Homer," a notorious idiot, one hight Whacum; who, from an under-spur-leather to the law, is become an understrapper to the play-house, who has lately burlesqued the Metamorphoses of Ovid, by a vile translation, &c. The fellow is concerned in an impertinent paper called the Censor." To the style in which the Censor is composed no praise is due; it is too often bald, vulgar, and ungrammatical; there are, however, a few papers which are worthy of being rescued from oblivion; and among these I would particularly distinguish N° 60 on the Prometheus of Eschylus, N° 83 on Hope, and N° 84 on Sleep. It is some, though not an unequivocal proof of merit, that, of the numerous periodical papers which were published during the era under consideration, when Theobald produced his essays, the Censor may still be procured by research; the rest, whose mere names have only to produce, no enquiry on my part has yet been able to detect; they are now, as the Editor of the Tatler remarks, seen but seldom, and seldomer read. The following list, if not complete, is sufficiently extensive to shew how very general this mode of publication had become, even in the first few years after the close of the Spectator. 3. THE MISCELLANY. 4. THE HERMIT. 5. THE SURPRIZE. 6. THE SILENT MONITOR. 7. THE INQUISITOR. 8. THE PILGRIM. 9. THE RESTORER. 10. THE INSTRUCTOR. 11. THE GRUMBLER. This, which was a weekly paper, was probably the production of Ducket, and is alluded to in the following lines of the quarto edition of the Dunciad, 1728: Behold yon pair in strict embraces join'd; Shall this a Pasquin, that a Grumbler write. * From this barren catalogue, we now turn to a paper of a superior kind, and which, though not included, as a whole, in the number of our classical productions, yet possesses several essays which would confer honour on any work; it was conducted by Ambrose Phillips, and entitled, Phillips, of whose 12. THE FREETHINKER. *The author of these sketches would be happy to receive any information relative to these almost forgotten papers, through the medium of the Gentleman's, or any other respectable Magazine. life we have already given a sketch, as a contri butor to the Spectator, was powerfully aided in the prosecution of the Freethinker by some of the most respectable characters in the kingdom; by Boulter, Archbishop of Armagh; by Pearce, Bishop of Rochester; and by the Right Hon. Richard West, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. To these may be added the Rev. George Stubbs, the Rev. Gilbert Burnet, and the Rev. Henry Steevens. Of these contributors by far the most considerable was Mr. Stubbs, many of the best papers in the collection being of his composition. He was Rector of Granville in Dorsetshire, and published, in the London Journal of 1724, and afterwards separately in octavo, an interesting little work under the title of "A new Adventure of Telemachus," intended as an illustration of the principles of genuine liberty and free government. He was the author also of "A Dialogue on Beauty," in imitation of the style and manner of Socrates, and of a translation of Madame Sevigne's Letters. He was gifted with taste and genius, but secluded and reserved in his life and manners. The Freethinker began its career on Monday, March 24th, 1718; was published twice a week, and terminated with the one hundred and fty-ninth paper, on Monday, September 28th, 1719, forming three volumes duodecimo, the second edition of which appeared in 1733. The great object of these essays is, to correct the prejudices and mistakes which exist in religion, general politics, and literature; and, consequently, a large portion of the work is of a serious and argumentative kind. The observations on knowledge and learning, which occupy Nos. 85, 87, 89, 91, 111, 113, 115, and 117, are peculiarly worthy of attention. The essay in N° 114, on the shortness and vanity of life, is from the pen of Dr. Pearce, and is highly estimable for its invention and morality. To mitigate the severity, however, attendant on such topics, and to superadd the charm of variety, the authors of the Freethinker have occasionally interspersed several pieces of wit, humour, and imagination; nor are the interests, the manners, and conduct of the fair sex, by any means forgotten; indeed, the work is dedicated to the ladies of Great Britain, and they will find in its pages many pertinent and useful remarks. Of the papers which are devoted to fiction, the "Winter Evening Tales" in Nos. 80, 84, 92, 109, and 110, display a happy combination of fancy and precept; and the story of Cha-Abbas, King of Persia, in Nos. 128 and 129, is, in a high The degree, pleasing, pathetic, and instructive. diction usually employed by the Freethinker is easy and perspicuous; and I am persuaded that a very interesting selection might be made from his volumes. 13. THE PATRICIAN. The first number of this political paper was printed on March 21st, 1719; it was written as an answer to the Plebeian' of Sir Richard Steele, and was intended to have been continued weekly. It reached, however, but four numbers, and expired on April 11th, 1719. The first number was republished by Mr.. Nichols in 1790, in an octavo edition of the Town Talk, &c. &c. of Steele. It was 14. THE MODERATOR. In the volume just mentioned, Mr. Nichols has given the only number of this work which was printed. meant to steer between the contending parties on the celebrated Peerage Bill; it appeared on April 4th, 1719, and went through a second edition on November 28th of the same year. papers owe their origin to a dispute between the dealers in the woollen and calico manufactures. The first appeared on October 30th, 1719, under the title of "The Manufacturer, or British |