with in thefe volumes, we are really at a lofs to conjecture.If the publick fhould demand a new edition of the doctor's Mifcellanies, we would recommend to him to ornament it with a reprefentation of Diogenes the Cynic trampling upon the cloak of Plato.

IV. A Reviews of the Characters of the principal Nations in Euгоре. Two Vols. 8vo. Pr. 8s. 6d. in boards. Cadell.

THE

HERE is no fpecies of knowledge of higher importance than that of human nature; it is a fcience which, as Lord Bacon expreffes it, comes home to the bofoms of all mankind, and is therefore worthy of the attention of men of all ranks and ftations in life; however various their studies and purfuits, they are all equally capable of receiving improvement and information from this moft inftru&tive and noble branch of philofophy. Other fciences and intellectual acquifitions feem to be confined to particular profeffions; but the knowledge of human nature is the concern of the whole fpecics; divines and philofophers, lawyers and physicians, mathematicians, philologers and poets, are equally benefited by this great fcience, which feems fo well calculated to throw. light upon thofe ftudies, to which they peculiarly attach themfelves, and which from thence derive their laft perfection and refinement. This important branch of knowledge is by nothing more effectually promoted, than by studying and examining the fpirit, manners, and character of different nations, in all of which, human nature, though effentially the fame, is fo diverfified, as to give rife to the moft curious and useful obfervations; and the fpecies in general cannot but be highly improved by a combination of the feveral particulars that are laudable or worthy of imitation amongst the national bodies, into which the inhabitants of the earth are fubdivided. Hence it is mentioned as one of the most distinguishing circumstances in the character of the fage Ulyffes, that he had studied the manners and cuftoms of a variety of nations, and feen a number of different cities,

mares bominum multorum vidit & urbes.

This has made the tafte for travelling fo confpicuous in all ages amongst men of a philofophical turn of mind; and nature feems to have placed fuch a variety of products in different. countries, in order to introduce that commercial intercourfe, which contributes fo much to improve and civilize the species, that, as the celebrated Montefquieu obferves, wherever commerce has prevailed, mildness of manners and rational principles have diftinguifhed the nation by which it has been cul

tivated,

tivated. Having premifed thus much concerning the import ance of the work before us, we shall proceed to give the reader an analysis of the first volume, which turns upon the national character of the English, French, Italians, and Spaniards, referving the second volume to a future examination.

The author begins by observing, that there is no stronger proof of the inconftancy and mutability of all human things, than the prodigious change effe&ted during the course of the two last centuries, in the minds, manners, and political conftitution of the people of Great Britain. He confiders the Reformation as the first step they made towards fhaking off that mental flavery under which they had groaned during fo 'many ages, though the nation continued ftill to be fettered by the weight of an oppreffive and almost unlimited power in he government. But at the Revolution the English nation seemed to fhine out in its complete effulgence. Since that time. though changes have happened, yet they have been rather of perfonages and collateral accidents; the main body, as it were, of that fpirit, which informed the nation, fill fubfifts unaltered and unimpaired; and the English of thofe days were, in every effential refpect, the fame people they are at prefent.

Our author then proceeds to obferve, that the prefent English are lefs under the influence of prejudice, than any other nation whatever, according to the unanimous avowal of foreigners themselves. He inftances in the little refpect paid to royalty, as well as to noble birth; at the fame time juftly obferving, that the want of reverence for their betters in the English common people, may be deduced from the unfortunate æra of our civil wars in the last century. The English nobility and gentry, however, are in general, as our author remarks in their praife, perfons of far fuperior abilities to their equals in rank in other countries; this he afcribes to their being born in a land of freedom, which fecures them an education on a much more liberal plan, than the maxims of most other European governments will admit of. The impartiality of our author to his own country appears in the fucceeding pages, where the propenfity of the English to fuicide is animadverted upon, as diftinguishing the nation in a deplorable manner from every other civilized people.

This very juft and merited cenfure is followed by an obfervation, the novelty of which, we must own, furprises us; namely, that love, however known in other countries, is no where else fo powerfully felt as in England. This obfervation we can by no means fubfcribe to that of the celebrated Montefquieu appears much more confonant to reafon, and better fupported by experience, viz. that the influence of love

is

is proportioned to that of the feveral climates; that in the frozen regions of the north it is hardly known; that in temperate climates, there is a fort of caprice, or whimsical paffion, which the natives feem to miftake for it; but that in warm climates it is the life, the foul, and the invigorating principle which animates the inhabitants. Here he has occafion to take notice of the fuperior beauty of the English women to that of the fair-fex in other countries, a fuperiority allowed them by all foreigners.

Our author proceeds to vindicate his countrymen from the charge brought against them by the French, of being of a ferocious difpofition, prone to indulge itself in fcenes of blood and barbarity. To clear them from this imputation he obferves, that the rack and other cruel methods of extorting confeffions are not in ufe among the English: 2. that murders, affaffinations and duels are much lefs frequent in England than In other countries: 3. that even robbers and highwaymen in England are feldom guilty of acts of inhumanity. In the fubfequent pages, he draws a fort of parallel betwixt the English and French theatres; but fo much has been faid upon this fubject, that it feems to be quite exhaufted, and we think it altogether unneceffary to add any thing farther upon that head. Next follows a high encomium of our English artificers, with regard to which we apprehend notwithstanding, that the French will hardly fubmit to his decifion. After having thus enumerated the characteristic qualities of the English, and refuted most of the charges brought againft them by foreigners, he concludes with an obfervation of M. de St. Evremont's, that no nation whatever difplays more courage in the men, more beauty in the women, and a greater portion of good fenfe in either fex.

