fifteen days in this regimen; on the thirteenth day, however, he found the parts fo well difpofed for the operation, that he attempted, and in five minutes effected their compleat reduction, by the hand only, in the prefence of Dr. Plunkett. Dr. Watfon arrived in time only to exprefs his aftonishment at the fuccefs of this operation. The patient enjoyed a perfect state of health for ten years afterwards, wearing a bandage rather through habit than neceffity; and died at laft of fome other disease.

The rationale of this method of treatment, of the fuccefs of which our Author relates four inftances, may be explained to our readers in general by his appofite illuftration, deduced from the Horatian fable of the fox and the weafle. The former, empty and emaciated, crept through a fmall crevice into a mealtub, where having rioted upon its contents, he found himself too bulky to effect a retreat through the hole by which he had entered. The weafle, who was witnefs to his ineffectual ftruggles, judicioufly advifed him to reduce himself, by abftinence, to the fame meagre state in which he had entered it: si vis, ait, effugere iftinc;

"Macra cavum repetes ar&tum, quem macra fubisti." Hor. Epift. Lib. 1. Ep. 7. We must leave it however to the confideration of our medical and chirurgical readers, whether this very fevere difcipline may not, in fome cafes, be productive of greater evils than those which are propofed to be remedied by it?

MEMOIR VIII, A defcription of a chirurgical chair.

The Author here gives us a fpecimen of his mechanical ge. nius, in the conftruction of a chair, in which the capital operations of furgery may be performed with the greateft poffible ease to the patient, and convenience to the operator. Its apparently complicated machinery is delineated in five elegant plates, which are accompanied with accurate measurements of all the parts which compofe it, and an explanation of the various ufes to which it may be applied.

MEMOIR IX. A description of a new Speculum Uteri: accompanied with two plates.

This machine is intended to facilitate a proper infpection into the vagina and neck of the uterus, in order to discover the dif orders to which those parts are subject, and to perform with convenience the neceflary operations; and appears to be an excellent improvement of the Speculum of Scultetus. We cannot properly fay more of it in this place.

MEMOIR X. On the operation for the Crural Hernia in Men, illuftrated by three plates.

In this memoir, the Author displays great anatomical knowledge of the ftructure of the parts interested in this diforder. We recommend the attentive perufal of it to all who may be

concerned, in performing the delicate operation indicated in the

title of it..

MEMOIR XI. A description of an inflrument for extirpating the Uvula with a plate.

This inftrument is fimple, appears commodious in its ufe, and is eafily conftructed. On account of its fimplicity, we may perhaps be able to convey a competent idea of its structure in a few words. It confifts of a blade of fteel, about 5 inches long, and almost an inch broad, which cuts only at its farther extremity, which is rounded, and ground to a fine edge. That furface which is undermoft, when it is used, is made a little concave, and the upper furface fomewhat convex. The whole blade is received into a filver fheath, which it exactly fits. Near the end of the fheath is a round hole or opening, 3-4ths of an inch in diameter. The blade, first included in its sheath, being drawn back to a fufficient distance, the uvula is received into this opening, and is extirpated at one stroke, by fuddenly pushing the blade home. Schirrous tonfils and tumors in the rectum or vagina may be conveniently extirpated by the fame inftrument, with a small variation in the construction.

This last memoir is fucceeded by a dífcourfe delivered by the Author, at the Surgeon's theatre in London, in 1767, on the importance of anatomy: and the work is terminated by an appendix, in which the Author controverts fome paffages in a memoir on the operation of the hernia, written by M. Louis, and published in the last volume of the Mem. de l'Acad. roy, de chirurgie; a fhort account of which was given in the Review for Oct. 1768, p. 254.

