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in impudence, which paffes for that
eafiels of addrefs, confidered by the
world as one of the natural and efti-
mable endowments of a man of family
and fortune. The tutor finds it ne-
ceffary to overlook the contempt with
which he is treated by the hope of
the family, who, inftead of entering
into the beauties of a Virgil and a
Horace, or of making himfelf per
fectly acquainted with the hiftory of
his own country, is either receiving
the polite leffons of the dancing maf
ter, or becoming an adept in the
mysteries of the ftable and dog ken-
nel, under the direction of the groom
and game keeper. Nurtured in folly
and ignorance till he is of an age fit
to receive the finish of his education
in an university, he is fent there,
with the attendance of his tutor, a
proper
fuite of fervants, and an in-
come adapted to his rank and expec-
tations. He there enters into every
degree of diffipation and extrava-
gance; neglects the cultivation of his
mind, although he pays a most servile
and exact attention to the adornment
of his perfon; and while the tutor
compofes his effays, young hopeful at-
tends every public place of amufe-
ment; and attracts at the fame time
the favour and admiration of the
ladies, and the contempt of men of
fenfe. The termination of his exist.
ence may be various. He may be
killed in a duel originating from
trifling punctilios, or from circum-
ftances dangerous to the honour and
repose of fome worthy family; pro-
bably attracted by the glare of fearlet
and gold, he may commence a mili-
tary career in a militia regiment; he
may become a filent or voting mem-
ber of Parliament, as that light and
frivolous converfation, and that egre-
gious vanity which rendered him the
favourite of the fair, and a fhining
perfonage in the polite circles, will
no longer avail him when oppofed by
men of the moft genuine abilities,
and of the most brilliant eloquence;

he may perchance retire to the feat of his predeceffors to nurse the remains of his fortune, and endeavour to make a figure at a county meeting;—But whatever his fate may be, let it fink into an happy oblivion, as it is unneceffary to trace any farther events of a life, the progrefs of which will in all probability be neither rendered an object of curiofity nor of admiration, by his exertions in the Senate or his conduct in the army; nor worthy of being recorded in any anuals but thofe of prodigality, oftentation, and gallantry.

I fhall now pafs to occurrences more deferving of contemplation; to mark the progrefs of men whofe talents are called into exertion by neceffity, and whofe genius is not funk into inactivity by eafe and affluence. It is in the middle walks of life, to which younger brothers are in general devoted, that we must look for eminent ftatefmen, brilliant orators, able philofophers, brave and illuftri ous military commanders.

When the younger fons attain to an age at which benefit may be derived from inftruction, they are fent to a public school, where they are early inured to disappointment and punishment, where they have opportunities of emulation, one of the greatest advantages which public tuition affords, and where they fee abilities alone lead to fuperiority. In the occurrences of the fchool may be difcovered the dawnings of pre-eminence, which if properly attended to, would afterwards burit out with fplendour in their riper years. In the planner and conductor of their enterprizes may be difcerned the future commander who might hurl confufion on the troops of his enemy; in the bold defender of their exploits, the future ftatesman or orator, in the cautious and plodding fcholar, the future philofopher, in the generous afferter of the rights of his companions, the patriot who might after

wards

wards fupport thofe of his country. In a word, a public fchool is a miniature of the world, where all the paffions which agitate mankind are exhibited upon a imaller fcale; and were parents to attend to the indications of fpirit and inclination which are there displayed, many fatal events that daily occur (owing to the prefent fyftem of education,) would be

avoided. It is however too generally the cafe, that the father of a family lays down the line of life which he wishes his children to purfue, and adheres to it with a pertinacity bordering upon ftupidity, however adverfe and unfuitable the inclinations of these children may be.

(To be concluded in cur next.)

DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEW.

THE prefent Abbey was founded by King David I. in 1136, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary ten years after its foundation. It is moft agreeably fituated in a pleafant and fertile vale, about a mile and a half weft of Old Melrofe, upon the fouth fide of the river Tweed, in the fhire of Roxburgh, and prefbytery of Selkirk

This Abbey was a Mother-Mo naftery to all the Houfes of the Ciftertian Order in Scotland; the Monks were brought from the A bbey of Ricvalle in Yorkshire. It was amply endowed by King David its founder, and the Charter of foundation was confirmed by Prince Henry his fon, from which it appears that he gave to it all the lands of Melrofe, Eldun of Dernewic, Galtownfide, Galtownfide haugh, and Galtownfide-wood, and many privileges in the for.fts of Selkirk and Traquair, particularly betwixt the waters of Galla and Leeder.

