We shall give a passage or two from this book, as specimens of a style a little different from any that we have yet exhibited. "Ah! would you not be slaves, with lords and kings, "That erst o'erwhelm'd and still distress mankind, "Equality of Right is nature's plan; "Mark modern Europe with her feudal codes, "But cujum pecus, whose base herd they'll be." Such is the author's equal felicity in different modes of writing; and when we think of it, we are reminded of a speech in one of Moliere's comedies, "La nature vous a traité en vraie mere possionée et vous en êtes l'enfant gâté. There yet remain two books, which contain the author's theeries concerning the formation of the universe, the origin and diffusion of religion, and various other subjects, particularly the future condition of mankind. They correspond to the two last in the Vision of Columbus; but there are very many alterations from the state in which they stood in that poem. Of what nature the alterations are, and what is the present character of these two books, may be inferred from a comparison of the following passages, one from the poem just mentioned, and the other what corresponds to it in the Columbiad. "Thus soaring Science, daughter of the skies, "The beams of Heaven's own morn, the splendours of a God. "Then blest Religion leads the raptured mind Through brighter fields, and pleasures more refined; "Teaches the roving eye, at one broad view, "To glance o'er time, and look Existence through; "See worlds on worlds to Being's formless end, 17 Seraphs, and suns, and systems round him rise, Vis. of Col. p. 253. The following is the corresponding passage in the Columbiad. "Thus Physic Science, with exploring eyes, "First o'er the nations bids her beauties rise, 66 Prepares the glorious way to pour abroad "Her Sister's brighter beams, the purest light of God.. "Then Moral Science leads the lively mind "Thro broader fields and pleasures more refined; "Seraphs and suns and systems, as they rise, "Her cloudless ken, her all pervading soul "Illume, sublime and harmonize the whole." The passages, which, in these books, in their original state, were of a similar nature with the first quoted, are now either expunged or altered in a like manner; and the character of the books in their present state is throughout conformable to these changes. The author's religion and philosophy are now on a level with his poetry. This work is printed in a splendid quarto, with an head of the author prefixed, and ten other elegant engravings from paintings by Smirke. ART. 7. Caution recommended in the application and use of scripture language. A Sermon, by William Paley. Republished, Cambridge. Hilliard and Metcalf. 1809. WE do not think ourselves hazarding a rash assertion, when we say, that the name of Dr. PALEY is among the most respectable in English literature. His powerful good sense is a quality of the mind not so common as others, which more readily gain admiration. This has given to all his works the character of utility. We discover in them a mind of no common manliness of thought and clearness of argument, and this mind directing its labours upon subjects the most worthy of attention. He has no loose and irrelative writing, no unmeaning diffuseness, and no display of learning and authority to supply the place of argument; but he gives his reader the same clear view of his subject, which was spread before his own mind. His intellectual too, are in harmony with his moral qualities, with that calm benevolence and rational piety, which every where in his writings produce a feeling of complacency and friendship for their author.. The design of the present sermon, which is one of the very few that were published by the author himself, is to shew how much the language of scripture has in some instances been misinterpreted and misunderstood; and how erroneously it has been adduced in support of doctrines very remote from the real spirit and character of christianity. There are few men, we suppose, who reject christianity, because after a careful examination they think themselves to pereeive any defect in its evidences; but these doctrines and other corruptions of it do repel men from our religion, and seem to render such an examination unnecessary. They produce an indifference to it in many, who profess themselves christians; and in others, of a more serious temper and firmer belief, they are the cause of much anxiety and distress, from the view which they give of the character and moral government of God. To those therefore, who feel an interest in our religion, and especially to this latter class, it must be gratifying to be told, from such high authority, and to be shewn with such convincing clearness of explanation, that these doctrines are inventions of men misinterpreting the scriptures, and not doctrines of christianity; and that the interpretations, by which they are supported, give a sense to the language of the sacred writers entirely foreign from their purpose and design. This sermon is particularly adapted to the use of common christians, as it is written with the same admirable perspicuity as the other works of Dr. Paley. Those who already have the same opinions with its author on the subjects here treated, may, we think, find these opinions presented to their minds by this discourse with more clearness and better defined than they were before. Laying aside the Horae Paulinae, which has the high praise of original thinking, we do not know where else in his writings we could find an equal number of pages, which would give an higher notion of the mind of Dr. Paley. It may be proper to remark, that this sermon is not in the volume of sermons, by Dr. Paley, lately printed, which is a posthumous publication. We notice this sermon, because, it being single, our notice may perhaps bring it to the view of some, by whom it might otherwise be overlooked. We are gratified to learn, that a complete edition of the works of Dr. Paley is in the press in this town. ART. 8. Eulogium on the Rev. John Smith, D. D. Professor of the learned languages at Dartmouth College. By the President. Hanover, (N. H.) C. and W. S. Spear. 