; and there is something very charac tristic of his manner in what he says of Job. I have just read the most silly and knavish book I ever saw; one Lauder on Milton's mitations. An observation at the bottom of and the top of 45, proves him either the e or the other with a vengeance. If there those things in Masenius, why did he not duce them? They are of more weight to ove his charge than all he says besides. If ey are not, he is a knave.-1 think he has duced about half a dozen particular oughts that look like imitations.--But the atter of imitation is a thing very little upstood. However, in one view the book es not displease me. It is likely enough to rtify all the silly adorers of Milton, who serve to be laughed at. Poor Job! It was his eternal fate to be ersecuted by his friends. His three comters passed sentence of condemnation upon im, and he has been executing in effigie er since. He was first bound to the stake long catena of Greek fathers; then torred by Pineda; then strangled by Caryl, nd afterwards cut up by Wesley, and anamized by Garnet. Pray don't reckon me mongst his hangmen. I only acted the nder part of his wife, and was for making hort work with him. But he was ordained, think, by a fate like that of Prometheus, le still upon his dunghill and have his mins sucked out by owls. One Hodges, a tead of Oxford, now threatens us with a new duto da fe. In the postscript to letter 20, he thus Notices Whiston. P. S.-Pray did you feel either of these arthquakes? They have made Whiston ten times madder than ever. He went to an alehouse at Mile-end to see one, who, it was said, had predicted the earthquakes. The man told him it was true, and that he had it from an angel. Whiston rejected this as apocryphal. For he was well assured that, if the favour of this secret was to be communicated to any one, it would be to himself. He is so enraged at Middleton, that he has Just now quarrelled downright with the Speaker for having spoke a good word for him many years ago in the affair of the mastership of the Charter-house. The Speaker the other day sent for him to dinner; he said he would not come. His lady sent; he would Dot come. She went to him, and clambered up into his garret to ask him about the earthquake! He told her, Madam, you are a virtuous woman, you need not fear; none but the wicked will be destroyed. You will escape. I would not give the same promise to your husband."-What will this poor VOL. VI. [Lit. Pan. June 1809.] | nation come to! In the condition of troops between two fires; the madness of irreligion and the madness of fanaticism. There is an air of sincerity in the concluding sentences of the following extract which delights us. Warburton was most certainly a Christian believer. I hear Dr. Middleton has been lately at London (I suppose to consult Dr. Heberden about his health), and is returned in an extreme bad condition. The scribblers against him will say they have killed him. But, by what Mr. Yorke told me, his bricklayer will. dispute the honour of his death with them. Seriously I am much concerned for the poor man, and wish he may recover with all my heart. Had he had, I will not say, piety, but greatness of mind enough not to suffer the pretended injuries of some Churchinen to prejudice him against Religion, I should love him living, and honour his memory when dead. But, good God! that man, for the discourtesies done him by his miserable fellow creatures, should be content to divest himself of the true viaticum, the comfort, the solace, the asylum from all the evils of human life, is perfectly astonishing! I believe no one (all things considered) has suffered more from the low and vile passions of the high and low amongst our brethren than myself. Yet God forbid it should ever suffer me to be cold in the gospel interests, which are indeed so much my own, that without it I should be disposed to consider humanity as the most forlorn part of the creation. The distinction made in letter 44, between prodigies and miracles is worthy of attention. The most sensible thing Garth ever said, he said to his enemies, "that for every fault they discovered in his writings, he would shew them two." I can safely say, I will shew them two hundred in mine for every single fault my enemies are ever likely to find out. It was odd, as you observe, that Voltaire should translate the line from Pope, as it is in the last edition. I persuaded the latter. to alter miracles to prodigies, not only for the religion, but the reason of the thing. It was not only declaring against miracles, but it was arguing inconclusively prodigies being natural effects, whose causes we being ignorant of, we have made them ideal creatures of a distinct species: as soon as we come to the knowledge of the causes, prodigies are no longer a distinct species, but rank with all other natural effects. But it is no consequence that when nature is known ng miracles re main; because miracles imply supernatural effects, therefore these are consistent with the whole knowledge of nature. Yet this was one of the speciosa dictata of Boling. R broke, who was fond of the impiety, and yet did not see the blunder. Of Noah's Ark, Warburton says; The church, like the Ark of Noah, is worth saving; not for the sake of the unclean beasts and vermin that almost filled it, and probably made most noise and clamour in it, but for the little corner of rationality, that was as much distressed by the stink within, as by the tempest without. Hurd, in a letter not printed, seems to have noticed in some way or other this remark; in letter 47, Warburton adds You mention Noah's Ark. I have really forgot what I said of it. But I suppose I compared the church to it, as many a grave divine has done before me.