5. The advantages which the, French Weft India iflands are fuppofed at present to enjoy over the British islands, and the reafons on which thefe fuperior advantages are founded. 6. View of the information that has been obtained concerning the extent of the trade of other European nations to Africa, and the manner in which the fame is carried on, and concerning the treatment of faves in the foreign inlands or colonies in America or the West Indies; and concerning the trade in flaves carried on from the northern, caftern, and fouthern coafts of Africa, or in the interior parts of that country, as connected therewith either by Europeans, or by the different people of Alia and Afri Thefe documents will be deemed of great importance by thofe who with to be poffeffed of the moft authentic and moft comprehenfive evidence and information, hitherto obtained, relative to the actual ftate of Africa, and the real nature and circumstances of the flave-trade. So extenfive and fo well-digefted a mafs of materials, on this very interesting fubject, and publifhed under fo high a fanction, muft, indeed, be confidered as exceedingly valuable and interefting. We may add, that those who may take up this volume merely with a view to that rational entertainment which naturally refults from the acquifirion of ufeful knowledge, (and, efpecially, from the intelligence which may be collected from authentic accounts of this kind,) will not be disappointed: hiftorians and geographers, in particular, will alfo confult it with advantage. 7. The Theatre, by Sir Richard Steele. To which are added, The AntiTheatre; the Character of Sir John Edgar; Steele's Cafe with the Lord Chamberlain; the Crifis of Property, avith the Sequel, two Pufquins, &c. Illuftrated with Literary and Hif torical Anecdotes, by John Nichols 2. Vols. crown 8vo. As long as elegant Literature fhall be cultivated in this country, the name of Steele will always have a refpectable portion of efteem and praise. It has been, till very lately, the fafhion to regard him more as the friend of Addifon and Pope, and as borrowing a reflected fplendour from their luftre, than as entitled to great repu tation, on his own account, as an original writer, as poffeffed of genius. diffufing no inconfiderable light from itself, as improving our language, and as a warm fteady friend to liberty and morals. But at this period, when prejudices of all kinds are the more rigoroully examined, the more fixed they feem, and the more ancient they are, it is clearly afcertained and acknow ledged that Steele's talents as a man, and fkill as a writer, required no adventitious aid. To the Editor of the prefent work the friends and admirers of Steele owe many obligations. His induftry, and, we may add, his acutenefs, have been fuccefsfully exercised to render the cloud which obfcured Steele's reputation lefs and lefs denfe. His partial care has raised him from amongst the groupe in which he was fometimes confounded and often overlooked, and placed him on a feparate pedestal, where he attracts and obtains his proper fhare of attention and praise. There are but very few, partial as they may have been to Steele's writings, or curious in collecting the periodical publications of that period, who have feen an entire collection of the Theatre; and yet we may be juftified in afferting, that it would be di£ ficult to produce better writing from either the Spectators, Tatlers, or Guardians. To those who are curious in inveftigating the hiftory of the Englifh ftage, they must be peculiarly interefting. The 501 M [By Mrs CHARLOTTE SMITH.] engaging in it. She had no acquaintance in England, and not in the world any friend who had at once the power and the will to affift her., "Almoft the firft circumstance which made any impreffion on my mind, was the agonies of paffion with which my mother clafped me to her bofom, and wept over me, while fhe called on the spirit of her departed Douglas to behold the wretchedness of his widow and his orphan. At that age, however, it is only a flight fketch now and then of fome violent paffion, or ftriking circumftance, that refts on the memory of an infant. I have no recollection of any thing elfe till the fcene was greatly changed, and, in my childish eyes, greatly amended. father was a native of Scotland, of the noble family of Douglas. He was a younger brother of a younger branch, and married very early in his life a young woman as well-born and as indigent as himself. In the year 1745, he was among thofe who joined the unfortunate CharlesEdward, and he fell at Culloden, leaving me then about twenty months old, and his wife then not more than seventeen, entirely dependent on the bounty of his father, and overwhelmed with the greatness of her calamity; but when the held in her arms her unfortunate orphan, the fole legacy and fole memorial of a man whom he had fondly loved, fhe