*755. BASENESS of preftituting ORDERS. XIII Calendas Martias, A. D. 1754, ætatis fuæ LXXX profeffion, A B C He compofed feveral learned and elegant D Containing difcoveries made by the force Being a diftinguished patron of learning fenting the arts and fciences : By converfing with the learned. Endowed with fuch greatnefs of foul and fo extenfive an humanity, Crowned with the applaufe of the learned in every country, After living in an uncommon fplendor of He calmly refigned his breath upon the Of which he had been the guardian and ornament. E F He was twice married : 233 By his first lady he had ten children, And adorned with the title which he bore : SIR, You OU may depend upon it, that the underwritten is no mifreprefentation; nor have I any other view in defcribing fuch abuses, than to endeavour to procure a stop to be put to them. There is nothing which has been written, either by Philoclericos or myfelf, I am fure, on which any one can fix the defign of abufing either the bishops, or clergy, or univerfities : As to Clerophilus, we leave him to vindicate himself; he is abfolutely unknown to us. I hope then I may be favoured with a place in your judicious Magazine, for the underwritten, which I think is calculated to do good, and to in. fpire juft fentiments upon this matter in the most inoffenfive manner, as it expreffes a confident hope of the best, whilft it fets forth the malignity of the worst. I am an old correfpondent and conftant reader, DOBER EMET BILBAEO. EUSEBIUS to PHILOCLERICOS. Ycos, (fee Lond Mag. for May, 1754, OU judged rightly, dear Philocleri p. 210) that it was advifeable, for the reafons you affigned, to renew the remonftrance against that moft impious of all abufes, the proftituting holy orders to the purpose of furnishing a maintenance to bankrupt tradefmen, and perfons unfit, and never properly educated: But I cannot admit that you judged as rightly in being fo diffident of your doing justice to the task; or in imagining that I could do it better: You indeed held up a glafs, in which thofe who are concerned in it may fee in its juft and full proportion, the defG perate enormity of their procedure; and you did an exceeding good thing in thus endeavouring at once, by a renewed attack, to put a fresh check upon fuch as have too little confcience to be any longer G g with May, 1755. His first wife was Ruth, daughter of Mr. John Marsh, merchant of Lendan; his fecond was Anne, daughter of Sir Rowland Alton, of Odell, in Bedfordshire, Baronet, who is ftill living. The eldest to Dr. Edward Wilmot, the other to Dr. Frank Nichols, both phyfitians in ordinary to bis majesty. 234 Briguing for Preferment in the CHURCH. with-held than people's attention is directed towards them; and to revive in others, of better difpofitions, thofe impreffions which had grown faint, or had vanished by the fubject's being fometime out of view. B May would influence a right reverend to com ply with the decent request, and for onc facrifice holy orders to their application.You furprize me, faid I:-Is it poffible that any should think to offer fuch an infult to the religion, the honour, and the understanding of fuch a body of men ? Or that they should not refent it, if offered? The fame might be afked, replied he, as to every step throughout the whole progrefs of the folicitation, I think; for every one from first to last that were to comply, must do a very wrong thing; and therefore in the folicitation, he is in fact asked to do fuch a thing; and confequently his religion, honour and underftanding is infulted by it.-This gives me hopes, replied I, that if any fuch attempt fhould really be made, that it would ne ver fucceed; where there is the religion, honour and understanding in fuch a fucceffion of parties to oppofe it; where the likelihood of its being stopped goes through each step; and where I hope it is not very probable that it fhould often fail of being ftopped in the very first.— You have given me heart, answered he ;for indeed when I reflect upon it, I cannot eafily suppose that many can be found bad enough to be brought into fuch an impious affair; they must be men dead to all fenfe of religion, and regard for the honour of God, who can take pains to D procure the admiffion of fuch worthlefs and unfit perfons into his fervice; is it not in effect faying, that though they are good for nothing, they will do well enough for him? This is treating God with an indignity that we should never pardon in any who fhould treat us fo.-I must conclude then, added I, with faying, as I did in the beginning of our converfation, that I fill hope we fhall fee no more of these abuses; however I would not prevent, by fo faying, any endeavours which may contribute to the preventing them, and which what you have related shows there is fuffi-" cient need of.-I have given you this detail, dear Philoclericos, to fhew you howmuch room there was for your earnest remonftrances, and to incline you to engage, further in it: I affure you that I am fo pleafed with the fubject's being in the hands of one who has it fo much at heart as you have, that I cannot think of taking it out of them; but do earnestly requeft you to go on, and at your leisure to afford me your further thoughts on this That there is occafion for all this, I am too fadiy convinced by the account lately given me by a friend, who came to A fpend a few days with me, and exchange the hurry and fmoke of a city for the retirement and fweet freshness of the fields. We had been talking of the abufe under confideration; when upon my saying that I hoped we should fee no more of it ;-I fear my friend, fays he, you will find yourfelf mistaken;-we have amongst us fome who ftill are aiming at obtaining orders as a fupply, after having by idleness and neg. lect of bufinefs become neceffitous fome who are not more exceptionable for their ignorance and want of education, than their want of character; yet this nothing difcourages them; they seem to trust to making up all deficiencies, be they ever fo great, by dint of application and C ftrength of intereft; by this they trust to furmount ali obftacles, and to filence all objections; for if they have at any time failed in their attempts, (which I have known to have been the cafe repeatedly, and for a long while together) they do not give over, but only contrive to attempt it again with more promifing means, and with a more powerful intereft; with unwearied endeavcurs they perfift, and fet at work all the engines which worldly policy can fuggeft, or which perfonal obligations and dependencies, which particular connections or friendships, or which party attachments and demands can furnish; they regard not how unfuitable it is in the nature of things to compass fuch an end E by fuch means; all that they regard is only that the means be fufficient to accomplifh it; and therefore whenever they find one means fail, they ftraightway have recourse to another; if fome, they thought to ufe, prove too upright and good, they feek out others that are bad enough for their purpose; they feem to act with Ju- F no's refolution, flettere fi nequeo fuperos, Acheronta movebo; if one engine proves too weak, they then employ two; in fhort they refolve if poffible to force the thing; nay, where the cafe has been too notorioufly fhameful for a private interest or application to fuffice for the carrying it, I am told that it has been propofed and advised by fome profound projectos in inte- & fubje&t. reft making, to get the hands of a corporition (which it was fuppofed it would be thought no. prudent to venture to difo. e) or at least of so many of them as should be found fit for fuch a purpose, to a petition to a right honourable, that he Yours EUSEBIUS. [We hope our kind correspondents will not protract the cispute on this bead, to a much greater lengeb.1 1755. Of the MINES in CUMBERLAND. An Account of the MINES near Whitehaven, in Cumberland. HE coal in these mines hath been fe TH veral times fet on fire by the fulminating damp, and hath continued burning for many months, until large ftreams of water were conducted into the mines, A and fuffered to fill thofe parts where the coal was on fire. By fuch fires many collieries have been entirely deftroyed; in fome of them, the fire has continued burning for many ages. But more mines have been ruined by inundations. Great care and art is ufed to keep thefe deep and extenfive works continually ventilated with fresh air; which afford a conftant B fupply of the vital fluid, and expel damps and other noxious exhalations. In order to defcribe thefe wonders of. nature, the reader may fuppofe, that he hath entered the mines by an opening at the bottom of a hill, and hath already paffed through a long adit hewn in the Thofe, who defcend into these mines, find them moft clofe and fultry in the middle parts, that are most remote from the pits and adits, and perceive them to grow cooler the nearer they approach to thofe pits and adits that are funk to the deepest parts of the mines; down which pits, large ftreams of fresh air are made to defcend, and up which the water is drawn out, by means of fire engines. D E F Thefe mines are funk to the depth of 130 fathoms, and are extended under the fea to places where there is, above them, fufficient depth of water for fhips of large burthen. These are the deepest coal mines that have hitherto G been wrought, and perhaps, the miners have not in any other part of the globe, penetrated to fo great a depth below the furface of the fea; the very mines in Hungary, Peru, &c. being fituated in mountainous countries, where the fur 235 face of the earth is elevated to a great height above the level of the ocean. They were first wrought, for foreign confumption, by Sir John Lowther, who by the encouragement he gave to tradesmen and artificers to come and fettle at Whitehaven, may be esteemed the founder of that town. It is computed, that this gentleman and his fon, Sir James Lowther, who purfued the fame plan, expended in one of thefe mines only, in the compafs of a century, upwards of half a million sterling. Number of the BRITISH SUBJECTS, Men, Women, and Children, in the Colonies of North America, taken from Militia Rolls, Poll-Taxes, Bills of Mortality, returns from Governors and other Authentick Authorities. The colonies of H Inhabitants. ALIFAX and Lunenburg Rhode Island and Providence New-York The Jerseys North-Carolina South-Carolina Georgia 5000 30000 220000 35000 100000 100000 60000 250000 85000 85000 45000 30000 6000 So that the English are more than in the proportion of 20 to 1; but (in the words of a memorial qucted by the author of The State of the British and French Colonies in North-America.) "Union, fituation, proper management of the Indians, fuperior knowledge of the country, and conftant application to a purpose, will more than balance divided numbers, and will eafily break a rope of fand." We fhall, next month, fubjoin some excellent obfervations relative to the foregoing calculations, from that pamphlet, which afforded materials for the above tables. 