abused by the foldiers, and all the reft ufed with great cruelty, and refused the ufe of pen, ink, and paper. The Saltah was not able to get her men, to the number of nineteen, who are now there. The Spaniards fent the mafter of a Catalan bark to prifon, for carrying a meffage from one of the prifoners to Gib raltar. V. Very lately the Speedwell cutter, commanded by lieutenant Allen, was chafed into the harbour of Vigo by the Achilles, a French man of war, and there made a prize of by her. Mr. Allen has been tried at Spithead for lofing his majesty's cutter, and honourably acquitted; but the court declared their opinion, that She was an illegal prize, and taken contrary to the law of nations. VI. In Cadiz, where I was a whole year during this war, were many French privateers, manned and fitted out by Spaniards, buile under the windows of the governor's house, where they lay; and in his fight, when any English verfe! failed out of the harbour, would follow inftantly and bring her in ; though, on the còntrary, if any French fhip fhould fail out, no English ship of war dared to follow her, or fail out of the barbour in lefs than twenty-four hours; and the garrison guns were always ready to protect a French ship. VII. In the harbour of Vigo, about three months ago, there were upwards of thirty French, row-boats; in which thirty boats there were not above thirty Frenchmen, one in each boat, and the rest of the crews all Spaniards, and these fitted out by the Spaniards there, and at St. John de Luz. VIII. At Cabaretta, a small town on the Spanish coaft, in the Gut of Gibraltar, where is a castle and fome few guns, are always a fleet of French row-boats at anchor under thefe guns, I dare fay with not one Frenchman on board, moftly Spaniards and Genoefe, but fitted out by Spaniards, who, in a piratical manner, watch and feize all English veffels which pafs without convoy, or happen to be becalmed. This is greatly detrimental to our garrison at Gibraltar, as many of thofe veffels are generally bound there from Ireland, &c. with provifions. IX. Alguziers, a Spanish garrifon oppofite to Gibraltar, has ever been a re ceptacle and afylum for thofe piratical French row-boats. An English veffel was brought in there by a French privateer, taken clofe in with the Spanish fhore. Sir Edward Hawke with his feet then lay in Gibraltar-bay, and fent to the Spanish governor to demand the restoration of that fhip, which the governor haughtily refufed; but admiral Hawke, with a true British fpirit, like what was formerly done by admiral Blake, fent his boats manned and armed to cut out the English ship, so unjustly taken, which they bravely effected from under their forts, and carried her to Gibraltar; but the Spaniards fired all the time, and killed about 150 English.» This lord Tyrawley, the late governor of Gibraltar, and Sir Edward Hawke, re monstrated strongly by our ambaffador, to the court of Madrid; but to no effect. I can mention many other circumstances, relative to Spanish pride, cruelty, bar barity, piracy, and partiality, but thefe I have collected from well-known authorities and stubborn facts, fo well known to a great and worthy man, that he could with the greatest justice say, and efspecially now, when our marine is in fo good, a state, “And this founded on what Spain: 3 has already done, not on what that court may farther intend to do." His majesty's confuls at Madrid. Cadiz,63 Ferrol, Seville, and Carthagena,, have proved the whole. All our ministers know {} it; and yet only one has had the fpirit to fhew a juft refentment against a perfidious: nation, who, under a pretension of obferv ing the laws of neutrality, have violated the law of nations, and broke through the fpirit of all treaties subsisting between them and us. If the Spaniards have acted with. Y this perfidy, ay, and a great deal of cruelty befides, towards us, we have certainly a right to red efs, either by negociations or.., force. They have defpifed all our nego-3 ciations, and bullied us almost into tacitur nity, while there was a profpect of uniting their marine force to that of France: but s as the French fleet is now almost as much annihilated by us, as that of Spain was in. the days of Elizabeth, why should we be intimidated at the found of a Spanish fleet? or why not, with a fleet of our o more than treble their force, immediately rush upon them, and obtain by the law of arms, that justice and fatisfaction, which the Spaniards have fhamefully denied us Yyy2 own by " by all the force of ministerial application? I wish fuch profperity, to Old England, The force of the Spanish marine is well known here, to fome perfons, if not to others: Mr.R--, a fhip builder, who has left the king of Spain's fervice, is now in England, and can give the neceffary information; at least he has given it to me. that I hope the Spaniards will yet be chal tifed for their infolence, injustice, and barbarity; for, particularly in the affair of the Antigallican, the Spaniards have flung us a bone, which the English mastiff cannot grind. A Propofal for promoting Matrimony, and for rendering the Marriage-State happy. IT feems there has been a tax lately im pofed in Sweden upon celibacy. Don't you think the promoting of mar. riage is as much wanting in this kingdom, at this time, as in any place upon the globe?