cafe in which Great Britain may be furprifed by a foreign invafion, and as two ideas may be compared together; fo long will the Duke of Richmond find employment for the public revenue, in his own line, and feek to raise the post of mafter general of the ordnance into the firft office of the state. Nor will boards of officers be wanting to approve his plans, while they are appointed by his own choice, and the favour of the court is the fure and only road to military and naval preferment.

even with the confent of a corrupt majority half the expence that would be neceffary in Parliament. If ever diffention and fac- for the magnificent fortifications of the tion fhould ripen, as they have done here- Mafter General of the Ordnance, would tofore, into a turbulence verging on vio-breed fuch numbers of seamen, and, at the lence; if one party fhould arrange itfelf fame time, fo increase the public revenue, on the fide of the crown, and another on that we might look upon all the combinathe fide of the people: or if, in a frantic tions of our enemies, not as objects of apfit, or ftupid torpor, the people fhould throw prehenfion and alarm to us, but, on the themfelves into the fcale of the executive contrary, as the certain vouchers of their power, as they have done in Denmark, own impotence and fear. No! if our and as they have lately fhewn themfelves enemies are formidable, they are formidawilling to do in Great Britain; in thefe ble, not by their own ftrength, their own and other contingent cafes, an artful and induftry, their own arts, and addrefs, ambitious tyrant might recollect the great as they are; but through our impolicy, force he could wield, and the poffeffion our fluggishness, our prejudices, our fears. of a few caftles would turn the vibrating If we are not wanting to the bountiful hand Dr. JOHNSON's GHOST. balance in favour of monarchy. The and deaf to the invitations of nature, and fituation of Portsmouth and Plymouth fits the imploring voice of our fellow-men, them for the eafy reception of foreign an hundred and forty thoufand feamen, with there faries. The blind fury of a monarfome millions of yearly revenue, will, in chial party might connive at the introduction of German troops: and then it would be found, when too late, how vain it is to oppofe a civil edict to the determination of a military force to cross the RUBICON.

may,

But, it is faid that the French fleet is more powerful now, than it ever was at any former period; and farther, that this fleet in cafe of war, be joined by the fleets of Holland and of Spain; and farther ftill, that a cafe may happen when it may become neceffary to send out the British fleet to watch the motions of the enemy, and to escort our trading fhips to their deftinations. The fituation of this iland gives her mighty advantages in all endeavours to prevent a junction between the fleets of her enemies. And if the be fuperior at fea to any one of them, fhe has little reafon to fear them all; or, if fhe has, let her oppofe confederacy to confederacy. If fhe cannot difunite Holland, France, and Spain, let her unite to herfelf the Danes, and the Ruffians, and the Auftrians. A juncture can never arife, it which it can be either the intereft or the inclination of all the maritime powers of the earth, to behold, either with pleasure or with indifference, the exaltation of the House of Bourbon on the ruins of Great Britain.

the course of even a few years, be added to
the ftrength and support of the British go-
vernment. An improved revenue, an in-
creafed population, an augmentation of the
number of our feamen; thefe, and not the
greatest quantities of pitch, hemp, tar, and
turpentine, hoarded within new walls and
redoubts, are the true ftamina and feeds of
British fecurity and greatness. Fortified
by such an acceffion even as a wife and po-
litical economy would infallibly bring to
Great Britain by a retrenchment of fuper-
fluous expences, and improvements of na-
tural refources, this nation might feek their
enemies, not wait their approach; invade,
inftead of being invaded; and, instead of
making their own country the scene of war,
drive the battle far from their own gates.
It is by offenfive, not defenfive war, that
Great Britain can tame the ambition of her
enemies, and maintain her own rank and
independence.

BY A LADY.

'That the olen nou of a
That Johnfon, huge majestic fprite,
Repair'd to Bofwell's feet.
His face was like the full orb'd moon,
His face was like the full orb'd moon,
That bodes the tempeft bursting foon,
Wrapt in a threat'ning cloud,
And winds that blufter loud.
Terrific was liis angry look,

WAS the folemn hour night,.

