right; there is in both the fame credulity, the fame fusceptibility of being Battered: the one was impofed on by the Cock Lane ghoft, the other by the Shakspeare manufcripts. In the powers of argument Dr. Parr is certainly not inferior to his mighty predeceffor, and, in ftrength of language, he is always his equal; yet it is to be lamented, that he has wafted his time and his talents on fubjects infinitely beneath him, though he has contrived to introduce incidentally, many paffages which difplay the full ftrength of his powers, on fubjects which call for the fulleft exertion of the moft enlarged intellect, and intereft the feelings of all ranks: yet even these are in danger of being loft to pofterity, for few readers, in future times, will think of looking for politics or morality in a Sequel to a printed Paper, or a Statement of Facts, &c. This it is which fets Parr below Johnfon; he has never exerted his powers directly on any fubject of importance; there is only one book which will fave him from being forgotten, his Tracts by Warburton: there indeed he has difplayed the full extent of his powers, and exhausted the language in terms of cauftic feverity, in bitterness of reproof, and dignity of fentiment: yet even here we are only amufed by an attack on an individual, and not improved by any developement of general principles. That Dr. Parr has not written with the fimplicity of Addison, is no more to be objected to him as a fault, than that an oak is not a poplar or a plane; and if excellence in writing is not reftrained to one fpecies, he deferves the praife of having exalted that in which he has written to its greateft pitch. Those men who are delighted with the fimplicity of Addifon, it will certainly not please; but those who admire fomething more animating and more impreffive, it will not fail to delight. Dr. Parr's fingularity confifts more in the arrangement than the choice of his words; he has not always the pompous terms of Johnfon, but who will deny that he often imitates him? There is in both the fame dilation of ideas, the fame verbofity, the fame inverfion of the language in forced and awkward fentences; there are, however, on the whole, more points in which they refemble each other than in which they differ, Our author has only compared

the nature of their works, not their merits as writers. What has Dr. Parr written?' is a fair queftion; but we ought alfo to ask, how he has written. A fermon or two, rather long;' does this detract from the merits of a fermon, or fay of it all it deferves? A Latin preface to Bellendenus (rather long too), containing a cento of Latin and Greek expreffions applied to political fubjects. Is this a just character of the happy ingenuity with which claffical quotations are applied to modern events? with which learning, the moft minute and extenfive, is rendered fubfervient to politics, and ancient writers defcribe living characters. It is a work of unrivalled learning, memory, and brilliancy. Another preface to fome English tracts: this is no cha racter of that preface, which is certainly the finest philippic in the language. And two or three pamphlets about his own private quarrels.' If any of his readers can fuffer their judg ment to be misled by fuch empty affertions, they must be more inclined than they ought to be to take opinions upon truft. A more unfair attempt was never made to bias the public against a great man; for without faying a word of the merits of his writings, he has endeavoured to make it believed, that they are worthy of little notice or regard. In the enumeration of Dr. Parr's works, the author has, with his usual want of candour, omitted to mention that which does him moft credit, by its language, fpirit, and fentiments; I mean the Letter to the Diffenters of Birmingham, from a Citizen of Irenopolis; which, though it does not bear his name, has never been disowned by the Doctor or his friends.

"Dr. Parr published at Birmingham what he called "A printed Pa'per;" and after that, "A Sequel to a printed Paper," a very large pamphlet, de omni fcibili, as ufual. p. 221. This is a proof that our author has either intentionally misrepresented Dr. Parr, or never read his works; for it was not the Doctor who published a printed paper, but as the title expreffes, a Sequel to a printed Paper, written by another perfon. It is even ridiculous to fuppofe, that he wrote both the Paper and the Sequel, to which it is an anfwer. As to all that wafte of learning which the gentleman has employed to ridicule Dr. Parr, or perhaps

perhaps to gratify his own vanity, it is ufelefs to either purpose; it is trifling and ridiculous, and has neither humour nor vivacity." P. 36.

EPIC POETRY.