-The Rabbins make the giant Gog or Magog contemporary with Noah, and convinced by his preaching. So that he was disposed to take the benefit of the Ark. But here lay the distress; it by no means suited his dimensions. Therefore, as he could not enter in, he contented himself to ride upon it astride. And though you must suppose that, in that stormy weather, he was more than half-boots over, he kept his seat, and dismounted safely, when the Ark landed on Mount Ararat. Image now to yourself this illustrious Cavalier mounted on his hackney: and see if it does not bring before you the church, bestrid by some lumpish minister of state, who turns and winds it at his pleasure. The only difference is, that Gog believed the preachier of righteousness and religion. Our divines Tillotson, Taylor and Barrow are brought into juxta-position in letter 50. As to the archbishop, (Tillotson) he was certainly a virtuous, pious, humane, and moderate man; which last quality was a kind of rarity in those times. His notions of civil society were but confused and imperfect, as appears in the affair of Lord Russel. As to religion, he was amongst the class of latitudinarian divines. I admire his preserving his moderation in all times, more than his refusing the archbishoprick at the time of his decay, and after a stroke of an apoplexy, and when he had the large revenue of the deanery of St. Paul's, and when the archiepiscopal promotion, he knew, would expose him to infinite abuse. But what I admire most was, his beneficence and generosity, and contempt of wealth. But see the imperfection of humanity. That moderation, coolness, and prudence (which you guessed right is held in the highest admiration by the person you wot of-Tillotson is indeed his hero); this turn, I say, which made him so placable an enemy, made him but a cold or indifferent friend; as you may see, in part, by that exceeding simple narrative of Beardmore (I use simp in the best sense); for so imperfect are w as I say, that the human mind can with d ficulty have that warmth of friendship ki dled in it (which, after all, is what make two-legged animal deserve the name of man but the same heat will prove noxious others. So that you see, if Tillotson w defective in this, I lay the blame not up him, but upon corrupt humanity. As preacher, I suppose his established fame chiefly owing to his being the first city-divi who talked rationally and wrote purely. think the sermons published in his life-ti are fine moral discourses. They bear inde the character of their author, simple, elega candid, clear, and rational. No orator the Greek and Roman sense of the wo like Taylor: nor a discourser in their sen like Barrow; free from their irregulariti but not able to reach their heights. which account I prefer them infinitely him. You cannot sleep with Taylor; y cannot forbear thinking with Barrow. B you may be much at your ease in the midst a long lecture from Tillotson; clear, a rational, and equable as he is. Perhaps t last quality may account for it. Hurd subjoins here the following no on Taylor and Barrow. In another letter to me, not contained this collection, Mr. Warburton expresses sentiments of these two eminent persons the following manner-" Taylor and Barro "are incomparably the greatest preachers at "divines of their age. But my predilectio "is for Taylor. He has all the abundan "and solidity of the other, with a ray "lightening of his own, which, if he d "not derive it from Demosthenes and Tull "has, at least, as generous and noble "original. It is true, they are both i "compti, or rather exuberant. But it "for such little writers as the preacher "Lincoln's Inn [himself] to hide their ba "renness by the finicalness of culture." Warburton accounts for a certain ano maly in the British legal constitution, tha the church of England should be governe by the laws of the church of Rome. I greatly approve of your design of a dia logue on the effect of transferring supremac in religious matters. A thousand curious hints will arise to you as you proceed in con templation of the subject. One now, for instance, occurs to me. Could any thing be more absurd than that, when the yoke of Rome was thrown off, they should govern the new church, erected in opposition to it, by the laws of the old? The pretence that this was only by way of interim, tilla body of ecclesiastical laws could be formed was, whoever considers that the canon laws ceeded from, and had perpetual reference an absolute spiritual monarch, and were med upon the genius, and did acknowledge authority of the civil laws, the issue of l despotism-I say, whoever considers this, be inclined to think that the crown coned this interim from the use the canon and desires which have brought down thy We give another instance of the intre was of to the extention of the preroga-pidity with which he was wont to speak his mind; from letter 167. However, it is certain that the sucding monarchs, Elizabeth, James, Charles, rented our ever having a body of new desiastical laws, from a sense of this utility the old ones; and a consciousness, if ever should submit a body of new laws to legislature, the parliament would form altogether upon the genius of a free rch and state. This I take to be the true tion of this mysterious affair, that wears e of so much absurdity and scandalous flect. Bracton and Fortescue, the two most learnand almost the only learned of the ancient ers, are both express, not only to our and limited government, but they deduce original of civil power from the people. will not fail of meeting with some good ngs in Selden's fine dissertations on Fleta. We admire the openness of soul which finguished Warburton.