66 "Torn from her friends flie feems, and o'er the main The train high-foaring, fhew'd th' appointed shore. The various contrivances of thefe contending Genii, and the various fortunes of Bafilius, Cleora, Alcanor, and Philemon, in confequence of them, form a very important, as well as interefting part of the poem. Nifroe, and other fiends, all the time, and in every enterprize, appearing the inftructing demons of Alcanor, while the benevolent beings act as the guardians of the more perfecuted, though more deferving party. The cataftrophe is, however, pathetic, in the greatest degree; for Bafilius is ftabbed; Philemon expires by the wound of an arrow; and Cleora (on feeing amongst the dead bodies thofe of her father and her lover), deprived of fenfation at the view, falls into a trance; and, imagining that fhe beholds the ghoft of Philemon beckoning to the tomb, expires in his arms. After the curtain is thus awefully dropped upon the scene, the Poet thus defcribes the birds of heaven covering Philemon and his Cleora, with grafs and leaves, from the adjacent regions. "Meanwhile the lovers, ere the grave conceal'd; R Three Three days the Bard's complaining numbers flow*; Among other paffages of this elegant performance, none feem to lay better claim to extract, or the reader's attention, than the little moral episode of a hermit, who finds, and conducts the fugitive Clcora, to his cell; and in this manner, beguiles her forrows, by a recapitulation of his own: but we are forry, we cannot find room, for further quotation. Letters on Materialifm and Hartley's Theory of the Human Mind, addreffed to Dr. Priefley, F. R. S. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Robinson. We imagined the infertion of our correfpondent's letter, concerning this production, in our Review for laft month +, might have excufed our paffing over it without farther animadverfion; but fome writers, or their friends, are not cafily to be fatisfied. We shall not tire our readers, however, by going over the ground, which our ingenious correfpondent hath meafüred with as much good fenfe as apparent good-nature. Let it fuffice to fay, that our opinion generally coincides with his, in oppofition to the writer of the letters before us. The tenth and laft letter, indeed, treats on a fubject that immediately concerns us as Reviewers, and cannot be fo cafily palled over, Addrefling Dr. Prieftley, the letter-writer proceeds thus : "Reverend Sir, "Opportunely enough, though you perhaps may think far otherwife, before my last letter was completely printed, accidentally tell into “ my hands your last volume of Experiments on different kinds of air. I had purpofely put off the perufal of that volun'e to a more convenient opportunity, my head being a good deal engaged in puriuits widely different from the subject-matter of thofe enquiries. Yet I was defi rous to fee one part of your preface, in which, I had been informed, you had taken very ferious notice of the reflections that had been made, relative to your notions on the materiality of fouls. Perhaps, thought I, the Doctor hath candidly acknowledged the opinion, he hazarded on that fubject, to be ill-founded, and hath therefore publicly apologized for the alarm, he unthinkingly gave to the fincere admirers of real virtue and religion; if fo, what I have written on the fubject must prove in a great measure useless, and I will fairly fupprefs my letters on materialijin, or, at leaft, make a handfome excufe for the warmth of fome exprettions, and the perfonal tendency of others. With thefe thoughts *The circumftance here alluded to is a well-known ceremony in the HIGHLANDS and WESTERN ISLES of SCOTLAND; and is not yet wholly abolished in thefe remote countries. † Page 52: et feq. I turned I turned to your preface; but how great was my furprife, when inftead of an apology, I beheld the fame fentiment as strongly exprefled as ever, and perceived that your mind was obftinately resolved to abide by the first affertion! "To make fome new reflexions on that part of your preface is the defign of this letter, which fhall pofitively be my laft. Do not fear, I fhall copy the ftale trick of rope-dancers and other performers of wonders, who announce one night more, and pofitively no longer, when they mean no fuch thing. Politively then, Doctor, I again affure you, this fhall be my parting discourse. "You feem not a little mortified by the report, which has gone forth to the public, fo injurious to your facerdotal