gentleman who attends her, and to whom she applies for them whenever she has occafion. "For a fhort time during the winter, in defiance of frost and fnow, the coftume of a few reigning belles was not à la grec, but à la fanvage. To be dreffed à la fauvage, was to have all that part of the frame which was not left uncovered clad in a light drapery of flesh coTour. The boddice under which no linen was worn (fhifts being an article of drefs long fince rejected at Paris, both by the Greeks and the Savages) the boddice was made of knitted filk, clinging exactly to the fhape, which it perfectly difplayed; the petticoat was on one fide twisted up by a light feftoon; and the feet, which were either bare or covered with a filk ftocking of flesh colour, fo woven as to draw upon the toes like a glove upon the fingers, were decorated with diamonds. Thefe gentle favages, however, found themfelves fo rudely treated when ever they appeared, by the fovereign multitude, that at length the fashions of Otaheite were thrown afide, and Greece remains the standing order of the day. But to return to the contractor, and his ball-after feveral hours had paft in dancing cotillons, which the young women of Paris perform with a degree of perfection-a light nymphish grace unfeen elfewhere-and after the walfe, which is now never forgotten at a Paris ball, had proved that the fteady heads of Niobes were not to be made giddy, the company was led to a fupper furnished with Eaftern magnicence, and decorated with attic taite. After fupper the folding doors of the faloon were thrown open to a garden of confiderable extent, beautifully illuminated with coloured lamps, and its trees bending with Ravish clusters of fruits of every feafon, and every climate, formed of ice, while fountains poured forth ftreams of orgeat, lemonade, and liqueurs." Vol. i. p. 30. The following extract may ferve to fhow the author's talent at defcription. "In the mean time we paffed haftily through Zuric, in our way to Schaff haufen, for although I have been aflured that the cataract of the Rhine was" but a fall of water," it had excited fo tormenting a curiofity, that I found I fhould be incapable of feeing any thing else with pleasure or advantage, till I had once gazed upon that object. "When we reached the fummit of the hill which leads to the fall of the Rhine, we alighted from the carriage, and walked down the feep bank, whence I faw the river rolling turbulently over its bed of rocks, and heard the noife of the torrent, towards which we were defcending, increafing as we drew near. My heart fwelled with expectation our path, as if formed to give the fcene its full effect, concealed for fome time the river from our view, till we reached a wooden balcony, projecting on the edge of the water, and whence, jutt fheltered from the torrent, it bursts in all its overwhelming wonders on the aftonishing fight. That itupendous cataract, rufhing with wiid impetuofity over thofe broken, unequal rocks, which, lifting up their fharp points amidit its fea of foam, difturb its headlong courfe, multiply its talis, and make the afflicted waters roar-that cadence of tumultuous found, which had never till now ftruck upon my ear-thofe long fea thery thery furges, giving the element a new afpect-that fpray rifing into clouds of vapour, and reflecting the prifmatic colours, while it difperfes itfelf over the hills-never, never can I forget the fenfations of that moment! when with a fort of annihilation of felf, with every paft impreffion erafed from my memory, I felt as if my heart were burting with emotions too ftrong to be fuítained. Oh, majestic torrent! which haft conveyed a new image of nature to my foul, the moments I have paffed in contemplating thy fublimity will form an epocha in my fhort fpan -thy courfe is coeval with time, and thou wilt rufh down thy rocky walls when this bofom, which throbs with admiration of thy greatnefs. hall beat no longer. "What an effort does it require to leave, after a tranfient glimpse, a fcene on which, while we meditate, we can take no account of time! its narrow limits feen too confined for the expanded fpirit; fuch objects appear to bel ng to immortality; they call the mufing mind from all its little cares and vanities, to higher deftinies and regions, more congenial than this world to the feelings they excite. I had been often fummoned by my fellow-travellers to depart, had often repeated "bur one moment more," and many moments more" had elapfed, before I could refolve to tear myfelf from the balcony. "We croffed the river, below the fall, in a boat, and had leisure to obferve the furrounding fcenery. The cataract, however, had for me a fort of fafcinating power, which, if I withdrew my eyes for a moment, again faft ned them on its impetuous water. In the background of the torrent a hare mountain lifts its head encircled with its blue vapours; on the right