dom as long as my life; but I cannot be free if I take your prefents, for as the proverb fays, He who takes, fells himself. How then, replied the king, fhall I fhew my gratitude? I have heard, faid Bertholde, that it is more glorious to deserve the favours of a prince and to refuse them, than to receive without deferving them. If I was capable of vanity, your goodwill would be more agreeable to me than all the prefents in the world.

A

ry have left his will untouched, we shall here give it our readers.

To all those who shall fee or read this present writing, bealth and a good appetite.

"I Bertholde, great-grandíon of Bertolazzo, grandfon of Bertazzo di Bertin, and fon of Bartolin, of the village of Bertagnana, knowing that we are all mortal, and neither more nor less than bladders filled with wind, which the least accident reduces to nothing, and that when we are arrived at the age of 70, as I am at this day, it is time to think of beating a retreat, and to with a good repofe and good night, to our companiB ons: For these causes, finding some grains of good fenfe in my bald head, I am willing to fet my affairs in order, by making this my last will and teftament; as much for my own fatisfaction, as for that of my friends and relations, to whom I have fome obligations; for which reafon I have fent for Sieur Cerfollio for him to write my laft will, as follows.

I. I leave to mafter Bertholde, my brother, the venerable cobler of our village, my fhoes, and 8d. in good money, for having feveral times lent me his awl, to put them in order, and for having done me other services equally confiderable.

Item, To my uncle Sambuco, gardener,

alfo leave my ftraw-hat, for having fometimes given me a bunch of leeks, fometimes fome onions, and at others fome cloves of garlick to get me an appetite.

While they were talking in this manner, the king received a letter from the queen, who, refolving to be revenged on the caufe of the ladies difgrace, fent for the unhappy peafant, who by many artifices evaded the force of her refentment. She had four large dogs placed in the court through which he was to pass, in order to tear him to pieces; this he was informed of, and getting a brace of live hares carried them under his arms, and letting them loofe at the approach of the dogs, was inftantly delivered from thefe enemies. He then, to the queen's fur- C prize, appeared before her, was put into a fack, and in this condition confined in a room till the next day, when he was to be thrown into the river; but he had the addrefs to perfuade the foldier who was fet over him, to let him out and take his place; and then stealing the queen's robe, and her veil, in this dif- DI guife got out of the palace: But the next day he was found, and the monarch was obliged to fatisfy the queen's refentment, by ordering him to be hanged on a tree. Bertholde befought the king to take care of his family, and to let him chufe the tree on which he was to die. The monarch freely confented, and gave him a guard to fee that the executioner gave him his choice: The trees of every wood for many miles round were examined, and Bertholde, very wifely, objected to all that were propofed, till the executioner and guard being weary of the fruitless fearch, fet him at liberty. At their return, the guards found the king lamenting the lofs of a faithful and able fervant; F The rejoiced to hear that he was ftill alive, and having found the place of his retreat, went himself to perfuade him to return to court; this he not only accomplished, but reconciled him to the queen. He was then made prime minister, and under his influence the reign of this prince was happy, and his people enjoyed all the felicity they could reafonably defire. But G the particulars of this part of his life, fays our author, are for ever excluded from our knowledge; fince this part of the manufcript has been unhappily eaten up by the rats; but as the inveterate enemies of all the ancient records of hifto

Item, I leave to mafter Allegratto, the king's butler, my large leathern belt and my purfe, for having many times filled my rundlet with wine, and for other ferEvices not lefs important.

Item, To mafter Martin, cook to the fervants, my knife and fork, for having fometimes regaled me with beans and onions, food infinitely more delicate to me than pies, tarts, ragouts, and all the other regales and dainties which would foon have fent me to my grave.

Item, To my aunt Pandora, washerwoman, my ftraw-bed, two chairs with holes in them, and a little crazy, and two ells of linen, to make her three aprons, for having washed my shirts, and my large woollen ftockings.

Item, I leave to Fechetti, page of the court, 25 lafhes with a whip, for having made a hole in my chamber-pot, by which means I made water in my bed; as alfo for having tied crackers to my tail, and many other tricks, gambols, and ridiculous and impertinent fooleries. As he is never out of mischief, I would have this article executed immediately after my deceafe, Item

L

1753.

