number difficult to be obtained in a Republic, which had only 20,000 citizens. The period of exile, which lafted ten years, commenced in ten days after condemnation; but it was not followed by the fequeftration or confifcation of property. There were determined periods alfo for pronouncing the fentence of oftraciin, which could never extend, at one time, to more than one perfon. An intrigue, which threatened the liberty of Alcibiades and Nicias, was reflected upon its contemptible author, who was banished. This condemnation,hitherto glorious, funk into degradation and was for ever abolished. It was the apparent honour which attended it, that induced Montefquieu to defend the law of ostracism; but Legrand-Delaleu proves, in contradiction to the opinion of Montefquieu, that this law, which was esfentially unjuft, deprived Athens of the talents and virtues which conftituted its moft fplendid ornaments; and that a Ο number of men, among whom Pericles may be particularly mentioned, illustrious from their great fervices, but not poffeffing the more than human virtue of quietly yielding to a fentence dictated by the caprice of the people, or, more correctly speaking, by the intrigues of their enemies, filled the ftate with tumult and confufion. Thence he concludes, that this law cannot have existed in a well organized Government. Baudin, whofe lofs is mourned by the Inftitute, Legrand, and a multitude of Publicists, have written against oftracifm, which, though not by law, yet, in fact, has been transported from Athens to France. All of them easily demonftrate that oftracism, instead of being a security for freedom, is only an inftrument of tyranny. The law ought to ftrike the guilty; but a good fyftem of legiflation neither can or ought to admit of oftracifm. (The other Claffes in our future Numbers.) From the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. CROMWELL AND WISHART. LIVER CROMWELL, when in Scotland, was of courfe extremely delious to gain over the Prefbyterians, who faw through, and were extremely adverfe to his ambitious fchemes. A minifter of the name of WISHART, in one of the churches of Glafgow, had the courage to inveigh against the regicides in the prefence of OLIVER, furrounded by the obedient fatellites of his power. A general officer, who fat next to Oliver, enraged at the unceremonious freedom of the preacher, afked him, in a whifper loud enough to be heard by others, if he fhould rife and fhoot the old dog. No, faid Oliver, fhaking his head, leave him to me. After divine fervice, Oliver fent to invite the clergyman to fupper, when, inftead of the fevere reprimand which he expected, he received Oliver's thanks for the ability and zeal which he had difplayed in his fermon; lamenting at the fame time that his zeal, in fome refpects, was not more under the guidance of knowledge. He then endeavoured to fet Mr. Wishart right in feveral inaterial particulars, in which he was mis-informed or miftaken. Supper being served up, Oliver role, and, by way of a grace, poured forth a long prayer with his ufual fanctimonious cant and grimace. After fupper, he repeated the fame pharifaical farce. In fhort, fo dextroufly did the arch-hy pocrite work on the good man's honeft fimplicity, that he went home quite cons vinced of the purity and uprightness of Oliver's intentions; and being a very popular preacher, he contributed greatly to remove the ground lefs prejudices and jealoufies, as he now thought them, which many of his countrymen entertained against Oliver and his party. DENUNCIATION OF LOUIS XIV. A MR. STIRLING, who was Minifter of the Barony Church of Glasgow, during the war, which this and other countries maintained against the infatiable ambition of Louis XIV. in that part of his prayer which related to public affairs, ufed to befeech the Lord, that he would take the haughty tyrant of France and thake him over the mouth of hell; " but good Lord," added the worthy man, "dinna let him fa” in. This curious prayer having been mentioned to Louis, he laughed heartily at this new method of punishing ambition, and frequently afterwards gave, The good Scotch Parfon, as a toaft. Both the above anecdotes were communicated to the writer by two gentlemen from Glafgow, one of the fons of Mr. Stirling's immediate fucceffor, Minifter of the Barony church. as SIN SINGULAR CONCEALMENT. In the reign of Charles II. the prefbyterians in Scotland, who firft recalled the faithless monarch, and placed him on the throne of that kingdom, were rewarded, after his complete reftoration, by the enactment and barbarous execution of fevere penal laws against them. Many of them, in confequence, fled to the mountains with their preachers. Of this number was a Mr. DAVID WILLIAMSON, a very Famous preacher, who was particularly obnoxious to the government, and was hunted continually by parties of dragoons, like a hart upon the mountains. Hence came the name of Hill preachers, other wife called Cameronians, from their leader Mr. Cameron, who was the firft feparatift