dices. Wills are no longer void, which bequeath nothing to the church. Churches no longer ferve as fan&tuaries for affaffins; we no longer believe that Rome can abfolve fubjects from the oath of allegiance to their fovereign. We fhall never go again to ruin our families and cut one another's throats, in Palestine. Witches are not committed to the flames, and at the last Auto-da-fe in Lisbon, no human being was facrificed; &c.

&c.

"Thefe maladies of the mind, and fome others of the fame kind, which are the offspring of ignorance, philofophy has cured; but all the vices which can infect enlightened nations ftill fubfift; and their poifon, as it circulates through all ranks and conditions of men, from the cottage to the court, is ftill heightened in proportion as it afcends. The Stoic philofophy, in its greateft efforts, produced indeed fome good Emperors, Trajan, Nerva, Adrian, the two Antonines, and fome individuals in every order of the state; but it had no effect upon the multitude. With more light and knowledge than it was then poffeffed of, it labours ftill with as much ardour as ever to make profelytes; but this flower of the human fpecies will only make a very puny republic.

"It appears plainly, therefore, from the records of all ages, that preaching, under whatever form it is confidered, whether in the lef. fons of philofophers, in the examples of hiftory, the enthufiafm of poets, the oracles of the gofpel, the precepts of the fynagogue, the infpiration of prophets, the zeal of partriarchs, has never formed, and never can form,a virtuous peo

ple. Who then, it will be asked, is the true preacher ? I anfwer, government. But it is not enough to affirm this, I must prove it."

Our author, who is now come to the principal point he has in view, goes on to obferve, that as the centripetal and centrifugal forces regulate the phyfical world, fo there are two fprings in the power of government, which are capable of regulating the moral world, at leaft fo far as regularity is compatible with liberty. The one keeps us at a distance from vice, to wit, punishment; the other excites us to virtue, i. e. reward.

He endeavours to confirm and illuftrate this by examples taken from ancient and modern hiftory; and though fome of the examples which he produces will, no doubt, be objected to, yet the greatest part of them are extremely pertinent, and fhew that he is well acquainted with the policy of ancient and modern times. He feems perfectly fenfible of the difficulties that attend all fchemes of reformation, and that the fine speculations upon this fubject are often like thofe mechanical inventions, which play perfectly well in the model, but fail in the execution. Accordingly he writes with a becoming degree of modefty and diffidence. After fhewing, in feveral inftances, the effects which rewards and punishments have had, and still have, upon the manners of mankind, he proceeds to give a sketch of a plan of reformation for a great city.

"Let us fuppofe then," fays he, "a city as large as Pa is, and as corrupt as Sybaris; that luxury prevails in it; that the frivolous arts are in the higheft efteem, and the N 3

ufeful

ufeful ones in contempt; that a varnisher, a toy-man, or a dan cing-mafter, gets more in one day, than all the labourers of a province in a month; that modefty is banished from it; that young women only wish for husbands, in order to have a cloak for licentioufnefs; that the faith of marriages is openly violated by both fexes; that virtuous wives, if any fuch are to be found, mourn, while courtezans triumph; that debauchery poifons the very fource of the human fpecies; that old men retain the vices of youth, and that young men are old in conftitution, before they arrive at the years of maturity; that in this city there is always money enough for theatrical entertainments, table, and drefs; none for the payments of debts, or the relief of the indigent; that public affemblies fhine in filk, gold, and jewels, whilft the streets and temples are filled with beggars; that every one finds his account in the ruin of his neighbour; that agreeable men are preferred to men of worth; that vice is a fubject only for mirth and pleasantry; that a man may have even every vice that difgraces humanity, provided he can only be witty upon himfelf; that all places are difpofed of by favour, or purchafed by money; that the very right of judging and being judged is fold; that the public treafury is plundered; that the fanctuary is polluted; that the great are mean, and that the vulgar, worthy of those above them, are a nursery of rogues, thieves, affaffins. What a city! what a capital! I undertake, however, to give it morals, and if I fucceed, the provinces, always lefs corrupt, will foon be reformed.

