tereft of their respective profeffions, which prudent men have been ever careful to fupport. We acknowledge, nevertheless, that there are particular cafes which not only admit but require a public vindication. Dr. S begins this pamphlet with the copy of a letter, written by him to Dr. K about two months ago, in which he accufes him of having violently aspersed his character both as a phyfician and a man. To this letter he received no answer; 'which, by the known laws of decorum, he had certainly a right to expect; unless Dr. Khad reasons for his filence, with which the public are unacquainted. The nature of the difpute between these two phyficians is briefly this: They both attended a patient dangerously ill of a fever and fore throat, which Dr. K believed to be merely inflammatory, and Dr. S―― malignant, or ulcered. Thofe who are at all acquainted with phyfic, know, that this difference in opinion was of infinite importance to the patient, as the method of treatment in the firft fpecies of this diforder ought to be diametrically oppofite to that in the other. But before we can enter upon the merits of the caufe, it will be neceffary to mention the fymptoms which induced Dr. S to pronounce the diforder a malignant, and not an inflammatory fore throat: viz. afmall running pulfe, intense heat and dryness of the fkin, perpetual reftleffness, anxiety, delirium, and floughs on both the tonfils. With regard to the pulfe, though we cannot allow it to afford any infallible diagnostic in this cafe, yet, we contefs its being Small rendered it highly probable that the difeafe was not inflammatory, the angina inflammatoria being conftantly åttended with a frequent, firong, and fomewhat hard pulfe. The fecond fymptom mentioned, viz. intenfe heat and dryness of the skin, we cannot admit as pathognomonic. The third chain of fymptoms is, however, of more weight in the balance; but the floughs on the tonfils feem to determine the queftion. We fay fem to determine, because we do not chufe to give a final opinion, until we have feen a more circumftantial history of the cafe, from the beginning. If we were impowered to interrogate the evidence, we should take the liberty to ask the following queftions: 1, Was the patient afflicted with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, in the beginning of the disease? zdy, Did he fwallow without much difficulty? 8thy, Is he of a relaxed, pituitous habit? 9thly. Did the fauces, upon inspection, appear difcoloured, spotted, or floughy? 1orbly, Was the patient delirious on the ad, 3d, or 4th day of his diforder? If all, or most of these questions should be anfwered in the affirmative, it will not be in our power to give it against Dr. S―; provided we have no doubt as to the judgment and veracity of the evidence. Now there have already appeared two witnesses on behalf of the said Dr. S, plaintiff; namely, Mrs. Tinfon, the patient's wife, and Mr. C. Ward, a furgeon who attended the patient. The first of these, in in her affidavit fworn before a magistrate, fayeth, (relative to our 5th question) that the patient, foon after bleeding, was convulsed, seemed. bereaved of his fenfes, bègan gathering the bed-cloathes with his hands, and made frequent efforts to get out of bed; and (in regard to our oth question) the farther depofeth, that in the night, of the 7th, being the third day of the disease, the patient was a little wavering, and on the following night yet more fo. Mr. Ward, the other witness, fayeth, in his letter to the printer. of the Oxford Journal, dated December 19, (which may also ferve as an answer to our 9th question) that there were Spots in the patient's throat, which feparated and came away in the form of floughs. We have thus far attended to the plaintiff's brief, and the depofition of two of his witneffes. As to the firit, we are to confider it as being his own representation of his own caufe. We are to remember, with regard to the fymptoms which he says induced him to pronounce the disease malignant, that, in all probability, their existence will be denied by the defendant. Concerning the witneffes, as their characters stand hitherto unimpeached, we are to allow all due weight to their teftimony. If we were to proceed in this cafe rigidly, according to law, we muft unavoidably nonfuit the defendant for not having appeared either in perfon or by his attorney; but this being a court of equity, we fhall fufpend our judgment till Mr. Attorney Time fhall have produced fuch evidence, in behalf of the defendant, as may be thought neceflary in a cause of such importance. THEATRICAL. B..t. Art. 29. The Plain Dealer: a Comedy. As it is performed at the Theatre in Drury-Lane, with Alterations, from Wycherly. 