Having met by chance with the inclofed Paper, which the Author of it calls "GOLDEN RULES FOR A MAN TO LIVE ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE," I fend it for infertion in your esteemed publication, if you think it merits a place therein. 22d October. THE prefent pleafures produced by a large expence of money by no means balance the future miferies of a wafted patrimony, diffipated fortunes, and a decayed conftitution. A There is great reafon for us to make a referve of property against the day of decrepitude; becaufe, in old age, we want chiefly thofe comforts which only money can procure a comfortable houfe, delicate living, and a little fhare of authority, which, in the aft ftage of life, are exceedingly foothing and acceptable. Perhaps fociety cannot fhew a more pitiable figure, than either a very old man or woman, who, having spent their fubftance in the flattering guieties of youth, are reduced, in the mott helpless fituation, to live upon accidental ftrokes of generofity, and to be at once ridiculed and relieved. If an old perfon expects to receive the leatt degree of attention from the world in general, or even from his relations in particular, it must be by the force of happy circumstances in his favour; fuch, for instance, as arife out of a fortune accumulated by the induftry or ingenuity of youth. This will render the veteran refpectable amongst his domestics, and make even his utmot infirmities fupportable Whereas, if an old man has no teftimonies of 'D. his economy to fhew, he will crawl contemptibly about the world, be up. braided for his former prodigality, even by his own children, who, having no hopes, will confider him as an incumbrance; and, wanting the various attentions which are neceflary to the accommodation of the last scene, his continuance in the family will be irkfome. his life must be fupported by the contribution of the charitable, and he muft die unmourned. Keep a competent fhare of the staff in thine hand. The fame principle of prudence which makes it neceffary for a man to provide against the wants and infirmities of age, fhould prevail with a man to provide against the wants and infirmities of diffemper. Let the fick man rather depend on the panacea of his purfe, than on the pity of his phyfi cian. of paying our attendants well can make them be done cheerfully, if at all. A fick spendthrift is therefore a horrid fpectacle; his fervants become negligent; his physician gives him now and then a call upon the fcore of humanity; and, what is worfe than all, he rebukes himself for having fquandered, in the hour of fuperfluity, what should have been referved for the moment of exigence. Art thou rich? Place then circumfpection as a centinel over thy paffions; left that which thou poffeffeft become a prey to artifice ! Art thou poor? Be industry thy guard, left thou fhould want the bread of life; and, in wanting that, the path of difgrace is not remote, and that path will lead thee, peradventure, to the pits of mifery and deftruction Condefcend not to be the object either of pity or charity, whilft thou haft limbs to toil, imagination to fuggelt, or health to perform. Liberty is independence, and flavery is a ftate of pecuniary obligation. Get honestly, and give cautiously. Whofo putteth in practice thefe rules, fhall certainly LIVE ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. * This line I confefs to be an inferior imitation of the one commencing the beautiful Epilogue written by the prefent inimitable fon of Wit and Genins, R. B. Sheridan, Efq. the four first lines of which are fo truly elegantly conceived and claffically expreffed, that I cannot refit the temptation of tranfcribing thein. Chill'd by rude gales, while yet reluctant May As fome fond nymph, w om matron frowns reprove, The measure of thefe verfes meets the car with the fame exquifite flow of harmony as the Eclogues of the highly-poetical Collins. Perhaps Mr. Sheridan had these two lines of Goldsmith's Traveller in his memory, when he wrote the above, where, Speaking of Switzerland, he fays, No verdure here thefe torpid rocks array, But Winter lingering chills the lap of May. I do not mean to charge Mr.S. with an inftance of plagiarism; his mind being truly original in all its aims: as a Poet, ailowed by his Monody on the Death of the late British Rofcius David Garrick, Efq. and other ingenious mifcellanies; as a Dramatit, that great judge of literature, Dr. Johnson, allows the palm of merit to his productions above all others fince the days of Congreve, Wycherly, Vanburgh, and Farquhar; as an Orator, after having heard his Demosthenian peech against Warren Hatings, Efq. Qur late English Cicero, Edmund Burke, declared M:. Sheridan's luminous and comprehentive speech poffelled every requifits of perfect human eloquence, and ventured further to fay, hot forgetting the thundering convic tion that flowed from the late Lord Chatham's lips, not forgetting the refined polish of fpeech his prefent fon our late Minifter poffefies, nor fetting atide the argumentive vehemence quoniam deæ dea Magnum terræ cacumen donat ad condendum. LACINIUM is a promontory near Croton in Italy. Its temple, which was dedicated to Juno, has been celebrated by hiftorians and poets. Caffandra's attention is more immediately directed towards the spot, on which this temple was afterwards built. She foretells that the ground, which