vince of South Carolina, seeing it was of the first importance to his future fuccefs? Why did he not disarm every fufpected, and confine every dangerous, perfon, and fuffer the loyalifts to embody themselves, for the protection of their country? When he found that he could not overtake his retreating enemy, and that his own force was wafting with excefs of fatigue, while the rebel army was increasing in numbers and strength, why did he not halt, and, taking poft among thefe numerous loyalifts, which he himself has confeffed were in North Carolina, cover them until they were embodied, and had joined him, agree ably to his promife, and their fanguine expectations? Why would he not accept of the tendered fervices of the loyalifts on their own reasonable terms, not unless they would become common foldiers, and fubmit to terms which every freeman muft deteft? And, in as much as he knew his defeated enemy was about to return to the conqueft of the province which he had left in a state of infecurity, and to fuatch from his brow the laurels he had gained, why did he not return alfo to fave and protect them?

This rapid, rafh, and unprecedented march, fruitlefs in its effect, and moft destructive to an object which ought to have been pursued; the wanton waste of men, and lots of time, which ought to have been employed in defending a country conquered, and in profecuting his further conquefts agreeably to all the ufage of war, always reminds me of the Hare and the Tortoife in the fable, or of an unskilful rider, who pushes his horfe out of breath in the beginning of the race, and then fuffers his antagonist to walk at his leifure to the goal before him.

SIR,

FABRICIUS.

IF an Addison, or a Steele, had met with the following materials, I fhould not despair of seeing them worked up in a manner more fitted to appear in your useful paper. As it is, I can only exprefs the pleasure they have afforded me; and with that the ideas they inculcate may be as lafting on the minds of your readers as I am perfuaded their excellence demands.

The ftory of them is fimply this: Monfieur d'Arnaud's writings had defervedly many admirers, for the pathetic fpirit that pervades them. An inge

nious wag of the province of Bretague, in France, faw them, and "to humour the joke," he determined to try his strength upon the amiable author's feelings, by fuch a femblance of truth as few would have thought of. He affumed, therefore, the character of a Reformed Magdalen, and intruded upon Mr Arnaud the original of the following letter, No I.

It is no wonder that a narrative so appofite and well circumftanced found credit with a liberal mind, emulous of that good which his writings were calculated to produce. Decipimur fpecie recti; and the beft hearts are generally the most incapable of fufpicion. For my own part, I can allow the young wit of Bretagne more than nine tenths of a pardon, for an attempt to impofe; and which, by drawing forth fuch a reply as it received, (No II.), brings fo much honour to his Parifian correfpondent, and will, I hope, equally benefit and amuse your readers. I am, &c. INGENUUS. Lond. Chron.

NUMBER I.

Tranflation of a fictitious Letter written by a young gentleman, under the charader of a Female Penitent, and addressed to the celebrated Mr ARNAUD, Author of the Trials of Sentiments [les Epreuves de Sentiment.]

To Monfieur ARNAUD. AT length, Sir, you have prevailed:

I am

You have fnatched me from horror and debauchery. What twenty rela tions could not do, you, Sir, alone have effected, by opening my eyes to my patt conduct. How powerful are your wri tings! Behold in me, the fruits of Ju lia's ftory. Plunged, like her, into lelfannihilation, and rendered incapable of tafting that tranquillity of foul, which is the portion of a blainelefs life;-like her too, have I feen my errors. not afraid to make an avowal of my faults to him who has fo happily delivered me from them; nor to make him the confi dent of that fenfibility, and thofe impreffions, of which a heart, once educa ted in virtue, is fufceptible. In propor tion as I perufed your Julia, I felt my felf harrowed with remorfe! Every cif cumftance marked out my own charac ter; and juft at that moft pathetic apo ftrophe, where you feem, as it were, addrefs yourfelf to me, the volume drop

ped

ped from my hand to the ground. I faw myself in the number of fuch wretched females! my tears began to flow; thofe melting tears of confcious penitence, which can even difarm the most implacable bofoms; much more those of one's own relations. It is impoffible for me, Sir, to defcribe to you the joy with which my mother was affected at this event. It would require abilities like your own, who beft know how to give life and colour to these soft emotions of the foul. I have now, for near fix months, lived in the bofom of my family; fafely fheltered from the malignity of a metropolis, which with you I juftly call the ruin of innocence." Great, indeed, are the obligations which I owe you, and which can only be equalled by thofe fentiments of veneration and eteem, wherewith I remain, Sir, The most respectful and penitent of Women.

my

NUMBER II.

The ANSWER.

