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Flora. The additions are chiefy different fpecies of grafs, and fome fpecies of the clafs of cryptogamia. We find the fame diligence and attention which we formerly commended: the additional references are to Bauhine and to Dickfon. We fincerely hope that the impediments which the author hints at will be removed; and that he will be enabled to persist in an office, for which he is well qualified.

Elements of English: being a new Method of teaching the whole Art of Reading, both with Regard to Pronunciation and Spelling. Part the Fift. By Thomas Sheridan, A. M. 12mo. 15. Dilly.

Mr. Sheridan's abilities in this branch of science are fo well known, that to praise them would be equally fuperfluous and impertinent. This litte work is clear, comprehenfive, and fatisfactory. In fome inftances, as in his Dictionary, we fee traces of a provincial pronunciation; but this fubject is fo fleeting and uncertain, that perhaps no one can properly criticife the pronunciation of another. In general, thofe whofe ears are accurate, and whofe companions are among the learned of higher rank, will agree in pronouncing many words; but a iw will always remain, where a difference is not only obvious, but the various opinions on the fubject will be ftrenuously defended.

None go juft alike, but each believes his own.'

A high fenfe of the importance of his work (for every man thinks that work important in which he has been long engaged) has led Mr. Sheridan into fome ludicrous remarks. If they occur in the following fpecimen, we hope our readers will not confider it as chofen to leffen him in the public estimation, fince few eltimate him more highly than ourselves; but we have fubjoined it, as containing a good reafon for what many have thought a fanciful innovation.

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Children, ought not to be taught to found the confonants in the promiscuous manner in which they are found in the alphabet. The natural order is firft to begin with the labials, as those are the first founds uttered by all the children in all parts of the globe; on which account the words baba, papa, mama, are the names given to parents in almost all languages, The reafon is, that the lips of the infant, being conftantly employed in the action of fucking, become strong and active fooner than the other organs of speech. To thefe fucceed the dentals; and the next founds uttered by children are da and ta, or the fame founds doubled, as da-da, ta-ta; and this arifes from the tongue's being conftantly exercised about the gums, to alle viate the pain while they are cutting their teeth. The laft and hardest founds are the palatines, which requiring that the tongue fhould be drawn back, an action to which it had not been accustomed, are the most difficult to attain; but by found

ing them frequently with the vowel before, as eg, ek, will foon be caught. Children fhould never be urged to pronounces any words containing letters whole founds they had not firit mastered; for in that cafe, they either wholly omit thofe letters, or change them to others which they were able to pronounce before. Thus, for lady, they either fay, ady or dady; for coach, toach; for go, do; and fo on. Now, from this method, of permitting children to attempt all words alike, before they can pronounce all the letters contained in them, bad habits afe often contracted, which are not cafily changed.'

An Introduction to Reading and Spelling. Written on a new Plan, and defigned as a Spelling Book for the Use of Schools. By the Rev. J. Hewlett. 8vo. 15. Johnson.

If Mr. Hewlett purposes only to teach children, he has done too much if he aims at inftructing foreighers, or correcting a provincial pronunciation, too little. The child cannot learn every word in his elements; he should be taught a few, and, in the rest, inftructed to teach himself. On the other hand, the great fault of the foreigner and the provincial is in tone, or rhythm, which no rules can teach. Yet, on the whole, as this work is executed with care and attention, its redundance can be no great fault. A judicious mafter can omit what may be fuperfluous; and the foreigner should not be disgusted at the preliminary obfervations, and fome of the grammatical dis ftinctions, fuitable only for children. We fhould not perhaps have expected that this little work was intended to have reached beyond the limits of the reading-school, if the author had not pointed out its numerous advantages.

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Fabulous Hiftories defigned for the Inftruction of Childrens refpeas ing their Treatment of Animals. By Mrs. Trimmer 101 12mo. 25. 6d. Robinsons.

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There is much good sense, and useful instruction, in this little volume; but the vehicle is fo very childish, that we fear the author's purpose will be defeated. In this, however, we may be mistaken for to mean well, and to labour affiduoufly in fupport of well-meant defigns, will deck even imperfections with fuch pleafing colours, that we shall often mistake them for excellencies. May this lady's good intentions be rewarded with the fuitable improvement of her pupiis.

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The Happy Family; or, Memoirs of Mr. and Mrs. Norton. “Intended to fhew the delightful Effects of Filial Obedience. Small 12m0 6d. Marshall.

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his little book is free from the imperfections which we lately pointed out in the Village School, and the Rotchfords; but the fentences are too complicated, and the fentiment frequently obfcured by too many words. There are few talks more difficult than to write proper books for children, and there are few more carelessly and exceptionably executed. The

moral

moral in the work before us, is not lefs clear than falutary; and the inftructions are perfectly proper.

Tour to Ermenonville. 12mo. 25. Becket.

This pamphlet bears strong intrinfic marks of having been written as a catch-penny; but it may, nevertheless, afford fome entertainment to those readers who take pleasure in the moft trivial anecdotes relative to the celebrated Rouffeau, concerning which it is employed.

A Claffical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. 8vo. 45. Hooper.

The materials of this extraordinary Lexicon could be collected only from the mouths of the vulgar; and to the criticifm of fuch we must confign it.

Pocket Vade Mecum through Monmouthshire and Part of South Wales. 12mo. 11. 6d. Bew.

. A dull, fuperficial itinerary, having neither defcription nor information to recommend it.

The Trial of Ifaac Prefcot, Efq. Sva. 25. 6d. Lifter.

