great difficulty, by the prudent conduct of the Secretary of War..

In this difpofition of the people, who could think of nothing but getting quit of their paper money, all attempts to restore the credit of the notes and of the Actions were of no avail. The Regent lofing all heart, and becoming perfuaded that the blunder of the 21st of May was irre parable, refolved to put a final conclufion to the fyftem, fhut up the Bank altogether, put a stop to the courfe of the notes, bid a long farewell to credit and to confidence, and return to the old mode of raising money by rents upon the Town-Houfe of Paris. In purfuance of the defign, he agreed with the India Company to burn the 400,000 Actions in his poffeffion; and they engaged in return to cancel 1500 millions of the debt due to them by the King, and to give up 39 millions of the intereft payable by his Majefty, the other 9 millions of annual rents being referved partly as the intereft of the original loan of 100 millions, which still fubfifted, and partly on account of other claims remaining against him. The Company, moreover, confented to give up the leafe of the farms, the management and profits of the Mint, and the adminiftration of the Royal Revenues, and engaged to confine themselves folely to the India trade, and the culture of the colonies. These arrangements were fettled by feveral arrets of different dates, one of which entirely fuppreffed all Bank notes, declaring, that, after the 1ft of December, 1720, they were to have no currency whatever.

I

At the time the Bank stopped payment,it was poffeffed of 461,316,410 livres in notes, and 336,011,050 livres in fpecie,, making together 797,327,460 livres, which being deducted from 2,696,400,000 livres, the total amount of notes fabricated, left a remainder of 1,899,072,450 livres of outstanding notes, for which the King was accountable. This fum was ordered to be brought to the Bank within a certain period, to be liquidated by purchasing perpetual annuities at the rates of 2, 2, and 3 per cent. and annuities upon lives at 4 per cent. making altogether an annual intereft of 48 millions; to this fum the 9 millions payable by the King to the Company being added, the refult is 57 millions a year, the total intereft which his Majefty had to pay, instead of 80 millions as at firft; the capital, however, had undergone little alteration, fince the 1,899,072,450 livres of outstanding notes, together with the 100 millions due to the Company, come within a trifle of 2000 millions, the amount of his Majesty's debts, as established by the Vifa in 1716. Thus, in confequence of these arbitrary proceedings, the King was a gainer of more than 23 millions a year; for many neglecting the opportunity of funding their Bank notes within the limited time, in hopes they would again recover their credit, or that better terms might be obtained, great fums of thefe notes were irreparably loft, and remain useless at this day in the poffeffion of individuals.

SIR, HAVE fent you a tranflation of a moft excellent letter to Queen Elizabeth, written in Latin by the

of it was never attempted, at least for the public eye. I am of opinion that the author carried his ideas of toleration as far as any Divine of the age in which it was written. At that time Mr. Locke had not unfolded its principles, nor fettled its extent. At that time too, the Rev. Mr. David Williams had not published his letter on "Intellectual liberty:" and fcorning what Lord Nugent once called Mr. Locke's "mingled ray," had not then blazed forth in the full unclouded fplendour of meridian liberty!

The following letter was occafioned by the condemnation of two Dutch perfons to the flames, for maintaining Arianifm and other abfurd and heretical opinions.

A Letter from John Fox to Queen Eli

zabeth; from the Latin. "Moft ferene and happy Princefs; moft illuftrious Sovereign: the honour of our country, and the ornament of the age!

"AS nothing was more diftant from my intention than this intrufion on Majefty, fo I must confefs that nothing ever affected me more fenfibly than the filence which I have hitherto maintained, but which the neceflity of duty now impels me to relinquish.

"I know not by what infelicity it hath happened, that which was the leaft object of my hope or my ambition, fhould at this moment prefs with fuch refiftless influence on my mind. I, who hitherto have walked on in life without molefting or intruding myself on any one, am now neceflitated, even in violation of the modefty of my nature, to be importunate with Majefty itself;-urged to this ftep, indeed, not by any views of felf-intereft, but purely by the calamities of others; which, left they should rife to a ftill higher degree, afford me an additional motive to deprecate the feverity of judgment.

"I have been informed, that with us there are fome ftrangers, Hollanders if I mistake not, of both sexes, who were lately cited to the bar for maintaining pernicious doctrines. Some of them have been lately reduced from their errors, and have made the beft. atonement in their power for them, by a public act of penitence. The major part of these fectaries have been banished from this country; which, in my opinion, was the most prudent ftep that could be taken. But I am informed that one or two are doomed to the laft extreme of punishment; and (unless your Royal clemency fhould interpofe) are to be devoted to the flames.

