That the situation of Dunkirk is such, as that it may always keep runners to observe all ships sailing on the Thames and Medway.

That all the suggestions which the sieur Tugghe brings concerning the Dutch, are false and scandalous.

That whether it may be advantageous to the trade of Holland or not, that Dunkirk should be demolished; it is necessary for the safety, honour, and liberty of England, that it should be so.

That when Dunkirk is demolished, the power of France, on that side, should it ever be turned against us, will be removed several hundred miles further off of Great Britain than it is at present.

That after the demolition, there can be no considerable › preparation made at sea by the French on all the channel, but at Brest; and that Great Britain being an island; which cannot be attacked but by a naval power, we maya esteem, France effectually removed, by the demolition, from Great Britain, as far as the distance from Dunkirk to Brest.

Pray, Mr. Ironside, repeat this last particular, and potЛ it in a different letter, That the demolition of Dunkirk will remove France many hundred miles farther off from us; and then repeat again, That the British nation exas pects the demolition of Dunkirk.

I demand of you, as you love and honour your queen ® and country, that you insert this letter, or speak to this purpose, your own way; for in this all parties must agree,« that however bound in friendship one nation is with another, it is but prudent that in case of a rupture, they?! should be, if possible, upon equal terms.

Be honest, old Nestor, and say all this; for whateversi half-witted hot whigs may think, we all value our estates?? and liberties, and every true man of each party must think himself concerned that Dunkirk should be demolished.ESŤA

It lies upon all who have the honour to be in the ministry to hasten this matter, and not let the credulity of an honest brave people be thus infamously abused in our open streets.

I cannot go on for indignation; but pray God that our mercy to France may not, expose us to the mercy of France.

And part with life, only to wound their foe.voer) TRANGER is so uneasy a guest in the heart, that he may be said to be born unhappy who is of a rough and choleric disposition. The moralista have defined it to be a desire of revenge for some injury offered:' Men of hot and heady tempers are eagerly desirous of vengeance, the very moment they apprehend themselves injured: whereas, the cool and sedate watch proper opportunities to return grief for grief to their enemy. By this means it often happens that the choleric inflict disproportioned punishments, upon slight and sometimes imaginary offences: but the temparately revengeful have leisure to weigh the merits of the cause, and thereby either to smother their secret resent{ments, or to seek proper and adequate reparations for the damages they have sustained. Weak minds are apt to speak well of the man of fury 3 because, when the storm als over, he is full of sorrow and repentance; but the truth is, he is apt to commit such ravages during his madness, that when he comes to himself, he becomes tame then, for the same reason that he ran wild before, only to give himself ease; and is a friend only to himself in both extremities Men of this unhappy make, more frequently than any others, expect that their friends should bear with their infirmities. Their friends should in return desire: them to correct their infirmities. The common excuses, that they cannot help it, that it was soon over, that they harbour no malice in their hearts, are arguments for par « doning a bulls or a mastiff; but shall never reconcile me s to an intellectual savage. Why indeed should any one

imagine, that persons independent upon him should venture into his society, who hath not yet so far subdued his boiling blood, but that he is ready to do something the next minute which he can never repair, and hath nothing to plead in his own behalf, but that he is apt to do mischief as fast as he can! Such a man may be feared, he may be pitied; he can never be loved.

I would not hereby be so understood as if I meant to recommend slow and deliberate malice; I would only observe, that men of moderation are of a more amiable character than the rash and inconsiderate; but if they do not husband the talent that heaven hath bestowed upon them, they are as much more odious than the choleric, Sas the devil is more horrible than a brute. It is hard to suy which of the two when injured is more troublesome to bimself, or more hurtful to his enemy; the oue is hoisterous and gentle by fits, dividing his life between guilt and repentance, now all tempest, again all sunshine. The other bath a smoother but more lasting anguish, lying under a perpetual gloom; the latter is a cowardly man, the former a generous beast. If he may be held unfortunate who cannot be sure but that he may do something the next minute which he shall lament during his life; what shall we think of him who bath a soul so infected that he can never be happy until he hath made another miserable! What wars may we imagine perpetually raging in his breast! What dark stratagems, unworthy designis, inhuman wishes, dreadful resolutions! A snake curled in many intricate mazes, ready to sting a traveller, and to biss him in the pangs of death, is no unfit emblem of such an artful, unsearchable projector. Were to choose an enemy, whether should I wish for one that would stab me suddenly, or one that would give me an Italian poison, subtle and lingering, yet as certainly fatal as the stroke of a stiletto? Let the reader determine the doubt in his own mind.

7

There is yet a third sort of revenge, if it may be called a third, which is compounded of the other two: I mean the mistaken honour which hath too often a place in ge

nerous breasts. Men of good education, though naturally choleric, restrain their wrath so far as to seek convenient: times for vengeance. The single combat seems so generous a way of ending controversies, that until we have stricter: laws, the number of widows and orphans, and I wish I could not say of wretched spirits, will be increased. Of all the medals which have been struck in honour of a neighbouring monarch, there is not one which can give him so true renown as that upon the success of his edicts for "abolishing the impious practice of dueling.'

was

are

What inclined me at present to write upon this subject, s the sight of the following letters, which I can assure: the reader to be genuine. They concern two noble names among us; but the crime of which the gentlemen a guilty bears too prevalently the name of honour, to need an apology to their relations for reviving the mention of their duel. But the dignity of wrath, and the cool and deliberate preparation (by passing different climes, and waiting convenient seasons) for murdering each other, when we consider them as moved by a sense of honour, must raise in the reader as much compassion as horror.

A Monsieur Monsieur Sackville.

that am in France hear how much you attribute to yourself in this time, that I have given the world leave to ring your praises

*

If you call to memory, whereas I gave you my hand last, I told you I reserved the heart for a truer reconciliation. Now be that noble gentleman my love once spoke you, and come and do him right that could recite the trials: you owe your birth and country, were I not confident your honour gives you the same courage to do me right, that it did to do me wrong. Be master of your own weapons and time; the place, wheresoever, I will wait on you. By. doing this you shall shorten revenge, and clear the idle opinion the world hath of both our worths.

· ED. BRUCE

A Mons. Monsieur le Baron de Kinloss..

As it shall be always far from me to seek a quarre), so will I always be ready to meet with any that desire to make trial of my valour by so fair a course as you require. A witness whereof yourself shall be, who within a month shall receive a strict account of time, place, and weapon, where you shall find me ready disposed to give you honourable satisfaction by him that shall conduct you thither In the mean time be as secret of the appointment as it seems you are desirous of it.

ED. SACKVILLE

2001 A Mons. Monsieur le Baron de Kinloss.

I am ready at Tergosa, a town in Zealand, to give you that satisfaction your sword can render you, accompanied with a worthy gentleman my second, in degree a knight; and for your coming I will not limit you a peremptory day, but desire you to make a definite and speedy repair for your own honour, and fear of prevention, until which time you shall find me there.

Tergosa, Aug. 10, 1613.

ED. SACKVILLE.

A Mons. Monsieur Sackville.

I have received your letter by your mán, and acknowledge you have dealt nobly with me, and now I come with all possible haste to meet you.

ED. BRUCE.'

As the greatest part of mankind are more affected by things which strike the senses, than by excellencies that are to be discerned by reason and thought, they form very erroneous judgments when they compare the one with the other. An eminent instance of this is, that vulgar notion, that men addicted to contemplation are less useful