formerly were, would be truly ridiculous. The luftre of the late war will be urged to the contrary; but there are many reasons why the entire credit of the war fhould not be given to English bravery. Its fuccefs was, in a great measure, owing to the extraordinary expence attending it, by which it was fo perfectly ferved in every quar ter of the globe; it was owing to the extenfive genius of the man who planned its operations; it was owing to the great numbers of Germans, of Scotch, of Irish, and of Americans, who ferved in our fleets and armies, paid indeed by English money, but English money is neither English ftrength nor courage: if we add to thefe confide. rations the wretched incapacity of the French miniftry, under the direction of a weak woman, the war, on their fide, ftrangled in its very birth by the want of an immediate conjunction of the houses of Bourbon, the one difabled before the other moved, which could then do little more than give additional fplendor to the triumphs of Bri tain; these things confidered, from the uncommon luftre of the war we fpeak of, a fuperior courage of the prefent English, to their courage at former periods, cannot by any means be inferred, nor, even an equality. Europe feems to have a strong tendency into ftates of a respectable fize, and however falutary this may be to the purposes of general tranquillity, I fhall be pardoned if, from the love I bear to my own country, I fhould wish that no powerful prince may be able to poffefs himself of those ports which lie upon the German ocean; becaufe fuch a neighbour must be dangerous to this part of the island, which never was attacked by a northern people without being subdued. The Normans had such a contempt for the people of Neuftria, that they would not be called, but by their old name, and £ confider them as a northern people at the conquelt; fince that time, no enemy out of Britain, of a fituation more northern than ourselves, hath attempted us; the French and Spaniards were inferior in frength of body and in courage; of their numbers our fituation prevented them from availing themfelves; the French never gave marks of an enterprizing spirit beyond the limits of the Rhine, and the inhabitants of this island have a prefcriptive right of fuperiority over those of Gaul, the only praife as I recollect which the ancients have given them; but had we a northern prince for our enemy, master of that number of ships which muft naturally attend a well regulated trade to the ports in the German ocean, and of those great rivers which, running through Germany, discharge themselves into that ocean; of men who feel not the terrors of any element, who living poorly at home, may be stimulated, like their brave ancestors, to share in the fpoils of a richer and more cultivated country than their own; fhould this prince look with a mixture of indignation and of contempt upon a people, who prized themfelves for an imaginary wealth, a fhadowy credit, chilled at the most distant found of the blast of calamity, an apparition, which, upon the first rough touch, is found to be unfubftantial; if he should feize the opportunity of attacking this people, how fhould England be protected? The all-fufficiency of the British fleet prefents itself forthwith to the imagination of my indolent and high-fed countrymen, miraculously furrounding a coast of two thousand miles; upon this they beftow omniprefence, and every every attribute of the Deity; upon this they reft fecure in the gratification of every fenfe, and in the practice of almost every vice. I affirm that no expedition has been ever conducted against this country with any degree of wisdom, or even of plausibility, which did not fuccced; fince the conqueft, that of Philip the Second of Spain was the most tremendous in its apparatus, but this expedition could not fucceed; the alarm of invafion was fpread fo long before the embarkation, that every man in England had time to become a foldier; and when the army was embarked, the proceffion of the Spahish fleet along our fouthern coast, in order to take on board the Prince of Parma and his troops then waiting at Dunkirk, was fo very flow, and pompous, that every English port and creek fent out its whole force to annoy them, fo that they were expafed to the increase of enemies every moment, as well as to the dangers of a tempestuous fea; nor is it to be forgotten that the Spaniards, from the influx of American riches, were at this time departed from their rigour of difcipline, and had much abated of their former valour; let not therefore the impracticability of invading England be drawn from the failure of fuch random expeditions, if expeditions they can be called, which are embarraffed by fuch blundering delays. I am well convinced that the chief military strength of this nation ought to be that of our fleet; but fleets have failed, fleets may fail, and will fail again; nothing is more natural than that the wind, which is favourable to the invading fleet, máy keep the fleet that fhould oppofe it in harbour: when Ällectus poffeffed himself of the province of Britain and was mafter of the feas, Conftantine failed over, under the cover of a thick mift, and landing his troops overcame the ufurper; the Prince of Orange landed his army at Brixham in Torbay, having past the English fleet then lying in the Downs; but nothing