questions should, in our opinion, be avoided. This appears to us reasonable, whether the work be intended for the satisfaction of the believer, or the confutation of the infidel. On this account, then, we could not but be sorry, when we saw a considerable portion of the volume appropriated to the subject of Types and Prophecy; because, in matters so much disputed, even the believer will require some originality to repay him for a new demand on his attention; and the infidel will not yield his assent to arguments, of which the force is not universally, or at least generally, acknowledged by believers themselves. When, therefore, we confess, that the subject of prophecies from the Old Testament, quoted and alluded to in the New, appears to us to have been more satisfactorily treated by Dr Sykes, in the preface to his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, and by Bishop Chandler, in his Defence of the Christian Religion*, the venerable author of the work before us must excuse us, if we say, we should rejoice if he had devoted the pages in question to the elucidation of Oriental and Greek learning, or to the sensible dicates of his own excellent judgment.

We have indeed been much gratified by the plain but judicious

manner

The argument from prophecy is certainly much more striking in the aggregate, than in the detail. On this subject we shall take the liberty of borrowing the words of that sensible and liberal divine, Dr Jortin: That Christ was foretold by the prophets, may be shewed, I think, without an accurate discussion of single texts. There are, it may be, a hundred different passages in the Old Testament, relating to some person, whoever he be, one or more, and to certain considerable changes which should happen in the world. Christians say that they relate to Christ, and some of them are produced in these discourses. He who would see more, may consult Fabricius, De Ver. Chr. Rel. p. 569., and Huet Dem. Ev. prop. vii. History, sacred and profane, ancient and modern, will furnish us with a variety of heroes, kings, warriors, philosophers, and illustrious persons. If we endeavour to apply these passages in the Old Testament to any one of these great men, for example, to Judas Maccabæus, to Confucius, to Socrates, to Solon, to Numa, to Scipio Africanus, to Augustus Cæsar, &c. we immediately see that it is a vain attempt; that three-fourths of them are nowise suitable to his character and his deeds; and that it is easy to select many single ones amongst them, which cannot possibly be adapted to him. If we apply them to Christ, and to the religion established by him, a surprising correspondence immediately appears.

To ascribe these coincidences to chance, is to give a very poor and unsatisfactory account of them. He who can believe that chance produced them, ought not to object credulity to Christians.' Discourses concerning the Truth of the Christian Religion, p. 177. (note.) 2d edit.

manner in which he has brought together the result of his investigation into Pagan opinions and practices, on subjects of religion and morals, and compared them with the Jewish and Christian institutions. The result of some particulars, in which he has thus compared them, may be best explained in his own words.

We find, that as the bulk of mankind seemed, in the crowd of false gods which they worshipped, to have lost all sight of the true God; so it likewise may be said of the more learned, that in their wisdom they knew not God. Some there were, who held, indeed, the doctrine of a Supreme Intelligence; but they were neither well enough disposed, nor sufficiently able, to teach it as they ought, with sincerity or truth *. They formed conceptions unworthy of the Deity, making at the same time a number of subordinate beings the objects of worship; along with these, bringing in a train of fantastical, superstitious, and profane notions. And thus, while they prided themselves in the distinction of philosophers, they only showed, for the most part, a superiority over the vulgar, in being more ingenious in folly and absurdity.

The power and strength of human reason, to investigate religious knowledge, must be seen and tried, if not in the popular establishments of a country, yet in the theories of the learned and inquisitive. But neither in the one nor the other do we meet with truth, pure and uncorrupt, without a mixture of error and elaborate folly. In the various regulations and institutions intended for public use; in all the inquiries undertaken for private information and improvement; in every effort of genius, to what purpose soever directed, men have failed of attaining to a system of religion, so just in its doctrines as that of the Jewish nation.

And here the wonder will return upon us, if we set a divine interference aside, how it should happen, that this people professed a religion so very different from all other religious systems of every kind; those, more particularly, of their neighbours, who were held in such high estimation for science by the rest of the world. The learned came from the remotest countries, and were glad to borrow from the treasures of Chaldæa and Egypt: these were the great sources of knowledge. How was it, that the Jews drew not waters from these fountains, so much sought after by other people, and so near at hand to themselves? Or rather, we ought to ask, whence had they their clear and pure waters, when all the springs were everywhere muddy and corrupt?' p. 51.

The following observation appears to us solid as well as ingenious, and we do not recollect to have met with it before. • Had

*See Bishop Warburton concerning their double doctrine: the one held out to the people in common; the other, what they taught their hearers in private. Vol. ii. B. 3. § 2, 3. Notissimum est, illud Platonis, Τον μεν εν ποιητην και πατέρα τε δε τε παντος ευρείν τε ερνον, και εύξοντα εις παντας αδύνατον λεγειν. Timæ. p. 28.

Had the law of the Jews been of human institution, it were to be expected, that Abraham would have appeared as the first giver and promulgator. He had left his native country, to go in quest of a new habitation, (Gen. xii.); and having fixed his seat in Canaan, in the midst of a warlike people, who were strangers to him, some rules and regulations might have been thought necessary for the convenience of him and his followers. At least, it is on such occasions, and from the like beginnings, that states and commonwealths have usually taken their first rise.