ftruggled against her unhappy destiny, and for my fake attempted to live. "Though peace was at length restored "It was fummer; and though at that to the wretched country, which had been period the mercantile inhabitants of Lontoo long the feat of devaftation, many fa- don were lefs accustomed than they now are milies found themselves totally impoverish to go to country villas, yet my uncle, who ed; and none fuffered more than my grand- was growing rich, had one near Hammerfather, who, having narrowly efcaped with fmith, where he ufually repaired with his life, furvived to lament the lofs of three family on Fridays, returning again to town brave fons, and to fee great part of his pro- the beginning of the following week. The perty in afhes. He lingered only a twelve-weather was uncominonly hot, and my momonth afterwards, and then funk into the grave, leaving his fmall patrimony to his only furviving fon, who had himself a numerous family, My mother faw, or fancied the faw, that he could willingly have difpenfed with any additional burden; and fhe determined to go to England, where the hoped to be received by a brother of her own who was fettled in London. Thi ther the conveyed herfelf and me in the cheapest way he could, and was received by her brother (who had funk his illuftrious birth for the convenience offered him of becoming partner with a merchant) with kindnefs indeed; but fuch kindness as a mind, narrowed by perpetually contemplating riches, shews to the poor who are dependent on them. His wife, by whofe means his fortune had been promoted, convinced him that his fifter and her child could not be commodioully received into his houfe. Lodgings were however provided for her in the neighbourhood, and the boarded with her brother: but the fecond month of her thus living was not paffed, before the neglect the felt from him, and the pride and ill-nature of his wife, taught her to experience, in all its bitternefs, the mifery of dependence. Born with very acute feelings, and at an age when every fenfibility is awake, my mother found this fituation every day more infupportable. Yet whither could fhe turn? She had neither kuawledge of business, nor any means of ther, who was never of thefe parties, but was left in London to fhare the dinner of the folitary fervant who took care of the houfe, fancied that I had for many days drooped for want of air; and, alarmed by that idea, fhe took, after the family were gone, an hackney coach, and directed it to carry her to the gate of Hyde Park. "Though the fun was declining, it had yet fo much power, that in walking through the Park with me in her arms, that I at leaft might not fuffer, fhe became exceedtremely fatigued. She faw people going into Kenfington Gardens: thither the went alfo; and to avoid obfervation, betook her felf to an unfrequented part of them, where, quite overcome with bodily fatigue and mental anguish, fhe threw herfelf on a feat, and ftraining me to her bofom, began with a torrent of tears to lament, not fo much her own hard fate as that which awaited the infant of he loft Douglas, whofe name fhe frequently repeated, broken by the fobs and groans which a rhoufand tender recollections of him, and poignant fears for me, extorted from her. From this delirium of fruitlefs forrow fhe was awakened by the appearance of a gentleman about thirty, who fuddenly approached her, and enquir ed with great politeness, yet with great warmth, whether her diftre's was of a nature he could mitigate or remove? "Alarmed by this address from a ftranger, my mother arose, and, makin an ef gtrof, fort to conquer her emotion and conceal her tears, the thanked him in a hurried voice for his politenefs, but affured him that the was merely fatigued by the heat of the weather, and fhould now haften home. "He was not however to be fo eafily fhaken off. If my mother had at firft truck him as a very beautiful young woman, he was still more charmed when the fpoke, and when, amidst the confufion fhe was under, he obferved as much unaffected modefty as natural elegance. It was in vain that the entreated him to leave her, and affured him that fhe lived in a very diftant part of the town with a brother, into whofe houfe fhe could not introduce a ftranger, and that she fhould be otherwife much diftreffed by his attention. He would not leave her, but taking me up in his arms, he carried me out of the gardens, and then delivering me to my mother, he ran towards the place to procure, as he faid, a coach. My mother, who trembled the knew not why, at the politeness the could not refent, now hurried on in the hope of her escaping from her new acquaintance; but he had not proceeded an hundred paces before he was again at her fide, and again took me in his arms, and under pretence that there was no coach to be had where he had been, but that one would be probably met with if they walked