E]| rinJrrifilfRrD|?ui]nin]|]uTin^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 THE LIBRARIES COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY G1 rmJf iininTnlf imif rijDnigfigillTinl l m ; f jHtficellaneoiis ^Ineclrotes ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MANNERS AND HISTORY O F ~^ EUROPE DURING THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II. JAMES II. WILLIAM III. AND ft. ANNE. London : Printed by John Nichols and Son, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street. jHificellaneous Slnectiotes ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MANNERS AND HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II. JAMES II. WILLIAM III. AND ft. ANNE. BY JAMES PELLER MALCOLM, F. S. A. LONDON; PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER- ROW. 1811. The Anecdotes now offered to the Publick were collected during the Comj)iler's researches for his Illustrations, of the Manners and Customs of the British Metropolis ; and are authenticated by references to authorities under each title. He sincerely hopes they may appear as interesting- to his Readers as they did to him. as Qf^/I^Q' JLf^o^i. J t.' CONTENTS. Page ANTIENT Scots Customs — — 1 Fracas between a French Ambassador and a Grand Vizier 2 The Cardinals de Retz and Barberini, and Comedians 3 Sir'William Berkeley and Captain Reeves — — 4 The Lady of Loretto, and the Ambassadors of France and Spain — — — — 6 The Gulph of Venice and tlie River Po — — 3 Neapolitan Banditti — — — — 9 The De Witts — — — — 10 Mr. Bruce's living Viands — — — 13 Specimen of Wit in the Reign of Charles II. — 15 Beggars of 1676 — — — — 16 The Pillory — — — — — 17 Gallant Action fought in November 1676 — — 18 Wonderful Infant . — — — — 24 Asiatic Magnificence — — — — ibid. Policy in Religion — — — — .26 The Escurial — — — — — 28 The Prince of Conde and Parisian Labourers — 30 Miracles — — — — — 31 Laudable Resolutions of the Inhabitants of Ludger- shal, 1679 — — — — — 35 Singular Method of obtaining Votes — — 38 Regicide Gun — — — — ibid. The Carrier of Cirencesters miracle — — 39 A remarkable escape from deal h — — — 40 The Vlll CONTENTS. Page TTie Duke of Monmouth, his horse and a stag — 41 The Rivers Boyne and Blackwat^r — — 42 Grand Illumination at Brussels — — — 43 Celebi ation of the marriage of the King of Spain and Maria Louisa de Bourbon — — — 44 Dreadful storm on the Continent — — 45 Anticnt gambols of a Rivulet North of London — 48 Fatal instance of Malice in 1679 — — 49 Lewis XIV. and the Bishop of Condon — — 51 TTncomnion r cj aj o) cj H H H H H S a 3 ;^ eg fcJD ^ PU ofi ^ /§ "^ S Q Ph 5 g f^ 1-4 '^ a . > i ^ ^ < WONDER- 24 WONDERFUL INFANT. Thepublick were amused by many absurd sto- ries towards the close of the reign of Charles II. founded on the supposed supernatural powers of an infant but three years of age, who was said to speak several languages fluently. The ignorant exclaimed inspiration ! The father, more politic, denied the assertion ; and contrived to have the child conveyed to the King at Windsor, in order to convince the monarch it had indeed a most extraordinary faculty of acquiring and retaining correctly those sentences it had been taught. ASIATIC MAGNIFICENCE. The splendour of the Eastern Monarchs has been the theme of historians from the period when Moses composed his inspired writings to the present moment ; it has unquestionably sur- passed that of all other nations, but is rapidly declining, through certain causes which may be divined without much difficulty. Making due allowance for exaggeration, an old and common fault with many travellers, our thanks are due to Benjamin Harris, Editor of '^' The Domestic In- telligence," for " A letter from an English Merchant at Decan, a city near Surat in the East Indies, belonging to the Great Moguls dated November 20, 1678." " I arrived here the 3 1st past, and found this city of Decan grown poor and almost lifeless for want 25 want of trade. Shaftch Chaan, who is uncle to the Emperor, and has been for some time go- vernor of this province, being called back from hence to the court, is departed from this city a few days since with his retinue of Paschars, Mahall and other servants, being a vast multi- tude of near two hundred thousand people; having left Decan almost as it were gasping: the immense wealth he carried away with him being hardly credible, having near 400 land carriages, and as many great boats to convey it. He went away with a}l the splendour and gal- lantry imaginable, attended with 12,000 horse and 800 elephants. It would be too tedious to insist upon parti- culars, and would appear like a romance, only that it is thought,this Governor is like to be a great favourite at the Emperor's court ; and if so, it will be well for the English. He is resolved to dazzle the eyes of all persons with his magni- ficence. Preparations are making for his public entrance into Delhi ; and the Emperor is to be presented (according to the custom of that coun- try when governors are called home) in the man- ner following ; upon the first day with an hun- dred elephants, and their cloth furniture, and on each of them a bag of 5000 rupees ; on the se- cond day an hundred ele})hants more, with their furniture of gold ; on the third an hundred more, with their furniture of silver; and for twenty days 26 days after, five elephants a day, till the whole number of 400 elephants be completed. This Shaftch Chaan bought every year a thou- sand maund of copper, on purpose to make cop- per chests to hold his gold ; his expences were 20,000/. sterling every day (Query, good Mer- chant, every month ?) ; and in beetle only lOO/. daily; his yearly revenue of Bengal only is three- score millions of pounds sterling ; the yearly re- venue of Hugh/ is 90,000/. sterling. Shaftch Chaan kept for fourteen years last past 1000 camels to be ready to carry his treasure when the king should send for him. He never went a hunting with less than 100,000 men; he kept two thousand women and eight hundred elephants." POLICY IN RELIGION. Violent and ardent were the strufjo-les of the Roman Catholics for ascendancy about 1680 ; plots, counter-plots, fire, poison, assassination, and the gallows, were common terms with the Protes- tants when charging them on this head. The words " hellish,''' and " damnable" were in con- stant use upon every trivial occasion ; and the Papists had the general character of the " most accomplished persons upon earth in the kindling and promoting of fires." It is well known that the majority of the in- habitants of England were inflexibly determined to 27 to resist the revival of the antient faith of their forefathers; they more than suspected their Royal family intended to restore it : they therefore ex- erted the rights of a majority over a minority, and justly punished those whose zeal prompted them to transgress the laws enacted to suppress the Roman-catholic religion. Policy led the Protestants to bend the vulgar mind to their pur- poses, by hand-bills and pamphlets, and para- graphs in the newspapers suited to their capa- cities, in which every diabolical act conceived by man was dressed in the coarsest language, and attached to the priesthood of the obnoxious party ; a specimen or two may not be unaccept- able as an illustration, the titles are sufficient. *^ The whore of Babylon's p — y priest ; or, a true narrative of the apprehension of William Geldon alias Bacon, a secular priest of the church of Rome, now prisoner in Newgate ; who had just before been above two months in cure for the ; wherein is inserted a true copy of the Apothecaries bill found in his chamber, contain- ing the whole process of that Reverend father's cure, with several other remarkable rela- tions and proofs of the debaucheries, and villanies of the Popish clergy in general." I679-8O, An- other " True Narrative" wa's pronounced ^' very necessary to be known by all persons, to serve as 2^x\ ANTIDOTE^ to keep them from being preju- diced 29 diced by the poison of their most hellish and damnable tenets." In order to counteract these exertions, the Je- suits are said to have deputed three of their mem- bers from Rome, who entered Leghorn, bearing aeavy chains on their naked hmbs, and crowned with thorns, whipping themselves till sanguinary streams reached the earth. Their voices, in uni- son with their actions, were raised in plaintive notes, proclaiming that the suiferings of the faith- ful in England were far greater than those they ex- perienced. Such were the expedients of Policy on the Continent ; but we matched them with pageants of burning the Pope and his colleagues, and have fairly triumphed. THE ESCURL4L. The effects of lightning have ever been particu- lurly dreadful on high buildings, and j'et it is singular that steeples and towers are not more frequently injured by it; many instances might be adduced to prove that cottages and the earth have felt the force of this subtle fluid, when ob- jects infinitely more elevated have escaped with- out injur3^ Philosophers speculate almost in vain upon the phenomena exhibited by the* electric fire in its passage through the atmosphere, and such substances as it meets in its way ; and it would baffle the most experienced in his endea- vours to explain why so many flashes of lightning have 29 have occurred over London, perhaps some thou- sands, when not more than twenty of its towers have felt their effects in the revolving of several centuries. Iron is acknowledged to be one of the best conductors, and as every steeple is sur- mounted by a pointed spindle for the vane, we might suppose part of the contents of electric clouds would be attracted to them, and the de- struction of the structures follow from the want of a continuation of the same metal to the earth. The celebrated Franklin, aware of the numerous partial attractors to be found on towers, churches, and other buildings, suggested the use of Tron rods linked and pointed, to ascend their sides and the highest parts of the edifice ; the efficacy of which cannot be for a moment doubted, as the upper ends of the rods are frequently ascertained to be melted into drops, without the inhabitants of the houses to which they are generally affixed in America, being sensible of the least shock during the passage of the fluid. Had those excellent safeguards been discovered 128 years past, the cupola of the Escurial might possibly have escaped very serious damage. In the month of June 1679, a flash of lightning descended on the brass ball of 750 pounds weight, which was supported by a pyramid of stone, and beat both to the ground. THE 30 THE PRINCE OF CONDE AND PARISIAN LABOURERS. The extreme servility of the French to their Royal family and feudal Lords in times past, can only be equalled by the recent insolence of the lower class, when a transfer of power occurred more astonishing and unexpected than has hitherto been recorded by the historian. The coaches of the great in London are frequently driven in a most rapid manner; indeed the Hey ! of the coachman is but too often the instan- taneous precursor of his horses feet ; and Gare ! has long been the signal of death in Paris. The regulations of the former city were al- ways infinitely superior, where the carriage of the Prince must keep in the line prescribed by the laws of the road ; and if any ob- struction should occur to prevent his progress, the attendants must wait a reasonable time for its removal ; it is to be hoped that this is the case in the latter at present, and that nothing similar to the following event may ever happen again. In the month of July ifi/Pa the coach of the Prince of Conde was impeded in its passage through the street of St. Denis by several soldiers and labourers, who were employed in dragging a vast block of marble intended for some public purpose. The servants of the Prince, without doubt partaking of the impatience of their master, and fully impressed with the im- portance 31 portance of a few minutes' delay, in his removal from Chantilly to his town residence, ordered the men to perform an impossibiHty, which they resented, probably in rather disrespectful terms ; the magnanimous attendants, exasperated at this unexpected opposition, drew their swords, and, attacking the workmen, severely wounded seve- ral, but were prevented from further outrage by the commands of the Prince. On the following day the Marschal de la Feuilade sent humble offers of reparation to his Highness, promising to have the labourers punished, for provoking the chastisement they had received!! The London Gazette, whence this fact was extracted, is silent as to the subsequent conduct of Conde. MIRACLES. The Miser is not more delighted with con- templating his gold than are the superstitious with reading or hearing a wonderful tale. The public mind is certainly much enlightened since the close of the iGth century; but there are yet numerous individuals willing to be deceived, who are frequently gratified by the kindness of their friends, and, though often laughed at for their credulity, still believe and repent. To such I beg leave to address several most marvellous stories, fabricated for the lovers of miraculous events in the days of merry Charles II. then com-;, posed of three-fourths of the population of England. *' There 32 *' There is a very strange but credible relation from a place called Shewall, in the parish of Stoke Edith, in the county of Hereford ; that a woman named Mary Godsall, upon Wednesday the l6th instant July (1679), about an hour be- fore sun-set going as usual to milk her cows, as she was milking, she observed something to fall upon the ground like drops of blood, covering the earth all about her with thick drops of blood ; and also the right side of the cow, which slie was then milking, was all covered over with blood ; and some of the drops fell into her pail of milk, discolouring the milk, and sprinkling all the outside of her pail with blood : upon the sight hereof she was very much astonished and troubled, and immediately took up her pail, and went hastily to her own house, and presently sent for some of her neighbours, whose names the re- lation saith were, Alice the wife of Philip Hen- nington, the wife of one Richard Bilby, Margaret the daughter of Edward Chamberlain, and Mrs. Carpenter, the wife of Waincomb Carpenter, and gave them an -account of what had happened; they thereupon agreed to go all together to the place that Mary Godsall had related that the blood fell ; and when they came thither, they accordingly found it to be true, for they there saw the blood upon the grass in the ground aforesaid, and that not only in the place where the said Mary had milked her cow, but also in several 33 several other places thereabout. Slie also says further than when she perceived it to continue raining blood some time upon the ground, she cast up her eyes toward the sky, to observe in what manner and from whence the drops of blocd came, and that as she was beholding the same, several drops of blood fell upon her face and her neckcloth, which neckcloth she hath since washed, to try if she could wash the blood out, but with all her endeavour she cannot s:et it out. '' The relation says, that this examination was taken from the aforesaid Mary Godsal upon oath, on Friday the l8th of this instant July, before Richard Hopton, esq. one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said county, at his house at Canon-Frome, in the aforesaid county of He- reford." Mary Godsal was certainly a poor illiterate ob- server, and must have accl dentally walked into a shower of blood ; the miracle could not have been intended for her or the neighbouring cottagers. Sensible of this defect in tlie inventor, the next fabricator of wonders determined to soar a little higher, and asserted in the following month, " The Portugal Ambassador, being on the top of his house to observe the late eclipse of the moon, espyed, as it seemed to him, a flam.ing sword pendant o'er the house where he stood ; and more to assure himself of the verity (he being doubtful that it might be fancy) caused by the dazling D of 34 X of his eyes by so long looking at the moon, called several others to view the same, and they all agreed in the same opinion, that it was a flaming sword." The flaming sword suspended in one solitary instance above an Ambassador's residence was to be considered portentous indeed, and deserved enlargement. The editor of " The Domestic Intelligence" profited by the hint, and inserted a frightful account of many J^aming swords, which much resembles a dilated description of an Au- rora Borealis, though he chose the wrong month for his aerial exhibition, as the solar light is very strong at ten o'clock in July ; but let him speak for himself. " There is a relation from Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire, that on Monday, being the 28th of July last past, about ten o'clock at night, there were seen great flashes of lightning, and as it were flames of fire, though the sky were then very clear, and free from clouds, neither did any thunder, as is usual, accompany it. A while after the inhabitants gazing in the sky, they ob- served the west part of the Heavens to open as they imagined, and from thence they thought they saw a perfect flaming sword to issue out, which directly pointed to the east ; it was of a prodigious magnitude, turning round with a swift motion, as if some strong hand had shaken it ; the stars at the same time appearing very red and fiery. « After 35 " After this, in another part of the Heavens, ;" lother sword (but much larger) appeared to their sight, which soon after disappeared. This appearance of a sword was repeated divers times in several different shapes, one of them seeming more bloody than the rest, and as they could guess was above five yards in length ; and all this tipie it lightened in a very dreadful manner, the lightning running upon the ground, which made the sky very light, though the moon did not shine. " It continued about an hour and an half, or two hours, and left a very strong sulphurous smell behind it ; the truth hereof is attested by Thomas Brown, Elizabeth Greenway, and Ann Gu- theridg, inhabitants at Chipping Norton, and eye-witnesses of the same, and was communicated in a letter to Mr. Thomas Colley in West Smith- field in London. We hear also of several other prodigies lately seen in Several places ; as a blazing star, a fiery circle, and in one place a rainbow was seen at jiiidnight." LAUDABLE RESOLUTIONS OF THE INHABITANTS OF LUDGERSAL, iGjg. The conduct of part of the residents in this place had been so extremely riotous and improper during elections for Members of Parliament, that the Grand Jury for Wiltshire thought it their duty to complain of the general intoxication x» 2 which 36 which prevailed at those times of Ucensed dis- order. • '*■ Sensible of the truth and propriety of the pre- sentment, and severely feeling the disgrace at- tached to their borough, certain ^persons entered into the following resolutions, which were sub- scribed by the Rector, Churchwardens, Overseers of the Poor, the Constables, a Baronet, and forty- five other inhabitants, and affixed to the Cross in the town. It is to be feared that this is a solitary example of repentance, and a determination to amend electioneering misdeeds. " Ludgersal Borough, August 6, iGjQ, " Whereas our town and borough of Ludgersal, in the county of Wilts, hath been lately com- plained of, and, as we are informed, stands pre- sented for several rudenesses and excessive drink- ings ; we the inhabitants and parishioners of the same, whose names are subscribed, do protest against and engage ourselves frequently and friendly to meet, consult, and endeavour the pre- venting (as much as in us lies), all such dis- orders, and the promoting a public reputation and interest; in reference to which, whosoever shall be at any time propounded, every one shall lovingly acquiesce therein, as it shall be agreed by all, or the major part of as. ^' Now, in pursuance of the forementioned de- sign, it is agreed, « That 37 " That we will jointly procure the severity of the laws against all idle, dei)auched, and unruly per- sons, especially Sunday tiplers ; " That no one shall be encouraged by us to stand for a burghership. but such as shall be of a known good repute and sober demeanour ; ^' That we resolve stiiily to oppose him or them, who shall attempt to carry it by outvying, enter- tainments, briberies, or unbounded dnnkings; and that, in our choice, we will have regard to the merits of the person only ; " That no one for us shall be put to any charge during the time or their candidateship ; but, on the day of election, after the election is over, if he pleases, he may gii^ethis borough, and such friends and gentlemen as shall attend him, some moderate refreshment. " Whosoever will not cordially concur with us in these commendable resolves, we shall justly look upon him as a most' scandalous person, both negligent of his own, and highly injurious to the credit and benefit of this borough. " Lastly, if any person within the precincts of this borough, not here mentioned, shall be willing to be entered into this sober society, he shall be freely admitted ; or if any man here desires to have his name struck out, he may." SINGULAR 38 SINGULAR METHOD OF OBTAINING VOTES. At the very time the good people of Ludgersal were using their best endeavour to preserve the purity of elections, the NeapoHtan Prince Lodo- visio was exerting his influence at Naples in a manner as disgraceful to him as the conduct of the Ludgersalians was honourable to them. This unworthy Prince, wishing to have a cer- tain person elected to the office of a Magistrate, and doubting the success of his honest en- deavours, thought of the following curious expe- dient : he ordered tw o hundred galley-slaves to be habited in the usual fashions of the citizens, and to give their votes as such. Unfortunately for Lodovisio, the imposition was discovered ; the inhabitants of Naples were .exasperated almost to rebellion, and were pacified with difficulty by the prudent conduct of the Viceroy, who severely reproved the Prince for his dangerous experiment. REGICIDE GUN. The English Intelligencer of August 23d 1679 asserts, " From Windsor we have this fol- lowing account, that on Wednesday last his Majesty shot in the gun that was lately brought over frcm Italy to kill him, which was taken by one Captain Salisbury. It makes no report when it goes off, but only flashes in the pan. It is in length 39 length about a yard, stock, &c. and kills at fourscore yards. It is charged with very little powder, and carries a bullet no bigger than a good handsome duck-shot. His Majesty is very well satisfied in tlie execution of it, for they have tried it upon a dog, and they could not find the orifice, the bullet being so small, and goes through the body. The person who gives this relation says, he himself saw it shot off, and that it carried clear through an inch deal-board, at a considerable distance.'' THE CARRIER OF CIRENCESTER's MIRACLE. Perhaps more than enough has already been said on the subject of vulgar miracles ; but the Carrier of Cirencester and his five passengers have such forcible claims to superior skill in in- vention, that it is impossible to let their wonders sleep in oblivion with " The Domestic Intel- ligence, ^ubti.^ijeD to present fals?e 0eport.^." " There is a very credible account that, upon Tuesday the 26th of August last past, the Carrier of Cirencester, with five passengers, coming to- ward London, about two miles from Abingdon, in the morning immediately after sun-rising thev observed in the south part of the heavens the perfect appearance and similitude of a tall man in a sad-coloured habit, brandishing a broad- sword in his right hand, which was stretched out toward the south, he seeming to walk that way. This 40 This continued for some time plainly visible to them all, and then disappeared ; and the sky- seemed immediately in the same place to repre- sent a calm sea, with fishes of several forms playing and leaping up and down therein, and a while after seemed to be tempestuous; upon which there presently appeared about an hundred ships of divers shapes and sizes, from whence there seemed some small ships or tenders to be continually ph^ng to seaward, as if they had been sent as spies or advice-boats to the navy. This fleet remained in their sight for near a quarter of an hour, to the great consternation of the spec- tators ; after which the sky cleared again, and then there arose the form of a very high moun- tain, and several villages, little houses, and woods appeared thereon, and some part thereof ap- peared^ plain, upon which they discovered about thirty horsemen well armed with pistols and muskets, which marched toward the villages upon a full trot, but by the rising ground they were soon out of sight, 'upon which the sky seemed to close again, and return to its usual form and likeness." A REMARKABLE ESCAPE FROM DEATH. A yTr. Tyger, of Whitchurch, employed se- veral men to dig a well on his premises in Sep- tember 1679, which they accomplished, and found a spring at the depth of tifteen ells. At the 41 the very moment the master-bricklayer was giving directions to lay a frame of wood to com- mence the wall of the well, great part of the earth near the surface fell, and overwhehned him and the labourers. Every exertion was imme- diately made to rescue the supposed dead bodies from their premature interment, but, to the sur- prize and joy of every spectator, they discovered that the frame had been placed in such a po- sition as to prevent the earth from enclosing the men, and at the same time leaving sufficient space for respiration during the short interval of their confinement. THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH, HIS HORSE, AND A STAG. Uncommon as the above escape from sudden death certainly was, the Duke of Monmouth ex- perienced a rescue from the grim tyrant equally extraordinary in the same year and month. His Grace was in pursuit of a stag in Windsor Forest, and in the course of the chace the animal bayed ; the Duke pierced him with sword in hand. Smarting with the wound, the stag fled, and sprung across a ditch accompanied by the Duke, with whose horse he came in contact, when both fell. At this instant the unsheathed sword pene- trated anrl passed through the neck of the horse, and grazed that of the Duke, who received a slight wound, but the poor animal bled to death. THE 42 THE RIVERS BOYNE AND BLACKWATER. Rivers in the vicinity of volcanos are frequently interrupted in their progress to the sea by sub- terraneous convulsions. It sometimes happens that similar occurrences arrest the attention of the Philosopher in countries very remote from volcanos, Manv instances mio^ht be g^iven of this phenomena ; but the aberration of the Boyne in 1679 will be sufficient for the present purpose. The river just mentioned, and the Blackwater, affected by the same unknow^n impulse, suddenly ceased to flow, and continued motionless for three days ; in which time the arljacent country was completely overflowed, several cottages de- stroyed, and many cattle lost, when the water of each found ;i new course, and finally joined a mile above the town of Nivan, twenty miles from Dublin, leaving an incredible number of fish on the surface of the country which had been delug^ed. Admitting this account to be correct, there a' e several causes that might produce the stagnation, originating from confined air, or subterranean water. Suppose a stream to have passed imme- diately under the spot where the rivers ceased to flow, and that stream suddenly increased, the earth above must experience an inconsiderable rise, yet sufficient to render the beds of the rivers a level, and perhaps occasion a slight declination towards 43 towards the source. Confined air woul ' have the same effect in rushing through caverns be- neath, if impeded ; and each upon being re- leased would '^drnit the imperceptible sinking of the earth to its former place, and the consequent re- flowing of the two rivers. This phenomenon is recorded in the " True Domestic Intelligence," Sept. 9, 1679. GRAND ILLUMINATION AT BRUSSELS. The customs of Nations difier, in many cases, almost as much as the features of the natives. It is singular that the ideas of man upon any given subject do not more frequently coincide than ex- perience convinces us they do not. Even in the trivial circumstance of illuminating a city, the difference between foreign and the British prac- tice is very conspicuous. This v/ill be de- monstrated by describing the orders of the Duke De Villa Hermosa, issued to the Magistrates of Brussels in 1679, for the rejoicings on the mar- riage of the King of Spain to Mademoiselle De Orleans. " In pursuance thereof," says the Editor of the Domestic Intelligence, ^' they have already erected a great stage against the Town-house, whereon pitched barrels and ex- cellent fire-works are to be shewn. The Town- house is to be hung with scarlet, under which there are ' white wax candles to be set in silver candlesticks 2 44 . caiicllQsticks ; and the tower of St. Michael's is to be hung with lanterns from top to bottom." CELEBRATION OF THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING OF SPAIN AND MARIA LOUISA DE BOURBON, 1^79. This magnificent spectacle was attended by circumstances so very different from modern cus- tom, that our festivities shrink into comparative insignificance. The Court was at Fontainbleau, where the ceremony began by the Grand Mo- xiarque receiving the congratulations of the prin- cipal nobility habited in the most splendid man- ner and sparkling with jewels. The public cryer gave notice to the inhabitants of the town, that they were expectel to illuminate their houses three successive nights, on the first of which a brilliant firework was exhibited before the king. On the lOth of September a Mascara, or Masque, commenced at eight in the evening, composed of one hundred of the nobles of France, well mounted and uniformly dressed in crimson tafieta richly laced with silver, each bearing a torch of white wax, and attended by numerous lacquies. The Captains of this grand troop of horsemen were the Constabloof Castille, Major-domo, and the Duke of Medina Celi, Chamberlain to the King of Spain. Those noblemen were preceded by forty of their own footmen in rich liveries, with plumes of white feathers in their hats, and torches 45 torches in their hands, and numerous trumpets and kettle-drums sounded martial musick before them in a procession through the principal places of the town. During their progress, the Ring witnessed a second display of fire-works, but the most superb was reserved for the night of the 11th, when a vast scaffold, eighteen feet high, erected before the gate of the palace, exhibited, an enormous statue of combustible-, representing the Colossus at Rhodes, bearing a globe in one hand and a sun in the other, with a ship under the legs. On either side of this figure were large castles of the same materials. The Colossus burnt for a quarter of an hour, after which several men . came out of the castles, and fought v^'ith missive fire that communicated to the castles and at lene;th consumed them. DREADFUL STORM ON THE CONTINENT. Our predecessors in news-paper inditing seem to have had two objects in view, to inform and surprize ; the matter-of-fact moderns of the same . profession like an opportunity to indulge now and then ; and the stock-jobbers feeling a pro- pensity in some degree similar, they proceed to- gether very tolerably for a few days, when they are generally kind enough to contradict them- selves, or gently do away their misinformatioyi^ and begin anew. Judging 46 Judging from an attentive perusal of hundreds of old newspapers, we may safely infer that the writers for them had a much easier task in pleasing the publick than those of our time : we are too fastidiously incredulous, and should not be at all contented with a storm from Venice, dressed with so many singularities as the ensuing; though, it must be confessed, some of the papers for September 1807 appear emulous to follow those of 1680, when describing the extraordi- nary effects of a hurricane in Scotland, which had an uncommon predilection for wheat, and accordingly contrived to sweep thousands of sheaves into a number of rivers of that country, to be borne they best know where, for the be- nefit of — Corndealers. " From Venice they write, that a relation is published there, of the sad and dismal effects of a great whirlwind or hurricane that has lately happened in several places in the Empire ; a brief and true account whereof take as followeth. On the 29th of August last past, there arose a terrible wind near a place called Villa de Fanvis, which was so very strong that it blew divers people that were mowing in the fields, together with their carts and oxen, into the air ; several trees were blown up by the roots ; and in those places where this wind had power, the ground was so parched and dried up, that neither herb, grass, nor any other 47 other green- thing remained upon It. At another village it demolished several houses, blowing the rafters and boards into the air, which in their fall wounded divers persons, but none mortally, " The roof of a church also, and part of the walls, were blown down, and the bells were blown so far that they were not found next day. It utterly ruined several great palaces, laying them all in rubbish, wounding and killing divers persons, and destroying many beasts in the fields. " At another village it broke open the door of a coach-house, though treble locked, and drove a coach a considerable height against a brick wall, carrying away the roof half a mile off, many men and women being killed there also. From thence it passed to another village, and made an utter depopulation, destroying all in its way, both men, cattle, and houses, and what further mis- chief it hath done, we do not yet hear. This hath caused great amazement in the people, it being a very prodigious thing to see beams, trees, pieces of walls, men, women, children, house- hold stuff, hens, eggs, cattle, rats and mice, all carried up into the air together, with such a dreadful noise, as raised a terrible consternation in the spectators." This extravagant farrago of falsehoods, inter- mixed with possibilities, might be pronounced a coarse jest, were it not known that our Courts of Justice 48 Justice were solemnly employed at the same in- stant in examining charges of witchcraft, and sentencing poor aged women to dreadful punish- ments for riding through the air on broomstaffs, and piercing wax figures with pins. ANTIENT GAMBOLS OF A RIVULET NORTH OF LONDON. This little neglected and almost forgotten stream, which fiows from Highgate-hill in muddy mood, " ever and anon" concealed by arches of brick^ and again appearing blackened by vile fluids issuing from many a sewer, still sometimes increases into consequence, and overflows its banks ; but it has long ceased such performances , as are recorded of it in the " News from Town andComitry" of Tuesday, Oct. 14, 1679. " From the hills on the North side of this city, the water, occasioned by the late great rains, fell so violently in a little brook (which runs through part of the suburbs until it dischargeth itself into the grate at Holborn-bridge), with that impe-- tuosity that overflowed; so that it bore down the back-parts of several wholesale butchers' houses at Cow-cross, and carried all sorts of cattle, alive and dead ; particLikrly three oxen, some sheep, and many hogs, were so swiftly carried by the violence of the stream, that they never stopped until they came to the above-named grate. "At 49 *^ At Hockley-In-the-hole, it overflowed so that it carried away all sorts of household utensils : B. pot boiling ivas borne off the Jire, and carried away by the stream so steadily that the cover kept on; an hungry fellow going to seize it, making too much haste, stumbled upon it, and overturned it, but it retained so much of its heat that it scalded his legs under water. Several barrels of ale and beer, and some of brandy, swam about, some of which the most venturous of the rabble made a wreck of. One butcher at Cow-cross (besides he that lost the three oxen) lost ten hides, which lay one upon another ; and hath not yet heard of them." FATAL INSTANCE OF MALICE IN iSjg. Two young gentlemen of respectable families, resident at Lewes in Sussex, were remarkably at- tached to each odier ; and Roberts and Brinck- hurst considered themselves in the light of bro» thers, till some unfortunate dissention developed the character of the former, and exhibited him as one of the most malignant of human beings. Roberts came to London, and contrived a cow- ardly scheme against the life of his late friend, -which, had it fully succeeded, must have caused the ignominious punishment of an innocent person. He purchased a quantity of poison sufficient for his intended purpose, arid making a parcel, E wrote 50 ivrote a letter as if from an acquaintance Brinck- hurst had in the Metropolis, adding J. N. the initials of his name. This letter, alluding to some internal disease which Roberts knew B. wished to be relieved from, recommended the powder as a certain remedy. Pleased with a prospect of relief, the poor victim of this horrid artifice, for- getting the displeasure he had felt for Roberts, and finding the villain was returned to Lewes, waited upon him, and shewed him a letter of thanks he had written to J. N. in which he en- quired whether the powder sent was to be taken at once or at different times. Roberts saw. the necessitj'' of securing the letter, and offered to give it to the carrier himself ; in- stead of which he destroyed the note, and v.rote another as if from J N. declaring the necessity of taking the whole of the powder at once. Thus assured, Brinckhurst swallowed the deadly drug, and became extremely ill. Strange, indeed, was the settled malice and fortitude of Roberts, who so completely subdued his feelings as to attend his victim, and with that apparent solicitude and affection w hich completely banished suspicion ; and procured himself a legacy of 50/. besides other articles of value from his dying friend. On the third day, Brinckhurst breathed his last. Roberts, still undismayed, actually assisted in the pre- parations for interment, and in carrying the body to the grave. As 51 As it was evident the powder caused tlie death of the young gentleman, every circumstance con- nected with it was carefully investigated; the letters supposed to have been written by J. N. were ascertained to be composed in a manner so little according^ with the abilities of the party, that he was immediately cleared, when several facts occurring to recollection respecting the con- duct of Roberts, he was apprehended ; and being examined by a Justice of the Peace, he confessed his guilt. In the course of this process, he was asked the name of the drug employed ; affecting ignorance, he declared he knew not, but should be enabled to point it out from any number of poisons arranged before him. Several were im- mediately procured, and he began to balance them in his hand as if to judge by their weight. The moment he lifted the yellow arsenick, he threw as much as possible into his mouth ; and making violent efforts, he forced a sufficient quan- tity into his stomach to bafHe every antidote, and he expired in dreadful torture four days afterwards. , LEWIS XIV. AND THE BISHOP OF CONDON. The Bishop had been appointed tutor to the Dauphin, and being a liberal-minded prelate, he furnished his pupil with books calculated to en- large the mind, and render the future king the father and not the tyrant of his people. Amongst E 2 those 52 those was the History of Henry IV. the illus- trious great-grandfather of the Prince, written by the bishop of Rodez. In order to impress the Dauphin in the most forcible manner, the good tutor marked several passages ; but when the former had arrived at the relation of the dreadful massacre at Paris in the reign of Charles IX. he enlarged upon the enormity of the act, and en- deavoured to demonstrate that a king could not commit a more serious offence against Heaven than by sacrificing his subjects to the bigoted suggestions of his own mind, or those of adviser? equally cruel and erroneous in their ideas of religion. At the same time, he pointed out the exemplary punishment which in the instance alluded to, and in every other, invariably attended the guilty perpetrators. Deeply impressed by the eloquent and ener- getic arguments of the Prelate, the Dauphin ea- gerly acquaintefl the Grand Monarque Avith his new sentiments and feelinirs. Enraged at the progress made in the enlightening of his son's mind, Louis sent for the tutor, and grossly charged him with teaching the youth heresy, and attempting to make him a complete Huguenot, concluding with his commands that he never again appeared in his presence. Such was the Christian charity of the worthy Prelate, and such the into- lerant spirit of his Royal Master ! UNCOMMON 53 Uncommon robbery at middleburgh, in 1679. The three sons of a Merchant, resident in the above town, and Isle of Walcheren, actuated by a most extraordinary impulse of depravity, re- solved to rob their father. In the accomplish- ment of this horrid purpose, they had recourse to stratagem, and waited till their parent attended divine service; when they seized their sister and a servant maid, whom they confined in a chamber, and proceeded to rifle the compting-house and an iron chest, from which they obtained a large sum of money and several bars of silver. Anxious for their safety, they immediately fled to a boat provided by their servants, intending to cross the river at a place called the Ramesis. At this critical moment, they perceived the Magis- trates had received information of the robbery, and that they were closely pursued ; one of these unnatural sons, becoming desperate through fear, commanded the unfortunate waterman to row the boat to the shore; but, receiving a positive re- fusal, he was shot, and died immediately. The brothers then kept their previous course. The olhcers of the Police were intimidated by observing the fate of the boatman, and returned for assistance, which they obtained by boarding a shallop just arrived at the Ramesis with an Englisli nobleman and his suite ; who volun- teering their services, their number amounted to fourteen 54 fourteen persons. The vessel, urged forward hy every possible exertion, soon came along-side of the boat ; the brothers were summoned to sur- render, and refused. The* nobleman and the commander of the shallop leaped on board : the latter was shot dead in an instant ; but others fol- lowing, two servants of the brothers were killed, and one of the triumvirate wounded ; after which the wretches were secured without further dif- ficulty. It is singular that neither the names of the brothers, nor of the Englishman, are mentioned in the publication whence this narrative was compiled ; nor is the fate of the survivors noticed. The intelligence is said to have reached England in letters from the Hague, THE PORT OF CALAIS BLOCKADED BY A WHALE, One of those odd accidents, which almost seem to be the result of design, warmly excited the in- terest of the opposite inhabitants of England and France in November 1679. The entrance of the harbour of Calais was then, and probably still is, extremely narrow; consequently but one vessel could pass at the same time, and not without considerable skill in the pilot, aided by the highest flow of the tide. A sViip just arrived from Amsterdam entered the mouth of the harbour under sail, but sud- denly received a violent shock, which repelled her 55 - her back again with great force, to the astonish- ment of the creWj who mo6red the vessel in the roads, resolved to wait for the next tide; when a second attempt was made, with the same result, and some damage to the ship. The Captain, de- termined to examine into the cause of so unex- pected an obstruction, sent the long-boat, well manned, at low water, to sound about the place where the accident occurred. The men em- ployed on this occasion immediately discovered a full-grown whale, which lay lifeless directly across the channel, whence they concluded that the first blow from the ship's head had proved fatal to the enormous fish. The Magistrates of the town gave instant directions to have it cut to pieces and removed. AN APPARITION ! ! ! The first we have introduced to the reader, whose appearance was most wonderful, and cer- tainly not less futile. Fearful, however, that any comments of our own might injure the ci'edit due to the narrator, we shall let Jnm appear and gpeak in his proper person. Mr. Ben. Harris, " of the Stationers' Arms in the Piazza under the Royal Exchange," saith in his Domestic Intelligence for December 9, 1(>79 : " There was an account in our last of the un- timely death of Henry Sturgis, keeper of White- chapel Prison, wlio hanged himself in the Rope- vard 56 yard on Saturday last, about two o'clock in the afternoon; since which, we have this wonderful, yet most credible relation, that about seven or eight of the clock in the evening of the same day, one Richard Reyley, ' victualler in Shadwell-mar- ket, near the new Church, going home from London over Whitechapel fields, when he came near the ponds, upon a sudden he observed a flame of fire arising out of the pond like lightning, and presently after he meets the appearance of the said Sturgis coming over a ditch toward him, who said, ' Get you out of the way, or I will throw you into the pond.' The man wondered very much at the affront, being acquainted with Sturgis ; and, not having heard of his fatal end, was therefore just going to ask him the reason of it, when of an instant his hat was thrown oflf his head ; which while he stooped to take up, the Fantasm disappeared, which the man much admired at ; and, going over the next fields, there were several persons in the rope-walks, he gave them an account of what had passed ; whereupon they informed him the said Sturgis had hanged himself in that place several hours before. The man was very angry, positively asserting' that he had just now met him alive and in health ; but, to convince him, they shewed him the dead body; whereupon his countenance immediately turned pale and wan, and he went home extremely frightened, though a man otherwise of undaunted courage ; 57 courage ; and^ when he came home, he swounded away, and could hardly be recovered, and has continued ever since in a very distracted con- dition, not having slept for divers nights to- gether. Those who doubt the truth hereof may be fully satisfied therein at his house afore- mentioned." EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY. Tlie newspapers, at the close of the year 1679, announced the finding of a large anchor by some persons who were digging at Pilgethaven in Northamptonshire. The situation of this place is said to be upwards of 30 miles from the sea ; but, as the spot where the anchor lay buried is a valley, and the word haven being attached to the name of Pilget, the speculators of the time in- ferred that the Ocean had at some remote period flowed through the valley, NOTHING BUT DRUNK, Is the title of one of the elder Dibdin's sea- songs, the idea of which, though not taken from the subject of this article, seems well suited to it. If the circumstances of the following relation are founded on fact, they are indeed astonishing ; if they were fabricated, the author of them will be allowed competent to have undertaken any thing \\i the way of romance. 58 ^' Very near a little village (being a fisher-town) in Yorkshire, between Scarborough and Bur- lington, a French vessel of considerable burthen, laden with French wines, brandy, prunes, and sugar, bound for Newcastle, struck upon a rock with such force that she lay ujjon the point of the rock as it were equally poised, it having struck through the middle of her keel, so that she lay immovable by the waves when the tide was out. " The fishermen with their cobbles and five men's boats fetched off the men, and unladed the vessel, which so filled that little town with hogsheads, that a horse could not pass in the town; nor men, without getting over them. The poor people surfeited so with wine and brandy that near half the town, men, women, and children, lay drunk upon the sands, of which excess several of them have since died. " Next day, the country people adjacent, hearing of the wreck, came down in multitudes to par- take of the spoil, when every one might drink what he would ; for, partly through the seamen's gratitude for the preserving of their lives, and what the people got by force and theft, there was no lett to any person, so that the plenty was great, and the company that flocked to the town increasing hourly, that they burnt brandy in their brewing kettles^, stewed prunes in their coppers, and 59 and threw in sugar with shovels ; so that it ii beheved more people are ah'eady killed, and will die by surfeits gotten by the brandy, than would have been lost if the sea had swallowed all the men in the ship. A poor child, that in all pro- bability never tasted brandy ')efore, drinking a full draught of it as if it had been beer, was im- mediately stifled, aiid never spoke word more. " Two men, father and son, slept about sixteen hours, as if they had been dead ; and when they were with much difficulty awaked, the father died some few hours after ; the son recovered, but continues as it were distracted, and it is thought will never be in his senses again. The ship could not possibly be gotten ofi, but most of the rigging, and what was most material, was saved ; the vessel being brokeni by the following tides." Domestic Intelhgence, l6jg. Two instances may be cited in support of the credibility of this narrative: the dreadful infa- tuation of part of Lord George Gordon's mob, who set fire to Langdale's distillery in Hoi born, 1780, and then drank the raw s})irits in the cellar till they were intoxicated and buried in the falling ruins, exclusive of others v.'ho died in the streets through excessive drinking; and more recently, during a fire in Store-street, at a Brew- ery, the populace drank beer with such perse- verance that rmmbers lay insensible for some hours GO hours in the neighbouring streets ; but it does not appear that any of them lost their lives. THE FLESH VerSHS THE SPIRIT. It often happens that discord attends the married pair who are of different faiths in re- hgion ; but those* persons, contemporary with tlie origin of Quakerism, were most unfortunately situated when either husband or wife adopted the tenets of that precipe sect without accomplishing^ the conversion of their helpmates. The revo- lution in dress and manners was so violent, that human faculties were too weak to restrain the disgust on either side. It was death to the con- vert to see the vain gaud}'^ attire of the w^orld constantly liefore him or her, and quite impos- sible not to condemn or reprobate it and the wearer ; and it was equally impossible for a gay and dissipated man or woman to hear reproof from the lips of sanctity, so suddenly acquired, and to which they were so nearly allied, without resentment. Many whimsical yet serious dissentions mUvSt have arisen from this source, and no doubt much real misery. The tale which follows was pub- lished in l6'8o, at the very moment when "^ convincemenf daily increased the disciples of Penn. and may possibly be founded on fact ; or if not, it must be allowed the merit of happily 61 liappily illustrating the war of the flesh against ihe spirit. " On Christmas-day, in the morning, a person of considerable rank, the better to grace the so- lemnity of the day, would put on his velvet coat ; but his 'wife, being a Quaker, was much averse to it, using many arguments against it ; but the most forcible was, she had got the key of the trunk wherein his cloaths were, and would not deliver it; upon which he broke open the trunk : but she, being precautious of that likewise, had before-hand conveyed the coat out of the trunk, and hid it. He being very angry to be thus dis- appointed, and finding some ribands in the trunk, he apparels himself as well as he could without his velvet, and presently goes to a Miss whom he kept, and presented her witli the ribands. " His wife, observing him to go out in such a passion, sent her maid after him to see whither he went, who presently brought her Word whi- ther he was gone. Upon which the wife, en- raged witli jealousy, went to the place, and sur- prised the woman with the ribands in her hand. The poor harlot, all amazed, made direct answer to all interrogatories, and, amongst other things, confessed that the person v.ho gave her the ribands had too familiar acquaintance with lier, and allowed her a v^ eekly maintenance. " Upon 6^ "^^ Upon this discovery, the wife gets a warrant both for her husband and the liarlot, and caused them to be brought before a Justice of the Peace, who committed the husband to the Gatehouse, and the Miss to Bridewell. The husband was exceedinf^ly enraged that his wife should cause him to be imprisoned, and threatened to be re- venged when he was released ; which his wife hearing of, went to her husband, begged his pardon, and promised to persuade the Justice to set him at liberty if he would forgive her ; but he swore he would never forgive her. " Upon which, she knowing his revengeful dispo- sition, and that he wouM not be long kept indurance in the Gatehouse, goes and prepares for his recep- tion in Bethlehem, and then goes to the Justice, and acquaints him that her husband was lunatic, and desired his release from the Gatehouse, that he might be conveyed to another place more proper for his distemper, which the Justice granted : and she having provided two lusty fellows for the purpose, immediately upon his coming out of the Gatehouse, he was clapped into a coach, and conveyed to Bethlehem, where he now remains.