who demand money as penfioners on the parish, to give or not to give, will fet all right.'

To add any thing after this quotation by way of commendation to thefe Letters, would be a tacit imputation upon the feelings of every humane perfon who reads them, or who takes the cafe of the infant poor under their confideration.

12. A Narrative of the many borrid Cruelties inflicted by Elizabeth Brownrigg upon the Body of Mary Clifford, deceased; and for which the faid Elizabeth received Sentence of Death, on Saturday the 12th of September 1767. Together with an Account of the Sufferings of Mary Mitchell and Mary Jones. By John Wingrave, one of the Conflables of the Ward of Farringdon Without. 8vo. Pr. Is. Williams.

Accounts of the English nation, the character, difpofitions, and manners of the people, have lately employed the pens of many foreigners. How unjuft they are in almoft all their obfervations, is known to every Englishman who can read. The reason is, that thofe authors, when they come to England, keep either the very beft or the very worst of company, and the character of the English people can be known from neither. A writer who intends to do juftice to fuch a fubject ought to be long and intimately acquainted with that middling rank of men in England who may be properly called the People; a fpecies of inhabitants which no nation in the world but England can boast of, because they are independent of all objects except the laws of their country, and equally free from the prepoffeffions of the great, as they are fuperior to the ignorance of the vulgar.

Thus much we have thought proper to premise with regard to the pamphlet before us, because we have obferved, that foreign authors, who pretend to write upon the English nation, have always fixed upon fome inftance of whim and cruelty, which even in England is thought extraordinary; and ex uno--difte omnes:-a fingle fact, with them, conftitutes the character of the whole community.We fhould not, for example, be greatly furprifed, if the next French abbé, academician, poet, philofopher, or travelling governor, who fhall publish letters upon the English nation, fhould exhibit the character of this Elizabeth Brownwrigg as the true picture of all the female housekeepers in London, or through all England, where her crimes are heard and fpoken of with more deteftation than they would meet with, perhaps, in any other part of the globe.

It would be in vain to deny that cruelties are fometimes practifed in England (and in what nation are they not?); but the treatment of Mrs. Brownrigg to the unfortunate vistim,

and

and the two other objects of her infernal rage, leads to a fact where the true character of our national humanity may be feen. The public money and national establishments maintained those unhappy creatures 'till the age when they were fit to be apprenticed out. Mrs. Brownrigg, or her husband, re

ceived from the fame fund a confideration for that time of their apprenticeship during which they could be lefs ufeful in their fervice, or for defraying any little expence they might cost her in cloathing; a humanity peculiar to the English nation. The abuse of her truft can admit of no exaggeration.

As to the performance before us, it is written in the spirit of chriftianity, with candour and fenfibility. The ftile is critically adapted to the fubject, and the writer's reflections are rational and pious. As his pamphlet, as well as many other publications on the fane fubject, (none of which we think comparable to, though fome of them borrowed from, his) have been retailed in all the news-papers, we shall trouble the reader with no extracts from it; and fincerely hope that the author's pocket has been no fufferer by his public-fpirited undertaking. 13. Praxis Medica et Chirurgica Nofocomiorum Civitatis Londini. Cui additur Index Morborum et Remediorum. I 2mo. Pr. 2s. 6d. Crowder.

A collection of various forms of medicinal prescriptions made ufe of in Bartholomew's, St. Thomas', and St. George's hofpitals.

14. The Conductor, and Containing Splints: Or, a Defcription of two new invented Inftruments, for the more fafe Conveyance as well as the more eafy and perfect Cure of Fractures of the Leg, whether fimple or compound. To which are added, three Copper-Plates, fhewing the Conftruction and Application of the Conductor. By Jonathan Wathen, Surgeon. 8vo. Pr. 1s. J. and F. Rivington. As it is impoffible to give a precife idea of these machines from verbal description only, we must, of neceffity, refer our readers to the plates, for proper illuftration. We acknowledge, however, in juftice to the invention of the author, that these machines are well adapted for the easy and safe conveyance of the patient from the place wherever the accident of a fracture may happen, to his being placed in bed for the neceffary time. of the cure; and for the prefervation of the fractured bones in their natural pofition, until that cure be perfectly accomplished. 15. An Account of the Somersham Water; in the County of Huntingdon. 8vo. 8vo. Pr. 6d. Walter.