"HE gave the publie a long quarto volume of epic verses, Joan of Arc, written, as he fays in the preface, in fix weeks. p. 353. There are three epic poems in the world, and there will never be another. Homer, Virgil, and Milton, need fear no future rivals. All the receipts of the critics have never yet produced an epic poet; they may enable others to judge of their merits; they may direct the efforts of genius, but they can never fupply the want of it; for poetry is the gift of nature, rules are the refult of art. The great fault of modern epic poetry, is the frequent appearance of the poet, particularly in drawing characters. Homer never draws a character; Voltaire never introduces a hero without giving his own opinion of him; fo that he no longer writes a poem but a hiftory. A painter, who, at the bottom of his picture, fhould write the character or paffion he meant to exprefs, must be thought ridiculous; and a poet is no lefs fo, who does not leave the characters of his heroes to be drawn by the reader. An epic poet ought to reprefent the man, not to defcribe him; and if his language and animation are not fufficient to fet his characters before us, it is in vain he attempts to labour them; the illufion is deftroyed; and, inftead of a poet, he becomes only an hiftorian. This diftinction will be found to apply conftantly." P. 97.

VII. Indian Antiquities; or Differtations, relative to the ancient geographical Divifions, the pure Syftem of primeval Theology, the grand Code of civil Laws, the original Form of Government, the widely extended Commerce, and the various and profound Literature of Hindoftan: compared throughout with the Religion, Laws, Government, and Literature, of Perfia, Egypt, and Greece. The whole intended as introductory to, and illuftrative of, the Hiftory of Hin

"THE firft commerce of mankind was carried on without the medium of any money, ftamped or unftamped: it fimply confifted in the barter of one commodity for another, according to the respective wants of the parties concerned in it. The greater or lefs urgency of the want, in general, fixed the higher or inferior price of the commodity; but the eye was often the fole judge, and quantity the chief rule of determining. There is a curious account in Cofmas, called Indicopleuftes, of the ancient mode of carrying on

traffic between the inhabitants of Axuma, the capital of Ethiopia, and the natives of Barbaria, a region of Africa near the fea-coaft, where were goldmines, which will give us a tolerable idea of this primitive kind of commerce. Every other year,' fays he, a caravan of merchants, to the num ber of five hundred, fets off from Axuma to traffic with the Barbarians for gold. They carry with them cat'tle, falt, and iron, to barter for that gold. Upon their arrival at the mines, 'they encamp on a particular spot, and expofe their cattle, with the falt and iron, to the view of the natives.

The Barbarians approach the mart, 'bringing with them fmall ingots of 'gold; and, after furveying the articles expofed to fale, place on or near the animal, falt, or iron, which they wish to purchafe, one or more of 'the ingots, and then retire to a place 'at fome distance. The proprietor of 'the article, if he thought the gold 'fufficient, took it up and went away; and the purchaser alfo fecured and 'carried away the commodity he defired. If the gold was not deemed fufficient, the Axumite let it remain 'affixed to the article, till either more 'ingots were added to fatisfy the full ' demand for it, or the firft offered 'taken away. Their total ignorance ' of each other's language rendered this filent mode neceffary, and the whole bufinefs terminated in five days, • when the Axumite caravan departed 'homewards, a journey of not lefs than fix months*.? In thefe compacts, however, the eye muft often have been deceived; and the bulk of an article was not always the proper criterion of its worth, fince fome articles of great magnitude were of trifling value, while others of inferior bulk were in the highest eftimation. It was alfo impoffible, in many inftances, to divide, without fpoiling, the commodity in requeft, according to the proportion fuited to the mutual wants and ability of the buyer and feller. It became absolutely neceffary, therefore, to have recourse to fome general medium in commerce, and that medium varied according to the produce of the country in which it was carried on. In fome it confifted of fhells, in others of cocoa-nuts, in others of leather or paper; so that, if the reader will excufe the joke, we fee a paper-currency was established in the earliest ages. Such was the first rude money, a word which explains itself, being derived to us from moneta, fince it advised one of the price of an article.

The cowries, or white fhells, at this day used as currency in India, and the fmall Siamefe coins, in form refembling nuts, are, in all probability, relics of this ancient ufage before metals were fo generally adopted as the reprefentative figns of the value of articles of commerce. It was the beauty,

