This humane and fenfible prince is not content with thus expofing the evils and difadvantages which the Polish gentry bring on themselves by their cruelty to their vaffals; but he endeavours to convince them, that nothing can be more frivolous, than the imaginary advantages they reap from fuch a fevere exertion of their prerogative. "A Polith nobleman," fays he, "fre. quently condemns his fubjects to death without any trial or formal process: or, if he has recourfe to a jufticiary tribunal, of what is it composed? Will not fuch a tribunal, instituted by himself, confift of pliant judges, who will confult the gratification of his paffions and inclinations, rather than tenaciously perfevere, at their own hazard, to act agreeable to the dictates of honour and confcience?" After fhewing the neceflity and utility of a general and impartial administration of justice in every ftate, he proceeds to make a farther difplay of the national difadvantages of flavery: "Experience every day informs us, that the flavery of our subjects depopulates our country. I will fuppofe, that a peafant born my fubject, fhould fettle himself in the diftrict of a neighbouring lord, in hopes of milder treatment from his new inafter; I difcover it, and reclaim him. In this cafe, however, I do an injury to his new fovereign, who would not have received his homage, had he no ufe for him; and I ruin my fubject, in taking him from an happier fituation, to plunge him into his former indigence. Again, I will fuppofe, that a gentleman fhould poffefs a town or village, fo populous, that the lands depending on it should not be fufficient to fupply the inhabitants with neceffary fubfiftence; and that his neighbour, on the other hand, fhould poffefs more land than he had hands to cultivate it: what would be the neceflary confequence of this inequality? A number of fubjects, without a fufficient quantity of land to afford them fubfiftence, are as ufelefs to a state, as a quantity of land without fubjects to cultivate it. Hence it is, that fo many diftricts lie uncultivated, and almost uninhabited, in Poland. The republic, in general, is a fufferer by it; and the proprietors of those districts, in particular, much more. The latter want fubjects, and yet dare not feduce thofe of other nobles; who will demand them back, from a falfe notion of honour, even in cafes where fubjects are a burthen to them. It is almoft inconceiveable, that a country fo abundantly fertile by nature as ours, fhould, in proportion to its vaft extent, contain fo fmall a number of inhabitants; infomuch that a fourth part of the kingdom lies totally wafte. Add to this, that we have no manufactures, no traffick, no commerce; while the navigable rivers that traverse the country, and even our vicinity to the fea, prefent us, in vain, with the means of carrying on a foreign trade, which we give up to other nations. Hence arifes that aftonishing scarcity of money which univerfally prevails, and the difficulty of raising the fubfidies of the kingdom; hence the penurious method of living, and fordid appearance of almost all the houses of our nobles. But if eacht of them, ditburthened of the care of maintaining their fubjects, fhould allow them to reap the fruits of their own labour, the ftate would foon put on a new face. The flave, whofe mind is depreffed, from the weight of the yoke he hath borne from his infancy, however dull and flow of conception, will foon discover the fecret of earning a livelihood, and even the means of acquiring riches. We should foon fee Poland become a kind of public mart for all its neighbouring nations; these would prefently fupply us with every thing we might want, and we fhould gladly in return give up to them our useless fuperfluities. We thould no longer fee grafs grow in the streets of our towns and villages; which would, probably, foon require to be enlarged, for a rifing generation of inhabitants; who, fo far from confining themselves to the narrow views of their forefathers, would indulge in the enjoyment of that plenty which tirit contributed to their existence. We fhould no longer bluth to fee our public edifices failing to ruins; we fhould no longer be ashamed of the poverty of our citizens, the ignorance and incapacity of our artifans, or any of thole diforders which are now the effect of our bad police; but might, in time, fee one of our vaflals negotiating more confiderable fums than the whole amount of the prefent revenues of the ftate." To these observations the editor hath prefixed a concife account of the state of Poland, extracted from the third volume of Solignac's general history of that kingdom. But we must here take leave of this Royal author; referring those of our readers who are curious to fee his other performances, performances, to the works themselves; wherein they will find, that although his fentiments are far from being new or ftriking, they are, in general, pertinent and juft. The Philofophe Bienfaifant, is not, indeed, a Philofophe de Sans Souci Exxii. 420. 