ft
*
*
Encyclopaedia Britannic a
POEIRY, Part II. Se&. 2. continued.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
120
The fong.
THE variety of fubjecis, which are allowed the lyric
poet, makes it neceffary to confider this fpecies of
poetry under the following heads, viz. the fublime ode,
the lejjer ode, and Hat fong. We fhall begin with the
loveft, and proceed to that which is more eminent.
I. Songs are little poetical compofitions, ufually let to
a tune, and frequently fung in company by way of en-
teitainment and diverlion. Of thefe we have in our lan¬
guage a great number j but, confidering that number,
not many which are excellent; for, as the duke of
Buckingham obferves,
J hough nothing feems more ealy, yet no part
Of poetry requires a nicer part.
The fong admits of almoft any fubjeft; but the
greateft part of them turn either upon love, contentment,
or the pleafures of a country life, and drinking. Be the
fubjeft, however, what it will, the verfes fhould be eafy,
natural, and flowing, and contain a certain harmony, lo
that poetry and mulic may be agreeably united. In thefe
compofitions, as in all others, obfcene and profane ex-
preflions Ihould be carefully avoided, and indeed every
thing that tends to take off that refpedl which is due to
religion and virtue, and to encourage vice and immora¬
lity. As the bell fongs in our language are already in
every hand, it would feem fuperfluous to infert ex¬
amples. For further precepts, however, as well as fe-
le£l examples, in this fpecies of compolition, we may re¬
fer the reader to the elegant Effay on Song Writing, by
111 Mr Aikin.
3uiftnilgia ,^1C /'ci/7'er °de' The diftinguilhing character of
character ,s 15 fweetnefs; and as the pleafure we receive from
of the ieffer this fort of poem arifes principally from its foothing and
ode. affefting the paflions, great regard Ihould be paid to the
language as well as to the thoughts and numbers.
Th’ expreffion Ihould be ealy, fancy high ;
Yet that not feem to creep, nor this to'fly :
No words tranfpos’d, but in fuch order all,
As, though hard wrought, may leem by chance to fall.
D. Buckingham’s E.(fay.
The llyle, indeed, Ihould be eafy: but it may be alfo
florid and figurative. It folicits delicacy, but difdains
affeflation. T he thoughts Ihould be natural, chalte, and
elegant; and the numbers various, fmooth, and harmo¬
nious. A few examples will fufficiently explain what we
ijiean.
Vox,. XVII. Part I.
Longinus has preferved a fragment of Sappho, an an- of Lyrrc
cient Greek poetefs, which is in great reputation amongft , Po^try'
the critics, and has been fo happily tranflated by Mr
Philips as to give the Englilh reader a juft idea of the The Sap-
fpirit, eafe, and elegance of that admired author j and phic ode.
Ihow how exa&ly Ihe copied nature. To enter into the
beauties of this ode, we muft fuppofe a lover fitting by
his miftrefs, aud thus exprelfing his pafiion :
Bleft as th’ immortal gods is he,
The youth who fondly fits by thee,
And fees and hears thee all the while
Softly fpeak, and fweetly fmile.
’Twas this depriv’d my foul of reft,
And rais’d fuch tumults in my breaft j
For while I gaz’d, in tranfport toft,
My breath was gone, my voice was loft.
My bofora glow’d, the fubtle flame
Ran quick through all my vital frame :
O’er my dim eyes a darknefs hung;
My ears with hollow murmurs rung.
In dewy damps my limbs were chill’d
My blood with gentle horrors thrill’d $
My feeble pulfe forgot to play j
I fainted, funk, and dy’d away.
After this inftance of the Sapphic ode, it may not Th/aL-
be improper to fpeak of that fort of ode which is called c reontic
Anacreontic; being written in the manner and tafte ofode*
Anacreon, a Greek poet, famous for the delicacy of his
wit, and the exquifite, yet eafy and natural, turn of his
poefy. We have feveral of his odes ftill extant, and
many modern ones in imitation of him, which are moft-
ly compofed in verfes of feven fyllables, or three feet
and a half.
We ftiall give the young ftudent one or two examples
of his manner from Mr Fawkes’s excellent tranilation.
The following ode on the power of gold, which had
been often attempted but with little fuccefs, this gentle¬
man has tranflated very happily.
Love’s a pain that, works our wo
Not to love is painful too :
But, alas ! the greateft pain
Waits the love that meets difdain.
What avails ingenuous worth,
Sprightly wit, or noble birth ?
All thefe virtues ulelefs prove j
Gold alone engages love.
A
p
May he be completely curft,
Who the fleeplng mifchief firil
Wak’d to life, and, vile before,
Stamp’d with worth the fordid ore.
Gold creates in brethren flrife j
Gold deftroys the parent’s life j
Gold produces civil jars,
Murders, maflacres, and wrars 5
But the worft effeft of gold,
Love, alas ! is bought and fold.
O E
His ode on the vanity of riches is of a piece with the
above, and conveys a good lefibn to thofe who are over
anxious for we alth.
If the treafur’d gold could give
Man a longer term to live,
I’d employ my utmoft care
Still to keep, and ftill to fpare;
And, when death approach’d, would fay,
* Take thy fee, and walk away.’
But fince riches cannot fave.
Mortals from the gloomy grave,
Why ftiould I myfelf deceive,
Vainly ftgh, and vainly grieve ?
Death will furely be my lot,
Whether I am rich or not.
Give me freely while I live
Generous wines, in plenty give
Soothing joys my life to cheer,
Beauty kind, and friends fincere j
Happy ! could 1 ever find
Friends fincere, and beauty kind.
But two of the moft admired, and perhaps the moft
imitated, of Anacreon’s odes, are that of Mars wounded
by one of the darts of Love, and Cupid ftung by a
Bee } both which are wrought up with fancy and deli¬
cacy, and are tranflated with elegance and fpirit.—Take
that of Cupid ftung by a bee.
Once as Cupid, tir’d with play,
On a bed of rofes lay,
A rude bee, that flept unfeen,
The fweet breathing buds between,
Stung his finger, cruel chance !
With its little pointed lance.
Straight he fills the air with cries,
Weeps, and fobs, and runs, and flies }
’Till the god to Venus came,
Lovely, laughter-loving dame :
Then he thus began to plain ;
“ Oh ! undone -I die with pain 
“ Dear mamma, a ferpent fmall,
“ Which a bee the ploughmen call,
“ Imp’d with wings, and arm’d with dart,
“ Oh !—has ftung me to the heart.”
Venus thus reply’d, and fmil’d :
‘ Dry thofe tears for ftrame ! my child j
‘ If a bee can wound fo deep,
* Caufing Cupid thus to wTeep,
TRY. ■ Part II.
‘ Think, O think ! what cruel pains Of Lyric
‘ He that’s ftung by thee fuftains.’ , 1 i “ly‘ ,
Among the moft fuccefsful of this poet’s Englifh imi- 114
tators may be reckoned Dr Johnfon and Mr Prior. 'I lie Imiiation
following ode on Evening by the former of thefe writers 1 e*
has, if we miftake not, the very fpirit and air of Anacreon.
Evening nowT from purple wings
Sheds the grateful gifts ftie brings j
Brilliant drops bedeck the mead j
Cooling breezes ftiake the reed ;
Shake the reed and curl the ftream
Silver’d o’er with Cynthia’s beam \
4 Near the chequer’d lonely grove
Hears, and keeps thy fecrets, Love.
Stella, thither let us ftray !
Lightly o’er the dewy way.
Phoebus drives his burning car
Hence, my lovely Stella, far:
In his Head the queen of night
Round us pours a lambent light ;
Light that feems but juft to ftiow
Breafts that beat, and cheeks that glow :
Let us now, in whifper’d joy,
Evening’s filent hours employ ;
Silence beft, and confcious {hades,
Pleafe the hearts that love invades :
Other pleafures give them pain j
Lovers all but love difdain.
But of all the imitations of the playful bard of Greece
that wre have ever met with, the moft perfetft is the fol¬
lowing Anacreontic by the regent Duke of Orleans.
Je fuis ne pour les pbifirs }
Bien fou qui s’en pafte :
Je ne veux pas les choifir 5
Souvent le choix m’embarraffe :
Aime t’on ? J’aime foudain ;
Bois t’on ? J’ai la verre a la main j
Je tiens par tout ma place.
II.
Dormir eft un temps perdu ;
Faut il qu’on s’y livre ?
Sommeil, prends ce qui t’eft du ;
Mais attends que je fois yvre :
Saifis moi dans cet inftant;
Fais moi dormir promptement 5
Je fuis prefle de vivre.
III.
Mais ft quelque objet charmant,
Dans un fonge aimable,
Vient d’un plaifir feduifant
M’offrir 1’image agreable ;
Sommeil, aliens doucement j
L’erreur eft en ce moment
Un bonheur veritable.
Tranflation of the Regent's Anacreontic (e).
Frolic and free, for pleafure born,
The felf-denying fool I fcorn :
(e) We give this tranflation, both becaufe of its excellence and becaufe it is faid to have been the production
of no lefs a man than the late Lord Chatham.
Part II.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
P
Iz5
Sappho.
The proffer’d joy I ne’er refufe ;
’Tis oft-times troublelome to chu.e.
Lov’ft thou, my friend ? I love at fight :
Dr ink’ft thou ? this bumper does thee right.
At random with the ftream I flow,
And play my part where’er I go.
Great God of Sleep, fmce we muft be
Oblig’d to give feme hours to thee,
Invade me not till the full bowl
Glows in my cheek, and warms my foul.
Be that the only time to fnore,
When I can love and drink no more :
Short, very ftiort, then be thy reign j
For I’m in hafte to live again.
But O ! if melting in.my arms,
In fome foft dream, with all her charms,
The nymph belov’d ftmuld then furprite,
And grant what waking (he denies 5
Then prithee, gentle Slumber, (lay \
Slowly, ah flowly, bring the day :
Let no rude noife my blifs deftroy •,
Such fweet delufion’s real joy.
We have mentioned Prior as an imitator of Anacreon-,
but the reader has by this time had a fufficient fpecimen
of Anacreontics. The following Anfwr to Che jealous
which was written when Prior was lick, has much ot
the elegant tendernefs of Sappho*
Yes, faireft proof of beauty’s pow’r.
Dear idol of my panting heart,
Nature points this my fatal hour :
And I have liv’d : and we muft part.
While now I take my laft adieu,
Heave thou no ligh, nor died a tear j
Left yet my half-clos’d eye may view
On earth an objeft worth its care.
From jealoufy’s tormenting ftnfe
For ever be thy bofom freed j
That nothing may diftuxb thy life,
Content I haften to the dead.
Yet when fome better-fated youth
Shall with his am’rous parly move thee,
Reflecl one moment on his truth
Who, dying, thus perfifts to love thee.
There is much of the foftnefs of Sappho, and the
fweetnefs of Anacreon and Prior, ^ the foBowuig ode
which is aferibed to the unfortunate Dr ^
was written in compliment to a lady, who being lick,
had fent the author a mofs rofe-bud, mftead of ma ing
his family a vifit. This piece is particularly to be
efteemed for the juft and ftriking moral with which it
is pointed.
The flighted of favours beftow’d by the fair,
With rapture we take, and with triumph we wear J
But a mofs-woven rofe-bud, Eliza, from thee,
A well-nleafing gift to a monarch would be.
Illh ! Aat illnffs, too cruel, forbidding fliould ftand,
And refufe me the gift from thy own lovely hand .
With iov I receive it, with pleafure will view,
Reminded of thee, by its odour and hue
« Sweet rofe, let me tell thee, tho’ charmmg thy bloom,
Tho’ thy fragrance excels Seba’s ncheft per.ume , ,
126
O E T R Y.
Thy breath to Eliza’s no fragrance hath in’t, _
And but dull is thy bloom to her cheek s bluflung tint.
Yet, alas ! my fair flow’r, that bloom will decay,
And all thy lov’d beauties foon wither away j
Tho’ pluck’d by her hand, to whofe touch, we muft own,
Harfti and rough is the cygnet’s moft delicate down .
Thou too, fnowy hand j nay, I mean not to preach ,
But the rofe, lovely moralift, fuffer to teach. _
“ Extol not, fair maiden, thy beauties o er mine ;
They too are (hort-liv’d, and they too muft decline ,
And fmall, in conclufion, the diff’rence appears, (
In the bloom of few days, or the bloom of few years .
But remember a virtue the rofe hath to boaft,
 Its fragrance remains when its beauties are iolt.
We come now to thofe odes of the more fiend and
figurative kind, of which we have many lu ^ur l^^ag® figurative,
that deferve particular commendation. Mr Wartons
Ode to Fancy has been juftly admired by the beft judges,
for though it has a dlftant refemblance of Milton s
1’Allegro and II Penferofo, yet the work is ongina }
the thoughts are moftly new and various, and the lan¬
guage and numbers elegant, expreffive, and harmonious.
O parent of each lovely mufe,
Thy fpirit o’er my foul diffufe !
O’er all my artlefs fongs prefide,
My footfteps to thy temple guide !
To offer at thy turf-built (brine
In golden cups no coftly wine,
No murder’d fatling of the flock,
But flowr’s and honey from the rock.
O nymph, with loofely flowing hair,
With bufkin’d leg, and bofom bare •,
Thy waift with myrtle-girdle bound,
Thy brows with Indian feathers crown’d ;
Waving in thy fnowy hand
An all-commanding magic wand,
Of pow’r to bid frefh gardens blow
’Mid cheerlefs Lapland’s barren fnow :
Whofe rapid wings thy flight convey,
Through air, and over earth and fea j
While the vaft various landfcape lies
Confpicuous to thy piercing eyes.
O lover of the defert, hail !
Say, in what deep and pathlefs ^vale,
Or on what hoary mountain’s fide,
’Midft falls of water, you refide •,
’Midft broken rocks, a rugged feene,
With green and graffy dales between }
’Midft: forefts dark of aged oak,
Ne’er echoing with the woodman’s ftroke
Where never human art appear’d,
Nor ev’n one draw-roof’d cott was rear’d *,
Where Nature feems to fit alone,
Majeftic on a craggy throne.
Tell me the path, fweet wand’rer . tell,
To thy unknown fequefter’d cell,
Where woodbines clufter round the door,
Where fhells and mofs o’erlay the floor,
And on whofe top an hawthorn blows,
Amid whofe thickly-woven boughs
Some nightingale ftill builds her neft,
Each ev’ning warbling thee to reft.
Then lay me by the haunted ftream,
Wrapt in fome wild poetic dream j
.A. 2
In
4
Of Lyric
Poetry.
POE
In converfe while methinks I rove
With Spenfer through a fairy grove ;
Till fuddenly aw^ak’d, I hear
Strange whifper’d mufic in my ear ;
And my glad foul in blifs is drown’d
By the fweetly foothing found !
Me, goddefs, by the right-hand lead,
Sometimes through the yellow mead j
.VY here Joy and white-rob’d Peace refort,
And Venus keeps her feftive court;
vt heie Mirth and It outh each ev’ning meet
And lightly trip with nimble feet,
Nodding their lily-crowned heads,
Where Laughter rofe-lip’d Hebe leads:
YY here Echo walks fteep hills among
Lild’ning to the fhepherd’s fong.
Yet not thefe flow’ry fields of joy
Can long my penfive mind employ;
Hafte, Fancy, from the fcenes of Folly,
1 o meet the matron Melancholy !
Goddefs of the tearful eye,
1 hat loves to fold her arms and figH.
Let us with filent footfteps go
To charnels, and the houfe of w'o ;
To Gothic churches, vaults, and tombs,
Where each fad night fome virgin comes,
V ith throbbing breafl and faded cheek,
Her promis’d bridegroom’s urn to feek :
Or to fome abbey’s mould’ring tow’rs,
Where, to avoid cold wint’ry fhow’rs,’
f he naked beggar fhivering lies,
While whittling tempefts round her rife,
And trembles left the tott’ring wall
Should on her fleeping infants fall.
Now let us louder ftrike the lyre,
For my heart glows with martial fire :
J reel, I feel, with fudden heat,
My big tumultuous bofom beat;
J he trumpet’s clangors pierce my ear,
A. thoufand widows fhrieks I hear :
Give me another horfc, I cry ;
L°j the bafe Gallic fquadrons fly !
YY hence is this rage ?—what fpirit, fay,
J o battle hurries me away ?
1 is Fancy, in her fiery car,
Tranfports me to the thickeft w^ar ;
i'here whirls me o’er the hills of flain,
vVhere tumult and deftruaion reign j
Where mad with pain, the wounded fteed,
Iramples the dying and the dead :
Where giant Terror ftalks around,
ith fullen joy furveys the ground,
And, pointing to th’ enfanguin’d field,
Shakes his dreadful gorgon fhield !
O guide me from this horrid fcene
lo high arch’d walks and alleys green,
Y v bch lovely Laura feeks, to fhun
J he fervors of the mid-day fun.
Jhe pangs of abfence, O remove,
p0r m r11, Place nie near my love i
L an ft fold m vifionary blifs,
And kt me think I fteal a kifs:
YY hire her ruby lips difpenfe
I-ufcious nectar’s quintelfence !
T li Y.
M hen young ey’d Spring profufely throws
Vxom lier green lap the pink and rofe :
When the foft turtle of the dale
To Summer tells her tender tale ;
When Autumn cooling caverns feeks,
And flams with wine his jolly cheeks;
When YY inter, like poor pilgrim old,
Shakes his filver beard with cold •
At ev’ry feafon let my ear
Thy folemn whifpers, Fancy, hear.
O warm enthufiaftic maid !
Without thy powerful, vital aid,
1 hat breathes an energy divine
That gives a foul to ev’ry line, ’
Ne’er may I ftrive with lips profane,
To utter an unhallow’d ftrain j
Nor dare to touch the facred ftring,
Save when with fmiles thou bid’tt me fing.
O hear our pray’r, O hither come
From thy lamented Shakelpeare’s tomb,
On which thou lov’ft to fit at eve,
Mufing o’er thy darling’s grave. ’
O queen of numbers, once again
Animate fome chofen fwain,
YY no,' fill'd with unexhaufted fire,
Muy ooldly finite the founding lyre j
Who with fome new, unequall’d fong,
May rife above the rhyming throng j
O’er all our lift’ning paflions reign,
O’erwhelm our fouls with joy and pain j
YVith terror fhake, with pity move,
Rouze with revenge, or melt with love.
O deign t’attend his evening walk,
With him in groves and grottoes talk;
leach him to fcorn, with frigid art,
Feebly to touch th’ enraptur’d heart;
Like lightning, let his mighty verfe ’
1 he bofom’s inmoft foldings pierce •
With native beauties win applaufe,
Beyond cold critics ftudied law’s :
O let each mufe’s fame increafe !
O bid Britannia rival Greece !
 omarr on the (
of December (being the birth-day of a beautiful yon
lady) is much to be admired for the variety and harn
ny ot the numbers, as well as for the beauty of t
tnoughts and the elegance and delicacy of the comr
ment. It has great fire, and yet great fweetnefs, and
the happy iflue of genius and judgment united.
Hail eldeft of the monthly train,
Sire of the winter drear,
December ! m wlioie iron reign
Expires the chequer’d year.
Hufh all the bluft’ring blafts that blow,
And proudly plum’d in filver fnow,
Smile gladly on this bleft of days;
The livery’d clouds fhall on thee wait,
And Phoebus fhine in all his ftate *
YYIth more than fummer rays.
Though jocund June may juftly boaft
Long days and happy hours ;
Though Auguft be Pomona’s hoft,
And May be crown’d with flovv’rs:
.Part IT.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
Teli
p
o
Part II.
E
Of L>ric Tell June his fire and crimfon dies,
Poetry. Harriot’s blulh, and Harriot’s eyes,
v Eclips’d and vanquifir’d, fade away j
Tell Auguft, thoucanft let him fee
A richer, riper fruit than he,
A fweeter flow’r than May.
The enfuing ode, written by Mr Collins on the death
and elegiac of MrThomfon, is of the paftoral and elegiac kind, and
°^e* both piclurefque and pathetic. To perceive all the beau¬
ties of this little piece, which are indeed many, we muft
fuppofe them to have been delivered on the river Thames
near Richmond.
ti7
A paftoral
* The harp
of iEolus.
f Rich-
mond-
church.
128
The hymn.
In yonder grave a Druid lies,
Where flowly winds the Healing wave ;
The year’s belt fweets lhall duteous rife
To deck its poet’s filvan grave !
In yon deep bed of whifp’ring reeds
His airy harp * lhall now be laid,
That he, whofe heart in forrow bleeds,
May love through life the foothing lhade.
Then maids and youths lhall linger here,
And, while its founds at diltance fwell,
Shall fadly feem in pity’s ear
To hear the woodland pilgrim’s knell.
Remembrance oft lhall haunt the Ihore,
When Thames in fummer wreaths is drelt,
And oft fufpend the dalhing oar,
To bid his gentle fpirit reft !
And oft as eafe and health retire
To breezy lawn, or forelt deep,
The friend fhall view yon whitening fpire f.
And ’mid the varied landfcape -weep.
But thou, who own’ll that earthy bed,
Ah ! what will ev’ry dirge avail ?
Or tears, which love and pity Hied,
That mourn beneath the gliding fail ?
Yet lives there one, whofe heedlefs eye,
Shall fcorn thy pale fhrine glimm’ring near ?
With him, fweet bard, may fancy die,
And joy defert the blooming year. ,
But thou, lorn ftream, whofe fullen tide
No fedge-crown’d lifters now attend,
Now waft me from the green hill’s fide,
Whofe cold turf hides the buried friend.
And fee, the fairy valleys fade,
Dim night has veil’d the folemn view !
Yet once again, dear parted lhade,
Meek nature’s child, again adieu !
The genial meads, aflign’d to blefs
Thy life, ihall mourn thy early doom ;
Their hinds, and fhepherd girls, lhall drefs,
With fimple hands, thy rural tomb.
Long, long, thy ftone and pointed clay
Shall melt the muling Briton’s eyes j
O vales and wild woods, fhall he fay,
In yonder grave your Druid lies !
Under this fpecies of the ode, notice ought to be ta.
ken of thofe written on divine fubje&s, and which are
ufually called hymns. Of thefe we have many in our
language, but none perhaps that are fo much admired
as Mr Addilon’s. The beauties of the following hymn
are too well known, and too obvious, to need any com¬
mendation •, we fhall only obferve, therefore, that in this
hymn (intended to difplay the power of the Almighty)
TRY. 5
he feems to have had a pfalm of David in his view, Of Lyric
which fays, that “ the heavens declare the glory of God, ' f
and the firmament Iheweth his handywork.”
The fpacious firmament on high,
With all the blue etherial Iky,
And fpangled heav’ns, a fhining frame,
Their great original proclaim :
Th’ unwearied fun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s pow’r difplay,
And publilhes to ev’ry land
The work of an Almighty hand.
Soon as the ev’ning lhades prevail,
The moon takes up the wond’rous tale,
And nightly to the lift’ning earth
Repeats the ftory of her birth :
While all the ftars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And fpread the truth from pole to pole.
What tho’ in folemn lilence all
Move round the dark terreftrial ball ?
What tho’ nor real voice or found
Amid their radiant orb be found ?
In reafon’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
For ever finging, as they fhine,
“ The hand that made us is divine.”
The following paftoral hymn is a verfion of the 23d
Pfalm by Mr Addifon $ the peculiar beauties of which
have occafioned many tranllations *, but we have feen
none that is fo poetical and perfedl as this. And in
juftice to Dr Boyce, we muft obferve, that the mufic
he has adapted to it is fo fweet and expreflive, that we
know not which is to be moft admired, the poet or the
mufician.
The Lord my pafture fhall prepare,
And feed me with a fhepherd’s care }
His prefence fhall my wants fupply,
And guard me with a watchful eye j
My noon-day walks he fhall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
When in the fultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirfty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary wand’ring fteps he leads j
Where peaceful rivers foft and flow
Amid the verdant landfcape flow.
Tho’ in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overfpread,
My fteadfaft heart fhall fear no ill :
For thou, O Lord, art with me ftill}
Thy friendly crook fhall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful fhade.
Tho’ in a bare and rugged-way,
Through devious lonely wilds I ftray,
Thy bounty fhall my pains beguile :
The barren wildernefs fhall fmile,
With hidden greens and herbage crown’d;
And ftreams fhall murmur all around.
III. We are now to fpeak of thofe odes which are TheVub-
of the fublime and noble kind, and diftinguifhed from lime ode.
others by their elevation of thought and diftion, as well
by the variety or irregularity of their numbers as the
frequent
6 POE
Of Lyric frequent tranfitions and bold excurflons with which they
. P0^try- are enriched.
'' To give the young fiudent an idea of the fudden and
frequent tranfitions, digrethons, and excurfions, which
are admitted into the odes of the ancients, wre cannot
do better than refer him to the celebrated fong or ode of
Moles ; which is the oldeft that wre know of, and w as
penned by that divine author immediately after the chil¬
dren of Ifrael croffed the Red lea.
At the end of this fong, we are told, that “ Miriam
the prophetefs, the filler of Aaron, took a timbrel in her
hand, and all the women went out after her writh tim¬
brels and with dances. And Miriam anfwered them,
Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed glori-
oully j the horfe and his rider hath he thrown into the
fea.”
From this lad palfage it is plain, that the ancients
very early called in mulic to the aid of poetry } and that
their odes were ufually lung, and accompanied with
their lutes, harps, lyres, timbrels, and other indruments :
nay, fo effential, and in fuch. reputation, wras mufic held
by the ancients, that we often find in their lyric poets,
addreffes or invocations to the harp, the lute, or the
lyre j and it was probably owing to. the frequent ufe
made of the lad-mentioned indrument with the ode,
that this fpecies of writing obtained the name of Lyric
poetry.
This ode, or hymn, which fome believe was compofed
by Mofes in Hebrew verfe, is incomparably better than
any thing the heathen, poets have produced of the kind,
and is by all goodjudges confidered as a mailer-piece of
ancient eloquence. The thoughts are noble and fub-
lime : the dyle is magnificent and expredive : the figures
are bold and animated : the tranfitions and excurfions
are fudden and frequent : but they are fhort, and the
poet, having digreffed for a moment, returns immediate¬
ly to the great obje£l that excited his wronder, and ele¬
vated his foul with joy and gratitude The images fill
the mind with their greatnefs, and drike the imagination
in a manner not to be expreffed.
If there be any thing that in fublimity approaches to
it, wt mud look for it in the ead, where perhaps we
diall find nothing fuperior to the following Hindoo
hymn to Narrenjna, or “ the fpirit of God,” taken, as
Sir William Jones informs us, from the writings of the
ancient Bramins.
Spirit of fpirits, who, through every part
Of fpace expanded, and of endlefs time,
Beyond the reach of lab’ring thought fublime,
Bad’d uproar into beauteous order dart j
Before heav’n was, thou art.
Ere fpheres beneath us roll’d, or fpheres above,
Ere earth in firmamental Eether hung,
Thou fat’d alone, till, through thy mydic love,
Things unexiding to exidence fprung,
And grateful defcant fung.
Omnifcient Spirit, wdrofe all-ruling pow’r
Bids from each fenfe bright emanations beam;
Glows in the rainbow, fparkles in the dream,
T R Y. Part II.
Smiles in the bud, and glidens in the flower
That crowms each vernal bow’r }
Sighs in the gale, and warbles in the throat
Of every bird that hails the bloomy fpring,
Or tells his love in many a liquid note,
Wliild envious artids touch the rival dring,
Till rocks and foreds ring ;
Breathes in rich fragrance from the fandal grove,
Or where the precious mutk-deer playful rove j
In dulcet juice, from clud’ring fruit didils,
And burns falubrious in the taueful clove ;
Safe banks and verd’rous hills
Thy prefent influence fills j
In air, in floods, in caverns, w7oods, and plains,
Thy will infpiriis all, thy fovereign Maya reigns.
Blue crydai vault, and elemental fires,
That in th’ ethereal fluid blaze and breathe;
Thou, tofiing main, whofe fnaky branches wreathe
This penfiie orb with intertwdding gyres}
Mountains, whofe lofty fpires,
Prefumptuous, rear their fummits to the /kies,
And blend their em’rald hue with fapphire light j
Smooth meads and lawns, that glow-with vary in g dy es
Of dew-befpangled leaves and bioiloms bright,
Hence ! vanidr from my fight
Delufive piftures ! unfubdantial (hows !
My foul abforb’d one only Being knows,
Of all perceptions one abundant fource,
Whence ev’ry objeef, ev’ry moment flowrs :
Suns hence derive their force,
Lienee planets learn their courfe *,
But funs and fading worlds I viewT no more j
God only I perceive 5 God only I adore (f).
We come now to the Pindaric ode, w hich (if we ex- T he Hn-
cept the hymns in the Old Tedament, the pfalms of dark ode.
King David, and fuch hymns of the Hindoos as that jud
quoted) is the mod exalted part of lyric poetry } and
was fo called from Pindar, an ancient Greek poet, who
is celebrated for the boldnefs of his flights, the impetu-
ofity of his dy le, and the feeming wildnefs and irregu¬
larity that runs through his compofitions, and which
are faid to be the effeft of the greated art. See Pin¬
dar.
The odes of Pindar wTere held in fuch high edima-
tion by the ancients, that it wras fabled, in honour of
their fweetnefs, that the bees, w’hile he w'as in the cradle,
brought honey to his lips : nor did the vifitors at the
Olympic and other games think the crowm a fiifficient
reward for their merit, unlefs their atchievements were
celebrated in Pindar’s fongs ; mod wifely prfefaging,
that the fird would decay, but the other would endure
for ever.
This poet did not always write his odes in the fame
meafure, or with the fame intention with regard to their
being fung. For the ode inferibed to Diagoras (the
concluding danza of wdfich we inferted at the beginning
of this feftion) is in heroic meafure, and all the danzas
are equal : there are others alfo, as Mr Wed obferves,
made
Of Lyric
Poetry.
(f) For the philofophy of this ode, which reprefents the Deity as the foul of the world, or rather as the only
Being (the ra ev of the Greeks), fee Metaphysics, N0 269. and Philosophy, N° 6.
2
Part II. POE
Of Lyric made up of Jfrophes and antijlrophes, without any epode ;
Poetry. ancl fome compofed of Jlrophes only, of different lengths
r.Ti 'v~ ' aacl meafures : but the greateft part oc nis odes are ui-
vided \vtX.o Jlvophc^ ontijlrophs^ and epode, in order, as
Mr Congreve conjectures, to their being fung, and ad-
dreffed by the performers to different parts of the au¬
dience. “ They were fung (fays he) by a chorus, and
adapted to the lyre, and fometimes to the lyre and pipe.
They comiited ofteneft of three ffanzas. The firft was
called the Jirophe, from the verfiqn or circular motion
of the fingers in that ftanza from the right hand to^ the
left. The fecond ftanza was called the antiftrophe, from
the contraverfion of the chorus} the fingers in performing
that, turning from the left hand to the right, contrary al¬
ways to their motion in the.Jirophe. The third ftanza was
called the epode (it may be as being the after-fong), which
they fung in the middle, neither turning to one hand
*Vk1 Prefnor the But Dr Wea’s * friend is. of opinion,
to Well's that the performers alfo danced one way while they were
Pindar. finging the Jlrophe, and danced back as they mng Jie an-
tijlrophe, till they came to the fame place again, and then
ftanding ftill they fung the epode. He has tranflated a naf-
fage from the Scholia on Hrph ejlion, in prbof of his opi¬
nion j and obferves, that the dancing Jirophe an-
tiflrophe in the fame (pace of ground, and we may fuppofe
the fame fpace of time alfo, fhows why thofe two parts
confifted of the fame length and meafure.
As the various meafures of Pindar’s odes have been
the means of fo far milleading fome of our modern poets,
as to induce them to call compofitions Pindaric odes,
that were not written in the method of Pindar, it is ne-
ceffary to be a little more particular on this head, and
to give an example from that poet, the more effeaually
to explain his manner j which we fhall take from the
tranflation of Dr Weft.
The eleventh Nemean Ode.
This ode is infcribed to Ariftagoras, upon occafion
of his entering on his office of prefident or governor of
the ifland of Tenedos: fo that, although it is placed
among the Nemean odes, it has no fort of relation to
thofe games, and is indeed properly an inauguration ode,
cornpofed to be fung by a chorus at the facrifices and the
feafts made by Ariftagoras and his colleagues, in the
town-hall, at the time of their being invefted with the
magiftracy, as is evident from many expreflions in the
firft Jirophe and antijlrophe.
Argument.
Pindar opens this ode with an invocation to Vefta
(the goddefs who prefided over the courts of juftice, and
whofe ftatue and altar were for that reafon placed in the
town-halls, <w Prytanceiims, as the Greeks called them),
befeeching her to receive favourably Ariftagoras and his
colleagues, who were then coming to offer facnfices to
her, upon their entering on their office of Prytans or
magiftrates of Tenedos j which office continuing for a
year, he begs the goddefs to take Ariftagoras under
her proteftion during that time, and to conduft him to
the end of it without trouble or difgrace. From Ari¬
ftagoras, Pindar turns himfelf in the next place to his
father Arcefilas, whom he pronounces happy, as well
upon account of his fon’s merit and honour, as upon
his own great endowments and good fortune : fuch as
T R Y. r .7
beauty, ftrength, courage, riches,' and glory'-, re fill ling
from his many victories in the games. Hut left ne
Ihould be too much puffed up with thefe praifes, he re¬
minds him at the fame time of his mortality, and teTs
him that his clothing of fleffi is perifhable, that he
muft e’er long be clothed with earth, the end of ad
things ; and yet, continues he, it is but juftice to praife
and celebrate the worthy and deferving, who from good
citizens ought to receive all kinds of honour and com¬
mendation •, as,Ariilag.oras, for inftance, who hath ren¬
dered both himfelf and his country illuftrious by the
many vittories he hath obtained, to the number of fix-
teen, over the neighbouring youth, in the games ex¬
hibited, in, and about his own country. From whence, fays
the poet, I conclude he would have come oft viftonous
even in the Pythian and Olympic games, had he not
been reftrained from engaging in thofe famous lifts by
the too timid and cautious love of his parents. Upon
which he falls into a moral refle&ion upon the vanity
of man’s hopes and fears 5 by the former of which they
are oftentimes excited to attempts beyond their ftrength,
which accordingly iffue in their difgrace ; as, on the
other hand, they are frequently reftrained, by unreafon-
able and ill-grounded fears, from enterprifes, in which
they would in all probability have come off with Ho¬
nour. This refledlion he applies to Ariftagoras, by
faying it was very eafy to forefee what fucceis he was
like to meet with, who both by father and mother was
defcended from a long train of great and valiant men.
But here again, with a very artful turn of flattery to his
father Arcefilas, whom he had before reprefented as
ftrong and valiant, and famous for his viftories in the
games, he obferves that every generation, even of a
great and glorious farrtily, is not equally illuftrious any
more than the fields and trees are every year equally
fruitful ; that the gods had not given mortals any cer¬
tain tokens by which they might foreknow when the
rich years of virtue Jljould fucceed; whence it comes to
pafs, that men, out of (elf-conceit and prefumption, are
perpetually laying fchemes, and forming enterprifes,
without previoufly confulting prudence or wifdom,
whofe fir earns, fays he, lie remote and out or the com¬
mon road. From all which he infers, that it is better
to moderate our defires, and fet bounds to our avarice
and ambition } with which moral precept he concludes
the ode.
Strophe I.
Daughter of Rhea ! thou, whofe holy fire
Before the awful feat of juftice flames !
Sifter of heav’rt’s almighty fire !
Sifter of Juno, who coequal claims
With Jove to {hare the empire of the gods !
O virgin Vefta! to thy dread abodes,
Lo ! Ariftagoras diredts his pace !
Receive and near thy facred feeptre place
Him, and his colleagues, who, with honeft zeal,
O’er Tenedos prefide, and guard the public weal.
Antistrophe I.
And lo ! with frequent off’rings, they adore
Thee *, firft invok’d in ev’ry folemn pray’r !
To thee unmix’d libations pour,
And fill with od’rous fumes the fragrant air.
Around Vefta..
It was-
ufual in all
folemn fa¬
crifices and
prayers to
begin with'
invoking
POE
Around In Feftive fongs the hymning choir
Mix the melodious voice and founding lyre,
While flill, prolong’d with hofpitable love,
Are folemniz’d the rites of genial Jove :
Then guard him, Vefta, through his long career,
And let him clofe in joy his minifterial year.
Epode I.
But hail, Arcefilas ! all hail
i o thee, blefs’d father of a fon fo great!
Thou whom on fortune’s higheft fcale
l lie favourable hand of heav’n hath fet,
Thy manly form with beauty hath refin’d,
And match’d that beauty with a valiant mind.
Yet let not man too much prefume,
Tho’ grac’d with beauty’s faireft bloom $
Tho’ for fuperior ftrength renown’d ;
1 ho’ with triumphal chaplets crown’d ;
Let him remember, that, in fleih array’d,
Soon fliall he fee that mortal veftment fade j
Till loft, imprifon’d in the mould’ring urn,
1 o earth, the end of all things, he return.
Strophe II.
Yet fhould the worthy from the public tongue
Receive their recompenfe of virtuous praife j
By ev’ry zealous patriot fung,
And deck’d with ev’ry flow’r of heav’nly lays.
Such retribution in return for fame,
Such, Ariftagoras, thy virtues claim,
Claim from thy country ; on whofe glorious brows
I he wreftler’s chaplet ftill unfaded blows j
Mix’d with the great Pancratiaftic crown,
Which from the neighb’ring youth thy early valour won.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
Antistrophe II.
And (but his timid parents’ eautious love,
Difturbing ever his too forward hands,
Forbade their tender fon to prove
The toils of Pythia or Olympia’s fands),
i A. river, N°w by the Gods I fwear, his valorous might
.upon whofe Had ’fcap’d victorious in each bloody fight 5
banks the And from Caftalia f, or where dark with {hade
games were rnoun^ Saturn J rears its olive head,
exhibited. Great and illuftrious home had he return’d ;
J A fmall While, by his fame eclips’d, his vanquifh’d foes had
hill planted [mourn’d,
with olives,
that over- EpoDE II.
looked the
itadium at ^ hen his triumphal trefles bound
Olympia. With the dark verdure of th’ Olympic grove,
With joyous banquets had be crown’d
The great quinquennial feftival of Jove }
And cheer’d the folemn pomp with choral lays,
Sweet tribute, which the mufe to virtue pays.
But, fuch is man’s prepoft’rous fate !
Now, with o’er-weening pride elate,
Too far he aims his fhaft to throw,
And ftraining burfts his feeble bow :
Now pufillanimous deprefs’d with fear,
He checks bis virtue in the mid career ;
And of his ftrength diflruftful, coward flies
The conteft, tho’ empow’rd to gain the prize.
TRY.
Part li
Strophe III.
JUY11L
Poetry.
But who could err in prophefying good —v—■
Of him, whofe undegenerating breaft
Swells with a tide of Spartan blood,
From fire to fire in long fucceffion trac’d
Up to Pifander j who in days of yore
From old Amyclae to the Lefhian fhore
And Tenedos, colleagu’d in high command
With great Oreftes, led th’ iEolian band ?
Nor was his mother’s race lefs ftrong and brave,
Sprung from a flock that grew on fair * Ifmenus’ wave. * Ifmenua
AntAtrophe III.
Tho’ for long intervals obfcur’d, again
Oft-times the feeds of lineal worth appear.
For neither can the furrow’d plain
Full harvefts yield with each returning year j
Nor in each period will the pregnant bloom
Invert the finding tree with rich perfume.
So, barren often, and inglorious, pafs
The generations of a noble race j
While nature’s vigour, working at the root,
In after-ages fwells, and bloffoms into fruit.
was a river
of Eoeotia,
of which
country wa»
Menalip-
pus, the an-
ceftor of A-
riftagoras
by the mo¬
ther’s fide.
Epode III.
Nor hath Jove giv’n us to foreknow
When the rich years of virtue ftiall fucceed :
Yet bold and daring on we go,
Contriving fchemes of many a mighty deed j
While hope, fond inmate of the human mind,
And felf-opinion, active, rafh, and blind,
Hold up a falfe illufive ray,
That leads our dazzled feet aftray
Far from the fprings, where, calm and flow,
The fecret ftreams of wifdom flow.
Hence fhould we learn our ardour to reftrain,
And limit to due bounds the thirft of gain.
To rage and madnefs oft that paflion turns,
Which with forbidden flames defpairing burns.
From the above Specimen, and from what we have DifWuirt*
already laid on this fubje£l, the reader will perceive, ingcharac-
that odes of this fort are diftinguifhed by the happy ters of it.
tranfitions and digreftions which they admit, and the
furprifing yet natural returns to the fubjeft. This re¬
quires great judgement and genius ; and the poet who
would excel in this kind of writing, fhould draw the
plan of. his poem, in manner of the argument we have
above inferted, and mark out the places where thofe
elegant and beautiful fallies and wanderings maybe made,
and where the returns will be eafy and proper.
Pindar, it is univerfally allowed, had a poetical and
fertile imagination, a warm and enthufiaftic genius, a
bold and figurative expreflion, and a concife and fen-
tentious ftyle : but it is generally fuppofed that many
of thofe pieces which procured him fuch extravagant
prailes and extraordinary teftimonies of efteem from
the ancients are loft ; and if they were not, it would be
perhaps impoftible to convey them into our language ;
for beauties of this kind, like plants of an odoriferous
and delicate nature, are not to be tranfplanted into ano-
thei ciime without lofing much of their fragrance or
efiential quality.
4
With
Part II.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
POET
132
Modern
odes com¬
monly cal¬
led Pinda¬
ric.
With regard to thofe compofitions which are ufually
called Pindaric odes, (but which ought rather to be di-
liingxuflied by the name of irregular odes), we hare
many m our language that deferve particular commen-
datmn : the cnticifm which Mr Congreve has given us
on that lubjeft, has too much afperity and too great
latitude; for if other writers have, by miftaking Pin¬
dar s meafures, given their odes an improper title it
is a crime, one would think, not fo dangerous to the
commonwealth of letters as to deferve fuch fevere re-
proof. Befide which, we may fuppofe that fome of
thefe writers did not deviate from Pindar’s method
through ignorance, but by choice j and that as their
odes were not to be performed witli both Tinging and
dancing, m the manner of Pindar’s, it feemed unnecef-
iary to confine the firft and fecond ftanzas to the fame
exatt number as was done in his ftrophes and anti-
Itrophes. _ Ihe poet therefore had a right to indulge
himfelf with more liberty: and we cannot help thinking,
that the ode which Mr Dryden has given us, entitled,
Alexander's Feajl or the Power of Mufxc, is altogether
as valuable in loofe and wild numbers, as it could have
een it the danzas were more regular, and written in
the manner of Pindar. In this ode there is a wonder¬
ful fubhmity of thought, a loftinefs and fweetnefs of
expreflion, and a mod pleafing variety of numbers.
Xwas at the royal feaft, for Perfia won
By Philip’s warlike fon,
A^oft, in awful date,
The god-like hero fate
On his imperial throne :
His valiant peers were plac’d around 5
Their orows with rofes and with myrtles bound
(So thould defert in arms be crown’d 1 *
The lovely Thais by his fide
Sat like a blooming ealtern bride,
In floiv’r of youth and beauty’s pride.
Happy, happy, happy pair!
None but the brave,
None but the brave,
None but the brave deferve the fair.
Chor. Happy, happy, &c.
Timotheus, plac’d on high
Amid the tuneful quire,
, With flying fingers touch’d the lyre :
The trembling notes afcend the Iky,
r , And heav’nly joys infpire.
1 he long began from Jove,
Who left his blifsful feats above,
(Such is the pow’r of mighty love !)
A dragon’s fiery form bely’d the god :
Sublime on radiant fpires he rode,
When he to fair Olympia prefs’d ;
^ And while he fought her fnowy brealt :
I nen round her flender wTaift he curl’d,
And ftamp’d an image of himfelf, a fov’reign of the
world. 0
The lift’ning crowd admire the lofty found.
A prefent deity, they fliout around :
A prefent deity, the vaulted roofs rebound :
With ravilh’d ears
The monarch hears,
Vol. XVII. Part I.
r r.
Alfumes the go8,
AfFefts to nod,
And leems to (hake the (pheres.
Chor. With ravifhi'd ears, &c.
The praife of Bacchus then the fweet mufician fung;
U1 ilacchus ever fair and ever young;
The jolly god in triumph comes ;
Sound the trumpets, beat the drums ;
Tlulh’d with a purple grace,
He {hows Iris honeft face :
Now give the hautboys breath; he conies, he comes !
Bacchus, ever fair and young,
Drinking joys did firft ordain :
Bacchus’ bleflings are a treafure,
Drinking is the foldier’s pleafure :
Rich the treafure,
Sweet the pleafure :
Swcet the pleafure after pain.
Chor. Bacchus* hlejfmgs, &.c.
Sooth’d with the found, the king grew vain.
Fought all his battles o’er again ;
And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he flew
the llain.
The mafter faw the madnefs rife j
His glorying cheeks, his ardent eyes j
And while he heav’n and earth defy’d,
Chang’d his hand, and check’d his pride.
He chofe a mournful mufe
Soft pity to infufe ;
He fung Darius great and good,
By too fevere a fate,
Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen.
Fallen from his high eftate.
And welt’ring in his blood j
Deferted at his utmoft need,
By thofe his former bounty fed,
On the bare earth expos’d he lies,
With not a friend to clofe his eyes.
With downcaft looks the joylefs viftor fat.
Revolving jn his alter’d foul
The various turns of chance below:
And now and then a figh he ftole,
And tears began to flow.
Chor. Revolving, &c.
The mighty mafter fmil’d to fee
That love was in the next degree :
VI was but a kindred found to move:
For pity melts the mind to love,
Sottly fweet, in Lydian mealures :
Soon he footh’d his foul to pleafures.
V\ ar, he fung, is toil and trouble j
Honour but an empty bubble.
Never ending, ftill beginning.
Fighting ftill, and ftill deftroying.
—, . worid be worth thy winning.
Think, O think, it worth enjoying.
Lovely Thais fits befide thee, °
Take the good the gods provide thee.
1 he many rend the Ikies with loud applaufe ;
So love was crown’d, but mufic won the caufe.
I lie prince, unable to conceal his pain.
Gaz’d on the fair,
Who caus’d his care,
B And
Of Lyric
Poetty.
P O E T R Y.
And figli’d and look’d, ligli’d and look d.
Sigh’d and look’d, and figh’d again :
At length with love and wine at once opprefs’d,
The vanquiih’d vidtor funk upon her bread.
Chor. The prince, &c.
Now ftrike the golden lyre again j _
A louder yet, and yet a louder drain.
Break his bands of deep afunder, 1
And roufe him, like a rattling peal of thunder.
Hark ! hark ! the horrid found
Has rais’d up his head,
As awake from the dead,
And amaz’d he dares round. _
Revenge, revenge, limotheus cnes,
See the furies arife :
See the drakes that they rear,
How they hifs in their hair,
And the fparkles that flaflr from their eyes!
Behold "a ghadly band,
Each a torch in his hand !
Thofe are Grecian ghods that in battle were dam,
And unbury’d remain,
Inglorious on the plain.
Give the vengehce due
To the valiant crew.
Behold how they tofs their torches on high,
Hove they point to the Pert:an abodes,
And glitt’ring temples of their hoilile gods.
The princes applaud with a furious jo\ ,
And theming feiz’d a flambeau, with zeal todedro-,}
Thais led the way
To light him to his prey,
And, like another Helen, the fir’d another I roy.
Chor. And the king feitfd, &c.
Thus long ago,
Ere heaving bellows learnt to blow,
While organs yet weie mute •,
Timotheus, to his breathing flute,
And founding lyre, _ r • i r
Could fwell the foul of rage, or kindle foft defire.
At lad divine Cecilia came,
Inventrefs of the vocal frame }
The fweet enthufiaft, from her facred dore,
Enlarg’d the former narrow bounds,
And added length to folemn founds,
With nature’s mother-wit, and arts unknown before.
Let old Timotheus yield the prize,
Or both divide the crown :
He rais’d a mortal to the fkies j
She drew an angel down.
Grand chor. At lajl, &c.
There is another poem by Dry den, on the death of
Mrs Anne Killegrew, a young lady eminent for her
* Dr>*H-fldll in poetry and painting, which a great critic * has
Jon. pronounced to be “ undoubtedly the nobleft ode that
our language has ever produced.” He owns, that as
a whole it may perhaps be i'nferiorTo Alexander's Feajl,
but he affirms that the firft ftanza of it is fuperior to any
Angle part of the other. This famous ftanza, he fays, flows
with a torrent of enthufiafm : Fervet immenfufque ruit.
How far this criticifmis jpft, the public muft determine.
Thou youngeft virgin-daughter of the Ikies,
Made in the laft promotion of the bkfs’d j
Whofe palms, new-pluck’d from Tkradife,
In fpreading branches more fublimely rile,
Rich with immortal green above the reft *,
Whether, adopted to fome neighb’ring ftar,
Thou roli’ft above us, in thy wand’ring race,
Or in proceffion fix’d and regular,
Mov’d with the heav’n’s majeftic pace ;
Or call’d to more fuperior blifs,
Thou tread’ft with feraphims the vaft abyfs:
Whatever happy region is thy place,
Ceafe thy celeftial fong a little [pace }
Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine,
Since heaven’s eternal year is thine.
Hear then a mortal mufe thy praife rehearfe
In no ignoble verfe *,
But fuch as thy own voice did praftife here,
When thy firft fruits of poefy were giv’n
To make thyfelf a welcome inmate there ,
While yet a young probationer,
And candidate of heav’n.
IT.
If by traduftion came thy mind,
Our wonder is the leis to find
A foul fo charming from a ftock fo good •,
Thy father was transfus’d into thy blood,
So wert thou born into a tuneful ftrain,
An early, rich, and inexhaufted vein.
But if thy pre-exi fling foul
Was form’d at firft with myriads more.
It did through all the mighty poets roll,
Who Greek or Latin laurels wore,
And was that Sappho laft which once it was before.
If fo, then ceafe thy flight, O heaven-born mind !
Thou haft no drofs to purge from thy rich ore,
Nor can thy foul a fairer manfion find,
Than was the beauteous frame flie left behind .
Return to fill or mend the choir of thy celeftial kind
Part II.
Of Lyric
Poetry.
>
: t
and. J
III.
s
May we prefume to fay, that, at thy birth,
New joy was fprung in heav’n, as wTeil as here on earth
For lure the milder planets did combine
On thy aufpicious horofeope to ffiine,
And e’en the moft malicious were in trine.
Thy brother angels at thy birth
Strung each his lyre, and tun’d it high,
That all the people of the Iky
Might know a poetefs was born on earth.
And then, if ever, mortal ears
Had heard the mufic of the fpheres.
Amd if no cluft’ring fwarm of bees
On thy fweet mouth diftill’d their golden dew,
’IVas that fuch vulgar miracles
Heav’n had not leifure to renew :
For all thy blefs’d fraternity of love
Solemniz’d there thy birth, and kept thy holy day above.
IV.
O gracious God ! howT far have we
Profan’d thy heav’nly gift of poefy ?
Made proftitute and profligate the Mufe,
Debas’d to each obfeene and impious ufe,
Whofe harmony was firft ordain’d above
For tongues of angels, and for hymns of love ?
O wuetched me ! why w^ere we hurra’d down
This lubrique and adult’rate age,
(Nay
Part 11. P O
Of Lyric (Nay added fat pollutions of pur own)
Poetry. T’incfeafe the itreaming ordures of the flage !
' What can we fay t’excufe our fecond fall ?
Let this thy veftal, Heav’n, atone for all:
Her Arethufian ftream remains unfoil’d,
Unmix’d with foreign filth, and undefil’d •,
Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child.
V.
£
i
Art flie had none, yet wanted none :
For nature did that want fupply :
So rich in treafures of her own,
She might our boafted flores defy :
Such noble vigour did her verfe adorn,
'That it feem’d borrow’d where ’twas only born.
Her morals, too, were in her bofom bred, 1
By great examples daily fed, ?•
What in the befl of books, her father’s life flie read. J
And to be read herfelf, fhe need not fear ; 1
Each tefl, and every light, her Mufe will bear, >
Tho’ Epiftetus with his lamp were there. J
E’en love (for love fometimes her Mufe exprefs’d)
Was but a lambent flame which play’d about her breaft,
Light as the vapours of a morning dream,
So cold herfelf, while fhe fuch warmth exprefs’d,
’Twas Cupid bathing in Diana’s ftream.
VI.
Born to the fpacious empire of the Nine,
One would have thought fire fhould have been content
To manage well that mighty government j
But what can young ambitious fouls confine ?
To the next realm fhe flretch’d her fway, 1
For Painture near adjoining lay, >
A plenteous province and alluring prey. J
A Chamber of Dependencies was fram’d.
(As conquerors wall never want pretence,
When arm’d, to juftify th’offence)
And the whole fief, in right of poetry, fire claim’d.
The country open lay without defence :
For poets frequent inroads there had made,
And perfectly could reprefent
The fhape, the face, with ev’ry lineament,
And all the large domains which the dumb fjler fway’d.
All bow’d beneath her government,
Receiv’d in triumph wdrerefoe’er fire went.
Tier pencil drew whate’er her foul defign’d,
And oft the happy draught furpafs’d the image-in her mind.
The fylvan fcenes of herds and flocks,
And fruitful plains and barren rocks,
Of (hallow brooks that flow’d fo clear,
The bottom did the top appear ;
Of deeper too, and ampler floods,
Which, as in mirrors, fhow’d the woods :
Of lofty trees, with facred fhades,
And perfpeftives of pleafanf glades,
Where nymphs of brightefl form appear, 1
And fhaggy fatyrs {landing near, >
Which them at once admire and fear. J
The ruins too of fome majeflic piece,
Boafting the porver of ancient Rome or Greece,
Whofe flatues, freezes, columns, broken lie,
And, though defac’d, the wonder of the eye ;
What nature, art, bold fidlion, e’er durft frame,
Her forming hand gave feature to the name.
So flrange a concourfe ne’er was feen before,
But when the peopl’d ark the whole creation bore.
T R Y.
yir.
The fcene then chang’d, with bold ere&ed look
Our martial king the fight with rev’rence ftruck-:
For not content t’exprefs his outward part
Her hand call’d out the image of his heart :
His warlike mind, his foul devoid of fear,
His high-defigning thoughts were figur’d there,
As when, by magic, ghofts are made appear.
Our phoenix queen was pourtray’d too fo bright,
Beauty alone could beauty take fo right :
Her drefs, her fhape, her matchlefs grace,
Were all obferv’d, as well as heav’nly face.
With fuch a peerlefs majefty flie Hands,
As in that day (lie took the crown from facred hands j
Before a train of heroines was feen,
In beauty foremoft, as in rank, the queen.
Thus nothing to her genius was defied,
But like a ball of fire the further thrown,
Still with a greater blaze flie ihone,
And her bright foul broke out on ev’ry fide.
What next fhe had defign’d, Heav’n only knows :
To fuch immod’rate growth her conqueft rofe,
That fate alone its progrefs could oppofe.
VIII.
Now all thofe charms, that blooming grace,
The well proportion’d (hape, and beauteous face,
Shall never more be feen by mortal eyes;
In earth the much lamented virgin lies.
Nor wit nor piety could fate prevent j
Nor was the cruel Definy content
To finifh all the murder at a blow,
To fweep at once her life and beauty too \
But, like a harden’d felon, took a pride
To work more mifchievoufly flow
And plunder’d firfl, and then deflroy’d.
O double facrilege on things divine,
To rob the relick, and deface the fhrine !
But thus Orinda died :
Heav’n, by the fame difeafe, did both tranflate j
As equal were their fouls, fo equal was their fate.
IX.
Meantime her warlike brother on the feas
His waving dreamers to the winds difplays,
And vows for his return, with vain devotion, pays.
Ah generous youth! that wifli forbear,
The winds too foon will waft thee here !
Slack all thy fails, and fear to come,
Alas, thou know’ll not, thou art wreck’d at home !
No more (halt thou behold thy filler’s face,
Thou hall already had her lafl embrace.
But look aloft, and if thou kenn’il from far,
Among the Pleiads a new kindled liar,
If any fparkles than the reft more bright,
’Tis flie that ftiines in that propitious light.
X.
When in mid-air the golden trump fliall found,
To raife the nations under ground \
When in the valley of J ehofhaphat.
The judging God {hall clofe the book of fate \
And there the laft afjifes keep
For thofe who wake and thofe who fleep :
When rattling bones together fly
From the four corners of the fky ;
When finews o’er the fkeletons are fpread,
Thofe cloth’d with flelh, and life infpires the dead \
B 2 The
}
Of Lyric
Poetry.
!
12
Of Lyric
Poetry.
P o
Xlie fawiCvi poets firft itiail hear the found,
And foremoft from the tomb lhall bound,
For they are cover’d with the Hghteft ground j
And ftraight with in-born vigour, on the wing,
Like mounting larks to the new morning ling.
There thou, fweet faint, before the quire fhalt go.
As harbinger of heav’n, the way to fhow,
*1 he way which thou lo well haft learnt below\
E
1 hat this is a fine ode, and not unwmrthy of the ge¬
nius of Diyden, muft be acknowledged $ but that it is
the nobleft wdiich the Englifh language has produced,
or that any part of it runs with the torrent of enthufi-
afm which characterizes Alexander's Fea/f, are petitions
which we feel not ourfelves inclined to admit. Had the
critic by whom it is fo highly praifed, infpefted it with
the eye. which fyanned the odes of Gray, w7e cannot
help thinking that he wrould have perceived fome parts
of it to be tedioufly minute in defeription, and others
not veiy perfpicuous at the firft perufal. It may per¬
haps, upon the whole, rank as high as the following ode
by Collins on the Popular Superftitions of the High¬
lands of Scotland ; but to a higher place it has furely5no
claim.
I.
Home, thou return’ll from Thames, whofe Naiads long
Have feen thee ling’ring with a fond delay,
Mid thofe foft friends, whofe heart fome future day,
Shall melt, perhaps, to hear thy tragic fong,
Go, not unmindful of that cordial youth (c.)
vV hona, long endear’d, thou leav’ft by Lavant’s fide j
I ogether let us wifh him lafting truth,
And joy untainted with his deftin’d bride.
Go ! nor regardlefs, while thefe numbers boaft
My fhort-liv’d blifs, forget my focial name;
Tut think, far off, how, on the fouthern coaft,
I met thy friendftiip with an equal flame !
^ whofe. Frefh to that foil thou turn’ll, 'where ^ ev’ry vale
Shall prompt the poet, and his fong demand:
To thee thy copious fubjeds ne’er lhall fail ;
Thou need’ll but take thy pencil to thy hand,
And paint what all believe who own thy genial land.
H.
There muft thou wake perforce thy Doric quill;
’Tis fancy’s land to w'hich thou fett’ft thy feet;
Where Hill, ’tis faid, the Fairy people meet,
Beneath each birken fliade, on mead or hill.
.1 here, each trim lafs, that Ikims the milky ftore,
1 o the fwart tribes their creamy bowl allots ;
By night they fip it round the cottage-door,
While airy minftrels warble jocund notes.
^ ^ Fart II.
There, ev’ry herd,, by fad experience, knows, Of Lyric
How, wing’d with Fate, their elf-fhot arrows fly, roctry.
W hen the lick ewe her fummer food foregoes, ^ 1 ■ vr—,.f
Gr, llretch d on earth, the heart-fmit heifers lie.
Such airy beings awe th’ untutor’d fwain :
Nor thou, tho’ learn’d, his homelier thoughts negleft t
Let thy fweet Mufe the rural faith fuftain ;
Thefe are the themes of Ample, fure #ffe<ft,
That add new.conquelts to her boundlefs reign,
And fill, with double force, her heart-commanding
t- , - Til. [ftrain*^
Ev n yet preferv’d, how often may’ll thou hear,
Where to the pole the Boreal mountains run,
Taught by the father to his lift’ning fon,
Strange lays, whofe pow’r had charm’d a Spenfer’s ear.
At ev’ry paufe, before thy mind poffeft,
Gld Runic bards lhall feem to rife around,
With uncouth lyres in many-colour’d veil,
I neir matted hair wuth boughs fantaftic crown’d ;
hether thou bid’ll the wTell-taught hind repeat
^ he choral dirge that mourns lome chieftain brave,
When ev’ry Ihrieking maid her bofom beat,
And Itiew’d with choiceft herbs his fcented grave ;
Or whether fitting in the Ihepherd’s Uriel (h),
1 hou hear’ll fome founding tale of war’s alarms,
When, at the bugle’s call, with fire and Heel,
1 he fturdy clans pour’d forth their brawnyX fwarms, J bony.
And hoftile brothers met to prove each other’s arms,
IV*
’Tis thine to fing how framing hideous fpells,
In Sky’s, lone ifle the gifted wizzard^er $, S fits.
Lodg’d in the wintry cave with Fate’s fell fpear fi) ?
Or m the depth of Uift’s dark foreft dwells :
How they whofe fight fuch dreary dreams engrofs,
With their own vifions oft aftonilh’d droop,
When, o’er the wat’ry ftrath, or quaggy mofs,
Urey fee the gliding ghofts unbodied ^ troop.
Or, if in fports, or on the feftive green,
Their deJUn'df glance fome fated youth defery,
Who now, perhaps, in lufty vigour feen,
And rofy health, lhall foon lamented die.
For them the viewlefs forms of air obey ;
Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair.
They know what fpirit brews the llormful day.
And heartlefs, oft like moody madnefs, Hare
B o fee the phantom train their fecret work prepare.
To monarchs dear (k), fome hundred miles aftray.
Oft have they feen Fate give the fatal blow !
The feer in Sky Ihriek’d'as the blood did flow
When headlefs Lharles warm on the Icaffold lay !
As
| embodied
f piercing!
GG ^ gentleman of the name of Barrow, who introduced Home to Collins,
palture bfinT^ ^ buIlt ^ the h5§h part °f the mountains> to tend their Qocks in the warm feafon, when the
(l) Waiting in wintery cave his wraywTard fits.
(k) Of this beautiful ode two copies have been printed : one by Dr Carlyle, from a manufeript which he a«
when he^eclares Zt “te f r Z5" “"/J14" ,f"ms l? hoi>e that a namelefs fomeMy »•» be believed,
e tie declares, that he difeovered * perfeB copy of this admirable ode among fome old papers in the concealed
drawers of a bureau kft him by a rdation.” The prefent age has been already too muehamufed wkh
t^fr nTTfdT P°emS.ln }heA ^ottofs of o/d che-fisi to Pay ^11 credit to an affertion of this kind, evenVouwh
nf TT tbe laid 111 \bure.aU- As the 0de of the anonymous editor differs, however, ver^ lS
* a. of Dr Carlyle, and as what is affirmed by a gentleman may be true, though “ he choofes^ot at
prefent
Part II. P O
Of Lyric As Boreas threw his young Aurora (l) forth,
t r’oetry. In the firft year of the firft George’s reign,
" "y ' And battles rag’d in welkin of the North,
They mourn’d in air, fell, fell rebellion, flain !
And as of late they joy’d in Prefton’s fight,
Saw at fad Falkirk all their hopes near crown’d !
They rav’d divining through their fecond-fight (m),
Pale, red Culloden, where thefe hopes were drown’d!
Illuftrious William (n) ! Britain’s guardian name !
One William fav’d us from a tyrant’s ftroke 5
He, for a fceptre, gain’d heroic fame,
But thou, more glorious, Slavery’s chain haft broke,
To reign a private man, and bow to Freedom’s yoke !
VI.
Thefe, too, thou’lt fing! for well thy magic mufe
Can to the topmoft heav’n of grandeur foar !
Or ftoop to wail the fwain that is no more !
Ah, homely fwains! your homeward fteps ne’er loofe j
Let not dank Will (o) mifiead you to the heath :
Dancing in mirky night, o’er fen and lake,
He glows, to draw you downward to your death,
In his bewitch’d, low, marlhy, willow brake !
What though far off, from fome dark dell efpied,
His glimm’ring mazes cheer th’excurfive fight,
Yet turn, ye wand’rers, turn your fteps afide,
Nor truft the guidance of that faithlefs light j
For watchful, lurking, ’mid th’ unruftling reed,
At thofe mirk hours the wily monfter lies,
And liftens oft to hear the palling fteed,
And frequent round him rolls his fullen eyes,
If chance his favage wrath may fome weak wretch furprife.
Vn.
Ah, lucklefs fwain, o’er all unbleft, indeed !
Whom late bewilder’d in the dank, dark fen,
Far from his flocks, and fmoking hamlet, then !
* his way- To that fad fpot * where hums the fedgy weed.
ward fate
Ifiall lead.
E T 11 Y.
On him, enrag’d, the fiend, in angry mood,
Shall never look with pity’s kind concern,
But inftant, furious, raife the whelming flood
O’er its drown’d banks, forbidding all return !
Or, if he meditate his wilh’d efcape,
To fome dim hill that feems uprifing near,
To his faint eye, the grim and grilly fihape,
In all its terrors clad, fliall wild appear.
Meantime the wat’ry furge fhall round him rife,
Pour’d fudden forth from ev’ry fwelling fource !
What now remains but tears and hopelefs fighs ?
His fear-lhook limbs have loft their youthly force,
And down the waves he floats, a pale and breathlefs corfe !
VIII.
For him in vain his anxious wife lhall wait,
Or wander forth to meet him on his way;
For him in vain, at to-fall of the day,
His babes lhall linger at th’ unclofing gate 2
Ah, ne’er fhall he return ! Alone, if night,
Her travell’d limbs in broken flumbers fteep !
With drooping willows dreft, his mournful fprite
Shall vilit fad, perchance, her filcnt fleep :
Then he, perhaps, with moift and wat’ry hand,
Shall fondly feem to prefs her ftiudd’ring cheek,
And with his blue-fwoln face before her Hand,
And, fhiv’ring cold, thefe piteous accents fpeak :
“ Purfue, dear wife, thy daily toils purfue,
“ At dawn or dufk, induftrious as before j
“ Nor e’er of me one * hclplefs thought renew, * haplefs.
“ While I lie welt’ring on the ozier’d fliore,
“ Drown’d by the kelpie’sf rvrath, nor e’er fhall aid thee | the waters
IX. [more!” fiend.
Unbounded is thy range ; with varied /kill* % ftyle.
Thy mufe may, like thofe feath’ry tribes which fpring
From their rude rocks, extend her fkirting wing
Round the moift marge of each cold Hebrid ifle,
To
prefent to publifh his name,” we have inferted into our work the copy which pretends to be perfeft, noting at the
bottom or margin of the page the different readings of Dr Carlyle’s edition. In the Doftor’s manufcript, which
appeared to have been nothing more than the prima cura, or firft fketch of the poem, the fifth ftanza and half of
the fixth were wanting ; and to give a continued context, he prevailed with Mr M‘Kenzie, the ingenious author of
the Man of Feeling, to fill up the chafro. This he did by the following beautiful lines, which we cannot help
thinking much more happy than thofe which occupy their place in the copy faid to be perfeft :
£‘ Or on fome bellying rock that fhades the deep,
They view the lurid figns that crofs the fky,
Where in the weft the brooding tempefts lie;
And hear their firft, faint, ruftling pennons fweep.
Or in the arched cave, wdiere deep and dark
The broad unbroken billows heave and fwell,
In horrid millings wrapt, they fit to mark
The lab’ring moon ; or lift the nightly yell
Of that dread fpirit, whofe gigantic form
The feer’s entranced eye can well furvey,
Through the dim air who guides the driving ftorm,
And points the wretched bark its deftin’d prey.
Or him who hovers on his flagging wdng^
O’er the dire whirlpool, that in ocean’s wafte,
Draivs inftant down whate’er devoted thing
The falling breeze within its reach hath plac’d  
The diftant feaman hears, and flies with trembling hafte.
Or if on land the fiend exerts his fway,
Silent he broods o’er quickfand, bog, or fen,
Far from the fhelt’ring roof and haunts of men,
When witched darknefs fhuts the eye of day,
And fhrouds each ftar that wont to cheer the night y
Or if the drifted fnow perplex the wray,
With treach’rous gleam he lures the fated wdght
And leads him flound’ring on and quite aftray.”
(l) By young Aurora, Collins undoubtedly meant the firft appearance of the northern lights, which is common¬
ly faid to have happened about the year 1715.
(m) Second-fight is the term that is ufed for the divination of the Highlanders.
(n) The late duke of Cumberland, who defeated the Pretender at the battle of Culloden.
(o) A fiery meteor, called by various names, Rich as Will with the Wifp, Jack with the Lanthorn, &c. Xi ha¬
vers in the air over marfhy and fenny places.
POE
To that hoar pile (p) which hill its ruin (hows :
In whole fmall vaults a pigmy-folk is found,
Whofe bones the delver with his fpade upthrows,
And culls them, wond’ring, from the hallow’d ground !
Or thither (Q_), where beneath the fliow’ry wreft,
The mighty kings of three fair realms are laid :
Once foes,, perhaps, together now they red,
No flaves revere them, and no wars invade :
Yet frequent now, at midnight folemn hour,
The rifted mounds their yawning cells unfold,
And forth the monarchs llalk with fov’reign pow’r
In pageant robes; and, wreath’d with {heeny gold,
And on their twilight tombs aerial council hold.
X.
But, oh ! o’er all, forget not Kilda’s race,
On whofe bleak rocks, which brave the wrafling tides,
Fair Nature’s daughter, Virtue, yet abides.
Go ! juft, as they, their blamelefs manners trace!
Then to my ear tranfmit fome gentle fong,
Of thofe whofe lives are yet fincere and plain,
Their bounded walks the rugged cliffs along,
And all their profpeft but the wint’ry main.
With fparing temp’rance at the needful time,
They drain the fcented fpring •, or, hunger-preft,
Along th’ Atlantic rock, undreading, climb,
* See Bird- And of its eggs defpoil the folan’s neft .
catching, Thus, bleft in primal innocence, they live,
and happy wTith that frugal fare
Which tafteful toil and hourly danger give.
Hard is their {hallow7 foil, and bleak and bare 5
Nor ever vernal bee was heard to murmur there ! ^
XI.
Nor need’ll thou blufh that fuch falfe themes engage
Thy gentle mind, of fairer ftores pofleft •,
For not alone they touch the village breaft,
But fill’d in elder time th’ hiftoric page.
There, Shakefpeare’s felf, with every garland crown’d.
Flew to thofe fiery climes his fancy jheen (r),
In muling hour } his wayward fillers found,
And with their terrors drefs’d the magic fcene.
From them he fung, when, ’mid his bold defign,
Before the Scot, afflidled, and aghait !
The lhadow7y kings of Banquo’s fated line,
Thro’ the dark cave in gleamy pageant pafs’d.
Proceed ! nor quit the tales, which, limply told,
Could once fo well my anfw’ring bofom pierce \
Proceed, in forceful founds, and colours bold,
The native legends of thy land rehearfe •,
To fuch adapt thy lyre, and fuit thy pow’rful verfe.
XII.
In fcenes like thefe, which, daring to depart
From 1’ober truth, are Hill to nature true,
And call forth frefh delight to fancy’s view,
Th’ heroic mufe employ’d her Tafib’s art!
T R Y.
Part II.
Of Lyric.
Poetry.
p. 237. and SufficM
Pehcanus,
No. 3.
f fpaciou?.
1 Three ri¬
vers in
Scotland.
How7 have I trembl’d, when, at Tancred’s flroke,
Its guftiing blood the gaping cyprefs pour’d,
When each live plant with mortal accents fpoke, ^
And the wild blaft upheav’d the vanilh’d fword !
How have I fat, w hen pip’d the penfive wind,
To hear his harp by Britilh Fairfax ftrung !
Prevailing poet! whofe undoubting mind,
Believed the magic wonders which he fung !
Hence, at each found, imagination glows!
Hence, at each picture, vivid life farts here ! (s)
Hence his warm lay with loftell fweelnefs flows !
Melting it flows, pure, murncring ftrong, and clear, * mlmer.
And fills th’ impaffion’d heart, and wins th’ harmonious ous.
XIII. [ear!
All hail, ye fcenes that o’er my foul prevail!
Ye fplendidf friths and lakes, which, far away,
Are by fmooth Annan J fill’d, or paft’ral Tay t,
Or Don’s j; romantic fprings, at diftance, hail!
The time lhall come, when I, perhaps, may tread
Your lowly glens *, o’erhung with fpreading broom j * valleys.
Or o’er your ftretching heaths, by fancy led,
Or o'er your mountains creep, in awful gloom ! (t)
Then will I drefs once more the faded bow’r,
Where Jonfon (u) fat in Drummond’s c!ojfc-\ lhade } t facial-
Or crop, from Tiviotdale, each lyric flow7’r,
And mourn, on Yarrow’s banks, where Wilhfs laidf! t the wi-
Meantime, ye powr’rs that on the plains which bore dowed
The cordial youth, on Lothian’s plains (x), attend ! ma^ '
Where’er HOME dwells j, on hill, or lowly moor, § pe dwell
To him I loofe ||, your kind protedlion lend, |j
And, touch’d wdth love like mine, preferve my abfent
friend !
Dr Johnfon, in his life of Collins, informs us, that
Dr Warton and his brother, who had feen this ode in
the author’s pofleflion, thought it fuperior to .his other
works. The tafte of the Wartons wall hardly be que-
ftioned ; but we are not fure that the following Ode to
the Pafions has much lefs merit, though it be merit of a
different kind, than the Ode on the Superflitiens of the
Highlands :
When Mufic, heav’nly maid, w7as young,
While yet in early Greece Ihe fung,
The Paflions oft, to hear her Iheil,
Throng’d around her magic cell, •
Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting,
Poffeft beyond the Mufe’s painting ;
By turns they felt the glowing mind
Difturb’d, delighted, rais’d, refin’d.
Till once, ’tis faid, when all were fir’d,
Fill’d with fury, rapt, infpir’d,
From the fupporting myrtles round
They fnatch’d her inftruments of found :
And
(p) One of the Hebrides is called the Ife of Pigmies, where it is reported, that feveral miniature bones of the
human fpecies have been dug up in the ruins of a chapel there.
(tp) Icolmkill, one of the Hebrides, where many of the ancient Scottilh, Irifh, and Norwegian kings, are faid
to be interred.
(r) This line wanting in Dr Carlyle’s edition.
(s) This line wanting in Dr Carlyle’s edition.
(t) This line wanting in Dr Carlyle’s edition.
(u) Ben Jonfon paid a vifit on foot in 1619 to the Scotch poet Drummond, at his feat of Hawthornden, within
feven miles of Edinburgh.
(x) Barrow, it feems, was at the univerffty of Edinburgh, which is inthe county of Lothian.
Part II.
Of Lyric And as they oft had heard apart
Loetiy Sweet leflbns of her forceful art,
V" v Each, for madnefs rul’d the hour,
Would prove his own expreffive power.
Firft Fear his hand, its {kill to try,
Amid the chords bewilder’d laid,
And back recoil’d, he knew not why,
Ev’n at the found himfelf had made.
Next Anger rufh’d 5 his eyes on fire,
In lightnings own’d his lecret flings j
In one rude clafh he (truck the lyre,
And fwept with hurried hand the firings.
With woeful meafures wan Defpair—
Low fullen founds his grief beguil’d •,
A folemn, flrange, and mingled air •,
’Twas fad by fits, by flarts ’twas wild.
But thou, O Hope ! with eyes fo fair,
What was thy delighted meafuve ?
Still it whifper’d promis’d pleafure,
And bade the lovely fcenes at diilance hail ’—
Still would her touch the ftrain prolong,
And from the rocks, the woods, the vale,
She call’d on Echo flill through all her fong;
And where her fweeteft theme fhe chofe,
A foft refponfive voice was heard at every clofe,
And Hope enchanted fmil’d, and wav’d her golden hair.
And longer had fire fung ;—but, with a frown,
Revenge impatient rofe ;
He threw his blood-flain’d fword in thunder down,
And, with a withering look,
The war-denouncing trumpet took,
And blew a blaft fo loud and dread,
Were ne’er prophetic founds fo full of woe.
And ever and anon he beat
The doubling drum with furious heat ;
And though fometimes, each dreary paufe between,
Dejefted Pity at his fide
Her foul-fubduing voice applied,
Yet flill he kept his wild unalter’d mien,
While each drain’d ball of fight ieem’d burfling from
his head.
Thy numbers, Jealoufy, to nought were fix’d,
Sad proof of thy difirefsful date ■,
Of differing themes the veering fong was mix’d 5
And now it courted Love, now raving call’d on Hate.
With eyes up-rais’d, as one infpir’d,
Pale Melancholy fat retir’d,
And from her wild fequefler’d feat,
In notes by diflance made more fweet,
Pour’d through the mellow horn her penfive foul,
And dadfing foft from rocks around,
Bubbling runnels join’d the found 3
Through glades and glooms the mingled meafure dole,
Or o’er fome haunted dreams with fond delay,
Round an holy calm diffufing,
Love of peace, and lonely mufing,
In hollow murmurs died away.
But O ! how alter’d was its fprightlier tone !
When Cheerfulnefs, a nymph of healthied hue,
Her bow acrofs her fhoulder flung,
Her bufkins gemm’d with morning dew,
2.
P O E
T E Y.
Blew an infpiring air, that dale and thicket rung,
The hunter’s call to Faun and Dryad known 3
The oak-crown’d filters, and their chade-ey’d queen,
Satyrs and fylvan boys were feen,
Peeping from forth their alleys green 3
Brown Exercife rejoic’d to hear,
And Sport leapt up, and feiz’d his beechen fpear.
Lad came Joy’s ecdatic trial 3
He, with viny crown advancing,
Fird to the lively pipe his hand addreft,!
But foon he favv the brifk awakening viol,
Whofe fweet entrancing voice he lov’d the bed.
They would have thought who heard the drain,
They faw in Tempe’s vale her native maids,
Amidd the fedal founding diades,
To fome unwearied mindrel dancing,
While, as his dying fingers kifs’d the firings,
Love fram’d with Mirth a gay fantadic round :
Loofe were her treffes feen, her zone unbound 3
And he, amidd his frolic play,
As if he would the charming air repay,
Shook thoufand odours from his dewy wings..
O mufic ! fphere-defcended maid,
Friend of pleafure, wifdom’s aid,
Why, Goddefs, why to us denied ?
Fay’d thou thy ancient lyre afide ?
As in that lov’d Athenian bower,
You learn’d an all-commanding power :
Thy mimic foul, O Nymph endear’d,
Can well recall what then it heard.
Where is thy native fimple heart,
Devote to virtue, fancy, art ?
Arife, as in that elder time,
Warm, energic, chade, fublirae !
Thy wonders, in that god-like age,
Fill thy recording dder’s page—
’Tis faid, and I believe the tale,
Thy humbled reed could more prevail,
Had more of firength, diviner rage,
Than all which charms this laggard age 3
Ev’n all at once together found
Caecilia’s mingled world of found—
O ! bid our vain endeavours ceafe,
Revive the jud defigns of Greece,
Return in all thy fimple date !
Confirm the tfdes her fons relate.
We fliall conclude this fe&ion, and thefe examples,
with Gray’s Progrefs of Poefy, which, in fpite of the fe-
verity of Johnfon’s criticifm, certainly ranks high among
the odes which pretend to fublimity. The fird danza,
when examined by the frigid rules of grammatical criti-
cifm, is certainly not faultlefs ; but its faults will be
overlooked by every reader who has any portion of the
author’s fervour :
I. I.
Awake, Aiolian lyre, awake,
And give to rapture all thy trembling firings ;
From Helicon’s harmonious fprings
A thoufand rills their mazy progrefs take 3
The laughing flowers, that round them blow,
Drink life and fragrance as they flow.
Now the rich dream of mufic winds along,
Deep, majedic, fmooth, and drong,
Thro’
i6
Of Lyric
Poetry.
POETRY.
Thro’ verdant vales, and Ceres’ golden reign :
^ Now rolling down the fteep amain,
Headlong, impetuous, fee it pour :
The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar,
I. 2.
Oh ! Sovereign of the willing foul,
Parent of fweet and folemn-breathing airs,
Enchanting {hell! the fullen cares,
And frantic paflions, hear thy foft controul.
On Thracia’s hills the lord of war
Has curb’d the fury of his car,
And dropp’d his thirfty lance at thy command.
Perching on the fceptfed hand
Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feather’d king
With ruffled plumes, and flagging wing :
Quench’d in dark clouds of {lumber lie
Tire terror of his beak, and lightnings of his eye.
L 3-
Thee the voice, the dance, obey,
Temper’d to thy wTarbled lay :
O’er Idalia’s velvet green
The rofy-crowned loves are feen.
On Cytherea’s day,
With antic fports, and blue-ey’d pleafures,
Frifking light in frolic meafures j
Now purfuing, now retreating,
Now in circling troops they meet £
To brilk notes, in cadence beating,
Glance their many twinkling feet.
Slow melting {trains their queen’s approach declare :
Where’er Are turns, the Graces homage pay.
With arms fublime, that float upon the air,
In gliding ftate Ihe wans her eafy way :
O’er her warm cheek, and riling bofom, move
The bloom of young defire, and purple light of love.
II. I.
Man’s feeble race what ills await j
Labour, and penury, the racks of pain,
Difeafe, and forrow’s weeping train,
And deaih, fad refuge from the ftorms of fate !
The fond complaint, my fong, difprove,
And juftify the laws of Jove.
Say, has he giv’n in vain the heav’nly mufe ?
Night, and all her fickly dews,
Her fpeftres wan, and birds of boding cry,
He gives to range the dreary Iky 5
Till down the eaftern cliffs afar
Hyperion’s march they fpy, and glitt’ring {hafts of war.
II. 2.
In climes beyond the folar road,
Where fhaggy forms o’er ice-built mountains roam,
The Mufe has broke the twilight-gloom,
To cheer the fliiv’ring native’s dull abode.
And oft, beneath the od’rous {hade
Of Chili’s boundlefs forefts laid,
She deigns to hear the favage youth repeat,
In loofe numbers wildly fweet,
Their feather-cin&ur’d chiefs, and dufky loves.
Her track, where’er the goddefs roves,
Glory purfue, and gen’rous Ihame,
Th’ unconquerable mind, and freedom’s holy flame.
II. 3.
Woods, that wave o’er Delphi’s fteep,
Jfles, that crown the iEgean deep,
4
Fields, that cool Iliffus laves,
Or where Maeander’s amber waves
In ling’ring lab’rinths creep,
How do your tuneful echoes languifti
Mute, but to the voice of anguilh !
Where each old poetic mountain
Infpiration breath’d around j
Ev’ry {hade and hallow’d fountain
Murmur’d deep a folemn found :
Till the fad nine, in Greece’s evil hour,
Left their Parnaffus for the Latian plains.
Alike they fcorn the pomp of tyrant power,
And coward vice that revels in her chains.
When Latium had her lofty fpirit loft,
'l hey {ought, oh Albion ! next thy fea-encircled coafr.
III. 1.
Far from the fun, and fummer-gale.
In thy green lap was nature’s * darling laid,
What time, where lucid Avon ftray’d,
To him the mighty mother did unveil
Her awful face : the dauntlefs child
Stretch’d forth his little arms, and fmil’d.
1 his pencil take (flie faid) whofe colours clear
Richly paint the vernal year :
I hine too thefe golden keys, immortal boy I
This can unlock the gates of joy j
Of horror that, and thrilling fears,
Or ope the facred fource of fympathetic tears.
III. 2.
Nor fecond he -f, that rode fublime
Upon the feraph wings of ecftafy,
The fecrets of th’ abyfs to fpy.
He pafs’d the flaming bounds of place and time :
The living throne, the fapphire blaze,
Where angels tremble while they gaze,
He faw j but, blafted with excefs of light,
Clos’d his eyes in endlefs night.
Behold, where Dryden’s lefs prefumptuous car.
Wide o’er the fields of glory bear
Two courfers of ethereal race,
With necks in thunder cloth’d, and long-refounding
pace.
HI. 3.
Hark, his hands the lyre explore !
Bright-ey’d fancy, hov’ring o’er,
Scatters from her piftur’d urn
I houghts that breathe, and words that bum.
But ah ! ’tis heard no more—
Oh ! Lyre divine, what daring fpirit
Wakes thee now ? tho’ he inherit
Nor the pride, nor ample pinion,
That the Theban eagle bear,
Sailing with fupreme dominion
Through the azure deep of air :
Yet oft before his infant eyes would run
Such forms as glitter in the Mufe’s ray,
With orient hues, unborrow’d of the fun:
Yet Ihall he mount, and keep his diftant way
Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate,
Beneath the good how far—but far above the great.
Sect. III. Of the Elegy.
Part IL
Of Lyric
Poetry.
* Shake*
fpeare.
f Milton,
*3*
The E/cgy is a mournful and plaintive, but yet fweet The elegy,
and engaging, kind of poem. It was firft invented to
bewail
Part II.- P O E
Elegy, bewail the death of a friend 5 and afterwards ufed to ex-
prefs the complaints of lovers, or any other melancholy
fubject. In procefs of time, not only matters of grief,
Ifut joy, wiihes, prayers, expoftulations, reproaches, ad¬
monitions, and aim oil every other fubjeft, were admit¬
ted into elegy 5 however, funeral lamentations and af¬
fairs of love feem moll agreeable to its charafter, which
is gentlenefs and tenuity.
The plaintive elegy, in mournful ftate,
Dilhevell’d weeps the Hern decrees of fate :
Now paints the lover’s torments and delights }
Now the nymph flatters, threatens, or invites.
Tut he, who would thele paflions well exprefs,
Muff more of love than poetry poffefs.
I hate thofe lifelefs writers whofe forc’d fire
In a cold flyle defcribes a hot defire ;
Who figh by rule, and, raging in cold blood,
1 heir fluggifli mule fpur to an am’rous mood.
i heir ecilafies iniipidly they feign j
And always pine, and fondly hug their chain $
Adore their prifon, and their fuff’rings blefs
Make leuie and reafon quarrel as they pleafe.
’Twas not of old in this affefted tone,
i hat imooth 1 ibullus made his am’rous moan $
Or tender Ovid, in melodious ftrains,
Of love's dear art ihe pleafing rules explains.
You, who in elegy would jullly write,
Confult your heart; let that alone endite.
[From the French o/'Defpreux.] Soames.
How-to b • an e^e§^’ as indeed of all other poems,
nnide ° ought to be made before a line is written ; or elfe the
author will ramble in the dark, and his verfes have no
dependance on each other. No epigrammatic points or
conceits, none of thofe fine things which moft people are
lb fond of in every fort of poem, can be allowed in this,
but mull give place to nobler beauties, thofe of nature
and the pajfions. Elegy rejefts whatever is facetious,
latirical, or majeftic, and is content to be plain, decent,
and unaffected 5 yet in this humble ftate is (he fweet and
engaging, elegant and attra&ive. This poem is jidorn-
ed with frequent commiferations, complaints, exclama¬
tions, addreffes to things or perfons, ftiort and proper di-
grejjions, allujions, comparifons, profopopceias or feigned
perfons, and fometimes with fliort deferiptions. The
diction ought to be free from any harjhnefs ; neat, eafy,
pcrfpicuous, exprejjive of the manners, tender, and pathe¬
tic ; and the numbers ftiould be fmooth and fowing, and
captivate the ear with their uniform fweetnefs and deli¬
cacy.
Of elegies on the fubjeft of death, that by Mr Gray,
written in a country churchyard, is one of the beft that
has appeared in our language, and may be juftly efteem-
ed a mafterpiece. But being fo generally known, it
would be fuperfluous to infert it here.
On the fubjedl of love, we ffall give an example from
the elegies of Mr Kammond.
Let others boaft their heaps of finning gold,
And view their fields with waving plenty crown’d,
Whom neighb’ring foes in conftant terror hold,
And trumpets break their flumbers, never found :
While, calmly poor, I trifle life away,
Enjoy fweet leifure by my cheerful fire,
No wanton hope my quiet fliall betray,
Tut cheaply blefs’d I’ll fcorn each vain defire.
Vol. XVII. Part I.
T R Y.
With timely care I’ll fow my little field,
And plant my orchard with its mafter’s hand j
Nor bluff to fpread the hay, the hook to wield,
Or range my (heaves along the funny land.
If late at dulk, while carelefsly I roam,
I meet a lirolling kid or bleating lamb,
Under my arm I’ll bring the wand’rer home,
And not a little chide its thoughtlefs dam.
W hat joy to hear the temped howl in vain,
And clafp a fearful miftrefs to my bread ?
Or lull’d to dumber by the beating rain,
Secure and happy fink at laft to reft.
Or if the fun in flaming Leo ride,
Ty (hady rivers indolently ftray,
And, with my Delia walking fide by fide,
Hear how they murmur, as they glide away.
What joy to wind along the cool retreat,
To flop and gaze on Delia as I go !
To mingle fweet difeourfe with kiffes fweet,
And leach my lovely fcholar all I know !
Thus pleas’d at heart, and not with fancy’s dream,
In filent happinefs I reft unknown ;
Content with what I am, not what I feem,
I live for Delia and myfelf alone.
Ah foolifh man ! who, thus of her poffefs’d,
Could float and wander with ambition’s wind,
And, if his outward trappings fpoke him bleft,
Not heed the ficknefs of his confcious mind.
With her I fcorn the idle breath of praife.
Nor truft to happinefs that’s not our own ;
The fmile of fortune might fufpicion raife,
But here I know that I am lov’d alone.
Stanhope, in wifdom as in wit divine,
May rife and plead Britannia’s glorious caufe,
Writh fteady rein his eager wit confine,
While manly fenfe the deep attention draws.
Let Stanhope (peak his lift’ning country’s wrong,
My humble voice fliall pleafe one partial maid j
For her alone I pen my tender fong,
Securely fitting in his friendly (hade.
Stanhope (hall come, and grace his rural friend j
Delia (hall wonder at her noble gueft,
With blufhing awe the riper fruit commend,
And for her hufband’s patron cull the beft.
Her’s be the care of all my little train,
While I with tender indolence am bleft,
The favourite fubjedl of her gentle reign,
By love alone diftinguifti’d from the reft.
For her I’ll yoke my oxen to the plough,
In gloomy forefts tend my lonely flock,
For her a goatherd climb the mountain’s brow,
And deep extended on the naked rock.
Ah ! what avails to prefs the (lately bed,
And far from her ’midft taftelefs grandeur weep,
By marble-fountains lay the penfive head,
And, while they murmur, drive in vain to
deep !
Delia alone can pleafe and never tire,
Exceed the paint of thought in true delight;
With her, enjoyment wakens new defire,
And equal rapture glows thro’ ev’ry night.
Beauty and worth in her alike contend
To charm the fancy, and to fix the mind 5
In her, my wife, my miftrefs, and my friend,
I tafte the joys of fenle and reafon join’d.
C On
2 8
POETRY.
Part II.
FaftoraL
I35
The pafto-
raL
136
Why it gC'
iierally
pleafes.
Its charac¬
ters and
On her I’ll gaze when others are loves o’er,
And dying prefs her with nny clay-cold hand——
Thou weep’ll already, as I were no more,
Nor can that gentle bread the thought withftand.
Oh ! when I die, my latell moments (pare,
Nor let thy grief with fharper torments kill :
Waund not thy cheeks, nor hurt that flowing hair}
Tho’ 1 am dead, my foul fhall love thee dill.
Oh quit the room, oh quit the deathful bed,
Or thou wilt die, fo tender is thy heart !
Oh leave me, Delia ! ere thou fee me dead,
Thefe weeping friends will do thy mournful part.
Let them, extended on the decent bier,
Convey the cone in melancholy date,
Thro’ all the village fpread the tender tear,
While pitying maids our wond’rous love relate.
Sect. IV. Of the Paforal.
Tins poem takes its name from the Latin word po/lor,
a “ Ihepherd }” the fubjedl of it being fomething in the
padoxal or rural life ; and the perfons, interlocutors, in¬
troduced in it, either (hepherds or other rudics.
Thefe poems are frequently called eclogues, which figni-
fies “ feleft or choice pieces 5” though fome account for
this name in a different manner. They are alfo called
bucolicks, from Ea^oAo?, “ a herdfman.”
This kind of poem, when happily executed, gives
great delight; nor is it a wonder, fmce innocence and flim-
piicity generally pleafe : to which let us add, that the
fcenes of padorals are ufually laid in the country, where
both poet and painter have abundant matter for the exer-
cife of genius, fuch as enchanting profpefts, purling dreams,
fhady groves, enamelled meads, flowery lawns, rural
amufements, the bleating of flocks, and the .muflc of
birds } which is of all melody the mod fweet and plea-
fing, and calls to our mind the wifdom and tade of
Alexander, who, on being importuned to hear a man
that imitated the notes of the nightingale, and wras
thought a great curioflty, replied, that he had had the
happinefs of hearing the nightingale herfelf.
The character of the padoral confids in fimplicity,
brevity, and delicacy \ the two fird render an eclogue
natural, and the lad delightful. With refpedt to na¬
ture, indeed, we are to confider, that as a padoral is an
image of the ancient times of innocence and undefign-
ing plainnefs, we are not to defcribe fhepherds as they
really are at this day, but as they may be conceived
then to have been, when the bed of men, and even
princes, followed the employment. For this reafon, an
air of piety flrould run through the whole poem } which
is vifible in the writings of antiquity.
To make it natural with refpeft to the prefent age,
fome knowledge in rural affairs flaould be difcovered,
and that in fuch a manner as if it was done by chance
rather than by deflgn ; led by too much pains to feem
natural, that fimplicity be dedroyed from whence arifes
the delight *, for what is fo engaging in this kind of
poefy proceeds not fo much from the idea of a coun¬
try life itfelf, as in expofing only the bed part of a fhep-
herd’s life, and concealing the misfortunes and miferies
which fometimes attend it. Befides, the fubjeft mud con¬
tain fome particular beauty m itfelf, and each eclogue pre-
(ent a fcene or profpeft to our view enriched with variety:
which variety is in a great meafure obtained by frequent Paftora!.
comparii’ons drawn from the mod agreeable objedfls of the 1 -1'
country 5 by interrogations to things inanimate j by fliort
and beautiful digreffions} and by elegant turns on the
words, which render the numbers more fweet and plea-
fing. To this let us add, that the connections mud be
negligent, the narrations and defcriptions fliort, and the
periods concife.
Riddles, parables, proverbs, antique phrafes, and fu-
perditious fables, are fit materials to be intermixed with
this kind of poem. They are here, when properly ap¬
plied, very ornamental \ and the more fo, as they give
our modern compofitions the air of the ancient manner
of writing. I3g
The ftyle of the padoral ought to be humble, yetftyle.
pure ; neat, but not florid } ealy, and yet lively : and
the numbers fliould be fmooth and flowing.
This poem in general fhould be ftiort, and ought,
never much to exceed 100 lines j for we are to confi¬
der that the ancients made thefe fort of compofitions
their amufement, and not their bufinefs : but however
ftiort they are, every eclogue mud contain a plot or
fable, which mud be Ample and one 5 but yet fo ma¬
naged as to admit of fliort digreflions. Virgil has al¬
ways obferved this. We ftiall give the plot or ar¬
gument of his fird padoral as an example. Melibceus,
an unfortunate Jhepherd, is introduced xvith Tityrus, one
in more fortunate circumjlances ; the former addrejfes the
complaint of,hisfujferings and banifhment to the latter, who
enjoys hisflocks andfolds in the midflof the public calamity,
and therefore expreffes his gratitude to the benefactor from
whom this favour flowed: but Meliboeus accufes fortune,
civil wars, and bids adieu to his native country. This is
therefore a dialogue.
But we are to obferve, that the poet is not always
obliged to make his eclogue allegorical, and to have real
perfons reprefented by the fictitious characters intro¬
duced 5 but is in this refpeCt entirely at his own li¬
berty.
Nor does the nature of the poem require it to be al¬
ways carried on by way of dialogue 5 for a fhepherd
may with propriety ling the praifes of his love, com¬
plain of her incondancy, lament her abfence, her death,
&c. and addrefs himfelf to groves, hills, rivers, and fuch
like rural objeCts, even when alone.
We fball now give an example from each of thofe au¬
thors who have eminently didinguiflied themfelves by this
manner of writing, and introduce them in the order of
time in which they were written. ^
Theocritus, who was the father or inventor of this Examples
kind of poetry, has been defervedly edeemed by the the pa-
bed critics ; and by fome, whofe judgement we cannot ;^ra'‘
difpute, preferred to all other padoral writers, with
perhaps the Angle exception of the tender and delicate
Gefner. We fhall infert his third idyllium, not becaufe
it is the bed, but becaufe it is within our compafs.
To Amaryllis, lovely nymph, I fpeed,
Meanwhile my goats upon the mountains feed.
O Tityrus, tend them with afliduous care,
Lead them to crydal fprings and padures fair,
And of the ridgling’s butting horns beware.
Sweet Amaryllis, have you then forgot
Our fecret pleafures in the confcious grott,
Where
Pan II.
POE
Paftoval. Where in my folding arms you lay reclin’d ?
Bleit was the thepherd, for the nymph was kind.
I whom you call’d J/oi/r Dear, your Love, fo late,
Say, am I now the objefl of your hate ?
Say, is my form difpleafing to your fight ?
This cruel love will furely kill me quite.
Lo ! ten large apples, tempting to the view,
Pluck’d from your favourite tree, where late they grew.
Accept this boon, ’tis all my prefent llore j
To-morrow will produce as many more.
Meanwhile thefe heart-confuming pains remove,
And give me gentle pity for my love.
Oh ! was I made by fome transforming power
A bee to buzz in your fequefter’d bow’r !
To pierce your ivy (hade with murmuring found,
And the light leaves that compafs you around.
I know thee, Love, and to my forrow find,
A god thou art, but of the favage kind ^
A lionefs fure fuckied the fell child,
And rvilh his brothers nurll him in the wild }
On me his fcorchmg flames inceflant prey,
Glow in my bones, and melt my foul away.
Ah, nymph, whofe eyes deftrudfive glances dartt
Fair is your face, but flinty is your heart:
With kiffes kind this rage of love appeafe ;
For me, fond fwain ! ev’n empty kifles pleafe.
Your fcorn diftradls me, and will make me tear
The flowr’ry crown I wove for you to wear,
Where rofes mingle with the ivy-wreath,
And fragrant herbs ambrofial odours breathe.
Ah me ! what pangs I feel •, and yet the fair
Nor fees my forrows nor will hear my prayer.
I’ll doff my garments, fince I needs muft die,
And from yon rock that points its fummit high,
Where patient Alpis fnares the finny fry,
I’ll leap, and, though perchance I rife again,
You’ll laugh to fee me plunging in the main.
By a prophetic poppy-leaf I found
Your chang’d affeftion, for it gave no found,
Though in my hand ilruck hollow as it lay,
But quickly wither’d like your love away.
An old witch brought fad tidings to my ears,
She who tells fortunes with the fieve and fheers
For leafing barley in my fields of late,
She told me, I fliould love, and you flrould hate !
For you my care a milk-white goat fupply’d.
Two wanton kids run frilking at her fide ;
Which oft the nut-brown maid, Erithacis,
Has begg’d and paid before-hand with a kifs ;
And fince you thus my ardent pafiion flight,
Her’s they fliall be before to-morrow night.
My right eye itches ; may it lucky prove,
Perhaps I foon {hall fee the nymph I love ;
Beneath yon pine I’ll fing diilindl and clear,
Perhaps the fair my tender notes fhall hear 5
Perhaps may pity my melodious moan ;
She is not metamorphos’d into ftone.
Hippomenes, provok’d by noble ilrife,
To win a miftrefs, or to lofe his life,
Threw golden fruit in Atalanta’s way :
The bright temptation caus’d the nymph to flay j
She look’d, flie languifli’d, all her foul took fire,
She plung’d into the gulf of deep defire.
To Pyle from Othrys fage Melampus came,
He drove the lowing herd, yet won the dame)
}
1
T R Y.
Fair Pero bleft his brother Bias’ arms,
And in a virtuous race diffus’d unfading charms.
Adonis fed his cattle on the plain,
And fea-born Venus lov’d the rural fwain ;
She mourn’d him wounded in the fatal chace,
Nor dead difmifs’d him from her warm embrace.
Though young Endymion was by Cynthia bleff,
I envy nothing but his lafting reit.
Jafion flumb’ring on the Cretan plain
Ceres once faw, and bleff the happy fwain
With pleafures too divine for ears profane.
My head growls giddy, love affedls me fore *,
Yet you regard not j fo I’ll fing no more- 
Here will I put a period to my care—
Adieu, falfe nymph, adieu ungrateful fair ;
Stretch’d near the grotto, when I’ve breath’d my laff,
My corfe will give the wolves a rich repart,
As fvveet to them as honey to your tafte.
Fawkes.
14®
Virgil fucceeds Theocritus, from whom he has in Virgil,
fome places copied, and always imitated wdth fuccefs.
As a fpecimen of his manner, we fliall introduce his firfl:
paftoral, which is generally allowed to be the moft per¬
fect.
Meliboeus and Tityrus.
Me/. Beneath the fhade which beechen boughs diffufe,
You, Tityrus, entertain your fylvan mufe.
Round the wide world in banifliment we roam,
Forc’d from our pleafing fields and native home ;
While ftretch’d at eafe you fing your happy loves.
And Amyrillis fills the fliady groves.
Tit. Thefe bleffings, friend, a deity beftow’d j
For never can I deem him lefs than god.
The tender firftling of my woolly breed
Shall on his holy altar often bleed.
He gave me kine to graze the flow’ry plain.
And fo my pipe renewed the rural ftrain.
Me/. I envy not your fortune *, but admire,
That while the raging fword and wafteful fire
Heffroy the wretched neighbourhood around,
No hoftile arms approach your happy ground.
Far diff’rent is my fate •, my feeble goats
With pains I drive from their forfaken cotes:
And this you fee I fcarcely drag along,
Who yeaning on the rocks has left her young,
The hope and promife of my falling fold.
My lofs by dire portents the gods foretold j
For, had I not been blind, I might have feen
Yon riven oak, the faireft on the green,
And the hoarfe raven on the blafted bough
By croaking from the left prefag’d the coming blow.
But tell me, Tityrus, what heav’nly pow’r
Preferv’d your fortunes in that fatal hour ?
Tit. Fool that I vras, I thought imperial Rome
Like Mantua, where on market-days we come,
And thither drive our tender lambs from home.
So kids and whelps their fires and dams exprefs j
And fo the great I meafur’d by the lefs :
But country-towns, compar’d with her, appear
Like fhrubs when lofty cyprefles are near.
Me/. What great occafion call’d you hence to Rome ?
Tit. Freedom, which came at length, tho’ flow to
come ;
C 2
Nor
20
P.iftor'a' Nor did my fearcli of liberty begin
y Xill my black hairs were chang’d upon
Nor Amaryllis would vouch fa :e a look,
Till Galatea’s meaner bonds I broke.
P O E
chir
Till then a helplefs, hopelefs, homely Twain,
I fought not freedom, nor afpir’d to p-ain :
Tho’ many a vidlim from my folds was bought,
And many a clieefe to country markets brought,
Yet all the little that I got I fpent,
And ftili return’d as empty as I went.
Mel. We Hood amaz’d to lee your miflrefs mourn.
Unknowing that Ihe pin’d for your return j
We wonder’d why (lie kept her fruit fo lono-,
For whom fo late th’ ungather’d apples hung :
But now the wonder ceafes, fince i fee •
She kept them only, Tityrus, for thee :
For thee the bubb’ling fprings appear’d to mourn,
And whifp’ring pines made vows for thy return.
_ Tit.' What (hould I do ? while here I was enchain’d,
No glimpTe of .godlike liberty remain’d 5
Nor could i hope in any place but there
To find a god lb prefent to my p'rav’,-.
There firft the youth of heav’nly birth I view’d,
For whom our monthly viciims are renew’d.
Ide heard my vows, and gracioufly decreed
My grounds to be reltor’d my former flocks to fee.d
Me/. O fortunate old man ! waofe farm remains
For you fu.Ticient, and requites your pains,
'fhough ruflies overfpread the neighb’ring plains,
Tho’ here the marihy grounds approach your fields,
And there the foil a deny harvdi yields.
Your teeming ewes fhall no ft range meadows try,
Nor fear a rot from tainted company.
Behold yon bord’ring fence of fallow trees
Is fraught with fiow’rs, the flovv’rs are fraught with bees
The bufy bees, with a foft murm’ring ftrain,
Invite to gentle deep the lab’ring fwain :
While from the neighb’ring rock with rural fongs
The pruner’s voice the pleafing dream prolongs ;
btock doves and turtles tell their am’rous pain,
And, from the lofty elms, of love complain.
7 it. I h’ inhabitants of feas and Ikies (ball change
x\nd fifli on ftiore and flags in air ftiall range,
The banifh’d Parthian dwell on Arar’s brink,
And the blue German fhall the Tigris drink j
Ere I, forfaking gratitude and truth,
lorget the figure of that godlike youth.
Mel. But we mull beg our bread in climes unknown
Beneath the fcorching or the freezing zone}
And fome to far Oaxis ftiall be fold,
Or try the Libyan heat or Scythian cold ;
The reft among the Britons be confin’d,
A race of men from all the world disjoin’d.
O! muft the wretched exiles ever mourn ?
Nor after length of rolling years return ?
Are we condemn’d by Fate’s unjuft decree,
No more our houfes and our homes to fee ?
Or (hall w'e mount again the rural throne,
And rule the country, kingdoms once our own ?
Did we for thefe barbarians plant and fow,
On thefe, on thefe, our happy fields bellow ?
Good heav’n, what dire effedls from civil difeords flow
Now let me graft my pears, and prune the vine ;
• The fruit is theirs, the labour only mine.
T R Y.
Farewel my paftures, my paternal flock!
My fruitful fields, and my more fruitful flock !
No more, my goals, {hail I behold you climb
i he ileepy ctifts, or crop the flovv’ry thyme 5
No more extended in the grot below,
Shall fee you browzing on the mountain’s brow
The prickly Ihrubs, and after on the bare
Lean down the deep abyfs and hang in air !
No more my fheep ihall lip the morning dew j
No more my long {hall pleafe the rural crew :
Adieu, my tuneful pipe ! and all the world, adieu !
Tit. This night, at lead, with me forget your care
Chefnuts and curds and cream {hail be your fare :
The carpel ground ihall be with leaves o’erfpread,
And boughs {hail weave a cov’ring for your head :
For fee yon funny hill the (hade extends,
And curling finoke from cottages afeends.
Part II.
Ps (rural.
Dryden.
Spender was the firft of our countrymen who acquired Spenfer.
any confiderabie reputation-by this method of writing.
We fhall infert his fixth eclogue, or that for June,
which is allegorical, as will be feen by the
Argument. “ Ilobbinol, from a defeription of the
pie a fares of the place, excites Colin to the enjoyment
of them. Colin declares himfelf incapable of delight
by reafon of his ill fuccefs in love, and his lofs of Rofa-
lind, who had treacheroufly forfaken him for Menalcas
another fhepherd. By Tityrus (mentioned before in
Spenfer’s fecond eclogue, and again in the twelfth) is
plainly meant Chaucer, whom the author fometimes
profefied to imitate. In the perfon of Colin is repre-
fented the author himfelf; and Hobbinol’s inviting him
to leave the hill country, feems to allude to his leaving
the north, where, as is mentioned in his life, he had for
fome time refided.”
Hob. Lo ! Colin, here the place, whofe pleafant fight
From other fliades hath wean’d my wand’ring mind :
Tell roe, what wants me here, to work delight ?
The fimple air, the gentle warbling wind,
So calm, fo cool, as nowhere die I find :
The grafify ground with dainty dailies dight,
The bramble-bulb, where birds of every kind
To th’ water’s fall their tunes attemper right.
Col. O ! happy Hobbinol, I blefs thy Hate,
T-hat paradife haft found which Adam loft.
Here wander may thy flock early or late,
Withouten dread of wolves to been ytoft ;
Thy lovely lays here mayft thou freely boaft :
But I, unhappy man ! whom cruel fate,
And angry gods, purfue from coaft to ccaft,
Can nowhere find to fhroud my lucklefs pate.
Hob. Then if by me thou lift advifed be,
Forfake the foil that fo doth thee bewitch :
Leave me thofe hills, where harbroughnis to fee,
Nor holly bufh, nor brere, nor winding ditch •,
And to the dales refort, where fliepherds rich,
And fruitful flocks been everywhere to fee :
Here no night-ravens lodge, more black than pitch,
Nor elvilh ghofts, nor ghaftly owls do flee.
But friendly fairies met with many graces,
And light-foot nymphs can chace the ling’ring night,
With heydeguies, and trimly trodden traces ;
Whilft lifters nine, which dwell on Parn^fs’ height,
Do
2 I
Pa t r. POE
Pa'.toral. Do make tkem malic, for their more delight j
And Pan himfelf to kifs their cryftal faces,
Will pipe and dance, when Phoebe fhinelh bright:
Such peerlefs pleafures have we in thefe places.
Co/. And I whilll youth, and courfe of carelefs years,
Did let me walk withouten links of love,
In fuch delights did joy amonglt my peers :
But riper age inch plealures doth reprove,
My fancy eke from former follies move
To iirayed lleps : for time in puffing wears
(As garments doen, which waxen old above)
And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.
Though couth I ling of love, and tune my pipe
Unto my plaintive pleas in verfes made :
Though would I feek for queen-apples unripe
To give iny Rofalind, and in fommer tirade
Dight gawdy girlonds was my common trade,
To crown her golden locks : but years more ripe,
And lofs of her, whofe love as life I wayde,
Thofe weary wanton toys away did wipe.
Hob. Colin, to hear thy rhymes and roundelays,
Which thou wert wont on wafteful hills to ting,
I more delight, than lark in fommer days :
Whofe echo made the neighbour groves to ring,
And taught the birds, which in the lower fpring
Did tlirdud in thady leaves from funny ravs,
Frame to thy fong their cheerful cheripklg,
Or hold their peace, for tliame of thy fvveet lays.
I faw Calliope with mufes moe,
Soon as thy oaten pipe began to found,
'Their ivory lutes and tamburins forego,
And from the fountain, wdiere they fate around,
Hen after haftily thy tilver found.
But when they came, where thou thy {kill didft fliow,
They drew aback, as half with fhame confound,
Shepherd to fee, them in their art outgo.
Col. Of mufes, Hobbinol, I con no fldll,
For they been daughters of the higheft Jove,
And holden fcorn of homely fhepherds quill :
For hth I heard that Pan with Phoebus drove
Which him to much rebuke and danger drove,
I never lift prefume to Parnafs* hill,
But piping low, in (hade of lowly grove,
I play to pleafe myfelf, albeit ill.
Nought weigh I, who my fong doth praife or blame,
Ne drive to win renown, or pafs the reft :
With fhepherds fits not follow" dying fame,
But feed his flocks in fields, -where falls him beft.
I wot my rimes been rough, and rudely dreft j
The fitter they, my careful cafe to frame :
Enough is me to paint out my unreft,
And pour my piteous plaints out in the fame.
The God of fhepherds, Tityrus, is dead,
Who taught me homely, as I can, to make :
Fie, whilft he lived, was the fov’reign head
Of ihepherds all, that been with love ytake.
Well couth he wail his woes, and lightly flake
The flames wTich love within his heart had bred,
And tell us merry tales to keep us -wake,
The while our flreep about us fafely fed.
Now dead he is, and lieth wrapt in lead,
(O why fhould death on him fuch outrage (how !)
And all his paffiing fkill with him is fled,
The fame whereof doth daily greater growr.
But if on me fome little drops -would flow
R Y
Patios..
14a
Of that the [prir g was in his learned bed,
I foon wo. IT learn thefe woods to wail my woe,
And teach the trees their trickling tears to tired.
Then would my plaints, caus’d of difcourtefee,
As meffengers of ihis my painful flight,
Fly to my love, wherever that the be,
And pierce her heart with point of worthy wight ;
As the deferves, that wrought fo deadly fpight.
And thbu, Menalcas, that by treachery
Didft underfong my lafs to wax fo light,
Should’!! weli be known for fuch thy villany.
But tiace 1 am not, as I with I were,
Ye gentle thepheids, which your flocks do feed,
Whether on bills or dales, or other where,
Bear witnefs all of this fo wicked deed :
And tell the lafs, whofe flower is wc.xe a weed,
And faultlefs faitli is turn’d to faithlefs feere,
That the the trueft flrepherd’s heart made bleed,
That lives on earth, and loved her moft dear.
Hob. O ! careful Colin, I lament thy cafe,
Thy tears would make the hardeft flint to flow i
Ah ! faithlefs Rofalind, and void of grace,
That art the root of all this rueful woe !
But now is time, I guefs, homeward to go ;
Then rife, ye bletfed flocks, and home apace
Left night with Healing fteps do you foreflo,
And wet your tender lambs that by you trace.
By the following eclogue the reader will perceive that philips.
Mr Philips has, in imitation of Spenfer, preferved in his
paftorals many antiquated words, which, though they
are difearded from polite converfation, may naturally be
fuppofed ttill to have place among the thepherds and
other nifties in the country. We have made choice of
his fccond eclogue, becauie it is brought home to his
own bufinefs, and contains a complaint again!! thofe who
had fpoken ill of him and his writings.
Thenot, Colinet.
Tk. Is it not Colinet I lonefome fee
Leaning with folded arms again!! the tree ?
Or is it age of late bedims my fight ?
’Tis Cclinet, indeed, in woful plight.
Thy cloudy look, why melting into tears,
Unfeemly, now the !ky io bright appears ?
Why in this mournful manner art thou found,
Unthankful lad, when all things fmile around ?
Or hear’!!, not lark and linnet jointly ling,
Their notes bljthe-warbling to falute the fpring ?
Co. Tho’ blithe their notes, not fo my wayward fate j
Nor lark would fing, nor linnet, in my Hate.
Each creature, Tlienot, to his tafk is born ;
As they to mirth and mufic, I to mourn.
Waking, at midnight, I my woes renew,
My tears oft mingling with the falling dew.
Th. Small caule, I ween, has lufty youth to plain ;
Or who may then the weight of eld fuftain,
When every flackening nerve begins to fail,
And the load preffeth as cur days prevail ?
Yet though with years my body downward tend,
As trees beneath their fruit in autumn bend,
Spite of my fnowy head and icy veins,
My mind a cheerful temper ftill retains ;
And why fliould man, mifliap what will, repine,
Sour every fvveet, and mix with tears his wine ?
But tell me then ; it may relieve thy w-oe,
To let a friend thine inward ailment know.
a?
2 2 POE
, Fa^oraI- ^ Co. Idly “hvill wafte thee, Tlienot, the whole day,
v Should’!! thou give ear to all my grief can fay.
Thine ewes will wander ; and the heedlefs lambs,
• In loud complaints, require their abfent dams.
Th. See Lightfoot; he (liall tend them clofe: and I,
’Tween whiles, acrofs the plain will glance mine eye.
Co. Where to begin I know not, where to end.
Does there one fmiling hour my youth attend ?
Though few my days, as well my follies fhow,
T et are thofe days all clouded o’er with wo :
No happy gleam of funlhine doth appear,
My low’ring iky and winl’ry months to cheer.
My piteous plight in yonder naked tree,
Which bears the thunder-fear too plain, I fee :
Quite deftitute it ftands of Ihelter kind,
The mark of ftorms, and fport of every wind ;
The riven trunk feels not the approach of fpring j
Nor birds among the leaflefs branches fmg :
No more, beneath thy tirade, fhall fhepherds throng
With jocund tale, or pipe, or pleating fong.
Ill-fated tree ! and more ill-fated I !
From thee, from me, alike the (hepherds fly.
Th. Sure thou in haplefs hour of time waft born,
When blighlning mildews fpoil the rifing corn,
Or blafting winds o’er bloflbm’d hedge-rows pafs,
To kill the promis’d fruits, and fcorch the grafs,
Or when the moon, by wizard charm’d, foreftiows,
.Blood-ftain’d in foul eclipfe, impending woes.
Untimely born, ill luck betides thee fiill.
Co. And can there, Thenot, be a greater ill ?
Th. Nor fox, nor wolf, nor rot among ourftheep :
From thefe good fhepherd’s care his flock may keep 5
Againft ill luck, alas ! all forecaft fails ;
Nor toil by day, nor watch by night, avails.
Co. Ah me, the while ! ah me, the lucklefs day !
Ah lucklefs lad ! befits me more to fay.
Unhappy hour! when frefti in youthful bud,
I left, Sabrina fair, thy filv’ry flood.
Ah filly I ! more filly than my flieep,
Which on thy flow’ry banks I wont to keep.
Sweet are thy banks 5 oh, when fhall I once more
With ravifh’d eyes review thine amell’d fhore ?
When, in the cryftal of thy waters, fcan
Each feature faded, and my colour wan ?
When {hall I fee my hut, the fmall abode
Myfelf did raife and cover o’er with fod ?
Small though it be, a mean and humble cell,
Yet is there room for peace and me to 'dwell.
Th. And -what inticement charm’d thee far away
From thy lov’d home, and led thy heart aftray ?
Co. A lewd defire ftrange lands and fwains to know.
Ah n^e ! that every I ftiould covet wo.
With wund’ring feet unbleft, and fond of fame,
I fought I know not what befides a name.
Th. Or, footh to fay, didft thou not hither roms
In fearch of gains more plenty than at home ?
A rolling ftone is ever bare of mofs \
And, to their coft, green years old proverbs crofs.
Co. Small need there wras, in random fearch of gain,
To drive my pining flock athwart the plain
To diftant Cam. Fine gain at length, I trow,
To hoard up to myfelf fuch deal of wo !
My fheep quite fpent through travel and ill fare,
And like their keeper ragged grown and bare,
T R Y. Part 11.
I he damp cold green fwarct for my nightly bed, Paftoral.
And fome flaunt willow’s trunk to reft my head. '■'
Hard is to bear of pinching cold the pain j
And hard is want to the unpradlis’d fwain 5
But neither want, nor pinching cold, is hard,
I o blafting ftorms of calumny compar’d :
Unkind as hail it fails} the pelting fho'w’r
Deftroys the tender herb and budding flow’r.
1 h. Slander we fhepherds count the vileft wrong :
And what wounds forer than an evil tongue ?
Co. Untoward lads, the wTanton imps of fpite
Make mock of all the ditties I endite.
In vain, O Colinet, thy pipe, fo flirill,
Charms every vale, and gladdens every hill:
In vain thou feek’ft the coverings of the grove,
In the cool lhade to fing the pains of love :
Sing what thou wilt, ill-nature will prevail j
And every elf hath fkill enough to rail.
But yet, though poor and artlefs be my vein,
Menalcas feems to like my Ample ftrain :
And while that he delighteth in my fong,
Which to Ihe good Menalcas doth belong,
Nor night nor day fhall my rude mufic ceafe j
I a!k no more, fo I Menalcas pleafe.
Th. Menalcas, lord of thefe fair fertile plains,
Preferves the flieep, and o’er the fliepherds reigns j
For him our yearly wakes and feafts we hold,
And choofe the faireft firftlings from the fold ;
He, good to all who good deferves, fliall give
Fhy flock to feed, and thee at eafe to live,
Shall curb the malice of unbridled tongues,
And bounteoufly reward thy rural fongs.
Co. Firft then fhall lightfome birds forget to fly, -
The briny ocean turn to paftures dry,
And every rapid river ceafe to flow,
Ere I unmindful of Menalcas grow.
Th. This night thy care with me forget, and fold
I. by flock with mine, to ward th’ injurious cold.
New milk, and clouted cream, mild cheefe and curd,
With fome remaining fruit of laft year’s hoard,
Shall be our ev’ning fare \ and, for the night,
Sweet herbs and mofs, which gentle fleep invite:
And now behold the fun’s departing ray,
O’er yonder hill, the fign of ebbing day:
With fongs the jovial hinds return from plow j
And unyok’d heifers, loitering homeward, low.
Mr Pope’s Paftorals next appeared, but in a different Pope.
drefs from thofe of Spenfer and Philips; for he has dif-
carded all antiquated words, drawn his fwains more mo¬
dern and polite, and made his numbers exquifitely har¬
monious : his eclogues therefore may be called better
poems, but not better paftorals. We fhall infert the ec¬
logue he has inferibed to Mr W7ycherly, the beginning
of which is in imitation of Virgil’s firft paftoral.
Beneath the {hade a fpreading beech difplays,
Hylas and Atgon fung their rural lays :
This mourn’d a faithlefs, that an abfent love,
And Delia’s name and Doris fill’d the grove.
Ye Mantuan nymphs, your facred fuccour bring 5
Hylas and iEgon’s rural lays I fing.
Thou, whom the nine with Plautus’ wdt infpire,
1 he art of Terence, and Menander’s fire :
Whofe fenfe infhucls us, and whofe humour charms,
V7hofe judgement fftays us, and whofe fpirit warms !
Oh
Part II. POE
Pa flora 1. Oh, {kill’d in nature ! fee the hearts of fwains,
Their artlefs paflions, and their tender pains.
Now felting Phoebus flione ferenely bright,
And tleecy clouds were ftreak’d with purple light;
When tuneful Hylas, with melodious moan,
Taught rocks to weep, and made the mountains groan.
Go, gentle gales, and bear my fighs away !
To Delia’s ear the tender notes convey.
As fome fad turtle his loft love deplores,
And with deep murmurs fills the founding Ihores j
Thus, far from Delia, to the winds I mourn,
Alike unheard, unpity’d, and forlorn.
Go, gentle gales, and bear my fighs along !
For her the feather’d quires negleft their fong;
For her, the limes their pleating {hades deny
For her, the lilies hang their head and die.
Ye flow’rs, that droop forfaken by the fpring 5
Ye birds, that left by fummer ceafe to fing ;
Ye trees, that fade when autumn’s heats remove }
Say, is not abfence death to thofe who love ?
Go, gentle gales, and bear thy fighs away !
Cur’d be the fields that caufe my Delia’s ftay :
Fade ev’ry bloifom, wither ev’ry tree,
Die ev’ry flow’r and perilh all but fire.
What have 1 faid ? where’er my Delia flies,
Let fpring attend, and hidden flow’rs arife }
Let opening rofes knotted oaks adorn,
And liquid amber drop from ev’ry thorn.
Go, gentle gales, and bear my fighs along !
The birds fliall ceafe to tune their ev’ning fong,
The winds to breathe, the waving woods to move,
And ftreams to murmur, ere I ceafe to love.
Not bubbling fountains to the thirfty fwain,
Not balmy fleep to lab’rers faint with pain,
Not fliow’rs to larks, or funlhine to the bee,
Are half fo charming as thy fight to me.
Go, gentle gales, and bear my fighs away !
Come, Delia, come ! ah, why this long delay ?
Through rocks and caves the name of Delia founds \
Delia, each cave and echoing rock rebounds.
Ye pow’rs, what pleafing frenzy foothes my mind !
Do lovers dream, or is my Delia kind ?
She comes, my Delia comes !—now ceafe, my lay j
And ceafe, ye gales, to bear my fighs away 1
Next Aigon fung, while Windfor groves admir’d j
Rehearfe, ye mufes, what yourfelves infpir’d.
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful ftrain !
Of perjur’d Doris, dying, I complain :
Here where the mountains, lefs’ning as they rife,
Lofe the low vales, and fleal into the Ikies}
While lab’ring oxen, fpent with toil and heat,
In their loofe traces from the field retreat;
While curling fmokes from village-tops are feen,
And the fleet fhades glide o’er the dulky green.
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful lay !
Beneath yon poplar oft we pafs’d the day :
Oft on the rind I carv’d her am’rous vows,
While {he with garlands hung the bending boughs :
The garlands fade, the boughs are worn away j
So dies her love, and fo my hopes decay.
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful firain !
Now bright Arfturus glads the teeming grain ;
Now golden fruits in loaded branches ftiine,
And grateful clutters, fwell with floods of wine j
T R Y. 23
Now blufhing berries paint the yellow grove :
Juft gods ! {hall all things yield return but love ?
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful lay !
The fhepherds cry, u Thy flocks are left a prey.”——
Ah ! what avails it me the flocks to keep,
Who loft my heart, while I preferv’d my fheep ^
Pan came, and alk’d, what magic caus’d my fmart,
Or what ill eyes malignant glances dart ?
What eyes but hers, alas! have pow’r to move ?
And is there magic but what dwells in love ?
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful ftrains !
I’ll fly from ftiepherds, flocks, and flow’ry plains. 
From fhepherds, flocks, and plains, I may remove,
Forfake mankind, and all the world—but love !
I know thee, Love ! wild as the raging main,
More fell than tygers on the Libyan plain :
Thou wert from ^Etna’s burning entrails torn,
Got by fierce whirlwinds, and in thunder born.
Refound, ye hills, refound my mournful lay !
Farewel, ye woods, adieu the light of day !
One leap from yonder cliff thall end my pains.
No more, ye hills, no more refound my ftrains !
Thus fung the fhepherds till th’ approach of night,
The Ikies yet bluthing with departing light,
When falling dews with fpangles deck the glade,
And the low fun had lengthen’d ev’ry {hade.
To thefe paftorals, which are written agreeably to the Gay?
tafte of antiquity, and the rules above preferibed, wre fliall
beg leave to fubjoin another that may be called burlefque
pajloral) wherein the ingenious author, Mr Gay, has
ventured to deviate from the beaten road, and deferibed
the ftiepherds and ploughmen of our own time and coun¬
try, inftead of thofe of the golden age, to which the
modern critics confine the pattoral. His fix paftorals,
which he calls the Shepherd's Week, are a beautiful and
lively reprefentation of the manners, cuftoms, and notions
of our ruftics. We {hall infert the firft of them, intitled
The Squabble, wherein two clowns try to outdo each
other in finging the praifes of their fweethearts, leaving
it to a third to determine the controverfy. The perfons
named are Lobbin Clout, Cuddy, and Cloddipole.
Paftoral.
Lob. Thy younglings, Cuddy, are but juft awake j
No throftle Ihrill the bramble-hufti forfake 5
No chirping lark the welkin ftieeft * invokes; * Shining
No damfel yet the fwelling udder ftrokes ; ^ bright
O’er yonder hill does fcant f the dawn appear ; | Scarce
Then why does Cuddy leave his cott fo rear J J Early/
Cud. Ah Lobbin Clout! I ween || my plight is gueft ; II Conceive. -
For he that loves, a Jlranger is to rejl.
If fwains belye not, thou haft prov’d the fmart,
And Blouzalinda’s miftrefs of thy heart.
This rifing tear betokeneth well thy mind ;
Thofe arms are folded for thy Blouzalind.
And well, I trow, our piteous plights agree ;
Thee Blouzalinda fmites, B^xoma me.
Lob. Ah Blouzalind ! I love thee more by half,
Than deer their fawns, or cowrs the new-fall’n calf.
Woe worth the tongue, may blifters fore it gall,
That names Buxoma Blowzalind withal!
Cud. Hold, witlefs Lobbin Clout, I thee advife,
Left blifters fore on thy own tongue arife.
Lo yonder Cloddipole, the blithlbme fwain,
The wifeft lout of all the neighb’ring plain !
From
2 4 POE
^Paflora!. From Cloddipole *»ve learnt to read the Ikies,
* jp'or;ncri v. ! ° know wllen hail will Fall, or winds arife.
* ’ ’ He taught us erlt * the heifer’s tail to view,
When liuck aloft, that fhow’rs would feraight enfu2 :
He firft that ufeful lecret did explain,
That pricking corns foretold the gathVmg rain.
When fwallows ileet foar high and fport in air,
He told us that the welkin would be clear.
Let Cloddipole then hear us twain rehearfe,
And praife his fvveelheart in alternate verfe.
I’ll wager this fame oaken ftaff with thee,
T hat Cloddipole flrall give the prize to me.
Lob. See this tobacco-pouch, that's lin’d with hair,
Made of the fkin of ikekeft fallow-deer :
This pouch, that’s tied with tape of reddeih hue,
I’ll w'ager, that the prize fhall be my due.
Cud. Begin thy carrols, then, thou vaunting flouchj
Be thine the oaken ftaff, or mine the pouch.
Lob. My Blouzalinda is the blitheft lafs, *
Than primrofe fweeter, or the clover-grafs.
Fair is the king-cup that in meadow blows,
Fair is the daily that befide her grows;
Fair is the gilly-flow’r of gardens fweet 5
Fair is the marygold, for pottage meet :
But Blouzalind’s than gilly-flower more fair,
i han daify, marygold, or king-cup rare.
Cud. My brown Buxoma is the feateft maid
That e’er at wrake delightfome gambol play’d •,
Clean as young lambkins, or the goofe’s down,
And like the goldfinch in her Sunday gown.
The wdtlefs lamb may fport upon the plain,
1 he frilking kid delight the gaping fwain j
I he wanton call may fkip with many a bound,
*Nimbleft. And my cur Tray play deftefl * feats around :
But neither lamb, nor kid, nor calf, nor Tray,
Dance like Buxoma on tire firft of May.
Lob. Sw^eet is my toil w'hen Blouzalind is near;
Of her bereft, ’tis winter all the year.
With her no fultry fummer’s heat I know ;
In winter, w'hen Ihe’s nigh, with love I glow.
Come, Blouzalinda, eafe thy fwain’s defire,
My fummer’s fhadow, and my winter’s fire !
Cud. As wfith Buxoma once I work’d at hay,
E’en noon-tide labour feem’d an holiday 5
And holidays, if haply (he were gone,
Like worky-days I wfilh’d would foon be done.
I Very foon. ^f001'15 O fweetheart kind, my love repay.
And all the year fhall then be holiday.
Lob. As Blouzalinda, in a gamefome mood,
Behind a hay-cock loudly laughing flood,
1 fifty ran and fnatch’d a hafty kifs ;
She wip’d her lips, nor took it much amifs.
Believe me, Cuddy, while I’m bold to fay,
Her breath was fweeter than the ripen’d hay.
Cud. As my Buxoma, in a morning fair,
With gentle finger ftroak’d her milky care,
§ Wag. I quaintly § Hole a kifs; at firft, ’tis true,
giftily. She frown’d, yet after granted one or two.
Bobbin, I fwear, believe who will my vowts,
Her breath by far excell’d the breathing cows.
Lob. Leek, to the Welch, to Dutchmen butter’s dear,
Of Iriih fwains potatoes are the cheer ;
Oats for their feafts the Scottifh fhepherds grind,
Sweet turnips are the food of Blouzalind ;
T R Y.
Part IL
While the loves turnips, butter I’ll defpife,
Nor leeks, nor oatmeal, nor potatoes prize.
Cud. In good roaft beef my landlord flicks his krufe.
The capon fat delights his dainty w ife ;
Pudding our parfon eats, the fquire loves hare }
But white-pot thick is my Buxoma’s fare.
While the loves white-pot, capon ne’er fhall be,
Nor hare, nor beef, nor pudding, food for me.
Lob. As once I play’d at blind man’s buff, it hapt
About my eyes the towel thick was wrapt :
I mifs’d the fwains, and leiz’d on Blouzalind ;
True fpeaks that ancient proverb, Love is blind.
Cud. As at hot-cockles once I laid me down,
And felt the weighty hand of many a clown ;
Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I
£)uick role, and read foft milchief in her eye.
Lob. On two near elms the flacken’d coid I hung j
Now high, now low, my Blouzalinda fwung ;
With the rude wind her rumpled garment rofe,
And fhow’d her taper leg and fcarlet hole.
Cud. Acrofs the fallen oak the plank I laid,
And myfelf pois’d againft the totl’ring maid !
High leapt the plank, and down Buxoma fell
I fpy’d—but faithful fweethearts never tell.
Lob. This riddle, Cuddy, if thou canft, explain,
This wily riddle puzzles every fwain :
Whatflovdr is that which bears the virgin's name,
The richejl metaljoined with the fame * l
Cud. Anfwer, thou carle, and judge this riddle right,
I’ll frankly own thee for a cunning wight :
What Jlow'r is that which royal honour craves,
Adjoin the virgin, and 'tis frozen on graves f ?
Clod. Forbear, contending louts, give o’er your
ftrains;
An oaken ftaff each merits for his pains.
But fee the fun-beams bright to labour warn,
And gild the thatch of goodtnan Plodge’s barn.
Tour herds for want of water ftand a-dry ;
They’re weary of your fongs—and fo am I.
Fa flora!.
' —- - y ’
* Marigold.
f Rofemary.
We have given the rules ufually laid down for pafto- sj^^tone
ral writing, and exhibited fome examples written on this
plan; but we have to obferve that this poem may take
very different forms. It may appear either as a comedy
or as a ballad. As a paftoral comedy, there is perhaps
nothing which poffefles equal merit with Ramfay’s .
Gentle Shepherd, and w7e know not w here to find in any
language a rival to the Paforal Ballad of Shenftone.
That the excellence of this poem is great can hardly be
queftioned, fince it compelled a critic, who was never
lavifh of his praife, and who on all occafions was ready
to vilify the paftoral, to exprefs himfelf in terms of
high encomium. “ In the firft part (fays he) are two
paffages, to wdrich if any mind denies its fympathy, it
has no acquaintance witli love or nature :
I priz’d every hour that wrent by,
Beyond all that had pleas’d me before ;
But now they are paft, and I figh,
And I grieve that I priz’d them no mare.
When forc’d the fair nymph to forego,
What anguifh I felt in my heart!
Yet I thought—but it might not be fo,
’Twas with pain that fire faw me depart.
She
Z
POE
She g&fc’d, as I {lowly withdrew,
My path I could hardly difcern ;
So fweetly die bade me adieu,
I thought that (lie bade me return.
“ In the fecond (continue* the fame critic) this paffage
has its prettinefs, though it be not equal to the for¬
mer
I haw found out a gift for my fair ;
I have found wdiere the wood-pigeons breed :
But let me that plunder forbear,
She would fay ’twas a barbarous deed :
For he ne’er could be true, dm avert’d,
Who could rob a poor bird of its young j
And I lov’d her the more when I heard
Such tendernefs fall from her tongue.
Sect. V. Of DidaElic or Preceptive Poetry*
Origin and The method of writing precepts in verfe, and embel-
ufeofdi- lidiing them with the graces of poetry, had its rife, we
da&icpoe- may fuppofe, from a due confideration of the frailties and
’'■y* perverfenefs of human nature \ and was intended to engage
the affedlions, in order to improve the mind and amend the
heart.
Dida&ic or perceptive poetry, has been ufually em¬
ployed either to illuitrate and explain our moral duties,
our philofophical inquiries, our budnefs and pleafures j
or in teaching the art of criticifm or poetry itfelf. It
may be adapted, however, to any other lubjecl; and
may in all cafes, where inftru&ion is defigned, he em¬
ployed to good purpofe. Some fubjedls, indeed, are
more proper than others, as they admit of more poe¬
tical ornaments, and give a greater latitude to genius :
but whatever the fubjedl is, thole precepts are to be
laid dowm that are the moft ufeful } and they fhould
follow7 each other in a natural eafy method, and be de¬
livered in the moft agreeable engaging manner. What
the profe wuiter tells you ought to be done, the poet
often conveys under the form of a narration, or fnow-s
the neceflity of in a defeription ; and by reprefenting
the adlion as done, or doing, conceals the precept that
fhould enforce it. The poet likewife, inftead of tell¬
ing the whole truth, or laying dowm all the rules that
are requifite, felecls fuch parts only as are the moft
pleafing, and communicates the reft indiredftly, with¬
out giving us an open view of them 5 yet takes care
that nothing fhall efcape the reader’s notice with which
he ought to be acquainted. He difclofes juft enough
to lead the imagination into the parts that are conceal¬
ed ; and the mind, ever gratified with its own difeo-
, veries, is complimented wuth exploring and finding them
out j which, though done with eafe, feems fo confide-
rable, as not to be obtained but in confequence of its own
adroitnefs and fagacity.
Rule? to be But this is not fufficient to render didadlic poetry al-
©bferved in w7ays pleafing : for where precepts are laid down one af-
its compo- ter another? and the poem is of confidcrable length, the
*tlon’ mind wall require fome recreation and refreftiment by the
way ; wdiich is to be procured by feafonable moral reflec¬
tions, pertinent remarks, familiar fimilies, and deferiptions
naturally introduced, by allufions to ancient hiftories or
fables, and by ftrort and pleafant digreflions and excur-
fions into more noble fubjedls, fo aptly brought in, that
they may feem to have a remote relation, and be of a
VOL.'XVII. Part I.
T R T. *5
piece with the poem. By thus varying the fotm ofin- "
ftruclion, the poet gives life to his precepts, and awa- 1 1
kens and fecures our attention, without permitting us to
fee by what means we are thus captivated : and his art is
the more to be admired, becaufe it is fo concealed as to
efcape the reader’s obfervation.
The ftyle, too, muft maintain a dignity fuitable to the
fubjeft, and every part be drawn in fuch lively colours,
that the things delcribed may feem as if prefented to the
reader’s view.
But all this will appear more evident from example ;
and though entire poems of this kind are not within the
compafs of our defign, we fhall endeavour 10 feleft fuch
paflages as wall be fufticient to illufirate the rules wre have
here laid down.
We have already obferved, that, according to the ufual
divifions, there are four kinds of didactic poems, viz. thofe
that refpedl our moral duties, our philofophical {pecula¬
tions, our bufinefs and pleafures, or that give precepts for .
poetry and criticifm.
I. On the firft fubjeft, indeed, wre have fcarce any thing
that deferves the name of poetry, except Mr Pope’s
Ejjay on Man, his Ethic Epifiles, Blackmore’s Creation*,
and part of Young’s Night Thoughts ; to which there¬
fore we refer as examples.
II. Thofe preceptive poems that concern philofophi¬
cal fpeculations, though the fubjedl is fo pregnant with
matter, affords fuch a field of fancy, and is fo capable
of every decoration, are but few7. Lucretius is the moft
confiderable among the ancients who has wTritten in this
manner 5 among the moderns we have little elfe but
fmall detached pieces, except the poem called Anti-Lu-
crctius, which has not yet received an Englifh drefs;
Dr Akenfide’s Pleafures of the Imagination, and Dr
Darwin’s Botanic Garden ; wkich are all worthy of our
admiration. Some of the fmall pieces in this department
are alfo well executed j and there is one entitled the
Univerfe, written by Mr Baker, from which we {hall
borrow7 an example.
The author’s fcheme is in fome meafure coincident wuth
Mr Pope’s, fo far efpecially as it tends to reftrain the pride
of man, with which defign it w7as profelfedly written.
The paffage we have feledled is that refpedting the pla¬
netary fyftem.
Unwife ! and thoughtlefs ! impotent! and blind I
Can wealth, or grandeur, fatisfy the mind ?
Of all thofe pleafures mortals moft admire.
Is there one joy fincere, that will not tire ?
Can love itfelf endure ? or beauty’s charms
Afford that blifs wTe fancy in its arms ?—
Then let thy foul more glorious aims purfue :
Have thy Creator and his works in view7.
Be thefe thy ftudy : hence thy pleafures bring:
And drink large draughts of wifdom from its fpring $
That fpring, whence perfedl joy, and calm repofe,
And bleft content, and peace eternal, flows.
Obferve how regular the planets run,
In ftated times, their courfes round the Sun.
Diff’rent their bulk, their diftance, their career,
And diff’rent much the compafs of their year :
Yet all the fame eternal law's obey,
While God’s unerring finger points the wTay.
Firft Mercury, amidft full tides of light,
Rolls .next the fun, through his fmall circle bright.
D All
Part IT.
Pafteral.
Examples
in didatftie
poetry.
25
POE
Diciaiflic.
All that dwell here muft be refin’d and pure :
Bodies like ours fuch ardour can’t endure :
'Our earth would blaze beneath fo fierce a ray,
And all its marble mountains melt away.
’ Fair Venus, next, fulfils her larger round,
With fofter beams, and milder glory crown’d.
Friend to mankind, (he glitters from afar,
Now the bright ev’ning, now the morning liar.
More diilant {till, our earth comes rolling on,
And forms a wider circle round the fun :
With her the moon, companion ever dear !
Her courfe attending through the ihining year.
See, Mars, alone, runs his appointed race,
And meafures out, exaft, the deftin’d fpace :
Nor nearer does he wind, nor farther ftray,
But finds the point whence firft he roll’d away.
More yet remote from day’s all cheering fource,
Vafl Jupiter performs his conllant courfe:
Four friendly moons, with borrow’d luftre, rife,
Beftow their beams divine, and light his fkies.
Fartheft and laft, fcarce wrarm’d by Phoebus’ ray,
Through his vaft orbit Saturn wheels away.
How great the change could we be wafted there !
How flow the feafons ! and howr long the year !
One moon, on us, refleils its cheerful light :
There, five attendants brighten up the night.
Here, the blue firmament bedeck’d with ftars j
There, over-head, a lucid arch appears.
From hence, how large, howr ftrong, the fun’s bright ball!
But feen from thence, how languid and how fmall !—
When the keen north with all its fury blows,
Congeals the floods, and forms the fleecy fnows,
’Tis heat intenfe to what can there be known :
Warmer our poles than is its burning zone.
Who there inhabits mufl have other pow’rs,
Juices, and veins, and fenfe, and life, than ours.
One moment’s cold, like theirs, wTould pierce the bone,
Freeze the heart-blood, and turn us all to ftone.
Strange and amazing mufl: the diff’rence be
’Twixt this dull planet and bright Mercury :
Yet reafon fays, nor can we doubt at all,
Millions of beings dwell on either ball,
WJth conftitutions fitted for the fpot,
Where Providence, all wife, has fix’d their lot.
Wondrous art thou, O God, in all thy ways !
Their eyes to thee let all thy creatures raife}
Adore thy grandeur, and thy goodnefs praife.
Ye fons of men ! with fatisfa&ion knowT,
God’s own right hand difpenfes all below :
Nor good nor evil does by chance befall
He reigns fupreme, and he directs it all.
At his command, aftrighting human-kind,
Comets drag on their blazing lengths behind :
Nor, as wTe think, do they at random rove,
But, in determin’d times, through long ellipfes move.
And tho’ fometimes they near approach the fun,
. Sometimes beyond our fyftem’s orbit run ;
Throughout their race they aft their Maker’s will,
His pow’r declare, his purpofes fulfil.
III. Of thofe preceptive poems that treat of the
bufinefs and pleafures of mankind, Virgil’s Georgies
claim our firft and principal attention. In thefe he
has laid down the rules of hufbandry in all its branches
tvith the utmoft exaftnefs and perfpicuity, and at the
TRY. Part IT.
fame time embellifhed them with all the beauties and Didaftic.
graces of poetry. Though his fubjeft was hufbandry,-y—
he has delivered his precepts, as Mr Addifon obferves,
not with the fimplicity of a ploughman, but with the
addrefs of a poet: the meaneft of his rules are laid
down wfith a kind of grandeur ; and he breaks the clods,
and tojfes about the dung, with an air of graccfulnefs.
Of the different ways of conveying the fame truth to the
mind, he takes that which is plealanteft 5 and this chief¬
ly diftinguifhes poetry from profe, and renders Virgil’s
rules of hufbandry more delightful and valuable than any
other.
Thefe poems, which are efteemed the moft perfeft of
the author’s works, are, perhaps, the belt that can be
propofed for the young fludent’s imitation in this man¬
ner of writing j for the whole of his Georgies is wrought
up with wonderful art, and decorated with all the flowers
of poetry.
IV. Of thofe poems which give precepts for the re¬
creations and pleafures of a country life, we have feve-
ral in our own language that are juftly admired. As
the moft confiderable of thofe diverfions, however, are
finely treated by Mr Gay in his Rural Sports, we parti¬
cularly refer to that poem.
We fhould here treat of thofe preceptive poems that
teach the art of poetry itfelf, of which there are many •
that deferve particular attention j but we have antici¬
pated our defign, and rendered any farther notice of
them in a manner ufelefs, by the obfervations we have
made in the courfe of this treatife. We ought howr-
ever to remark, that Horace was the only poet among
the ancients who wrote precepts for poetry in verfe at
leaft his epiftle to the Pifos is the only piece of the kind
that has been handed down to us j and that is fo perfeft,
it feems almoft to have precluded the neceflity of any
other. Among the moderns we have feveral that are
juftly admired ; as Boileau, Pope, &c.
Poets who write in the preceptive manner ftiould take
care to choofe fuch fubjefts as are worthy of their mufe,
and of confequence to all mankind ; for to bellow7 both
parts and pains to teach people trifles that are un¬
worthy of their attention, is to the laft degree ridicu¬
lous.
Among poems of the ufeful and interefting kind, Dr
Armftrong’s Art of Rreferring Health deferves particu¬
lar recommendation, as well in confideration of the
fubjeft, as of the elegant and mafterly manner in which
he has treated it j for he has made thofe things, wrhich
are in their own nature dry and unentertaining, perfect¬
ly agreeable and pleafing, by adhering to the rules ob-
ferved by Virgil and others, in the conduft of thefe
Poems* 14P
With regard to the ftyle or drefs of thefe poems, its proper
it fhould be fo rich as to hide the nakednefs of the ftyle.
fubjeft, and the barrennefs of the precepts fhould be
loft in the luftre of the language. “ It ought to a- Wrarton_
bound in the moft: bold and forcible metaphors,
moft glowing and pifturefque epithets j it ought to be
elevated and enlivened by pomp of numbers and ma-
jefty of wmrds, and by every figure that can lift a lan¬
guage above the vulgar and current expreflio«s.” One
may add, that in no kind of poetry (not even in the
fublime ode) is beauty of expreflion fo much to be re¬
garded as in this. For the epic writer fhould be very
cautious of indulging himfelf in too florid a manner of
expreflion,
Part II. POE
Didadic. expreflion, erpecially in the dramatic parts of his fable,
‘■““''v—— where he introduces dialogue: and the writer of tra¬
gedy cannot fall into fo naufeous and unnatural an af¬
fectation, as to put laboured defcriptions, pompous epi¬
thets, ftudied phrafes, and high-flown metaphors, into
the mouths of his characters. But as the didaCtic
poet fpeak* in his own perfon, it is neceffary and pro¬
per for him to ufe a brighter colouring of flyle, and
to be more ftudious of ornament. And this is agree¬
able to an admirable precept of Ariftotle, which no
writer (hould ever forget,—“ That diCtion ought molt
to be laboured in the unaCtive, that is, the defcrip-
tive, part$ of a poem, in which the opinions, manners,
and paflions of men are not reprefented ; for too gla¬
ring an expreflion obfcures the manners and the fenti-
ments.”
We have already obferved that any thing in nature
may be the fubjeCt of this poem. Some things how¬
ever will appear to more advantage than others, as
they give a greater latitude to genius, and admit of
more poetical ornaments. Natural hiftory and philo-
fophy are copious fubjeCls. Precepts in thefe might
be decorated with all the flowers in poetry j and, as
Dr Trapp obferves, how can poetry be better employ¬
ed, or more agreeably to its nature and dignity, than
in celebrating the works of the great Creator, and de-
fcribing the nature and generation of animals, vege¬
tables, and minerals j the revolutions of the heavenly
bodies; the motions of the earth j the flux and reflux
of the fea ; the caufe of thunder, lightning, and other
meteors ; the attraction of the magnet, the gravitation,
cohefion, and repulfion of matter j the impulfive mo¬
tion of light ; the flow progreflion of founds j and other
amazing phenomena of nature ? Mofl; of the arts and
fciences are alfo proper fubjeCts for this poem $ and
none are more fo than its two After arts, painting and
muflc. In the former, particularly, there is room for
the moft entertaining precepts concerning the difpofal
of colours •, the arrangement of lights and (hades 5 the
fecret attraClives of beauty *, the various ideas which
make up the one •, the diftinguiftiing between the atti¬
tudes proper to either fex, and every paflion •, the re-
prefenting profpe&s of buildings, battles, or the coun¬
try •, and laftly, concerning the nature of imitation,
and the power of painting. What a boundlefs fleld of
invention is here ? What room for defcription, compa-
rifon, and poetical fable ? How eafy the tranfttion, at
any time, from the draught to the original, from the
fliadow to the fubftance ? and from hence, what noble
excurftons may be made into hiftory, into panegyric
upon the greateft beauties or heroes of the paft or pre-
fent age ?
Sect. VI. Of the Epflle.
The cha- THIS fpecies of writing, if we are permitted to lay
radterof down rules from the examples of our beft poets, admits
the rpiftle. of great latitude, and folicits ornament and decoration ;
yet the poet is ftill to conAder, that the true character
of the epiftle is eafe and elegance j nothing therefore
fliould be forced or unnatural, laboured, or affeCled, but
every part of the compoAtion {hould breathe an eafy, po¬
lite, and unconftrained freedom.
It is fuitable to every fubjeft •, for as the epiftle takes
jplaee of difcourfe, and is intended as a fort of diftant
T R Y.
converfation, all the affairs of life and relearches into na¬
ture may be introduced. Thofe, however, which are
fraught with compliment or condolence, that contain a
defcription of places, or are full of pertinent remarks,
and in a familiar and humorous way defcribe the man-
27
Epiftle.
ners, vices, and follies of mankind, are the beft; be
caufe they are moft fuitable to the true character of epi-
ftolary writing, and (buftnefs fet apart) are the ufual
fubjefts upon which our letters are employed.
All farther rules and directions are unneceffary ; for
this kind of writing is better learned by example and
praCtice than by precept. We fliall, therefore, in con¬
formity to our plan, feleCt a few epiftles for the reader’s
imitation j which, as this method of writing has of late
much prevailed, may be belt taken, perhaps, from our
modern poets.
The following letter from Mr Addifon to Lord Ha ¬
lifax, contains an elegant defcription of the curioAties
and places about Borne, together wdth fuch reflections
on the ineftimable bleflings of liberty as muft give plea-
fure to every Briton, efpecially when he fees them thus
placed in direCt oppofition to the baneful influence of
flavery and oppreflion, which are ever to be feen among
the miferable inhabitants of thofe countries.
While you, my lord, the rural (hades admire,
And from Britannia’s public pofts retire,
Nor longer, her ungrateful fons to pleafe,
For their advantage facrifice your eafa 5
Me into foreign realms my fate conveys,
Through nations fruitful of immortal lays,
Where the foft feafon and inviting clime
Confpire to trouble your repofe with rhime.
For wherefoe’er I turn my ravifli’d eyes,
Gay gilded feenes and ftiining profpeCts rife,
Poetic Adds encompafs me around,
And ftill I feem to tread on claflic ground ;
For here the mufe fo oft her harp has ftrung,
That not a mountain rears its head unfung,
Renown’d in verfe each (hady thicket grows,
And ev’ry ftream in heav’nly numbers flow’s.
How am I pleas’d to fearch the hills and woods
For riflng fprings and celebrated floods 5
To view the Nar, tumultuous in his courfe,
And tr^ce the fmooth Clitumnus to his fource j
To fee the Mincia draw its wat’ry (lore
Through the long windings of a fruitful (bore,
And hoary Albula’s infeCled tide
O’er the w?arm bed of fmoking fulphur glide !
Fir’d with a thoufand raptures, I furvey
Eridanus thro’ flowT’ry meadows ftray,
The king of floods ! that, rolling o’er the plains,
The tow’ring Alps of half their moifture drains,
And, proudly fw’oln w’ith a wrhole winter’s fnows,
Distributes wealth and plenty where he flows.
Sometimes, mifguided by the tuneful throng,
I look for dreams immortaliz’d in fong,
That loft in Alence and oblivion lie,
(Dumb are their fountains and their channels dry)
Yet run for ever by the mufe’s (kill,
And in the fmooth defcription murmur ftill.
Sometimes to gentle Tiber I retire,
And the fam’d river’s empty (hores adfnire,
That, deftitute of (Length, derives its courfe
From thirfty unis, and an unfruitful fource j
D 2
*5r
Examples
in epifto-
lary poetry
from Addi-
fon,
Yet
38 POE
, Epiftle. Yet Tung To often in poetic lays,
With fcorn the Danube and the Nile furveys 3
■So high the deathlefs mufe exalts her theme !
Such was the Boyn, a poor inglorious dream,
That in Hibernian vales obfcurely ftray’d,
And unoblerv’d in wild meanders play’d ;
Till, by your lines, and Naflau’s fw7ord renown’d,
Its riling billows through the world refound,
Where’er the hero’s godlike afts can pierce,
Or where the fame of an immortal verfe.
Oh cou’d the mufe my ravilh’d bread infpire
With warmth like yours, and raife an equal fire,
Unnumber’d beauties in my verfe Ihould diine,
And Virgil’s Italy Ihould yield to mine !
See how the golden groves around me fmile,
That diun the coads of Britain’s dormy ide,
Or when tranfplanted and preferv’d with care,
Curfe the cold clime, and darve in northern air.
-Here kindly warmth their mounting juice ferments
To nobler tades, and more exalted fcents:
Ev’n the rough rocks with tender myrtles bloom,
And trodden weeds fend out a rich perfume.
Bear me, fome god, to Baia’s gentle feats,
Or cover me in Umbria’s green retreats j
Where wredem gales eternally refide,
And all the feafons lavilh all their pride :
Blolfoms, and fruits, and dow’rs together rife,
And the whole year in gay confufion lies.
Immortal glories in my mind revive,
And in my ioul a thoufand padions drive,
W7hen Rome’s exalted'beauties I defcry
Magnificent in piles of ruin lie.
An amphitheatre’s amazing height
Here fills my eye with terror and delight,
That on its public {hows unpeopled Rome,
And held uncrowded nations in its womb :
Here pillars rough with fculpture pierce the Ikies 5
And here the proud triumphal arches rife,
Where the old Romans deathlefs afts difplay’d,
Their bafe degenerate progeny upbraid :
Whole rivers here forfake the fields below,
And wond’ring at their height thro’ airy channels dow.
Still to new fcenes my wand’ring mufe retires ;
And the dumb diow of breathing rocks admires 5
Where the fmooth chiffel all its force has fhown,
And foften’d into fielh the rugged done.
In folemn filence, a majedic band,
Heroes, and gods, and Roman confuls dand,
Stern tyrants, whom their cruelties renown,
And emperors in Parian marble frown :
While the bright dames, to whom they humbly fu’d,
Still (how the charms that their proud hearts fubdu’d.
Fain would I Raphael’s godlike art rehearfe,
And {how th’ immortal labours in my verfe,
Where from the mingled drength of drade and light
A new creation rifes to my fight,
Such heav’nly figures from his pencil flow,
So warm with life his blended colours glow.
From theme to theme with fecret pleafure tod,
Amidd the foft variety I’m lod.
Here pleafing airs my ravilh’d foul confound
With circling notes and labyrinths of found;
Here domes and temples rife in didant views,
And opening palaces invite my mufe.
TRY. PartII.
How has kind heav’n adorn’d the happy land,
And fcatter’d bleflings with a wadeful hand !
But what avail her unexhauded dores,
Her blooming mountains, and her funny fliores,
With all the gifts that heav’n and earth impart,
The fmiles of nature, and the charms of art,
While proud oppreflion in her valleys reigns,
And tyranny ufurps her happy plains ?
The poor inhabitant beholds in vain
The red’ning orange and the fwelling grain :
Joylefs he fees the growing oils and wines,
And in the myrtle’s fragrant {hade repines:
Starves, in the midd of nature’s bounty curd,
And in the loaded vineyard dies for third.
O liberty, thou goddefs heav’nly bright,
Profufe of blifs, and pregnant with delight!
Eternal pleafures in thy prefence reign,
And finding plenty leads thy wanton train;
Eas’d of her load, lubjeftion grows more light,
And poverty looks cheerful in thy fight;
Thou mak’d the gloomy face of nature gay,
Giv’d beauty to the fun, and pleafure to the day.
Thee, goddefs, thee, Britannia’s ifle adores j
How has die oft exhauded all her dores,
How oft in fields of death thy prefence fought,
Nor thinks the mighty prize too dearly bought I
On foreign mountain may the fun refine
The grape’s foft juice, and mellow it to wine,
With citron groves adorn a didant foil,
And the fat olive fwell with floods of oil:
We envy not the warmer clime, that lies
In ten degrees of more indulgent Ikies,
Nor at the coarfenefs of our heav’n repine,
Tho’ o’er our heads the frozen Pleiads flrine :
’Tis liberty that crowns Britannia’s ifle, [{__,
And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains
Others with tow’ring piles may pleafe the fight,
And in their proud afpiring domes delight j
A nicer touch to the dretch’d canvas give,
Or teach their animated rocks to live :
’Tis Britain’s care to watch o’er Europe’s fate,
And hold in balance each contending date,
To threaten bold prefumptuous kings with war,
And anfwer her afflifted neighbour’s pray’r.
I ne Dane and Swede, rous’d up by fierce alarms,
Blefs the wife conduft of her pious arms :
Soon as her fleets appear, their terrors ceafe,
And all the northern world lies hufli’d in peace.
lh’ambitious Gaul beholds with fecret dread
Her thunder aim’d at his afpiring head,
And fain her godlike fons would difunite
By foreign gold, or by domedic fpite;
But drives in vain to conquer or divide,
Whom Naflau’s arms defend and counfels guide.
Fir’d with the name, which I fo oft have found
The didant climes and diff’rent tongues refound,
I bridle in my draggling mufe with pain,
That longs to launch into a bolder drain.
But I’ve already troubled you too long,
Nor dare attempt a more advent’rous fong :
My humble verfe demands a fofter theme,
A painted meadow, or a purling dream 5
Unfit for heroes *, whom immortal lays,
And lines like Virgil’s, or like yours, Ihould praife.
Therg
Part IL POE
Epiftle. There is a fine fpirlt of freedom, and love of liberty,
difplayed in the following letter from Lord Lyttleton to
Mr Pope } and the meffage from the fhade of Virgil,
which is truly poetical, and juftly preceptive, may prove
an ufeful leffon to future bards.
From Rome, I73°*
I5'1 Immortal bard ! for -whom each mufe has wove
Xyttieton, £ajrefl. garlan(is 0f the Aonian grove •,
Preferv’d, our drooping genius to reftore,
When Addifon and Congreve are no more ;
After fo many liars extinft in night,
The darken’d age’s laft remaining light !
To thee from Latian realms this verfe is writ,
Infpir’d by memory of ancient wit:
For now no more thefe climes their influence boaft,
Fall’n is their glory, and their virtue loft *,
From tyrants, and from, priefts, the mufes fly,
Daughters of reafon and of liberty.
Nor Baiae now nor Umbria’s plain they love,
Nor on the banks of Nar or Mincia rove j
To Thames’s flow’ry borders they retire,
And kindle in thy breaft the Roman fire.
So in the fhades, where cheer’d with fummer rays
Melodious linnets warbled fprightly lays,
Soon as the faded, falling leaves complain
Of gloomy winter’s inaufpicious reign,
No tuneful voice is heard of joy or love,
But mournful filence faddens all the grove.
Unhappy Italy ! wdiofe alter’d ftate
Has felt the worft feverity of fate :
Not that barbarian hands her fafces broke,
And bow’d her haughty neck beneath their yoke j
Nor that her palaces to earth are thrown,
Her cities defert, and her fields unfown j
But that her ancient fpirit is decay’d,
That facred wifdom from her bounds is fled,
That there the fource of fcience flows no more,
Whence its rich ftreams fupply’d the world before.
Uluftrious names ! that once in Latium ftiin’d,
Born to inftruft and to command mankind j
Chiefs, by whofe virtue mighty Rome was rais’d,
And poets, who thofe chiefs fublimely prais’d !
Oft I the traces you have left explore,
Your allies vilit, and your urns adore ;
Oft kifs, with lips devout, fome mould’ring ftone,
With ivy’s venerable (hade o’ergrown ;
Thofe hallow’d ruins better pleas’d to fee,
Than all the pomp of modern luxury.
As late on Virgil’s tomb frefh flow’rs I ftrow’d,
While with th’ infpiring mufe my bofom glow’d,
Crowm’d with eternal bays, my ravifh’d eyes
Beheld the poet’s aivful form arife:
Stranger, he faid, wdiofe pious hand has paid
Thefe grateful rites to my attentive (hade,
When thou (halt breathe thy happy native air,
To Pope this meffage from his mafter bear..
Great bard, wdiofe numbers I myfelf infpire,
To whom I gave my own harmonious lyre,
If high exalted on the throne of wit,
Near me and Homer thou afpire to fit,
No more let meaner fatire dim the rays
That flow majeftic from thy noble bays.
In all the flow’ry paths of Pindus ftray :
But fhun that thorny, that unpleafing way 3
TRY. 29.
Nor, when each foft engaging mufe is thine, , EPlftIe- t
Addrefs the leaft attractive of the nine. ¥
Of thee, more worthy were the talk to raife
A lafting column to thy country’s praife,
To fing the land, which yet alone can boaft;
That liberty corrupted Rome has loft 3
Where fcience in the arms of peace is laid,
And plants her palm beneath the olive’s lhade.
Such was the theme for which my lyre I ftrung,
Such was the people whofe exploits I fung 3
Brave, yet refin’d, for arms and arts renown’d,
With diff’rent bays by Mars and Phoebus crown’d, •
Dauntlefs oppofers of tyrannic fway,
But pleas’d a mild Augustus to obey.
If thefe commands fubmiflive thou receive,
Immortal and unblam’d thy name lhall live 3
Envy to black Cocytus lhall retire,!
And howd with furies in tormenting fire 3
Approving time lhall confecrate thy lays,
And join the patriot’s to the poet’s praife.
The following letter from Mr Philips to the earl of
Dorfet is entirely defcriptive 3 but is one of thofe de-
fcriptions wdiich will be ever read with delight.
Copenhagen, March 9. 1709. ^
From frozen climes, and endlefs traCls of fnow, Philips,
From ftreams which northern winds forbid to flow, and
What prefent lhall the mufe to Dorfet bring,
Or how, fo near the pole, attempt to ling ?
The hoary winter here conceals from fight
All pleafing objeCts which to verfe invite.
The hills and dales, and the delightful woods,
The flow’ry plains, and filver-ftreaming floods,
By fnow difguis’d, in bright confufion lie,
And with one dazzling wafte fatigue the eye.
No gentle breathing breeze prepares the fpring,
No birds within the defert region fing :
The Ihips, unmov’d, the boift’rous winds defy,
While rattling chariots o’er the ocean fly.
The vaft Leviathan wants room to play,
And fpout his waters in the face of day :
The ftarving wolves along the main fea fprowl,
And tb the moon in icy valleys howl.
O’er many a Ihining league the level main
Here fpreads itfelf into a glaffy plain :
There folid billows of enormous fize,
Alps of green ice, in wild diforder rife.
And yet but lately have I feen, ev’n here,
The winter in a lovely drefs appear. 1
Ere yet the clouds let fall the treafur’d fnow, .
Or winds began through hazy Ikies to blow,
At ev’ning a keen eaftern breeze arofe,
And the ddcending rain unfully’d froze 3
Soon as the filent (hades of night withdrew,
The ruddy morn difclos’d at once to view
The face of nature in a rich difguife,
And brighten’d ev’ry objeft to my eyes : :
For ev’ry fhrub, and ev’ry blade of grafs,
And ev’ry pointed thorn, feem’d wrought in glafs 3
In pearls and rubies rich the hawthorns (how,
While through the ice the crimfon berries glow.
The thick fprung reeds, which watery marfhes yield,
Seem’d polfth’d lances in a hoftile field.
The (tag in limpid currents with furprife,
Sees cryftal branches on his forehead rife ;
The c
So P O E
, The fpreading oak, the beech, and tow’ring pine,
Glaz’d over, in the freezing jcther fliine.
The frighted birds the rattling branches fliun,
Which wave and glitter in the diltant fuji.
When if a hidden gull of wind arife,
The brittle foreft into atoms flies,
The crackling wood beneath the temped bends,
And in a fpangled Ihower the profpeft ends:
Or, if a fouthern gale the region warm,
And by degrees unbend the wint’ry charm,
The traveller a miry country fees,
And journeys fad beneath the dropping trees :
Like fome deluded peafant Merlin leads
Thro’ fragant bow’rs and thro’ delicious meads,
While here enchanted gardens to him rife,
And airy fabrics there attract his eyes,
His wandering feet the magic paths purfue,
And while he thinks the fair illufion true,
The tracklefs fcenes difperfe in fluid air,
And woods, and wilds, and thorny ways appear $
A tedious road the weary wretch returns,
And, as he goes, the tranlient vilion mourns.
The great ufe of medals is properly defcribed in the
enfuing elegant epiftle from Mr Pope to Mr Addifon j
and the extravagant paflion which fome people enter¬
tain only for the colour of them, is very agreeably and
very jullly ridiculed.
Pope.^ See the wild wafte of all devouring years !
How Rome her own fad fepulchre appears !
With nodding arches, broken temples fpread !
The very tombs now vanifli like their dead !
Imperial wonders rais’d on nations fpoil’d,
Where mix’d with flaves the groaning martyr toil’d !
Huge theatres, that now unpeopled woods,
Now drain’d a diftant country of her floods !
Fanes, which admiring gods with pride furvey,
Statues of men, fcarce lefs alive than they !
Some felt the lilent ftroke of mould’ring age,
Some hoftile fury, fome religious rage $
Barbarian blindnefs, Chriftian zeal confpire,
And papal piety, and Gothic fire.
Perhaps, by its own ruin fav’d from flame,
Some bury’d marble half preferves a name :
That name the learn’d with fierce difputes purfue,
And give to Titus old Vefpafian’s due.
Ambition figh’d : She found it vain to truft
The faithlefs column and the crumbling buft j
Huge moles, whofe lhadow ftretch’d from fliore to (bore,
Their ruins perifli’d, and their place no more $
Convinc’d, {he, now contrafts her vaft defign,
And all her triumphs {brink into a coin.
A narrow orb each crowded conqueft keeps,
Beneath her palm here fad Judaea weeps j
Now fcantier limits the proud arch confine,
And fcarce are feen the proftrate Nile or Rhine ;
A fmall Euphrates through the piece is roll’d,
And little eagles wave their wings in gold.
The medal, faithful to its charge of fame,
Through climes and ages bears each form and name :
In one fliort view fubjefted to our eye,
Gods, emp’rors, heroes, fages, beauties, lie.
With Iharpen’d fight pale antiquaries pore,
Th’ infcription value, but the ruft adore.
T R Y.
This the blue varnifli, that the green endears.
The facred rufl: of twice ten hundred years :
To gain Pefcennius one employs his fchemes,
One grafps a Cecrops in ecftatic dreams.
Poor Vadius, long with learned fpleen devour’d,
Can tafte no plealure fince his ftiield was fcour’d :
And Curio, reft lefs by the fair one’s fide,
Sighs for an Otho, and negle&s his bride.
Their’s is the vanity, the learning thine:
Touch’d by thy hand, again Rome’s glories lliine ^
Her gods and god-like heroes rife to view.
And all her faded garlands bloom anew.
Nor blufti thefe ftudies thy regard engage j
1 hefe pleas’d the fathers of poetic rage j
The verfe and fculpture bore an equal part,
And art refledled images to art.
Oh when {hall Britain, confcious of her claim,
Stand emulous of Greek and Roman fame ?
In living medals fee her wars enroll’d,
And vanquifli’d realms fupply recording gold ?
Here, riling bold, the patriot’s honeft face j
There, warriors frowning in hiftoric brafs ?
Then future ages with delight {hall fee
How Plato’s, Bacon’s, Newton’s, looks agree j
Or in fair feries laurell’d bards be ftiown,
A Virgil there, and here an Addifon.
Then {hall thy Craggs (and let me call him mine)
On the call: ore, another Pollio ftiine j
With afpeft open lhall eredl his head,
And round the orb in lafting notes be read,
“ Statefman, yet friend to truth ! of foul fincere,
“ In adftion faithful, and in honour clear j
“ Who broke no promife, ferv’d no private end,
“ Who gain’d no title, and who loft no friend $
“ Ennobled by himfelf, by all approv’d,
“ Prais’d, wept, and honour’d, by the mufe he lov’d.”
We have already obferved, that the effential, and
indeed the true chara&eriftic of epiftolary writing, is
eafe j and on this account, as well as others, the fol¬
lowing letter from Mr Pope to Mifs Blount is to be ad¬
mired.
To Mifs BLOUNT, on her leaving the Town after the
Coronation.
As fome fond virgin, whom her mother’s care
Drags from the town to wholefome country air \
Juft when {he learns to roll a melting eye,
And hear a fpark, yet think no danger nigh $
From the dear man unwilling {lie muft fever,
Yet takes one kifs before {he parts for ever •,
Thus from the world fair Zephalinda flew,
Saw others happy, and with fighs withdrew :
Not that their pleafures caus’d her difcontent j-1
She figh’d, not that they flay’d, but that ftie went.
She went, to plain-w’ork, and to purling brooks,
Old-faftiion’d halls, dull aunts, and croaking rooks :
She went from op’ra, park, aflembly, play,
To morning-walks, and pray’rs three hours a-day j
To part her time ’twixt reading and bohea,
To mufe, and fpill her folitary tea,
Or o’er cold coffee trifle with the fpoon,
Count the flow clock, and dine exa£l at noon;
Divert
Part II.
F.nifHe.
4
Part II. POE
Epiftle. Divert tier eyes with pi&ures in the fire,
Hum half a tune, tell ftories to the ’fquire 3
Up to her godly garret after feven,
There ftarve and pray, for that’s the way to heav’n.
Some ’fquire, perhaps, you take delight to rack 3
Whofe game is whilk, whofe treat’s a toaft in fack 3
Who vifits with a gun, prefents you birds,
Then gives a fmacking bufs, and cries,—no words!
Or with his hound comes hollowing from the liable,
Makes love with nods, and knees beneath a table 3
Whofe laughs are hearty, tho’ his jells are coarfe,
And loves you bell of all things—but his horfe.
In fome fair ev’ning, on your elbow" laid,
You dream of triumphs in the rural (hade 3
In penfive thought recal the fancy’d fcene,
See coronations rife on every green 3
Before you pals th’ imaginary lights
Of lords, and earls, and dukes, and garter’d knights,
While the fpread fan o’erlhades your doling eyes:
Then give one flirt, and all the vilion flies.
Thus vanilh fceptres, coronets, and balls,
And leave you in lone woods, or empty walls !
So when your Have, at fome dear idle time,
(Not plagu’d w’ith headachs, or the want of rhyme)
Stands in the lireets, abllrafted from the crewr,
And while he feems to lludy, thinks of you 3
Juft wdien his fancy points your fprightly eyes,
Or fees the blufli of foft Parthenia rife,
Gay pats my Ihoulder, and you vanilh quite,
Streets, chairs, and coxcombs, ruflr upon my light 3
Vex’d to be Hill in town, I knit my brow,
Look four, and hum a tune, as you may now.
Sect. VII. Of Defcriptive Poetry.
Defcriptive Descriptive poetry is of univerfal ufe, lince there
poetry. is nothing in nature but W'hat may be defcribed. As
poems of this kind, however, are intended more to de¬
light than to inftruft, great care Ihould be taken to
make them agreeable. Defcriptive poems are made
beautiful by limilies properly introduced, images of
feigned perfons, and allufions to ancient fables or hifto-
rical fads 3 as will appear by a perufal of the bell of
thefe poems, efpecially Milton’s 1?Allegro and // Penfe-
rofo, Denham’s Cooper Hill, and Pope’s Windfor Fore/l.
Every body being in poffeflion of Milton’s w^orks, wre
forbear inferting Jthe two former 5 and the others are
too long for our purpofe, That inimitable poem, The
Seafons, by Mr Thomfon, notwithftanding fome parts
of it are didadlic, may be alfo with propriety referred to
this head.
Sect. VIII. Of Allegorical Poetry.
156
Origin of Could truth engage the affeflions of mankind in
allegorical her native and Ample drefs, Ihe would require no orna-
poetry. ments or aid from the imagination 3 but her delicate
light, though lovely in itfelf, and dear to the moll dif-
cerning, does not llrike the fenfes of the multitude fo
as to fecure their efteem and attention : the poets there-
fibre drefled her up in the manner in which they thought
Ihe would appear the moll amiable, and called in alle¬
gories and airy difguifes as her auxiliaries in the caufe
of virtue.
An allegory is a fable or ftory, in which, under the
TRY. 31
difguife of imaginary perfons or things, Ibrne real a£lion Allegorical-,
or inftru£live moral is conveyed to the mind. Every '*
allegory therefore has tw"o fenfes, the one literal and the
other myftical 3 the firft has been aptly enough com¬
pared to a dream or vifion, of which the laft is the true
meaning or interpretation. 157
From this definition of allegorical poetry the reader Its charae*
will perceive t)iat it gives great latitude to genius, andter-
affords fuch a boundlefs fcope for invention, that the
poet is allowed to foar beyond all creation ; to give life
and adlion to virtues, vices, paflions, difeafes, and natural
and moral qualities 3 to raife floating iflands, enchanted
palaces, cattles, &c. and to people them with the crea¬
tures of his owrn imagination.
The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heav’n to earth, from earth to heav’n3
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to thape, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name. Shakespeare.
But wdiatever is thus raifed by the magic of his mind
muft be vifionary and typical, and the myftical fenfe
muft appear obvious to the reader, and inculcate fome
moral or ufeful leffon in life 3 otherwife the W’hole wrill
be deemed rather the effefts of a diftempered brain, than
the produftions of real wit and genius. The poet, like
Jafon, may fail to parts unexplored, but wall meet with
no applaufe if he returns without a golden fleece 3 for
thefe romantic reveries would be unpardonable but for
the myftical meaning and moral that is thus artfully and
agreeably conveyed with tbcm, and on which account
only the allegory is indulged wath a greater liberty than
any other fort of writing.
The ancients juftly confidered this fort of allegory as
the moft effential part of poetry 3 for the powTer of rai¬
ling images of things not in being, giving them a fort
of life and aftion, and prefenting them as it were before
the eyes, w^as thought to have fomething in it like cre¬
ation : but then, in fuch compolitions, they always ex-
pefted to find a meaning couched under them of confe-
quence 3 and we may reafonably conclude, that the al¬
legories of their poets wTould never have been handed
dowm to us, had they been deficient in this refpeft. I5S
As the fable is the part immediately offered to the Efienti^k
reader’s confideration, and intended as an agreeable ve-of a juft
hide to convey the moral, it ought to be bold, lively,
and furpriilng, that it may excite curiofity and fupport
attention 5 for if the fable be fpiritlefs and barren of in¬
vention, the attention will be difengaged, and the mo¬
ral, however ufeful and important in itfelf, will be little
regarded.
There muft likewife be a juftnefs and propriety in
the fable, that is, it muft be clofely connected with the
fubjed on which it is employed 3 for notwithftanding
the boundlefs compafs allowed the imagination in thefe
writings, nothing abfurd or ufelefs is to be introduced.
In epic poetry fome things may perhaps be admitted
for no other reafon but to furprife, and to raife what is
called the wonderful, which is as neceffary to the epic
as the probable ; but in allegories, however wild and ex¬
travagant the fable and the perfons introduced, each
muft: correfpond with the fubjeft they are applied to,
and, like the members of a well-written fimile, bear a
due proportion and relation to each other ; for we are
to-
'.•52 P 0 E
Allegorical, to'cotifider, tli^t tlie allegory is a fort of extended or
' v" rather multiplied fimile, and therefore, like that, Ihould
aiever lofe the fubjeft it is intended to illullrate. Whence
it will appear, that genius and fancy are here infufficient
•without the aid of taile and judgement: thefe firft, in¬
deed, may produce a multitude of ornaments, a wilder-
nefs of tweets ; but the laft muff be employed to accom¬
modate them to reafon, and to arrange them fo as to
produce pleatiire and profit.
But it is not fufiicient that the fable be correfpondent
with the fubjetf, and have the properties above defen¬
ded 5 for it mutt alfo be confiftent with itfelf. The
poet rnay invent what flory he pleafes, and form any
imaginary beings that his fancy fliall fuggelt ; but here,
as in dramatic writings, when perfons are once intro¬
duced, they muff be fupported to the end, and all fpeak
and a6t in charadter : for notwithtfanding the general
licence here allowed, fome order mutt be obferved j
and however wild and extravagant the characters, they
thould not be abfurd. To this let me add, that the
whole muft be clear and intelligible ; for the “ fable
(as Mr Hughes obferves) being defigned only to clothe
and adorn the moral, but not to hide it, fhould re¬
ferable the draperies wre admire in fome of the ancient
ftatues, in which the folds are not too many nor too
thick, but fo judicioufly ordered, that the fhape and
beauty of the limbs may be feen through them.”—
But this will more obvioufly appear from a perufal of
the belt compofitions of this clafs ; fuch as Spenfer’s
Fairy Queen, Thomfon’s Caftle of Indolence, Addifon
and Johnfon’s beautiful allegories in the Spectator and
Rambler, &c. &c.
Th e word allegory has been ufed in a more extenfive
fenfe than that in which we have here applied it : for
all writings, where the moral is conveyed under the co¬
ver of borrowed charadters and adtions, by which other
charadters and adtions (that are real) are reprefenled,
have obtained the name of allegories ; though the fable
or flory contains nothing that is vifionary or romantic,
but is made up of real or hiftorical perfons, and of ac¬
tions either probable or pofiible. But thefe writings
fhould undoubtedly be diflinguilhed by fome other name,
becaufe the literal fenfe is confiftent with right reafon,
and may convey an ufeful moral, and fatisfy the reader,
without putting him under the neceflity of feeking for
another.
Some of the ancient critics, as Mr Addifon obferves,
were fond of giving the works of their poets this fecond
or concealed meaning, though there was no apparent
neceflity for the attempt, and often but little Ihow7 of
reafon in the application. Thus the Iliad and Odyfley
of Homer are fald to be fables of this kind, and that
the gods and heroes introduced are only the affedlions of
the mind reprefenled in a vifible fhape and character.
They tell us, fays he, that Achilles in the firft Iliad
reprefents anger, or the irafcible part of human nature :
that upon drawing his fword againft his fuperior, in a
full affembly, Pallas (wrhich, fay they, is another name
for reafon) checks and advifes him on the occafion, and
at her firft appearance touches him upon the head ; that
part of the man being looked upon as the feat of reafon.
In this fenfe, as Mr Hughes has well obferved, the
whole TEneis of Virgil may be faid to be an allegory,
if you fuppofe Afneas to reprefent Auguftus Caefar,
and that his conducting the remains of his countrymen
3
T R Y. Part II,
from the ruins of Troy, to a new fettlement in Italy,- is vuegoncah
an emblem of Auguitus’s forming a new government ——y~”1 ,i“‘
out of the ruins of the ariftocracy, and eltabliihing the
Romans, alter the confufion of the civil war, in a
peaceable and flourithing condition. However ingeni¬
ous this coincidence may appear, and whatever defign
Virgil had in view, he has avoided a particular and di-
red application, and fo conduced his poem, that it is per-
feCt without any allegorical interpretation 5 for whether
we confider iEneas or Auguftus as the hero, the morals
contained are equally inftruCHve. And indeed it fetms
abfurd to fuppofe, that becaufe the epic poets have in¬
troduced fome allegories into their works, every thing
is to be underftood in a myftical manner, where the
fenfe is plain and evident without any fuch application.
Nor is the attempt that Taffo made to turn his Jeru-
falem into a myftery, any particular recommendation of
the work : for notwithftanding he tells us, in what is
called the allegory, printed with it, that the Chriftian
army reprefents man, the city of Jerufalem civil happi-
nefs, Godfry the underftanding, Rinaldo and Tancred
the other powers of the foul, and that the body is ty¬
pified by the common foldiers and the like ; yet the
reader will find himfelf as little delighted as edified by
the explication : for the mind has little pleafure in an
allegory that cannot be opened without a key made by
the hand of the fame artift j and indeed every allegory
that is fo dark, and, as it were, inexplicable, lofes its
very effence, and becomes an enigma or riddle, that is
left to be interpreted by every crude imagination.
This laft fpecies of writing, whether called an alle- ThJancientL
gory, or by any other name, is not lefs eminent and parable,
ufeful 5 for the introducing of real or hiftorical perfons
may not abridge or lefien either our entertainment or
inftruftion. In thefe compofitions we often meet with
an uncommon moral conveyed by the fable in a new
and entertaining manner ; or with a known truth fo
artfully decorated, and placed in fuch a new and beau¬
tiful light, that we are amazed how any thing fo charm¬
ing and ufeful Ihould fo long have efcaped our obfer-
vation. Such, for example, are many of Johnfon’s
pieces publifhed in the Rambler under the title of
Eajlern Stories, and by Hawkefworth in the Adven¬
turer.
The ancient parables are of this fpecies of writing:
and it is to be obferved, that thofe in the New Tefta-
ment have a moft remarkable ejegance and propriety j
and are the moft ftriking, and the moft inftrudlive, for
being drawn from objects that are familiar.—The more
ftriking, becaufe, as the things are feen, the moral con¬
veyed becomes the objedt of our fenfes, and requires lit¬
tle or no refledlion :—the more inftruftive, becaufe every
time they are feen, the memory is awakened, and the fame
moral is again exhibited with pleafure to the mind, and
accuftoms it to reafon and dwell on the fubjedl. So that
this method of inftrudtion improves nature, as it were, in¬
to a book of life } fince every thing before us may be fo
managed, as to give leffbns for our advantage. Our Sa¬
viour’s parables of the fower and the feed, of the tares,
of the muftard-feed, and of the leaven (Matthew xiii.),
are all of this kind, and were obvioufly taken from the
harveft ju t ripening before him •, for his difciplespinch¬
ed the ears ofcorn and did eat, rubbing them w their hands.
See the articles Allegory, and Metaphor
in the general alphabet.
Sect.
Part II.
POET
K
Of Fables.
x6o
The apo¬
logue or
fable.
Sect. IX. Of Fables.
x6i
Rules fi>r
its con-
ftrudlion.
Js1 o method of inftruftion has been move ancient, more
univerfal, and probably none more effedhial, than that by
apologue or fable. In the firlt ages, amongft a rude and
fierce people, this perhaps was the only method that would
have been borne j and even fince the progrefs of learning
has furnilhed other helps, the fable, which at firlf was ufed
through neceflity, is retained from choice, on account of
the elegant happinefs of its manner, and the refined ad-
dreis with which, when well conducted, it infinuates its
moral.
As to the a&ors in this little drama, the fabulift has
authority to prefs into his fervice every kind of exift-
ence under heaven ; not only beafts, birds, infers, and
all the animal creation ; but flowers, Ihrubs, trees, and
all the tribe of vegetables. Even mountains, foflils, mi¬
nerals, and the inanimate works of nature, difcourfe ar¬
ticulately at his command, and aft the part which he
afligns them. The virtues, vices, and every property
of beings, receive from him a local habitation and a
name. _ In ftiort, he may perfonify, bellow life, fpeech,
and aftion, on whatever he thinks proper.
It is ealy to imagine what a fource of novelty and
variety this mult open to a genius capable of concei¬
ving and ol employing thefe ideal perfons in a proper
manner; what an opportunity it affords him to diver-
fify his images, and to treat the fancy with chancres
of objefts, while he ftrengthens the underltanding, or
regulates the paflions, by a fucceflion of truths. To
raile beings like thefe into a Hate of aftion and intel¬
ligence, gives the fabulilt an undoubted claim to that
firlt charafter of the poet, a creator.
When thefe perfons are once raifed, we mult care¬
fully enjoin them proper talks, and aflign them fenti-
ments and language fuitable to their feveral natures
and refpeftive properties. A raven Ihould not be ex¬
tolled for her voice, nor a bear be reprefented with an
elegant lhape. It were a very obvious inltance of ab-
lurdity, to paint a hare cruel, or a wolf compaflion-
ate. An afs were but ill qualified to be general of
an army, though he may well enough ferve, perhaps,
tor one of the trumpeters. But fo long as popular
opinion allows to the lion magnanimity, rage to the
tiger, ftrength to the mule, cunning to the fox, and
buffoonery to the monkey j why may not they fupport
the charafters of an Agamemnon, Achilles, Ajax, Ulvf-
ies, and Iherfites? The truth is, when moral aftions
are with judgement attributed to the brute creation, we
fcarce perceive that nature is at all violated by the fabu-
blf. He appears at moft to have only tranflated their
language. His lions, wolves, and foxes, behave and ar-
gue as thofe creatures would, had they originally been
endowed with the human faculties of fpeech and rea-
lon.
. B.ut greater art is yet required whenever we perfonify
inanimate beings. Here the copy fo far deviates from
the great lines of nature, that, without the niceft care
realon will revolt again!! the fiftion. However, beings’
of this fort, managed ingenioufly and with addrefs re¬
commend the fabulift’s invention by the grace of no¬
velty and of variety. Indeed the analogy between things
natural and artificial, animate and inanimate, is often fo
very finking that we can, with feeming propriety, give
Vol. XVII. Part I. o i i j, &
3.
paflions and fentiments to every individual part of exift- Of Fables
ence. Appearance favours the deception, 'i he vine may
be enamoured of the elm; her embraces teftify her paf-
fion. 1 he fwelling mountain may, naturally enough, be
delivered of a moufe. The gourd may reproach the pine,
and the fky-rocket infult the ftars. The axe may folicit
a new handle of the foreft 5 and the moon, in her female
charafter, requeft a fafliionable garment. Here is nothing
incongruous 5 nothing that flmcks the reader with impro¬
priety. On the other hand, were the axe to defire a* pe¬
riwig, and the moon petition for a new pair of boots, pro¬
bability would then be violated, and the abfurdity become
too glaring.
I he molt beautiful fables that ever w'ere invented may
be disfigured by the language in which they are clothed
Or this poor Vfcdop, m fome of his Englifir drefles. affords lg2
a melancholy proof. The ordinary ftyle of fable fliould The ^r0'
be familiar, but alfo elegant. ‘ ‘ d Per ftyIc
The familiar fays Mr U Motte, is the general tone 0'
or accent of fable, ft was thought fufficient, on its tint
appearance, to lend the animals, our moft common lan¬
guage. Nor indeed have they any extraordinary preten-
fions to the fublime ; it being requifite they Ihould fpeak
with the fame fimphcity that they behave. t
1 he familiar a To is more proper for infmuation than
the elevated ; this being the language of refleftion,
as the former is the voice of fentiment. We guard
ourfelves againlt the one, but lie open to the other :
and inftruftion will always the moft efFeftually fwav
vilegls ^ aPPearS 16311 jeal°US °f ltS r'Shts a»d Pri~
The familiar ftyle, however, that is here required,
notwithftandmg that appearance of eafe which is its
charafter, is perhaps more difficult to write than the
more elevated or fublime. A writer more readily per¬
ceives when he has rifen above the common language
e ipeuaking this la^ge, withe;
he has made the choice that is moft fuitable to the oc-
fuf.0",; ,a"d J1 IS “Y«tWers, upon this happy choice
that all the charms of the familiar depend. Moreover
not thTb ft b f and fedUCeS’ although it be
not the beft chofen ; whereas the familiar can procure
Melf no fort of refpeft, if it be not eafy, natural juft
delicate, and unaffefted. A fabulift muff tliereforeJ be-
iZnrhTttentl°n uP°n- hiS and even labour it
no pains ^ ^ to -ft him
The authority of Fontaine juftifies thefe opinions in
regard to ftyle. His fables are perhaps the beft ex-
amples of the genteel familiar, as Sir Roger I’Eftrange
affords the grofleft of the indelicate and low. WhL
we read, that “ while the frog and the moufe were dift
puling it at fwords-point, down comes a kite powder¬
ing upon them m the interim, and gobbets up both to¬
gether to part the fray - and “ wh^the fox reproaches
abevy of jolly goffipping wenches makina merry over a
difh of pullets, that if he but peeped into a hen rooft
they always made a bawling with their dogs and their
baftards j while you yourfelves (fays he) can fie fluffing
If tl gUt!JUh hCnS and CaP°ns’ and not a word
of the pudding. I his may be familiar ; but it is alio
coarfe and vulgar, and cannot fail to difguft a reader that
has the leaft degree of tafte or delicacy
an/ ft mnft H ^ ^ be and famniar i
a id it muff hkewife be correft and elegant. By the
B former.
34 POE
Of Fables, former, ive mean, that it fhould not be loaded with
~~y—_/ £^ure an(j metaphor j that the difpofition of words be
natural, the turn of fentences eafy, and their conftruction
imembarralfed. By elegance, we would exclude all coarfe
and provincial terms *, all alleged and puerile conceits }
all obfblete and pedantic phrafes. To this we would ad¬
join, as the word perhaps implies, a certain finifhing po-
lifh, which gives a grace and fpirit to the whole} and
W'hich, though it have always the appearance of nature,
is almoft ever the effeft cf art.
But notwithftanding all that has been faid, there are
feme occafions on which it is allowable, and even expe¬
dient, to change the ftyle. The language of a fable mull
rife or fall in conformity to the fubjeft. A lion, when in¬
troduced in his regal capacity, mult hold difeourfe in a
ftrain fomewhat more elevated than a country-moufe.
The liond’s then becomes his queen, and the beafls of the
fordl are called his fubjects j a method that offers at
once to the imagination both the animal and the perfon
he is defigned to reprefent. Again, the buffoon-monkey
fhould avoid that pomp of phrafe, which the owl employs
as her bdf pretence to wifdom. Unlefs the ftyle be thus
judicioufty varied, it will be impoffible to preferve a juft
diftindion of charader.
