The change of fortune,' (peripetia) is very great, and the concluding revolution equally fo-all ends happily: the heroine is married; and her former unfuccefsful lover confoles himfelf with another spouse.

·

The Belle Widows, with Charateriftic Sketches of real Perfonages and living Characters, a Novel. Inferibed to the Beau Monde, with a Preface, by the Editor of the Letters of Charlotte, during her Connexion with Werter. 2 Vols. 12mo. 5s. Kerby. Thefe real perfonages' and living characters' are very trifling and infipid. If this be the Beau Monde, we shall retire contentedly to our garret, and congratulare ourselves on escaping from it: in truth the author has reached the climax of uninteresting nonfenfe. Even the Belle Widows cannot apologise for him.

The Twin Sifters; or, the Effects of Education. Vol. Fourth. 2s. 6d. Hookham.

To return to a former work, where repetition has blunted the edge of curiofity, and a knowledge of the event has weakened the intereft, is an unpleafing task: the author's delay of the fourth volume of this work must be confequently pronounced an impolitic measure. Perhaps it may be owing to thefe circumstances that we found the volume before us heavy, languid, and uninteresting: others, who now for the first time perufe the whole, may probably find the character given in our LXVIth volume, p. 419. not unjust when applied to the complete work.

MISCELLANEOUS.

An Efay on Vifion, briefly explaining the Fabric of the Eye, and the Nature of Vifion: intended for the Service of those whofe Eyes are weak or impaired. By George Adams. 8vo. 55. Boards. Printed, for the Author.

Mr. Adams purfues his former plan; and treats, in this volume, of the eye, and the glafles calculated to atlift it when injured or difeafed. He explains vifion with fufficient accuracy; but does not add greatly to what other authors have already obferved. He fpeaks of the reaction of the retina in the language of Dr. Darwin, a fyftem which we have formerly faid was gratuitous, and feemingly not well founded.

Mr. Adams advises the early ufe of fpectacles, when the eyes begin to fail, but not as prefervatives, before any defects occur. In this opinion, as well as in difapproving of the ufe of fhades, we fully concur. Indeed the fubject in general is explained very clearly and familiarly; the opinions, if we except the medical practice, and the too great commendation of elec tricity, are commonly juft.

The Critic Philofopher; or, Truth Difcovered. By A. G. Sin clair, M. D. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Kearfley.

After reading this work with fome care, we found ourselves entirely at a lofs to guess what Dr. Sinclair meant to inculcate. The chapters are rhaptodies, wholly unconnected, containing trite reflections, plain tales, marred in telling them,' and violent attacks on phyficians, quacks, fome perfons, devotees, and blockheads. We had proceeded fo far before we looked at the title, or at least looked at it with attention. We there found the following paffage :

Reader, you will here find clearly proved, that man is greatly mistaken with regard to his own happiness; that his religious tenets and political fchemes, if not difcontinued, will involve him in ftill greater miferies: and that he has very false notions of thofe things which concern his peace here, and his eternal happiness hereafter."

We receive this information with greater gratitude, fince we defy the acuteft critic, without affiftance, to have collected 3 fingle atom of it from the work.

The interefting and affecting Hiftory of Prince Lee Boo, a Native of the Pelew Ilands, brought to England by Capt. Wilson. To which is prefixed, afkort Account of those Islands, with a Sketch of the Manners and Cuftoms of the Inhabitants. 12mo. Newbery,

IS

The very entertaining account of this young prince, from Mr. Keate's Narrative, will, we doubt not, be generally pleafing. His affectionate fimplicity, his unaffected good humour, his untutored politenefs, and his premature death, render him a truly engaging and interefting object.

A Brief Account of the Island of Antigua. In Letters to a Friend. Written in the Years 1786, 1787, 1788. By John Luffman. 12mo. 35. Cadell.