** FALL OF DOVER CLIFFS. It is a subject of regret that the successive Go- vernors of the Castle of Dover were not com- manded by our Monarchs since the Conquest to 63 to register in their books of office the repeateil falls of chalk and earth which have occurred in consequence of the violence of the sea at the base of the cliffsj and the operations of frost and sudden thaws on the surface of them. Had an opportunity been thus afforded of computing the number of acres lost to the coun- try in the course of eight huildred years, we should undoubtedly find by inference that Caesar crossed a much narrower channel than that of the present day. I'he London Gazette for January 12, 1679-80, records a most remarkable loss of territory, under the date of Dover, January 8. *' We have had here extreme stormy weather, accompanied by much rain, the wind generally at West ; and the last night, or this morning, happened a great fall of the cliff, adjoining to the North wall of the Castle, and at the North side of the said wall, called The Castle-rcar. *' It is inbreadth about thirty rods, and in length little less ; that at high-water it may be twenty- five rods in the sea, and the height is about twenty feet, in all places much alike. it is judged this fall of the clifl' (the greatest in the memory of any man living) will be a means to secure and lodge the beach or shingle thrown up into the bay, which is the only preservation of tlie harbour.'* PECULATION 64 PECULATION DURING THE PLAGUET! ; t When the city of Vienna was afflicted by that dreadful disorder in 1679, the keeper of the Pest- house had the avarice and inhumanity to declare he received two hundred and forty persons into his care in the month of November more than was actually the fact. An instance of turpitude so near the jaws of death almost without parallel ! On the 14th of the following April the phy- sicians of that city made an experiment in order to ascertain whether a sufficient quantity of earth had been placed above the bodies buried during the prevalence of the disorder. They tied a dog to a stake driven into the ground where upwards of one thousand persons lay piled on each other, aud the animal died in half an hour. THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH Happened to pass in his coach through Chan- cery-lane in January 16S0, at the moment when a person rtred a musket from his residence. The attendants very naturally supposed it to be an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Duke; and immediately assaulted a porter who stood near them, the real offender having thrown the gun down, and fled ; but, recollecting himself, he re- turned, and, falling on his knees, begged the Duke's pardon, declaring he had merely been trying the state of the musket. There 63 There are two circumstances in this Anecdote worthy of notice ; the firing of a gun during the day in a pubHc street as a matter of indifference with respect to common passengers, and the hu- mihating abject position of the citizen when asking pardon. The change of manners, in the interval between this occurrence and the present time, is obviously in our favour. Of the nu- merous Volunteers and other persons now pos- sessed of muskets, can one be pointed out as having thus offended against law and pro- priety ? or, if one could be found so lost to the feelings of passengers, would all the rank and splendour of the Court bring him upon his knees ? PARISIAN POISONERS IN l679 AND 80. A number of inhuman wretches, part of the French nobility, and persons of fashion, had formed a systematic method of removing their enemies, their offspring, and those who in- terposed between them and hereditary ho- nours or estates. An Englishman of 1 8 10, and of honourable descent, cannot thoroughly com- prehend the baseness and depravity of soul necessary to execute the deliberate death of an unsuspecting victim. It is true, we have in our Annals some instances of poisoning ; but they have always been solitary, and with long inter- ? vals 6* o vals between each case : besides, the perpetrators were generally in the lower ranks of life. The Government of France, having received information of the practices carried on to accom- plish the removal of man}^ respectable persons, established a chamber of Justice for the trial of those apprehended on charges, or suspicion, of administering poison. The publications of the time declare their proceedings to have been secret, and consequently merely mention the result. Madame Latignan, who had poisoned her hus- band, Madame Ferroy, and IMadame Brizac, were sentenced to lose their heads ; Madame Dreux was sent to the Bastille for nine years * ; the Marquis de Sellac Clermont received the same destination, but he escaped at the time: above two hundred others fled to avoid the scru- tiny their conduct would not bear. The above No- bleman was summoned by sound of trumpet be- fore his house at Paris and in the markets, toge- ther with the Countess of Soissons, Madame de Sourdys, and Madame de Alluy. La Voisine appears to have acted one of the most diabolical parts in this shocking pursuit; her sentence was dreadful, too dreadful even for a deliberate compounder of poisonous drugs. She was dragged to the Church of Notre Dame in * Her husband offered 9000J, to any female who would consent to become her attendant duiing that long period. Paris ^7 Paris upon a sledge, without any other covering than lier shift, where she performed penance, bearing a hdited torch in her hand, and fortitude in her countenance, whence the officers of justice conveyed her to the place of execution. The vast crowd collected there to witness her body con- sumed, their curses, and the sight of the fire, deprived her in an instant of all her resolution; and she seized the sledge with such muscular ex- ertion, that the united eiiorts of five men were required to force her into the flames. Her screams terrified the hearers ; and she vehemently' repeated her previous accusations of various per- sons, to whom she added her own son and daughter, declaring they possessed the secret of preparing potent poisons : but the two last escaped. Madame Trianon is said to have surpassed La Voisine in wickedness; in whose lodgings were found eight pounds of arsenic, sixty phials of deadly liquids, and a book of recipes for their coniDosition. Madame Guillard, the wife of a counsellor, the Dowager Countess of Soissons, and the Sieur De Berlise, son of the Master of the Ceremonies at Court, were implicated, fled, and summoned to appear by sound of trumpet- The Duchess of Bouillon treated the Judges with contempt during her trial, and was confined with great rigour by the King's express command. T2 To €S To conclude this detestable catalogue: the Duke of Luxemburgh is said to have confessed, that a priest and himself prevailed upon an infamous w^oman to extend herself on the altar of his chapel, and submit to have a wafer consecrated on her person, which was intended as a charm to procure the Duke success in his amours ; and that he was concerned with La Voisine the accoucheur in procuring abortions, and making virgin parch- ment of the skins of infants, on which to write charms for the removal of those whose lives were required by the fraternity. The British public, amazed at these almost in- credible horrors, made them the constant theme of conversation ; and the names of the wretches were pronounced by every tongue with execration. The editors of Newspapers, ever upon the watch for remarkable events, conveyed those to their readers in rapid succession ; and, fearful that the fate of Parisian poisoners might be received with less interest than the acts of Englishmen em- ployed in the same pursuits, they resolved to invent similar stories. How inferior are even the imag'mafions of the sons of Albion to those of their Gallic neighbours! The latter poisoned with astonishing facility : the former, infinitely less enlightened, fabricated the following silly tale, evidently the 'composition of a mere novice in the grand conceptions of a Trianon, a Voisine, or a Luxemburgh : in short, it 69 it must be acknowledged, we were centuries be- hind our enemies in this art. ** We have of late had very strange reports of the poisonings in France, the relations of which are so monstrous that they are almost incre- dible; but, by a circumstance which lately passed in a Tavern near Cripplegate, the possibility is the more credible. A person who spoke good English (but, by his tone and mien, supposed to be a Frenchman), came to the said Tavern, and bade him shew him a room. The drawer having shewed him a room, asked him what he pleased to drink? " He told him he would drink no wine of his drawing, and bade him call another. When the other came, he embraced him closely with seem- ing great affection ; and, laying his cheek to his, the drawer thought he was about to whisper with him, but the gentleman put his tongue in his mouth : upon which the drawer got from him, and going down stairs, he called to him, and bade him bring a pint of sack ; but the drawer refused to carry it up, telling liis master how he had been served, who thereupon sent up another drawer with it. " The gentleman immediately drank off the sack, and came to the bar and paid for it, saying he staid for other company, but they not coming, he would stay no longer. The drawer, imftie- diately after the kiss, found a sharp pricking ui)on his 70 his tongue, and within an hour fell stark mad, and so continues, to the great astonishment of all that know him." SPECIMEN OF EXALTED CHARITY. This shall be given ver'battm. fsom '* The True Domestic Intelligence" of March 5, 1680. *^ The Lord Bertlet, who liveth in St. John's near Clerkenwell, out of his generous bounty, hath proffered not only to lay out the money for redemption of the English captives in Algiers, until it be raised by the brief his Majesty hath granted for that purpose, but also to go himself in person to treat for their ransoms, and accordingly is making preparation for his voyage." EARTHQUAKE AT MALAGA IN I68O. This unfortunate city experienced most fatally that earthquakes have a centre whence the con- cussion becomes weakened, till at length the effects are harmless. A shock was felt at Madrid on the 9th of October, which was perceived at Cadiz, Seville, and other places, without pro- ducing any material injury to those cities: at Malaga, on the contrary, the motion continued eight minutes, in which short period 87 1 houses were completely destroyed, 1,259 rendered unin- habitable ; and of (7,000, the number composing the city, it was supposed not 300 escaped partial derangement. Eighteen 7i Eighteen convents, four hospitals, a college of Seminarists, and a parish-church, were so completely shaken that the greater part were considered beyond the possibility of repair ; nor vvere the palaces of the Governor and Bishop exempted from the general calamity. At the moment this melancholy detail appeared in the London Gazette, it had been ascertained that 40 persons were killed and 112 wounded; but it was well known that considerable numbers laid concealed under the ruins. EARTHaUAKE AND FIRE AT SMYRNA, I688. The reader will, perhaps, be pleased to have it in his power to compare the effects of this species of phenomena at places so remotely separated as Smyrna and Malaga. The fatal event, which is the subject of the present article, occurred be- tween the hours of eleven and twelve at noon, on the last day of June; and, in one minute, Nature accomplished the destruction of buildings which years of patient perseverance had merely served to complete. Numbers of houses fell, and it wae supposed not a single habitation escaped uninjured, llie neighbourhood of Smyrna felt the shock with abated violence, and the islands of Meteline and Scio suffered but slightly. At Constantinople, the concussion was just perceptible, and on the same day. The great church of Smyrna, where the 72 the Metropolitan, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and several Papas or Reverend Fathers, had as- sembled to prayers, became a mass of ruins in an instant, and buried those unfortunate priests and their auditors. The Jews lost 400 of their number, and Aron Aben Haim, a Rabbi of uncommon sanctity, greatly honoured during his life, and sincerely regretted after this unexpected termination of it. To these victims the accounts add 5000 name- less persons as a moderate calculation. Four hours after the ruin of the city had been partially completed, a fire broke out in the Genoese house, situated in the Frank Street. The wind happened unfortunately to be high ; and the consternation of the survivors preventing the least exertion to check the flames, they soon de- stroyed the street just named, and all the town spared by the earthquake, except some scattered buildings in the suburbs, and on the declivity forming part of the site of the town. Tlie British Consul, and half of the English residents, happened to be absent from their houses, and, upon the first alarm, went on board the ships consigned to or owned by them ; through which fortunate circumstance but three of their lives were lost, though several were severely bruised. Equally upon the alert, after the dan- ger appeared to have subsided, the British mer- chants succeeded m saving much of their mer- chandize. 73 chandize. 'oy sending it on board the different vessels. The Dutch had no sliips then in port^ and their loss was considerable from the fire ; but only one merchant of that nation perished, and of the French the Consul. There were many warehouses in a part of the town called Viserchan : the lower ranges of those escaped destruction ; the upper were burnt, and generally fell in consequence of the clefts made in the walls by the earthquake, which caused the total disappearance of the Castle at St. Giacomo's point. The Sublime Porte, careful of its own interest, sent aCapigee Bashi * from Constantinople to seize upon such property as had no claimants through the sudden deaths of its possessors ; but our Court Gazette gives no intimation that this officer re- ceived orders to relieve the distressed survivors of the calamity. The British Ambassador, more at- tentive to his duty, procured a permission from the Grand Vizier to send an agent commissioned to ren- der his countrymen every assistance in his power. The first number of the Orange Gazette, which appeared December 31, 1688, contains still fur- ther particulars relating to Smyrna, the necessary but dreadful result of the misfortunes of the inha- bitants. It may be supposed that every eflTort within the possibility of accomplishment was made by the Agent to serve the British at * So called in the Gazette. Smyrna. 74 Smyrna. Tlie place, however, became so ex- tremely unhealthy that, after four of the Factors had died of the prevailing diseases, the Consul and half of his countrymen embarked themselves and property and sailed for England, leaving the remainder scattered in the adjacent villages wait- ing the fate of numbers of Greeks, Armenians, Franks, and Jews, who daily fell victims to the shocking effluvia arising from the dead through the chasms of the rubbish which ovenvhelmed them. To complete the catalogue of evils, the town was deprived of fresh water by the destruction of the aqueducts. The annexed view of Smyrna was copied from a very good print of that place, drawn before this calamity occurred, forming the back ground to the reception of the French Consul, inserted in Dumont's Travels, published almost at the pre- cise period of the Earthquake, FASHIONS, 1680. Fashion, variable as the wind, has ever been a subject for ridicule, or serious animadversion. Queen Elizabeth treated it in a most despotic manner ; but, as ill-humour and authoritative strictures are foreign to this work, it will not surely give offence if some " InfernaV obser- vations are introduced, by w'hich a knowledge of the follies of iC'So mav be obtained; and for tho§€ \iwm ^ i 75 those we are indebted to " The Mercurius In- fernus: or News from the other World, disco- vering the cheats and abuses of this : being all truth in fable." " Phlegeton, March 15. One would think Don Plato should be kind to women, because of their kindness to him in betraying mankind, or at least for his dear wife's sake, both a woman and born of a woman. But we find the contrary ; for, after a long journey, returning home the other day, and going to kiss his Empress, he found her so transjiiogrlfied that he hardly knew her ; for she had got upon her forehead a huge monstrous crisped and curled powdered tower, her cheeks all of a pure vermillion hue, bepatched with coaches and horses, half moons, and black stars. Smelling to her breast, they stunk of jesmine and orange-flower water, after a pro- digious manner. ' Ave Maria,' quoth Don Pluto, ' what's come to my wife ?' He observed that when she was undressing herself, she not only pulled off her tower, but her whole head of hair too, and laid it in her dressing-box. '^ Thereupon he began to question the matter. Proserpine told him, that her doctor had advised her, for a pain that she had in her head, to cut off her hair. * Doctor !' quoth the Devil, ' and have you paid his fees ?' ' No,' quoth she, ^ per- sons of quality, you know, never pay till it comes to a sum.' * Then I will pay him his sum total with 76 \Tith a vengeance/ quoth Don Pluto. '^ But who in; 1 ^* " o Downs ; since which we are very well assured, by letters from Deal, that, on the 25th of the last month, the fishermen of that town took up another copper gun of a prodigious weight and magnitude. It had several strange inscriptions upon it, together with the arms of the King of Spain, and those of Don Diego Messala, with his name in wcrds at length under it, and the date of the year 1623 ; by which it appears to hd one of the Spanish Admiral's guns, which was sunk when the Spanish Armada was defeated in the Downs by the Hollanders on the 21st of Sep- tember 1659. *' The said fishermen also took up at the same time an oak of an extraordinary bigness, with all its roots branching out, wliicli is supposed to have grown on the Goodwin before that Island was overflowed (which is several hundred years ago), and to have lain in the sea ever since ; the out- side of it is soft and spungy for several inches in, but the lieart of it is very hard and sound." An octavo History of England, published by Bell, &.C. 1722, gives the ensuing account of the destruction of the Spanish fleet in 16^9- " Not long after his departure (the Elector Palatine), the whole nation was strangely alarmed by the unexpected appearance of a Spanish fleet upon the English coasts, consisting of above seventy sail of considerable ships, commanded by Don 80 Don Autonio d.*Oquendo. These were met by an inferior fleet of the Hollanders, who furiously assaulted them, and forced them into the Downs near Dover, where the Spaniards expected to be safe under the King of England's protection. There they continued for some time; when the weather growing stormy. Van Trump, the Dutch Admiral, told some English gentlemen, * That, if they lay there a little longer, the King of England would have their guns, the country their wrecks, and the devil their men.* " Both parties being allies to England, it was judged by the law of nations, that the shore and harbours of a neutral Prince should be a refuge to protect the weaker ; but at last Van Trump, upon a slight pretence, without the ceremony of asking leave, fell in upon the Spaniards with that vigour and bravery, that he burnt, sunk, and drove ashore, far the greatest part of their formidable navy, in the very sight of our English fleet. This, though not justified upon the rules of honour, was yet highly pleasing to the common people, who hated the appearance of a Spanish Armada, and had too much reason to suspect their design; for, though they pretended only tb carry recruits and money to Dunkirk, yet, such a design not requiring so many ships or men, the expedition seemed to have been meant for some greater purpose. "By 81 " By some evidences since recovered, it ap- peared that the project was very much hke that memorable one in Eighty-eight. And at the be- ginning of the following Parliament, a book was produced in the House of Commons, intituled, *The Papists fishing in troubled waters, whilst the King was at war with the Scots, Vvith prayers \n it for the Holy Martyrs that suffered in the fleet sent against the Heretics in England, anno l6'3.9.' However, this proved such a fatal blow to the maritime power of Spain, that they never since recovered it." D.'EMONOLOGY. The succeeding tales are introduced as proofs ©f the lamentable mental imbecillity of KjSo. " A young maid, who lived formerly at Ken- sington, but, removing from thence, lived in St. Martin's le Grand, London, being about eighteen years of age, is fallen into fits of despair, saying while she lived at Kensington (being then about twelve years of age) she sold herself to the Dtvil for half a crown, and that the time is al- most expired when the bargain must be per- formed. " Several have been with her, giving her Christian counsel ; but nothing will prevail with her, she raving like one distracted, acknowledging G herself 82 herself to have led a very wicked life : that when she used to go to church with her Mistress, she went as if she had been loaded with some great burthen; and that the Devil used to prick her in the side, as if iron spikes had been run into her, so that she was not able to sit in the church, but was forced to go out, and fall to cursing and swearing, and then she could be at quiet. " Her Mistress says, she shewed always an un- willingness to any thing of piety : if she called upon her in the morning, or at nig;ht,^to come up stairs to prayer in the family, she could not in- duce her to come ; and since the maid says, that the Devil used to meet her upon the stairs, and would not suffer her to go up. He generally ap- peared to her when she v/ent about any thing that was good, as reading in the Bible, or any other good book, and would dehort her from it. Once he appeared to her about the middle of the night, and asked her if she wanted a light ? to which she replied, that she had light enough when he was present. " On Tuesday last, some friends came to her in St. Martin's, and carried her to an aunt of her's, living at Putney^; and the waterman that carried her thither said, that he was afraid the boat would have been lost in his passage thither, but could give no reason for it; and being told, when he landed, of the maid's distemjjer (for 83 (for he was ignorant of it before), he said, had he known it, he would not have carried her for 100/. " At Putney her aunt is very careful of her, procuring godly people to come daily to her to visit her, and give her spiritual comfort. One day they had her out to walk on Putney-heath ; and, as she was walking, she of a sudden cried out, ' Look there ! look there ! do you not see him ? There he stands,' pointing with her finger, and saying, ' I must go, he is come for me.' She being asked the reason why she sold herself, she said she saw other girls have fine things, and she had none, and therefore she sold herself. And being further questioned what she did with the half-crown which she sold herself for? she replied, she bought a pair of shoes with the money." Banlis's Current Intetligence. " From Edinburgh, of the 27th of last month (April iCSo), we have the following account, that a certain woman there, supposed by her neigh- bours to have a familiar spirit, coming into the house of a certain citizen of that place, pretending to ask for one that was not there, the man of the house gave her some sharp language, and caused his servants to turn her out of door, which tliey did with some violence ; but she had not been gone half an hour, but they fo»md a strange al- teration in their bodies, a numbness seizing on G 2 their 84 their limbs, accompanied with great pain, so that they were not able to help themselves. This ac- cident increased the suspicion of the woman having a familiar, and was thereupon committed to prison." True Domestic Intelligence. REMARKABLE EVENTS IN ITALY. The month of March, 1680, was distinguished by several uncommon occurrences in the Eccle- siastical States of Italy. Lewis XIV. commanded his Ambassador at Rome to require the natives of Burgundy, resident in that city, to remove the Arms of Spain from the Church of St. Claudius, and to replace them with those of France. His mandate was obeyed, but a violent altercation between the Envoys of the two nations was the consequence. A dreadful accident happened on the 24th, at _ Macerata, where forty-three Members of the Jesuits' College had assembled in their church to deliberate on the affairs of the brotherhood. At the very instant they were thus employed, the roof fell in, and killed and wounded twenty-seven of them. On the same day, the son of the Marquis of Manilani lost his life by the overturning of his carriage; and the coach of the Duke of New- burgh's agent experienced a similar disaster, and fell into the Tyber. On 85 On the 3Gth, the Pope distributed the annual gifts, or marriage-portions, to 440 poor young women, 38 of whom had 100 crowns each, six 200, and the remainder 50 each. A HINT TO THOSE WHO ARE SOMETIMES INEBRIATED. The author of " The True Protestant Domestic Intelhgence" informs us, in his Paper of April 27, 1680, that, " Last week, a gentleman, having got drunk in Fleet-street, met with a cobler and another person, and, in his extravagant humour, took them to a tavern, and spent about eight shillings upon them, where he fell asleep. They, observing him to have much money about him, agreed to make prize of him, and accordingly took from him, as is said, forty shillings iu silver, three guineas, a watch, and a ring off his finger. The next day the cobler was bragging with his guineas at a neighbour's house. But afterwards the person of the house, hearing of the gentle- man's loss, suspected it might be the cobler had done it : upon which a warrant was issued to ap- prehend him ; but the cobler, hearing of it, got out at the top of the house, where he stayed until he thought the coast clear, and then called to a neighbour to let him into their house, for the Serjeants were waiting for him ; but the person, understanding that it was the constable and no^ Serjeants, 86 Serjeants, called the constable up, and then let him in to the cobler, who apprehended hinij and he was committed to Newgate." A MONSTER ! ! ! Shakspeare is accused of creating an unnatural being to promote the catastrophe of one of his dramas. This accusation is of Gallic origin, and Frenchmen persist in it against every ar- gument brought by Englishmen in favour of their excellent countryman. Much might be said to prove the justice of the objection ; and we must admit that Shakspeare alone was capable of overstepping the modesty of nature, and of pro- ducing a genuine Monster, one who acts, and speaks, as if indeed endowed by a supernatural power. Let the abortive description of one fa- bricated at Paris be compared with the sturdy half-demon Caliban, and then decide whether any use could be made of the former in con- structing such a play as The Tempest. " Paris, May 7, l(38o. At Barcelona they hav<- taken up a prodigious Monster, having the face of a man. It hath upnn its head a crown, and all the rest of the body was marked with severaj sorts of arms, as cannons, musquets, swords, pistols, haii "ds, standards, &c. with several devices abour iliem. It had also a moon •in the middle of its body, encompassed with » several 87 «everal little moons. The picture of it is sent to his Majesty. The Astrologers prognosticate strange things from the taking up of this Monster." We may exclaim with the seaman in the play just mentioned, " How now, Moo7i-calfr BRITISH HUMANITY DISAPPOINTED OF REWARD. England, situated in a tempestuous latitude, affords continual opportunities for the exercise of humanity on the whole line of its coast. The inhabitants of each of our maritime counties have at intervals contributed to save the perishing sailor ; and their exer'iions, on some occasions, Jiave been marked by astonishing effects and suc- cess. 'J'he late invention of the Life-boat will prevent many deaths through shipwreck, by pre- serving the intrepid volunteers who man her, though the honour of braving destruction to re- lieve the unfortunate is thus certainly lessened: but who would wish to see the humane embarked in a Jrail boat, that they might obtain applause commensurate with their risk? An incident is related in Smith's " Current Intelligence," and afterwards rectified in " The Domestic Intel- ligence" for May 7, 1C80, which does honour to the parties concerned, and must prove grateful to the feelings of the readers of this volume. " Whereas SB- '' Whereas there was an account from Wey- mouth, in Mr. Smith's Current Intelhgcnce, April 28, of twenty Frenchmen lately cast away upon the coast of Jersey (as it is declared there), which were clothed by the Governor thereof, Sir John Lainiere, and supplied with all things con« venient for their return into France. These are to inform the World, that the thing is altogether a great mistake, it being about eight months since that misfortune happened ; and that the said Sir John Lainiere was then in England, and not any ways instrumental either to saving the men from shipwreck, clothing them, or supplying them with any necessaries for their return. The person then resident, and commanding there, was Sir Herbert Lai/srjbrd, who used all his charitable endeavours (with the assistance of the Bailiffj and some of the better sort of the Islaitd), not only to save the men, but clothe and supply them with money and conveniences for their return. " The French King, being rightly informed of the accident by a messenger sent thither on pur- pose, sent his picture set with diamonds, valued at 1000/. sterling and upwards, designed as a reward for that particular service Sir Herbert Langford had then done ; but the messenger re- taining it three months and more within seven leagues of Jersey, after order was given for the speedy delivery thereof, the Governor, arriving two 89 two days before the messenger came into the Island, took the present as due to himself; and, having ^iven the bearer a view of his Majesty's two Castles, returned within ten days after his arrival there, gratified with a horse of an incon- siderable value." FRATERNAL DUEL, AND SUICIDE. It i& singular that many fatal duels have been fought by persons who had entertained a sincere friendship for each other previous to some silly dispute, which a few days reflection nmst have terminated by mutual forgiveness and explanation, had not the sword or the pistol been preferred to less injurious arbitrators. Shocking, indeed, are rencontres of this description ; but they are inno- cent, compared to an inhuman affair which oc- curred at Paris in May l6So. Two brothers, who were joint inheritors of their father's pro- perty, quarrelled in dividing it, and became so furious in their dissention, tliat they had imme- diate recourse to their swords. Equally skilful and sanguinary, the points of each entered tiie breast of the other at the same instant : one died on the spot, and the other survived only two hours. Their mother, seized with sudden frenzy, flew to the top of her house, wlience she preci- pitated herself into the street, and v^as dashed to pieces. CELEBRATION 90 CELEBRATION OF THE KINti S BIRTH-DAY AT EDINBURGH, l()80. As the antient form of doing honour to the natal day of the Monarch in the capital of Scot- land differs essentially from the modern in the Metropolis of the United Kingdom, it is intro- duced from the London Gazette as worthy of notice. " Edinburgh, May 29. This being his Ma^ jjssty's birth-day, fifty old men, all in new blue gowns (to each of whom was given 50^.) went from the Abbey to the great Church, to assist at the public devotions : which being ended (our Dean having preached), the trained bands of the City drew up about the Cross, which was adorned with orange and lemon-trees, variety of flowers, &c. whither came the Lord Provost, Bailifl^s, and Council, in their formalities, and having drank their Majesty's and their Royal Highnesses healths, distributed the oranges and lemons, with variety ©f sweetmeats, among the people; the Cross running!; at the same time with claret at eight se- veral conduits, and the great guns from the Castle being several times discharged, amidst the vollies of the trained bands, and the acclamations ,cf the people, the night concluding with bon- fires, ringing of bells, &c." MRS. 91 MRS. CELLIER AND THE GOVERNMENT, From the first dawning of the hberty of the press, Printers might be mentioned who have endeavoured to render it disgusting to the real Patriot. The prhHcations of those persons are generally marked by effrontery and unqualified assertion, rather than manly discussion tempered with firmness and sound argument. To expose the impudent railer at all Governors, and sup- port the genuine patriotic Author and Printer, should be the favourite object of those who make politics their study. Mrs. Cellier was of the former class ; and, as she deserves notice both as a female Champion of Liberty and an Authoress, we shall honour her with our exclusive pre- ference by letting her speak for herself. After ob- serving that she was cited before the Privy Council to answer for some of her works, where she boxed the ears of a Quaker, who was sum- moned as a witness against her ; she addressed " A Postscript to the Impartial Readers. " On Monday, the l6th of this instant, the sheet F was taken in the press, and myself and the Printer brought by Messengers before Mr. Se- cretary Jenkins ; and he caused us to give bonds and security to appear before the Lords of the Council, and in the mean time not to print any further. « art 92 " On Wednesday, the l8th, 1 appeared before their Lordships, and testified the truth of what I had written, saying, / published if because I would come again before their Lordships ; and did then accuse Sir WiUiam Waller, Mansel, Dangerfield, and their confederates, of High Treason, for endeavouring to raise a Rebellion, and for conspiring against the life of his Royal Highness ; and proffered to make good my charge, by the testimony of persons of honour, persons of middle quality, and unspotted repu- tation, and by some of their own companions. And their Lordships were pleased to promise that we should be heard. '* Thursday the 19th. According to their Lrordships' order, I came to Mr. Gwin, the Clerk then in waiting, to give security for my good be- haviour, and to appear at the King's-bench bar the first day of the next term ; and, though se- veral good house- keepers proffered themselves, he would accept of none but such as himself knew, whieli though it was very difficult for me to ob- tain, I was forced to do it. After security given, he would not let me depart till I had paid %L 2s, 6d. ; and, though I told him that two Justices of the Peace expected me at that hour, to ^o with them to take the examination of a pa-son that then lay sich, and degired him to let me go, and 1 would send the money to him as soon as I came home ; yet he commanded Otterbup 93 Otterbiiry the Messenger to taJie 7ne Info custody till I paid it ; and I was forced to stay till I sent home for money, and, by these delays, lost the opportunity of meeting the gentleman, and (X)uld not'examine the party that day ; and the 7iext he ivas taken speechless ^ as he still continues. By this means, I lost a most material witness ; yet doubt not but to make good my charge, if the rest may be heard. ^ " I hope the readers have not forgotten, that, after it had been proved before the Lords of the Council, that Dangerfield stood in the Pillory at Salisbury ; yet, upon his single evidence^ the Countess of Powis, the Earl of Castlemain, and other persons of considerable quality, were com- mitted^ and I was confined two and twenty weeks, and after that tried for my life June 1 1. But, though treasonable practices have been sworn against Dangerfield, by Justice Forster, Justice Hervey, Mr. Thomas Hill, and myself, yet the gentleman walks abroad undisturbed, and daily consults with his confederates how to act neiv villanies. " These things make me very sensible of the great ditficulties and discouragements I am like to meet with ; but I hope the G — of truth and Justice will protect me, and bring me through them all, and pluck oflf the veils, and discover both truth and frauds bare-faced. "And 94 '"' And whensoever his Majesty pleases to make it as safe and honourable to speak truth, as it is apparent it hath been gainful and meritorious to do the contrary, there will not want witnesses to testify the truth of more than I have written, and persons that are above being made The Hang- 7nans hounds for iveeMy pensions, or any other considerations whatever. " And though I have been two and twenty weeks cotifined, and two and thirty weeks a pri- soner, and my charge and losses much exceed a thousand pounds, I do not yet so much fear the smell of Newgate, as to be frighted for telling the truth ; nor is death so great a terror to me, but that I am still ready to seal the same with my blood. Elizabeth Cellier. "August the 2 1st, 1680." We shall bid adieu to this spirited lady, who despised the " smell of Newgate," by inserting a paragraph relating to her from the London Ga- zette of September l6. " September 13. This day Mrs. Cellier, who, we told you in our last, was convicted of having* published a most scandalous libel, received her sentence, which was to stand on the pillory at three several places, the said libels being at the same time to be burnt in her sight by the com- mon hangman ; to pay a fine of one thousand pounds ; to continue in prison till the same be paid; 9o paid ; and to give security for her good behaviour during her hfe." DESCRIPTION OF A COMET SEEN IN I68O. .The comet of 1807 is fresh in the recollecti n of the pubUc ; but it was unfortunately so small, or so distant, that the Philosopher and Astro- nomer were equally disappointed in their in- tended observations and conjectures. The fol- lowing letter, written in 1680, and published immediately after, is probably almost unknown, and will afford the reader an opportunity of com- paring the knowledge of that period with the present on the subject of Comets. " Meeting with a relation of the blazing Siar, I find several particulars in it to be contrary to what it was here (at Derby), which some say cannot properly be called a blazing Star, be- cause no star appeared to belong to it. Here, I will assure you, I, with many hundreds besides, upon the lOth, 11th, not 12th, nor 13th, nor 14th instant, saw it in this following manner. " At its rising or appearance^ which was after sun-set, and about over the place where the sun sets about March in the west, or west-by-south, it appeared from one of the small stars in the Via lactea, with a small short stream or brush, no longer than that in lilGA. But, in about half an hour, it darted from the star to that pro- digious length, that it seemed almost to reach die 96 the medium Coeli at the ciiffs (which came slant-' ing down to the west from the northwards of the Heavens). It seemed not to be above two feet broad, and, at the nether end or basis of it, it was sharp as a dart, with the small star within the pile of the arrow (as I may term it); and about the middle of it, both as to height and breadth, was a very splendid star, which shone through the Comet's rays very gloriously, like other of the great Planets. About seven, the small basis star set, and after that the Comet ap- peared like an inverted pillar, the smaller end beinff still lowest. " It was after eight before the bright star set, the Comet still keeping its breadth at the upper end ; and, when it quite took' its leave, its rays were yet visible, darting them up into the firma- ment, as the sun doth when it sets, which make me and many others conclude, that when it went below our horizon, it did not disappear, but then began to appear to the westward. It is reported a Comet was s^een hard bv here in form of a wheel, of an extraordinary swift motion ; but, because I did not see it, I will give no account of it; only at present subscribe myself your well- wisher and Protestant friend, " John Rosell/' The various accounts of the situation and movements of the late Cornet, which have ap- peared in the News-papers, are divested of every absurd 97 absurd and imaginary embellishment, and bear the character of learned and attentive observa- tion. How different the above, from a similar source! Mr. Rosell confounds Stars and the Comet together, and was so simple as to imagine the Comet darted at once to a prodigious length, •when in truth the absence of the rays of the Sun alone performed the miracle. These remarks must, however, be understood to apply only to the general or public opinion of 1680. The Au- thor of Nature had produced a Newton, who, at that very sera, employed his nights in eagerly watching this Comet, from which he obtained such results, as enabled him to predict the period of the return of those planets to as great a degree of certainty as their known eccentricity will permit. Now we are on this onoe-supposed fearful sub- ject, it may be worth while to shew how the Comet operated on the weak minds of some of the iiiJiabitants of the Continent. Infor- mation from Wells in Austria, dated December 27, says, '- Yesterday the Lord Philip Oswaldus, Baron of Othsenstein, and Mathematician to his Imperial Majesty, took an observation of the Comet, and found it to be in the 3 degrees 4 minutes of Aquary, with south latitude 1 degree 43 minutes. Its tail very long, extending to the Constellation of the Swan. It signifies, accord- ing to the opinion of our best Astrologers, scarcity H of 98 of the fruits of the Earth, whence they conceive a famine may ensue, as also mighty wars, and great mortahty. The French Astronomers, by letters from Paris of the same date, tell us, that it presages some grand war, or the death of a great Prince of Europe. At Hamburgh the Pror fessor of the Mathematics, on the 3d of January, stilo novOy likewise observed it with a tuhe^ through which the Star itself appears fierce and glowing like the fire in a baker's oven : the gleam or blaze 68 or 70 degrees in longitude, which, allowing 60 miles to each degree (as is usually computed on earth), make 4270 miles ; but then, considering how much that measure is to be ex- tended, in so high a situation in the Heavens, its length must needs be vastly more." Terror created numerous Prophets and pro- phecies, but not one of the Soothsayers appear to have foreseen that the Comet would produce an egg ; yet such was the fact : and now for my au- thority. " Rome. We have many nights been sur- prized with the sight of that prodigious blazing phenomenon in the Heavens. But that which more amazes us, is, that since its appearance, a hen, in the house of Seignior Massimi de Cam- pidoglio, in this city, laid an eg^, in which there is very conspicuously seen the perfect figure of this Comet, the inward part of the egg being very clear, and the shell transparent. In the greater Wi'fidt'ir!// Etjtj. ^ Iri/ii-iit t'i>(ir/i . Ft/bti^heii In- I.,'nomitn K'tyiSn, 99 greater end is the Star, whence a blaze or lu- minous beam shines very bright to the other end. It was first taken notice of by a servant of the said Massimij who, with wonder, shewed it to his "master; and it hath since been carried to be viewed by the Pope, who, as wise and infallible as he is, knows not what to make of it. The Queen of Sweden, and most of the Grandees of Rome, have likewise beheld it with admiration, and have ordered it to be carefully reposited, where it administers not a little matter of specu- lation to our Philosophers *." " The Loyal Protestant" gave further parti- culars of this wonderful story in the following words ; to which the Editor added a sketch of the egg. *^ Rome, March 6, iGSl. There did appear here, about the middle of December last, a strange and a wonderful Comet near the Caliptick, in the sign of Libra, and in the body of the Virgin. At the same time a prodigious egg was laid by a young pullet (which had never laid be- fore), with a perfect Comet in it, and as many Stars and in the same form as the inclosed fio-ure shews. All the great ones of Rome have seen it, even the Queen and the Pope. What you see in the inclosed paper is within the egg most •clearly expressed, and not upon the shell. The * True Protestant Mercury. H 3 Roman 100 Roman wits are now very busy guessing at what this Comet and Egg may portend ! " The true form of a prodigious Egg brought forth at Rome the llth of December last, in the year l6So, in which the Comet here printed does continue to ajjpear. " The aforesaid llth of December, about eight of the clock in the morning, a hen-chicken, with a great noise, crying extraordinarily, that never had laid an egg before this day, brought forth an egg of an extraordinary greatness, with all these several forms as you see here expressed, to the great amazement of all those that have seen it. *' This is an exact draught of the egg as it wa? printed in Italy; but all persons are left to their own choice, whether they will believe either this or any of our own late home-bred miracles or visions." TOM OF CHRIST-CHURCH, OXFORD. This enormous bell is well known to the nu- merous Graduates of the University now scattered throughout the Country. Full oft has its deep- commanding note j)ervaded the recesses of re- laxation and pleasure, and been the means of suddenly checking the vociferations of mirth, the operations of mischief, and ending the social converse of friends for the night. Tom is noticed in the True Domestic Intelligence of April 13, 1680, thus. *' From Oxford we are informed, that. 101 that, upon the 8th instant, the great bell, com- monly called Tom of Christ-church, and which consists of 22,000 weight, after three fruitless trials before, at the expence of 8oo/. to the College, was at last cast with success. All the bells of the steeple immediately rung for joy at the birth of tlieir elder brother. " The reason why this bell is of so great mag- nitude and weight, is, because, by the Statutes of the University, it is to call all scholars to their colleges, and town's-people to their own dwell- ing-houses, at nine of clock every night ; and Christ-church being at one end of the town upon a low ground, and not having the advantage of a rising situation, it was otherwise impossible it should serve for the ends or use it was designed for, unless the note of it was enlarged by the compass and weight of the bell." IMPROVEMENT IN MANNERS VISCOUNT STAFFORD. The second number of the True Protestant Mercury, sold by Langley Curtiss on Ludgate- hill, lG8o, contains an article which forcibly de- monstrates the low and inhuman violence of party prevailing at that confused and unsettled time. The editors of modern Newspapers dare not pub- lish a similar recital of the execution of an Aber- shaw or a Despard at the peril of their sale ; neither are they capable of such feeling as must have 1Q2 have prompted the writer of the brutal paragraph alluded to. " London. On the 29th of December, the grand Popish traitor, IViUiam Howard, laborer (for that we are told was all his title, or addition in the writ for his execution), late f^iscoiint Staf- ford, was beheaded on Tower-hill. Concerning the manner of his suffering, an account having been already given in print, we need not enlarge (for we would not nauseate the reader this good time with cold pye). But this is certain, that the very speech which he read on the scaffold was printed, or at the press, a day or two before; which is evident, he suffering at nigh twelve o'clock. Within two hours, several reams there- of, in two sheet books, were published. And so little was the prisoner acquainted or affected with the same, that he could scarce read it himself, and made mistakes, &c. ; and, by the character, it is believed, that the very paper he read was a woman's hand-writing. Besides, the prisoner appeared as one dozed with spirits or opium. And a small acquaintance with the Papists' prhh- ciples and practices may sufficiently interpret both the contrivance and design of that prescribed oration, which he, poor man, was, no doubt, on pain of damnation (threatened by his Ghostly fathers), enjoined to repeat." True Protestant bluntness never appeared with more daring front than towards the commence- ment 103 ment of the reign of James II. That weak Prince might have read his fate, and that of his Rehgion in England, in almost every daily pub- lication before he ascended the throne. He erred with his eyes open, and deserved no compassion. A paragraph from one of those publications will serve as a specimen of hundreds. " Rome, December 28, l68o. On Christmas eve, the Pope and Cardinals assembled in the Chapel of Sixtus, at the Vatican, and mumbled over their Vespers, or Evening Prayers ; then marched back to his Un-Holiness's own apart- ment, where Cardinal Cibo gave a collation to all those who would stay and assist at the Midnight Mass ; which blasphemous idolatry was acted by Cardinal Ludovisio, and the Pope himself played the fool and the knave, as he is wont to do, in blessing and consecrating an hat and a sword, which are to be sent, forsooth, to Princes tliat will fight with Infidels and Hereticks." One of the miserable eflfects of bigotry, into- lerance, and religious rage, proceeding from sti- mulants similar to the consecrated swords, was the murder of M. Ciode, which is thus noticed in the publication whence this article originated. " Brussels, January 14, l68l. The lady and children of the late Viscount StaflTord (executed for treason in England), are daily expected here, and that they will take up their ordinary resi- dence at Ghent. It is said the Jesuits have blown them . 104 them up to that height of vanity, that they re- fuse to wear any mourning for him, declaring pubHdy, that they ought not to do it, because he died a Martyr. " But let them thus gild over horrid treasons ; from Paris, by several letters, we hear of a de- plorable Martyrdom indeed. The tragedy of the Rev. Clode, a most learned and laborious Pro- testant Minister, a man of extraordinary elo- quence, and exemplary conversation ; who walk- ing forth accidentally, before he was aware, met the Popish Host (or breden G — ) carrying in procession, and having no way to avoid it, and not daring, out of conscience, to pay any worship unto that Idol, by uncovering his head, &c. the wicked rabble fell upon him with cudgels and stones, and beat out his brains. It is said, he formerly escaped the same danger very narrowly ; for meeting the Host, and the people beginning to take notice that he did not pay reverence to it, a Priest that had respect for his great parts, civilly plucked off his hat to him ; in return of which compliment, Monsieur de Clode plucked off his hat to him again : which the crowd ima- gining to be done in reference to their Idol, were for that time pacified." Methods were taken by the prosecutors of Viscount Stafford to counteract their Jesuitical opponents both abroad and at home ; some of those were perfectly justifiable^ others were despicable. 