Defcriptions, at once concife and pertinent, add a
grace to fable } but are then moft happy when inclu¬
ded in the adion : whereof the fable of Boreas and the
Sun affords us an example. An epithet well chofen is
often a defeription in itfelf • and fo much the more agree¬
able, as it the lefs retards us in our purfoit of the cata-
ftrophe.
Laftly, little ftrokes of humour when arifing natu¬
rally from the fubjed, and incidental refledions when
kept in due fubordination to the principal, add a value
to thefe cornpofitions. Thefe latter, however, ftiould
be employed very fparingly, and with great addrefs •,
be very few, and very fhort : it is fcarceiy enough that
they naturally fpring out of the fubjed 5 they fhould
be fuch as to appear neceffary and effential parts of the
fable. And when thefe embellifhments, pleafing in
fhemfelves, tend to illuftrate the main adion, they
then afford that namelefs grace remarkable in Fontaine
and feme few others, and which perfons of the heft
difeernment will more eafdy conceive than they can ex¬
plain.
Sect. X. Of Satire.
163 This Lind of poem is of very ancient date, and (if
Origin of we believe Horace j was introduced, by way of inter-
fatire. ^ ^ Greek dramatic poets in their tragedies,
to relieve the audience, and take off the force of thofe
ftrokes which they thought too deep and affecting. In
thefe fatirical interludes, the feene was laid in the coun¬
try ; and the perfons were rural deities, fatyrs, country
peafants, and other ruftics.
The firft Tragedians found thfet ferious ftyle
Too grave for their uncultivated age,
And fo brought wild and naked fatyrs in
(Whofe motion, words, and fhape, were all a farce)
As oft as decency would give them leave j
Beoaufe the mad, ungovernable rout,
Full of confufion and the fumes of wine,
Lov’d fuch variety and antic tricks.
* RascoMMQtsr's Horace.
T R Y. Fait II.
The fatire we now have is generally allowed to be of Of Satire.
Roman invention. It was firft introduced without the
decorations of feenes and action j but written in verfes of
different ineafures by Ennius, and afterwards moulded
into the form we now have it by Lucilius, whom Ho¬
race has imitated, and mentions with elteem. This is
the opinion of moft of the critics, and particularly of
Boileau, who fays,
Lucilius led the way, and bravely bold,
To Roman vices did the mirror hold ;
Protected humble goodnefs from reproach,
Show’d worth on foot, and rafeals in a coach.
Horace his pleafing wit to this did add,
'I. hat none, uncenfur’d might be fools or mad :
And Juvenal, with rhetorician’s rage,
Scourg’d the rank vices of a wicked age j
Tho’ horrid truths thro’ all his labours fbine.
In what he writes there’s fomething of divine.
Our fatire, therefore, may be diftinguiftied into twe
kinds ; the jocofe, or that which makes iport with vice
and folly, and fels them up to ridicule 5 and the ferious ^
or that which deals in afperity, and is fevere and acri¬
monious. Horace is a perfeCl mafter of the firft, and
Juvenal much admired for the laft. The one is face¬
tious, and fmiles : the other is angry, and ftorms. The
foibles of mankind are the obje£f of one } but crimes
of a deeper dye have engaged the other. They both
agree, however, in being pungent and biting : and from
a due confideration of the writings of thefe authors, who
are our mailers in this art, we may define fatire to be, iKp
A free, (and often jocofe), witty, and fharp poem, Defimdo**
wherein the follies and vices of men are lafhed and ridi-
culed in order to their reformation. Its fubjeft is
whatever deferves our contempt or abhorrence, (includ¬
ing every thing that is ridiculous and ablurd, or foanda-
lous and repugnant to the golden precepts of religion
and virtue). Its manner is invective; and its end,
Jhame. So that fatire may be looked upon as the phy-
fician of a diftempered mind, which it endeavours to cure
by bitter and unfavoury, or by pleafant and falutary, ap¬
plications.
A good fatirift ought to be a man of wit and ad- Qualities
drefs, fagacity and eloquence. He fhould alio have aofagood
great deal of good-nature, as all the fentiments which
are beautiful in this way of writing mull proceed from
that quality in the author. It is good-nature produces
that difdain of all bafenefs, vice, and folly, which prompts
the poet to exprefs himfelf with fuch fmartnefs againft
the errors of men, but without bitternefs to their per¬
fons. It is this quality that keeps the mind even, and
never lets an offence unfeafonably throw the fatirift out
of his chara&er.
In writing fatire, care fhould be taken that it be true
and general; that is, levelled at abufes in which num¬
bers are concerned : for the perfonal kind of fatire, or
lampoon, which expofes particular charaHers, and af¬
fects the reputation of thofe at whom it is pointed, is
fcarceiy to be diftinguifhed from fcandal and defamation.
The poet alfo, whilft he is endeavouring to correct the
guilty, muft take care not to ufe fuch expreflions as
may corrupt the innocent : he muft therefore avoid all
obfeene words and images that tend to debafe and mif-
lead the mind. Horace and Juvenal, the chief fatirifts
among
Part II.
POE
iC6
Proper
ftyle of
fdUre-
Of Satire, among the Romans, are faulty in this refpeft, and ought
to be read vyith caution.
The ftyle proper for fatire is fometimes grave and
animated, inveighing againft vice with warmth and ear-
neftnefs; but that which is pleafant, fportive, and, with
becoming raillery, banters men out of their bad difpofi-
tions, has generally the belt eftedft, as it feems only to
play with their follies, though it omits no opportunity
of making them feel the lath. The verfes fhould be
fmooth and flowing, and the language manly, juft, and
decent.
Of well-chofe words fome take not care enough,
And think they ftiould be as the fubjeft rough :
But fatire muft be more exaftly made,
And fliarpeft thoughts in fmootheil words convey’d.
Duke of Bucks’s EJfcnj.
Satires, either of the jocofe or ferious kind, may be
written in the epiftolary manner, or by way of dialogue.
Horace, Juvenal, and Perfius, have given us examples
of both. Nay, ibme of Horace’s fatires may, without
incongruity, be called epiflles, and his epiitles fatires.
But this is obvious to every reader.
Of the facetious kind, the fecond fatire of the fe-
cond book of Horace imitated by Mr Pope, and Swift’s
verfes on his own death, may be referred to as ex¬
amples.
As to thofe {atires of the ferious kind, for which Ju¬
venal is fo much diftinguifhed, the charaifteriftic proper¬
ties of which are, morality, dignity, and feverity } a bet¬
ter example cannot be mentioned than the poem enti¬
tled London, written in imitation of the third fatire of Ju-
\'enal, by Dr Johnfon, who has kept up to the fpirit and
force of the original.
Nor muft we omit to mention Dr Young’s Love of
Fame the XJniverfal PaJJton, in feven fatires; which,
though charafleriftical, abound with morality and good
fenfe. The chara&ers are. well felefted, the ridicule
is high, and the fatire well pointed and to the pur-
pofe.
We have already obferved, that perfonal fatire ap¬
proaches too near defamation, to deferve any counte¬
nance or encouragement. Dryden’s Mack Flecknoe is
for this reafon exceptionable, but as a compofttion it is
inimitable.
Benefits of V/c have dwelt thus long on the prefent fubjeft, be-
<wled°fa cau^e there is reafon to apprehend, that the benefits ari-
tire. fing from well-condufted fatire have not been fufficient-
ly confidered. A fatire may often do more fervice to
the caufe of religion and virtue than a fermon ; fince it
gives pleafiare, at the fame time that it creates fear or
indignation, and conveys.its fentiments in a manner the
moft likely to captivate the mind.
Of all the ways that wifeft men could find
To mend the age and mortify mankind,
Satire well writ has moft fuccefsful prov’d,
And cures, becaufe the remedy is lov’d.
Duke of Bucks’s Fjfay.
But to produce the defired effedft, it muft be jocofe,
Free, and impartial, though fevere. The fatirift ftiould
always preferve good-humour •, and, however keen he
cuts, Ihould cut with kindnefs. When he lofes temper,
his weapons will be inverted, and the ridicule he threw
at. others will retort with contempt upon himfelf: for
T U Y. 35
the reader will perceive that he is angry and hurt, and Of Satire,
contider his fatire as the eflefl of malice, not of judge-
ment) and that it is intended rather to wound perfons
than reform manners.
Rage you muft hide, and prejudice lay down :
A fatyr’s fmile is ftiarper than his frown.
The beft, and indeed the only, method to expofe vice
and folly efteftually, is to turn them to ridicule, and
hold them up for public contempt 5 and as it moft of¬
fends thefe objefts of fatire, fo it leaft hurts ourfelves.
One paflion frequently drives out another •, and as we
cannot look with indifference on the bad aftions of men
(for they muft excite either our wrath or contempt), it
is prudent to give way to that which moft offeirds vice
and folly, and leaft affefts ourfelves ; and to fneer and
laugh, rather than be angry and fcold. kJs
Burlefque poetry, which is chiefly ufed by way of Burlefque
drollery and ridicule, falls properly to be fpoken of poetry
under the head of fatire. An excellent example of Wc
this kind is a poem in blank verfe, intitled The Splendid HUCiibras.
Shilling, written by Mr John Philips, which, in the opi¬
nion of one of the beft judges of the age, is the fineft
burlefque in the Englifh language. In this poem the
author has handled a low fubjeft in the lofty ftyle and
numbers of Milton } in which way of writing Mr Phi¬
lips has been imitated by feveral, but none have come
up to the humour and happy turn of the original. When
we read it, we are betrayed into a pleafure that we could
not expeft ; though, at the fame time, the lublimity of
the ftyle, and gravity of the phrafe, feem to chaltile that
laughter which they provoke.
There is another fort of verfe and ftyle, which is moft
frequently made ufe of in treating any fubjeef in a lu¬
dicrous manner, viz. that which is generally called Hu~
dibrajiic, from Butler’s admirable poem intitled ILudi-
bras. Almoft every one knows, that this poem is a fa¬
tire upon the authors of our civil diffenfions in the reign
of King Charles I. wherein the poet has, with abundance
of wit and humour, expofed and ridiculed the hypocrify
or blind zeal of thofe unhappy times. In ftiort, it is a
kind of burlefque epic poem, which, for the oddity of
the rhymes, the quaintnefs of the fimilies, the novelty of
the thoughts, and that fine raillery which runs through
the whole performance, is not to be paralleled.
Sect. XI. Of the Epigram.
The epigram is a little poem, or compaction in verfe, c^racler
treating of one thing only, and vohofe dijlmgidjhing cha- 0f the epi-
ratders are, brevity, beauty, and point. gram.
The word epigram fignifies “ infeription for epi¬
grams derive their origin from thofe inferiptions placed
by the ancients on their ftatues, temples, pillars, triumphal
arches, and the like 5 which, at firft, were very ftiort, be¬
ing fometimes no more than a fingle word 5 but after¬
wards, increafing their length, they made them in verfe,
to be the better retained by the memory. This ftiort
way ot writing came at laft to be ufed upon any occa-
fion or fubject; and hence the name of epigram has been
given to any little copy of verfes, without regard to the
original application of fuch poems.
Its ufual limits are from two to 20 verfes, though
fometimes it extends to 50 \ but the fhorter, the better
it is, and the more perfeft, as it partakes more of the
E 2 nature’
170
Of what
fnojedls it
admits.
171
Examples
of Englifh
epigrams
remarkable
for their
delicacy,
and
POE
nature and chara&er of this kind of poem : befides,
the epigram, being only a fingle thought, ought to be
expreffed in a little compafs, or elfe it lofes its force and
ilrength.
The beauty required in an epigram is an harmony
and apt agreement of all its parts, a fweet fimplicity
and polite language.
The point is a (harp, lively, unexpected turn of wit,
with which an epigram ought to be concluded. There
are fome critics, indeed, who wall not admit the point
in an epigram 5 but require that the thought be equally
diffufed through the whole poem, which is ufually the
practice of Catullus, as the former is that of Martial.
It is allowed there is more delicacy in the manner of
Catullus •, but the point is more agreeable to the gene¬
ral tafte, and feems to be the chief chara&eriftic of the
epigram.
This fort of poem admits ol all manner of fubjeCls,
provided that brevity, beauty, and point, are prefer-
ved 3 but it is generally employed either in praife or
fatire.
Though the befl epigrams are faid to be fuch as are
compnfed in tw?o or four verfes, we are not to underftand
it as if none can be perfeft which exceed thofe limits.
Neither the ancients nor moderns have been fo fcrupu-
lous vcith refpect to the length of their epigrams; but,
howrever, brevity in general is always to be ftudled in
tbefe compofitions
For examples of good epigrams in the Englhli lan¬
guage, we fhall make choice of feveral in the different
taftes we have mentioned fome remarkable for their de¬
licate turn and fimplicity of expreffion 5 and others for
their fait and fharpnefs, their equivocating pun, or plea-
fant allulion. In the firfl place, take that of Mr Pope,
faid to be witten on a glafs with the earl of Chefter-
fieid’s diamond-pencil.
Accept a miracle, inftead of wit *,
See two dull lines by Stanhope’s pencil writ.
The beauty of this epigram is more eafily feen than
defcribed 5 and it is difficult to determine, whether it
does more honour to the poet who wrote it, or to the
nobleman for wTorn the compliment is defigned.—The
following epigram of Mr Prior is written in the fame
tafte, being a fine encomium on the performance of an
excellent painter.
On a Flower, painted bij Varelst.
When fam’d Varelft this little wTonder drew,
Flora vouchfaf’d the growing work to view}
Finding the painter’s fcience at a ftand,
The goddefs fnatch’d the pencil from his hand,
And, finifliing the piece, ftie fmiling faid,
Behold one work of mine which ne'er jhall fade.
Another compliment of this delicate kind he has made
Mr Howard in the following epigram.
Venus Mi/idken.
When Chloe’s pifture was to Venus ftiowm }
Surpris’d, the goddefs took it for her own.
And what, faid fhe, does this bold painter mean ?
When was I bathing thus, and naked feen ?
Pleas’d Cupid heard, and check’d his mother’s pride :
And who’s blind now, mamma ? the urchin cry’d.
T R Y. Part 11.
’Tis Chloe’s eye, and cheek, and lip, and breaft : Epigram.
Friend Howard’s genius fancy’d all the reft. '—
Moft of Mr Prior’s epigrams are of this delicate caft,
and have the thought, like thofe of Catullus, diffuied
through the ivhole. Of this kind is his addrels
■l 0 Chloe Weeping.
See, wdulft thou weep’ft, fair Chloe, fee
The world in fympathy with thee.
I he cheerful birds no longer fing,
Each drops his head, and hangs his wing.
The clouds have bent their bofom lowrer,
And ftied their forrow in a (bower.
The brooks beyond their limits flow,
And louder murmurs fpeak their wo :
1 he nymphs and (wains adopt thy cares}
They heave thy fighs, and weep thy tears.
Fantaftic nymph ! that grief fliould move
Thy heart obdurate again ft love.
Strange tears ! whofe pow’r can foften all
Eut that dear breaft on which they fall.
The epigram written on the leaves of a fan by Dr
Atterbury, late bifhop of Rochefter, contains a pretty
thought, expreffed with eafe and concifenefs, and clofed
in a beautiful manner.
On a Fan.
Fla via the leaft and flighted toy
Can with refiftlefs art employ,
i his fan in meaner hands would prove
An engine of fmall force in love :
Yet (lie, with graceful air and mien,
Not to be told or fafely feen,
Direfls its wanton motion fo,
That it wounds more than Cupid’s bow,
Gives coolnefs to the matchlefs dame,
To ev’ry other breaft a flame.
We (hall now7 felecft fome epigrams of the biting andt-or
fatirical kind, and fuch as turn upon the pun or equi- pjint.6
voque, as the French call it : in wTich fort the point
is more confpicuous than in thofe of the former cha-
rafter.
_ The following diftich is an admirable epigram, ha¬
ving all the neceffary qualities of one, efpecially point
and brevity.
On a Company of bad Dancers to good Mufic.
How ill the motion with the mufic fuits !
So Orpheus fiddled, and fo danc’d the brutes.
This brings to mind another epigram upon a bad
fiddler, which w7e (hall venture to infert merely for
the humour of it, and not for any real excellence it
contains.
To a ^//Fiddler.
Old Orpheus play’d fo wTell, he mov’d Old Nick }
But thou mov’d nothing but thy fiddle flick.
One of Martial’s epigrams, where he agreeably rallies
the foolifh vanity of a man who hired people to make
verfes for him, and publifhed them as his own, has been
thus tranflated into Englifh.
Paul, fo fond of the name of a poet is growm,
With gold he buys verfes, and calls them his own.
Go
Part II.
Epigram.
POE
Go on, mafter Paul, nor mind what the world fays,
They are farely his own for which a man pays.
Some bad writer having taken the liberty to cenfure
Mr Prior, the poet very wittily laihed his impertinence
in this epigram:
While fader than his coftive brain indites
Philo’s quick hand in bowing letters writes,
His cafe appears to me like honeft Teague’s
When he was run away with by his legs.
Phoebus, give Philo o’er himfelf command j
Quicken his fenfes, or reftrain his hand :
Let him be kept from paper, pen, and ink 5
So he may ceafe to write, and learn to think.
Mr Wefley has given us a pretty epigram, alluding
to a well-known text of Scripture on the fetting up a
monument in Weftminfter Abbey, to the memory of the
ingenious Mr Butler, author of Hudibras.
While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive,
No generous patron would a dinner give.
See him when ftarv’d to death, and turn’d to dud,
Prefented with a monumental buft !
The poet’s fate is here in emblem drown ;
He alked for Bread, and he receiv’d a Stone.
We ilrall clofe this fection with an epigram written
on the well-known dory of Apollo and Daphne, by Mr
Smart.
When Phoebus was am’rous and long’d to be rude,
Mifs Daphne cry’d Piflr! and ran fwift to the wood ;
And rather than do fuch a naughty affair,
She became a fine laurel to deck the god’s hair.
The nymph was, no doubt, of a cold conilitution j
For fure, to turn tree was an odd refolution !
Yet in this fhe behav’d like a true modern fpoufe,
For fire fled from his arms to diilinguiflr his brows.
Sect. XII. Of the Epitaph.
173 „ These compofitions generally contain fome eulogium
©f'thee'ri ^ virLues and g00^ qualities of the deceafed, and
uah!6 ein* have a turn of ferioufnefs and gravity adapted to the
nature of the fubjefl. Their elegance confifts in a
nervous and expreflive brevity ) and fometimes they are
clofed with an epigrammatic point. In thefe compofi¬
tions, no mere epithet (properly fo called) fhould be
admitted ; for here illuftration would impair the
flrength, and render the fentiment too diffufe and
languid. Words that are fynonymous are alfo to be
rejefted.
Though the true charafleriilic of the epitaph is fe¬
rioufnefs and gravity, yet we may find many that are
jocofe and ludicrous : fome likewife have true metre
and rhyme ; while others are between profe and verfe,
without any certain meafure, though the words arc truly
poetical; and the beauty of this lafi: fort is generally
heightened by an apt and judicious anlithefis. We
shall give examples of each.
The following epitaph on Sir Philip Sydney’s filler,
the countefs of Pembroke, faid to be written by the fa¬
mous Ben Jonfon, is remarkable for the noble thought
with which it concludes^
T R Y.
On MART Countcfs-dowager of PEMBROKE.
Underneath this marble hearfe,
Lies the fubjedt of all verfe,
Sidney’s filler, Pembroke’s mother :
Death, ere thou hall kill’d another
Fair, and learn’d, and good as Hie,
Time lhall throw a dart at thee.
Take another epitaph of Ben Jonfon’s, on a beauti¬
ful and virtuous lady, -which has been defervedly admir¬
ed by very good judges.
Underneath this flone doth lie
As much virtue as could die 5
Which when alive did vigour give
To as much beauty as could live.
The following epitaph by Dr Samuel Johnfon, on a
mufician much celebrated for his performance, wall bear
a comparifon with thefe, or perhaps with any thing of
the kind in the Englifh language.
Philips ! whofe touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty powY and haplefs love,
Belt here, dhlrelt by poverty no more;
Find here that calm thou gav’ll fo oft before ;
Sleep undiilurb’d wfithin this peaceful Ihrine,
Till angels wake thee with a note like thine.
It is the juft obfervation of an eminent critic, that
the beft fubjeft for epitaphs is private virtue 5 virtue
exerted in the fame circumftances in wdrich the bulk of
mankind are placed, and which, therefore, may admit
of many imitators. He that has delivered his country
from oppreflion, or freed the world from ignorance and
error, befides that he Hands in no need of monumental
panegyric, can excite the emulation of a very final!
number. The bare name of fuch men anfw7ers every
purpofe of along infcription, becaufe their atchievements
are univerfally known, and their fame is immortal.—
But the virtues of him wTho has repelled the tempta¬
tions of poverty, and difdained to free himfelf from di-
ftrefs at the expence of his honour or his confcience, as
they wrere praftifed in private, are fit to be told, becaufe
they may animate multitudes to the fame firmnefs of
heart and fteadinefs of refolution. On this account,
there are few epitaphs of more value than the followang,
which was written by Pope on Mrs Corbet, wrho diecf
of a cancer in her breaft.
Here refts a woman, good without pretence,
Bleft with plain reafon, and with fober fenfe j, r
No conqueft Ihe, but o’er herfelf dcfir’d ;
No arts elfay’d, but not to be admir’d,
Paffion and pride were to her foul unknown,.
Convinc’d that virtue only is our own.
So unaffe£ted, fo compos’d a mind,
So firm, yet foft, lo ftrong, yet lo refin’d,
Heav’n, as its pureft gold, by tortures try’d j
The faint fuftain’d it, but the woman dy’d.
This epitaph, as well as the fecond quoted from Ben
Jonfon, has indeed one fault} the name is omitted.
The end ol an epitaph is lo convey fome account of the
dead 5 and to what purpofe is any thing told of liiiix
whofe.
,I74
Epitaphs
in verfe,
with re¬
marks up¬
on them.
33
Epitaph
Nobles and heralds, by your leave,
Here lie the bones of Matthew Prior,
The fon of Adam and of Eve :
Let Bourbon or Naffau go higher.
The following epitaph on a mifer contains a good
caution and an agreeable raillery.
Reader, beware immod’rate love of pelf:
Here lies the word of thieves, who robb’d himfelf.
But Dr Swift’s epitaph on the fame fubjeft is a ma-
ilerpiece of the kind.
Beneath this verdant hillock lies
Demer, the wealthy and the wife.
His heirs, that he might fafely reft,
Have put his carcafe in a cheft :
The very cheft, in which, they fay,
His other Self, his money, lay.
And if his heirs continue kind
To that dear felf he left behind,
I dare believe that four in five
Will think his better half alive.
POE
wftiofe name is concealed ? The name, it is true, may be
infcribed by itfelf upon the ftone •, but fuch a Ihift of
the poet is like that of an unlkilful painter, who is obli¬
ged to make his purpofe known by adventitious help.
Amongft the epitaphs of a punning and ludicrous
caft, we know of none prettier than that which is faid
to have been written by Mr Prior on himfelf, wherein
he is pleafantly fatirical upon the folly of thofe who
value themfelves upon account of the long feries of ance-
fiors through which they can trace their pedigree.
We lhall give but one example more of this kind,
\vhich is a merry epitaph on an old fiddler, who was
Remarkable (we may fuppofe) for beating time to his
■own mufic.
On Stephen the Fiddler.
Stephen and time are now both even j
Stephen beat time, now time’s beat Stephen.
Epitaphs We are come now to that fort of epitaph which re-
cncomiaftic je^s rhyme, and has no certain and determinate mea-
4iDi(j fure} but where the didlion muft be pure and ftrong,
every word have weight, and the antithefis be prefer-
ved in a clear and dire£t oppofition. We cannot give
a better example of this fort ef epitaph than that on
the tomb of Mr Pulteney in the cloifters of Weftmin-
fler-abbey.
Reader,
If thou art a Briton,
Behold this Tomb with Reverence and Regret:
Here lie the Remains of
Daniel Pulteney,
The kindeft Relation, the trueft Friend,
The warmeft Patriot, the worthieft Man.
He exercifed Virtues in this Age,
Sufficient to have diftinguilh’d him even in the beft.
Sagacious by Nature,
Induftrious by Habit,
Inquifitive with Art;
He gain’d a complete Knowledge of the State of Britain,
Foreign and domeftic j
2
T R Y. Part II.
In moft the backward Fruit of tedious Experience, Epitaph.
In him the early acquifition of undillipated Youth..
He ferv’d the Court feveral Years :
Abroad, in the aufpicious Reign of Queen Anne
At home, in the Reign of that excellent prince K.George I.
He ferved his Country always,
At Court independent,
In the Senate unbiafs’d,
At every Age, and in every Station :
This was the bent of his generous Soul,
This the bufinefs of his laborious Life.
Public Men, and Public Things,
He judged by one conftant Standard.
The True Interejl of Britain :
He made no other Diftinclion of Party,
He abhorred all other.
Gentle, humane, difinterefted, beneficent,
He created no Enemies on his own Account:
Firm, determin’d, inflexible,
He feared none he could create in the Caufe of Britain.
Reader,
In this Misfortune of thy Country lament thy own :
For know,
The Lofs of fo much private Virtue
Is a public calamity.
• THIS
That poignant fatire, as well as extravagant praife,satincal.
may be conveyed in this manner, will be lefen by the
following epitaph written by Dr Arbuthnot on Francis
Chartres j which is too well known, and too much ad¬
mired, to need our commendation.
Here conlinueth to rot
The Body of FRANCIS CHARTRES,
Who with an INFLEXIBLE CONSTANCY,
And INIMITABLE UNIFORMITY of Life,
Persisted,
In fpite of Age and INFIRMITIES,
In the Praftice of every Human Vice,
Excepting Prodigality and Hypocrisy :
His infatiable Avarice exempted him from the firft,
His matchlefs Impudence from the fecond.
Nor was he more Angular
In the undeviating Pravity of his Manners,
Than fuccefiful
In Accumulating Wealth :
For, without Trade or Profession,
Without Trust of Public Money,
And without Bribe-worthy Service,
Pie acquired, or more properly created,
A Ministerial Estate.
He was the only Perfon of his Time
Who could cheat without the Mafk of Honesty j .
Retain his Primaeval Meanness
When pofleffed of Ten Thousand a-year ;
And having daily deferved the Gibbet for what he did,
Was at laft condemn’d to it for what he could r ot do.
Oh indignant reader !
Think not his Life ufelefs to Mankind \
PROVIDENCE conniv’d at his execrable defigns,
To give to After-ages
A confpicuous Proof and Example
Of how fmall Eftimation is Exorbitant W7ealth
In the Sight of GOD,
By His bellowing it on the moft UNWORTHY of ALL
Mortals.
We
Part II. POET
Epitaph. We fiiall conclude this fpecies of poetry with a droll
‘““■'v—“ and fatirical epitaph written by Mr Pope, which we
tranfcribed from a monument in Lord Cobham’s gardens
at Stow in Buckinghamfhire.
To the Memory
SlGNIOR FIDO,
An Italian of good extraftion 5
Who came into England,
Not to bite us, like moft of his Countrymen,
But to gain an honcft Livelihood.
He hunted not after Fame,
Yet acquir’d it;
Regardlefs of the Praife of his Friend s,
But moft fenfible of their Love,
Though he liv’d amongft the Great,
Fie neither learnt nor flatter’d any Vice.
He was no Bigot,
Though he doubted of none of the 39 Articles,
Part III.
R Y.
And, if to follow Nature,
And to refpe£l' the laws of Society,
Be Philofophy,
He was a perfedt Philofopher,
A faithful Friend,
An agreeable Companion,
A loving Hulhand
Diftinguiftr’d by a numerous offspring,
All which he liv’d to fee take good Courfes.
In his old Age he retired
To the houfe of a Clergyman in the country,
Where he finithed his earthly Race,
And died an Honour and an Example to the whole Species.
Pieader,
This Stone is guiltlefs of Flattery j
For he to whom it is infcrib’d
Was not a Man,
But a
G RE-HOUND.
On VERSIFICATION.
3-9
Epitaph.
ON this fubjedt it is meant to confine our inquiry to
Latin or Greek hexameters, and to French and Eng-
lilh heroic verfe \ as the obfervations we fhall have oc-
caflon to make, may, with proper variations, be eafily
transferred to the cornpofition of other forts of verfe.
EfTeiJtials Before entering upon particulars, it muft be premifed
cf verfe. in general, that to verfe of every kind five things are of
importance, ift, The number of fyllables that compofe
a line. 2d, The different lengths of fyllables, i. e. the
difference of time taken in pronouncing. 3d, The
arrangement of thefe fyllables combined in words.
4th, The paufes or flops in pronouncing. 5th, Pro¬
nouncing lyllables in a high or a low tone. The three
firft mentioned are obvioufly effential to verfe : if any
of them be wanting, there cannot be that higher degree
of melody which diftinguifheth verfe from profe. To
give a juft notion of the fourth, it muft be obferved,
x-3 that paufes are neceflary for three different purpofes:
Regulation one, to feparate periods, and members of the fame period,
of paaks. according to the fenfe : another, to improve the melody
of verfe : and the laft, to afford opportunity for drawing
breath in reading. A paufe of the firft kind is variable,
being long or fhort, frequent or lefs frequent, as the
lenfe requires, A paufe of the fecond kind, being de¬
termined by the melody, is in no degree arbitrary. The
laft fort is in a meafure arbitrary, depending on the
reader’s command of breath. But as one cannot read
with grace, unlefs, for drawing breath, opportunity be
taken of a paufe in the lenfe or in the melody, this paufe
ought never to Ire diftinguilhed from the others; and
for that reafon fnall be laid afide. With refpe61 then to
the paufes of fenfe and of melody, it may be affirmed
without hefitation, that their coincidence in verfe is a
capital beauty : but as it cannot be expefted, in a long
work efpecially, that every line fhould be fo perfect 5 we
fhall afterward have occafion to fee, that, unlefs the
reader he uncommonly fkilful, the paufe neceffary for the
fenfe muft often, in fome degree, be facrificed to the
verfe-paufe, and the latter fometimes to the former.
The pronouncing fyllables in a high or low' tone con¬
tributes alfo to melody. In reading, whether verfe or
profe, a certain tone is affumed, which may be called the
key-note; and in that tone the bulk of the words are
founded. Sometimes to humour the fenfe, and fome¬
times the melody, a particular fyllable is founded in a
higher tone, and this is termed accenting a fyllable, or
gracing it with an accent. Oppofed to the accent is the
cadence, which, however, being entirely regulated by
the fenfe, hath no peculiar relation to verfe. The ca¬
dence is a falling ef the voice below the key-note at the
clofe of every period j and fo little is it effential to verfe,
that in corredt reading the final fyllable of every line is
accented, that fyllable only excepted which clofes the
period, wdrere the fenfe requires a cadence.
Though the five requifites above mentioned enter the
conipofition of every fpecies of verfe, they are however
governed by different rules, peculiar to each fpecies.
Upon quantity only, one general obfervation may be Quantity,
premifed, becaufe it is applicable to every fpecies of verfe.
That fyllables, with refpedl to the time taken in. pro¬
nouncing, are long or fhort •, two fhort fyllables, with
refpedl to time, being precifely equal to a long one.
Thefe two lengths are effential to verle of all kinds ;
and to no verfe, it is believed, is a greater variety of time
neceffary in pronouncing fyllables. The voice indeed is
frequently made to reft longer than uiual upon a word
that bears an important fignification 5 but this is done to
humour the fenfe, and is not neceffary for melody. A
thing not more neceffary for melody occurs with refpedt
to accenting, fimilar to that now mentioned : A word
lignifying any thing humble, low, or dtjedled, is natu¬
rally, in profe as well as in verie, pronounced in a tone
belowr the key-note.
We are nov/ fufficiently prepared for particulars ; be¬
ginning with Latin or Greek hexameter, which are the
fame. The obfei vations upon this fpecies of verfe will
come under the four foliowring heads •, number, arrange¬
ment, paufe, and accent; for as to quantity, what is
obferved above may fuffice.
I. HEXAMETER
40 POE
Verfifica- J. HEXAMETER Likes, as to time, are all of
, the fame length •, being equivalent to the time taken in
^ pronouncing twelve long fyRabies or twenty-four fhort.
Hexameter '<^n hexameter line may confitt of feventeen fyllables 5
verfes of an^ when regular and not fpondaic it never has fewer
the Greeks than thirteen j whence it follows, that where the fyl-
and Ro- lables are many, the plurality muft be tliort 5 where few,
hit of what t^!e Plurality mult be long.
feet. This line is fufceptible of much variety as to the fuc-
ceffion of long and fhort fyllables. It is, however, fub-
jefted to laws that confine its variety within certain
limits : and for afcertaining thefe limits, grammarians
have invented a rule by daftyles and fpondees, which
they denominate feet.
Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, thefe feet
regulated the pronunciation, which they are far from
doing among us; of which the reafon will be difcovered
from the explanation that we (hall give of the Englifh
accent. We thall at prefent content ourfelves with
pointing out the difference between our pronunciation
and that of the Romans in the firft line of Virgil’s
eclogues, where it is fcarcely credible how much we
pervert the quantity.
Tit'yre tu pat'ulae rec'ubans fub teg'mine fagi.
it will be acknowledged by every reader who has an ear,
that we have placed the accentual marks upon every
fyliable, and the letter of every fyllable, that an Eng-
liihman marks with the itlus of his voice when he recites
the line. But, as will be feen prefently, a fyllable
which is pronounced with the ftrefs of the voice upon
a confonant is uttered in the fhorteft time poflible.
Hence it follows, that in this verfe, as recited by us,
there are but two long fyllables, n't and fa; though it
is certain, that, as recited by a Roman, it contained no
fewer than eight long fyllables.
Tltyre [ til patujlae recujbans fub | tegimne | fagT.
But though to pronounce it in this manner with the
voice dwelling on the vowel of each long fyllable would
undoubtedly be correft, and preferve the true movement
of the verfe, yet to an Englifh ear, prejudiced in behalf
of a different movement, it founds fo very uncouth, that
Lord Karnes has pronounced the true feet of the Greek
and Roman verfes extremely artificial and complex j
and has fubflituted in their Read the following rules,
which he thinks more fimple and of more eafy ap¬
plication. 1 ft, The line muft alwrays commence with a
long fyllable, and clofe with two long preceded by two
fhort. 2d, More than two ihort can never be found
together, nor fewer than two. And, 3d, Two long
fyllables which have been preceded by two fhort cannot
alfo be followed by two fhort. Thefe few rules fulfil
all the conditions of a hexameter line with relation to
order or arrangement. For thefe again a fingle rule
may be fubftituted, which has alfo the advantage of re-
Tuem of Su^at*n8 more affirmatively the conftruclion of every
Criticifm, . 0 Pu*- this rule into words with perfpicuity, a
chap, xviii. taken from the twelve long fyllables that com-
fedt. 4. pofe an hexameter line, to divide it into twelve equal parts
or portions, being each of them one long fyllable or two
fhort. The rule then is : “ The ift, 3d, 5th, 7th, 9th,
xith, and 12th portions, muft each of them be one
long fyllable 5 the 1 oth muft always be two fhort fvl-
lables ^ the 2<3, ^.th, 6th, and 8th, may either be one
T Pi Y. Part III.
long or trvo ftiort.” Or to exprefs the thing ftill more Verfifka-
fhortly, “ The 2d, 4th, 6th, and 8th portions may be ^fin-
one long fyllable or tivo (hort; the 10th muft be two ^ 'r~mJ
fhort fyllables •, all the reft muft confift each of one long
fyllable.” This fulfils all the conditions of an hexame¬
ter line, and comprehends all the combinations of datlyles
and fpondees that this line admits. lSr
Next in order comes the paufe. At the end of every Paufes in
hexameter line, every one muft be fenfible of a complete hexameter
clofe or full paufe j the caufe of which follows. The conh<fered
two long fyllables preceded by two fhort, which always
clofe an hexameter line, are a fine preparation for arai0dy atKi
paufe : for long fyllables, or fyllables pronounced flow,
refembling a flow and languid motion tending to reft,
naturally incline the mind to reft, or, which is the fame,
to paufe j and to this inclination the two preceding fhort
fyllables contribute, ivhich, by contrail, make the flow
pronunciation of the final fyllables the more confpicuous.
Befide this complete clofe or full paufe at the end, others
are alfo requifite for the fake of melody ; of which two
are clearly difcoverable, and perhaps there may be more.
1 he longeft and moft remarkable fucceeds the 5th por¬
tion : the other, which, being fhorter and more faint,
may be called the femipaufe, fucceeds the 8th portion.
So linking is the paufe firft mentioned, as to be diftin-
guilhed even by the rudeft ear : the monkilh rhymes
are evidently built upon it ; in which, by an invariable
rule, the final word always chimes -with that which im¬
mediately precedes the paufe :
De planftu cudo |[ metram cum carmine nudo
Mingere cum bumbis || res eft faluberrima lumbis.
The difference of time in the paufe and femipaufe oc-
cafions another difference not lefs remarkable ; that it
is lawful to divide a word by a femipaufe, but never by
a paufe, the bad effeft of which is fenfibly felt in the
following examples :
Effufus labor, at||que inmitis rupta Tyranni
Again :
Obfervans nido im||plumes detraxit j at ilia
Again :
Loricam quam De||moleo detraxerat ipfe
The dividing a word by a femipaufe has not the fame
bad effeft:
Jamque pedem referens j| cafus ejvaferat omnes.
Again :
Qualis populea jj moerens Philojmela fub umbra
Again :
Ludere quae vellem j| calamo perjmifit agrefti.
Lines, however, where words are left entire, without
being divided even by a femipaufe, run by that means
much the more fweetly.
Nec gemere aerea || ceffabit | turtur ab ulmo.
Again :
Quadrupedante putrem || fonitu quatit j ungula campum.
Again :
Eurydicen toto j| referebant [ fiumine ripse.
The reafon of thefe obfervations will be evident upon
the llighteft refledtjon. Between things fo intimately
conned! qd
Part TIL POE
Verfiiica- corme^ed In reading aloud as are fenfe and found, every
ti°p. degree of difcord is unpleafant: and for that reafon it
'.mn-~v - ^ ma^er 0f importance to make the mufical paufes
coincide as much as poffible with thofe of fenfe ; which
is requifite more efpecially with refpeft to the paufe, a
deviation from the rule being lefs remarkable in a femi-
paufe. Confidering the matter as to melody folely, it
is indifferent whether the paufes be at the end of words
or in the middle •, but when we carry the fenfe along,
it is difagreeable to find a word fplit into two by a paufe,
as if there were really two words: and though the dif-
agreeablenefs here be connefted with the fenfe only, it
is by an eafy traniition of perceptions transferred to the
found by which means wre conceive a line to be harth
and grating to the ear, wdren in reality it is only fo to
the underftanding.
To the rule that fixes the paufe after the 5th portion
there is one exception and no more. If the fyllable
fucceeding the 5th portion be fhort, the paufe is forne-
times pottponed to it:
Pupillis quos dura j| premit cultodia xnatrum
Again :
In terras oppreffa |] gravi fub religione
Again :
Et quorum pars magna || fui 3 quis talia fando
T R Y« 41
occafion infupefabfe difficulties. Willing to facrifice to Verfiiica-
the melody of verfe fome flrare of the concordance be- tlon'
tween thought and expreflion, we freely excufe the fe-
paration of the mufical paufe from that of the fenfe dur¬
ing the courfe of a line 3 but the clofe of an hexameter
line is too confpicuous to admit this liberty : for which
reafon there ought always to be feme paufe in the fenfe
at the end of every hexameter line, were it but fuch a
paufe as is marked by a comma 3 and for the fame rea¬
fon there ought never to be a full clofe in the fenfe but
at the end of a line, becaufe there the melody is clofed.
An hexameter line, to preferve its melody, cannot w'ell
admit any great relaxation 3 and yet, in a narrative
poem, it is extremely difficult to adhere ftriftly to the
rule even with thefe indulgences. Virgil, the chief of
poets for verfification, is forced often to end a line with¬
out any clofe in the fenfe, and as often to clofe the fenfe
during the running of a line 3 though a clofe in the me¬
lody during the movement of the thought, or a dole in
the thought during the movement of the melody, can¬
not be agreeable. 183
The accent, to which we proceed, is not lefs eflential Obk™3-
than the other circumftances above noticed. By a good ‘ *
ear it will be difeerned, that in every line there is one
fyllable diftingui(liable from the reft by a capital accent:
That fyllable, being the feventh portion, is invariably
long.
x8a
Spnie.
* Poet.
25-
This contributes to diverfify the melody 3 and, where the
words are fmooth and liquid, is not ungractful-3 as in
the following examples :
Formofam refonarc |[ doces Amaryllida fylvas
Again:
Agricolas, quibus ipfa jj procul difeordibus armis
If this paufe, placed as aforefaid after the fhort fyl¬
lable, happen alfo to divide a word, the melody by thefe
circumftances is totally annihilated. Witnefs the fol¬
lowing line of Ennius, which is plainjrrole :
Romae mosnia terrujjit impiger j Hannibal armis.
Hitherto the arrangement of the long and fhort fyl-
lables of an hexameter line, and-its different paufes, have
been confidered with refpeft to melody : but to have a
juft notion of hexameter verfe, thefe particulars muft al¬
fo be confidered with refpeeft to fenfe. There is not per¬
haps in any other fort of verfe fuch latitude in the long
and fhort fyllables 3 a clrcumftance that contributes
greatly to that richnefs of melody which is remarkable
in hexameter verfb, and which made Ariftotle pronounce
that an epic poem in any other verfe would not fuc-
ceed *. One defeft, however, muft net be diiTembled,
that the fame means which contribute to the richnefs of
the melody render it lefs fit than feveral other forts for a
narrative poem. There cannot be a more artful con¬
trivance, as above obferved, than to clofe an hexameter
line with two long fyllables preceded by two fhort: but
unhappily this conftruflion proves a great embarraffment
to the fenfe 3 which will thus be evident. As in gene¬
ral there ought to be a ftricl concordance Between the
thought and the xvords in which it is dreffed 3 fo, in par¬
ticular, every clofe in the fenfe ought to be accompanied
with a dofe in the found. In profe this law may be
ftri£Uy oblerved, but in vejfe the fame ftridlnefs would
VOL. XVH. Part It
Nec bene promeritis jj sapitur nec j tangitur ira
Again:
Non fibi fed toto j| genitum fe J credere mundo
Again:
Qualis fpelunca || fubitb comjmota columba
In thefe examples the accent is laid upon the laft fyl¬
lable of a word 3 which is favourable to the melody in
the following refpeft, that the paufe, which for the fake
of reading diftinftly muft follow every word, gives op¬
portunity to prolong the accent. And for that reafon,
a line thus accented has a more fpirited air than when the
accent is placed on any other fyllable. Compare the
foregoing lines with the following.
Alba neque Affyrio J| fucatur j lana veneno
Again:
Panditur interea || domus omnxpojtentis Olympi
Again:
Olli fedato || refpfindit | corde Latinus.
In lines where the paufe comes after the fhort fyllable
fucceeding the 5th portion, the accent is difplaced, and
rendered lefs fenfible : it feems to be fplit into two, and
to be laid partly on the 5th portion, and partly on the
yth, its ufual place 3 as in
Nuda genu, nodSque j| finus coljledla ftuentes.
Again :
Formofam refonare || doc5s Amarjyliida fylvas.
Befide this capital accent, (lighter accents are kid
upon other portions 3 particularly upon the 4th, unlefs
where it confifts of two (hort fyllables 3 upon the 9th,
which is always a long fyllable} and upon the nth*
F where
42 POE
Verfifica- where the line concludes witli a monofyllable. Such
'ton' , conclufion, by the by, impairs the melody, and for that
reafon is not to be indulged unlefs where it is expreffive
of the fenfe. The following lines are marked with all
the accents.
Ludere quae vellem calamo permifit agrefli
Again ^
Et durae quercus fudabunt rbfcida mella
Again :
Parturiunt monies, nafcitur ridiculus mus.
Reflecting upon the melody of hexameter verfe, we
find, that order or arrangement doth not conftitute the
whole of it : for when we compare different lines,
equally regular as to the fucceflion of long and fhort fyl-
lables, the melody is found in very different degrees of
perfection; which is not occafioned by any particular
Combination of daCtyles and fpondees, or of long and
Ihort fyllables, becaufe we find lines where daftyles pre¬
vail, and lines where fpondees prevail, equally melodi¬
ous. Of the former take the following inftance :
CEneadum genitrix hominum divumque voluptas.
Of the latter :
Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arifta.
What can be more different as to melody than the two
following lines, which, however, as to the fucceflion of
long and Ihort fyllables, are conftruCfed precifely in the
lame manner ?
Spend. Badh Spend. Spend. Dncft. Spend.
Ad talos llola dimiffa et circumdata palla. Hor.
Spend. Dadt. Spopd. Spend. Dadt. Spond.
Placatumque nitet diffufo lumine coelum. Lucret.
In the former, the paufe falls in the middle of a word,
which is a great blemifh, and the accent is diilurbed by
a harfli elifion of the vowel a upon the particle <r/. In
the latter, the paufes and the accent are all of them
dillinCl and full : there is no ellifion : and the words
are more liquid and founding. In thefe particulars con-
fifts the beauty of an hexameter line with refpedl to me¬
lody $ and by negleCling thefe, many lines in the fatires
and epiftles of Horace are lefs agreeable than plain
profe ; for they are neither the one nor the other in per-
feftion. To draw melody from thefe lines, they rnuft;
be pronounced without relation to the fenfe : it mull not
be regarded that words are divided by paufes, nor that
harfli elifions are multiplied. To add to the account,
profaic low-founding words are introduced 5 and, which
is Hill worfe, accents are laid on them. Of fuch faulty
lines take the following inftances.
Candida reflaque fit, munda haftenus fit neque longa.
Jupiter exclamat fimul atque audirit; at in fe
Cuftodes, leflica, ciniflones, parafitae
Optimus ell modulator, ut Alfenus Vafer omni
Nunc illud tantum quaeram, meritone tibi fit.
Thefe obfervations on paufes and femi-paufes, and on
';he Itru&ure of an hexameter line, are doubtlefs ingeni-
184
Order and
arrange¬
ment do
not confti¬
tute the
whole me¬
lody of an
hexameter
verle.
TRY. Part III.
ous; but it is by no means certain that a ftridl attention Verftfica-
to them would aflift any man in the writing of fuch, t^on"
verfes as would have been pleafing to a Roman ear. *
Many of his lordfhip’s rules have no other foundation
than what refts on our improper mode of accenting La¬
tin words; which to Virgil or Lucretius would proba¬
bly have been as offenfive as the Scotch accent is to a
native of Middlefex.
II. Next in order comes English heroic verse ;
which fliall be examined under the heads of number, ac¬
cent, quantity, movement, and paufe. Thefe have been
treated in fo clear and mafterly a manner by Sheridan
in his Art of Reading, that we fliall have little more to
do than abridge his doclrine, and point out the few in-
llances in which attachment to a fyllem and partiality to
his native tongue feem to have betrayed him into error,
or at leaf! made him carry to an extreme what is juft
only when ufed with moderation.
“ Numbers, in the ftridt fenfe of the word*, whelher * Art of
with regard to poetry or mulic, confift in certain impref- Readings
fions made on the ear at ftated and regular diftances.
The loweft fpecies of numbers is a double ftroke of the
fame note or found, repeated a certain number of times,
at equal diftances. The repetition of the fame fngle note
in a continued feries, and exactly at equal diftances, like
the ticking of a clock, has in it nothing numerous ; but
the fame note, twice ftruck a certain number of times,
with a paufe between each repetition of double the time
of that between the Jlrokes, is numerous. The reafon
is, that the pleafure arifing from numbers, confifts in
the obfervation of proportion ; now the repetition of the
fame note, in exabfly the fame intervals, will admit of
no proportion. But the fame note twice ftruck, with
the paufe of one between the two ftrokes, and repeated
again at the diftance of a paufe equal to two, admits of
the proportional meafurement in the paufes of two to one,
to which time can be beaten, and is the loweft and fim-
pleft fpecies of numbers. It may be exemplified on the
drum, as tum-tum—turn-turn—tum-tu'm, &c.
“ The next progreflion of numbers is, when the fame
note is repeated, but in fuch a way as that one makes a
more fenfible impreflion on the ear than the other, by
being more forcibly ftruck, and therefore having a great¬
er degree of loudnefs; as ti-tum—ti-tu'm *, or, tum-tr
-tu'm-ti : or when two weak notes precede a more
forcible one, as ti-ti-tu m—ti-ti-tum ; or when the weak
notes follow the forcible one, tum-ti-ti—tu'm-ti-ti.
“ In the firft and loweft fpecies of numbers which we
have mentioned, as the notes are exactly the fame in
every refpedl, there can be no proportion obferved but
in the time of the paufes. In the fecond, which rifes in
a degree juft above the other, though the notes are ftill
the fame, yet there is a diverfity to be obferved in their
refpeftive loudnefs and foftnefs, and therefore a mea-
furable proportion of the quantity of found. In them
we muft likewife take into confideration the order of the
notes, whether they proceed from ftreng to weak, or
from weak to ftrong ; for this diverfity of order occa-
fions a great difference in the impreflions made upon the
ear, and in the effefts produced upon the mind. To ex-
prefs the diverfity of order in the notes in all its feveral
kinds, the common term movement may be ufed, as
the term meafure will properly enough exprefs the dif¬
ferent proportions of time both in the paufes and in the
notes.”
Fox
Part III.
POE
Verifica¬
tion.
* Art of
Reading,
voL i.
For It is to be obferved, that all notes are not of the
fame length or on the fame key. In poetry, as well as
in mufic, notes may be high or low, Hat or ftiarp j and
fome of them may be prolonged at pleafure. “ Poetic
numbers are indeed founded upon the very fame prin¬
ciples with thofe of the mufical kind, and are governed
by fimilar laws (fee Music). Proportion and order are
the fources of the pleafure which we receive from both ;
and the beauty of each depends upon a due obfervation
of the laws of meafure and movement. The effential
difference between them is, that the matter of the one
is articulate, that of the other inarticulate founds: but
fyllables in the one correfpond to notes in the other ; po¬
etic feet to mufical bars •, and verfes to drains *, in a
word, they have all like properties, and are governed
by laws of the fame kind.
“ From what has been faid, it is evident, that the ef-
fence of numbers confifts in certain impreffions made on
the mind through the ear at ftated and regular diftances
of time, with an obfervation of a relative proportion in
thofe diftances ; and that the other circumftances of long
or fhort in fyllables, or diverfity of notes in uttering
them, are not efientials but only accidents of poetic num¬
bers. Should this be queftioned, the objeftor might be
filenced by having the experiment tried on a drum, on
which, although it is incapable of producing long or
fhort, high or low notes, there is no kind of metre which
may not be beat. That, therefore, which regulates the
feries and movement of the impreffions given to the ear
by the recitation of an Englifh verfe, muft, w'hen pro¬
perly difpofed, conftitute the eflence of Englifh poetic
numbers; but it is the accent which particularly im-
prefles the found of certain fyllables or letters upon the
ear j for in every word there is a fyllable or letter ac¬
cented. The neceffity and ufe of the accent, as well
in profe as in verfe, we ftiall therefore proceed to ex¬
plain.
“ As words may be formed of various numbers of fyl¬
lables, from one up to eight or nine *, it was neceflary
that there ftiould be fome peculiar mark to diftinguifti
words from disjointed fyllables, otherwife fpeech would
be nothing but a continued fucceffion of fyllables con¬
veying no ideas. This diftimffion of one word from an¬
other might be made by a perceptible paufe at the end
of each in fpeaking, analogous to the diftance made be¬
tween them in writing and in printing. But thefe paufes
would make difcourfe difguftingly tedious; and though
they might render words fufficiently diftintt, they would
make the meaning of fentences extremely confufed.
Words might alfo be diftinguiftied from each other, and
from a colledlion of detached fyllables, by an elevation
or deprejjion of the voice upon one fyllable ofeach word j
and this, as is well known to the learned, was the prac¬
tice of the Greeks and Romans. But the Englifti tongue
has for this purpofe adopted a mark of the eafieft and
fimpleft kind, which is called accent. By accent is
meant, a certain ftrefs of the voice, upon a particular
letter of a fyllable, which diftinguithes it from the reft,
and at the fame time diftinguifhes the fyllable itfelf to
which it belongs from the other fyllables which compofe
the word. Thus, in the word hab'it, the accent, upon
the b diftinguilhes that letter from the others, and the
firft fyllable from the laft ; add more fyllables to it, and
it will ftill do the fame, as hab'itable. In the word ac-
vep't, the /> is the diftinguiftied letter, and the fyllable
T R Y. 43
which contains it the diftinguiihed fyliable ; but if we Verfifica-
add more fyllables to it, as in the word ac'ceptab/e, the t'on-
feat of the accent is changed to the firft fyllable, 0f
which c is the diftinguiftied letter. Every word in our
language of more fyllables than one has one of the fyl-
lables diftinguiftied from the reft in this manner, and
every monofyllable has a letter. Thus, in the word hat1
the t is accented, in hate the vowel <7, in cub' the b,
and in cube the u: fo that as articulation is the effence
of fyllables, accent is the eflence of words ; which with¬
out it would be nothing more than a mere fucceflion of
fyllables.”
We have faid, that it was the practice of the Greeks
and Romans to elevate or deprefs their voice upon one
fyllable of each word. In this elevation or depreflion
confifted their accent *, but the Englifti accent confifts in
the mere ftrefs of the voice, without any change of note.
“ Among the Greeks, all fyllables were pronounced ei¬
ther in a high, low, or middle note ; or elfe in a union
of the high and low by means of the intermediate. The
middle note, which was exaftly at an equal diftance be¬
tween the high and the low, was that in which tlie un¬
accented fyllables were pronounced. But every word
had one letter, if a monofyllable j or one fyllable, if it
confifted of more than one, diftinguiftied from the reft 5
either by a note of the voice perceptibly higher than the
middle note, which was called the acute? accent; or by
a note perceptibly, and in an equal proportion, lower
than the middle one, which was called the grave accent;
or by an union of the acute and grave on one fyllable,
which was done by the voice palling from the acute,
through the middle note, in continuity down to the
grave, which was called the circumflex.
“ Now in pronouncing Englifti words, it is true that
one fyllable is always diftinguiftied from the reft •, but
it is not by any perceptible elevation or depreflion of
the voice, any high or low note, that it is done, but
merely by dwelling longer upon it, or by giving it a
more forcible itroke. When the ftrefs or accent is on
the vowel, we dwell longer on that fyllable than on the
reft ; as, in the words glory, father, L6!y. When it is
on the confonant, the voice, palling rapidly over the
vowel, gives a fmarter ftroke to the confonant, which
diftinguifties that fyllable from others, as in the words
bat’tie, hab’it, bar’row.11
Having treated fo largely of accent and quantity,
the next thing to be confidered in verfe will be quickly
difcuflfed \ for in Englilh it depends wholly on the feat
of the accent. “ When the accent or ftrefs is on. the
vowel, the fyllable is necefiarily long, becaufe the ac¬
cent cannot be made wuthout dwelling on the vowel a
longer time than ufual. When it is on the confonant,
the fyllable is fhort; becaufe the accent is made by pal¬
ling rapidly over the vowel, and giving a (mart ftroke
of the voice to the following confonants. Thus the
wmrds ad’d, led’, bid', cub', are all fhort, the voice paf-
fing quickly over the vowel to the confonant ; but fat
the contrary reafon, the words dll, laid, bide, cube, .are
long; the accent being on the vowels, on which the
voice dwells fome time before it takes in the found of
the confonant.”
“ Obvious as this point is, it has wholly efcaped the
oblervation of many an ingenious and learned writer.
Lord Kames affirms *, that accenting is confined in * El. of
Englilh heroic verfe to the long fyllables j for a fliort Grit. vo!. u.
F 2 fyllable
44
P O E
"1 Art of
JReading,
vol. ji.
Vf.rfiFica- fyliable (fays lie) is not capable of an accent: and Dr
, tlon' ^ Forfter, who ought to have underftood the nature of
the Engliih accent better than Ids Lordihip, aiks, whe¬
ther avc do not ‘ employ more time in uttering the
JlrJi fyllables of heavily, hafiily, quickly, Jlowly ; and the
Jecond in folicit, mijlaking, refear dies, de/ufive, than in
the others P To this queftion Mr Sheridan replies f,
that “ in iome of thcfe words avc certainly do as the
Doctor fuppofes; in hdflily, fovaly, tnifdking, dclufvc,
for inftance ; where the accent being on the voavcIs ren¬
ders their found long •, but in all the others heav’ily,
•quick'ly, foils’-it, re fear’-dies, wdiere the accent is on
the conionant, the fyllables head, quick', hs', fed, are
pronounced as rapidly as poffible, and the vowels are all
fhort. In the Scotch pronunciation (continues he) they
would indeed be all reduced to an equal quantity, as
thus; hdi-vily, hdis-tily, queekly, flow-ly, fo-leecit, rc-
fdir-ches, de-lu-fve. But here we fee that the four fhort
fyllables are changed into four long ones of a different
found, occafioned by their placing the feat of the accent
on the voAvels in dead of the confonants : thus inftead of
hed they fay hdiv ; for quick', qucek ; for lis', leece; and
for fcr', fair.
“ It appears therefore, that the quantity of Englifh
fyllables is adjufted by one eafy and fimple rule ; which
is, that AA'hen the feat of the accent is on a vov\-el, the
fyllable is long ; Avhen on a conionant, fhort; and that
all unaccented fyllables are fhort. Without a due ob-
fervation of quantity in reciting verfes there will be no
poetic numbers ; yet in compoffng Englifh verfes the
poet need not pay the lead attention to the quantity of
his fyllables, as meafure and movement will refult from
the obfervation of other laws, which are now to be ex¬
plained.
It has been affirmed by a Avriter % of great authority
among the critics, that in Engliffi heroic verfe every
line confifts of ten fyllables, five ftort and five long ;
from which there are but two exceptions, both of them
rare. The firff is, where each line of a couplet is made
eleven fyllables, by an additional fhort fyllable at the
end.
There heroes wit's are kep't in pond’rous vafes,
And beaus' in fhuff-boxes and tweezer-cafes.
The other exception, he fays, concerns the fecond line
of a couplet, which is fometimes ftretched out to tAvelve
fyllables, termed an Alexandrine line.
i Lord
Karnes.
A needlefs Alexandrine ends the fong,
That, like a wounded fnake, drags its
along.
flow length
After what has been juft faid, it is needlefs to flop for
the purpofe of pointing out the ingenious author’s mi-
'ftake refpecling long and fhort fyllables. Every atten¬
tive reader of what has been already laid .down, muft
perceive, that in the firft line of the former couplet,
though there are no fewer than fix accented fyllables
when it is properly read, yet of thefe there are but
three that are long, viz. thole wffiich have the accent
on the vowel. Our bufinefs at prefent is, to fliow the
falfity of the rule which reftrains the heroic line to ten
fyllables; and this we fhall do by producing lines of a
greater number.
T R Y.
Fart III.
And the finiii iouuds ran echoing through the wood.
Verifica¬
tion.
This line, though it confifts of eleven fyllables, and has
the laid of thole accented, or, as Lord KameS would fay,
long, is yet undoubtedly a heroic verfe of very fine
found. Perhaps the advocates for the rule may con¬
tend, that the vcavcI o in echoing ought to be idruck
out by an apoftrophe; but as no one reads,
And the ffirill founds ran ech’ing through the vvood,
it is furely very abfurd to omit in writing what cannot
be omitted in utterance. The two following lines have
each eleven fyllables, of which not one can be fupprefl’ed
in recitation.
Their glittering textures of the filmy deAv,
Idle great hierarchal ftandard Avas to move.
Mr Sheridan quotes as a heroic line,
O’er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp ;
and obferves what a monftrous line it would appear, if
pronounced,
O’er man’ a frozen, man’ a fi’ry Alp,
inftead of that noble verfe, which it certainly is, when
all the thirteen lyllables are diftinftly uttered. Pie then
produces a couplet, of which the former line bias four¬
teen, and the latter twelve fyllables.
And many an amorous, many a humorous lay,
Which many a bard had chaunted many a day.
That this is a couplet of very fine found cannot be con¬
troverted ; but we doubt whether the numbers of it or
of the other quoted line of thirteen fyllables be truly he-,
roic. To our ears at leaft there appears a very percep¬
tible difference between the movement of theie verfes-
and that of the verfes of Pope or Dryden ; and avc
think, that, though fuch couplets or fingle lines may,
for the fake of variety or expreffion, be admitted into
a heroic poem, yet a poem wholly compofed of them
would not be confidered as heroic verfe. It has a much
greater refemblance to the verfe of Spenfer, which is
now broke into tA\ro lines, of which the firft has eight
and the fecond fix fyllables. Nothing, however, feems
to be more evident, from the other quoted inftances,
than that a heroic line is not confined to the fyllables,
and that it is not by the number of fyllables that an
Englifh verfe is to be meafured.
But if a heroic verfe in our tongue be not compofed,
as in French, of a certain number of fyllables, how is it
formed ? We anfiver by feet, as was the hexameter line
of the ancients; though between their feet and ours
there is at the fame time a great difference. The poetic
feet of the Greeks and Romans are formed by quantity,
thofe of the Engliih by flrefs or accent. “ Though
thefe terms are in continual ufe, and in the mouths of
all v/ho treat of poetic numbers, very confufed and erro¬
neous ideas are fometimes annexed to them. Yet as the
knoAvledge of the peculiar genius of our language with
regard to poetic numbers and its charafteriftical differ¬
ence from others in that refpeft, depends upon our hav¬
ing clear and precife notions of thofe terms, it will be
neceffary to have them fully explained. The general
nature of them has been already fufficiently laid open.
Fart III. P ° E
Verfifica- and we have now on!) to make fome obiervaUcns on
lion. their particular effefts in the formation ol nietre.
—1 No fcholar is ignorant that quantity is a term which
relates to the length or the Ihortnels of fyllables, and
that a long fyllable is double the length of a Ihort one.
Now the plain meaning of this is, that a long fyllable
takes up double the time in founding that a thort one
does 5 a faft of which the car alone can be the judge.
When a fyllable in Latin ends with a confonant, and
the fiibfequent fyllable commences with one, every
fchool-boy knows that the former is long, to ufe the
technical term, by the law of pofition. This rule was
in pronunciation Itriclly obferved by the Romans, who
always made fuch fyllables long by dwelling on the
vowels} whereas the very reverie is the caie with us, be-
caufe a quxle contrary rule takes place in Lnglifh words
fo conflrufted, as the accent or Itrefs of the voice is in
fuch cafes always transferred to the confonant, and the
preceding vowel being rapidly palled over, that fyllable
is of courfe ftiort.
“ The Romans had another rule of profody, that
when one fyllable ending with a vowel, was lolrowed
by another beginning with a vowel, the former fyllable
was pronounced fhort ", whereas in Enghfh there is ge¬
nerally an accent in that cafe on the former fyllable,
as in the word pious, which renders the lyliable long.
Pronouncing Latin therefore by our own rule, as in the
former cafe, we make thole iyllables fhort which were
founded long by them 5 fo in the latter we make thofe
fyllables long which wuth them were fliort. W e fay
ar'ma and virum'que, inflead of arma and virumque ;
fcio and tuns, inftead of few and tuns'.
“ Having made thefe preliminary obfervations, we
proceed now to explain tne nature of poetic reet. Pcet
in verle correfpond to bars in mufic : a certain number of
fyllables conne&ed form a foot in the one, as a certain
number of notes make a bar in the other. J-hey aie
called feet, becaufe it is by their aid that the voice
as it were Heps along through the verfe in a meafured
pace ; and it is neceffary that the fyllables which mark
this regular movement of the voice fhould in fome
meafure be diilinguifhed from the others, ibis di-
ftindtion, as we have already obferved, wms made among
the ancient Romans, by dividing their fyllables into long
and fliort, and afeertaining their quantity by an ex aft
proportion of time in founding them ; the long being
to the fliort as two to one ; and the long fyllables, being
thus the more important, marked the movement of the
verfe. In Englifh, fyllables are divided into accented
and unaccented ; and the accented fyllables being as
ftrongly diftinguifhed from the unaccented, by the pe¬
culiar fhefs of the voice upon them, are as capable of
marking the movement, and pointing out the regular
TRY. 45
paces of the voice, as the long fyllables vfefe by their VerfTca-
quantity among the Romans. Hence it follows, that our , tl^n‘' ,
accented fyllables coirefponding to their long ones, and
our unaccented to their fhort, in the ftru&ure of poetic
feet, an accented fyllable followed by one unaccented
hi the fame foot will anfw er to their trochee ; and pre¬
ceded by an unaccented cue, to their iambus; and fo
with the reft.
“ All feet ufed iu poetry confift either of two or
three fyllables; and the feet among the ancients were
denominated from the number and quantity .of their
fyllables. The meafure (ft quantity was the fhert fyl¬
lable, and the long one in time was equaUo two ftiort.
A foot could not confift of lefs than two times, becaufe
it muft contain at leaft two fyllables ; and by a law re-
fpecling numbers, which is explained elfewhere (fee
Music), a poetic foot would admit of no mere than
four of thofe times. Confequently the poetic feet were
neceflarily reduced to eight-, four of two fyllables, and
four of three. Thofe of two fyllables muft either con¬
fift of two fhort, called a pyrrhic ; two long, called a
fpondee ; a long and a fhort, called a trochee; or a fhort
and a long, called an iambus. Ihcfe of three fyllables
were, either three ihort, a tribrach ; a long and two
fhort, a daRyl; a ftiort, long, and fliort, an amphibrach;
or two fhort and a long, an anapeej} (y),
We are now fufficiently prepared for confidering what
feet enter into the compofition of an Engiifh heroic verfe.
The Greeks and Romans made ufe of but two feet in
the ftruftute of their hexameters; and the Englifh heroic
may be wholly compofed of one foot, viz. the iambic, which
is therefore the foot moll congenial to that fpecies of verfe.
Our poetry indeed abounds with verfes into which no other
foot is admitted. Such as,
The pow’rs | gave ear [ and granjted half | his pray r,
The rest' | the winds | difpers’d | in emp'jty air.
Our heroic line, however, is not wholly reftrained to the
ufe of this foot. In the opinion of Mr Sheridan it ad¬
mits all the eight before enumerated j and it certainly
excludes none, unlefs perhaps the tribrach. It is known
to every reader of Englifh poetry, that fome of the fineft
heroic verfes in our language begin with a trochee ; and
that Pope, the fmootheft of all our verfifiers, was remark¬
able for his ufe of this foot, as is evident from the fol¬
lowing example, where four fucceeding lines out of fix
have a trochaic beginning.
Her lively looks a fprightly mind difclofe,
Quick as j her eyes | and as unfix’d as thofe :
Favours j to none j to all fhe fmiles extends,
O'ft fhe j rejedls | but never once offends.
Bright as | the fun | her eyes the gazers ft like.
And like the fun fhe fhines on all alike.
The
(y) For the convenience of the lefs learned reader we lhall here fubjoin a fcheme of poetic feet, ufing Rie marks
(- o ) in ufe among the Latin grammarians to denote the genuine feet by quantity j and the following marks.
(' V ) to denote the Englifh feet by accent, which anfwer to thofe.
Trochee
Iambus
Spondee
Pyrrhic
Roman
Englifli
Roman
Dadlyl -
Amphibrach o
Anapeeft u
Tribrach o
Englifli
o
1
4*5 P 0 E
Verfifica- The ufe of this foot, however, is not neceflfarily con-
i- -1™'. . to the beginning of a line. Milton frequently
introduces it into other parts of the verfe j of which
take the following inftances :
That 611 j was loft' | back' to | the thick'jet flunk—
Of T've | whofe ey'e | darted contajgious fire.
1 he laft line of the following couplet begins with a
Pyrrhic:
She faid, | and mel|ting as in tears flie lay,
In a | foft siljver ftream diflblv’d away j
But this foot is introduced likewife with very good ef-
fe<5t into other parts of the verfe, as
Pant on j thy lip' | and to | thy heart | be preft.j
The phantom flies me j as unjkind as you.
Leaps o’er the fence with eafe I into I the fold.
*_/ ' *
And the | ftirill' founds | ran echoing through the wood.
In this laft line we fee that the firft foot is a pyrr/iic,
and the fecond a fpondee ; but in the next the two firft
feet are fpondees.
Plill's peep | o’er hill's | and Alps | on Alps | arife.
In the following verfe a trochee is fucceeded by two fpon¬
dees, of which the former is a genuine fpondee by quan¬
tity, and the latter equivalent to a fpondee by accent.
See the | bold youth ] ftrain up' | the threatj’ning fteep.
We ftiall now give fome inftances of lines containing
both the pyrrhic and the fpondee, and then proceed to
the confideration of the other four feet.
That bn | weak wings | from far purfues your flight.
Thrb’ithe j fair fcene | roll flow j the ling’ring ftreams.
On her J white breast' j a fparkling crofs the wore.
Of the four trifyllabic feet, the firft, of which we lhall
give inftances in heroic lines, is the dattyl; as
Mur'muring, | and with | him' fledjthe (hades | of night.
Hov'ering | on wing j un'der | the cape | of hell'.
Tim'orous j and flothful yet he pleas’d the ear.
Of truth j in word | mightier | than they | in arms.
Of the anapafl a Angle inftance (hall fufHce ; for except
by Milton it is not often ufed.
The great | hierarjchal ftandard was to move.
amphibrach is employed in the four following verfes,
and in the three laft with a very fine effedl.
With wheels | yet hover|ing o’er the ocean brim.
Rous’d from their (lumber on | that fiejry | couch.
While the | prbmis'cii'ous crowd flood yet aloof.
Throws his fteep flight | in many | an ai|ry whirl.
T R Y- Part Hi.
meafure of a whole line, conftrufted in the former man- Verfifica-
ner, muft be (horter than that of another line conftrudt- do«.
ed in the latter ; and that the intermixture of verfes of
fuch different meafures in the fame poem muft have a
bad effetft on the melody, as being deftrudlive of proper
tion*. I his objection would be well-founded, wTere not
the time of the (nort accented fyllables compenfated by
a fmall paufe at the end of each word to which they be-
long, as is evident in the following verfe :
Then rus'Jtling crack'jling craflijing thun'jder down.
P his line is formed of iambics by accent upon con(o-
nants, except the laft (yliable j and yet by means of
thefe foft paufes or reds, the meafure of the whole is
equal to that of the following, which confifts of pure
iambics by quantity.
O’er heaps j of rfi|in ftSlk’d j the ftatejly hind.
Movement, of fo much importance in verfification, re’
gards the order of fyllables in a foot, meafure their quan¬
tity. J. he order of (yllables refpedls their progrefs from
(hort to long or from long to fliort, as in the Greek and
Latin languages j or from ftrong to wTeak or vreak to
ftrong, i. e. from accented or unaccented fyllables, as in
our tongue. It has been already obferved, that an Eng-
lifli heroic verfe may be compofed wholly of iambics j
and experience (hows that, fuch verles have a fine melody.
But as the ftrefs of the voice in repeating verfes of pure
iambics, is regularly on every fecond fyllable, fuch uni¬
formity would difguft the ear in any long fucceflion, and
therefore fuch changes were fought for as might intro¬
duce the pleafure of variety without prejudice to me¬
lody j or which might even contribute to its improve¬
ment. Of this nature wras the introduflion of the tro¬
chee to form the firft foot of an heroic verfe, which ex¬
perience has fliown us is fo far from fpoiling the melody,
that in many cafes it heightens it. This foot, however,
cannot well be admitted into any other part of the verfe
without prejudice to the melody, becaufe it interrupts and
(lops the ufual movement by another direftly oppofite.
But though it be excluded wfith regard to pure melody,
it may often be admitted into any part of the verfe wdth
advantage to expreflion, as is well known to the readers
of Milton.
The next change admitted for the fake of variety,
without prejudice to melody, is the intermixture of
pyrrhics and (pondees j in which twro impreftions in the
one foot make up for the want of one in the other j and
two long fyllables compenfate two (hort, fo as to make
the fum of the quantity of the two feet equal to two
iambics. I hat this may be done without prejudice to
the melody, take the following inftances:
On her | white bread | a fparkling crofs (he wore. 
Nor the | deep traft | of hell—fay firft what caufe. 
Having thus fufficiently proved that the Englfth heroic
verfe admits of all the feet except the tribrach, it may
be proper to add, that from the nature of our accent we
have duplicates of thefe feet, viz. fuch as are formed by
quantity, and fuch as are formed by the mere ictus of the
voice j an opulence peculiar to our.tongue, and wThich may
be the (ourv.e of a boundlels variety. But as feet formed
of fyllables which have the accent or iBus on the confon-
«.nt are neceffanly pronounced in lefs time than fimilar
feet formed by quantity, it may be objefted, that the
4
This intermixture may be employed ad libitum, in any
part of the line •, and fometimes two fpondees may be
placed together in one part of the verfe, to be compen¬
fated by two pyrrhics in another ; of which Mr Sheridan
quotes the following lines as inftances :
Stood rul’d | flood vaft | inf injitude | confined.
She all ] night long | her amqrous d&jcant fung.
That the foimer is a proper example, will not perhaps
be queftioned j but the third foot in the latter is certain-
Jy
Part III. POE
Verfifica- ly no pyrrhic. As it is marked here and by him, it is
, tlon- a tribrach j but we appeal to our Engliih readers, if it
v ought not to have been marked an amphibrach by ac¬
cent, and if the fourth foot be not an iambus. To us
the feet of the line appear to be as follow :
She all | night long | her am'bjrbus des'|cant fun'g.
It is indeed a better example of the proper ufe of the
amphibrach than any which he has given, unlefs perhaps
the two following lines :
Up to | the fie|ry conjcave tow'erjing high
Throws his | deep flight | in man'y j an aijry whirl.
That in thele three lines the introduction of the amphi¬
brach does not hurt the melody, will be acknowledged
by every perfon who has an ear j and thofe who have
not, are not qualified to judge. But we appeal to
every man of tafte, if the two amphibrachs fucceeding
each other in the lafl line do not add much to the
expreflion of the verfe. If this be queftioned, v/e have
only to change the movement to the common iambic,
and wTe fhall difcover how feeble the line will become.
Throws his | deep flight | in manjy ai|ry whirls.
This is Ample defcription, indead of that magical power
of numbers which to the imagination produces the ob-
jeft itfelf, whirling as it were round an axis.
Having thus fliown that the iambus, fpondee, pyr¬
rhic, and amphibrach, by accent, may be ufed in our
meafure with great latitude ; and that the trochee may
at all times begin the line, and in fome cafes with ad¬
vantage to the melody j it now remains only to add,
that the dactyl, having the fame movement, may be in¬
troduced in the place of the trochee ; and the anapaed
in the place of the iambus. In proof of this, were not
the article fwelling in our hands, we could adduce many
indances which would {how what an inexhaudible fund
of riches, and what an immenfe variety of materials, are
prepared for us, “ to build the lofty rhime.” But wre
haden to the next thing to be confldered in the art of
verflfying, which is known by the name ofpaufes.
“ Of the poetic paufes there are two forts, the ce-
fural and the final. The cefural divides the verfe into
equal or unequal parts •, the Anal clofes it. In a verfe
there may be two or more cefural paufes, but it is evi¬
dent that there can be but one Anal. As the Anal paufe
concerns the reader more than the wsiter of verfes, it
has been feldom treated of by the critics. Yet as it is
this Anal paufe which in many cafes diflinguifhes verfe
from profe, it cannot be improper in the prefent article
to fliow howr it ought to be made. Were it indeed a
law of our verAflcation, that every line flrould terminate
with a flop in the fenfe, the boundaries of the meafure
would be Axed, and the nature of the Anal paufe could
not be midaken. But nothing has puzzled the bulk of
readers, or divided their opinions, more than the manner
in which thofe verfes ought to be recited, where the
lenfe does not clofe with the line 5 and whofe lad words
have a neceflary connexion with thofe that begin the
fubfequent verfe. “ Some (fays Mr Sheridan) who fee
the neceflity of pointing out the metre, pronounce the
lad word ot each line in fuch a note as ufually accom¬
panies a comma, in marking the fmalied member of a
fentence. Now this is certainly improper, becaufe it
makes that appear to be a complete member of a fentence
T R Y.
which is an incomplete one j and by disjoining the fenfe as
well as the words, often confounds the meaning. Others
again, but thefe fewer in number, and of the more ab-
lurd kind, drop their voice at the end of every line, in
the fame note which they ufe in marking a full flop j to
the utter annihilation of the fenfe. Some readers (con¬
tinues our author) of a more enthudaflic kind, elevate
their voices at the end of all verfes to a higher note than
is ever ufed in the flops which divide the meaning.
But fuch a continued repetition of the fame high note
becomes difgufting by its monotony, and gives an air of
chanting to fuch recitation. To avoid thefe feveral
faults, the bulk of readers have chofen what they think
a fafer courfe, which is that of running the lines one
into another without the lead paufe, where they And
none in the fenfe j but by this mode of recitation they
reduce poetry to fomething worfe than profe, to verfe
run mad.
But it may be afked, if this Anal paufe mud be mark¬
ed neither by an elevation nor by a depreffion of the
voice, how is it to be marked at all ? To which Mr
Sheridan replies, by making no change whatever in the
voice before it. This will fufficiently diftinguifh it from
the other paufes, the comma, femicolon, &c. becaufe
fome change of note, by raiAng or deprefling the voice,,
always precedes them, whilft the voice is here only fu-
fpended.
Now this paufe of fufpenflon is the very thing want¬
ing to preferve the melody at all times, without inter¬
fering with the fenfe. For it perfectly marks the bound
of the metre : and being made only by a fufpenflon, not
by a change of note in the voice, it never can affedl the
fenfe j becaufe the fentential flops, or thofe which affedt
the fenfe, being all made with a change of note, where
there is no fuch change the fenfe cannot be affefted.
Nor is this the only advantage gained to numbers by
this flop of fufpenflon. It alfo prevents the monotony
at the end of lines •, which, how7ever pleaflng to a rude,
is difgufting to a delicate, ear. For as this flop has-
no peculiar note of its own, but always takes that which
belongs to the preceding word, it changes continually
with the matter, and is as various as the fenfe.
Having faid all that is neceffary with regard to the
Anal, wre proceed now to conflder the cefural, paufe. To
thefe tw7o paufes it will be proper to give the denomi¬
nation of mufical, to diftinguifh them from the comma,
femicolon, colon, and full flop, which may be called fen¬
tential paufes; the office of the former being to mark
the melody, as that of the latter is to point out the
fenfe. The cefural, like the Anal paufe, fometimes co¬
incides wdth the fentential; and fometimes takes place
w'here there is no flop in the fenfe. In this laft cafe, it
is exaftly of the fame nature, and governed by the fame
laws wdth the paufe of fufpenflon, which we have juft
defcrihed.
The cefure, though not effential, is however a great
ornament to verfe, as it improves and diverflfles the
melody, by a judicious management in varying its fltu-
ation ; but it difcharges a ftill more important office than
this. Were there no cefure, verfe could afpire to no
higher ornament than that of flm< le melody j but by
means of this paufe there is a new fource of delight
opened in poetic numbers, correfpondent in fome fort,
to harmony in muflc. This takes its rife from that acl
of the mind which compares the relative proportions
thafc
47
Verfifica-
48 FOE
Verfiflca- tnat tlie Members of a verfe liras divided bear to each
, UQt1, other, as well as to thofe in the adjoining lines. In or-
^ der to fee this matter in a clear light, let us examine
what effeft the cefure produces in fmgle lines, and
afterwards in comparing contiguous lines with each
other.
With regard to the place of the cefure, Mr Pope and
others have ex'prefsly declared, that no line appeared mu-
fical to their ears, where the cefure was not after the
fourth, fifth, or fixth fyllable of the verfe. Some have
enlarged its empire to the third and feventh fyllables ;
whiltt others have atTerted that it may be admitted into
any part of the line.
“ There needs but a little diftinguifiiing (fays Mr
Sheridan), to reconcile thefe diiferent opinions. If me¬
lody alone is to be conndered, Mr Pope is in the right
when he fixes its feat in or as near as may be to the
middle of the verfe. To form lines of the firtl melody,
the cefure mult either be at the end of the fecond or
of the third foot, or in the middle of the third between
the two. Of this movement take the following exam¬
ples :
1. Of the cefure at the end of the fecond foot.
Our plenteous Itreams ]| a various race fupply;
The bright-ey’d per'ch jj with fins of Tyrian dye 5
The filver eel || in {tuning volumes roll’d ;
The yellow carp' || in fcaies bedrop’d with gold.
2. At the end of the third foot.
With tender billet-dorlx ]| he lights the pyre,
And breathes three amorous sighs Jj to raife the fire.
3. Between the two, dividing the third foot.
The fields are ravifh’d || from the indufhfious fw$in«,
From men their cities, || and from gods their fanes.
Thefe lines are certainly all of a fine melody, yet they
are not quite upon an equality in that refi>e61. Thofe
■which have the cefure in the middle are of the firft or¬
der •, thofe which have it at the end of the fecond foot
are next •, and thofe which have the paufe at the end of
the third foot the laft. The reafon of this preference it
may not perhaps be difficult to affign.
In the pleafure arifing from comparing the proportion
which the parts of a whole bear to each other, the more
eafily and diftimflly the mind perceives that proportion,
the greater is the pleafure. New there Is nothing which
the mind more intlantaneoufly and clearly difeerns, than
the divifion of a whole into two equal parts, which alone
would give a fuperiority to lines of the firft order over
thofe of the other two. But this is not the only claim
to fuperiority which fuch lines pofiefs. The cefure be¬
ing in them always on an unaccented, and the final
paufe on an accented fyllable, they have a mixture of
variety and equality of which neither of the other orders
can boaft, as in thefe orders the cefural and final paufes
are both on accented fyllables.
In the divifion of the other two fpecies, if we refpefl
quantity only, the proportion is exactly the fame, the
one being as two to three, and the other as three to two ;
but it is the order or movement which here makes the
difference. In lines where the cefure bounds the fecond
fool, the fmaller portion of the verfe is firft in order, the
greater laft •, and this order is reverfed in lines which
» have the cefure at the end of the third foot. Now, as
3
T It Y. Part III.
the latter part of the verfe leaves the ftrongeft and moft Yerfifica-
lafting impreffion on the ear, where the larger portion ( ^°n-
belongs to the latter part of the line, the impreflion mult' " ^ *
in proportion be greater j the effedi in found being the
fame as that produced by a climax in fenfe, where one
part rifes above another.
Having fliown in what manner the cefure improves
and diverfifies the melody of verfe, we lhail now treat of
its more important office, by which it is the chief fource
of harmony in numbers. But, firft, it will be necefiar-y
to explain what we mean by the term harmony, as ap¬
plied to verfe.
Melody in mufic regards only the effedls produced by
fucceffive founds •, and harmony, ftridtly fpeaking, the
effedls produced by different co-exifting founds, which
are found to be in concord. Harmony, therefore, in
this fenfe of the word, can never be applied to poetic
numbers, of which there can be only one reciter, and
confequently the founds can only be in fucceffion. When
therefore we fpeak of the harmony of verfe, we mean
nothing more than an effedi produced by an adlion of the
mind in comparing the different members of verfe alrea¬
dy conftrudled according to the laws of melody with each
other, and perceiving a due and beautiful proportion be¬
tween them.
The firff and lowed: perception of this kind of har¬
mony arifes from comparing two members of the fame
line with each other, divided in the manner to be feen
in the three inftances already given } becaufe the beauty
of proportion in the members, according to each of thefe
divifions, is founded in nature. But there is a percep¬
tion of harmony in verfification, which arifes from the
comparifon of two lines, and obferving the relative pro¬
portion of their members •, whether they correfpond ex-
adtly to each other by fimilar divifions, as in the couplets
already quoted 5 or whether they are diverfified by ce-
fures in different places. As,
See the bold youth j| ftrain up the threatening deep,
Rufti thro’ the thickets || down the valleys fweep.
Where we find the cefure at the end of the fecond foot
of the firft line, and in the middle of the third foot of
the laft:.
Hang o’er their courfers heads |j with eager fpeed,
And earth rolls back j| beneath the dying fteed.
Here the cefure is at the end of third foot in the
former, and of the fecond in the latter line. The
perception of this fpecies of harmony is far fuperior to
the former ; becaufe, to the pleafure of comparing the
members of the fame line with each other, there is fu~
peradded that of comparing the different members of the
different lines with each other \ and the harmony is en¬
riched by having four members of comparifon inftead of
two. The pleafure is ftill increafed in comparing a great¬
er number of lines, and obferviag the relative propor¬
tion of the couplets to each other in point of fimilarity
and diverfity. As thus,
Thy foreffs, Windfor, J| and thy green retreats.
At once the monarch’s || and the mule’s feats,
Invite my lays. |j Be prefent fylvan maids.
Unlock your fprings |J and open all your fhades.
Here we find that the cefure is in the middle of the
verfe in each line of the firit couplet, and at the end of
the
Part III. POE
Verfifica- the fecond foot in each line of the laft ; which gives a
, tlon• , fimilarity in each couplet diilinftly confidered, and a
diverlity w-hen the one is compared with the other, that
has a very pleafing effeft. Nor is the pleafure lefs where
we find a diverfity in»the lines of each couplet, and a
fimilarity in comparing the couplets themfelves. As in
thefe,
Not half fo fwift || the trembling doves can fly,
When the fierce eagle || cleaves the liquid fkyj
Not half fo fwiftly || the fierce eagle moves,
When thro’ the clouds || he drives the trembling doves.
There is another mode of dividing lines well fuited to
the nature of the couplet, by introducing femipaufes,
which with the cefure divide the line into four portions.
By a femipaufe, we mean a fmall reft of the voice, dur¬
ing a portion of time equal to half of that taken up by
the cefure $ as will be perceived in the following fine
couplet :
Warms | in the fun || refrefhes | in the breeze,
Glows | in the ftars || and bloflbms ) in the trees.
That the harmony, and of courfe the pleafure, refult-
ing from poetic numbers, is increafed as well by the fe-
tnipaufe as by the cefure, is obvious to every ear *, be-
caufe lines fo conftrufted furnilh a greater number of
members for comparifon : but it is of more importance
to obferve, that by means of the femipaufes, lines which,
feparately confidered, are not of the fineft harmony,
may yet produce it when oppofed to each other, and
compared in the couplet. Of the truth of this obferva-
tion, the following couplet, efpecially as it fucceeds that
immediately quoted, is a ftriking proof:
Lives | thro’ all life || extends | thro’ all extent,
Spreads | undivided || operates | unfpent.
What we have advanced upon this fpecies of verfe,
will contribute to folve a poetical problem thrown out
by Dryden as a crux to his brethren : it was to account
for the peculiar beauty of that celebrated couplet in Sir
TRY. 4!
John Denham’s Cooper's Hill, where he thus defcribes Verfifka-
the Thames: t'nri-
Tho’ deep | yet clear |] tho’ gentle j yet not dull.
Strong | without rage || without o’erflowing | full.
This defcription has great merit independent of the
harmony of the numbers; but the chief beauty of the
verfification lies in the happy difpofition of the paufes
and femipaufes, fo as to make a fine harmony in each
line when its portions are compared, and in the couplet
w’hen one line is compared with the other.
Having now faid all that is neceffary upon paufes and
femipaufes, we have done the utmoft juftice to our fub-
je£t which the limits afligned us will permit. Feet and
paufes are the conftituent parts of vevfe; and the proper
adjuftment of them depends upon the poet’s knowledge
of numbers, accent, quantity, and movement, all of
which we have endeavoured briefly to explain. In con¬
formity to the praflice of fome critics, we might have
treated feparately of rhime and of blank verfe 5 but as
the effentials of all heroic verfes are the fame, fuch a
divifion of our fubjeft would have thrown no light
upon the art of Englifh verfification. It may be juft
worth while to obferve, that the paufe at the end of a
couplet ought to coincide, if poflible, with a flight paufe
in the fenfe, and that there is no neceflity for this coin¬
cidence of paufes at the end of any particular blank
verfe. We might likewife compare our heroic line with
the ancient hexameter, and endeavour to appretiate their
refpe&ive merits j but there is not a reader capable of
attending to fuch a comparifon who will not judge for
himfelf; and it may perhaps be queftioned, whether
there be two who will form precifely the fame judgment.
Mr Sheridan, and all the mere Engliflr critics, give a
high degree of preference to our heroic, on account of
the vaft variety of feet which it admits: whilft the
readers of Greek and Latin poetry prefer the hexame¬
ter, on account of its more mufical notes and maieftic
length.
P O G
P O G
Pogge
li
P°ggy
iflands.
POGGE, the MAILED or ARMED GURNARD, Or
COTTUS CATAPHRACTUS. See CoTTUS, ICHTHYOLOGY,
p. 89.
POGGIUS Bracciolinus, a man of great parts
and learning, who contributed much to the revival of
knowledge in Europe, was born at Terranuova, in the
territories of Florence, in 1380. His firft public em¬
ployment was that of writer of the apoftolic letters,
which he held 10 years, and was then made apoftolic
fecretary, in which capacity he officiated 40 years, un¬
der feven popes. In 1453, w^en he was 72 years of
age, he accepted the employment of fecretary to the re¬
public of Florence, to which place he removed, and died
in 1459. Fie vifited feveral countries, and fearched
many monafteries, to recover ancient authors, numbers
of which he brought to light: his own works confift of
moral pieces, orations, letters, and A Hiftory of Flo¬
rence from 1350 to 1455, which is the moft confider-
able of them.
FOGGY islands, othenvife called Naffau iflands,
Vol. XVII. Part I.
form part of a chain of iflands which ftretch along the Poggy
whole length of Sumatra, in the Eaft Indies, and lie at, illands-
the diftance of twenty or thirty leagues from the weft' r—*
coaft of that ifland.
The northern extremity of the northern Poggy lies
in latitude 2° 18' S., and the fouthem extremity of the
fouthern ifland in latitude 30 i6; S. The two are fepa-
rated from each other by a very narrow paflage called
the ftrait of See Cockup, in latitude 2° 4c/ S. and lon¬
gitude about ioo° 38' eaft from Greenwich.” The
number of inhabitants in thefe iflands amounts to no
more than 1400. Mr Crifp, who ftaid about a month
among them, carefully collefted many particulars ref-
pedling their language, cuftoms, and manners. He ad¬
verts to one circumftance relative to this people, which
may be confidered as a curious facl in the hiftory :
“ From the proximity of the iflands, (fays he,) to Su¬
matra, which, in refpedf to them, may be confidered as
a continent, we ffiould naturally expedt to find their in¬
habitants to be a fet of people originally derived from
G the
P O G [ so ] P O I
Peggy
iflands.
tlie Sumatra ftock, and look for fome affinity in tlieir
language and manners 5 but, to our no fmall furprife,
we find a race of men, wbofe language is totally differ¬
ent, and whole cuftoms and habits of life indicate a ve¬
ry difiinft origin, and bear a linking refemblance to
thofe of the inhabitants of the late difeovered iffands in
the great Pacific ocean.”
There is fafe riding for (hips of any fize in the Ifraits,
which have no other defied! as a harbour than the depth
of the water (25 fathoms clofe in fhore). The face of
the country, and its vegetable and animal productions,
are deferibed in the following words:
“ The mountains are covered with trees to their fum-
mits, among which are found fpecies of excellent tim¬
ber ; the tree, called by the Malays, bintangoor, and
which, on the other India, is called pohoon, abounds
here. Of this tree are made mails, and fome are found
of fufficient dimenlions for the lower mall of a firll-rate
ffiip of war. During my flay here I did not difeover a
fingle plant which we have not on Sumatra. The fago
tree growing in plenty, and conftitutes the chief article
of food to the inhabitants, who do not cultivate rice 5
the cocoa-nut tree and the bamboo, two moll ufeful
plants, are found here in great plenty. They have a
variety of fruits, common in thefe climates, fuch as
mangofxeens, pine-apples, plantains, buah, chvpah, &c.
The woods, in their prefent Hate, are impervious to
man ; the fpecies of wild animals which inhabit them
are but few; the large red deer, feme hogs, and feveral
kinds of monkeys are to be found here, but neither buf¬
faloes, nor goats 5 ner are theie forells infefted, like
thofe of Sumatra, with tigers or any other beaft of prey.
Of domellic poultry, there is only the common fowl,
which probably has been originally brought from Suma¬
tra •, but pork and filh conftitute the favourite animal
food of the natives. Filh are found here in confiderable
plenty, and very good.”
The llaiure of the inhabitants of thefe ifiands feldcm
exceeds five feet and a half; their colour is like that of
the Malays} they pradlife tattooing, and file their teeth
to a point*, and though of a mild dilpofition, they have
fome of the filthy cultoms of favages, particularly that
of picking vermin from their heads and eating them.
Their mode of tattooing, as well as the treatment of
their dead, is reprefented to be very fimilar to the prac¬
tices of the Otaheitans.
“ The religion of this people, (fays Mr Crifp), if it can
be faid that they have any, may truly be called the re¬
ligion of nature. A belief of the exillence of fome
powTers more than human cannot fail to be excited among
the moll uncultivated of mankind, from the obfervations
of various ftriking natural phgenomena, fuch as the diur¬
nal revolution of the fun and moon; thunder and light¬
ning*, earthquakes, &c. &c.: nor will there ever be
wanting among them fome, of fuperior talents and cun¬
ning, who will acquire an influence over w7eak minds,
by affuming to themfelves an intereft with, or a power
of controuling thofe fuper-human agents ; and fuch no¬
tions conftitute the religion of the inhabitants of the
Poggys. Sometimes a fowl, and fometimes a hog, is
facrificed to avert ficknefs, to appeafe the wrath of the
offended power, or to render it propitious to fome pro¬
jected enterprife ; and Mr Belt was informed that omens
of goo^ or ill fortune were drawn from certain appear¬
ances in the entrails of the viftlm. Put they have no
form of religious worlhip, nor do they appear to have
the moll dill ant idea of a future (late of rewards and pu-,
nifhments. They do not praclife circumcilion.' 
AJiatic Refearches. «
POGO, is the name by which the inhabbants of the
Philippine iflands diftinguilh their quail, which, though
fmalier than ours, is in every other refpedt very like it.
POICTIERS, an ancient, large, and confiderable
town of France, capital of Poitlou. It was a bilhop’s
fee, and contained four abbeys, a mint, an univerfity fa¬
mous for law, 22 parilhes, 9 convents for men, and j 2
nunneries. There are here feveral Roman antiquities,
and particularly an amphitheatre, but partly demolilhed,
and hid by the houfes. There is alfo a triumphal arch,
which ferves as a gate to the great ftreet. It is not
peopled in proportion to its extent. Near this place
Edward the Black Prince gained a decifive victory over
the French, taking King John and his fon Philip pri-
foners, in 1356, whom he afterwards brought over into
England. See France, N° 71, &x.—It is feated on a
hill on the river Clain, 52 miles iouih-welt of Tours,
and 1 20 north by call of Bourdeaux. E. Long. o. 25.
N. Lat. 46. 35.
POICTOU, a province of France, bounded on the
north by Bretagne, Anjou, and part of Touraine : on
the call by Touraine, Berry, and Manche ^ on the fouth
by Angoumors, Saintonge, and the territory of Aunis j
and on the weft by the lea of Galcony. It is divided
into ihe Upper and Lower ; and is fertile in corn and
wine, and feeds a great number of cattle, particularly
mules. It was in poffeflxon of the kings of England for
a confiderable time, till it was loft by the unfortunate
Henry VI. PoiCliers is the capital town.
Cv/rc cf PCICTOU. See MEDICINE, N° 303.
POINCIANA, Barbaboes flower-fence 5 a
genus of plants belonging to the decandria clafs *, and
in the natural method ranking under the 33d order,
Lomentacece. See Botany Index.—Of this genus there
is only one fpecies, the pulcherrima, which is a native
of both Indies, and grows to the height of 1 o or 12
feet, producing flowers of a very agreeable odour. In
Barbadoes it is planted in hedges to divide the lands,
whence it has the name of flower-fence. In the Weft
Indies, its leaves are made ule of as a purgative inftead
of fenna j and in Jamaica it is called flenna.
POINT, a term ufed in various arts.
Point, in Grammar, a charaCler tiled to mark the di-
vifions of difeourfe. (See Comma, Colon, &c. A point
proper is what wre otherwife call a full flop or period.
See Punctuation.
Point, in Geometry, according to Euclid, is that
which has neither parts nor magnitude.
Point, in Mufic, a mark or note anciently ufed to
diftinguilh the tones or founds : hence we Hill call it
[i?nple counter-point, when a note of the lowrer part nn-
fwers exadlly to that of an upper \ and figurative coun¬
ter-point, when any note is fynccpated, and one of the
parts makes feveral notes or inflexions of the voice, while
the other holds on one.
We Hill ufe a point, to raife the value of a note, and
prolong its time by one half, e. g. a point added to a
femibreve inftead of two minims, makes it equai to three j
and fo of the other notes. See the article Time.
Point,
Pog*
li
Point.
p o I [ S
POINT, in Aflronomy, a term applied to certain points
or places marked in the heavens, and diftinguithed by
prope' epithets.
The four grand points or divifions of the horizon,
viz. the eaft, weft, north, and fouth, are called the car-
*1'nal points. 1
The zenith and nadir are the vertical points ; the
points wherein the orbits of the planets cut the plane of
the ecliptic are called the nodes : the points wherein the
equator and ecliptic interfect are called the equinoBial
points : particularly, that whence the lun afcends towards
the north pole, is called the vernal point; and that by
which he defcends to the fouth pole, the autumnal point.
The points of the ecliptic, where the fun’s afcent above
the equator, and defcent below it, terminate, are called
the foljliiial points ; particularly the former of them, the
ejlival or fummer-point; the latter, the brumal or win¬
ter-point.
Point is alfo uhd for a cape or headland jutting out
into the fea : thus feamen fay, two points of land are in
one another, when they are fo in a right line againft
each other, as that the innermoft is hindered from being
feen by the outermoft.
Point, in PerfpeBive, is ufed for various poles or
places, with regard to the perfpeftive plane. See Per-
SPECTIVE.
Point is alfo an iron or fteel inftrument, ufed with
fome variety in feveral arts. Engravers, etchers, cut¬
ters in wood, &c. ufe points to trace their defigns on
the copper, wrood, ftone, &c. See the articles Engra¬
ving, &c.
Point, in the ManufaBories, is a general term, ufed
for all kinds of laces wrought with the needle} fuch are
the point de Venice, point de France, point de Genoa,
&c. which are diftinguilhed by the particular economy
and arrangement of their points.—Point -,is fometimes
ufed for lace woven with bobbins 5 as Engliih point,
point de Malines, point d’Havre, &c.
Point, in Poetry, denotes a lively brilk turn or con¬
ceit, ufually found or expected at the clofe of an epigram.
See Poetry, n° 169.
PoiNT-Blank, in Gunnery, denotes the ftiot of a gun
levelled horizontally, without either mounting or fink¬
ing the muzzle of the piece.—In fhooting point-blank,
the fhot or bullet is fuppofed to go direftly forward in
a ftraight line to the mark •, and not to move in a curve,
as bombs and highly elevated random-ftiots do.—When
a piece Hands upon a level plane, and is laid level, the
diftance between the piece and the point wFere the fhot
touches the ground firft, is called the point-blank range
of that piece *, but as the fame piece ranges more or lels,
according to a greater or lefs charge, the point-blank
range is taken from that of a piece loaded with fuch a
charge as is ufed commonly in aftion. It is therefore
neceflary that thefe ranges of all pieces (hould be known,
fince the gunner judges from thence what elevation he
is to give to his piece when he is either farther from or
nearer to the objefl to be fired at ; and this he can do
pretty nearly by fight, after confiderable praftice.
POINTING, in Grammar, the art of dividing a dif-
courfe, by points, into periods and members of periods,
in order to (how the proper paufes to be made in read¬
ing, and to facilitate the pronunciation and underftand-
ing thereof. See the article' Punctuation.
POINTS, in Heraldry, are the feveral different parts
1 ] p o 1
of an efcutcheon, denoting the local pofitions of any fi¬
gure. See Heraldry.
Points, in EleBricity, are thofe acute terminations of
bodies which facilitate the paifage of the electrical fluid
from or to fuch bodies. See Electricity.
Points, or Vowel Points, in the Hebrew language.
See Philology, Seft. 1. n0 31, &c.
POISON, is any fubftance which proves deftruCtive
to the life of animals in a fmall quantity, either taken
by the mouth, mixed with the blood, or applied to the
nerves. See Medicine, n° 261, 269, 303, 322, 408,
&c. &c.
Of poifons there are many different kinds, which are
exceedingly various in their operations. The mineral
poifons, as arfenic and corrofive mercury, feem to attack
the folid parts of the ftomach, and to produce death by
eroding its fubftance : the antimonials feem rather to at¬
tack the nerves, and to kill by throwing the whole fy~
ftem into convulfions 5 and in this manner alio moft of
the vegetable poifons feem to operate. All of thefe,
however, feem to be inferior in ftrength to the poifons
of fome of the more deadly kinds of ferpents, which ope¬
rate fo fuddenly that the animal bit by them will be
dead before another that had fwallowed arfenic would
be affefted.
Much has been written concerning a poifon made ufe
of by the African negroes, by the Americans, and by
the Eaft Indians. To this very ftrange effects have
been aferibed. It has been faid, that by this poifon, a
man might be killed at any certain time 5 as, for in-
fiance, after the interval of a day, a week, a month, a
year, or even feveral years. Thefe wonderful effects,
however, do not feem worthy of credit •, as the Abbe
Fontana has given a particular account -of an American
poifon called ticunas, which in all probability is the fame
with that ufed in Africa and the Eaft Indies } and from
his account it is extremely improbable that any fuch ef-
fefts could be produced with certainty.
With this poifon the Abbe was furniflied by Dr He-
berden. It was clofed and fealed up in an earthen pot
inclofed in a tin-cafe. Within the tin-cafe was a note
containing the following words : “ Indian poifon, brought
from the banks of the river of the Amazons by Don
Pedro Maldonado. It is one of the forts mentioned
in the Philofophical Tranfaftions, vol. xlvii. n° 12.”
In the volume of the Philofophical Tranfadlions here
quoted, mention is made of two poifons little different in
their adlivity ; the one called the poifon of lamas, and
the other of ticunas. The poifon in the earthen vef-
fel ufed by the Abbe Fontana was that of the ticunas ;
he was alfo furniflied with a number of American ar¬
rows dipped in poifon, but whether that of the lamas or
ticunas he could not tell.
Our author begins his account of the nature of this
poifon with detedling fome of the miftakes which had
been propagated concerning it.—It had been afferted,
that the ticunas poifon proves noxious by the mere ef¬
fluvia, but much more by the fleam which exhales from
it in boiling or burning : that, among the Indians, it is
prepared only by women condemned to die •, and that
the mark of its being fufficiently prepared, is when the
attendant is killed by its fleam. All thefe affertions are
by the Abbe refuted in the cleared manner. He ex-
pofed a young pigeon to the fmell of the poifon when
the veffel was opened, to the fleam of it when boiling,
G 2 and
p o I [ 52 1 P O I
ifon. and to the vapour of it when burning to the (ides of the
veffel, without the animal’s being the lealt injured ; on
which, concluding that the vapours of this poifon were
not to be dreaded, he expofed himfelf to them without
any fear.
X'his poifon diflblves very readily even in cold water,
and likewile in the vegetable and mineral acids. With
o.l of vitriol it becomes as black as ink, but not with the
reft of the acids. In o:l of vitriol it alfo diffolves more
ilowly than in any of the red. It does not effervefce
with acids or alkalies; neither does it alter milk, nor
tinge it, except with the natural colour of the poifon }
nor does it tinge the vegetable juices either red or green.
When examined by the microfcope, there is no appear¬
ance of regularity or cryftallizaiion ; but it for the moll
part appears made up of very fmall, irregular, roundifh
bodies, like vegetable juices. It dries without making
any noife, and has an extremely bitter talte when put
upon the tongue.
The ticunas poifon is harmlefs when put into the eyes;
nor is it fatal when taken by the mouth, unlefs the quan¬
tity is confiderable. Six grains of the folid poifon, dif-
folved in water, killed a young pigeon which drank it
in lefs than 20 minutes. Five grains killed a fmall Gui¬
nea-pig in 25 minutes. Eight grains killed a rabbit in
an hour and eight minutes, &c. In thofe experiments
it was obferved, that much lefs poifon was required to
kill an animal whofe llomach was empty than one that
had a full llomach. Three rabbits and two pigeons were
killed in lefs than 35 minutes, by taking a dole of three
grains each on an empty llomach ; but, when the expe¬
riment was repeated on five animals with full ftomachs,
only one of them died. .
The moll fatG operation of this poifon is when mixed
with the blood. The fmaliell quantity, inje&ed into the
jugular vein, killed the animal as if by a ftroke of light¬
ning. When applied to wounds in fuch a manner that
tne flowing of the blood could not walh it away, the ani¬
mal fell into convullions and a train of fatal nerveus
fymptoms, which put an end to its life in a few minutes.
Yet, notwithllanding thefe feeming affeftions of the
nerves, the poifon proved harmlefs when applied to the
naked nerves themfelves, or even to the medullary fub-
Eance of them flit open.
The ftrength of this poifon feems to be diminifhed,
and even dtftroyed, by mineral acids, but not at all by
alkalies or ardent Ipirits } but if the frefli poifon was ap¬
plied to a wound, the application of mineral acids im¬
mediately after could not remove the pernipious effedls.
So far, indeed, was this from being the cafe, that the ap- Poifon
plication of nitrous acid to the wounded mufcle of a :—°-v—
pigeon, killed the animal in a Ihort time without any
poiion at all.— 1 he eiledls of the arrows were equally
fatal with thole of the poifon itielf (a).
ihe poifon of the viper is analogous in its effedls
to that of ticunas, but inferior in ilrength; the lat¬
ter killing more inllantaneoufly when injected into a
vein than even the poilon of the moil venomous rattle-
fnake.
The Abbe has, however, obferved a difference in the1
aflion of the two poii'ons upon blood taken out of the
body. He cut oft the head of a pigeon, and received
its blood into warm conical glaffes, to the amount of
about 80 drops into each. Into the blood contained in
one porringer, he put four drops of water; and into the
other four drops of the poifon diffolved in water as ufual.
The event of this experiment was, that the blood, with
which the water only was mixed, coagulated in a fliort
time ; but that in which the poiion was mixed did not
coagulate at all. The poiion of the viper alfo hinders
the blood from coagulating, but gives it a much blacker
tinge than the poiion of the ticunas. The poiibn of
the viper alio proves certainly fatal when injected into
the veins, even in very fmall quantity 5 but it produces
a kind of grumous coagulation and blacknefs in the blood
when drawn from a vein, though it prevents the proper
coagulation of that fluid, and its feparation into craffa-
mentum and ferum as ufual.
In the Philofophical Tranfadtions, N° 335. wTe have
a number of experiments w’hich ihow the effects of ma¬
ny different poifons upon animals ; from w'hence it ap¬
pears, that many fubftances which are not at all account¬
ed poifonous, yet prove as certainly fatal when mixed
with the blood as even the poifon of rattlefnakes, or the
ticunas itfelf.—An ounce of emetic wine, being injeft-
ed into the jugular vein of a large dog, produced no
effebl for a quarter of an hour. At the expiration of
that fpace he became fick, had a continual vomiting,
and evacuation of feme hard excrements by ftool. By
thefe evacuations he feemed to be fomewhat relieved 5
but foon grew uneafy, moved from place to place, and
vomited again. After this he laid himfelf down on the
ground pretty quietly ; but his reft was difturbed by a
return of his vomiting, and his ftrength greatly decrea-
: fed. An hour and a half after the operation he ap¬
peared half dead, but was greatly revived by having
ibme warm broth poured down his throat with a funnel.
This, however, proved only a temporary relief; for in
a
(a) hA Paterfon, in his travels in Africa, in the years 1777-8-9, fell in with an European wmman who had been
wounded with a poifoned arrow. Great pains had been taken to cure her, but in vain ; for at different periods of
the year an inflammation came oft which wras fucceeded by a partial mortification. She told him that the wound
was eafily healed up •, but in two months afterwards there was a certainty of its breaking out again, and this had
been the cafe for many years. The Hottentots poifon their arrows with a fpecies of euphorbia. The amaryllis
difticha, a large bulbous plant growing about the Cape of Good Hope, called mad poifony is ufed for the fame pur¬
pose. 1 Sie natives take the bulbs when they are putting out their leaves, cut them tranfverfely, extract a thick
fluid, and keep it in the fun till it acquires the eonfiftence of gum, when it is fit for ufe. With arrows poifoned
witn this gum, they kill antelopes and other fmall animals intended for food. After they are wounded, the animals
generally run for feveral miles, and are frequently not found till next day. When the leaves of this plant are young,
tne cattle are very fond of them, though they occafion inftant death. Mr Paterfon mentions another fhrubby plant
producing a nut, called by the Dutch vjoclf gift or wo/f poifon, the only poifon ufeful to the European inhabitants.
I he nuts are roafted like coffee, pulverized, and fluffed into fome pieces of meat or a dead dog, which are thrown,
into the fields. By this means the voracious hyenas are generally killed.
P.° 1 , .[5
Poifon. a {liort time the vomiting returned, he made urine in
—z'”— great quantity, howled miferably, and died in convul-
fions.—A dram and a half of lal ammoniac diffolved
in an ounce and a half of water, and injefted into the
jugular vein of a dog, killed him with convulfions al-
mofl inftantly.—The fame effeft followed from inject¬
ing a dram of fait of tartar diffolved in an ounce of
warm water 3 but a dram and a half of common fait
injefted into the jugular produced little other bad come-
quence than a temporary thirft.—A dram of purified
white vitriol, injected into the crural vein of a dog,
killed him immediately,—Fifteen grains of fait of urine
dilTolved in an ounce of water, and injefted into the
crural vein of a dog, threw him into fuch violent con-
vullions that he feemed to be dying 3 neverthelefs he re¬
covered from a fecond dofe, though not without a great
deal of difficulty : but an ounce of urine made by a
man falling produced no bad effeft. Diluted aqua¬
fortis injefted into the jugular and crural vein of a dog
killed him immediately by coagulating the blood. Oil
of fulphur (containing fome quantity of the volatile vi¬
triolic acid) did not kill a dog after repeated trials. On
the contrary, as foon as he was let go, he ran into all
the corners of the room fearching for meat 3 and hav¬
ing found fome bones, he fell a gnawing them with
ftrange avidity, as if the acid, by injeftion into his veins,
had given him a better appetite.—Another dog who
had oil of tartar injected into his veins, fwelled and
died, after fuffering great torment. His blood was
found florid, and not coagulated.—A dram and a half
of fpirit of fait diluted with water, and injefted into the
jugular vein of a dog, killed him immediately. In the
right ventricle of the heart the blood was found partly
grumous and concreted into harder clots than ordinary,
and partly frothy. Warm vinegar was injected with¬
out doing, any manifelt harm.—Two drams of fugar
diffolved in an ounce of water were injedted into the
jugular vein of a dog without any hurt.
Thefe are the refults of the experiments where faline
fubftances were injefted into the veins. Many acrids
proved equally fatal. A decodlion of two drams of
rvhite hellebore, injedled into the jugular vein of a dog,
killed him like a ftroke of lightning. Another dog
was killed in a moment by an injedlion of an ounce of
reftified fpirit of wine in which a dram of camphor was
diffolved.—Ten drams of highly redtified fpirit of wine,
injedled into the crural vein of a dog, killed him in a
very fhort time : he died quietly, and licking his jaws
wdth his tongue, as if with pleafure. In the vena cava
and right ventricle of the heart the blood was coagula¬
ted into a great many little clots.—Three drams of rec¬
tified fpirit of wine injedled into the crural vein of a
fmall dog made him apopledtic, and as it were half dead.
In a little time he recovered from the apoplexy, and be¬
came giddy 3 and, when he endeavoured to go, reeled
and fell down. Though his itrength increafed by de¬
grees, yet his drunkennefs continued. His eyes were
red and fiery 3 and his fight fo dull that he fcarce feem¬
ed to take notice of any thing : and when he was beat,
he would fcarce move. However, in four hours he be¬
gan to recover, and would eat bread when offered him 3
the next day he was out of danger.—Five ounces of
flrong white wine injedled into the crural vein of a dog
made him very drunk for a few hours, but did not pro¬
duce any other confequences. An ounce of ffrong de-
3 1 P O t
codlion of tobacco Snjefted into a vein killed a dog in
a very Ihort time in terrible convulfions. Ten drops of
oil of fage rubbed with half a dram of fugar, and thus
diflblved in water, did no harm by being injected into
the blood.
Mercury, though feemingly void of all acrimony,
proves alfo fatal when injected into the blood. Soon
after the injection of hall an ounce of this mineral into
the jugular vein of a dog, he was feized with a dry
fhort cough which came by intervals. About two days
after, he was troubled with a great difficulty of breath¬
ing, and made a noife like that of a broken-winded
horfe. There was no tumour about the root of the
tongue or the parotid glands, nor any appearance of a
falivation. In four days he died 3 having been for twa
days before fo much troubled with an orthopnoea, that
he could fieep only when he leaned his head againft
fomething. When opened, about a pint of bloody fe-
rum was found in the thorax, and the outfide of the
lungs in moft places was bliftered. Some of the bliilers
were larger and others fmaller than a pea, but molt of
them contained mercurial globules. Several of them
were broken 3 and upon being preiTed a little, the mer¬
cury ran out with a mixture of a little fanies 5 but upon
llronger preffure, a confiderable quantity of fanies iffued
out. In the right ventricle of the heart lome particles
of quickfilver were found in the very middle of the coa¬
gulated blood lodged there, and the fame thing alfo was
obferved in the pulmonary artery. Some blood alfo was
found coagulated in a very llrange and unufual manner
between the columnae of the right ventricle of the heart,
and in this a greater quantity of quickfilver than any¬
where elfe. In the left ventricle was found a very tena¬
cious blood, coagulated, and flicking to the great valve,
including the tendons of it, and a little refembling a po¬
lypus. No mercury could be found in this ventricle by
the moft diligent fearch 3 whence it appears, that the
mercury had paffed no farther than the extremities of
the pulmonary artery, where it had ftuck, and occalion-
ed fatal obftrudlions.—In another dog, which had mer¬
cury injecfted into the jugular, it appears to have paffetl
the pulmonary artery, as part of it was found in the ca¬
vity of the abdomen, and part alfo in lome other ca¬
vities of the body. All the glandules were very tur¬
gid and full of liquor, efpecially in the ventricles of
the brain, and all round there was a great quantity of
ferum.
In like manner, oil of olives proves certainly fatal
when injefled into the blood. Half an ounce of this,
injedled into the crural vein of a dog, produced no ef-
fedl in half a quarter of an hour : but after that, the
animal barked, cried, looked dejedled, and fell into a
deep apoplexy 3 fo that his limbs were deprived of all
fenfe and motion, and were flexible any way at plea¬
fure. His refpiration continued very ftrong, with a
fnorting and wheezing, and a thick humour fometimes
mixed with blood flowing out of his mouth. He loft
all external fenfe: the e^s, though they continued open,
were not fenfible of any objedls that were put to them 3
and even the cornea could be touched and rubbed,
without his being the leaft fenfible of it ; his eyelids,
however, had a convulfive motion. The hearing was.
quite loft 3 and in a ffiort time the feeling became fo
dull, that his claws and ears could be bored with red-
hot pincers without his expreffing the leaft fenfe of pain.
Sometimes.
Poifon.
POT [ 54 ] POT
Poifoii. Sometimes be was feized with a convulfive motion of
v ^ the diaphragm and mufcles i'ubfervient to refpiration
upon which he would bark ftrongly, as if he had been
awake : but this waking was only in appearance ; 'for
all the time of this barking he continued as infenfible
as ever. In three hours he died ‘7 and on opening his
body, the bronchiae were filled with a thick froth.—
An ounce of oil of olives injected into the jugular of
another dog killed him in a moment •, but a thhd
lived an hour after it. He w^ Seized with great fleepi-
nefs, fnor^”~ arcj wheezing, but did not bark like the
firfl. In all of them a great quantity of thick froth
was found in the lungs.
We come now to fpeak of thofe poifons which prove
mortal (b) when taken by the mouth. The principal
of thefe are, arfeniq corrofive fublimate or muriate of
mercury, glafs of antimony, and lead. What the ef-
fe£ls of thefe fubftances are when injedded into the blood,
cannot be related, as no experiments feem to have been
made with them in that way, excepting antimony, whole
effefts have been already mentioned. The effedls of
opium, w’hen injected into the veins, feem to be fimilar
to its effefts when taken by the mouth. Fifty grains of
opium, diffolved in an ounce of water, were injedded into
the crural vein of a cat. Immediately after the operation
flie feemed much dejedfted, but did not cry ; only made
a low, interrupted, and complaining noife. This w7as
lucceeded by trembling of the limbs, convullive motions
of the eyes, ears, lips, and almoft all parts of the body,
with violent convulfions of the bread. Sometimes (lie
would rajfe up her head, and feem to look about her;
but her eyes were very dull, and looked dead. Though
lire was let loofe, and had nothing tied about her neck,
yet her mouth was fo filled with froth, that lire wras
almoft ftrangled. At laft, her convulfive motions con-
tinu’ng, and being feized with ftretching of her limbs,
lire died in a quarter of an hour. Upon opening the
body, the blood was found not to be much altered from
its natural ftate.- A dram and a half of opium was
diffolved in an ounce and a half of water, and then in¬
jected into the crural vein of a lufty ftrong dog. He
ftruggled violently ; made a loud noife, though his
jaws were tied ; had a great difficulty of breathing, and
palpitation of the heart, with corfvulfive motions of
almoft all parts of his body. Thefe fymptoms were
fucceeded by a profound and apopleftic fteep. Having
untied him, he lay upon the ground without moving
or making any noife, though feverely beaten. About
half an hour after he began to recover fome fenre, and
would move a little when beaten. The fieepinefs ftill
decreafed j fo that in an hour and a half he would make
a noife and walk a little when beat. However, he died Poifbn.
in four days, after having voided a quantity of fetid'“““''V-"
excrements, in colour refembling the diluted opiufn he
had fwallowed.
I he oil of tobacco has generally been reckoned a
very violent poifotl when introduced into the blood ;
but from fne abbe Fontana’s experiments, it appears
to bn tar inferior in ftrength to the poifon of ticu-
Iias, or to the bite of a viper. A drop of oil of to¬
bacco was put into a fmall inciiion in the right thigh
of a pigeon, and in two minutes the animal could not
Hand on its right foot. The fame experiment was
repeated on another pigeon, and produced exaClly the
fame effeCl. In another cafe, the oil was applied to a
flight wound in the breaft j three minutes after which, the
animal could not ftand on the left foot. This experi¬
ment was alfo repeated a fecond time, with the fame
foccefs. A tooth-pick, fteeped in oil of tobacco, and
introduced into the mufcles of the breaft, made the
animal fall down in a fewr feconds as if dead. Ap¬
plied to two others, they threw7 up feveral times all the
food they had eaten. Two others treated in the fame
manner, but with empty ftomachs, made many efforts
to vomit.—In general, the vomiting was found to be
a conftant effeCl of this poifon : but the lofs of motion
in the part to which the poifon is applied, was found
to be only accidental. None of the animals died by the
application of oil of tobacco. Dr Leake however ai-
ferts the contrary •, faying, that this oil, wffiich is ufed
by the Indians in poiioning arrow's, when infufed into
a frefti wound, befides ficknefs and vomiting, occafions
convulfions and death. See PraEtical PJJoij on Dfeafes
of the Vifcera, p. 67.
The pernicious effefts of laurel-water are taken no¬
tice of under the article Medicine, n° 261. The ac¬
count is confirmed by the experiments of the Abbe
Fontana ; who tells us, that it not only kills in a fliort
time, when taken by the mouth, but that, v.ffien given
in fmall dofes, the animal writhes fo that the head joins
the tail, and the vertebra; arch out in fuch a manner as
to ftrike with horror every one who fees it. In order
to afeertain the effects of this water when taken into
the blood, our author opened the fkin of the lower belly
of a pretty large rabbit, and made a wound in it about
an inch long ; and having flightly wounded the mufcles
under it in many parts, applied twro or three tea fpoon-
fuls of laurel-wTater. The animal fell dowm convulfed
in lefs than three minutes, and died foon after. The
experiment w7as repeated with fimilar fuccefs in other
animals : but w7as always found to aft rnoft powerfully,
and in the ftiorteft time, when taken by the mouth, or
injefted
* See (b) Of all poifons * thofe which maybe called culinary are perhaps the moft deftruftive, becaufe they are f See
generally the leaft fufpefted. All copper f veffels, therefore, and veffels of bell-metal, which contains copper,o/C&/-
Treatife on ^10u^ ^al<^ Even the common earthen-ware, when they contain acids, as in pickling, become very per-.Pm
Bifcafis of n^cl'ous) as riiey are glazed with' lead, which in the fmalleft quantity when diffolved is very fatal •, and even tin, the
the Vifcera. leaft exceptionable of the metals for culinary purpofes except iron, is not always quite free of poilonous qualities,
it having been found to contain a fmall portion of aifenic. Muftirooms and the common laurel are alfo very fatal.
The bitter almond contains a pcifon, and its antidote likewife. The cordial dram ratafia, much ufed in France,
is a flow poiion, its flavour being procured from the kernels of peach, black cherry ftones, &c.—The fpirit of
lauro cerafus is peculiarly fatal. The adulteration of bread, beer, wine, porter, &c. produces very fatal confe-
quences, and merits exemplary punifliment. Next to culinary poifons, the abufe of medcines deferves particular
attention.
2
p
O I
[ 55 ]
P O I
Poifon. injected by way of clyfter. From thefe experiments,
v—^ however, he concluded, that laurel-wafer would kill
by being injected into the blood : but in this he was
deceived; for two rabbits had each of them a large tea-
fpoonful injefted into the jugular vein, without any in¬
convenience, either at the time of injedlion or alter-
wards. It proved innocent alfowhen applied to the bare
nerves, and even when introduced into the medullary
fubftance.
We ought now to give fome account of the proper
antidotes for each kind of poifon ; but from what has
been related eoncerning the extreme activity of lome
of them, it is evident that in many cafes there can be
but very little hope. People are moft apt to be bit by
ferpents in the legs or hands ; and as the poifun, from
the Abbe Fontana’s experiments, appears to a£f only
in confequerrce of being abforbed into the blood, it is
plain, that to prevent this abforption is the chief indi¬
cation of cure. We have recommended feveral methods
for this purpofc under the article Medicine, n°4o8.;
but the Abbe Fontana propofes another not mentioned
there, namely, ligature. This, if properly applied be¬
tween the wounded part and the heart, muff certainly
prevent the bad effeffs of the poifon: but then it tends
to produce a diieale almoft equally fatal; namely, a gan¬
grene of the part j and our author gives in dances of
animals being thus deftroyed after the e it efts of the
poifon were prevented ; for which reafon he prefers am¬
putation. But the good effefts of either of thefe me¬
thods, it is evident, mult depend greatly on the nature
of the part wounded, and the time w'hen the ligature
is applied, or the amputation performed. If the teeth
of the ferpent, or the poifoned arrow, happens to ftrike
a large vein, the only poffibility of efcaping inltant death
is to cornprefs the trunk of the vein above the wounded
place, and to enlarge the wTound, that the blood may
flow freely, and in large quantity, in order to wafh
away the poifon, and difeharge the infefted parts of the
blood itfelf. If this is neglected, and the perfon falls
into the agonies of death, perhaps ftrongly ftimulating
medicines given in large dofes, and continued for a
length of time, may enable nature to counteraft the vi¬
rulence of the poifon. For this purpofe volatile alkalies
feem molt proper, as afting fooneft, (fee Medicine) j
and perhaps a combination of them with ether might be
advantageous, as by the volatility of that medicine the
activity of the alkali would probably be increafed. In
the Philofophical Tranfaftions, wre have an account of
the recovery of a dog feemingly by means of the volatile
alkali, when probably he was in a dying condition.
This dog indeed feems to have had a remarkable ftrength
of conftitution. The poor creature had firft got two
ounces of the juice of nightfhade, wFich he bore without
any inconvenience. An equal quantity of the juice of
hemlock was then given him without effeft. He then got
a lafge dofe of the root ox wolfsbane with the fame fuc-
cefs. Two drams of white hellebore root were next
given. Thefe caufed violent vomitings and purgings, but
Hill he outlived the operation. He was then made to
fwallow five roots of the colchicum, or meadow-falfron,
dug frefh out of the earth. The effeft of thefe was limi-
lar to that of the white hellebore, but ftill he did not
die. Laftly, he got two drams of opium and he even
outlived this dofe. He was firft call into a deep fleep
by it } but foon awaked, and was feized with violent
vomitings and purgings, which carried off the efftcl of Poitbn.
the opium. Seeing then that the animal had refitted the '-“y-"—
moft violent poifons, it was relolvcd to try the effects of
the bite of a viper ; and he was accordingly bit three or
four times on the belly a little below the navel by one
enraged. The immediate confequence of this was an in¬
cipient gangrene in the parts adjoining to the wound, as
appeared by the rifing of little black bladders filled with
a famous matter, and a livid colour which propagated
itfelf ail around. The motion of the heart became very
faint and irregular, and the animal lay without ftrength
or fenfation, as if lie had been feized with a lethargy
or apoplexy. In this condition his wound was cupped
and Icarified, and Venice treacle (a famous antidote) ap¬
plied to it. In two hours after this all the fymptoms
were increafed, and he feemed to be nearly dead; upon
which half a dram of volatile fait of hartfhorn mixed
with a little broth was poured down his throat; and the
confequence v as, that in a fhort time he was able to
ftand on his feet and walk. Another dofe entirely dif-
pellcd his lethargy, and the heart began to recover its
ftrength. However, he continued very weak 5 and
though he ate no folid meat for three days, yet at the
end of that time his ftrength was evidently increafed.
The firft day he drank water plentifully and greedily,
and on the fecond day he drank lome broth. On the
third day he began to eat folid meat, and feemed out of
danger 5 only fome large and foul ulcers remained on
that part of the belly which was bit, and before thefe
w^ere healed he was killed by another dog.
From comparing this with lome other obfervations,
indeed, it would ieem that volatile alkali is the Left an¬
tidote againft all poifons which fuddenly kill by a mix¬
ture with the blood, and even of fome others. Indeed,
its effects in curing the bite of fnakes feems to be put
beyond all doubt, by a paper in the 2d volupie of the
Afiatic Refearches, p. 323. “ From the effeft; of a
ligature applied between the bitten part and the heart
(fays Mr Williams, the author of the paper,) it is evident
that the poifon diffufes itfelf over the body by the re¬
turning venous blood ; deftroying the irritability, and
rendering the fyftem paralytic. It is therefore pro¬
bable, that the volatile cauftic alkali, in refitting the
difeafe of the poifon, does not aft fo much as a fpecific
in deftroying its quality, as by counterafting the effeft
on the fyftem, by ftimulating the fibres, and preferring
that irritability which it tends to deftroy.”
But whatever be the mode of its operation, the me¬
dicine is unqueftionably powerful. Mr Williams ufed
either the volatile cauftic alkali, or eau-de-luce ; the for¬
mer of which he feems to have preferred. Of it he
gave 60 drops as a elefe in water, and of the eau-de-luce
he gave 40, at the fame time applying fome of the me¬
dicine to the part bitten, and repeating the dofe as he
found occafion. Of feven cafes, feme of which were
apparently very defperate, only one died, and that appears
to have been occafioned by bad treatment after the cure.
Many of the patients wTere perfeftly recovered in feven
or eight minutes, and none oi them required more than
two hours : On the whole, Mr Williams’ fays that he
“ neve^ knew an inftance of the volatile cauftic alkali
failing in its effect, where the patient has been able to
fwallow it.” Dr Mead afferts, that the alkali counter-
afts the deadly effects of laurel-water; w'e have feen its
effefts in curing the bite of a viper, and of fnakes; and
from..
p o i r 56 i p o 1
Poxfon. from Dr Wolfe’s experiments on Kydropliobous pa-
tients, it may even claim fome merit there. Still,
however, there is another method of attempting a cure
in fuch deplorable cafes ; and that is, by injecting into
the veins any thing which will not deftroy life, but will
deftroy the effects of the poifon. It is much to be
regretted, that in thofe cruel experiments which we
have already related, the intention feems almoft al¬
ways to have been to kill the animal at all events j
whereas, it ought to have been to preferve him alive,
and to afcertain what medicines could be fafely inject¬
ed into the blood, and what could not, with the effedts
which followed the injeCtion of different quantities,
none of which wrere fufficient to deftroy life. But in
the w7ay they were managed, fcarce any conclufion can
be drawn from them. Indeed it appears that little good
is to be expeCted from this mode; it is mere fpecula-
tion, and future experiments muft fhow whether it ever
ftiall be ufed for the cure of poifons, or for any other
purpofes : its being now totally laid afide, feems to mili¬
tate ftrongly againft the efficacy of it j befides, the ex¬
treme cruelty of the operation will ever be a ftrong bar
to its general introduction . See Injection.
There ftill remains another method of cure in defpe-
rate cafes, wdien there is a certainty that the whole
mafs of blood is infeCted j and that is, by the bold at¬
tempt of changing the whole difeafed fluid for the
blood of a found animal. Experiments of this kind
have alfo been tried 5 and the method of making them,
together with the confequences of fuch as are recorded
in the Philofophical TranfaClions, wre fhall notice under
the article Transfusion.
Dr Mead, finding that many pretenders to philofo-
phy have called the goodnefs of the Creator in queftion,
for having created fubftances whofe -manifeft and obvi¬
ous qualities are noxious and deftrudive, remarks, by
■way of anfwer, that they have alfo falutary virtues.
But, befides their phyfical effeCts, they are likewife food
for animals which afford us good nourifliment, goats and
quails being fattened by hellebore, ftarlings by hemlock,
and hogs innocently eating henbane ; befides, fome of
thofe vegetables, which were formerly thought poifon-
ous, are now ufed in medicine, an^ future difcoveries
may probably increafe the number. The poifon of
many vegetables is their only defence againft the ra¬
vages of animals •, and by means of them wTe are often
enabled to defend ufeful plants from the deftroying in-
fed: fuch as by fprinkling them with effential oil of
turpentine ; and by means of fome fubftances poifonous
to them, w7e are enabled to deftroy thofe infefts w'hich in-
feft the human body, and the bodies of domeftic animals,
&c.—As for poifonous minerals, arfenic for example,
Dr Mead obferves, that it is not a perfeCt mineral, but
only an aftive fubftance, made ufe of by nature in pre¬
paring feveral metals in the earth, wdnch are of great
fervice to mankind; and, after confirming this by feve¬
ral inftances, he concludes by faying, the cafe will be
found much the fame in all natural produftions of this
kind. As for poifonous animals, &c. their noxious qua¬
lities may eafily be accounted for, by refle61ing that it is
their only mode of felf-defence.
POISON of Copper. This metal, though when in an
undiffolved ftate it produces no fenfible effedls, becomes
exceedingly aftive when diffolved ; and fuch is the faci¬
lity with which the folution is effefted, that it becomes
4
a matter of fome confequence to prevent the metal from Polfon.
being taken into the human body even in its proper y—-
form. It doth not, how'ever, appear that the poifon of
copper is equally pernicious with thoie of arfenic or
lead; much lefs wuth fome others treated of in the laft
article. . The reafon of this is, that it excites vomiting
fo fpeedily as to be expelled, even though taken in con-
fiderable quantity, before it has time to corrode the fto-
mach. . Roman vitriol, which is a folution of copper in
the vitriolic acid, has been ufed as a medicine in fome
difeafes with great fuccefs. Verdigrife alfo, which is
another very active preparation of the metal, has been
by fome phyficians prefcribed as an emetic, efpecially in
cafes where other poifons had been fwallowed, in order
to procure the moft fpeedy evacuation of them by vomit.
Where copper is not ufed with this view, it has been
employed as a tonic and antifpafmodic, with which it
has been admitted into the Edinburgh Difpenfatory un¬
der the title of Cuprum Ammoniacale. The eft efts of
the metal, however, when taken in a pretty large quan¬
tity, and in a diffolved ftate, or when the ftomach
abounds with acid juices fufficient to diffolve it, are very
difagreeable and even dangerous ; as it occafions violent
vomitings, pains in the ftomach, faintings, and fome-
times convulfions and death. The only cure for thefe
fymptoms is to expel the poifon by vomiting as foon as
poflible, and to bbtund its acrimony •, for which purpofe
drinking wrarm milk will probably be found the moft ef¬
ficacious remedy. In order to prevent the entrance of
the poifon into the body, no copper veffels ftiould be
ufed in preparing food but fuch as are either w7ell tinned
or kept exceedingly clean. The praftice of giving a
fine blue or green colour to pickles, by preparing them
in copper veffels, ought not to be tolerated ; for Dr
Falconer, in a treatife on this fubjeft, affures us, that
thefe are fometimes fo ftrongly impregnated by this me¬
thod of preparing them, that a fmall quantity of them
will produce a flight naufea. Mortars of brafs or
bell-metal ought for the fame reafon to be avoided, as by
this means a confiderable quantity of the pernicious me¬
tal may be mixed wuth our food, or with medicines. In
other cafes, an equal caution ought to be ufed. The
cuftom of keeping pins in the mouth, of giving copper
halfpence to children to play with, &c. ought to be
avoided ; as thus a quantity of the metal may be.infen-
fibly taken into the body, after which its effefts muft be
uncertain. It is proper to obferve, however, that cop¬
per is much more eafily diffolved when cold than when
hot ; and therefore the greateft care fliould be taken ne¬
ver to let any thing defigned for food, even common wa¬
ter, remain long in copper veffels when cold ; for it is
oblerved, that though the confeftioners can fafely pre¬
pare the moft acid fyrups in clean copper veffels without
their receiving any detriment whilft hot, yet if the fame
fyrups are allowed to remain in the veffels till quite cold
they become impregnated with the pernicious qualities of
the metal.
To what has now been faid relative to the effefts of
mineral poifons, w7e fhall add an account of fome experi¬
ments, fhowing that a mineral poifon may produce fudden
and violent death, although the noxious matter cannot
be detefted by chemical tefts in the contents of the fto¬
mach. As the fubjeft of this inveftigation is of great
importance in many points of view, we fhall make no
apology for laying the whole detail before our readers
without
Pol for.
POT [ 57 ] P O I
without abridgement. The experiments were made by by the nitrate of illver, (hewing that it contained muri- iWom.
Dr Boftock ot Liverpool, and the account of them is atic acid. s-—Y—*
given by the author in a letter to the editor of the Edin¬
burgh Med. and Surg. Journal, v. 14.
“ In compliance with your requelt, I fend you an ac¬
count of feme of the experiments which I made to il-
luftrate the queftion, which was propoled to me at the
late memorable trial at Lane after, whether it was pof-
fible that a mineral poifon might produce a hidden and
violent death, and yet be afterwards incapable of detec¬
tion in the contents of the ftomach ? You have al¬
ready feen, in the pamphlet that was published by Drs
Gerard and Rutter, Mr Hay, and myfelf, the effect was
produced upon dogs by corrohve fublimate. We there
relate the refult of two experiments, in which it was
given to dogs in folution j vomiting, purging, and
the fymptoms of violent pain enfued, which after fome
hours rvere terminated by death. The contents of the
ftomach, it is there dated, w ere analyfed by me, but none
©f the fublimate could be detected. In the fird experi¬
ment, i|- grains of the fait w7ere given, and in the fecond
4 grains 5 this latter being the larger quantity, and allb
the one in which the procefs was conduced with the
mod accuracy, I (hall condne myfelf to relate the cir-
cumdances of this alone.
“ When the domach of the dog was opened, a fmall
quantity of water wTas added to wadi out its contents
more completely, making the whole fomewhat iefs than
one ounce. It was deeply tinged with blood, and I let
it remain at red for 30 hours, in order that the colour¬
ing matter might fubfide from it. It had then acquired
a very foetid fmell, and not being much clearer than at
fird, I added to it about an equal quantity of water,
and paffed it, fird through a linen drain, and afterwards
through a paper filter. It wTas now nearly tranfparent,
but (lightly tinged with blood.
“ A folution of corrofive fublimate wras prepared,
containing of its wreight of the fait. Into a quan¬
tity of this folution the recently prepared muriate of tin
was dropped, which produced an immediate and very
copious precipitation. Caudic potafls alfo threw dowm
a precipitate, although in fmall quantity. The fame
teds were then added to the duid taken from the do¬
mach, but no effect w’as produced by the muriate of tin
for fome hours, w7hen at length it became, in fome de¬
gree, opake. The effect here, both as to time and the
nature of the appearance, was quite different from the
precipitate in the folution of corrofive fublimate, and I
confidered it as depending upon the _a£tion of the mu¬
riate of tin upon the mucus. In proof of this, when the
domach fluid had potafli added to it, inftead of having
a precipitate thrown down, it wras rendered more tranl-
parent than before the experiment. The folution of
corrofive fublimate wras fubje&ed to the aftion of gal-
■vanifm, by having a piece of gold placed in it, clafped
by zinc wire) in an hour the gold w7as obvioufly whi¬
tened by the precipitation of the mercury upon it. The
fluid taken from the ftomach was fubmitted to the fame
jprocefs for three hours, but no effect was produced (c).
The fluid from the domach did not exhibit either acid
$r alkaline properties $ it was copioufly precipitated
Vol. XVII. Part I.
“ On the following day, a (light brown precipitate
had fubfided from the domach fluid, and the whole waS
became very opake. The precipitate was diffolved by
potaih, at the time fame that the fluid was rendered more
tranfparent. It was become extremely putrid. The
putridity increafed : and, in two days more, a feum w7as
formed on the furface, and the (ides of the glafs were
alfo encruded with a gray matter. The experiments
wTere performed between the 17th and 22d of Augud.
“ The following experiments w7eic then made on the
corrofive (ublimate, with every poffible attention to accu¬
racy. Two grains of the (alt were diffolved in 600 grains
of diddled w7ater. This I call folution N° 1. Ten
grains of N° 1. w7ere then added to 90 grains of vrater,
forming folution N° 2. in which the (laid would con¬
tain -fo^s-o of its weight of the fublimate. Into 10
drops of N° 2. two drops of the muriate of tin were add¬
ed, and caufed a very obvious precipitate. Ten grains
of N° 2. wrere added to 90 grains of diddled water, ma¬
king the duid to contain of its weight of the
fait. Into 10 drops of this folution, tw7o drops of the
muriate of tin wTere added, and an immediate gray cloud
was perceptible in the duid, although no precipitate w7aV
thrown dowm. The'galvanic procefs was repeated with
the folution N° 3.", it. remained fix hours, and I thought
I perceived a whitenefs on one part of the gold ; but it
w7as not very diditnffly vilible.
“ From thefe experiments, we may draw the following
conclufions:—
“ 1. The fiuid taken from the dog’s domach contain¬
ed muriatic acid, probably in the form of common fait,
and animal matter, probably mucus, in confiderabia
quantity.
“ 2. The teds that were employed to difeover the
corrofive fublimate, were capable of detecting it in a
duid, wrhen it compofed only Tooivs-o weight.
“ 3. Thefe teds did not deteft any corrodve fublimate
in the fluid taken from the dog’s ftomach ; it may there¬
fore be concluded,
“ 4. That an animal may be fuddenly killed by re¬
ceiving a metallic poifon into the ftomach, and yet
that the niceft teds may not be able to detedt any por¬
tion of the poifon after death, in the contents of the
domach.
“ This conclufion appears incontrovertible; and
though fome analogous fadts had occafionally been no¬
ticed *, it is fo different from the generally received #
opinion upou the fubjedl, that I think it mud have con- mu ke Ve~
fiderable influence on all future judicial proceedings, in nenidaii
W'hich the quteftion of poifoning is agitated.” Accufa-
Poison of Lead. See Medicine, N° 303.
PoiSVN-Tree. See Rhus, Botany Index.
POISON-Tree of Java, called in the Malayan lan¬
guage bohun upas, is a tree which has often been de-
feribed by naturalifts $ but its exiftence has been very
generally doubted, and the deferiptions given of it, con¬
taining much of the marvellous, have been often treated
as idle fiddions. N. P. Foerfch, however, in an account
of it, written in Dutch, afl'erls that it does exid 5 and
H tells
(c) This experiment was performed at the fuggeilion of Dr Wollafton.
poi r 58 1 p o 1
tells us, that he once doubted it as much as any perfon ;
but, determined not to truii general opinions, he made
the moil particular inquiries poflible ; the refultof which
was, that he found that it is fituated in the illand of
Java, about 27 leagues from Eatavia, 14 from Soura
Charta, the emperors feat, and about 19 from Tinkjoe,
the refidence of the fultan of Java. It is furrounded
on ail rides by hills and mountains, and the adjacent
country for 12 miles round the tree is totally barren.
Our author fays he has gone all round the fpot at about
18 miles from the centre, and on all rides he found the
country equally dreary, which he aferibes to its noxious
effluvia. The poifon procured from it is a gum, iffuing
from between the bark and the tree ; and it is brought
by malefactors who have been condemned to death, but
who are allowed by this alternative to have a chance for
their life. ,An old ecclefiariic, our author informs us,
dwelt on the outride of the furrounding hills, whofe bu-
iinefs it was to prepare the criminals for their fate, if
death riiould be the confequence of their expedition.
.And indeed fo fatal are its effluvia, that he acknowledged
that fcarcely two out of 20 returned from above 700
whom he had difmill'ed.
Mr Foerfch farther tells us, that he had feen feveral of
the criminals who had returned, and who told him, that
the tree itands on tire borders of a rivulet, is of a mid¬
dling rize, and that five or fix young ones of the fame
kind Hand dole to it. They could not however, fee
any other plant or fflrub near it j and the ground was
of brorvnifh fand, full of Hones and dead bodies, and dif¬
ficult to pafs. The Malayans think this tract was thus
rendered noxious and uninhabitable by the judgement of
God, at Mahomet’s defire, on account of the fins of the
inhabitants. No animal whatever is ever feen there ;
and fuch as get there by any means never return, but
have been brought out dead by fuch of the criminals as
have thetnfelves efcaped death.
Our author relates a circumftance which happened
in the year 1775, to about 400 families (1600 fouls),
who refufed to pay fome duty to the emperor, and who
were in confequence declared rebels and banithed •, they
petitioned for leave to fettle in the uncultivated parts
round Upas: the coufequence of which was, that in
lefs than twro months their number was reduced to
about 300 fouls, -who begged to be reconciled to the
emperor, and were again received under his proteftion.
Many of thefe furvivors Mr Foerfch faw, and they had
juft the appearance of perfons tainted with an infeCti-
ous diforder.
With the juice of this tree arrows, lancets, and other
offenfive weapons, are poifoned. With lancets thus poi-
foned, Mr Foerfch obfqrves, that he faw 13 of the em¬
peror’s concubines executed for infidelity to his bed in
February 1776. They W’ere lanced in the middle of
their breafts; in five minutes after which they were
feized with a tremor and fubfultus temlinum, and in
15 minutes they were dead. Their bodies were full of
livid fpots, like thofe of petechice, their faces fwelled,
cole, r blue, and eyes yellow', &c. Soon after he faw
feven Malayans executed in the fame way, and faw
the fame effefts follow j on which he refolved to try
it on other animals, and found the operation fimilar
on three puppies, a cat and, a fowl, none of wdiich fur-
vived more than 13 minutes. He alfo tried its effects
internally on a dog feven months old j the animal be- Poifon.
came delirious, wras feized with convulfions, and died
in half an hour, h rom all which our author concludes,
that it is the moll violent of all vegetable poilons, and
that it contrioutes greatly to the unheallhineF of the
iiland in wnich it grows. Ey means of it m any cruel
and treacherous murders are perpetrated. He adds,
that there exiils a fort of cajoe-upas bn the coaft
of Maeaffar, the poifon of which, though net near
fo violent or malignant, operates nearly in the fame
manner.
Moil of our readers will probably confider this whole
account as highly incredible ; but w^e have to add, that
it has bees direclly controverted in all its parts in a
memoir of Lambert Nolft, M. D. fellow of the Ba¬
tavian Experimental Society at Rotterdam, (fee Gentle-
mail's Mag. May 1794, p. 433). This memoir was
procured from John Matthew a Uhyn, who had been 23
years, from 1763 to 1786, refident in the iiland, and
therefore had every opportunity of informing himfelf
on the fpot. In this memoir we are told, that Foerfch’s
account of the tree is extremely fufpicious, from a vari¬
ety of circumflances: 1. Though he had letters of in-
troduclion, he went to no confitlerable houfe, and after¬
wards privately withdrew among the Engliih. 2. When
the emperor was afkcd refpefting Foerfch, and the fails
he relates, he anfwered, that he had never heard either
of him br of the tree. 3. The diftances given to mark
the fituation of the tree are not accurate. 4. The exe¬
cution of criminals is different from what he reprefents. '•
5. The circumftance of feveral criminals returning when
h oerich was there has a fuipicious appearance. 6. There
exifts no fuch tradition, as that the tree was placed
there hy Mahomet. 7. There were no fuch difturb-
ances in 1775 as Foerfch reprefents, the trail to which
he alludes having fubmitted to the Hutch Eaft India
Company as early as 1756. 8. The Eland is not un¬
healthy, as Foerfch afferts : nor are violent or prema¬
ture deaths frequent. 9. The Javanefe are a curious
and intelligent people, and of courfe could not be fo
ignorant of this tree if it had any exiflence. 10. The
affertions and pretended fails of Foerfch have no co-
lateral evidence •, and every thing which we gather from
the accounts of others, or from the hiftory of the people,
invalidates them. For thefe and other reafons, Dr
Nolft concludes, that very little credit is due to the re-
prefentations of Foerfch, and that the Eland of Java
produces no fuch tree, which, if it really grew there,
wmuld be the moft remarkable of all trees.
We muft notice alfo, that the account of this very re¬
markable tree has been ftill farther controverted by Sir
George Staunton, who, during his flay at Batavia,
made the moft particular inquiries concerning it, and
found, that the exillence of fuch a tree had never been
known there. (EmbaJJy to China). The fabulous hiftory
of this tree, however, has produced a moft beautiful de-
feription from the mufe of Dr Darwin, whofe harmo¬
nious verfes on the fubjedl we fhail prefent to our
readers.
Where Teas of glafs with gay re fie 61 ions froile
Round the green coafts of Java’s palmy ifie,
A fpacious plain extends its upland feene,
Rocks rife on rocks, and fountains gufli between 5
Soft
Poifoa
li
Poland.
POL [ S9 1
Soft zephyrs blow, eternal biraraers reign,
And Ibowei j prolific blefs the foil, in vain !
•—No fpicy nutmeg fcents the vernal gales,
Nor towering plantain {hades the mid-day vales j
No grafly mantle hides the fable hills,
No Howery chaplet crowns the trickling rills ;
Nor tufted mofs, nor leathery lichen creeps
In ruffet tapeftry o’er the crumbling fteeps.
—No ftep retreating, on the fand impreis’d,
Invites the vifit of a iecond gueft j
No refluent fin the unpeopled dream divides,
No revolant pinion cleaves the airy tides;
Nos handed moles, nor beaked worms return,
That mining pafs the irremeable bourn.—
Fierce in dread filence on the blafted heath
Fell Upas fits, the Hydra-tree of death.
Lo ! from one root, the envenom’d foil below,
A thoufand vegetative ferpents grow j
In {Fining rays the fcaly monfter fpreads
O’er ten fquare leagues his far-diverging heads j
Or in one trunk entwifts his tangled form,
Looks o'er the clouds, and hiffes in the ilorm.
Steep’d in fell poifon, as his fharp teeth part,
A thoufand tongues in quick vibration dart;
Snatch the proud eagle towering o’er the heath,
Or pounce the lion, as he {talks beneath j
Or drew, as marthall’d hods contend in vain,
With human ikeletons the whiten’d plain.
—Chain’d at his root two fcion-demons dwell,
Breathe the faint hits, or try the fluiller yell j
Rife fluttering in the air on callow wings,
And aim at infecl-prey their little dings.
Loves of the Plants, canto iii.
POLACRE, a diip with three mads, ufually navi¬
gated in the Levant and other parts of the Mediterra¬
nean. Thefe vefiels are generally furniflied with fquare
fails upon the mainmad, and lateen fails upon the fore-
mad and mizenmad. Some of them, however, cany
fquare fails upon all the three mads, particularly thole
of Provence in France. Each of their mads is com¬
monly formed of one piece, fo that they have neither
topmad nor top-gallant-mad ; neither have they any
horfes to their yards, becaufe the men dand upon the
topfail-yard to loofe or furl the top-gallant-fail, and on
the lower yard to reef to loofe, or furl, the topfail,
whole yard is lowered fufficiently down for that pur-
pofe.
POLAND, a country of Europe, in its larged ex¬
tent bounded by Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silefia, and
Moravia, to the wed ; and, towards the ead, by part of
Piuffia and the Leffer Tartary \ on the north, it has the
Baltic, Ruflia, the grand province of Livonia, and Sa-
mogitia •, and on the fouth, it is bounded by Beflarabia,
Tranfylvania, Moldavia, and Hungary. Geographers
generally divide it into the provinces of Poland Proper,
Lithuania, Samogitia, Courland, Pruffia, Maffovia, Po-
lachia, Polefia, Little Ruffia, called likewife Rujfta Ru¬
bra or Red Ruffia, Pcdolia, and the Ukraine. Now,
however, it is very confiderably reduced in extent, as
will appear in the courfe of its hidory. For a map of
Poland, Lithuania, and Pruffia, fee PI. CCCCXXXIV.
With regard to the hidory of Poland, we are not to
gather the eaidier part of it from any accounts tranimit-
ted to us by the natives. The early hidories of all na-
POL
tions indeed are involved in fable; but the Poles never Poland,
had even a fabulous hidory of their own nation. The t-—*
reafon of this is, that it was not the cudom with that
nation to entertain itinerant poets for the amufement of
the great j for to the fongs of thele poets entertained
among other nations we are obliged for the early part of
their hidory 5 but this affidance being deficient in Po¬
land, we mud have recourfe to what is recorded con¬
cerning it by the hidorians of other nations.
The fovereigns of Poland at fird had the title of duces, p0]jj^ ,-0_
dukes or generals, as if their office had been only to lead vereigns at
the armies into the field. The fird of thefe is univerfal- firft only
ly allowed to have been Lechus or Lecht; and to ren-
der him more illudrious, he is faid to have been a lineal '
defeendant from Japhet the Ion of Noah. According-[.pchus tlra
to tome writers, he migrated at the head of a numerous firft duke,
body of the defeendants of the ancient Sclav! from fome
of the neighbouring nations ; and, to this day, Poland
is called by the Tartars the kingdom of Lechus. Buf-
ching, however, gives a different account of the origin
of the Poles. Sarmatia, he obferves, was an extenfive
Country, inhabited by a variety of nations of different
names. He fuppofes the Poles to be the defeendants of
the ancient Lazi, a people who lived in Colchis near
the Pontus Euxinus •, whence the Poles are fometimes
called Po/atai. Crolfing feveral rivers, they entered Pcf- Derivation
nania, and fettled on the borders of the Warta, while of the diffe-
their neighbours the Zechi fettled on the Elbe, in therent names
550th year of Chrift. As to the name of Poland, or °Holand.
Foljha, as it is called by the natives, it comes from the
Sclavonic word Pole, or Poln, which fignifies a country
adapted to hunting, becaufe the whole country was for¬
merly covered with vail forefls, exceedingly proper for
that employment. ^
Of the tranfaftions of Lechus during the time that vifermer
he enjoyed the fovereignty, we have no certain account, the fetoml
His iucceffor was named Vifcimer, who is generally dake.
fuppofed to have been the nephew of Lechus. He wras
a warlike and fuccefsful prince, fubduing many pro¬
vinces of Denmark, and building the city of Wifmar,
fo called from the name of the fovereign. But the Da-
nifli hiftorians take no notice of his wars with their
country ; nor do they even mention a prince of this
name. However, he is faid to have* reigned for a long
time with great glory 5 but to have left the people in
great diftrefs, on account of the difputes which arole
about a fucceffor.
After the death of Vifcimer, the nobility were on the Fonn'ou *-
point of electing a fovereign, when the people, haraffed vernment
by the grievous burdens occafioned by the wars of Vif- changed n»-
cimer, unanimoufly demanded another form of govern-t0 an an^<,'
ment, that they might no longer be liable to fuffer fromC 1 ;-
ambition and tyranny. At firft: the nobility pretended
to yield to this humour of the people wfith great reluc¬
tance ; hov/ever, they afterwards determined on fuch a
form of government as threw all the pow7er into their
own hands. Twelve palatines, or vaivodes, wore cho-
fen ; and the Polifh dominions divided into as many
provinces. Thefe palatines exercifed a defpotic autho¬
rity wfithin their feveral jurifdidfions, and aggravated
the mifery of the people by perpetual wars among
themfelves ; upon which th« Poles, wmrn out with op-
prelfion, refolved to return to their old form of govern¬
ment. Many affemblies wTere held for this purpofe;
but, by reafon of the oppofition of the vaivodes, they
H 2 came
POL [ 60 ] POL
Poland, came to nothing. At laft, however, they call their
^ eyes upon Cracus, or Gracus, whofe wealth and popula-
The duk“ rity Paired him to the higher! honours among his
aom refto- countrymen. The Poles fay that he was a native of
red. Poland, and one of the 12 vaivodes ; but the Bohemi¬
ans affirm that he was a native of their country : how¬
ever, both agree in maintaining, that he was defeended
from th# ancient family of the Gracchi in Rome who,
they fay, were baniffied to this country. He is faid to
have hgnalized himfelf again!! the Franks, whom he
overthrew in fome defperate engagements, and after-
wards built the city of Cracow with their fpoils. He
did not enlarge his dominions, but made his fubjeils
happy by many excellent regulations. At laft, after a
long and glorious reign, he expired, or, according to
fome, was aifaffinated by a nobleman who afpired to the
crown.
Cracus left three children; Cracus, Lechus, and a
daughter named Vanda. The firft fucceeded to the
dukedom in virtue of his birthright; but was foon after
murdered by his brother Lechus. However, it feems
the thoughts of. the crime which he had committed fo
difturbed his confcience, that the fecret could not be
kept. When it was known that he had been the mur¬
derer of his late fovereign, he was depofed with all pof-
f’ble marks of ignominy and contempt, and his filler
Vanda declared duchefs. She was a moil beautiful and
accomplifhed lady •, and foon after (lie had been raifed
to the fovereignty, one Rithogar, a Teutonic prince,
fent an ambaflador demanding her in marriage, and
threatening war if his propofals were refufed. Vanda
marched in perfon again!! him at the head of a numer¬
ous army, and the event proved fatal both to Rithogar
and herfelf. The troops of Rithogar abandoned him
without ftriking a blow, upon which he killed himfelf
in defpair *, and Vanda, having become enamoured of
him, was fo much concerned lor his death, that fire
drowned herfelf in the river Vilfula or Wefel. From
this unfortunate lady the country of Vandajia takes its
7 name.
Again abo- The family of Cracus having become extinf! by the
iiflied.
S
Reftoved
a fecond
time.
death of Vanda, the Poles were again left at liberty to
choofe a new fovereign or a new form of government.
Through a natural levity, they changed the form of go¬
vernment, and reilored the vaivodes notwithflanding all
that they had formerly fuffered from them. The confe-
quences were the fame as before : the vaivodes abufed
their power 5 the people were oppreffed, and the Rate
was difiracted between foreign wars and civil conten¬
tions. At that time the Hungarians and Moravians had
invaded Poland with a numerous army, and were onpo-
fed only by a handful of men almoft ready to furrender
at diferetion, when one Premiflaus, a private fol-
dier, contrived a llratagem by which the numerous for¬
ces of the enemy were overthrown \ and for his valour
was rewarded with the dukedom. We are ignorant of
the other tranfaftions of his reign ; but all hiftorians in¬
form us that he died deeply regretted, and without if-
fue \ fo that the Poles had once more to choofe a fove¬
reign.
On the death of Premiflaus feveral candidates appear¬
ed for the throne \ and the Poles determined to prefer
him who could overcome all his competitors in a horfe-
race. A Rone pillar was erefted near the capital, on
which were laid all the enfigns of the ducal authority;
and a herald proclaimed, that he who firft arrived at Poland,
that pillar from a river at fome diflance, named Poaderic, ~~ v~~“
was to enjoy them. A Poliffi lord named Lechus was
refolved to fecure the vidlory to himfelf by a Rratagem;
for, which purpofe he caufed iron fpikes to be driven all
over the courfe, referving only a path fon his own horfe.
The fraudulent defign took effect in part, all the reil of
the competitors being difmounted, and fome feverely
hurt by their fall. Lechus, in confequence of this vic¬
tory, was about to be proclaimed duke ; when, unlucki¬
ly for him, a peafant who had found out the artifice op-
pofed the ceremony \ and upon an examination of the
fa£f, Lechus was torn in pieces, and the ducal authority
conferred upon the peafant.
The name of the new monarch was alfo Lechus. He
attained the fovereignty in the year 774, and conduced
himfelf with great wifdom and moderation. Though he
poffeffed the qualities of a great warrior, and extended his
dominions on the fide of Moravia and Bohemia, yet his
chief delight was to make his fubjedls happy by peace.
In the decline of life he was obliged to engage in a war
with Charlemagne, and is faid by fome to have fallen in
battle with that powerful monarch ; though others affert
that he died a natural death, having lived fo long that
the fprings of life were quite worn out.
Lechus III. was fucceeded by his fon Lechus IV.
who inherited all his father’s virtues. He fuppreffed an
infurrection in the Polifii provinces, by which he ac¬
quired great reputation ; after which he led his army
againfi the Greek and Italian legions who had overrun
Panonia. He gained a complete vidlory over his ene¬
mies. Nor was his valour more confpicuous in the bat¬
tle than his clemency to the vanqui!hed : for he difmif-
fed all his prifoners without ranfom} demanding no
other conditions than that they fliould never again di-
Rurb the peace of Poland, or the allies of that king¬
dom. This duke is faid to have been endowed with
many virtues, and is charged only with the vice of in¬
continence. He left 20 natural children, and only one
legitimate fon, named Pof>iel, to whom he left the fo¬
vereignty. Popiel was allb a virtuous and pacific prince,
who never had recourfe to arms but through neceflitv.
He removed the feat of government from Cracow to
Gnefna, and was fucceeded by his nephew Popiel II. a
minor.
The young king behaved with propriety as long as
he was under the tuition of others •, but as foon as he had
got the reins of government into his own hands the face
of affairs was altered. Lechus III. who, as hath been
already mentioned, bad 20 illegitimate children, had
promoted them to the government of different provinces j
and they had difeharged the duties of their offices in
fuch a manner as Riowed that they were worthy of the
confidence repofed in them. But as foon as Po¬
piel came of age, being feduced by the advice’ of his
wife, an artful and ambitious woman, he removed them
from their polls, treated them with the utmoR contempt,
and at laR found means to poifon them all at once at an
entertainment. A dreadful puniffiment, however, ac¬
cording to the hiRorians of thofe times, attended his
treachery and cruelty. The bodies of the unhappy go¬
vernors were left unburiedand from them iffued a
fwarm of rats, who purfued Popiel, his wife, and chil¬
dren, wherever they went, and at lafl devoured them.
Xhe nation now became a prey to civil difeord at the
fams
POL
[ ]
POL
Poland.
Why the
fove reigns
cf Poland
are called
Piajlcs.
to
Chriftiani-
ty introdu¬
ced by Mi-
eczilaus I.
it
Eoleflaus
the firft
king of Po¬
land.
fame time that it was haraffed by a foreign enemy *, and,
in •fnort, the date feemed to be on the verge of diffolu-
tion, when Pi ait us was proclaimed duke in 830, from
whom the natives of ducal or regal dignity were called
Yiajles. See Piastus. This excellent monarch died
in 861, and was fucceeded by bis fon Ziemovitus, who
was of a more warlike difpoiition than his father, and
who firft introduced regular difcipline among the Po-
liih troops. He maintained a refpettable army, and
took great pains to acquire a perfeft knowledge in the
art of war. The confequence of this was, that he was
victorious in all his battles 3 and retook from the Ger¬
mans and Hungarians not only all that they had gained,
but enlarged his dominions beyond what they had been.
After his death nothing remarkable happened in Poland
till the time of Mieczflaus I. who attained the ducal au¬
thority in 964. He was born blind, and continued fo
for feven years : after which he recovered his fight with¬
out ufing any medicine 3 a circumftance fo extraordina¬
ry, that in thofe times of ignorance and fuperitition it
was accounted a miracle. In his reign the Chriftian re¬
ligion was introduced into Poland. The moft probable
account of the manner in which Chriftianity was intro¬
duced is, that Mieczflaus having by ambafTadors made
his addreffes to Daborwka daughter to the duke of Bo¬
hemia, the lady reje&ed his offer unlefs he would fuffer
himfelf to be baptized. To this the duke co. ated,
and was baptized, after having been mftrudted in the
principles of Chriftianity. He founded the archbilhop-
rics of Gnefna and Cracow 3 and appointed St Adal¬
bert, fent by the pontiff to propagate Chriftianity in Po¬
land, primate of the whole kingdom. On the birth of
his fon Boleflaus he redoubled his zeal 3 founding feve-
ral bilhoprics and monafteries 3 ordering likewife that,
when any part of the Gofpel was read, the hearers
fhould half draw their fwords, in teftimony of their rea-
dinefs to defend the faith. But he was too fuperftitious
to attend to the duties of a fovereign 3 and therefore
fuffered his dominions to be ravaged by his barbarous
neighbour the duke of Rullia. Yet, with all his devo¬
tion, he could not obtain the title of king from the
pope, though he had warmly folicited it. That title
was afterwards conferred on his fon, who fucceeded to
all his’dominions.
Boleflaus I. the firft king .of Poland, furnamed Chro-
bry, fucceeded to the fovereignty in 999. He alfo pro-
• feffed and cherilhed Chriftianity, and was a man of great
valour and prudence. However, the firft tranfaftion of
his reign favoured very much of the ridiculous piety of
thofe times. He removed from Prague to Gnefna the
remains of a faint which he had purchafed at a confider-
able price. The emperor Otho III. made a pilgrimage,
on account of a vow, to the tomb of this faint. He was
hofpitably received by Boleflaus, whom, in return, he
invefted with the regal dignity 3 an aft which was con¬
firmed by the pope. This new dignity added nothing
to the power of Boleflaus 3 though it increafed his con¬
fequence with his own fubjefts. He now affefted more
ftate than before: his body-guards were confiderably
augmented 3 and be was conftantly attended by a nu¬
merous and fplendid retinue whenever he ftirred out of
his palace. Thus he infpired his people with an idea
of his greatnefs, and confequently of their own import¬
ance j which no doubt was neceffary for the accomplifh-
ment of a defign he had formed, namely, an offenfive
war with Raffia : hut when he was upon the point of PoIarA
fetting out on this expedition, he was prevented by the v J
breaking out of a war with the Bohemians. The ele¬
vation of Boleflaus to the regal dignity had excited the
envy of the duke of Bohemia, who had folicited the
fame honour for himfelf, and had been refufed. His
jealoufy was further excited by the conneftion between
Bolellaus and the emperor, the former having married
Rixa the emperor’s niece. Without any provocation,
therefore, or without giving the leaft intimation of his
defign, the duke of Bohemia entered Poland at the head
of a numerous army, committing everywhere dreadful
ravages. Boleflaus immediately marched againft him, con_
and the Bohemians retired with precipitation. Scarcity qUers Bo-,
of provifions, and the inclemency of the feafon, prevent- hernia
ed Boleflaus at that time from purfuing 3 but as foon as
tbefe obftacles were removed, be entered Bohemia at the
head of a formidable army, with a full refolution of tak¬
ing ample revenge. The Bohemians were altogether
unable to refill 3 neither indeed had they courage to
venture a battle, though Boleflaus did all in his power
to force them to it. So great indeed was the cowardice
of the duke or his army, that they fullered Prague, the
capital of the duchy, to be taken after a fiegc of two
years 3 having never, during all that time, ventured to
relieve it by fighting the Polifh army. The taking of
this city svas quickly folio-wed by the reduftion of all
the places of inferior note : but though Boleflaus was in
poffelfion of almoft all the fortified places in Bohemia,
he could not believe his conquefts to be complete until
he became rnafter of the duke’s perfon. This unfortu¬
nate prince had ftmt himfirif up with his fon in his only
remaining fortrefs of Wiffogrod, where he imagined that
he fliould be able to foil all the attempts of the Polifli
monarch. In this, however, he found himfelf difap-
pointed. Boleflaus invefted the place, and made his ap-
pr-oaches with fuch rapidity, that the garrifon, dreading
a general affault, refolved to capitulate, and perfifted in
their refolution notwithHanding all the entreaties and
promifes of the duke. The confequence was, that the
unhappy prince fell into the hands of his enemies, and
had his eyes put out by Boleflaus 3 after which, his fon
Jaremir was put into perpetual and clofe confinement.
From Bohemia Boleflaus marched towards Moravia 3 an! Mora-
and no fooner did he arrive on the frontier than thevia-
whole province fubmitted without a blow. He then re¬
fumed his intention of invading Ruflia ; for which he had
now a very fair opportunity, by reafon of a civil war
which raged with violence among the children of Duke
Volodomir. The chief competitors were Jarillaus and
Suantepolk. The latter, having been defeated by his
brother, was obliged to take refuge in Poland, where
he ufed all the arguments in his powder with King Bole¬
flaus in order to induce him to revenge his caufe. Bo¬
leflaus having already an intention of invading that
country, needed but little intreaty 3 and therefore mo¬
ved tosvards Ruflia at the bead of a very numerous ar¬
my : giving out, that he had no other defign than to
revenge the injuftice done to Suantepolk. He was met
on the banks of the river Bog by Jariflaus at the head of
an army much fuperior in number to bis own ; and for
fome days the Polilh army was kept at bay by the Ruf- Gains a
fians. At laft Boleflaus, growing impatient, refolved 2reat V1C~
to pafs the river at all events 3 and therefore forming his^^f
cavalry in the belt manner for breaking the torrent, he fians..
expofed;
Po1".n.'!
15
Places
Suantepolk
on the
throne of
Ruffia,
16
who at¬
tempts to
cut him off
with his
whole ar¬
ray, but is
defeated.
r7
A dreadful
battle be¬
tween the
Ruffians
and Poles.
18
Saxony
conquered
by Bolc-
llaus,
POL [ 62
expofed his own perfon to the utmoft of its force. En-
couraged by his example, the Poles advanced bread-
b<gh in the water to the oppofite thore j from whence
l i'^e enemy gave them all the annoyance, in their power.
In fpite of all oppofition, however, the Poles reached
tne bank,, and foon gained a complete victory, Jariflaus
being obliged to Uy to Kiovia. This citv was immedi-
alely in veiled j but Jarillaus retired farther into the
country in order to recruit his armv, leaving the city to
its late. The garrifon made a brave defence, but were
at laft compelled to furrender at difcretion. A vail
trealure was found in the place ; great part of which was
dillributed by Boleflaus among the foldiers.
1 hough the king of Poland had now become mailer
of the greatefl part of Ruffia, he knew that the only
poffible.means of keeping the country in fubjedfion was
by placing a natural fovereign over the inhabitants. For
this reaion he reinilated Suantepolk, though his preten-
fions were ilill difputed by Jariflaus. The latter had
tormed a flying camp, and meditated a fcheme of fur-
prifing. and carrying off his rival brother ; but having
failed in this attempt, he retired to Novogorod, where
tne attachment 01 the inhabitants enabled him to make
lome refiilance, till at lail he was attacked and defeated
by Boleflaus, which feemed to give the finifhing Broke
to. his affairs. The king of Poland, however, now met
with a more dangerous enemy in the perfidious and un¬
grateful Suantepolk than he had experienced in Jariflaus.
1 he Ruffian prince, imagining himfelf a dependent on
Boleflaus, formed a confpiracy againft him 5 by which
he projedled nothing lels than the deftruclion of him
and his whole army. The maffacre was already begun
when Boleflaus received intelligence. The urgency oi
1 lie cafe admitted of no delay : the king therefore
mounted his horfe ; and having with the utmoft hafte
affembled part of his army, fell upon the traitors with
fuch. fury, that they were obliged to betake themfelves
to flight, and Boleflaus got fafe into Poland. But in
the mean time Jariflaus having affembled frefli forces,
purfued the Poliffi army; and having come up with
them jufl as one half had cioiled the river Bonfthenes,
attacked them with the utmoll fury. Boleflaus defend¬
ed himfelf with the greatefl: refolution ; but, by reafon
of his forces being divided, vidlory was dubious for
a long time. At laft, when the army had wholly croffed,
the Ruffians were entirely put to the rout, and a terrible
carnage enfued. The victory, however, though com¬
plete^ was not decifive; for which reafon Boleflaus
thought proper to continue his retreat, without attempt-
ing to conquer a country too extenfive for him ever to
keep in fubjeclion. 3*111, however, his martial inclina¬
tion continued, and he led his army into Saxony. The
inhabitants of this country had hitherto refifted all at¬
tempts that had been made on their freedom, and Bill
made a violent ftruggle for liberty ; though, in fpite of
their utmoft efforts, they were obliged at laft to fubmit
to the yoke. On his withdrawing the troops from
Saxony, however, the king thought proper to leave the
people to their liberty, contenting himfelf with a rich
booty. The boundaries of his empire he now fixed at
the river Elbe; where he ere&ed two iron columns,
in order to tranfmil the memory of his conqueft to nof-
terity. r
Boleflaus, flill unfated with vidtory, now meditated
] POL
tue. conqueft ot Pruffia and Pomerania ; the latter of Poland,
which provinces had, in the former civil wars, been dif- "—^
membered from Poland. His arms were attended with •
equal fuccels againft both : indeed the very terror of his ^
name feemed to anfwer all the purpofes of a formidable raerania.°"
army. ^ 1 hefe, however, he feems to have defigned to
be the laft of his warlike enterprifes; for he now applied
himfelf wholly to the enabling of wholelome laws for the
benefit of his people. But in the roidft of this tran¬
quillity Jariflaus affembled the moll numerous army that
had ever been heard of in Ruflia, with which he appear¬
ed on the frontiers of Poland. Boleflaus, though nowr - 2®
advanced in years, marched out againft his adverfaries,thargreat*
and met them on the banks of the Borifthenes, rendered vitfory
famous by the victory he had lately gained there. rj heovertlie
Poles croffed the river by fwimming; and attacked the^whkh
enemy before they had time to draw up in order of the whole
battle with fuch impetuofity, that a total route foon en- mir try
uied. I he Ruffians were feized with a panic, and Ja- futraits,
nnaus was hurried away, and almoft trampled to death
by the fugitives. Many thoufand prifoners were taken,
out Boleflaus released them upon very eafy conditions;
contenting himfelf with an inconfiderable tribute, and
endeavouring to engage the affedions of the people by
his kindnels. lifts well-timed clemency produced fuch
a happy effed, that the Ruffians voluntarily fubmitted
to lfts ju.rifdidion,.and again became his fubjeds. Soon BoiJ*
after tins he died m the year 1025, after having great-dies,
ly extended his dominions, -and rendered his fubieds
happy.
Boleflaus was fucceeded by his fon Mieczflans II.
but he.poffeffed none of the great qualities of his father,
being indolent and debauched in his behaviour. In
the very beginning of his reign, the Ruffians, Bohe¬
mians- and Moravians, revolted. However, as the fpirit
and difcipline introduced by Boleflaus Bill remained in
the Poli.fh army, Mieczflaus found no great difficulty
in reducing them again to obedience : after which, de¬
voting himfelf entirely to voluptuoufnefs, he was feized
with a frenzy, which put an end to his life in the year
1034. The bad qualities of this prince proved very r;^2* tv
detrimental to the intereft of his fon Cafimir ; though ranniral
tne latter had received an excellent education, and wasreSent>
poffeffed of many virtues. Inftead of ele&ino- him kino- driven out
tvrannirft r* She provedfcfdflir
tyrannical, and .o partial to ner countrymen the Ger¬
mans, that a rebellion enfued, and (lie was forced to fly
to Germany; where ffie obtained the protection of the
emperor by means of the immenfe treafures of Boleflaus,
which flie had caufed to be tranfported thither before
her. Pier bad behaviour and expulfion proved ftill more
fatal to the affairs of Cafimir than even that of his fa¬
ther. He was immediately driven out of the kingdom;
and a civil war taking place, a great many pretenders to
the crown appeared at once. To the miferies occafioned po!a*d
by this were added thofe of a foreign war; for the Bo- ftrefi'ed by
hemians and Ruffians invaded the kingdom in different foreign ami
places, committing the moft dreadful ravages. Thedomeftic
confequence of thefe accumulated diftreffes wvs, that the WarS'
nobility came at laft to the refolution of recalling Cafi¬
mir, and electing him fovereign. However, before they
took this meafure, it was thought proper to fend to
Rome to complain of the behaviour of the duke of Bo¬
hemia. The deputies were at firft received favourably:
but
P O L
[ 63 ]
POL
Poknd.
24
Cafimir re-
ca!led and
ele^ed
king.
Poland fub'
jedled to
the tax cal
led Peter-
pence.
26
Boleflaus II
a valiant
and fuccefs-
ful prince.
27
Entertains
three un¬
fortunate
printes.
28
Affords]
efteelual
fuccour to
Jacomir
prince of
Bohemia,
but the influence of the duke’s gold prevailing, no re-
drefs was obtained j fo that at laft, without farther ilrug-
gle, it tvas refolved to recal Cafimir.
The only difficulty was where to find the fugitive
prince ; for he had been gone five years from the king¬
dom, and nobody knew the place of his retreat. At
laft, by fending an embafty to his mother, it was found
out that he had retired into France, where he applied
cioleiy to ftudy at the univerfity of Paris. Afterwards
he went to Italy ; where, for the fake of fubfiftence, he
took upon him the monaftic habit. At that time he
had returned to France, and obtained tome preferment
in the abbey of Clugni. Nothing now obftrucled the
prince’s return but the facred fundi;ion with which he
was invefted. However, a difpenfation was obtained
from the pope, by which he was releafed from his ec-
cleftaftical engagements, on condition that he and all
the kingdom ihould become fubjedl to the capitation tax
' called Peter-pence. Some other conditions of lefs con-
. fequence were added; fuch as, that the Poles fhould
fliave their heads and beards, and wear a white linen
robe at feftivals, like other profefibrs of the Catholic
religion. Great preparations were made for the recep¬
tion of the young prince: and he was met on the
frontier by the nobility, clergy, and forces of the nation;
by whom he rvas condudled to Gnefna, and crowned by
the primate with more than ufual folemnity. He proved
a virtuous and pacific prince, as indeed the diftradled
fituation of the kingdom would not admit of the carry¬
ing on of wars. However, Cafimir proved his courage
in fubduing the banditti by which the country was over¬
run ; and by marrying the princefs Mary, fifter to the
duke of Ruflia, all quarrels with that nation were for
the prefent extinguiftied. Upon the whole, the king¬
dom flourifhed during his reign ; and became more re-
fpeftable from the wifdom and liability of the admini-
ftration than it could have been by many vfeloi-ies.
After a happy reign of 16 years, he died beloved and re¬
gretted by all his fubjedls.
By the happy adminiftration of Cafimir the kingdom
recovered fufficient ftrength to carry on fucceisful wars
againft its foreign enemies. Boleflaus II. the ion of
Cafimir, an enterprifing and valiant prince, fucceeded to
the throne ; and ibon made himfelf fo famous, that three
unfortunate princes all took refuge at his court at once,
having been expelled from their own dominions by their
rebellious fubjedls. Thefe were, .lacomir, fon of Brite-
flaus duke of Bohemia ; Bela, brother to the king of
Hungary ; and Zaftaus duko of Kiovia, eldeft fon to
Jarillaus duke of Ruifia, and coufin to the king of Po¬
land. Boleilaus determined to redrefs all their grievances j
but while he deliberated upon the moft proper means
for fo doing, the duke of Bohemia, dreading the confe-
quence of Jacomir’s efcape, affembled an army, and,
without any declaration of war, marched through the
Hercynian foteft, defolated Silefia, and laid wafte the
frontiers ot Poland with fire and fword. Boleflaus
marched againft him with a force greatly inferior j and,
by mere dint of fuperior capacity, cooped up his adver-
fary in a wood, where he reduced him to the greateft
diftrefs. In this extremity the duke fent proposals for
accommodation j but they were rejected with difdain by
Bofefiaus \ upon which the former, ordering fires to be
kindled in his camp, as if he defigned to continue there,
removed with the utmoft filence in the night-time j and
marc bin u throuph narrow defiles, had advanced fever'd Poland,
leagues before Bcfeflaus received advice ot his retreat. /
The king purfued him, but in vain j for which reafon
he returned, after having ravaged the frontiers ol Mo¬
ravia. The next year he entered Bohemia with a nu¬
merous army ; but the duke, being unwilling to en¬
counter fuch a formidable adverfary, fubmitted to fuch
terms as Bofefiaus thought proper to irnpofe. In thefe
the king of Poland ftipulated for certain conditions in
favour of Jacomir, which he took care to fee punctually
executed j after which he determined to march towards
Hungary, to afiift the fugitive prince Bela.
This prince had been for feme time felicited by a and to Bela
party of difaffected nobility to return, as his brother,Fmce o*
the reigning king, had alienated the hearts of his fub- ‘'-ufera‘>
jects by his tyrannical behaviour : as loon therefore as
Boleflaus had finiftied the war in Bohemia, he was fo-
licited by Bela to embrace fio favourable an opportunity,
and put him in poffefiicn of the kingdom of Hungary.
This the king readily complied with, as being agreeable
to his own inclinations ; and both princes entered Hun¬
gary by different routes, each at the head of a numer¬
ous body. The king of that country, however, was
not difconcerted by fuch a formidable invafion 5 and be¬
ing largely affiited by the emperor, advanced againft his
antagonifts with a vaft army \ among whom was a nu¬
merous body of Bohemians, who had come to his afhft-
ance, though in dire£t violation of the treaty fubfifling
between the duke and the king of Poland. At laft a
decifive battle was fought, in which the Germans be¬
haved with the greateft valour, but were entirely de¬
feated through the treachery of the Hungarians, who in
the heat of the battle deferted and went over to Bela.
Almoft all the foreign auxiliaries were killed on the
fpot; the king himfelf was feized, and treated with
fuch infelence by his perfidious fubjedts, that he died in
a ftiort time of a broken heart j fe that Bela was placed
on the throne without further oppoiition, except from a
revolt of the peafants, which was foon quelled by the
Polifti army. ,0
Bofefiaus, having fucceeded fe happily in thefe txvo He projefts
enterprifes, began to look upon himfelf as invincible j the can-
and, inftead of defigning only to aftift Zaflaus, as he
had firft intended, now projected no lefs than the fub-*'
jection of the whole country. He had indeed a claim
to the fevereignty by virtue of his defeent from Mary,
queen of Poland, fifter to Jariftaus; and this he endea¬
voured to ftrengtlien by marrying a Ruffian princefs
himfelf. Having therefore affembled a very numerous
and well-difciplined army, he entered the duchy of
Kiovia, where he was oppofed by Wiffeflaus, who had
ufurped the fovereignty, with a vaft multitude offerees. ,T
Boleflaus, however, continued to advance; and the Meets with
Ruffian prince being intimidated by the number and Grprjsng.
good order of his enemies, deferted his own troops, andl icc£i5’
fled away privately with a flender retinue; upon which
his force difperfed themfelves for want of a leader. The
inhabitants of the city of Ktovia now called to their
afffltance Suantoflaus and Wizevcld two brothers of
Wiffeflaus; but thefe princes acting the part of media¬
tors, procured pardon for the inhabitants from Zaftaus
their natural fevereign. With the fame facility the two
princes recovered all the other dominions belonging to
Zaflausonly one city venturing to itand a liege, and
that was foon reduced. But in the mean time the king
of
?oia'urt.
? O t, [64
of Hungary dying, a revolt enfued, and the two fons
of Bela were on the point of being deprived of their
paternal dominions. This Boleflaus no (boner heard of
than he marched diredlly into Hungary ; where by the
terror of his name only, he re-eltablifhed tranquillity,
and confirmed the princes in the enjoyment of their
kingdom. In the time that this was .doing, Zafiaus
was again driven from his territories, all the conquefts
that had been formerly made were loft, and Suantoflaus
and Wfzevold more powerful than ever. The king’s
vigour, however, (bon difconcerted all their meafures.
He ravaged all thofe territories which compofed the
palatinates of Lufac and Chelm, reduced the (frong city
ofWelyn, and tranfported the booty to Poland. The
campaign was finilhed by a battle with Wfzevold j which
proved fo bloody, that though Boleflaus was victorious,
his army was weakened in fuch a manner that he could
not purfue his conquefts. In the winter he made nu¬
merous levies; and returning in the fpring to Kiovia,
reduced it, after feveral defperate attacks, by famine.
On this occafion, inftead of treating the inhabitants
with cruelty, he commended their valour, and ftrictly
prohibited his troops from pillaging or intuiting them •,
diffributing provifions among them with the utmofl li¬
berality.
. . This clemency procured the highefl honour to the
Krovia, 0£ p0}ancj. pay here produced a molt ter-
nble difafter. Kiovia was the moft diffolute, as well as
the richeft city, in the north ; the king and all his fol-
diers gave themfelves up to the pleafures of the place.
Boleflaus himfelf affedted all the imperious (late of an
eaftern monarch, and contracted an inclination for the
grofieit debaucheries. The confequence had almoft
proved fatal to Poland. The Hungarian and Ruffian
wars had continued for feven years, during all which
time the king had never been at home excepting once
for the fhort Ipace of three months. In the mean time
the Polifh women, exafperated at hearing that their
hufbands had negledled them and connected themfelves
with the women of Kiovia, raifed their ilaves to the
beds of their mafters j and in fhort the whole fex
confpired in one general fcheme of proflitution, in or¬
der to be revenged of the infidelity of their hufbands,
excepting one fingle woman, namely, Margaret, the
wife of Count Nicholas of Hemboifin, who pieferved her
fidelity in fpite of all felicitation. Advice of this ftrange
revolution was foon received at Kiovia, where it excited
terrible commotions. The foldiers blamed the king for
their dishonour forgetting how much they had to ac-
cufe their own condutf in giving their wives fuch ex¬
treme provocation. The eflebl of thefe difeontents wTas
a general defertion, and Boleflaus faw himfelf fuddenly
left almoft alone in the heart of Ruffta ; the foldiers ha¬
ving unanimoufly refolved to return home to take ven¬
geance of their wives and their gallants.
A dreadful kind of war now enfued. The women
knew that they were to expe6I no mercy from their
enraged hufbands, and therefore perfuaded their lovers
to take arms in their defence. They themfelves fought
by the fide of their gallants with the utmoft fury, and
fought out their hufbands in the heat of battle, in or¬
der to fecure themfelves from all danger of punifhment
by their death. They were, however, on the point of
being fubdued, when Boleflaus arrived with the few re¬
but affiified by a vaft army of Ruffians,
3
POL
32
Reduces
enervates
himfelf
there.
, . 33
univeifal
defection
ofthe Po¬
lifh wo¬
men.
34
A terrible
•ivil war
anfues.
maugng Poles,
with whom he intended to take equal vengeance on the Poland.
women, their gallants, and his own foldiers who had " *  -
deferted him. This produced a carnage more dreadful
than ever. The foldiers united with their former wives
and their gallants sgainlt the common enemy, and
fought againfl: Boleflaus and his Ruffians with the fury
of lions. At laft, however, the fortune of the king
prevailed ; the rebels were totally fubdued, and the few
who efcaped the (word were tortured to death, or died
in prifon. ^
To add to the calamities of this unhappy kingdom,Refigious
the fchifms which for fome time had prevailed in the contenfiofih
church of Rome found their way alfo into Poland j and
the animofity of parties became aggravated in propor¬
tion to the frivoloufnefs of their differences. By per-
verfe accident the matter came at lafl: to be a contention
for wealth and power between the king and clergy. -
This loon gave occafion to bloodffied 5 and the biihop Boleflaus
of Cracow was maffacrerl in the cathedral while he wasdepoied by
performing the duties of his office. This and fome other t^ie P°Pe»
enormous crimes in a fhort time brought on the moftanc* Tj".
fignal vengeance of the clergy. Gregory VII. the popeputun-
at that time, thundered out the moll dreadful anathe- der an in-
mas againil the king, releafed his fubjeefs from their terdidh
allegiance, deprived him of the titles of fovereignty,
and laid the kingdom under a general interdict, which
the archbilhop of Gnefna faw punctually enforced. To
this terrible fentence Boleflaus in vain oppofed his au¬
thority, and recalled the fpirit which had formerly ren¬
dered him fo formidable to the neighbouring Hates. The
minds of the people were blinded by fuperltition, fo that
they deemed it a lefs heinous crime to rife in rebellion
againlt their fovereign than to oppofe the tyranny of the
holy fee. Confpiracies were daily formed againlt the per-
fon and government of Boleflaus. The whole kingdom
became a Icene of confufion, fo that the king could no
longer continue with fafety in his own dominions. He
fled therefore with his fon Pffieczflaus, and took refuge
in Hungary 5 but here alio the holy vengeance of the
clergy purfued him, nor did they ceafe perfecuting him ^
till he was brought to a miferable end. Authors differ The king's
widely with refpeCt to the manner of his death. Somecxtreme
fay that he xvas murdered by the clergy as he was hunt- fs
ing 3 others, that he killed himfelf in a fit of dcfpair
and one author tells us, that he wandered about in the
woods of Hungary, lived like a favage upon wild beads,
and was at laft killed and devoured by dogs. The great-
eft number, however, tell us, that being driven from place
to place by the perfecutions of the clergy, he was at laft
obliged to become a cock in a monaftery at Carinlhia, in
which mean occupation he ended his days.
The deftruflion of Bolellaus was not fufficient to al-The inter-
lay the papal refentment. It extended to the whole king-^1^ wnio-
dom of Poland. Mieczflaus, the fon of Boleflaus, was^at.^-
not fuffered to afeend the throne 3 and the kingdom ^1^011$°
continued under the moft fevere interdict:, which could impolitioaS
be removed only by the force of gold, and the meft ab-
jeCl conceffions. Befides tbc tax called Veter-^ence, new
impofitions were added of the moft oppreffive nature 3
till at length the pontLff, having fatiated his avarice,
and impoverilhed the country, confented that the bro¬
ther of the deceafed monarch fhould be raifed to the
fovereignty, but only with the title of duke. This
prince, named Uladijlciis, being of a meek difpofition,
with little ambition, thought it his duty to acquiefce
implicitly
■v
f 0 L
39
UladiHaus
becomes
fovereign,
but is al¬
lowed on¬
ly the title
if detke.
Poland, implicitly m tlie will of the pope j and therefore accept¬
ed the terms otFered, fending at the fame time an embaf-
fy to Rome, earneitly intreating the removal of the in-
terdift. The requeit was granted ; but ail his endea¬
vours to recover the regal dignity proved fruitlefs, the
pope having, in conjunction with the emperor of Ger¬
many, conferred that honour on the duke of Bohemia.
This was extremely mortifying to Uladifiaus, but it was
abforbed in conliderations of the ulmoft confequence to
himfelf and his dominions. Ruflia took the opportunity
sf the late civil difturbances to throw off the yoke ; and
this revolt drew after it the revolt of Pruffia, Pomerania,
und other provinces. The fmaller provinces, however,
were foon reduced ) but the duke had no fooner returned
to Poland, than they again rebelled, and hid their fami¬
lies in impenetrable forefts. Uladifiaus marched againft
them with a considerable army j but was entirely defeat¬
ed, and obliged to return back with difgrace. Next year,
however, he had better fortune ; and, having led againft
them a more numerous army than before, they were con¬
tent to fubmit and deliver up the ringleaders of the revolt
to be punithed as the duke thought proper.
No fooner were the Pomeranians^reduced, than civil
diffenfions took place. Sbigneus, the fon of UladiHaus
by a Concubine, was placed at the head of an army by
the difcontented nobility, in order to fubvert his father’s
government, and difpute the title of Boleflaus, the legi¬
timate fon of Uladitlaus, to the fucceffion. The war was
terminated by the defeat and captivity of Sbigneus ; who
was at Srft confined, but afterwards releafed on condition
that he ihould join his father in punilhing the palatine of
Cracow. But before this could be done, the palatine found
means'to effeift a reconciliation with the duke; with which
tlie young princes being difpleafed, a war took place be¬
tween them and their father. The end of all was, tlvat
the palatine of Cracow was banifhed, and the princes fub-
mitted; after which, Uladillaus, having chaftifed the Pruf-
fians and Pomeranians who had again revolted, died in the
year 1x03, the 59th of his age.