-He was as less at court as Swift himself; and haps sometimes as sarcastic. One will tell you what, says he in letter 148, ugh perhaps I may have told it you beI said in the drawing-room to a knot of rtiers, in the old king's time. anced to say he heard the king was not well. sh, said Colonel Robinson, it is not ite or decent to talk in this manner; the is always well and in health; you are er to suppose that the diseases of his subts ever approach his roval person. I perve then, Colonel, replied I, there is some Herence between your master and mine. Line was subject to all human infirmities, Excepted: yours is subject to none, sin icepted. In letter 156, (Nov. 24, 1762) he says, I am afraid we are at the eve of much disarbance, and ready to exchange a war abroad or one at home, less murderous, but more alumniating. We have long prayed to be elivered from our enemies; I wish the Archbishop could hit upon an efficacious form prayer to be delivered from ourselves. la the forms of prayer now used on st-days, it is remarkable that a passage curs to the very purpose wished for by Warburton." Suffer us not to return to rformer sinfulness and disobedience, or again to yield to those evil passions I cannot forbear telling you, that when we his uprising from the gout, amongst other all dined with the archbishop, (Secker) after things of equal importance, he told his brethren, in assembly complete and full, that lips's life of Cardinal Pole.-You will hardly Mr. Ridley had undertaken to answer Philguess what I said on this occasion, though discreet and uncourtly politicks-take it then you are sufficiently acquainted with my in remember" My Lord, we are much boundin the very words I said it, as near as I can en to your grace for your incessant care of "the church's interest. I think Mr. Ridley "sufficiently qualified for his undertaking. "Yet I could have wished that the task had "been performed by some in a more eminent "station. Mr. Ridley's name puts me in "mind of his great namesake, the bishop of "London. In those times, my Lord, the bishops did not leave these matters to their "chaplains, but performed them themselves. "He of London, and Jewel of Salisbury, "have made their names immortal by their "defences of the Protestant church of Eng"land. And I suppose they encouraged one "another in these undertakings, by the rea"soning of Sarpedon, in Homer, to his "friend Glaucus."- Why,' says that generous hero, are we distinguished from the ' rest of our brethren with superior titles and riches, but that we may out-do them in the service of the publick; so that when men see our great achievements, they may say, these men deserve their superior titles and riches who perform thus nobly?'A silence ensued. But the thing did not seem to be taken amiss. And some said with "Why do you not undertake this cause yourself?" I replied, "When I think I can do any service, I do good humour enough, 66 not stay to be called upon. And I appeal, "to Neal's History of the Puritans, in three "volumes, now in the library at Durham, "which at one of my residences I took home "to my house, and, at breakfast-time, filled "the margins quite through; which I think "to be a full confutation of all his false facts and partial representations. The Bishop "of Durham has seen it, or, at least, heard “ of it."* And so we parted in much good humour. Should any member of the church at We finish with a scrap from letter 179; of his conversation at the Mansion House, in 1766; Nelson, Mayor. I preached my Propagation Sermon; and ten or a dozen bishops dined with my Lord Mayor, a plain and (for this year at least) a munificent man. Whether I made them wiser than ordinary at Bow, I can't tell. I certainly made them merrier than ordinary at the Mansion-house; where we were magnificently treated. The Lord Mayor told me, "the Common-Council were much obliged to me, for that this was the first time he ever heard them prayed for." I said, I considered them as a body who much needed the prayers of the Church."-But, if he told me in what I abounded, I told him in what I thought he was defective-" that I was greatly disappointed to see no custard at table." He said, "that they had been so ridiculed for their custard, that none had ventured to make its appearance for many years." I told him, "I supposed that religion and custard went out of fashion together." Analysis of Ward's Errata of the Protestant Bible, by Rev. Ed. Ryan, D.D. 8vo. pp. 63. Price 1s. Jones, Dublin, 1808. THE efforts made in Parliament to repeal every law militating against the Catholic interest, were not the only steps lately taken to support the cause of popery. For the purpose of supplying their people with arguments, sundry publications in numbers, small tracts, &c. were briskly circulated by the efforts of a few leaders, among the Irish population. As the number of bibles sent over to Ireland increased, and the eagerness with which they were caught at by the people became notoricus, the zealots thought it necessary to counteract this disposition, and if possible to check it in time. For this purpose a work published in England in 1688, with intention to expose the heresy of the Church of England, and Protestants in general, on the subject of our public translation of the bible, was reprinted in Dublin in 1807. The Protestants took offence at the time of this re-publication; as connected with proposals, &c. then making to Parliament on the Catholic question. The work was the production of one Ward, a popish Durham be disposed to favour