Thrice in his hand he wav'd a book,
His pendent eye-brows frown'd;
Then dafh'd it on the ground.
"Behold," he cry'd, "perfidious man,
"This object of my rage:
"Bethink thee of the fordid plan,
"That form'd this venal page.

"Was it to make this bafe record,

"That you my friendship fought;
"Thus to retain each vagrant word,
"Each undigested thought?

" Dar'ft thou pretend that, meaning praise,
"Thou feek'ft to raise my name;
"When all thy babbling pen betrays,
"But gives me churlish fame!
"Do readers in these annals trace

Did not grief and indignation at the
effect, reftrain all emotions of ridicule at
the caufe, we might with great justice
compare this little MAN, though a triple
DUKE, to one of thofe infignificant crea-
tures that, by continued burrowing in the
earth, undermine the foundations of great
buildings. His exertions, though undirected"
by genius, like the imperceptible opera-
tion of the elements on rocks and ftones,
are yet conftant.

"The man that's wife and good?
"No!-rather one of favage race,
"Illib'ral, fierce, and rude.
"A traveller-whose discontent
"No kindness can appease;
Who finds for fpleen, perpetual vent,
"In all he hears and fees.
"One whofe ingratitude displays

"The moft ungracious gueft;
"Who hospitality repays
"With bitter biting jeft.

Ah! would, as o'er the hills we fped,
"And climb'd the fterile rocks,
"Some vengeful stone had ftruck thee dead,
"Or fteeple, spar'd by Knox!

That the French Navy is growing rapidly in ftrength, is a fact which all admit. What is the inference that we ought to draw from this truth? Not that we ought This magical engineer, who, by the to fhrink from the proper fcene of conteft, building of walls, feeks to undermine the to defert our own element, and to the float- fafety of Britain, like the mole, though ing batteries of our enemies to oppofe the fhort-fighted, is unremitting in his efforts." labours of the pioneer and the bricklayer. Sooner or later his project will again be If the French increase their navy, encrease laid before Parliament, an affembly flucyour navy. A moft fertile and fortunate tuating in its nature, while the views of the refource remains for this purpose; a re- court are uniform, and the aim of this". fource which the exigencies of government, reftlefs projector is invariably the fame.. He the cries of hundreds of thoufands of wretch-finds an interefting employment in the aned individuals, and the very face and conformation of nature herself, prefs upon your cultivation and acceptance. It is needlefs to fay, that we allude to the fisheries on the coaft of Scotland,, which, with less than

ticipation of poffible, inftead of lightening
the burthen of real evils; and would lay a
fure foundation for real calamities, by way
of obviating fuch as are imaginary. So
long, therefore, as it is poffible to figure a

Thy adulation now I fee,
"And all its schemes unfold;
"Thy av'rice, Bofwell, cherish'd me,
"To turn, me into gold.

"So keepers guard the beasts they show,
"And for their wants provide;
Attend their steps where'er they go,
"And travel by their fide..

IDEA of a CONSTITUTIONAL PRIME people, does all things neceflary for their

Remarkable Inft ince of extraordinary Honesty and its Effect.

thirty perfons were tried, and four fen-
tenced to die. In the March following,
fixty-feven were tried, and five women

GARRICK and TAS WELL
An ANECDOTE.

