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sion, he fays, which Mr. Gibbon, with all his artifice and plaufibility, will find it difficult to confute.

Having fhewn how the balance ftands between him and the Hiftorian, Mr. Davis proceeds to make fome remarks upon what Mr. Gibbon has advanced, upon the mild genius of polytheism, and the religious harmony of the ancient world; and then goes on to confider what is faid of the Jews, who are placed by Mr. Gibbon in the most hateful and contemptible light. In order to confute what is alleged against them, our Author gives an epitome of the Jewish history, during their captivity under the Affyrians, Medes, and Perfians, and endeavours to fhew that the Jews were not diftinguished from other nations by an intolerant zeal; that they were not fubject to the Affyrian empire, as the Babylonian and Affyrian were not the fame people; and that they did not languish for many ages under the Perfian monarchy, the most defpifed portion of their flaves.

He concludes his Reply with taking fome notice of Mr. Gibbon's plagiarism; and here he tells us, that if he had directed his ftudies to the perufal of Tillemont, Voltaire, Crevier, Le Beau, and other French hiftorians, he should have discovered ftill more, how little Mr. Gibbon had confulted original materials; or rather proved, that it really was his invariable practice through the whole of his History, to transcribe the moderns, and by their aid and guidance to make a parade of the learning of the ancients.-Such of our Readers as are unprejudiced, and competent judges of this matter, will, we apprehend, give little credit to this affertion; as for us, we are fully convinced, that Mr. Gibbon, though he has occafionally confulted and frequently borrowed from moderns, is well acquainted with ancient writers.

Before we conclude this article, we think ourselves bound in juftice to Mr. Davis, to acknowledge that his Reply bears evident marks of learning, judgment. and critical acumen; and that, though several of the inftances of mistake and mifreprefentation, which are charged upon his adverfary, are trifling, yet there are others which are of confiderable importance, and well deferve Mr. Gibbon's serious attention.

SCHOOL-BOOK.

Art. 38. The Scholar's Guide to Arithmetic; or, a complete Exercife Book for the Ufe of Schools. With Notes, containing the Reafon of every Rule, demonftrated from the most simple and evident Principles; together with general Theorems for the more extenfive Ufe of the Science. By John Bonnycaftle, private Teacher of the Mathematics. I 2mo. 2 s. Johnfon. 1780.

The Author informs us, in his preface, that we are not to look on this book as a complete treatise on arithmetic, but only, as a fhort methodical tract, drawn up for the purpose of teaching.'-We assure our readers that this is a modeft account; and that many mafters may profit by what is here offered to them for the ufe of their scholars. In purtuance of this plan, of writing a book for the ufe of fchools, he has been very careful to make all his definitions and rules as concife as poffible, confiftent with that fimplicity and clearness which is abfolutely neceffary in things of this nature; and afterwards to exemplify thofe rules with a fufficient number of examples, in felecting of

which, he has made choice of fuch as are most likely to occur in bufinefs. He has alfo fhewn, with great clearness and perfpicuity, the reafon of each rule, in notes; and, in fome inftances, has illuftrated and explained the examples, when he had reafon to apprehend any difficulties would be found, or where any difputes have arisen between former Authors: and in this part of his work, Mr. B. has fhewn great ingenuity and judgment.

By confining every thing of this nature to the notes, Mr. Bonnycaftle has been enabled to keep his text free from long explanations, fo that nothing is to be found there, but what the learner ought to transcribe, and fix in his memory; a matter which feems to have been too much neglected by most of thofe Authors who have undertaken to write on the subject of arithmetic for the ufe of fchools. the whole, we shall not hesitate to declare, that we think this little book will be found very ufeful, both to the teacher and learner.

CORRESPONDENCE.

On

We are forry that we cannot, without forfeiting our own charafters, gratify the wishes of our anonymous correfpondent, who figns himself "A Friend to candid Criticism;" and who expreffes his hopes that we fhall not be avere, in our next Review, to correct the injustice of our too precipitate cenfure of the Philofophical Inquiries into the Laws of Animal Life, by Dr. Hugh Smith of Hatton Street, ia the 8th Article of our Review for July laft.-The Reviewer inflicted that cenfure with all due deliberation;-much could not be neceffary, in a cafe fo very plain :-and he appeals to the Article complained of, and, with ftill greater confidence, to the work itfelf, for the propriety and juftice of it. In fact, the Article alone is abundantly fufficient to thew the complexion of this Experimental Inquiry. From the few fpecimens there given, the philofophical reader will be enabled to form a faint, but juft idea of the pompous inanity of the whole performance; and to judge for himself, with refpect to the far-fetched and illogical conclufions drawn from the few and trifling experiments contained in it.

