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For OCTOBER,

No. X. Vol. I.

DESCRIPTION OF

OCTOBER.

The fading many-colour'd. woods, Shade deepning over shade, the country round Imbrown; a crowded umbrage, dusk and dun, Of every hue, from wan declining green To footy dark.

T

HE great business of nature, with refpect to the vegetable creation, at this feafon, is diffemination. Plants, having gone thro' the progreffive ftages of fpringing, flowering, and feeding, have at length brought to maturity the rudiments of a future progeny, which are now to be committed to the foftering bofom of the earth. This being done, the parent vegetable, if of the herbaceous kind, either totally dies, or perifhes as far as it rofe above ground: if a tree or fhrub, it lofes all its tender parts which the Spring and Summer had put forth. Seeds are fcattered by the hand of nature in various manners. The winds which at this time arife, difperfe far and wide many feeds which are curioufly furnished with feathers or wings for this purpose. Hence plants with fuch feeds are, of all, the most univerfally to be met with; as dandelion, groundfel, ragwort, thistles, &c. Other feeds, by the means of hooks, lay hold of paffing animals, and are thus carried to diftant places. The common burs are examples of this contrivance. Many are contained in berries, which being eaten by birds, the feeds are difcharged again uninjured, and grow where they happen to light. Thus carefully has nature provided for the diftribution and propagation of plants.

The gloom of the falling year is in fome meafure enlivened, during this month efpecially, by the variety of colours, fome lively and beautiful, put on by the fading leaves of trees and fhrubs.

To be continued Monthly.

Thofe virgin leaves, of pureft vivid green, Which charm'd ere yet they trembled on the

trees,

Now cheer the fober landscape in decay, The lime first fading; and the golden birch,

1786.

Price Three-Pence.

The weather about this time is fometimes extremely mifty, with a perfect calm. The ground is covered with fpiders webs innumerable, croffing the paths, and extended from one fhrub to another.

With barks of filver hue; the mofs-grown oak, Now by the cool declining year condens'd,

Tenacious of its leaves of ruffet-brown, Th' enfanguin'd dogwood; and a thousand tints

Which Flora, drefs'd in all her pride of bloom, Could fcarcely equal, decorate the groves.

To these temporary colours are added the more durable ones of ripened berries, a variety of which now enrich our hedges. Among thefe are particularly distinguished the hip, the fruit of the wild rofe; the haw, of the hawthorn; the flce, of the blackthorn; the blackberry, of the bramble; and the berries of the elder, holly, and woody nightfhade. These are a providential fupply for the birds during the Winter feafon; and it is faid that they are moft plentiful when the enfuing Winter is to be most severe.

The common martin, whofe nefts, hung under the eaves of our houses, afford fo agreeable a spectacle of parental fondness and affiduity, ufually disappears in October. As this, though one of the fmalleft of the swallow kind, ftays the latest, its emigration to diftant climates is lefs probable than that of the others. The fandmartin, which breeds in holes in the fandy banks of rivers, and about cliffs and quarries, moft probably paffes the Winter in a torpid ftate in thofe holes.

The royfton, or hooded crow, which migrates northwards to breed, returns about the beginning of this month. At the fame time the woodcock is first seen on our eastern coafts; though the great body of them does not arrive till November or December. Various kinds of waterfowl, which breed in the northern regions, approach our coafts at this feafon. About the middle of the month, wild geefe quit the fens, and go up to the rye lands, where they pluck the young corn.

U

Defcend the copious exhalations, check'd
As up the middle sky unfeen they stole,
And roll the doubling fogs around the hill.
- Thence expanding far,
The huge dufk, gradual, fwallows up the
plain :

Vanifh the woods; the dim-feen river seems
Sullen, and flow, to roll the mifty wave.
Even in the height of noon oppreft, the fun
Sheds weak, and blunt, his wide-refracted ray;
Whence glaring oft, with many a broaden'd
He frights the nations. Indiftin&t on earth,
orb,
Seen thro' the turbid air, beyond the life
Objects appear; and, wilder'd, o'er the wafte
The fhepherd stalks gigantic.