8vo. I S. 6d. Lownds, &c. Mr. Bickerstaff, the Editor of this play, joftly remarks in his preface, that Wycherly's Plain Dealer was one of the most celebrated productions of the last century.' It certainly was fo, on account of the manly wit and nervous fenfe that fhone through most parts of it; but, at the fame time, it was fo ftrongly tinctured with the immorality and obfcenity which ufually prevailed in the comic productions of Wycherly's time, that it has been defervedly excluded the theatre for many years. Mr. B. mentions this exclufion, to the honour of the prefent age. The licentioufnefs, fays he, of Mr. Wycherly's mufe, render'd her fhocking to us, with all her charms: or, in other words, we could allow no charms in a tainted beauty, who brought contagion along with her.' He adds, "It was in this condition which I found the play I now offer to the public. On a close examination, befides enormous length, and exceffive obscenity, I thought I met feveral things which called very much for correction; a want of fymmetry might, I apprehended, be fometimes mistaken for ftrength. The character of Manley was rough, even to outrageous brutality; and inconfiftent, in his friendship for Freeman, whom he knew to be guilty of the actions of a thief and a rafcal. The characters of Lord Plaufible and Novel did not seem to me to be fo well contrafted as they might be, while the other comic perfonages degene-. rated fometimes into very low farce; neither did I think the part of Fidelia fo amiable, or the fituations arising from her diiguife quite fo amufing, amufing, as they were capable of being rendered by a little re-touching." Thefe objections are all, in our opinion, very juft, except that of the characters of Lord Plaufible and Mr. Novel not being fufficiently contrafted; for it does not appear to us, that the Author ever intended any contraft between them. Between Manley and Plaufible, indeed, the contraft is very strong, and heightened, on both fides, to the highest pitch of extravagance.-What our Editor fays of the former, that he was rough, even to outrageous brutality, is certainly right; but we apprehend the defect is very little removed, in the prefent revifal; for the character seems to be nearly if not wholly as rough, as ill-manner'd, as bearish as ever. In the articles of morality and decency, too, the piece is ftill highly reprehenfible; for, with regard to the first point, the adulterous tranfaction is still retained, in the third act ;-and, in the fecond refpect, if nobody talks downright bawdy, yet, can the widow Blackacre's wearing, more than once, a very unlady-like oath, be thought to found decently in the ears of a polite audience? -In short, although the Editor hath expunged a great deal of his Author's licentious ribaldry, yet he hath not entirely rendered it a chafte and modeft performance. As to what he hath fubftituted of his own, inftead of the paffages rejected in the original, he speaks of it himself with becoming diffidence ; but we muft do him the juftice to fay, that his new trimmings do not look amifs upon Wycherly's old coat; which, with two or three more alterations, agreeable to what has been hinted, might serve to make Mr. Garrick a very decent, ferviceable winter-fuit. Art. 30. The Double Miftake: a Comedy. As it is performed at the Theatre Royal, in Covent-Garden. Almon, &c. 8vo. Is. 6d. Although we find no great novelty of character or fentiment in this play; yet we could not but be pleased with it in the perusal, as the town in general were at its frequent reprefentations; on account of the easy politeness of the language, and the moral purport of the whole. There is an attempt at humour in the characters of the Virtuofo and the Learned Lady; but thefe have been fo much hacknied upon the ftage, that it was not eafy for any thing lefs than a first-rate genius to fucceed in them and a first-rate genius would rather have aimed at something more original. MISCELLANEOUS. Art. 31. The Ladies Friend, from the French of Mr. de Gravines. 12md. 25. Nicoll, &c. Several writers of confiderable eminence, both French and English, have obliged the world with preceptive treatifes on female education, and for regulating the conduct of the fair fex in the more advanced ftages of life; e. g. the Archb. of Cambray, Monf. de la Chetardie, the Marq. of Halifax, Mr. Wettenhall Wilkes; and fome others. To this lift we must now add the name of Monfieur de Gravines; who, though he has advanced very little that is not to be met with in the preceding authors on the fame fubject, has, nevertheless, offered many things to the the confideration of the ladies, of which there is no fear of their being too often reminded. Part of what he has faid on their inordinate paffion for cards, may ferve as a specimen : Some diverfion is neceffary, fay our pretty gamefters. Most certainly; but might not a more noble diverfion be ftruck out, than the contefting for money, and fomenting that felfifhnefs which is already but too predominant? befides, can a ftated daily fitting, of four or five hours, that is, of above one third of life, without any other conversation than what arifes from red and black spots printed on paper, be called an amufement? This childish way of killing time, brought into fuch vogue by the ladies, far from being a relaxation, is a ferious bufinefs, impairing their health. In the finest part of the year, and even when in the country, regardless of all the natural pleasures which furround them, they eagerly fit down, fhuffling and dealing cards around till