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derived from a celeftial origin the temporal power and poffeffions which they had acquired. These venerable inftitutions had gradually affimilated them felves to the manners and government of their refpective countries; but the oppofition or contempt of the civil power ferved to cement the difcipline of the primitive church. The Chriftians had been obliged to elect their own magiftrates, to raise and distribute a peculiar revenue, and to regulate the internal policy of their republic by a code of laws, which were ratified by the confent of the people, and the practice of three hundred years. When Conftantine embraced the faith of the Chriftians, he feemed to contract a perpetual alliance with a diftinct and independent fociety; and the privileges granted or confirmed by that Emperor, or by his fucceffors, were accepted, not as the precarious favours of the court, but as the juft and unalienable rights of the ecclefiaftical order.'

The Catholic church we are told, was administered by the fpiritual and legal jurifdiction of eighteen hundred Bifhops; of whom one thousand were feated in the Greek, and eight hundred in the Latin provinces, of the empire.-While the civil and military profeffions were separated by the policy of Conftantine, a new and perpetual order of ecclefiaftical minifters, always refpectable, fometimes dangerous, was established in the church and ftate. The review of their ftation and attributes may be diftributed, our Author fays, under the following heads: 1. Popular election; 2. Ordination of the clergy; 3. Property; 4. Civil jurifdiction; 5. Spiritual cenfures; 6. Exercife of public oratory; 7. Privilege of legiflative affemblies.-We refer our Readers to the work itself for what is faid under each of these heads.

The perfecution of herefy, the fchifm of the Donatifts, the Arian controverfy, the character and adventures of Athanafius, the diftracted ftate of the church and empire under Conftantine and his Sons, and the toleration of Paganifm, are the subjects treated of in the twenty-first chapter, and the Reader will no where find them difcuffed with fo much accuracy and ability, within fo narrow a compafs.

From the age of Conftantine to that of Clovis and Theodoric, the temporal interefts both of the Romans and Barbarians were deeply involved in the theological difputes of Arianifm. The hiftorian, therefore, Mr. Gibbon fays, may be permitted refpectfully to withdraw the veil of the fanctuary; and to deduce the progress of reafon and faith, of error and paffion, from the fchool of Plato to the decline and fall of the empire, This is a curious fubject, and what is advanced upon it will afford ample materials for reflection to every philofophical reader. But we fhall conclude this Article with obferving, that Mr. Gibbon, in the beginning of this chapter, has ufed the word fubmitted in a fenfe, wherein, we apprehend, it is never ufed. The complaints and mutual accufations which affailed the throne of Conftantine

Conftantine, as foon as the death of Maxentius had fubmitted Africa to his victorious arms,' &c.-As Mr. Gibbon ftands in the first class of modern writers, he will certainly be often quoted as an authority; it is proper, therefore, to endeavour to prevent the ill effects of fo powerful an example.

[To be continued.]

ART. VI. Dr. MOORE's View of Society and Manners in Italy, concluded. See Review for February.

WE

E have given our Readers fome idea of the contents of the first volume of the publication now before us; and

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This volume opens with an account of bufts,, ftatues, Heathen deities, &c. on which the Author defcants in his usual ftrain of vivacity and pleasant humour. We have then a very agreeable sketch of the late Pope Ganganelli; with an exceeding good ftory of a Scotch Prefbyterian parfon, who took a journey to Rome, to convert the Pope. The ftory ends in a way much to the credit of his Holinefs: as doth, likewise, the account here given of the ceremony which took place on the D. of H. and our Author being prefented to the Sovereign Pontiff. The forgoing particulars are the fubjects of Letters XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII, and XLIX.

In Letter L. the modern Romans are difcuffed; the ladies are compared with thofe of England; and we have fome very pertinent obfervations on portrait-painting.

Letter LI. entertains us with the carnival, the masquerades, the horse-races, the amufements of the theatres at Rome, &c. &c.