firmnefs, and durability of metals, that occafioned them to be fo adopted, but it was many ages before they were ftamped with any impreffion defcrips tive of their weight or value. It was the cuftom of the merchant, as in fact is ftill practifed in China, to carry a certain portion of gold or filver into the market, and having previoully furnished himfelf with proper inftruments and fcales, he cut off and weighed out, before the vender of the con modity wanted, as many pieces as were proportioned to the purchase of it. The great inconvenience and delay occafioned by this mode of carrying on commerce, soon`induced the merchant to bring with him pieces of money, already portioned out, of different. weights and value, and ftamped with the marks neceffary to diftinguifh them. There is very great reason to believe that the earliest coins ftruck were used both as weights and money; and indeed this circumftance is in part proved by the very names of certain of the Greek and Roman coins: thus the Attic mina and the Roman libra equally fignify a pound; and the orang of the Greeks, fo called from weigh ing, is decifive as to this point. The Jewish fhekel was also a weight as well as a coin, three thousand fhekels, according to Arbuthnot, being equal in weight and value to one talent. This is the oldeft coin of which we any. where read; for it occurs in Genefis, ch. xxiii. v. 16, and exhibits direct evidence against thofe who date the firft coinage of money fo low as the time of Craefus or Darius; it being there exprefsly faid, that Abraham weighed to Ephron four hundred fhekels of filver, current money with the merchant.

"Having confidered the origin and high antiquity of coined money, we proceed to confider the flamp or inpreffion which the first money bore. The primitive race of men being fliep herds, and their wealth confifting in their cattle, in which Abraham is faid to have been rich, when, for greater convenience metals were fubftituted for the commodity itself, it was natural for the reprefentative fign to bear impreffed the object which it reprefented; and thus accordingly the earlief coins were ftamped with the figure of

an or or sheep. For proof that they actually did thus impress them, we can again appeal to the high authority of fcripture; for there we are informed that Jacob bought a parcel of a field for an hundred pieces of money. Genefis, ch. xxxiii, v. 19. The original Hebrew term, tranflated pieces of money, is ke fitoth, which fignifies lambs, with the figure of which the metal was doubt lefs ftamped. We have a fecond instance of this practice in the ancient Greek coin, denominated Bus, the dx; and we meet with a third in the old brafs coins of Rome (whence I before obferved the public treasury was called ærarium), ftamped, before that city began to use gold and filver money, with the figure of a sheep, whence the Latin name pecunia. Signatum eft notis pecudum; unde et pecunia appellata t. In procefs of time, when empires were formed, and men crowded into cities, coins came to be impreffed with different devices, allufive either to the hiftory of its founder, fome remarkable event in the hiftory of the nation, their accidental fituation, or the predominant devotion of the country. Thus the fhekel of the Jews had Aaron's rod budding, with a fimoking cenfer. The Tyrians had their petræ ambrofiæ, and ferpentine emblems. The Athenian coins bore impreffed an owl, and Pallas. The maritime race, who inhabited the Peloponnefus, had a teftudo, or shell, as their fymbol; the Perfians, practifed in the ufe of the bow, an archer, which is the conftant device on the darics; the Theffalians, a horfe; the Byzantines, fituated on the Thracian Bofphorus, a dolphin twisted about a trident.

"Although I have combated the idea of the Lydian or Perfian money being the firft that was ever coined, I am induced, by the general and united atteftation of ancient claffical writers, perfectly to acquiefce in the judgment of medallifts, that the coins of thofe nations were the first stamped with the effigies of the reigning prince; and the priority of coining money is, with great propriety and probability, affigned to Crofus, the wealthieft monarch of Afia, when his capital was invaded and taken by Cyrus, who forbore to plunder that rich city, on the exprefs

condition, that both the monarch and the inhabitants fhould, without re ferve, bring forth their whole amaffed wealth, which must have amounted to a prodigious and almoft incalculable fum. This conqueft gave the Perfians, who were before an indigent people, without any gold or filver currency, and pent up within the contracted limits of the province properly called Perfia, not only the poffeffion of a vaft treasure, but of a wide and rich territory, and laid the foundation of their future grandeur." P.467.

INDIAN CURE FOR THE BITE OF

VENOMOUS REPTILES. "THEVENOT mentions two methods in general ufe among the Indians of curing the bite of venomous reptiles, of a very extraordinary nature; the firft is, holding a burning coal, as long and as clofe as poffible, to the wound, which draws out the venom by degrees; and, what is very fingular, the patient does not feel any great inconvenience from the heat during the time of the operation. The other rehedy confifts in the application of the cobra, or fnake-ftone. Of this celebrated fpecific, the beft are made in the city of Diu, and are compofed of the roots of certain plants burnt to afhes, which afhes are mixed with a particular kind of earth, and then burnt a fecond time. Of this compofition, reduced into a pafte, they form the cobra-ftone of the fize of a pigeon's egg. It is applied in cafe a person be bit by any kind of ferpent or viper, or wounded by a poisoned arrow, in the following manner:-they first prick the wound with a needle till the blood flows, and then fix the ftone to it, which sticks faft, and remains there till it falls off of itself. It is afterwards put into a woman's, or, if that cannot be had, into cow's, milk, where it purges itself of the poifon; and if this be not done immediately the ftone bursts*.

