Sixthly, One very great lofs which happened by the hafty diffolution and granting away of thefe houfes, was, that better provifions [provifion] was not made for the performance of divine offices in fuch churches as had been appointed [appropriated] to the Monafteries, by which both the Minifters and Parishioners of thofe places fuffer to this day; and is justly counted a scandal to our Reformation (h).’

In the fourth book we have a particular account of the feveral religious houfes within the county of York, their Founders, the respective Abbots, and Priors, together with a very long detail of the lands, and other revenues granted to each. In this part of his work, our Author has made great ufe of Dugdale's Monafticon, and flatters himfelf that his prefent undertaking may tend to perfect and compleat that learned and useful work, with respect to the county of York; efpecially as he has brought to light (he fays) above two thousand original Charters, &c. more than are contained in Dugdale, for this particular diftrict of which he treats. Whoever, therefore, is inclined to know every thing that can posfibly be now recovered, relating to the religious houfes in Yorkshire, before their diffolution, may here meet with ample matter for gratifying his curiofity.

By way of Appendix we have a scheme and proposals, in order to form a Society, (in imitation of one of the like kind already established in Ireland) for compiling a compleat Natural and Civil Hiftory of Yorkshire and to fhew how eafily such a scheme might be executed, the Author has given the Hiftory of one Parifh, as a fpecimen; which is, indeed, very full and particular, and to fuch as are acquainted with that part of the country, may be very entertaining. In order, therefore, to carry fo laudable a defign into execution, through the whole extenfive county of York, the following Propofals are made, viz.

1. That a Society be erected of all the Subfcribers; out of whom a certain number fo elected (i) to meet at York monthly, quarterly, or oftener, as occafion fhall require,

(b) Here the Doctor feems to have overfhot himself a little for if the diffolution of religious houfes, and the alienation of their poffeffions, were prior to the Reformation, (as is affirmed in the first obfervation above) how can the poverty of fuch churches, as had the miffortune to be a propriated to Monafleries, be jufly counted any Jeandl to our Rifmation, which is fuppofed to be foferior to that alienation of property, which was the real caufe of fuch poverty?

(i) The mann r of electing does not appear.

to

<to confider of proper methods for acquiring and propagating a competent knowlege of the county, in its feveral parts. both from their own experience, and their correfpondence with others.

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2. That a correfponding Society be formed of

num

ber of Gentlemen, or more, in each Riding or Divifion, for forwarding the faid work.

3. That each Gentleman, in town or country, when admitted, do pay the fum of as an admiffion fee; and fo much every year, in order to raise a fund for carrying on the views of the Society, to be expended as they • from time to time fhall direct. By which fund proper perfons may be enabled, under the election (k) of the Society, to travel through the feveral hundreds or divifions of the 'county, to obferve and collect what is remarkable and curious, in art or nature, therein; and to return, and report their obfervations to the Society.

4. The Society to appoint a committee of a few of their 'members, to methodize the faid returns; and out of them to form accounts of the several divifions travelled into, fubject to the revifal and approbation of the Society in general.

5. That a Prefident, and

Secretaries, &c. be elected yearly, on day of, to conduct the bufinefs of the • faid Society.

6. That the fund arifing from this scheme, be depofited in a box, to be kept under the keys of the President and Secretaries. And that no meetings of the Society be fup'ported out of the box-fund, nor any thing drawn thereout, but for the (1) purposes as the Society fhall judge necessary. ¡

7. Suppofing that every perfon in the county, of 1001. per annum, was annually to fubfcribe 10 s. 6d. or was ⚫ each to contribute in proportion to his estate, at the rate of only 5 s. for every hundred pounds per annum, (and that is no large fum for two or three years) here would be a fund fufficient to carry on the whole work, and to have Maps taken by actual furvey, not only of the county at large, but alfo of each Hundred or Wapontac, by a larger fcale than has ever yet been done in any county; befides having views of every thing remarkable, either by nature or art. The Subfcription-money to be paid to the Corref(k) Rather direction.

(1) We fhould read fuch purposes.

U 4

ponding

⚫ponding Society in each divifion, or to whom they fhall depute, to be remitted to the Prefident and Secretaries at York, and they to account to the rest of the Committee, who shall audit the accounts quarterly, and then lay them before the whole Society at their annual meeting, for their perufal and fatisfaction.

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8. The correfponding members will be of great affiftance in their feveral parts, in aid of the travelling members, by informing them where matters relative to the main defign do lie; and to help the corrections of the Maps of this county hitherto publifhed, which are very defective and erroneous. The travelling members alfa will, by their obfervations, contribute much to that end.

C 9. If the Diocefans of the different parts of this county would fo far concur as to recommend to the parochial Cler⚫ gy of their respective dioceses, the purposes of this Scheme, along with a printed copy of the Queries (m), it would still render it more effectual, and in lefs time. And if carried. < on with refolution and zeal, for two or three years, would gather fufficient materials, to give the most exact account of this large and opulent county, now abounding with as great a variety, and as many works of nature and art, as any place of the fame compass in this kingdom.'

