1g1.} 
In the year 1770, a stranger undertook 
to publish, every Tuesday, in Norwich, 
a_satyrical paper called ‘* Robin Snap,” 
which was modelled after the ‘Tatler, 
and sold at one penny. The editor en- 
gaged Fransham’s assistance, and ob- 
tained from him several contribuuions; 
but the work soon expired, of. neglect. 
Fransham, however, was pleased. with 
the task, and continued weekly to pro- 
vide His paper, long after the publication 
had ceased. There are thirty numbers, 
with this $uperscription, among, his ma- 
nuscripts. 
In 4771 the gai-fly, to use his own ex- 
pression, stung again, With the little 
accumulations of his pedagogic industry, 
Fransham suddenly set off for Londons 
and established himself near Hyde-Park 
corner; wishing deliberately to. compare 
our modern metropolis and what he had 
read of Athens and of Rome. He award- 
ed to the cast of its civilization a re- 
semblance with that of the ancient Alex- 
andria, - j 
. A part of his object also was the pub- 
lication of several manuscripts, which 
he had prepared in that view.. The 
principal among them, were: (1) Ihe 
Life and Institutes of Lyeurgus, digested 
from Xenophon, Plutarch and others. — 
{2.) Aristopia, or the Scheme of a Per- 
fect Government,—(3.) A Synopsis o¢ 
might most fitly be classed.by means of the 
nomenclature employed in Greek mytlio- 
logy. Thus he received a plurality of 
deities, calling them Pan, Juno, /Bscula- 
pius, andthe like; but Mis system of poly- 
theism was peculiar. 
His opinion concerning the. attributes of 
these divinities may best be taken from the 
Manuscript note attached by him to p. 520, 
of Hume’s Dialogue on Natural Religion, 
*€ There may, be four hypotheses concern- 
jng the first causes, or presiding principles, 
of the uuiverse: 1, That they have per- 
féct goodness; 2 ‘Tat they have perfect 
malice; 3. That they are opposite, having 
both goodness ad malice; 4, That they 
have neither goodness nor malice. Mixt 
phzenomena can Hisver prove the two former 
uomixt principles: and some uniformity, 
or steadiness of a general course, may seem 
#o oppose the third. In consequence, the 
fourth appears most probable.” 
“Under the tile ** Antiqua Religio,” 
Fransham leaves a cOllection of solemn 
hymns,addressed to fupiter, Minerva, Venus, 
Hercules, and the other deities, ‘These are not 
transcripts from the analogous compositions 
of Mr. Thornas Vaylor, but were versified by 
Vransham himself, in his moments of devout 
psp wapion, 
Mentoir of the late-John Franshami 
313 
Classical Philosophy. These manuscripts, 
still unpublished, remain among his pa- 
pers, carefully corrected for the press, 
and provided with a minute index ; they’ 
were willingly lent about among the 
young to encourage a spirit of enquiry. 
The Lycurgica (such is the first rune 
ning title) include a philosophic biogra- 
phy of Lycurgus, in which the laws of. 
that sage are described and discussed in 
the historic order of theif presumed 
origin. His early life is so narrated as 
to favour the interesting theory, that his 
friend, the poet Thales, was the real 
Homer ; the pay name being an epithet 
resulting from eventual blindness. The 
Laeonic Institutions are praised with a 
characteristic, if excessive, sympathy. 
*€ The Aristopia,” is not a work of 
history but of fiction. Had Plato flou- 
rished at Sparta, instead of Athens, and 
there acquired a love of discipline aud 
controul ; instead of devising such a plan 
of republic as to accommodate the lis 
Centiousness of an Athenian army, he 
would perhaps have recommended ins 
stitutions, in wlhtich order was preferred 
to liberty, and in which a systematic 
discipline of the mayistrate was extended. 
over the dress, diet, and domestic con- 
duct of every citizen. This sort of com- 
monwealth Fransham. has __ preconised 
in his Aristopia, All citizens are ém- 
bodied as a militia; military grades con- 
fer personal nobility; and a hmited 
monarch, circumscribed by the aristo- 
cracy of rank, directs the whole ma- 
chine, of which the details in some re- 
spects resemble those in the beautiful 
German remance of Count Swwiberg, 
called “ Die Insel.” 
The “ Philosophical Synopsis” is*ex-_ 
panded from that English Epistle against 
the Fear of Death, attached to one of the 
more jejune and juvenile productions of 
Fravsham. It is composed with care;. 
and in amanner which recals the write. 
ings of Harris; where the argumentative 
parts are usually written with simplicity, 
and the perorations with eloguence. A 
sceptical philosophy, inclining towards 
the doctrine of the soul’s natural ime - 
mortality pervades the treatise, which im. 
breathes contentment and philanthropy. 
Not succeeding with the booksellers, 
Fransham attempted private tuition. He 
was called in by Mr. afterwards Dr, 
Leeds, who had left the schools insutfi- 
cicutly prepared for graduation. Through 
this pupil, Fransham became acquainted 
with Foote, and other gay livers, and 
frequented the comic theaue; but had 
te 
