Retrofpett of Domeftic Literature..i.Theology....Biography. 
aftical eflablifhment, but to its moft inve- 
terate enemy—fas eff et ab bofte doceri— 
to point out in it what he confiders to be 
an accidental abufe, or radically wrong. 
The author of this little work claffes his 
refle€tions under the following heads : 
‘The importance and policy of fuch a bo- 
dy as the clergy is in England; the dig- 
nified, largely beneficed, and unofficiating 
clergy ; the laborious clergy. Under the 
firft head he defends the prefent unequal 
diftribution of church property ; he con- 
fiders the whole of it, colleétively taken, 
to be but a {mall allowance for the body at 
large; and if there were not feveral por- 
tions of preferment very confiderably 
larger than the reft, men of talents and 
ftudy would not facrifice their time in the 
facredfervice. Againft. the policy of this 
unequal diftribution of clerical prefer- 
ment, however, the author has himfelf 
offered one of the moft complete and con- 
Vincing arguments that can poflibly be 
urged; for, under the fecond head, he 
complains that the digwifed clergy are 
lukewarm! To be fure ; they have at- 
tained the objeét of their wifhes, and are 
fatisfied : let thofe be zealous who are ftill 
in the purfuit : from the poor curacy ,to 
the epifcopal chair, or even the prebendal 
ftall, is a long and laborious journey ; the 
travellers are weary, and it is very natu- 
ral that they fhould take reft and refreth- 
ment: fome of them, perhaps, fall afleep, 
and who can wonder at it ? 
A'writer, who figns himfelf “ An old 
friend ‘and feryant of the church,” has 
publifhed 4 Letter to thé Clergy of England, 
pointing out fome pupular Errors of bad Con- 
Sequence. "Vhis good gentleman complains 
that times are very much altered for the 
worfe : and, with his ideas on the fubjects 
of religion and government, he may very 
well exclaim, in a tone of lamentation 
and defpair, that there has been a ftrange 
revolution in men’s mds, as well as in 
their fortunes. 
Mr.Graves’ Effay onthe Chara@ter of 
the Apofiles and Evangelifis, contains the 
fubftances of feveral difcourfes delivered 
in-the chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, 
of which this author is a junior fellow ; 
the prefent effay, the objeét of which is 
to prove, that the apoftles and evangelifts 
were not enthufiafts, evinces much piety 
and candour. 
Dr. Vince’s Two Difcourfes, preachea 
before the University of Cambridge, in an- 
{wer to Mr. Hume’s objeétions againft the 
truth of Chriftianity, have all that acute 
seafoning and weighty argument which 
$23 
would be expeéted from him: to thofe, 
who are ftill wavering in their belief, 
we recommend the perufal of thefe fer- 
mons. 
The public is indebted to Mr. Henry 
Kerr for an excellent work on prophe- 
cies, in three odtavo volumes; the great 
object of it is to afford a new interpreta- 
tion of fome obfcure paflages in the Re- 
velations, and to fhow that the career, 
which infidelity at prefent fo trium- 
phantly purfues, is in obedience to the 
divine commands, and that, in due time, 
the deluded people, with fhame and con- 
trition, will fee the error of their ways, 
and be brought, by the light of prophecy, 
to the pure doétrines of Chriftianity. The 
following is the title of the publication, 
Hiftory the Interpreter of Prophecy, or a 
View of Scriptural Prophecies, and their 
Accomplifoment in the paft and prefent Oc-= 
currences of the World, with Conjeétures re= 
Jpedting their future Completion, by Henry 
Kett, B. D. &c. 
Mr. WHITAKER’s Family Sermons, as 
the title implies,- are intended for the ufe 
of domeftic affemblies: not holding the 
fame creed with this reverend author, we 
are better pleafed with his praétical than 
his doétrinal difcourfes. 
To Mr. MARSHALL’s Sermons on Va- 
rious Suljeé?s is added an addrefs to the 
Deity, in the manner of Dr. Fordyce. 
Mr. GRAVES’s Sermons have the merit 
of mediocrity, fo far as concerns compo- 
fition, and the demerit of intolerance and 
mifreprefentation, either ignorant or wil- 
ful, when they touch upon the ftate of the 
nation with whom we are at war. Mr. 
Graves has not yet learned of his divine 
Matter how to love his enemies. 
A great number of dull declamatory 
difcourfes have been publifhed on occafioz 
of national thankfgiving for viétory, con- 
fecration of colours, and other fubjeéts 
connected with military and naval a- 
chievements : in compaffion to the authors, 
we fhall not perpetuate the remembrance 
of them. Fatt fermons are alfo very 
many, and yery monotonous. 
BIOGRAPHY. 
Mr. BANNANTINE has publifhed Me- 
moirs of Colonel Edward Marcus Defpard : 
Mr. B. was fecretary to this a€tive and 
unfortunate officer, when he was fuperin- 
tendant at Honduras. From this circum 
{tance of their conneétion, it is not won- 
derful that he fhou'ld fpeak in terms of 
ftrong indignation concerning the myfte- 
rious and feemingly hard treatment which 
his friend has received from the govern- 
ment, 
