hath been undertaken by Dr. Michaelis, in his Spicilegium, the first part of which is now prefented to the public; and fuch of our Readers as are unacquainted with the Author's former writings will be fenfible that he is well qualified for the execution of the defign he has engaged in, by his genius, his critical fkill, and his masterly knowledge of oriental literature. Where Bochart appears to be right in his opinions, our learned Author doth not repeat what he has faid, but contents himfelf with referring to his Phaleg and Canaan. When any thing new occurs to Michaelis that confirms Bochart's fentiments, he adds it; and where ever Bochart feems to be in the wrong, he endeavours to confute him, and to substitute, if poffible, a better interpretation. Nothing is omitted by the prefent writer, that has been faid by the ancient interpreters; and he particularly takes upon him to illuftrate Jofephus more than hath been done by all preceding writers, the geographical remarks of that hiftorian having been too much neglected, and greatly misunderstood. It is one excellency of our Author, that he is not ashamed to profess his ignorance, on feveral occafions; and where he proposes conjectures, he propofes them barely as conjectures. He does not folely confine himfelf to the geography of the Hebrew copy, but comprifes likewife, in his plan, the ancient verfions. It is the intention of Dr. Michaelis, firft to confider the tenth chapter of the book of Genefis, including whatever is elsewhere found in the Old Teftament with regard to the nations and cities mentioned in that chapter. Afterwards, he defigns to difcufs the fituation of paradife, and the twenty-feventh chapter of Ezekiel; and purposes to conclude the whole work with an examination of the other geographical paffages which are scattered through the facred writings of the Jews. The volume now publifhed takes in only the fourteen first verfes of the tenth chapter of Genefis. It came too late into our hands for us to be able to give an accurate and critical account of its contents, in this Appendix. We muft, therefore, refer our Readers [for the prefent] to the book itfelf; where fuch perfons as have a tafte for the enquiries purfued in it, will find much inftruction and entertainment. ART. VI. K. Les deux ages du goût et de Génie Français, fous Louis XIV. et fous Louis XV. The two Ages of French Tafte and Genius under Lewis XIV. and Lewis XV. or a comparative View of the Efforts of Genius and Tafte in Sciences, Arts, and Literature, Literature, under thofe two Reigns. By M. De la Dixmeric, HE Author of this work tells us, in his preliminary dif TH who know but little, and who are honeft enough to acknowledge it. As to the merit of his performance, we fhall only fay, that it is written in a lively and entertaining manner, that the Author fhews himself to be a man of tafte, and that thofe who are little converfant with French literature will find both inftruction and amusement in what he has written. He complains, in our opinion, with little reafon, that French writers are too frequently unjuft to themselves and to their country; that they conceal their own advantages in order to exaggerate thofe of their neighbours, who, he fays, are already too much difpofed to believe them. The first duty of a people, he tells us, is to esteem themselves; and that this pride, which is blameable in an individual, is far from being blameable in a nation. What foundation there is for this complaint, we are at a lofs to know. This is certain, however, that no fuch complaint can be made of M. de la Dixmerie. The writers and ar tifts of the present times, especially, will have no reafon to complain of him. He is very kind to their abilities, their tafte, and their genius, and deals out his praifes with a very liberal hand. His work is introduced with an ingenious preliminary difcourfe, concerning the origin and progrefs of the arts and fciences, till the reign of Lewis XIV. This difcourfe is followed by a comparative view of the two ages in queftion. In order to make this part of the work the more interefting, the Author has contrived, very ingenioufly, to make the feveral writers and artists speak and act: they are all affembled in a magnificent palace, richly ornamented, where the genius of the arts prefides, hears their respective claims, and paffes fentence. This portion of the work is written partly in verfe, and partly in profe; the remainder, which is much the largest, and the most confiderable part of the whole, confifts of hiftorical and literary notes, or rather differtations, on the feveral fpecies of compofition. Epic, Didactic, Lyric, and moral poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, Fables, Hiftory, Eloquence, Tranflations, Journals, Aftronomy, Anatomy, Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Metaphyfics, &c. have, each, a feparate differtation, wherein the two ages under confideration are compared, and wherein the writers and artists of the prefent times are particularly remembered, and have their full meafure of praife allotted them. From this general account of what is contained in the work before us, the judicious Reader will readily perceive that M. de la Dixmerie has undertaken a tafk of a very delicate and difficult nature, and which requires a greater variety of talents than moft writers are poffeffed of, to execute properly.