rifes a fteep cliff, of an enormous height, covered with wood, and up on its fummit ftands the C. ft of Lauffen, with its frowning towers, and encircled with its crannied wall; on the left, human induftry has feized upon a flender thread of this mighty torrent in its fall, and made it fubfervient to the purposes of commerce, Founderies, mills, and wheels, are erected on the edge of the river, and a portion of the vast bafon into which the cataract falls is confined by a dyke, which preferves the warehoufes and the neighbouring huts from its inundations. Sheltered within this little nook, and accustomed to the neighbourhood of the torrent, the boatman unloads his merchandize, and the artifan purfues his til, regardless of the falling river, and inattentive to those thundering founds which feem calculated to fufpend all human activity in folemn and awful aftonishment; while the imagination of the fpectator is ftruck with the comparative littlenefs of fleeting man, buly with his trivial occupations, contrafted with the view of nature in all her vaft, eternal, uncontrolable grandeur. "We walked over the celebrated wooden bridge at Schaffhaufen, of which the bold and fimple conftruction is confidered as an extraordinary effort of genius in the architect. Being altogether unqualified to judge of, or to defcribe its merit, I fhall only obferve, that nature feems to have given the Swifs, together with their rapid rivers, and their torrent ftreams, an extraordinary genius for erecting bridges, of fuch daring defign, hung upon the cliff, and fufpended over the gulph, that we are not surprised to find fuperftition has fometimes attributed them to fupernatural agency." Vol. i. p. 58. In the fecond volume the author makes occafional deviations from the main fubject, to difcufs matters of politics, literature, and the arts. At p. 129, the fpeaks of the Natural Museum of Paris in terms of enthusiastic rapture. She omits to fay, that it was the fruit of plunder, rapine, and defolation, and has this fingular expreffion; "fince the conqueft of the Flemish and Italian fchools, it may be said to contain almost the whole of what is great or celebrated in the history of the arts." The scattered remarks on the effects and progrefs of the French Revolution fometimes make us fmile, and fometimes incline us to be angry. We difcern, we think alfo, not only the fentiments, but occafionally alfo the language of another; at least there are great and striking inequalities of ftyle. The letters lately intercepted on their way to Dr. Priestley, both confirm this idea, and almost lead to the power of fpecifying individuals. We go back to the first volume, to transcribe the following paffage. "Throughout the wide extent of the Republic, Gothic abbies are transformed into manufactories, cloifters become work-fhops, chapels are converted into warehouses, the receffes of folitary fuperftition are invaded, and the hollow echoes of the long-refounding aifles, which were once only refponfive to the folemn flow breathed chant, now repeat the rude diffonance of the workman's tools. A ftrange confufion of images is excited in the mind by the prefent contemplation of thefe antique edifices, which imagination has been accustomed to appropriate to congenial inhabitants, pacing filently along their vaulted paffages in floating garments, instead of which you now meet the barearmed, brawny artificer, and all ideas of folemn ftillness vanish amidit No doubt an artifan is far more the rude gabble of his noify brood. useful than a monk, but he looks much less picturesque when placed beneath a ruined arch, and gazed at in perfpective." Vol. i. p. 21. We have inferted this extract merely to fhow how fuperior is this Lady Politician to the compunctious vifitations of pity, unless indeed the following exclamation may be confidered as fuch. The philofophic mind wanders often in mufing mood along those feftive haunts where the most fingular combinations croud upon reflection, and amidst the glowing enthusiasm of liberty mourns those partial evils that have clouded its brightnefs," &c. &c. Again, in p. 127, vol. i. we have the following brilliant apoftrophe. That revolution had not yet taken place, which appears deftined to break the fetters of mankind in whatever region they are found, and which transforms what was once the vifion of poetic enthusiasm, into the fober certainty of expectation." Nor Notwithstanding thefe, and other paffages of fimilar beauty, with the exception of the hiftory of an emigrant family, which is interefting, we have no fcruple to fay, that this is at beft but a dull publication, with little novelty of remark, and still lefs of important information. The appendix contains obfervations on the Glacieres and Glaciers, by M. Ramond, in which are introduced fome good verfes, to the author of the Botanic Garden, obviously in imitation of the Tears of Old May-Day," first published in The World. ART. VI. Sermons; chiefly upon practical Subjects. By the Rev. Samuel Bishop, A. M. late Chaplain to the Bishop of Bangor Rector of Ditton, in Kent, and St. Martin, Outwich, London; and Head-Mafter of Merchant-Taylors' School. 