any more illands, we found a chain of them extending as far as we could fee, with a great many proas failing to and from one another, but they did not come near us at that time. To windward of us, we failed along the chain of these islands for two or three days more, and found them to be delightful beyond expreffion, as they feemed to abound with cocoa-nut trees, oranges, and other tropical fruits; the land feemed low and level, always green and full of trees; the natives very numerous, running along the fandy fhore. We had now failed four or five degrees to the northward among thofe ifles, when one afternoon, feeing four or five of the proas coming towards us, we hove the fhip too to wait their arrival, when only one ventured to come near, keeping always aftern of our fhip, for no figns we could make could tempt them to come along-fide till I myself thought of a ftratagem, which answered our purpose: a small box containing a few nails was thrown over the stern, which, when they faw floating towards their proa, they jumped overboard and took it up. On thaking the box, and finding what it contained, after fome time confulting among themselves, they all ftood up and began fomething of a fong with a very folemn air and tone; when this was finished they came boldly along fide our ship to the number of five or fix, the remainder staying in the proa, who hove fruit and vegetables on our decks, which was very acceptable in our fituation at that time, the fcurvy having begun to make its fad appear ance among us. The others continued fwimming from their proa with mats and other things to barter with us, for which we gave them in return nails and other trifles; fome of them came by the help of ropes as high as the gunwale of our hip, and looked with amazement when they viewed our fhip's decks. I went over the fide by one of the gangway ladders, and gave a small piece of bunting and a fpike nail to one who appeared to me to be one of their ancient chiefs. This perfon had an agreeable countenance, with a long venerable white beard, and he accepted of what I gave him with great condefcenfion. Some of the others seeing this veffel come fo near us, alfo ventured the fame evening, and threw fruits, &c. on our decks. These feemed to be of the fame open free difpofition with the others, not in the leaft refembling the fullen difpofition of the Indians I have feen at New Holland and other parts of the world; but night coming on, we made fail, and they stood towards the fhore, continually making figns for us to follow them. We continued to fail two or three days among these islands, but no more proas came near us. The islands always fhewed the fame appearance as at firft, but the natives to the northward appeared to have fomething of a cloathing round their wafte. We left thofe fine islands about lat. 10. N. and the longitude inclining to the westward. We found the chain lay towards N. E. and S. W. according to our course, and very probably they may not be far from fome iflands called by the Spaniards the Pifedoir islands, but we did not fee them. Nothing more occurred till about the 13th of July, when in the lat. of 22. thinking we were to the northward of the Ladrone iflands, hoping to make our paffage ftraight for Canton, the wind proved foul for us, and we were obliged to fteer for Tinian, which, if we had not reached in a fortnight, our fituation being very deplorable, by reason of the fcurvy and other diforders, in all probability we must have perifhed at sea. The Scarborough and we kept com pany all the way from New Holland to Tinian, her crew were in as bad a fituation as ours; we were three days at anchor in the fame bay which Conmodore Anfon lay in, in the Centurion, where we got fome fmall refreshment fuch as cocoa nuts, limes, &c. A gale of wind coming on in the morning morning of the third day, we were obliged to cut our cables and put to fea, and never faw the Bay any more. In company with our confort we arrived at Canton river on the 16th of September, at the ufual rendezvous for India fhips, about feven leagues below the great city of Canton, and failed from thence the 16th of December following; had a fine paffage to St. He lena, at which place we stayed three days to water our fhip, from thence made the best of our way to London, where we arrived, by the help of God, May 8, 1789. Τ SIR, Obfervations on the modern Drama. IT is one character, and I think the privilege of old age, to hate the prefent times, and to complain of degeneracy; in this character I prefent myself to you, and I hope you will fo far indulge my foible as to allow a fmall corner in your Miscellany for my complaint. It is now above fixty years fince I first began to frequent the Bath waters, and enjoy the falutary pleasures of this famous place. I have drunk with Quin, chatted with Nafh, and played whift with Chesterfield; I now find wonderful changes, not wholly for the better. I fhall confine my complaint, at prefent, to one article. I have al ways been a warm admirer of our best dramatic entertainments, and my acquaintances have eftcemed me as a critick of fome note in that line. I entertain a fixed opinion, that, in England, true dramatic genius moftly exified and expired in one age,-I mean in the age of Shakespeare, Johnson, Beaumont, and Fletcher; this was a prevailing opinion fince the Rehearsal checked the miferable course of falfe tate, till of late years, when that excellent fatire feems forgotten, and falfe aafte