We have omitted to obferve that the Author has prefixed to this mifcellaneous work, a fhort sketch of the life of Dr. Hunter, in which he does juftice to the great talents and indefatigable industry of that celebrated anatomift; and which we read with the greater pleafure, as the fubject of this elage is ftill in being, and in a fituation to enrich the public with the fruits of his laborious and ingenious researches. We communicate with pleasure to the medical world, the information which we here receive that his long-expected work on the uterus will very` foon be published, accompanied with 40 or 50 plates engraved by Strange, Canot, and other capital artifts; in which we have reafon to expect, from the fpecimens already given us by the Author, on other fubjects, tafle and accuracy united. told that this great undertaking will coft the fpirited Author above 1500 guineas: the expence of feveral of the plates amounting to 100 guineas each; and that the public may entertain fome hopes of being favoured, one time or other, with a mpleat fet of anatomical plates, defigned and executed in the fate masterly manner,

We are

ART. IV.

ART. IV. A View of the Principles and Conduct of the Proteftant Diffenters, with respect to the Civil and Ecclefiaftical Conftitution of England. By Jofeph Priestley, LL. D. F. R. S. 8vo. is. 6d. Johnson and Payne. 1769.

WE

E have here a fenfible and fpirited defence, in a general view, of our Proteftant brethren who diffent from the established church. We have formerly perufed feveral notable productions of this kind, particularly thofe of Mr. Towgood and Mr. Bourn; both of whom entered more particularly intothe points of difference fubfifting between the church and the nonconformifts: but their manner of vindicating the latter was less likely to heal than to widen the breach between the contending parties. Dr. Prieftley treats the fubject with a greater degree of candor and moderation; and, indeed, it is incumbent on every Diffenter, who would vindicate his feparation from an establishment, to exprefs himself in fuch terms as may give no more offence to his elder brethren than will neceffarily flow from an attempt of this kind +: for fome offence muft, of course, refult from every maintenance of a diffent from eftablishments, however mildly and complacently fuch defence may be worded.

Our Author does not, however, in his prefent publication, greatly aim at conciliating the good-will of the more zealous churchmen towards the Diffenters. This intention, indeed, hè abfolutely difclaims, in the fubfequent paragraph:

I am fenfible that the following fair and undisguised account of the principles of the Diffenters will not tend to conciliate the good-will of fome churchmen; but that is not my object. As members of the community at large, we with for the esteem of all our fellow-citizens; but as profeffors of a particular fpecies of religion, that appears to us to be true, we are folicitous

The violence and afperity of the attack made by Mr. Bourn, in particular, on the established church, though there was great acutenefs and strength in many of his arguments, has been generally dif approved, by moderate men, among the Diffenters themfelves."

Some perfons, fays Dr. P. may think that the manner in which I have defcribed the fentiments of the rational Diffenters, as oppofed to thofe of the church of England, is a reviling of the eftablished church. To this I can only fay, that if the ferious declaration of my own fentiments in religion, with that freedom and earneftnefs, which I think their importance requires, and the occafion prompts, will unavoidably draw that conftruction, I muft fubmit to it; regretting that, in the laws of my country, there fhould be a word of fo vague a meaning; and regretting ftill more, that, with the most favourable interpretation, my country fhould be difgraced with fuch a law.' This alludes to fome expreffions in Dr. Blackstone's Reply to Dr. Prieftley. See Review, laft vol. p. 298. C 4

to

to procure the approbation of those only whom we think to be judges in the cafe, thofe that we call well-informed and liberal minded. All we with concerning others is, that they may become well-informed and liberal minded too.'

The immediate cause of this juftification of our diffenting brethren, arofe, it seems, from our Author's late Controverfy with Dr. Blackftone; for fome particulars of which, the Reader may turn to fome of our late Reviews.

Dr. Blackftone, fays our Author, having infinuated that the Spirit, the principles, and the practices of the fetaries are not calculated to make men good fubjects; I published remarks upon that, and fome other paffages in his Commentaries, that were particularly offenfive to Diffenters, written in fuch a manner as I then thought fo injurious, fo groundless, and fo unseasonable a reflection deserved. The Doctor, in his Reply, has openly difavowed the fentiment, and generously promised to cancel the offenfive paragraphs in the future editions of his work. For the fake, however, of many others of our fellow citizens, who may entertain the fame unfavourable idea of Diffenters; perfons to whofe good opinion we are by no means indifferent, and whofe confidence we would gladly gain I have been induced to confider the fubject feriously and fully.'

