though, with all poffible difobliging circumitances; whereof, I am hitherto perfunded, fome are not juft, and very little agree with the two letters Mr. Secretary Boyle wrote him on this occafion; and the profeflions the Ambassador made, that he would mollify the matter in his rela tions as much as he could. It might easily be imagined, the Czar would be extremely concerned at this indignity: I will allure you, on the word of an honeft man, the Queen was as much; but while the is endeavouring to give all poffible fatisfaction, and employing all Poper means to convince you of her in dignation againit her fubjects who have ofcuded, and her real friendship for the Crur, the will be extremely furprifed to fee ferteif treated with fuch coldneis, as if the had countenanced the fault; fatisfaction demanded in a threatening manner; and peremptory terms iet, without which her friendship will be rejected. I leave to your mature reflection, whether your Ambafador could have acted otherwile, or your office used any other style, if he had femed to refufe reparation; and whether this be a proper way to forward the affair, and win the friendship of her Majesty, who is in a condition not to be obliged to any thing, befides what her own generous temper and love of juftice will fuggeft; in which I appeal to all the world, whether he has yet ever been found backward; and the letters fent by her order to Mr. Artemonowitz fufficiently fhew, that it is not to be apprehended now. As to the reprials threatened, I fuppofe that is meant en us here; but if ever it fhould come to far (as I am fully perfuaded the Czar's own inclinations and your prudence will never fuffer it), I mutt affure you we are ach too inconfiderable a part of her fubjects, that the should alter her measures in the leaft on our account, and we thall undergo with cheerfulness, for her fervice, whatever our destiny may have provided for us. I only defire you to confider, whether you could do your enemies any greater fervice than to occafion a breach between our principals, or even a coldness which might give them countenance in the prefent conjuncture: but as I have always employed myself to improve the friendship of the two empires as much as poffible (which, I am convinced, is for the advantage of both), so I fhall take contrary meatures to Mr. Matueoff, and do all I can to foften this proceeding, and prevent its ill effects. As to the manner of fatisfaction, I will be anfwerable that all reparation fhall be made you which our laws will allow, and that it fhall be fo great and fignal, as fully to clear his Czarish Majetty's honour in the eye of the world, and give undeniable proofs of the Queen's friendship; but you know our government is not abfolute, nor can I tell whether it be in her Majesty's power to proceed fo far as you delire against the criminals: however, I will give an account of it, and urge the doing all that is poffible, and I hope you will not infift on more; for afking a fatisfaction impoffible, or denying to receive any, is the fame thing, and will look as if you were weary of our friendship, and only fought an occafion to lefen it; whereas I am fure, by a molerate and prudent conduct, you might make a more noble and advantageous ufe of the prefent unlucky accident. You defire fatisfaction may be given; the fooner the better; that fhall be done. You fee how far they have proceeded in London aheady, and when they know what you demand, I do not queftion but prevent any fuch outrage for the future! What honour does it reflect on the memory of that Princefs, to fee her not blufh to own to an arbitrary Emperor, that even to appeafe bim The dared not put the meanest of her subjects to death uncondemned by law ! "There are," fays the, in one of her dispatches to him, “infuperable difficulties with respect to the ancient and fundamental laws of the government of our people, which, we fear, do not permit fo fevere and rigorous a sentence to be given, as your Imperial Majesty at first seemed to expect in this cafe; and we perfuade ourself that your Imperial Majetty, who are a Prince famous for cleniency and for exact juftice, will not require us, who are the guardian and precactress of the laws, to inflict a punishment upon our fubjects which the law does not empower us to do." Words fo venerable and heroic, that this broil ought to become history, and be exempted from the oblivion due to the filly fquabbles of Ambaffadors. See Walpole's advertisement prefixed to "Lord Whitworth's Account of Ruffia." 8vo. 1758.- -"Mottley's Life of Peter I." Vol. II. 57. 67.