Thefe conclufions would not follow, were we to grant the Author every one of his data; and even to allow, ex abundanti, that men, and other land animals, like fishes, actually carried about them an air bladder, which had hitherto eluded the researches of the most prying Anatomis. Befides, though the force of vapour, acted upon by heat, be immenfe; that of air, rarefied by a heat much exceeding that of animal bodies, is comparatively very trifling; as hath long ago been fhewn, by the experiments of Amontono, Mufchenbroeck, Robins, and others.

Our Correfpondent attempts to reconcile us to the Author's notions concerning the pulfe glass; to which he might have added the fireengine: a machine to which the Author likewife refers; and in which, motion is undoubtedly produced on the fame principles. He fays- The precaution taken to exhauft the pulfe-glafs of what is called common air, does not produce an abfolute vacuum; but makes way for a purer, or more rarefied air to occupy that fpace which it has left and if you will call Dr. Franklin's invifible va

Four,

pour, vital air, I fancy Dr. Smith and you will differ very little in your idea concerning it.'- We can never agree to call an abfolute vacuum (quoad air) or a negation of air, by the title of air; even though a high-founding epithet fhould be affixed to it: and we are forry that our Correfpondent, and the Author, fhould now first learn from us, what has been long known with refpect to the fire-engine and is equally true with regard to the pulse-glass, when properly. conftructed; that the motions in both these inftruments are not caufed by air rarefied by heat; but by a highly elaftic vapour, which has previously expelled the air contained in them.-But we forget that it is no part of our duty to teach philofophical lecturers, or their friends; the diftinctive properties of air and vapour, that are known to every tyro in philofophy; though it is our bounden duty to expose the falfe pretenfions of conceited and uninformed writers.

Our Correfpondent, very properly, and with a commendable degree of feeling, obferves, that though our duty to the Public fre quently requires us to cenfure the performances of our cotemporaries, it is nevertheless an invidious office, and must be often painful to an ingenuous mind'. When ignorance is accompanied with modefty and diffidence, a very rare combination!-the critic's fituation is peculiarly diftrefsful; but the Reviewer could not poffibly feel any qualms arifing from fuch a combination on the prefent occafion.

Our candid Correfpondent has thought proper to throw out a hint, as if nothing less than perfonal malevolence' could have dictated the criticism of which he complains.-This is the usual plea and resource of bad Authors.-But, that no innocent perfons may fall under the Author's fufpicion, he folemnly declares, that he had no other affurance even that fuch a perfon exifted, as Dr. Hugh Smith of Hatton Street, than what he derived from feeing that name affixed to this Work, and from the recollection of the numerous eulogia, or, as they are vulgarlý called, puffs, which he remembers to have formerly read, with difguft, in the newspapers, relative to him, and his Lectures on the Philofophy of Phyfic.

In the fame refpectable channels-fo well calculated to drag forth modeft but conscious merit to the notice of the Public, and fo excellently adapted to philofophical difcuffions-the praifes of Dr. H. Smith have again 'been celebrated, in a regular feries of letters; if not by Dr. Hugh Smith himself, at least by a perfon wonderfully refembling him、 in empty folemnity, in his fkill in pneumatics, and in his logic: This perfonage, who flyles himself William Chambers, alluding to Dr. H. Smith's late difcoveries,' gives us broad hints, that the world is not to expect more than one' such ' important difcovery in the Same branch of Science, in the course of a century' to come: and to add the weight of numbers to his teftimony, he produces an applauding certificate, granted to the Doctor by a certain drinking club, as the Reviewer has been informed, who, it seems, affemble in Pigfireet, or thereabouts; and which he calls The Mathematical Society.

Not content with this felf-applause, as we cannot help confidering it, this other Sofia abufes his Reviewer, in a fyftematic form, through four letters, and in terms the most indecorous;-fuch as modern friendship could scarce extort from the moft feeling breaft, in behalf of the deareft injured friend. In a coarfe and vulgar ftrain

of exultation over the fuppofed ignorance of the Reviewer, he principally dwells on two inftances. The philofophical attainments of the foi difant Mr. William Chambers may be judged of from thefe two fpecimens, which we fhall condefcend to tranfcribe.

To expose the ignorance of the Reviewer, he firft tells us, that the vapour or elaftic fteam arifing from the boiling fluid in the pulse-glass cannot expel all the air contained in the inftrument; becaufe, faith he, the atmospheric air is conftantly preffing in.'-Dr. H. S. ought to know, that a drop or two of water, or even a globule of mercury, will, by a boiling heat, be converted into an elaftic vapour, not only capable of expelling all the air out of a vessel, but of raifing even a greater preffure than that of the atmosphere; provided every part of the veffel has acquired fuch a heat as will fuffer the vapour to retain its elaftic form and that if any air be left in the pulfe-glass, the fenfibility of the inftrument will be impaired in proportion.