Dr. Priestley expreffes his wifh that there were no occafion for an explanation of this kind; but he observes, the Proteftant Diffenters in England are a body of men very little known, even to the generality of their countrymen. We fometimes, fays he, meet with inftances, even in genteel life, and among perfons of liberal education, of fuch abfolute ignorance of the Diffenters, and of their principles, as afford us great diverfion.

Some members of the established church have expreffed their furprise, that we fhould make ufe of the fame bible with them; and there are numbers who will not admit that we have any right to be called Proteftants. A very fenfible clergyman, an excellent fcholar, and a person of a philofophical taste, with whom I was accidentally brought acquainted, and with whom I, afterwards, lived in perfect intimacy, owned to me, that he had no idea of Diffenters being fuch men as he found them to be. He had thought we were, all of us, fuch as he had seen expofed in Hudibras, that we were all canting hypocrites, the fartheft in the world from any thing of a liberal taste or difpofition, that we never laughed from generation to generation, and were, to a man, enemies of all regal government. I am glad, therefore, to take this opportunity to endeavour to introduce myself and friends into the acquaintance and esteem of a few more of our fellow citizens.'

In his firft fection, our Author, cation of those of the Diffenters,

who only attempts a vindiwho, by way of distinction,

and

and fometimes of reproach, are called rational Dissenters *,' offers the following apology for the want of uniformity among our fectaries :

It cannot, he obferves, be expected that the Diffenters in England should be one uniform fet of men, fince, as Diffenters, they agree in nothing but in diffenting from the doctrines and difcipline of the established church. But our want of unanimity among ourselves cannot be any matter of reproach. The Proteflants are ftill lefs agreed among themselves; for that term comprehends all who diffent from the church of Rome; and the church of England is to be ranked under it, along with all the particular fects that differ from her. And christianity at large is a ftill more various thing, comprehending the Papifts and Proteftants alike, as well as thofe of the Greek church.'

Dr. Priestley now enters on a diftinct explanation of the principles of the Diffenters; obferving, in the first place, that they all disclaim human authority in matters of religion, and do by no means admit the claim of the church of England to decree rites and ceremonies, fo as to make thofe things neceffary to chriftian communion, which Chrift, our only law-giver, has left indifferent; and leaft of all, he adds, do we admit her claim to authority in controverfies of faith (see the 20th article) in any fenfe that can be fairly put upon these words.'-Thefe points he defends by affirming, that the whole of our religion is contained in the New Teftament, that it is every man's perfonal concern to learn his faith and duty from thence, by the diligent use of his own faculties; and we are fo far from acquiefcing in the decifions of others, contrary to the conviction of our own minds, that we think it our duty to withstand all attempts to impofe upon us, in an affair of fo much confequence, and boldly to ftand faft in the liberty of the gospel.

Secondly, he mentions the offence given to the Diffenters by the titles and powers of thofe orders of men in the English hierarchy, which are not found in the New Teftament; as archbishops, deans, archdeacons, prebends, &c.-Under this head he remarks, that the difference of rank in the church, and the large revenues annexed to ecclefiaftical preferments, are confidered by Diffenters, as giving scope to a kind of ambition utterly unworthy of the character of chriftian minifters, and tending to unfit them to be examples to their flocks in meek

It should be noted that the Author does not, among Diffenters, include the Quakers. They, he obferves, are a body of men fo very diftinct from all others that diffent with them from the eftablished church; they have fo many fentiments, fuch maxims of conduct, and fuch a fyftem of policy peculiar to themselves; that when we speak of Diffenters in general, we never mean to comprehend them.

nels,