character, reprefenting you, after all your manoeuvres in defence of religion, as not believing in a future itate. To effect this bafe purpofe, fay you, a mutilated fentence was quoted from your fays; and thus was your inno cent and Christian meaning moft wilfully and wickedly perverted. Fie upon you, Mr. Seton; how could you thus maliciously and wantonly afperfe the immaculate reputation of a man, whofe coat of orthodoxy was ever esteemed of one uniform and feamless tiffue! "The paffage, Sir, which gave rife to the report, you deem fo injurious, hath been quoted entire in more than a hundred different places, fince its first appearance from Mr. Johnfon's fhop; and what will be ever a very untoward circumftance is, that Mr. Seton's inference hath conftantly been drawn against you, to wit, that in your opinion the human foul is naturally mortal. But this is the very doctrine, you meant in your effay to establish, this you again repeat in your preface, and this was the only affertion, with which you was charged by Mr. Seton, or by any other writer on the fubject. Wherein then was your meaning fo wilfully and wickedly perverted? You fay indeed, that you have been "reprefented in an artful advertisement as not believing in a future ftate;" and of this you complain bitterly; hinc ille lacryma. If hereby you mean to infinuate that Mr. Se on accused you of rejecting all belief in a future ftate, take care, Sir, you be not yourself guilty of, at least, a vilful pervertion of that gentleman's meaning. He never aimed to go beyond the limits of your own affertion (for that was quite far enough) which is, that relying on the reasons, deduced from philofophy alone, it is more probable that man will not furvive the grave. For the truth of this I refer you to Mr. Seton's own letter, addrefled to you in the London Review of June, 1775. Your theolo gical or divine faith of future existence was never called in queftion, because you declared that you had hopes of furviving the grave, derived to you from the fcheme of revelation, or from a pofitive conflitution, communicated by exprefs revelation to man. As therefore his only defign was to controvert and to point out the evil tendency of the first infinuation, where was the neceffity of quoting more of your effay than the lines, wherein that infinuation or rather affertion was contained. Nor certainly was he blameable for laying to your charge an opinion, which you then openly promulgated, and are now determined to maintain. This is a fair reprefentation of the matter. Review the entire ellay, or only take the curtailed paffage, as quoted by Mr. Seton, the inference against you, as far as any one has hitherto infinuated, must R 2 be be exactly the fame.-But perhaps, Sir, the cafe is, that Dr. Priestley hath a right to affert, what no other man may repeat, or lay to his charge, without incurring the guilt of a malicious and wicked flanderer. "This affair, you fay, has been the occafion of much exultation among bigots, as a proof that freedom of thinking in matters of religion leads to infidelity; and unbelievers, who have never read any but my philofophical writings, confider ine as one of their fraternity. To the former I shall fay nothing, because it would avail nothing." "It would please me much to hear your own definition of the word bigotry; becaufe I think it would be curious, and probably be infinitely more extenfive in its application, than was ever before imagined. Should you confine it to thofe, who declare against freedom of thinking, or rather free enquiry in matters of religion, you would not, I fancy, be oppofed by the rational part of believers. The rationale of religion not only admits of, but even requires a free and candid difcuffion of the fubject; which must always tend to the difcovery and confirmation of truth, and to the detection and deftruction of error and falfehood. But a degree of deference to the fentiments and even prejudices of others fhould be ever preferved; nor cau a man be too ditlident of the workings of his own reafon, or too moderate and circumfpect in what he delivers out to the multitude. "Quiconque (lays a virtuous foreigner, who is no bigot) s'intéreffe plus au bonheur des hommes qu'à ja propre gloire, ne fe bajardera pas à dire fon arvis fur des préjugés, qui contribuent a faire éclorre le germe de la virtue, et a répandre le repos et la felicité parmi fes femblables." "Your religious addrefs to unbelievers, particularly foreigners, who have kindly, as you obferve, admitted you into their fraternity, deferves fome notice. Of thefe you entertain better hopes than of bigots. "As they will agree with me in the opinion of the natural mortality of the foul, which is agreeable to every appearance in nature, fay you, it greatly concerns us to confider, &c." . e. whether the Deity has not by fome pofitive revelation pointed out an bereafter to man.