i02 Philosophy oj Coitteinporar 



read. We, however, of the metropolis, 

 are inucli better informed with re- 

 gard to the manufacture of criticism. 

 The several benches of our literary 

 tribunals have each its set of judges, 

 that are nominated by a party; and, 

 should an author happen to write any 

 thing that is reckoned heterodox by 

 one or otiier of these parties,— that is, 

 should he write any thing at all worthy 

 of the attention of mankind, — lie is 

 sure to be condemned by one set, at 

 least, of these impartial judges. The 

 " Monlhly Review," for example, is 

 unitarian; the "British Critic" is ri- 

 gidly <iithodox ; and tlie " Ecleclic" is 

 evangelical. The " Quarterly" is the 

 uniform supporter of ministers, and the 

 " Edinburgh" issues from a conclave 

 of Whigs. The " New Edinburgh 

 Review" musi, of course, be the oppo- 

 site of the 01(1. With a still more vio- 

 lent attachment to the established 

 churches, on whatever side of the 

 Tweed they happen to have been built, 

 and perhaps with a little less virulence 

 in political controversy, it follows in 

 the train of the Quarterly. Having 

 tinis described the general tendency 

 of the work, we now proceed to ana- 

 lyse the Number before us. 



The first article treats of the foreign 

 slave-trade, taking for its text the 

 Abstract of the Informution laid on the 

 Table of the House of Commons, in May 

 1821, on the subject of the Slave-trade, 

 and the Sixttenth Report of the Direc- 

 tors of the African Inslitution, read in 

 May 1822. From these and other do- 

 cuments it is demonstrated, theit 

 *' Britain and America are the only 

 two powers who are re;'l!y hearty and 

 sincere in giving effect to the great 

 princii)ie of the abolition; buttiiat their 

 exertions have been paralyzed, and 

 this horrid anomaly in tlie history of 

 civilized and Christian rations has 

 been secretly fostered, protected, and 

 encouraged, till it reached its present 

 frightful magnitude, by those very 

 powers who, in 1815, subscribed the 

 solemn declaration of, Vienna, in 

 which it is emphatically and justly 

 denounced as the scourge which has so 

 long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, 

 and afflicted humanity." In evidence 

 of this melanciioly truth, the reviewer 

 gives us a history of the slave-trade 

 from 1807, the epoch of its abolition as 

 far as respected this country, to 1822, 

 the date of the last Report of the 

 African Society. Any thing new in 

 »h« shape of reasoning was not to be 



ij Criticism, No XX X/. [Ji'I^ '» 

 expected, for the subject has been 

 canvassed to satiety in all its varia- 

 tions of form ; and the reviewer has, 

 therefore, been forced to fill up his 

 recpiisite number of pages with details 

 of criielties that have been often before 

 the public, which are horrible in the 

 recital, and disgraceful to human 

 nature. 



We have next two sheets of abusive 

 remarks on Belsham's Translation of 

 the Epistles of Paul the Apostle. The 

 article sets out with an eulogium on 

 "tlie multifarious learning and ta- 

 lents" which was employed on the 

 present authorized version of the 

 Scriptures ; and gives thanks to " the 

 overruling providence of God, that has 

 given such general currency to that 

 translation." If there be an "over- 

 ruling providence" watching over the 

 present translation, the writer may 

 moderate his wrath against Mr. Bel- 

 sham ; for whatever he has done must 

 come to nought. "Often have wc 

 wished (adds this reviewer,) that some 

 society of Deists, possessing the requi- 

 site talents and learning, the requisite 

 kind as well as degree of learning, 

 could be induced to bestow the neces- 

 sary time and labour on giving a cri- 

 tical edition and version of the Bible, 

 as they would of any ancient work in 

 classical literature. Butitis certainly 

 a vain wish." Could this wish be gra- 

 tified, we believe that both Unitarians 

 and Trinitarians would be disappoint- 

 ed. The texts about which they quar- 

 rel would rcMnain in their original 

 obscurity ; for the Deist would feel no 

 interest in torturing a proposition so as 

 to accommodate the text to the creed 

 of either party. It i^ more probable 

 that, following the example of Hume, 

 he would, by " opposing one species 

 of superstition to another, set them a 

 quarrelling, while he made his own 

 escape into the calm, though obscure, 

 regions of piiilosophy." 



The third article is Blaquiere's His- 

 torical Review of the Spanish Revolu- 

 tion, which, contrary to our expecta- 

 tion, is spoken of with favour: his 

 relation of facts is said to be unques- 

 tionable, and his testimony valuable. 

 Before entering into the merits of Mr. 

 B.'s book, the reviewer gives us a neat 

 and rai)id sketch of the political state 

 of Spain, from the earliest records of 

 her history to the present time ; and 

 then proceeds to animadvert on their 

 author's peculiar bias in favour of de- 

 inorracv in a tone of liberality unlike 



th« 