merlane, Garrick on one fide of the

condemned to die. On the 25th of April,DURING the representation of Ta-
&c. &c. Let the prefent year be compared ftage, and Tafwell on the other, feemed
ference; therefore, permit me to obferve, into the Green-room. Tafwell, in his dry
with paft times, and it will fhow the dif- very attentive to the performers. When
the fcene was finished, they both retired
that as hanging delinquents does not inti-
midate them, fome other mode of punish-but pofitive manner, faid that Tamerlane
ment fhould be devifed. Now, fuppofe
was a damned bad play. "No, Taz (faid
all criminals condemned to death were to Garrick) Tamerlane is an excellent tra-
be fecurely lafhed to the car of a Balloon, gedy." The other persisted in his opinion,
and fent off to take their chance; I feri- and faid that he could give a very good
and faid that he could give a very good
oufly believe it would make a vifible al- reafon why, it was a bad play.
Aye,
teration in the Old-Bailey calendar. The had been a good one, I am fure you would
let's hear?"-" Why, Sir, (faid Taz) if it
punishment would be ten times more awe-
ful and affecting than that of hanging; have acted a part in it."
and, if they were not fuffered to take bal-
laft with them, they muft inevitably perifh
from the cold; or, if by accident any
efcaped, the relation of their fufferings
could not fail having a good effect. I do

GEORGE DADE was a poor parish
boy, in a country village near Not-fifty-five were tried, and two condemned,
tingham, and received fome inftruction in
fchool, through the charity of an old lady,
writing and reading at a very mean village
who had a regard for his mother. He was
a footboy to a gentleman at fixteen, and
foon after, being twenty years old, was
the only man fervant kept by a family of
fmall fortune in the county, to whom he
behaved fo well, that they recommended
him as fecretary and butler to a man of
large fortune in the neighbourhood. In a
fevere illness of his master, it happened that
Dade had all the money in the houfe at com-
mand, and in recourfe to, for physicians
fees, &c. the fums were confiderable, the
illness lafting fome weeks: he had money to
receive alfo, as well as to pay. On his
after's recovery, he gave fo clear and

exact an account, that his fcrupulous honefty was conviction itself. It happened that Dade was a remarkably handfome man, and that his master's fingle fifter coming with a married one on a vifit to the houfe, noticed him in fuch a manner as convinced her being in love with him. The young lady was elegant, pleafing, and accomplished, and with a good fortune. Dade drew very well, and her copying fome of his drawings, which hung in an anti-room, led to opportunities which convinced him her heart was affected, and gave his own difquiet, which he had had little notion of. A fenfe however of his duty got the better of inclination and ambition: He opened his fufpicions to his mafter, and defired that the lady might be fent away under fome proper pretence. Struck at fo generous and liberal a fenfe of his condition, the mafter removed his fifter; and, as a reward for Dade, got him a very eligible appointment in a public office: Dade's talents and industry raised him rapidly. The lady's paffion had not changed, and fhe wrote to her brother, requesting his consent to an union neceffary to her happiness. He agreed, and Mr. Dade is now in poffeffion of above 20,000l.

not think the wit of man could devife a

Yours,

'

To the Editor of the County Magazine.

SIR,

W ple of Holland, by adopting their
WHEN

will England follow the exam

more aweful fcene, than that of a criminal principles of commerce and mode of living?
lafhed to an aeroftatic globe, and launched
Industry is one great fource of wealth
into the wide expanfe of the air, to take to the United Provinces, and parfimony
his chance of winds, weather, tempeft, &c. is the other. They live fparingly, are con-
I think the only objection to fuch a mode tent with low diet, and with warm and necef-
of punishment is, that it might stamp with fary cloathing. They are great traders, but
a kind of ignominy one of the most extra-fmall confumers. They buy infinitely,
ordinary inventions and boldeft enterprifes but with a view to fell again either by the
that ever mortal man engaged in.
improvement of the commodity, or at a
better market. They are the great masters
of the Indian fpices and the Perfian filks;
but wear plain woollen, and feed upon
their own fish and roots. They fell the
fineft of their own cloth to France, and
buy for their own wear coarse from us.
They fend abroad the best of their own
butter, and buy the cheapest from Ireland,
or the North of England, for their own
ufe. In fhort, to all the world they fur-
nifh infinite luxury, which they never put
in practice. Nay, the Dutch traffic in
pleasures which they never taste.

An Earthly Wanderer.

BAD POLICY.

