are particularly fcrupulous in enforcing all the focial kind of obligations. Confiftency is often as hard to learn as wifdom. XXXV. The hiftory of the deliverance of the Ifraelites out of Egypt, their tedious journeying in the wilderness, and their final happy establishment in the land of Canaan, and in which the Deity is a visible and avowed leader and governor; is (if not an intended type, as many divines think, yet) a molt fignificant reprefentation of the heavenly fupport the faithful and patient fhall affuredly receive in their pilgrimage through life. And does not this history, on many accounts, contain the belt inftruction for that end which could be offered in the then degenerate state of the world? For, as temporal biftory was to adumbrate the fpiritual things of God, temporal rewards might aptly prefigure the fpiritual rewards of another life. To the Jews, indeed, a future ftate was not directly difclofed. But their inducements to due obedience gained from the various leffans given them in the divine difpenfations, of which they were moft visible objects, were the fame in kind, though not in degree, with thofe reveal ed at the coming of Chrift. In this manner might the fcripture types and biftorical examples teach the Jew, as, indeed, they still continue to edify the Chriftian. They speak as plainly to the ignorant as to the learned; and though fects may differ as to the explanations of particular recondite paffages of the Sacred Text, yet all muft agree in what was one end and aim in ordaining thefe fingular and carefully recorded facts. XXXVI. limity in the fimple terms, Ride on. The whole process of crowning a King must undoubtedly be grand, but the point of highest fublimity is, probably, in the inftant of placing the crown upon his head. It is the fame when an officer draws his fword to head his of condemnation; and in a number of troop; when a judge puts on the cap other little acts, which are thus calculated to affect the mind, and to which, therefore, every poet will pay great attention, if he have true taste, due feeling, and a proper knowledge of human nature. It is not great magnitude, or what greatly exercifes the faculties to comprehend it; nor elevated fentiments, nor heroic deeds, that are the fole fources of the fublime. It has much to do with facts and customs even of the most trivial kind, if, in themselves, they be fitly calculated to strike the imagination; that is, to ftrike it in a way which may be termed poetical. Milton has in fome place these words, Twice ten thousand, (I the number beard); in which the parenthefis, trifling as it may feem, is very fublime. In the Pfalms it is faid, Ride on because of the word of truth, &c.; where there is fub (To be continued.) ADVENTURES of a PEN. THERE is always a tafte in writing peculiar to the times; and biography feems to be the molt fashionable fpecies of modern literature; but like every other, it is rendered lefs eftimable by the attempts of common imitators. It is unfortunate, that the great cannot enjoy the triumph of a new invention in their ftables, nor the beautiful any innovation in their drefs, (which they defign, to diftinguish themselves from the inferior world,) because the unqualified vulgar affert their privilege of copying the follies of their betters: and before the ladies have made their fecond appearance in public, they have the mortification to fee their mutilated facks, or altered ruffles, trailing at the trains and dangling at the elbows of their chambermaids or tradefwomen. And thus it is in compofition; for an author no fooner produces fomething original, and admirable, into the world, but a fwarm of imitators copy his grains of fentiment and language at fecondhand, with equal abfurdity and impropriety, as the chambermaid the airs and elegancies of her lady's dress and manners. The exquifite fimplicity of Gray, and the uncommon fublimity of Milton, has been attempted in ten thoufand elegies and poems; and because Smollet, Cibber, and a few others, have fucceeded in presenting a picture of their lives and conduct to the public, every infignificant emmet who crawls upon the face of the earth has thought proper to blot paper, and be the hero of an useless tale. The origin of history is noble: it was formerly a generous tribute, which men of genius and curiofity paid to the names and reputation of their ancef tors; tors: it was a faithful regifter, in which was recorded the virtues and heroic achievements of fuch as had marked their lives with particular honours, and signalized themselves in the fenate, on the ocean, or in the field: the magnanimity of the warrior, the loyalty of the patriot, and the wifdom of the counsellor, was equally applauded, and their examples recommended to our imitation. The hiftorian held up to our view the mirror of truth, and pointed out to us fuch actions as déferved regard and immortality and by bis affiance the offspring of the great and good, even to his lowest defcendants, might be touched with hereditary ardour, and emulate the excellence of their progenitors. But history is now degraded to romance; and to commemorate the intrigues of a mif. trefs, or the riots of a toper, to celebrate fuch beings as have never diftinguished themfelves by any efforts either of manual, mental, or mechanic fupe. riority, is generally the bufinefs of modern biographers. Amidit fuch an infinite variety of examples to keep my endeavours in countenance, I