Hunter and Mr. Beardmore, on the teeth, he justly and modeftly acknowledges that the fubje&t has been already amply and copiously treated of, and that he has not the vanity to think that he fhall be able to fet it, or any branch of it, in a new or more instructive point of view.' When Authors thus justly eftimate and characterize their own performances, the Reviewer's bufinets is done to his hands: but we do not fee any good reafon why the unfufpecting purchafer, perhaps already poffeffed of former treatifes on this fubject, fhould be tempted, by a new title, to lay out his money for confeffedly ftale matter. If Mr. Lewis choofes to announce himself to the public, he does not deal fairly by them thus to draw them in to pay for his advertisement. We must acknowledge however that he appears to be a modest and rational dentist; and that if we lived within a day's ride of Oxford, we should not fcruple to trust to his abilities in the diflodging of an old ftump; or if our finances could fupport the expence, in the furnishing us with a complete fet. Art. 29. Effay on Epilepfy, in which a new Theory of that Disease is attempted, &c. By W. Threlfal, M. D. 8vo. 1 S. Stuart 1772. Though there is a degree of fcience and method in this fmall and meagre pamphlet, the matter of which, however, is delivered in a ftrange, and fometimes ungrammatical phrafeology, we cannot difcover in it fuch a degree of novelty as we were led to expect from the title-page. The Author derives the diteafe principally from a full and turgid ftate of the brain. Art. 30. A Letter to Dr. Cadogan, with Remarks on the most interesting Paragraphs in his Treatife on the Gout, &c. By Mr. Daniel Smith. 8vo. 1 s. 6d. Carnan. 1772. This Gentleman who, we should obferve, is not a member of the faculty, founds his criticisms on fome of Dr. Cadogan's opinions relative to the gout, on an experience, which he has dearly acquired, of that distemper, in his own perfon. Some of his obfervations are fenfible and pertinent; but when he theorizes, and attempts to define the true nature of the caufe of that difeafe, he appears to no very great advantage. In fupport of fome of his theoretical notions he relates a few chemical experiments, which evince him not to be very deeply versed in that science. His experiments indeed are trite and indecifive; that is, they are neither new, as he feems to fuppofe them to be; nor do they juftify his deductions from them. We cannot pafs over a feemingly interesting part of this pamphlet, where the Author affirms himfelt to be poffeffed of a certain medicine, by the external application of which he has been enabled, almost inftantly, to relieve himself from the most excruciating torments of a gouty fit. For thefe feven years paft,' he informs us that he has not borne the pain half an hour in each fit;' and that in the very last severe paroxyfin which he had of this difeafe, and which was attended with a dreadful pain in his breast bone; after hesitating for fome time to apply the remedy fo very near the region of the ftomach, the violence of the torture at length drove him to hazard the experiment. It gave him, as ufual, inftant eafe, and he foon recovered.' We can collect no farther lights from the pamphlet concerning this speedy and valuable remedy, except that the applica 6 Kk + tion tion of it is here fometimes faid to be attended with the discharge of a large quantity of the gouty humour. As the Author difclaims all lucrative views, and only occafionally difpenfes medicines, gratis, from a charitable motive, to his poor neighbours about Afhton, near Bristol, it was natural to expect that he would have favoured the public with an account of the compofition of this remedy. All that he fays however upon this head is, that if he can establish the certain efficacy of this method of relief, which has done him fuch fignal fervice, he intends to give it to the public for the benefit of his fellow-fufferers.' We do not difapprove of the defidence couched in the preceding quotation; but after the repeated proofs, here given, of the efficacy of this external application, in the Author's own cafe, we think his philanthropy is interested in speedily communicating the compofition of this remedy to the public. Art. 31. Reflections on the Gout, with Obfervations on fome Parts We can perceive nothing in this pamphlet fufficiently interesting, to fix either our Reader's or our own attention any farther on an exhausted fubject. Art. 32. Aphorifmi de Marafmo, ex fummis Medicis collecti. Auctore Samuele Farr, M. D. 24to. 1 s. 6d. Briftolia. J. B. Becket. 1772. This very little volume contains a useful fet of aphorifms on the confumption, collected from the best medical writers, and judiciously arranged and digefted under the different heads of, a defcription of the difeafe, its fpecies, figns and fymptoms, caufes, prognoftic, and cure. POETICA L. Art. 33. The Shamrock; or, Hibernian Creffes. A Collection of Poems, Songs, Epigrams, &c. Latin as well as English, the general Production of Ireland. To which are fubjoined, Thoughts on the prevailing Syftem of School Education, respecting young Ladies, as well as Gentlemen: With practical Proposals for a Reformation. By Samuel Whyte, Principal of the English Grammar School. 