MADAM, Paris, 7th May 1779. Efteem myself much your debtor for the reward which you beftow upon feeble endeavours; and am happy to think, that the humble agency of my pen has brought you back again to that virtue for which you feem fo peculiarly formed. I will not conceal from you, that your letter drew from me the tears of joy. It has even checked the current of my own painful forrows; and, had I never through life enjoyed happiness till the prefent moment, this this would reward me for every ftroke of fortune! They certainly who, like you, know fo well how to repent, and are able fo for cibly to exprefs it, deferve the higheft praife; and, believe me, your foul will now probably contract more energy and firmness than ever, to quit that fanctuary of nature to which it is returned; for fuch is the appellation we ought to give a refpectable family, which at once kindly affords us the leffons and examples of virtue. Tell me, Madam, are you not a thousand times more happy than before your generous refolutions were confirmed?-Your days are ferene; your nights are free from trouble. In a word, you have no longer occafion' to blud at your own felf. On the contrary, you can fweetly indulge to the emotions of a noble repentance. You can fay to yourfelf, I have done wrong; but I

66

have been enabled to repair it."-And I repeat it, that a foul which has once fallen a victim to the weakness infeparable from human nature, may fometimes become ftronger in the end, than one which has never erred. With virtue, Madam, we can boldly face all the affaults of life; and, Heaven knows, it abounds with them. At the moment in which I have the honour of writing to you, I labour amidst the frowns of misfortune. I once enjoyed a decent competency; I have an excellent wife, and a child, whom I very dearly loved. But a fet of wretches have lately made a ftab at my happiness, by defrauding me of property that should have produced me monies, and which I have been obliged to pay for, without having ever received it. Judge then of my fituation. And yet, Madam, I have the courage to live, though I experience the want of real friends; the love of virtue -my great fupport-is ftill my nourishment and my comfort. Do not imagine that it is a pedant who writes to you; 'tis a man, who entertains the highest efteem for your fex; who is yet in the fummer of his days, and is not infenfible that love is a moft feducing paffion; but he knows too, that the pure pleasures are the first also in rank and value; and you have made him feel the exquifite tranfports they afford. Your return to your family is a picture that will be continually before my eyes; and if ever I vifit your province, be affured, that your fociety fhall be the firft object of my inquiries. Do not be my admirer, Madam, I merit not fo flattering a fentiment; but let me be at least a fharer in your esteem. Nor am I unworthy of this return, from the lively intereft which I feel in every thing that concerns your welfare, and from thofe pleafing fenfations with which you have inspired me. Richardfon, that great writer, who by his excellent romance of Clariffa contributed fo much to the benefit of mankind, was used to say, that "if he had been fortunate enough to melt down but one heart, and turn it to the fide of virtue, he fhould die contented." This, Madam, I equally owe to you, and it attaches me to you by the moft lafting ties. For I prefume to confider you as my own work; and entertain the idea as the moft honourable trophy of my writings.

I am, Madam, with great refpect, your moft obedient humble fervant,

E 2

ARNAUD.

30

THERE are fome problems which, from their nature and extent, appear at firft view to lie beyond the reach of the human faculties. Perhaps that which the author of this work attempts to folve, may be pronounced to be of this kind. There are fuch boundless va rieties in temper, manners, capacity, củ. ftoms, laws, forms of government, and modes of religion among mankind, and fuch a combination of caufes operates to produce these varieties, that it feems an undertaking too vaft for any individual, fully to explain in what manner, and determine in what degree, these effects are to be afcribed, to climate, the fituation and nature of a country, population, the nature of food, and way of life.

:

Some light, however, may undoubtedly be caft upon these subjects by an attentive obfervation of numerous facts, induftriously collected, and properly arranged and this is all that Dr Falconer profeffes to have attempted. He gives out his work to the public, "not as a complete difcuffion of the fubje&t, but as a collection of fuch obfervations as occurred to him in confidering it.”

In treating of the firft fubject, climate, he confiders the effects of a warm, a cold, and a temperate climate, with refpect to the feveral particulars above enumerated. In this detail, we frequently find his opinions well fupported by facts: but fometimes they appear to reft upon little more than bare conjecture; and at other times, the application of facts to his purpofe feems far-fetched and unfatisfactory. And indeed it was impoffible it should be otherwise, in a work in which a very extenfive plan is first laid down, in fupport of which authorities are afterwards to be induftriously collected from every quarter. Out of the great variety of mateals which are brought together in this

part of the work, we shall select what our author has faid concerning the ef fects of a warm climate on manners:

1. General fate of morals in different ral, it is, I believe, agreed, that the climates.] In point of morality in gene

manners of cold climates far exceed those

of warm. In the latter, the paflions are naturally very strong, and likewife kept in a perpetual ftate of irritation from the high degree of fenfibility that prevails, which caufes a great multiplication of crimes, by multiplying the objects of temptation. Many defires and paffions arife there, from caufes that would either never occur in a cold climate, or be easily refifted; but in a warm one, the paffion or inclination is ftronger, and the power of restraint lefs. In cold climates, the defires are but few, in comparison, and not often of a very immoral kind and thofe repreffed with lefs difficulty as they are feldom very violent. In tem perate climates, the paffions are in a middle ftate, and generally inconftant in their nature; fufficiently ftrong, how ever, to furnish motives for action, tho not fo powerful as to admit of no re ftraint from confiderations of prudence, juftice, or religion. But it will be pro per to treat this matter more in detail.

