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Medical Society's Bas Relief. Fourdrinier as a head-piece to feet. xii. of Blackwall's "Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer,"-with only the omiffion of the fnake, emblem of eternity, at the foot of the pedeftal of the Goddefs, and fome buildings, &c. in the back ground.

Dr. Johnfon and Mr. Whitaker. 221 and give one topick, however curious and new, too difproportionable a share of the whole." Mr. Whitaker may be right when he calls this topick new and curious, if he refers the expreffion merely to his elucidating the English-British radicals; but his method, that of purfuing words through all their ramifications and relations, is as old as Wallis, is quoted in the preface to Dr. Johnfon's Dictionary, and is exploded by him, as being too curious. As he exprelles it," ingenious, but of more fubtlety than folidity, and fuch as, perhaps, might in every language be enlarged

Your impartiality and candour appears in a high degree, in admitting fuch reflections on your hero Dr. Johnfon, from one who difputes with him the prize of lexicography, but who certainly fhould not have given fe bold a challenge without offering to the public fome fpecimens of his own abilities, which, it is true, he promifes in the course of the fummer. Deeds fhould always outrun words.

Allowing Calidore and his clients their claim in the fullest extent, he must not be offended at being told, that he has kept out of fight every inftance that makes against his doctrine. All his ladies are good ones; but an equal, if not fuperior, number of bad ones might be produced, to juftify an affertion, that female tyranny and maladminiftration is at leaft equal to that of the other fex; and that Abbefles were not a whit better judges of fpeculative points of religion and morality than Abbots.

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AM very much pleafed to fee that Mr. Croft pays every tribute of refpect to Dr. Johnfon and his labours; indeed, I never miftrufted him; for it is feldom from men of letters that the learned meet with neglect or ingratitude.

66

Mr. Croft's quotation from Mr. Whitaker made me turn to that gentleman's entertaining Hiftory of Manchester," where the patfage appears with particular propriety, as the manner with which he treats the Doctor's derivations in his own fpecimen of an English-British Dic. tionary might appear more harth and authoritative than would be proper; in particular I allude to notes upon two words, the etymology of which Mr. Whitaker controverts, and which, as I imagine I can defend, I doubt not, Mr. Urban, but you will infert, as the moft trivial criticifin derives fome confequence if in fupport of departed merit.

Mr. Whitaker fays, "there remains a large catalogue of three thouland Britifh terms difcoverable even now in the Englith; of thefe he fhall lay before the reader a few only, &c. &c." To bring more into the work would "obftruct the progrels of the Hillory too much,

without end."

Dr. Johnfon derives the word fpear, a lance, from parum, low Latin. Mr. Whitaker gives his English-British derivation; and in a note fays, "there is no fuch word [parum] in the Latin language; and to notice a modern word, merely with a Latin termination, is furely too trifling for Dr. Johnfon."Seeing this note, Mr. Urban, I could not let this ipfe dixit pafs without examination, as I well remembered the weapon by which Epaminondas fell," fparo eminus percuffus ;" and, looking into Morell's edition of Ainsworth, I found various authorities for its being of the neuter gender; though "fparus" is well-known in Virgil, and " fparos" in Salluft. The line of Lucilius, "tum fpara, tum ramices portantur, tragula porro," which I have feen fomewhere quoted, confirms Dr. Johnfon's etymology, and proves Mr. Whitaker's miltake in terming it a modern word with merely a Latin termination.

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Dr. Johufon derives Barge, a boat, from Barga, low Latin; and Bark, a fmall ship, from Barca, low Latin. Mr. Whitaker fays, "thefe words are evi. dently one." (If I am not mistaken, it is Spelman who fomewhere has marked the difference.) Mr. Whitaker fays, "the words are derived probably from Borracha (Ital.) a bladder, and Borrachio (Spanish) a leathern bottle; the British hips being veffels only of fkins or leather." And in a note he adds, "there are no fuch words as either Barga or Barca in the Latin, tho' they are here exprefly made the origin of the English Bark and Barge." Upon reading this affection, Mr. Urban, I turned to Shefler "De Militia Navali," being determined to make ftrict enquiry whether Mr. Whitaker or Dr. Johnfon were mistaken. Scheller quotes Ifidorus, "Barca eft, quæ cunéta navis com

mercia ad littus portat." He fays, the name "is at this day used on the lake of Geneva, and by the Venetians, if credit may be given to Bayfius."-Varco, a paffage, and varcare un fiume, to ford a river, appear in Baretti's Italian Dictionary; and in the 9th canto of Dane's Inf. the very word Barca is to be met with: "Lo Duca mio difcefe nella Bar ca." So that Morell had reafon to admit it among the illegitimate words at the end of his Latin Dictionary, and Dr. Johnfon to make use of it as a natural and obvious authority.