Uladillaus was fucceeded by his fon Boleflaus III.
III. divides who divided his dominions equally betwixt his brother
Ins dorm- Sbigneus and himfelf. The former being diffatisfied with
twixt^Sbi fh^G raifed cabals againft his brother. A civil war
reus his S %;ras ^or f°me time prevented by the good offices of the
iKegitimate primate : but at laft Sbigneus, having privately ftirred
brother and up the Bohemians, Saxons, and Moravians, againft his
brother, made fuch formidable preparations as threatened
the conqueft of all Poland. Boleflaus, being unprovided
with forces to oppofe fuch a formidable power, had re-
Courfe to the Ruffians and Hungarians ; who readily em¬
braced his caufe, in expeflation of turning it to their own
advantage. The event was, that Sbigneus tvas entirely
defeated ; and might eafily have been obliged to furren-
Generofity der himfelf at difcretion, had not Boleflaus generoufly
yf Bokflaue, left him in quiet poffeffion of the duchy of Mazovia, in
and m^rati. prcler to maintain himfelf fuitably to the dignity of his
birth. This kindnefs the ungrateful Sbigneus repaid by
entering into another confpiracy ; but the plot being dif-
Covered, he was feized, banifhed, and declared a traitor
if ever he fet foot again in Poland. Even this feverity
did not produce the defired effecft : Sbigneus perfuaded
the Pomeranians to arm in his behalf; but he was de¬
feated, taken prifoner, and again banifhed. Almoft all
the nobility folicited the king to put fudi an ungrateful
li-aitor to death ; however, that generous prince could
Vol. Xyil. Part l.
f G 1
POL
4°
Boleflaus
himfeif.
4*
A civil
4*
Jude ot
Sjugneus,
not think of polluting his hands with the death of his Poland,
brother, notwithftanding all he had yet done. Nay, he ~v
even took him back to Poland, and appointed him a
maintenance fuilable to his rank: but he foon had rea- ^
fon to repent of his kindnefs; for his unnatural brother in who is at
a finort time began to raife freth difturbances, in confe- Put t#-
quence of which he foon met with the death which he
dcferved.
Boleflaus was fcarcely freed from the intrigues of his
brother, when he found himfelf in greater danger than 44
ever from the ambition of the emperor Henry IV. The ^Tar w,tb.
emperor had attacked the king of Hungary, with whomtlie^mpe"
Boleflaus was in clofe alliance, and from whom he had jy r
received affiftance when in great diftrefs himfelf. The
king of Poland determined to affift bis friend; and thei'e-
fore made a powerful diverfion in Bohemia, where he re¬
peatedly defeated the Imperialifts : upon which, the em¬
peror collefting all his forces, ravaged Silefia, and even
entered Poland, where he laid fiege to the ftrong town
of Lubufz ; but was at laft obliged to abandon the en-
terprife, after having fuftained much lofs. However,
Henry was not difeouraged, but penetrated ftill farther
into Poland, and was laying wafte all before him, when
the fuperior fkill of Bolellaus compelled him to retire,
after having almoft deftroyed his army with fatigue and
famine, without once coming to aftion. Enraged at this
difappointment, Henry laid fiege to Glogaw, in hope$
of drawing the Poles to an engagement before he fhould
be obliged to evacuate the country. The fortifications
of the place xvere weak; but the fpirit of the inhabitants
fupplied their deficiencies, and they gave the Imperialifts
a moft unexpedted and vigorous reception. At laft, how¬
ever, they were on the point of furrendering to fuperior
force ; and actually agreed to give up the place, provi¬
ded they did not receive any fuccours during that time.
Boleflaus determined, however, not to let fuch a brave
garrifon fall a facrifice to their loyalty ; and therefore
prevailed on the befieged to break the capitulation ra¬
ther than furrender when they were on the point of be¬
ing delivered. All this was tranfadted with the utmoft
fecrecy ; fo that the emperor advanced, without thoughts
of meeting with any refiftance, to take poffeffion of the
city ; but, being received by a furious difeharge of ar¬
row's and javelins, he was fo incenfed, that he refolved
to ftorm the place, and give no quarter. On the ap¬
proach of the army, the Imperialifts were aftoniftied to
fee not only the breaches filled up, but new W’alls, fe-
cured by a wet ditch, reared behind the old, and ereft-
ed during the fufpenfion of hoftilities by the induftry of
the befieged. The attack, however, went on ; but the ^ f
inhabitants, animated by defpair, defended themfelves Who is
with incredible valour, and at laft obliged the Imperia-worftedv
lifts to break up the fiege with precipitation. Next day
Boleflaus arrived, and purfued the emperor with fuch
vigour, that he obliged him to fly with difgrace into his
own country. This foon brought on a peace, which was
confirmed by a marriage between Boleflaus and the em¬
peror’s lifter.
Hitherto the glory of Boleflaus had equalled, or even Boleflaus
eclipfed, that of his namefake and predeceffor Boleflaus !’rought
the Great; but about the year 1135 he was brought
into difficulties and difgrace by his own credulity. He ^ own ^
was impofed upon by an artful ftory patched up by a credulity
certain Hungarian ; who infinuated himfelf .fo far into«ncl genes
lus affeftiens, that he gave him the government of Wi-rofity*
I flic a,
POL f 66 ] POL
Poland
47 .
Poland di¬
vided a-
mong the
children of
Solellaus.
43
A civil
war.
49
Uladillaus
drives «ut
all the reft,
jflica, a ftrong town on the river Nida. But the trai¬
tor gave up the place to the Ruffians, who pillaged and
burnt it ; carrying the inhabitants at the fame time
into flavery. Boleflaus was incenfed, and entered im¬
mediately upon a war with Ruffia, by which means he
only heaped one calamity upon another. He received
a deputation from the inhabitants of Halitz, to implore
his alfiftance in favour of a young prince, who had been
banilhed into Poland. Boleflaus marched to their re¬
lief with a choice body of troops; but as he was pre¬
paring to enter the town, he was attacked by the whole
Ruffian army, and, after a mod violent conflift, entirely
defeated. By this difgrace the duke was fo much af-
flifted, that he died in a fhort time, after having reign-
ed 36 years.
Boleflaus, by his will, left his dominions equally di¬
vided among his four fons. Uladiflaus, the elded, had
the provinces of Gracow, Sirad, Lencici, Silefia, and
Pomerania. Boleflaus, the fecond fon, had for his fhare
the palatinates of Culm and Cujavia, with the duchy of
Mazovia. The palatinates of Kalefzh and Pofnania
fell to Mieczflaus the third fon ; and to Henry, the
fourth fon, were affigned thofe of Lublin and Sando-
mir. Cafimir the younged child, then an infant in the
cradle, was entirely forgotten, and no proviflon made for
him. There have been but very few indances where
dominions were thus divided, that the princes remain¬
ed fatisfied with their refpeftive fhares •, neither did the
fons of Boleflaus long continue at peace with one an¬
other. By the will of the late duke, all the brothers
were obliged to own the fupremacy of Uladiflaus, who
was declared duke of all Poland : they were redrained
from forming alliances, declaring war, or concluding
peace, without his approbation : they were obliged to
take the field with a certain number of troops, whenever
the duke required it 5 and they were forbid to meddle
with the guardianftiip of the infant prince Cafimir, his
education being left entirely to the fovereign. The
harmony of the princes was fird didurbed by the am¬
bition of Chridina, the wife of Uladiflaus, who formed
a fcheme to get poffeflion of all Poland, and deprive
the younger children of the benefit of their father’s
will. Having obtained her hulhand’s concurrence, flie
afiembled the dates of Poland, and made a long fpeech,
fhowing the dangers which might arifc from a parti¬
tion oi the ducal dominions among fo many j and con¬
cluded with attempting to fhow the neceffity of revoking
the ratification of the late duke’s will, in order to en-
fure the obedience of the princes and the tranquillity
of the republic. Many of the nobility exprefled their
refentment againd this fpeech, and fully refuted every
article in it; but they wrere all afterwards gained over,
or intimidated by Uladiflaus ; fo that none appeared to
take the part of the young princes except a noble Dane,
who lod his life for fo doing.
Uladiflaus now having got the nobility on his fide,
fird drove Boleflaus out of his territories j next, he
mrthed againd Henry, and difpoffefled him tilfo, for¬
cing both to take refuge with Mieczflaus in Pofnania,
where all the three brothers w^ere befieged. Several of
the nobility interpofed, and ufed all their influence to
effedd a reconciliation, but in vain 5 for Uladiflaus wras
as inexorable as if he had received an injury; and there¬
fore infifled that the befieged princes fliould furrender
at difcretion, and fubmit to the will of the conqueror.
Thus driven to defpair, the brothers fallxed out, and Poland,
attacked the duke’s army with fuch impetuofity, that » J
they obtained a "complete victory, and took all his bag¬
gage and valuable eft'e&s. The brothers improved their
victory, and laid liege to Cracow. The Ruffians, who
had alfifted Uladiflaus at firft, now entirely abandoned
him, and evacuated Poland, which obliged him to Ihut
himfelf up in Cracow ^ but, finding the inhabitants little
difpofed to Hand a liege, he retired into Germany in or¬
der to folicit afliftance from his wife’s friends. But here
he found himfelf miitaken, and that thefe friends were at¬
tached to him only in his profperity j while in the mean
time the city of Cracow furrendered, the unfortunate 5©
Uladiflaus was formally depofed, and his brother Bole-an!?
flaus raifed to the fupreme authority. P° e *
The new duke began his adminiftration with an aft
of generofity to his brother Uladiflaus, to whom he gave
the duchy of Silefia, which thus was feparated from Po¬
land, and has never fince been re-annexed to it. This
had no other effeft upon Uladiflaus than the putting
him in a condition to raife frelh difturbances j for he
now found means to perfuade the emperor Conrade to
invade Poland : but Boleflaus fo haraffed and fatigued
his army by perpettfal marches, ambufcades, and ikir-
miflies, that he was obliged in a Ihort time to return to
his own country 5 and for fome years Poland enjoyed
profound tranquillity.
During this interval Henry entered on a crufade j
and, though he loft almoft all his army in that enthu-
fiaftic undertaking, he is celebrated by the fuperftitious
■writers of that age, as the bulw ark of the church, and
one of the greateft Chriftian heroes : however, in all
probability, the reafon of this extraordinary fame is,
that he made large donations to the knights of St John
of Jerufalem. Soon after the return of Henry, Po-p0landit-
land wTas invaded by the emperor Frederic Barbaroffa, vaded by
who was perfuaded to this by the folicitations of Ula- t^,e emPe-
diflaus and his wife Chriftina. The number of the Im-
perialifts was fo great, that Boleflaus and his brothers '
did not think proper to oppofe them in the field j they
contented themfelves with cutting oft' the convoys, pla¬
cing ambufcades, harafling them on their march, and
keeping them in perpetual alarms by falfe attacks and
Ikirmiflres. With this view the three brothers divided
their forces, defolated the country before the enemy,
and burnt all the towns and cities which were in no
condition to ftand a liege. Thus the emperor, advan¬
cing into the heart of a defolated country where he
could not fubfift, was at laft reduced to fuch a fituation
that he could neither go forward nor retreat, and was 3
obliged to folicit a conference with Boleflaus. The lat- who is ob»
ter was too prudent to irritate him by an unfeafonable liged to
haughtinefs, and therefore went to the German camp^ue^or
attended only by his brothers and a flight guard. ThisPeacSi
inftance of confidence was fo agreeable to the emperor,
that a treaty was foon entered upon, wLich was con¬
firmed by a marriage between Adelaide, niece to the
emperor, and Mieczflaus duke of Poi'nania.
Boleflaus having thus happily efcaped from fb great
a danger, took it into his head to attempt the conqueft
of Pruflia, for no other reafon but becaufe the inhabi¬
tants wrere heathens. Having unexpeftedly invaded the
country with a very numerous army, he fucceeded in
his enterprife y great numbers of infidels were converted,
and many churches fet up : but no fooner wras Boleflauk
gone,
POL
53
A civil
im.
Poland, gone, tTian tlie inhabitants returned to their old religion.
'i - ■ ' Upon this Boleflaus again came againft them with a
formidable power j but, being betrayed by fome Pruf-
fians whom he had taken into his fervice and raifed to
polls of honour, his army was led into defiles and al-
moft entirely cut off, duke Henry was killed, and Bo-
lefiaus and Mieczflaus efcaped with great difficulty.
This misfortune wras quickly followed by another;
for now the children of Uladiflaus laid claim to all the
Polilh dominions which had been poffeffed by their fa¬
ther, moil of which had been beftowed upon young Ca-
fimir. They were fupported in their pretenfions by a
great number of difcontented Poles, and a confiderable
body of German auxiliaries. Boleflaus, finding him-
felf unable to withfland his enemies by force, had re-
courfe to negotiation, by which means he gained time
to recruit his army and repair his Ioffes. An affembly
of the Hates was held, before which the duke fo fully
refuted the claims of the children of Uladifiaus, that it
was almpft unanimoufly voted that they had kindled an
unjuft war ; and to take away every pretence for renewT-
ing the civil difcords of Poland, they were a fecond time
invefted with the duchy of Silefia, which for the prefent
put an end to all difputes. After this, Boleflaus appli¬
ed himfelf to promote, by all means, the happinefs of his
fubjefts, till his death, which happened in the year 1174.
On the death of Boleflaus, the ilates raifed his bro¬
ther Mieczflaus to the ducal throne, on account of the
great opinion they 'had of him. But the moment that
Mieczflaus ceafed to be a fubjedt, he became a tyrant,
and a Have to almoft every kind of vice j the confe-
quence of which was, that in a very fhort time he was
depofed, and his brother Cafimir eleffed in his Head.
Cafimir was a prince of the greateft juftice and bene-
volence, infomuch that he fcrupled to accept of the ho¬
nour which the ftates had conferred upon him, left it
fhould be a trefpafs againft the laws of equity. How¬
ever, this fcruple being foon got over, he fet himfelf a-
bout fecuring peace and tranquillity in all parts of his
dominions. He redreffed all grievances, fuppreffed ex¬
orbitant impofts, and affembled a general diet, in which
it was propofed to refcue the peafants from the tyranny
of the nobility ; an affair of fuch confequence, that the
duke could not enter upon it by his own authority, even
though fupported by the clergy. Yet it proved lefs
difficult than had been imagined, to perfuade the nobi¬
lity to relinquifli certain privileges extremely detrimen¬
tal to natural right. They were influenced by the ex¬
ample of their virtuous fovereign, and immediately gran¬
ted all that he required j and to fecure this declaration
in favour of the peafants, the archbifhop of Gnefna thun¬
dered out anathemas againft thofe who fhould endeavour
to regain the unjuft privileges which they had now re¬
nounced } and to give ftill greater weight to this de-
cifion, the afts of the diet were tranfmitted to Rome,
and were confirmed by the pope.
But though the nobility in general confented to have
their power fomewhat retrenched, it proved matter of
difcontent to fome, who for this reafon immediately be¬
came the partifans of the depofed Mieczflaus. This un¬
fortunate prince was now reduced to fuch indigence,
that he wrote an account of his fituation to his brother
Cafimir •, which fo much afFefted him, that in an af¬
fembly of the diet he propofed to refign the fovereignty
in favour of his brother. To this the ftates replied in
[ 67 ]
POL
54
mir,
excellent
prince,
the moft peremptory manner: they defired him never Poland,
more to mention the fubjeft to them, left they fhould v-""*'
be under the neceffity of depofing him and excluding
his brother, wffio, they were determined, fhould never
more have the dominion of Poland. Cafimir, however,
w7as fo much concerned at the account of his brother’s
misfortunes, that he tried every method to relieve him,
and even connived at the arts praftifed by fome dilcon-
tented noblemen to reftore him. By a very lingular
generofity, he facilitated the redudlion of Gnelha and
Lower Poland, where Mieczflaus might have lived in
peace and fplendor, had not his heart been fo corrupted
that it could not be fubdued by kindnefs. The conl'e-
quence was, that he ufed all his art to wreft from his
brother the whole of his dominions, and actually con->
quered the provinces of Mazovia and Cujavia j but of
thefe he was foon difpoffeffed, and only lome places in
Lower Poland were left him. After this he made an¬
other attempt, on occafion of a report that Cafimir had
been poifoned in an expedition into Rufiia. He fur-
prifed the city of Cracow ; but the citadel refufed to
furrender, and his hopes were entirely blafted by the re¬
turn of Cafimir himfelf} who, with an unparalleled ge¬
nerofity and magnanimity, alked peace of his brother
whom he had vanquifhed and had in a manner at his ^
mercy.—The laft. a£b"on of this amiable prince was the conquers
conqueft of Ruffia, which he effedled rather by the re- Ruffian
putation of his wifdom and generofity than by the force
of his arms. Thofe barbarians voluntarily fubmitted to
a prince fo famed for his benevolence, juftice, and hu¬
manity. Soon after his return, he died at Cracow, la¬
mented as the beft prince in every refpeil who had ever
filled the throne of Poland.
Cafimir left one fon, named Lechus, an infant ; and
the ftates, dreading the confequences of a long mino¬
rity, hefitated at appointing him fovereign, confidering
hew many competitors he muft neceffarily have, and
how dubious it muft be whether he might be fit for the 56
fovereignty after he had obtained it. At laft, however, Civil war
Lechus was nominated, chiefly through the imereft he ^et^een ^
had obtained on account of the reputation of his father’s tj.ee c]ep0fe(i
virtues. The confequence of his nomination was pre- Mieczflaus.
cifely what might have been expc&ed. Mieczllaus
formed an alliance againft him with the dukes of Op-
pelen, Pomerania, and Breflau; and having raifed all
the men in Lower Poland fit to bear arms,, took the
road to Cracow with a very numerous army. A bloody
battle was fought on the banks of the river Mozgarva j
in which both fides were fo much weakened, that they
were unable to keep the field, and confequently were
forced to retire for fome time in order to repair their
forces. Mieczflaus was firft ready for a£Hon, and there¬
fore had the advantage : however, he thought proper to
employ artifice rather than open force 5 and therefore
having attempted in vain to corrupt the guardians of
Lechus, he entered into a treaty with the duchefs-dow-
ager his mother. To her he reprefented in the ftrong-
eft manner the miferies which would enfue from her re~
fufal of the conditions he propofed. He ftipulated to
adopt Lechus and Conrade, her fons, for his own 5 to
furrender the province of Cujavia for their prefent fup-
port ; and to declare them heirs to all his dominions.
The principal nobility oppofed this accommodation, but ^
it was accepted by the duchefs in fpite of all their re- Mieczflaus
monitrances j and Mieczflaus was once more put in pof- lekorcd.
I 2 feffion
I
POL [ 68 ] POL
Poland, fefficn of the capital, after having “taken a folemn oath
[r> execute punctually every article of the treaty.
It is not to be fuppofed that a prince of fuch a per¬
fidious difpofition as Mieczflaus would pay much regard
to the obligations of a fimple contraft. It was a ma¬
xim with him, that a fovereign is no longer obliged to
keep bis oath than while it is neither fafe nor beneficial
to break it. Having therefore got all the power into
his hands, he behaved in the very fame manner as if no
treaty with the duchefs had fubfifted. The duchefs,
perceiving herfelf duped, formed a throng party, and
excited a general infurreClion. The rebellion could not
be withftood : Mieczflaus was driven out of Cracow,
and on the point of being reduced to bis former circum-
tftances, when he found means to produce a variance be¬
tween the duchefs and palatine of Cracow; and thus
once more turned the fcale in his favour. The forces
©f Mieczflaus now became fuperior, and he, in confe-
•mence, regained pofTeffion of Cracow, but did not long
enjoy his profperity, falling a viftim to his intempe¬
rance ; fo that Lechus was reflored to the fovereignty
in the year 1206.
■Poland ra- '-The government of Lechus was the moft unfortunate
vaged by of any of the fovereigns of Poland. In his time the
the tar, Tartars made an irruption, and committed everywhere
the mod cruel ravages. At laft they came to an en¬
gagement wnth the Poles, affifeed by the Ruffians ; and
after an obdinate and dreadful confiift, obtained a com-
plete victory. This incurfion, however, terminated as
precipitately as it commenced •, for without any appa-
•rent reafon they retired, jud as the whole kingdom was
ready to fubmit} but the devadations they had com¬
mitted produced a famine, which was foon followed by
a plague that depopulated one of the mod populous
countries of the north. In this unhappy fituation of
affairs, death ended the misfortunes of Lechus, who was
murdered by his own fubje&s as he was bathing. A
civil war took place after his death 3 and the hidory
for fome time is fo confufed, that it is difficult to fay
with certainty who was his fucceffor. During this un¬
fortunate date of the country, the Tartars made a fe-
cond irruption, laid all defolate before them, and were
•advancing to the capital, when they were attacked and
defeated with great daughter by the palatine of Cra¬
cow with only a handful of men. The power of the
enemy, however, was not broken by this victory ; for,
next year, the Tartars returned, and committed fuch
barbarities as can fcarce be imagined. Whole provinces
were defeated, and every one of the inhabitants maf-
facred. They were returning, laden with fpoil, when
the palatine fell upon them a fecond time, but not with
the fame fuecels as before : for, after an obdinate en¬
gagement, he was defeated, and thus all Poland was
laid open to the ravages of the barbarians; the nobility
fled into Hungary, and the peafants fought an alylum
among rocks and impenetrable foreds. Cracow, being
-left entirely defsncelefs, was foon taken, pillaged, and
burnt *, after which the barbarians, penetrating into Si-
lefia and Moravia, defolated thefe countries, dedroying
jBredau and other cities. Nor did Hungary efcape the
fury of their barbarity : the king gave battle to the
Tartars, but was defeated with vad daughter, and had
the mortification to fee his capital laid in adres, and
* above 100,000 of his fubjefts peril'll by fire and fword.
The arms of Tartars irere invincible; nothing
could withdand the prodigious number of forces which Poland,
they brought into the field, and the fury with which l—
they fought. They fixed their head-quarters on the
frontiers of Hungary •, and fpread their devadations on
every fide with a celerity and fuccefs that threatened
the dedrufti'on of the whole empire, as well as of the
neighbouring kingdoms.
In this dreadful fituation was Poland when Loleflaus,
furnamed the Chajle^ was railed to the fovfereignly;
but this, fo far from putting an end to the troubles,
only fuperadded a civil war to the red of the calamities.
Boledaus was oppofed by his uncle Conrade the bro¬
ther of Lechus, who was provoked at becoming the
fubjeft of his own nephew. Having affembled a power¬
ful army, he gained poffeffion of Cracow 3 affumed the
title of duke of Poland; and might poffibly have kept
poffedion of the fovereignty, had not his avarice and
pride equally offended the nobility and peafants. In
confequence of their difeontents, they unanimoudy ffi-
vited Boledaus, who had fled into Hungary, to come
and head the infurreidion which now took place in every
quarter. On his arrival, he was joyfully received into Knights of
the capital: but Conrade dill headed a powerful party ; the Teuto-
and it is reported that on this occadon the knights of "k order
the Teutonic order were fivd called into Poland, to
difpute the pretenfions of Boledaus. All the endea-jj.jjj
vours of Conrade, however, proved unfuccefsful : he
was defeated in two pitched battles, and forced to live
in a private fituation \ though he never ceafed to ha-
rafs his nephew, and make fredi attempts to recover the
crown. However, of the reign of Boledaus we have
little account, except that We made a vow of perpetual
continency, and impofed the fame on his wife ; that he
founded near 40 rnonaderies; and that he died after a
long reign in 1279, after having adopted Lechus duke
of Cujavia, and procured a confirmation of his choice
by tire free’eleflion of the people. ^
The reign of this lad prince was one continued feene p0ianci
of foreign and domedic trouble. On his fird acceffion overrun by
he was attacked by the united forces of Ruffia and Li- the Ru<-
thuania affided by the Tartars j whom, however, he had
the good fortune to defeat in a pitched battle. By this Uithuani-
viftory the enemy were obliged to quit the kingdom j ans.
but Lechus was fo much weakened, that civil diffen-
fions took place immediately after. Thefe increafed to
fuch a degree, that Lechus was obliged to fly to Hun¬
gary, the common refource of didreffed Polidi princes.
The inhabitants of Cracow alone remained firm in their
duty ; and thefe brave citizens dood all the fatigue and
danger of a tedious fiege, till they were at lad relieved
by Lechus at the head of a Hungarian army, who de¬
feated the rebels, and redored to his kingdom a legiti¬
mate government. He had fcarce reafeended the throne
when the united forces of the Ruffians, Tartars, and
Lithuanians, made a fecond irruption into Poland, and
defolated the country with the mod favage barbarity.
Their forces were now rendered more terrible than ever
by their having along with them a vad number of large
dogs trained to tbe art of war. Lecbus, however, with
an army much inferior, obtained a complete viftory ;
the Poles being animated by defpair, as perceiving, that,
if they were conquered, they mud alfo be devoured.
Soon after this, Lechus died with the reputation of a
warlike, wife, but unfortunate prince. As he died
without iffue, his crown was conteffed, a civil war again
enfued 3.
Poland.
P O L
enfued ; and the affairs of the ftat
61
War with
tlie Teuto¬
nic knights
62
Ruffia Ni¬
gra con¬
quered by
Cafimir
the Great.
declining way till the year I 296, when Premiflaus, th
duke at that time, refuthed the title of king. However,
they did not revive in any confiderable degree till tire
year 1305, when Uladiflaus Lofticus, who had feized
the throne in 1 300, and afterwards been driven out, was
again reftored to it. The firft tranfadlion of his reign
was a war with the Teutonic knights, who had ufurped
' the greater part of Pomerania during the late difiurb-
ances. They had been fettled in the territory of Culm
by Conrade duke of Mazovia *, but foon extended their
'dominion over the neighbouring provinces, and had
even got poffieffion of the city of Dantzic, where they
maffncred a number of Pomeranian gentlemen in cold
blood •, which fo much terrified the neighbouring towns,
that they fubmitted without a ftroke. I he knights
were commanded bv the Pope himfelf to renounce
their conquefts ■, but they fet at nought all his thunders,
and even fuffered themfelves to be excommunicated
rather than part with them. As foon as this happened,
the king marched into the territories of the marquis of
Brandenburg, becaufe he had pretended to fell a right
to the Teutonic knights to thoie countries, when he had
none to them himfclf. Uladiilaus next entered the ter¬
ritory of Culm, where he laid every thing wafte with
fire andfword; and, being oppofed by the joint forces
of the marquis, the knights, and the duke of Mazovia,
he obtained a complete victory after a defperate and
bloody engagement. Without purfuing the blow, he
returned to Poland, recruited his army, and being rein¬
forced by a body of auxiliaries from Hungary and Li¬
thuania, he difperfed the enemy’s forces, and ravaged a
fecond time all the dominions of the Teutonic order.
Had he improved this advantage, he might eafily have
exterminated the whole order, or at leaft reduced them
fo low, that they could never have occafioned any more
dhturbances in the date •, but he fuffered himfelf to be
foothed and caioled by the promifes which they made
without any defign of keeping them, and concluded a
treaty under the mediation of the kings of Hungary
and Bohemia. In a few months he was convinced of
the perfidy of the knights •, for they not only refufed to
evacuate Pomerania as had been ftipulated in the treaty,
but endeavoured to extend their ufurpations, for which
purpofe they had affembled a very confiderable army.
Uladiflaus, enraged at their treachery, took the field
a third time, and gave them battle with fuch fuccefs,
that 40CG knights were left dead on the fpot, and
y0,000 auxiliaries killed or taken pi-ifcners. Yet,
though the king had it once more in his power to de-
flrov the whole Teutonic order, he fatisfied himfelf with
obtaining the territories which had occafioned the war ;
after which he fpent the remainder of his life in peace
. and tranquillity.
Uladiflaus was fucceeded by his fon Cafimir ITT. fur-
named the Great. He fubdued the province called Ruf-
Jia Nigra in a fingle campaign. Next he turned his
arms againft Mazovia'•, and with the utmoft rapidity
overran the duchy, and annexed it as a province to the
crown ; after which he applied himfelf to domeftic af¬
fairs, and was the firft who introduced a written code of
laws into Poland. He was the moft impartial judge,
the moft rigid obferver of juftice, and the moft fufcmif-
five to the laws, of any potentate mentioned in the hif-
$oiy of Lurope. The only vice with which he is char-
Polancf.
<53
[ 69 1 0 L
continued in a very ged is that of incontinency } but even tn.s ihe cle.gy
declared to be a venial fin, and arnpiy comperuated by
his other virtues, particularly ■ the great liberality which
he (bowed to the clerical order, _ _
Cafimir was .fucceedcd iu 137c by his nephew Louis Unhappy
king of Hungary ; but, as the Poles looked upon him reign of
to be a foreign prince, they were not happy under hisLoius-
adminiftration. Indeed a coldnefs between this monarch
and his people took place even before he afeended the
throne } for in the pa ft a cctuvcHta, to which the Poliih
monarchs were obliged to fwear, a great number of un-
ufual articles were inierted. This probably. u,ras the
reafon why he left Poland almofl; as loon as his corona¬
tion was over, carrying with him the crown, feeptre,
globe, and fword of (date, to prevent the Poles from
elecling another prince during his abfence. He left the
government in the hands of his mother Elizabeth ■, and
(he would have been agreeable to the people, had her
capacity for government been equal to the talk. At
that time, however, the (late of Poland was too much
did rafted to be governed by a woman. The country
was overrun with bold robbers and gangs of villains,
who committed the mod horrid diforciers j the king¬
dom was likewife invaded by the Lithuanians, the
whole province of Ruflia Nigra revolted ; and the king¬
dom was univerfally filled with diffenfion. The Poles
could not bear to fee their towns filled with Hungarian
garrifons •, and therefore fent a meffage to the king,
telling him that they thought he had been fufficientiy
honoured in being elefted king 01 Poland himfelf, with¬
out fuffenng the kingdom to be governed by a woman
and his Hungarian fuojefts. On this Louis immediate¬
ly raifed a numerous army, with a defign fully to con¬
quer the fpirit of his fubjefts. His firft operations were
direfted againft the Ruffians ; whom he defeated, and
again reduced to fubjeftion. Then he turned his arms
againft the Lithuanians, drove them out of the king¬
dom, and re-eftabhflied public tranquillity. Howevei,
inftead of being fatisfied with this, and removing the
Hungarian garrifons, he introduced many more, and
raifed Hungarians lo all the chiei pods ot government.
His credit and authority even w'ent fo far as to get a
fucceffor nominated who was difagreeahk to the whole
nation, namely Sigifnund marquis of Brandenburg. Al¬
ter the death of Louis, however, this eleftion was fet
afide j and Hedwuga, daughter of Cafimir the Great,
was proclaimed queen. . a
This princefs married Jagello dukeot Lithuania, who Uecwiga
was now* converted to Chrillianity, and baptized by the marries the
name of Uladi/laus. In confequence of this marriage, Jkeof Li¬
the duchy of Lithuania, as well as the vaft provinces of
Samogitia and Ruflia Nigra, became annexed to uniting that
crowm of Poland. Such a formidable acceffion of povrer duchy, to-
excited the jealoufy of the Teutonic knights, wLo were sether wit!*
fenfible that Uladiflaus. was now bound to undertake theJ*J°S^
reduftion of Pomerania, and revenge all the injuries-Nig.ra) tQ
which Poland had furtained from them for a great num- Poland,
ber of years. From his firft acceffion therefore they
confidered this monarch as their greateft enemy, and.en¬
deavoured to prevent his defigns againft them by eft eft-
ing a revolution in Lithuania in favour of his brother
Andrew. The profpeft of fuccefs was the greater
here, as moft of the nobility were difeontented with the
late alliance, and Uladiftaus had propoftd to effeft a re¬
volution in religion, which was highly difagreeable,
0 ca
POL . [
, | On a fudden, therefore, two armies marched towards
^ the frontiers of the duchy, which they as fuddenly pe¬
netrated, laying watte the whole country, and feizing
upon fome important fortreffes, before the king of Po¬
land had any notice of the matter. As foon as he re¬
ceived advice of thefe ravages, Uladiflaus railed fome
forces with the utmoft celerity, which he committed to
the care of his brother Skirgello, who defeated the
Teutonic knights, and foon obliged them to abandon all
their conquetts. In the mean time Uladitlaus marched
in perfon into the Higher Poland, which was fubje&ed
to a variety of petty tyrants> who oppreffed the peo-
pie, and governed with intolerable defpotifm. The pa¬
latine of Pofnia, in particular, had diftinguithed himfelf
by his rebellious praftices ; but he was completely de¬
feated by Uladitlaus, and the whole country reduced to
65 obedience.
Troubles in ^ Having fecured the tranquillity of Poland, Uladiflaus
it uania. Lithuania, attended by a great number of the
clergy, in order to convert his fubjefts. This he ef-
fe&ed without great difficulty •, but left the care of the
duchy to his brother Skirgello, a man of a cruel, haugh¬
ty, and debauched turn, and who immediately began to
abufe his power. With him the king fent his coufin
Vitowda, a prince of a generous, brave, and amiable
difpolition, to be a check upon his conduct; but the
barbarity of Skirgello foon obliged this prince to take
refuge among the Teutonic knights, who were now be¬
come the afylum of the oppreffed and difcontented. For
fome time, however, he did not affift the knights in
their defigns againft his country ; but having applied
for proteftion to the king, and finding him remifs in
affording the neceffary affiftance, he at laft joined in the
fchemes formed by the knights for the deilru&ion of
Poland. Entering Lithuania at the head of a nume¬
rous army, he took the capital, burnt part of it, and
deftroyed 14,000 perfons in the flames, befides a great
number who were maffacred in attempting to make their
efcape. The upper part of the city, however, was vi-
goroufly defended, fo that the befiegers were at laft
obliged to abandon all thoughts of making themfelves
mafters of it, and to content themfelves wdth defolating
the adjacent country. The next year Vitowda renewed
his attempts upon this city, but with the fame ill fuc-
cefs ; though he got poffeffion of fome places of lefs
note. As foon, however, as an opportunity offered, he
came to an accommodation with the king, who beftow-
ed on him the government of Lithuania. During the
firft years of his government, he beftowed the moft dili¬
gent attention upon domeftic affairs, endeavouring to re¬
pair the calamities which the late wars had occafioned 5
but his impetuous valour had prompted him at laft to en¬
gage in a war with Tamerlane the Great, after his vic¬
tory over Bajazet the Turkifti emperor. For fome time
before, Vitowda had been at war with the neighbour¬
ing Fartars, and had been conftantly vidtorious, tranf-
porting whole hordes of that barbarous people into Po¬
land and Lithuania, w’here to this day they form a co¬
lony diftindl in manners and drefs from the other inha¬
bitants. Uladiflaus, however, diffuaded him from at-
^ tacking the whole ftrength of the nation under fuch a
Terrible celebrated commander as Tamerlane : but Vitowda was
battle with obftinate } he encountered an army of 400,000 Tar-
the far- tars under Ediga, Tamerlane’s lieutenant, with only a
^ tenth part of their number. The battle continued for
] POL
a whole day ; but at laft Vitowda was furrounded Poland,
by the numbers of his enemy, and in the utmoft danger
ol being cut in pieces. However, he broke his way
through with prodigious (laughter on both fides j and
came off at laft without a total defeat, having killed
a number oi the enemy equal to the whole of his own
army.
During the abfence of Vitowda, the Teutonic knights Wars with
had penetrated into Lithuania, committing every where !-he i euto-
the moft dreadful ravages. On his return he attacked nic knight*,
and defeated them, making an irruption into Livonia,
to punifti the inhabitants oi that country for the aflift-
ance they had given to the Teutonic order. This was
(ucceeded by a long feries of wars between Poland and
Pruffia, in which it became neceffary for Uladiflaus him-
ftdf to take the field. JLhe knights had now7 one way
or other got poffeffion of Samogitia, Mazovia, Culm,
Silefia, and Pomerania; fo that Uladiflaus refolved to
punifh them before they became too powerful. With
this view he affemblcd an army compofed of feveral dif¬
ferent nations, with which he penetrated into Pruffia,
took feveral towns, and was advancing to Marienburg,
the capital of Pomerania, when he was met by the army
of the Pruffian knights, who determined to hazard a
battle. When the engagement began, the Poles were
deferted by all their auxiliaries, and obliged to ftand
the brunt of the battle by themfelves. But the cou¬
rage and conduft of their king fo animated them, that
after a moft defperate battle they obtained a complete
viftory near 40,000 of the enemy being killed in the
field, and 30,000 taken prifoners. This terrible over¬
throw, however, was lefs fatal to the affairs of the Pruf¬
fian knights than might have been expe&ed ; as Uladi¬
flaus did not improve his vi&ory, and a peace was con¬
cluded upon eafier terms than his adverfaries had any
reafon to expe<ft.—Some infraftion of the treaty occa¬
fioned a renewal of boftilities ; and Uladiflaus was fo
much elated with viftory that he would hearken to no
terms, by which means the enemy were driven t® the
defperate refolution of burying themfelves in the ruins
of their capital. The fiege was accordingly commen¬
ced, and both fides behaved with the greateft vigour j
but at laft, through the good conduft and valour of the
grand mafter of the knights named P/awen, the Polirti
monarch found himfelf obliged to grant them an advan¬
tageous peace, at a time when it was univerfally ex-
pefted that the whole order would have been extermi¬
nated.
Uladiflaus V. died in 1435? and was fucceeded by
his fon Uladiflaus VI. at that time only nine years of
age. He had fcarce afcended the throne, when the
kingdom was invaded by the Tartars, who defeated
Buccarius the general of the Polith forces j and com¬
mitting everywhere dreadful ravages, returned to their
own country loaded with booty. A few years after,
the nation was involved in a war with Amuratb the
emperor of the Turks, who threatened to break into
Hungary 5 and it was thought by the diet to be good
policy to affift the Hungarians at this junflure, be-
caufe it was impoffible to know where the ftorm might
fall after Hungary was conquered. But before all
things were prepared for the young king to take the
field, a ftrong body of auxiliaries was difpatched un¬
der the celebrated John Hunniades vaivode of Tran-
fylvania, to oppofe the Turks, and likewife to fupport
the
68
Uladiflaus
defeated
and killed
by the
Turks.
69
Teutonic
knights
fubdued.
POL [7
Poland, the election of Uladiflaus to the crown of Hungary. This
—""V-*— detachment furprifed the Turkifh army near the river
Morava, and defeated Amurath with the lofs of 30,000
men } after which Hunniades retook all the places which
had Been conquered by Amurath, the proud fultan w'as
forced to fue for peace, and Uladiilaus was raifed without
oppofition to the crown of Hungary. A treaty was
concluded, by which the Turks promifed to relinquilh
their defigns upon Hungary, t® acknowledge the king’s
right to that crown, and to give up all their conquelts
in Rafcia and Servia. This treaty was fealed by mutual
oaths : but Uladiflaus broke it at the perfuafion of the
pope’s legate j who infilled, that now was the time for
humbling the power of the infidels •, and produced a fpe-
cial commiffion from the pope, abfolving him from the
oath he had taken at the late treaty. The conlequence
of this perfidy was, that Uladiflaus was entirely defeated
and killed at Varna, and the greatefl part of his army
cut in pieces.
Uladiilaus VI. w^as fucceeded by Cafimir IV. in whofe
reign the Teutonic knights were fubdued, and obliged
to yield up the territories of Culm, Michlow, and the
whole duchy of Pomerania, together with the towns of
Elbing, Marienburg, Talkmith, Schut, and Chrift-
burgh, to the crown of Poland. On the other hand,
the king reilored to them all the other conquefts he had
made in Pruffia, granted a feat in the Polifh fenate to
the grand-mafter, and endowed him with other privi¬
leges, on condition that, fix months after his acceflion,
he fhould do homage for Pruffia, and take an oath of
fidelity to the king and republic.
This fuccefs raifed the fpirits of the Polifh nation,
which had drooped ever fince the battle of Varna. Ihe
diet did not, however, think proper to renew' the war
againft the Turks, but took under their prote&ion.the
hofpodar of Moldavia j as thinking that this province
would make a convenient barrier to the Polifh domi¬
nions on one fide. The requefl of the prince who afked
this protection was therefore readily granted, an oath of
fidelity exaCted from him and the inhabitants, and a tri¬
bute required } regular payment of which was made for
a great number of years afterwards.
About this time alfo the crown of Bohemia beco-
xxv..,- ming vacant, the people were extremely defirous of
gary nnited being governed by one of the princes of Poland ; upon
to Poland. wbich the barons were induced to bellow the crown
upon Uladiflaus, eldeft fon of Cafimir, in oppofition to
the intrigues of the king of Hungary. Not fatisfied
wdth this acquifition, Uladiflaus took advantage of the
diffenfions in Hungary, in order to unite that crown to
his own : and this he alfo effeCted •, by which means his
power w'as greatly augmented, though not the felicity
of his people. So many foreign expeditions had ex-
haufted the treafury, and opprefied the peafants with
taxes; the gentry were greatly diminifhed by a number
of bloody engagements •, agriculture was negleCted, and
the country almoft depopulated. Before a proper, reme¬
dy could be applied for thefe evils, Cafimir died in
1492 ; much more admired, than beloved or regretted,
by his fubjeCts. It is related by the hiftOrians of this
period, that in the reign of Cafimir IV. the deputies of
the provinces firft appeared at the diet, and affumed
to themfelves the legiflative power ; all laws before
this time having been framed by the king in conjunc¬
tion with the fenate. It is obferved alfo, that before
•jo
Crowns of
Bohemia
and Hun-
1 ] POL
Cafimir’s time, the Latin language was underftood on- t Poland. ^
ly by the clergy of Poland ; in proof of which, it is al- * ■
leged, that at an interview between this prince and the
king of Sweden at Dantzic, his Polifh majefty w'as
forced to make ufe of the afiiftance of a monk to in¬
terpret between him and the Swedifh monarch. Ca¬
fimir, afhamed of the ignorance fiiown by himfelf and
court, publifhed an edidt, enjoining the diligent ftudy
of the Latin, which in our days is fpoken as vernacu¬
lar by every Poliih gentleman, though very unclaffi-
cally.
During the fucceeding reigns of John, Albert, and
Alexander, the Polifh affairs fell into decline; the
kingdom being haraffed by continual wars with the
Turks and Tartars. However, they were retrieved
by Sigifmund I. wdio afeended the throne in 1507. ^
This monarch, having reformed fome internal abufes, EXpj0its (f
next fet about rendering the kingdom as formidable as it Sigifmund
had formerly been. He firft quelled a rebellion which k
broke out in Lithuania j after which, he drove the
Walachians and Moldavians out of Ruffia Nigra, and
defeated the Ruffians in a pitched battle, with the lofs
of 30,000 men. In this engagement he was obliged to
caufe his cavalry to fwim acrois the Boriithenes in order
to begin the attack, while a bridge was preparing for
the infantry. Thefe orders were executed wdth afto-
niffiing celerity, notwithfianding the rapidity of the
ftream, the fteepnefs of the banks, and the enemy’s op¬
pofition. The onfet was led by the Lithuanians, who
were directed to retreat gradually, with a view' of draw¬
ing the enemy wdthin reach of the cannon. T1 his the
Ruffians miftook for a real flight y and as they were pur-
fuing with eagernefs, Sigifmund opened his line to the
right and left, pouring in grape-fhot from the artillery
with dreadful fuccefs. The Ruffian general, and feve-
ral noblemen of the firft diftinftion, were taken prifoners,
w hile the w'hole lofs of the royal army did not amount to
300 men.
After this complete victory, the king turned his
arms againft the Teutonic knights, who had elected
the marquis of Brandenburg their grand-mafter y and
this prince not only refufed to acknowdedge the fove-
reignty of the crown of Poland, but even invaded the
Polifh territories. Sigifmund marched againft him,
and gained pofleffion of feveral important places in
Brandenburg y but as he wras purfuing his conquefts,
the marquis wras reinforced by 14,000 Germans, led
by the duke of Schonenburg, who ventured to lay
fiege to Dantzic, after having ravaged all the neigh¬
bouring country. The Dantzickers, however, defend¬
ed themfelves with fo much fpirit, that the befiegers
w'ere foon obliged to relinquifh their enterprife. In
their retreat they w'ere attacked by a ftrong detachment
of Poliffi cavalry, w'ho made prodigious havock among
them, and compelled the w retched remains to take fliel-
ter in Pomerania, where they w'ere inhumanly butchered
by the peafants. Soon after this the marquis was ob¬
liged to fubmit to the clemency of the conqueror y
from whom, however, he obtained better conditions
than could have been expefted, or indeed than he wmuld
have got, had he not abandoned the intereft of the Teu¬
tonic order, and refigned the dignity of grand-mafter.
In order to fecure him in his intereft, therefore, Sigif¬
mund granted him half the province of Pruffia as a fe-
cular duke, and dependent on the- crown of Poland y
P . 0 f,
Poland
. 73 1
Sigit'mund
Auguftus,
•tvifc aitd
valiant
jrince.
• by which means he entirely deprived that older of the
beft part of their dominions, and put it quite out
of their power to difturb the tranquillity of Poland any
more.
The power of Sigifmund had now exxited the jealou-
fy of the Houfe of Aultria 5 for which reafon they took
every method in their power to ftir up enemies againft
him. By their means, the Ruffians, Moldavians, and
Tartars, were all excited to fall upon the Poliffi territo¬
ries at once. The vaivode of Walachia, with 50,000
men, made an irruption into the (mail province of Po-
katior, but was entirely defeated by Count Taro at the
head of no more than 6000. This victory is wholly
aferibed to the good condudl of the commander, who
poiTelfed himfelf of home eminences on the flanks of the
■enemy. On thefe he erefled batteries ; wdiich played
with fuch fur}’’ as foon put their ranks in diforder : up¬
on which the Poles attacked them fword in hand, and
entirely difperfed them with the lofs of 10,000 killed or
taken. The count having then augmented his army
with a ftrong body of Lithuanians, attacked the Muf-
covites and Tartars, drove them entirely out of the
duchy, purfued them into Ruffia, reduced leveral towns,
and at laft laid liege to the ftrong fortrefs of Straradub }
in which the regent, together with fome of the belt
troops of Rnffia, were inclofed. The garrifon made a
gallant defence •, and the fortifications wrere compofed
of beams joined together, and lupported by a bulwark
of earth, upon which the cannon-lhot made no impref-
fion : but the count contrived a method of fetting the
wood on fire ; by which means the regent and nobility
were obliged to furrender at diferetion, and Taro car¬
ried off upwards of 60,000 prifoners, with an immenfe
Isooty.
In the reign of Sigifmund, we may look upon the
kingdom of Poland to have been at its greateit pitch
of glory. This monarch poffeffed, in his own perfon,
the republic of Poland, the great duchies of Lithua¬
nia, Smolenlko, and Savcria, befides vaft territories
lying beyond the Euxine and Baltic; while his ne¬
phew Lewis poffeffed the kingdoms of Bohemia, Hun¬
gary, and Siiefia. But this glory received a hidden
check in 1548, by the defeat and death of Louis,
who periffied in a battle fought with Solyman the
Great, emperor of the Turks. The daughter of this
prince married Ferdinand of Auftria ; whereby the
dominions of Hungary, Bohemia, and Siiefia, became
infeparably connected with the hereditary dominions of
the Auftrian family. This misfortune is thought to
have haitened the death of Sigifmund ; though, being
then in his 84th year, he could not have lived long by
the ordinary courfe of nature. He did nob, however,
furvive the news many months, but died of a lingering
diforder, leaving behind him the charafter of the com¬
pleted. general, the ableft politician, the beft prince, and
the ftrongeft man, in the north; of which laft, indeed,
fome inftances are related by hiftorians that are almgft
incredible.
Sigifmund Auguftus, who fucceeded his father Si-
a gifmund I. proved alfo a very great and happy prince.
At that time the mod violent and bloody wars were
carrying on in Germany, and indeed through other
parts of Europe, on account of religion ; but Sigif¬
mund wifely avoided interfering in thefe difpwtes. He
would not admit into his dominions any ef thofe di-
3
t ^ i
.POL
n
War witk~
lhe Ruffia.
vines who were taxed with holding heterodox opinions, Poland,
nor even allow his people the liberty of correfponding
with them; yet he never perfecuted, or employed any
other means for the prefervation of the Hate than thole
of a well-conduced and regular policy. Inftead ofdif-
puting with his fubjedts about fpeculative opinions, Si¬
gifmund applied .himfelf diligently to the reforming of
abufes, enforcing the laws, enriching the treaiury, pro¬
moting induftry, and redeeming the crown-lands where
the titles of the poffeffors appeared illegal. Out of the
revenue recovered in this manner he obtained a for¬
midable ftandimg army, without laying any additional
tax upon the fubjeds; and though he preferred peace
to war, he was always able to punilh thole that offer¬
ed indignities to his crown or perfon. His knowledge
in the art of war was foon tried in a conteft with
Ruffians, who had made an irruption into Livonia, en¬
couraged by the difputes which had fubfifted between
the Teutonic knights and the archbifhop of Riga, cou-
fin to Sigifmund. The province was at that time di¬
vided between the knights and the prelate ; and the
Ruffians, under pretence of affifting .the former, had
feized great part of the dominions of the latter. The
archbifhop had recourfelo his kinfman the king of Po¬
land ; who, after fruitlefs efforts to accommodate mat¬
ters, marched towards the frontiers of Livonia with an
army of 100,000 men. The knights were by no means
able to refift fuch a formidable power; and therefore,
deferring their late allies, put themfelves under the pro-
tehrion of the king of Poland. The czar, John Bafi-
lides, though deferted by the knights, did not loie his
courage ; nay, he even infolently refufed to return any
anfwer to the propofals of peace made by Sigifinund.
Kis army confided of 300,000 men, with whom he
imagined himfelf able to reduce all Livonia, in fpite
of the utmoft efforts of the king of Poland : however,
having met with fome checks on that quarter, he di-
re&ly invaded Poland with his whole army. At firft
he carried every thing before him ; but the Poles foon
made a vigorous oppofition. Yet the Ruffians, though
everywhere defeated, ftill continued their incurlions,
which Sigifmund at laft revenged by invading Ruffia in
his turn. .Thefe mutual defolations and ravages at laft
made both parties defirous of peace, and a truce for
three years was agreed on ; during the continuance of
which the king of Poland died, and with him was ex- 74
tinguilhed the houfe of Jagellon, which had governed Extinction
Poland for near 200 years, of the hou£e
On the death of Sigifmund, Poland became a prey0t jra8eIi0°*
to inteftine divifions ; and a vaft number of intrigues
were let on foot at the courts of Vienna, France, Sax¬
ony, Sweden, and Brandenburg ; each endeavouring
to eftabliffi a prince of their own nation on the throne
of Poland. The confequence of all this was, that the
kingdom became one univerfal feene of corruption, Difti^adled
fa ft ion, and conftifion ; the members of the diet con-ftateofPo*
fulled only their own intereft, and were ready on everyIan***
occafion to fell themfelves to the beft bidder. The
Proteftants had by this time got a confiderable footing
in the kingdom, and thus religious difputes were in¬
termingled with political ones. One good effeft, how¬
ever, flowed from this confufion : for a law was paffed
by which it was enafted, that no difference in religious
opinions ffiould make any contention among the fub-
jecls of the kingdom; and that all the Poles, without
dilcti-
POL [7
Poland, difcrimination, fliould be capable of holding public of-
—v-— fices and trufts under the government ; and it was alfo
refolved, that the future kings (hould fwear exprefsly
to cultivate the internal tranquillity of the realm, and
cherifh without diltinclion their fubjefts of all perfua-
iions.
While the candidates for the throne were feverally
attempting to fupport their own intereft in the belt
manner they could, John Crafolki, a Polilh gentleman
of oreat merit, but diminutive ftature, had juft returned
from France, whither he had travelled for improve¬
ment. His humour, wit, and diverting fize, had ren¬
dered him univerfally agreeable at the court of France,
and in a particular manner engaged the efteem of Ca¬
tharine de Medicis, which the little Pole had the ad-
drefs to make ufe of for his own advantage. He ow^ed
many obligations to the duke of Anjou j wdrom, out of
gratitude, he reprefented in fuch favourable terms, that
the Poles began to entertain thoughts of making him
their king. Thefe fentiments were confirmed and en¬
couraged by Crafolki, wFo returned into France by
order of feveral leading men in Poland, and acquainted
the king and Queen Catharine, that nothing was want¬
ing befides the formality of an embafly to procure the
crown for the duke of Anjou, almoft without oppofi-
tion. Charles IX. king of France, at that time alfo
promoted the fcheme, being jealous of the duke of An¬
jou’s popularity, and willing to have him removed to
as great a diftance as poftible. Accordingly the par¬
ties came to an agreement j and it w’as ftipulated that
, J6 f the duke of Anjou Ihould maintain the laws, liberties,
Anjou'cho- and cuftoms of the kingdom of Poland, and of the
fe: king ot grand duchy of Lithuania ^ that he fhould tianfport all
Poland. j}[s e{fei£fs and annual revenues in France into Poland :
that the French monarch fhould pay the late king Si-
gifmund’s debts j that he Ihould maintain 100 young
Polilh gentlemen at his court, and to in other places;
that he Ihould fend a fleet to the Baltic, to aflift Po¬
land againft the Ruffians * and laftly, that Henry fhould
marry the princefs Anne, filler to the late king Si gif
round •, but this article Henry would not ratify till his
return to Poland.
Every thing being thus fettled, the young king quit¬
ted France, attended by a fplendid retinue, and was
accompanied by the queen-mother as far as JjOi rain.
He was received by bis fubjedls on the frontiers of Po¬
land, and conduced to Cracow, wffiere he was foon af¬
ter crowned. The affeclions of the Poles were foon
engaged by the youth and accomplifliments of H. nry 5
but fcarce w'as he feated on the throne, when, by the
death of Charles IX. he became heir to the crown of
France. Of this he was informed by repeated mef-
fages from Queen Catharine j he repented his having
accepted the crowm of Poland, and refoived to leave it
for that of France. But being fenfible that the Poles
Rurllway would oppofe his departure, he kept his intentions fe-
fromhis cret, and watched an opportimity of ftealmg out of the
kingdom, palace in difguife in the night time. I he Poles,^ as
might wTell have been expelled, were irritated at being
thus abandoned, from the mere motive of intereft, by
a prince whom they had loved and honoured fo much.
Parties were difpatched after him by different roads •,
and Zamofki, a nobleman who beaded one of thefe
parties, overtook him fome leagues diftant from Cra-
eowT. All the prayers and tears of that nobleman, how-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
Poland.
78
3 ] POL
ever, could not prevail on Henry to return •, he rode
poft to Vienna, and then palled into France by the way
of Italy.
In the mean time, the Poles were fo much exafpera-
ted againft Henry and his whole nation, that all the
French in Cracow would have been maffacred if the
magiftrates had not placed guards in the ftreets. Hen¬
ry, however, had forefeen the confequences of his flight,
and therefore endeavoured to apologiie for his behaviour.
One Danzai undertook his caufe in full fenate •, and with
great eloquence explained the king’s motives for his ab¬
rupt departure. Henry alfo wrote to the chief nobility
and clergy with his own hand. But nothing could fa-
tisfy the Poles 5 who now acquainted their king, that if
he did not immediately return, they would be obliged
to divert him of the royal dignity, and to choofe another
fovereign. Henry began to txcufe himfelf on account
of the wars in which he was engaged, and promifed to
fend men of unexceptionable integrity to govern Poland
till he ftiould return ; but no excules could be accepted j ^
and, on the 15th of July 1575, he was folemnly diveft-and is ik¬
ed of the regal dignity in full diet, and the throne de-pofed.
dared vacant.
After the depofition of Henry, commotions and fac¬
tions again took place. However, the contending
parties were now reduced to two j one who fupported
the intereft of Maximilian emperor of Germany ; the
other, who were tor ele&ing the princefs Anne, and
marrying her to Stephen Batori prince of Tranfylva-
nia. The latter prevailed through the courage of oneStep^nBa-
gentleman, who, in imitation of the power affumed by tori chofen
the Rom n tribunes, flood up in the full fenate, and king,
oppofed the proclamation of Maximilian, declaring
that his eledion was violent and illegal. In this fitua-
tion of affairs, it was obvious that ftrength and cele¬
rity murt determine which eledion was legitimate :
both parties wrote to the princes whofe caufe they had
efpoufed, intreating them to come with all poffible ex¬
pedition to take poffeffion of the throne. Batori pro¬
ved the more alert *, for while Maximilian was difputing
about certain conditions which the Poles required for
the fecurity of their privileges, he entered Poland, mar¬
ried the princefs, and was crowned on the firft of May
IS7^- ■ r . S®
No oppofition was made to the authority of Baton Dmtzic
except by the inhabitants of Dantzic. Thefe adhe-revoits.-
red to the intereft of Maximilian even after he was
dead, and had the prefumption to demand from the
king an oath acknowledging their abfolule freedom
aiH independence. Batori referred them to the fenate,
declaring that he had no right to give up the privileges
of the republic ; but admonifhed the citizens to avoid
all occafion of a civil war, which muft neceffarily termi¬
nate in their difadvantage. But the obftinate citizens,
conftruing the king’s lenity into fear, {hut the gates
againft the amhaffador, feized upon the fortrefs of
Grebin, and publiftied a manifefto refembling a libel
upon the king and the republic. The king, incenfed
at thefe proceedings, marched againft Grebin, re¬
took the caftle, and ravaged certain territories be¬
longing to the Dantzickers *, who retaliated by burning
to the ground a monaftery named O/fva, to prevent
the Poles from taking poffeffion of fo important a fitua-
tion.
Notwithftanding thefe outrages, Baton renewed his
X overtures
Poland.
Poland in¬
vaded by
the Ruf¬
fians.
82
Dantzic
1 i^bmits.
*3
Cruelty of
the Ruf¬
fians.
p 0 L [ 74 ] POL
Lut tbe I)untzicK.ers to Doth parties, and who were fcarcely inferior in eruel-
tj to^ the Ruffians themfelves. fflie king, however, was
not daunted by the number of his adverfaries ; but hav¬
ing made great preparations, and called to his affiftance
Chnftopher prince of Tranfylvania, with all the ftand-
mg forces of that country, he took the field in perfon
again ft the Muilcovites, and laid liege to Polocz, a town
riT TfV-1 4-^ ^ 2 J. 1   .1 • -V-v • .
overtures for an accommodation .
were deaf to thefe falutary propofals; fo that he was
obliged to declare them rebels, and fend againft them a
body of troops under one Zborowfki. As the number
of the Poliih army, however, was not confiderable, the
Dantzickers marched out to give him battle. They
weie afiifted by a corps of Germans, and a refolution
was lormed of attacking tire Poles in their camp by fur-
pnfe j but the project was difconcerted by a hidden
florin, accompanied with dreadful thunder and light¬
ning, which fpread a panic through the army, as if it
had been a judgement from heaven, and obliged the
commander, John de Collen, to retire into the city. In
a ihort time, however, they recovered their fpirits, and
came to an aclion with the Poles j but were defeated
with the iofs of 8000 men killed on the fpot, a great
many taken pnfoners, and the lofs of feveral pieces of
cannon. Put this check, inftead of abating the cou¬
rage of the Dantzickers, only animated them the more,
and they reiolved to hold out to the laft extremity. In
the mean time, the czar of IWuicovy, thinking the pre-
fent opportunity favourable for extending his dominions,
laid liege to Revel j but, not being able to make him-
felf mailer of that place, he was obliged to content him-
feii with ravaging Livonia, which he did in a dreadful
mannei. Ihis did not, however, hinder Batori from
laying fiege to Dantzic in perfon, and purfuing the ope¬
rations with the utmoft vigour. Collen made many vi¬
gorous fallies, in feveral of which he defeated the Poles;
but, happening at laft to be killed, nobody was found
capable of fupplying his place, and the citizens wrere at
laft obliged to furrender at difcretion ; though not till
they had obtained a promife from the eleftor of Saxony
and landgrave of Heffe of interpofmg as mediators in
their behalf. 1 he only terms which the king demand¬
ed of them were, that they fliould afk his pardon, dif-
mifs their troops, and rebuild the monaftery of Oliva
which they nad deftroyed ; while his majefty, on the
other hand, confirmed all their privileges, and granted
ii.em full liberty of adhering to the confeffion of Augf-
burg, for which tney had for fome time been flrenuous
advocates.
_ ike war with Dantzic was no fooner ended, than the
king directed his whole ftrength againft the czar of
Mulcovy, who had made himfelf maiter of feveral im¬
portant cities in Livonia. The czar behaved everv-
where with the greatert cruelty, flaughtering all without
diftinction who were able to bear arms, and abandoning
the women and children to the fhocking brutality of the
I artars who ferved in his army. Such was the horror
infpired by the perfidy and cruelty of the czar’s con-
du6t, that the inhabitants of Wender chofe rather to bu¬
ry themfelves in the ruins of their town than to fubmit
to fuch an inhuman enemy. For a confiderable time
the Ruffians were allowed to proceed in this manner,
till the whole province of Livonia, excepting Riga and
Revel, had fullered the barbarities of this infulting con¬
queror j but at laft, in 1578, a body of forces was dif-
patched into the province, the towns of Wender and
Dunnenburg were furprifed, and an army fent by the
czar to furprife the former was defeated.
At this time the Mufcovites were not the only ene¬
mies who oppofed the king of Poland, and oppreffed Li¬
vonia. That unhappy province was alfo invaded by the
Swedes, who profeffed themfelves to be enemies equally
Poland.
of great importance fituated on the river Dwina. Thes- ,84c
Ruffians no fooner heard of the approach of the Polifh tScz*
army, than they refolved to put all the citizens to death,
thinking by this means to ftrike terror into the enemy!
When Batori came near the town, the moft fhocking
fpeftacle prefented itfelf j the river appeared dyed with
blood, and a vaft number of human bodies fafte$ed to
planks, and terribly mangled, were carried down its
ftream.. This barbarity, inftead of intimidating the
1 ojcs, irritated them to fuch a degree, that nothing
could refill them. Finding that their cannon made lit¬
tle impreffion upon the walls of the city, which were
conftrucced of wood, they advanced to the aflault with
burning torches in their hands 5 and would foon. have
reduced the fortifications to afhes, had not a violent
florm of rain prevented them. The defign, however,
was put in execution as foon as the rain flackcned 5 and
the barbarous Ruffians were obliged to lurrendcr at dif-
cretiqn. It reliefs the higheft honour on Batori, that,
notwithftanding the dreadful inftances of cruelty which
he had before bis eyes, he would not fuffer his foldiers to
retaliate. Indeed the cruelties committed by the Ruf¬
fians on tins occafion, feem almoft to have authonfed
any revenge that could poffibly have been taken. A g-
number of Germans were found in the city, fome expir- Monftrous
ing under the moil dreadful tortures, and others dead of !,ar^ar‘t'es
pains which nature could no longer fupport. Several 0fcommitred
the officers had been dipped in cauldrons of boiling oil,
with a cord drawn under the fkin of the umbilical re! that city,
gion, which faftened their hands behind 5 in which fi-
tuation their eyes had been torn out from their fockets,
or burnt with red-hot irons, and their faces otherwife’
terribly mangled. The disfigured carcafes, indeed,
plainly {bowed the barbarous treatment they had met
with j and the dreadful tale was confirmed by ths tefli-
mony of the few who furvived. The Poliih foldiers
were exafperated almoft to madnefs •, fo that fcarce all
the authority of Batori could reflrain them from cutting
in pieces the wretches who had been the authors of fuch
a dreadful tragedy. ^
After the redudion of Polocz, Batori continued theRuffiarava-
war with great fuccefs. Two detachments from theSedbyBa-
army penetrated the enemy’s country by different roads,tori-
walled all before them to the gates of Smolenfko, and
returned with the fpoils of 2000 villages which they had
pillaged and deftroyed. In the mean time the Swedes
and Poles thought proper to come to an accommoda¬
tion : and though John king of Sweden was at that time
prevented from bearing his fliare of the war, yet Batori
reduced, fuch a number of cities, and committed fuch
devaftations in the Ruffian territories, that the czar was
obliged to. fue. for peace j . which he obtained on condi-The Czar
tion of relinquifiling Livonia, after having thrown away fres for
the lives of more than 400,000 of his fubjefts in attempt-Peace-
ing to conquer it.
Batori, being thus freed from a mofl deflruaive and
cruel, war, applied himfelf to the internal government of
his kingdom. Tic regulated the Polifh cavalry in fuch
pot [7;
Poland, a manner as made them become formidable to the Turks
t—y—and other neighbouring nations : and this is the military
eftablifhment to which the Poles have given the name
of quartienne; becaufe a fourth part of the revenue is
employed in fupporting them. Batori fent this body of
cavalry towards the frontiers of Tartary, to check the
incurfions of thofe barbarians } by which means the Uk¬
raine, a vaft traft of defert country, was filled with tlou-
g; rifhing towns and villages, and became a flrong barrier
Batori civi- againft the Turks, Tartars, and Ruffians. The laft
lizes the memorable aftion of Batori was his attaching the Coi-
Coffacks. pac|cs tQ p0land, civilizing and inftrudting them in the
arts of w7ar and peace. His hrft endeavour was to gain
their affedions by his liberality ; for which purpofe, he
prefented them with the city of Techtemeravia, fituated
on the Borifthenes, which they formed into a magazine,
and made the refidence of their chieftains. Pie gave
them officers of all degrees, eflabliffied difcipline among
them, altered their arms, and formed them into a regu¬
lar militia, which afterwards performed eminent fervices
to the Rate. All kinds of manufadures at that time
known in Poland were likewife eftablifhed among the
Coffacks; the women were employed in fpinning and
weaving woollen cloths, while the men were taught
agriculture, and other arts proper for their fex.
While Batori was employed in this manner, the
Swedes broke the convention into which they had en¬
tered with Poland, and were on the point of getting
pofleffion of Riga. To this, indeed, Batori himfelf had
given occafion, by attempting to impofe the Romifh re¬
ligion upon the inhabitants, after having promifed them
entire liberty of confcience. This fo irritated them,
that they revolted, and were on the point of admitting
a Swedifh garrifon into the city, when the king was in¬
formed of what was going forward. Upon this he re-
folved to take a moft exemplary vengeance on the inha¬
bitants of Riga j but before he could execute his inten¬
tion, he died in the year 1586, the 54th of his age, and
St, 1 oth of his reign.
His death. The death of Batori involved Poland in freffi troubles.
Four candidates appeared for the crown, viz. the princes
Erneft and Maximilian of the houfe of Auftria •, Sigif-
mund prince of Sweden, and Theodore czar of Muf-
covy. Each of thefe had a feparate party; but Sigif-
mund and Maximilian managed matters fo w7ell, that in
1587 both of them w7ere elefted. The confequence of
this was a civil w7ar ; in which Maximilian was defeated
and taken prifoner : and thus Sigifmund III. furnamed
Be Vafa, became matter of the throne of Poland with¬
out oppofition. He waged a fuccefsful war with the
Tartars, and was otherwife profperous; but though he
fucceeded to the crown of Sweden, he found it impof-
fible for him to retain both kingdoms, and he was for¬
mally depofed from the Swediffi throne. In 1610 he
conquered Ruffia, and placed his fon on the throne 5
but the Polilh conquefts of that country have always
been but for a ffiort time. Accordingly the young
prince wTas foon after depofed •, and the Ruffians not on¬
ly regained their liberty, but began to make encroach-
ments on Poland itfelf. A very unfortunate war alfo
Gufta'vus' t0°k Place 'vvith Sweden, which was now governed by
Adolphus, the great Guftavus Adolphus } the particulars of which,
with the other exploits of that renowned warrior, are re¬
lated under the article SWEDEN. At laft Sigifmund,
worn out with cares and misfortunes, died in 1629.
; 1 p 6 L
After Sigifmund’s death the affairs of Poland teemed Po-anri. <
to revive a little under Uladillaus VII.} for he obliged " _ v
the Ruffians to fue for peace, and Sweden to reftore fome
of her conquefts : but having attempted to abridge the
liberty of the Coffacks, they revolted, and gave the
Poles feveral terrible defeats. Nor was the war termi¬
nated in the lifetime of Uladiflaus, who died in 1648.
His fucceffor, John Cafimir, concluded a peace with
thefe dangerous enemies : but the war was foon after re¬
newed j and while the kingdom was diftradled between
thefe enemies and the difeontents of its own inhabitants,
the Ruffians took the opportunity of invading and pilla¬
ging Lithuania. In a little after the whole kingdom 91
was fubdued by Charles Guftavus, fucceffor to Chriftina Polaf^ {u'’i
j clued by
queen ot Sweden. Charles
Happily for Poland, however, a rupture took place QUftavu3i
between the courts of Sweden and Copenhagen j by
which means the Poles were enabled to drive out the
Swedes in 1657. This -was fucceeded by civil wars and
contefts with Ruffia, which fo much vexed the king,
that he refigned the crowm in 1668.
For two years after the refignation of Cafimir the
kingdom wras filled with confufion *, but on the 17th of
September 1760, one Michael Coribut Wiefnowilki,
collaterally defeended from the houfe of Jagello, but in
a very mean fituation at that time, was chofen king.
His reign continued but for three years j during which
time John Sobielki, a celebrated Polilh general, gave
the Turks a dreadful overthrow, though their army con¬
fided of more than 300,000 men •, and had this blow
been purfued, the Coffacks would have been entirely
fubdued, and very advantageous terms might have been
obtained from the fultan. Of that vaft multitude of
Turks no more than 15,000 made their efcape, the reft
being all either killed or taken ; however, the Poliffi
foldiers, being bound by the laws of their country only
to flay a certain time in the field, they refufed to purfue
this fignal victory, and fuffered the king to make peace
on any terms he could procure.
Wiefnowifki died before the news of this tranfaclion
reached Cracow ; and after his death a new feene of 92
confufion enfued, till at laft the fortune of John Sobiefki John So-
prevailed, and he was elecled king of Poland in 1674. ^eve/the
He w7as a moft magnanimous and heroic prince •, who, Polifh af_
by his valour and good conduct, retrieved the affairs offairs,
Poland, and entirely checked the progrefs of the Turks
weftward. Thefe barbarians were everywhere defeated,
as is particularly related under the article Turkey •, but
notwdthftanding his great qualities, Poland was now fo
thoroughly corrupted, and pervaded by a fpirit of dif-
affedlion, that the latter part of this monarch’s reign
w7as involved in troubles, through the ambition and con¬
tention of fome powerful noblemen.
Sobiefki died in 1696 ; and with him fell the glory
of Poland. Moft violent contefts took place about the
fucceffion •, the recital of which w7ould far exceed our
limits. At laft Frederic Auguftus, eleftor of Saxony,
prevailed \ but yet, as fome of the moft effential ceremo¬
nies wrere wanting in his coronation, becaufe the pri¬
mate, wdro w7as in an oppofite intereft, would not per¬
form them, he found it extremely difficult to keep his
fubjeffs in proper obedience. To add to his misfortunes,
having engaged in a league with Denmark and Ruffia
againft Sweden, he w7as attacked with irrefiftible fury
by CharlesXII. Though Auguftus had not been betrayed;
Poland.
n
Poland
conquered
by Charles
XII.
POL [
he was by no means a
94
Degene: acy
of the Poles.
95
E'ev rtion
O eo-1 .
towfki, by
the name
cf Stanif-
la.V, rCU;;uf_
tUS, to the
throne.
96
Interfe¬
rence of fo¬
reign
powers in
behalf of
the diffi¬
dent!.
as indeed he almoft always was.
match for the ferocious Swede. The particulars of this
war, however, as they make great part of the exploits
of that northern hero, more properly fall to be related
under the article Sweden. Here, therefore, we (hall
only obferve, that Augullus was reduced to the humili¬
ating neceility of renouncing the crown of Poland on
oath, and even of congratulating his rival Stanillaus up¬
on his acceifion to the throne : but when the power of
Charles was broken by his defeat at Pultowa, the for¬
tune of Augustus again prevailed ; Stanillaus was driven
out 3 and the former being abfolved from his oath by
the pope, refumed the throne of Poland.
Since that time the Poiifh nation has never made any
figure. Surrounded by great and ambitious powers, it has
funk under the degeneracy of its inhabitants 3 fo that it
now fcarcely exifts as a nation. This cataftrophe took place
in the following manner : On the 5th of October 1763,
died Augullus III. eledfor of Saxony, and king of Poland.
He was lucceeded by Count Poniatowfki, a Polilh gran¬
dee, who was proclaimed September 7th 1764, by the
name of Stanijlaus Aitgujlus, and crowned on the 25th
of November the fame year.—During the interregnum
which took place between the death of Augullus III.
and the election of Staniflaus, a decree had been made
by the convocation-diet of Poland, with regard to the
diffldentSy as they were called, or diffenters from the
Popidi religion. By this decree they were prohibited
from the free exercife of their religion, much more than
they had formerly been, and totally excluded from all
pofts and places under the government. On this-feveral
of the European powers interpofed, at the application of
the diffidents, for their good ofhees. The courts of Ruf-
lia, Prulha, Great Britain, and Denmark, made remon-
Pranees to the diet 3 but, notwilhftanding thefe remon-
ftrances, the decree was confirmed by the coronation-diet
held after the king’s election.
Oftober 6. 1766, an ordinary diet was aflembled.
Here declarations from the courts above mentioned were
prefented to his Poiifh majefly, requiring the re-eftab-
lifhment of the diffidents in their civil rights and privi¬
leges, and the peaceable enjoyment of their modes of
worfhip fecured to them by the laws of the kingdom,
which had been obferved for two centuries. Thefe
privileges, it was alleged, bad been confirmed by the
treaty of Oliva, concluded by all the northern powers,
which could not be altered but by the confent of all
the contracting parties. The Popilh party contended
ftrongly for a confirmation of fome decrees made againft
the diffidents in 1717, 1723, and 1736. The deputies
from the foreign powers replied, that thofe decrees had
paffed in the midit of inteftine troubles, and were con¬
tradicted by the formal proteftations and exprefs decla¬
rations of foreign powers. At laft, after violent contefts,
the. matter was referred to the bifhops and fenators for
their opinion. Upon a report from them, the diet came
to a reiolution, That they would fully maintain the dif¬
fidents in all the rights and prerogatives to which they
were entitled by the laws of their country, particularly
by the conftitutions of the year 1717, &c. and by trea¬
ties 3 and that as to their complaints ivith regard to the
exercife of their religion, the college of archbiffiops and
feiffiops, under the direftion of the prince primate, would
endeavour to remove thofe difficulties in a manner con¬
formable to juftice and neighbourly love.—By this time,
76 ] POL
however, the court of Ruffia feemed determined to make Poland.
her remonitranees more etfeCtual, and a fmall body of v—-
Ruffian troops marched to within two miles of the capital
ot Poland.
i heie refolutions of the diet were by no means agree¬
able to the diffidents. ihey dated the beginning of their
tuilerings from the year 1717. 1 he referring their griev¬
ances to the archbiihops and bithops was looked upon as
a meafure the molt unreafonable that could be imagined,
as that body ot men had always been their oppoieis, and
in faCt the authors of ail the evils which had befaden
them.—Shortly alter matters were confidered in this
view, an additional body of Ruffians, to the number of
about 15,000, entered Poland.
1 he diffidents, being now pretty fure of the protec- „ ^
tion of foreign powers, entered, on the 20th of March
1767, into two confederacies, at Thorn and Stuck.
One of them was figned by the diffidents of Great and
Little Poland, and the other by thole of the Great
Duchy of Lithuania. The purport of thefe confede¬
racies was, an engagement to exert themielves in the
defence of their ancient privileges, and the free exercife
of their religion 3 profeffing at the fame time, however,
the utmoll loyalty to the king, and refolving to feud a
deputation to him to implore his protection. They even
invited thofe of the Catholic communion, and all true
patriots, to unite with them in maintaining the funda¬
mental laws ot the kingdom, the peace of religion, and
the right of each one jointly with themfelves. They
claimed, by virtue of public treaties, the protection of
the powers who were guarantees of their rights and li¬
berties 3 namely, the emprefs of Ruffia, and the kings
of Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, and Pruffia. Lalt-
ly, they protelled, that they had no intention of aCting
to the detriment of the Roman Catholic religion, which
they duly refpeCted : and only allied the liberty of their
own, and the re-eftablilhment of their ancient rights.
J he three cities of Thorn, Elbing, and Dantzic, acced¬
ed to the confederacy of Thorn on the 10th of April 3 as
did the duke and nobles of Courland to that of Sluck on
the 15th of May.
The emprefs of Ruffia and king of Pruffia, in the
mean time, continued to iffue forth new declarations in
favour of the diffidents 3 and the Ruffian troops in Po¬
land wrere gradually augmented to 30,000 men. Great
numbers of other confederacies were alfo formed in dif¬
ferent parts of the kingdom. Thefe at firft took little
part in the affairs of the diffidents : they complained
only of the adminiftration of public affairs, into which
they alleged that innovations had been introduced, and
were therefore for fome time called confederations of mal¬
contents. All thefe confederacies publiffied manifeftoes,
in which they recommended to the inhabitants to quar¬
ter and treat the Ruffian troops as the defenders of the
Poliffi liberties.
The different confederacies of malcontents formed in General
the 24 diftriCts of Lithuania united at Wilna on the confedera-
2 2d of June 3 and that general confederacy re-eftablilhed cy-
Prince Radzivil, who had married the king’s filler, in
his liberty, ellates, and honour, of which he had been
deprived in 1764 by the Hates of that duchy. On the
23d of June Prince Radzivil was chofen grand marffial
of the general confederacy of all Poland, which then be¬
gan to be called the national confederacy, and was faid to
be compofed of 72,000 noblemen and gentlemen.
The
POL
Poland.
[ 77
The general confederacy took fuch meafures as ap¬
peared mod proper for ilrengthenlng their party. They
fent to the feveral waywodes of the kingdom, requiring
their compliance with the following articles: I. That
all the gentlemen who had not figned the confederacy
fliould do it immediately ; 2. .That ail the courts of
iultice fnould fubfift as formerly, but not judge any ot
the confederates j 3. That the marftrals of the crown
Ihould not pafs any fentence without the participation
of at lead four of the confederates } and, 4. 1 hat the
marthals f the crown and the treafurers diould oe im¬
mediately redored to the poffeflion of their refpeaive
riohts. The Catholic party in the mean time were not
idle. The biihop of Cracow fent a very pathetic and
zealous letter to the dietines affembled at Warfaw on the
13th of Augud, in which he exhorted them to arm then-
nuncios with courage, by giving them orthodox and
patriotic indruftions, that they might not grant the
dididents new advantages beyond thofe which were te~
cured to them by the conditutions of the country, and
treaties with foreign powers, &c. 1 he pope aho fent
briefs to the king, the great chancellor, the nobleile,
bidiops of the kingdom, and to the prince primate,
with fuch arguments and exhortations as were thought
.mod proper to ward off the impending danger. Coun¬
cils in the mean time were frequently held at the biihop
of Cracow’s palace, where all the prelates at Warfaw
affembled. ,
On the 26th of September 1767 the comederacy ot
diffidents was united with the general, confederacy ot
malcontents in the palace of Prince Radzivil, who on that
occation expreffed great friendlhip tor the dididents. In
a few days after, the Ruffian troops in the capital were
reinforced, and a confiderable body of them was potted
at about five miles didance.
Tumults On the 5th of O&ober an extraordinary diet was
in the diet, held : but the affair of the diffidents met with tuch op-
pofition, that it was thought neceffary to adjourn the
meeting till the 12th } during which interval, every, ex¬
pedient was ufed to gain over thole who oppoled Pance
Radzivil’s plan. This was, to appoint a commidion
furniffied with full power to enter into conference with
Prince Repnin, the Ruffian ambaffador, concerning the
affairs of the diffidents. Notwithdanding all the pains
taken, however, the meeting of the 1 2th proved exceed¬
ingly tumultuous. The biffiops of Cracow and Know,
with fome other prelates, and feveral magnats, declared,
that they would never confent to the edabliffiment. of
fuch a commiffion j and at the fame time fpoke with
more vehemence than ever againd the pretenfions 01 t e
diffidents. Some of the deputies anfwered with great
warmth ; which occafioned fuch animofities, that the
meeting was again adjourned till the 16th.
,r I00 On The 13th the biffiops of Cracow and Kiow, the
proceedings palatine of Cracow, and the ftarode of Domfki were
of the Ruf- carried off by Ruffian detachments. 1 he crime alleged
Cans. againd: them, in a declaration publifhed next day by
Prince Repnin, was, that they had been wanting m
refpeft to the dignity of the emprefs of Ruflia, by
tacking the purity of her intentions towards the icpu-
blic ; though die was refolved to continue her protec¬
tion and aflidance to the general confederacy unite
for preferving the liberties of Poland, and. coirecting
all the abufes which had been introduced into the go¬
vernment, &.C.
101
’ Gonfedera-
] POL
It was probably owing to this violent proceeding of
the Ruffians, that Prince Radzivil’s plan was at lad ad¬
opted, and feveral new regulations were made in favour
of the diffidents. Thefe innovations, however, foon pro¬
duced a civil war, which at lad ended in the ruin of the
kingdom. In the beginning of the year 1768, a new
confederacy was formed in Podolia, a province boraer-
ino on Turkey, which was afterwards called the confe- ^
dcracy of Bar. The intention of it was, to aboliffi, by cy 0f £ar.
force of arms, the new conditutions, particularly thofe
in favour of the diffidents. The members of the new
confederacy likewife expreffed great refentment againd
the carrying away the bifhops of Cracow7, &c. and dill
detaining them in cudody.
Podolia was reckoned the fitted place for the purpole
of the confederates, as they imagined the Ruffians could
not attack them there without giving umbrage to the Ot¬
toman court. Similar confederacies, however, were quick¬
ly entered into throughout the kingdom : the clergy ex¬
cited all ranks of men to exert themfelves in defence or
their religion } and fo much were their exhoitations ic
garded, that even the king’s troops could not be truded
to aft againd thefe confederates. The emprefs of Rui-
fia threatened the new confederates as didurbers of the
public tranquillity, and declared that her troops would
aft aP-aind them if they perfided. It was, however,,
fome time before the Ruffian troops were confiderabiy
reinforced nor did they at. fird feem inclined to act
with the vigour which they might have exerted. A good
many fkirmiffies foon happened between thefe two contend¬
ing parties, in which the confederates were generally de¬
feated. In one of thefe the latter being worded, and
hardly preffed, a number of them paffed the Nieder, and
took refuge in Moldavia. This province had formerly
belonged" to Poland, but was now fubjeft to the Grand
Signior : the Ruffians, however, purfued their enemies
into Moldavia ; but in order to prevent any offence be¬
ing taken by the Porte, Prince Repnm wrote to the-
Ruffian refident at Condantinople, to intimate theie,
that the conduct of the Ruffian colonel who commanded
the party was quite contrary to the orders of his court,
and that therefore he would be turned out of.his pod.
Great cruelty in the mean time w as exercifed againd
the uiffidents where there were no Ruffian troops to pro-
tedt them. Towards the end of Odtober 1769, Prince
Martin Lubomiriki, one of the fouthern coiiiederates,
who had been driven out of Poland, and had taken, ffiel-
ter with fome of his adherents among the mountains of
Hungary, got a manifedo poded up on feveral of the.
churches of Cracow, in which he invited the nation to
a general revolt, and affuring them of tne abidance o.
the Ottoman Porte, with whom he pretended to have
concluded a treaty. This was the beginning of hodih-
ties between the Turks and Ruffians, which were not
terminated but by a vad effufion of blood on both
lides.
The unhappy kingdom of Poland was the fird feene
of this war, and in a ffiort time was reduced to the mod
deplorable fituation. In the end of the year 1768, .the
peafants of the Greek religion in the Poliffi Ukraine,
and province of Kiow, took up arms, and committed the ^
greated ravages, having, as they pretended been threat- f be_
ened with death by the confederates unlefs they would tween t}4s
turn Roman Catholics. Againd thefe infurgentS the confederacy
Ruffians employed iheir arms, and made great numbersjndd*.
POL [ >
, foh™- . of. them prifoflers. The reft took refuge among the
Haidamacks j by whom they were foon joined, and in
the beginning of 17^9 entered the Ukraine in conjunc¬
tion with them, committing everywhere the molt horrid
maffacres. Here, however, they were at laft defeated
by the Pohlh troops, at the fame time that feveral of
the confederacies in Poland wrere feverely chaltifed.
Soon after, the chan of the Crim Tartars, having been
repulfed wnth lofs in an attempt on New Servia, entered
the Polifh territories, where he left frightful marks of
his inhumanity upon fome innocent and defencelefs per-
fons. . This latter piece of condudf, with the cruelties
exercifed by the confederates, induced the Polifh Cof-
facks of Braclau and Kiovia, amounting to near 30,000
effefhve men, to join the Ruffians, in order to defend
tneir country againft thefe deftroyers. Matters conti¬
nued much in the fame wray during the reft of the year
1769 5 and in 1770, fkirmifties frequently happened be¬
tween the Ftuffians and confederates, in which the lat¬
ter were almoft always worfted ■, but they took care to
revenge themfelves by the moft barbarous cruelties on
the diffidents, wherever they could find them. In 1 770,
a confiderable number of the confederates of Bar, who
had joined the lurks, and been exceflively ill ufed by
them, came to an accommodation with the Ruffians, w-ho
took them under their protedtion on very moderate terms.
—Agriculture in the mean time had been fo much ne¬
glected, that the crop of 1770 v-as very deficient. This
encouraged a number of defperadoes to affociate under
the denomination of confederates, who were guilty of
ftill greater exceffes than thofe who had been under fome
kind of regulation. Ihus a great part of the country
was at laft reduced to a mere defert, the inhabitants be¬
ing either exterminated, or carried off to flock the re¬
mote Ruffian plantations, from wffience they never could
103 return.
New confe- In the year 1771, the confederacies, which feemed to
oeracics. have be<n extinguifhed, fprang up afrefli, and increafed
to a prodigious degree. This -was occafioned by their
having been fecretly encouraged and fupplied with mo¬
ney by France. A great number of French officers en¬
gaged as volunteers in their fervice ; who having intro¬
duced difeipline among their troops, they afltd with
much greater vigour than formerly, and fometimes prov¬
ed too hard for their enemies. Thefe gleams of fuccefs
proved at laft their total ruin. The Ruffians were rein¬
forced, and properly fupported. The Amman and Pruf-
fian troops entered the country, and advanced on dif¬
ferent fides j and the confederates found themfelves
in a fhort time entirely furrounded by their enemies,
who feemed to have nothing lei's in view than an abfo-
lute conquefl of tne country, and fharing it among them-
104 felves.
Attempt to Before matters came to this crifis, however the
£dn*te confederates for^d a defign of affaffinating the king,
^ on account of. his fuppofed attachment to" the diffi¬
dents. Of this Angular occurrence we have the fol¬
lowing account in the travels of Mr Coxe, communi¬
cated to the author by Mr Wraxall « A Polifh noble¬
man, named Pulajki, a general in the army of the con¬
federates, was the perfon who planned the atrocious
enterprile j ano. the confpirators who carried it into
execution were about 40 in number, and were headed
by three chiefs, named Litkawjki, Strawenfki, and Ko-
f.njki. Thefe three chiefs had been engaged and hired
3
7§ 1 POL
for tnat purpofe by Pulafki, who in the town of Czetf- Poland,
chokow in Great Poland obliged them to fwear in the r—
inoft folemn manner, by placing their hands between
his,, either to deliver the king alive into his hands,-
or, in cafe that was impoffible, to put him to death. The
three chiefs chafe 37 perfons to accompany them. On
the fecond of November, about a month after they had
quitted Czetfchokow, they obtained admiffion into War-
law, unfufpcCted or undifeovered, by the following lira-
tagem. They difguifed themfelves as peafants who
came to fell hay, and artfully concealed their laddies,
arms, and clothes, under the loads of hay which they
brought in waggons, the more effe&ually to eicape de¬
tection.
On Sunday night, the third of September 1771, a
few of thefe confpirators remained in the fkirts of the
town ; and the others repaired to the place of ren¬
dezvous, the ftreet of the Capuchins, where his maje-
% M as expeCled to pals by about his ufual hour of re¬
turning to the palace.. The king had been to vifit his
uncle Prince Czartoniki, grand chancellor of Lithuania,
and was. on his return from thence to the palace be¬
tween nine and ten o’clock. He was in a coach, ac¬
companied by at leaft 13 or 16 attendants, befide an 105
aid-de-camp in the carriage: fcarce was he at the di-wh° is ta-
ilance of 200 paces from Prince Czartoriiki’s palace, ^en pri'
when he was attacked by the confpirators, who com- 0rier’
manded the coachman to flop on pain of inilant death.
1 hey fired feveral fhot into the carriage, one of which
palled through the body of a heyduc, who endeavoured
to defend his mailer from the violence of the aflaffins.
Almoft all the other perlbns who preceded and accom¬
panied bis majefty were difperfed 5 the aid-de-camp
abandoned him, <md attempted to conceal himfelf by
flight. Meanwhile the king had opened the door of
his carriage with the defign of effebling his efcape un¬
der Hieiter of the night, which wTas extremely dark.
He had even alighted, when the affaffins feized him by
the hair, exciaiming in Poliffi, with horrible execrations,
‘ .We have thee now ‘ thy hour is come.’ One of them
difeharged a piftol at him fo very near, that he felt the
heat of. tiie flafti 5 while another cut him acrofs the
head with his fabre, which penetrated to the bone. 106
They then laid hold of his majefty by the collar, and and woun{k
mounting on horfeback, dragged him along the ground ec5,
between their horles at full gallop for near 500 paces
through the ftreets of Warfaw.
Soon finding, however, that he was incapable of
following them on foot, and that he had already almoft
loft his refpiration from the violence with which they
had dragged him, they let him on horfeback ; and then
redoubled their fpeed for fear of being overtaken. When
they came to the ditch which furrounds Warfaw, they
obliged him to leap his horfe over. In the attempt the
horfe fell twice, and at the fecon^ fall broke its leg,
1 hey then mounted his majefty upon another, all cover-
fed as he was with dirt.
“ rhe confpirators had no fooner crofted the ditch „ »
than they began to rifle the king, tearing off the order" ^
of the Black Eagle of Pruffia which he wore round his
neck, and the diamond crofs hanging to it. Herequeft-
ed them to leave his handkerchief, which they confented
to: his tablets efcaped their rapacity. A great number
of the aflaffins retired after having thus plundered him,
probably with intent to notify to their refpeflive leaders
the
’Pelamf.
to8
His pre¬
fence of
mind re¬
markable.
POL t 7
trie fuccefs of their enterprife ; and the king’s arrival as
a prifoner. Only feven remained with him, of wdiom
Kofmfki was the chief. The night was exceedingly
dark •, they were abfolutely ignorant of the way ; and,
as the horfes could not keep their legs, they obliged his
majelly to follow them on foot, with only one ihoe, the
other being loll in the dirt.
“ They continued to wander through the open mea¬
dows, without following any certain path, and with¬
out getting to any diftance from Warfaw. They again
mounted the king on horfeback, two of them holding
him on each fide by the hand, and a third leading his
horfe by the bridle. In this manner they were pro¬
ceeding, when his majelfy, finding they had taken the
road which led to a village called Burakow, warned
them not to enter it, becauie there were feme Ruffians
ftationed in that place who might probably attempt to
tefeue him (a). Finding himfelf, however, incapame
of accompanying the affaffins in the painful poflure
in which they held him kept down on the faddie, he re-
quefled them, fince they were determined to oblige him
to proceed, at leaf! to give him another horfe and a
boot. This requeft they complied with; and conti¬
nuum their progrefs through almoft impaffable lands,
without any road, and ignorant of their way, they at
length found themfelves in the wood of Bielany, only
a league diftant from Warfaw. From the time they
had palfed the ditch they repeatedly demanded of Ko-
fmlki their chief, if it was not yet time to put the
king to death; and thefe demands were reiterated in
proportion to the obftacles and difficulties they encoun¬
tered, till they were fuddenly alarmed by a Ruffian pa-
trole or detachment. Inftantly holding council, four
of them difappeared, leaving him with the other tine?,
who compelled him to wralk on. Scarce a quartei of an
hour after, a fecond Ruffian guard challenged them
anew. Two of the affaffins then fled, and tl)e king
remained alone with Kofinfki the chief, both on foot.
His majefty, exhaufted with all the fatigue which he
had undergone, implored his conductor to flop, and
fuflfer him to take a moment’s repofe. Kofinfki refu-
fed it, menacing him with his naked fabre 5 and at the
fame time informed him, that beyond tbe wood they
fhould find a carriage. They continued their walk, till
they came to the door of the convent of Bielany. Ko¬
finfki appeared loft in thought, and fo much agitated by
his refledtions, that the king perceiving his difoider, and
obferving that he wandered without knowing the road,
faid to him, ‘ I fee you are at a lofs which way to pro¬
ceed. Let me enter the convent of Bielany, and do you
provide for your own fafety.’ ‘ No (replied Kofinfki),
I have fiworn.’ .
“ They proceeded till they came to Manemont, a
fmall palace belonging to tbe houfe of Saxony, not
above half a league from Warfaw: here Kofinfki be-
Poland.
9 ] POL
trayed fome fatisfaclion at finding where he was, and the
king ftill demanding an inftant’s repofe, he confented l"r~v ""
at length. They fat down together on the ground,
and the king employed thefe moments in endeavouring over’his
to foften his condudfor, and induce him to favour or condudtor,
permit his efcape. Fils majefty reprefented the atro- ej?<a<^
city of the crime he had committed in attempting toe cafe’^
murder his fovereign, and the invalidity of an oath ta¬
ken to perpetrate fo heinous an aftion : Kofinfki lent
attention to this difeourfe, and began to betray fome
marks of remorfe. But (faid he), if 1 fhould confent and
reconduct you to Warfaw, what will be the confe-
quence ? 1 fhall be taken and executed ! I give you my
word (anfwered his majefty), that you fhall fuffer no
harm ; but if you doubt my promife, efcape while there
is yet time. I can find my way to fome place of fecu-
rhy; and I will certainly direft your purfuers to take
the contrary road to that which you have chofen. Ko¬
finfki could not any longer contain himfelf, but, throw¬
ing himfelf at the king’s feet, implored foregivenefs for
the crime he had committed ; and fwore to proteft him
againft every enemy, relying totally on his generofity
for pardon and prefervation. His majefty reiterated to
him his affurances of fafety. Judging, however, that
it was prudent to gain fome afylum without delay, and
recolle&ing that there was a mill at fome confiderable
diftance, he immediately made towards it. Kofinfkx
knocked, but in vain; no anfwer was given : be then
broke a pane of glafs in the window, and intreated
for fhelter to a nobleman who had been plundered by
robbers. The miller refufed, fuppofing them to be
banditti, and continued for more than half an hour to
perfift in his denial. At length the king approached,
and fpeaking through the broken pane, endeavoured to
perfuade him to admit them under his roof, adding, ‘ If
we were robbers, as you fuppofe, it w-ould be very eafy
for us to break the whole window', inftead of one pane
of glafs.’ This argument prevailed. They at length
opened the door, and admitted his majefty. He im¬
mediately wrote a note to General Coccei, colonel of
the foot-guards, informing him of his danger and mi¬
raculous efcape.
“ When the meffenger arrived with the note, the
aftonifhment and joy was incredible. Coccei inftantly
rode to the mill, followed by a detachment of the guards.
He met Kofinfki at the door with his fabre drawn,
who admitted him as foon as he knew him. The king
had funk into a deep, caufed by his fatigue ; and was
ftretched on the ground, covered with the miller’s
cloak. Coccei immediately threw himfelf at his majef-
ty’s feet, calling him his fovereign, and kiifing his hand.
It is not eafy to paint or deferibe the aftonifhment of the
miller and his family, who inftantly imitated Coccei’s
example, by throwing themfelves on their knees (b).
The king returned to Warfaw in General Coccei’s car¬
riage,
i a) “ This intimation, which the king gave to his affaflins, may at firft fight appear extraordinary and un¬
accountable but was really dialed by the greateft addrefs and judgment. He apprehended w,th reafon,
Sat on thLfmhtofa Ruffian guard, they would inftantly put him to death with then fabres, and fly; where-
St inf ™ingg ftl of the dagger ’they "incurred, he in fome meafure gained their confidence: m ffte£l, this
behaviour of the king Teemed to foften them a little, and made them believe he d.d not mean to efcape from
*09“ I have been (fays Mr Wraxall) at this mill, rendered memorable by fo deplorable an event. ^ It b-
t
Poland.
no
Is received
at Warfaw
% with de-
monftra-
tions of joy.
in
Partition
ot Poland
pnjc. ed
b) the king
ef Pruffia,
POL [ 80
^ riage, and readied the palace about five in the morning.
His wound was found not to be dangerous ; and he foon
recovered from the bruifes and injuries which he had
fuffered during this memorable night. So extraordinary
an efcape is fcarce to be paralleled in hiftory, and affords
ample matter of wonder and furprife.
“ It is natural to inquire wdiat is become of Kofinfki,
the man who faved his majefty’s life, and the other con-
fpirators. He wras born in the palatinate of Cracow, and
of mean extraction ; having affumed the name of Ko-
Jinfki (c), which is that of a noble family, to give him-
felf credit. He had been created an officer in the troops
of the confederates under Pulafki. It would feem as if
Kofinfki began to entertain the idea of preferving
the king’s life from the time when Lukawfki and Stra-
wenfki abandoned him; yet he had great ftruggles with
himfelf before he could refolve on this conduct, after the
folemn engagements into which he had entered. Even
after be had conduced the king back to Warfaw, he
exprefied more than once his doubts of the propriety of
what he had done, and fome remorfe for having deceived
his employers. He was detained under a very ffriH
confinement, and obliged to give evidence againft his
two companions Lukawfki and Strawenfki, who were
beheaded, his majefly having obtained for them from
the diet a mitigation of the horrible puniffiment which
the laws of Poland inflift upon regicides. About a week
after the execution of thefe confpirators, Kofinfki w’as
fent out of Poland, after the king had fettled upon him
an annual penfion, which he enjoyed at Semigallia, in
the papal territories.”
_ Upon the king’s return to Warfaw he was received
with the utmoft demonffrations of joy. Every one ex¬
claimed with rapture, “ The king is alive !” and all ftrug-
gled to get near him, to kifs his hand, or even to touch
his clothes. But neither the virtues nor the popularity
of the fovereign could allay the factious fpirit of the
Poles, nor prevent the difmemberment of his kingdom.
“ The partition of Poland was firft projefted by the
king of Pruffia. Polifh or Weftern Pruffia had long
been an objeft of his ambition : exclufive of its fertility,
commerce, and population, its local fituation rendered
it highly valuable to that monarch ; it lay between his
German dominions and Eaftern Pruffia, and while pof-
fefled by the Poles, cut off at their will all communi¬
cation between them.” The period was now arrived
when the fituation of Poland feemed to promife the eafy
acquifition of this valuable province. “ Frederic pur-
fued it, however, with all the caution of an able poli¬
tician. O i tbe commencement of the troubles, he
fhowed no eagernefs to interfere in the affairs of this
country ; and although he had concurred with the em-
prefs of Ruffia in raifing Staniflaus Auguftus to the
throne of Poland, yet he declined taking any aftive
part in his favour againft the confederates. Afterwards,
when the whole kingdom became convulfed throughout
with civil commotions (1769), and defolated likewife
by the plague, he, under pretence of forming lines to
prevent the fpreading of the infection, advanced his
1
POL
troops into Pohfh Pruffia, and occupied that whole di- Poland
ftricft.
“ I hough now completely mafter of the country, and 112
by no means apprehenfive of any formidable refiftance V' ^ ' Sa‘iis
from the difunited and diftrafted Poles, yet, as he was emperor
wAl aware that the fecurity of his new acquifition de- and the
pended upon the acquieftence of Ruffia and Auftria, hetmPrefsto
planned the partition of Poland. He communicated mea"
the project to the emperor, either upon their interview1UreS*
at Niels in Silefia in 1769, or in that of the following
year at Newftadt in Auftria; from whom the overture
met with a ready concurrence. To induce the eroprefs
of Ruffia to acquieice in the fame projedl, be difpatch-
ed his brother Henry to Peterfburg, who fuggefted to
the emprefs that the houfe of Auftria was forming an
alliance with the Pone, with which fhe was then at
war; that if fuch alliance took place, it would create a
moft formidable combination againft her; that, never-
thelefs, the friendfhip of that houfe was to be purchafed
by acceding to the partition; that upon this condition
the emperor was willing to renounce his connexion
with the Grand Signior, and would fuffer the Ruffians
to profecute the war without interruption. Catharine,
anxious to pufti her conquefts a’gainft the Turks, and
dreading the interpofition of the emperor in that quar¬
ter; perceiving likewife, from the intimate union be¬
tween the courts of Vienna and Berlin, that it would
not be in her power, at the prefent jundlure, to prevent
the intended partition—clofed with the propofal, and
felefted no inconfiderable portion of the Poliffi territo¬
ries for herfelf. The treaty wTas figned at Peterfburg
in the beginning of February 1772, by the Ruffian,
Auftrian, and Pruffian plenipotentiaries. It would be
tedious to enter into a detail of the pleas urged by the
three powers in favour of their feveral demands ; it
would be no lefs uninterefting to lay before the reader
the anfwers and remonftrances of the king andfenate, as
w ell as the appeals to the other ftates which had guaran¬
teed the poffeffions of Poland. The courts of London, j
Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, remonftrated againft !’o!sufii
the ufurpations ; but remonftrances without affiftance"1^61^
could be of no effeft. Poland fubrnitted to the difmem¬
berment not without the moft violent ftruggles, and
now for the firft time felt and lamented the fatal effe&s
of faflion and difcord.
A diet being demanded by the partitioning powers,
in order to ratify the ceffion of the provinces, it met on
the 19th of April 1773 ; and fuch was the fpirit of the
members, that, notw'ithftanding the deplorable fituation
of their country, the threats and bribes of the three
powers, the partition-treaty w>as not carried through
without much difficulty. For fome time the majo¬
rity of the nuncios appeared determined to oppofe the
difmemberment, and the king firmly perfifted in the
fame refolution. The ambafladors of the three courts
enforced their requifitions by the moft alarming menaces,
and threatened the king with depofition and imprifon-
ment. They alfo gave out by their emiffaries, that in
cafe the diet continued refra&ory, Warfaw fhould be
pillaged.
wretched i ■ (h hovel, at a diftance from any houfe. The king has rewarded the miller to the extent of his
wilhes in bm - i g him a mill upon the Vrftula, and allowing him a (mall penfion.”
(c) His real name was John Kutfma.
P G L [8
Poland, pillaged. This report was induftrioufly circulated, and
^ > made a fenfible impreflion upon the inhabitants. By
menaces of this fort, by corrupting the marlhal of the
diet, who was accompanied with a Ruffian guard ; in
word, by bribes, promifes, and threats, the members of
the diet were at length prevailed on to ratify the difmem-
Ir4 berment. '
Province5 Qf ^ dlfmembered countries, the Ruffian province
thTthv/e is the largeft, the Autlrian_ the moft populous, and the
partition- Pruffian the moft commercial. The population of the
ing powers, whole amounts to near 5,000,000 fouls j the nrft con¬
taining 1,500,000, the fecond 2,500,000, and the thud
860,000.' Weftern Pruffia was the greateft lofs to Po¬
land, as by the difmemberment of that province the na¬
vigation of the Viftula entirely depends upon the king
of'Pruffia : by the lofs confequently. of this diftrict a fa¬
tal blow was given to the trade of Poland } for his Piuf-
fian majefty has laid fuch heavy duties upon the mer-
.chandife palling to Dantzic, as greatly to diminifh the
commerce of that town, and to transfer a conlideiable
portion of it to Memel and Konigfburg..
The partitioning powers, however, did lefs injury to
the republic by difmembering its faireft provinces, than
in perpetuating the principles of anarchy and contu-
fion, and eftablilhing on a permanent footing that exor¬
bitant liberty which is the parent of faftion, and has
proved the decline of the republic. Under pretence of
amending the conftitution, they have confirmed all its
defeats, and have taken effectual precautions to render
this Unhappy country incapable of emerging from its
prefent deplorable ftate, as has been lately leen in tne
. failure of the moft patriotic attempt that v/as perhaps
ever made by a king to reform the conltitution 01 his
5I - kingdom.
The kings The kings of Poland were anciently hereditary and
of Poland abfolute j but afterwards became ele&ive and limited,
originally as we t^em at tbis day. In the reign of Louis, to-
Ihereditary, wards ^ ^ of tjie I4th centUry? feveral limitations
were laid on the royal prerogative. In that of Cali-
mir IV. who afcended the throne in 1446, reprefenta-
tives from the feveral palatinates ivere firft called to the
diet} the legiflative power till then having been lodged
in the Hates, and the executive in the king and lenate.
Il6 On the deceafe of Sigifmund Auguftus, it was enafted
afterwards by law, “ That the choice of a king for the future
elective. fhould perpetually remain free and open to all the nooles
of the kingdom j” which law has accordingly been hi¬
therto obferved.
u ^<5 {qoj-j as the throne is va.Ci3.nt, all the courts of
Univerfal juftice? anc^ other ordinary fprings of the machine of go-
Hijlary. vernmeut, remain in a ftate of inaftion, and ad the au¬
thority is transferred to the primate, who, in quality of
interrex, has in lome retpeifls more power than the king
himfelf 5 and yet the republic takes no umbrage at it,
becaufe he has not time to make himfelf formidable.
He notifies the vacancy of the throne to foreign prin¬
ces, which is in effe£I proclaiming that a crown is to be
difpofed of; he iffues the univerfaha, or circular letters
for the eleftion ; gives orders to the ftarofts (a fort of
military officers who have great authority, and whofe
proper bufinefs it is to levy the revenue) to keep a ftrift
guard upon the fortified places, and to the grand-gene¬
rals to do the fame upon the frontiers, towards which
the armv marches.
“ The place of eleftion is the field of Wola, at the
l
Vol. XVII. Part I.
] POL
gates of Warfaw. All the nobles of the kingdom have Poland.
a right of voting. The Poles encamp on the left fide
of the Viftula, and the Lithuanians on the right, each pjace an£j
under the banners of their refpeftive palatinates, which manner of
makes a fort of civil army ; confifting of between a hun- the eleo*
dred and fifty and two hundred thoufand men, affem-uon.*
bled to exercife the higheft act of freedom. Thofe who
are not able to provide a horfe and a labre Hand behind
on foot, armed with feythes, and do not feem at all lefs
proud than the reft-, as they have the fame right of vo-
ting.
“ The field of election is furrounded by a ditch with
three gates, in order to avoid confulion, one to the
eaft for Great Poland, another to the fouth lor Little
Poland, and a third to the weft for Lithuania. In the
middle of the field, which is called Kolau, is erefted a
great building of wood, named the Izopa or hall for
the fenate, at whofe debates the deputies are prefent,
and carry the refult of them to the leveral palatinates.
The part which the marlhal a&s upon this occafion is
very important; for, being the mouth of the nobility,
he has it in his power to do great lervice to the candi¬
dates ; he is alfo to draw up the inftrument of election,
and the king eledt mult take it only from his hand.
“ It is prohibited, upon pain ot being declared a pu¬
blic enemy, to appear at the election with regular
troops, in order to avoid all violence. But the nobles,
who are always armed with piltols and fabres, commit
violence againft one another, at the time that they cry
out ‘ liberty !’
“ All rvho afpire openly to the crown are exprefsly
excluded from the field of election, that their prelence
may not conftrain the voters. The king mult be elecl-
ed nemine contradicente, by all the futtrages without ex¬
ception. The law is founded upon this principle, that
when a great family adopts a father, all the children
have a right to be pleafed. The idea is plaufible in fpe-
culaiion ; but if it was rigoroully kept to, Poland
could have no fuch thing as a lawful king. I hey
therefore give up a real unanimity, and content them-
felves with the appearance of it ; or rather, if the law,
which preferibes it, cannot be fulfilled by means of mo¬
ney, they call in the affiftance of the labre.
“ Before they come to this extremity, no eleftion
can poffibly be carried on with more order, decency,
and appearance of freedom. T he primate in few words
recapitulates to the nobles on horfeback the relpe£bve
merits of the candidates; he exhorts them to choofe
the moft worthy, invokes heaven, gives his bleffing to
the affembly, and remains alone with the marfhal of
the diet, while the fenators difperfe themielves into the
feveral palatinates, to promote an unanimity of fenti-
ments. If they fucceed, the primate goes himfelf to
colleft the votes, naming once more all the candidates.
‘ Szoda (anfwer the nobles), that is the man we choofe;’
and inftantly the air refounded with his name, with cries
of vivat, and the noife of piftols. If all the palatines
agreed in their nominations, the primate got on horfe¬
back ; and then the profoundeft filence fucceeding to the
greateft noife, he alked three times if all were fatisfied ?
and after a general approbation, three times proclaim¬
ed the king ; and the grand-marlhal of the crown re¬
peated the proclamation three times at the three gates
of the camp. How glorious a king this, if endued with
royal qualities ! and how inccntcftable his title in the
* ’ L fuffrages-
POL [8
JSManJ^ fuff; ages of a whole people ! But this fkeicll of a free
v and peaceable cleftion Is by no means a reprefentation
of what vifwally happened. The corruption of the great,
the fury of the people, intrigues and factions, the gold
and the arms of foreign powers, frequently filled the
Il8 feene with violence and blood.”
The paiia Before the king was proclaimed, the pfiEla convenla
vonverita. was read aloud to him, which on his knees at the altar
he fvvore to obferve. As this contract, which was drawn
up, methodized, and approved, by the fenate and no-
bility, was deemed the great charter of Poland, we fliall
enumerate the principal articles of which it confifted.
1 hefe are, that the king fhould not attempt to en¬
croach on tne liberty of the people, by rendering the
crown hereditary in his family ; but that he fhould pre-
ferve all the cuitoms, laws, and ordonnances, refpe£h'ncr
the freedom of ele&ion : that he fhould ratify all treaties
fubfiding with foreign powers which were approved by
the diet : that it fhould be his chief ftudy to cultivate
peace, preferve the public tranquillity, and promote the
intereft of the realm : that he fhould not coin money
except in the name of the republic, or appropriate to
himfelf the advantages arifing from coinage : that in
declaring war, concluding peace, making levies, hiring
auxiliaries, or admitting foreign troops upon any pre¬
text within the Polifh dominions, the confent of the
diet and fenate fhould be neceffary : that all offices and
preferments fhould be given to the natives of Poland and
Lithuania 5 and that no pretence fhould excufe or palli¬
ate the crime of introducing foreigners into the king’s
council or the departments of the republic : that the of-
nceis of his majefty s guards fliould be Poles or Lithu-
^ anians; and that the colonel fliould abfolutely be a na¬
tive of Poland, and of the order of nobility: that all
the officers fhould be fubordinate to the authority of the
marefchal: that no individual fhould be veiled with
more employments than the law allows : that the king
fcouid not marry without the approbation of the fenate 5
and that the houfehold of the queen ffiouid be determin¬
ed and regulated by the republic : that the fovereign
ihould never apply his private fignet to afts and papers
of a public nature : that the king fhould difpofe of the
effices both of the court and of the republic ; and re¬
gulate with the fenate the number of forces neceffary
for the defence of the kingdom : that he fhould ad-
mimffer juiiiceby the advice of the fenate and his coun¬
cil : that the expenees of his civil lift fhould be the
fame with thofe of his predeceffors : that he fbould fill
up all vacancies in the fpace of fix weeks : that this
.fhould he his firft bufinefs in the diet, obliging the
chancellor to publifti his appointments in due form :
that the king fliould not diminith the treafure kept at
Cracow; but, on the contrary, endeavour to augment
that and the number of the crown-jewels : that he
fhould borrow no money without the confent of the
diet . that he fhould not equip a naval force without
the confent and full approbation of the republic : that
he fliould profefs the Roman Catholic faith, promote,
maintain, and defend it, through all the Polifh do¬
minions : and finally, that all their feveral liberties,
rights, and privileges, fhould be preferved to the Polan-
ders and Lithuanians in general, and to all the di-
flri&s and provinces contained within each of thefe
great divifions, without change, alteration, or the fmall-
«ft violation, except by the sonfent of the republic., To
2 ] POL
thefe articles a variety of others were added, accord- Poland,
ing to circumftances and the humour of the diet; but
what we have recited formed the ftanding conditions,
which were fcarcely ever altered or omitted. n
The diet of Poland was ccmpofed of the king, the fe- The diet of
nate, bifhops, and the deputies of the nobility or gen-an4
try of every palatinate, called, in their colle&iye capa¬
city, comitia togata, that is, when the ftates affembled
in the city without arms and horfes; or comitia paiucia-
ta, when they met in the fields armed, as during an in¬
terregnum, at the diet of eleftion. It was a prerogative
of the crown to affemble the diet at any particular place,
except on occafion of a coronaiion, which the cuftom
of the country required fliould be celebrated at the ca¬
pital. For a number of years, indeed, the diet regu¬
larly affembled at Warfaw ; but, on complaint made by
the Lithuanians, it was agreed, that every third diet
fhould be held at Grodno. “ When it is propofed to
hold a general diet, the king, or, in cafe of an inter¬
regnum, the primate, iffued writs to the palatines of the
feveral provinces, fpecifying the time and place of the
meeting. A fketch Hkewife was fent of the bufinefs' to
be deliberated on by the affembly ; the fenate was con-
fultcd in this particular, and fix weeks were allowed the
members to prepare themfelves for the intended feffion.
It is remarkable, that the diet never fat more than fix
weeks in the moft critical conjunctures and prefling
emergencies: they have been known to break up in the
middle of an important debate, and to leave the bufinefs
to a future meeting. This cuftom has been juftly ef-
teemed one of the greateft defeds of the Polifli confti-
tution, which probably owed its origin to convenience,
but was afterwards fuperflitioufty obferved from whim
and caprice. On receipt of the king’s writ, the pala¬
tine communicated the meeting of the diet to all the
caftellans, ftaroftas, and other inferior officers and gen¬
try within his jurifdiclion, requiring them to affemble on
a certain day to eleCt deputies, and take into confidera-
tion the bufinefs fpecified in the royal fummons. Thefe Dietb.^
meetings were called pettij diets, dietines, or lantage, in
the language of the country ; every gentleman poffefling
three acres of land having a vote, and matters being de¬
termined by a majority ; whereas in the general diet de¬
crees were only valid wrhen the whole body was unani¬
mous. Every palatinate had three reprefentatives,
though the bufinefs devolved on one called a nuncio,
who was eleCled for his ability and experience; and the
other two were added only to give weight to this leading
member, and do honour by their magnificent appearance
to the palatinate they reprefented. As thefe deputies,
fince the reign of Cafimir III. had feats in the diet, it
naturally divided the general affembly into two bodies,
the upper and lower ; the one being compofed cf the fe¬
nate, the fuperior clergy, and the great officers; the
other of the reprefentatives of the palatinates, who pre¬
pared all bufinefs for tbe fuperior body.
The firft bufinefs of the affembly was to chcofe a
marefchal; upon which occafion the debates and tu¬
mults ran fo high, that the whole time for the feffion
of the diet was often confumed in altercation and wrang¬
ling about the ele&ion of a fpeaker, who had now no¬
thing farther to do than return quietly to his own home.
After his ele61ion, he kiffed the king’s hand; and the
chancellor, as the royal reprefentative, reported the mat¬
ters to be deliberated by the diet. Then the marefchal
acquainted
POL
r 83 ]
POL
121
Abfurcl cuf-
toms »b-
ferved in
the diet.
122
The libe-
tfjn veto-
Poland, acquainted tlie king with the inftru&ions of the deputies
  from their conftituents, the grievances which they would
have redrefled, and the abufes they required to be reme¬
died. He likewife requefted of his majedy to fill up the
vacant offices and benefices, according to law 5 and he
was anfwered by a fet fpeech from the chancellor, who
reported the king’s inclination to fatisfy his people, as
foon as he had confulted his faithful fenate. There wTas
fomething very peculiarly abfurd in fome of the cuftoms
obferved by the Polifii diet : one in particular merits at¬
tention. Not only an unanimity of voices was neceffary
to pafs any bill, and conftitute a decree of the diet, but
every bill muft likewife be affented to unanimoully, or
none can take effebt. 1 hus, if out of twenty bills one
happened to be oppofed by a fingle voice, called /s-
berum veto, all the reft were thrown out, and the diet
met, deliberated, and debated, for fix weeks, to no pur-
pofe.
“ To add to the other inconveniences that attended
the conftitution of the diet of Poland, a fpirit of venali¬
ty in the deputies, and a general corruption, had feized
all ranks and degrees in that affembly. There, as in
fome other countries, the cry of liberty was kept up for
the fake of private intereft. Deputies came with a full
refolution of profiting by their patriotifm, and not
lowering their voice without a gratification. Deter¬
mined to oppofe the moff falutary meafurcs of the court,
they either withdrew from the affembly, protefted againft
all that ffiould be tranfafted in their abfence, or elfe ex¬
cited fuch a clamour as rendered it neceffary for the
esurt to filence them by fome lucrative penfion, dona¬
tion, or employment. Thus not only the bufinefs of
the afiembly was obftrufled by its own members, but
frequently by largeffes from neighbouring powers, and
fometimes by the liberality of an open enemy, who had
the art of dittributing his money with diferetion.
“ Perhaps the moft refipedable department of the
Poliffi government was the fenate, compofed of the bi-
fhops, palatines, caftellans, and ten officers of ftate, who
derived a right from their dignities of fitting in that af¬
fembly ; in all amounting to 144 members, who were
ftyled fenators of the kingdom or counfellors of the fate,
and had the title of excellency, a dignity fupported by
no penfion or emoluments neceffarily annexed. I he fe¬
nate prefided over the laws, wTas the guardian of liberty,
the judge of right, and the protestor of juftice and
equity. All the members, except the biffiops, who
were fenators ex officio, were nominated by the king, and
they took an oath to the republic before they were per¬
mitted to enter upon their funftions. I heir honours
continued for life: at the general diet they fat on the
right and left of the fovereign, according to their dig-
tiity, without regard to feniority. Ihey were the me¬
diators between the monarch and the fubjeft, and, in
conjunftion with the king, ratified all the laws paffedby
the nobility. As a fenator was bound by oath to main¬
tain the liberties of the republic, it was thought no dif-
refue£l to majefty that they reminded the prince of his
duty. They were his counfellors, and this freedom of
fpeech was an infeparable prerogative of their office.”
Such was the conftitution of Poland before it was
new-modelled by the partitioning powers. That it was
a very bad conftitution needs no proof; but thofe fo¬
reign reformers did not improve it. For two centuries
at leaft* the Poles had with great propriety denomina-
Ekdaftct
**3
The ienate
eje Poland.
ted their government a republic, becaufe the king v/aS
fo exceedingly limited in his prerogative, that he refem-
bled more the chief of a commonwealth than the love- 12^
reign of a powerful monarchy. That prerogative, al- perma.
ready too confined to afford protection to the peaiants, nem conn-
groaning under the ariftocratic tyranny of the nobles, li-
was, after the partition treaty, ftill further reftrained by
the eftabliffiment of the permanent council, which was
veiled with the whole executive authority, leaving t#
the fovereign nothing but the name. 1 he permanent
council confiiled of 36 perfons, elc£ted by the diet out
of the different orders of nobility ; and though the king,
when prefent, prefided in it, he could not exert a fingle
a£l of power but with the confent of the majority of per¬
fons, who might well be called his colleagues.
That the virtuous and accomplilhed Staniffaus Ihould
labour to extricate himfelf and the great body of the
people from fuch unparalleled oppreffion, and that the
more refpeflable part of the nation Ihould with to give
to themfelves and their pofterity a better form of go¬
vernment, was lurely very natural and very meritonouSt
The influence of the partitioning powers was indeed ex¬
erted to make the king contented with his fituation.
His revenues, wffiich before did not exceed 1 oo,ocol.
were now increafed to three times that fum. The re¬
public likewife agreed to pay his debts, amounting to
upwards of 400,000!. It bellowed on him alfo, in
hereditary poffeffion, four llarofties, or governments of
caftles, with the diltri&s belonging to them ; and re-
imburfed him of the money he had laid out for the llatei
It was alfo agreed, that the revenues of the republic
Ihould be enhanced to 33 millions of florins (near two
millions fterling), and the army Ihould confilt of 30,000
men. Soon after the conclulion of the peace with ] ur-
key, the emprefs of Ruffia alfo made the king a prelent
of 250,000 rubles, as a compentition for that part of
his dominions which fell into her hands. . _ I2r
Thefe bribes, however, were not fufficient to blind ^ newJcon.
the eyes of Staniffaus, or to cool the ardour of his pa- ftitution
triotifm. He laboured for pofterity, and with fuch ap-ettablifhed
parent fuccefs, that on the 3d of May 1791, a new con-sn I7PI*
ftitution of the government of Poland was eftabkfned
by the king, together with the confederate Hates af-
fembled in double number to reprefent the Poliffi nation.
That this was a perfect conftituffon, we are far from
thinking; but it was probably as perfedl as^ the invete¬
rate prejudices of the nobles would admit of. It devia¬
ted as little as poflible from the old forms, and was
drawn up in 11 articles, refpe&ing the government of
the republic; to which were added 21 leiftions, regu¬
lating the dietines or primary afi'emblies of Poland. ^
Of this conftitution, the firft article eftabliffied the Sub;tance
Roman Catholic faith, with all its privileges and jmmu-0i the firft
nities, as the dominant national religion ; granting to five articles
all other people, of whatever perfuafion, peace mmat-oflt-
ters of faith, and the prote&ion of government. The
fecond article guaranteed to the nobility or the equeftri-
an order, all the privileges which it enjoyed under the
kings of the houfe of Jagellon. The third and fourth
articles granted to the free royal towns internal jurifdic-
tions of their own; and exempted the peafants from fia-
very, declaring every man free as foon as he fet his foot
oh the territory of the republic. The fifth article, after
declaring, that in civil fociety all power fhould be deriv¬
ed from the will of the people, enafted that the govem-
f, 2 meut
POL [ 84 ] POL
Poland ment of the PoIHh nation fhould be cotnpofed of three
"~~l (jjpjn£t powers, the legijlative, in the Hates affembled j
the executive, in the king and the council of inlpefticn ;
and the judicial power, in the jurhdi&ions exiiting, or
to be eftablifhed. The iixth and feventh articles, as be¬
ing of more importance, we lhall give in the words of
the conllitution itfelf.
Th/diet to ^ ^Diet, or the legijlativepower, {hall be divid-
eonfift of ed into two houfes, viz. the houle of nuncios, or deputies,
twc houfes, and the houfe of fenate, where the king is to prefide.
h'nicof ^^0rmer ^ng ^!e reprefentative and central point of
nuncios fupreme national authority, {hall poffefs the pre-eminence
in the legiflature j therefore all bills are to be decided
jGrH in this houfe.
1. All General Laws, viz. conftitutional, civil, cri¬
minal, and perpetual taxes 5 concerning which matters,
the king is to ilTue his propofitions by the circular let¬
ters lent before the dietines to every palatinate and
to every diftrift for deliberation, which coming before
the houfe with the opinion ex prefled in the imtru&ions
given to their reprefentatives, {hall be taken the firit for
decifion.
2. Particular Laws, viz. temporal taxes ; regulations
of the mint; contracting public debts ; creating nobles,
and other cafual recompenfes \ reparation of public ex-
pences, both ordinary and extraordinary ; concerning
war ; peace; ratification of treaties, both political and
commercial ; all diplomatic adts and conventions rela¬
tive to the laws of nations j examining and acquitting
different executive departments, and fimilar fubjefts an¬
ting from the accidental exigencies and circumltances of
the ftate ; in which the propofitions, coming direCtly
from the throne into the houfe of nuncios, are to have
12S preference in difeuflion before the private bills,
and the _ In regard to the houfe of fenate, it is to confifl; of
houfe of biftiops, palatines, caftellans, and minifters, under the
prefidency of the king, who (hall have but one vote, and
the calling voice in cafe of parity, which he may give
either perfonally, or by a meffage to the houfe. Its
power and duty fliall be,
1. Every general law that pafies formally through
the houfe of nuncios, is to be fent immediately to this,
which is either accepted, or fufpended till farther nation¬
al deliberation, by a majority of votes, as preferibed by
law. If accepted, it becomes a law in all its force ; if
fufpended, it fiiall be refumed at the next diet 5 and if it
is then agreed to again by the houfe of nuncios, the fe¬
nate muft fubmit to it.
3. Every particular law or flatute of the diet in mat¬
ters above fpecified, as foon as it has been determined
by the houfe of nuncios, and fent up to the fenate, the
votes of both houfes (hall be jointly computed, and the
majority, as deferibed by law, (hall be confidered as a
decree and the wall of the nation. Thofe fenators and
minifters who, from their {hare in executive power, are
accountable to the republic, cannot have an aflive voice
in the diet, but may be prefent, in order to give necefla-
jy explanations to the ftates.
Thefe ordinary legiflative diets {hall have their unin¬
terrupted exiftence, and be always ready to meet } re¬
newable every two years. The length of feffions {hall
be determined .by the law concerning diets. If conven¬
ed cut of ordinary feflion upon fome urgent occafion,
they {hall only deliberate on the fubjeft Which occafion-
ed inch a call, or on circumftanees which may arife out Poland.
No law or ftatute enafted by fuch ordinary diet can
be ahered or annulled by the fame. The complement
of the diet {hall be compoled of the number of perlons
in both houfes to be determined hereafter.
Ihe law7 concerning the dietines or primary elections,
as eftabiiihed by the prefent diet, fhall be regarded as a
moft effential foundation of civil liberty.
The majority of votes {hall decide every thing, and Th/ivL-
every where j therefore we abolilh, and utterly annihi . rum veto
late, liberum veto, all forts of confederacies and confede- ab°hflietl* •'
rate diets, as contrary to the fpint of the prefent con-
ftitution, as undermining the government, and as being
ruinous to fociety.
Willing to prevent, on one hand, violent and fre¬
quent changes in the national conftitution, yet, confider-
ing on the other, the neceflity of perfefting it, after
experiencing its effedls on public profperity, we deter¬
mine the period of every 25 years for an extraordinary
conftitutional diet, to be held purpofely for the revifion naryX*"
and fuch alterations of the conftitution as may be found for reviling
requifite : which diet fhall be circumfcribed by a fepa-thc.conftl*
rate law hereafter. tution.
VIE The moft perfect government cannot exift or
laft without an effedtual executive powTer. The happi-
nefs of the nation depends on juft laws, but the good
efle&s of lawTs flow only from their execution. Ex¬
perience has taught us, that the negle&ing this efien-
tial part of government has overwhelmed Poland with
difafters.
Having, therefore, fecured to the free Polilh nation
the right of enacling laws for themfelves, the fupreme
mfpecdon over the executive power, and the choice of Powers of
their magiftrates, we entruft to the king and his conn- the king'
cil the higheft power of executing the laws. This andcouncil
council ftiall be called Jiraz, or the council of infpec- lniPec"
tion. tlon-
The duty of fuch executive potver (hall be to watch
over the laws, and to fee them ftridly executed accor¬
ding to their import, even by the means of public force,
fhould it be neceflary. All departments and magiftra-
cies are bound to obey its direftions. To this power
we leave the right of controling fuch as are refractory,
or of punifliing fuch as are negligent in the execution
of their refpeftive offices.
. This executive power cannot aflume the right of ma¬
king laws, or of their interpretation. It is exprefsly
forbidden to contraft public debts ■, to alter the repar¬
tition of the national income, as fixed by the diet; to
declare war; to conclude definitively any treaty, or any
diplomatic aft; it is only allowed to carry on negocia-
tions with foreign courts, and facilitate temporary oc¬
currences, always with reference to the diet.
The crown of Poland we declare to be eleftive in re- Crown e-
gard to families, and it is fettled fo for ever. leftive in
Having experienced the fatal effefts of interregna, regard to
periodically fubverting government, and being defirous tam^eS ’
of preventing for ever all foreign influence, as well as of
infuring to every citizen a perfeft tranquillity, we have, but
from prudent motives, refolved to adopt hereditary fuc- ditary in"
ceffion to our throne : therefore we enaft and declare, each family
that, after the expiration of our life, according to the t^1 its ex*
gracious will of the Almighty, the prefent eleftor 0ftuift10n'
Saxony
134
Coronation
oath.
135
King’s per
136
His parti cu
lar powers.
tipn.
P ~ O L [ 85
Poland. Saxony fliall reign over Poland, and in Ins perfon (hall
—* the dynafty of future kings of Poland begin. We re-
ferve to the nation, however, the right of electing to
• the throne any other houfc or family, after the extinc¬
tion of the firft.
Every king, on his acceffion to the throne, (hall take
a folemn oath to God and the nation, to fupport the
prefent conftitution, to fulfil the paBa conventa, which
will be fettled with the prefent elector of Saxony, as ap¬
pointed to the crown, and which (hall bind him in the
fame manner as former ones.
The king’s perfon is facred and inviolable; as no aft
fun facrcd; can proceed immediately from him, be cannot be in any
manner rcfponfible to the nation •, he is not an abfolute
monarch, but the father and the head of the people •, his
revenues, as fixed by the paBa conventa, flvdl be facred-
ly preferved. All public afts, the acts of magiftracies,
and the coin of the kingdom, fliall bear his name.
The king, who ought to poffefs every power of doing
good, ihall have the right of pardoning thofe that are
condemned to death, except the crimes be againlt the
ftate. In time of war, he fhall have the fupreme com¬
mand of the national forces : he may appoint the com¬
manders of the army, however, by the will of the dates.
It fliall be his province to patentee officers in the army,
and other dignitaries, confonant to the regulations here¬
after to be expreffed, to appoint biihops, fenators, and
miniflers, as members of the executive power.
Members of The king’s council of infpeftion is to confift, 1. Of
the council the primate, as the head of the clergy, and the prefident
ofinfpec- Gf {_ke commifiion of education, or the firft biihop in or-
dine. 2. Of five minifters, viz. the minifter of police,
minifter of juftice, minifter of war, minifter of finances,
and minifter for the foreign affairs. 3. Of two fecreta-
ries to keep the protocols, one for the council, another
for the foreign department 5 both, however, without de-
ciftve vote. The hereditary prince coming of age, and
having taken the oath to preferve the conftitution, may
aftift at all feftions of the council, but fliall have no vote
therein. The marftial of the diet, being chofen for twro
themarflial.years, has alfo a right to fit in this council, without ta¬
king any (hare in its reiolves ; for the end only to call
together the diet, always exifting, in the following cafe :
fhould he deem, from the emergencies hereunder fpeci-
fied, the convocation of the diet abfolutely neceffary,
and the king refufing to do it, the marfhal is bound to
iffue his circular letters to all nuncios and fenators, ad¬
ducing real motives for fuch meeting.
The cafes demanding fuch convocation of the diet are
the following : 1. In a preffmg neceffity concerning the
law of nations, and particularly in cafe of a neighbour¬
ing war. 2. In cafe of an internal commotion, mena¬
cing with the revolution of the country, or of a collifion
between magiftrates. 3. In an evident danger of gene¬
ral famine. 4. In the orphan ftate of the country, by
demife of the king, or in cafe of the king’s dangerous
illnefs. All the refolutions of the council of infpe£h'on
are to be examined by the rules above mentioned. The
king’s opinion, after that of every member in the coun¬
cil has been heard, {hall decifively prevail. Every refo-
lution of this council {hall be iffucd under the king’s fig-
nature, counterfigned by one of the minifters fitting
therein 5 and thus figned, {hall be obeyed by all execu¬
tive departments, except in cafes exprefsly exempted by
the prefent conftxtution.
138
Powers of
] P 0 L
Should all the members refufe their counterfign to any
refolution, the king is obliged to forego his opinion j but
if he ftiould perfift in it, the marflial of the diet may de¬
mand the convocation of the diet; and if the king will
not, the marlhal himfelf fliall fend his circular letters as
above. Minifters cqmpofing this council cannot be em¬
ployed at the fame time in any other commiflion or de¬
partment.
If it fhould happen that two-thirds of fecret votes in
both houfes demand the changing of any perfon, either
in the council, or any executive department, the king
is bound to nominate another. Willing that the coun¬
cil of infpeftion ftiould be refponfible to the nation for
their actions, wre decree, that when thefe minifters are
denounced and accufed before the diet (by the fpecial
committee appointed for examining their proceedings)
of anv t ran fg re ft ion of pofitive law7, they are anfwerable
with their perfons and fortunes. Such impeachments be¬
ing determined by a fimple majority of votes, collected
jointly from both houfes, fliall be tried immediately by
the comitial tribunal, where the accufed are to receive
their final judgement and puniftiment, ii found guilty j
or to be honourably acquitted on fufficient proof of inno-
Polauff.
139
In order to form a neceffary organization of the ex- commif-
ecutive power, we eftablifli hereby feparate commiflions, fions ofe-
connefted with the above council, and fubjected to obey
its ordinations. Thefe commiffxons are, 1. of education jd ’
2. of police 5 3. of war 5 4. of treafury. It is through
the medium of thefe four departments that all the parti¬
cular orderly commiffions, as eftabliihed by the prefent
diet, in every palatinate and diftrift, {ball depend on,
and receive all orders from, the council of infpeflion, in
their refpeefive duties and occurrences. 143
The eighth article regulates the adminiftration of juf-Admmi-
tice, beginning with a very fenfible declaration, that the 0"
judicial power is incompatible with the legillative, and'luu ’
that it cannot be adminiftered by the king. It there¬
fore conftitutes primary courts of juftice tor each palati¬
nate or diftriff, compofed of judges chofen at the die-
tine } and appoints higher tribunals, erefted one in each -
of the three provinces into which the kingdom is di¬
vided, ivith which appeals may be lodged from the pri¬
mary courts. It appoints likewife for the trial of per¬
fons accufed of crimes againft the ftate, one fupreme ge¬
neral tribunal for all clafies, called a comitial tribunal
or court, compofed of perfons chofen at the opening T^r
of every diet. The ninth article provides a regency Regency on
during the king’s minority, in cafe of his fettled alie- certain co¬
nation of reafon, or upon the emergency of his being.call0US-
made a prifoner of war. This regency ivas to be com¬
pofed of the council of infpe&ion, with the queen at
their head, or, in her abfence, the primate of the king¬
dom. The tenth article enjoins, that the education of
the king’s fons fliall be entrufted to the king with the
council, and a tutor appointed by the ftates ; and the
eleventh regulates the army in fuch a manner, as to
prevent it from being employed to overturn the conftitu¬
tion.
The regulation of the dietines contains nothing that
can be interefting to a Bfitifti reader* except what re¬
lates to the election and duties of nuncios or reprefenta- ^ na¬
tives to the general diet. And here it is enafted, that
perfons having a right to vote are. all nobles of the duties of
equeftrian order } i. c. 1. All hereditary proprietois of nuncio;,
landed.
'Poland.
Perfons e-
ligible and
not eliai-
-ble.
POL [
landed property, or poffefled of eftates by adjudication
for a debt, paying territorial tax to government : Tons
alfo of fuch proprietors during the life of their parents,
before the ex-divifion of patrimony. 2. Brothers inhe¬
riting eftates before they have (hared their fuccefhon.
3. All mortgages who pay 100 florins (50 drillings) of
territorial tax per year from their pofleflions. 4. All
life-holders of lands paying territorial tax to the fame
amount. 5. All nobles in the army pofleffed of fuch
qualifying eftates have a vote in their refpeftive diftrifts
in time of peace, and properly furloughed by their com¬
manders. 6. Legal pofieflion is underftood to be quali¬
fying when it has been formerly acquired and actually
enjoyed for twelve calendar months previoufly.
Perfons who have no right to vote are, 1. Thofe of
the equeftrian order that are not actually poflefled of a
property, as defcribed in the foregoing article. 2. Such
as hold royal, ecclefiaftical, or noble lands, even with
right of inheritance, but on condition of fome duty or
payment to their principals, confequently dependent
thereon. 3. Gentry poflefling eftates on feudal tenure,
called ordynackie, as being bound to certain perfonal fer-
vice thereby. 4. All renters of eftates that have no
other qualifying property. 5. Thofe that have not ac~
complifhed 18 years of age. 6. Crimine notati, and
thofe that are under a decree palled in default, even
in the firft inftance, for having difobeyed any judicial
court.
Every perfon of the equeftrian order that pays terri¬
torial tax to government for his freehold, let it be ever
fo fmall, is eligible to all eleflive offices in his refpeftive
diftrift.
Gentlemen aftually ferving in the army, even poffef-
fed of landed hereditary eftate, muft have ferved fix com¬
plete years before they are eligible to the office of a
nuncio only. But this condition is difpenfed with in
favour of thofe that have filled before fome public
fun ft ion.
Whoever is not perfonally prefent at the dietine;
whoever has not completed 23 years of age ; whoever
has not been in any public funftion, nor palled the bien¬
nial office of a commiflary in the orderly commiffion ;
thofe that are not exempted by law from obligations of
/carta bellatus, wffiich fubjefts all newly-nobilitated per¬
fons to certain civil reftriftions until the next genera¬
tion ; and, laftly, all thofe againft whom may be ob-
jefted a decree in contumaciatn in a civil caufe ; are not
eligible.
During the bufinefs of eleftion, the prefident who
opened the meeting, with the reft of the committee,
except thofe who are affeffors, (hall prepare inftruftions
for procedure j and in regard to the propofitions fent by
*44 king and the council of infpeftion, thefe inftruftions
Inftructions fhall be wmrded thus : “ Our nuncios (hall vote affirma-
to the nun- tivc to the article A;” or, “ Our nuncios (hall vote ne-
610S* gative to the article A,” in cafe it is found contrary to
the opinion of the dietine : and ffiould any amendment
or addition be deemed neceflary and agreed on, it may
be infertrd in the inftruftions at the end of the relative
propofition.
At the meeting of the dietines, after the diet has fat,
the nuncios are bound to appear before their conftitu-
accountableents. and to bring their report of the whole proceedings
to their Gf th.ai aflembly ; firft, refpefting the afts of legiflature;
next, with refpeft to the particular projefts of their pa-
4
Ms
Who are
conftitu-
ents.
86 ] POL'
latinate or diftrift recommended to them by the inftruc- Poland,
tions. "
It is at thefe dietines that nuncios, after they have
rendered to their conftituents a clear account of their
proceedings and of the diet, may be either confirmed
or changed, and new ones elefted in their (lead till the
general eleftion for the following ordinary diet.
New nuncios are chofen, 1. In the room of the de-
ceafed. 2. In the room of thofe that are become fena-
tors or minifters of ftate. 3* I11 cafe of refignation.
4. In the room of fuch as are difqualified by the. diet.
5. When any of the aflembly defires a new eleftion, to
lubftitute another nuncio in the room of one exprefsly
pointed out \ wdiich requeft muft be made in writing,
figned by 12 members befides, and be delivered to the
marffial of the dietine. In this laft cafe, the marflial is
to read the name of the nuncio objefted to, and to make
the following propofition : “ Shall the nuncio A be
confirmed in his funftion ? or, Shall there be a new
eleftion made in his (lead ?” The opinion of the meet¬
ing being taken by a divifion, the majority (hall decide
the queftion, and be declared by the marflial. If the
majority approves the conduft of the nuncio, the mar¬
flial and the afleflbrs (hall certify this confirmation on
the diploma j and in cafe of difapprobation, the marflial
(hall declare the vacancy, and begin the form of a new
eleftion.
Such are the outlines of the Polifli conftitution efta- xhJccL
blifhed by the king and the confederates in 1791. It ftitution,
will not bear a comparifon with that under which Bri- though fu¬
tons have the happinefs to live ) but it is furely infinite- Pcnor t0
ly fuperior to that motley form of government which,
for a century paft, rendered Poland a perpetual fcene of^gahiftby-
war, tumult, tyranny, and rebellion. Many of the fome cor-
corrupt nobles, however, perceiving that it would curb ruPt nobles*
their ambition, deprive them of the bafe means which
they had long enjoyed of gratifying their avarice by fet-
ting the crown to fale, and render it impoffible for them
to continue with impunity their tyrannical oppreffion of
the peafants, protefted againft it, and withdrew from
the confederates. This was nothing more than wffiat
might have been expefted, or than what the king and
his friends undoubtedly did expeft. But the malcon¬
tents were not fatisfied with a fimple proteft ; they pre¬
ferred their complaints to the emprefs of Ruffia, who,
ready on all occafions, and on the flighteft pretence, to
invade Poland, poured her armies into the republic,
and furrounding the king and the diet with ferocious
foldiers, compelled them, by the moft furious and inde- and oppofed
cent menaces, to undo their glorious labour of love, and by the Ruf-
to reftore the conftitution as fettled after the partitionfians*
treaty.
Of the progrefs of the Ruffians in this wmrk of dark-
nefs, our readers will be pleafed with the following
manly and indignant narrative, taken from a periodical
work * of acknowledged merit. * New An*
“ It was on the 21ft of April 1792, that the diet re-nuai Re^'
ceived the firft notification from the king, of the inimi--^*7’
cal and unjuft intentions of Ruffia. He informed them
that, without the fhadow of pretence, this avowed ene*
my of the rights of mankind had determined to invade
the territory of the republic with an army of 60,000
men. This formidable banditti, commanded by gene¬
rals Soltikow, Michelfon, and Kofakcwfld, was after¬
wards to be fupported by a corps of 20,000, and by the
troops
POL [ 87 ] POL
Poland, troops then a&ing in Moldavia, amounting to 70,000.
'n™^V The king, however, profeffed that he was not diicoura-
ged, and declared his rcadinefs to put himfelf at the
head of the national troops, and to terminate his exig¬
ence in a glorious conteft for the liberties of his country.
Then, and not before, the diet decreed the organization
of the army, and its augmentation to 100,000. The
king and the council of infpection were invelled with
unlimited authority in every thing that regarded the de¬
fence of the kingdom. Magazines were ordered to be
conttrufted when it was too late, and quarters to be pro-
vided for the army.
The nation “ The diet and the nation rofe as one man to main-
rifes to tain their independence. All private animofities were
jnnntainits^^d, an private interefts were facrificed j the
ence^1' greateft encouragements were held forth to volunteers
to enroll themfelves under the national Itandard, and it
was unanimoufly decreed by the diet, that all private
Ioffes Ihould be compenfated out of the public trea-
fury.
“ On the 18th of May, the Ruffian ambaffador deli¬
vered a declaration, which was worthy of fuch a caufe.
It was a tiffue of falfehood and hypocrify. It afferted,
that this wanton invahon, which was evidently againft
the fenfe of almoff every individual Polander, was meant
entirely for the good of the republic. It cenfured the
precipitancy with which the new conftitution was adopt¬
ed, and aferibed the ready confent of the diet to the in¬
fluence of the Warfaw mob. It reprefented the confti¬
tution as a violation of the principles on which the Po-
lifti republic was founded—complained of the licen-
tioufnefs with which the facred name of the emprefs was
treated in fome fpeeches of the members j and con¬
cluded by profeffmg, that on thefc accounts, and in be¬
half of the emigrant Poles, her imperial majefty had
ordered her troops to enter the territories of the re¬
public.
“ At the moment this declaration was delivered to the
diet, the Ruffian troops, accompanied by Counts Po-
tocki, Rzewulki, Branicki, and a few Polilh apoftates,
appeared upon the frontiers, and entered the territories
of the republic in feveral columns, before the clofe of
Splrftofthet^e mon'h. The fpirit manifefted by the nobility was
nobks. truly honourable. Some of them delivered in their plate
to the mint. Prince Radzvil engaged voluntarily to
furnifh 10,000 ftand of arms, and another a train of ar¬
tillery. The courage of the new7 and haftily embodied
foldiers correfponded wdth the patriotilm of their nobles.
Prince Poniatowfki, nephew7 to the king, w7as appointed
commander in chief; and though his force was greatly
inferior to the enemy, it mu ft be confeffed that he made
a noble ftand. On the 24th of May, the enemy’s Cof-
facks w7ere repulfed, and purfaed by the patroles of the
republic to the very entrenchments. On the 26th,
about one o’clock, the piquets of the republic difeover-
ed a large body of Don Coffacks approaching the out-
pofts •, and a fquadron of cavalry, commanded by Lieu¬
tenant Kwafniewfki, fupported by Lieutenant Golejow7-
iki wnth two fquadrons more, in all about 300, marched
out to meet them. They attacked the Coffacks with
fuccefs, but purfued them with more valour than pru¬
dence to the fide of a wood, wdsere they found them¬
felves drawn into, an ambufeade, and furrounded by
2000 horfe, two battalions of chaffeurs, and fix pieces
of cannon. The intrepid Poles bravely fought their Poland/-
way through the Ruffian line, and killed upwards of w——,
200 of the enemy. The Poles in this engagement loft
too men and twro officers j one of whom, Lieutenant
Kwafniewfki, was wounded and made prifoner. The
remainder of the detachment reached their quarters in
fafety‘ ,. „ . 150
“ Perhaps the hiftory of man can fcarcely furniffi an Condufl of
inftance of perfidy, meannefs, and duplicity, equal to the court of'
that winch w7as manifefted by Pruffia on this occafion. ®er^n*
By the treaty of defenfive alliance, folemnly contract¬
ed between the republic of Poland and the king of Pruf¬
fia, and ratified on the 23d of April 1790, it is ex-
preisly ftipulated, ‘ That the contracting parties ftiall
do all in their pow7er to guarantee and preferve to each
other reciprocally the whole of the territories which’
they reipedtively poffefs: That, in cafe of menace or
invafion from any foreign powTer, they fhall affift each
other with their whole force, if neceffary :’—and by
the fixth article, it is further ftipulated, ‘ that if any
foreign pow7er whatever {hall prefume to interfere in
the internal affairs of Poland, his Pruffian ma]efty lhall
confider this as a cafe falling within the meaning of the,
alliance, and lhall affift the republic according to the
tenor of the fourth article,” that is, with his whole
force. What then is the pretext for abandoning this
treaty ? It is, that the emhrefs of RuJJia has jhovjn a de
cided oppoftion to the order of things efablifhed in Roland
on the third of May 179T, and is provoked hy Roland
prefuming to put herfelf into a poflure to defend it.—It is
known, howrever, by the moft authentic documents, that
nothing wras effected on the third of May 1791, to
which Pruffia had not previoufly affented, and which
Hie did not afterwards fanftion j and that Pruffia, ac¬
cording to the affertion of her ow7n king, did not inti¬
mate a fingle doubt refpedting the revolution till one
month (and according to the Pruffian minifter till fix
months) after it had taken place; in ffiort, to ufe the
monarch’s own wrords as fully explanatory of his double
politics, ‘ not till the general tranquillity of Europe per¬
mitted him to explain himfelf.’—Inftead, therefore, of
aflifting Poland, Pruffia infultingly recommended to Po¬
land to retrace her fteps j in which cafe, the faid that
{he w7ould be ready to attempt an accofnmodation in her
favour. This attempt was never made, and probably
never intended ; for the emprefs purfued her meafures. I(.I
The duchy of Lithuania w7as the great feene of atftion War with
in the beginning of the wrar ; but the Ruffians had made Ruffia.
little progrefs before the middle of the month of June.
On the 10th of that month, General Judycki, w7ho com¬
manded a detachment of the Polith troops, between
Mire and Swierzna, wras attacked by the Ruffians j but,
after a combat of fome hours, he obliged them to re¬
tire with the lofs of 500 men dead on the field.—The
general was defirous of profiting by this advantage, by
puvfuing the enemy, but was prevented by a moft vio¬
lent fall of rain. On the fucceeding day, the Ruffians
rallied again to the attack j and it then too fatally ap¬
peared, that the Poles w7ere too young and undifeiplined
to contend w7ith an inferior force againft experienced
troops and able generals. By a mafterly manoeuvre, the
Ruffians contrived to furround their antagonifts, at a mo¬
ment when the Polilh general fuppofed that he had
obliged the enemy-to retreat 3 and though the field was -
contsftedd
■p O I t 88 ] POT
C'Oiitefted with the utmoft valour by the troops of the
republic, they were at length compelled to give way,
and to retire towards Niefwiefz.
On the 14th another engagement took place near
Lubar, on the banks of the river Sluez, between a de¬
tachment of the Ruffian grand army and a party of
Polilh cavalry, difpatched by Prince Jofeph Poniatow-
fki, to intercept the enemy. The patriotic bravery of
the Poles was victorious in this conteft j but upon re¬
connoitring the force of the enemy, the prince found
himfelf incapable of making a fuccefsful hand againil
fuch fuperior numbers. He therefore gave orders to
flrike the camp at Lubar, and commenced a precipi¬
tate retreat. During their march, the Poliffi rear wTas
haraffed by a body of 4000 Ruffians, till arriving at
Borufkowee, the wooden bridge unfortunately gave
way, under the weight of the cavalry. The enemy, in
the mean time, brought their artillery to play upon the
rear of the fugitives, who1 loll upwards of 250 men.
The Poliffi army next direfted its courfe towards Zieli-
me, where meeting, on the 17th, with a reinforcement
from Zaflow, it halted to give battle to the enemy.
The Ruffians were upwards of 1 7,000 ftrong, with 24
pieces of cannon, and the force of the republic much
inferior. After a furious conteft from feven in the
morning till five in the afternoon, the Ruffians were at
length obliged to retreat, and leave the field of battle
in poffeffion of the patriots. The Ruffians were com¬
puted to have loft 4000 men in this engagement, and
the Poles about 1100.
Notwithftanding thefe exertions, the Poles were obli¬
ged gradually to retire before their numerous and difei-
plined enemies. Niefwez, Wilna, Minfk, and feveral
other places of lefs coniequence, fell into their hands
one after another. On a truce being propofed to the
Ruffian general Kochowfki, the propofal wras haughtily
rejefted ; while the defertion of vice-brigadier Rud-
nicki and fome others, who preferred difhonour to per-
fonal danger, proclaimed a tottering caufe. The pro-
grefs of the armies of Catharine was marked with de-
vaftation and cruelty, while, fuch was the averfien of
the people both to the caufe and the manner of conduc¬
ting it, that, as they approached, the country all around
became a wildernefs, and fcarcely a human being was to
be feen.
In the mean time, a feries of little defeats, to which
the inexperience of the comrqanders, and the intempe¬
rate valour of newT raifed troops appear to have greatly
contributed, ferved at once to diftrefs and to difpirit
thefe defenders of their country. Prince Poniatowiki
edntinued to retreat, and on the 17th of July, his rear
being attacked' by a very fuperior force, it fuffered a
confiderable lofs, though the ikill and courage of Gene¬
ral Kofciuffio enabled him to make a moft refpeCIable
defence. On the 18th, a general engagement took
place between the two armies. The Ruffian line ex¬
tended oppofite Dubienka, along the river Bog, as far as
Opalin. The principal column, confifting of 14,000
men, was chiefly direfted again ft the divifion of Gene¬
ral Kofciufko, which conftfted of 5000 men only. Af¬
ter a moft vigorous reftftance, in which the Ruffians loft
upwards of 4000 men, and the troops of the republic
only fome hundreds, the latter was compelled to give
way before the fuperior numbers of the enemy, and to
retire further into the country.
3
This unequal conteft was at laft prematurely termi- Polans!.
nated. The king, whole benevolent intentions were,
perhaps, overpowered by his mental imbecility, and f^kmg
whofe age and infirmities, probably, rendered him un- propofes
equal to the difficulties and dangers which mull attend tubimffion,
a protrafled war, inflead of putting himfelf, according
to his firft refolve, at the head of his army, determined
at once, to furrender at diferetion. On the 23d of
July, he fummoned a council of all the deputies at
that moment in Warfaw. He laid before them the laft
difpatches from the emprefs, which infifted upon total
and unreferved fubmiffion. He pointed out the dan¬
ger of a difmemberment of the republic, ffiould they de¬
lay to throw themfelves upon the clemency of the em¬
prefs, and to intreat her proteftion. He mentioned
the fatal union of Auftria and Pruffia with Ruffia } and
the difgraceful fupinenefs manifefted by every other
court in Europe.
Four citizens, the intrepid and patriotic Malachow-
Iki, the princes Sapieha, Radzvil, and Soltan, vehement¬
ly protefted againft thefe daftardly proceedings ; and the
following evening a company of gentlemen from the
different provinces attended for the fame purpofe. The
affembly waited immediately on thefe four diftinguilhed
patriots, and returned them their acknowledgements for
the fpivit and firmnefs with which they had refilled the
ufurpations of defpotifm. The fubmiffion of the king to
the defigns of Ruffia was no fooner made known, than
Poland was bereft of all her beft and moft refpe£table
citizens. IVlalaehowfld as marftial of the diet, and
Prince Sapieha, grand marffial of Lithuania, entered
ftrong protefts on the journals of the diet againft thefe
hoftile proceedings, and declared folemnly that the diet
legally affembled in 1788 was not diffoived.
On the fecond of Auguft a confederation was form- Confedera-
ed at Warfaw, of which the grand apoftate, Potocki, non at
wras chofen marfhal. The afts of this confederation ^
were evidently the defpotic didlates of Ruffia, and were ^j^erey
calculated only to reftore the ancient abules, and tOftorest’},e
place the country under the aggravated oppreffion of aformei con-
foreign yoke. ftitutioa.
It is remarkable, that at the very moment when Po¬
land was furrendering its liberties to its defpotic inva¬
ders, the generous fympathy of Great Britain was evin¬
ced by a liberal fubfeription, fupported by all the moft
refpeftable charafters in the nation, of every party and
of every feci, for the purpofe of affifting the king and
the republic to maintain their independence. Though
the benevolent defign was fruftrated, the fa£t remains on
record as a noble teftimony of the fpirit of Britons in
the caufe of freedom, of the indignation which fills every
Britifli heart at the commiffion of injuftice, and of the
liberality with which they are difpofed to affift thole who
fuffer from the oppreffion of tyrants. ^ __
Not fatisfied with reftoring the old wretched confti- j
tution, the emprefs of Ruffia feized upon part of the prefs feizes
territory which, at the laft partition, fhe and her coad-upon part
iutors had left to the republic ; and her ambaffador en-°v,the ^8"
J.. . .,r j r j m Jifh ternta-
tennginto the diet with a crowd ol armed ruffians, com-ry>
pelled the king and that affembly to grant the form of
legality to her ufurpations. The nation, however, did
not fubmit. General Kofciulko kept together a few
retainers, wrhom he was foon enabled to augment to the
number of an army ; and feizing on the perfon of the
king, he for fome time waged againft Ruffia a war, of
which,
Plate CCCOXXXIV
Poknt!-
*55
Deplorable
{late of the
■Coui.try.
. I (;®
An, cli¬
mate, See.
•f f'oland.
POL [
wVicli, it muft be confeffed, the object feerned doubtful,
His enemies accute him of cherifliing in the republic the
principles of the French Jacobins ; and fome late occur¬
rences give a countenance to the accufation. Yet it is
known he proteiied at firft that his aim reached no far¬
ther than to reitore the conftitution of 1791 j and if
public report may be credited, an inliirredtion has lately
taken place in Great Poland, or South Pruffia, in fa¬
vour of that conftitution. If other Poles have been dri¬
ven to democracy, -they have only, with the common
weaknefs of human nature, run from one extreme to
another 5 and in flying from the tyranny of their inva¬
ders, have fallen into the horrors of anarchy. That
Koiciulko will fucceed againft the powerful - empire
of RuiTia, there is not the fmalleft probability •, and if
there were, the court of Berlin, to complete its charafter,
has withdrawn from the moft honourable alliance in which
it was ever engaged, andfeems to have employed the fub-
lidy which it received from Great Britain for the main¬
tenance of that alliance, to co-opcrate with the emprefs
in annihilating the kingdom and republic of Poland.
What will be the ultimate fate of that unhappy country,
and its amiable fovereign, it is impoflible to fay ; but ap¬
pearances at prefent (1794) indicate a divifion of the
whole territory among the three hoftile powers who for¬
merly robbed it of fome of its moft valuable provinces j
and when that divifion is made, the virtuous Staniflaus
may be removed to a better world by violent means.
Some part of the above predi&ion was unfortunately
for Poland fully verified. The patriotic exertions of
Kofciulko failed ; his army was defeated, and he was
himielf taken prifoner by the Ruflians. In 1795 the
king entered into a formal refignation of the crown, and
was afterwards removed to Peterfburg, where he remain¬
ed a kind of ftate prifoner till his death in 1798. The
whole kingdom was divided among the partitioning
powers. Auftria took pofleflion of Little Poland and
Red Ruffia, which latter was afterwards called Galicia j
Pruflia obtained Great Poland, Polifh Pruffia, part of
Lithuania, Mafovia, Polachia, and the cities of Dantzic
and Thorn •, and Samogitia, the remainder of Lithuania,
Polefia, Volhynia, and Podolia, fell into the hands of Ruf¬
fia. But fince the Pruffian monarchy was nearly anni¬
hilated by the power of Bonaparte, and this unfortunate
country was overrun by his numerous armies, confider-
able changes have taken place *, for an account of which
fee Prussia.
The air of this country is cold in the north, but tem¬
perate in the other parts both in fummer and winter, and
the weather in both more fettled than in many other coun¬
tries. The face of the country is for the moft part level,
and the hills are but few. The Crapack or Carpathian
mountains feparate it from Hungary on the fouth. The
foil is very fruitful both in corn and pafturage, hemp and
flax. Such is the luxuriance of the paftures in Podolia,
that it is faid one can hardly fee the cattle that are graz¬
ing in the meadows. Vaft quantities of corn are yearly
fent down the Viftula to Dantzic, from all parts of Po¬
land, and bought up chiefly by the Dutch, ihe eaftem
part of the country is full of woods, forefts, lakes, mar-
fhes, and rivers ; of the laft of which, the moft confider-
able in Poland are the Viftula, Nieper, Niefter, Duna,
Bog, Warta, and Memel. The metals found in this
country are iron and lead, with fome tin, gold and fil-
ver *, but there are no mines of the two laft wrought at
Vol. XVII. Fart I.
89 ] POL
prefent. The other produfts of Poland are moft'forts of Poland,
precious ftones, ochre of all kinds, fine rock-cryftal,
Mufcovy glafs, talc, alum, faltpetre, amber, pitcoal,
quickfilver, fpar, fal-gem, lapis calaminaris, and vitriol.
In Leffer Poland are falt-mines, which are the chief
riches of the country, and bring moft money into the
exchequer. In the woods, which confift molily of oak,
beech, pine, and fir-trees, befides the more common
wild beafts, are elks, wild affes, wild oxen or uri, lynxes,
wild horfes, wild ftieep with one horn, bifons, hyaenas,
wild goats, and buffaloes. In the meadows and fenny
ground is gathered a kind of manna 5 and the kermes-
berries produced in this country are ufed both in dyeing
and medicine.
The inhabitants confift: of nobles, citizens, and pea-Different
fants. The firft poiTefs great privileges, which they en- 01
joy partly by the indulgence, of their kings, and partly khabA.n.t-.
by ancient cuftom and prefeription. Some of them have
the title of prince, count, or baron ; but no fuperiority or
pre-eminence on that account over the reft, which is only
to be obtained by fome public poft or dignity. They
have the power of life and death over their vaffals ; pay
no taxes; are fubie6t to none but the king; have a right
to all mines and falt-works on their eftates •, to all oftices
and employments, civil, military, and ecclefiaftic •, cannot
be cited or tried out of the kingdom} may choofe whom
they will for their king, and lay him under what reftraints
they pleafe by the Pa<fta Conventa j and none but they and
the burghers of fome particular towns can purchafe lands.
In ihort, they are almoft entirely independent, enjoying
many other privileges and prerogatives befides thole we
have fpecified 5 but if they engage in trade, they forfeit
their nobility.
The Polilh tongue is a dialed of the Sclavonic : (fee Language.
Philology, N° 222.). It is neither copious nor harmo¬
nious. Many of the words, as they are written, have not
a Angle vowel in them; but the High Dutch and Latin
are underftood, and fpoken pretty commonly, though
incorreftly. The language in Lithuania differs much
from that of the other provinces. True learning, and
the ftudy of the arts and fciences, have been little at¬
tended to in Poland, till of late they began to be re¬
garded with a more favourable eye, and to be not only
patronized, but cultivated, by feveral of the nobles and
others, both laymen and ecclefiaftics. x ^
There are two archbilhops in the kingdom, viz. thole Archbifho-
of Gnefna and Laopol, and about a dozen bilhops. The pries, Sec.
archbilhop of Gnefna is always a cardinal, and primate
of the kingdom. The prevailing religion is Popery ; but
there are great numbers of Lutherans, Calvinifts, and
Greeks, who are called diffidents, and by the laws of the
kingdom were entitled to toleration, but were much op-
preffed till very lately. The Jews are indulged with great
privileges, and are very numerous in Poland ; and in Li¬
thuania, it is faid there are a multitude of Mahometan
Tartars. We may judge of the numbers of Jews in this
country by the produce of their annual poll-tax, which
amounts to near 57,000 rixdollars.
There are few or no manufa&ures in the kingdom, if Manufac-
we except fome linen and woollen cloths and hardwares j tui es.
and the whole trade is confined to the city of Dantzic,
and other towns on the Viftula or Baltic.
Before the troubles the king’s revenue was all clear Revenue,
to himfelf •, for he paid no troops, not even his own
guards j but all the forces, as well as the officers of ftate,
’ M were
158.
■ Po’and
Pole.
162
Order of
knight¬
hood,
163
Ferces.
164
Charadter
of the
people.
P O I
were paid by the republic. The public revenues arofe
chiefly from the crown-lands, the falt-mines in the pala¬
tinate of Cracow, from the rents of Marienburg, Dir-
fhau, and Regenhus, from the government of Cracow,
and diftridt of Niepolomiez, and from ancient tolls and
cufloms, particularly thofe of Elbing and Dantzic.
From what fources thofe revenues now arife, it is diffi¬
cult to fay ; but Pruffia has got poffeffion of the moll
lucrative cuftoms.
The order of the White Eagle was inftituted by Au-
guftus II. in the year 1705. Its enfign is a crofs of
gold enamelled with red, and appendant to a blue rib¬
bon. The motto, Pro fide, rege, et lege.
The Handing forces of Poland were divided into the
crown-army, and that of Lithuania, confifting of horfe and
foot, and amounting to between 20,000 and 30,000 men.
Thefe troops were moftly cantoned on the crown-lands,
and in Poland were paid by a capitation or poll-tax 5 but in
Lithuania other taxes were levied for this purpofe. Moft
of the foot wTere Germans. On any fudden and imminent
danger, the whole body of the nobility, with their vaf-
fals, was obliged to appear in the field on horfeback 5 and
the cities and towns furnifhed a certain number of foot-
foldiers, with carriages, and military ftores : but for want
of proper arras, provifions, fubordination, and difcipline,
and by being at liberty after a few weeks to return home,
this body proved but of little advantage to the repub¬
lic. Dantzic is the only place in the Polifh dominions that
deferves the name of a fortrefs, and it fell to the poflef-
fion of Pruffia. Foreign auxiliaries were not to be brought
into the kingdom, nor the national troops to march out
of it, without the confent of the Hates. Such was the mi¬
litary eHablifliment of Poland before the partition treaty.
The Poles are perfonable men, and have good com¬
plexions. They are efleemed a brave, honeH people,
without diflimulation, and exceedingly hofpitable. They
clothe themfelves in furs in winter, and over all they
throw a ffiort cloak. No people keep grander equipages
than the gentry. They look upon themfelves as fo many
fovereign princes ; and have their guards, bands of mufic,
and keep open boufes : but the lower fort of people are
poor abjeft wretches, in the lowed Hate of flavery. The
exercifes of the gentry are hunting, riding, dancing, vault¬
ing, &c. They refidemoflly upon their eHates in the coun¬
try ; and maintain themfelves and families by agriculture,
breeding of bees, and grazing.
POLAR, in general, fometbing relating to the poles
of the world, or the poles of artificial globes.
POLAR Regions, thofe parts of the world which lie
near the north and fouth poles. See the article Pole.
POLARITY, the quality of a thing confidered as
having poles, or a tendency to turn itfelf into one certain
pofition •, but chiefly ufed in fpeaking of the magnet.
POLE, Reginald, cardinal, and archbiffiop of Can¬
terbury, a younger fon of Sir Rich. Pole, Lord Mon¬
tague, was born at Stoverton caflle, in Staffordfhire, in
the year 1500. At feven years of age he was fent to a
Carthufian monaflery at Shene, near Richmond in Surry;
and thence, when he was about 1 2 years old, removed
to Magdalen college in Oxford, where, by the inflruc-
tions of the celebrated Lin acre and Latimer, he made
confiderable progrefs in learning. In 1515 he took the
degree of bachelor of arts, and was admitted to deacon’s
orders fome time after: in 1517, he was made preben¬
dary of S&liibury, and in 1519 dean of Wimborne and
POL
dean of Exeter. We are not furprifed at this young Pole,
nobleman’s early preferments, when we coniider him as
the kinlman ot Henry VIII. and that he was bred to
the church by the king’s fpecial command.
Being now about the age of 19, he was fent, accord¬
ing to the faihion of the times, to finilh his Hudies. at Pa¬
dua in Italy, where he refided tome time in great iplendor,
having a handfome penfion from the king. He returned
to England in 1525, where he was molt gracioully re*
ceived at court, and univerfally admired for his talents
and addrefs ; but preferring Hudy and fequeflration t@
the plealures of a court, He retired to the Carthulian
convent at Shene, where he had continued about two
years, when the pious king began to divulge his fcruples
of confcience concerning his marriage with Catharine of
Spain. Pole forefaw that this affair would neceffarily in¬
volve him in difficulties j be therefore determined to quit
the kingdom, and accordingly obtained leave to vifit
Paris. Having thus avoided the Horm for the prefent,
he returned once more to his convent at Shene ) but his
tranquillity was again interrupted by the king’s refolution
to ftiake off the pope’s fupremacy, of which Pole’s appro¬
bation was thought indilpenfably neceffary. How he ma¬
naged in this affair, is not very clear. However, he ob¬
tained leave to revifit Italy, and his penfion was continu¬
ed for fome time.
The king, having now divorced Queen Catharine,
married Anne Boleyn, and being refolved to throw off
the papal yoke, ordered Dr Richard Samplon to write
a book in juflification of his proceedings, which he fent
to Pole for his opinion. To this Pole, fecure in the
pope’s protedlion, wrote a fcurrilous anfwer, entitled
Pro Unitate Eccle/iafica, and fent it to the king 5 who
was fo offended with the contents, that he withdrew
his penfion, flripped him of all his preferments, and pro¬
cured an aft of attainder to be paffed againfl him. In
the mean time, Pole was created a cardinal, and fent
nuncio to different parts of Europe. Ling Renr)f made
feveral attempts to have him fecured and brought to
England, but without effeft. At length the pope fix¬
ed him as legate at Viterbo, where he continued till
the year 1543, when he was appointed legate at the
council of Trent, and was afterwards employed by the
pope as his chief counfellor.
Pope Paul 111. dying in 1540, Pole w7as twdce eleft-
ed his fucceffor, and, w7e are told, twice refufed the pa¬
pal dignity : firff, becaufe the eleftion was made in too
great hafle ; and the fecond time, becaufe it was done
in the night. This delicacy in a cardinal is truly won¬
derful : but the intrigues of the French party feem to
have been the real caufe of bis mifcarriage 5 they Harted
many objeftions to Pole, and by that means gained time
to procure a majority againfl him. Cardinal Maria de
Monte obtained the triple crown ; and Pole, having kif-
fed his flipper, retired to the convent of Magazune
near Verona, where he continued till the death of Ed¬
ward VI. in the year 1553. On the acceflion of Queen
Mary, Pole was lent legate to England, where he was
received by her majefty with great veneration, and con-
dufted to the archbifhop’s palace at Lambeth, poor
Cranmer being at that time prifoner in the Tower. He
immediately appeared in the Houfe of Lords, where he
made a long fpeech ; which being reported to the com¬
mons by their fpeaker, both thefe obfequious houfes
concurred in an humble fupplication to be reconciled ta
the
[ 9° 1
p ° l . r 9
ate. the fee of Rome. They prefented il on their knees to
' her majefty, who interceded with the cardinal, and he
graciouily condefcended to give them abfolution. This
bufinefs being over, the legate made his public entry in¬
to London, and immediately fet about the extirpation
of herefy. The day after the execution of Cranmer,
which he is faid, though we believe falfely, to have ad-
vifed, he was confecrated archbilhop of Canterbury. In
the fame year, 1556, he was elefted chancellor of the
univerfity of Oxford, and foon after of Cambridge j
both which he vilited, by his commiflioners. He died
of a double quartan ague in the year 1558, about 16
hours after the death of the queen *, and wras buried in
the cathedral of Canterbury.
As to his charafter, the Romilh -writers afcribe to
him every virtue under heaven : even Biihop Burnet is
extremely lavilh in his praife, and attributes the cruel¬
ties of Mary’s reign to the advice of Gardiner. In this
Mr Hume agrees with the biihop, and reprefents Pole
as the advocate of toleration. By every impartial ac¬
count, he feems to have been a man of mild manners, and
of real worth, though undoubtedly a zealous member of
the church of Rome.—He wrote, Pro imitate eccleJiajH-
ca, De ejufdem potejlate, A treatife on Jullification, and
various other tra6Is.
Mr Philips publifhed a very well written, though a
very partial account, of Pole’s life, to which Glocefter
Ridley replied. This laft wrork, which is entitled a
Review of Mr Philips's Life of Reginald Pole, was pub-
liihed in i’]66. It is a complete confutation of the for¬
mer, and is a very learned and temperate vindication of
the doftrin^s of the Reformation.
Pole, in AJlronomy, that point in the heavens round
which the whole fphere feems to turn. It is alfo ufed
for a point dire&ly perpendicular to the centre of any
circle’s plane, and diftant from it by the length of a ra¬
dius.
Pole, in Geography, one of the points on which the
terraqueous globe turns j each of them being 90 de¬
grees diftant from the equator, and, in confequence of
their fituation, the inclination of the earth’s axis, and
its parallelifm during the annual motion of our globe
round the fun, having only one day and one night
throughout the year.
It is remarkable, that though the north in Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, and French, derives its name from gloom,
1 obfcurity, and darknefs, the poles enjoy more light than
poles any other part of the world. The ancients believed
much £he north to be covered with thick darknefs j Strabo
tells us, that Homer, by the word which properly
fignifies obfcurity or darhnefs, meant the north; and thus
Tibullus, fpeaking of the north, fays,
lllic et denfa tellus abfconditur umbra.
Pan eg. ad Miflel.
The Arabians call the northern ocean the dark fca ; the
Latins gave the name of Aquilo to the north wind, be-
caufe ftgnifies ; and the French call it la
bife, from bis “ black.” According to the ancients, the
Cimmerians lived in darknefs, becaufe they were placed
near the north. But all this is mere prejudice; for there
are no places in the world that enjoy light longer than
s the arftic and autarkic poles } and this is accounted
why. for by confidering the nature of twilight. In the tor¬
rid zone, and under the line, night immediately follows
Pole.
i ] POL
the fetting of the fun, without any fenfible twilight *,
whereas .the twilight begins and continues increafing in /
proportion as places are diftant from the equator or ap¬
proach the pole. To this long twilight we muft add
the aurora borealis, which appears in the northern re¬
gions, Greenland, &c. in clear nights, at the beginning
of the new moon, calling a light equal to that of full
moon. See Gaffendi, in the Life of Peyrefc, book iii.
and La Perere in his Account of Greenland. There
is alfo long moonlight at the poles during winter.
See Astronomy. But though there is really more
light in the polar regions than elfewhere, yet owung to
the obliquity with which the rays of the fun fall upon
them, and the great length of winter night, the cold is
fo intenfe, that thofe parts of the globe which lie near
the poles have never been fully explored, though the at¬
tempt has been repeatedly made by the molt celebrated
navigators. Indeed their attempts have chiefly been
confined to the northern regions *, for with regard to
the fouth pole, there is not the fame incitement to at¬
tempt it. The great objefl for wrhich navigators have
ventured themfelves in thefe frozen feas, w’as to find.out
a more quick and more ready paffage to the Fall In¬
dies and this hath been attempted three feveralways: *S^Cook-t
one by coafting along the northern parts of Europe and ^ 0 ’
Afia, called the north-eaf paffage; another, by failing
round the northern part of the American continent,
called the north-wef pajfage ; and the third, by failing
dire£lly over the pole itfelf.
We have already given a fhort account of feveral un-
fuccefsful attempts which have been made from Eng¬
land to difcover the firft two of thefe. See NOETH-
Wejl Paffage, and NOETH-Eafl Paffage. But before wre
proceed to the third, we {hall make a fewr further obfer-
vations on them, and mention the attempts of feme other
nations.
During the laft century, various navigators, Dutch- ^
men particularly, attempted to find out the north-eafi ^
paffage, wuth great fortitude and perfeverance. They ihe north-
always found it impoffible, however, to furmount the caft paf-
obftacles which nature had thrown in the way. Sub-^S6,
fequent attempts are thought by many to have demon-
ftrated the impofiibility of ever failing eaftward along
the northern coaft of Afia •, and this impofiibility is ac¬
counted for by the increafe of cold in proportion to the
extent of land. See America, n° 3-—5. This is in¬
deed the cafe in temperate climates ; but much more fo
in thofe frozen regions where the influence of the fun,
even in fummer, is but fmall. Hence, as the continent
of Afia extends a vaft way from weft to call, and has
befides the continent of Europe joined to it on the w-eft,
it follow's, that about the middle part of that tra£l of
land the cold Ihould be greater than anywhere elfe.
Experience has determined this to be fa£t •, and it now 4
appears that about the middle part of the northern
coaft of Afia the ice never thaws j neither have even t0 faq a.
the hardy Ruflians and Siberians themfelves been able long the
to overcome the difficulties they met with in that partnor,h-ea®
of their voyage. In order to make this the more plain,
and the following accounts more intelligible, we fhall
obferve, that from the north-weftern extremity of Eu¬
rope, called the North Cape, to the north-eaftem extre- *
mity of Afia, called the Promontory of the Tfchutfki*, is Cook’s
a fpace including about 160 degrees of longitude, viz.Difcwe-
from 40 to 200 call from Ferro: the port of Archan-
M 2 gel
and u8.
lOf
POL [9
* Pole. gel lies in about 57 degrees eaft longitude, Nova Zem-
‘—bla between 70 and 9 5 j which laft is alfo the fituadon
of the mouth of the great river Oby. Still farther eaft-
ward are the mouths of the rivers Jenifey in ioo° ; Pi-
aixda in 105° j Chatanga in I24°‘, Lena, which has
many mouths, between 1340 and 1420 j Indigirka in
162° and the Kovyma in 1750. The coldeft place in
all this traft, therefore, ought to be that between the
mouths of the jenifey and the Chatanga j and indeed
here the unfurmountable difficulty has always been, as
will appear from the following accounts of the voyages
made by the Ruffians with a view to difcover the north-
eaft paffage.
5 In j 7 34, Lieutenant Morzovieff failed from Archangel
Voyage of towards the river Oby, but could fcarce advance 20 de-
MOffZO~ grees of longitude during that feafon. The next fum-
Vie ’ &'c' mer he paffed through the ftraits of Wyegatz into the
fea of Kara *, but did not double the promontory which
feparates the fea of Kara from the bay or mouth of
Oby. In 1738, the lieutenants Malgyin and Shura-
koff doubled that promontory with great difficulty, and
entered the bay of Oby. Several unfuccefsful attempts
were made to pafs from the bay of Oby to the Jeniley j
which was at laft effe&ed, in 1738, by two veffels com¬
manded by lieutenants Oftzin and Kofkeleff. The fame
year the pilot Feodor Menin failed eaftwards from the
Jenifey to the mouth of the Piafida : but here he was
Hopped by the ice ; and finding it impoffible to force a
paffage, he returned to the Jeniiey.
6 In July 1735, Lieutenant Prontffiiftcheff failed dqwn
Of Front- the river Lena, in order to pafs by fea to the mouth of
fluftcheff. t]ie Jenifey. The weftern mouths of the Lena were fo
choaked up with ice, that he was obliged to pafs through
the moft eafterly one j and was prevented by contrary
winds from getting out till the 13th of Auguft. Ha¬
ving fleered north-weft along the iflands which lie Scat¬
tered before the mouths of the Lena, he found himfelf
in lat. 70. 4. 5 yet even here he faw pieces of ice from
24 to 60 feet in height, and in no place was there a
free channel left of greater breadth than 100 or 200
yards. His velTel being much damaged, he entered the
mouth of the Olenek, a fmall river near the weftern
mouth of the Lena j and here he continued till the
enfuing feafon, when he got out in the beginning of
Auguft. But before he could reach the mouth of the
Chatanga, he was fo entirely furrounded and hemmed
in with ice, that it was with the utmoft difficulty he
could get loofe. Obferving then a large field of ice
ftretching into the fea, he was obliged to fail up the
Chatanga. Getting free once more, he proceeded north-
w'ard, doubled the cape called Taimura, and reached the
bay of that name, lying in about 1150 eaft from Ferro ;
from thence he attempted to proceed weflward along
the coaft. Near the ffiore were feveral fmall iflands,
between which and the ffiore the ice was immoveably
fixed. He then direfted his courfe towards the fea, in
order to pafs round the chain of iflands. At firft he
found the fea more free to the north of thefe iflands,
but obferved much ice lying between them. At laft he
arrived at what he took to be the laft of the iflands
lying in lat. 77. 25. Between this ifland and the fhore,
as well as on the other fide of the ifland which lay moft
to the north, the ice was firm and immoveable. He
attempted, however, to fleer ftill more to the north ;
and having advanced about fix miles, he was prevented
2 ] p 0 L .
by a thick fog from proceeding : this log being dif- Pole..
perfed, he faw nothing everywhere but ice, which at
laft drove him eaftward, and with much danger and dif¬
ficulty he got to the mouth of the Olenek on the 29 th
of Auguft.
Another attempt to pafs by fea from the Lena to the of chari-
Jenifey was made in J739 by Chariton Laptieff, button Lap-<
with no better fuccefs than that juft mentioned. This ueff.
voyager relates, that between the river Piafida and Tai¬
mura, a promontory ftretches into the lea, which he
could not double, the fea being entirely frozen up before
he could, pafs round. g
Befides the Ruffians, it is certain that feme Englilh coxe’3
and Dutch vefl'els have paffed the ifland of Nova Zem-obferva-
bla into the fea of Kara : “ But (fays Mr Coxe in histions.
Account of the Ruffian voyages) no veffel of any na¬
tion has ever palled round that cape which extends to
the north of the Piafida, and is laid down in the Ruffian
charts in about 78° lat. We have already feen that no
Ruffian veffel has ever got from the Piafida to the Cha¬
tanga, or from the Chatanga to the Piafida j and yet
fome authors have pofitively afferted that this promon¬
tory has been failed round. In order therefore to elude
the Ruffian accounts, which clearly affert the-contrary,
it is pretended that Gmelin and Muller have purpofely
concealed fome part of the Ruffian journals, and have
impofed on the world by a mifreprefentation of fabts.
But without entering into any difpute upon this head*
I can venture to affirm, that no fufficient proof has
been as yet advanced in fupport of this affertion $ and
therefore, until fome pofitive information lhall be pro¬
duced, we cannot deny plain fabls, or give the preference
to hearfay evidence over circumftantial and well attefted
accounts.”
The other part of this north-eaft paffage, vtz. from r^, (^ ^
the Lena to Kamfchatka, though fufficiently difficultvlgdt)on '
and dangerous, is yet prablicable •, as having been once from the
performed, if we may believe the accounts of the Ruf-Lena to
fians. According to fome authors indeed, fays Mr Coxe,^aifn^5iat"
this navigation has been open a century and a half j
and feveral veffels at different times have palled round
the north-eaftern extremity of Afia. But if we confult
the Ruffian accounts, we ffiall find that frequent expe¬
ditions have been unqueftionably made from the Lena
to the Kovyma, but that the voyage from the Kovyma
round Tfchutlkoi blofs into the Eaftern ocean has been
performed but once. According to Mr Euller, this
formidable cape was doubled in the year 1648. The
material incidents of this remarkable voyage are as fol¬
low.
“ In 1648 feven kotches, or veffels, failed from the 10 ^ ^
mouth of the river Kovyma, in order to penetrate into DiXifeff
the Eaftern ocean. Of thefe, four were never more Ankudi-’
heard ©f: the remaining three were commanded by Si- noff, &c.
mon Deffineff, Gerafim AnkudinofF, and Fedot Alex-
eeff. Deffineff and Ankudinoff quarrelled before their
departure concerning the divifton of profits and honours
to be acquired by their voyage j which, however, w'as
not fo eafily accompliftied as they had imagined. Yet
Deffineff in his memorials makes no mention of obftruc-
tions from the ice, nor probably did he meet with any ;
for he takes notice that the fea is not every year fo free
from ice as it was at that time. The veffels failed from
the Kovyma on the 20th of June, and in September
they reached the promontory of the Tfchutfki, where
Ankudinoff’s
Pc*.
POL [ 93 3 P O L
Ankudinoff’s veiTel was wrecked, and the crew diftri- have reached the ^latitude of 83°.
»See
Cook’s
Difcove-
ries, n° 95
—100.
bated among the other two. Soon after this the two
vefiels loft light of each other, and never joined again.
Defhneff was driven about by tempeftuous winds till
October, when he was fhipwrecked confiderably to the
loath of’the Anadyr. Having at laft reached that ri¬
ver, he formed a fcheme of returning by the fame way
that he had come, but never made the attempt. As
for Alexeeff, after being alfo Ihipwrecked, he had died
of the fcurvy, together with Ankudinoff; part of the
crew were killed by the favages, and a few e.Cciped to
Kamfchatka, where they fettled.”
From Captain * Cook’s voyage towards the north-
eaftern parts of Afia, it appears that it is poiftbte to
double the promontory of 1 fchutlki without any gieat
difficulty : and it now appears, that the continents of
Alia and America are feparated from one another but
by a narrow ftrait, which is free from ice 5 but, to the
northwards, that experienced navigator was everywhere
flopped by the ice in the month ot Augufl, fb that he
could neither trace the American continent farther than
to the latitude of 70°, nor reach the mouth of the river
Kovyma on the Aftatic continent-, though it is pro¬
bable that this might have been done at another time,
when the fituation of the ice was altered either by winds
or currents. . _
On the whole, therefore, it appears that the jnlur-
mountable obftacle in the north-eaft paffage lies between
the rivers Piaftda and Chatanga ; and unlefs there be in
that fpace a connexion between the Afiatic and Ame¬
rican continents, there is not in any other part. Ice,
however, is as effedtual an obftru£!ion as land : and
though the voyage wrere to be made by accident for
once, it never could be efteemed a paffage calculated
for the purpofes of trade, or any other beneficial pur-
pofe wdiatever. r
With regard to the north weft paliage, the lame dif¬
ficulties occur as in the other. Captain Cook s voyage
has now affured us, that if there is any ftrait which di¬
vides the continent of America into tw-o, it muft he in
a higher latitude than 7c0, and confequently be perpe¬
tually frozen up. If a north-weft paffage can be found
then, it muft be by failing round the whole American
continent, inftead of feeking a paffage through it, which
fome have fuppofed to exift at the bottorn of Baffin s
bay. But the extent, of the American continent to the
northward is yet unknown } and there is a poffibility of
its being joined to that part of Alia between.the Pialida
and Chatanga, which has never yet been circumnaviga¬
ted*. It remains therefore to confider, whether theie
is any poffibility of attaining the wilhed-for paffage by
failing directly north, between the eaftern and v. eftern
continents. _ , , , T_
Of the practicability of this method, the Honourable
Daines Barrington is very confident, as appears by fe-
veral trafts which he publilhed in the years 1775 an<^
1776, in confequence of the unfuccefsful attempts
a poffibility macje’ Captain Phipps, now Lord Mulgrave. See
tteno'e'"6 KORTH-EaJl Paffage.—In the trafts now alluded to
he inftances a great number of navigators who have
reached very high northern latitudes-, nay, fome who
have been at the pole itfelf, or gone beyond it.—
Thefe inftances are, 1. One Captain I homas ^Robei tlbn
affured our author, that he had been in latitude 824,
that the fea was open, and he was certain that he could
ir
Infur-
mountable
obftacles
in the
north-eaft
pafl'age.
12
Of. the
syrth-weft
palTage.
* See
Cook’s
JDifcove-
ries, n° 11.
13
Earring-
ton’s argu¬
ments in
favour of
2. From the tefti-
mony of Captain Cheyne, who gave anfwers to certain
queries drawn up by Mr Dalrymple concerning the po¬
lar feas, it appears that he had been in the latitude of
82°.—3. One Mr Watt informed our author, that when
he was-17 years of age, at that time making his firft
voyage with Captain M‘Callam, a bold and ikiliul na¬
vigator, who commanded a Scotch whale-filhing Ihip, as
during the time that the whales are fuppofed to copu¬
late no fitiling can be carried on, the captain refolved
to employ that interval in attempting to reach the north
pole. Fie accordingly proceeded without the leaft ob-
Itru&ion to 834, when the fea was not only open to
the northward, but they had feen no ice for the laft
three degrees-, but while he ftill advanced, the mats
complained that the compafs was not Heady, and the
captain was obliged with reluctance to give over his
attempt.—4. Dr Campbell, the continuator of Harris’s
voyages, informed Mr Barrington, that Dr Dallie, a na¬
tive of Holland, being in his youth on board a Dutch
Ihip of war which at that time was ufually fent to fu-
perintend the Greenland fifhery, the captain determined,
like the Scotchman above mentioned, to make an attempt
to reach the pole during the interval Between the firft
and fecond fiiheries. He penetrated, according to the
beft of Dr Campbell’s recolle&ion, as far as 88° ; when
the weather was warm, the fea free from ice, and rolling
like the bay of Bilcay. Dallie now preffed the captain
to proceed : but he anfwered, that he had already gone
too far, and Ihould be blamed in Holland for negledlmg
his ftation; upon which account he would fuffer no
journal to be kept, but returned as foon as poffible to
Spitlbergen.—5. In the year 1662-3, Mr Oldenburg,
then fecretary of the Royal Society, was ordered to re-
gifter a paper, entitled “ Several Inquiries concerning
Greenland, anfwered by Mr Gray, who had vifited
thefe parts.” The 19th of thefe queries is the follow¬
ing : How near hath any one been known to approach
the pole ?—The anfwer is, “ I once met upon the coaft
of Greenland a Hollander that fwore he had been half
a degree from the pole, {bowing me his journal, which
was all® attefted by his mate ; where they had feen no
ice or land, but all water.”—6. In Captain Wood’s ac¬
count of a voyage in quell of the north-eaft. paffage,
we have the following account of a Dutch Ihip which
reached the latitude of 89°. “ Captain Goulden, who
had made above 30 voyages to Greenland, did relate to
his majefty, that being at Greenland fome 20 years be-
fore, he was in company with two Hollanders to the
eaftward of Edge’s iliand ; and that the whales not ap¬
pearing on the Ihore, the Hollanders were determined to
go farther northward ; and in a fortnight’s time return¬
ed, and gave it out that they had failed into the lati¬
tude 89°, and that they did not meet with any ice, but
a free and open fea, and that there run a very hollow
grown fea like that of the Bay of Bilcay. Mr Gould¬
en being not fatisfied with the bare relation, they pro¬
duced him four journals out of the two Ihips, which
teftified the fame, and that they all agreed within four
minutes.”—7. In the Philofophical Tranfaftions for
1675 we have the following paffage : “ For it is well
known to all that fail northward, that moll of the north¬
ern coaftsare frozen up for many leagues, though in the
open fea it is not fo, no nor under the pole itfelf, unlefs by
accident.” In which paffage the having reached the.
* pole
POL
Pule.
14
Why we
cannot fup-
pofe the
fea all
round the
pole to be
frozen.
^ pole is alluded to as a known fa61, and as fuck Hated to
the Royal Society.—.8. Mr Miller, in his Gardener’s
Didilion ary, mentions the voyage of one Captain John-
fon, who reached 88 degrees of latitude. Mr Barring¬
ton was at pains to find a full account of this voyage ;
but met only with the following paffage in Buffon’s
Natural Hiltory, which he takes to be a confirmation
of it. “ I have been aflured by perfons of credit, that
an Englifir captain, whofe name was Monfon, inftead of
feeking a paffage to China between the northern coun¬
tries, had diredled his courfe to the pole, and had ap¬
proached it within two degrees, where there was an
•pen fea, without any ice.” Here he thinks that M.
Buffon has miftaken Johnfon for Monfon.—9. A map
of the northern hemifphere, publiihed at Berlin (under
the dire£lion of the Academy of Sciences and Belles
X-ettres), places a flrip at the pole, as having arrived
there according to the Dutch accounts —10. Moxon,
hydrographer to Charles II. gives an account of a Dutch
imp having been two degrees beyond the pole, which
tvas much relied on by Wood. This veffel found the
weather as warm there as at Amfterdam.
