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there on its edges, fprinkled the tame bank that accompanied its meanders; and when it difappeared among the hills, fhades, defcending from the heights, leaned towards its progrefs, and framed the diftant point of light under which it was loft, as it turned aside to either hand of the blue horizon.

Thus dealing in none but the colours of nature, and catching its moft favourable features, men faw a new creation opening before their eyes. The living landscape was chaftened or polished, not transformed. Freedom was given to the forms of trees; they extended their branches unrestricted; and where any eminent oak, or master beech, had efcaped maiming and furvived the foreft, bufh and bramble was removed, and all its honours were reftored to diffinguish and fhade the plain. Where the united plumage of an ancient wood extended wide its undulating canopy, and flood venerable in its darkness, Kent thinned the foremost ranks, and left but fo many de tached and scattered trees, as foftened the approach of gloom, and blended a chequered light with the thus lengthened fhadows of the remaining columns.

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Succeeding artifts have added new master strokes to these touches; perhaps improved or brought to perfection fome that I have named. The introduction of foreign trees and plants, which we owe principally to Archibald Duke of Argyle, contributed effentially to the richness of colouring fo peculiar to our modern landfcape. The mixture of various greens, the contrast of forms between our foreft-trees and the northern and West-Indian firs and pines, are improvements more recent than Kent, or but little known to him. The weepingwillow, and every florid fhrub, each tree of delicate or bold leaf, are new tints in the compofition of our gardens.'

Thefe extracts are fully fufficient to give our Readers an idea of the entertainment this hiftory of modern gardening will afford them. We fhall conclude this article with expreffing our fincere wishes that thofe living artifts, who do fo much honour to their country and the age we live in, may have their merits eftimated by a writer of talents, taste, and industry, equal to those of Mr. WALPOLE.

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ART. IV. Thelyphthora. zd Edition, enlarged.

HE republication of this work was a matter of no surprise to us. The fingularity of its principles excited the curiofity of the Public; and with many, its licentiousness was a moft powerful argument in its favour. But Mr. Madan flatters himself, that the rapid fale of his book is chiefly to be attributed to its own merit:-- that it hath made its way by dint of that intrinfic truth which it contains-the importance of the fubjects treated; the important ends propofed-and that conformity to the oracles of God which it profeffedly makes the bafis of its contents.' And doth the Author feriously think this to be the cafe? If he is in earneft, we imagine we see in him a most melancholy inftance of the fafcinating power of felf-love; and are

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really affected to behold a man, who is not deftitute of learning and good fenfe, and whofe pretenfions to fanctity of life run to a more than common height, fo loft to the purity of Chriftian doctrine, fo indifferent to "things which are of good report," as openly to avow, and even zealously contend, for practices, which, if they had the fanction of law, would overturn the peace of fociety, and, under the pretence of fecuring female virtue and happiness, would leave them open to the inroads of uncontrouled luft or tyrannic cruelty.

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Mr. Madan complains of il treatment ;-but as the complaint is general, it is impoffible to give any particular reply to He fpeaks of fome critics, who are wont to depreciate a work by feparating fome given fubject from the reft, and thus deftroy its connection with the main argument. Who those critics are that have dealt fo unfairly with Mr. Madan's treatife, we know not. We cannot apply the reflection to ourselves; nor do we imagine, that any of his other opponents have mifreprefented his general idea, refpecting marriage and polygamy. It is fufficiently clear and intelligible, however clouded fome of his incidental reflections or digreffional criticifms may be.

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Mr. Madan, inftead of hooting his arrows in the air, would have better shewn his ingenuity and adroitnefs, if he had directed them to fome particular mark, that we might have distinguished his object. Instead of complaining of unfair representation,' he fhould have fhewn his Readers in what refpects he hath been mifrepresented, and where his argument was mifunderstood, And instead of running into a diffuse and verbose declamation on the oppofition which the first reformers met with, and affecting to draw a parallel between their characters and his own, he would have been much better employed in acknowledging those grofs blunders in criticism which we defied him to fupport, or in defending thofe pofitions which he hath left totally unguarded.