105 ' ^ despicable. If the Jesuits taught the Romaa Catholics to revere Stafford as a Martyr for their rehgion, the Protestants turned the Reverend fathers and his shade into ridicule in the following *' Sober l^i^dlogue betwixt William Howard, late Viscount Statlbrd, and the Loids in the Tower,'* which production c^^rtainly cannot be ranked in the justifiable class for obvious reasons. " St. My Lords, I am come to visit you again ; you may wonder I am come to you with- out ray head. Be not affrighted, for the reason is plain : I spoke without my own head when I was alive, and now I am resolved to speak with- out my own head after I am dead. *' Ar. And how go affairs in those parts where you have been ? " St. By my No-head, not very well. *' Ar. How so? *' St. Why, when I came into Hell, I found there was a great reception prepared for me ; and all the Popes and Cardinals that ever were in the world were drawn up in files for me to pass through. *' Pet. So, and what followed ? *^ St. Why, so I went forward, and passed through, and expected a great treatment by the preparations that I perceived at my apartment. So that I was considering wliether my head were right set on or no ; knowing that if that part of my windpipe above did not answer to that below, the 106 the pleasure of tasting and swallowing would be very much inconvenienced. But to put me be- side that curiosity, I had no sooner received the visits of about four or live of the most eminent Popes and Cardinals in those quarters, but I was sent for to appear before the grand Beizebub him- self. Being come into his presence, the dusky Emperor demanded of me. What had brought me thither ? I answered him. That I was brought thither by the commission of G — , as if I had been in a plot. In a plot, quoth the Devil ! Against whom ? Against my Prince, said I. With that the Devil presently asked me for se- curity for my good behaviour. For, said he, plotters are the very worst of men ; we will say that for ourselves, and a fig for ourselves, we that are Devils never plot one against another. Hell has a very bad opinion of plotters ; and therefore, said he again, find me security for your good behaviour. *' Bel. And what did you then do, my Lord ? " St. Why, truly, my Lord, I was got pretty sober by that time, and thought to have sent for the five Jesuits ; but then, thought I again, they are in Heaven, so that I was at a very great stand. And, to tell ye the truth, my Lords, had I known I should not have been in Heaven too, I should hardly have done what I did. " Po. Why, my Lord, I believe you did come from Heaven, for you smell nothing of brimstone. "St. 107 *' St. Look you now, you will persuade me out of my senses now, as ye did wlien I was alive ; no, no, my Lords, I am not in Heaven, I am in Hell when I am at my new home ; and I must tell ye, my Lords, I am not a little angry. With that they all turned colour, expectinoj some spiritual attack from the apparition : it being the common received opinion, that a man without flesh and bones is stronger than a man with flesh and bones, as we find by the strength of the wind, the force of which no corporeal substance is able to withstand. But the shadow protesting upon his honour, that he would not be guilty of any violence towards them, they resumed their wonted courage ; and so the Spirit went on. " St. I say, my Lords, I am not a little angry that you should put me to read a made speech half-seas-over, more for your own ends than my advantage. " Po. Was it not as much for your advantage as ours? " St. No; for, had it not been for you, I could have played my game better, and I might have smoked many a pipe, and drank off many a glass more in yours, or else in as good or better company. " Po. Oh, Sir, you do not consider all this while, that the way of dying as you did, sj^ared you the charges of an expensive funeral; and where could your body have been safer laid than close 108 close by the Communion table in the Tower Chapel ? " St. I come not here to complain of the dis- posal of my body ; I am too late sensible, that it is too late to think of it : but I am come to complain of the breach of your assurances in re- ference to this part that here appears before you. " Ay. Sir, it is impossible but you must be secure in all that was promised you. " St. That is not so ; for I was promised the immediate possession of Heaven ; and I am quite in a contrary place. *' Pet. How does your Lordship know that ? It seems you are no close prisoner yet. *' St. That is nothing to the purpose ; I know it well enough. I did but ask for the Virgin Mary, and I had like to have had my brains beaten out. " Ar. Did you ask for the five Holy Jesuits ? " St. Yes ; and they told me they were there; but I could not speak with them. " Ar. Then, I will warrant your Lordship, you mistake the place. " St. I tell ye I do not ; it is as dark as pitch ; and we only see as cats do, by a new operation of the sight. *' Po. How came ye hither, then ? *' St. Why, I claimed my privilege, as I was a Papist; telling the Grand Seignior of the Shades^ that 109 that if Apparitions ceased, all the old women of our Religion would be converted from one of the chief articles of our Church. I thought I had done well, because you made me read that I was not ashamed of my Religion. But I find that the Devil has no great kindness for those of our Religion; and the reason is, because that when- ever he has a mind to take a frolick in the world, and to possess either man or woman, we do so per- secute him with our exorcisms, so beslabber him with our holy water, that he can never be quiet at his recreations. To tell you the plain truth, I liad as lieve be hanged as to return thither again ; for I have a deadly fear upon me of being called to another bar, and of receiving another sentence far worse than what I have received already. Where is that Lord and Priest that cajoled me with so many fine stories ? Oh, here he comes. My Lord, what did you tell me, if I should confess ? " Cas. That you should be eternally d d. '' St. What, if I should not confess ? " Cas. That you should be eternally happy. " St. My Lord, I did not confess. You are a Priest and a person of honour ; I expect you should make your words good. " Ar. My Lord, we have done all that lay in our power ; we have sent your Lordship's picture to Rome ; we have petitioned for a Saintship for you 110 you the next that falls ; and therefore pray, my Lord, have patience a little while. '* St. All this will signify nothing, unless this good man, by his prayers, will speedily get me a Habeas Corpus to remove me into another place, I have pawned all my salvation to purchase this short liberty ; how the Devil will value it I knovir not ; but, if it should once chance to be attached and condemned in his Court, what a case shall I be in ! Pray, good my Lord Priest, consider my condition. " Cas. Why, Sir, did not you receive abso- lution for all the sins of your youth, and for all the sins of your old age, and for all the false pro- testations which you were ordered to own upon the scaffold ? «St. Yes. *' Cas. What need have you then to fear ? Assure yourself, the Pope's power is above the Devil's ; nay, I may say his power is so great in Heaven itself, that if we cannot get you out of the Devil's clutches by fair means, we will do it by foul. " St. Look ye, father, you shall see that I will be reasonable: where is that place called Fools Paradise? Help me but thither, any where but where I am going to return. If there be any such place, I say help me thither, for I have been fooled out of my life egregiously. « Cas. Ill *' Cas. That could not be; you were only de- sired to withdraw for the general good of tlie cause, *' St. Why then, if it be so good a cause, pray will you make all the haste you can, and with- draw after me? " Cas, I would be one of the first, I assure your Lordship ; but that I stay for the good of your soul ; and 1 assure you, in a short time, to make Heil too hot to iiold ye, " St. Truly, father, I find that I have been so infinitely deluded hitherto, that I know not what to sav. I find, that if I had been but master of my ov/n reason, I might have been master still of my own head; and therefore I must put ye a little closer to it. Is there no way in the world to avoid returning from whence I came ? Have you never an old piece of Joseph's rusty axe ? Never a little bit of the very cross ? Never a rag of the Virgin's under-petticoat? These are things, they say, that will put the Devil into an agony, and make him condescend to any thing you would have him do. Or else, what think you of a little cruse of holy-water to carry with me to l)esprinkle the Devil should he come toward me with his toasting-iron? " Cas. Renowned Ghost ! be contented ; thou hast highly merited of all the Saints that ever >vere and ever will be ; and therefore the gates of Hell shall not prevail against thee, "St 113 " St. Why this is something, indeed ; for here is a parcel of cold comfort, but I fear me not enough to mitigate one wamble of the great lake ; give me some more of it. Tell me how ye drew me in ; how ye deluded my devotion ; how ye cheated my conscience ; how ye bridled my con- fession ; how ye pampered my ignorance ; how ye charmed my reason and my senses ; how ye fooled me with promises ; and sent me to the scaffold to die like an oaf. All this cold comfort^ put together, may serve me awhile to lay upoa my tongue in the rich man's condition. " As he was going on, the cocks began to crow ; which being the sunmions for nocturnal appa- ritions to depart, the criminal sliade prepared to take his leave ; upon which, one of the company, observing the rule of drinking to the going person, began the Pope's health, being now en- tered into another rule and method of living, only thanked him for his kindness, and so imme- diately vanished." ANOTHER SPECTRE. Benjamin Harris, the retailer of many a won- der, says, January 28, l€8o, " From Leominster, in Herefordshire, they write, that, on the 20th past, a gentleman coming to lodge in a house in that place, and going to bed between one and two of the clock in the morning, he heard a great noise in the chamber where he laid, as if some doleful 113 doleful voice called ; at which, somewhat af- frighted, he starts up to see or hear what it might be that caused it ; when, straight before his eyes, appeared the figure of a man, of dreadful coun- tenance, with a dagger or knife in his breast, which so amazed the ge'ntleman, that he knew not what to think ; when as the spirit bid him not to fear, for he would not injure him ; but, having been murdered in the house about twelve years since, he could not rest until the murder was made known : farther adding, that, in such a place in the cellar, his body lay buried ; and thereupon vanished, leaving the gentleman in great confusion ; but, notwithstanding, he took heart, and went to bed : from whence rising the next morning, he acquainted the master of the house with what he had seen and heard ; who, upon discovery of the place, gave order to dig^ where, about the depth of five feet, they found the bones of a man ; but the people who lived formerly in the house being dead, they could not detect them for the murder." It would be wrong to disturb the shade of Mr. Harris, by doubting and arguing against the perfect credibility of this well-contrived story. " A FIERY BULLET," oUaS METEOR, SEEN AT ROSTOCK. The inhabitants of England were recently fa- voured with the transient sight of a most splendid I and 114 and beautiful Meteor ; but those of Silesia were astonished and confounded in l681 by the mo- mentary view of d^Jieri^ bullet, which they de- scribed as follows, and in a manner full as igno- rant and absurd as their English contemporaries ever demonstrated in the description of their own prodigie*. ** There have, of late, several prodigies been seen, not only in England, but divers other parts of the World, as particularly from Rostock in Silesia, the i/th past (December), we have this advice ; that the Comet which hath been seen there hath much amazed them ; but the most strange circumstance is, that 2. Jiery bullet fell from the firmament. The same evening the Heavens in the East seemed to be ruffled up like a slueet of paper ; at which time a white glittering bullet appeared, which seemed to 3'ield several drops of water, and, as we could perceive, ex- tended itself towards the North-east, and at last fell down at one of our gates ; after which ap- peared two great flashes of lightning, but pale, and not so fiery as when it thunders. We asked the Centinel who stood at the gate, whether he saw the bullet fall or not? He said, he saw it pass towards a Village called Tetanet. From whence the Minister of the said place gives us advice, that he saw it pass by the Village towards the North-west; and those which live three or four miles from the said Village do inform us with 115 with one consent, that the said bullet shined clearer into their houses than the lights they burned.'* A SPECIMEN OF THE RIDICULOUS. " Lost, January 24, 1680, a black-flowered lutestring mantovve gown, betwixt six and nine at night, between the Savoy and York-garden and Long Acre. The marks being as followeth, viz. made of a gown skirt, the hind-breach-piece a crost fast bound with a six-penny ribon. Who- ever hath found it, bring it to Helmet-court, over against Somerset-house, for Mr. Antrobus, and they shall have twenty shillings reward ; and will much oblige the loser, because it will be a great damage to him if he have it not ; or, if it be pawned or sold, he will willingly pay the charge *." THE MAID OF HATFIELD. This impudent Impostor, the agent of some Quack politicians, contrived to excite public at- tention and the horrors in the year l^SS. Had fehe practised her stupid inventions under certain governments which might be named, her fate would have appeared plain enough to her view and contemplation without the aid of one of her familiars. The facetious Monarch, whawas the * The Protestant Domestic latelligence, I 2 object 116 « object of the contrivance, treated Miss Freeman with a degree of coohiess and contempt that did him honour, and completely disappointed her employers, " We have a relation of one Elizabeth Freeman, aged about twenty-one years, living at Bishops Hatfield, in the county of Hertford, taken before Sir Joseph Jorden, Knt, and Richard Lee, D. D. and Rector of Hatfield. The substance of the account w^hich she gave is as followeth : That, on Monday night, being Januarj'- the twenty-fourth, she sitting by her mother's fire-side, between five and six o'clock in the evening, with a child in her lap, she heard a voice behind her, which mildly said, ' Siveef heart F Whereupon she, turning her face back, saw an appearance of a woman, as she conceived, all in white, covered with a white veil, so that she saw no face ; but a very white hand was laid on the back of her chair, and said to her, ^ The fifteenth day of May it is appointed for the Royal blood to be poisoned ;' and further said, ' Be not afraid, for I am sent to tell thee ;' and so vanished. *' On Tuesday, January twenty-fifth, about the hour of five or six at night, she, going to her mother's house, coming near her door, the same apparition appeared to her again in white as be- fore, and said, ' Do you remember what I said ?* And she answered, ^ Yes.' And she further said^ ' In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 117 Holy Ghostj What art thou ?' And immediately it appeared in a very glorious shape ; and, with a more harsh voice, said, ' Tell King Charles, from me, and bid him not remove his Parliament, and stand to his Council ;' and said, ^ Do as I bid you.' To which she answered, * Yes ;* and so it vanished. " On January twenty-sixth, between the hours of five and six in the evening, she sitting by the fire, and her mother sitting by her, the same ap- parition came again to her, whereas she could not speak ; and her mother, perceiving her to be troubled, and fixing her eyes, said, ' Daughter, seest thou any thing ?' And she, not able to speak, nodded with her head and hand ; whereat her mother said, ' Shall I go out?' And thereupon, she being enabled to speak, the apparition nodded to her; she said ' Yes;' whereat her mother going out, the apparition said, * Do your mes- sage.' And she answered, ' I will, so soon as God shall enable me ;* and it said, ' Be not afraid ;' and so vanished. " The apparition appeared to the maid on Thursday in the evenhig, between the hours of five and six, she being at a neighbour's house, but said nothing to her. *' This was taken from the maid's own mouth, by Mr. Richard Wilkinson, School-master in the town of Hatfield, and several others of the inhabitants. '*0n 118 '' On the ninth of February, the Hatfield maid, accompanied by Sir Joseph Jorden, Dr. Lee, and Mr. Wilkinson (who were, at taking her first examination in the country), and her mother, and several other friends, attended the King and Cpuncil ; where his Majesty was pleased to ask her several questions, as also to hear her relation patiently ; after which, he was pleased to bid her * Go home, and to serve God, and she should see no move such visions^ or to that effect ; and so she was dismissed." Another contemporary observes, most sapi- ently, " This business is variously censured, but, must conclude it the transport of a melancholy imagination. There is likewise a noise of an earthquake near Oxbridge ; but we are sparing to credit Visions and Prodigies." ANTIENT SENSE OF NATIONAL HONOUR. " Brussels, January 28th. Yesterday here happened a great disturbance, caused by some French officers, who came hither (as they say) from Antwerp. They, being in a tavern, began to extol the greatness of their King, and to un- dervalue most of the neighbouring Princes, and more particularly the King of Spain, which so enraged some Spanish gentlemen present, that they challenged the French officers to the com- bat; the which being accepted; they being on both 119 both sides about twelve in number, went dowa into a stone court, and with their swords engaged one another very smartly, so that, ere they could be parted (though upon the brink of the encounter some hundreds of people came), there was one of the Frencii killed, and almost all the rest disarmed and wounded, but not without con- siderable mischief on the other side; which disorder has so incensed our Magistrates^ that as many of the combatants as were taken were immediately committed to prison, there to remain till the Prince is made sensible of the matter."^ IKVASION f ? Tlie British publick was amused and halj^ tetTJ/ied with one of the most impossible in- ventions for conveying a Gallic army to England during the last war that ever entered the imagi- nation of man. A raft, hundreds of feet in length, and hundreds in breadth, armed with batteries of cannon, surmounted by castles, and covered with tens of thousands of soldiers, was to float or sail, or be rowed across the straits of Dover, and then but this is not the fii^t contrivance for invasion. " Merciirms BlfronSy'* in his j>age of " Jocukw Intelligence,** says, " They write from Paris (in 1680) of a very new 120 new and great project, of four grand Jesuits, who have undertaken to bring into England the French King's great army dry-shod, without the help of ships or boats : and, for this intent, all the wines and brandy, which lie upon their hands since prohibited by the English, are or- dered to be brought to the sea-shore, and dis- posed all along from Brest to Calais ; and all the paper likewise is brought down from Rouen, and a ream placed by each hogshead. ^' Monsieur de Estrees is gone with his fleet to Brazil, to buy, or take by force, all their sugars; and, as soon as he returns, which is suddenly ex- pected, the aforesaid projectors have promised to do wonders." The prohibition of French articles, and the destruction of them after importation and seizure by Government, was a measure adopted before the time above-mentioned. Surely the present Ruler of France must have perused the old Act of Parliament, which commanded this silly method of suppressing the manufactures of our antient Rival ; at all events, he appears to have improved on the hint, by converting the produce of the sale of his confiscations of English commodities to the use of the State. It was excessive folly to destroy that which could not be sold by the Im- porter, and would have contributed to fill the Treasury. On 121 On the 29th of February 16S1, the Officers of the Custom-house, London, burnt French hnen, to the amount of 2000/. Silks and lace - - 2000 And of hats - - 1000 5000 Besides this wanton waste, several hundreds of hogsheads of French wines were staved in the same month. Such have been, and are, the frantic attempts of Nations to monopolize Com- merce, a pursuit which never prospers so well as when completely free from all restraint. RIVAL NEWSPAPERS. The readers of our diurnal publications are frequently entertained and instructed, by the splenetic observations of Editors contending for superiority, in their real or pretended devotion to the leading politicians of the time passing. Those vary in their tone according to the temper of the writer, and are sometimes rather gross, often witty, and sometimes very stupid ; but, let them take the following effusion issued by the Con- ductor of " The True Protestant Mercur}-,** March \6, iGSl, and endeavour to improve upon it. The example is antient, and evinces the spirit of Editorship to be equal to any hazard. " Whereas Thompson, in his lying Popish Intelligence, hath had the impudence to affirm, that 122 tlicit tiie passage in our Mercury of tiie ninth mstantj touching Mr. Macnaniara's endeavours to take Robert Pouer, a traitor, at the Oueen's- head Tavern, was a fiction : and thereupon makes an outcry against Curtiss the pubUsher hereof, sillily prating of an action of lOOO/. laid against him by Fitz Gerald, that keeps the said Tavern, and scandalously suggesting, as if the said Curtiss absconded for fear thereof: all which is utterly false.. It is thought fit, by Mr. Macnamara, to acquaint the world, that, though he did not cause that relation to be printed, yet the same is certain truth, according as published in the said Mercurj' : and the constable is ready to depose, that Fitz Gerald the Vintner denied the said traitor Pouer to be in his liouse, but said he was gone an liour before, when Macnamara asked for him, though lie was then above-stairs. " And no less true it is, that, when the said Vintner saw Macnamara too hard for his cousin Fitz Gerald, the pretended Captain, who drew his sword to rescue the traitor, he commanded feis drawer to hold him, which he did so violently fey the right hand, that the same is so strained, that he hath not, to this time, the use of it. And whereas Thompson vapours of that Vintner's feeing a Protestant, it is probable he may have taken the oaths, and go to church, as multi- tudes of them do ; but it is notorious, that none of his family are Protestants, but for tlie most part 123 part Priests and Friers, and he himself is an liar- bourer of Papists and Priests; as, for example, of one Milo Pouer: and whereas he pretends not to know Robert Pouer the traitor, it shall be proved, by several persons, that .he hath fre- quently resorted to his house, in company of other Papists, which is contrary to law, and his Majesty's proclamation, and against the pnn- ciples of any true Protestant. " Nor shall his cousin and he, and all the brood of them, be unaccountable for those pranks before the great Council ; as also this brazen li- beller, who, it seems, is set up on purpose to carry on and serve the turn of a Popish traitorous faction under the mask of a loyal Protestant ; for this is he who printed part of Mrs. Cellier's libel; as also a lewd libel lately called The Ghost of the late Parliament, and divers other most venomous Popish pamphlets, and particularly that dam- nable blasphemous sheet called The Presbyterian Pafer-noster, and is so notorious for such vile practices, that the late House of Commons, in their Address to his Majesty, of the 23d of De- cember, did take particular notice of him. ^' And what he now weekly vomits out is ge- nerally nothing but lies, scandals, and forgeries : he pretends letters from Ireland, when all the correspondence he keeps is more probable with the Priests and rogues in Newgate, as "you may conclude by his ridiculous story of Bradely there, who. 124 who^ dreading the approach of a Parliament, and having a shrewd antipathy to lianging, would, it seems, be very willingly carried into Ireland, and get the witnesses against him and the Earl of Tyrone thither, where the hellish Tories might knock them on the head, or use them as bar- barously as they did some of them already. '' But as to the scandal on Curtiss, as he laughs at their groundless bugbears, so he assures his friend Natt, that he shall quickly find the tables turned, and the thousand pound action w^ill as certainly as deservedly fall on his own back.'* ROYAL STATE BED STOLEN. '' The Protestant Oxford Intelligence" of March 1/, 1681, says, " On the 11th instant the Prince of Hanover's lodging in Whitehall was broke open, and a bed with gold fi'inge, and richly embroidered, was stolen thence, valued at three thousand pounds ; but, upon search, several parcels of the fringe, and other remarkable ap- purtenances, were found, and the persons, in whose custodies they were taken, carried before the Board of Green-cloth to be examined, in order to their commitment, who, as we hear, were sent to prison." This Prince of Hanover must have been William Prince of Orange, who came to England some time before, to espouse Mary, daughter of James Duke of York, and who afterwards made the 125 the following observations to Sir William Temple relating to Charles II. and his Ministers. " Was ever any thing so hot and so cold as this Court of yours ? Will the King, who is so often at sea, never learn the word that I shall never forget since my last passage, when, in a great storm, the Captain was crying out to the man at the helm all night — Steady ! steady ! steady r a female neck too tough for the executioner's axe. This wonderful lady, w^ho baffled the art of beheading, is thus noticed in an article dated from Stockholm, "March 5th, 1681. We are informed of a strange circumstance which hap- pened some days since near this city. A woman, who, for being married to two or more husbands, was condemned to be beheaded ; being prepared for death, and laying her head upon the block, the executioner gave the blow, but the axe re- bounded like a tennis-ball ; whereupon the con- demned party rose up, and complained of in- justice, and willed the executioner to desist, and alledged that she was free. Being re-conducted to prison, and visited, nothing appeared save only a small red stroke, and a little swelled, as we are informed by the Ministers of Justice of that place. The hatchet was sent for hither, and is as sharp as a razor ; the swelling is now over; 126 over ; and many are of opinion that there is some cunning artifice in it." The contriver of the above story would meet with encouragement, were he now Hving. His talents at a Hoax are indisputable. RECEPTION OF CHARLES II. AT OXFORD, I68I. *' March 14- Upon notice given that the King was near Oxford, the Mayor, Aldermen, thirteen Bailiffs, Common Council, and others of the House, to the number of seventy, proceeded on horseback from the Guildhall to the East gate of the City, where, by that time, they had put themselves in order to march before his Majesty, his Majesty entered the gate. To him drew up the Mayor and Recorder (then newly alighted), both which kneeling by the coach-side, the said Recorder (or City-mouth) very smoothly spoke the following English speech to welcome their Majesties to the place. '' Most Gracious Sovereijj^n, '' I have read in the Roman history, that Ma- rias was wont to say, that he that durst speak to Caesar, was ignorant of his greatness : and he that durst not speak to him, was ignorant of his goodness. Of the latter whereof we, and all your people, have had so large experience, that I am emboldened to beg the stay of the wheels of your chariot for some few minutes ; and that I may find 127 find so umch favour in the sight of my Lord the King, as to speak a few words in the name of the Loyal Citizens of this place, which is but to let your Majesty understand the infinite joy and gladness wherewith their hearts are filled, in be- holding the Royal presence of yourself and our most gTacious Oueen in this place. I say, to be- liold you, after so many wicked designs of bloody and unreasonable men against your Royal person, and die many and signal deliverances of yon from them (for which the name of God be praised), here, at this time, in the heart of your Dominions, reigning in glory and safety, is a joy so unspeakable to all true English hearts, that if I had an hundred tongues I could not be able to express it. " And that you should, at this time, make this City the Royal Chamber and place of the reception of your Parliament, is a grace and favour ever by us to be recorded in the Register of time and fame. " And we hope that it may prove as auspicious to your Majesty for that purpose as, any other place whatsoever, notwithstanding any surmises tliat have been made to the contrary, since there has been famous and good Parliaments held here, as might be proved by our antient records and histories, if there were time to do it. Hut, Great Sir, we must not presume to be too tedious in sq great a presence, es})ecially after your long and tedious 128 tedious progress this day ; and therefore I shall presume to say Uttle more ; but, for all the good you have done us, what can we render to you again ? Aristotle saith, we can never render equal things to God and our parents. You are the blessed Father of our Country ; and, under the shadow of your Royal protection, we do enjoy all our rights, both religious and civil, and con- fess that our obligations are greater than our ac- knowledgements can be ; yet, such as they are, we beseech your gracious acceptance of them. We have also one present more to make to your Majesty, which is our j^rayers devoted to your service ; and we prostrate all the ensigns of au- thority, which we hold under you, at your feet, and shall become daily votaries to Heaven, That our Gracious Soverei":n Lord, Kino* Charles the Second, may long and haj)pily reign over us, and may always be a terror to his foes, and to all his good and loyal people a tower of defence ; and l^t all good people say. Amen." Which being concluded, the Mayor surren- dered up the Gcstamen of his authority ; which, being graciously returned (and thereupon a rich pair of gloves was delivered to his INIajesty, and another to the Oueen), he mounted ; and all the company being in order, the Constables (in num- ber eighteen), went first, with their j)ainted and gilt staves erected ; then the four Serjeants at Mace ; then sixty of the Common Council, and of the House, 129 House in black gowns; Bailiffs, and such that had been Bailiff's, thirteen ; and Aldermen, to the number of about thirty, in scarlet ; then the Recorder and his Deputy in black gowns ; and, last of all, immediately before the King's coach, tlie Mayor, John Bowel, Esq. with his rich mace on his shoulder. " After the Ring's coach, life-guard, and other coaches of his retinue, marched Mountague Lord Norris, Lord Lieutenant, with the loyal gentry of the County ; and after him Sir Thomas Spencer, Baronet, at the head of one militia-troop, and Captain Henry Bertie, the Lord Lieutenant's brother, at the head of another. In this order they passed to Carfax the Market-place, and thence down the South Street to Christ- church, where their Majesties intend to lodge during their abode in this city. " But that which is most to be noted, is, that the way the King passed were such shoutings, acclamations, and ringing of bells, made by the loyal hearts and smart lads of the laity of Oxford, that to those at a distance it seemed thunder. The general cry was. Long live King Charles ; and many, drawing up to the very coach-window, cried. Let the King live ; and the Devil hang up all Round-heads; at which his Majesty smiled, and seemed well pleased. " At the King's coming into the most spacious quadrangle of Christ-church, what by the shouts, K and 130 and melodious ringing of the ten stately bells there, the College sounded, and the buildings did learn from its scholars to echo forth his Ma- jesty's welcome. Had you been here, you might have heard them ring again and again, Welcome, thrice ivelcome, Charles the Great. After nine at night were bonfires made in several streets, where were only wanting Rumps and Crop-ears to make the flames burn merrily ; and at some were tables of refection erected by our bonny youths, who, being even mad with joy, made all that passed by carouse on their knees a health to their beloved Charles. "March 15. Between ten and eleven went from St. Mary's Church to the King's apartment in Christ Church, the Vergers, Yeomen, and Squire Beadles of the University, with their silver and silver-gilt staves erected ; after theni followed the ^^ice Chancellor, who is Deputy to the illustrious Prince James Duke of Ormond, Chancellor of this University ; after him followjed forty Doctors, in their scarlet habits (most of them in velvet caps), among whom was the Ho- nourable Sir Lionel Jenkins, principal Secretary of State ; after them came the Proctors, with their hveries behind them. All these, with some Masters of Art, being admitted into His Ma- jesty's Presence-chamber, the public Orator wel- comed him, in the name of the University, with a Latin speech ; that done, he directed himself to 131 to the Queen, and, entertaining her with one in EngUsh, their Majesties were most graciously pleased to admit all the company to the kissing of their hands. ''March 17th. Early in the morning his Majesty left this place, and went to Burford, fourteen miles distant, at whose approach there, the Bailiff and other Members of the Borough met him, with their maces before them ; and, after their congratulations, presented to him a very rich saddle ; afterwards (taking a short re- past in Sir John Lenthall's house there) he went to the horse-race on the plain adjoining, where were beheld more nobility and gentry than ever were on Newmarket-heath. At night he went to Cornbury, to the house of the Earl of Cla- rendon, where he supped and lodged that night. Next day he returned to Oxford about four in the afternoon." The cause of this Royal visit to Oxford was .the sitting of Parliament there *. PRETENDED GHOSTS. Of all the attempts at what is termed practical wit, that is most contemptible and injurious which trifles w ith the fears or superstition of weak persons ; indeed, there are moments when people of great strength of mind and undoubted courage * Loyal Protestant. K 2 may 132 may be taken by surprize, and terrified into illness and perhaps the deprivation of some of their faculties. The assumption of a supernatural character has often proved fatal sport, sometimes to the witling who undertakes it. In a late instance, near Hammersmith, a person yet lives who must ever feel the deepest horror in re- flecting that his folly produced the death of aa jinnocent man, and the trial for his life of another. Let that dreadful fact, and the following, serve as warnings to prevent similar acts of insanity. " A leather-dresser s wife in Barnaby-street dying lately, an apprentice of the house one evening dressed himself in the usual apparel of his deceased Mistress ; and, placing himself in a chair where she was wont to sit, waited the maid's coming, intending only to make sport with her. But no sooner she entered the room, but she was so surprized and aftVighted (conceiving it her Mistress's Ghost), that she fell down dead for the present ; and though recovered to life^ remains as one distracted : but it is hoped, by advice of able Physicians, she may be restored to health. " However, this ought to be a warning to un- advised youth, not to attempt such dangerous frolics, since they know not but the consequence may be irreparable *." * True Protestant Mercuiy, 1681, THE 133 THE DISAPPOINTED SUICIDE. Langley Curtiss, who has furnished the Com» piler of these Anecdotes with several materials, risked his credit by printing the paragraph which follows in his publication of March 23d, 1681. " A remarkable accident happened lately in Salisbury Court in Fleet-street, which, out of respect to art, may not be unlit to be related. A person that formerly lived handsomely, being decayed, and consequently despairing, some time since, in a frosty evening, retiring into Sten- conduit fields near Islington, endeavouring to make away with himself, cut his throat, not only the outward part, but his very windpipe, and besides stabbed himself in three places of the belly, and lay v/allowing in his blood all night, at least till the sharpness of the air, in some mea- sure, closed the wounds, and then came home in the morning in a condition altogether desperate. But, by the skill of Mr. J. Mollins, a neigh- bouring surgeon, he is, beyond all expectation, perfectly cured." THE GRAND SEIGNIOR, HIS VIZIER, AND WINE LICENCES. Mahomet forbade all good Mussulmen the use of Wine. His Alcoran is absolute on this point ; but every Mahometan, like our English Coun- sellors, chooses to expound the law in his own way. 134 way. Charles Thompson, esq. says, in his Travels through Turkey, " So much has been al- ready said concerning Mahomet's prohibiting the use of wine to his disciples, that little more need be added on that subject. We may obseiTe, in- deed, that many of them do not look upon it as absolutely forbidden ; and even those who do, cannot help confessing it is an excellent liquor; and that the temptation is so inviting, that the sin of drinking is very excusable. When a Turk has tasted the least drop of wine, he thinks the crime will be no greater if he drink a gallon; and therefore, if they once begin, they swallow it down so plentifully, that they are usually in-, toxicated before they desist. " No doubt but many Turks conscientiously abstain from wine all their life-time ; but the ge- nerality, as far as I can observe or learn, make no great scruple of drinking it in private. It is reckoned a very heinous crime, however, to drink it during their great fast, or Ramezan ; at which time, it is said, the person found transgressing used formerly to have melted lead poured down his throat. But I do not understand that this se- verity is exercised at present, though the offender never escapes punishment if discovered." The above extract will explain the succeeding article, which appeared in March I&81. " Advice from Sir John Finch, his Majesty's ambassador at Constantinople, confirms the late news. 135 news, that the Vizier's Chiaw, or Substitute, was taken off; the manner thus. Some persons had made a complaint to the Grand Seignior, that, notwithstanding he had strictly forbid the vend- ing of wine, being always forbidden to Turks by the Alcoran (though formerly allowed to be yended to Christians and Jews residing here), yet the Taverners had underhand, for fifty purses of money, procured a licence of the Vizier, or his Chiaw : on which the Grand Seignior sent for the Vizier, and taxed him with it; who, being conscious of his guilt, and seeing the Grand Seignior's displeasure, flung the same upon the Chiaw, and immediately dispatched the exe- cutioner to strike off his head, giving him money not to suffer him to speak for himself, lest he might declare his Master's guiltiness ; and then presented it to the Grand Seignior, together with his estate, being of a mighty value, which he had extorted and amassed together in that station in the space of three years. And this advice is the more welcome, since the Chiaw was a great oppressor of the English nation, and another put in his place, who is a great favourer of them. Besides, his brother is made one of the five Viziers of the bench ; and it is hoped that now the avene of 40,000/. laid against the English may be taken off, and a way opened for their future benefit." THE 15S THE PRINCE BORGHESE, ' Who enjoyed the honours of his Ancestors contemporary with our Charles II. had a narrow escape from slavery in l6Sl. The Prince, his consort, and the Prince of Rossano, were on an aquatic excursion, when a Turkish shallop ap- proached their galley disguised as a fishing-boat, and the crew as fishermen, under pretence of selling the produce of their labours. The Prince had the good fortune to suspect the deceit in time to effect his escape, through the superior sailing of his galley, and the exertion of the rowers ; and afterwards found that two Caravals, from which the shallop was detached, were hovering in sight waiting for the success of the enterprize. HORRID CONFESSION OF AN IRISH INNKEEPER. The following shocking article appeared in most of the Newspapers of April l6Sl: " From Dublin we hav^e an account, that, at the last Sessions there, an Innkeeper being con- demned for robbing on the highway, when he was at the gallows, confessed an horrid murder, complicated with most strange circumstances, which he had committed. The story take as fol- io weth. Last Christmas, two persons, strangers to one another, came into his Inn, the one of them having a considerable charge of money. After they were in bed and asleep, he took the sword 137 Sword of the person who had the least moneys and killed the other, and put the sword into his icabbard again all bloody. The person whose fword was made use of arose in the morning early, called for his horse, and prosecuted his journey. So soon as he was gone, the Innkeeper goeth into the room where the murdered person lay, and, with a seeming amazement, cried out^ that one of his guests was murdered, and, upon search, found that his money was lost. Every one suspected the person who so lately rode forth ; upon which he was pursued, overtaken, and, the Innkeeper drawing his sword, it was bloody, which was so strong a presumption of guilt, that, being tried for his life, he was found guilty. But, on the other side, the innocence of his countenance and behaviour when he was ap- prehended, and the extreme surprize he seemed to be possessed with at the sight of his bloody Bword, and his not deviating from the right road to the place he over-night discoursed to be tra- velling unto, and the money lost not being found about him, the Judge had some scruple upon his mind, and obtained a reprieve for him ; and, upon this confession of the Innkeeper, a full pardon." X FOOT-RACING Has long been encouraged by our Nobility ; as a proof of which take this instance. " Brussels, April 138 April 13, 1681. The Duke of Norfolk (Henry Howard, born 1628, and died 1683), and ano- ther person of honour, having agreed upon a foot-race to be run by an Englishman and ano- ther, from hence to Antwerp and back again : they set out at six in the morning. In their return, one of them fainted by the way ; but the English- man returned by four in the afternoon, being ex- tremely tired and overstrained, so that he voided blood. The Duke and others gave him twenty-* five rix-dollars," / PIRACY. This dreadful mode of robbery prevailed to a very great extent about a century past; and con- sequently every Government in Europe coalesced in their endeavours to prevent the shocking mur- ders which always occurred when part of the crew of a vessel took forcible possession, or pro- fessed Pirates boarded and captured Merchant- ships. The cruelties exercised on those occasions need not be repeated ; but the gallantry of certain brave men who contributed to their extinction will be read with pleasure from that authentic source, the London Gazette. " Jamaica, February 1, 1681. On Saturday last, our Lieutenant-Ciovernor, Sir Henry Mor- gan, was informed that Jacob Everson (a most notorious Pirate) rid then in Cow-bay, with a Sloop and a Barqua Longa, and had a-board them 139 them, both about one hundred men ; ^vhereupon he presently ordered a Sloop, that was an ex- cellent sailer, and very fit for the service, to be manned with fifty seamen and soldiers, besides officers, and, in less than an hour's time, got her to sail, having, upon the first notice, set cen- tinels to hinder any boats' or men from going off to give the Pirates advice. " Yesterday, about noon, our Sloop came be- fore the Bay where the Pirate rid ; and, as they stood in without any colours, and with most of their men in the hold, several of the Pirate's men that were ashore, came on board their Sloop and Bark. The Sloop being to windward, and most men appearing on board of her, they stood to- wards her, and, as soon as they were within shot, hoisted the King's colours, and laid them aboard. The Pirates fired first a few small arms, but did our men little damage ; but, when they saw them enter with resolution and authority, many of the Pirates leaped into their canoes, which overset, and they were drowned ; and, after some re- sistance, our men remained masters of the Pi- rate's Sloop. " In the mean time, the Bark, riding somewhat to leeward, cut, and got under sail (though not without visible damage, three or four of their men, who were mending a top-sail which our ghot had disordered, being seen to fall over-board) ; ^nd our Sloop made all the haste possible, and chased 140 chased her, but to no purpose (she saiHng much better), and therefore returned hither, bringing in thirty-odd prisoners^ some of which, it is be- lieved, will die of their wounds. The Captain himself, who was on-board the Sloop (and being shot, was drowned), was a Dutchman, but all the men English, except six Spaniards, whom our Lieutenant-Governor will send to Carthatrena by Captain Haywood, who will sail on Monday next. Our Governor has likewise issued hi^ orders for the apprehending such of the Pirates as were left on shore." ANOTHER STRATAGEM TO COUNTERACT THE PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION IN ENGLAND. The Reader of the following Paper is entreated, by the Editor of this Work, to remember that no other motive induced its insertion than aft intention to shew to the present population of England the disgrace and danger of Religious disputes, and the excessive lengths to which they lead unthinking persons. The utter impossibility of certain doctrines of the Roman Catholics are tenable grounds for argumentative resistance; but, for Heaven s sake, let no Modern imitate " The Popish Mass displayed : Or, the Super- stitions and Fopperies of the Romish Church dis- covered : In which is shewed, the several antic jestures and profane prayers_, used by the Popish 141 Popish Priest^ when he comes to the celebration at the Altar. " Written by one that was formerly a Priest of that Church, Wednesday, April 20th, 1681. I. He that but now did others' sins forgive. To th' end that they eternally might live. Is since himself run headlong in that snare. Of which he warned others to beware : But yet dissembling both with and men. He makes confession, penance doth, and then. Being absolved, he prays, since 'tis the fashion. And offers up some short ejaculation. II. The Priest is now in the Sacristia gone, And there he overlooketh, all alone. His Lessons, Collects, and such other things. As in a new-form'd dress the Missal brings ; For if in aught in th' least he should mistake The Corpus Christ i were not truly brake. III. He next his hands doth rub, and scrub, and wash. And doth a little nonsense, needless trash, Breathe out to ; ascribing, silly noddy! Whate'er he gets from them, to mind and body. Though washing of his hands, and not his heart. To th' mind and body is not worth one ." The 142 The Author of this rhapsody quotes the prayers of the Missa], and translates them. They are omitted for obvious reasons. IV. " The charming golden ChaHce now he views, And whatsoever thereunto accrues. As Purifier, Patten, Host, and what Beside there is enjoin'd in th' Romish Brat ; And, finding all are pure, and clean^ and neat, He puts them in a posture for the feat. V, Now the Amictus he puts o'er his head, Which he no sooner o'er his eyes hath spread ; But, mutfring forth a Necromancer's charm. He seems to give the Devils an alarm. Oh, silly fool ! could lie but scare himself, He 'd neither dread the Devils nor their elf. vr. Next he doth strait the Alb upon him put, And, lest he should appear in it like a slut. Or like a , a , a pimp, or quean. He prays he may be whiten'd and made clean ; From what, he doth not say, perhaps afraid, Meeting Avith Devils he himself betray'd. * VIII. He VII. * * * # * * * * * # 143 VIII. He now the Manljile on his arm doth put^ And, for to satisfy his greedy gut, Hoping for gain^ he begs he may obtain The wages due to his designed pain ; This being had, 'twill make him sing, 'twill foster. But, where 's no penny, there 's no Pater-noster, IX. He next takes up his rich embroider'd Stole, And, having put it o'er his notched pole. He strait begins to pray with an oration, Containeth blasphemy in its very fashion : f^iz, his unworthiness to approach a toy. And yet can merit everlasting joy. X. Now takes he up the Casida, and when He hath done it, towards the Altar stalks ; and then, As he is walking, prays he may be able. In such wise, for to carry his light bable. That bringing it well to that unholy place. He may thereby obtain our Saviour's grace ; As if the Christ could do no less than smile. On him for his needless superstitious toil.'