rods, which, when united in a bundle, no strength could bend; but when separated into single twigs, a child could break with

ease.

There are certain constitutional periods at which this national union ought to appear in full force, particularly at such a delicate conjuncture, when a young prince, whose amiable character hath kindled the most agreeable hope in the breasts of the people, ascends the throne of his ancestors, and succeeds at once to the management of a sceptre, which he has not been gradually accustomed to wield. The crown devolves upon him with such additional weight as requires the full exertion of royalty to bear; and perhaps he inherits a scheme of politics, which even though he should disapprove of the system, he cannot suddenly renounce with any respect to the faith of treaties, with any regard to the honor of the nation. The work of reformation cannot be finished in a day, nor even begun before the preparative steps have been taken, unless he risks the authority of the crown, or the security of the commonwealth. Even an alteration of measures must be gradually introduced, in order to avoid the violent shocks of state convulsions. A sudden change of system might be as dangerous to the community as an attempt to stop the course of a vessel under the impulse of a leading gale with all her canvas out, and her motion greatly accelerated. In this situation, to turn her head to the wind, and throw all her sails aback of a sudden, would be a desperate step, that might send her to the bottom in the twinkling of an eye.

But if national union be necessary at all constitutional periods for the preservation of our liberties, it more especially becomes our duty towards our sovereign, at the accession of a prince whose conduct hath been hitherto without reproach, whose character seems to promise the most scrupulous attention to the interest and happiness of his people. Let us not be so unreasonable as

to entertain doubts where there are not the least grounds for sus picion, and deny our sovereign the justice which the law allows to the meanest subject, the justice of being deemed innocent, until some presumption of the contrary shall appear. Let us discard every suggestion of that fatal jealousy which tends only to the poisoning of our own peace; that domestic fiend which delights in raising unreasonable clamor, in exciting the rage of civil dissension, impeding the wheels of government, and giving every handle of advantage to the external and internal enemies of Great Britain.*

ESSAY XVI.

FEMALE WARRIORS.†

I have spent the greater part of my life in making observations on men and things, and in projecting schemes for the advantage of my country, and though my labors have met with an ungrateful return, I will still persist in my endeavors for its service, like that venerable, unshaken, and neglected patriot, Mr. Jacob Henriquez, who, though of the Hebrew nation, hath exhibited a shining example of Christian fortitude and perseverance.‡

["There is much dissatisfaction in the ministry. The Duke of Newcastle has threatened to resign on the appointment of Lord Oxford and Lord Bruce without his knowledge. But it is unpardonable to put an end to all faction, when it is not for factious purposes. When the last king could be beloved, a young man with a good heart has little chance of being so. Moreover, I have a maxim, that the extinction of party is the origin of faction.'" -Horace Walpole to G. Montagu, Dec. 11, 1760.]

+ [Written in January, 1762.]

[A man well known at this period, for the numerous schemes he was daily offering to government for the purpose of raising money by loans, paying off the national incumbrances, &c., &c., none of which received the smallest notice.]

And here my conscience urges me to confess, that the hint upon which the following proposals are built, was taken from an adver tisement of the said patriot Henriquez, in which he gives the public to understand, that Heaven had indulged him with "seven blessed daughters." Blessed they are, no doubt, on account of their own and their father's virtues; but more blessed may they be, if the scheme I offer should be adopted by the legislature.