on, he engaged her to proceed, till a coach overtook them: not fuch as he pretended to have fought, but one on which was an Earl's coronet, and the arms of Douglas quartered with thofe of an illustrious English, family. "Now," faid he, stopping as it came up, "here is a carriage, which fhall convey you and this little cherub to your home. You will not, I think, refufe me the honour of accompanying you, that it may afterwards take me to minc.' "Again my mother. urged every thing fhe could think of to prevail upon her new friend to defift from a proof of attention which could only diftrefs her. He would hear nothing; and the warmth of his importunity forced her, in fpite of every objection, to get into his coach, where he feated me in her lap, and himfelf by her fide. "He then attempted to quiet her fears, by entering into difcourfe on the topics of the day; in which he exerted himself fo effectually, his manners were fo eafy, and his converfation fo entertaining, that the agitation of her fpirits gradually fi.bfided. The foothing voice of friendship, of pity, of fympathy, which she had not heard for many, many months, again made its way to her heart; and when he infenfibly turned the difcourfe from lefs interefting matters to her own condition, the tears flowed from her eyes, foftnefs pervaded her heart, and she confided to this ftranger, whom she' had not yet known above an hour, the unhappy uncertainty of her fituation, the actual mifery fhe fuffered herself, and the anguifh which weighed down her spirit when The reflected that the had no other portion. to bequeath me than poverty, fervitude, or perhaps dependence, more bitter than either. În making this avowal, fhe had named her family, and that of her father. "Yes," interrupted her protector, " I. heard, as I liftened to you in the gardens, the name of Douglas. I am myself of the race; for my mother was a Douglas! fuch a circumitance, added to the captivating beauty of the fair mourner to whom I listened, made my curiofity invincible. Dangerous curiofity! to gratify it, I have, I fear, loft my peace!" "Not to dwell too long on the recital, let me fay that this nobleman profeffed himself paffionately in love with the young widow; and though the infifted on his gi ving up fo wild an idea, he declared before he left her that he would by fome means or other introduce himself to her brother, fince to live without feeing her was impoffible. It was with difficulty he was at length prevailed upon to leave the houfe; and without extorting permiffion from my mother, he was there again the next day, and every day, till the family returned; after which he managed fo adroitly, that in a few days he made an acquaintance with my uncle, and was in form invited to dinner; while neither himfelf nor his wife at all fufpected for whofe fake the acquaintance was fo anxiously cultivated, but were extremely elate at the notice which a man of rank took of them, and the compliments he paid to the refpectability and intrinfic worth of men of business. "The attention, however, which he found himself obliged to pay to the mistress of the house, and the few opportunities of feeing or converfing with my mother which this method of visiting allowed him, became very uncafy to him; and at length, after a long ftruggle with himself, he determined to hazard telling her his real situation. He probably knew that he had by this time fecured fuch an intereft in her heart, that it was no longer in her power to fly from him, whatever her honour might dictate. Having with fome difficulty obtained an opportunity of speaking to her, he told her, that he knew the muft long have a his ardent and incurable paflion; " which perhaps," continued he, "I ought never to have indulged; but, alas! from the firit moment I faw you, my heart was your's! while reafon in vain condemned me, and repeated the fatal truth which you must now hear. I am already married- am not villain enough to attempt to deceive you, but liften to what I have to add in extenuation extenuation of my conduct, before you condemn me to defpair." τι The indignation with which my mother received this acknowledgment, the attempts of her lover to appease and foften her, I need not relate: having at length prevailed on her to hear what he had to urge, he told her, that to gratify his family he had, when little more than twenty, married the heirets of a rich and noble family; plain, and even deformed in her perfon; with a temper foured by ill-health and the confcioufnefs of her own imperfections, and with manners the most disgusting. For upwards of three years he dragged on a life completely wretched with a woman whofe malignity of temper deadened all pity of her perfonal misfortune: at the end of that period he was seized with the small-pox, attended with the worst symptoms; but the diftemper acting on an habit conftitutionally bad, failed to