He had not been long in Canaan, before he had an opportunity of signalizing himself in a war, in which the kings of the country had suffered a defeat; and he no sooner took a part in it, than he gave a turn to the action, and victory declared in his favour (Gen. xiv.). The country seems at that time to have been divided into a number of petty kingdoms; and Abraham appears to have possessed a torce and strength, which, compared with that of his neighbours, was by no means inconsiderable. He was, besides, of that eminence and authority among his own people, which entitled him to become the head and founder of a state. Thus he was in circumstances which both invited and required him, according to the usual rules of proceeding, to think of framing a system of laws, and of settling some form of government, for the security and establishment of him and his followers. Yet, it was not Abraham, but Moses, who, many years after, engaged in the office of giving laws to the people of the Jews; though, to all appearance, his situation was as discouraging, and as adverse to the purpose, as that of the former was favourable.' p.64.

Had our author not confined himself to the outlines of his very extensive subject, or had he applied himself more intensely to those parts of his argument, which we think would have better repaid his attention and gratified his readers, we are of opinion, that he might have entered much more particularly into the detail of the Mosaic law, and shown its superiority over every other mere human institution, (especially of those which approach the nearest in point of time), by its correct notions of human duty, and its enlarged views of human comfort.

As it will be thought, from the nature of the topics enumer ated above, that the discourse occasionally assumes the form of Polemic, we can assure our readers, that the tone of discussion employed by our author constitutes a most legitimate and Christian species of warfare. The only expression, throughout the whole work, to which even the most bitter hater of Odium Theologicum could, by any perverseness of construction, apply that appellation, is to the following:

'The

Possibly Romulus, when he first laid the foundation of Rome, was not able to muster a much larger, certainly not a more respectable number of followers than Abraham at this time.

The writer above alluded to, willing to persuade his readers, that the ves of Plato is the λoys of St John, goes on to observe," that the theology of the Philosopher could never have been established by all his eloquence, had it not been confirmed by the celestial pen of the Evangelist" an observation built on a false position; and is as groundless as it is insidious. "Dignosci queat," says "Dignosci queat," says Mosheim, " ex animæ mundies doctrina in Timæo, ut et de mente in Philebo, quam parum Platonis quæ dicitur trinitas, cum Christiana consentiat."

With joy and gladness should we behold the time, when works of controversy shall appear upon any subject of religion, morals, or politics, or indeed upon any subject of inferior moment, (for it is not always true that the passions rise in due proportion to their real interest), with no more symptoms of acrimony than this. We should hail it as the dawn of those halcyon days which, we are assured, will attend the full prevalence of the holy religion we profess.

Upon the whole, we consider this volume as bearing honourable testimony to the industry, good sense, and candour, of its venerable author; and we recommend it, as furnishing a series. of important facts and observations, to all ingenuous inquirers into the very interesting subject of which it treats.

ART. XV. Travels of four years and a half in the United States of America, during 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802. Dedicated, by permission, to Thomas Jefferson, Esq. President of the United States. By John Davis. 8vo. London.

1803.

R DAVIS is a pedagogue, who would be a wit and a fine gentleman. He went to America avowedly as an adventurer, or, as he more elegantly expresses it, the architect of his own fortune;' and subsisted there, partly by translating occasional publications from the French, and partly by teaching children their rudiments in parish schools and private families. In this way, he appears to have roamed through the greater part of the Southern States, falling sentimentally in love with all his female pupils, and landladies' daughters, and changing his situation every two or three months, either because he was tired of it, or because his employers thought proper to dismiss him. His book is entirely occupied with the story of his own exploits and adventures, and ought rather to be called Memoirs of his Life, during his stay in America, than an account or description of the country. With the exception of some observations on the climate and state of society in Carolina, and a topographical account of the city of Washing

ton,

ton, this book contains nothing of a descriptive nature, and little that is calculated to make a lasting impression on the mind. In running it over, we are indeed occasionally amused with a peep, as it were, at the manners of the people among whom he travelled; but of the state of agriculture, commerce, aud the arts, we learn nothing. Except the mocking bird and the rattle-snake, we hear very little of the productions of the country; and on the interesting subject of its government and politics, a total silence is observed. Mr Davis's observations seem principally to have been directed to the manners of the people of America; but, unfortunately, he had not an opportunity of visiting the New England states, where, in this particular, he would have met with the most originality and room for speculation; and, in the southern part of the Union, he seems to have directed his attention only to the lower classes of the people. His chief associates, indeed, appear to have been an itinerant English Doctor, and a wandering Irish schoolmaster, with whom he used to tipple porter and quote Virgil, and with several of whose epistolary effusions, both in verse and in prose, he has favoured the public in this volume.

Though we can assure our readers, that there is very little to be learned from these travels, yet, as they are preceded by a complimentary epistle from no less a person than the President of the United States, and as the author himself arraigns all preceding travellers of want of taste, want of literature, or incapacity for observation,' we think it adviseable to give a short sketch of his proceedings, and some few specimens of his own peculiar excellencies.

He landed at New York, where he translated Bonaparte's Campaign, and was introduced to Mr Burr, Vice-President of the United States, whose eloquence he praises in a line from Homer, and whose daughter he celebrates in a hemistich of Horace. Here, also, he used to drink Madeira with a Major Howe, who had unfortunately been metamorphosed into a deist by reading an odd volume of Gibbon's history.

Before this period, the Major was a constant attendant on the Established Church; but he now enlisted himself under the banners of the infidel Palmer, who delivers lectures on deism at New-York, and is securing for himself and followers considerable grants of land in hell.' pp. 22. 23.

From New-York he walked to Philadelphia with his friend the physician; and though they must have passed through the greater part of the state of New Jersey, the only remarks that he favours us with, are, that he was prevented from sleeping at Elizabeth

town