You fee this letter is all in verfe, and I can affure you there is as much fancy fhewn in the choice of them, as in the moft ftudied expreffions of our letters; there being, I believe, a million of verses defigned for this ufe. There is no colour, no flower, no weed, no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather, that has not a verfe belonging to it; and you may quarrel, reproach, or fend letters of paffion, friendfhip, or civility, or even of news, without ever inking your fingers. I fancy you are now wondering at my profound learning; but alas, dear madam, I am almoft fallen into the misfortune fo common to the ambitious; while they are employed on diftant infignificant conquefts abroad, a rebellion starts up at home I am in great danger of lofing my English. I find 'tis not half so easy to me to write in it, as it was a twelvemonth ago. I am forced to study for expreffions, and must leave off all other languages, and try to learn my mother tongue. Human underftanding is as much limited as human power, or human ftrength. The memory can retain but a certain number of images; and 'tis as impoffible for one human creature to be perfect mafter of ten different languages, as to have in perfect fubjection ten different kingdoms, or to fight against ten men at a time. I am afraid I fhall at last know none as I fhould do. I live in a place that very well reprefents the Tower of Babel; in Pera they speak Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, Perfian, Ruffian, Sclavonian, Walachian, German, Dutch, French, English, Italian, Hungarian; and what is worfe, there are ten of thefe languages fpoken in my own family. My grooms are Arabs, my footmen French, English, and Germans; my nurfe an Armenian; my houfe maids Ruffians; half a dozen other fervants Greeks; my fteward an Italian; my Janizaries Turks, fo that I live in the perpetual hearing of this medley of founds, which produces a very extraordinary effect upon the people that are born here; for they learn all these languages at the fame time, and without knowing any of them well enough to write or read in it. There are very few men, women, or even children here, that have not the same compass of words in in five or fix of them. I know, myself, several infants of three or four years old, that fpeak Italian, French, Greek, Turkish, and Ruffian, which laft they learn of their nurfes, who are generally of that country. This feems almoft incredible to you, and is, in my mind, one of the most curious things in this country, and takes off very much from the merit of our ladies, who fet up for fuch extraordinary geniufes upon the credit of fome fuperficial knowledge of French and Italian. As I prefer English to all the reft, I am extremely mortified at the daily decay of it in my head, where, I'll affure you (with grief of heart) it is reduced to fuch a Ymall number of words, I cannot recollect any tolerable phrase to conclude with, and am forced to tell your ladyfhip very bluntly, that I am, Your faithful humble fervant." A luxurant fancy difplays itself throughout these letters, in a variety of defcriptions, and the laft letter ends with fome lines, which, had they been wrote by the lady MWM would probably have been well known in the world before this publication. If thefe lines want that fober cant which is neceffary to an epitaph, they have that cafe and elegance, that livelinefs in the turn which juftifies us in giving them to the reader as an excellent epigram. "Here lies John Hughes and Sarah Drew; On Sunday next they should have married; But the BOLD THUNDER found them out FOR POPE HAS WROTE UPON THEIR TOMB." CHAP. I. of the fquadron fent before the reft. The fleet unites at Malacca. They arrive Condition of Manila. The forces landed. A fally of the enemy. They are repulfed. Ships brought against the town. A violent form. The Spaniards and Indians make two attempts on the English camp. Repulfed in both. Cha- racter of these Indians. A breach made in the fortifications. The town Two frigates fent after the Acapulco galleon. Difappointed. Fall in with that from Manila. She is taken. Advantages from the conqueft of the Philippines. Private expedition against Buenos Ayres. Squadran arrives in the Rio de la Plata. Change their plan. They attack Nova Colonia. The Ship Clive takes fire. Indians neg- State of our conquefts in North America. Three governments. Reasons for this arrangement. Indians commence hoftilities. Caufes of the war. lected. Strength of the English in North America dreaded. State of the favage nations. Revolution amongst themselves. The Indians grow powerful. Iroquois Plan of the Indian war. Frontiers of the middle fettlements wafted. Forts taken. Indians repulse our troops at Detroit. They attack Fort Pitt. March