of Barrington picking the pocket of J. Brown, efq. with a reprefentation of the feveral intruments which he is faid to have ufed in his profeffion. Memoirs of George Barrington, from his Birth in 1755, to his laft Conviction at the Old Bailey, on Friday, the 17th of September, 1790. Eve. 25. Smith. Thefe Memoirs are printed in a larger type than the preceding, and, therefore, occupy a greater number of pages; but they relate entirely to biographical anecdotes, and give no account of the different trials undergone by this notorious delin quent. It is ornamented with an etching of Barrington detected in picking the pocket of prince Orlow in the front boxes at Covent-Garden theatre, of a fnuff box fet with diamonds. An Effay to demonftrate that contingent Debts, cannot, by Law, be ranked on Eftates fequeftered in i erms of the Statute 23 Geo. III. Cap. 18. entitled, "An Act for rendering the Payment of Creditors more equal and expeditious, in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, &c." By James M'Nayr, Writer. Svo. 25. fowed. Murray. The object of this Effay is fufficiently fhown in the title. The author poffeffes a tolerable stock of legal knowledge, and argues the cafe with a fhrewdness and precision which would not have difgraced a bariter. A Syftem of English Conveyancing, adapted to Scotland. By James M Nayr, Writer. 4to. 12s. 6d. Boards. Murray. We wish not to difpute with our author the value and importance of correct and approved forms of deeds of conveyance; and we are ready to admit, that the Scottish lawyers cannot be always fufficiently accurate in the forms and the technical language, which is neceffary to the due execution of deeds in the British colonies. In either view, the prefent work is of impor tance. To the Scottish lawyers, who are totally ignorant of Englith conveyancing, and have not accefs either to Horfman's or Wood's comprehenfive fyftems, this fhort collection of precedents may undoubtedly be of fervice. The obfervations on the English laws, fubjoined, are (though without any public acknowledgment) almost entirely a compilation from other works, principally from Blackstone's Commentaries. There are few law-books, like this before us, which contain not a fingle reference to any cafe or autho ity; but we perceive no effential error, and the work may be very useful for those for whom it is intended. The following extract, with which we fhall conclude, may ferve as a fpecimen of the execution of the latter part of this volume. The law of England, with regard to the right of inheri tance among brethren, is likewife different from that of Scotland. If there be three brothers, and the middle brother pur chafe chafe lands in fee-fimple and die without iffuc, by the law of England the eldest brother fhall have the lands by defcent; and if the youngest brother purchafe lands in fee-fimple and dis without iffue, the eldest brother shall also have the lands by defcent, and not the middle brother; and that, because the eldest is deemed the most worthy in blood. Whereas, by the law of Scotland, the immediate younger brother of the deceased, is heir of line; and the immediate elder, is heir of conqueft: and in default of a younger brother, and his iffue, the immediate elder brother and his iffue, is heir both of line and of conquest; as is alfo the immediate younger, in default of an elder brother. Where lands defcend from the father to the fon, no relation by the mother (as fuch) can by the law of England ever be heir to the fon in these lands: and where lands defcend from the mo◄ ther, no relation by the father (as fuch) can ever inherit: but if a fon purchase lands in fee-fimple, and die without iffue, the lands fhall, in default of an heir on the part of the father, defcend to the heir on the part of the mother. Here too there is a diversity between the law of England and that of Scotland; for by the law of Scotland, none of the relations of the deceafed by the mother, are capable of fucceffion, either in heritage or in moveables.' The Town-Talk, the Fish-Pool-the Plebeian, the Old Whig, the Spinfter, &c. By the Author of the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, now firft collected with Notes and Illuflrations. Small 8vo. 55. Nicol. We have more than once had occafion to praise the varied talents of Steele, who, as a periodical effayift, almost shares the laurel with Addifon, and we are glad to lofe no drop of this immortal man. The little effays before us are, however, fome of the least important of his productions, but in his most trifling works there is an eafy gaiety, and spirit, and good humour, which are very attractive. The Town-talk confifts of letters written to his wife, published at a future period, in a moment probably of diflrefs, with those temporary alterations which a different æra required. The story of Mrs. Thimble and Blind Charles certainly borders on indecorum; but it is related with such spirit and navieté as almoft to compenfate for it.The Fifh-pool contains the papers relating to a scheme for conveying fish alive. The fifh are confined to the lower part of the veffel, the loading of which confifts only of the water and fifh. It is on a fimilar principle, that an East Indiaman was, in more modern times, preferved by a falfe deck, which came immediately over the water; for a confiderable leak is stopped in a great degree by the weight of the water, which has already found a way through it; a principle, which, added to the fortitude and firmness of the commander, probably contributed to preferve the Guardian in her late diftrefs. The The Plebeian and the Old Whig are the oppofed productions of Steele and Addison, at a late period of their lives when party had made them antagonists: it related to the peerage bill, and it feems, as Dr. Johnfon has obferved, that each knew his opponent. Steele hints at Addison verv pointedly by contrafting the prefent opinions of the Old Whig with two other writings, and then quoting fome lines from Caro. Steele's Letter to the Earl of Oxford, and the fpeeches in the house of commons on the fame fubject, are fubjoined. The Spinster, of which one Number only appears, with the papers relating to it, is very curious, as it contains the complaint of the weavers, &c. against wearing foreign callicoes, and an account of the