--I will then venture to propofe a metho, which will, I hope, be effectual in fome time, and agreeable to both sexes.-Suppofe then, Fira, That as no true virtue or real goodness can be without religion, every young girl, at the age of fourteen years, hould be able to give a tolerable good account of the religion fhe was educated in; and that they never mifs the Sacrament in the parish church, if they can poffibly attend it. Secondly, That at the fame age they fhould be alfo well verfed in the hiftory of their own country, as alfo to have fome knowledge of univerfal hiftory. 1 Thirdly, That no girl, from the age of nine years, until the age of twenty, should wear either fhift or cap that he did not make, or help to make herself. Fourthly, That for the fame time they fhould neither eat of pudding or pye, until they could completely make both well, or at least one of them. Fifthly, That they should never handle a card until twenty years of age, or if never after, the better. Sixthly, That upon its appearing that any young lady is fo educated, and really mattress of thefe feveral qualifications, they fhall be confidered as equal to gool. in her fortune. There is not any thing more certain, than that as the young women are, so will the young men be.---According to the cuftom of almost every nation upon earth, and moft properly, the women are to be courted; if then they are virtuous and prudent, the young men will quickly know that virtue and prudence only can obtain the conqueft, and they would foon become the fashion.---See then what women could do; they have it in their power to reform all the young men of the age, and what have they to answer for, if they lofe a moment in feuting about it? An unaffected look of displeasure or difapprobation from a virtuous woman, will awe the greatest profligate that ever lived." So awful goodness is." I would venture to answer with my life, that if what I have here proposed was but purfued for five years, we should have fifty marriages for one we have now; and, as the number of inhabitants are the riches of a trading nation, a very few years would make us an induftrious thriving people. It is faid there was once a nation, who banikked all the women, and that, in a very fhort time after, the men let their beards and nails grow to fuch a length, and became fuch filthy creatures, that they were rather brutes than of the human fpecies, and quickly called the pretty creatures home. It is well known, that whenever the renowned Julius Cæfar would carry any great event, he first took care to fecure the good will and inclination of the ladies, and he was then sure to carry his point with the Mag. On the STUDY of the BELLES LETTRES. Upon TASTE. THE knowledge of hiftory enables the woman poet not only to paint characters, but also to defcribe magnificent and interesting scenes of battle and adventure; - not that the poet or painter ought to be reftrained to the letter of hiftorical truth. Hiftory reprefents what has really happened in nature: the other arts exhibit what might have happened, with fuch exaggeration of circumftance and feature, as may be deemed an improvement on nature: but this exaggeration must not be carried beyond the bounds of probability; and thefe, generally (peaking, the knowledge of hiftory will afcertain. It would be extremely difficult, if not impoffible, to find a man actually exifling, whofe proportions, fhould antwer to thofe of the Greek ftatue, diftinguithe by the name of the Apollo of Belvedere; or to produce a fimilar in proportion of parts to the other celebrated piece,called theVenus de Medicis; therefore, it may be truly affirmed, that they are not conformable to the real ftandard of nature: nevertheless, every artist will own that they are the very archetypes of grace, elegance, and fymmetry; and every judging eye mult behold them with admiration, as improvements on the lines and lineaments of nature. The truth is, the fculptor or tatuary compofed the various proportions in nature, from a great number of different fubjects, every individual of which he found imperfect or defective in fome one particular, though beautiful in all the rest; and from these obfervations, corroborated by taste and judgment, he formed an ideal pattern according to which his idea was modelled, and produced in execution. Every body knows the ftory of Zeuxis, the famous painter of Heraclea, who, according to [Continued] fition of light and fhade among the an- There are, nevertheless, many fcenes of horror, which please in the reprefentation, from a certain interesting greatnefs, which we fhall endeavour to fublime. Were we to judge every produc explain, when we come to confider the tion by the rigorous rules of nature, we * Præbete quæfo, inquit, ex istis virginibus formosissimas, dum pingo id quod pollicitus fum vobis, ut mutum in fimulacrum ex animali exemplo veritas transferatur. Ille autem quinque delegit. Neque enim putavit omnia quæ quærere ad venuftatem, uno in corpore fe reperire poffe; ideo quod ribil fimplici in genere omnibus ex partibus Cic. Lib. 2. de Inv. cap. 1. perfectum natura expolivit, fhould hould reject the Iliad of Homer, the Eneid of Virgil, and every celebrated tragedy of antiquity