During the remainder of this century, except in the reign of Julian, the Nicene and the Arian parties were at different times protected by the different emperors, and the fuccesful party invariably and brutally triumphed in the commiffion of every act of unkindness and feverity that could disturb and diftrefs their adver faries.'

The learned reader will eafily perceive that this account is much too flight for an affair which was fo important in itfelf, and pregnant with fuch ferious confequences. The hiftorian neither states, (in this place,) the fact concerning the number of bishops convened at this council; nor mentions the influence which the Emperor's opinion appears to have had in its decifions; nor takes notice of the different proposals which were made by Eufebius, Athanafius, and others, in the courfe of the deli berations. The leading events of this early period fhould certainly have been given more at large; fince it is impoffible for the reader to form any idea of the manner in which various opinions arofe in the Church, unless he fees the facts in a connected and circumftantial feries.

At the clofe of the work, Dr. G. gives the following account of Baron Swedenborg:

The Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, was the fon of Jefper Swedenborg, bishop of West Gothia. He appears to have had an uncommonly good education, for his learning was extenfive in almoft every branch; and at a very early period of life he became remarkable for his abilities at the court of Sweden. His first and favourite purfuit was natural knowledge, on which he published feveral excellent treatifes. He was intimate with the celebrated Charles XII. who appointed him to the office of affeffor to the metallic college; and in 1719, he was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleanora, and named Baron Swedenborg.

In the year 1743, he profeffed to have been favoured with a particular revelation, and a fight of the invisible world. From that period he devoted himself to theological studies, and composed an incredible number of books upon those subjects, in good Latin (but without any ornaments of ftyle), which he wrote with the utmost facility, and feldom blotted or corrected a line. He lived and died in the Lutheran communion, but always profeffed the highest respect and veneration for the Church of England.

The theology of Baron Swedenborg is in many instances abftrafe and mystical. He carried his respect for the perfon and divinity of Jefus Christ to the highest point of veneration, confidering him altogether as "God manifefted in the flesh, and as the fulness of the Godhead united to the man Chrift Jefus." With refpect therefore to the facred Trinity, though he rejected the idea of three diftinct perfons, as deftructive of the unity of the Godhead, he admitted three diftin&t effences, principles, or characters, as exifting in it, namely the divine effence, or character, in virtue of which he REV. SEPT. 1790.

C

is

is called the Father, or Creator; the human effence, principle, of character, united to the divine in the perfon of Chrift Jefus, in virtue of which he is called the Son and Redeemer; and laftly, the proceeding effence or principle, in virtue of which he is called the Holy Ghoft. The virtue and efficacy of the atonement by the death and paffion of the man Chrift Jefus, is confidered by Baron Swedenborg not as confifting in the change of difpofition in God towards man from wrath to love and mercy, becaufe that ever muft be unchangeably the fame; but in changing the state of man by removing from him the powers of hell and darkness, wherewith he was infelted in confequence of tranfgreffion, and by bringing near to him the divine and heavenly powers of goodness and truth, in the perfon and fpirit of the bleffed Jefus, the manifefted God and Saviour, whereby the infirmities and corruptions of human nature might be approached, reached, and wrought upon, and every penitent believer might be thus placed in a state and capacity of arifing out of all the evils which fin had given birth to, and of becoming thus again a child of God, through a real renewal and regeneration of all the parts, powers, and principles of his life, both in foul and body."

"Baron Swedenborg, as well as Mr. Hutchinfon, afferted that the Holy Scriptures contained an internal and fpiritual fenfe, to which the outward and literal fenfe ferves as a bafis or receptacle; and of confequence many of his treatifes confift of his illuftrations of this figurative or internal fenfe.

He was a strong affertor of the free agency of man; and it must be confeffed, that the practical morals recommended by Baron Swedenborg, are of the pureft and most unexceptionable kind, with which from the beft authorities we have reason to believe, his own life perfectly corresponded.