deprive her of life, which would have been a blefling to them both; but left behind it violent epileptic fits, which, continuing with increasing violence for many months, had deprived her of the slender fhare of reafon the ever poffeffed, and threw her at length into confirmed ideotifm, in which ftate fhe had invariably remained for the laft fix years. Thus fituated, he confidered himfelf, though the fatal tie could not by law be diffolved, as really unmarried, and at liberty to offer his heart to the lovely object who now poffeffed it, though the cruel circumftance he had related made it impoffible for him to offer her that rank, in which it would otherwife have been his ambition to have placed her, and to which the would have done fo much honour. 66 I was then in my mother's arms: he took me tenderly in his, and faid, "Intercede for me, lovely Caroline, with your mother! Ah! foften that dear inexorable heart, and tell her that for your fake the fhould quit an abode fo unfit for you both, and accept the protection of a man, who will confider and provide for her Caroline as for a child of his own." He then hurried away, leaving a paper in which he had repeated all he had before faid; and protefting that his first care fhould be to fettle a fortune on me. That evening, my uncle and his family, who had been abfent, returned, and it happened that his wife, who was always rude and unfeeling, treated my mother with an unusual degree of afperity. Her brother too, whether from accident or from fome intelligence he had received of his Lordship's vifits, fpoke to her with great acrimony, reproached her with having been now above twelve months a burden to him, and adviled her to try if fhe could not procure a place as companion to a lady, or governefs in a family; adding coldly, that he would in that cafe take care of me, and put me out to nurse, till I was old enough to procure a livelihood. "Honour, and respect for the memory of her husband, had made in the breaft of my mother a ftruggle, which this inhuman treatment rendered at once ineffectual. On one fide, affluence, with the man whom the already loved more than fhe was aware of, and a certain provifion for the infant on whom the doated, awaited her; on the other, poverty, dependence, and contempt; her child torn from her, and herself fent to fervice. The contraft was too violent: She retired to her room, and without giving herfelf time for reflection, wrote to Lord Pevenfey, and the next day quitting her inhofpitable and felfth relations, without giving them any account of herfelf, fhe fet out with his Lordship for Paris. A fervant was provided for me: all that love and fortune. could offer were lavifhed on her; and at an elegant houfe on the banks of the Seine fhe was foon eftablished; with a fplendour which however ferved not to make her happy. The Still confcious of the impropriety of her fituation, fhe could never conquer the melancholy that preyed on her mind; though the fometimes thought, that to have the daughter of Douglas educated and provided for, as his Lordfhip's fondness educated and provided for me, was in reality a greater proof of attachment to his memory than the would have fhown, had the suffered me to have remained in the indigence and difgrace to which the penurious and fordid temper of my uncle would have expofed me. two fons, whom the brought my Lord, fhared her tenderness without leffening it; and while the utmost care was taken of their education, as foon as they were old enough to receive instructions, I had the best masters which Paris afforded; and, with fuch advantages, almost every European language, at an early age, became familiar to me. Lord Pevensey, who was as partial to me as if I had been indeed his daughter, and in whofe fondefs for my mother time made no abatement, faw with pleasure the progrefs I made, and flattered himself that he should establish me happily, though the fituation of my mother (who, though the was treated in France with great refpect, was well understood not to be the wife of Lord Pevenfey) was a very unfavourable circumftance to me even in that country. The world, however, called me handsome; and I had received an education very different from that which is ufually given to young women in France. On the day on which I conpleted my fourteenth year, Lord Pevensey came to me, as I was dreffing for a little entertainment which he had ordered on the occafion, and withing me joy of my birth day, day, he faluted me, and put into my hands a bank-note of a thousand pounds. "Take it, my dear Caroline," faid he, " as a trifling teftimony of my affection for you. Ufe it for your fmaller expences, and be affured that I will not neglect to make your future profpects equal to the education you have received, and to which you do fo much honour." "I received this generofity as I ought. Alas! my benefactor went in a few