proves the infufficiency of a fleet fo forcibly, as the transportation of Cæfar's army from Brundufium to Dyrrachium in his purfuit of Pompey, at two embarkations: although the coaft of Epirus was guarded by a much fuperior naval force, under the command of Bibulus and Pompey's other lieutenants, an army was landed with the lofs of only two tranfports, fufficient to decide the greatest contell for empire that time hath yet produced: much will be attributed of Cæfar's fuccefs to Fortune; Cæfar himself hath attributed much to that goddefs, in the second embarkation under Antony; but good troops, good officers, and the terrifying dispatch with which that great deftroyer of Roman liberty animated all his military operations, are to me fufficient caufes for his fuccefs, without any interpofition of Fortune. In thefe circumstances of Europe, where the fmall German ftates, whose troops we were used to pay, are probably foon to be annexed to great monarchies, and no longer to be hired out for slaughter; when the French, unequal to Britain in commercial conteft, are willing to leave us without a rival, and give no interruption to our eagerness for remote, unnatural acquifitions; we ourselves fhould bridle that avarice which is wafting our vigour in the burning heats of India, and leaving the center of the empire without defence: whilst other ftates are ftrengthening themselves at home, England is fending forth her ftrength, and bringing home the materials of her REV. Apr. 1774. S own own deftruction; but, as I have obferved before, we shall probably have the French and Spaniards no longer for our enemies, who having fubmitted in the conteft of trade, no subject of dispute now remains, unless we should renew our old claims upon the French monarchy; with fome northern nation or confederacy, therefore, we are likely to contend for the future, against whom hardinefs, ftrength, courage, and public spirit will be neceffary, which afford a more certain protection than either fleets or armies without them. Let us now fee in what condition we are to receive fuch encounters as we have reason to expect; but in difcuffing this matter, I shall not enter into a state of the national debt, the amount of our revenue, nor enquire what fums can be spared to the fupport of armies and of fleets, by the mercenary vultures, who have fo long preyed upon the vitals of their country, I mean placemen and penfioners of every denomination; but I will ask what stock of national virtue remains wherewith to oppose a brave and an enterprizing people, for we shall be then engaged in wars which it will be impoffible to carry on by bills of exchange.' In the remaining part of the work the Author enters into a kind of declamatory eftimate of manners and principles, in which he displays no depth of abilities; his own obfervation, with the remarks of others, enable him indeed to cenfure what is bad in a fuperficial manner, but he feems very deficient, either as a philofopher, which we expected to find him, or as a politician, a character that he labours hard to fupport. If however we meet with very little to the purpose relating to the power of climate, we find, toward the latter end of this tract, fome good hints relating to the power of a juftice of peace; and we intirely agree with the Writer, that a vigorous discharge of that important office, would operate to the prevention of crimes, a duty of much more importance to the public, whatever it may be to the juftice, than the punishment of them. N. ART. IV. Letters written by the late Right Honourable Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to his Son Philip Stanhope, Efq; latt Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Drefden: Together with several other Pieces on various Subjects. Published by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope, from the Originals now in her Poffeffion. 4to. 2 Vols. 21. 2 s. Boards. Dodfley. 1774. FE EW characters, among the nobility of this age, and nation, are better known than that of the late ingenious and witty Earl of Chesterfield; who was alike distinguished in the polite, the political, and the learned circles. He was not, perhaps, what fome one has ftyled a "deep genius," but he certainly had a great portion of good fenfe, and lively parts; he had a perfect knowledge of mankind; he was a complete gentleman, and a delightful companion. In fine, he poffeffed those rare talents and amiable qualities which could not 6 fail fail of procuring him the admiration and the love of all who had the happiness of enjoying his friendship, or sharing his converfation. To his gaiety of difpofition, his engaging manners his happy tenour of life, and chearful old age, we may not unaptly apply, (with a flight variation of a word or two) his friend Pope's verfes on Monf. Voiture: Who, wifely carelefs, innocently gay, Chearful, could play the trifle Life away; Of his Lordship's literary talents, the world hath had various fpecimens, in thofe fugitive performances, which, though anonymous, have been afcribed to him on fufficient authority; but these talents are more amply displayed in the collection of Letters now before us. Thefe Letters are very properly introduced to the Reader's attention, by the Lady to whom the Public is obliged for their publication, The death of the late Earl of Chesterfield, fays the Fair