extends from Lacinium's bay to the fummit of its cliff, fhall be planted by Thetis with fhrubs; and fhall be prefented by her to Juno. Here women, natives of the country, fhall be appointed to fuperintend thofe mournful rites, which fhall be inftituted to the memory of the fon of Thetis. Their drefs fhall be fuited to their office. They fhall not be fplen. didly attired; but appear in the weeds of mourners, employed in lamenting the death of Achilles. The reafon, affigned for their not being decorated with gold and purple, is far from being fatisfactory. ὄννικα θεᾷ θεὸς χέρσου μέγαν τό θυγγα δωρεῖται κτίσαι. because Thetis gives to Juno this large neck of land rion, i, e. Pos To Tizzi, ad condendum. Kris, as a verb tranfitive, requires its accufative cafe; and the fenfe, as it fhould feem, demands it. Krica πόλιν, ἑορτὴν, βωμὶν, are expreffions that occur in Pindar. Κτίσει πύργους are Lycophron's own words, L. 1255. One cannot help remarking, that no mention is made of Juno's famous temple; but only of its circumjacent grounds. Perhaps Lycophron has told us in a line that is loft, and which ought to have followed rioa, that Thetis gave Juno this land for the purpofe of building her temple; to which thefe women fhould refort, in order to perform the rites, and a This would have been a good reafon, why they, thus conftantly employed, ought never to have appeared gaily habited. The paffage has certainly not reached us as the poet wrote it. We may obferve here a change of tenfes from the future, as Te above, to the present dapetai. But this change may be accounted for. It is customary with perfons, who affume the character of prophets, to speak of things future as prefent; with a view to imprefs the more ftrongly on the reader's mind the cer-. tainty of their predictions. Or, we know, fignifies both a god and a goddefs. It is here, and only here, ufed in the latter fenfe. To afcertain that fenfe, it might have been expected, that the poet would have prefixed with his ufual accuracy the article. Perhaps we ought to read, ofvx' θεος θεός. R. vehemence and heart-felt fentiments of the great Charles James Fox; he fummed up all praife by concluding, that what he had heard that day from Mr. Sheridan exceeded every thing he had heard within the walls of that House (of Commons) before. I hear with pleature, that Mr. 6. is now employing his faccefsful pen upon fome, dramatic piece. If true, whether it proves a Comedy, Farce, or Opera, the Public are fure of a treat; for who that has read or feen his inimitable School for Scandal, his Critic, or a Tragedy Rehearfed, his Duenna, besides his other pieces, can dare give room to the fufpicious idea that it will not be favourably received ? T. E. S. VESTIGES, COLLECTED AND RECOLLECTED, BY JOSEPH MOSER, ESQ NUMBER IV. ANDREW SCHALCH, ESQ. ORIGINAL OF lected, thofe taken at Cherburg were THE LABORATORY AND FOUNDRY WOOLWICH WARREN. WHEN the Foundry for brafs ordnance was in Upper Moorfields, on the ipot which is now the fite of the Tabernacle erected by the late Rev. M:. Whitfield, in the City Road, near Finsbury-square, and which is ftill called the Foundry, from the building that had perhaps continued from the fourteenth century to the reign of George the Firit; it was, at the time a number of pieces were to be cait, generally an object of curiosity, among perfons of even the upper rank of fociety, to fee the process of running the fluid metal into the moulds prepared for its reception. Thefe moulds, it is neceffary to state, are formed of Stourbridge clay, loom, sand, and earth, bound and connected with bricks, iron hoops, &c.; and in this operation it is abfolutely neceflary, in order to infure the fafety of the workmen, &c. that they fhould not only be clofely and firmly conftructed, fo that no fiffure fhould remain to caufe what the artificers term a blow or windhole, but also that they should be per. fectly dry; for if they retained the fmallest moisture when the melted metal run, the oppofition of intense heat and damp would inevitably cause an explo. fion. For a confiderable time after the conclufion of the Treaty of Utrecht, a great number of cannon taken from the Freach in the ten glorious campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough, but by them rendered ufelefs, were placed before this Foundry, and in the adjacent Artillery Ground: they were perhaps exhibited as objects of curiofity, perhaps of triumph, as, it will be recol in the fummer of the year 1758 *. Thefe cannon, from whatioever mo tive (probably that of convenience) they were placed near the Foundry, it was determined to recait, and as, by their having been fo long publickly expofed, this was a circumstance generally known, the operation became an object of confiderable attraction. A very great number of pertons attended at the Foundry the day it was to be performed; among whom were many of the Nobility, General Officers, &c. &c. It fo happened, that a young man, of the name of Andrew Schalch, a native of Shaffhaufen, who had in the course of his travels (which every Burger is obliged by the municipal law to take) been a fcientific obferver of the operation of feveral foundries upon the Continent, was also attracted to this fpot. Curiofity, or, perhaps, as he was a perfon of confiderable learning and genius, a better motive, a laudable defire of improvement in an at, the principles of which he had