If, continues he, he had made an unfair reprefentation of the cafe; if he had calumniated Chriftianity, or its Profeffors, his adverfaries might have had fome plea: but the contrary is notorious; and the manner in which he treats the holy Scriptures, and the facred character of our Saviour, is fo pious and reverential, that nothing can be more injurious than the reflections which have been thrown out against him."

With regard to the two different tranflations that have appeared of Mr. Rouffeau's book, our Observer is very fevere on that which bears the name of Mr. N; expreffing himself with fome warmth against those illiberal methods which are fometimes taken to injure the reputation of foreign Writers, and impose on the public by miferable tranflations. "You know, fays he, fomething of the mercenary arts of our London Bookfellers, and the illiberal connivances of their hireling Authors. It is to these we owe the barbarous murder of the late beautiful performance of Helvetius; it is from these our Author himself hath received more than one execrable infult: and to these it is owing that our public prints bear monthly witness how poor Voltaire lies bleeding under the mercilefs hands of the moft cruel of all literary affaffins. The fame of Authors is fufficiently confined by the fhort duration and changeable state of the language in which they write; it is, therefore, a strange method which Writers of one nation take to depreciate those of another, and blaft their laurels, while yet green, by wretched tranflations of their works."

In confirmation of the cenfure our Obferver paffes on Mr. N's tranflation, he quotes feveral paffages from the work; printing the fame paffages from the Author and from the Trannator of Eloifa, in oppofite columns. We fhall quote only the two firft examples,

Mr.N.

And finding, that to believe in the Deity, he must renounce the judgment he had formed of the Divine Majefty

The Tranflator of Eloifa.

And, finding that, in order to believe in God, it was neceffary to give up that understanding he hath beftowed on us-.

ROUSSEAU.

Et trouvant que pour croire en Dieu il falloit renoncer au juge➡ ment qu'on avoit reçu de lui

Mr.N.

I fhould even be afhamed to make too great a difplay of my riches; and I fhould always think I heard the man who envies me,

and

Tranflator of Eloifa.

I fhould even be afhamed to make too great a parade of my wealth, and fhould think I always heard the envious man, whom I

mortified

J'aurois même quelque honte d'étaler trop ma richelle, et je croirois toujours voir l'envieux, que j'écraferois de mon fafte, dire à fes voîfins à l'oreille; voila un fripon qui a grand' peur de n'être pas connu pour tel!

The Obferver has felected the paffages he has mentioned, from the second volume only; tho' had he looked into the first, he might have found many others full as extraordinary. Thofe few he has inftanced, however, are fufficient to prove the Tranflator to be as ignorant of the French language, as inattentive to the sense of his Author.

For these reasons, therefore, and from the literal groffness and inelegance of the tranflation in general, our Obferver concludes, "that Mr. N could have no other hand in this translation, than that of lending his name, to countenance a wretched piece of literary journey-work, as unworthy of the pretended Copyift, as injurious to a masterly original.”

Had not this Writer given proofs of the juftice of his cenfure, and, indeed, omitted many groffer errors than any he has exemplified, we might be apt to fufpect him of partiality; but, in justice to the Author as well as to the public, we cannot help faying, we are forry to fee fo mean a performance as this tranflation, ufhered into the world under the fanction of so respect able a name as that of Mr. Nugent.

K-n-k

Emilius: Or, an Effay on Education, By John-James Rouffeau, Citizen of Geneva. Tranflated from the French, by Mr. Nugent. 8vo. 2 vols. 10s. Nourfe and Vaillant.

H

AVING already compleated our account of this ex traordinary work, from a tranflation that appeared before Mr. Nugent's, we have, in this place, only to fay, that a preface is given by the Tranflator, wherein he apolo gizes for the exceptionable parts in the work; and concludes with hoping," that the manly freedom of the Author, and his disinterested regard to the rights and privileges of mankind, will

recommend

recommend him to that protection abroad, which he has forfeit ed at home; and plead his defence in a country where Liberty, banished from most otiter corners of the globe, feems at length to have fixed her refidence."

As to the merit of the tranflation, we refer our Readers to what has been faid in the preceding article.

K-n-k

Political Difquifitions proper for public Confideration, in the present, State of Affairs. In a Letter to a noble Duke. 8vo. Is. 6d. Kearly.

Ο

F the prefent run of temporary pamphlets, here and there one may be worth the reading; and the tract before us feems to be of that number: but, in saying this, let it not be understood as tho' we purposed to mark it with the stamp of excellence. We do not think it entitled to be fo highly distinguifhed from the generality of productions of the fame class: nevertheless, the Author has faid fome things which deserve to be confidered by those who would form a juft judgment of what our prefent contending Parties have to offer on each fide of the debate.

This Difquifitor is an Anti-Butean; a term much preferable to Whig or Tory, because it means fomething. He fets out, like most of his brother Patriots, with a folemn profeffion of his

inviolate regard to truth," his ftrict attention to the voice of reafon ;" and all the rest of that fort, for which we must give him the ufual credit. He begins, however, a little unluckily, with prefuppofing a circumftance which should rather have been proved; and then he might have proceeded on fure grounds; whereas, on the contrary, many of his Readers will poffibly queftion the fact he takes for granted, when he talks of " that univerfal gloom which over-cafts the joy of every thinking and unprejudiced man in thefe kingdoms, in this time of apparent triumph and happiness."

