The Editor is obliged to a Gentleman of Salisbury for the following Extract from a turious MS Letter, relative to the firft Difcovery of the prefent fubterraneous Situation of Herculaneum, dated Naples, May 12, 1730. T HE fame day I accompanied my friend to a village called Refina, about fix miles diftant from this city, and three miles from the foot of Mount Vefuvius. The occafion was this:An elderly Gentleman, Dr. Hay, (who had made the tour of Italy feveral times, and had been here nine times from London) lodged about fifteen years fince at Portici, within half a mile of Refina, when this rare piece of antiquity was difcovered. He told us one evening in conversation, that at this village was a well within a courtyard, which was near one hundred feet deep, and that juft at the furface of the water was an entrance into a city, or large town, where we might fee ftreets, palaces, and part of an amphitheatre. You may imagine how this was received by us, who had never heard the least mention of fuch a discovery, and how improbable it must have appeared to us. However, Dr. Hay infifted on the truth of it, and informed us, that about fifteen years fince, happening to lodge near the faid village, and being curious in fearching after antiquities, he found workmen employed by the Duke de Boufflers, who had accidentally made this difcovery; and that he, Dr. Hay, had the curiofity to defcend by a ladder of ropes, (every thing being made commodious at that time) but he did not venture himself among the ruins. In our way thither, we called at the house of an English Gentleman, who accompanied us; but it being fomewhat late, and the feeming impoffibility of the thing having almoft perfuaded them that the Doctor had deceived them, my friends feemed inclined to leave the affair on that footing; but I having a more ardent curiosity, told them that as we were within a mile of the place, it would be a pity not to have it in our power either to confirm or confute like a town fallen in by the undermining of it; in fome places the pilafters (fome of marble and fome of brick) remained upWhen we arrived at the spot, it proved right, and there were others that were reto be a well, in a yard belonging to a neft verfed. I measured one pilafter of brick, of miferable houfes, and it being Sunday, which was two feet nine inches wide, and every one was idle, so that we found at least another piece of brick work above thirteen a hundred men, women, and children fur-feet long. Some of the bricks were flat rounding us. You may imagine how fur- like tiles, and between them was very litprifing it was to them to fee ten foreigners tle mortar, and there were others almost well dreft entering their yard, and ho- as thick as English bricks, and in another vering about their well. I enquired about place was the ancient opus reticulatum. In the truth of the ftory, and was anfwered fome places the pavement was of marble in that fifteen years ago the Duke de Boufflers large flabs, and in other places it was every had employed men to dig, and that they way exactly as it is made now. In other had found not only many fine ftatues (part places there was a fort of plaister remaining of which I faw), but immenfe riches. on the bricks half an inch thick. In feveral Upon this I ordered a rope to be prepared places were many pieces of wood burnt to to let me down, but I was little regarded, a coal, which cut like a piece of clay, and as we were all taken for a parcel of madmen. there were the remains of an earthern However, the people perceiving we were trough, which, I prefume, ferved to carry in earneft, procured us a rope, with which water. I found two capitals of the Corinwe measured the depth of the well, and thian order; one very fine capital of a pilaffound it juft ninety-one feet. The queftion ter of the fame order, with an entire cafe was put who fhould go down firft, when about it fifteen inches diameter; a large flab I told them I would; but it being the gene- of marble, impofts and window ftools of ral opinion that a stranger could not find marble, which remained in the fame fituathe place, we with much difficulty hired a tion as they ftood originally; a large piece man, who fome time fince had been down of a fecond and third jaccia of the Corinto clean the well, to go first, in order to re-thian order of white marble; a pillar of red ceive us. The fellow defcending about marble; a ftaircafe of ten fteps of ftone, eighty feet, landed, and then we fent him one foot deep, and two feet wide; befides down a number of torches; after which, vaft quantities of bricks and marble conMr. Blackhall (a young Gentleman) went fufedly jumbled together. I