and the prefent times; because there is no fuch thing in nature, as a Hector or Turnus talking in hexameter, or an Othello in blank-veríe: we fhould condemn the Hercules of Sophocles, and the Mifer of Moliere, because we, never knew a hero fo ftrong as the one, or a wretch fo fordid as the other. But if we 'confider poetry as an elevation of natural dialogue, as a delightful vehicle for conveying the noblest sentiments of heroism and patriot virtue, to regale the fenfe with the founds of musical expreffion, while the fancy is ravifhed with inchanting images, and the heart warmed to rapture and extafy; we must allow that poetry is a perfection to which nature would gladly afpire; and that though it furpaffes, it does not deviate from her, provided the characters are marked with propriéty, and fuftained with genius. Characters, therefore, both in poetry and painting, may be a little overcharged or exaggerated with out offering violence to nature; nay, they must be exaggerated in order to be striking; and to preferve the idea of imitation, from whence the reader and fpectator derive in many initances their chief delight. If we meet a common acquaintance in the Atreet, we fee him without emotion; but should we chance to fpy his portrait well executed, we are ftruck with pleafing admiration. In this cafe the pleafure arifes intirely from the imitation. We every day hear unmoved the natives of Ireland and Scotland fpeaking their own diales; but, fhould an Englishman mimick either, we are apt to burst out into a loud laugh of applaufe, being furprifed and tickled by the imitation alone; though, at the fame time, we cannot but allow that the imitation is imperfect. We are more affected by reading Shakefpear's defcription of Dover cliff, and Otway's picture of the old haz, than we fhould be, were we actually placed on the fummit of the one, or met in reality with fuch a beldame as the other; becaufe in reading thefe defcriptions, we refer to our own experience, and perceive with furprise the juftness of the imitations. But if it is fo clofe as to be mistaken for nature, the pleasure then will ceafe, be- Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam atrum Definat in pifcem, mulier formofa fuperne! The magazine of nature fupplies all thofe images which compofe the most beautiful imitations. This the artist examines occafionally, as he would confult a collection of masterly sketches; and felecting particulars for his purpose, mingles the ideas with a kind of enthusiasm, or T 90 which is that gift of heaven we call genius, and finally produces fuch * Εποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγωδίας ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ κωμωδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ, καὶ αυλιτικής ή πλείση και κιθαρισικής, πάσαι τογχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμής εις το σύνολον. a whole, Mag. Introdution so the Study of the Balles Lettres. a whole, as commands admiration and applaufe. The ftudy of polite literature is generally fuppofed to include all the liberal arts of poetry, painting, fculpture, music, eloquence, and architecture, All thefe are founded on imitation: and all of them mutually affift and illuftrate each other. But as painting, fculpture, mufic, and architecture, cannot be perfectly attained without long practice of manual operation; we shall diftinguish them from poetry and eloquence, which depend en tirely on the faculties of the mind; and on these laft, as on the arts which immediately conftitute the Belles Lettres, employ our attention in the prefent enquiry: or, if it should run to a greater length than we propofe, it shall be confined to poetry alone; a fubject that comprehends in its full extent the province of tafte, or what is called polite literature; and differs effentially from eloquence, both in its end, and origin. Poetry fprung from eafe, and was confecrated to pleafure; whereas eloquence arofe from neceffity, and aims at conviction. When we fay poetry fprang from eafe, perhaps we ought to except that fpecies of it, which owed its rife to infpiration and enthufiafm, and properly belonged to the culture of religion. In the first ages of mankind, and even in the original state of nature, the unlettered mind must have been truck with fublime conceptions, with admiration, and awe by thofe great phænomena, which, though every day repeated, can never be viewed without internal emotion. Thofe would break forth in exclamations, expreffive of the paffion produced, whether furprife or gratitude, terror or exultation. The rifing, the apparent course, the ferting, and feeming renovation of the fun; the revolution of Light and darkness; the splendour, change, and circuit of the moon; and the canopy of heaven, befpangled with ftars, muft have produced expreffions of wonder and adoration. "O glorious luminary! great eye of the world! fource of that light, which guides my fteps! of that heat, which warms me when chilled with cold of that influence which chears the face of nature! whither doft thu retire every evening with the fhades? Whence dost thou fpring every morning with re-, novated lustre, and never fading glory Art not thou the ruler, the creator, the > 543 God, of all that I behold? I adore thee, |