from the prefbyterian conformifts of that reign. Master DAVID, or Mejs DAVID, as the Scottish clergy were then often called, being clofely purfued one night, took refuge in the houfe of a lady of good Fashion, which he had no fooner entered, than the dragoons came up. The lady was in great perplexity on this trying occafion; but, as the fex often poffels attonishing prefence of mind, fue immediately refolved to put him to bed with her daughter, a young lady of great beauty. She thought that the place which would be leaft fufpected; and could not imagine, that a man of his cloth and character, furrounded with bloody executioners, who inftantly murdered their unfortunate victims, could be capable of any thing injurious to her daughter's innocence. Mafter David was accordingly put to bed to the young lady, booted and fpurred, and cloathed as he was, with the addition only of a woman's night-cap. The troopers having searched every corner of the house, at last went towards the young lady's bed-chamber. The mother, with admirable fpirit and addrefs, told them, that her daughters were in bed, and that the hoped, as they were foldiers and gentlemen, they would offer no rudenels to unprotected females. She then, with an air of freedom, opened the door. They went in, fearched a little about the room, and, then foftly opening the cur tains, they were fatisfied, by the appear. ance of the head cloaths, that their prey was not there; and fo very modeftly retired. But as they were to lodge in the neighbourhood, fhe was obliged to leave Master David in quiet poffeffion of bis concealment, for the rest of the night. Thus the faved her preacher; but he was to far mistaken in her judgment of his MONTHLY MAG. NO. 57. gifts, that he was forced, a fhort time after, to give her daughter to him in marriage, to fave them both from public fcandal and ruin. Some years afterwards, the perfecution having abated, Mr. Williamfon was fent to London, as one of the Commifioners from the General Affembly of Scotland, to the King. His Majefty, who had heard the ftory, was curious to fee this wonderful man; and accordingly Mafter David and his fpoufe were invited to private audience; for the thought it right not to expofe her husband to temptation, and accordingly attended him on all his journies. The merry monarch, being fully fatisfied of the truth of their narration, declared very frankly that, when he was in the oak, after the battle of Worcester, the most beautiful woman in Great Britain would have been in no danger from him; and then difmiffed them very favourably. Mr. Williamfon was afterwards one of the minifters of Edinburgh, where he died at an advanced age, and with a respectable character, of which the author of this article gives no other particulars. FRAGMENT FROM THE JOURNAL OF A VERY DESERVING RUSSIAN OFFICER. In the year 1770, the Ruffians laid fiege to Lemnos, and in a fhort_time obliged the fortrefs to capitulate. Eight hoftages were fent to the camp as fecurity for the capitulation. But the Turks, who were to march out with the honours of war, not having a fufficient number of tranfports to get off in immediately, delayed the furrender fo long under this pretext, till fuddenly a confiderable fuccour appeared under the command of Afpan Pafha; the Ruffians were now forced to retreat. Count Alexius Orloff therefore abandoned the fort to the Turks,went out to fea again with the fleet, and took the hoftages with him. Soon afterwards he received a letter from the Turkish commander, which in a faithful tranflation runs thus: "From the Fortress of Lemnos, Sept. 28, 1770. "Illuftrious benefactor! courteous and humane ordained of God to the practice of all goodness! Poffeffor of every heroic virtue! Plenipotentiary of her Imperial Majesty of Rutha! Count Orloff. "God bless you to the end of your days! As to us, we are well. "The fortrefs that has been befieged by you, and which you obliged by capitulation to hoit the white flag, and as fecurity for the terms entered into on both fides, eight hoftages are taken away by you, is at preient LI in in my power, and all conditions ceafe and are of no effect; for I am fent by my Sultan to relieve the place; accordingly, I have again hoifted the red flag. Could the inhabitants and their commander a&t according to their own good liking, they would affuredly keep their word; for never yet did a Turk break a capitulation. Therefore, as to what concerns the hostages, I hope with confidence that your great name and heroic courage, fo famed over all the wide world, will oblige you to grant them their liberty." ASSAN PACHA, Captain of the Captains of the Sultan. And Count Orloff fent back the hostages. P. S. The humanity of the Ruffian Chief, and the frank and open conduct of the Turkith, as here exemplified, will inftruct us, that thofe nations whom we are pleased to call barbarous, are not fo. BOSWELL AND JOHNSON. Ir was a conftant custom with Mr. BOSWELL to frequent the coffee-houses, from whence he would repair to the