4to. Dublin printed. 1772. There is a local propriety in the title given to this publication, which will be apparent only to thofe English readers who are acquainted with the name of that plant ufually worn (as a cockade) by the Irish, on St. Patrick's day; as the Welchmen wear leeks in their hats, in honour of St. David. This plant is vulgarly known in Ireland by the name of Shambrogue, or Shamrock. It is the wild Trefoil; and Mr. Whyte informs us, that it was emblematically ufed by St. Patrick, at his firft planting Christianity in Ireland, to reprefent to the ig: orant natives the mytery of the Trinity.' Mr. Whyte's own account of his poetical collection is as follows: The English have had their collections; fo have the Scatch; and both have enriched their publications with gems from Ireland. We know of nothing before, of this nature, undertaken amongst us; and-we have been rather more delicate than our neighbours, cau tioufly avoiding to infert any thing which was not properly of native growth. If it should, in any inftance, appear otherwife, it must be imputed to inadvertency, not intention. We could prove an indubitable claim to many things which they have appropriated; but have refumed only two or three pieces, at the fpecial direction of their Author, who afferted his property, and thought it no robbery to make free with his own.' As to the poems themselves, they confift of a great variety indeed— Some new, fome old, fome neither one nor t'other. And with respect to their general merit, the Editor himself very justly, as well as modeftly, obferves that Many are good, fome middling, more are bad, But yet they are the best that could be had.' This is but a poor compliment to his authors, to his fubfcribers, or to his own felection; but it is the truth. Many of the pieces which the Editor has here vainly and abfurdly endeavoured to rescue from oblivion are very frivolous, and evidently thrown in merely to fwell the volume to an unusual fize: Mr. Whyte appearing to confider this circumstance of extraordinary bulk as a mark of respect due to his fubfcribers.' But, if we mistake not, there are many names which grace his numerous lifts, with whom it is not usual to estimate the value of poetry by the load, Novelty feems to have been little regarded in the selection of these poems; the fecond piece in the collection being no other than the old Mully of Mountown, written many years ago by the famous and humorous Dr. William King, and printed in his Mifcellanies. Our Editor has even condefcended to infert the well-known and ftale epigram on two Millers, which long ago ran the circle of the Magazines and jest books. And to manifeft alfo his want of due attention, as well as of tafte, in his Editorship, he has given this epigram wo places in his collection; for it is printed in p. 237, and reprinted in p. 304. It is, moreover, erroneously copied in both inftances. Mr. Whyte has it Two Butchers thin Call'd Bone and Skin,' &c. The lines, however, were originally written on two meagre millers and mealinen t, whofe names happened to be Bone and Skin, and who combined with the bakers to raife the price of bread at Manchefer. The joke lafes half its zeft by the fubftitution of the butchers, instead of the millers; our general idea of those fons of the cleaver being that of jolly fellows, fat as their oxen, and as heavy, at leaft, as a good Welch runt: whence the common fign of The Three Jolly Butchers. We have here, however, many truly valuable and elegant poems, for the perufal of which we are mach indebted to the Compiler; and for the fake of which, the candid Reader will excufe fuch overfights and defects as might reafonably be expected, in fo multifa rious and voluminous a collection. For thefe, indeed, the induf In his tranflation of Martial's epigram-Sunt bona, funt quædam mediocria, funt mala plura, &c. which he ufes as his motto. ↑ In Lancashire, as we have heard. trious Editor has made an apology which will be readily admitted by the confiderate and the benevolent; viz. his being engaged, at leaft fifteen hours a day, in the actual discharge of the duties of his profeffion-the painful profeffion of a school-master! DRAMATIC. Art. 34. Chorus of the Dramatic Poem of Elfrida. As performed at Covent-Garden. 4to. 6d. Horsfield, &c. 1772. The pathetic, tender, and claffical poem, Elfrida, the mafterpiece + of MASON's genius, hath, at length, found its way to the British theatre, by the aid of the judicious alterations which have been made in it.