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ding to their ftore; but when thefe fail, they are obliged to begin feeding on the honey they have already made. From this time, therefore, the hive grows lefs and lefs valuable. Its condition is judged of by its weight. The common method of getting at the honey is, by deftroying the bees with the fumes of burning brimstone. The humane THOMSON exclaims against this practice.

Ah fee where robb'd, and murder'd, in that pit
Lies the fill heaving hive! at evening fnatch'd
Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,
And fix'd o'er fulphur: while not dreaming
ill,

The happy people, in their waxen cells,
Sat tending public cares, and planning

schemes

Of temperance for Winter poor; rejoiced
To mark, full flowing round, their copious

ftores.

Sudden the dark oppreffive fteam afcends; And, us'd to milder fcents, the tender race, By thoufands, tumble from their honeyed domes,

Convolv'd, and agonizing in the duft.

And was it then for this you roam'd the Spring, Intent from flower to flower? for this you toil'd

Ceafelefs the burning Summer-heats away? For this in Autumn fearch'd the blooming wafte,

Nor loft one funny gleam, for this fad fate?

This cruel neceffity may be prevented by uling hives or boxes properly contrived; or by employing fumes which will ftupify, but not kill them. In this cafe, however, enough of the honey must be left for their fubfiftence during the Winter.

In most of the wine countries of Europe, the vintage takes place in October. The grape is one of the lateft fruits in ripening. When gathered, they are immediately

At the very clofe of the month, a few | Ye thieves, by his example taught, flowers ftill cheer the eye; and there is a fe- Weigh his untimely fate; cond blow of fome kinds, particularly of the When you are to the gallows brought, woodbine. But the fcent of all these late Repentance comes too late. flowers is comparatively faint. Calftone, Sept. 28, 1786.

For the COUNTY MAGAZINE. WRITTEN in the COUNTRY among a Society of chofen Friends.

AIR, "Avec les jeux dans le village," des Amours d'Eté.

DA

ANS cette aimable folitude,
L'ennui n'étend pas fon pouvoir;
Le plaifir y fait notre étude,
Et le bonheur notre fçavoir.
Les plus beaux myrtes de Cythère
Ne naiffent que pour nous parer:
Nous paffons le jours à nous plaire,
Et les nuits à nous defirer.

Enchantés d'une aimable yvreffe,
Nous mêlons, dans nos tendres jeux,
Les doux tranfports de la tendreffe
Aux larmes de l'amour heureux.

Les plus beaux myrtes, &c.

Ici l'amour & la conftance
Enchaînent la félicité;

Les pleurs fe donnent à l'absence,
Jamais à l'infidélité.

Les plus beaux myrtes, &c.
Nos jours fe levent fans nuage,
Et nous paffons rapidement
Du fentiment au badinage,
Du badinage au fentiment.
Les plus beaux myrtes, &c.

J. J. C. D. L. M.

preffed, and the juice is fermented, like On the Commitment and Execution of JAMES

that of apples in making cyder, A great variety of wines are produced from the

HILLIER, lately hanged at Fifherton.

milkmaid fings beneath her cow,

different kinds of grapes, and the diver-with treasure fills her pail; fity of climates in which they grow. In England, this fruit does not ripen conftantly enough, to be worth cultivation for the purpose of making wine.

Her cheefes made are fafer now,
The thief is gone to jail.
hind now plants in hope his feed,
Well fteep'd in lime and brine;

The

This month is particularly chofen, on account of its mild temperature, for the brewing of malt liquor defigned for long His pilfer'd crop no more fhall feed keeping; which is therefore commonly called old October.

The farmer continues to fow his winter corn during this month; and wheat is frequently not all fown till the end of it. When the weather is too wet for this bufinefs, he ploughs up the ftubble fields for winter fallows. Acorns are fown for young plantations at this time; and foreft and fruit trees are planted.