Doctor's lodgings and report to him the news of the day. In one of thefe morning rambles, he had the mortification to perufe feveral fcurrilous paragraphs directed against a late publication of his friend. He purchafed the papers, and hurrying to the Doctor's apartment acquainted him with the circumftance. "Well, Sir," faid the Doctor, "and what have they faid refpecting me?" Mr. Bofwell inftantly proceeded to the perufal of the paragraphs in queftion. Doctor, having heard him to an end, replied peevishly," So, Sir, this is what they fay with regard to myfelf. Do you know what is faid of you?" Mr. Bofwell having answered in the negative, "Why then, I will tell you, Sir," refumed the Doctor. "They fay that I am a mad dog, and that you are a tin cannister tied to my tail.” The EPITAPH on the late Pore; by Mr. DENIS, of Vienna, (the German tranflator of Offian's Poems.) Papa Pius, patria Cæfenas, Angelus ante Acc. Sinc. Sannazarius in Epigram. in Alexandr. VI. Denis. 1 COINCIDENCES. I. Hume and Dryden. THE fly farcafm of Hume against the clergy seems quite in character, but is not original. He fays, note (i) to the first often be fatisfied only by promoting ignovolume, "The ambition of the clergy can and pious frauds; and having got what rance and fuperftition, and implicit faith, Archimedes only wanted (namely, another world on which he could fix his engine) no wonder they move this world at their pleasure." DORAX to the MUFTI. Dryden's Don "Content you with monopolizing heav'n Every one recollects Gray's capital con ceit concerning our English Homer's blindness. He paffed the flaming bounds of space and time: The living throne, the fapphire blaze Johnson contents himself with remarking that, if we fuppofe the blindness caufed by ftudy in the formation of his happily imagined. poem, this account is poetically true, and difefteem for Gray did not prompt him to I am furprised that Johnfon's marked the recollection that the fame fuppofition had been made concerning the Grecian Homer. Pope, in his Prefatory Effay on HoHomer refolved to write "of Achilles, he mer, relates, from Hermias, that when had an exceeding defire to fill his mind with a juft idea of fo glorious a hero: wherefore, having paid all due honours at his tomb, he entreats that he may obtain a fight of him. The hero grants his poet's petition, and rifes in a glorious fuit of armour, which cast so insufferable a splendour that Homer loft his eyes, while he gazed for the enlargement of his notions." And Pope adds, that if this be any thing more than a mere fable, one would be apt to imagine it infinuated his contracting a blindness by too intense application while he wrote his Iliad. ACCOUNT ACCOUNT of a VISIT PAID by BETTI- "I FOUND the converfation of Voltaire," faid Bettinelli, "like his writings. The foul of epigram dwelled on his lips and fparkled in his eyes. They were two flambeaux; in which, as in his difcourfe, I saw, as it were, wit and malice beaning. He had a tyle peculiar to himfelf; and every fentence had either a pleasant or a philofophic turn. "When I arrived at Les Délices, he was in his garden. I approached, and told him my name. "What !" exclaimed he, "an Italian ! A Jefuit! A Bettinelli! The honour is too great for my cottage. I am a mere pealant, as you fee, fhewing me his garden-tool; which was a hoe at one end, and a pruning knife at the other. With thefe I trim and hoe my garden, plant by plant; and my produce is much greater, than that of all the feed I have scattered through books for the good of humanity." "His fingular and grotesque figure made a very unexpected impreffion on me. Under a black velvet cap, defcending as low as his eyes, he wore a large wig, that covered three fourths of his face; which rendered his nofe and chin more pointed and projected. His body was wrapped in a peliffe, from head to foot. His look and fmile were abundantly expreffive. "I teftified the pleasure I felt at finding him in fuch good health; and thus able to brave the rigour of the season. "Oh, you Italians," replied he, "imagine we ought to bury ourfelves in holes, like the rats that inhabit the fummit of thefe mountains, covered with ice and fnow; but your Alps are to us no more than a beautiful perspective view. On the banks of my lake Leman here, defended as I am from the north winds, I envy you not your lakes of Coma and Guarda. In this folitary abode, I live like Catullus in his little ifle of Sirmio. He produced charming elegies, and I good georgics." "Voltaire could never mention Italy, on which he bestowed the moft lavish praife, without fome fatirical remarks on Italian flavery, the inquifition, &c. "The converfation frequently turned on the king of Pruffia. Information was brought him that, after a battle loft, he had beaten the duke Deux-ponts, had raifed the fie es of Nice and Leipfic, and had driven the Auftrians into Bohemia. Is it poffible!" exclaimed Voltaire. "That man aftonishes me continually. I am forry I have quarrelled with him." He admired in the king