the writer is generally content to amuse the fancy, without the smallest regard to moral or probability. I have, however, endeavoured to connect fancy, moral, and probability; and while a feast is spread for the imagination, I have not been inattentive to the amendment of the heart." P. iii.

Against the moral we have nothing to say; nor shall we quarrel with the degree of probability; because, although this romance be improbable enough, there are a hundred more so in daily circulation. But against the language we must issue our protest; for it is shockingly defective throughout; and the first period in the book is an incomplete sentence.

ART. 47-Lady Geraldine Beaufort. A Novel in three Volumes. By a Daughter of the late Serjeant Wilson. 12mo. 12s. Boards. Robin

sons. 1802.

The heroine of these volumes is the daughter of the duke of Somerville, who dying, his large fortune devolves on her, and his title on his nephew. This young couple fall in love with each other; and, after their share of trials and troubles, before and after marriage, are rendered happy in conclusion. We could find cause for complaint in many incidents of this novel. Lady Geraldine is made to become enamoured at fifteen, and of age at seventeen, when there is no kind of reason why she might not as well have been the one at nineteen, and the other at the accustomed time of twenty-one. Her conduct also to Pelham in her apartment, who had nearly ruined her in the dark while she conceived him to be the duke of Somerville, was a great deal less cautious than her former behaviour to that nobleman. But, upon the whole, the story is well conducted, and will afford pleasure and amusement to the novelist.

ART. 48.-The Heir Apparent: a Novel. By the late Mrs. Gunning. Revised and augmented by her Daughter, Miss Gunning. In 3 Vols. 12mo. 12s. Boards. Ridgway. 1802.

If novels were written in our days as they were half a century back-that is, with all the care and attention their authors could bestow on them-we should term the Heir Apparent a hasty production, full of repetitions and inaccuracies of language. But, as the circulating library must now be yearly supplied at wholesale price, and he who writes fastest is the best man, it is but fair to allow that this article is of as marketable a quality as the produce of most other manufacturers,

MISCELLANEOUS LIST.

ART. 49.-A Letter, addressed to the Honourable Charles James Fox, in consequence of his Speech in the House of Commons, on the Character of the late most noble Francis Duke of Bedford. To which are added, Observations on a Sermon preached in the Parish Church of Woburn, March 14, 1802, the Sunday after the Interment of the late Duke of Bedford. By Edmund Cartwright, A. M. &c, 8vo. IS, Ri vingtons.

Want of religion is a defect in every character, which cannot be

supplied by rank, by talents, by wealth, by all those acts in social life which endear man to his companions, or render him distinguished in the pages of history. The encomiasts on the duke of Bedford have been silent on his religious principles; and, on this ground, they, who have endeavoured to embalm his memory in the house of commons and the pulpit, are called to a severe account by this writer, who, with religion perpetually flowing from his pen, shows, by the bitterness of his invectives, that its benign influence has not yet produced a desirable effect on his heart. We recom mend to this author, and to the societies he panegyrises-The Proclamation Society, and the Society for the Suppression of Vice-to read the Memoirs of the Inquisition, and to contrast, with the modes adopted by St. Dominic and his disciples for the reformation of manners, those pursued by our Saviour, and exemplified in his life and precepts. True religion is kind and gentle, renders not railing for railing, and uses the arms of the spirit, not those of the flesh. ART. 50.-Instructive Selections; or, the Beauties of Sentiment. Being striking Extracts from the best Authors, ancient and modern, in Prose and Verse, on a great Variety of Subjects, divine, moral, literary, and entertaining, on a new methodical Plan. Also a List of the best Books on the principal Subjects, and the Names of the Authors annexed to the Extracts. By the Rev, G. G. Scraggs. In 2 Vols. 12mo 8s. Boards. Symonds. 1802.

We can, with much pleasure, recommend this work as a wellselected and serviceable compilation.

The first volume is a brief compendium of theology; the second a collection of instructive and moral pieces. The latter, however, it must be confessed, will be the most generally esteemed; for it is culled from authors of all parties; while the former is, almost exclusively, confined to the writings of those of the evangeliç or Calvinistic persuasion.

ART. 51.-Essays, moral, economical, and political. By Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, and Viscount St. Albans, 8vo. 6s. Boards,

Payne. 1801.