* Isaac Cleave, at the Star, in Chancery-lane, promised this Paper weekly, provided it met with encouragement. LIBERA 144 LIBERA NOS. The art of rhyming was but little understood in the reign of the Stuarts ; nor did the English language then possess that polish which it has since received from men of transcendant genius. This collection of scraps collected from varioni sources, and written about the time above-men- tioned, furnish abundant proof of the truth of our observation. Nature alone is capable of making a genuine Poet ; nor was she deficient in her operations during the reigns alluded to ; but the public taste was vitiated by perusing the fatiguing declamations of party-writers, whos« coarseness and vulgarity was extremely disgusting. Milton and Dryden furnished models for imi- tation, which ought to have roused dormant ta- lents into action ; and yet many years passed away before Pope appeared and excelled his Master. Political and Religious disputes having subsided with the abdication of James II. the votaries of Literature and the Muses naturally turned their attention to the Belles Lettres and Poetry: improvement in each gradually followed; and it may safely be asserted, that hundreds of our present minor Poets would equal, if not excel, the succeeding lines which were written by one of the best living in 1681. Party spirit inflames every line ; but the Com- piler begs he may not rouse a sleeping Lion in the 145 the breast of an individual of his readers, by his supposing that the quotation is made to hurt his particular feelings or opinions. The object in view is solely to draw the attention to the state of common English jDoetry one hundred and thirty years past. " From Commonwealth Coblers and zealous State-Tinkers, From speeches and expedients of Politick Blinkers, From rebellious Taps, and Tapsters, and Skinkers, Libera )ws. From Elephant Baptists, and their doughty free state, From looking in Newgate through Reformation grate, And from their last sayings, and Hempen-rufiffate, Libera nos. From Papists on one hand, and Fanatick the other. From Presbyter Jack, the Pope's younger brother, And Congregational Daughters, far worse than their Mother, Libera nos. From Religions that teach men to kill and to slay. From Faith that is coupled with the word Dis- obci/, And from Sectaries e'er having of another day, Libera nos. L From 146 From Members that constantly quarrel witli the head, And Subjects that, for Sterling, pay their Sov'reign with Lead, And preserve Kings and Government by wishing them dead, Libera nos. From over-short Parliaments, and over-long, From a selling our Birth-rights for an old song, And breaking Mag. Charta to make it more strong. Libera nos. From taking away Juries by Parliament votes. And securing from Popery by cutting of throats. From a beam in our eyes to cure them of moats. Libera nos. From Voxes, and factious saucy Addresses, To repeal those good Laws of honest Queen Bess's, From Fanatick rage, and the Pope's, God bless us. Libera nos. From a Bill that, to take away Ale and Cake voices, Robs all the old Freeholders, at Elections, of choices. And enables Fanaticks to make greaier noises. Libera nos. From 147 From the wisdom of Bedlam, and the anger of Fools, From the whipping and learning of Meeting- house schools. And the exit of Tray tors and Commonwealth Tools, Libera nos^T Democrifus Rideiis, a Paper published to coun- teract HeracUtus Ridens, must be noticed in its turn, to establish our pretensions to complete im*- partiality. The tenth number of the former con- tains a Ballad, as the Author thought proper to call it, which the Reader will please to accept as a further illustration of what has been said on this subject. THE pope's morris-dancers. " The first who began his bells for to gingle. Was a frisking old Piper, who us'd to dance single; He long shook his heels to make our ears tingle. Frisk awhile Roger. But he pip'd and he danc'd, and he made a foul clutter, Till up flew his heels, and he fell in the gutter; There lies the Pope's tumbler, the People did mutter. Rise again, Towzer. * Hci-aclitus Ridens, No. 15, ' * 1-2 A dancing 146 A dancing Baboon, yclep'd Heraclttus, With Tabor and Pipe began to delight us, Till with his foul Ear7iesthe thought to affright us. Pull off your Vizard. With ribands and gewgaws, and bawbles well dress'd ; With sing-songs and ballads, though none of the best. He brings in his Monkey to dance, called Jest. Higgledy Piggledy. Upon the Stage then a sage Bard doth enter. With Gridiron and Tongs to play he doth venture. And strikes up old tunes as loud as a Stentor. Tantara-rara. The dancing Dog Trinculo next fell a yelping. Until they had brought the intelligent whelp in, Who to the fine sport was some little helping. The more the merrier. Then in a long gown appeared a Tory, Who turn'd Pater-noster into an old story, For which he did hardly escape Purgatory. Fools must be meddling. At last there came in the new Observator, Who danc'd the old jig like a Cinque and Cator, Though mask'd, yet all swore it was old Erra- Pater. Turn again, Whittington. Of 149 Of the Pope's cause they are the advancers. They shew you their fiddles, but hide the Snap- hancers, Though jingling Church-bells, they're Rome's Morris-dancers. Well play'd Innocents OUTRAGES IN IRELAND. The unhappy state of the Sister Island is l>y no means a new subject of regret ; and whatever may be the enormities (sanctioned or unsanctioned by Government) lately committed, they cannot ex- ceed the follovvins: relation in horror. "Dublin, April 17th, i08l. This day we have an account of the surprize and killing of the famous Northern Tory, Count Hanlan. The circumstances whereof, as I received them from the mouth of one of his confederates and ex- ecutioner, and Mr. William Lucas, who was commissioned in that affair. That his Grace the Lord Lieutenant, finding all ways and endeavours hitherto used, as well by himself as other Ciiief Governors, for repressing and bringing to condign punishment outrageous Rebels and Tories in-, festing this Kingdom, resolved to act by his own sentiments and way, which was to this ^f^^at. " His Grace sent for a person of honOv^r of this City (acquainted in those Counties these Tories chiefly resort to), and commanded him to find some 150 some person who might be capable of his Majesty'* service in that aftair. On which command Mr. WilUam Lucas, of Drumyntian, in the County of Down, was sent for, who received the following commission, writ every word with his Grace's own hand, for privacy ; none knowing of the design but this person of honour, and Mr. Lucas, whom his Grace acquainted with it ; besides other private directions given Mr. Lucas ; but the commission is as follows : " Whereas William Lucas, gentleman, hath given me good reason to believe, that he is able to do his Majesty good service, in the apprehend- ing, killing, and destroying, of proclaimed Rebels and Tories, if he may, upon occasion, have the help and assistance of such of his Majesty's Army as he shall desire : These are therefore to will and require all his Majesty's Officers, Civil and Military, to be aiding and assisting to the said William Lucas in the said service. And I parti- cularly require all Officers of Horse and Foot, to send as many of the soldiers, under their respective commands, as he shall desire with him, and to direct such soldiers to obey his orders. " And I further authorize the said William Lucas, in my name, to give assurance to any of the Tories, that, in case they shall assist him in the performance of the said service, that they shall have his Majesty's gracious pardon for any crimes 151 crimes formerly committed by them, murder only excepted ; and that, over and above, they shall be well rewarded. " Given at his Majesty's Castle of Dublin, this 4th of March, i68l. Ormond." '^ Pursuant to which Commission, Mr. William Lucas, knowing of a fosterer of his out in re- bellion with Redmond O'Hanlan, by one of his relations sent for him ; and this Fosterer, one Arthur O'Hanlan, came to Mr. Lucas, who gave him a protection ; whereby his Majesty's Officers, Civil and Military, were ordered not to kill, ap- prehend, molest, or disturb the said Arthur during the space of one month. Arthur O'Hanlan, being thus furnished, encouraged, and provided with arms by Mr. Lucas, waited for a convenient opportunity of executing his design, which did thus offer itself. " On Monday the 25th instant, the said Arthur O'Hanlan and William O'Sheel, in company with Redmond O'Hanlan, were near the Eight Mile Bridge, in the County of Down, waiting for prize, on the score of a Fair that was held there ; at which place, while they were watching for their prey, Redmond took some occasion to quarrel with Arthur, as they were smoking their pipes, and, in the close, bid him provide for himself, for he should not be any longer a Tory in any of the. three Counties (viz. Monaghan, Down, 15? Dlowiij or Armagh) ; whereupon Arthur rose up and said, I am very glad of it, and will go just now ,* and then, taking up his arms (having his authority and protection about him), immediately he shot Redmond in the left breast with his carabine, and forthwith ran to the Eight Mile Bridge for a guard. Arthur returned with a guard ; and Mr. Lucas, wiio soon had notice at the Newry, where he was waiting Redmond's motions for the same ends, found Redmond's body ; but the head was taken off by O'Sheel, who fled with it. The body they removed to the" Newry, where it lies under a guard till orders shall be sent how it should be disposed of; and since that, Mr. Lucas has sent out a protection and assurance to O'Sheel, to bring in the head of that Arch Traitor and Tory Redmond O'llanlan. " This evening Arthur O'Hanlan gave in a re- lation of this adventure to the Lord Lieutenant and Council, who ordered him to have a sum of money paid forthwith for the good service he has done. And to Mr. Lucas his Grace has pro- mised the honour of a command in the Army." A SHOWER OF GRAIN ! ! ! Those adventurous mortals who think proper to inhabit the bases of Volcanic Mountains are fre- quently indulged with varieties of showers. They have showers of ignited stones and lava of sulphureous 153 sulphureous vapours, water, tufa, ashes, and sparks, &c. &c. But the happy Briton, remote from the freaks of those eternal tires, receives from his be- nignant skies, plu7nb-pi(dding stones, and grain. For instance : " By a letter from Mr. Tliomas Dod, ol" Shrews- bury, we have an account that, upon the fourth of this instant May, there fell in the night-time a great shower, which, by the noise, was supposed to be hail ; but in the morning there was found a considerable quantity of grain, like barley, of which the gentleman has reserved several hand- fuls. And yesterday a gentleman near St, James's received several grains thereof, wliich was sent him in a letter from the said place." Those who wish to know moi'e of the fall of plumb-pudding stones are reierred to the recent volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine. Tlie above shower of Grain rests upon the authority of Mr. Langley Curtiss, who asserts it occurred in ifiSl. THE UNFORTUNATE CHEMIST. The Reader will please to accept thi>; relation from '' The Loyal |^rotestant for May 14, iGSl.'' It will excite compassion, though the sufierer has very long ceased to feel sublunary calamities. " On Wednesday last, about six in the evening, a fire suddenly broke out in a chamber up three pair of stairs, in a Confectiou€i''s shop in Fetter- lane ; 154 lane ; but, by the industry of the neighbourhood, in a small time it was overcome, and only con- sumed part of the floor on which it kindled. The circumstance was as folio weth : A French Chy mist, lodging in the room where the fire began, having put fire in his furnace, after he had set it to work, went forth as he used to do about his occasions, and locked the door after him ; but the brick- work not being strong enough, the fire took hold of the boards, and the door being locked, and the windows shut, it had taken considerable hold before it was discovered. " The Chymist, when he returned home, and understood what a sad accident had happened, seemed much astonished ; but, upon the cry of the neighbourhood (because he was a Frenchman) that it was done on purpose, he was apprehended and committed; and his landlord (being pressed to it) laid an action upon him, he having re- ceived above ten pounds damage in his goods, windows, &c. by the fire. But, upon second tlioughts, his landlord, knowing him to be so far from being a Papist, that he was a rigid Calvinist, and being convinced of his innocency, would have discharged him ; but the poor man, being in debt, and other actions brought against him, he remains in the Compter an object of pity. " We the rather publish this, to prevent the belief of the report spread about town, as if this wai 155 was not an accident, but done designedly, and a branch of the Popish-plot." THE SWEET SINGERS OF ISRAEL. Religion is acknowledged to have assumed as great a variety of forms as the celebrated Proteus. A modern author, sensible of this fact, has taken the trouble to sketch the history of every sect which has obtained celebrity in the United Kingdoms. Whether '' The Sweet Singers of Israel" grace the list, and contribute to harmonise the heterogeneous catalogue, is unknown to the Editor of this Work ; he will therefore venture to introduce these holy Musicians, who sung most melodiously themselves, and yet attempted to disturb the harmony of others. Their Concerts had dis-concerted and ruffled the tempers of many well-disposed persons ; their frantic actions induced the Police to in- terrupt their Religious orgies, which were con- sidered quite repugnant to the mild and benign effusions of genuine devotion ; and several " Sweet Singers" were committed to prison. The Au- thor of " The Currant Intelligence" for May 14, 1681, introduces them thus to its Readers : " Edinburgh, May 5th. As some of our Lords were returning yesterday from Council, attended by the Horse and Foot-guards, nine women (who call themselves the Sweet Singers of Israel), that are imprisoned here for their extravagancies, threw 156 jthrew down stones out of the Prison-windows upon their coaches ; apon v/hich an Oflicer ran to the Lords, and desired to knov>' whai : hould be done to them ; but their Lordships, looking upon them to be distracted, commanded him not to meddle with them, and so went on. How- ever, the Officer went into the Prison, where he found them singing, and could not interrupt them till he had taken away their books. He highly threatened them for what they had done, and asked them how they dared abuse Authority after suqh an insolent manner ? to which they replied, that they did reverence lawful Authority; but that they did not look upon those Lords to be so qualified ; and so went on with their singing. " The Privy Council met again in the after- noon, as they did also this Monday ; and made an order, that all the aforesaid women should be removed from that Prison to the House of Cor- rection, where they are to be set to work, and fed only with bread and water; and one of our Bailiffs is appointed to go twice a week to visit them, and see them receive tv/enty stripes a-piece each time. They are to be treated after this manner, till a conveuiency can be found of trans- porting them either to Virginia or Barbadoes.'* The ensuing further particulars were afterwards published : Edinburgh, June 7. " Here is printed, by order of Council, a most blasphemous and trea- sonable 157 5onable paper, emitted by the fanatical under- scribers (who are Walter Ker, John Gibb, David Jamieson, and John Young), prisoners in Canon- gate Tolbooth Iron-house, in which they declare, ' That it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to them, to take out of their Bibles the Psalms in metre (being a human addition), and burn them in the Prison, and afterwards sweep away the ashes.' Likewise, in the Holy Scriptures, they renounce Chapters, Verses, and Contents, being only done by human wisdom. They renounce the impressions and translation of both the Old and New Testament, and that for additions put unto them by men, and other causes : as, first, putting in horrid blasphemy, making a Tyrant patron of the Church ; for putting in horrid pic- tures; and for drawing scores betwixt the books of the Bible. " They renounce all Catechisms, larger and shorter ; the Acts of the General Assembly ; all the Covenants acknowledging Sin, and engaging to duties ; and that which they call Preaching- books ; and all their works, form, manner of worship, doctrine, discipline, government, the studying of books, the thing they call preaching, by reason that, instead of going to God for his mind, they go to their books, making their books their God and their leader. " They renounce the limiting the Lord's mind by glasses, ordination by men, the Covenant taken 158 taken at Queen's ferry, called Carghill's Covenant* as also the declarations of Hamilton and Sang- hare, as not being strict enough; most blas- phemously adding, that therefore it seems good to the Holy Ghost, and to them^ to burn the said Covenants, together with all the former vi^orks of the Clergy of Scotland, and throughout the whole world, waiting till God shall give ther» teaching from himself. " They renounce and decline all authority throughout the world, and all that are in autho- rity, and all their Acts and Edicts. " They renounce the names of months, as January, &c. and of all days, as well the day« of the week as Holy-days. They likewise re- nounce all Chapels, Chaplains, feastings, piping, dancing, laughing, Monk-land, Frier-lands, Churches, Church-yards, Market-crosses, Fount- stones, Images, all Registers of Lands and Houses, together with all manner of Law-works, Ballads, Romances, Play-books, Cards, and Dice. *' They also renounce all the customs and fashions of this Generation, and their way of eating, drinking, cloathing, and sleeping. They renounce all that are in Prisons, as well men as women, by reason that, having sent a copy of this their declaration, they refused to receive it, calling them Devils." In the close, they most impudently say, that, lifter many days fasting and praying, they were pressed 159 pressed by the Holy Ghost to put out this De- claration ; for which they afterwards made the amende honorable, and were pardoned. CELEBRATION OF THE KING'S BIRTH-DAY AT EDINBURGH IN I68I. The Anniversary of l68o has been already de- scribed ; but the celebration of the following year was infinitely more magnificent. " Sunday last, being the auspicious day of his Majesty's happy birth and miraculous Restoration, from all the Pulpits of this City were delivered very loyal and dutiful Sermons ; but that of Mr. Cant, Principal of the College, was the most taken notice of (his father having been so emi- nently concerned in the late unhappy Covenant) ; in which he did clearly demonstrate, both from Scripture, and the doctrine of the Primitive Church, that Monarchy was jure divlno, and that the true and lawful Successor in an heredi- tary Monarchy, such as ours is (being indeed the oldest Monarchy now in the known world), could not be excluded from the Crow"n, though he was a Pagan, or an Infidel, which, as he ob- served, even the Presbyterian Divines at West- minster could not but acknowledge it. " The solemnity which this City had prepared to celebrate this happy day was, at the desire of his Pioyal Highness, put off till Monday; which was then performed as foUoweth : '' The 160 ** The Lord Provost and Magistrates, having desired his Royal Highness to do this City the honour to come up to the Cross, or Market-place, to drink liis Majesty's health, there was a large Theatre, forty feet square, all railed about, and covered with fine carpets, and hung with arras, upon which were four large tables filled with very large and high pyramids of all sorts of sweet- meats. The table where his Royal Highness sat was some steps higher than the rest, under an artificial grove of orange and lemon trees, loaden with their proper fruits, under which was one chair and cloth of state. " The tables for the Nobility and Magistrates were also overshadowed with artificial groves. The Cross was decked all over with large trees filled with oranges and lemons, under the shadow of which was Bacchus bestriding a hogshead, very antickly dressed with garlands, and some other pageants ; a number of trumpets, and the City Waits, in their liveries, playing all the while ; the whole Trained-bands of the City, and the Militia Regiment, making in all thirty-six com- panies, in their best armour and apparel, were drawn up in the High-street, and made a lane from the Theatre to the Nether-bow port; at which place the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and whole Town Council, the City-honours, swords, and mace borne before them, attended by their trumpets, and rich liveries, where his Royal Highness to 161 lH[iglmess alighted from his coach, attended hy his Grace the Lord Chancellor, with a great con- fluence of the Nobility and Gentry, who, upon this occasion, were very rich in their apparel. His Royal Highness was guarded from the Palace to the Nether-bow by his Majesty's Regiment of Guards, commanded by the Earl of Linlithgow, and the Earl of Mar's Regiment, drawn up by the Earl of Dalhousie, their Lieutenant-Colonel, their Lordships, and all the Oflicers, being all in very rich laced coats, and his Majesty's Troops of Guards being all very fine in their new liveries, commanded by the Marquis of Montrose, with their trumpets and kettle-drums following his Royal Highness's coach from the Nether-bow to the Theatre. At the Cross, his Royal Highness alighted, and walked on foot to the Theatre; his Grace the Lord High Chancellor on his right hand, and the Lord Provost on his left ; the rest of the Magistrates, attended by the trumpets, going be- fore ; the Nobility and Gentry following after, all tancovered. " Being come to the Theatre, his Royal High- ness being sat at his table, the said Provost began liis Majesty's health, which his Royal Highness and all the company pledged ; then the Queen's ; then their Royal Highnesses', and all the Royal Family's ; the great guns from the Castle thun- dering off all the while ; the noise of the drums, trumpets, kettle-drums, waits, could scarce be heard, being drowned in that more pleasing noise .M of 162 of the people, who ceased not, but reiterated their acclamations of '^ God save the King, Queen, their Highnesses, and all the Royal Family !' The glasses and sweetmeats were all thrown among the people ; the Cross ail the while running wine in great abundance at eight several conduits. '•' His Royal Highness returned to the Palace, attended after the same manner, extremely well pleased to see such a multitude of all sorts of people express so much loyalty, in so many cheerful circumstances, and so much affection and duty to himself; in whom they observed every day more of that exemplary justice, moderation, and gentleness, which has been always observable in the sacred race of our Kings. '' The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council, in their formalities, came dowfi to the Palace-gate, where his Royal Highness was pleased to meet them, and to express his satis- faction at the solemnity of the day ; and at the, great bonfire, his Royal Highness drank his Majesty's health upon his knees, and directed it to the Lord Provost and Council, who all upon their knees drank it, as did all the Nobility and Gentry present, with loud acclamations. " The rest of the night was spent with bonfires, ringing of bells, shooting of great and small guns, and all other expressions of joy imaginable ; not only the High-street, but the lanes of the City were all filled with bonfires.'* BURNING 163 BURNING FOR ALLEGED WITCHCRAFT. Hanging reputed Witches is an indelible stain on the character of a Nation ; but burning them is a refinement of cruelty to which w^ are strangers, except by report. — *^ We hear," observes the Editor of the True Protestant Mercury, in his number for June 8th, 1681, " that at a town called Drebesigne, belonging to the Turks, a wo- man, being condemned for a Witch, was lately burnt there ; and her husband, being resolved to revenge her death, set fire to the middle of the town at noon-day, which immediately burnt with such fury, that near a thousand houses were in a short time destroyed, together with a great many people and cattle." This man was apprehended, dreadfully tortured, and his body consumed, as a punishment for his horrible revenge. CONFLAGRATIONS. Langley Curtiss informed his readers, June I5, 1681, that, " by a ktter from a very credible per- son at Kinley, in Herefordshire, he had an ac- count, that a Mountain near that place, and not far from another place called Solomon's Throne, hath burnt very vehemently for above a month. It is said that the other side of the mountain began to burn before Christmas ; they see the flame by night, and the smoke makes great clouds ■by day, and is very oflfensive to those parts whi- ther the wind carries it, having a very ill smell, M 2 as 164 as a gentleman riding over Mescod Common found by experience. " There is another Mountain not far off, which hath hkewise burnt for a great while; and, we hear, hath -burned at least ten miles in length: people dare not adventure near, because they fear the ground is hollow. These mountains abound with much peat and heath ; *and it is thought some persons having set the heath on fire, and the peat and heath being exceeding dry (we having had no rain to cool the ground) hath been the occasion thereof. "if any desire satisfaction of the truth hereof, let them enquire at the Jacob's Well, behind St. Clement's Church, without Temple-bar." The same industrious Editor added the follow- ing paragraph to his previous intelligence. " By a gentleman lately come to London, who was an eye-witness thereof, we have an account, that the farthest part of Windsor Forest hath beeu on fire several days ; and on Saturday last, when the gentleman came from thence, they told him there were above one thousand acres destroyed ; and though the Country use all possible endea- vours, they cannot quench it ; and though they have digged trenches eight feet deep, yet it still goes on, and is now within three miles of Bagshot- heath, in Berkshire. The gentleman affirms, that great heaps of ashes lay all thereabouts. It is tliought, that by reason of some quarrel among the 165 tlie neighbourhood about digging of turf, some mahcious persons set it on fire^ not imagining that it would proceed so far." The badness of the roads, and other difficultiej in travelHng, rendered the communication be- tween London and Windsor ahiiost as hmited as that between London and Hereford ; hence it was in the power of artful persons, at the period when the above events are stated to have hap- pened, to make mountains of molehills, and swell lakes into oceans, at their pleasure, and nearly to defy detection. Thanks to the good sense of the sons and grandsons of the then generation, chaises, mails, and stage-coaches, have since rendered the art of embellishing facts rather more difficult; and, instead of being alarmed, wq laugh at the fears of our forefathers excited by such stories as the succeeding. " Gloucester, June l8th, 1681. — We have an account of a strange and remarkable accident, which lately happened at the parish of Taynton, in the county of Gloucester; that one Edward Hook, a siui^le man, of a drunken debauched life, who would often wish the devil to pluck out his eyes, if he did not this or that. This man, being lately at home alone in his house, was heard by the watchmen that passed by, to cry out, * Let me alone!' and after some time, not seeing him come abroad, they broke up the door, where he was found dead, with his mouth wide open, and both 166 his eyes plucked out, and nothing of them to be seen, neither was there the least string, nor a drop of blood to be observed. His brother was so astonished at the sight, that he fell sick, and died a week after. *^ The truth hereof is attested by many honest considerable persons in and about Gloucester. " It is credibly reported, that about a week since it did rain Wheat in the Forest of Dean, and several persons have some of the corns that fell." THE UNFORTUNATE ELEPHANT. It might not be a subject altogether unworthy the notice of the Police of London to consider what would be the consequence of an accidental conflagration in or near Exeter Exchange. There can be but two methods of proceeding, if such a calamity should take place ; either to suffer the wild animals kept there to remain in their cages and perish, or remove them under circumstances which most probably would let half of them loose upon the publick. Either of these alternatives are shocking in contemplation ; but as we are "willing to hope the proprietors take every possible precaution to preserve their premises from dan- ger by fire, we shall now turn our attention to the poor (^i^adrupede whose miserable fate is recorded in the Currant Intelligence for July 2d, 1681. " Dubhn, June l8th. — On Friday morning, about three of the clock, a fire broke forth in the Elephant's 167 Elephant's booth, which, being made of deal boards, and tliose exceeding dry, it was burnt down, with the Elephant in it, and the Boy who usually rode on him, before any help could come to prevent it, though lOOO/. (it is said) was offered for to save the Elephant. Had the roof of the booth been built of solid timber, so that it might have stood half an hour long-er, it would have undone not only many private families, but all the King's records, books, and papers, would have been consumed; for it was built upon aw^aste plot of ground at the end of the Custom-house-lane, which faces Essex-street and the Council-house; the wind blowing hard at West-North-West, it beat the fire hard upon the Council-house, and fired the windows of the Council- chamber ; but the building being of brick- work, and help com- ing in, they saved the house with all the records and furniture. There was but little other damage done, besides the burning of the Elephant and Boy. " It is said that the fire besfan through the carelessness of the man that attended the Ele- phant, who by accident fired the straw where th<^ Elephant lay. The flesh of the Elephant is taken off, and will be boiled lor the fat of it; and the skeleton is preparing to be shewed." STOCKHOLM INVOLVED IN SMOKE. «f Stockholm, July 1, 1681.— Yesterday this City was all involved in clouds of Smoke, wliich ftt 168 at noon-day rendered the streets so dark, that people could not discern one another across the way : and what was the occasion of our extraor-. dinary wonder ; but that no man could tell the cause of it, or from whence it came ; the people for the greatest part having no fires in their chim- nies ; or if they had, as they had not, it is conjec- tured by many understanding persons, that ten thousand chimnies, smoking all at once, and the smoke driven downward, could, not have caused the like ; so that every body conjectures, it hap- pened by extraordinary means, and is the fore- runner of some dire conflagration, or other ap- proaching mischief.'*' The vast forests of Pines which extend over league.^ of the Northern Kingdoms offers a solu- tion for this apparent phenomenon : fires acci- dentally kindled amongst the combustible bodies of those useful trees sometimes cause extensive and dreadful devastation ; hence the smoke be- comes very dense, and may be conveyed by a gentle gale to an incredible distance from the place where it originated. This was probably the cause of alarm to the .good people of Stockholm ;; or the smoke may have reached them from the craters of Iceland, THE DUKi: QF (JRAFTON AND THE DEAL BOATMEN, This was Henry Fitzroy, the second son of Charles II. by the Duchess of Cleveland. Active ancj 169 and spirited, lie, according to Collins, ^'^ addicted himself first to Maritime affairs, and having been in several naval expeditions with Sir John Bury, knight, A^ice-Admiral of England," was created Baron of Sudbury, &c. &c. In the year 1687, he was employed as a WcC" Admiral to attend with a squadron at one of the ports of Holland, there to receive on board the Queen of Portugal elect, for the purpose of con- veving; her to her new dominions, which he ac- complished much to the satisfaction of the British Government. During the reign of his natural uncle James 11., he commanded part of the King's forces employed against the Duke of Mon- mouth, and acquitted himself with equal address ai>d courage. The Duke was employed in the siege of Cork ; and leading a party to an assault on the 21st of September, 1G90, he received a shot which broke two of his ribs. On the 9th of October following, he breathed his last. The anecdote that caused the preceding slight notice of the leading particulars of Henry Fitz- roy's life is derived from Smith's Current Intelli' gence for July 19, iGSl, and will illustrate the hardihood and bravery which has at all times dis- tinguished English seamen from the illegitimate Prince to the foremast-man. On the 17th of July, two large vessels, one a ^wede and the other a Dane, were unfortunately stranded on the Goodwin Sands. The boatr men 170 men of Deal immediately went to their assistance, and, at the risk of their own lives, saved those of the crews, their chests, and some other trifling articles. Previous to the time when the ships were totally beaten to pieces, curiosity induced the Duke to visit the wrecks, w hich he did in a small and frail boat, rowed by two men only. During this ex- cursion they were subjected to iill the violence of a sudden and unexpected storm. Persons unac- quainted with the management of a boat, under similar circumstances, must have perished; but the triumvirate were undismayed : the two men and the Duke, equally calm and collected, rowed with the utmost skill against each other; and, however surprising the fact, they succeeded in keeping the boat from being swamped, and arrived greatly fatigued, but in perfect safety, at Rams- gate. CURIOUS ELECTIONEERING MANOEUVRE, I68I. The observation of a contemporary, after relat- ino" the following particulars, is so extremely just, that the Editor has nothing to add to the weight of it. " Counterfeiters of money, or Highway rob- bers, not more deserve the gallows than such who, by forging members that are to be intrusted to so great a degree with our liberties and estates^ endeavour as much as in them lies to destroy the liappily constituted government of the nation." An m An action was brought at Kingston, during the Surrey Assizes of 1681, by Denzil Onsloe, Esq. against the BaiHfF of the Borough of Haslemere, for a double or false return of a Member of Par- liament for that Borouf;^h. At the election alluded to, Mr. Onsloe had thirteen suffrages ; Sir William Moor eleven ; Mr. Gresham eight ; and a fourth candidate seven. According to these decided majorities, Onsloe and Moor were declared duly elected. The antient constitution and custom of the Borough required that the electors should be not only scot and lot men, but freeholders. Now, as all those had voted, it remained for Mr. Gresham to determine whether he would retire a disap- pointed candidate, or, by a deep-laid scheme, create new freeholders, and through their assist- ance renew the contest, with the certainty of ob- taining a triumph over his competitors. Six free- holders was the number deemed necessary for this honourable purpose : four of these were reared from a cabbage garden, by the proprietor of that useful piece of ground conveying such portions of it to the parties concerned as amounted to the value required ; the transfer of some rooms and a cart hovel to the remaining two completed the artifice, which the Bailiff concluded by a new return. The examination of witnesses on this occasion proved, tliat similar practices had prevailed before; which 172 which exciting the indignation of the Lord Chief Justice, he inveighed severely against such in- fringements on the constitution. The Jury, feel- ing his Lordship's sentiments to be strictly cor- rect, returned a verdict for the plaintiff, with 50^. damages and costs of suit. At the same time, a gentleman was ordered to find sureties to answer an information to be brought against him, THE DUKE d'eLEEUF AND MR. SAVILE. The latter gentleman was Envoy from the Bri- tish Court to that of Lewis XIV. At some period previous to 1681, the domestics of each party had quarrelled ; but not having brought their conten- tion to an issue, the servants of the Duke waited a favourable opportunity to make an attack upon their enemies. This occurred immediately on the arrival of Mr, Savile at Paris from Fontainbleau, when the riotous fraternity assembled in such force, that Mr. Savile's men prudently closed the gate and shutters. Unfortunately one of the number happened to be from home, and return- ing at the moment, he entered into an expostula- tion with the offenders, and endeavoured to pre- vail on them to relinquish their guilty purposes. This rational advice procured the poor fellow who gave it a severe beating ; which exasperating the men within the house, they seized their ra- piers, threw open the gates, and assaulted the rioters 173 rioters with irresistible ardour ; four were killed, several wounded, and others fled. The Duke d'Elbeuf waited on Mr. Savile, to offer every reparation in his power ; the latter, however, thought proper to give information to the Lieutenant of the Police; after which, he demanded and received an audience of the King, who, having heard the Envoy's statement, ex- pressed his regret in handsome terms ; at the same time giving orders for the arrest of the ser- vants, and the banishment of the Duke to hjs government in Picardy during pleasure. THE AMBASSADORS OF THE KING OF BANTAM. The various methods contrived to entertain- and amuse Ambassadors of the above description would form a curious collection. In the year 16S2, two, with most appalling names, sent by the Monarch already mentioned to the Court of England, were invited to visit and inspect the King's Printing-house, then situated in Black- friars. Two of the Royal state carriages conveyed the Ambassadors, the son of Sir Charles Cottrell, and Mr. Maid stow their interpreter, and two other coaches the retinue of the Envoys. After inspecting every object of interest with consider- able attention, they were assisted in composing and printing their own titles, which are given for the benefit of posterity — '-'His Excellency Keay 'Nabee Naia-wi-praia, principal Ambassador from Sultaii 174 Sultan Abdulcahar Abulnazar King of (Suro^ soan, formerly called) Bantam ; to His Majesty ©f Great Britain, &c. ; in the year 1682." " His Excellency Kay Nabee Jah-Sedana Am- bassador, &c. &,c." SPECIMEN OF ORTHOGRAPHY, l682. This is selected from No. l62 of the True Pro- testant Mercury. — " Lost, a Flowered silk Manto (Mantua) Gown of a sable and Gold Coulor, lined with Black, betwixt Aryiiseed Clere (St. Agnes le Clair) and the White Houses at Hogs- den (Hoxton) on Wednesday last, the 19th in- stant, about 4 oT 5 a clock in the Afternoon. Any- one that can give Intelligence of the said Manto Gown to Mr. Blewit's, at the Rose and Crown in Loathber?^, shall have 10*. for their pains.'* DREADFUL TORRENT OF WATER IN SICILY, 1682. Mountainous countries have numerous attrac- tions to invite visitors ; but the inhabitants fre- quently pay most severely for the contempla- tion of their elevated rocks, deep-wooded ravines, and beautiful descents of water. There must have been something awful and sublime in the appear- ance of the district described as destroyed in the following extract from the London Gazette, dated Palermo, June 25, 1G82, before the event related. What pen or what pencil could communicate a just 175 just picture of the horrid scene presented after the fatal torrent had exhausted its fury ! " We have an account from the town of Tor- torica, that on the 6th instant, about seven o'clock in the evening, after so great a darkness that no object could be distinguished at the distance of four paces, there arose a great storm of rain, light- ning, and thunder, which lasted thirty-six hours; that about one o'clock the next morning, great torrents of water, caused by these rains, fell from the neighbouring mountains, with so great rapi- dity that they carried with them trees of an ex- traordinary bigness, which threw down the walls and houses of the town they happened to beat against. "The waters were so violent, tnat they overthrew the Church of St. Nicholas, and the Archdeacoii of the town who retired thither perished there, with many other persons ; there only remained one Abbey, and about 50 houses, and those so shat- tered that tliey fell one after another. There were about 600 of the inhabitants drowned ; the rest, being abroad in the field gathering their silk, fled to the mountains, where they suffered very much for want of provisions. " The goods, trees, stones, sand, and other rub- l^ish, which tlie waters carried away, were in so great abundance, that they made a bank above the water two miles in length, near the mouth of the river, where before the sea was very deep. This 176 This town is situate in that part of Sicily called the valley of Demona, on the side of the rivef Tortorica, about 25 miles from the Tuscan sea. The towns of Randazze, Francaville, and several others, have likewise been destroyed by this great flood. It is added, that Mount JEinsi. casts out such abundance of water, that all the neighbour- ing country is drowned." EFFECTS OF TEMPERANCE. Sir Henry Blunt died in Hertfordshire, some time in the year 1682, at the very great age of 90. It is related of this gentleman, that he transferred his estate, with the inheritance, producing between four and five hundred pounds per annum, to Sir John Harper of Derbyshire, on condition that he should receive an annuity of lOOO/. for life. The temptation on the part of the latter appears to have arisen from the character of Blunt, who was ardently fond of travelling, and not less so of the bottle, two pro])ensities which promised a speedy and profitable termination of the annual payment. Blunt, sensible of the advantage he had gained, determined to lead a new life, and became one of the most temperate of men, and actually received 40,000/. for his inheritance. ^' This," says Lang- ley Curtiss, in his Mercury, '^ may serve for advice to all debauchers, to become sober and temperate, 5f it were only to preserve their lives." BRAVERy 1?/ MA^ERY AND PATRIOTISM OF BRITISH SEAMEN IN 1688. The castle at Gosport was situated on low ground directly facing Portsmouth, which it com- manded with twenty cannon. The Irish soldiers who were in England at that period acted with great violence in favour of the court, and roused the terrors of the country by the most cruel threats of rapine and bloodshed. Several sailors, who had observed the turbulence of the Irish, deter- mined to obtain possession of the Castle, which they accomplished by stratagem. Loitering near the gates, they proposed a drinking-party to those \vithin their view : the offer was accepted ; and, entering, they very soon beat the garrison out. The Duke of Berwick, being informed of this strange and unexpected occurrence, sent a messen- ger to demand the evacuation of the place. Far from complying, the sailors returned a spirited answer, declaring they would surrender the Castle to any Protestant commander the Duke would appoint, but to no other. These brave sons of Neptune were relieved from the difficulties of their situation by the Revolution which took place in December. WILLIAM III. AND THE ESTATES OF SCOTLAND. The Revolution alluded to in the preceding auecdote having placed William III. on the N throne 1?^ thtone of England, the estates of Scotland adopted immediate measures to secure to their own coun- try the advantages of the new government ; and, for that purpose, sent a deputation to London, whose proceedings with the King at Whitehall are related in the article below, composing the second number of a work on the affairs of Scot- land, published in the form of a newspaper. May 24th, 1689. *' The Earl of Argyle, Sir James Montgomery of Skelmorly, and Sir John Dalrymple of Staire, the commissioners sent by post by the meeting of the Estates of Scotland to offer their Majesties the Crown of that kingdom, about three of the clock, met at the Council-chamber, and from thence were conducted by Sir Charles Cottrell, master of the ceremonies, attended by most of tha nobility and gentry of that kingdom, who reside in and about this place, to the Banqueting-house, where the King and Queen came, attended by many persons of quality ; the sword being carried before them by the lord Cardross (and their Ma- jesties being placed on the Throne under a rich canopy), they acquitted themselves in their com- mission as follows. *' The Earl of Argyle (before the presenting of the letter from the meeting of the Estates of Scot- and to the King) spoke thus : ^ May it please your ^Majesty, ^ It cannot be uukaown in how sad and deplor- able 179 able a condition the kingdom of Scotland was, not many months ago ; the Hberty and property of the subject quite destroyed, either upon pretence of law, without any ground, or by such laws as were designed and calculated for enslaving us; our religion exposed, and laid open to be ruined by the treachery of our clergy, as well as by the compliance of our rulers. And so far had this Popish and arbitrary design run on, that we were very nigh past hopes of a recovery, when it pleased God to raise up your Majesty to be the glorious instrument of retrieving our religion, liberty, and property, from the very brink of ruin. * It is from the grateful and dutiful sense of so happy and unexpected a delivery, as well as from the respect due to the blood of their ancient Monarchs, that the Estates of Scotland have com- missionate us to make a humble tender to your Majesty, and your Royal Consort, of that crown and kingdom, with the firm persuasion and assur- ance of this rooted in their hearts, that the care and protection of religion, liberty, and property, could be nowhere so well lodged as in the hands of your Majesties, their great and glorious deli- verer.' *' Then his Lordship presented to his Majesty the following letter ; which, being delivered back, was read by Mr. Eliote, the secretary to the com- mission. N2 « A letter ISO ' A letter from the Estates of Scotland to the K-ing. '^ May it pkase your Majesty, * The settling of the monarchy and ancient government of the kingdom admitting no delay, we did, upon the eleventh instant, proclaim your Majesty and your Royal Consort King and Queen of Scotland, with so much unanimity, that of the whole House there was not one contrary vote. We have nominated the Earl of Argyle, Sir James Montgomery of Skelmorly, and Sir John Dal- rymple, younger, of Stair, in our name, to attend your Majesties with the cheerful offer of the Crawn ; and humbly to present the petition, or claim of right, of the subjects of the kingdom. As also to represent some things found grievous to this nation, which we humbly entreat your Majesty to re-mead by wholesome laws in the first Parliament. And in testimony of your Majesty's and the Queen's acceptance, we beseech your Majesties, in presence of these sent by us, to swear and sign the oath herewith presented, which our law hath appointed to be taken by our Kings and Queens at the entry to their government, till such time as the great affair allow this kingdom the happiness of your presence in order to the co- ronation of your Majesties. * We are most sensible of your Majesty's kind- ness and fatherly care to both your kingdoms, in promoting their union, which, we hope, hath been reserved 181 reserved to be accomplished by you ; that as both kingdoms are united in one head and sovereign, so they may become one body poUtick, one na- tion to be represented in one Parliament. And to testify our readiness to comply with your Majesty in that matter, we have nominated com- missioners to treat the terms of one entire and perpetual union betwixt the two kingdoms, vvith reservation to us of our church-government, as it shall be established at the time of the Union. These commissioners do wait your Majesty's ap- probation and call, that they meet and treat with the commissioners to be appointed for England, at what time and place your Majesty shall ap- point. And if any difficulty shall arise in the treaty, we do upon our part refer the determina- tion thereof to your Majesty. And we do assure c ourselves, from your Majesty's prudence and good- ness, of a happy conclusion to that important affair, so as the same may be agreed to, and rati- fied by your Majesty in the first Parliament. We do likewise render your Majesty our most dutiful thanks for your gracious letter brought to us by the Lord Ross (a person well affected to your service) ; and for your princely care in send- ing down these troops, which may in the mean time help to preserve us ; and, when the season offers, may be employed towards the recbvery of Ireland from that deplorable condition, and ex- treme danger, to which the Protestants there are exposedf 182 exposed. The guarding our coasts with a good fleet preserves England as well as us from any in- vasion. * And as it is the interest of England to con- tribute to secure us from the first impressions of the common danger, so we shall not be wanting on our parts to give our assistance for reducing of Ireland, that all your Majesty's kingdoms may flourish in peace and truth, under the auspicious influence of your happy reigns. * Signed at the desire of the Estates, and in our name, by our President. * May it please your Majesty, * Your Majesty's most humble, * most obedient, ' and faithful subject and servant. * Hamjlton, p. ' Edinburgh. April 24, I689.' " Then Mr. Eliote proceeded to read the Claim of Right, after it had been presented to his Ma- jesty by the Earl of Argyle, and delivered back by the King. ** In the third place was read a paper of grievan- ces, which the Estates desired might be redressed. " Then followed the reading of the following address. * An Address to his Majesty. * May it please your Majesty, * It is the humble desire of your Estates of Scotland, that, for the further settling and secur- ing 183 ing of the Protestant r€ligion, the government. Jaws, and hberties, of this kingdom, and redress- ing the grievances represented by them, your Majesty will be pleased to turn this; their meetnig into a Parliament, ' Signed at the desire of the Estates, and in our name, by our President. * May it please your Majesty, *your Majesty's most humble, * most obedient, * and faithful subject and servant, ' Hamilton, P. < Edinburgh, April 24, 1689.' " After these papers were read, his Majesty was pleased to express himself to this purpose : * That at his coming from Holland he had a particular regard to Scotland, and had emitted a declaration for that kingdom, as well as for Eng- land, which he would make effectual to them ; that he did take it very kindly Scotland had expressed so much confidence in him, and should testify his sense of it in every thing that might be for its in- terest, and would be ready to redress all grievances, and prevent the like for the future by good and wholesome laws/ " In the last place, the ooronation-oath was ren- dered to their Majesties; which my Lord Argyle pronounced distinctly word by word, and their Majesties repeated it after him, holding up their right hands, according to the custom of taking oiiths in Scotland. 1S4 *THE OATH. * We, William and Mary, King and Queen of Scotland, faithfully promise and swear, by this our solemn oath, in presence of the eternal God, that, during the whole course of our life, we will serve the same eternal God, to the uttermost of our power, according as he has required in his most holy word, revealed and contained iji the New and Old Testament ; and according to the same u^ord shall maintain the true religion of Christ Jesus, the preaching of his holy word, and the due and right ministration of the sacraments, now received and preached within the realm of Scot- land and shall abolish and gainstand all false religion contrary to the same, and shall rule the people committed to our charge, according to the will and command of God, revealed in his afore- said word, and according to the loveable laws and constitutions received in this realm, no ways re- pugnant to the said word of the eternal God, and shall procure, to the utmost of our power, to the Kirk of God, and whole Christian people, true and perfect peace in all time coming. That we shall preserve and keep in violated, the rights and rents, with all just privileges of the Crown of Scot- land, neither shall we transfer nor alienate the same. That we shall forbid and repress in all estates and degrees, reif. oppression, and all ki»d of wrong. And we shall command and procure, that justice and equity in all judgments be keepe^ to 185 4o all persons without exception, as the Lord and -Father of all mercies shall be merciful to us. And we shall be careful to root out all heretics and enemies to the true worship of God, that shall be convicted by the true Kirk of God of the foresaid crimes, out of our lands and empire of Scotland. And we faithfully affirm the things above written by our solemn oath.' " Under ' April the 24th, 16S9. ' This is the oath to be presented to their Ma- jesties the King and Queen, appointed by the JEstates to be marked by me as their President. ' Hamilton, P.* " The meeting of the Estates of Scotland had authorised their Commissioners to represent to his Majesty, in relation to the last clause of the oath, 3.bout the rooting out of hereticks, that, by the lavr of Scotland, no man can be destroyed or perse- jeuted for his private opinion; and that even pbstinate hereticks, convicted for perverting of others, can only be denounced or outlawed ; whereby their moveable goods are confiscated. Accordingly they did represent the same to the King ; and his Majesty, when he took the oath, at pronouncing of the last clause, did say publicly, * I do not mean by these words, to be under any necessity to become a persecutor ;' and did require the Commissioners, as witnesses, that he had sig- nified so much iji taking the oath ; to which the pommissioners answered, that persecution was neither 186 neither intended by the oath, nor required by the law of the land. " Then their Majesties signed the oath, in pre- sence of the Commissioners, &c. " God save King William and Queen Mary/' VISIT OF WILLIAM III. TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CAM- BRIDGE, 1689. The following interesting article is extracted from the London Gazette, October 10, l68g, ^' On Sunday last, the Vice-Chancellor, the Heads of Colleges, and Doctors in all Faculties, with several Regents and Non-regents, in their proper habits, waited upon his Majesty at New- market, being introduced into his Royal presence by his Grace the Duke of Somerset, Chancellor of the University. The Reverend Dr. Covell, Vice- Chancellor, addressed himself to his Majesty in a proper and elegant speech, congratulating the glo- rious successes his Majesty had been blessed with in his endeavours to rescue this church and nation from the imminent dangers that threatened both, and which were more particularly pointed against the Universities. And concluded with an humble recommendation of themselves to his Majesty's protection, wherein the Protestant religion had so much concern. To which his Majesty was pleased to return in answer, that as God had blessed him in this undertaking, so he should faithfully dis- charge his trust in preserving the church of Eng»- land. 187 land, and giving all protection and favour to the Universities. They then waited upon his Majesty to church, and at their return from thence were conducted to the King's house, where, by direc- tions from his Majesty, they were received and splendidly entertained at dinner by Sir James Forbes, clerk of the green cloth. " The next day, his Majesty was pleased to make a visit to the University, and arrived here in, the morning, being met without the town by the Mayor and Aldermen of the Corporation in their formalities, who complimented his Majesty, by Mr. Pepys, their present Mayor, and made a pre- sent of a large basin and ewer. They marchedl before him into town, at the entrance whereof his Majesty was received by rows of scholars, accord- ing to their several degrees, on each side of the streets leading to the public schools, and amidst the loud acclamations of all sorts of persons. His? Majesty, alighting at the schools, received there the public thanks of the University, by the Vice- Chancellor and their orator, for the great honour that was then done them ; and an extraordinary Commencement being then held on this signal occasion, for conferring degrees on persons of worth in all faculties, Mr. Kidder and Mr. Fell- ing were created Doctors in his Majesty's pre- sence, being presented by the Regius Professor, Dr. Beaumont, with that unimitable elegancy ivhich is so peculiar to him. '-From 188 **' From the schools his Majesty walked to King's College, where Mr. Layton, a fellow of that society, declaring in his speech the appre- hensions they were under least they might have offended his Majesty by a late petition, wherein they only mentioned one single person as duly qualified to succeed in the vacancy of their Pro- vost, and humbly beseeching his Majesty's favour- able construction of that matter, his Majesty was pleased (that none might be left there doubtful of his favour) graciously to assure them, that he will- ingly granted all they desired, or could wish, and that they might admit Dr. Roderick to be theif Provost as soon as they pleased, which they re- ceived with the greatest joy and gratitude imagin- able. " After that, his Majesty went to Trinity- College ; and in the first court thereof was con- gratulated by the Honourable Dr. Montague, the master, and in the second by Mr. Norris, a fellow of that College, and with a copy of English verses in the new-built library ; the structure whereof his Majesty was very well pleased with. And here his Majesty was pleased to accept of a dinner, provided by the University, in the College-hall ; where, at the upper end, was a table, raised five steps above the floor, at which sat his Majesty, and at one end his Royal Highness Prince George of Denmark, who attended him hither ; and at the other tables, on each side of the hall, were their IS9 their Excellencies the Spanish and Dutch Am- bassadors, with several other Foreign Ministers, together with the nobilit}' and principal gentry in great numbers. All which his Majesty was gra- ciously pleased to accept, sending from table a message to his Grace the Chancellor, that he drank to him, and wished prosperity to the Uni- versity of Cambridge. Immediately after dinner, his Majest}' returned to Newmarket through inQ- nite throngs of people, who crowded from all parts to have the happiness of seeing his Majesty.'