Yours, &c.

AGRICOLA.,

(Concluded from p. 101 of our lafi Mag.) Quoth Gertrude,

Thof menne bin ftronge, thei womene To quelle hem aye in thrale; [wronge, Sith womene konne, better nor monne, To gide in felde or halle."

Mr. URBAN,

to

Ancient Ballad, Brit. Muf.

The ads in the house of reprefentaHE advantages of admitting women tives would be many. In the first place, the fex is noted for a ready anfwer, the moft difficult part of oratory. How of ten have we feen the most fluent speaker of ftudied rhetoric woefully at a lofs for any connexion in his reply! Befide, after having the ear grated for feveral hours with the tirefome monotony, and hoarfe diffonance of man's voice, nothing could relieve it more agreeably than the varied musical modulations and natural melody of feminine eloquence; and the fprightly fallics of a fair burgefs would never fail to awaken, the Houfe from the torpor of logical declamation.

On thefe accounts, I with deference propofe, that the ladies fhould, in every debate, take on them the difficult office of reply. It should not be objected against this parliamentary improvement, that it may tend to increafe loquacity, for, whatever apprehenfions our anceftors might have formerly felt on that head, when their favourite maxim was, fport rede [council], good rede," all fuch fears mult now be groundlets, fince the excellency of modern oratory is determined by the clock: no perlon can hope to be eminent, who is not on his legs at least three hours.

The prefence of the ladies would alfo transfufe a fresh fupply of urbanity, reftrain the natural roughness of men, and prevent their being hurried, by the ardour of debate, into indecent exceffes. For, as every other mode of fhewing

contempt and reproach has for some years been exhaufted, I fear, if my propofal fhould not be adopted, that fome one will foon clofe his peech with the manual finale of the orator at Bolabola.

But, if any fhould be of opinion, with Mr. Paley, that "the magnitude of the evil does not justify the danger of the experiment" of at once altering our prefent establishment, and permitting women to have feats in the house of reprefentatives, at least they ought immedi ately to be put on an equal fooring with the clergy, and be (what, to the shame of our language, I am obliged to invent a word to exprefs) electreffes; Í fhould then feel little anxiety for the fuccefs of the former part of my propo fal. It would foon follow of course. The certain confequence would be, that we should have a younger, an handfomer, and a politer Parliament, than any which have fat of late years, except the prefent. Had that been the cafe, we may be confident, that the odious female

capitation tax on the young and helpless part of the fex would not have taken place. Neither would the popular alfembly be difgraced by a Salique exclufion from the gallery, which a fifterkingdom has gallantly difdained to copy. As this churlish prohibition has only prevailed fince Afiatic influence has unfortunately become but too afcendant among us, may we not conclude, that it is the first step toward thrusting our women into harams and zenanas ?

Let then Dr. Tucker, Sir John Hawkins, and M. Paley, firft fet afide the arguments I have uled, in my former letter, in defence of the natural and equal right of women to participate in the management of public affairs; let them maintain, if they are vain enough to attempt it, that, where men have bewildered themfelves in fcience uncontroled by the fuperior difcernment of the female mind, they have not run into the moft abluid extravagances: let them prove, if they are able, that women among the Afiatics, debated by defpotifm, and funk in luxury, live more in a state of nature than among the Germans, when they ranged the woods, contented with fimple neceffaries; or than the aboriginal Americans, who fill wander uncorrupted in their wilds. Let them

in

Though the women in America (fays our great political philofopher) have generally the laborious part of the economy up