—" Blackstone's Commentaries." On this occafion Lard Woxworth went to Ruffis, to make the apology. When he had compromifed the rupure, he was invited to a ball at Court, and taken out to dance by the Czarina. As they begin the minuet the fqueezed him by the hand, and faid in a whifper, "Have you forgot kie Kate ?” further further progrefs will be made. In my letter to Count Golloffkin, you will find, that I have offered to wait on his Majefty, or you, whenever you will name a time and place: I am perfuaded it may be to the common advantage and dispatch of this business, and then, when it has been thoroughly difcuffed, I will fend a courier to her Majesty with the refult. I own, I fhould be very glad to wait on you on this occafion, which even, when known in the world, will let them fee, we do not treat it negligently. In the mean time, I heartily recommend to your prudence the using all poffible means to moderate the refentment of your Court, and do affure you, your good offices will be very agreeable to her Majesty the Queen, whereof I shall not fail to give her a juft relation, and to let you fee the real effects of her efteem for you. (To be concluded in our next.) LEMERIUS, in the year 1618, quoted the following Latin Verfes, which, he fays, were written by a Protettant Advocate of the Parliament of Paris fifty years before that time; "or rather," adds he, "by an Angel who dictated them." What would he have faid, had he been now living and feen the actual completion of the prediction ? "Feftinat propero curfu, jam temporis "ordo, "Quo locus, et Franci Majeftas prifca "Senatûs, "Papa, Sacerdotes, Miffe, Simulachra, "Deique Fictitii, atque omnis fuperos exofa po " teftas "Judicio Domini jufto fublata peribant." "In the dark volume of refiftless Fate "What changes menace wretched Gal"lia's State ! «In one, one luckless yet approaching "hour "The Roman Pontiff's arrogated power, "The Mafs' vile mummery, the Priests' "deceit, Thofe facred jugglers that the vulgar "cheat; "Weak mortals rais'd to the empyrean ❝ throne; "Gods, that man's bafe and wretched "fabric own; "Pow'rs that the foul in flavish fetters "bind; "Debafe the noble nature of mankind; "With their own phantoms scare his "gen'rous breaft, "And every fway, except their own, "deteft; "Thefe, whilft eternal justice rules this ball, "Thefe, thefe, by Heav'n's own high "beheft, fhall fall, "In endless ruin and confufion hurl'd, "A dread example to a wond'ring "world." The difcovery of America is faid to have been predicted in fome of Seneca the Tragedian's Veries; and the emancipation of America, with the causes of it, is to be met with in fome lines of Sir Thomas Brown's, written a century before that happy event, for this country at least. MADAME, MOTHER TO THE REGENT, though a good woman, was fo indolent, that fome one wrote on her tomb, “Cy gift l'Oliveté"-" Here lies Idleness perand other writers as difgufting the perions fonified." She is mentioned by Duclos their feelings or fituation. Being able about her by her complete inattention to herself to ftand upon her feet for ten hours what it was to have been ill, he never together, and having never known herself others; and from this fingle circumftance confidered any delicacies of conftitution in indifpofed perfons againit her who in reality wifhed her well. "Elle ne cher choit point à plaire," fays Duclos, "elle ne vouloit être aimée que de ceux qu'elle eftimoit. Elle aimoit fort fa nation, et il fufifoit d'être Allemand pour en être accueilli ger of Marlborough, published from original MSS. 1788." The Duchefs, it feems, in the latter part of her life, ufed to lie much in bed, with a pen and ink by her, and used to commit to paper what the idea of the moment fuggefted. The little book is divided into chapters, under diftinct heads. Under that of "Life and Death" she says: "1737. I am a perfect cripple, and cannot poffibly hold out long; and as I have very little enjoyment of my life, I am very indifferent about it. It is impoffible that one of my infirmities can live long; and one great happiness there is in death, that one fhall never hear any more of any thing they do in this world. "When I confider life 'tis all a cheat, " &c." verfes of Dryden which I think very pretty, and of which moft people have felt the truth. "1738. I am fo weary of life, that I do not care how foon the ftroke is given to me, which I only wish may be with as little pain as poffible. 1739. As to my own particular, I have nothing to reproach myfelf with; and I think it very improbable that I should live to fuffer what others will do who have contributed to the ruin of their coun try. I have always thought, that the greatest happiness of life was to love and value fomebody extremely that returned it, and to fee them often; and if one has an eafy fortune, that is what makes one's life pafs away agreeably. But, alas! there is fuch a change in the world fince I knew it first, that though one's natural pleasure is to love people, the generality of the world are in fomething fo difagreeable that it is impoffible to do it ; and, added to this, I am a cripple, lifted about like a child, and very feldom free from pain.', "KINGS. that I would not venture any thing that I "1737. Were I a man, I freely own could avoid for any King that I know or ever heard of. As Princes are not the flattery they are ufed to, not to fay worfe best judges of right and wrong, from the of them, I think the best thing for them and the whole nation is, not to let them have power to hurt themselves or any one else. A Gentleman of Sweden has given me an account of the laws of that country, and which they now enjoy; but they did not compafs it till the King or Minifters had destroyed the country, and E accueilli. Tous fes parens lui etoient chers." Her