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have been conferred, fince the union, upon no more than twoperfons who were peers of Scotland at the time of conferring fuch English titles; viz. the Duke of Queenfberry created Duke of Dover 1708, who fat (unqueftioned) as an English peer, till his death, in July 1711; but on the Duke of Hamilton's being created Duke of Brandon in Suffolk, in September 1711, the matter was in December following, brought before the house, and after a folemn debate, his new title declared inconfiftent with the act of Union.-The foregoing N. B. therefore, would have ftood much more properly under the title Brandon, at p. 175, than under that of Wakefield; to which it has, in fact, no relation whatsoever. It may be farther added, notwithstanding what is faid in the latter part of the N. B. alluded to, that no inftance hath yet occurred of any Duke of Hamilton or Queenfberry having fat as one of the fixteen, fince they have looked upon themselves as English peers-When the prefent Duke of Queensberry came to be at age 1719, (which he was not at the time of his father's death) he claimed his feat in the house of peers, as Duke of Dover; but his claim was alfo rejected, for the fame reafons which occurred in the Duke of Hamilton's cafe before.

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ART. VIII. The English Preacher; or, Sermons on the principal Subjects of Religion and Morality, selected, revised, and abridged from various Authors. Vols. 12mo. 9 I l. 11 s. 6d. bound Johnfon, 1774.

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Rchbishop Tillotfon was the firft, if we are not mistaken, who publickly recommended the defign of compiling what is called a Body of Divinity, from the fermons of English proteftant preachers. He was of opinion that with fuch excellent materials, a religious fyftem might be formed, fuperior to whatever could be produced by any church in other parts of the world.

If this appeared to be the cafe in Tillotfon's time, with how much greater advantage may fuch a defign be now executed, when the number of rational and pious difcourses, from the pulpit, are multiplied, perhaps, an hundred fold ;-when the field of divinity blooms with fo great a variety of the choiceft flowers, that the difficulty of rejecting is the only difficulty in the undertaking.

In pursuance of the good archbishop's hint, a work entitled, "A fyftem of Divinity and Morality," was published in 1751, in 5 Vols. 12mo. It confifted of fermons felected from the works of the most eminent divines of our established church; and fuch of the difcourfes as were deemed too long, or thought to contain fentiments, or a difcuffion of critical points, not effential

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effential to the great ends of practical religion, were abridged by the Editor.

The compiler of the above mentioned fyftem, was one Mr. Nicol, a layman, Author of fome other religious publications; particularly of feveral valuable tracts in favour of the comprehenfim-fcheme, with refpect to the church of England and the Diffenters. He was a man of abilities; but he chofe not to affix his name to any of his compofitions: from an apprehenfion that they would be the lefs favourably received by the clergy.

In a few years Mr. Nicol's collection of fermons becoming fcarce, and the compiler dying, the late Dr. Ferdinando Warner was employed to revife, alter, and republish the System &c. which task was, accordingly, executed, in 4 vols. 8vo; and the work was well received.

About the fame time, another collection of fermons appeared, intitled, The Proteftant System. This publication confifted of difcourfes felected and reprinted without abridgment, from the fermons of the most eminent Dissenting minifters of Great Britain and Ireland; and was comprehended in 2 vols. 8vo. But altho' the Editor made choice only of the most rational and elegat productions of our Non-conformist preachers, fuch as Abernethy, Chandler, Fofter, &c. yet the fale of this collection was lefs extenfive than that of Mr. Nicol; probably from its being confined within a much narrower circle of readers; the Editor's name did not appear.

In 1762, another collection was formed, on a more comprehenfive plan. It was entitled The Practical Preacher. The anonymous but judicious compiler did not, in his choice, confine himself to writers of any particular denomination, but took whatever feemed moft fit for his purpofe (the promotion of rational and manly piety, and the enforcement of moral and chriftian virtues by chriftian motives) wherever he found it; without being folicitous, as he expreffes it, in his preface, • Whether the Author was a minister of the established church, or a Proteftant Diffenter.' Some forms of devotion were added by the editor, compofed in the fpirit, and often in the very words, of the late celebrated Dr. James Fofter. In this compilement, felection alone was attended to; and the fermons underwent no abridgment.

Dr. Enfield's collection, now before us, is formed with respect to the selection, on a plan fimilar to that of The Practical Preacher; but the difcourfes, where neceffary, are properly and judiciously abridged; fee our short account of the first and fecond volumes, in Rev. Vol. XLIX. p. 77. To what was then faid, in commendation of the Editor's defign, we have, now, only to add, that the work is completed, as above, in 9 volumes.

The compiler of the English Preacher obferves, in his preface, that the chief materials for fuch a work as this, must of course be gathered from writings already well known; but, he adds, in addition to these, there are some selected from volumes little known, and others that have been published fingly, and never been generally read, which, befides their own intrinfic merit, will to many readers have the recommendation of novelty.

The Editor concludes, with expreffing his hope that this publication may be of ufe to PRIVATE FAMILIES, by furnifhing them with a large collection of difcourfes on the moft important topics of morality and religion; and to YOUNG PREACHERS, by exhibiting before them, at one view, a great variety of the beft MODELS for their imitation. And, farther, he very reasonably prefumes, that a work of this kind cannot fail of contributing fomewhat toward the fupport of the interefts of religion and virtue in the world.'

ART. IX. The Antiquities of England and Wales. By Francis Grofe, Efq. 4to. 21. 5 s. unbound. Hooper.

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HE fuccefs of this expenfive work affords a strong proof of the prevailing tafte, in this country, for the elegant arts; at the fame time that those which chiefly aim at utility are by no means neglected. Let cynics, therefore, and four divines, rail as they pleafe at the degeneracy of the age,' but there never was an æra, or a nation, in which merit, of every kind, was more candidly acknowledged, more eminently diftinguished, or more liberally requited, than in the present times, and in this happy ifland.