The thief-and all his fwine. The bees enjoy their little lives, To one another hum;

The

brimstone rogue that burnt our hives, Is hang'd at Fisherton. The cock congratulation fings,

Triumphant rears his head;
The hens rejoice, and clap their wings,
That Hillier is dead.

To the Editor of the COUNTY MAGAZINE. SIR,

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S the punishments at prefent inflicted upon criminals have been found, by long experience, infufficient for the purpofe of deterring; and as in a chriftian, reafonable, and just government, all expedients ought to be tried, rather than putting the criminal to death, I would earnestly recommend a life of labour-as more terrible than a fpeedy execution; and I think this a proper time to try the experiment, when fraud, theft, robbery, murder, and all kinds of enormous villainy, are practifed, even in the face of juftice itfelf. 'Till a more proper employ can be found out, I would propofe to confideration the fawing of Stone and Marble, as one of the moft fuitable, becaufe, ift, It is prefently learnt; zdly, The materials can neither be eafily deftroyed nor embezzled; 3dly, A certain tafk, in proportion to the party's ftrength, may be afcertained; and, 4thly, It will admit of their being fecurely confined to one place, and in a manner that numbers may be looked after at a small expence.

:

Suppofe one large yard to be made, fome where between London-bridge and the Temple, or perhaps near Queenhithe, on the city fide, moated if poffible, and strongly pallifadoed in this place let the criminals be employed in fawing ftone, &c. either fuch as might be brought thither by impor ters for that purpose, or by the managers themselves. If they can afford to do it at a much less price, the ftonecutters will readily apply to them; the public will be gainers; and more ftone will be used in building and ornament. Let the criminals firit be employed in fawing ftone to build a number of ftrong low lodges for their own fhelter, on three fides of this inclosure; the fourth, to the land, fhould be an open ftrong pallifade, that such as please may fee (but at a proper diftance, that no intercourfe may pass between them) what is the confequence of invading another's property, or difturbing his peace. Let no other punishment be allowed in this precinct but want of victuals; or if this don't cure the refractory, a ciftern, wherein they muft pump for life, as it is faid is done in Holland.

Let death be the punishment of an escape, and this immediately, on proof before the fitting alderman, that this is the man who was confined, and made his eícape. The place of execution to be in the precinct.

By day let them be chained by one leg to homely woman who fat by him: it hurt To the Editor of the COUNTY MAGAZINE, the ftone they are fawing, or to one let me a little; but to fhew him I had fome into the ground for that purpofe; by night fpirit left, I immediately began to coquet in a ftrong ftone lodge, boarded as in bar-it with a gentleman who was feated by me:

racks, with fuch fecurities as thofe who are accustomed to guard against the contrivances of the wicked and defperate may think fit. And I moft earneftly hope and intreat all whom providence has placed in fuch a sphere, as to be inftrumental in framing laws for common good, to take the affair into confideration. Stop the torrent of human blood;-its effufion anfwers not the end propofed;-transportation hides too many of the offenders from those who ought to learn to beware from their example. Tranfport the women and the youth; -fend them in fmall parties, or by one or two at a time;-hang a few, and keep the reft to labour, and them expofe to public view, but not to public converfe.

Newport, Isle of Wight,
Sept. 27, 1786.

SIR,

my husband, I faw, was piqued at it; but IAS many have commended the com-
refolved not to give it up firft; and we
kept thus teazing one another throughout
the evening. A party of pleasure was pro-
pofed next day to Richmond ;--my husband
approved of it; I refused to make one:
however, he and his dulcinea went without
me; and the gentleman, with whom I had
been over night rather too full of fpirits,
waited upon me next day to pay me a
vifit.

