SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER 
On. DHE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE 

| No. XXVI.—Vor. IV. : 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
For ibe Monthly Magazine. 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF THE 
STATE OF DomEstic LITERATURE: 
FYERY friend to the improvement of 
"~ man in arts, fciences, and civility, 
muft feel a mingled emotion of pleafure 
and aftonifhment, in contemplating that 
the column of literature in a neighbour- 
ing country fhould. remain uninjured a- 
midft the double thock of foreign and in- 
tefline warfare; that it fhould ftand ere& 
amidft fuch defolating contefts, 
Like fome tall clift that lifts its aweful form, 
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the 
ftorm ; : 
Though round its breaft the rolling clouds are 
{pread, 
Eternal fuafhine fettles on its head ! 
That column which has been raifed on 
our own foil, thank Heaven! has not 
yet been expofed to fuch rough weather; 
how well it would ftand fo long and fe- 
vere a tempeft, we dare not conjecture; 
but an examination of its feveral parts, 
however fuperficial, will afford us the fa- 
tisfaction of Knowing, that our country- 
men are continually adding to the ftability 
ef the fabric, and improving the ele- 
gance of its workmanfhip. 
HISTORY, 
It isindifferent, perhaps, whether under 
this head, or that of poLrtics, be men- 
tioned the Abbé Barruel’s ‘* Meimoirs illuf- 
trating the Hiftory of Jacobinifm;” this is a 
work which has excited confiderable at- 
tention; it is divided into three parts, of 
which the two former only have yet come 
before us. The grand and wltimate 
object of this performance is evidently to 
caft a reproach on thofe perfons who at- 
tempt the flighteft reformation in politics 
or religion; we did not, however, want 
the Abbé to inform us, that in all ciyil 
conyulfions arife men of profligate and 
ferocious principles, who occafionally fuc- 
ceed in the ufurpation of authority, and 
fcourge the people, whofe gredulity and 
ignorance affifted their defigns. Thefe 
MontTHry Mac. XXVIU. 
monfters, in the abbé’s opinion, have ex- 
lited in every part of the world, at every 
period of time, and have kept up a fyftem= 
atic and hereditary con{piracy againft the 
comfort and tranquillity of mankind ! 
The fir part of the prefent work con-= 
tains a developement of the Axtichriftian 
confpiracy; many illuftrious names appear 
in this heretical band : Voltaire, d’ Alem- 
bert, Frederic IT, king of Pruffia, the 
emperor Jofeph IT, the emprefs Cathe- 
rine IJ, many modern philofophers, and 
many other royal perfonages. The /econd 
part unfolds the aztimonarchical confpiracy $ 
it isunneceffary to fay that all the crowned 
confpirators feceded from this nefarious 
coalition, A hiftory is here givenof Free~ 
mafonry, whofe grand fecret, it feems, is 
liberty and equality. There is a great 
deal of curious matter in this divifion of the 
work, on the truth of which each reader 
muft form an opinion for himfelf. The 
‘bird part is to difplay the principles of the 
illuminés, a fecret fociety eftablithed about 
thirty years ago in Bavaria: this is called 
the “ antifocial confpiracy, or that of the 
fophifters of impiety, coalefcing with thofe 
of anarchy againft every government, with- 
out even excepting the republican, againft 
all civil fociety, and all property what- 
ever.” It is curious that profeffor Robi- 
fon, of the univerfity of Edinburgh, 
fhould have publithed a work at the fame 
time, on precifely the fame fubjeG ; it is 
entitled, ‘* Proofs of a Confpiracy againft 
all the Religions and Governments of Eu- 
rope, carried on in the Secret Meetings of 
Free-mafons, Illuminati, and Reading So- 
cieties.” The authenticity of many ftate- 
ments in this confufed performance is 
rendered extremely queftionable, from the 
circumftance of the credulous profeffor’s 
being under the néceffity of publicly re- 
traéting in an adyertifement, a grofs and 
calumnicus affertion which he had infert« 
ed againft one of his neighbours. 
A. tranflation has been given of M. de 
Rulhicres “ Hifiory of the Revolution in 
3 U Rufiia,”” 