weeks to England, and I faw him no more. A ftrange prefentiment of evil hung over my mother, whofe health had long been very uncertain. She could not bear to take the laft leave of his Lordship; and he, who lived but to oblige her, ftill lingered and delayed his journey, till repeated letters from thofe who had the care of his eftates compelled him to determine on it. His two fons, one of ten, the other of eight years old, were by this time at a public school in England, and he promifed to gratify my mother with the fight of them on his return, which he faid fhould be as foon as he could fettle the affairs which called him over. "When he was gone, however, my mother fell into a deep melancholy; and as we were almost always alone together, fhe talked very frequently of the incidents of her paft life, related the particulars I-have repeated to you, and asked me whether I could forgive her for having thus been betrayed into a fituation which, whatever it might be in the fight of Heaven, would, in that of the world, render me liable to eternal reproach. It was in vain I conjured her to banish from her mind, reflections which ferved only to destroy an health fo precious to us all. Still they recurred too often, and her delicate conftitution very visibly fuffered. After Lord Pevenfey, who had been uted to write by every poft, had been gone about fix weeks, his letters fuddenly ceafed. My mother for fome days flattered herself, that it was merely owing to his being on his journey back; but her hopes gradually died away, and the moft alarming apprehenfions fucceeded apprehenfions too well founded. We were fitting together one morning, when a fudden bustle of the fervants in the anti-room furprised us. I rofe to enquire into the occafion of it, and, on my opening the door, was fhocked by the fight of my two brothers, and their tutor, who had been attempting to prevent their fudden entrance. The poor boys on fecing me burst into tears, and exclaiming, "Oh! Caroline! my father!" they rufhed by me, and threw themselves into the arms of their mother; who, wild with terror, had no power to enquire, what indeed they foon told her." Oh! mamma!" cried they, our papa, our papa, our dear papa is dead! They have fent us here to -- you they have taken him from us, and eve ry thing that was his!" "The Tutor, who highly refpected my mother, now attempted to take the children from her; but he held them in her arms, while, with a look which I fhall never forget, and with the voice of piercing anguifh, the enquired what all this meant? The worthy man related, in a few words, that Lord Pevensey had been feized with a fever at one of his country houfes, where, after a few days illness, he died: that his brother, who became heir to his title, had inftantly poffeffed himself of all his effects, and had directed the two boys to be taken immediately to France, and to drop the name they had hitherto borne. With reluctance the Tutor added, that the prefent Lord intended in a few days being at the house we inha bited, in order to receive the jewels and other valuables which belonged to his brother. "No tear fell from the eyes of the dear unhappy woman, no figh efcaped her heart. She defired me to tranquillife the poor boys, (who ftill fondly clung round her, weeping for their dead papa), and complaining that fhe fuffered great pain in her head, defired to be put to bed. I remained by her, and endeavoured to excite her tears, while mine flowed inceffantly; but the greatness and fuddenness of the calamity overwhelmed her. conftitution, though it still left to her mind strength enough to reflect on the condition of her children. "Caroline," faid fhe to me as I fat by her, "I fhall probably be in a few hours reduced to that indigence, from which, perhaps, it were better I had never been relieved. But your brothers! for them I fuffer! The proceedings of the prefent Lord Pevenfey leave me little reafon to hope that any Will exifts in England which fecures them the ample provifion their father defigned for them. There are, in a box which my Lord left, feveral papers which he told me were of confequence: but they will be taken from me unless immediately fecured, Send therefore for Mr Montgomery, and deliver to him that box." "She then gave me a direction to him. I had never feen Mr Montgomery, though he was a friend of my Lord's. I hastened to execute her commands. He flew to the houfe on receiving my meffage; and, instead of a man of bufinefs as I expected, I beheld a young man of about feven and twenty, in the uniform of one of thofe Scottish regiments which were received by the King of France after their master's affairs became irretrievable. He had been quartered for fome time in a remote province; but being diftantly related to, and highly esteemed by the late Lord Pevenfey, he had conftantly correfponded with him, and had been entrusted |