ought to have formed more just ideas of the moral government of this Great Cause, than what we find in other parts of his writings. He ought not to have feparated fupreme intelligence from wildom and goodness in the deftination of man, by configning to annihilation the human race, which was vifibly formed for a progress toward perfection and happiness; a dark, gloomy, and difgufting hypothefis, from which inftinet, reafon, and true philofophy, recoil with horror. But we can discover strange contradictions in the motley fyftem of this philofophical King. He embraced too many objects to think on them all with affiduity and depth. His fceptre and his fword employed him principally and conftantly: he could not give to fpeculative philofophy the time which it required; he therefore only derived from it fuch partial gleams of light, as dazzled and perplexed his mind, without enlightening it to open tracts of thought, which he had not time to pursue, and which therefore only exhibited darkness and engendered doubts; while common fenfe, unhappily biaffed by the unconnected views of metaphyfical fpeculation, loft its direction in the paths of religion, where it would have guided him with fafety and with dignity. Thus he became a demi-philofopher and a bold infidel, and was only great in the spheres where philofophy was not at all concerned, in the art of governing, in the art of war, and in the sphere of wit and belles-lettres.

A Preface to the Henriade of Voltaire. This Preface, which is full of panegyric, fometimes bordering on adulation, is well compofed. It is fo much fuperior, in elegance of expreffion and in purity of ftyle, to the pieces which precede and follow it, that we suppose the author may have received a certain measure of infpiration from that fine poem, perhaps even from the poet. Certain it is, that the merit of the Poem is appreciated with tafte and judgment, and the remarks on it are evident proofs that the fpirit of polite literature was eminently poffeffed by the royal

author.

A Differtation on the Innocence of Error.-Style, reafoning, manner, every thing, in fhort, in this differtation, are below mediocrity. With an obfcure verbofity, and in a grave and dictatorial ftrain, we are told, that it was the defign of the Creator that we should know nothing,-that we cannot know any thing, -and that fome of our errors are happy, particularly those which soften the bitterness of adverfity and the terrors of death, by exhibiting delightful profpects of future felicity. In thefe few words, reader, thou haft the full contents of fix and twenty pages. At the end of thefe, you will find the felicity of error illuftrated by the ftory of a maniac, whofe infanity confifted in the consciousness of his beatitude, who thought his confinement a paradife, full of cherubims, feraphims, archangels, and immortal spirits, and was unhappily cured of thefe beatific vifions by phlebotomy

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phlebotomy and a proper regimen.-If a certain tranfitory favourite of Fame had been cured, by a regimen of modefty and plain good fenfe, of his uncomfortable and gloomy vifions, the pitifulness of his exit would not have formed fuch an humiliating contraft with the fplendor of his exploits, the elevation of his genius, and the profperity of his reign.-Let us change the fcene to more pleafing objects.

A very uncommon fpirit of amenity, good humour, easy wit, and elegance, runs through the letters to M. Jordan, one of the King's most intimate friends; which terminate this volume. In many of these letters is a mixture of verfe and profe, and they are both excellent in their kind. It is remarkable, that they were written by the King from his camp, when he was occupied with battles and fieges; and that fome of them, which abound with sprightlinefs and pleasantry, were fent on those days when he had loft a battle, or failed in an attempt to form a town. But with fuch an unpardonable negligence has this Berlin edition of the King's works been publifhed, that a part of the letters to M. Jordan conclude this fixth volume, another part is thrown into the eighth volume, and M. Jordan's letters, which correfpond with them, are inferted in the twelfth volume. We wonder, indeed, how they came to be admitted into the work at all; for they have no kind of merit that we can perceive. They are written with a grofs kind of frankness and familiarity, which princes are fometimes pleafed with in their buffoons. Here and there, they contain elaborate attempts toward wit, which produce nothing but a quaint pertnefs of expreffion, without point, and often without meaning; but, in general, they are extremely flat and trivial. Yet they occupy two-thirds of the twelfth volume. We are curious to know, whether the English tranflator of thefe pofthumous works intends to entertain his readers with all this stuff. What an infipid contraft does it make to the fprightly, facile, flowing wit which fparkles in the letters of Frederic! This M. Jordan was a lover of books, and particularly of the claffic authors; but they do not feem to have infpired him with any thing like true tafte: at leaft, we fee nothing of the kind in thefe letters. With his merit in other refpects we are not acquainted, but merit be must have had of fome kind, fince he was on a footing of intimate friendship with his royal mafter. He often wrote to the King the news of the town, and the opinions of the people about public events which the King was defirous of knowing.