We believe there are many thinking perfons in these kingdoms, men as little fubject to prejudice as their neighbours, who are yet very little affected by this univerfal gloom, and who, perhaps, would never have known that any fuch cloud is at this time hanging over us, had not our Author told them of it. However, let us grant him his gloom, provided it be not fo -thick, and palpably obfcure, as to prevent our discovering whence it arifes. But we need not be long groping in the dark for it; our Author's torch will light us to its fource presently.

He

He has traced it out plainly enough. Here it is: "They [i. e. the thinking, unprejudiced, gloomy people] apprehend, that the office of a Prime Minifter is inconfiftent with the principles of this conftitution." May be fo; but how came this never to make us fo univerfally gloomy before the prefent critical juncture? This reminds us of the jolly old Toper, who being told by his Phyfician, that Port wine was down-right poison to his conftitution: I am forry to hear it, Doctor, faid he, for if that be the cafe, I have actually been poisoning myself for thefe FOURSCORE YEARS past!

But our Author has farther discovered, "that the manner in which that office is executed, AT THIS TIME, is also inconfistent with the principles of good policy, and the effential interests of these kingdoms." This, indeed, is coming to the point at once. If, in truth, fuch apprehenfions as these are raised in the minds of every thinking unprejudiced person in these kingdoms, it is enough to render us as gloomy as the Frenchman describes the English to be in the month of November, though, perhaps, not fufficient to drive us to despair, and make us hang or drown ourselves.

Light, however, as fome people may make of the two foregoing pofitions, our Author's main endeavour, throughout the greatest part of his pamphlet, is to fupport and establish them: in doing which he produces many fhrewd arguments; and is, on the whole, by no means one of Lord Bute's moft contemptible adverfaries. Like fome enterprizing Warriors, he does not want abilities, but he wants conduct to preferve and improve the advantages he fometimes gains over the enemy: who, on the other hand, with a fmall degree of vigilance, may often furprize him in his very camp. His great error is, the being too confident of his numbers; an error which has occafioned the overthrow of many a renowned Commander.He infifts much on the univerfality of the oppofition (in the minds of the people at least) to Lord B---'s Ministry; which is much the fame thing with the gloom above-mentioned: and he fcruples not to give it as "a most inconteftible TRUTH; that if the fentiments of every Englishman alive, [the dead not being allowed to vote upon this occafion] who is not evidently influenced by motives of private intereft, were to be taken this day, ninety and nine in every hundred would be found to defire the difmiffion of the prefent Minifter." But fome incredulous perfons may be apt to enquire into the grounds of this eftimate, and to afk the Author, by what rule his calculation has been formed? He must certainly have had fome very extraordinary means of coming at the knowlege of an inconteftible truth, fo difficult to be ascertained!

afcertained! He is quite exact, we fee; juft one in an hundred; neither more nor lefs, among the impartial LIVING Englifhmen, are content that Lord B-fhould keep his place. Yet ftill, while we are thus in the dark as to the means by which our Author made this inconteftible difcovery of the people's fentiments, there will be Sceptics; there will be Infidels: this is an unbelieving age; and, therefore, our Author had better produce his data, his authorities, and fatisfy his fcrupulous Read

ers at once.

But, notwithstanding our hafty Difquifitor is apt, now and then, to let his imagination out-ftrip his judgment, there are, as we have intimated, good things in his pamphlet. 'Let the Reader who is diffatisfied with his firft forty-feven pages, attend to the remaining eighteen, and he will find in them fome obfervations worth his notice: they do not, indeed, contain entirely new matter, as the Lawyers fay, but they are fraught with matter which ought to be more attended to than it hath been."

"To the univerfal voice of the people, fays he, the Advocates for the Minifter oppofe, the determination of their representative Body, by which, according to their way of reafoning, the people is fo abfolutely concluded, that it is a violation of the confitution for them to attempt interfering perfonally, by offering their opinion, in any matters relating to the Government; and, therefore, as the conduct of the Minifter has been approved of by that Representative, it is not neceflary for him to pay any refpect to the fentiments of the people themselves, which conftitutionally have no just weight, nor are entitled to any regard.

"In order to make a juft eftimate of the force of this argument, it will be neceffary, my Lord, to trace the conftitution, from its first principles, to its prefent form.

"In difquifitions of this nature, freedom is indifpenfibly neceffary to the elucidation of truth! the principles of religion are examined by divine command, to confirm faith.

"In the confufion of times of continual war, when kingdoms were the reward of conquefts, it was the policy of the conquering powers to divide their acquifitions among their military Chiefs, to keep the natives in fubjection, and have their own forces always collected, and ready for any fudden occafions, which forces confifted of the Followers of thofe Chiefs, whom they armed and brought into the field, at their own expence; for war was not then a particular trade, but every fubject was a foldier, going from the plough to battle, and returning again, when it was over, to the very few arts of fuch an unfettled ftate.

"Thefe,