Though other groves are often broke, For here the NEVILLES and the GREYS And though ye can recall no more And harmonize the British Lyre!" P. 6. The following very beautiful effufion is from the French of the Marquis de Pezzai. "Ovid, in Exile, to the Bird of Venus. [From the French of the Marquis de Pezzai. ] Hither direct thy rapid flight, And on these plains, fweet Dove, alight; Oh, come! nor heed this freezing fky- To him who muft without it die!" P. 34. We have another motive befides that of the intrinfic merit of the compofition, for giving a place to the following. We know it to be founded in truth. "ON "ON THE LATE MRS. FREELING. Quis defiderio fit pudor, aut modus. Calm is her flumber here!--But fhe fhall rife, Yet though chafte Science her sweet strains refin'd, And to her gentle fpirit whifper'd peace!" P. 59. We are obliged to paufe; though we cannot but acknowledge, that our progrefs through the volume was attended with increafing gratification. After inferting this moft elegant and well-turned Sonnet, we must leave Mr. Coxe's interefting performance, to make its way by its own merit, aided by our friendly wishes. "Sonetto, di Orazio Petrocchi. Io chiefi al tempo, ed a chi forfe il grande Ma fu per l'alta mole altera in mostra E' tu, gridai, forfe il faprefti? ah mostra- Io di chi fù non curo, adeffo e nostra*. Sonnet imitated from the Italian of Orazio Petrocchi, And borne on fwifter wing, he hurry'd by. We have corrected fome errors in the printing of the Italian. 'There are alfo fome varieties of reading, which we do not notice. Wrap Wrapt in amazement, o'er the mouldering pile I faw Oblivion pafs, with giant ftride: And, while his vifage wore Pride's fcornful fmile, "Haply thou know'ft; then, tell me whose," I cry'd— "Whofe the vaft domes, that e'en in ruin fhine?" "I reck not whofe," he said, " they now are mine!" P. 76. The imitations of Petrarch are generally very happy, and demonftrate a refined tafle and perfect acquaintance with the beauties of Italian compofition. We fhall only add, that the author has no contemptible talent for epigrammatic composition, as may perhaps appear from the fubjoined fpecimens. "Written when the female Fashion of wearing PADS firft came into vogue. In the coy age of chafte Queen Bess, The fex preferv'd decorum; "On a merry, but poor Woman. Tho' MARGARET's fortune was but bad, But when death ftruck the fatal blow, She was, alas! a PEG too low." The latter, to be fure, is only a pun, but it is amufing. ART. V. Sermons, altered and adapted to an English Pulpit, from French Writers. By Samuel Partridge, M.A. F. S. A. &c. &c. 8vo. 327 pp. 7s. Rivingtons. 1805. OUR UR readers have had repeated inftances before them, of the found fenfe, judgment, profeffional zeal, and ability, of this amiable author. The prefent publication is fomewhat original in its kind, and we think will prove both interesting and useful. It has been objected, and perhaps with fome degree of juftice, to the preachers of the English church, that their oratory is lefs animated than might be defired. To the French pulpit, with ftill greater truth and propriety, has been imputed too great diffufenefs, too florid a ftyle, and too gaudy a rhetoric. The intention of Mr. Partridge is to point out the path between thefe two extremes. He has, therefore, selected from the best and most popular of the French writers in this way, the plan and the principal matter of these difcourfes. But he has contracted their arguments, and reduced their periods, foftened their inordinate warmth, and chaftened their too luxurious oratory. His work confifts of eighteen discourses, taken, with the exception of one only, from French Proteftant Divines. The fubjects are those which follow. "1. A Caution against falfe Philofophy. 2. Loyalty founded upon Religion. 3. The Confolation of Chriftians, in Dangers and Sufferings. 4. Truft in God, the Privilege of thofe who fear and love him. 5. The ineftimable Value of the Divine Friendship. 6. On Profane Swearing. 7. The Cup of Salvation. 8. The Importance of good Example. 9. The Conduct of a wife Father in his Family. 19. The Danger, to young Perfons, of Evil Example. 11. In what Senfe, the Righteous are fcarcely faved. 12. The Divine Attentiveness to the Righteous. 13. On Reftitution. 14. On Recovery from Sickness. 15. The Love of Life, vindicated. 16. Piety is true Wisdom.. 17. Chriftian Forgiveness. 