncancelled disgrace of our country.' Considering the extent, importance, and variety of Dr. P.'s writings, and the kind of opposition which his bold inquiries in theology excited, the preacher has some ground for asserting that there have, indeed, been few men, to whom the world owes so much; and not many, to whom the world has made more ungrateful returns.' The opinions of Dr. P. are asserted to be as old as the Scriptures; which all Christians are exhorted to study, to the best of their capacities, without bias, without shackle, and without bribe. Mo-y. Art. 55. Addressed to the Prisoners confined for Debt in the United The Do The last part of this title we transcribe with concern for into whatever indiscretions this clergyman may have been betrayed, the noble principles of the mind, and the amiable sentiments of the heart, are so far from appearing to have suffered any material injury in this instance, that they seem to have acquired purity and brightness under those privations and sufferings which were the consequence of his imprudence. Admiring the correctness of his feelings, we necessa rily commiserate his situation; and approving the good sense and philanthropy which pervade his exhortation, apparently proceeding from an understanding on which affliction has not operated in vain, we regret that he cannot, in the regular exercise of his profession, turn his sincere repentance and dear-bought experience to the good of those who are without the walls of a prison. After a judicious comment on the Gospel rule of Equity, he exhorts those who are resuming their liberty, in consequence of the grace extended to them by the recent Insolvent Act, to remember that they are not released from the law of conscience and of God; and that, as they are returning to their accustomed pursuits with joy, they may endeavour to return wiser from past misfortunes, purged and purified, as it were, by the fiery trial of their afflictions. This is good advice; and it is to be hoped that those who have languished in prison will, on recovering their freedom, live with prudence, and avoid the evil of running in debt. CORRESPONDENCE. We are favored with Mr. Repton's information, and shall pay all the attention to it which it appears to require: but we apprehend that he does not wish us to take any public notice of it. A. B., whose letter bears the Morpeth post-mark, must excuse us from giving an answer to his inquiry. We have been obliged to say, -many, many, times,-that such questions are not properly addressed to us; that we have not leisure to attend to them; and that a Magazine is the proper receptacle for them. The Rev. C. V. Le Grice requests us to add to our account of the translation of the Romance of Daphnis and Chloe from the Greek of Longus, mentioned in our Number for June, that he is the author of that publication, and that he designs shortly to print a second edition of it. F. is informed that we hope soon to attend to the work mentioned in his letter. We know nothing of the poem said to have been printed, in the strange scrawl from Southampton; and any farther such attempts to put us to expence will be frustrated by returning the letters to the Post-office. The Appendix to Vol. 44, of the Monthly Review, N. S., will be published with the Number for September. Erwrs, p.337, 354, 383, 422. Moy 1 TO THE FORTY-FOURTH VOLUME OF THE MONTHLY REVIEW ENLARGED. FOREIGN LITERATURE. ART. I. M. Tulle Ciceronis, quæ vulgò feruntur, Orationes quatuor. I. Post reditum, in Senatu. II. Ad Quirites post Reditum. III. Pro domo sua, ad Pontifices. IV. De Haruspicum Responsis. Recognovit animadversiones integras J. Marklandi et J. M. Gesneri, suasque adjecit, FRID. AUG. WOLFIUS. 8vo. Berolini, impensis F.T. Lagardi. 1801. T HE learned world will be somewhat surprized to find once more brought before the tribunal of public opinion, the old question concerning the genuineness of these four Orations; -a question which excited so much interest among scholars about the middle of the last century, and which, since the ample discussion then allotted to it, has for so long a period been considered as settled. To attack the authenticity of antient works which have been usually regarded as genuine, and to hold up to ridicule compositions which the world has been for ages in the habit of admiring, must ever be an invidious task. The sentiments excited on such occasions, in the mind of the reader, differ essentially from those which he might perhaps experience on hearing a satire on living characters. The modern satirist, not less than those of former days, mav assure himself of a favourable audience: φύσει γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὑπάρχει, των μέσ λοιδοριῶν καὶ τῶν κατηγοριῶν ἀκούειν ἡδεῶς, τοῖς ἐπαινοῦσι δ ̓ αὑτοὺς axleoba (Dem. Tepi Tép.), and the reason is obvious; we make comparisons of ourselves with the persons satirized, and are elevated by self-gratulations on our fancied superiority. APP. REV. VOL. XLIV. Gg With 1 us With respect, however, to the works of antient authors, whick Yet much of this reluctance will disappear, if the innovator be, M. WOLF has dedicated this book to his friend Larcher, in return for his much-admired translation of Herodotus;-it is a single handsome 8vo. volume, well printed, on good paper, containing 99 pages of preliminary matter, 391 of text and commentary, and a short index. It begins with a preface, of about 40 pages, by the editor, who sets out with declaring his design in these words; Hac editio a nobis eo potissimum consilio suscepta est, ut quatuor Orationes, nunc uno volumine junctas, que vulgò Ciceronis auctoritate venditantur, rationibus in utramque partem exponendis demonstremus, Cicerone indignissimas esse, et declamatorio studio exercendi vel ostendendi ingenii conscriptas.' Then follows a compendious and entertaining account of the old controversy concerning them; from which, for the satisfaction of some of our readers, we have extracted the subsequent particulars. In 1741, soon after the publication of Middleton's Life of Cicero, the Rev. James Tunstall addressed a letter to Middleton, containing doubts of the authenticity of the epistles generally supposed to be written by Cicero to Brutus, and by Brutus to Cicero. To this letter, which was composed in Latin, Middleton, in the year 1743, returned an answer in English. In 1744, Tunstall replied in English, in a work entitled "Observations.” In 1745, the celebrated Jer. Markland entered the lists, and published his "Remarks on the Epistles of Cicero to Brutus," &c. in which he supported the arguments of Tunstall; and he added "a Dissertation upon IV Orations ascribed to M. Tullius Cicero," &c. in which he first hazarded doubts concerning their au See M. R. Vol. xx, xxi, and xxii. N. S. thenticity: |