The student in physics and experimental philosophy will regard with filial reverence and awe whatever has proceeded from the pen of the great father of those sciences in England; and although lord Bacon's Essays were of less importance than the Novum Organum at the time of publication, yet at this period they are the only part of his works, perhaps, which have not been superseded by subsequent writers. It is enough to say of the volume before us, that it is very neatly printed, and faithfully executed.

ART. 52.-Essays moral, economical, and political. By Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, &c. 8vo. 6s. 6d. Boards. Jones. 1801. ART. 53. The miscellaneous Writings of Francis Bacon, Baron of Vrulam, &c. on Philosophy, Morality and Religion. Now first collected into one Volume. 8vo. 6s. 6d. Boards. Jones. 1802.

The contents of the first of these volumes are precisely the same with those of our former article; and the other, as the title imports, is a collection of apophthegms and other miscellaneous papers.

ART. 54-Works of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin; consisting of his Life written by himself: together with Essays, humourous, moral, and literary, chiefly in the Manner of the Spectator. 2 Vols. 8vo. 8s. Boards. Jones. 1802.

Before a man presumes to boast, he should be perfectly satisfied that he has a right for boasting; otherwise he will sink below his level in the exact proportion that he expected to rise above it. The name of Dr. Franklin is enough at all times to sell his genuine works; for who stands higher in the opinion of the lovers of philosophy? Where was occasion then to puff off this edition by an advertisement about two papers added to it, which every one knows to be spurious? The fact is, that a paper on the Theory of the Earth,' another on the Preference of Bows and Arrows in War to Fire-arms,' and a third containing Loose Thoughts on an universal Fluid,' printed in former editions, are omitted in this: while the two papers in question, on White-washing,' are given as Dr. Franklin's, though no one before ever dreamed of attributing them to him. They have been always received in America as the production of Francis Hopkinson, author of The Battle of the Kegs,' and may be found in his works, printed in three volumes, at Philadelphia, in the year 1792.

ART. 55.-Dramatic Rights: or, private Theatricals, and Pic-nic Suppers, justified by fair Argument. With a few Whip-Syllabubs for the Editors of Newspapers. By W. Cutspear. 8vo. 25. Badcock.

1802.

Mr. Cutspear, with a great deal of form, gives a regular receipt for two shillings, to each purchaser, on the back of the title-page; and then talks much, at the end, of the cheapness of his pamphlet. It is frequently our unfortunate lot to differ in opinion from the authors whose works we examine; and we can only say, in the present instance, that we would not give one shilling for a dozen copies.

ANSWER TO A CORRESPONDENT.

MR. GREGORY complains of our review of his Astronomy in a letter too long for insertion: yet we have not been sparing of our praise, and may probably meet with censure from others for expressing too strongly our commendation. He tells us and we willingly insert the declaration-that the arrangement of his work has received the marked and specific approbation of some of the most able tutors in the university, as well as of other excellent mathematicians in different parts of the kingdom.'-Of this arrangement, we have still no hesitation in saying that we do not like it: we have, nevertheless-and we have already professed as much-a good opinion of Mr. Gregory as a teacher of astronomy, while we contend that we have read better treatises upon the subject. Perspicuity of composition, and facility of instructing, are totally distinct concerns: we suspect Mr. Gregory has confounded them in his account of the plaudits he has received. If he regard the one as a necessary consequent upon the other, we refer him, for better information, to the tutors who have so liberally praised

him.

Mr. Gregory expresses a conviction that the view of his arrangement, as given in the xth and xith pages of his Preface, if presented

to the public, would be sufficient to repel the disapprobation_com plained of. Still retaining our opinion, we insert it to oblige him.

