That to themselves endeavour to preserve
Inviolate the cruel privilege
Of slaughter and deftruation? What is this
But petty tyranny, th’ambitious child
Of luxury and pride? If Heaven indulge
A right to kill, each free born Briton sure
May claim his portion of the carnage. All
O'er Nature's commoners, by Nature's law,
Plead equal privilege: what then supports
This usurpation in the wealthier tribe;
The qualifying acres ? No, proud man,
Possessions give not thee fuperior claim
To that, which equally 'pertains to all-
Whose property yon timid hare, which feeds
In thy inclosure? Thine ? Deny'd-Allow'd
Yet if the fearful animal be thine,
Because the innocently crops to-day
The herbage of thy freehold, whose will be
The claim to-morrow, when thy neighbour's foil
Affords her paiturage? - Assuming man!
How is the hardy Briton's spirit tam'd
By chy oppressive pride !-When danger comes,
Who Thall defend thy property? Thyself?
No; that poor Briton, whom thou hast undone
By prosecutions---will he not retort,
“'What's Liberty to me? 'Tis loit! 'Tis gone!
“ If I must be oppress’d, it matters not
“ Who are th' oppressors

. Shall I hazard life
“ For those imperious Lordlings, who deny'd
" That privilege, which Heaven and Nature meant

“ For food, or sport, or exercise to all?"
IV. The Robin Hood Society: A Satire. With Notes Va,
riorum. By Peter Pounce, Esq; 8vo. 2. Withers, &c.

The design of this poem is to represent the Weekly Society for free Enquiry, &c. who meet at the sign of the Robin Hood without Temple-Bar, as an assembly of illiterate, deistical mechanics, and profligate persons; who indulge themfelves in an unwarrantable, illegal, abuse of the liberty we enjoy, of freely debating upon sacred subjects. Whether the character here given of this society, be a just one, or not, we leave those to judge who better know what usually passes at the Robin Hood, than we, who have not the honour to belong to this society, can pre. tend to do. All, therefore, that will be expected from us, is to consider the merit of this performance, merely as a literary production,

If, as Shakespear says, The man who has not mufic in bimself, is fit for treasons, &c. this Squire Pounce must be a very bad fort of man, who could admit, into a poetical composition, such lines as these.

Whome'er,

1

me,

Whome'er, or impudence, or ignorance inspires

Nor dreads th' effect
Of mad intoxication; to him averse-

Does any here
Adopt the foundling? if not, it goes

from

Nor Revelations beam
Illume; but spiking up his reason for a sun.

Speech was giv'n
To use ; Samian, Theban, and Athenian.-

I wish,
That Heav'n had made me such a man,
Had giv'n such ornaments.
Call them the treasures of truth-and-say they keep
The key of knowlege-straight---you make them Gods.
Gods ! what make--ye us--but cringing tools? -

To hear deep Mys’try's voice, And Trinity, pronoun d; since -deeper draughts--we drink-But to do Squire Pounce even handed justice, we shall introduce his own apology from the preface; where he thus bespeaks the favour of the patient reader. • I should here make some apo

logy for the badness of the following poem, with respect to deficiency of language, meanness of expression, and barrenness of invention, but that I am fenfible, no apology can make a bad poem a good one, or add a grace to what is intrinsically ungraceful-For my part, I shall only alledge, that blank verse

is what I am unacquainted with, this being my first attempt in " that species of writing, and which, as it is a juvenile perform

ance, I am conscious is but mean ; &c.' Then he allerts the piety of his intentions ; but as we cannot conceive how piety and scandal should lodge in the same breast, we shall pass that circumstance, and proceed to select a few of the beauties of the performance, as recommended to our attention by the poet himself.

The first thing we are to be charmed with, is the introduction. Upon this he assumes the title of the Well informed Bard; and having tried, but in vain, for two pages, to emulate himself in prose, refers us back again for the fame fentiment to the flowing: Numbers of the Boet.

By Porter, and by Lemonade inspir'd,
The Bard nor needs the Heliconian !pring,
Nor courts the aid of the Aonian maids.
Porter and Lemonade! ye teach the tongue
Of Ignorants, to chatter Dolnefs' praise.
Porter and Lemonade ! how oft your pow'r
Has taught the stamm'ring voice of fools to please!
Your aid, the Taylor, from his board retir'd,
Hath felt, and drank all learning in the draught.
As the fam'd Säge hath fabled, Truth immur'd
At the deep bottom of an untouch'd well,

So in the bottom of the pewter vase,
Each minion of the goddess Dullness, deems

Reason immerg'd, and swills until he finds it,
We come now to an instance of the beautiful propriety of allus-
on, for fo our Bard calls the following lines.
Follow the Muse; the Muse shall lead

you

safe:
As the fam'd Sibil led Anchises' son,
Amidst the regions of un-utter'd woe,
And landed safe again on earthly soil.

Lo! how we mount! how irksome to forsake
The native charms, and heav'nly path of truth!
How odious to leave the social sweets
Of brighe-ey'd Reason, and hier pleasing form!
How dreadful to reject the cordial balm,
Which to th'afflicted soul fair Virtue pours!
Oh! had this crew rebellious, thus have thought,
Then had they ne'er imbib'd their mortal bane ;
Ne'er had the tott'ring soul, cast off the bands
Of Heav'n, preferring those of nathmost H.
Ne'er had Religion, like her heav'nly Sire,
Been crown'd with thorns, been scepter'd with a ried,

And make her exit groaning on a cross. These passages are sufficient to apprize our readers, concerning the poetical talents of Squire Pounce. For the rest, the grossnefs of his fcurrility will excuse our farther exhibition of his performance; for scurrilous it is, in many parts, to such a degree, that we cannot but be sorry that any Clergyman should patronize such ribaldry: the Divine to whom this Satire is dedicated, is the Rev. Mr. Romaine; and the man who inscribes this worthy performance to him, is Mr. Richard Lewis.