From my last night's behaviour, he be-
gan to be rather too familiar; but I ho-
neftly difcovered to him the reafon that I
appeared fo over-night. This made him
be as ingenuous in his conversation with
me; and he confeffed to me, my husband
was privy to his making me this vifit, and
J. A. that he intended to keep the lady he went
out of town with all night in such a bagnio,
and that this gentleman was fent here by
my husband's fcheme.-I was fo fhocked,
to think that I fhould be used as a fort of
tool in the affair-as a fcreen only, that I
was refolved to be revenged of my husband,
and promised the gentleman, if he would
carry me to where my husband and his

MATRIMONIAL SPIRIT.

To the Editor of the COUNTY MAGAZINE. miftrefs were to be at night, fo that I might

SIR,

THE word fpirit, in matrimonial cafes, and in domeftical bickerings fignifies (in plain English) that if my husband calls me names, I'll fpit in his face; if he throws the china out of the window, I'll fend the looking-glafs after it; if he is extravagant abroad, I'll not be a faving fool at home; and if he keeps a wench, my coufin shall come and fee me.

Revenge is fweet, it is faid, and this may be a fweet revenge; but is revenge a proper habit for a lady to appear in? Surely no;tenderness, foftnefs, mildnefs, are their characteristics; to thofe graces it is we offer up our admiration; but when they relinquish thofe attractions, our refpect ceafes, and the power they had over us beComes forfeited. Is it not pity they fhould part with their prerogative, to indulge themfelves in the bafeft of all the paffions, revenge? Nay, what is ftill more to be lamented, the quarrels between husband and wife are moftly begun from trifles, and continued on each fide, from that mistaken notion of keeping up a fpirit, and end at

luft in lamentable misfortunes.

Such might be your reflections, Mr. Editor; but I will now proceed with my ftory:

One night being invited with my husband to a chriftening in the neighbourhood, he began to be very complaifant to a very

detect them without being difcovered my-
felf, he should fee I would behave as a wo-
man of spirit ought to do.

pudent grey ungrateful wretch and his in-
I faw my ungrateful wretch and his im-
ced. I had indeed folemnly promifed my
conductor that I would not make any out-
rage; and to fhow him I could keep my
word, and had a proper spirit of refent-
ment, I retired without uttering even a
fingle reproach.

mutation act-being of a very difremarks, which occurred on reading an ferent opinion, I pray print the inclofed extract in the Monthly Review for February, from a pamphlet by Francis Baring, Efq. one of the Directors of the Laft India Company, in which that act is defended; and, if the whole is of the fame tenor with thefe quotations, it is really of a very extraordinary tendency.

CHIM-QUON-SE.

"MANY perfons (fays Mr. Baring) "inhabit large houfes, whofe mode of

living within doors is not anfwerable to "their appearance without." It is therefore, according to this gentleman, a great defect in our police, that people can hire fuch fized houfes as they pleafe, and live in them as frugally as they choofe. To remedy this, as the flourishing state and opulence of the Eaft India Company fully prove them to be fuch patterns of economy and good conduct, it is to be regretted that they are not impowered to fend schemes to every houfe which might direct how much money might be laid out by every inhabitant, and in what manner.

Mr. Baring, after daring to affert that they, whofe ftyle of expence is fuitable to their fortune, are on the whole benefited by this act, like an able financier, easily re"tion of men must be an exception to this moves the difficulty, that "One defcrip

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rule; I mean, thofe country gentlemen, who inhabit large houfes, and poffefs but "fmall fortunes. However, the fize of "their houses must be reduced to the fcale of "their income; or fuch perfons must re"linquish their old man ons for dwellings

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I fhall not mention any more of my unhappy hiftory, fave this, that I made fhift more fuitable to the contrafted limits of in the morning to be at home two hours their fortunes." "their fortunes." There is an orientality before my husband; and from having tain this writer's eafy manner of turning the ken up a fpirit of refentment, I next acquired a fpirit of diffembling. I met him poffeffions. In former times the country country gentlemen out of their houses and with a great deal of affected eafe; com-gentlemen were thought of fervice, both in plained because he had ftaid out fo late, and regulating the diftricts where they lived, from that time, from his answers, began and alfo when they were called up to affift heartily to defpife him. in the national council. But, as all human affairs are liable to change, their offices are now become obfolete, and the Eaft India Company providentially bring us home every year a fufficient number of a new fort of gentlemen, with new customs, manners, and principles, who fill the offimanners, and principles, who fill the offices of the old country gentlemen, both in town and country, with fo much better addrefs. As to difpoflefling the country gentlemen of their houfes, where can be the injuftice? They whofe ancestors have enjoyed them longeft, have certainly leaft reafon to complain. Befide, if we examine narrowly, all thefe country gentlemen are defcendants of the Saxons or Normans,

