་ his requeft, went down and returned by the help of a clue of packthread which he took with him, which no man before himfelf had ever done; and brought this a mazing discovery, viz. That, after having paffed through a great number of vaults, he came into a long narrow place; which, the farther he penetrated, he perceived he went more and more on a defcent; till having travelled, as near as he could guefs, for the space of a mile, he began to see a little gleam of light, which, though it feemed to come from a vaft diftance, yet was the moft delightful fight he had ever beheld in his life. Having at length come to the end of that lane of darknefs, he perceived a very large and magnificent houfe, illuminated with a great many candles, whence proceeded the light just now mentioned. Having, before he began this expedition, well fortified himself with brandy, he had courage enough to knock at the door, which a fervant, at the third knock, having opened, afked him what he wanted? I would go as far as I can, replied our adventurer; be fo kind, therefore, as to direct me how to accomplish my defign, for I fee no paffage but that dark cavern through which I came. The fervant told him he must go through that houfe, and accordingly led him through a long entry, and out of the back door. He then walked a confiderable way, and at laft beheld another house more magnificent than the first; and the windows all open difcovered innumerable lamps burning in every room. Here he defigned alfo to knock, but had the curiofity to ftep on a little bank which commanded a low parlour, and, looking in, he beheld a vaft table, in the middle of the room, of black marble, and on it, extended at full length, a man, or rather a monfter; for, by his account, he could not be lefs than fourteen feet long, and ten or eleven round the body. This prodigious fabric lay as if fleeping, with his head on a book, and a fword by him of a fize anfwerable to the hand which it is fuppofed made ufe of it. This fight was more terrifying to our traveller than all the dark and dreary manfions he had paffed through in his arrival to it; he refolved therefore not to attempt entrance into a place inhabited by perfons of that unequal itature, and made the best of his way back to the other houfe; where the fame fervant re-conducted and informed him, that, if he had knocked at the fecond door, he would have feen company enough, but never could have returned. On which he defired to know what place it was, and by whom poffeffed; but the, other replied, that these things were not to be revealed. He then took his leave, and by the fame dark paffage got into the vaults, and foon after once more afcended to the light of the fun. Ridiculous as this narrative appears, whoever seems to difbelieve it is looked on as a person of a weak faith. The Power of Party. A Moral Tale. THEN the minds of men are warped W by party-prejudices, they are, of courfe, very unfair reafoners upon any political fubjects; and if they have strong paffions, they are often hurried to defend their refpective opinions with more violence than judgment, and in a mode of utterance provoking enough to draw them into fituations from which all their logie cannot extricate them with honour. Soon after the commencement of those difputes between Great-Britain and her colonies, which have fince been productive of events greatly to be deplored, two gentlemen, the one poffeffed of a confiderable plantation in America, and the other an eminent merchant in England, after having lived feveral years upon the most amicable footing, and cemented their friendship by fome very agreeable intermarriages, became, in confequence of thofe difputes, the moft inveterate enemies. Adamfon was the name of the former. Crompton that of the latter. Mr. Adamfon was in his native country when the news of the Stamp-act firft ar rived, and he was deeply affected by it, because he thought himself fufficiently poffeffed with the spirit of prediction, to foresee that it would give birth to a train of national evils. Like a true born American, he patriotically felt the grievance of taxation, and fcrupled not, with an intrepidity which fometimes bordered upon imprudence, to declaim against it in all companies, calling it oppreffive and tyrannical. Being appointed, in a few weeks afterwards, by the principal perfons in his colony, to embark for England with a ftinging remonftrance against fo rigid, fo fevere a proceeding, he prepar ed for his voyage with an alacrity which fhewed that he was firmly attached to the cause he espoused, and would make ufe of all his political powers (no contempti ble ones) to convince the British miniftry, that they had adopted an arbitrary