* SIEGE OF VIENNA IN I683*. The capital of Austria having a second time fallen into the power of the French, within a very short period, after res'istance which hardly de- serves the name, it may be ])roper 10 compare the successful defence of the above date with the well- known facts attending the recent surrender. The narrative now given was compiled from the account published by the British government immediately on the receipt of it from the Austrian court. The Turks, having assembled in great force, made an irruption into Hungary, compelling the Duke of Lorrain, who commanded the Austrian army, to repass the Raab, retire under the walls of Altenburgh, and separate his infantry and ca- valry by sending the latter to the island of Schutz, in the Danube. At this critical moment, the * Seethe annexed plan, engraved from a curious German print ui my possession. Duke 190 Duke received the melanclioJy intelligence, tliafc the Hungarians, on whom he depended for the protection of the Raab, had betrayed their trusts A rapid retreat of the Imperialists was so prompt- ly pursued by the Turks, that the van and rear of the two armies were warmly engaged^ when the Prince of Savoy was mortally wounded. The Duke arrived in the neighbourhood of Vienna on the 8th of July; and at nine o'clock the same evening their Imperial Majesties and family departed for Lintz. This event produced ungovernable dismay throughout the city ; num- bers fled in every direction; but the governor. Prince Stahremberg, having entered the town on the 8th, with the assistance of Count de Capheres, made every possible effort to improve the defences, and particularly by planting pallisadoes on the counterscarp. On the 11th and following day, six regiments of Imperial infantry entered ; when the garrison, including 15OO men of the regiment of Stahremberg, consisted of 14,500 foot, and 1000 horse, exclusive of from 12 to 15,000 citi- zens, capable of bearing arms. The 13th of July was appropriated to the hor- rid task of destroying the suburbs, composed of more than Jive thousand houses and sixteen pa- laces ; the whole of which, with their valuable contents, were reduced to ashes. On the suc- ceeding day, eleven regiments of cavalry, seven of dragoons, three of Croats, and sixteen troops of Polish horse, marched through the city, and crossed 191 crossed the Danube, on their route to Come Neu- bourg. Four large boats, laden with ammuni- tion, reached the town the same day; with which the Turks contrived to introduce incendiaries, who succeeded in burning several houses near the principal magazine; but, being discovered, the populace seized them, and they were literally flayed alive, and thus dragged along the streets. During this dread interval of preparation, the enemy advanced into Austria ; the Tartars, com- posing part of their number, committing the most shocking acts of barbarous atrocity. On the 15th, Vienna was formally invested by ] 50,000 men. The Grand Vizier took possession of the Empress Dowager's palace, called La Favorite *, and made it his head-quarters ; he ordered the trenches to be opened immediately, and some guns were fired at the town before the close of the day. On the 16th, they opened tln-ee batteries, and discharged many bombs ; and the Turks obtained possession of Leopoldstadt, and another small island in the night. Amongst the casualties of this day was a wound received by the Prince-governor, who was contused in the head by a stone forced out of its place by a cannon-ball. From the above date till the 19th, they ad- vanced their works; and sallies were made by the besieged under a very heavy discharge of cannon on both sides. The 20th, a batter}^ opened from Leo- * See annexed view of the rums as in 1724. poldstadt. 1^^ poldstadt, composed of artillery and moftair^. The next day, Prince Stahremberg i^eceived a let- ter from the Duke of Lorrain, with promises of relief. The day of the 23d, the: fire of the Turks evidently decreased ; but the succeeding night explained the cause, by the explosion of two mines sprung on the sides of their principal line of attack, which was directed against the Lebl bas- tion. Three several assaults immediately took J)lace on two points ; those were repulsed with great effect, and numbers of the enemy perished* The 25th produced a repetition of explosions and attacks, with no better success on the part of the besiegers, except that the Germans suffered severely in the loss of men ; this the latter at- tempted to balance by springing a mine under the Turks on the 26th, which failed in a great degree of the conjectured effect. A letter, written by the Governor to the Duke of Lorrain, had been intercepted. This was tied to an arrow, and shot into the town, with a sum- mons to surrender, before the Grand Seignior be^^^ came completely exasperated. The counterscarp vp'as again assailed, and desperately defended, on the 27th, four several times ; and from that date till the 3d of August, mines and countermines were constantly exploded, and the assaults were almost uninterrupted. At 1 at night of the 3d, the besiegers stormed the counterscarp before the ravelin of Burgshor, and made a lodgement, after four 193 four repulses. The same day they completed a battery facing the Burg bastion. The 6th, they fired several mines, and descended into the ditch, to the great alarm of the garrison. A sortie took place the next day, when many Turks were slain. This they revenged on the 9th, by a mine which buried numbers of Germans ; but their friends, making another sally, ruined the works raised in the ditch, thouoh with considerable loss of lives. Mines continued to be sprung by both parties : on the 11th, 12th, and 13th, the Turks erected new batteries; and, in the face of mucli opposi- tion, again established themselves in the ditch. On the 14th, the garrison saw them advance their works in it before the ravelin ; and the night fol- lowing they were lodged on the point of the latter. These works were once more demolished by the besieged; and, after continual fighting, the Turks again succeeded in securing the ditch, when the former made several retrenchments v.ithin the bastions. The Joss of officers began to be severely felt, exclusive of many sick ; one colonel, five lieuten- ant-colonels, thirty captains, and thirtv-eight lieu- tenants had perished, with privates in proportion. The point of the bastion of Lebl was blown up on the 2d of September; which was followed by an attack, and a repulse. A second mine made a breach in the flank of the above bastion ; but the o endea- 194 endeavours made by the Turks to enter were ren- dered abortive by the spirit of the garrison. The distress now experienced induced the Go- vernor to make signals from the tower of St. Ni- cholas, explaining his situation ; and this circum- stance, perhaps, induced the furious and unsuc- cessful efforts of the Turks, on the 5th, 6th, and 7th, to gain the injured bastion. The 8th proved a fortunate day for the town, as the engineers had discovered a very large mine, and withdrew the powder : the same day they repeated the signals of distress. The 9th of September was distinguished by the breaking up of part of the Turkish army, which marched towards Kalemberg. This unexpected movement was explained by a prisoner, who said, that they had received advice of the approach of the Christian army; the remainder, however, continued the siege, by mining and bombard- ment. On the afternoon of the 11th, the whole body moved in the direction above-mentioned: still the operations continued, and the fire from the batteries was almost incessant; and thus the Turks proceeded, till the approach of a brigade of Imperialists, under the command of the Margrave of Baden, threw them into confusion, which the Governor perceiving, ordered an attack upon their trenches, where the Turks perished, nearly to a man. At five, the Margrave entered Vienna, - when 195 when he found the garrison reduced to 4,500 men — a force totally inadequate to the further defence of the bastion where the breach had been made. An attentive examination of the works raised by the enemy filled the spectators with astonish- ment, as they found the trenches, not only secure from the effect of shot, but equally secured from the beams of the sun, and the beating of the tem- pest. This invasion of the Turks was attended by the following disastrous consequences : the siege of the capital for sixty days ; the misery of the inhabitants ; the loss of 100,000 Christian lives ; besides great numbers carried into capti- vity ; and the complete desolation of Austria. Two letters, written by the Governor, and in- serted in our national Gazette, are so honourable to the memory of that brave officer, and, at the same time, so illustrative of the above narrative, that they are given without hesitation. " A letter from the Count de Stahremburg, governor of Vienna, to the Duke of Lorrain, dated August 1 8th, 1683. " God be thanked, one of my letters has had the good fortune to come to your Highness's hands. You would have received many more since the 22d past, had I found persons fit to carry them, in which many have miscarried ; and it will not be my fault if your Highness be not oftener and better informed for the future. That your Highness may at present know our o 2 condition, 196 Gonditlon^ I will tell you^ that hitherto we have disputed every foot of ground with the enemy, and what they have gained they have paid dear for, having, as often as they attempted to lodge themselves, been very vigorously repulsed by us with our swords in our hands, with so great loss on their side, that they now hardly dare shew themselves out of the holes and hills with which they have surrounded their attack of the counter- scarp. Your Highness understood by my last, that the enemy had made a descent into the ditch of the ravelin, and that they blew up part of the wall ; where, as they did then, so have several times since, made an assault ; but, God be thank- ed, without success. We have likewise several times beaten them from the post they had taken at the foot of the breach ; but, as soon as our men retired, they returned thither again. I have thereupon used what precaution I could, and have caused pits to be made in the point of the ravelin, and done whatever else might most annoy the enemy. I have done the like in the bastions they attack, where they have as yet gained no* ground, remaining still on the edge of the coun- terscarp. The 14th, they made a descent into the ditch before the bastion, called Lebl ; and the same night they made another great lodgment in the ditch ; whereupon, perceiving that we could not much incommode them there, neither with our great or small shot, because they lay too low 197 in the ground, I employed our cannon against their works that secured their passage into the ditch, and, attacking them three several times, we beat them from thence. In the first attack our men were not strong enough to ruin their works ; but in the second, towards evening, we ruined part of their works ; and in the third, which we made in the night, we destroyed all their works, and the wind being favourable, burnt their gabi- ons, and almost all their gallery ; and since that they have not made any farther attack upon the ravelin on that side. Yesterday they sprang a mine, but without any success. We have made in the middle of the ravelin a good retrenchment with a good ditch. The bastions of Lebl and that of the Court have likewise double retrenchments ; and I am now making a great retrenchment be- hind these two bastions, so that your Highness may see w^e are not wanting in any thing on our part ; and, I assure you, I will never surrender the place but with the last drop of my blood. For the rest, our men do not fear the enemy ; and, thanks be to God, thirty and forty of ours have always beaten and dislodged one hundred of theirs. This day was brought to me a Janissary prisoner, who, among other things, tells me, that they have lost in the attacks they have made 1 1,000 men, a great many officers and Janissa- ries, and the Bassas of Mesopotamia and Albania; and that they begin to suffer very much for want of 198 of forage and victuals, which they are forced to go a great way for, and that they are expecting a con- voy from Macedon. For what concerns myself, I have had the bloody flux these eight days ; but am at present somewhat better : however, that made me not neglect my duty, for I was carried where I could not go. Your Highness will com- fort us with your presence, and do me the favour to believe that I am, &c. " P. S. August ig. Since yesterday, the ene- my have again sprung a mine under the ravelin, and given an assault with 11,000 men, whom we received very well with our great and small shot ; and in conclusion they made an inconsiderable lodgment, though with the loss of 300 of their men ; but this morning I sprung a mine, which dislodged them, and buried a great number of them. I expect at this minute a like entertain- ment from them ; and if I can be ready before them, I will spring one more to your Highness's health." *^ A copy of a letter from the Count de Stah- remburg. Governor of Vienna, to the Duke of Lorrain, dated August 27, 1683. ** I cast myself at your Highness's feet, most humbly to thank your Highness for the goodness you were pleased to express towards me in your last letter. Your Highness knows I am perfectly devoted to you, and that 1 desire nothing more passionately 199 passionately than by my most humble services to render myself worthy thereof. Since my last, the enemy have sprang six or seven mines in the rave- lin, which, aftf having repulsed them, we presently repaired again, and we still maintain our retrench- ments, the "nemy having hitherto gained no more than a loJgment on the point of the ravelin. We search above and under ground, and have countermined three of the enemy's mines, and sprung two mines, which had good effect, and would have had better, were our miners more brave and expert ; but, being people which we get together any way, it is impossible to make them re-enter a mine when they once hear the enemy at work. In the counterscarp, the enemy have likewise sprung three mines near a retrench- ment, palisadoed, which we still maintain, to cover the caponiers we have in the ditch; and though the palisadoes were in some places beaten down by the last mine, yet our men maintained the post with their swords in their hands, till such time as they were made good again, and we do still keep it. The enemy have again made two descents into the ditch, the one towards the bas- tion of Lebl, and the other towards that of the Court ; from whence our men did in open day, under the favour of the fire we gave upon the enemy two hours together, very bravely dislodge them, while others, commanded for that purpose, jSlled up their works, and burnt their gabions and galleries. 200 galleries, so that they now must begin again. But, Sir, it is time to succour us : we lose a great many men, and many officers, more by the bloody flux than by the fire of the enemy ; for there dies almost every day sixty of this distemper. We have no more grenadoes, which was our best de- fence ; our cannon are partly spoiled by the ene- my, and partly burst, not having endured fifty shot, by reason of the badness of their metal. And the enemy, finding they cannot with small numbers lodge themselves in the ditch, piake great lodgments on the counterscarp, to keep a great number of men there, and to make an ex- traordinary effort. For the rest, it is certain, that the enemy have lost, and do still lose, every day a great many Janissaries, and that they have many wounded and sick of the same distemper, which reigns amongst them. They have several camps far enough from each other, and may be easily beaten if they stay for your Highness here, which I do not believe they will do. They are not at present Co, 000 fighting men, and one camp may be beaten before it can be assisted by the other. We expect 5'^our Highness witli the greatest impa- tience ; but 1, not so much to be delivered of this siege, as to have the honour to assure your High- ness of the respect with which I am, &c. " P. S. At this instant my miners inform me, that they hear the enemy working beneath them under the bastion of the Court ; they must have passed 201 passed the ditch under ground, and there is no more time to be lost." '* An account of the solemnity observed at the proclaiming our dread Sovereign King James II. in the city of Madras, on the coast of Coro- mandel, in the East Indies, the 13th day of August 1685, by order of the East India Com- pany, as folio weth. " The whole Council, with the commanders of ships, and the rest of the Company's servants, and English gentlemen, inhabitants of the city, came to attend the President at the (iarden-housCj with a handsome equipage on horseback ; after that came Paddi Naigue with his peons, and the chief merchants, with a great number of inhabitants of the Gentue town, all in arms, bringing with them elephants, kettle-drums, and all the country musick ; and from thence we set forward with this numerous company of people through the Gentue town, the houses and streets being adorned all the way. Paddi Naigue's peons, the chief merchants, and Gentue inhabitants, went first, elephants carr^nng our Hags, the kettle-drums and musick playing before them ; after that went twelve English trumpets with silk banners, and six hoeboys, all in red coats, playing by turns all the way, and Mr. Coventry, clerk of our court, on horseback, bareheaded, and, with his sword drawn, carried the proclamation in his hand open; then 202 then the president, &c. and the rest of the Eng- hsh gentlemen, went in due order. The troop was commanded and led by the president, Mr. Thomas Lucas, cornet, and the rear was brought up by Mr. Elihu Yale ; and when we came to enter the garrison at the Coultrey-gate (one of the chief entrances into the city), there was in readi- ness three complete companies of soldiers, and all the principal Portugueses, to receive the Pre- sident and Council, &c. who marched before them to the Fort-gate, Sea-gate, and back to the Choul- trey-gate (three of the principal places of the city), at all which places the Proclamation was read by Mr. Coventry, all persons being unco- vered, and their swords drawn, and the Procla- mation ended with great shouts and jo3ful accla- mations, crying, " God bless King James II. I" Also, at every place of reading there was a volley of small shot, the trumpets sounding, and hoe- boys playing ; which done, the President, &c. returned in the same order to the Garden-house, the great guns both of the fort and town firing all the time ; and after that all the European and country ships did the like ; and soon after the President, &c. were returned, the Persian and Syam Ambassadors with great state, and a nume- rous retinue, came to congratulate our solemnity, and to bring their good wishes for his Majesty's prosperous reign, who, after some small stay, being handsomely saluted and treated according to 203 to their quality, with a banquet, musick, and dancing, they took leave, and departed to their houses with great satisfaction ; and then a general invitation being made, we drank his Majesty*s health, and long and happy reign, and at night there were bontires and fireworks, wherewith this solemnity ended." DREADFUL STORM IN HOLLAND. No country is more unfortunately situated, when violent agitation subsists in the atmosphere, than Holland ; where the inhabitants are not only exposed to the usual effects of wind and rain, but experience the additional horror arising from the possibility of their sea-banks failing and admit- ting the ocean at once upon them. The account given of the storm in the London Gazette, which occurred Nov. 22, 1686, is calculated to excite commiseration, though time has long since re- moved the survivors from temporal sufferings. " Groningen, Nov. 26. — On Friday the 22d instant, it blew the whole day a most violent storm from the S. E. ; towards iiight the wind changed to the West, then to the N. W. after- wards to the N. E. and back again to the N. W. The weather continued thus tempestuous all night, accompanied with thunder and lightning ; the chimneys and roofs of a great many houses were blown down, and much more mischief was done, but it was not comparable to that which followed ; 204 followed; for the dykes not being able to resist the violence of the sea, agitated by these terrible storms, the whole country between this and Deif- ziel^ being about eighteen English miles, was the next morning overwhelmed with water, which in many places was eight foot higher than the very dykes, and many people and thousands of cattle were drownetl, the water breaking even through the walls of the town of Delfziel, to that height that the inhabitants w^ere forced to betake them- selves to their garrets and upper rooms for shelter. The whole villas^e of Oterdam is in a manner swept away. At Termunderzyl, there is not one house left, above three hundred people being drowned there, and only nineteen escaping. Hereskes, Weywert, Woldendorp, and all the villages near the Eems, have suffered extremely. IliC Western quarter has likewise had its share in this calamity, and the highest lands have not escaped. On Sunday and yesterday it reached this city ; the lower parts whereof are now all under water. From the walls of this city we can see nothing but the tops of houses and steeples that remain above water. In a word, the misery and desolation is greater than can be expressed. " Groningen, Nov. 2€. — It's impossible to de- scribe the present sad condition of this province, occasioned by a most terrible inundation that hap|)€ned the 22d instant ; the like has not been ^nown these hundred years. The whole province, except 205 except the higher parts of this city, lies under water; whole villages have been swept away, and a great many people, with abundance of cattle, drowned ; and those that have escaped, sheltering themselves in garrets and upper rooms, are in great distress for want of relief: nothins; but lamen- tations, and trie jangling of bells for helj>, is heard through the whole country ; and though all possi- ble care is taken to assist them from hence, and other places, yet there not being boats enouo^h to afford help to all, it's to be feared many will be lost for want of it. At Oterdam, near Delfziel, but twenty-five persons have escaped; in the villa£;:e of Peterborne there are but three houses left standing, and in general, all the houses tliat stood near the dyke have been swept away." RECEPTION OF A BRITISPI EMBASSY AT ROME. As considerable agitation prevails respecting Catholic emancipation, it is gratifying to refer back to the period when Protestants were strug- gling for that religious freedom which some of our fellovv-subjects now demand, in order to shew the close connexion which prevailed between tlie head of the Roman church and the last of our Monarchs of that faith. My authority is the London Gazette, and consequently authentic. The Pope had been indisposed at the close of the year 16*85, but had suthciently recovered to receive the Earl of Castlemaine on the Sth of the following 206 following January, as the Ambassador Extraor- dinary of his Britannic Majesty. The arms of the Papal See and those of England were placed on the front of the Earl's hotel a few days before, and were uncovered at day-break with great cere- mony, and a flourish of trumpets, in the presence of numerous spectators, who greatly approved of the excellence of the workmanship. About three o'clock, the Papal officers and at- tendants and many prelates waited upon the Am- bassador, and the carriages of various Princes and Cardinals, sent to form the intended procession, assembled at the same hour. At four. Lord Castlemaine entered his coach, in company with six Archbishops, of whom Barzolini, not long be- fore Nuncio in France, sat on his left hand ; ten other' coaches, occupied by Prelates, with ser- vants in the livery of the British court, followed, and those of the Italian Princes closed the line of carriages. Thirty footmen, twenty in cloaks, and the re- mainder habited in close-bodied coats, preceded the Earl's coach, eight pages walked on the sides, led by the Dean of the footmen, in a dress of black velvet, that of the pages was crimson velvet cloaks, deep laced with gold, embroidered with black, white, and blue silk, the linings of brocade, the ground blue and gold flowers, the trimmings were blue ribbands and gold lace, and their hats had plumes of white feathers. The 207 The rest of the attendants, amounting to sixty in the aggregate, wore laced scarlet, lined with silk brocade. The Ambassador's gentleman of the horse rode a spirited Neapolitan charger, richly caparisoned. The reader will regret to hear, that this splen- did procession passed through streets overflowed by rain, and that the coaches described in the sue- ceeding paragraphs were exposed to heavy showers during the whole of the ceremony. *' His first coach is covered with crimson velvet, richly em- broidered with gold, and lined with brocard of gold, with a rich embroidery round the cornice, and in the middle his Excellency's arms, all of embossed needle-work, of gold. The body of the coach is supported by four Tritons, delicately carved and gilded. On the shoulder of the hinder Triton, on the right hand, leans a great figure, representing Britannia, crowned with wreaths of oak leaves ; on the other Triton leans a majestic figure, of the same bigness, representing Neptune; he and Britannia, like two deities, extend each a hand, and so bear up the Imperial erown of Eng- land ; besides which, there are other figures curi- ously wrought and gilded: so that, besides the pleasure of the invention, and excellency of the work, the whole carriage looks like a mighty mass of entir6 gold. " The second coach is covered with blue velvety and also lined with a rich brocard, and, for the embroiderr 208 embroidery and other richness, differs very little from the former (though it does in the design), being hkevvise curiously adorned with several figures, and other cawed work. " The third also differs very Httle from the two former, except that the outside is covered with leather, edged witli gold and silk lace, and gilt massy brass work: the rest of his Excellency's coaches are likewise very noble and rich." A perusal of the above description forcibly re- minds us of the clumsy vehicles, in which our pre- sent Monarchy his Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Mayor of London, are compelled to rumble on state occasions through the streets of the metropolis, which are certainly objects for wonder rather than admiration ; particularly when in the first and last instances those machines are com- pared with the beautiful and delicately constructed carriages of the Master of the Horse and the two Sheriffs. Fortunately I have it in my power.to annex an engraving of a coach, the drawing of which was made about the time of the event re- lated in this article. The citizens of Rome, despising the o})position of the elements, crowded their streets and the bal- conies of their houses, and, elated by the magnifi- cence of the spectacle before them, shouted " Viva il grand Re d'Ingelterra" till the Ambassador reached Monte Cavallo, where the Papal guard made a lane, through which the lay nobility and clergy 209 clergy proceeded to the Pope's chamber. The Earl afterwards passed half an hour with Cardinal Cibo, and returned by the light of wax torches to his hotel. ILLUSTRATION OF TURKISH MANNERS. We are all well acquainted with the sudden resentments, discontents, and ambitious projects of the Spahis, Janissaries, and more elevated ranks of the Turkish nation. Furious in the indulgence of their passions, and at all times ready for revolution, those in power know their probable destiny, and consequently meet it with more fortitude than would be discovered beyond the limits of Turkey — an instance of which will form the sequel of this article. — A fierce insurrec- tion of the common soldiers took place in the year l6'86, which ended in the elevation of a favourite to the oflice of Sultan, who is described in the London Gazette to have been a grave and studious man. This Soliman had tlie moderation to pre- serve the life of the deposed Sultan Mahomet, but the cruelty to separate him from his children. One of the principal mutineers, a Spahi, named Cochink Mahomet, soon obtained the reward of his exertions and their punishment. The bold- ness and ferocity of Cochink induced him to assume an air of command, which his fjllow-sol- diers, knowing the necessity of subordination, even in their own villainous attempts against obe- P dience. 210 dience, submitted to without a dissentient voice. Confirmed according to appearances in his new power, the great men of the empire approached him with terror, soHciting his protection with rich presents. Cochink lodged in a magnificent palace, situated in the Hippodrome, and was always at- tended by a strong guard. This availed him no- thing, for he sealed his doom by temporising with the army of plunderers, giving them large promises and extremely small rewards. " Was it for this," said the soldiers, " that we intrusted you to speak for us, that you might be lodged yourself in a palace, and be cloathed with sables, whilst w© lie ragged in the Mosque-yards and the corners of the streets ? And are we now to be contented, because you are grown rich by making bargains to our prejudice ?" Inflamed by the utterance of these reproaches, they seized their victim, dragged him from his horse, and cutting him with their knives and beating him with sticks, they soon rendered Cochink a mere mass of mat- ter. The tragedy ended in the plunder of his palace. Not long before the revolution, the jealousy of the then ministry caused the death of a chief at Rhodes, whose name was Ibrahim. The Beg of the galley, employed to convey certain deposed Mufti and the Capigee Bachi to Rhodes, having received some acts of friendship from Ibrahim, was extremely anxious to discover whether he formedi 211 formed any part of the object of the Bachi's visit j but such was the art and address of the latter, that he completely lulled all suspicion, and the Beg, overjoyed at the supposed security of his friend, waited on him with his congratulations. Those were interrupted by a tumultuous assembly around the gates : Ibrahim doubted ; but the good Beg insisted that the people waited to see the deposed Mufti : Ibrahim was incredulous. At this interesting moment, the Capigee Bachi entered, advanced to Ibrahim, kissed his vest, seated himself, and to an enquiry of what news ? replied, all was well. The remainder of this dreadful interview strongly paints the character of the Turk, which almost soars into sublimity. The fearless Ibrahim ordered coffee, partook of it with his guests, and conversed with them on mat- ters of no interest. At length, the messenger of death produced a paper from his bosom ; Ibrahim sat with an infant on his knee, which he caressed daring the intervals of conversation, and received the order ; having read it, he burst into t^ars. kissed the child, and dismissed it by an attendant i he then exclaimed, "What have I done! they have taken all my estate ; ought not that to con- tent them, but they must have my life ? Oh treacherous world !" One of the Capigee's officers having brought forward a strong thick cord, Ibrahim eyed it with disdain. " This," said he, " is only fit to strangle P 2 a dog.'*' 212 a dog" Turning to a domestic, he commanded him to bring a bow-string. This he wet in the act of ablution previous to prayers, and making the fatal knot himself, completed his orisons, when the slaves did their office, and Ibrahim ceased to exist. DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT COPENHAGEN, I689. Four large Theatres, and other places of public amusement, have been burnt to the ground within the last twenty-five years in London. Most hap- pily, each of the conflagrations occurred after the close of the Theatre for the night ; and we have been spared the horrors attending a fire during the performance. The inhabitants of the capital of Denmark, less fortunate, witnessed the destruc- tion of a magnificent palace, and the audience of its Theatre, in the same moment. The building was profusely ornamented with carving, which the London Gazette calls juniper-work ; the cieling was painted on canvas, in oil, and there were but two small doors. The place was crowded with the better classes of the people, and many of the nobi- lity ; a lamp placed too near some carving set it on fire, the flame ascended, and immediately reached the inflammable cieling. Involved in smoke, and rendered desperate by their situation, every person pressed to the doors, through which 280 were incapable of passing ; those perished, and numbers escaped dreadfully scorched and injured. THE 2ia THE INSTABILITY OF HUMAN GREATNESS EXEMPLIFIED. ' Hov\'ever instructive or useful it may be to speculate on the uncertainty of all things, little that is new can be said on the subject: every historical fact illustrates this point. The life of James II. of England, his illegal acts, and his ab- dication of the throne, are narrated in every his- tory of the empire ; but the last effervescence of his joy on the birth of a son is perhaps at present known only to those who have read the early numbers of the London Gazette ; that publication furnishes several curious instances of the excessive zeal exhibited at various foreign courts, which fol- low in a state of abridgement. Mr. Innes, principal of the Scots college in Paris, selected the anniversary of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, to demonstrate the loyalty to which he vvas undoubtedly prompted. From the description conveyed to us, it appears, that his transparencies of the Royal arms of England, and those of the young Prince, his obelisks, s^nd numerous lamps distributed in profusion, and his superb fireworks, were very little short of some of the late exhibitions at Paris, making due allow- ance for the inferior means of the principal more than a hundred years past, compared with the ability of the present government of France. A grand collation closed tlie pleasures of the evening, which 214 which were promoted by the attendance of the Royal musicians. Sir Gabriel Sylvius, envoy extraordinary from England to the court of Denmark, gave an enter- tainment profuse and excellent in every particu- lar, at which some of the Royal family, the Am- bassadors, and the Ministers of State attended; the various healths were announced by discharges of cannon, and the populace drank to excess from several fountains of claret an^ white wine, which were placed in front of the Ambassador's house. At night, the same area facing the sea exhibited an amphitheatre, with transparencies of the arms of England and Wales; beyond those, several steps appeared to lead to a tower, and on that the King's arms, represented in artificial fire, burnt for three hours ; the Prince's motto, a figure of Britannia, and many })yramids, were of the same fierce composition. A considerable expanse of water ornamented the space before the hotel, in which was a jef d'eaii, 30 feet in height. This Sir Gabriel selected as the grand theatre of his fireworks ; those were very splendid; and finally, part of them exploded at the bottom of the basin, whence the mingled elements ascended to a great elevation, sparkling with excessive brilliancy. The King and ^ueen had been expected to honour the ball in the evening with their presence, but sent an excuse by the Prince Royal and his brother, who were conducted by Sir Gabriel through a number 215 number of emblematical transparencies to a mag- nificent hall brilliantly illuminated and covered with mirrors, which, reflecting each light, ren- dered the effect almost too dazzling for the organs of vision, and the view of a superb throne. Another room contained refreshments for those wearied by pleasure. The Earl of Carlingford strongly excited the curiosity and approbation of the Court and inha- bitants of Vienna by entertainments nearly simi- lar to those at Copenhagen. Edmond Foley, Esq. who was envoy extraor- dinary at Stockholm, received the intelligence of the birth of the Prince during the absence of the Swedish Court. Upon the return of the Royal family to the metropolis, Mr. Foley, attended by a train of English gentlemen, conveyed in twenty coaches, waited on his Swedish Majesty, and ac- quainted him at a public audience of the happy event which had just occurred. Some days after, he invited the principal Senators and King's offi- cers to an entertainment, when he ordered all the British ships in the port to be dressed with flags and moored, so as to produce a fine eflfect viewed from the city, while three others, provided with cannon, were to fire salutes by signal on drinking each health, fifteen to those of the Royal family and nine to the guests. The trumpets and kettle-drums of the Royal household were sent to promote the pleasures of the 216 the banquet by sounding at the arrival of the com- pany and the pronouncing of the toasts. A ma- chine, contrived for the purpose of supplying the populace with wine, erected before the house, sup- ported a large painting of their Britannic Majes- ties in a rich frame; an arch, covered with natu- ral flowers, connected this structure with the Envoy's house. " Under their Majesties' pictures," adds the Gazette, " were placed the King's arms, of a larger size, with the supporters carved propor- • tionably, and the pipes so disposed, that the wine was to run out of the mouths of the lion and unicorn. Under the King's arms was a large table, fairly painted and adorned according to art, with Dorick pillars on each side, with their cor- nices, capitals, and bafes, and between them was written in fair gold letters the happy occasion of the solemnity. Jacobo Secundo, Magncc Britanniae Regi, Patri August© ; Et Mariae, Magn?e Britanniae Reginap, Matri Augustce, Fcelix Faustumque Ob Natutn Principem Quarto Idus Junias Anno Salutis Humanae M,DC,LXXXV1IL *♦ And 217 " And under it was a much larger table than the former, adorned with painting and all decora- tions thereunto belonging. In the middle where- of were encircled with olive branches these follow- ing verses made upon the present subject; the whole being adorned with flowers and so much art as made a very handsome appearance, and very suitable to the occasion. " Prospera si tam Fata forent, quam est digna Parentum Progenies, nihil hoc Principe majus erit: Maximus huic Carolus Pater est, haec Filia Magni est Alphonsi, quos non Fama loquetur Avos ? Hie Bello magnus, magna est Virtutibus ilia, lUe su3e Decus est Gentis, et ilia suae. Nata in tot Laudes, in tantos nata Triumphos, Haec Soboles quod non sit meritura Decus ? ** After the meat was taken off, there was served up a very fine desert, with many great pyramids of dried sweetmeats ; betv/een which were placed all such fruits, iced creams, and such other varie- ties as the season afforded. At dinner, there were twelve sorts of wine, and all extraordinary good in their kind. " The Senators having continued at table till near seven o'clock, about an hour after they took their leaves, and then removed to see the fireworks, which were prepared ujjon the water before the great bridge, amidst the ships which lay there; and 218 and for a signal at the beginning of the firework there were fired twenty-one great guns. The rea- son the fireworks could not be near his house was, that, most of the houses of the town being both built of and covered with wood, there would have been great danger of fire in so hot a season of the year; and the same apprehensions hindered his causing any bonfires to be made. " When the firework began, the King and Prince of Holstein were pleased to place them- selves in an island hard by to see it. The body of the firework consisted of a castle with all its towers and flags, which was so placed as to move upon the water, and from all its several towers cast great quantities of rockets and other sorts of artificial fires ; amongst which were several balls, which, after having risen in the air, discharged some grenadoes, fell into the water, and after a little time rose up again, and filled the air with great quantities of rockets and stars, &c. to the great entertainment of the beholders. " As the fireworks began, the trumpets and kettle-drurns aboard the ships did their part; niost of the English merchants being also on board, added to the ceremony by their acclama- tions. It lasted about an hour, and was concluded with as many great guns as had been fired at the beginning, and with their Majesties and the Prince's healths, which were drank with two hogs- head? of wine the Envoy had sent on board, and lasted 219 lasted with continued shooting till two or three o'clock in the morning. " The number of people of all qualities enter- tained at tlie Envoy's house, according to the laudable custom of this country, was very great ; and as wine was very plentifully offered to all people of any kind of fashion, so they were not sparing in partaking of it : but all passed without any disorder." Such were the joys of the summer: the winter following, the infatuated James passed down the Thames silently, dejected, and no longer a King. He would have left his dominions in a boat desti- tute of ballast; his conductors came on shore to obtain it, when part of his subjects compelled him to return to the metropolis ; having reached Ro- chester on his second attempt, he left that place at eleven o'clock in the night of the 23d of De- cember, and braved the horrors of the sea in a miserable fishing-boat, in which he reached Am- bleteuse in safety, accompanied by the Duke of Berwick. The Queen and Prince of Wales were received at St. Germain en Laye on the 19th of the same month by the Ring of France, and treated with great respect. PRINCE CHARLES OF B.RANDENBURGH AND THE COUNTESS OF SALMOUN. The anecdote now presented to the reader was derived from the 19th number of the Post Boy, June 220 June 22(1, 169 J ; and possesses sufficient interest to excite the commiseration of each sex, and even the indignation of the ladies. The Prince had frequently seen the Countess of Salmoun, a wo- man celebrated for her virtue, her beauty, and her accomplishments. Those had previously pro- cured her a husband, whom she lost, and she was a widow of twenty-eight at the abov^e period. The qualities already mentioned rendered it impossible Prince Charles should succeed in his addresses in any other than an honourable way. Convinced of this fact, and assured of her appro- bation, he formed the rash resolution of marrying the Countess in defiance of the displeasure of the reigning Elector his elder brother. On the day fixed for this purpose, he proposed a party of pleasure to La Venerie, a palace belong- ing to tlie Sovereign, where several gentlemen accompanied him without the least suspicion of the real object of the visit. The Prince at length declared his resolution, which was at first treated as a jest, but the appearance of the Countess, attended by a priest, solved their doubts, and arguments warmly urged by every individual pre- sent against the match and its inevitable conse- quences served only to confirm the ardent lover in his determination. Fired with indignation at the imprudence and obstinacy of the Prince, his Master of the Horse declared he would rather die than suiTer the mar- riage 221 riage to proceed. He then ordered the priest to depart, which exasperated the Prince beyond con- troul, and he even drew his sword upon his faithful officer. This served as a signal to the whole party, and the weapon of each pointed to the breast of the brother of their Sovereign. Fortunately rea- son soon resumed her sway, the swords were sheathed, and the band of friends then discovered that terror had deprived tlie lovers of their eccle- siastick, who fled, and interrupted the ceremony for that time. The Master of the Horse rode post to Casal, where the Duke of Savoy was employed in be- sieging the city, and laid the preceding particulars before him. The Duke immediately demanded to see Prince Charles, who refused the summons ; but the former was more successful in securing the Lady, and the unfortunate Countess became a pri- soner in a convent, without the most distant hope of release. A process was instituted to inquire into the affair, and it was declared, that no niarriaersons, with a shovel; in which posture they advanced to the works, the engineer going along with them ; and having fixed their standard, they fell to their work with courage, and followed the same diligently till evening, when, they returned to the mayor's door, and gave three huzzas ; after which, they returned to their own parish, about a mile from hence. Yesterday the gardeners and hatters, to the number of three hundred, marched to the works likewise, with laurels in their hats ; and this day, three hundred Grecians, of the parish of St. SiJvvells, headed by their parson on horseback, as also the best of the parish in front and rear, with eight drums, rwo trumpets, and other sorts of musick." COFFEE 270 COFFEE versus BEER. The ladies of Holland were particularly at- tached to Coffee previous to and in the year 170O; they met in parties at their different houses, and sipped and talked alternately with infinite satis- faction. The half-animated Dutchman who as- pired to the character of a beau or polished gen- tleman, attracted by the vivacity of this descrip- tion of society, became insensibly attached to the exhilarating liquid, and gradually neglected the pipe and the brown jug : women in an inferior station of life, always on the alert to arrange themselves in the ranks of fashion, honoured Coffee with their approbation; and the boors who paid their court to them in the inviting arbours and rural shades of the publick drinking-gardens, found the necessity imperious, which compelled them to resign the glass for the china cup. Coffee concerns remained in this prosperous state for a considerable length of time, and the importers and retailers and grocers rejoiced ex- ceedingly ; but as it is decreed by fate that the old proverb, "One man's meat is another man's poison," must ever remain founded on the basis of truth, the Brewers and the Farmers of the excise upon beer languished in the midst of their beve- rage, which remained unsold and forgotten, ex- cept by a certain description of determined topers who 271 who never proceed out of a regular and systematic track ; these worthies, however, were not suf- ficiently numerous to support a whole trade and the army of excise. The injured party, becoming highly irritated, determined upon actual hostili- ties with the obtrusive foreign berry, and began their attack by a petition to the States General, in which they represented, that the consumption of beer'was so materially lessened, their business barely paid the necessary expences, and that the excise suffered in proportion. It is said that some of their High Mie;htinesses observed upon this petition, they thought the country suffered by a culpable indulgence on their parts, and recommended a duty which should prevent the use of coffee by any but the rich ; proposing forty florins for a license instead of four then paid; others, dreading domestic dissention, inclined to let things remain as they were^ and prevailing, a compromise took place, by which the drinkers were more equally divided between Coffee and Beer. A PIOUS PAPAL SEIZURE. The reigning pontiff, in the year 1700, v/as very aged, very infirm, and, as it happened, very near the termination of his existence ; but he was still very keen, as the party concerned with him in this anecdote perceived to his cost. Count Lembero-, embassador from the court of Austria, intended 272 intended to make a splendid public entry into Rome ; and, amongst other preparations, sent to Paris for a quantity of cloth of gold to cover his coach or coaches. On the arrival of this magfni- ficent cloth, it met with universal commendation, as the mosj; rich and beautiful specimen that had been seen in the former city : those commenda- tions reached the ears of the successor of St. Peter, and he requested to see it ; his w^ish was instantly gratified ; seized with ungovernable rapture, the good father solemnly blessed the favoured article, which immediately became sanctified, and con- sequently improper for profane purposes. The Imperial envoy was too good a Catholic to wait for a second hint; and, making a virtue of necessity, he declared the cloth from that moment the pro- perty of our Lady of Loretto. Count Martinitz, his predecessor, had exhibited much stupidity in comprehending and acquiescing in Italian finesse ; but the Pope observed of Lemberg, that he per- ceived in him a disposition to learn the lesson he had given on the suppression of vanity. ROYAL GALLIC LOTTERY. Louis XIV. never committed a more egregious mistake, with reference to his private character, than by promoting a lottery for the relief of the poor of Versailles. A monarch who had expended miUions of livres in erecting one of the most superb palaces 273 palaces in Europe, derived from the labours of his people, and thus in some measure causing their poverty, pretended to relieve it from that very palace in the manner adopted by the Dutch, a frugal people, in every respect unsuited for an example to an absolute prince. Instead of ap- propriating a portion of the edifice to the pur- poses of an almonry, whence a liberal stream from an unperceived source might have flowed in an equal current to the indigent, we are led to the antechamber of the Duchess of Burgundy, where we find four clerks employed in preparing tickets to the number of 20,000, and the amiable Louis acquiring ihe duties of a trustee, to see justice done between the duchess and his people. On the l6th of March, 1700, the Lieutenant of the Police gave orders for posting the scheme of the lottery on the walls of Paris, which an- nounced the tickets to be valued at a Louis d'Or, the highest prize to be 4,000, and the lowest 50 Louis d' Or. THE VIRGIN OF THE CHATELET. A statue of Our Lady, carved in wood, dirty, neglected, and decayed, which stood beneath an arch of the above building, rescued herself from that disgraceful state in the year I700, and pro- cured a washing, two wax candles to burn before her, and the prayers of numerous faithful persons, by the following simple means, which she knew T the 274 the populace would consider miraculous, and ho- nour her accordingly. The soldiers stationed at the Chatelet had their attention excited one evening by a person on horseback, whose animal became extremely restive under the arch : one of the men stepped forward, in order to lead the horse ; and, in passing his hand along for that purpose, perceived that he encountered petti- coats above and breeches beneath them ; the man, thus disguised, was immediately seized, and, upon further examination, they discovered him to be masked. The Reader must remember, that had not