Mr. Luffiman, the author of thefe Letters, gives, we believe, a very faithful and not unentertaining account of the ifland of Antigua. He defcribes the island, the climate, the manners, customs, &c. of the inhabitants, with great perfpicuity. According to his narrative, the treatment of the flaves is neither fo fevere, nor yet fo mild, as to justify what has been affirmed, on either hand, in the controversy on this subject. Tractatus varii Latini a Crevier, Brotier, Auger, alufque cla

riffinis Viris confcripti, et ad rem cum critica 79 tam Antiquari am pertinentes. Quibus accefferunt Nota quamplurimæ, ad Librum de Morbus Germanorum, ex utraque. C. Taciti Editione Brotieriana excerptæ. 800. 55. White and Son.

Thefe fhort, elegant, and learned differtations are chiefly taken from the two editions of Broitier; though Crevier, Al

dus,

dus, Minutius, Rigault, Ernefti, and others, have contribut ed to the bulk and the value of the volume. The effay on the weights, money, &c. mentioned by Livy, taken from Crevier, has already appeared in the Decads of Livy, published with Drachenborchius's notes, and noticed in the present volume, P. 199. The fecond part is the most curious: the little tract on plays and theatrical entertainments, collected from different authors, is very interefting.

Dofe for the Doctors; or, the Efculapian Labyrinth explored. Inferibed to the College of Wigs. By Gregory Glyfter, an old Practitioner. 4:0. 35. 6d. Kearsley.

We were greatly puzzled to di. cover of what clafs this author could be. We at last found that he was fome apothecary's apprentice, who had either never learned the Latin grammar, or already forgotten it. He feems to imitate the author of the Advice to Officers, &c. but poffeffes not the wit, the humour, or the spirit of his predeceffor. It is a vapid fpiritless production, loaded with a large proportion of caput mortuum, which will not be found to contain any falt, even after incineration.

Plans of the Sunday Schools and School of Industry, established in the City of Bath; with Remarks by a Gentleman of the Committee. 8vo, 6d, Rivingtons.

+

The rapid progrefs of the Sunday-fchool inftitutions mult give pleasure to all who wish well to the most important interefts of mankind. It appears, from the particulars recited in the prefent pamphlet, that this truly laudable stablishment has proved peculiarly fuccefsful at Bath, through the generous patronage of thofe who have affluence to fupport, and humanity to direct their beneficence to the most valuable o jects of public welfare and improvement. We have likewife the fatisfaction to find, that the Bath School of Industry, in which the children are taught employments that will enable them to earn their fubfiftence, is in no lefs profperous a fituation. In a prefatory address, the common objections, which have been made to Sunday-fchools, are anfwered with great judgment and forciblé obfervation.

Appel au bon Sens, &c.-An Appeal to Good Senfe, in which M.

de la Tour fubmits to that infallible Judge, the Details of his Conduct relative to an Affair that has made fome Noife in the World. 8vo. 15. 6d. Kearfley.

The author of this narrative is concerned in the Courier de Europe, and another periodical paper entitled L'Afic, in confequence of which publications he became acquainted with M. de Calonne. He informs us, that being one morning at the houfe of that gentleman, for the purpose of obtaining the latest accounts from France, he faw, in the Morning Post of the

fame

fame day, an advertisement announcing the intended publica tion of Madame De la Motte's Memoirs. M. de Calonne, on learning this circumstance, faid he would do any thing to hinder their publication. M. de la Tour immediately offered to go to M, and Madame de la Motte, and bargain with them for the manufcript; which offer M. de Caloune accepted. The tum which M. de la Tour demanded, and which, we are told, M. de Calonne did not think exorbitant, was fixteen hundred thousand livres (66,6661. 135. 4d. fterling) the amount of her property which had been seized when he was made prifoner in France. M. de Calonne gave the author of the narrative power to treat with them, and authorised him to promife the fom above mentioned. He likewife ordered his banker, Sir Robert Herries, to write to Madame de la Motte, informing her that he (Sir Robert Herries) had a large fum at the dif pofal of M. de la Tour, as foon as the manuscript should be deLivered into his hands. M. de la Motte, depending on the authority of thefe communications, gave up the papers. M. de Calonne making feveral excufes to M. de la Tour for non-payment, the latter, on his part, was under the neceffity of making alfo excufes to M. and Madame de la Motte. Several letBers were dispatched to France, for the purpose of enquiring what was to be done with these papers. In the mean time, M. de Calonne read over the manufcript, and, with the affistance of M. de la Tour, corrected the ftyle. At last, there arrived an answer, expreffing, that fuch memoirs only merited contempt. To conclude the hiftory of this tranfaction, as related in the prefent statement, M. de la Tour, not having received from M. de Calonne the 2500l. fterling, which he had been promised for his trouble during a negotiation continued through fourteen months, has inftituted a fuit in chancery.