surely shall be pardoned if I relate a feries of circumstances, which however ludicrous they may appear, yet often happen in real life. I was involved in the foregoing reflections, when I (the other night) retired to repofe, and foon after drop ping to fleep, imagination continued my ideas, and in one of her accustomed whimfies reprefented the Pen with which I had been writing burkjquing the hiftoric mode, and (starting from its standish) addreffing me as follows: The truth of your own obfervations, Sir, has occationed my prefump tion. A Guinea has given to the world, in the history of his life, four volumes of amufement; and a Halfpenny has related his adventures in a strain of fentiment and pleafantry: why then should not the Pen (whofe words are generally marked in more lafting characters) communicate to the public the great events of an active and induftrious exilence? Yet fhould thefe examples have no weight, I hope you will pardon the liberty, in confideration of my having long ferved you with irremittable fide lity. My pedigree baffles the curiofity of hittorians, and is, indeed, unknown to the whole race of lineage-mongers; one of my great ancestors being the first feather in the wing of that very goofe which preserved the capital of Rome; a fecond defcendant was the companion of Virgil in his ftudious hours, affifting him in the composition of those elegant poetic leffons of piety and patriotifm; and a third, fome centuries nearer the prefent times, grew upon a gander in the River Avon, and afterwards became at once the friend of Shakspeare and mankind, as he had a principal concern in the tranfcription of many of the fublimeft pictures of human nature. Such, Sir, were my forefathers; and let your readers learn from hence, that the feather of a goofe may be as well born as themfelves, and have an equal claim to the dignity of birth. With regard to my prefent family, fome of its branches are itill noble, and in the confidence of princes and ftatefmen, and fome (I must confefs like a faithful historian) are in lefs elevated fituations, one of my uncles being a fort of hackney fcrivener, and a diftant relation bound apprentice to a political writer in the newspaper; (we are all liable to miffortune, you know, Sir.) At the fame time I muft obferve to you (but let it be in a whisper, as it is a dangerous piece of intelligence,) that my elder brother drew up the preliminary articles of the peace, and is now (though he is very infirm) retired into the country with a noble Lord his particular friend: and my fecond brother, without all doubt, wrote a certain number of a certain periodical paper, which has furnihed fo many of the learned in the law with profitable employment. But mum, Sir, I hate vanity, and flatter myfelf that, independent of fuch affittance, I fhall convince you, that I may modeftly hope to acquire fome praife for my own private merit. I cannot, however, resist the defire I have to defcribe my mother, who was taken notice of by all the fwans of the Thames: fhe was remarkable for a fine turn in the arching of her neck; a tranfparent whitenefs, of fo filvery a caft, that her feathers, varying in the fun, had the appearance of cryftal floating in a mirror; fhe had neither awkwardness in her deportment, waddle in her walk, nor clumsiness in her fwimming, but (as if nature had intended her as the modern paragon of her species) every principal quill the produced, (and they were numerous,) fome of which are ftill in employ, has figured eminently in the literary world. One One of peculiar ftrength and force was given to the author of the Adventurer; and one of the whiteft glofs, and most emblematic of the purity of his genius, became the confident of the Laureat Whitehead; and as to myself, Sir, I am at prefent your property; but whether I am equal to my relations must be determined hereafter. I fhall not any longer trouble you, Sir, with any juvenile tranfactions, but ruth" into the midst of things," and date my adventures from the day in which I firft became of fervice to mankind. Although I have obferved, that my brotherhood are in the most honourable employments, and that my mother was at once the object of love and admiration, yet the partook of the fate of mortality, and (in an advanced age) fell a victim to a power, who with equal impartiality ftrikes the monarch and the goofe. The very remains of those who bave been our favourites are dear to us: and though my parent died, I have already told you her feathers were treafured up, and diftributed among the literati of the age. But it was my fate to remain difregarded upon the stump of that wing which, after it was stripped of its noblest plumage, became the privilege of the cook. Yet be not therefore lefs fond of me, Sir; many an acquaintance of yours, no doubt, has rifen from the kitchen to the drawing room; and it is one of your own maxims, that nothing but intrinfic greatnefs can confer fuperiority. While I was under this cloud, I own I underwent the fevereft drudgery and indignity: I was thrown in the common room (promiscuoully) among brushes, and other articles of culinary flavery, now the fport of the fcullion, and now of the footboy, till one day a fervant who was romping with the chambermaid threw me (in a dufty condition) in the face of the fair-one, who, in revenge, toffed me abruptly on the back of the fire, where I lay for fome time enveloped in fmoke, and parching with