and unconstitutional measure; a measure which if carried into execution, would, in his opinion, be attended with a feries of fubftantial calamities. While he was making preparations for his return to England in his representative character, his friend Crompton was en gaged gaged in a very different manner. Hav- without imagining that they were theming met with fome depreffing disappoint- felves engaged in an unfriendly conversa ments, by fome capital failures, he accept- tion. cd of one of the new employments under the government, which the Stamp-act created, and which required his fpeedy departure from England; he alfo was preparing for a voyage. With a new fet of political principles, Crompton was now fo much warped by them, that he beheld the Americans entirely in a new light: and he carried his principles to a confiderable height against the very people for whom he had before been a ftrenuous advocate; and, indeed, with no fmall reafon, as he had found his connexions with them extremely profitable; but the fhocks which his fortune had received from a few individuals among them, inflamed him against the whole colony, and made him the more ready to undertake an employment which would prove vexatious to them. Juft when he was going on board the ship deftined to convey him to his American ftation, the fudden indifpofition of Mrs. Crompton, for whom he had a fincere regard, and who had requested to accompany him, but felt her heart fail her when the hour of embarkation approached, would not permit him to proceed till he faw her recovered from her illness. While he waited for the removal of it, he was informed of the arrival of his old friend Adamson, and not dreaming of his new employment, expreffed the greatest defire to fee him again. His wishes, with regard to the fight of him, was foon accomplished; but the pleasure which he enjoyed upon the firft exchange of civilities between them, was of a thort continuance. The conversation which enfued, produced difcoveries with which neither of them were fatisfied. Adamfon spoke with much warmth of his friend's trimming for the fake of a lucrative poft, efpecially a poft which originated from the tax against which he had the strongest remonftrance in his pocket. Crompton, on the other hand, exclaimed with equal vehemence against the prefumption of his countrymen, in calling the propriety of that tax in question, and refusing fubmiffion to it. Mrs. Crompton being in a back apartment at that time, not fufficiently recover-ed from her indifpofition to fee company, was fo much alarmed, however, when The beard the voices of her husband and his friend in a very loud key, that the could not help fending her fervant immediately to know what occafioned such violence of speech on both fides; yet The fervant, by listening, was herself foon acquainted with the debate between them; the then returned to tell her miftrefs what the had overheard, which really terrified her, and the determined, ill as fhe was, to quit the bed, on which the had thrown herfelf to gain a little relief from the fatigue fhe had endured in walking up and down the room by way of exercise, agreeable to the prescription of her physician, in order to endeavour to heal the breach unexpectedly made in their friendship. By the tendereft concern for her hufband's welfare, Mrs. Crompton was doubly animated to appear before him and his adversary in the character of a mediatrix; but before she reached the room in which they had been clamorous, they had decamped, and nobody could tell her which way they went. An affectionate wife, fuppofing herself in Mrs. Crompton's fituation (and the fituation may eafily be fuppofed) will naturally be led to fay that he was very unhappily circumftanced. She was, indeed, in a truly pitiable condition, a condition to be ftill more compaffionated, as fhe was in a poor state of health, with a nervous disorder upon her, which frequently fluttered her fpirits, and prevented her from deriving any relief from the cool operation of her reafon. In this ftate we must leave her, to inform thofe who wish to see the end of this little narrative, whither the two friends went, between whom a duel was justly to be apprehended, as they were both men of perfonal courage, and not difpofed to bear any affronts tamely, by which they thought their honour was injured. Crompton being charged by Adamson too precipitately with cowardice, was not in the leaft inclined to justify the accufation by the timidity of his behaviour; but as he chofe not to have his family acquainted with his hoftile defigns, and was particularly cautious on his wife's account, he defired Adamfon to accompany him to the fquare in their neighbourhood. In that