again triumphs among our wrigers and our auditors. In our tragedies, fuftian paffes for the fublime, and in our comedies,-a ftrange fort of quaintnefs for wit and humour; our plots are improbable, our characters are not drawn from life, but from plays or Our writers compofe invita Minerva, and the charater given of bad plays in the Rehearsal is ftill more applicable in our time, that they are" dull and fantastical;"-a ftrange compofition! The " old plain way of wit" is now no longer in vogue, yet every feafon produces new tragedies, comedies, and numberlefs comick operas, which are recommended by criticks, and acted with aftonishing applaufe. For my part, (and I know I am not altogether fingular) I damn them all, with a very few exceptions. I now come to my fpecial matter of complaint; I have refided in Bath for two months paft, yet I have not seen one of the old plays announced for performance; in former times we had no comick operas, excepting Milton's Comus, undeformed by Garrick's alterations, and the Beggar's Opera, exquifite entertainments. The old plays (alfo unadulterated by our vile modern alterations) were frequently exhibited and well acted. I am, Sir, your very humble fervant, Bath, May 9, 1789. Poft Poftfcript. I must fairly confefs that I do include under my cenfure the favoured comedies of two illuftrious Generals; and I admit of no pro per exceptions but the Douglas in tragedy, and in comedy a few of Foote's careless, imperfect pieces, and the writings of Mr Sheridan. SIR, S To the Publifher. "I have often amufed myself with "the following idea, that the fun "and fixed stars, which are undoubt"edly funs to other planetary fyf"tems, may be phofphoric bodies, "poffeffed of that power in a highly "eminent degree; and that they may "have imbibed the light they now "emit immediately from the bright "effulgence of the Almighty; who, OMEWHAT more than a year ago, I was very forcibly ftruck by a very bold fpeculation upon Light, advanced by an ingenious and popular lecturer on Natural Philofophy. Immediately, upon getting home, I committed what I had heard to paper, and can anfwer fully for the accuracy of the meaning, though I by no means pretend to give it in the fame elegant and flowery" at the creation, unvailing his full diction in which it was delivered. I meant, at the time, to have tranfmitted fome obfervations upon the fubject to your Magazine, but delayed for fome time, in hopes that one better fitted for the task might have taken the fame ground; afterwards, conftant profeffional engagements made me to forget the matter altogether until this day, that, turning over my common-place book in fearch of something else, the entry accidentally occurred. Having premifed, with several very excellentobfervations,uponthe nature of light in general, and fhewn that it was fubjected to the fame laws of nature which regulate other matter, he concluded, and, in my humble opinion, very juftly, that 'light was material.' He next explained the phænomena of Phofphori, or of bodies which, when expofed to the fun's rays, continue, after being fuddenly removed into a dark place, to emit the light they had before imbibed, for a longer or fhorter time, in proportionto theirfeveralphofphorescent powers. What peculiarly impreffed itself upon my imagination was nearly as follows: "fplendour directly upon them, thus "endowed thefe bodies, originally "dark in their own nature, with "the power of emitting the light "they then imbibed, fo as to fupply "the univerfe until light fhall be no "longer neceffary." Numbers of the auditors around me declared, in enraptured whispers, the idea to be grand and fublime, but I am thoroughly convinced, that neither they nor the learned gentleman who uttered the above fentiment, were at all aware of the dangerous confequences which muft neceffarily flow from thefe pofitions. taken as premises in a fyllogifm. For, if light be material, and that of the fun and ftars be immediately derived by emanation, or emiffion, from the refulgent light of the unvailed perfon of God, no reasoning being can hefitate a moment to affirm that God himfelf must be material, at least in part, fo far as light is concerned. The above idea was illuftrated by a quotation from Paradife Loft, B. vii. ver. 354, & feq, where the fen. timent is, in my opinion, fully as philofophical, equally fublime, and beautifully beautifully poetic, and infinitely more confonant with that awful ignorance of the divine nature and perfections which ought to be the highest boaft of the most enlightened philofophic investigator. In that elegantly poetical paffage, the great Milton derives the light of the fun and stars from a created source, and, in humble wisdom, leaves to Theological vanity, (dare I call it Impiety,) the perilous adventure of plunging into the incomprehenfible effence of the glorious, the unknown to all, Creator of all things: whilft our natural philofopher, excellent tho' he be, has dared to convert light, which we can fee, and handle, and twift, and turn, and analyze at our will, into a part of the divine nature; the most minute particle of the fmalleft poffible idea of which is infinitely too vaft to be comprehended by all the minds combined which have hitherto existed, or which can exist should time be prolonged into as many millions of years as there are hair-breadths in the length of all the most minute rays which have proceeded from the fun fince the creation of the world. I am, &c. THEOSEBASTES. The