-He concludes with a kind of recapitulation of the whole. I fhall always be of opinion, fays he, that our fathers were very fuccessful, and difcovered a great deal, but they neither difcovered nor perfected every thing: I fhall always be of opinion, that poetic genius did not foar fo high among them as it is capable of doing; that they never produced a tolerable epic pcem, and that we have produced an excellent one; that tragedy among them had all the noble fimplicity of the ancient fatues, and like them wanted, in general, that life and motion which our great cotemporary poets have given it; that the comic art has loft fomewhat of its pleafantry, but is become more decent and interefting; that the fucceffors of Quinaut have beftowed upon Lyric poetry a form more agreeable to the object of it; that mufic was only in its infancy in the laft age, and has made confiderable advances in this; that the ode, which was only melodious in Malherbe, is both melodious and fublime in Rouffeau; that Fontaine will always remain inimitable, but that we have compofed excellent fables without imitating him; that our moral poems are more philofophical: in a word, that the poetical art is not yet in a ftate of degeneracy; that, if the art of oratory appears in fome refpects to be on the decline, it is improved in a great many others; that, though we are less learned at prefent, we are more knowing; that our hiftorians have more philofophy than those who went before us, and are, in general, better writers; that our romance-writers are more useful, without being lefs agreeable; that morality is more extenfive in its application; that criticifm is more under the direction of tafte; that the mathematical fciences, tho' carried to perfection, in a great measure, by those who went before us, have been better explained, and better applied by their fucceffors. This is part of what our Author advances in the conclufion of his work: Gardens nus bien, toutefois, (adds he very wifely) d'être ingrats envers nos Maitres. Ils nous ont épargnè des erreurs et tracè des exemples. Nous marchons librement dans une carriere qu'ils nous ont ouverte; mais, enfin, nous y marchons, et plus d'un fentier nouveau s'eft applani fous nos pas. Cel ce que je préfume avoir démontré. R. ART. Loix de Platon. The Laws of Plato. TH ART. VII. Par le Traducteur de la Republique. Octavo. 2 Vols. Amfterdam, printed by Rey. 1769. HIS work only reached us a few days ago, fo that we have not had time to compare the tranflation with the original. The character given of it, however, by Ruhnkenius and Valckenaer will be much more fatisfactory to our Readers, than any thing we could have said of it, even if it had come to hand much sooner. In the advertisement prefixed to this work, the Bookfeller (Mr. Rey) acquaints us, that before he determined to fend it to the prefs, he begged the favour of profeffor Ruhnkenius, and profeffor Valckenaer, to examine it, and to give him their opi nion of it. They complied, he tells us, with his request, and encouraged him to publish it, by the following teftimony: "We have examined this tranflation of Plato's book of laws, and are confirmed in the good opinion we conceived of the Author upon reading his tranflation of the Republic. In this new work we find the fame knowledge of the Greek language, and of the Platonic philofophy, which the public admired in the preceding. Mr. Grou would do an important fervice to fociety, if he would take the trouble of tranflating all the other dialogues of Plato in the fame manner. The most elegant of the Greek authors would lofe nothing of his beauty, by being translated into French by fo faithful a pen." DAVID RUHNKENIUS. The fubftance of the Tranflator's preface is as follows:• Plato wrote his book of laws in his old age. There is not, perhaps, that fublimity of genius in it, that fire, that beauty of imagination, which fhine in the greatest part of his dialogues, efpecially in his Republic. There is, however, more good fenfe in it, more folid views, and jufter reflections. Without confidering what may appear more beautiful and perfect in speculation, Plato confines himself to what is more practicable, more proportioned to human frailty.-His treatife of laws may be defined-The art of making a ftate happy, not by riches, the glory of arms, or extent of dominion, but by practising what is good, and avoiding what is evil. Such is the general idea of his work, which I am far from thinking free from faults, or comparable, in any respect, to the laws of Mofes; far lefs to the fublime precepts of the Chriftian religion as I hope one day to be able to prove. Plato neither NA 3 fhews fhews man the foundation of his duty, by teaching him that he is made for God, and that the great end of his being is to know, to love, and to ferve him; nor the fource of authority, and the principle of dependence, viz. that God, the Author both of natural and civil fociety, has established an inequality of condition, and a fubordination among men; that kings and magiftrates are God's viceroys upon earth; and that as they ought to use their authority with the fame gentleness and equity, fo their fubjects ought to obey them with the fame punctuality and fubmiffion, as they would obey their Maker, in every thing that is not contrary to their confciences. Nor does Plato point out the most powerful motive to union and harmony among men, namely, that we are all members of one family, all the children of one Father, who is God; and, confequently, that we are obliged to love one another in him. But we must not expect to find any thing like this in a Pagan writer. Plato has undoubtedly gone farther than any other philofopher in the knowledge of the law of nature, and has, in fome measure, furpaffed himself in his book of laws; his preambles to the most important of them, efpecially, are almost all of them perfect pieces of morality. If our modern philofophers, who have much fuperior advantages, had the fame upright intentions as Plato, they would not, when treating of laws and civil policy, run into fuch wild and extravagant notions as this wife Heathen would have blushed at. This work has not yet appeared in our language, as far as I know, and I do not think that it can be understood in the verfions of Ficinus and Serranus. I have tranflated it with as much, nay with more, care than I did the Republic. I have added few notes in comparifon of what I might have added; my learned Readers will perhaps be diflatisfied with me upon this account, but I write not for them, nor do I flatter myself fo much as to think that I am capable of it. Thofe Readers whom I have in view will be pleafed with me for feldom turning that attention, which they will readily beftow on Plato, to learned or critical obfervations which have no charms for them. I have endeavoured, however, to omit nothing that I thought neceflary for understanding the text.' It would be great injuftice to the Editor, not to remark, that this work is very handfomely printed: We have not feen many books that exceed it, in point of neatnefs, particularly with regard to the prefs-work. ART. VIII. Efprit de Marivaux, eu Analectes de fes Ouvrages; précédè de la vie istorique de l'Auteur. The Genius of Marivaux, or felect Extracts |