trate at the feet of despotism, and the sacred interests of religion wiped away with the spunge of atheism and impiety. And whilst, too, it must have pressed on our attention, that God has, hitherto, defeated the insidious advances and open violence of the enemy, yet we cannot but confess that we have not rendered unto him according to the blessings we have received. He has been merciful to us, though our sins have provoked his indignation. "It is our reproach that our cities take the lead in profligacy. Our towns copy them in licentiousness. Our villages are vicious and abandoned. "The awful sanctions of religion are despised by the multitude. "Amidst the countless speculations of professed religionists, the national religion is traduced and trampled on. Every noviciate in modern theology assumes a right to approach the sanctuary of God, and to shake the ark with his unhallowed touch. Thus are broken down the barriers, formed by the wisdom of ages, in defence of revealed truth. The venerable fabric of our church cemented by the blood of the martyrs, (in which church, freed from superstition and idolatry, we have worshipped the God of our fathers,) is, by an uncontrouled daring, assailed by the avowed champions of infidelity on the one hand, and the insidious creed of Arius and Socinus on the other. But, in every circle, whether of modern free-thinkers, or the revivers of ancient heresy, there is an obvious dereliction of that strict morality, which the religion of Christ has imposed on all its disciples." Christian Liberty udvocated. A Discourse delivered June 29, 1808, at the Unitarian Chapel, in Lincoln. By HENRY HUNT PIPER. 8vo. Pp. 27. Longman and Co. super WE know not whether ignorance or presumption predominate in this precious effusion of Mr. Henry Hunt Piper's imbecile brain. Never was a text of Scripture more grossly perverted by infidelity or fanaticism, than that which Mr. Piper has prefixed to his discourse. "Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." These words of the apostle are thus explained by his Unitarian commentator; "he will be freed from those slavish terrors of stition, which are caused by mistaken notions of the character and government of God;-he will be set at liberty, in religious concerns, from the restraints of civil authority, and the fetters of ecclesiastical tyranny." In other words, he will be freed from the dread of those punishments in a future life, which Christ himself has promised to the disobedient; and he will be set at liberty from the observance of those ordinances and rites, and of that discipline, which This explanation is not inferenhe established for his own church. tial, but plainly set forth in the sermon before us; the author of which does not blush to term the doctrine of the Trinity, an "absurd and contradictory notion;" he dares to assert, that the doctrines of eternal torments, and of vicarious satisfaction, are equally irrational and unfounded;" and he presumes to reject "the doctrine of the atonement, established in its present state by the Reformers," as "a feeble security against the probable danger which the wrath of God threatens." The task is too disgusting to mark every passage, in this wretched production, which deserves reprobation. The declamation in pages 12 and 13 is alike impious and infamous. He thus sums up the second head of his discourse. "Suck views as these are necessary to the proper estimation of the nature of that liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; since deliverance from unjust apprehensions, and from the painful sense of the propriety of regarding unnecessary rites and superfluous exercises, which superstition would enjoin, constitutes an essential part of that liberty." It is, indeed, politic if not necessary for those presumptuous men who reject the fundamental principles of the Christian faith, and who, therefore, have no claim to the appellation of Christians, to relieve themselves from the dread of those terrible punishments which the Almighty has denounced against obstinate unbelievers. In the third and last head of this discourse, Mr. Piper denies the legality of an established church; and boldly avers, that the hierarchy is not founded " upon the principles of the Christian religion." Towards the conclusion, he delivers the following panegyric on the late Rector of Cold-Norton. "A recent event has afforded a decided proof that the existence of the civil and ecclesiastical authority in union is adapted to check the progress of free inquiry" (that is, infidelity), "and that their efforts are at times directed against that which is by many Christians" (Socinians) "held to be the truth. We cannot but consider this event as affording a demonstration that, in the religion as by law established, there is an earthly authority to which the Scriptures must submit. Nor can we withhold merited praise from one, who, tied to his worldly interest by his obligations to a numerous family, chose to preserve a conscience void of offence, and determined to count all things light in comparison with the excellence of the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus" (in other words, with the excellence of the liberty of denying the truth of the account which Jesus gave of himself and of his mission.) "From this time, the name of the Rev. FRANCIS STONE must be enrolled amongst the names of those who have been willing to sacrifice every thing for truth's sake and their conscience." Never was a more deliberate, wilful, and impudent falsehood advanced by any writer, of any sect or persuasion, than this. So far from Mr. Francis Stone having been willing to sacrifice his interest to his conscience, it is notorious that he was willing to make the most degrading concessions, to stoop to every meanness, in order to preserve his living. But no matter: if a man be but an enemy to the Established Church, the whole herd of Dissenters are prepared to embrace him, and, however profligate and unprincipled he may be, to hold him up as a model of perfection, as a martyr, and a saint. Mr. Piper prates a good deal about virtue and the best friends of civil society, though he ought to know that the greatest disturbers of civil society have been Unitarians. But we have already said enongh of the production of a man, whose understanding is as weak as his principles are mischievous. POETRY. Ode Pindarique, adressée aux Peuples gémissans sous le Joug tyrannique et oppresseur de ce Fleau de l'Humanité, se disant Empereur des François, à l'Occasion de la noble et glorieuse Insurrection des Espagnols contre ce Devastateur de l'Europe. Dedié par Consentement spécial, á sa Majesté tres Chretienne, Louis XVIII, Roi de France et de Navarre. Par M. LENOIR, Auteur des Fastes Britanniques, &c. Pp. 15, 8vo, 1s. The author, Barton-street, Westminster, and Dulau. 