—Mott undoubtedly, if they have adopted your opinion, it nearly concerns them to look out for fome fecurity, fome other proof of exiflence in a world to come. But fhould they remain obftinate' in their infidel scheme, and moreover pay fuch deference to your fentiments, as to declare for materialiim; then, Doctor, what will be their fate?-you are, however, much deceived if you imagine that all foreign infidels have adopted your opinion. I could name fome, whofe religious faith is much less than a grain of muttard feed, who are still warm maintainers of the foul's natural immortality: fuch as that wild Orang outang J. J. Rouffeau, of Geneva, and the famous Berlin Jew Mofes MandelsSohn, who have both exprefly written in defence of that doctrine. Indeed, I know not of any, who are eminent in the literary world, that have publicly, at least, efpoufed your fentiment. You are, therefore, I fufpect, plus ijulé in your opinion, than you please to flatter yourlelt." After profeffing ourselves obliged to the letter-writer, for fo fairly ftating the cafe between our colleague Mr. Seton and Dr. Dr. Priestley, we fhall only beg leave to repeat, that our opinion on the fubject is, in a great meature, confiftent with Dr. Priestley's; viz. that the foul's furviving the body is not a doctrine deducible either from natural philofophy or the fcripture; notwithstanding that of a refurrection to life, and a fu-. ture ftate of rewards and punishments, is undoubtedly true, and refts on the firmeft of all foundations, the Word of God, as revealed in the facred text. For, with all deference to this letter-writer, Dr. Prieftley is not fo ifolé as he may imagine in the opinion that, as life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel, they were brought to light by the gospel ONLY! A general History of the Science and Practice of Mufic, by Sir John Hawkins. In five Volumes, 4to. 61. 6s. Payne. In the preface to this elaborate and fcientific hiftory, we are told it is the produce of fixteen years labour, and has been compiled from materials, which were not collected in double the time. "The end propofed (fays this judicious ant refpectable hiftorian) is the investigation of the principles, and a deduction of the progrefs of a fcience, which, though intimately connected with civil life, has fearce ever been fo well underflood by the generality, as to be thought a fit fubject, not to fay of criticitim, but of fober difcuffion: Inflead of exercifing the powers of reafon, it has in general engaged only that faculty of the mind, which, for want of a better word to exprefs it by, we call Tafte; and which alone, and without fome principle to direct and controul it, must ever be deemed a capricious arbiter. Another end of this work is the fettling mufic upon fomewhat like a footing of equality with thofe, which, for other reasons than that, like mutic, they contribute to the delight of mankind, are termed the fifter arts; to reprobate the vulgar notion that its ultimate end is merely to excite mirth; and, above all, to demonstrate that its principles are founded in certain general and univerfal laws, into which all that we discover in the material world, of harmony, fymmetry, proportion and order, feems ro be refolvable. "The method purfued for these purpofes will be found to confift in an explanation of fundamental doctrines, and a narration of important events and hiftorical facts, in a chronological ferie, with fuch occafional remarks and evidences, as might ferve to illuftrate the one and authen ticate the other. With thefe are intermixed a variety of musical compositions, tending as well to exemplify that diverfity of ftyles which is common both to mufic and fpeech or written language, as to manifeft the gradual improvements in the art of combining mutical founds. The materials which have furnished this intelligence must neceliarily be fuppofed to be very mifcellanous in their nature, and abundant in quantie ty: To fpeak alone of the treatifes for the purpofe, the author may with no lefs propriety than truth affert, that the election of them was an |