un

Calidore to Mr. Paley, on his " Principles of Philofophy." 223

invalidate, if they can, the authenticity of the records I have cited, which make it plainly appear, that it was part of our conftitution to admit women to a share of the legiflation let them affert, if they dare, that history makes it evident, that women, when permitted to govern, have been found unequal to the task: and let them deny, if they are hardy enough, that many advantages would ac crue by reviving this equitable ufage of our ancestors, by which they tempered the stern mind of man with feminine delicacy, and by that means feafoned juf tice with mercy. Let them alfo fhew, in what particular man is fuperior, except in brutal ftrength,-before they again argue from an abufe, and attempt to demonftrate, that men have not a-natural right to be concerned in their own government, because women in modern fyflerns are arbitrarily excluded. This redoubtable triumvirate might, with the fame juftice, endeavour to prove, that becaule Manchefter, Sheffield, and Birmingham, in the prefent deplorable itate of reprefentation, return no members to parliament, therefore no town has a right to fend reprefentatives. It will not perhaps be difpleafing to the reader to know whence this idle argument against the native liberty of mankind is tolen. "In aflemblies (fays Sir Robert Filmer) that are by humane politique conftitution, the fuperior power that ordains fuch affemblies, can regulate and confine them, both for time, place, perfons, and other circumftances: but, where there is an equality by nature, there can be no fuperior power; there every infant, at the hour it is born in, hath a like intereft with the wifeft man in the world. Not to fpeak of women, efpecially virgins, who by birth have as much natural freedom as any other, and therefore ought not to lose their liberty without their own confent." The Anar. chy of a limited and mixed Monarchy, Filmer's Tracts, p. 250.

Arguments of this caft come very

on themselves, yet they are far from being the flaves they appear, and are not at all fubject to the great fubordination in which they are placed in countries where they feem to be more refpected. On the contrary, all the honours of the nation are on the fide of the woman. They even hold their councils, and have their share in all deliberations which concern the state; nor are they found inferior to the part they act. -BURKE'S Account of the European Settlements in America, vol. I. p. 186.

-

confiftently from the fervile pen of Fil-
mer, a retainer of the wretched Charles,
who, to gratify his mafter's luft for ty-
ranny, maintained without reserve, in
his Freeholder's grand Inqueft, that "the
Commons, by their writ, are only to
perform and confent to the ordinances of
Parliament,"-that "the Lords or Com-
mon Council, by their writ, are only to
treat and give counfel in Parliament,”
and that the King himself only ordains
and makes laws, and is fupreme judge
in Parliament:" Who contends in his
Patriarcha, that "it is unnatural for
the people to govern, or to choose go-
vernors,”—and that "positive laws do
not infringe the natural and fatherly
power of Kings ;" and who thus feri-
oufly and fagely reafons, in his treatise
on the difference between an English and
Hebrew witch, againft a writer who
fuppofed that the Devil is the principal
actor in witchcraft: "So that the De-
vil is the worker of the wonder, and the
witch but the counsellor, perfuader, or
commander of it, and only acceffory be-
fore the fact, and the Devil only princi-
pal. Now the difficulty will be, how
the acceffory can be duly and lawfully
convited and attainted, according as
our ftatute requises, unless the Devil,
who is the principal, be first convicted,
or at least outlawed, which cannot be,
becaufe the Devil can never lawfully be
fummoned according to the rules of
common law." Tradis, p. 301.

But that we should in our days fee the ravings of a zealot for the defpotic houle of Stuart infidioufly blended and dignified with the title of the Principles of Moral and Political Philofopby, is truly wonderful. If the exploded opinions of the bigots of thofe times are to be again brought forward, Mr. Paley fhould not have rendered his work imperfect by neglecting to infert a chapter of inftructions on cafes of witchcraft, both Hebrew and English *.