-By dividing it into diftinct acts, curtailing fuch of the fpeeches as were too long, and adding not only thofe decorations which captivate the eye, but also the irrefiftable charms of Dr. Arne's mufic, a piece written on the plan of the old Greek drama, hath been enabled to overcome all our common prejudices against the ancient form of Tragedy, efpecially against the Chorus. Mr. Colman, therefore, deferves praife for introducing on the ftage, under his direction, fo elegant a performance: and as a proof of the skill and judgment with which he has endeavoured to render it a pleafing exhibition to every clafs of the fpectators, we must add, for the information of our diftant Readers, that it hath been received with a much warmer, more general, and more lafting approbation than, perhaps, even the most fanguine admirers of the poem could have expected, from a work which the Author never intended for theatrical reprefentation. Art. 35. Crofs Purposes; a Farce of Two Acts. As is is performed at Covent-Garden. 8vo. I s. Davies. 1772. The merit of this petite piece confifts in the eafe and fprightlinefs of the dialogue. The Cross Purposes, too, in which the principal characters are involved, are diverting and more than this is not ufually expected in a farce. If, however, the Author (or, rather, the Alterer of this little drama, from the French) had contrived to give a more moral caft to his performance, he would have deserved till farther praife. He is, furely, reprehenfible for bestowing the prize of beauty, innocence, and fortune on a Gamefter, who has recourfe to matrimony, merely as an expedient to recruit his exhausted finances. Art. 36. The Rofe; a Comic Opera, in Two Acts. As it is performed at Drury Lane. The Words by a Gentleman Commoner of Oxford. The Mufic by Dr. Arne. 8vo. 15. Dilly. 1772. Even ARNE'S mufic could not prevent this Author's receiving the mortification of a fevere repulse from the difcerning public; to whom it was, certainly, an affront to offer fo dull and frivolous a production. We mean not, by this expreffion, to detract from the merit of his other dramatic poem, entitled, Caractacus; conftructed alfo on the model of the ancients: fee Rev. vol. xx. p. 507. Mr. Obrien, formerly an actor, and most defervedly a favourite with the town. NOVELS. NOVEL S. Art. 37. The Irishman; or, the Favourite of Fortune: a fatirical Novel, founded upon Facts. 12mo. 2 Vols. 6 s. bound. Goldfmith. 1772. Unnatural, frivolous, and indelicate; and much in the manner of M. de Vergy's worst performances. Art. 38. Frederic; or, the Fortunate Beggar. Wherein is difplayed the various Events in Human Life. In a Series of Letters, copied from the Originals. 12mo. 2 Vols. 6 s. Rofon. Thefe volumes offer nothing that is new, or that is interesting. They contain only a dull repetition of dull scenes. EAST INDIES. Art. 39. A Plan for the Government of Bengal, and for the Protection of the other British Settlements in the East-Indies. In a Letter to the Right Hon. Lord North, First Lord of the Treasury, &c. To which is added, the Speech of an Eaft-India Proprietor, upon the extraordinary Commiffion for regulating the Company's Affairs abroad. 3vo. I s. Almon. 1772. Some plaufible ideas are here thrown out for the protection of the Eaft India fettlements under the feveral heads Sovereign, Governor, Council of State, Revenues, Administration of Justice, Army, and Trade.' The fpeech annexed to the plan is verbose and unfatiffactory. Art. 40. The Origin and Caufe of the Continuance of the Disorders in our East-India Affairs, and the Means of restoring them. 8vo. 1 s. Keartly. 1772. This Writer has very properly characterized his own performance: he acknowledges that his efforts are honeft, but weak. We refpect his candour, and are forry that we cannot commend his ability. POLITICAL. Art. 41. A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord North: Attempting to fhew the Caufes and the Remedies of the high Price of Provisions. 8vo. 1 S. Brown. 1772. Various causes of the fcarcity of provifions, which hath been fo long complained of, in this, heretofore, land of plenty, are here pointed out, by a judicious investigator; who feems to have the welfare of his country fincerely and warmly at heart, He also fuggests fome remedies, which deferve the ferious attention of our politicians and statesmen. Art. 42. A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Mansfield, upon his Conduct in a Point lately brought before the Court of King's Bench, concerning the Middlefex Election. 8vo. Is. Reynell. 1772. S. We have feldom met with a performance fo totally unworthy, fo entirely destitute of merit. It runs over our history to demonftrate, that we have nothing to fear from the tyranny of the one, or the few, while we keep a ftrict guard against the incroachments of the many. In facts the Author is equally defective as in reafoning: he has read our historians without being able to comprehend them; and he attempts to think and to fpeculate, without any pretenfions to capacity. |