The Trial of Mr. Atkinfon, Linen-Draper of Cheapfide, for Crim. Con. with Mrs. Conner, Wife of Mr. Conner, late of the Mitre, Barnet, 8vo. 15. 6d. Symonds.

A trial for criminal converfation; in which the plaintiff obtained a verdict, with one thousand pounds damages.

A general Collection of Voyages; undertaken either for Discovery, Conqueft, Settlement, or the Opening of Trade, from the Commencement of the Portuguefe Difcoveries to the prefent Time. Vol. I. 410. 10s. 6d. Boards. Richardfon.

This Collection of Voyages commences foon after the inven tion of the mariner's compafs; a period to which the compilers have restricted themfelves, not because they confider the history of nautical affairs as wholly uninterefting previous to that epoch, but because the most celebrated difcoveries have been made fince that time. They intimate, however, a refolution of combining all that history has preferved on the antecedent part of the fubject, in a concife differtation. The compilation is profeffedly intended for the use both of the mariner and the gentleman;

and

and every thing will be retained which can afford information to the former, without rendering it tedious to those who read for amusement. The first book of the present volume contains the Portuguefe voyages in the fifteenth century; the fecond book, the Spanish voyages in the fame period; the third comprehends the Portuguese voyages during the reign of king Ema-nuel; and the fourth details the Spanish voyages in the beginning of the fixteenth century. The engravings in this volume are portraits of prince Henry of Portugal, and Albuquerqué; with maps of Africa, India, the Canary Islands, and the Weit Indies; befides views of Madeira and Teneriffe.

The Adventures of a Speculift; or a Journey through London. Compiled from Papers written by G. A. Stevens; with his Life, a Preface, Corrections, and Notes, by the Author 2 Vols. 12me. 6s. Bladen..

This work is compiled from papers written by the facetious George Alexander Stevens, author of the Lecture on Heads an account of whofe life is likewife given, with a preface, and notes, by the editor. The Adventures exhibit a picture of the manner, fafhions, amusements, &c. of the metropolis at the middle of the eighteenth century; and are accompanied with feveral fugitive pieces of humour by the fame eccentric author, now firft collected and published.

POLITICAL.

A Vindication of the Shop-Tax: addressed to the Landholders of England. 8vo. 15. Gardner.

This pamphlet, we are informed by an addrefs to the public, is the production of a youth, whofe itudies have been directed to fubjects of a nature very different from the fcience of poli tical economy. It was written before the repeal of the hop tax; and the editor regrets, as an unfortunate circumstance, that it was not likewife published previoufly to that event. How far it might have operated on the fentiments of the legiflature, we shall not take upon us to fay; but we must acknowledge, in juftice to the author, that he maintains his propofi tion with no fmall degree of ingenuity; fo far at least as theoretical fpeculation can prove decilive of the fubject. We cannot, however, all circumstances confidered, approve of his warm exhortation to the landholders of England, to infift upon a repeal of the land-tax, until the fhopkeepers fhall, by a future impoft, be rendered in fome greater degree contributory than they now are, to the exigencies of the ftate. A procedure which tends to excite animofity among different claffes of the people, ought always to be carefully avoided, in political, as well as focial communities.

The Letters of a Friend to the Rockingham Party, and of an Eng lifhman. 25. Stockdale. Thefe Letters relate to the Coalition, Mr. Fox's Eaft India