236 Of the DIVERSIONS of the SEASON. The CONNOISSEUR, May 15. HE various feafons of the year pro TH duce not a greater alteration in the face of nature, than in the polite manner of paffing our time. The diversions of winter and fummer are as different as the dog days and thofe at Chriftimas; A nor do I know any genteel amufement, except gaming, that prevails during the whole year. As the long days are now coming on, the theatrical gentry, who contribute to diffipate the gloom of our winter evenings, begin to divide themfelves into strolling companies; and are packing up their tragedy wardrobes, together with a fuficient quantity of thun- B der and lightning, for the delight and amazement of the country. In the mean time the feveral publick gardens near this metropolis are trimming their trees, levelling their walks, and burnishing their lamps, for our reception. At Vaux-hall (which is already opened) the artificial C ruins are repaired; the cafcade is made to fpout with feveral additional streams of block-tin; and they have touched up all the pictures, which were damaged latt feafon by the fingering of thofe curious connoiffeurs, who could not be fatisfied without feeling whether the figures were alive. The magazine at Cuper's, I am told is furnished with an extraordinary fupply of gunpowder, to be thot off in fquibs and fky-rockets, or whirled away in blazing funs and Catherine wheels. And it is not to be doubted, in cafe of a war, but that Neptune and all his Tritons will affift the British navy; and as we before took Porto-Bello and Cape-Breton, we shall gain new victories over the French E Alett every night upon that canal. D Happy are they, who can muster up fufficient, at least to hire tickets at the door, once or twice in a feafon! Not that these pleasures are confined to the rich and the great only; for the lower fort of people have their Ranelaghs and their Vauxhalls as well as the quality. Perrot's inimitable grotto may be feen for only calling for a pot of beer; and the royal diverfion of duck-hunting, may be had into the bargain, together with a decanter of Dorchefter, for your fixpence, at Jenny's Whim. Every kettle-alley half a mile out of town is embellished with green arbours and shady retreats; where the company is generally entertained with G the melodious feraping of a blind fidler. And who can refift the luscious temptation of a fine juicy ham, or a delicious buttock of beef stuffed with parsley, accompanied with a foaming decanter of fparkling home-brewed, which is fo in F May vitingly painted at the entrance of almost every village ale-house? Our northern climate will not, indeed, allow us to indulge ourfelves in those pleafures of a garden, which are so feelingly defcribed by our poets. We dare not lay ourselves on the damp ground in fhady groves, or by the purling ftream, but are obliged to fortify our infides against the cold by good fubftantial eating and drinking. For this reason the extreme coftlinefs of the provifions at our publick gardens has been grievously com plained of by thofe gentry, to whom a fupper at thefe places is as necessary a part of the entertainment as the finging or the fireworks. Poor Mr. John fees with a heavy heart the profits of a whole week's card money devoured in tarts and cheesecakes by Mrs. Houfe-keeper, or Mrs. Lady's own woman: And the fubftantial Cit, who comes from behind the counter two or three evenings in the fummer, can never enough regret the thin waferlike flices of beef and ham, that taste of nothing but the knife. I was greatly diverted laft Saturday evening at Vaux-hall with the shrewd remarks made on this very head by an honeft citizen; whofe wife and two daughters had, I found, prevailed on him to therry them to the garden. As I thought there was fomething curious in their behaviour, I went into the next box to them, where I had an opportunity of feeing and overhearing every thing that pait. After fome talk,-" Come, come, (faid the old don) it is high time, I think, to go to fupper." To this the ladies readily affented; and one of the miffes faid, "do let us have a chick, papa?" "Zounds (faid the father) they are half a crown apiece, and no bigger than a sparrow." Here the old lady took him up-" You are fo flingy, Mr. Rofe, there is no bearing you. When one is out upon pleasure, I love to appear like fomebody; and what fignifies a few fhillings once and away, when a body is about it." This reproof fo effectually filenced the old gentleman, that the youngest miss had the courage to put in a word for fome ham likewife: Accordingly the waiter was called, and difpatched by the old lady with an order for a chicken and a plate of ham. When it was brought, our honest Cit twirled the difh about three or four times, and furveyed it with a very settled countenance; then taking up the flice of ham, and dangling it to and fro on the end of his fork, asked the waiter, "how much there was of it ?" "A fhilling's worth, Sir," faid the fellow. Prithee, faid 66 1755. A CITY FAMILY at VAUXHALL the don, how much doft think it weighs ? -An ounce ?-A shilling an ounce! That is fixteen fhillings per pound!—A reasonable profit truly!-Let me fee-fuppofe now the whole ham weighs thirty pounds: at a fhilling per our ce, that is, fixteen fhillings per pound, why your master makes exactly twenty-four pounds of e- A very ham; and if he buys them at the beft hand, and falts them and cures them himself, they do not stand him in ten fhillings a-piece." The old lady bade him hold his nonfenfe, declared herself afhamed for him, and afked him if people must not live: Then taking a coloured handkerchief from her own neck, she tucked it into his fhirt-collar, whence it hung like a bib, and helped him to a leg of the chicken. The old gentleman, at every bit he put into his mouth, amufed himfelf with faying,-" there goes twopence there goes three-pence- there goes a groat.-Zounds a man at these places should not have a swallow fo wide as a tom-tit." This fcanty repaft, we may imagine, was foon difpatched; and it was with much difficulty our citizen was prevailed on to fuffer a plate of beef to be ordered. This too was no lefs admired, and underwent the fame comments with the ham: At length, when only a very small bit was left, as they fay, for manners in the dish, our don took a piece of an old news-paper out of his pocket, and gravely wrapping up the meat in it, placed it carefully in his letter-cafe. "I'll keep thee as a curiofity to my dying day; and I'll show thee to my neighbour Horfeman, and ask him if he can make as much of his B C D takes." Then rubbing his hands, and F Supper being ended, madam put her fpoufe in mind to call for wine." We muft have fome wine, my dear, or we hall not be looked upon, you know." "Well, well, fays the don, that's right enough. But do they fell their liquor too by the ounce? Here, drawer, what wine have you got ?" The fellow who G by this time began to fmoke his guests, antwered" We have exceeding good French wine of all forts, and pleafe your honour. Would your honour have a bottle of Champagne, or Burgundy, or Claret, or"" No, no, none of your 237 wifhy-washy outlandish rot-gut for me :" Interrupted the citizen.-"A tankard of the alderman beats all the red claret wine in the French king's cellar.-But come, bring us a bottle of found old port; and d'ye hear let it be good." While the waiter was gone, the good man moft fadly lamented, that he could not have his pipe; which the wife would by no means allow," because, the faid, it was ungenteel to fmoke, where there were any ladies in company." When the wine came, our citizen gravely took up the bottle, and holding it above his head, "Aye, aye, faid he, the bottom has had a good kick-And mind how confoundedly it is warped on the fides.-Not above five gills, I warrant.-An old foldier at the Jerufalem would beat two of them. But let us fee how it is brew'd." He then poured out a glafs; and after holding it up before the candle, fmelling to it, fipping it twice or thrice, and fmacking with his lips, drank it off: But declaring that fecond thoughts were beft, he filled another bumper; and toffing that off, after fome paufe, with a very important air, ventured to pronounce it drinkable. The ladies, having alfo drank a glafs round, affirmed it was very good, and felt warm in the ftomach; and even the old gentleman relaxed into fuch good humour by the time the bottle was emptied, that out of his own free will and motion he moft generously called for another pint, but charged the waiter "to pick out an honest one." While the glass was thus circulating, the family amufed themfelves by making obfervations on the garden. The citizen expreffed his wonder at the number of lamps, and faid it must cost a great deal of money every night to light them all: The eldest mifs declared, that for her part fhe liked the dark walk best of all, because it was folentary: Little mifs thought the laft fong mighty pretty, and faid the would buy it, if he could but remember the tune And the old lady observed, that there was a great deal of good company indeed; but the gentlemen were fo rude, that they perfectly put her out of countenance by ftaring at her through their fpy-glaffes. In a word, the tarts, the cheesecakes, the beef, the chicken, the ounce of ham, and every thing, feemed to have been quite forgot, till the difmal moment approached, that the reckoning was called for. As this folemn bufinefs concerns only the gentlemen, the ladies kept a profound filence; and when the terrible account was brought, they left the paymaster undisturbed to enjoy the mifery by himfelf; only the old |