"I begin by ftrengthening paternal authority, the firft and the moft facred of all. It is derived from God; it governed before there were any kings; it was the foundation and the model of the Chinese government for many ages, when the rest of the earth was at the mercy of tyrants. Romulus, who perhaps ftretched it too far, placed it at the head of his laws; he allowed a father, not only to put his children in prifon, to load them with chains, to order them to be publicly beaten with rods, to condemn them to labour, to difinherit them, but even to fell them or put them to death. I would give fathers all this power, excepting that of felling their children, and putting them to death. When we confider, that it is a father who punishes, there is little reafon to be afraid of feverity. Romulus perhaps extended the duration of paternal authority too far; it was exercised over children of whatever age or dignity. It may continue till the age of five and twenty. When a child has been properly trained till this time, if he is guilty of any irregularity afterwards, let him be fubject to the laws.-A father, to whom fuch power is committed, must not be furprised if, after the example of China, he is obliged to anfwer for the conduct of his children under the pain of being punished for their crimes. The law fuppofes, that if the father had educated his fon properly, the crime would not have been committed. And, at the worst, the punishment of an innocent perfon, which is fometimes unavoidable under the best form of government, would prevent a hundred other fathers from being guilty.

64 My

fons.-A wife conftantly under the eye of a husband, who is her mafter, and who has power to punish her, would endeavour to gain his affections, by confining herfelf within her family; and then the education of children, domeftic bufinefs and economy, harmony, &c. would flourish.

"A third step should be, to increase the authority of masters over their fervants. It is very surpris ing that the Greeks and Romans, with so much knowledge and humanity, had flaves like the barbarians, instead of domestics. It is ftill more furprifing, perhaps, that Chriftian nations, with the gospel before their eyes, fhould condemn their brethern in the colonies to all the horrors of flavery, because they are black. The first man, who faid to another, You shall be my flave, for I am fronger than you, mult have had the heart of a tiger. But the firft man, who faid to another, I fee you are poor, if you will receive your fubfiftence from me, you shall be my domeftic, made a contract ufeful for both. But this contract, by a relaxation of domestic discipline, is become more grievous to mafters than to fervants, &c."

My next step should be, to reestablish the authority of husbands. It is well known what this was in the days of the patriarchs. The great ftudy of Sarah and Rachel was to please their husbands. This tender respect for the head of the family would have kept them in their duty, even if they had been void of virtue. The fair fex, throughout all the east, was long, faithful to this falutary fubordination; and those nations of the weft, which gave any attention to morals, placed it among their inftitutions. Under the first laws of Rome, a wife that was guilty of any crime, had no other judge but her husband, who called her relations together, and, with them, fat in judgment upon her. It was owing to the wifdom of this law, that, during several ages, there was no complaint against wives before any of the tribunals; no action for adultery, no divorce,-The Athenians had a particular magiftrate who watched over the conduct of wives; the true magiftrate, the magiftrate of nature, is the hufband. A philofopher of our times, who is reproached with many paradoxes, has mixed fome truth with them which we overlook: The fair fex, fays he, incapable of taking our manner of living, which is too labo rious for them,obliges us to take theirs, which is too effeminate for us. This perverfion of order, this afcendant of the fair fex, which is formed to be guided, begins in families, and extends itself to the public, which it corrupts. It is women who form the characters of men. Hence it is, that in what is called good company, we meet with fo many agreeable and fo few virtuous per

After pointing out a remedy for this evil, our author now proceeds to that part of his plan which relates to mafters of families, the nobility, &c. and here he is of opinion, that a number of cenfors fhould be appointed, under certain regulations. "The inftitution of cenfors," he says, "has been of fingular fervice in every government, where virtue and good morals have been the principal objects.

"The plan, which I lay down," N 4

conti

continues he, "in order to facilitate the execution of it, prefuppofes a good public education. This fhall not be that of Emilius, which, were it practicable and unexceptionable, can only be a private one. Nor fhall it be that which is established in our colleges, which is condemned by the voice of the public. It fhall be that which arifes from the ideas of Locke, Montaigne, Plutarch, Xenophon, and Plato; that, wherein things fhall be taught before languages, which are often ufelefs to those who learn them; that which, inftead of being the fame for all, fhall have separate claffes according to the wants of the ftate, and by exercifes appropriated to each class, shall form fit fubjects for commerce, for jurifprudence, for war, for the church, for the arts, &c. that where there fhall be nothing in common but religion and virtue. We have pens enough, that only wait for the fignal of the prince to draw up a plan of this kind; but the advantages which would arife from it, would be foon loft, without the attention of government, and especially of the public cenfors."

The remainder of the work relates to the inftitution of cenfors, and the advantages arifing from fuch an inftitution. What the ingenious author advances, upon this fubject, appears to us to be as judicious as his manner is agreeable, and we make no doubt, but every good citizen will read it with pleasure.

