prehenfion of a mixed affembly; and therefore very imTM proper for theatrical representation; in which it is no wonder that it did not meet with that fuccefs which was due to its intrinfick merit as a fatire, tho' not as a comedy. And we entirely agree with Mr. Foote, that tho' he has failed of gratifying the Populum Tributim of the theatre, yet he may expect that the Primores populi will find him no difagreeable companion in the closet, et fatis magnum Theatrum mihi eftis.

Those who have read Mr. Pope's inimitable satire on thofe Pfeudo-antiquaries he has fo humouroufly expofed in his Memoirs of Scriblerus, will be at no lofs to form an idea of the principal foibles Mr. Foote has here felected for ridicule; to which he has added that of ignorantly and blindly following a prevailing tafte, merely on account of its being the prefent mode. He has likewife expofed the arts and tricks by which those knavish pretenders, ufually called Puffs, impose their wretched daubing artificial ruft, &c. upon the ignorant and credulous, for real antiques, and the works. of the greatest and first mafters.

The objects of my fatire (fays our author, pref. p. 9.) were fuch as I thought, whether they were confidered in a moral, a political, or a ridiculous light, deferved the notice of the comic mufe. I was determined to brand thofe Goths in fcience, who had prostituted the ufeful ftudy of antiquity to trifling fuperficial purposes; who had blafted the progrefs of the elegant arts amongst us, by unpardonable frauds and abfurd prejudices; and who had corrupted the minds and morals of our youth, by perfuading them that what only ferves to illuftrate literature was true learning,

and active idlenefs real bufinefs.'

POETRY

XI. ESSAYS, moral and mifcellaneous, viz. An introductory speech from Solomon, with an cde. A vifion on a plan of the antients. A sketch of life, after the manner of the moderns. The ftate of man, his paffions, their objects, and end; their use, abuse, regulation, and employment. With a poem facred to the memory of the princes of Wales and of Orange. By J. Fortefque, D. D. 8vo. Is.

Baldwin.

The whole of this author's productions, contained in the above pamphlet, are of the fame ftamp with the following fpecimen, taken from the exordium to his Speech of Wisdom, from Solomon.

Hear O ye kings, ye judges understand, Who rule the nations, and wl.o judge the land,

Give

Give ear: your pow'rs defcended from the Lord,
Who'll try your councils, and your acts record.
To you Ó kings, this leffon I relate,

Which gives inftruction to preferve your ftate.
In thrones and scepters place ye your delight?
Then honour wifdom, that your rule be right.
Attend th' inftruction which my words fhall give,
And who fhe is, and whence the came, receive.
To you I call, for wifdom is your friend,

Ye fimple, hearken, and ye fools, attend,'

From this fpecimen our readers will judge what reception the author is likely to meet with from the public; and how far that reception may induce him to go on with his publication; for he informs us in his title page, that this pamphlet is only a first part.

XII. Fair Rofamond, to the fair Hibernian. An epistle. Folio. 6d. Howard.

This little piece contains only fome general hints to the fair Hibernian, to caution her against the fatal effects which the ladies fo often experience, from the exceffive flattery and adulation of the men; to look upon Virtue as the chief glory of a woman; and that to tread in her paths, is the only fure road to happiness: the whole deduced from the melancholy example of the famous Rofamond.

XIII. The Abufe of Poetry. A fatire. 4to. rs. Manby. We do not remember to have met with fo unequal a performance as this. It contains a just invective against the wretched verfifiers of the prefent time; with fome encomia on Pope, Addifon, Young, &c, But the whole is fuch a medley of good lines and bad; of juft fentiments and ordinary poetry, that we are at fome lofs what judgment to pafs upon the whole; but fear the public will rank the author among the very people he condemns, as deriving no honour What can be faid in excufe for the followto the mufes. ing barbarous lines, where fpeaking of himself, he fays, I like other men,

To fhew my parts, muft trifle with my pen;
Yet know I am not He fo vain and proud,
To think whate'er I write IT must be good.
Confcious of my weaknefs (which credit, fir,
I'm not afham'd to even here aver.)

To proper men I fly for frank advice.'--&c.

Efpecially as the author, in the very next page, boafts his great care and industry in polishing his compofitions.

I

I too my verfes read with nicest care,
Diffect my errors, and my weakness bare,
Free from felf-love, the whole I ftrict explore;
The crabbed'ft critic, fure! can do no more.
I blot, I add, I alter, and refine,

And weigh the folid fubftance of each line.'

CONTROVERSIAL. XIV.A Third Letter to the author of a Piece entitled, "The Enthufiafm of Methodists and Papifis compared.' Contain ing fome Remarks on the Third Part. 12mo. 6d. Roberts.

