1 They have alfo furnished an explanation of technical and obfolete terms; pointed out the leading beauties as they occur, without defcanting fo much as to anticipate the reader's conception and inveftigation; and they have fhewn what appeared to them to be blemishes and imperfections. The requifites for representing every character of importance are defined, and the mode of performance effential for fcenes peculiarly capital, is pointed out.' In further expatiating on the value of this edition, they fum up all by claiming the merit of having earnestly confulted correctnefs, neatnefs, ornament, utility, and cheapness of price. We have,' it is added, avoided all oftentation of criticism, compacting our notes as much as poffible.-It has been our peculiar endeavour to render what we call the effence of Shakespeare more instructive and intelligible; especially to the ladies and to youth; glaring indecencies being removed, and intricate paffa ges explained;-a general view of each play is also given, by way of introduction.' This laft circumstance, we think, will be peculiarly agreeable to younger readers; as may also the Essay on Oratory, prefixed by way of general introduction: although it might, with equal propriety, be prefixed to the works of any other eminent dramatic writer. With refpect to the numerous engravings with which this edition is embellifhed, it would be great injuftice to the publisher not to acknowledge, that most of them are elegant, to a degree furpaffing any plates of the kind, of so small a fize. A few of them may, perhaps, afford the connoiffeur some room for criticifm, with respect to the designing and drawing, as well as in relation to the choice of the fcenes represented: yet, on the whole, these cuts are certainly the prettieft ornaments that have yet been bestowed on any pocket edition of the works of our most excellent bard: and the bookfeller affures us, in his advertisement printed at the end of his numerous list of subfcribers, that as he has folicited and obtained the patronage of the generous public in the prefent undertaking, he hopes Of this there is a remarkable inftance in the frontispiece to Henry V. The fubject is the French foldier fupplicating Ancient Piftol to fpare his life, and Piftol quibbling about Signieur Dewe. Was there nothing in this play more important, more worthy of being exhibited in a picture? The fcene itself is a difgrace to the reff of this drama; and our Editors themselves are of the fame opinion: for they have exprefsly reprobated the whole of this fcene in their note upon it; declaring that it is, throughout, defpicable, unneceffary, and ferving no purpose but to deftroy the dignity of expectation. Yet this very scene, defpicable as it is, hath been chofen for the purpose of decoration; to the exclufion of every other more striking and more refpectable part of the play. through through a continuance of it, to complete Shakespeare's works, with equal if not fuperior elegance. The engravings,' he adds, for the remaining plays, are nearly finished, by a select number of the most ingenious artifts.;' which with the letter-prefs, will be published early in the Spring, in three additional volumes. One thing we would hint to the Bookfeller, with refpect to the beauty of his impreffion. The edition, no doubt, as to the paper and the type, is far from inelegant: but we ima gine it would be more uniformly pleafing, if the tedious recommendatory catalogues of Mr. Bell's books did not appear, as they do, at the end of almost every play; fwelling the volumes with their disgustful repetitions. In the second edition, we hope thefe very improper fupplements to SHAKESPEARE will be wholly omitted, or confined to their proper ftation, at the end of the volume. G. ART. XII. Mifcellaneous and Fugitive Pieces. Small 8vo. 2 Vols. 7 s. Davies. 1774 · UCH may be faid in favour of collections of fmail detached tracts, and fugitive pieces; and much has been, with great propriety, faid on the fubject, in a difcourfe* prefixed to the Harleian Mifcellany. That learned and ingenious Writer has obferved, that there is, perhaps, no nation in which it is so neceffary as in our own, to affemble, from time to time, the fmall tracts and fugitive pieces which are occafionally published: for, befide the general fubjects of enquiry which are cultivated by us, in common with every other learned nation, our conftitution, in church and ftate, naturally gives birth to a multitude of performances, which would either not have been written, or could not have been made public, in any other place.' The form of our government,' it is added, which gives every man who has leifure, or curiofity, or vanity, the right of enquiring into the propriety of public measures, and, by confequence, obliges thofe who are entrusted with the adminiftration of national affairs, to give an account of their conduct to al most every man who demands it, may be reasonably imagined to have occafioned innumerable pamphlets which would never have appeared under arbitrary governments, where every man lulls himself in indolence under calamities, of which he cannot That difcourfe is now detached from the eight large quartos to which it originally belonged, and is here reprinted as a tract deferving a place in a mifcellany confifting of the fmaller, occafional, unconnected productions of ingenious men. It appears, from the ftyle, to have been written by the very refpectable Author of the RAMBLER. promote L 2 promote the redress, or thinks it prudent to conceal the uneafinefs, of which he cannot complain without danger. The multiplicity of religious fects, tolerated among us, of which every one has found opponents and vindicators,' it is farther obferved, is another fource of unexhaustible publication, almoft peculiar to ourfelves; for controverfies cannot be long continued, nor frequently revived, where an inquifitor has a right to fhut up the difputants in dungeons, or where filence can be imposed on either party by the refufal of a licence.' This very fenfible obferver proceeds to remark, that we are not to infer, from the foregoing premises, that political or religious controverfies are the only products of the British prefs. The mind,' fays he, once let loofe to enquiry, and suffered to operate without reftraint, neceflarily deviates into peculiar opinions, and wanders in new tracks, where fhe is indeed fometimes loft in a labyrinth, from which, though he cannot return, and fcarce knows how to proceed, yet fometimes makes useful difcoveries, or finds out nearer paths to knowledge.' With refpect to the happy talent of humour, in which the EngJith are faid fo much to excel, that a greater variety of humour is found among the natives of England, than in any other country.