In Letter LII. we accompany this agreeable traveller in his journey from Rome to Naples; and in the fixteen following letters, we have the Doctor's account of whatever he deemed worthy of his particular notice at the court, and in the dominions, of his Neapolitan Majefty. From thefe particulars we fhall extract his character of the nobleffe:

The hereditary jurifdi&tion of the nobles over their vaffals fub fifts, both in the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in the full rigour of the feudal government. The peasants therefore are poor; and it de pends entirely on the perfonal character of the mafters, whether their poverty is not the leaft of their grievances. If the land was leafed out to free farmers, whofe property was perfectly fecure, and the leafes of a fufficient length to allow the tenant to reap the fruits of his own improvements, there is no manner of doubt that the estates of the nobility would produce much more. The landlord might have a higher rent paid in money, instead of being collected in kind, which fubjects him to the falaries and impofitions of a numerous train

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of ftewards; and the tenants, on their parts, would be enabled to live much more comfortably, and to lay up, every year, a fmall pittance for their families. But the love of domineering is fo predominant in the breafts of men, who have been accustomed to it from their infancy, that, if the alternative were in their choice, many of them would rather fubmit to be themfelves flaves to the caprices of an abfolute prince, than become perfectly independent, on the condition of giving independence to their vaffals. There is reafon to believe that this ungenerous fpirit prevails pretty univerfally among the nobility all over Europe. The German Barons are more shocked at the idea of their peafants becoming perfectly free, like the farmers of Great Britain, than they are folicitous to limit the power of their princes; and, from the fentiments I have heard expreffed by the French, I very much doubt, whether their high nobility would.accept of the privileges of English peers, at the expence of that infolent fuperiority, and thofe licentious freedoms, with which they may, though no English peer can, treat with impunity the citizens and people of inferior rank. We need be the lefs furprised at this, when we confider that, in fome parts of the British empire, where the equable and generous laws of England prevail, thofe who fet the highest value on freedom, who fubmit to every hardship, and encounter every danger, to fecure it to themfelves, never have fhewn' a difpofition of extending its bleffings, or even alleviating the bondage of that part of the human fpecies, which a fordid and unjusti fiable barter has brought into their power.

The Court of Naples has not yet ventured, by one open a&t of authority, to abolish the immoderate power of the lords over their tenants. But it is believed that the Minifter fecretly wishes for its deftru&tion; and in cafes of flagrant oppreffion, when complaints are brought before the legal courts, or directly to the King himfelf, by the peasants against their lord, it is generally remarked that the Minifler favours the complainant. Notwithflanding this, the mafters have fo many opportunities of oppreffing, and fuch various methods: of teafing their vaffals, that they generally chufe to bear their wrongs in filence; and perceiving that thofe who hold their lands immediately from the Crown, are in a much easier fituation than themselves, without raifing their hopes to perfect freedom, the height of their wishes is to be fheltered, from the vexations of little ty: ants, under the unlimited power of one common mafter. The objects of royal attention, they fondly imagine, are too fublime, and the minds of Kings too generous, to stoop to, or even to countenance in their fervants, the minute and unreafonable exertions, which are wrung at prefent from the hard hands of the exhaufted labourer.

Though the Neapolitan nobility ftill retain the ancient feudal authority over the peasants, yet their perfonal importance depends, in a great measure, on the favour of the King; who, under pretext of, any offence, can confine them to their own eitates, or imprison them at pleafure; and who, without any alleged offence, and without going to fuch extremes, can inflict a punishment, highly fenfible to them, by not inviting them to the amufements of the Court, or not receiving them with fmiles when they attend on any ordinary occafion. Unless this Prince were

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fo very impolitic as to difguft all the nobility at once, and fo unite the whole body against him, he has little to fear from their refentment. Even in cafe of fuch an union, as the nobles have loft the affection and attachment of their peasants, what could they do in oppofition to a ftanding army of thirty thousand men, entirely devoted to the Crown? The eftablishment of tanding armies has univerfally given ftability to the power of the prince, and ruined that of the great lords. No nobility in Europe can now be faid to inherit political importance, or to an independent of, or in oppofition to, the influence of the Crown; except the temporal peers of that part of Great Britain called England.

