at certain intervals, in their veftments of parade: we fee man only in public life, after he has put himself in a proper position for being viewed. Hiftory follows him not into his houfe, into his closet, among his family and friends: it paints him only when he makes his appearance; it exhibits his dress, and not his perfon. "I should rather chufe to begin the ftudy of the human heart, by reading the lives of particular men; for there it is impoffible for the Hero to conceal himself a moment. The Biographer pursues him into his moft fecret receffes, and expofes him to the piercing eye of the fpectator; he is best known when he believes himfelf moft concealed. I like, fays Montagne, ⚫ thofe Biographers who give us the hiftory of councils, rather than events; who fhew us what paffes within, rather than ⚫ without: therefore Plutarch is the Writer after my own heart." Suetonius is another Biographer, the like of whom, he thinks, we fhall never fee. In fpeaking of the art of drawing characters, Mr. Rousseau very judiciously obferves, that we ought not to judge of phyfiognomy by the ftronger lines in the face, nor of the characters of men by their great actions; public tranfactions being either tco common, or too much studied and prepared and yet he remarks, that fuch are the only incidents worthy the dignity of modern hiftory. He then relates a little anecdote of the great Marshal Turenne, which we fhall infert, for the entertainment ́of the Reader. "Marshal Turenne was inconteftably one of the greatest men of the laft age. The Writer of his life has had the courage to render it interefting, by relating fome minute particulars which make his Hero known and beloved; but how many was he not obliged to fupprefs, which would have taught us to know and love him ftill more! I fhall intance only one, which I have from good authority, and which Plutarch would by no means have omitted, but which Ramfay, if he had known it, would not have dared to relate. "The Marshal happened, one hot day, to be looking out at the window of his anti-chamber, in a white waistcoat and nightcap. A fervant entering the room, deceived by his dress, miftakes him for one of the under cooks. He comes foftly behind him, and with a hand, which was not of the lightest, gives him a violent flap on the breech. The Marfhal inftantly turns about, and the fellow, frightened out of his wits, beholds the face of his Master: down he drops upon his knees-Oh! My Lord! I thought it was George-And fuppofe it had been George, replied the the Marshal, rubbing his backside, you ought not to have struck quite fo hard. Such are the ftrokes our modern Daubers dare not attempt. Go on, and remain for ever deftitute of nature, void of fenfibility! fteel your hearts with your wretched decorum; and by your formality render yourselves despicable! But thou, honeft young man, who readeft this anecdote, and who feeleft with tenderness all that sweetness of difpofition which it immediately indicates, and which is fo rarely found in our first emotions; read alfo the minutiae of this great man when his birth and name were in question. Remember it is the fame Turenne who conftantly gave place to his nephew, fo that one might always perceive the child to be a fovereign Prince. Compare these contrafts, love nature, defpife opinion, and know mankind." We fhould here bid adieu to our Author for the prefent, did we not think it expedient to take fome notice of a paffage wherein he hath expreffed himself very equivocally on the fubject of gratifying private refentment. On telling us that Emilius is averfe to all manner of quarrelling, he fubjoins the fol¬ lowing Note. "But fuppofe any one fhould refolve to quarrel with him, how muft he behave? I anfwer, his conduct will be fuch that he will never be expofed to quarrels. But, fay you, who can be secure from a flap in the face, or from not having the lie given him by fome brutal drunkard, or hectoring bravo, who, for the pleasure of killing his man, begins by affronting him? The cafe is different: neither the honour, nor life of a worthy mem-. ber of fociety ought to be at the mercy of fuch wretches, and we can no more be fecure from fuch an accident, than from the fall of a tile. A flap in the face, or the lie, received and endured, will be attended with confequences to fociety, which no wisdom can prevent, and for which no tribunal can avenge the perfon injured. Therefore, the infufficiency of the laws in this cafe, reftores to him his liberty, and he becomes the fole Magiftrate, the fole Judge between the offender and himself; he muft. interpret and execute the law of nature; he owes himself jus tice, he can receive it from no other hand, and there can be no government on earth fo fenfelefs as to punish him for having taken it. I do not say he ought to fight; that were madness: I fay, he owes himself juftice, and he is the only Difpenfer of it. Without fo many edicts against duelling, were I a fovereign Prince, I would be anfwerable to put an entire stop to affronts of this kind, and that by a very fimple method with which the courts of juftice should have no concern. Be that as it may, Emilius, if the cafe fhould happen, knows the juftice he he owes himself, and the example he ought to fet to perfons of honour. It is not in the power of the braveft man to prevent his being infulted; but it is certainly in his power to prevent the perfon infulting him from long making a boast of it." Are we not very naturally led, however, to afk, how? Surely our Author would not infinuate, that men have a right, in fuch a cafe, to avenge themselves by affaffination. But if they should neither fight nor feek fatisfaction by law, what other method is to be taken? We must confefs, we cannot enter into our