, Xefides thefe, there are a great number of other tef-
timonies of (hips wffiich have reached the lat. of 81, 82,
^3> 84 (a), &c. j from all which our author concludes,
that if the voyage is attempted at a proper time of the
y ear, there would not be any great difficulty of reaching
the pole. Thofe vail pieces of ice which commonly
obftrudl the navigators, he thinks, proceed from the
■mouths of the great Afiatic rivers which run northward
into the frozen ocean, and are driven eaftward and well-
ward by the currents. But though we ffiould fuppofe
them to come direftly from the pole, Hill our author
thinks that this affords an undeniable proof that the
Pole Jt/elf is free from ice; becaufe, when the pieces
-eave it, and come to the fouthward, it is impoffible
that they can at the fame time accumulate at the pole.
The extreme cold of the winter air on the continents
of Afia and America has afforded room for liilpicion,
that at the pole itfelf, and for feveral degrees to the
fouthward of it, the fea mull be frozen to a vail depth
in one folid cake of ice; but this Mr Barrington refutes
from feveral confiderations. In the full place, he fays,
[ 9+ 1
POL
that on fuch a fuppofition, by the continual" intenfity Pole,
ol the cold, and the accumulation of fnow and frozen y——
vapour, this cake of ice mull have been increafing in
thicknefs fince the creation, or at leall fince the deW ;
lo that now it mult be equal in height to the highdl
mountains m the world, and be viiible at a great difiance.
Befides, the pieces bioken off from the fides of fuch an
immenfe mountain mult be much thicker than any ice
that is met with in the northern ocean 5 none of which is
above two yards in height above the furface of the wa¬
ter, thole immenfe pieces called ice-mountains being al¬
ways formed on land.
Again, the fyltem of nature is fo formed, that all parts
or the earth are expoled for the fame length of time, or
nearly fo, throughout the year to the rays of the fun.
But, by reafon of the fpheroidal figure of the terraque¬
ous globe, the poles and polar regions enjoy the fun
fomewbat longer than others j and hence the Dutch
who wintered in Nova Zembla in 1672 faw the fun a
fortnight fooner than they ought to have done by allro-
nomical calculations. By reafon of this ilatnefs about
the poles, too, the fun not only Ihines for a greater fpace
of time on thefe inhofpitable regions, but with lefs ob¬
liquity in the fummer-time, and hence the effea of his
rays mull be the greater. Now Mr Barrington confiders
it as an abfurd fuppofition, that this glorious luminary
ffiould Ihine for fix months on a cake of barren ice where
there is neither animal nor vegetable. He fays that the
polar feas are affigned by nature as the habitation of the
whales, the largell animals in the creation ; but if the
gieatell part of the polar feas are for ever covered with
an impenetrable cake of ice, thefe huge animals will be
confined within very narrow bounds; for they cannot
fubfilt without frequently coming to the top of the wa¬
ter to breathe.
Lallly, the quantity of water frozen by different de-
grees of cold is by no means direftly in proportion to
thei„te,,r,tyof the cold, but likewife to ^ duration
of it. J hus, large bodies of water are never frozen in ways in
any temperature of Ihort duration, though ffiallow bo- ProPortion
dies often are. Our author obferves, that as much 0ftothefde'
a given mafs of water was frozen in five hours of a tem- fold.0'
perature 12° below the freezing point, as was frozen in
i 866 Bauche s Obfervatwns on the North or Ice Sea, where he gives an account of various attemnts
-erS convinced that the fea is there open, and that the thing is pratficable
DofedofPhSnaim h-lSTraVe/s' V.°1’ 1U: lnforms us> that he wifted to take a voyage to the north feas, for the pur-
gatts^ the rrS ob^acdes f1"*11 the ice, which have impeded the refearches of Javi-
? 4 in thole leas, and for this purpofe he was prepared to continue his voyage to as high a latitude as noffible
and that he m.ght be able to fay whether any land aaually exifls north from fhe coaft ol Greet nd He failed
wtthout any encouragement from his court (France) on the :6th of April ,776 from the fixe in a Dutch
reached SP“A“«™- On the 16th of May lire was a little way north of 8.°, the higheft latitude flte
fea'uanrfoTleT the aU,-h0cr) lefs 'b'", ;8° lea*ues .frora lhe pole, Ac idea of fo fmall a diflance ferved ef.
own the winds and cunoAtt' 1 been abie to '"fpire my fellow-voyagers with fentiments hmilar to my
", , ,1, d Cu,.rrenls ','h,ch at *hls moment carried us fall towards the pole, a region hitherto deemed in
SrSeli M ;^0f,m0rta,s> "'OOU hove been fainted with acclamations of joy. ’ This quarter, however if Hi
fartherlo feb ft' ' h an, enterPnfe: he™ the fea lying in the vicinity of thofe banks of Ice, fo frequent’a little
under whatever f ’ ^ mUC • c.011^ilec*- Neverthelefs, when I coniider the very changeable nature of the Ihoals
blk and d7t h ?!!’ 'Vf m "le'r cr0"'<led and comPoa date ; their conftant changes and concnflions which
fromconlem t them .''“"“'’e ““‘her, and the various expedients that may be employed for freeingthe (hb
cZe ‘ Ending danger-lam far from'viewin/aloyage toIfpoTe a ^
POL [ 95 3 POL
Pole. one hour of the temperature 50° below it *, and that
'long duration of the temperature between 20 and 32
is, with regard to the congelation of water, equivalent
to intenfity of cold fuch as is marked o and below o in
Fahrenheit, but of Ihort duration. See Cold and Con¬
gelation.
^orf the other hand, Mr Forfter, in his Obfervations,
ter’s argu- takes the contrary fide of the queftion with no little
meHts a- vehemence. “ I know (fays he) that M. de Buffon,
gainft the Lomcmofof, and Crantz, were of opinion, that the ice
poffibility found in the ocean is formed near the lands only, from
in r<the'1* the frefh water and ice carried down into the fea by the
pole. 6 many rivers in Siberia, Hudfon’s bay, &c. ; and there¬
fore, when we fell in with fuch quantities of ice in De¬
cember 1772, I expefted we (hould foon meet with the
land from whence thefe ice maffes had been detached.
But being difappointed in the difcovery of this land,
though we penetrated beyond the 67° twice, and once
beyond 710, fouth latitude, and having befides fome
other doubts concerning the exiflence of the pretended
fouthern continent, I thought it neceflary to inquire
what reafons chiefiy induced the above authors to form
the opinion that the ice floating in the ocean mull be
formed near land, or that an aultral land is abfolutely
requifite for that purpofe j and having looked for their
arguments, I find they amount chiefly to this : ‘ That
the ice floating in the ocean is all frefh : that fait water
does not freeze at all j or if it does, it contains briny
particles. They infer from thence, that the ice in the
ocean cannot be formed in the fea far from any land :
there muft therefore exift auftral lands ; becaufe, in or¬
der to form an idea of the original of the great ice maffes
agreeably to what is obferved in the northern hemifphere,
they find that the firfl: point for fixing the high ice-
iflands is the land j and, fecondly, that the great quan¬
tity of flat ice is brought down the rivers.’ I have im¬
partially and carefully confidered and examined thefe ar¬
guments, and compared every circumftance with what
we faw in the high fouthern latitude, and with other
known fadls •, and will here infert the refult of all my
inquiries on this fubjeft.
“ Firft, they obferve the ice floating in the ocean to
yield, by melting, frefh water : which I believe to be
true. However, hitherto it has by no means been ge¬
nerally allowed to be frefli: for Crantz fays exprefsly,
that ‘ the flat pieces (forming what they call the ice¬
fields') are fait, becaufe they were congealed from fea-
water.’ The ice taken up by us for watering the fhip
was of all kinds, and neverthelefs we found it conftantly
frefh: Which proves, either that the principle of ana¬
logy cannot be applied indifcriminately in both hemi-
fpheres ; and that one thing may be true in the northern
hemifphere which is quite otherwife in the fouthern,
from reafons not yet known or difcovered by us 5 or we
mufi: think that Crantz and others are miftaken, who
fuppofe the ice floating in the ocean to be fait.
“ The next remark is, That fait water does not freeze
at all or if it does, it contains briny particles. M. de Pole.
Bulfon tells us, ‘ that the lea between Nova Zembla and
Spitzbergen, under the 790 north latitude, does not
freeze, as it is there confiderably broad : and that it is
not to be apprehended to find the fea frozen not even
under the pole itfelf 5 for indeed there is no example of
having ever found a fea wholly frozen over, and at a
confiderable dillance from the fliores; that the only in-
ftance of a fea entirely frozen is that of the Black fea,
which is narrow and not very fait, and receives a great
many rivers coming from northern regions, and bring¬
ing down ice : that this fea therefore fometimes freezes
to fuch a degree, that its whole furface is congealed to
a confiderable thicknefs ; and, if the hiftorians are to be
credited, was frozen, in the reign of the emperor Con-
fiantine Copronymus, 30 ells thick, not including 20
ells of fnow which was lying on the ice. This fa£l,
continues M. de Buffbn, feems to be exaggerated: but
it is true, however, that it freezes almoft every winter j
whilft the high feas which are 1000 leagues nearer to¬
wards the pole do not freeze ; which can have no other
caufe than the difference in faltnefs, and the little quan¬
tity of ice carried out by rivers, if compared to the
enormous quantity of ice which the rivers convey into
the Black fea.’ M. de Buffon is not miftaken when he
mentions that the Black fea frequently freezes. Strabo
informs us, that the people near the Bofphorus Cimme-
rius pafs this fea in carts from Panticapaeum to Phana-
gorea ; and that Neoptolemus, a general of Mithridates
Eupator, won a battle with his cavalry on the ice on
the very fpot where he gained a naval victory in the
fummer. Marcellinus Comes relates, that under the
confulfhip ofVincentius and Fravita, in the year 401
after Chrift, the whole furface of the Pontus was cover¬
ed with ice, and that the ice in fpring was carried
through the Propontis, during 30 days, like mountains.
Zonaras mentions the fea between Conftantinople and
Scutari frozen to fuch a degree in the reign of Conftan-
tine Copronymus, that even loaded carts paffed over it.
The prince Demetrius Cantemir obferves, that in the
year 1620-1 there happened fo intenfe a froft, that the
people walked over the ice from Conftantinople to Ilko-
dar. All thefe inftances confirm M. de Buffon’s affer-
tion. But as this great natural hiftorian fays that the
Black fea is the only inftance of a fea being entirely
frozen (b), I muft beg leave to diffent from him ; for it
is equally well attefted that the Baltic is fometimes en¬
tirely frozen, according to Cafpar Schutz’s account. In
the year 1426, the winter was fo fevere, that people
travelled over the ice acrofs the Baltic from Dantzic to
Lubeck } and the fea w7as likewife paffable from Den¬
mark to Mecklenburg : and in the year 1459 the
whole Baltic was entirely frozen, fo that perfons travel¬
led, both on foot and on horfeback, over ice, from Den¬
mark to the Venedick Hans-towms, called Lubeck, Wifi-
mar, Rofioch, and Stralfund, which had never happened
before j people likewife travelled acrofs the Baltic over
ice
(b) In the year 860 the Mediterranean was covered with ice, fo that people travelled in carts and horfes acrofs
the Ionian fea to Venice ; (Hermcennus ContraElus ap. 'Pifior. Script, tom. ii. p. 236.). And in 1234 the Mediter¬
ranean was again thus frozen, that the Venetian merchants travelled over the ice with their merchandife to wha&
place they chofe j Matth. Paris, p. 78.
I
Pole.
•—v"“
POL [ 96 ] POL
ice from Revel in Eftland to Denmark and to Sweden,
and back again, without the leaf! danger (c). But, ac¬
cording to Saemund Erode, even the great German
ocean between Denmark and Norway was frozen in the
year 1048, fo that the wolves frequently ran over the
ice from one country to the other. The great northern
oaean is likewife moft certainly fometimes frozen to a
great diftance from any land : for Muller relates, that
in the year 1 y 15 a Coffack called Markoff, with fome
other perfons, was fent by the Ruffian government to
explore the north fea 5 but finding it next to impoffible
to make any progrefs during fummer on account of the
vaft quantities of ice commonly filling this ocean, he at
laft determined to try the experiment during winter.
He therefore took feveral fledges drawn according to the
cuftom of the country by dogs, which commonly go
about 80 or 100 verfts per day, 105 of which make a
degree j and on March the 15th, old ftyle, with this
caravan of nine perfons, he left the ffiores of Siberia at
the mouth of the river Yana, under the 710 of north la¬
titude, and proceeded for feven days together north-
Tvard, fo that he had reached at leaf! the 770 or 78°
north latitude, when lie was flopped by the ice, which
there began to appear in the fliape of prodigious moun¬
tains. He climbed up to the top of fome of thefe ice-
mountains : but feeing from thence no land, nor any
thing except ice as far as the eye could reach, and hav¬
ing hefides no more food for his dogs left, he thought it
very neceffary to return ; which he with great difficulty
performed, on April the 3d, as feveral of the dogs,
which had perifhed for want, were employed to fup-
*port thofe that remained alive. Thefe fails, I believe,
will convince the unprejudiced reader, that there are
other feas befides the Black fea which really do freeze
in winter, and that the ice carried down the rivers could
not at leaft freeze the German ocean between Norway
ond Denmark, becaufe the rivers there are fo fmall, and
bear a very inconfiderahle proportion to the immenfe
ocean, which, according to experiments made by Mr
Wilke, is very fait, though near the land, in the Swe-
4iffi harbour of Landfcrona.
“ Now, if fix or feven degrees of latitude, containing
from 360 to 420 fea-miles, are not to be reckoned a
great diftance from the land, I do not know in what w
manner to argue, becaufe no diftance wdiatfoever will be
reckoned far from any land. Nay, if the Coffack Mar¬
koff-, being mounted on one of the higheft ice-moun¬
tains, may be allowed to fee at leaft to the diftance of
20 leagues, the extent alluded to above muft then be
increaled to 480 Englilh fea-miles j which certainly is
very confiderable, and makes it more than probable that
the ocean is frozen in winter, in high northern latitudes,
even as far as the pole. Befides, it invalidates the ar¬
gument which thefe gentlemen with to infer from thence,
that the ocean does not freeze in high latitudes, efpecialfy
where there is a confderab/y broad fea ; for we have
drown inftances to the contrary.
“ But M. de Buffon fpeaks of ice carried dorvn the
rivers into the northern ocean, and forming there thefe
immenfe quantities of ice. “ And in cafe, fays he, we
would fuppofe, again!! all probability, that at the pole
it could be fo cold as to congeal the furface of the fea,
it wmuld remain equally incomprehenfible how thefe
enormous floating ice-maffes could be formed, if they
had not land for a point to fix on, and from whence
they are fevered by the heat of the fun. The twro fhips
which the India Company fent in 1739 upon the difco-
very of the auftral lands, found ice in 47® or 48° fouth
latitude, but at no great diftance from land j which they
difcovered, without being able to approach it. This
ice, therefore, muft have come from the interior parts of
the lands near the fouth pole ; and we muft conjedlure,
that it follows the ceurfe of feveral large rivers, w7afhing
thefe unknown lands, in the fame manner as the rivers
Oby, the Yenifea, and the other great rivers wdiich fall
into the northern fea, carry the ice-maffes, which flop
up the ftraits of Waigats for the greater part of the
year, and render the Tartarian fea inacceffible upon this .
courfe.’ Before wre can allow the analogy between the
rivers Oby, Yenifea, and the reft wffiich fall into the
northern ocean, and thofe coming from the interior
parts of the auftral lands, let us compare the fituation of
both countries, fuppofing the auftral lands really to ex-
ift. The Oby, Yenifea, and the reft of the Siberian
Pol?
(c) In 1296 the Baltic was frozen from Gothland to Swreden. {Incerti auBoris Annales Denor. in Weftphalii
monument. Cimbr. tom. i. p. 1392.
In i'3o6 the Baltic wyas, during fourteen weeks, covered with ice between all the Danifh and SwTedilh iflands.
(Ludwig, reliquice, MSS. tom. ix. p. 170.').
In 1323 there was a road for foot-paffengers and horfemen over the ice on the Baltic during fix weeks.
(id. ibid!)
In 1349, people w alked over the ice from Stralfund to Denmark. (Incerti auEl. cit. ap. Ludwig, tom. ix.
p. 181.). >
In 1408 the whole fea between Gothland and Oeland, and likewife between Roftock and Gezoer, w7as frozen.
(id. ibidi)
In 1423 the ice bore riding from Pruffia to Lubec. (Crantzii Vandal, lib. x. c. 40.). The whole fea wras co¬
vered with ice from Mecklenburg to Denmark. (Incert. av&, ap. Ludwig, tom. ix. p. 12 c.).
In 1461 (fays Nicol. Marfchallus in Annal. Herul. ap. Wefphal. tom. i. p. 261.), “ tanfa erat hyenas, ut con¬
crete gelu oceano plauftris millia paffuum fupra CCC merces ad ultimam Thylen (Iceland^) et Orcades veherentur
e Germania tota pene bruma.”
In 1545 t^ie fea between Roftock and Denmark, and likewife between Fionia and Sealand, wTas thus frozen,
that the peop1e travelled over the ice on foot, with fledges to wffiich horfes and oxen were put. (Anonym, ap.
Ludwig, tom. ix. p. 176.).
In 1294 the Cattegat or fea between Norway and Denmark wras frozen j that from Oxflo in Norway, they could
travel on it to Jutland. (Strelow Chron. JutMland, p. 148.).
%
POL [ 97 ] POL
Pole. rivers, falling down into the northern ocean, have their
fources in 48° and 5c0 north latitude, vrhere the cli¬
mate is mild and capable of producing corn of all kinds.
All the rivers of this great continent increafing thefe
great rivers have likewife their fources in mild and tem¬
perate climates, and the main dire£lion of their courfe is
from fouth to north } and the coait of the northern
ocean, not reckoning its iinuofities, runs in general weft
and eaft. The fmall rivers which are formed in high la¬
titudes have, properly fpeaking, no fources, no fprings,
but carry off only the waters generated by the melting
of fnow in fpting, and by the fall of rain in the ihort
fummer, and are for the greateft part dry in autumn
And the reafon of this phenomenon is obvious, after
confidering the conftitution of the earth in thole high
northern climates. At Yakuilk, in about 62° north la¬
titude, the foil is eternally frozen, even in the height of
fummer, at the depth of three feet from the furface. In
the years 1685 and 1686, an attempt was made to dig
a well ; and a man, by great and indefatigable labour,
continued during two fummer-feafons, and fucceeded fo
far in this laborious talk, that he at laft reached the
depth of 91 feet; but the whole earth at this depth vras
frozen, and he met with no water ; which forced him
to deftft from fo fruitlefs an attempt. And it is eafy to
infer from hence how7 impoflible it is that fprings ftiould
be formed in the wmmb of an eternally frozen foil.
Of i] e tl argument? therefore, is now7 reduced to this,
freezing That fait water does not freeze at all; or, if it does, the
of fait- ice contains brmij particles. But we have already pro¬
water. duced numberlefs inftances, that the fea does freeze j
nay, Crantz allows, that the fat pieces of ice are fait, be-
caufe they were congealed from fea-water. We beg
leave to add a few decilive fafts relative to the freezing
of the fea. Barentz obferves in the year 1596, Septem¬
ber the 16th, the fea froze twro fingers thick, and next
night the ice w7as as thick again. This happened in the
middle of September ; what eft'eft then mull the intenfe
froft of a night in January not produce ? When Captain
James wintered in Charleton’s ille, the fea froze in the
middle of December 1631. It remains, therefor-e, only
to examine, whether the ice formed in the fea muft ne-
ceffarily contain briny particles. And here I find my-
felf in a very difagreeable dilemma } for during the in¬
tenfe froft of the winter in 1776, two fets of experi¬
ments were made on the freezing of fea-water, and pub-
lilhed, contradicting one another almoft in every mate¬
rial point. The one by Mr Edward Nairne, F. R. S.
an ingenious and accurate obferver •, the other by Dr
Higgins, who reads leftures on chemiftry and natural
philofophy, and confequently muft be fuppofed to be
well acquainted wnlh the fubjeft. I will therefore ftill
venture to confider the queftion as undecided by thefe
experiments, and content myfelf with making a few ob-
fervations on them : but previoully I beg leave to make
this general remark, that thofe who are wTell acquainted
with mechanics, chemiftry, natural philofophy, and the
various arts which require a nice obfervation of minute
circumftances, need not be informed, that an experiment
or machine fucceeds often very well wdien made upon a
fmaller fcale, but will not anfwrer if undertaken at large j
VOL. XVII. Part I.
and, vice verfa, machines and experiments executed up- Pole,
on a Imall fcale will not produce the effeft which they f
certainly have when made in a more enlarged manner.
A few years ago an experiment made on the dyeing of
fcarlet, did not fucceed when undertaken on a fmall
fcale, w'hereas it produced the defired effedl when tried
at a dyer’s houfe wfith the large apparatus j and it evi¬
dently confirms the above affertion, which I think I
have a right to apply to the freezing of fait w’ater. It
is therefore probable, that the ice formed in the ocean
at large, in a higher latitude, and in a more intenfe de¬
gree of cold, whereof wre have no idea here, may be¬
come folid, and free from any briny particles, though a
few experiments made by Dr Higgins, in his houfe, on
the freezing of fait water, produced only a loofe fpongy
ice filled with briny particles. r8
“ The ice formed of fea-wrater by Mr Nairne was ve- R-efuIt of
ry hard, three inches and a half long, and twro inches VIr Nairne *
in diameter : i^. follows from thence, that the walkinghp.1'
the outfide of this ice in frefh wrater, could not affe£l the
infide of a hard piece of ice. This ice when melted
yielded frefii water, which was fpecificaliy lighter than
water which wTas a mixture of rain and fnow water, and
next in lightnefs to diftilled water. Had the ice thus
obtained not been freih, the refiduum of the fea-water,
after this ice had been taken out, could not have been
fpecificaliy heavier than fea-wTater, wrhich, however, was /
the cafe in Mr Nairne’s experiment. It feems, there¬
fore, in my opinion, evident from hence, that fait water
does freeze, and has no other briny particles than what
adhere to its outfide. All this perfectly agrees with the
curious fa6t related by Mr Adanfon (d), who had
brought to France two bottles of fea water, taken up in
different parts of the ocean, in order to examine it, and
to compare its faltnefs, when more at leifure; but both
the bottles containing the fait water were burft by being
frozen, and the water produced from melting the ice
proved perfectly frefh. This fad! is fo fairly ftated, and
fo very natural, that I cannot conceive it is neceffary to
fuppofe, without the leaft foundation for it, that the bot¬
tles were changed, or that Mr Adanfon does not tnenlion
the circumfnrice by which the fea water was thus altered
upon its being diffolved: for as he exprefsly obferves the
bottles to have been burft, it is obvious that the con¬
centrated briny parts ran out, and v7ere entirely drain¬
ed from the ice, which was formed of the frefh Abater
only.
“ The ice formed by Dr Higgins from fea water, con-
ffed of thin lamina’, adhering to each other weakly. Dr
Higgins took out the frozen ice from the veffels wherein
he expofed the fea w'ater, and continued to do fo till the
remaining concentrated fea water began to form cryftals
of fea fait. Both thefe experiments, therefore, by no
means prove what the Dodlor intended to infer from
thence 5 for it was wTrong to take out fuch ice, which
only conffed of thin lamina:, adhering to each other
weakly. Had he w7aited with patience, he would have
obtained a hard ice as well as Mr Nairne, w7hich, by a
more perfect congelation, umuld have excluded the briny
particles intercepted between the thin lamina, adhering
to each other weakly y and would have connected the la-
N minae,
(d) Second Supplement to the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 119.
POL [ 98 J POL
minae, by others formed by fredi water. The Doelor
found afterwards, it is true, thicker and fomewhat more
folid ice: but the fea water had already been fo much
concentrated by repeated congelations, that it is no won¬
der the ice formed in it became at laft brackilh: it ftiould
feem, then, that no conclufive arguments can be drawn
from thefe experiments.
“ There are two other objeflions againll the for¬
mation of the ice in the great ocean. The firjl is taken
from the immenfe bulk and fize of the ice maffes form¬
ed in the ocean, which is the decpejl tnafs of water we
know of. But it has been experimentally proved, that in
the midft of fummer, in the latitudes of 550, 550 26',
and 64° fouth, at 100 fathoms depth, the thermometer
flood at 340, 341° and 3 2° and that in all inftances,
the difference between the temperature at top and 100
fathoms depth never exceeded four degrees of Fahren¬
heit’s thermometer, or that the temperature of the air
did not differ five degrees from that of the ocean at
100 fathoms deep. If we now add to this, that be¬
yond the 710 fouth the temperature of the air and
ocean muff be ftill colder, and that the rigours of an aut¬
arkic winter are certainly more than fufficient to cool
the ocean to 284°, which is requifite for congealing
the aqueous particles in it ; if we moreover confider,
that thefe fevere frofts are continued during fix or eight
months of the year, we may eafily conceive that there
is time enough to congeal large and extenfive maffes of
ice. But it is likewife certain, that there is more than
one way by which thofe immenfe ice maffes are formed.
We fuppofe very juflly, that the ocean does freeze, ha¬
ving produced fo many inftances of it ; wre allow like-
wife, that the ice thus formed in a calm, perhaps does
not exceed three or four yards in thicknefs •, a ftorm
probably often breaks fuch an ice-field, which Crantz
allows to be 200 leagues one way and 80 the other ;
the preffure of the broken fragments againft one ano¬
ther frequently fets one upon the other piece, and they
freeze in that manner together •, feveral fuch double
pieces, thrown by another preflure upon one another,
form at laft large maffes of miles extent, and of 20,
40, 60, and more fathoms thicknefs, or of a great
bulk or height. Martens, in his defcription of Spitz-
bergen, remarks, that the pieces of ice caufe fo great
a noife by their fhock, that the navigators in thofe re¬
gions can only with difficulty hear the wTords of thofe
that fpeak 5 and as the ice-pieces are thrown one upon
another, ice-mountains are formed by it. And I ob-
ferved very frequently, in the years ty?2 anc^ I773»
when we were among the ice, maffes which had the
moft evident marks of fuch a formation, being compo-
fed of ftrata of fome feet in thicknefs. This is in fome
meafure confirmed by the ftate in which the Coflack
Markoff found the ice at the diftance of 420 miles north
from the Siberian coafts. The high maffes wrere net
found formed, as is fufpeked in the Secondfupplement to
the probability of reaching the north pole, p. 143-145,
near the land, under the high cliffs, but far out at fea *,
aed when thefe ice mountains were climbed by Markoff,
nothing but ice, and no veftiges of land, appeared as
far as the eye could reach. The high climates near
• the poles are likewife fubjek to heavy falls of fnow,
of feveral yards in thicknefs, which grow more and
snore compak, and by thaws and rain are formed into
fjlid ice, which increafe the ftupendous fize of the float- p0le.
ing ice mountains. —nr—
“ The fecond objekion againft; the freezing of the
ocean into fuch ice as is found tloating in it, is taken
from the opacity of ice formed in fait water j becaufe
the largeft mail’es are commonly tranfparent like cryr-
ftal, with a fine blue tint, caufed by the reflekion of
the fea. This argument is very fpecious, and might
be deemed unanfwerable by thofe who are not ufed to
cold winters and their effeks. But whofoever has
fpent feveral winters in countries which are fubjek to
intenfe frofts, will find nothing extraordinary or diffi¬
cult in this argument : for it is a well-known fak in.
cold countries, that the ice which covers their lakes
and rivers is often opaque, efpecially wdien the froft
fets in accompanied by a fall of fnow 5 for, in thofe
inftances, the ice looks, before it hardens, like a dough
or pafte, and when congealed it is opaque and white j
however, in fpring, a rain and the thaw, followed by
frofty nights, change the opacity and colour of the ice,
and make it quite tranfparent and colourlefs like a cry-
ftal : but, in cafe the thaw continues, and it ceafes
entirely to freeze, the fame tranfparent ice becomes
foft and porous, and turns again entirely opaque, l ifts
I believe may be applicable to the ice leen by us in
the ocean. The field-ice wTas commonly opaque j fome
of the large maffes, probably drenched by rain, and fro¬
zen again, wTere tranfparent and pellucid j but the fmall
fragments of loofe ice, formed by the decay of the large
maffes, and foaked by long-continued rains, wTe found to
be porous, foft, and opaque.
“ It is likewife urged as an argument againft the
formation of ice in the ocean, that it always requires
land, in order to have a point upon rvhich it may be
fixed. Firft, I obferve, that in Mr Naime’s experi¬
ments, the ice was generated on the furface, and was
feen (hooting cryftals downwards : -which evidently
evinces, in my opinion, that ice is there formed or ge¬
nerated where the intenfeft cold is *, as the air fooner
cools the furface than the depth of the ocean, the ice
(hoots naturally dowmvards, and cools the ocean more
and more, by which it is prepared for further conge¬
lation. I fuppofe, however, that this happens always
during calms, which are not uncommon in high lati¬
tudes, as wre experienced in the late expedition. Nor
does land feem abfolutely neceffary in order to fix the
ice •, for this may be done with as much eafe and pro¬
priety to the large ice mountains which remain undii-
folve’d floating in the ocean in high latitudes •, or it may,
perhaps, not be improper to fuppofe, that the whole
polar region, from 8o° and upwards, in the fouthern
hemifphere, remains a folid ice for feveral years toge¬
ther, to which yearly a newT circle of ice is added, and
of which, hoxvever, part is broken off by the wands
and the return of the mild feafon. Wherever the ice
floats in large maffes, and fometimes in ccmpak bo¬
dies formed of an infinite number of finall pieces, there
it is bv no means difficult to freeze the whole into one
piece ; for amongft the ice the wind has not a power
of railing high and great waves. This circumftance
wTas not entirely unknown to the ancients ; and it is
probable they acquired this information from the natives
of ancient Gaul, and from the Britons and other north¬
ern nations, who fometimes undertook long voyages.
Pole.
* So called
by the
Cimbr'-
IP
Obferva-
tions on
Mr Forf-
ter’s rea-
foning.
POL [ 99 ] POL
TKe northern ocean was called by the ancients the fro¬
zen, the dead, the lazy, and immoveable fea: fometimes
they give it the name mare cranium, the concrete fea,
and morimorufam *, the dead fea. And, what is very re¬
markable, in all the northern cold countries the frolt
fometimes is fo intenfe, that all the waters become fud-
denly coagulated into a kind of pafte or dough, and
thus at once congeal.”
On this reafoning of Mr Forfter’s, however, we mull
obferve, that it cannot poffibly invalidate any fa£t which
Mr Barrington has advanced. The bell; concerted and
mod p^aufible theory in the world muft yield to expe¬
rience for this is in faft what muft judge all theories.
Now, from what we have already related, it is demon-
ftrated, that in the fpace between the mouths of the
rivers Piafida and Chatanga more ice mufl be formed,
and more intenfe colds generated, than in any other
part of the -world j confequently, for a confiderable
fpace both on the eaft and rveft fide of that, the fea
muft be more full of ice than anywhere elfe. Now,
between thele two rivers there is the promontory of
Taimura, wdnch runs out to the latitude of 78°, or near
it, and which of necefixty muft obftrudl the difperfion
of the ice 5 and that it adlually does fo is in fome de¬
gree probable, becaufe in one of the Ruffian voyages
above-mentioned the eaftern mouth of the Lena wras
quite free, when the wTeftern ones were entirely choaked
up wuth ice. Now the mouth of the Yana lies feveral
degrees to the eaft ward of the Lena: confequently, when
the ice comes eaflward from the cape of Taimura, it
muft neor ffarily fill all that fea to the latitude of 78°
and upwards; but the Coffack Markoff, if he proceeded
direftly north, could not be farther than the promonto¬
ry of Taimura, and confequently ftill enveloped among
the ice. Befides, wtc are certain, that the fea in 78° is
not at all frozen into a folid cake in fome places, fince
Lord Mulgrave, in 1773, reached 8i°. Mr Forfter’s
argument, therefore, either proves nothing, or it proves
too much. If it proves, that about the middle of the
eaftern continent the cold is fo intenfe that a fufficient
quantity of ice is formed to obftruft the navigation for
feveral hundred miles round, this proves nothing j be¬
caufe we knew before that this muft be the cafe : But
if it proves, that the fea muft be unnavigable by reafon
of ice all round the globe at 78° north latitude, this is
too much ; becaufe wre certainly know7, that in 1773
Lord Mulgrave reached the latitude of 8i°. However,
though it ftiould be alkwed that the fea is quite clear
all the way to the pole, it muft be a very great uncer¬
tainty whether any (hip could by that w7ay reach the
Eaft Indies *, becaule we know that it muft fail down
between the continents of Afia and America, through
that ftrait whofe mouth muft often be blocked up with
ice driving eaftward along the continent of Afia.
The fouth pole is ftill more inacceftible than the north
pole •, for the ice is found in much lowrer fouthern than
northern latitudes. Upon this fubjeft M. Pages fpeaks
thus: “ Having in former voyages (fays he) vifited
many parts of the terraqueous globe in different lati¬
tudes, I had opportunities of acquiring a confiderable
knowdedge of climate in the torrid as well as in the tem¬
perate divifions of the earth. In a fubfequent voyage
I made it my bufinefs to be equally w7ell informed re-
fpe&ing the reputed inhofpitable genius of the South
feas 5 and upon my return from that expedition I en¬
tertained not the fmalleft doubt that there exifts a pe- Pole
culiar and perpetual rigour in the fouthern hemifphere.” I!
(See his Travels round the World, vol. iii. tranflated, 0 .
from the French, and printed at London, 1792, for
Murray). This fuperior degree of cold'has by many
been luppofed to proceed from a greater quantity of
land about the fouth than the north pole * ; and the * See A.-
notion of a vaft continent in thefe regions prevailed al- merica,
moft univerfally, infomuch that many have fought forN°3-—S;
it, but hitherto in vain. See the articles COOK'S Dif- CooK s
coveries, N° 38—49, and N° 68, and 69. SOUTHfea, As
and Terra At/Jlralis. N° 38, See.
Magnetic Pole. See Magnetism.
North Pole. See Pole.
POLE-Axe, a fort of hatchet nearly refembling a
battle-axe, having an handle about 15 inches in length,
and being furnilhed with a (harp point or claw7, bend¬
ing downnvards from the back of its head } the blade
whereof is formed like that of any other hatchet. It
is principally employed in fea-fights to cut away and
deftroy the rigging of any adverfary wrho endeavours te
board.
Pole-axes are alfo faid to have been fuccefsfully ufed
on fome occafions in boarding an enemy, w7hofe fides
were above thofe of the boarder. This is executed by
detaching feveral gangs to enter at different parts of the
Ihip’s length, at which time the pole-axes are forcibly
driven into her fide, one above another, fo as to form
a fort of fealing-ladders.
Pole Cat. See Mustela, Mammalia Index.
Pole Star. See Astronomy, N° 3, 17, and 39.
POLEIN, in Englith antiquity, is a fort of Ihoe,
(harp or piked at the point. This fafhion took its
rife in the time of King William Rufus ; and the pikes
were fo long, that they were tied up to the knees with
filver or golden chains. They w7ere forbidden by ftat.
an. 4. Edw. IV. cap. 7. Tunc Jhtxus crinium, tunc
laxus vejlium, tunc ufus calceorum cum arcuatis aculcis
inventus ejl. Malmelb. in Will. ii.
POLEMARCHUS was a magiftrate at Athens, who
had under his care all the ftrangers and fojourners in the
city, over whom he had the fame authority that the ar-
chon had over the citizens. It was his duty to offer a Potter's
folemn facrifice to Enyalus (faid to be the fame with Grecian
Mars, though others will have it that he w as only one Antiqm-
of his attendants), and another to Diana, furnamed
Ay£0T££#, in honour of the famous patriot Harmodius.
It was alfo his bufinefs to take care that the children
of thofe that had loft their lives in the fervice of their
country ftiould be provided for out of the public trea-
fury.
POLEMICAL, in matters of literature, an appella¬
tion given to books of controverfy, efpecially thofe in
divinity.
POLEMO, who fucceeded Xenocrates in the direc¬
tion of the academy, was an Athenian of diftinguiftied
birth, and in the earlier part of his life a man of loofe
morals. The manner in which he w7as reclaimed from
the purfuit of infamous pleafures, and brought under the
difeipline of philofopby, affords a memorable example of
the power of eloquence employed in the caufe of virtue.
His hiftory is thus related by Dr Enfield : “ As he
was, one morning about the rifing of the fun, returning
home from the revels of the night, clad in a loofe robe,
crow’ned with garlands, ftrongly perfumed, and intoxi-
N 2 cated
POL r ICO ] POL
Fe!emo
y
Polenburg,
tive humour, he rufhed without ceremony into the
fchool, and took his place among the philofophers.
The whole afl'embly was aftonilhed at this rude and in¬
decent intrufion, and all but Xenocrates dilcovered figns
of refentrnent. Xenocrates, however, preferved the per-
feff command of his countenance ; and with great pre¬
fence of mind turned his difcourfe from the fubjefl on
which he was treating to the topics of temperance and
modefty, which he recommended with fuch flrength of
argument, and energy of language, that Polemo was
confirained to yield to the force of conviftion. Inftead
of turning the philofopher and his doftrine to ridicule,
as he at firft intended, he became fenlible of the folly of
his former condu£f ; was heartily afhamed of the con¬
temptible figure which he had made in fo relpeflable an
affembly; took his garland from his head; concealed his
naked arm under his cloak ; affirmed a fedate and
thoughtful afpeft j and, in (hort, refolved from that
hour to relinquilh his licentious pleafures, and devote
himfelf to the purfuit of wildom. Thus was this young
man, by the powerful energy of truth and eloquence, in
an inftant converted from an infamous libertine to a re-
fpe&able philofopher. In fuch a hidden change of cha-
radfer it is difficult to avoid paffing from one extreme to
another. Polemo, after his reformation, in order to
brace up his mind to the tone of rigid virtue, conftantly
praflifed the fevered; aufterity and moft hardy fortitude.
From the thirtieth year of his age to his death, he
drank nothing but water. When he fufifered violent
pain, he fnowed no external fign of anguiffi. In order
to preferve his mind undifturbed by paffion, he habituat¬
ed himfelf to fpeak in an uniform tone of voice, without
elevation or depreffion. The aufterity of his manners
was, however, tempered with urbanity and generofity.
He was fond of folitude, and paffed much of his time
in a garden near his fchool. He died, at an advanced
age, of a confumption. Of his tenets little is faid by
the ancients, becaufe he ftrifldy adhered to the doftrine
of Plato.”
POLEMONIUM, Greek Valerian, or Jacob's
Ladder ; a genus of plants, belonging to the pentandria
clafs } and in the natural method ranking under the 29th
order, Campanaccce. See Botany Index.
POLEMOSCOPE, in Optics, the fame with Ope¬
ra-glass. See Dioptrics.
POLENBURG, Cornelius, an excellent painter
of fmall landfcapes and figures, was born at Utrecht in
1586, and educated under Bloinaert, wffiom he foon
quitted to travel into Italy •, and ftudied for a long time
in Rome and Florence, where he formed a ftyle en¬
tirely newq which, though preferable to the Flemifh, is
unlike any Italian, except in his having adorned his
landfcapes with ruins. There is a varniffied fmoothnefs
and finilhing in his piftures, that render them alwTays
pleafing, though Ample and too nearly refembling one
another. The Roman cardinals wrere charmed with
the neatnefs of his works, as w^as alfo the great duke ;
but could not retain him. He returned to Utrecht,
and pleafed Rubens, who had feveral of his performances.
King Charles I. invited him to London, where he ge¬
nerally painted the figures in Steenwyck’s perfpeffives :
but the king could not prevail on him to fix here 5 for
cated with wine, he paffed by the fchool of Xenocrates,
and faw him furrounded with his difciples. Unable to
refill fo fortunate an opportunity of indulging his fpor-
after ftaying only four years, and being handfomely re- Poteroa
warded by his majeity for feveral pieces which he per- t I!
formed for him, he returned to Utrecht, and died Polianthg5.
there at the age of 74. His wmrks ai'e very fcarce V"~W
and valuable.
POLERON, one of the Banda or Nutmeg iflands
in the Eaft Indies. jL his was one of thofe fpice iflands
which put themfelves under the protection of the Eng-
liffi, and voluntarily acknowdedged James I. king of
England for their fovereign ; for w hich reafon the na¬
tives of this and the reft of the iflands w’efe murdered
or driven thence by the Dutch, together with the Eng-
lifh.
POLESiA, a province of Poland, bounded by Po-
lachia and Proper Lithuania on the north, and by Vol-
hinia on the fouth. It is one of the palatinates of Li¬
thuania, and is commonly called Brcfcia, and its capital
is of this name. It is full of forefts and lakes.
POLESINO de-Rovigo, a province of Italy, in the
republic of Venice, lying to the north of the river Po j
and bounded on that fide by the Paduan, on the fouth
by the Ferrarefe, on the eaft by Degado, and on the
weft by the Veronefe. It is 45 miles in length, and
17 in breadth, and is a fertile country. Rovigo is the
capital.
POLETAl w7ere ten magiftrates of Athens, who,
with three that had the management of money allowed
for public ftiowrs, were empowered to let out the tribute-
money and other public revenues, and to fell confifcated
eftates; all wffiich bargains wrere ratified by their pre-
fident, or in his name. They were by their office alfo
bound to convift fuch as had not paid the tribute called
MilotKiov, and fell them in the market by audlion. The
market where thefe wrretches wTere Ibid w7as called
5r*yAy!7j3g<0v ra ftfloixiy.
* POLIANTHES, the Tuberose; a genus of plants
belonging to the hexandria clafs; and in the natural
method ranking under the 10th order, Coronaries. See
Botany Index. The varieties are the common tube-
rofe, with fingle flowers,—double-flowered,—dwarf-
ftalked,—variegated leaved. They all flow-er here in
June, July, and Auguft.
All the varieties being exotics from w7arm countries,
although they are made to flower in great perfection in
our gardens by affiftance of hot-beds, they wall not
profper in the open ground, and do not increafe freely
in England ; fo that a fupply of the roots is imported
hither annually from Genoa, and other parts of Italy,
by moft of the eminent nurfery and feedfmen, and the
Italian w^arehoufe-keepers; generally arriving in Febru¬
ary or March, time enough for the enfuing fummer’s
bloom ; and are fold commonly at the rate of twelve or
fifteen fhillings per hundred, being careful always to
procure as large roots as poffible, for on this depends
the fuccefs of having a complete blow. Requiring artifi¬
cial heat to blow them in this country, they are planted
in pots, and plunged in a hot-bed, under a deep frame
furniflied with glafs lights ; or placed in a hot-houfe,
where they may be Slowed to great perfeftion with
little trouble. The principal feafon for planting them
is March and April: obferving, however, that in order
to continue a long fucceffion of the bloom, it is proper
to make two or three different plantings, at about a
month interval; one in March, another in April, and a
tkird the beginning of May, whereby the blow7 may be
continued
POL [i
Poliamhes continued from June until September ; obferving, as
II above-mentioned, they may be dowered either by aid of
t,olKlov'\ a common dung or bark hot-bed, or in a hot-houfe.
y With refpeft to the propagation of thefe plants, it
is principally by offsets of the roots. The blowing
roots that are brought annually from abroad for fale are
often furnifhed with offsets, which ought to be feparated
previous to planting. Thofe alfo that are planted here
in our gardens frequently furnxfh offsets fit for feparation
in autumn when the leaves decay : they muff then be
preferved in fand all winter in a dry Iheltered place;
and in the beginning of March, plant them either in
a bed of light dry earth in the full ground 5 or, to for¬
ward them as much as poffible, allow them a moderate
hot-bed 5 and in either method indulge them with a
fhelter in cold weather, either of a frame and lights, or
arched with hoops and occafionally matted-, but let
them enjoy the full air in all mild weather, giving alfo
plenty of w-ater in dry weather during the feafon of
their grow-th in Ipring and fummer. Thus let them
grow- till their leaves again decay in autumn : then take
them up, clean them from earth, and lay them in
fand till fpring; at which time fuch roots as are
large enough to blow- may be planted and managed as
already diretffed, and the fmaller roots planted again in
a nurfery-bed, to have another year’s grow-th ; after¬
wards plant them for flowering. The Egyptians put
the flowers of tuberofe into fweet oil ; and by this_
means give it a moft excellent flavour, fcarce inferior to
oil of jafmine.
POLICANDRO, a fmall ifland in the Archipelago,
feated between Milo and Morgo. It has no harbour,
but has a town about three miles from the fliore near a
huge rock. It is a ragged ffony ifland, but yields as
much corn as is fufficient for the inhabitants, who con-
fift of about 120 Greek families, all Chriftians. The
only commodity is cotton : of which they make napkins,
a dozen of which are foldfor a crown. E. Long. 35. 25.
N. Lat. 36. 36.
POLiCASTRO, an epifcopal town of Italy, in the
kingdom of Naples, and in the Hither Principato-, but
now almoft in ruins, for which reafon the bilhop refides
in another town. E. Long. 15. 46. N. Lat. 40. 26.
POLICY, or Polity, in matters of government.
See Polity.
POLICT of Infurance, or Affurance, of fliips, is a con-
traft or convention, whereby a perfon takes upon him-
felf the rifles of a fea-voyage; obliging himfelf to make
good the Ioffes and damages that may befal the veffel,
its equipage, tackle, vidtualling, lading, &c. either from
tempefts, Ihipwrecks, pirates, fire, wrar, reprifals, in part
or in whole ; in confideration of a certain fum of feven,
eight, or ten per cent, more or lefs according to the rilk
run ; which fum is paid down to the affurer by the af-
furee upon his figning the policy. See Insurance.
POLIDORO da Caravaggio, an eminent painter,
born at Caravaggio in the Milanefe in 1492. He went
young to Rome, where he worked as a labourer in
preparing flucco for the painters; and was fo animated
by feeing them at w-ork in the Vatican, that he folicited
feme of them to teach him the rules of defigning. He
attached himfelf particularly to Maturino, a young Flo¬
rentine ; and a fimilarity in talents and tafte producing
a difinterefted affection, they affociated like brothers,
01 ] POL
laboured together, and lived on one common purle, un¬
til the death of Maturino. He underftood and pradtifed
the chiaro-fcuro in a degree fuperior to any in the Ro- ^
man fchool: and finilhed an incredible number of pic¬
tures both in frefco and in oil, fewr of the public build¬
ings at Rome being without fome of his paintings. Be¬
ing obliged to fly from Rome when it was ftormed and
pillaged, he retired to Meflina, where he obtained a
large fum of money with great reputation, by painting
the triumphal arches for the reception of Charles V. af¬
ter his vidtory at Tunis: and when he was preparing to
return to Rome, he vras murdered, for the fake of his
riches, by his Sicilian valet with other affaffms, in the
year 1543.
POLIFOLIA. See Andromeda, Botany In¬
dex.
POLIGNAC, Melchier de, an excellent French
genius and a cardinal, was born of an ancient and noble
family at Puy, the capital of Velay, in 1662. He
was fent by Louis XIV. ambaffador extraordinary to
Poland, where, on the death of Sobielki, he formed a
projedt of procuring the eledtion of the prince of Conti.
But failing, he returned home under fome difgrace ;
but when reftored to favour, he was fent to Rome as
auditor of the Rota. He was plenipotentiary during
the congrefs at Utrecht, at which time Clement I.
created him a cardinal; and upon the acceflion of Louis
XV. he was appointed to relide at Rome as minifter of
France. He remained there till the year 1732, and
died in the year 1741. He left behind him a MS. poem
entitled Anti-Lucretius, feu De Deo et Natura ; the plan
of which he is faid to have formed in Holland in a con-
verfation with Mr Bayle. This celebrated poem was
fir A publilhed in the year 1749, and has fince been feve-
ral times printed in other countries befides France. He
had been received into the French Academy in I7°4»
into the Academy of Sciences in 1715, into that of the
Belles Lettres in 1717: and he would have been an or¬
nament to any fociety, having all the accomplilhments
of a man of parts and learning.
POLISHER, or Burnisher, among mechanics, an
inftrument for polifhing and burnilhing things proper to
take a polilh. The gilders ufe an iron-poliflier to pre¬
pare their metals before gilding, and the blood-ftone to
give them the bright polilh after gilding.
The polithers, among cutlers, are a kind of wooden
wheels made of walnut-tree, about an inch thick, and
of a diameter at pleafure, which are turned round by a
great wheel; upon thefe they fmooth and polifh their
work with emery and putty.
The polifhers for glafs confiA of two pieces of wood ;
the one flat, covered with old hat; the other long and
half-round, faflened on the former, whofe edge it ex¬
ceeds on both fides by feme inches, which ferves the
workmen to take hold of, and to work backwards and
forwards by.
The polifhers ufed by fpe&acle-makers are pieces of
wood a foot long, feven or eight inches broad, and an
inch and a half thick, covered -with old beaver hat,
whereon they polifh the fhelland horn frames their fpec-
tacle-glaffes are to be fet in.
POLISHING, in general, the operation of giving
a gibfs or luflre to certain fubAances, as metals, glafs,
marble, &c.
The
Folklore)
I!
Poldhing.
. P ° L. C 1
.PolitcneF-;^ 'The operation of polifliing optic-glaffes, after being
v “ properly ground, is one of the mod difficult points of
the whole procefs. See Telescope.
POLI TENESS means elegance of manners or good
breeding: Lord Chelferfield calls it the art of plealing.
It has alfo been called an artificial good nature j and in¬
deed good nature is the foundation of true politenefs •,
without which art will make but a very indifferent fi¬
gure, and will generally defeat its own ends. “ Where
compliance and affent, caution and candour, fays an
* -Dr Knox, elegant effayift *, arife from a natural tendernefs of dif-
pofition and foftnefs of nature, as they fometimes do,
they are almoft amiable and certainly excufable ; but
as the effects of artifice, they muft be defpifed. The
perfons who poffefs them are, indeed, often tbemfelves
dupes of their own deceit, when they imagine others
are deluded by it. For exceffive art always betrays
itfelf •, and many, who do not openly take notice of the
deceiver, from motives of delicacy and tendernefs for his
charafter, fecretly deride and warmly refent his ineffec¬
tual fubtilty.”
T Beauties “ True politenefs (fays another author f) isthatcon-
ofHiJlory. tinual attention which humanity infpires us with, both to
pleafe others, and to avoid giving them offence. The
furly plain-dealer exclaims loudly againft this virtue, and
prefers his own fhocking bluntnefs and Gothic freedom.
'The courtier and fawning flatterer, on the contrary, fub-
ffitute in its place infipid compliments, cringings, and a
jargon of unmeaning fentences. The one blames polite¬
nefs, becaufe he takes it for a vice ; and the other is the
occafion of this, becaufe that which he pra£tifes is really
fo.”
Both thefe characters aft from motives equally abfurd,
though not equally criminal. The conduft of the art¬
ful flatterer is guided by felf-love, wffiile that of the
plain-dealer is the effeft of ignorance 5 for nothing is
more certain, than that the defire of pleafing is found¬
ed on the mutual wrants and the mutual wiflres of man¬
kind } on the pleafure which we wiflr to derive from fo-
ciety, and the charafter which we wifh to acquire. Men
having difcovered that it was neceffary and agreeable to
unite for their common interefts, they have made laws
to reprefs the wicked, they have fettled the duties of fo-
cial life, and connefted the idea of refpeftability with
the praftice of thofe duties \ and after having prefcribed
the regulations neceffary to their common fafety, they
have endeavoured to render their commerce with one
another agreeable, by eftablifhing the rules of politenefs
and good breeding. Indeed, as an elegant author al¬
ready quoted remarks, the philofopher who, in the au-
fterity of his virtue, fliould condemn the art of pleafing
as unworthy cultivation, would deferve little attention
from mankind, and might be difmiffed to his folitary
tub, like his brother Diogenes. It is the diftate of hu¬
manity, that we ffiould endeavour to render ourfelves
agreeable to thofe in whofe company we are deftined to
travel in the journey of life. It is our intereft, it is the
fource of perpetual latisfaftion ; it is one of our mofl: im¬
portant duties as men, and particularly required in the
profeffor of Chriftianity.”
It is needlefs to particularize the motives which have
induced men to praftife the agreeable virtues 5 for,
from whatever fource the defire of pleafing proceeds, it
has always increafed in proportion to the general civili¬
zation of mankind. In a rude ftate of fociety, pleafure
4
02 ] POL
is limited in its fources and its operation. When tire PoKtenefs,
wants of mankind, and the means of attaining them, are —
few, perfonal application is neceffary to gratify them,
and it is generally fufficient j by which means an indivi¬
dual becomes more independent that can poffibly be the
cafe in civilized life, and of courfe lefs dilpofed to give
or receive affiilance. Confined to the foiitary wifh of
furnifhing means for his own happinefs, he is little in¬
tent on the pleafures of converlation and fociety. His
defire of communication is equal to the extent of his
knowledge. But as foon as the natural wants of life are
filled up, we find unoccupied time, and we labour hard
to make it pafs in an agreeable manner. It is then we
perceive the advantage of poffeffing a rational nature,
and the delights of mutual intercourle. When we con-
fider fociety in that tlate of perfeftion wffiich enables a
great part of the members of it to purfue at leifure the
pleafures of converfation, we fhould expeft, both from
the eafe of acquitting ourfelves to the fatisfaftion of our
affociates, and from the advantages arifing from this
conduft, that the art of pleafing might be reduced to a
few plain and fimple rules, and that thefe might be de¬
rived from a flight attention to general manners.
The art of pleafing, in our intercourfe with mankind,
is indeed fo fimple, that it requires nothing more than
the conllant defire to pleafe in all our words and aftions j
and the praftice of it can neither wound a man’s felf-
love, nor be prejudicial to his intereft in any poffible
fituation.
But though this be certain, it is doubtlefs lefs attend¬
ed to than in reafon it ought to be. Each particular
man is fo zealous to promote his own ends or his own
pleafure, as to forget that his neighbour has claims
equal to his own ; that every man that enters into com¬
pany gives up for the time a great many of his peculiar
rights; and that he then forms part of an affociation,
met together not for the particular gratification of any
one, but for the purpofe of general fatisfaftion. See
Breeding, Conversation, and Good Manners.
The qualities effential in the art of pleafing, are vir¬
tue, knowledge, and tnanners. All the virtues which
form a good and refpeftable charafter in a moral fenfe
are effential to the art of pleafing. This muft be an
eftabliflied principle, becaufe it depends on the wants
and mutual relations of fociety. In all affairs of com¬
mon bufinefs, we delight in tranfafting with men in
whom we can place confidence, and in whom wre find
integrity ; but truth is fo naturally pleafing, and the
common affairs of life are fo interwoven with focial in¬
tercourfe, that we derive abundantly more fatisfaftion
from an honeft charafter than from fpecious manners.
“ Should you be fufpefted (fays Chefterfield) of injuf-
tice, malignity, perfidy, lying, &c. all the parts and
knowledge of the world will never procure you efteem,
friendffiip, and refpeft.”
The firft of virtues in our commerce with the world,
and the chief in giving pleafure to thofe with whom we
affociate,is inviolable fincerity of heart. We can never
be too punftual in the moft fcrupulous tendernefs to our
moral charafter in this refpeft, nor too nicely affefted
in preferving our integrity.
The peculiar modes, even of the falhionable wmrld,
which are founded in diffimulation, and which on this
account have induced feveral to recommend the prac¬
tice, would not prevent a man of the higheft integrity
from
POL t 103 ] P O L
Politeneff. from being acceptable in the very be ft company. Ac-
V—knowledged fincerity gives the fame ornament to cha-
rafter that modefty does to manners. It would abun¬
dantly atone for the want of ridiculous ceremony, or
falfe and unmeaning profeffions •, and it would in no re-
fueft diminifti the iuiire of a noblfi air, or the perfeftion
of an elegant addrefs.
If integrity be the foundation or that charafter which
is moft generally acceptable, or which, in other words,
poffelfes the power of pleafing in the higheft degree, hu¬
manity and modefty are its higheft ornaments.
The whole art of pleafing, as far as the virtues are
concerned, may be derived from the one or other ofthefe
fources. Humanity comprehends the diiplay of every
thing amiable to others} modefty removes or fupprefles
every thing offenftve in ourfelves.
This modefty, however, is not inconfiftent rvith firm-
nefs and dignity of character j it arifes rather from
the knowledge of our imperfedlion compared with a
certain ftandard, than from confcious ignorance of what
we ought to know. We muft therefore diftinguifti be¬
tween this modefty and what the French call mauvaife
honte. The one is the unaffe&ed and unaffuming prin¬
ciple which leads us to give preference to the merit of
others, the other is the aukward ftruggling of nature
over her own infirmities. The firft gives an additional
luftre to every good quality •, while fome people, from
feeling the pain and inconveniency of the tnauvaife
honte, have ruftied into the other extreme, and turned
impudent, as cowards fometimes grow defperate from
excefs of danger. The medium between thefe two ex¬
tremes marks out the well-bred man ; he feels himfelf
firm and eafy in all companies, is modeft without being
bafhful, and fteady without being impudent.
A man poflefting the amiable virtues is ftill farther
prepared to pleafe, by having in his own mind a perpe¬
tual fund of fatisfaflion and entertainment. . He is put
to no trouble in concealing thoughts whicti it would be
difgraceful to avow, and he is not anxious to difplay vir¬
tues which his daily converfation and his conftant looks
render vifible.
The next ingredient in the art of pleaftng, is to pof-
fefs a correff and enlightened underftanding, and a fund
of rational knowledge. With virtue and modefty we
muft be able to entertain and inftruft thofe with whom
we affociate.
The faculty of communicating ideas is peculiar to
man, and the pleafure which he derives from the inter¬
change alone is one of the moft important of his blel-
fings. Mankind are formed with numberlefs wants, and
with a mutual power of aftifting each other. It is a
beautiful and happy part of the lame perfe£l plan, that
they are likewife formed to delight in each other’s com¬
pany, and in the mutual interchange of their thoughts.
The different fpecies of communication, in a highly po-
lifhed age, are as numerous as the different ranks, em¬
ployments, and occupations of men} and indeed the
knowledge which men wifh to communicate, takes its
tinge from their peculiar profeffion or occupation.
Thus commercial men delight to talk of their trade,
and of the nature of public imfinefs 5 men of pleafure,
who wifh merely to vary or quicken their amufements,
are in converfation light, trilling, and infincere ; and
the literati delight to dwell on newr books, learned men,
and important difeovexies in fcience or in arts. But as
the different claffes of men will frequently meet together, Pol
all parties muft; fo contrive matters, as to combine the ‘
ufeful and agreeable together, fo as to give the greateft
delight at the time, and the greateft pleafure on reflec¬
tion. An attention to thefe principles would make the
man of pleafure and the man of learning meet together
on equal terms, and derive mutual advantage from their
different qualifications. With due attention to fuch
ideas, we proceed to mention the kinds of knowledge
which are moft fitted for converfation. Thofe who
wifh to pleafe fliould particularly endeavour to be in¬
formed in thofe points which moft: generally occur.
An accurate or extenfive knowledge on learned fubjedls
is by no means fufficient : we muft alio have an accurate
and extenfive knowledge of the common occurrences of
life.
It is the knowledge of mankind, of governments, of
hiftorv, of public chara&ers, and of the fprings w hich
put the great and the little actions of the world in
motion, which give real pleafure and rational inftruc-
tion. The knowledge which we communicate muft;
in fome fhape be interefting to thofe to whom we com¬
municate it 5 of that nature, that the defire of recei¬
ving it may overbalance every kind of difguft, excited
too often on the fcore of envy and felf-love, againft
thofe wdio happen to poffefs fuperior endowments, and
at the fame time of that importance, as to elevate the
thoughts fomewhat above the actions and the faults of
the narrow circle formed in our own immediate neigh¬
bourhood. On this account it is recommended by an
author who fully knewT mankind, as a maxim of great
importance in the art of pleafing, to be acquainted with
the private chara£ter of thoie men who, from their fta-
tion or their adtions, are making a figure in the world.
We naturally wifh to fee fuch men in their retired and
undifguifed moments •, and he w ho can gratify us is
highly acceptable. Hiftory of all kinds, fitly introdu¬
ced, and occafionally embellifhed with pleafing anec¬
dotes, is a chief part of our entertainment in the inter-
courfe of life. This is receiving inftrudfion, without
exciting much envy ; it depends on memory, and me¬
mory is one of thofe talents the pofleffion of which we
leaft: grudge to our neighbour. Our knowdedge of hif¬
tory, at the fame time, muft not appear in long and te¬
dious details •, but in apt and well chofen allufions, cal¬
culated to illuftrate the particular fubjeiff of converfa¬
tion. But the knowledge moft neceftary is that of the
human heart. This is acquired by conftant obfervation
on the manners and maxims of the w'orld, connedled
with that which paffesin our owti minds. This leads us
from tlie common details of condudf, from ftander and
defamation, to the fources and principles of a£tion, and
enables us to enter into what may be called the philofo-
phy of converfation. We may fee both the practicability
of this kind of difeourfe, and the nature of it, in the
following lines of Horace :
Sermo oritur, non de villis domibufve alienis}
Nec male necne Lepos faltet : fed quod magis ad nos
Pertinet, & nefeire malum eft, agitamus: utrumne
Divitiis homines, an fint virtute beati ?
Quidve ad amicitias, ufus reftumne, trahat nos ?
Et quae fit natura boni, fummumque quid ejus < &c.
By this means conftant materials are fupplied for free, •
eafy, and fpirited communication. The reftraints which
are-
POL
[ i
• are impofed on mankind, either from what their own
character may fuffer, or from the apprehenfion of giving
offence to others, are entirely taken off, and they have
a fufficient quantity of current coin for all the common
purpofes of life.
In addition to virtue and knowledge, which are the
chief ingredients in the art of pleafing, we have to con-
fider graceful and eafy manners. Lord Cheilerfield in¬
deed conliders thefe as the molt effential and important
part 5 as if the diamond received its w7hole value from
the polilh. But though he is unqueftionably miftaken,
there is yet a certain fweetnefs of manners which is par¬
ticularly engaging in our commerce with the world. It
is that which conftitutes the charafter which the French,
under the appellation of l^aimable, fo much talk of, and
fo juftly value. This is not fo eafily defcribed as felt.
It is the compound refult of different things 5 as com-
plaifance, a flexibility but not a fervility of manners, an
air of foftnefs in the countenance, gefture, and expref-
fion, equally whether you concur or differ with the per-
fon you converfe with. This is particularly to be fludi-
ed when we are obliged to refufe a favour afked of us,
or to fay wdiat in itfelf cannot be very agreeable to the
perfon to whom we fay it. It is then the neceffary gild¬
ing of a difagreeable pill. But this, which may be call¬
ed the fuaviter in modo, would degenerate and fink into
a mean and timid complaifance and paflivenefs, if not
fupported by firmnefs and dignity of charafter. Hence
the Latin fentence, fuaviter in modo, foriiter in re, be¬
comes a ufeful and important maxim in life.
Genuine eafy manners refult from a conflant attention
to the relations of perfons, things, time, and places.
Were we to converfe with one greatly our fuperior, rve
are to be as eafy and unembarraffed as with our equals $
but yet every look, word, and aftion, fhould imply, with¬
out any kind of fervile flattery, the greateft refpect. In
mixed companies, with our equals, greater eafe and li¬
berty are allowed ; but they too have their proper li¬
mits. There is a focial refpeft neceffary. Our words,
geftures, and attitudes, have a greater degree of latitude,
though not an unbounded one. That eafinefs of car¬
riage and behaviour which is exceedingly engaging,
wddely differs from negligence and inattention, and by
no means implies that one may do whatever he pleafes 5
it only means, that one is not to be ftiff, formal, and em-
barraffed, difconcerted and afhamed ; but it requires great
attention to, and a fcrupulous obfervation of, wffat the
French call les henfeances ; a word which implies “ de¬
corum, good-breeding, and propriety.” Whatever we
ought to do, is to be done with eafe and unconcern ;
whatever is improper, muff not be done at all. In mix¬
ed companies, alfo, different ages and fexes are to be dif¬
ferently addreffed. Although w^e are to be equally eafy
with all, old age particularly requires to be treated with
a degree of deference and regard. It is a good general
rule, to accuftom ourfelves to have a kind feeling to
every thing conne&ed with man ; and when this is the
cafe, we fhall feldom err in the application. Another
important point in the bienfeances is, not to run our own
prefent humour and difpofition indifcriminately againft
every body, but to obferve and adopt theirs. And if we
cannot command our prefent humour and difpofition, it
is neceffary to fmgle out thofe to converfe with who hap¬
pen to be in the humour the neareft to our own. Pe-
remptorinefs and decifion, efpecially in young people, is
3
04 ] POL
contrary to the bienfeances : they fhould feldom feem to Politencfs,
diffent, and always ufe feme foftening mitigating expref- Politian.
There is a bienfear.ee alfo with regard to people of
the lowed: degree j a gentleman obferves it with his foot¬
man, and even indeed with the beggar in the flreet. He
confiders them as objefts of compaffion, not of infult}
he fpeaks to neither in a harfh tone, but corredts the one
coolly, and refufes the other with humanity.
The following obfervations perhaps contain the fum
of the art of pleafing :
1. A fixed and habitual refolution of endeavouring to
pleafe, is a circumftance which will feldom fail of effeft,
and its effedi will every day become more vifible as this
habit inereafes in ftrength.
2. This refolution muff be regulated by a very confi-
derable degree of good fenfe.
3. It is a maxim of almolt general application, that
what pleafes us in another will aifo pleafe others in us.
4. A conftant and habitual attention to the different
difpofitions of mankind, to their ruling paflions, and to
their peculiar or occafional humours, is abfolutely necef¬
fary.
5- A man who would pleafe, muff poffefs a firm, equal,
and fteady temper. And,
6. An eafy and graceful manner, as diftant from bafh-
fulnefs on the one hand as from impudence on the other.
“ Fie who thinks himfelf fure of pleafing (fays Lord
Cheflerfield), and he who defpairs of it, are equally fure
to fail.” And he is undoubtedly in the right. The one,
by his affuming vanity, is inattentive to the means of
pleafing ; and the other, from fear, is rendered incapable
of employing them.
A variety of excellent rules for acquiring politenefs,
with ftridlures on particular kinds of impolitenefs, may
be found in the Spec! a tor, Rambler, Idler, Lounger, Mir¬
ror, and other periodical works of that kind ; in Knox's
Ej/ays, and among Swifts Works ; fee Good MANNERS.
Chef eif eld's Art of Pleafng, and his Letters, are alfo
worthy of perufal, provided the reader be on his guard
againff the infincerity and other vices which thofe books
are calculated to infufe, and provided he always bears in
mind, what we have endeavoured to ihow in this article,
that true politenefs does not confift in fpecious manners
and a diflimulating addrefs, but that it muff always be
founded on real w'orth and intrinfic virtue.
POLITIAN, Angelo, was born at Monte Pulciano
in Tufcany in 1454. Fie learned the Greek tongue, of
which he became a complete mafter, under Andronicus
of Tbeffalonica. He is laid to have written verfes both
in Greek and Latin when he wTas not more than 12 years
of age. Fie ftudied allb the Platonic philoiopby under
Marfilius Ficinus, and that of Ariftotle under Argyropy-
lus. He was one of the moft learned and polite writers
of his time. The firft work which gained him a re¬
putation wras a poem on the tournament of Julian de
Medicis. The account he wTrote feme time after of
the confpiracy of the Pazzi’s was very much effeem-
ed. He wrote many other pieces which have merited
approbation j and had he lived longer, he would have
enriched the republic of letters with many excellent
works ; but he died at the age of 40 years. His mo¬
rals anfwered the homelinefs of his face rather than the
beauty of his genius; for Paul Jovius informs us, that
“ he was a man of aukward and perverfe manners, of
POL [ ,
Politiam a countenance by no means open and liberal, a nofe re-
P ’ t'cal m:irkably ^argeJ an<^ Squinting eyes. He was crafty,
Arithmetic, lineal, and full of inward malice : for his conltant
u—y—w^ay was, to fneer and ridicule the produftions of other
men, and never to allow any criticifm, however juft, up¬
on his own.”
He was, neverthelefs, as all acknowledge, a man of
moft confummate erudition ; and not only fo, but a very
polite and elegant writer. Erafmus, in his Ciceronianus,
calls him a rare miracle of nature, on account of his ex¬
celling in every kind of writing j his words are remark¬
able : “ Fateor Angelam prorjiis angelica.fniffe ?nente,
rarum natures miraculum, ad quodcunque fcripti genus ap-
plicaret animum.'n Some of his poems were fo much ad¬
mired, that feveral learned men have made it their bufi-
nefs to comment on them. It has been often reported
that he fpoke of the Bible xvith great contempt; and
that, having read it but once, he complained he had ne-
• ver fpent his time fo ill. But this is not probable, for
it muft be remembered that he -was a prieft and canon of
Florence \ and we learn from one of his Epiftles that
he preached a whole Lent. It does not indeed follow
hence, that he did not think contemptuouily of the Bible,
becaufe many of his church, efpecially among the better
fort, have not been very good believers, and he might be
one of them : but it is not likely he would fpeak out fo
.freely. “ I could (as Bayle fays) much more eafily
believe the judgement he is faid to have made on the
Pfalms of David and the Odes of Pindar : he did not
deny that there are many good and fine things in the
Pialms 5 but he pretended that the fame things appear
in Pindar with more brightnefs and fweetnefs. The two
Scaligers have fpoken highly of Politian : the elder has
preferred a confolatory elegy of his to that which Ovid
lent to Livia upon the death of Drufus, and fays, he had
rather have been the author of it: the younger calls him
• an excellent poet, but thinks the ftyle of his epiftles too
elate and declamatory.
His works have been printed at various times, and in
various places: his epiftles have probably been moft read,
becaufe thefe are things which the generality of people
are beft pleafed with.
POLITICAL, from 5roAf? “ a city,” fignifies any
thing that relates to policy or civil government.
POLITICAL Arithmetic, is the art of reafoning by fi¬
gures upon matters relating to government, fuch as the
revenues, number of people, extent and value of land,
taxes, trade, &c. in any nation.
Thefe calculations are generally made with a view to
afeertain the comparative ftrength, profperity, &c. of
any two or more nations. With this view, Sir William
Petty, in his Political Arithmetic, p. 74, &c. computes
the land of Holland and Zealand to be about 1,000,000
acres, and that of France to be 8,coo,000 ; and yet the
former is one third part as rich and ftrong as the lat¬
ter. The (hipping of Europe he computes to be about
2,000,000 : of which Britain has 500,000 ; Holland
900,000 j France 100,000 } Hamburgh, Denmark,
Sweden, and Dantzic 250,0005 and Spain, Portugal,
Italy, &c. the reft. The exports of France he com¬
putes at 5,000,000!. of which one-fourth came to Bri¬
tain 5 of Holland L. 18.000,000, of which L. 300,000
came to Britain. The money raifed yearly by the king
of France was about 6,500,000!. Sterling 5 that of all
the Dutch provinces 3,000,000!. of which 2,100,000
Vol. XVII. Part J.
05 ] P O L
was raifed in Holland and Zealand. The number of Political
people in England he computed to be fix millions, and ,*rit'imet!C.
their expences, at 7I. per annmn a head, 42,000,0001.5 v
the rent of land 8,oco,oool 5 and the interefts, &c. of
perfonaleftates as much, the rents of houfes 4,000,000!.
and the profits of labour 26,000,000t. The people of
Ireland he reckoned 1,200,000. The corn fpent in
England, at 5 s. a buftiel for wheat, and 2 s. 6d. for bar¬
ley, amounts to io,ooo,oool. a-year. The navy of
England then required 36,000 men to man it, and other
trade and (hipping 48,000. In France, to manage the
whole (hipping trade, there were then required only 1500
men. The whole people of France were 13,500,0005
and thofe of England, Scotland, and Ireland, about
9,500,000. In the three kingdoms are about 20,000
churchmen, and in France more than 270,000. In the
dominions of England were above 40,000 feamen, and in
France not more than 10,000. In England, Scotland,
and Ireland, and all their dependencies, there was then '
about 60,000 ton of (hipping, worth about 4,500,000!.
in money. The fea line round England, Scotland, and
Ireland, and the adjacent ides, is about .3800 miles. In
the whole world he reckoned about 350,000,000 of peo¬
ple 5 and thofe with whom the Englilh and Dutch have
any commerce, not more than eighty millions 5 and the
value of commodities annually traded for in the whole
not above 45,000,000!. That the manufactures ex¬
ported from England amounted to about $,000,000l.
per annum ; lead, tin, and coals, to 500,000!. per an~
nu?n. The value of the French commodities then brought
into England did not exceed 1,200,000!. per annum;
and the whole cafh of England in current money was
then about 6,ooo,oool. Sterling.
With thefe calculations Dr Davenant was difiatisfied 5
and therefore, from the obfervations of Mr Greg. King,
he advanced others of his own. He reckons the land of
England 39 millions of acres: the number of people 5
millions and a half, increafing 9000 a year, making al¬
lowance for wars, plagues, and other accidents. He
reckons the inhabitants of London 530,000 5 of other
cities and market-towns in England 870,000 5 and thofe
of villages, &tc. 4,100,000. The yearly rent of land
he reckons io,ooo,oooh 5 of houfes, &.c. 2,000,0001.5
the produce of all kinds of grain in a tolerable year
9,075,000!. the annual rent of corn lands 2,200,000?,
and the net produce 9,000,000!. 5 the rent of pa-
fture, meadows, wroods, forefts, commons, heaths, &c.
7,000,000!. 5 the annual produce by cattle in butter,
cheefe, and milk, about 2,500,000!. 5 the value of
the wool yearly (horn about 2,ooo,oool. 5 of horfes
yearly bred about 250,000!. 5 of the fleftr yearly fpent
as food about 3,350,0001.5 of the tallow and hides
about 600,cool. 5 of the hay yearly confirmed by horfes
about 1,300,000!. 5 of the hay confirmed by other
cattle 1,000,cool. 5 of the timber yearly felled for build¬
ing 500,000!. 5 and of the timber yearly felled for fir¬
ing, &c. about 500,000k The proportion of the land
of England to its inhabitants is now about 7^ acres per
head 5 the value of the wheat, rye, and barley, neceffary
for the fuftenance of England, amounts to at leaf!
6,ooo,oool. Sterling per annum; of the woollen ma¬
nufacture about 8,ooo,oool. per annum, and exports cf
all kinds of the woollen manufacture amount to above
2,000,000kper annum; the annual income of England,
on which the whole people firbfift, and out of which all
O taxes
i
POL
Political taxes are paid, is reckoned to be about tbat
Arithmetic. 0f France 8l,000,oool. and of Holland 18,250,000!.
“ * ' See Davenant’s EJfay on Trade, in vol. vi. of his works.
For calculations refpe£ting mortality, fee Major Grant’s
Okfervations on the Bills of Mortality, and our article
Bills of Mortality.
In vol. xlix. of the Philofophical Tranfactions we have
an eftimate of the number of people in England by Dr
Brakenridge, from confide ring the number of houfes and
quantity of bread confumed. On the former principle
he computes the number of people to be 6,257,418 of
all ages, counting in England and W ales pi 1,31 o houfes,
and allowing fix perfons to a houfe. From a furvey of
the window-lights after the year 1750, the number of
houfes charged in England and Wales were 690,000,
befides 200,000 cottages that pay nothing ; the whole
number therefore was 890,000, and the number of peo¬
ple, allowing fix to a houfe, 5,340,000. On the latter
principle, he eftimates the number of quarters of wheat
confumed at home to be 2,026,100; and allowing a
quarter for three perfons in a year, or feven ounces a day
for each perfon, he concludes the number of people to
be 6.078,300. Of this number, according to Dr Hal¬
ley’s rule, he fuppofes about 1,500,000 men able to carry
arms. The country he fuppofes capable of fupporting
one half more inhabitants, or 9,000,000 ; for, according
to Mr Templeman’s furvey, England contains 49,450
fquare miles, that is, 31,648,000 acres, of which23,000,000
POL
acres are proper to be cultivated ; and allowing three Political
acres, well manured, for the maintenance of one perfon, Arithmetic.
there will be maintenance in England for 8,430,000
people ; to which add the produce of fifhing, and it will
enable the country to fupport 9,000,000. In Ireland,
Mr Templeman reckons 17,536,000 acres, of which Dr
Brakenridge thinks 12,000,000 are capable of cultiva¬
tion ; and allowing four acres to each perfon, and the
number of inhabitants to be only 1,000,000, Ireland
could maintain 2,000,000 more people than it has
now. In Scotland, containing 1,500,000 people, and
17,728,000 acres of land, of which there are 11,000,000
good acres, allowing five for each perfon, he fuppofes
there may be provifion for 2,200,000 people, or for
700,000 more than there are at prefent. Hence he
infers, that were both the Britilh ifles properly cultivat¬
ed, there is a provifion for 6,000,©00 inhabitants beyond
the prefent number. Extending his furvey to the whole
globe, he fuppofes the whole furface to be to the quan¬
tity of land as 8 to 3, i. e. as 197,819,550 to 74,182,331
fquare miles ; out of which deducting one third for
wafte-ground, there will be 49,454,887 fquare miles, or
31,651,1 27,680 good acres. And dating the whole
number of inhabitants on the globe to be 400,000,000,
there will be 79 good acres to each perfon. See Dr
Halley’s Calculations on the fame fubjeft, and Dr Price's
(for a lift of whofe works fee his life at the word Price^,
and King on the National Debt.
[ i°6 ]
POLITICAL ECONOMY
MAY be defined the fcience which relates to the pro-
duftion, multiplication and diftribution of Wealth.
HISTORY.
The acquifition of wealth muft at all times have been an
objeift of intereft and attention to mankind. Yet it was
not for a long time reduced into a fcience, but was left
merely to the induftry and pra&ical obfervation of men
engaged in the different branches of induftry. We find
little or nothing in the ancient writers which can be
confidered as belonging to this department of fcience.
Among them agriculture appears to have been more
honoured and attended to, than either trade or manufac¬
tures. The latter efpecially wTere confidered as unworthy
of freemen, and were abandoned entirely to (laves. Yet
the ancient world had its commercial dates ; and perhaps
had the monuments of Pheniciam or Carthaginian litera¬
ture come down to us, they might in fome meafure have
fupplied this blank.
During the middle ages, the reign of diforder and
violence checked the praftical, and ftill more the theo¬
retical purfuit of thefe important objefts. The feudal
fyftem, in which the lordly baron ruled with licentious
fway over his little territory, and carried on almoft per¬
petual war with his neighbours, was hoftile to all im¬
proved agriculture, and abfolutely precluded any pro-
grefs in manufa&ures and commerce. Thefe took re¬
fuge in the large maritime towns, where fortifications
fecured the inhabitants from lawlefs inroads, and a regu¬
lar police placed perfon and property in fafety. The
gradual growth of thefe cities conftituted the grand
caufe which induced the civilization of modern Europe.
The models of beautiful w?orkman(hip which were pro¬
duced, and the various means which ingenuity difcover-
ed for multiplying the accommodations of life, gradual¬
ly brought about a complete change in the habits of
landed proprietors. Power, not wealth, had formerly
been their object; and to promote this power, they fpent
almoft all their revenues in maintaining a crowrd of idle
retainers. But when, by the improvement of arts, they
had got a tafte for luxury, the gratification of wdrich re¬
quired an augmentation of wealth, their objeft came to be,
how to turn their eftates to the beft account. This could
only be done by granting the farmer a longer leafe, which,
enabling him to make improvements, led to abetter fyftem
of agriculture. The fame taftes drew them to large cities,
and thus led them into extravagant habits, which often
brought their eftates to market, and placed them in the
hands of the commercial and induftrious. Thus the im¬
provement of modern Europe, contrary to the natural courfe
of things, began with the manufafturing and commercial
claffes, and was from them refle&ed to the agricultural part
of the community. The confequence was, that commerce
and manufa&ures were long^ looked upon as the grand
fource of w?ealth, and were the objects of peculiar favour
to the legiflator. Hence arofe the mercantile fyftem,
which, till about the middle of the laft century, wTas
completely predominant in Europe. A (ketch of its
leading principles will be introduced in the courfe of
the:
Ghap.I. POLITICAL
Hiftory. the prefent treatife, and they are fully detailed and fup-
' ported in the writings of Davenant, Petty, Child, and
other writers by whom its tenets were adopted.
This fyftem had a powerful influence on the legiflation
of the different European nations, England not except¬
ed. But in France, above all, it reigned with abfolute
IUL 111 A 1 aris-v. J ^ 7 O . __ j-ry
{vZy. Colbert, the celebrated minifter of Lewis XIV.
in his zeal for the promotion of trade and manufaftures,
not only neglefted, but even depreffed agriculture, by
laying abfurd retlraints on the exportation of porn. One
extreme leads to another. Thinking men m France,
obferving the pernicious confequences of this iyltem,
were led to the adoption of one direftly oppofite. Ac¬
cording to them, agriculture formed the only realfource ot
wealth. This opinion was firft advanced by M. Quefnay,
a phyfician of Paris j lie was followed by a multitude ot
philofophers, who efpoufed his opinion with all the
union and zeal of a fe<3. Accordingly they went un¬
der the name of Economifts, and the Economical Sett.
The Encyclopedic of Diderot and D’Alembert was con-
duaed entirely upon their principles, and tended to give
them a wide circulation. Turgot, m the reforms which
he undertook during his (hort adminiftration, was chiet-
ly guided by the principles of the Economifts.
Soon after this, Scotland had the honour of produ¬
cing a fyftem, which has obtained the general approba¬
tion of thinking men, and has gradually fuperfeded all
others. Adam Smith, being profeffor in the firft com¬
mercial city of Scotland, had his attention naturally
drawn to thefe fubjects. In his clafs he had already
begun to illuftrate the true principles of political econo¬
my. Travelling afterwards in France, he became ac¬
quainted with the leading members of the Economical
fchool. On his return he fpent nine years in maturing
his ideas, and preparing his great work “ On the Wealth
of Nations,” which was publilhed in 1776. Here, like
the Economifts, he (hewed the errors of the mercantile
fyftem, but in a much more folid and fatisfaaory man¬
ner. He (hewed alfo their own principles to be in many
refpefts erroneous ; and he inveftigated the effefts of the
divifion of labour, and various other circumftances which
had not occurred to any former writer.
Although the fyftem of Smith gave general iatisiac-
tion to all who were able to inveftigate the fubjett, and
though it was even adopted by Mr Pitt as the bafis of
his financial and commercial arrangements, yet it did
not for a long time acquire a very general currency with
the public. It was adopted by the learned only, and
not always by them (a). In this refpeft, the publication
of the Edinburgh Review may be confidered as forming
an era in the hiftory of this fcience. This celebrated
iournal, by illuftrating in a popular manner the leading
fubiefts of political economy, and by beating down, wit
its keen powers of ridicule, the opinions of thofe who ftill
adhered to the obfolete fyftem, has done more towards
difu)ng the true principles of the fcience, than any or-
mer publication. Lord Lauderdale alfo has recently
publiftied a work, in which, with fome paradoxes, he has
ECONOMY. IG/
made alfo fome important additions and correaions to ^ture ot
the doftrine of Smith. &.c.
In the following (ketch, confidering Smith as the ta-     ,
ther of political economy, we (hall clofely follow his
fteps, adopting however a fomewhat different arrange¬
ment, and including fuch improvements as the fcience
has received fince his time. .
The fubjedt, it appears to us, may be treated with ad¬
vantage under the following heads :
I. The nature and different fpecies of wealth.
II. The fources of wealth.
HI. The manner in which wealth is produced and
diftributed. .
IV. View of the mercantile and economical lyftems.
V. Public revenue.
Thefe topics will form the fubjeas of the following-
chapters.
Chap. I. On the Nature and different Species of
Wealth.
Sect. I. Of the Defnition of Wealth / and of Price.
Wealth has been defined to confift of every thing
which can be exchanged for another. Lord Lauder¬
dale gives a more general definition, and confiders it as
confifting of every thing which is ufeful or agreeable .to
man*. We conceive, however, that this muft be limit- # Lauder-
ed to obieas of external accommodation } for knowledge dale on
and mental qualifications of every kind, though moft Wealthy cln
ufeful and agreeable, cannot be (aid to conftitute wealth, ^ui_ffRem
nor to form the fubje£t of political economy. Again,
external accommodations, which are in complete and V1ii. art. 8.
univerfal abundance, the air we breathe., the light of hea¬
ven, are notivealth. To conftitute this, the article muil
exift in fome degree of fcarcity. It is then only that it
can poffefs an exchangeable value, that its poffeffor can
procure other commodities in return for it. Thus there
are two circumftances to be confidered in any commo¬
dity ; its value in ufe, and its value in exchange. W ater,
air, &c. are of the greateft ufe; but from their great
abundance, nothing can be got in exchange for them.
Diamonds, on the contrary, are of very little ufe ; but
from their great rarity, their exchangeable value, or/r/ce,
is beyond that of any other fubftance.
The price of an article depends entirely upon two
circumftances. 1. The demand, or the number of per-
fons who defire to poffefs it, and have fomething to give
in exchange. 2. The fupply, or the quantity brought
to market. The price is direftly as the demand, and
inverfely as the fupply 5 the former raifes, the latter
finks it. Where there are many bidders, and where
the quantity is fmall, the competition muft be increafed,
each muft feek to outbid the other, and the price of the
commodity muft rife. On the contrary, if the bidders
are few, and the comm®dity in great abundance, the
poffeffor, in order to difpofe of it, will be under the ne-
ceflity of offering it at a low price.
(a) In the fcarcity of 1799 <or
fubfcribed 50I. to be employed in
1800, the univerfity of Cambridge was announced in
the apprehtfnfion of regraters and for ej, alters, .
the newfpapers
as having
io8
Nature of
Wealth,
&c.
POLITICAL
Sect. II. Of Capital.
* l?ook ii.
ch. ili.
f Lauder-
dale en
Wealth.
Every man’s wealth is of two kinds ; the one which
he lays afide for immediate conlumption; the other
which he relerves for the fupply of future wants, or em¬
ploys in luch a manner as to make it produce new
wealth, i he former is called his income, the latter
his capital. In proportion as he devotes his property to
the former of thefe purpofes, his wealth is diminifhed ;
m proportion as he devotes it to the latter, it is increaf-
ed. ihis evidently takes place in the cafe of an indi¬
vidual ; and Smith feems to confider it as taking place
equally in the cafe of a nation *. Later inquirers, how¬
ever, feern to have proved, that there is here a dift'e'r-
ence. Extreme parfimony throughout a nation, by
preventing the produdion of all articles but thofe of the
firll neceffity, would induce general poverty f. Still,
however, it is effential to the profperity of a people, that
their annual produce fhould not be all confumed, but
that a confiderable portion fhould be fet afide and con¬
verted into capital.
Capital is divided into fixed and circulating. Fixed
capital eonfifts of all thofe articles, which, without be¬
ing themfelves calculated for exchange or confumption,
tend to incteaie the produdion of thofe articles which
are fo. Such are all kinds of machinery, farming flock,
elections Jor tire purpofc of mining or manufadure,
fhips, &c. I hefe form a moll valuable part of the
propel ty of tne nation, and make its revenue much
greater than it would otherwife be. At the fame time,
as they are of no ufe in themfelves, provided the fame ef-
feds can be produced without them, or by cheaper in -
liniments, their dhufe, by faving expence, forms a real
addition to the national wealth.
Circulating capital confifls of all thofe commodities
which are produced or purchafed for the purpofe of be¬
ing wrought upon, or tranfported elfewhere, and again
fold. It comprifes almoil all the wealth not included
under fixed capital, d he feed corn of the farmer, the
materials of the manufadurer, the goods purchafed by
the merchant, come all under this defcription. Lands,
mines, and fifheries, are the fources from which circula¬
ting capital originally proceeds 5 whence, after palling
through various hands, it arrives at length, and is loft,
in thofe of the confumer.
* Smith, Sect. III. Of Money. ^
book i. ch.
d. ch. -L5arter> °ir the exchange of one thing for another
01 equal value, is effential to the fupply of the varied
wants of man, and is the grand principle on which com¬
merce depends. Thus it is that men, while merely
con halting their own interefls, minifter to each others
neceffities. It is attended, however, with an obvious
inconvenience. A man may have goods to exchan ere
which qo not mit his neighbour. The farmer has a
fiieep, and is in wrant of cloth •, but the cloth merchant
may not be in want of mutton, or at leaf! may not wifh
fo large a quantity. Hence the neceffity of findincr
fome commodity which may at all times be in demand^
and which every one may be ready to receive in ex¬
change for every other article. This commodity ought
evidently to poflfefs fome quality which may render it
au objed of univerfal eflimation 5 it ought alfo to pof-
E C O N O M Y. Chap. I.
fefs great value in a fmall compafs, fo as to be portable, JN ature of
and not to encumber its poffeffor ; it ought to he divi- Wealth,
fible into the imallell portions j and it ought to be du- .
rabie, fo as to be capable of being treafured up till
wanted. ^All thefe qualities are united in the precious
metals. Their beauty, their durability, their very fear-
city, render them better fitted than any other commodi¬
ty toi being the ftandard of value and the medium of
exchange. All nations, accordingly, after a trial of
lome ruder expedients, have finally had recourfe to them
for this purpole.
Money is in one view a fixed, and in another a circu¬
lating capital. To the individual it Hands in the latter
capacity, for no one receives money unlefs for the pur¬
pole of fooner or later exchanging it for fomething elfe.
To the nation, however, it is a fixed capital; being not
deflined for confumption, but merely an inftrument for
Iran fading bufinefs with greater facility and advan¬
tage.
As the facility of exchanging the precious metals for
every other commodity, renders the demand for them
conftant and univerfal, their price depends almoft whol¬
ly on t\\efi/pply. Ihis, too, is more uniform than that
of moft other commodities. A great revolution, how¬
ever, took place at the beginning of the 16th century,
in confequence of the difeovery of America. For fome.
time before, the value of filver feems rather to have
been rifing. But the immenfe mines of Mexico and
Peru furmlhed fuch a copious fupply, as foon reduced it
to about one-third of its former value. Smith is of
opinion, that fince that time there has been rather a
rife in the value of thefe metals. The Eaft Indies,
where they Hill continue (career than in Europe, forms
a conftant drain. The mines, in the courfe of working,
approach nearer to an exhauftion ; accordingly, the
king of Spain, who originally levied a tax amounting
to half the produce of filver, has found it neceffary to
reduce it fucceffively to one-third, one-fifth, and at laft,
to one-tenth. T he tax on gold is reduced to one-tw^en-
tieth. The annual importation of gold and filver into
Spain is eftimated at about fix millions.
It has been a frequent pradtice with fovereigns to re¬
duce the quantity of bullion in any given denomination
of coin, and thus to pay their debts with a fmaller
amount of gold and filver. To fuch an extent has this
pradtice been carried, that in England the pound fier-
ling is not quite a third of the real pound of filver, and
in France the depreciation is far greater. This pradtice
is completely fraudulent and difhonourable. No pow'er
of the fovereign can really make this debafed coin pafs
for as much, as it formerly did ; the confequence is, an
immediate rife in the nominal or money price of every
commodity. All thofe, however, who are in the pay
of government, fuffer, and fo do all creditors both public
and private ; for though the law cannot compel the na¬
tion to fet the fame value on the new coin as on the
old, it can compel the creditor to accept it in payment
of the fums which he has previoufiy advanced in good
coin.
All Hates referve to themfelves the privilege of coin¬
ing .money. Some, as England, perform this office
gratis; while others, as France, impofe a fmall feigno-
rage at the mint. The latter mode feems rather pre¬
ferable ; for when the circulating coin, as frequently
happens, is reduced by long ufe and attrition beneath its
real
Chap. I.
POLITICAL
Nature of real value in bullion, the iffuing of new coin which pof-
VVealtb, fej^es that value affords a temptation to melt it down
, and recoin it.
* Smith, SECT. IV. Of Paper Money *.
book ii, ch.
Money, we have had occafion to obferve, confidered
in a national point of view, is fixed capital. Like other
fixed capitals, therefore, although its fun£lions be moft
effential to the maintenance of trade, yet if any lefs
coftly fubilitute can be found, by which the fame func¬
tions may be equally well performed, the public is de¬
cidedly a gainer. Such a fubftitute is paper money.
By employing it, a nation faves the expenee of gold and
filver, and at the fame time derives all the commercial
advantages which money can afford. It is even in fome
refpedts more convenient, as being more eafily tranfport-
ed, and lefs liable to accident.
There are however, extraordinary dangers attending
the exceffive and incautious uie of this inltrument, and
no caufe perhaps has been produftive of more fignal
commercial difafters. The apparent facility of thus
creating wealth, as it were, tempts banks and other pub¬
lic bodies to an exceffive iffue of it. The circulation of
the country, however, can abforb only a certain quanti¬
ty; and as foon as more is thrown in, it immediately re¬
turns upon the iffuer, in a quantity for which he is pro¬
bably unprepared. As foon as he fhows any hefitation
in dilcharging the demand, the whole ruthes in, and
bankruptcy and ruin enfue. Where the paper indeed
has been iffiied by the government, payment may be re-
fufed ; but in this cafe an immediate depreciation takes
place in the value of the notes, and a deep injury is
fuftained by all who are poffefled of them. From this
caufe it was that the French aflignats fell fo far below
their original value ; and for the fame reafon the Ame¬
rican currency is confiderably beneath its nominal value.
Where, however, peculiar circumftances have produced
an accidental fcarcity of money, a temporary fufpenfion
of payment may become neceffary, and with due cau¬
tion may be produiffive of no ferious bad confequen-
ces; fuch has been lately the cafe of the bank of Eng-
f Edin- End f.
dt/rgh Re- Banks can with no propriety advance to merchants
“Mew, N0 i. the whole capital on which they trade, but only that
a"' W part of it which they would otherwife be obliged to
keep by them for the purpofe of anfwering occafional
demands. This they do in two ways. i. By difeount-
ing bills. 2. By granting calh accounts. The former
only of thefe is praftifed in England. The latter is pe¬
culiar to Scotland. It is managed thus. Two perfons
of refpeftable, commonly of landed, property, becoming
caution to the extent of a certain fum, the merchant is
allowed to draw to the extent of that fum. Merchants
however, do not always content themfelves with the de¬
gree of affiffance above pointed out. They endeavour
to carry on extenfive fpeculations merely on paper money.
For this purpofe they draw fictitious bills for the mere
purpofe of having them difeounted ; and by drawing a fe-
cond before the firlt becomes due, they delay Hill farther
the repayment of the original advance. Banks ought
always, if poflible, to avoid the difeounting of fictitious
bills; and Ihould take care, in cafh accounts, that the
ad vances and repayments nearly keep pace with each other.
ECONOMY.
109
Wealth,
8cc.
In this cafe there is little danger of an over iffuc of Nature of
notes.
It does not appear eligible, however, that gold and
filver fhould be entirely lupplanted by paper money. In
all tranfaftions with foreign nations, the former be¬
comes neceffary ; and even domeltic inconveniences
would arife from its abfolute exclufion. For the preven¬
tion of this, it is advifeable not to iffue notes below a
certain value. In England, this, till of late, was fixed
at five or ten pounds; though in a recent fcarcity, notes ■
for twenty {hillings began to be iffued. In Scotland
thefe have long been in circulation ; and notes even for
five {hillings were fome time ago introduced, though
thefe, as* foon as the preflure of neceflity admitted, have
been difeontinued.
Sect. V. Of the Variations in the Price of Commo¬
dities.
The price of commodities fundamentally depends on
the capacity which they poffefs, of miniffering to the
ufe and pleafure of man. Great variations, however,
are feen to take place ; and in this country particularly,
in confequence of national profperity, a great rife has
occurred in a variety of articles. This is vulgarly af-
cribed to the greater plenty of money; an affertion eve¬
ry way vague, and which has no foundation in fact.
Had the increafe taken place in confequence of any re¬
markable increafe in the lupply of gold and filver,
through the difeovery of new mines, the affertion would
have been juft. No fuch general increafe, however,
has taken place, at leaft to any very fenfible degree.
The increafe in this particular country has been owing
to the augmentation in the number and value of all
other commodities, for the circulation of which a great¬
er quantity of this inftrument of exchange becomes ne¬
ceffary. The relation, however, between it and other
commodities, continues unaltered ; and the quantity of
any particular commodity, for which a certain quantity
of it can be exchanged, remains the fame. Indeed the
augmentation has taken place, not fo much in gold and
filver, as in paper money, the fubftitute of thofe metals.
The fame arguments would hold again ft a rife occafion-
ed by the ufe of this inftrument, which can happen only
where it is depreciated, as in fome government paper,
by the refufal of payment on demand. This cafe, howr-
ever, would be indicated by a difference between its va¬
lue, and that of gold and filver; a difference which has
no place in this country.
Smith has illuftrated *, in a moft able and fatisfac- # j.,
tory manner, the fource of thofe variations of price, c]iap x-'
which take place in confequence of advancing cultiva¬
tion. He divides commodities into three kinds, which
are as follows :
The firft confifts of thofe produ&ions of nature which
human efforts have no power of multiplying. Such are
a variety of rare birds and fifties, moft kinds of game,
and particularly birds of paffage. The growth of
wealth and population has a natural tendency to increafe
the demand for thefe articles; and as the fupply cannot
be made to meet this demand, the price muff: confe-
quently rife. Accordingly, in a highly opulent ftate
of fociety, it becomes, in fome inftances, enormous.
The Roman epicures are faid fometimes to have given
60I. or Sol. for a {ingle bird.
The
’IIO
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Chap. II.
Nature of
Wealth,
Sec.
«
The fecond fort is of thofe which human induftry can
multiply in proportion to the demand. Where the
commodity, as corn, is fuch as cannot be produced but
by human induftry, the price is more uniform than in
almoft any other cafe. The increafing fcarcity and
confequently value of land, tends indeed to raife it j
but this is countera&ed by the invention of machinery,
and improved methods of labour. The oppoftte agency
of thefe two caufes has a conftant tendency to preferve
uniformity in the value of grain ; though we cannot,
with Smith, confider this uniformity as likely to be fo
complete, as to render the price of grain a fure ftandard
for the value of ftlver.
There are other commodities, however, which nature
produces in abundance, or wdiich, where land is plenti¬
ful, can be multiplied v/ith little or no cultivation. Of
thefe the principal is butcher meat. Lands can be co¬
vered with cattle or fheep by the labour of fewr hands,
and fometimes without any labour at all. Hence, in
rude times, butcher meat is always cheaper than corn ;
in improved periods, the reverfe is the cafe. For a long
time the price continues conftantly to rife, as we have
feen it do throughout Great Britain, the pafture lands
being more and more converted into arable. At laft,
however, it becomes fo high as to make it an objedl for
the farmer to ftall his cattle, and to cultivate ground
for the purpofe of feeding them. After this era, the
price is likely to experience a certain diminution, from
the improved modes of feeding and rearing, which, in
confequence of this new attention, are likely to be dif-
covered and adopted.
There are certain animals, as hogs, poultry, &c.
which are fed on mere offals, and in a rude ftate, there¬
fore, are ftill cheaper than butcher meat. In an im¬
proved ftate they are dearer •, for they have not as yet,
at leaft in this country, become an objeft of feparate
cultivation.
The third fort confifts of thofe, in the multiplication
of which the powTer of man is either limited or uncer¬
tain. In thefe the rule is various. Some commodities
■are not cultivated on their own account, but are appen¬
dages to others ; as wool and hides to the carcafe of the
ox or fheep. Both thefe commodities are much more
portable, and more eaftly preferved, than the flefh of
the animals from which they are taken j the market for
them is thus much more extenfive, and the demand
snore equal at all times. Hence, in rude periods, when
the flefh of animals, from its abundance, is of fmall va¬
lue, thefe appendages equal or furpafs it in price. At
Buenos Ayres frequently, and fometimes even in Spain,
an ox is killed for the fake of the hide and tallow. In
an improved ftate of fociety, on the contrary, the hide
and fleece become confiderably inferior in value to the
carcafe.
Tijh is an article, the fupply of which is confiderably
limited, as man has no power of produftion in refpe£I
to it, though, by the exertion of induftry, he can col-
left a greater quantity. Shoals of fifh are generally co¬
pious, but uncertain.
Metals and minerals are articles, the fupply of which
is not precifely limited, but extremely uncertain. The
difeovery of new mines, or the continuance of fertility
in the old, are equally beyond the reach of calcula¬
tion.
Sources of
Chap. II. Of the Sources of Wealth.
All wealth arifes from three fources j it is cither
produced by the fpontaneous bounty of nature, or it is
the fruit of human induftry, or it is generated by the
judicious employment of a quantity of wealth previoufly
accumulated. To thefe three heads then of land, la¬
bour, and capital, all national wealth may be re¬
ferred.
Smith has treated of the revenue derived from thefe
three fources as forming the conftituent parts of the
price of commodities j and with regard to labour in
particular, repeatedly confiders it as the only fource of
wealth *. According to the view however, given above, * Book i.
the price of all commodities depends entirely on the pr0-c^,v,T^ VB‘
portion between the demand and the fupply. Labour,
therefore, (and the fame may be faid of land and capi¬
tal), is only a means of furniihing or inereafing a fupply
of thofe articles for which there already exifts a demand,
and unlcfs it be fuccefsful in fo doing, the moft fevere
labours will meet with no remuneration whatever. We
lhall therefore proceed to conftder the revenue which
arifes from thefe different fources, and the circumftances
by which it is increafed or diminilhed.
Sect. I. Land.
All land which is not naturally barren, and is culti¬
vated with any eafe, affords fomething more than is
neceffary to pay the expence of labouring it. This fur-
plus goes as a rent to the landlord, who, in confidera-
tion of receiving it without rifk or trouble, relinquifhes
to the farmer the profits of cultivation.
The proportion of the produce of a field which is to
go for rent, varies with different circumftances. The
chief of thefe is the fertility of the foil, the extent of
the market, which enables the produce to be difpofed of
to greater advantage, the profperity or poverty of the
country, which caules a greater or lefs demand for that
produce, and the average fkill and aftivity of the far¬
mers, which will enable them to turn the fertility of
the ground to better account. It is almoft needlefs to
obferve, were it not for the vague language often made
ufe of upon this fubjeft, that the rate at which farms
let, muft, like all other commodities, depend altogether
upon the demand and the fupply. If much is to be
made by farming, many will bid for farms, and the
rent will be raifed by their competition, and vice verfa.
The idea that all the landlords of an extenfive country
may combine to raife their rents, is altogether chimeri¬
cal. Even could it take place, it could be accomplifhed
only by a certain number ef them allowing their lands
to lie wafte, which, diminifhing the fupply, would
doubtlefs raife the rent of the cultivated lands. But
we need not fear that any landlord {hould leave his
lands in this condition, from a culpable fcheme of ag¬
grandizing the reft of his body at his own expence, as
well as that of the public.
Land which produces food for man will at all times
afford rent to the landlord, in proportion to its fertility,
and the other circumftances mentioned above. Men
multiply in proportion to the means of fubiiftence 5 they
have even a conftant tendency to multiply beyond thefe
means j hence there is always a full demand for this
fpecies
4
Chap. II. POLITICAL
Nature of fpecies of produce. The rent, therefore, afforded by
Wealth, t]ie grounci which is employed in cultivating whatever
, ^c' , is the ftaple food of the community, regulates the rent
of all other ground. No one, unlefs forced to it by pe¬
culiarities of foil, would cultivate any article which af¬
forded lefs rent than this. There may be foils indeed
which are only fit for the produftion of an inferior ar¬
ticle, and there are others which are fitted for the pro-
du&ion of thofe of higher value. In vine countries, the
rent of an ordinary vineyard feems to be nearly on a le¬
vel with that of corn. But there are others, whole
wines being regarded as fuperior, make them yield a
much higher rent. The Weft India illands, before tbe
late depreciation of their produce, feem to have been
nearly in the fame predicament.
Thefe obfervations, however, apply chiefly to that
produce of land which is the refult of human labour.
In regard to the fpontaneous produce of land, it depends
upon circumftances, whether or not it yields any rent at
all. In a rude ftate of fociety, above all, the demand
is often fo flender, that, unlefs through the intervention
of foreign commerce, this produce will bear fcarcely
any value. Such countries are often covered with im-
xnenfe natural woods, the cutting down of which is a
burden inftead of an advantage. In an improved coun¬
try this wood would afford a large revenue. Moft of
the materials of clothing and lodging are of this nature.
In the infancy of fociety, the great objeft is food j and
provided men can procure that, they are ratisfied with
very moderate accommodations in other refpe61s. 1 he
hides and furs of their cattle, and of the wild animals
whom they kill in hunting, are more than fuflkient to
fupply them with coverings. But as fociety becomes
opulent, and luxury is introduced, clothes are among the
favourite objedls on which this luxury is vented. A great
increafe therefore takes place in the demand for its mate¬
rials. The fame may be faid of thofe of lodging and fur¬
niture.
Mines, in political economy, may be confidered in the
fame light as land. Like it, they yield a rent, which
how7ever, from the difficulty of working, is generally lefs
than that of land. Coal, an important article, is kept
down both by its great bulk, which narrows the market,
and by its relation to the price of wood, which price it
cannot exceed, otherwife wood would be preferred as
fuel. A fifth of the whole produce is reckoned a great
rent for a coal mine} a tenth is the moft common.
Metals, even the coarfe, and ftill more the fine, will
bear very extenfive carriage. In general, however, their
rent is not very high. The tin mines of Cornwall, faid
to be the richeft in the world, yield on an average only a
fixth part of their grofs produce. 1 he king of Spain’s tax
of a fifth on the filver mines in America, formed.indeed
the rent of thofe mines j but this tax he was obliged to
* Smith, reduce to one tenth. It is faid to be ill paid *.
booki. ch. Tijheries form another fource of wealth fimilar to
land and mines. The fea, however, has never yet been
appropriated, nor a rent exafled for its ufe. The right
of filhing, however, in fome feas of peculiar fertility,
has been claimed as national property. River fifheries
let frequently at a very high rent.
Sect. II. Labour.
The great fourcc of exchangeable commodities, is the
labour of man. Even thofe powers of. nature for which
ECONOMY. nr
rent is paid, rarely afford any thing valuable unlefs aid-
ed by human efforts. Capital, however powerful an in- ^ ’
ftrument, confifts merely of accumulated labour. Ori-
ginally the fruit of every man's induftry would belong
entirely to himfelf. Soon, however, the proprietor of the
land from which he drew food, would claim a lhare. As
the ftruclure of fociety became more complicated, and
markets more remote, fomething- more would be found
requifite. It would be neceffary to have fubfiftence
W'hile the article was producing and carrying to market,
to be able to purchafe materials on which to work, and
to command machinery or fixed capital in order to ren¬
der labour more produftive. For all thefe purpofes,
capital would become neceffary •, and the perfon who
had accumulated a portion of it would be able to com¬
mand the Cervices of feveral others to whom he would
advance fubfiftence and the materials of working, and
would receive in return the fruits of their labour. As
capitals accumulate, this becomes almoft univerfally the
cafe; in a commercial ftate, few independent workmen
are to be found.
The price of labour or wages is regulated, like every
thing elfe, by the demand and the fupply. If there are
many who want and can employ workmen, and if few can
be found, the competition of the maft ers will raife the wages,
until the whole capital, not otherwife employed, is diftri-
buted among that fmall number. In the oppofite cir-
cumftance, workmen, glad to work for any thing rather
than ftarve, will bid againft each other till are all em¬
ployed, at however fmall a recompenfe. The com¬
binations among workmen, fo much complained of, can
never have any permanent effedf, unlefs accompanied by
thofe circumftances which neceffarily lead to a rife. The
combination of mafters, though lefs heard of, is more to
be feared. Their numbers are fmaller, and from their
greater command of property, they can hold out for a
longer time. From the above caufes, however, there is
no reafon whatever to dread any ferious or lafting con-
fequences from fuch a meafure.
The fupply of labour, or the population, has a natural
tendency to fuit itfelf to the demand. High wages, by-
encouraging early marriage, and enabling the labourer
to take better care of his children, foon caufe an addi¬
tion to the numbers of a ftate, which, in its turn brings
down the wages. Hence uncommonly high wages take
place chiefly in an advancing ftate of fociety, when a
number of employments are open, for which a fufliciency
of labourers cannot be found. When the wealth of a
country is ftationary, the wages will be moderate, fuifi-
cient to admit of the rearing of fuch a number of child¬
ren, as may keep up the population, but not fuch as to
admit of any increafe. When the country is in a de¬
clining ftate, the wages will fall even below this. They
will fcarcely enable the labourer to fubfift; comparative¬
ly few will be able to rear families, and population will
decline f. . . f Smith,
From what has been faid above, there will appear no book i. ch.
reafon to fuppefe, that the price of fubfiftence has any’di*-
immediate influence on the wages of labour; an idea
which even Smith feems ftrangely to have entertained E j lb. bools
The demand for labour, the funds by which it is paid,ii’’.
and the number of labourers continuing the fame, no al¬
teration in its price can take place. For mafters to give
higher wages on account of fcarcity, is , we fufpecd, a
very injudicious benevolence. The . funds for the main¬
tenance.
112
POLITICAL
Sources ef tcnance of labour, far from being increafed by a dearth,
Wealth. are diminiihed ; fo that the giving a greater pro¬
portion of them than before to fame, mutt be the means
of throwing others altogether out of employment; and to
this caufe we fufpeft that the want of work ufually com¬
plained of at thete periods, is very much to be afcribed.
Where the rife of provifions is permanent, however, that
oi labour, though not immediate, takes place ultimately,
in confequence of a diminution of the fupply. The diffi¬
culty of fubfiilence prevents labourers from rearing fuch
numerous families ; population is thinned ; and the di-
miniffied competition caufes a rife in the price of wages.
Wages in general are nearly the fame over a coun¬
try ; for if they are higher in any one place, this proves
a natural attraction to thofe of other diitricts, who foon
reduce the rate to its proper level. This free circulation
of labour, however, may be prevented by artificial re-
ftraints, as was the cafe, till of late, in England, by
means of the poor laws. Thefe authorized the pariffi
officers to prevent any one who was ever likely to be¬
come a burden on the parifh from fettling in it. The
moft obnoxious part of thefe laws, however, has been done
away, chiefly through the exertions of Mr Rofe.
Wages are generally higher in cities than in the coun-
. try. The capitals there are greater. The country too
is more prolific, wffiile few towns keep up their own
numbers. Many indeed migrate from the former to the
latter ; but the predileftion for their native foot, and to
more wholefome and cheerful-occupations, prevents this
migration from being fo great as completely to equalize
the rate. Another caufe arifes, in modern Europe,
from the corporation fyftem which has generally pre¬
vailed. Almoft every trade has fome regulations to
limit the number of its members, and thus, by reftraining
competition, to increafe their wages. The principal of
thefe regulations are thofe regarding the duration of ap¬
prenticeship. By the fifth of Elizabeth, no trade can
be exercifed in England, till after an apprenticeffiip of
feven years; and the only freedom from this flatute is in
the cafe of thofe trades which were at that time un¬
known. In Scotland, apprenticelhips are in general
much fhorter.
Wages, however, vary not only from local caufes,
but from others connected with the nature of the trades
by which they are earned. There feem to be five cir-
. cumllances which tend to raife the wages of any clafs of
men above the ordinary level.
Full, When any employment is of an unwholefome
and difagreeable nature. Thus miners, blackfmiths,
butchers, and innkeepers, earn higher wages than thofe
whofe occupation is not liable to the fame objeftions.
On the other hand, hunting and fiffiing, being naturally
agreeable, and purfued by many for mere amufement,
are by no means profitable.
Secondly, Where a profeffion is difficult to learn, as
in the fine arts and liberal profeffions, w-hich require
many years ftudy before a man is qualified to exercife
them.
Thirdly, Where ernployment is precarious. Thus
rnafons wffiofe employment depends on the weather, and
all workmen wffio are liable to be called upon and difi-
miffed at a moment’s warning, receive higher usages to
compenfate for this uncertainty in the means of their fub-
fiftence.
Fourthly, Where great truft is repofed in the work.-
3
ECONOMY. _ Chap. II.
man. On this ground, goldfmiths and phyficians are Sources of
entitled to higher gains than others, in order that fuch Wealth,
important trulls may be repofed in perfons who have fome- v"
thing to lofe.
fifthly, Where there is any peculiar rilk, either of
failure, or of other difallers. Thus in the cafe of phy¬
ficians, and Hill more of lawyers, it is only a few of
thofe who apply to the profeffion to whom it ever yields
a fiibfillence. I hofe who rife to eminence, therefore,
have gained prizes in a lottery, which ought to be high
in proportion to the number of blanks. The effe6l of
this circumltance, however, is diminilhed by the natural
confidence which every one has in his talents and good
fortune, and by the brilliant reputation which accompa¬
nies fuccefs in thefe departments. The fame remark ap¬
plies to thofe profeffions which prefent a life of danger
and adventure, as the naval and military fervice. For¬
tunately for the public, notwithllanding the danger, the
hardfhip, and the fender emolument wfith which thefe
profeffions are accompanied, no want is found of perfons
who are ready to engage in them.
Laftly, 'Ihere are fome circumltances, to wffiich all
trades are occafionally liable. In a new' trade, the
W'ages are generally higher. The fuccefs, and confe-
quently the duration, of fuch muff be more or lefs un¬
certain ; and men will not be inclined, without fome
extraordinary temptation, to quit their old and eftablilhed
occupations, in order to engage in it. An extraordinary
demand too fometimes arifes for the commodities fur-
niffied by fome particular trade ; more labourers than
ufual will confequently be wanted ; and thefe muff be
allured by the offer of higher w ages. Sometimes, on the
other hand, work is done cheaper than ufual, from be¬
ing taken up as a bye-employment, by thofe who derive
their fubfiftence from a different fource *, as for inftance,
ftockings in the north of Scotland. This takes place,
however, only where the demand for labour is (lender,
as otherwfife the whole of a man’s time may be advanta-
geoufty employed.
In conftdering the effe&s of labour in the production
of wealth, Smith divides it into twm kinds, which he calls
productive and unproductive. Productive labourers are
thofe whofe induftry produces a commodity wffiich re¬
mains and can be exchanged for another. Thus the
farmer produces corn, the manufacturer cloth or hard¬
ware. The unproductive, on the contrary, are thofe
whofe fervices periffi in the moment of performance,
and never produce any commodity to wffiich value can
be attached. Thefe include a variety of profeffions both
the moft refpeCtable and the leaft fo. It includes, on
one hand, all thofe employed in the executive govern¬
ment, officers of the army and navy, officers of juftice,
public teachers of every defeription ; on the other, me¬
nial fervants, players, muficians, &c. The more a man
maintains of the former kind of labourers, the richer he
becomes; the more he maintains of the latter, he becomes
the poorer.
The moft eminent writers on this fubjeCt, in the pre¬
fent age, feem difpofed to treat this diftinCtion as nuga¬
tory. They urge, that wealth confifts merely in the abund¬
ance of conveniences and pleafures of life ; and that who¬
ever contributes to augment thefe is a productive labourer,
although he may not prefent us with any tangible com¬
modity. The profeffor wffio gives me a leCture, and the
mufician wffio gives me a tune, give fomething fubfer-
vient
Chap. IT.
POLITICAL
Sourt.es of vieirt to ufe or pleafure, and for which other articles
Wealth. may be bad in exchange. We are rather difpofed, how-
v ever, to adhere to the doftrine of Smith, and to doubt
how far thefe periihing and immaterial commodities, how¬
ever valuable they may be, can, Itridtly fpeaking, be
conlklered as wealth*.
* Smitht
book iii.
Ch. 3.
Lauder-
iale ;
Ed in. Re¬
view,
N° viii.
art. S.
Fav, FJe-
SiXT. III. Of Capital.
litique,
book i.
ch. 4?.
Capital or flock, as already hinted, is merely the
produce of land and labour accumulated, and employed
in fuch a manner as to caufe an augmentation of the
wealth of the community. It afts, however, too import-
wem i’Ero-unt a part, not to deferve feparate confideration. We
nomie Po- have already, confidering it as one of the divilions of
wealth, explained, at fome length, its nature and of¬
fice. We lhall now confider it in the relation which it
bears to revenue, which, when arifing from this fource,
is ufually called the profits of fiock.
It is difficult to obtain diretf information with regard
to the rate of profit in any particular country •, but it
may be inferred with confiderable certainty from the
rate of intereft, which always bears a certain relation to
thefe profits. The more advantageouily a man can em¬
ploy flock, the more will he be inclined to pay for the ufe
of it. Profit is generally fuppofed to be about double of
the interefl.
In poor but advancing communities profits are high.
There is a great demand for flock, and little to be had ;
hence men are glad to pay a high premium for the ufe
pf it. In North America intereft is from fix to eight
per cent. New colonies afford almoft the only in-
flances in which both profit and wages are high at the
fame time. The employment is fo ample as to demand
at once more men, and more flock, than can be fupplied
to it. As the country advances in wealth, flock be¬
comes more abundant, and the competition of different
flocks lowers the profit of each. Hence, in a rich coun¬
try, profits are low. In England the current rate of
intereft is (or at leaft was, before the immenfe loans of
the prefent war) from four to four and a half per cent.
In Holland, the richeft country perhaps in the world,
intereft is two or three per cent, and the Dutch are
obferved to trade on lower profits than any other peo¬
ple. But when a country is in a flate of decline, in
confequence of its property being plundered or deftrey-
ed, flock, from its fcarcity, acquires often an enormous
value. In Bengal money is faid to be lent to the far¬
mer at forty per cent, and upwards. We muff: obferve,
however, that even in opulent countries the opening of
new channels of employment, by increafing the demand,
tends to raife the profits of flock, while the {hutting of
former channels has the contrary effeft.
Profit does not vary nearly fo much as labour, ac¬
cording to the different modes in which it is employed.
Scarcely any of the five circumftances mentioned under
that head, except the laft, affefl it at all. Smith feems
indeed to confider the firft, viz. the agreeablenefs or dif-
agreeablenefs of the employment, as fomewhat affefting
it; but this it appears to us to do, only from the labour
with which it is accompanied. It is by the drudgery and
inconvenience of conftant attendence on his guefts that
the employment of an inn-keeper is rendered difagree-
able.
The fafety or rilk, however, • tendant on the differ-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
ECONOMY. 113
ent modes of employing a capital, is ft moft ferious con- Sources of
fideration, A man will not, without fome temptation ^ ealt*1- t
of extraordinary profit, embark in a concern where a r "~v ^
part or the whole of his capital may be loft. We are dif¬
pofed, indeed, to confider this as the only circumftance
which raifes the profits of. flock above the market rate of
intereft. In almoft all modes of employing capital,
there is fome rilk ; and it may be fuppofed, that where
that rilk is greateft, the profit Ihould be greateft alfo.
Yet employments attended with very great rifle, pro*
vided that rilk be compenfated by the chance of very
great gains, are the moft crowded. Such is the fan*
guine and adventurous fpirit of men, that {peculation,
as it is called in trade, as well as fuch uncertain trades
as that of the corn-merchant or the fmuggler, are al¬
ways overftocked ; and though productive of occafional
gains, prove commonly ruinous in the end.
In iome of the Aliatic countries, where property is
remarkably infecure, the accumulation of capital is
thereby lb much difeouraged ‘ ^ to render it fcarce, even
where the annual produce of the land and labour is
confiderable. Even the quantity which is accumulated,
inftead of being employed in trade, is concealed or bu¬
ried in the earth. The fame was the cafe anciently in
European kingdoms, before the eftablilhment of law and
order ; accordingly,, at that time, treafure-trove formed
an important part of the revenue of the fovereign.
It may be obferved, that what goes under the deno¬
mination of profit is often merely wages. A mer¬
chant or ihopkeeper who conducts his own bufinefs, bo¬
lides the profit of his flock, mult receive fome remune¬
ration for the portion of time and attention he devotes
to the employment. Thus, efpecially in a country
town, a-grocer or apothecary will, on a fmall ftock,
make 50 of 100 per cent, j but this may be no more
than fufficient to repay him for that ikill and know¬
ledge which are equally neceffary for conducting thefe
employments on a fmall as on a great feale.
Although however, the variations in the profits of
ftock occafioned by the nature of the employment be
not confiderable, it is otherwife with thofe w'hich have
been occafioned by the policy of modern Europe. As
the improvements introduced into it have been chiefly by
cities, and by the mercantile part of the community, that
part has been extravagantly favoured. The intereft of
the agriculturift and of the confumer has, till of late,
been uniformly facrificed to theirs. The regulations
prompted by this fyftem have not indeed been of any
real fervice to trade •, but, by narrowing the competition,
they have fccured to fome commercial bodies a certain
monopoly of the articles in which they dealt, and there¬
by enabled them to raife their profits above the natural
level. This they do fometimes direflly, by veiling the
privilege of conducing certain trades altogether in the
hands of an exclufive company, who can fet their own
price on commodities wftfich are produced or imported
by them alone. At other times, they impofe prohibi¬
tions or high duties on the importation of certain arti¬
cles from abroad. Bounties are given for the encourage¬
ment of certain favourite branches of agriculture, or
manufactures. Thefe regulations form what is called
the mercantile fyftem, which we {hall have occafion
hereafter to confider at large, and to fliow its entire fal¬
lacy. The exclufive privileges of corporations operate
to raife the profits of flock, as wTell as the wages of la-
P hour.
}
114 POLITICAL
How ^ hour. They exchidc all fuck as have not certain qua-
Wcalth is lificat;ons from employing their flock within the corpo-
pioouctf, Xhofe, therefore, who poffefs thefe qualifica-
t——^ tions enjoy forne degree of monopoly againft the reft of
the fociety. From all thefe caufes the profits derived
from manufaflures and commerce have been on the
whole greater than thofe of agriculture. The inftan-
ces of great fortunes raifed out of nothing in the for¬
mer lines are frequent •, in the latter, they are rare.
We may obferve, however, that flnce the general diffu-
fion of the writings of Smith and of the economifts, this
fyftem has, in a great degree, ceafed to influence the
legiflatures of Europe 5 and what remains of it arifes
rather from the force of habit than from defign. Per¬
haps there is now a tendency to the oppolite error j to
undervalue trade too much, and to grant to agriculture
thofe exclufive privileges which were formerly lavifhed
on manufadtures and commerce.
The profits of flock are equally, with the wages of la-'
bour, liable to be affedleft by the introdudlion of new
trades, and by alterations in the demand. Thefe varia¬
tions, however, like the caufes which produced them,
will be only of a temporary nature.
Sect. IV. T/ie hiterejl of Money.
It may often happen, that perfons are poflefled of
flock who want inclination or talents for engaging in
trade. On the other hand, fome may poffefs this incli¬
nation and capacity, who have no flock. In this cafe
a natural arrangement takes place. The perfon pof-
fefied of the (lock, which he does net employ, lends it
to the other who is in want of it, and who, in confi-
deration of the profit he derives from its ufe, is walling
to give an annual premium to the lender. This is call¬
ed the intereft of money 5 for money, being the com¬
mon exchangeable medium, is the form in wftiich ftock
generally appears, wdren it is collefted by its pofreflbr
for the purpofes either of hoarding or lending.
In order to prevent the ignorant or neceflitous from
being impofed upon, governments have generally fix¬
ed a certain rate, which the intereft of money Ihould
not be allowed to exceed. This rate ought alwrays to
be regulated by the market rate. An attempt to keep
down the intereft below that rate, tends only to raife it
higher. The confideration given for the ufe of money
muft ftill be regulated, like every fuch tranfaftion, by
the fupply and the demand : and the borrower muft give
a compenfation to the lender, not only for the ufe of
his money, but alfo for the rifk which he incurs by the
violation of the law\ The regulated rate, however,
®ught to be fomewhat above the market rate j though,
were it too much fo, its operation would become nuga¬
tory.
Chap. III. Of the manner in which Wealth is
t produced and diflributed.
Among the three fources of wealth above enumerat¬
ed, labour is jue-eminent, not only as the moft abun¬
dant, but as neceffary in order to give efficacy to the
reft ; neither land nor ftock, unlefs in fome rare in-
ftances, being of any value, unlefs labour be added.
The refult, however, of rude and unaffifted labour is
ECONOMY. Chap. III.
exceedingly fmall, wdien compared with what it becomes How
by means of certain artificial aids, which it gradually re- Weaith is
ceives in an opulent and improved fociety. Thefe aids Pr<^iceck
are chiefly the divifion of labour, and machinery. > ^«
SECT. I. The Divifon of Labour.
The divifion of labour, by which one employment,
or one branch of that employment, forms the foie occu¬
pation of one man, produces the moft wonderful effefts
in augmenting the productive powers of labour. The
oftener that a man performs any operation, the greater
power he acquires of performing it ikilfully and rapidly :
and wflren his whole life is fpent in the performance of
any fingle procefs, this power becomes almoft incre¬
dible. Thus, too, he faves the time wflnch is fpent in
palling from one work to another. He faves more in¬
deed than the ‘ mere time, for at firft beginning the
new one, he commonly faunters and trifles a little, and
does not at firft go on heartily and vigoroufly.4
A linking inftance of the effects of divilion of labour
is afforded in the manufacture of pin-making. The im¬
portant occupation of making a pin affords employment
to eighteen perfons j or* man draw's out the wire, ano¬
ther ftraights it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a
fifth grinds it at the top to receive the head, w'hich trvo
or three are employed in making. To put it on, to
whiten the pin, to put it into the paper, form all dif-
tinCl occupations. Smith fawr a manufaClory wflrere on¬
ly ten were employed, and where fome confequently
performed twTo or three operations, yet they made for¬
ty-eight thoufand pins a day, or four thoufand eight
hundred each ; wfliereas a fingle man, performing the
whole procefs by himfelf, would not probably make
twenty. Thefe effeCls would be equally perceptible iri
manufactures of greater confequence, were all their pro-
ceffes capable of being brought as clofe to each other, as
in this fmall one.
The divifion of labour is capable of being carried far¬
ther in manufactures than in agriculture. In the lat¬
ter, a change of employment is dictated by the change
of feafons; the fame man muft fucceffively fow, reap,
and thralh out the grain. Although, therefore, an im¬
proved fociety excels a rude one in agriculture, it does
not, in general, excel fo much as in manufactures,
where man, making all the arrangements himfelf, can
carry the divifion of labour as far as the extent of his
undertaking will admit of.
Sect. II. Machinery.
As improvement advances, and the invention of man
exerts itfelf in every direction, the labour of man is
more and more feconded by the aid of machinery. This
fource of improvement is claffed by Smith under the
head of the divifion of labour, to which he conceives
it to be indebted for its origin. We rather incline,
however, to agree with Lord Lauderdale, in judging it
wmrthy of ranking as a feparate and independent prin¬
ciple. Some rude machinery for domeftic and agricul¬
tural purpofes muft; have been invented prior to any
confiderable divifion of labour ; while thofe wonderful-
machines w'hich have excited the admiration of the pre-
fcnt age, the cotton mill, the Iteam engine, &c. are
Cliap. III. POLITICAL
How the invention of ingenious men, not the cafual difcovery
Produced worli-men > though they may have received fome im-
1 ^ ’ Provement from the latter fource.
ii.* Pvlachinery is, in many inltances, not lefs powerful
than the divifion of labour, in multiplying the produ&ions
of human induftry. It has befides this advantage, that
there are many operations to which it is efiential, and
which, without it, cannot, in any degree, be performed.
Without the plough or fpade, the law, the Hour-mill,
or fome inftruments correfponding to thefe, the unaflill:-
ed efforts of man would be of no avail to effefl the pur-
pofes for which they are intended.
When any machine is firft introduced, the immediate
confequence is, that a number of labourers are thrown
out of employment 5 hence, according to the idea of
the vulgar, which has been hallily adopted by fome phi-
lofophers, fuch innovations are pernicious, tending to
diftrefs the poor, and to check population. There
feems no good reafon for this complaint. The popula¬
tion of a country muff always depend upon the abun¬
dance of the means of fubfiftence $ while, therefore, im¬
proved machinery has no tendency to diminifh thefe, it
cannot be injurious to population. The manufacturer,
being enabled to produce the fame quantity of goods,
with pnly part of the itock before employed, will em¬
ploy the other part in extending his concerns, either in
the fame or in other branches of induftry j and even the
part of his ftock which is fpent in the purchafe of ma¬
chinery, will give employment to workmen in framing
that machinery. The only effedt, therefore, will be
that of adding, in proportion to the power of this ma¬
chinery, to the comforts and conveniences of the focie-
ty. A certain degree of inconvenience may ho doubt
be experienced by thofe workmen who have been ac-
cuftomed to this fpecies of employment, and are lefs
qualified for any other. But this is merely a temporary
difadvantage, fuch as may be expedled to accompany all
changes, however beneficial.
Machinery, like the divifion of ^pbour, can be intro¬
duced to a much greater extent in manufaftures than in
agriculture. Nothing on a great fcale, feems hitherto
to have been introduced into the latter, except the
threlhing machine.
Sect. III. Of the different Employments of Labour and
Stock.
All thefe feem to be included under four heads : agri¬
culture, including mines and fifheries j manufaftures;
trade by wholefale; and trade by retail. Each of thefe
will prefent fome objedls for our conlideratioh.
Sect. IV. Agriculture.
Of all modes of employing labour and ftock, this is
the moft produftive. It is not here, as in other em¬
ployments wrhere every thing is to be done by man.
Nature labours along with him. His objedl is to direft
rather than to augment thofe powers of vegetation
which the earth already poffeffes and exercifes. No
other employment yields that furplus produce obtained
without labour or effort, which is called rent. Where¬
ver, therefore, things are allowed to take their natural
courfe, agriculture is the firft: objeft to which the la-
t?our of the fociety is direfted. Till it has made con-
ECONOMY. iis
fiderable advances, manufactures are either rudely eXe- How
cuted as a by-work, or, where opportunity offers, are Wealth^*
imported from abroad, in exchange for the rude pro- Pr(^ce »
duce of land. Ehis laft, where practicable, appears ^  1
evidently to be the moft advantageous fyftem. The
adoption of it bas been one great caule of the rapid pro-
grefs of the North American colonies.
Agriculture gives employment to a greater number
of men than any other fpecies of induftry. Thefe men
alfo, are likely to be the moft found, healthy, uncor¬
rupted part of the population; and from its local na¬
ture, they muft all refide w ithin the fociety, and form a
conftituent part of it.
Sect. V. Manufaftures.
Manufactures do not aCtually produce any new cotri-
modity j but they modify in fuch a manner the produce
of land or mines, as to increafe its exchangeable value.
Few things, efpecially in a highly cultivated ftate of fo¬
ciety, are fit for ufe as they come out of the hands of
nature, till they have been operated upon by human art.
Even corn, the ftaple produce of land, muft pals through
the hands of the miller and the baker, before it can be
ufed as food. Some manufactures add comparatively
little to the value of the original article j while, in others,
the latter becomes little or nothing when compared with
the additional value ftamped on it by the manufafture.
Thus half a crown’s worth of flax, when wrought into the
fineft cambric, will be railed perhaps to the value of
twenty pounds.
Manufactures employ fewer men than agriculture,
but more than any other fpecies of induftry. Thefe
men, too, muft evidently refide in the country where
the manufacture is carried on ; though that may be dif¬
ferent from the country where the rude material is pro¬
duced, as wrell as from that where the finilhed manu¬
facture is confirmed. The cotton of America and the
Weft Indies is imported into Britain, and after being
there wrought into cloth, is re-exported to thofe coun¬
tries.
Manufactures* as already obferved, give fcope beyond
any other employment to the productive powers anting
from machinery and the divifion of labour. They can
be collected into the fmallelt fpace, and the inftruments
are completely under the controul of man. A poor na¬
tion may rival, or even furpals a rich one, in the cheap-
nefs and abundance of its corn j but in manufactures it
is always inferior.
It is a general rule, that the manufactures in which
a country excels, are thofe which are fuited to the wants
of her inhabitants. Thefe Ihe comes to produce, not
only better, but cheaper, than other countries, to whom
therefore thofe articles become, for her, the moft advan¬
tageous fubjeCt of export. In France, before the revo¬
lution, the confirmers were chiefly perfons of very large
fortune, to whom the fineft manufactures and articles
of ornament were alone fuited. In England, on the
other hand, the greater proportion of the confirmers are
perfons of moderate fortune, and in the middling rank.
Subftantial articles, of moderate price, are, therefore,
chiefly demanded in this country. The effeft of thefe
different habits appeared clearly in the difeuffions re-
fpefting the commercial treaty concluded by Mr Pitt,
ft appeared, that millinery, jewellery, fine manufac-
P 2
116 POLITICAL
How lures of all kinds, were made both better and cheaper
Wealih is jn fiance ^ but in hardware, cloth, common articles of
produce , every for(.? fjie was completely underfold by England.
« I, > Although xvoollens be the ftaple of England, yet in the
fined; woollen cloth (lie was furpaffed by France •, and
though filks be the daple of France, yet- common lilks
were fold cheaper by England. Several other curious
inftances are given by Lord Lauderdale, in the con¬
cluding chapter of his work on public wealth.”
Sect. VI. Commerce.
Commerce is the grand fource of all improvement in
the produftive powers of induflry. It is founded on the
principle of barter. The butcher has a quantity of beef,
x and the baker of bread, more than either can confume
himfelf} but each is in want of the other’s commodity.
An exchange therefore being made, both the beef and
the bread acquire a value which they did not poffefs be¬
fore. Thus it is that commerce, confiding in the ex¬
change ox two articles, raifes the value of both.
It is only by means of extenfive commerce, that both
the divifion of labour and machinery can be carried to
any great extent. A manufadlory, eftabliflied for the
fupply of a fmall neighbourhood, can never be conduc¬
ed on that great fcale which is requifite for thefe im¬
provements. The divifion of labour muff depend on
the numbers employed ; and an extenfive fale is necef-
fary to repay the expence of complicated and powerful
machinery. Land carriage would probably be the firff
employed } but as foon as navigation was invented, the
cbeapnefs and facility of water carriage would give it a
decided preference. In the infancy of the art, the in¬
land navigation of rivers would experience a preference ;
and it is flill pofleffed of peculiar advantages. All the
earlieff improved countries have been thofe which pof-
fefied an extenfive inland navigation ^ Egypt, by the
Nile, Indoftan by the Ganges, and China, by feveral
great rivers which perforate it. Africa, an unbroken
mafs of continent, is flill barbarous; the only part
which affords any exception to this remark, is that fitu-
ated along the Senegal and Niger. Hence the great
advantage which a country derives from good roads, and
frill more from navigable canals, which facilitate the
communication between its different parts, and extend
the market of the farmer and manufafturer.
Commerce is of three kinds; the home trade, the
* foreign trade, and the carrying trade *.
Isook n. Tire home trade is of all others the moff advantage¬
ous. In the exchange wdiich takes place here, both the
commodities, wThofe value is railed, belong to the fame
country, and confequently a double benefit accrues to
the fociety. The returns, alfo, of fuch a commerce are
much more quick. With the fame capital, therefore, a
much greater number of tranfaffions will take place in
a given time. Smith calculates that the foreign trade
of Great Britain does not exceed a fortieth of its home
trade. The grand branch of internal trade is that be¬
tween the country and the town, in which the farmer
fupplies provifions and raw materials, and receives in
return manufactured produce.
When all the channels of domeflic trade are filled, a
nation naturally turns to a foreign market. Here,
however, it does not trade with equal advantage. Of
ECONOMY. Chap. Ill,
the twTo commodities vrhofe value is raifed, one only be- How
longs to it and oonfequently it reaps only half the bene- f
fit which it reaped from the home trade. Nor is this 13
all. The market being more dirtant, the returns are ,j
flower. With the fame capital, twelve operations may
frequently be performed in the one, in the fame time
that a fingle one was performing in the other. In this
cafe, the former will be twenty-four times more advan¬
tageous to the country. It does not follow, however,
that foreign trade is not really and greatly advantageous,
w7hen the capital is fufficient to carry it on, in addition
to the home trade.
The foreign trade is fometimes modified as follows.
A country exports to another fome commodity, and
then, with the commodity which it receives in return,
purchafes fome article of a third country. Thus, Eng¬
land fends to Virginia woollens, and having received in
return tobacco, exports it to the Baltic to exchange for
naval ftores. This roundabout trade differs from a com¬
mon foreign trade in no refpedf, except that its returns
are likely to be IWer, and confequently its effefts ftill
lefs beneficial to the community.
When all other bandies are filled, the only refource
of overflowing capital is in the carrying trade. Here
the merchant merely exports the produce of one foreign
country to another foreign country. The country to
which he belongs gains nothing but the mere profits of
the trade. It receives no encouragement to its agri¬
culture, or its manufa&ures. Neither of the goods
whofe value is raifed belong to it. The carrying trade
is the leaft advantageous of all modes of employing the
national capital. It is the fymptom, however, of a great
and almoff overgrown commercial profperity; for it is
not till capital is extremely abundant, that it turns into
this dire&ion. Seeing the carrying trade, therefore, the
accompaniment of great national profperity, legiflators
have miffaken it as a caufe, and have held out peculiar
encouragements with the view of forcing part of the na¬
tional capital prematurely into this direftion ; which,
from the view now given, muff be evidently hurt¬
ful.
Commerce employs fewer men than either manufac¬
tures or agriculture •, it employs merely the merchant,
who tranfads the bufinefs, and the failors and carriers
who tranfport the goods. Thefe, too, may belong in¬
differently either to one country or the other, or even
to a different one from either $ and this, from the fmall-
nefs of their number, is a matter of little confequence.
Sect. VII. The Retail Trade.
The laft fpecies of induftry is the retail trade. The
convenience, and indeed neceflrty of this, is obvious.
It would be extremely troublefome if a man were obli¬
ged to purchafe a whole ox or fheep at a time j if he
were obliged to lay in at once fix or eight months pro-
vifion of every different article. Part of his flock
would thus conftantly lie dead, and the commodities
befides would often perifh in his hands. Hence the ufe
of fhop-keepers, from whom we may purchafe any ar¬
ticle in as fmall a quantity as fuits us. Some perfons
have apprehended bad confequences from the multipli¬
cation of retailers, but with no good reafon; for the
greater the competition, op the better terms will the
public
Chap. in. POLITIC AL
How public be ferved, each being anxious to underfell his ri-
Wealth is vajs> Their multiplication might ruin themfelves,
Pro^ed’ which, in general, we may be fure of their guarding
» . i againft j but it muft be for the benefit of their cu-
ftomers.
Sect. VIII. On ihe Coincidence between Public and Pri¬
vate Interejl.
As the wealth of a fociety confifts merely of the ag¬
gregate wealth of its members, every thing which tends
to increafe the property of an individual, without injur¬
ing that of others, that is, every fpecies of lawful in-
duftry, tends to augment alfo the riches of the fociety.
Thofe branches alfo which are moft produdlive to the
focietv, will be equally fo to the individual who con-
du£ts them. Such branches have, befides, peculiar re¬
commendations, which will lead meri, upon equal pro¬
fits, to prefer them to others of a nature lefs generally
beneficial.
The improvement and cultivation of land is the mode
in which the greateft produce may be raifed with, the
leaf! capital: it has, befides, other recommendations.
It is the way in which a man’s property is moft com¬
pletely under his own eye, and moft fecure from acci¬
dent. The pleafures of a country life, the independ¬
ence by which it is generally accompanied, the health¬
ful and animating nature of its occupations, fecure
it a certain preference over moft other employments.
Manufadtures, again, poffefs many advantages above
commerce, at lead in that early ftate of improvement
where capitals are moderate. The capital employed
in it is more fecure, and more under the infpeftion of its
owner, than that which is fent to a diftance, and com¬
mitted to the winds ayd the waves. Some trade indeed
muft always exift for the exchange of the furplus pro¬
duce, wTich even the rudeft fociety poffeffes. But, in
the earlier period of fociety, it is more advantageous to
allow’ foreigners to carry on this trade, and even to fup-
ply all the finer manufactures. The opportunities of
this kind poffeffed by the North American colonies,
have been one great caufe of their rapid profperity.
It is evident, that, in commerce, both domeftic and
foreign, the merchant, with equal profits, will prefer
the fhorter voyage, which places the bufinefs more un¬
der his owm fuperintendence, yields him quicker returns,
and fubje&s him to lefs rilk. Above all the carrying
trade, the w’hole of which muft be tranfa&ed abroad,
will have little attradtion for him, unlefs ftrong tempta¬
tion be prefented.
Thus we fee, that in all inftances, the private inter-
eft of the individual leads him to adopt that fpecies of
employment w’hich is moft conducive to the interefts of
the public. In leaving him, therefore, to find out and
choofe the moft advantageous employment for his. own
induftry and flock, we are certainly doing that which is
alfo heft for the general good. This principle ought to
be the polar ftar to guide the fteps of the legiflator in
political economy. His objedl fhould be, to fecure to
every individual the fruit of his induftry, and then to
leave him at liberty to exert it in any manner he may
judge advantageous. All regulations of an opposite na¬
ture, are as contrary to the interefts of the fociety, as
they are injurious to the individuaL
ECONOMY. 117
Mercantile
Chap. IV. Of the Mercantile and Economical . Sy_^em~ ,
Syjlems.
Sect. I. General View of the Mercantile System.
The fundamental principle of the mercantile fyftem,
and that which its fupporters are accuftomed to treat as
a felf-evident axiom, is, that wealth confifts in money,
or in gold and filver. The facility of exchanging thefe
metals for any other commodity, the habit thence de¬
rived, of calculating, according to their ftandard, the
wealth belonging to each individual, has made this a
natural and general error. Having laid dowm this prin¬
ciple, the next queftion comes to be, how the money
of any nation wras to be increafed ? Where it w^as pof-
fefled of gold and filver mines, the obvious policy was,
to lock up the whole produce of thefe within itfelf, and
to prohibit its exportation under the fevereft penalties.
Where the nation poffelTed no mines of its owm, gold
and filver could be obtained only by giving other com¬
modities in exchange. Suppofing a nation to export to
the value of a million, while it imported only to the
value of half a million, the other half, it W’as conceived,
muft be paid in money, and muft go to increafe the
wealth of the nation. To export much, and to import
little, were therefore conceived to be the great means
of enriching a nation. The difference between the ex¬
ports and imports was called the balance of trade, and
confidered as the grand criterion of commercial profpe¬
rity. If the exports exceeded the imports, it w’as called
a favourable balance ; if the contrary, an unfavourable
balance. It fo happened, to the great confolation of
our mercantile politicians, that the foimer of thefe cafes
always took place. A certain annual fupply of gold,
and filver was adlually imported for the maintenance of
the current coin, and for fome ornamental manufac¬
tures , and, befides, as duties are rarely levied on arti¬
cles exported, the vanity or convenience of merchants
led them often to enter more than they aclually fhipped.
But though this was the cafe in general, it.was other*
wife wdth regard to fome particular countries. . If, in
the cafe of Spain, America, and the Weft Indies, the
refult was as favourable as could be defired, many a rue¬
ful look was caft upon the ftatements of the Geiman,
Baltic, and Eaft India commerce •, in all which the ba¬
lance, as it is called, wTas decidedly agamft this country.
To check this great evil, every expedient was employ¬
ed which might diminilh importation and encourage ex¬
portation in general, and particularly in regard to thofe
countries w’lth wThom our balance wras unfavourable.
What the nature and effe&s of thefe meafures really
are, W’e ftiall prefently have occafion to confider. We
(hall now make fome remarks on the general principle
on which they are founded.
1. Reftriftions upon the intercourfe with a particular
country, which is fuppofed to have a balance againft us,
are unreafcnable, even fuppofing the general principle
to be found. For if we get commodities cheaper from
that nation, and fell ours to it with greater advantage,
the balance will, on the whole, be more , in our. favour,
than if w7e carried on the fame tranfa£lions wdth any
other nation. If w’e can get wine cheaper from France
than from Portugal, the annual value of cur imports for
wine
POLITICAL
Mercantile wine will be diminiftied, by dealing with the former
. at ’m . country. Befides, what is imported may often be fo,
only for the purpofe of re-exportation to fome other
.country.
2. the whole idea of the balance of trade is quite
fanciful and chimerical. By every exchange which
takes place wTith a foreign country, the nation gains as
well as the individual $ nor does it make any difference
whether goods or money be received in return. If in¬
deed the legiflature could fucceed in forcing a greater
importation of gold and filver than would naturally take
place, it would do the country a ferious injury. Thefe
metals, when converted into money, form, as above
obferved, a part of the fixed capital of the fociety, a
mod; ufeful and neceffary part, but ftill one which is
merely inftrumental, and does not make any direft ad¬
dition to the wealth of the fociety. If we could have
the fame functions performed without it, the fociety
W7ould gain the whole of what it has been accuftomed
to pay for it. On the contrary, when a government
forces upon the nation more than is requifite for the
purpofes of circulation, it makes it incur an expence
which would otherwife have been faved. It does not
appear, in the cafe of nations which have no mines, that
any of the boafted regulations refpe<5ling import and ex¬
port, will have the leafl effe6l in enlarging the importa¬
tion of gola and filver. But where a people have mines
within themfelves, a drift prohibition, fuch as is ufually
impofed, againd the export of thefe metals, though it
will be far from abfolutely preventing that export, will
yet keep within the country a fomewhat greater quan¬
tity than would otherwife have remained. This appears
to be (or at lead to have been) aftually the cafe with
Spain and Portugal, occafioning a confiderable lofs to
both thefe countries.
As the principle of the mercantile fydem naturally
leads to the fuppofition, that whatever is gained by one
nation, is lod to another, it generally leads to violent
commercial jealoufies between neighbouring countries.
The nearer they are to each other, the more are redric-
tions and prohibitions multiplied. This is altogether
unreafonable. I he nearer a country, the more advan¬
tageous is its trade. It approaches the more nearly to
the home trade, in the quicknefs of its returns, and can
be carried on with a fmaller capital. The plan, there¬
fore, of making our neighbours as poor as poflible, i»
completely unwife. The richer they are, they will be
the better cudomers for our commodities, and the
greater will be the benefit which wre derive from their
trade.
Having thus proved, that the regulations of the mer¬
cantile fydem are altogether unfitted for attaining their
end, and that the end, were it attainable, is ufelefs,
and even pernicious, we dial! now confider what is the
real effeft of thefe regulations. With this view they
may be claffed under two heads, rejiraints upon importa¬
tion, and encouragements to exportation.
Sect. II. Reft mints upon Importation.
Thefe are either high duties or prohibitions.
It has been an univerfal principle of modern taxation,
that duties are to be levied only on articles imported,
and not on thofe wdnch are exported. This principle is
found. The taxes impofed by any community ought to
4
ECONOMY. Chap. IV.
fall upon. its own members, not upon thofe of other Mercantile
communities. To attempt afting otherwife, would be s-vfteni‘
not only unjud, but impolitic. Thefe articles of pro- ~ J
duce and manufafture, on which the export duty was
impoled, would not, in the general market of the wrorld,
keep their ground againtt the fame commodities from
other nations, which impofed no fuch duty. The mer¬
cantile lyltem, however, goes much farther. With the
view of encouraging internal indullry, and preventing
importation, it lays higher duties upon certain articles
imported, than upon the fame when manufaftured with-*
in the country ; thus fecuring to the latter, a certain ad¬
vantage in the home market, independent of any fupe-
riority of fkill. It thus turns to certain branches of in-
duftry a greater proportion of the national induflry and
capital, than would naturally have gone to them.
Now, we have proved, that in all cafes, the direftion
which individual intereft fpontaneoufly gives to the na¬
tional induftry, is the bell and moft ufeful direftion.
Every thing, therefore, which tends to difturb it, to turn
induflry into channels, into wEich it would not natural¬
ly have gone, is injurious to the public, and tends to
render that induflry lefs produftive. Such is precifely
the operation of the duties in queflion, which, therefore,
though, they may augment the produftive induflry of
the nation in fome particular branches, tend to diminifh
its whole amount. Thus, in an agricultural nation, if
duties are impofed upon the importation of manufaftured
goods, a part of the national capital which was employ¬
ed in the more profitable employment of agriculture,
wall be forced into the lefs advantageous one of manu-
faftures. The misfortune is, that in the mercantile fy-
flem, from a very natural prejudice of thofe wath whom
it originates, the lefs advantageous branch is always
rated higher than the more advantageous ; manufactures
than agriculture, commerce than manufaftures, and fo¬
reign trade than domeflic. Its operations are pernicious,
not only in their general principle, but flill more in
their particular application.
. In regard to prohibitions, their effeft is the fame as
high duties, only greater in degree. They are feldom
completely effeftual, unlefs in the cafe of very bulky
goods •, but their operation muft always be equal to the
higheft duty, and muft therefore be equally injurious^
without bringing any advantage to the revenue.
Sect. III. Encouragements to Exportation.
The expedients wdiich the mercantile fyftem employs
to encourage exportation are drawbacks and bounties.
As to drawbacks, they are extremely reafonable. No
government we obferved, can properly, or without im¬
prudence, attempt to tax the confumption of other na¬
tions. When, therefore, it has impofed a duty on any
article produced within itfelf, it is quite expedient that
this Ihould be repaid on exportation •, othenvife the ar¬
ticles, when carried to a foreign market, could not meet
the competition of others, which had paid no fuch duty.
In the fame manner, when an article has paid a duty at
importation, it is perfeftly fair that the duty Ihould be
repaid, in the cafe of the article being re-exported j
otherwife a fcvere check wrould be put both upon the
carrying trade, and the foreign trade of confumption.
Still, indeed, the merchant has the difad vantage of hav¬
ing advanced the tax, and confequently been deprived,
for
Chap. IV. POLITICAL
Mercantile for a certain time, of the ufe of that portion of his ca-
Syitem. pital. In fome inftances, a plan has been adopted, which
11 ''''V"""- obviates this inconvenience. The goods are placed in
a warehoufe, under the joint lock and key of the mer¬
chant and the officer of government. No duty is then
paid upon them, unlefs they are taken out for the pur-
pofe of home confumption.
Bounties are expedients of a different nature. They
are given upon the produftion and exportation of certain
articles, which, it is conceived, would not otherwife pay
the expence. Their tendency is, therefore, to force ca¬
pital and induftry into the channels which, it is admit¬
ted, are difadvantageous to the individual, and which
according to the principles above explained, imult be
equally fo to the fociety. Their effect, therefore, is
nearly the fame as that produced by reftraints upon im¬
portation. Premiums are not liable to the fame objec-
' tions: Being only given to one or two fpecimens of pe¬
culiar merit, they merely ftimulate to excellence in
any branch of induftry, without having much tendency
to turn towards it a difproportionate fliare of the national
capital.
The bounty on corn is the moft important of thofe
granted in Great Britain ; and as the whole fyftem of
corn laws is not only of the utmoft importance, but
clofely connetfted with the views of the mercantile fy¬
ftem, it may not be unfeafonable to introduce our fketch
of them in this place.
Sect. IV. Of the Coj'n Laws.
To render the neceffaries of life cheap, is a grand ob-
jedt of the mercantile fyftem, fince it thus experts to
lower the wages of labour, and thereby leffen the ex¬
pence of manufadturing. The expedients it adopts, how¬
ever, are by no means judicious. The objedt of the le-
giflator, on this fubjedt, has been to prevent as much as
poffible all trade in corn ; to urge the farmer to bring it
to market as foon as poflible, and to difeourage to the
utmoft its pafling through any intermediate hands be¬
tween him and the confumer. All fuch intermediate
perfons are ftigmatized by the opprobrious names of re¬
graters and foref oilers, and the fevered; penalties are
enadled againft them. Let us confider on what grounds
thefe proceedings can be juftified.
The great evil in the price of grain is the variations
to which it is liable, which at one time produce fuper-
fiuous plenty, and at another threaten the community
with abfolute want. The production of it being only
once a year, there is a conftant danger, that before next
harveft, the fupply may run out. Crops too vary, and
fometimes fail to a diftreffing degree. It is moft defirable,
therefore, that the fuperabundance of one period ffiould,
if poflible, be made to fupply the deficiency of another.
The grand intereft of the public, in regard tofgrain, is
to diftribute, as equally as poffible, over different years,
and over different parts of the fame year, the fupply of
grain, fo that the plenty of one period may relieve the
want of another, and the general price be kept as equal
as poftible. This is precifely what the merchant does.
He buys when it is cheap, and fells again when it is
dear. If he buys it even when it bears a high price, it
is only from the expeftation of its rifing ftill higher, that
is, of the fcarcity becoming ftill greater } and unlefs
this expeelation be well grounded, he lofes inftead of
ECONOMY. i,9
gaining by the tranfaCtion. He may mifcalculate in- Mercantile
deed; but in this cafe, he fuffers feverely for his miftake j Syftem.
and, he has the conftant ftimulus of private intereft to
guard him againft it.
It follows, therefore, that the freer we leave the trade
in corn, the better will the public be guarded againft the
evils of famine, and that the vulgar outcry upon this
fubjeft has no real foundation.
With regard to the bounty, it has been defended as
being an artificial mode of obviating that irregularity of
price, to which grain is liable. The increafed quantity
which the bounty tends to produce, may, it is alleged,
be employed, in a year of fcarcity, to alleviate the evils of
deai th *. # Anierfon
on National*
Sect. V. Of Exclufve Companies. Indujtr#
At the firft introduftion of commercial enterprife in
Europe, it was frequently the praftice of governments to
veft particular trades, fuppofed to be of a peculiarly ardu¬
ous nature, in the hands of an exclufive company. Such a
meafure is almoft always hurtful to the public. The in--
tereft of all traders is to buy cheap and fell dear, and is
thereby hoftile to the intereft, both of the producers and
confumers. But an exclufive company, having no com¬
petition to dread, can carry this fyftem into effeft to a
much greater extent than the private trader. It is even
found that the felling a fmall quantity at a high price, is
more profitable than the felling a large quantity at a
moderate price. The Dutch Eaft India Company are
faid to have deftroyed a number of their plantations in
the Spice iflands, with the view of diminifliing the fup¬
ply, and thereby raifing the price.
It is fuppofed that fome very extenfive branches of ^
trade could not be carried on by individuals with fafety ;
but in this cafe, either the capital of the country is not
yet fufficient for fuch undertakings, or a company wall
be formed to carry them on, without the neceffity of
any exclufive privilege. It may be obferved, that fuch
companies, from the wafte and negligence attending a •
large concern, managed often by perfons who have no
deep intereft in it, and not ftimulated by the dread of
competitors, prove generally as ruinous to thofe con¬
cerned in it, as to the public. Almoft all the exclufive
companies, eftablifhed in this and the neighbouring
countries, have ended in bankruptcy.
Sect. VI. Of Colonial Policy.
As countries increafe in populoufnefs, and as fcultiva-
tion is carried to a greater extent, the means of fubfift-
ence become continually more and more difficult. The
evil moft felt is a fcarcity of land, of that grand fource
from which all revenue muft originally flow. But while
there are other countries comparatively unimproved, an
obvious remedy prefents itfelf. A certain portion of the
inhabitants of the cultivated country removes into that
which is ftill uncultivated, where they find land cheap,
and the means of fubfiftence eafy. Of all focieties, thefe
generally make the moft rapid ftrides towards improve¬
ment. To the abundance and cheapnefs of land, which
is peculiar to uncultivated countries, they join the arts
and induftrious habits of cultivated fociety. They arc
thus enabled to make a much more rapid progrefs than-
cither. All the Grecian colonies, in Afia Minor, Italyv-
andfc'
120 POLITICAL
Mercantile and Sicily, enjcyed an unexampled degree of profperity.
Svftem. Xhe North American colonies doubled their numbers
w every twenty years 5 and in South America, notwith-
ftanding the injudicious reftraints with which its com¬
merce was fettered, the increafe has not been much lefs
confiderable.
In fpite of the temptation thus held out to colonize,
men are in geneial not eafily induced to leave their na¬
tive country, till they are driven by fome compulfory
motive. In the ancient republics, colonies were formed
by men who had been driven from their homes by civil
war and fadlion. The North American ftates were peo¬
pled by refugees, criminals, and other refufe of the mo¬
ther country. The cafe was fomewhat different in the
fouthern part of that continent, where a falfe but glit¬
tering lure was thrown out by the immenfe mines of
gold and filver which it contained.
In purfuance of the monopolizing and trafficking
fpirit of modern Europe, each country has referved to
itfelf the exclufive trade of its colonies. This reftridtion
evidently tends to cramp the improvement of the latter,
and to divert the trade of the former into a lefs natural
and advantageous channel. To Britain, and to the Britifh
colonies, however, the reftridtion has been little injuri¬
ous. The former was in a ftate to carry on, and to
need, the -whole of this commerce ; while the latter,
from their infant (late, could confine themfelves with
much more advantage to agriculture. The French co¬
lonies have probably fuffered fomething from the reffric-
tion ; but to the Spanifh and Portuguefe it has been
very ruinous, as their mother countries were wholly un¬
fit for carrying on fo extenfive a commerce *.
Smith,
book iv.
ch. viiu
Brougham
on Colonial
Policy.
Sect. VII. Of the Economical Syjiem.
We have already noticed, in our hiftorical introduc¬
tion, the circumftances in which, and the perfons from
whom, this fyftem originated. According to it, agri¬
culture is the only real fource of wealth, and the per¬
fons employed in it are alone to be honoured with the
appellation of produdlive labourers. The capital fpent
by the landlord in improvements, and that employed
by the farmer in cultivation, are in like manner repre-
fented as the only capitals which are produdlive of
wealth. In fupport of this pofition they argue, that ma-
rmfadtures merely repay what has been fpent upon them }
the expence of materials, and the fubfillence of the la¬
bourers. The only part which is gain to the nation is
the profit of the manufadfurer, and the portion of their
wages (probably a very fmall portion), which the la¬
bourers fave, and convert into capital. It does not fol-
lowr, hoivever, that traders and manufadlurers, though
under this fyftem they receive the name of unprodudlive
labourers, are ufelefs to the fociety. They are valuable
fervants to the proprietors and cultivators of land. They
fave them the trouble of performing a variety of opera¬
tions, which would diftradf their attention, and which
Condorcet's they could not do equally -well. By giving a greater
Iffc °f % quantity of manufadlured commodities in exchange for
Spence? t^le Pro^uce land, they raife the value of that pro-
Britain. in~ duce. Still, however, they adt altogether a fubordinate
dependent part to the agricultural portion of the community, by
tf Com- whom they are fed and fupportedf.
’with MW's ^ vsry Ifttl6 confideration will (hew us the fallacy of
Anfwer-
f Smith,
book iii.
cW-
ECONOMY. Chap. V.
this fyftem. The wealth of a nation, as we obferved Economical
above, confifts in the total amount of external conveni- Syftem.
fnces and comforts which are produced and enjoyed in y—w
it. Now every commodity, with every increafe in its
value, which is produced by manufadtures and com¬
merce, is fo much added to national convenience and
comfort, that is, to national wealth. It is of no confe-
quence, that, while the labourer is producing it, lie is al-
fo confuming a certain portion of corn and other necef-
faries of life. Thefe were produced for the purpofe of
being confumed, and if they have periftied, they have
not done fo without having performed their office, with¬
out having miniftered to the benefit of the fociety, and
enlarged the amount of its comforts. The whole, there¬
fore, of w-hat the manufadlurer produces in any given
time, is clear gain to the public. To be convinced of
this, wre have only to fuppofe, that, in this time, he had
confumed the fame quantity of goods, without work¬
ing at all.
We admit indeed, and have already obferVed, that agri¬
culture is more produftive than any other fpecies of in-
duftry, and alone, befides paying the labour and capital
employed in it, affords a furplus as rent to the landlord.
It does not follow, however, becaufe the one employ
ment is more productive, that the other is not produc¬
tive at all. Befides manufactures, over and above the
labour and circulating capital employed in them, pay
often a very large fixed capital. Now land, we con¬
ceive is merely to Jbe confidered as a great fixed capital
provided by nature, and rent as a confideration given for
the ufe of that fixed capital.
The Economifts conceive the rent of land to be the
fund on wffiich all taxes muft ultimately fall. They
therefore recommend a land-tax to be fubftituted inftead
of all others. The propriety of this fyftem will come to
be confidered in the courfe of the following chapter.
Chap. V. Of Public Revenue.
As the wffiole fociety derives from government their
prote&ion againft evils internal and external, the regu¬
lar adminiftration of juftice, and a variety of other be¬
nefits, without which they could not fubfift, it is per-
feftly equitable that each, in proportion to his means,
fhould contribute to the extent which is neceffary for
fulfilling thefe different objefts. Regular government
is even indifpenfable to the produ£lion of public wealth,
as it alone affords that fecurity of property which is the
life of induftry. In this view, the officers of govern¬
ment cannot, even upon Smith’s principle, be confider¬
ed as unproductive labourers. They might more pro¬
perly be confidered as a part of the fixed capital of the
fociety.
Sect. I. Of Taxes in general.
In the compofition of taxes there are four circun*%
ftances, which ought, as far as poffible, to be conftantly
kept in view, and the obfervance of which forms the cri¬
terion of the propriety or impropriety of each particular
tax.
1. They ought to fall as equally as poffible on every
member of the fociety, in proportion to his means of con¬
tribution. As all derive equal benefits from the efta-
bliffiment
3
Chap. V. POLITICAL
Of Public blifliment of regular government, all ought to contribute
Revenue. equaily for its fupport. The rich, however, ought to
contribute not only more, but in a greater proportion,
than the poor. As by far the greater part of their ex¬
penditure is on luxuries, they can retrench a part of it
much better than thofe who, to pay the tax, mull de¬
prive themfelves of the neceffaries or firft comforts of
life.
2. The fum paid by each perfon ought to be fixed,
and not left to the arbitrary appointment of the colleft-
ing officers. In this lad cafe, the fecurity of property
is in a great meafure done away, and room is left for the
mod grievous oppreffion. This is a dill greater evil than
inequality.
3. A tax ought to be payable at the time when a
man can bed afford it.
4. In proportion to what it brings into the treafury,
it ought to take as little as poffible from the people;
that is, the expence of colleffion ought to be as mode¬
rate as poffible. There ought alfo to be care taken to
avoid trouble and inconvenience to the people, in the
way of domiciliary vifits, fines, &c.
Some perfons have fancied, that taxes were beneficial.
They allege, that the merchant derives a profit, not on¬
ly for his advance upon the article, but alfo for his
advance upon the tax. In this way, doubtlefs, he is no
lofer : but neither is he a gainer \ for in confequence of
the increafed price, the public mud retrench in their ufe
of the article, and confequently the extent of his deal¬
ings in it be diminifhed. Even diould they not retrench
in this, they mud in fome other article, which will fall
heavy on fome other clafs of merchants. But it is the
intered, not of the merchant, but of the confumer, which
ought to be the grand objeft in political economy; and
this intered infallibly differs. The confumers of the
article taxed mud inevitably have their comforts, that
is, their wealth, abridged.
We admit, indeed, that taxes, where they are not fo
heavy as to intrench on the capital of the country, do
not e{feudally encroach on its wealth. They merely
transfer income out of the pockets of one clafs of men
into thofe of another. The money which a man of for¬
tune would fpend in maintaining menial fervants and
other indruments of luxury, when placed in the hands
of government, is employed in maintaining foldiers and
failors. The amount of national income is not diminiffi-
ed. They have the difadvantage, however, that the
rqoney is taken out of the hands of thofe by whom it
was earned, and put into the hands of thofe who contri¬
buted nothing to its produftion. If taxes come to fall
upon capital, or to diminiffi its accumulation, they are
then ruinous.
Sect. II. Taxes upon Rent.
The rent of land has always been confidered as a pro¬
per objeft of taxation. In mod of the eadern empires,
the whole land belongs to the fovereign, who draws the
* Taton on rent of every farm throughout his dominions *. In
AfuiticMo- mofj; 0f the European kingdoms, a certain portion of
vat diet. lan4 belongs to the fovereign, under the name of crown
lands. Thefe, however, are feldom managed in that
economical manner, which would be necefiary to render
them productive. The onlv lands which a government
Vol. XVII. Part I.
ECONOMY. 121
ought to poffefs, are lands for the purpofe of pleafure and Of Public
& r ’ Revenue,
magnificence. _ t -
The rent of land is a very proper fubjeft of taxation.
It comes to the poffeffors without care or trouble, and
it depends, more than any other fource of income, on
the proteftion of government. The chief difficulty a-
rifes from its being fo variable. Thus the Englifh land-
tax was impofed in the reign of King William. Since
that time, the value of all the lands in England has
rifen, but that of fome much more than others •, fo that
the tax, even had it been equal at fird, mud now have
become very unequal. The only remedies are by mak¬
ing a furvey at certain intervals, or by keeping a regif-'
ter of leafes. To this it is objefted, that it would dif-
courage the landlord from laying out money on improve¬
ments ; but the objedfion might be obviated by making
liberal deductions on that account.
The rent of houfes is of a very different nature from
the bent of land. It is a commodity produced by art,
and as the builder mud have his profit, the rent will be
railed in confequence of the tax. The rife, however,
does not take place immediately. Houfes are fo durable
an article, that for fome time there will be no diminu¬
tion of the fupply ; the rent will continue the fame ;
and the lofs will fall on the proprietor. As a certain
number of houfes, however, fall to ruin, undertakers will
not build new ones without adequate profits; and the
rents will rife to their proper level. It is fingular that
this (hould have been overlooked by Smith. f Book v.
Taxes are fometimes impofed, not on the rent, but on ch. ii.
the produce of land. Such is that levied for the fup¬
port of the church, both in England and Ireland. Such
taxes are pernicious. They difeourage indudry. The
farmer feels that the more he raifes, the more will be
taken fiom him. It would be of great advantage, there¬
fore, to the country, if tithes were commuted for a fix¬
ed annual fum. It would then completely be the inte¬
red of the cultivator to raife as much produce as pof¬
fible. The difficulty, no doubt, lies in making fuch an
arrangement as would enable the clergy to benefit by the
improvement of agriculture 5 but expedients might doubt¬
lefs be found out, fimilar to thofe which were propofed
above, in the cafe of land-tax.
The -economids, as above obferved, contend that all
taxes fall finally on the rent of land ; and therefore re¬
commend, that they diould be laid direflly upon that
fubje£t. The only argument which they allege in fup¬
port of this opinion is, that taxes cannot fall either upon
the profits of dock, or the wages of labour. Now we
ffiall, in treating of thefe fubjedls, endeavour to prove,
that taxes may mod readily fall upon both.
Sect. III. Of Taxes on the Proft of Stock.
What are ufually called the profits of dock, may be
divided into three parts. The fird is equal to the mar¬
ket rate of intered, and conditutes what any one is
willing to give for the mere ufe of the dock ; the le-
cond is a compenfation for the rilk incurred ^ the third
is a compenfation for the trouble of carrying on the bu-
finefs. Of thefe, the lad appears to us to belong more
properly to the wages of labour, and will be confidered
under that head. The fecond evidently is not taxable,
becaufe a man would rather not employ his dock at all,
£) than
i22 POLITICAL
Of Public than not receive a full compenfation for the rilk he runs
^Revenue.^ Jn f0 But the firft (which perhaps ought alone
to be confidered, Itridtly fpeaking, as the profits of flock),
is, to almoft its whole extent, completely taxable. Al¬
though, out of jive per cent, government Ihould take
four, it would ftill remain the intereft of the capitalift,
to lend, or to employ his flock, rather than lole the re¬
xnaming one. The profits of flock, however, are a lefs
proper iubjeft of taxation, than the rent of land. They
are not fo eafily afeertained } the capital from which
they are derived has been accumulated by induftry and
frugality ; and it is the intereft of the public to encou¬
rage this accumulation. There would be a danger of
driving the capitalifts into other countries where they
would be liable to no luch impofition, to the great de¬
triment of the country which they left.
A tax is fometimes impoied upon the profit of parti¬
cular employments. Such a tax can never fall finally
upon thefe profits. The perfons engaged in this em¬
ployment muft have the ufual profits ibr their flock,
otherwife they will carry it into fome other. Where
thefe taxes, however, are unequal, they may favour cer¬
tain claffes of traders. Thus all licences, being the
fame whether the trader deals to a greater or lei’s ex¬
tent, fail heavier on the fmall than on the great
dealer.
Taxes on the transference of property, ftamp duties,
duties of regiftration, &c. have been carried to a con-
fiderable extent in modern financial fyftems. The faci¬
lity o1 raifing a revenue by this method, has encouraged
its adoption. Such taxes are unequal ; for the frequen¬
cy of transference has no connexion with the value of
property. We may conceive an eftate coming fo often
to market, that thefe duties may abforb the whole of it;
while another of the fame value, from remaining long in
the fame hand, may pay nothing whatever. Thefe
taxes, too, fall chiefly upon the national capital, the
fund by which its induftry is fupported. In many cafes,
they may prove a bar to the frequency and facility of
mercantile exchange. Upon the whole, therefore, it is
to be regretted, that they fliould prevail to fo great an
extent.
Sfxt. IV. Taxes on the Wages of Labour.
Dr Smith is of opinion, that no tax can fall upon the
wages of labour ; that wages, in confequence of fuch
taxes, muft immediately rife ; and that the only effetft
wail be a rife in the price of every fpecies of produce.
But how this effeft can follow, wre confefs we do not
fee. A tax on the wages of labour has no tendency to
increafe the funds for the maintenance of labour ; fo far
as it has any effeeft, it tends to diminilh them. The
fupply and the demand will ftill remain the fame. The
only way in which fuch taxes can raife the price of la¬
bour, is by diminifhing the fupply of it, that is, the po¬
pulation ; which, in procefs of time, they are very likely
to do. The fame funds being then diftributed among a
fmaller number, the wages of labourers will be higher ;
after paying the tax, they will ftill fubfift as well as for¬
merly ; but ftill a portion will remain to go into the
pockets or government. It is to be fully admitted,
however, that fuch taxes are oppreflive, and by all
means to be avoided. When they dhninilh, too, the
ECONOMY. Chap. V.
population and raife wages, they produce all the bad Of Public
eifebts which Smith imputes to them, in raifing the price Rev^nue-
of every manutablured commodity. ^ *
Sect. V. Of Capitation Taxes.
The taxes already noticed, are deftined to fall on
fome particular fource of revenue ; this, and the reft of
which w^e are now to treat, fall indifferently on all.
Capitation taxes are obvioufiy unequal. Tire fame
fum is paid by the richeft and the pooreft. They muft
fall chiefly, too, on the labouring claffes ; and what
may be moft oppreflive to them will be fcarcely felt by
the more opulent, i hey are not arbitrary, however ;
they are eafily levied ; and in abfolute governments,
where the comfort of the people is little confidered,
they are pretty frequent. A capitation on {laves muft
be paid by the mafters, and forms a tax on his farmings
or manufacturing flock.
Sect. VI. Of Income Tax.
A well regulated income tax is, in many refpe&s, the
moft equal which can be impoied. It falls upon every¬
one according to his abiliiy, and it affords no one an
opportunity of exempting himfelf from bearing a ftiare
in the public burdens. The expence of collettion is
fmall, and it takes as little as poffible out of the pockets
of the people, in proportion to what it plates in thofe
of the government. At the fame time, if is liable to
ferious objections. It demands a difclolure of private
circumftances, which muft often be a hardlhip. It
affords confiderable room for evafion. The payment
ot a large fum at once is felt much more grievouliy thaYv
the fame would be, if paid gradually and infeirfibly, by
taxes on commodities. Thefe caufes have hitherto pre¬
vented its adoption, unlefs in a few rare inflances, where
reliance, it was fuppofed, could be placed on the good
faith of the contributors, 'i his leems to have happened
only in fome fmall republics, where the conneifion be¬
tween public and private intereft was very evident. By
this means, howrever, under the prefent exigency, a very-
large fum is now raifed in this country, more eafily
perhaps than it could be raifed by any other method.
To render it an equal tax, how-ever, fome further mo¬
dification would ftill be neceffary. One broad diftinc-
tion is that of income which perifhes with its owner,
and income arifing from land or capital. The laft is
evidently of confidcrably greater value, yet, under the
prefent fyftem it is taxed equally. Land, indeed, pays
the land tax. We obferved above, that the larger a
man’s income, the greater proportion of it can he afford
to pay, fince he fpends the more on fupeifluities. In re¬
gard to the lower ranks, this is fufficiently provided for
by the prefent income tax ; but by levying 10 per. cent
on all who have 150I. a year and upwards,, it falls heavy-
on the middling ranks.
Sect. VII. Of Taxes on Confumable Commodities.
Of all taxes thefe are the leaft felt. Being dire£lly
paid by the merchant, they are felt by the confumers
only
Chap. V. POLITICAL
Of Public only in ilie increafcd price of the goods. They are thus
Revenue. ^ paj^ gradually and piecemeal, and every one has the
v—_j po^er pay;ng or not a8 he choofes. Thefe advan¬
tages, efpecially in countries where the comfort of the
fubjedf is much attended to, lead to the very extenfive
adoption of fuch taxes. They are attended, however,
with very ferious drawbacks. No taxes take fo much
out of the pocket of individuals, in proportion to what
they put into that of government. The tax being ad¬
vanced by the merchant, he expe&s not only to have it
repaid to him in the price of his goods, but to have it re¬
paid with a profit. The commodity will therefore be raif-
ed, not merely by the amount of the tax, but by fome-
what more than that amount. Thefe taxes alfo require an
hofl of collecting officers, whofe falaries confiderably
diminifh their amount. The vifits which thefe officers
muft be allowed to make into the rvarehoufe, workfhop,
and even private houfe of the merchant and manufac¬
turer, form alfo a very ferious grievance.
Such taxes may be either on neceffaries or luxuries.
The former are avoided as much as poffible, by all wife
legiflators, as oppreffive, falling chiefly on the poor, and
having at lead an ultimate tendency to raife the wages
of labour. In Great Britain, the only taxes on necef¬
faries are thofe on fait, foap, leather, and candles.
It is of the utmoil importance that thefe duties fhould
be levied in fuch a manner as not to impede the free
transference of commodities from one place to another.
In France, before the Revolution, and in other Euro¬
pean countries, duties were to be paid almoil: conftantly
in paffing from one province to another. The alcavala
of Spain, the mod ruinous of all taxes, levied ten,
though afterwards only fix per cent, every time a
commodity was fold; which amounted almoft to an
abfolute prohibition of all trade.
Sect. VIII. Of Public Debts.
Governments are feldom economical; and befides the
large expence which is regularly incurred in fupporting
their edablifhment, they are liable to great occafional
demands, which their ordinary revenue is quite unable
to anfvver. Of thefe demands the mod frequent and
prefiing is war, whether offenfive or defenfive 5 nor is
there any caufe which fo frequently deranges the finan¬
ces of a nation.
In rude times, when no great capitals are accumulat-
ECONO M Y.
I23
ed, and when, from the unfettled date of things, thofe Public
who have, would be unwilling to lend them, the only re- ?severiUe- _
fource is in amaffing a treafure. This was the policy W*’" v
of the fovereigns and great barons in the middle ages j
and it dill is that of mod of the Afiatic princes. In a
commercial date of fociety, however, fovereigns find
ample means and temptation to fpend the whole of
their ordinary revenue in the luxuries which abound j
while, at the fame time, the great accumulation of capit al
enables the merchants eafily to advance very large firms
to government. In this tranfaclion, they of courfe re¬
ceive advantageous terms, and by felling their diare of
the public debt, (thus converting it into a fpecies of
commodity, called fock), they are enabled to replace
their capitals, and carry on their bufinefs as before.
Loans made by the government have this diladvan-
tage, that whereas taxes are drawn from the income of
the nation, thefe are drawn from its capital; from the
fund by which its indudry is fupporled. They have
alfo the difad vantage, that from the facility with which
money may be borrowed, they are apt to increafe to an
enormous and ruinous amount. To the credit of a pri¬
vate perfon, there are limits in the extent of his for¬
tune ; but thefe limits do not exid in the cafe of a go¬
vernment, which pofleffes an unlimited, or at lead inde¬
finite, power of augmenting its means. The intered of
the prefent funded debt of Great Britain would be
nearly fufficient for carrying on the mod expenfive war.
In fuch a cafe the only remedy is by a finking fund. A
certain annual fum is appropriated to the purpofe of pay¬
ing off the national debt *, and the intered which conle-
quently falls in, is added to the original fum, which
thus accumulating at compound intered, will increafe,
after a certain period, wth immenfe rapidity. Before
the time of Mr Pitt, there was always, during peace,
fomething in the drape of a finking fund in Great Bri¬
tain. It was frequently devoted, however, to other
purpofes, and never paid off any confiderabfe portion of
the debt of the preceding war. He was the fird who
deadily fet afide, in peace and war, a million for this
purpofe, and allowed it to accumulate at compound in¬
tered. Whenever a new loan was railed, he laid on
one per cent, as a finking fund. In confequence of a
deady perfeverance in this fydem, there is now a fair
profpeft of the country being gradually relieved from
the burden which preffed upon it.
POL
Politics. POLITICS, the fird part of economy or ethics, con-
""“'Y-—-' fiding in the well governing and regulating the affairs
of a date for the maintenance of the public fafety, order,
tranquillity, and morals.
Lord Bacon divides politics into three parts, viz. the
prefervation of the date, its happinefs and jftoiirijhing, and
its enlargement. Of the fird two he informs us, various
authors have treated, but the lad has never been hand¬
led 5 and he has given a fpecimen of an effay to fupply
the want.
POLITY, or Policy, denotes the peculiar form and
POL
conditution of the government of any date or nation ; Polity,
or the laws, orders, and regulations, relating thereto*.v—v--—
  Polity differs only from politics, as the theory from * See Go-
the pra&ice of any art. vernment.
Of the nature of our focial duties, both private and
political, we have already fpoken at fbme length (fee
MORAL Plrilofoplnj, Part II. chap. iii. and particularly
fe<d vii.) ; and we fliall have occafion to take a view of
the origin and nature of the feveral political edablidi-
ments of Europe, &e. hereafter. (See Civil SociETT.)
We (hall only further remark in this place upon the ne-
£) 2 ceffity
*
POL [i
Po':ty celTity of always joining politics and morality together.
,, I’j. This view of the fubjedt is indeed antiquated and negleft-
ed •, but the connection has always been externally re-
fpedted, even by thofe who have leparated them the moil
widely. Politics and morality, far from Handing in oppo-
fition to each other, have the molt intimate connection,
and exhibit the relation which the part bears to the
•whole ; that is to fay, that politics are only a part or a
branch of morality. No truth can be more evident than
this ^ for as morality is the guide of human life, the
principle of order, and the univerfal fource of real im¬
provement and genuine happinefs to all mankind, every
thing relative to the direftion of individuals, or the go¬
vernment of nations, mult be comprehended within its
fphere, and mult be fubfervient to its laws. All the
fchemes and projects of pretended political wifdom, that
deviate from or violate the rules of this mafler-fcience,
turn out in the iffue often to the detriment of their con¬
trivers, always to that of the nation ; and it is a palp¬
able and abfurd error to think of advancing the happi¬
nefs of one country at the expence of the general good
of mankind. The experience of ages, and the hillory
of the world, confirm thefe affertions j from which, and
from daily obfervation, we obtain a convincing proof of
the wifdom of the good old maxim, both in its applica¬
tion to individuals and to nations, that “ honefty is the
bell policy.” See Baron Dahlberg’s Conjiderations on
the Connexion between Morality and Politics, read by
himfelf to the Academy of Sciences at Erfurt.
POLL, a word ufed in ancient writings for the head :
hence to poll, is either to vote, or to enter down the
names of thofe perfons who give their votes at an elec¬
tion.
POLL-Evil, a troublefome ulcer on the back of the
horfe’s neck, ufually the confequence of external injury.
See Farriery, N° 395.
POLL-Money, or Capitation, a tax impofed by autho¬
rity of parliament on the perfon or head 3 either on all
indifferently, or according to fome known mark or di-
ftimffion, as quality, calling, &c.
Thus, by the ftatute 18 Car. II. every fubjedl in the
kingdom was affeffed by the head, or poll, according to
his degree ; every duke look marquis Sol. baronet 30I.
knight 20I. efquire 10I. Sec. and every fingle private
peffon 12d.
This was no new tax, as appears by former afts of
parliament.
POLLACHIUS, or Pollack. See Gadus, Ich¬
thyology Index.
POLLARD, or Crocard, the name of a fort of bafe
money current in Ireland in the time of Edward I. See
Simon's Hi/lory of Irijh Coins, p. 1 ?.
POLLARDS, a kind of coarfe flour. When ivheat
is ground to meal, and divided into three kinds, accord¬
ing to the degree of finenefs, the third or coarfefl: kind
comes under the denomination of pollards.
POLLEN, the fecundating or fertilizing dull con¬
tained within the antherae or tops of the ftamina, and
difperfed upon the female organ when ripe for the pur-
pofes of impregnation. See Botany.
This dull, correfponding to the feminal fluid in ani¬
mals, is commonly of a yellow colour 3 and is very con-
fpicuous in the fummits of fome flowers, as the tulip and
lily. Its particles are very minute, and of extreme hard-
24 ] POL
nefs. Examined by the microfcope, they are generally Pollen
found to aliume fome determinate form, which often pre- > H
dominates, not only through all the fpecies of a particu-, P°1ho'
Jar genus, but alfo through the genera of a natural fami¬
ly or order. Ihe powder in queilion being triturated,
and otherwife prepared in the ftomach of bees, by whom
great quantities are colledled in the hairy brulhes with
which their legs are covered, is fuppofed by lome au¬
thors to produce the fubltance known by the name of
wax 3 a fpecies of vegetable oil, rendered concrete by
the prefence of an acid, which mull be removed before
the lubftance can be rendered fluid,
POLLENTIA, a town or colony of Roman citizens
in the Balearis Major. It is now laid to be Alcudia,
fi‘mated on the north-eaft fide of the ifland Majorca.
There was another Pollentia of the Picenum, likewife a
colony. It is thought to be either the fame with or
near to the Urbs Salvia, but is now extindl. There was
a third of Liguria, fituated at the confluence of the Stura
and Tanarus. Suetonius calls it a municipium, and the
people Polentina Plebs. It was famous for its abundance
ol black fleeces 3 but was afterwards, under Arcadius,
ftained with a defeat rather of the Romans under Stili-
co than of the Goths under Alaricus, though palliated
by Claudian the poet 3 after which Rome was taken and
fet on fire. It is now called Solatia, a fmall town of
Piedmont, not far from Afti.
POLLEX, in Anatomy, denotes either the thumb or
great toe, according as manus or pedis is added to it.
POLLICHIA, a genus of plants belonging to the •
monandria clafs, and in the natural method ranking with
thofe that are doubtful. See Botany Index.
POLL1CIS pressio, and Pollicis versio, wrere
ufed at the combats of gladiators as fignals of life or
death to the vanquilhed combatant 3 or to the vi&or to
fpare or take the life of his antagonift. The po/licis
prejfo, by which the people granted life to the prottrate
gladiator, wTas no more than a clenching of the fingers
of both hands together, and fo holding the two thumbs
upright clofe together. The pollicis verjio, which au-
thoriled the vidlor to kill the other as a cowTard, was the
bending back of the thumbs. Such is Dacier’s opinion 3
but others fay the pollicis prejjio wras when the people
held up one hand with the thumb bent, and the pollicis
verfio when they fhoived the hand with the thumb raif-
ed. Authors, however, are not perfedtly agreed, though
the phrafes pollicem premere, and pollicem vertere, fre¬
quently occur in the Latin claflics as indications of the
people’s will that a gladiator fhould live or die.
POLLIO, Caius Asinius, a celebrated Latin poet
and orator, wras of confular dignity, and compofed fome
tragedies which were efteemed, but are now loft. Pie
was the firft who opened at Rome a library for the ufe
of the public. lie wras the friend of Mark Antony 3
which prevented his complying wdth the felicitations of
Auguftus, who preffed him to embrace his party. At
length Auguftus having wrote fome verfes againft Pol-
lio, he wras urged to anfwer them : on which he faid,
“ I fhall take care of writing againft a man who has the
powrer of proferibing us.” He is praifed by Virgil and
Horace, whole patron he was.
There wTas another Polho, a friend of Auguftus, wTho
ufed to feed his fifties with human flefti. This cruelty
was difeovered when one of his fervants broke a glafs ip
the
POL [i
Pollution tKe prefence of Auguftus, who had been invited to a
II feaft. The mafter ordered the fervant to be feized, but
Fol'ux- , he threw himfelf at the feet of the emperor, and begged
’’~~v him to interfere, and not to fuffer him to be devoured
by fifties. Upon this the caufes of his apprehenfion
were examined } and Auguftus, aftonilhed at the barba¬
rity of his favourite, caufed the fervant to be difmiffed,
all the fifti ponds to be filled up, and the cryftal glafles
of Pollio to be broken to pieces.
POLLUTION, in general fignifies defilement, or
the rendering a perfon or place unclean or unholy. For
the Jewifti pollutions, fee the article Impurhy. ^
The Romanifts hold a church to be polluted by the
effafion of blood or of feed therein : and that it mull be
confecrated anew. And the Indians are ;o fupeillitious
on this head, that they break all the veffels which thofe
of another religion have drank out of, or even only
touched '■) and drain all the water out of a pond in whicn
a ftranger has bathed, _ # .
Pollution, in Mediciney a difeafe which confifts in
an involuntary emiffion of the feed in time oi deep.
This, in different perfons, is very different in degree j
fome being affedled with it only once in a week, a fort¬
night, three weeks, or a month, and others being fubjeef
to it almoft every night. The perfons moft fubject to
it, are young men of a fanguineous temperament, v\ho
feed high and lead a fedentary life. \V hen this hap¬
pens to a perfon but once in a (or.tnignt or a month, it
is of no great confequence y but when it happens almoft
every night, it greatly injures the health ; the patient
looks pale and fickly ; in fome the eyes become weak
and inflamed, are fometimes affebled with violent .de-
flmftions, and are ufually at laft encircled with a livid
appearance of the Ikin. I his diftemper. is to be cured
rather by a change of life than by medicines. When
it has taken its rife from a high diet and a fedentary
life, a coarfer food and the ufe of exercife will generally
cure it. Perfons fubjecl to this difeafe fhould never take
any ftimulating purges, and muff avoid as much as pol-
fible all violent paflions of the mind \ and though exer¬
cife is recommended in moderation, yet if this be too
violent, it will rather increafe the diforder than contri¬
bute to its cure.
Se/f-POLLUTION. See ONANISM.
POLLUX, Julius, a Greek writer of antiquity,
flourifhed in the reign of the emperor Commodus, and
was born at Naucrates, a town in Egypt. He was edu¬
cated under the fophifts, and made great progrefs m
grammatical and critical learning. He taught rhetoric
at Athens, and became fo famous that he was made pre¬
ceptor of the emperor Commodus. Pie drew up lor
his ufe, and inferibed to him, while his father Marcus
Antoninus was living, an OnomaJHcon or Greek voca¬
bulary, divided into ten books. It is extant, and con¬
tains a vaft variety of fynonymous words and phrafes,
agreeable to the copioufnefs^ of the Greek tongue,
ranged under the general elaftes of things. It was in¬
tended to facilitate the knowledge of the Greek lan¬
guage to the young prince j and it is ftill very ufeful to
all who have a mind to be perfebb in it. The firft edi¬
tion of it was printed Venice by Aldus in 1502, and a
Latin verfion was afterwards made and publiftred with
it.: but there was no correct and handfome edition of it
till that of Amfterdam, 1706, in folio, by Lederlinus
!5 1 POL
and Hemfterhufius. Lederlinus went through the firft Pol‘ux
feven books, correbled the text and verfion, and fub- p0u,R(jej_
joining his own, with the notes of Salmafius, If. Vof- ph,a.
fius, Valefius, and of Kuhnius, whofe fcholar he had 1— 
been, and whom he fucceeded in the profefforfhip of
the oriental languages in the univerfity of Strafburg.
Hemfterhufius continued the fame method through the
three laft books: this learned man has ftnee diftinguifn-
ed himfelf by an excellent edition of Lucian, and other
monuments of folid and profound literature.
Pollux wrote many other things, none of which re¬
main. He lived to the age of 58. Pbiloftratus and
Lucian have treated him with much contempt and ridi¬
cule. Philq/lrat. do vit. Sophljl. lib. ii. and Lucian in
Rhetorum prceceptore.
Pollux. See Castor and Pollux.
Pollux, in AJlronomy, a fixed ftar of the fecond
magnitude in the conftellation Gemini, or the Iwins.
See Castor.
Pollux and Cq/icr, a fiery meteor. See CASTOR
and Pollux.
POLOCSKI, a palatinate in the duchy of Lithuania,
partly in Poland, and partly in Ruflia, and under the
government of Ruftia fince 1773 i bounded on the north
by the palatinate of Weyteplki, on the fouth by the
Dwina, on the north by Mulcovy, and on the weft by
Livonia. It is a defert country, full of wood, and had
formerly its own dukes.
Polocski, a town of Lithuania, and capital of a pa¬
latinate of the fame name, with two caftles to defend it.
It was taken by the Mufcovites in 1563, and retaken
the fame year. It is feated on the river Dwina, 50
miles fouth-weft of Weytepfki, and 80 eaft of Brellaw.