The proportion which the number of females born in these kingdoms bears to the male children, is, I think, supposed to be as thirteen to fourteen: but as women are not so subject as the other sex to accidents and intemperance, in numbering adults we shall find the balance on the female side. If, in calculating the numbers of the people, we take in the multitudes that emigrate to the plantations, from whence they never return, those that die at sea and make their exit at Tyburn, together with the consumption of the present war by sea and land in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, in the German and Indian Oceans, in Old France, New France, North America, the Leeward Islands, Germany, Africa, and Asia, we may fairly state the loss of men during the war at one hundred thousand. If this be the case, there must be a superplus of the other sex amounting to the same number, and this superplus will consist of women able to bear arms; as I take it for granted, that all those who are fit to bear children are likewise fit to bear arms. Now, as we have seen the nation governed by old women, I hope to make it appear that it may be defended by young women; and surely this scheme will not be rejected as unnecessary at such a juncture, when our armies in the four quarters of the globe are in want of recruits; when we find ourselves ⚫entangled in a new war with Spain, on the eve of a rupture in Italy, and indeed in a fair way of being obliged to make head against all the great potentates of Europe.

But, before I unfold my design, it may be necessary to obvi·

ate, from experience as well as argument, the objections which may be made to the delicate frame and tender disposition of the female sex, rendering them incapable of the toils, and insuperably averse to the horrors of war. All the world has heard of the nation of Amazons, who inhabit the banks of the river Thermodoon in Cappadocia; who expelled their men by force of arms, defended themselves by their own prowess, managed the reins of government, prosecuted the operations in war, and held the other sex in the utmost contempt. We are informed by Homer, that Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, acted as auxiliary to Priam, and fell valiantly fighting in his cause before the walls of Troy. Quintus Curtius tells us, that Thalestris brought one hundred armed Amazons in a present to Alexander the Great. Diodorus Siculus expressly says, there was a nation of female warriors in Africa, who fought against the Libyan Hercules. We read in the Voyages of Columbus, that one of the Caribbee Islands was possessed by a tribe of female warriors, who kept all the neighboring Indians in awe; but we need not go further than our own age and country to prove, that the spirit and constitution of the fair sex are equal to the dangers and fatigues of war. Every novice who has read the authentic and important History of the Pirates, is well acquainted with the exploits of two heroines, called Mary Read and Anne Bonny. I myself have had the honor to drink with Anne Cassier, alias Mother Wade, who had distinguished herself among the Buccaneers of America, and in her old age kept a punch-house in Port-Royal of Jamaica. I have likewise conversed with Moll Davis, who had served as a dragoon in all Queen Anne's wars, and was admitted on the pension of Chelsea. The late war with Spain, and even the present, hath produced, instances of females enlisting both in the land and sea service, and behaving with remarkable bravery in the disguise of the other sex. And who has not heard of the celebrated Jenny Ca

meron, and some other enterprising ladies of North Britain, who attended a certain Adventurer in all his expeditions, and headed their respective clans in a military character? That strength of body is often equal to the courage of mind implanted in the fair sex, will not be denied by those who have seen the waterwomen of Plymouth; the female drudges of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland; the fishwomen of Billingsgate; the weeders, podders, and hoppers, who swarm in the fields; and the bunters who swagger in the streets of London; not to mention the indefatigable trulls who follow the camp, and keep up with the line of march, though loaded with bantlings and other baggage.

There is scarcely a street in this metropolis without one or more viragos, who discipline their husbands and domineer over the whole neighborhood. Many months are not elapsed since I was witness to a pitched battle between two athletic females, who fought with equal skill and fury, until one of them gave out, after having sustained seven falls on the hard stones. They were both stripped to the under petticoat; their breasts were carefully swathed with handkerchiefs, and as no vestiges of features were to be seen in either when I came up, I imagined the combatants were of the other sex, until a bystander assured me of the contrary, giving me to understand, that the conqueror had lain-in about five weeks of twin bastards, begot by her second, who was an Irish chairman. When I see the avenues of the Strand beset every night with troops of fierce Amazons, who, with dreadful imprecations, stop and beat and plunder passengers, I cannot help wishing, that such martial talents were converted to the benefit of the public; and that those who are so loaded with temporal fire, and so little afraid of eternal fire, should, instead of ruining the souls and bodies of their fellow-citizens, be put in a way of turning their destructive qualities against the enemies of the nation.

Having thus demonstrated that the fair sex are not deficient