Men,

* I commend Mr. Paley's prudence in concealing where he had been poaching for this and other arbitrary pofitions. Among others, at p. 399, fee Filmer's Tras, p. 108 and 166; at p. 400, fee Filmer's Patriarcba. Again, at p. 417, fee Tracts, p. 121; and Patriarcha, p. 43. But why did he not mention Locke, Blackftone, and many others, from whom he has fo largely transcribed? For inftance, at p. 11, compare Effay on Human Understanding, ch iii. fect. 9; at p. 47, fee ch. iii. fect. 5, &c. &c ; at p. 96, fee the Commentaries, vol. II. p. 6, 4to, 1770; at

p. 184,

Men, indeed, have betrayed a confcioufnels that their ufurpation over the female fex is highly unjuft and unnatural (as much fo, furely, as the contrary Amazonian institutions), by the variety of feeble efforts which have been made to palliate it. Efforts fimilar to thofe now ufed by the Creolian advocates to reconcile us to their tyranny over our fable fellow-fubjects. Even the anatomifts have been brought in to fav, as fome pretend to fay of the African Negroes, that a woman is an accident, an imperfection, and an error of nature!! an affertion which they particularly mult know to be falfe. That thefe men of the world could be induced to join in the confpiracy is aftonishing. I allow it was neceffary for the gloomy reclufe, who banifhed the milder fex from their fociety, to invent excufes for their prepofterous eftablishments. To vilify the fex was to juftify their feparation. They have accordingly gone ftill farther than the anatomifts, or our quaternion of po liticians, their rancour has purfued the fair beyond the grave. Though the following comes, I think, from the Angelic Doctor, I will not diftrefs my clients by tranflating him; but let the men read, and bluth with confufion at the abfurdity, the indecency, and the profanenefs of this firft of cloiftered schoolmen. "Omnes fœminas, exceptâ folâ Beatâ Virgine, in fexu virili refurre&turas: mo, quia fexus fœmineus eft accidens & imperfeƐlus hominis, jam vero in refurrectione omnis imperfectio abole bitur: 2do, quia foemina eft mas occafionatus tefte philofopho, unde in fœminâ producendâ videtur erraffe natura, ut cùm vellet producere hominem perfectum, marem fcilicet, deficiente virtute generativâ pro mare produxerit fœminam." Later Scholafticos. 2 fent. dift.

20.

This paffage is extracted from the work of a predeceffor of Mr. Paley in cafuiftry, now defervedly wafte paper; and, without pretending to a prophetic fpirit, we may venture to pronounce, that the day is not far diftant,

p. 184, fee vol. II. p. 491; at p. 185, fee vol. II. p. 13; and at p. 281, fee vol. I. p. 437, &c. &c. The miferable excufe in the preface, p. 12, for omitting the names of thofe he has plundered, reminds me of the preacher, who, having copied his fermon wholly from St. Auftin, to ward off the imputation of plagiarifm, concluded his difurfe with as St. A ftin jays.”

"When fuch as Scotus is, thall Paly be."

If men were to be allured, that they were to rife again in the fhape of bears, even their rugged intellects would feel fome of the fenfations which muft exciuciate the young, the tender, the delicate, were they to believe the fequeftored mork, who tells then, that in the next world they will unquefliocably appeal in the fhape of men. The adherents to this doctrine furely could never have looked on themfelves as of woman born, but must have chofen to be thought, "Genfque virum truncis, & duro robore nata."

thrown together fuch ftrictures in vine Having thus, Mr. Uiban, haly Cation of the inherent rights of women as readily occurred, I have only to lament, that they have not been arranged and adorned by one of the fair lex; they would then have poffefied that fuperior elegancy which a female hand alone can give. Not that I would have it underfood, that I do not feel mvielf fully capable to effectually controvert, in their own rough way, any of the Turkije tenets of my adverfaries. Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

THE

CALIDORE.

Feb. 19. HE beautiful carved chimney-piece (Plate III.) was lately difcovered at Salisbury, behind fome old wainscoating, when clearing away the old buildings for the fite of the new councilhoufe, and must be at least 300 years old. The fyle of the architecture is Gothic, and very much refembles the ornaments of the Clofe gate on that fide towards High-freet, which is fuppofed to have been built foon after the cathedra!. The carving of this chimneypiece is divided into four compartments, each of which has in the center a fhield, charged with fundry devices: fint a cyPher of I. S. probably the initia's of the perfon's name for whom it was executed. The fecond is in old English characters, he with a ftroke of abbreviation over it, an ancient method of writing the name of Christ, from the Greek capitals IHS for 1H20Y2. The third is the figure of a dolphin. What this alludes to is not known. It is prokable that either this figar gave name to the Dolphin eating

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6 Feet 7 Inches long, 2 Feet wide, the Stone 10 Inches thick.

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