The 7th volume and a great part of the 8th are occupied by the King's poetical productions. These poems, moft of which are epiftolary, are addrefled to feveral great perfonages, as alfo to Generals, Ambaffadors, and men of letters. Some of them are in the familiar ftrain; and many of thefe abound with

wit, grace, lively ideas, and happy turns of expreffion, though the uncommon facility of rhiming which the royal bard poffeffed, render his ftrains very frequently lax, verbofe, and profa:c. As a poet, he is often impar fibi; but very few of his pieces are barren of thoughts. We could mention many which are truly fublime; and it is peculiarly worthy of notice, that it was in the darkest moments of difappointment and calamity, and when he feemed to be on the very brink of deftruction, from the temporary fuccefs of his enemies, that his Mufe foared with the greatest elevation and majefty, and poured forth her flowing and animated ftrains with the greateft facility. The three epiftles to the Princess Amelia, the Princefs of Bareith, and the Marquis d'Argens, written in 1757, are fufficient to prove what we here advance. They are all full of poetical fire and harmony; but the third, more especially, is one of the finest poems which we have ever read. It was compofed at a point of time when the King looked on the fituation of his affairs as defperate, and had formed the purpose of perifhing one way or another, or cutting fhort (as he expreffes himself) the thread of his days. Some paffages in this epiftle exprefs with fingular energy the rage of difappointed ambition, and a kind of defpair which does not at all refemble the dejection of vulgar minds,-while, in other parts of the poem, there reigns a fine moeftofo, a plaintive strain of tender fenfibility, which is really affecting. But we cannot fufficiently lament the unphilofophical and uncomfortable jargon of gloomy fcepticism, which tarnishes, in feveral places, the beauty of thete noble and animated productions.

[To be concluded.]

MONTHLY

DrM

CATALOGUE,

For MAY, 1789.

HISTORY.

Art. 18. The Hiftory of the Rife, Progrefs, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America; including an Account of the late War; and of the Thirteen Colonies, from their Origin to that Period. By William Gordon, D.D. 8vo. 4 large Vols. 11. 45. Boards. Dilly. 1788.

HIS hiftory is detailed in the epiftolary form, which Dr. Gordon declares is not altogether imaginary, as the author, from his arrival in America in 1770, maintained a correspondence with gentlemen in London, Rotterdam, and Paris, anfwering in general to the prefixed dates.' But if the correfpondence thus carried on, was not the exact correfpondence now published, as may be fuppofed from the loofe terms of the declaration, we cannot but think more regular REV. May, 1789. divifions

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divifions of the narrative would have better fuited the dignity of the fabject.

The work may be accepted as a faithful narrative of this most memorable revolution, fo far as regards a chronological chain of operations; it being formed under peculiar advantages: for the author aflures us that he was favoured by the American Congress, and by the New England States, with the infpection of their records, as well as by the individuals with the fight of private manufcripts; and that both there and fince his return, in 1786, he has improved these and other advantages by the affiftance of British publications, among which Dodfley's Annual Regifter is particularly diftinguished. The - general events of this war are too recent to be out of memory, and though they are circumftantially related, we have not found that his refources have contributed to alter their complexion, or to fet them in a new light. The work is introduced by a brief recapitulation of the previous hiftory of the fettlement of the colonies; in which the writer's aim has been to fhew that the British Americans had ever been uniform in maintaining an exemption from the authority of the British parliament; and that the indiffoluble connexion between reprefentation and taxation was not a new doctrine at the commencement of the difturbances occafioned by the Stamp Act.

The language of this work deferves little encomium, but the merit of fidelity is the first qualification in an historian; and to that claim we believe the prefent difpaffionate writer is fully entitled. When a fufficiency of facts is fupplied by the induftry of faithful collectors, then is the time for elegant writers to polish the narration by the beauties of ftyle; and then too, we may add, is the time to guard against being mifled in effentials under the glare of the studied arts of compofition.

We could not avoid fmiling, when we read the account of the figning the definitive treaty of peace, that confirmed the independency of America, to find the author, by a fomewhat odd tranfition, immediately introduce the invention of air balloons by M. Montgolfier, with the aerial voyages of Meff. de Rozier, Charles, and Robert! Thence we are brought down to a conclufion of the letter by the coalition between Lord North and Mr. Fox. Had the Doctor appeared to view the American ftruggle with an unfavourable eye before, we fhould have fufpected fome arch nefs in thus connecting their independency with an air balloon! But we have every reafon to exculpate him from fuch a charge.

MEMOIRS.

N.

Art. 19. The Life of Mifs Catlane; or the ill Effects of a hafty Marriage. In a Series of Letters. Being a complete Narrative of real Characters. 12mo. 220 Pages. 4s. 6d. half-bound. Boyter. 1788.

So little art is ufed in working up this ftory, and we perceive fo little of what dramatic writers call plot, that we are induced to fuppofe it to be formed on a ground-work of truth. A lively young lady of good fenfe is driven, by ill treatment from her mother, into a precipitate marriage with a man of a pious turn, but of fuch eccentric viciffitudes of temper, that he is continually fluctuating between the outrages of

11 humour, and contrition for his burfts of paffion: which irregularities, with a head full of projects, at length injure his circumftances, and finally caufe his wife to leave him. Befide the main narrative, which, without much fentimental amplification, would not have filled even this fcanty volume, the author feems chiefly defirous of illuftrating the deceitfulness of common pretenfions to friendship; and gives a most bitter character of the female fex. I was determined not to go to any of my female friends, for I never met with a woman, yet, in whom I could place the leaft confidence; for in high life, they are the pinnacle of vanity, arrogance, and defamation; in the middle ftation, they are made up of envy, flander, and ignorance; and delight in nothing more than the downfal of each other.' A great portion of this malevolence is indeed to be found in the common intercourfe of fociety; and yet, we are willing to hope, there are a fafficient number of noble exceptions, to refcue the fex from the wholesale feverity of the cenfure. The volume is not badly written on the whole; and the profe is much better than fome few fcattered attempts at poetry. At the clofe, is an indifferent poetical effay on falfe friendship, which is very quaintly termed Satan's Eye-tooth.

DRAMATIC.

N.

Art. 20. Some Advice to Theatrical Managers. 4to. pp. 34. (no more). 2s. 6d. Stalker. 1789.

We consider this as a faint imitation of Swift's Directions to Servants; a piece often imitated, but never equalled, in the gravity, fimplicity, and perfection of its irony. This director of directors takes up the littleneffes, contrivances, and fineffes that have often been charged (whether justly or not) on artful managers of the ftage; but it feems fo very a nothing, that nothing more hall here be faid about it.

NOVEL.

Art. 21. Henry and Ifabella; or a Traite through Life. 12mo. 4 vols. 10s. fewed. Lane. 1788.

This work gives us a truly agreeable picture, coloured according to nature-la belle nature, as our neighbours fo happily express it; for the prefent artift exhibits her not in any of her extravagant moods, but with all the gentleneses and graces which fo irrefiftibly feize the heart. We do not remember to have feen, for a confiderable time paft, a performance in which the characters are more pleasingly grouped, or which prefents to us a more perfect and regular whole. A greater bold nefs of pencil is, indeed, occafionally to be wished for; but this the fair defigner will, probably, in time, and when fhe fhall have acquired a fuitable degree of confidence, be able to display.

To give the ftory of this novel, would take up far too many of our pages. The following obfervations on modern friendship, however, (alas, too generally and certainly, juft!) will fcarcely be difpleafing to our readers, and will ferve as a fpecimen of the author's ftyle:

When I mention friendship, however, I do not mean to fpeak of that cold, regular kind, which many men of great fenfe

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and