place the preliminaries relating to a duel were settled between them, and each of them promised the other to be punctual at the hour appointed the next morning. When this affair was adjusted they took leave, and Crompton then returned to his own house. As foon as Mrs. Crompton heard her husband's rap at the streetdoor, fhe started from her chair, and attempted tempted to go to meet him, but was obliged to fit down again, being fo much agitated that he had not ftrength to walk. She was collected enough, however, to fend a messenger to him, with a request that he would come to her directly. He obeyed the summons without delay, and, by the chearfulness of his Countenance, when he entered the room, induced her to believe that the little breach between him and his friend had been happily healed. "You have had high words with Mr. Adamson, I find, my dear; but I hope have parted in your old way." you "We hook hands when we parted, faid Mr. Crompton, as we always ufed to do, and I am to meet him early tomorrow morning upon particular bufinefs: you must not, therefore, be furprized, my dear, at my rifing fooner than ufual." In this guarded fpeech, Mr. Crompton fpoke the truth, but not the whole truth. However, it anfwered his prefent purpose, for Mrs. Crompton's fpirits were compofed by it, and the flept better that night than he had done a great while-But how shall I defcribe her looks, how shall I defcribe her feelings, when the faw her husband, foon after the waked, brought home defperately wounded!-the fhock was too fevere for her; the funk under it; and he, though cured of his wounds, wifhed a thousand times that he had died of them. Some Account of Vanda, a remarkable V Queen of Poland, ANDA merited the most extraordinary diflinctions, poffeffing, in an eminent degree, all the beauty and foftness of the female, joined to manly fenfe and truly mafculine courage. She was prudent, juit, temperate, and eloquent; her affability fecured all the hearts which her beauty attracted. She reigned with glory, and her people were enjoying all the bleffings of tranquility, and a wife adminiftration, when Rithogar, a Teutonic prince, fent ambaffadors to demand her in marriage, and to declare war against Poland, fhould Vanda reject his propofals. He was in hopes that the terror of his arms would force the queen to compliance; but he was mistaken; Vanda, according to fome historians, had rendered herself incapable of entering upon the nuptial flate by a vow of perpetual virginity. Other writers alledge, that he was too prudent and too ambitious to fhare her auority with an husband; while a third hiftorian is equally pofitive, that her lofty fpirit would not fuffer her to think of a barbarian, who had prefumed to Čertain it is, addrefs her with menaces. that the prepared for war, affembled an army, animated her troops, and in perfon led them against the enemy, over whom the gained a compleat victory, without fìriking a blow. At the head of her army fue harangued Rithogar's troops with fuch irrefillible eloquence, that the officers, enchanted with the beauty of her perfon, and the force of her perfuafion, refused to lift their hands against fo amiable a princefs. Even the favage breafts of the foldiers were softened into complacency; they quitted their ranks, and threw down their arms before Vanda, whom they worshipped as a divinity. Rithogar himself, ftung with remorfe, and yielding to the violent impreflions of defpair and fhame, plunged his fword into his own bofum. Having pardoned the hoftile army, and difmiffed her enemies, enraptured with her virtues, she returned in triumph to Cracow, to reap with her fubjects, the fruits of that tranquility which she had now established by the powerful influence of her wit and beauty. Matthew of Michovia alledges, that repenting of the vow of virginity which the had made, the refolved to atone for it by the facrifice of her life. Others affirm, that she was deeply afflicted at the unfortunate end of Rithogar, with the elegance of whose person she was tiruck, at the very moment he aimed the fatal blow; and that fhe, in despair, threw herself from the bridge into the Weiffel. All agree that he was drowned in this river, though they differ about the circumstances which occafioned this violent death.. Obfervations on the Teeth, and a Recife for a fafe Dentifrice. occationed by things too hot, cold, fweets, acids, fumes of mercury, the fcurvy, and whatever elfe deprives them of their enamelling. Caries and blackness of the teeth is Therefore the forementioned causes fhould be avoided, and the teeth are to be cleanfed after eating, and washed with wine. Quincy fays, that tartar vitriolatum, beyond all other things, whitens