But the most extraordinary circumftance refpecting this fingular character, is the correfpondence which he afferted he maintained with the world of fpirits. Several parts of his writings are replete with narratives refpecting fcenes to which he profeffes to have been a witness in the invifible regions; these he defcribes by expreffions borrowed from the things of this world, which he afferts, however, are only to be underflood in a figurative fenfe, and as correfponding in fome degree with those which he defcribes.

The difciples of Baron Swedenborg are very numerous in Sweden and Germany; and have increafed confiderably in England within the courfe of a few years. One attempt only has been made to form them into a distinct fociety, but this attempt has been difapproved by many of the moft zealous admirers of the Baron, whom they affert to have been an enemy to all feparation, defirous only of eftablishing an invifible church, or the dominion of faith and virtue in the hearts of men, which they contend is the true interpretation of all that he has faid concerning the new Jerufalem, or new church of Chrift.'

In a work which, on the whole, bears marks of an enlightened understanding, we are furprized to meet with ex

preffions

preffions of credulity, fcarcely to have been expected from a learned writer of the eighteenth century. After all that has been advanced to the contrary, by Dr. Middleton and others, Dr. Gregory thinks there is much reason to believe that miracles exifted in the fecond century *.hough he allows, concerning the luminous Crofs in the heavens, which is fad to have been seen by Conftantine and his whole army, that tperhaps, as a miracle, the fact is fcarcely to be contended for,' yet he is of opinion, that, had the converfion of Conftantine immediately followed, there would have been no reafon to doubt of the miracle.' He relates, without any intimation of doub, as a teftimony to the truth of the gofpel predictions,' that when Julian attempted to rebuild Jeru falem, confiderable balls of fire repeatedly iffued from the foundations, and deftroyed the artificers, who after several attempts were compelled to defift from their purpose.'

We also remark fome degree of inconfiftency between the liberal fentiments frequently expreffed in the courfe of this work, and the refpect which the writer pays to the decifions of councils. While, in one place, he remarks, with apparent regret S, that the doctrines concerning the nature of the Trinity, which in preceding ages had efcaped the vain curiosity of men, and had been left undefined by words, and undetermined by any particular fet of ideas, excited confiderable contests during the whole of the fourth century: he speaks, in another, of the public decrees of councils in the fame century, as a happy circumftance which contributed to fettle the faith of the Chriftian world:

⚫ Chriftianity,' says he ¶, became the established religion of the empire; and in confequence of the contests between the Orthodox and Arian parties, the primitive faith of the church was nicely afcertained, and delivered to pofterity in precife and determinate terms. No longer abandoned to the fuggeftions of fancy, the Chriflian profeffor was expected to conform to that rule of faith prefcribed by the great leaders of the church, or compelled to relinquith his title of an orthodox believer in Chrift.'

Dr. G. profefics, on the prefent occafion, to appear only in the humble character of an Editor. For a confiderable part of the materials of the firft volume, he acknowleges himself indebted to a learned and ingenious friend; and with respect to

* Vol. i. P. 60. + P. 114. + P. 117. The Nicene rule of faith was iffued in 325.

p. 109.

G 2

P. 130.
¶ Vol. i.

the

the fecond, he confeffes ftill greater obligations to contemporary writers, and to his literary acquaintance. We own ourfelves inclined to wifh that he had relied more on his own talents and induftry. The fubject would have repaid a more diligent investigation; and long extracts from Robertfon, Gibbon, and others, do not well incorporate with the main body of the work. It is, however, valuable as a concife and popular view of the leading facts in ecclefiaftical hiftory; and, in this light, it may very properly be recommended to thofe readers, who have not leifure to attend to more elaborate refearches. E.

MONTHLY

Art. 14.

CATALOGU E,

For SEPTEMBER, 1790.

EAST INDIES.

