in Devonshire, and acquired great skill in horfemanship from his conftant attendance on his numerous cuftomers, who all refided at à confiderable distance from him;-and indeed we make no doubt but it was in allufion to him that the term of "riding like a taylor" first took its rife; a term ftill particularly applicable to the natives of Gambado's country. The inhabitants of Yorkshire, and the vicinity of New-market, may turn it into ridicule if they please, but it was meant as highly complimentary and honourable to that valuable body of men.-Was not the flying highwayman a taylor? Were not three parts of General Elliot's dragoons taylors? Was not he who made the excurfion to Brentford, a taylor and had we not the taylor of Brighten?-who was as good a rider as any in Europe. Mr. Gambado, the younger, (the hero of our prefent fubject) never rode like his father, or, any other profeffed borfeman before his time, he had a particular manner which he ftruck out himIelf; upon the hearing of which, the Doge of Venice conferred upon him the honorary titles of his riding-mafter, mafter of horse, and grand-equery, which coft poor Gambado his life;-for, on his receiving intelligence of his very reputable appointments under fo great a man, he immediately fet fail for Triefte, and was loft in a very fingular manner within a few leagues of Ragula. On the veffel's being expected to go to pieces, he drank a great quantity of punch, came coolly on deck, and calling up his fervant with all the bridles and faddles that could be got, he mounted himself on the largeft faddle, and taking a bridle in one hand, and a paper-cafe in the other, defired himself to be thrown into the fea; and thus perished one of the moft whimfical horfe-men we have ever read or heard of. Ony take a few fpecimens of his theory and practice in his Academy for grown Horfe-men, which he conducted with great credit and decorum for many years before he was appointed riding master, mafter of horse, and grand-equery to the Doge. In the purchasing of a horfe (he tells you) that the height is perfectly immaterial, provided he is higher behind than before. He fays (which he is certainly right in) that nothing could be more pleafing to a traveller than the fenfation of continually getting forward; whereas, the riding a horfe of a contrary make is like getting a ftride on the bannifters of a ftair-cafe, when, though perhaps, you really advance, you feel as if you were going backwards. He alfo proves to a demonstration, that a bald-face, wall-eyes, and white leg's (if your horfe be not a grey one) are always to be preferred: as in the night, although you may ride against what you please yourself, no one will ride against you. He makes it appear too that a horfe's ears cannot be too long; as a judicious rider may fteer his courfe by fixing his eyes between them. Mr. Gambado kept a menage or repofitory, (as we have mentioned before,) and he often has been heard to wonder why people w e fo inquifitive and troublesome about t' yes of horses they were about to purc, as if a horfe's eyes were any way concerned in his action or gaits of going; furely (exclaimed he) if a rider is in full poffeffion of bis own eyes, what his horse has is perfectly immaterial; in fact, he proves as clear as day, that eyes in a horfe are of little confequence, on which account a perfon may mount himself at Kelly's menage or any of the rhedariums in this city as well, and for half the money, he would have done before he was let into this important fecret by the publication of the celebrated Gambado's poftumous works. He recommends it to all keen sportsmen to wear large white bufhy wigs, fmart cocked hats, fhort boots, and to have their breeches made fo, as that the knees will just reach the joints, so as the flap of the faddle may be continually curling up, and chafing you between the confines of the boots and breeches, by which means an expert jockey will be fatisfied that his leg is in a proper pofition: in fummer a black plush breeches, and a pompadour coloured coat with monftrous long fkirts, are juft the ton for a lad of the turf. He advifes jockeys by all means to spur their horfes in the shoulders only, as there he has moft feeling, because most veins; the mode (faid he) of leaning the body pretty forward over the pommell of the faddle, in a walk or trot, has been too little practifed of late years, it is therefore high time it fhould be revived, as there is an appearance of an airinefs in it that embellishes the figure of a rider very much, and fets him off to great advantage, particularly, if he be mounted on a long-back'd horfe, who throws his faddle well forward, and is unencumbered with a crupper. If then (continues this inimitable inftruc tor in the equeftrian fcience,) you bend your body well forward, your rump fticking properly out behind, with your legs projected, I fhall have some hopes of you; you will certainly arrive at an excellence hitherto attained but by very few ;-and thefe few, men of the firft knowledge, and fcience; fuch as fellows of colleges, the livery of London, or perhaps the crew of a man of war. In fact, to follow 'Squire Gambado through all his inimitable lecture upon this noble science, would outftretch the bounds we have limited to ourselves for this article.