observed that down; after him your humble fervant, and the tops and fides of this ruin are either next Mr. Atwell, (my Lord Cooper's Go- of brick and pieces of marble in ruins, or vernor, and a Member of the Royal Society) elfe of a fort of loom of clay, which to me but no other of our party would venture is a fufficient evidence that this city was down. I muft own they had good reason fwallowed up by an earthquake, and act by on their fide, for the very look of it is terrible an eruption from Mount Vefuvius, for if it indeed. had, I fhould doubtless have seen some of the calcined matter; besides, how prepofterous is it for any one to imagine that there fhould have been matter in the mountain fufficient to cover a city eighty feet in After we were all three down, we went in purfuit of discovery, and found a number of ruinated houses, with their feveral paffages, doors, &c. which appeared to us B ment of the wafte lands, another economi- thicknefs! Thefe ruins are very intricate, I am, yours, &c. T. E. N. B. It was not known at the time in which the preceding letter was written, that thefe ruins were part of the ancient city of Herculaneum; nor did the King of Naples undertake the laborious work of tracing the plan of this city till the year 1738. On indifcriminate OPPOSITION to SIR, IN GOVERNMENT. fueh a fituation, as may seem to connect his interefts with thofe of the public; and if in difcharging the duties of patriotism, he fhould violate the laws of his country, he need not defpair of fuccefs. Let him now only exclaim that he is perfecuted by Minifters for adhering to the caufe of public liberty, and immediately half the nation refounds with the fufferings of the patriot. Should he be caft into prifon by the hand of juftice, the people flock in thoufands to worfhip the idol of their admiration. Libations are continually poured in honour of his name; and his table daily fmokes with the incenfe of vulgar credulity and delusion. Such examples of fuccessful impofition, hold forth dangerous precedents to men of a profligate character; but it is fome compenfation for the deceit, that the ignoble celebrity obtained by artifice, proves always of fhort duration." Those who in the hours of public frenzy have been lifted up by the multitude to the pinnacle of temporary fame, have afterwards, when the paroxyfin had ceafed, been infulted by the meaneft of the populace. From a due attention to the motives and conduct of oppofition, two inferences of great importance may be drawn. One is, that inftead of abetting, we ought to counteract the defigns of men, who would facrifice the public intereft to the mercenary views of a cabal; and the other, that we ought to be extremely cautious of repofing any confidence in the profeffions, however apparently patriotic, of thofe who labour by indifcriminate oppofition to fupplant When we reflect how often the public their rivals with the view only of fucceffion. has been deceived by pretenders to patriot- On the obfervance of these prudential maxifm, it may juftly appear furprising, that ims depend the honour, the happiness, the the impofture fhould continue to be prac-quiet, and the profperity of the nation. tifed with any hope of fuccefs. But among a free people, there feems to be a charm in the exclamation of Liberty! which frequently operates upon their national fpirit, at the expence of their understanding. To ELUCIDATION of the VIRTUES of this alone can be imputed thofe ebullitions pital to peculiar licentiounes. It might SIR, COFFEE. AS the diffufing ufeful knowledge is well known to be the object of your Magazine, I think you cannot prefent your more deeply interefted, than the following extracts taken from Dr. Mofeley's Treatife on Coffee, lately published. "Ndifcriminate oppofition, deriving its origin always from private motives, never can otherwife than incidentally redound to the good of the public. Since the com-counterfeit, which affumes the denomi-readers with any thing in which they are mencement of the prefent reign, a period during which it has prevailed with more than ufual violence, do we find one act of public utility of which it has really been productive? Amidit continual harangues on a ruinous ftate of the nation, have thofe declaimers made any genuine effort towards restoring its profperity? Did they, for inftance, ever urge the expediency of promoting the fisheries, which might be rendered by due encouragement of immenfe advantage to the public? Did they ever direct their attention to a general improve nation of the generous virtue of patriot- The fubject is interefting, and the object in queftion embraces a number of important points, which the