SOLUTION of a SURVEYING QUESTION.

A

Item, As at my coming to court, I
left my wife Marcolfa, and my young fon
Bertholdin, and have never let them
know where I am, for fear they should
follow me hither: I leave Marcolfa, my
wife, the little piece of land I have pof-
feffed, till my fon arrives at the age of
25, after which he fhall enjoy it on the
following terms, to wit, that if he mar-1
ries, he thall never unite himself to a per-
fon above his ftation; that he fhall not
be intimate with his fuperiors; that he
fhall eat when he has it, and work when
he can; that he shall not take counsel of
those who do not know how to govern
themfelves, nor remedies of a fick phy-
fician; that he fhall do his duty to every B
body, be vigilant in his affairs, not inter
fere in thofe in which he has no concern,
much less in those he does not understand;
that he shall defire nothing, be contented
with what he has; that he shall serious-
ly confider that there are more lambs
go to the butchers than fheep, and more
young men die than old. If he foberly
reflects on these things, and performs
them, he cannot fail of being happy in
this world, and dying quietly.

Item, Having no other goods, fince I
would never accept of any thing from the
king, tho' he has frequently offered and
preffed me to receive large fums of mo-
ney, jewels, moveables, rich apparel,
lands, caftles, feigniories, fine horfes,
and a thousand other rich presents;
which would have robbed me of that
repofe and tranquillity, which, next to
health, are the moft precious bleffings of

277

life; which might make me engage in all the impertinencies which I have feen practifed by almost all those that poffefs them, and would therefore have juftly rendered me odious to all the world; for infolence commonly walks by the fide of thofe, whom fortune has raised from the duft to great employments: In short, having been always willing to remain poor, I have nothing to leave my king; but as I believe he has received fome benefit from my advice, I will now give him fuch counsel, as shall not be less falutary both to him and his people.

I advise him then, for the good of his fubjects, and even from a regard to his own advantage, conftantly to hold the balance between the rich and poor with an even hand; to examine carefully before he determines; never to pronounce a fentence whilft moved by anger; to preserve the love of his fubjects; to recompenfe good and wife men, and to chaftize the wicked; to drive away flatCterers, liars, and calumniators, and in general all those pests of a court, who carry fire in their tongues; not to overburthen the people; to protect widows and orphans; to caufe fpeedy judgment in all fuits at law, and to put a stop to the tricks and quibbles of courts. If he exactly follows thefe few rules, he will live happily, his reign will be immortal, and he will be propofed as a pattern of wifdom and perfection to all the kings of the earth, till the end of time. Amen." Signed,

D

BERTHOLDS,

A SOLUTION to the QUESTION in SURVEYING, propofed in Magazine for November laft, p. 503.

SUP

UPPOSE the CBQ any number of degrees, &c. at pleafurė, which by trials and error, at three or four fuppofitions, I find to be 12°——11′-11′′ nearly; then there will be

9.47452.

In the ▲ DCB, S. Z

CDB 32°

C.

-

48'

In the ▲ 6B, as DBDb

20 B6 10° 14′ 17′′.

B

C.

11.0732: Rad.: b = 2.00: Tang.

In the AADB, you have the two fides A D and DB, and the ADB included to find the ABD.

C.

C.

As the fum of the two fides AD and DB 18.4628: Diff.6.2628 :: Tang, the other two Z ABD and DAB32048-49"; Tang, 120% 20. 15" the diff. of the two , which taken from the fum leaves the leffer 4 ABD 20° 28' 34", the of which is 10 -14′ 17′′ the O Bb, as before, and proves the whole to be right. To find the breadth of the walk: In the A Caz, as the S.

— 37′ — 38′′ : Ca 2.00 : : Rad. : Cz = 2.17878, from which take Cy

2-00, the remainder will be .7878 half the breadth of the walk, which doubled is .35756 the whole breadth. In the ▲ DPB, as Rad: DB

C.

.C.