560.]; but it is to be remembered, that fingularity, novelty, and brilliancy, are rather the indices of great than good characters. M. 1 It is telligible. In any cafe, however, it had not philofopher. When this author freely ac knowledges, that he does not understand that general law which is the foundation of all natural philofophy, we can very readily believe him; but we are almost induced to think him bantering ur, when he goes on to affure us he will not be bantered into it without reafon. the first time we have heard of the Newtonian philofophy's being inculcated, or making its way, by the force of banter. A new treatife of Aftronomy; or, Aftrono- As to Mr Bamfield's refolution of not laymy opened: Being a rational and mothe- ing he understands when he really does matical inquiry into the true principles not, he is perfectly in the right; hut and nature of aftronomy, or frame of our wherefore he should conclude that other folar fyftem; with reafons to fhew, that philofophers do fo, we cannot conceive; the prefent received fyftem cannot pof- unlels he imagines that no body can unfibly be true. Alfo a new system hum-derstand what may appear to him unin"bly propofed, for the examination of the learned, whereby all the celestial phænomena will be much more naturally explained, and accounted for, than by the prefent fyftem, and without that oblique and unnatural motion of the earth our eftronomers are obliged to fuppofe. By Samuel Bamfield, teacher of the mathematics, at Honiton, 5 s. fewed. Becket. T hath been more than once remark ed, that modes of philofophy, like fafhions in dress, have their day; giving place to others of greater novelty, and as little duration. A late Noble writer took upon him to conclude from hence, that even the Newtonian fyftem would be fome time or other as much exploded as thofe of Ptolemy and Defcartes. This may indeed have been the fate of fuch fyftems as have been erected on the fandy foundation of metaphysical chimeras; but can never be the cafe with those which are founded on the folid bafis of mathematical demonftration, and have their fuperstructure raised by phyfical experiments. Had the above fuggeftion, indeed, been well-founded, the Newtonians would have reason to be alarmed at fome late attacks that have been made on their favourite fyftem. The winds of fcepticism, however, may rife, and the waves of prejudice beat againf it with all their force; they will spend their ftrength in vain; for what is built on the rock of truth, can never be moved. It is to no purpose, therefore, that Mr Samuel Bamfield here joins in the cry, and follows the pack of his deluded predeceffors, in cavilling at the principles of the Newtonian aftronomy; and much lefs fo, that he endeavours to invalidate the laws of motion, as laid down by that great Sir Ifaac Newton, in his third general law, affirms, That" to every action there is always oppofed an equal reaction; or, The mutual actions of two bodies upon each other, are always equal, and directed to contrary parts." Mr Bamfield takes up the cudgel, and brandi bes it thus: "Now, as to this mighty law, I freely acknowledge I do not understand it, though the foundation of all our philolophy neither will I be bantered into it without reafon, nor fay, I understand it, when I do not, as most of our philofophers do nor will I be fuch a coward as not to oppose what I think is abfolutely wrong, or has no meaning, neither any foundation in all nature; nor will I implicitly rely, as most do, on the greateft names, &c.-Many gentlemen have been fignifying to me, that Sir Ifaac's laws are indifputable; but I think far otherwife of them; and I here call upon his best advocates to contradict me, (and, if they can, they are cowards if they do not), and ufe me as roughly as I deferve; for I am refolved, if it is poflible, to get out the truth, if I openly fuffer for it: For it is much better for one man to fuffer, than for the whole world for ever to remain in ignorance. I fear not the lafh of a calm and good mathematician; and as to the unmathematic, I matter not. If a gentleman, because he thinks his learning is fuperior to all mankind, fhould impofe a law on them which they do not understand, and are unable of difputing it with him; and the impofer at the fame time not capable of giving a clear or rea fonable 1 fonable explanation of it himself; I imagine it is fomething fo unpardonable, fo malignant to fociety, of fo infringing a nature, and fo great an imposition, as the laws of no nation under heaven will pretend to justify. For my part, I freely acquaint the world, that I have not education enough to find proper or fatirical words to paint or expofe fuch a perfon, if any fuch there is: and I think, that the eloquence of Cicero and Demofthenes united would fall vaftly fhort in colouring it." Is not this treating Sir Ifaac Newton and his adherents very cavalierly, to call him an unjustifiable impoftor, and abuse his followers, as cowards, if they do not punith this accufer for his infolence? And yet this author proceeds, in the fame extravagant strain, not only to call this principle falfe and ridiculous, but also to declare, that Sir Ifaac's