the rapidity of Cæfar; but his admiration always finished with foane epigram on Cæfar. He had a monkey that he called Luc, and he diverted himfelf with frequently giving this name to the king of Pruffia. I expreffed some furprife at this; and he answered, "Do you not fee how my monkey bites every body, and then laughs?" "In 1760, at his own requeft, I fent him my remarks on fome mistakes that had efcaped him in his Universal History, relative to Italy and Italian literature. He returned me thanks, in a letter; but, as ufual, launching his thunder against the inquifition, Italian flavery, English freedom, and the hypocrify of the miniftry of Geneva. His letter, concluded with this passage: "Have you heard of the poems of the king of Pruffia? He, you will find, is no hypocrite. He fpeaks of the Chriftians as Julian once spoke. It should seem that the Latin and Greek churches, headed by Soltikow and Daun, will immediately excommunicate him with cannon balls; but he will fight like a devil in his defence. You and I know he will be damned; but we are not quite fo fure that he will be beaten." "I was frequently led to reflect on the fruitfulness of his mind, contrafted with the meagreness of his body. It is true, he often repeats what he had faid before; but this is occafioned by the extreme facility with which he writes. What author ever produced fo many original things; many of them profoundly meditated, and all of them happily expreffed ? "I have fometimes thought, that his flow and interrupted manner of speaking was to gain time, till he could recollect fomething which pleased him to say; for this manner was become habitual; fo that, hearing him fpeak, we might imagine he was reading one of his own works. "When converfing, he frequently mingled Italian phrafes, and quotations from Taffo, and Ariofto; but he never could forget his French accent. I one day testified my astonishment at the ill treatment he had bestowed, in his Effay on Epic Poetry, on Ariofto, whofe mind appeared fo congenial with that of Voltaire. This produced a difcuffion, in which it was not difficult to prove, that the author of Orlando Furiofo was a great poet; that he did not deferve to be treated as a mere jocofe fantastic writer, and that his faults were the faults of his age, and not of his genius. Voltaire promiled to read Ariosto LI 2 again; again; and, in a new edition of his Essay, he has fpoken of him with more propriety and justice. "He read fome of my poems, and faid fome very flattering things, particularly of the eulogiums I had written on the king of Prulia, Galileo, and Newton. He continued to declaim against fuperftition, the inquifition, the court of Rome, the monkih orders, &c. and repeated what cardinal Paffionei faid to a traveller, "It is miraculous that the Church has left nothing this year." "I one day went to dine with him, at his new feat at Ferney. After dinner, he said,—" I have eaten too much; I shalt not live to inhabit my new purchase. But we must enjoy life. I am inclined to gormandize, and fo was Horace; trahit fua quemque voluptas. The child must be rocked till it falls afleep." "You perceive he belonged to the Epicurean tribe; though in fome refpects he was a Diogenes. His wifh was to be fometimes Socrates, at others Ariftippus. One day, he would fay he was dying; the next, that he was indebted to Tronchin for life and health, though in the fame breath he would ridicule phyfic and the physician. ORIGINAL POETRY. their hands By The burning ploughshare thro' the Tufcan glebe Purfued its fultry way: The fmoking plains, Refresh'd by tepid fhow'rs, receiv'd the pledge Of future luxury. The tangling vine, Nurs'd by their toil, grew fibrous: the brown rind, Dried by the parching gale, wove clofe and firm, Guarded the rich and nect'rous diftillation. Empurpled by the fun, the labourers preft toil Enfure the night's repofe?--fweet recompence, That well befits the PEASANT's guiltlefs toil! Could THEY, when down the crimfon plains of light The lord of day retir'd, when ev'ry bird, BOUR's fons Shake from their freckled brows the ev'ning dew, And homeward, blithefomely, return to quaff The honey'd cup of joy? Could THEY fufpire Health's breezy hour; on THEIR OWN Cultur'd plains Reap the full harvest, pen their fleecy store; Or, as the night-mist gather'd o'er the heath, Call home their wand'ring herds ?—O! fuff'ring CARLE! When the rich vintage heap'd the lordly board, Moiften'd the feafted lip, or flashing foam'd Dealt out with freezing fcorn, or brutal pride; Scarce fcreen'd thy bofom from the wintry blaft; (The very Dogs of PRINCES warmer houfed!) While the long hour, 'till morning's dawn, ftole on In fullen fadness, or in fruitless pray'r! Turn to the marble PALACES of PRIDE, The velvet hangings and the golden fhows, That made their tables groan! Behold their feafts Of lufcious fruits, and blood-inflaming spice; Their oily fyrups of ambrofial flow'rs, Conferves, thrice effenc'd in Phoenician dews, Fit for the fick'ning palate of the wretch By. |