Curious extracts from Whitlocke's

notes, lately published.

VERY perfon had in the

"E beginning only one proper

.

name; as with the Brittains Brutes the Jewes Adam, the Egyptians Anubis, the Chaldæans Ninus, the Medians Aftyages, the Romans Romulus, the Gaules Litavicus, the Germans Arioviftus, the Saxons Hengift; and fo of all other nations, except the favages of Mount Atlas and Barbary, which were reported to be nameleffe and dreamleffe. Afterwards, with us, they came to two names, the Chriftian name and the Sir-name, as it now continues; though fome have given two Christian names with us, as Charles, James, &c. which is more in requeft in France and Spayne, especially in Italy and Sweden.

"Our British ancestors had their peculiar names for the most part taken from colours, they ufing to paint themselves; and fome of thofe yett continue with theWelch ; afterwards they took Roman names when they were a province, which became corrupted or extinguished after the entry of the Saxons, who brought in the German names, and the Danes fome of theirs; and the Normans, who originally (faith Cambden) ufed the German tongue, brought in other German names. After that we began to ufe the Hebrew names, and fuch as we tooke out of the holy fcripture.

"For fir-names or cognomina, the Brittains used to fay Owen ap Harry, the fon of Harry, &c. and the Irish Donald Mac Neale, the fon of Neale; the Saxons ufed Eadgaring, the fon of Edgar, &c. after the manner of the Hebrewes, who, keeping memory of their tribes, ufed in their genealogies the name of their fathers with Ben, that is the fon of, added to it; as Melchi Bẹn Addi, the son of

Addi,

Addi, and the like. So the Græcians used to fay, Icarus the fon of Dedalus, &c. The Arabians also used the names of their fathers, as Avenpace, the fon of Pace, &c. And to this day we have fome names amongst us, of the Norman appellation, by the like ufe of Fitz; as John Fitz Walter, Fitz William, the fon of Walter, the son of William, &c. Some had fir-names given them, as Sobriquettes; or nick names, as William Rufus, and the like. About the time of the Norman invafion, fome doe hold, was the beginning of fir-names; before that time they used butt fingle names, as appears in their fubfcriptions to charters, and the names of Ap Rice, Fits-Roger, Richardfon, and the like, fome of which continue to this day as firnames; and that commonly they were not used till about the time of E. 2. Some tooke their names of places, as Windfor difcended from Walter Caftellan of Windsor. By the booke of Domesday many fir-names are expreffed from places, as Adam de Gray, Robert de Oily; and this grew much in cuftome to name men from the places of their feigniories or habitations, and some of this fort are yett continuing; fo are names from offices, as fteward, conftable, and many more. Divers of our fir-names are from places beyond feas, as Mortimer, Warren, Piercy, Nevill, Montfort, &c. So Courtenay, St. Leger, Fiennes, &c. So Bruges, Odingels, and others, from places in Normandy, France, Flanders, &c. from whence fome who left thefe names came in with W. 1. Some are of more English extraction, as Clifford, Willoughby, Went

worth, Moftyn, Trevor, &c. Butt although the original of names with us, and elsewhere, be dubious and various; yett generally the ufe of them is certaine to denote the perfon named, and is of neceffity for that end and where members are chosen to serve in publique councells, there is no meanes butt by returning of their names (as this writ commaunds), to know who are the perfons impowered by this choice, to execute a truft, which none elfe, butt the perfons fa chofen and named, can doe."

To this we fhall fubjoin what he fays upon the community, which is to be obferved in the house of Commons. Commenting upon the terms of knights, citizens, and burgeffes, of which that honourable body is compofed, "Thefe (fays he) are the representatives of the commons of the whole kingdome, and are all of them of the ranke of commons: yett fome have collected, that formerly there feemes to have bin a diftinction among them, and that the knights did act fome matters by themselves, and the cittizens and burgeffes by themfelves; which they doe ground upon an antient a& of parliament to be found in the old book of our printed ftatutes, in Edward the Third's time, which pardons to the knights, and to all other, all fines made to the king for not attending him into Gafcoigne; and the graunt made by the knights for every towne an armed man, and the graunt made by the cittizens and burgeffes for the cities and burghs, att the parlement att Winchefter; by which act they underftand a diftinct graunt then made by the knights for the townes which

lent