POLITICAL. V. A Short State of the Progress of the French Trade and Navigation : Wherein is thewn the great Foundation that France has laid, by Dint of Commerce, to increase her Maritime Strength to a Pitch equal, if not superior, to that of Great Britain, unless some-how checked by the Wildom of his Majesty's Councils. Humbly inscribed to his Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland. By Malachy Postlethwayte, Esq; Author of the Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. 8vo. Is. Knapton.

Mr. Postlethwaite, in his preface, informs us, that this publi. cation is owing to the desire of a person of distinction; and takes notice, that the subject is more fully treated of in his Dictionary. Such as may not have an opportunity of consulting that voluminous work, may from this pamphlet, attain a tolerable idea of the French lyftem of commercial policy. See also our ac

count

count of Mr. Postlethwayt's Dictionary, Review, vol. XII. and XIV.

VI. Observations upon Mr. Fauquier's Effay* on Ways and Means for raising Money to Support the present War, without increasing the public Debts. To which is added, an Account of several national Advantages derived from the Nobility and Gentry of the present Age living in London a greater part of the Year than their Ancestors used to do.

By J. M. 8vo. IS. T. Payne.

As we did not enter into much explanation of Mr. Fauquier's proposal, we cannot, with propriety, be more particular in our account of these Observations; which, nevertheless, appear to deserve an attentive consideration, especially, by those who have read and approved that Gentleman's scheme. Our Observator, who writes sensibly, and seems to be no stranger to the real inte. rests of his country, principally objects, that the carrying such a tax into execution, would drain the counties of so much current cash, without a probability of its return, that within a few years there would not be enough left for the payment of other taxes, nor for procuring the necessaries of life, unless the price of them be greatly reduced ; the consequence of which will be, the impossibility of keeping up the rents of land.-- In the latter

part

of his pamphlet our Author endeavours, and we think successfully, to refute fome popular prejudices with respect to the residence of the Nobility and Gentry in London; which, he pretty clearly shews, is, on many accounts, of real advantage to the commum nity in general.

* See Article XXIII. of our Catalogue for March. VII. An Elay on the present State of our public Roads ; fhewing the absolute Neceffity of a total prohibition of the Use of narrow Wheels on all Carriages drawn by one Horse l'ength-ways; and the Benefit that will accrue thereby to Farmers and Carriers, to Trade and Manufactures, as well as Ease, Pleasure and safety to Travellers. 8vo.' 6d. Baldwin.

This pamphlet contains a summary of all the arguments that have been urged in favour of Broad Wheels, with pertinent replies to the common objections against the use of them As the opposition to Broad Wheels has more frequently proceeded from obstinacy than judgment, our Author employs Ridicule in their defence, as well as Reason.

MISCELLANEO U S. VIII. A Faithful Narrative of the most wicked and inhuman Transactions of that bloody-minded Gang of Thicha takers, alias Thief-makers, Macdaniel, Berry, Eagan, Sain

my

mon, and their notorious Accomplice Mary Jones, &c. By Jofeph Cox, High Constable of the Hundreds of Blackheath. vo. Is. 6d. Mechell.

Tho' there is little or nothing in this pamphlet more than we were pre-acquainted with, by the industry of our News-writers, yet is Mr. Cox entitled to the grateful thanks of the public for the share he bore in the detection of this most infernal

gang

of Thief-makers, as he very rightly stiles them.

IX. The Observer observed. Or, Remarks on a certain curious Tract entitled, Observations on the Faerie Queene

of Spencer. By Thomas Warton, A. M. &c.' 8vo. Is. Crowder.

The anonymous Author of this Hypercriticism has fome juft ftrictures upon Mr. Warton's performance, and a great many that are a little out-of-the-way. He is certainly a man of letters, but yet he has a most illiberal way of writing: Had he expressed himfelf more like a Gentleman, and not run fo much into fcurrility, we should have allowed him a more honourable place and mention, than we can now prevail on ourselves to afford.

One thing, however, we have done for him ; we have made his title-page intelligible, by printing part of it with Quo:ation Commas: but as it runs, in the front of his pamphlet, the reader might well have imagined that Mr. Warton himself was the Author of this abuse of his own Observations.

X. The Conduit of the Military Gentlemen, inspected by a Lady. With a short Address to the Ladies. 4to. 15. Robinson.

This Lady declaims, very warmly, against the Flashes and Debauchees of the Army; particularly, for their deceit and cruel· ty towards the credulous and kind fair ones who have the ill-luck

to fall in their way : and exhorts them to amend their manners and morals and to become (what nature never meant them to be] -Men of true Worth and Honour,-especially to the Ladies.

XI. The Deformity of Beauty, a Critical Essay. Addressed to Mr. John Green. 4to. 6d. Hooper.

This is an excessively sarcallical examen of Mr. Green's performance, of which, we apprehend, our Readers had enough in our last. Vid. p. 558.

XII. The Importance of the island of Minorca, and Harbour of Port-Mahon, fully considered, &c. &c. 8vo. Is. Baldwin.

Purloined from former accounts, particularly Armstrong's Hif. tory of Minorca ;-with the addition of some common-place politics.

XIII. A Description of Minorca and Gibraltar, &c.' 8vo. 6d. Cooper.