of colonel Bouquet. Battle of Bubby Run. Indians defeated. Fort Pitt relieved. Domeftic affairs. Scheme of the supplies. Oppofition to them. Arguments against the lotteries, excife, &c. City of London addrefs. Proteft of the Lords. Ar- guments in favour of the excife. Various proceedings. Lord B. refigns. Right State of affairs on the continent. Death of Auguftus king of Poland. State of Poland. Election of a king of the Romans. Defigns of Auftria, Saxony, Prufia, and Mufcovy, King of Sardinia fettles the difpute concerning Placentia. Succefs [147] [150] Heads of an act for granting certain duties upon cyder and perry, &c. [151] Petitions of the lord mayor, &c. of London, to the different branches of the legislature against the faid bill. ibid. Proceedings relating to the fame bill in the boufe of lords. [153] Abstract of the act for the due making of bread. [155] Proceedings of the boufe of commons, relating to private mad-houses. [158] An account of the mutiny at Quebec. [159] Account of the fums granted by the Irish house of commons for the promoting navigation, manufactures, &c. [160] General fate of the land carriage fifbery, as it flood on the 30th of September 1763. Tranflation of an address to the English nation, by the celebrated Monfieur La [161] Account of the fale, charges, and nett proceeds of the ship La Hermione. [163] Remarks on fome cautions in our last volume to perfons going to Scotland to be married. His majesty's most gracious fpeech to both houfes of parliament, April 19, 1763. [191] [194] [196] The humble addrefs of the lords fpiritual and temporal, and the knights, citizens, and burgeles of Ireland in parliament affembled, [198] The humble address of the archbishop, bishops, and clergy, of the province of Canterbury, in convocation assembled. [198] Addrefs of the univerfity of Oxford on the peace. [200] Addrefs of the univerfity of Cambridge. [201] Copy of a letter written by a noble duke to the vice-chancellor of Cambridge, on occafion of the foregoing addrefs. [202] Address of the court of lord mayor (Sir Charles Afgill, bart. locum tenens) and aldermen of the city of London, on the peace. ibid. Addrefs of the proteftant diffenting minifters in and about the cities of London and Weftminster, on the peace. [203] Addrefs of the merchants and traders of the city of London, on the peace. Letters which passed between the right hon. Mr. Pitt and Mr. Allen, on the subject of the foregoing addrefs. ibid. A proclamation in relation to our acquifitions in North America proclamation probibiting correfpondence with the Corfiçan rebols [208] [213] Separate Separate act between the empress queen and the king of Prufia, in pursuance of the treaty of Hubertfbourg. [213] Convention between the king of Sardinia, the most christian king, and the catholic king. Memorial delivered by the chancellor of Ruffia to the Polish refident at Peterfbourg. [214] [215] Circular letter, fent by the elector of Saxony to all the nobles of Poland. . [216] CHARACTER S. Some account of the modern Athenians. From Stuart's antiquities of Athens. Dr. Thomas Herring, late lord archbishop of Canterbury. the right reverend Dr Gibfon, lord bishop of London. the right reverend Dr. Hough, lord bishop of Worcester. Life of M. Languet, the famous vicar of St. Sulpice, in Paris. Some account of the life of Torquato Taffo. monfieur de Reaumur. Letter written by Alfred the Great to Wulf-fig, bishop of London. the dey of Tunis's letter to king George III. A genuine letter from Jane Shore to king Edward the fourth. NATURAL The velocity of horses in the race philofophically confidered. I 2 8 II 12 13 1417 26 32 33 41 42 43 ibid. 46 51 57 58 HISTORY. 63 A defcription of the Baobab or Calabash tree. 65 Multiplication of species in the vegetable kingdom. Philofophical remarks on the face of the earth throughout Italy: 69 73 Experiments to prove that water is not incompreffible. 74 an animal furviving the lofs of all the fmall guts. a cat that lived twenty-fix months without drinking. Extraordinary disposition for music in an infant. Account of a boy furviving the loss of a confiderable portion of the brain. a boy living a confiderable time without nourishment. The larger share of the tibia taken out, and afterwards supplied by a callus. 75 76 ibid. 77 78 79 Account of the corn butterfly. Further account of the poor family at Wattisham. ibid. The biftory of the worm in horfes called a bott. 85 Account of a marine production of a very ambiguous nature. 89 Remarks upon fome obfervations on the tides in the ftraits of Gibraltar. 90 An account of the death of the countess Cornelia Baudi of Cesena, supposed to have been confumed by a fire bred in her own body. a curious petrifaction dug from under the common pavement. 96 Remark |