§24 
ment, which owes fo much to his fervices. 
Such treatment, as is here defcribed, ex- 
cites feelings, to which an Englifhman, 
with fhame be itfpoken ! DARES not give 
utterance. 
Mr. Pucu has publithed the third edi- 
tion, co fiderably abridged, for the pur- 
pofe of reducing its price, and extending 
its circulation, of the Remarkable Occur- 
rences in the Life of Fonas Hanway, E/fq. As 
this is an inftruétive and amufing work, 
we are happy to fee this republication 
of it. : 
Mr. THomas ComeBer has compiled 
from the original manufcripts of his great 
grand-father Dr. Comber, Memozrs of ibe 
Life and Writings of that dignitary. In 
this volume is a great deal of dull genea- 
iogic detail, which {carcely any one out of 
the family will think himfelf interefted 
in pérufing. The execution of this work 
is not entitled’to very high encomium : 
but the author merits praife for the motive 
of his publication, namely, to hold up the 
charaéter of an amiable, learned, and 
pious man as a modei for imitation. 
An interefting volume has been pub- 
fifhed of the Britizfo Public Chara&ers of 
1798. ‘The authors of thefe biographical 
fketches have been laudably diligent in 
their colleétion of authentic materials, 
and their publication is in no way conta- 
minated with the violence of party-{pi- 
Site 
Mr. Sewarp, the compiler of Azec- 
dotes of difiinguifhed Perfons, has lately 
publifhed a fimilar compilation, entitled 
. Biographiana. We do not feei much dif- 
pofed to felicitate the public on the num- 
ber, which within thefe few years has 
encreafed fo much, of anecdote- books ; the 
fame ftories are repéated over and over 
again in fimilar, if not the fame, language. 
Many of the anecdotes which compofe 
thefe volumes (there are two), have been 
told before. It muft be acknowledged, 
however, that Mr. Seward is above the 
erdinary clafs of compilers ; for moft of his 
ftories are related with a degree of {pirit 
and vivacity, which keeps alive the atten- 
tion, and affords entertainment to indolent 
end unfrequent readers. 
Mr. Apo.tpnus has publifhed two vo- 
Jumes of Biographical Memoirs of the 
French Revolution in a firain of fuch 
decided and extravagant partiality, as to 
render him entitled to but very meagre 
credit. Among ali the characters of whom 
Mr. A. has given the biography, there 
ig not an individual whom he does not re- 
gerd as utterly execrable, except the king 
Retrofpec? of Domeftic Literature....Bingraphy. 
and his friends, who are defcribed as fue 
pereminently virtuous. Manuel, whe 
faved the king’s life by the facrifice of his 
own, forms no exception ; it is not won- 
derful, therefore, that Mr. Parne’s vote 
on the trial fhould procure for him no fa= 
vor or refpeét. Far from it, very far 
from it: Mr. Paine is infulted in a man- 
ner grofs, vulgar, and contemptible ; but 
fortunately in a manner fo grofs, fo vul- 
gar, and fo contemptible, as to refleét dif- 
grace only on the author. Thefe biogra- 
phical memoirs, as they are called, will of 
courle have a momentary circulation ; but 
they will-fink into merited contempt, and, 
if the author is fortunate, into fpeedy ob- 
livien. 
Mr. Hickman has publifhed, in two 
large o€tavo volumes, Memoirs of the Life 
of Charles Macklin, Efq. principally compiled 
from bis own Papers and Memorandums, 
&c. Sc. The date of Mr. Macklin’s na- 
tivity has been long the fubjeét of difpute ; 
the veteran himfelf ufed to infift that he 
was born in the laft year of the laft centu- 
ry. This, one would think, was pretty 
good authority : it does not, however, fa- 
tisfy his biographer, who contends that he 
was amuch older man; that, when he 
was thirty years old, having engaged 
himfelf in a company of ftrolling co-, 
medians, the greater part of whom were 
younger than himfelf, and better quali- 
fied in their profeffion, Mr. Macklin felt 
himfeif afaamed of his inferiority, and 
hefitated whether he fhould not give out 
that he was ten years younger than he ac- 
tually was, for the purpofe of palliating 
his inequality. A circumftance occurred 
during this hefitation which foon decided 
the bufinefs. The heroine of this compa- 
ny was a moft beautiful girl of nineteen, 
and her charms were not loft upon Mr. 
M. who, feeling that the difparity of 
their years might be an impediment to 
their union, refolved at once upon an eli- 
fion of ten years from his life. Whether 
Mr. Macklin in his latter days really for- 
got this youthful manoeuvre, or whether 
he did not choofe to acknowledge it, can- 
not now be decided. It will very proper- 
ly be inquired what authority has Mr. 
Hickman to difpute the truth of Mr. M’s. 
cwn ftatement relative to his age? Mr. H. 
brings forward no written documents, but 
relies on the oral evidence of the widow of 
Mr, Macklin, who is now alive, and whe 
afferts, from the recorded teftimony of 
Mr. Macklin’s mother and his nurfe, that 
he was born about two months before the 
battle of the Boyne: this battle was fought 
in 
