which very few hufbands ought them felves to be allowed to decide. But Colley Cibber is not behindhand : : "I affure your grace, this dedication is the refult of a profound acknowledgment, an artless inclination, proudly glad, and grateful and if ever the influence of your grace's more fhining qualities fhould perfuade me to attempt a tragedy, I fhall then borrow all the ornamental virtues from your greatness of birth, fweetness of temper, flowing from the fixed and native principles of courage and honour, beauties, that I reserve for a further opportunity of expreffing my zeal and gratitude.” Mrs Centlivre, who, knowing herself, thought the knew that flattery, ever fo clumfily laid on, may yet be pleafing, addreffes her patron as follows: "The protection of the most diftinguifhed, produces a kind of infpiration much fuperior to that which the heathenish poets pretended to derive from their fictitious Apollo: my ambition is to addrefs one of my weak performances to your Lordship, who are justly allowed, by univerfal confent, to be the beft judge of all kinds of writing. I was, indeed, at firft deterred from my defign, by a thought, that it might be account ed unpardonable rudeness to obtrude a trife of this nature to a perfon, whofe fublime vifdom moderates the council, which, at this critical juncture, overrules the fate of all Europe." One more fpecimen of the fulfome, and we have done. "Nature and fortune were certainly in league, when your grace were born; and as the first took care to give you beauty enough to enflave to hearts of all the world, fo the other refolved to do its merit juftice, that none but a monarch, fit to rule the world, fhould ever poffefs it, and in it, he had an empire." This production is from the pen of Otway, and was addreffed to the Duchefs of Portfmouth, a notorious proftitute. To thefe examples, many more might be added. But the queftion is, whether, notwithstanding this grofs abuse of the practice of dedication, it may not yet be used in a manner highly honourable both to the dedicator and the patron? This question, I humbly think, may be answered in the affirmative, and fo much more wife are our authors in this refpect, that a fulfome dedication is but rarely feen from the pen of a man of genius, and when feen, is univerfally fcouted, as a perverfion of talents, and a criminal mifapplication of praise. It is perhaps a misfortune that there is but one language for all men, for the hypocrite as well as the fincere; but an author, honestly impreffed with the contemplation of virtue, will feldom be tempted to go beyond the bounds fet to the praife of human beings, or go fuch lengths as to incur the fufpicion of being actuated more by the hope of intereft than the love of truth. A wellwritten dedication is an elegant teftimony of refpect. It is a graceful bow at entering into literary life, and no man can be blamed for wishing to be seen in good company. The most elegant dedicator of our times was, I think, beyond all comparifon, the late Dr Samuel Johnson. No man difdained fervility to the great, more than he; yet when he pleases to compliment, there is a graceful dignity reflected and reflecting mutually, which has been rarely imitated, and probably cannot be excelled. He wrote a great many dedications to different works which were not his own, but he always fhews that he knew the patron. I fhall felect a very few fpecimens, which, in my opinion, are matchlefs. The first fhall be the dedication he wrote for Dr James' Medicinal Dictionary, addreffed to Dr Mead. "Sir, That the Medicinal Dictionary is dedicated to you, is to be imputed only to your reputation for fuperior skill in those sciences, which I have endeavoured to explain and facilitate; and you are, therefore, to confider this addrefs, if it be agreeable to you, as one of the rewards of merit; and, if other wife, as one of the inconveniencies of éminence. However you fhall receive it, my defign cannot be difappointed; because this public appeal to your judgment will show that I do not found my hopes of approbation upon the ignorance of my readers, and that I fear his cenfure leaft, whofe knowledge is most extenfive." The doctor told his biographer, that "he believed he had dedicated to all the royal family round," and it was indifferent to him what was the fubject of the work dedicated, provided it were innocent. Some of thefe are printed in his life, or in his works. The following has escaped the notice of all his biographers. I fix it upon him from internal evidence the turn of thought will be found exactly correfponding with that with which this paper concludes. This is addreffed to the King, and is perfixed to Gwynn's London and Westminfter Improved, 1766. : "Sire, The patronage of