writer difcuffes in a fimple, though elegant manner. The medical gentlemen are indebted to this writer for the difcovery of a practice, till now unknown, that coffee will remove the nervous effects and ill confequences of opiates. This is a great acquifition in medicine. The defcription of the poppy, from which opium is extracted, the abuse and virtues of opium, are delineated in a concife and pleafing manner; in which it has not escaped the author, that opium has long been known to be fometimes useful in the Lues Venerea, and frequently recommended in that difeafe by ancient writers. I am informed, it has long been used externally and internally by the faculty in the Eaft and Weft-Indies. He traces the chief fubject of the publication through all its political windings; and has inveftigated its medicinal and commercial properties in the fulleft and cleareft manner, with all the acutenefs refulting from a fenfible and well-informed mind. The coffee-planters, who appear, from Dr. Mofeley's account, to be a numerous, refpectable and very important part of our colonifts, will be highly indebted to his clucidations; and the health of the nation at large may be confiderably benefited from the confequences of his learned information. The facts and principles contained in a very masterly compofition, which is the preface to his treatife, cannot fail of proving highly serviceable to the colonies; and deferves from the Weft-India planters every acknowledgment that is due to fo liberal and difinterested an undertaking, as well as the serious attention of Government. As it is not in the nature of partial extracts to convey an adequate knowledge of this excellent treatife, the reader, as well as the author, muft excufe the intention, and take fuch parts of the performance as I thought would beft bear being detached. Yours, &c. PHILO-MEDICUS. "It is a generally-received opinion, that the human frame is not lefs influenced by diet than by climate; that its difpofitions and characteristics owe their originality as much to food, as thofe difeafes evidently do which are the legitimate and indifputable iffue of it. "If the preceding pofition be juft, there cannot surely be a fubject more interefting to man than the purfuit of that knowledge which may inftruct him to avoid what is hurtful to health, to felect for his ufe fuch things as tend to raise the value of his condition, and to carry the enjoyments of life to their utmost improvement. ous procefs in curing it, and is incapable of paroxyfm of an afthma, abates the fit; and "The extraordinary influence that coffee, judicioufly prepared, imparts to the ftomach, from its tonic and invigorating qualities, is ftrongly exemplified by the immediate effect produced on taking it, immediate effect produced on taking it, when the ftomach is over-loaded with food, or naufeated with furfeit, or debilitated by intemperance. "To conftitutionally-weak ftomachs it affords a pleafing fenfation, it accelerates the procefs of digeftion, corrects crudities, and removes the cholic and flatulencies. "Befides its effect in keeping up the harmony of the gaftric powers, it diffufes a genial warmth, that cherishes the animal fpirits, and takes away the liftlefinefs and languor which fo greatly embitter the hours of nervous people, after any deviation to excefs, fatigue, or irregularity. From the warmth and efficacy of coffee in attenuating the vifcid fluids, and encreafing the vigour of the circulation, it has been used with great fuccefs in the fluor albus, in the dropfy, and in worm complaints, and in thofe comatofe, anafarcous, and fuch other difeafes as arife from unwholfome food, want of exercife, weak fibres, and obftructed perspiration. "There are but few people who are not informed of its utility for the head-ach; the fteam fometimes is very ufeful to mitigate pains of the head. In the WeftIndies, where the violent species of headach, fuch as cephalea, hemicrania, and clavus, are more frequent and more fevere than in Europe, coffee is the only medicine that gives relief. Opiates are fometimes ufed, but coffee has an advantage that opium does not poffefs; it may be taken in all conditions of the ftomach, and at all times by women, who are moft fubject to thefe complaints, as it diffipates thofe congeftions and obftructions that are frequently the cause of the disease, and which opium is known to increase, when its temporary relief is past. "Coffee having the admirable property of promoting perfpiration, it allays thirft, and checks preternatural heat. "The great ufe of coffee in France is fuppofed to have abated the prevalency of the gravel. In the French colonies, where coffee is