heat. I was, however, at length refcued from this imminent danger by the coach. man, (for I was in a family of quality ftill,) who had just received a letter, and at that moment wanted to return to it an answer: he fnatched me on the inftant my feathers began to finge with the flame, and I now became a quill. The remainder of the wing he laid carefully down, and withdrew with me to another apartment, above the table, VOL. L. JULY 1806, where I fuffered a copious immersion in pump water, and was foon brought to my ufual tranfparency. The next operation of my deliverer was the reduction of my fize, and the alteration of my fhape: in fhort, honest John mutilated me into a Pen; and though I might not have, at that early period, the most elegant form, or be poffeffed of the power of making the most masterly frokes, yet I was plain, open, and fincere; I could answer the ufeful purpofes of fettling the accounts of corn and turnpikes, and well enough mark the days of spending and receiving. My first employ, after this migration, was to write the fimple dictates of my protector's heart to a young woman whom he loved; and I cannot but ob ferve, to the honour of John, that though I have fince penned many a more florid epitle, I never, in the whole courfe of my adventures, marked a performance with greater fincerity and honour. I began to prefage happinefs from this favourable fetting out, and congratulated myself on the agreeable profpect of enjoying the confidence of the tender and fincere; of imparting the fecrets of commutual hearts, and foothing the impatient lover by gentle intelligence. But alas! Sir, what but an appendage of a goofe would trust to the promises of appearance! I did not long receive the gratifications I had fondly painted to myself; my airy temples of love were demolished, and from being a friend to the tendereft and best affections, I foon became acceffary to fraud and impiety. The coachman had no fooner fuperfcribed his letter to his beloved, than I was placed in a fout machine of horn, whence I was unluckily removed by a wretch who fought the ftable as a fit fituation for his infamous business: for the Butler of the family happening to fee me, employed me to write in a blank leaf as follows: "Mem. Six dozen burgundy, with black fealed corks, for the ufe of my private friends, (if miffed,) to be charged to election riots. "A dozen Coniac: Do. charge. N.B. Coniac, in Jonny's Cellar. "Mem. Silver falvors, cups, and urns, which I prefented (with an alteration of the coats of arms,) to Jonny, must be charged to the account of Black Jack, who is to be turned off for divers fuppofed mifdemeanors. "N.B.My matter is out of claret E Private Private mem. Two dozen only remain ing, to be fent to Jenny Catchim's." Methought, Sir, I felt my feathers ftand ruffled and erect upon my back, at the villainy of this unfaithful steward, and I heartily wifhed for the unaffifted power either to detect him, or to efcape the infamy to which I was invoJuntarily condemned. Having taken thefe minutes, he replaced me in the horn, where I had fcarce time to reflect on the knavery his purposes) he dashed me with a malicious force against a corn-bin on which he had been writing, and damning me for a good-for-nothing fcoundrel, left me gaping, in the agonies of ruin, on the ground. DIONYSIUS. (To be continued.) FETTERS of the PRESS. to which I had been a witnefs, when To the Editor of the European Magazine. a villain of another fort had occafion to ufe me, in the way of aflifting his endeavours. It happened that the next heir of the family, whofe principles were known, and whofe letters were often intercepted, by his father, came one day, with all the tokens of hope and fear, into my recefs, to pen a few lines (in defiance of the perfccutions and vigilance of his parents,) to a fimple creature, whom he was labouring to betray. It was now the crisis of her reputation or difgrace, for the unhappy girl (it feems) had already yielded up her heart, and her virtue began to give way. I was compelled to make an appointment, in terms that were scarce to be refifted by her whofe principles are undetermined; the hour of affignation was midnight, and it was at once the hour of rapture and ruin; for the next morning the rays of truth flafhed too fevere a lightning upon the bofom of the lady, and in the anguish of guilt the added fuicide to prostitution, and her name is remembered by an aged mother with distrac tion. Here a fecond time I began to kindle with indignation at the monfler, and even at myself, to reflect, that I was inftrumental to the feduction of innocence, and the deforation of maiden honour; and furely, Sir, an honet abhorrence of the deed fo wholly poffelfed me, that I twirled myself round in his odious hand, and endeavoured to blot out thofe fentiments, that ought (for the fake of virtue, manhood, and Tociety,) to be obliterated for ever. But this virtuous effort availed nothing, and its confequence nearly threatened my deftruction; for my attempts had no other effect than to make me tranfact again the deteitable business; and my refusal to mark the delufive expreffions on paper (for indeed the ink had froze with horror to the nib) induced the barbarian to deepen the flit of my tongue; alter which (not anfwering SIR, FOR a warning to the prefent, and for the information of future times, I folicit the infertion of the paper I now fend you in the European Magazine. By the