Ah, ftill as foon the young Aurora plays, Tho' Evening lingers at the mask fo long." P. 12. Small change of fcene, fmall fpace his home requires, What tho' no marble breathes, no canvas glows, Here from the mould to confcious being start The allufion drawn from the fpring fupplying the cold-bath is very elegant. Emblem of life, which ftill, as we furvey, Seems motionlefs, yet ever glides away! The paffage which defcribes the ice-houfe is poetical but rather obfcure and the perfonification of Winter as a captive is carried rather too far. With what truth can it be faid, with any reference to an ice-house, that His faded form an awful grace retains; Stern tho' fubdu'd, majestic tho' in chains? Where are the fternnefs and the majesty of fuch an edifice? The author draws his own character, as he confeffes, with "partial praise," in these concluding lines. "Unknown he liv'd, unenvied, not unbleft; Who Who boafts of more (believe the ferious ftrain). And, with the fwallow, wings the year away!" P. 26. Some notes and illustrations, and three fmaller poems, complete this fmall publication. The two firft of thefe have copfiderable beauties; the laft, on a Gnat, is rather amplified in expreffions, beyond the proportion of its fubject, unless it had been intended for mock heroic. ART. XII. Practical Aftronomy; containing a Defcription of the Solar Syftem; the Doctrine of the Sphere; the principal Problems in Aftronomy; illuftrated with many Examples, toge ther with Aftronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon, and primary Planets. By Alexander Ewing, Teacher of Mathematics, Edinburgh. 8vo. 143 PP. 6s. P. Hill, Edinburgh; and T. N. Longman, London. 1797. THE HE practice of aftronomy contained in this work, reaches no further than the folution or calculation of fome not very difficult problems, and the reader who expects to learn the proper way of making of making an obfervation, or the ufe of aftronomical inftruments, will find himfeif utterly difappointed; for nothing of the fort is contained in it. The author, in the preface, expreffes a wifh, that the ftudy of afronomy may become as general as any other part of common education, and he thinks that two caufes have hitherto impeded the diffemination of it, namely, "An ill-founded opinion that none could learn Aftronomy without previously ftudying a tedious courfe of mathematics. "Another caufe is the want of books on the fubject accommodared to beginners; fome of the best we have were written during the laft century, by Gregory, Keill, Whifton, and other great men ; confift. ing for the moft part of lectures, very valuable indeed, but improper for fchool books, which fhould contain fhort and plain definitions, precepts and illuftrations, fuited to the circumflançes of learners. There is also a very great fcarcity of Aftronomical Tables agreeable to the prefent improved ftate of the fcience," After the enumeration of thofe, and other deficiences of the like nature, which, however, we may venture to affert are neither entirely true, nor quite proper, this author endeavours to render the ftudy of aftronomy short and eafy, by the compilation of this book. "That "That the learner," fays he, " may have every needful affiftance, there is prefixed to the table a fhort defcription of the Solar System as now received by astronomers, together with definitions of the circles of the fphere, and of the ufual terms of Geography and Aftronomy: a fhort account of the fixed ftars and conftellations, with some problems relating to them; and likewise the Kalender, with explanations and folutions of the problems commonly propofed under that head: then follows the principal part of the book, viz. Problems in Practical Aftronomy, with a great variety of examples. The folutions of these problems contain precepts and directions for using the tables, delivered in fuch plain language that learners of common capacity may cafily understand them. There is alfo given an explanation of the tables, containing their conftruction, wherein fome things briefly mentioned in other parts of the work are more fully explained; as alfo the conftruction and ufe of the table of Logitical Logarithms." There is a limit between the tedious extent of useless prolixity, and the narrow compafs of perplexing concifenefs, which this author has certainly not found in the compilation of his work. His defcription of the folar fyftem is neither perfect nor regular; his problems are moftly very common, and his tables are by far too limited. By a ftar," he says, "in afronomy, is understood any body which fhines in the heavens, whether it emits or reflects light." It is remarkable, that in defcribing the planets and their fatellites, he fays that the folar fyftem confifts of 17 great bodies, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; together with 10 fecondary planets or fatellites, viz. our Moon, four moons of Jupiter, and the five of Saturn. He then defcribes each planet, gives tables for calculating their paths, nodes, &c. with problems and expla nations; but of the Georgian Planet he makes no more mention than is contained in the following quotation. «The number of bodies in the folar fyftem here described is that which was generally received by aftronomers before the year 1780: fince that year another planet has been discovered by Mr. Herschel, and called Georgium fidus." "He ftates its diameter to be 35 thousand miles, its distance from the fun 1800 millions of miles, and its period round the fun about 83 years. He has alfo difcovered two fatellites or moons belonging to this new planet." "The Georgium fidus viewed through a telescope appears like a ftar of the fourth magnitude, which is not easily seen by the naked eye; and therefore, whatever advantage aftronomers may derive from the difcovery, men in general can derive very little." This author likewifes takes no notice of the two additional fatellites of Saturn, which were difcovered by Dr. Herfchel fome fome years ago, and are described in the Philofophical Tranf actions for the year 1790. But without enumerating any further deficiencies, we fhall not hesitate to affert, that this book is not likely to answer the end proposed by its author. ART. XIII. A Short Commentary, with Strictures on certain Parts of the moral Writings of Dr. Paley and Mr. Gisborne. To which are added, as a Supplement, Obfervations on the Duties of Truflees and Conductors of Grammar Schools, and Two Sermons, on Purity of Principle and the Penal Laws. By George Croft, D. D. Late Fellow of University College, Oxford, Vicar of Arncliffe, Lecturer of St. Martin's in Birmingbam, and Chaplain to the Right Hon. the Earl of Eglin. 