12.3628 S. 4DBP = 24°22′22′′ : DP5.10158, which

C.

added to AD = 6.10 is 11.20158 the perpendicular AP; then take Q≈

G.

C. 4.17878 from AP, the remainder will be 7.0228 AL; then as the

C.

S. 4 AHL = 44° 50′ 46′′: AL-7.0228: S. 4 A = 45°—

on — 04′′ : HL = 7.076015 the middle length of the walk, and the

C.

bafe P B will be found to be 11.2611 the hypoth. A B 15.88388, and

To the AUTHOR of the LONDON MAGAZINE.
SIR,

OUR inferting the following, will oblige
your conftant reader, and very humble fer-

vant,

Chefham, in Bucks,

May 8, 1753.

A P B

In the rectangular inclofure AEC is given the
C. L.

fence BD and AE

11. 58 per Gunter, the fide BCDE DC: Quere the fides, angles, and areas

B

preme Being and his Attributes, upon the fuppofition of this being the first and final ftage of their exiftence?" Which was question put to one of our Indian governors, by a Bramin of Patna, the cas pital city of the kingdom of Bahar.

That they are endowed with fome des gree of reafon and reflection, and a fenfibility of pain as well as pleasure, is ala lowed to be a truth inconteftable. Nor is is it lefs evident and unquestionable, that the latter is oftentimes more than overbalanced by the former.To instance only in that excellent and most serviceable animal the horfe.-What exquifite, what affecting tortures do many of thofe animals endure (tho' fome few of them, perhaps, meet with a more friendly fate) from fome mercilefs callous-hearted monfter of a master? How frequently to the pangs of hunger and a distempered body, are there added the moft cutting furipes and fcourges, moft liberally, and as wantonly oft-times, dealt out to them by their Cinhuman driver, or some human brutes on post-horses?--And all this merely for their not effecting, perhaps, impoffibilities !

I HAVE a long time laboured under a
difficulty in fpeculation; for the re-
moval of which, the ufual arguments
given are so very infufficient and unfatif. A
factory, that I could with you would
furnish out fome weightier and more sub-
ftantial ones. And, tho' fome private
confiderations may poffibly determine you
to be rather filent on a fubject, which
requires being treated of with so much
caution and circumfpection, yet among
your readers, perhaps, there will be
found fome who may have courage enough
to step out of the common road of
thinking; fome that cannot but with in-
dignation fee reafon fervilely ftoop to the
controul of prejudice and adopted prin-
ciples, and who, without peremptorily
pronouncing that man a vain and impi-
ous fceptick, who fhall dare to fuggeft
doubts and difficulties their forefathers
happened never to have dreamt of, can
wave without ceremony the compliment
ufually paid to opinion moft in vogue;
and on this, and any affair of importance,
generously give the world their own fenti-
ments without referve. And yet such
fettled enemies are the generality of man-
kind to an open freedom of thought (ex-D
cepting thefe who turn it into licentiouf-
nefs) fo averfe are they to the admiffion of
ideas they were not before made ac-
quainted with, or had not been familia-
rized to from their youth, that reflections
are frequently therefore only rejected or
not attended to, because they are novel.

But not to detain you too long from
the fubject-matter of my difcourfe, it is E
this, "How the economy of divine
Providence, with refpect to the brute
creation, can be made reconcileable with
Our conceptions of the nature of the fu-

But wherefore all this wretchedness, this unrewarded toil and labour? Wherefore all these agonizing pains and miferies heaped on a helpless, hopeless off-fpring of divine Providence? Are they not a living animated part of the creation? Are they not flesh and blood? Do they not as well as we know what forrow means? Yes; and for man only, his ufe, or accidentally his pride, his wantonness, his cruelty, were they brought into a fenfible existence?