$2. Effects of the fenfibility infpired by a hot climate on the morals.] The qualities of a people, in this refpect, are derived in a great measure, from the difpofition the confideration of which, will enabl us to account, in fome degree, for the differences of their moral character. The people then of a hot climate, poffefling great fenfibility, are liable to all its ef fects on their actions and behaviour.

$3. Emotions of paffion.] Hence the inhabitants of hot climates are difpofed to be quarrelfome, paffionate*, litigious, and revengeful. They are, as it has been before obferved, cruel from the fame caufe. In fome rare inftances, indeed, where a great degree of fenfibility has been united with great abilities and goodness of heart, the happiest effects

* Amm. Marcellin. lib. xxvi. cap. 6. ; Cleg horn's Introduction to his account of Minorca; Addison's Travels; Account of Naples ; Du Halde's History of China.

have been produced. The character of the celebrated Marquis Beccaria in Italy is an inftance.

have, fuch an idea of his own importance, as to ftand in no need of the applause of others; but when the feelings are not fo quick, this felf-eftimation is not fufficient, and the praise of others becomes requisite, and forms the object of defire. Strabo describes the vanity of the French nation, and its effects on their conduct, in terms that exactly fuit their prefent character. They have, fays that writer, added to their ignorance and ferocity, a great degree of arrogance and folly, and affectation of ornament. They wear golden chains about their necks, and bracelets about their arms and wrifts ; and those who are in honourable stations, wear garments dyed and variegated with gold. In confequence of this levity of difpofition, they are, when fuperior in war, extremely infolent and overbearing; but when defeated, stupid and help. lefs. Strabon. lib. 4. Thus the Frenchman afpires with eagerness after what the Spaniard would efteem a derogation.

4. Pride.] Pride alfo appears to be a vice of hot climates, derived from the Lame fource. This we see in almost every people in fuch a fituation. Numberlefs fances of this are to be found in the cumftances attending the eastern moLachs. Herodotus * tells us, that "the Perfians esteem themselves much more worthy in every thing than the reft of Len; and others to participate of virtue only in proportion to their nearness of Etuation, always accounting thofe the woft and the most base who inhabit fartheft from them." The term of barbaraa was formerly beftowed, even by the Greeks and Romans, on all nations except their own: and what is more remarkable, and which shews how deep this idea was rooted, no lefs a man than Ariftotle imbibed a prejudice of this kind foftrong ly, as to lay it down in his works †, that Es countrymen were originally formed by nature to be fuperior, and command the rest of mankind. The map of the world in China, was a fquare plate, the greater part of which was occupied by the provinces of this vaft empire, leaving on its fkirts a tew obfcure corners, into which the wretched remains of mankind were fuppofed to be driven. If you bave not the knowledge of our books, or the ufe of our letters, faid the learned Chinefe to the European miffionary, what literature or what fcience can you have? The pride of the Spaniards in Europe has also been long known.-I have taken thefe inftances of national pride from improved and polished nations, that it might not be afcribed to ignorance, which, independently of climate, produces the fame effects. Thus the Ruffians, when is a barbarous ftate, called all other prople by the name of Nemei, or dumb na ; and held them in a proportionable hare of contempt: but when improvements prevailed among them, this difpotion vanifhed; and at prefent, foreign ers are no where better received or repected than in Ruffia.

As the heat of the climate diminishes, as in France, this pride is changed into vanity. This I take to be owing to a decreafe of the fenfibility: where this is very great, every man has, or pretends to + On Rhetoric.

•Lib. I.
Du Halde, vol. 1. p. 95、

$5. Gallantry and intrigue.] From the fame fenfibility arifes the excess of those paffions that are connected with love, Thus intrigue and debauchery with women are well known to be carried to a high degree in warm climates. Even marriage is held but as a flight bar, and often confidered, where the women are at liberty, rather as a pretence for greater freedom of behaviour, than as a reftraint *.

$6. Jealousy.] From the fame caufe arifes jealoufy, which in fuch a country, efpecially where pride predominates, is carried to a great height. The glory of ancient defcent and great family are fenfibly injured by infidelity of this kind; and therefore against such dishonour the guard is ftri&t. But in France, where vanity prevails, and the paffion of love is not quite fo powerful, jealoufy has little place. Were a fine woman to be confined there, as formerly in Spain, or in the Eaft, her husband would lose the gratification of his vanity, in being known to poffefs a woman endowed with fuch qualities. The admiration paid to her, is to him a fource of pleasure, and enhances his confequence by the respect paid to him on her account.

* Vide the Life of Petrarch, and the Lives of the Troubadours, elegantly tranflated by Mrs Dobfon: where it appears, that addreffes of love to married women were as common at that time in France and Italy as at prefent.