We foon parted beds; and from one piece of refentment proceeding to another, we at laft agreed upon a total feparation; and now, from living in all the fplendor that one of the wealthieft citizen's wives could be maintained in, I am forced nightly to feek my bread in the most defpicable of all occupations. My gallant was obliged to fhip himself as a foldier for the Weft Indies; my husband is a common porter now in a market, and our three fine children all died in the workhouse; and all this happened because I would fhow a proper fpirit.

A WOMAN OF SPIRIT.

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Who, without any colour of right, feized | from China, be paid for in cafh or bullion? | with tolerable fuccefs, on certain foils the poffeffions of the ancient Britons: For every one knows, that the demand for adapted to its nature; of which forts plenty therefore there can be no more harm in English manufactures in China cannot pof- may be found in most counties in England. pushing them out of England, across the fibly be advanced by this fudden increafed Another valuable advantage attending it, Tweed, or over the Severn, into cheap demand for tea. Every trader is well and ftill more worthy of notice, is the emcorners in Scotland or Wales, than there aware, that an overstock of goods in China, ployment it will give to a confiderable number of the younger poor of either fex; was in the fervants of the Company, who, or any other place, will very foon reduce requiring much more attention than lawith the fame argument, cut off a great their value below prime coft. What bepart, and pushed the remainder of the na- comes then of Mr. Baring's boafted faving bour, when in a growing ftate; at a feafon tion of the Rohillas over the Ganges. (See to the nation, "by retaining within this of the year too, which interferes not with Major Scott's fpeech in defence of Mr. "kingdom a balance, amounting annually the harveft. In thofe places where manuHaitings.) Indeed, as there were only to no less than 15032,400l. which, prior factures are wanting, it would become an fifty thousand men deftroyed, it is a cir- to the act, was regularly paid to foreign-object of yet greater confequence. The cumftance which I fhould not have thoughters in fpecie, through the medium of the exclufion of foreign tobacco is not aimed worth mentioning, had it not appeared to "fmuggler!" Where is the difference to at-only a wifh for liberty here to plant. be a cafe in point-for, I apprehend, the the nation, as to its being drained of cafh, The consumer muft judge of its quality, deftruction of fifty thousand men makes an whether it is exported at once by the Com- and, if it answers not the cultivation, it inconfiderable figure in the exploits of the pany, or carried out in fmall quantities by will of courfe be neglected. Such a liberal Company's fervants in the Eaft Indies. the muggler? Not but that smuggling is a plan is the apparent ground-work of our Mr. Baring afterward obferves, that great nuifance to the community, though recently-projected commercial treaties, upmany rich people are mean enough to perhaps not fo great a one as an overgrown Let each nation grant a free importation; on the rational principles of give and take. "purchase the cheapest tea." The obvi- and overbearing monopoly. The obvi- and overbearing monopoly. But if it ous method of preventing this abufe of fhould be answered, that the Company are whatever is beft in kind, and comes cheapest people's purchafing what tea they like is, able to force an advantageous trade equal to market, will afluredly find the promptest to fend tea to every houfe with an armed to the increased demand for tea, it will fale. Certain reftrictions may be neceffary, force, and compel the owner to take fuch a plainly fhew how prejudicial their exclu- however, in this reciprocal arrangement. quantity, and at fuch a price as the Com-five right of trade hath been, for a great lefs engines and tools appertaining to eftaNo unwrought, primary materials, much pany fhall think proper. The difpofal of number of years, to the nation, by not exfalt in France will countenance fuch a re- tending it fo far as was incumbent on them blifhed manufactures, thould be fuffered to pals into foreign rival hands. Thefe regulation. But if the times are not yet for the benefit of our manufactures. marks, if purfued, would lead me beyond thought quite ripe for this expedient, the the limits of my firft fubject, refpecting Company can eafily procure an act, that which I fhall mention an obfervation relafrom and after day, every houfe with