T

is always bad policy in a Minister to
raife the fupplies of the year at the ex-
pence of the intregrity of the people.
prevailed in this country.
This unfortunate fyftem has too long

one another, by way of enabling them to When a people are advised to prey on anfwer the demands of ftate, an opening is made for every species of ufurious traffic. When a Minifter fhews in himself an example of private bad character, it tends to destroy that refpect which it is natural and proper for men to entertain for the highest offices in the kingdom.-For To the Editor of the COUNTY MAGAZINE. this reafon, we never defire never defire to fee

SIR,

O fhow how greatly roguery, cruelty,

again a fet of Minifters, whofe history is
to be learned at gaming-houses in London,
and on the race-grounds of Newmarket,

To and knavery of every kind, is im-York, &c.

proved in and about London fince the year 1710, I fend you the number of prifoners then tried at the Old-Bailey. On the 21ft of July thirty-four were tried, and four convicted. At that feffion a man was accufed by his wife of robbing her on the highway, as they were going to be married; of which robbery, however, he was acquitted. On the 30th of January, 1711,

It is always bad policy in Minifters or Magiftrates, to speak disrespectfully of religion, and efpecially of the religion of their own country. If they are fhortfighted, fo as not to fee the bad effects of this, any philofopher, with half an eye, may foretel the most destructive degeneracy, when virtue ceafes to have at leaft the outward patronage of the Great.

To the Editor of the County Magazine.

SIR,

OW to difpofe of the convicts at this HOW moment being the fubject of confideration, I beg leave to propole the following plan of employing them in a very useful public undertaking, (for which after-ages thank us) viz. the cutting two Canals may from Exeter into the Bristol Channel; one to the left, by Crediton and Chumly, into the Taw river, which empties itfelf into the fea, below Barnftaple; the other to the right, by Tiverton and Dulverton, into the fea at Dunfter. The Ex-river runs up by Tiverton and Dulverton, fo that the entire cut will be from Dulverton to Dunster. Thefe canals to be made deep enough to float the largest merchant fhips. Thus, by the left cut, the trade to Ireland would be rendered fafer, and by the right the traders from London to Briftol would fave above one hundred leagues failing, befides avoiding the Land's-End and Scilly Ifles, dangerous in blowing weather.

I would propofe another cut from Rye, in Suffex, into the Medway, about Maidftone, in Kent. By this canal, fhips would avoid Dover Straits, the Godwin Sands, and the fands at the 'I'hames mouth; and the country would feel the advantage of fuch an inland navigation.

The greatnefs of fuch an undertaking ought not to deter this country: Had the Romans been affected by the magnitude of any work, thofe ftupendous monuments of their exalted minds, public fpirit, and refolution, would never have been perfected.

Thefe works fhould be begun and finifhed by convicts fentenced to hard labour, agreeably to the extent of their crimes, from one year to twenty, or for life, inftead of hanging or tranfporting them, which we

now do.

Their food to be coarfe rye or barley bread, meat, or cheese, with fmall beer or water to drink; both the quantity and quality to be in proportion to their deferts.

Any escaping, on being taken again, to be feverely flogged, and his term doubled.

Each man to have an iron ring, with two or three links of a chain, on his leg in the day, and to be chained to another convict at night.

ill behaviour or bad language to each other.
Being encamped would prevent their be-
ing affected by malignant putrid difeafes,
the confequence of clofe confinement, and
the country be relieved of their fears of in-
fection, fo much dreaded at this moment.
A Chaplain fhould be appointed, to in-
fruct them in moral duties, and to perform
struct
Such, Mr. Editor, are the heads of my
divine fervice.
fcheme; your inferting it in your County
Magazine will oblige

Yours, &c.

SPECULATOR.

A NEGRO SONG.

THE flave trade, which more or lefs

You punish, becaufe you have the power, our fruggles for liberty; an action which juftice, which nature, which heaven fanctifies.

The feverities you inflict, ftill more than the cruel fervitude you exact, disprove your title to manhood, and mark you out as cowards, aflaffins, and monsters.