This Trial was held in the Confiftory Court at the Doctors Commons, and relates to fuch barbarous treatment, received by a wife from her husband, as is, perhaps, fcarcely to be exceeded by any inftance in the annals of domeltic life. Thie highly injured lady, it feems, is the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Walter, who was chaplain to the Centurion during the celebrated voyage of commodore Anfon. It would only wound the humanity of our readers, to recite the favage cruelty which is confirmed by the evidence in this Trial; and we shall, therefore, conclude with a congratulation, that a fentence of divorce has put a period to fuch unmanly and execrable tyranny. A Natural Method of teaching the French Language. By M. Manbach. 80. 35 Hookham.

Monf. Maubach, by his own acknowledgement, has not ftudied to adapt himself to the capacity of children; but, on the contrary, to rife above the common method of teachers, by rendering their inftructions a kind of introduction to the fciences. This plan is doubtless well intended; but we much fear, that by adding to the difficulty of acquiring the language, it might retard the progrefs of the learner.

The Surveyor's Appointment and Guide. 4to. 6d. T. Payne. In this little tract, the author has concifely tranflated, out of ftatute language, the duty of a furveyor of the highways. The production, we own, is not without its ufe; for of every fpecies of compofition, that of the legislative authors, in this country, is the most exceptionable, and even difgraceful, both in point of grammar and common sense.

An

An Authentic Account of Forgeries, and Frauds of various Kinds committed by that moft confummate Adept in Deception, Charles Price, otherwife Patch, many Years a Lottery Office Keeper in London and Westminster. 8vo. IS. Kearfley.

Those who have any curiofity for the account of a most accomplished impoftor, may be gratified by this pamphlet, in which we doubt not the facts are genuine, though we cannot much applaud the attempt that is made at an imitation of the humour of Fielding. The account is ornamented with a plate, exhibiting Price's figure, both in his ufual drefs and his difguife.

'He was about five feet fix inches high, and a compact neatmade man, rather fquare fhoulders, and fomewhat inclined to corpulency, his legs firm and well-fet; but, by nature, his fea tures made him look much older than he really was, which was forty-five. His nofe was what we call a parrot's nofe, his eyes fmall and grey; his mouth stood very much inwards, with very thin lips, his chin pointed and prominent, with a pale com plexion: but what contributed as much as any thing to favour his disguise of speech, was his lofs of teeth. He walked exccedingly upright, was very active and quick in his walk, and was, what we defcribe a man to be, when we call him a dapper-made

man.'

This was his natural appearance; but how different, in his difguife, will be feen from the following short extract:

In October, 1780, which was about the lottery time, Mr. Price put an advertisement into the paper, in which he required a fervant who had been used to live with a fingle gentleman, and the direction was to C. C. Marlborough Coffee-boufe, Broad-freet, Carnaby-market. An honeft young man, and who then lived with a mufical inftrument-maker in the Strand, whofe name, for very obvious reafons, we keep fecret, not being much wanted by his master, and having been defired by that mafter to look into the papers for a place, happened to read Mr. Price's advertisement, and accordingly fent a letter to the Marlborough Coffee-houfe, as directed. He heard nothing further of this for a week, when one evening, just as it was dufk, a coach drove up to his master's door, and the coachman enquired for the man who had answered the advertisement, at the fame time faying there was a gentleman over the way in a coach wanted to speak with him. On this the young fellow was called, and went to the coach, where he was defired to step in. There he faw an apparent old man, a foreigner, gouty, wrapped up with five or fix yards of flannel about his legs, a camblet furtout buttoned up over his chin, ciofe to his mouth, a large patch over his left eye, and every part of his face fo hid, that the young fellow could not fee any part of it, but one eye, his nofe, and a small part of his cheek. To carry on the deception ftill better, Mr. Price

thought

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thought proper to place the man on his left fide, on which eye the patch was, fo that the old gentleman could take an askaunce look at the young man with his right eye, and difcover then only a very small portion indeed of his face. He appeared by this dif guife to be between fixty and feventy years of age; and afterwards, when the man saw him standing, not much under fix feet high, owing to boots or fhoes, with heels very little less than four inches. Added to this deception, he was fo buttoned up and straightened as to appear perfectly lank."

The Life of that extraordinary Character, Mr. Charles Price; wherein are minutely defcribed the various Artifices he made ufe of in circulating his Forgeries on the Bank. 8vo. 15. Ridgeway.

Another Narrative, in fome parts copied, in others abridged, from the fame materials, to gratify the public curiofity on this temporary fubject. This is confiderably lefs extenfive than the preceding; and instead of the two contrafted figures, at full length, contains only a portrait of the unhappy man in the drels in which he ufually appeared abroad.

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CORRESPONDENCE.

WE acknowlege the receipt of the Old Planter's Letter, and can only add that our opinion on that work is established by the decifions of the ableft judges. As we have not the Philofophical Tranfactions at prefent near us, we cannot particularly refer to the paper. It is in French and English; and that which we allude to, is far from being fo partial in its object as our correfpondent reprefents: we recollect many parts of it very diftinctly.

HAVING, at the clofe of our account of Mr. Fell's Answer to Mr Farmer, mentioned the fimilarity which Mr. Fell endea vours to prove between the ideas of Mr. Farmer and those of Mr. Hume and lord Bolingbroke, on the fubject of Miracles, we expreffed our hopes that Mr. Farmer would favour the world with thofe exceptions which he wishes to maintain in behalf of the miracles of holy writ. A correfpondent informs us that this is what Mr. Farmer had already done in the most explicit and fatisfactory manner, in a paffage immediately following Mr. Fell's laft quotation. See his Differtation on Miracles, p. 77-80.

A NOTE, apparently in the fame hand-writing, affures us, that nothing was farther from the intention of the Editor of Dr. Johnfon's Life of Dr. Watts, with Notes, &c. " than to make the public believe the whole of the work to be Dr. Johnson's."

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