windows, fhall purchafe pounds To the Editor of the COUNTY MAGAZINE. tive to natural hiftory. Upon fome of the

of tea, at price, according to the number of windows. This act, inforced

by an advertisement, aint their matters, will no doubt prove effectual. It must be however confeffed, that there was a time when profecutions by information were efteemed unconftitutional; for which reafon they, who formerly proved themfelves our wifeft and moft equitable lawyers, fet their faces against them as dangerous incroachments; but, by an advertisement of a fimilar nature to what I have mentioned above, which lately appeared, promifing rewards to fervants fecretly informing against their mafters, it is plain that our conftitution, if not altered, is altering at a great rate, and that we fhall foon arrive at the concife and laudable fyftem of French policy, which retains in every family a fpy at the fervice of the crown.

SIR,

tobacco plants raised from American feed, I discovered the fame kind of infect, or HE culture of tobacco being permit-lifhed a vegetable, worm, which is defcribed in a treatise pubT ted by law in Ireland, are there any lifted a few years ago, on this le enemy, political reafons against such a licence in Can any profound naturalift inform me by Great Britain? We are arrived at that what means it came into my garden. My period of national economy which feems fuppofition is, that the ova muft have been to put every advantageous refource into brought over with the feed, having never action. Large tracts of wafte lands are feen one of the fort fince the first year, not promised to furnish additional employment even after the moft cautious examination; in hufbandry, hitherto only ferving more for oftentation than profit. The confump-fimilar grub amongst the numerous tribe nor do I remember to have met with a tion of this American plant is very confi- of infects which have paffed in my review. derable in England, efpecially when manu- Thefe fugitive hints may probably excite factured into. fnuff, the fafhionable ufe the attention of fome of your readers learned whereof is greatly increafed. The differ in the political interefts of this kingdom. ent and fevere acts of parliament, made to An anfwer, or a further extenfion of this prevent the growth of tobacco in this matter, will greatly oblige, country, were intended as a favourable indulgence to our then new colonies, and in Yours, &c. order to promote our own commerce with them; but can we say that reason now exifts? Perhaps, independent of fuch confideration, it may be answered, the article produces a large revenue to government by importation. Allowed. But could not an equivalent duty be laid on what might be raised at home? The poffibility of its thriving in the fame degree of perfection as in fome parts of America, fhall not be abfolutely infifted on. This I will, however, venture to affirm, from my own experitraordinary quantity of tea which the Com-ence of twelve years in fmall trials for fpe-it was delivered in fo d'd coarse an

I do not call on Mr. Baring to publish, for I know he dare not, a real account of all the gold and filver which is annually carried by the Eaft India Company and their fervants to China, and other places, from this kingdom, by which the nation hath been impoverished to the amount of a great many millions. But I will afk, whether the tea which the Company last year bought of the Northern States was not paid for in cafh? And muft not the ex

pany in future will be obliged to bring

culation, that it will grow in this climate

Τ

OBSERVATOR.

ANECDOT E. HE celebrated Malherbe, who had de voted the study of his whole life to the improvement of his native language was attended in his last moments by an ig norant pricft. The Spiritual Counsellor after a long harangue, afked him if he fe affected by the defcription he had juft giver of the joys of heaven?" No, replied th dying Malherbe, 'tis impoffible I fhould, a

flovenly a ftyle."

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MEMOIRS

OF THE

LIFE AND WRITINGS

O F

MR. THOMAS CHUBB. [Concluded from our last, p. 136.]