the decaying virgin interfered at the critical minute, the poHce would have been baffled by a villain, who eluded every thing in his way except the invisible stumbling-block placed under the feet of his horse. SINGULAR CASE OF ALLAIN ALEXANDER PITOT. The above A. A. Pitot was a Capuchin Friar, who professed and resided in the monastery of Mans, where he went by the name of Father Euse- bius of Guinchamp. Several persons of respec- tability who had been in France, and afterwards returned to England, declared that Pitot had in- timated to them his conversion to the Protestant faith, and ardent wish to escape to this country through their means : they readily consented, and furnished him with cloaths, and other neces- saries ; twice heen deavoured to elude the vigilance of 275 of his brethren and the superior, but failed in each attempt ; in consequence of which he was sen- tenced o perpetual imprisonment. In the month of July 1700 he was more for- tunate, and succeeded in passing through France, Flanders, and Holland, whence he reached Eng- land ; and, presenting himself before the vestry of the French church in Threadneedle-street, he declared his determination of abjuring the Roman Catholick, and adopting their faith. After due examination, the gentlemen of that body were convinced of the truth of his statements, and re- solved that they would permit him to make a public recantation in the church on the 8th of September. During the interval between the 11th of Au- gust and the above date, M. Pitot lodged at M. Fontaine's, in Spital-fields, who had a female servant zealously attached to the religion Pitot meant to reject ; but that fact was unknown to the family : this person, hearing of the intended ceremony, thought proper to communicate the information to the chaplain of a foreign minister, who called at Fontaine's, and requested to see the convert, which he had no sooner done than he expressed great pleasure, and enquired of Pitot whether he did not recollect Father Emanuel, whom he had known at Rennes, and who had set him the example, by becoming a proselyte to the Protestant communion. Pitot, recovering T 2 his 276 his ideas from the confusion caused by so unex- -pected a visit, remembered he had actually seen this person at the place just niCutioned ; and, feel- ing deeply his present situatron, blessed heaven that they had met under circumstances so very auspicious. Father Emanuel made many minute enquiries as to the manner of his escape, and, after further conversation, invited him to go to a Coffee- house, where they might enter into the subject of Pitot's conversion without restraint ; accordingly they went together to a place at a considerable distance, where Emanuel discovered that their refreshments were indifferent, and proposed ano- ther, still more remote from Spital-fields, which Pitot was unable to name, as he knew none of the streets of London. It was four o'clock when they left the house they first visited ; and the evening fast approaching, M. Pitot requested to be con- ducted home: at that moment Emanuel con- trived to introduce another proselyte, and by these means night had arrived ere the confederates consented to accompany their dupe to his lodg- ings. Instead of performing their promise, they led Pitot to a large mansion, which was after- wards found to be that of an ambassador whose name is not mentioned ; they entered an apart- ment on the left-hand, where Father Emanuel as- sumed the austerity of a monk, and pronounced himself to be a capuchin, armed with the powers of 277 of a Missionary from the holy see ; a Franciscan soon afterwards joined them, and. uniting their voices, they loudly reproached Pitot with his apostacy, at the same time declaring^ that they would make his peace if he would consent to sign certain propositions, and perhaps obtain for him a Chaplaincy to some l^oreign Minister, with a libe- ral pension. Near three hours were passed in severe con- tention, when the missionaries conducted Pitot up and down flights of stairs, who thought the apartment which was the termination of his ex- cursion the same he had left, as it contained a bed with green furniture, on which he reposed during the remainder of the night. On the fol- lowing morning he was taken to a room com- municating with a chapel, whence he saw five masses celebrated by the same number of priests, who administered the host to several persons : after the conclusion of the service, his conductors led him to the room he had before occupied, where he dined, and, being left alone, he contrived to open the locks which detained him a prisoner, and, after some difficulty, he reached his lodg- ings. When the family of M. Fontaine missed their inmate, some circumstances induced them to sus- pect the servant, who, upon being sharply in- terrogated and terrified, confessed she had been instrumental in his detention ; and, consenting to con- 278 conduct her master, and three other persons, to the place, she led them to the house already mentioned, where she immediately claimed and obtained the minister's protection who resided in it. As a further proof of the fact, M. Pitct's friends caused him to be conveyed to dift'erent parts of the city, and finally to the house in ques- tion, which he immediately recognized. The party implicated endeavoured to invalidate the monk's testimony by the following statement; that he was neither decoyed or deceived, as he went voluntarily to the house of the minister, and offered to continue in the faith of his fore^ fathers, provided he might be absolved from his monastic vows, and act for the future as a secular priest. This proposal being rejected by the mis- sionaries, he left them, and went to a public- house in the neighbourhood, where he slept ; and a person made oath that he was in Pitot's com- pany, and actually let him out the next morning through aback door : in addition to which, others declared he did not remain at the Envoy's resi- dence. " The Postman" observed upon this occa- sion, the " affair has appeared so material that the Government has taken notice tliereof ; and no doubt will provide, in their great wisdom, against future attempts of the like nature; and rather the more, because not long ago a Spanish prose- lyte, who had been a Carmelite Friar, and proved a man of good morals and principles, vanished away. 279 away, being doubtless taken up by missionaries, and likely carried aw:iy into Spain ; for several ad- vices from thence told us of a man being burnt alive for deserting the church, and the picture they made of that martyr was very like our Car- melite." On the 14th of September the servant girl was apprehended, and committed for trial ; and, on the following day, Mons. Pitot made a solemn re- nunciation of the Roman Catholic religion in the French church already mentioned. UNCOMMON INSTANCE OF MATERNAL INFAMY. The judicial court of Holland pronounced judgment on an affair, in October 1/00, which surpasses almost every instance of turpitude upon record, except in the solitary cases to be found in our State Trials. Madam Noortwyk, a lady of fortune, and of the most respectable connec- tions, had a daughter who unfortunately excited the admiration of a rich Jew. We are not told whether the young lady felt a similar regard for the Israelite; but, however that may have been_, the mother arranged a bargain with the gentle- man, who agreed to give her 33,000 florins as the price of the former. The parties were not sufficiently guarded in their conduct to prevent this infamous contract from being known : the public voice was loud in execrating it, and Madam Noortwyk's relations most honourably consigned her 280 ' her to unobstructed justice. The sentence of the court was severe, but not cruel ; though the case almost warranted some of the corporeal inflic-" lions of the law. Madam Noortwyk was im- prisoned for life, forfeited the detestable bond (for the Jew took care not to pay in money), and paid a fine of 6^,000 florins. Guardians were ap- pointed for the daughter ; the punishment of her purchaser is not mentioned. GENERAL VIEW OF POLITICAL EVENTS DURING THE XVIlth CENTURY. This article appeared in the Postman of De- cember 3 1, 1700. The masterly manner in which it is written compels us to regret its brevity. The author calls it an iron age ; feelingly laments the waste of human life, and that the earth had become a field of blood ; coucluding, the then generation had reason to dread the succeeding cen- tury as likely to be even worse than the former. Little did he imagine the Conmionwealth of Eng- land would have been imitated eighty-nine years after he wrote by a ferocious set of people, who wasted more blood in one month than the Eng- lish did in twelve years, by attempting to estab- lish a phantom, while they were, in reality, forging the heaviest chains of despotism for them- selves, for the rest of Europe, and even South Ajnerica, where the daemon of revolution now stalks abroad, surrounded by scenes of carnage, only 281 only surpussed by those exliibitecl in France, Austria, Prussia, Poland, Russia, Holland, and Denmark. In tlie first of those countries more fell by the guillotine, and the hands of their countrymen, than the survivors dare enumerate ; and in the remainder instances might be cited when vast armies perished in a day, and the fate of kingdoms was repeatedly decided by a single battle. Let it not then be pronounced that the 19th can be more detestable than the 18th century ; and surely no one will contend that the last twenty years of it did not present a more dreadful picture than the one hundred of the 17 th. " This being the last day of the year 1700, which concludes the XVI Ith century, it will not be improper to present the Reader with a short epitome of the most material things that have been transacted during the same, that he may, in some manner, foresee what is like to happen in th^ followino;. " The XVIIth century has been justly called, from its very beginning, the Iron Age; for though the former have been very lewd and dissolute, this has certainly exceeded in all manner of wickedness; Virtue, Siucerity, and Justice, have been scared from the woild ; Christendom has been a continual Aceldema, a field of blood, a theatre of ravage, cruelties, and destruction ; and Piety and Religion have received such mortal wounds. 282 wounds, that there is reason to fear that they will not recover their first splendor, till Righteousness comes to inhabit the new earth, promised in the Holy Writings. " The narrow bounds of this paper does not permit that we should enlarge upon any subject, and therefore we must come to the epitome we have promised. *' The most material thins: we find in the be- ginning of this century, is the Union of the crowns of England and Scotland, in the person of king James the First, who succeeded the re- nowned queen Elizabeth, the glory of her sex, and the ornament of her age, March 24, 1^02. This Union put an end to the feuds and quarrels which had so long subsisted between the two na- tions, and might have been much more improved to their common advantage, had true politics and justice prevailed over malice, pride, and envy. " France mourned, soon after, the death of king Henry the Fourth, basely murdered in his own coach in the middle of his capital city, by a bloody villain, who, by a world of circumstances, which in any other case would have been deemed 9S afull proof, appeared to have been put upon that execrable design by the Jesuits. Strange! that the French nation, after hai'ing seen two of their kings successively murdered by priests and friars, should be led by the nose by that very gang ; and that the son and grandson of that very prince should^ 283 should, in complifince to the successors of his murderers, ruin and waste their flourishing king- dom. The minority of Lewis the Xlllth was attended with great commotions, and the whole reign of that prince either with foreign or civil wars. The French, in conjunction with their allies, the king of Sweden, the States of Holland, and the Protestant princes of Germany, made in- deed some conquests abroad ; but Lewis, though surnamed the Just, out of a popish zeal, de- stroyed thrice as many towns in his own king- dom, as his generals took from his neighbours by their victorious arms. The reader must not ex- pect any particulars of those famous wars in Ger- many; the single triumphs of Gustavus Adolphus would make a large volume. I will observe only, that they enderl at last by the treaty of Munster, 1^48, the most honourable and advantageous that ever was yet transacted for the Protestants. The Swedes, and other Protestant princes, got large principalities ; their religion was declared one of the religions of the Empire, and the liberty of conscience therein established ; and the Republic of Holland, which was founded in the last cen- tury by the wisdom of the great William of Nas- sau, prince of Orange, and defended by the great conduct and courage of Maurice and Frede- rick-Henry his worthy sons, was owned by Spain for a free and independent state. England con- tributed very little to that famous treaty, though the 284 the Ele^trr Palatine, son-in-law to king James the First, had been the chief occasion of all those wars, upon account of his accepting the crown of Bohemia, and had lost both his new kingdom and patrimonial dignity'. King James was too pacific to break with the Spaniards; and king Charles the First was so unfortunate in his reign that he was not able to assist his brother-in-law, whose family was restored by the treaty of Mun- ster to part of his state, and to the Electoral Dig- nity, by the creation of an eighth Electorate. " While the house of Austria were so busy in Germany, there happened two things in Spain which caused great convulsions in that kingdom, I mean the insurrection of Catalonia and Portu- £:al. It is true, the Catalans were some time after reduced ; but Portugal, which since the year 1580 had been a j)rovince of Spain, has continued from 1^40 to this day a separate kingdom ; but whe- ther they are like to continue so very long, let the Portuguese themselves look to it. ** The Civil Wars in England, which began much about that time, afforded some particulars which are not to be j:)aralleled in any age : and I ^m yet to learn, that any nation ever saw its own king publicly beheaded before his own palace by colour of law, by sentence of a pretended court of justice. By that fatal blow Monarchy was totally eclipsed ; and then broke out a Commonwealth, which, like a blazing star, after having amazed the 285 tlie world, and influenced all the councils of Eu- rope, vanished ; and a new sort of government made way for the restoration of the Royal Family. The return of our Princes promised a golden age; but it appeared soon after that they had sucked in some principles abroad, inconsistent with the English constitution ; and that contrariety pro- duced such commotions and councils, as would totally have subverted our lawful government, our liberties, and religion, and introduced popery and arbitrary power, had not God Almighty raised a Prince of Orange for our delivery, who, after the abdication of the late king James, was proclaimed, with his royal consort the late queen Mary, king and queen of England, under whose auspicious reign our liberties have been more firmly established than before. " Death has deprived us of one of them ; and what endeavours hell and wicked men have'done to deprive us of the other, all the world suffi- ciently knows : witness (iranval's conspiracy in Flanders, and t'le late intended assassination. These were not designs of melancholy persons, but abominable projects, approved and supporter! by men of the highest rank in the world. God has confounded those wicked dcisiiins, and that he would preserve the life of his Majesty, on which the safety of Europe depends, ought to be the constant prayers of all good men. « The 286 *^ The restoration of king Charles, and the Pyrenean treaty between France and Spain, pro- mised a long peace ; but, notwithstanding the so- lemn renunciation made by the Infanta, and rati- fied by the French king, of all her pretensions to the succession of her mother and father, the French attacked the Spanish Netherlands m the year l666, to assert the title of their queen to some territories belonging to Spain, and the French lawyers laughed at the renunciation of her Majesty, as insignificant, and not to be taken notice of. The triple alliance between England, Sweden, and Holland, put a stop to their pro- gress ; but France knowing the weak side of king Charles, they brought him off of that treaty, and engaged him in the most fatal design that ever an English king could be guilty of; I mean, to in- struct them in the art of building ships and navi- gation, and wear out his own naval power against Holland, whose interests are so linked with Eng- land, that, notwithstanding what some hirelings give out at this time, it is impossible one should stand if the other falls. The nation was soon sensible of the mistake ; and though Holland was by our union with France brought within an ace. of their ruin, we made a separate peace with them ; and the unparalleled conduct of the young prince of Orange saved his native countrj^ and at last the peace of Nimeguen was concluded by the mediation of England in I679, whereby the French 287 French got nothing from the Dutch, but large countries from the Spaniards. " The ambition of France did not stop there ; for they seized Luxemburg and Strasburg, upon account of certain dependencies, and forced Eu- rope to confirm their usurpation by the truce of 20 years, concluded anew I684. This did not satisfy that crown, for in the year 1688, the Dauphin took Philipsburg, and destnn ed the Palatinate, and occasioned a general war in Eu- rope, in which England being concerned, they turned the scale, and the great prudence of his Majesty forced France to sue for peace, which was concluded at Ryswick, September 10, I69J, and thereby France restored large territories both to the Spaniards and the Empire. T " Nothing having occurred since, except the treaty of Carlowitz, we come to the chief trans- actions of this year, which will be as famous in our annals as any; for we have therein the warand peace of Holstein, so glorious to England, Sweden, and Holland ; the invasion of Livonia by the king of Poland, and the czar of Muscovy, the unsuccessful siege of Riga by the former, the defeat of an army of 100,000 Muscovites by the young king of Sweden, who, with a handful of men, and at the age of 18 years, has gained more glory in one campaign, than some other princes have done with numerous armies in the course of a long reign. This year has likewise produced a new kingdom 288 kingdom of Prussia, erected in favour of the elector of Brandenburg ; a new Pope, and a new «cene of affairs by the death of the late king of Spain, and the accession of the duke of Anjou to that monarchy- Europe has feared for about thirty years the sad effects of the death of that prince, and his Majesty and the States of Hol- land, always zealous for preserving the ])eace, had, as mediators, proposed some terms for settling that succession, to the satisfaction of all parties. France accejDted of them, and entered into the famous treaty of partition ; and her ministers and ours, with the Dutch, solicited all the Courts of Europe to enter into the same. The emperor and others did not think fit to accept it ; and now the late kin^ of Spain having appointed the duke of Anjou his universal heir, the French have thought fit to accept his will, without sticking re-, ligiouslv to the conditions of the treaty with their allies, especially as to the two months time, which were to be given to the emperor. They tell us, that they did so only for preserving peace, but I remember tliat the siege of Philipsburg in time of peace 1G88, was coloured with the same pretence. " What will be the consequences of this aflfair, Cod . knows ; but whosoever considers what mis- chiefs the union of the empire and Spain in the house of Austria has done the world, must, upon several accounts not to be nientioned here, expect greater calamities from the union of France and Spain in the house of Bourbon. " Popery 289 "' Popery has still been more cruel this century than the last. The gun-powder plot, the massa- cre in Ireland, wherein above 200,000 persons were murdered, the massacre in the valleys of Pied- mont, and the horrid persecutions in Hungary, Silesia, the Palatinate, and chiefly in France, are instances not paralleled with a former age. " To conclude this discourse, I think that whosoever will- be at the pains to consider the present juncture of affairs, the dispositions of mankind, and the little regard they have for so- lemn treaties and oaths, will find sufficient cause to fear, that the next age will be still worse than the former, and conclude with Horace, Damnosa quid non imminuit dies 9 J¥ltas parentum pejor avis tidit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem.'^ SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF A PLOT. It is said, in the publications of the close of the year 1700, that Groningen had a narrow escape from being delivered by treachery into the pos- session of the bishop of Munster, which was pre- vented by the following accident : A person of some importance in the place, and a rigid catho- lick, had been writing in his private apartment, whence he was suddenly and unexpectedly sum- moned on particularly pressing business ; he inad- vertently left the door open, and immediately after u his 290 his son, then very young, entered ; the child, observing papers lying on the table, seized the first that came to hand, and carried them with him to school, where the master s attention was attracted by the circumstance, who thought proper to ex- amine them, as they appeared to be in the form of intended letters. One was addressed to the bishop, informing him that the town was in a state of fancied security, and proportionably un- provided with the means of defence, that the Pro- testant burgomasters, suspecting nothing evil against them, might be dispatched without dif- ficulty or opposition, and suggesting other pro- positions tending to the same point. The school- master, sensible of the importance of the discovery, went immediately to the magistrates, and com- municated his intelligence, who sent officers of justice to apprehend the offender; but he had escaped beyond a possibility of detection ; and they were reduced to the unpleasant uncertainty of forming conjectures, whether this plan origi- nated with the person implicated, or whether it was part of an extensive plot. However, their precautions, or some other cause, prevented the publick tranquility from being further disturbed. DEATH OF JAMES II. We are indebted to the Editor of the Postman of October 30, 1701, for the following translation of a Latin speech pronounced by the Pope, in a Con- 291 Consistory held at Rome on the third of October in the above year. The feehng manner in which the.Pontiff expressed himself on announcing the death of his spiritual son, shews the strong neces- sity that produced the Revolution of 1 68 8. " Venerable Brethren, We impart to you with tears and sig-hs the most sad and doleful death of James king of Great Britain, of illustrious me- mory, which we could not hear of without feeling in our paternal heart a most grievous affliction ; and we cannot doubt but you will be affected with the same grief for the great loss the Christian commonwealth has sustained in the death of a truly catholick prince, a true son of the church, and a true defender of the faith ; which we do sadly lament at this time. But as we are not to sorrow, according to the advice of the apostle, for such who sleep, as others that have no hope, the great piety of the deceased King, which no time shall blot out, and which shall be remembered to the latest posterity ; his heroic contempt of all human things for the Ortliodox Religion, so vvell known to all the world, which that excellent prince preferred to his country, niches, kingdom, and even his life ; and lastl}^, his constant and most religious death, as we are informed by noble -testimonies, give us just grounds to hope, that as God has been pleased to try him during his life as gold in a crucible, so he has received him after his death as an acceptable sacrifice. V ^ ' How- 292 However, charity does not permit us to be want- ing in our prayers to God Almighty for the Soul of a prince who has so well deserved of the apos- tolick see ; and as we have not neglected to do it already in private, so we shall in a due time do it publickly by funeral solemnities in our ponti- fical chapel, according to the example of the Ro- man pontiffs our predecessors. *^ Moreover, we cannot on this occasion be si- lent, and forbear to take notice of the great virtue of our most dear son in Christ Lewis, the Most Christian King of France (so w orthy of his royal soul), who having received with all magnificence and liberality the said king James vilanously dis- posessed of his kingdom, with his royal consort and his son, and given them to the last all pos- sible proofs of humanity and tenderness, has still, which is more great and noble, continued the same affection to his surviving son, so carefully brought up by our most dear daughter in Christ, queen Mary his mother, that he may imitate or exceed the virtues of his father, and entirely neg- lecting his own private interests, has publickly owned him for heir of the Britannick empire, and has thereby nobly confirmed him in his resolution of professing and asserting the Catholick Faith, to what fortune soever he may be reduced. The zeal of the most Christian King, and the greatness of his soul, do so conspicuously shine in this thing, that he jystly deserves from us and from you 293 you the praise and encomium which our posterity will pay him, whenever they call to remembrance that noble action, which will never be forgotten. " Though we believe that you have been in- formed of these things, yet having lately received a particular account thereof, by an express from our venerable brother Philip Anthony archbishop of Athens, our nuntio to the most Christian King, who has been an eye-witness of all those things, and has carefully examined them, we have thought fit to acquaint you with the same in this place, that they may be recorded to another posterity, and afford a nevv proof of our affection for you. " We hope andVssure ourselves, Venerable Bre- thren, that you, by your powerful assistance and prayers, will ease the great burthen put upon us, notwithstanding our weakness, which we daily ex- perience more heavy in these times of troubles and affliction." THE ARCH- DUKE CHARLES OF AUSTRIA. This prince strongly excited the attention of Europe in the reign of queen Anne, who, in common with other sovereigns of the conti- nent, endeavoured to preserve the balance of power, which for many ages prevented the shame- ful state of degradation we have witnessed by the accomplishment of those projects which Lewis XIV. commenced, and France has recently completed. Lewis, by placing a branch of hi^ nwn 294 own family on the throne of Spain, calculated upon the complete controul of the military power of that country. England, Austria, the principal part of the German circles, Holland, &c. dreading the preponderance of France, thought themselves more secure in attempting to obtain the crown of Spain for the archduke Charles : accordingly the Emperor made a formal renun- ciation of the Spanish dominions to that prince ; and the States General, in conjunction with England, sent a fleet to Portugal and Spain, to ascertain whether the people of the latter were inclined to accept the new monarch. On the 12th of September, 1703, the Emperor caused the Archduke to be proclaimed King of Spain at Vienna, by the title of Charles III. and it was concerted by the allies that he should proceed through Holland, England, and Portugal, for the place of his destination. It is far from the intention of the compiler of these Anecdotes to relate the political occurrences of that busy period, when England obtained so much military glory ; it will be sufficient for him to rescue from oblivion some of the eflects pro- duced on the minds of the British publick, by the exertions of the government in this cause, which certainly met with very general approbation, ex- pressed in a vari'^y of verses, inscriptions, and essays. A chronosticon made upon the occasion, will 295 will illustrate the mental fatigue and ingenuity of some unknown individual. CaroLVs tertIVs l6l reX 10 hispanlae 2 eX 10 IMperatorls. . 1002 neCnon 100 hVngarlae regis 7 LIberaLI Cesslone. . . . 203 regnl I VIra / 6 aCCepIt 201 1703 " Scurrilous libels (says the author of the lifeand reign of Oueen Anne) abounded at this time, re- flecting on the conduct of the House of Commons ; but none were more scurrilous than those of John Tutchin, the writer of a newspaper called the Ob- servator." The Observator alluded to, appeared thrice a week, and consisted of a supposed dia- logue between the Observator and a Countryman. It may be imagined so remarkable a circumstance as the arrival of Charles III. produced a conver- sation, part of which is as follows : " Countryman. I have got rare news; the King of Spain is arrived, and gone to Windsor to wait on my Queen, who is his mother by adoption, as are all the confederated powers against France her 296 her children. It is a great honour to our nation that our Queen makes so considerable a figure in Europe ; that her name, Hke that of the mighty WiUiam's, is borne on the wings of fame to the utmost confines of the terrestial globe. So great a Queen, and so potent a people, are not only the wonder, but the terror of those kingdoms andstates that are so unhappy as not to be in alliance with them. And much more glorious would the crown and realm of England be, were we once freed from those vermin papists, high-flyers^, and non-jurors, who all centre in the common name of Perkinites." The Countryman then proceeds to say that^he met with many of ''^ those wretches" at a coffee- house, who amused themselves by ridiculing Charles III. and his pretensions ; disgusted with their manners, this coadjutor of the Observator went to a tavern, where he found " a parcel of red hot first-rate Englishmen" drinking the Queen's health, the Protestant succession, the church of England, toleration, and the king of Spain; which, he remarks to his friend, he could swal- low " without kecking :" some of the company at length discovering his connection with the Obser- vator, he was unanimously called upon to com- pose some heroic lines on the King's arrival ; " whereupon" he delicately adds " I scribbled down the following ballad with as much ease as Rabbi Buoyan wrote his verses, or Parson Smut talks nonsense ; and whether they liked it or no I don t care one farthing. ■* Fropi 297 " From foreign shores the youthful Monarch 's come; And with hini bears the fate of France and Rome : Loud hurricanes and tempests clear'd the air, And first proclaim'd the mighty Prince of war ; The roaring winds^ which thro' the ^ther flew. Foretold that peals of thunder would ensue. When Hercules deceas'd on Oata's top. Imperial Jove large pines and oaks did lop ; With whirlwinds he the lofty woods did spoil. And rob'd the groves to make his funeral pile ; Meteors and comets fill the azure skies. When some great Prince is born, or some great Monarch dies. " Cease now ye winds, no more such roarings keep; Let all ill-natur'd storms be hush'd asleep, And Halcyons brood upon the silent deep. The Ocean's burden is Britannia's care. On him depends the dire event of war : He, like the sun, must 'livening rays dispense, And distant armies, by his influence. Must move and act, for his success must wait ; For he determines Spain's and Europe's fate. " Rous'd by report of fame, and stories told, How England's Queen gave laws in times of old To neighbouring lands, and rul'd the spacious sea. While trembling nations did her laws obey; He comes to see the Queen, whose mighty name tSo much- extends the spacious mouth of fame ; To } 298 To hear her wisdom, and to learn of her How he must govern in another sphere. *' Go, mighty Monarch, to thy kingdoms go. And be thy land's palladium from the foe ! May rough Biscaia's waves, which rise and swell. At thy approach be calm, and smooth, and still ; May Spaniards, conscious of thy worth, prepare To meet with joy their lawful Prince from far ; And like the Britons cover all the Strand, When glorious William to their aid did land : May every post, and each dispatch't express, Bring joyful tidings of this good success !" Another paper was published at the same pe- riod, termed Heraclitus Ridens, which the author intended as an express antidote to the Observator. I have no proof that the government supported this paper, but it is probable ihat such was the fact. The manner in which the laughing philo- sopher commented on the countryman's heroick lines will possibly afford my readers equal amuse- ment with the lines themselves. The dialogue in the instance now before us is between the imagi- nary characters of Jest and Earnest. " Earn. I have a piece of intricacy for you too, a poetical enigma ; I mean the Countryman's verses in Nob's last ; prithee let me into the meaning of 'em. " Jest. He has been plundering Sir Palmes Fairbone's epitaph in Westminster Abbey for one, which is this ; *And 299 'And be the town's palladium from the foe.' Most of the rest are of the same complexion, picked up here and there, though some may be found to be his own from tlie genuine dullness that abounds in them. In exchange for his, I will give you a fable of my own, which for all that I know, may be justly enough animadverted upon; but the reader will conclude with me, that they are not stolen. " A Lion yielding to his fate. Like other beasts of princely state. That o'er the forest reign ; Two of his kindred brought their claim, Of diiFerent right, and different name. And would those claims maintain. The first from all his subjects' voice, And from a testimonial choice His high pretensions made ; ' The second of the Lion's kind, , From ties of blood, and oaths that bind. In form his caveat laid. When spite of what his Sires had done. The first a gallant of a son, Leap'd to tlie throne in haste. And having seized the regal goods. Whether on hills, or piains, or woods. Was in possession plac'd. Whereas 300 Whereas the last, unus'd to force. And thinking all his own of course. Sat silently at home ; And still his journey had delay'd. By fond, indulgent parents staid. In spite of Lybia's doom. Lybia, that destin'd seem'd to be, O'errun with fraud and treachery. Till neighb'ring powers awak'd, And summon'd all their arts and sense. Their treasures, in the Youth's defence. And for him kingdoms shak'd. Nobly attended, forth he came. In search of Empire and of fame. And nobly was accosted. As entertain d with feasts and sports. He to his own through foreign courts Without obstruction posted. When at Sydonian plains arriv'd. By Sydon's Lioness reviv'd, All rapture and surprize : He stood amaz'd at what he 'd seen. Such flowing plenty, such a Queen, And scarce believ'd his eyes, Till forwards from among the crowd, A senseless monkey, poor and proud. His Majesty address'd ; And 301 And cry'd, * upon a monkey's word. You are your people's Sovereign Lord, Tliere 's none but will confess 't. Look on my Queen, she '11 vindicate. And with the forces of her state, Conduct you to your throne: I have for prophecies been tried. And since I 've written on your side. Your crowns are all your own/ * What pity 'tis a Queen so good. Of such illustrious worth and blood,' The Prince, concern'd, reply'd. Should suffer such an apish fool, Her government to ridicule With insolence and pride.' Apes, we like apes should always use. The scum, the scandal, and refuse Of all the whole creation ; Not suffer such a slave to cry. Without rebuke, my Queen and I, When he 'd pervert the nation. MORAL. That none of what 's due to 'em this fable may rob. The monkey 's the perfect resemblance of Nob." If the compiler is not greatly mistaken Tutchin the Observator carried his animadversions to such a length as to excite a most dreadful and totally uniustifiable 302 unjustifiable private vengeance; in short, some persons thoroughly exasperated entered liis apart- ments at a moment when he was alone writing, and beat him so severely as ultnriately to cause his death. The extravagance to which party and obstinacy led Mr. Tutchin will appear in the ex- tract now offered from his 9'J th number, vol. II. *' But I tell thee, I am ready to answer in court to any indictment, where I expect to have fair play (and not to be condemned without being heard), which will be the practice of our courts of Justice, as long as the present judges are in being ; and if they are succeeded by the rac6 of Jefferies and Jenner, I can but go into ano- ther country ; I have been taught the way al- ready. " Countryman. I have heard folks say, when a man comes upon his trial, in some cases he has the liberty to except against some of his Jtoymen. Now if your case admits of this practise, I would have you except against one particular person that puts himself forward to be on your jury. " Ohservator. Prithee, who's that? " Countryman. 'Tis a great paunch-bellyed fel- low, that lives in the Strand, within two miles of Strand-bridge. He was upon — I don't know how many Juries, in those reigns when they hang'd the Whigs at such a confounded rate ; he suck'd their blood like a horse-leach. In king William's reign he repented, by getting himself 303 himself on the juries, by hanging the Papists and Tories ; and now, in this reign, he has re- pented hke a dog in a ivheel, and is turned a Perhinite. About Trinity-term was a twelve- month he was convicted of a kidnapping at West- minster, and was fined 100 marks; he was lately bail for one of the conspirators ; and yet I ana told he is 2i justice of P — for the county of H . Pray have a care of this monster." The next paragraph explains the allusion in these words, *'the kidnapper in the Strand is Fuller every way." " The present judges," who condemned without hearing the defendant, were Lord Chief Justice Holt and his brethren. It is singular that other authors say, " The law and justice were never administered with more effect than when he presided in the King's-bench.'* Indeed it is related of him, that he set the House of Peers at defiance when he thought some of their decisions were unjust and contrary to law : nor was he more gentle with the Speaker of the House of Commons, and a deputation from that body who visited him in the Court of King's- bench, to demand his reasons for a judgement he had given. " I sit here to administer justice," said Holt, " if you had the whole House of Com- mons in your belly I should disregard vou ; and if you do not immediately letire, I will commit you, Mr. Speaker, and those with you." Far 504 Far be it from the compiler to decide between Mr. Tutchin, Lord Chief Justice Holt, and Mr. Fuller ; he is contented by stating both sides of the question, and shall conclude this article by- some very tolerable lines from Heraclitus Ridens, which ought not to be totally forgotten in a popu- lar government, though written by the friend of queen Anne's ministers of I703. '^ Once on a time the beasts together drew, Summon'd to meet upon a grand review. Each to declare if injur d or oppress'd. And have their injuries and wrongs redress'd. The lion, fix'd and seated on the throne, Heard all their grievances distinctly shewn. Distributing rewards, and specia4 grace To such as did the duties of their place ; And punishments to such as broke their trust. To merits and demerits strictly just. " When from the rest a grumbling bear arose. And thus impeach'd his sovereign's friends for foes : Please you, my liege, for justice I entreat. Grant me the gracious gift from mercy's seat ; Those officers of state that near you stand Pinch the revenues, and distress the land ; They for themselves, not you, the laws dispense. And are as void of honesty as sense ; The panther there and leopard should be try'd. You '11 ne'er do well till they are set aside ; Till this your ministry is purg'd anew. And such as I our great endowments shew. ** Hold. 305 " Hold, said the royal brute, thy counsels spare. And from advising sovereigns forbear ; Know, beasts of prey, and of ungenerous mind. Bears will be bears, a discontented kind. In place'"uneasy, out of office bold. And reaching for the reins they cannot hold ; Hadst thou but prais'd these worthies thou hast blam'd. Doubtless I should their service have disclaim'd ; But vain 's thy prayer, or sinister thy ends, For foes to bears must needs be lions friends." THE PROPHECIES OF NOSTRODAMUS.] Nothing can be more absurd than the attempts repeatedly made to apply the wild extravagancies of this Seer to passing events. With all the in- genuity of credulity, and the eagerness of self- conviction, we find time silently contradicting the dupes of Nostrodamus. Thus a wiseacre who lived in the reign of queen Anne gave us to un- derstand, in the London Post, that he would not pretend to determine whether the gift of prophecy had then altogether ceased, but as the first cause is eternal, it was possible it had not. The num- ber of pious and learned men who, since the days of the Apostles, were blessed with the spirit of penetrating the mysteries of the great signs of the times were too numerous for him to particu- larize ; he therefore only mentions the name of bishop Usher, which he relied upon as equal X to 306 to any arguments or facts he could adduce on the subject. The prophetic hnes quoted by him, he adds, were written 800 years before 1704, originally in Latin, and afterwards translated, by a French priest, into his native language. Those he con- sidered as highly important, strictly applicable to the then state of affairs in France, Spainj and the Empire, and actually within two years of their final and undoubted accomplishment by the downfall of Lewis XIV. in 1705. Fortunately for our believer he was only ten years short in his calculation, and as Lewis died in 1715) he had the consolation of knowing that a V occurred in the numerals of that year ; unluckily for him, on the other hand, the Allies did by no means succeed in their wishes, as Philip, the grandson of Lewis, kept the crown of Spain ; and the lat- ter, though not as prosperous as he hoped to be, departed peaceably from the world, at an advanced period of life. " PROPHECIE. " Poor France, by hollow-hearted priests from Rome, A thousand miseries to thee shal come : Thy innocents, for doeing what they ought. Like shepe unto the slaughter shal be broughte. But from First Henries predecessours reigne, Thy seaventh King shal conquer'd be, or tane ; Till 307 Till one arise more hanghtie and lesse good. To make hys subjects made a sea of blood : Then France look out, for loe beyonde the Rhyne, A myghtie hoaste with myghtie hoastes will joyne. Thy downefall is within thy selfe to bee. Assisted by a myghtie flete at sea : All will bee faithfull to oppose thy pride, And truth, when V appeares, shal conquerour ride. Alore heads will bee adorned with a crowne. And Papacie will Papacie pull downe. One kingdome shal to save another stand. And one shal los.e a myghtie tracte of land. A neighbouring prince will make so much to doe. That all the worlde will thinke him honest to. 'Tis all but tricke, or els I 'm nmch deceevd, And is too open not to be believ'd. But have a care when onse you seize your own, Of promis'd favour, when no favour's showne : Then will the Goolden Age begin to bloome. And loe the tyrante shal receive hys doome. When V appeares, and trees ther leaues do shede. All will rejoyce to heare the wretche is deade." " Now, what will become of this present Lewis God only knows : but sure I am, nothing remains to accomplish this prophecy but the downfall of the persecutor of his people. It is first fulfilled in the Jesuits and monks imposing on the consciences of his subjects : how many thousands have been put to death, fined, imprisoned, banished, and X 2 com- 308 committed to the gallies, through their means, let the poor Waldenses and Cevennois speak ? And this I take to be the sea of blood (says he) through which his subjects have waded. " Then France, look quick about, beyond the Rhine, A mighty host with mighty hosts will join. " This I take to be a word of comfort to the poor Cevennois, in bidding them be upon their guard ; for assistance will come of a sudden, and that by the conjunction of the armies of several princes, both upon the Rhine, in Italy, and Flanders. He, like the foregoing Francis I. would be sole monarch and emperor of the world. The at- tempts he has made to this purpose are too many to mistrust it. The emperor has either been plagued by him all his reign, or the Turks, by his means. Spain has suffered formerly by his encroachments, and now is like to be made amends : and, Italy has been made a sea of blood. Holland had been often ruined by him, were it not for] the House of Orange. England has sufiered his affronts too often to trust in his perfidiousness any more; and, in fine, what part of the world has not been sensible of God's wrath in suffering such a wretch to live. *' All will be faithful to oppose his pride. And truth (when V appears) shall conq'ror ride. 309 " 1st, The meaning of this figure V, I take to be when V mighty potentates shall be in league together against the French king ; and this we see already between the emperor of Germany, queen of Great Britain, states of Holland, Charles III. king of Spain, and the king of Portugal : besides the Savoyards and his own subjects in the Cevennois, who have justly taken up arms against him ; and he is now in a fair way to be ruined within himself, fulfilling that part of this Pro- phecy, which says : " Thy ruin is within thyself to be. Assisted by a mighty host at sea. Which cannot be said to mean any other than his poor oppressed subjects, as well Roman as Protestant, who are willing to shake off the yoke of his- slavery and tyranny; to effect which, we are sensible, tliere are two powerful fleets at sea. "2nd, The meaning of this figure V may relate also to the abdication, or dethronization, of this present Philip the Vth, who is king of Spain by no other right nor title than the forgery, power, and ambition of his grand-father Lewis. " More heads will be adorned with a crown. And Papacy will Papacy pull down. That is, there will be more kingdoms made out of the empire ; and this in part is fulfilled in the new king of Prussia, who was formerly but elect jr 310 elector of Brandenburg. The emperor will reduce the French king to reason ; but yet the king of the Romans will be a vexation to the see of Rome. " One kingdom shall to save another stand ; And one shall lose a mighty tract of land. *'This must expressly mean Spain and Portugal; for Portugal being in the grand alhance, has, to save Spain for Charles III. made war against it. Now whether it will be divided afterwards to en- large Portugal for its assistance in regaining it, I will not presume, but leave every one to judge as he thinks fit. " A neighbouring prince will make so much to do. As all the world shall think he's honest to. " Who this prince is I am at a loss : it cannot be Portugal nor Tuscan}'-. If he means Bavaria, which I have some reason to conclude he does, it must be this : that when the German princes were entering into an alliance, the elector of Ba- varia, we may remember, made a very great stir; most people thought him honest at first ; but so soon as the French pistoles were seen he unmasked himself, and appeared to all the world what he is. I know no other neighbouring princs but Savoy, which is indeed the next to him. I wish every thing well ; I see no reason yet to mistrust it. But 311 But let the Cevennois take care they are not quash'd by a trick at last. " Then will thy golden age begin to bloom, And, lo! th' tyrant shall receive his doom, When V appears, and trees their leaves do shed. All will rejoice to hear the wretch is dead. '* Rejoice, all ye nations of the earth, for lo ! the time comes, when every one shall enjoy him- self, under his own vine, and eat the fruit thereof. The tyrant's doom is at hand ; that is, the down- fall of the French king. And this shall be when V appears. By which figure I take the total down- fal of this oppressor to be anno Christi MDCCV. Further, by saying, ' And trees their leaves do shed,' must denote no other than the time when, which will be in the autumn or fall of the leaf; at, or very near, which time, I do declare it to be the secrets of my soul, that Lewis will be no more. Then may we well rejoice at the tidings, clap our hands, and sing praises to God in the highest, for delivering his people, by taking the bloody and deceitful man from off the earth. Amen." ^ MARLBOROUGH AND ROOKE. The General Officer of the above honourable title did wonders in opposing the French on terra firma, who could not escape his ardour by finesse. Tlie 312 The British publick expected similar success on the part of their Navy, but the sea offered the enemy so many facihties, in avoiding actions, manoeuvering, and flying, that Admiral Rooke was baffled on his own element, to the great mor- titication of himself and his brave companions. The following very respectable lines appeared in Tutchin's Observator, April 7, I705. '^ As Hodge and Dick, who lately came From Lichfield and from Nottingham, Walk'd up the long litigious hall. Where knaves at one another brawl. Quoth Hodge, Adzookers, what are these. That hang aloft as thick as bees ? Dick, who, besides his country tricks, Was hugely vers'd in politicks ; And never miss'd a market day To read what Jones and Dyer say. Thus gravely ansvver'd : Friend, quoth he, I marl at thy stupidity : If thou hadst read, as I have done. The news that weekly comes to town. Thou hadst not been ignorant ; but now Listen awhile, and you shall know. Thfcse, on the right, are what we took From French men, by the noble R . Those on the left from Blenheim came, Where Marlborough increased his fame : For thus, in most of your addresses. The matter wonderful express is ; They 313 They tell you plainly, how that we Obtain'd a double victory. First one at land, then one at sea. A jolly red-coat standing by, Cry'd out, you whoreson, that's a lie: Come up, you dog, and then look b sck, Here's neither pennant, flag, nor jack. With that an honest tar step'd in, Before a quarrel could begin, Cry'd, hold fast, brother, that is true. These trophies all belong to you ; We fought the French indeed, but they Would not be beat, but run away. We saw their • ags, but could not catch 'em. But Shovel 's going now to fetch em. They all shook hands but Dick, and he Was plaguily concern'd to see. They spoil'd his noble Rookery.'