A Letter addreffed to the Honourable Court of Directors of the East India Company, containing Propofals for printing a History of the Revolutions of the Empire of Indoftan, from the earliest Ages to the prefent: with a Sketch of the Plan on which the Work will be conducted; a concife Account of the Authors who will principally be confulted; and a fhort Retrospect of its general History. 8vo. pp. 51. IS. Richardfon. 1790. THAT there are individuals among the East India Directors, who

may, as literary men, and in their private capacities, be willing to encourage the work now propofed to them, is far from being unlikely but it is not equally probable, that fuch an undertaking will receive the fanction of their patronage as a public body. Strict impartiality, which we will fuppofe to be honeftly intended, promifes rather too much: there are fecrets in all cabinets, which will not be disclosed; nor mutt the outward and vifible figns of them be fcanned and interpreted without prudent referve: for this commercial company has taken too active a part in the political affairs of Indoftan, to authorize a free relation of all their views and fchemes; or to give their fanction to avowed freedom without claiming, at least, a previous revifal.

The author, though his name does not appear in the above title, is declared, in the annexed propofals, to be the Rev. Thomas Maurice, A. M. late of Univerfity College, Oxford, and who dates from Woodford, appears to have an extenfive knowlege of writers on Eastern hiftory, as well ancient as modern; and of travellers who give authentic defcriptions of Eaftern government and manners: fo that if the work is compiled with that judgment which dictates this propofal, his labours will be most interesting to thofe who, either from a general love of knowlege, or from particular

6

cular motives, feek for information concerning an ancient empire, a confiderable por ion of which, by odd turns of fortune, now looks to Great Britain for its future political adminiftration and internal regulation.

In treating of Eaftern affairs, we cannot avoid repeating our regret that we have no fettled vocabulary of proper names of perfons and places; and that they should remain fubject to arbitrary caprice, and miftaken choice of letters to exprefs loofe pronunciations. Even in Turkish affairs, we have babaw, baffa, and pacha for the fame office; we have jemmatdaur and jemmadar; we have alcoran, koran, and coran; ayen akbery, and ayenee acbaree, Mahomet, and Moham-med; Tamerlane, and Timur Bec; Kouli Khan, and Cooli Cawn; and fo through the whole catalogue of Oriental names. In a work of this extent, that must be taken from a multiplicity of writers, we hope to fee all thefe varieties brought to one ftandard, that may ferve as future authorities for those who may deem propriety worthy of their attention, as we now fcarcely know the fame perfons, ranks, and places, under all their fanciful transformations. The hiftory is proposed to be comprized in three volumes 8vo, at the price of one guinea.

BIOGRAPHY.

N.

Art. 15. A Sketch of the Lives and Writings of Dante and Petrarch. With fome Account of Italian and Latin Literature in the Fourteenth Century. 12mo. PP. 114. 2s. 6d. Boards. Stockdale. 1790.

The names of Dante and Petrarch powerfully excite the curiofity of every mind, that has paid even the smalleft attention to polite literature: but the events and incidents of their lives are fo few and uninteresting, that a bare recital of them can afford nothing to gratify a curiofity fo excited. In the biographer, therefore, of thele celebrated poets, it requires more than a common fhare of skill and address, to engage and keep alive the reader's attention; especially if he confines himself to the narrow limits of a mere ketch. The circumfcribed nature of an abridgement cuts off all opportunity of pleafing by digreffion. Even of thofe circumftances which are more intimately connected with the fubject, it excludes all but fuch as, in the common acceptation, are deemed primary and important, merely because they are principally concerned in determining the fate and the fortunes!-but in the cafe of Dante and Petrarch, thefe more prominent parts of their lives, being fuch as are common, and of ordinary occurrence, contain nothing characteristic, or defcriptive of their genius and abilities;-nothing that contributes to place them in that point of view, in which every reader mult with to behold them, whofe fancy has been fired by the ruce fublimity of the first-named poet; whofe heart has been touched by the tender paffion and pathetic complaints of the other; or whole ideas have been raised and expanded by the fame and reputation of both.

In a meagre sketch of fuch lives, therefore, it becomes extremely difficult to keep clear of that drynefs and infipidity, in the writer,