Mr. Grofe, in his addrefs to the Public, prefixed to this fecond volume of his Antiquities, acknowledges, in grateful terms, the favourable reception with which his work has been honoured; and, at the fame time, he very properly tenders his thanks to those who have fo kindly and effectually affifted him in carrying it on. The aids he has met with, he says, have greatly exceeded even his moft fanguine hopes; particularly in the article of the defcriptions, in which he has been favoured with the affiftance of gentlemen from whom, at his first fetting out, he had not the fmallest expectations: befide which, we, are told, feveral of the most eminent artists have, with a generofity peculiar to men of genius, made him a compliment of their drawings. He adds this affurance to his fubfcribers that, from the experience both himself and his engravers have acquired, the remainder of the work will be rather better executed than the part already finifhed: and to this, from a view of some

• For our account of the first volume, fee Review, vol. xlix. P. 378.

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of the later numbers, published fince the completion of the fecond volume, we are difpofed to give entire credit. Warm as we honeftly were, in commendation of the first volume, we are now convinced that, from the beginning, this work, in point of elegance, has continually been in a progreffive ftate; and, on this circumstance, we fincerely congratulate the ingenious Author.

That he may not, however, like the bird in the fable, adorn himself with borrowed plumes, Mr. Grofe hath here mentioned the particular contributions which he hath received, both in the defcriptions and views; and among the very confiderable number of his benefactors, we fee the names of Dr. Percy, Mr.. Pennant, Lord Newnham, Meff. Thomas and Paul Sandby, Mr. Woollet, Dr. Ducarrel, &c. &c. The number of caftles, priories, cathedrals, churches, abbies, capital manfions, &c. in volume of this work, is about ninety; with descriptions and hiftorical notes of each.-We shall extract the entertaining account of the Hermitage near Warkworth, in Northumberland, as a fpecimen of the entertainment which the mind will receive from a work which is not calculated merely to please the eye.

So exact an account, fays Mr. Grofe, of this curious relique of ancient folitary devotion, is already published in the pleafing ballad of the Hermit of Warkworth †, that it might be fufficient to refer the Reader to that poem, and to the curious appendix fubjoined to it: but as there has lately fallen into my hands a very minute epiftolary defcription of this Hermitage, I fhall here infert it as a fupplement to what has been collected by the Editor of the ballad above-mentioned at the fame time affuring the Reader, that I can myself vouch for the truth of the defcription given below, having observed upon the spot all, or most of the particulars therein mentioned. F. G. An Extract of a Letter from Newcastle upon Tyne, dated the 6th of September, 1771.

"As I went from Newcastle, I quitted the great northern road at a small village called Felton (which ftands about midway between Morpeth and Alnwick) and had a moft romantic ride for the moft part down a beautiful rocky vale, worne by the current of the river Coquet, which afforded a fucceffion of very picturesque scenes.

"I was much pleased with the fituation of Warkworth itfelf; particularly with the castle, which, although in ruins, is a fine monument of ancient grandeur, being one of the proud for

The Hermit of Warkworth, a Northumberland ballad, in three Cantos, 1771, 4to. written by the ingenious Dr. Percy, wherein the beautiful fimplicity of our ancient English poetry is moft happily imitated and preferved.'

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treffes, which heretofore belonged to the noble house of Percy, and from them defcended to the prefent Duke and Duchefs of Northumberland; who, together with the princely poffeffions, have inherited the generofity and magnificence of that great family.

"From the caftle we afcended not more than half a mile up the river, before we came to the Hermitage; which is probably the best preferved and most entire now remaining in these kingdoms. It ftill contains three apartments, all of them hollowed in the folid rock, and hanging over the river in the most picturesque manner imaginable, with a covering of ancient hoary trees, reliques of the venerable woods, in which this fine folitude was anciently embowered.

"As the Hermitage, with all its ftriking peculiarities, is exactly defcribed in the ballad of the Hermit of Warkworth, I might be content to tranfcribe the defcriptive part of that poem: but as you have infifted upon my relating to you what I faw myfelf, I fhall endeavour to obey you.

"The cave contains three apartments; which, by way of diftinction, I will venture to call the chapel, facrifty, and antichapel. Of thefe, the chapel is very entire and perfect: but the two others have fuffered by the falling down of the rock at the weft end. By this accident a beautiful pillar, which formerly ftood between these two apartments, and gave an elegant finishing to this end of the facred vaults, was, within the memory of old people, destroyed.

"The chapel is not more than eighteen feet long, nor more than feven and a half in width and heighth; but is modelled} and executed in a very beautiful ftyle of Gothic architecture.. The fides are ornamented with neat octagon pillars, all cut in the folid rock; which branch off into the cieling, and forming little pointed arches, terminate in groins. At the east end is a handsome plain altar, to which the priest afcended by two steps: these in the courfe of ages, have been much worn away through the foft yielding nature of the ftone. Behind the altar is a little nich, which probably received the crucifix, or the pix. Over this nich is ftill feen the faint outline of a Glory.

"On the north fide of the altar is a very beautiful Gothic window, executed like all the reft, in the living rock. This window tranfmitted light from the chapel to the facrifty; or what else shall we call it, being a plain oblong room which ran parallel with the chapel, fomewhat longer than it, but not fo wide. At the east end of this apartment are ftill the remains of an altar, at which mafs was occafionally fung, as well as in the chapel. Between it and the chapel is a fquare perforation, with fome appearance of bars, or a lattice, through which the Hermit might attend Confeffion, or behold the elevation of the

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