E. Long. 29. o. N. Eat. 56. 4.
POLTROON, or PoLTRON, a coward or daftard,
wanting courage to perform any thing great or noble.
The word is borrowed from the French, who according
to Salmafius, derived it a pollice truncato; becaufe anci¬
ently thofe who would avoid going to the wars cut off
their thumb. But Menage, with more probability, de¬
rives it from the Italian poltrone and that from poltro
a “ bed 3” becaufe timorous, pufillanimous people take
pleafure in lying a-bed. Others derive the word from
the Italian poltro, a “ coltbecaufe of thatmeature’s
readinefs to run away.
POLVERINE, the calcined afhes of a plant 3 of.a
fimilar nature with our pot-afiies or pearl-afhes. It is
brought from the Levant and Syria 3 and in the glafs-
trade it is always to be preferred to any other allies.
The barilla, or pot-alhes of Spain, yield more pure fait
than the polverine of the Levant, but the glafs mack;
with it has always fome blue tinge : that made with the
polverine is perfe£!ly white, which ought always to be
ufed for the fine ft cryftal.
POLYADELPHIA (from many, and
brotherhood), many brotherhoods 3 the name of the
18th clafs of Linnaeus’s fexual fyftem, confifting of plants
with hermaphrodite flowers, in which feveral ftamina or
male organs are united by their filaments into three or
more diftinft bundles. See Classification under Bo¬
tany.
POLYiENUS, the name of many famous men re¬
corded in ancient writers. Among them was Julius
Polyaenus, of whom we have fome Greek epigrams ex¬
tant
POL [ i
PV/jenus tant in the firft book of the Ant/io/ogw. The Polyaj-
Polyanthus. UUS wl*,1T1 lt inoft concerns us to know about, is the
1 , - ‘ aut^or of the eight books of the Stratagems of Illuftrious
Commanders in War. He was probably a Macedo¬
nian, and perhaps a foldier in the early part of his life j
but of this there is no certainty. He was undoubtedly
a rhetorician and a pleader of caufes; and appears,
from the dedication of his work to the emperors Anto¬
ninus and Verus, to have lived towards the latter part of
the fecond century. The Stratagemata were publilhed
in Greek by Ifaac Cafaubon, with notes, in 1589,
12mo j but no good edition of them appeared till that of
Leyden, 1690, in 8vo. The title page runs thus: TV
lycetn Stratagematum libri 080, Jujlo Vulteio inter[>rete,
Pancratius Maafvicius rccenfuit, Ifaaci Cafauboni nee non
fuas notas adjecit.
We have in this work the various ftratagems of above
300 captains and generals of armies, chiefly Greeks and
barbarians j for the Romans feldom ufed fuch fineffes ;
and Polyaenus has fhown further, that he was not well
verfed in Roman affairs. A great number of thefe ftra-
tagems. appear to us to be ridiculous or impraflicable 5
and neither the generals, or even common foldiers of
our days, would be found Ample enough to be caught
by them. Few of this order are capable of reading
Pohjcenus's Stratagems; and if they were, they would
reap little benefit from it. The book is ufeful to fuch
as ftudy the Greek language and antiquity 5 for many
things will be found in it, illuffrating the cuftoms and
opinions of ancient times. The fixth and feventh books
are imperfect.
Polyaenus compofed other works befides the Slratage-
mata. Stoboeus has produced fome paffages out of a
book Be Republica Macedonum ; and Suidas mentions a
piece concerning the Thebans, and three books of Ta¬
citus. If death had not prevented, he would have writ¬
ten Memorabilia of the Emperors Antoninus and Verus :
for he makes a promife of this in the preface to his
Axth book of Stratagems, Cafaubon, in the dedication
of Polyaenus to Mornaeus, calls him an elegant, acute,
and learned writer.
POLYANDRIA (from sraAv? many, and a. man
or hujband), many hulhands. The name of the 13th
clafs in Linnaeus’s fexual method, confifting of plants
with hermaphrodite flowers, which are furnilhed with
feveral ilamina, that are inferted into the common recep¬
tacle of the flower. See Cla/Jifcation under Botany.
POLYANTHEA, a cohesion of common-places in
alphabetical order, for the ufe of orators, preachers, &c.
.1 he word is formed from the Greek sreXvq much, and
judas flower ; and has much the fame meaning with an¬
thology oxflorilege. The firft author of the polyanthea
was Dominic Nanni de Mirabellio, whofe labour has
been improved on by Barth. Amantius, and Franc. Tor-
fius; and fince thefe, by Jof. Langius, under the title of
Polyanthea nova, 1613.
POLYANTHUS. See Primula, Botany Index;
and for the cultivation of this early ornament of the
flower-garden, fee Gardening.
POLYBIUS, a famous Greek hiftorian, was born
at Megalopolis, a city of Arcadia, 20? years before
Chrift ; and was the fon of Lycortas, chief of the re¬
public of the Achaeans. He was trained to arms under
the celebrated Philopocmen, and is deferibed by Plutarch
carrying the um of that great but unfortunate general
2
26 ] POL
in his funeral proceflion. He arofe to confiderable ho- Poly
nours in. his own country, but was compelled to vifit Pel)
Rome with other principal Achaeans, who were detain- *" '
ed there as pledges for the fubmiflion of their ffate.
From hence he became intimate with the fecond Scipio
Africanus, and was prefent with him at the demolition
ot Carthage. lie faw Corinth alfo plundered by Mum-
mius, and tnence pafling through the cities of Achaia,
reconciled them to Rome. He extended his travels in-
to Egypt., Trance, and Spain, that he might avoid fiich
geographical errors as he has cenfured in others.
It was in Rome that he compofed his excellent hi-
ffory, for the fake of which his travels were undertaken.
1 his.hiftory was divided into 40 books j but there only
remain toe five firfi, with extradls of fome parts of the
others. It has had feveral editions in Greek and Latin j
and there is an Englilh tranflation by Mr Hampton. He
died at the age of 82.
. POLYCARP, one of the moff ancient fathers of the
C r flian church, was bom towards the end of the reign
of Nero, probably at Smyrna 5 where he was educated at
tne expence of Califta, a noble matron diflinguiihed by
her piety and charity. He was unqueftionably a difciple
of St John the Evangelift, and converfed familiarly with
other of the apoftles. When of a proper age, Bucolus or¬
dained him a deacon and catechift of his church; and upon
his death he fucceeded him in the hSihopric, to which he
is laid to. have been confecrated by St John, who alfodi-
refted his Apocalyfe, among others, to him, under the
title of the angel of the church of Symrna. At length the
controveity about the oblervation of Eafter beginning to
grow high between the eaflern and weftern churches,
he went to Rome to difeourfe with thofe who were of the
oppofite party. The fee was then poffeffed by Anicetus,
with whom he had many conferences, that were carried
on in the moft peaceable and amicable manner ; and
though. neither of them could bring the other to em¬
brace his opinion, they both retained their own fenti-
ments without violating that charity which is the great
law of their religion.
\\ hi 1ft at Rome he particularly oppofed the herefies
of Marcian and Valentinus. His condud on this oc-
cafion is related by Irenaeus •, who informs us, that when
Polycarp paffed Marcian in the ftreet without fpeak-
ing,. Marcian.faid, “ Polycarp, own us !” To which he
replied with indignation, “ I own thee to be the firft-
boin of Satan.” Irenmus adds, that when any hereti¬
cal dodlrines were fpoken in his prefence, he would flop
his ears and fay, “ Good God ! to what times haft thou
referved me, that I fhouid hear fuch things!” and im¬
mediately left the place. He was wont^to tell, that
St John, going into a bath at Ephefus, and finding Ce-
nnthus the heretic in it, immediately ftarted back with¬
out bathing, crying out, “ Let us run away, left the
bath fhould fall upon us while Cerinthus the enemy of
truth is in it.” Polycarp governed the church of Smyr¬
na with apoftolic purity, till he fuffered martyrdom in
the 7th year of Marcus Aurelius; the manner of which
is thus related.
The persecution waxing hot at Smyrna, and many
having fealed their faith with their blood, the general
cry was, “ Away with the impious ; let Polycarp be
fought for.” Upon which he privately withdrew into a
neig hour in g village, where he continued for fome time
pi ay mg night and day for the peace of the church. Pie
POL [ 127 ] POL
Polycarp, was tnus etrsployed, when one night he fell into a
-~v trance, and dreamed that his pillow took fire, and was
burnt to allies *, which, when he awoke, he told his
f iends was a prefage that he fliould be burnt alive for
the caufe of Chnft. Three days afterwards, in order
to eicape the inceffant fearch lor him, he retired into
Another village : his enemies, however, were at hand, who
feized upon two youths (one of whom they forced by
ftripes to a confeflion), by whom they wTere conducted
to his lodging. He might have favcd himfelf by get¬
ting into another houte •, but he fubmitted, faying,
“ The wall of the Lord be done.” He therefore came
down from his bed-chamber, and fainting his perfecutors
with a ferene and cheerful countenance, he ordered a
table to be fet w-ith provifions, invited them to partake
of them* and only requeued for himfelf one hour for
prayer; after which he was fet upon an ais, and con-
diuded towards Smyrna. On the road he mec Herod
an irenarch or juftice of the province, and his father,
who were the principal inftigators of the perfecution.
Herod took him up into his chariot, and ftrenuouf-
ly endeavoured to undermine his conitancy 5 but ha¬
ving failed in the attempt, he thrulf him out of the
chariot with lb much violence and indignation that he
bruifed his thigh wiih the fall. When at the place of
executi®n, there came, as is laid, a voice from heaven,
faying, “ Polycarp, be ffrong, and quit thyfelfi like a
man.” Before the tribunal he wTas urged to fwear by
the genius of Csefar. “ Repent (fays the proconful),
and fay with us, take away the impious.” W hereupon
the martyr looking round at the crowd with a fevere
and angry countenance, beckoned with his hand, and
looking up to heaven, faid with a figh, in a very different
tone from what they meant, “ Take away the impious.”
At laft, confefling himfelf to be a Chriftian, the crier
thrice proclaimed his confeflion, and the people fhouted,
(t This is the great d jblor of Afia, and the father of the
Chriftians $ this is the deftroyer of our gods, that teaches
tnen not to do facrifice, or worfhip the deities.” When
the fire was prepared, Poly carp requeued not to be
nailed, as ufual, but only tied to the itake ; and after a
fhort prayer, wdiich he pronounced with a clear and au¬
dible voice, the executioner blew up the fire, which in-
creafing to a mighty flame, “ Beheld a wonder feen
(fays my author) by us who were purpofely referved,
that we might declare it to others ; the flames difpo-
fmg themfelves into the refetnblance of an arch, like the
fails of a fliip fwclled with the wind, gently encircled
the body of the martvr, who flood all the while in the
tridfl, not like roafled flefh, but like the gold or filver
purified in the furnace, his body fending forth a de¬
lightful fragrancy, which, li' e frankir.cenfe or fome
other coflly fpices, prefeiited itfeif to our fenfes. The
infidels, exafperated by the miracle, commanded a fpear-
man to run him through with a fword : which he had
no fooner done, but fuch a vaft quantity of blood flow¬
ed from the wound as extinguifhed the fire y when a
dove was fecn to fly from the wound, which fome fup- foly-arp
pofe to have been his foul, clothed in a vifible fhape at ) ^
the time of its departure (a).” The Chriftians endea- ) 0
voured to carry off his body entire, but were not al¬
lowed by the irenarch, who commanded it to be burnt
to allies. The bones, however, were gathered up, and
decently interred by the Chriftians.
Thus died St Polycarp, the yth of the kalends of
May, A. C. 167. The amphitheatre on which he fuf-
fered was moftly remaining not many years ago ; and
his tomb, which is in a little chapel in the fide of a
mountain, on the fouth-eafl: of the city, was folemnly
vifited by the Greeks on his feftival day •, and for the
maintenance and repairing of it, travellers were wont to
throw a few afpers into an earthen pot that Hands there
for the purpoie. He wrote fome homilies and epiltles,
which are now loll, except that to the Philippians, which
is a truly pious and Chriltian piece, containing Ihort and
ufeful precepts and rules of life, which St Jerome informs
us was even in his time read in the public affemblies of
the Aliatic churches. It is Angularly ufeful in proving
the authenticity of the books of the New Teflament; for'
he has feveral paffages and expreflions from Matthew,.
Luke, the Acts, St Paul’s Epiitles to the Philippians,
Ephelians, Galatians, Corinthians, Romans, Theffalo-
nians, Colo fTians, ill Timothy, ill Epiitle of St John, and
lit of Peter ; and makes particular mention of St PaulV
Epiltle to the Ephefians. Indeed his whole Epiitle con-
fills of phrates and fentiments taken from the New Tefta-
ment (b).
PO.L.YCARPON, a genus of plants, belonging to
the triandria clafs ; and in the natural method ranking
under the 22d order, Caryophyllei. See Botany In¬
dex.
POLYCHREST, in Pharmacy, fignifies a medicine
that ferves many ufes, or that cures many difeafes.
Sal POLYCHREaT, a compound fait made of equal
parts of faltpetre and fulphur, deflagrated in a red-hot
crucible. See Materia Medicav
POLYCNEMUM, a genus of plants, belonging to
the triandria clafs j and in the natural method ranking
under the 12th order, Plo/oracece. See Botany Index.
POLYCRATES, was a tyrant of Sames, famous
for the good fortune which always attended him. He
became very powerful j and got poffeflion not only of
the neighbouring Hands, but alfo of fome ciiies on the
coalt of Afia. He had a fleet of 100 Ihips of war, and
was fo univerfally eiteemed, that Amafis the king of
Egypt made a treaty of alliance with him. The Egyp¬
tian king was, however, afraid of his continued prolpe-
rny, and advifed him to chequer his enjoyments, by re-
finquilhing fome of his molt favourite objects. Poly-
craies, in compliance, threw into the fea a beautiful feal,
the molt valuable of lus jewels. The lofs of fo precious
a feal afflicted him for fome time : but foon after he
received as a prefent a large fifli, in whofe belly it was
found. Amafis no fooner heard this, than he gave up
all
*
(a) The miraculous part of this account is ridiculed by Dr Middleton in his Free Enquiry and Defence of it ;
but lomething is offered in its favour by Mr Jortin, who obferves, “ the circumitances are fufficient only to create
a paufe and a doubt.” Remarks on Eccl. Pli/f. vol. i.
(b) Jortin, vol. i. p. 68. who to the'particulars made out by Coteleriiis, has added one from Galat. iv. 26. and
another from Hebr. iv. 12, 13.
POL [ 128 ] POL
Polyerota all alliance with the tyrant of Samos, and obferved, that
t I! fooner or later his good fortune would vanifh. Some
a‘ , time after Polycrates vifited Magriefia on the Maeander,
where he had been invited by Orontes the governor.
Here he was fhamefully put to death, merely becaufe
the governor wilhed to terminate his profperity. The
daughter of Polycrates had difluaded her father from
going to the houfe of Orontes, on account of the bad
dreams which (he had, but in vain.
POLYCROTA, in the naval archite&ure of the an¬
cients, is a word ufed to exprefs fuch of their galleys as
had three, four, five, or more tiers of rowers, feated at
different heights ; they were diftinguiflied by this term
from the manocrota, or thofe which had only Angle rows
of oars. The number of rows of rowers in the poly-
crote galleys has given occafion to feme to fuppofe thofe
veffels of fuch a height from the water as is fcarce cre¬
dible. Commentators are not at all agreed upon the
conftruftion of thefe veffels.
POLYDAM AS, was a famous athlete, who imita¬
ted Hercules in whatever he did. He killed a lion with
his fill 5 and it is reported he could Hop a chariot with
his hand in its moll rapid courfe. Pie was one day
with fome of his friends in a cave, when on a hidden a
large piece of rock came tumbling down, and while all
fled away, he attempted to receive the falling fragment
in his arms. Plis prodigious ftrength, however, was in-
fufficient, and he was inltantly crulhed to pieces under
the rock.
POLYDECTES, a fon of Magnes, was king of the
illand of Seriphos. He received with great krndnefs
Danae and her fon Perfeus, wrho had been expofed on
the fea by Acrifius. He took great care of the edu¬
cation of Perfeus ^ but becoming enamoured of Danae,
he removed her from his kingdom, apprehenfive of his
jefentment. He afterwards paid his addreffes to Da¬
nae $ and being rejedled, he prepared to offer her vio¬
lence. Danae fled to the altar of Minerva for protec¬
tion ; and Diftys, the brother of Polydedles, who had
himfelf faved him from the fea-waters, oppofed her ra-
vilher, and armed himfelf in her defence. At this cri¬
tical moment Perfeus arrived \ and with Medufa’s head
he turned into Hones Polydefles, with the affociates of
his guilt. The crown of Seriphos was given to Didlys,
who had Ihown himfelf fo atlive in the caufe of inno¬
cence.
POLYDORE Virgil. See Virgil.
POLYDORUS, a fon of Priam by Hecuba, or, ac¬
cording to others, by Laothoe, the daughter of Altes,
king of Pedafus. Being young and inexperienced when
Troy ivas befieged by the Greeks, his father removed
him to the court of Polymneilor, king of Thrace, to
whofe care he entrulled the greatell part of his treafares,
till his country Ihould be freed from foreign invafion.
On the death of Priam, Polymnellor made himfelf mailer
of the riches which were in his poffeluon •, and to en-
fure them the better, he murdered the young prince,
and threw his body into the fea, where it was found
by Hecuba. According to Virgil, his body was bu¬
ried near the fhore by his affaffm ; and there grew on
his grave a myrtle, whofe boughs dropped blood, when
/Eneas going to Italy, attempted to tear them from the
tree.
POLYGALA, milkwort : a genus of plants be¬
longing to the diadelphia clafs j and in the natural me-
I
thod ranking under the 33d order, Lomeritacecr. See Polyg“mia>
Botany Index. ’ . >1
POLYGAMIA (ttsAv? many, and yetpos marriage'), i c )bain.n
is a term exprefling an intercommunication of fexes, and
is applied by Linnaeus both to plants and flowers. A
polygamous plant is that which bears both hermaphro¬
dite Bowei s, and male or female, or both.
POLYGAMY, a plurality of wives or hulbands, in
the poffeflion of one man or woman at the .fame time.
Polygamy is fo univerfally elleemed unlawful, and
even unnatural, through Europe, and in all Chriilian
countries, that we have generally reafoned upon this
convidlion. Both religion and reafon appear at firlt
fight at lead to condemn it ; and with this view7 of the
fubjedl mankind in general reil fatisfied : but fome bolder
geniufes have taken the oppofite fide of the queflion;
have call off the prejudices of education, agd attempted
to fliow that polygamy is not unlawful, but that it is
lull and neceffary, and w'ould be a public benefit. Such,
writers, to ufe the words of an intelligent critic *, “ re-* Monthly
cur to the common 1’ubterfuge, of which every fetter Review,
up of f range gods, and every conscientious troublervo1, Jxlu-P;
of the public peace, have artfully availed themfelves2/‘1'
to filence the clamour of expoftulation. ‘ Truth !
Truth!’ is their general cry: and with this hopeful
pretence, prudence and humility, and every amiable and
ufeful virtue, are left behind : while conscience Qcon-
fcience !) blindly rufhes forward to oppofe order, infult
authority, and overturn the cuftoms of ages.”
But notwithftanding thefe fair pretences, it will, w7e
doubt not, be eafy to Ihow that truth is not upon their
fide ; prudence and delicacy are certainly at open w7ar
w'ith them : for Dr Percival, Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixvi..
part i. p. 163. has very juftly obferved, that the practice
is brutal, dellruftive to friendfhip and moral fentiment,
inconfiftent with one great end of marriage, the education
of children, and fubverfive of the natural rights of more
than half of the fpecies. Befides, it is injurious to po¬
pulation, and therefore can never be countenanced or
allowed in a w7ell-regulated Bate 5 for though the num¬
ber of females in the wrorld may confiderably exceed the
number of males, yet there are more men capable of
propagating their fpecies than wmmen capable of bearing
children •, and it is a well knowm fa£l, that Armenia,
in which a plurality of wives is not allowed, abounds
more with inhabitants than any other province of the
Turkifli empire.
Indeed it appears, that in fome countries where it is
allowed, the inhabitants do not take advantage of it.
“ The Europeans (fays M. Niebuhr f) are miflaken in-
thinking the Bate of marriage fo different among the j Heron'r
Muffulmans from what it is with Chriffian nations. I
could not difeern any fuch difference in Arabia. The/^j jrc-
women of that country feem to be as free and as happy vets.
as thofe of Europe poffibly can be. Polygamy is per¬
mitted, indeed, among Mahometans, and the delicacy:
of our ladies is Blocked at this idea ; but the Arabians
rarely avail J themfelves of the privilege of marrying e ^
four lawful wives, and entertaining at the fame time any ]lQQ^ fo p,
number of -female flaves. None but rich voluptuaries-
marry fo many wives, and their condufl is blamed by
all fober men. Men of fenfe, indeed, think this privi¬
lege rather troublefome than convenient. A hufband
is by law obliged to treat his wives fuitably to their con¬
dition, and to difpenfe his favours among them with
perfeA
POL [ 129 1 P O L
polygamy, perfeft equality : but thefe are duties not a little dif-
—v-“—' agreeable to moft Muffulmans j and fucb modes of luxury
are too expenfive to tbe Arabians, wbo are feidom in
eafy circumftances. I muft, however, except one cafe ;
for it fometimes happens that a man marries a number
of wives in the wTay of commercial fpeculation. I know
a Mullah, in a towm near the Euphrates, wdio had mar¬
ried four wives, and WTas fupported by the profits of
their labour.”
See a curious kind of polygamy under the article
Nayres. The ancient Britons, too, had a kind of
polygamy among them, 12 women being common to
12 men.
Selden has proved, in his Uxor Hebraica, that plura¬
lity of. wives wras allowed of, not only among the He¬
brews, but alfo among all other nations, and in all ages.
It is true, the ancient Romans were more fevere in their
morals, and never pra&ifed it, though it was not forbid
among them : and Mark Antony is mentioned as the
fir it who took the liberty of having two wives.
From that time it became pretty frequent in the em¬
pire till the reigns of Theodofius, Honorius, and Arca-
dius, who fir ft prohibited it by exprefs law in 393.
After this the emperor Valentinian, by an editt, per¬
mitted all tbe fubje&s of tbe empire, if they pleafed, to
marry feveral wives : nor does it appear, from the ec-
clefiaftical hiftory of tbofe times, that the biftiops made
any oppofition to the introdu&ion of polygamy. In
effeft, there are fome even among the Chriftian cafuifts
who do not look on nolygamy as in itfelf criminal. Ju-
rieu obferves, that the prohibition of polygamy is a po-
fitive law, but from which a man-may be exempted by
fovereign neceflity. Baillet adds, that tbe example of
the patriarchs is a powerful argument in favour of poly¬
gamy : of thefe arguments we (hall fpeak hereafter.
It has been much difputed among tbe doftors of tbe
civil law whether polygamy be adultery. In the Ro¬
man law it is called Jluprum, and punifhed as fucb, that
is, in fome cafes, capitally. But a fmaller punifliment
is more confident with tbe Jewilh law’, wdierein the pro¬
hibition of adultery is perpetual, but that of polygamy
temporary only.
In Germany, Holland, and Spain, this offence is dif¬
ferently punilhed. By a conftitution of Charles V. it
w’as a capital crime. By the laws of ancient and modem
Sweden it is punifhed wuth death. In Scotland it is pu-
nilhed as perjury.
In England it is enafted by ftatute I Jac. I. cap. 11.
that if any perfon, being married, do afterwards marry
again, the former hufband or w’ife being alive, it is fe¬
lony, but within tbe benefit of clergy. The firft wife,
in this cafe, {hall not be admitted as an evidence againft
her hufband, becaufe flie is the true wfife ; but tbe fe-
cond may, for fhe is indeed no wife at all ; and fo vice
verfa of a fecond hufband. This aft makes an exception
to five cafes, in which fucb fecond marriage, though in
the three firft it is void, is however no felony. 1. Where
either party hath been continually abroad for feven years,
whether tbe party in England had notice of the other’s
being living or not. 2. Where either of the parties
hath been abfent from the other feven years wfithin this
kingdom, and tbe remaining party bath had no notice of
the other’s being alive wfithin that time. 3. Where
there is a divorce or feparation a menfa et thoro by fen-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
tence in the ecclefiaflical court. 4. Where the firfh Polygamr.
marriage is declared abfolutely void by any fuch fentence,
and the parties looled a vinculo. Or, 5. Where either
of the parties was under the age of confent at the time
of the firft marriage ; for in fuch cafe the firft marriage
wTas voidable by the difagreement of either party, which
this fecond marriage very clearly amounts to. But if
at the age of confent the parties had agreed to the mar¬
riage, which completes the contraft, and is indeed the
real marriage, and afterwards one of them fhould marry
again, Judge Blackftone apprehends that fuch fecond
marriage would be within the reafon and penalties of the
aft.
Bernardus Ochinus, general of the order of Capu¬
chins, and afterwards a Proteftant, publifhed, about the
middle of the 16th century, Dialogues in favour of Po¬
lygamy, which were anfwered by Theodore Beza. And
about tbe conclufion of the laft century we had at Lon¬
don an artful treatife publifhed in behalf of a plurality
of wives, under the title of Polygamia Triumphatrix : the
author w’hereof affumes the name of Theophilus Aleiheus;
but his true name was Lyferus. He was a native of Sa¬
xony. It has been anfwered by feveral.
A new argument in favour of polygamy has been
adduced by Mr Bruce, on this principle, that in fome
parts of the w’orld the proportion of female children is
much greater than that of the males. “ From a dili¬
gent inquiry (fays he) into the fouth and feripture part
of Mefopotamia, Armenia, and Syria, from Mouiul or
Nineveh to Aleppo and Antioch, I find the proportion
to be fully twro w'omen to one man. There is indeed a
fraftion over, but it is not a confiderable one. From
Latikea, Laodicea ad mare, dowm the coaft of Syria
to Sidon, the number is nearly three, or two and three-
fourths, to one man. Through the Holy Land, the
country called Horan, in the ifthmus of Suez, and the-
parts of the Delta unfrequented by ftrangers, it is fome-
thing lefs than three. But from Suez to the ftraits of
Babelmandel, w’hich contains the three Arabias, the
proportion is fully four w’omen to one man ; w’hich I
have reafon to believe holds as far as the line, and 30°
beyond it. The Imam of Santa wras not an old man
when I was in Arabia Felix in 1769 } but he had 88
children then alive, of whom 14 only were fons. The
prieft of the Nile had 70 and odd children: of wdiom,
as I remember, above fifty were daughters.
“ It may be objefted, that Dr Arbuthnot, in quo¬
ting tbe bills of mortality for 20 years, gave the moft
unexceptionable grounds for his opinion ; and that my
fingle exception of what happens in a foreign country,
without further foundation, cannot be admitted as
equivalent teftimony : and I am ready to admit this ob-
jeftion, as there are no bills of mortality in any of thefe
countries. I fliall therefore fay in what manner I at¬
tained the knowdedge which I have juft mentioned.
Whenever I went into a town, village, or inhabited
place, dwelt long in a mountain, or travelled journeys
w’ith any fet of people, I always made it my bufinefs to
inquire bow many children they had, or their fathers,
their next neighbours or acquaintance. I then afked
my landlord at Sidon, fuppofe him a weaver, how many
children he has had ? He tells me how many fons and
how many daughters. The next I afk is a tailor, a
fmith, &c. in {hort every man who is not a ftranger,
R from
I
POL [ 130 ] POL
Polygamy, from whom I can get the proper information. I fay,
therefore, that a medium of both fexes, ariting from
three or four hundred families, indifcriminately taken,
ftiall be the proportion in which one differs from the
Other ; and this, I am confident, will give the relult to
be three women in 50° of the 90° under every meridian
of the globe.”
Our author corroborates this argument by fuppofing
that Mahomet perceived this difproportion, and that
upon it he founded his inftitution allowing one man to
have four wives. “ With this view he enacted, or ra¬
ther revived, the law which gave liberty to every indi¬
vidual to marry four wives, each of whom was to be
equal in rank and honour, without any preference but
what the prediledtion of the hufband gave her.”
Having thus eftablilhed, as he fuppofes, the necefiity
of polygamy in the Eait, Mr Bruce proceeds to confider
whether there is not fome other reafons why it ihould
not be pradtifed in Britain farther than the mere equa¬
lity in numbers of the fexes to one another. This rea-
fon he finds in the difference between the conftitutions
of the Europeans and eaftern nations. “ Women in
England (fays he) are capable cf child-bearing at 14 j
let the other term be 48, when they bear no more *,
34 years therefore an Englilh woman bears children.
At the age of 14 or 15 they are-objedts of our love }
they are endeared by bearing us children after that
time ; and none, I hope, will pretend, that at 48 and
50 an Engliihwoman is not an agreeable companion.
The Arab, on the other hand, if fne begins to bear
children at 11, feldom or never has a child after 20.
The time, then, of her child-bearing is nine years •, and
four women, taken altogether, have then the term of
36. So that the Englifh woman that bears children
for 34 years has only two years lefs than the term en¬
joyed by the four wives whom Mahomet has allowed 5
and if it be granted that an Englilh wife may bear at
50, the terms are equal. But there are other grievous
differences. An Arabian girl, at 11 years old, by her
youth and beauty, is the objedt of man’s defire : being
an infant, however, in underftanding, (lie is not a ra¬
tional companion for him. A man marries there, fay
at 20 5 and before he is 30, his wife, improved as a
companion, ceafes to be the objedt of his defires and a
mother of children : fo that all the beft and moft vigo¬
rous of his days are fpent wdth a w'oman he cannot
love ) and with her he would be deilined to live 40, or
45 years, without comfort to himfelf by increafe of
family, or utility to the public. The reafons, then,
againft polygamy, which fubfift in England, do not by
any means lubfift in Arabia } and that being the cafe,
it would be unworthy of the wifdom of God, and an
unevennefs in his ways, wThich we {hall never fee, to
fubjedt two nations under fuch different circumftances
abfolutely to the fame obfervances.”
To all this argumentation, however, it may be re¬
plied, that whatever we may now fuppofe to be the
conftitution of nature in the warmer parts of the globe,
it certainly was different at the beginning. We cannot,
indeed, afcertain the exadf pofition of the Garden of
Eden 5 but it is with reafon fuppofed not to have been
far from the ancient feat of Babylon. In that country,
therefore, where Mr Bruce contends that four women
are neceffary to the comfort of one man, it pleafed
God to grant only one to the firft man j and that, too,
when there was more occafion for population than ever Polygamy,
there has been fince, becaufe the whole earth wns to be '
peopled from a fingle pair. Matters were not altered
at the flood ; for Noah had but one wflfe. And this
is the very argument ufed by our Saviour himfelf when
fpeaking of divorce without any fufficient caufe, and
then marrying another woman, w'hich is a fpecies of
polygamy.—Again, with refpedl to the alleged multi¬
plicity of females in the eaftern part of the world, it is
by no means probable that the calculations of Mr Bruce
or any other perfon can be admitted in this cafe. Hif-
tory mentions no fuch thing in any nation 5 and confi-
dering the vafl; deftrudtion among the male part of the
human fpecies more than that of the females by w-ar and
other accidents, we may fafely fay, that iffoour wmmen
children w'ere born for every fingle male, there wrould
in fuch countries be five or fix grown up women for
every man j a proportion which wre may venture to
affirm does not, nor ever did, exifl; any wEere in the
world. That it was not fo in former times, w'e can
only judge from the particular examples recorded in
hiftory, and thefe are but few. We read in the Greek
hiftory, indeed, of the Jifoi/ daughters of Danaus 5 but
thefe were matched by as many fons of another man.
Job had only one wrife, yet \va.&. feven fons and but three
daughters. Jacob had two wives, who bore twelve
fons, and only on. daughter. Abraham had only one
child by his firft wn., and that was a fon. By his fe-
cond wife Keturah he had fix fons ; and confidering
his advanced age at the time he married her, it is by
no means probable that he could have 24 daughters $
nay, if, as Mr Bruce tells us, the women in the eaftern
countries bear children only for nine years, it w;as im-
poffible fhe could have fo many. Gideon, who had
many wives, had no few^er than feventy Ions by thefe
waves, and even his concubine had a fon ; fo that if all
thefe w7omen had produced according to Mr Bruce’s
proportion, of nearly three females to one male, he
muft have had almoft 284 children 5 a better family
than any of Mr Bruce’s eaftern acquaintance can pro¬
bably boaft of. - '
With regard to the fubjedl, howxver, it muft be ob-
ferved, that the procreation of male or female children
depends in fome degree on the health and vigour of the
parents. It is by no means improbable, therefore, that
the eaftern voluptuaries, whofe conftitutions are debili¬
tated by their exceffes, may have many more female than
male children born to them. The women themfelves,
by premature enjoyment, will alfo be inclined to pro¬
duce females inftead of males ; but neither of thefe cir¬
cumftances can prove this to be an original lawr of na¬
ture. Something like this may be gathered from facred
hiftory. Gideon above-mentioned, wEo was a hardy
and aftive warrior, had many fons. The fame w?as the
cafe with David, who led an active and laborious life j
wThile Solomon, wEo was a voluptuary, had only one fon,
notwithftanding his multitude of wives.
The moft barefaced defence of polygamy that has ap¬
peared in modern times is by the Rev. Mr Madan, who
publiflred a treatife, artfully vindicating, and ftrongly
recommending it, under the title of Thehjphthora ; or,
A Treatife on Female Ruin, in its Caufes, EffeEls, Confe-
quences, Prevention, and Remedy, &c. Marriage, ac¬
cording to this waiter, Amply and wholly confifts in the
ad of perfgnal union, or adius coitus. Adultery, he
fays,
POL [13
polygamy, fays, is never ufed in the facred writings but to denote
the defilement of a betrothed or married woman, and to
this fenfe he reftri&s the ufe of the term ; fo that a mar¬
ried man, in his opinion, is no adulterer, if his commerce
with the fex be confined to Tingle women, who are un¬
der no obligations by efpoufals or marriage to other
men : but, on the other hand, the woman who fhould
dare to have even but once an intrigue with any other
man befides her hufhand, (let him have as many wives
as Solomon), would, ipfo fa&o, be an adulterefs, and
ought, together with her gallant, to be punilhed with
immediate death. This, he boldly fays, is the law of
God : and on this foundation he limits the privilege of
polygamy to the man •, in fupport of which he refers to
the polygamous connexions ol the patriarchs and faints
of the Old Teftament, and infers the lawfulnefs of their
praXice from the bleflings which attended it, and the
laws which were inftituted to regulate and fuperintend
it. He contends for the lawfulnefs of Chriftians having,
like the ancient Jews, more wives than one } and labours
much to reconcile the genius of the evangelical difpen-
fation to an arrangement of this fort. With this view
he aflerts, that there is not one text in the New Tefta¬
ment that even hints at the criminality of a polygamous
connexion j and he would infer from St Paul’s direc¬
tion, that biftiops and deacons fhould have but one wife,
that it was lawful for laymen to have more. Chrift, he
fays, was not the giver of a new law j but the bufinefs
of marriage, polygamy, &.c. had been fettled before his
appearance in the world, by an authority which could
not be revoked. Befides, this writer not only thinks
polygamy lawful in a religious, but advantageous in a
civil light, and highly politic in a dpmeftic view.
In defence of his notion of marriage, which, he fays,
confifts in the union of man and woman as one body, the
effeXs of which in the fight of God no outward forms
or ceremonies of man’s invention can add to or detraX
from, he grounds his principal argument on the Hebrew
words made ufe of in Gen. ii. 24. to exprefs the primi¬
tive inftitution of marriage, viz. tntPiO pa't, rendered by
the LXX. t>jv yweax* ctvlx, which
tranflation is adopted by the evangelift (Mat. xix. 5.)
with the omiftion only of the fuperfluous prepofition
(■^05) after the verb. Our tranflation, “ (hall cleave to
his wife,” doth not, he fays, convey the idea of the He¬
brew, which is literally, as Montanus renders the words,
“ ftiall be joined or cemented in his woman, and they
fhall become (i. e. by this union) one flelh.” But on
this criticifm it is well remarked, that both the Hebrew
and Greek terms mean Amply and literally attachment
or adherence } and are evidently made ufe of in the fa¬
cred writings to exprefs the whole fcope of conjugal fi¬
delity and duty, though he would reftrain them to the
grofler part of it.
With refpeX to the Mofaic law, for which Mr Ma-
dan is a warm advocate, it was certainly a local and
temporary inftitution, adapted to the ends for which
it was appointed, and admirably calculated, in its rela¬
tion to marriage, to maintain and perpetuate the repara¬
tion of the Jewifti people from the Gentiles. In at¬
tempting to depreciate the outward forms of marriage,
this writer would make his readers believe, that becaufe
none are explicitly deferibed, therefore none exifted j
and confequently that they are the fuperfluous ordinances
of human policy. But it is evident, from comparing
i ] POL
Ruth iv. 10, 13. with Tobit vii 13, 14. and from the Polygatn^
cafe of Dinah, related Gen. xxx.v. that ibme forms were r
deemed efiential to an honourable alliance by the patri¬
archs and hunts under rhe Old 1 eitament, exclufive of
the carnal knowledge of each other’s perfons. It is al-
fo evident in the cafe of the woman of Samaria, whofe
conneXion with a man not her hulband is mentioned in
John iv. that fomethir.g befides cohabitation is neceflary
to conftitute marriage in the fight of God.
Having ftated his notion of marriage, he urges, in de¬
fence of polygamy, that, notwithftandir.g the feventh
commandment, it was allowed by God himielf, who
made laws for the regulation of it, wrought miracles in
fupport of it by making the barren woman fruhful, and
declared the iffue legitimate to all interns and purpofes.
God’s allowance of polygamy is argued from Exod. xxi.
10. and particularly from Deut. xxi. 15. which, he fays,
amounts to a demonftration. This paffage, however, at
the utmoft, only prefuppofes that the praXice might have
exiftence among fo hard-hearted and fickle a people as
the Jews *, and therefore wifely provides againft fome of
its more unjuft and pernicious confequences, fuch as tend¬
ed to affeX the rights and privileges of heirfhip. Laws
enaXed to regulate it cannot be fairly urged in proof of
its lawfulnefs on the author’s own hypothefis j becaufe
laws were alfo made to regulate divorce, which Mr Ma-
dan condemns as abfolutely unlawful, except in cafes of
adultery. Befides, it is more probable that the “ hat¬
ed wife” had been difmiffed by a bill of divorcement,
than that (he wras retained by her hufhand : and more¬
over, it is not certain but that the twm waves, fo far from
living with the fame hufhand at the fame time, might
be dead j for the words may be rendered thus, “ if there
Jhould have been to a man twro wives, &c.” The words
exprefling the original inftitution of marriage, Gen. ii.
24. compared with Mat. xix. 4, 5, 8. afford infuperable
objeXions againft Mr Madan’s doXrine of polygamy.
If we appeal on this fubjeX, from the authority of
Scripture to the writings of the earlieft fathers in the
Chriftian church, there is not to be found the fainteft
trace of any thing refembling a teftimony to the lawful-
nefs of polygamy •, on the contrary, many paffages occur,
in which the praXice of it is ftrongly and explicitly con¬
demned.
We ftiall clofe this article wdth the words of an excel-
lent anonymous writer already quoted, and to whofe cri- ^
tique on Mr Madan’s wmrk w^e are indebted for the p. 338.
above remarks : “ In a wrord, wdien we refleX that the See alfo
primitive inftitution of marriage limited it to one man vol< 1®x“
and one wmman ; that this inftitution was adhered to by
Noah and his fons, amidft the degeneracy in w’hich they
lived, and in fpite of the examples of polygamy which
the accurfed race of Cain had introduced} when we
confider how very few (comparatively fpeaking) the
examples of this praXice w^ere among the faithful ; how
much it brought its owoi punifhment with it ; and how
dubious and equivocal thofe paffages are in which it ap¬
pears to have the fanXion of divine approbation •, when,
to thefe refleXions w'e add another, refpeXing the limit¬
ed view's and temporary nature of the more ancient dif-
penfations and inftitutions of religion—how often the
imperfeXions and even vices of the patriarchs and peo¬
ple of God, in old time, are recorded, without any ex¬
prefs notification of their criminality—how much is faid
to be commanded, which our reverence for the holinefs
R2 of
POL f 13* 1 POL
iKi'ygamy, of God and his law will only fuffer us to fuppofe, were,
, lV)1)'gar5- i for wife ends, permitted—how frequently the meffengers
of God adapted themfelves to the genius of the people
to whom they were fent, and the circumdances of the
times in which they lived :—above all, when we confi-
der the purity, equity, and benevolence of the Chriftian
law; the explicit declarations of our Lord, and his a-
poflle St Paul, refpe&ing the inftitution of marriage, its
defign and limitation 5—when we redeft, too, on the
teftimony of the mod ancient fathers, who could not
poflibly be ignorant of the general and common prac¬
tice of the apodolic church 5 and, finally, when to thefe
confiderations we add thofe which are founded on juf-
fice to the female fex, and all the regulations of domedic
economy and national policy—we mud wholly condemn
the revival of polygamy ; and thus bear our honed tedi-
mony againd the leading defign of this dangerous and
ill-adviled publication.”
We would advife our readers to perufe the whole cri-
ticifms on Madan’s book in the Monthly Review7, toge¬
ther with their account of the feveral andvers to it. The
reverend author of the Thelyphthora has there met with
a mod able antagonid, who traces him through all his
deceitful windings, and expofes the futility and falfehocd
of his arguments with lingular ability. See Monthly
Review, vol. Ixiii. p. 273, &c.; fee alfo Pa/eifs Moral
Philofoplii!, qto. p. 262.
POLYGARS, are natives of Hindodan. They in¬
habit almod impenetrable woods, and are under the ab-
folute direction of their own chieftains. In time of
peace they are profedionally robbers, but in times of
wrar are the guardians of the country. The general
name of thefe people is Folygar. Their original indi-
tution, for they live in didindf clans, is not very well
underdood. It probably took its rife from the munici¬
pal regulations relative to the dedrmdion of tygers and
other ferocious b«ads. Certain tra£ls of woodland w7ere
indifputably allotted as rewards to thofe who fliould flay
a certain number of thofe animals ; and thofe lands ap¬
proximating, probably laid the foundation of the feveral
confederacies of Polygars.
“ The Pollams, or wmcds, from which is derived the
word Folygar, lying in profufion through all the fouth-
. ern parts of Hindodan, the ravages committed in the
open countries by thefe adventurous clans, are both fre¬
quent and dedruftive. Cattle and grain are the con-
dant booty of the Polygars. They not unfrequently
even defpoil travellers of their property, and fometimes
murder, if they meet with oppofltion : yet thefe very
Polygars are the hands into which the aged and infirm,
the wives, children, and treafure, of both Hindoos and
others are entrufted, when the circumjacent country un¬
fortunately happens to be the feat of w7ar. The protec¬
tion they afford is paid for •, but the price is inconfi-
derable, when the helplefs fituation of thofe who fly to
them for (belter is confidered, and efpecially when their
own very peculiar chara&er is properly attended to.
Ihe native governments of Hindoflan are under the ne-
ceflity of tolerating this honourable banditti. Many of
them are fo formidable as to be able to bring 15,000 and
20,000 men into the field.
_ “ The Hindoo code of laws, in fpeaking of robbe¬
ries, hath this remarkable claufe, ‘ The mode of (hares
amongfl robbers (hall be this :—If any thief or thieves,
by the command of the magiftrate, and with his afliff-
ance, have committed depredations upon, and brought Pol
away any booty from, another province, the magiftrate ,
(hall receive a (hare of one-fixth part of the whole. If f ‘y
they received no command or afliflance from the ma¬
giftrate, they (hall give the magiftrate in that cafe one-
tenth part for his (hare, and of the remainder their chief
(hall receive four (hares j and whofoever among them is
perfeft mafter of his occupation, (hall receive three (hares:
alfo, whichever of them is remarkably ftrong and (tout,
(hall receive twm (hares, and the reft (hall receive each
one (hare.’ Plere, then, wre fee not only a fan&ion, but
even an inducement, to fraudulent practices.—Another
fingular inconfiftency among a people wdio, in many pe¬
riods of their hiftory, have been proverbial for innocency
of manners, and for uncommon honefty in their conduct
towTards travellers and (Grangers.
“ At the firft fight, it wmuld appear that the tolera¬
tion of the Polygars, is owing to their great numbers, and
to the fecurity of their fortreffes, which are in general
impenetrable but to Polygars ; that the government li¬
cence, in this manner given to them, to live on the fpoils
©f the induftrious, might have originally occafioned the
formal divifion, and encouragement to perfeverance,
which we have juft quoted : but the caufe I fhould ra¬
ther luppofe to lie in the nature of certain governments,
than to have arifen from any accidental circumftance af¬
terwards : and I am the more inclined to this opinion,
from the fituation of the northern parts of Plindoftan,
which are, and always have been, uninfefted by thefe
freebooters.
“ The dominion of the Eaft w7as, in former days, mod
probably divided and fubdivided into all the various
branches of the feodal fyftem. The veftiges of it re¬
main to this hour : rajahs and zemindars are nothing
more than chieftains of a certain degree of confequence
in the empire. If, then, experience has (hown, in other
parts of the world, that clans have always beenobierved
to commit the moft pernicious acls of depredation and
hoftility on each other, and that the paramount lord
has feldom been able effeftually to crufh fo general and
fo complicated a fcene of mifchief—may we not reafon-
ably venture to fuppofe, that the Hindoo legiflature
paffed this ordinance for the fuppreflion of fuch provin¬
cial warfare, and for the wholefome purpofe of drawing
the people, by unalarming degrees, more immediately
under the controul of the one fovereign authority ? The
conclufion, I own, appears to me fatisfadtory. More¬
over, Polygars cannot but be of modern growth 5 for
the law relative to thefts is antecedent to the mention
of Polygars in hiftory.” Sullivan’s Fhilofophical Rliap-
fodies.
POLYGLOTT, among divines and critics, chiefly
denotes a Bible printed in feveral languages. See Bible
and Printing.
POLYGLOTTUS, a fpecies of bird, belonging to
the genus turdus. See Turdus, Ornithology In¬
dex.
POLYGNOTUS, a famous painter of Thafos, flou-
riflied about 422 years before the Chriftian era, and was
the fon and fcholar of Aglaophon. He adorned one of
the public porticoes of Athens with his paintings, in
w7hich he had reprefented the moft ftriking events of the
Trojan war. The Athenians were fo pleafed with him,
that they offered to reward his labours with whatever
he pleafed to accept} but he declined the offer; and the
Amphidfyonic
POL [ 133 ] POL
folygnotus Ampliiclyonic council, whicli was ccmpofed of the re-
li prefentatives of the principal cities of Greece, ordered
Poiymnef- tjiat p0iygnotus Should be maintained at the public ex-
tor. f& t . r
. pence wherever he went.
Of tire talents of,Polygnotus much honourable men¬
tion is made by many of the belt authors of antiquity,
as Ariilotle and Plutarch, Dionyfius Halicarnafl'enhs,
&.c. Paufanias fpeahs of his pictures of the events of
the Trojan war, and, in his Tenth Book, introduces a
very long defcription of other pictures by the fame ar-
tift, painted alfo from Homer in the temple at Delphos.
The paffage, however, gives but a confufed and imper-
feft idea of the painter’s performance. How much the
art is indebted to this ancient mailer, what grace and
foftnefs he gave to the human countenance, what em-
bellilhments he added to the female figure and drefs, are
much more happily deicribed by Pliny. “ Primus mu-
lieres lucida veite pinxit, capita earum mitris verficolori-
bus operuit, plurimumque pifturae primus contulit: fi-
quidem inllituit os adaperire, dentes oltendere, vultum
ab antique rigore variare.”—The fame author likewife
bears honourable teilimony to the liberal fpirit of this
great artift, who refufed any reward for his ingenious la¬
bours in the portico.—“ Porticum gratuito, cum partem
ejus Mycon mercede pingeret.” Plin. lib. xxxv. cap. 8.
POLYGON, in Geometry, a figure with many fides,
or whofe perimeter confifts of more than four fides at
leal! •, luch are the pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, &c.
POLYGONUM, Knot-grass: a genus of plants
belonging to the odlandria clafs ; and in the natural
method ranking under the 12th order, Holoracece. See
Botany Index.
POLYGRAPPIY, Polygraphia, or Po/ygraphice,
the art of writing in various unufual manners or ciphers j
as alfo of deciphering the fame. The word is formed
from the Greek, w-aAv, mu hum, and yoapn, fcriptura,
“ writing.”
The ancients feem to have been very little acquaint¬
ed with this art 5 nor is there any mark of their having
gone beyond the Lacedaemonian fcytala. Trithemius,
Porta, Vigenere,and Father Niceron, have written on the
fubje£f of polygraphy or ciphers. See Cipher.
POLYHYMNIA, in the pagan mythology, one of
the nine mufes, thus named from the Greek words ttoAvs
“ much,” and (mu* “ memory.” She prefided over hif-
tory, or rather rhetoric ; and is reprefented with a crown
of pearls and a white robe ; her right hand in aftion as
if haranguing, and holding in her left a caduceus or
fceptre t© Ihow her power.
POLYHEDRON, in Geometry, denotes a body or fo-
lid comprehended under many fides or planes.
Polyhedron, in Optics, is a multiplying glafs or lens,
confining of feveral plane furfaces difpofed into a convex
form. See Optics.
POLY MATHY, denotes the knowledge of many
arts and fciences. The word is derived from the Greek,
^roAv, multuin, and [amvQxvw, difco.
POLYMNESTOR, was a king of the Thracian
Cherfonefus. He married Ilione, Priam’s eldell daugh¬
ter } and for the fake of the treafure with which he was
entrufted by Priam during the fiege of Tory, he mur¬
dered Polydorus, (fee Polydorus). The fleet in which
the vidforious Greeks returned, together with their Tro¬
jan captives, among whom was Hecuba, ftoppe i on the
coaft of I hrace, where one of the female captives dif-
covered on the fhore the body of Polydoms, whom Po- Polymnef-
lymneftor had thrown into the fea. The dreadful in- t“r
telligence was immediately communicated to Hecuba poiypjj,^
his mother, who recollecting the frightful dreams fhe mu?,
had the preceding night, did not doubt but Polymne- —v™" 1
ftor was the cruel aifaflin. Refolved to revenge her
fon’s death, fhe immediately called out Polymneftor, as
if to impart to him fomething of importance. He was
drawn into the fnare ; and no fooner was he introduced
into the apartment of the Trojan princefs, than the fe¬
male captives rufhing upon him, put out his eyes with
their pins, while Hecuba murdered his two children,
who had accompanied him. Euripides informs us, that
the Greeks condemned Polymneftor to be banifhed into
a diftant ifland for his perfidy. Hyginus, however,
relates the whole differently, and tells us, that when
Polydorus was fent to Thrace, Ilione his fifter took
him inftead of her fon Deiphilus, who was of the fame
age, being fearful of her hufband’s cruelty. The mo¬
narch, unacquainted with the impofition, looked upon
Polydorus as his mvn fon, and treated Deiphilus as
her brother. After the deftruclion of Troy, the con¬
querors wiflied the houfe and family of Priam to be ex¬
tirpated, and therefore offered Eleclra the daughter of
Agamemnon to Polymneftor, if he wrould deftroy Ilione
and Polydorus. He accepted the offer, and immedi¬
ately difpatched his own fon Deiphilus, whom he took
for Polydorus. Polydorus, who pafled as the fon of
Polymneftor, confulted the oracle after the murder of
Deiphilus, and being informed that his father was dead,
his mother a captive in the hands of the Greeks, and
his country in ruins, he communicated the anfwer to
Ilione, whom he had always regarded as his mother.
She told him the meafures fire had purfued to fave h:s
life, upon which he avenged the perfidy of Polymneftor
by putting out his eyes.
POLYMNIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
fyngenefia clafs, and in the natural method ranking un¬
der the 49th order, Compojitce, See Botany Index.
POLYNICES, the fon of Oedipus by his mother
Jocafta. See Jocasta, Oedipus, and Eteocles.
POLYPE. See Polypus.
POLYPETALOUS, among botanifts, an epithet
applied to fuch flowers as confift of feveral petals cr
flower-leaves.
POLYPHEMUS, (Lb. hift.), a celebrated Cyclops,
and king of all the Cyclops in Sicily, was the fon of
Neptune and Thoofa the daughter of Phorcys. He is
faid to have been a monfter of great ftrength, very tall,
and with one eye in the middle of the forehead. He
ate human flefli, and kept his flocks on the coafts of
Sicily, when Ulyffes, at his return from the Trojan war,
was driven there. Ulyfles, together with 12 of his com¬
panions, vilited the coaft, and with them was feized by the
Cyclops, who confined them in his cave, and daily devour¬
ed two of them. Ulyffes would have (hared the fate of
the reft, had he not intoxicated the Cyclops, and put out
his eye with a firebrand when he was afleep. Polyphe¬
mus was awakened by the fudden pain, and (lopped the
entrance of his cave } but Ulyffes efcaped, by creeping
between the legs of the rams of the Cyclops, as they
were led out to feed on the mountains. Polyphemus
became enamoured of Galataea •, but his addreffes were
difregarded, and the nymph (hunned his prefence. The
Cyclops was ftill more earned; and when he faw Gala¬
taea.
POL [ 134 ] POL
Polypodium tsea lurrender herfelf to the pleafures of Acis, he crufhed
p . I) his rival with a piece of a broken rock.
1 ° ^u~‘ . POLYPODLUM, a genus of plants belonging to
the cryptogamia clafs. See Botany Index.
POLYPREMUM, a genus of plants belonging to
the tetrandria clafs, and in the natural method ranking
under the 22d order, Caryoplullei. See Botany Index.
POLYPUS, a fpecies °f frefh-water infedls, be¬
longing to the genus of hydra, of the order of zoo¬
phytes, and clafs of vermes. See Helminthology. The
name of hydra was given them by Linnaeus, on account
of the property they have of reproducing themfelves
when cut in pieces, every part foon becoming a perfeft
animal. Dr Hill called them biota, on account of the
Rrong principle of life with which every part of them is
endowed.
Thefe animals were firft difcovered by Leeuwenhoeck,
who gave fome account of them in the Philofophical
Tranfaftions for 1703*, but their wonderful properties
VvTere not thoroughly known till the year 1740, when
Mr Trembley began to invefligate them. Previous to
his difcoveries, indeed, Leibnitz and Boerhaave, by rea-
fonings a priori, had concluded that animals might be
found which would propagate by flips like plants. Their
conjectures have been verified.
Marine POLYPUS, is different in form from the frefh-
water polype already defcribed *, but is nourifhed, in-
creafes, and may be propagated, after the fame manner $
Mr Ellis having often found, in his inquiries, that fmall
pieces cut off from the living parent, in order to view
the feveral parts more accurately, foon gave indications
that they contained not only the principles of life, but
likewife the faculty of increafing and multiplying into a
numerous iflfue. It has been lately difcovered and fuf-
ficiently proved by Peyffonel, Ellis, Juflieu, Reaumur,
Donati, &c. that many of thofe fubftances which had
formerly been confidered by naturalifls as marine vege¬
tables or fea-plants, are in reality animal-produftions; Polypus
and that they are formed by polypes of different fhapes II
and fizes, for their habitation, defence, and propagation.
To this clafs may be referred the corals, corallines, ke-, ^ ’ f
ratophyta, efehara, fponges, and alcyonium : nor is it
improbable, that the more compaCt bodies, known by
the common appellations of Jlar-Jiones, brain Jlones, pe¬
trified fungi, and the like, brought from various parts of
the Eaft and Weft Indies, are of the fame origin. To
this purpofe Mr Ellis obferves, that the ocean, in all the
warmer latitudes, near the fhore, and wherever it is pof-
fible to obferve, abounds fo much with animal life, that
no inanimate body can long remain unoccupied by fome
fpecies. In thofe regions, fhips bottoms are foon co¬
vered with the habitations of thoufands of animals:
rocks, ftones, and every thing lifelefs, are covered with
them inftantly *, and even the branches of living vege¬
tables that hang into the water are immediately loaded
with the fpaw n of different animals, fhell-fifh of various
kinds : and fhell-fifh themfelves, when they become im¬
potent and old, are the bafis of new colonies of animals,
from whofe attacks they can no longer defend them¬
felves. See Corallina, Helminthology Index.
Polypus of the Heart. See Medicine, N° 97, 98,
274, and 290.
POLYSARCIA, or Corpulency. See Medicine,
N° 335.
POLYSPERMOUS (from ttoXv and feed),
in Botany, is applied to fuch plants as have more than
four feeds fucceeding each flower, without any certain
order or number.
POLYSYLLABLE, in Grammar, a word confift-
ing of more than three fyllables j for when a wrord con-
fifts of one, two, or three fyllables, it is called a monofyU
lable, a diffyllable, and trifyllable.
POLYSYNDETON. See Oratory, N° 97.
POLYTHEISM,
Definition. '"I "'HE doftrine of a plurality of gods or invifible
powers fuperior to man.
“ That there exift beings, one or many, powerful
above the human race, is a propofition (fays Lord
* Sketches Karnes *) univerfally admitted as true in all ages and
of Man "' among nations. I boldly call it univerfal, notwith-
ftanding what is reported of fome grofs favages •, for re¬
ports that contradict what is acknowledged to be gene¬
ral among men, require more able vouchers than a few
illiterate voyagers. Among many favage tribes, there
are no words but for objects of external fenfe : is it fur-
prifing that fuch people are incapable of exprefling their
religious perceptions, or any perception of internal fenfe ?
The conviftion that men have of fuperior powers, in eve¬
ry country where there are wnrds to exprefs it, is fo
well vouched, that in fair reafoning it ought to be taken
for granted among the few7 tribes wdiere language is de-
2 ficient.”
gouvee of Thefe are judicious obfervations, of which every man
religious admit the force who has not fome favourite fyftem
traced t° build upon the unftable foundation which his Lord-
fhip overturns. Taking it for granted, then, that our
convi&ion of fuperior powers has long been univerfal,
the important queftion is, From what caufe it proceeds ?
The fame ingenious author fhow^s, with great ftrength
of reafoning, that the operations of nature and the go¬
vernment of this world, which to us loudly proclaim the
exiftence of a Deity, are not fufficient to account for
the univerfal belief of fuperior beings among favage
tribes. He is therefore of opinion, that this univerfali-
ty of conviftion can fpring only from the image of Dei¬
ty ftamped upon the mind of every human being, the
ignorant equally with the learned. “ Nothing lefs (he
fays) is fufficient: and the original poffeflion which we
have of Deity muft proceed (he thinks) from an inter¬
nal fenfe, which may be termed the fenfe of Deity?'1
We have elfewhere expreffed our opinion of that phi-
lofophy which accounts for every phenomenon in human
nature, by attributing it to a particular inftinft (fee In¬
stinct) } but to this inftinft or fenfe of Deity, con¬
fidered as complete evidence, many objections, more
than ufually powerful, force themfelves upon us. All
nations, except the Jews, were once polytheifts and ido¬
laters. If therefore his Lordfhip’s hypothefis be ad¬
mitted,
P O L Y T
'Flieifm. mitted, either the do&rine of polytheifm muft be true
theology, or this inftinft or fenfe is of fuch a nature as
to have at different periods of the world milled all man¬
kind. All favage tribes are at prefent polytheifts and
idolaters ; but among favages every inftinft appears in
greater purity and vigour than among people polilhed
by arts and fciences 5 and inffinft never miflakes its ob-
jeft. The inftindff or primary impreflion of nature,
which gives rife to felf-love, affection between the fexes,
love of progeny, &c. has in all nations, and in every pe¬
riod of time, a precife and determinate objeff which it
inflexibly purfues. How then comes it to pafs, that this
particular inftinft, which if real is furely of as much im¬
portance as any other, Ihould have uniformly led thofe
who had no other guide to purfue improper objedts,
to fall into the groffeft errors and the moll pernicious
practices ? To no purpofe are we told, that the fenfe of
Deity, like the moral fenfe, makes no capital figure
among favages. There is reafon to believe that the
feeling or perception, which is called the moralfenfe, is
not wholly inftindlivej but whether it be or not, a Angle
inftance cannot be produced in which it multiplies its
objedls, or makes even a favage exprefs gratitude to a
thoufand perfons for benefits which his prince alone had
power to confer.
For thefe, and other reafons which might eafily be
afligned, we cannot help thinking, that the firffc religi¬
ous principles muft have been derived from a fource dif¬
ferent as well from internal fenfe as from the dedudlions
of reafon from a fource which the majority of man¬
kind had early forgotten j and which, when it was ba-
niflred from their minds, left nothing behind it to pre¬
vent the very firft principle of religion from being per¬
verted by various accidents or caufes, or, in fome extra¬
ordinary concurrence of circnmftances, from being per¬
haps entirely obliterated. This fource of religion every
confiftent theift muft believe to be revelation. Reafon,
it is acknowledged, and we fhall afterwards fhow (fee
Religion), could hot have introduced favages to the
knowledge of God ; and we have juft feen, that a fenfe
of Deity is an hypothefis clogged with infuperable dif¬
ficulties. Yet it is undeniable, that all mankind have
believed in fuperior invifible powers : and if reafon and
inftindt be fet afide, there remains no other origin of
this univerfal belief than primeval revelation, corrupted,
indeed, as it paffed by oral tradition from father to fon,
* See in the courfe of many generations. It is no flight fup-
Sketches of p0rt to doftrine, that if there really be a Deity *,
^Man^'0^ it is highly prefumable that he would reveal himfelf to
the firft men—creatures whom he had formed with fa¬
culties to adore and to worfhip him. To other ani¬
mals, the knowledge of a Deity is of no importance j
to man, it is of the firft importance. Were we totally
ignorant of a Deity, this wrorld would appear to us a
mere chaos. Under the government of a wife and be¬
nevolent Deity, chance is excluded •, and every event
appears to be the refult of cftablifhed laws. Good men
fubmit to whatever happens -without repining, knowing
that every event is ordered by Divine Providence : they
fubmit with entire refignation •, and fuch refignation is a
4 fovereign balfam for every misfortune or evil in life,
which Admitting, then, that the knowledge of Deity was
taught PUIT origin ally derived from revelation, and that the firft
61 n3‘ men profeffed pure theifm, it ftiall be our bufinefs in the
135
Theifm.
3
fo revela-
%SOD,
H E I S M.
prefent article to trace the rile and progrefs of polytheifm
and idolatry; and to afcertain, if we can, the real opi¬
nions of the Pagan world concerning that multitude of
gods with which they filled heaven, earth, and hell.
In this inquiry, though we lhall have occafion to appeal
to the writings of Mofes, we ftrall attribute to them no
other authority than what is due to records of the ear-
lieft ages, more ancient and authentic than any others
which are now extant.
Whether we believe, with the author of the book of
Genefis, that all men have defcended from the fame
progenitors $ or adopt the hypothefis of modern theo-
rifts, that there have been fucceftive creations of men,
and that the European derives his origin from one pair,
the Afmtic from another, the woolly-headed African
from a third, and the copper-coloured American from a
fourth—polytheifm and idolatry will be feen to have
arifen from the fame caufes, and to have advanced near
ly in the fame order from one degree of impiety to an*
other. On either fuppofition, it muft be taken for grant¬
ed, that the original progenitors were inftrufted by their
Creator in the truths of genuine theilm : and there is
no room to doubt, but that thofe truths, fimple and
fubiime as they are, would be conveyed pure from fa¬
ther to fon as long as the race lived in one family, and
were not fpread over a large extent of country. If any
credit be due to the records of antiquity, the primeval
inhabitants of this globe lived to fo great an age, that
they muft have increafed to a very large number long
before the death of the common parent, who would of
courfe be the bond of union to the whole fociety, and
whofe di(Rates, efpecially in what related to the origin
of his being and the exiftence of his Creator, wmuld ba
liftened to with the utmoft refpeft by every individual
of his numerous progeny.
Many caufes, however, would confpire to diffolve this
family, after the death of its anceftor, into feparate and
independent tribes, of which fome would be driven by
violence, or would voluntarily wander, to a diftance from
the reft. From this difperfion great changes would
take place in the opinions of fome of the tribes refpedf-
ing the objeft of their religious worlhip. A Angle fa¬
mily, or a fmall tribe banifhed into a defert wflldernefs
(fiich as the whole earth muft then have been), would
find employment for all their time in providing the
means of fubfiftence, and in defending themfelves from
beafts of prey. In fuch circumftances they would have
little/<?2/«re for meditation, and, being conftantly con-ces
verfant with objecfts of fenfe, they would gradually lofe wh;ch ie<j.
the power of meditating upon the fpiritual nature of to poly-
that Being by whom their anceftors had taught them theiim-
that all things were created. The firft wanderers would
no doubt retain in tolerable purity their original notions
of Deity *, and they would certainly endeavour to im-
prefs thofe notions upon their children : but in circum¬
ftances infinitely more favourable to fpeculation than
theirs could have been, the human mind dwells not long
upon notions purely intelle&ual. We are fo accuftom-
ed to fenfible objefts, and to the ideas of fpace, exten-
fion, and figure, which they are perpetually imprefling
upon the imagination, that we find it extremely difficult
to conceive any being without affigning to him a form ln I’it3
and a place. Hence a learned writer* has fuppofed, on
that the earlieft generations of men (even thofe to whom Theory of
faft Religion.
Circura-
i3<S P O L Y T
Origin of he contends that frequent revelations were vouchfafed)
Po'ivtudim. may have been no better than anthropomorphites in their
conceptions of the Divine Being.
Be this as it may, it is not conceivable but that the
members of thofe firft colonies would quickly lofe many
of the arts and much of the fcience which perhaps pre¬
vailed in the parent Hate ; and that, fatigued with the
contemplation of intelleftual objects, they would relieve
^ their overftrained faculties, by attributing to the Deity
Firft fteps a place of abode, if not a human form. To men to-
in the pro- tally illiterate, the place fitteft for the habitation of the
grefs. Deity would undoubtedly appear to be the lun, the
mod beautiful and glorious ebjeft of which they could
form any idea *, an object, too, from which they could
not but be fenfible that they received the benefits of
light and heat, and which experience mull foon have
taught them to be in a great meafure the fource of ve¬
getation. The great fpirit therefore inhabiting the
fun, which they would confider as the power of light
and heat, was in all probability the firil objeft of idola¬
trous adoration.
The fpirit From looking upon the fun as the habitation of their
of light the God, they would foon proceed to confider it as his
firft god of body. Of pure mind entirely feparated from matter,
pagannm. men jn circumftances could net long retain the
fainteft notion ; but confcious each of power in him-
felf, and experiencing the effe&s of power in the fun,
they would naturally conceive that luminary to be ani¬
mated as their bodies were animated. They would feel
his influence when above the horizon 5 they would fee
him moving from eaft to weft; they w’ould confider
him when fet as gone to take his repofe : and thofe ex¬
ertions and intermiffions of power being analogous to
what they experienced in themfelves, they would look
upon the fun as a real animal. Thus would the Divi¬
nity appear to their untutored minds to be a compound
being like man, partly corporeal and partly fpiritual j
and as foon as they imbibed fuch notions, though per¬
haps not before, they may be pronounced to have been
abfolute idolaters.
When men had once got into this train, their gods
would multiply upon them with wonderful rapidity.
Darknefs and cold they could not but perceive to be
contrary to light and heat j and not having philoiophy
enough to diftinguifh between mere privations and pofi-
8 tive effedls, they would confider darknefs and cold as
The fpirit entities equally real with light and heat •, and attribute
or power of different and contrary effe&s to different and con-
rhe fecond trary powers. Hence the fpirit or powder of darknefs
was in all probability the fecond god in the Pagan ca¬
lendar 5 and as they confidered the pov/er of light as a
benevolent principle, the fource of all that is good, they
muft have looked upon the contrary powder of darknefs
as a malevolent fpirit, the fource of all that is evil. This
we know from authentic hiftory to have been the belief
of the Perfian magi, a very ancient feft, who called their
9 good god Ycvzdan, and alfo Orrnnzd, and the evil god
Polytheifm Ahraman. Confidering light as the fymbol, or perhaps
cf the Per- as the body, of Ormuzd, they always worlhipped him
fian magi, before the fire, the fource of light, and efpecially before
the fun, the fource of the moft perfect light; and for
the fame reafon fires were kept continually burning on
his altars. That they fometimes addreffed prayers to
the evil principle, we are informed by Plutarch in his
life of Themiftocles) but with what particular rites he
H E I S M.
wras worftiipped, or where he was fuppofed to refide, is Magianifm,
not fo evident. Certain it is, that his worihippers held ~ v-—*
him in deteftation •, and when they had occaiion to
write his name, they always inverted it to
denote the malignity of his nature.
1 he principles of the magi, though wddely diftant
from pure theiim, were much lefs abfurd than thofe of
other idolaters. It does not appear that they ever
wmrihipped iheir gods by the medium of graven ima¬
ges, or had any other emblems of them than light and
darknefs. Indeed we are told by Diogenes Laertius
and Clemens Alexandrinus, that they condemned all
ftatues and images, allowing fire and water to be the
only proper emblems or reprefeniatives of their gods.
And we learn from Cicero *, that at their inftigation » f)e Legi-
Xerxes was faid to have burnt all the temples of Greece,/ wr, hb. ii.
becaufe the builders of thole edifices impioufly prefu- § 1C-
med to inclofe within walls the gods, to whom all things
ought to be open and free, and whole proper temple is
the whole wTorld. To thefe authorities we mjy add
that of all the hiftorians, who agree, that wdren magia-
nifm was the religion of the court, the Perfian mo-
narchs made wrar upon images, and upon every emblem
of idolatry different from their own.
The Magi, however, wrere but one fedl, and not the
largeft feft of ancient idolaters. The worlhip of the
fun, as the fource of light and heat, foon introduced
into the calendar of divinities the other heavenly bodies,
the moon, the planets, and the fixed ftars. Men could ^ ^
not but experience great benefit from thofe luminaries
in the abfence of their chief god ; and when they had
proceeded fo far as to admit two divine principles, a
good and an evil, it was natural for minds clouded with
fuch prejudices to confider the moon and the ftars as
benevolent intelligences, fent to oppofe the power of
darknefs whilft their firft and greateft divinity wTas ab-
fent or afleep. It was thus, as they imagined, that he
maintained (for all held that he did maintain) a con-
ftant fuperiority over the evil principle. Though to
aftronomers the moon is known to be an opake body of
very fmall dimenfions when compared with a planet or
a fixed ftar, to the vulgar eye ffe appears much more
magnificent than either. By thofe early idolaters (he
was confidered as the divinity fecond in rank and in
power ; and whilft the fun was wrorfhipped as the king,
the was adored as the queen, of heaven.
The earth, confidered as the common mother of all
things; the ocean, whofe waters are never at reft } the
air, the region of ftorms and tempefts, and indeed all
the elements—wTere gradually added to the number of
divinities •, not that mankind in this early age had fa
far degenerated from the principles of their anceftors as
to .worfhip brute matter. If fuch worftiip was ever prac-
tifed, which to us is hardly conceivable, it was at a
later period, when it was confined to the very lowreft of
the vulgar, in nations otherwife highly civilized. The
polytheifts, of whom we now treat, conceived every
thing in motion to be animated, and animated by an in-,
telligence powerful in proportion to the magnitude of
the body moved.
This feft of idolaters, which remains in fome parts of
the eaft to this day, was known by the name of Sabi-
ans, which they pretend to have derived from Sabius
a fon of Seth ; and among the books in which their fa-
cred doftrines are contained, they have one which they
P O L Y T
S£bHfitt>
* Dejit.
iv. 19.
11
Arofe in.
Chaldea.
Call tlie Hook of SetJi. We need hardly obferve, that
thefe are 1’enfelefs and extravagant fables* The name
Sabian is undoubtedly derived from the Hebrew word
Tfaba, which fignifies “ an holt or army 5” and this clafs
of polytheills was fo called, becaufe they worlhipped
“ the holt of heaven the Tfaba hefemim, againft
which Mofes fo pathetically cautions the people of If-
rael *.
This fpecies of idolatry is thought to have firft pre¬
vailed in Chaldea, and to have been that from which
Abraham feparated himfelf, when, at the command of
the true God, he “ departed from his country, and
from his kindred, and from his father’s houfe.” But
as it nowhere appears that the Chaldeans had fallen into
the favage ftate before they became polytheifts and ido¬
laters, and as it is certain that they were not favages at
the call of Abraham, their early Sabiifm may be thought
inconfiftent with the account which we have given of
the origin of that fpecies of idolatry. If a great and
civilized nation was led to worlhip the holt of heaven,
why Ihould that worlhip be fuppofed to have arifen a-
mong favages ? Theories, however plaulible, cannot be
admitted in oppofition to fafts.
True : but we beg leave to reply, that our account
of the origin of polytheifm is oppofed by no fa£t; be¬
caufe we have not fuppofed that the worlhip of the holl
of heaven arofe among favages only. That favages, be¬
tween whom it is impofiible to imagine any intercourfe
to hare had place, have univerfally worlhipped, as their
firft and fupreme divinities, the fan, moon, and fars, is
a faft evinced by every hiftorian and by every travel¬
ler 5 and we have Ihown how their rude and uncultivat¬
ed ftate naturally leads them to that fpecies of idolatry.
But there may have been circumftances peculiar to the
Chaldeans, which led them likewife to the worlhip of
the heavenly hoft, even in a ftate of high civilization.—
We judge of the philofophy of the ancients by that of
ourfelves, and imagine that the fame refined fyftem of
metaphyfics was cultivated by them as by the follow¬
ers of Defcartes and Locke. But this is a great miftake ;
for fo grofs were the notions of early antiquity, that it
may be doubted whether there was a fingle man unin-
fpired, who had any notion of mind as a being diftindt
and entirely feparated from matter (fee Metaphysics,
Part III. chap. iv.). From feveral paffages in the books
of Mofes, we learn, that when in the firft ages of the
world the Supreme Being condefcended to manifeft his
prefence to men, he generally exhibited fome fenfible
emblem of his power and glory, and declared his will
from the midft of a preternatural fre. It was thus that
he appeared to the Jewilh lawgiver himfelf, when he
fpoke to him from the midft of a bufti •, it was by a pil¬
lar of cloud and fire that he led the Ifraelites from
Egypt to the Land of Promife •, and it was in the midft
of fmoke, and fre, and thunderings, that the law was
delivered from Mount Sinai.—That fuch manifeftations
of the Divine Prefence would be occafionally made to
the defcendants of Noah who fettled in Chaldea foon af¬
ter the deluge, muft appear extremely probable to every
one who admits the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures :
and he who queftions that authority, has no right to
make the objection to which we now reply ; becaufe it
is only from the book of Genefis that we know the
Chaldeans to have been a civilized people when they fell
into idolatry. All hiftories agree in reprefenting the in-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
H E I S M. ' 13?
habitants of Chaldea as at a very early period corrupted Sahiifm. ^
by luxury and funk in vice. When this happened, we J
muft fuppofe that the moral Governor of the univerfe
would withdraw from them thofe occafional manifefta¬
tions of himfelf, and leave them to their own inventions.
In fuch circumftances, it was not unnatural for a people
addicted to the ftudy of aftronomy, who had been
taught to believe that the Deity frequently appeared to
their anceftors in a flame of fire, to confider the fun as
the place of his permanent refidence, if not as his body.
But when either opinion was firmly eftabliflred, poly¬
theifm would be its inevitable confequence, and the pro-
grefs of Sabiifm would, in the moft polifhed nation, be
fuch as we have traced it among favage tribes.
From Chaldea the idolatrous worlhip of the hoft of
heaven fpread itfelf over all the eaft, palled into Egypt,
and thence into Greece j for Plato affirms f, that “ the 11
firft inhabitants of Greece feemed to him to have wror-
ftiipped no other gods but the furl, moon, earth, ftars, ’ c'
and heavens, as moft barbarous nations (continues he)
ftill do.” That Sabiifm, or the worftiip of the hoft of
heaven, was the firft fpecies of idolatry, beftdes the pro¬
bability of the thing, and the many allufions to it in fa-
cred Scripture, we have the pofitive evidence of the
moft ancient pagan hiftorians of whofe writings any part
has been tranfmitted to us. Herodotus *, fpeaking of * Llb-11
the religion of the Perfians, fays, that “ they worlhiptai)’ 13 r‘
the fun, moon, and earth, fire, water, and the winds;
and this adoration they have all along paid from the
beginning.” He teftifies the fame thing of the favage
Africans, of whom he affirms f, that they all worffiip- lj'lb-g1gy*
ped theyi/tf and fhoon, and no other divinity. Diodo-cap’1
rus Siculus, writing of the Egyptians J, tells us, that j LU,. i.
“ the firft men looking up to the wmrld above them, and
terrified and ftruck with admiration at the nature of the
univerfe, fuppofed the fun and moon to be the principal
and eternal gods.'1'1 And Sanchoniathon the Phoenician,
a more ancient writer than either of thefe, informs us,
in the fragment of his hiftory preferved by Eufebius,
that “ the two firft mortals were iEon and Protogonus j
and their children were Genus and Genea, who inha¬
bited Phoenicia •, and when they were fcorched with
the heat, they lifted up their hands to the fun, whom
they believed to be the Lord of Heaven, and called
him Baalfamen, the fame whom the Greeks call
Zst>f.
Hitherto thofe divinities were worftiipped in perfon,
or, as Dr Prideaux expreffes it, in their facella, or fa~
cred tabernacles *, for the votaries of each direfted their
devotions towards the planet which they fuppofed to
be animated by the particular intelligence whom they
meant to adore. But thefe orbs, by their rifing and
fetting, being as much below7 the horizon as above it,
and their grofsly ignorant worffiippers not fuppofing it
poffible that any intelligence, however divine, could ex-
ert its influence but in union w7ith fome body, ftatues and produ-
or pillars were foon thought of as proper emblems of the ced frame
abfent gods. Sanchoniathon, in the fragment already worfi1'P*
quoted, informs us, that “ Ihjfpouranios and his brother
Oufous, Phoenician patriarchs, erefted two pillars, the
one to fire and the other to air or wind, and vorffiipped
thofe pillars, pouring out to them libations of the blood
of the wild beafts hunted down in the chace.” As
thefe early monuments of idolatry were called flctflvXix,
a word evidently derived from the Hebrew Bethel, the
S probability
1.38 P O L Y T
Statue, probability ip, that they tvere altars of loofe ftones, fuch
, woif]up. as t]:iat. wbich Was built by Jacob and from him re-
§ Genefis, ceived the fame name. As his was confecrated to the
ch.xxxv. true God, theirs were confecratcd to the holt of hea¬
ven 5 and the form of conlecration feems to have been
nothing more than the anointing of the ftone or pillar
with oil (a), in the name of the divinity whom it wras
intended to repre!* at. When this ceremony was per¬
formed, the ignorant idolaters, wrho fancied that their
gods could not hear them, but when they were vifible,
luppofed that the intelligences by which the fun and
planets were animated, took poffetlion, in forne inexpli¬
cable manner, of the confecrated pillars, and were as
wTell pleafed with the prayers and praifes offered up be¬
fore thofe pillars, as with the devotions which wrere ad-
drenl.d towards the luminaries themfelves.—Hence San-
choniathon calls them animated or livingJlones, Au'kvj
if4.ry'v%e>vs, from the portion of the Divine Spirit which
was believed to refide in them •, and as they w'ere dedi¬
cated to the hold of heaven, they w>ere generally ereifed
on the tops of mountains j or in countries which, like
Egypt, w'ere low and level, they were elevated to a
great height by the labour of men.
withMie ^ ^as keen fuppofed, that this praflice of raifing the
iJolatry of phlars on high places proceeded from a defire to make
higbplaces. the objefls of worlhip conspicuous and magnificent: but
wre are ftrongly inclined to believe, that the eredlors of
ficulvXict had fomething farther in view?, and that they
thought of nothing lefs than to bring the facred ftone or
pillar as near as poftible to the god whom it reprefented.
Whatever be in this, we know that the practice itfelf
prevailed univerfally through the eaft; and that there
was nothing which the Jevviih legiflator more ftriclly
enjoined his people to deftroy, than, the aliars, ftatues,
and pillars, eredled for idolatrous worfliip upon moun¬
tains and high places. “ Ye ftiall utterly deftroy (fays
he) all the places wherein the nations which ye (hall
poffefs ferved their gods, upon the high mountains, and
upon the hills, and under every green tree. And ye
ftiall overthrow their altars, and break dowrn their pil-
* Beat. xii. tarsi and burn their groves w'ith fire
5.3. The mention of groves by the Hebrew lawgiver,
brings to our recolleftion another fpecies of idolatry,
which was perhaps the fecond in order, as men devia¬
ting from the principles of pure theifm w'ere more and
more intangled in the labyrinths of error. The Chal¬
deans, Egyptians, and all the eaftem nations who be¬
lieved in a fupei intending providence, imagined that
the government of this world, the care of particular na¬
tions, and even the fuperintendence of groves, rivers,
and mountains, in each nation, wras committed by the
gods to a clafs of fpirits fuperior to the foul of man, but
inferior to thofe heavenly intelligences which animated
the fun, the moon, and the planets. Thefe fpirits w'ere
by the Greeks called daemons, and by the Ro¬
mans Timaeus the Locrian, wTo flourilhed before
f Be An'ma fpeaking of the punifhment of wicked men, faysf,
Mundi, 1- all thefe things hath Nemefis decreed to be executed
ter feript. a in the fecond period, by the miniftry of vindictive ter-
T. Gate reftrial daemons, who are overfeers of human affairs: to
eduos. »
H E I S M.
wEich daemons the Supreme God, the ruler over all, pemons.
hath committed the government and adminiftration of ——
this world, which is made up of gods, men, and ani¬
mals.
-Concerning the origin of thefe intermediate beings, Origiifof
fcholars and philofophers have framed various hypothe-^tenaon-
fes. I he belie! of their exiltence may have been derived wor®“P*
from five different fources.
1. It feems to have been impoftible for the limited
capacities ol thole men, w7ho could not form a notion of
a God divefted of a body and a place, to conceive how
the influence and agency of Inch a' being could every
inftant extend to every point of the univerfe. Hence,
as we have feen, they placed the heavenly regions un¬
der the government of a multitude of heavenly gods, the
fun, the moon, and the Jiars. But as the neareft of thofc
divinities was at an immenfe diftance from the earth,
and as the intelligence animating the earth itfelf had
futficient employment in regulating the general affairs
of the whole globe, a notion infinuated itfelf into the
untutored mind, that tbefe fuperior governors ofuniver-
fal nature found it neceilary, or at. leart expedient, to
employ fubordinate intelligences or daemons as minifters
to execute their behefts in the various parts of their
widely extended dominions.
2. Such an univerfal and uninterrupted courfe of ac¬
tion, as was deemed neceffary to adminifter the affairs
of the univerfe, would be judged altogether ineonfiftent
with that ftate of indolence, which, efpecially in the eaft,
was held an indifpenfable ingredient in peifeCf felicity.
It was this notion, abfurd as it is, which made Epicu¬
rus deny the providence, whilft he admitted the -exfence,
of gods. And if it had fuch an eileCl upon a philofo-
pher who in the moft enlightened ages had many fol¬
lowers, we need not furely wonder it it made untaught
idolaters imagine that the governor or governors of the
univerfe had devolved a great part of their trouble on
deputies and minifters.
3- When men came to refleft on the infinite diftance
between themfelves and the gods, they weuld naturally
form a wifti, that there might fomewhere exift a clals
of intermediate intelligences, whom they might employ
as mediators and interceffors with their far diftant divi¬
nities. But what men earneftly wifti, they very readily
believe. Hence the fuppofed diftance of their gods
would, among untutored barbarians, prove a fruitful
fource of intermediate intelligences, more pure and more
elevated than human fouls.
4. Thefe three opinions may be denominated popu¬
lar ; but that which we are now to ftate, wherever it
may have prevailed, was the offspring of philofophy.—
On this earth we perceive a fcale of beings rifing gradu¬
ally above each other in perfeftion, from mere brute
matter through the various fpecies of foflils, vegetables,
infefts, fifties, birds, and beafts, up to man. But the
diftance between man and God is infinite, and capable
of admitting numberlefs orders of intelligences, all fupe¬
rior to the human foul, and each rifing gradually above
the other till they reach that point, wherever it may
be, at which creation flops. Part of this immenfe
chafm
         4
(a Hence the provero of a fuperftitious man, hiOcv Xnragov vQotnivm, he kiffes or adores every anointedfone $
which Arnobius calls lubricatam lapidem, et ex ohvi unguinefordidatum.—St.illingfleet’s Origines Sacrcc.
P O L Y T
Dfemoris. cliiifm the phllofophers perceived to be actually filled by
the heavenly bodies j for in philofophical polytheifm there
was one xnvifible God fupreme over all thefe : but dill
there was left an immenfe vacuity between the human
fpecies and the moon, which w?as knowm to be the lowed
of the heavenly hod : and this they imagined mud cer¬
tainly be occupied by invifrble inhabitants of different
orders and difpofitions, which they called good and evil
daemons.
5. There is yet another fource from which the uni-
verfal belief of good and evil demons may be derived,
with perhaps greater probability than from any or all
of thefe. If the Mofaic account of the creation of the
world, the peopling of the earth, and the difperfion of
mankind, be admitted as true (and a more confident ac¬
count has not as yet been given or devifed), fome knowT-
ledge of good and evil angels mud neceffarily have been
tranfmitted from father to fon by the channel of oral
tradition. This tradition would be corrupted at the
fame time, and in the fame manner, wdth others of
greater importance. When the true God was fo far
midaken as to be confidered, not as the foie governor
of the univerfe, but only as the felf-extant power of
light and good, the Devil would be elevated from the
rank of a rebellious created fpirit to that of the inde¬
pendent power of darknefs and evil j the angels of
light wmuld be transformed into good demons, and
thofe of darknefs into demons that are evil. This ac¬
count of the origin of daemonology receives no finall
fupport from Plato, who derives one branch of it whol¬
ly from tradition. “ With refpecd to thofe demons
\Tanxus. (fayS hef) who inhabit the fpace between the earth and
the moon, to underdand and declare their generation is
a tafk too arduous for my {lender abilities. In this cafe
Vre mult credit the report of men of other times, wdio,
according to their own account, were the defendants
of the gods, and had, by fome means or other, gained
exa£t intelligence of that myftery from their anceftors.
We muff not queftion the veracity of the children of
the gods, even though they Ihould tranfgrefs the bounds
of probability, and produce no evidence to fupport their
affertions. We mud, I fay, notwlthdanding, give them
credit, becaufe they profefs to give a detail of fa£ls with
which they are intimately acquainted, and the laws of
our country oblige us to believe them.”
Though thefe daemons were generally invidble, they
were not fuppofed to be pure difembodied fpirits.—
Proclus, in his Commentary upon Plato’s Timaeus, tells
us, that “ every dmmon fuperior to human fouls con¬
fided of an intelleftual mind and an ethereal vehicle.”
Indeed it is very little probable, that thofe who gave a
body and a place to the Supreme God, diould have
thought that the inferior orders of his miniders were fpi¬
rits entirely feparated from matter. Plato himfelf di-
* Epiuio- vides the clafs of daemons into three orders * 5 and whild
nis. he holds their fouls to be particles or emanations from
the divine effence, he affirms that the bodies of each or¬
der of daemons are compofed of that particular element
in which they for the mod part refide. “ Thofe of the
fird and highed order are compofed of pure ether ; thofe
of the fecond order condd of groffer air 5 and daemons
of the third or lowred rank have vehicles extraffed from
the element of water. Daemons of the fird and fecond
orders are inviuble to mankind. The aquatic daemons,
being inveded with vehicles of groffer materials, are
139
Dsemens.
r6
H E I S M.
fometimes vifible and fometimes invifible. When they
do appear, though faintly obfervable by the human eye,
they drike the beholder wath terror and adonidiment.”
Daemons of this lad order were fuppofed to have paf-
fions and affeftions fimilar to thofe of men ; and though
all nature was full of them, they were believed to have
local attachments to mountains, rivers, and groves,
where their appearances were mod frequent. The rea-
fon of thefe attachments feems to be obvious. Poly¬
theifm took its rife in countries fcorched by a burn¬
ing fun ; and daemons by their compofition being necef-In groves
farily fubjeiff in fome degree to the infiuence of heat a’ld 011 the
and cold, it was natural to fuppofe that they, like men,^11^5
would delight in the diady grove and in the purling1 iVeri'
dream. Hence the earlied altars of paganifm were ge¬
nerally built in the midd of groves, or on the banks of
rivers ; becaufe it was believed that in fuch places were
affembled multitudes of thofe intelligences, whofe office
it was to regulate the affairs of men, and to carry the
prayers and oblations of the devout to the far-didant re-
fidence of the celedial gods. Hence too are to be de¬
rived the mountain and river gods, with the dryads and
hamadryads, the fatyrs, nymphs, and fauns, which held
a place in the creed of ancient paganifm, and make fo
confpicuous a figure in the Greek and Roman poets.
Thefe different orders of intelligences, which, though
wordripped as gods or demigods, were yet believed to
partake of human paffions and appetites, led the way
to the deification of departed heroes and other eminent
benefaftors of the human race. By the philofophers Deification
all fouls were believed to be emanations from the divi-of departed
nity ; but “ gratitude f and admiration, the warmefl!ieroes*
and moll atiive affedffions of our nature, concurred to f Warbur-
enlarge the object of religious worfhip, and to make man t^n s
regard the inventors of arts and the founders of fociety 5*
as having in them more than a common ray of the di¬
vinity. So that god-like benefits, befpeaking as it were
a god-like mind, the deceafed parent of a people was ea-
fily advanced into the rank of a daemon. When the re- _
ligious bias was in fo good a train, natural affection
would have its fhare in promoting this new mode of ado¬
ration. Piety to parents would naturally take the
lead, as it was fupported by gratitude and admiration,
the primum mobile of the whole fyflem : and in thofe
early ages, the natural father of the tribe often hap¬
pened to be the political father of the people, and the
founder of the if ate. Fondnefs for the offspring would
next have its turn 5 and a difconfolate father, at the
head of a people, would contrive to foothe his grief for
the untimely death of a favourite child, and to gratify
his pride under the wTant oi fucccjjion, by paying divine
honours to its memory.” “ For a father X afflicted with 1 Rfdom of
untimely mourning, when he had made an image of his xfvc^„c' ’
child foon taken away, now honoured him as a god,
who was then a dead man, and delivered to thofe that
were under him ceremonies and facrifices.” That this
was the origin and progrefs of the worfhip of departed
fouls, we have the authority of the faipous fragment of
Sanchoniathon already quoted, where the various mo¬
tives for this fpecies of idolatry are recounted in exprefs
words. Cl After many generations (fays he) came Chry-
for; and he invented many things ufeful to civil life,
for which, after his deceafe, he was worfhipped as a
god. Then flourifhed Ouranos and his fifter Ge, wdio
deified and offered facrifices to their father Hijpjiftos,
S 3 when
POLYTHEISM,
140
Hero- when lie had been torn in pieces by wild beads. Af*
; 1 terwards Cronos conlecrated Math his fon, and was him-
felf confecrated by his fubjedls.”.
In the reign oi Cronos llouriflied a perfonage of gi'eat
reputation for wifdom, who by the Egyptians was call¬
ed Thoth, by the Phoenicians 1'aautos, and by the
Greeks Hermes. According to Plutarch, he was a
profound politician, and chief counfellor to Ofiris,
then the king, and afterwards the principal divinity, of
t3 Egypt: and we are told by Philo Byblius, the tranfla-
a political tor of Sanchoniathon, “ that it was this Thoth or Her-
iuvention, who firlt took the matters of religious worlhip out
trodneed* ^ie hands of unlkilful men, and brought them into
due method and order.” His objeft was to make reli¬
gion ferviceable to the interefts of the date. With this
view he appointed OJiris and other departed princes to
be joined with the dars and wordripped as gods j and
being by Cronos made king of Egypt, he was, after his
death, wordripped himfelf as a god by the Egyptians.
To this honour, if what is recorded of him be true, he
had indeed a better title than mod princes 5 for he is
laid to have been the inventor of letters, arithmetic,
geometry, adronomy, and hieroglyphics, and was there¬
fore one of the greated benefactors of the human race
which any age or country has ever produced.
That the gods of Greece and Rome were derived from
Egypt and Phoenicia, is fo univerfally known, that it is
needlefs to multiply quotations in order to prove that
the progrefs of polytheifm among the Greeks and Ro¬
mans was the fame with that which we have traced in
more ancient nations. The following tranflalion, how¬
ever, of the account given by Heliod of the deification
of departed heroes, with which we have been favoured
by a learned and ingenious friend, is fo jud, and in our
opinion fo beautiful, that we cannot deny ourfelves the
pleafure of giving it to our readers.
“ The gods who dwell on high Olympus’ hill,
Fird fram’d a golden race or men, who liv’d
Under old Saturn’s calm aufpicious fway.
Like gods they liv’d, their hearts devoid of care,
Beyond the reach of pain and piercing woes 5
Th’ infirmities of age nor felt, nor fear’d.
Their nerves with youthful vigour drung, their days
In jocund mirth they pad, remote from ills 
Now when this godlike race was lodg’d in earth,
By Jove’s high will to demigods they rofe,
And airy daemons, who benign on earth
Converfe—the guides and guardians of mankind.
In darknefs veil’d, they range earth’s utmod bound,
Difpenfing wealth to mortals. This reward
„ „ From bounteous Jove awaits illudrious deeds I!.”
Epycov xai n
Lb^. verf. The deification of departed heroes and datefmen was
roc, Stc. that which in all probability introduced the univerfal
l9 1 belief of notional and tutelar gods, as well as the praftice
ami tutelar worfhipping thofe gods through the medium of Jlatues
gods. Gut ’nt:0 a human figure. When the founder of a date
or any other public benefaftor was elevated to the rank
of a god, as he was believed dill to retain human paf-
fions and affeCb'ons, ft was extremely natural to luppofe
that he would regard with a favourable eye that nation
for which he had done fo much upon earth ; that he
would oppofe its enemies, and proteft the laws and in-
ditutions which he himfelf had given it. By indul¬
ging the fame train of fentiment, each city, and even Kerr^
every family of confequence, found Lares and Penates Worflhp,
among their departed ancedors, to w'hom they paid the
warmed adoration, and under whofe proteclion they
believed their private affairs to be placed. As thole
national and houfehold gods wTere believed to be in their
deified date clothed with airy bodies, fo thofe bodies
were fuppofed to retain the form which their groffer
bodies had upon earth. The image of a departed friend
might perhaps be formed by the hand of forrowful af¬
fection, before the datue or the dirine of a deity was
thought of; but when that friend or benefaCtor became
the objeCt of religious adoration, it was natural for his
votaries to enliven their devotion by the view of his 11-
militude. Maximus Tyrius tells us §, that “ there is no§ Bijferf*
race of men, whether barbarian or Grecian, living 0038.
the fea-coad or on the continent, wandering in deferts
or living in cities, which hath not confecrated fome
kind of fymbol or other in honour of the gods.” This
is certainly true j but there is no good evidence that
the fird fymbols of the gods were Ttatues of men and
women. Whild the fun and other heavenly bodies con¬
tinued to be the foie objeCts of religious wordiip, the
fymbols confecrated to them were pillars of a conical or
pyramidal figure j and if fuch pillars are ever called
graven images by Mofes and other ancient writers, it
was probably on account of the allegoric figures and
chara&ers, or hieroglyphic waiting, with which they
were inferibed.
Hitherto we have confidered the fouls of departed
heroes as holding the rank only of demons or demigods j
but they gradually rofe in the fcale of divinities, till Hero"wor~
they dethroned the heavenly bodies, and became them- fhip en-
felves the dii majorum gentium. This revolution wTas ef- grafted on
fefted by the combined opei ation of the prince and the t^ie
prieft •, and the firff Rep taken towards it feems to havetary’
been the complimenting of their heroes and public be-
nefaCtors with the name of that being which was moil
efleemed and worfftipped. “ Thus a king for his be¬
neficence was called thefiun, and a queen for her beau¬
ty the moon. Diodorus relates, that Sol firft reigned^
in Egypt, called fo from the luminary of that name in
the heavens. This will help us to underhand an odd
paffage in the fragment of Sanchoniathon, where it is
faid that Cronus had fieven fions by Rhea, the youngefi ofi
whom was a GOD as fioon as BORN. The meaning pro¬
bably is, that this youngeff fon was called after fome
luminary in the heavens to which they paid divine ho¬
nours 5 and thefe honours came in procefs of time to be
transferred to the terreftrial nameinke. The fame hif-
torian had before told us, that the Tons of Genos, mortals
like their father, were called by the names of the ele¬
ments— light,fire, and fiatne, of which they had difeo-
vered the ufe.”
“As this adulation advanced into an eflablifhed wor-
fiiip, they turned the compliment the other way, and
called the planet or luminary after the hero, the better
to accuflom the people, even in the aft of Planet-wor-
Jhip, to this new adoration. Diodorus, in the paflhge
already quoted, having told us, that by the firft inha-time it fup-
bitants of Egypt the fun and moon were fuppofed toplanttd.
be the principal and eternal gods, adds, that the former
was called Osiris, and the latter Isis. This w'as in¬
deed the general praftice j for we learn from Macro-
tius, that the Ammonites called the fun Moloch; tha
Syrians
Hero-
Worfhip.
f St ram. 1. i
* Wnrbur-
ton's Biv.
Leg. book 3
fe<3:. 6.
22
Progrefs of
this revolu¬
tion intheo-
kgy.
P O L Y T
Syilans At/ad; the Arabs Dionyfus ; the Affyrians Be¬
tas; the Phoenicians Saturn; the Carthaginians Her¬
cules ; and the Palmyrians Elegabalus. Again, by the
Phrygians the moon was called Cybele^ or the mother
of the gods •, by the Athenians Minerva; by the Cy¬
prians Venus; by the Cretans Diana; by the Sicilians
Proferpine; by others Hecate, Be Ilona, Vejla, Urania,
Lucina, &c. Philo Byblius explains this pradice : “ It
is remarkable (fays he) that the ancient idolaters im-
pofed on the elements, and on thofe parts of nature which
they efteemed gods, the names of their kings ; for the
natural gods which they acknowledged were only the
fun, moon, planets, elements, and the like j they being
now in the humour of having gods of both claffes, the
mortal and the immortal.”
« As a farther proof that taro-worfhip was thus fu-
perinduced upon the planetary, it is worthy of obferva-
tion, that the firft llatues confecrated to the greater
hero-gods—thofe who were fuppofed to be fupretne—
were not of a human form, but conical or pyramidal,
like thofe which in the earliell ages of idolatry were
dedicated to the fun and planets, i hus the Icholiaft
on the Vefpae of Ariftophanes tells us, that the llatues
of Apollo and Bacchus were conic pillars or obelilks •,
and Paufanias, that the flatue of Jupiter Meilichius re-
prefented a pyramid; that of the Argive Juno did the
fame, as appears from a verfe of Phoronis quoted by
i. Clemens Alexandrinust ; and indeed the praftice was
univerfal as well amongft the early barbarians asamongft
the Greeks. But it is well known that the ancients
reprelented the rays of light by pillars of a conical or
pyramidal form ; and therefore it follows, that when
they erefted fuch pillars as reprefentatives of their hero-
gods, thefe latter had fucceeded to the titles, rights, and
honours of the natural and celefial divinities
But though it feems to be certain that ^m>-worfhip
was thus engrafted on the planetary, and that fome of
thofe heroes in procefs of time fupplanted the planets
themfelves, this was fuch a revolution in theology as
could not have been fuddenly effeaed by the united in¬
fluence of the prince and the prieft. We doubt not
the fa6t that sol was believed to have reigned in Egypt,
and was afterwards worlhipped under the name oiOjiris ;
but it was furely impoflible to perfuade any nation,
however ftupid or prone to idolatry, that a man, whom
they remembered difcharging the duties of their fovereign
and legiflator, was the identical fun whom they beheld
in the heavens. Ofiris, if there was in Egypt a king
of that name, may have been deified immediately after
his death, and honoured with that worfhip which was
paid to good daemons; but he muft have been dead for
ao-es before any attempt was made to perfuade the na¬
tion that he was the fupreme God. Even then great
addrefs would be requifioj to make fuch an attempt fac-
cefsful. The prince or prieil w'ho entered upon it
would probably begin w’ith declaring from tne oracle,
that the divine intelligence which animates and governs
the fun had defcended to earth and animated the perfon
of their renowned legiflator } and that, after their laws
were framed, and the other purpofes ferved for which
the defcent was made, the flame intelligence had re¬
turned to its original refidence and employment ameng
the celeilials. The poflibility of this double tranimi-
gration from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven,
would without difficulty be admitted in an age when
*3
H E I S M.
the pie-exiftence of fouls wras the univerfal belief. Sla¬
ving proceeded thus far in the apotheofis of dead nv-n,
the next ftep taken in order to render it in fome degree
probable that the early founders of Hates, and inventors
of arts, were divine intelligences clothed wuth human
bodies, wras to attribute to one fuch benefactor of man¬
kind the adtions of many of the fame name. Voflius,
who employed vaft erudition and much time on the iub~
jeCt, has proved, that before the sera of the Trojan
wars molt kings who were very powerful, or highly re¬
nowned for their fkill in legiflation, &c. w'ere called
Jove; and when the aftions of allthefe w7ere attributed
to one Jove of Crete, it would be eafy for the crafty
prieft, fupported by all the powder and influence of the
ftate, to perfuade an ignorant and barbarous people, that
he whofe wiidom and heroic exploits lo far furpaffed
thofe of ordinary men muft have been the fupreme God
in human form. ,
This fhort fketch of the progrefs of polytheilm and Vices ot the
idolatry will enable the reader to account for many cir-P1?3-11 k0Cl7'
cumftances recorded of the pagan gods of antiquity,
which at firft view feem very furpriiing, and which at
laft brought the whole fyftem into contempt among the
philofophers of Athens and Rome. The circumftanccs
to which wre allude are the immoral characters of thofe
divinities, and the abominable rites with which they
were wmrfhipped. Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, and the
whole rabble of them, are deferibed by the poets as ra-
viihers of women and notorious adulterers. Hermes or
Mercury was a thief, and the god of thieves. Venus
was a proftitute, and Bacchus a drunkard. Tim malice
and revenge of Juno were implacable j and fo little re¬
gard was any of them fuppofed to pay to the laws of
honour and reClitude, that it was a common praftice of
the Romans, when befieging a town, to evocate the
tutelar deity, and to tempt him by a reward to betray
his friends and votaries f. In a word, they were, in (• T. Liv'd, ■
the language of the poet, et Maerob’
“ Gods partial, changeful, paflionate, unjuft, c. <3.
“ Whofe attributes were rage, revenge, and luff.”
• • ^4
This w7as the natural confequence of their origin. Ha- Accounted
ving once animated human bodies, and being fuppofed for.
ftill to retain human paflions and appetites, they were
believed, in their ftate of deification, to feel the fame
fenfual deftres which they had felt upon earth, and to
purfue the fame means for their gratification. As
the men could not well attempt to furpafs the gods
in purity and virtue, they were eafily perfuaded by art¬
ful and profligate priefts, that the moft acceptable wor¬
fhip which could be rendered to any particular deity
was to imitate the example of that deity, and to indulge
in the practices over which he prefided. Hence the
worfhip of Bacchus was performed during the night by
men and v,Tomen mixing in the dark after intemperate
eating and drinking. Hence too it was the pra&ice
in Cyprus and fome other countries to facrifice to Ve¬
nus the virginity of young women fome days before
their marriage, in order, as it was pretended, to fecure
their chaftity ever afterwards ; and, if Herodotus may be
credited, every woman among the Babylonians was ob
liged once in her life to proftitute herfelf in the temple
of the goodefs Mylitte (Venus), that fhe might thence
forward be proof againft all temptation.
The progrefs of polytheiixn, as far as we have traced
142 P O L Y T
Woi (hm r ’ * ^een reSu^ar ? and after the enormous error of
foifa3cinK 1116 worfhip of the true God was admitted,
25 every fubfequent ftep appears to be natural. It would
Progrefs of be no difficult talk to prove that it has likewife been
idolati) re- univeifal.^ Sir Winiam Jones, the learned prelident of
univerfaL ^-lia^c Society, has difcovered fuch a linking re-
femblance between the gods of Ancient Greece and thofe
°^le P^ns of Hindoltan f, as puts it beyond a doubt
voL i. ’ that .thofe divinities had the fame origin. The Ganesa
of the Hindoos he has clearly proved to be the Janus
of the Greeks and Romans. As the latter was repre-
lented with two and. fometimes with four faces, as em¬
blems of prudence and circumfpe£Hon, the former is
painted with an elephant’s head, the well-known fymbol
2g among the Indians of fagacious difcernment. The Sa-
Indian ido- turn of Greece and Rome appears to have been the
Ja£ry- fame perfonage w'ith the Menu or Satyavrata of
Hindollan, whofe patronymic name is Vaivaswata, or
child of the fun y wdiich fufficiently marks his origin.
Among the Romans thete were many Jupiters, of whom
one appears from Ennius to have been nothing more
than the firmament perfonified.
Afpice hoc fubhme candens, quern invocant omnes
JOVEM.
But this Jupiter had the. fame attributes with the Indian
god of the vifible heavens called Indra or the king, and
i)l vespetir or the lord of the fkij, whofe confort is
Sac In, and whofe weapon is vajra or the thunderbolt.
Indra is the regent of winds and Ihowers; and though
the eaft is peculiarly under his care, yet his Olympus
is the north-pole, allegorically reprefented as a mountain
of gold and gems. With all his powder he is confidered
as. a fubordinate deity, and far inferior to the Indian
* Plate triad Brahma, Vishnou, and Mahadeva or Siva *,
<©cccxxxv. who are three forms of one and the fame godhead!
The. prefident having traced the refemblance between
the idolatry of Rome and India through many other
gods, obferves; that “ we mull not be furprifed at find¬
ing, on a.clofe examination, that the charafters of all the
pagan deities melt into each other, and at lalt into one
or two } for it feems a well-founded opinion, that the
whole crowd of gods and godeffes in ancient Rome, and
-likewife in Hindoftan,mean only the powers of nature, and
principally thofe of the fun, exprefied in a variety of ways,
^and by a multitude of fanciful names.”
Nor is it only in Greece, Rome, Egypt, and India,
that the progrefs of idolatry has been from planetary to
hero-worihip.. From every account which modern tra¬
vellers have given us of the religion of favage nations, it
appears that thofe nations adore, as their firft and great-
'cfi gods, the fun, moon, and liars 5 and that fuch of them
-as have, any other divinities have proceeded in the fame
-road with the celebrated nations of antiquity, from the
worlhip of the heavenly bodies to that of celellial de¬
mons, and from celeftial demons to the deification of
dead men. It appears likewife that they univerfally be¬
lieve their hero-gods and demigods to retain the paffions,
appetites, and propenfities of men.
That the Scandinavians and our Saxon anceltors had
the fame notions of the gods with the other papans
whofe opinions we have Rated, is evident from their
calling the days of the week by the names of their divi¬
nities, and from the forms of the flatues by which thofe
.ccccxxxv. divinities were reprefented f. 1. The idol of the fun
2
27
Scandina¬
vian and
Saxon ido¬
latry.
f Plate
H E X S M.
from which Sunday is derived, among the Latins dies
Sohs, was placed in a temple, and adored and faciificed
to 5 for they believed that the fun did co-operate with
this idol. He was reprefented like a man half naked,
with his face like the fun, holding a burning wheel
with both hands on his breafi, fignifying his courfc
round the world ; and by its fiery gleams, the light and
heat with which he warms and nouriffieth all things 
2. The idol of the moon, from which cometh our Mon-
day, dies Lunce, anciently Moonday, appears flrangely
Angular, being habited in a Ihort coat like a man. Her
holding a moon expreffes what ffie is j but the reafon of
her ffiort coat and long-eared cap is loft in oblivion.—
3- Tuifco, the moft ancient and peculiar god of the
Germans, reprefented in his garment of a fkin according
to their ancient manner of clothing, was next to the
fun and moon, the. idol of higheft rank in the calendar
of northern paganifm. To him the third day in the
week w^as dedicated ; and hence is derived the name
Tuefday, anciently Tuifday, called in Latin dies Martis,
though it muft be confeffed that Mars does not fo much
refemble this divinity as he does Odin or Woden.
4* Woden was a valiant prince among the Saxons.
His image was prayed to for viftory over their enemies*}
which, if they obtained, they ufually facrificed the
prifoners taken in battle to him. Ou'r Wednefday is
derived from him, anciently Wodenfday. The northern
hiftories make him the father of Thor, and Friga to be
his wife.
5. Thor was placed in a large hall, fitting on a bed
canopied over, with a crown of gold on his head, and
.12 ftars over it, holding a fceptre in his right hand.
To him was attributed the power over both heaven and
earth ; and that as he was pleafed or difpleafed he could
fend thunder, tempefts, plagues, &c. or fair, feafonable
weather, and caufe fertility. From him our Thnrfday de¬
rives its name, anciently Thorfday ; among the Romans
dies Jovis, as this idol may be fubftituted for Jupiter.
6. Friga reprefented both fexes, holding a drawn
fword in the right hand and a bow in the left; denotino-
that women as well as men ffiould fight in time of need!
She was generally taken for a goddels ; and was repu¬
ted the giver of peace and plenty, and caufer of love
and amity. Her day of worfhip was called by the
Saxons Frigedeag, now Friday, dies Veneris; but the
habit and weapons of this figure have a refemblance of
Diana rather than Venus.
7. Sealer, or Crodo, Hood on the prickly back of a
perch. Fie was thin-vifaged and long-haired, with a
long beard, bare-headed and bare-footed, carrying a pail
of water in his right hand wherein are fruit and fiowers,
and holding up a wheel in his left, and his coat tied
with a long .girdle. His Handing on the {harp fins of
this fiffi fignified to the Sasuns, that by worfhipping
him they fhould pafs through all dangers unhurt : by
his girdle flying both ways was fhown the Saxons free¬
dom } and by the pail with fruit and flowers, was de¬
noted that he would nouriffi the earth. From him, or
from the Roman deny Saturn, comes Saturday.
Such w^ere the principal gods of the northern nations:
but thefe people had at the fame time inferior deities,
who were fuppofed to have been tranflated into heaven
for their heroic deeds, and whofe greateft happinefs
confifted in drinking ale out of the fkulls of their ene¬
mies in the hall of Woden. But the limits preferibed
to
ITero-
Worfhip,
POLYTHEISM.
Bnite- to the prefent article do Eot permit us to purfue this
, Wo“1lip‘ fubjeft j nor is it neceffary that eve fhould purfue it.
“ j he attentive reader of the article Mythology, of
the hiftories given in this work of the various divinities
°f paganifm, and of the dilferent nations by whom thofe
divinities were worihipped, will perceive that the pro-
grefs of polytheilm and idolatry has been uniform over
the whole earth.
I here is, however, one fpecies of idolatry more
wonderful than any thing that has yet been mentioned,
iS or our readers will certainly expect fome account.
Brute-wor- ^ ^he worfhip ol brutes, reptiles, ,ax\A vegetables, among
flnpafthe tne Egyptians. Eo the Greeks and Romans, as well
Egj ptians as to us, that fuperltition appeared fb monftrous, that
to enumerate every hypothecs, ancient and modern, by
which philoiophers have endeavoured to account for it,
would fwell this article beyond all proportion. Brute-
worftrip prevailed at fo early a period in Egypt, that
the philoiophers of antiquity, whole writings have de-
feended to us, had little or no advantage over the mo¬
derns in purfuing their refearches into its origin j and
among tne modern hypotheles, thole of Mojhetm and
Warburton appear to us by much the molt probable of
any that we have leen (B j. The former of thele learned
\\liters attributes it wholly to the policy of the prince
and the cratt of the priell. The latter contends, with
much earneftnefs and ingenuity, that it refulted from
the uie of hieroglyphic writing. We are ftrongly in¬
clined to believe that both thefe caufes contributed to
the produflion of fo portentous an effeff ; and that the
Uie ol hieroglyphics as lacred fymbols, after they were
laid alide in civil life, completed that wonderful fuper-
ifition which the craft of the prieft and the policy of the
the prince had undoubtedly begun.
* Ltb. ii, ^ learn *rom Herodotus *, that in his time the
c. 65. number of ufeful animals in Egypt was fo fmall as
- . kunEy to be fufficient for tillage and the other pur-
wfr'iTa*1"o P0^63 °f' civil life j whilft ferpents and other noxious
liticalview;an*xna^s» Hch as the crocodile, wolf, bear, and hippo¬
potamus, abounded in that country. From this fa£f
\Cudnjuorth, Molheim very naturally concludes f, that the founders
InteluEl. of fociety and government in Egypt would by every
ty/J. cap. iv. art endeavour to increafe the number of ufeful 'animal's
15 5 ‘ as the number of inhabitants increafed j and that with
this view they would make it criminal tr kill or even to Biute-
hurt flieep, cows, oxen, or goats, &c. whilft they would WorffaiP-.
wage perpetual war upon the noxious animals and beafts
of prey. Such animals as were a {Tilling to them in the
carrying on of this warfare would be juftly confidered
as in a high degree ufeful to lociety. Hence the moil
grievous punkhments were decreed againft the killing,
or fo much as the wounding, of the ichneumon and ibis ;
becaufe the former was looked upon as the inftin&ive ene¬
my of the crocodile, and the latter of every fpecies of
ferpents. The learned writer, however, obferves, that in
Egypt as in other countries, people would be tempted to
facrifice the good of the public to the gratification of their
cwn appetites, and fome times even to the indulgence of
a momentary caprice. He thinks it was found neceffary
to ftrengthen the authority of the laws enacted for the
prefervation of ufeful animals by the fan&ions of reli-
gien : and he fays, that with this view the priells decla¬
red that certain animals were under the immediate pro-
teftion of certain gods ; that feme of thole animals had
a divine virtue refiding in them ; and that they could
not be killed without the moil facrilegious wickednefs,
incurring the higheli indignation of the gods. When once
the idolatrous Egyptians were perfuaded that certain ani¬
mals were lacred to the immortals gods, and had a di¬
vine virtue refiding,in them, they could not avoid viewing
thofe animals with lome degree of veneration $ and the
prieits, taking advantage of the fuperllition of the people,
appointed tor each fpecies of lacred animals appropriated
rites and ceremonies, which were quickly followed with
building (hrines and temples to them, and approaching
them with oblations, and facrifices, and other rites of
divine adoration.
To corroborate this kypothefis, he obferves, that,
befides the animals facred over ail Egypt, each pro¬
vince and each city had its particular animal to which
the inhabitants paid their devotions. This arofe from-
the univer:al praftice among idolaters of conlecratinp-
to themfelves Lares and Penates; and as the animals
which w^ere worfhipped over the whole kingdom were
confidered as facred to the Du majorum gentium, fo the
animals whofe worihip w^as confined to particular cities
or provinces, were facred to the I,ares of thofe cities
and provinces. Hence there was in Upper Egypt a
city
r CB) There is, however, another hypothefis worthy of fome attention, if it were only for the learning and ingenuity
oi its author. Ihe celebrated Cudworth infers, from the waitings of Philo and other Platonids of tne Alexandrian
lea. T, that the ancient Egyptians held! the Platonic dodltine of ideas exiiiing from eternity, and conliituting in
one ot the perions of the godhead, the intelligible and archetypal world. (See Platonism). Philo, he obferves
die. not mm.ell confider thofe ideas as fo many dillina fubjlances and animals, much lefs as gods ; but he mentions
others who deified the whole of this intelligible fyllem as well as its feveral parts. Hence, when they paid their
devotions to the fenjib/e fun, they pretended to worihip only the divine idea or archetype of that luminary : and
cnee, thinks our learned author, the ancient Egyptians, by falling down to bulls, and cows, and crocodiles
meant at firlt to worihip only the divine and eternal ideas of thofe animals. He allows, indeed, that as few could
entertain any thoughts at all of thofe eternal ideas, there were Icarcely any who could perfuade themfelve’ that the
intelligible fystem had fo much reality in it as the fenfible things of nature; and hence he thinks the devotion which
was originally paid to the divine ideas had afterwards no higher objea than the brutes and vegetables of which
mote jaeas were the eternal patterns. 0
This hypothefis is ingenious, but not fatisfaftory. There is no evidence that the myllerious doftrine of Plato
nfnF«-vnT;g T 1 an>7here been thought of for ages after brute-worlhip was ellablilhed in Egypt. Of the Hate
thfe°l0g? at thatJearly Penod’ Phllo> and the others philofophers of the Alexandrian fchool, had no
n a Jrldgeme,nt-than7e haV- ’ and. t.hey laboured under many Grecian prejudices,, which
~1' 4 * e ptr-\en.ee them from judging with our impartiality.
144
POLYTHEISM.
Brute- city called LycoprJis, becaufe its inhabitants wor(hipped
,Woiihip. while the inhabitants of Thebes or Heliopolis
paid their devotions to the eagle, which was probably
looked upon as facred to the fun. Our author, how¬
ever, holds it as a fa£t which will admit of no difpute,
that there was not one noxious animal or beaft of prey
Worfliipped by the Egyptians till after the conqueft
of their country by the Perfians. That the earlieft
gods of Egypt were all benevolent beings, he appeals
to the teftimony of Diodorus Siculus; but he quotes
Herodotus and Plutarch, as agreeing that the latter
Egyptians worfhipped an evil principle under the name
of Typhon. This Typhon was the inveterate enemy of
OJiris, juft as Ahraman wras of Ormu%di and therefore
he thinks it in the higheft degree probable that the
Egyptians derived their belief of two felf-exiftent prin¬
ciples, a good and an evil, from their Perfian con¬
querors, among whom that opinion prevailed from the
earlieft ages.
From whatever fource their belief was derived, Ty¬
phon was certainly worfhipped in Egypt, not with a
view of obtaining from him any good, for there wras
nothing good in his nature, but in hopes of keeping
him quiet, and averting much evil. As certain animals
had long been facred to all the benevolent deities, it
wras natural for a people fo befotted wdth fuperftition as
the Egyptians to confecrate emblems of the fame kind
to their god Typhon. Hence arofe the worfhip of
ferpents, crocodiles, bears, and other noxious animals and
beafts of prey. It may indeed feem at firft fight very
inconfiftent to deify fuch animals, after they had been
in the practice for ages of worftiipping others for being
their deftroyers} but it is to be remembered, that long
before the deification of crocodiles, &c. the real origin
of brute worftiip w^as totally forgotten by the people, if
they wrere ever acquainted with it. The crafty prieil
who wifties to introduce a gainful fuperftition, muft at
firft employ fome plaufible reafon to delude the multi¬
tude \ but after the fuperftition has been long and firm¬
ly eftablifhed, it is obvioufly his bufinefs to keep its ori¬
gin out of fight.
Such is Moflieim’s account of the origin and pro-
grefs of that fpecies of idolatry which was peculiar to
Egypt 5 and with refpeft to the rife of brute worftiip,
it appears perfe&ly fatisfa&ory. But the Egyptians
worftiipped feveral fpecies of vegetables; and it furely
could be no part of the policy of wife legiflators to pre-
ierve them from deftruftion, as vegetables are ufeful only
as they contribute to animal fubfiftence. We are there¬
fore obliged to call in the aid of Warburton’s hypo-
thefis to account for this branch of Egyptian fuperfti¬
tion.
* Liv. Leg. That learned and ingenious author having proved *,
book iv. with great clearnefs and ftrength of argument, that hie-
4” roglyphic writing was prior to the invention of alpha¬
betic chara&ers ; and having traced that kind of wri¬
ting from fuch rude pi&ures, as thofe which Were in ufe B.ufe.
among the Mexicans, through all the different fpecies Worfl,iP‘
of what he calls euriologic, tropical, and fymbolic hiero- v
glyphics (fee Hieroglyphics)—ftiows, by many quo- .3°
tations from ancient authors, that the Egyptian priefts by’t'he
wrapt up their theology in the fymbolic hieroglyphics, means of
after alphabetic charafters had banifiied from the tranf- hierogly-
aftions of civil life a mode of communicating informa-P.^c wnj
tion neceffarily fo obfcure. Thefe fymbols wrere the fi-ting’ ani
gates of animals and vegetables, denoting, from fome
imaginary analogy, certain attributes of their divinities $
and wdien the vulgar, forgetting this analogy, ceafed to
underftand them as a fpecies of waiting, and were yet
taught to confider them as facred, they could not wrell
view them in any other light than as emblems of the
divinities whom they adored. But if rude fculptures
upon ftone could be emblematical of the divinities, it
was furely not unnatural to infer, that the living animals
and vegetables which thofe fculptures reprefented muft
be emblems of the fame divinities more ftriking and
more facred. Hence the learned author thinks arofe
that wronderful fuperftition peculiar to the Egyptians,
which made them wror(hip not only animals and vege¬
tables, but alfo a thoufand chimeras of their own crea¬
tion $ fuch as figures with human bodies and the heads
or feet of brutes, or with brutal bodies and the heads
and feet of men.
Thefe two hypothefes combined together appear to
us to account fufficiently for the idolatry of Egypt, mon-
ftrous as it was. We are perfuaded, that with refpetft to
the origin of brute-worfhip, Mofheim is in the right (c)j
and it was a very eafy ftep for people in fo good train¬
ing to proceed upon the crutches of hieroglyphics to the
worlhip of plants and thofe chimeras, which, as they
never had a real exiftence in nature, could not have been
thought of as emblems of the divinity, had they not been
ufed in that fymbolic writing which Warburton fo ably
and ingenioufly explains.
To this account of the origin of brute-worfhip, wtc
are fully awrare that objections will occur. From a
learned friend, who perufed the article in manufcript,
we have been favoured with one which, as it is exceed¬
ingly plaufible, we (hall endeavour to obviate. “ Brute-
worlhip was not peculiar to Egypt. The Hindoos, it
is well known, have a religious veneration for the cow
and the alligator •, but there is no evidence that in In¬
dia the number of ufeful animals w7as ever fo fmall as to
make the interference of the prince and the prieft ne-
ceflary for their prefervation; neither does it appear that
the Hindoos adopted from any other people the w'orfhip
©f a felf-exiftent principle of evil.” Such is the objec¬
tion. To which we reply,
That there is every reafon to believe that brute-carried
worftiip was introduced into India by a colony of E- flom £gyP*
gyptians at a very remote period. That between thefe 'nt0 ^nc^ia'
two nations there wras an early intercourfe, is univerfal-
iy
(c) To prove that it was merely to preferve and increafe the breed of ufeful animals in Egypt, that the prince
and the prieftyfry? taught the people to confider fuch animals as facred, he argues thus: “ Hsec ita effe, non ex eo
tantum liquet, quod paulo ante obfervavi, nullas beftias univerfo ALgyptiorum populo facras fuiffe, prceter eas, quse
manifeftam regioni utilitatem comparent •, fed inde quoque apparet, quod longe major ratio habita fuit famellarum
inter animalia, quam marium. Boves diis immolare licebat, vaccas nullo modo. Canes foeminae contumulabankur,
non item mares.” Lege Herodot. Hi/lor. lib. ii. cap. 41. & cap. 67.
4
,
P O L Y T
■Xheogony. ly allowed : and thougli the learned prefident of tlie A-
e——y-— liatic Society has laboured to prove, that the Egyptians
derived all that wifdom for which they Were famed, as
well as the rudiments of their religious fyitem, from the
natives of Hindoftan, he does not appear to us to have
laboured with fuccefs. To examine his arguments at
length would fwell this article beyond its due propor¬
tion \ and we have noticed ibme of them elfevvhere (fee
Philology, N'j 33 and-39). At prefent we thall on¬
ly obferve, that Sefoftris undoubtedly made an inroad
into India, and conquered part of the country, rvhilil we
nowhere read of the Elindoos having at any time con¬
quered the kingdom of Egypt. Now, though the vic¬
tors have fometimes adopted the religion of the van-
quilhed, the contrary has happened 'fo much more fre¬
quently, and is in itfelf a procefs fo much more natu¬
ral, that this lingle circumllance affords a ftrong pre-
fumption that the Egyptian monarch would rather im-
pofe his gods upon the Elindoos than adopt theirs and
carry them with him to Egypt. Brute-worfhip might
likewiie be introduced into Elindoftan by thofe vaft co¬
lonies of Egyptians who took refuge in that country
from the tyranny and oppreflion of the fhepherd kings.
That fuch colonies did fettle on forne occafion or other
in India, feems undeniable from monuments ftill remain¬
ing in that country, of forms which could hardly have
occurred to a native of Alia, though they are very na¬
tural as the workmanfhip of Africans. But we need
not reafon in this manner. We have feen a manufcript
letter from Mr Burt, a learned furgeon in Bengal, and
a member of the Aliatic Society, which puts it beyond
a doubt that great numbers of Egyptians had at a very
early period not only fettled in Hindoftan, but alfo
brought with them writings relating to the hiilory of
their country. As the Ihepherd-kings were enemies to
the arts and to literature, it is probable that this fettle-
ment took place on their conqueft of Egypt. Mr
Burt’s words are : “ Mr Wilford, lieutenant of engi¬
neers, has extrafted moll wonderful difcoveries from the
Shanfcrit records ; fuch as the origin and hiltory of the
Egyptian pyramids, and even the account of the ex¬
pence in their building.” Upon our hypothefis there
is nothing incredible in this account; upon the hypo¬
thecs of Sir William Jones, it is not eafy to be con¬
ceived how the hiftory of Egyptian pyramids could have
found a place in the Shanfcrit records.
We may admit that the Hindoos have never adopted
from the Perfians or Egyptians the worfliip of an inde¬
pendent principle of evil, and yet difpofe of the other
part of the objedfion with very little difficulty. It will
be feen by and bye, that the bramins believe a kind of
triad of hypoftafes in the divine nature, of which one is
viewed as the dejiroyer, and known by feveral names,
fuch as Siva and Ifwara. When brute-worfhip was in¬
troduced into Hindoftan, it was not unnatural to con-
ftder the alligator as emblematical of Ifwara; and hence
in all probability it is that the Hindoos believe that a
man cannot depart more happily from this world than
by falling into the Ganges, and being devoured by one
of thofe facred animals. Upon the wffiole, the brute-
worftiip of the Hindoos, inftead of militating againft
Our account of that monftrous fuperftition as it prevail¬
ed in Egypt, feems to lend no fmall fupport to that ac¬
count, as there was unqueftionably an early intercourfe
between the two nations, and as colonies of Egyptians
Vol. XVII. Part I.
H E I S M. 14 S
fettled in India. To him who is not fa lib fed with our Theogoty ■
reafoning on this fubject, we beg leave to recommend s“"” v
an attentive perufal of Maurice’s Indian Antiquities,
where he will find many facEs brought together, which
tend to prove that Egypt has a juft claim to a higher
antiquity than India. „,
Having thus traced the rife and progrefs of poly- Polytheifts
theifm and idolatry as they prevailed in the moft cele- acknow-
brated nations of antiquity, we now proceed to inquire ledgea one
into the real opinions of thofe nations concerning the nie
nature of the gods whom they adored. And here it is
evident from the writings of Homer, Hefiod, and the
other poets, who wrere the principal theologians among
the Greeks and Romans, that though heaven, earth,
hell, and ail the elements, were filled wuth divinities,
there was yet one who, whether called Jove, Ojiris, Or-
muxd, or by any other title, wTas confidered as fupreme
over all the reft. “ Whence each of the gods w7as ge¬
nerated (fays Herodotus *), or whether they have all * •
exifted from eternity, and wffiat are their forms, is a'^1,
thing that was not known till very lately ; for Heliod
and Homer wrere, as I fuppofe, not above fctir hundred
years my feniors ; and thefe were they who introduced
the theogony among the Greeks, and gave the gods
their feveral names.” Now’ Hefiod f, towards the be- f 3rerf.
ginning of his theogony, exprefsly invokes his mufe 10104—u z.
celebrate in fuitable numbers the generation of the im¬
mortal gods who had fprung from the earth, the dark
night, the ftarry heavens, and the fait fea. He calls up- f|.onri“ ^
on her likewife to fay, “ in what manner the gods, the whom the
'earth,, the rivers, ocean, liars, and firmament, w’ere ge-other divi¬
nerated, and wdrat divine intelligences had fprung fromnit^es wef<"
them of benevolent difpofxtions towards mankind.” ^ener2vCa ’
From this invocation, it is evident .that the poet did
not confider the gods of Greece as felf-exiftent beings:
neither could he look upon them as creatures; for of
creation the ancient Greeks had no conception (Tee
Metaphysics, N° 264.) ; but he confidered them as
emanations coeval with the earth and heavens, from
fome fuperior principles ■, and by the divine intelligen¬
ces fprung from them, there cannot be a doubt but that
he underftood benevolent dfemons. The firft principles
of all things, according to the fame Hefiod, were Chaos,
and Tartarus, and Love ; of which only the laft being
aftive, muft undoubtedly have been conceived by this
father of Grecian polytheilm to be the greateft and on¬
ly felf-exifting god. This we fay muft undoubtedly
have been Hefiod’s belief, unlefs by Tartarus we here
underftand a felf-exiftent principle of evil; and in that
cafe his creed will be the fame with that of the ancient
Perfians, who, as w7e hare feen, believed in the felf-ex-
iftence as w ell of Ahraman as of Ormiczd.
Hefiod is fuppofed to have taken his theology from
Orpheus 5 and it is evident that his dodlrine concerning
the generation of the gods is the fame with that taught ..
in certain verfes * ufually attributed to Orpheus, in !-
which Love and Chaos are thus brought together. edft. Steph!
“ We w-ill firft fing (fays the poet) a pleafant and de¬
lightful fong concerning the ancient Chaos, how the
heavens, earth, and feas, were formed out of it j as alfo
concerning that all-wife Love, the oldeft and felf-per-
fe£l principle, which actively produced all thefe things,
feparating one from another.” In the original paflage,
Love is faid not only to be TvaXopmn, of much wifdom or
fogacity, and therefore a real intelligent fubftance ) but
T alfa
MS P O L T T
»’ lieogcny-, alio to be Tr^T^orxra; ftr.d etvreriXr,?, the oldejl and [elf-
perfeS, and therefore a being of fuperior order to the
other divinities who wrere generated together with the
elements over which they were conceived to preflde.
W ith the theology of Homer our readers of all de-
;v rip lions are fo well acquainted, that we need not fwell
the article with quotations, to pi'ove that the father of
epic poetry held Jove to be the father of gods and men.
Hut the doctrine of the poets was the creed of the vul¬
gar Greeks and Romans $ and therefore we may con¬
clude, that thofe nations, though they worfliipped gods
and lords innumerable, admitted but one, or at the
moll two (t>), felf-exiftent principles ; the one good and
the other evil. It does not indeed appear, that in the
fyftem of vulgar paganifm the fubordinate gods were
accountable to their chief for any part of their conduft,
kv ti e v exrePt when they tranfgreffed the limits of the provinces
farconfs-' a‘hgned them. Venus might conduct the amours of
rirred as heaven and earth in whatever manner flie pleafed \ Mi-
imaccount- nerva'might communicate or with hold wdfdom from anv
able in his individual wuth or without reafon ; and we find, that in
Homer’s battles the gods were permitted to feparate
into parties, and to fupport the Greeks or Trojans ac¬
cording as they favoured the one or the other nation.
Jove indeed fometimes called them to order ; but his
interference w7as thought partial, and an inftance of ty¬
rannical force rather than of juft authority. The vul¬
gar Greeks, therefore, although they admitted but one,
or at moft two, felf-exiftent principles, did not confider
the inferior divinities as mediators between them and
the fupreme, but as gods to whom their worship was on
certain occafions to be ultimately direfled.
_ J he creed of the philofophers feems to have been
t':,e Ph,lof° different. Such of them as were theifts, and believed
in the adminiftration of Providence, admitted of but one
God, to whom u’orfhip wras ultimately due * and they
adored the lubordinate divinities as his children and mi-
nifters, by whom the courfe of Providence was carried
on. W'ith refpecl to the origin of thofe divinities,
Plato is very explicit j where he tells us *, that “ when
M
though
each was
ewn pro-
yince.
j
Creed of
phers and
* Time: us.
H E I S M.
all the gods, both thofe who move viably round the Theogony.
heavens, and thofe who appear to us as often as they -y——«*
pleafe, were generated, that God, who made the whole
univerfe, fpoke to them after this manner : Ye gods of
gods, of whom I myfelf am father, attend.” Cicero
teaches the very fame doctrine with Plato concerning
the gods-f; and Maximus ft’yrius, who feems to have f Tif-
underftood the genius of polytheifm as thoroughly as Jlil-
any man, gives us the following clear account of that Ct
fyftem as received by the philofophers. Teorum
“ I will now more plainly declare my fenfe X by this,**#"'5-
fimilitude : Imagine a great and powerful kingdom or J ^ifert.i.
principality, in which all agree freely and with one
confent to direct their actions according to the will and
command of one fupreme king, the oldeft and the belt j
and then fuppofe the bounds and limits of this empire
not to be the river Kalys, nor the Hellefpont, nor the
Meotian lake, nor the fiiiores of the ocean ^ but heaven
above, and the earth beneath. Here then let that great
king fit immoveable, preferibing to all his fubjefts laws,
in the obfervance of which confift their fafety and hap-
pinefs : the partakers of his empire being many, both
vifible and invifible gods ; fome of which that are near-
eft, and immediately attending on him, are in the high-
eft regal dignity, feafting as it were at the fame table ;
others again are their minifters and attendants $ and a
third lort are inferior to them both : and thus you fee
how the order and chain of this government defeends
down by fteps and degrees from the fupreme god to
the earth and men.” In this paffage wTe have a plain
ackowledgement of one lupreme God, the fovereign of
the univerle, and of three inferior orders of gods, who
were his minifters in the government of the -world :
and it is worthy of obfervation, that the fame writer
calls thefe intelligences hev; kov vrui^cts *.«< QiXovc, gsrfs,
thefons andfriends of gods. He likewife affnms, that all
ranks of men, and all nations on earth, whether barba¬
rous or civilized, held the fame opinions refpedling one
fupreme Numen and the generation of the other gods.
“ If there were a meeting (fays he *) called of all * j.
thefe
_ (i>) Plutarch is commonly fuppofed, and we think juftly fuppofed, to have been a believer in two felf-
exiftent principles, a good and an evil. His own opinion, whatever it was, he declares (Ve Ijide ct O/iride'j
10 have been moft ancient and univerfal, and derived from theologers and lawgivers, by poets and philofo¬
phers. “ Though the firft author of it be unknown, yet (fays he) it hath been fo firmly believed everif-
‘tvherc,^ that traces of it are to be found in the fierifices and myfteries both of the barbarians and the Greeks.
1 here is a confufed mixture of good and evil in every thing, and nothing is produced by nature pure. Where¬
fore it is not one only difpenfer of things, who, as it were, out of feveral veffels diftributeth tbefe feveral liquors of
good and evil, mingling them together, and dafhing them as he pleafes 5 but there are two diftinft and contrary
po.vers or principles in the -world, one of them always leading, as it were, to the right hand, but the other tug¬
ging the contrary way. For if nothing can be made without a caufe, and that which is good cannot be the caufe
Gi evil, there muft needs be a diftincl principle in nature for the produftion of evil as well as good.”
lha\ this is palpable manicheifm (fee Manicheism), appears to us fo very evident, as to admit of no debate. It
appeared in the fame light to the learned Cud worth 5 but that author labours to prove that Plutarch miftook the
fenle^oi Pythagoras, Empedocles, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, and Plato, when he attributed to them the fame opinions
whicn were held by himfelf. Molheim, on the other hand, has put it beyond a doubt, that whatever was Plutarch’s
belief rfftpechng the origin of evil, and the exiftence of two independent principles, it was taken implicitly from the
writings of Plato. But the pious chancellor of Gottingen, acluated by the fame motives with Cudworth, wifhes to
permade Ins renders, that by Plato and Plutarch nothing active was underftood by their evil principle but only that
tendency^ to corf if on which was then deemed infeparable from matter. But that fomething more was meant feems
ttnueniaole : for immediately after the words which we have quoted, Plutarch proceeds to affirm that the wifeft
men declare kwe uwa Jva xvMexvovf, that there are two gods, as it were of contrary trades or crafts, of which
mie is t <e author of all good and the other of all evil. See Mofheim. ed. Cttdworth. Syftem. IntelleB. lib. i. cap. et.
Plate
ccccxxxv.
P O L Y T
Theogony. thefe feveral profeflions, a painter, a flatuary, a poet,
v   and a philofopher, and all of them were required to de¬
clare their fenfe concerning the God; do you think that
the painter would lay one thing, the ilatuary another,
the poet a third, and the philofopher a fourth ? No j
nor the Scythian neither ; nor the Greek, nor the Hy¬
perborean. In other things we find men fpeaking very
difcordantly, all men as it were differing from all. But
amidlt this war, contention, and diftord, you may find
everywhere, throughout the whole world, one uniform
law and opinion, that there is oxk God, THE KING
AND FATHER OF ALL, and many gods, the sons of
God, who reign with God. Thele tilings both the
Greek and Barbarian affirm, both the inhabitants of the
continent and of the fea-coafl, both the wife and the
g unwife.”
Indian Bra- This account of. philofophical polytheifm receives no
mins. fmallj fupport from the Afiatic Kefearches of Sir W il-
liam Jones. “ It mult always be remembered (fays
that accomplifhed fcholar), that the learned Indians, as
they are inltru&ed by their own books, acknowledge
only one fupreme Being, whom they call BraHME, or
THE great one, in the neuter gender. They believe
his effence to be infinitely removed from the compre-
henfion of any mind but his own; and they fuppofe
him to manifefl his power by the operation of his di¬
vine fpirit, whom they name Vishnou thepervader, and
Ne'ra'yan or moving on the waters, both in the mafcu-
line gender ; whence he is often denominated the jirfl
male. When they confider the divine power as exerted in
cr call rig ox giving exi hence to that which exifted not be¬
fore, they call the deity Brahma' j when they view
him in the light of dejlroyer, or rather changer of forms,
they give him a thoufand names, or which Siva, Is-
Tvara, and Mahadeva, are the mold common; and
when they confider him as the preferver of created
things, they give him the name of Vishnou. As the
foul of the world, or the pervading mind, fo finely de-
icribed by Virgil, w'e fee Jove reprefented by feveral
Roman poets ; and with great lublimity by Lucan in
the well known fpeech of Cato concerning the Ammo-
Ilian oracle, ‘ Jupiter is wherever we look, wherever we
move.1 This is precifely the Indian idea of VlsHNQU :
for fince the power of preferving created things by a
fuperintending providence belongs eminently to the god¬
head, they hold that power to exift tranfcendently in
the preferving member of the triad, whom they fup¬
pofe to be EVERYWHERE ALWAYS, not in fubftance,
hat in fpirit and energy.” This fupreme god Brah-
mE, in his triple form, is the only felf-exiftent divinity
acknowledged by the philofophical Hindoos. The
other divinities Genesa, Indr a, Cuvera, &c. are
all looked upon either as his creatures or his children ;
and of courle are worlhipped only with inferior adora¬
tion.
37 It was upon this principle of the generation of the
'Why the gods, and of their a&ing as minillers to the fupreme
•philofo-
phers wor¬
lhipped the
inferior di-  -
Tin: ties.
H E I S M. - 1-47
Numen, that all the philofophers of Greece, who were Theogony.
not atheills, worfliipped many divinities, though they i-—v—
either openly condemned or fecretly defpifed the tradi¬
tions of the poets refpecling the amours and villanies
of Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and the reit of the tribe.
It was the fame principle fincerely admitted, and not an
ill-timed jell, as has been abfurdly luppofed, that made-
Socrates, after he had fvvallowed the poifon, requelt hk
friend to offer a votive cock for him to Efculapius.
But a thebgony was not peculiar to the Greeks, Ro¬
mans, and the Hindoos; it made part of every fyllem
of polytheifm. Even the Egyptians themlelves, the
groffeit of all idolaters, believed in one felf exilfing God,
from whom all their other divinities defeended by gene¬
ration. This appears probable from the writings of Ho-
rus Apollo, Jamblicus, Porphyry, and many other an*
cient authors j but if the infeription on the gates of the
temple of Keith in Sais, as we have it from Plutarch
and Proclus, be genuine, it will admit of no doubt.
This famous infenption, according to the laft of thefe
writers, was to this purpofe : u I am whatever is, what¬
ever fhall be, and whatever hath been. My veil no man
hath removed. The offspring which I brought forth
was the fun (e).”
The Perfian magi, as we have feen, believed in two
felf-exiitent principles, a good and an evil : but if Dio¬
genes Laertius deferves to be credited, they held that
fire, earth, and water, which they called gods, were ge¬
nerated of thefe two. It was obferved in the beginning
of this article, that the firft obiebt of idolatrous worfhip
was probably the fun, and that this fpecies of idolatry
took its rife in Chaldea or Perlia. But when it became
the prablice of eaftern monarchs to conceal themfelves
wholly from their people, the cuftom, as Implying dig¬
nity, was fuppoled to prevail as well in heaven as on
earth j and Zoroalter, the reformer of the Perfian theo-
logy, taught*, that “ Ormuzd was as far removed from t piutarch.
the fun as the fun is removed from the earth.” Accord-7/IA? et
ing to this modification of magianifm, the fun was one O/iride-
of the generated gods, and held the office of prime mi-
nifter or vicegerent to the invifible fountain of light and
good. Still, however, a lelf-exiftent principle of evil
was admitted; but though he could not be defiroyed or
annihilated by any power, it was believed that he would
at laft be completely vanquithed by Ormuzd and his
minifters, and rendered thenceforward incapable of pro¬
ducing any mifehief.
From this ftiort view of polytheifm, as we find it de-
lienated by the belt writers of antiquity, we think our-
felves warranted to conclude, that the whole pagan
world believed in but one, or at moft txvo, self-exist-
ent GODS, from whom they conceived all the other di¬
vinities to have defeended in a manner analogous to hu¬
man generation. It appears, however, that the vulgar
pagans confidered each divinity as fupreme and unac¬
countable within his own province, and therefore intitl-
ed to worfhip, which refted ultimately in himfelf. The
T 2 philofophers,
(e) Tas tf\x, kou ra to-epivet. xxi to, ysy«»9r«, tyu iipt. Ttv tfiov %itcovm ovdiig ecTrexctXvtpey. 'Ov ty»> kk^ttuv, vXws mvelc.
The antiquity of this infeription is admitted by Cudworth, denied by Moftieim, and doubted by Jablonfld. The
re ’ -r wv o wifties to know their arguments may confult Molheim’s edition of the IntelleSiual Sijfem, and Jablonfki’i>
Pantheon JEgyptiorum,-
148
POLYTHEISM.
Theogony.
3s
Vulgar po¬
ly tbeifts
lefs cul¬
pable than
the philoib-
phers.
* Varro
apud D. -
Auguft. de
Civ. Dei.
philofophers, on the oilier hand, fecm to have viewed
the inferior gods as accountable for every part of their
conduct to him who was their fire and fovereign, and to
have paid to them only that inferior kind of devotion
which the church of Rome pays to departed faints. "File
vulgar pagans were iunk in the grofleft ignorance, from
which ftatefmen, priefts, and poets, exerted their utmoft
influence to keep them from emerging ; for it was a
maxim which, however abfurd, was univerfally received,
that “ there were many things true in religion *, which
it was not convenient for the vulgar to know j and fome
things which, though falfe, it was yet expedient th*nt rh -o^on
they ftiould believe.” The polytheifm and idolatry of ~ v——'
the vulgar, therefore, was their misfortune rather than
their fault. But the philofophers were wholly “ with¬
out excufe * j becaufe that when they knew Gcd, they # -
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but 2c, 21,22.
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart 15.
was darkened. Profcfling themfelves wife, they became
fools, and worfliipped and ferved the creature more than
the Creator, who is God blefied for ever.”
POL
POLY TRICHUM, a genus of plants belonging to
the cryptogamia clafs. See Botany Index. j he an-
thera is operculated, and placed upon a very fmall apo-
phyfis or articulation ; the calyptra villous j the ftar of
the female is on a diftincl individual. There are 16
fpecies j the molt remarkable of which, natives of Bri¬
tain, is the commune, or great golden maiden-hair, fre¬
quently to be met with in bogs and w7et places. It grows
m patches •, the ftalks erect:, generally fingle and un¬
branched, from three inches to a foot or even a yard
high. T he leaves are numerous, ftiff, lanceolate, acute,
growing round the flalk without order, and, if viewed
with a microfcope, appear to have their edges finely fer-
rated. There are two varieties of this mofs : the firft
has much Ihorter ftalks than the preceding, and often
branched ; the leaves ftiffer, erect, and more crowded j
in other refpe&s the fame. The 4ther has a ftalk fcarce-
ly more than half an inch high, terminated with a cluf-
ter of linear, ereft, rigid leaves, for the moft part entire
on the edges, and tipped each with a white hair. The
filament is about an inch high, and the capfule quadran¬
gular. The female flower, or gem, is of a bright red
colour.
The firft kind, when it grows long enough for the
purpofe, is fome times ufed in England and Holland to
make brooms or bruflies. Of the female fort the Lap¬
landers, when obliged t® fleep in defert places, frequent¬
ly make a fpeedy and convenient bed, in the following
manner : Where the mols grows thick together, they
mark out, with a knife, a piece of ground, about two
yards fquare, or of the fize of a common blanket 5 then
beginning at one corner, they gently fever the turf from
the ground, and as the roots of the mofs are clofely in¬
terwoven and matted together, they by degrees ftrip off
the whole circumfcribed turf in one entire piece ; after¬
wards they mark and draw up another piece, exaftly
correfponding with the firft 5 then, {baking them both
with their hands, they lay one upon the ground, with
the mofs uppermoft, inftead of a matrafs, and the other
over it, with the mofs downwards, inftead of a rug 5 and
between the two pieces they enjoy a comfortable fleep.
POLYXHLNUS, or PoLYiENus. See Polytenus.
POLYXO, a prieftefs of Apollo’s temple in Lemnos.
She was likewife nurfe to Oueen Hypfipyle. It was by
her advice that the Lemnian 'women murdered all their
hulhands.—There was another Polyxo, a native of Ar-
P O M
gos, who married Tlepolemus fon of Hercules. She fol¬
lowed him to Rhodes after the murder of his uncle Li-
cymnius 5 and when he departed for the Trojan war with
the reft of the Greek princes, fhe became the foie miftrefs
of the kingdom. After the Trojan war, Helen fled from
Peloponnefus to Rhodes, where Polyxo reigned. Polyxo
detained her ; and to punifti her as being the caufe of a
war in which Tlepolemus had perillied, fhe ordered her
to be hanged on a tree by her female fervants, difguifed
in the habit of Furies.
POMACEAt, {pomum “ an apple,”) the name of
the 36th order in Linnaeus’s Fragments of a Natural
Method, the genera of which have a pulpy efeuient fruit,
of the apple, berry, and cherry kind. See Botany. Aa-
tural Orders.
POMATUM, an unguent generally ufed in dr effing
the hair. It is alfo employed as a medicine.
POMEGRANATE. See Punica, Botany Index.
POMERANIA, a province in Germany, in the
circle of Upper Saxony, having formerly the title of a
duchy. It is bounded on the north by the Baltic feu,
on the eaft by Pruftia and Poland, on the fouth by the
marquifate of Brandenburg, and on the weft by the
duchy of Mecklenburg ; and is about 2 50 miles in
length, and in fome places 75 miles and in others 50 in
breadth. It is watered by feveral rivers, the moffcon-
fiderable of which are the Oder, the Pene, the Rcga,
the Perfant, the Wipper, the Stolp, fhe Lupo, and the
Lobo. The air is cold ; but the foil abounds in paf-
tures, and produces corn, of which a great deal is ex¬
ported. It is a flat country ; containing many lakes,
woods, and forefts, and has feveral good harbours. It is
divided .into the Hither and Farther Pomerania, and the
former territories of the kings of Sweden and Pruffia in
this duchy are divided by the river Pene ; but fince the
north of Europe was overrun by the French, Pomerania
has changed mafters. See Prussia.
POMFRET, J.QHN, an Engliih poet, fon of the rec¬
tor of Luton in Bedfordftiire, was born in 1667, and
educated at Cambridge ; after which he took orders,
and was prefented to the living of Malden in Bedford-
fliire. About 1703 he went to London for inftitution
to a larger and very confiderable living ; but was flop¬
ped fome time by Compton, then bifliop of London, on
account of thefe four lines of his poem, entitled the
Choice ;
“And
POM [ H9 ]
“ And as I near approach’d ihc verge of life,
Some kind relation (for I’d have no wife,)
Should take upon him all my worldly care,
While I did for a better Hate prepare.”
The parenthefes in thefe lines were fo malicioufly repre-
fented, that the good biihop was made to believe that
Pomfret preferred a miitrefs to a wife. Prut he was foon
convinced that this reprefentation was the mere efreht
of malice, as Pomfret at that time was adfually married.
The oppofition, however, which his llanderers had made
to him had its effedt ; for, being by this obliged to ftay
in London longer than he intended, he catched the fmall-
pox, and died of it, aged 35.
He publifhed a volume of his poems in 1699, with a
very modeft and fenlible preface. Two pieces of his
were publifhed after his death by his friend Philalethes j
one intitled Reafon, and written in 1700, when the dif-
putes about the Trinity ran high j the other Dies Novif-
Jima, or the “ Lait Epiphany,” a Pindaric ode. His
verfification is not unmufical ; but there is not the force
in his writings which is neceffary to conftitute a poet.
A diffenting teacher of his name, and who publilhed
fome rhimes upon fpiritual lubjecfs, occalioned fanaticifm
to be imputed to him 5 but his friend Philalethes has
juftly cleared him from the imputation. Pomfret had a
very itrong mixture of devotion in him, but no fanati¬
cifm.
“ The Choice (fays Dr Johnfon) exhibits a fyftem of
life adapted to common notions, and equal to common
expeftations ; fuch a Hate as affords plenty and tranquil¬
lity, without exclufion of intelledlual pleafures. Per¬
haps no compofition in our language has been oftener
perufed than Pcmfret’s Choice. In his other poems
there is an eafy volubility 5 the plealure of fmooth metre
is afforded to the ear, and the mind is not oppreffed with
ponderous, or intangled with intricate, fentiment. He
pleafes many ; and he who pleafes many mult have me¬
rit.”
POMME, or PoMMETTE, in Deraldrij, is a crofs
with one or more balls or knobs at each of the ends.
POMMEL, or Pummel, in the Manege, a piece of
brafs or other matter at the top and in the middle of the
faddle-bow.
POMMEREULLIA, a genus of plants belonging
to the triandria clafs, and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 4th order, Gramina. See Botany In¬
dex.
POMOERIUM, in Roman antiquity, was, according
to Livy, that fpace of ground, both within and without
the walls, which the augurs, at the firft building of ci¬
ties, folemnly confecrated, and on which no edificeswere
allowed to be railed. Plutarch gives this account of the
ceremony of drawing the pomoerium : “ They dug a
trench, and threw into it the firft-fruits of all things, ei¬
ther good by cuftom, or neceffary by nature j and every
man taking a fmall turf of earth of the country from
whence he came, they call them in promifcuoufly. Then
yaking this trench their centre, they defcribed the city
m a circle round it. After this, the founder yoking a
bull and a cow together, ploughed a deep furrow, with
a brazen ploughshare, round the bounds. I he attend¬
ants took care that all the clods fell inwards, i. e. toward
the city. This furrow they called Pomcenum, and built
P O M
Pompeii.
the wall upon it.”—Plutarch, in this account, is to be Fomoenum
underftood as Ipcaking of Rome.
POMOEEIUM Proferre, Signifies to extend or enlarge
a city, which could not be done by any, but thofe who
had taken away fome part of an enemy’s country in war.
Lot this qualification was fometimes difpenfed with.
Ponirerium is quafi pone mania, “ behind the walls.”
POMONA, in fabulous hiltory, the tutelar deity of
orchards and fruit-trees. See Vertumnus.
POMPEII (anc. geog.) a town of Campania near
Herculaneum, and deltroyed along with it by the great
eruption of Vefuvius in the time of Titus. See Her¬
culaneum. It is about 19 miles from Naples, and fix
or feven from Portici—So much has been find and writ¬
ten on the difcovery of this place, as makes it unnecef-
fary for us to fay much : we ihall therefore only give a
thort ext raft on the fubjeft from an anonymous work
lately publilhed, apparently of considerable merit. “ On
entering the city (fays our author*), the firft objeft is a * Compa-
pretty Square, with arcades, after the prefent manner of
Italy. This was, as it is imagined, the quarter of the pv^ia„}i
foldiers j numbers of military weapons being found here, and Italy,
“ A narrow, but long ftreet, with feveral (hops on with Ltf-
each fide, is now perfeftly cleared of its rubbith, and in qnijitions
good prefervation. Each houfe has a court. In fome ^
of them are paintings al frefco, principally in chiaro- tapes.
fcuro ; and their colours not the leaft injured by time.
The few colours which the ancients knew were extract¬
ed only from minerals j and this may be a fufficient rea¬
fon for their frefhnefs. The ftreet is paved with irregu¬
lar Hones of a foot and a half or two feet long, like the
Appian way.
“ In jiifcovering this city, it was at firft doubted whe¬
ther it were actually Pompeii : but the name infcribed
over the gateway put it beyond all doubt. The Ikele-
tons found were innumerable. It is faid that many had
fpades in their hands, endeavouring, probably at firft, to
clear away the torrent of allies with which they were de¬
luged. Indeed the fatisfaftion which is felt at the view
of ancient habitations, is much allayed by inevitable re-
fleftions on this frightful fcene of defolation, though at
the diftance of fo many centuries.
“ An ancient villa is alfo feen entire at a little dl-
flance from Pompeii. The houfe is really elegant and
fpacious, but only two liories high. The pavement of
the chambers is compofed of teffelated marble, and,
when polilhed, difplays the defign perfeftly well.—
There is (ome at the mufeum of Portici brought from
this place, which the eye would really miftake for paint¬
ing. Under the houfe is a fine triangular cellar, of
which each part is 100 feet long, well filled with am¬
phorae. The ikeletons of 29 perfons were found here,
fuppoled to have fled to it for fafety. Each houfe is
filled with allies: they have almoft penetrated through
every crevice } and it is incredible how fuch a volume of
them could have been thrown out by Vefuvius with fuf¬
ficient force to have reached fo far.” It has been obferv-
ed by fome travellers that fpoons were found among the
ruins of Pompeii, but no forks, from which it is con¬
cluded, that table utenfils of the latter defcription were
not known to the Romans at that period. Forks, it is
fuppoied, were invented at Conftanlinople, and were not
in ufe in Italy till about the year 1000 of the Chriftian
era.”
la
P O M [ i:
In concluding our account of Herculaneum, it was
if a ted that the means attempted for unrolling the ma-
nufcripls found among the ruins, had been unfuccefs-
ful, and that the plan had been dropped. It will not,
we prefume, be a little gratifying to the admirers of an¬
cient literature, to be informed that this difficult labour
lias been refumed under the aufpices of his Royal High-
nefs the Prince of Wales } and that fix volumes of Pa¬
pyri prefented to his Royal Highnefs by the king of
-Naples have reached London.
In the year 1800 the Rev. Mr Hayter, an excellent
fcholar, with a liberal provifion from the prince, and
with permiffion of the king of Naples, went to Italy for
the purpofe of unrolling and tranfcribing the Papyri.
The following narrative extracted from a letter addreff-
ed to his royal patron by Mr Hayter, will, we doubt
not, be interefiing to opr readers :
“ The numerous fettlements (lays the author) of the
Greeks in Italy received the name of Magna Graecia,
becaufe their mother country was of a fize confiderably
lefs than that in which they were planted : among thefe
were nearly all the cities in the province of Campania,
including Naples, the capital of his Sicilian majelly, and
alfo Herculaneum and Pompeii, which are fuppofed to
boaft a foundation coeval with Hercules himfelf, three
thoufand and fifty years ago, or twelve hundred and fifty
years before the Chriftian era. This province, more than
any other part of Magna Grcecla, was always celebrated
for "the ftudious and fuccefiful cultivation of the arts and
fciences. The two cities of Hei-culaneum and Pompeii
-ranked next to that of Naples in every refpedl, as places
of confiderable note 3 they hacf their public theatres,
with every other attendant of great population, lendour,
opulence, "and general profperity. Thefe, in common
with all the relt of Campania, became the elegant and
favourite refort of the Romans, for the different purpofes
of health, luxury, repofe, and erudition.
“ In the ninth yrear of Nero’s reign, thefe two cities
experienced a moft formidable Ihock from an earthquake,
■which overthrew a great part of them. Nor had they
recovered altogether from the effesRs of this calamity by
their own exertions, and the aid of imperial munificence,
when a fecond calamity, of a different nature, but equal¬
ly unexpe&ed, configned them both at once to the molt
complete oblivion. Thjs calamity was the great erup¬
tion of Vefuvius, which happened on the 24th day of
Auguft, two full months from the acceffion of the em¬
peror iitus Vefpafian. Herculaneum was buried under
a mafs of lava, and volcanic matter, to the depth of 24
feet. Pompeii, being more diffant from the mountain,
was overwhelmed principally with a fliower of allies, nor
in any place more than half the depth of the other city.
But the fate of both was hidden and inevitable j and yet
it appears that almoft all of the inhabitants, and, what
is an equally furprifing circumffance, more of the Her-
culaneans than the Pompeians, efcaped. By the few Ike-
letons which have been found in either place, the rela¬
tion of Dio Caffius, who ftates the deftrudtion of the
people while affembled at the theatre, is proved to be
totally erroneous. It may be proper to remark, that
before this eruption the whole of Vefuvius was in a ftate
of cultivation and fertility, from the top to the bottom j
and. though the form and foil of the mountain in one
particular fpot feemed to denote the traces of feme for-
o ] POM
mer explofion, yet no extant memorial of any kind had P
recorded it. "
“ Neither of thefe two cities was difeovered again till
a long period of lixteen hundred and thirty-four years
had elapled. It was in the year 1713, that fome la¬
bourers, in finking a well, firuck their cools againff a
ftatue, which was on a bench in the theatre of Hercu¬
laneum. Forty years afterwards Pompeii was excavat¬
ed with much lefs difficulty, as the incumbent ftratum
was neither fo hard nor lb deep as that of the former
city.
“The number of the rranuferipts faved from both
thofe cities is find to be about 500} but, if I am right¬
ly informed by thole whole official fituation muff give
them a competent knowledge of the fubjedf, your royal
highnefs, by facilitating the development of thele vo¬
lumes, will probably be the means of further excava¬
tion, and of refeuing from their interment an infinite
quantity of others. About thirty years ago, his Sicilian
majefty ordered the development, the tranfeription, and
the printing of the volumes which had then been faved,
to be undertaken. T his operation was accordingly be¬
gun, and has never been difeontinued till the late inva¬
sion of the French. But its mode, however excellent,
rvas extremely flow ; it has been performed by a fingle
perfon, with a fingle frame only, under the direRioh of
the marquis del Vafto, chamberlain to the king, and
prefident of the royal academy.
“ The frame confifts of feveral taper and oblong pieces
of wood, with parallel threads of filk that run on each
fide, the length of each piece : when the frame is laid
on any volume, each piece of wood muff be fixed pre-
cifely over each line of the page, while the refpeftive
threads being worked beneath each line, and affiiled by
the correfponding piece of wood above, raife the line
upwards, and difclofe the characters to view.
“ The operation feerns ingenious, and well adapted to
the purpofe : it was, I believe, invented by a capuchin
at Naples. The fruits of it are faid to be two publica¬
tions only ; one on mufic, by the celebrated Philodemus,
who was a cotemporary of Cicero; and the other on
cookery. The firft is in his majefty’s library, at the
queen’s palace. Through the obliging politenefs of Mr
Barmud, the king’s librarian, I have had the advantage
of perufing it. Indeed I hope your royal highnefs will
not difapprove my acknowledging in this place the verj'
warm and refpeftful intereft which both this gentleman
and. the right honourable the prefident of the Royal
Society have expreffed for the furtherance of your
royal highnefs’s great and good defign. Meanwhile, by
this fpecimen of Philodemus, I am convinced that, if
the frames fhould be multiplied to the propofed extent,
feveral pages of thirty different manuferipts might be
difclofed and tranferibed within the fpacc of one week.
“ But the very period at which the manuferipts were
buried, ferves to point out to your royal highnefs that
you may expeCl the recovery of either the whole, or at
leaft parts, of the bell writers in antiquity, hitherto deem¬
ed irrecoverable. All of thefe, in truth, had written
before that period, if we except Tacitus, whofe ineffim-
able works were unfortunately not compofed till twenty
years afterwards, during the reign of Trajan.
“ Nor can it be imagined for a moment, that among
five or fix hundred manuferipts, already excavated, and
efpccially
P O M [ r
Pompeii, efpecially from the number'efs ones which farther exca-
'"L vations may fupply, loft at fuch a period in two of the
moft capital cities, in the richeft, moft frequented, and
moft learned province in Italy, each of them an eftablifh-
ed feat of the arts and fciences, eacli of them the refort
of the moft diftinguifbed Romans, not any part of thofe
illuftrious authors fiiould be difeovered.
“ But the manufeript of Philodemus itfelf makes the
reverfe of fuch an idea appear much more probable. To
the moderns, who have
“ Untwifted all the chains that tie
The hidden foul of harmony,”
his Treatife on Muiic cannot, indeed, be fuppofed to
communicate much information 5 yet the fubjeft is feien-
tific, and fcientifically treated. The author himfelf, too,
was one of the moft eminent men in his time for wit,
learning, and philofophy. But in th'e reft of the arts
and fciences, in hiftory, in poetry, the difeovery of any
loft writer, either in whole or part, would be deemed a
moft valuable acquifttion and treafure, and form a new
era in literature.
“ It is extremely fortunate that the characters of thefe
manuferipts, whether they ftiould be Greek or Latin,
rauft be very obvious and legible. Before the year of
our Lord 79, and fome lime after it, the Majufculae or
Unciales Litterce, capital letters, were folely ufed. A
page, therefore, m one of thefe manuferipts, would pre-
Jient to your royal highnefs an exact image of fome mu¬
tilated infeription in thofe languages on an ancient co¬
lumn, ftatue, or fepulchre.
“ There cannot remain a doubt, even omitting the af-
farances from men of official lituation to that effe£t, that
your royal highnefs’s fuperintendant will receive every
poffible affi tan'-e from the marquis del Vafto ; and in
that cafe it feems improbable that the objeft of this m;f-
fion can be altogether fruitlefs.
“ With fuch a termination of it, however, your royal
highnefs, bv having propofed to concur with his Sicilian
majefiy in the quicker and more effefinal development,
tranfeription, and publication of thefe manufcripls, will
reap the Ltisfaflion of having made a moft princely at¬
tempt in behalf of knowledge and literature, on an oc-
ealion where their interefts might be affecled moft ma¬
terially, and in a manner of which no annals have afford¬
ed, or can hereafter afford, an example. Your very in-
'ierpofttion will be your glory : your want of fuccefs will
only make the learned world feel with gratitude what
you would have done.
“ The interpofttion of his royal highnefs has had the
happieft effefl. The fplendid encouragement which he
gave to the work revived the drooping {pirits of the Ita¬
lian literati ; and the confequence has been, that the bu-
finefs of unrolling and tranferibing the manuferipts now
proceeds with an alacrity which promifes the moft bril¬
liant faccefs. In forty-fix years not more than eighteen
rolls were developed before the interference of our prince.
Under his encouragement, ninety have been recovered
ip two years ! What new facilities may not now be ex-
pefled when all the vigour of Bntiffi intelligence is ex¬
erted on the fubjeft !”—See Swinburne’s Travels in the
Two Sicilies, vol. ii. p. 98, &c.; Lady Miller’s Letters,
or De la Lande; Captain Sutherland’s Tour up the
Straits, from Gibraltar to Conjlanlinople, p. 75? &-c- ? I^r
Smith’s Sketch of a Tour on the Continent, in 1786 and
i J P O M
1787, vol. ii.-p. 118, &c.; and Watkin’s Tour through Pcmpey-
Swiferland, Italy,Pf)nJ! • s
POMPEY the Great, Cneius Pompeius Mag- ,
nits, the renowned rival of Julius Csefar. Being defeat¬
ed by him at the battle of Pharfalia, owing to the de-
feflion of his cavalry, he fled to Egypt by fea, where
he was bafely affaftinated by order of Thcodotus, prime
minifter to Ptolemy the Younger, then a minor, ^.8
B. C. See Rome.
POMPEYS, Cneius and Sextus, his fons, com¬
manded a powerful army when they loft their illuftrious
father. Julius Csefar purfued them into Spain, and de¬
feated them at the battle of Munda, in which Cneius
was flain, 45 B. C. Sextus made himfelf mailer of Si¬
cily ; but being defeated in the celebrated naval en¬
gagement at ASlium by Auguftus and Lepidus, he fled
to Afia with only feven (hips, the remains of his fleet,
which confifted of more than 3 50 ; and from thence,
unable to continue the war, he was obliged to retire to
Lefbos, where renewing the war by raifing an army,
and feizing on fome confiderable cities, Marcus Titius,
in the intereft of Mark Antony, gave him battle, de¬
feated him, took him prifoner, and bafely put him to
death, 3 9 B. C. See Rome.
PoMPET'S Pillar, a celebrated column near Alex¬
andria in Egypt, 114 feet high, and of which the Ihaft,
compofed of a Angle piece of granite, is 90 feet. For
an account of different opinions concerning the origin
and defign of this pillar, fee ALEXANDRIA, p. 596.
POMPONATIUS, Peter, an eminent Italian phi-
lofopher, was born at Mantua in 1462. He was of fo
fmall a ftature, that he was little better than a dwarf y
yet he poffeffed an exalted genius, and was confidered as
one of the greateft philofophers of the age in which he
lived. He taught philofophy, firft at Padua and after¬
wards at Bologna, with the higheft reputation. He
had frequent disputations with the celebrated Achiliini,
whofe puzzling objections would have confounded him,
had it not been for his {kill in parrying them by fome
joke. His book Ds Immorialitate Animas, publifhed in
1516, made a great noife. He maintained, that the
immortality of the foul could not be proved by philofo-
phical reafons; but foiemnly declared his belief of it as
an article of faith. This precaution did not, however,
fave him 5 many adverfaries refe up againft him, who
did not fcruple to treat him as an atheift ; and the
monks procured his book, although he wrote feveral
apologies for it, to be burnt at Venice. His book upon
Incantations was alfo thought very dangerous. He
{hows in it. that he believed nothing of magic and {01%
eery ; and lie lays a prodigious ftrefs on occult virtues
in certain men, by which they produced miraculous ef-
fedls. He gives a great many examples of this j but
his adverfaries do not admit them to be true, or free
from magic.—Paul Jovius fays, that he died in 1525,
in his grand climafleric. He was three times married y
and had but one daughter, to whom he left, a large fum,
of money. He ufed to apply himfelf to the folution of
difficulties fo very intenfely, that he frequently forgot
to eat, drink, ileep, and perform the ordinary furrdlions
of nature : nay, it made him almoft diftra<5led, and a
laughing-ftock to every one, as he himfelf tells us.
POM PON I US mela. See Mela.
POMUM, an Apple j a fpecies of feed-veffel, com.-
pofed of a fucculent fleftiy pulp ; in the middle of which
Pond
PON [ 152 ] PON
is generally found a membranous capfule, with a num-
„ , ber of cells, or cavities, for containing- the feeds. Seed-
w. .^1 vefiels of this kind have no external opening or valve.
At the end oppofite to the footftalk is frequently a fmall
cavity, called by the gardeners the ei/e of the fruit, and
by botanifts umbilicus, the “ navel,” from its fancied re-
femhlance to the navel in animals. Gourd, cucumber,
melon, pomegranate, pear, and apple, furnifli inftances
ol the fruit or feed-veffel in queftion.
POND, or FlSH-Pond. See FlSII-Pond.
Pond, is a fmall pool or lake of water from whence
ho dream iffues. In the Tranfa&ions of the Society in-
iiituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Ma¬
nufactures, and Commerce, vol. viii. and printed in the
year 1790, there is a (hort account of a machine for
draining ponds without diiturbing the mud. It was
communicated to the fociety, together with a drawing
and model of the machine, by Lieutenant-colonel Dan-
ley. The model was made from the defeription of a
machine ufed by a gentleman near Taunton for many
years before, for fupplying a cafcade in his pleafure-
grounds.—The colonel’s regiment was then lying at
Windfor ; and thinking that the invention might be
ufeful to fupply the grand cafcade at Virginia water, he
made the model, and prefented it to the king, who was
gracioufly pleafed to approve of it. In confequence of
which, by his majefty’s defire, a penftock on that prin¬
ciple was conftrufted from the model at one of the ponds
in the neighbourhood.—The colonel thinks the machine
may be ufeful in the hands of men of fcience, and ap¬
plicable to filk, cotton, and other mills, where a Heady
and uniform velocity of water is wanted j which might
be regulated at pleafure, occafioning no current to di-
Hurb the mud or filh, as the ftream conftantly runs from
the furface. He fays he has often made the experiment
by the model in a tub of water.
Of this machine the following is a defeription.
Plate In fig. 1. A is the pipe, loaded with a rim of lead, of
ccccxxxvn fijcb weight as ferves to fink it below the furface of the
P 1‘ water. B is the difeharging pipe, laid through the
bank HI. C is the joint on which the pipe A turns
its form, which is Ihown fig. 2. D is the ball or float,
which, fwimming on the furface of the pond, prevents
the pipe A from defeending deeper than the length of
the chain by which they are connedled. E is a chain
winding on the windlafs F, and ferving to raife the tube
A above the furface of the water, when the machinery
is not in ufe. G is a flage. HI is the bank, reprefent-
ed as if cut through at I, to fhow the tube B lying
within it. K is a poll to receive the tube A when
lowered, and to prevent its finking in the mud. In
Fig. 2. fig. 2. A is a call cylinder, with a plate or cheek, B,
which is faftened to the timber of the tube on one fide,
but not on the other, as the part of the cylinder C turns
in the hollow of the wooden tube when it is immerged.
A piece of ftrong foie leather is pot infide the brafs-
plate B, to prevent leaking.
POND-Weed. See Potamogeton, Botany Index.
PONDICHERRY, is a large town of Alia, in the
peninfula on this fide the Ganges, and on the coaft of
Coromandel. Its fituation is low, and the fhips anchor
about a mile and a half from it; nor can the boats or
canoes come nearer it than a mufket-fhot, on account of
the breakers, fo that the blacks come in flat-bottomed
imats to carry the men and merchandifes to the fleet.
Fi
i he fort is 2CO paces from the fea, and very irregu- Pondicherry
lar } built with bricks, and covered with fine plafler, re- -I
fembling white marble. The huts of the blacks lie > .
here and there, and the walls are of bamboos mixed V
with the branches ol trees. The French are greatly ad-
diefed to women, from whom they catch difeafes that
render them pale, livid, and meagre, with a frightful
afpect. However, feveral of the French are married to
a fort of Portuguefe women, who are of a mixed breed,
being a kind of Mulattoes. I he country about it is
barren, and confequently molt of their provifions 'are
brought from other places. Their trade confifls of
cotton-cloth, filks, pepper, faltpetre, and other merchan¬
difes that are brought from Bengal. With regard to
the religion of the natives, the moil numerous are the
Gentoos 3 but there are Mahometans or Moors who
hold a great many ridiculous opinions. The Gentoos
are of different fedls, and that of the Brahmins are
priefls. The cuftom of women burning thcmfelves with
the bodies of their dead hufbands was very common,
but of late much difcountenanced. The Haves or fer
vants are very numerous, and their chief food is rice.
I his place was taken, and the fortifications demolished,
by Colonel Coote 3 it was reflored to the French by the
peace of 1763 3 and was retaken by the Engh’fh in
1793. It is xoo miles fouth of Madras. E. Long.
79. 58. N. Lat. II. 42.
PONDICO, an ifland of the Archipelago, lying on
the gulf of Ziton, near the coaft of Negropont. It
is fmall and uninhabited, as well as two others that lie
near it.
PONG-hou Ifes, in the province of Fo-kien in Chi¬
na, form an archipelago between the port of F.mouy
and the ifland of Formofa. A Chinefe garrifon is kept
here, with one of thofe mandarines who are called lite¬
rati, wLofe principal employment is to watch the trad¬
ing veffels which pafs from China to Formofa, or from
Forrnofa to China.
As thefe iflands are only fand-banks or rocks, the
inhabitants are obliged to import every neceffaryof life ;
neither Ihrubs nor bullies are feen upon them 3 all their
ornament confills of one folitary tree. The harbour is
good, and flieltered from every wind 3 it has from 20
to 25 feet depth of water. Although it is an unculti¬
vated and uninhabited ifland, it is abfolutely neceffary
for the prefervation of Formofa, which has no port ca¬
pable of receiving veffels that draw above eight feet of
wTater.
PONIARD, a little pointed dagger, very fliarp
edged 3 borne in the hand, or at the girdle, or hid in
the pocket. The word is formed from the French
poignard, and that from poignee, “ handful.”—The po¬
niard was anciently in very great ufe 3 but it is now in
a good meafure let afide, except among afiaffins.—
Sword and poniard were the ancient arms of duelifts 3
and are faid to continue ftill fo among the Spaniards.
The practice of fword and poniard ftill make a part of
the exercife taught by the mailers of defence.
PONS, a town of France, in Saintonge, very famous
in the time of the Huguenots. It is feated on a hill,
near the river Suigne, 10 miles from Saintes. W. Long,
o. 30. N. Lat. 45. 36.
PONT-DU-card, is a bridge of France, in Lower
Languedoc, built over the river Garden, which ferved
for an aqueduct. It is a very remarkable and a moll
magnificent
PON [ 153 ] PON
PonteSeria magnificent work, and was raifed by the ancieftt Ro-
Poiiton mans, I*- conhfts three bridges, one above another j
, the uppermoft of which was the aqueduft, to convey
water to the city of Nifmes, which is eight miles to the
fouth. They are altogether 192 feet high, and the up¬
permoft 580 feet long. They are conftrufted between
two rocks. E. Long. 4. 26. N. Lat. 43. 58.
PONTEDERIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
hexaudria clafs j and in the natural method ranking un¬
der the fixth order, Enfatce. See Botany Index,
PONTEFRACT, or Pomfret, a town of the weft
riding of Yorkftiire in England, fituated on the river
Are. It is faid to. take its name from a broken bridge,
which is fuppofed to have been laid anciently over that
marlhy fpot called the Wajh. Here are the ruins of a
noble old caftle, where Richard II. was barbaroully mur¬
dered, and two of Edward V.’s uncles. The collegiate
chapel of St Clement, which had a dean, three preben¬
daries, &c. is ftill diltinguilhable in it. This town has
a good market, and fairs for horfes, ftieep, and other
cattle. It is a corporation, governed by a mayor, re¬
corder, aldermen, and burgefles, and gives title of earl
to tho family of Femior. In the reign of Queen Eli¬
zabeth, 200I. was left by George Talbot, earl of
Shrewfbury, to be lent for ever, at 5I. a time, on pro¬
per fecurity, for three years, to the poor artificers of the
town •, and Thomas Wentworth, Efq. anceftor to the
marquis of Rockingham, left 200I. to the charity-fchool.
A branch of the great Roman military way called Er~
min-Jlreet, which pafled from Lincoln to York, may be
traced betwixt this town and Doncafter. The adjacent
country yields plenty of limeftone, together with li¬
quorice and fkirrets. W. Long. 1. 18. N. Lat. 53. 42.
PONTIFEX, Pontiff, or High-priejl, a perfon
who has the fuperintendance and direction of divine
worihip, as the offering of facrifices and other religious
folemnities. The Romans had a college of pontiffs;
and over thefe a fovereign pontiff, or pontifex maximus,
inftituted by Numa, whofe function it was to prefcribe
the ceremonies each god was to be worihipped withal,
eompofe the rituals, direft the veftals, and for a good
while to perform the bufinefs of augury, till, on feme
fuperftitious occafion, he was prohibited intermeddling
therewith. The ofRce of the college of pontiffs was to
affift the high-prieft in giving judgement in all caufes
relating to religion, inquiring into the lives and man¬
ners of the inferior priefts, and punifhing them if they
faw occafion, &c. The Jews, too, had their pontiffs *,
and among the Romanifts, the pope is ftill ftyled the^/o-
•uereign pontiff.
PONTIFICATE, is ufed for the ftate or dignity
of a pontiff'or high-prieft 5 but more particularly in mo¬
dern writers for the reign of a pope.
PONTIUS Pilate. See Pilate.
PONTON, or Pontoon, in War, a kind of flat-
bottomed boat, whole carcafe of wood is lined within
and without with tin : they ferve to lay bridges over
rivers for the artillery and army to march over'. The
French pontoons, and thofe of moft other powers, are
•made of copper on the outfide : though thefe coft more
at firft, yet they laft much longer than thofe of tin j
and when worn out, the copper fells nearly for as
Yol. XVII. Part I.
much as it coft at firft ; but when ours are rendered Pontoon-
ufelefs, they fell for nothing. Our pontoons are 21 Carriage
feet long, five feet broad, and depth within two feet 1.5 p
inches. 1 i f _■
PONTOON-Carrwge, is made with two wheels only,
and two long fide-pieces, whofe fore-ends are fupported
by a limber j and ferves to carry the pontoon, boards,
crofs-timbers, anchors, and every other thing neceffary
for making a bridge.
PONTOON-Bridge, is made of pontoons flipped into
the water, and placed about five or fix feet afunder;
each fattened with an anchor, when the river has a
ftrong current; or to a ftrong rope that goes acrofs the
river, running through the rings of the pontoons. Each
boat has an anchor, cable baulks, and chefts. The
baulks are about five or fix inches fquare, and 21 feet
long. The chefts are boards joined together by wooden
bars, about three feet broad and 12 feet long. The
baulks are laid acrofs the pontoons at fome diftance from
one another, and the chefts upon them joined clofe j
which makes a bridge in a very ftiort time, capable of
fupporting any weight.
PONT St Esprit, is a town of France, in Langue¬
doc, in the dioeefe of Ufez. It is feated on the river
Rhone, over which is one of the fineft bridges in France;
It is 840 yards long, and confifts of 26 arches. Each
pier is pierced with an aperture, in order to facilitate
the paffage of the water when the river is high. The
town is large, but the ftreets are narrow and ill built.
It formerly contained feveral churches and convents. It
is 17 miles fouth of Viviers, and 55 noPth-eaft of Mont¬
pelier. E. Long. 4. 46. N. Lat. 44. 13.
PONT US, the name of an ancient kingdom of Afia,
originally a part of Cappadocia; bounded on the eaft
by Colchis, on the weft by the river Halys, on the
north by the Euxine fea, and on the fouth by Armenia r
Minor. Some derive the name of Pontus from the Etymology
neighbouring fea, commonly called by the Latins Pontus the
Euxinus; others from an ancient king named Pontus, narn<?‘
who imparted his name both to the country and the fea j
but Bochart deduces it from the Phoenician word botno,
fignifying a filberd, as if that nut abounded remarkably
in this place. But this derivation feems to be very far
fetched 5 and the common opinion that the country de¬
rived its name from the fea, feems by far the moft pro¬
bable. The kingdom was divided into three parts 3 the
firft, named Pontus Galaticus, extending from the river
Halys to the Thermodon 3 the fecond, named Pontus
Polemonaicus, extended from the Thermodon to the
borders of Pontus Cappadocicus; and this laft extended
from Pontus Polemonaicus to Colchis, having Armenia
Minor and the upper ftream of the Euphrates for its
fouthem boundary.
It is commonly believed, that the firft inhabitants of
Pontus were defeended from Tubal 3 but in procefs of
time mixed with Cappadocians, Paphlagonians, and
other foreign nations, befides many Greek colonies
which fettled in thofe parts, and maintained their liberty
till the time of Mithridates the Great and Pharnaces. 3
The firft king of this country whom we find mentioned Artnb izes
in hiftory is Artabazes, who had the crown beftowed on dff
him by Darius (a) Hyftafpes. The next was Rh<pdo-kU;g'
U bates,
(a) This country, together with the adjacent provinces, was in different periods under the dominion of the Af-
fyrians,
Pontus.
3
Mithri-
dates I.
. 4
Ariobar-
?anes
Piakes ofF
the Mace¬
donian
yoke-
PON [i
bates, who reigned in the time of Darius Nothus. Af¬
ter him came Mithridates, who, refuting to pay the
ufual tribute to the Perfians, was defeated by Artaxerxes
Mnemon ; but a peace was foon after concluded by the
mediation of Tihaphernes. Befides this, we hear nothing
of him iarther than that he was treacheroufly taken pri-
foner by Clearchus afterwards tyrant of Heraclea, and
obliged to pay a large fum for his ranfom.
Mithridates I. was facceeded by Ariobarzanes, who
being appointed by Artaxerxes governor of Lydia, Io¬
nia, and Phrygia, employed the forces that were under
his care in the extending of his own dotninions, and fub-
duing thofe of his natural prince. The king of Perfia
fent one Autophrodates againft him ; but Ariobarzanes,
having with great promifes prevailed on Agefilaus and
Tirnothseus the Athenian to come to his afliitance, obli¬
ged Autophrodates to retire. He then rewarded Age-
iilaus with a great fum of money, and bellowed on Ti-
mothseus the cities of Seftos and Abydos, which he had
lately taken from the Perfians. He ufed his utmoft en¬
deavours to reconcile the Lacedemonians and Thebans;
but not being able to bring the latter to any reafonable
terms, he affiffed the Lacedemonians with vaft firms of
money. The Athenians fhowed fo much refpe<ft for
this prince, that they not only made him free of their
city, but granted both him and his children whatever
they afked of them. Pie was murdered in the 28th
year of his reign by one Mithridates, whom authors
i’uppofe to have been his fon. This happened at the
time that Alexander the Great invaded Afia, fo that
Pontus for a time fell under the power of the Macedo¬
nians.
In the reign of Antigonus, Mithridates the fon of
Ariobarzanes (hook off the Macedonian yoke ; the par¬
ticulars of which event are related as follow. Antigo¬
nus having dreamed that be had a field in which gold
grew after the manner of corn, and that Mithridates
cut it down and carried it into Pontus, began to be very
jealous of him, and ordered him to be put to death pri¬
vately. But Mithridates, having got notice of the
king’s intention, withdrew into Paphlagonia, attended
only by fix horfemen. Here, being joined by many
others, he pofTeffed himfelf of Ciniatum, a ftronghold
fituated near Mount Olgafys ; from whence, as his army
continually increafed, he made an irruption into Cappa¬
docia •, and having driven the commanders of Antigonus
from that part which borders upon Pontus, he entered
his paternal kingdom, which, in fpite of the utmoft ef¬
forts of Antigonus, he held for the fpace of 26 years,
and tranfmitted to his pofterity.
Under the reigns of Mithridates III. Ariobarzanes II.
and Mithridates IV. the immediate fucceffors of Mithri¬
dates II. nothing remarkable happened. But Mithri¬
dates V. made war on the inhabitants of Sinope, a city
on the coaft of Paphlagonia. He made himfelf mafter
of all the adjacent places \ but finding the whole penin-
iula, on which Sinope itfelf flood, well fortified and gar-
rifoned, not only by the inhabitants, but by their allies
the Rhodians, he abandoned the enterprife. He after-
54 ] PON
wards proved a great friend to the Rhodians, and aflifted Pontus.
them with money to repair the Ioffes they had fuftained —v—
by an earthquake. He entered alfo into a ftridt alliance
with Antiochus the Great, who married one of his
daughters named La or’ice. ^
After the death of Mithridates V. his fon Phamaces I. PharnacesL
attacking the city of Sinope, unexpectedly took it bydiffers w»th-
ftorm. On this the Rhodians fent ambaffadors to Rome,tbe Ro'
complaining of the behaviour of the king of Pontus •,
but Pharnaces was fo far from being intimidated by
their threats, that he invaded the territories of Eumenes
their great ally. The latter fent ambaffadors to Rome,
and entered into an alliance with Ariarathes king of
Cappadocia. Pharnaces, in his turn, fent ambaffadors
to Rome, complaining of Eumenes and Ariarathes; up¬
on which fome Romans were fent into Afia to inquire
into the ftate of matters. Thefe found Eumenes and
his affociates willing to accommodate the difference, but
Pharnaces in a quite oppofite difpofition, which they ac¬
cordingly reported at Rome.
In the mean time a war was commenced between
Eumenes and Pharnaces j but the latter, being difap-
pointed of afliftance from Seleucus king of Syria, whom
the Romans would not allow to join him, was at lafl
forced to fue for peace j which was granted him upon 6
the following conditions: That he ftiould forthwith Concludes
withdraw" his forces from Galatia, and difannul all en_amoftdif-
gag-ements and alliances with the inhabitants of thatadVan a^e"
^ ous peace,
country 5 that he fhould in like manner evacuate Pa¬
phlagonia, and fend back fuch as he had from thence
carried into flavery ; that he fhould reftore to Ariarathes
all the places wEich he had taken during the war, the
hoftages of both kings, all their prifoners wfithout ran¬
fom, and moreover fhould deliver up to them fuch of
their fubjedts as from the firft breaking out of the war
had fled to him ; that he fhould return to Morzias, a
petty king in thefe parts, and to Ariarathes, 900 ta¬
lents which he had feized in the wrar, and pay down 300
more to Eumenes as a fine for invading his dominions
without provocation. Mithridates, king of Armenia,
having in this war joined Pharnaces, wras, by the articles
of the treaty, obliged to pay 300 talents to Ariarathes
for having aflifted his enemy contrary to an alliance at
that time fubfifting between them. Soon after Phar¬
naces died, and left the kingdom to his fon Mithri¬
dates VI. more weakened by this peace than by the moft
deftrudtive w-ar. 7
The new king entered into an alliance wdth the Ro- His Con
mans, and proved fuch a faithful friend, that he was re-en!ers
warded by the fenate with Phrygia Major, and honour-
ed with the title of the friend and ally of the people cfRomans>
Rome. After a long and profperous reign, he was mur¬
dered by fome of his intimate acquaintance, and w7as
fucceeded by his fon Mithridates VII. furnamed the
Great. §
The new prince, though not exceeding 13 years ofMhhridate?
age, began his reign with moft inhuman a<5ts of crueltytbe Great
to his mother and neareft relations. His father, by his
laft will, had appointed him and his mother joint heirs
to
fyrians, Medes, and Perfians •, the laft of whom divided Cappadocia into fatrapies or governments, and beftoived
that diyifion which was afterwards called Pontus on one of the anceftors of Mithridates. This regulation was ef¬
fected in the reign of Darius the fon of Hyftafpes, and has been regarded as the date of the kingdom...
4
PcmtiK
9
His extra¬
ordinary
qualities.
10
Conquers
feveral
coantries.
it
Gaufes the
king of
Cappadocia
to be mur¬
dered.
PON [ i
to the kingdom ; but he, claiming the whole, threw
her into prilbn, where (he foon died through the hard
ufage ike met with. Thofe to whom the care of his
education was committed, obferving him to be of a
cruel and unruly temper, made various attempts on his
life, but could never effeft their defign, as the king
was always on his guard, and armed, in that tender age,
againft all kind of treachery, without ftiowing the leaft
diffidence.
In his youth Mithridates took care to inure himfelf
to hardships, palling whole months in the open air, em¬
ployed in the exercife of hunting, and often taking his
reft amidft the frozen fnow\ When he came of age, he
married his lifter named Laodice, by whom he had a fon
named Pharnaces. After this he took a journey through
many different kingdoms of Afia, having nothing lefs in
view than the whole continent. He learned their dif¬
ferent languages, of wffiich he is faid to have fpoken
22 ; took an eftimate of their ftrength} and above all
viewed narrowly their ftrongholds and foitilled towns.
In this journey he fpent three years ; during which
time, a report being fpread abroad that he wras dead,
his wife Laodice had a criminal converfation with one
of the lords of her court, and had a Ion by him. When
her hulband returned, Ihe prefented him with a poifon-
ed bowd ; but Mithridates had accuftomed himfelf to
take poifon from his infancy, fo that it had now no
other effedl than to haften the deftruftion of his wife,
which very foon took place, together with all thofe who
had been any way acceffory to her dilloyalty and incon¬
tinence.
The king now began to put in execution his fchemes
of conqueft. However, he certainly took the wrong
method, by attacking firft thofe nations which were im¬
mediately under the protedlion of Rome, and thus at
once provoking that powerful people to fall upon him.
