tears, and that Caffius after the reduction of Rhodes was covered with glory.-Deiotarus was a keen and happy spirit. The ingrate Caftor kept his court.

His great delight is to fhew his univerfal acquaintance with terms of art, with words that every other polite writer has avoided and despised. When Pompey conquered the pirates, he deftroyed fifteen hundred fhips of the line.-The Xanthian parapets were tore down.-Brutus, fufpecting that his troops were plundering, commanded the trumpets to found to their colours.-Most people understood the act of attainder paffed by the fenate.-The Numidian troopers were unlikely in their appearance. The Numidians beat up one quarter after another.-Salvidienus refolved to pass his men over in boats of leather, and he gave orders for equipping a fufficient number of that fort of fmall craft.-Pompey had light agile frigates, and fought in a strait where the current and caverns occafion fwirls and a roll.— A sharp out-look was kept by the admiral.-It is a run of about fifty Roman miles.-Brutus broke Lipella in the fight of the army.-Mark Antony garbled the fenate. He was a brave man, well qualified for a commodore.

In his choice of phrafes he frequently ufes words with great folemnity, which every other mouth and pen has appropriated to jocularity and levity! The Rhodians gave up the conteft, and in poor plight fled back to Rhodes.-Boys and girls were eafily kidnapped.-Deiotarus was a mighty believer of augury.-Deiotarus deftroyed his ungracious progeny.

The regularity of the Romans was their mortal averfion. They defired the confuls to curb fuch heinous

heinous doings. He had fuch a fhrewd invention, that no fide of a question came amifs to him.Brutus found his mistress a coquettish creature.

He fometimes, with moft unlucky dexterity, mixes the grand and the burlesque together; the violation of faith, Sir, fays Caffius, lies at the door of the Rhodians by reiterated acts of perfidy.-The iron grate fell down, crushed thofe under it to death, and catched the reft as in a trap. -- When the Xanthians heard the military fhout, and faw the flame mount, they concluded there would be no mercy. It was now about fun-fet, and they had been at hot work fince noon.

He has often words or phrafes with which our language has hitherto had no knowledge.-One was a heart-friend to the republic.-A deed was expeded. The Numidians begun to reel, and were in hazard of falling into confufion.-The tutor embraced his pupil clofe in his arms.-Four hundred women were taxed who have no doubt been the wives of the best Roman citizens.-Men not born to action are inconfequential in government-collectitious troops.-The foot by their violent attack began the fatal break in the Pharfaliac field.-He and his brother, with a politic common to other countries, had taken oppofite fides.

His epithets are of the gaudy or hyperbolical kind. The glorious news.-Eager hopes and difmal fears.-Bleeding Rome-divine laws and hallowed cuftoms-mercilefs war-intenfe anxiety.

Sometimes the reader is fuddenly ravifhed with a fonorous fentence, of which when the noife is past the meaning does not long remain. When Brutus

fet

fet his legions to fill a moat, inftead of heavy dragging and flow toil, they fet about it with huzzas and racing, as if they had been ftriving at the Olympic games. They hurled impetuous down the huge trees and stones, and with fhouts forced them into the water; so that the work, expected to continue half the campaign, was with rapid toil completed in a few days. Brutus's foldiers fell to the gate with refiftless fury, it gave way at laft with hideous crash. -This great and good man, doing his duty to his country, received a mortal wound, and glorious fell in the cause of Rome; may his memory be ever dear to all lovers of liberty, learning and humanity!This promife aught ever to embalm his memory.The queen of nations was torn by no foreign invader. Rome fell a facrifice to her own fons, and was ravaged by her unnatural offspring: all the great men of the ftate, all the good, all the holy, were openly murdered by the wickedeft and worst.Little islands cover the harbour of Brindifi, and form the narrow outlet from the numerous creeks that compofe its capacious port.-At the appearance of Brutus and Caffius a fhout of joy rent the heavens from the furrounding multitudes.

Such are the flowers which may be gathered by every hand in every part of this garden of eloquence. But having thus freely mentioned our Author's faults, it remains that we acknowledge his merit; and coafefs that this book is the work of a man of letters, that it is full of events difplayed with accuracy, and related with vivacity; and though it is fufficiently defective to crush the vanity of its Author, it is fufficiently entertaining to invite readers.

VOL. X.

O

REVIE W

OF

FOUR LETTERS from Sir ISAAC NEWTON to Dr. BENTLEY,

CONTAINING

Some Arguments in Proof of a DEITY.

It

T will certainly be required, that notice should be taken of a book, however small, written on fuch a fubject, by fuch an author. Yet I know not whether thefe Letters will be very fatisfactory; for they are answers to inquiries not published; and therefore, though they contain many pofitions of great importance, are, in fome parts, imperfect and obfcure, by their reference to Dr. Bentley's Letters.

Sir Ifaac declares, that what he has done is due to nothing but industry and patient thought; and indeed long confideration is fo neceffary in such abftruse inquiries, that it is always dangerous to publish the productions of great men, which are not known to have been defigned for the prefs, and of which it is uncertain, whether much patience and thought have been bestowed upon them. The principal question of thefe Letters gives occafion to obferve how even the mind of Newton gains ground gradually upon darkness.

"As to your first query," fays he, "it feems to me, that if the matter of our fun and planets; and all the matter of the univerfe, were evenly "fcattered throughout all the heavens, and every particle had an innate gravity towards all the reft, "and the whole space throughout which this matter "was scattered, was but finite; the matter on the "outside of this space would by its gravity tend "towards all the matter on the infide, and by confequence fall down into the middle of the whole space, and there compofe one great spherical "mafs. But if the matter was evenly difpofed "throughout an infinite space, it could never convene into one mafs; but fome of it would con"vene into one mass, and some into another, so as "to make an infinite number of great maffes, fcat"tered at great diftances from one to another "throughout all that infinite fpace. And thus "might the fun and fixed ftars be formed, fuppofing the matter were of a lucid nature. "how the matter fhould divide itself into two forts,

But

"C

and that part of it which is fit to compofe a fhining body, fhould fall down into one mafs and "make a fun, and the reft, which is fit to compofe "an opaque body, fhould coalefce, not into one great body, like the fhining natter, but into many little ones; or if the fun at firft were an opaque body like the planets, or the planets lucid "bodies like the fun, how he alone fhould be changed into a fhining body, whilft all they continue opaque, or all they be changed into opaque " ones, whilst he remains unchanged, I do not think "more explicable by mere natural caufes, but am O 2 "forced

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