- Doubtless,' fays he, where every man has full liberty to propagate his conceptions, variety of humour muft produce variety of writers; and where the number of authors is fo great, there cannot but be fome worthy of diftinction.' These, and other caufes affigned by our Author, have, he concludes, contributed to make pamphlets and small tracts a very important part of an English library; nor are there any pieces upon which those who afpire to the reputation of judicious collectors of books, beftow more attention, or greater expence; because many advantages may be expected from the perufal of these small productions, which are scarcely to be found in that of larger works. Thefe advantages are, by our Author, here enumerated; and he fhews in what manner the hiftorical, the religious, and other enquirers, may receive benefit from the ftudy of pamphlets and small tracts: but for particulars, we refer to the difcourfe at large. The collection before us, however, is not entirely compofed of pieces which have originally appeared in the form of pamphlets. The moft confiderable articles, and the greatest number, åre extracted from much larger compilements than the prefent; to the voluminous, and in many respects the valuable, mafs of materials contained in the Gentleman's Magazine, the Editor is peculiarly obliged. It is well known that the comprehenfive genius to whom we have ventured to affign the preface to the Harleian Mifcellany, had, for many years, a connexion with that Magazine; and as it was the principal part of our Editor's defign, to to collect the fcattered productions of Dr. J's justly admired pen, his firft refort was to the literary ftorehouse abovementioned, in which thofe detached performances were depofited. From these ample ftores, and from new editions of fome very reputable English authors, he has accordingly felected feveral well-written pieces of biography, viz. the lives of Sir Francis Drake, Dr. Sydenham, Boerhaave, Roger Afcham, Sir Thomas Brown, and Peter Burman; not overlooking that of Edward Cave, the original projector and fuccessful conductor of the Magazine above-named. Befides these biographical pieces, we here meet with feveral other tracts afcribed to the fame excellent writer; fome of which originally appeared in the form of feparate pamphlets, others as prefaces to books; among which we obferve a tract entitled, A Review of a Free Enquiry into the Origin of Evil; which we always understood to be the production of a reverend gentleman who is not here named, and who, perhaps, was not even thought of by the Editor f. We here meet alfo with Dr. J.'s celebrated plan of an English Dictionary, in a letter to Lord Chefterfield; alfo the Doctor's preface to the folio edition of that Dictionary: to which are added his propofals for printing the dramatic works of Shakespeare, and his preface to his edition of that Poet. His differtation on Pope's Epitaphs is likewife to be found in these volumes, together with fome prologues; London, a poem; and the Vanity of Human Wifhes;-thefe poetical pieces were, however, before collected in Dodfley's Mifcellanies. Among the productions of other writers, we have here fome pieces by the Reverend Dr. Franklin, Mr. Colman, the late ingenious but unhappy Robert Lloyd; and the Battle of the Wigs, written by that arch fon of humour Bonnel Thornton, as a kind of additional canto to Garth's Difpenfary. This Mock-Heroic was first publifhed in 1768, in ridicule of the disputes then fubfifting between the regulars of the College of Phyficians and the licentiates. See a farther account of this merry performance in vol. xxxviii. p. 142. of our Review. An advertisement informs, that a Third volume of this Miscellaneous Collection is in the prefs; with which the Editor will poffibly give us a general preface to the whole, there being none to the prefent volumes. G. • Of Dr. J.'s talent for this fpecies of compofition, the Public hath long been in poffeffion of an excellent fpecimen in The Life of RICHARD SAVAGE. + Since this Article was compofed at the prefs, we have been affared that Dr. J. has acknowledged the tract here mentioned. FOREIGN ARTICLES intended for our laft APPENDIX (published with the Review for January) but omitted for want of room. ART. XIV. Détail des Succes de l'Etabliffement, &c.-A Detail of the Succefs which has attended the Establishment formed by the City of Paris in Favour of Perfons drowned, &c. By M. P. A. 1773. 12mo. Paris. HE accounts which have been published of the beneficial confequences that have attended the laudable endeavours of the Society formed about fix years ago at Amfterdam, for the recovery of drowned perfons, appear to have excited the at tention of feveral other communities or ftates; particularly in different parts of Germany, France, and Italy; where fimilar inftitutions have been formed, either under the immediate direction, or the patronage of government. as was in our power, the benevolent and truly patriotic defigns government. To promote, as far of the Amfterdam Society, by extending the knowledge of their plan, we have formerly related their fuccefs, and expatiated pretty largely on the rationale, or grounds, on which it was founded. It will therefore be fufficient for us to obferve with refpect to the prefent publication, that it contains an account of the regulations that have been formed and published at Paris, under the direction of the magiftracy, in behalf of perfons who have been drowned, and a circumftantial detail of the different cafes which have already fallen under the cognizance of this recent eftablishment. Thefe regulations have already been productive of the perfect recovery of fixteen perfons, out of twenty, who have, in the space of five months, been drawn out of the water. The greater part of this number were reputed to be dead, and would, a few years ago, have been treated as fuch; in confequence of the fingular and abfurd police, and prejudices, which feem long to have prevailed throughout a confiderable part of Europe, with regard to accidents of this kind; and which were calculated to deprive the unfortunate patient of the moft diftant chance of recovery. *See the Appendix to our 45th vol. page 556, and to our 47th, page 552, and our Review for October last, page 309–311. By ART. XV. Traité du Suicide, ou du eurtre volontaire de foi-même. Par Jean 1773. F felf murder be a crime; as it certainly is; as much as lying with a neighbour's wife, or any other immoral act; every attempt to demonftrate its criminality, and to expose its natural deformity, is highly commendable, and may be useful, in |