"In this bufinefs, two objects principally ftrike me: the first respects the malignity of their errors; the fecond,the feverity of their punishment. With regard to their errors, I can conceive of none more abfurd and contemptible; and I presume that every perfon of common understanding must despise them as much as I do. For my own part, judging from the opinions themselves, I fhould have imagined that they were too ridiculous and inconfiftent to have gained the belief of any Chriftian whatever. But fuch is the lot of frail humanity, that if, being deftitute of the light of the Divine Spirit, we are left to ourselves, even for the smallest portion of time, we know not into what delufions we may be precipitated. But I thank God, with the warmeft gratitude, that not one perfon of our country, that I can find, hath been affected with this heretical frenzy. Fanaticism, like this, tho' it ought by no means to be encouraged in a state, yet ought always to be checked and fuppreffed, by rational methods of correction.

"Truly, Madam, the fires of the ftake, raging with the most combustible ingredients, have rather a tendency to throw a cloud over the under

ftandings,

tandings, than to lay a proper reftraint on the wills of the erroneous.. They fuit rather the rigid practice of Rome, than the gentle fpirit of the gofpel. In Rome, indeed, they had their origin. Pope Innocent the 3d was the first who gave this example of cruelty to fucceeding Pontiffs, for never till his time had any one dared to transport the brazen bull of Perillus from a tyrant's court to the Church of Christ. I do not say this from a delight in, or an indifference to,what is pernicious to Religion or the State, or to encourage the errors of any perfon :-But I value the lives of menfor I am a man myself. I would fhow fome indulgence to thefe unhappy delinquents; not that they may perfift in herefy, but that they may live to renounce it. Indeed, my benevolence is not limited to my fellow-creatures; the very brutes fhare in my good will, and I would gladly extend my fuccours to the moft abject of animals. For fuch is the tendernefs of my difpofition-perhaps I may be thought vain in thus fpeaking of myself, but I feel it to be a truth-that I can fcarcely pafs by a public butchery, where the cattle are flaughtered, without feeling a fecret uneafinefs of mind. Hence I cannot enough admire the clemency of God, who commanded that the beafts which were devoted to facrifice, fhould first be flain at the foot of the altar before they were committed to the fire. This inftance of the Divine clemency teaches us, that even in the moft juft and neceffary punishments,

rigour fhould not be carried to its utmost extreme; but that mercy fhould always temper the ftroke of juftice.

"Since it is only allowed me to addrefs the throne as a fupplicant' in the name of Jefus, to implore the Royal mercy for the wretched, I would prefume to plead that authority (and what cannot that effect?) which Divine goodness hath conferred upon your Majefty for the protection of the lives of multitudes; and would make use of it as an argument in behalf of the poor delinquents that you would in mercy fpare them, or at least change their fentence, and foften the horrors of the punishment to which they have been condemned. There is exile or imprisonment. There are chains and ignominious marks of public opprobrium and contempt. But the flames of Smithfield !oh! fuffer them not, after having been extinguished fo long, under the auspices of your gentle reign, to be enkindled afresh.

"If this requeft of mine cannot be granted (which yet I would offer to your Majefty in every poffible form of fupplication) yet, at least, let the maternal tenderness of the Royal breaft indulge this with,-that the execution of these unhappy creatures may be fufpended for a month or two, that, in the mean time, we may wait to fee whether the mercy of Heaven will reclaim them from their dangerous errors; left, with the deftruction of their bodies, their immortal fouls should perish also.”

Y eyes firft opened to the viciffitudes of life, in the city of Avignon. My father was a General in the French fervice; and,

my mother, the only offspring of her noble, but indigent, parents. They were united by difinterested affection, and as their happiness centered in

cach

each other, they were above the envy, or the malice, of mankind. My father's fortune, though not competent to procure the luxuries of the world, was, by my mother's economy and exemplary prudence, fufficient for the enjoyment of every comfort.

I was the only fruit of their un fullied attachment. My amiable mother only survived a few minutes after fhe gave me being. She embraced me, and clafping me to her bofom, refigned her gentle foul to endlefs happiness.

My father, whose profeffion called him from Avignon when I was fcarcely three years old, committed the care of my education to the Abbe de Verfac, a diftant relation of my mother. He was a man celebrated for his profound erudition and brilliant talents: he inftructed my young mind in all the elegant acquirements of a scholar and a gentleman. The labours of his anxious hours were repaid by my clofe application to the precepts he wished to incul

cate.

At the age of feventeen I had acquired a competent knowledge of the claffics, and had already compofed many fuccessful pieces in imitation of the Greek and Latin poets. The rocks of Vauclufe confecrated by the infpiration of the Mufes, had often echoed with my matin fong, and the celestial form of the immortal Laura, frequently bleffed in vifionary dreams the flumbers of the evening!