18. The Divine Protection promised, only to an obedient People." P. v. We think very highly of the execution of this ingenious undertaking, and that our readers may do the fame, it seems only neceflary to add one or two brief fpecimens. We cannot do better than begin with the first difcourfe, which is a Caution against falfe Philofophy. The fubftance of this Sermon is taken from "Sermons de M. l'Abbé de Cambacérès, Predicateur du Roi, &c. Tom. i. p. 149. Paris, 1781." The matter of this difcourfe is perfpicuoufly arranged, and admirably difcuffed. It thus concludes: "I am aware, that the advocates for irreligion fometimes wear an appearance very captivating. They affect to be placed, by their virtue, above the weakneffes of nature; and, to give an air of reality and confiftency to their character for wisdom, they hang out to the world certain inviolable maxims, of integrity, equity, and generosity. Trutt not, too credulous world, to proteftations fo often tried, and to virtues fo often falfified! This wife man, whom thou admireft, will foon make thee repent of thy fond efteem. When a man has broken the ties of piety, what is there that he can acknowledge as facred and inviolable? When David was faithlefs to God, he foon became faithlefs to men; when he loft his innocence by adultery, he quickly renounced his humanity by murder. Ahab forfakes his religion: unhappy Naboth! give him up thy vineyard if thou wouldst fave thy life! "It is true, that fome of these men hold fine difcourfes; utter noble fentiments of humanity and benevolence; preach these things with enthusiasm in their writings, and fometimes difplay them in their actions. But what do thefe inftances tend to prove? That it is very difficult for any man to be completely vicious. Or rather, these inftances fhow, that actions of public notoriety are not a true teft of honour. On thefe great occasions, a man confiders himself as a fpectacle; he perceives the eyes of the world, and especially of his own friends and party, fixed upon him; glory fills his imagination; and he thinks himfelf a model of virtue, while in truth he is but the hero of of vanity. The truly honourable man is he who has no need of witneffes in order to his being fo. But (hey fay) it is very poffible to be irreligious, and at the fame time a man of honour and probity; for examples of it are fren frequently." Now what do thefe examples prove? Only this; that when a man hath received, in his youth, ftrong impreffions of virtue from religious inftructions, it is very difficult for him afterwards entirely to choke thefe happy feeds, and to renounce his principles. Impiety. therefore, will gain nothing, though we should allow that a man of honour may exift without having any religion at prefent. It must be proved that he may exift without having ever had it: it is neceffary to fhow us a man brought up from his infancy in a fchool of irreligion; a man, who never had learned the fear of God, or the notion of a future retribution; who had been perfuaded to virtue by motives of mere worldly wifdom: and then we should fee what would become of this child of philofophy; whether, at the first rude blaft of the paffions, this edifice of human wifdom, erected upon the loose fand of fyftems and opinions, would not be quickly overthrown; and whether, against the firft temptation, a good philofopher would be as well fortified as a good Chriftian. Again it is faid: "A man may be perfectly irreligious, and yet a man of honour, for men of this kind are to be found in every place." Now this is fo far from faying any thing in favour of irreligion, that I conceive it is a fatire upon, and a condemnation of it. It is like faying of any profeffion or occupation, that there are fome honeft men belonging to it. For it is not enough, that irreligion doth not exclude or deftroy the virtues of an honourable man; it fhould be. fhown to be inconfiftent with the vices of a base man; that it doth not favour immorality and the paffions. Would any one ac-. count it a commendation of Chriftianity to fay, that a man may be a Chriftian, and at the fame time a man of honour? The glory of cur. religion in this refpect is, not that it doth not exclude, but that it indifpenfably requires, probity and honour, and carries them to the highest degree of perfection. In like manner, to do any credit to irreligion, it would be neceffary to fhow, not only that it may be compatible with virtue; but is fo utterly incompatible with vice, that a difhonourable and base man, a cheat and impoftor, cannot, on that very account, be either an A:heift or a Deift; that it is a contradiction in terms, to fay of any man, "He is irreligious and a villain." 'Till this is fhown, to fay that there are good men without religion may be as true, but is as little to the purpose, as to fay, that men of humanity are fometimes found among favages and barbarians. question is not, whether a perfon may be virtuous without religion; but whether it be not incomparably more difficult for him to be fo; and whether in general men are fo. To determine this question fairly, by facts; I fhall conclude this difcourfe with a fhort comparifon betwixt the duties and notions of a virtuous and honourable man, and the actual conduct of irreligious men in thefe prefent times. ་ The "A man of honour and virtue refpects his country and its lawful Aulers, and the public laws and manners. He allows not himself to infult then, either in writings or converfation. But what have irre ligious |