Shall one being be created, but even under the bare poffibility of being made miferable (more or lefs) folely for the ufe and fervice of another Lord, what is man? or rather, what are not brutes

The

The Indians afk, if brutes have not fouls ? If not, then say they, matter thinks: But Cicero fays, "That God is himself the foul of brutes;" therefore, fays the Indian, Shail they be found fuffering without caufe, without a recompence ?” The unmerited fufferings among men. are urged with great ftrength of reafon- A ing, in proof of a recompence referved for them in an hereafter. And must a being, that happens to move in fome lower fphere of animated existence to man, be at once pronounced unworthy of the like provifion? But wherefore this partiality to our noble felves? Why must we plead a kind of right to be dealt with on the part of justice and equity by the B Almighty, and yet think it no injury done to brutes? if their fufferings in a ftate, they are even forced into by the fame common Lord and Maker of all things, meet not from him in an hereafter fome fimilar tokens of that univerfal and impartial goodness towards his creatures, to neceffary and effential to the divine

mature."

But it may be said, what would your correfpondent mean we should conclude from these infinuations? Does he mean, that we should at once, and without further ceremony, put the brute fpecies upon a level with the human? Would he intimate, that the former are actuated with

C

nity of the fupreme Being or his Attri-
butes. In short, Sir, we have fcripture
whereon to ground our confidence, that
no part of the brute creation, not even a
fparrow, is fo inconfiderable in the fight
of God, as in that of man. A confide-
ration which, if attended to as it ought,
may have this good effect at least, that
fome check may thereby be given to those
many fhocking barbarities, which with
fuch unfeeling wantonnefs, or studied
cruelty, are daily exercised towards many
of thofe unhappy creatures that compofe
the brute creation. I am,
SIR, yours, &c.

INDATHIRSIZ.

The following Map of the Country is annex-
ed to a Scheme or Propofal, for making a
navigable Communication between the Rivers
TRENT and SEVERN in Staffordshire
by Dr. THOMAS CONGREVE, late of
Wolverhampton in that County,
H between the river Penk, which runs

E propofes to make a communication

into the Trent, and the river Smestall, which runs into the Severn, by a refer voir or magazine of water, between the north and fouth dams marked in the map, which magazine will contain 456 acres, if a dam 24 foot high be made at the north end, and another at the fouth ead 10 foot high, to which, by two more

a like immortal principle with the latter; D fluices, 50 acres more might be added;

and that both are indifcriminately of the fame estimation in the fight of God?

Let them attend to the reason and har-
mony of our great and immortal poet :
All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whole body nature is, and God the foul.
Lo! the poor Indian, whofe untu-
tor'd mind
[wind: E
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the
His foul proud fcience never taught to
ftray

Far as the folar walk, or milky way;
Yet fimple nature to his hope has giv'n
Behind the cloud-topt hill an humbler

heav'n :

and he computes that the fall of the water, from Alderfley, where the water runs both ways, to the joining of the Smestall and Stour, is 181 feet, from the fame place to Bullbridge at Penkridge, 88 feet,

inches, thence to Burton, 100 feet, g inches, from Stour-mouth to Severn the fall is 104 feet and 4. Total fall of both rivers 475.

He fhews, that this navigable communication will coft a very large fum, that the carriage of goods will, thereby, be made vaftly cheaper, and that 71 market towns and cities may trade by this canal; to which we shall add, that fuch inland navigations might be made a fupport for

But thinks, admitted to that equal fky, F our feamen in time of peace, if a law His faithful dog fhall bear him company.

But let it not be thought that I am impertinently prying into the fecret councils of the Almighty, or endeavouring to know the ordinances of heaven. No, I mean only to awaken mankind into a course of reflections, with refpect to the brute creation, neither ufelefs, unbecom; ing, or even unnecessary. I would warn them against concluding tou haflily, that brutes can be made liabie, as they are, to pain and mifery, folely in compliment to man; fince no opinion, I think, can be more unfavourable to the honour and dig

G

was made, that in time of peace none but apprentices under 18, or fuch as had ferved three or five years on board a fhip of war, fhould be employed in any of them. As fuch a law would procure a provision for a great number of our brave feamen in time of peace, it is hoped it will be agreeable to the people; and the having fuch a fupply always ready at command upon a fudden rupture, would encourage the government to engage iu every undertaking for increafing and extending our navigable communications. T

• See Map of Stafford fire, in our Magazine for 1751, p. 103.