account of the islands, mountains, rivers, &c. in the known world being annexed; together with the explanation and ufe of the maps.

To thefe is added, a defcription of the terreftrial globe; with its application to feveral interesting problems: the whole concluding with fome phenomena exhibited on the globe in a darkened room; and a few felect paradoxes, with their folutions.

We must not omit to mention alfo, the little contrivance called a geographical clock, which is well calculated to excite the attention, and gratify the curiofity of the Learner. The Author's other defigns and maps are alfo well executed, the smaller plates being very judiciously inferted on the very page on which their explanation is printed; a circumstance of more confequence in affitting the Reader's comprehenfion, than is generally imagined. On the whole, we recommend this Comperdium to young Ladies and Gentlemen, as a proper introduction to a fcience which, as this Writer obferves, is no longer esteemed as a fine accomplishment only, but a neceffary part of ufeful education.

Art. 31. Some Obfervations on the Oeconomy and Government of Hofpitals, chiefly regarding Medicine, c. 8vo. Is. 6d.

Becket.

Those who are concerned in the management of Hofpitals, will do well to enquire into the feveral grievances fet forth in this earnett Addrefs to the Prefidents and Governors of fuch Charities. This representation, it is probable, may come from fome diffatisfied Physician, who, we doubt, has too much foundation for his complaints: according to which there are many inftances of grofs error and negligence in the regulation and conduct of our Hofpitals. What he chiefly infifts upon, however, is the abufe of that great and capital article, the meditinal department: an abufe which not only affects the private oeconomy and welfare of Hofpitais, but may even be attended with more extenfive ill confequences to fociety. This department, he urges, in general, without naming particular inftances, is totally mifmanaged, to the detriment of the refpective foundations, the difgrace of the medical art, and the injury of its Profeffors; and the caufe of this he afcribes to the inattention of thofe Governors who are perfons of diftinction, and of real confequence-but who leave the management of these benevolent inftitutions to low or ignorant people, to bufy over-bearing upftarts, who know not how to pay a proper regard to men of fuperior education and abilities, and by whom the Hofpital-Phyficians and Surgeons (who are exprefsly excluded from any right of Governors, even in making thofe very laws which they are obliged to obey) are verv illiberally treated. He expatiates warmly on this evil, and fuggefts fome new regulations, which appear to merit the confideration of thofe to whom his complaint is addreffed.

Art. 32. The Univerfal Meafurer and Mechanic. A Work equally ufeful to the Gentleman, Tradefman, and Mechanic. With Copperplates. By A. Fletcher, Philomath. 8vo. 5s. Richardfon. As to books of this fort, (of which a prodigious number hath already been published, by as many different Writers) it will be fufficient, in

general,

general, briefly to inform our Readers, that there are fuch new publica tions, and that they contain fome additions to, or improvements on, the plans laid down in preceding treatifes on the fame fubjects.

Art. 33. The Beggar's Wedding; an Opera, as it is acted with great Applaufe at the Theatre-royal in Drury-lane. By Mr. Charles Coffey. 8vo. 1s. Horsfield.

An old piece revived. It was firft brought on the stage about thirty years ago, in Dublin. The Author, a native of Ireland, has been dead fome time. He was a poor creature, both in body and mind; and bis performances are a difgrace to literature:-but any thing will go down in the fing-fong way; which feems, at prefent, to be the prevailing talle.

Art. 34. England and Wales defcribed.

In a Series of Letters By William Toldervy, Editor of a felect Collection of Epitaphs*. Vol. I. 8vo. 6s. Davis, &c.

Ufeful to Travellers, and thofe who take phyfic.

• See Review, Vol. XII. page 235.

SERMONS.

Efore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, at Weftminster-abbey,

"B 31, the

the Day of the Martyrdom of King Charles 1. of Lincoln. Dod.

2. Before the Commons, at St Margaret's, with the foregoing. By Thomas Bray, D. D. lege, Oxon. Fletcher,

By John Lord Bishop

on the fame Occafion Fellow of Exeter Col

3. Two occafional Difcourfes. By William Cooper, A. M. Rector of Kirkley-Wisk in Yorkshire, and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Richardson, &c.

4. Mundi perpetuis Adminiftrator Chriftus-Concio ad Clerum, habita Cantabrigiæ, in Templo Beatæ Mariæ, Aprilis 1 2mo, 1762, pro Gradu Doctoratus in facrâ Theologiâ. Auctore Johanne Delap, S. T. P. DodЛley, &c.

5. On the Death of the Rev. Henry Mihles, D. D. and F. R. S. at Tooting in Surry, February 27, 1763. By Philip Furneaux. Buckland, &c.

6. At Rotterdam, January 9, 1763, on the Death of Mrs. Hannah Sowden. By Thomas Greaves. Field,

7. The Character and Happiness of the Chriftian Minifter briefly repre fented, at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, Feb. 20, 1763. On the Death of the Reverend and Learned John Mafon, M. A. By John Hodge. Henderson, &c.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For APRIL, 1763.

Dr. Smollet's Continuation of his Compleat Hiftory of England. 8vo. 4 Vols. 11. 4s. bound. Baldwin.

W

HEN we confider the great uncertainty in the hiftory of remote times, and how little we can depend even on thofe which are fupported by cotemporary authority, we are ftrongly induced to expect fuperior advantages, from the perufal of a history which records recent events, and delineates living characters.