As men of high birth are feldom, in this country, called to the management of public affairs, or placed in thofe fituations where great political knowledge is required; and as his Majefty relies on his own talents and experience in war for the direction of the army; neither the civil nor military establishments open any very tempting field for the ambition of the nobles, whofe education is ufually -adapted to the parts in life which they have a probability of acting. Their fortunes and titles defcend to them, independent of any effort of their own. All the literary diftinctions are beneath their regard; it is therefore not thought expedient to cloud the playful innocence of their childhood, or the amiable gaiety of their youth, with fevere ftudy. In fome other countries, where a very fmall portion of literary education is thought becoming for young men of rank, and where even this fmall portion has been neglected, they fometimes catch a little knowledge of history and mythology, and fome ufeful moral fentiments, from the excellent dramatic pieces that are reprefented on their theatres. They alfo fometimes pick up fome notion of the different governments in Europe, and a few political ideas, in' the course of their travels. But the nobility of this country very feldom travel; and the only dramatic pieces reprefented here, are operas; in which mufic, not fentiment, is the principal thing attended to. In the other theatrical entertainments, Punchinello is the fhining character. To this difregard of literature among the nobles, it is owing, that in their body are to be found few tiresome, fcholaftic pedants, and none of thofe perturbed fpirits, who ruffle the ferenity of nations by political alarms, who clog the wheels of government by oppofition, who pry into the conduct of minifters, or in any way disturb that total indifference with regard to the public, which prevails all over this kingdom. We are told by a great modern hif torian *, that" force of mind, a fenfe of perfonal dignity, gallantry in enterprise, invincible perfeverance in execution, contempt of danger and of death, are the characteristic virtues of uncivilifed nations." But as the nobles of this country have long been fufficiently civilifed, thefe qualities may in them be supposed to have given place to the arts which embellish a polished age; to gaming, gallantry, mufic, the parade of equipage, the refinements of drefs, and other nameless refinements.'

From Naples we are conducted to Tivoli, Frefcati, and Albano; and thence to Florence, where we meet with much to

* Vide Dr. Robertfon's Hiftory of the Emperor Charles V. Se&t. I. REV. May 1781. engage

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engage the attention of a curious traveller. We next proceed to Milan, Turin, Befançon; and fo to Paris: and the volume concludes with fome excellent obfervations on foreign travel.'

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We must now take leave of thefe entertaining volumes, with the fincere tender of our hearty thanks to the ingenious Author, for the information and pleasure which the perufal of his Travels hath afforded us. To this let us add our hope, if the Doctor goes abroad again, that the favourable reception which his publications have met with, will encourage him to continue his very agreeable communications.

Since this article was finished, a letter has been received from a Correfpondent, who igns R. D. complaining of Dr. Moore's levity, in his account of Mr. Wortley Montagu's perfuming his beard *. We heartily wish that our old facetious friend, Sterne, were alive, to aflift us in a serious investigation of this grave and momentous businefs; but Sterne is gone, and has not left a man behind him, qualified, as he was, to touch a hair of Montagu's beard.

But it is not the liberty taken by Dr. Moore with the beard of Mr. Montagu, that hath offended Mr. R. D.-it is the Doctor's profane allufion to the precious ointment of AARON's beard, which appears to have hurt the piety of our Correfpondent. There can be little doubt,' fays he, 'that the anointing alluded to in the Pfalms, is the Confecration of Aaron, a divine inftitution, and ought for that reason to have been omitted, or treated with more refpect by the Doctor.'

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Nor is it with Dr. M. only, that R. D. is offended. He seems to be angry, alfo, with us, for having tranfcribed the impious paffage from the Doctor's book. Inftead,' fays he, of inferting this impertinent, if not impious, digreffion, in the middle of an entertaining narrative, you ought to have cenfured him for doing fo;-for I am perfuaded, that there is not one of his numerous Readers, nor of yours, but had rather go on with the narrative, than have it interrupted by this unconscionable digreffion.'

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Perhaps our Correfpondent may be fomewhat in the right, with refpect to what he terms the impertinence' of the Author's digreffive remarks on the precious ointment, and on the old verfions of the Pfalms; but really the impiety of the Doctor's merriment did not ftrike us. We were in fuch good humour with the account, taken altogether, of Mr. Montagu, his reverend beard, and his delightful perfumes, that we never thought of mutilating any part of the flory, but eagerly fwallowed the whole, digreffion and all!

But though our Correfpondent is difpleated with Dr. M. he is not fo far exasperated against him as to with him fo fevere a chattifement as was inflicted on fome people who ufed indecent freedoms. with the beards of fome of David's friends;' but, fays he, when the Doctor returns to Edinburgh, if ever he do return, may fome wench, from the highest window of the highest house, pour ber richest

Rev. February, p. 139.

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