more used than with the English, as well as in Turkey, where it is the principal beverage, not only the gravel, but the gout, thofe tormentors of fo many of the human race, are fcarcely known. "Prepared ftrong and clear, and diluted with a great portion of boiled milk, it be comes a highly nutritious and balfamic diet, proper in hectic, pulmonic, and all complaints where a milk diet is ufeful; and is a great restorative to conftitutions emaciated by the gout and other chronic diforders. "Long watching and intense study are wonderfully fupported by it, and without the ill confequences that fucceed the fufpenfion of reft and fleep, when the nervous influence has nothing to fuftain it. "Bacon fays, 'Coffee comforts the head and heart, and helps digeftion.' Dr. Willis fays, being daily drunk, it wonderfully clears and enlightens each part of the foul, and difperfes all the clouds of every function.' The celebrated Dr. Harvey ufed it often; Voltaire lived almoft on it; and the learned and fedentary of every country have recourfe to it, to refresh the brain oppreffed by ftudy and contemplation. "Every author who mentions coffee allows that it poffeffes fingular power in counteracting the hypnotic, or fleepy effects of opium. This is the only virtue affigned to it in regard to opium, as if the influence which coffee exerts on the fyftem, to produce that effect, could be directed to no purpose when these contradictions were not employed in oppofition to rob each other of their attributes. "Confirmed by many years obfervation, I believe that coffee, befides being the beff corrector of opium, is the beft medicine to remove thofe ills which it produces that has yet been difcovered, and that the operations of common dofes of opium may be checked or extended, and may be graduated by it at pleasure. The heavinefs, head-ach, giddinefs, ficknefs, and nervous affections which attack the patient in the morning, who has taken an opiate at night, are agreeably removed by a cup or two of ftrong coffee. "In military hofpitals in hot climates recourfe is often had to large and repeated dofes of opium; from which I have frequently obferved, that the retention of the ftomach of the patient has been greatly injured; the fecretion of urine impeded, or the bladder affected by a paralyfis;-even these effects have been speedily removed by a few cups of ftrong coffee. "In England the use of this berry, hitherto, has been principally confined to the occafional luxury of individuals; as fuch, it is fcarcely an object of public concern; but Government, wifely confidering that this produce of our Weft-India iflands is raised by our fellow fubjects, and paid for in our manufactures, has lately reduced "It has been found useful in quieting "It is not to be expected that coffeethe duty on the importation of plantation the tickling vexatious cough, that often fhould efcape objections; and among the coffee, which has brought it within the accompanies the small-pox, and other erup-furious enemies of which was Simeon reach of almoft every defcription of peo- tive fevers. A difh of ftrong coffee, with- Paulli; but he founded his prejudice against ple; and as it is not liable to any pernici-out milk or fugar, taken frequently in the coffee, as he had his prejudices against tea, chocolate, and fugar, not on experieoce, bur on anecdotes that he had picked up by hafty travellers, which had no other foundation than abfurd report and conjecture. But on these tales that learned man confeffes he supports a notion, that coffee (like tea to the Chinese) acted as a great drier to the Perfians, and abated aphrodifiacal warmth. This opinion has been received and propagated from him, as he received and propagated it from its fabulous origin. The facts have been refuted by Du Four, and many travellers. "Sir Thomas Herbert, who was feveral years in the Eaft, tells us, that the Perfians have a different opinion of coffee. "They fay that coffee comforts the brain; expels melancholy and fleep; purges choler; lightens the fpirits, and begets an excellent concoction; and, by cuftom, becomes very delicious. But all these virtues do not conciliate their liking of it fo much as the romantic notion that it was 'firft invented and brewed by the angel ⚫ Gabriel, to reftore Mahomet's decayed moisture; which it did effectually.' "A fubject like coffee, poffeffed of active principles and evident operations, muft neceffarily be capable of mifapplication and abufe; and there must be particular habits which thefe operations disturb. Slare fays, he ufed it in too great excefs, and it affected his nerves. But Dr. Fothergill, who was a fenfible man, and did not use it in too great