— However, However, in the course of our magazines, we will regularly give our readers defcriptive engravings of all his equeftrian feats and attitudes, with the mode of riding in gene ral, recommended by him in his invaluable treatife, a great part of which was fatally defroyed, when he was thrown over board upon the great faddle, which is a lofs to the fporting world, that never can be too much regretted. Alas! POOR GEFF! Characteristic Defcription of a French Abbé. HE word Abbé, which occurs so much Tin every French publication, cannot, in its popular fenfe, be rendered into English. In its primitive fenfe it fignified the fame as Abbot, the governor of a monaftery; but in the modern fenfe, juft alluded to, it fig nifies a very popular character in France, which, however, had no existence among the Romanifts till about a century and a half ago, fubfequent to the reformation. An Abbé, according to the ftricteft defi nition, is a person who has not yet obtained any precife or fixed fettlement in church or ftate, but who moft ardently longs for, and would accept of, either, juft as it may hap pen. In the mean time, his privileges are many. He is admiffible in all companies, and no degradation to the beft, notwithftanding he is fometimes found in the worst. His drefs is rather that of an academic, or of a profeffed fcholar, than of an ecclefiaftic; and never varying in colour, it is, in courfe, not very expensive. In short, the drefs and manners of this popular being are admirably reprefented in an engraving, called The French Fire-fide,' which may be seen in moft of the print-fhops. These abbés are very numerous and useful. In colleges, they are the inftructors of youth; in private families, the tutors of young gentlemen. Many of them procure a decent subsistence by their literary and witty compofitions of all kinds, from the moft profound philofophy to the most fanciful romances.In a word, they are a body of men, that poffefs a fund of univerfal talents and learning, and are inceffantly employed in the cultivation of every branch of literature and fcience. No fubject whatever, efcapes them; ferious or sprightly, folid or ludicrous, facred or profane, all pay tribute to their refearches; and as they are converfant in the loweft as well as the higheft topics, their fame is equally great in the learned and the fcribbling world. A diftingufhing part of their character, too, is their devotion to the fair fex, whole favourites, in return, they have the honour of being in the moft enviable degree; the wit and fmartness for which they are ufually remarkable, being juft the very thing that fuit the French ladies. In fine, these abbés are fought after To the Editor of Exfbar's Magazine. with concern the thoughts of Ha riott M- with refpect to celibacy: that lady I find is an advocate for a single life, and produces many fenfible arguments on the subject. My thoughts I am free to own are diametrically oppofite, and yet am compelled to go under the denomination of an old bachelor, when I fincerely wish for a state of nuptiality. I fhall now give you a fhort hiftory of my birth and manner of life.-I was born in the north, of reputable but poor parents, who could not beftow on me what the polite world calls a genteel education. I was free to a small school in the village. My talents, though not of the brighteft, were nevertheless cultivated by diligence and affiduity, fo as to gain me the approbation and good will of my mafter. I went through the most difficult rules of arithmetic, and made fome progrefs in algebra. I wrote feveral hands, which when fhewn to mafters of diftinguished tafte, met with applaufe. I was now arrived at that period in life when it was thought neceffary I fhould launch out into the world in order to make some provifion for myself; it was therefore propofed by my parents that I fhould be an Excifeman. I had not the leaft objection, and immediately fet about qualifying myself for that office. I had fearce purchased a proper book for the purpose, when an advertisement appeared in the public papers, inti- | * mating that the mafter of a grammar-school wanted an affillant to teach writing and accounts. This affair I had communicated to my friends, who unanimously gave opinion, that it would be of more advantage to me than the business of an Exciseman, and not attended with fuch fatigue. Accordingly i went to Mr., who received me with great civility; when matters were fettled in regard to my falary, the mafter acquainted me, that if I behaved well in my fituation, he would affift me in the learned languages. I forgot to inform you, that by mere dint of application I had acquired a fmattering in the Greek and Latin tongue I was employed as an affiftant in the school Am a country Curate, and have read their for for feven years, during which time I made which afforded me an opportunity of dif- Your conftant reader A COUNTRY CURATE. 1 on a subject of fuch vast importance without THE obfervations of modern naturalifis the content of my father." I immediately replied, his approbation was abfolutely neceflary. Accordingly one morning, when I found, the old gentleman in a pleating temper of mind, I propofed the question for leave to make my addresses to his daughter: but oh what a terrible ftroke did I meet with! I fhall never forget his anfwer and his look to the last moment of my life-" My daughter fhall never marry either Pigtail or Parion." Soon after this repulfe, I heard of a widow lady of good character, and yearly fortune of fifty pounds. I foon made her a vifit, and was cordially received; but I found that her fortune was only for life, and as my falary was no more than forty ponnds a year, I thought the income too fcanty for a matrimonial connection: however, in my next vifit the lady anticipated every thing I could say on the subject, by informing me, that I must defift making any more preten fions in the way of courtship, for her brother had called upon her that morning, and told her the had better marry a barn-door drummer (meaning a threfher of corn) than a country Curate. My next vilit was to the daughter of a worthy gentleman, who received me into his houfe with fingular marks of friendship. This lady was poffeff ed of perfonal and mental accompliínments; the was a fine performer on the harpsichord, respecting the ftructure of plants, evidently fhew, that there is a very sensible and remarkable analogy between vegetables and animals; both have veffels to receive and prepare the nutritive juices, and which by diftributing them into different parts, contribute to their nourishment and encrease.