1808. M. LENOIR, a man of talents, and faithful to his legitimate sovereign, has availed himself of the glorious struggle of Spain, to express his honourable sentiments on the cause of justice and humanity in very respectable and animated French Pindarics. The dedication to Lewis XVIII is conceived in terms at once nanly and respectful. The following is the first stanza of the Ode. 1 "Trop long-temps l'effroi de la terre, As-tu, Mars, en de viles mains, D'un Monstre digne du supplice, Ah! cesse d'être le complice: Viens mettre un terme à ses fureurs : Si la bravoure et le courage, Des mortels méritent l'hommage, C'est lors qu'ils en sont les vengeurs." Ancient Ballads, selected from Percy's Collection; with explanatory Notes, taken from different Authors, for the Use and Entertainment of Young Persons. By a LADY, with Plates. Pp. 215, 12mo, 6s. Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe. THIS is a very judicious selection from Percy's Ancient Ballads, and accompanied with several curious and interesting notes as well as explanations of the obsolete terms. It is a very elegant volume, containing Chevy-Chase, King Estmere, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, the Heir of Linne, Gernutus the Jew of Venice, My Minde to me a Kingdome is, Sir Lancelot du Lake, Marriage of Sir Gawaine, King Ryence's Challenge, King Arthur's Death, Hardyknute (a Scottish Fragment), King John and the Abbot of Canterbury, Sonnet by King James to his Son Prince Henry, the Rising in the North, Northumberland betrayed by Douglas, Valentine and Ursine, and Sir Patrick Spence, a Scottish Ballad. These Ballads will be found very proper for young ladies, to convey to them some knowledge of the style and manner of life of their forefathers, as they will probably interest their feelings enough to prevent their modern artificial blandishments from mocking the simplicity and innocence of ancient language and sentiment. The Conjuror; or the Turkey and the Ring: a comic Tale. By the Author of "Old Friends in a New Dress." With Plates, plain 1s, coloured 1s 6d. Dutton. 1808. The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots. By the same Author. Dutton. 1808. Little Thumb and the Ogre, being a Versification of one of the celebrated Tales of Mother Goose. By the Author of "Cinderilla, Blue Beard, Puss in Boots," &c. Dutton; and Sherwood and Co. 1808. THE Conjuror discovers some humour, and is well adapted to inculcate the folly of giving any faith to fortune-tellers. Puss in Boots furnishes a good practical moral never to despair, but" always hope and act the best," in whatever situation of life young persons may be placed. The objections to the Ogre are his unnaturalness and cannibalism, from which no moral lesson can be drawn, with the exception of Little Thumb's honesty and fraternal affection. The versification of these tales is fluent yet concise, and very well adapted to such subjects, in which the author discovers respectable talents. EDUCATION. A Circle of the Arts and Sciences, for the Use of Schools and Young Persons; containing a clear yet brief Explanation of the Principles and Objects of the most important Branches of Human Knowledge. Illustrated with Engravings. By WILLIAM MAVOR, LL.D. Pp. 476, 12mo. 4s 6d bound. Phillips. 1808. THIS work is designed as an introduction to Mr. Kett's Elements of General Knowledge: it will be found, however a much more useful book, as being extremely well adapted to initiate young persons into a general acquaintance with the first and simple principles of those arts and sciences which contribute to expand the mind, repress vanity, and inspire a desire for useful knowledge. It is written in the simple but impressive style of question and answer, and contains a very comprehensive, intelligible, and generally correct, view of the principal branches of human knowledge. We were sur prised, however, to find in the geography the length of Spain stated at only 520 miles, when, in fact, it is above 700 in length, and many more in breadth. We have noticed this trifling error partly from the circumstances of the times, and partly that the author may correct it in a future edition, and thus render so useful a little work as correct as possible. Upon the whole, we can recommend this volume as a valuable and necessary work in every well educated family, A General Pronouncing Dictionary; shewing at one View the Or thography, Explanation, Accentuation, and Pronunciation, of all the purest and most approved Terms in the English Language, according to the present Practice of the most eminent Lexicographers and Orators. By W. ENFIELD, M. A. Second Edition, greatly augmented, corrected, and improved. Pp. 356. 12mo. 3s 6d. Crosby. 1808, WE expressed our approbation of the first Edition of this useful Dictionary in our Number for August, 1807; we have now only to add, that this second edition is greatly improved throughout, and that a brief Statistical Sketch of the united kingdom is added. In addition to an easy and correct pronunciation, Mr. Enfield's work has the peculiar merit of containing only the purest and best terins in the language, and thus prevents the student from acquiring those pedantic expressions which, in the present age, disgrace many halflearned persons, and vitiate the taste of youth. An Easy Grammar of Natural and Experimental Philosophy: for the Use of Schools. With ten Engravings. By the Rev. D. BLAIR, M. A. A new Edition corrected. Pp. 168, 18mo. 3s, bound. Phillips. 1808. A MORE comprehensive and systematic introduction to natural philosophy, adapted to the capacity of youth, has not yet been laid before the public, the approbation of which it has most deservedly received. The plan of numbering every sentence, and making it a kind of proposition or definition, and afterwards asking questions which refer to the foregoing positions, deserves to be very generally adopted and imitated, as being admirably calculated to assist the memory, induce habits of regularity, and establish the fundamental principles firmly in the mind. Mr. Blair deserves our thanks for thus affording youth, as well as the heads of families, such an easy and effectual method of acquiring or communicating a very respectable knowledge of natural philosophy. The plates are numerous, well executed, and not unworthy the attention of many persons of maturer years. MISCELLANEOUS. A Vindication of Mrs. Lee's Conduct to the Gordons. Written by Herself. Pp. 65, 4to. 38. Greenland and Norris. |