midnight, amidft a tumult of fluctuating paffions; a phrenfy which, fixing them perpetually in a chair, brings on them all the evils confequent to the want of exercise. "In vindication of this fashionable idleness, they plead weakness of conftitution; though it is this very idlenefs which weakens their conftitutions, and gradually destroys the spring and force of the human system. Women, to be fure, are not made to ftruggle with the fame fatigues as men; yet has nature added to their beauty a degree of strength which forms a part of it, and has proportioned their vigour to what it requires from them. The alacrity with which they give themfelves up for whole days to violent exercises, fuch as dancing, is certainly no indication of their being created to pafs their lives in a state of flothfulness. It is fomewhat difficult to reconcile the prodigious activity of women at the call of pleasure, or the impulfe of paflions, with that indolent life to which many confine themselves. Sometimes they feem all fire; at others they fcarce breathe. These are extremes common to the whole sex, and not seldom feen to follow each other closely in the fame perfon.' The principal topics on which this writer treats, befide the abovementioned destructive amusement, are ranged under the following heads: Of the state of women in fociety; of the studies fit for women; of women's occupations; their diverfions; the luxury of women; [this he very juftly confiders as one of the greateft difcouragements of matrimony, not lefs in England than in France] women's dress; temper and difpofition of women; love and gallantry; marriage; education of children; and of the virtues of women.-The Author does not write like a fplenetic fatirift, or a rigid moralifer, infenfible to the charms of the fofter fex. On the contrary, he profeffes the highest admiration of their beauties, both of body and mind; and expreffes himself with that politenefs and complacency which is ever due from the lords of the crea tion to the loveliest part of it. Art. 32. Journals of Major Robert Rogers; containing an Account of the feveral Excurfions he made, under the Generals who commanded on the Continent of America, during the late War. From which may be collected the most material Circumstances of every Campaign in on that Continent, from the Commencement to the Conclufion of the War. 8vo. 4s. Millan. This is but the first part of the journals of this noted American partizan. It commences in 1755, and terminates with the year 1760. The fecond part, which is to be printed by fubfcription of one guinea, will contain the Author's travels among the Cherokees and the southern In dians; his fecond tour into the interior country, upon the great lakes ; and the Indian wars in America, fince 1760: together with correct plans of all the British forts upon the continent. From the fpecimen of the work now before us, it appears, that the accounts published by Major Rogers may be depended upon by the public; they are undoubtedly as authentic as they are important and neceffary, to those who would acquire a thorough understanding of the nature and progrefs of the late military operations in North-America. The Author writes like an honeft, a fenfible, and a modeft man; and he has given, throughout his whole conduct, undoubted proofs, that he is a brave and a skilful officer. For a farther idea of this gentleman, in his literary capacity, see our review of his Account of North America, in the preceding part of our No. for the present month. Art. 33. An Account of the Ifland of Newfoundland, with the Nature of its Trade, and Method of carrying on the Fishery. With Reafons for the great Decrease of that most valuable Branch of Trade. By Capt. Griffith Williams, of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, who refided in the Island Fourteen Years, when a Lieutenant, and now has a command there. To which is annexed, a Plan to exclude the French from that Trade; proposed to the Administration in the Year 1761, by Capt. Cole. 8vo. I s. Owen. So far as we can venture to judge, on the fubject of this pamphlet, the account here given of the present state of the Newfoundland trade, deferves the serious attention of our commiffioners of trade and plantations, and of all who are particularly concerned in the Newfoundland fithery, as well as of the public in general.-Capt. Williams affures us, that, to his certain knowlege, the faid trade did, for many years, remit to the mother-country, near a million Sterling; whereas, at this time, it does not yield one fixth part of that fum.-The queftion will be, What then is become of this trade? our anfwer is, Look into this pamphlet, and you will find-that the English have suffered it to fall into the hands of the French. Art. 34. Bombay Church: or, a true Account of the Building and Finishing the English Church at Bombay, in the Eaft-Indies; with a Lift of the Benefactions contributed thereunto, from the Year it was begun, 1715, to the Year it was finished, 1718: alfo the first Rife of the Charity-fchool propofed to be erected there, 1719; with a few Remarks on the Indian Letters. By Richard Cobbe, |