8vo. 6s. Cadell and Davies, and Rivingtons. 1798. WE lately commended, with the warmth they deserved, the poetical works of this ingenious writer. With a hope of finding equal excellence in a different fpecies of writing, we took up this volume, the produce of graver talents; though gravity, when feasonable, was never forgotten by this refpectable author. We are by no means difappointed in our expectation. If the fpecimens, which we shall place before our readers, appear to them in the fame light in which they have appeared to us, the character we shall give of thefe fermons will not be wanted to engage for them a very general and respectful attention. The text of Sermon IX, is 1 Peter iii, 13, " Who is he that fhall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" That this is the best prefervative against the injuries to which we are expofed in the world, is fhown by the following, among other arguments. "In following as Chriftians that which we know to be good, we are bound in general to the practice of duties whofe univerfal tendency it is to correct and foften the tempers of men, and this is a very powerful provifion against the wrongs we are fubject to in the courfe of common life. Whofoever will look a little more confiderately into the daily current of affairs in the world, will find most of the misfor * See Brit, Crit, vol, viši, pp. 460, $37. tunes tones which men fuffer by one another, to proceed from obftinacy con tending with obftinacy, and from fiercenefs raging against fiercenefs. Mifery and deftruction never drive with more fatal fpeed over the necks of men, than when furious or unremitting tempers clash with each other. The Chriftian, therefore, whofe moft exalted virtue is forbearance, whofe dependence is upon a difpenfation of good will and forgiveness, and whofe Saviour was the most perfect pattern of patience and condefcenfion-the Chriftian ought never to be a party in cager and rash refentment. He cannot confiftently with his duty be inclined to encounter pride with pride, because he knows that God refifteth the proud, and giveth his grace, the grace which faith and obedience ever wish for, only to the humble-he cannot, confiftently with his duty, be inclined to provoke the paffions of another, because he knows that his God hath no pleasure in the death of a finner, and will therefore furely difapprove the conduct by which his creatures urge each other to fin, the fource of death :-he cannot confiftently with his religion with another to fuffer; and therefore he will fubdue his own fpirit, that it may never contribute to the mortification or mifery of his brother and being under thefe and fimilar reftraints, which Chriftianity lays upon him, (namely, that he is to follow peace with all men, to confider unity as the very bond of perfectness, and to be known as Christ's difciple by the love he fhews to his brethren in the world,) revenge, petulance, obftinate refiftance, and injurious perverfenefs, he cannot in confcience be wilfully guilty of himself;-and therefore he, of all men, will be moft likely to be free from the effects of thefe paffions in others.-Shewing no pride or anger, he will provoke no pride or anger; he will add no fuel to them in other men : they will have nothing to triumph over in him, while meekness and compliance are the principles of his fentiments, and conduct. Indignation and rage fubfift in general upon oppofition; and what temptation or pretence can they have to harm him, whofe defire of fulfilling his duty, and following that which is good, makes him regard all refentful and pertinacious contention as unworthy, unholy and unlawful?" P. 149. In the fame fermon, we meet with an observation which is generally true, though the new principles and habits of a neighbouring country have lately much contradicted it. "Nay, it is an acknowledged certainty, that how much foever men may disclaim or neglect religion and virtue themselves, they yet generally approve, and often revere them in others! The mere venerable character of a good and pious man has been known to imprefs an unaccountably irrefiftible awe upon the treachery or cruelty which me ditated his deftruction. The hand lifted up to ftrike, has fallen harmless, and the heart hardened to perfecute has forgot its malignant purpose, either through the confciousness of fuperior excellence, or through aftonishment at the endurance, or through pity for the fufferings of the meek and merciful; of men who, in obedience to the principles, and in the practice of the virtues of Chriftianity, have by their conduct taken fuch general hold of the approbation and refpect of |