·

In the fecond inftance, the Reviewer is afked, with the most risible folemnity, what Mr. W. C. calls one ferious question.' It is a curious one at lealt. How could the operator conjure all the air out of the pulfe-glafs without breaking the inftrument? The weight and preffure of the external atmosphere, under fuch circumftances, would certainly crufh the glafs to atoms. Blush, Critic, and never more talk of philofophy!'-Dr. H. S. or Mr. W. C. may, poffibly, if ever they attended a lecture on the air pump, have feen a flat, pane of glass broke under these circumftances: but we could not have fuppofed, that any perfon who had publicly lectured on philofophy, or even the humble writer on philofophical fubjects in a newspaper, could have been fo grofsly ignorant, as not to know that the arched form of even a thin glafs bulb would protect it from even a greater preffure than that of the atmosphere.

The extreme familiarity with which the Reviewer has been treated by the learned apologist of Dr. Hugh Smith-whoever he may beintitles him, he conceives, to look up to Dr. H. Smith himself on this occafion; and particularly to advise him to leave off, for the future, this unbefeeming practice of advertifing himself as a philofo pher; and of abufing those whofe aim it was to inftruct him. A philofophical difcovery of importance cannot poffibly ftand in need of the fostering hand of a Gazetteer to fuftain it; much lefs can it require a ftrain of abufe, that difgraces even a modern newspaper, to fupport it; against the cenfure of a- deceitful, envious, vain, ori necefitous, ignorant, malicious, fcurrilous, malignant, knavish, BLOCKHEAD of a Reviewer.'-For fuch is the ftyle, nay the very words, (only occafionally changing Mr. W. C.'s fubftantives into adjectives) which this foul-mouthed Apologift of Dr. H. S. has thought proper to adopt, in return for the exemplary urbanity of the Reviewer towards his friend.

Since the preceding obfervations were written, Dr. H. Smith's Syllabus has been perufed by the Reviewer, who had but juft before been reminded of the decifivé fentence of condemnation paffed upon it, by an affociate, in the Monthly Review for July 1778, page. 68. Mr. Chambers has committed a most unfortunate blunder, in exciting the Reviewer's attention towards that forgotten production; and particularly in arraigning him of unpardonable effrontery,' for having

dared

dared to own that he had not read it!-Two examples, extracted from this quinte fence of the Lecturers on the Philofophy of Phyfic, will furnish a fufficient fpecimen of this curious production.

This teacher of philofophy betrays fuch an ignorance of the nature of those bubbles which continually rife from heated liquors, as to miftake them for air :-and he exhibits a ftill more deplorable inftance of ignorance, with refpect to the nature of that common inftrument, the thermometer; by teaching his enlightened auditors that, on the thermometer's being put into cold water, the mercury defcends, because the air in the quickfilver is more compreffed; and that, on applying heat, the AIR contained in the quickfilver is as quickly expanded, &c.'-Such are the late difcoveries' of Dr. H. S.; the like of which, we believe, to use the words of Mr. W. Chambers, 6 we shall not fee in a century to come!'

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The Editor of the Monthly Review having likewife been called upon by Mr. W. Chambers, as being the immediate refponfible man; and conjured, with a folemnity truly ridiculous, to wipe off this foul ftain and fee that a public atonement be made;-prefents his compliments to him (not forgetting the fociety in Pig-street, or elsewhere), and affures him, that though he may poffibly be as much in the dark about air and vapour, as he appears to be; yet his well-grounded confidence in the capacity and candour of the Reviewer whom he has thus grofsly abufed (as well as of the gentleman who damned the Syllabus), will not fuffer him to doubt, for a moment, of the justice, propriety, and even mercy, of their criticisms.-Securely refting on their well-known abilities, he feels the most fenfible pleasure, in being the inftrument of executing critical juftice on affuming pre. tenders to science, of whatever denomination, and their equally ignorant tools, or dupes: efpecially when, depending on the ignorance of the majority of newspaper readers, with refpect to philofophical fubjects, they fearlessly vilify their proper judges; who have, in confcience, and ex officio, been obliged to condemn their worthless productions.

'N B. Our readers are defired to fill up the following hiatus, which, by fome accident happened in our account of Dr. Smith's Inquiries, in the Review for July, p. 52, 1. 2d.-After the words-' to prefent his notions on this fubject,' add, with a little more precifion, and lefs folemnity."

Mr. DARWIN's posthumous publication in our next

We are obliged to Dr. G. for the following information, viz. That it is Lord Gardenfton *, one of the Lords of Seffion in Sco!land, who has eftablished the linen manufacture in the village of Laurencekirk †, which formerly confifted of only a few houses; but that fince his Lordship's attention to the place, it hath greatly increased, and is in a very flourishing condition. It is now a free and in dependent burgh of Barony.

* Mentioned in the Review by the name of Francis Garden. † See the 19th Article of our last month's Çatalogue.

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