very great proportion of female apparel, which was formerly procured from France, Italy, and Holland. The expence of a lady's drefs was then very confiderable; and of its value, estimated at 2101. fcarcely more than fix pounds worth were of English materials and manufacture. Dr. Gilbert Burnet's defence, or rather his attempt at a defence of polygamy, which concludes the volume, is very fingular. It is the argument of a courtly bishop to oblige a licen tious monarch. CORRESPONDENCE. WE have not the volume at hand which Vir Medicus enquires about. It is not many years fince the paper was published, and it may be easily found from our Journal. We have met with nothing lately of the kind he mentions, except one book without a title page, the merits of which we know nothing of. WE have received F. G's letter, and have no doubt but the profits are defigned for the purpofes mentioned in the title-page; but he will furely perceive, on a flight reflection, that it is impoffible for a Reviewer to engage in the little altercations of indifferent people. What's Hecuba to him, Or he to Hecuba? Dr. A. has appealed to the public, and the public must decide, when full evidence has been produced. If the difpute was not inconfiftent with the jurifdiction of a literary tribunal, we could not, with propriety, make any remarks on it, with an ex parte evidence only before us, THE CRITICAL REVIEW. For NOVEMBER, 1790. Tranfactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. II. 410. 11. 55. Boards. Cadell. THIS volume appears to be in no refpect inferior to the firft; and we hope that this Society will pursue their courfe without remiffion, or without languor. The hiftory, as ufual, precedes it; and we find fome abstracts of differtations, which, for various reasons, were not printed entire in the hiftory of the tranfactions of the fociety at their different meetings. We must notice the most important of thefe; but we can do little more than mention them, for the analysis of an abstract will afford a very inadequate view of the fubject. Dr. Hutton's Differtation on written Language, as a Sign of Speech,' appears to be a very philofophical and accurate work: we hope that we shall at fome future period be able to examine it as a feparate publication. A letter was alfo read, in which a defcription was given of the appearance of a supposed kraken. In August 1786, in north latitude 56° 16′, about fifteen leagues to the east of the coast of Scotland, and about a mile from the ship, three low islands, or fand banks, of a greyish colour, were observed, extending about three miles in length. They remained in fight near an hour, and, on the fpringing up of a breeze, disappeared: they were most probably fog-banks; and the origin of the good bifhop Pontoppidan's fable was perhaps a fimilar appearance. A Letter from the Teefhoo Lama, an inferior perfonage to the Dalai Lama, is alfo printed. This priest feems to complain of the defpotifm of the emperor of China; but he appears to be well acquainted with his fuppofed former ftates of existence, and fpeaks almost as familiarly of his different habitations, in other forms, as Pythagoras in Lucian. The fame places also, particularly Benares, which are regarded in Bengal as holy, appear to be equally refpected by the Lama, and in the islands to the south and eaft of Bengal; fo that it seems to be the centre of the superftitions of Afia. The letter was written to Mr. Haftings, while Mr. Bogle refided at the Lama's court, as envoy from the governor-general of Bengal. VOL. LXX. Nov. 1790. Kk Another Another communication, from a French traveller, relates to artificial bafaltes. Among the fcoria with which the roads are repaired near Sheffield, the author (the prefident de Virly at Dijon), on examining fome of the burnt earth, found it break into very regular hexagonal prifms, fimilar to thofe of bafaltes. The count de Windifchgratz has fent the fociety three memoirs, in answer to his question mentioned in our account of the first volume of this collection. The memoirs, as may be expected from the nature of the question, did not folve it, or even approach to a folution. The committee, however, appointed to examine them, diftinguifh one of these effays as poffeffing great merit. The only other communication of much importance relates to a spirit produced from carrots. It resembled corn-fpirit of the best kind in flavour. Twenty ton of carrots will produce two hundred gallons of proof spirit; and carrots feem only more useful than corn, in this refpect, that the refiduum is useful in fattening hogs. A lift of the new members and the new officers follows: to thefe is annexed accounts' of the late prefident of the court of feffion, Mr. Robert Dundafs of Arniston; of his fucceffor fir Thomas Miller of Glenlee, who held that office but a fhort time; and of fir Alexander Dick, who practifed phyfic in England for many years, and led, after acceding on the death of his brother to the title and estate, a life of literary retirement near Edinburgh. The fociety do not call these lives eloges, but the characters are delineated with a very flattering pen: the merits are blazoned highly, the defects flightly touched, and brought forward with caution. A list of the donations, which we hope will at fome future period be larger and more valuable, concludes this part of the volume. papers are, as ufual, divided into the philofophical and literary articles: the first of the physical class relates to Certain Natural Appearances of the Ground on the Hill of Arthur's Seat. By James Hutton, M. D. F. R. S. Edin. and Member of the Royal Academy of Agriculture at Paris.— These appearances are what in fome parts of England we denominate the fairy ringlets. The firft change is that of withered grafs, as if burnt up, in circles of different diameters, but feldom exceeding eight or ten inches in width. To this fucceeds a rank luxuriant grafs of a four difagreeable kind. This is what Shakspeare calls the green four ringlet of which the ewe not bites.' These phænomena occur on the highest hills moft frequently, though we have fometimes feen them near the level of the fea. They have no connection with thunder, but, at a certain period, the peripheries of the circles are covered with the common poisonous mushroom. We have defcribed 5 the |