This water iffues forth from the declivity of a fmall hill, between the towns of St. Ives and Somerfham, in the county of

Huntingdon,

Huntingdon. It was in pretty great repute about fifty years ago; till some, having injudiciously drank it, while they laboured under a fit of the ftone or gravel, a report was spread, that the water was productive of these disorders. It is found, however, from repeated experiments, that fo far from being of prejudice in cafes of the ftone and gravel, this water acts in them as a falutary diuretic, and may be taken without the leaft inconvenience, provided the urinary paffages are not obstructed, and the patient is free from a fever.

It appears from experiments, that the contents of the Somerfham water are: Firft, iron. Secondly, felenite. Thirdly, allum. Fourthly, from its tafte, and attra@ing the moisture of the air, fome marine falt, with a little allum and vitriol in the state of an aqua magiflra aluminis & vitrioli, incapable of cryftallization.

The Somersham water, therefore, feems to differ confiderably from any of the mineral waters known in Great-Britain or Ireland. For among the writers who even admit and mention aluminous waters, no one, except Dr. Short, pretends to have feparated crystals of allum from them; and even he declares, that in subsequent trials on the Nevil Holt water (from which he had once obtained fome) he could not fucceed. Though, if we confider that allum is compofed of the vitriolic acid, united to an argillaceous earth, it will not be difficult to conceive that an acid water, paffing through a ftratum of fuch earth, should act upon, and unite with a small portion of it; or the water may diffolve some allum in the ftratum of decompofed pyrites, where it is impregnated with iron and felenite; fo that probably allum has been often overlooked in water wherein it existed. The waters of the Somersham spaw will bear carriage to any distance, and can be kept a long time, even for years, if bottled carefully. This pamphlet contains directions for the drinking them, and towards the end of it, gives the following fhort account of the diforders in which they are useful.

'I fhall now only add in what diseases I have chiefly found the Somersham water efficacious. In debilities of the ftomach and bowels; in dyfenteries, hæmorrhoids, and worms; in nidorofe crudities of the ftomach, but not in acid, which Bristol, Tilbury, and Tunbridge water will remove. In obftructions of the liver and fpleen, in jaundices in adults. In uterine complaints, schirrhus, cancers, hæmorrhages, obstructions, the fluor albus, and after abortion promoting conception: in the ftone and gravel, gonorrhea, weakness, ulcers in the bladder, and diabetes. In hysteric and hypochondriac affections; in a marafmus, in confumptions from a fcorbutic habit of body; in

the

the fcurvy, rheumatic pains, and fome gouty perfons. Externally applied to foul ulcers and cancers.

The Somersham water is not to be recommended to perfons who are troubled with the vertigo; in all afthmas, except the fpafmodic, from an hyfterit or hypochondriacal caufe; nor in the anafarca, or tympany; or to fuch perfons, who, through age or bulk, cannot take fufficient exercise, or have fwelled legs. The water is cautiously to be advised in obftructions of the menfes, in plethoric conftitutions, and abfolutely forbid as hurtful, until proper evacuations have been made.'

16. A Short, Plain, and Exact Narrative of all the Proceedings relative to the two Convicts lately refpited by his Majefty for the Trial of Mr. Thomas Peirce's Styptic Medicines, and the true Caufes of his Difappointment fhewn. 8vo. Pr. 15. Wilkie.

As this narrative relates entirely to what are said by the author to be matters of fact, an account of it does not fall within the cognizance of criticism.

