Some general remarks on the abuses of the neutral flag, are here introduced. Thofe abufes chiefly confift (fays the author) in the fraudulent carriage of hoftile property, under the cloak of a fictitious neutrality, in voyages which fall within the lawful range of neutral navigation. He fhows with what eafe, and to what an extent, deceptions have been, and are almoft daily practifed on our Prize Courts, and the fhocking fyftem of perjury by which they are fupported; and he fuggefts, in addition to the penalty of confifcation, (whenever fuch frauds can be detected) an appeal to the justice of the neutral ftates against their offending fubjects. This, he fays, would at least have the effect of putting fuch offenders (who are always the loudcft in their complaints) on the defenfive, and make it prudent in them to remain filent.

in the third and laft divifion of his work, the author confiders" the prudence of applying the propofed remedy in regard to the colonial trade." The fum of all the cons fiderations, that oppose our refort to this remedy, being this, that "we may provoke a quarrel with the neutral powers," he confiders firft, the degree of this danger; and next, whether the evils of fuch a quarrel, would be greater than thofe to which we at prefent fubmit. The neutral agents, he admits, would exclaim aloud againft the meafure; the neutral governments would, no doubt, complain and remonftrate." But would they," (he afks) if firmly, though temperately refifted, pufh the controverfy into a quarrel ?" He fhows, to a great degree of probability, that they would not. With our late fellow Tubjects in America, he hopes that the equity of our cause will have a direct and powerful influence; for with their fupreme affembly, (he thinks) a reverence for moral principle prevails, in many inftances, over the fuggeftions of an ungenerous policy; and it cannot (he adds) be fup pofed, that the body of the American people are at this period partial to France, or inimically difpofed to Great Britain. The reasons for this opinion are given with fuch force and ability, that they well deferve general attention, we will therefore extract a part of them.

"If, (fays the author) they are infenfible to the ties of a common extraction, and if the various fympathies of religion, language, and manners, that ought to incline them favourably towards us, have loft their natural influence, they ftill cannot be regardless of the interefting fact, that we alone, of all the na tions in the old world, now fuftain the finking caufe of civil Liberty, to which they are fo fondly attached. They fee that

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the iron yoke of a military defpotifm is now rivetted on the neck of that powerful people, which afpires to universal domination; and which has already deprived its defenceless neighbours of the freedom they formerly enjoyed; nor can they doubt that the fubjugation of England, would be fatal to the last hope of liberty in Europe.

"Is the Atlantic thought a fufficient rampart for them. felves, against the fame defpotic fyftem? The people of America are neither fo ungenerous, nor fo unwife, as to act on that mif. taken confidence. They will advert to the ftate of things, which a difaftrous iffue of the prefent war might produce. They will contemplate the poffible approach of a political prodigy, more terrific than any that earth has yet beheld-France lord of the navies, as well as the armies, of Europe. They will look to the South, and see the resources of the Spanish American empire in the hand of this Coloffus; they will look behind them, and regard a large country, in which, were the British government fubverted, religion, extraction, and language, would favour the ambition of France. Nor will they forget, that this unprincipled power is crafty, as well as audacious; that the well knows how to divide thofe whom fhe means to fubdue; and has already broken confederations as facred, as that of the American ftates.

"It will not be thought, that the new world has no ade. quate temptations to attract the ambition of the French govern. ment, or to excite it to arduous efforts. The armies of St. Domingo will be remembered. Nor will the constrained and prudent ceffion of Louifiana, efface the recollection of that alarming line of policy, by which it was acquired.

"But fhould America be fafe, in her distance, in her unanimity, and in her interior defenfive refources, ftill what would become of her commerce, if France were enabled to give law to the maritime world.

"Is it fuppofed, that Buonaparte, or his imperial fucceffors, will tolerate in their ports, a moment longer than is neceffary, a republican flag? Vain imagination. Had he even no antipathy to freedom, the plague, or the yellow fever, would have lefs ter rors, than fuch a mischievous memento to "his best and greatest of peoples." At this moment he relies on the evident neceffity of removing fuch dangerous examples, as a fufficient apology to Europe for putting crowns on the heads of the nominal republics around him.

"The citizens of the United States are a fagacious people, and will reflect on these things. They will fee that they have a commercial intereft, at leaft, if not interefts of far greater im.. portance, which forbid their aiding France at this alarming conjuncture, to overthrow the independence of Europe." P. 188.. Many excellent reafons are added, to fhow that neither

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the infidious arts of our enemies, nor even the clamours of their own interested fubjects, are likely to prevail with the American government, against the juftice of our cause, and their own real interefts. Of the neutral powers in Europe, the author speaks with lefs confidence; but he thinks their plain interefts will incline them to a peaceable course; as a few merchants only are enriched by the prefent traffic, and it produces no lafting good effect on the commerce of the

country.

Laftly, the author fuppofes for argument fake, that the only alternative to the facrifice of our maritime rights, is a quarrel with the neutral powers.