Editor, is fo recent, his family, his character, and his talents fo well known, that it would be unneceffary to attempt any account of his Lordfhip's life. But, as thefe Letters will probably defcend to pofterity, it may not be improper to explain the general fcope of them, and the reason that induced him to write on the fubject of Education. ⚫ It is well known, that the late Earl of Chesterfield had a natural fon, whom he loved with the most unbounded affection, and whose education was, for many years, the chief engagement of his life. After furnishing him with the most valuable treasures of ancient and modern learning, to thofe acquifitions he was defirous of adding that knowledge of men, and things, which he himself had acquired by long and great experience. With this view were written the following Letters; which, the Reader will obferve, begin with thofe dawnings of inftruction adapted to the capacity of a boy, and rifing gradually by precepts and monitions, calculated to direct and guard the age of incautious youth, finish with the advice and knowledge requifite to form the Man, ambitious to fhine as an accomplished Courtier, an Orator in the Senate, or a Minifter at foreign Courts. In order to effect these purposes, his Lordship, ever anxious to fix in his fon a fcrupulous adherence to the ftricteft morality, appears to have thought it the first, and moft indifpenfable objećt-to lay, in the earliest period of life, a firm foundation in good principles and found religion. His next point was, to give him a perfect knowledge of the dead languages, and all the different branches of folid learning, by the ftudy of the best ancient Authors; and alfo fuch a general idea of the Sciences, as it is a difgrace to a gentleman, not to poffefs. The article of inftruction with which he concludes his Syftem of Education, and which he more particularly enforces throughout the whole work, is the ftudy of that useful and extenfive This Lady is, we are informed, the widow of the Gentleman to whom Lord Chesterfield's Letters were addreffed. fcience, the Knowledge of Mankind: in the courfe of which, appears the nicest investigation of the human heart, and the springs of human actions. From hence we find him induced to lay fo great a ftrefs on what are generally called Accomplishments, as most indifpenfably requifite to finish the amiable and brilliant part of a compleat character. It would be unneceffary to expatiate on the merits of fuch a work, executed by fo great a master. They cannot but be obvious to every person of fenfe; the more, as nothing of this fort has (I believe) ever been produced in the English language. The candour of the Public, to which thefe Letters appeal, will determine the amusement and inftruction they afford. I flatter myself, they will be read with general fatisfaction; as the principal, and by far the greater part of them, were written when the late Earl of Chesterfield was in the full vigour of his mind, and poffeffed all thofe qualifications for which he was fo juftly admired in England, revered in Ireland, and esteemed wherever known. • Celebrated all over Europe for his fuperior talents as an episto lary writer, for the brilliancy of his wit, and the folidity of his extenfive knowledge, will it be thought too prefumptuous to affert, that he exerted all thofe faculties to their utmost, upon his favourite fubject-Education ? And that, in order to form the mind of a darling fon, he even exhausted thofe powers which he was fo univerfally allowed to poffefs? 'I do not doubt but those who were much connected with the Author, during that feries of years in which he wrote the following Letters, will be ready to vouch the truth of the above affertion. What I can, and do afcertain is, the authenticity of this publication; which comprifes not a fingle line, that is not the late Earl of Chefterfield's. Some, perhaps, may be of opinion, that the first letters in this collection, intended for the inftruction of a child, then under feven years of age, were too trifling to merit publication. They are, however, inferted by the advice of feveral gentlemen of learning, and real judgment; who confidered the whole as abfolutely neceffary, to form a compleat fyftem of education. And, indeed, the Reader will find his Lordship repeatedly telling his fon, that his affection for him makes him look upon no instruction, which may be of fervice to him, as too trifling or too low; I, therefore, did not think myself authorized to fupprefs what, to fo experienced a man, appeared requifite to the completion of his undertaking. And, upon this point, I may appeal more particularly to thofe, who, being fathers themselves, know how to value inftructions, of which their tenderness and anxiety for their children, will undoubtedly make them feel the neceffity. The inftructions scattered throughout thofe Letters, are happily calculated, "To teach the young idea how to fhoot," To form and enlighten the infant mind, upon its firft opening, and prepare it to receive the early impreffions of learning, and of morality. Of thefe, many entire letters, and fome parts of others, are loft; which, confidering the tender years of Mr. Stanhope, at that time, cannot be a matter of furprize, but will always be one of regret. Wherever a complete fenfe could be made out, I have vensured to give the fragment. Te |