To-Day, but three; viz. The Influence of the Town on Theatric Exhibition, in N° 26; The Origin of Cunning, in N° 31; and Honour Founded on Virtue, in No. 61. A fancy playful and exuberant may be discerned in these pieces, but they possess not, either in style or imagery, the glow and richness of his eastern fictions.

In the conduct of his Domestic Tales the genius of Hawkesworth appears again to great advantage; they indicate his possession not only of a powerful mastery over the passions, but of. no common knowledge of life, of manners, and of the human heart. The History of Melissa, in Nos. 7 and 8, is a pathetic and interesting example of the soothing hope and consolation that await integrity of conduct, though under the pressure of poignant distress. The wretchedness and ruin so frequently attendant on infidelity are pointedly illustrated in the story of Opsinous;* and the fatal effects of deviations from truth, however slight, or apparently venial, receive a striking demonstration from the narrative of Charlotte and Maria.†

The injury which society has suffered from the long prevailing, and increasing, practice of duelling, has often been a subject of regret; and many efforts have been made, though hitherto in † Nos. 54, 55, 56%

Nos. 12, 13, 14

vain, to diminish or suppress a custom so pernicious. To contribute his aid to the cfforts of those who have reprobated such a violation of the public law, Hawkesworth has written his story of Eugenio, which is calculated, by its moral and pathetic appeal, strongly to impress the mind in favour of the abolition of a usage that is undoubtedly the offspring of a barbarous age, and which has entailed upon mankind misery so incalculable.

As a preventive of debauchery and its destruc tive consequences, the Life of Agamus and his Daughter may be confidently recommended to every reader. It is a detail of which, in the luxury and dissipation of a large metropolis, there are, we have reason to apprehend, numerous counterparts.

To expose the folly of wanton rudeness, and indiscriminate familiarity; to shew the danger of assuming the appearance of evil, though for purposes apparently beneficial, and to display the dreadful result of fashionable levitics, form the purport of the narratives of Abulus, of Desdemona,§ and of Flavilla. They are constructed, in point of incident, with much ingenuity; curiosity

*Nos. 64, 65, 66, 70.

Nos. 86. 134, 135, 136.

́§ Nos. 117, 118.

No. 112.

Nos. 123, 12, 125.

is kept alive, and the dénoûment is effected with every requisite probability.

Still further to diversify the pages of the Adventurer, our author has interspersed several papers, the chief characteristic of which is HUMOUR; a humour, however, which is rather solemn and ironical than light and sportive. Of the essays in this province, which are the product of his pen, we shall enumerate eight as peculiarly entertaining; N° 5, The Transmigrations of a Flea; N° 15 and 27, On Quack Advertisements ; No 17, Story of Mr. Friendly and his Nephew; N° 52, Distresses of an Author invited to read his Play; N° 98, Account of Tim Wildgoose; No 100, Gradation from a Greenhorn to a Blood, and No 121, The Adventures of a Louse.

It is probable, that to a passage in Johnson's Life of Gay we are indebted for the ludicrous distresses in No 52; at least, one of the circumstances of the tale actually occurred to that poet, when requested to read his tragedy, entitled, The Captives, to the Princess of Wales. "When the hour came," records his biographer, " he saw the princess and her ladies all in expectation; and advancing with reverence, too great for any other attention, stumbled at a stool, and, falling forwards, threw down a weighty japan screen. The princess started, the ladies screamed, and poor

Gay, after all the disturbance, was still to read his play."* Scholastic bashfulness had been the subject of an excellent paper in Johnson's Rambler; and, since the Adventurer, has again formed the topic of an essay in N° 22 of Repton's Variety.

If we advert to the MORAL TENDENCY of the Essays of Hawkesworth, we shall find them uniformly subservient to the best interests of virtue and religion. Every fiction which he has drawn involves the illustration of some important duty, or lays bare the pernicious consequences of some alluring vice. Even incidents which appear to possess a peculiar individuality, are rendered, by the dextrous management of our author, accessory to the purposes of universal monition. As instances, however, of those numbers of the Adventurer which, dismissing the attractions of scenic art, are strictly didactic, we may mention, as singularly worthy of notice, No 10, illustrative of the enquiry How far Happiness and Misery are the necessary effects of Virtue and Vice; N° 28, On the Positive Duties of Religion, as influencing moral conduct; N° 46, On Detraction and Treachery; N° 48, On the Precept to Love our Enemies; N° 82, On the Production of Personal Beauty by moral sentiment; and * Murphy's edition, vol. 10, p. 241.

+ No. 157. VOL. V.

'C

Published in 1788.

No 130, On the Danger of Relapse after purposes of Amendment.

From the observations which we have now made upon the merits of Hawkesworth's Periodical Writings, it may justly be inferred that he holds a high rank among our CLASSICAL ESSAYISTS. He takes his station, indeed, after Addison and Johnson; and the Adventurer, which rose under his fostering care, need not fear a comparison with the Rambler and Spectator.

One object which Hawkesworth had in view, in the composition of his Adventurers, was that of proving to the world how well adapted he was,' in point of moral and religious principle, for the superintendence of the school which his wife had opened for the education of young ladies. This object was fully attained; for the seminary rapidly' increased, and finally became a very lucrative undertaking.

From his customary attention to the Academy, however, he was for a short time diverted, by a very unexpected promotion. Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury, being highly pleased with the instructive tendency of his papers in the Adventurer, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law; a dignity which suggested a new road to emolument, by giving him a title to practise as a Civilian in the ecclesiastical