excefs, though he was of a very delicate habit, and could not use tea, drank coffee, almoft conftantly, many years, without receiving any inconveniency ' from it.' "But the hiftory of particular cafes fometimes ferves but to prove that mankind are not all organised alike, and that the fympathy of one, and the antipathy of another, ought by no means to render ufeiefs that infinite variety which pervades all nature, and with which the earth is bleffed in the vegetable creation. Were it fo, phyfic would acquire but little aid from the toils of philofophy, when philofophy had no other incitement to labour than barren fpeculation. "It has long been a custom with many people among us, to add mustard to their coffee. Muftard, or aromatics, may, with great propriety, be added in flatulent, languid, and fcorbutic conftitutions; and particularly by invalids, and in fuch cafes where warmth or ftimulus are required. "The Eaftern nations add either cloves, cinnamon, cardamums, cumminfeed, or effence of amber, &c. but neither milk or fugar. Milk and fugar, without the aromatics, are generally ufed with it in Europe, America, and the Weft India iflands, except when taken after dinner; then the method of the French is commonly followed, and the milk is omitted. Names of the gentlemen who have been appointed to Bengal in the two-and-twenty years, and have returned to England. John Bathoe Alexander Higginson Robert Colville J. Baugh H. S. Chandler "A cup or two thus taken after din-| ner, without cream or milk, promotes digeftion, and has been found very ferviceable to those who are habitually coftive. If a draught of water is taken before coffee, according to the Eastern cuftom, it gives it a tendency to act as an aperient. "If a knowledge of the principles of coffee, founded on examination and various experiments, added to obfervations made on the extenfive and indifcriminate ufe of it, cannot authorise us to attribute to it any particular circumftance unfriendly to the human frame; if the unerring teft of experience has confirmed its utility, in many countries, not exclufively productive of those inconveniences, habits, and diseases for which its peculiar properties feem most applicable;-let thofe properties be duly confidered, and let us reflect on the state of our atmosphere, the food, and modes of life of the inhabitants, fo injurious to youth and beauty, filling the large towns and cities with chronical infirmities, and I think it will be evident what advantages There is not a more mistaken idea, than will refult from the general use of coffee in that which has been so induftriously circuEngland, as an article of diet, from the lated, and believed, of the rapid and enorcomforts of which the poor are not exclud-mous fortunes made by the Company's ed, and to what purposes it may often be fervants in Bengal. This lift is warranted employed as a fafe and powerful medicine." to be accurate, and it proves, that of five hundred and eight civil fervants, appointed in the last twenty-two years, thirty-feven hundred and fifty are gone from whence only have returned to this country, one they never can return; and according to every probable calculation, not thirty-feven of the three hundred and twenty-one now in Bengal, will return in the next ten years with fortunes acquired in India-of the thirty-feven who have returned, not a man has brought home an enormous fortune; many of them less than 20,000l. fome of them not a fhilling: nor has one fortune, to my knowledge, been rapidly acquired; and of the whole number, two only are members of the House. Great Vulgar Error, in regard to the From a Speech of Major SCOTT's, July 1784. A lift of the gentlemen appointed in the civil Number appointed. +5685 75353-5. Dead. 4 7 21 12 2 14 22 10 Years. Returned In 28 1762 16 4 22 13 15 The fortunes that have been acquired by military gentlemen, who have gone out or been appointed cadets or officers in Bengal, in the last twenty-two years, are still more inconfiderable. In that time above 1200 officers have been appointed in Bengal, but not thirty of the 1200 have returned with any fortunes at all; and two, Captain Watherston and myself, have the honour to fit in this House. Of this number I know only five who have brought home above 20,cool. and many have returned with less than 5000l. About thirty officers fince have returned, being difabled by wounds or ill health, and have now a very bare fubfiftence from Lord Clive's military fund. That large fortunes have been acquired in Bengal, no man will doubt; but the time is long fince paffed. At the first revolution, in 1756, upon the English acquiring power in Bengal, and in confequence |