politician it will be deemed a curious document, as it proves the arbitrary character of the last of the infatuated Stuarts, and by the hiftorian, as it afcertains the early outrages meditated by the Crown against the liberty of the fabject. King James acceded to the throne the 6th of February, 1685. Viewing the fluctuating and uncertain ftate of the Prefs at that period, and comparing it with the prefent fecurity, we are prompted to exclaim, with CATO, At a Court held at Stationers' Hall, On Friday, the 22d day of May, 1685. WHE HEREAS this Court hath this day. received his Majesties command and pleafure, beating date the 21ft of this inftant, May, by Sir Roger l'Eftrange, Knight, Surveyor of the Prefs, about the licenfing and entering of all books and papers for the better government of the Prefs; together with an exprefs order to communicate the fame unto all the Members thereof: This Court, in obedience to his Majetties command, do, according to their duty, hereby fignify his Majellies royal pleafure to all the Members of this Company, in the words following, viz. "That "That the Mafter and Wardens of the faid Company, without delay, notifie unto all the Members and Dealers in the Trade of the faid Company, that in case of all books and papers hereafter to be imprinted or reprinted, they repair to fuch licenfers in the matters of common law, hiftory and state, he raldry, titles of honour and arms, books of divinity, phyfick, philofophy, arts, and fciences, as did formerly licenfe books and papers refpectively treating of the faid fubjects, before the time of the late fcandalous and intolerable liberties of the prefs. And that in the cafe of fuch mifcellaneous books and papers as fhall not fall properly under thofe heads, it is our further pleafure, that they be fubjected to the cenfure of the Surveyor of the Prefs, or of fuch his deputy or deputies as thall by him, the faid Surveyor, be thereunto authorized and appointed. Requiring the faid Companies exact obedience herein, and their uttermoft care, alfo by necessary orders and bye laws, and by the powers and priviledges of their charter, to provide, that no books or papers be hereafter printed or publish. ed, without fuch licenfe as aforefaid: and that nothing be done, either by themselves, or any of their Members, contrary to the tenor hereof. "Provided always, That all books and papers to be hereafter imprinted fhall be entred in the registry of the Company of Stationers, (books and papers of patent-right onely excepted, and fuch other books and papers as shall be agreed upon betwixt the Surveyor of the Prefs and the faid Company of Stationers.) "And likewife, Provided that no entry be made of any books or papers as aforefaid hereafter to be imprinted, without the name of the licenfer of the faid book or paper unto the faid entry annexed. "It is, moreover, our exprefs will and command, that you (viz. the Surveyor of the Prefs,) exercife all fuch powers as formerly you did, and as lawfully you may, in and about the regulation of the prefs; and that you fee diligently to the execution of thefe our royal commands, and render a report vnto us from time to time, in cafe of any oppofition or difobedience there. unto; THE COMMAND OF THE FRESS BEING A PREROGATIVE INDISPENSA IMPERIAL CROWN. And for fo doing this fhall be your warrant." And you are to take notice, that order is given to the Clerk of this Company, that he henceforth enter no hooks or copies in the register of this Company, but according to the rules and directions above mentioned. And to the end that none may plead ignorance about the authorities to li cenfe the feveral fubjects herein-mentioned, you are to take notice, 1. That all books concerning the common laws of this realm are to be licenfed by the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England for the time being, the Lords Chief Juftices and Lord Chief-Baron for the time being, or one or more of them, or by their or one or more of their appointments. 2. That all books of hiftory, and books concerning the ftate of this realm, or other books concerning any affairs of state or hiftory what foever, are to be licenfed by his Majelties Principal Secretaries of State for the time being, or one of them, or by their or one of their appointments. 3. That all books concerning heraldry, titles of honour and arms, or other wife concerning the office of EarlMarthal, are to be licensed by the EarlMarthal for the time being, or by his appointment; or in cafe there fhall not then be an Earl Marthal, to be licensed by the three Kings of Arms, Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy, or any two of them, whereof Garter Principal King of Arms to be one. 4. That all books of divinity, phylicensed and allowed by the Lord Archfick, philofophy, arts, and fciences, be bishop of Canterbury, and Lord Bishop of them, or by their or one of their of London, for the time being, or one appointments; or by either of the Chancellors or Vice-Chancellors of either of the univerfities of this realm for the time being. The faid Chancellors or Vice-Chancellors of either of the faid univerfities are onely to licenfe fuch books as are to be imprinted or reprinted within the limits of the faid univerfities refpectively, but not in London or elsewhere. And it is ordered by this Court, that all and every the Members of this BLE FROM THE SOVERAINTY OF OUR Company do punctually observe all the E 2 rules |