1809. pp. 15. Short as this discourse is, we could well have spared more than half of it, which has no more connexion with the subject than with the raising of the Merino sheep. There is a general indistinctness of thought, united with a defect of perspicuity of expression, that makes us rejoice when we arrive at the latter half of this eulogy, in which we find a biographical notice of the deceased professor. The first paragraph will exemplify our remark. "While admiring the divine wisdom and goodness in the formation of man we behold him possessed of properties, which secure his station far above the other species, and promote his progress to greater glory. To force of mind, to variety and adaptations in the faculties, and dispositions of individuals, are those improvements to be ascribed, which have enriched man with pleasure, and society with power and splendour. Many, in different ages, by cultivating the arts and sciences have contributed to human happiness; but it has chiefly depended on the talents and exertions of a few. It was Jason who seized the golden fleece; it was Hercules, who killed the Lernean hydra and Erymanthian boar." The president has interwoven much learning in his brief discourse, but something more than the biographical anecdotes of the great men of antiquity, and references to pagan mythology, and customs of barbarous nations, was necessary to do justice to his subject. "The Creator, in his wisdom, has not formed the individuals of the human race with universal genius. Cicero appears to have been the only instance, among the ancients, of the same person embracing the various arts and sciences, and excelling in each. One mind seems to have been adapted to only one kind of improvement, so that it might be matured, in its varieties, by the more effectual labours of all. But can this truth justify the usage of the ancient Egyptians, and as continued in India, confining the different pro fessions to particular families? Human institutions cannot control the laws of nature. Genius, restrained, can never advance. Happy, when education, and circumstances, conduct it in the course, which nature designed." These observations are intended to appear philosophical, but the appearance is deceptive. The laws of nature, we are told in one sentence, are not to be controlled by human institutions; but the next shews us that they may be, otherwise the reading should be, that genius, though restrained, cannot be prevented from advancing. But this would contradict the experience of Egypt and of India. Dr. Smith was most celebrated for his knowledge of grammar, and for his capacity of communicating instruction in that art. We hope his seat may be as ably filled, and we are apprised of the necessity of it from this very performance. In the eulogy we observe defects of grammatical precision, which, in so short a performance, must not claim exemption from the rigid rules of criticism. The author says: "The former president admired and loved him, and taught him theology. The latter [Querepresident?] as a divine, and christian, embraced and inculcated," &c. The paragraph in which his final sickness is related begins: "His intense pursuits of science affected his constitution, and produced debility, which, more than two years before, began to he observed by his friends." We discover nothing antecedent, with which this relative before is in any way connected. We have marked these errours rather on account of the character and station of the writer, than for their importance. We hope the students of the seminary, to which Dr. Smith belonged, will not soon forget his labours, and that they will unite the learning of the president to the precision of the professor. RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW. ART. 2. The natural and civil history of Vermont, by Samuel Williams, -L. L. D. member &c. &c. &c. Printed at Walpole, New Hampshire, 1794. WE have been induced to notice this work of Dr. Williams under the head of retrospective review, as the second edition of it, so long expected, has not yet made its appearance. No country can be perfectly known, till its parts have been thoroughly examined, and accurately described; for the hasty accounts of travellers are seldom of more use, than to amuse an idle hour. The details of minute particulars are frequently uninteresting; but without them, the historian is unable to investigate the causes of events; and the philosopher finds instruction in the smallest portion of nature. We are therefore pleased, when persons of judgment and observation present us with the knowledge of their vicinity, and relieve us from our dependence upon those, who are anxious only to gratify the taste of their readers. A transient passenger has no means of distinguishing between custom and accident, and is apt to judge every thing by his own local habits. Some things appear to him in a false light, and many escape his notice, and he is liable to be imposed upon by the ignorant, the careless, and the designing. Dr. Williams appears before the publick in an opposite point of view. A man of education, for many years a resident in the country which he describes, and holding a respectable rank among his fellow citizens, he seems to have possessed every requisite for his undertaking. Dr. Williams commences his history with the boundaries of Vermont, reckoning his longitude from Philadelphia, apparently supposing the honour of his country concerned in an affair, which can only serve to bring confusion into geography. Philadelphia has ceased to have any claim for the first meridian, even in the United States; and it is uncertain, whether the claims of the city of Washington may not soon be equally futile; but as |