"Dr. Fryer, who was ten years in India, and who, as a phyfician, was certainly a proper judge of fuch matters, fpeaks alfo of thefe fnake-ftones. He fays, they are made by the Brahmins, and that they are a fure counter

poifon to all deadly bites. If the ftone adheres, it attracts the poifon, and, put into milk, it recovers itfelf, leaving its virulency therein, which is difcovered by its greennefs .

"This author imputes to the viciffitudes of the climate all the variety of difenfes fuffered by the Indians. During the fteady northern monfoon, their fibres are hardened against the ufual difeafes of the country. In the variable months, catarrh, glandular fwellings of the throat, rheumatifms, and intermitting fevers, are common among them. In the extreme heats they are afflicted with cholera morbus and violent inflammations of the eyes. In the rains, with dreadful fluxes, and diforders of the brain and the ftomach: for the latter they eat bing, a fort of liquid affafoetida, which caufes them to emit a disgusting odour." P. 653.

GUNPOWDER KNOWN TO THE

ANCIENTS.

"A MODERN author, of much celebrity, has very ingeniously attempted to prove that the ancients were actually acquainted, in very early periods, with the chemical procefs of making gunpowder, and inftances the invention of Salmoneus, with which he is faid to have imitated the thunder and lightning of Jupiter, in proof of his affertion. What is, however, much more to our prefent purpose, he cites Themiftius to prove that the Indian Brahmins encountered one another with thunder and lightning launched from an eminence *; and Philoftratus in evidence, that, when attacked by their enemies, they did not leave their walls to fight them, but darted upon them miffile weapons, in noife and effect refembling pornpas xai Вporras †, lightning and thunder. By thefe weapons were evidently meant the fire-fhaft, or rocket, defcribed above; and to thefe we may add the artificial thunder and lightning used in their cavern-initiations.

"No higher proof in time need, indeed, be adduced of the intimate acquaintance of the Indians with the penetrating and deftructive nature of fire than that exhibited in the chacra,

with which they have armed their god Veefhnu, and with which he deftroys the malignant Affoors. It is a circular máfs of fire, which, inftinct with life, like the thunderbolt of the Grecian Jove, when hurled from the hand of that deity, traverfes the illimitable void, and exterminates his enemies wherefoever concealed." P. 671.

MANUFACTURE OF SILK.

"SILK having been abundantly and immemorially made in India, and probably in ftill greater profufion in China, it is rather furpriting that this valuable article fhould, from its fearcity, be efteemed at Rome of equal value to its weight in gold, and continue fo for two hundred and fifty years, till the time of the Emperor' Aurelian, who is faid to have refufed his emprefs a fuit of filk, on account of its exceffive dearnefs. When the feat of empire was transferred to Con-. ftantinople, the Roman nobility, being nearer the region where it was fabricated, and fparing neither pains nor coft to obtain all the articles of Eastern luxury, were univerfally clothed in vefts of filk; but their Perfian neighbours and rivals, who for a time monopolized that lucrative branch of commerce, fold it in the Byzantine markets at fo exorbitant a price, as incited the Emperor Juftinian to many earnest but fruitless efforts to obtain a part of that trade by other lefs difficult and expenfive channels. While engaged in thefe fpeculations, an incident occurred which greatly facilitated his defign of wrefting this monopoly from the hands of the Perfians, and terminated in making his own capital the principal mart to Europe of that envied manufacture. Dr. Campbell having entered pretty much at large into this fubject, and traced the progrefs of this traffic to the British ifles, as the fubject alfo defcends to ages below the period of Indian antiquities, and as I have many other interefting matters ftill to investigate, relative to the arts and fciences of the Indians, the reader will excufe my inferting the account of that well-informed writer. "Two Perfian monks, that had tra

VOL. V.-No. XLIII.

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velled