invention, as he terms it, of centripetal forces, is equally falfe and impertinent; the whole being a mere jest and imposition on mankind, a bugbear to frighten the unlearn ed; and, finally, that his whole "philofophy is vain, falfe, and of no ufe or fignification whatsoever to mankind.” This is fuch an uncommon inftance of dogmatical scepticism, that we never remember to have met with before; and is, indeed, fo very bold and daring, that were we not afraid of incurring the ridicule of engaging with a mere Quixote, we should comply, in fome degree, with this writer's challenge; and though it certainly would require all thofe fatirical abilities which he imputes to Cicero and Demofthenes, to do him juftice, we fhould be very ready to give him part of the chastisement he deferves. It is impoffible, indeed, for us to reflect on the obligations mankind lie under to fuch ilJuftrious characters as Sir Ifaac Newton, without feeling our indignation rife, at feeing perfons, actually compos mentis, thew fuch a fcandalous difregard to his memory. We are far from wishing to propagate the effects of prejudice, or to eftablish the authority of any ipfe dixit whatever. On the contrary, we think the mistakes and errors of the greatest men the most dangerous, and fhould, with a proportionate pleasure, fee them properly expofed and corrected. But though we might, with Efop, bear to fee a lion attacked by a lion, it were too much to fee him infultingly kicked by an ass, M, A defcription of the virtues and uses of a prefervative electary against the glanders in horfes. Invented and made by the Baron de Sind, firft master of the horse to his Electoral Highness of Cologn. To which is added, the verbal procefs of the experiments that was made at Popplefdorff near Bonn, by order of the French King : with the feveral atteftations and certifi cates thereof. 1 s. G. Woodfall. THis title page correfponds perfectly well to the contents of this pam phlet. The experiments made of the vir tues of this prefervative horse-medicine, on fixteen found horfes, who had taken it, and were all put, together with two other found ones who had not taken it, into a ftable with two glandered horses, (in order to catch it from them, feeding and drinking out of the fame vessels), very ftrongly atteft its efficacy: the two who had not taken the electary dying of the glanders, which was very manifest on the diffection of their bodies; two others of the fixteen, who died of worms, and their confequences, did not exhibit the least appearance of the glanders upon diffection; and the remaining fourteen horfes (who had even eaten of hay which had been rubbed over the glandered horfes noftrils) were, on the 25th of March 1763, (fubfequent to January 10. when the experiment commenced), declared found by two fworn experienced farriers. Of all these facts and diffections there are formal and authentic proofs, figned by the court farriers and huntfman, by the register of the court of juftice, and by the fecretary of the Mar quis of Bauffet, the French ambassador, who propofed to purchase the receipt for his mafter. The licence to the courtprinter, for publishing the whole verbal process of all these experiments and their events, is figned by his Electoral Highnefs of Cologn, at Bonn, April 6. 1763. We are at liberty to fuppofe the Noble German inventor to have digefted and ar ranged the present authentic little tract. He fays, in the course of it, the electary is not dear; but does not specify the price. In a country producing fuch excellent hories as our own, and which we apprehend are fometimes an article of commerce, it fhould be hoped, that if humanity to these most valuable creatures did not operate fufficiently, yet our own intereft might difpofe us, as well as the French, to procure them the most effec tual : Own zual prefervative from this mortal diftemper; which, the inventor of it alfo affirms, will cure thole infected with the glanders, if their bowels are not already tainted, judging fuch incapable of an abfolute cure. The pamphlet is not below the attention of the nobleft lovers of a horfe, (a quality from which the Royal father of Alexander was named), and fhould be perufed by every confiderable proprietor and doctor of thefe generous animals.We cannot for our parts avoid confidering this island's being termed the hell of horses, as a bitter reflection on a brave, a civilized, and, in other refpects, a humane people and we compaffionately with, it were a lefs just one, than we fear it is. We never entertained the leaft doubt ourfelves of the cruelty, and confequently of the guilt, of abusing thefe more deferving animals, as they may well be termed, in comparison with their abufers. But we thought it very confiftent with the dignity of human nature, to hear fome gentlemen express their abhorrence of a late flagitious herfe-race to and from Colche fter, by withing the poor murdered cattle had furvived, and their tyrants had dislocated their own necks a little, in terrorem. Certainly a very clement defpotic prince might juftly be commended, in making it capital