The work commences with a determination of the figure and dimensions of the earth; which is followed by an explanation of terms relating to some imagimary points, lines, and circles on the earth, and their corresponding ones in the heavens: the apparent diurnal motions of the heavenly bodies are then briefly described, the diurnal and annual apparent motions of the sun are more particuJarly pointed out, and the method of ascertaining the situation of the ecliptic (or circle, in which the sun's annual motion appears to be performed) is explained. This is followed by an elucidation of the seasons, a determination of the length of the year, and an account of the precession of the equinoxes: these are succeeded by a description of the methods by which the relative situations of the fixed stars have been ascertained, the nature and necessity of the artificial distribution of them into constellations is shewn, and an enumeration of the constellations, and the most noted stars in each, is given. The author then explains the nature' of parallax, refraction, and the equation of time, since the corrections depending upon them are of so much consequence; and exemplifies the use of that part of astronomy which determines the apparent motion of the sun, and the relative situation of the fixed stars, by a collection of problems, in which are given the methods of determining the rising, culminating, setting, &c. of both the sun and the stars: this part of the work includes as much of the science as could be known previous to the discovery of the planets, or the determination of the orbit and motions of the moon. After this the astronomy of the planets is commenced: the most striking of their apparent motions are described, and the description is followed by a concise sketch of the most celebrated systems which have been invented to account for the various phenomena; and reasons are assigned for assuming the system of Copernicus, as improved by Kepler and Newton. The theory of apparent motions is then laid down, and applied to the phenomena of the planetary motions: the law is shewn by which the planets are retained in their orbits, and its conformity with the law of gravity is rendered obvious. To this succeeds the determination of the orbits of the planets, and the various elements of their theory, from observation: in order to effect this in the mosť natural way, the situation and magnitude of the earth's orbit are first established, as a proper basis for those geometrical operations which lead to the determination of the orbits of the other planets. The apparent and real diameters, the times of rotation of the sun and planets, and the inclinations of their axes, are then ascertained; and the illustration of their phases, stations, and other appearances, is completed. These are followed by the astronomy of the moon and satellites, and the ring of Saturn-by the doctrine of solar and lunar eclipses, and occultations of fixed stars by the moon-by an explanation of the nature of the transits of Mercury and Venus over the sun's disc, and the method of deducing the sun's parallax from observations on these transits. After these are given three chapters, on the astronomy of comets, the aberration of light, and the determination of terrestrial latitudes and longitudes. In the last chapter, the contemplation of the fixed stars is resumed; an enquiry is made into their distances, magnitudes, nature, number, and motion; and this naturally suggests some reflexions on the immensity of the universe, and some arguments to prove the existence and attributes of the great first cause: with which the treatise concludes. Throughout the whole, it is supposed that the reader has obtained a previous knowledge of the principles of algebra, plane and spherical geometry and trigonometry, conic sections, mechanics, optics, and the projections of the sphere: the doctrine of fluxions is only made use of in one or two instances, and those respecting matters of mere curiosity."

On reverting to our last number, we find an error in the note at the bottom of p. 255. It is to Aristotle's Physical Auscultations alone the observation there stated should be confined, and not extended to his Treatise on Wonderful Auscul tations (Пpe @avMATIKY AXYoμATN), as the note intimates.

APPENDIX

ΤΟ

THE THIRTY-FIFTH VOLUME

OF THE

NEW ARRANGEMENT

OF THE

CRITICAL REVIEW.

ART. I.-Mémoires de l'Institut National des Sciences et des Arts. Memoirs of the National Institute of Sciences and Arts. Vol. III. Paris. 1801."

IN our review of the former volumes of this collection, of which each of the three classes has published two, we were compelled to consider them as inferior to their predecessors of the Royal Academy, and to remark that the new institute followed with unequal steps: and though in the present volume we find some memoirs of deep and recondite research; though a few in other branches are interesting; yet, on the whole, the merit is not so great as to induce us to soften the censure which justice has already drawn from us; and we must still wait for the meridian of a brightness which at present scarcely shines with more than a morning lustre.

We have already explained the nature of the history of the Institute, and need not repeat it.-The first article in the volume before us is a report of a memoir presented to the class by M. Callet. The commissioners were MM. Bossut and Le Grange; and the memoir is entitled 'Considerations on the Summation of certain periodical Series;'-series so called, because they are com posed of periods which return without variation to infinity, and form the mean between converging and diverging series. M. Callet endeavours to show, that, by the generation of this kind of series, they can only represent vague and indeterminate quantities. On the whole, he seems to have succeeded in his object, and the commissioners think that the memoir merits publication.

The second memoir, of which a report is given in the class of Analysis, is by M. Biot, and entitled "Considerations on the Integers of Equations with finite Differences.' The author's object is to generalise some methods, and resolve some difficulties, APP. Vol. 35.

2 L