works, which have a tendency toward advancing the happiness of mankind, naturally belongs to great princes; and public good, in which public elegance is comprized, has ever been the object of your majesty's regard, &c." But the following is equal, if not fuperior to any of his dedications; it is prefixed to the Works of Dr Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester. TO THE KING. "Sire, I prefume to lay before your Majefty, the laft labours of a learned bishop, who died in the toils and duties of his calling. He is now beyond the reach of all earthly honours and rewards; and only the hope of inciting others to imitate him, makes it now fit to be remembered, that he enjoyed in his life the favour of your Majelty. "The tumultuary life of princes feldom permits them to furvey the wide extent of national interest, without losing fight of private merit; to exhibit quali ties which may be imitated by the higheft and the humbleft of mankind; and to be at once amiable and great. "Such characters, if now and then they appear in hiftory, are contemplated with admiration. May it be the ambition of all your fubjects, to make hafte with their tribute of reverence: and as pofterity may learn from your Majesty how kings fhould live, may they learn, likewife, from your people, how they fhould be honoured.-1 am, &c." To this felection, it would be improper not to add the modeft and elegant dedications to the first five volumes of the Biographia Britannica, written by the late Dr Kippis, but the length to which this article has already extended, leaves me room only to point them out. C. UPON THE MEANS OF WAR, AS CONDUCIVE TO OUR HAPPINESS. POPE. -And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground. May Jove restore you, when your toils are o'er, Safe to the pleasures of your native thore! EVERY age has its peculiar ideas of excellence; and as the progrefs of refinement is promoted or impeded, fo do we find the withes of men calculated to obtain happiness in their refpective conditions. When we trace human actions to their remoteft fource, when we perceive the rational mind immerged in the deepest barbarifm, we must expect to fee laws dictated by ignorance, and punishment fuggefted by revenge. Thefe violations, however, of humanity feena to be committed not folely from a view of immediate fatisfaction, but from a defire of being distinguished as one of extenfive influence, rigid authority, and peculiar fame. Confidering man to be a creature of fo noble a nature, and endowed with fo many excellent qualities, how muft it be lamented, that in the pursuit of his principal objects he has deviated fo wretch 1 wretchedly from the calls of honour, and turned fo cold an ear to the cries of humanity; that he has facrificed fo many accomplishments for the gratifica. tion of his darling paffion, and fpurned both the dictates of common juftice and common propriety, from the impulfe of fordid appetite, and inordinate defire. We may perhaps be almost inclined to pity the effects from the caufe; but in an age where refinement boasts her progrefs, and humanity has her votaries, not to point out the pernicious effects of paft times for the improvement of the prefent, and for the welfare of the future, muft eternally degrade the man, and confign the philofopher to oblivion. Every period, then, as I mentioned before, has its peculiar views for the attainment of happiness-which happiness is by many called celebrity; that is, purchafing a profituted fame from the dubious and inhuman business of war. The Greeks, as well as all other early nations, were ardent in the pursuit of war, and never perfevered more to ferve and adorn their country than by the death or expulfion of a meditated foe. They imagined that no laurel could deck their brow with more honour, or reflect greater excellence upon its wearer, tan that which was gathered in the iron fields of war, or obtained by the deftruction of towns, and depopulation of fociety-fuch was the leading thought in their mind, and fuch the object of their actions. 