* } } STATE OF ENGLAND, I7O5. Lamentations on " the present awful crisis,'* and predictions of hitherto unheard-of calamities, must be familiar in the recollection of the whole present generation of Englishmen ; they cannot but remember that the *' present awful crisis^ sounded in their ears from the earliest hours of their comprehension, and their politicians and legislators endeavour at this moment to convince them that " the greatest of all misfortunes will be followed by one still greater." Were it worth the 314 the trouble, we might cite lamentations and pre- dictions of most respectable antiquity; but it will be sufficient to recur to the year 1705, when grumbhng and growling prevailed to such a de- gree as to induce Mai thus of London-house yard to publish " The Moderator, for promoting of peace, for reconciling differences between par- lies ; to shew wherein every one misses it ; and for uniting the hearts of the people to Her Ma- jesty and government.'' The ensuing extract from the 34th page of volume I. is founded on the basis of eternal truth ; and as the facts it con- tains cannot be contradicted, the passages should be read annually and publickly, as an antidote to growling and despondence : " It is a matter that calls, at once, for lamen- tation and wonder, that whilst we are surrounded on every side with happiness^ we are not so happy as to see it ; a thing, which both shews our in- gratitude and stupid frame, and that which infers a brutality, common to no nation but ourselves. In some of our papers we have shewed, the cause of our differences one with another ; and in others, the blessings we are loaded with, more than other nations ; in order, if possible, to engage us to be easy and thankful. " But we will not run over the particulars we before discoursed of (though enough more might be added to every head) : we shall rather instance in some other things, which we enjoy above the rest 315 rest of the world. And (l.) if we consider the smallness of our island (which is but a httle spot, a meer mole-hill, if compared with other king- doms), we have cause to admire at the wisdom of Providence, that has surrounded us with waves, and separated us from the main by a vast channel. Did we join to France, though but by a small neck of land, there would be a possibility, either by superiority of numbers, by stratagem or trea- chery, to drive us from our strongest fortifica- tions or intrenchments, and so of bringing an army into our bowels, and doing with us as they pleased ; for what v/ould our small numbers sig- nify against so superior a force, which they would be able at pleasure, to send to our destruction ? And the best that could be, would be continual alarms, endless fears, vast expence, and a meer slaughter-house for men ; our ships could not come to our assistance, without taking large cir- cuits, and losing much time ; and, if separated, could not join without the utmost hazard and delays ; whilst ?iolv they can sail i-ound us, and be ready at any port m a few days. If they beat the enemy, there is room to pursue them ; and if they happen to be worsted, there are plenty of harbours (which way ever they steer) to re- treat and to be safe; our merchandizes are brouf^ht up directly to our metropolis, without unladino- at distant parts ; we can run over upon our ene- mies cocist, look into his harbours, and have the account 316 account at London in a few hours, and a thousand other advantages, which every man may see, that is not wilfully blind ; whilst other countries, that border upon one another, are continually burn- ing, plundering, raising contributions, besieging, and what not ; never enjoying any thing they can call their own. Oh happy little England ! thou Goshen of the universe I thou dear sweet morsel, that all the world longs for, yet none can hurt thee, if thou dosi not seek thy own de- struction. " (2.) Other countries are, a very great part of them, useless ground, either rocky or boggy, where the toil and care of the husbandman is thrown away ; whilst ours is fruitful all over, and very little barren ground in the nation ; and is so hilly and low by turns, that without a par- ticular judgement of heaven, it is impossible ever to have a famine amongst us. For if we have a very dry Summer, the low lands never fail of bringing forth in abundance ; and if we have a wet season, the hilly parts make up the deficiency of the valleys. " We are placed in such a moderate climate that neither the heat of Summer nor the cold of Winter is so excessive as not to be borne ; nor do we live in darkness one half of the year, and all day the other, as some nations do. We have every thing necessary for delight, clothing, physick, and defence, amongst ourselves, had we no 317 no commerce with any other nation : what countiy can shew such broadcloth, and fine stufts ? where can we find such fiesh of all sorts ? where better fish and fowl ? or who ever saw better corn, and in greater plenty, than we have it ? And not only mines of coal, of brass, of lead, tin, iron, and copper, but of silver also, would we dig for it. *^ Every spot of ground afTords one sort of herb or other, to cure our diseases, which, were they more studied and used, it is very probable would be more agreeable to our constitutions, and be more conducive to health, than all the exotic drugs, and dangerous slops, which are at this day made use of; nor can we suppose that God created such numbers of herbs, and planted them in England, for nothing but to grow up every year, and wither away again ; for it is observable, that very few plants, which are of physical use, are ever eat by the beasts of the field ; so that if man does not use them, the end of their creation is wholly lost. We have stone for fortifications, lead and iron for shot and guns, and salt-petre for powder in great plenty, if we would take pains to make it ; we have (or might have) variety and plenty of delicate liquors to drink ; and, indeed, every thing else of the English product, that could make this life comfortable to us. But, besides all this, to jnake our cup brim full, we have the riches of both the Indies j the gold of Mexico ; the 318 the silks of Persia ; the perfumes of Arabia, and all other things our hearts can wish for, brought home to our doors, in spight of all the force our enemies can make against us. " How happy would other nations look upon themselves,did they enjoy but half those blessings, which we so ungratefully possess ! Pray, Gen- tlemen, you of the (Trumbling Tribe, consider the miserable condition of France, whose monarch is absolute, and country desolate, and whose trade is insignificant, any where !" CAUSES OF INSOLVENCY. IJO6. It may be interesting to some of my readers to compare the facts now laid before them on this subject with present customs. The Observator of John Tutchin, which has been noticed before, asserts, that the apprentices of his time prepared the way for their subsequent ruin, by becoming masters before they were men, by refusing to clean the shoes of the family, or carry their master's Bible after them to church, and by learning the way to the theatres rather than to places for di- vine worship. The ancestors of his generation, he adds, knew nothing of the practice of young men keeping horses during their servitude, to take the air in the country on Sundays and holi- days ; the consequences of which were visible enough in their future lives. These t vils Tutchin attributed to the total indifference of the mas- ters 319 ters as to the welfare of the souls and bodies of their apprentices : besides, he accused the former of endeavouring to ruin the latter on their com- mencing trade, by contriving to introduce them to parish-offices, to serve as jurors, and to have them called upon the livery in their companies, leaving them the disagreeable alternative of pay- ing heavy fines, or non-attendance upon their cus- tomers or employers. Another cause of bankruptcy arose from the general propensity of the young tradesmen for " playing at soldiers in our artillery grounds,'' before the expiration of their term, and when they became their own masters. " Perhaps," says the author, " those that have been bred to trade may find out more means by which persons become insolvent ; but if we name a general cause, extravagance is the chief reason. This may be seen every where ; not only in the masters and mistresses, but even in the servants, who now, by their habit, cannot be distinguished from able housekeepers." EXTRAORDINARY RELEASE FROM STARVATION. Bridge, the publisher of the Loyal Post, gives the following relation, as an absolute fact, in his 44th Number, for March 4, 1706. The scene of the occurrence is laid at a nameless place in Essex, in the neighbourhood of which a gentleman was in the habit of amusing himself by 320 by hunting. One day the dogs started a hare, and pursued the animal with great vivacity till they encountered a large hollow tree, where they stopped unanimously, fixed their eyes on it, and barked in concert ; naturally supposing that the hare had taken shelter in the tree, the gentleman and his attendants rode up, and soon heard alow moaning: surprized at this circumstance, he ordered a servant to feel whether any animal was within reach, while he stood prepared to obstruct its passage or escape; the domestic obeyed, felt a human head, and soon drew a child from the trunk, apparently two years of a^e • this unfortunate little fellow suffered so severely from hunger, that he had gnawed part of the flesh from one of his arms : the gentleman, touched with compassion at this wretched scene, determined to take the infant home, which he did, andsoon recov«-ed him from the consequences of his cruel confinement. The ensuing Christmas produced an explana- tion of the mystery attending the discovery almost as remarkable as the barking of the dogs around the tree. Several young women had visited the town where the benevolent protector of the child resided, in order to keep the wassel of the season, one of whom seeing the boy at his door, imme- diately observed to a friend with her, " If Ooody 's nurse-child was not dead, 1 should have sworn this had been it." The servant entrusted with 321 with the care of the foundhng having heard this speech, conveyed the information to her master, who made further enquiry, and was conducted to the house of the nurse : he demanded of her where the child was which she had recently nursed; the woman declared her charge died, and posi- tively asserted it was buried in a church-yard she named; the gentleman contradicted her in de- cided terms, and added his belief that she had destroyed the infant, insisting that the precise place of interment should be pointed out, that he might be satisfied, by personal examination, \vhether her statement was founded in truth. Thus compelled, the woman reluctantly led her accuser to the burial-ground, where the earth was removed that covered the supposed body, in presence of proper witnesses, when, instead of the child, the persons employed removed from a coffin the wax resemblance of a face, and a figure made for the purpose dressed in the usual habiliments of the grave : this was complete conviction ; and the culprit at length confessed that she had been urged to murder the boy by his guardian, who was his heir to property amounting to fifteen thousand pounds : an imperfect sense of rectitude led this vile woman to fancy she pitied the forlorn state of the infant, who had lost both of its pa- rents ; she therefore determined not to embrue her hands in his blood, though shfe did not scruple, in consideration of a large reward, to immure it Y in 322 in a hollow tree, there to perish by the lingering horrors of starvation. Here my information ends, nor have I been able to trace the consequences of a prosecution said to have been intended. STATE OF FRANCE IN I7O6. The ambition of Lewis XIV. which has been frequently mentioned in this work, though par- tially successful, was accompanied by other stings besides those of disappointment in the grand aim of his reign. Although, by virtue of his situation, he had almost unlimited authority over his subjects, he thought proper, or felt it con- venient, not to press them so far for money as to keep his treasury full ; he therefore invited the rich to send their plate to the mint, to be converted into coin, as a temporary resource ; and those who did not choose to comply were taxed two livres for a particular mark to be stamped on each article. In the mean time tlie government- paper lost its reputation daily, and the discount amounted nearly to 50 per cent. The publick voice in France never ventured beyond indistinct murmurs ; and individuals con- fined their vexation to anonymous verses and epigrams, which they circulated only amongst their known and tried friends, excej)t when a hardy politician contrived to placard the walls of Paris with his remarks on state-affairs, as was the cast* 323 case in October I'JoGj when many of the pubHc places presented these hnes in large characters : ** On m^prise a la cour I'esprit et les sciences^ On renverse au palais les loix et Tequite, Le disordre est dans nos iinances^, Le commerce est sans liberty, La valeur dans nos camps est sans experience^ Et le devot clerge n a plus de charity." A contemporary thus translated them — '' Which is as much as to say : That wit and learning are slighted at court ; law and equity overthrown in the courts of justice ; that our finances are in disorder ; that valour in our armies is without experience (alluding doubtless to the fatal battle near Turin) ; that trade is with- out liberty (which is the very soul of it) ; and that our devout clergy are Avithout charity." A MODERN MA.RTYR. The Turksj who adhered with zeal to the faith of their prophet, felt great alarm about the year 1708, at the progress of the Roman Catholic Missionaries distributed throughout the dominions of the Grand Seignior, which induced that sove- reign to issue his com man Js, requiring all his subjects to remain true to the religion of their forefathers. The Grand Vizier, fuithful to his master, avowed himself the decided enemy of the Catholicks in the Levant, and a fefta, or decision, Y 2 of 324 of theMuftij pronounced those deserving of death who disobeyed the orders of the chief of the Mussulmen. Previous to this period the minister had imprisoned the jDatriarch Deo Joannes, the patriarch Sary, and from forty to fifty Cathohc Armenians, at the instance of the Schismaticks ; on the 2nd of November Sary, and seven of the principal of the prisoners, among whom was the interpreter to the English embassy, were con- demned to death ; but those persons preferred recantation to the rewards of martyrdom, and were pardoned. Deo Goumidas, an Armenian Koman Catholic Priest, endowed with more stability of mind, and inflexible in his resolution to keep his religious vows, had long been an object of persecution, and the admiration of his countrymen, who subscribed a large sum to re- lease hi in from the galleys, to which his enemies had condemned him. The Grand Vizier decreed a second arrest ; and, on the 3d of November, Goumidas heard the approach of his officers by the disorders tliey committed in the neighbourhood ; this virtuous priest, regretting that others should sufler on his account, went to his door, and enquired whom they sought — they replied, Deo Goumidas — " I," said he, " am the man — Let those people alone." He was 'arrested immediately, and con- veyed to the presence of the Vizier, then in the Divan, where he had assembled Deo Joannes, and 325 and above 300 Schismatic Armenians : the Vi- zier sternly demanded of the prisoner why he had become a Frank, or Cathohck ; to which Goumi- das answered, that, as a priest, he was obhged to study his rehgion, that he might be competent to instruct others ; and that he had found the opi- nions of his Armenian accusers so erroneous, he could not in conscience subscribe to them. — '^ What are the errors you have discovered ?" re- torted the Vizier. — " Are you," said Goumidas, " so well acquainted with the Christian faith as to be competent to decide between us?"- — The exasperated tyrant, baffled and perplexed by the keen observations of his opponent, descended to threats, and closed the argument by exclaiming, " Dost thou know that I will put thee to death ?" " Thou wilt do me a great favour," meekly re- plied the martyr ; " but remember, thou art not permitted to spill my blood for the sake of my religion, which is not that thou professest ; and that thou shalt render an account thereof to God at the day of judgment." — '^ Thou," turning to Deo Joannes, " shalt be answerable for the blood of this man," said the Vizier suddenly, starting up. '' Be it upon him who arrested him," replied Joannes. The Vizier, seating himself again, ad- dressed Goumidas, " These men complain that tliou hast abandoned their sect to adopt another." " Which," enquired the intended victim, " is the best?" — "They are both bad."—' < Then," con- 326 continued the latter, " what is it to thee which of the two I profess ?" Here the conference ended, and Goumidas was sent to immediate execution, with two Arme- nians : he prayed fervently on his way, and being met by a deputation of Greeks proceeding on business to the Divan, they requested his prayers. When at the place of execution, he exhorted his fellow-sufferers to die with constancy, and declared he would set them an example ; after which he kneeled, and while he was repeating aloud his confession of faith, the executioner severed hig head from his body. PRINCE EUGENE OF SAVOY. This hero was the admiration of Europe, and the inhabitants of those countries for which he fought against the French almost idolized him. Prince Eugene was at the Hague in April 1708, where the British sharer of his toils and glory, the illustrious Marlborough, met him, and together they gratified many an anxious gazer. M. Both- mar, the Hanoverian envoy, invited them to dine with him, and the concourse assembled to see them exceeded all former precedent ; the mana- gers of the opera profited by the general feeling of respect, and more than once filled their theatre by announcing their intended presence. A remarkable instance of enthusiasm occurred to the Prince when on his way from Utrecht to the 327 the Hague. A Dutch boor, or peasant, met the chariot which conveyed him, and knowing to whom it belonged, he stepped into the midst of the road, and commanded the driver, in an au- thoritative lone, to stop ; he then advanced to the door, and enquired which was the Prince ; the Prince made himself known ; the peasant seized his hand, kissed it with fervour, shed tears in abundance, and concluded the affecting scene by calling Eugene tiie first captain of the age, ana wishing him all the happiness due to his transcen- dant merit. Many of the diurnal papers of the above date contain a Prayer, translated from a copy printed and circulated at Vienna, which is said to have been composed and constantly repeated by Prince Eugene : one more truly excellent cannot be found in any language ; indeed the Prince seems to have had as well-grounded pretensions to the composition of a liturgy as to the character of a consummate general. " O my God, I believe in thee, do thou strengthen me ; I hope in thee, do thou confirm my hope ; 1 love thee, vouchsafe to redouble my love. I am sorry for my sins, O do thou increase my repentance : I adore thee, as my first Prin- ciple : I desire thee as my last : I thank thee as my perpetual Benefactor : and I call upon thee, as my supreme Defender. "My 328 ^•^'My God, be pleased to guide me by thy wis- dom, rule ine by thy justice, comfort me by thy mercy, and keep me by thy power. To thee I dedicate all my thoughts and words, my actions, and sufferings ; that henceforth I may think of thee, speak of thee, act according to thy will, and suffer for thy sake. " Lord, my will is subject to thine, in what- soever thou wiliest ; because it is thy will. I be- seech thee to enlighten my understanding, to give bounds to my will, to purify my body, and to sanctify m}^ soul. " Enable me, O my God, to expiate my past offences, to conquer my future temptations," to reduce the passions that are too strong for me, and to practise the virtues that become? me." O fill my heart with a tender remembrance of thy favours, an aversion [for my infirmities, a love for my neighbour, and a contempt of the world. Let me always remember to be submissive to my superiors, charitable to my enemies, faithful to my friends, and indulgent to my inferiors. " Come, O God. and help me to overcome pleasure by mortification, covetousness by alms, anger by meekness, and lukewarmness by de- votion. " O my God, make me prudent in imder- takings, courageous in dangers, patient under disappointments, and humble in success. Let me never 329 never forget, O Lord, to be fervent in prayer, temperate in food, exact in my employs, and con- stant in my resolutions. " Inspire me, O Lord, with a desire always to have a quiet conscience, an outward modesty, an edifying conversation, and a regular conduct. Let me always apply myself to resist nature, to assist grace, to keep thy commandments, and to deserve to be saved. ** My God, do thou convince me of the mean- ness of the earth, the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time, and the length of eternity. Grant that I may be prepared for death, that I may fear thy judgment, avoid hell, and obtain Paradise ; through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." PRUDENCE AND TEMPERANCE OF BARBUNALES, BISHOP OF LERIDA, I708. The competitors for the crown of Spain, Philip of Bourbon and Charles of Austria, had almost destroyed the fertile provinces for which they contended, by the means commonly used in war; but the partizans of the former, at the head of vvhom was the Pope, wished to add spiritual to corporeal misery, in the sufferings of their oppo- nents. In pursuance of this plan the commissary general of the Crusada wrote circular letters to all the archbishops and bishops of the kingdom, com- manding them to threaten the adherents of Charles with 330 with the censures of the Church. The reader is now presented with the circular mandate, and the answer of a prelate, whose name must he venerated by every good Protestant. " MOST REVEREND FATHER, " Since the obstinacy, with which several inha- bitants of this kingdom persist in their disloyalty to the King our Sovereign, to the prejudice of the repose of this monarchy, is so public and de- testable ; and since fair means, far from reme- dying those evils, have served for nothing but to augment their animosity and stubbornness, as by experience we have learnt ; Reason, Necessity, and Justice require, that, laying aside those useless methods, we use upon this occasion the chastise- tnent of. Church-discipline, such as censures, and other spiritual weaponc, against those who follow not the command of the Gospel, with re- spect to their allegiance sworn to his Majesty, &c. " The councils of Spain and France, from the first' synod of Toledo to the iG'th century, have thundered excommunications, anathemas, and curses, against the ecclesiasticks and seculars, who observed not the engagements and oaths sworn to their kings, &c. Whence it is apparent, how sensible the holy fathers of the councils were, that it was their duty to suppress and punish such abominable crimes. Wherefore the Church has always made use of spiritual weapons against the seditious. 331 ■seditious, and promoters of rebellion ; and the care of applying the necessary remedies being com- mitted to the ordinary prelates, and, in a parti- cular manner, to the holy Apostolic See, they have always behaved themselves with a real severity upon the like occasions, &c. " We find examples of this kind, as well in this kingdom as in foreign countries ; but prin- cipally under the reign of Pope Leo X. when the communities of the provinces were in arms: he sent a brief, dated Oct. 11, lj20, in the 8th year of his pontificate, directed to cardinal Adrian Florencio, then bishop of Tortosa, with orders to make use of censures, and the most severe chas- tisements, against the ecclesiasticks and seculars, who, contrary to their allegiance sworn, to king Charles V. ehdeavoured to destroy his rights to the crown, and to disturb the public peace, by taking arms against their lawful sovereign. "At present that a like disposition is observable in the same inhabitants, it seems needful for us to make use of the same methods, as the most effectual to obtain that which other means have proved ineffectual about. And we have reason to hope, that the fear of ecclesiastical chastisements will extricate tliem out of their error ; principally where we judge that disloyalty and obstinacy more absolutely require the sever- est punishments of the prelates and ministers of .the church. Wherefore, by the King's consent, 1 send 332 I send you, most Reverend Father, this insi-' nuation, exciting your ardent zeal for the saving of souls, and your known affection for the King^s service ; to the end that, proceeding in the ordi- nary way, you cause edicts to be published in your district, with censures, and just and holy pu- nishments ; and that you strictly enjoin all sub- jects, ecclesiastical and secular, communities and private persons, to preserve the fidelity they have swora, and which they owe his Majesty ; sus- pending and excommunicating all such as shall act contrary thereto ; as likewise such as excite and foment any sedition and rebellion, contrary to the oath and homage of fidelity with which this kinirdoni and others have acknowledoed his Majesty's lav\ful and natural right to the Spanish monarchy; exhorting them, as faithful subjects, to oppose such whose sentiments are contrary to their obedience, &c. And in case any persist in their obstinacy, you shall declaie them liable to the censures, as disobeying the orders of the Church. In so doing, Most Reverend Father, you will perform the duties of 3- our pastoral office, for the service of the common good, in procuring that which is most convenient for the tranquillity of these kingdoms, and for the maintenance of reli- gion according to conscience, and his Majesty's service, who so graciously aj)plies himself to the preservation and advantage of his subjects, &c. Madrid, Signed Dec. 22, 1708. D. F. Rod. de MENDARoauESA." 333 THE BISUOP OF LERIDa's ANSWER. ^' I received with abundance of respect yours of the 2 2d past, wherein your Excellency, having before your eyes the disposition of these inha- bitants, and the proceeding of the prelates in the council of Toledo, together with that of Pope Leo X. v.'ho made use of censures to keep the subjects in awe, and reduce them to the obe- dience thev owe to their lawful sovereigns, thinks I ought to use the same method, and to thunder monitories against the obstinate. Whereupon I cannot but present your Excellency with a few re- flections, before we proceed to the execution ; and, for that end, it will be necessary to enter into the examination and discussion of the matter. "It is true, the prelates of the Church have made use of censures upon the like occasions; but it is also certain that they haidly ever proved success- ful. They were never made use of in Spiin, but against the rebellions and conspiracies of the Goths; and more resistance and changes vv^ere never found in this Kingdom than at that time. And, if we consider the monitories of Leo. X. and the effects of them in Castile, we shall plainly see, that the battle of Villadur, and not the excom- munications, kept Charles V. upon the Throne. In the reign of Henry V. of Castile, pope Paul II. proceeded to censures, at the request of tjiat Prince, and by the ministry of the nuncio An- tonio 334 tonio Venerio, against the conspirators ; but it produced no other effect than affronts to the Pope's ministers, against whom they were ready to take up arms, without regard to the Pope's au- thority upon such occasi'>ns, concerning which they appealed to the next council. And though his Majesty prosecuted those conspirators with the most severe chastisements, yet so far were they from amending, that they were not so much as terrified ; as we read in Mariana, Lib. xxiii. Cap. 2. The precautions used by the Pope in a hke case, against the kingdoms of Sicily and Ar- ragon, in the reign of Don Pedro the Great, met with no better success ; no more than in Ger- many, Milan, and Florence, upon divers occa- sions ; it being almost generally certain, that where temporal weapons have not the ascendant, spiritual make not the least impression. " By this consideration we may see the force of the people's obstinacy, which refers to what St. Austin says of it in his letter to Parmenius, viz. That we must not excommunicate obstinate and such like persons, because, upon those occasions, instead of obtainijig the desired effect, we incur other misfortuiies, by their contempt of the cen- sures, of wliicii Vve have seen several pernicious examples in the church. " Wherefore, I must tell your Excellency, that the obstinacy of the consciences of these inha- bitants is now greater than ever; and so general, that 335 that the Kino- has actually fewer servants than when tins Kingdom was subject to the enemy. Many reasons- may be assigned for this, and as it is not fit I should enter into the examination thereof, but rather explode them, I find that, during these dispositions, my censures cannot be followed with any wholesome effect, especially at a juncture when the ill success of affairs abroad gives more life than ever to the hope, which this people never lost, of changing their master. These weighty reasons oblige me to suspend the publication of the edicts till it is seen how the other prelates believe themselves, that we may follow them with more safety ; and it will be a great comfort to me, if I may receive a model of the expressions I must make use of ; inasmuch as I am willing to behave myself, upon all occasions, according to my duty, and for your content and service. Lerida, Signedf Jan. 22, 1709. Barbunales." FAMINE IN FRANCE, IJO^. There were several causes which concurred to produce that dreadful visitation of the human race, the principal of which was the' protracted war with England and her allies. The male population of the country, enticed irom their agri- cultural labours, b*-came soldiers ; and, far from practising their usual domestic frugality, wasted provision? S36 provisions at every opportunity. Besides sup- plying the necessary consumption of vast armies, the government was compelled to stock all the frontier towns, to prepare for the sieges they after- wards underwent ; these were successively cap- tured, and the magazines of the troops in camp were often taken : the consequences might easily have been foreseen, but Lewis XIV. preferred the sounds of the cries of his people in distress to their blessings for a continued peace. At length part of France refused the usual fruits of the earth, and the misery of a portion of the com- munity became too apparent for doubt or con- tradiction. The King, roused to a true sense of the general calamity, and alarmed at the unproduc- tive season just passed, caused the clergy to di- vert the public attention from the original cause of the exhausted state of the granaries of the king- dom, and they, faithful to the monarch, encou- raged acts of devotion. The order of the Cardinal de Noailles on this subject follows; and it will be perceived, that he makes more use of the sins of the people, in accounting for the famine, than of those of Lewis, though they were tolerably numerous in this particular point of view. "the cardinal de noailles' order concerning the processions is as follows : " Louis-Anthony Noailles, by Divine Permis- sion, Cardinal Prince of the Holy Roman Church, J 337 Church, by the title of St. Mary on la Minerva, archbishop of Paris, duke of St. Cloud, peer of France, commander of the order of the Holy Ghost ; to the archpriests of St. Mary Magdalen and St. Severin, health and benediction. The hand of God still lies heavy upon his people ; he joins barrenness of the earth to the other scouro^es with which he has visited us for several years. We begin to see the fulfilling of that terrible threatening which he made to the Israelites, Lev. xxvi. 19. I ivill make your heaven as irony and your earth as brass. The earth has now no more the fruitfulness natural to her, and de- nies, in many places, the greatest necessaries of life. Heaven, far from warming the earth, and shedding upon her those kindly dews, that make her fruitful, gives nothing but cold and barren rains, and an unsettled weather, whose conse- quences are to be dreaded. It is our duty, therefore, forthwith to have recourse to the goodness and power of Him who is the only master of heaven and earth, who feeds even the vilest animal, and abandons none of his creatures till their incrrati- tude obliges him so to do. Though he is altered with respect to us, and has had for some time past nothing but rigours for us, he does not yet fail to give us some consolation, and to make us hope for more, if we labour to deserve it. The diseases which alarmed us do considerably abate ; z and 338 and are not of such a nature as to cause the con- tagion which some over-credulous people appre- hended. Let us go to Him, therefore, with con- fidence ; he will be to us again the Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, provided we approach to the throne of his grace with humility and contrition. He is not deaf to our voice ; nor does he cast out our prayers, but because they are neither as humble, nor as persevering, as they should be ; for (according to St. James) What cannot the fervent })rai/er of the righteous man do ? Let us make ourselves righteous, by a sin- cere and perfect conversion, that our prayers may be rendered acceptable unto God : let us cease to offend him, that he may cease to ])unish us : let us rend our hearts, and not our garments ; and let us not put our trust in the outward shew^ of god- liness, but in the real change of heart; ?ind man- ners. Let us be less earnest in our petitions for the end of our calamities than for the enc| of the sins which drew them down upon us. To obtain both, we must strengthen our prayers with those of the Church, and the intercession of the Saints. "Wherefore we will have recourse to that of our holy Patrons ; and we order, for that end, a gene- ral procession, in which the shrines of St. Marcel and St. Genevi<^ve shall be carried. We find our- selves so much the more engaged thereto, in that the king, always full of faith and piety, has him- self 339^ self done us the honour to declare his intentions to us, and in that the chief magistrates have let us know the desire of the people. For these causes, having thereupon conferred with our vene- rable brothers, the dean, canons, and chapter, of our metropolitan church, we hereby order, that on Thursday the l6'th instant, all ihe chapters and convents of this city, who of riglit or custom are called to the general processi^)ns, do, by six a clock in the morning precisely, repair to our church, where they shall bring in procession, with respect and devotion, the shrines and relicks which are kept in their churches ; in order after- wards, in conjunction with us, to make the pro- cession to the church of St. Genevieve of the Mount, and thence return to ours, where the shrines of St. Marcel and St. Genevieve shall be earned with the usual solemnities. And, that the antient and just confidence of the city of Paris in her holy Patrons may the more surely obtain its effect, by tliis holy and august ceremony, people shall prepare themselves for it by a general fast, which shall be observed with abstinence from meat, in this city and suburbs, on Wednesday the 15th instant, and by particu- lar processions, which shall be first made by the clergy of our said church on Monday morning ; and afterwards, by all the abbeys, chapters, pa- rishes, and convents, of the city and suburbs, which shall come to our church, there to implore z 2 the 340 the help of the Holy Virgin, St. Dennis, and St. Marcel, patrons and protectors of this diocese ; from whence they shall go to the church of St. Genevieve of the Mount, and that on the day and hour, and according to the order, which we pre- scribe below. We grant forty days of indulgence? to the faithful who shall assist at this ceremony. We exhort them to come to it, not out of curi- osity, but with a spirit of faith and repentance. We hope that they will be moved thereto by the edification which the piety and modesty of all the clergy, secular and regular, will give them. Lastly, we conjure all persons who shall be pre- sent at this solemnity, to bring dispositions with them capable of appeasing the just wrath of God, and of causing his mercies to lighten once more upon us ; and we recommend to tliem, there to pray for the preservation of the king's sacred person, and all the royal family ; as also for peace and the other needs of state. Also we order you to make known these presents to all abbots, deans, priors, priests, and other superiors of the secular and regular communities of the city and suburbs, to the end they may not plead ignorance, but ob- serve them, and cause them to be observed by the persons under them. Given at Paris, in ourarchi- episcopal palace, the JOth day of iVlay, 1709. " Signed, Louis Ant. Cardinal de Noailles, " Archbishop of Paris." 341 The Queen of Endand alluded to the state of part of the Continent in her speech to both Housefs of Parliament, November 1 7 : " I think it proper to take notice to you, that the great dearth and scarcity under which our neighbours abroad have suffered this year, begins to affect us in some measure at home, by the temptation of profit, in carrying out too much of our corn, while it bears so high a price in foreign parts. "This occasions many complaints from the poor, for whose sake I earnestly recommend to you, to take this growing evil into your conside- ration, having not neglected any thing on my part towards the remedying of it, that the law would allow." Would it be credited by the subjects of Queen Anne, were they now alive, that little has been said by the present poor when they paid four times the price for a bushel of corn demanded in 1709? THE FIRST EARL OF PORTLAND Died in 1709, and was buried with much cere- mony and splendor in King Henry VITs Chapel, Westminster. The account of him given by contemporary writers is highly creditable to his memory, and will bear repetition, as instances of fidelity and rectitude of conduct are not yet so numerous as to make the subject tedious. Mr. Bentinck 342 Bentinck was the descendant of an antient family in the United Provinces, and selected by Wilham III. when prince of Orange, for his page, from which situation he was soon advanced to the of- fice of gentleman of the bedchamber. The prince had the small-pox in 1()75, and that event gave his attendant an opportunity of shewing the warm attachment he had formed for his royal master : urged equally by dut}'^ and affection, Bentinck remained constantly at his post, as- sisted to turn the Prince, and gave him both nourishment and medicine. During sixteen days and nights the patient never called upon him that he did not immediately answer : at the close of that period the Prince became convales- gent, and Bentinck's anxiety for his safety abat- ing, nature yielded to disease and fatigue, and he was compelled to entreat permission to go home, where the small-pox reduced liim to extreme danger, and he only recovered in time to attend the prince to the field of battle, in which he was ever found at his master's side. It would have been highly ungrateful in Wil- liam had he not patronized the affectionate Ben- tinck after such proofs of his regard ; but he had still stronger motives in his courage and abilities, which entitled him to entire confidence in civil and military afl^airs. The invasion of England by the duke of Monmouth induced the Prince to offer James " the assistance of himself and troops againist 343 against the invader; Mr. Bentinck, who conveyed the message, liad however but a cold reception, through some misconstruction : four years after- wards he was more successful, and contributed greatly, by his prudence, sagacity, and dexterity, to the accomplishment of the Revolution. Wil- liam was thus furnished with the means of re- wardinohis favourite, who soon received thehonour of the order of the Garter, several places of import- ance, and the earldom of Portland : one of the grants made to him excited some resentment, and it was mentioned with asperity in the House of Commons. In the same session he obtained equal credit, when one of the members asserted he was offered and refused £. 50,000, to for- ward the views of the East India Company. The King laid the foundation of the Peace of Ryswick with marshal Boufflers in the field of battle ; and he confided its conclusion to the Earl, as far as prudence permitted. 1 he next and last public honour he enjoyed was the appointment of em- bassador extraordinary to the court of France, where he is said to have sujjported the credit and interest of the British nation with considerable expence to himself. On returning to England he had the mortifica- tion to find that the earl of Albemarle occupied the only place of which it is probable he would have been particularly tenacious — that of the monarch's yarowriVe; but this unexpected event was 344 was alleviated and rendered less intolerable by the knowledge that he still possessed the esteem of his benefactor. The Earl adopted the only resource left him, and retired to the enjoyment of a plen- tifid fortune, and the society of an amiable wife and family. Boyer asserts, that he distributed ^ 2,000. yer annutn in charity during his in- voluntary banishment. misson's travels. The fourth English edition of this work was printed in 17 14; and it appeared in French; but with what success the compiler of these pages is unacquainted. — Misson was a native of France ; and we are informed, in his dedication to the earl of Arran, that the duke of Ormond entrusted him vrith the early education of his patron. He ap- pears to have been held in considerable estimation by the English literati, and particularly by Dr. Hoadly, bishop of Bangor. A copy of thisr work is now in my possession, which the author illus- trated with all the plates given in the English and French editions, and many marginal notes, written in a very beautiful character, and pre- sented to the prelate just mentioned, accompanied by the following note on a leaf ])receding the title- page of the first volume : *' Gomme j'ecrivois de ma main quelques notes, dans les marges de divers endroits de ce livre, une personne qui est survenue, a desaj)rouve ce que 345 je faisois, disant que cela gatoit en quelque facon le livre, et supposoit. aussi une certaine sorte de familiarity — Mais ces raisons-la ne m'ont point touche : j'ai r^pondu que j'etois assur^ qu'un homme du caractere de M. TE. de B. prendroit en bonne part ces divers petits soins de ma plume; et que peut-etre, memes, il seroit assez obligeant pour m'en demander davantage, en t^moignant par la qu'il n'a pas refuse quelque attention aux di verses choses qui sont contenues dans le petit ouvrage que j'ai eu Tlionneur de lui presenter : heureux, si je pouvois attendre aussi de cet ex- cellent homme quelques avis critiques sur les fautes les plus notables qu'il ne manquera pas d'observer, afin que je puisse faire un bon usage de ces remarques. "Pour my Lord Evesque de Bangor. '^ Par son tres humble et tres ** Lond. SGFev'r, ob^issant serviteur, " 1718-19. " Maximilien Misson." It may not be amiss to quote part of his ad- dress to the publick in page ix. that the reader may possess a marginal MS. note relating to it — " After speaking of the alterations and additions, I will not dissemble the matter, I could willingly have retrenched entirely several things which ap- pear to me now not to be very necessary ; but one must observe that these retrenchments cannot be ipade after a book has had a certain happy course ; 346 course ; especially when there has been several impressions of it, and in different tongues. The publisher may take away what he pleases in one edition, but he cannot absolutely suppress the same, because it still remains in another; and some will have what is retrenched, whether good or bad ; rejecting the editions in which those things are wanting, as being imperfect. These volumes then must go on in their way very near as they have begun. If some comptrollers say, that my best way had been to let it alone, as it was the first time, I will not much contra- dict them in that opinion.'" — Note." Ce livre ayatit (^t^ ecrit lors que j'etois au dessous de V age de trente ans, je le mets au rang de mes Juvenilia. J'ai resiste trois ans auxsollicitations des libraires, qui me demandoient cette nouvelle edition avec quelques additions ; et je ne la leur aurois pas accordee, si ma umavaise sante ne m'eut pas detourn^ de mes plus serieuses Etudes : guod hie notdsse liceafJ" Facing the yyth page of the first volume Mr. Misson has had a blank leaf inserted, on which he pasted, with great neatness, one of the billets issued by the priests of the cathedral of Cologn, for the preservation of travellers. The reader, ■upon consulting the annexed plate, will find an exact copy of this singular curiosity, which the author authenticated by writing on it : '* This is one 347 one of those miraculous billets," referring to these woids in the text. " The cathedral church remains in a very im- perfect state ; it is pity so fine a beginning was never completed. In. the year 116'2, the three pretended kings who came to adore our Saviour were brought from Milan into this church, where fame attributes many miracles to them. They sell for a penny a dozen little billets or notes which have touched them, and communicate their vir- tue." The billet is very coarsely engraved, and has a representation on it of the Virgin, the infont Christ, Joseph, and the three kings, which, it is worthy of notice, have each received German names. It is thus inscribed : *' Sancti tres Reges, Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, Orate pro nobis nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae : Ces billets ont touche aux trois testes des S. S. Roys . a Cologne : il sont pour les voyageurs contre les malheurs dcs chemins, maux de tete, mal caduque, iievres, sorceleries, toute sorte de malefice, et mort subite." THE REGALIA OF CHARLEMAGNE, The crown, sceptre, globe, sword, &.c. of this Celebrated monarch were kept in the castle of Nuremburg when Misson wj-ote his new voyage to Italy. The recent affairs of Europe make these 350 insolent and rapacious. As the laws relating to debtor and creditor then existed, no distinction was made between the representative of foreign majesty and the subjects oF England ; therefore Morton did not commit an illegal act, nor was the sheriff' culpable who issued the writ. So far the defect lay with the legislature, which ought to have put it out of the power of an intemperate individual to involve his country in hostilities with half the Continent, and to bring tlie queen and government to the disgraceful necessity of apologizing for his violence of temper. Morton, however, must have known, in common with the other citizens of London, that less responsibility attached to an ambassador than to the natives of Ivagland, who, though not made an exception by law, certainly was by courtesy, for reasons of state, far more imjjerative tlian a loss of ^ 50. by hin» could counterbalance. Acting upon this imaginary concession, the am^ bassador deeply resented the arrest ; nor did the Imperial, Prussian, and other foreign ministers fail to join with Matueof in demanding reparation ^or the insult thus offered to all the crowns of Europe. Morton, on the contrary, seemed cer- tain of his ground, and wished to oppose the liii'hts of an Eijo-hshman to the resentment of the world, knowing, that as he violated no law, that resen-tmeiit, if carried to extremities, must be felt by him only as one of several millions of people, ^■=;i oo people, and that no power existed in the queen, or her ministers, to punish beyond the bounda- ries of the statute-book ; and it appears, he was further persuaded, no member of either house of parhament would propose an ex post facto law. It is evident, from these facts, that the govern- ment had no alternative between concession and war, and the former was wisely preferred. Accordingly Charles Whitworth, Esq. who re- sided at Moscow as envoy extraordinary from our court, was vested by the Queen with the cha- racter of her Ambassador Extraordinary, expressly and purposely to make solemn excuses in her name for the insult offered to M. A. A. de Ma- tueof, Minister of State, governor of the duchy of Jaroslaw, and Ambassador Extraordinary to Great Britain. This singular ceremony occurred on the 8th of February, I710, when M. Basilis de Soltikof, chief carver to the czar Peter, and his cup-bearer M. Athaiiasius de Dmitreef Mamonof, who acted as iMaster of the Ceremonies, proceeded in one of the royal coaches, followed by twenty others, empty, to the house of Mr. Whitworth ; part of these magnificent vehicles were intended for the reception of the Apologist and his train ; and the remainder served to give the procession consequence. Upon the arrival of Mamonof and his coadjutor, they were introduced to Mr. Whit- worth, who, having heard the purport of the visit, he accompanied them to the coach, in which he 352 he received the seat assigned to exahed rank, the carver sitting at his left side, and the cup-bearer facing him ; the secretary and gentlemen of the embassy occupying their respective carriages, the whole set forward to the palace, where the court- yard was hned with two regiments of guards, those of Preobrazenski and Semionofski, richly cloathed, accoutred, and armed, who gave Mr. Whitworth the salute of honour as he passed. M. de Narichkin, gentleman of the bed-cham- ber, received him at the first step of the great staircase ; prince George de Scherbaty, counsellor of state, waited at the summit for the same pur- pose, and M. de Mussin Puchkin, privy coun- sellor, did him the honours of the antechamber, whence others of the royal household ushered him to the hall of audience, where the czar stood un- covered, under a canopy, leaning against a table, near a chair of state, surrounded by noblemen and general officers. Mr. Whitworth made his first obeisance the moment he saw the czar, the second in the midj^t of the hall, and the last on the platform of the throne ; he then pronounced the following speech in English, a translation of which was repeated in German by his secretary, in order that several ambassadors invited on this disagreeable occasion might fully appreciate the apology; and finally one of the czar's officers read it in the Russian language. i . " MOST 353 " Most high and most powerful emperor, " It is not without a very sensible grief, that I am obliged to mention to your Imperial Majesty, the aftront which was lately offered to your am- bassador in Great Britain. And I should be much more concerned at it, were I not furnished with express orders, and full power, to declare, with how great diligence her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, my most gracious mistress, has en- deavoured to give sufficient satisfaction for it, pro- portioned as well to her equity, as to her greatness of soul, and such as may serve as an evident mark of her constant friendship, which she has always had for your Imperial Majesty, and which she is desirous inviolably to continue to you. " The first advice of that unfortunate accident was no sooner brought to court, but the guilty were sensible of her royal indignation ; they were immediately arrested ; they were examined before the Queen in her council: they were imprisoned, and prosecuted with the utmost severity of our laws ; and though these were found to be not ex- tensive enough, yet they were declared infamous, with the unanimous consent of the whole nation assembled in parliament, who declared to the world, by a public act, how much they abhorred the indignity of the fact, and took the necessary precautions to prevent the like insolences for the future. Neither did they stop there, for those A A criminals 354 criminals were afterwards declared unworthy any favour or protection, and excluded from the gene- ral pardon which her Majesty the Queen caused to be published for all her subjects, even for those who had, in the most enormous manner, at- tempted against her sacred person ; and though other criminals do actually enjoy that benefit, those are still under her Majesty's high dis- pleasure. " And to the end her royal equity and friend- ship may be more conspicuous to the world, her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to honour me with the character of her ambassador extraordi- nary, commissioner, and plenipotentiary, and to give me power to represent her royal person, as if she herself was present, to declare, in the first place, her sorrow, and a just and deep abhor- rence of that rash act, committed against a pub- lic minister, and especially against such a one as her Majesty has a very particular esteem for ; and then to desire excuse for the defect and insuf- ficiency of our ancient constitutions for the case of such an extraordinary violation of the law of na- tions, for which the criminals ought to have been punished with the utmost severity of the law and justice, conformably to the design of your Imperial Majesty ; and lastly, to assure your Im- perial Majesty, in the most sincere manner, how much her Majesty is inclined to maintain the antient friendship and good intelligence which has 355 has so long been between the two crowns ; which may it please your Imperial Majestj^ to observe more at large in her present letter, which may serve to convince you of the great inclination, and high esteem, which her Majesty the Queen has for your Imperial Majesty. " Wherefore I most earnestly desire, in the name of her Majesty the Queen, that your Im- perial Majesty would be pleased to accept of the excuses above alleged, with your brotherly and wonted affection \ and not impute to her Majesty the Queen, nor the Britannic nation, an accident whereof only a few disorderly persons were au- thors ; but that, entirely burying it in oblivion, your Imperial Majesty will be pleased to con- tinue, once more, your high inclination towards the Queen my mistress, and towards her people. " For my part, I shall esteem myself very happy if I can any ways contribute to this great work, so advantageous to the two crowns, and so necessary to the state of Europe. '' Several great favours and marks of esteem, which I formerly received in the discharge of mv office, of which I shall always retain a grateful remembrance, make me hope for the same favour- able reception, during my present stay, in the exercise of my new commission, as often as I shall have the honour to make any new proposals