Many Abbots of this Monaftery were remarkable for their piety and learning; among these the most eminent was Waldevus the fecond Abbot, who was a fon of King David the founder. He was elected Bishop of St Andrews, but declined accepting the See, faying he had washed his feet, and could not contaminate

them again with the duft of earthly cares; to his extraordinary piety the monks have added the fupernatural power of working miracles; his reputation was increafed as a holy man, forafmuch as Ingrani 3ishop of Glasgow, and four Abbots, upon opening his grave twelve years after his burial, found his body entirely uncorrup ted; he was canonized by the Church of Rome, and many offerings were made at his tomb in the Church of this Monaftery.

After the reformation Queen Mary granted this Abbey, with all its lands and revenues, to James Earl of Bothwell, who forfeited it on account of treason. It was afterwards granted to James Douglafs, fecond son of William Douglafs, of Lochleven. It was alfo given to Sir John Ramfay as a reward for his refcuing King James VI. from the attempts of the Earl of Gowry, and his brother at Perth. James VI. afterwards beflowed it on Sir Thomas Hamilton. whom he created Earl of Melrofe in 1619, which title he fome time after exchanged for that of Haddington.

It is at prefent in the poffeffion of his Grace the Duke of Buccleugh, to whofe refpect and tafte for those venerable remains of antiquity the public is indebted for its prefent exiftence.

THE

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THE LIFE OF MIRABEAU.

From Biographical Anecdotes of the Founders of the French Revolution, vol. 2.

THE name and family of Mirabeau have been illuftrious both in arms and letters. Born with an athletick conftitution, he also received strong paffions from nature; the paffions were in fome measure the inheritance and diftinctive characteriftiek of his houfe. Education, by a proper direction of them, might have made a great man of him; conftraint, on the other hand, by reftraining their flight, and repreffing their developement, could not prevent him from becoming a famous one: he had a mixture of both in his compofi

tion.

He was indebted for his genius and his faults to his misfortunes. The Hercules of the revolution had his Euriftheus: the thorns that oppofed his career were ftrewed by the jealous mediocrity of his father, who to the pride of an author joined the harshnefs of the head of a fect.

The first years of Mirabeau's youth were spent under the direction of an able preceptor called Poiffon; and his fon, at prefent known by the name of Lachabeauffiere, who has distinguished himself by fome theatrical pieces, received his inftruction at the fame time, and partook of the fame leffons: he has fince claimed a translation of Tibullus, attributed to Mirabeau.

Mirabeau practifed with facility and delight the various exercifes for ftrengthening and improving the body; his physical was more regular than his moral education.

At the age of fourteen, he left his tutor, from whom he had imbibed a knowledge of the clafficks, and a fervent defire for further inftruction, Sent afterwards to a boarding-fchool, he ftudied mathematicks during two years, and cultivated with fuccefs the agreeable arts of mufic and drawing. -Young, but tormented with the

Ed. Mag. Jan. 1799.

defire of obtaining celebrity, he published an eloge on the great Condé, and fome pieces of poetry. But he wanted a guide to direct his first flight, to regulate his tafte, and to rein in the wanderings of an ardent` genius.

Locke became that guide. Mirabeau has often confeffed that he was indebted for his progrefs, to the writings of this author. It was in them he found that luminous, forcible, irrefiftible logick, with which his works abound, and without which there cannot be any real eloquence.

An order from his father, and the force of custom, made him embrace the military profeffion. From a school, he repaired to a garrifon. It was beyond a doubt at this seminary of the young nobility, that an excellent difpofition was perverted, and the prefage of talents, ftifled by vices, which it was the custom to applaud and honour..

fa.

It was there that youth was fhioned to the infolence of tyranny, and the meanness of flavery. His fenfibility at length awoke : love converted him into a new being, and his first paffion, announced by ftormy fymptoms, was marked with all the peculiarities of his character.

The father of Mirabeau was alarmed: this husband, who fquandered away his fortune in a fcandalous man ner among miftreffes, became the inflexible tyrant of the tender paffion of his fon, whom he caufed to be fhut up in the fort of the isle of Rhé; he was actually on the point of forcing him to embark for the Dutch colonies, a fate referved for the vileft of the Europeans, of whom they are at once the receptacle and the tomb. The friends of the Marquis de Mirabeau, however, prevented him from executing fo bafe an affaffination. It was this firft abufe of authority that B

fixed

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