'Tis true, the ingenuity of their countrymen might be great, and the abilities of their statesmen and orators be held much in admiration; yet they, as well as all other turbulent republics, looked up to their legiflators for order, but to their heroes for protection; and the fubject from whence I have chofen my motto may be a convincing proof to every impartial thinker, that devaftation and felf-aggrandizement proved a paffion too predominant to be curbed, and an object too univerfal not to be followed. It is fomething aftonishing, it feems a depravity almost too inconfiftent to be accounted for, that peace of mind and fafety of perfon fhould be the result of fhedding blood and razing habitations. Yet fuch is the lamentable fact that the Greeks were to enjoy "the pleasures of their native fhore" in a more ample and fatisfactory manner after they had razed Troy, flaughtered thousands, and extirpated both race, family, and name. There is undoubtedly, in ambition, so many objects that dazzle, and fo many qualities which infatuate, that man thinks himself supremely bleft when he rides upon the waves of power, and riots in the accumulation of that luxury which he has extorted, perhaps by feverity or by force, from the maintenance of individuals. It seems aftonishing that confcientious reflections have not oftener intruded, and for a while damped the more ardent profpects of the foul. One would imagine that the "work of killing" fhould at fome time or other fatiate the ferocity of the foldier, and the wealth of booty fatisfy the ambition of the conqueror. Yet, alas! fuch is the depravity of our nature, and fuch the frequent inftances of human weakness, that an Alexander flushed with the laurel of victory, and clated with the spoils and profufion of countries, fuch, I fay, is the wretched picture, that this celebrated hero, furrounded by luxury and steeped in debauchery, fhould, in the giddy impulfe of momentary voluptuoufness, be fwept from the fociety of his captains and courtezans, and be hurried from every earthly fcene of cultivation and felicity, by the unforeseen fummons of death, unprepared as he was, and unprofitable as his victories were. what a degrading view does this contemplation of warlike fame, fubject the votaries of fuch a caufe, the fupporters of fuch a fyftem! Surely the recollection of paft triumphs ought to have influenced him to retire" fafe to the pleafures of his native fhore." To In tracing the progreffive refinement of early nations, it might be fuppofed that war was its fole criterion; but this is a poor excufe, and an affertion to con which refinement herfelf can have no ed upon fo ferious a fubject as that of idea of affenting, and confequently no fidering war as bencficial to our happiinclination to fupport; for how few nefs;-let me not, I fay, be deemed have returned home and found a re- inconfiftent, if, in indulging my obferquiem from all their toils! In the Ro- vations upon paft times, 1 direct them man age, we find equal examples of to the nature of the prefent :-If, in wretchednefs as in that of the Grecian. cenfuring war as a pernicious fyftem in Pompey, the vanquisher of the Eaft, earlier ages, I did not, in contemplating returned but to quell internal commo- it at the prefent moment, ftill continue tions; and the plains of Pharfalia hur- to confider it in the fame light, I fhould ried im to the completion of his fate! conceive my felf the moit fantallic of Cæfar conquered but to enter Rome, all logicians, and the most inconfiftent and there find an unforfeen end by the of all writers; for what claim has the poignard of a Roman foe! while Bru- prefent national warfare to extort our tus himself bled at last, from a convic- approbation, or to demand our applause? tion that virtue only exifted in imagina- Has not the bayonet ftill continued to tion, and that the turns of war had, reach the heart, and the cannon to lay only fubjected him to the mercy of wafte cities? Has war been rendered his antagonist, and to a privation of lefs exceptionable from the justness of that national gratitude, which a con- the caufe, or lefs formidable from the sciousness of his merits juftly led him multiplicity of preparations? Have not to expect! Hannibal profecuted and plans refined upon plans, in order to carried on war to extend his native do- bring about the fpeedier flaughter of mains, and fix his country's reputation; thoufands, and the quicker poffeffion of but was ultimately himself a wretched territories? Thofe countries where harexample of finding that peace at home, veft glittered in the field, and contentof which he had but too falaciously an- ment dwelt in the hamlet, have they ticipated. Where then are domeftic not been defpoiled from the rapacity of joys to abound, and how is refinement the foldier, and the injunctions of the to be promoted in a nation? general? The rocks of Toulon, the fhores of Dunkirk, the fands of Quiberon, and the banks of the Rhine, will not tranfmit a memorial to posterity that war was rendered lefs dreadful from the ambition of England and the struggles and barbarities of the French! I am above declaring these opinions from › the confideration of party. What the end of this national warfare will be, Omniscience can alone determine :— the merits of each caufe will be judged before a higher tribunal than either the Convention of France or the Cabinet of England :-both will hope, for their own fakes, that when they