He began with Paphlagonia, which the Romans had
declared a free ftate. This country he eafily reduced,
and divided between himfelf and Nicomedes king of
Rithynia, at that time his ally. The Romans remon-
ftrated } but Mithridates, inftead of paying any regard
to their remonftrances, invaded Galatia, which was im¬
mediately under their protection. This he alfo reduced,
and then turned his eyes on Cappadocia. But as the
kingdom of Cappadocia was at that time held by Aria-
rathes, who was a great favourite of the Romans, and
married to the lifter of Mithridates, the latter hired an
affaffin to difpatch Ariarathes, after which he thought
he might fucceed better in. his defigns. After the death
of Ariarathes, Cappadocia wns invaded by Nicomedes
king of Bithynia, who drove out the fon, and married
the widow of Ariarathes. This gave Mithridates a
plaufible pretence for invading Cappadocia •, which he
inllantly did, and drove Nicomedes quite out of the
country. Thus Muthridates gained confiderable repu¬
tation, not only as a w7arrior, but as a juft and good-
natured prince ; for as it was not known that he nad any
hand in the murder of Ariarathes, every one imagined
that he had undertaken the war againft Nicomedes,
merely to revenge the quarrel of his nephew, and to re-
ftore him to his right. To keep up the farce a little
longer, Mithridates actually withdrew his troops out of
the country, and left the young prince matter of the
kingdom. In a ffiort time, however, he began to prefs
the young king of Cappadocia to recal the aflallin Gor-
Pofttus.
55 ] PON
dius, who had murdered his father: but this the king  :ji
of Cappadocia refufed with indignation; and Mithri- ’ v **
dates, being determined on a quarrel at all events, took
the field with an army of 8o,oco foot, 10,000 horfe,
and 6oo chariots armed wdth feythes. With this force
he imagined he Ihould carry all before him: but finding
the king of Cappadocia ready to oppofe him wdth a
force no wray inferior to his own, he had recourfe to I2
treachery *, and inviting his nephew to a conference, Affaflinates
ftabbed him, in the fight of both armies, with a dagger his own ne*
which he had concealed in the plaits of his garmentAhew'
This barbarous and unexpected piece of treachery had
fuch an effedt on the Cappadocians that they threw
down their arms, and fuffered Mithridates, wulhout op-
pofition, to feize upon all their ftrong holds. He re-
figned the kingdom, however, to his fon, a child of
eight years of age. The care of the young prince, and
of the whole kingdom, he committed to Gordius j but
the Cappadocians, difdaining to be ruled by fuch a
fcandalous affaflin, placed on the throne the brother of
Ariarathes, wffio had kept himfelf concealed in feme part
of Afia. His reign, howrever, was of fliort duration \
he being foon after driven out by Mithridates, and
the Cappadocians again reduced. The unhappy prince
died of grief j and in him ended the family of Pharnaces,
wffio had ruled Cappadocia from the time of Cyrus the
Great. t ^
Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, being now greatly jqicomedei
afraid of Mithridates, and fuppofing that his own domi-king of Bi-
nions would next fall a prey to the ambitious conqueror, thyma at-
fuborned a youth of a comely and majeftic afpedt to ^’^ve^he
pretend that he was a third fon of Ariarathes, to go to p^omans.
Rome, and demand the kingdom of Cappadocia as his
juft right. He was received by the fenate with the
greateft kindnefs, and Laodice the wife of Nicomedes
even confirmed the deceit by her oath. But in the The deceit
mean time Mithridates having got intelligence of the expofed by
plot, fent notice of it by Gordius to the Romans,
that the itnpofture was foon known at Rome alfo. The
confequence of this was, that the ienate commanded
Mithridates to relinquifti Cappadocia, and Nicomedes
that part of Paphlagonia which he poffeffed ; declaring
both thefe countries free. The Cappadocians protefted
that they could not live without a king ; upon which
they were allowed to choofe one of their own nation.
Mithridates ufed all his intereft in favour of Gordius j
but he being excluded by the Romans, one Ariobarzanes
was cholen by the majority of votes. . I5
To enforce this election, Sylla was fent into Cappa- Ariobar-
docia. He had the charafler of an ambaffador, but thezanesfet-
real intent of his coming was to difappoint the ambitious tjed on the
defigns of Mithridates. With a handful of forces
defeated a numerous army of Cappadocians and Arme-j,y. ^ r0.
nians commanded by Gordius, and fettled Ariobarzanes macs, but
on the throne. But no fooner was Sylla gone than driven out
Mithridates ftirred up Tigranes king of Armenia againft
Ariobarzanes, who, without making any refiftance, fled
to Rome, and Tigranes reftored the kingdom to Aria¬
rathes the fon of Mithridates. At the fame time died
the king of Bithynia , upon which Mithridates imme¬
diately invaded that country, and drove out Nicomedes
the natural fon of the late king. But the expelled prince,
having fled to Rome, and being affifted by that power¬
ful republic, the king of Pontus was foon obliged to
abandoh Bithynia and Cappadocia.
U 2 The
Port us.
'7
Defeats A-
riobarzanes
and Alti-
nius.
iS
and Nico-
medes and
Manius A-
quiiius.
19
Overruns
Afia Mi¬
nor.
PON [1
The Remans now being exceedingly jealous of the
power and ambition of Mithridates, rel'olved to humble
him at all events. For this purpofe they fent ambaf-
fadors to the kings of Bithynia and Cappadocia, de-
liring them to make frequent inroads into the neigh¬
bouring territories of Mithridaies, and behave there as
they pleafed ; affuring them of powerful affillance in
cafe they fhould have occafion. Ariobarzanes could not
by any means be induced to provoke fo powerful a
neighbour; but Nicomedes being induced, partly by
promifes and partly by menaces, to comply, entered
Pontus, where he laid watte whole provinces with fire
and fword. Mithridates complained to the Roman le¬
gates : but they replied, that he himfelf had been the
firft aggreffor; that Nicomedes had only paid him in
his own coin, and that they would not allow him to
hurt their friend and ally. Upon this Mithridates, en¬
tering Cappadocia with a nuijrerous army, put to flight
the united forces of Ariobarzanes and Altinius the Ro¬
man legate ; thus making himfelf once more mafter of
this^kingdom. In^ the mean time he fent ambafladors
to Rome, complaining of the proceedings of Nicomedes:
but his ambaffadors met with a very indifferent recep¬
tion j being enjoined to tell their mafter, that he muft
either reftore the kingdom of Cappadocia to Ariobar¬
zanes, and make peace with Nicomedes, or be account¬
ed an enemy of the Roman people. With this anfwer
they were commanded to depart the city that very day,
and told that no more ambaffadors could be admitted till
fuch time as their commands were obeyed.
In the mean time both parties prepared for war.
The Roman legates in Afia drew' together all the forces
they could mufter in Bithyaia, Cappadocia, Paphlago-
nia, and Galatia 5 and, being joined by Caffius governor
of Afia, took the field againft Mithridates in the year
89 B. C. They divided their army into feveral fmall
bodies : Caffius encamped on the confines of Bithynia
and Galatia ; Manius Aquilius with his body poffeffed
himfelf of the avenues leading from Pontus into Bithy-
nia Quintus Oppius fecured the entrance into Cappa¬
docia ; and the admirals Minucius Rufus and C. Popi-
1ms lay with a fleet of 300 fail at Byzantium, to pre¬
vent the enemy from entering the Euxine fea. Each of
the generals had under his command an army of 40,000
men 5 befides a body of 50,000 foot and 6000 horfe
brought to their afliftance by Nicomedes.
^ On the other hand, Mithridates having invited feveral
of the neighbouring nations to join him, colle&ed an
army of. 250,000 foot, 50,000 horfe, 130 chariots
armed with feythes; befides 300 ftiips and 100 galleys.
Part of this force he detached againft Nicomedes; and
utterly defeated him, though much Superior in number,
as he was taking poffeffion of an advantageous poft by
order of Caffms. Another part he detached againft:
Manius Aquilius, whom he alfo defeated with the lofs
of 10,000 killed on the fpot, and 3000 taken prifoners;
on which the other Roman generals abandoned their
polls, the fleet alfo difperfed, and moft of the ftiips were
either taken or funk by the admirals of Mithridates.
Ihe king of Pontus now refolving to improve the
opportunity, and drive the Romans entirely out of A-
iia, overran all Phrygia, Myfia, Afia Proper, Caria,
Lycia, Pamphylia, Paphlagonia, and Bithynia, with all
the reft of the countries which had either belonged to or
Tided with the Romans, as far as Ionia. He was re-
56 ] PON
ceived everywhere with the greateft denaonftrations of Pontu
joy ; the inhabitants flocking to him in white garments, ‘™’
and calling him their farther, deliverer, their god, and
the great and foie lord of all Afia. What gained him
the affedtions of the people was his kind ulage to the
priloners he had taken in the two engagements above
mentioned j for he not only fent them all home with¬
out ranfom, but furnithed them with plenty of provi-
fions, and money fufficient to defray their expences by
the way. Ambafladors flocked to him from all parts j
and among others, from Laodicea on the Lycus, to
whom the king promifed his protedion, provided they
deliveied up to him Q. Oppius governor of Pamphylia,
who had fled thither for protedtion. This requeft was
readily complied with j _ Oppius was fent to him in
chains, wdth libtors walking before him in derifion of
the Roman pride and oftentation. Mithridates wras
overjoyed to fee a Roman general and proconful in his
power 5 and his joy w^as foon after increafed by the ar¬
rival of Manius Aquilius, wdiom the Lelhians, revolting
from the Romans, lent to him in fetters, together with
many other Romans of diftindtion who had taken fliel-
ter among them. As he had been the chief author of
the w'ar, Mithridates led him about with him w'herever
he vrent, either bound on an afs, or on foot coupled
with one Baftarnes a public malefactor, compelling him
to proclaim to the crowds who came to fee him, that he
was Manius Aquilius the Roman legate. When he Puts Afpft
came to Pergamus, he caufed him firft to be publicly bus to
whipped, then to be put on the rack, and laftly melted death'
gold to be poured down his throat.
Mithridates being now looked upon as invincible, all
the .free cities of Afia received him as their fovereign,
contributing large fums towards the defraying the ex¬
pences of the war ; by which means he became poffeffed
of fuch treafures as enabled him to keep feveral nume-
rous armies in the field for five years without levying
any taxes on his fubjedts. As many Roman citizens
were difperfed in the provinces which Mithridates had
fubdued, he confidered thefe as fo many fpies, who would
not fail to lend an account of his proceedings to Rome : 2r
for which reafon he refolved to cut them all off at once Cruelly
by a general maffacre; which barbarous policy, it is maffacres
faid, had never been heard of till his time, but has been a11 the. Ro‘
fince pradlifed by other nations. He difpatched private ^ m
letters to all the governors and magiftrates of the cities
where the Romans refided, enjoining them on pain of
death, and the entire deftrudiion of their country, to
caufe all the Italian race, women and children not ex¬
cepted, to be murdered on the 30th day from the date
of his letters, and to let their bodies lie unburied in the
open fields. One moiety of their goods was to be for¬
feited to the king, and the other bellowed as a reward
on the afiaffms. Whatever Have murdered his mafter
was to receive his liberty, and one half of the debt was
to be remitted to the debtor that ftiould kill his credi¬
tor. Whoever concealed an Italian, under any pretence
whatever, was to be punilhed with immediate death.
On the fatal day, all the gates of the cities being ftmt,
and the avenues kept with foldiers, the king’s orders
were proclaimed, which caufed an univerfal horror, not
only among the unhappy vidlims themfelves, but among
thofe who had any feelings of humanity, at feeing them¬
felves obliged either to betray and murder their inno¬
cent guefts, friends, and relations, or to become liable
to
PON r 157 1 PON
Pontus. to a cruel death. However, as moft of the Afiatics
  ' bore a mortal hatred to the Itemans, and were more¬
over animated by the promife of an ample reward, the
orders were without deb y put in execution. The in¬
habitants of Ephefus, where Mithridates then reiided,
dragged fuch as had taken fan&uary in the temple of
Diana from the very ftatue of the goddefs, and put
them to the [word. The Pergamenians difcharged Ihow’ers
of darts upon them as they embraced the ftatues in the
temple of Efculapius. At Adramyttium in Myfia
many were murdered in the water, while they were at¬
tempting, with their children on their backs, to fwim
over to the illand of Lefbos. The Caunians, who not
long before had been delivered from the yoke of the
Rhodians, and reftored to their ancient privileges, ex¬
celled all the reft in cruelty : for, as if they had apofta-
tifed from human nature, they took pleafure in tor¬
menting and butchering the innocent children before
their mothers eyes; fome of them running diftrafled,
and others dying with grief at a fight which nature
could not bear. The Trallians were the only people on
the continent who would not have the cruelty to imbrue
their hands in the blood of the innocent Italians.
However, as the king’s orders were peremptory, they
hired one Theophilus a Paphlagonian to difpatch the
few Romans that lived among them. He, having ihut
them all up together in the temple of Concord, firft cut
off their hands as they embraced the ftatues of the gods,
and then hacked them in pieces. Many Romans were
faved on the floating illands of Lydia called Calamince,
where they concealed themfelves till fuch time as they
found an opportunity of efcaping out of Afia. Never-
thelefs, according to Plutarch and Dion, 150,000 Ro¬
man citizens wrere maflacred on that day ; but, according
to others, only 80,000.
Mithridates having now got rid of thofe whom he was
in dread of on the continent, embarked great part of his
forces in order to reduce the iflands of the Archipelago.
At Cos he svas gladly received, and had delivered up to
him the young Alexander, fon of Alexander king of
Egypt, who being driven out of that country, wfas kil¬
led by Chareas a fea-captain as he was retiring in a
fmall veffel to Cyprus. With the young prince, they
put into the king’s hands vaft fums of money, with all
the golden vefiels and jewels, to an immenfe value,
which his grandmother Cleopatra had been amafling for
many years. To the young prince Mithridates gave an
education fuitable for a king’s fon, but kept the treafures
to himlelf. Here likewife he found 800 talents in ready
money, wdiich, at the firft breaking out of the war, had
been depofited by the Jewrs of Afia, and were defigned
for the temple of Jerufalem..
From Cos Mithridates fleered his courfe for Rhodes-,
his attempt where at that time all the Roman* who had efcaped
the mafiacre above-mentioned found- a fanctuary, and,
amongft others, L. Caflius the proconful. The Rho¬
dians, however, being very expert in maritime affairs,
Mithridates did not think proper to venture an engage*-
ment. As the enemy’s fleet advanced, therefore, he
retired •, but fix of the Rhodian (hips coming up with
25 of his, a {harp atftion enfued, in which the Rhodians
funk ttvo of the king’s {hips, and put the reft to flight.
In this encounter, though Mithridates had never feen a
fea-fight before, he behaved with great intrepidity ; but
one of the fhips of his own fouadron falling foul of that
Reduces
the ifland
of Cos;
23
but fails in
upon
Rhodes.
which carried him, he was very near being taken pri- PcntHs.
foner. From this time forth he abhorred the lea, and
took an averfion to all the Chians, becaufe the pilot of
that fhip was a Chian. However, he again appeared
before the ifland ; but wras forced anew to leave it
with difgrace, and to give over all thoughts of redu¬
cing it.
Mithndates now retired into Afia, with a defign to h;s gtue_
fettle the civil government of the countries which he rals reduce
had conquered, committing the care of the war to his all Greece,
generals. Archelaus, his generaliflimo, was lent into
Greece with an army of 120,000 men; where, by
treachery, he made himfelf mafter of Athens, and either
put to the fword or fent to Mithridates all thofe who
favoured or were fufpefled to favour the Romans. From
Athens he difpatched parties to reduce the neighbour¬
ing caftles and the ifland of Delos, which they did ac¬
cordingly ; but Orobius, a Roman general, hearing
that the enemy kept no guards, but palled their time
in cajoufing and debauchery, fell upon them unexpect¬
edly, and cut off the whole party, except Apellicon the
commander.
In the mean time, Metrophanes, another of the king’s
generals, entering Euboea, laid wafte the whole country,
exerting his rage chiefly againft the cities of Demetrias
and Magnefia, which refufed to open their gates to him.
But as he was failing off with a great booty, Bryttius,.
the praetor or gavernor of Macedonia, coming up with
him, funk fome of his (hips, and took others, putting all
the prifoners to the fword. Mithridates, upon the news
of this lofs, fent his fon Ariarathes with a powerful ar¬
my to invade Macedonia; which he foon reduced, to¬
gether with the kingdom of Thrace, driving the Ro¬
mans everywhere before him. The generals whom he
fent into other quarters were no lefs fuccefsful; fo that
Mithridates had, according to Aulus Gellius, 25 diffe¬
rent nations who paid him homage. The fame author
adds, that he was {killed in every one of their various-
languages, fo that he could converfe with the natives*
without an interpreter. Among thefe nations we find
the Rhoxaniy now the Ruffians or Mufcovites, whom
Deiphontus, one of the king’s generals, brought under
fubjeftion, after having {lain in an engagement 50,000
of the barbarians.
All this time the Romans had been too much taken
up with their own domeftic quarrels to take fuch effec¬
tual meafiires as they otherwife would have done for 7 -
checking the progrefs of Mithridates. But at laft, ha- Sjlla fent-
ving received certain advice that the king defigned to ajjaind
invade Italy, and that he had even been folicited to da*um»
fo by fome of the revolted Italians, they fent againft
him Lucius Sylla, who had already given fufficient
proofs of his courage, conduft, and experience in war.
He had with him only five legions and a few cohorts.
With this inconfiderable force he landed in Attica, and
in a flrort time made himfelf mafter of the capital; Ar-
chelaus not daring, or, according to others, through
treachery, nor caring, to engage him. As Sylla had
but a few frigates, he fent Lucullus to the illand of
Rhodes-, with orders to the Rhodians to join him with
their fleet. The undertaking was very dangerous, as
the king’s fleet in a manner covered the fea. However,
Lucullus, defpifing all danger, ventured out, and failed,
without meeting with any perverfe accident, to Syria,
Egypt, Libya, and Cyprus j from whence he returned
with.
PoiltUS.
2<J
PON [ r
with fuch fupplies of {hips and experienced mariners, as
enabled Sylla, after their conjundlion with the Rhodi¬
ans, to aft offenfively by fea alfo. Archelaus now dif-
patched meffengers to Taxiles, who commanded in
Thrace and Macedon, defiring him to join him with all
his forces ; which the other readily did, and between
who total- both muftered an army of 120,000 men.' Sylla met
Ins^enend t^lem near Cheronaea with only 15,000 foot and 1500
in Greece/ horfe j but gave them a moft dreadful overthrow, no
fewer than 110,000 of the Afiatics being flaughtered,
while the Romans loft only 12 men.
This fuccefs having raifed envy and jealoufy againft
Sylla in Rome, the fenate fent Lucius Valerius Flaccus,
the conful of that year, with two legions into Afia, in
appearance to attack Mithridates on that fide, but with
27 private inftruftions to fall upon Sylla himfelf, if they
i-Iaccus and found him difaffefted to the fenate. As Flaccus was
Fimbria a man 0£ no experience Jn war Q, Fimbria, a fena-
Afia. tor ot great repute among the ioldiery, was appointed
to attend him with the charafter of legate and lieute¬
nant-general. Sylla was at that time in Boeotia j but,
- hearing what had happened at Rome, he marched rvith
all expedition into Theffaly, with a defign to meet
Flaccus, who, he expefted, was to land in that province.
But no fooner had he left Boeotia, than the country
was overrun by an army of Afiatics, under the com¬
mand of Dorylaus the king’s chief favourite. On this
advice Sylla returned into Boeotia, where he gained two
28 fignal viftories, which put an end to the war in Greece.
Sylla gains In the firft of thefe Dorylaus loft 150,000 of his men
vidlorie^i accorc^ng to or 200,000 according to others j
^Greece. an^ next ah the reft. In this laft engagement
20,000 were driven into a river, where they all perifti-
ed ; an equal number were purfued into a madh, and
entirely cut off; the reft -were killed in the heat of the
battle, the Romans giving no quarter to men who had
treated their fellow-citizens after fuch a barbarous man¬
ner in Afia. Plutarch tells us, that the marfhes were
dyed with blood ; that the courfe of the river was flop¬
ped by the dead bodies 5 and that even in his time, that
is, near 200 years after, a great number of bows, hel¬
mets, coats of mail, and fwords, were found buried in
the mud. Archelaus, wTho had joined Dorylaus with
a body of 10,000 men a few days before the battle, lay
three days ftripped among the {lain till he found a fmall
veffel which carried him to Euboea, where he gathered
what forces he could, but was never again able to ap¬
pear in the field. Indeed Livy tells us, that Archelaus
betrayed the king’s caufe ; and Aurelius Viftor, that
the king’s fleet was intercepted by Sylla through the
treachery of Archelaus: adding, that there was a good
underftanding between the two commanders, as was
plain from Sylla’s beftowing upon Archelaus 10,000
acres of land near the city of Chalcis in Euboea. Stra¬
bo alfo informs us, that Archelaus was afterwards
greatly efteemed and careffed by Sylla and the fe¬
nate but Sylla himfelf in his commentaries, end Dio,
endeavour to clear Archelaus from all fufpicicn of trea¬
chery.
In the mean time, Sylla having given up Boeotia to
be plundered by his foldiers, marched into Theffaly,
where he took up his winter-quarters, caufed his old
{hips to be refitted and feveral new ones built, in order
to pafs over into Afia in the beginning of the fpring,
that he might drive from thence not 'only Mithridates,
4
58 ] PON
but his rival Flaccus alfo, whom the fenate, out of op- Pontuj*
pofition to him, had appointed governor of that pro- J
vince. But before he arrived, fome differences having
arifen between Flaccus and Fimbria, the latter wras by 29
the conful deprived of his command. Upon this Fim- Fimbria
bria, having gained over the foldiery to his fide, made puts FLc-
war on the conful, took him prifoner, put him to death,
and affumed the command of all the Roman forces in
Afia. In this Ration, he behaved with the greateft
cruelty, infomuch that his name became more odious
than even that of Mithridates himfelf. This hatred the
king of Pontus endeavoured to improve to his own ad¬
vantage ; and therefore commanded his fon, by name
alfo Mithridates, to join Taxiles, Diophantes, and Me¬
nander, three of his moft experienced commanders, to
return at the head of a numerous army into Afia ; not
doubting but the inhabitants, thus haraffed by Fim¬
bria, would {hake off the Roman yoke when they faw
fuch a powerful army in the field ready to proteft them.
But Fimbria, diftrufting the Afiatics, marched out to
meet the enemy, and offered them battle before they 3c
entered the province. As the king’s army wTas greatly Defeats the
fuperior to the Romans in number, the latter fuffer-^or.ce®
ed greatly in the engagement, but held out till night
parted them, when they withdrew to the oppofite fide
of a river, which wras at a fmall diftance from the field
of battle. Here they defigned to intrench themfelves :
but in the mean time a violent ftorm arifing, Fimbria
laid hold of that opportunity to repafs the river and
furprife the enemy : of whom he made fuch havock as
they lay in their tents, that only the commanders and 31
fome few troops of harfe efcaped. Among thefe w^as and ba¬
the king’s fon 5 who, attended by a few horfe, got fafe plfges the
to Pergamus, where his father refided. But Fimbria,kins;
purfuing him night and day without intermiffion, en¬
tered Pergamus fword in hand; and hearing that both
Mithridates and his fon had fled from thence a few
hours before, he continued his purfuit, and -would have
taken the king himfelf, had he not entered Pitane with
a confiderable body of horfe. The place was clofely
invefted by Fimbria ; but as he had no {hips to block
it up by fea alfo, he fent a meffenger to Lucullus, who
commanded the Roman navy in Afia, intreating him,
as he tendered the welfare of the republic, to make
what hafte he could to Pitane, and affift him in taking
the moft inveterate enemy the Romans had. But Lu- who is fuf-
cullus, preferring the gratification of a private pique to feretl hy
the good of his country, refufed to come : and thus al- Luca!lu'
low^ed the fleet of Mithridates to carry him in fafety to 3 fclcaPe*
Mitylene.
Soon after the king’s departure, Fimbria took Pitane
by ftorm, and reduced moft of the cities of Afia, parti¬
cularly Troy, which he alfo took by ftorm in eleven days,
and put moft of the inhabitants to the fword, becaufe
they had fent an embaffy to Sylla, offering to fub-
mit to him rather than to Fimbria.—To add to the
misfortunes of Mithridates, his fleet was entirely de¬
feated in twTo engagements by Lucullus ; fo that he be¬
gan to be weary of the war, and therefore defired Ar¬
chelaus to conclude a peace upon as honourable terms
as he could. The king himfelf had afterwards alfo apeaceconr-
conference with Sylla, and a peace was concluded included.
85 B. C. on the following terms, viz. That Mithri¬
dates fliould relinquifli all his conquefts, and content
himfelf with his paternal dominions, wffich wrere confin¬
ed
33
PON ['i
Pontus. ed within the limits of Pontus : that he ihould immedx-
ately refign Bithynia to Nicomedes, and Cappadocia to
Ariobarzanes, and releafe without r.anfom all the prifo-
ners he had taken during the war : that he fhould pay
to the Romans 2000, or as others will have it 3000, ta¬
lents, and deliver up to Sylla 80 fhips with all their
arms and ammunition, and 500 archers; and laftly, that
he fhould not moleft fuch cities or perfons as had du¬
ring the war revolted from him and tided with the Ro¬
mans.
Sylla, having thus concluded the war with great glo¬
ry to himfelf and advantage to the republic, turned his
army againfl Fimbria •, but the latter, finding himfelf in
no condition to oppofe his rival by force, had recourfe
to treachery, and attempted to get Sylla murdered.
The plot mifcarried, and Fimbria put an end to his owm
life ; upon wdiich Sylla, having now an uncontrouled
power in Alia, declared the Chians, Rhodians, Lyci-
ans, Magnefians, and Trojans, free, and friends of the
people of Rome, by w^ay of reward for their having fided
with the Romans : but on the other cities he laid heavy
fines j condemning them in one year to pay 20,000 ta¬
lents, and quartering his foldiers in the houfes of thofe
who had fhown difaffedtion to the Romans. Each private
man was to receive of his landlord 16 drachmas a-day,
and each officer 50 ; and besides, both w?ere to be fup-
plied with provifions, not only for themfelves, but for
fuch of their friends as they thought proper to invite.
By thefe impofitions rnoft of the people of Alia were
reduced to beggary ; efpecially the inhabitants of Ephe-
fus, w'ho had above all others fhown their hatred to the
Romans. Sylla then, having colle£led immenfe trea-
fure, fet fail for Italy; leaving behind him Lucullus
wuth the charafler of qucejlor, and Muraena with that of
prcetor.
The two legions wdiich Fimbria had commanded wTere
given to Muraena, becaufe Sylla fufpedled them of an
inclination to the faftion of Marius, wdiofe party he was
going to cruffi at Rome.
Mithridates in the mean time no fooner returned into
reduces the Pontus, than he fet about the reduftion of thofe nations
nations which had revolted from him during the wTar. He be-
revolted^ ^an Colchi ; wdio immediately fubmitted, up-
from him on condition that Mithridates would give his fon for a
king over them. This wras complied with ; but the old
king had thenceforward a jealoufy of his fon, and there¬
fore firft imprifoned and then put him to death. Soon
after this, the king having made great preparations un¬
der pretence of reducing the Bofphori, a w arlike nation
who had revolted from him, the Romans began to be
jealous. Their jealoufy wras further increafed by Arche-
laus, who fled to them, and affured them that the pre¬
parations of Mithridates were not at all defigned againfl:
the Bofphori. On hearing this, Muraena invaded Pon¬
tus without any farther provocation. The king put
him in mind of the articles of peace concluded with
Sylla: but Murcena replied that he knew of no fuch
articles; for Sylia had fet nothing down in writing, but
contented himfelf with the execution of wffiat had been
agreed upon. Having given this anfwer, the Roman
general began to lay wafte and plunder the country,
without fparing even the treafures or temples confecrat-
ed to the gods. Plaving put all to fire and fword on
the .frontiers of Pontus towards Cappadocia, he paflfed
the river Halys, and on that fide pofTelTed himfcif of
34
Mithridates
35
The Ro¬
mans in¬
vade his
territories
without
provoca¬
tion.
59 1 P O N
400 villages without oppofition ; for Mithridates was Pontus.
unwilling to commit any hoftilities before the return
an ambaflador whom he had fent to Rome to complain
of the condudl of Muraena. At laft the ambaffador re.
turned, and with him one Callidius; who, in public af-
fcmbly, commanded Muraena to forbear molefling a friend
and ally of the Roman people; but afterwards, calling
him afide, he had a private conference with him, in
which it is fuppofed, as he brought no decree of the
fenate, that he encouraged him to purfue the war.
Whatever might be in this, it is certain that Muraena
flill continued to pradlife the fame hoftilities, and even
made an attempt on Sinope, where the king refided and
the royal treafures wrere kept. But as the town was
well fortified, he was forced to retire with fome lofs. 36
In the mean time Mithridates himfelf taking the field,but are ^
appeared at the head of a powerful army, drove the^eate<^’
Romans out of their camp, and forced them with great
flaughter to fave themfelves over the mountains into
Phrygia; which fudden victory again induced many
cities to join Mithridates, and gave him an oppor¬
tunity once more of driving the Romans out of Cappa¬
docia.
In the mean time, Sylla, being created dictator at
Rome, fent a mefienger to Muraena, charging him in
his name not to moleft Mithridates, whom he had ho¬
noured with the title of a friend and ally of Rome.
Muraena did not think proper to difregard this meffage
and therefore immediately abandoned all the places he
had feized, and Mithridates again renounced Cappado¬
cia, giving his own fon as an hoftage of his fidelity.
Being then at leifure to purfue his other plans, Mithri¬
dates fell upon the Bofphori; and, having foon fubdued
them, appointed Machares one of his fons king of the
country. But leading his army from thence againft the
Achaeans, a people bordering on the Colchi, and origi¬
nally defcended from the Greeks, wrho returning from
Troy had miftaken their w^ay into Greece and fettled
there, he was defeated with the lofs of three-fourths of 3V
his men. On his return to Pontus, however, he recruit-Engages
ed his army, and made vaft preparations to invade themm a ne^’
anew; but in the mean time, hearing of Sylla’s death,
he came to the imprudent refolution of entering into a mans,
fecond war with the Romans. Having therefore indu¬
ced his fon-in-law Tigranes, king of Armenia, to invade
Cappadocia, he himfelf entered Paphlagonia at the head
of 120,000 foot difeiplined after the Roman manner,
16,000 horfe, and 100 chariots armed with feythes.
This country readily fubmitted ; after which the king
marched into Bithynia, which alfo fubmitted without
oppoiition ; the province of Afia followed the example
of the reft ; for thefe countries being oppreffed with ex¬
orbitant taxes, looked upon him as their deliverer. In
entering the cities of Afia, he caufed M. Marius or Va-
rius, whom Sertorius had fent him out of Spain to dif-
cipline his troops, walk before him with the enfigns of
confular dignity as if he was the chief magiftrate ; the
king following as one of his attendants. He made fe-
veral cities free; but at the fame time acquainted the
inhabitants, that they were indebted to Sertorius for
their liberty ; and thus, by the connivance of that ge¬
neral, many cities revolted from the Romans without,
knowing that they had done fo. But in the mean time
Julius Caefar, being at that time at Rhodes, whither he
hnd gone to ftudy oratory, and hearing what havock.
thei*
PON
Fontiis.
38
Lucullus
and Cotta
fuccefsful,
the king’s officer’s made in the adjacent countries, he
collected what troops he could, and falling unexpe&ed-
ly upon them, drove them quite out of the province of
Alia.
1 he Roman fenate, now finding a war unavoidable,
fent againft ^ucullus to manage it. The other conful
him. Cotta,, having folicited an employment in this war, was
fent wdth a fleet to guard the Propontis and defend Bi-
•thynia. Lucullus having raifed one legion in Italy,
palled over with it into Alia, where he was joined by
four others, twro of which, as they had ferved under
Umbria, proved at firft very mutinous and refradlory;
nor wrere the other twro much better, having been immer-
.fed in the Afiatic luxuries. The difciplining of thefe
troops took up a confiderable time, which was prejudicial
to the Roman affairs ; for almoft all the Afiatics were
ready to revolt, and Mithridates was making the great-
ell preparations. One of his armies w7as ordered to
march into Cappadocia, under the command of Dio-
phantus Matharus, in order to oppofe Lucullus if he
fhould attempt to enter Pontus on that fide ; another,
commanded by Mithridates in perfon, confifled of
150,000 foot, 12,000 horfe, and 100 chariots armed
with fcythes *, a third army, commanded by Marius and
Eumachus, tw7o generals of great experience in vrar,
was encamped in the neighbourhood of Heraclea in
Pontus.
-Mithridates The beginning of the war proved favourable to Mi¬
ss at firft thridates. Cotta being defired by Lucullus to keep his
fleet within the harbour, as being inferior to that of
Mithridates, refolved to take the firft opportunity of
fighting the king by land, not doubting of an eafy vic¬
tory. Having for this purpofe colledted all the forces
he could, Cotta difpatched his legate, P. Rutilius, with
a confiderable body to obferve the motions of the ene¬
my. This commander being met by Marius and Eu¬
machus, an engagement enfued, in which the Romans
were defeated, and the greatell part of them, together
with their commander, cut in pieces. The fame mif-
fortune befel feveral other officers of diflindlion fent
out to oppofe Mithridates; who, being elated with
fuccefs, ordered his admiral to fail into the very har¬
bour, and fire the Roman fleet. This was according¬
ly performed without the leafl oppofition from Cotta j
and 60 fliips were taken, funk, or burnt, on that occa-
fion.
.Thefe viftories. having increafed the rebellious difpo-
fition of the Afiatics, made Lucullus haflen his march in
order, to flop the progrefs of the enemy. But finding
the king’s army much more numerous than he expeft-
ed, he thought proper to decline an engagement. How¬
ever, feveral fkirmiflres happened, in which the Romans
had always fo much the advantage, that they became
impatient for a general engagement. But Lucullus did
not at this time choofe to run fo great a rifk ; and there¬
fore Mithridates, feeing he could not force the Romans
to a battle, decamped in the night-time, and by day-
bieaiv reached Cyzicum, a molt important city, and
greatly attached to the Romans. Lucullus purfued
him; and,, falling on his rear, killed 10,000, and took
13,000 prifoners. After this, the Roman general, by a
manoeuvre, gained an important pafs, which enabled
j^rbim t0 cut communication between the army of
ki, lCU * Mithridates and the neighbouring country. The king,
feeing himfelf thus in danger of famine, redoubled las
ji
[ l60 ]
PON
Pontu'
40
f>ut is re¬
duced to
4r
efforts to gain the city j but finding that he could
not batter down the walls, he refolved to undermine
them. In this alfo he was unfuccefsful 5 the befieged
funk countermines, and had very near taken the king
himfelfin one of his own mines. In the mean time^
winter coming on, the army of Mithridates was fo di-
ft re fled for want of provifions, that many died of hun¬
ger, while the furvivors were forced to feed on the He fir
of their dead companions. The famine was followed
by a plague 5 which deftroyed fuch numbers, that Mith¬
ridates was obliged to think of a retreat ; and even this
was become very dangerous. However, he laid hold of
the opportunity when Lucullus went away to befieo-e
a neighbouring caftle, and fent off the greateil part of
his cavalry in the night; ordering them not to halt till
they were out of the reach of the enemy. But Lucul-who’cuts
lus having got intelligence of their march, fuddenly re-0** great
turned, and purfued them fo clofe, that he came up"!111115"8 of
with them as they were palling a river, took 600 horfe, men'
all their beafts of burden, 15,000 men, and put the reft
to the fword. On his return he fell in with Ari-
ftonicus the king’s admiral, whom he took, juft as
he was ready to fail with a large fum of money de-
figned to bribe the Roman army. In the mean time
Mithridates, finding himfelf reduced to the laft extre¬
mity, embarked in the night-time with the greateft part
of the forces, wrhile Marius and Eumachus, with
30,000 men, made the beft of their w-ay to Lampfacus.
But being clofely purfued by the Romans, they were
overtaken at the river iEfopus, which at that time wras
not fordable, by reafon of its having been fwelled by
heavy rains. Twenty thoufand w-ere killed on the fpot j
nor could a Angle man have efcaped, had not the
Afiatics fcattered great quantities of gold and filver in
the way, that the march of the Romans might be retar¬
ded by their flopping to gather it up. Lucullus on his
return entered Cyzicum amidft the acclamations of the
citizens; who afterwards inftituted public fports in ho¬
nour of him, which they called Lucullea. The city was
declared free, and all the privileges, exemptions, and im¬
munities, beftowed upon the citizens which were enjoyed
by the inhabitants of Rome itfelf.
From Cyzicum, Lucullus marched along thecoaft ofLuculLs
the Hellefpont till he came to Troas; where he equip-gains a
ped his fleet, and put to lea in queft of Marius, Alex- great vi5*
ander, and Dionyfius, three of the king’s generals, whot0ry at !ea‘
had a fleet of 50 fliips, with 10,000 land-forces on
board. Lucullus came up with them near the ifland of
Lemnos, took 32 of their flips, and put a great num¬
ber of their land-forces to the fwrord. The day after
the engagement the three generals wTere difcovered in a
cave where they bad concealed themfelves, and dragged
from thence to Lucullus ; who, after having feverely
upbraided Marius for fighting againft his country, cau-
fed him to be put to death. Alexander and Dionyfius
were referved for the triumph j but the latter poifoned
himfelf to avoid that difgrace. Lucullus then fleered
bis courfe for Bithynia, on receiving intelligence that
Mithridates had appeared with his fleet on thofe coafls:
but the king having notice of his approach, made what
bafte he could to gain Pontus, and arrived at Heraclea
on board a pirate named Selemus; with whom he
was obliged to truft himfelf, his fleet being difperfed
by a violent ftorm, and the fhip that carried him caft
away.
In
P ON [ 161 ] P O N
Pontui.
Farther
fuccefles of
Luculius.
/
In the mean time Mithridates Was no lefs unfortu¬
nate by land than by fea. Triarius, one of the officers
of Lucullus,- reduced the cities of Apamea, Prufa, Piu-
fias, and Niceea, From thence he marched with all ex¬
pedition to Nicomedia, where the king himfelf was, and
near which place Cotta lay eiicamped. But before the
two armies could be joined, Mithridates efcaped, firil
to Heraclea, which was betrayed to him, and from
thence to Sinope. Nor wras Lucullus himfelf all this
time inadtive. Having reduced all Paphl?.gonia and
Bithynia, he matched into Cappadocia, and joined
Cotta and Triarius at Nicomedia, with a defign to in¬
vade Pontus -y but hearing that Heraclea wras in the
hands of Mithridates, he ditpatched Cotta to reduce
that city. Triarius was ordered with the fleet to the
Hellefpont and Propontis, to intercept the king’s fleet,
which was daily expected from Spain with fupplies from
Sertorius. Lucullus himfelf, with the main iirength of
the army, purfued his march into Pontus. His army
was greatly haraffed, efpecialiy in the narrow pafies be¬
tween Cappadocia and Pontus, by dying parties of the
enemy. But the greateft inconvenience was the Want
of provifions, as the king’s troops had laid wafte all the
country round ; infomuch that Lucullus having loti al-
molt all his beafts of burden, was obliged to take along
with the army 30,000 Galatians, each of them carrying
a fack of corn on his back. At laft, however, he gain¬
ed the plains of Pontus ; where provifions were fo plen¬
tiful, that an ox was fold for a drachma, and every thing
elfe in proportion.
The Pioman general having now carried the war into
the enemy’s country, divided his forces, and at the fame
time invefted a very Prong town named Amifus j ano¬
ther called Eupatoria, built by Mithridates, and made
the place of his refidence; and another, named Themif-
cyra, fituated on the banks of the Thermodoon. Eu-
patoria was foon taken, but Themifcyra made a vigo¬
rous refdlance. The townfmen galled the Romans to
fuch a degree, that, not daring to approach the walls
openly, they contented themfelves with undermining
them : but in this too they met with no fmall difficulty j
for the enemy countermined, and often engaged them,
under ground, letting into the mines bears and other
wild bealls, with fwarms of bees, which obliged them to
abandon their w'orks/ However, the town was at iaft
obliged to furrender for want of provifons. As for
Amifus, Lucullus himfelf fat dawn before -it : but find¬
ing it Prongly fortified and garrifoned with the flower
of the king’s troops, the Roman general thought proper
to reduce it by famine ; and on this occafion his coun¬
trymen firP complained of him as prctradling the war for
his own advantage.
In the mean time Mithridates having recruited his
Piattered army, advanced to Cabirae, a city not far di-
ftant from Amifus. Lucullus, leaving part of the army
to continue the fiege, marched at the head of the reft
to oppofe Mithridates. But the king having drawn his,
cavalry into a general engagement, defeated them with
conPderable lot’s, and drove them back to the moun¬
tains, through the paffes of which Lucullus had lately
marched to attack him. This check obliged the Ro¬
man general to retire to a riling ground near the city
of Cabirse, where the enemy could not force him to an
engagement. Here proviPons beginning to grow fcarce,
Lucullus fent out Prong parties from his army into Cap-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
padocia, the only place from whence he could have fup- Fentus.
plies. One of thefe parties entirely defeated Taxiles * J
and Diophantes, two of the king’s generals, who had
been Palioned there to prevent Lucullus from having
any communication with the country. The king, up¬
on the news of this defeat, refolved to break up hia
camp and retire, not quePioning but that Lucullus
wmuld attack him as foon as his forces returned. This ^^
refolution he no' fooner imparted to his nobles, than.0f Mkhn-
they began privately to fend away their moP valuable dates irmti-
goods ; which being found out by the foldiers, theyH>es, which
took it in fuch bad part that no intelligence had been ^ie
given them, that they plundered their baggage, and put Anu^
thofe who had the care of it to the fword. After thisnia.
they betook tbemfelves to flight, crowding out of the
gates in the utmoP confufion. The king haliened to.
Pop their Pight j but nobody Plowing him the leap re-
fpedf, he was carried away by the crowd, and in great
danger of being trampled to death. Having with diffi¬
culty made his efcape, he retired with a fmall retinue,
firft to Cabirse, and then to his fon-in-law Tigranes
king of Armenia. Lucullus difpatched the belt part
of his cavalry to purfue the fugitives ; while he himfelf,.
with the reP, invePed the camp of Mithridates, where
thofe remained who could not fly with the reP. The
camp was eafily taken j but molt ot the foldiers made
their efcape, while the Romans, contrary to their gene¬
ral’s orders, were bulled in plundering. Lucullus then
purfued hard after the king ; who, being overtaken by
a company of Galatians, caufed a mule loaded with
part of his treafures to be driven in among them, by
which means, he made his efcape while they quarrelled
about the booty. Mithridates, remembering in his
flight, that he had left his flflers, wives, and concubines
at Pharnacia, difpatched an eunuch, named Bacchus or
Bacchidcs, with orders to put them all to death, left
they thould fail into the hands of the enemy ; w hich was
accordingly done.
After the flight of Mithridates, the Romans no long¬
er met with any oppofition 5 the king’s governors,
flocking from all parts to put themfelves under the pro-
tedlion of the conqueror. Among thefe wras the grand¬
father of Strabo the geographer, whom the king had
difobliged by putting to death his coufln-german Ti-
bias, and his ton Theophilus. He was a man of fuch
credit, that it was no fooner heard that he had aban¬
doned the king’s party, than 15 other commanders de¬
livered up to Lucullus the places writh which they had
been intrutted j and about the fame time Triarius fall-,
ing in with the king’s fleet near the ifland of Tenedos,
obtained a complete victory, having either taken or
funk 60 of the enemy’s veffels.
All this time Cotta had been employed without fuc-
cefs in betieging Heraclea, which he could never have
reduced without the affiftance of Triarius. That com¬
mander, having defeated the fleet, foon reduced the
towm to fuch diftrefs, that a third part of the garrifon
died of hunger ; upon which the governor, Conaco-
rix, privately agreed with Triarius to deliver one of
the gates to him. This was accordingly done ; and
the Romans, entering, made a terrible Paughter of the
helplefs inhabitants. But in the mean time Cotta pro¬
voked at feeing himfelf deprived both of all fliare of the
booty, and the honour of reducing a place before which
he had fat fo long, fell upon his qoqntrymen as they
X were
PON [i
w ere bulled in plundering } which would have occaflon-
cd a great deal of bioodlhed, had not Triarius promiied
to divide the booty equally. Conacorix, in order to
conceal his tieachery, after inarching out of Heraclea,
feized on two forts belonging to the Homans j and Tri¬
anus being fent to recover them, Cotta, in his abfence,
plundered the city anew, rifled the temples which the
other had fpared, put all the citizens he could meet with
to the fword, and having carried off every thing valuable,
at laft fet fire to the city in feveral places, by which
means it was foon reduced to afhes. Cotta then, having
no farther occafion for his troops, difmilfed the auxili¬
aries, refigned his legions to Lucullus, and put to fea
himfelf in order to return to Rome. But he had fcarcely
got out of the harbour, -when part of his fhips, being
overloaded with the fpoils of the city, funk; and the
others, dnven by a violent north wind, were daihed againff
tne flioie, which occafioned the lofs of a great part of the
booty. On his return to Rome, however, he was highly
applauded by the fenate, and honoured with the title of
Ponticus.
Lucullus, having now reduced Pontus, marched
againft the Chaldeans, Tibarenians, and inhabitants of
Armenia Minor j who voluntarily fubmitted to him,
and put him in pofieflion of all their ftrong holds’.
.Prom Armenia, lie returned before Amifus, which
Rill held out j Callimachus, governor of the place, ha¬
ving ha railed the Romans to fuch a degree by engines
of his own contriving, that they had given over their
afTaults, and contented themfelves with blocking it up
by land, though the garrifon was at the fame time
plentifully^ fupplied with provifions by fea. Lucullus,
on his arrival, fummoned the city to furrender, offer¬
ing the inhabitants very honourable terms j but, being
refufed, he made a general alfault at the time when he
knew that Callimachus ufed to draw off great part of
his troops to give them feme refpite. The Romans
applying their fealing ladders, got over the wall be¬
fore Callimachus could come to the afliltance of thofe
wnorn he had left to guard it; however, by fetting
the city on fire, he found means in that confufion to
make his efcape. Lucullus commanded his men to ufe
their utmoft endeavours to fave the city; but being
intent only upon plundering, they regarded nothing
but the furniture. At laft the fire was extinguifhed
by a violent (bower; and Lucullus, having with diffi¬
culty reflrained his foldiers from committing any farther
exceffies, repaired the city in fome meafure before he
leit^ it, and fuffered the inhabitants to enjoy their pol-
feffions in peace.
No tiling was now wanting but the captivity of Mi-
thridates himfelf to put a final period to the war ; and
therefore Lucullus demanded him from his fon-in-law
1 igranes. But though that prince could not be pre¬
vailed to fee Mithridates on account of his mifeon-
thuft, he could as little be induced to deliver him up
to his enemies. After this refufal, however, he for
the firft time condefeended to fee his father-in-law, af¬
ter he had refided a year and eight months in his do¬
minions^. In a private conference held by the two
kings, it vras agreed, that Tigranes (hould march a-
gainft the Romans, and Mithridates with 10,000 horfe
return into Pontus, where he (hould make what levies
he could, and rejoin Tigranes, before Lucullus, who
62 } PON
was then employed in the (lege of Sinope, could enter
Armenia. But, in the mean time, Sinope having fur- —w—
rendered, Lucullus with all poffible expedition marched j,, ^
againft Tigranes, and, having drawn him into a general defeated8by
engagement, gave him an entire defeat, as is related un-Luculhis,
der the article Armenia.
Mithridates was marching to his afliftance, when he
met his fon-in-law flying with a fmall retinue to (bel¬
ter himfelf in fome remote coiner of the kingdom. 46
He encouraged him to raife new forces; not doubting hut refolves
but that another campaign would repair all formert0 tryano-
loffes, provided he would commit to his management1,11^ cam'
every thing relating to the war. To this TigranespaiSn*
agreeing, as he thought him more fit to deal with the
Romans than himfelf, orders were iffued out for raifing
a new army, and all the Armenians able to bear arms
fummoned to meet at the place cf the general rendez¬
vous. Out of thefe Mithridates choie 70,000 foot
and 35,000 horfe; and having trained them up during
the winter, after the Roman difeipline, in the begin¬
ning ol the fpring he left part of them with Tigranes,
and marched himfelf with the reft into Pontus, where
he recovered many important places, and overcame in a
pitched battle M. Fabius, whom Lucullus had appoint¬
ed governor of that province. Being fluftied with his
fuccefs, as foon as the wounds he received in the en¬
gagement fuftered him to move, he purfued Fabius, and
befieged him in the city of Cabira, whither he had
retired ; but in the mean time Triarius, who was march¬
ing out of Alia to join Lucullus, hearing what diftrefs
the Romans were in, haftened to their relief, and ap-
pearing unexpeftedly on the neighbouring hill, ftruck
fuch terror into the enemy, that they raifed the fiege,
and made the bed of their way into Cappadocia. Tri¬
arius purfued them, and got fo near them as to be
parted only by a river. Here be halted, with a defign
to pafs the river after he had allowed his men fome
reft; for they were tired out with long marches. But
Mithridates was before-hand with him, and crofting the
river on a bridge, where he had placed a ftrong guard, Mhhndate*-
at tacked the Homans rvith great refolution before they defeated."
had time to refrefti themfelves. The battle wTas bloody,
and the event doubtful, till the bridge breaking down
with the weight of the multitude that pafied, the
king’s troops who had engaged, relying chiefly on
their numbers, began to lofe courage, feeing they could
receive no farther afliftance ; and the Romans charging
them with frefti vigour, they betook themfelves to a
precipitate flight. After this engagement, as wdnter
came on, both armies were glad to retire to their winter
quarters.
During the winter, Mithridates raifed new forces:
and having received confiderable fupplies Rom Tigranes,.
took the field early in the fpring, in hopes of driving
the Romans quite out of Pontus, before Lucullus, who
had wrork enough on his hands in Armenia, could come
to their afliftance. With this view he marched ftraight
againft Triarius and Sornatius, to whom Lucullus had
committed the care and defence of that province ; and
finding them encamped near the city of Gaziurfa, prof¬
fered them battle; which they declining, he fet a
ftrong detachment to befiege a caftle where the Ro¬
mans had left all their baggage, hoping they would
rather venture an engagement to relieve the place,, than
lofe
PON [ i
Pontus. ^ lofe all they had got with fo much toil and labour du-
Wn~’ " ring the war j neither was he difappointed in his hopes j
for though Triarius was keeping clofe in his camp
till the arrival of Lucullus, whom he daily expected,
having acquainted him with the danger, the foldiers
hearing that the caille was befieged, declared in a tu¬
multuous manner, that if he did not lead them they
48 would march to the relief of the place without his
Xtefeau leave. Triarius being thus forced by his own men to
Tnanus. fight, drew out his forces againft the king, whofe army
was three times his number j but while they were upon
the point of engaging, both armies were by a violent
Itorm forced to retire to their refpeftive camps j but
Triarius receiving that very d&y intelligence of the
approach of Lucullus, and fearing he would fnatch
the victory out of his hands, refolved to make a bold
pufli, and next morning by break of day attack the
king in his camp. If he conquered, the glory he
thought would be entirely his owrn j if he were over¬
come, the enemy could reap no great advantage from
his vi&ory, Lucullus being at hand with a powerful
army. The king, in that furprife, putting himlelf at the
head of a few troops of his guards, fuflained the brunt
of the Romans, till the reft of his army drawing up
came to his relief, and attacked the enemy with fuch fu¬
ry, that the Roman foot were forced to give way, and
W’ere driven into a morafs, where they wTere furrounded
and great numbers of them cut in pieces.
Their horfe were likewife put to flight, and purfued
with great flaughter, till a Roman centurion in the
king’s fervice, pitying his countrymen, attempted to kill
him. The king’s life was laved by his breaftplate j but
as he received a deep wound in the thigh, he was obli¬
ged to give over the purfuit himfelf, and thofe that were
about him caufed the retreat to be founded, which, as it
was unexpedled, occaliened a great confulion in the
whole army. The centurion was immediately cut in
pieces; but the Roman horfe in the mean time getting
the Hart of the enemy, found means to make their
efcape. Above 7000 of the Romans were killed in that
battle : and among them 150 centurions, and 24 tribunes,
the greateft number of officers that had been loll in any
All the Ro engagement to that day. Mithridates being cured of
mans in the his wound, that he might not for the future be expofed
tarvice of to fuch dangers, caufed all the Romans that ferved in
army to f01'me^ into one body, as if they were to
be fent out on a party, and then ordered them to re¬
tire to their tents, where they were all to a man cut in
pieces.
The king, however elated with fuccefs, yet w'ould not
engage Lucullus j but with long marches haftened into
Armenia Minor, and encamped on a hill near the
town of Talura, expecting Tigranes, who was advan¬
cing with a llrong army to join him. Lucullus, in pur-
fuit of Mithridates, marched over the field of battle,
leaving thofe unburied who had fallen in the engage¬
ment, which alienated the minds of the foldiery from
him, and they began to be very mutinous ; being flir¬
ted up by Appius Claudius, whom Lucullus had turned
out of his command for his vile behaviour, notwith-
llanding he was nearly related to him, Lucullus having
married his lifter. The difcontent that prevailed in
the army came to fuch a height, that Lucullus was ob-
Jiged to lie ftill in bis camp all that fummer > the fol-
Potitfaf
5®
63] PON
diers^ declaring in a mutinous manner, that they Would
not follow him any longer, nor ferve under a general
who refufed to fliare the booty with them. ^
1 hefe complaints, and the general difcontent that E'lictillus
reigned in the army, obliged the fenate to recal Lu- re^1|fd’
cullus, and appoint Manius Acjlius Glabrio, conful of the
that year, in his room. Glabrio arriving in Eilhynia, affairs of
gave notice by public criers to all the cities, that the Vlithfi-
fenate had difcharged Lucullus and his army, and con-dateS'
fifcated his goods for protra&ing the war and refilling
to comply with their injundlions. Hereupon Lucullus
was abandoned by the greater part of his army, and
forced to retire into Galatia, not being in a condition
to make head againft the joint forces of the two kings •
who, laying hold of that opportunity, recovered the belt
part of Pontus, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Armenia
Minor : for though Glabrio had haftened into Pontus*
as if he had intended to engage the ertemy and rob
Lucullus of the viftory, yet, upon the firft news of the
approach of the two kings, lie thought fit to retire and
leave the country open on all lides to the enemy. gi
When this was heard at Rome, a law w as enabled Pompey
there by C. Manilius, a tribune of the people, where-fent aSainf*
by the management of the war againft Mithridates and him'
1 igranes was committed to Pompey, and likewife the
provinces of Cilicia, then under Quintus Marcius, and
of Bythynia under Glabrio. By the fame law he was
continued in that unlimited power by fea, with which
he was invefted when he lirft fet out againft the pi¬
rates of Cilicia. In virtue of this law, Pompey, who
had juft then ended the wrar with the Cilician pirates*
took upon him the command of the army, and direc¬
ted all the allies of the Roman people to join him with
all poffible expedition : but before he took the field,
he renewed the alliance which Sylla and Lucullus had
concluded with Phrahates king of Parthia, and then
fent friendly propofals to Mithridates : who at firft feem-
ed inclined to give ear to them, and accordingly dif-
patched an ambaflador to the Roman army to treat of
a peace. Pompey required of him to lay down his arms
if he was in earneft, and deliver up to him all thofe who
had revolted from the Romans during the war. This de¬
mand was no fooner reported abroad in the king’s camp,
but the deferters, who wrere very numerous in the king’s
army, betaking themfelves to their arms, threatened to
put Mithridates himfelf to death ; and would have oc-
cafioned a great difturbance, had not the king appeafed
the growing tumult, by affuring them, that he had fent
ambafiadors, not to treat of a peace, but only to take,
under pretence of fuing for peace, a view of the ene¬
my’s ftrength. He moreover obliged himfelf, by a fo-
lemn oath in prefence of the whole army, never to
enter into any treaty of friendffiip with the’Romans, nor
to deliver up to them fuch as had ever ferved under him.
.JLTT K1111’® %LS Pr0P°raiS fjeaed’ ^anc^ateS,,,,,
againft the king with an army of 30,000 foot andrejeds his
20,000 horfe, as Plutarch writes, or 30,000, as we read ProP0^a^s
in Appian, all chofen troops j for he difcharged moil Peace*
of thofe who had ferved under Glabrio and Lucul¬
lus. As he entered Galatia, he was met by Lucullus
who endeavoured to perfuade him to march back, the
war being near finiffied, and even deputies fent by the
republic to fettle the province of Pontus; but not be¬
ing able to prevail with him, after mutual complaints
*£ 2 againil
PON
[ 164 ]
PON
’Pontus.
'53
againft each o‘.her, they parted and Pompey remo¬
ving his camp, commanded the troops that were with
Lucullus to join him, except 1600 whom he left to at¬
tend Lucullus in his triumph. From thence Lucullus
fet out for Rome, where he was received by the fenate
with great marks of efteem, moil men thinking him
highly injured by the authors of the Manilian law.
Pompey purfued his march into Pontus ; but finding
that he could not by any means draw the king to a
battle, he marched back into Armenia Minor, with a
defign either to reduce that province, or oblige Mi-
thridates to venture a battle in order to relieve it. fvii-
thridates followed him at feme diitance; and entering
Armenia, encamped on a hill over again!! the Romans,
and, by intercepting their convoys, reduced them to
fuch diilrefs, that they w^ere obliged to remove to a
•jnore convenient place, the king cutting oh many in
their rear, and harafling them with frequent attacks,
till he fell into an ambufcade laid by Pompey, whole
perfenal courage and prudent conduct on tuat occafion
confirmed the king in his refolution not to hazard a
general engagement. 1 he two armies encamped over-
•againft each other •, Pompey on one hill, and the king
on another, near the city of Daftira, in the province
of Acifilene, at a fmall difiance from the Euphrates,
which divides Cifilene from Armenia Minor.
Is bettered Here Pompey, feeing he could neither draw the king
by Porape.}', to a battle, nor force his camp, which was pitched on
a fteep and craggy mountain, began to block him up
with a ditch which he carried round the bottom oi the
shill where the king was encamped} and meeting with
no oppofition, finilhed his work, and quite cut off the
enemy’s communication with the country. Pompey
■was amazed to fee the king thus tamely fuffer himielf
to be (hut up ; and could not help faying, That he was
cither a great fool or a great coward } a fool, if he did
not apprehend the danger he was in} a cowrard, if, being
apprifed of it, he did not to the utmoft of his poveer pre¬
vent it. By this ditch, which was 1 50 furlongs in cir¬
cuit, and defended by many forts raifed at fmall diftances
from each other, the king was fo cloiely beffeged, that
he could neither fend out parties to forage, nor receive
the fupplies that came to him from Pontus. He was
thus befieged for the fpace of 45 or 50 days-, and his
army reduced to fuch ftraits, that, having con'umed all
their provifions, they were at laft forced to live on
their dead horfes. Hereupon Mithridates refelved at
54 all events to break through the Roman fortifications :
hut breaks ancl accordingly, having put to the fword all thole that
Romsm tliC were fick or difabled, that they might not fall into the
lines*111 enemy’s hands, he attacked in the dead of the night
the Roman guards 5 and having overpowered them with
his numbers, got fafe into the open fields, and continued
his march till night towards Armenia Major, where he
was expefted by Tigranes.
Pompey next morning by break of day punued the
enemy with his whole army} and having wfith much ado
overtaken them, found the king encamped on a hill, to
which there was but one afeent, and that guarded by a
ftrong body of foot. The Romans encamped over-
againft them } but Pompey, fearing the king fliould
make his efcape in the night-time, privately decamped,
and taking the fame route the enemy were to hold in
opder to gain Armenia, poffeffed himfelf of all the emi¬
nences and defiles through which the king was to pat's. Pontu*.
Mithridates thinking that Pompey was returned to his ~n'~v J
former camp, purfued his march, and about the dufk °f£s ov^
the evening entered a narrow valley, which was fur-r<.acjie(j}Jy
rounded on all fides by ileep hills. On thefe hills the Pompey,
Romans lay concealed, expelling the fignal to fall uponancf fatally
the enemy and attack them on all fides at once, whileueteale<**
they were tired with their march, and feemingly, as they
had lent out no feouts, in great fecurity. Pompey was at
firil for putting off the attack till the next morning, think¬
ing it not fafe to engage in the night-time among fuch
fteep and craggy mountains ; but was at laft prevailed
upon, by the earneit prayers and intreaties of all the
chief officers of the army, to fall upon the enemy that
very night. It was therefore agreed, that in the dead
of the night all the trumpets fhould at once found the
charge, that this fignal ihould be followed by an univer-
fal fhout of the whole army, and that the foldiers fhould
make what noife they could, by linking their fpears
againft the brafs velfels that were ufed in the camp.
The king’s army at this fudden and unexpected noife,
which was echoed again by the mountains, imagined at
firft that the gods themfelves vrere come down from
heaven to deftroy them } and the Romans charging them
on all fides with thowers of ftones and arrows from the
tops of the hills, they betook themfelves to a precipitate
flight ; but finding all the paffes befet with ftrong bodies
of horfe and foot, were forced to fly back into the val¬
ley, where, for many hours together, they were expofed
to the enemy’s fhot, without being able, in that confu-
fion, either to attack them or defend themfelves. They
attempted indeed to make feme refiftance when the moon
role } but the Romans running down upon them from the
hills, did not give them time to draw up, and the place
w'as fo narrow that they had not room even to make ufe
of their (words. The king loft on that occafion 10,000
men, according to Appian, but 40,000, according to
Eutropius and others. On Pompey’s fide there fell be¬
tween 20 and 30 private men, and two centurions.
Mithridates, at the head of 800 horfe, broke through of
the Roman army, and being after this effort abandon-Mithii-
ed by all the reft, becaufe they -were clofely purfued by dates,
the enemy, he travelled all night attended by three per-
fons only, viz. his wife, or, as Plutarch calls her, his con¬
cubine, by name Hypjicratia, his daughter Dripetine, and
an officer. At day-break he fell in with a body of mer¬
cenary horfe, and 3000 foot, who were marching to join
him. By thefe he was efcorted to the caftle of Sinoria,
fituated on the borders of the two Armenias. As great
part of his treafures was lodged here, he rewarded very
liberally thofe who accompanied him in his flight; and
taking 6000 talents, withdrew into Armenia. As foon
as he "entered the borders, he difpatched ambaffadors to
Tigranes, acquainting him with his arrival } but that
prince, who was then on the point of concluding a fepa-
rate peace with the Romans, clapped his ambaffadors in
irons, pretending that his fen Tigranes had, at the in-
ftigation of Mithridates, revolted firft to the Parthians,
and then to the Romans. Mithridates finding himfelf
thus abandoned, even by his fon-in law, left Armenia }
and direfling his courfe towards Colchis, which was fub-
jefl to him, and not as yet invaded by the Romans, paf-
fed the Euphrates the fourth day, and got fafe into his
own territories,
• Pompey
tries.
P G N [i
Pontns, ' Pompey fent out feveral parties in purfuit of the king j
u—v—“ but remained himfelf with the main body of the army in
the field of battle, where he built a city, calling it from
that remarkable victory Nicopolis. This city, with the
adjoining territory, he bellowed upon fuch of his foldiers
as were old or difabled : and many Hocking to it from the
neighbouring countries, it became in a Ihort time a very
confiderable place. This battle was certainly attended
with very fatal consequences for Mithridates 5 who was
57 . forced, his army being entirely either cut off or difperfed,
H^f^to abandon his own dominions, and fly for Ihelter to the
an Vora moil remote parts of Scythia. Pompey having conclud-
thence into ed a peace with Tigrnnes, as we have related in the hi-
other conn- ffory of Armenia, and fettled the allairs of that king¬
dom, began his march in purfuit of Mithridates through
thofe countries that lie about Mount Caucalus. 1 he bar¬
barous nations though which he palled, chiefly the Alba¬
nians and Iberians, attempted to Hop his march, but were
foon put to flight. However, he wais obliged, by the ex-
ceflive cold and deep roads, to pafs the winter near the
river Cyrus. Early in the fpring he purfued his march 5
but meeting with gr&at oppofition from the Iberians, a
warlike nation, and entirely devoted to Mithridates, he
was employed molt part of the fummer in reducing
them. In the mean time, Mithridates, who had wintered
at Eiofcurias, on the jfthmus between the Euxine and
Cafpian feas, and had been joined there by fuch of his
troops as had made their efcape from the late unfortu¬
nate battle, continued his flight through the countries
of the Achaeans, Zygians, Heniochians, Cercetans,
Mofchi, and Colchians. Of thefe nations fome recei¬
ved him kindly, and even entered into alliance with
him $ through others he was forced to fight his way
with the fword.
Pompey took the fame route, direfling his courfe by
the liars, efpecially in the northern parts of Scythia,
and carrying with him even a fupply of water tor
58 the army in the valt deferts through which he marched.
Pompey’s He i’pent two years in warring with thefe nations, and
was often in danger of.loling both his life and his army :
but at laft he overcame them all} and believing Mithri¬
dates, of whom he could have no account, to be dead, be
marched back into Armenia Minor, where he allowed
fome reft to his foldiers, who were quite worn out with
the hardftiips they had endured in that expedition. Ha¬
ving refrefhed his army, he marched into Pontus, to re¬
duce fome ftrongholds which were ftill garrifoned by tne
king’s troops. While he was at Afpis in Pontus, many
of the king’s concubines were brought to him ; but he
fent them all home to their parents,, without offering
them the leaft injury, and thereby gained the affeflion
of the chief lords of Pontus, whofe daughters they were.
The ftrong caftle of Symphori was delivered up to him
by Stratonix, one of the king’s concubines, upon no o-
ther terms than that he would fpare her fon Xiphares,
who was with the king, in cafe he Ihould fall into his
hands! She likewife difeovered to him great treafures
hid under ground, which he, with great generoiity,
bellowed upon her, referving for himfelf only iome
veffels to fet off his triumph. Having taken another
fort, called the New Cnjile, and to that time looked
upon as impregnable, he found in it great, ftore of
gold, filver, and other valuable things, which he after¬
wards confecrated to Jupiter Capitolinus. Here, in look-
65 ] PON
ing over the king’s manuferipts, he came to difeover
Pcntii?,'
tiirther con-,
quells.
where the, reft of his trealures were concealed, what1 ""“v ’v
troops he could raife and maintain, what lums were
yearly paid him by his fubjedls and tributaries, &c.
whereby he could make a true eftimate of his whole
power and wealth. Amongft other manuferipts he found
fome books of phyfic, wrote by Mithridates himfelf,.
which he commanded Lenseas, a learned grammarian,
to tranilate into Latin.
Pompey, having thus reduced all Pontus, marched
into Syria, with a defign to recover that kingdom, and
paffing through Arabia to penetrate as far as the Red iea. ^
But while he was employed in this expedition, news was Mithridates
brought him that Mithridates, whom he believed dead,
had appeared unexpecledly in Ponlus at the head of a o£ a
confiderable army, and furprifed Panticapaeum, a famous fonflc}er;.bie
empory at the mouth of the Euxine fea. He had lain army,
all this time concealed in the territories ot a Scythian
prince, adjoining to the Palus Moeotis \ but hearing
that Pompey Rad left Pontus, and was engaged in other
wars, he ventured out of his hiding-place, refolved either
to recover his paternal kingdom, or die in the attempt.
He returned privately into Pontus, and managed mat¬
ters there fo dexterouliy, that the Roman garril'ons knew
nothing of his arrival till he appeared with a confiderable.
army in the field. Pie advanced firit to the caftle ot
Symphori j and underilandmg that Stratonix had deliv¬
ered it up to Porapey, on condition he would lave the
life of her fon in cafe he ftiould take him prifoner, the
king immediately caufed the youtn, who was in his
army, to be put to death, and his body to oe left un¬
buried, Stratonix beholding from the walls the cruel
and unnatural murder, for he was her fon by Mithrida¬
tes, and had ferved him with great fidelity. At the
fame time he fent ambaffadors to Pompey to treat of a
peace, offering to pay a yearly tribute to the republic,
on condition he reftored to him his kingdom. Pompey
replied, that lie would hearken to no propofals whatfo-
’ ever, without the king came to treat with him in perfon,
as Tigranes had done. Puis Mithndates looked upon
as nowife confiftent with his dignity ■, and therefore lay¬
ing afide all thoughts of an accommodation, began to
make what preparations he could for renewing the war. 60
He fummoned all his fubje&s that were able to bear Recovers
arms to meet at an appointed place j and having cho-J^
fen out of the whole multitude 60 cohorts, each con-p
lifting of 100 men, he incorporated them with the re¬
gular troops that were already on foot. Being now in
a condition to aft offenfively, for Pompey had left but
a fmall number of troops in Pontus, he poffeffed him¬
felf of Phanagorium, Cherfonelus, Theodofia, Nymphae-
urn, and feveral other important places. But in the mean
time, Caftor, whom Mithridates had appointed governor
of Phanagorium, falling out with Xripho, one of the king’s
favourite eunuchs, killed him, and dreading the king’s re¬
fen t men t, ftirred up the inhabitants to a revolt : by which
means Phanagorium was again loft •, but the caftle, which
was defended by four of the king’s fons, Artaphernes, Da¬
rius, Xerxes, and Oxathres, held out for fome time. The
king haftened to their relief; but the caftle being fet on
fire by the rebels, they were forced to furrender them-
felvesto Caftor before his arrival. Thefe four fons, with one
of the king’s daughters, by name Cleopatra, Caftor fent
to the Romans) and fortifying himfelf in the town, per-
Pontus.
61
His fubjedls
P ON [ j
fuaded moft of the neighbouring cities, which were opprcf-
led with heavy taxes, and lirangely harafi'ed by the king’s
coIJedors, to join in the rebellion.
Mithridates finding that he could neither rely upon
diicoiitent- the foxdiery, molt of them being forced into the lervice,
nor on his other fubje&s, who were diffatisfied by reafon
of the exorbitant taxes, fent ambaffadors to invite the
princes of Scythia to his relief, and with them his daugh¬
ters, to be bellowed in marriage upon fuch as Ihowed
themlelves moft inclined to afiift him. But as the am-
bafiadors he employed on this occafion were eunuchs, a
race of men no lefs abhorred by the army than favoured
by the king, over whom they had a great afcendant,
elpecially in his old age, the foldiers who were fent to
attend them on their journey, put them all to the fword
as foon as they were out of the king’s reach, and deliv¬
ered his daughters up to the Romans. Mithridates,
finding himfelf thus deprived of his children, betrayed
y his army, and forfaken even by thofe on whom he
cinefly relied, could not yet be induced to fubmit to the
Romans, though Pompey promifed him honourable con¬
ditions, provided he came to treat with him in perfon.
n this defperate condition, he left no ftone unturned to
itir up the princes of Alia againft the Romans, efpecially
66 ] PON
Romans, who were well apprifed of the danger that
Pontus.,
‘His extraor-tne Parthians j but finding them awed by the great opi-
R,lorUhey a11 had of Pompey, he had recourfe at laft to
vading0' too P^ropean Gauls, whom he underftood to be at war
-Italy. Wlth the. Romans 5 and having fent before fome of his
^r*end? to enSage them in his favour, taking leave
01 his own kingdom, he began his long march, defigning
to pals through. Bofphorus Cimmerius, Scythia, Pano-
ma, &c. and joining the Gauls, pafs the Alps, and in¬
vade Italy.
Ihis defign was no fooner known in the army, but
Lie foldiers openly began to complain and mutiny j ex-
aggerating the boldnefs of the attempt, the length
el the march, and the unfurmountable difficulties that
^ceffarily attend fuch a defperate enterprife.
J he chief commanders did all that lay in their power
to divert him from it; reprefenting to him, that if he
w as not able to cope with the Romans in his own king¬
dom, much lefs would he be a match for them in Ita-
iy or Gaul, where they could daily receive new fup-
olies j whereas he would lofe the greateft part of his ar¬
my in lo long and difficult a march, and the reft per-
naps. m the firft engagement, without any poffibility of
Repairing the lofs. But all was to ho purpofe 5 for they
round him fo unalterably fixed in his refolution, that he
earned thofe to be put to death who with moft warmth
remonftrated againft it, not fparing even his owm fon
Jxxipodras, for dropping forae unguarded expreffions on
that occafion. Thus they w'ere forced to let him pur-
iue his own meafures, till they found a more prope/op¬
portunity to oppofe them, which foon after offered, as
they were encamped at Bofphorus Cimmerius, on their
march into Scythia.
Here Pharnaces, the king’s favourite fon, whom he
had appointed to fficceed him, obferving the general
di content that reigned in the army, began to enter¬
tain tnoughts of placing the crown on his own head ;
vru n j1 kut the foldiery would ftand by him,
it he declared againft the intended expedition into Ita-
ly, openly protefted among the Roman deferters, who
were a confiderable part of the army, that if they
would follow him he would return into Pontus, The
4
. *3
His fon
Pharnaces
revolts.
attending luch an undertaking, and had moft of all ex-
cxaimed againft it, promifed to fupport him to the ut-
moft ol their power, and even encouraged him, upon
kmie expreffions which he puvpofely dropped, to af-
lume the title of ii//g, a title which his father feem-
ed determined to hold till he had deft roped, by his raih
and defperate attempts, himfelf, his friends, and his
army. Pharnaces, finding he could depend on the Ro¬
mans, engaged the fame night moft of the chief com¬
manders in his party, and by their means the greater
part of the foldiery. It was agreed, that next morn-
ing by break of day all thofe who had declared in his
favour ftiould appear in arms, and with a loud fliout
proclaim Pharnaces king j which was done according¬
ly, and the ftiout returned even by thofe whom Phar¬
naces had not thought fit to let into the fecret. The
king, who had taken up his quarters in the city, being
awakened by the noife, fent out fome of his domeftics
to know what had happened in the army. Neither
did the officers or foldiers diffemble the matter, but
boldly anfwercd, that they had chofen a young ^ing
inftead of an old dotard governed by eunuchs.
Hereupon Mithridates mounting on horfeback, and
attended by his guards, rvent out to appeafe the tu¬
mult : but his guards forfaking him, and his horfe be¬
ing killed under him, he was obliged to fiy back into
the city ; from -whence he fent feveral of his atten¬
dants one after another to defire of his fon a fafe con-
duft for himfelf and his friends. But as none of the
meffengers returned, fome being flain, and others fiding
with the new king, Mithridates endeavoured to move
his fon to compaffion, by fignifping to him from the
w alls the diftreffed condition he was reduced to by &
fon whom he had favoured above the reft of his chil¬
dren j but finding him nowife affetted by his fpeech
turning to the gods, he befeeched them with many
tears to make his fon knorv one day by experience the
grief and agony which a father muft feel in feeing his
love and tendernefs requited with fuch ungrateful and
monftrous returns. Having thus fpoken, he thank¬
ed in a very obliging manner thofe who had flood by
him to the laft, and exhorted them to make their fub-
miffion to the new king on the belt terms they could
procure j adding, that as for himfelf, he was determi¬
ned not to outlive the rebellion of a foh whom he had
always diftinguiffied with particular marks of paternal
affetftion.
After this, he withdrew into the apartment of his MithndateS
wives and concubines, where he firft took poifon him- attempts to
felf, and then prefented it to them, and to his favou- deftroy
rite daughters Mithridatis and Niffa, who not longhimfei£
before had been betrothed to the kings of Egypt and
Cyprus. To the women it proved immediate death ;
but on the king, wffio from his infancy had inured his
conftitution to poifonous potions, it had fo flow an
operation, that he was forced, through fear of falling
into the rebels hands, to recur to his fword. Neither
did the wound, as he was greatly weakened by the
poifon, prove mortal : fo that the rebels, having in
the mean time ftormed the town, and broke into the
houfe, found the king wallowing in his blood, but
ftill alive, and in his fenfes; which Pharnaces hearing,
fent feme of thofe that were about him to drefs his
wounds, with a defign to deliver him up to the Ro-
PON f ,
mans, and thereby ingratiate hirnfelf with Pompey, 
But, in the mean time, a Gaul, who ferved m the ar-
A Gaul b7 narae Bitcetus, or Bithocttsy entering the king’s
puts an end room in cjueit of booty, and being touched with com-
to hislife pa (lion in feeing him forfaken by all his friends, and
cut of com. iiruggling on the bare ground with the pangs of death,
pa ion. dravving his fvvord, put an end to his prefent agonies,
and prevented the infults which he chiefly apprehend¬
ed if he fhould fall alive into his Ton’s hands. The
barbarian is faid, when he firft faw the king, to have
been fo awed with the majefty of his countenance, that,
forgetful of his booty, he fled out of the room 5 but
being called back, and earneflly intreated by the dy¬
ing prince to put an end to his mifery, he fummoned
all his courage to perform, as he did, with a trembling
hand, that office j and immediately retired without
touching any thing that belonged to the king, though
the hope of a rich booty was the only motive that had
led him thither.
Pompey, who was at that time engaged in a war with
the Jews, received the firfl: notice of the death of Mith-
ridates as he was on his march to Jerufalem. The mef-
fenger who brought the joyful tidings was fent by Phar-
naces, and appeared unexpeftedly before Pompey with
the branch of a laurel, as was cuftomary on the like oc-
Exceffive cafions, twilled round the head of his javelin. When he
joy of the heard what had happened at Panticapseum, he was fo
hisdeath^ imPart it to the foldiery, that he could not
even wait till they had raifed him a mount of turf from
whence to fpeak to the army, according to the cuflom
of the camp ; but ordered thofe who were by him to
form a kind of mount with their faddles, and from thence
acquainted the foldiery that Mithridates had laid violent
hands on himfelf, and his fon Pharnaces was ready to
acknowledge the kingdom as a gift of the people of
Rome, or refign it if they were unwilling he fhould reign.
This news was received with joyful fhouts of the whole
army, and the day folemnized with feafls and facrifices
throughout the camp, as if in Mithridates alone all the
enemies of the republic had died. Pompey difpatched
without delay a meflenger with letters to the fenate, ac¬
quainting them with the death of Mithridates, and the
lubmiflion of his fon Pharnaces. When his letters were
read, the fenators were fo overjoyed, that they appoint¬
ed at the propofal of Cicero, then conful, 12 days for re¬
turning due thanks to the gods, who had delivered them
from fuch an infulting and powerful enemy j and the
tribunes of the people enacted a law, whereby Pompey,
in confideralion of his eminent fervice in the Mithrida-
tic war, was to near a crown of laurel, with the tri¬
umphal gown at the Circenfian fporls, and a purple gown
at the fcenical plays.
Pharnaces, when he heard of his father’s death, cauf-
ed his body to be preferved in brine, propoflng to pre¬
sent it to Pompey, who had promifed to return into Pon-
tus after the reduction of Judaea, and there fettle matters
to his fatisfadlion. And accordingly having taken the
city arid temple of Jerufalem, he let out with two le-
Submifiive SionS ^°r ^ontus > and being arrived at Sinope, he was
embalfy of t\iere met ^7 ambafladors from Phamaces, acquainting
Pharnaces him, that their mailer had forebore aflfuming the title of
Pompey; king till his will and pleafure were known 5 that he put
noth himfelf and the kingdom entirely into his hands ;
and that he was willing to attend him at what time or
J>lace he thought fit to appoint. The fame ambafiadors
67 i PON
delivered up to Pompey thofe who had taken iVfanius rontus.
Aqiulius the Roman legate, whom Mithridates had put "’Y
to a cruel death, all the prifoners, hoilages, and deferters,
whether Remans, Greeks, or Barbarians, and the body
of Mithridates, with his rich apparel and arms, which
were greatly admired by Pompey and the other Romans.
Both foldiers and officers flocked to fee the king’s body
but Pompey declined that fight; and, faying" that all
enmity between that great prince and the people of
Rome was ended with his life, he returned the body to
the ambaffadors, and caufed it to be interred with the
utmofl pomp and magnificence among his ancellors in
the burying-place of the kings of Pontus, Pompey de¬
fraying all the charges of that ceremony, which was the
moll coftly and pompous that ever had been feen in
thofe parts. With the body Pompey reflored his wear-
ing apparel and armour 5 but the fcabbard of his fword,
which coll 400 talents, was flolen by Rublius a Roman,
and fold to Ariarathes king of Cappadocia 5 and his cap
or turban, which was a very curious piece of workman-
fhip, was privately taken by one Caius, who prefented it
to Fault us the fon of Sylla, in whole houfe it was kept,
and fhown for many years after among the many rarities
which Sylla had brought out of Afia. ^
Pompey beftowed the kingdom of Bofphorus on Phar-who 'me¬
naces, and honoured him with the title of a friend and1 •* uP n
ally of the people of Rome. Pharnaces being thus ac-^mV
knowledged king of Bofphorus, fent orders to all the Bofphoru*.
garnfons of Pontus to fubmit themfelves, with the caf-
tles and treafures with which they were entrufled, to
Pompey, wTho by that means amafled an immenfe booty.
In the city oi Talaura, which Mithridates ufed to call his
wardrobe, he found 2000 cups of onyx fet in gold, with
fuch flore of gold and filver veflels, of coilly furniture,
of faddles, bridles, and trappings, fet with jewels and
precious flones, that the Roman commiflaries fpent 30
days in taking the inventory of the whole. In another
caflle he found three large tables with nine falvers of
mafiy gold, enriched with precious flones to an ineftim-
able value 5 the flatues of Minerva, Mars, and Apollo,,
of pure gold and moll curious workmanfhip ; and a pair
of gaming-tables of two precious flones, three feet broad,
mid four feet long, on which was a moon of gold weigh-
mg 30 pounds, with their men, all of the fame precious
flone. In a fort fituated among the mountains, were de¬
livered up to him the king’s flatue of mafly gold, eight
cubits high, his throne and feeptre, and the bed of Da¬
rius the fon of Hyflafpes. Moll of thefe treafures had
been tranfmitted to him from his anedlors, chiefly from
Darius king of Perfia ; fome belonged to the Ptolemies
of Egypt, and had been depofited by Cleopatra, as wc
have hinted above, in the hands of the Goans, who de¬
livered them to Mithridates ; and great part of them
had been collected by the king himfelf, who was very
fond of rich and flately furniture.
Pompey having thus got entire pofTeffion of Pontus,
and reduced it to the form of a Roman province, march¬
ed into AJIa properly fo called; and having wintered at-
Ephefus, early in the fpring fet out for Italy, with a fleet
of 700 fliips. As he brought over his army with him,
the fenate was under no final! apprehenfion left he fhould
make himfelf abfolute, and rule without controul. But
he no fooner landed at Brundufium, than he dilbanded
the army, without waiting for any decree either of the
fenate or people j what neither his friends nor his ene-
PON
[ 168 ]
PON
Pontus.
69
Pham aces
fails out
with the
Romans,
70
and defeats
them.
mifes had believed. His triumph lafled two whole days ;
and though he was attended in his triumphal chariot by
324 captives of diftinclion, among whom were five fons
and two daughters of Mithridates, yet he-would not fuf-
fer any of them to be put to death, as had been done by
others; but lent them all back, except fuch as were of
royal extraction, to their refpedtive countries, and even
fop plied them with money to defray the charges of their
journey. After his triumph he delivered into the trea-
fury 20,000 talents, though, at the difmiffing of the
army, he had divided 16,000 talents among the tribunes
and centurions, 2000 feftertiums among the quahtors,
and had given to each foldier 50 feftertiums.
Pompey had no Iboner left Alia, but Pharnaces fell
unexpectedly upon the Phanagorenfes, a people of Bof-
phorus, whom Pompey had declared free, becaufe they
had revolted the firft of all from Mithridaies, and by
their example induced others to abandon the king’s party.
Pharnaces befieged their chief ci y Phanagoria, and kept
them blocked lip till, for want of provifions, they were
forced to fally out, and put all to the iffue of a battle ;
which proving unfuccefsful, they delivered up themfelves
and the city to the conqueror. Some years after, the
civil war breaking, out between Caefar and Pompey, he
laid hold of that opportunity to recover the provinces
which his father had formerly pofieffed ; and having
railed a confiderable army, overran Pontus, Colchis, Bi-
thynia, Armenia, and the kingdom of Mofchis, where
he plundered, as Strabo obferves, the temple of the god-
defs Leucothea. He took the ftrong and important
city of Sinope, but could not reduce Amifus. But, in
the mean time, Csefar having got the better of Pompey
and his party, appointed Cn. Domitius Calvinus gover¬
nor of Afta, enjoining him to make war upon Pharnaces
with the legions that were quartered in that province.
Domitius immediately difpatched ambaffadors to Phar¬
naces, commanding him to withdraw his troops from Ar¬
menia and Cappadocia. The king returned anfwer, that
he was willing to abandon Cappadocia, but as for the
kingdom of Armenia Minor, it was part of his hereditary
dominions j and therefore he -would not refign it till he
had an opportunity of laying his pretenfions before Ctefar
himfelf, whom he was ready to obey in all things. Here¬
upon Domitius drawing together what forces he could,
marched into Cappadocia, which he recovered without
oppofition, Pharnaces having abandoned it to make a
ftand in Armenia, which lay nearer his own dominions.
Thither Domitius purfued him 5 and having overtaken
him near Nicopolis, found his army drawn up in battle-
array, and the king ready to come to an engagement;
which Domitius not declining, both armies advanced.
The king, at the head of a choice body of men, fell
upon the Romans left wing, confifting moftly of raw
and undifciplined Afiatics} and having with little diffi¬
culty put them to fiight, penetrated to the centre, where
the thirty-fifth legion, the only one which Domitius
had, after a faint refiftance, gave ground, and, retir¬
ing to the neighbouring mountains, left their allies
to fhift for themfelves, who were all cut off. Domi¬
tius with the remains of his fcattered army marched
back into Cappadocia •, and from thence, winter draw¬
ing on, into the province of Afia. The king being
puffed up with this vi&ory, and hearing that Caefar,
with &e flower of the Roman forces, was engaged at
the fiegc of Alexandria, appointed one Afander gover-
3
nor of Bofphorus, and marched himfelf into Cappado- Pontus.
cia in purfuit of Domitius, with a defign to invade Aiia, ——v~“*~
and recover all the provinces which had been once fub-
dued by his father. Bithynia and Cappadocia readily
fubmitted ; but Armenia the Leffer, which was held by
Dejotarus, made fo vigorous a refiftance, that he was for¬
ced to give over the enterprife, left the Romans Ihould
in the mean time ftrengthen themfelves in Afia, whither
he was in hafte to march, in hopes of meeting there with
the fame fuccefs as his father Mithridates had done. But
before he reached that province, he was informed that
x\fander had revolted, in hopes of gaining thereby the
good-will of the Romans, and obtaining of them the
kingdom of Bofphorus for himfelf. At the fame time,
he received intelligence that Caefar, having at laft re¬
duced Alexandria, and fettled the affairs of Syxia, was
marchincr into Armenia. _T
Pie was not a little diimayed at this news, and there- Attempts
fore without delay difpatched ambaffadors to fue for to outwit
peace 5 hoping that Ctefar, who wras hafting into Italy j!u^us
with a defign to pals over into Africa, would willingly; ’
give ear to any propofals of that nature.—Coefar courte-
ouily entertained the ambafladors; and though he did
not propofe to agree to their conditions, yet, that he
might come upon Pharnaces unawares, he (hewed him¬
felf very defirous of entering into a treaty of peace.
But, in the mean time, he purfued his march with all pof-
fible expedition ; and arriving on the confines of Pontus,
ordered all the troops that were quartered in the neigh¬
bouring provinces to join him 5 for he had brought from
Alexandria but xme legion, namely, the fixth, and that
confifting of iccc men only, the reft having been kill¬
ed at the liege of Alexandria. Befides this veteran le¬
gion, he found at the place of general rendezvous three
others, but all of them very indifferently armed, and
worfe difeiplined. With thefe forces, however, fuch as
they were, he advanced againft Pharnaces ; who being
greatly frightened at his approach, by reafon of the fuc¬
cefs that had attended him in all his expeditions, again
difpatched ambaffadors to him with a crown of gold,
offering him his daughter in marriage, and promifing to
do whatever he fhould requite. The ambaffadors took
care to let him know that their mafter, though highly
obliged to Pompey, yet had never been prevailed upon
to fend him any fupplies during the civil -war, which
Dejotarus, king of Armenia the Leffer, whom he had
honoured with his friendftiip, had done. Csefar return¬
ed for anfwer, that he was willing to conclude a peace
with Pharnaces, provided he retired without delay from
Pontus, returned all the captives and hoftages whether
Roman or their allies, and reftored the goods of the Ro¬
man citizens and publicans which he had feized fince he
firft took up arms. He added, that as to his not fend¬
ing fupplies to Pompey, they ought rather to have con¬
cealed fuch an ungrateful proceeding of their mafter,
than alleged it as any merit, fince the forfaking of one
to whom he was indebted for his crown, befpoke him a
man of mean, felfifli, and mrworthy principles.
Pharnaces, upon the return of his ambaffadors, ac- •''
quainted Csefar that he agreed to the conditions ; but
finding that Csefar’s affairs called him into Italy, he re¬
quired a longer term of time for the performance of
what was ftlpulated between them, darting daily nevy
difficulties, in hopes that Caefar would in the mean time
be obliged to depart, and leave the affairs of Pontus in
the
PON
Pontus.
[
72
oy whom
he is en¬
tirely de¬
feated.
.73 .
Is killed in
another er.
gagement.
74
Pontus
again made
a kingdom
fcy Mark
Antony.
tlie fame pofture he had found them. Ctefar feeing
,J himfelf difappointed, and put off from day to day, could
not longer brook the king’s deceitful behaviour. Where¬
fore he determined to put himfelf at the head of his
fmall army, and attack the enemy in his camp, when he
leait expected it. And accordingly, marching out in
the night, he came by break of day in fight of the king’s
army j and uttering thefe words, Shall tins treacherous
parricide go unpunijhed? broke into the camp at the
head of xooo horfe. The king’s chariots, which w7ere
aimed vitn fcythes, caufed fome fmall diforder among
Caelar’s horfe j but in the mean time the reft of his army
coming up, he put the enemy to flight, and obtained a
complete victory. This battle was fought near the place
where Mithridates had routed with great llaughter the
Roman army under the command of Triarius. Moft of
the king’s army were either taken or cut in pieces j but
Pharnaces himfelf had the good luck to make his efcape
while the Romans were bufy in plundering the camp.
This viftory was fo quick, that Ctefar, in a letter to his
friend Aminitius, or Anitius, at Rome, expreffed it in
three words, thus : “ I came, I faw, I conquered.” He
ever afterwards ufed to call Pompey a fortunate rather
than a great commander, fince he had gained his chief
glory in the Mithridatic war, fighting with lo cow'ardly
an enemy. He divided the rich booty and the fpoils of
the camp among his foldiers j and becaufe Mithridates
had eredted a trophy near that place as a monument of
his vi&ory over Triarius, which Caefar, as it was confe-
crated to the gods, did not think lawful to pull down,
he fet up another over againft it to tranfmit to pofterity
his vi&ory over Pharnaces. After this vi&ory he re¬
covered and reftored to the allies of the people of Rome
all the places which Pharnaces had poffeffed himfelf
of during the war, declared Amifus a free city, and ap ■
pointed Mithridates Pergamenus king of Bofphorus in
the room of Pharnaces.
Having thus fettled the affairs of Pontus, he fet fail
for Italy •, leaving Domitius Calrinus to purfue the war
againft Pharnaces, if he fhould appear again in the field.
Pharnaces had retired after the battle to Sinope wdth
IOOO horfe, w^here he was quickly befieged by Domitius,
to whom he furrendered the town, upon no other condi¬
tion than that he fhould be fuffered to retire into Bof¬
phorus with the fmall body that attended him. This
Domitius willingly granted ; but caufed all the king’s
horfes to be killed, fince he had afked a fafe condu& on-
ly for his horfemem With thefe and a band of Scy¬
thians and Sarmatians he attempted to recover the kino-,
dom of Bofphorus, but being met between Theodocia
and Panticapeum, both which cities he had reduced, by
Afander, who w7as ftill in poffeffion of the kingdom, a
fharp engagement enfued, wherein the king’s men, as
not being ufed to fight on foot, were put to flight, and
Pharnaces himfelf, wdio remained alone in the field, was
furrounded by the enemy, and cut in pieces, after having
reigned in Bofphorus Cimmerius, the kingdom wThich
Pompey had beftow'ed upon him, according to Appian,
fifteen years, according to others, feventeen.
Upon the death of Pharnaces the kingdom of Pontus
was again reduced to the form of a province, and fo
continued to the triumvirate of Mark Antony, wdio after
the battle at Philippi conferred it upon Darius the fon
of Pharnaces for his fervices during the civil war. He
Vol. XVII. Part I.
6p ] PON
continued faithful to the Romans j but did nothing dur- Pohftts.
ing his reign worth mentioning. 0 u—
Darius was fucceeded in the kingdom by Polemon,
likewife preferred to that honour by Mark Anthony.
He was the fon of Zeno, a famous orator of Laodicea,
and greatly favoured by Antony. From him that part
ol Pontus which borders on Cappadocia borrowed the
name of Polemonaicus. He attended Mark Antony in
his expedition againft the Parthians : and being taken
prifoner in that unfuccefsful battle fought by Slatianus,
he was fent by the king of the Medes, an ally of the*
Parthians, to conclude a peace with the Romans. In
which embaffy he acquitted himfelf fo wHl, that Anto¬
ny added the kingdom of Armenia to his own domi¬
nions. In the war between Antony and Auguftus he
joined the former: but after the battle of A&iuni
he was received into favour by the latter ; and being
fent by Agrippa againft Scribonius, who upon the death
of Afander had ufurped the kingdom of Bofphorus, he
overcame him, and reduced the kingdom of Colchis,
which was beftowed upon him by Agrippa, who like*
wife honoured him with the title of friend and ally of
the people of Rome. He afterwards waged w'ar with
the neighbouring barbarians refufing to live in fubjec-
tion to the Romans; but w as overcome, taken, and
put to death, by the Afpungitani, a people bordering,
according to Strabo, on the Palus Moeotis.
Upon his death his fon Polemon II. w7as by the em¬
peror Caligula raifed to the throne of Bofphorus and
Pontus. But the emperor obliged him to exchange the
kingdom of Bofphorus with part of Cilicia; and Nero,
with his confent, reduced that part of Portus which he
enjoyed to the form of a province. He fell in love with
Berenice, daughter to Agrippa king of Judaea ; and in
order to marry her embraced the Jewilh religion. But
as Ihe foon became tired of his riotous way of living, and
returned to her father j fo he renounced his new' reli¬
gion, and again embraced the fuperftitions of Paganifm. -5
Polemon dying without iffue, the ancient kingdom ofis parcelled
Pontus was parcelled out into feveral parts, and added out int<J
to the provinces of Bithynia, Galatia, and Cappadocia,i( Vf r lpl'0‘
only that part of it which w7as called Pontus Polemonai-
etis retaining the dignity of a diftin& and feparate pro-
vince.. During the civil difeords between Vefpafian and
Vitellius, one Anicetus, firft a flave, afterwards freed-
man to King Polemon, and laftly commander of the
royal navy, took up arms with a defign to refeue the
kingdom from the Roman bondage ; and being joined
by great multitudes drawn together with the profpe& of
fpoil, overran the country, and poffeffed himfelf of
I rapefund, a city founded by the Grecians on the ut-
moft confines of Pontus. Here he cut in pieces a cohort
made up of the inhabitants, but which had been former¬
ly prefented with the privilege of Roman citizens. Fie
likewife burnt the fleet, and with fcorn and infults
fcoured the fea; Mucianus having called to Byzantium
moft of the Roman galleys. Hereupon Vefpafian, who
was at that time in Syria, fent Verdius Gemnius into
Pontus with a choice body of auxiliaries from the le¬
gions. He affailing the enemy wdiile they were in dif¬
order,. and roaming afunder in purfuit of prey, drove
them into, their veffels ; then with fome galleys chafed
Anicetus into the mouth of the river Chobus, where he
thought himfelf fafe under the prote&ion of Sedochus
V kins'
\
PON
[ i
typool king of the Lazians, whole alliance he had purchafed
li with large fums and rich prelents. Sedochus at firit
jnza. refufe(] t0 deliver him up to the Romans j but was loon
prevailed upon, partly by threats, partly by prelents, to
1’urrender both him and all the other fugitives who had
taken fandluary in his dominions. Thus ended that
fervile war 5 and the kingdom of Pontus continued to
be a province of the empire till the time of David and
Alexis Comneni, who being driven from Conllantinople
by the French and Venetians A. D. 1204, under the
command of Baldwin earl of Flanders, fettled, the one
at Heraclea, the other at Trebifond. The troubles that
arofe among the Latins gave Alexis Comnenus an op¬
portunity of eredting here a new empire, which com¬
prehended great part of Pontus, and was knowm by the
name of the empire of Trebifond. The Comneni held it
about 250 years, till the time of Mohammed II. who
carried David Comnenus, the laid ernperor of Trebifond,
prifoner to Conllantinople, A. D. 1462, with all his
family, and fubjedted his empire to that of Conitanti-
nople j in which abjedl llavery Trebifond and all Pontus
have continued ever lince.
PONTYPOGL, a town of Monmouthlhire in Eng¬
land, feated between two hills. It is but a fmall placa,
though noted for its iron-mills, great manufadture of
japanned veffels, &c. W. Long. 3. 6. N. Lat. 51. 42.
PONZA, or Pontia, is a fmall itland of the Tulcan
fea, well knowm to be the place to which many illullri-
ous Romans were formerly banifhed. It is lituated on
the coatl of Italy near Terracina, and in the neighbour¬
hood of other fmall iflands or rocks named Palmaro/e,
Zannone, &c. between the ifland or Ventotienne and
Monte Circeiio. All thefe illands were vifited by Sir
William Hamilton in the year 1785 5 and an account of
his journey is given in a letter to Sir J. Banks, which
appeared in the Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixxvi. p. 365. Sir
‘William arrived at Ponza on the 20th Augufty and,
according to his account, it lies about 30 miles from
Ventotienne. On the 2ill he went round it in a boat.
Its length is about five miles, but its breadth is nowhere
above half a mile, and in fome places not more than 300
feet. It is furrounded by a multitude of detached rocks,
fome of them very high, and moil of them compofed
of a compadl lava. There are many irregularly formed
bafaltes, but none in large columns. In fome places
they have a reddifh tinge from iron ochre, are very
fmall, and irregularly laid over one another. Some
iland perpendicularly, others obliquely, and fome lie
horizontally. The rocks themfelves in wdnch thefe
mafies are found are lava of the fame nature with the
bafaltes. At firll fight they appear like the ruins of
ancient Roman brick or tyle buildings. One rock is
compofed of large fpherical bafalts, and in other places
eur author found the lava inclined to take the like
fpherical form, though on a much fmaller fcale, fome of
the former bafalts being near two feet in diameter. All
thefe rocks, in our author’s opinion, have been detached
by the fea from this ifland, which is entirely compofed
of volcanic matter, lavas, and tufas of various qualities
and colours, as green, yellow, black, and white. Some
of thefe matters are more compadl in their texture than
others : and in fome parts great tradls feem to have un¬
dergone fimilar operations, which ftill fubfifl; at a fpot
called the Pifciarelli, on the outfide of the Solfatara,
2».ear Puzzole, and where a hot fulphureous vitriolic
70 ] PON
acid vapour converts all which it penetrates, whether Ponza
lavas, tufas, volcanic allies, or pumice-ftones, into a pure 11
clay, moftly white, or with a tint of red, blue, green, Poo!'
or yellow. 'r~“"
In one part of this ifland there is a fort of tufa re¬
markably good for the purpcfe of building. It is as
hard as Bath-ftone, and nearly of the fame colour, with¬
out any mixture of lava or pumice-ftone, wdiich ulually
abound in the tufas of Naples, Baia, and Puzzoli.
The illand of Palmarole which is about' four miles
from Ponza, is not much more than a mile in circum¬
ference. It is compofed of the fame volcanic matter,
and probably was once a part of Ponza; and in our
author’s opinion it looks as if the ifland of Zannone,
which lies about the fame diftance from Ponza,w7as once
likewile a part of the fame; for many rocks of lava
rife above wrater in a line betwixt the two lall-mentioned
iflands, and the water there is much more (hallow than
in the gulf of Terracina.
Zannone is much larger and higher than Palmarole ;
and that half of it next the continent is compoied of a
lime-flone fimilar to that of the Apennines near it; the
other half is compofed of lavas and tufas, refembling in
every other refpedt the foil of the iflands juft deferibed.
Neither Palmarole nor Zannone are inhabited ; but the
latter furnifhes abundance of brufhwood for the ufe of
the inhabitants of Ponza, whole number, including the
garriion, amounts to near 1700. d'heuninhabited iflai'd
of St Stefano in like manner furnilhes wood for the peo¬
ple of Ventotienne. It is probable that all thefe iflands
and rocks may in time be levelled by the action of the
fea. Ponza, in its prefent Hate, is the merelkeleton of
a volcanic ifland ; little more than its hard or vitrified
parts remaining, and they feem to be flowly and gradu¬
ally mouldering away. The governor of the cattle of
Ponza, who had redded there 53 years, told our author
that the ifland was ftill fubjedt to earthquakes; that there
had been one violent fhodk there about four years be¬
fore; but that the moft violent one he ever felt was on
the very day and at the hour that Lifbon was deflroyed.
Two houfes out of three which vrere then on the ifland
were thrown down. “ This (fays our author) feems to
prove that the volcanic matter which gave birth to thefe
iflands is not exhaufled.” Plate
Fig. 1. is a plan of the ifland of Ponza as it is givenecccxxxvL
in the Philofophical Tranfadlions. Fig. 2. is a view of%- ^ aMll
the infide of the harbour of the ifland. A in the fame2,
figure is a rock of lava. In many parts it is formed in¬
to regular bafaltes of a reddifh colour, tinged in all pro¬
bability w ith fome ochre. Mofl of the detached rocks
of the ifland refemble this. BE reprefents a tradl of
volcanic country, converted by a hot fulphureous vitrio¬
lic acid vapour into a pure clay, the ground colour of
which is moftly white.—Fig. 3. is a view from the out- j,.j
fide of the harbour, near the lighthoufe. C is a rock of ^
volcanic matter converted to pure clay; D is a rock of
the fame kind, with flrata of pumice-flone : E is a rock
of lava, inclining to take bafaltic forms ; and F is a rock
compofed of fpherical bafaltes.
POOD is a Ruffian weight, equal to 40 Ruffian or
36 Englifh pounds.
POOL is properly a refervoir of water fupplied with
fprings, and difeharging the overplus by fluices, defen¬
ders, weirs, and other caufeways.
Pool, a fea-port town of Dorfetfhire in England.
It
IS LAND of P O N ZA . piate c C C CXY1T7
?/ct/.'tf
POO [ i
Poole It is ft:rrounded on all fides by the fea, except on the
^ H north, where there is an entrance through a gate. It
_ 001' was formerly nothing but a place where a few fifher-
men lived •, but in the reign of Henry VI. it was greatly
enlarged, and the inhabitants had the privilege to wall
it round. It was alfo made a county of itfelf, and fent
two members to parliament. It is governed by a mayor,
a fenior bailiff, four other juftices, and an indeterminate
number of burgelfes. The town confifts of a church
and about 6co houfes, with broad paved ftreets 5 and
has a manufaftory of knit hole. It is 47 miles weft-
foulh-weit of Wincheltef, and no weft by-fouth of
London. V/. Long. 2. o. N. Lat. 50. 42.
POOLE, Matthew, a very learned writer in the
17th century, wras born at York in 1624. He w7as
educated at Emanuel-college, Cambridge, and after¬
wards incorporated in the univerfity of Oxford. He
fucceeded Dr Anthony Tuckney in the re&ory of St
Michael de (huern, in London, about 1648. In 1658
he fet on foot a projedl for maintaining youths of great
parts at the univerftties, and had the approbation of the
heads of houfes in both of them. He folicited the
affair wdth fo much vigour, that in a fhort time 900I.
per annum was procured for that purpofe; but this de¬
lign was laid afide at the Reftoration. In 1662 he was
ejefted from his living for nonconformity. He was ten
years employed in com poling his Sijnopjis Criticorum,
&c. Belides this great work he publilhed feveral
other pieces. When Dr Oates’s depolitions concerning
the popith plot were printed, our author found his name
in the lift of thofe who were to be cut off, on the ac¬
count (as was luppofed) of what he had written againft
the papifts in his 'Nullity of the Romijh Faith. So that
he was obliged to retire into Holland, where he died in
3679, and left behind him the charafler of a very able
critic and caluift.
POOP, the ftern of a (hip ; or the higheft, upper-
moft, and hinder part of a (hip’s hull. See Stern.
POOR, in law,an appellation given to all thofe wdio
arc in fuch a low and mean condition, that they either
are or may become a burden to the parifti.
They who rank pity amongft the original impulfes
of our nature rightly contend, that when it prompts us
to the relief of human mifery,it indicates fufficiently the
Divine intention, and our duty. Indeed, the fame con-
clufion is deducible from the exiftence of the paffion,
whatever account be given of its origin. Whether it
be inftinft, or a habit founded in affociation (fee Pas¬
sion! , it is in faft a property of our nature wdiich God
appointed : and the final caufe for which it was appoint¬
ed is to affbsd to the miferable, in the compafilon of
their fellow-creatures, a remedy for thofe inequalities
and diftreffes to which many are neceffarily expofed
under every polTible rule for the diftribution of proper-
tv. That the poor have a claim upon the rich, found¬
ed in the law of nature, can be queftioned by no
man who admits the benevolence of the Deity, and con-
fiders his purpofe in creating the world (fee Iheolo-
c;y, Part I. Se£E ii.); and upon this claim the Chrif-
tian Scriptures are more explicit than almoft upon any
other.
The rights of the poor, however, to be relieved by
the rich, as they originate in nature, and are fandtioned
by Christianity, are evidently of that kind which is call¬
ed imperfeB (See MOBAL Phiiofophy, N° iji.) It is
1 ] POO
furely needlefs to warn our readers in this place, that
imperfeft rights are in themfelves as facred, and the v
duties relulting from them as obligatory in fro confcicn-
tite, as the mod rigid claims of juftice. Every one
know7s, that they are called imperfeB only becaufe the
extent of them in particular inftances cannot be afeer-
tained by pofitive laws, nor the breach of them be pu-
nilhed by the civil magiftrate. Hence the apoftle, though
he enjoins a weekly contribution to be made for the
poor in the church of Corinth, yet leaves the fum to
be contributed by each individual wholly undetermined.
“ Now concerning the colledftion for the faints, as I
have given order to the churches of Galatia, even (b do
ye. Upon the firft day of the week let every one of
you lay by him in (lore as God hath profperedlumN By
which St Paul certainly recommends to every man to
contribute, not a fixed fum, but as much as, from a de¬
liberate comparifon of his fortune, with the reafonable
expences and expedlations of his family, he finds he can
fpare for charitable purpofes.
It is well known that thofe weekly contributions
were laid at the feet of the apoftles, wrho transferred the
management of the fund thence arifing to deacons defi¬
ed by the people, and ordained by them to fee that the
money was properly diftributed. Hence, under Chri-
ftianity, the maintenance of the poor became chiefly an
ecclefiaftical concern; and w’hen that holy and benevo¬
lent religion was eftablfthed in the Roman empire, a
fourth part of the tithes was in fome countries of Eu¬
rope, and particularly in England, fet apart for that
purpofe. Afterwards, when the tithes of many parilhes
were appropriated to the monafteries, thefe focieties
were the principal refource of the poor, who were far¬
ther relieved by voluntary contributions. Judge Black-
ftone obferves, that till the ftatute 26 Hen. VIII. cap,
26. he finds no compulfory method for providing for
the poor 5 but upon the total diffolution of the mona¬
fteries, abundance of ftatutes were made in the reign of
King Henry VIII. Edward VI. and Elizabeth, which
at laft eftabl iflied the
Poor's Rate, or legal affeffment for the fupport of
the poor. The firms that had been appropriated for
charitable ufes before the reformation were immenfe,
and the wealth that had been accumulated through a
fuccefllon of ages by mendicant orders of religious per-
fons wTas inconceivably great} nor was it in the power of
any laws to confine men who were in the poffedion of
fuch wealth from gratifying thofe defires which money
can fo eafily find means of fupplying. Yet among tie
’various ahufes to which this opulence had given rile,
thefe religious orders had never fo far loft fight of their
original inftitution as ever to negleft the poor. Thefe
were indeed provided for by them with an indiferimi-
nate profufion of largeffe, better proportioned to their
own opulence than to the wants of the claimants, who
were too often, without examination, all equally ferved,
whether deferving or undeferving of that bounty which
they claimed.
When the religious houfes, as they were called, were
entirely fuppreffed at the reformation, and the wealth
that belonged to them was diverted into other channels,
the poor, who had been in ufe to receive their fupport
from thence, were of courfe left entirely deftitute; and
this foon became a grievance fo intolerable not only to
the poor themfelves, but to the whole nation, as to
Y 2 excite
POO [ I
Poor, excite a umverfal defire to have it remedied. Accord-
—vingly, by the 14 Eliz. cap. 5. power was given to the
juiiices to lay a general affeflrnent; and this hath con¬
tinued ever fince. For by 43 Eliz. cap. 2. the church¬
wardens and overfeers of the poor of every parifti, or
the greater part of them (with the confent of two juf-
tices, one of whom is of the quorum, dwelling in or
near the parifli), are empowered to raife weekly, or
otherwife, by taxation of every inhabitant, parfon, vi¬
car, and other, and of every occupier of lands, houfes,
&c. materials for employing the poor, and competent
fums for their relief. Notice lhall be given in church
of every fuch rate the next Sunday after it is allowed,
which may be infpedled by every inhabitant, paying is.
and copies of it granted on demand, 6d. being paid
for every 24 names j and a churchwarden or overfeer
refufing, lhall forfeit 201. to the party aggrieved. The
rate is to be levied by diftrefs on thofe who refufe to pay
it; and, by 17 Geo. II. cap. 2. cap. 38. appeals againlt
it are allowed.
If the juiiices find that the inhabitants of any parilh
are not able to levy among themfelves fufficient fums
for the purpofes fpecified in the aft, they may affefs any
other parilh within the hundred ; and if the hundred be
unable to grant neceffary relief, they may rate and aflefs
any parilh within the county. 43 Eliz. cap. 2.
In order to compel hufbands and parents to maintain
their own families, the law hath provided, that all per-
fons running away out of their parilhes, and leaving
their families upon the parifli, fhall be deemed and fuf-
fer as incorrigible rogues (7 Jac. cap. 4.) And if a
perfon merely threatens to run arvay and leave his wife
and children upon the parilh, he fhall, upon conviftion,
before one juftice by confeffion, or oath of one witnefs,
be committed to the houfe of correftion for any time
not exceeding one month (17 Geo. II. cap. 5.) For
the farther maintenance of the poor, there are many fines
and forfeitures payable to their ufe} as for fwearing,
drunkennefs, dellroying the game, &c. And alfo parts
of walles, woods, and paflures, may be inclofed for the
growth and prefervation of timber and undewood for
their relief. See WOKK-Houfe.
The famous flatute of the 43d of Elizabeth, which
is the balls of all the poor-laws in England, was con-
llrufted with a cautious forethought that can perhaps
be equalled by few laws that ever were enafted; and if
profpeftive reafoning alone were to be relied on in mat¬
ters of legiflation, it feemed impoffible to amend it: yet
experience has now proved, with a moft demonllrative
certainty, that it is not fo falutary as was undoubtedly
expefted.
'I he perfons who compofed that law had before their
eyes fuch a recent proof of the abufe that had been
made of the charitable beneficence of individuals, that
they feem to have been chiefly felicitous to obviate fi-
milar abufes in future j and to guard againft that par¬
tial kind of feduftion, they rather chcfe to eflablifh a
defpotic power which fhould be authorifed to wreft
from every individual in the nation whatever fums it
might think proper to call for, trufling to a few feeble
devices which they contrived, for curbing that power
which was virtually armed with force fufficient to fet all
thefe afide whenever it pleafed. The confequence has
been, that the fums levied for the relief of the poor,
which were at firit but finall, are now enormous, and
72 ] POO
that the demands are increafing in fuch a rapid manner Poo*,
as to give rife to the moll ferious and wrell-grounded
apprehenfions. In the year 1774, parliament inflitu-
ted an inquiry into the amount of the poor’s-rates in
England and Wales, and again in 1783. On compa¬
ring thefe together, the rife during that ffiort period
was found to be in England upwards of 850,060!. per
annum, being nearly in the proportion of one-third of
the rate at the firft period. In Wales, during the fame
period of time, the rates -were more than doubled. Nor
was this a temporary ftart, but a part only of a gradual
progreffion, Mr Wendeborn, in his View of England,
obferves, that “ in the year 1680 the poor’s-rates pro¬
duced no more than 665,390!. in 1764 they flood at
1,200,000!. and in 1773 they were eftimated at
3,000,0001.” It is a known faft (fays Mr Beaufoy,
in the debate on Mr Gilbert’s poor bill, April 17th
1788), that within the laft nine years, the poor’s-rates
have increafed one-third, and fliould they continue in¬
creafing in the fame proportion for 50 or 53 years, they
would amount to the enormous fum of 11,230,000!. a
burden which the country could not poffibly bear. It
was therefore, he added, highly neceflary that fomething
fliould be attempted to prevent this alarming addition,
if not to annihilate the prefent glaring mifeonduft in the
management of the poor.”
Such has been the fate of England with regard to
poor laws.
In Scotland, the reformation having been carried for¬
ward wTith a ftill more violent precipitancy than in Eng¬
land, and the funds of the regular clergy being more
entirely alienated, the cafe of the poor there became
ftill more feemingly defperate, and the clamours were
alfo there confiderable at that time. Then alfo it was
that the Scottilh court, imitating as ufual at that time
the.praftice of England, made feveral feeble attempts
to introduce a fyftem of compulfory poor’s-rates into
that country, but never digefted the fyftem fo thorough¬
ly as to form a law that could in any cafe be carried in¬
to effeft. Many crude laws on this head were indeed
enafted 5 but all of them fo evidently inadequate for the
purpofe, that they never were, even in one inftance that
we have heard of, attempted at the time to be carried
into effeft. Indeed it feems to have been impoffible to
carry them into effeft ; for they are all fo abfurd and
contradiftory to each other, that hardly a Angle claufe
of any one of them can be obeyed without tranfgrefling
others of equal importance.
T he laft ftatute which in Scotland was enafted on
this fubjeft bears date September ift 1691, William and
Mary, pari. 1. feff. 7. chap. 21. and it “ ratifies and
approves all former afts of parliament and proclama¬
tions of council for repreffing of beggars, and maintain¬
ing and employing the poor.” If this law therefore
were now7 in force, and it never -was repealed, no perfoa
could with impunity countervail any one of thofe ftatutes-
which it ratifies; but to be convinced how impoffible it
is to obferve them all, the attentive reader needs only to
confider thofe laws and proclamations with refpeft to the
following particulars, viz.
1. The perfons appointed to make up the poor's roIL
By the aft 1579 this duty is entrufled to the provoft
and bailies within burgh, and the judge conftitute be
the king’s commiffion in paroches to landwart. By aft
1663, it is the heritors of each parifli. By aft 1672^
it
POO [ ,
Poor, it is the minifters and elders of each parifh who are to
—Y-—J make up this lift. By the proclamation of 1692, it is
the heritors, minifters, and elders of every parilh. By
that of 1693, it is the magiftrates of royal burghs, and
the heritors of vacant [country] parilhes ; in both cafes
without either minifter or elders. Among this chaos
of contradictions how is it poffible to act without tranf-
grefling fome law.
2. Not lefs contradictory are the enatments in regard
to the perfons who are to pay, and the mode of appor¬
tioning the fums among them. By at 1579, the haill
inhabitants of the parochin {hall be taxed and ftented
according to the eftimation of their fubftance, without
exception of perfons. By that of 1663, l^e one-half is
to be paid by the heritors, and the other half by the te¬
nants and pofleffors, according to their means and fub¬
ftance. By the proclamation of 1692, the one-half is
to be paid by the heritors, the other by the houfeholders
of the parilh. By that of 1693, in burghs royal, the
magiftrates are to ftent themfelves, conform to fuch or¬
der and cuftom ufed and wont in laying on ftents, an¬
nuities, or other public burdens, in the refpedftive burgh,
as may be moft effeftual to reach all the inhabitants;
and the heritors of feveral vacant [landwart] parifties
to ftent themfelves for the maintenance of the refpe&ive
poor.
3. A ftill greater diverfity takes place in regard to
the application of the fums fo fetiied. -By the aft
1579, it would feem that the whole of the money af-
feffed was to be applied to the ufe of the helplefs poor
alone, and no part of it for the relief of thofe who were
capable of working. By the aft 1663, on the contrary,
the whole of this afleffment is to be applied for the
fupport of thofe only who are able to work. This is
ftill more fpecially provided for by the aft 16725 where
the poor who are unable to work are to be fupported
by the weekly colleftions at the kirk doors ; and the
ftented afleffments to be applied to the fupport of thofe
in the correftion houfes.
It would be tirefome to enumerate all the contradic¬
tions that thefe laws authorife. In regard to the per¬
fons who are required to carry thefe aBs into execution,
it is at different times the chancellor 5 magiftrates 5 com-
rniflioners of excife 5 fheriffs 5 juftices of the peace 5 mi¬
nifters and elders 5 the prefbyteries 5 heritors, minifters,
and elders 5 heritors alone 5 commiffioners nominated by
prefbyteries and appointed by the king 5 the lords of
the privy council : in fhort, no two laws can be found
that do not vary from each other in this refpeft one
way or other.
The fame variations take place with regard to the
building of correftion-houfes, confinement and punifh-
raent of vagrants, application of their work, awarding
their fervices and thofe of children. In fhort, there is
not one particular in which thefe laws do not vary from
and contradift each other ; fo that, let any perfon try
to aft in virtue of any one of them, it is impoflible for
him to avoid going in direft oppofition to the enaft-
ments of fome other law which is of equal force with
that he has chofen for his guide. In thefe circum-
ffances, it is fo far from being furpriling that thefe afts
have been iuffered to remain in perpetual defuetude,
tnat it would have been truly wonderful if this had not
been the cafe. They have, however, been permitted to
remain on the ftatute book as a difgrace to the times
73 ] POO
when they were formed, and as a ftumbling-block to Poor.
thofe_ that were to follow. That not one of them is
now in force, was lately proved by a learned and public-
fpirited gentleman, to whom his country is on that and
many other accounts deeply indebted. Kefufing to pay
the poor’s tax, with which he was affeffed by the over-
feers of the parifti in wBich he happened to refide, he
flood an aftion in the court of feflion, and prevailed, up¬
on the broad ground, that there is no law IN FORCE in
Scotland by which an INVOLUNTART poor's rate can be
ejlablifhed in any parijb.
But how, it will be alked by our Englilh readers, are
the poor in Scotland really maintained ? We anfwer, by
the private alms of individuals, and by certain funds un¬
der the management of the kirk-fejjions (fee Presby¬
terians). It is the univerfal praftice, each Lord’s
day, in every parifh, for fuch of the audience as are in
eafy circumftances, to give to the poor fuch an offering
of alms as they ftiall deem proper. This offering is ge¬
nerally dropped into a bafon placed at the church-door,
and under the immediate care of an elder. When the
fervice is begun, the elder removes with the bafon, which
he keeps under his charge till the congregation be dif-
miffed. The feftion then meets, and the money is told
over, its amount marked down in the feflion account
book, and depofited in a box kept for that purpofe. Thiir
box has ufually a fmall flit in the top, through which
the pieces of money can be dropped without opening it,
and it is clofed wdth twro locks, the key of one of which
L ufually kept by the minifter, and the other by the
kirk-treafurer, fo that it can never be opened but in the
prefence of thefe two at leaft.
A kirk-feflion, when regularly conftituted, muft al¬
ways confift of the minifter, elders, feflion-clerk, and
kirk-treafurer. None of thefe ever receive any falary
except the feflion-clerk, who is ufually the fchoolmaftei'
of the parifti, and has a fmall falary allowed for minut¬
ing the tranfaftions. The kirk-treafurer is for the moft:
part one of the elders ; and he is an important member
of this court. Without his intervention no diftribution
of the poor’s funds is deemed legal 5 nor can any pay¬
ments be made, receipts granted, or money transferred,
but by him ; the minifter and feflion being perfonally
liable to make good all money that may otherwife be
given aivay, ftiould it ever afterwards be challenged by
any heritor in the parifti.
The precautions taken for the diftribution of the
poor’s funds are likewife limple and excellent, and are
as follow:
No money can be legally iffued from the poor’s funds
even by the treafurer and feflion, unlefs legal proof can
be brought that public intimation has been given from
the pulpit immediately after divine fervice, and before
the congregation has difperfed, that a diftribution of
poor’s money is to be made by the feflion, at fuch a
time and place, fpecifying the fame, and inviting all-
who have intereft in the cafe to attend if they (hall in¬
cline. This intimation muft be made a full fortnight
before the time of diftribution ; and as every heritor'
(owner of landed property) in the parifti has a right to
vote in the diftribution of the poor’s funds, they may-
all, if they fo incline, then attend and exercile that
right; but if none of them ftiould attend, which is
often the cafe, the feflion has then a right to proceed 5
and whatever they {hall thus do, is deemed ftriftly le-
POO l 171 1 POP
ral, and is liable to no challenge. But fhould they pro-
' ceed without having given this previous intimation, they
may, if the heritors thould afterwards challenge it, be
made to repay out of their own pockets every nulling
they {hall have fo iffued. It fometimes happens, that
young minifters, through heedlefsnefs in this refpeft,
expofe themfelves and lamiiies to confiderable trouble
and lofs, which by attention might be eafily avoided.
In the fame way, (hould a minitter and feffion, without
the intervention of a treafurer regularly conftitued, lend
upon bond or otherwife any' of the poor’s funds, and
{hould the perfon fo borrowing afterwards fail, thefe
lenders are perfonally liable to make good the whole,
and any heritor in the parilh who choofes it can com¬
pel him to do fo.
The members of the feflion are alfo liable to pay all
Ioffes, and to account for all fums that it can be in-
ftrufted they received, if they neglefted to keep regular
books, in which every tranfaflion {hall be entered, or
if thefe books have , not been revifed and approved of
by the prelbytery (a); but if they {hall have been fo re¬
vifed, they cannot be challenged for omiffion of forms,
and can only be made to account for errors, or frauds,
or evident dilapidations.
Under this wife and economical fyilem of manage¬
ment, it has been found by the experience of more than
200 years, that in the low parts of the country, where
the parifhes are in general of fuch moderate extent as
to admit of the people of every part of the parifh gene¬
rally to attend divine fervice every Lord’s day, the or¬
dinary funds have been amply fufificient to fupply all the
real demands of the poor, and in moft parilhes a fund
has been accumulated from the favings of ordinary years
to help the deficiencies that may arife in years of un¬
common fcarcity.
Befides the weekly collections, the extra offerings at
the adminiihation of the Lord’s fupper, the pious do¬
nations of charitable individuals, which are all voluntary,
together with fome fmall fees paid for the ufe of a mort-
cloth (a black velvet pall) at funerals, which is generally
purchafed with the poor’s money, go to make up this
parochial fund. Nor muft any one believe that the mo-
ne^ which comes through the hands of the adminiftra-
tors of the poor’s funds is all that is bellowed upon
the poor in Scotland j far from it : there are a thou-
fand other channels through which the indigent derive
confolation and fupport, all of them tending to produce
the happieft effefts upon fociety. A fon feels himfelf
aihamed to think that his parents {hould require the af-
fiftance of another to fupport them; he therefore ftrains
every nerve, when in the vigour of life, to {pare a little
of his earning to render their old age more eafy than it
might have been 5 and fweet to a parent is the bread that
is given by the pious attention of a child. If there
are feveral children, they become.emulous who {hall dif-
cpver moil kindnefs. It is a pious contention which
ferves to unite them the clofer to each ether, by com- Poor
manding their mutual elleem. il
DireClly contrary to this is the effeft of the poor, Po‘)a}
laws in England, where, in London at leaft, it is not v
uncommon to fee men in good bufinefs neglefting their
aged and difeafed parents for no better reafon than that
the parifh is bound to find them bread. Thefe laws
have ether pernicious confequences} for they are ob-
vioufly fubverfive of induftry as well as morality among
the lower orders of the people. “ This is a heavy
charge, but no lefs true than heavy. Fear of want is
the only efteftual motive to induftry with the labouring
poor : remove that fear, and they ceafe to be induftri-
ous. The ruling paflion of thofe who live by bodily
labour, is to fave a pittance for their children, and for
fupporting themfelve in old age. Stimulated by defire
of accompliihing thofe ends, they are frugal and induf-
trious ; and the profpedl of fuccefs is a continual feaft
to them. Now, what worfe can malice invent againft
fuch a man, under colour of friendfhip, than to fecure
bread to him and his children whenever he takes a dif-
like to work-, which effedlualiy deadens his foie ambi¬
tion, and with it his honeft induftry ? Relying on the
certainty of a provifion againft want, he relaxes gra¬
dually till he finks into idlenefs -, idlenefs leads to pro¬
fligacy ; profligacy begets difeafe ; and the wretch be¬
comes an objeft of public charity before he has run
half his courfe. Wiiely therefore is it ordered by Pro¬
vidence, that charity fhould in every inftance be volun¬
tary, to prevent the idle and profligate from depending
on it for fupport. During the reign of Elizabeth when
the monafteries were recently fuppreffed, and all their
revenues fquandered, fome compulfion might be necef-
fary to prevent the poor from ftarving. A temporary
provifion for this purpofe, fo contrived as not to fuper-
fede voluntary charity, but rather to promote it, would
have been a meafure extremely proper. Unlucky it is
for England that fuch a meafure was overlooked 5 but
the queen and her parliaments had not the talent of fore-
feeing confequences without the aid of experience. A
perpetual tax for the poor was impofed, the moft perni¬
cious tax, fays Lord Karnes (b), that ever was impofed
in any country.”
POPA-madre, is a town of South America, in
Terra Firma. In this place there is a convent and cha¬
pel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to wftiofe image the
Spaniards in thofe parts go in pilgrimage, particularly
thofe who have been at fea. It it feated on a high moun¬
tain, 50 miles eaft of Carthagena. W. Long. 74. 32.
N. Lat. 10. 15.
POPriE. See Victimarius.
POPAYAN, a province of South America, in the
kingdom of New Granada, between the audience of Pa¬
nama, that of Quito, and the South fea; 400 miles in
length, and 300 in breadth. A chain of barren moun¬
tains runs through the country from north to foutb ;
and
(a) The prelhytery is by law appointed auditor of the poor’s accounts of the feveral parifhes within its
bounds fiand if they nd any difficult cafe occur in the difeharge of this duty, they may lay it before the fynod
for advice.
(b) See. Sketches of Man, book n. {ketch 10. where many other arguments equally forcible are urged againft
all involuntary poor-rates, and where many ingenious expedients are propofed for gradually abolilhing them where
they are eftabliffied.
2
p ° p £ i
and near the fea the foil is fo foaked with aimed: conti-
nual rains, that few care to refide there, except for the
fake of the gold that is met with in great plenty in the
finds of the rivulets. This bewitching metal brings
many in fearch of it, though it is a great doubt whether
they ever return back alive or not. For this reafon the
lavage Americans are ftiil mailers of a great part of it,
and continually annoy the Spaniards.
Pop ay an, the capital town of a province of that
name in South America, with a bifhop’s fee, a Spaniih
governor, and where the courts of juftice are held. The
inhabitants are almoft all Creoles. It is 220 miles
north-ealt ot Quito. W. Long. 75. N. Lat. 2. 35.
POPE, a name which comes from the Greek word
rixTa, and fignifies Father. In the call this appellation
is given to all Chriftian priefts; and in the welt, biihops
were called by it in ancient times : but nowT for many
centuries it has been appropriated to the bilhop of Rome,
whom the Roman Catholics look upon as the common
father of all Chriftians.
Much has been faid, much written, and many wrarm
difputes have been carried on concerning the pope, and
the power belonging to him, within thefe two or three
lad centuries. We lhall here, without entering into
controverfy, lay down diftindtly, from the bed authori¬
ty, what the Roman Catholics really believe concerning
the f>o/>e, after having deferibed the manner of his elec¬
tion \ and we fhall give fome other particulars relatino-
to this fubjecl that feem to deferve notice, and are in
this country not generally known.
All in communion with the fee of Rome unanimoufly
hold, that our Saviour Jefus Chrid condituted St Peter
the apoflle chief pador under himfelf, to watch over his
whole flock here on earth, and to preferve the unity of
it; giving him the power requifxte for thefe ends. They
alro believe, that our Saviour ordained, that St Peter
fnould have fucceflbrs with the like charge and power
to the end of time. Now, as St Peter refided at Rome
for many years, and fuffered martyrdom there, they con-
fider the bifhops of Rome as his fucceflbrs in the dignity
and office of the univerfal pador of the whole Catholic
church. There have been fome varieties in the manner
of choofing the bifhop of Rome in different ages, as al¬
terations may be made in difeipline ; but ftill the clergy
of Rome have judly had the chief part in that election :
and that clergy is now reprefented by, or in fome man¬
ner confids of, the cardinals, who have for feveral cen¬
turies been the foie electors of the pope.
Thefe cardinals or principalperfons of the church of
Rome are 70 in number, when the facred college, as it is
called, is complete. Of thefe fix are cardinal bidiops,
the bifliops of Odia, of Porto, Albano, Sabino, Tufcu-
lum or Frafcati, and Praenede or Paledrina ; which are
the fix fuburbicarian churches; 50 are cardinal prieds,
who have all titles from parifli churches in Rome ; and
fourteen are cardinal deacons, who have their titles from
churches in Rome of lefs note, called Diaconias or Dea-
conries. Thefe cardinals are created by the pope when
there happen to be vacancies ; and fometimes he names
one or two only at a time ; but commonly he defers the
promotion until there be ten or twelve vacancies or
more ; and then at every fecond fuch promotion the
emperor, the kings of Spain and France, and of Bri¬
tain, when Catholic, are allowed to prefent one each,
to be made cardinal, whom the pope always admits if
75 H P O P
there be not fome very great and evident obje&ion.
Ine.e cardinals are commonly promoted from amono-
fuch Clergymen as have borne offices in the Roman
court; forae are affumed from religious orders ; emi¬
nent eccleiiaitics of other countries are likevvife often
honoured with this dignity, as the archbiffiops of To¬
ledo and Vienna are.at prelent cardinal priells of Rome.
Sons of lovereign princes have frequently been members
ot the facred college ; and there ends the dired line of
the royal family of Stuart. Their diflinffive drefs is
Icarlet, to fignify that they ought to be ready to flied
their blood for the faith and church, when the defence
and honour of either require it. They wear a fcarlet
cap and hat : the cap is given to them by the pope if
they are at Rome,, and is fent to them if they are ab-
fent ; but the hat is never given but by the pope’s own
hand. Thefe cafdinals form the pope’s Handing coun¬
cil or const/!on/ for the management of the public affairs
of church and Hate. They are divided into different
congregations for the more eafy difpatch of bufinefs; and
lome of them have the principal offices in the pontifi¬
cal court, as that of cardinal-vicar—penitentiary chan¬
cellor—camerlingo or chamberlain—prefea of the fig-
nature of juflice—prefea of memorials—and fecretary
ox Hate. They have the title given them of eminence
and mojl eminent. But here we confider them princi¬
pally as the perfons entrufted with the choice of the
pope. See Cardinal.
. On the demile of a pope his pontifical feal is imme¬
diately, broken by the chamberlain, and all public bufi¬
nefs is interrupted that can be delayed : meffengers are
difpatched to all the Catholic fovereigns to acquaint
them of the event, that they may take what meafures
they think proper ; and that the cardinals in their do¬
minions, if any there be, may haften to the future elec¬
tion if they choofe to attend ; whilft the whole attention
of the. facred college is turned to the prefervatioh of
tranquillity in the city and Hate, and to the neceffary
preparations for the future ekaian. The cardinal cham¬
berlain has, during the vacancy of the holy fee, great
authority; he coins money with his own arms on it
lodges in the pope’s apartments, and is attended by
body-guards. He, and the firit cardinal bilhop, thb
firli. cardinal prielt, and the firff: cardinal deacon, have,
during that time, the government alrnoft entirely in
their hands. The body of the deceafed pope is carried
to St Peter’s, where funeral fervice is performed for
him with great pomp for nine days, and the cardinals
attend there every morning. In the mean time, all ne~
ceffary preparations for the ek&ion are made; and the
place where they affemble for that purpofe, which is
called the conclave, is fitted up in that part of the Vati¬
can palace which is neareft to St Peter’s church, as this
has long been thought the moll convenient fituation.
Here is formed by partitions of wood a number of cells
or chambers equal to the number of cardinals, with a
finall diftance between every two, and a broad gallery
before them. . A number is put on every cell, and
fmall papers with correfponding numbers are put into a
box : every cardinal, or fome one for him, draws out
one of thefe papers, which determines in what cell he
is to lodge. The cells are lined with cloth ; and there
is a part of each one feparated for the conckviffs or at¬
tendants, of whom two are allowed to each cardinal,
and three to cardinal princes. They are perfons of
fome
POP [175] POP
Pope, feme rank, and generally of great confidence j but they
niufl: carry in their mailer’s meals, ferve him at table,
and perform all the offices of a menial fervant. Two
phyficians, two furgeons, an apothecary, and fome other
neceflary officers, are chofen for the conclave by the car¬
dinals.
On the 10th day after the pope’s death, the cardinals,
who are then at Rome, and in a competent ilate of
health, meet in the chapel of St Peter’s, which is called
the Gregorian chapel, where a fermon on the choice of
a pope is preached to them, and mafs is faid for invok¬
ing the grace of the Holy Ghoft. Then the cardinals
proceed to the conclave in proceffion twro by two, and
take up their abode. When all is properly fettled, the
conclave is ffiut up, having boxed wheels or places of
communication in convenient quarters : there are alfo
ftrong guards placed all around. When any foreign
cardinal arrives after the inclofure, the conclave is open¬
ed for his admiffion. In the beginning every cardinal
figns a paper, containing an obligation, that if he ffiall
be raifed to the papal chair he will not alienate any part
of the pontifical dominion ; that he will not be pro¬
digal to his relations ; and fuch other ftipulations as may
have been fettled in former times or framed for that oc-
cafion.
We come now to the ele£lion itfelf-, and that this
may be effeftual, twTo-thirds of the cardinals prefent mull
vote for the fame perfon. As this is often not eafily ob¬
tained, they fometimes remain w'hole months in the con¬
clave. They meet in the chapel twfice every day for
giving their votes ; and the eleftion may be elTe£luated
by ferutiny, accejjion, or acclamation. Scrutiny is the
ordinary method j and confitls in this : every cardinal
writes his own name on the inner part of a piece of pa¬
per, and this is folded up and fealed ; on a fecond fold
of the fame paper a conclavill writes the name of the
* perfon for w7hom his mailer votes. This, according to
agreements obferved for fome centuries, mull be one of
the facred college. On the outer fide of the paper is
written a fentence at random, wrhich the voter mull
well remember. Every cardinal, on entering into the
chapel, goes to the altar and puts his paper into a large
chalice.
When all are convened, two cardinals number the
votes ; and if there are more or lefs than the number of
cardinals prefent, the voting mull be repeated. When
that is not the cafe, the cardinal appointed for the pur-
pofe reads the outer fentence, and the name of the car¬
dinal under it, fo that each voter hearing his own fen¬
tence and the name joined with it, knows that there is
no millake. The names of all the cardinals that are
voted for are taken dowui in writing, with the number
of votes for each ; and when it appears that any one
has two-thirds of the number prefent in his favour the
ele£lion is over: but when this does not happen, the
voting papers are all immediately burnt without open¬
ing up the inner part. When feveral trials of coming
to a conclufion by this method of ferutiny have been
made in vain, recourfe is fometimes had to w7hat is call¬
ed accejjion. Ry it,, when a cardinal perceives that one
or very few votes are wanting to any one for whom he
had not voted at that time, he may fay that he accedes
to the one who has near the number of votes requifite 5
and if his one vote fuffices to nwke up the two-thirds,
or if he is followed by a Efficient number of acceders or
4
new voters for the faid cardinal, the ele&ion is accom- Pops,
plifhed. Laltly, a pope is fometimes ele£led by accla-—y-™
motion ; and that is, when a cardinal, being pretty fure
that he w7ill be joined by a number fufficient, cries out
in the open chapel, that fuch a one ftiall be pope. If
he is fupported properly, the ele6lion becomes unani¬
mous ; thofe who would perhaps oppofe it forefeeing
■ that their oppofition would be fruitlefs, and rather hurt¬
ful to themfelves. It is to be obferved, that the empe¬
ror of Germany and the kings of France and Spain
claimed a right of excluding one cardinal from being pope
at every ele£tion. Hence, when the ambaffador at Rome
of any of thefe fovereigns perceived that any cardinal,
difagreeable to his mailer, according to the inftrudlions
he had received, was likely to be made pope, he demand¬
ed an audience of the conclave, -was admitted, and there
declared his mailer’s will, which was always attended to
for the common good. But each of thofe fovereigns was
allowed thus to exclude only one at one time ; and they
umvillingly and feldom put this right in execution.
When a pope is chofen in any of the three above-
mentioned ways, the eledlion is immediately announced
from the balcony in the front of St Peter’s, homage is
paid to the new pontiff, and couriers are fent off with
the news to all parts of Chriltendom. The pope ap¬
points a day for his coronation at St Peter’s, and for
his taking poffeffion of the patriarchal church of St John
Lateran; all which is performed wfith great folemnity.
He is addreffed by the expreffion of Holinefs, and mojl
holy Father.
Let us now7 proceed to fee w7hat authority Roman
Catholics attribute to the pope thus chofen. They be¬
lieve, then, that the bilhop of Rome is, under Chrill,
fupreme pallor of the whole church ; and as fuch is not,
only the firlt bilhop in order and dignity, but has alfo
a power and jurifdiflion over all Chriltians, in order to
preferve unity and purity of faith and moral dodlrine,
and to maintain order and regularity in all churches.
Wherefore they hold, that when the pope underllands
that any error has been broached againll faith or man¬
ners, or that any confiderable difference on fuch fubjefls
has arifen in any part of Chrillendom, it belongs to him,
after due deliberation and confultation, to iffue out his
palloral decree, condemning the error, clearing up the
doubt, and declaring wThat has been delivered down, and
what is to be believed. Some Catholic divines are of
opinion that the pope cannot err, when he thus ad-
dreffes himfelf to all the faithful on matters of dodlrine.
They w7ell know, that as a private do£lor he may fall
into millakes as well as any other man j but they think,
that when he teaches the whole church Providence mull
preferve him from error ; and they apprehend, that this
may be deduced from the promifes of Chrill to St Pe¬
ter, and from the w7ritings of the ancient fathers. How7-
ever, this infallibility of the pope, even when he pro¬
nounces in the molt folemn manner, is only an opinion,
and not an article of Roman Catholic faith. Where¬
fore, when he fends for the dodlrinal decrees, the other
bilhops, who are alfo guardians of the faith in an infe¬
rior degree, may, with due refpeft, examine thefe de¬
crees •, and if they fee them agree with what has been
always taught, they either formally fignify their accep¬
tance, or they tacitly acquiefce, which, confidering their
duty, is equivalent to a formal approbation. When the
acceptation of the generality of the bilhops has been
obtained,
POP [I
Pope, obtained, either immediately or after fome mutual cor-
refpondence and explanation, the decrees of the pope
thus accepted come to be the fentence of the whole
church, and are believed to be beyond the poflibihty of
error !
Sometimes it may happen that the difputes and dif¬
ferences may be fo great and intricate, that to the end
it may be feen more clearly w’hatv has really been deli¬
vered down, and to give all poffible fatisfaflion, it may
appear proper to convene all the bithops who can conve¬
niently attend to one place, to learn from them more
diftinflly what has been taught and held in their refpec-
tive churches. Roman Catholics believe that it belongs
to the pope to call fuch general councils, and to prefide
in them in perfon or by his legates. They likewife hold,
that when the pope has approved the decrees of fuch
councils concerning faith or manners, fuch decrees are
then final, and muft be received as fuch by all Catho¬
lics. In all this they believe, that the particular af-
fiitance of the Holy Ghoft is with the paftors of the
church, that fo the gates of hell may never prevailagainji
her.
The fee of Rome, according to Roman Catholics, is
the centre of Catholic unity. All their bilhops com¬
municate with the pope, and by his means with one an¬
other, and fo form one body. However diilant their
particular churches may be, they all meet at Rome ei¬
ther in perfon or by their delegates, or at lead: by their
letters. And, according to the difcipline of the latter
ages, though they are prefented to the pope for their
office from their refpeflive countries, yet from him they
muft receive their bulls of confecration before they can
take pofleflion of their fees.
In matters of church difcipline, the pope, as chief
paftor, not only ought to take care that the canons
a finally in force be obferved in all churches, but he may
alfo make new canons and regulations when he fees it
necefiary or expedient for the fpiritual benefit of the
faithful, according to times and circumftances. But in
doing this he muft not infringe the efiabliihed rights or
cuftoms with injury to any perfon ; which if, through
miftake or wrong information, he ffiould ever do, the
perfons who think themfelves aggrieved may remonftrate
with refpefl and fue for redrefs. He may eftabliffi new
epifcopal fees, where there have been none before ; and
he may alter the limits of former diocefes ; but in fuch
alterations he always of courfe confults the temporal fo-
vereign, if in communion with him. He fends paftors
to preach the gofpel to all countries where the Catholic
religion is not by law eftabliffied 5 and to him appeals
may be made from all parts of Chriftendom in ecclefi-
-aftical caufes of great importance.
The pope may difpenfe with the obfervatton of ec-
clefiaftical canons when there are juft reafons for it, as
may frequently happen 5 he may alfo difpenfe with vows
when they are made with that exprefs or tacit condi¬
tion (a) that he really may difpenfe with them; he may
alfo on fome occafions declare that obligations have
•really ceafed when that is truly the cafe, from a great
'alteration of circumftances : But he can never grant any
difpenfation, to the injury of any third perfon, and can
Vol. XVII. Part I.
77 ] POP
never allow any one to do wfiat is unjuft, or to fay what
he knows to be falfe, whatever advantage might be ex-v—
pefted from it.
The pope is alfo a temporal prince, and poffeffes con-
fiderable dominions in the middle part of Italy, befides
Avignon, which the French have lately taken from him,
and the duchy of Benevento inclofed within the king¬
dom of Naples. It is alfo fuppofed that the kingdoms
of Naples and Sicily, and the duchies of Parma and Pla¬
centia, are ftill held of him in fief as they were before.
His predeceflbrs have acquired thefe poffeftions at difter-
ent times and on different occafions, by various donations,
conceffions, treaties, and agreements, in like manner as
has happened with regard to the eftablilhment of other
fovereignties; and his title to them is like to that of
other potentates to their refpedtive poffeffions. The re¬
venue arifing from this eftate, and what he receives for
various reafons from Catholic countries, which is now
much reduced, is employed for the fupport of govern¬
ment, in falaries to the officers of his court, for the edu¬
cation of clergymen, and for the maintaining of miffion-
aries in infidel countries. Great fums are particularly ex¬
pended for the propagation of the Chriftian faith in dif¬
ferent parts of Afia, efpecially in Armenia, Syria, and
China. Nor is it much to be wondered at, if the fami¬
lies, of which the fovereign pontiffs happen to have been
born, acquire greater riches and fplendour from that con¬
nexion. The princely families of Barberini, Borghele,
Chigi, Corfini, Albani, are examples of this kind : but
regulations have been made in later times to prevent ex-
ceflive depotifm. Beyond the limits of his own tempor¬
al dominions the pope has no temporal power or jurifdic-
tion, excepting what any nation may be pleafed to allowT
him : when any thing of that kind has been granted or
brought in by cuftom, it is evident that it ought not to
be taken away ralhly nor without juft reafon. But, as
chief paftor of the church, he has no right to any tem¬
poral jurifdiXion over his flock. As fuch, his power is
entirely fpiritual, and has no means of coercion original¬
ly or neceffarily conneXed writh it, but only ecclefiafti-
cal cenfures. It muft be owned, that the popes, in fome
ages, fometimes imagining that they could do much good,
fometimes by the confent, or even at the defire, of the fo-
vereigns, and fometimes no doubt out of ambitious views,-
have interfered a great deal in the temporal affairs of the
different kingdoms of Europe, which has frequently given
fcandal and done harm to religion. Butit isknown tothofe
moft verfant in hiftory, that their faults of this kind have
been exaggerated, and their conduX often mifunderftood
or mifreprefented. However, in this a Roman Catholic
is not obliged to approve what they have done ; nay,
without aXing contrary to his religion, he may judge of
them freely, and blame them if he think they deferve
it \ only he will do it wnth refpeX and regret. Thus a
Roman Catholic may either apologife, if he think he can
do it, for the conduX of Innocent III. in depofing King
John of England ; or, without being guilty of any of¬
fence againft his religion, he may blame the pontiff for
what he did on that occafion 5 becaufe the power of the
pope to depofe princes, or to abfolve fubjeXs from their
allegiance, was never propofed as an article of faith, or
Z made
(a) Any ether man may unqueftronably do the fame when they are made with that exprefs condition.
POP [ 173 ] POP
made a fertn of communion with the church of Rome.
Some Catholic divines, indeed, efpecially among the Je¬
suits, are univerfally known to have held this extrava¬
gant and dangerous opinion ; but by far the greater
part of them condemn and abhor it as abfurd and im¬
pious : and Hire I y it is but fair and juft to allow them
to know beft what they themfelves believe. And here,
to conclude, we fluill add, that it is very defirable that
Chriftians of all denominations endeavour to underftand
one another better than they have often done ; and in-
ftead of fuppoiing imaginary differences, ftrive to remove
real ones, for the general good of mankind, for the glory
of God, and honour of religion j and that all vie with
one another to excel in juft and charitable fentiments,
language, and behaviour.
1 he reader, who wifties to know what can be urged
for and againft the fupremacy of the pope, and who is
fitted by his knowledge of ecclefiaftical hiftory to un¬
der! rand the nature of the queftion at iffue, may confult,
on the one hand, the works of Rellarmine, together
with a fmall trad! lately publifhed in Englifh, under the
title of I he Divine Economy of Chrift in Ins Kingdom or
Church ; and on the other, Barrow’s treatile on the
Dope's Supremacy, together with Chilingworth’s Reli¬
gion of Protef.ants, &c.
Pope, Dominions of, or Ecclefafical States, a coun¬
try of Italy, bounded on the north by the gulf of Ve¬
nice and the Venetian dominions, on the fouth by the
Mediterranean, on the eaft by the kingdom of Naples
and the Adriatic, and on the weft by Tufcany and Mo¬
dena. It is 400 miles long on the coaft of the Adriatic
from Naples to the Venetian territory. It is but nar¬
row, however, from north to fouth, not being more
than 80 miles broad from the gulf of Venice to the
Tufcan fea.
I he foil, in general, of the pope’s dominions is very
fertile, but ill cultivated ; and there are many fens and
marlhy grounds wftiich are very prejudicial to the air.
l hat the lands are badly cultivated and inhabited, the
air bad, and the inhabitants poor, idle, lazy, and
grofsly fuperftitious, is owing to a variety of caufes.
With refpeft to the accommodations of life, this country
is but in a very indifferent condition ; for, notwithftanding
the fertility of its foil, its advantageous fituation for traf¬
fic^ the large films fpent in it by travellers, or remitted
to it from foreign countries, and its having, for its ruler,
the fucceffor of St Peter, the prince of the apoftles, and
tne vicar of Jefus Chrift ; yet it is poor and thin of in¬
habitants, ill cultivated, and without trade and manu-
faftures. I his is partly owing to the great number
of holidays, of fturdy beggars called pilgrims, and of
hefpitals and convents, with the amazing but perhaps ufe-
lefs wealth of churches and convents, and the inquiiition:
but the chief caufe is the feverity of the government,
and the grievous exadlions and hardlhips to which the
fubjeffs are expofed. The legates, though moftly cler¬
gymen, whofe tnoughts fhouid be chiefiy employed a-
bout laying up trealures in heaven, and who ought to
fet an exampie to the laity of diiintereftednefs and a
contempt of this world, too often, it is faid, fcruple no
kind of rapacioufnefs: even the holy father himfelf, and
the cardinals, frequently make the enriching of their ne-
phews and other relations, and the aggrandizing their
families, too much the bufmefs of their fives. The exten-
five claims and great pretenfions of the pope are well
known, and by a large part of Chriftendom, are now
tieated wiih contempt and mockery. I he Reforma¬
tion gave a great blow to his fphitual power ; and the
French revolution has leffened it ftill more. His tem¬
poral dominions, however, ftill continue much the fame j
though how long this may be the cafe, confidering how
much he hath loft, and is daily lofing, of his ghoftly era*
pire, and the veneration in which he was formerly held,
it is difficult to fay. See Pope.—The Campania of’
Rome is under the pope’s immediate government; but
the other provinces are governed by legates and vice-le¬
gates, and there is a commander in chief of the pope’s
forces in every province. The pope is chofen by the
cardinals in the conclave : See this particularly deferib-
ed above. I he pope holds a confiftory of cardinals on
ecclefiaftical affairs ; but the cardinals do not meddle
with his civil government. The pope’s chief minifter is
the cardinal-patron, ulually his nephew, who amaffes an
immenfe eftate, if the reign be of any long duration.
I he cardinal that is chofen pope muft generally be an
Italian, and at leaft 55 years of age. The fpirituai
power of the pope, though far fhort of what it was be¬
fore the Reformation, is ftill confiderable. It is com¬
puted that the monks and regular clergy, who are abfo-
lutely at his devotion, do not amount to lefs than
2,000,000 of people, difperfed through all the Roman
Catholic countries, to aflfert his fupremacy over princes,
and promote the intereft of the church. The revenues
of thefe monks do not fall ftiort of 20,006,000). Ster¬
ling, belides the cafual profits arifing from offerings,
and the people’s bounty to the church, who are taught
that their falvation depends on this kind of benevo¬
lence.
The pope’s revenues, as a temporal prince, may a-
mount to about l,ooo,oool. Sterling per annum, ari¬
fing chiefly from the monopoly of corn, the duties on
wine and other provifions. Over and above thefe, vaft
fums are continually flowing into the papal treafury from
all the Roman Catholic countries, for difpenfations, in¬
dulgences, canonizations, annates, the pallia, and inve-
ftitures of archbiftiops, bifliops, &c.
The pope has a confiderable body of regular forces,
well clothed and paid ; but his fleet confifts only of a
few galleys. His life guards are 40 Switzers, 75 ctiiraf-
fiers, and as many light horfe. Since the beginning of
the French revolutionary war he had at one time a guard
of Fnglilh hoife. But v.hat has now been faid of the re¬
venue and conftitutions of the papal ftates muft refer to
the circumftances in which they were previous to the time
when they were feized and plundered by the rapacity of
the French 5 and the pope muft now be confidered, a-
long with almoft every other continental power, as
completely under the fubjeftion and controul of Bona¬
parte. See France and Italy.
Pope, Alexander, a celebrated Englifti poet, defeend-
ed from a refpe&able family, was born the 8th of
June 1688, at London, where his father was then a
confiderable merchant. He was taught to read very
early by an aunt ; and learned to write without any af-
fiftance, by copying printed books. The family being
of the Romilh religion, he was put, at eight years of
age, under one Taverner, a prieft, who taught him the
rudiments of the Latin and Greek tongues together ;
and foon after was fent to a Popilh feminary at Win-
chefter, from whence he was removed to a fehool at
POP [ 179 ] POP
Pope. Hyde-Park. Corner'. He difcovcred early an inclination
t0 verifying j and the trandations of Ogilby and San-
dys from Virgil and Ovid firft falling in his way, they
were his favourite authors. At twelve he retired with
his parents to Binfield, in Windfor Fore ft j and there
became acquainted with the writings of Spenfer, Wal¬
ler, and Dryden. Dryden ftruck him moft, probably
becaufe the caft of that poet was moft congenial with
his own ; and therefore he not only ftudied his works
intenfely, but ever after mentioned him with a kind of
rapturous veneration. He once obtained a fight of him
at a coffee houfe, but never was known to him : a mif-
fortune wdiich he laments in thefe fhort but expreflive
words, Virgilium tantum vidi. Though Pope had been
under more tutors than one, yet it feems they were fo
infufficient for the purpofeof teaching, that he had learn¬
ed very little from them ; fo that, being obliged afterwards
to begin all over again, he may juftly be confidered as one
of the ccvlodidctdlot or felf-taught. At fifteen he had ac¬
quired a readinefs in the turn learned languages ; to
which he foon after added the French and Italian. He
had already fcribbled a great deal of poetry in various
ways *, and this year fet about an epic poem called Al-
cander. He long after communicated it to Atterbury,
with a declared intention to burn it •, and that friend
concurred with him : “ Though (adds he) 1 wmuld
have interceded for the firft page, and put it, with your
leave, among my curiofities.” What the poet himfelf
obferves upon thefe early pieces is agreeable enough 5
and fhovrs, that though at firft a little intoxicated with
the waters of Helicon, he afterwards arrived to great
fobriety of thinking. “ I confefs (fays he) there w’as
a time when I wras in love with myfelf 5 and my firft
produdlions w;ere the children of Self-love upon Inno¬
cence. I had made an epic poem, and panegyrics on
all the princes 5 and I thought myfelf the greateft ge¬
nius that ever was. I cannot but regret thefe delight¬
ful vifions of my childhood, which, like the fine colours
we fee wdien our eyes are fhut, are vaniilied for ever.”
His paftorals, begun in 1704, firft introduced him to
the wits of the time ; among wdiich wrere Wycherly and
Walfh. This laft gentleman proved a fincere friend to
him *, and foon difcerning that his talent lay, not fo
much in ftriking out new thoughts of his own, as in
improving thofe of other men, and in an eafy verfifica-
tion, told him, among other things, that there w^as one
way left open for him to excel his predeceffors in, which
w'as cone&nefs: obferving, that though we had feve-
ral great poets, yet none of them w-ere correft. Pope
took the hint, and turned it to good account *, for no
doubt the diftinguifhing harmony of his numbers w^as
in a great meafure Giving to it. The fame year, 1704,
he wrote the firft part of his Windfor Foreft, though
the whole w7as not publiftied till 1710. In 1708, he
ivrote the Effay on Criticifm : which produ&ion wras
iuftly efteemed a mafterpiece in its kind, and ftiowed
not only the peculiar turn of his talents, but that thofe
talents, young as he wTas, wTere ripened into perfeftion.
He wTas not yet tw'enty years old ; and yet the matu¬
rity of judgement, the knowledge of the world, and the
penetration into human nature, difplayed in that piece,
were fuch as wmuld have done honour to the greateft
abilities and experience. But whatever may he the
merit of the Effay on Criticifm, it wras ftill furpaffed,
in a poetical view, by the Rape of the Lock, firft com¬
pletely publi (lied in 1712. The former excelled in the Fopef
didactic way, for which he was peculiarly formed \ a clear
head, ftrong lenfe, and a found judgement, being his cha-
rafteriftical qualities j but it is the creative pow’er of the
imagination that conftitutes what is properly called a
poet ; and therefore it is in the Rape of the Lock that
Pope principally appears one, there being more vit
imaginandi difplayed in this poem than perhaps in all
his other works put together. In 1713, he gave out
propofals for publiihing a tranflation of Homer’s Iliad,
by fubfcription ; in which all parties concurred fo hear¬
tily, that he acquired a conllderable fortune by it.
The fabfcripiion amounted to 6000I. beiides 1200I.
which Lintot the bookfeller gave him for the copy.
Pope’s finances being now in good condition, he pur-
chafed a houfe at Twickenham, whither he removed
wiih his father and mother in 171$.: where the for¬
mer died about two years after. As he was a Papift,
he could not purchafe, ncr put his money to intereft
on real fecurity ; and as he adhered to the caufe of
King Tames, he made it a point of confcience not to
lend it to the new government; fo that, though he wyas
worth near 20,oool. w-hen he laid afide bufinefs, yet, li¬
ving afterwards upon the quick flock, he left but a (len¬
der iubfiftence to his family. Our poet, however, did not
fail to improve it to the utmoft : he had already acqui¬
red much by his publications, and he w/as all attention
to acquire more. In 1717, he publiftied a collection
of all he had printed feparately ; and proceeded to give
a new edition of Shakefpeare : which, being publifhed
in 1721, difcovered that he had confulied his fortune
more than his fame in that undertaking. The Iliad
being finifhed, he engaged upon the like focting to
undertake the Odyffey. Mr Broome and Mr Fenton
did part of it, and received jcol. of Mr Pope for their
labours. It was publifhed in the fame manner, and on
the fame conditions to Lintot; excepting that, inftead
of 12col. he had but 600I. for the copy. This work
being finiftred in 1725, he was afterwards employed
with Swift and Arbuthnot in printing fome volumes
of Mifcellanies. About this time he narrowly efcaped
lofing his life, as he was returning home in a friend’s
chariot ; wdrich, on pafting a bridge, happened to be
overturned, and thrown with the horfes into the river.
The glaffes wyere up, and he was not able to break them:
fo that he had immediately been drowned, if the po-
ftillion had not broke them, and dragged him out to
the bank. A fragment of the glafs, however, cut him
fo defperately, that he ever after loft the ufe of two of
his fingers. In 1727 his Dunciad appeared in Ireland ;
and the year after in England, with notes by Swift,
under the name of Scriblerus. This edition was pre-
fented to the king and queen by Sir Robert Walpole j
w7ho, probably about this time, offered to procure Pope
a penfion, wdiich however he refufed, as he had for¬
merly done a propofal of the fame kind made him by
Lord Halifax. He greatly cultivated the fpirit of in¬
dependency ; and “ Unplac’d, unpenfion’d, no man’s
heir or (lave,” was frequently his boaft. He fome-
where obferves, that the life of an author is a (late of
warfare : he has ftiown himfelf a complete general in
this w7ay of wrarring. He bore the infults and injuries
of his enemies long ; but at length, in the Dunciad,
made an abfolutely univerfal (laughter of them : for
even Cibber, wdio was afterwards advanced to be the
Z 3 hero
POP [ 180 ] POP
Pope. hero of it, could not forbear owning, that nothing was
ever more perfeft and finifhed in its kind than this poem.
In 17 29, by the advice of Lord Bolingbroke, he turn¬
ed his pen to fubjefts of morality j and accordingly
we find him, with the affiftance of that noble friend,
who furnifhed him with the materials, at work this year
upon the Effay on Man. The following extradt of a
letter to Swift difcovers the reafon of his lordlliip’s
advice : “ Bid him (fays Bolingbroke) talk to you of
the work he is about, I hope in good earned: ^ it is a
fine one, and will be, in his hands, an original. His
foie complaint is, that he finds it too eaiy in the exe¬
cution. This Hatters his lazinefs : it Hatters my judge¬
ment 5 who always thought, that, univerfal as his ta¬
lents are, this is eminently and peculiarly his, above all
the writers I know, living or dead j I do not except
Horace.” Pope tells the dean in the next letter, that
“ the work Lord Bolingbroke fpeaks of with fuch
abundant partiality, is a fyilem of ethics, in the Ho-
ratian way.” In purfuing the fame defign, he wrote
his Ethic Epiftles : the fourth of which, upon Tafte,
giving great offence, as he was fuppofed to ridicule the
duke of Chandos under the character of Timon, is
laid to have put him upon writing fatires, which he
continued till 1739. He ventured to attack perfons of
the higheft rank, and fet no bounds to his iatirical
rage. A genuine colleftion of his letters was publilh-
ed in 1737. In 1738, a French tranllation of the
Eflay on Man, by the Abbe Refuel, was printed at
Paris *, and Mr Croufaz, a German profeffor, animad¬
verted upon this fyftem of ethics, which he reprefented as
nothing elfe but a fyllem of naturalifm. MrWarburton,
afterwards bifiiop of Gloucefter, wrrote a commentary
upon the Effay ; in which he defends it againft Crou¬
faz, whofe obj eft ions he fuppofes owing to the faulti-
nefs of the Abbe Refnel’s tranflation. The poem was
republiHred in 1740, with the commentary. Our au¬
thor now added a fourth book to the Dunciad, which
was firft printed feparately in 1742 : but the year af¬
ter, the -whole poem came out top-ether, as a fpecimen
of a more correft edition of his works. He had made
fome progrefs in that defign, but did not live to com¬
plete it. He had all his life long been fubjeft to the
headach •, and that complaint, which he derived from
his mother, was now greatly increafed by a dropfy in
his breaft, under which he expired the 30th of May
1744, in the 56th year of his age. In his will, dated
December 11. 1743, Mifs Blount, a lady to whom he
was always devoted, was made his heir during her life :
and among other legacies, he bequeathed to Mr War-
burton the property of all fuch of his works, already
printed, as he had written, or fliould write commenta¬
ries upon, and which had not otherwife been difpofed of
or alienated j with this condition, that they were pub-
lifhed without future alterations. In difcharge of this
truft, that gentleman gave a complete edition of all Mr
Pope’s works, 1751, in nine vols. 8vo. A work, enti¬
tled, An Effay on the Writings and Genius of Pope, by
Mr Warton, two vols 8vo, will be read with pleafure by
thofe wEo defire to know more of the perfon, charac¬
ter, and writings of this excellent poet. Lord Orrery’s
account of him is very flattering : “ If we may judge
of him by his works (fays this noble author), his chief
aim was to be efteemed a man of virtue. His letters
are written in that ft vie } his laft volumes are all of the
moral kind , he has avoided trifles, and confequently
has efcaped a rock which has proved very injurious to
Swift’s reputation. He has given his imagination full
fcope, and yet has preferved a perpetual guard upon
his conduct. The conftitution of his body and mind
might really incline him to the habits of caution and re-
ferve. ihe treatment which he met with afterwards,
from an innumerable tribe of adverfaries, confirmed this
habit } and made him flower than the dean in pronoun¬
cing his judgement upon perfons and things. His profe-
writings are little lefs harmonious than his verfe } and
his voice, in common converfation wTas fo naturally mu-
fical, that 1 remember honeft Tom Southern uied to
call him the little nightingale. His manners were deli¬
cate, eafy, and engaging •, and he treated his friends
with a politenefs that charmed, and a generofity that
was much to his honour. Every gueft was made happy
within his doors j pleafure dwelt under his roof, and
elegance prefided at his table.”
Yet, from Dr Johnfon’s account of his domeftic ha¬
bits, we have reafon to doubt the latter part of this
charafter. His parfimony (he informs us) appeared
in very petty matters, fuch as writing his compofitions
on the backs of letters, or in a niggardly reception of
his friends, and a fcantinefs of entertainment—as the
fetting a Angle pint on the table to two friends, when,
having himfelf taken two fmall glaffes, he would retire,
faying, I leave you to your wine. He fometimes,
however, the Doftor acknowledges, made a fplendid
dinner •, but this happened feldom. He was very full
of his fortune, and frequently ridiculed poverty $ and
he leems to have been of an opinion not very uncom¬
mon in the wrorld, that to want money is to want every
thing. He -was almoit equally proud of his conneftion
■with the great, and often boafted that he obtained their
notice by no meannefs or fervility. This admiration of
the great increafed in the advance of life ; yet we muft
acknowledge, that he could derive but little honour
from the notice of Cobham, Burlington, or Boling¬
broke.
By natural deformity, or accidental diftortion, his
vital funftions rvere fo much difordered, that his life
was a long difeafe; and from this caufe arofe many of
his peculiarities and w'eakneffes. He flood conftantly
in need of female attendants •, and to avoid cold, of
which he was very lenfible, he wore a fur doublet under
his fhirt, &c. The indulgence and accommodation
which his ficknefs required, had taught him all the un-
pleafing and unfocial qualities of a valetudinary man.—
When he wanted to fleep, he nodded in company } and
once flumbeied at his own table when the prince of
Wales wTas talking of poetry. He was extremely trou-
blefome to fuch of his friends as alked him out, which
many of them frequently did, and plagued the fervants
beyond defeription. His love of eating is another fault,
to which he is faid to have fallen a facrifice. In all
his intercourfe with mankind, he had great delight in
artifice, and endeavoured to attain all his purpofes by
indireft and unfufpefted methods.
In familiar converfation it is faid he never excelled j
and he was fo fretful and fo eafily difpleafed, that he
would fometimes leave Lord Oxford’s filently without
any apparent reafon, and was to be courted back by
more letters and meffages than the fervants were willing
to carry.
Dr
p ° p [I
Pope, Dr Johnfon alfo gives a view of the intellectual cha-
Popery. rafter of Pope, and draws a parallel between Dryden
and him. For particulars, however, we mull refer our
readers to Johnfon's Lives of the Poets.
POPERY, in ecclefiadical hiftory, comprehends the
religious doctrines and practices adopted and main¬
tained by the church of Rome. The following fummary,
extrafted chiefly from the decrees of the council of
Trent, continued under. Paul III. Julius III. and Pius
IV. from the year 1545 to 1563, by fuccefiive feflions,
and the creed of Pope Pius IV. fubjoined to it, and
bearing date November 1 564, may not be unacceptable
to the reader. One of the fundamental tenets, ftre-
nuoufly maintained by Popifn writers, is the infallibi¬
lity of the church of Rome ; though they are not
agreed whether this privilege belongs to the pope or a
general council, or to both united j but they pretend
that an infallible living judge is abfolutely neceffary to
determine controverfies, and to fecure peace in the
Chriftian church. However, Proteftants allege, that
the claim of infallibility in any church is not juflihed
by the authority of Scripture ; much lefs does it per¬
tain to the church of Rome ; and that it is inconfiftent
with the nature of religion, and the perfonal obliga¬
tions of its profeflbrs; and that it has proved ineffec¬
tual to the end for which it is fuppofed to be granted,
fince popes and councils have difagreed in matters of
importance, and they have been incapable, with the ad-
vantage of this pretended infallibility, of maintaining
union and peace.
Another effential article of the popifli creed is the
fupremacy of the pope, or his fovereign power over the
univerfal church. See Pope.
Farther, the doftrine of the feven facraments is a pe¬
culiar and diftinguifliing doftrrne of the church of Rome 5
thefe are baptifm, confirmation, the eucharift, penance,
extreme unction, orders, and matrimony.
The council of Trent (feff. 7. can. x.) pronounces
an anathema on thofe who fay, that the lacraments are
more or fewer than feven, or that any one of the above
number is not truly and properly a facrament. And
yet it does not appear that they amounted to this num¬
ber before the 12th century, when Hugo de St Vic-
tore and Peter Lombard, about the year 1144, taught
that there were feven facraments. The council of
Florence, held in 1438, was the firft council that de¬
termined this number. Thefe facraments confer grace,
according to the decree of the council of Trent, (fef.
7. can. 8.) ex opere opcralo, by the mere adminiftration
of them; three of them, viz. baptifm, confirmation,
and orders, are faid, (can. 9.) to imprefs an indelible
charafter, fo that they cannot be repeated without fa-
crilege; and the efficacy of every facrament depends
on the intention of the prieft by whom it is admini-
ftered (can. xx.) Pope Pius exprefsly enjoins, that
all thefe facraments Ihould be adminiftered according
to the received and approved rites of the Catholic
church. With regard to the eucharift in particular, we
may here obferve, that the church of Rome holds the
doftrine of tranfubftantiation } the neceflity of paying
divine worlhip to Chrift under the form of the confe-
crated bread, or hoft; the propitiatory facrifice of the
mafs, according to their ideas of which Chriff is truly and
properly offered as a facrifice as often as the prieft fays
mafs) it praftifes likewife folitary mafs, in which the
81 ] POP
prieft alone, who confecrates, communicates, and allows Popery,
communion only in one kind, viz. the bread, to the lai- '"-—x—
ty. Self. 14.
The doftrine of merits is another diftinguifliing tenet
of popery; with regard to which the council of Trent
has exprefsly decreed (feff. 6. can. 32.) that the good
works of juftified perfons are truly meritorious ; deferv-
ing not only an increafe of grace, but eternal life, and
an increafe of glory 5 and it has anathematized all who
deny this doftrine. Of the fame kind is the doftvine
of fatisfaftion j which lappofes that penitents may truly
fatisfy, by the aftiiftions they endure under the difpen-
fations of Providence, or by voluntary penances to
which they fubmit, for the temporary penalties of fin,
to which they are iubjeft, even after the remiflion of
their eternal punilhment. Sell'. 6. can. 30. and feff. 14.
can. 8. and 9. In this conneftion we may mention the
popifli diftinftion of venial and mortal fins: the greateft
evils arifing from the former are the temporary pains of
purgatory 5 but no man, it is faid, can obtain the par¬
don of the latter wfithout confefling to a prieft, and per¬
forming the penances which he impofes.
The council of Trent (feff. 14. can. 1.) has exprefsly
decreed, that every one is accurfed, who {hall affirm that
penance is not truly and properly a facrament, inftituted
by Chrift in the univerfal church, for reconciling thofe
Chriftians to the divine majefty, who have fallen into fin
after baptifm : and this facrament, it is declared, con-
fifts of two parts, the matter and the form ; the matter
is the aft of the penitent, including contrition, confef-
fion, and fatisfaftion ; the form of it is the aft of abfo-
lution on the part of the prieft. Accordingly it is en¬
joined, that it is the duty of every man, who hath fallen
after baptifm, to confefs his fins once a year, at leaft, to
a prieft : that this confeffion is to be fecret ; for public
confeflion is neither commanded nor expedient; and that
it muft be exaft and particular, including every kind
and aft of fin, with all the circumftances attending it.
When the penitent has fo done, the prieft pronounces an
abfolution ; which is not conditional or declarative on¬
ly, but abfolute and judicial. This fecret or auricular
confeflion was firft decreed and eftabliftied in the fourth
council of Lateran, under Innocent III. in 1215, (cap.
21). And the decree of this council was afterwards con¬
firmed and enlarged in the council of Florence, and in
that of Trent 5 which ordains, that confeffion was infti¬
tuted by Chrift, that by the law of God it is neceffary
to falvation, and that it has been always praftifed in the
Chriftian church. As for the penances impofed on the
penitent by way of fatisfaftion, they have been common¬
ly the repetition of certain forms of devotion, as pater-
nofters, or ave-marias, the payment of ftipulated fums,
pilgrimages, fafts, or various fpecies of corporal difeipline.
But the moft formidable penance, in the eftimation of
many who have belonged to the Romiih communioiij
has been the temporary pains of purgatory. But under
all the penalties which are inflifted or threatened in the
Romiflr church, it has provided relief by its indulgences,
and by its prayers or maffes for the dead, performed
profefl’edly for relieving and refeuing the fouls that are
detained in purgatory.
Another article that has been long authoritatively en¬
joined and obferved in the church of Rome, is the celi¬
bacy of her clergy. This was firft enjoined at Rome
by Gregory VII. about the year 1074, and eftabliflitd
in
POP [ ]
JPopery. in England by Amelin archbiftiop of Canterbury about
the year 1175J though his predeceffbr Lanfranc had
impofed it upon the prebendaries and clergy that lived
in towns. And though the council of Trent was re¬
peatedly petitioned by teveral princes and ftates to abo-
lith this reflramt, the obligation of celibacy was rather
eftabhfhed than relaxed by this council j for they de¬
creed, that marriage contrafted after a vow of contin¬
ence, is neither lawful nor valid ; and thus deprived the
church of the poffibility of ever refloring marriage to
the clergy. For if marriage, after a vow, be in itfelf
unlawful, the greatsit authority upon earth cannot dif-
penfe with it, nor permit marriage to the clergy, who
have already vowed continence.
To the dodhines and practices above recited may be
farther added the worfliip of images, of which Proteft-
ants accufe the Papifts. But to this accufation the Pa-
Papijlmif. r?Plies» tllat lieePs images by him to preferve in
reprefented mmd the memory of the perlons reprefen ted by them j
and repve- as people are wont to preferve the memory of their de-
fented. ceafed friends by keeping their pidlures. He is taught
(he fays) to ufe them fo as to call his eyes upon the
pidlures or images, and thence to raife his heart to the
things reprefented, and there to employ it in meditation,
love, and thankfgiving, delire of imitation, &c. as the
objedl requires.
Ihefe pictures or images have this advantage, that
they inform the mind by one glance of what in reading
might require a,whole chapter. There being no other
difference between them, than that reading reprefents
leifurely and by degrees ; and a picture, all at once.
Hence he finds a convenience in faying his prayers with
fome devout pidtures before him, he being no fooner
diftradted, but the fight of thefe recals his wandering
thoughts to the right objedt; and as certainly brings
Something good inlo his mind, as an immodeft picture
dilturbs his heart with filthy thoughts. And becaufe
he is fenfible that thefe holy pidtures and images repre-
fent and bring to his mind fuch objedts as in his heart
he loves, honours, and venerates; he cannot but upon
that account love, honour, and relpedt, the images them-
felves.
The council of Trent likewife decreed, that all bifliops
Ibid. and pallors who have the cure of fouls, do diligently in-
ffrudt their flocks, that it is good and profitable to defire
the mtercefjion of faints reigning with Chri/l in heaven.
And this decree the Papiits endeavour to defend by the
following obfervations. They confefs that we have but
one Mediator of redemption ; but affirm that it is ac¬
ceptable to Goa that we Ihould have many mediators of
interceffion. Mofes (fay they) was fuch a mediator for
the Ilfaelites 5 Job for his three friends} Steph en for his
perfecutors. The Romans were thus defired by St Paul
to be his mediators ; fo were the Corinthians, fo the
Ephefians, TLp. ad Rom. Cor. Eph. fo almolt every lick
man defires the congregation to be his mediators, by re¬
membering him in their prayers. And fo the Papilt
defires the bleffed in heaven to be his mediators j that
is, that, they would pray to God for him. But between
thefe. living and dead mediators there is no fimiiarity :
the living mediator is prefent, and certainly hears the
requelt of thofe who defire him to intercede for them \
the dead mediator is as certainly abfent, and cannot pof-
fibly hear the requelts of all thofe who at the fame in-
ftant may be begging him to intercede for them, unlefs
82 ] POP
he be poilclTcd of the divine attribute of omniprefence 5 Popery,
and he who gives that attribute to any creature is un- Popham!
queftionably gudty of idolatry. And as this decree is '"■“"Y'-"
contrary to one of the firft principles of natural religion,
fo does it receive no countenance from Scripture, or any
Chriftian writer of the three firit centuries. Other prac¬
tices peculiar to the Papiits are the religious honour and
refpect that they pay to facred relicks 5 by which they
underhand not only the bodies and parts of the bodies
of the faints, but any of thole things that appertained to
them, and which they touched) and the celebration of
divine fervice in an unknown tongue : to which purpofe
tue council of i rent hath denounced an anathema on
any one who fnall lay tnat mafs ought to be celebrated
only in the vulgar tongue ; feff. 25. and feff. 22. can. 9.
1 hough the council of Lateran under Innocent III. in
1215 (can. 9.) had exprefsly decreed, that becaufe in
many parts within the fame city and diocefe there are
many people of different manners and rites mixed toge¬
ther, but of one faith, the bifliops of fuch cities or dio-
cefes fnould provide fit men for celebrating divine of¬
fices, according to the diverfity of tongues and riles, and
for adrninittering the facraments.
.We fhall only add, that the church of Rome main¬
tains, that unwritten traditions ought to be added to the
holy Scriptures, in order to fupply their defed, and to
be regarded as of equal authority ; that the books of the
Apocrypha are canonical feripture ; that the vulgate
edition of the Bible is to be deemed authentic ; and that
the Scriptures are to be received and interpreted accord¬
ing to that fenfe which the holy mother church, to whom
it belongs to judge of the true fenfe, hath held, and doth
hold, and according to the unanimous confent of the fa¬
thers.
Such are the principal and diftinguiffiing do&rines of
Popery, moft of which have received the fanftion of the
council of Trent, and that of the creed of Pope Pius IV.
which is received, profeffed, and fworn to by every one
who enters into holy orders in the church of Rome ; and
at. the clofe of this creed, we are told that the faith con¬
tained in it is fo abfolutely and indifpenfably neceffary,
that no man can be faved without it.
Pvlany of the doflrines of Popery were relaxed, and
very favourably interpreted by M. de Meaux, biffiop of
Condom, in his Expofition of the Dottrine of the Ca¬
tholic Church, firft printed in the year 1671 : but this
edition, which w7as charged with perverting, in endea¬
vouring to palliate, the dodlrine of the church, was cen-
fured by the doctors of the Sorbonne, and adlually fup-
preffed ; nor does it appear that they ever teftified their
approbation in the ufual form of fubfequent and alter¬
ed editions. It has, howrever, been publiflied in this
country, by a clergyman of the Romiih church, whofe
integrity, piety, and benevolence, w'ould do honour to
any communion.
POPHAM, Sir John, lord chief juftice of the com¬
mon pleas in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was the
eldeft fon of Edward Popham, Efq *, of HuntwTorth in
Somerfetfhire, and born in the year 1331. He was fome
time a ftudent of Baliol college in Oxford ^ “ being
then (fays Ant. Wood) given at leifure hours to many
fports and exercifes.” After quitting the univerfity, he
fixed in the Middle Temple ; where, during his noviti¬
ate, he is faid to have indulged in that kind of diffipa-
tion to which youth and a vigorous conftitution more
naturally
POP
[ ’
Pophim naltiraily incline than to the fludy of voluminous re-
Population ^or^s' but, fatiated at length with what are called the
1 pleafurex of the town, he applied feduloufly to the ftudy
of his profeificn, was called to the bar, and in i 568 be¬
came fununer or autumn reader. He was foon after
made ierjeant at law, and folicitor-general in 1 j’rQ. In
1581, he was appointed attorney-general, and treafurer
0, . k£. fiddle iemple. In 1592, he was made lord
cnief juftice of the king’s bench, and the fame year re¬
ceived the honour of knighthood. In the year 1601, his
lordihip was one of the council detained by the unfortu¬
nate earl of Effex, when he formed the ridiculous pro¬
ject! of defending himfelf in his houfe : and, on the earl’s
trial, he gave evidence againft him relative to their de¬
tention. He died in the year 1607, aged 76 ; and was
buried in the fouth aide of the church at Wellington in
Somerfetfhire, where he generally refided as often as it
was in his power to retire. He was thought fomewhat
fevere in the execution of the law againft capital offen¬
ders : but his feverity had the happy effect of reducing
the number of highway robbers. He wrote, r. Reports
and caies adjudged in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 2.
Refolutions and judgements upon cafes and matters agitat¬
ed in all the courts at Weftminfter in the latter end of
Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
POPLAR. See Populus, Botany Index.
POPLI l/EUS, in Anatomy, a fmall mufcle oblique¬
ly pyramidal, fituated under the ham. See Anatomy,
1 able o f the Mufcles.
POPPY. See Pap aver, Botany Index, and Opium,
Materia Medic a Index.
POPULAR, fomething that relates to the common
people.
POPULATION, means the Hate of a country with
refped to the number of people. See Bills of MORTA¬
LITY and Political-Arithmetic.
The queftion concerning the number of men exifh'ng
upon earth, has been varioufly determined by different
writers. Riccioli fates the population of the globe at
IOOO millions, Volfius at 500 ; the Journaliffs of Tre-
youx at 720 •, and the editor (Xavier de Feller) of the
imall Geographical Diddionary of Vofgien, reprinted at
Paris in 1778, at 370 millions. This laff efHmate is
perhaps too low, although the writer profeffes to have
taken confiderable pains to afcertaln the point xvith as
much accuracy as the nature of the fabjeel will admit.
It may, perhaps, not be deemed unworthy the attention
of the curious fpeculatift to obferve, that affuming the
more probable ftatement of the learned Jefuits of Tre-
voux, and that the world has exifted about 6006 years
in its prefent fate of population, then the whole number
of perfons who have ever exifted upon earth fince the
days of Adam amounts only to about one hundred and
thirty thoufandmillions; becaufe 720,000,000 X 182 (the
number of generation s in 6006 years) m 31,040,000,000.
See on this fubjeff the authors above mentioned, as like-
wife Beaufobre’s Etude de la Politique.
With regard to the population of England, the rea¬
der may confult, together with our article P0L1T1CAL-
Arithmetic, An Inquiry into the prefent State of Popu¬
lation, &c. oy W. Wales, F. R. S.; and Mr Hewlett’s
Examination of Dr Price’s Effay on the fame fabjecl.
But for a later account of the population of England,
fee the different counties under their proper names j for
83 ] FOR
that of Scotland, fee the different counties, and for the Popwlus
general population, fee Scotland. II
POPULUS, the Poplar, a genus of plants belong- Qr^a-r-’
ing to the dioecia clafs; and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 50th order, Amentacece. See Botany
Index.
The poplar, one of the moft beautiful of the aquatic
trees, has frequently been introduced into the poetical
deferiptions of the ancients; as by Virgil, Eel. vii. 66.
ix. 41. Georg, ii. 66. iv. 511. IEn. viii. 31. 276. ; by
Ovid, A??iOrn. Parid. 27. ; by Horace, Carrn. ii. 3. and
by Catullus, Nupt. Phil, et Thet. 290, &c. &c.
POQUELIN, or Pocquelin, John Baptist. See
Moliere.
PQRANA, a genus of plants belonging to the pent-
andria clafs. See Botany Index.
PORCELAIN, in its more general ftgnification, Mature of
comprehends all kinds of earthen ware, which are white, porcelain,
femitranfparent, and have fome degree of a vitreous tex¬
ture. Hence, in this extenfive meaning of the term, it
includes all kinds of pottery, ftoneware, delft ware, &c.;
but in a more limited lenfe, the word Porcelain is em¬
ployed to denote only the finer kinds of earthen ware ;
and becaufe this kind of ware has been, from time imme¬
morial, manufactured in the greateft degree of perfection
in China, it has obtained the name of Chinefe Porcelain,
or China IVare.
In the Chinefe language, porcelain is denoted by the Derivation,
word tfe-ki, fo that the derivation of the term is not to of the
be fought for in that language ; and hence it is fuppof. name,
ed to be of European extraction, and to be derived from
the Portuguefe language; for in this language the word
porcellana iignifies a cup or veffel. ^
The firft porcelain which was feen in Europe was Porcelain
brought from Japan and China. Its whitenefs, tranf-firftbrought
P'lrency, finenefs of texture, with its elegance and fro(n
beautiful colours, foon introduced it as an ornament ofand after-’
the tables of the rich and powerful, while at the fame wards made
time it excited the admiration and induftry of the Eu-’n Europe,
ropean manufacturer. Accordingly attempts were made
to imitate this kind of ware, in different countries of Eu¬
rope. Thefe attempts have fucceeded fo well, that the
produce of the manufacture has acquired the name of
Porcelain. The firft European porcelains were made in.
Saxony ; the manufacture was afterwards introduced in¬
to France, and fucceflively into England, Germany and
Italy, -where it has arrived at various degrees of perfec¬
tion, according to the nature of the materials which can
be obtained, and the induftry and ingenuity of the artift
who fuperintends and directs it j but after all, to what¬
ever degree of perfection the manufacture of this ware
has reached in Europe, it muft ftill yield, in excel¬
lence and perfection, to the porcelain of eaftern coun¬
tries. ^
Of the antiquity of the manufacture of porcelain in Antiquity
China, little precife information can he expected from aofthe chi-
people who have always {hewn themfelves fo extremely f^0™anU"
averfe to the freedom of intercourfe with other nations ; a"'‘°ry’
but it is faid that the village or town of King-te-tching
has furnifhed the emperors of China with porcelain fince
the year 442 of the Chriftian era, and that it is an ob¬
ject of fo much attention to the Chinefe government,
that the manufacture is carried on under the fuperintend-
ance of one or two mandarins fent from court.
FOR [ 184 ] FOR
Porcelain.
' y ' 1. Hilloni fyf the Manufaclurc of Porcelain in China.
Grojier's J
*lefcript. The fulleft account which has yet been received in
of China. Europe of the manufacture of Chinefe porcelain, has
been given by Father D’Entrecolles, a Romifh miffion-
.ary, who lived for fome time in the village or town
where the principal manufaftory is eitablilhed. The ac-
.count which is given of this village, and of the manu-
5 fafture of porcelain, by this author, is the following :
and lultory 'J'his village or town which is celebrated as producing
the bell porcelain of China, is in the province of Kiang-
:fi, and it is faid to be a league and a half in length,
containing not lefs than 1,000,000 of inhabitants. Other
manufactories, indeed, have been eftablifhed in different
parts of the Chinefe empire, and particularly in thofe
places which are convenient for the European trade, as
in the provinces of Fo-kien and Canton ; but the por¬
celain produced at thefe manufactories is faid to be held
in inferior eftimation. A Chinefe emperor wifhing to
have a manufacture of porcelain under his own infpec-
tion at Pekin, ordered workmen to be collected for the
.purpofc, with all the neceflary materials and implements ;
but after ereCting furnaces and other expenlive opera¬
tions, the attempt failed, fo that King-te-tching, in the
time of our author, continued to be the molt celebrated
place in China for beautiful porcelain, and from this it
£ was tranfported to all parts of the world.
Materials The chief ingredients which enter into the compolition
employed in of fine porcelain are petun-tfe and kaolin, two kinds of
its compofi- earth from the mixture of which the pafte is obtained.
The petuntfe is of a pure white, and when fully pre¬
pared, is in the form of an impalpable powder, fo that it
is very fine to the touch. The kaolin, he obferves, is
intermixed with fmall fhining particles. Thefe materi¬
als are carried to the manufactory in the fiiape of bricks.
The petuntfe is originally the fragments of rock dug out
from certain quarries, and reduced to powder, and the
colour of the ftone which anfwers the purpofe belt, ac¬
cording to the Chinefe, inclines fomewhat to green. The
fragments of rock are broken to pieces with a large iron
club ; they are then put into mortars, and by means of
7 of levers headed with hard ftone, ftrongly fecured with
Preparation iron, they are reduced to the ftate of fine powder. The
•of petuntfe, levers, it is fcarcely necefiary to obferve, are moved ei¬
ther by the labour of men, or by water. The powder,
which is afterwards collefted, is thrown into a large vef-
fel of water, which is ftrongly agitated with an iron
{hovel. When this mixture has been allowed to fettle
for fome time, a fubftance refembling cream rifes to the
top, which is Ikimmed off, and poured into another vef-
fel alfo filled with water. The water in the firft veffel
is again agitated, and the frothy fubftance which rifes
to the fijrface is colleCled as before, and the fame ope¬
ration is repeated till it appear that nothing remains but
a coarfe fediment which falls to the bottom by its own
weight. This fediment is carefully colleCled, and again
fubjeCled to the procefs of pulverization.
The fluid in the fecond veffel is allowed to remain at
■reft till a fediment is produced, forming a kind of cruft
at the bottom 5 and when the water above feems to be
quite tranfparent, it is poured off by gently inclining
.the veffel, that the fediment may not be difturbed. The
pafte is then put into large moulds, and allowed to dry
jjowly j but before it becomes quite hard, it is divided
1
into fmall fquare cakes, which are fold by the hundred. PorcelaK
This is the lubftance which is called by the Chinefe /><?- v——-v—w
tuntfe, and the name is faid to be derived from the colour
and form of this palle. g
The kaolin, the other fubftance which is employed in and of
the fabrication of porcelain, requires fewer operations in kaolin,
its preparation than the former, as it is found in nature in
a ftate aimoft ready for the manufacturer. Of this
fubftance it is faid, that there are extenfive mines in
certain mountains $ the external ftrata of which are
compofed of a kind of red earth. The kaolin is found
in thefe mines in fmall lumps, and it is formed into
bricks by being fubjeCled to a fimilar procefs with the
petuntfe, &c.
The fine porcelain, it has been obferved, derives its ^ ^ 9
fabric and texture from the kaolin. It is to this that the flnei
qualities which it poffeffes of refilling the moil power- porcelain,
ful agents is owing; and it has been remarked as an
extraordinary eircumftance, that a foft earth fhould
communicate ftrength and confiftency to the petuntfe,
which is obtained from fome of the hardeft rocks. The •
author relates an anecdote which he received from*a
rich Chinefe merchant, that the Englifti and Dutch
having purchafed a quantity of petuntie, conveyed it to
Europe for the purpofe of manufacturing porcelain 5 but
having procured none of the kaolin, the attempt failed.
They wanted, added the Chineie with a fmile, to form
a body, the flefh of which ihould iupport itfelf without
bones.
It is faid that the Chinefe have difeovered of late ^ f
years a new fubftance which may be employed in the kaol-n.
compofition of porcelain. This ftone is called hoa-chey
the firft part of the word fignifying glutinous, becaufe it
is of a faponaceous quality. Porcelain made with this
fubftance is very rare, and bears a much higher price
than any other. The grain is extremely fine, and the
painting with which it is ornamented, when compared
with that of common porcelain, feems to exceed it as
much as vellum furpaffes paper. This variety of porce¬
lain, it is added, is alfo remarkable for its lightnefs. It
is beiides much more brittle, and it is found difficult to
hit upon the proper degree of heat for tempering it.