the teeth, which is very true; but it is a very corrofive medicine, and therefore too prejudicial to the teeth to be brought inte frequent ufe. Seldom only, and now and then it may not be amils to use it. A pumice stone, being twice or thrice burnt, misfortune to undergo a fecond mortification. The fhortnefs of his purfe not fupplying him with the decent conveniencies of a learned eafe, he found himfelf under a neceflity of quitting the feat of the mufes, after a fhort ftay there. In this exigence he took a course, not uncommon to perfons of fuch a genius un burut, extinguifhed in white wine, and reduced to a very fine powder, makes the teeth very white: fome only ufe the powder of burnt bread, which, after all, is the best and fafeft dentifrice, the afhes of tobacco being rather too indelicate for ladies, though it will make the teeth white. In the ufe of dentifrices, care is to be neder the like diftrefs. He applied to the taken left the often and hard rubbing of the gums fhould wear them away, and confume them; wherefore the best thing I can recommend to preferve both them and the teeth, and prevent the breath from being tainted therefrom, is Effence of Lacc, excellent for the fcurvy, inwardly taken, and continued for a time, and to wash the mouth with a little of it diluted with wine or water. JOHN COOK, BEN The Life of Ben. Johnson. EN. Johnfon, fo famous for being one of the fathers of the English ftage, in dramatic poetry, was the fruit of a pofthumous birth, and came into the world about a month after the death of his father. Being born in Weftminster, he was put to a private fchool in the parifh of St. Martin's in the fields; but removed thence, at a proper age, to that of the royal foundation, where Camden became his master.-As his father was a gentleman and a clergyman, this fiep feems to have been taken in the view of breeding him to the church. But the widow being left in narrow circumftances, thought fit not to refufe an offer of marriage, which was made to her by a bricklayer; and after her fon had continued fome years at Weltminster-fchool, and made an extraordinary progress in claffical learning, the took him away, and obliged him to work under his ftepfather. This was nipping the firft fprig of his dawning hopes in the bud; his fpirit was not of a temper to take the bent of fo mortifying a change. In the depth of his refentment, he left his mother, and enlifting himself a foldier, was carried to the English army, then engaged again't the Spaniards in the Netherlands. Here he acquired a degree of military glory, which rarely falls to the lot of a common man in that profeffion. In an encounter with a fingle man of the enemy, he flew his opponent, and ftripping him, carried off the fpoils in the view of both armies. Upon his return home, he followed the bent of his inclination; and refuming his ftudies, went to St. John's college in Cambridge. But here he had foon the October, 1775. day-houfes, and was admitted into an obfcure one, called the Green Curtain, in the neighbourhood of Shoreditch and Clerkenwell. He had not been long in this station, when, not contenting himfelf with the bufinefs of an actor only, he took up his pen, and wrote fome pieces for the ftage. But his performance either way did no credit to his genius. For this offence During his continuance in this humble ftation, he had a quarrel with one of the players, who fending him a challenge, there enfued a duel, wherein Johnton killed his adverfary. being thrown into prifon, under that misfortune his fpirit was funk into fuch a degree of melancholy, that he became a fit object to be fubdued by the crafty attacks of a popith prieft; who, officiously vifiting him in his confinement, prevailed upon him to renounce the doctrine he was bred in, and become a Roman catholic, and he remained twelve years within the pale of that church. But not long after this change in his religious condition, he also made a change in his civil one, and took to himfelt a wife, having firit obtained his releasement from prifon. His fpirit revived with his liberty; and, maugre all the difcouragements he met with, he went on digging in the poetic mine, and by dint of unparalleled industry, improved his genius fo much, that at length he produced a play; which having the good fortune to fall into the hands of Shakespeare, that humane, good-natured bard, refolving to do full justice to its merit, brought it upon the itage, where he was a manager, and a&t'ed a part in it himself. Thus encouraged, his genius ripened apace, and his comedy, entitled Every Man in his Humour, made its appearance on the fame ftage in 1598. This was followed the next year by Every Man out of his Humour. And