If fo, he hesitates not to pronounce that, of the two evils, the former is beyond comparison the worft; and he demonftrates this, by fhowing that the arms of the powers now neutral, added to our enemies, (if fo monftrous a coalition. could be fuppofed) might increase our dangers, but that acquiefcence in the prefent abuses, muft infure our ruin. Infifting that the injury to our trade, by their hoftility, would not be fo great as might at firft be fuppofed, and that our manufactures muft, in fpite of all oppofition, force their way to every part of the globe. He alfo fpecially points out the fecurity we have against any quarrel with America, at the prefent conjuncture. Some excellent obfervations on the motive of Buonaparte's inveteracy against this country, conclude this meritorious work. After the abstract which we have made, and the fpecimens which we have given, of the reafonings and ftile of this author, it is needlefs for us to add our high approbation of the public spirit, which animates his performance, or of the ability which pervades it. Whether or not the measures recommended by him fhall be deemed expedient, by the conftitutional advifers of the Crown, every friend to his country must rejoice to find, that all the meafures hitherto purfued by her rulers, on this important fubject, have been juft and equit. able; every one must be gratified by the reflection, that a fuller affertion of our rights, if neceffary, would neither tarnish the honour, nor endanger the vital interefts of our country.

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ART.

ART. IV. The Guide to Immortality; or, Memoirs of the Life and Doctrine of Chrift in the Four Evangelifts: digefted into one continued Narrative according to the Order of Time and Place laid down by Archbishop Newcome; in the Words of the established Verfion with Intra ements; and illuftrated with Notes, Moral, Theological, and Explanatory, tending ta delineate the true Character and Genius of Chriftianity. By Robert Fellowes, A. M. Oxon. 3 Vols. 8vo. 11. 4s, White. 1804.

THOUGH in general it may appear to be the bufinefs of a Reviewer only to give an account of what any particular work contains, and by no means to meddle with what it does not contain, yet there are undoubtedly exceptions to this rule, of which the work now before us is an eminent inftance. This fact feems to be acknowledged by the author himself; Mr. Fellowes having forewarned his readers in his preface, (p. xiv.) that he has been guilty of omissions, which perhaps may be exceptionable to fome of his readers. Though the work extends to three volumes, our remarks will not be many. Of the contents we fhall have a very short account to give, and of the miffions it is not our wifh to fay a word more than what we think ftrictly neceffary,

Mr. F. has taken for the model of his work the learned Dr. White's Diateflaron, with fome variation in regard to parts of the work, in which he rather follows Archbishop Newcome; and for fuch corrections and improvements of the eftablished verfion of the evangelical memoirs, as Mr. F. has thought proper to adopt, he tells us he has chiefly had recourfe to the fame learned archbishop, to Symonds, and Wakefield. The notes accompanying this English harmony of the Gofpels, confift chiefly of moral remarks, or critical illuftrations of ancient manners and customs. There is nothing particularly new or ftriking in the former, and the latter are chiefly felected from works well known, and we believe very generally confulted; fo that though we would by no means with to depreciate Mr. F.'s labours, as far as they tend to enforce the moral precepts of the Gofpel, or to explain what is not immediately intelligible to the illiterate, yet we muft confefs we do not think the world was in want of this new" Guide to Immortality;" nor do we regard Mr, F. as by any means fo competent or fo fafe a guide as many of his predeceflors. Mr. F. acknowledges, that, as to the contents, he has been particularly cautious not to give offence to the gainfayer of Chriftianity, and he even expreffes a hope that

if Jews, Turks, Infidels, or Heretics fhould be induced to read his work, they may be difpofed to lay afide their Antichriftian antipathies. When we read this, we cannot wonder that the work fhould be chargeable with omiffions; for if the Jew, the Turk, the Infidel, and the Gainfayer, may be expected to become Chriftians by adopting Mr. Fellowes's View of Chriftianity, we confefs we are not able to difcern why the Chriftian may not continue a good Chriftian, though he fhould deny that our Saviour was the Meffiah, fhould acknowledge Mahomet to be a true prophet, fhould reject all revelation whatfoever, or make a mockery of the moft folemn' and awful doctrines of both the Old and New Teftament. Mr. Fellowes alledges indeed that the "objections of the Gainfayer are never levelled fo much at the genuine doctrine or moral precepts of the Gofpel, as againft the numerous corruptions and abfurdities with which it has been blended, in the lapfe of ages by artifice and folly." But if this fhould be true in regard to the Gainfayer, Mr. F. had juft expreffed his hopes and expectations that his book would induce the. Jew, and Turk, and Infidel to lay afide their " Antichriftian antipathies;" and he could not furely mean to fay that the objections of the latter were not directed against the "genuine. doctrine," or "moral precepts of the Gofpel." The real fact feems to us to be, that inftead of fmoothing the way for the removal of the "Antichriftian antipathies" of Jews, Turks, Infidels and Gainfayers, Mr. F. has done all he can to remove the anti-jewith, anti-mahometan, and anti-deistical antipathies of the true believer, without one fingle advantage on the fide of morality or Chriftian charity.

We know of no Proteftant church or Proteftant creed (and we are taught to believe the fame now of the Papal church and Papal creeds) tha encourages any antipathy to the perfons, but only to the doctrines of our adverfaries; in which we are but upon a footing with thofe adverfaries themselves, who, if they have no antipathy to the genuine doctrines, or moral precepts of Chriflianity, will ceafe of courfe to be Jews, Turks, or Infidels; and the point which Mr. F. feems to have fo much at heart, will be gained without any further conceffions. How Mr. F.'s antipathy to creeds, and tefts, and articles, is to induce the Jew to acknowledge Jefus to be the Meffiah, or the Mahometan to abandon the Koran, or the Infidel to fubmit to a divine revelation, we know not; and among all Mr. F.'s conceffions, we muft do him the juftice to fay, he has not conceded one of the above points, either to Jew, Turk, or Infidel. Though in making Chrif tianity "nothing more than a rule of life," (fee note 40.

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