I felt rapt, infpired, as I traversed. the deep valley, or mufed beneath the laurel'd bower, dedicated to love and virtue! I wandered on the margin of the fhallow rivulets that were once dear to the faithful Petrarch, their murmurs foothed my penfive heart; and, as I dropped a tear upon their bubbling furface, I felt the confcious delight of having paid the tender tribute due to his memory and his forrows! Often did I caft my

liftlefs form upon the fod, made fa cred by the footsteps of the wandering lovers. These were my happy moments; tranfient indeed they were, for they now almoft appear to have been the phantoms of a bewildered fancy. The fubduing hand of mifery has nearly erased the very fhadows of my early hours; the bright delufions of youth's glowing day are funk in cold oblivion, as the glorious fun fets in the border of the dark and troubled ocean!

Filled with romantic infpiration, my mind was foftened like the tempered wax, and ready to receive the tendereft impreffions.

In the vicinity of Avignon, beneath the fhades of an embowering wood, devotion had long performed her facred orifons at the monaftery of Saint Terefe; the lofty walls were inacceffible, except on the fifteenth of June, when at the celebration of the fete de Dieu, the grates were thrown open, and every eye was permitted to view the folemn ceremony of the High Maís.

Curiofity, more than zeal, led me to be a fpectator: the holy fifters, arranged in the chapel of the convent, fung their choral anthems, replete with feraphic harmony; the vaulted arches repeated the thrilling founds, while the fumes of heavenly incenfe curled around a thousand quivering tapers. Among the veftals, my every fenfe was fafcinated by one, whose beauty far furpaffed all I had yet conceived of mortal woman! A fweet melancholy gave inexpreffible foftuefs to features exquifitely regular, and the meek blush of unaffected modefty heightened a complexion beauteous and glowing as the rays of the morning. Her age pronounced her but newly initiated in holy duties, and her every look declared the was formed for that world from which fhe was fecluded, in the deep and cheerless gloom of monastic

apathy.

apathy. I gazed upon her with a devotion more warm, more chate, than even piety itself could have fuggefted. Her eye encountered mine; I fancied a thousand childifh things; my earnest attention feemed to perplex her; the crucifix fell from her trembling hand, she rose and left the chapel.

I returned to Avignon. The image of this peerless angel never forfook me; I beheld ber in my midnight flumbers, her voice vibrated on my enraptured ear, and awoke me to all the agonies of dire defpair. Often did I wander, when the fun funk beneath the horizon, to catch its laft beam that illumined the vanes of her lonely habitation. Often did I liften whole hours beneath the hated walls that enclofed the treafure of my foul, to catch the diftant and imperfect found of the holy evening fong. I fancied I could diftinguifh her voice from every other, and my heart panted fadly refponfive to every Iwelling note.

I remained feveral months in this ftate of perfect wretchedness, when an accident opened to my distracted mind a gleam of tranfitory comfort. The Abbe de Verfac, having embraced the most rigid ftate of holy bondage, was frequently employed in the pious office of confeffor to the Nuns of Saint Terefe. A fudden indifpofition preventing his ufual attendance, I availed myself of the opportunity that prefented itself, and, in the habit of a monk, bore to the Abbefs of the convent a fpecious recommendation of myfelf, deputing me as worthy of the facred confidence. I was readily admitted into the cell of ghoftly admonition, and fortune directed the heavenly Louifa to the footstool of contrition!

The purity of her life fcarcely left her a fingle error to acknowledge; my penance was gentle, as her foul was fpotlefs: I requested her to peVOL. III. No. 5.

rufe a leffon I had written, and to abide by the injunctions it contained; fhe thanked me, then, with the voice of meeknefs and humility, implored my benediction, and departed.

My fafety required that I fhould inftantly withdraw from the facred walls, left the impofition fhould be detected, and at once deftroy my reputation and my hopes. The tranfaction was foon made public, and I frequently heard eternal vengeance denounced againft the perpetrator of fo vile a fraud. The Abbefs offered an immenfe reward for apprehending the facrilegious hypocrite, and every tongue united to condemn me. My letter informed her of my name, quality, and fortune; which, by my father's death, was not inconfiderable; I implored her compaflion for my fufferings, and earnestly requested a decifive anfwer. I told her, in the language of despair, that nothing fhould induce me to furvive her refentment, and concluded my frantic prayer by informing her, that I fhould watch for ten fucceffive nights beneath the walls that immured her, to receive the fiat of my irrevocable destiny.

At the twilight hour of the feventh day, when every breeze was hushed, and nature feemed to paufe in melancholy filence, mufing beneath the trees that encircled the prifon of my idol, my ear was fuddenly enchanted by the melody of a female voice. I drew near the spot from whence the found proceeded, and diftin&tly heard the words of her complaint: they pierced my very heart-attuning every chord to fympathetic pity. Elvira hinted a wifh that he would endeavour to recollect them; he complied with her defire, and thus began: