Art. 23. The Affociators Vindicated, and the Proteflors Anjwered. 8vo. Is. Johnfon.

Contains the fober and judicious remarks of one who appears to be a fteady friend to what we commonly underftand by revolution principles. The Author, after defending the county affociations, reminds the freeholders, &c. of Great Britain, of the opportunity that will be afforded them by the next general election, of confulting the fecurity of our national rights, &c. in their choice of fuch men for our reprefentatives in parliament, as have given the fairest proofs of their due regard to the fenfe of the people, as expreffed in the county petitions. And he particularly exhorts them to beware of those who prefume to file themselves The King's Friends; he confiders the tenets ufually maintained by thefe arrogant gentlemen, &c. From thofe tenets, he pronounces them to be enemies, not only to the conftitution, but even to the King himself. For his arguments in proof of this point, we refer to his pamphlet.

POETICAL. Art. 24. Unanimity. A Poem. Moft refpectfully infcribed to that truly patriotic Nobleman the Duke of Leinfter. 4to. 1 s. 6d. Bew.

Art. 25. Rebellion and Oppofition; or, the American War. A Poem. 410. 2 s. 6d. Bladon.

It is the property of fome poifons to counteract each other's virulence. It will not be thought ill-judged, then, that the two poems above mentioned are claffed together, that, as bane and antidote, they may accompany each other. Though dictated by very oppofite principles (if, indeed, they are dictated by any principle), they are, notwithstanding, fo much of a complexion, that they ought to be infeparable. Whoever has patience to read the one, cannot poffibly think his time ill employed in a perufal of the other.

Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Mævi.

The former poem is as flupidly fcurrilous as the latter is gloomily malignant one of theWriters is a minifterial inquifitor, who laments the ill timed lenity of Government in not putting a ftop to the turbulence of the times by death and confifcation, and then exclaims, O eternal Jove!

Forgive a vengeance dictated by love

To this fair ifle :-when fcattering wide defpair,
They bid us independency declare

To thofe fame fubjects whom they rous'd to arms,
My breaft the keenest indignation warms,
And I could fee them prove the torture's stings,
Inflamed by all that bell or confcience brings.

Rebellion and Oppofition, page 18. The other is a filthy calumniator, lineally defcended from the honest gentleman in Hudibras, who rode

upon a pair of panniers,

Full-fraught with that which for good manners
Shall here be nameless, mixt with grains,

Which he difpens'd among the fwains,

And bufily upon the croud

At random round about bestow'd.

For

For want, however, of due skill in the management of his noisome materials, he rarely defiles any one but himfelf.-Here he comes, bufily employed in his vocation of throwing dirt indifcriminately at all who ftand in his way:

Profeffions minifterial who believes?

Saint St-ph-n's Chapel's but a den of th-ves;
Whence courtly fumes fly off in fulfome ftench,
And quickly reach the noftrils of the bench.
Right Reverend C-nw-llis draws 'em in,
And M-kh-m thinks grofs treachery no fin.
Snuffing up flatt'ry's incenfe Th-rlow's feen;
Th-rlow, whom N-th had destin’d for a Dean.
A Dean!-What! fneak in crape? (how ftrange it feels!)
While I, well-tufted, fwagger with the Seals?
"No!-on the Bench the Doctor I muft fix,
"By G-d fays Pilate (let Jove fwear by Styx)-
"A dean'ry! damn his dean'ry! no fuch tricks!
"A dean'ry! Will not Tom, by Reynolds drawn,
"Look full as well as Brownlow drefs'd in lawn?
"In Brownlow's humble afpect who can trace
"One line that speaks epifcopacy's grace?
"Did not his purple mark the facred peer,
"You'd guess his cure was forty pounds a year.
"Now view my counterpart!-phlegmatic, dark,
"Proud, selfish,-fit to be an hierarch!

"These outward figns of grace enforce my plan:
"Tom's born to ftrut a metropolitan."

Unanimity, page 20.

}

Would any man imagine the principal object of this foolish ribaldry is as confpicuous for his abilities and learning, as in his private character he is refpectable? But with this Writer it is a fufficient crime, it seems, even to be related to a person in office; as it would be with his mild and amiable companion to be in any degree connected with thofe in Oppofition.

With respect to the literary merit of this par nobile fratrum, our opinion is, in great measure, included by the fpecimens we have given : our Readers will eafily perceive that the poetry of these congenial fouls is, at least, equal to their moderation

Art, 26. POETICAL EFFUSIONS. To which is added, the War of Inis-thona; a Poem, from Offian: In English Verse. 4to. 2 s. 6d. Hand, Bew, &c.

Though ftrict impartiality will not permit us to acknowledge that thefe Effufions are pofitively poetical, yet that they are negatively fo, we will readily own: in fhort, they are not unpoetical. There is one pleasant effufion, in the manner of Hall's Crazy Tales: of which take the following specimen :

Talking of ADAM, makes me wonder,
And 'tis a doubt I can't keep under,

Whether or no

Our first Great-grandmother below

Was

Was Mifs, or Madam ;

Or whether our Progenitor thought right
Having obferv'd her with delight,

To fay Miss EVE, or Mrs. ĀDAM :
If Mifs, I blush to say,

She was a naughty piece of clay;
For, after the was in the garden,
Unless fome beaft

Acted as Priest,

There was no marriage worth a Farthing
I mention this for Women's fame,
For they've a right to act the fame;
But, Ladies, if you doubt it,
Afk any Parfon,

And he, to help the farce on,
Will tell you all about it.

Art. 27. Matrimony, a Tale; with an Apology. 4to. Is. 6d. Exeter printed, by Truman; and fold in London by Payne, &c. 1779.

Dr. Doddridge, fpeaking of South's Sermons, fays, fomewhat barfhly, that many of them appear to have been written by the infpiration of the devil. The Author of this performance pretends to infpiration, and being Mufe-valiant, founds his high pretenfions on two lines of Horace :

"Spiritum Phoebus mihi, Phoebus artem
"Carminis, nomen que dedit poctæ."

Bat this poetafter mistakes the fource of his infpiration: the devil was in him when he wrote this abfurd and invidious tale. Not South's devil :-but the most filly of all poffible devils.

Had this performance, indeed, been as witty as it is nonfenfical, its malignity would have precluded us from faying one word in its praife. We remember not to have read a more ridiculous, or a more diabolical piece, notwithstanding the immenfe loads of trash which we have, for fo many years, been compelled to examine and account for to the Public.

We do not deliver this opinion of the prefent performance from the flightest refentment which we have conceived at this Author's awkward attempt to disparage and ridicule the judgment of

• Meffieurs

The periodical Reviewers.

No! in truth for we always count on the hatred of foolish and wretched scribblers of every class; and fhall ever prefer their abuse to their commendation. "Oh! (fays the patient Job, who, by the way, feems to have been admirably qualified for the office of a Re viewer) that my enemy had written a book!"

TER.

Utinam male qui mihi volunt, fic fient ! Art. 28. The Religion of the Times; or, a new Mirror for the dignified Clergy. By an Enemy to Tyranny, Perfecution, and Hypocrify. 4to. I S. Wallis. 1780.

The power of ridicule (fays this Writer) hath often been found to work miracles, even upon arbitrary difpofitions; and the dread of being araigned at the tribunal of the Public hath had its effect, REV. Apr. 1780.

Y

when

when every other confideration hath been totally rejected.' We believe our Readers will give us full credit, when we affure them that we are no enemies to ridicule. We have often been its advocates against those who have decried it through dulnefs: and would equally wish to exert our abilities in refcuing it from the hands of the fpiteful and malignant, who, through prejudice or impudence, prostitute and abufe it. With Mr. Pope (who, like Horace, plays round the heart, and yet gives fatire its full ftrength) we confider ridicule as a facred weapon! But then (as he obferves) it must be used in Truth's defence; and is denied to all but heav'n directed hands. If our Author's ridicule be examined by this teft, it will be found deficient in the moft effential quality; nor is he fo complete in the fubordinate qualities as to make the flighteft recompence for fuch a defect. He calls himself the Enemy of Tyranny, Perfecution, and Hypocrify and yet the prefent performance bears strong marks of a tyrannical-perfecuting-and we think we may fay-hypocritical Ipirit. Could a tyrant or a perfecutor exprefs the rancour of his foul in more merciless and invidious language than this Writer hath done in the following paragraph, extracted from the Preface? As to thofe mifcreants, the Methodists, &c. whofe impudence can only be excelled by their ignorance, we would with them, inftead of being able to avail themselves of the clemency of the laws, to be fent to the House of Correction till they be brought, by hard labour, to a sense of that duty, which they owe, not only to their own families, but to the community.'. This is the Enemy to Perfecution! Out of thine own mouth thou art condemned, thou brat of bloody Bonner!

As to this Writer's hypocrify, we think it very obvious from the general defign of this piece; and more efpecially fo from a comparifon of detached paffages. He profeffes himself to be a Friend to the established Church of this kingdom'-and, in the conclufion of his poem, gives a pious charge to minifters, in the language of St. Paul:

Exhort, reprove

Fight the good fight of Faith, and live to die.' Yes! this very Writer becomes a pious monitor of the clergy of his own church, and delivers his admonitions in apoftolic language, who, but a few lines before, had thrown out fome very indecent and profane hints refpecting the love-feafts of the Methodifts; and, in the beginning of his poem, had ironically pleaded for craft, diffimulation, and knavery, on the authority and example of St. Paul:

Flatt'ry your highest card is fure to win,
And at this game no cheating is a fin.
Be all things to all men, and ne'er contend
But for the means to ferve your pious end.
Follow St. Paul, you cannot miss your way,
Purfue his plan, you cannot go aftray.'

This Writer's poetry may rate well enough with his charity and fincerity. It would fuffer by any other comparifon. As to wit, we can trace out nothing that bears any refemblance to it:-unless, perchance, it be found in the following notice, ftuck up at the back of the preface: The Painter's pictures are now exhibiting for fale: if any one is truck with his own likenefs, he may purchase it

at a trifling expence: after it is taken home, fhould it not be approved of, the painter promifes a retouch, whenever he fhall appear, with his features mended, and his complexion improved.'

We would advife this Writer to lay down the pen and take up the hammer. He would make a tolerable auctioneer!

*

Art. 29. Paradife Regain'd; or, the Battle of Adam and the Fox. An Heroic Poem. 4to. 2 S. Bew.

We must honeftly acknowledge that, in endeavouring to flounder through this chaos of half-formed ideas, we have been fairly jaded, and obliged to defift from our intended journey before we got half way.

Art. 30. Seduction: The Spirit of the Times, or Petitions unmasked, a Poem. Wherein is confidered the dangerous Tendency of Affociations, and Committees of Correfpondence, for the Redress of Grievances. By a Real Patriot. 4to. I S. Bee. croft.

We remember no inftance of a perfon more grofsly mistaking his talents than this honeft, loyal Rhimefter has done, in imagining himself qualified to addrefs the Public by means of the prefs.

DRAMATIC.

Art. 31. The Deaf Lover, a Farce. In Two Acts; as per formed at the Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden. Written by F. Pilon. 8vo. is. Bowen. 1780.

An old jeft of Joe Miller very fuccefsfully wire-drawn into two acts of low humour, though the catastrophe is rather too much precipitated even for a farce. We have no idea neither how the French proverbe dramatique of the Poulet could poffibly have been connected, as the Author informs us it originally was, with the ftory of this farce. But of thefe pieces he feems to think, like Gay's Beggar, of Operas, that "in this kind of drama it is no matter how abfurdly things are brought about."

Art. 32. The Reasonable Animals; a fatirical Sketch. As it is performed at the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket. 8vo. 6 d. Kearly. 1780.

This appears to be a tranfverfion from the French, adapted to an English puppet-fhew. The Author has a tolerable knack at doublerhyming.

Art. 33. William and Lucy; an Opera of Two Acts. An Attempt to fuit the Style of the Scotch Mufic. 8vo. 1 s. Edinburgh, Creech. 1780.

The Author of this little Opera appears to be equal to works of more importance. In this light drama he has amplified, but not improved, the pretty Scotch ballad of Auld Robin Gray.

NOVELS and MEMOIRS.

Art. 34. Letters between Clara and Antonia: In which are interfperfed the interefting Memoirs of Lord Des Lunettes, a Character in real Life. 2 Vols. 12mo. 6 s. bound. Bew. 1779.

To those who read merely for amufement, and who look no higher for it than to the novelift, we may recommend the Letters between

* Duel between Mr. Fox and Mr. Adam,

Y 2

Clara