Author's views, and wish he had thought proper to be a little more explicit on an affair of so delicate and important a nature. We can conceive many ill effects, that must neceffarily arife from fuffering fuch inftances of infolence and ill-manners to pass off with impunity; but we know of none fo fatal to civil fociety as thofe, which muft arise from men being permitted to be fole judges in their own oaufe, and avengers of the infults put on themselves. Mr. Rouffeau enters next on the fubject of Religion, introducing a long and extraordinary paper, faid to be written by another hand, and containing the profeffion of faith of a Savoyard curate. It is this paper which hath drawn on him most of that obloquy, which hath been caft on this multifarious performance but we muft defer the confideration of it, as alfo our account of the remainder of the work, to another opportunity. [To be concluded in another Article. ] Gratulatio folennis Univerfitatis Oxonienfis ob celfiffimum Georgium Fred. Aug. Walliæ Principem Georgio III. et Charlotte Rigina aufpicatissime natum. Folio. 5s. T. Payne. Tis very fortunate, gentle Reader, both for my honour and for thy fatisfaction, that, during my commaration in this. Mand, the poetical labours of two learned Universities have been published, and are now under the review of me, MARTINUS SCRIBLERUS, member of feventeen academies, and mafter of all languages, whether living or dead! What other Critic would have been equal to the Tafk of reviewing thefe Poems, which are written in fo many different tongues? for, behold! here is Welch and English, Latin and Greek, Hebrew and Arabic, Syriac and Syriaco-Palmyrene. I fay, Reader, thou mayeft efteem it a happiness to obtain the ftriétures of a Critic skilled in all these languages: but without further preface I will proceed to the work. One thing, however, I must tell thee, if if thou art a mere English reader, and underftandest not the title: these poems are the congratulations of the Academicians prefented to the Sovereign of these kingdoms, upon the auspicious birth of a fon and heir. The Latin Copy of verfes, written by the Vice-Chancellor upon this occafion, I do most refpectfully pafs by, because I think the writings of a perfon in that high station ought to be exempted from all criticifm. The firft Poem that I fhall take notice of in this collection is a Sapphic Ode, written by the learned Dr. Leigh, Master of Baliol College. It is well known, that the interrogative ftyle doth greatly contribute to the fublime. The Doctor, therefore, beginneth his poem very judiciously with some surprizing queftions: "Hey-day!" quoth he, "what is the matter now? Daggers put up! Who could have dreamt of this? What! has the Iron Age run out of Britain? What new kind of coin is this we have got among us? (this is Mars's doing; he has been a houfe-breaking) Is the Golden Age come again?" Such is the fenfe of the two firft ftanzas. It was furely a beauteous conceit, that of the Golden Age coming again, in allufion to the treafures of the Hermione, the Havanna, &c. Ha! ha ha! verily, I cannot but fmile at the abfurdity of fome critics, who fuppofe that the Doctor, by his Unde nummorum facie recenti alluded to the new guineas and the quarter-guineas of his prefent Majefty's coin. It is well known, that the new guineas were ftamped upon a very bad die; to fay, therefore, that Albion rejoiced in them, would have been a perfonal affront to the King; and as to the quarter-guineas, they were furely too diminutive to make a figure in a Sapphic ode. But it is a gricvous thing, Reader, to want tafte; and it is well for thee, and for the author of this poem, that it hath found an adequate critic. Towards the end of his ode, the Doctor chaftifeth the Emprefs Queen, no doubt, very properly: "And let the woman," fays he," who gnafheth her teeth through the towns of Austria, fhut her mouth, and caft a fheep's eye at this cradle," that is, the cradle of the young prince. Animated and fublime is the ftrain of Dr. Fortefcue. His verfe is like unto a trumpet, that stirreth up the breaft; and verily I believe believe that he would have made an admirable Fife or DrumMajor. Hear him, Reader, when he fpeaketh of Britons rushing to arms: As from flood-gates iffuing rush the waves page, Chiefs only known in fong; and pointing, cries Banish corruption, every heart be free. Huzza! huzza! my heart leaps. SCRIBLERUS, thou canst yet wield a fword, although TIME hath scattered his fnow upon thy head. How great is the power of Tyrtaan verse ! But how judiciously doth the poet vary his ftrain, when he fpeaketh of love, of George and Charlotte; he is then all gentle and placid : -Another face Shall nature wear, and Eden's blissful bowers Be found, where GEORGE with gracious CHARLOTTE reigns. Freedom with innocence, with virtue truth, peace. Pretty Charlotte! fweet fmiler! gentle poet! happy peace How do ye delight and chear me? His grace's chaplain felt not a more fenfible re-juvenescence upon the touch of lady Caroline, than I, Martinus Scriblerus, do feel from the perufal of thefe foft lines. The following descriptive scene in a Latin poem delighteth me much." "Then," faith the poet, "did the clergy, nobility, and gentry step foftly up towards the cradle, and having peeped at the infant, were pleafed to fee him fo like his father; when, behold! a venerable man in a mitre took the child in his arms, and standing befide the altar, ready to wash him in the facred water, raised his pious eyes to heaven, &c." But I had forgot, verily I was fo delighted with the smiles of the royal dame, that I had well-nigh paffed over Dr. Fortefcue's prophecy, which I fhall give thee, Reader, in his own words. Speaking of the young prince, he faith, He |