are weighed in the balances, not much wanting may be found. Heavy indeed will be the weight of guilt upon that fide which is found deficient. Let him who wishes to be ranked among the votaries of refinement, and the fupporters of national excellence, look backwards to past periods, and fo find the means for the promotion of both in his prefent and future conduct; he will find that the splendour of war, the riots of the victor, and bloodshed of individuals, exhibit a picture where re finement and felicity find themfelves faltely pourtrayed, and where each at tempt of illustration is an abuse of their qualities. Let me not be cenfured here as wandering from the nature of my effay, if I make obfervations lefs abftract, and conclufions 1:fs general;-let me not be thought cowardly in declaring my fentiments, if I bring them forwards as the latter part of an effay, which has touch O. ON ON THE INEFFICACY OF ADVICE. SIR, EVERY perfon, who has fuch an opinion of his own wisdom, as to dictate to others, will more often feel a kind of gratification in the confcioufnefs of hav. ing discharged what he conceives to be his duty, than any degree of pleasure in the fuccefs of his advice, Giving good counfel, indeed, is fo eafy a matter, whether it proceed from a fenfe of duty, or only of fuperiority, that I have often thought we ought to take away the praise we ufually beflow on thofe who recommend a better life, and give it to thofe who have the wifdom to follow it. This, indeed, might feem a little hard upon authors, but as the only purpose of writing must be to make mankind wifer and better, if this purpose should be attain ed, the reward would be infinitely great er than the cold empty praife beftowed upon the mere difplay of genius. Such are the reflections with which I have chofen to introduce this letter to you, Mr Editor, as the purport of it is to fhow, perhaps what is not very new, that a man who devotes his attention to the giving of good advice to others, may fometimes himself stand in need of confolation, and that no perfon ought to fet out upon the reforming plan, without a very confiderable ftock of patience, and as fmall a quantity of anxious hopes and expectations as poffible. It would be a great faving of time and trouble to us advifers, if the laws of the country were a little more extenfive, if they had more claufes in favour of good morals and wisdom, and lefs about other matters, which are not likely to occur in genteel life, fuch as robbery, murder, fmuggling, and fo forth. It is to fupply this defect, that fo many worthy and well-meaning gentlemen fpin out from their brains, thofe admirable precepts of human conduct, which mankind are fo ungrateful as feldom to practice, even if they read them.-But to come to the point. There is " one fin that cafily befets," a very great proportion of my acquaint ance, and to which confequently I have been induced to direct my principal attention, I am forry to add, to very little purpose. And this, fir, is want of cor.omy. You would scarcely believe how many unanfwerable arguments I have advanced upon this fubject, and how often I have rolled conviction like thunder over the heads of my opponents, while, ftrange to tell, they remained immoveable and unfhaken. And all the answer I can get is-Well; but if every body were to do fo! I lately called a nephew of mine to a very fevere account, for what I thought, from my years and experience, I was entitled to call moft inexcufable piece of extravagance. This young dog has a place in a public office, which brings him in nearly an hundred pounds a-year, with certain perquifites, the amount of which I never could learn, for he said, what I believe to be true enough, he kept no account of them. He, forfooth, took it into his head to keep a horse. In vain it was that I reprefented to him that walking was the most natural, and confequently the most healthy exercife; that I could not conceive what business he had out of London on a Sunday, farther off than he might reach by gentle walking; that horses were very expenfive, and that as he could ufe his beaft only once a week, he was paying a whole year's keeping for fifty-two days' ufe; and that, in fhort, I was certain he could not afford it. His anfwer was-Well; but if every body were to do fo!— Another young man, partly committed to my care, and whofe fortune, when he comes of age, will barely fuffice to place him out in fome decent Daily advertifer kind of bufiaefs, has taken up the hopeful fashion of giving dinners and fuppers to every idle fellow he meets in his walks, and as there are plenty of that defcription, he boafts how on fuch a day, he had fix or eight friends to dine with him, and on fuch a night he gave cards and a fupper to a |