us with specimens of our author's marginal notes, he will confer a favour on the LITERARY PANORAMA. adherent, who censured the English tra lators for departing in any instance f the Vulgate yet, he knew well eno that the Vulgate was not the origin the Scriptures; and that the author the Vulgate translation would have joiced exceedingly at every honour to that original. The greater part of remarks are absolutely frivolous; and persuade ourselves that the well infor Catholic is ashamed of them. In c instances, the Protestant variations terms are improvements according to fluctuations of a living language. in some texts neither the Catholic not Protestant has happily expressed the sense of the original. We have often wondered, with sentiments the Catholics can mainta tenaciously the integrity of the Ve version, when the fact stares them i face that considerably above two thou corrections have been made in it b editors; and this correct version, considerably re-corrected; requires fo improvements to represent the orig as now exhibited by the care of the ed moderns. it was published. We notice it, circulated throughout the cottages of on that The Union of Piety and Literature be glad to see public reformation, on public subjects. One day in seven might be spared from dissipation, for decency's sake:we could wish for a better reason; but let that be well considered; by those especially, who affect to possess enlightened understandings, and cultivated minds. Should this nation suffer as some have suffered, it will then be too late to lament our neglect of what might have saved us. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE REVIEW THE text, Psalm xc. 17, has, noing particularly referable to literature, Fat is merely a devout wish for prosperity ived from the source of all good. The eacher, therefore, accommodated his t to his subject; and adopts that desire behalf of this institution. He observes y properly, that, "to the welfare of ath no virtuous mind can be insensible. proportion to the wisdom, benevoce, and piety, which exist among us, be the care and pains which we take form the rising generation to excellence character." Adding, that few inces exist, in which even those of our th, who are destined to enter at the To the Editor of the Literary Panorama.. CHILDREN INTRODUCED TO VISITORS? lage on the pursuits of business, not, previously to that period, acSIR,-Much as I approve of many parts of are at least a competent knowledge of the celebrated late publication, ascribed to rature, and become acquainted with Hannah More, intitled CELEBS, (reviewed first principles of science, withouting to amend the heart, improve the underpage 259) as they contain sentiments tenderfering with those instructions which standing and correct the manners, yet I highly absolutely necessary to qualify them disapprove her recommending that children the duties of their future station. should not be brought into the room after H. proceeds to apply these remarks dinner, when the friends of their parents are various supposable circumstances. We visiting. I do not mean to say that this time glad to see the part of literature plead-is the very best part of the day for the visitors by a gentleman so well qualified : to see them, but apprehend if the practice of self a parent, a tutor, and a minister keeping them away should be adopted, that one of our universities; and of course prived of the pleasure of seeing them at all. many of the friends would frequently be devery competent judge of the importance We are given to understand, that the female datility of an early acquaintance with visitors would have their company in the beral studies. Drawing-room; but should they not be perA report of the state of the in-mitted to stay ten, the rest will have but little tution ought to have accompanied the Stof subscribers annexed to this discourse. Necessity of Religion and Virtue to Nafional Happiness and Prosperity, a Sermon preached at the Scotch Church, Woolwich, Feb. 8th, 1809. By the Rev. W. Vessie, A. M. Price 1s. Bryer, London, 1809. THE text of this discourse is Nehemiah iv. 14, I said unto the nobles and o the rulers, and to the rest of the people, fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your bouses." in chance of meeting them there, unless an alteration, by abridging the period of sitting after dinner should take place.--If the author is able to bring about such an altera tion, together with the custom of early hours, we shall not have so much cause for complaint.But this is little to be expected. We can scarcely imagine a more delightful, and rational pleasure, than that which arises from the company of chearful happy children. To see a father and mother surrounded by their young family, the elder ones nursing or whose hearts are not viciously corrupt; and, amusing the little ones, must give joy to all besides, the father who may be all the morn ing engaged in occupations, for the support of his family, may possibly have no other time The language of this sermon is, in than after dinner, to see his children; and many places, strong and nervous; the shall he be deprived of this comfort on the one of piety that prevails in it is consist-days he sees his friends?-Cannot a man t; and the patriotism it breathes has enjoy the company of both at the same time? our hearty approbation. The preacher justly charges very heinous sins on the inhabitants of this country, and especially An those of the metropolis. We should mischievous, inasmuch as it may greatly lessen the comforts arising from social inter course. I must therefore consider this advice as May 13th, 1809. R-M-R-K-R. |