It must be acknowleged, that Hiftorians in general, whether they have compiled from the traditions of others, or have commemorated tranfactions which paffed within their own sphere of obfervation, have been too frequently guilty of deviations from truth and the want of authenticity is no where more obfervable, than in those relations which are tranfmitted to us by fuch as were themfelves actors in the fcenes they reprefent. If we compare the cotemporary Hiftorians and Memorialists of our own country, particularly thofe who have treated of the grand Rebellion, and were themfelves engaged in those civil diffentions, we find that they clash with, and contradict, each other, and that little confidence is to be repofed in any of them fingly."

It is, perhaps, next to impoffible for men fo totally to abstract themselves from prejudice and partiality, as to be perfectly fincere and faithful in commemorating events, wherein their own interefts and paffions were ftrongly engaged and affected. It is for this reafon, that Minifters and Negociators are, perhaps, moft unfit to inftruct pofterity with regard to the history of their VOL. XXVIII.

S

own

own times. They may, it is true, be prefumed to have a more perfect knowlege of facts, and to be better capable of unfolding. the latent motives of action; but they are fo clofely interested in the scene, and their paffions are fo powerfully influenced, that if not wilfully, at leaft undefignedly, they may miftake the one, and mifreprefent the other: and if they are above propagating falfhoods, at leaft they may not fcruple to difguife truth. Add to this, that their attention is generally fo much engrossed by the bufinefs of their own department, and the progrels of their own machinations, that they are not fufficiently at leisure to examine the operations of thofe who are entrusted with the conduct of other independent parts of the great political machine. A calm, difinterefted, and intelligent Obferver, therefore, whofe mind is not bent on the management of any detached part, who has leifure and opportunity to furvey the whole, and who is free from private a tachments and animofities, to warp him from. the fait line of truth, is beft qualified for the office of an Hil

torian.

But, though a Writer who records events still recent in memory, is moft likely to adhere to veracity in his relation, yet, on the other hand, we are not, perhaps, to expect all the freedom and impartiality we could wish to find in his comment on men and meafures. He who dares boldly to cenfure living characters, and to expofe the corrupt motives of their political conduct, may, perhaps, be thought to want prudence as a man and he who is afraid to do either, may be deemed deficient in courage as an Hiftorian. Add to this, that there are many latent caufes and fprings of action, which are not to be discovered while the Actors are in being. Though the materials of hiftory, therefore, ought to be collected as they rife, yet the publication fhould, perhaps, be deferred, till we are able to make our reflections on the detail of political actions and characters, with a proper degree of freedom, certainty, and difcretion. A narrative of what has paffed under our own eyes, fcarce comes up to the idea we form when we fpeak of a hiftory.

We would not, however, be understood, by thefe obferva tions, to depreciate the merit of the Writer whofe works are now under our confideration. It is but juft to acknowlege, that in his reflections on public meafures, he difcovers fome degree of intelligence and acutenefs, without any of that affectation of fagacity which dives for myfteries, while truth fwims upon the furface. He feems likewife to have been equally careful of not giving way to that indolent credulity which feldom moves out of the beaten tract of vulgar prepoffeffion: and, with respect to perfonal characters, he has not here offered incenfe to the idols of popularity, nor heaped calumny on the victims of public afperfion.

1

aperfion. With pleasure too we obferve, that, in this Conti-. nuation, he has carefully avoided those prejudices, and partial attachments, which rendered the former part of the work liable to cenfure. If he has not been able to give all the light and information which a hiftory fhould afford; if he has not always. expreffed himself with that "fearlefs fpirit" which diftinguishes the unbiaffed Hiftorian, we may candidly impute it to the caufes above fuggefted; that the facts he records, are yet too recent,' and the Actors most of them still living, and, perhaps, interefted to conceal the real motives of their conduct.

In this Continuation, which opens with the transactions of the year 1749, the Writer has been extremely copious in his account of the Parliamentary Debates, and of the provifions made in confequence thereof. To us, this appears to be the most interesting part of thefe volumes: for, as to the detail of battles, &c. the Gazettes are till fresh in our memory.-The first debate which claims our notice, is that memorable one concerning the reduction of intereft, under Mr. Pelham's adminiftration.

"The capital meafure which diftinguifhed this feffion of parliament, was the reduction of the Intereft on the Public Funds; a scheme which was planned and executed by the Minifter, without any national difturbance or difquiet, to the aftonishment of all Europe; the different nations of which could not comprehend how it would be poffible for the Government, at the clofe of a long expenfive war, which had fo confiderably drained the country, and augmented the enormous burthen of national debt, to find money for paying off fuch of the Public Creditors as might choose to receive their principal, rather than fubmit to a reduction of the intereft. It was not very much for the honour of the Oppofition, that fome of its leading Members endeavoured to impede this great machine of civil oeconomy, by taking opportunities of affirming in Parliament, in oppofition to his Majefty's fpeech, that the nation, far from being in a flourishing condition, was almost entirely exhaufted; that commerce drooped and declined; that public credit ftood tottering on the brink of ruin; and that all the treaties lately concluded among the different Powers of Europe, were, in effect, difadvantageous and prejudicial to the interefts of Great Britain. In anfwer to these affertions, Mr. Pelham undertook to prove, from the regifter of exports and imports, that the commerce of the kingdom was more extenfive at this than at any former period; and that the public credit was ftrong enough to admit of an experiment, which he would not prefume to hazard, except upon a moral certainty of its being firmly rooted, beyond the power of

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accident