at your Majesty's court, by order of my most gra- nous Queen. • AA 2 ' «Te 356 ^' To conclude, I beg leave to recommend to your Imperial Majesty's high protection, the sub- jects of Great Britain, who live in this country, with respect to the free commerce which their an- cestors first began, with great expence, and the loss of a great many men, by the way of Arch- angel. Signed, " Charles Whitwohth," After the speech was made, and two translations of it read, his excellency the ambassador delivered to his Czarish Majesty her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain's letter, to the effect following. After the usual titles : " We have already written to your Imperial Majesty, to declare to you the great grief we conceived, for the unhappy affront which was of- fered to your ambassador, before he left our court. We have since received the letter which your Imperial Majesty wrote to us upon that subject; and we can assure your Imperial Majesty, that we were touched with true sorrow, when we saw how highly you resented the violence which had been offered to your Imperial Majesty's own person, in the character of your Imperial Majesty ; and we were the more grieved on this occasion, when we reflected on the insufficiency of our laws to give as ample a satisfaction as we desired to make, as well for the just sense we ourself had of the indignity which had been ofl'ered, as to con- 357 convince your Imperial Majesty how much we were incHned to make a suitable reparation of the injury do,ne so good a friend and ally. But we must confess, that at the same time we had a sin- gular pleasure, in observing your Imperial Ma- jesty's desire to prevent the misunderstanding which might arise therefrom ; and the great esteem you shewed for our friendship ; as well as the care you expressed to preserve and cul- tivate it, by reciprocal marks of friendship and affection. " Wherefore, we promise ourself, from your goodness, that, upon the representations which from time to time have been made to you in our name, by our envoy-extraordinary at your Im- perial Court, your Imperial Majesty will be pleased to examine into the nature of this affair ; where your Imperial Majesty will see, ^that we have not the least inclination to favour the criminals, nor to screen them from justice ; but that there are insuperable difficulties, .with respect to the an- tient and fundamental laws of the government of our people ; which, we fear, do not permit so severe and rigorous a sentence to be given, as your Imperial Majesty at first seemed to expect in this case; and we persuade ourself, that your Imperial Majesty, who are a prince equally famous for clemency and for exact justice, will not require us, who are the guardian and protectress of the laws. oo< laws, to inflict a punishment upon our sub- jects, which the law does not empower us to do. " Nevertheless, we have not been wanting, at the same time, to use all the means which we judged most effectual, to persuade your Imperial Majesty, and the whole world, of the sincerity of our intentions, and of our endeavours in this affair. And te the end the guilty might be punished so far as the laws and constitutions of our kingdoms which were then in force would permit, we gave express and repeated orders to our officers of justice, and to our ministers, to prosecute them with the utmost severity. *' The prosecution has been long continued with very great diligence, and nothing has been omitted to bring it to as speedy a conclusion as possible. But after all, the matter is such, that we find ourselves obliged to inform your Imperial Majesty, that as well because of the difterent pleadings in favour of the criminals, the slow but indispensable manner of proceedings in a law-suit of so great importance, as of the case itself, which is of an extraordinary nature, against which no sufficient provision is made in the an- tient statutes of these kingdoms; it has not hitherto been in the power of our counsel learned in the law, to obtain a sentence, nor a final decision, of this aflfair. '' Where- 359 '• Wherefore, considering all these inconve-- niences, and foreseeing the delays which might probably happen in the ordinary course of law ; and desiring at the same time to give you signal marks of our sorrow^ as also to shew you the in- dignation of all our subjects on this occasion, we have passed an act of parliament, made in the most solemn manner by the great council and assembly of our kingdom of Great Britain, wherein is made a declaration as authentic as possible, of the just horror which our subjects in general have against this violent insult ; and all the acts and proceedings, which relate to the arrest of the per- son of your Imperial Majesty's ambassador, are annulled, and rased out of the registers of our courts of Justice ; and those who had a sjiare therein, are branded as infamous criminals, and obnoxious to the laws which were then in force. And if any person hereafter durst commit the like offence, or any ways violate the privileges of am- bassadors and other foreign ministers, they will be liable to the most severe penalties and punish- ments which the arbitrary power of the judges shall think fit to inflict upon them, and to which no bounds are given in this new act. So that all insults of this nature will be prevented for the fu- ture, and the security which all Princes' ministers ought to enjoy will be firmly established and preserved by this famous law. And this will remain as a monument to all posterity, of the deference 360 deference which has been shewn to your Imperial Majesty ; and all the ministers which shall come for the future, will be indebted for this extraor- dinary act for their protection, to the particular consideration which we and our people have had for your Imperial Majesty's honour. As, there- fore, your Imperial Majesty cannot but see that we have used our utmost endeavours in prosecut- ing the criminals, and in causing them to be pu- nished, though not with the success we could have wished ; and since we have procured an act to be made by the representatives of all our sub- jects of Great Britain, as well for reparation of what has been done, as to prevent the like inso- lences for the future; we instantly pray your Im- perial Majesty to accept of all that we have done on our side, as the most we could do here for your satisfaction ; whereby your Imperial Majesty will give us the strongest proof that can be of your constant affection towards us. And you may be assured, that we shall not fail on our side to do all that lies in our power, on all occasions, to shew you our gratitude, by our firm friendship and esteem. " And to the end that nothing may be omitted which is in our power to do farther by way of suita- ble reparation, we have thought fit to make choice of some worthy and able person, to declare to your Imperial Majesty in the most public and solemn manner the indignation we conceived at the affront 361 affront offered, and our concern that it is not in our power to cause the criminals to be punished according to their deserts. And as our trusty and well-beloved Mr. Charles Whitworth has merited our royal approbation, by his ability and expe- rience in all the affairs which have been entrusted to him, as also by his good conduct at your Im- perial Majesty's court for several years past ; we have, therefore, given him a special power and commission to represent our person, as our am- bassador extraordinary upon this occasion, and to make such excuses and declarations in our name, as will, we hope, give your Imperial Majesty entire satisfaction. And we do hereby desire your Imperial Majesty to be pleased to admit and re- ceive the said Mr. Charles Whitworth as our am- bassador extraordinar}' for this end, and to give entire credit to all that he shall say to you in our royal name, as if we were present to do it in per- son. We will only add, as a mark of our esteem for your ambassador himself who suffered this in- sult, that as we were sensible of his personal vir- tues and great qualities during his residence at our court, so we were more particularly concerned that such an injury should be offered to a gentleman of so great merit and consideration, being, be- sides, the ambassador extraordinary of so great a Prince, and so good an ally. And so praying, that the great Dispenser of all good things will vouchsafe to pour forth his heavenly benedictions upon 362 upon the person and family of your Imperial Majesty, we recommend you to his Holy Pro- tection. Given at our Palace ,at Windsor, the .... day of August, 1709. " Your Imperial Majesty's " Most affectionate Sister, " Anne R." '*' His Czarish Majesty having received this letter from the hands of the ambassador, delivered it to the count de Golofkin, Great Chamberlain 6f his Empire, and was pleased to make the fol- lowing answer in his own tongue : " HIS CZARISH majesty's ANSWER. *' It was but requisite that her Majesty the queen should have given us satisfaction, by pu- nishing the criminals conformably to our demands, in the most rigorous manner, as is the custom in such cases throughout the universe: but, seeing her Majesty has ordered you to make excuses in the quality of her ambassador extraordinary, con- ferred upon you expressly for this purpose, and to remonstrate that her Majesty could not inflict such a punishment upon them, because of the defect in that particular of the former established constitutions of her kingdom ; and that, with the unanimous consent of the Parliament, her Ma- jesty has caused a new act to be passed to serve as a law therein for the future ; we accept all this for a proof of the affection her Majesty has for us, and 363 and for sufficient satisfaction ; and we will give orders to our ministers to settle entirely this affair with you in a conference." After the conclusion of the Czar's answer, Mr. Whitworth retired without turning, making the same number of obeisances as when he advanced, and returned to his house in procession as be- fore. The chief carver was commissioned to entertain the ambassador at the Czar s expence, who with his train lived most sumptuously for three days, attended by the royal servants. On the 9th of the same month Mr. Whitworth waited upon the Count de Golofkin, great cham- berlain of the empire, for the purpose of confer- ring with him and other ministers of the Crown on the terms necessary for the accomplishment of his mission, when the articles given in sub- stance below were afjreed to : " That his Czarish Majesty emperor of Great Russia, will send orders to Monsieur de Matueof, his ambassador or plenipotentiary at the Hague, to notify provisionally, by a letter to her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, that Mr. Charles Whitworth, being vested with the character of her ambassador extraordinary, commissioner, and plenipotentiary, expressly and purposely to make excuses on accasion of the affront in question, has performed that commission ; and that his Majesty, having regard to the instances of her -Majesty the Queen, has been pleased to accept the said 364 said excuses made in her name, for satisfaction of the outrage done at London to the ambassador of his Czarish Majesty ; with an intention thereby to shew the high value he puts upon the friendship of lier Britannic Majesty, and on the continuance of that friendship, and in hope of the hke return on her part in occasions'*wherein his Czarish Majesty maybe concerned; and that, in consequence hereof, his Czarish Majesty is wiUing to forget the crimi- nal proceedings of the authors and accomplices of the said affront, and desires her Majesty the Queen to be pleased to order them to be discharged from the process issued against them, and from the sentence pronounced, and the penalties to which they are condemned for the said insult *' His Czarish Majesty having a just regard to the faithful and signal services which his said am- bassador, who was insulted, has performed, and in a gracious remembrance of the laudable zeal of his deceased father, his excellency M. Attemon Sergieiewicz de Matueof, first minister and boyarin in the reign of his Czarish Majesty's father and grandfather, of glorious memory, who, in exhort- incf rebels to obedience, crowned his faithful and important services with his blood, shed by the mutineers ; he cannot but (in token of his favour and of his great good-will towards him) demand, after his own satisfaction, the particular satisfac- tion of his minister ; namely, the reparation of his honour and that of his family, by the expe- dient 365 dient of a letter from her Majesty the Queen, and tlie reimbursement of all the costs and da- mages which he has been obliged to be at, and to suffer, on account of the said affront. " His Czarish Majesty will give order to his said ambassador to demand his letter of re-cre- dence, which he refused to accept when he left London, as well as the usual present and the yacht which her Majesty caused to be offered to him, and this because of the aforesaid affront. " All that is above specified being executed, his Czarish Majesty will acquaint her Majesty the Queen, that he is content with the aforesaid satisfaction, by a letter which shall be delivered to the ambassador, Mr. Whitworth." The Act of Parliament alluded to was intituled, " An Act for preserving the privileges of Ambas- sadors and other Public Ministers of Foreign Princes and States :" which declared all suits and prosecutions against the Muscovite ambassa- dor and his bail vacated ; " that all process, whereby any Ambassador or Public Ministers, or his servants, may be detained, or his or their goods distrained, shall for the future be adjudged void ; the prosecutors be deemed violators of the laws of nations, and suffer such penalties and corporeal punishment as the lord chancellor and the chief justices, or any two of them, shall determine : Provided that no bankrupt putting himself in the service of an Ambassador, &c. shall 366 shall have the benefit of this Act ; nor the ser- vant of such Ambassador, &c. unless his name be registered in the Secretary's office, and trans- mitted to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, who shall hang the list of such servants up in some public place of their office." EXTRAORDINARY ROBBERY. The royal family of Pr^issia had removed from the palace at Berlin to Oranien burgh, for a few days, in the month of July IJIO, and, according to a singular custom of that court, their apart- ments remained in the state they were used till their return, and consequently well guarded. A person, aware of the impossibility of plundering those apartments by the usual means of entrance, formed the strange and hazardous resolution of exploring them by a chimney ; accordingly he procured a rope-ladder, descended, and found his way to the golden toilet of their majesties, where he made choice of an ewer and two basons of gold, and other articles of great value ; he then discovered a rich bed, not long before presented to the queen by her royal husband, and com- pletely stripped it of the gold fringe and lace which adorned the drapery ; sated with his suc- cess, this artful depredator ascended his dark and dangerous staircase, and contrived to leave the palace with his spoils, unperceived either by the domestics or guards. Sufficient time elapsed before before the loss was discovered to enable the thief to leave the city without suspicion, as, after closing ihe gates, and making every possible enquiry, not the least trace could be found of him, or his booty. 'I'hose who think the above relation in- credible should call to their recollection the recent act of sacrilege committed at St. Paul's Cathedral, where doors of iron, and wood cased with iron, and a chest secured by three locks, were opened and closed by persons who are yet unknown, and who contrived besides to pass the great doors of the church, the exterior gates of the railing, and what is still more wonderful, many watchmen, though heavily laden with silver articles suited to the vast size of the sacred building to which they belonged. DR. SACHEVERELL. The compiler need not to remind his readers of the interest this reverend gentleman excited in the reign of queen Anne, by the diffusion of his particular opinions of the religion and govern- ment of the State. He had numbers of friends, and numerous determined enemies; the former treated him with all the honours due to a success- ful commander ; and the latter insulted him in print, and personally when an opportunity of- fered. On one particular occasion some gentle- men met him on the road between London and Hampstead, and indulged themselves by using such 36S such gross language and invective as is sometimef produced by politicks acting on fiery brains, or the free use of wine ; the doctor, highly exas- perated, threatened to report the indignity to the Queen, who, he declared, would be induced by his representations to ruin the offenders by a prosecution ex officio. The Flying Post of Oc- tober 17 contains a subsequent proposal on the part of the Doctor, in which he consents to dis- continue all proceedings, on condition the gentle- men signed the following submission : " The Reverend Dr. Henry Sacheverell, having out of his great clemency and mercy readily con- sented to forgive the assault and trespass we rashly committed on the road betwixt Hamp- stead and London on his person, and the abusive language we gave him, we think ourselves in dluty bound to acknowledge the generous favour we have received, in that he will not prosecute us for those rude indignities and provocations we of-* fered him : for which we thus publicly ask his pardon.'' This they refused to do peremptorily, and pub- lished the ensuing statement, which terminated the affair : " SIR, " In order to let you nito the true meaning of the enclosed (meaning the paper of submission the doctor would have had the gentlemen to sign that was exhibited in our last) it will be necessary to 369 to give you some account of the affront offered to Dr. Sacheverell in his return from Hampstead ; or, at least, to touch upon the consequences of that story which has made so nmch noise in the world. That most Reverend Gentleman being regaled on a certain day by the minister of Hamp- stead, the mob thought themselves obliged, in compliance to the times, and to sliew their reverence to that gentleman's triumphs over the whole legislative authority of this kingdom, to make bonfires, and other demonstrations of pub- lic rejoicings ; and, according to custom, stopped all passengers, and insulted those who had more honour than to bow down and worship their idol : amongst the latter, were the young gentle- men who unfortunately gave occasion to the doctor to exercise that clemency, which, in all the other actions of his life, he has seemed so great a stranorer to ; but so it w as : these v6un<£ gentlemen, warm with wine, and impatient of any restraint, at least from so vile a mob, raised on such an occasion, resolved to return the affront to the person who was the first author, and did, in their passion, give him some hard words, which they were very sony for the next morning; and accordina;lv two of them w^ent to him, and told him they were sorry for what had happened, and hoped he would pass it by : but the good doctor, full of Christian charity and moderation, « B thun* 370 thundered in their ears. Young Gentlemen^ Young Gentlemen^ I'll ruin you; I'll speak to the Queen to ruin you. With this wholesome seve- rity the Gentlemen took their leaves, and resolved to stand the trial which the doctor threatened them with : and accordingly, on Saturday last, they appeared at Hicks's-hall, before the Bench of Justices ; where the doctor, in open court, with his own hand, tendered the paper, to be signed by those gentlemen, upon which he would forgive all injuries. But the gentlemen resolving to stand the utmost severity of the law, rather than sign such a paper, and the doctor despairing to make any addition to the brightness of his character by carrying on such a prosecution, threw the paper at them in open court, and told them something warmly that he did forgive them. And so ended this whole affair. *' The paper needs little comment, the thing speaking itself, and perhaps may be the only instance, where a private clergyman assumed to himself a style which can become nothing less than a crowned head, or a sovereign pontiff: un- less it may be thought, that even in this^ he has only acted consistently with himself." SPECIMEN 371 SPECIMEN OF POLITICAL POETICAL CRITICISM *. " There is certainly no creature in the world so vain as a Whig: none but his generals have courage ; none but his ministers have probity or politics ; none but his patriots principles ; none but his bank has money ; none but his ladies beauty ; none but his authors learning ; and none but his poets wit. I shall not go about to prove the vanity of these pretences, the matter being so very notorious, especially with respect to wit ; in which the Tories everyday distinguish them- selves more and more, and make new acquisitions: so that they will soon have all the wit on their side, almost as soon as they will have the places. If there were any mortal living that could be sup- posed to question this, how many instances could I produce to demonstrate it? Examiners, Doubles, Atalantis's, men and women, all authors ofva size, might be fairly shewn together, in order to make it good: but I shall satisfy myself at this time with one instance only. Indeed, it is an extraordinary one : an acrostic, handed about by persons of distinction of that side with great ap- plause, and not at all undeserved, as will be seen immediately. The name of the author I could not learn, but the gentleman wlio gave me his * The Compiler offers this extract without wishing to promote the opinioiis of the author, and merely as a curious article, B B 2 verses 3;2 verses assured me he was tam Marte quam Mer- cuj'io, the very same that Sir Walter Raleigh was: and though he is so modest as to conceal himself^ his fame will outdo every thing that has been heard of in Parnassus, since Mr. Ouarles flou- rished. The Acrostic is this : * Hail ! bright assertor of our free-born state ! Active, tho' still, like our approaching fate : Rousing the spirit of our lethargic isle, Ling'ring beneath a most destructive smile. Eager of right, Britannia undeceiv'd, Yea, glorious Anna's perfect ease retrieved.' ** Though this acrostic is modern, there are certain mysterious expressions in it, that will hinder its being so intelligible to posterity as might be wished : for which reason, a small comment upon it will not be very impertinent, nor, I hope, unac- ceptable to the courteous reader, " Hail! is a word of great antiquity : the Jews used it, as every one knows, when they were doing the most wicked thing that ever was done in the world. It is also met with in choruses on the stage, and has a fine effect in incantations, which signify charming, and singing, or chirping, as well as enchanting and bewitching ; though all those interpretations are very aj)plicable to this author and his poem. " Bright 373 ^^ Bright assertor. Dark assertor is never used by the best writers ; for assertors are always bright. However, there are several soi'ts of assertors : king William was an assertor, but that was of liberty only : the last parHanient were assertors, but that was worse still, for they were onl}'- assertors of king William and the Revolution. What kind of assertor is here meant (since there never was an assertor of nothing) appears by the next words, which are, " Free-horn state. But here it will be neces- sary to add a restriction, lest those words should be taken in any anti monarchical republic mean- ing ; for doubtless the poet intends them in a good church-sense, that our state is as free, as in^ defeasible and hereditary can make it : which is surely free enough, and proves it to be well born, and blessed with original freedom, without any regard to that foolish accidental liberty which it received at the Revolution. " Active, thd still : a pretty image that! and borrowed, as I suppose, from the late circum- stances of the church, which was at the same time both in danger and safe. Active^ tlw" stilt! Nothing can be more just or clear. But mind the simile that follows — " Like our approachuigjate. Here the critics will have it, that our author has some meaning that is not so well ; and that he mixed a little touch of satire to give this thing a relish. But if I am 374 I am to speak my conscience, I think his friends are to blame, if they are angry at him for any meaning, of which they ought not to suspect him. " Rousing the spirit of our lethargic isle. Here he seems to compare Great Britain to some^ thing that 's asleep ; but he rightly observes, that she's almost awake now : her eyes are opening, and her spirit will doubtless be roused ere long. This needs no interpretation. " Lingering beneath. This should seem again to be satirical, as if the island were wasting under a consumption. But the next words clear the point ; which are these : " A most destructive smile. Yet here the al- legory, by being a little too frequently varied, is grown somewhat obscure. It does not appear by the poet, who it is that smiles : only it is proba- ble he means some syren, that is now pleased, and in good humour, because he says the smile is de- structive ; for I never read of any smiles that were destructive, but the smiles of these ugly creatures, that were half women, half fish, and yet were used to bewitch peo])le. This will puzzle the com- mentators of the next age, for even in ours we can hardly guess at it. " Eager of right. A strong expression, though not very intelligible ; but there can be no harm in it. Eagerness is always commendable, when a person is sure that what he is eager for belongs to him. 375 him, and is his right : as for example, if our poet should be eager to assert his title to this acres- tick. " Britannia undeceived ; not quite yet, as I noticed before, but in a very fair way to it. " Yea ; a very fine affirmative, most antient and sonorous : and those that think it was only added to tag out the last letter in the acros- tick, know nothing of the force of monosyllables, nor of the true spirit of poetry. *' Retrieved : A word not much in use among the writers of verse ; but it was chosen, I sup- pose, by this author, because of the great im-^ portance of it eight years ago, and was now trans- planted, by poetical licence, out of the Vote of Parliament into this acrostick. A strange fate has attended this word from the time it was re^ vived with such great propriety of speech. It was in full force, and many good speeches were made for it by admirable British orators, when nothing had been done, and it could have no signification ; and now, after forty towns and battles won, it is all of a sudden grown obsolete again, But I think our author has taken care at last to provide for its immortality ; and by choosing it for the very lowest and most weighty word of his whole acres- tick, he has fixed it in a place where it shall for ever stand, as the foundation or bottom of hia well-built poem, when votes and even ?icts of par- liament shall be quite forgotten. '' I shaH 376 " I shall not mind what people may say to-me for making these few useful criticisms on the fore- going verses ; I value an author for his love of poetry, as much as some value a poet for his art; and may this person write in quiet the remainder of his days, as soon as the war is ended, ' . ^Yid choose for his command, * Some peaceful province in acrostick land.* Mac Fleckno. '' The only danger to a great man from such incense as this is, that such immoderate praises often spoil and corrupt the good habits of the mind ; nor is it always in his power to distin- guish between the false attempts of a flatterer, and the honest commendations of a friend. The Greeks said, flatterers were like so many ravens, croaking about high ministers; and that they never lifted a man up, but as the eagle does the tortoise, in order to get something by the fall of him. It is very hard to know the hearts of men; but if ministers will be doing prodigious and ex- traordinary things, they must expect to be com- mended for their actions : and I should think this author as unlikely to have guile or design as most that I have met with. I shall now shew you, on the other side, what sorry poets the Whigs are ; they have nothing of their own, and are therefore forced to borrow of the French, whom they pre- tend to hate so much. One of them shewed me some 377 some Verses of la Fontaine's, with a uevv trans- lation : * Vn Intendant ? qiiest que cette chose ? Je definls cette estre, iin animal^ Qui, comme on dit, scait pecker en eau trouble* '' An Intendant ! Wliat is he ? Here his true description see : He's an animal, that seems Pleas'd to fish in troubled streams : Let the Public sink or snim. 'Tis the self-same thinji to him. If you say the State and Crown, In his hands are tumbling down : - Come, have patience, Sir, he cries. Funds shall fill, and stocks shall rise. If you ask him how, or why ? Straight you have in one reply. All the reason he can tell ; Pho ! I warrant things go well. '* Aristophanes lias an odd whim in one of his comedies * : He introduces a chief person of his play, endeavouring to persuade a man that made sausages to resolve upon meddling with affairs of state. The man was surprised at his discourse, and asked, why he would despise and laugh at a poor fellow, who had never en]ployed his thoughts or time in any thing but njaking sausages. Upon * In Efiuitibus, Act I. Scene 2, which 378 which the poet instructs his other person to speak thus : Behold all these ranks of people, you shall be a great leader and chief among them ; you shall tread upon the senate, and tie up the hands ©four generals. Who, 1 ? says the sausage-maker : Yes, you shall do it, quoth the other person. Get upon this table where you make your pud- dings, and look all about you : do you see in that scene the custom-house, and all those ships that are laden there with merchandize ? See them ! yes, says the fellow ; what then ? Why all those things shall be sold by you ; the oracle says- you shall be a very great man. How should that be, for God's sake ? cried the fellow. How should I be a great man, tliat am but a pudding-maker } Because, said he, you are bold and wicked. But I think myself unworthy of greatness, said the fellow. What does that signify, answered the other ? Do you think yourself a good or an il} man ? Nay, for that matter, said he, I am bad enough. I wish you joy, replied the other, you will find yourself so much the better qualified when you come to do business, for our common- wealth has nothing now to do with men of learn- ing and probity, but js wholly governed by the ignorant, impure, and immoral ; therefore do not despise what the Gods tell you by their oracles, which prophesy very great honours that will be done to persons of your trade. But how, said he^ is it possible that I should govern the people? With 379 With all the ease in the world, answered the other : do only what you are used to do, mix^ JUMBLEj DISTURB AND CONFOUND ALL MATTERS ; feign and invent any thing to please and delude the rabble : for the rest you have a great many talents that are proper to gain their favour. You have a false tongue, and a mischievous unlucky understanding ; you have some little smattering also in the law : in short, you have all the quali- ties that our republic wants at this time, and that are necessary to make you a very great person. " Monsiur le Clerc, taking notice of this 8cene, says. The character was drawn for Cleon^ who was a troublesome orator, an enemy to the best men of the country, and to the greatest gene- rals of that government. He says the poet very justly exposed this person in his play; who having never given the least proof of his sincerity, or love of his country, had yet made himself consider- able, by affecting a false zeal for the interest of the people, and by living at open variance with the nobility and the senate. Monsieur le Clerc says furdier. That the Greek and Roman histories liave many illustrious examples of great men, to whom their country had infinite obligations, ruined or banished ; not for having been found guilty of any crime, but only for having been accused by such orators as this Cleon. Those that sought the great employments, and were re- solved to get them, had need, he say?, but of t\vo 380 two things ; one was, to affect an air of popu- larity, which was easily enough maintained : the other was, to affirm any thing boldly, that suited with the present taste of the multitude. Pro- vided they had these two qualities, no vice, he says, of their own could hurt them : it was no matter if they were ignorant, malicious, saucy, revengeful, violent, and cruel ; they covered all these faults under the specious veil of zeal for the public good ; their ready gift of speaking passed for sense and understanding in the minds of the multitude, who had still less knowledge than themselves. And though in reason they ought to have made themselves odious by the falsehood of their accusations, and the violence of their prosecutions, the blind and credulous people did not find it out ; but took their most envenomed passions for an extraordinary regard to the safety of the state. — And doubtless it was this very same Cleon that Plutarch mentions in his Politic cal Precepts, who had a hundred heads of fawning flatterers licking about him, as the Comedian speaks, and who debased himself to court the favour of the multitude ; doing all things to hu- mour them, and joining himself with the worst and most distempered of the people against the best. God preserve all countries from such Cleons, and such sausage-makers !" CURIOUS 381 CURIOUS REASON FOR THE DISMISSAL OF A MINISTER. 1710. '* It is said (observes the editor of the Supple- ment), the last Grand Vizier's disgrace happened after the followinij manner: Numan Bassa was always endeavouring to persuade the Grand Seig- nior to maintain justice, and the fundamental laws of the government, and to retrench super- fluous pleasures. He was one day commanded by the Sultan to send some courtiers into the Seraglio, to throw the javelin there in his pre- sence ; but, instead of doing as he was bade, he sent him a book, containing an abridgement of the Ottoman histories, and desired him to spend a few hours in the perusal of it. The Grand Seignior was higldy displeased to see himself thus thwarted, though in his pleasures only, and by his first and greatest minister; and jealous, besides, of the superiority which that minister had by such a step seemed to claim over him (the more because Numan's father dethroned the Sultans father Mahomet), he sent for him to court the 16th instant, and made him deliver up the great seal ; which done, he sent him to Porto Picolo, three leagues from Constantinople, in order to be transDorted to his former sjovernmenf of Negro- pont." SPIRITED 382 SPIRITED CONDUCT OF M. MASNEK. Masner was an inhabitant of Coirej the capital of the GrisoDs, and had deeply interested himself in the affairs of the AUies, when contending with France in the reign of Lewis XIV. for whom he acted as the Emperor's commissary in passing their troops through that territory. The French government, at a loss in what manner to punish him without involving themselves with his countrymen, at length determined to seize his son, and, by conveying him to France, thus to hold him as a hostage for the father's future con- duct. Young Masner was then a student at Geneva, and had an intimate friend, as he sup- posed, in a youth named Merveilleux : this vil- lain, bribed by the agents employed on the occa- sion, contrived to lead the unsuspecting Masner within the boundaries of the French territory, where persons waited by appointment, who seized him, and carried him a prisoner to Lyons. Equally enraged and grieved at the hazardous situation of the youth, the elder Masner laid violent hands on the interpreter of the French embassy, and confined him in his own house at Coire, hoping that, by so doing, he should cause a discussion of the whole affair, and obtain the liberation of his son ; accordingly the ambassador of France made a formal complaint, and Masner justified 383 justified his retaliation ; but the former was too subtile for the latter, and he recovered his inter- preter by merely promising, in the name of his master, to restore the prisoner, which promise the king never thought of performing. The government of Fmnce now supposed itself to be perfectly secure against any further moles- tation from Masner. This, however, was not the fact ; for that intrepid gentleman hearing that the Grand Prior Vendosme had departed from Venice on his way to Paris, which would lead him through the Grisons, and across a narrow piece of terri- tory belonging to the Germanic Empire, he pro- cured several trusty j)€rsons, well armed, who^ with himself, waited in ambush on the territory alluded to, and at a favourable moment seized that great dignitary, whom he conveyed into Germany, determined not to lose a second hostage for the safety of his son. M. St. Luc the French ambassador immediately acquainted his court with Masner's new enterprize, and at the same time wrote the following letter to the government of the Grisons. " MAGNIFICENT LORDS, " The moment I was informed of the unex- ampled outrage committed by Thomas Masner of Coire upon the person of M. the Grand Prior of France, 1 had the honour to send the King an account thereof. His majesty commanded me to si^nifv 384 signify to you his surprize that so mean a private man, without title or character, should presume to violate the alliance and neutrality, by seizing in your territories, a prince for whose blood all nations have a veneration. " You may well judge, Magnificent Lords, that the King will not seek satisfaction from such a one as Masner. The better to convince you, and the other European potentates, of this, his Ma- jesty has ordered me to demand of you, in the first place, the enlargement of M. the Grand Prior, his retinue and equipage, which you will cause to be deUvered to me, if you please, on the Swiss territories. I desire you, at the same time, to signify to me, your intentions concerning the punishment the said Masner's crime has deserved. I assure myself, you will wipe off the dishonour with which that insolent person has sullied you ; and shew that if nature produces monsters in your country, you know how to crush them sooner or later. By consulting your honour and consciences, you will preserve the general esteem you have acquired, and the friendship of the greatest King in the world, who is your most antient ally. " If, contrary to his Majesty's expectation, you do not every thing that is suitable to your glory, with regard to the present case, the con- sequences must be imputed to yourselves. l^\;it I hope the publick will be as much instructed by your 385 your conduct as they are scandalized at all the enormities of Masner. I impatiently expect, Magnificent Lords, a speedy answer, which will determine the King to take that course you shall oljlige him to. I desire you, to this end, to call immediately a congress of the leagues ; and to inform me, as soon as possible, what resolution 5"0U shall take. I wish it may be agreeable to the common interest, and that I may find op- portunities to convince you what pleasure I take in serving you," &c. As M. St. Luc declares, in the above official note, the Grand Prior was *• a Prince for whose blood all nations have a veneration," the reader should be informed, that he belonged to a natu- ral branch of the house of Bourbon, a house that Lewis XIV. omitted no opportunity to increase, and though he declared all those kls very near relations legitimate, it has been said, the real princes of the blood I'oyal were no great admirers of their brothers and cousins, nor had they any moral reasons for so doing if they generally re- sembled the very reverend Grand Prior, whose character is thus described in the Memoirs of the Court of Lewis XIV. by M. Anquetil and his uncle, also a Grand Prior, as pourtrayed by Pussi : " Besides theDuchessof Portsmouth, thisprince (Charles II.) had other inferior mistresses, of whom he was very jealous. The Grand Prior of c c France 386 France (Vendosme, brother to the duke of that name), then young and handsome, and since so much celebrated by Chanheu, and other wits of the age, had been banished for some ii'regulari-^ ties, and passed the time of his disgrace in Eng- land. He was there very well received by the King ; and, by way of gratitude, he thought fit to seduce a girl to whom be knew Charles was violently attached. The Monarch sent messages' to the Grand Prior, entreating him to desist, which he disregarded. He offered him money, titles, and to obtain his accommodation with the court of France ; all was in vain. The King for- bade him to approach his palace. He laughed at the prohibition. He appeared every evening at the theatre with his prize, and placing himself opposite to the Monarch, braved him with his victory. Charles, unable to find any other shift to get quit of him, wrote to Lewis, entreating that he mioht be recalled into France. This was, however, only followed by a permission to return; to which the Grand Prior answered, that he found himself very agreeably situated in England, and still kept up the joke. The Monarch, losing all patience, acquainted the King of France with the uneasiness his rival made him suffer, and at last obtained a positive order that he should instantly return to France." ^ St, Luc's memorial produced another from Mr. •Manniugj the British Minister, addressed to the '^— '^-^ Coun- 387 Counsellors and Commons of the three Leagues of the Gnsons assembled in consequence of thi^ affair, which follows : " Magnificent Lords^ " You were surprized, no doubt, at the haughty and threatening manner, in which the Ambassador of France at Soluthurn demanded of you, first the enlargement of the Grand-Prior of France (seized by one of your members on the lordship of Razuns and carried off into the territories of the august house of Austria, where he is at present) and then the punishing of him who did the action. " To clear un this affair a little, which at first may seem of consequence tp those who do not know the true state of the case, I entreat you to permit me, as a friend and servant of your lau- dable Republick, to make the following remarks iipon the facts in question. " Every body knows. Magnificent Lords, the treacherous means, used about the beginning of May last, by hired ruffians, to seize and carry 6fF the son of M. Masner, whom they had engaged to take the air with them on the territories of Savoy^ *Tis this base action, contrived and executed by the French on the person of one of your members, an innocent youth of l6 years of agfe, who was fol- lowing his studies at Geneva, and who had never done the least thing to draw upon himself the re- c c 2 sentment 388 sfentment of France ; 'tis this villainous and scan- dalous treatment, I say, of one of the children of your republick, that you have just cause to take offence at, and was the motive of all that his im- perial Majesty's commissary has since done to re- cover his son. You see. Magnificent Lords, that the French were the aggressors, and first violated the neutrality by seizing a Grison, contrary to all right and justice, who had never done any thing against their interests. I will suppose France may have cause of displeasure against the father; but methinks 'tis ridiculous to make that a pretence for detaining the son. Is there any country in the world, except France, where the children are made responsible for the actions of their fathers? " You well know, Magnificent Lords, that Counsellor Masner used all the most respectful methods to recover his son so unjustly detained. Was ever any regard had to his supplications, or to the remonstrances which your laudable Leagues had the goodness to make in his behalf? 'Twas to no purpose, to use public intercessions with the Count du Luc, and to urge to him the alliances and neutrality. All this makes little impression on the minds of certain ministers, who think them- selves the only men privileged to commit vio- lences without fearing reprizals. Thej^ openly made their sport of those applications to them, and thereby drove the father, provoked by their con- tempt of his submissions, and pierced with grief for 389 for the unjust imprisonment of his son, into a kind of necessity to procure his hberty by other me- thods. As for the Grand Prior of France, who has had the misfortune to fall into the hands of a man justly irritated against his nation, I will not enter into the reasons alledged to justify this reprizal, with the consecjuences of which the Ambassador of France endeavours to terrify you. I will only say, that if ever any thing could extenuate a pro- ceeding of this nature, 'tis in the present case. You cannot but remember, Magnificent Lords, that M. -Nlasner, after the negotiation of M. Mer- veilleux by M. Viguier, in the name of the Count du Luc, trusting to the justice of his cause, took a resolution to make his appearance before an am- bassador of France, who was incensed against him, to make his submission to him personally, to jus- tify himself against what could be alledged against him, and to beseech him to cause his son to be restored to him. 'Tis natural to imagine, that had M. Masner been conscious he was really cul- pable, he would never have been so imprudent, as to put himself into the hands of the very person who would make himself his own judge; for what passed with respect to M. Renaud might Svell give him apprehension. Yet he was not suffered on that occasion to speak in vindication of himself, being dismissed, with a promise, however, that he should have this son. " But, 390 " But, alas ! We know by the sad experience of half a century, an experience almost fatal to all Europe, what 'tis to rely on French promises. In short, M. Masner, finding all hopes of that kind vain, grew enraged at the insolence and perfidi- ousness of those who had no regard to what tliey had so solemnly promised him ; and the anguish of his soul being continually heightened by> the re- membrance of his only son, he was incited by despair to the seizure which the Count da Luc complains of. " I should think. Magnificent Lords, th?it what I have here represented, ought, at least to exte- nuate an action, which proceeded only from the excess of a father's tenderness for his child ; and I have the more reason to write to you in favour of M. Masner, since her Majesty the queen, my Sovereign, is persuaded that the ill usage of him, with respect to his son, wn.s brought upon him for his affection to the allies, and the considerable ser- vices he has done them. I desire you, therefore, to weigh maturely what I liave had the honour to lay before you, and to depend upon it, that her Majesty will never suffer wrong to be done to those who are engaged in her service or in that of her allies. I have the honour to be, with the most perfect esteem for you, " Magnificent Lords, " Your most humble and most affectionate servant, " Voire, Nov. 21, 17 10. *' F, Manning." On 391 On the succeeding day the Barou de Greutb, the imperial resident, presented the ensuing memorial: " His Imperial Majesty, being-informed that the son of his first commissary, M. Thomas Masner, Captain, and Counsellor of Coire, is by order of his most Christian Majesty, imprisoned on the ter- ritories of France, near Geneva, has ordered me to apply to your Excellency, that through your good offices the said prisoner may be treated with all the decent usage due to the son of an officer of such a rank, and who suffers only for his father's sake. I hope your Excellency will grant my re- quest, that his Imperial Majesty may not be obliged to use reprisals. I am with very great respect, " Your Excellency's, &c. " Coire, Nov. 22, 17 10. Baron de Greuth." COUNT DELUC'S ANSWER FROM SOLUTHURN NOV. 28. *' I received the letter which you did me the honour to write to me, by the Emperor's order, the 22d inst. You judge rightly, that I do not want respect for so great a prince, and that I shall always esteem it an honour to evince the same, in all cases, where the king my master's service is not concerned : I shall also reckon it a happiness, if I can demonstrate to yourself, liow much I value your merit. Wherefore I take the opportunity you give me to acquaint you, that they impose upon his Imperial Majesty and upon you likewise, who pretend that the son of Thomas Masner is*de- tained in France upon account f^" of the service the father 392 father has done for the Emperor. 'Tis nothing less than that ; and no great prince, nor any man of honour can espouse the cause of a notorious rob- ber, who might have had his son again, if he could have prevailed with himself to restore the sums he was proved to have in his hands ; but instead of that, he imagined his pretended claim of his son's liberty gave him a right to commit an action un- heard of till our times. You are not ignorant of this, sir ; and I assure myself you are troubled for it, since those who seized his highness the Grand Prior at the Gates of Coire, and removed him into the territories o^ the empire, seemed to intend to make his Imperial Majesty an accomplice. You will be tlie more convinced of this, by reading the letters Masner has taken the pains to disperse throucrhout Switzerland, and which men of the better sort look upon as fictitious, because they cannot believe that either the Emperor or his mi- nisters abett him in an action never thought on till now. Your concern for the glory of your mas- ter persuades me you will use your endeavours td convince posterity, that war cannot serve for a pretence to authorize an attempt, which may so much affect Princes in what rank soever God has placed them." The Cantons of Switzerland which professed the Roman Catholic faith resented the measures pursued by M. Masner ; and, in a letter written by their order at an assembly at Lucern, directed to 393 to the magistrates of Zurich, they insisted that he should be cited to appear before the Helvetic body to answer for his having, more than once, violated the liberty of the frontiers ; from all which facts it will appear, that few events have produced more extensive interference and dissen- tion. The Grand Prior had been at first confined in the castle of Embs, whence he was removed to Munich, as a place of greater security ; and it was at this period that Mr. Manning again ad- dressed the three Leagues in consequence of De Luc's last note. Mr. M. observes, that as he well knew the friendship the Oueen of England entertained for the Magnificent Lords, he should ill perform his duty did he not assure them his Royal Mistress felt her attachment increase iu proportion to their danger from the menaces of France ; and he hinted, that in such a predica- ntent the advice of a friend might be particularly useful. After noticing the defamation they endured, he insists they ought to resent it, as being applied through M. Masner, one of their members, a gentleman who had received preferment both from the Emperor and themselves ; and he treats the demand of the release of the (irynd Prior in Switzerland as a mere jest, they well knowmg, that as he was in the custody of the Emperor it was impossible they could comply. The following passage is so congenial to the feelings of Britons that 394 that they should appear in Mr. Manning's own words : " You know very well how his son was baseiy betrayed, and that he is still detained pri- soner in France. It is also evident, that this young gentleman has done nothing that might deserve such treatment ; and this the ambassador himself owned in the presence of your deputies. I am sensible that several matters are laid to his father's charge ; hat supposing that the preten- sions against him were real and well-grounded (which yet is not granted), there is no law in the ■world that in a case of tins nature makes the son responsible for the father ; so that by necessary consequence it follows, that his son is punished and imprisoned in France unjustly : and there can be nothing more consonant to nature than for a father to endeavour, by all possible me- thods, to rescue his only and innocent son who sufiers wro!)gfully." '' Hence," he continues, " in the first trans- ports of grief he seized Merveilleux, the pre- tended interpreter, and detained him, with the consent of the magistrates. Who then can blame AX. Masner for seizing a jx?rson whom he knew, by undeniable proofs, had, together with his bro- ther (an officer in the service of France) con- trived the unjust seizure of his son." Having stated that Merveilleux was by no means an ac- credited character from the French court, he in- fers, that thus far every thing stood as a question of 9; oyo ©f right, and he declares his conviction that the Lea