→→→ The greater part of plants perpetuate their fpecies in a manner analogous to that of animals, and this analogy is above all perceptible in thofe which have not two diftinct fexes; but of which fome are males, and other females. Like certain animals the lives of which are bound within the short space of a year, fome plants die, after having produced feeds to raise a new stock; while others live for a long time, and every year give birth to an offspring more or lefs numerous. Difeafes too, like thofe incident to animals, attack, if we may be allowed the expreffion, the vegetable kingdom. Of this we have examples in firs. the fap of which being thick and glutinous, often occafions obftructions which kill them. Allow plants fentiment, and they will be animals as wor thy of the name, as many of thofe which are ranked in that class. The celebrated Linnæus difcovered a new analogy between plants and animals, which is fleep. We muit not, indeed, understand by th's word that fufpenfion of the animal functions in which the fleep of animals con fifts. Plants being endued neither with fenfation nor fpontaneous motion, cannot be fubject to any weakness caused by exercifing thofe functions which require this fufpenfion, in order that the animal may be suffered to acquire fresh ftrength. By the fleep of plants, Mr. Linnæus means only a particular form or appearance which plants affume in the night time, and altogether different from that which they have during day. Chance drew the attention of Mr. Linnæus to this phenomenon; he had received from Mr. De Sauvages, Profeflor of Medicine, in the university of Montpelier, fome feeds of the plant called, by botanifts, Lotus ornithopodioides. This plant having come to perfection, and being in full bloom, Mr. Linnæus remarked two flowers an it during the day, but in the evening, when he went to show them to his gardener, and to defire him to pay particular attention to the prefervation of the plant, he found they had difappeared. The fame thing happened the next day, the flowers re-appeared in the morning, and vanifhed in the evening, when the two botanists went to examine them.— On the third evening, after they had furveyed the plant with the greatest attention, and removed the leaves one after another, they found the flowers amidft fome leaves which covered them very exactly. Struck with this phenomenon, Mr. Linnæus renewed his obfervations for feveral evenings fucceffively. He examined alfo by the light of a flambeau, the other plants in the garden and green-houfe; and he remarked, that they all experienced fomething of the fame kind. On the approach of night he faw them fhrink, contract their leaves, and as one may fay, fhelter themselves from the ftill more fingular. When it is defirous of enjoying repofe, it fufpends itself by one foot from the branch of a tree, in fuch a manner that it appears to be dead. Plants alfo have each a different manner of taking their reft, which however is not so ftriking. It confifts only in the different terms they affume when they contract their leaves.Mr. Linnæus has enumerated them, and gives a catalogue of plants which, if we may ufe the expreffion, are fond of sleeping in fuch or fuch a manner. There is ftill another refemblance very ftriking between the fleep of plants and that of animals. Old animals fleep little, whereas for the repofe of thofe that are young, the night is fcarcely fufficient. Mr. Linnæus affures us, that he obferved fomething of the fame kind in the vegetable kingdom.— Young plants fleep much longer than thofe that are old. The latter fcarcely fleep at all, and always awaken before day light begins to appear.--Such of our readers as have been born with tender and fenfible hearts, and who are still in that happy season when imagination enlivens, animates and embellishes every thing that surrounds them, will remark no doubt with pleasure, that this obfervation agrees in fome measure with the most ingenious and ftriking fictions of the poets. Does not this fleeping and waking of plants, incite us to deplore with Virgil, the fate of that flower, which torn from its root by the cruel plowfhare, grows pale, falls and expires? On the Manner of deftroying ‘Infects which attack Fruit-trees. [From the Paris Memoirs of Agriculture.] De Thoffe, having found that oil of to cold and wind, in order to enjoy the fweets M. turpentine, when applied to animals of repoic. When the fun and day returned, they agam expanded, as if to receive the benefit of their benign influence. One is almoft tempted to believe that this contraction, which, according to Linnæus, plants experience in the night time, is only the effect of different impreffions made by the air, as it is either warm or cold; but this explanation, in other refpects natural, cannot be reconciled with what Mr. Linnæus obferved. According to him, the fame phenomenon happens not only to plants in open gardens, but even to thofe in the green-houte, where there is little or no fenfible variety of temperature. Different animals, fays Mr. Linnæus, place themselves in different positions, in order to enjoy repofe. Quadrupedes gene rally bend their bodies in a round form. Birds put their heads below their wings, and many of them fleep flanding upon one foot. The Pittacus pendulus fleeps in a manner O Ꭲ F. Lotus, refembling the Ornithopodium. N which were covered with vermin, destroyed these vermin without hurting the animal, the author of this memoir tried it on feveral kinds of tree lice, and other infects; all of which it killed, without hurting the trees. He then mixed fome oil of turpentine with fine earth, so as to make it incorporate well; and then added water, ftirring it carefully, till the whole was brought to a confiderable degree of fluidity: In this mixture he dipped branches of fruit-trees, covered with infects, which were entirely deftroyed by it, eggs and all, without hurting the fruit, branch, or leaves. The compofition may be got off by artificial watering, or left to be washed away by the first shower. From thefe experiments, he thinks, that oil of turpentine may be as well employed for killing various kinds of lice that infeft domestic animals, and fometimes produce diseases on fruit-trees. Experiments, will ascertain how far this remedy will prove efficacious in different cafes. The |