for fuch perions er after to enjoy the leaft benefit or diver. fion from that family of the creation, which they had fo cruelly maltreated. M. Wickedly attempting to run a hundred miles at a ftretch; about feventy of which the noble animals performed, when death mercifully put an end to the experiment! M. LONDON. DIVINITY. The indifpenfable duty of frequenting the public worship of God, and the behaviour required therein. By Thomas Talbot, D. D. 6 d. Buckland. A treatife upon the life of faith. By William Romaine, M. A. 2 s. Worrall Bufy-bodies anatomized; or, A fuccinct defcription of one of the most mischievous characters of the prefent age. By James How, M. A. I s. Dilly. Against gof. ipping. M. An antidote to Arianifm; or, The Arian foundation razed, and the doctrine of the co-cquality of the Father, Word, and Holy Ghost, established on the plain teftimony of feripture. By J-J. In a letter to the lie very fervant. 6 d. Bishop. Four fermons. By Thomas Story. 2 5. Hinde. POLITICA L. A letter to the peace-maker, on the infraction of the peace by the French and Spaniards. 1 s. 6 d. Bird. — An hot-headed, raving, railing, indecent invective againfi the peace. M. Confiderations which may tend to promote the fettlement of our new Weft-India colonies, by encouraging individuals to imbark the undertaking. in 1 s. Roifon. MEDICINE. A treatife of the colica Pictonum; or, The dry belly-ach. [From the Latin of Dr Tronchin of Geneva.] By Dr Ralph Schomberg of Bath. 2 s. 6 d. fewed. Johnston. Pharmacopoeia hippiatrica; or, The gentleman-farrier's repofitory of approved reme dies for the difeafes of horfes. Containing 1. the furgical, 2. the medical part of prac tical farriery, with suitable remarks. By J Bartlet, furgeon. 4 s. Nourse. Differtatio medica de cicuta, quam folem ni eruditorum examini proponit auctor Projectus Jofephus Ehrhart. 4. Strasburg. MISCELLANEOUS. An hiftory of England, in a series of letters from a nobleman to his fon. 2 voll. 11° 6 s. Newberry. The fucceflion of parliaments: Lifts of the members from the reftoration to 1761. By Charles Whitworth, Efq; 3 s. New berry. A pronouncing and fpelling dictionary. By William Johnston, M. A. 3 s. 6 d Johnston. The complete English spelling dictionary; upon an entire new plan. 3 s. Nourfe A complete hiftory of the English peerage. By William Guthrie, Efq; 4°. Vol. 1. 1 L 10 S. Newberry. Par J. B. Robinet. 8. De la nature. Vol. 2. Amfterdam. The fwain leads his flock from the fold, Behold, the bright fov'reign of day For Winter has filed from our vale; By the fountains, foft-warbling that flow, And admire the auricula's dyes. On their lawns when thy footsteps are seen, The flowers more delightful appear, And the woods wear a pleasanter green. And the downy-wing'd zephyrs that reft On the wild rofes dew-fprinkled bloom, Ay flutter with joy to thy breaft; And there fhed the fofteft perfume. O'er the meadow, fo fragrant and fair, How the bee to each various flower Still roves, with induftrious care, And collects her ambrofial store! Here, Amanda, thy Virtue will fay, "Thus man fhould each feafon improve; For time, like a thief, flies away." Yes, Amanda and fo too fays Love. Hafte away: Nor the rofy-lip'd morn, Nor the blackbird, nor hum of the bee, Nor the dew-fprinkled rofe, nor the thorn, Can please, lovely nymph, without thee. VOL. XXVI. Enus, who all her fex outvies, The Pitt or Pembroke of the fkies, At ftately Juno's brilliant court, Where all the deities refort, Lately furpris'd each fifter-goddefs, To fee her drefs'd in English bodice: From top to toe, in air and mien, The image of a British queen; The Charlotte bonnet, form'd to please, And Strelitz coif the wore with ease. Mean while, to heighten all her charms, The Work-bag dangled on her arms. Carclefs and wantonly it hung, And like a play-thing, gaily fwung. The bag as foon as Palias fpied, She redden'd with indignant pride. "Shall I," the cried, "who work fo nimble With needle, thread-paper, and thimble, Shall I behold, without reproach, Thee, Venus, on my arts incroach? Sooner than thefe I'd rather yield My warlike helmet, fpcar, and fhield." The Cyprian goddefs fmiling came, And thus bespoke the blue-cy'd dame : "Pallas, I trouble not my head, Not I, with needles, thimbles, thread; Nor do I make a fingle pin ftir, In wrong to thee, celeftial fpinfter! Here! take the bag itfelf; examine, And fee what implements I cram in. No thread or needles it contains, But flaming darts, and golden chains; The very bag the Britifli belles Bear on their arms at Tunbridge-wells." The TONGUE and EYE. A contest. HE tongue and eye, in conteft met, Try'd which could best discover, How much, in Love's foft filken net, Intangled was the lover. The tongue, with all its art effay'd To tell its inclination; The eye, of its own glance afraid, Betray'd the warmest passion. The ftricken deer in filence moans The rankling wound's fad fmart; And piteous eyes inftead of groans, Declare a wounded heart. So, dearest Polly, would you know With how much warmth I love, 'Tis not in words full power to thew What looks alone can prove. 3 U ELE |