O ye Whites, what are all your menaces or promifes, your torments or careffes, to that fatisfaction which a black man enjoys when he efcapes from bondage, and knows himself to be free?

It dilates his whole heart. He would then make the univerfe a land of liberty, one fociety of brothers.

The moment of emancipation fometimes endangers the love of life, and he has been known to expire in a plenitude of joy.

Haften, O happy period of universal re-stitution! when our numerous wrongs fhall ments of death fhall be paid in our hands. be redreffed, and when the lafh and inftru

has long continued the opprobrium of Chriftendom, ftill excites in every mind of humanity emotion of the keeneft fenfibility. The poor innocent, but deplorable wretches, who are the victims of this barbarous practice, are often moft perfectly alive to the horrors of their fituation. It not unfrequently drives them to defpair, A PRODUCTION OF THE HEART. and uniformly tinges all their feelings and ideas with the moft inveterate melancholy. Without paftime or relaxation, they are impelled by the rod of oppreffion to one unceasing round of intolerable drudgery. Notwithstanding a combination of mortifying circumftances, however, which it is impoffible to defcribe, they are often heard to cheer one another with the following fong, which a Gentleman who fuperintended a plantation in the Weft Indies for many years, tranflated at my defire. It is never but when they find themselves alone they venture to fing it.

'The man who can ftoop to be a voluntary flave is a coward. His heart is a ftranger to generofity; falfe, perfidious, and revengeful. He alone can repay the confidence of his tyrants.

Happy they who, unable to break their chains by force, have an opportunity of delivering themfelves by flight.

May no mifchance betide their escape, while their fell pursuers are bewildered in the defert, or deftroyed by the monarch of

the foreft.

UNDER this monument lies interred,
The mortal part of
SAMUEL JOHNSON, L. L. D.
Which, during a long pilgrimage on earth
Of threescore and feventeen years,
Was animated and directed
By the brightest spark of the immortal mind,
Vouchfaf'd to enlighten an age blinded by pride,.
And thoughtless diffipation,
The harbinger of reafon,
To prepare the mental faculties for the
Reception of Evangelical truths.
The undaunted Champion of Piety,
Against the attacks of infidels

In his admirable writings:
And in the example of his own life,
The ftrenuous affertor of the Cause of Virtue.
His learning was employ'd' in exalting
The dignity of human nature,
By endeavouring to eradicate those fordid
Affections that retard its afcent.
He was eyes to the blind, and a father to the poor;
increased it tenfold;
The faithful fervant, who, receiving one talent,

They are not only innocent in leaving a
fituation which renders them wretched;
but it is their glory, their duty, their de-
light, to yield the readieft obedience to the With
order of nature, and the will of God.
Where are the ties, ye rulers of multi-

Not in expectation of ruling over ten cities
In this perishing and terrestrial globe,
But of partaking immortal bliss
In the kingdom of Heaven,
Apoffles and Saints, with Prophets and gooʻl

To be encamped in the fummer, and hutted in the winter, except when near a town that could afford a building convenient; to be guarded at night by a detachment of infantry. The privates of which, when on duty, to receive two-pence per 'night additional pay each, or a fhilling pertudes, which can bind, or ought to bind, the May thefe fpontaneous effufions of an affectionate week.

Any convict attempting to escape to be fhot by the fentry; the camp to be furrounded with chevaux-de-frife."

The tafk-mafters to be men of known refolution, who, with proper feverity, would keep them to their work, and prevent all

unwilling mind?

Are we to regard thofe fetters as facred which faften us only because we are impotent? No. You may infult our weakness, but you cannot extinguish our love of liberty; and our hearts, in fpite of fuffering, fpurn the chains that fecure our bodies!

men, made perfect. Accomplish'd and learned Reader,

heart

Awake and kindle in thine
Such elegiac, and energetic strains,
As lift'ning nations may applaud;
And for a while fufpend their grief,
In admiration of thy powerful lyre,
So well according to the matchle's theme.