Muphty's Bull. As a fample of Mahometan respect for deceased Princes, and of the fingular means which the Ministers of the Divan ufe to work upon the fuperftition of the followers of Mahomet, we lay before our readers the following Bull, if we may fo call it, lately published by the Muphty, at Conftantinople. To all faithful Muffulmen : HERE is but one God "TH and Mahomet is the power'ful arm of Him who moveth the heavens, and giveth light to the moon, that it may fhine in the "midst of darknefs, and for the "triumph of the True Believers. "He has pulled Abdul Hamet from "his throne, as the branch that hangeth "in the way is torn from a tree. "He has placed at the head of "the empire a young man full of "ardour, who will be the Sword that "fhall revenge the many outrages "which the favourite nation of the "Lord has fuffered. "We have been defeated, because "the Minister of the True Believers "had incurred the displeasure of the "Great Prophet. "Refume your wonted courage "-fear neither the fire or the fword "of the Infidels. Hope for every "thing from Heaven. If you e"fcape the dangers of war, riches "and honours will be heaped upon "you, and your glory will never "die. "If you fall in battle for the "honour of Mahomet, and the glory "of Selim, the most exquisite plea"fures await you. Prepare your"felf for the foft embraces of the "Houris. "The Angels of Mahomet will "lead you to the fhady fummits of "the mountains, or fhew you where to ftray in the flowery vallies be"low them. Grafp your fwords-cross the "feas-recover from the Infidels, "what only, as a punishment for our "crimes, they were permitted to "take from us "Those will moft certainly die "who shall fight against the Spirit, by which they have hitherto been "animated. "But thofe may reft affured of "victory, who fhall fight with con"fidence, without dread or fear, and "who draw the fword for the de"fence of the Ottomans, and the "glory of the True Religion." Extract Extract from the Secret Hiftory of the Court of Berlin. HIS book has been condemn has been burnt by the common hangman. It appears in the form of letters, which are ascribed to Count Mirabeau, who refided at Berlin during the period in which they were written, and in the capacity they describe.] August 22, 1786. The Duke of Brunswick has been fent for, and is to arrive on Thurfday. It is faid he brings another will, which was depofited in his hands. The first was not read before the family, but only in presence of the two uncles and the two minifters. The legatees have all received their bequests. The date of this will is 1769. It is in a pompous ftile, and is written with labour and declamation. The King has been exceeding attentive to fpecify that his legacies are made from the favings of his privy purse. The following is a sketch of his donations. The Queen has an annual augmentation to her income of ten thousand crowns.-Prince Henry has the grofs fum of two hundred thousand crowns, a large green diamond, a luftre of rock crystal eftimated at fifteen thousand crowns, a fet of eight coach-horses, two led horfes richly caparisoned, and fifty anteaux, or fmall cafks of Hungarian wine. Prince Ferdinand the grofs fum of fifty thousand crowns, and dinand ten thousand crowns annually, (the reafon of this was that, in 1769, fhe was the only Princefs of her house who had any children) and a box.-Princess Henry fix thoufand crowns annually.-The Dutchefs Dowager of Brunswick ten thoufand annually.-The Princefs Amelia ten thousand crowns annually, and all the perfonal plate of the late King.-Princefs of Wurtemberg the grofs fum of twenty thousand crowns. The Duke of Wurtemberg a ring. The Landgrave of Heffe the grofs fum of ten thousand crowns.-Prince Frederick of Brunswick the fame.--The reigning Duke of Brunfwick the fame, with eight horfes (among others, the last that Frederic mounted) and a diamond ring, estimated at twenty-two thoufand crowns, &c. The King has confirmed all this with a very good grace. The only article that he will not agree to was a ftrange whim of the late King, relative to the interment of his body; he wished to be buried befide his dogs. Such is the last mark of contempt which he thought proper to caft upon mankind †. I know not whether the will that is coming will be equally refpected with that already opened, even though they fhould not be contradictory. I have twice feen Count Hertzberg, The tongue of fcandal very publicly, that is to say in Pruffia,'gives a far different reafon; but it is one fo revolting, fo attrocious, that not only charity but probability leads us to fufpect the truth of fuch an accufation. Still his love for his dogs while living, his manner of treating them, and his laft réqueft to be buried by their fide, are very ftrange, or, in a man like him, very whimsical facts. One of thefe favourites, a greyhound bitch, was taken at the battle of Sorr, when the baggage was plundered by Trenck and Nadafti. Regardless of inferior loffes, the King was in the act of writing to Nadafti, to requeft his bitch might be reftored, when the Auftrian general, knowing his love for the animal which was itself greatly attached to him, had fent it back; the bitch unperceived by the Monarch leaped upon the table while he was writing, and as usual began to carefs him, at which he was fo affected that he fhed tears. The day before, he had cut off many thousands of men, and charged his dear children to give no Saxon quarter. VOL. X. No. 55. . B |