The publication of Mr. Perronet's two former pamphlets having escaped our notice, (either through our own inadvertency, or from their not being fufficiently advertised) we cannot properly fay much of this his laft production. It may therefore fuffice that we only obferve, that this gentleman is, in our opinion, a fmart controverfiallift, and the moft formidable antagonist that hath entered the lifts against the COMPARER, in defence of the Methodists.

XV. A Letter to the Author of Confiderations on feveral Propofals for the better Maintenance of the Poor.* 8vo. 15. Corbet.

A judicious performance, abounding in ufeful remarks. The author recommends the fcheme of employing the poor under the direction and controlment of Contractors; who by finding their intereft depend upon the labour of the poor, would take effectual care to keep them employed; and, confequently, tendered ferviceable to, inftead of an intolerable burthen upon the induftrious part of the public.

XVI. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdea conry of the Eaft-Riding in the Diocese of York, at Hull, Beverley, and Hunmanby, at the primary Vifitation, in 1751. By the Rev. Jacques Sterne, L. L.D. &c. 6d. Knapton.

The main purport of this charge, is to fet forth the malignancy of certain declamations and fcandalous invectives lately thrown out against the clergy of our established church; whom he exhorts to preferve a strict union and correfpondence among themfelves, as the best defence against the malice or virulence of their enemies. The Doctor alfo particularly complains of the Quakers for fometimes obliging the clergy to have recourfe to the Law for the recovery of their Dues, and then frequently abufing them for taking the ftated and legal methods for fuch recovery. G.

See thefe Confiderations mentioned in the REVIEW for November laft. p. 456.

N. B. By an error in the printer's calculation of his materials, great part of the catalogue for this month has been left out for want of room, but will be inferted in our next

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THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For FEBRUARY, 1752.

ART. XI. Conclufion of the account of Mr. Hume's Political Difcourfes. See our laft, ART. ii.*

T

HE queftion concerning the populousness of antient and modern times will be readily allowed to be equally curious and important. This question is treated with great learning and judgment in our author's tenth discourse, where he endeavours to make it appear that there are no juft reasons to conclude, that antient times were more populous than the prefent. The manner in which he proceeds is as follows; he first confiders, whether it be probable, from what we know of the domeftic and political fituation of fociety in both periods, that antiquity muft have been more populous; and fecondly, whether in reality it was fo.

He obferves that the chief difference betwixt the domeftic œconomy of the ancients and that of the moderns confifts in the practice of flavery, which prevailed among the former, and which has been abolished for fome centuries throughout the greatest part of Europe. As it is alledged that this practice was the chief caufe of that extreme populousness which is fuppofed in ancient times, our author fhews, that flavery is in general difadvantageous both to the happiness and populoufness of mankind, and that its place is much better fupplied by the practice of hired fervants.

is

* We were misinformed as to the price of this book, which 4s. bound.. VOL. VI.

G

After

After having fhewn, that with regard to domeftic life and manners, we are, in the main, rather fuperior to the ancients, fo far as the prefent queftion is concerned; he proceeds to examine the political customs and inftitutions of antient and modern times, and weigh their influence in retarding or forwarding the propagation of mankind. He acknowleges that the fituation of affairs amongst the ancients, with regard to civil liberty, equality of fortune, and the fmall divifions of their ftates, was more favourable to propagation than that of the moderns; but obferves that their wars were more bloody and deftructive than ours; their governments more factious and unfettled; their commerce and manufactures more feeble and languishing; and their general police more loofe and irregular. These latter difadvantages, fays he, feem to form a fufficient counterballance to the former advantages; and rather favour the oppofite opinion to that which commonly prevails with regard to this fubject.'

Having difcuffed the first point proposed to be confidered, he now proceeds to the fecond, and acknowledges that all his preceding reafonings are but small fkirmishes and frivolous rencounters, that decide nothing. But unluckily,' fays he, the main combat, where we compare facts, cannot be rendered much more decifive. The facts delivered by ancient authors are either fo uncertain or fo imperfect as to afford us nothing decifive in this matter. How, indeed, could it be otherwife? The very facts, which we must oppofe to them, in computing the greatness of modern ftates, are far from being either certain or compleat. Many grounds of calculation, proceeded on by celebrated writers, are little better than thofe of the emperor Heliogabulus, who formed an eftimate of the immenfe greatnefs of Rome from ten thousand pound weight of cobwebs, which he had found in that city.

'Tis to be remarked, that all kinds of numbers are uncertain in ancient manufcripts, and have been fubject to much greater corruptions than any other part of the text; and that for a very obvious reafon. Any alteration in other places, commonly affects the fenfe or grammar, and is more readily perceived by the reader and tranfcriber.

Few enumerations of inhabitants have been made of any tract of country by any ancient author of good authority; fo as to afford us a large enough view for comparison.

'Tis probable, that there was formerly a good foundation for the numbers of citizens affigned to any free city; be

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caufe