he continued, in like manner, to furnish a new play every year, till he was called off by the mafques and entertainments made for the reception of king James 1. on his acceffion to the throne of England. He was continually retained in this employ, on all occafions, during his whole life afterward. But thefe flight efforts of his mufe did not wholly occupy his genius. Both inclination and ambition concurred in prompting him to the graver and weigh tier works of the drama. Accordingly, in 1605, came out his comedy of Volpone, or the Fox; which being wholly finifhed in the fpace of five weeks, did not hinder him from indulging the four-, nefs of his temper, in a fatirical comedy called Eastward Hoe, written about this time against the Scottish nation. In this piece of intemperance, Chapman and Martton were his coadjutors; and they were all three committed to prifon, and brought in danger of lofing their ears and pofes in the pillory; but, however, had the good fortune to obtain a pardon. To repair this fault, Johnfon facrificed both his time and his mufe, almoft entirely, to gratify the taste of the court in mafques, for fome years, fo that his next play did not make its appearance till 1609. But he made fome amends for the length of this interval, by the perfection of the piece, which he entitled Epicene, or the Silent Woman; this being generally esteemed the most exact and finished comedy that our nation hath produced. And the next year he brought forth the Alchemist, one of the best of his comedies; but that was followed the enfuing year, 1611, by the worst of his tragedies, entitled Catiline. In 1613 our author took a tour to Paris, where he was admitted to an interview and conversation with cardinal Perron, whom he treated with all that franknefs and bluntnefs which was fo much his nature. It was about this time that he commenced a quarrel with Inigo Jones, whom he therefore made the fubject of his ridicule in his next comedy, called Bartholomew-Fair, acted in 1614. That was fucceeded by the Devil's an Afs, in 1616. This year he publifhed his works in one folio volume; and the poet-laureat's falary, of an hundred marks per annum, was fettled upon him for life, by king James I. the fame year. Crowned with thefe honours by his prince, he faw the moti diftinguished wits of his time crowding his train and courting his acquaintance. And, in that fpirit, he was invited to Chrift-Church in Oxford, by Dr. Corbet, then fenior-ftudent of that college.-Our poet gladly accepted that invitation; and, having paffed fume time in cultivating his mule in that delightful feat, he received an additional atteftation of his merit from the university, who prefented him with the honorary degree of matter of arts, at the act in 1619. On the death of the laureat, Samuel Daniel, in October following, Johnfon fucceeded to that post, the duty of which had been chiefly performed by him a long time before. The year had not yet expired, when our now crowned laureat took a tour into Scotland, on purpofe to vifit a favourite brother poet, Mr. Drummond, of Hawthornden in that country. He paffed fome months with this ingenious friend, to whom he opened his heart with a most unreserved freedom and confidence, the fweeteli gift of friendship. Our author was much pleased with the adventures of this journey, and celebrated them in a particular poem: which, with feveral more of his productions, being accidentally burnt, about two or three years afterwards, that lofs drew from him a poem, which he called an Execration upon Vulcan. He feems to have let no year pass without the amufement of writing fome of these smaller pieces. And thofe, with the mafques, which the office of poet-laureat then particularly called for every Christmas, filled up the interval to the year 1625; when his comedy, entitled, The Staple of News, appeared upon the stage. Not long afterwards he fell into an ill ftate of health, which, however, did not hinder the difcharge of his duty at court. And he found time alfo to gratify the more agreeable exercife of play-writing; for, in 1629, he brought another comedy, called, The New Inn, or the light Heart, to the theatre. But here his adverfaries prevailed over him; the play was hiffed out of the house on its first appearance there; and our laureat had recourfe to his pride for a revenge, which dictated an ode to himself, threatning to leave the ftage. This economy having reduced his finances to a low ebb, the king graciously fent him a purse of an hundred pounds. That good nefs was properly and in character repaid by an epigram, addreffed to his royal benefactor, which, for fome special reasons, is inferted here, Great Charles, among the holy gifts of |