ftudied, induced him to be there at an early hour. He had, when he announced his profeffion, an opportunity given him to infpect the works, and it appears that he did this with fuch minute attention, as the event the wed to be the refult of ability and experi ence. When the company had affembled, for whofe reception galleries were erected, part of which almoft overhung the furnace, Schalch, who trembled for the confequence of the operation, took an opportunity to address Colonel Armstrong in French; and after explaining to him the reafon he had to believe that an explosion would follow the fusion of the metal, warned him, At this period twenty-one pieces of cannon and four mortars, upon carriages, were exposed for a confiderable time in Hyde Park, where a camp was formed, confifting of fome companies of the artillery. The scene was a very gay and fplendid one. Booths for refreshment were allowed to be erected, and the Park was like a fair. Thefe pieces were afterwards drawn in triumph through the City, and placed in the Tower. warning he defired he would mmunicate to the perfons prefent, Citie The Colonel, who, from his mation, perfectly understood the eye of the procefs, interrogated Falch, and found that he was intiatly acquainted not only with the you and mechanical princiSy which the art is governed, but aft fubordinate operations. He dingly resolved to profit by his vice, which he immediately commuted to his own party, and indeed deavou ed to perfuade all that would Sitten to him to remove from the vortex or danger. Scarce had they time to etire to a place of fecurity before the gates of the furnaces were opened, and the Huid metal rushed out with a tremendous noile, which, as it filled the moulds, was (as Schalch had fuggened) followed by a moft dreadful explofion, in which the liquid fire, bricks, &c. flew about in every direction, the furnaces were demolished, part of the roof of the Foundry blown off, the galleries fell, many limbs were broken, I believe fome-lives loft, and moft of the workmen fcorched and bruited in a dreadful manner †. Schalen had in the interim left the place. H mentioned the neglect of the principal founder, the inattention of the workmen to their own fafety, and the warning he had given to Colonel Armstrong, to fome of his countrymen; but he probably would never have thought of thefe circum. ftances again, had he not, after fome time had elapfed, been informed by an acquaintance, that an advertisement had appeared in fome of the public papers, itating, in effect, that "Whereas, on the day of when the dreadful explofion happened at the Foundry, Moorfields, a young man (a foreigner) ftood near to Colonel Armstrong, and after fome converfation in French, in which he discovered a proficiency in the art of calting cannon, warned him, to whom, from the state of the moulds, he fuggefted the probability of an explofion, to remove from the pot. If the said young man will call upon Colonel Armstrong, at the Tower, he will hear of fomething to his advantage." It will not be doubted but that, in compliancewith this intimation, Schalch immediately attended the Colonel, by whom he was informed, that in confequence of the accident that had lately happened, it was in the contemplation of the Board of Ordnance to erect another foundry, and being convinced, by the skill and knowledge which he had displayed, that he would be a proper person to take the direction of it, he was therefore authorized to commiffion him to choose a fpot whereon fuch a building might be erected, with the greateft convenience to the extenfive operations of the works, and for the carriage of the heavy mate. rials. Elated with this commiffion, and with the place which a conjunction of merit and good fortune had procured him, Schalch fet immediately about the execution of the first part Surveyer General of the Ordnance 1716. George Harrifon, Efq. was Superintendant of the Foundries, in which place he fucceeded Colonel A. † An explotion of a fimilar rature, arifing from a natural caule, was experienced in the courfe of laft fuminer, as appears from the following extract, September 25. "At the late thunder-form in Colebrook-dale, the contents of one of the furnaces belonging to the Company, confifting of about 2000 cubic feet of ore, limestone, &c. were blown up, in consequence of the fudden ingrefs of the water, cccafioned by the overflowing of the dams. The infant the water entered the furnace, a dreadful explofion tock place, and a column of melted and red hot mineral was difcharged into the air, in a perpendicular dire&ion, upwards of 150 feet. The explotion was repeated two or three times, accompanied by a brilliant column of fire, the heat of which was fo intenfe that it was felt at feveral hundred yards distance." This is an exact, ard confequently philofophical, explanation of the latent caufes of thote phænomena, the explosions of Mounts Vefuvius and Etna, and indeed of the ebullitions of volcances in general. This fpeculation has by Dr. Wallis, Mr. Boyle, Fa. Alefl. de Burges, been adopted, and the terrific operations of earthquakes traced to the fame fource of fubterranean elementary contention arifing from adventitious circumftances. Dr. Woodward is of the fame opinion with respect to chete phenomena; and further obferves, that Veluvius, Etna, Hecla, &c. are only piracles for the difcharge of the fubterraneous fire. of |