This fubftance, we are farther informed, is but rarely
employed in the fabrication of the body of the porce¬
lain *, the reafon of this perhaps is, the Icarcity and high
price of this precious article, in confequence of which
the workman is contented with making it into a fine
fize, into which the veffel is immerfed when it is dry,
that it may receive a coat before it is painted and
glazed 5 and by this procefs he finds that he can com¬
municate to the ware a high degree of beauty. The
previous proceffes in the preparation of this fubftance
are fimilar to thofe which are followed in the prepara¬
tion of kaolin. When hoa-che is dug out from the
mine, it is wafhed in rain or river water, for the purpole
of feparating a yellowifh earth with which it is con¬
taminated. It is then reduced to powder, thrown into
a veffel filled with water, and then formed into cakes.
The hoa-che prepared in this manner, withqut the ad¬
dition of any other earth, is faid to be alone fufficient
in the fabrication of porcelain. It is employed, as has
been already noticed, as a fubftitute for kaolin; but, on
account of its fcarcity, is much dearer. The price of
the former is three times that of the latter, and from
this circumftance the value of porcelain made with hoa-
che
P O R
11
Material
for glazing
porcelain.
•Porcelain, die Is mud higher than that which is manufaftured
1 with kaolin.
The principal ingredients in the fabrication of porce¬
lain are petuntfe and kaolin ; but to thefe mull be added
the glaze or varnilh, or, as it is called in the account
given of Chinefe porcelain, the oil, on which depend its
Iplendour and whitenefs. This varnifh is of a whitifh
colour, and is obtained from the fame kind of done
which yields the petuntfe j but for this purpofe the
whited done is always preferred. The glaze is ob¬
tained by a procefs dmilar to that which is followed in
the preparation of petuntfe. The done is fird walked and
reduced to powder j it is then thrown into a velfel with
water, and after being purified, a frothy matter rifes to
the furface. To 100 pounds of this matter, one pound
of a fubdance called che-kao, is added. This latter
is a faline fubdance, fomewhat like alum, which is put
into the fire, and allowed to remain till it become red
hot, when it is reduced to powder. By the addition of
this fubdance the glaze acquires a greater degree of
confidence, but at the fame time a proper degree
of fluidity mud be preferved. The glaze prepar¬
ed in this manner is not employed alone. Another
glaze is mixed with it, which is obtained from lime
andalhes; to too pounds weight of which is alfo added
one pound of che-kao, or the aluminous fubdance men¬
tioned above. When the two fubdances are mixed, it is
neceffary to attend that they be nearly of the fame con¬
fidence, and the workman afcertains this point by dip¬
ping into each of them fome cakes of petuntfe j and by
a clofe examination of their furfaces after they are
drawm out, he is able to judge of the confidence of the
fluids. The proportions of the two which are ufually
employed, are 10 parts of the glaze obtained from
the done, to one of that which is prepared from the lime
and from allies.
In the manufafture of the Chinefe porcelain, the
fird procefs after the feparate preparation of the mate¬
rials, is a fecond purification of the petuntfe and kao-
lm; and when they are found to be in a date of fuffi-
cient purity, the workmen proceed to mix the turn in¬
gredients together. The proportions employed for the
finer kinds of porcelain are equal parts of kao-lin and
petuntfe; for an inferior kind, four parts of kaolin to
fix of petuntfe are employed 5 and in fome kinds of por¬
celain, only one part of the former is added to three of the
latter. This is the fmalled proportion of kaolin which
is employed in the Chinefe manufa&ories. When the
proportions are fixed, and the mixture finilhed, the mafs
is thrown into a large pit, which is well paved and ce¬
mented. It is then trodden upon, and kneaded till it
become hard. This is the mod fatiguing part of the
labour, for it mud be continued without intermilfion.
From the mafs prepared in this manner the workmen
detach different pieces, which they fpread out upon large
dates, where they knead and roll them in all direftions,
taking care that no vacuum be left, and that there be
no mixture of any foreign body. The whole work
would be entirely fpoiled by the addition of a hair, or a
particle of fand. When the pade has been properly
prepared, the porcelain, when expofed to heat in the
furnace, retains its form without becoming foft, or en¬
tering iptp. fufion, and becomes femitranfparent, with¬
out exhibiting cracks or fuperficial fiffures; but when
there is any defeeff in the mixture or preparation, the
Vol. XVII. Part I.
r 185 i
FOR
iz
Proportion
and mix¬
ture of the
ingredients,
porcelain cracks, and becomes warped, or melts in the Porcelain,
furnace. v —v— j
The pade being thus prepared, the next operation is ^ -
to form the veflels for which it is defigned. All kinds °f
of plain ware are formed with the wheel. When a cup,porcelain
tor initance, has undergone this operation, the outfide ware,
of the bottom is quite round. The workman fird gives
it the requifite height and diameter, and it comes from
his hands almod the moment he has received it. Great
dexterity and expedition are abfolutely neceffary, on ac¬
count of the low price of labour in thefe manuf'a&ories.
A workman, it is laid, fcarcely receives a farthing per
board, each board containing no lefs than 26 pieces.
1 he cup then paffes to a fecond workman, by w’hom
the bafeis formed j it is then delivered to a third, who
applies it to the mould, and gives it the proper form.
When it is taken off the mould, it mult be turned care¬
fully,and not preffed more to one fide than the other;
for without this neceffary precaution it would become
warped or disfigured. The bnfinefs of the fourth work¬
man is to polifh it with the chifel, efpecially round the
edges, and diminifh the thicknefs, to give it the proper
degree of tranfparency. Having at length paffed through
the different hands from whom it receives its form and
various ornaments, it then comes to the laft workman
who forms the bottom with a chifel. It is wonderful*
it is faid, to fee with how much dexterity and expedi¬
tion the workmen convey the veffels from’ one to ano¬
ther ; and it is added, that a fingle piece of porcelain,
before it is completely finilhed, mult pafs through the
hands of no fewer than 70 different workmen. It is
indeed, we may obferve, to this minute divifion of la¬
bour that its low price is owing ; and on the fame circum-
ftance the remarkable dexterity and expedition which
have been noticed, depend.
In the execution of large works of porcelain, different O large
parts are firft formed individually; and when all the pieces woiks,
are finifiied,. and nearly dry, they are put together and
cemented with a paffe formed of the fame fubftance and
foftened with water. Some time after, the feams are po-
lilhed with a knife on both Tides of rhe veffel, fo that when
it is covered with a varnilh, or glazed, thev are fo com¬
pletely concealed, that the leaft trace of them is not per¬
ceptible. It is in this way that fpouts, handles, rings, and
other parts of a fimilar nature, are united. In this way
particularly are fabricated thole pieces which are formed
upon moulds, or by the hand, fuch as emboffed works,
grotefque images, idols, figures of trees or animals, and
buffs. All thefe are formed of four or five pieces joined
together, which are afterwards brought to perfedlion by
means of inffruments proper for carving, polilhing, and
finilhmg the different traces which the mould has left
imperfeft.. Flowers and ornaments which are not in re¬
lief, are either engraved, or the impreflion is made by
means of a ftamp; but ornaments in relief are prepared
feparately, and added to the pieces of porcelain to which
they are deftined.
The piece of porcelain being prepared according to PainfiL
the operations now deferibed, is next conveyed to the
painter: and in this-art it is obferved that'the Chi¬
nefe workmen follow no certain rule, and feem to be un¬
acquainted with any of the principles of perfpetfive.
Their knowledge is the eM of praftice, guided often
by a whimfical imagination. The labour of painting
porcelain in the Chinefe manufaftories is alfo divided
a among
Porcelain.
x6
Veined por
ceiain and.
fret-work.
Sinffiilar
k:nd of
porcelain.
X'8
Chinefe
furnaces.
P O H [ 1
among a great number of bands. Tbe bubuefs of one
man, for inftance, is folely limited to tracing out the
firfi; coloured circle with which the brim of the veffel is
adorned , another deligns the flowers, and a third paints
them. One delineates waters and mountains, while it
is the province of another to draw and paint birds and
other animals. Of the painting on Chinefe porcelain,
it has been obferved, that the human figure is often moit
indifferently executed.
A peculiar kind of glaze or varnifh, we are informed,
is obtained from white flint. This glaze, it is laid, has
the Angular property of making the pieces of porcelain
to which it is applied exhibit the appearance of veins
diftributed in all directions. Veffels glazed with this
material feem as if the lurface were cracked, without the
fragments being feparated or difplaccd. The colour of
this glaze is whitifh gray •, and when it is applied to
porcelain having an azure blue ground, it communi-
cales a beautifully variegated appearance. Vafes of Chi¬
nefe porcelain are fometimes fabricated in a different
manner. They are ornamented with a kind ot fret¬
work, which has fomething of the appearance of fine
lace, in the middle of which is placed a cup proper for
holding any liquid ; which conflitutes one body with the
furrounding fret-work.
We are informed that the Chinefe workmen formerly
poffeffed the fecret of fabricating a kind of porcelain of
a more Angular nature. On the fides of the veffel thus
formed were painted the figures of fiihes, infebts, and
other animals,' which could not be feen unlefs the veffel
was filled with water. It is faid that this fecret is in a
great mealure loft *, but the following is given as part of
the procefs of preparing this kind of porcelain. The
veffel which is to be painted, for the purpofe of produ¬
cing this peculiar effebt, muft be extremely thin and de¬
licate, When it is dry, the colour is laid on, not on
tiie outfide, however, as is ufualiy the cafe, but on
the infide of the veffel, and it is laid on pretty thick.
The figures which are painted upon it are ufually fifties,
as being more charabteriftic of tbe element in which
they live. When the colour is perfeblly dry, it is coated
over with a kind of glaze, compofed of porcelain earth,
fo that the azure is thus inclofed between two layers of
earthy n>atter •, and when the glaze becomes dry, the
workman pours fome oil into tbe veffel, and putting it
upon a mould, applies it to the lathe. Porcelain fabri¬
cated in this manner, having received its confiftence and
body within, it is the objebt of the workman to make it
as thin as poftible on the outfide, without penetrating to
the colour. The external furface is then dipped into a
mixture for glazing, and when it is dry it is baked in a
common furnace. This kind of porcelain is known by
the name of kia-t/tng, fignifying preffed azure. It is
ftippofed that the Chinefe do not at prefent poffefs the
art of making porcelain of this defeription, which re¬
quires a great deal of dexterity and delicate manage¬
ment } and it is added, that they have imperfebtly fuc-
ceeded in the attempts which have been occafionally
made to difeover tbe fecret of this curious -procefs.
The next procefs in the manufa&ure of porcelain is
baking j but before we deferibe tbe method of arranging
and managing the furnaces employed for this purpofe, we
{hall give a ftiort account of their conftrubtion. The
Chinefe furnaces for baking porcelain are furniftied with
a long porch, for the purpofe of conveying air, and in
86 ] FOR
fome meafure as a fubftitute for bellows'. 'This poich Poit.elain,
anfwers the fame purpofes as the arch of a glafs-houfe ;
but the furnaces which, as the author from whom tbe
account is taken obierves, were formerly only fix feet in
height, and the fame in length, are now conftrubted
upon a much more extenfive plan. They are x 2 feet
high, and nearly four broad j and the roof and fides are
fo thick, that the powerful heat which is applied inter¬
nally does not penetrate to the oulfide, at leaft io much
as to be inconvenient to bear it on the application of the
hand. The dome or roof is in the form of an inverted
funnel, having a large aperture at the top by which the
fmoke efcapes. Befide the principal aperture, there are
five others of fmaller dimenfions, which are covered with
broken pots in fuch a manner that the workman can in-
creafe or diminilh the heat as he finds it neceffary.
Through thefe apertures alfo he is able to lee the pro-
grefs of the baking of the porcelain, and can judge
when it is completed. By uncovering the hole which is
neareft the principal opening, he opens with a pair of
pincers one of the cafes containing the pieces of porce¬
lain, and if he perceives a bright fire in the furnace, and
all the pieces brought to a red heat, as well as the co¬
lours of the porcelain appearing with a full luftre, he
concludes that the proceis is finiftied. He then dimi-
nilhes the fire, and entirely ftiuts up the mouth of the
furnace for fome time. In the bottom of the furnace
there is a deep hearth about two feet in breadth, over
-which a plank is laid, in order that the workman may
enter to arrange the porcelain. When the fire is kin¬
dled on the hearth, the mouth of the furnace is immedi¬
ately clofed up, and an aperture is left only fufficient
for the admiflion of faggots, about a foot in length, but
very narrow. The furnace is firft heated for a day and
a night, after which two men keep continually throwing
wood into it, and relieve each other by turns. One
hundred and eighty loads are confumed for one baking.
As tbe porcelain is burning hot, the workman employs
for the purpofe of taking it out, long fcarfs or pieces of
cloth, which are fufpended from his neck.
Having thus given a concife account of the con- of
ftruclion of the Chinefe furnaces, we proceed now to baking
lay before our readers the method of baking porcelain ceiain.
which is followed in that country. After the porcelain
has received its proper form, its colours, and all the in¬
tended ornaments, it is tranlported from the manufac¬
tory to the furnace, which is fometimes fituated at the
other end of the village already mentioned. In a kind
of portico, which is erefled before it, may be feen vaft
numbers of boxes and cafes made of earth, for the pur¬
pofe of inclofing the porcelain. Each piece, however
inconfiderable it may be, has its own cafe ; and the Chi¬
nefe workman, bv means of this procedure, imitates na¬
ture, which, in order to bring the fruits of the earth to
maturity, clothes them in a covering, to defend them
from the exceflive heat of the fun during the day, and
from the feverity of the cold during the night.
A lajer of fine fand is put into the bottom of thefe
boxes, which is covered over with the powder of kaolin,
to prevent the fand from adhering too clofely to the bot¬
tom of the veffel. The piece of porcelain is then pla¬
ced upon this bed of fand, and preffed gently down, in
order that tbe fand may take the form of the bottom of
tbe veffel, which does not touch the fides of its cafe :
the cafe has no cover. A fecond, prepared in the fame
manner.
Porcelain.
20
Different
kinds of
porcelain.
21
Sir George
Staunton’s
account of
the manu-
faiflure of
porcelain
fn China.
FOR [ i
manner, and containing its veffel, is fitted into tlie firft,
fo that it entirely {huts it, without touching the porce¬
lain which is below: and thus the furnace is filled up
noth piles of cafes, which defend the pieces they con¬
tain from the direct action of the fire.
With regard to fmall pieces of porcelain, fuch as
tea-cups, they are inclofed in common cafes about four
inches in height. Each piece is placed upon a faucer
of earth about twice as thick as a crown-piece, and equal
in breadth to its bottom. Thefe fmall cafes are alio
fprinkled over with the duft of the kaolin. When the
cafes are large, the porcelain is not placed in the middle,
becaufe it would be too far removed from the fides, and
confequently from the action of the fire.
Thefe piles of cafes are put into the furnace, and pla¬
ced upon a bed of coarfe fand fix inches thick 3 thofe by
which the middle fpace is occupied are at leaif feven feet
high. The two boxes which are at the bottom of each
pile remain empty, becaufe the fire affs too feebly upon
them, and becaui’e they are partly covered by the fand.
For the fame reafon, the cafe which is placed at the top
of each pile is alfo allowed to remain empty. The piles
containing the fineft porcelain are placed in the middle
part of the furnace 3 the coarfeft are put at its farthelf
extremity 3 and thofe pieces which have the moif body
and flrongeft colouring are near its mouth.
Thefe different piles are placed very clofely in the
furnace 3 they materially fupport each other by pieces
of earth, which bind them at the top, bottom, and
middle, but in llich a manner, that a free paffage is
left for the flame to innnuate itfelf everywhere around
them.
The Chinefe divide their porcelain into feveral kinds
or clafles, diifinguilhing each according to the different
degrees of beauty and finenefs. The whole of the firff:
or molt perfeff kind is referved for the emperor 3 none
of it, we are affured, ever comes into the hands of the
public, unlefs, on account of blemiflies or imperfedlions,
it is unworthy of being prefented to the fovereign.
Many have doubted whether at any time the largeft and
fineif porcelain of China has ever been brought to Eu¬
rope. None of that kind, at leaft, is offered to fale at
Canton. The Chinefe, who are apt to undervalue the
productions of other countries, entertain a favourable
opinion of the Drefden porcelain, and hold in ftill high¬
er eftimation the porcelain which is produced in the
French manufactories.
The following is a (hort account of the Chinefe por¬
celain manufactures by Sir George Staunton. “ From
the river,” fays he, “ were feen feveral excavations made
in extracting from the fides of the adjoining hills, the
petuntfe, ufeful in the manufacture of porcelain. This
material is a fpecies of fine granite, or compound of
quartz, feldfpar, and mica, in which the quartz feems
to bear the largeft proportion. It appears from feveral
experiments, that it is the fame as the growan {tone of
the Cornifh miners. The mifcaceous part, in fome of
this granite from both countries, often contains fome
particles of iron, in which cafe it will not anfwer the
potter’s purpofe. This material can be calcined and
ground much finer by the improved mills of England,
than by the very imperfeCt machinery of the Chinefe,
and at a cheaper rate than the prepared petuntfe of
their own country, notwithftanding the cheapnefs of la¬
bour there.
87 1
P O R
“ I he kaolin, or prirtcipal matter mixed with the pe- Porcelain,
tuntfe, is the growan clay alfo of the Corniflr miners.' V"u
The wha-lhe of the Chinefe is the Englilh foap-rock 3
and the {he-kan is afferted to be gypfum. It was relat¬
ed by a Chinefe manufacturer in that article, that the
alheftos, or incombuftibie fofTil ftone, entered alfo into
the compofition of porcelain. A village, or unwalled
town, called Kin-te-chin, was not very far diftant from
this part of the prefent traveller’s route, in which 3000
furnaces for baking porcelain were faid to be lighted
at a time, and gave to the place at night the appearance
ot a town on fire. The genius or fpirit of that element
is indeed, with fome propriety, the principal deity wor-
ffiipped there. The manufacture of porcelain is faid to
be precarious, from the want of fome precife method of
afeertaining and regulating the heat within the furnaces,
in confequence of which their whole contents are baked
fometimes into one folid and ufelefs mafs. Mr Wedg¬
wood’s thermometer, founded on the quality obferved
by him, of clay contracting in proportion to the degree
of fire to which it is expofed, might certainly be of ufe
to a Cbinefe potter ^Embaffy
to China,
. . . . iff.
2* Inquiries of Reaumur into the Nature of Porcelain.
The firft fcientific inveftigation -which -was made into
the nature of porcelain, was undertaken by the celebra¬
ted Reaumur, and the refult of his refearches was com¬
municated to the French Academy of Sciences in the
years 1727 and 1720. It was not the external form or,, •
appearance, nor was it the decorations 01 painting and0* p0rcejain
gilding, which are by no means eifential to porcelain,examined,
that conftituted the objeCt of his inquiries. His exami¬
nation was particularly direfted to the peculiar texture
and fabric of this fubftance, with the view of afeer¬
taining the nature and proportions of its conftituent
parts. For this purpofe, he broke to pieces fome of the
Japanefe, the Saxon, and the French porcelains, and
carefully noted the peculiarities and differences in their
texture. The grain or texture of the Japanefe porcelain
appeared to pofiefs a confiderable degree of clofenefs and
compaClnefs, with a fmooth and fomewhat fhining af-
peCl. He found that the Saxon porcelain was ftill more
compaff, and that it was fmooth, and ftiining like ena¬
mel, but had nothing of the granular texture. In his
examination of the French porcelain, he obferved that
it had not much of a Alining appearance, and that its
grain was not fo clofe and fine as that of the oriental
porcelain, having fome refemblance to the grain or tex¬
ture of fugar. Such were the obfervations which occur¬
red to the French philofopher at the commencement of
his inquiries into the nature of porcelains, and hence he
juftly concluded, that they were charadlerifed by very
marked differences. 2,
Proceeding in his inveftigation, the fame philofopher Effedts of
fubje&ed different porcelains to the aftion of heat 3 and!leaton.
the refult of his experiments with this powerfid agent t)OICtiain‘
proved, that they might be diftinguiflied by ftill more
decifive characters 3 for it appeared that the porcelain of
the eaft fuffered no change from the aftion of the
greateft heat, whereas that of European manufacture
underwent fufion at no very high temperature. This
remarkable difference between the Chinefe and Euro¬
pean porcelains, fuggefted to Reaumur an ingenious
thought, which at laft led him to the difeovery of the
A a 2 true
24.
Porcelain
infufibie
iiiaiter.
P O R [ i
Porcelain, true nature of the compoiition of porcelain. Having ob-
^ ierved that all porcelains have fome refemblance to glafs
in fome of their general properties, although they are
lefs corapadt, he conlidered them as in the Hate of a fe-
mivitrified fubltance. An earthy fubftance, he obier-
ved, may be in a femivitrified Hate in two ways. It
may, in the firft place, be entirely compofed of vitrifi-
abie or fuhble matters, and this being the cafe, when
it is expofed to the action of fire, provided the heat be
fufficiently llrong and long continued, it will be melted
or vitrified. But as this change is not effected inftantly,
particularly where a violent degree of heat is not ap¬
plied and as it paffes through different degrees, the
progrefs of which may be more eafily obferved, accord¬
ing as the heat is managed and regulated ; it followed,
that by Hopping in proper time the application of the
heat to porcelain prepared in this way, the ware may
be obtained in an intermediate Hate between thofe of
crude earths and completely vitrified fubHances, while,
at the fame time, it poffeffes the femitranfparency and
other diffinguifhing properties of porcelain. Porcelain
of this nature, it is vcell known, being expofed to a
Hronger degree of heat, undergoes perfect fufion and
complete vitrification. All the European porcelains
which wrere fubjefted to experiment by Reaumur, were
found to be of this fufible nature.
But, on .the other hand, porcelain may be compofed
compofed of of fufible or vitrifiable matter, mixed in certain propor-
fufible and tions with another matter, which is abfolutely infufible
in the HrongeH heat to which it can be expofed in the
furnace ; and hence, if a mixture of this kind be fub-
lefted to a heat fufficient to melt entirely the vitrifiable
part of its compofition, this will enter into fufion j but
being mixed with another matter which is infufible, and
which confequently retains its confifiency and opacity,
the whole will form a compound, partly opaque, and
partly tranfparent, or, in other wmrds, a femitranfparent
raafs 5 that is, a femivitrified fubffance, or porcelain,
but poffeffmg qualities totally diffinf! from thofe of the
former. For as the fufible part of the latter has been
brought to its utmoH degree of fufibility during the pro-
cefs of baking, although the compound may be expofed
a lecond time to a Hill flronger degree of heat, it will
not approach nearer to complete vitrification, that is, it
will retain all the qualities of perfedt: porcelain. Reau¬
mur found that the porcelain of the eafi was difiinguilh-
ed by the properties now deferibed} and hence he con¬
cluded, that its component parts w7ere arranged on the
principle above alluded to. This opinion was afterwards
confirmed by the moH incontrovertible fadks, deduced
from a train of the moff fatisfadlory and well diredled
experiments.
The ingredients which enter Into the compofition of
the Chinefe porcelain, namely, the petuntfe and kaolin,
thc-petuntfe were the next objedl of Reaumur’s inquiries. Having
matte'-3 e Stained quantities of each, he fubjedled them feparate-
ly to a flrong heat, and he found that the petuntfe en¬
tered into fufion, without addition •, but it appeared
that the kaolin was abfolutely infufible. He then mix¬
ed the two ingredients, formed them into cakes, and
expofed them in a furnace to the proper degree of heat *,
Co that by baking they were converted into porcelain
exactly fimilar to that of the Chinefe. From thefe ex¬
periments it appeared, that the petuntfe of the Chinefe
was a vitrifiable fabffance, and that the kaolin was of a
The kaolin
infufihle,
88 ] P Q R
different nature, quite refraftory, and totally infufible. Porcelain,
After this difeovery Reaumur, it w’ould feem, entertain- —y—
ed hopes that he might find materials in France, capable
of making porcelain, poffeffmg the fame valuable quali¬
ties as that of China j but whether his relearches in the
difeovery of proper materials in his own country, parti¬
cularly that which correfponds to the petuntfe of the
Chinefe, or whether he was prevented by other avoca¬
tions from profecuting his inquiries, it does not appear.
But in his fecond memoir upon porcelain, we find, that
he afterwards attempted to compofe an artificial pe¬
tuntfe, by mixing vitrifiable Hones with fuch faline bo¬
dies as were capable of rendering them fufible, or even
by fubHituting for this artificial preparation glafs ready
formed, with the addition of fuch matters as he fuppofed
might be fuccefsfully employed in the place of kaolin j
but it would appear that he did not at the time profe-
cute his inquiries, for the fubjcR -was not refumed till
the year 1739, when he announced the difeovery of a
procefs for converting common glafs to a peculiar kind
of porcelain, which has been fince known by the name
of Reaumur's porcelain. ^
Although it mufi appear, from the detail now given, Miftakes of
that Reaumur was directed in his refearches by the true Reaumur
fpirit of philofophical inquiry, he feems to have been
milled in certain points. One of bis errors was relative
to the Saxon porcelain, which he confounded with the
other fufible porcelains of European manufacture, unlefs
it be fuppofed that the porcelain of Saxony was formerly
compofed of entirely fufible or vitrifiable matters, and
that it was porcelain of this defeription which he exa¬
mined ; for it is now certain, that all the porcelain of
that country is capable of refifling the moH powerful
heat, and is therefore equally infufible with that of
China or Japan. The appearance of the internal tex¬
ture of the Saxon porcelain may have led the philofo-
pher to this erroneous conclufion j for when it is bro¬
ken, the internal furface does not exhibit a granular
texture, but is uniform, fmooth, finning, and compaft,
having much refemblance to white enamel. This ap¬
pearance, however, fo far from proving that the porce¬
lain of Saxony is a fufed or vitrified fubHance, fliews,
that it is not entirely compofed of fufible matters. The
internal furface of the moH fufible porcelains, it is well
known to thofe who are acquainted with the fubjeCl, is
alfo the leafi denfe, and the leafi compaCl; for no vi- 27
treons matter can be internally fmooth and denfe, with-relative to
out having been in a Hate of complete fufion. But if t^e S^s.0a
the denfity and filming appearance of the porcelain of^orce a'n*
Saxony depended only on the effeCls of the fufion of a
vitreous matter, how is it to be fuppofed, that veffels
formed of that fufible matter flrould have fuflained the
neceffary degree of heat for producing the denfity and
Hiining appearance, without having entirely loH their
fliape ?
This peculiar quality of the Saxon porcelain, it is in¬
ferred, mufl then depend on another caufe. Like every
other porcelain, efpecially that of China and Japan, it
contains a fufible fubflance, -which has^ been in a Hate
of complete fufion during the procefs of baking. The
denfity and the internal luflre depend chiefly on this
fufed matter; but it is alfo certain, that the Saxon por¬
celain contains a large proportion of a fubflance which
is abfolutely infufible, and from which it derives its
beautiful white appearance, its firmnefs and folidity,
during
a3
and with
regard to
the Chinefe
kaolin.
FOR [ 189 ] FOR
this infufible fub- compofitions of paftes, which are very tenacious, and Porcelain.
which are capable of being cafily worked and well
baked, and in the procefs of baking, which Require the
requifite degree of hardnefs and denlity j which are in-
fulible, and capable of refilling the effedls of 1’udden
changes of heat and cold, and, in fhort, which polTefs
all the qualities of the moll excellent porcelain, except¬
ing its whitenefs and beauty. Materials fit for the com-
polition of fuch porcelains, it will appear, may be found
abundantly in moll countries j but the difficulty in the
manufadlure of this wrare is to unite beauty and good-
nefs in one compolition. The materials fit for the ma¬
nufacture of the finer and more perfeft porcelains, feem
to be fparing productions of nature j and therefore the
bell kind of porcelain, it is prefumed, will always be re¬
garded as a valuable and high-priced commodity. 30
It may be obferved, that the potteries called Jlone- Nature of
ware, poffefs all the effential qualities of the Japanefe fume ware,
porcelain ; for, excepting the whitenefs, on which alone
the femitranfparency depends, if we compare the pro¬
perties of Japanefe porcelain with thofe of our Hone-
ware, little difference is found to exiit between them.
Both feem to poffefs the fame granular texture ; both
have the fame fonorous quality, when llruck with a
hard body *, both have the fame denfity 5 they poll els
alfo the fame hardnefs, by wffiich they llrike fire with
Heel j they can refill the effeCls of the heat of boiling
liquors without breaking, and are equally infufible
wffien fubjeCled to violent heat. Hence it is inferred,
that if the earth which enters into the compofition of
lloneware, wrere free from foreign colouring matters,
which prevent the whitenefs and femitranfparency, and
if the veffels were carefully formed and coloured with a
fine glaze, they would not be lefs perfeCl than the por«'
celain of the call. Earths fit for the produClion of the
more perfeCt kinds of porcelain, are fuppofed to be more
rare in Europe than in Japan and China j and hence
probably it has happened, that, from the want of thefe
earths, the firll manufacturers of the porcelain in Eu-
jporcelaln. during the procefs of baking. It is
fiance which is to be confidered as the fubllitute for the
kaolin of China, and which poffeffes the property of con-
fiderably contracting its dimenlions, while it unites with
the fufible material. According to the obfervation of
Macquer, if it be fubjeCled to the moll decifive trial,
namely, the aCtion of a violent fire, which is capable of
melting every porcelain compofed only of fufible mate¬
rials, it appears as the refult of numerous experiments,
that it remains infufible, unlefs it be expofed to a heat
which is alfo capable of melting the bell and moll per¬
feCl porcelain of Japan. The Saxon porcelain, there¬
fore, is not to be confounded with porcelain manufac¬
tured of vitreous and fufible materials ; for it feems to
be equally excellent as that of Japan, and in fome of its
properties perhaps fuperior, as will appear from an ex¬
amination of the qualities which conllitute the peculiar
excellence of porcelain.
Reaumur feems alfo to have taken an erroneous view
of the nature of the Chinefe kaolin. According to his
account, this matter is a fine talky powffier, from the
mixture of wffiich with petuntfe, the porcelain of the
call is manufactured. It is not impoffible, it has been
obferved, that a porcelain fimilar to the Chinefe might
be produced from a talky fubllance of this nature mixed
with petuntfe ; but it is well known to thofe who are at
all familiar with the manufacture of any porcelain, that
no veffels can be formed, unlefs the palte of which they
are made poffefs that degree of duClility and tenacity
which renders them fit for being worked upon the lathe,
or falhioned in the mould. But fubftances of a talky
nature, to whatever degree of finenefs they may be re¬
duced, never acquire the requifite duClility and tenacity
which clays of all earthy fubftances only poffefs. But
as it appears that the Chinefe porcelain has been turned
upon the lathe, it is obvious that they muff have been
formed of a very tenacious pafte j and hence it is con¬
cluded, that kaolin is not purely a talky matter, but
otherwife the petuntfe and kaolin, ac-
mixed with clay,   t , . ...
cording to the fuppofition of Reaumur, are net the only rope confined themfelves to an external imitation, by
ingredients which enter into the compofition of Chinefe employing only vitrifiable matters with fufible falts, and
porcelain $ but the addition of a certain proportion of a fmall quantity of white earth, from which fufible and
(bme matter of a tenacious quality is abfolutely requi¬
fite.
sp
Sffential
3. Peculiar Properties of Porcelain.
It may be worth while now to confider the properties
which conftitute the perfeClion of porcelain and here
it is neceffary, carefully to diferiminate between the
qualities which are to be regarded as only contributing
to the external decoration, and the intrinfic and effential
qualities of properties in which the fabric and perfeflion of porce-
porcelain. lain confiil. Thofe who have been occupied in experi¬
ments on this fubje£l, have not found it difficult to form
compofitions which are very white, beautifully femi-
tranfparent, and covered with a ffiining glazing •, but
which are extremely deficient in the more effential pro¬
perties, as it appears they cannot be fubjetted to the ne¬
ceffary operations for want of a proper degree of tena¬
city 5 are not fufficiently compa6l } are quite fufible,
fubjett to break by the hidden application of heat or
cold, and from the foftnefs of the glazing, which cracks
and becomes rough, are foon deprived of their luftre.
On the other hand, it is by no means difficult to form
vitreous porcelains were compofed. Such might not
improperly be denominated falfe porcelains ; but great
improvements have taken place fince the firit introduc¬
tion of the manufa£lure of porcelain into Europe. Ge¬
nuine white porcelains have been long ago produced in
Germany, and efpecially in Saxony. Thefe porcelains
are in no refpeft inferior to thofe of China or Japan.
They are found even to be confiderably fuperior in
beauty and whitenefs to the productions of the eaftern
manufactories of modern times ; for in thefe qualities
the porcelains of the latter have greatly degenerated.
And in one of the moft valuable qualities of porcelain,
namely, the property of refilling the effeCls of fudden -
changes of heat and cold, the European porcelain ex¬
ceeds that of China or Japan. The quality of porce¬
lain, it is to be obferved, is not to be judged of by a
flight trial; for as numerous circumflances concur to
render a piece of porcelain capable or incapable of re¬
filling the effeCls of heat or cold, boiling water may be
at the fame time poured into two veffels, one of which
is good porcelain, and the other of an oppofite quality,
it is not impoffible that the former may break, and the-
latter may remain entire. The true method of difeover-
*ng.
Porcelain
31
Japanefe
porcelain
reckoned
the molt
perfect,
32
but not
fuperior to
that of
Saxony.
P O R [1
ing what Is good porcelain, is to examine feveral pieces
~ ol it which are in daily ufe j and it has been found,
that in many fuch pieces of porcelain of oriental manu¬
facture, which have been long ufed, cracks are always
feen in the direction of their height, which are never
perceived in the more perfect porcelains of European
manufacture.
It has long been a very general opinion, that the Ja¬
panefe porcelain is the moft perfect ; it has indeed con¬
tinued to be the object of admiration and emulation,
and has been held up as a model for the European ma¬
nufacturer 5 a model which has not yet been equalled,
and which, according to the opinion of fome, cannot be
equalled. In deciding on this fubject, the Saxon porce¬
lain is confidered as inferior to the Japanefe, on account
of its greater fmoothnefs, luftre, and lefs granular afpect
of its internal texture, qualities in which it ought really
to be regarded as fuperior to the porcelain from Japan.
This furface has a near refemblance to that of glafs, and
it is {'uppofed that this fimilarity has fuggefted the opi¬
nion j and it would be well founded, if the denilty and
luftre of the European porcelain depended on the fufible
and vitreous property of the ingredients of which it is
compofed : but this not being the cafe, and the Saxon
porcelain being equally fixed and infufible as that of Ja¬
pan, its fuperior denfity muft be admitted as a valuable
property. For in the comparxfon of different porcelains
which are equal in other properties, that which is moft
firm and compact certainly claims the fuperiority. Hence
it is that the internal texture of the Japanefe'porcelain
is held in greater eftimation, becaufe it pofleffes a great¬
er degree of denfity, compadtnefs and luftre, than the
L mope an porcelain which is compofed only of vitreous
fand or frit. For a fimilar reafon the fuperior denfity
of the Saxon porcelain ought to obtain for it a prefer¬
ence to that which is imported from the eaft. It is fup-
pofed befides, that it would be no difficult matter to
communicate to the Saxon porcelain the granular tex¬
ture of the Japanefe, by mixing with the pafte a certain
proportion of fand or filiceous earth. But in this point,
in producing by thefe means a nearer refemblance to
the Japanefe porcelain, thofe who conduced and brought
to perfection the Saxon manufactures, were not infen-
fihle that their porcelain would fmk m its valuable nro-
perties.
4..
Porcelain ManufaBories in different parts of 'Europe.
Manufactories of porcelain have been long eftablifhed
»n aim oft every country of Europe. Befides that of Saxo¬
ny, which was the firft eftablifhed in Europe, porcelain
is made to a confiderable extent at Vienna, at Franken-
dal, and in the neighbourhood of Berlin, and in other
places of the German ftates. The German porcelains
are fimilar to thofe of Saxony, and are compofed of fimi-
i.u niciteiials, although from diftevences in the propor¬
tions, or in the modes of. managing the manufactories,
confideiable differences arife in the porcelains manufac¬
tured at different places. Italy alfo is celebrated for
its porcelain manufactures, the cljief of which, it is faid
are carried on at Naples. When M. de la Condamine
travelled mto Italy, he vifited a manufacture of porce¬
lain eftablifhed at Florence, by the marquis de la Ginor
who was then governor of Leghorn. The French tra¬
veller was particularly ftruck with the large fize of
- • 2
9° 1 P C> R
fome ot the pieces cf this porcelain. Statues, and even Porcehio.
groups or figures half as large as nature, and modelled —v—
'minme t^e antiques, were formed of it.
1 he furnaces, he obferved, in which the porcelain was
fubjected to the procefsof baking, were conrtructed with
a great deal of ingenuity, and were lined with bricks
made of the fame materials as thofe which entered into
the compcfkion of the porcelain itfelf; and hence they
were able to refift the effects of high degrees of heat.
Ihe pa te of the porcelain manufaftured at Florence
appeared to be extremely beautiful, and to poffefs all
the qualities of the beft oriental porcelain. The glazino-
employed in this manufadory feemed to be inferior in
wlntenefs, a circumftance which is fuppofed to be owing
to the defire of ufing thofe materials only which are
found in the country.
,In France a greater number of manufaftories of por- Manulo
celam has been eftabliihed than in any other country 5 tures cf
and it muft be allowed that the French have had won-PorceJain
derful fuccefs in the improvement and perfection of thisFianCC*
manufacture. Some time even before Reaumur commu¬
nicated the refult of his inquiries, porcelain was manu¬
factured at St Qoud, and in the fuburb of St Antoine
at Paris.. This porcelain indeed was of the vitreous or
fufible kind, but at the fame pollened no inconfiderable
degree of beauty. Since the period to which we allude,
extenfive. manufactories of porcelain have been eftablifti-
ed at Villeroy, Chantilly, and Orleans, and at thofe
places the manufacture has been brought to a great de¬
gree of perfection. But the productions of the cele¬
brated porcelain manufactory at Sevres, on account of
the pure ftfining white, the fine glazing and coloured
grounds, the fplendour and magnificence of the gilding
and the elegance and tafte difplayed in the fhape and*
figures, are univerfally allowed to'furpaxrs every thin a of
the kind which has yet appeared.
In fpeakmg of the French porcelain, we may notice
the. remit of fome refearches which were made "on this
iubject by Guettard, and of which an account appeared
m the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for the
year 1765.. In the neighbourhood of Alencon, M.
Guettard. difeovered a whitifti argillaceous earth, in
which mica confiderably predominated. This earth he
employed as a fubftitute for kaolin. The fubftance
which he ufed in place of the petuntfe, lie obtained from
a haid ftone, which is defcribe4 as a quartzofe gritt
ft one, very abundant in that country, and with which
the ilreets. of Alen^on are paved. With thefe materials
Guettard inftituted a feries of experiments on porcelain
previous to the year 1751, and was affociated in his in¬
quiries with the duke of Orleans. For many years the
count de Lauraguais, a member of the Academy of
Sciences, was keenly engaged in profecuting experi¬
ments to difeover the true nature of porcelain/ and the
means by which the manufa&ure might be improved
and perfected. To obtain the objeft of his refearches,
which was to produce porcelain that in its effential qua¬
lities might be equal to that of eaftern countries, he
fpared no trouble or expence; and it would appear that
he was not unfuccefsful in his labours ; for in the year
1766, when he exhibited fome fpecies of porcelain from
ms. manufa&ory to the members of the Academy of
Sciences, the perfons who were appointed by that learn-
ed.body to examine their properties, delivered it as their
opinion, that of all the porcelain made in France, that
of
34
In England
35
In Stafford
flure.
P 0 R [I
Porrekln.'of the count de Lauraguais approached moft nearly in
"** the effential properties of folidity, texture and infuiibili-
ty, to that of China and Japan. It is faid, however,
that it was confiderahly deficient in whitenefs and luflre,
when compared with the ancient porcelain of Japan.
The manufacture of porcelain has been brought to a
great degree of perfection in England. In many of the
eifential qualities, and particularly in the beauty and
richnefs of the paintings, as well as in the elegance of
the forms, the Engliih porcelain is little inferior to that
of any other country. Manufahtories of this ware have
been eftablilhed in different parts of England. This
manufacture was firft eltabliihed at Derby about the
year 1750, by a Mr Duefbury, who is faid to have been
a very ingenious artift. Since his death the manufacto¬
ries received very confiderable improvement, and chiefly
in the judicious methods purfued in the preparation of
the pafte, and increafing the beauty of the ornaments.
The ware itfelf is laid not to equal in finenefs that which
is manufactured in Saxony and France, although it is
greatly lupenor in refpeCt of decoration and workman-
ihip. The paintings in general are rich, and executed
with tafte, and the gilding and burnilhing are extremely
beautiful. The body of the femi-vitreous kind, which
is formed of a fine white clay, in combination with va¬
rious proportions of different fufible matters, has obtain¬
ed the name of porcelain. The belt kind is wholly in-
fufible, and is glazed with a vitreous fubltance which
has not a fingle particle of lead in its compofition.
The molt famous manufactory of Itone-ware, as well
as of other kinds of pottery, is at Burflem in Stafford-
Ihire. This can be traced with certainty at lealt two
centuries back ; but of its firfl: introduction no tradition
remains. In 1686, as we learn from Dr Plot’s Natural
Hiftory of Staffordlhire publiihed in that year, only the
coarfe yellow, red, black, and mottled wares, were made
in this country; and the only materials employed for
them appear to have been the different coloured clays
which are found in the neighbourhood, and which form
fome of the meafures or ftrata of the coal-mines. Thefe
clays made the body of the ware, and the glaze was pro¬
duced by powdered lead-ore, fprinkled on the pieces be¬
fore firing, with the addition of a little manganefe for
fome particular colours. The quantity of goods manu¬
factured was at that time fo inconfiderable, that the
chief fale of them, the DoCtor fays, was “ to poor crate-
men, who carried them on their backs all over the coun¬
try.”
About the year 1690, two ingenious artifans from
Germany, of the name of Eller, fettled near Burflem,
and carried on a fmall work for a little time. They
brought into this country the method of glazing ftone-
ware, by calling fait into the kiln while it is hot, and
fome other improvements of lefs importance 5 but find¬
ing they could not keep their fecrets to themfelves, they
left the place rather in difguft. From this time various
kinds of Hone-ware, glazed by the fumes of fait in the
manner above mentioned, were added to the wares be¬
fore made. The white kind, which afterwards became,
and for many fucceeding years continued, the ftaple
branch of pottery, is faid to have owed its origin to the
following accident. A potter, Mr Altbury, travelling
to London, perceived fomething amifs with one of his
horfe’s eyes} an hoftler at Dunffable faid he could foon
91 ] FOR
cure him, and for that purpofe put a common black Porcelain,
flint Hone into the fire. The potter obferving it, when " v
taken out, to be of a fine white, immediately conceived
the idea of improving his ware by the addition of this
material to the whitell clay he could procure : accord¬
ingly he fent home a quantity of the flint {tones of that
country, where they are plentiful among the chalk, arid
by mixing them with tobacco-pipe clay, produced a
white Hone-ware much fuperior to any that had been
feen before.
Some of the other potters foon difeovered the fource
of this fuperiority, and did not fail to follow his example.
For a long time they pounded the flint flones in private
rooms by manual labour in mortars} but many of the
poor workmen fullered feverely from the duff of the
flint getting into their lungs, and producing dreadful
coughs, confumptions, and other pulmonary diforders.
Thele difalters, and the increafed demand for the flint
powder, induced them to try to grind it by mills of va¬
rious conftruclions 5 and this method being found both
effeclual and fafe, has continued in pradtice ever fince.
With thefe improvements, in the beginning of the pre-
fent century, various articles were produced for tea and
coffee equipages. Soon after attempts were made to
furnifh the dinner table alfo 5 and before the middle of
the century, utenfils for the table were manufactured in
quantity as well for exportation as home confumption.
But the fait glaze, the only one then in ufe for this
purpofe, is in its own nature fo imperfeft, and the pot¬
ters, from an injudicious competition among themfelves
for cheapnefs, rather than excellence, had been inat¬
tentive to elegance of form and neatnefs of workman-
fliip, that this ware was rejected from the tables of per-
fons of rank} and about the year 1760, a white ware,
much more beautiful and better glazed than ours, be¬
gan to be imported in confiderable quantities from
France.
The inundation of a foreign manufafrure, fo much Improved
fuperior to any of our own, muff have had very bad ef- b7 Wedge-
fedls upon the potteries of this kingdom, if a new one,vvood'
Hill mare to the public tafte, had not appeared foon af¬
ter. In the year 1763, Mr Jofiah Wedgwood, wflio had
already introduced feveral improvements into this art,
invented a fpecies of earthen -ware for the table quite new
in its appearance, covered with a rich and brilliant glaze,
bearing hidden alterations of heat and cold, manufactur¬
ed with eafe and expedition, and confequently cheap,
and having every requifite for the purpofe intended. To
this new manufacture the queen was pleafed to give her ,7
name and patronage, commanding it to be called Queen's Queen’s
ware, and honouring the inventor by appointing, him ware,
her majefty’s potter.
The common clay of the country is ufed for the ordi¬
nary forts} the finer kinds are made of clay from De-
vonfliife and Dorfetfhire, chiefly from Biddeford} but
the flints from the Thames are all brought rough by fea,
either to Liverpool or Hull, and fo by Burton.. The
convenience of plenty of coals, which abound in that
part of the country, is fuppofed, and with good reafon,
to be the chief caufe of the manufacture having been
eftabliihed here.
The flints are firft ground in mills, and the clay pre¬
pared by breaking, walking, and lifting, and then they
are mixed in the requifite proportions. The flmts are
bought
FOR [i
Porcelain, bought fitll by the people about the country, and by
them burn land ground, and fold to the manufa&urers
by the peck.
The mixture is then laid in large quantities on kilns
to evaporate the moifture j but this is a nice work, as it
muft not be too dry : next it is beaten with large wooden
hammers, and then is in order for throwing, and is
moulded into the forms in which it is to remain ; this
is the moft difficult work in the whole manu failure.
A boy turns a perpendicular wheel, which by means
i ©f thongs turns a {’mall horizontal one, juft before the
thrower, with fuch velocity, that it twirls round the
lump of clay he lays on it into any form he directs it
with his fingers.
There are 300 houfes which are calculated to em¬
ploy^ upon an average, twenty hands each, or 6000 in
the •whole j but of all the variety of people that work
in what may be called the preparation for the employ¬
ment of the immediate manufafturers, the total number
cannot be much fliort of 10,000, and it is increafing
every day. Large quantities are exported to Germany,
Ireland, Holland, Ruffia, Spain, the Eaft Indies, and
much to America; fome of the fineft forts to France.
5. Different Proceffes in the ManufaBure of Porcelain.
38
"Vitreous or The balls of thofe porcelains which are known by the
&ifible por- name of vitreous or fujib/e, and fometimes falfeporcelain,
^ eiain. js denominated by the -workmen a fritt. This is a mixture
of fand or powdered flints, with a faline fubftance, capa¬
ble of bringing it to a ftate of fufion when the mixture is
expofed to a fufficient degree of heat. The fritt is then
mixed with a proper proportion of clay or argillaceous
.earth, fo that it may have fuch a degree of tenacity as
to make it capable of being worked upon the wheel.
The whole mixture is, after being well ground in a mill,
to be made into a pafte, rvhich is to be formed, either
upon the wheel or in moulds, into pieces of fuch forms
or figures as may be required. Each of the pieces, when
it is fufficiently dried, is put into a cafe made of earthen
ware, and placed in the furnace, that it may be fubjedi¬
ed to the procefs of baking. Thefe cafes are known
among the Englifh potters by the name of feggars or
faggars, and they are generally formed of a coarfer
kind of clay, but this clay muft poflefs the property of
refifting the adlion of heat necenary for the baking of
porcelain, without being fufed. The porcelain contain¬
ed in the cafes is thus protedled from the fmoke of the
burning fuel; the whitenefs of the porcelain depends
greatly on the purity of the clay of which it is made,
fo that being of a more compadl texture, the fmoke is
more effectually excluded. Thefe cafes are arranged
in the furnace or kiln in piles, one upon the other, to
the very top of the furnace.
The furnaces are chambers or cavities of various
torms and fizes, and they are fo conftrudted that the
fire-place is fituated on the outfide, oppofite to one or
more openings, which have a communication wdth the
furnace internally. The flame of the fuel is drawn
within the furnace, the air of which being rarefied, de¬
termines a ftrong current of air to the infide, as is the
cafe in other furnaces. A fmall fire is firft made, that
the furnaces may be gradually heated, and it is to be
increafed more and more, till the procefs of baking is
completed j that is, till the porcelain fhall have acquir-
4
92 ] POR
ed a proper degree of hardnefs and tranfparcncy. To Forcelafl,
afeertain this point, a good deal of attention is neceffary j -"V*-*®*
and this is done by taking out of the furnace from time
to time, and examining, Imall pieces of porcelain placed
for that purpofe in the cafes which have lateral openings,
to render them acceffible. When it appears from the
examination of thofe pieces, that the porcelain is fuffi¬
ciently baked, the fire is no longer to be fupplied with
fuel; the furnace is allowed to cool gradually, and the
porcelain is afterw ards taken out. In this ftate the por¬
celain has the appearance of white marble, having
nothing of that Ihining furface which it acquires by
covering it wuth a vitreous compofition known by the
name of glazing, a procefs which is afterwards to be de-
feribed ; but in the mean time we fhall fpeak of the in-
fufihle porcelains.
The materials which enter into the compofition of
the infufxble porcelains, and fuch as approach to the na¬
ture of ftone ware, are firft to be ground in a mill, and
the earths or clays being well wafhed, are next to be
carefully mixed and formed into a pafte. The pieces at
firft receive a rude form from the wheel or lathe of the
potter, according to their nature and magnitude. As
the wheel and lathe are the principal machines employ¬
ed in the manufaflure of porcelain or pottery, we fhall
here give a fhort defeription of their conftrudlion. The
potter’s wheel, which is ufed for larger works, confifts
principally in the nut, which is a beam or axis, rvhofe
foot or pivot plays perpendicularly on a free-ftone foie or ^
bottom. From the four corners of this beam, which Potter's
does not exceed two feet in height, arife four iron bars, wheel,
called the /pokes of the wheel; which forming diagonal
lines with the beam, defeend, and are faftened at bottom
to the edges of a ftrong wooden circle, four feet in dia¬
meter, perfeftly like the felloes ot a coach-wheel, ex¬
cept that it has neither axis nor radii, and is only joined
to the beam, which ferves it as an axis, by the iron-bars.
The top of the nut is flat, of a circular figure, and a
foot in diameter ; and on this is laid the clay which is
to be turned and fafhioned. The wheel thus difpofed is
encompaffed with four fides of four different pieces of
wood faftened on a wooden frame; the hind-piece,
which is that on which the workman fits, is made a
little inclining towards the wheel; on the fore-piece
is placed the prepared earth ; on the fide pieces he refts
his feet, and thefe are made inclining to give him more
or lefs room. Having prepared the earth, the potter
lays a round piece of it on the circular head of the nut,
and fitting down turns the wheel with his feet till it has
got the proper velocity ; then, wetting his hands with
W'ater, he preffes his fill or his fingers-ends into the
middle of the lump, and thus forms the cavity of the
veffel, continuing to widen it from the middle ; and
thus turning the infide into form with one hand, while
he proportions the outfide with the other, the wheel
conftantly turning all the while, and he wTetting his
hands from time to time. When the veffel is too thick,
he ufes a flat piece of iron, fomewhat ftiarp on the edge,
to pare off what is redundant; and when it is finifhed,
it is taken off from the circular head by a wire paffed
under the veffel.
The potter’s lathe is alfo a kind of wheel, but more petter*4
fimple and flight than the former : its three chief mem- lathe,
bers are an iron beam or axis three feet and a half
high, and two feet and a half diameter, placed horizon¬
tally
FOR [ 193 1 FOR
Porcelain, tally at the top of the beam, and ferving to form the
vefl'el upon : and another larger wooden wheel, all of a
piece, three inches thick, and two or three feet broad,
fattened to the fame beam at the bottom, and parallel
to the horizon. The beam or axis turns by a pivot at
the bottom in an iron Hand. The workman gives the
motion to the lathe with his feet, by pullring the great
wheel alternately with each foot, Hill giving it a great¬
er or lefler degree of motion as his work requires. He
works with the lathe with the fame inftruments, and
after the fame manner, as with the wheel. The mould¬
ings are formed by holding a piece of wood or iron
cut in the form of the moulding to the veffel, while
the wheel is turning round; but the feet and handles
are made by themfelves and fet on with the hand *, and
if there be any iculpture in the work, it is ufually done
in wooden moulds, and ftuck on piece by piece on the
outlide of the veffel. The lathe is employed for fmaller
works in porcelain.
After the firft application of the pieces of porce¬
lain to the wheel or lathe, they are allowed to become
nearly dry j and to give the requilite form, or a greater
degree of accuracy and perfeftion, they ate again fub-
jetded to the fame operation. They are afterwards in¬
troduced into the furnace, not, however, for the pur-
pole of baking them completely, but only to apply a
fufficient heat, to give them that firmnefs and folidity
that they may undergo the various neceffary manipula¬
tions without being disfigured or broken. In this ftate
they are ready for the procefs of glazing. As the pieces
of porcelain, after being fubjedled to this moderate de¬
gree of heat, are very dry, they readily imbibe water,
and it is this properly of abforbing water, which greatly
aflifts in the application of the glazing •, and having re¬
ceived this covering, the pieces of porcelain are again
put into the furnace, to complete the procefs of baking.
The heat is gradually raifed, and at lalt brought to that
degree that all - the objefts within the furnace lhall be
white, and the cafes fhall be fcarcely dillinguilhed from
the flame. To afcertain when the porcelain is fufficient-
ly baked, fmall pieces are taken out in the manner al¬
ready defcribed, after which the fire is withdrawn, and
the furnace allowed to cool gradually. If the procefs
of baking have fucceeded properly, the pieces of porce¬
lain will, after this operation, be fonorous, compaft, ha¬
ving a moderate degree of lultre, and covered exter¬
nally with a fine coat of glaze. If this porcelain is de-
ftined to receive the ornaments of painting and gilding,
thefe operations are performed in the manner to be after-
41 w7ards defcribed.
Unglazed After the porcelain has been fubjedled to the procefs
porcelain 0f baking, and before it is glazed, it is faid to be in the
cufi6 i)ir* ^ate bifcuit, in which it poffeffes various degrees of
beauty and perfeftion, according to the nature and pro¬
portions of the materials employed. For particular pur-
pofes, the porcelain is fometimes allowed to remain in
this ftate, and particularly when it is employed in
fmaller and finer pieces of fculpture, wTere the finenefs of
the workmanihip and the iharpnefs of the figures are
wilhed to be preierved, as it is wTell known that thefe
Vol. XVII. Part I.
will be greatly injured by being covered with a coat of Porcelain,
glazing. The celebrated manufaflory of Sevres in v—-J
France has been long diftinguiihed for figures or fmall
ftatues, and even for larger works, as ornamental vafes,
&c. which are left in the ftate of bifcuit. The Englith
manufactories, and particularly that of Mr Wedgewood,
are probably not inferior in the delicacy and accuracy
of execution of ornamental productions ot this kind. 42
The next operation in the manufacture of porcelain Method of
is the piocefs of glazing. This procefs confifts in cover- s'^zfngPor~
ing the porcelain with a thin coat of vitreous or fufible
matter, which adds greatly to its beauty7, by its luftre
or fliining appearance. In preparing and applying the
materials fit for glazing porcelain, it has been found
that the fame kind of glafs will not admit of general
application *, for it appears that a glafs which forms a
fine glazing for one kind of porcelain, will not anfwer
the fame purpofe when applied to another. In the
former it may have all the neceffary requifites, but in
the latter it may crack in many places, may have no
luftre, and may contain bubbles or be apt to fcale off.
The firft thing then is to prepare a glafs which ihall be
fuited to the nature of the porcelain for which it is in¬
tended. The glazing muft be appropriated to each kind
of porcelain, that is, to the ingredients w'hich enter
into its compofition, or to the degree of hardnefs or den-
fity of the ware. The materials of which the glazing
is compofed are prepared by previoufly fufing together
all the fubftances of which they confift, and thus form¬
ing a vitreous mafs (a). This mafs of vitrified matter
is to be finely ground in a mill, and the vitreous powder
thus obtained is to be mixed with a fufficient quantity
of w7ater, fo that the liquor (hall have the confiftence of
cream of milk. The pieces of porcelain are to be cover¬
ed with a thin coating of this matter, which is done by
immerfing them haftily in the liquid, and as they
greedily imbibe the water, there remains on the furface
a uniform covering of the glazing materials. This co¬
vering, which it is neceffary to obferve, ftiould be very
thin j in a flrort time becomes fo dry, that it does not
adhere to the fingers, when the pieces are handled.
When they are fufficiently dry, they are replaced in the
furnace in the fame manner as in preparing the bifcuit,
and the heat is continued till the glazing be completely
fufed *, but the degree of heat neceffary for that pur¬
pofe is far inferior to that which is requifite in baking
the pafte. The pieces of porcelain which are intended
to remain white, are now finilhed, but thofe which are
to be ornamented with painting and gilding muft: go
through various other operations, of which the follow¬
ing is a general account. ^
The colours which are employed in painting porce- Of painting,
lain are fimilar to thofe which are applied in the paint¬
ing of enamel. They are all compofed of metallic
oxides or calces, combined with a very fufible, vitreous
matter. The different colours are obtained from differ¬
ent metals. The oxides of iron afford a red colour ;
gold precipitated by means of tin, furnifhes a purple and
violet colour ; copper precipitated from its folution in
acids by means of an alkali, gives a fine green 5 cobalt,
B b or
(a) The proportion of the materials employed for common white pottery-rvare are 60 parts of litharge, 10 of
clay, and 20 of ground flint.
FOR [ 194 ] FOR
Porcelain, or when combined with vitreous mailer, naffer, as it is
1' ' called, yields a fine blue. Earthy matters which are
llightly ferruginous, produce a yellow colour, and brown
and black colours are obtained from iron in different
hates, and from manganefe. A coloured glazing has
* -E/foy on been recommended by O’Reilly *, which may be ap-
liftin' P^ec^ to coarfe articles of earthen ware. It is obtained
x. 260/ ^ ^rom refiduum after the diftillation of oxymuriatic acid.
The manganefe contained in this refiduum is faid to com¬
municate a blackith appearance like that of bronze,
which, fays the author, is far from being difagreeable
to the eye. This glazing he employed feverai times by
way of trial, firft fuflng it with fand in a potter’s fur¬
nace, throwing it into cold water to facilitate its divi-
fion, and grinding it in a mill, that it may be more
completely diffufed in water. This glazing is attended
with the advantage of being free from thofe dangerous
qualities fo common in all preparations made from the
oxides of lead. Whatever colouring matters are em¬
ployed, they are finely ground with gum water, or with
fome effenlial oil, in which flate they are fit to be em¬
ployed for the painting of porcelain with figures of
flowers, or any other defigns with which it is intended to
be adorned.
and otidiug. 1° giving porcelain, the oxide or calx of gold (b) is
0 employed, and it is applied nearly in the fame manner as
the coloured enamels. The gold, which is in the ftate
of very minute divifion, is mixed with gum water and
borax, and in this ftate is applied to the clean furface of
the porcelain with a fine camel’s hair pencil. The
painted and gilded porcelains are then expofed to fuch a
degree of heat in the furnace as is capable of fufing the
vitreous matter with which the metallic colours are mix¬
ed. The gold is fixed by means of the borax undergo¬
ing the procefs of vitrification, and thus ftrongly adher¬
ing to the porcelain. Moft of the metallic colouring
matters exhibit all their beauty when the porcelain is
taken from the furnace j but to bring out the luftre and
beauty of the gold, thofe parts of the porcelain which
have been gilt are afterwards fubjefted to the operation
of burniftiing.
Ufe o/pla- r^^ie u^e P^at*na in porcelain painting has been re¬
tina in co- commended by Klaproth 5 and experiments have been
louring por- made on the fubjeft by that celebrated chemift, with
cdain. the view of afeertaining its effefts for this purpofe. The
following is the conclufion of his obfervations.
“ The procefs which I employ in the application of
platina to painting on porcelain is fimple and eafy : it is
as follows :—I diffolve crude platina in aqua regia, and
precipitate it by a faturated folution of fal ammoniac in
water. The red cryftalline precipitate thence produced
is dried, and being reduced to a very fine pow'der is
flowly brought to a red heat in a glafs retort. As the
volatile neutral fait, combined with the platina in this
precipitate, becomes fublimated, the metallic part re- Por-ekin.
mains behind in the form of a gray foft powder. I~~v——
This powder is then fubjefted to the fame procefs as
gold 3 that is to fay, it is mixed with a fmall quantity
of the fame flux as that ufed for gold, and being ground
with oil of fpike is applied with a brulh on tile porce¬
lain 3 after which it is burnt-in under the muffle of an
enameller’s furnace, and then poliffied with a burniihing
tool.
“ The colour of platina burnt into porcelain in this
manner is a filver white, inclining a little to a ffeel
gray. If the platina be mixed in different portions with
gold, different (hades of colour may be obtained 3 the
gradations of which may be numbered, from the white
colour of unmixed platina to the yellow colour of gold.
Platina is capable of receiving a confiderable addition of
gold before the tranfition from the white colour to yel¬
low is perceptible. Thus, for example, in a mixture of
four parts of gold and one of platina, no figns of the
gold were to be obferved, and the white colour could
(carcely be diffinguiffied from that of unmixed platina :
it was only when eight parts of gold to one of platina
were employed that the gold colour affumed the fupe-
riority.
“ I tried, in the like manner, different mixtures of pla¬
tina and filver 3 but the colour produced was dull, and
did not feem proper for painting on porcelain.
“ Befides this method of burning-in platina in fubftance
on porcelain, it may be employed alfo in its diffolved
ftate 3 in which cafe it gives a different rcfult both in
its colour and fplcndour. The lolution of it in aqua
regia is evapoiated, and the thickened refiduum is then
applied feverai times in fucceffion to the porcelain. The
metallic matter thus penetrates into the fufcftance of the
porcelain ilfelf, and forms a metallic mirror of the colour
and fplendour of polifned ftecl”.
The fame fubftance has been applied as a glazing to
porcelain in fome of the Englifh manufaefories, but how¬
ever valuable and important the application of platina
to this purpofe may be, the fcarcity of that metal, and
its confequent high price, muft always prevent it from
coming into very general ufe.
We have already noticed the eftabliflhment of the ma- Manufac-
nufafture of porcelain at Derby. The following is a ture of por-
fhort detail of the method of conducing that manufac-cek'n at
lure. After the pafte has been properly prepared, by
grinding and other neceffary operations, it is delivered to
the workmen, by whofe dexterity the fhapelefs mafs is
converted into various beautiful forms. Veffels of a
round form are ufually made by a man called a thrower,
by whom they are worked on a circular block moving
horizontally on a vertical fpindle. They are next car¬
ried to the lathe 3 and being fixed cn the end of a hori¬
zontal fpindle, they are reduced to the proper form and
thicknefs.
(b) A powder of gold is prepared for this purpofe in other two different ways. By one of thofe methods a
quantity of gold leaf is put into a glafs or earthen mortar, with a little honey or thick gum water, and ground till
the gold is reduced to very minute particles 3 a little warm water is then added, which will wafti out the honey or
gum, and -eave the gold behind : but the procefs by which the fineft ground gold is obtained, is by gradually heat-
ing a gold amalgam m an open earthen veffel, and continuing the heat till the mercury is entirely evaporated, ftir-
rmg the mixture with a glafs rod, or tobacco pipe, that the particles of gold may be prevented frem adhering as
the mercury flies off. The gold remaining after the evaporation of the meremy is then ground with a little water
in a Wedgwood-ware mortar, and after being dried is fit for ufe.
Porcelain,
47
Glazing.
4S
Painting.
49
Gilding.
5°
E fcutt fi.
gures.
POE [ i
tlncknefs. They are afterwards fmifned, and handled
by other perfons, If that fhould be neceffary, and are
then introduced into a ftove, where the moilture is en-
lively evaporated, and they become fit for the piocefs of
baking. Veffels of an oval figure, fuch as tea-pots,
tureens, &c. acquire their form by being preffed with
the hand into moulds of plafter or gypfum._ The pieces
of porcelain being thus prepared, are put into the fag-
gars or cafes, which are of various fixes and dimenfions,
and thefe are fet in the kiln or furnace, one upon the
other, till they are filled up nearly to the top, in the
manner already defcribed. The furnace being full, the
ware is baked, and after this firfl baking, the porcelain
is in the date of bifcuit. _
The next piocefs is the glazing, which, according to
the defcription already given, is performed by dipping
the pieces of porcelain in glaze of the confidence of
cream. They are then conveyed to the glaze furnace,
where they are again baked, but in a degree of heat in¬
ferior to that neceffary for the firft baking.
If the pieces of porcelain are to receive the additional
ornaments of painting and gilding, they are next deliv¬
ered to another fet of workmen. The colouring mat¬
ters, as already noticed, are extra&ed from mineral
bodies, and after proper preparation, they are applied
to the ware by the painters, in the form of landfcapes
or figures, according to the requifite pattern. After
this proceis the ware is again conveyed to tne fuinace,
and the colours are vitrified, to give them the proper
degree of fixation and ludre. After every coat or layer
of colour, a frefh burning is neceffary. In the common
kind of porcelain, once or twice is xound fufficient for
the ornaments it requires j but in the finer decorations,
the colours mud be laid on feveral times, and as often
fubiefted to the a£lion of heat, before the full effeft can
be produced. This completes the procefs for thofe ar¬
ticles of porcelain in which glazing and,painting omy
are required. , . ,
But when the pieces of porcelain are to be farther
decorated with gilding, they are pencilled with a mix¬
ture of oil and gold, diffolved or thrown down by
quickfilver with the aid of heat, and are again intro¬
duced to the furnace. Here the gold returns to its lohd
date, but comes out with a dull iurface •, and to recover
its ludre and ufual brilliancy, it is burnifhed with blood-
dones, and other polifhing fubdances. Much care and
attention are neceffary in the latter part.of the procefs j
for if the gold be not fufficiently burnt, it. will be apt to
fenarate in thin flakes, and if it have been expofed to
too great a heat, it is not fufceptible of a fine pohfh.
In this manufactory, when pieces of porcelain are to
be finifhed in the highed dile, they are frequently re¬
turned to the enamel furnace, where the colours are
fluxed fix or feven different times •, and having gone
through the proceffes now defcribed, tne porcelain is fit
for the market.
White ware, or bifcuit figures, are made at this ma-
nufaCtory, which are fuppofed to be equal in beauty and
delicacy to any European productions of a fimilar kind.
In this kind of porcelain, the lathe is of no ufe, for tne
figures are cad in moulds of plader or gypfum. I he ma¬
terials of which they are compofed being properly pre¬
pared, and previoufly reduced to a liquid of the appear¬
ance and confidence of thick cream, are poured into
the moulds, which from the abforbent property of the
95 1 p 0 11 .
plader, imbibe the water contained in the mixture, fo iPo!T^aK q
that the pade foon becomes fufficiently hard to part
freely from the mould. The different parts of figures,
as the head, arms, legs, &c. are cad in feparate moulds,
and after being dried and repaired, they are joined by a
pade of the lame kind, but of a thinner confidence.
The porcelain pieces thus formed are then conveyed to
the furnace, and after being fubjeCted for a proper length
of time, to a regular and continued heat, they come out
extremely white and delicate. _ 51
Porcelain manufactories have been long edabliflied at Mamifac-
Tournay in Flanders-, one of thefe manufactories fur-toryat
niflaes all Flanders with blue and white porcelain. At ourna}*
this manufactory they have a particular procefs in.form¬
ing cups and other veffels, which is fomewhat fimilar to
that now defcribed. They are neither turned on the
lathe, nor is the clay compreffed in a mould ; but after
being diluted in water, and when the liquid has acquir¬
ed a proper confidency, the workmen pour it into
moulds, two or three hundred of which are arranged
together. When they have filled them all, they return
to the firfl: in the row. The liquid part is drawn off
by a gentle inclination ; the furplus adheres to the
fide of the veffel, and thus forms the piece which it is
intended to make. The piece is detached from the mould
by means of a flight flroke, and after being fufficiently
dried, is conveyed to the furnace, to undergo the procefs
of baking. _ 52
In the manufacture of utenfils for chemical purpofes, Ur en fils for
where they are to be fubjeCted to the effeCts of powerful chemical
agents, greater attention is neceffary. Veffels of this de- purP°ies-
fcription fhould be infufible at any degree of heat 5 pof-
fcfs a fufficient compaftnefs of texture, to retain faline
and other fluxes in fufion, without undergoing any
change ; and fhould bear hidden changes of tempera¬
ture, particularly hidden heating, without cracking, or
in any degree giving way. It lias been found imprac¬
ticable to have the three requifites now mentioned unit¬
ed in the fame ware, fo that it becomes neceffary to
feleCl the kind of ware according to the purpofe for
which they are intended. Fc-r bearing high degrees of
heat, Heffian crucibles are found to anfwer befl; they
are compofed of a very refraftory clay, mixed with
fand, of which the fineft part is feparated by a fieve,
and thrown away. Thefe veffels are made by mixing
the clay with a fmaller proportion of water than ufual,
fo that a ftiffer mafs is obtained, and the veffel brought
to the requifite ffiape by ramming the clay ftrongly into
an iron mould. In this way they are very compaCI, and
for a confiderable time retain laline fluxes. Ordinary
crucibles, it is found, are rendered more retentive by
lining them on the infide, before they are quite dry, with
a thin coating of pure clay, -without the addition of any
other mixture. But the moft refraftory material knorsn is a
mixture of unburnt with burnt clay. Veffels made of this
material are found capable of refifling the effefts of faline
fluxes longer than any other, and hence this material is em¬
ployed in making large crucibles for glafshoufes.
One of the moft valuable qualities of porcelain ware,
is to bear fudden changes of heat and cokl -, bufrin this
quality fome of the moft perfeft kinds of ware in other
refpefts are extremely deficient, and can fcarcely be
fubjefted, without danger of cracking, to the draught
of a wind furnace, even when the heat.is {lowly and gra¬
dually applied. This happens to the celebrated porce-
B b 2 lain
P O It [ I
Porcelain, bin fire ware invented by an enlightened and philofophical
' manufacturer, the late Mr Wedgwood. This effect of
Wedt- cracking, on fudden changes of temperature, feems to
wood’spor- depend on the hardnefs and clofenelsof texture j and the
celain. clolenefs of texture is found to be in proportion to the
minute divifion of the materials before baking. The
clay and flint of Wedgwood’s ware are brought to a
molt impalpable powder before mixture, fo that the tex¬
ture is uncommonly hard and clofe. It may be worth
while to mention, that Wedgwood’s porcelain refifts
the effeCls of fudden heat and cold much better, by be¬
ing covered with a thin coating of Windfor loam, or of
a fire lute compofed of coarfe fand and day, and tow
or horfe-dung. When crucibles are intended merely
for the fufion of metals, they are greatly improved by a
mixture of black lead. This fubitance being involved
in the clay, is protected from the accefs of air, and is
then incombuftible. It has no affinity for the earths at
any temperature, and being abfolutely infufible, it ena¬
bles the clay to bear, without melting, the greateff de¬
gree of heat. The mixture of this lubftance, as a ma¬
terial for crucibles, has another advantage, that no
part of the melted metal is detained in the crucible, as
is the cafe in the common rough ware. It alfo bears
fudden heating and cooling better than any other.
6. General Principles of the Manufa&ure of Porcelain.
Convinced that every accurate and fcientific invefti-
gation into the nature and proceffes of any important
art, will always be deemed of fome value to the philofo-
phic obferver, or the enlightened mantrfafturer, we
fhall introduce the following obfervations on the princi¬
ples of the manufadture of porcelain.
Obfervations by Vauquelin.
According to this celebrated chemift, four things may
occafion difference in the qualities of earthen-ware : ly/,
The nature or compofition of the matter 5 id, The mode’
of preparation j 3*/, 1 he dimenfions given to the veffels 5
pth, ihe baking to which they are fubjedfed. By com¬
pofition of the matter, the author underftands the na¬
ture and proportions of the elements of which it is form¬
ed. Thefe elements, in the greater part of earthen
ware, either valuable or common, are filex, argil, lime
and fometimes a little oxide of iron. Hence it is evi¬
dent that it is not fo much by the diverfity of the ele¬
ments that good earthen-ware differs from bad, as by the
54 proportion in which they are united. Silex or quartz
ScTml makeS TayS l"'° ll,'rds at of «>rtl.en-ware ; argil
Snt pX °r Pure ofay, from a fifth to a third ; lime, from 5 to
of porce- 0 parts m the hundred *, ai}d iron from o to 12 or x r
lain. parts in the hundred. Silex gives hardnefs, infufibility
and unalterability; argil makes the pafte pliable, and
renders it fit to be kneaded, moulded, and turned at
pleafure. It poffeffes at the fame time the property of
being partially fofed by the heat which unites its parts
with thole of the filex ; but it muff not be too abun¬
dant, as it would render the earthen-ware too fufible and
too brittle to be ufed over the fire.
Hitherto it has not been proved by experience that
Jime is neceffary m the compofition of pottery ; and if
traces of it are conflantly found in that fubftance, it is
becaufe it is always mixed with the other earths
from which the walkings and other manipulations have
96 ] P o H
not been able to feparate it. When this earth, how- Porcelain,
ever, does not exceed five or fix parts in a hundred, >v~’—^
it appears that it is not hurtful to the quality of the
pottery j but if more abundant, it renders it too fu¬
fible.
1 he oxide of iron, befides the inconvenience of com¬
municating a red or brown colour, according to the de¬
gree of baking, to the vefiels in which it forms a part,
has the property of rendering them fufible, and even in
a greater degree than lime.
As fome kinds of pottery are deftined to melt very Mode of
penetrating fubltances, fuch as falts, metallic oxides,preparation-
glafs, &c. they require a fine kind of pafte, which is
obtained only by reducing the earths employed to very
minute particles. Others deftined for melting metals,
and fubftances not very penetrating, and which muft
be able to fupport, without breaking, a fudden tranfi-
tion from great heat to great cold, require for their
fabrication a mixture of calcined argil with raw argil.
By thefe means you obtain pottery, the coarfe pafte of
wdiich refembles breche, or Imall grained pudding-ftone,
and which can endure fudden changes of tempera¬
ture.
The baking of pottery is alfo an objeft of great im- Baking,
portance. The heat muft be capable of expelling hu¬
midity, and agglutinating the parts which enter into
the compofition of the pafte, but not ftrong enough to
produce fufion j which, if too far advanced, gives to
pottery a homogeneoufnefs that renders it brittle. The
fame effeft takes place in regard to the fine pottery, be¬
caufe the very minute divifion given to the earths re¬
duces them nearly to the fame ftate as if this matter
had been fufed. This is the reafon why porcelain
ftrongly baked is more or lefs brittle, and cannot eafily
endure alternations of temperature. Hence coarfe por¬
celain, in the compofition of which a certain quantity
of calcined argil is employed, porcelain retorts, cruci¬
bles, tubes, and common pottery, the pafte of which
is coarfe, are much lefs brittle than diffies and faucers
formed of the fame fubftance, ground with more la¬
bour.
c 7
rl he general and refpeftive dimenfions of the different Dimenfions
parts of veffels of earthen-w’are have alfo confiderable in-°f thec''®“r"
fluence on their capability to ftand the fire.
In lome caies the glazing or covering, efpecially
when too thick, and of a nature different from the body
of the pottery, alfo renders them liable to break. Thus,
in making fome kinds of pottery, it is always effential,
lA 10 follow the beft proportion in the principles; id,
J o give to the particles of the pafte, by grinding, a
minutenefs fuited to the purpofe for which it is intend¬
ed, and to all the parts the fame dimenfions as far as
poffible; 3A To carry the baking to the higheft de¬
gree that the matter can bear without being fufed j e^th,
I o apply the glazing in thin layers, the fufibility of
which ought to approach as near as poffible to that of
the matter, in order that it may be more intimately
united.
C. Vauquelin, being perfuaded that the quality of
good pottery depends chiefly on ufing proper propor¬
tions of the earthy matters, thought it might be of
importance, to thofe engaged in this branch of manu-
faddure, to make known the analyfis of different natural
clays employed for this purpofe, and of pottery produ¬
ced by fome of them, in order that, when a new earth
P O R [ '19
Porcelain, is difcovered, it may be known by a fimple analyfis
 whether it will be proper for the fame objedf, and to
what kind of pottery already known it bears the great-
eft refemblance.
58
Porous
ware.
Silex .
Argil . .
Lime . .
Oxide of iron
Water . . .
Heffian
Crucibles.
. 69
. 21-5
. I
. 8 ,
Argil of
Dreux.
43*5
33’2
3*5
1
18
Porcelain Wedgwood’s
Capfules. Pyrometer’s.
64.2
6l
28
6
o'5
25
6
0.2
6*2
59
Enamel of
the anci¬
ents.
Raw kaolin 100 parts.—Silex 74, argil 16’5, lime 2,
water 7. A hundred parts of this earth gave eight of
alum, after being treated with the fulphuric acid.
Walked kaolin 100 parts.—Silex 55, argil 27, lime
2, iron 0‘5, water 14. This kaolin, treated with the
fulphuric acid, gave about 45 or 50 per cent, of alum.
Petuntze.—Silex 74, argil 14-5, lime 5,5,lofs 6. A
hundred parts of this fubftance, treated with the ful¬
phuric acid, gave feven or eight parts of alum. But
this quantity does not equal the lofs fuftained.
Porcelain of retorts.—Silex 64, argil 28,8, lime 4,55>
iron O’50, lofs 2’77. Treated with the fulphuric acid,
this porcelain gave no alum.
There is a kind of earthen veffels, called Alcarrexes,
ufed in Spain for cooling the water intended to be
drunk. Thefe veffels conlift of 60 parts of calcareous
earth, mixed with alumina and a little oxyd of iron,
and 36^ of filiceous earth, alfo mixed with alumina and
the fame oxide. The quantity of iron may be eftima-
ted at almoft one hundredth part of the whole. This
earth is firft kneaded into a tough pafte, being for that
purpofe previoufly diluted with water •, formed into a
cake of about fix inches in thicknefs, and left in that
ftate till it begin to crack. It is then kneaded with
the feet, the workman gradually adding to it a quantity
of fea-falt, in the proportion of feven pounds to a hun¬
dred and fifty : after which it is applied to the lathe, and
baked in any kind of furnace ufed by potters. The al-
carrezes, however, are only about half as much baked
as the better kinds of common earthen ware ; and being
exceedingly porous, water oozes through them on all
(ides. Hence the air, which comes in contact with it,
by making it evaporate, carries off the caloric contained
in the water in the veffel, which is thus rendered remar¬
kably cool.
Obfervations of Brohgniart.
The author of the following obfervations is fuperin-
tendant of the celebrated porcelain manufaftory at Sev¬
res in France. The extenfive views he has taken of the
fubjeft, and the general principles which he has advan¬
ced, will, we doubt not, be favourably received by the
intelligent manufatfturer, and meet with attention and
confideration adequate to their importance and utility.
“ The art of employing metallic oxides for colouring
by fufion different vitreous matters, is of very great an-
tiqifity : every body knows that the antients manufac¬
tured coloured glafs and enamel, and that this art was
pra&ifed in particular by the Egyptians, the firft peo¬
ple who in this manner imitated precious ftones. \ he
praftice of this art in modern times has been carried to
a high degree of perfe&ion : but the theory lias been
7 ] FOR
negle&ed $ it is almoft the only one of the chemical arts Ps-rcelainv
in which no attempt has yet been made to apply the “ ^
new principles of that fcience.
“ It is well known that all verifiable colours have for
their balls metallic oxides 5 but all the metallic oxides
are not proper for this purpofe : befides, as they are not
vitrifiable by themfelves, they can fcarcely ever be em¬
ployed alone. _ 60
“ Highly volatile oxides, and thofe which adhere little Metallic
to the great quantity of oxygen they contain, either0^* e“‘
cannot be employed in any manner, as the oxide of^^urs for
mercury and that of arfenic, or are employed only aSp0rceiain.
agents. The colour they prefent cannot be depended
on, fince they muft lofe it in the flighteft heat by lofing
a part of their oxygen : fuch are the puce-coloured and
red oxides of lead, the yellow oxide of gold, &c. Ox¬
ides in which the proportions of oxygen are fufceptible
of varying with too much facility are rarely employed :
the oxide of iron, though black, is never employed for
that colour 5 and the green oxide of copper is, under
many circumftances, very uncertain. I have faid that
oxides alone are not fufceptible of fufion : however, as
they are deftined to be applied in thin ftrata on vitrifi¬
able fubftances, they may be attached to them by a vio¬
lent heat. But, except the oxides of lead and bifmuth,
they would give only dull colours. The violent heat,
often neceffary to fix them, would change or totally de-
ftroy the colours. A flux then is added to all metallic
oxides.
“ This flux is glafs, lead, and filex •, glafs of borax, or
a mixture of both. Its general effeft is, to give fplen-
dour to the colours after their fufion; to fix them on the
article which is painted, by promoting more or lefs the’
foftening of its furface ; to envelop the metallic oxides,
and to preferve their colour by fiieltering them from the
contact of the air: in a word, to facilitate the fufion
of the colour at a low temperature not capable of de-
ftroying it. ci
“ I fhall fpeak here only of the application of metal- Nature of
lie colours to vitreous bodies or to vitreous furfaces.the fub-
Thefe bodies may be divided into three claffes, very
diftindt by the nature of the fubftances which compofe ™r(^ppi;e(L
them, the effedls produced on them by the colours, and
the changes they experience. Thefe claffes are : i/?,
Enamel, foft porcelain, and all crufts, enamels, or glafs,
that contain lead in a notable quantity. 2(1, Hard por¬
celain, or porcelain which has a cruft of feld-fpar. 3*/,
Glafs in the compofition of which no lead enters, fuch
as common window-glafs.
“ I (hall here examine in fucceflion the principles of
the compofition of thefe colours, and the general
phenomena they exhibit on thefe three kinds of bo¬
dies.
“ It is well known that enamel is glafs rendered opake
by the oxide of tin, and exceedingly fufible by the oxide
of lead. It is the oxide of lead, in particular, contained
in it, that gives it properties very different from thole of
the other excipients of metallic colours. Thus all glafs
and glazing that contain lead will participate in the
properties of enamel } and what we (hall fay of one
may be applied to the reft with very trifling differ-^
ences.
Such are the white and transparent glazing of Hone
ware, and the glazing of porcelain called foft gld%-
ing.
“ Enamel
Porcelain.
62
Flux for foft
porcelain
colours.
63
Colours ap¬
plied to
hard porce¬
lain
PGR [ 1
“ Enamel or foft porcelain colours require lefs flux
than others, becaufe the giafs on which they are applied
becomes fufficiently foftto be penetrated by them. This
flux may be either giafs of lead and pure filex, called
rocai//e, or the fame giafs mixed with borax. Montamy
a Herts that giafs of lead ought to be banilhed from
among the enamel fluxes ; and he employs only borax,
lie then dilutes his colours in a volatile oil. On the
other hand, the painters of the manufactory of Sevres
employ only colours without borax, becaufe they dilute
them in gum ; and borax does not dilute well in that
fubftance. I have found that both methods are equally
good ; and it is certain that Montamy was wrong to
exclude fluxes of lead, fince they are daily employed
without any inconvenience, and as they even render the
application of colours eafier.
“ I have faid that in the baking of thefe colours, the
cruft, foftened by the fire, fuffers itfelf to be eafily pe¬
netrated by them. This is the firft caufe of the change
which they experience. By mixing with the cruft they
become weaker, and the firft heat changes a figure
which appeared to be finilhed into a very light iketch.
The two principal caufes of the changes which co¬
lours on enamel and foft porcelain are fufceptible of ex¬
periencing do not depend in any manner on the compo-
fition of thefe colours, but on the nature of the giafs to
which they are applied. It follows from what has been
faid, that painting on foft porcelain has need of being
feveral times retouched, and of feveral heats, in order
that it may be carried to the neceffary degree of ftrength.
Thefe paintings have always a certain faintnefs; but they
are conftantly more brilliant, and they never are attend',-
ed with the inconvenience of detaching themfelves in
feales.
“ Hard porcelain, according to the divifion which I
have eftablilhed, is the fecond fort of excipient of metal¬
lic colours. This porcelain, as is well known, has for
its bafe a very white clay called kaolin, mixed with a
filiceous and calcareous flux, and for its covering feld-
fpar fufed without an atom of lead.
“ This porcelain, which is that of Saxony, is much
newer at Sevres than the foft porcelain. The colours
applied to it are of two kinds : the firft, deftined to re-
prefent different objedhs, are baked in a heat very infe¬
rior to that neceffary for baking porcelain. They are
exceedingly numerous and varied. The others, deftined
to be fufed in the fame heat as that which bakes porce¬
lain, lay themfelves flat, and are much lefs numerous.
The colours of painting are made nearly like thofe def¬
tined for foft porcelain 5 they only contain more flux.
Their flux is compofed of giafs of lead and borax.’
When porcelain is expofed to heat in order to bake the
colours, the covering of feld-fpar dilates itfelf and opens
its pores, but does not become foft: as the colours do
not penetrate it, they experience none of thofe chancres
which they undergo on foft porcelain. It muft howe-
ver, be faid that they lofe a little of their intenfity by
acquiring that tranfparency which is given to them by
fufion. J
One of toe greateft inconveniences of thefe colours,
efpecially in the manufadory of Sevres, is the facility
with which they fcale off when expofed 'feveral times in
the fire.
“ To remedy this defeft without altering the quality
of the pafte, I was of opinion that the cruft only ought
2
98 ]
p o it
to be fottened by introducing into it more filiceous or Porcelain,
calcareous flux, according to the nature of the feld-fpar. ’—'
i ins method has fucceeded and for about a year pail
the colours might be expofed two or three times to the
fire without fealing, if not overcharged with flux, and if
not laid on too thick.
“ The third fort of excipient of vitrifiable metallic
colours is giafs without lead. <5^
“ The application of thefe colours to giafs conftitutes and to giafs.
painting on giafs ; an art very much practifed fome cen¬
turies ago, and which was fuppofed to be loft becaufe
out of fafhion; but it has too direcl a dependence
on painting in enamel and porcelain to be entirely loft.
“ The matters and fluxes which enter into the com-
pofttion of the colours employed on giafs are in general
the fame as thofe applied to porcelain. Neither of them
differ but in their proportions j but there are a great
number of enamel or porcelain colours which cannot be
applied to giafs, where they are deprived of the white
ground which ferves to give them relief.
Of Colours in particular.
“ After colledling the general phenomena exhibited
by each clafs of vitrifiable colours, confidered in regard
to the body on which they are applied, I muft make
known the moft interefting particular phenomena exhi¬
bited by each principal kind of colours employed on
foft porcelain and giafs in a porcelain furnace.
Of Reds, Purples, and Violets, made from Gold.
44 Carmine red is obtained by the purple precipitate of
caflius : it is mixed with about fix parts of its flux ; and
this mixture is employed direflly, without being fufed.
It is then of a dirty violet, but by baking it acquires a
beautiful red carmine colour : it is, however, exceed¬
ingly delicate 5 a little too much heat and carbonaceous
vapours eafily fpoil it. On this account it is more beau¬
tiful when baked with charcoal than with wood.
44 This colour and the purple, which is very little dif¬
ferent, as well as all the (hades obtained from it, by
mixing it with other colours, really change on all por¬
celain and in every hand. But it is the only one that
changes on hard porcelain. Its place may he fupplied
by a rofe-colour from iron which does not change ; fo
that by fupprefling the carmine made with gold, and
fubftituting for it the rofe oxide of iron here alluded to,
you may exhibit a palette compofed of colours none of
which change in a remarkable manner. This rofe-co*
loured oxide of iron has been long known ; but it was
not employed on enamel, becaufe on that fubftance it
changes too much. As the painters on enamel, how¬
ever, have become the painters on porcelain, they have
preferved their ancient method.
44 It might be believed that, by firft reducing to a
vitreous matter the colour called cai'mme already mixed
with its flux, it might be made to affume its laft tint.
But the heat neceffary to fufe this vitreous mafs deftroys
the red colour, as I have experienced. Befides, it is
remarked that, to obtain this colour very beautiful, it
muff be expofed to the fire as few times as pofiible.
44 The carmine for foft porcelain is made with fulmi-
mting^gold flowly decompofed, and muriate of filver:
no tin enters into it ; which proves that the combination
of the oxide of this metal with that of gold is not necef¬
fary to the exiilence of the purple colour.
44 Violet
POR [ 199 ] FOR
41 Violet is made alfo with purple oxide of gold. A
greater quantity of lead in the flux is what gives it this
colour, which is almoft the fame crude or baked.
“ Thefe three colours totally difappear when expofed
to a great porcelain heat.
“ Carmine and purple have given us in glafs tints
only of a dirty violet. The violet, on the other hand,
produces on glafs a very beautiful effeid, but it is liable
to turn blue. I have not yet been able to difcover the
caufe of this Angular change, which I faw for the firlt
time a few days ago.
Rif/, Rofe, and Brown Colours, extra&edfrom Iron.
“ Ihefe colours are made from red oxide of iron pre¬
pared with nitric acid. Thefe oxides are further calci¬
ned by keeping them expofed to the adfion of heat. If
heated too much, they pafs to brown.
“ Their flux is compofedof borax, fand, and minium,
in fmall quantity.
“ Thefe oxides give rofe and red colours capable of
{Applying the place of the fame colours made with oxide
of gold. When properly employed on hard porcelain,
they do not change at all. I have caufed rofes to be
painted with thefe colours, and found no diflerence be¬
tween the baked flower and that not baked, except what
might be expedled to refult from the brilliancy given to
colours by fufion.
“ Thefe colours may be employed indifcriminately,
either previoufly fufed or not fuled.
“ In a great heat they in part difappear, or produce
a dull brick red ground, which is not agreeable.
“ 1 he compofition of them is the fame both for foft
porcelain and for glafs. They do not change on the
latter ; but on foft porcelain they difappear almoft en¬
tirely on the firfl expofure to heat, and to make any
thing remain they mull be employed very deep.
“ This Angular effeft mult be afcribed to the pre¬
fence of lead in the cruft or glazing. I affured myfelf
of this by a very Ample experiment. I placed this co¬
lour on window glafs, and having expofed it to a ftrong
baking, it did not change.
“ I covered feveral parts of it with minium ; and
again expoAng it to the Are, the colour was totally re¬
moved in the places where the red oxide of lead had
been applied.
“ Ty performing this operation on a larger fcale in
clofe veifels, a large quantity of oxygen gas was difen-
gaged.
“ It appears to me that this obfervation clearly proves
the aftion of oxidated lead on glafs as a deftroyer of co¬
lour : it is feen that it does not aft, as was believed, by
burning the combuftible bodies, which might tarnilb the
glals, but by diffolving, difcolouring, or volatiliz'ncr
with it the oxide cf iron, which might alter its tranE
parency.
Yellows.
“ Yellows are colours which require a great deal of
care in the fabrication on account of the lead which they
contain, and which, approaching fometimes to the me¬
tallic ftate, produces on them black fpots.
“ ft he yellows for hard and foft porcelain are the
lame : they are compofed of the oxide of lead, white
oxide of antinrymy, and fand.
u Oxide of tin is fometixr.es mixed with them} and
when it is required to have them livelier, and nearer
the colour du fouci, red oxide cf iron is added, the too
great rednefs of which is diflipated in the previous fu-
Aon to which they are expofed by the aftion of the lead
contained in this yellow, ft hefe colours, when once
made, never change : they difappear, however, almoft
entirely when expofed to a porcelain heat.
“ Ihtfe yellows cannot be applied to glafs: they
are too opake and dirty, ft hat employed by the old
painters on glals has, on the contrary, a beautiful tranf-
parency, is exceedingly brilliant, and of a colour which
approaches near to that of gold, ft'he procefies which
they gave clearly (bowed that Alver formed part of their
compoAtion ; but, when exaftly followed, nothing fa-
tisfaftory was obtained. C. Miraud, whom I have al¬
ready had occaAon to mention, has found means to make
as beautitul paintings on glais as the ancients, by em¬
ploying muriate of Alver, oxide of zinc, white argil, and
yellow oxide of iron, ft'hefe colours are applied on glafs
merely pounded, and without a flux. The oxide of iron
brings the yellow7 to that colour which it ought to have
after baking, and contributes with the argil and oxide of
zinc to decompofe the muriate of Alver without deoxida¬
ting the filver. After the baking, there remains a duft
which has not penetrated into the glafs, and which is
eaflly removed.
“ I his yellow, when employed thicker, gives darker
fhades, and produces a rufiet.
Blues.
“ It is well known that thefe are obtained from the
oxide of cobalt. All chemifts are acquainted with the
preparation of them. Thofe of Sevres, which are juftly
efteemed for their beauty, are indebted for it only to the
care employed in manufafturing them, and to the qua¬
lity of the porcelain, which appears more proper for re¬
ceiving them in proportion to the degree of heat which
it can bear.
“ I remarked refpefting the oxide of cobalt a faft
which is perhaps not known to chemifls: it is volatile
in a violent heat : it is to this property we muft aferibe
the blueifli tint always affumed by white in the neigh¬
bourhood of the blue. I have placed exprefsly on pur-
pofe, in the fame cafe, a white piece clofe to a blue one,
and found that the flde of the w7hite piece next the blue
became evidently blueifh.
“ ft'he blue of hard porcelain, deftined for what is
called the ground for a great heat {lei finds au grand
feu) is fufed with feld-fpar 5 that cf foit porcelain has
for its flux filex, pot alb, and lead : it is not volatilized
like the preceding ; but the heat it experiences is very-
inferior to that of hard porcelain.
“ Thefe colours, xvhen previoufly fufed, do not change
at all in the application.
“ Blues on glafs exhibit the fame phenomena as thofe
on foft porcelain.
Greens.
“ The greens employed in painting are made with
green oxide of copper, or fometimes with a mixture of
yellow or blue. 'They muft be previoufly fufed with their
flux, otherwife they will become black ; but after this
Arft fuAon they no longer change.
“ They cannot ftand a-ftrong heat, as it would make
them difappear entirely. Green grounds for a ftrong
heat •
p O R [ 200 ] P 0 R
lain heat are compofed with the oxides of cobalt and nic-
kel, but a brownifh green only is obtained.
“ Elueiili greens called celefiial blues, which were
formerly colours very much in vogue, can be applied
only upon foft porcelain 5 on hard porcelain they con-
ftantly become fcaly, becaufe potalh enters into their
compolition.
“ Thefe greens cannot be applied on glafs : they
give a dirty colour. To obtain a green on glafs, it is
neceffary to put yellow on one fide, and blue, more
or lefs pale, on the other. This colour may be made
alfo by a mixture of blue with yellow oxide of iron.
I hope to obtain from oxide of chrome a direft green
colour. The trials I have made give me reafon to hope
for firccefs. Pure chromate of lead, which I applied to
porcelain in a ftrong heat, gave me a pretty beautiful
green of great intenfity and very fixed.
Bijlres and Buffets.
“ Thefe are obtained by mixtures in different pro¬
portions of manganefe, brown oxide of copper, and oxide
of iron from ombre earth. They are alfo previoully fu-
fed with their flux, fo that they do not change in any
manner on foft porcelain, as lead has not the fame ac¬
tion on oxide of manganefe as on that of iron, as I af-
fured myfelf by an experiment fimilar to that already
mentioned.
“ This colour fades very fpeedily on glafs.
“ Ruffet grounds in a great heat, known under the
name of tortoife-ffellgreunds, are made in the fame man¬
ner. Their flux is feld-fpar : no titanium enters into
their compofition, though faid fo in all printed works.
Titanium was not known at the manufactory of Sevres
when I arrived there. I treated this Angular metal in
various ways, and never obtained but grounds of a pale
dirty yellow, and very variable in its tone.
Blacks.
“ Blacks are the colours mofl difficult to be obtained
very beautiful. No metallic oxide gives alone a beauti¬
ful black. Manganefe is that which approaches neareft
to it. Iron gives an opake, dull, cloudy black, which
changes very eafily to red : the colour-makers, there¬
fore, to obtain a black which they could not hope for
from the bell; theorift, have united feveral metallic ox¬
ides which feparately do not give black, and have ob¬
tained a very beautiful colour, which, however, is liable
to become fcaly and dull.
“ Thefe oxides are thofe of manganefe, the brown
oxides of copper, and a little of the oxide of cobalt.
The gray is obtained by fupprefTmg the copper, and in-
creafing the dofe of the flux.
“ The manufactory of Sevres is the only one which
has hitherto produced beautiful blacks in a ftrong heat.
This is owing rather to the quality of its pafle than to
any peculiar proceffes, fince it does not conceal them. It
is by darkening the blue by the oxides of manganefe and
iron that they are able in that manufadory to obtain
Very brilliant blacks.
“ Having here made known the principles of the fa¬
brication of each principal colour, it may be readily con¬
ceived that by mixing thefe colours together all the
fh ides poffible may be obtained. It is evident alfo that
care in the preparation, choice in the raw materials, and
*1 juft proportion of dofes, muft produce in the refults
4
differences very fenfible to an eye accuftomed to paint- Porcelain,
ing. A mere knowledge of the compofition of the co-
lours does not give the talent of executing them well.
“ In recapitulating the faCls above mentioned, to pre-
fent them under another general point oi view, it is feen,
“ ift, That among colours generally employed onFadtsrela-
hard porcelain one only is fufceptible of changing, viz.tlve t0 co*
carmine, and the tints into which it enters : that its recf"
place may be fupplied by the reds of iron, and that no1"
colour then changes.
“ I have prefented to the Inftitute a head not baked,
executed according to this method : and the painting of
two rofes, that of the one baked, and that of the other
not baked. It has been feen that there was no difl’e-
rence between them.
“ 2d, That among the colours for foft porcelain and
enamel, feveral change in a confiderable degree. Thefe
are principally the reds of gold and iron, the yellows,
the greens, the browns. They have not been replaced
by others, becaufe this kind of painting has been almcft
abandoned.
“ 3d, That feveral of the colours on glafs change
alfo by acquiring complete tranfparency. Thefe in par¬
ticular are the yellows and greens.
“ 4th, That it is neither by calcinating the colours in
a higher degree, nor previoully fufing them, as fuppofed
by fome, that they are prevented from changing, fince
thefe means really alter the changing colours, and pro¬
duce no effeft on the reft. The change which feveral
colours experience on foft porcelain and on glafs does
not then depend on the nature of their compofition, but
rather on that of the body on which they are applied.
“ Confequently, by fuppreflmg from the colours of
hard porcelain the carmine of gold, which is not indi-
fpenfably neceffary, we ftrall have a feries of colours
which do not change. 66
As it muft be of no fmall importance to the chemical Refults of
manufafturer-to be acquainted with the refults of ex"on^maten”^
periments on the effefts of heat, when applied to dif- a[s for prcu
ferent proportions of the materials employed in making ce]ain im.
porcelain, or other analogous w'are, we fliall infert theportant*
following tables, exhibiting thofe refults. The firft ta¬
ble contains the refults of the numerous experiments of
Achard and Morveau on the vitrification of earths with
faline bodies. The mixture of the earths and falts wTas
made in a clay crucible, and, in the experiments of Mor¬
veau, the crucible w7as expoled for two hours to a heat
from 22° to 26° of Wedgwood’s pyrometer 5 but in
thofe of Achard, the crucible was kept for three hours
in the heat of a ftrong wind furnace, in which the tem¬
perature was probably higher than the former.
The fecond table prefents a view- of the efftTls of the
vitrification of earths by means of metallic oxides. The
mixtures were expofed in earthen crucibles to the heat
of a porcelain furnace during the whole time required to
bake porcelain w7are.
In the third table are exhibited the curious refults of
the eflefts of vitrifying materials on the crucibles in
w!hich the vitrification takes place. It is to be obferv-
ed, that the effefts of the fame materials, and in the
fame proportions are very different, in different veffels;
and without attending to this circumftance, very erro¬
neous conclufions will be drawn in eftimating the aftion
of vitrifiable Jubilances on each ether. This diverfity
of the eifi-Cls of the fame materials in different crucibles,
was
FOR [ 2oi J P O R
was firft noticed by Pott. The fubjeft was ftill farther der precifely the fame circumftances, with this difference Porcelain,
profecuted by Gerrard, who made a number of experi- only, that one fpecimen of each mineral was incloied in. —v—
ments, from which he obtained the refults expreffed rn a crucible of clay, another in one of chalk, and a third
the table. He expofed various natural minerals to a de- in one of charcoal. The difference of the refult which
gree of heat fufficient to melt call iron for an hour, un- is given in the tables was particularly noticed.
Table I. Shewing the Refults of the Vitrification of Earths with Saline Bodies.
Mixture.
A. SlLEX
Carbonate of potalh
M. Silex
Carbonate of foda (dry)
A. Silex
Carbonate of potalh
A. Silex
Carbonate of potafli
M. Silex
Borax (calcined)
A. Silex
Boracic acid
A. Silex
Boracic acid
A. Silex
Boracic acid
A. Silex
Calcined borax
A. Silex
Calcined borax
A. Silex
Sulphate of foda
A. Silex
Nitre
A. Silex
Common fait
M. Silex
Refult.
^ A yellow glafs, not hard enough to give fparks with Heel.
^ A colourlefs tranfparent glafs, but deh'quefcent from the excefs of alkali.
^ A yellow glafs, not Icintillant.
A vitriform mafs, yellow, hard, and icintillant.
A beautiful tranfparent glafs, not at all foluble in water.
^ ‘ ^ A white porceilanous mafs, fcarcely fcintillant.
*' ^ A hard tranfparent glafs—fcintillant.
A white opake melted porous mafs—fcintillant.
3'^j- A tranfparent glafs—hard and fcintillant.
A mafs reiembling agate—but perfectly fufed and fcintillant.
A green fcintillant glafs.
^ A foft green tranfparent glafs.
^ Scoria—the crucible entirely dellroyed.
Phofphate of'foda and Immonia 2.} A of!,ke' v!treous mars> deU<luefcenl and ■•'dd'''-ing Hto.
M. Lime
Carbonate of ioda
A. Chalk
Carbonate of potalh
A. Chalk
Carbonate of potafli
A. Chalk
Carbonate of potafli
M. Lime
Borax
A. Chalk
Borax
A. Chalk
Borax
A. Chalk
Boracic acid
Vol. XVII. Part L
i7
2
I. J
1
2
* A white fpongy opake mafs, crumbling between the fingers.
^ Partly fufed—the reff pulverulent—the crucible ftrongly corroded.
' ^ A welV-fufed, poliflied, black fcintillant glafs.
V Remained a white powder.
A fine tranfparent yellowifli glafs—the crucible ftrongly corroded.
A well-fufed, black, fcintillant polilhed mafs.
3* A yellow fcintillant glafs.
2 J A yellow glafs—run through the crucible.
A.
Porcelain.
P o u
Mixture.
t 202 ]
FOR
Refult.
Porcelain.
A.
A.
A.
A.
M.
M.
A.
A.
M.
A.
A.
M.
M.
M.
M.
M.
M.
M.
Chalk
Sulphate of foda
Chalk
Sulphate of foda
Chalk
Nitrate of foda
Chalk
Common fait
Lime - - - 1 • 7
Phofphate of foda and ammonia 2. 3
Alumine -
Carbonate of foda - 2
3 ‘ A hard yellow fcintillant glafs.
I-1A hard brown fcoria—the crucible totally deflroyed.
4-3
A hard yellow glafs.
7. A yellow fcintillant glafs—the crucible entirely deftroyed.
A white opake crumbly mafs.
’ ^ A gray opake ill-fufed frit, not cohering to the crucible and deliquefcent.
Alumine - - 4. “I .
Carbonate of foda and potafh in Remained unmelted and uncohering,
all proportions from 1 to I2.J
Alumine
Carbonate of potaih
Alumine
Borax
Alumine
Borax
Alumine
Boracic acid
Partially melted, but foft and friable.
^ A fine tranfparent clear green glafs.
Remained pulverulent.
\ Part unfufed and remaining pulverulent, the reft partially melted.
1.
4-3
Alumine - - . 1 ’ 7-A green frit eafily friable.
Phofphate of foda and ammonia 2. 3 °
Magnesia
Carbonate of foda
Magnefia
Borax
Magnefia
Phofphate of foda and ammonia
Barytes (pure)
Carbonate of foda
Barytes - - -
Borax -
Barytes
Phofphate of foda and ammonia
^ A white opake uncohering mafs.
i.l A femi-tranfparent fomewhat milky glafs of a gelatinous appearance, but
2. 3 very hard and brilliant on the furface.
*•7. A white mafs a little agglutinated but not adhering to the crucible.
A very hard femi-vitrified mafs, of a clear green.
1. 7 A beautiful tranfparent glafs with a faint yellow tinge, ftrongly adhering
2. 3 to the crucible.
* ‘ ^ A remarkably fine tranfparent glafs.
Table II. Cotitaining the Refults of the Vitrification of Earths by Metallic Oxides.
Mixture.
Silex
Oxide of iron
Silex
Oxide of iron
Silex
Oxide of iron
Silex
Oxide of copper
Silex
Oxide of copper
Refult.
>}
1}
* ‘ ^ Scoria run through the crucible
Scoria
Not fufed
7 Not fufed.
Not fufed.
Colour and Texture.
Black and poliftied—hard, giving fparks
with fteel.
Black and friable.
Black and hard—fcintillant.
Silex
Porcelain.
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Silex
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Lime
Oxide
Mixture.
of lead
of lead
of lead
of tin
of tin
of bifmuth
of bifmutli
of antimony
of antimony
of zinc -
of zinc
of zinc
(carbonated)
of iron
of copper
of copper
of copper
of lead
of lead
of lead
of tin
of tin
of tin
of tin
of bifmuth
of -antimeny
Refult.
^ A folid mafs but not fufed
Fufed, porous, and femi-vitrified
^ Perfect glafs - - -
1 X A coherent mafs
i-J
Vitrified -
^.Remained in powder.
* ‘ ^ Perfect glafs - » -
jdafs ....
^ Not melted *
^Remained in powder.
2’ Melted only tvhere touching the crucible.
Perfectly fufed - - -
i.l A melted porous mafs
P . .
1. Melted, polhhed in the frafture, part of the
1.3 copper reduced
Melted, but porous
^ Part only melted, the reft pulverulent
| Glafs ....
j' Glafs run through the crucible
Remained in powder.
Semhvitrified ...
| Glafs ....
Melted only where touching the crucible
4- j Glafs ....
1 ‘ I- Vitriform mafs ...
Glafs penetrating the crucible
FOR
Colour and Texture.
White and hard.
Yellow—not fcintillant.
Green—not fcintillant.
v ‘ # , i
Grey—eafily friable.
Greenifh yellow—not fcintillant.
Deep yellow—not fcintillant.
Colourlefs'—fcintillant.
Grey and friable.
White—hard.
Gray—fcintillant.
Black—fcintillant.
Red—fcintillant.
The fame.
Grey.
Greenifh yellow—-fcintillant.
Yellow—fcintillant.
Yellow—fcintillant.
Greenifh yellow—fcintillant.
Grey.
Greenifh yelloiv—fcintillant.
Green.
Y ellow—fcintillant.
C C 2
Porcelain.
Lime
Porcelain. Mixture.
JJrne
Oxide of antimony
Lime
Oxide of antimony
Lime
Oxide of antimony
Lime
Oxide of zinc
Alumine
Oxide of iron
Alumine
Oxide of iron
Alumine
Oxide of copper -
Alumine
Oxide of copper -
Alumine
Oxide of lead
Alumine
Oxide of lead
Alumine
Oxide of lead
Alumine
Oxide of tin
Alumine
Oxide of bifmutli
Alumine
"Oxide of antimony
Alumine
Oxide of zinc
Magnesia
Oxide of iron
Magnefia
Oxide of copper -
Magnefia
Oxide of lead
Magnefia
Oxide of lead
Magnefia
Oxide of antimony
OR t 2=4 3
Refu/t.
2' J- Remained in powder.
I Glafs penetrating the crucible
^ A fcmi-tranfparent polillied mafs
j Glafs ....
| Only partially fufed.
^ A melted porous mafs
Only partially fufed.
^ The fame.
^ Remained in powder.
The fame.
| Glafs ....
1 A melted porous mafs, not polilhed in the!
J frafture - j
Partially fufed.
Only partially fufed.
^ Remained in powder.
^ Half fufed, but not cohering.
^ A porous half-fufed mafs
^ Not fufed.
A porous melted mafs, part of the oxide re¬
duced.
F O Tx
Colour and Texture.
Deep yellow—fcintillant.
Grey yellow —fcintillant.
Deep yellowT—fcintillant.
<r i■ -r
Black—fcintillant.
Pereeldn.
Deep yellow —fcintillant.
Gr ev—fcintillan t.
Grey—fcintillant.
}
Beginning to fufe
Grey—fcintillant.
Table III. Shewing the AElion of the Vitrifying matters on the Crucibles that contain them.
Subfances ufed.
Common flint.
Marble.
Gypfum.
Refult in the Clay crucible
(A).
Opake and milk-white, but
without fufion.
Run into a green glafs.
Run into a radiated green
glafs.
Refult in the Chalk crucible
(B>.
Opake and white, but with
beginning fufion where in
contact with the cruci¬
ble.
No change.
No change.
Refult in the Charcoal
crucible (C).
As in A.
No change.
No change.
Fluor
Por';1*“ Subjlams ufid.
Porcu[iins- p]uor fpar>
Man.
Porcelain clay.
Ditto, another kind.
Reddle.
Jafper.
Mufcovy talc.
Spanifh chalk.
Bafalt.
OR [ 2D; ] P
F.efult in the Clay Crucible
(A).
Melted and ran through the
crucible.
Compaft, white and no figns
of fulion.
A compaft mafs partially
melted.
A black glafs covered with
a cruft of reduced iron.
No fufton, but the colour
changed to brown.
A black glafs with inter-
fperfed grains of iron.
Only hardened.
Brown-yellow glafs with a
cruft of iron.
Rifult in the Chalk crucible
Melted down with the cru¬
cible to a tough flag.
Run into a hard blue clear
glafs.
A perfeftly black glafs.
A femiiranfparent apple-
green glafs.
'Completely fufed in the parts
touching the crucible.
The whole crucible was pe¬
netrated with a fcoria fo
as not to fall to povrder
on expofure to air.
A gray femitranfparent glafs
A green fcoria, alfo with a
cruft of iron.
O R
He fulls in the Charcoal Porcelain
crucible (C).
„ •, j t Ponim.
Scarcely altered, except <
flight fufion at the
edges.
As in A,
As in A.
A brown fcoria contain¬
ing grains of iron.
As in A.
As in A.
As in A.
A green glafs with many
grains of iron.
For an account of fome valuable experiments of a fi-
milar nature, which were made by the celebrated Kla¬
proth, in crucibles of clay and charcoal, in which the
dift'erences of the refults are very ftriking, the reader is
referred to his Analyt. Effays, or to Aikin’s Dictionary
of Chemiftry and Mineralogy.
FoilCELAIN-Shell, a fpecies of CyPRJEA. See Cy-
PRYtA, CoKCIIOI.OGY Index.
PORCH, in architecture, a kind ofveftibule fupport-
ed by columns j much ufed at the entrance of the ancient
temples, halls, churches, See.
A porch, in the ancient architefture, was a veftibule,
cr a difpontion of infulated columns ufually crowned
with a pediment, forming a covert place before the
principal door of a temple cr court of juftice. Such is
that before the door of St Paul’s, Covent-Garden, the
work of Inigo Jones. When a porch had four columns
in front, it was called a tetrajhjie; when fix, hexa/iylc
when eight, oBoJlyle, &c.
Porch, in Greek <C\cx, a public portico in Athens,
adorned with the pictures of Polygnotus and other emi¬
nent painters. It was in this portico that Zeno the phi-
lofopher taught j and hence his followers were called
Stoics. See Stoics and Zhko.
PORCUPINE. See Hystrix, Mammalia Index.
PORCUPINE-Man, the name by which one Edward
Lambert, who had a diftempered Ikin, went in. Lon¬
don. We have the following account of him in the
Philofophical Tranfadions for 1755, by Mr Henry
Baker, F. R. S. “ He is now (fays Re) 40 years of age,
and it is 24 years fince he was firft ftiown to the focie-
ty. The fkin of this man, except on his head and face,
the palms of his hands, and the foies of his feet, is co¬
vered with excrefcences that refemble an innumerable
company of warts, of a broivn colour and cylindrical fi¬
gure j all riling to an equal height, which is about an
inch, and growing as clofe as poflible to each other at
their balls ; but fo ftiff and elaftic as to make a ruft-
ling noife when the hand is drawn over them, ft hefe
excrefcences are annually thed, and renewed in fome of
the autumn or winter months. The new ones, which
are of a paler colour, gradually rife up from beneath as
the old ones fall off-, and at this time it has been found
neceffary for him to lofe a little blood, to prevent a flight
fleknefs wRich Re- had been ufed to fuffer before this pre¬
caution was taken. He has had the fmallpox, and he has
been twice falivated, in hopes to get rid 01 this difagree-
able covering but though juft when the puftules o. tae
fmallpox had fealed off, and immediately, after his fali-
vations, his fkin appeared white and imooth, yet the ex¬
crefcences foon returned by a gradual increale, and Ins
fidn became as it was before. His health, during his
whole life, has been remarkably good : but there is one
particular of this cafe more extraordinary than all tuff
reft : this man has had fix children, and all of them
had tire fame rugged covering as himfelf, which came
cn like his own about nine weeks after the birth. Of
thefe children only one is now living, a pretty boy, who
was ftiown with his father. It appears, tlreiefore, as
Mr Baker remarks, that a race of people might be pro¬
pagated by this man, as different from other men as
an African is from an Engliihroanj and that 11 this
fiiould have happened in any former age, and the acci¬
dental original have been forgotten, tnere would be the
fame objedlions againft their being derived from the
fame common flock with ethers: it muft therefore be
admitted pofllble, that the differences now fubfifting -
between one part of mankind and another may have
been produced by fome fuch accidental caufe, long af¬
ter the earth has been peopled by one common progeni-
tor.” . .
PORE, in anatomy, a little interface or ipace be¬
tween the parts of the fkin, ferving for perfpiralion.
PORELLA, a genus of plants, belonging to the
cryptogamia clafs. See Botany Index.
PORENTRU, is a town of Swifftrland, in Elfgaw,
and capital of the territory of the biftrop of Bafle, which
is diftinguifhed only by its caftle and catlieunil. I he
bifhop was formerly a prince of the empire. . It is feated
on the river Halle, near Blount Jura, 22 iiMi.es fouth of
Bafle. E. Long. 7. 2. N. Lat. 47. 34.
PORISM, in geometry, is a name given by the
ancient geometers to twTo clafies of mathematical propo-
fitions. Euclid gives tins name to propofitions which
are involved in others which he is profeffediy in\eftiga-
ting, and wdrich, although not his principal objeft, are
yet obtained along with it, as is expreffed by their name
par if mat a, “ acquifiticns.” Such propofitions are now
called
P O R [ 206 ] P O R
Ponfm. called corollaries. But he gives the fame name, by way
""_l of eminence, to a particular clafs of propofitions which
he colledted in the courfe of his refearches, and fele&ed
from among many others on account of their great fub-
ferviency to the bufinefs of geometrical inveftigation in
general. Thefe propofitions were fo named by him,
either from the way in which he difcovered them, while
he was inveftigating fomething elfe, by which means
they might be confidered as gains or acquilitions, orfrom
their utility in acquiring farther knowledge as fteps in
the inveftigation. In this fenfe they are porifmata ; for
fignifies both to inveftigate and to acquire by in¬
veftigation. Thefe prppoiitions formed a colleftion,
which was familiarly known to the ancient geometers
by the name of Euclid’s porifms; and Pappus of Alex¬
andria fays, that it was a moft ingenious collection of
many things conducive to the analyfis or folution of the
moft difficult problems, and which afforded great delight
to thofe who were able to underftand and to inveftigate
them.
Unfortunately for mathematical fcience, this valua¬
ble collection is now loft, and it ftill remains a doubtful
queftion in what manner the ancients conduced their
refearches upon this curious fubjeCt. We have, howe¬
ver, reafon to believe that their method was excellent
both in principle and extent •, for their analyfis led them
to many profound difcoveries, and was reilricted by the
fevereft logic. The only account we have of this clafs
of geometrical propofitions, is in a fragment of Pappus,
m which he attempts a general defcription of them as a
let of mathematical propofitions diftinguiffiable in kind
from all others \ but of this defcription nothing remains,
except a criticifm on a definition of them given by fofne
geometers, and with which he finds fault, as defining
■them only by an accidental circumftance, “ A Porifm
is that which is deficient in hypothefs from a local theo-
rem”
Pappus then proceeds to give an account of Euclid’s
porifms; but the enunciations are fo extremely defective,
at the fame time that they refer to a figure now loft,
that Dr Halley confeffes the fragment in queftion to be
beyond his comprehenfion.
The high encomiums given by Pappus to thefe pro-
pofitions have excited the curiofity of the greateft geo¬
meters of modern times, who have attempted to dif-
cover their nature and manner of inveftigation. M.
Fermat, a French mathematician of the 1 'yth century,
attaching himfelf to the definition which Pappus cri-
ticifes, publiftied an introduction (for this is its modeft
title) to this fubjeft, which many others tried to eluci¬
date in vam. At length Dr Simfon, Profeffor of Ma¬
thematics in the Univerfity of Glafgow, was fo fortu¬
nate as to fucceed in p-eftoring the Porifms of Euclid.
I he account he gives of his progrefs and the obftacles
he encountered will always be interefting to mathema¬
ticians. In the preface to his treatife De Porifrnatibus,
he fays, “ Poftquam vero apud Pappum legeram Porif¬
mata Euchdis ColleCHonem fuiffe artificiofiffimam mul-
tarum rerum, quse fpeCtant ad analyfin difficiliorum et
generalium problematum, magno defiderio tenebar, ali-
•quid de iis cognofcendi; quare faepius etmultis variifque
viis turn Pappi propefitionem generalem, mancam et im-
perfeCtam, turn primum lib. 1. porifma, quod, ut di&um
fait, folum ex omnibus in tribus libris integrum adhuc
manet, intelligere et .reftituere conabar j fruftra tamen,
1
nihil enim proficiebam. Cumque cogilationes dehac re
multum mihi temporis confumpferint, atque tandem mo-
leftse admodum evaferint, firnriter animum induxi nun-
quam in pofterum inveftigare 5 prtefertim cum optimus
Geometra Halleius fpem omnem de iis intelligendis ab-
jecifi’et. Unde quoties menti occurrebant, toties eas
arcebam. Poftea tamen accidit ut improvidum et pro-,
pofiti immemorem invaferint, meque detinuerint donee
tandem liix quaedam effulferit quee fpem mihi faciebat
inveniendi faltem Pappi propofitionem generalem, quam
quidem multa inveftigatione tandem reftitui. Haec au '
tern paulo poft una cum Porifinate primo lib. 1. impreffa
eft inter TranfaCtiones Philofophicas anni 1723, N° 177.”
Dr Simfon’s Reftoration has all the appearance of be-
ing juft ; it precifely conefponds to Pappus’s defcription
of them. All the lemmas which Pappus has given for
the better underftanding of Euclid’s propofitions are
equally applicable to thofe of Dr Simfon, which are
found to differ from local theorems precifely as Pappus
affirms thofe of Euclid to have done. They require a
particular mode of analyfis, and are of immenfe fervice
in geometrical ipveftigation 5 on which account they
may juftly claim our attention.
While Dr Simfon was employed in this inquiry, he
carried on a correfpondence upon the fubjeft with the
late Dr M. Stewart, prefeffor of mathematics in the
univerfity of Edinburgh \ who, befides entering into Dr
Simfon’s views, and communicating to him many curi¬
ous porifms, purfued the fame fubjeft in a new and very
different direction. He publiftied the refult of his in¬
quiries in 1746, under the title of General Theorems,
not wiffiing to give them any other name, left he might
appear to anticipate the labours of his friend and for¬
mer preceptor. The greater part of the propofitions
contained in that work are porifms, but without de-
monftrations; therefore, whoever wiihes to inveftigate
one of the moft curious fubjedls in geometry, will there
find abundance of materials, and an ample field for dif-
cuffion.
Dr Simfon defines a porifm to be “ a propofition, in
wffiich it is propofed to demenftrate, that one or more
things are given, between which, and every one of in¬
numerable other things not given, but affumed accord¬
ing to a given law7, a certain relation deferibed in the
propofition is ffiovn to take place.”
This definition is not a little obfeure, but will be
plainer if expreffed thus : “ A porifm is a propofition
affirming the poffibility of finding fuch conditions as
will render a certain problem indeterminate, or capable
of innumerable folutions.” This definition agrees with
Pappus’s idea of thefe propofitions, fo far at leaft as
they can be underftood from the fragment already men¬
tioned ; for the propofitions here defined, like thofe
wffiich he deferibes, are, ftridlly fpeaking, neither theo¬
rems nor problems, but of an intermediate nature be¬
tween both; for they neither fimply enunciate a truth
to be demonftrated, nor propofe a queftion to be refol-
ved, but are affirmations of a truth in xvhich the deter¬
mination of an unknown quantity is involved. In as
far, therefore, as they ailert that a certain problem may
become indeterminate, they are of the nature of theo¬
rems ; and, in as far as they feek to difeover the condi¬
tions by which that is brought about, they are of the
nature of problems.
We Iffiail endeavour to make our readers undeiftand
this
P O R [ 207 ] P O R
Porifm.
this fubjeft diftindUy, by confidering them in the
way in which it is probable they occurred to the an¬
cient geometers in the courfe of their refearches: this
will at the fame lime fhow the nature of the analylis ^pe¬
culiar to them, and their great ule in the folution of
problems.
It appears to be certain, that it has been the folution
of problems which, in all ftates'of the mathematical fai¬
ences, has led to the difcovery of geometrical truths :
the firil mathematical inquiries, in particular, mull have
occurred in the form of queftions, where fomething was
given, and fomething required to be done ; and by the
reafoning neceffary to anfwer thefe queftions, or to dif-
cover the relation between the things given and thofe
to be found, many truths were fuggefted, which came
afterwards to be the fubjedf of leparate demonftra-
tions.
The number of thefe w7as the greater, becaufe the an¬
cient geometers always undertook the folution of pro¬
blems, wdth a fcrupulous and minute attention, infomuch
that they would fearcely fuffer any of the collateral truths
to efcape their obfervation.
Now, as this cautious manner of proceeding gave an
opportunity of laying hold ol every collateral truth con-
nedled with the main objedl of inquiry, thefe geometers
foon perceived, that there were many problems which
in certain cafes would admit of no folution whatever, in
confequence of a particular relation taking place among
the quantities which w?ere given. Such problems wrere
faid to become impoflible 5 and it was foon perceived,
that this always happened when one of the conditions
of the problem wTas inconfiftent with the reft. Thus,
when it was required to divide a line, fo that the rect¬
angle contained by its fegments might be equal to a
given fpace, it v/as found that this was poflible only
when the given fpace was lefs than the fquare of half
the line ; for wThen it wTas otherwife, the twro conditions
defining, the one the magnitude of the line, and the
other the re&angle of its fegments, w'ere inconfiftent
with each other. Such cafes wmuld occur in the folution
of the moft fimplc problems } but if they were more
complicated, it muft have been remarked, that the con-
ftruftions would fometimes fail, for a reafon direftly con¬
trary to that juft now afligned. Cafes would occur,
where the lines, which by their interfeftion were to de¬
termine the thing fought, inftead of interfering each
other as they did commonly, or of not meeting at all as
in the above mentioned cafe of impofilbility, would co¬
incide with one another entirely, and of courfe leave the
problem unrefolved. It would appear to geometers up¬
on a little reftedlion, that fince, in the cafe of determi¬
nate problems, the thing required was determined by the
interfeclion of the two lines already mentioned, that is,
by the points common to both ; fo in the cafe of their
coincidence, as all their parts were in common, every one
of thefe points muft give a folution, or, in other words,
the folutions muft be indefinite in number.
Upon inquiry, it would be found that this proceeded
from fome condition of the problem having been involv¬
ed in another, fo that, in faff, the two formed but one,
and thus there was not a fufficient number of independ¬
ent conditions to limit the problem to a fingle or to any
determinate number of folutions. It would foon be per¬
ceived, that thefe cafes formed very curious proportions
of an intermediate nature between problems and theo- Porifm.
rems; and that they admitted of being enunciated in a "v'*—
manner peculiarly elegant and concife. It was to fuch
propofitions that the ancients gave the name of porifms.
This deduflion requires to be illuftrated by an example :
fuppofe, therefore, that it were required to refolve the
following problem. pjate
A circle ABC (fig. 1.), a flraight line DE, and accccxxxvn
point F, being given in poiition, to find a point G in the fig- I*
ftraight line DE fuch, that GF, the line drawn from it
to the given point, ftiall be equal to GB, the line drawn
frdm it touching the given circle.
Suppofe G to be found, and GB to be drawn touch¬
ing the given circle ABC in B, let H be its centre, join
HB, and let HD be perpendicular to DE. From D
draw DL, touching the circle ABC in L, and join
HL j alfo from the centre G, with the diftance GB or
GF, defcribe the circle BKF, meeting HD in the points
K and K'. It is evident that HD and DL are given in
pofition and magnitude : alfo becaufe GB touches the
circle ABC, HBG is a right angle j and fince G is the
centre of the circle BKF, HB touches that circle, and
confequently HB1 or HL1 ~ KH X HK' j but becaufe
KK' is bifefted in D, KH x HK'+ DK* = DH%
therefore HL* -f-DK2=rDHL But HL* -f-LD*=r
DH*, therefore DK* = DL* and DK —DL. But
DL is given in magnitude, therefore DK is given in mag¬
nitude, and confequently K is a given point. For the fame
reafon K', is a given point, therefore the point F being
given in pofition, the circle KFK' is given in pofition.
The point G, which is its centre, is therefore given in
pofition, which was to be found. Hence this conftrudftion;
Having drawn HD perpendicular to DE, and DL
touching the circle ABC, make DK and DK' each
equal to DL, and find G the centre of the circle de-
fcribed through the points K'FK 5 that is, let FK' be
joined and bifeifted at right angles by MN, which meets
DE in G, G will be the point required; or it rvill
be fuch a point, that if GB be drawn touching the
circle ABC, and GF to the given point, GB is equal to -
GF,
The fynthetical demonftration is eafily derived from,
the preceding analyfis; but it muft be remarked, that
in fome cafes this conftruftion fails. For, firft, if F fall
anywhere in DH, as at F', the line MN becomes paral¬
lel to DE, and the point G is nowhere to be fouud ; or,
in other words, it is at an infinite diftance from D.—
This is true in general 5 but if the given point F coin¬
cide with K, then MN evidently coincides with DE j.
fo that, agreeable to a remark already made, every point
of the line DE may be taken for G, and will fatisfy the
conditions of the problem; that is to fay, GB will be
equal to GK, wherever the point G is taken in the line
DE : the fame is true if F coincide with K. Thus we
have an inftance of a problem, and that too a very fimple
one, which, in general, admits but of one folution ; but
which, in one particular cafe, when a certain relation
takes place among the things given, becomes indefinite,
and admits of innumerable folutions.' The propofitlou
which refults from this cafe of the problem is a porifm,
and may be thus enunciated :
“ A circle ABC being given by pofition, and alfo a
ftraight line DE, which does not cut the circle, a point
K may be found, fuch, that if G be any point whatever
Pi nun
Tig. 2.
3
VOW [
ill DE. the flraight line drawn from G to the point K
iliall be equal to the ftraight line drawn from G touch¬
ing; the given circle ABC.”
The problem which follows appears to have led to
the difcovery of many porifms'. _ ^ r .
A circle ABC (tig. 2.) and two points D, B, in a
diameter of it being given, to find a point 1* m tne cir-
mmference of the given circle ; from which, it ftraight
lines be drawn to the given points E, D, thefe ftraig it
lines (hall have to one another the given ratio ot ^ to
which is fuopofed to be that of a greater to a lets.—
Suppofe the problem refolved, and that F is found fo
chat FE has to FD the given ratio of * to /3 j produce
EF towards B, bifeft the angle EFD by FL, and
DFB by FM : therefore EL : LD : : EF : FD, that
is in a given ratio, and fince ED is given, eacn ox the
fegments EL, LD, is given, and the pomt L is alfo
given •, again, becaute DFB is bilefted by F-»I, EM .
1YID : : EF : FD, that is, in a given ratio, and therefore
M is given. Since DEL is haif of DFE, and DEM
half of DFB, therefore LFM is half of (DFE-f DFB),
that is, the half of two right angles, therefore Lb i»I is
a right angle j and fince the points L, M, are given,
the point F is in the circumference of a circle deferibed
upon LM as a diameter, and therefore given in pofition.
Now the point F is alfo in the circumference of the
given circle ABC, therefore it is in the interfeclion oi
the two given circumferences, and therexore is found.
Kence this conftruclion : Divide ED in L, fo that EL
may be to LD in the given ratio of ct to /3, and pro¬
duce ED alfo to M, fo that EM may be to MD in the
lame given ratio of x to bifeft LM in N, and irom
the centre N, with the diilance N L, delcnbe t ire femi-
circle LFM j and the point F, in which it interfecls the
circle ABC, is the point required..
The fynthetical demonftration is eafily derived from
the preceding analyfis. It muft, however, be remarked,
that the conftruftion fails when the circle LFM hills
either wholly within or wholly without the circle ABC,
fo that the circumferences do not interfec! ; and in theie
cafes the problem cannot be folved. It is alfu obvious
that the conftruftion will fail in another cafe, viz., when
the two circumferences LFM, ABC, entirely.coincide.
In this cafe, it is farther evident, that every point in the
circumference ABC will anfvver the conditions of the
problem, which is therefore capable of numberlefs folu-
tions, and may, as in the former inftances, be converted
into a porifm. We are now to inquire, therefore, in
what circumftances the point L will coincide with A,
and alfo the point M with C, and of confequence the
circumference LFM with ABC. If we fuppofe that
they coincide, EA : AD : : « : /3 : : EC : CD, and EA
: EC : : AD : CD, or by converfion, EA : AC : : AD :
CD—AD : : AD : 2DO, O being the centre of the
circle ABC ; therefore, alfo, EA : AO : : AD : DO,
and by compofition, EO : AO : : AO : DO, therefore
EOxODrrAO1. Hence, if the given points E and
D (fig. 3.) be fo fituated that EOxODrrAO*, and at
the fame time «e: /3 :: EA : AD :: EC : CD, the prob¬
lem admits of numberlefs folutions } and if either of the
points D or E be given, the other point, and alfo the
ratio which will render the problem indeterminate, may
be found. Hence we have this porifm :
“ A circle ABC, and alfo a point D being given,
iPother point E may be found, fuch that the two lines
3
Poriiin.
208 ] ? o ^
in deified from thefe points to any point in the circum- 
ference ABC, (hall have to each other a given ratio, v—
which ratio is alfo to be found,” Hence alio we have
an example of the derivation of porifms from one ano¬
ther, for the circle ABC, and the points D and E re¬
maining as before (fig. 3.), if, through D we draw
any line whatever HDB, meeting the circle m B and
H ; and if the lines EB, EH, be alfo drawn, thefe lines
will cut off equal circumferences BE, HG. Let FC
be drawn, and it is plain from the foregoing analyfis,
that the angles DEC, CFB, are equal-, therefore if
OG, OB, be drawn, the angles BOC, COG, are alfo
equal; and confequently the angles DOB, DOG^. In
the fame manner, by joining AB, the angle DBii. be¬
ing bifefted by BA, it is evident that the angle AOF
is &equal to AOH, and therefore the angle FOB to
HOG ; hence the arch FB is equal to the arch HG. It
is evident that if the circle ABC,, and either of the
points DE wrere given, the other point might be found*
Therefore we have this porifm, which appears .to have
been the laft but one of the third book of Euclid’s Por¬
ifms. “ A point being given, either within or without
a circle given by pofition. If there be drawn, anyhow
through that point, a line cutting the circle in two points3
another point may be found, fuch, that if two lines be
drawn from it to the points in which the line aueady
drawn cuts the circle, thefe two lines will cut off from
the circle equal circumferences.”
The propofition from which we have dealtced tlieie
two poriims alfo affords an illuftration of the remaik,
that the conditions of a problem are involved in one
another in the porifmatic or indefinite cafe 3 for here 1c-
veral independent conditions are laid down, by the help
of which the problem is to be refolved. Iwo points D
and E are given, from which twTo lines are to be intledl-
ed, and a circumference ABC, in which thefe lines are
to meet, as alfo a ratio which thefe lines are to have to
each other. Now thefe conditions are all independent
of one another, fo that any one may be changed without
any change whatever in the reft. Ihis is true in gene¬
ral 3 but yet in one cafe, viz. when the points are fo re¬
lated to another that the re61 angle under their diftances
from the centre is equal to the Iquare of the radius of
the circle 3 it follows, from the preceding analyfis, that
the ratio of the infle6ted lines is no longer a matter of
choice, but a neceffary couftquence of this diipofition c£
the points.
From what has been already faid, we may trace the
imperfedt definition of a porifm which Pappus aferibes
to the later geometers, viz. that it differs from.a local
theorem, by wanting the hypothefis affumed in that
theorem.—Now, to underftand this, it muft be obferved,
that if we take one of the propofitions called /oa\ and
make the conftru6tion of the figure a part of the hypo¬
thefis, we get what was called by the ancient geometers,
a locol theorem. If, again, in the enunciation of the
theorem, that part of the hypothefis which contains the
conftru61ion be fuppreffed, the propofition thence arifing
will be a porifm, for it will enunciate a truth, and will
require to the full underftanding and inveftigation of
that truth, that fomething ftiould be found, viz. the cir¬
cumftances in the conftru£tion fuppofed to be omitted.
Thus, when we fay, if from two given points E, D, Fig. 3.
(fig. 3.) two ftraight lines EF, FD, are infle6ted to a
third point F, fo as to be to one another in a given ra¬
tio.
P O B. [ 209
Porifm. tio, tlie point F is in the circumference of a given circle,
**■“—we have a locus. But when converfely it is faid, if a
circle ABC, of which the centre is O, be given by po-
fition, as alfo a point E } and if D be taken in the line
EO, fo that EO X ODnrAO1 , and if from E and D
the lines EF, DF be inflefted to any point of the cir¬
cumference ABC, the ratio of EF to DF will be given,
viz. the fame with that of EA to AD, we have a local
theorem.
Laftly, when it is faid, if a circle ABC be given by
pofition, and alfo a point E, a point D may be found*
fuch that if EF, FD be inflefted from E and D to any
point F in the circumference ABC, thefe lines (hall
have a given ratio to one another, the propofition be¬
comes a porifm, and is the fame that has juft now been
inveftigated.
Hence it is evident, that the local theorem is changed
into a porifm, by leaving out what relates to the deter¬
mination of D, and of the given ratio. But though all
propolitions formed in this way from the converfion of
loci, are porifms, yet all porifms are not formed from
the converfion of loci j the firft, for inftance, of the pre¬
ceding cannot by converfion be changed into a locus j
therefore Fermat’s idea of porifms, founded upon this
circumftance, could not fail to be imperfeft.
To confirm the truth of the preceding theory, it may
be added, that Profeffor Dugald Stewart, in a paper read
a confiderable time ago before the Philofophical Society
of Edinburgh, defines a porifm to be “ A propofition
affirming the poffibility of finding one or more condi¬
tions of an indeterminate theorem j” where, by an in¬
determinate theorem, he means one which expreffes a
relation between certain quantities that are determinate
and certain others that are indeterminate j a definition
which evidently agrees with the explanation which has
been here given.
If the idea which w?e have given of thefe propofitions
be juft, it follows, that they are to be difeovered by
confidering thofe cafes in which the conftruftion of a
problem fails, in confequence of the lines which by
their interfeftion, or the points which by their pofi¬
tion, were to determine the problem required, happen¬
ing to coincide with one another. A porifm may there¬
fore be deduced from the problem to which it belongs,
juft as propofitions concerning the maxima and minima
of quantities are deduced from the problems of which
they form limitations; and fuch is the moft natural and
obvious analyfis of which this clafs of propofitions ad¬
mits.
The following porifm is the firft: of Euclid’s, and the
firft alfo which w^as reftored. It is given here to exem¬
plify the advantage wffiich, in inveftigations of this kind,
may be derived from employing the law of continuity in
its utmoft extent, and purfuing porifms to thofe extreme
cafes where the indeterminate magnitudes increale ad
infinitum.
c'lg- 4. This porifm may be confidered as having occurred in
the folution of the following problem : Two points A, B,
(fig- 4-) and alfo three ftraight lines DE, FK, KL, be-
ing given in pofition, together with twm points H and M
in two of thefe lines, to infleft from A and B to a point
in the third line, twTo lines that lhall cut off from KF
and KL two fegments, adjacent to the given points H
and M, having to one another the given ratio of a. to
Now, to find whether a porifm be connected with this
Vol. XVII. Part I.
] FOR
problem, fuppofe that there is, and that the following
propofilion is true. Two points A and B, and two'
ftraight lines DE, FK, being given in pofition, and
alfo a point H in one of them, a line LK may be found,
and alfo a point in it M, both given in pofition, fuch
that AE and BE infledted from the points A and B
to any point whatever of the line DE, lhall cut off from
the other lines FK and LK fegments HG and MN ad¬
jacent to the given points H and M, having to one an¬
other the given ratio of « to /3.
Firft, let AE', BE', be infledted to the point E', fo
that AE' may be parallel to FK, then lhall E'B be pa¬
rallel to KL, the line to be found ; for if it be not pa¬
rallel to KL, the point of their interfedHon muft be at
a finite diftance from the point M, and therefore mak¬
ing as $ to *, fo this diftance to a fourth proportional,
the diftance from H at which AE' interfedls FK, will
be equal to that fourth proportional. But AE' does
not interfedl FK, for they are parallel by conftrudtion \
therefore BE' cannot inteifedl KL, which is therefore
parallel to BE', a line given in pofition. Again, let
AE", BE", be infledted to E", fo that AE" may pafs
through the given point H : then it is plain that BE"
muft pafs through the point to be found M ; for if not,
it may be demonftrated juft as above, that AE" does
not pafs through H, contrary to the fuppofition. The
point to be found is therefore in the line E"B, wffiich is
given in pofition. Nowr if from E there be drawn EP
parallel to AE', and ES parallel to BE', BS : SE :: BL
: LN- SEj|-BL, and AP: PE :: AF: FG—^^p—;
Pori fin.
therefore FG : LN
PExAF SEXBL
AP
BS
:: PExAF
X BS : SE X BL X AP ; wffierefore the ratio of FG to
LN is compounded of the ratios of AF to BL, PE to
ES, and BS to AP; but PE : SE :: AE' : BE', and
BS : AP :: DB : DA, for DB : BS :: DE' : E'E : :
DA : AP j therefore the ratio of FG to LN is com¬
pounded of the ratios of AF to BL, AE' to BE', and
DB to DA. In like manner, becaufe E" is a point in
the line DE and AE", BE" are infledted to it, the
ratio of FH to LM is compounded of the fame ratios
of AF to BL, AE' to BE', and DB to DA 5 there¬
fore FH : LM :: FG : NL (and confequently) : : HG
: MN \ but the ratio of HG to MN is given, being by
fuppofition the fame as that of * to /3 ; the ratio of FH
to LM is therefore alfo given, and FH being given,
LM is given in magnitude. Now LM is parallel to
BE', a line given in pofition*, therefore M is in a line
QM, parallel to AB, and given in pofition ; therefore
the point M, and alfo the line KLM, drawm through it
parallel to BE', are given in pofition, which were to be
found. Hence this conftrudlion : From A drawr AE'
parallel to FK, fo as to meet DE in E'-, join BE', and
take in it B£), fo that « : /3 :: HF : BQ, and through
£) draw QM parallel to AB. Let HA be drawn, and
produced till it meet DE in E", and draw BE", sieet-
ing QM in M ; through M draw KML parallel to
BE', then is KML the line and M the point which
were to be found. There are two lines which will an,-
fw’er the conditions of this porifm ; for if in QB, produ¬
ced on the other fide of B, there be taken yzrBQ,
and if qm be drawm parallel to AB, cutting MB in m;
and if tn?, be drawn parallel to BQ, the part run, cut
D d off
P- rifm.
Kg. 7.
FOR [2io
off by EB pioduced, will be equal to TlIN, and have
to HG the ratio required. It is plain, that whatever
be the ratio of a to /3, and whatever be the magnitude
cf FH, if the other things given remain the. fame, the
lines found will be all parallel to BE. But if the ratio
of « to /3 remain the fame like wife, and if only the point
FI vary, the pofition of KL will remain the lame, and
the point M will vary.
Another general remark which may be made on the
analylis of porifms is, that it often happens, as in the
laft example, that the magnitudes required may all, or
a part of them, be found by conlidering the extreme
cafes ; but for the difcovery of the relation between
them, and the indefinite magnitudes, we mult have re-
courfe to the hypothecs of the porifm in its moft gene-
] FOR
the firft, fecond, and fifth of thefe nropofitions, it is ma-
nifeft that
Porifm.
iJLAI+ci'LB’+urLD
Asmin, becaufe
O '
CL : LA:: (LB : LE
s—ABxLE-f EKxGH.
DB :DG ::)DB*:DBxr>G,
LA
therefore DB X DG~-^—-DBZ.
And becaufe
CL : LB :: (LA : LE :: DA : Dli ::) DA2:DA X DH,
therefore DA X DH:
LB
CL
DA2. From the refult of
ral or indefinite form ; and muft endeavour fo to con- two laft pr0pofitions we have
duel the reafoning, that the indefinite magnitudes may
at length totally difappear, and leave a propofition ai-
ferting the relation between determinate magnitudes
only.
For this purpofe Dr Simfon frequently employs lwo
ftatements or the general hypothefis, which he compares
together. As for inftance, in his analyfis of the latt po¬
rifm, he affumes not only E, any point in the line DE,
but alfo another point O, anywhere in the fame line,
to both of which he fuppofes lines to be inflected from
the points A, B. This double ftatement, however,
cannot be made without rendering the inveiligation long
and complicated •, nor is it even neceffary, for it may be
avoided by having recourfe to Ampler porifms, or to loci,
or to propofitiens of the data. The following porifm is
given as an example where this is done with fome diffi¬
culty, but with confiderable advantage both with re¬
gard to the fimplicity and fhortnefs of the demonftration.
It will be proper to premife the following lemma. Let
AB (fig. 7.) be a ftraight line, and D, L any two points
in it, one of which D is between A and B ; alio let
CL be any ftraight line. Then fhall
LB
LB
CL
DA2+i^-DB2=:DA x DH+DB x DG 5
But DA x DH= twice trian. ADH, and DB X DG —
twice trian. BDG, and therefore DAxDH-fDBx
DG=2( trian. ADH -j- trian. BDG) — 2 {trian. AEB
-(-trian. HEG)—AB x LE-j-EKx HG. Now' it has
been proved, that DA X DHfl-DB X DGzrr-^-^’DA*
t . IB
L 1 BD2, and that ABxLE + EK x HG—
n CL
T A
•la’+-cl'lb’
LB
+^5ld2
CL
therefore „T— ’AD
JLi
CL
+
LA
BD2:
•AL2
LA
CL
BL2
AB
CL
DL2
CL
AD2
LA LB . T , . LA t3T . , AB
+ 7^,BD2;=?^-AL2+_--BL24-7^- DL2
CL
CL
CL
CL
For place CL perpendicular to AB, and through the
points A, C, B deferibe a circle, and let CL meet the
circle again in E, and join AE, BE. Alfo draw DG
parallel to CE, meeting AE and BE in H and G, and
draw EK parallel to AB. Then, from the elements of
geometry,
CL : LB :: (LA : LE :: ) LA2 : LAxLE,
LB
and hence LAx LE— >^--‘LA2
Alfo CL : LA :: (LB
CL
LE ::) LB
CL CL
to be demonftrated.
For ISM. Let there be three ftraight lines AB, AC,
CB given in pofition (fig. 5.) j and from any point
whatever in one of them, as D, let perpendiculars be
diawm to the other two, as DF, DE, a point G may be
found, fuch, that if GD be drawn from it to the point
D, the fquare of that line ftiall have a given ratio to the
fum of the fquares of the perpendiculars DF and DE,
which ratio is to be found.
Draw AH, BK perpendicular to BC and AC ; ana
in AB take L, fo that AL : LB : : AH2 : BK2 : :
AC2 : CB2. The point L is therefore given ; and if
a line N be taken, fo as to have to AL the fame ratio
that AB2 has to AH2, N will be given in magnitude.
Alfo, fince AH2 : BK2 :: AL : LB, and AH2 : AB2 : :
AL : N, ex equo, BK2 : AB2 :: LB : N. Draw 1.0,
LM perpendicular to AC, CB ; LO, LM are^there-
fore given in magnitude. Now, becaufe AB
DF2, and DF
BK2
LB x LE, AD2 : DF2, N : LB
AD2
LB
N
and hence LBxLE=
LA
LB2
CL
Now CL : LB :: LA : LE :: EK or LD
and CL : LA :: LB : LE :: EK or LD
therefore, (Geom. Se61. III. Theor. 8.)
(LD : GH::) LD2 : EK X GH,
AB
•AD2
AL
and for the fame reafon DE2=-^-,BD2
KH,
KG,
by the preceding lemma,
AB
—•AD2-f™-BD2—
N ' N
5 but,
LB
N
CL : AB
•al'+^Fbl-
j——- DL2; that is, DE2-j-DF2=:
N
and hence EK X GH=r-
CL
•LD2.
L02+ LM2 -f—
DL2. Join LG, then by hypothe-
From the three equations which we have deduced from
fis L02-j-LM2 has to LG2, the fame ratio as DF2-}-
DE2 has to DG2; let it be that of R to N, then LO2 -f-
LM2
P O R
[ 211 ] FOR
LMj=4‘LGj ; and therefore DE*-f DF1=-^f LG* +
N IS
^■DL*5 but DE3-f- DF1 = ~ -DG*; therefore,
•LG34-^-DL3= ^DG2,and^?-DL3= J (DG3—
‘ N N N N v
LG3) ; therefore DG3—LG3 has to DL3 a conftant
ratio, viz. that of AB to R. The angle DLG is there¬
fore a right angle, and the ratio of AB to R that of
equality, othervvife LD would be given in magnitude,
contrary to the fuppofilion. LG is therefore given in
portion : and fince R : N :: iVB : N :: L03-f-LM3 :
LG3 •, therefore the fquare of LG, and confequently
LG, is given in magnitude. The point G is there¬
fore given, and alfo the ratio of DE3-{-DF3 to DG3,
which is the fame with that of AB to N.
The conftruftion eafily follows from the analyfis, but
it may be rendered more fimple ; for fmce AH3 : AB3
:: AL : N, and BK3 : AB3 :: BL : N; therefore AH3
-f-BK3 : AB3 :: AB : N. Likewife, if AG, BG, be
joined, AB : N :: AH3 : AG1, and AB : N :: BK3 :
BG3; wherefore AB : N :: AH3-j-BK3 : AG3+BG3,
but it was proved that AB : N :: AIP-f-BK3 : AB3,
therefore AG3-{-BG3—AB3; therefore the angle AGB
is a right one, and AL : LG :: LG : LB. If there¬
fore AB be divided in L, fo that AL : LB :: AH3 :
BK3 ; and if LG, a mean proportional between AL
and LB, be placed perpendicular to AB, G will be the
point required.
The ffep in the analylis, by which a fecond intro-
dudlion of {lie general hypothecs is avoided, is that in
which the angle GLD is concluded to be a right angle 5
which follows from DG3—GL3 having a given ratio to
LD3, at the fame time that LD is of no determinate
magnitude. For, if poflible, let GLD be obtufe (fig. 6.),
and let the perpendicular from G to AB meet it in V,
therefore V is given : and fince GD3—LG3—LB3-{-
2DL x LV ; therefore, by the fuppofition, LD* *f-2DL
X LV muft have a given ratio to LD3; therefore the
ratio of LD3 toDLxVL, that is, of LD to VL, is
given, fo that VL being given in magnitude, LD is al¬
fo given. But this is contrary to the fuppofition ; for
LD is indefinite by hypothefis, and therefore GLD
cannot be obtufe, nor any other than a right angle.
The conclufion that is here drawn immediately from the
indetermination of LD would be deduced, according to
Dr Sxmfon’s method, by affuming another point D'
any how, and from the fuppofition that GD/3—GL3 :
LD'3 :: GD3—GL3 : LD3, it would eafily appear that
GLD muft be a right angle, and the ratio that of equa¬
lity.
Thefe porifms facilitate the folution of the general
problems from which they are derived. For example,
let three ftraight lines AB, AC, EC (fig. 5.), be given
in poiition, and alfo a point R, to find a point D in one
of the given lines, fo that DE and DF being drawn
perpendicular to BC, AC, and DR, joined ; DE3-j-DF3
may have to DR3 a given ratio. It is plain, that hav¬
ing found G, the problem would be nothing more than
to find D, fuch that the ralio of GD3 to DR3, and
therefore that of GD to DR, might be given, from
which it would follow, that the point D is in the cir¬
cumference of a given circle, as is well known to geo¬
meters.
The fame porifm alfo afiifts in the folution of another
problem. For if it were required to find D fuch that DE3
-f-DF* might be a given {pace ; having found G, DG*
would have to DE3-}-DF* a given ratio, and DG
w’ould therefore be given ; whence the folution is ob¬
vious.
The conneflion of this porifm with the impoffible cafe
of the problem is evident ; the point L being that from
which, if perpendiculars be drawn to AC and CB, the
firm of their fquares is the leaf! poflible. For fince
DF*+DE* : DG3 : : L03-f-LM3 : LG3 j and fince
LG is lefs than DG, L01-j-LM3 muft be lefs than
DF3 -j-DE3.
It is evident from what has now appeared, that in
feme inftances at leaft there is a clofe connection be¬
tween thefe propofitions and the maxima or minima, and
of coniequence the impoflible cafes of problems. The
nature of this connection requires to be farther invefti-
gated, and is the more interefting becaufe the tranfition
from the indefinite to the impofiible cafe feems to be
made with wonderful rapidity. Thus in the firft propo-
fition, though there be not properly fpeaking an impof¬
fible cafe, but only one where the point to be found
goes oft ad infinitum, it may be remarked, that if the
given point F be anywhere out of the line KD (fig. 1.),
the problem of drawing GB equal to GF is always pof-
fible, and admits of juft one folution \ but if F be in
DK, the problem admits of no folution at all, the point
being then at an infinite diftance, and therefore impoffi¬
ble to be affigned. There is, however, this exception,
that if the given point be at K in this fame line, DH is
determined by making DK equal to DL. Then every
point in the line DE gives a i'olution, and may be taken
for the point G. Here therefore the cafe of numberlefs
folutions, and of no folution at all, are as it ivere conter¬
minal, and fo clofe to one another, that if the given
point be at K the problem is indefinite ; but if it re¬
move ever fo little from K, remaining at the fame time
in the line DPI, the problem cannot be refolved. This
affinity might have been determined a priori: for it is,
as we have feen, a general principle, that a problem is
converted into a perifm when one or when two of the
conditions of it neceffarily involve in them fome one of
the reft. Suppofe, then, that two of the conditions are
exactly in that ftate which determines the third 5 then
rvhile they remain fixed or given, ffiould that third one
vary or differ ever fo little from the ftate required by
the other two, a contradiftion will enfue : therefore if,
in the hypothefis of a problem,, the conditions be fo re¬
lated to one another as to render it indeterminate, a po¬
rifm is produced •, but if, of the conditions thus related
to one another, fome one be fuppofed to vary, wEile the
others continue the fame, an abfurdity follow's, and the
problem becomes impoffible. Wherever, therefore, am;
problem admits both of an indeterminate and an impoffible
cafe, it is certain, that thefe cafes are nearly related to
one another, and that fome of the conditions by xvhich
they are produced are common to both.
It is fuppofed above, that two of the conditions of a
problem involve in them a third ; and w'herever that
happens, the conclufion which has been deduced wall
invariably take place. But a porifm may in force cafes
be fo fimple as to arife from the mere coincidence of one
condition with another, though in no cafe wdiatever any
inconfiftency can take place between them. There are,
D d 2 however,
For
Porlfm.
P O H [21
however, comparatively few porifms fo fimple in their
' origin, or that arife from problems where the conditions
are but little complicated 5 for it ufually happens that a
problem which can become indefinite may alfo become
impoffible ; and if fo, the connexion already explained
never fails to take place. .
Another Ipecies of impoffibility may frequently aide
from the porifmatic cafe of a problem which will affeft
in fome meafure the application of geometry to aftrono-
my, or any of the fciences depending on expeiiment or
obfervation. For when a problem is to be relolved. by
means of data furnilhed by experiment or obfervation,
the firft thing to be confidered is, whether the data fo
obtained be fufficient for determining the thing fought *,
and in this a very erroneous judgement may be formed,
if we reft fatisfied wdth a general view of the fubjeft;
for though the problem may in general be refolved from
the data with which we are provided, yet thefe data
may be fo related to one another in the cafe under con-
fideration, that the problem will become indeterminate,
and inftead of one folution will admit of an indefinite
number. This we have already found to be the cale in
the foregoing propofitions. Such cales may not indeed
occur in any of the praftical applications of geometry ;
but there is one of the fame kind which has actually oc¬
curred in aftronomy. Sir Ifaac New’ton, in his Princi-
pia, has confidered a fmall part of the orbit of a cornet
as a ftraight line deferibed with an uniform motion.
From this hypothefis, by means of four obfervations
made at proper intervals of time, the determination of
the path of the comet is reduced to this geometrical pro¬
blem : Four ftraight lines being in pofition, it is re¬
quired to draw a fifth line acrofs them, fo as to be cut
bv them into three parts, having given ratios to one an¬
other. Now this problem had been conftrufted by Dr
Wallis and Sir Chriftopher Wren, and alfo in three dif¬
ferent w7ays by Sir Ifaac himfelf in different parts of his
works *, yet none of thefe geometers obferved that there
was a particular fituation of the lines in which the pro¬
blem admitted of innumerable folutions : and this hap¬
pens to be the very cafe in which the problem is appli¬
cable to the determination of the comet’s path, as w7as
firft difeovered by the abbe Bofcovich, who was led to
it by finding, that in this w7ay he could never deter¬
mine the path of a comet with any degree of cer¬
tainty.
Befides the geometrical there is alfo an algebraical
analyfis belonging to porifms •, which, however, does not
belong to this place, becaufe wre give this account of
them merely as an article of ancient geometry ; and the
ancients never employed algebra in their inveftigations.
Mr Playfair, formerly profeffbr of mathematics, and
now of natural philofophy in the univerfity of Edin¬
burgh, has written a paper on the origin and geometri¬
cal inveftigation of porilms, which is publiftied in the
third volume of the Tranfadlions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, from which this account of the fubject is
taken. He has there promifed a fecond part to his pa¬
per, in which the algebraical inveftigation of porifms is
to be confidered. This will ny doubt throw confider-
able light upon the fubjeft, as we may readily judge
from that gentleman’s known abilities, and from the
%ecimen he has already given us in the firft part.
Such as are defirous of knowing more of this fubjeft
may confult Dr Simfon’s treatife Be Ponfmatibus, which
Porifin
I!
Porlock.
2 ] P O R
is contained in his Opera Rehqua, publilhed after his
death at the foie expence of the earl of Stanhope. We
have already mentioned Dr Stewart’s General Iheorems,   
which contain many beautiful porifms, but without de-
monftrations. A confiderable number of them, how¬
ever, have been demonftrated by the late Dr R. Small,
of Dundee, in the Tranf. R. S. Edin. vol. ii. There is
alfo a paper upon the fubjeft of porifms by ^MrW. Wal¬
lace, now of the Royal Military College, in the fourth
volume of the fame work, entitled Some Geometrical
Porifms, with examples of their application to the Solu¬
tion of Problems.
PORK, the flelh of fwine killed for the purpofes of
food. See Sus.
The ho a- is the only domeftic animal that we know
of no ufe to man when alive, and therefore feems pro¬
perly defigned for food. Befides, as loathfome and ugly
to every human eye, it is killed without relu&ance.
The Pythagoreans, whether to preferve health, or orr
account of compaflion, generally forbade the ufe ot ani¬
mal food ; and yet it is alleged that Pythagoras referved
the ufe of hog’s flefli for himfelf. The Jews, the
Egyptians, &c. and other inhabitants of warm countries,
and all the Mahometans at prefent, rejeft the ufe of
pork. It is difficult to find a fatisfa&ory reafon for this,
or for the precept given to the Jews refpe£ling it,
though unqueftionably there was fome good one for it.
The Greeks gave great commendations to this food;
and Galen, though indeed that is fufpeaed to be from a
particular fondnefs, is everywhere full of it. The Ro¬
mans confidered it as one of their delicacies j and if fome
of the inhabitants of the northern climates have taken an
averfion to it, that probably arofe from the uncultivated
ftate of their country not being able to rear it. Pork
is of a very tender ftru&ure ; increafed perhaps from a
peculiarity in its economy, viz. taking on fat more
readily than any other animal. Pork is a wffiite meat
even in its adult ftate, and then gives out a jelly in very
great quantity. On account of its little perfpirability
and tendernefs it is very nutritious, and w7as given for
that intention to the athletce. With regard to its alka-
lefcency, no proper experiments have yet been made 5
but as it is of a gelatinous and fucculent nature, it is
probably lefs fo than many others. Upon the whole, Culle?i'i
it appears to be a very valuable nutriment; and the
fon is not very obvious why it was in fome countries
forbid. It is faid that this animal is apt to be difeafed j
but why were not inconveniences felt on that account
in Greece ? Again, it has been alleged, that as Pale-
ftine would not rear thefe animals, and as the Jews had
learned the ufe of them in Egypt, it was neceffary they
ftmuld have a precept to avoid them. But the Egyp¬
tians themfelves did not ufe the meat 5 and this religi¬
ous precept, indeed, as wrell as many ot tiers, feems to
have been borrowed from them. Poffibly, as pork is
not very perfpirable, it might increaie the ieprofy, which
was faid to be epidemic in Paleftine j though this is fat
from being certain. .
PORLOCK, in the county of Somerfet in England,
is a fmall fea-port town fix miles weft from Minehead.
This whole panfti, including hanmets, contains about
110 houfes, and nearly 600 inhabitants. The fituation
of the town is very romantic, being nearly furrounded
on all fides, except towards the fea, by fteep and lofty
hills, interfered by deep vales and hollow glens. Some
ob
P O R [2
Por’ock of the hills are beautifully wooded, and contain numbers
11 of wild deer. The valleys are very deep and picturefque j
Porphyry. ^ ^ pi(jes jjeing fteep, fcarred with wild rocks, and patch¬
ed with -woods and foreft (hrubs. Some of them are well
cultivated and ftudded with villages or fingle farms and
cottages, although agriculture here is very imperfe&ly un-
derftood. Molt of the roads and fields are fo Iteep, that
no carriages of any kind can be ufed •, all the crops are
therefore carried in with crooks on horfes, and the ma¬
nure in wooden pots called doffels, Many of the poor
are employed in fpinning yarn for the Dunlter manufac¬
tory. W. Long. 3. 32. N. Lat. 51. 14.
PORO. See Calauria.
PORPESSE. See Delphinus, Cetology Index.
PORPHYRIUS, a famous Platonic philofopher, w'as
born at Tyre in 233, in the reign of Alexander Seve-
rus. He was the difciple of Longinus, and became
the ornament of his fchool at Athens; from thence he
went to Rome, and attended Plotinus, with whom he
lived fix years. After Plotinus’s death he taught phi-
lofophy at Rome with great applaufe ; and became well
(killed in polite literature, geography, aftronomy, and
mufic. He lived till the end of the third century, and
died in the reign of Dioclefian. There are {till extant
his book on the Categories of Ariftotle ; a Treatife on
Abftinence from Flefh; and feveral other pieces in
Greek. He alfo compofed a large treatife againft the
Chriftian religion, which is loft. That work was an-
fwered by Methodius biihop of Tyre, and alfo by Eu-
febius, Apollinarius, St Auguftin, St Jerome, St Cyril,
and Theodoret. The emperor Theodofius the Great
caufed Porphyrius’s book to be burned in 338. Thofe
of his works that are ftill extant were printed at Cam¬
bridge in 1655, ^vo? with a Latin verfion.
“ Porphyrius (fays Dr Enfield) was, it muft be owm-
ed, a writer of deep erudition j and had his judgement
and integrity been equal to his learning, he would have
deferved a diftinguifhed place among the ancients. But
neither the fplendor of his di&ion, nor the variety of his
reading, can atone for the credulity or the diftronefty
which filled the narrative part of his works with fo many
' extravagant tales, or intereft the judicious reader in the
abftrufe fubtilties and myftical flights of his philofophi-
cal writings.”
PORPHYRY, a compound rock, eflentially confift-
ing of fome bafe or ground, in which are interfperfed
cryftals of fome other fubftance, as when an argillace¬
ous ftone, or a pitchftone, has cryftals of feldfpar or
quartz interfperfed in it, and hence is denominated an
argillaceous or pitchftone porphyry. See Geology
Index. Porphyry is ftill found in immenfe ftrata in
Egypt. The hard red-lead coloured porphyry, va¬
riegated wfith black, white, and green, is a moft beauti¬
ful and valuable fubftance. It has the hardnefs and all
the other chara&ers of the oriental porphyry 5 and even
greatly excels it in brightnefs, and in the beauty and
variegation of its colours. It is found in great plenty
in the ifland of Minorca; and is well worth importing,
being greatly fuperior to all the Italian marbles. The
hard, pale-red porphyry, variegated with black, white,
and green, is of a pale flefh-colour ; often approaching
to white. It is variegated in blotches from half an
inch to an inch broad. It takes a high polifti, and emu¬
lates all the qualities of the oriental porphyry. It is
found in inmenfe ftrata in Arabia Petrosa, and in the
3 1 . p 0 R
Upper Egypt $ and in feparate nodules in Germany, Porphyry,
England, and Ireland. t ■ ^
Ficoroni takes notice of twro exquifitely fine columns
of black porphyry in a church at Rome. In Egypt
there are three celebrated obelifks or pillars of porphy¬
ry, one near Cairo and two at Alexandria. The French
call them aguglias, and in England they are called Cleo*
patrols needles.
The art of cutting porphyry, pra&ifed by the an¬
cients, appears now to be loft. Indeed it is difficult
to conceive what tools they ufed for faflrioning thofe
huge columns and other porphyry wmrks in fome of the
ancient buildings in Rome. One of the moft confi-
derable of thefe, ftill entire, is a tomb of Conftantia, the
emperor Conftantine’s daughter. It is in the church of
St Agnes, and is commonly called the tomb of Bacchus.
In the palace of the Thuilleries there is alio a buft of
Apollo and of twelve emperors, all in porphyry. Some
ancient pieces feem to have been wrought wuth the chif-
fel, others with the faw, others with wheels, and others
gradually ground down wfith emery. Yet modern tools
will fcarcely touch porphyry. Dr Lifter therefore
thinks *, that the ancients had the fecret of tempering
fteel better than we; and not, as fome imagine, that
they had the art of foftening the porphyry ; though it is
probable that time and air have contributed to increafe Abrid. vol.
its hardnefs. Mr Addifon fays, he faw a workman at ii. p. 560,
Rome cutting porphyry ; but his advances w'ere extreme¬
ly flow and almoft infenfible. The Italian fculptors w'ork
the pieces of old porphyry columns ftill remaining (for
the porphyry quarries are long fince loft) with a brafs
faw without teeth. With this faw, emery, and w'ater,
they rub and wTear the ftone with infinite patience. Many
perfons have endeavoured to retrieve the ancient art, and
particularly Leon Baptifta Alberti ; who, fearching for
the neceffary materials for temper, fays, he found goats
blood the beft of any ; but even this avails not much ;
for in working with chiflels tempered with it, fparks of
fire came much more plentifully than pieces of the
ftone. The fculptors were thus, however, able to make
a flat or oval form ; but could never attain to any thing
like a figure.
In the year 1555, Cofmo de Medicis is faid to have
diftilled a water from certain herbs, with which his fculp<-
tor Francefco Tadda gave his tools fuch an admirable
hardnefs and fo fine a temper, that he performed fome
very exquifite wmrks with them ; particularly our Saw
viour’s head in demi-relievo, and Cofmo’s head and his
duchefs’s. The very hair and beard, how difficult fo-
ever, are here well conducted ; and there is nothing of
the kind fuperior to it in all the works of the ancients;
but the fecret appears to have died with him. The
French have difeovered another mode of cutting por¬
phyry, viz. with an iron faw without teeth, and gre%\
a kind, of free ftone pulverized, and water. The au¬
thors of this invention fay, that they could form the
whole contour of a column hereby if they had matter to
work on. Others have propofed to harden tools fo as
to cut porphyry, by fteeping them in the juice of the
plant called bear's breech or branhirjtne. See Birch’s
Htf. R. S. vol. i. p. 238. vol. ii. p. 73. &c. Mr Boyle
fays, that he caufed porphyry to be cut by means of
emery, fteel faws, and water ; and obferves, that in his
time the Engliffi workmen were ignorant of the man¬
ner of working porphyry, and that none of them would
tadertake-
Porphyry
If
Ports.
p o r r 2
undertake to cut or polkh it. See liis Works abr. vol. i.
P
Da Cofta fuppofes, and perhaps with reafon, that
the method ufed by the ancients in cutting and engra¬
ving porphyry was extremely limple, and that it was per¬
formed without the aid of any fcientific means that are
now loft. He imagines, that, by unwearied diligence,
and with numbers of common tools at great expence,
they rudely hewed or broke the ftone into the intended
figure, anil by continued application reduced them into
more regular defigns j and that they completed, tne.
work by polishing it with great labour, by the aid ot
particular hard fands found in Egypt. And he thinks,
that in the porphyry quarries there were layers of grit
or loofe difunited particles, analogous to the porphyry,
which they carefully fought for, and ufed for this work.
See Hijl. Nat. of FoJJtls, p. 285.
POBPHTR T-Sheli. See MurEX, CoNCHOI.OGY Index.
PORPITES, the Hair-Button stone, in Natural
Hi/lory, a name given by fome authors to a fmall fpecies
of foflil coral ; which is ufually of a rounded figure con-
fiderably flattened, and ftriated from the centre to the
circumference. Thefe are of different fizes and of differ¬
ent colours, as grayilh, whitifti, brownilh, or blnilh, and
are ufually found immerfed in ftone.
PORRUM, the Leek •, a fpecies of plants, belong¬
ing to the genus of Allium. See Allium, Botany
Index ; and for an account of the method of cultiva¬
tion, fee Gardening.
PORT, a harbour, river, or haven, formed either by
nature or art to receive and ftielter {hipping from the
ftorms and waves of the open fea.
Artificial ports are thofe which are either formed by
throwing a ftrong mound or rampire acrofs the har¬
bour’s mouth to fome ifland or rock, or erefting two
long barriers, which ftretch from the land on each fide
like arms or the herns of a crefcent, and nearly inclofe
the haven 5 the former of thefe are called tnole-heads
and the latter piers.
Port, is alfo a name given on fome occafions to the
larboard or left fide of the ftiip, as in the following in-
ftances. Thus it is faid, “ the (hip heels to port,” i. e.
ftcops or inclines to the larboard-fide. “ Top the yard
to port!” the order to make the larboard extremity of
a yard higher than the other. “ Port the helm !” the
order to put the helm over to the larboard-fide of the
veffel. In all thefe fenfes this phrafe appears intended
to prevent any milfakes happening from the fimilarity
of founds in the wor&s fai'board and larboard, particu¬
larly when they relate to the helm, where a mifappre-
henfion might be attended with very dangerous confe-
quences.
Ports, the embrafures or openings in the fide of a
{hip of war, wherein the artillery is ranged in battery
upon the decks above and below7.
The ports are formed of a fufficient extent to point
and fire the cannon, without injuring the (hip’s fide by
the recoil 5 and as it ferves no end to enlarge them be-
vond wdiat is neceffary for that purpofe, the (hipwrighls
have eftablifhed certain dimenfions, by which they are
cut in proportion to the fize of the cannon.
The ports are (hut in at fea by a fort of hanging-
doors called the port-lids ; -which are fattened by hinges
to their upper edges, fo as to let down when the can¬
non are drawn into the (hip. By this means the water
2
14] P O R
is prevented from entering the lower decks in a turbu-
lent fea. The lower and upper edges of the ports are t
always parallel to the deck, fo that the guns, when le¬
velled in their carriages, are all equally high above the
lower extremity of the ports, which is called the port-
cells.
Port, is alfo a ftrong wine brought from Port-a-port,
and alfo called Porto and Oporto.
Port of the Voice, in Mufw, the faculty or habit of
making the drakes, paffages, and diminutions, in which
the beauty of a fong or piece of mufic confifts.
PORT-Crayan, a pencil-cafe, which is ufually four or
five inches long, and contrived fo as that the pencil may
flide up and down. Its infide is round, and its outfide
is fometimes filed into eight ftdes or faces, on which are
drawn the feftor-lines ; fometimes it is made round both
without- fide and within, and lias its length divided into
inches and parts of inches.
PORT-Fire, a compoiilion for fettjng fire to powder,
&c. Port-fires are frequently ufed by artillery people
in preference to matches 5 and they are diftinguifned
into wet and dry port fires. The compofition of the
former is faltpetre four, fulphur one, and mealed powder .
four. When thefe materials are thoroughly mixed and
fifted, the whole is to be mol ft sued with a little fin feed
oil, and rubbed between the hands till all the oil is im¬
bibed by the compofition. The preparation for dry port¬
fires is faltpetre four, fulphur one, mealed powder two,
and antimony one. Thefe compofitions are driven into
fmall paper cafes, to be vffed when neceffary.
PORT-aux-Prune, fo called by the French, is a coun¬
try on the coaft of Africa, to the north of the iftand
of Madagafcar. It is a rich country, and fertile in rice
and paftures *, it is inhabited only by the negroes, who
are an induftrious good fort of people, but very fuper-
ftitious. There are no towns, but feveral villages, and
they have fome cuftoms which feem to incline to Ju-
daifm.
PORT-Jadfon, in New Holland. See New HOLLAND,
N° 7, &c.
PORT-Royal, a fea-port town in the ifland of Jamaica.
It w7as once a place of the greateft riches and importance
in the Weft Indies : but in 1692 it was deftroyed by an
earthquake, in 1702 by fire, in 1722 by an inundation
of the fea, and in 1744 it fuffered greatly by a hurri¬
cane. It is now7 reduced to three ftreets, a few lanes,
and about 200 houfes. It contains the royal navy-yard
for heaving down and refitting the king’s flips 5 the
navy-hofpital, and barracks for a regiment of foldiers.
The fortifications, which are very extenfive, being in
excellent order, and having been lately ftrengthened
wuth many additional w'orks, it may be laid to vie in
point of ftrength with any fortrefs in the king’s domi-
• rIM _ 1 .."L. ^«r. •£* 4-T-\ a Iwmirv + In/=► c?
The harbour is one of the beft in the w7or!d,
and 1000 ftiips may ride therein, fecure from every
wind that can blow7. It is fix miles eaft of Spanifh-
town, and as much by water fouth-eaft of Kingfton.
W. Long. 76. 40. N. Lat. r 8. o.
PORT-Royal, an ifland in North America, on the coaft
of South Carolina, which, with the neighbouring con¬
tinent, forms one of the moft commodious harbours in
the Britifti plantations. It is 15 miles in length j and
the tow7n on the north fhore is called Beaufort. W.
Long. 80. 20. N. Lat. 31. 40.
PORT-Royal, the name of two monafteries of Cifter-
tian
POR [ -
Port-Iloya! tian nuns In the diocefe of Paris; the one near Chev-
p i' . . reufe, at the didance of five leagues from Paris, called
'——y—Port-Royal o f the Fields ; and the other in Paris, in the
fuburbs of St James.
The nuns of the former of thefe monafteries proving
refractory were difperfed ; v.hen many ecclefiafiics, and
others, who were of the fame fcntiments as thefe reli¬
gious, retired to Port Royal, took apartments there,
and printed many books. Hence the name of Port-
Royalifs was given to all their party, and their books
were called books of Port-Royal: from hence we fay
the writers of Port-Royal, Methcurs de Port-Royal, and
the tranflations and grammars of Port-Pio)?!
PORT A, or l e nci PORTA, in Anaioiny, a large vein
diftributed through the liver in the manner of an ar¬
tery. See Anatomy, N° 96.
PORTA-AuguJia, in Ancient Geography, mentioned
only by Ptolemy ; a towm of the Vaccrei in the Plither
Spain ; thought by fome to be Torre fyemada, in Old
Caftile 5 by others Los Valvafes, a village between Bur¬
gos and Torre Ouemada.
PORT /E-Romanul, in Ancient Geography. Accord¬
ing to Pliny, Romulus left but three, or at moil four,
gates of Rome : afterwards, on enlarging the Pomceria,
or compals of the citv, they amounted to 37.
PORTAL, in Architecture, a little gate wheie there
are two gates of a different bignefs ; alio a little fquare
corner of a room cut off from the reft by the wainfeot,
and forming a fhort paffage into the room. The fame
name is alfo fometimes given to a kind of arch of join¬
ers work before a door.
PORTATE, or a Crofs PORTATE, in Heraldry, a
crofs wdiich does not (land upright, as croffts generally
do ; but lies acrofs the efcutcheon in bend, as if it were
carried on a man’s fhoulder.
PORTCULLICE, in Fortification, is an affemblage
of feveral large pieces of wood, joined acrofs one ano¬
ther like a harrow, and each pointed with iron at the
bottom. They are fometimes hung over the gate-way
of old fortified towns, ready to let down in cafe of fur-
prife, when the gates could not be ftiut.
PORTER, a kind of malt-liquor which differs from
ale and pale beer, in its being made with high dried
malt. See Ale, Beer, and Brewing.
PORT-Glasgow. See Glasgow, N° 12.
PORTGREVE, or Portgrave, was anciently the
principal magiftrate in ports and other maritime towns.
The word is formed from the Saxon port, “ a port or
other town and geref, “ a governor.”—It is fome-
limes alfo written port-reve.
Camden obferves, that the chief magiftrate of Lon¬
don was anciently called port-greve : inftead of whom,
Richard I. ordained two bailiffs j and foon afterwards
King John granted them a mayor for their yearly ma¬
giftrate.
PORTICI, a palace of the king of Naples, fix miles
from that capital. It has a charming fituation, on the
fea-fide, near Mount Vefuvius. It is enriched with a
vaft number of fine ftatues, and other remains of anti¬
quity, taken out of the ruins of Herculaneum.
'Ihe mufeum confifts of 16 rooms, in which the dif¬
ferent articles are arranged with very great tafte. The
floors are paved with mofaic, taken from the recovered
towns, and The walls of the court are lined w’ith inferip-
tions. Befides bulls, ftatues, medals, intaglios, lamps,
*5 1
FOR
and tripods, there is fcarcely an article ufed by the an- Poitici
c:enis of which a fpecimen may not be feen in this mu- , il
Ruin. “ But the moft valuable room is the library, , ‘ ottlanJ-i
Lem the numerous manufeript rolls which it con tains. Wattin's
a fiem is here for conjecture ! what room for Tiaiels
hope ! Among this ineftimable colle&ion, how m-wythr0F&h
great w oiks aie icere, ot which even the names are now 1 u F'c‘~ }
unknown ! how many unbroken volumes, whofe very&cf’
fragments, preferved in the writings of the ancient fcho-
liaits, convey to us moral improvement, information, and
denght . perhaps all tire dramatic pieces of iWenander
and Philemon ; perhaps, nay, certainly, the loft Decades
of Livy } for it is impoflible to fuppofe, that among lb
many rolls, the moft admired hiftory of the people who
poffeffed them is not to be found : what private lisrary
in Biitain is without the beft hiitones of England ? But
how I tremble for their fituaiion, as Portici is built on
the lava tlrat overwhelmed Herculaneum ! How I trem¬
ble too for the indifference of the king of Naples towards
this invaluable treafure, in which all the moil enlighten¬
ed people of Europe are deeply interefted ! When I fir ft
law them, I had no idea of what they were, as they re¬
ferable wooden truncheons burnt almoft to charcoal.
Ine} are fo hard and brittle, that tire greateft caution
mutt be ufed in removing them, left, they crumble to
duft 5 ncverthe-lefs, an ingenious friar of Genoa, named
Raggio, undertook to unroll them ; and by a moft cu¬
rious, though tedious procefs, fo far fucceeded, as to
tranlcribe three Greek Trealifes on Philofopliy and Mu-
fic ; but finding (as I hear) no other encouragement
than Iris falary, which was but little more than you pay
fame of your fervants, the wmrk was unhappily difeonti-
nued. Were thefe manuferipts in England, they would
not long remain a fecret to the world.” See PoM-
PEII.
FOR i ICO, m Architecture, a kind of gallery on
the ground 5 or a piazza encompaffed with arches fup-
ported by columns, where people walk under covert.
I he roof is ufually vaulted, fometimes flat. The an¬
cients called it lacunar. Though the word portico be
derived from porta, “ gate, door ;” yet it is applied
to any difpofition of columns which form a gallery,
without any immediate relation to doors or gates. The
moft celebrated porticoes of antiquity vrere, thofe of So¬
lomon’s temple, which formed the atrium or court, and
encompaffed the fanftuary 5 that of Athens, built for the
people to divert themfelves in, and wherein the philofo-
phers hcid their dnputes and converfations, (lee Porch) •
and that of Pompey at Rome, raifed merely for magnb
licence, confifting of feveral rows of columns fupport-
mg a platform of vail extent 5 a draught whereof,
Serlio gives us in his antique buildings. Amonsr the
modern porticoes, the moft celebrated is the piazza
of St Peter of the Vatican.—That of Covent-Garden
London, the work of Inigo Jones, is alfo much ad¬
mired.
FORTH. See Pompeii.
I OR I LAND, a peninfula in Dorfetlhire, of preat
ftrength both by nature and art, being furrounded with
maccemble rocks, except at the landing-place, where
there is a ftrong caftle, called Portland cajlle, built by
King Henry VIII. There is but one church in the
ifland : and that Hands fo near the fea, that it is often
m danger from it. It is now chiefly noted for the build¬
ing Hone ViYiich is found there, and ivhich is greatly em-
Ployed
p 0 R [ 21
ployed in .London, and other parts of England, for
building the fineft ftruftures. St Paul s church, m par¬
ticular, is built of this ftone. W. Long. 2. 3 J* • j,a ‘
5°The following cuftom at Portland is worthy of no¬
tice. “ While I was looking over the quarries at Port¬
land (fays Mr Smeaton), and attentively confidenng the
operations, obferving how foon the quarrymen wou
cut half a ton of fpawls from an unformed block, and
what large pieces flew off at every ftroke j how fpeedi y
their blows followed one another, and how mceffantly
they purfued this labour with a tool of from 18 to 20
pound weight; I was naturally led to view and consider
the figure of the operative agent; and after having ob-
fervtvT, that by far the greateft number of the quarry-
men -were of a very robuft hardy form, in whofe hands
the tool'd have mentioned feemed a mere play-thing,
I at laft broke out with furprife, and inquired ot my
guide, Mr Roper, where they could poflibly pick up
fuch a fet of flout fellows to handle the kevel, which m
their hands feemed nothing ? for I obferved, that m the
fpace of 13 minutes, they would knock off as much
wafle matter from a mafs of ftone, as any of that occu¬
pation 1 had ever feen before would do in an hour, bays
Roper, ‘ we do not go to fetch thofe men from a diftance,
they are all born upon the ifland, and many ot them
have never been farther upon the main land than to
Weymouth.’ I told him, _ I thought the air of that
ifland muft be very propitious, to furnilh a breed ot
men fo particularly formed for the bufinefs they follow¬
ed. ‘ The air (he replied), though very (harp from our
elevated fituation, is certainly very healthy to working
men; yet if you knew how thefe men are produced,
you would wonder the lefs; for all our marriages here
are produaive of children.’ On defiring an explana¬
tion how this happened, he proceeded : ‘ Our people
here, as they are bred to hard labour, are very early m
a condition to marry and provide for a family •, they in¬
termarry with one another, very rarely going to the
main-land to feek a wife 5 and it has been the cuftom ot
the ifland, from time immemorial, that they never mar¬
ry till the woman is pregnant.’ But pray (faid 1) does
not this fubjeft you to a great number of baftards ?
Have not your Portlanders the fame kind of ficklenexS
in their attachments that Englifhmen are fubjeft to ?
and, in confequence, does not this produce many incon¬
veniences ? ‘ None at all (replies Roper), for previous to
my arrival here, there was but one child on record of
the parifh regifter that had been born a baftard in the
compafs of 150 years. The mode of courtfhip here is,
that a young woman never admits of the ferious ad-
dreffes of a young man, but on fuppofition of. a tho¬
rough probation. When (he becomes with child, {he
tells her mother, the mother tells her father,, her father
tells his father, and he tells his fon, that it is then pro¬
per time to be married.’ But fuppofe, Mr Roper, (lie
does not prove to be with child, wrhat happens then ? Do
they live together without marriage ? or, if they fepa-
rate, is not this fuch an imputation upon her,, as to pre¬
vent her getting another fuitor ? ‘ The cafe is thus ma¬
naged (anfwered my friend), if the woman does not
prove with child after a competent time of courtfhip,
they conclude they are not deftined by Providence for
each other •, they therefore feparate ■, and as it is an efta-
blifhed maxim, which the Portland women obferve with
4
6 ] P O R
great ftri&nefs, never to admit a plurality of lovers at .Foi^ar-.
one time, their honour is noway tarniflied : fhe juft as
foon (after the affair is declared to be broke oft) gets
another fuitor, as if fire had been left a widow, or that
nothing had ever happened, but that fire had remained
an immaculate virgin.’ But pray, Sir, did nothing par¬
ticular happen upon your men coming down horn Lon¬
don ? ‘ Yes (fays he) our men were much ftruck, and
mightily pleated with the facility of the Portland ladies
and it was not long before feveral of the women proved
with child •, but the men being called upon to many
them, this part of the leffon they were umnftruttcd in ;
and on their refufal, the Portland women arofe to ftone
them out of the ifland j infomuch, that thofe few who
did not choofe to take their fweethearts for better or for
worfe, after fo fair a trial, were in reality obliged to de¬
camp; and on this occafion fome few baftards. were
born : but fince then matters have gone on according to
the ancient cuftom.” , r , • ,
PORTLAND vase, a celebrated funeral vale which
was long in poffeflion of the Baberini family ; but which
was lately purchafed for icoo guineas, by the Duke ol
Portland, from whom it has derived, its prefent name.
Its height is about ten inches, and its diameter where
broadeft fix. There are a variety of figures upon it ot
moft exquifite workmanfhip, in bas rebel of white opake
glafs, raifed on a ground of deep blue glafs, which ap¬
pears black except when held againft the light. It ap¬
pears to have been the work of many years, and there
are antiquarians who date its produftion feveral centuries
before the Chriftian era j fince, as has been find, fculp-
ture was declining in excellence in the time ol Alexan-
^ Refpefting the purpofe of this vafe, and what the fi¬
gures on it were meant to reprefent, there have been a
variety of conjeaurts, which it was not our bufinefs to
enumerate. We think with Dr Darwin * that it was not * i,0^_
made for the afhes of any particular perfon deceafed } the Plants.
and therefore that the fubjed of its embelhfhments is
not a private hiftory, but of a general nature. But we
are not fure that he is right in conjedunng it to repre¬
fent a part of the Eleufinian myfteries; becaule thatcon-
iefture depends on Warburton’s explanation of the fixth
book of the TEneid, which does not now command that
refped which it did when it was firft propofed \\ e
{hall therefore give a fliort account of the feveral figures,
without noticing any of the theories or conjeclures that
been made about them. . ,
In one compartment three exquifite figures are placed
on a ruined column, the capital of which is fallen, and
lies at their feet among other disjointed ftones : they fit
under a tree on loofe piles of ftone. The middle figure
is a female in a reclining and dying attitude, with an
inverted torch in her left hand, the elbow of which iup-
ports her as Ihe finks, while the right hand is raifed and
thrown over her drooping head. The figure on her right
hand is a man, and that on the left a woman, both lup-
porting themfelves on their arms, and apparently think¬
ing intenfely. Their backs are to the dying figure, and
their faces are turned to her, but without an attempt to
affift her. On another compartment of the vale is a
figure coming through a porfal, and going down with
great timidity into a darker region, where he is received
by a beautiful female, who ftretches forth her hand to
heln him : between her knees is a large and playtul ier-
r pent.
ves of
FOR [ 217 ] FOR
Portland pent. Slie fits with her feet towards an aged figure,
II having one foot funk into the earth, and the other raifed
Fort0, on a column, with his chin refting on his hand. Above
t}lc female figure is a Cupid preceding the firft figure,
and beckoning him to advance. This firft figure holds
a cloke or garment, which he feems anxious to bring
vrith him, but which adheres to the fide of the portal
through which he has paffed. In this compartment
there are two trees, one of which bends over the female
figure and the other over the aged one. On the bottom
of the vafe there is another figure on a larger fcale than
the one we have already mentioned, but not fo well
finifhed nor fo elevated. This figure points with its fin¬
ger to its mouth. The drefs appears to be curious and
cumberfome, and above there is the foliage of a tree.
On the head of the figure there is a Phrygian cap : it is
not eafy to fay whether this figure be male or female.
On the handles of the vafe are reprefented two aged
heads with the ears of a quadruped, and from the mid¬
dle of the forehead rifes a kind of tree without leaves ;
thefe figures are in all probability mere ornaments, and
have no connexion with the reft of the figures, or the
flory reprefented on the vafe.
PORTLANDIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
pentandria clafs, and in the natural method ranking with
thofe of which the order is doubtful. See Botany In¬
dex.
PORT-Louis, is a ftrong town of France, in Bre¬
tagne, in the diocefe of Vannes, with a citadel and a
good harbour. It was fortified by Louis XIII. from
whom it derived its name. It was a ftation for part of
the royal navy and-the Eaft India ftiips belonging to
France. It is feated at the mouth of the river Blavet,
27 miles wTeft of Vannes. W. Long. 3. 18. N. Lat.
47. 40. /
PORT-Mahon. See Minorca.
PORTO. See Oporto.
PORTO-Be/lo, a town of North America, fituated in
N. Lat. 9. 3. W. Long. 79. 45. clofe to the fea, on the
declivity of a mountain, which furrounds the whole har¬
bour. This harbour is fo large, deep, and fafe, that
Columbus, who firft difcovered it, gave it the name
of Porto-Be//o, or the “ Fine Harbour,” which is now
commonly ufed to denote the town. The number of
the houfes is about 130 } moft of them of wood, large
and fpacious, forming one long ftreet along the ftrand,
with other fmaller ones crofting it. The governor of
the town is always a gentleman of the army, fubordi-
nate to the prefident of Panama •, but having under him
the commandants of the forts that defend the harbour.
At the eaft end of the town, on the road to Panama, is
a place called Guinea, where all the negroes of both
fexes, whether fiaves or free, have their habitations.
This place is very much crowded when the galleons are
here, moft of the inhabitants of the town quitting their
houfes entirely for the fake of letting them ; while others
content themfelves with a fmall part, in order to make
money of the reft. The Mulattoes and other poor fa¬
milies alfo remove either to Guinea, or to cottages al¬
ready erefled near it, or built on the occafion. Great
numbers of artificers likewife who flock to Borto-Bello
from Panama to work at their refpe£live callings during
the fair, lodge in Guinea for cheapnefs. Towards the
fea, in a large tra£l between the town and Gloria caftle,
barracks are erefted, in moft of which the fnips crews
VOL. XVII. Part I.
keep ftalls of fweet-meats, and other kinds of eatables,
brought from Spain ; but at the conclufion of the fair,
when the {hips put to fea, all thefe buildings are taken
down, and the town returns to its former tranquillity
and emptinefs. In I739> the harbour was defended by
a caftle and two forts j which were all demolilhed by
Admiral Vernon, who, with fix ftiips only, made himfelf
mafter of this port. The country about Porto-Bello is
overrun with mountains and impenetrable forefts, except
a few valleys, in which are fome fcattered farms. Among
the mountains that furround the harbour is one dif-
tinguiftied by the name of Capiro, and by its fuperior
loftinefs is a fort of barometer to the country, by fore¬
telling every change of weather. Its top is always co¬
vered with clouds, of a denfity and darknels feldom feeu
in thofe of the atmofphere. When thefe clouds thicken,
increafe their blacknefs, and fink below their ufual fta¬
tion, it is a fine fign of a tempeft 5 while, on the other
hand, their clearnefs and alcent as certainly indicate the
approach of fair weather. Thefe changes are very hid¬
den and frequent here. The fummit of the mountain
is fcarce ever clear from clouds; and when it happens,
it is only, as it were, for an inftant. Except in the time
of the fair, all the inhabitants of Porto Bello do not a-
mount to 3000} half of whom are Indians, Mulattoes?
or Negroes j the Spaniards of any fubftance not choof-
ing to refide in a place fo extremely unhealthy, and fatal
even to the lives of the natives. Ulloa tells us, that the
cattle brought down hither from Panama or Carthagena,
lofe their ftefh fo faft in the beft paftures, as to become
fcarce eatable : he aflures us alfo, that neither horfes nor
afles are bred here. The heat, indeed, is exceflive ; and
the torrents of rain are fo dreadful, hidden, and impetu¬
ous, that one not accuftomed to them would imagine a
fecbnd deluge wras coming. Thefe torrents are alfo ac¬
companied with frightful tempefts of thunder and light¬
ning, the awfulnefs of the fcene being heightened by the
repercuflions from the mountains, and the fhrieks and
bowlings of multitudes of monkeys of all kinds which
inhabit the furrounding woods.