HE which had been ex

Telt di approbation we four differtations being very great, he fet himself to prepare a vindication of his fentiments, and of the manner in which he had propofed them. While he was thus employed, his health declined fo falt, that he did not live to commit what he had written to the prefs. By too intenfe an hair application to study, he had not only impaired his fight, which was always weak, but, as he advanced in years, he brought on frequent complaints in his head; and, at the fame 2time, by a difufe of his accustomed exercife, which was much walking, and by an imprudent indulgence of milk diet, at an improper season, he haftened the decay of a conftitution that was naturally vigorous. His life, however, was prolonged to his fixty-eighth year; and, agreeably to the wish he had frequently expreffed, he was happily exempted from many of thofe evils, which too often aggravate the bitterness of death. On the 8th of February, 1746-7, after a fhort complaint of an unusual pain in his ftomach, he fuddenly breathed his last, as he fat in his chair, having been fo well, on the fame day, as to dine abroad with one of his friends. According to his own direction, he was buried on the right hand of the chancel of St. Edmund's church, in Salisbury. Dying without a will, his fortune, which amounted to 1100l. devol

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Author's Farewell to his Readers." This
contains a great variety of matter, relative to
divine impreffions, the exiflence of a Diety,
religion taken in all its views, a future ftate
of existence, a future judgment and retribu-
tion, divine revelation in general, prophecy,
Chrift, and the writings of the Apoftles. In
miracles, the perfonal character of Jefus
difcuffing these momentous fubjects, Mr.
Chubb is juftly chargeable with frequent
felf-contradiction. But his pofthumous works,
notwithstanding their evident defects, were
much extolled by many perfons; and it muff
be confeffed, that he difcovers, through the
whole, a ferious concern for the prefent and
future happiness of mankind, and that feveral
topics are treated of by him with equal force
and propriety. At the fame time, however,
by labouring to fhew, that we cannot arrive
at certainty with regard to the divine origin
of any external revelation, by arraigning the
wifdoin and equity of the Jewish difpenfation,
and by endeavouring to invalidate the evi-
dence of Christianity, he has done what in
him lay to unfettle the minds of his readers.
After all, he allows it to be probable, that
the miffion of Christ was divine. From a ge-
neral view of the Chriftian revelation, he
thinks this conclufion follows, that Jefus was
probably fent by God to be an inftructor to
mankind. Thus far he profeffes to be a be-
liever and a Chriftian; and as to discipleship
to Chrift, he thought himfelf concerned to
imitate his excellent example, and to follow
the wholefome counfels or precepts which he
had given to the world.

fuch a charge, muft unavoidably be fet down in the feat of the fcorner*.”