It is with the most thorough contempt that we read Mr. Madan's reflections on his opponents. They bear the marks of the most disgusting vanity and felf-importance: and, instead of trembling at the vengeance which he feems ready to denounce. on thofe who have ftepped forward to expofe the danger of his principles, and detect the fallacy of his arguments, we pity his weakness, and fimile at his difpleafure, without any dread of the confequence. The folemnity of the following expoftulation may affright fome timorous fouls, who are wont to be affected by a rueful appearance of fanctity; but it hath the contrary effec on us, who have been long let into the mysteries of prieftcraft. • Let them take care left their wit, raillery, and pious farcafms, do not ultimately tend to vilify and ridicule the God that made them :-let them beware, left that queftion once put on a very

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ferious occafion, be not put to them, in an hour, when they will find more difficulty, than they seem at present aware of, to anfwer it- Whom haft thou reproached and blafphemed? and against whom haft thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy voice on high? even against the HOLY ONE of Ifrael.' Mr. M. had faid just before, that if the fubjects of his book were not treated in a direct confonance with the Law of God, revealed by Mofes, they fhould have his free leave to fay what they please.' This conceffion is doubtlefs very modeft and candid! But whatever, our Author meant by the liberty he hath condefcended with fuch fingular courtesy to grant, we have nothing to do but to take him at his word. Now, because we are thoroughly convinced, that Mr. Madan's principles have no confonance with the Law of God as delivered by Chrift and his Apoftles, therefore we have delivered our free fentiments on them; and, at fome future time, may deliver them again more freely and fully, without fearing to offend thereby the Holy One of Ifrael, notwithstanding Mr. Madan flatters himself that the caufe of his Thelyphthora is the cause of God. But (to borrow his own folemnity) let him take care left he be found in the class of those mentioned by the Apostle, who "having itching ears, turn from the truth, and are turned to fables :-deceiving, and being deceived!"

Mr. Madan's enlargements, as announced in the title-page of this 2d edition, are very inconfiderable. He hath totally omitted to take notice of the moft effential objections to his work; and fuffered every detected error to ftand juft as it did before. We gave him a bold defiance, and inftead of confidering ourselves as flighted by his omitting to answer our objections, we hesitate not to avow our triumph, and confider him as having yielded us the palm by quitting the field.

He owns himfelf ready to answer any candid critic who may afk a candid question. For our parts, we were above affecting any great degree of complaifance to Mr. Madan. We efteemed him unworthy of ceremony. We aimed at truth: and our abhorrence of his fyftem, and apprehenfion of its pernicious confequences, led us to fpeak the truth with firmnefs. Our language in fome places was perhaps warm and indignant. We thought the occafion juftified our feverity.

But after all, the queftion is not, whether our observations were candid (in Mr. Madan's idea of the word); but the queftion is" were they juftly founded? Did we prove what we advanced?" In fhort, the matter is to be confidered, not the manner in which it was delivered. It is a very commodious way of getting rid of an antagonift by telling him, that he hath not candour. The excufe is eafily made ;-but will it be as readily admitted?-Mr. M. may fay, that the objections do not af

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fect his own views of things. But what is that to the public? He doth not write for himself.

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There is indeed fomething like an attempt to evade the force of our remarks on Exodus xxii. 16, 17. (Vid. the first part of our Review of Thelyphthora, Rev. October 1780); but the attempt is feeble and aukward; and the Author is reduced to the neceffity of understanding the words as they are translated in our common verfion of the Bible. His rendering X by though inftead of if (as it now ftands and ought to be rendered) deftroyed the whole meaning of the text, and at once cut at the very root of what was fo facred among the Jews, viz. parental authority. This point we have argued before. We shall briefly obferve, that Mr. Madan, in attempting to accommodate the plain meaning of this paffage to his own fyftem, entirely overthrows those fundamental principles which he had before adduced to fupport it. He fuppofes (for argument fake) that the text referred to, doth actually include a refervation of the father's authority, fo that he might, even where matters had gone fo far as described ver. 16. invalidate the contract by withholding his confent; yet (fays he) this doth not affect the principal point which I contend for, namely, that it is taking poffeffion of the woman's perfon which creates the contract or marriage-obligation.' How inconfiftent this writer is with himfelf! His conceffion annihilates his whole plan; which will appear by this plain deduction of its primary principles. Poffeffion is marriage: marriage as an ordinance of God is indiffoluble by any power on earth;-what He hath joined together let NO MAN put afunder. And yet a parent had the power of diffolving it by refufing his confent! Therefore, on Mr. Madan's conceffion, either poffeffion was not of itself marriage, or if it was, marriage was not indiffoluble by the Law of Mofes. We here give him his choice, let him take either of these pofitions, and what will become of the firft chapter of Thelyphthora?

