ways been the tolerant maxim of this empire. Socini. I have not found it fo among thofe of our empyreum or of our earth. A fpirit of profelytifin marks our fects, and, of exclufion, our eftablishments. 7. Refulting, naturally, from the different genius of the two religious fytems. N. And, therefore, remedilefs to the fe new doctors. S. How fo? N. Our's was a religion of rites, and your's of creeds. With us the merit of the priest confifted in the exact performance of traditional ceremonies, and of the devotees in clinging to a hereditary worthip. They were afraid of fwerving, not from one code of opinions, written in Sybiline books, for all nations, but from a ritual, revealed apart to their feveral forefathers. Uniformity, therefore, where there were no ties of confanguinity, would, to them, have appeared fufpicious; and change, a symptom of incredulity. A. Shall I complete the antithefis, auguft Numa (Turns to Socini.) But with you, opinions, not ceremonies, forming the link of union, and the fuppofed condition of divine favour; the merit of the pricft was to confit in his talents for fophistry; and of the devotees, in perceiv. ing the validity of his arguments. Now, to be perfuaded by evidence, difficult to eftimate, and avowedly fhort of demonftration, in a word, to have faith, is fcarcely poffible to the human mind, without the corroborating fuffrage of high authorities, of contiguous fympathy, or of great numbers. Profelytifm, therefore, or the purfuit to public affent, muft accompany. S. Methinks, I have pointed out a mean, to conjure away this perturbing Spirit. 7. Lelio! Lelio! S. If, as I have taught, not opinions, but moral habits are the pledges of reexiftence-if my creed is fo fimple, as to admit of no fubdivifion, no pruning, fo elegant as to fatisfy a mind on the higbeft ftage of improvement, toward which, therefore, every enquirer will tend, and beyond which the virtuous man will hefi tate to procecd, furely, the induftry of miffionaries, or the patronage of power, are aids it may disdain. 7. Hermes fhall take thee, fome years hence, to Poland. S. My nephew, Faufto, has often written to me thence. Our opinions draw the attention of the well-educated claffes only of the merchants and nobles. Thefe do not feek to propagate them among the multitude, but leave the people to grow up to the opinions. A few public wranglings in academic halis, or fach controverfial volumes as a differtation upon the infeription of one of thy broken altars might give rife to, ought not to be reckoned." 7. Ten years hence S. Not unlefs the diet fhould have the imprudence to become intolerant, and, by throwing his adherents upon fome political malcontents for protection, fhould render monotheifin the badge of a party; then, indeed, a fpirit of propagating the doctrine 7. Thou haft, I own, much of the forefight of a philofopher. S. I could alfo conceive a patriot band, the remnant, fuppofe, of Soderini's adherents, converfing, in the gardens of Ruccellai. on the means of detaching the people from the Houfe of Medici, whofe influence, fo hoftile to the liberty of Florence, is fupported by vaft private wealth, by an immenfe patronage, ecclefiaftical and civil, by popular manners, and by the encouragement of trifling literature and adulatory artifis. 7. Well, Socini ! S. Such friends of freedom, defirous of drying up thefe fources of corruption, might reflect, that the merchants would not fuffer them to interfere with the wealth derived from oriental traffic, that the common weal required the preferva tion of the civil patronage, and, therefore, might prefer the fuppreffion of the re1gious penfioners. But, confidering that the atheifm propagated at Naples, in order to leffen the power of the clergy, introduced among the populace a libertin ifin, which refpected not property, which fhuddered not at affaffination; and that, instead of ferving the caufe of liberty, this philofophy only broke down a barrier against mob-rule, and prepared the defpotifm of Aniello, they would undoubtedly look out for a religion tending to loofen whatever held the clergy derive from opinion, withour fhaking any of the motives to morality. Finding the outline of fuch a fyftem in my writings, they might encourage for this their useful purpofe, an offenfive fpirit of profelvtifm among my flowers." Here, again, it would refult from the peculiar external circumftance, which made it the exoteric doctrine of a political party, and not at all from the nature of the notions taught. N. To be rid of the dogmas of exclufive falvation, is, no doubt, depriving perfecu.ion of her fairest pretext. A. One 1796.] Imitation of Wieland's Dialogues. A. One would think you wanted to convert us, Socini; and thought your fcheme of religion the beft poffible. S. Naturally, I must think it so. A. And, like those protestant iconoclafts below, in order to generalize it, would let loose the rapacity of the courtiers and of the rabble, to ftrip the priesthood of their endowments, and the altars of their mafter-works of art. S. Hold, hold, Apollo ! The poffeffions of the clergy concern the civil lawgiver. I fhould call him immoral, if, during the life of perfons, enjoying them under the faith of ancient laws, he were to decree their confifcation. With pomp of worfhip I wage no war. A. Then you approve not the northern reformers. S. Like them, I fhould contend against the luxury of the priest, against whatever ferves to affociate authority or veneration