Letters to our Queen Caroline, lately published, are very entertaining but very grofs. There are fome in the British Mufeum which have not been publithed. In one of them the appears to think, that Cardinal Mazarine was married to Ann of Auftria; and the mentions a faying of the famous Earl of Peterborough, who, fpeaking to fome one concerning the war for the Spanish Succeffion, fays, "Comme nous fommes des ânes pour combattre pour ces deux gros benêts," alluding to the character of the two competitors for the Throne of Spain. CHARLES THE FIFTH, DUKE OF LORRAINE, fucceeded 1675, not fo much to his uncle's dominions as to the hopes of being able to recover them. He was a moft excellent General, and diftinguished himself very much in Hungary against the Turks, and in Lorraine against Louis the XIVth. He was a Prince of great bravery, great honour, and great piety. He was fent for in a hurry by the Emperor Leopold (whofe coufin he had married) to command in an expedition against the Turks, but was taken ill on the road of a fever, of which he died. He wrote the following fhort Letter to the Emperor on his death bed, which breathes the fentiments of a bero, a man, a Christian : "SIRE, "AUSSITOT que j'ai reçu vos ordres, Je fais parti d'Infpruk pour me rendre à Vienne, mais je me trouve arreté ici par les ordres d'un plus grand maitre Je pars, et je vais lui rendre compte d'une vie que j'aurois confacrée à votre fervice. Souvenez-vous, Sire, que je quitte une femme qui vous touche, des enfans auxquels je ne laiffe que mon epée, et mes fajets dans l'oppression." This hero died at the age of forty-eight years only. His virtues were fo tranfcendent, that when Louis XIV. heard of his death he faid very nobly, "Le moindre qualité de Duc de Lorraine etoit cile du Prince. Je viens de perdre (en apprennant fa mort) le plus fage et le plus genereux de mes enemis.” SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. A fmall volume, 12mo. was published in Scotland, in 1788, with this title: "The Opinions of Sarah Duchefs DowaVOL. XX. made made it exceffive poor. I heartily wish that may not be our cafe, or worse." "CARDINAL DE RETZ. "1739. His history is entertaining, becaufe he has wit and fenfe; notwithftanding which I must confefs I do not like him much. For, if I were a man, I would not rebel to have the greateft employment any Prince could give me but if any tyrant broke the laws, and obliged me to draw the fword, I would never trim or sheath it till justice was done to my country. I find in De Retz's Memoirs, that the Parliament, and people without doors, cried out violently: "No peace! no Mazarine !" and yet in the conclufion Mazarine got the better and enflaved France and by the defcription De Retz makes of the Nobles, their taking bribes, being very fimple, and wholly bent on private intereft, they refemble very much our House of Lords." : "Should any reader," fays the Editor of this little book, "entertain doubts as to the authenticity of this felection, the Editor cannot remove them, unless by an appeal to internal evidence; for there are infeparable objections to the depofiting of the originals either in a public library or with a bookfeller. The materials of which this little book is compofed are alphabetically digefted. Had the order of time been obferved, they would have borne the more familiar and pleafing ferm of a Diary. In fome paffages the original is obfcure, and very often it is ungrammatical; for the Duchefs writes in colloquial English; a dialect not pure, however copious. As the original abounds in private history, I might have gratified the prevailing talte for Anecdotes with longer and more interefting tranfcripts. This, however, I have industriously avoided.” M. DE MIRABEAU. What must this extraordinary man have felt at being cut off, in the midst of his career, at the age of forty-two! To a mind of great vivacity and vigour he united a perion fo difagreeable, that M. de Mirabeau was continually joking upon his own ugliness, to prevent others from being before-hand with him in that relpect. He was one of the few Frenchmen that come to this kingdom who take any pains to learn the language of it. He applied indeed very diligently to it, and laboured very hard to procure a knowledge of our laws and conftitution. His famous pamphlet on the liberty of the Schelde was written in London. By the kindness of a perfon who ferved him as his Secretary in London, curiofity will be gratified with the following Letter, which is prefixed to a MS. grammar of the French language, which he compofed for the ufe of a young woman with whom he lived, and which is extremely well done; and the account of the declenfion of the partici. ples of the French language is quite new. A MA SOPHIE. "MA Sophie, tu te fouviens bien, que t'apprendre l'orthographie. Je ne fçais ta mere m'a écrit une fois pour me prier de comment je negligéai une fi grave recommendation; apparemment que nous avions quelque chofe de plus preifce à etudier. Helas! il nous eft bien force des fufpendre nos études d'alors; il retournons donc aujourdui à l'orthographie (pour plaire ton honorée mere), mais je ne connois qu'un moyen d'ecrire correctement, c'est