8vo, 274 pp. 5s. Rivingtons. 1797. THE moral treatifes of those writers upon whom the animadverfions in this volume are made, have already obtained fuch celebrity, that few of the public are unacquainted with their principles, Dr. Croft has taken exception to fome parts of the obfervations in each, efpecially to thofe which relate to political queftions, and the conduct and condition of the clergy. Of the manner in which Dr. Croft conducts his ftrictures, the following extract will enable our readers to judge. 66 Paley. 386. "In religion, as in all other fubjects, truth, if left to itfelf, will almoft always obtain the afcendancy." Opinions in fcience are fafely agitated and debated, because they are agitated and debated by men of improved understanding. But religion, though it be an univerfal concern, and though it be lefs liable to uncertainty than questions in philofophy, yet fhould be inveftigated with greater reverence, and the fpeculative parts only by men well educated; and it would be a wife and a juft exception in the act of toleration, if no teacher was allowed to officiate in any congregation whatfoever, without being firft examined as to his learning. The only exception is the cafe of the Quakers, though even they would have no reafon to complain, as their fpeakers are fomewhat better educated than the reft, and have given up every thing but the name of immediate infpiration. Indeed the want of learning is that, which in many inftances has prevented a friendly intercourfe between certain teachers, and the clergy of the church of England. A real fcholar, of found taffe and judgment, defpifes rant and rhapfody, and were the people once perfuaded, that fuck a mode of teaching is vicious and contemptible, our churches would foon regain the deferters. "Toleration itfelf neither is nor ought to be unbounded. Whoever difparages the chriftian religion, whoever reprefents the old or the new Teftament Teftament as fabulous, whoever fpeaks with indecent liberty of the myfteries of religion, deferves to fuffer punishment. As fo much is faid of the unlimited right of private judgment, and what is faid, operates as an encouragement for men to be bold and prefumptuous, I with not the punishment to be exceffive, but let it be awful; for why fhould he, who will not conform to the established religion, be permitted to infurt it? "I have on a former occafion ftated the elevation of the hoft, as an inftance, wherein I would not infult the Roman Catholicks, though I have in common with others declared perpetual oppofition to tranfubstantiation. He is no correct moralift, who afferts, that the right of private judgment is unlimited. Human laws can fix no limits, bat the province of a moralift goes beyond that of a lawgiver; and it is incumbent upon him, to warn all men against the pernicious influence of paflion, prejudice, and prefumption, which daily increafes under the flimfy pretence of afferting natural and unalienable rights. "On other occafions, men are admonished, till the adinonition be comes trite, to confult their ftrength and their talents. Why not in religion and government? Delicacy forbids us to remind individuals of their detects in underftanding, in education, or in principle. The fafcft method feems to be, to inculcate reverence and gratitude to thofe, who have diftinguished themfelves as champions of truth and real liberty; and to acknowledge the very powerful aid, which men of the moft brilliant talents mult derive, from the affittance of those who have gone before them. "Nor may it be amifs to ftate, that empiricism in theology, in law, and in medicine owes much of its fuccefs to prefumption united with ignorance. Avarice and ambition may alfo concur in increafing the number of those parts of fociety, who exercife a wanton cruelty upon the fouls, the bodies, or the property of their fellow creatures. But they who are impofed upon are led away by prefuming to form opinions, when their own habits of life difqualify them totally from duly appreciating the requifite abilities and attainments. "If we go into the world, it is filled with vulgar errors on almost every fubject. If we litten to the jargon of coffee houfe politicians, to Utopian plans of education; in fhort, if we examine the rafh projects, and the rash fentiments of the bulk of mankind, we shall conclude, that much more is to be feared from licentiousness of judgment and prefumption, than from implicit confidence and tame acquiefcence. "Many of our religious fects furnish deplorable examples of folly and conceit; and they, whofe lips fhould preferve knowledge, have often meanly condefcended to feek for popularity, by a pufillanimous facrifice of fenfe to found. And yet tome amongst the Diffenters, who, in the pride of their hearts, pretend to have no other matter than Christ, and scarce own him for their matter in all things, are not fo abfurd as they otherwise would be, because they either chufe fome particular leader, or they aft under the general directions of a large fociety. Even the Independants in the last century, though they maintained that every congregation was a feparate church, yet found it neceffary to adopt fome common regulations, to be obferved by the whole body. "By |