with his perfon, independently of his intellectual or moral worth. I fhould be afraid of rites, in which he played an important part. A. Such as the deification of wafers? S. Yet I cannot conceive but that pictures, reprefenting the useful actions of any benefactor to his fpecies, may hang, with advantage to public virtue, against the walls of a temple. N. Worship is made for man, it ferves not thofe above him. 5. If, therefore, poetry and mufic can render it more delightful, if the waving of incenfe, offering a few ears of corn, or even the pageantry of folemn pantomime, can render it more impreffive, I confent. To erect ftatues to the illuftrious dead, or to preferve their nonumental altars within precincts where they will be guarded from irreverend mutilation, or ungrateful injury, appears to me a religion of the heart, which did, indeed, degenerate, both in ancient and modern Rome, into a ftupid idolatry. But, merely becaufe public inftruction formed fo fubordinate and imperfect a part of focial worship, and because the impiety of mingling prayer among the divine honours, fo worthily earned by our hero prophet 7. Recollect with whom you are talking, friend Socini. S. Is Jupiter not content, that the the gratitude of mankind for fervices rendered them by wife inftructions, by beneficial conduct, by difinterested devotement, fhould be the motive and the measure of pofthumous veneration? 7. And art thou not afraid, left fome MONTHLY MAG. No. VI. 465 competitors of thy favourite fhould di. vide or eclipfe his popularity? S. I wish juftice to be done. Let every temple open its ailes to cenotaphs, in honour of thofe who have ferved their fpecies; and, I am confident, he will obtain, by common confent, the chief altar. If there be inhabitants of Clympus, whose benefits have defcended to the exifting generations of men, let the buft, the hymn, the memorial incenfe, the feftive holiday, the voluntary proceffion, again recal the recollection of their utility. Such celebrations will become incentives to new exertion. It will fill be poffible to feparate, by a wide interval, the Creator from each of his creatures; the Arbiter of univerfal destiny, from the fubjects of its laws; and, amid the attractive forms of idolatry, to prevent the growth of an intellectual or ritual polytheism. A. The inconvenience of which we are not accustomed to difcern. N. And that polytheifm, furely, will remain the preferable, which decrees pofthumous honours to courage, to talent; not that which referves them for anchorets and miracle-mongers. S. The polytheifm of modern Rome, Numa, was, I wish to think, an useful ftep in the progress of human civilization. The ferocious qualities are but too apt to burst forth in every stage of improvement. It fhould be the object of religion, as well as of law, to restrain them, fubftituting to the dominion of force, a better. The canonizations did offer motives for self-denial, beneficence, patience; virtues which, amid the licentioufnefs of Roman decline, the egotifm of unequal wealth, and the tyranny of barbarian invaders, could alone keep the world from that relapfe into favagifm to which mankind is ever tending, and which would depopulate hree fourths of the globe, to make room for the lazy livelihood of an ignorant refidue. A. The religion of the Mufes and the Graces, furely offered a stronger anti dote against this declenfion than that of Saint Peter's fucceffors. S. Apollo, no! it might be more calculated to foften into elegance the harfhnefs of rude tribes, but it had no remedy for the vices of refinement. Affociated with all the pleasures of human life, it forgot the virtues. Enjoyments are not enhanced by mysterious impreffions, but moral conduct has need of encouragement in the hour of calumny or ingratitude. If difappointed of its natural re30 ward, ward, the confidence and efteem of men, what fhall animate its perfeverance but a belief in the approbation of a beholding and remunerating Godhead! By harbouring fuch hopes, excellent men have ever been wont to allure themselves to virtue. N. So foon as moralifts fprang up among us, they inculcated a fimilar notion amid the multitude. S. But what with you was accidental, was with us effential. It has always been the ftone of moral philofophers to find a perfect motive for perfect conduct. The love of the beautiful or the ufeful is ob. viously infufficient. A man in conceivable circumftances would act abfurdly, if, for the fake of thefe taftes, he preferred the good of others to his own. Revelation alone fupplies this perfect motive; it alone can incline the balance in cafes of collifion between private and public intereft, where, equitably, it ought to lean, in favour of the general welfare. N. Revelation of what? S. Of the moral attributes of an omnipotent Godhead. N. Our philofophers had difcovered thefe S. Imagined them rather. Can arguments of decifive weight be offered in behalf of these attributes, without first proving the certainty of a future ftate of retribution? Do the appearances of nature even intimate fuch a state? We muft enquire, then, for its annunciation by works in which the heated not the iron, nor ftruck the anvil. N. Come with me to yon myrtlegrove, and there converfe. S. I have converfed, through their writings, with the inmates of Elyfium. They may perfuade, but they cannot convince like fupernatural interference. And even you must allow, that all hiftorical evidence for the revelation