At present we must take our leave of Mr. Madan, though, by an Advertisement, we are taught foon to expect the pleasure of another interview.

ART. V. Obfervations on the Mutiny Bill: With fome Strictures on Lord Buckinghamshire's Administration in Ireland. Dublin printed, London reprinted. 8vo. I s. 6d. Stockdale. 178.

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HIS very fpirited and acute remonstrance against the conduct of the British miniftry, and of the Irish parliament, being univerfally afcribed to that diftinguished patriot Mr. Grattan, there is little danger of mistake in supposing that gentleman's title to be well founded. In confidering the English Mutiny Bill, he obferves

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The object of this code is to bring those who are reached by it to a ftate of implicit fubordination, and to create in their fovereign an abfolute authority. It furnishes a perfect image of arbitrary power, Accordingly the people of England, whofe maxims we should admire and emulate, jealous on all fubjects which relate to liberty, have exceeded, on the subject of the army, their ufual caution; they have, in the preamble of their annual Mutiny Bill, claimed their birthright; they recite part of the declaration of right, "that ftanding armies and martial law in peace, without the confent of parliament, are illegal:" and having flated the fimplicity and purity of their ancient conftitution, and fet forth a great principle of Magna Charta, they admit a partial and temporary repeal of it; they admit an army and a law for its regulation, but they limit the num ber of the former, and the duration of both; confining all, the troops themfelves, the law that regulates, and the power that commands them, to one year. Thus is the army of England rendered a parliamentary army, the conflitutional afcendency of the fubject over the foldier, preferved; the military rendered effectually fubordinate to the civil magiftrate, because dependent on parliament, the government of the fword controlled in its exercife, becaufe limited in its duration, and the King entrusted with the command of the army during good behaviour only. And yet, that wife people have hitherto confidered the army thus limited, thus dependent, thus qualified, and fheathed, as a neceffary evil; and will not even admit of barracks, left the foldier fhould be ftill more alienated from the state of a subject, and thus alienated and armed have a pot of ftrength, and the dangerous nature of his condition be aggravated by fituation.'

The Writer then contrafts British prudence with the conduct of the Irish parliament in the fame instance;

When the Parliament of Ireland proceeded to regulate the army, I conceive it should have adopted the maxims of the British Conftitution as much as the rules of British difcipline. I conceive that it ought to be the policy of this country to go ftep by step, with the British nation in all her wife regulations; and not only adopt her conftitution, but purfue the wife and aged maxims which he has formed for its prefervation; that mutual liberty may be common. ftrength; that England may not be our tyrant, not be a prerogative country with a conftitution inverted, a bad leffon to Kings, poisoning their minds with false notions of government, and arming their hands with unconftitutional powers. We have, however, departed from the example and maxims of England; we have done fo in the molt important concern, the government of the fword; and in three most material inftances in our Mutiny Bill, we have omitted the preamble which declares the great charter of liberty, we have left the number of forces in the breast of his Majefty, and under these circumftances we have made the bill perpetual,

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This is to depart from the prudence of England, and in the very cafe where we thould have furpaffed her in caution, because we have all her reafons to dread a standing army, and many of our own like wife: we have no foreign dominions to preserve, and we have a Conftitution to lose by the violence of an army, by the encroachments of the Prince, and by the ufurped authority of the British Parliament.

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