A more favourable character is drawn of our Author, in the poftilla to the "Memoirs of feveral ladies of Great Britain." A refpectable divine having defcribed his works, by boneft man; his advocate thus ftands up in his the language, of the poor endeavours of this defence: "One might imagine from this, if a stranger to Mr. Chubb's writings, that he was a poor creature, without abilities, and a malicious writer against the Chriftian religion Mr. Chubb was no fuch man. If he had no learning, he had the gift of a moft extraordinary understanding, and in his writings has fhewn very great abilities. There is a beauty and ftrength in many of his thoughts, and in all his language, which render him, as a writer, fuperior in thofe refpects to every one who has written against him; and though he is wrong in fome cafes, yet his heart, to my knowledge, was right honeft, and his pen expreffed only the dictates of his confcience. He was a fincere good man as ever lived. He really believed that the fcheme he had given of the gofpel was true. His notions of Infpiration, the Refurrection, Abraham, &c. he thought very juft; and exclufively of fuch fpeculative faults which he could not help, was as good a Chriftian as any of his cotemporaries; if the effence of Chriftianity confifts in an exact rectitude of mind and life, and the worship of the fupreme God, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. This is the truth of Mr. Chubb's cafe. I knew him well." Whether this encomium may not be carried, in fome degree, Notwithstanding thefe declarations, Mr. too far; and whether full credit is to be given Chubb is ufually ranked among the deiftical to fo romantic a writer as Mr. Amory (for writers. In this view he is confidered by fuch was the real name of the author of the Dr. Leland, who has employed two long let-Memoirs of feveral Ladies, and of John ters on his pofthumous works, and has made Buncle) we leave to the determination of our upon them many important obfervations. The judicious and impartial readers. Bishop of Carlife, Dr. Edmund Law, has de- * Confiderations on the Theory of Religion, p. 304, The eminence of Mr. Chubb's intellectual fcribed him in the following terms. abilities is generally allowed; and on this ac- this occafion, I fhall take the liberty of offer- 305. Sixth edition. count he was not only admired by the re- ing a few general hints to the admirers of a fpectable perfons we have already mentioned, late diftinguifhed writer of this rank, the ce- To the Editor of the COUNTY Magazine. but by Dr. Samuel Clarke, Bifhop Hoadly, lebrated Mr. Chubb; who, notwithstanding Dr. John Hoadly, Archdeacon Rollefton, a tolerably clear head, and ftrong natural and Mr. Harris. Several of his tracts, when parts, yet by ever aiming at things far beyond in manufcript, were feen by these gentlemen, his reach; by attempting a variety of subjects, but they never made the leaft correction in for which his narrow circumftances, and them, even with regard to orthography, in fmall compafs of reading and knowledge, which our author was deficient. With re- had in a great meafure difqualified him; from fpect to his moral character, he was uniformly a fashionable, but a fallacious kind of philodiftinguished by the integrity, fimplicity, fophy (with which he fet out, and by which and fobriety of his manners. Divine worship one of his education might very eafily be mifwas conftantly frequented by him, in his own led) he fell by degrees to fuch confufion in parish church, to the time of his death. His divinity, to fuch low quibbling on fome obdeportment was grave, and his afpect thought-fcure paffages in our tranflation of the bible, ful; but his converfation was extremely af- and was reduced to fuch wretched cavils, as fable and engaging. As to the form of his to feveral historical facts and circumstances, body, he was of low ftature, and inclined to wherein a small skill, either in the languages corpulency. His celebrated Pofthumous or fciences, might have fet him right, or a Works," were published in two volumes 8vo, fmall fhare of real modefty would have fupin 1748, the year after his death. Thefe he plied the want of them, by putting him upon reprefents as containing his laft and moft ma- confulting those who could, and would have ture thoughts on the various points which given him proper afftance that he seems to came under his examination. The first of have fallen at laft into an almoft univerfal hefe volumes begins with a tract, the title of feepticism; and quitting that former ferious which is, " Remarks on the Scriptures;" and fedate fobriety, which gave him credit, and it is followed by another, comprifing contents himself with carrying on a mere meObfervations on the Reverend Mr. farce for fome time; acts the part of a folemn Warburton's Divine Legation of Mofes." grave buffoon; fneers at all things he does But the greater part of the firft, and the entire not understand; and, after all his fair precond volume, are taken up with "The tenfions, and the caveat he has entered against Farewell with thee, to all my foul holds dear ;,

ved to a brother.

"On

S I R,

Tdows, defacing looking-glaffes, and defiling the wainscots at inns, is fo prevalent, and fo truly contemptible, that I wonder it has not often attracted the notice of fome fatirical pens. The following lines are, however, taken from a window-fhutter at Bridport, in Dorfetfhire, and if thought worthy, are at your service for infertion. It doubtlefs fometimes happens, that we meet with marks of genius, but it is like "the grain of wheat amongst the bushel of chaff." Thefe are amongst the few I have met with that are tolerable; they seem to express the genuine effufions of the heart, and are prettily turned.

HE practice of fcratching the win

VERSES

Written on the Window of an Inn, at BRID-
PORT, in DORSETSHIRE.
FAREWELL! lov'd maid, farewell with
many a tear,

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