of this effential truth, will operate as fo much additional proof; and a proof, which at a future period N. to Jupiter. He brings back to my recollection, that fingular apparition I have always an awful feeling when I think of it. A. I fhall comprehend your warmth, Socini, rather better after my converfon. Your infpired moralits do not appear to me to have taught man to be happy. And as he muft naturally be more perfuaded of the reality of his firft life than of his fecond, I cannot think it all abfurd to heitate, before he fa 7. This intermediate ftate is a very fit place in which to accommodate mat'ters between them. Nor will it be unworthy of thy enlightened benevolence fill farther to compare the religions of the ancient and modern world, and to endeavour at preparing for the restless and mutable fons of earth, fome eclectic fyllem of belief and ritual lefs hostile to reafop and to pleasure, than the four dogmas which thefe intolerant Reformers are arrogantly inculcating from the blood-fprent ruins of the civil conftitutions, upon their ignorant, gloomy, turbulent, and destroying followers. A. In fact, I think the priest yet wanting, who fhould reprefent the hero of your fyftem as the philofopher of the graces, welcoming, at the feast of Cana, the focial goblet; proud of the attachment of lovely females, who hung upon his fteps, emptied their precious perfumes upon his garments, and learned to love virtue, because he was virtuous: ardent for his country's freedom, and when disappointed of the general acquiefcence he hoped, at the annual affembly of the nation, in the reforms he had recommended, forbidding his followers to use the arm of violence, and fuffering only the inftitution of an anniver fary feftival, to drink a commemorat❤ ing cup of regret to the immortal memory of his benevolent, but unavailing, patriotifm ! N. Is this irony, friend Apollo? S. It would not diminish the utility of religion, to affociate what it needs of awful with the one Being worfhipped, and what it indulges of amiable with the character of the prophet whom it cele brates. brates. I had to write to ftern, difputaious, tasteléfs men, to whom fuch points of view had feemed profane. A. Why then address them? S. They were altering the establishments of their feveral countries. My reafons might have guided them toward a faith worthy to be bought at the price of anarchy and rancour. F. How extravagant a value you fectchieftains fet upon your theories! S. Behold the effect thofe men have produced. Their pupils are, I perceive, at prefent, too uncultivated to value a fpeculative opinion for its beauty. Superftition is, perhaps, as yet, too neceffary a reftraint among them to hazard enquiries about fundamentals. Their cold unintelligible beliefs may fuit the uncivilized North, but will make no impretion on the Italian mind. A. And will never call forth the fublime conceptions of a Phidias, or a Michael Angelo? N. Beings of a fmall account in the eyes of thefe theofophifts. To which, among their claffes of hierarchy, is Socini a friend? 3. To any, which fhall make the prieft a citizen, by reftoring him to domeftic relations; which' fhall prevent the clergy from cohering into one body corporate; and which thall maintain, by the unopulence of the paftor, a permanent intercourfe between him and thofe he is to inftruct. A. You would leave him, I fufpect, to fubfift, like the ftrolling flamens of the Syrian goddess, upon the alms of the people? J. The groveling fuperftitions being generally moft productive, I fhould unwillingly abandon the priest wholly to the contributions of the multitude. He is to inftruct, he must be educated, and the coft of his education fhould be reimbursed. The village can ill afford a paltry ftipend; the city could eafily fup. ply a too bountiful one. A part, then, of their falary, at least enough to fecure an informed clergy, the ftate muft fur nish; but let it afk for this no requital, no given tenets, no power of promotion or expulfion. Let the voice of the people name, remove, applaud, cenfure. I am too proud to confent that I fhould owe to an act of uniformity, a general acquiefcence in my opinions. Jupiter. Thou needeft not anticipate their speedy prevalence. The age is, no doubt, to arrive, when Europe will a third time be wifhing for a new reli gion. Thine is not unlikely to fuit. It may even then have yet the attractions of novelty. Governments in thine own country are in a natural ftate, tolerably free, and in the hands of the wealthy and informed: no popular fanaticifins are wanting to bring about their diffolution. Elfewhere, as thou haft obferved, the people are not grown up to thy opinions. When they fhall begin to feel the contemptible barbarifm of their new creeds, and fhall wish to ally the taste of the philofopher with the morals of the Chriftian, they will, no doubt, look back to the inftructions of the Sage of Sienna. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, TOPOGRAPHICAL hiftory is fo in terefting a fubject, and yet fo frequently treated of in a fuperficial, if not a difgufting manner, as to have excited, in many perfons, both wonder and prejudice; wonder at the want of judgment in the writers, and prejudice againft fimilar productions, Confidered as unfolding fcenes more immediately domeftic, topographical hiftory may be reckoned partial in its advantages, and confined as to its incidents; but in reference to the progrefs of the fine arts, and to events and improvements of general importance to a country, it takes a more ftriking character. and its form fhould affume not only an agreeable, but a dignified appear ance. Whence, then, hath arifen the preju-` dice against this fpecies of literature? Not merely. I apprehend, from the limitted nature of topographical hiftory, but from the uninviting afpect that it too often affumes, and the aukward arrangement in which it is difpofed. Inftead of being carried over a landscape, where every thing fhould be fcenery and defcription; where agriculture and commerce, the progrefs of the arts, and the improvement of political fociety, fhould delight us with their agreeable variety, we are detained by minute defcriptions of things, which, in themfelves, are of no confequence, or which. can only amufe a particular clafs of readers, by dry narratives, frequently erroneous, conveyed with taftelefs formality, from one compiler to another; with infipidites of private families, and tedious details of local antiquities, mufty inferiptions and mouldy reliques, of as little confequence to fociety as the verse called tnpo, in 302 the I have now lying before me the Hiftory of Monmouthshire, by Mr. David Williams, a writer of diftinguished talents. This production is the reverfe of thofe already defctibed. I intend to make one or two remarks on topographical hiftory, in a way of curfory obfervation, not of regular criticifim, on this excellent work. We may confider this subject in reference to history. The hiftory of remote ages (and in tracing the origin of countries, recourfe must be had to it) is generally involved in obfcurity, fo that fable fupplies the want of truth and though it may be faid, that fables are founded in fome truth, yet, generally fpeaking, the fables are fo prominent, and the truth fo concealed, that mankind are hurried into numerous errors. Mr. Hume obferves, that fables, which are ufually employed to fupply the place of true hiftory, ought entirely to be difregarded; or, if any exception be made to this general rule, it can only be in favour of the ancient Grecian fictions, which are fo celebrated, and fo agree able, that they will ever be the objects of the attention of mankind. With this remark of Hume I do not wholly agree, though a confiderable degree of refpect is due to it. Gwent was the name of the country now under confideration, when it obtain ed that of Monmouthshire. By the ancient appellation, Gwent, was fignified, fometimes, a part of the lordship of Gla. morgan; at other times, the general name of a kingdom, including the fouthweft diftricts of the prefent England, and al! Wales; and fometimes it fignified a fubordinate principality, including the prefent countries of Glamorgan, Monmouth, and parts of Hereford and Glou cefter. The circumftances which reduced the ancient boundaries of Gwent to thofe of Monmouthshire, form the general fubjects of its hiftory. The ancient, and, indeed, almoft the only writers, ufually referred to for the history of Britain, are Cæfar and Tacitus: the former made various remarks, • Dr. Aikin. during his expeditions into this country, and received information from men of high rank, who deferted to his ftandard. Cæfar's account differs, in many refpects, from ancient traditions and uniform confiftent allufions. Mr. David Williams. obferves, that he will not fubmit to the decifions of Cæfar (whofe knowledge related principally to tribes on the eastern coaft) when fet against the illufions of poetry and fable, or the authority of Geoffry of Monmouth, when not dictated by national vanity or fuperftition. The following observation, which is both original and important, I transcribe : "Cæfar, the Cambrian Poets, and the Tranflation of Tuffilio, by Geoffry of Monmouth, are the principal authorities on the fubjects under confideration." It may appear extraordinary to the reader, that of thofe authorities, the writer of this history should prefer the poets and fabulifts; because poets profess to deceive, and fables and apologues are, formed on facts and events which are fometimes difcernible: but of all men the moft to be guarded against, is a fine writer, who forms his periods by his ear, and who, like the fyren, may enchant the judgment to vitiate the heart. Topographical history, therefore, calls for taste and felection, more particularly in what relates to history and antiquities. Perfons accustomed to follow great authorities, in exclufion of the natural fources of information, have no right to complain that they have been mifled. The numerous manufcripts, we are told by Mr. Williams, relating to SouthWales, in the libraries of the British Museum; of the Welch Charity School; of Jefus College, in Oxford; of Sir W. W. Wynne, at Wynneftay; of Mr. Panton, in Anglefey; of Mr. Powel, of Llanharan; and of Mr. Thomas, of Grofe, in Glamorganfhire, &c. if collated, and rendered literally into English, and minutely explained by a British linguist and antiquary, as competent as Edward Williams, might probably furnish materials for an interefting fpecies of history, developing the principles and cuftoms on which the ancient inftitutions of the ifland were formed. Mr. Williams profeffes to have approached thefe fources of information, though not to have reduced the chaos into order. The antiquary and hiftorian, therefore, who expects to receive much original information refpecting South Wales, in the Hiftory of Monmouthshire, will not be disappointed. But |