In the fubfequent Effay, which turns upon the character of the French, our author proves the great ignorance in which that people lived before the reformation, from their belief in witchcraft and exorcifims, and the many abfurdities which oc cur in their history. He continues to obferve that the heats occafioned by opposition to the reformation, and the frenzy of duelling, farther retarded the improvement of the French, as did feveral fubfequent broils during the reigns of fucceeding kings, infomuch that filk was in thofe ages fo rare in France, as to be worn by none but royal and princely perfonages. The age of Lewis XIV. is, as he juftly obferves, the epocha at which the French may be faid to have rifen above water. At that period they from domeftic faction and ftrife grew into concord and unanimity. From an almost intire ftagnation of made and commerce, they engaged at once in manufactures

and

and bufinefs of every denomination; and though they had been before in total want of fhipping, in short time they ex

tended their navigation to every quarter of the globe. But the French are at prefent, he says, funk to a degree of pufillanimity and abje&nefs, equally low with that of any European nation whatever; infomuch as though forms of law remain, their validity cannot preponderate against court favour, which whoever is capable of fecuring, may bid defiance to all the laws and judges of the kingdom.

Our author next takes notice, that the over great communication between the two fexes in France, is productive of fe veral ill confequences; gravity being from the perpetual concomitance of the women almoft totally effaced in the men; while from the fame caufe modefty and foftness of behaviour have, in the fair fex, given way to a vivacity and forwardness, that can only become the other. He then juftly ridicules the infatuation of the French for noble birth, which is fo univerfally prevalent, that even domeftics think themfelves entitled to notice and regard in proportion to the quality of their maf ters. However, he acknowledges that the nobility of France are a brave and gallant body of men. With regard to the lawyers and gownfmen he obferves, that they are in a parti cular manner difcountenanced by the court, whofe authority is often exerted against the sense and judgment of the French parliaments. Next to the dignitaries of the law, those, he fays, who fhine moft in France by the influence and importance of their flation, are the farmers general and financiers. the richest individuals of this kind in Europe. Many of these patronize literature, and live in a liberal hofpitable manner, which procures them general efteem.

The account our author gives of the French clergy, in which they are extolled for the regularity of their lives, and their diligence and labour in the duties of their function, feems liable to fome objection. The French prelates are noted for their debauched luxurious lives, in which they are but too often imitated by their inferiors. With regard to the abbés, who being neither ecclefiaftics nor laymen, but a mongrel tribe, are, of confequence, restricted by no particular rules; they lead many of them a life of diffipation and libertinifm, and devote themselves as much, or more than any other set of men to the fociety of the fair fex, with whom they are often highly fuccefsful, as they furpafs all their countrymen in the arts of flattery, and the talent of infinuating themselves into a female's good graces. It is juftly obferved by our author, that in their manner of meeting death, the French, as well as other European nations differ effentially from the English: 'a

French

Frenchman is by the dread of death often rendered the prey of those watchful alert friars, who go about comforting the fick, and extorting from their purfes thofe donations and largeffes, which contribute fo materially to their subsistence.

In the courfe of his review our author proceeds to the fpecies of beings called in France petit maitres, a race well known in England by the appellation of fops and coxcombs ; and the defcription he gives of them is lively and picturesque. He then touches upon the article of cleanlinefs, in which the French are, with truth, affirmed to be greatly inferior to the English; as many of the former, whilft they appear abroad as fpruce and fine as their toilet can make them, leave such homes behind them as our meaneft tradesmen would be loath to dwell in. With respect to the boafted fuperiority of the Paris architecture over that of London, our author afcribes it intirely to the immenfe quarries of ftone in the neighbourhood of that city. He at the fame times proves the greater progress of profperity among the people of England than amongst those of France, from a comparison of the environs of Paris with thofe of London; as likewife from that air of elegance which our public diversions have, far beyond those of the French. He, however, acknowledges that Paris has one manifeft advantage over London, in the number and decorations of its public gardens; but adds, that neither the Tuilleries, the Luxemburg, nor the Palais Royal, can in all the days of the year equal that exhibition, which on any fair Sunday enchants thofe that walk in St. James's Park. Whilft our author acknowledges the great fuperiority of the French ladies in all the arts of pleafing, he laments that the evil genius of gallantry often perverts all their good qualities, rendering them fubfervient to very iniquitous ends; and concludes his observations upon the French with a wish, that it may never find its way into this ifland, and that our fair country-women may continue to preserve the reputation of being not only the moft beautiful, but also that much nobler praise of being the moft perfect and amiable patterns of modesty.

This review of the national character of the French is followed by an inquiry into that of the Italians: his first observation on these people is that they have for fome centuries addicted themselves to the theory of politics, as much as their anceftors did to the practice of war; no European nation having produced a greater number of political and hiftorical writers, many of whom are very worthy of perufal. Notwithstanding this, few countries in Europe are worfe governed than Italy; and no people, he says, are more wretched than the generality of that nation. In fact all the states in Italy, except those of Lucca

and