10. If the respective Maps and Views be well executed, and the historical part be judiciously done, I doubt not, (fays the Author), but most of the money expended, would be raised by this means, to reimburse the Subscribers, or to be applied as they fhall direct. For what Gentleman ⚫ would want fuch an accurate set of Maps, &c. or be without fo compleat a History?

The benefits arifing from fuch a Society, thus voluntarily formed, are too many to be particularly enumerated; and fo obvious and notorious, that they need not be mentioned.'

We join entirely in opinion with the Doctor, as to the benefits that might arife from fuch a Society as he propofes, and heartily with he may be able to form fuch an one: tho' we cannot help being fomewhat dubious of his fuccefs, unless the Gentlemen of Yorkshire are more inclined to promote Subfcriptions of this nature, than fome others that we have

(m) Thefe Queries are alfo fubjoined, and will tend greatly towards obtaining a full and accurate knowlege of every parifh in the county, if properly and diftinctly answered: but they are too long for pur infertion.

heard

heard of. But, indeed, when we reflect, that the Subfcribers are to have the fole difpofal of their own money, as well as the choice of the propereft perfons to be employed in conducting the defign; one would, not unreasonably, hope, that Gentlemen of intereft, and public fpirit, will scarce be wanting to promote fo defirable an undertaking, as that under confideration feems to be.

P.

Introductory Lectures to the Sacred Books of the New Teftament. By John David Michaelis, Profeffor in his Majefty's Univerfity of Gottingen. 4to. 12 s. bound. Linde.

HE great multiplicity of Commentators upon the feveral parts of Holy Scripture, as well as the enormous length to which moft writings of that kind have been extended, has often, and very juftly, been a fubject of complaint amongst the learned. The ingenious work before us, therefore, being more concife than any thing of the kind hitherto published, will recommend itself to thofe Students who wish to attain the neceffary knowlege of their profeffion, without labouring through the learned lumber of huge and difheartening folios.

As the Author appears to have wrote chiefly for the use of his Pupils, without an intention of provoking Controversy, any fingularity of opinion (when it occurs, as it sometimes does) will be the lefs offenfive in him. He seldom, indeed, departs from received opinions, without having confidered his fubject, at least as thoroughly as the majority of those who receive them. But if the learned fhould think it, in any respect, exceptionable, the Author feems to be fo hearty a well-wifher to the ftudy of the Sacred Writings, that he will scarce be mortified to find his book the means of producing fomething more perfect, of the fame kind, from another hand. In the mean time, however, the Theological Student may here find the marrow of fome of the best Writers upon the New Teftament, reduced into a very moderate compass, with frequent references to fuch Authors as have treated each point more at large, if he is difpofed to consult them.

But, as the Author judiciously obferves in his Preface,• Whoever defires to understand the books of the New Teftament clearly and fundamentally, muft not content himself

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with the use of common Expofitors and Commentators, He will stand in need of fome more general accounts of the History and Defigns of this facred book*. Whoever, for inftance, is unacquainted with the age and authority of the different Verfions, is not qualified to apply them to the purpose of forming a right judgment of thofe various readings, upon which interpretations are grounded. If we know not the defign of each Apoftle in compiling his Gofpel, and writing his Epiftle, we cannot perfectly underftand him. If we know not whether there are Hebraisms in the Apoftolical Writings, we fhall be at a lofs what credit to give to thofe Expofitors who illuftrate the Greek text from the Hebrew, and other Oriental Languages. The following work is intended to remove fuch ignorance.'

In the method and difpofition of his work, our learned -Author feems peculiarly to have aimed at brevity; notwithstanding which, he is far from being obfcure. He firft treats -in general of the genuine Antiquity, the Language, the various Readings, the Manufcripts, the principal Editions, the Marks of -Diftinction, the Afpirations and Accents, the ancient Versions, and the divine Inspiration of the Books of the New Teftament. ! After endeavouring, fomewhat more fully, to illustrate this laft point, which is the foundation of our religion; he proceeds, in the latter part of his undertaking, to give an Introduction to each individual book; in doing which, he seems to have attained the end propofed by him, of being as concife and useful as poffible.-Indeed, fome Readers may poffibly think him too concife: but then it fhould be remembered, that he intended this book as the fubject of his public Lectures to his Pupils; and, therefore, was not unwilling to leave fome points to be more amply difcuffed in thofe Lectures themfelves, of which the prefent work contains, as it were, only the heads.-A laudable method this! of training up Pupils intended for the facred Miniftry of the Chriftian Church: and, perhaps, not altogether unworthy the attention of more ancient Univerfities, than this infant one of Gottingen, which owes its exiftence to the paternal affection of our prefent auguft Sovereign, its illuftrious founder.

*Some tolerable idea of the ftate of the world at the time of writing the Holy Scriptures, feems alfo indifpenfibly requifite to prevent mistakes in the perufal of them. From a want of this neceffary knowlege, we remember to have heard of a man who turned Papist, merely, (as he himself alleged) becaufe he happened to read, in the Acts of the Apoles, that St. Paul was a Roman!

That