17. An Account of the Going of Mr. John Harrison's Watch, at the Royal Obfervatory, from May 6, 1766, to March 4, 1767. Together with the original Obfervations and Calculations of the Jame. By the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, Aftronomer Royal. Publifhed by Order of the Commiffioners of Longitude. 4to. Pr. 2s. 6d. Nourfe.

At a meeting of the commiffioners appointed by act of parliament for the discovery of the longitude at fea, &c. held at the Admiralty on Saturday the 26th of April, 1766, it was refolved, that Mr. Harrison's longitude watch, or time-keeper, should be examined with regard to its manner of keeping time, from the beginning of May 1766, to the end of February 1767, according to the following directions, viz.

That it be kept in the Royal Obfervatory at Greenwich, in a box, having two different locks, fixed to the floor or wainscot, with a plate of glafs in the lid or fide of the faid box; and that it be compared as often as convenient with the regulator, and the variations fet down.

That the form which Mr. Harrison observed in winding it up be exactly followed.

That the watch be tried in various pofitions 'till the beginning of July next (1766), and from thence to the end of February following, in a horizontal pofition, with the face upwards.

That the variation of the watch be noted down, and a regifter of the barometer and thermometer, at the times of comparing the fame with the regulator, be regularly kept.

On

On Monday May 5, 1766, the faid watch, locked up in a box fealed with three feals, all intire, was delivered to the rev. Nevil Maskelyne, aftronomer royal, by Philip Stephens, Efq. fecretary of the Admiralty, in the prefence of captain Thomas Baillie, of the royal hofpital, Greenwich; Mr. John Ibbetson, fecretary of the board of longitude; and Mr. Larcum Kendal, watchmaker. Thefe gentlemen went immediately on board fir George Rodney's barge, (fir George having been fo obliging as to offer Mr. Maskelyne the use of it on this occafion) at Whitehall stairs, which carried them to Greenwich; and upon their arrival at the Obfervatory, Mr. Maíkelyne caufed a deal box that had been provided, agrecable to the refolutions of a late board of longitude, with two locks of different wards, and two keys to each lock, (one for himself, the other for his affiftant) and a glass in the lid, and another in the fide, both fecured with putty, fealed with the feal of Philip Stephens, Efq; fecretary of the Admiralty, to be fcrewed down firmly in the feat of one of the windows of the room belonging to the tranfit inftrument; and taking the feals of the box in which the watch was locked up, took out the watch, and delivered it to Mr. Kendal, who having wound it up, put the balance in motion, and fet the hour and minute hands to agree with the second hand, laid the watch in the deal box above-mentioned, in a horizontal pofition, with the face upwards. Mr. Maskelyne then compared the watch with the regulator of the Obfervatory, or tranfit clock, in the prefence, as every thing else had been done, of captain Baillie, Meffrs. Ibbetfon and Kendal; and the time fhewn by the watch being 3 h. 57 m. 0 f. p. m. the time fhewn by the tranfit clock was 6 h. 50 m. 52 f. p. m.

N. B. The time fhewn by the watch is mean time nearly, and the time fhewn by the clock is fidereal time nearly, or correfponds nearly with the right ascension (in time) of that point of the equator which is upon the meridian.

It appears from Mr. Maskelyne's obfervations upon the going of the watch from May 6, 1766, which was the day after the watch was depofired in the Royal Obfervatory, to March 4, 1767, in which there are fix periods of fix weeks each, that it gained very differently, being from 5′42′′ to 3′20′′, or from 1° 25 to 3° 20′ of longitude in fix weeks, and, confequently, (continues our author) Mr. Harrifon's watch cannot be depended upon to keep the longitude within a degree in a WeftIndia voyage of fix weeks, nor to keep the longitude within half a degree for more than a fortnight, and then it must be kept in a place where the thermometer is always fome degrees above freezing that, in cafe the cold amounts to freezing, the watch cannot be depended upon to keep the longitude within

half