de poffeder la langue par principes. J'ai entrepris de te donner en vingt cinq pages, toutes les regles effentielles de la langue Françoife, de l'en expliquer toutes les difficultés, et de l'enoncer les exceptions principales d'une maniere auffi exacte que concife; et je crois avoir reuffi. Un petit Memoire de l'Abbé Valant *, habile Grammarien, m'en a donné l'idée, et m'a fervi; mais on ne trouve dans fon precis ni les principes de la declinaifon des participes (et c'est un des articles capitaux et des plus embarassans de notie Grammaire), ni le conjugation entiere des verbes irregulieres, ni la fyntaxe de leurs regimes, ni aucune obfervation detaillée fur la prononciation, l'orthographic, la punctu ation, la quantité, &c. ni les exceptions aux regles generales. Mon traité, qui n'a pas quatre pages de plus que le fien, contient tout cela, j'efpere que tu le trouveras fort clair, et même a la portée des gens les plus illiterés, mais pente que je ne fais me faire entendre qu'aux efprits Abbé Valant was Profeffor of Humanity at the Royal Military School of Paris, and wrote many tracts upon the fubject of the Latin Grammar. He died in 1779This thort account of him is taken from the "Dictionaire Hiftorique ;" a book in praise of which too much cannot be fard. The best edition of it is that of 1789, in nine volumes, 8vo. It is to be had at Mr. Elmaey's, in the Strand; and at M. de Boffe's, Gerrard fireet. attentifs, attentifs. Ce Memoire eft plus que fufflant pour te mettre en etat de montrer toi-même le Francois par principes à ma file. Les grammaires ne donnent pas le ftyle, mais Gabriel, Sophie, a ton ame, de trouvera aifement un Gabriel, ils s'aimeront comme nous nous aimons, et je te reponds qu'elle ecrira bien. C'eft pour elle que j'ai fait cet petit ouvrage, qui m'a couté du temps et de la peine; r'eft pour elle, dis-je, car pour toi, je ne me confolerois pas, fi tu allois confulter la grammaire fur un phrafe que tu me detines ou que ne m'addreffes, ah! ce que ton cœur fait dire! L'art et l'efprit le trouveront ils jamais ? “GABRIEL.” The MS. is entitled, "Abrégé complet de la Langue Françoife." The following lines are prefixed to it : "Ce commerce enchanteur, “Aimable epanchement de l'efprit et du ❝ cœur, "Cet art de converfer fans fe voir, fans "s'entendre, than refuse him one feat at it." With what avidity muft the public expect the Memoirs of this very extraordinary man, written by himself; a man who, though auto-didactic and ferò doctus, by the force and energy of a great mind never appears to have incurred the failings and imperfections that ufually attend perfons of the above description! DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. It has been faid, upon the most respectable authority, that this great man, in ipite of the treatment he met with in this Country, was very anxious, before he left it, to lettie the difputes between it and its Colonies. A no lefs refpectable autho. ity pers to fay, that a friend of Dr. Frankhn's went to Lord North, at the Doctor's requifition, to folicit for him a place at the Board of Trade. This Lord North refed, and the Gentleman faid to him, My Lord, you had much better give Dr. Franklin the whole Board of Trade LE KAIN, the late celebrated French Actor, was a man of a very unpromising appearance for a profeffion that requires to much of grace and of fpirit as that of an actor. With great difficulty he was permitted to belong to the King's Company at Verfailles, and was received in it merely from the impreffion he made on Lewis XV. in the part of Orofman in Zara. "Il m'a fait pleurer," faid the King, "moi qui ne pleure guerre." In his time at Paris the profeffion of an actor was not become fo honourable as it has fince become; and when one day an Officer was treating with great infolence the luxury and the vanity of perions of Le Kain's profeflion, whilft perfons who had ferved their King and country, as he had done, were obliged to retire upon a miferable pittance, Le Kain, with great fpirit, replied, "Eh comptezvous pour rien, Monfieur, le droit que Vous venez avoir de ne dire en face tout ce que je viens d'entendre ?" His friend Voltaire conitantly advised him, when he had made his fortune, to retire from the ftage. Le Kain lamented that he had not followed his advice. M. SOUFFLOT, the Architect of that beautiful Chriftian Temple, the Church of St. Genevieve at Paris, the portico to which is the triumph of modern Greek Architecture, was a man of fuch a combination of benevolence and of brufquerie, that his friends ufed to call him le Bourru bienfaifant." He did not live to finish the cupola of his church; and died in confequence of being too fenfibly affected by the difficulties that were thrown in his way, by fome ignorant perfons, refpecting the construction of it. The famous Hotel Dieu at Lyons was built by this great Architect. M. Soufflot is buried in his own fabric of Saint Genevieve, and a monument is about to be erected in it to his memory; an example worthy of imitation in this country, where Sir Chriftopher Wren, the Architect of St. Paul's, is buried in a fouterrain, with a quibbling Epitaph upon a farcophagus, which very few perfons E 2 whe |