Frefh water pours clown in ftreams from the moun¬
tains, fome running without the town, and others crofs-
ing it. Thefe v/aters are very light and digeftive;
qualities which in other countries would be very valu¬
able. but are here pernicious, producing dyfenteries,
which the patient feldom fiirvives. However, thefe
rivulets, formed into refervoirs, ferve the purpofes of
bathing, which is here found to be very conducive to
health.
As the forefts almoft border on the houfes of the
town, tygers often make incurfions into the ftreets
during the night, carrying off fowls, dogs, and other
domeftic animals, and fometimes even children have fal¬
len a prey to them. Befides the fnares ufually laid for
them, the Negroes and Mulattoes, who fell wood in the
forefts of the mountains, are very dexterous in encoun¬
tering them ; and fome, for a flender reward, even feek
them in their retreats.
The town of Porto-Bello, which is thinly inhabited
by reafon of its noxious air, the fcarcity of provifions,
and the barrennefs of the foil, becomes, after the arrival
of tire galleons, one of the moft populous towns in the
world. He who had feen it quite empty, and every
place wearing a melancholy afpecl, -would be filled with
aftonilhment to fee the bufiling multitudes in the time
E e of
FOR [ 218 ] FOR
of the fair, when every houfe is crowded, the fquares
and llreets encumbered with bales of merchandife and
chetts of gold and fdver, the harbour full of drips and
veffels, fome loaded with provifions from Carthagena,
and others with the goods of Peru, as cocoa, Jeiuit’s
bark, Vicuna wool, and bezoar Hones; and this towrn,
at all other times detefted for its deleterious qualities,
becomes the ftaple of the riches -<of the Old and New
World, and the fcene of one of the molt confiderable
brandies of trade in the univerfe. Formerly the fair
rvas limited to no particular time j but as a long itay in
inch a fickly place extremely affeded the health of the
traders, his Catholic majefty tranfmitted an order that
the fair llrould not laft above 40 days 5 and that, if in
that time the merchants could not agree on their rates,
thofe of Spain Ihould be allowed to carry their goods
up the country to Peru : and accordingly, the commo¬
dore of the galleons has orders to re-embark them, and
return to Carthagena 5 but otherwife, by virtue of a corn-
pad between the merchants of both kingdoms, and ra¬
tified by the king, no Spanilh trader is to lend his goods,
on his own account, beyond Porto-Bello. The Eng-
liih were formerly allowed to fend a Ihip annually to
this fair, which turned to great account and, while the
afliento contrad fubfiiled, either with the Englith or the
French, one of their principal fadories was at Porto-
Bello.
PONTO-Farina, a port about 12 miles from Cape
Carthage, in the bay of Tunis, where formerly the large
veffels belonging to the bey were fitted out, and laid up
on their return from a cruife. This harbour is fafe from
the weather, and opens into a large lake, formed by the
Mejerdah, which runs through into the fea.—The north-
welt wind, which blows right upon the Hi ore, together
with the foil brought down by the river, which has the
fame quality as the Nile of overllowing its banks, has
formed a bar, fo that only frnall veffels can now enter.
It is ftill the arfenal where the naval ftores are kept. E.
Long. 10. 16. N. Lat. 37. 12.
PORTO-Farraio, a handfome town of Italy, in the iile
of Elba, with a good citadel. It is very ftrong, and
feated on a long, high, ffeep point of land, to the welt
of the bay of the fame name, which has two forts. It
belongs to the great duke of Tufcany, who always keeps
a good garrifon there. E. Long. 10. 37. N. Lat. 48.
55-
PORTO-Lot/gone, a final! but very Itrong town of Italy,
and in the ille of Elba, with a good harbour, and a for-
trefs upon a rock almoit inacceffible. The king of Naples
has a right to put a garrifon therein, though the place
belongs to the prince of Piombino. It is feated on the
eaft end of the iiland, eight miles fouth-weft of Piombi¬
no. E. Long. xo. 10. N. Lat. 42. 52.
PORTO-Santo, an iiland of the Atlantic ocean, on
the coait of Africa, and the leaft of thofe called the
Mcideiras. It is about 15 miles in circumference ; it
produces fome corn, as well as fome oxen and wild
hogs, with a valt number of rabbits. There are
trees which produce the gum or refin called dragon's
Hood; and there is likewife a little honey and wax,
which are extremely good. It has no harbour, but good
mooring in the road. It belongs to the Portuguefe, and
is 300 miles well of the coal! cf Africa. W. Long. 16.
20. N. Lat. 32. 58.
PORIO-Seguroy a government of South America, on
the eaftern coail of Bralil ^ bounded on the north by Porte
the government of Rio-dos-Hilios, on the eaft by the II
North lea, on the fouth by the government of Spiritu- ^ort^mout^;
Santo, and on the weft by the Tupicks. It is a very v "J
fertile country, and the capital town is of the fame
name. It is built on the top of a rock, at the mouth
of a river, on the coail of the North fea, and is in¬
habited by Portuguefe. W. Long. 38. 50. S. Lat.
17. o.
PORTO-Vecchio, is a fea-port town of Corfica, in the
Mediterranean fea, feated on a bay on tire eaftern coaft
of the ifland. It is 12 miles from Bonifacio, and 40
north of Sardinia. E. Long. 9. 20. N. Lat. 41. 42.
PORTO Venereo, is a town of Italy, on the coaft of
Genoa, at the entrance of the gulf of Spetia. It is feat¬
ed on the fide of a hill, at tire top of which there is a
fort. It has a very good harbour, and is 45 miles fouth-
eaft of Genoa. E. Long. 9. 38. N. Lat. 44. 5.
PORTRAIT, or Portraiture, in painting, the
reprefentation of a perfon, and efpecially of a face, done
from the life. In this fenfe we ufe the term portrait-
painting, in contradiftinclion to kiflory-painting, where
a refemblance of perfons is ufually diiregarded. Por¬
traits, when as large as the life, are ufually painted in
oil-colours j fometimes they are painted in miniature with
wrater-colours, crayons, paftils, &c. See PAINTING,
P- 641. #
PORTREE, is a fmall village, containing a church
and a very few houfes, with an excellent bay and a good
harbour, in the ifle of Skye. “ The entrance of theKnrx>s
bay (Mr Knox tells us) reprefents agreeable landl'capes Tour.
on both fides, with excellent pafture.
‘ The bay of Portree (fays Mackenzie), off the houfes,
is an exceeding good harbour for a few7 (hips of any fize j
it is well fheltered, the ground good, the depth from
five to 14 fathoms, and nothing to fear coming in but a
rock, about half a cable’s length from Airderachig
Point, on the [larboard as you enter the anchorage, part
of which is always above water.’ It is the only port or
harbour to a very confiderable divifion of Skye, on the
eaft fide. From this opening to the northern extremity,
a courfe of 20 miles, the (bore is one continued line of
lofty rocks, where no Ihip can find refuge in the mildeft
weather, and where inevitable dangers await the mari¬
ners in rough weather.
“ James V. of Scotland and feveral of his nobility
landed here, when they made the tour of the Hebrides
in 1535; from which circumftance, this fine bay has got
the honourable name of PortreeP
Mr Knox tells us, “ that the country round this vil¬
lage, though mountainous, is well inhabited 5 it raifes
much grain, and many cattle. Here the late Sir James
Macdonald had marked out the lines of a town •, and
government, it is faid, promifed to aflift him in the work
with 500k ; but the death of that gentleman put an end
to thefe promifing appearances.” We have to add, that
Lord Macdonald, the prefent (1809) proprietor, has re¬
fumed the undertaking ; and, we underftand, has made
fome progrefs in building a new town, befides introdu¬
cing various other important improvements in this and
other parts of the ifland.
PORTSMOUTH, a fea-port town in Hampfhire,
with one of the moft fecure and capacious harbours in
England, being defended by a numerous artillery, both
on the fea and land-fide, and very good fortifications.
A
P O H [21
portfmouth. A great part of the royal navy is ouilt here •, and here
  v  are feme of the fineft docks, yards, and magazines oi
naval ftores, in Europe. It is feated in the iile of Port-
fey, being furrounded by the fea except on the north
fide, where there is a river which runs from one arm of
it to the other. It is much retorted to on account ot
the royal navy, whofe ufual rendezvous is at Spithead,
which is at the eaft end of the Me of Wight, and oppo-
fite to Portfmouth. There is a draw-bridge over the ri¬
ver, and it has always a good garrifon. It is governed
by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and burgeffes, and fends twro
members to parliament. It has one church, and twro
chapels, one in the garrifon, and one in the Common,
for the ufe of the dock, and others, befides fevera! meet-
ing-houfes of the diflenters. The houfes of Portfmouth
amount to about 5,310? and the inhabitants to about
32,166. W. Long. 1. 1. N. Lat. 50. 47.
The town is fuppofed to receive its name from Port,
a famous Saxon chieftain, wTho, A. D. 501, landed here
with his tw'o fons. It made a confiderable figure in the
time of the Saxons } and from the utility of its fituation,
wTas highly favoured by all our monarchs of the Norman
line. It wras incorporated, and became alfo a parliamen¬
tary borough. In the reign of Edward HE it was in a
very flourifiring (late 5 but A. D. 1338, in the very fame
reign, wras burned by the French, when that monarch,
which wras afterwards ratified by King Richard II. for¬
gave the inhabitants a debt, and remitted their fee-farm
£or 10 years j within which fpace they lo recovered
themfelves, as to equip a fquadron, which failed into the
Seine, funk two Mips, and brought away a great booty.
Qftmfbell's The lingular excellence of its port, and the convenience
Political 0f fitting out fleets from thence in the time of a French
Survey. war? induced Edward IV. to think of fortifying it, as
he actually, in fome meafure, did j which fortifications
were farther carried on by Richard III. But King
Henry VII. was the firft who fettled a garrifon therein;
which wTas increafed, and the place made Hill ftionger,
in the reign of Henry VIII. who had a great dock theie,
wherein wras built the Henry Grace de l)ieu, which was
the large ft; ftiip in the navy of his time. _ The fame mo¬
narch, remarkably attentive to the lecurity of all mari¬
time places, built wdiat is nowT called South-Sea CajHe,
for the prote&ion of this.—The improvements made
here in the reign of Queen Elizabeth were much fupe-
rior to all thefe. King Charles II. after his reftoration,
diretfted great alterations, eftablilhed new docks and
yards, railed feveral forts, and fortified them after the
modern manner *, which works were augmented under
his brother’s reign. Notwithftanding this, King Wil¬
liam dire&ed likewife frefli alterations and additions j
and fucceeding princes, following his example, have, at
a large expence, extended thefe fortifications, and taken
in a vaft deal of ground : fo that it is at prefent, as the
importance of the place deferves, the moft regular for-
trefs in Britain } and, as it cannot be effectually attack¬
ed by fea, may be juftly efteemed impregnable.
Portsmouth, the largeft towm in the ftate of New
Hampfhire in North America. It Hands on the foutn-
eaft fide of Piicataqua river, about two miles from the
fea, and contains about 600 houfes, and 4400 inhabi¬
tants. The town is handfomely built, and pleafantly
fituated. Its public buildings are, a court-houfe, twro
churches for Congregationalifts, one for Epifcopalians,
and one other houfe for public worlhip. Its harbour
9 1 FOR
is one of the fineft on the continent, having a_ Micient Portfm&u
depth of w-ater for veflels of any burthen. It is defend- purlllga[>
ed againft ftorms by the adjacent land, in fuch a man-
ner, as that Mips may fecurely ride there in any feafon
of the year. Befides, the harbour is fo well fortified by
nature, that very little art wall be necefiary to render it
impregnable. Its vicinity to the lea renders it vciy
convenient for naval trade. A light-houle, with a finglc
light, Hands at the entrance of the harbour.
PORTSOY, is a handfome fea-port town, fituated on
a fmall promontory running into the fea, on the fouth
fide of the Murray frith, in Scotland, about fix miles
from Cullen, and feven weft from Banff. It fends out
feveral fifhing veffels, particularly for the Hebride white
filhery, and exports a confiderable quantity of grain. It
contains about 1000 inhabitants. A manufafture of
flocking and lewing thread is alfo carried on to a con¬
fiderable amount for the London and Nottingham mai-
kets. In the neighbourhood is a ftratum of marble, ot
a dark greenilh colour, in which, it is faid, the cuiious
fubftance called asbestos, or earth-flax, has been found.
There is alfo a remarkable mineral production found
here, viz. a gr&nite ot a flefh colour, and found no where
elfe in Europe. It contains a quantity of feld fpar, and
fliews a brilliancy like the Labrador fpar. When view¬
ed in a particular light, it (hews a purple and bluifh tint,
and when polilhed, the figures upon it affume the ap¬
pearance of Arabic characters. It is defcribed by I)i
Hutton, Edin. Tranf. vol. i. From the afbeftos a fort
of incombuftible cloth is made, which is purified by
throwing it into the fire. V7. Long. 2. 5- ^ Lat. 57.
50.
PORTUGAL, the moft wefterly kingdom of Eu¬
rope, bounded on the wTeft and fouth by the Atlantic
ocean, and on the eaft and north by Spain j extending See M# of
about 310 miles in length, and 1 50 in breadth. S*tu-Sh
By modern writers, we find this country conftantly °
ftyled in Latin Lujitama ; and it is certain, that an - boundaries;
ciently a country of Spain went by that name 5 but it
does not by any means appear that the country called by
the ancients Lujitania had the fame boundaries with the
modern kingdom of Portugal. Before Auguftus Csefar,
Lufitania feems to have been bounded on the north by
the ocean, and on the fouth by the river Tagus; by
which means it comprehended all Galicia, and excluded
twTo of the fix provinces of Portugal. But in the more
ftriCt and reftrained fenfe of the wrord, it wras bounded
on the north by the Durius, now the Douro, and on the
fouth by the river Anas, now the Guadiana; in which
fenfe it w'as not quite fo long as modern Portugal, but
confiderably broader. 11
The commonly received opinion with regard to the og*'
etymology of the word Portugal, is, that a great num-
ber of Gauls landed at Porto, or Oporto, whence it re¬
ceived the name of Portus Gallorum, or the Port of the
Gauls; and in procefs of time that name gradually ex¬
tended over the whole country, being foftened, or rather
fhortened, into Portugal. But the time when this event
happened, the reafon why thefe Gauls came thither, and
what became of them afterwards, are all particulars
wdiich lie buried in oblivion. It is alleged, however,
that, upon an eminence which overlooks the mouth ox
the river Douro, there flood an ancient town called Cale,
ftrong and well peopled, but ill feated for trade; and
this occafioned the conftruclion of a lower town or ham-.
E e 2
FOR [ 220 ] P O
Portugal, let, which was called Porti/s Cale, that is, the haven of fubje6tion of their neighbours.
" Cale ; and, in procefs of time, Portucalia. At lengtl: ^
R
Originally
becoming fo confiderable as to merit an epifcopal chair,
the bilhops fubfcribed themfelves, as the records of an¬
cient councils teftify, Portucalenfes, and the name of the
city was transferred to the diocefe. It is true, that thefe
bithops afterwards changed their title, and fcbfcribed
themfelves Portuenfes, that is, bijhops of Porto' But the
fa£ts juft mentioned are aftually recorded in authentic
hiftories ; and as the diocefe of Portucalia contained in
a great meaiure that little country in which the fove-
reignty originally began, the name extended itfelf, to¬
gether with the acquifitions of the fovereigns, and has
remained to the kingdom, though the diocefe itfelf has
changed its name, and poftibly on that very account.
Portugal, though even yet but a fmall kingdom, was
only a fmall originally much fmaller. The Spanifh and Portuguefe
kingdom, hiftorians agree, that Don Alonfo, king of Leon and
Caftile, and fon to Don Ferdinand the Great, beftowed
his daughter Donna Therefa in marriage upon an illuf-
trious ftranger, Don Henry, and gave him with her the
frontier province which he had conquered from the Moors,
fmall indeed in extent, but excellently fituated, and fo
pleafant and fertile, that it has fometimes been ftyled
Medulla Hifpanica, or the marrow of Spain. To this
territory was added the title of Count; but authors are
much divided about the time that this ftranger came in¬
to Spain, and who he was. However, the authors of
the Univerfal Hiftory make it pretty evident, that he was
a grandfon of Robert the firft duke of Burgundy. The
manner in which he obtained the principality above men¬
tioned is related as follows :
The king, Don Alonfo, apprehenfive that his fuccefs
in taking the city of Toledo would bring upon him the
•whole force of the Moors, fent to demand affiftance from
Philip I. of France, and the duke of Burgundy, whofe
daughter he had married. His requeft was granted by
both princes • and a numerous body of troops was fpeedi-
ly collefted for his fervice, at whofe head went Raymond
count of Burgundy, Henry younger brother of Hugh
duke of Burgundy, Raymond count of Tholoufe, and
many others. They arrived at the court of Don Alonfo
in the year 1087, where they were received and treated
with all poflible marks of efteem ; and having in the
courfe of two or three years given great proofs of their
courage and conduff, the king refolved to beftow his
only daughter named Urraca, then a mere child, being
at moft in her ninth year, upon Raymond count of Bur¬
gundy, and aftigned them the province of Galicia for
the fupport of their dignity. About four years after,
Don Alonfo being very defirous to exprefs his gratitude
to Henry of Burgundy, gave him in marriage a natural
daughter of his, born while he remained in exile at To¬
ledo,^ whofe name was Donna Therefa ; and upon this
marriage, he gave up in full property the country which
has been already mentioned.
The new fovereign, with his confort, fixed their refi-
dence in the town of Guimaraez, pleafantly fituated on
the banks of the river Ave. The remains of an ancient
palace belonging to their fucceffors are ftill to be feen ;
and on account of its having been anciently the capital
the king, Don Denis, granted the inhabitants an immu¬
nity from taxes, which they ftill enjoy.
The Portuguefe, now finding themfelves independent,
immediately began, like other nations, to attempt the
4
,Henry of
Burgundy
the firft
count of
Portugal.
v , —o  Henry is faid to have Portugal.
performed great exploits againft the Moors j but the ac-
counts of them are fo indiftinft, that they cannot be
taken notice of here. Fie died in 1112 ; and was fuc-
ceeded by his. fon Don Alonfo, then an infant in the
third year of his age. In his minority, the kingdom was 5
governed by his mother Donna Therefa, aflifted by two D?fferences
able minifters. During the firft nine years of their ad-7i\th Caf'
mimftration, nothing remarkable happened; but after
that period, fome differences took place between the
queen regent (for Ihe had affumed the title of queen af¬
ter her father’s death) and Urraca queen of Caftile.
F heiela infifted, that lome part of Galicia belonged to
her in virtue of her father’s will; and therefore feized
on Tuy, an epifcopal town, and a place of fome confe-
quence. Urraca, having affembled a numerous army,
went in perfon into Galicia ; upon which Therefa was
obliged to abandon Tuy, and take fhelter in one of Tier-
own fortreffes. The confequence, in all probability,
would have been fatal to the new kingdom, had not the’
archbifhop of Compoftella, without whofe afliftance Ur¬
raca could do nothing, demanded leave to retire with
his vaffals. This offended the queen to Inch a degree,
that file threw him into prifon ; which a& of violence’
excited fuch a commotion among her own fubje&s, that
the Portuguefe were foon delivered from their appre-
henfions. Queen Therefa fell immediately after into a
fimilar error, by throwing into prifon the archbilhop of
Braga, who had not efpoufed her caufe fo warmly as Ihe
had expected, ihe bifhop, however, was quickly deli¬
vered by a bull from the pope, who alfo threatened the
kingdom with an interdift ; and this was the firft re¬
markable offence which Therefa gave her fubje&s.
Soon after this, Queen Urraca died, and all differences
were amicably fettled at an interview between Therefa
and Don Alonfo Raymond, who fucceeded to the kino-.'
dom of Caftile. But, in 1126, the king of Caftile be-
mg obliged to march with the whole ftrength of his do¬
minions againft his father-in-law the king of Navarre and
Arragon, Fherefa took the opportunity of again feizing
upon Tuy ; but the king foon returning with a fuperior
army, ftie was again obliged to abandon her conqueft.
But the greateft misfortune which befel this princefs,
was a quarrel with her own fon Don Alonfo Enriquez!
It does not appear indeed that Therefa had given him
any juft caufe of offence ; but it is certain that a civil
war enfued, in which the queen’s forces were totally de¬
feated, and fire herfelf made priloner, in which fituation
flie continued during the remainder of her life. ^
Enriquez having thus attained to the free and full Don Aloa-
poffeffion of his dominions, made feveral attempts upon^°,Swars
fome places in Galicia, but without fuccefs ; fo that he wirh the
was at laft conftrained to make peace with Alonfo king ^°°rsfand
of Caftile and Leon, who had affumed the title of Em- Caftile.
peror of the Spains ; the more efpecially as his dominions
happened to be at that time invaded by the Moors 
The number of infidels was fo great, that the count of
Portugal had little hopes of fubduing them ; but a
plague breaking out in the Mcorilh army, they were
obliged to retreat; after which he reduced feveral places
belonging to that nation. But, in the mean time, the
emperor Don Alonfo, breaking into the Portuguefe
territories, deftroyed every thing with fire and fword.
The king of Portugal furprifed and cut off a confider¬
able part of his army; which, however, did not hinder
the
POR [ 221 ] FOR
Portugal, the emperor from marching direftly towards him.—
u-""v ' But, at the interceflion of the pope’s legate, all diffe¬
rences were accommodated, and a peace concluded ; all
places and prifoners taken on both fides being delivered up.
In the mean time, the progrefs of the Chriftian amis
in Spain being reported to Abu-Ali Texefien, the mi~
ramamolin or chief monarch of the Moors in Barbary,
he directed Ifmar, or Ilhmael, his lieutenant in Spain, to
affemble all the forces in the fouthern provinces, and
drive the Chriftians beyond the Douro. Ilhmael imme¬
diately began to prepare for putting thefe orders in exe¬
cution ; and having added a conliderable body of troops
brought from Barbary to thofe whom he had raifed in
Spain, the whole army was very numerous. He was
met by Don Alonfo of Portugal, in the plains of Ou-
rique, on the banks of the river layo; and Khmael
©urique. took all poffible means to prevent the Chriftians from
palling that river, becaufe his own cavalry, in which the
ftrength of his army chiefly confifted, had thus_ more
room to a61. The Portuguefe forces were very incon-
fiderable in number in comparifon of the. Moors ; but
Ilhmael, being too confident of vi6tory, divided his army
into twelve bodies, and difpofed them in fuch a manner
as might bell prevent the flight, not fuftain the attack,
of the Chriftians. The confequence was, that his army
was overthrown with incredible {laughter, and a vaft
number of prifoners taken, among whom were 1000
Chriftians, of the fed ftyled Mo%arabians, whom, at the
requeft of Theotonus, prior ot the Holy Crofs, Don
Alonfo fet at liberty with their wives and children, and
procured them fettlements in his own dominions.
8 After this fignal vidlory, gained in the year 1139,
foTffumTs" Don Alonfo was proclaimed king by his foldiers, and
the title of ever after retained that title, renouncing all kind ot iub-
king. jeflion to the crown of Spain. Being very delirous,
however, of bringing down the power of the emperor,
he entered into a league with Raymond count of Bar¬
celona and regent of the kingdom of Arragon againft
that prince. In confequence of this treaty, he entered
Galicia with a confiderable force on one fide, while Don
Raymond did the fame on the other. Neither of thefe
enterprifes, however, fucceeded. The Portuguefe mo¬
narch met with a fevere check in his expedition into
Galicia, where he received a dangerous wound, and had
fome of the nobility who attended him taken prifoners.
At ,the fame time he received intelligence that the
Moors had invaded his dominions, fo that he was obli¬
ged to retire j which, however, was not done in fuffi-
cient time to prevent the ftrong fortrefs of Leyria from
falling into their hands. This fortrefs they demoliflied,
and put all the garrifon to the fword \ but the king
caufed it to be rebuilt ftronger than before, and put a-
more numerous garrifon into it; however, he under¬
took nothing farther this campaign. The war conti¬
nued with various fuccefs till the year H45> when the
king projefled an enterprife againft Santaren, a ftrong
city about 12 miles from Lifbon. In this he luckily
fucceeded j and by that means gained a confiderable
tra6f of country, and a ftrong barrier to his dominions.
After this fuccels Don Alonfo caufed himfelf with
much ceremony to be chofen and crowned king of Por¬
tugal before an affembly of the Hates, where he alfo fo-
lemnly renounced all dependence on the crown of Spain,
declaring, that if any of his fucceffors fhould condefcend
to pay tribute or to do homage to that crown, he was
unworthy of enjoying the kingdom of Portugal. The Portugal,
next year the king undertook the recovery of Lifbon
out of the hands of the Moors 5 and concerning this Re(]u^.es
expedition there are fuch numbers of fables, that it is Lltbon and
almoft impoflible to come at the truth. What can be 12 other
gathered from thefe accounts is, that he undertook the cities,
liege with a fmall army, and was able to make but little
progrefs in it, partly from the ftrength of the place,
and partly from the numerous garrifon by which it was
defended. At length, fortunately for Don Alonfo, a
fleet of adventurers, French, Englilh, Germans, and
Flemings, that were going to the Floly Land, anchored
at the mouth of the river Tagus, whole afliftance he de¬
manded, as not altogether foreign to their defign of ma¬
king wTar on the infidels. His requeft wras readily grant¬
ed ; and, with their afliftance, Lilbon was fpeedily re¬
duced ; which conqueft fo much raifed the reputation
of this monarch, and brought fuch numbers to recruit
his army, that before the end of the year X147 he had
reduced 12 other confiderable cities. I0
For many years after this, Don Alonfo w7as fuccefs- Has his r.“-
ful in all his undertakings. He fettled the internal go- ga! dignity
vernment of his kingdom, procured a bull from Pope
Alexander III. confirming his regal dignity, undertook y 1
many fuccefsful expeditions againft the Moors, and be¬
came mailer of four of the fix provinces which compofe
the prefent kingdom of Portugal. In all his underta¬
kings he was aflifted by the counfels of his queen Ma¬
tilda, who wras a woman of great capacity, and fuffi-
cient for the government of the kingdom in her hut-
band’s abfence. By her he had a numerous offspring,
particularly three daughters; the eldeft of whom Don¬
na Mafalda or Mathilda, was married to the king of
Arragon ; the fecond, Urraca, to Don Ferdinand king
of Leon -y and the third, Therefa, to Philip earl of ^
Flanders. In 1166, however, the king thought pro-His uniuo
per, from what provocation we know not, to invade cefsful war
the dominions of his fon-in-law Dqn Ferdinand p and Don
poffeffed himfelf of Limmia and Turon, two cities of^^1™11'*
Galicia, in which he put ftrong garrifons. The next ^
year, elated with his fuccefs, he marched with a nume¬
rous army towards Badajos, which he invefted 5 on the
news of which, Don Ferdinand, who had affembled a
large army at Ciudad Rodrigo, marched to its relief.
Yet before he could come within fight of it, it had fur-
rendered to the king of Portugal; upon which Don
Ferdinand came to a refolution of befieging his anta-
gonift in his newly conquered city j which Don Alon¬
fo perceiving, endeavoured to draw out his forces into
the field. Though he was at that time upwards of 70
years of age, he was himfelf on horfeback, and pulhing
forwards at the head of his horfe to get out at the gate,
he ftruck his leg againft one of the bolts with fuch vio¬
lence that the bone was Ihattered to pieces. This ac¬
cident occafioned fuch confufion, that the Portuguefe
troops were eafily beaten, and Don Alonfo was taken
prifoner. He was exceedingly mortified by this dif-
grace, efpecially as he had no great reafon to expedl ve¬
ry kind treatment from his fon-in-law. However, the
king of Leon behaved towards him with the greateft
refpe6t and affedtion. He defired him to lay afide all
thoughts of bufinefs, and attend to his cure *, but find¬
ing him reftlefs and impatient, he allured him that he
expefled nothing more than to have things put into
the fame condition as before the war, and that they
might
Portugal
P O R [
might live in peace and frienddiip for the future
12
©on Sail¬
er ho’s fuc-
cefs againft
•the Moors.
*3
His wife
adminiftra-
tion when
king.
which the king of Portugal moll readily affented; but
returned to his dominions before his cui'e was perfect¬
ed, which was the caufe of his being lame all the reft
of his life. Howrever, this did not abate his military
ardour j for, notwithftanding this inconvenience, his
courage tranfported him into the field whenever he was
called by the intereft of his fubjeCts. Towards the end
of his reign, an opportunity feemed to prefent itfelf of
obtaining once for all an entire releafe from the difa-
greeable pretenfions of the king of Leon, who, it feems,
had infilled on the king of Portugal’s doing homage for
his kingdom. The opportunity wdiich now prelented
itfelf was a quarrel between the king of Leon and his
nephew Don Alonfo king of Caftile. The latter alked
affifiance from the king of Portugal, which wras readily
granted. But Don Ferdinand, having received intelli¬
gence that the infant Don Sancho (the king’s eldelt
fon) w7as advancing towards Ciudad Rodrigo, aflem-
bled his troops on that frontier with fuch diligence,
that he was enabled to attack him unexpectedly, and en¬
tirely defeated him. Underftanding, how’ever, that Don
Sancho was recruiting his forces with great diligence,
he let him know that they might be much better em¬
ployed againft the infidels, who remained carelefs and
unprepared, expediting the iffue of the war. Don San¬
cho made a proper ufe of this advice ; and, after ma¬
king fome motions to amufe the enemy, made a Hidden
irruption into Andalufia, penetrating as far as Triana,
»ne of the fuburbs of Seville. The Moors affembled
their forces in order to attack him on his retreat; but
Don Sancho having firft fatigued them by the celerity of
his march, at length chofe a ftrong camp, and, having
given his troops time to repofe, drew them out and
•ftered the enemy battle. The Moors accepted the
challenge, but ivere entirely defeated ; and Don San-
®ho returned into Portugal with fpoils to an immenfe
amount. For fome years after the wrar was continued
without any remarkable event1, but, in 1184, Jofeph
king of Morocco, having already tranfported multitudes
of men from Barbary, at length followed in perfon wnth
a prodigious army, and carried all before him as far as
the Tayo. He appeared before the city of Santaren;
but having wearied and reduced his army by unfuccefs-
ful affaults on that place, he w'as attacked by the Por-
tuguefe forces affifled by Ferdinand of Leon, entirely
defeated, and himfelf killed. By this viftory, the Por-
tuguefe wrere left at liberty to improve the interior part
of their country, and fortify their frontiers •, and during
this interval, the king died in the 76th year of his age,
in the year 1185.
Don Alonfo was fucceeded by his fon Don Sancho I.
Of this prince it is remarkable, that, before he afeended
the throne, he w'as of a reftlefs and warlike difpofition ;
but no fooner did he come to the pofleffion of the king¬
dom, than he became a lover of peace, and began with
great affiduity to repair the cities that had fuffered moll
by the war, and to repeople the country around them.
By his Heady attention to this, he in a very Ihort time
quite altered the appearance of his territories, and pro¬
cured to himfelf the glorious title of The reflorer of
cities^ and father of his country. In the year 1189, a
fleet, compofed for the molt part of Englifh veffels, but
having on board a great number of adventurers of other
nations bound to the Holy Land, entered the river of
7 - 4
222 ] POE
to Lifbon. They were very kindly received, and fupplied Portugal,
wdth all kinds of refrelhments by Don Sancho, who
took this opportunity of foliciting them to afiift him in a
delign he had formed of attacking the city of Silves in
Algarve •, to which they readily yielded. Having join¬
ed a fquadron of his own galleys, and marched a body
of troops by land, the place was reduced, and the
Englifh, according to agreement, rewarded with the
plunder. But, in a fiiort time, the Moors from Africa
having again invaded Portugal, the town wTas feveral
times taken and retaken, till at lalf Don Sancho, being
fenfible of the difficulties that would attend the keeping
of it, caufed it to be demolilhed. His laft enterpriie
wras the reduction of Elvas •, foon after w'hich he died
with the reputation of the bell economift that ever fat
on the throne of Portugal. With the charafter of be¬
ing rather liberal than avaricious, he had amafled a
treafure of more than 700,000 crowms in ready money,
befides 1400 merks of lilver and 100 of gold plate,
which he difpofed of fome time before his death. He
was interred by his own command with much lefs pomp
than his father, in the cathedral of Coimbra j and wffien
his body was taken up 400 years after by order of the
king Don Emanuel that it might be laid in a new tomb,
it was found uncorrupted. ^
The hiflory of Portugal affords fcarce any event of Difference?
importance till the year 1289 j wffien, in the reign of with Ca-
Don Denis, a difference commenced with Caftile, vffiich
fubfifted for a long time. Frequent reconciliations took
place ; but thefe w7ere either of very fliort duration, or
never fincere. A length, in the reign of John I. Don
Juan of Caftile, who had alfo pretenfions to the crown
of Portugal, invaded that kingdom .at the head of the
wffiole force of his dominions, and vrith the flower of
the Caftilian nobility entered the province of Alentejo.
According to the Portuguefe hiftorians, he befieged
the city of Elvas without effect; which difappoint-
ment enraged him to fuch a degree, that he determined
next year to invade Portugal a fecond time, and ruin
all the country before him. Accordingly, having col¬
lected an army of 30,000 men, he invaded Portugal,
took and ruined feveral places, while King John lay in¬
active, wdth a fmall army, waiting for fome Englifh
fuccours which he expected. At laft he ventured an ■pjie Caifi-
engagement wdth the forces which he had ; and, not-lians entire-
withitanding the great fuperiority of the enemy, ob- ty defeated,
tained a complete victory *, after which he made an ir¬
ruption into Caftile, and had the good fortune to gain
another battle, wffiich fixed him firmly on the throne of
Portugal. The Caftilians wTere obliged to confent to a
truce of three years, wdrich was foon after improved into
a lafting peace.
In 1414, King John undertook an expedition againft The city of
the Moors in Barbary, wffiere he commanded in perfon jCeutatakeo
but before he fet out, his queen (Philippa the daugh-
ter of John duke of Lancafter) died of grief at the'
thoughts of his abfence. The expedition, however,
proved fuccefsful, and the city of Ceuta w7as taken from
the Moors almoft at the firft affault } but fcarcely had
the king left that country, wffien the princes of Barbary
formed a league for the recovery of it ; and though
they were defeated by the young princes of Portugal,
whom John again fent into Barbary, yet the trouble of
keeping it w?as fo great, that fome of the king’s coun¬
cil were of opinion that the town Ihould be demolilhed.
But
P O R
t 223 1
FOR
Portugal.
17
Paffage to
the Eaft In
dies difco-
vered.
Robertfon
India*
18
Circum-
ftances
which faci
litated the
difcovery.
But John, having confidered the arguments on both
Tides, determined to keep the city and therefore en¬
larged and ftrengthened the fortifications, augmenting
Ids'forces there to 6000 foot and 2500 horfe, which he
hoped would be fufficient for keeping off the attacks of
the Moors.
Kinrr John died in 1428, and was fucceeded by his
eldeft fon Edward. He undertook an expedition againft
Tangier in Barbary : but the event proved very unfor¬
tunate ; the Portuguefe being fo (hut up by the Moors,
that they were obliged to offer Ceuta back again, in
order to obtain leave to return to Portugal. The
king’s fon, Don Ferdinand, was left as a hoftage for
the delivery of Ceuta; but was, with the utmoft cruel¬
ty and injuftice, left in the hands of the infidels, by the
king and council of Portugal, who conftantly refufed
to deliver up the place. Many preparations indeed
were made for recovering the prince by force 5 but be¬
fore any thing could be accomplilhed the king died in
1430, which put an end to all thefe defigns. See Pe-
Dro, Don.
The war with Barbary continued at intervals, but
- with little fuccefs on the part of the Portuguefe ; and
till the year 1497, there is no event of any confequence
recorded in the hillory of Portugal, ihis year wTas
remarkable for the difcovery of the paffage to the .Eaft
Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. The enterprifing
fpirit of the Portuguefe had prompted them to under¬
take voyages along the coaft of Africa for a confider-
, able time before 5 but when they undertook their firft
J voyage of dhcovery, it is probable that they had no¬
thing farther in view than to explore thofe parts of the
coaft of Africa which lay neareft to their own coun¬
try. But a fpirit of enterprife, when roufed and put
in motion, is always progreffive ; and that of the Por¬
tuguefe, though flow and timid in its firft operations,
gradually acquired vigour, and prompted them to ad¬
vance along the weftern (hove of the African continent
far beyond the utmoft boundary of ancient navigation
in that dire&ion. Encouraged by fuccefs, it became
more adventurous, defpifed dangers which formerly ap¬
palled it, and furmounted difficulties which it once
deemed infupcrable. When the Portuguefe found in
the torrid zone, which the ancients had pronounced to
be uninhabitable, fertile countries, occupied by nume¬
rous nations} and perceived that the continent of A-
frica, inftead of extending in breadth towards the wreft,
according to the opinion of Ptolemy, appeared to con-
traff itfelf, and to bend eaftwards, more extenfive pro-
fpefls opened to their view, and infpired them with
hopes of reaching India, by continuing to hold the fame
courfe which they had fo long purfued.
After feveral unfuccefsful attempts to accompliih
what they had in view, a fmall fquadron iailed from the
Tagus, under the command of ^ afco de Gama, an of¬
ficer of rank, whofe abilities and courage fitted him
to conduit the molt difficult and arduous enterprifes.
From unacquaintance, however, with the proper feafon
and route of navigation in that vaft ocean through
which he had to fleer his courfe, his voyage was long
and dangerous. At length he doubled that promon¬
tory, which, for feveral years, had been the object of
terror and of hope to his countrymen. From that,^ af¬
ter a profperous navigation along the fouth-eaft of A-
frica, he arrived at the city of Melinda, and had the
19
fatisfaition of difcovering there, as well as at other Portugal,
places where he touched, people of a race very different
from the rude inhabitants of the weftern fhore of that
continent, which alone the Portuguefe had hitherto vi-
fited. Thefe he found to be fo far advanced in civili¬
zation and acquaintance with the various arts of life,
that they carried on an active commerce, not only with
the nations on their own coaft, but with remote coun¬
tries of Afia. Conduced by their pilots, who held a
courfe with which experience had rendered them well
acquainted, he failed acrofs the Indian ocean, and land¬
ed at Calecut, on the coaft of Malabar, on the 2 2d of
May 1498, ten months and two days after his depar¬
ture from the port of Lilbon.
The famorin, or monarch of the country, aftonilhed The king
at this unexpedted vifit of an unknown people, whofe the
afpedt, and arms, and manners, bore no refemblance to f°Uin^rsyof
any of the nations accuftomed to frequent his harbours,new
and who arrived in his dominions by a route hitherto fitors.
deemed impradficable, received them at firft with that
fond admiration which is often excited by novelty ; but
in a fhort time, from -whatever motives, he formed va¬
rious fchemes to cut off Gama and his followers. The
Portuguefe admiral, however, was not to be overreach¬
ed by fuch politics as his. From every danger to which
he was expofed, either by the open attacks or fecret
machinations of the Indians, he extricated himfelf with
Angular prudence and dexterity, and at laft failed from
Calecut with his ffiips, loaded not only with the com¬
modities peculiar to that coaft, but with many rich pro¬
ductions of the eaftern parts of India. He returned to
Portugal in two years after his failing from the Tagus,
but with a great lofs of men 5 for out of 1 48 perfons
whom he took out with him, only 55 retumed. The
king received him with all poffible teftimonies of re-
fpedt and kindnefs; created him count of Videgueira \
and not only declared him admiral of the Indies, but
made that office hereditary in his family. 2Q
On the firft intelligence of Gama’s fuccefsful voyage, The Vene*
the Venetians, with the quick-fighted difcernment oftians ciread
merchants, forefaw the immediate confequence of it to tj16 ruin of
be the ruin of that lucrative branch of commerce which
had contributed fo greatly to enrich and aggrandife
their country 5 and they obferved this with more poig¬
nant concern, as they were apprehenfive that they did
not poffefs any effeffual means of preventing, or even re¬
tarding, its operation. 2I
The hopes and fears of both were well-founded. The Account af
Portuguefe entered upon the new career opened to them the fettle-
with activity and ardour, and made exertions, both com- ment tl'*e
mercial and military, far beyond what could have been .* 0^'^e e
expected from a kingdom of fuch inconfiderable extent.
All thefe were directed by an intelligent monarch, ca¬
pable of forming plans of the grealeft magnitude with
calm fyftematic wifdom, and of profecuting them with
unremitting perfeverance. The prudence and vigour of
hismeafures, however, would have availed little without
proper inftruments to carry them into execution. Hap¬
pily for Portugal, the difeerning eye of Emanuel feledt-
ed a fucceflion of officers to lake the fupreme command
in India, who, by their enterprifing valour, military
Ikill, and political fagacity, accompanied with difinte-
refted integrity, public fpirit, and love of their country,
have a title to be ranked with the perfons moft eminent
for virtue and abilities in any age or nation. Greater
thing
FOR [2
'Portugal, tilings perliaps were atcliieved by them than were ever
accompliflied in fo fliort a time. Within 24 years only
after the voyage of Gama, the Portuguefe had rendered
themfelves mailers of the city of Malacca, in which the
great llaple of trade carried on among the inhabitants
of all thole regions in Alia, which Europeans have di-
flinguilhed by the general name of the Eq// Indies, was
then eftablilhed. The conquell fecured to them great
influence over the interior commerce of India, while, at
the fame time, by their fettlements at Goa and Diu,
they were enabled to engrofs the trade of the Malabar
coaft, and to obllrufl greatly the long eltabliflied inter-
courfe of Egypt with India by the Red fea. In every
part of the call they were received with refpeft ; in
many they had acquired the abfolute command. They
carried on trade there without rival or controul; they
prefcribed to the natives the terms of their mutual in-
tercourfe ; they often fet what price they pleafed on the
goods which they purchafed; and were thus enabled to
import from Indollan and the regions beyond it, what¬
ever is ufeful, rare, or agreeable,, in greater abundance,
and of more various kinds, than had been known for¬
merly in Europe.
Not fatislied with this afcendant which they had ac¬
quired in India, the Portuguefe early formed a feheme
no lefs bold than interefted, of excluding all other na¬
tions from participating of the advantages of commerce
with the call 5 and they accomplilhed one half of what
11 their ambition had planned.
Oppofmon In confequence of this, the Venetians foon began to
the'vene ^ ^ecrea^e t^!e'r own Indian trade which they
tians. n " kac* forefeen and dreaded, In order to prevent the far¬
ther progrefs of this evil, they incited the foldan of the
Mameluks to fit out a fleet in the Red fea, and to at¬
tack thofe unexpefled invaders of a gainful monopoly,
of which he and his predecelibrs had long enjoyed un-
dillurbed poffeffion. The Portuguefe, howrever, en¬
countered his formidable fquadron with undaunted cou¬
rage, entirely defeated it, and remained mailers of the
Indian ocean.' They continued their progrefs in the call
almoll without obftru£lion, until they ellablilhed there
a commercial empire j to which, whether we confider
its extent, its opulence, the llender power by which it
was formed, or the fplendor with wfliich the government
•of it wras conduced, there had hitherto been nothing
comparable in the hiflory of nations. Emanuel, who
laid the foundation of this llupendous fabric, had the fa-
tisfaftion to fee it almoll completed. Every part of Eu-
. rope was fupplied by the Portuguefe with the produc¬
tions of the call \ and if wre except fome inconfiderable
quantity of them, which the Venetians Hill continued to
receive by the ancient channels of conveyance, our quar¬
ter of the globe had no longer any commercial inter-
courfe vdth India, and the regions of Afia beyond it, but
by the Cape of Good Hope.
In September 1522, King Emanuel died of an epi¬
demical fever, and -was fucceeded by his fon John III.
1 he moll remarkable tranfadlion of this prince’s reign
Inquifition was tlle introdu&i°n of the inquifition into his domi-
introduced rdons; This happened_ in the year 1521;, or, as fome
into I’ortu- fay, in 1535. A famine happening to ceafe in a fhort
gal. time after it was introduced, the priells perfuaded the
ignorant multitude that it was a blefling from beaVen on
account of the erefling fuch an holy tribunal. How¬
ever, it was not long before the bulk of the nation per-
4 1 FOR
ceived wrhat kind of a blefling the inquifition was : but Portugal.
their difcemment vras too late 5 for by that time the in- ' v~”“
quilitors had acquired fuch power, that it became equal¬
ly dangerous and ineffe&ual to attempt difclofing any of
their mylleries.
In the mean time Solyman the Magnificent, the moll
enlightened monarch of the Ottoman race, obferving
the power and the opulence of the Portuguele riling!
and attributing it to its proper caufe, and eager to fup-
plant them, fent orders to the bafliaw of Egypt to em¬
ploy his w'hole llrength againll the Chrillians in the
Ealt Indies. The balhaw, in obedience to thefe orders,
failed out from the Red fea with a greater naval force
than ever the Mohammedans had employed before ;
having 4000 Janizaries, and 16,000 other land troops
on board. Yet, by the courage and conduft of the Por¬
tuguefe officers and foldiers, all this mighty armament
was defeated, and their Eall India pofiefiions faved from
the danger which threatened them. In Africa likewife
the king of Fez was baffled before the town of Safi, and
frefli quarrels breaking out among the princes gave great
relief to the Chrillians, who had long been obliged to
carry on a defenlive war, and had more than once been
on the very brink of ruin. For a long time indeed their
fafety had been derived only from the quarrels of the
Moors among themfelves; for fuch was the envy and
jealoufy which reigned among the Portuguefe, that they
could never unite heartily in oppofing the common ene¬
my ; and thetefore, had their enemies united againll
them, they mull certainly have been cut off. But when¬
ever the cheriffs quarrelled with each other, one party
w^as fure to have recourfe to the Portuguefe ; who, by-
fending them a fmall fupply, fecured quiet to themfelves,
and had the pleafure of feeing their enemies dellroy one .
another. \ et in the end even this had bad confequences j Bad ftate of
for, on one hand, it kept up a martial fpirit among the affairs in
Moors, and on the other it made them acquainted with Barbary*
the Portuguefe difcipline ; fo that after every Ihort in¬
terval of repofe they not only found them as much ene¬
mies as before, but much more formidable than ever.
The confequence of all this was, that King John began
to apprehend that the conquell of Barbary -was impof-
fible, and therefore to limit his defires to the keeping of
thofe few fortreffes which he had already •, which, though
a neceffary and prudent meafure, difplealed the generali¬
ty of his fubjedls.
King John exerted himfelf much in the fettlement
of Brazil in South America, which he brought into a
very good Hate, caufed feveral llrong towns to be erect¬
ed there, and took all poffible methods to encourage the
converfion of the natives to Chrillianity. Pie alfo made
many regulations for the welfare and happinefs of his
fubjefts. Phe difputes of the nobility about precedency
were frequently attended with very difagreeable confe¬
quences, which made the king refolve once for all to
fettle them by ellabliflied rules ; and the rules ellablilh¬
ed by him on this occafion have fubfilled ever fince,
and in a .great meafure prevent thefe altercations. He
had other great defigns in his mind, particularly with
regard to the reformation, which he had pulhed very far
with refpefi to religious perfons of both fexes ; but,
on a clofe examination of his affairs, he found his fub-
je£is in general to have been fo much injured by his
leaving their concerns to the infpeclion of his council,
that he was thrown by the grief of it into a kind of
.apoplexy,
young kin
•Sebaitian.
FOR
Portugal, apoplexy, from which he never recovered
v ' happenei;l Jn JUne X557 > and he was fucceeded by his
Ion Don Sebaftian III. ah infant of three years of age.
After the death of King John, the adminiftration re¬
mained in the hands of the queen, grandmother to Se-
bailian, who behaved with great prudence and circum-
fpedlion. The Moors, however, fuppofing that under
a minority they might be able to difpoflefs the Chri-
ftians of fuch places as they held in Barbary,' laid clofe
flege to Mafagan. But the queen regent lent fuch
fpeedy fuccours, and promifed fuch rewards to thole
who diftinguifhed themfelves, that the Moors, though
they brought 80,300 men into the field, were obliged
to abandon the enterprife. This was at firft magnified
as a high inftance of the queen’s capacity and wifdom ;
but in a ihort time the natural avernon which the Por-
tuguefe had to the government of women, together
with the prejudice they had again!! her country, as be¬
ing a Caililian, appeared fo plainly, and gave her fo
much uneafinefs, that of her own accord Ihe refigned
her authority into the hands of Cardinal Dan Henry
the king’s brother. By him Don Alexis de Monefes
was appointed the king’s governor, and Gonfales de
25 Gomera with two other priefts his preceptors. By
rous educa means thofe inftruftors the king’s education was to-
tionofthe tally marred. His governor alfiduoully inculcated up¬
on him that the chief virtue of a king was courage ;
that danger was never to be avoided, but always fur-
mounted, let ,the occallon be what it would. His
other tutors, inllead of inftructing him in the true reli¬
gion, only infpired him with an abhorrence of profelfed
infidels 5 the confequence of all which was, that he be¬
came ralh, inconflderate, and obftinate 5 all which qua¬
lities confpired to draw upon him the cataftrophe which
ruined both him and the kingdom. -
Alter the king was grown up to man’s eftate, his de¬
lire was to diftinguilh himfelf againft the infidels. Pie
himfelf chofe an expedition to the Ealt Indies •, but the
prime miniller Alcogova, who did not choofe to attend
his monarch to fuch a diltance, fubftituted Africa in its
Head. This expedition the king entered into in the mod;
inconfiderate and abfurd manner. He firft fent over
Don Antonio prior of Crato, with fome hundreds of
foldiers 5 carried his principal courtiers over with him
from a hunting match, and without equipages; he then
fent for the duke of Aveyro, with fuch troops as he
could collect on the fhort warning he had got ; and
when all thefe were affembled, the king fpent his time
In hunting, and flight excurlions again!! the enemy,
without doing any thing of confequence, except expo-
fing his perfon unon all occafions. At length he re¬
turned to Portugal in fuch tempeiluous weather, that his
fubjefts had given him up for loft •, when they were
agreeably furprifed by his unexpected arrival in the river
of Lilhon, which they celebrated with the greatef! re¬
joicings.
The little fuccefs which attended the king in this ex¬
pedition ferved only to inflame him more with defire for
another ; fo that from the time he returned he feemed
to think on nothing elfe. He was highly delighted alfo
with an accident which at this time furnilhed him with
a pretence for war, though of that he hood in no great
need. Muley Hamet, king of Fez and Morocco, had
been difpoffeffed of his dominions by his uncle Muley
Moloch. At the beginning of this war Don Sebaftian
Vol. XVII. Part I.
26
He under¬
takes an ex
pedition
againft
Africa.
[ 225 ] P O R
His death had offered him his troops in Africa, which offer was Portugal.
rejected with contempt : but now being a fugitive, and *
having in vain applied for affiilance to Philip of Spain,
Muley Hamet applied to the king of Portugal; and,
that he might the more eafily fucceed, caufed the for-
trefs of Arzila, which his father had recovered, to be
reftored to the Portuguefe. The king was in rapture
at this event, and fancied that his glory would exceed
that of all his predeceffors. He was advifed again!!
this expedition, however, by all his friends. King Phi¬
lip of Spain having done every thing to diffuade him
from it in a perfonal conference, fent Francifco Aldana,
an old and experienced officer, to Morocco j and at his
return ordered him to attend Don Sebaftian, in order to
give him an account of the Hate of affairs in that coun¬
try. This he performed with the greateft fidelity, but
without any elfedf. The queen-dowager and cardinal
united in their endeavours to divert him frem this unfor¬
tunate enterprife ; but he treated thern both with fo little
refpeft, that his grandmother broke her heart; and the
cardinal, to ftiovv his dlllalle to the meafure, retired to
Evora without coming either to court or council; which
example was followed by many of the nobles. Many
of thefe, however, fent very free remonllranees to the
king on the impropriety of his condmft ; and King Phi¬
lip fent to him the duke de Medina Ceii, once more to
lay before him the reafons why he thought his fcheme
impracticable, and to put him in mind that he had no
hand in pulhing him upon his deftrufliou, or of con¬
cealing from him the dangers into which he leemed de¬
termined to plunge himielf and his fubjects. Laltly,
he received a letter on the fubject from Muley Moloch
himfelf, wherein that prince explained to him his own
right to the crown of Fez, and lliowed that he had
only difpoffeffed a tyrant and a murderer, who had
therefore no right to his friendlhip or affiltance. He
next affured him that he had no reafon to fear either the
power or neighbourhood of the Portuguefe •, as a proof
of which, and as a mark of his efteem, he was content
to make him a prelent of ten miles of arable ground
round each of the fortreffes he poffeffed in Africa, and
which indeed were no more than four, viz. Tangier,
Ceuta, Mafagan, and Arzila. At the fame time he
addreffed himfelf to King Philip of Spain, with whom
he was on good terms, defiring him to interpofe with his
nephew Sebaftian, that things might be yet adjufted
without the effufion of human blood. But the king of
Portugal was deaf to all falutary advice and therefore Account oF
paid no regard to this letter, nor to the remonftrances of his forces,
his uncle. On the 24th of June 1577, therefore, he
fet fail from the bar of Lilhon with a fleet of 50 Ihips
and five galleys, 12 pieces of cannon, and tranfports and
tenders, making near xooo fail. His troops conlilled of
9000 Portuguefe foot 5 3000 Germans 5 700 Italians
commanded by Sir Thomas Stukeley, an Englilh exile,
but remarkably brave; 2000 Cafiilians and 300 volun¬
teers, commanded by Don Chriftopher de Tuvara maf-
ter of the horfe, a man of courage, but without either
condud! or experience. He touched firft at Lagos bay
in the kingdom of Algarve, where he remained for
four days : thence he proceeded to Cadiz ; where he
was magnificently feafted for a week by the duke de
Medina Sidonia, who took the opportunity once more,
by order of Philip, of diffuading him from proceeding
further in perfon. But this exhortation proved as fruit-
F f lefs
P O R [ 226 ] P O R
Prtu-nl.
28
Movements
and difpofi-
tions of the
armies.
Icfs as tli£ reft j and the king having failed with a ftrong
detachment for Tangier, ordered Don Diego de Souza,
his commander in chief, to follow with the remaining
’part of the army.
The troops landed on the coaft of Africa without
any bad accident, and joined at Arzila. Here the
king was met by the cheriff Muley Hamet, on whole
account he had undertaken the war, who delivered him
his fon Muley, a boy of 12 years of age, as a hoftage,
and brought a reinforcement of 300 Moors. The boy
was fent to Mafagan under a ftrong guard } but the fa¬
ther remained in the Pprtuguefe camp. Here it was
refolved in a council of war to reduce the town of La-
rache, but it was difputed whether the troops flrould
proceed thither by land or fea. Don Sebaftian, who
efpoufed the former opinion, finding himfelf oppofed by
Muley Hamet, gave him fuch a rude anfwer, that he
left his pretence in difcontent; after which the king’s
opinion prevailed, and the army began its march on the
29th of July. As they proceeded, the king received a
letter from the duke of Alba, requefting him to attempt
nothing beyond the taking of the town of Larache.
Along with the latter was fent an helmet which had
been worn by Charles V.
On the other hand Muley Moloch, having intelli¬
gence of this formidable invafion, took the field, though
at that time fo ill of a fever that he could not fit' on
horfeback, with 40,000 foot and 60,000 horfe. He con¬
duced every thing, notwithftanding his diftrefled fitua-
tion, with the greateft prudence. Finding iome rea-
fon to fufpecl that part of his army were defirous of go¬
ing over to his rival, he proclaimed that fuch as inclined
to join their old mafter were at liberty to do it. This at
once put a flop to the defeflion, and only a very few
made ufe of the liberty which was granted them. Stand¬
ing in doubt likewife of the fidelity of a body of 300Q
horfe, he fent them to reconnoitre the enemy, by which
a& of confidence he fecured them. Still, however, he
feared that his officers might be corrupted by the Por-
tuguefe gold ; for which reafon he changed the dilpo-
fition of his army entirely, fo that none of his officers
commanded the corps to which they had been accuftom-
ed 5 and therefore, having new men to deal with, had
none whom they could truft.
Having taken thefe precautions, he advanced againft
the Portuguefe army with fuch celerity, that he came
in fight of them on the 3d of Auguft. On this Don
Sebaftian called a council of warin which many who
out of complaifance had given their opinions for this
march, were now for returning. They were feparated
from the enemy by a river, and the Moors were mailers
of the ford, fo that it was impoflible to force them im¬
mediately in their polls 5 neither was it practicable for
them to wait for a more favourable opportunity, becaufe
they had no provifions. The foreign officers, on the
contrary, w?ere of opinion that fighting was now be¬
come neceffary, and a retreat dangerous. This, however,
wras violently oppofed by the cheriff, who faw plainly
that they ran a great rilk of being defeated and of lo-
fing all, while at the fame time they were not certain
of gaining any thing of confequence though they Ihould
fie victorious; whereas, if they drew down towards the
fea, they might entrench themfelves till they were re¬
lieved by their fleet ; during which interval if Muley
Mdoch fhould die, he looked upon it as certain that a
great part of the army would defert to him, which would Portugal,
render him mafter not only of the kingdom, but of the ■■Ljl
fate of the Chriftians alfo. When he found that the
king was bent on fighting, he only requefted that the
engagement might be delayed till four o’clock in the
afternoon, that, in cafe of a defeat, they might have
fome chance of efcaping ; but even in this he could not
prevail; for the king having difpofed of every thing for
a battle the next day, was impatient to begin the onfet
as foon as it was light.
In the mean time Muley Moloch was fo fenfible of
the advantages of his lituation, that he was inclined
to take the whole Portuguefe army prifoners j but find¬
ing his difeafe increale, io that he had no hopes of re¬
covery, he came to the refolution to fight, that his anta-
gonift might not avail himfelf of his death. The dif-
pofidon ot the Chi-iftian army was very regular and cor-
reCt, through the care of fome old officers in Don Se-
baftian’s iervice: the infantry were difpofed in three
lines ; the battalion of volunteers made tbe vanguard 5
the Germans commanded by Colonel Amberg, and the
Italians by Sir Thomas Stukeley, were on the right j
the Caftilian battalions on the left 5 the Portugueie in
the centre and rear j the cavalry, confifling of about
1500 men, partly on the light under the command of
the duke d’Avegro, to whom the cheriff joined him¬
felf with his horfe ; on the left was the royal ftandard,
with the reft, of the cavalry, under the command of the
duke of Barcelos, eldeft fon to the duke of Braganza,
Don Antonio prior of Crato, and feveral other perfons
of great rank. The king took poft at firft with the vo¬
lunteers. Muley Moloch difpofed alfo his troops in
three lines: the firft confilled of the Andalufian Moors,
commanded by three officers who had diftinguifhed
themfelves in the wars of Granada j the fecond of re-
negadoes •, and the third of the natives of Africa.
They moved in a half moon, with 10,000 horfe on
each wing, and the reft in the rear, with orders to ex¬
tend themfelves in fuch a manner as to encompafs the
Chriftian army. Muley Moloch, though extremely weak,
was taken out of his litter, and fet on horfeback, that he
might fee how his commanders had been obeyed ; and
being perfectly fatisfied with the fituation of his troops, 2f)
he diredled the fignal of battle to be given. The Chri-The Portu-
flians advanced with the greateft refolution •, broke the guefe army
firft line of the Moorifh infantry, and difordered the fe- ent*rely Se¬
cond. On this Muley Moloch drew his fword, and*eatec‘
w'ould have advanced to encourage his troops, but that
his guards prevented him j on which his emotion of mind
was fo great, that he fell from his horfe. One of his
guards caught him in his arms, and conveyed him to his
litter j where he immediately expired, having only time
to lay his finger on his lips by way of enjoining them to
conceal his death. But by this time the Moorifh caval¬
ry had wheeled quite round, and attacked the Chriflian
army in the rear ; upon which the cavalry in the left
wing made fuch a vigorous effort that they broke the
Portuguefe on the right; and at this time the cheriff,
in palling a rivulet, wTas drowned. In this emergency,
the Germans, Italians, and Caftilians, did wonders j but
the Portuguefe, according to their own hiftorians, beha¬
ved indifferently. Attacked on all fides, however,
they wrere unable to refill; and the whole army, except
about 50 men, were killed or taken prifoners. The
fate of the king is varioufly related. According to
feme,
P O R [227
Portugal, fome, lie had two horfes killed under him, and then the
—v  mounted a third. His braveft officers were killed in
his defence j after which the Moors furrounding him,
feized his perfon, dripped him of his fword and arms,
and fecured him. They immediately began to quarrel
about whofe prifoner he was ^ upon which one of the
generals rode in among them, crying, “What, you
dogs, when God has given you fo glorious a victory,
would you cut one another’s throats about a prifoner ?”
at the fame time difcharging a blow at Sebaftian, he
brought him to the ground, when the reft- of the Moors
foon difpatched him. Others affirm, that one Lewis
de Brito meeting the king with his ftandard wrapped
round him, Sebaftian cried out, “ Hold it fail, let us
die upon it 1” upon which charging the Moors, he was
feized, reicued by Brito, who was himfelf taken with
the ftandard, and carried to Fez. He affirmed, that
after he was taken, he faw the king at a diftance, and
unpurfued. Don Lewis de Lima met him afterwards
making towards the river j and this is the laft account
we have of his being feen alive.
Muley Hamet, the brother of Muley Moloch, was
proclaimed king by the Moors immediately after the
battle. Next day, having ordered all the prifoners to
be brought before him, the new fovereign gave orders
to fearch for tire body of Don Sebaftian. ihe king’s
valet-de-chambre brought back a body, which he faid
was that of his mafter, but fo disfigured with wounds,
that it could not well be known •, fo that notwith-
Handing the moft diligent fearch, this monarch’s death
could never be properly authenticated. Ihis body,
however, was prclerved by Muley Hamet, who deliver¬
ed it up as the body of Don Sebaftian to King Philip
of Spain. By him it was fent to Ceuta, from whence
it was tranfported to Portugal, and buried among his
anceftors in the monaftery at Belem, with all poffible
folemnity.
By this terrible difafter, the kingdom of Portugal,
from being the moft eminent, funk at once into the
loweft rank of the European ftates. All the young
nobility were cut off, or carried into fiavery: the king¬
dom was exhaufted of men, money, and reputation ; fo
that Don Henry, who affumed the government after
the death of his brother Don Sebaftian, found himfelf
in a very difagreeable fituation. The tranfaclions of his
reign were quite trifling and unimportant ; but after
his death a great revolution took place. The crown of
Portugal was claimed by three different competitors;
viz. the prince of Parma, the duchefs of Braganza,
and Philip of Spain. Whatever might have been the
merits of their refpeclive claims, the power of Philip
quickly decided the conteft in his favour. He found
his fchemes facilitated by the treachery of the regents,
who took the moft fcandalous methods of putting the
kingdom into his hands. Under pretence ot impeding
the magazines, they took out fome of the ponder, and
mixed the reft with fand: they appointed an agent
to go to France for fuccours, from whence _ they knew
that they could not arrive in time *, they diffolved the
ftates as foon as they difcovered that they were bent on
maintaining the freedom of the nation ; and, under a
{how of confidence, fent off to diftant places fuch of the
nobility as they fufpefled.
King Philip, finding every thing in his favour,
commanded the duke of Alva tp invade Portugal, at
1
head
FOR
3-5
Portugal
conquered
by Philip
of Spain.
of 20,000 men. The people, perceiving Portugal.
that they were betrayed, exclaimed againft the gover- *
nors, and placed on the throne Don Antonio prior oi
Crato. But his forces being inexperienced, and he
himfelf behaving in a very improper manner, he was
quickly defeated by the duke of Alva, and forced to
fly out of the kingdom, which he effected with great
difficulty. On his flight the whole kingdom fubmit-
ted, together with the garriibns in Barbary, the fettle-
ments on the weftern coaft of Africa, of Brazil, and
in the Eaft Indies. All the Madeiras, however, ex¬
cept the iffe of St Michael, held out for Don An¬
tonio until they were reduced, and the French navy,
who came to their afliftance, entirely defeated and de-
ftroyed. ... 31
Philip made his entry into Lilbon as foon as the pelms
kingdom was totally reduced, and endeavoured to con-granted by
ciliate the affe&ions of the people by confirming theliimtohis
terms which he had before offered to the ftates. Thefe !. e^lub'
terms were, that he tvould take a folemn oath to main-'
tain the privileges and liberties of the people : that the
ftates ffiould be affembled within the realm, and nothing
propofed in any other ftates that related to Portugal ;
that the viceroy or chief governor ftiould be a native,
unlefs the king fliould give that charge to one of the
royal family : that the houfehold ftiould be kept on the
fame footing : that the poll of firft prefident, and of
all offices, civil, military, and judicial, ftiould be filled
with Portuguefe •, all dignities in the church and in the
orders of knighthood confined to the lame 5 the com¬
merce of Ethiopia, Africa, and the Indies, referved al-
fo to them, and to be carried on only by their mer¬
chants and veffels : that he would remit all impofts on
ecclefiaftical revenues: that he would make no grant
of any city, town, or jurifdi&ion royal, to any but
Portuguefe : that eftates refulting from forfeitures fhould
not be united to the domain, but go to the relations of
the laft poffeffor, or be given to other Portuguefe for
recompenfe of fervices : that when the king came to
Portugal, where he ftiould refide as much as poffible,
he fliould not take the houfes of private perfons for his
officers lodging, but keep to the cuftom of Portugal ;
that wherever his majefty refided, he ftiould have an ec-
cleftaftic, a treafurer, a chancellor, two mailers of re-
quefts, with under officers, all of them Portuguefe, who
ffiould difpatch every thing relating to the kingdom :
that Portugal ftiould ever continue a diftinft kingdom,
and its revenue be con fumed within itfeif: that all mat¬
ters of juftice Ihould be decided within the realm: that
the Portuguefe ffiould be admitted to charges in the
houfeholds of the king and queen of Spain : that all du¬
ties on the frontiers ftiould be taken away : and, laftly,
that Philip fliould give 300,000 ducats to redeem prifo¬
ners, repair cities, and relieve the miferies which the
plague and other calamities had brought upon the peo¬
ple. All thefe conditions, formerly offered and rejeiT-
ed by the Portuguefe, the king now confirmed : but
whereas the duke of Offuna, by way of fecurity for
thefe conditions, had promifed them a law, that if the
king did not adhere to them, the ftates ftiould be freed
from their obedience, and might defend their right
by the fword, without incurving the reproach of per¬
jury, or the guilt of treafon 5 this he abfolutely refufed
to ratify.
All thefe conceffions, however, did not anfwer the
F f 2 purpofe ;
p O R [ 228 ] FOR
. ' • ' •p’upoie. j nay, though i'iuijp was to the kit degree la-
" * vidi of honours and employments, the Portugueie were
j.. ^ huil diffatisfied. This had alio an efteft which was not
conciliate hirefeen : it weakened the power, and abforbed the re-
thtiraffec- venues» fh’ the crown; and, by putting it out of the
tions. power of any oi his iucceffors to be liberal in the lame
proportion, it railed only a ikort-lived gratitude in a few,
and left a number ol malcontents, to which time was
continually adding.
j bus Philip, with all his policy, and endeavours to
p’cafe, found his new fubjech ftill more and more dif-
gnlled with his government, efpecially when they found
33 their king treating with the utraoic feverity all thole
I" diitnrb- ^vho had iupported Don Antonio. J he exiled prince,
ed by Don however, ftill llyled him(elf H?ig of Portugal. At firft
.‘v ..or.io retired to France, and there demanded fuccours for
the recovery of his dominions. Here he found fo much
countenance, that with a fleet of near 60 fail, and a
good body ot troops on board, he made an attempt
upon, the Terceras, wire re his fleet was beat by the
Spaniards; and a great number of prifoners being ta¬
ken, all the officers and gentlemen were beheaded, and
a great number of meaner people hanged. Don An¬
tonio, notwithftanding, kept poffellion of fome places,
coined money, and performed many other a&s of regal
power; but was at length conftrained to retire, and it
was with fome difficulty that he did fo, and returned
into France, hie palled from thence into England,
where he was well received ; and many fitted out priva¬
teers to cruife againft the Spaniards under his commif-
fion. But after King Philip had ruined the naval power
o: Portugal as well as Spain, by equipping the armada,
Queen Elifabeth made no difficulty of owning and af-
fiiting Don Antonio, and even of fending Sir John Nor¬
ris and Sir Francis Drake with a ftrong fleet and a
great army to reftore him. Upon this occafion Don
Antonio lent his Ion Don Chriftopher a hoftage to Ivlu-
ley Hamet king of Fez and Morocco, who was to lend
him 0,000 ducats. But King Philip prevented this
by furrendering Arzila: and this difappointment, the
unfeafonable enterprife upon Corunna, and the difputes
that arofe between Norris and Drake, rendered that ex¬
pedition abortive; fo that, except carrying the plague
into England, it was attended with no confequences
worthy of notice. He remained fome time after in
England: but finding himfelf little regarded, he with¬
drew once more into France, where he fell into great
poverty and dffirefs ;• and at length dying in the 64th
year of his age, his body was buried’in the church of
the nuns of A_ve Maria, with an infcription on his
tomb, in which ne is llyled knig. He left feveral
children behind him, who, on account of his being a
knight of Malta, and having made a vow of virffinity
at his entrance into the order, were looked upon as il¬
legitimate. He preferved, even to the day of his
death, a great intereft in Portugal; and had drawn
hom thence, in the courfe of his life, iramenfe Turns of
money ; ■winch had been Iquandered in many fruitlefs
negociations and attempts to difturb the poffeffions of
King Pnilip in almoll all parts of his dominions, and par¬
ticularly in the Indies, where the Portuguefe were ra¬
ther more averfe to the Caftilian yoke, ©r at leaft tefti-
fied their averfion more openly than in Europe.
But Don Antonio was not the only pretender to the
crown or Portugal ; for the people, partly through the Portugal.'
love of their prince, and partly from their hatred to the v——'
Caftilians, were continually feeding themfelves with the 34
nopes that Don Sebaftian would appear and deliver^[nP0^ors
them; and in this refpea fuch a fpirit of credulity
reigned, that it was laid proverbially, they would havesebaftkn.
taken a negro ior Don Sebaidian. J'his humour put
L.e fon of a tner at Adcobaza, who had led a profli¬
gate hie, and at length turned hermit, to give himfelf
out for that prince ; and having with him two compa¬
nions, one of them ftyied himfelf Don Chrifopher de
1'avoi a, and the other the bijhop of Guarda^ they began
to collecf money, and were in a fair way of creating
much difturbance, if the cardinal arch-duke had not
caufed them to be apprehended; and after leading them
ignominioufly through the ftreets of Lifhon, he who
took the name of Sebafian was fent to the galleys for
Ike, and the pretended bifliop was hanged. Not long
after, Gonfalo Alvarez, the Ion of a mafon, gave him¬
felf out for the fame king ; and having promifed mar¬
riage to the daughter of Pedro Alonfo, a rich yeoman
whom he created earl of Torres Novas, he afiembled a
body of about 800 men, and fome blood was fpilt be¬
fore he was apprehended: at length, being clearly
proved to be an impoftor, himfelf and his intended fa¬
ther-in-law were publicly hanged and quartered at Lif-
bon which, inftead of extinguilhing this humour, far¬
ther increafed it.
There w as, however, a perfon who appeared, about Account of
20 years after the fatal deteat of Sebaftian, at Venice,a remaik-
who created much more trouble. He affumed the nameabIc or-e*
of Don Sebafian, and gave a very diftinct account of
the manner in which he had psiled his time from that
defeat. He affirmed, that he h. d preferved his life and
liberty by hiding himfelf amongft the (lain : that, after
wandering in difguife for fome time in Africa, he re¬
turned with two of his friends into the kingdom of Al¬
garve : that he gave notice of this to the king Don
Henry : that finding his life fought, and being unwill¬
ing to difturb the peace of the kingdom, he returned
again among the Moors, and paffed freely from one
place to another in Barbary, in the habit of a peni¬
tent : that after this lie became a hermit in Sicily ; but
at length rcfolved to go to Rome, and difeover himfelf
to the pope. On the road he was robbed by his do-
meftics, and came almoft naked to Venice, where he
was known, and acknowledged by feme Portuguefe.
Complaint being made to the fenate, he was obliged to
retire to Padua. But the governor of that city order¬
ing him alfo depart, he, not knowing what to do,
returned again to Venice; where, at the requeft of the
Spanifti ambaffador, who charged him not only with
being an impoftor, but alfo with many black and atro¬
cious crimes, he was feized, and thrown into prifon. He
underwent 28 examinations before a committee of noble
and impartial perfons ; in which he not only acquifted
himfeli clearly of all the crimes that had been laid to his
charge, but entered alfo into fo minute a detail of the
tranfaflions that had paffed between himfelf and the re¬
public, that the commiffioners were perfeffly aftoniftied,
and ftiowed no difpofition to declare him an impoftor;
moved more efpecially by the firmnefs of his behaviour,
his lingular modefty, the fobriety of his life, his exem¬
plary piety, and his admirable patience under his afflic¬
tions.
FOR [ 220 ] FOR
Portugal, tions. The noife of this was diffufed throughout Europe,
s"-’~v  and the enemies of Spain endeavoured everywhere to
give it credit.
The date, however, refufed to difcufs the great point,
whether he was or was not animpoftor, unlefs they were
, requeued fo to do by fome prince or date in alliance
with them. Upon this the prince of Orange fent Don
Chridopher, the fon of the late Don Antonio, to make
that demand; and at his requed an examination was
made with great folemnity : but no decision followed ;
only the fenate let him at liberty, and ordered him to de¬
part from their dominions in three days. He went there¬
fore, by the advice of his friends, to Padua, but in the
difguife of a monk, and from thence to Florence : where
he was arrelled by the command of the grand duke,
who delivered him to the viceroy of Naples. The count
de L emos, then in poffedion of that dignity, died foon
after, before whom he was fird brought ; this man af-
ferted, he mud know him to be Don Sebadian, fince
he had been twice fent to him from the king of Spam.
He remained prifoner feveral years in the cadle DelOvo,
where he endured incredible harddiips. At length he
was brought out, led with infamy through the dreets
of the city, and declared to be an impcdor,who affumed
the name of Sebqflian: at which words, when proclaim¬
ed before him, he faid gravely, And fo I am. In the
lame proclamation ig was affirmed, that he was in truth
a Calabrian; which as foon as he heard, he laid, It is
fafe. Fie was next, dripped on board a galley as a Have ;
then carried to St Lucar, w :4ere he w’as fome time con¬
fined; from thence he was transferred to a cadle in the
heart of Caftile, and never heard of more. Some per-
Ions were executed at Lidion for their endeavours to
raife an infurre&ion on his behalf: but it was thought
drange policy, or rather a drange want of policy," in
the Spaniards, to make this affair fo public without
proofs; and the attempt to dlence this objaflion, by af¬
firming him to be a magician, was juftly looked upon as
^6 ridiculous.
Badcor.fe- The adminidration of affairs in Portugal, during the
quences of reign of Philip, was certainly detrimental to the nation ;
sdii'in'Era* Enci >’et 11 does not appear that this flowed fo much
lion. ' from any ill intention in that monarch, as from errors
in judgment. His prodigious preparations for the in-
vadon of England impoveriflied all his European domi¬
nions ; but it abfolutely exhaufted Portugal. The pre-
ten fions of Don Antonio, and the hopes of defpoiling
their Indian fleets, expofed the Portuguefe to the re-
fentment of the Englidi; from which the king, having
granted away all his domains, wanted power to defend
them. Their clamours were not at all the lefs loud for
their being in fome meafure without caufe. The king,
to pacify them, borrowed money from the nobility upon
the cudoms, which were the only fare remedy he had
dill left; and this wras attended with fatal confequences.
The branches, thus mortgaged, became, and continue
to ibis hour, fixed and hereditary ; fo that the merchant
was oppreffed, and the king received nothing. This
expedient failing, a tax of three per cent, was impofed,
in the nature of drip-money, for the defence of the
coads and the commerce, which for fome years was pro¬
perly applied ; but it then became a part of the ordinary
revenue, and went into the king’s exchequer without
account. This made way for diverting other appropri¬
ated branches 3 as for inltance, that for the repair of for¬
tifications, the money being dritlly levied, and the Portugal,
works buffered to decay and tumble down 3 and for the
maintenance of the conqueds in Africa, by which the
garrifons mouldered away, and the places were lod.
Upon the whole, in the fpace of 18 years, the nation
was vifibly impoverilhed : and yet the government of
Philip was incomparably belter than that of his fuccef-
fors 3 fo that his death was juftly regretted 3 and the
Portuguefe were taught by experience to confefs, that
of bad mafters he was the bed;.
His fon Philip, the fecond of Portugal and the third
of Spain, fat 20 years upon the throne before he made
a vifit to Portugal, where the people put themfelves to
a mod enormous expence to receive him 3 for which
they received little more than the compliment, that be¬
fore his entry into Lidxm, he knew not how great a
king he was. He held an affembly of the dates, in
which his ion was fworn fucceffor. Having doue all
that he wanted for himfelf, he acquired a falfe idea of
the riches of the nation from an immoderate and foolidi
difplay of them during his fhort day at Lilbon 3 and
having diown himfelf little, and done lefs, he returned
into Spain 3 where he added the part of a good king
upon his death-bed, in deploring bitterly that he never
thought of adding it before. The reign of Philip III.
and I V. was a feries of worfe meafures, and worfe for- 37
tune : all his dominions fuffiered greatly 3 Portugal mod anff
of all. The lofs of Ormus in the Ead, of Brazil in the America.
Wed Indies, together with the diipwreck of a deet
fent to efcort that from Goa, brought the nation incre¬
dibly low, and encouraged the conde duke to hope they
might be entirely crudred. Thefe are- the heads only
of the tranfadrikms for 40 years 3 to enter in any degree
into tne particulars, is, in other words, to point out the
breaches made by the Spanilh miniders on the condi¬
tions granted by King Philip 3 which, with refperif to
them, was the original contract, and unalterable condi-
tution of Portugal while fubjedF to the monarchsof Caf¬
tile 3 and which, notwithftanding, they fo often and fo
flagrantly violated, that one would have imagined they
had dudied to provoke the wrath of heaven, and infult the
patience of men, indead of availing themfelves, as they
might have done, of the riches, power, and martial fpi-
rit of the Portuguefe people.
It was the very bafis and foundation of their privi- TliePor-
leges, that the kingdom fhould remain feparate and in-tuguefe op*
dependent, and ccnfequently that Lifbon fhould conti- Preff, cl bX
Hue as much its capital as ever, the feveral fupreme coun-*^^**
cils and courts refiding there 3 fo that the natives of this^
realm might not be obliged to t/avel in fearch of juftice.
So little, or at lead fo fhort a time, was this obferved,
that neither promotion nor judice was to be obtained
without journeys, and Madrid was not more the capital
of Cadile than of Portugal. The general affembly of
eftates was to be held frequently, and they were held
thrice in the fpace of 6d years 3 and of thefe twice
within the fird three. The king was to refide in this
realm, as often and as long as poflible 3 in compliance
with which, Philip I. was there but once, Philip II..
but four months, and Philip III. was never there at all.
I he houfehold edablifhment was fuppreffed through all
their reigns. The viceroy was to be a native of Portu¬
gal, or a prince or princefs of the blood ; yet when any
of the royal family bore the title, the power ivas in rea¬
lity in the hands of a Spaniatd. Thus, when the prin¬
cefs.
Portugal.
39
A revolu¬
tion in fa¬
vour of the
duke of
Braganza.
40
Perilous
ftate of
Portugal
on his
death.
p o r r 230 ]
Cfcfs of Mantua was vice-queen, the marquis cle la Puebla fands
1 was to aflift in council, and in all difpatches j and the
was to do nothing without his advice. The council of
Portugal, which was to be compofed entirely of natives,
was filled with Caftilians, as the garrifons alfo were,
though the contrary had been promifed. The prefi-
dents of provincesr-er~corregidors, were to be natives j
but by keeping thofe offices in his own hands, the king
eluded this article. No city, town, or diftrift, was to
be given but to Portuguefe ; yet the duke of Lerma had
Befa, Serpa, and other parts of the demefnes of the
crown, which were formerly appendages of the princes
of the blood. None but natives were capable of offices
of juflice, in the revenue, in the fleet, or of any port ci¬
vil or military ; yet thefe were given promifcuoufly to
foreigners, or fold bo the higheft bidder j not excepting
the governments of cattles, cities, and provinces. The
natives were fo far from having an equal chance in fuch
cafes, that no polls in the prelldials were ever given to
them, and fcarce any in garrifons} and whenever it
happened, in the cafe of a perfon of extraordinary me¬
rit, whofe pretenfions could not be rejected, he was ei¬
ther removed, or not allowed to exercife his charge ;
as fell out to the marquis of Marialva and others. The
forms of proceeding, the jurifdiclion, the minifters, the
lecretaries, were all changed, in the council of Portu¬
gal j being reduced from five to three, then two, and at
laft to a Angle perfon.
By reafon of thefe and many other grievances too te¬
dious to be mentioned here, the deteftation of the Spa-
niih government became univerfalj and in 1640 a revo¬
lution took place, in which John duke of Braganza was
declared king, by the title of John IV. This revolu¬
tion, as being determined by the almoft unanimous voice
of the nation, was attended with very little effufion of
blood } neither were all the efforts of the king of Spain
able to regain his authority. Several attempts indeed
were made for this purpofe. The firft battle wes fought
in the year 1644, between a Portuguefe army of 6coo
foot and 1100 horfe, and a Spanifli army of nearly the
fame number. The latter were entirely defeated ; which
contributed greatly to ettablilh the affairs of Portugal
on a firm bafis. The king carried on a defenfive war
during the remainder of his life; and after his death,
which happened in 1655, the wrar was renewed with
great vigour.
This wras what the Spaniards did not expeft *, for
they expreffed a very indecent kind of joy at his death,
hoping that it would be followed by a diffolution of the
government. It is not indeed eafy to conceive a king¬
dom left in more perilous circumftances than Portugal
was at this time:—The king Don Alonzo Enriquez, a
child not more than 13 years of age, reputed of no
very found conttitution either in body or mind ; the re¬
gency in a woman, and that woman a Caftilian •, the
nation involved in a wTar, and this refpefling the title
to the crown $ the nobility, fome of them, fecretly dii-
affedled to the reigning family, and almoft all of them
embarked in feuds and contentions with each other •, fo
that the queen fcarce knew who to truft or how the
fhould be obeyed. She adled, howrever, with great vi¬
gour and prudence. By marrying her oiily daughter
the princefs Catharine to Charles II. king of Great
Britain, Ihe procured to Portugal the protection of
the Englilh fleets, with reinforcements of fome thou-
horfe
P
and foot;
O R
and at laft, in
166 c, ter- Portugal.
minated the wTar by the glorious victory of Montef-^
claros. This decifive aflion broke the power of the
Spaniards, and fixed the fate of the kingdom, though
not of the king of Portugal. Alonzo was a prince
whofe education had been neglected in his youth, who
was devoted to vulgar amufements and mean company,
and whom the queen for thefe reafons wifhed to deprive
of the crown, that (he might place it on the head of his
younger brother Don Pedro. To accompli fh this pur¬
pofe, ftie attempted every method of ftern authority and
fecret artifice ; but (he attempted them all in vain. The
Portuguefe would not conlent to fet afide the rights of
primogeniture, and involve the kingdom in all the mi-
ferics attending a difputed fucceffion. After the death,
however, of the queen-mother, the infant entered into
cabals againft the king of a much more dangerous na¬
ture than any that flie had carried on. Alonzo had ^
married the princefs of Nemours j but being, as was^onAlon-
faid, impotent, and likewife lefs handlome than his bro- zo obilged
ther, that lady transferred her affeftion to Don Pedro, [peU,.j.5”
to whom fiie lent her aflifiance to hurl the king from
the throne. Alonzo was compelled to fign a refigna-
tion of the kingdom ; and his brother, after governing
a few months without any legal authority, was in a
meeting of the ftates unanimoufly proclaimed regent,
and vetted with all the powers of royalty. Soon after
this revolution, for fuch it may be called, tbe marriage
of the king and queen was declared null by the chapter
of Lifbon; and the regent, by a papal difpenfation, and
with the confent of the ftates, immediately efpoufed the
lady who had been wife to his brother. He governed,
under the appellation of regent, 15 years, when, upon the
death of the king, he mounted the throne by the title of
Don Pedro II. and after a long reign, during which he
conducted the affairs of the kingdom with great pru¬
dence and vigour, he died on the 9th of December
1706. _ 42
Don John V. fucceeded his father; and though he Don John,
was then little more than 17 years of age, he a died v- a vvUe
with fuch wifdom and refolution, adhered fo fteadily to e
the grand alliance formed^ againft France ar d Spain, ^
and thowed fuch refources in his own mind, that though
he fuffered great Ioffes during the war, he obtained fuch
terms of peace at Utrecht, that Portugal was in all re-
fpedts a gainer by the treaty. The two crowns of
Spain and Portugal were not, however, reconciled tho¬
roughly till the year 1737 ; and from this period they
became every day more united, which gave much fatis-
fadtion to fome courts, and no umbrage to any. In
tbis fituation of things, a treaty was made in 1750
with the court of Madrid, by which Nova Colonia, on
the river of Plata, was yielded to his Catholic majefty,
to the great regret of the Portuguefe, as well on ac¬
count of tbe value of that fettlement, as becaufe they
apprehended their poffeflion of the Brafils would by tbis
adtion be rendered precarious. On the laft of July tbe
fame year, this monarch, worn out by infirmities,
died in the 61ft year of his age, and in the 44th of his
reign. 43
Don Jofeph, prince of Brafil, fucceeded him, to the Don Jo-
univerfal fatisfadtion of his fubjedts, and with as greatieph’s ex
expedtations as ever any monarch that mounted the'
throie. It was generally believed that he would maket;oni
confiderable alterations, in which he did not difappoint
. the
Portugal.
44
Dreadful
calamities
during his
reign.
,t„ 45
Ihf fe ca¬
lamities
foolilhiy
accounted
for.
FOR [23
the hopes of the public 5 and yet they were done fo
(lowly, with fuch moderation, and with fo many circum-
ftances of prudence, as hindered all grounds of com¬
plaint. Amongfl other new regulations, the power of
the inquifition fufFered fome reitriclion •, the king di-
refting, that none of their fentences fliould be put in ex¬
ecution till reviewed and approved by his privy council.
But as in the reign of his father he had confented to
the treaty with Spain, he ratified it after his acceffion,
and fince carried it into execution upon this noble prin¬
ciple, that no confiderations of intereft ought ever to in¬
duce a monarch to break his word.
Within the fpace of the few years of this king’s
reign, the calamities of Portugal in general, and thofe
of the city of Lifbon in particular, can fcarcely be pa¬
ralleled in hiftory. An earthquake, a fire, a famine,
an affuTmal5on-plot againll their prince, executions up¬
on executions, the fcaffolds and wheels for torture reek¬
ing with the nobleft blood ; imprifonment after impri-
fonment of the greateft and molt diftinguiflied perfona-
gcs ; the expulfion of a chief order of ecclefiaftics 5 the
invafion of their kingdom by a powerful, ftronger, and
exafperated nation ; the numerous troops of the enemy
laying wade their territory, bringing fire and fword
with them, and rolling like diftant thunder towards the
gates of their capital •, their prince ready almoft to fave
himfelf by flight! The Spanifli miniftry had already
decreed the doom of Portugal, and nothing was to be
heard at the Efcurial but Delenda eft Carthago. Car¬
thaginian, perhaps, or Jewiih hiflory, may poflibly af¬
ford a Tcene fomething like this, but for the fliortnefs
of the period not fo big with events, though in their fi¬
nal deftrudlion fuperior. From that indeed, under the
hand of Providence, the national humanity and genero-
fity of Great Britain preferved the Portuguefe ; and it
remains now' to be feen, in future treaties, how that peo¬
ple ■will exprefs their gratitude (fee Britain, N° 450-)
Thofe wTo are able to fearch deeper into human affairs,
may aflign the caufes of fuch a wonderful chain of
events ; but no wife man will afcribe all this to fo Angu¬
lar a caufe as that which a Spaniard has done, in a fa¬
mous pamphlet, printed in the year 1762 at Madrid.
It is intitled, A Spanijh Prophecy; and endeavours to
fliow, that all thefe calamities have befallen the Portu¬
guefe, folely on account of their conneftion with the he¬
retic Englifh. The great Ruler and Governor of the
world undoubtedly afts by univerfal laws, regarding the
whole fyffem, and cannot, without blafpbemy, be con-
fidered in the light of a partizan. The reft of the
pamphlet tends to (how, that his Catholic majefty car¬
ried his arms into Portugal, folely to give them liberty,
and fet them free from Englifti tyranny.
Jofeph dying without male iffue, the fuccefilon devol¬
ved to Mary, his daughter, now' queen of Portugal.
She was married fome time before he died, with the
pope’s difpenfation, to his brother Don Pedro. But as
the queen has long laboured under mental imbecillity,
the executive government of the kingdom is entrufted
to her fon, who is ftyled Prince Regent.
Portugal has not been exempted from feeling the ef-
fefts of Bonaparte’s infatiable ambition. From the un¬
relenting hatred w'hich be bears towards Great Britain,
he has meditated the deftrucftion of her commerce by
every means in bis power, and therefore he demanded
of the Portuguefe government, that all Britifti veffels
I ] P O R
might be excluded from having any (hare in the "trade Portugal,
of that country. Bonaparte demanded, that the Portu- ^"
guefe government fliould immediately pay to France 46
4,000,000 of cruiades in fpecie, fliut all the ports of °f
Portugal againft Britifti commerce, imprifon Britifti fub-^f;
jefts, and confifcate their property ; give up the fleet ofga]a
Portugal to France, and receive French and Spanifli
(oldieis to protect the garrifons. It appears to have
been wkli extreme reluctance that the prince regent
agreed to fuch iniquitous demands, which naturally fill¬
ed the Britifti merchants with conilernation and difmay,
vvhofe perfons and property the Portuguefe government
was anxious to place beyond the reach of danger ■, and
accordingly, the prince regent ordered their property to
be (hipped, without the payment of accuftomed duties,
requefling the military and cuftomhoufe officers to give
them every afllflance. On the 17th of October 1807,
the Lively frigate (ailed from Lifbon with a convoy of '
50 fail for England, having on board nearly the whole
of the Englifti merchants and property.
But fuch friendly difpofitions towards the Britifti, the
prince regent was very foon compelled to relinquifti;
for, on the 22d of October, he iffued the following edi£L-
“ It having been my greateft defire to preferve within my
dominions the moft perfecft neutrality during the prefent
war, upon account of the acknowledged good effe&s
that refult from it to the fubjefts of this crowm 5 but it
being impoflible to preferve it any longer, and refleCling
at the fame time how' beneficial a general peace will be
to humanity, I have judged it proper to accede to the
caufe of the continent, by uniting myfelf to his majefty
the emperor of the French and king of Italy, and to his
catholic majefty, in order to contribute, as far as may
be in my powder, to the acceleration of a maritime
peace ; wherefore, I am pleafed to order, that the ports
of this kingdom may be (hut againft; the entry of all
(hips of w'ar, and merchant veffels, belonging to Great
Britain ; and thus it is to be underftcod.”
A ftiort time prior to this event, the prince regent
intimated the determination of the court to abandon the
kingdom and emigrate to the Brafils ; but this re(olu-
tion was very foon followed by the above-mentioned
edi£L Whether we are to afcribe this change of fenti-
ment to fymptoms of domeftic inquietude, or whether
from the effefts of fome foolhing opiate, adminiftered by
thofe w'ho were in the intereft of Bonaparte, it appears
that the prince regent had not refolution to execute his
proje£L The agitation of the metropolis was fuch as
muft have fhaken his refolution ; an implacable enemy
was on the frontiers, and the government being fuppo-
fed to be on the eve oF emigrating, created uncommon
eonfternation, and the people at large feemed ripe for
an infurreftion. In this fituation of affairs the prince ■
made it publicly known, that he had yet wTell-
founded hopes to expecff, that the abfence of the Spa-
nifh and French ambaffadors w'ould be only temporary,
and not followed by any afts of hoftility on the part of
thofe pow'ers. In juftification of the prince’s conducl
towards Britain on the prefent occafion, fome have put
the queftion, “ What means did Portugal poffefs to re¬
fill, w'ith effeft, the tyrant of the continent, who had
declared, that if the houfe of B'raganza (hould not
break off its connexion w'ith England, it fhould ceafe to
reign ?”
The defign firft adopted by the prince regent was ap¬
parently
p 0 11 [23
1 paieatly relinquiilied for iome tiinc, but filially carried
into execution on the 29th of November, when 1^5 per-
Emi/rLion ^ beIoi1BIl5g to the houfe of Braganza embarked at
ofthe Royal !lbon ^or tnf Brafils, under the efcort of a Britifli
lamiJy to keet. In coniequence of this mealure, the emperor of
the Brafils. France declared that the throne was abdicated, and that
the kingdom Ihould henceforth be confidered as a confti-
tuent part of the French dominions. He ditTolved the
regency formed by the prince, fequeftrated all the pro-
4S Perty belonging to the crown, and that of all the nobles
The French who followed him into exile. General Junot, who
enter Lit. foon after this, entered Lifbon at the head of 14,000
men, ifllied a proclamation to the people of Portugal,
in which he promifed the due adminiftration of juftice*
the prefervation of tranquillity, and declared that their
future happmefs fhould be attended to with the utmoft
punctuality. Thele pretenfions, however, did not ap¬
pear to reconcile the fubjeCts.ef Portugal to their new
mailers; for when Junot feated himfelf in the prince’s
box at the opera, all the Portuguefe then prefent put on
their hats, and mllantly withdrew. .1 he evils attending
this French invafion were fuch as might have been ex-
peCted. The lower claiTes were dying of abfolute want j
aiW more than two-thirds of the mercantile houfes in
Lilbon were plunged into the gulf of bankruptcy.
The army of Sir Arthur Wellefley, lent by Great Bri¬
tain to aft againlt the French troops under Junot, amount¬
ed to about 2o,ooo men, with an equal number of Portu-
49 guefe foldiers, which were to be joined by a Spanifh force
French de- of 10,000 men, under the command of General Jones,
th^battle T-he Britifh and Freikh had a defperate acdion near Vi-
of Vimiera. m^era on the 2ill of Auguft 1808, which terminated in the
total defeat oi the French forces, wjho were to evacuate
Portugal on certain conditions, the chief of which was,
that they were to be carried home with all their plunder,
in veffels belonging to Great Britain. Sir Hew Dalrym-
ple, who lucceeded Sir Arthur Wellefley as commander
4o k tbe Britilh forces, agreed to what is called
Convention ^ho convention of Cintra, by which indeed the kingdom
of Gintra. of Portugal was freed in the mean time from the rava¬
ges of an unfeeling enemy •, but it has been foppofed
that fuch a convention might have been much more ho¬
nourable to Britain, and the French troops compelled
to an unconditional furrender. Diflionourable as this
convention was deemed by fome, it had the fandion of
Sir Charles Cotton, the admiral of the Britifli fleet;
and the freeing the Portuguefe from the oppreflion and
tyranny of France by this means became a juftincation
of the meafure. 1 his convention was ftrongly repro¬
bated in Britain ; a board of general officers was ap
pointed, by his majefty to form a court for the purpofe
of inquiring into the circumftances which led to it ; and
the refult oi the inveftigation was a decifion, by a ma¬
jority of the court, that the armiftice and convention
were neceflary, and that nothing diflionourable or im¬
proper attached to any of the officers concerned in it.
Fvery thing at the Brafils proceeded in a tranquil
and profperous manner under the aufpices of the new
government. I he highefl: veneration was fhewn by the
colonifls ol all deferiptions for the prince regent, and
prompt obedience paid to his ordinances and commercial
regulations. Ihe moll enthuliaftic attachment prevailed
in Rio Janeiro and Bahia towards the Englifli fettlers •
and the happieft confequences were expedled to refult
frsm the enterprifes of their new friends in South Ame-
3
1
FOR
nca. The confequences refulting to the Portuguefe, Portugal,
from the convention of Cintra, were of the molt benefi- ——
cial nature. Ihe whole country wTas not only in a ftate
of fubordination, but the effects of the energy difplayed
by the government began to be felt all over the king¬
dom. . Ihe difaffe£ted and fufpeeded were everywhere
taken into cultody j and the people wrere making the
moil active exertions for their own defence, and for the
common caufe.
Ihe Pdrtuguefe government iffued a proclamation
calling upon the whole nation, from 15 to 60, to rife
cn majje for the defence of their country, and to oppofe
an infurmountable barrier againft the French. The
whole people were required to arm themfelves in every
manner in their power, particularly with pikes of fix or
leven feet long,—an order which met with more prompt
obedience than a limilar command experienced when if¬
fued by the emperor of Germany.
a
But fince the unfortunate iffue of the campaign of the French re-
Britifli army under Sir John Moore in Spain (for an ac-enter kortu-
count of which, fee Spain), the affairs of Portugal have^ab
experienced another fad reverfe. The armies of France
have again entered that devoted kingdom, and are now
(Feb. 1809) probably in poffeflion of the greateft part
of it, going on as formerly with their work of plun¬
der.
The air of Portugal, in the fouthern provinces, would Air efi-
be exceffively hot, if it were not refrelhed by the fea-niat’e, See.
breezes ; but in the northern, it is much cooler, and
the weather more fubjeif to rains. The fpring is ex-
tremely delightful here } and the air, in general, more
temperate than in Spain. Lifbon has been much refort-
ed to of late by valetudinarians and confumptive perlbns
from Great Britain, on account of its air. The foil is
very fruitful in wune, oil, lemons, oranges, pomegra¬
nates, figs, raifins, almonds, chefnuts, and ’ other fine
fiuits j but there is a want of com, owing, it is faid,
in a great meafure to the negleft of agriculture. There’
is plenty of excellent honey here ; and alfo of fea and
nver fiffi, and fea fait. The horfes in Portugal are brilk
lively animals, as they are in Spain, but "of a flight
make : but mules being furer-footed, are more ufed for
carriage and draught. By reaffn of the fcarciiy of pa-
iiure, there are not many herds of cattle or flocks of
Iheep and what they have are fmall and lean, though
the fieIh is tolerably good : their beft meat is faid to be
that ol hogs and kids. 'I he country in many parts is
mountainous : but the mountains contain all kinds of
oresparticularly of filver, copper, tin, and iron, with
c variety of gems, beautifully variegated marble, mill-
ftones, and many curious foffils. Not far from Liffion
is a mine of laitpetre •, but none of the metal mines are
here worked, the inhabitants being fupphed with me¬
tals of all kinds from their foreign fettlements. The
principal rivers are the Minho, in Latin Minius, the
Limia, anciently the famed Lethe ; the Cavado ; the
Douro 5 the Guadiana, anciently Anas ; and the Tajo,
or Tagus, which is the largeft river in the kingdom’
carrying fome gold in its fands, and falling into the fea
a little below Liffion. There are feveral mineral fprings
in the kingdom, both hot and cold, which are much fre¬
quented.
The only religion tolerated in Portugal is that of the Religion,
church of Rome 5 yet there are many concealed Jews,
and thofe too even among the nobility, bifhops, pre¬
bends,
P O R
[ 233 ]
FOR
Portugal, bends, monks, and nuns, and the very inquifitors them-
felves. If a Jew pretends to be a Chriftian and a Roman
Catholic, while he is really a Jew, by going to mafs,
confeflion, &c. or if after being converted, or pretend¬
ing to be converted and pardoned, he relapfes into Ju-
daifm and is difcovered, the inquifition lays hold of him.
In the firft cafe, if he renounce Judaifm, he is only con¬
demned to fome corporal punilhment or public lhame,
and then ordered to be inftru£ted in the Chriftian reli¬
gion. In the fecond, he is condemned to the flames
without mercy. Belides Jews and heretics, who broach
or maintain any doftrines contrary to the religion of the
country, the inquifition punifties all fodomites, pretend¬
ers to forcery and the black art, apoftates, blafphemers,
perjured perfons, impoftors, and hypocrites. The burn¬
ing of thofe condemned by the inquifition, is called an
auto da fe, or “ aft of faith.” There are feveral tribu¬
nals of the inquifition, one of 'which is at Goa in the
Eaft Indies j but there are none in Brafil. The num¬
ber of convents in Portugal is faid to be 900. The or¬
der of Jefuits hath been fupprefled in this country, as
they have been in others. Here is a patriarch, feveral
archbiftiops and biihops : the patriarch is always a car¬
dinal, and of the royal family. The archbifhops rank
with marquifes, and the biihops with counts. The
Portuguefe have archbiihops and biihops in the other
quarters of the world as well as in Europe. The fums
raifed by the popes here, by virtue of their prerogatives,
are thought to exceed the revenues of the crown, and
the nuncios never fail of acquiring vaft fortunes in a
fliort time. Though there are two univerfities and fe¬
veral academies, yet while the papal porver, and that of
the ecclefiaftics, continues at fuch a height, true learn¬
ing is like to make but a fmall progrefs. The language
of the Portuguefe does not differ much from that of
Spain : Latin is the ground-work of both 5 but the for¬
mer is more remote from it, and hardier to the ear,
than the latter. The Portuguefe tongue is fpoken on
all the coaft of Africa and Alia as far as China, but
mixed with the languages of the feveral nations in thofe
diftant regions.
With regard to manufactures, there are very few in
Portugal, and thofe chiefly coarfe fiiks, woollen cloths,
and fome linen •, but their foreign trade is very confider-
able, efpecially wdth England, which takes a great deal
of their wine, fait, foreign commodities, and fruits, in
return for its woollen manufaftures, with which the
Portuguefe furnifh their colonies and fubjefts in Afia,
Africa, and America. Their plantations in Brafil are
very valuable, yielding gold, diamonds, indigo, copper,
tobacco, fugar, ginger, cotton, hides, gums, drugs, dy¬
ing woods, &c. From their plantations in Africa, they
bring gold and ivory, and Haves to cultivate their fugar
and tobacco plantations in Brafil. They have ftill fe¬
veral fettlements in the Eaft Indies, but far lefs confi-
derable than formerly. The Azores or Weftern ifles,
Madeira, and the Cape de Verde iflands, alfo belong to
them *, but a great part of the riches and merchandife
brought from thefe diftant countries becomes the pro¬
perty of foreigners, for the goods they furnifti the Por¬
tuguefe with to carry thither. The king’s fifth of the
gold brought from Brafil amounts commonly to about
300,000!. fterling ; fo that the whole annual produce of
gold in Brafil may be eftimated at near 2,000,cool, ftcr-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
, 48
Manufac¬
tures.
ling. Lilbon Is the greateft port in Europe next to Portugal.
London and Amfterdam. u—w
As to the conftitution of Portugal, it is an abfolute Con
hereditary monarchy. Both here and in Spain there tion ai ^
were anciently cortes, ftates, or parliaments; but they govern-
have long fince entirely loft their {hare in the legifla- meut-
ture. For the adminiftration of the civil government,
there is a council of ftate, and feveral fecretaries j for
military affairs, a council of war j for the finances, a
treafury-court; and for the diftribution of juftice feveral.
high tribunals, with others fubordinate to them, in the
feveral diftrifts into which the kingdom is divided. The
cities have their particular magiftracy. The proceed¬
ings of the courts are regulated by the Roman law, the
royal edifts, the canon law, and the pope’s mandates.
Like the Spaniards, they tranfaft moft of their bufinefs
in the mornings and evenings, and lleep at noon. The
nobility are very numerous, and many of them are de-
feended from natural fons of the royal family. They
are divided into high and low. The high confifts of
the dukes, marquiffes, counts, vifeounts, and barons,
who are alfo grandees, but of different claffes, being fuf-
fered to be covered in the king’s prefence, and having
the title of Dons, with a penfion from the royal treafu-
ry, to enable them the better to fupport their dignity :
the king ftyles them lllujlrious in his letters, and treats
them as princes. A duke’s fons are alfo grandees, and
his daughters rank as marchioneffes. The inferior no¬
bility or gentry are termed Hidalgos, i. e. gentlemen :
they cannot affume the title of Don without the king’s
licenfe.
The revenues of the crown, fince the difeovery of the Revenues
Brafil mines, are very confiderable } but the real amount of the king,
can only be gueffed at. Some have faid that it amounts,
clear of all falaries and penfions, to upwards of 3,000,000
fterling $ others make it a great deal lefs. Thus much
is certain, that the cuftoms and other taxes run excef-
fively high. Befides the royal demefnes, the hereditary
eftates of the houfe of Braganza, the monopoly of Brafil
fnuff, the coinage, the money arifing from the fale of
indulgences granted by the pope, the fifth of the gold
brought from Brafil, the farm of the Brafil diamonds,
the mafterftiips of the orders of knighthood, and other
fources, yield very large fums. The forces, notwith-
ftanding, of this nation, both by fea and land, are very
ineonfiderable ; their land forces being the worft
militia in Europe, and their navy of little import¬
ance.
There are feveral orders of knighthood here, viz. the Orders of
order of Chrift, the badge of which is a red crofs within knight-
a white one, and the number of the commanderies 4 ^4.
2. The order of St James, the badge of which is a red
fwtord in the fliape of a crofs. A great number of towns
and commanderies belong to this order. 3. The order
of Aviz, whofe badge is a green crofs in form of a lily,
and the number of its commanderies 49. Though thefe
three orders are religious, yet the knights are at liberty
to marry. 4. The order of St John, which has alfo fe¬
veral commanderies.
The king’s titles are, King of Portugal and the Al-
garves, on this fde and the otherJide the fea of Africa ;
Lord of Guinea, and of the navigation, conquefs, and
commerce, in Ethiopia, Arabia, Perfia, India, &c. The
king’s eldeft fon is ftyled Prince of Brafl. In the year
G S I749?
p o S [ 234 ] P o s
Portugal
II
Pofitive.
Character
of the
people.
1749, Pope Benedift XIV. dignified the king with the
title of His moji faithful majejly.
j The Portuguefe are reprefented as inferior to the Spa¬
niards both in perfon and genius: as extremely haughty,
treacherous, and crafty in their dealings ; much given
to avarice and ufury ; and vindictive, malicious, and
cruel. The meaner fort are faid to be extremely ad¬
dicted to thieving : notwithftanding, it muft be owned,
that they have fhown themfelves on many occafions a
brave and warlike people. They are juftly famed for
their {kill in navigation ; and for the many difcoveries
they have made both in the Eaft and Weft Indies. The
women here, and in other countries of the fame degree
of heat, are not fo prolific as in the colder climates j but
they are faid to be very beautiful whilft young, though
their complexion is fomewhat upon the olive. Their
eyes are very black and fparkling, and retain their bril¬
liancy after all their other charms are gone. It is the
fafhion here, at prefent, as in moft other countries, for
the ladies to fpoil and disfigure their fkins and com¬
plexions with paints and wafhes: but, though lively
and witty, they are faid to have a nice fenfe of female
honour. Both men and women make great ufe of fpec-
tacles •, often not fo much to aid their fight, as to de¬
note their wifdom and gravity. Their drefs, like that
of the Spaniards, never ufed to vary, efpecially among
the men j but of late years, both men and women have
given much into the French modes. The wmmen, when
they go abroad on foot, are wont to ufe long veils,
which cover their heads, but leave their faces bare.
PORTUGALLICA terra, earth of Portugal j the
name of a fine aftringent bole, dug in great plenty in
the northern part of Portugal.
PORT UL AC A, purslane j a genus of plants be¬
longing to the dodecandria clafs j and in the natural me¬
thod ranking under the 13th order, Succulentce. See
Botany Index.
PORTUMNA, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Galway and province of Connaught, is 74 miles from
Dublin. The cattle of Portumna, the feat of the earl
of Clanricarde, is at this place, and near it are the ruins
of an ancient cattle. There is alfo a garrifon for a troop
of horfe and two companies of foot. The town is feated
on the river Shannon, where it falls into Lough Derg.
The monks of the Ciftertian abbey of Dunbrody, in the
county of Wexford, had for a long time a chapel here,
dedicated to St Peter and St Paul; but having at length
forfaken it, 0‘Madden, dynaft of the country, gave it
to the Dominican friars, who, with the approbation of
the monks of Dunbrody, eredled a friary here and a
church, which they dedicated to the bleffed Virgin and
the original patron faints 5 at the fame time they built a
fteeple, and all other neceflary offices. Pope Martin V.
granted a bull to confirm their poffeflions, dated 8th Oc¬
tober 1426 ; and on the 23d of November following he
granted indulgencies to all who had contributed to the
building. The walls are ftill nearly entire, and (how
that the monaftery of Portumna was by no means an
ignoble ftru&ure. The ancient choir is now the pariflr-
church.
POSE, in Heraldry, denotes a lion, horfe, or other
beaft, Handing ftill, with all his four feet on the ground.
See Hollingfhead’s Defcription of Britain, chap. xvi.
POSITIVE, a term of relation oppofed to negative.
It js alfo ufed in oppofition to relative or arbitrary: thus
we fay, Beauty is no pofitive thing, but depends on the
different taftes of people.
P0SIT1VE Degree, in Grammar, is the adjective in
its fimple fignification, without any comparifon.
POSITIVE Ele&ricity. In the Franklinian fyftem all
bodies fuppofed to contain more than their natural
quantity of electric matter are faid to be pojltively elec¬
trified ; and thofe from whom fome part of their elec¬
tricity is fuppofed to be taken away are faid to be elec¬
trified negatively. Thefe two ele&ricities being firft
produced, one from glafs, the other from amber or ro-
fin, the former was called vitreous, the other refmous,
electricity.
POSPOLITE, in the former military eftablifliment
of Poland, is the name given to a kind of militia. It
was the moft numerous and the moft ufelefs of the Po-
lifh armies, confilting of the gentry at large, who, in
cafe of invafion, wTere affembled by a regular fummons
from the king, with confent of the diet. Every palati¬
nate was divided into diftriCts, over each of which pro¬
per officers were appointed ; and every perfon poffeffing
free and noble tenures wras bound to military fervice, ei¬
ther fingly or at the head of a certain number of his re¬
tainers, according to the extent and nature of his poffef-
fions. The troops thus affembled were obliged only to
ferve for a limited time, and were not under the necef-
fity of marching beyond the limits of their country.
They fubmitted to no difeipline but fuch as they liked
themfelves j and were very apt to mutiny if detained
more than a fortnight in the place appointed for their
meeting without marching. The mode of levying and
maintaining this army was exaftly fimilar to that prac-
tifed under the feudal fyftem. Although unfit for the
purpofes of repelling a foreign enemy, it was confidered
a powerful inftrument in the hands of domeftic faClion :
for the expedition with which it was raifed under the
feudal regulations facilitated the formation of thofe dan¬
gerous confederacies which fuddenly ftarted up on the
contefted eledtion of a fovereign, or whenever the nobles
were at variance with each other. ,
POSSE comitatus, in Law, fignifies the pow-er of
the county, or the aid and affiftance of all the knights,
gentlemen, yeomen, labourers, fervants, apprentices, &c.
and all others within the county that are above the age
of 15, except women, ecclefiaftical perfons, and fuch as
are decrepit and infirm.
This poffe comitatus is to be raifed where a riot is
committed, a poffeffion kept upon a forcible entry, or
any force of refeue ufed contrary to the king’s writ, or
in oppofition to the execution of juftice ; and it is the
duty of all ftieriffs to affift juftices of the peace in the
fuppreffion of riots, &c. and to raife the poffe comitatus,
or to charge any number of men for that purpofe.
POSSESSION, in Law, is either aftual, wffiere a
perfon aftually enters into lands or tenements defeended
or conveyed to him ; or where lands are defeended to
a perfon, and he has not yet entered into them. A
long poffeffion is much favoured by the law as an ar¬
gument of right, even though no deed can be ffiowm,
and it is more regarded than an ancient deed without
poffeffion.
If he that is out of poffeffion of land brings an ac¬
tion, he muft prove an undeniable title to it; and when
a perfon would recover any thing of another, it is not
fufficient to deftroy the title of the perfon in poffeffion
without
Pofitive
Degree
PofTeffion.
Coxe's Tra¬
vels.
P O S [ 235 1 P 0 s
Poffeffion. without he can prove that his own right is better than
——v—* his.
In order to make poffeflion lawful upon an entry, the
former poffelfor and his fervants are to be removed from
off the premiffes entered on : but a perfon by leafe and
releafe is in poffeffion without making any entry upon
the lands. _ t> ttt
Possession, in Scots Law. See Law, Part 111.
N° clxii. 11. &c.
Demoniacal Possession. (See D^emo* and De¬
moniacs). In the third volume of the Manchefter
Tranfa&ions, there is a paper on popular illujions, or me¬
dical demonology, by Dr Ferriar. He informs us in a
note, that, on the 13th of June 1788, George Lukins
of Yatton in Somerfetffiire was exorcifed in the Temple
church at Briftol, and delivered from the poffeffion of
feven devils by the efforts of feven clergymen. An ac¬
count of his deliverance was publiffied in feveral of the
public papers, authenticated by the Rev. Mr Eailer-
brook, vicar of the Temple church in Briilol.—Dr Fer¬
riar 'dves us the following particulars, extracted from
this account, which we ffiall here infert.
“ Lukins was firft attacked by a kind of epileptic fit,
when lie was going about afting Chriftmas plays, .or
mummeries : this he afcribed to a blow given by an in-
vifible hand. He was afterwards feized by fits ; during
which he declared, with a roaring voice, that he was
the devil, and fung different fongs in a variety of keys.
The fits always began and ended with a ftrong agita¬
tion of the right hand. He frequently uttered dreadful
execrations during the fits. The whole duration of his
diforder was 18 years.
“ At length, viz. in June 1788, he declared that he
was poffeffed by feven devils, and could only be freed
by the prayers (in faith) of feven clergymen. Accord¬
ingly the requifite force w'as fummoned, and the patient
fung, fwore, laughed, and barked, and treated the com¬
pany with a ludicrous parody on the Te Deum. Thefe
affonifhing fymptoms refifted both hymns and prayers,
till a /mail, faint voice admoniffied the minifters to ad¬
jure. The ipirits, after fome murmuring, yielded to the
adjuration, and the happy patient returned thanks for his
wonderful cure. It is remarkable, that during this folemn
mockery, the fiend fwore ‘ by his infernal den,’ that he
would not quit his patient •, an oath, I believe, nowhere
to be found but in the Pilgrim’s Progrefs, from which
Lukins probably got it.
« Very foon after the firft relation of this ftory w-as
publiffied, a perfon, well acquainted with Lukins, took
the trouble of undeceiving the public with regard to
his pretended diforder, in a plain, fenfible narrative of
his conduft. He afferts, that Lukins’s firft feizure was
nothing elfe than a fit of drunkennefs : that he always
foretold his fits, and remained fenfible during their con¬
tinuance *, that he frequently faw Lukins in his fits,
‘ in every one of which, except in fmging, he per¬
formed not more than moft aftive young people can
eafily do that he was detefted in an impofture with
refpedl to the clenching of his hands ; that after money
had been collefted for him, he got very fuddenly well;
that he never had any fits while he was at St George’s
Hofpital in London •, nor when vifitors were excluded
from his lodgings, by defire of the author of the Nar¬
rative ; and that he was particularly careful never to
hurt himfelf by his exertions during the paroxyfm.
“ Is it For the credit of this philofophical age, that fo Poffeflion
bungling an impofture ffiould deceive feven clergymen
into a public a£t of exorcifm ? This would not have paf- ,
fed even on the authors of the Malleus Malifcarum ; for
they required figns of fupernatural agency, fuch as the fu-
fpenfion of the poffeffed in the air, without any vifible fup-
port, or the ufe of different languages, unknown to the
demoniac in his natural ftate.”
POSSESSIVE, in Grammar, a term applied to pro¬
nouns, which denote the enjoyment or poffeffion of any
thing either in particular or in common : as mens,
“ mine and tuus, “ thine.”
POSSESSORY action, in Scots Law. See Law,
N° clxxxiii. 18.
POSSIBILITY, in Law, is defined to be any thing
that is altogether uncertain, or wffiat may or may not
be.
Possibility, alfo denotes a non-repugnar.ee to ex-
ifting, in any thing that does not any way exilt.
POSSIBLE, is fometimes oppofed to realexiftence,
and is underftood of a thing, which, though it aftually
does not exift, yet may exift •, as a new ftar.
POSSIDONIA, in Ancient Geography. See Poe-
STUM.
POST, a -word derived from the Latin pofitus, “ fet
or placed.” It is ufed in feveral different meanings, but
all of them referring either immediately or remotely to
this primitive fenfe ofpoftwn. Thus the word Poft fig-
nifies, 1. A ftake or piece of timber fet upright ; 2. A
ftation, particularly a military ftation •, 3. An office or
employment j 4. An operation in book-keeping j 5
conveyance for letters or difpatches j 6. A particular
mode of travelling.
Post, a ftake or piece of timber fet upright. Ports
are ufed both in building and in fencing ground. In
brick-buildings much of the ftrength of the fabric de¬
pends on the nature of the polls j as it is through them
that the feveral parts are fuftained and held together.
The corner pofs are called the principalpofs 5 thofe form¬
ed into breffummers between principal polls for ftrength-
ening the carcafe of the houle are called the prich-pofs.
Polls which are to be fet in the ground ought to be
well leafoned and coated to preferve them from rotting \
burning the downrward end has been recommended as
an excellent prefervative, but a coating of pitch or
tar, particularly the late invented coal-tar, can be moft
fafely relied upon. For the various ufes to which polls
may be applied, and the form and fpecies of them fit¬
ted to be employed in each cafe, fee the articles Ar¬
chitecture, Joining, Gardening, House, Fence,
&c. In architedlure and fculpture POSTS are a term
ufed to denote certain ornaments formed after the man¬
ner of rolls or wreathings.
Post, a ftation, particularly a military ftation.—
Any place where perfons are fet or placed upon parti¬
cular occafions may be termed a pofl; but the word in
this view is now chiefly reftrffiled to military operations,
and means any place or fituation where foldiers are ftation-
ed. Thus the detachments eftabliffied in front of the ar¬
my are termed the out-pojls, the ftations on the wings of
the army are faid to be the pofs of honour, as being the
moft confpicuous and moft expofed. But in the opera¬
tions of a campaign, a poft properly lignifies any fpot of
ground capable of lodging foldiers, or any lituation, whe¬
ther fortified or not, where a body of men may make a
G g a
Poft.
P O S [ 2
ftand and engage the enemy to advantage. The great
advantages of good pofts, in carrying on war, as well as
the mode of fecuring them, are only learned by experi¬
ence. Barbarous nations difdain the choice of pofts, or
at leaft are contented with fuch as immediately fall in
their way ; they truft folely or chiefly to ftrength and
courage : and hence the fate of a kingdom may be de¬
cided by the event of a battle. But enlightened and
experienced officers make the choice of pofts a principal
objeft of attention. The ufe of them is chiefly felt in a
defenftve war againft an invading enemy j as by carry¬
ing on a wrar of pofts in a country where this can be
done to advantage, the moft formidable army may be fo
haraffed and reduced, that all its enterprifes may be
rendered abortive. Indeed in modern times this is fo w^ell
underftood, that pitched battles have become much more
rare than formerly, manoeuvring and fecuring of pofts
being confidered as the moft eflential objects in the con-
duct of a campaign j a change in the art of war much
to the advantage of humanity ; fldll, conduft, and pru¬
dence, having thus obtained the afcendency over brutal
courage and mere bodily ftrength. In the choice of a
poll, the general rules to be attended to are, that it be
convenient for fending out parties to reconnoitre, furprife,
or intercept the enemy ; that if poflible it have fome na¬
tural defence, as a wood, a river, or a morafs, in front or
flank, or at leaft that it be difficult of accefs and fufeep-
tible of fpeedy fortification j that it be fo fituated as to
preferve a communication with the main army, and have
covered places in the rear to favour a retreat ; that it
command a view of all the approaches to it, fb that the
enemy cannot advance unperceived and reft concealed,
while the detachment ftationed in the poft are forced to
remain under arms ; that it be not commanded by any
neighbouring heights 5 and that it De proportioned in-
extent to the number of men who are to occupy and
defend it. It is not to be expe&ed that all thefe advan¬
tages will often be found united; but thofe poftsmught to
be fele£led which offer the greateft number of them. See
War.
Post, an office or employment. This ufe of the
word is probably derived immediately from the idea of
a military ftation ; a poft being ufed to exprefs fuch
offices or employments as are fuppofed either to ex-
pofe the holder to attack and oppofition, or to require
abilities and exertion to fill them. Hence the term
is ufed only for public offices, and employments under the
government ; and were ftrift propriety of fpeech al¬
ways attended to, pqfts rvould denote thofe ftations only
in which duty muff; be performed. In common lan¬
guage, however, every public office or appointment, even
though nominal and finecure, goes under the name of a
pojl.
Post, an operation in book-keeping. Polling in book¬
keeping means, limply the transferring an article to the
place in which it fhould be put, and arranging each under
its proper head. It is upon this that the whole theory
of book-keeping is founded. The Wafte-book, which
is the ground-work of all fubfequent operations, records
every tranfaflion exadtly in the order in which it oc¬
curs. From this the feveral articles, are polled, or
transferred into the Journal, which in faft is but a kind
of fupplementary book to the Wafte-book. From the
Journal they are polled anew into the Ledger ; in which
a feparate place is appropriated for each perfon with
36 ] p o s
wrhom tranfa£lions are carried on, and frequently for p0^
eveiy feparate article about which the bulinefs is con- 1— t 1
cerned. I he particular mode according to w'hieh fuch
transferences are made, may vary according to the na¬
ture of the trace carried on \ the object is the lame in
all, to place every article fo as that its operations on the
general Hate of the bufinefs may be certainly known and
diftindlly traced. lor a full account of the way in which
this is done, fee BOOK-Keeping.
Post, a conveyance for letters or difpatches.
In the early periods of fociety, communication be¬
tween the. different parts of a country is rare and diffi¬
cult, individuals at a diftance having little inclination or
opportunity for mutual intercourfe : when fuch commu¬
nication is at any time found neceffary, a fpecial meffen-
ger mull be employed. As order and civilization advance,
occafions of correlpondence multiply. In particular, the
Sovereign finds it requifite frequently to tranfmit orders
and law's to every part of the kingdom 5 and for doing
fo he makes ufe of couriers or meffengers, to whom he
commits the. charge of forwarding his difpatches. But
without ftations in the wray, wJiere thefe couriers can be
certain of finding refrelhment for themfelves and fupplies
of what may be neceffary for carrying them forward, the
journey, howrever urgent and important, mull alwrays be
retarded, and in many cafes altogether Hopped. Expe¬
rience, therefore, foon pointed out the neceffity of en-
furing fuck accommodations, by eredling upon all the
great roads houfes or ftations at convenient intervals,
where the meffengers might flop, as occafion required,
and where too, for the greater convenience, relays of
freffi horfes ffiould always be in readinefs, to enable
them to purfue their journey with uninterrupted difpatch.
Thefe houfes or ftations wrere with great propriety term¬
ed pq/ls, and the meffenger who made ufe of them a pojl.
Though at firft, it is probable, the inftitution was intend¬
ed folely for the fovereign and the neceffities of the ftate j
yet by degrees individuals, feeing the benefit refulting
from it, made ufe of the opportunity to carry on their
own correfpondence; for which they w’ere willing to
pay an allowance to the fovereign. Thus a poft-office,
of fome kind or other, gradually came to be eftabliffied
in every civilized country. Without taking notice of
the different means of carrying on correfpondence faid
to. have been attempted by pigeons, dogs, and other
animals, w'e can at leaft trace with certainty the inven¬
tion of .fomething like regular pofts as far back as
the ancient Perfians. Xenophon affures us, that they
were invented by Cyrus on his Scythian expedition,
about 500 years before Chrift ; that the houfes at the
feveral ftations were fumptuouffy built, and large enough
to contain a number of men and horfes; and that every
courier on his arrival was obliged to communicate his
difpatches to the poftmafter, by whom they were im¬
mediately forwarded. From the ftiore of the Egean
fea to Sufa the capital, there wTere, according to Hero¬
dotus, in ftages for pofts, each a day’s journey diftant
from the preceding.
In wffiat manner pofts were eftabliffied and conduc¬
ed among the Greeks does not clearly appear j but from
the extended commerce carried on, and the frequent
communications enjoyed among the different ftates, there
can be no doubt that a regular conveyance, in fome form
or other, wras eftabliffied.
Though pofts were well known among the Romans,
yet
p o s [ 237 3 p o s
yet it is difficult to trace with certainty the period of
their introduftion. Some writers carry it back to the
times of the republic ; polls and poll-offices, under the
names of Jiatores and Jlationes, having been then, it is
faid, ellablilhed by the fenate. Whether this was the
cafe or not, Suetonius allures us that Auguftus inili-
tuted polls along all the great roads of the empire. At
firll the difpatches were conveyed from poll to poll by
young men who run on foot, and delivered the difpatch
to others at the next Itage. By and by Auguftus fub-
llituted, in room of thefe, horfes and chariots, both for
the conveyance of difpatches and the convenience of tra¬
velling. His fucceffors continued the fame eilablilhment;
to the maintenance of which every fubjeft of the em¬
pire was obliged to contribute. Poll-horfes are men¬
tioned in the Theodorian code de curfupublico; but thefe
w'ere only the public horfes appointed to be kept there
for the ufe of the public meflengers, who before this inlli-
tution feized any that came in their way. At each polt-
llation, according to Procopius, 10 horfes and as many
poltilions were kept, and the ufual rate of their tra¬
velling rvas from five to eight llations a-day.
It is to be obferved, however, that all thefe ellablilh-
ments of polls in ancient times were formed as much,
if not more, for travelling llations, than for the mere
conveyance of letters and difpatches. This latter ob¬
ject, it is true, was thereby fecured 5 but the epifto-
lary correfpondence of antiquity was probably at no
time fo extenfive as to require or maintain poll-offices
on the footing of modern polls, for the mere convey¬
ance of letters. It is in later times only, when the exten-
fion of commerce and diffufion of literature give occafion
to frequent communication, that thefe ellablilhments are
to be looked for.
The earlielt inllitution of pojls that occurs in modern
hilfory is about the year 807 by the emperor Charle¬
magne ; who, having reduced under his dominion Italy,
Germany, and a part of Spain, ellablilhed three public
polls at the public expence, to carry on the communi¬
cation with thefe three provinces. The inllitution of
polls, however, like many other inllitutions of that em¬
peror, dropped at his death, and for a confiderable time
afterwards no traces of any fuch eilablilhment are to be
found. We cannot indeed difcover them with certainty
fooner than 1464, when that reltlefs and fufpicious
prince Louis XI. eltablilhed polls in France, that he
might be the fooner advertifed of all that palled in his
own or the neighbouring kingdoms-* He employed in
this fervice 230 couriers, who delivered the letters at
the different Hations, and in the various towns through
which they paffed in their courfe. Succeeding mo-
narchs created at different times certain offices for the
exprefs purpofe of fuperintending the polls ; but the
frequent changes to which thefe offices were expofed,
prevented for a long time the eftablilhment of any re¬
gular fyllem of polls in that kingdom ; infomuch that
in 1619 the author of the life of the duke d’Epernon
fays the packet or letter-office was not yet fet up in
France. Former ellablilhments, it is probable, were
folely for the ufe of the court, not for the general good
of the nation. From France, the inllitution gradually
Ipread through feveral other parts of Europe. In Ger¬
many, Lewis Hornig affures us they were firll intro¬
duced by Count Taxis, who fettled them at his own
expence 3 in acknowledgement for which the emperor
Matthias in 1616 gave as a fief the office of poftmaller
to him and his defendants.
In England, the ellablilhment of polls in fome form
or other appears as early as the reign of Edward III.
but the notices concerning them are fo vague, that no
account can be given of them. In the reign of Ed¬
ward VI. however, fome fpecies of polls mult have been
fet up, as an aft of parliament palled in 1548, fixing the
rate of poll-horfes at one penny per mile : The poll-
horfes here referred to were, it is probable, chiefly for
travelling, and the carriage of letters or packets only
an occafional fervice. In 1581, we find in Camden’s
Annals mention made of a chief poltmaller for Eng¬
land being appointed.—How his office was managed,
does not clearly appear 3 the limited Hate of the corre¬
fpondence of the country probably rendered it of tri¬
fling confequence. King James I. originally erefled a
poll-office, under the controul of one Matthew de Quelter
or de I’Equelter, for the conveyance of letters to and from
foreign parts 3 which office was afterwards claimed by'
Lord Stanhope 3 but was confirmed and continued to
William Frizel and Tho. Witherings, by King Charles I.
in 163 2. Previous to this time, it -would appear that
private perfons were in ufe to convey letters to and
from foreign parts 3 all fuch interference with the poll-
mailer’s office is therefore exprefsly prohibited. King
Charles, in 1635, eredled a letter-office for England and
Scotland, under the direction of the above Thomas
Witherings. The rates of portage then eftablilhed
were, two-pence for every fingle letter for a diftance un¬
der 80 miles 3 four-pence from 80 to 140 miles 3 fix-
pence above 140 miles. The allowance to the poft-
mafters on the road for horfes employed in thefe ports
was fixed at two-pence halfpenny per mile for every
fingle horfe. All private inland ports were difcharged
at this time 3 and in 1637 all private foreign ports were
in like manner prohibited. The polls thus eftablilhed,
however, extended otdy to a few of the principal roads 3
and the times of tranfmiffion were not in every cafe fo
certain as they ought to have been.
Witherings was fuperfeded for abufes in the execu¬
tion of his offices in 1640, and they were fequeftrated
into the hands of Philip Burlamachy, to be exercifed
under the care and overfight of the king’s principal fe-
cretary of Hate. On the breaking out of the civil war,
great confufions and interruptions were neceffarily oc-
cafioned in the condudl of the letter-office 3 but it was
about that time that the outline of the prefent more
extended and regular plan feems to have been concei¬
ved by Mr Edmond Prideaux, who was afterwards ap¬
pointed attorney-general to the commonwealth. He
was chairman of a commitee in 1642 for confidering
the rate of portage to be fet upon inland letters 3 and
fome time after was appointed poftmafter by an ordi¬
nance of both houfes of parliament 3 in the execution of
which office he fiift eftablithed a weekly conveyance of
letters into all parts of the nation. In 1653, this reve¬
nue was farmed for io,oool. for England, Scotland, and
Ireland ; and after the charge of maintaining poftmafters,
to the amount of 7000I. per annum was faved to the
public. Prideaux’s emoluments being confiderable, the
common council of London endeavoured to ere<ft another
port-office in oppofition to his 3 but they was checked by
a refolution of the houfe of commons, declaring that the
office of poftmarter is, and ought to be, in the foie power'
p o s r 238 ] p o s
and difpofal of the parliament. This office was farmed
by one Maubey in 1654. In 1656 a new and regular
general port-office was eredted by the authority of the
proteftor and his parliament, upon nearly the fame mo¬
del that has been ever rtnce adopted, with the following
rates of portage : For 80 miles diftance, a fingle letter
twro pence j for a greater diftance, not out of England,
three pence; to Scotland, four pence. By an a£t of parlia¬
ment parted foon after the reftoration in 1660, the regu¬
lations fettled in 1656 w-ere re-ertablillied, and a general
port-office fimilar to the former, but wdth fome improve¬
ments, eredled. In 1663 the revenue of the port-office W'as
was found to produce 21,500!. annually. In 1685 it was
made over to the king as a branch of his private income,
and was then eftimated at 65,000!. per annum. The year
after the revolution the amount of the port-office revenue
was 90,504!. xos. 6d. At the union the produce of the
Engliffi port-office was ftated to be ioi,ioi1. In 1711
the former eftabliffiments of feparate port-offices for Eng¬
land and Scotland w'ere abolifhed ; and by the flat. 9
Anne, c. 10. one general poft-office, and one poftmafter-
general, was eftablifhed for the wffiole united kingdom •,
and this poftmafter was empowered to eredf chief letter-of¬
fices at Edinburgh, at Dublin, at Eew Tori, and other
pfoper places in America and the Weft Indies. The
rates of portage were alfo increafed at this time as fol¬
lows.—In England, for all diftances under 80 miles 3d. j
above 80 miles 4d. From London to Edinburgh 6d. In
Scotland, under 50 miles 2d.j from 50 to 80 miles 3d.;
above 80 miles 4d. In Ireland,under 40 miles 2d.; above
40 miles 4d.—By the above a6t all perfons, except thofe
employed by the poftmafter, were ftridtly prohibited from
conveying letters. That year the grofs amount of the port-
office was 111,4611. 17s. 1 od. The nett amount, on a me¬
dium, of the three preceding years, w^as, in the printed re¬
port of the commiffioners, for the equivalent ftated to be
for England, 62,000!. and for Scotland 2000I. In 1754
the grofs revenue of the poft-office for Great Britain a-
mounted to 210,663!. in 1764 to 281,535!. and in 1774
to 345,421!.—The privilege of franking letters had been
enjoyed by members of parliament from the firft ere&ion
of the poft-office; the original defign of this exemption was,
that they might correfpond freely with their conftituents
on the bufinefs of the nation. By degrees the pri¬
vilege came to be lhamefully abufed, and was carried fo
far, that it was not uncommon for the fervants of members
of parliament to procure a number of franks for the pur-
pofe of felling them ; an abufe which was eafily praftifed,
as nothing more was required for a letter’s parting free
than the fubfcription of a member on the cover. To
reftrain thefe frauds, it was enaoled, in 1764, that no
letter fhould pafs free unlefs the wffiole direftion was of
the member’s writing, and his fubfcription annexed.
Even this was found too great a latitude; and by a new
regulation in 1784, no letter was permitted to go free
unlefs the date wras marked on the cover in the mem¬
ber’s own hand-wniting, and the letter put into the poft-
office the fame day. That year the rates of portage
were raifed in the following proportions : an addition of
id. for a fingle ftage ; id. from London to Edinburgh ;
id. for any diftance under, and 2d. for any diftance
above, 150 miles. An addition to the revenue of
l2o,oool. was eftimated to arife from thefe regulations
and additional rates. The rates now mentioned are
thofe upon fingle letters: double letters pay double,
3
treble letters treble, an ounce weight quadruple poftage;
all above are charged by the weight in the fame pro¬
portion. The rates of poftage have fince that time
been again increafed.
About the year I784> a great improvement wras made
in the mode of conveying the mails, upon a plan firft
fuggefted in 1782 by Mr John Palmer. Diligences
and ftage-coaches, he obferved, were eftabliffied to every
town oi note in the kingdom ; and he propofed that go¬
vernment, inftead of fending the mails in the old mode,
by a boy on horfeback, ffiould contrad with the mafters
of thefe diligencies to carry the mail, along with a guard
for its protedion. This plan, he ftiowed, could not
fail to enfure much more expeditious conveyance, the
rate of travelling in diligences being far quicker than
the rate of the port; ; and it was eafy to carry it into
execution with little additional expence, as the coach
owners would have a ftrong inducement to con trad at
a cheap rate for conveying the mail, on account of the
additional recommendation to palfengers their carriages
would thereby acquire in point of fecurity, regularity,
and difpatch.
Though government heartily approved of this plan,
and the public at large were fatisfied of its utility ; yet,
like all new fchemes, however beneficial, it met writh a
ftrong oppofition : it was reprefented by a number of the
oldeft and ableft officers in the poft-office, not only as
impradicable, but dangerous to commerce and the reve¬
nue. Notwithftanding of this oppofition, however, it
was at laft eftabliffied, and gradually extended to many
different parts of the kingdom ; and, upon a fair compa-
rifon, it appeared that the revenue was improved, and the
plan itfelf executed for 20,000!. per annum lefs than the
fum firft eftimated by Mr Palmer.
The prefent eftabliffiment of the general poft-office
for Great Britain, confifts of two poftmafters-general, a
fecretary, furveyor, comptroller-general, and upwards of
150 affiftants and clerks for the head letter office in
London ; the number of deputy poftmafters and other
officers through the kingdom is very confiderable, but
not eafy to afcertain with accuracy, as it muft frequent¬
ly vary with the changes made in the eftablifhment of
country polls. The total expence of this branch of the
revenue in 1788 w>as 149,029!. 17s. 2d.; the grofs pro¬
duce may be reckoned at 650,000k
The firft accounts we have of the eftabliffiment- of a
poft-office in Scotland reach no farther back than 1635,
when Charles I. erefted one both for Scotland and
England. The port: to Scotland by that appointment
was to run night and day, to go from London to Edin¬
burgh and to return in Jix days, taking with it all let¬
ters intended for any poll-town in or near the road ;
the rate of poftage from London to Edinburgh was
8d. for a fingle letter. The expedition with wffiich the
poll wTent from London to Edinburgh at this time, is
indeed furprifing, confidering the nature of the roads;
perhaps, however, though the king made the regulation
that it ffiould go and return in fix days, the journey
was not alwrays performed in the fpecified time. Du¬
ring the government of Cromwell, the public port con¬
veyed letters to Scotland as well as England ; the poft¬
age from London to Scotland was only gd. After the
Reftoration, when the port:-office was erefted for Eng¬
land, mention is made in the a£f of parliament of the
conveyance of letters to Scotland; and the poftage to
Berwick
P O S [2
Feft. Berwick is fixed at 3d. For fome time after, however,
■'V—' u t find no edablifhment by aft of parliament of an in¬
ternal poll in Scotland. In 1662, a poll between Ire¬
land and Scotland was firft eftabliihed ; and the privy
council gave Robert Main, who was then poftmafter-
general lor Scotland, an allowance of 200I. Sterling
to build a packet-boat for conveying the mail between
Portpatrick and Donaghadee : the poftage to Ireland
was 6d. In 1669, a poll was eftabliihed to go between
Edinburgh and Aberdeen twice a-week, and between
Edinbmgh and Invernefs once a-week : the rate of poft¬
age was fixed, for 40 Scots miles 2d. and for every 20
miles farther an additional penny. Thefe appear to
have been the only public polls in Scotland at that time j
but as they could not fuffice for the correlpond-
ence of the country, there mu A have been moAe, ei¬
ther under the direftion of the poftmafter, or in the
hands of private perfous; probably there might be of
both kinds. In 1690, an aft for the fecurity of the
common poll was palled, fubjcfting robbers of the mail
to capital punith.nent. It was not till 1695 that the
.eftablifhment of the poft-office in Scotland received the
fanftion of parliament : polls we. then appointed for all
parts of Scotland} the rates of poftage were fixed, for any
place within 50 miles of Edinburgh 2d. between 50
and 100 miles 3d. *11 places above 100 miles 4d. By
the fame aft, a weekly packet to Ireland was eltablilh-
ed, and 60I. Sterling annually allowed for that fer-
vice. Though polls were eftablhhed in confequence of
this aft, yet fuch was their mode of travelling, that they
hardly deferved the name. Thus, for inftance, the per-
fon who fet out to carry the mail from Edinburgh to
Aberdeen, in place of flopping at the firft intermediate
ftage from Edinburgh, and delivering over the mail to
another to be carried forward, went on with it himfelf
the whole journey, refting two nights by the way, firlt
at Dundee, and next at Montrofe.
In this manner the mail was conveyed thrice a-week
from Edinburgh to Aberdeen ; but between molt parts
of Scotland the poll went only twice, and between fome
only once a-week. The poft-boy generally travelled on
foot. Horfes were but little ufed in the fervice of the
poft-office.
At the Union, the Scots poft-office was farmed for
1104I. : in 1710, the nett amount for Scotland was
reckoned to be 2000I. The epiftolary correfpond-
ence of Scotland mult have been fmall indeed, when
even the rates of poftage then eftablilhed proved fo very
unproduftive. This may perhaps, however, be in part
accounted for, by conjefturing, that as private polls had
probably prevailed pretty much before 1695, it was
long before tbefe were entirely fuppreffed, the people
ftill adhering to their old conveyances, and difficulties
occurring in ftriftly enforcing the law ; the amount of
the poft-office revenue, therefore, at the two periods
above-mentioned probably exhibits a view of only a part
of the correfpondence of Scotland.
In 1711, it has been already mentioned, one general
poft-office was eftabliihed for the whole united king¬
dom ; but the poftmafter-general was authorifed to
ereft at Edinburgh a chief letter-office for Scotland.-—
This was accordingly done, and a poftmafter-general
for North Britain, with other neceflary officers, appoint¬
ed. All the deputy poftmafters in Scotland are under
his immediate direction, but he himfelf is under the con-
!9 ] P O S
troul of the poftmafter-general for Great Britain. From Pod.
this head letter office polls were eftablilhed to the differ-
ent parts of Scotland.
For many years the poll-boys generally travelled on
foot, or, if on horfeback, without a change of horfes.
It was not till about 1750 that the mail began to be
conveyed from ftage to llage by different poll-boys and
frelh horfes to the principal places in Scotland, and by
foot runners to the reft. The communication between
London and Edinburgh was at firll but thrice a-week,
and fo flow, that the mail from London to Edinburgh
was upon the road 85 hours, and from Edinburgh to
London 131 hours. In 1757, upon a reprefentation
from the royal boroughs, regulations were fallen upon,
by which the time was Ihortened to 82 hours in the one
cafe, and 85 in the other. By the extenfion of Mr
Palmer’s plan to Scotland, the time has been Hill farther
fliortened to about 60 hours in each cafe.
The ellablilhment of the Scots poll-office confifts at
prefent of a poftmafter-general, fecretary, folicitor, and
accountant, with a number of other clerks and affiftants
for the head office at Edinburgh; under its management
are about 180 deputy-poftmalters for the different poft>
towns through Scotland.
The nett produce of the poft-office for Scotland in
x733 was J3991, in '7S7 10>623l- in 1776
In 1788 the grofs produce was 55,836!. the expence
22,6361.5 in 1793 the grofs amount was about 64,000!.
the nett produce about 40,000!. ; in 1803 the grofs
produce was above 120,000!. the nett revenue about
97,oool.; in 1807 the grofs produce was above 145,000!.
the nett revenue towards i20,oocl.
Penny-POST, a poll eftabliffied for the benefit of Lon¬
don and other parts adjacent, whereby any letter or
pacquet under four ounces weight, is fpeedily and fafe-
ly conveyed to and from all places within the bills of
mortality, or within 10 miles of the city. It is manag¬
ed by particular officers, and receiving houfes are eftab-
lifhed in moll of the principal llreets, for the more con¬
venient tranfmiffion of the letters. Some other large
towns have inftituted fimilar eftabliffiments.
About the year 1776, a penny-poll was fet up in Edin¬
burgh by Mr Williamfon, unconne£led with the general
poft-office. It met with but indifferent encouragement
for fome years, donbts being entertained as to its punc¬
tuality in delivering the letters ; by degrees, however,
it feemed to be advancing in ellimation, and was more
frequently employed. Twenty years after, the ge¬
neral poll-office, in virtue of the a6l of parliament pro¬
hibiting the conveyance of letters by any but thofe em¬
ployed under the pollmafter-general, took the penny-
poll entirely into its own hands ; and Mr Williamfon
was allowed an annuity during life equal to what his v
private eftablifliment yielded. Letters are now tranf-
mitted to the different quarters of Edinburgh, and the
fuburbs, three times a-day.
Post, a particular mode of travelling. A perfon is
faid to travel pqfl in contradillin£lion to common jour¬
ney travelling, when, in place of going on during his
whole journey in the fame vehicle, and with the fame
horfes, he flops at different ftages, to provide frefti
horfes or carriages for the fake of greater convenience
and expedition. As he thus ufes the fame mode of tra¬
velling that is employed for the common poll, he is faid
to travel poll, or in poll, i. e. in the manner of a poll.
P O S [ 240 ] P o s
In tracing the origin of pofts, it has already been re-
J marked, that the more ancient eftablilhments of this
kind were fully as much for travelling Jlations as the
conveyance of letters. The relays of horfes provided
at thefe public ftations for the meflengers of the prince,
were occafionally, by fpecial licence, allowed to be uied
by other travellers who had fufficient intereil at court.
Frequent demands of this nature would fugged tire expe¬
dient of having in readinefs fupplies of frefh horfes or car¬
riages over and above what the public fervice required,
to be hired out to other travellers on payment of an ade¬
quate price. We find, therefore, that in former times the
poftmafters alone were in ufe to let out horfes for ri¬
ding poft, the rates of which were fixed in 1548 by a
ftatute of Edward VI. at one penny per mile. In what
fituation the date of the kingdom was with regard to
travelling pod for more than a century after this pe¬
riod, we cannot now certainly difcover ■, but in the da-
tute re-edablidiing the pod-office in 1660, it is enabled,
that none but the pofhnader, his deputies, or affigns,
ffiall furnidr pod-horfes for travellers ; with a provifo,
however, that if he has them not ready in half an hour
after being demanded, the traveller ffiall be at liberty to
provide himfelf elfewhere.
The fame prohibition is contained in the aft edabli fir¬
ing the Scots pod-office in 1695, as well as in the fub-
fequent aft of Queen Anne, erefting the general office
for the united kingdom. It is doubtful, however, wffie-
ther it was ever driftly enforced. By an explanatory
aft of 26 Geo. II. the prohibition is confined to pod
horfes only, and every perfon declared to be at liberty
to furniffi carriages of every kind for riding pod. This
regulation has, in faft, done away the prohibition, as
hardly any perfon now thinks of travelling pod except
in a carriage.
The rate fixed by the aft 1695, in Scotland, for a
horfe riding pod, was threepence per Scotch mile. By
the aft 9 Anne, c. 10. threepence a-mile without, and
four-pence a mile with, a guide, was the fum fixed for
each horfe riding pod. The increafe of commerce, and
neceffity for a fpeedy communication between different
parts of the kingdom, have brought the mode of tra¬
velling pod fo much into ufe, that upon every great
road in the kingdom pod-chaifes are now in readinefs
at proper didances; and the convenience of poding is
enjoyed in Britain to a degree far fuperior to what is to
be met with in any other country whatever.
Poding at lad appeared to the legidature a proper
objeft of taxation. In 1779 the firff aft was paffed,
impofing duties on horfes hired either by themfelves or
to run in carriages travelling pod •, the duties were, one
penny per mile on each horfe if hired by the mile or
dage, and one {hilling per day if hired by the day. Eve¬
ry perfon letting out fuch horfes was alfo obliged to
take out a licence at five drillings per annum. Thefe
duties were next year repealed, and new duties impo-
fed, of one penny per mile on each horfe hired by the
mile or dage, and is. 6d. on each if hired by the day,
A number of additional regulations were at the fame
time enafted for fecuring thefe duties. An addition
of one halfpenny per mile, or three-pence per day, for
each horfe riding pod, was impofed in 1785, by Stat.
25 Geo. III. c. 51. The duty is fecured, by obliging
every letter of horfes to deliver to the perfon hiring
them a ticket,, dxpreffing the number of horfes hired,
J
and either the didance in miles to be travelled, or that poft.
the horfes are hired by the day, as the cafe happens to —y—
be. Thefe tickets mud be delivered to the bar-keeper
at the fird turnpike through which the traveller paffes j
and the turnpike-keeper gives, if demanded, what is
termed an exchange ticket, to be produced at the next
turnpike. The damp-office ifiues to the perfon licen¬
ced to let pod-horfes fuch a number of thefe tickets as
is required, and thefe mud be regularly accounted for
by the perfon to whom they are iffued. As an effec¬
tual check upon his account, the turnpike keeper is
obliged to return back to the damp-office all the tickets
he takes up from travellers. Evafions are by thefe
means rendered difficult to be praftifed without running
a great rilk of deteftion. In 1787, for the more effec¬
tually levying the pod-horfe duties, a law wTas pafied,
authorifing the commiffioners of the damp-office to let
them to farm by public auftion, for a fum not lefs than
the produce in the year ending fird Augud 1786.
In the advertifement publidied by the commiffioners
in confequence of this lawq previous to the receiving
propofals for farming them, the total amount of the
duty for Great Britain is dated to have been, at the pe¬
riod above referred to, L.i 17,873. The fum for which
that duty was farmed in 1794 amounted in all to
140,030!. of which the didrift of North Britain was
6000I.
Soon after the tax was impofed, confiderable diffi¬
culties were raifed about the meaning of the term pojl-
ing, and what mode of journeying drould fubjeft travel¬
lers to duty. The old law, Stat. 9 Anne, c. 10. ex¬
plained poding to be “ travelling feveral dages, and
changing horfes j” but the afts impofing the poding
duties exprefsly declare, that “ every horfe hired by
the mile or dage ffiall be deemed to be hired to travel
pod, although the perfon hiring the fame doth not go
feveral dages upon a pod-road, or change horfes 5” and
that “ every horfe hired for a day or lefs period of
time, is chargeable with the duty of three halfpence per
mile, if the didance be then afeertained ; and if the di¬
dance be not then afeertained, with is. 6d. each
horfe.” Horfes hired for any lefs time than two days
are by thefe afts to be deemed to be hired for a day.
An aftion was brought in 1788, in the court of exche¬
quer at Edinburgh, to determine whether feveral dif-
puted cafes fell under the meaning of the aft, and wrere
liable to duty, when the following decifions wrere gi¬
ven :
Saddle-horfes both hired and paid by the mile, and
faddle-horfes hired originally for an excurfion, but af¬
terwards paid by the mile, were found liable to duty
according to the number of miles paid for 5 carriage-
horfes, where the carriage is hired and paid for only at
the ufual rate of outgoing carriages, and no more, wffie-
ther the perfon hiring it does or does not return in it,
were found liable to duty only for the number of miles
out; but if the carriage be hired and paid for, or ac¬
tually paid for though not originally hired, at the ufual
rate of carriages employed both to carry out and bring
back the fame company, the duty was found to be exi¬
gible according to the number of miles both out and
home taken together. Hackney-coaches in Edinburgh,
hired and paid for lefs than two miles, wTere found liable
to duty for one mile.
No duty was found to be exigible on faddle-horfes
hired
P o s
[ H1 ]
POT
Poft
H
Poftulate.
hired for a mere excurfion, and paid for accordingly,
where the diftance neither is nor can be afcertained 5 on
hackney-coaches employed in the lireets for lefs than a
mile, or for an excurfion or round of vifits merely 5 and
on horfes or carriages hired for a journey of three days
or more, and paid for accordingly, or paid for at the
rate of three days, though the journey fhould aftually
be performed in two full travelling days. The gene¬
ral rule of thefe decifions was, that in every cafe, except
nnafcertainable diftance, or journeys exceeding two
days, the mode of travelling fell under the legal defi¬
nition of potting. The only point that may feem doubt¬
ful in the judgments here ftated, is that where the duty
is found chargeable by the number of miles both going
and returning. Yet as the law exprefsly declares, that
horfes hired by the mile or ftage are to be deemed /io/?-
z’/ig/, and as the number of miles for which they are hired
can only be afcertained by the number paid for, it is
clear, that where an addition to the outgoing charge is
made on account of bringing back the perfon hiring
the carriage, the carriage in that cafe is adtually hired
and paid lor according to the number of miles both out
and home, and the duty muft fall to be rated accord¬
ingly. The doubtful points being now fettled by the
above decifions, the mode of levying the duty in Scot¬
land has been regulated agreeably to them ever fince the
matter was thus determined.
POSTERIOR, a term of relation, implying fome-
thlng behind, or that comes after, another. In which
fenfe it is ufed in oppofnion to />r/or and anterior.
The back and hips are the pofterior parts of man.
Ariftotle has given prior and pofterior analytics. A
date is pofterior to another when it is later or frefher.
POSTERN, in fortification, a fmall gate, ufually
made in the angle of the flank of a baftion, or in that
of the curtain, or near the orillon, defcending into the
ditch ; whereby the garrifon can march in and out, un¬
perceived by the enemy, either to relieve the works, or
to make private fallies, &c.
The word is alfo ufed in general for any private or
back door.
POSTHUMOUS, a child born after the death of
his father, or taken out of the body of a dead mother j
from whence it is frequently applied to the works of an
author not publifhed till after his deceafe.
POSTIL, a name anciently given to a note in the
margin of the Bible, and afterwards to one in any other
book pofterior to the text.
POSTING, among merchants, the putting an ac¬
count forward from one book to another, particularly
from the journal or wTafte-book to the ledger. See Post
and Book Keeping.
POSTLIMINIUM, among the Romans, the return
-of one who had gone to fojourn elfewhere, or had been
fcanifhed, or taken by an enemy, to his own country or
Hate.
POSTPONING, putting any thing after or behind
another, with regard to time.
POSTSCRIPT, an article added to a letter or me¬
moir, containing fomething learnt or recolledled after
the piece was written.
POST ULATE, in mathematics, &c. is defcribed
to be fuch an eafy and felf evident fuppofition, as needs
no explication or illuftration to render it intelligible j
VOL. XVII. Part I.
Poft are
Potamon.
as that a right line may be drawn from one point to an¬
other.
POSTURE, in painting and fculpture, the fitua-  v  
tion of a figure with regard to the eye, and of the fe-
veral principal members thereof with regard to one an¬
other, whereby its adlion is exprefled. A confiderable
part of the art of a painter confifts in adjufting the
poftures, or in giving the moft agreeable ones to his
figures, in accommodating them to the characters of
the refpe&ive figures, and the part each has in the ac¬
tion, and in conducting and in purfuing them through¬
out.
Poftures are either natural or artificial.
Natural poftures are fuch as nature feems to have had
a view to in the mechanifm of the body, or rather fuch
as the ordinary aftions and occafions of life lead us to
exhibit while young, and while the joints, mufcles, liga¬
ments, &c. are flexible.
Artificial poftures, are thofe which fome extraordinary
views or ftudies occafion us to learn \ as thole of dan¬
cing, fencing, &c. Such alfo are thofe of our balance
and pofture matters.
A painter would be ftrangely puzzled with the figure
of Clark (a late famous pofture-mafter in London) in
a hiftory-piece. This man, we are told in the Phil.
Tranf. had fuch an abfolute command ol his muicles,
&c. that he could disjoint almoft his whole body ; lo
that he impofed on the great lurgeon Mullens, who
looked upon him as in luch a miferable condition, he
wrould not undertake his cure. Though a well-made
man, he would appear with all the deformities imagina¬
ble ; hunch-backed, pot-bellied, fharp-breafted, &c.
He disjointed his arms, fhoulders, legs, and thighs ; and
rendered himfelf fuch an objeH of pity, that he has
frequently extorted money, in quality of a cripple, from
the fame company in which he had the minute before
been in quality of a comrade. He would make his hips
Hand a confiderable way out from his loins, and fo high
as to invade the place of his back. Yet his face was the
moll changeable part about him, and fhowed more pol-
tures than all the reft. Of himfelf he could exhibit all
the uncouth odd faces of a quaker’s meeting.
POTAMOGETON, pond-weed •, a genus of
plants belonging to the tetrandria clafs \ and in the natu¬
ral method ranking under the 15th order, Inundate.
See Botany Index.
POTAMON, or Potamo, was a philofopher of
Alexandria, He kept a middle courfe between the
fcepticifm of the Pyrrhonians and the prefumption of
the dogmatifts ; but attached himfelf to none of the
fchools of philofophy of his time. He was the firft
projedtor of the Ecledlic fedl } for though the mode of
philofophifing had been pretty common before, he was
the firft that attempted to inftitute a new fcdt on this
principle. “ Diogenes Laertius relates, that not long
before he wrote his Lives of the Philofophers, an Eclec- F-rfell*'
tic feci, ktoxhxii ns has been introduced by P°- pf/^lpL
taipo of Alexandria, who feledled tenets from every ‘ ;
former fedl. He then proceeds to quote a few particu¬
lars of his fyftem from his Ecledfic inftitutes, refpedling
the principles of reafoning, and certain general topics
of philofophical inquiry •, from which nothing further
can be learned, than that Potamo endeavoured to recon¬
cile the precepts of Plato with thofe of other matters.
H h u As
l:, '
p O T [ 242 j POT
Dr Shaw's
xnethad of
making
potafli.
* See
Tearl-
-Ajh, and
Tranf-
a Clio ns of
the Royal
iryh Aca¬
demy, 1789.
art. i. Clafs
Science.
. As nothing remains concerning this philofopher befides
j the brief account juft referred to in Laertius, an obfeure
paffage in Suidas, and another ftill more obfeure in
Porphyry; it is probable that his attempt to inftitute a
fchool upon the Ecleftic plan proved unfuccefsful.
The time when Potamo tlourifhed is uncertain. Suidas
places him under Auguftus j but it is more probable,
from the account of Laertius, that he began his under¬
taking about the clofe of the fecond century.
POTASH, the lixivious afhes of certain vegetables,
ufed in making glafs, foap, &c. See Glass, Soap, &c.
For an account of the properties and combinations of
potafh. See Chemistry. Potafti was till lately con¬
sidered as a limple fubftance but it appears from the
unexpected difeoveries of Mr Davy in galvanifm to be
a compound of a peculiar metallic fubftance and oxy¬
gen. Soda is alfo a compound of a fimilar nature. For
an account of Mr Davy’s difeoveries fee Soda. Here
we treat only of the manufacture of potafti.
The method of making potafti is direCted by Dr
Shaw as follows. Burn a quantity of billet-wood to
gray afties j and taking feveral pounds of thefe allies,
boil them in water, fo as to make a very ftrong lixivium,
or ley. Let this ley be ftrained through a coarfe linen
cloth, to keep out any black parts of the half-burnt
wood that might happen to remain in the afties j then
evaporate this ftrained lye in an iron-pan over a quick
ftre almoft to drynefs : then taking out the matter re¬
maining at the bottom, and putting it into an iron
crucible, fet it in a ftrong fire till the matter is melted,
and then immediately pour it out upon an iron plate,
where it foon cools, and appears in the form of a felid
lump of potafti*. Much after this manner is potafti
made in the large way, for the fervice of the foap-boiler,
glafs-maker, fuller, &c. but according to the difference
of the wood, or combuftible matter employed, with
the manner of turning it, and condufting the procefs,
different kinds of potafti are prepared. There are cer¬
tain faline plants that yield this potafti to great advan¬
tage, as particularly the plant kali; there are others
that afford it in lefs plenty, and of an inferior quality,
as bean-{talks, &c. but in general, all vegetable fub-
jeds afford it of one kind or other, and may moft of
them be made to yield it tolerably perfeCt after the
manner of the procefs already laid down, even the lop-
pmgs, roots, and refufe parts of ordinary trees, vine
clippings, &c. i he fixed falts of all vegetables except¬
ing the kali and marine plants, when reduced to abfo-
lute purity, or entirely feparated from the other prin¬
ciples, appear to be one and the fame thing : whence it
ftiould feem, fays Dr Shaw, that by a fuitable manage¬
ment good faleable potafti might be made in all places
where vegetable matters abound. For if by examining Potait.
Ruflia (a) potalh, for example, we find that its fuperi- y—
or excellence depends upon its being clear of earth, or
upon its containing a large proportion of oil, or re¬
fined fait, thefe advantages may, by properly regulating
the operation, be given to Englifh potafties, fo as per¬
haps to render the latter as good as the former : but
where _ the potafti of any remarkable faline vegetable is
to be imitated, that of the kali, for example, the dodor
recommends a prudent fprinkling of the fubjeft with
fait, or fea-water, in the burning ; and by thefe ways,
properly diverfified, any principle that is naturally want¬
ing might be artificially introduced fo as to perfedl the
art of potafti.
Above half a century ago, Mr Stephens, encourag-Ac *
ed by the Society of Arts, &c. and by a parliament- Mr Ste-
aiy grant of 3000I. eftablifhed a manufafture of pot-ph6115’3 ma-
afh in North America, which produced fuch as wasnufa<aure*
fo perfectly good as to anfwer in bleaching and other
ufes the purpofes ofpearl-afh ; and which at the fame
time afforded a very large produce. But the very great
heat which his procefs required, occafioned the deftruc-
tion of a very extenfive apparatus 5 and other circum-
ftances concurred to difappoint the hopes and check the
fpirit of the proprietors. The manufacture was, how¬
ever, afterwards undertaken and profecuted by others.
Mr Stephens’s apparatus was as follows: Fig. 1. A is Piaffe
the bed of the kiln, which flies off about four feet by ccccxxxviii»
two from the grate, more or lefs according to the fize^ ilg' r'
C is the afti-liole, or 3 feet deep. Fig. 2. B repre- ’l’
fents quadrangular bars of iron, with their oppofite 0fli;3
angles placed upwards and downwards, not above an paratus
inch afunder. Fig. 3. A, B, and C, are three fteepers A
five feet deep, and of any width from four to eight feet 1§ ^
fquare, of the beft white pine or cyprefs plank, with
fquare joints and ftrong oak frames, placed each over a
receiver, with a cock to let off the ley, and a vent juft
beneath the furface of the grating. E reprefents three
receivers, {landing each under, and projedling out, from
its fteeper. They muft be made of the befHluff, care¬
fully put together, and laid in tough clay well rammed
within the ground, their tops being level with the fur-
face : they need not be fo large as the fteepers by fix,
eight, or twelve inches. Fig. 4. E reprefents a falfe Fig. 4.
bottom or lattice of boards, eight inches deep and five
fquare, with a hole in the under edge of every partition
for the ley to pafs into the fteeper. Fig. 5. A is the Fig. 5.
veffel over the furnace in which the ley and afhes are &
mixed ; B is a hole or funnel a few inches from the back
of the furnace, with an iron focket to let the pipe
through the hinder part of the arch, to reach down
within two inches of the floor of the furnace. C is a
caft
(A) According to^Sir Peter Warren, the beft woods for making Ruffian potafh are, oak, afh, poplar, hiccory
eim, haze., and beecn. I hey muft be cut in November, December, January, and February, fplit and flacked to
•Pr i *Cr P2 months, in warm open weather, it rsuft be burnt on a brick hearth by a flow fire in a kiln or
mole place ; t ie afties muft be lifted through two fieves, one finer than the other, and then put up in brick troughs
or wooden backs, covered with rain or river water, and muft remain well marfhed and incorporated five months.
Brick furnaces ftiaped like bakers ovens muft be heated with a ftrong fire of oak or afh, burning night and day •
the prepared afhes muft be gradually thrown on the fire, when they will run into metal like lead : the fire muft
not go out till the furnace is nigh filled with potafties. The afties muft then be broken to be taken out but the
larger the pieces the better j they muft be preferved from the air in tight calks, the large pieces by themfelves and
yie dull by itielf. . •
POT [ 243 ] P O T
Pautfi. call iron cauldron for boiling the ley to drynefs when
' 1 pearl-ath is made. D is a velfel whence the liquor is let
into the cauldron as it evaporates. The mortar lor
building the furnace fhould be made of loam •, the arch
Ihould be 18 inches thick, and the floor Ihould be laid
with tiles on a layer of fand an inch thick, with neat
. joints. _ _
Procefs Mr Stephens’s procefs, both with and without tne
without kiln, was as follows. Cut timber, felled at any feafon,
into lengths of about eight feet: lay from three to ten
of them length wife in a heap upon dry ground, and fill
the vacancies between with fmallcr wTood : the fooner it
is burnt after felling, the better. Set fire to it by lay¬
ing embers on the bottom logs at each end} and for
burning the brulh and lappings, with other finaller
woods, lay them lengthwife on the ground, top to top,
lapping over a little, with the butt ends outwards, and
as clofe as a faggot-, laying the larger woods on top till
the heap is full four feet high j the length of the bruth
fet againft each other making the breadth of the heap.
As to the choice of the timber, old hollow trees, if not
dead, are bell : pine, cyprefs, and cedar, are to be total¬
ly rejedted.
As foon as the pile is burnt down, rake fuch alhes as
lie round the outfide a little in towards the middle add
no frelh fuel, nor throw on any brands. Let the alhes
lie without Itirring till you can juft bear your hand in
them ; then carry them to a houfe, or under a Hied, on
a plank floor raifed a little from the earth and well
jointed ; there wet them till brought nearly to the con-
fiftence of mortar in the firft mixture of lime and fand,
and ram them in a heap, in which they muft lie full 20
days, or fome months if you pleafe ; obferving to be
more fparing of wrater in winter, and ramming them
clofer, and lometimes wetting the top that it may never
5 grow- quite dry.
And with Wood may alfo be burnt in a kiln, as fig. 1. and 2.5
ft- and then it muft be cut into fuch lengths as may be
moft convenient for carriage, and beft fuit the fize of
the kiln. The mouth of the alh-hole muft be clofe
flopped by daubing the joints of the lid wflth loam, or
throwing a bank of fand or earth againft it : keep the
bed of the kiln filled with wood up to the furface, but
not above it, and let it burn inceiTantly till the allies rife
within fix or eight inches of the grate. Draw them
out whilft red-hot, and in that ftate fprinkle them with
ley, from four to fix caradls weight j weigh a fmall phial
which holds about four ounces very exaftly } then fill it
with water and w^eigh that alfo: divide the weight of
wrater into equal parts till you come to T4-g- of the w'hole,
which is called a caraB, ^ tw-o carafts, &c. until you
have a wreight equal to 4 of the whole water, w'hich is
called 3 2 carafts: all wdiich fmall weights, together
with one equal to the phial filled with w7ater, are to be
kept for weighing the ley in the faid phial till they are
made damp -, then ram them as before in a heap, but fe-
parate from the allies made as above. N. B. By kiln-burn¬
ing a ftronger ley may be more certainly procured than
by the other wray, where rain may chance to fall on the
allies before they can be removed.
The afhes thus prepared are to be put in vats or
fteepers, fig. 3. with a falfe latticed bottom as fig. 4. j
firft putting coarfe wheat or rye ftraw about a foot thick
on the lattice or grating ; on which put afhes to with¬
in four or five inches of the top, ramming them all the
way up, efpecially at the fides, with a fmall light ram- Patafli.
mer, ns tight as you can, without burfting the vat. "ir"_v 1
Form on the top of the fteeper a hollow balon in the
alhes four or five inches deep, leaving the afhes four or
five inches thick on the fides, by rafting a fmall bank
round the fides, fo that the liquor may not overflow the
edges of the allies at top: keep this bafon conftantly
filled with foft water in the fteeper A, until the afhes
will imbibe no more, which wall be in 24 hours or more,
according as it is rammed j then turn the cock, and let
off what ihall be foaked through into the receiver or
lower chamber of the fteeper, and no more 5 for if the
feveral runnings are not kept feparate, the ley will not
be brought to its due ftrength. Follow that fteeper
with frelh water on the fame alhes for feveral other run¬
nings, which will each come olf in a few days, till the
liquor has neither fmell nor tafte ; then heave out the
allies, and charge the fteeper afrelh.
Upon drawing oft’ the firft running from the fteep¬
er A, fig. 3. fill the fteeper B with afhes as before, and
put into its hollow at the top the ley fo firft run off,
and the fmaller or half leys alfo, till full, and draw off
as diredled for the fteeper A : if this weighs 18 caradts
or more, pump it into the ciftem F as fit for ufe ; if it
be ftiort of that, pafs it off as half ley to the fteeper C,
and through frefli alhes till ftrong enough. With kiln-
allies only, from water pafling through the firft fteeper,
it will be ftrong enough for the ciftern, if the allies are
w7ell prepared. If your water be hard, let it Hand twm
or three days expofed to the air and fun in a lhallow
back, and it will be foft. When you ufe kiin-alhes
with others, lay them at bottom.
The ley muft be conveyed from the ciftern F, as it
is wanted to the velfel A fig. 5.; where with every gal¬
lon of proof ley mix three ounces of fine, light, wood
allies; and to the ley that is one-fourth over-proof put
fix ounces of allies; and if two-fifths orer-proof 12
ounces, increafing or leffening according to the ftrength
of the ley.
For evaporating the ley and melting the fait, heat a
furnace till you bring it very near a white heat, of
which the fide doors being red-hot is a mark. This
will take 48 hours or more, if the furnace be quite cold;
when thorough hot, a little fuel keeps it lo. "I hen,
through the cock of the velfel A, pafs the mixture by
the funnel B into the furnace, not fo as to reach much
beyond the middle of the floor, before it changes from
dark to bright red, letting the heat prevail towards
front or back as you fee neceffary. When the mafs be¬
gins to gather about the flues or in heaps, rUn in no
more till the furnace is cleared by driving the fire back¬
ward. You muft have two funnels, one foon choak-
ing ; in an hour or lefs will iffue out a red-hot ftream
of melted fait, which is potafh, to be broken to pieces
as foon as cold, and packed in tight clofe calks, being
in no refpeft inferior to the beft foreign alh whatever. 6
The beft potalh is made from barilla, and comes from Spanifh
Spain. The plants from which it is procured are found ths
in great plenty about Carthagena, where they are indi¬
genous, and tnay be collefted in a fwamp called Almojar
eaft of that place; the Sayones barilla is the beft. T hey
are found, befides all along that coaft, on the borders
of the Mediterranean for 60 leagues in length and 8 in
breadth. About 150,000 quintals of it are annually
exported from Spain. It produces a revenue of 25,500!..
H h 2 a-yeke
4)
POT
^ 7
Dr Per-
cival’s ac¬
count of
making
potafli.
Potafh. a-year; each quintal paying a duty of 17 reals; yet
" v J .Don Bernardo de Ulloa, A. D. 1740, fays it was farm¬
ed at 1822I. 4s. 3d. M. Macdonnell has brought the
manufacture of potalh to its preient perfection in^ Spain ;
but its exportation is materially injured by the heavy tax
on it. See lownlhend’s Travels, vol. iii. p. 131. See
alfo Barilla, Kelp.
In the 70th volume of the Philofophical Tranfaftions
we have an account of a method of procuring this fait
from the putrid water which runs from dunghills. The
procefs is very eafy, confiding only in iimple evapora¬
tion of the fluid, and calcining the impure fait till molt
of the foulnefs is burnt out. From 24 wine pipes full
of this muck-water were obtained 9 cwt. 1 q. 12 lb. of
faleable potafli, valued at 42s. per cwt: the expence of
manufacturing them being only valued at 4I. 9s.
1 ^le potafli thus made is of a grayifli white appear¬
ance ; deliquefees a little in moift air ; but if kept in a
dry room, near the fire, acquires a powdery furface. It
is hard and of a fpongy texture when broken, with ma¬
ny final] cryftals in its fubftance. The colour of its in¬
ternal parts is dufky and variegated. To the tafte it is
acrid, faline, and fulphureous. It emits no fmell of vo¬
latile alkali, either in a folid form, diffolved, or when
added to lime-water; neither does it communicate the
lapphire-colour to a folution of blue vitriol. Silver is
quickly tinged black by it; a proof that it contains
much phlogiflon. Ten grains of this potafli required
11 drops of the weak fpirit of vitriol to feparate it.
The like quantity of fait of tartar required 24 drops :
a ftrong effervefoence occurred in both mixtures; and a
fulphureous vapour exhaled from the former. A tea
fpoonful of the fyrup of violets diluted wflth an ounce
or water wras changed into a bright green colour by
five grains of the fait of tartar; but ten grains of this
potafli were neceifary to produce the fame hue in a fimi-
lar mixture. Half an ounce of the fait diffolved entire¬
ly in half a pint of hot ivater ; but when the liquor was
cold, a large purple fediment fubfided to the bottom ;
and it was found that this fediment amounted to about
two-thirds of the whole quantity of allies ufed.
I)r Percival, the author of this paper, concludes with
obferving, that this potalh is a true fixed vegetable al¬
kali, . produced by putrefaftion ; that the quantity of
alkali contained in it may be ellimated at one-third of
its weight, whereas the white Mufcovy alhes are faid to
yield only one-eighth part; that no quicklime appears
to be contained in this potafli, for a folution of it pour¬
ed fiom its fediment remained clear though long ex-
pofed to the air: that it would be wrorth trying, whe¬
ther the large purple fediment, which fubfides when this
potalh is lixiviated, might not be'applied to the manu-
fafture of Pruffian blue, or ufed in the manner recom¬
mended by Macquer for dyeing wool and filks; and
that this manufatture will fumilh the farmer for top-dref-
fing for his garden and land, of great fertilizing powers.
See Phi'/. Tran/, vol. Ixx. p. 345.
Fhefe are tne proceffes moll effentially different from
one another which have appeared concerning the manu-
fa&ure of this ufeful fait. Some indeed have attempt¬
ed to compofe it on the fuppofition that alkali confifted
of an earth combined in a peculiar manner with a cer¬
tain acid. But the little fuccefs of all thefe attempts Ihow
that they have been built on a falfe principle. The on¬
ly method of producing alkaline falts originally is from
[ 244 ]
POT
Other at¬
tempts.
the alhes of vegetables; and the vegetable fubllances Pot a fit.
which \ield the largelt quantity of them are tartar and 1 v—■ "l
marine plants. P rom the former the purell and llrongelt
vegetable aikali is obtained, and from the ktter the mi¬
neral alkali. From other vegetables, as fern, broom,
bean-flalks, &c. an alkaline fait is produced, but fo im¬
pure, and in fuch fmall quantity, that no manufacture of
it can be ellablilhed in this country with any reafonable
expectation of profit.
Dr Watfon (the prefent bilhop of Landaff) Wells, on extra*,
t.’ai the invelligation of a method ol extracting its alka-ing its al-
line part from rock lalt would be a moll ferviceable dif- kaiine part
covery. We have inexhaultible mines of rock-falt in ).rom rock*
this-country, which (he obferves) the proprietors can^*1'
afford at ten Ihillings a ton. A ton of rock-falt con¬
tains about halt a ton of mineral alkali, which is for
1110 '! PU’Tofes far preferable to potalh. To thofe who
have leifure to attempt fuch a difeovery, he gives the
following hint: whether the alkaline part of rock-falt
may not be obtained by calcining it in conjunftion with
charcoal in open fires ? His realbn for this conjecture
is founded upon the following experiment: upon burn-
^a-wreck to a black coal and flopping the procefs
at that point, he has obtained great plenty of common
lalt, but no mineral alkali from the black allies ; thouvh
we are certain, that when the black aihes are thorough¬
ly calcined, or reduced to white alhes, mineral alkali
may be obtained from them. This makes it probable,
that the common fait contained in the black alhes <>f
fea-wreck is decompofed, and changed into a mineral al¬
kali, during the burning of the black allies. There are
reafons to fuppofe, that the cinder of pit-coal would an-
fwer the purpofe better than charcoal.. C/iem. EjJ' voi i
p. 1^6, &c. _ " * ro
I. he potafhes of different countries vary much in qua- Homers
hty ; and the experiments of Dr Home, in his treatiie on exPen-
Bleaching, feem to let forth their different properties in n,e,,ts 011
tne cleared point of view. The different kinds tried by aflxes'ci"
hlm were> ^ different
1. Blue pearl-a/jes. Thefe appear to be a pure a}_ countries,
kaline fait, mixed with a fmall quantity of vitriolated
tartai and earth. Half a pound of this, filtered and eva¬
porated, yielded 51- ounces of pure fait.—Here, however,
we mud obferve, that though the quantity was fo far di-
miniflied by this operation, yet we are not to imagine
that the whole of this diminution was owing to impuri¬
ties ; for all falts are dedroyed in fome meafure by Iblu-
tion in water and exficcation.
_2* fVEle pearl-afhes are nearly of the fame quality
with the foimer ; half a pound of them giving five
ounces and feven drams of pure fait, with fome vitriola¬
ted tartar and earth.
3. RuJJia or Mufcovy ajhes have very much the ap¬
pearance of flaked lime, and are, like it, friable betwixt
the fingers. They adhere to the tongue ; and their al¬
kaline tade foon goes away, leaving in the mouth a
drong tade of lime. Some fmall bits of charcoal are
obfervable in their compofition, and they never turn
moid in the air. Half a pound of the fait lixiviated
with water and evaporated, gave only 10 drams 1 r
grains of very caudic fait. Thefe confid therefore, of a
fmall quantity of alkaline fait united with a larpe auan
tity of lime. * 1
4. Cafhub-afhes are of the colour of iron-done, and
extremely hard, with many fliining particles of charcoal
in
Polafh-
Pbt'afh
it
On manu-
fa&uring
them in
this coun¬
ty.
POT
in them. They have ataline tafte, with
degree of pungency j feel gritty in the mouth when
broke in pieces by the teeth ; and will diffolve in water.
To extract the pure fait, half a pound of the afnes were
boiled in a pint of water ; then that water poured off,
and half a pint put on the afnes again ; and fo on, till
the afhes tailed no more fait. This boiling took 24
hours, and the laft water that came off had a ftrong
tafte of fulphur, and was blackilh. A piece of filver
put in the decc£lion was in a few minutes turned al-
moft black 5 but though the decoaion was evaporated
confiderably, it did not turn filver black more ipeedily
than before. The whole, when totally evaporated, yield¬
ed only 10 drams of a brown fait having a ftrong cauftic
alkaline tafte. Some Cathub-afhes powdered, and often
walhed in water, fo that the falts were all carried off,
were infufed in water. After Handing fome time, there
was a weak lime-water, with fomething of a faline tafte,
but no pellicle. Some of this refiduum was put into a
reverberatory furnace for two hours 5 after which it af¬
forded good lime-water. Caftmb-aihes then appear to
contain an earth hall vitrified, fome lime, al&aline laltx,
and a quantity of fulphur.
5. Marcoft afhes are of a paler colour than the for¬
mer, with fome fmall pieces of charcoal in their compo-
fition. They have a ftrong faline tafte •, and fo great
pungency, that they cannot be held long in the mouth.
Haifa pound diffolved in water, filtered and evaporated,
yielded 11 drams one fcruple and two grains of alkaline
refiduum. The decodftion blackened filver, but not fo
ftrongiy as the former } and by evaporation it quickly
loft that quality.
Our author next proceeds to confider the probability
of manufacturing thefe allies in this country. On which
fubjeCt he has the following obfervations.—TLhe blue
and white pearl-afties we have difcovered to be pure al¬
kaline falts, without any confiderable mixture of hetero¬
geneous bodies. Their purity {hows the lixive to have
been {trained through fome clofe fubftance, fuch as linen
or flannel. The blue allies fliow by their colour that
they have fuftained the moft fire. But both ot tnem are
fo much alike, that the one may be fubftituted for the
other j and therefore we ftiall confider them in one
view.
“ Every one knows that alkaline falts, fuch as thefe,
are got from all plants except the alkalefcent, and from
all trees except the moft refinous, wnich afford them
in very fmall quantity. Ihefe plants or trees, when
found,' are pulled or felled in the fpring, dried, and
burnt to allies. By the affufion of warm water the
falts are diffolved, and, by {training,^ feparated from the
earth along with the water. L his {aline liquor, which
is called a lixive^ is evaporated over a fire} and what re¬
mains is an alkaline iait of the fame kind with the pearl-
afties.
“ I was informed by a fkilful bleacher in Ireland,
that he praCtifed a more expeditious way of extracting
the falts. He bought the afties of different vegetables
from the commonalty for 9 s. a bufliel. F rom thefe a
r 245 ] pot
confiderable very ftrong ley was made, into which dry ft raw was ^
dipped until it fucked up all the ley. This ftraw was
afterwards dried and burnt, and gave him falts which
he ftiowed me, almoft as good and pure as the pearl-
allies. This method I have feveral times tried ; but
could never burn the ftraw to white afties, the falts di-
miniihing the inflammability of the ftraw. It is a very
expeditious method if it can be praftifed. But ! can
fee no occafion for bringing the ley into a folid form, as
the falts muft again be diffolved in water before they
can be ufed. The ftrength of the ley can eafily be de¬
termined by the hydroftatical balance.
“ Though I make no queftion, that the quantity of
fait, in plants of the fame fpecies, will vary in different
foils and climates ; yet it would be of advantage to have
the proportion afcertained in general. Some trials of this
kind I have made.
“ Two pounds of fern which had been pulled Au-
guft 16. were dried, and burnt to white afties. Thefe
weighed 7 dr. and tailed very fait. When lixiviated,
{trained, and evaporated, they gave me 49 gr. of fait,
about the eighth part of the allies. If the fern had
been pulled in April, it would have afforded more halt.
Why then ftiould we not prepare falts from this vege¬
table ? There is more of it growing on our hills than
would ferve all our bleachfields. The Irifti make great
ufe of it.
“ From 11 oz. of tobacco-afties I had I oz. of iait,
Two ounces of peat-afties afforded half a drachm of
fait. Nettles, I am informed, afford much fait. Furze
and broom, natives of this country, are very fit for this
purpofe.
“ But the kelp as it grows in fuch plenty along our
fliore, and contains more fait than any other vegetable
I know, would be the moft proper, were it not for a
mixture of fome fubftance that renders it unfit for
bleaching, at leaft of fine cloths, after they have ob¬
tained a tolerable degree of whitenefs. It is obferved
by bleachers, that in thefe circumftances, it leaves a-
great yellownefs in the linen. As thefe afties are much
ufed in Ireland, and as it is not uncommon to bleach
coarfe cloths with them in Scotland, a difquifidon into
their nature, and fome attempts to purify them, may not
be improper. There are no afties fold fo cheap as thefe ;
for the beft gives but 2l. the 2000 weight (b). They
may, therefore, allow of more labour to be expended on
them, and come cheaper at long-run than the foreign
falts.
“ I dried fome fea-ware, and burnt it, though I found
that laft operation very difficult. When I had kept it
fufed in the fire for two hours, it weighed 3^ oz. I
poured on the afties an Englifti pint and a half of cold
water, that I might have as little of the fulphur as pof-
fible. This ley, after it had ftood for fome hours, was pour¬
ed off clear, and had but a flight tendency to a green co¬
lour. I made a fecond infufion with milk-warm water,
and poured it oft' from the fediment. This had a darker
colour than the former * was kept feparated from it,
and evaporated by itfelf. There was a third infufion
(b) “ Since this treatife was written, however, the price of kelp has been advanced to 7I. or upwards the
2000 weight; fo that thofe who would now attempt any thing of this kind, muff alfo manufacture the e 0 t icm
felves.”
POT [ 246 ] POT
Potnfli. made j but having no fait ;taile, it was thrown away.
The fecond infuiion feemed to contain more fulphur than
the firfi: j and a piece of white linen kept in it half an
hour, while it was boiling, was tinged yellow, and could
not be walked white again. The earthy part remaining,
weighed, when well dried, 1 oz. 2 dr. The faline de-
codiion evaporated by degrees, and fet at different times
in a cellar to cryflallize, afforded me 5 dr. 46 gr. The
liquor, when entirely evaporated, left 4 - dr. of a yellow
fait, which appeared to be a ftrong alkaline. The falls
which cryftallized teemed to be moftly fea-falt, with a
confiderable quantity of fulphur, and fome alkaline fait.
There appeared no figns of the bittern in thefe falls, as
their folution did not turn turbid with the oil of tartar.
Nor is any of the bittern to be expedled in kelp afhes,
although it probably is to be found in the recent vege¬
table becaufe the alkaline falls formed by the fire muff
have changed it into a neutral. The ley made warm
with water, being evaporated, left 4 dr. of a black bit¬
ter fait, which, from its quantity of fulphur, appeared
unfit for bleaching. Thefe allies, then, feem to be a
compofition of fomewhat lefs than the fourth of fulphur,
the fame quantity of fea-falt, about a fourth of alkaline
ffalt, and fomewhat more than a fourth of earth. The
alkaline lalt contained in kelp allies amounts to one pen¬
ny a pound. This cheapnefs makes it worth our pains
to bellow fome labour on them.
“ If the bad effedls in bleaching with kelp-allies arife
from the fea-falt, as fome of the molt knowing bleachers
think, they can be freed from it in an eafy manner. Let
a lixive of kelp-allies be made with cold water, for that
does not extrafl fo much of the fulphur 3 it muff Hand
but for a Ihort time, for thefe falls diffolve eafily ; decant
it, and evaporate the ley. As the boiling continues, the
fea-falt will cryltallize. When that is all feparated, the
remaining ley will contain alkaline fait with fome ful¬
phur. This operation every mailer of a bleachfield may
learn and overfee, without taking up much of his time.
A fimilar procefs is carried on by common fervants in
the alum-works, who have by praflice learned it from
others.
“ I had fome hopes that the fulphur might be car¬
ried off by long roalling, fuch as thefe falls undergo
before they are fufed in order to be turned into glais}
becaufe I had obferved, that the longer time they wrere
kept in the fire, the freer were they from this fulphu-
reous part.
“ I ordered a quantity of kelp alhes to be kept in the
furnace of a glafshoufe, where the heat was juft below
the vitrifying point, for 24 hours. During this time they
had loft almoft four-fifths of their weight. They w^ere
now much freer from their fulphur, and were of a light
colour but much of the alkaline fait had been driven
off with the oils. If a ley is much impregnated with
this fulphureous matter, it appears to be carried off in a
great meafure by long boiling.
“ We come now to explain the method of manufac¬
turing the white Mufcovy allies. We have fhown, by
undoubted experiments, that the greateft part of thefe
alhes confifts of lime } and yet we have feveral afls of
•parliament which forbid the ufe of that material under
fevere penalties. The parliament were in the right to
difcharge its ufe, upon the difadvantageous reports which
were made to them. We lhall immediately fee how
i^ngerous a material it is when ufed improperly, or with-
3
out the mixture of alkaline falls, ■which render it fafe, Potafh.
and more foluble in water. JBut I will venture to fay>''
that experiment will not fupport the prejudice entertain¬
ed with regard to it, if carried any further.
Since bleaching, then, cannot be carried on with¬
out it (for thofe alhes which contain it are quite necef-
lary in that operation), and fince we import them from
foreign countries, let thefe prejudices againft it ceafe,
and let us only conlider how we may render our own
lime as fafe as the foreign. If we can do that, the wif-
dom of the legillature will be as ready to abrogate thefe
a6ls as they were to make them.
“ % my experiments on the white Mufcovy afhes,
I got about the eighth part of alkaline falls from them.
This made me expert, that, by mixing in the fame pro¬
portion quicklime and alkaline falls, I Ihould be able to
produce Mufcovy allies.
“ Lo an ounce of quicklime and a dram of white
pearl-alhes, I added about a gill of water, and boiled
them together till the water was all evaporated. The
tafte of this fubftance was little different from lime. To
recover the falls again from the lime, I diffolved it in
water, drained off the liquor, and evaporated it. Inftead
of the dram of falls, I had but two grains of a fubftance
which was more earthy than faline.
“ To 3 drams of quicklime, and as much potafhes, I
added a mutchkin of water, and kept it boiling for two
hours till it was evaporated. I diffolved it again in
water, which being filtered and evaporated, gave me
dram of a cauftic fait, that liquified in the air when
it had been but four minutes from the fire. It appears,
then, that the alkaline falls are deftroyed by lime, and
that a great part of them can never be again recovered.
From the remaining lime, after the falls were extrafted,
I got ftrong lime-water, but without a pellicle. This
fhows, that a quantity of alkaline falls, equal to the
lime, boiled with it for two hours, are not able to fix all
the foluble part of the lime.
“ From thefe experiments we may draw fome corol¬
laries with regard to the prefent fubjedl. ill, That
evaporating the water from the lime and falls by boil¬
ing, is a moft unfrugal w^ay of preparing thefe white
allies. 2dly, That thefe allies ought to be kept clofe
(hut up in calks 5 for if expofed to the open air, though
in a room, the alternate moifture and drought mull fix
their moft ufeful parts. This I have found to be facl:
for the falls that I made became lefs pungent by keep¬
ing ; and I have obferved, that the furface of the Muf¬
covy alhes loft all pungency by being expofed to the air,
while their internal parts ftill retained it. gdly, That all
boiling is prejudicial to thefe Mufcovy allies, as it fixes,
and that quickly, their moft fubtile and probably their
moft ferviceable parts.
“ Let us now proceed to another method of making
thefe white allies. I imagined, that if the falls -were
diffolved in water, and the quicklime flaked with that,
the mafs would foon dry without the affiftance of fire.
In this way I added equal parts of both 5 but the com¬
pofition was fo ftrong, that it bliftered my tongue if it
but touched it. When the fourth part was alkaline
fait, it bliftered my tongue when kept to it a few fe-
conds. I could tafte the falls plainly in the compofi-
tion, when they made but the thirty-fecond part of the
whole.
“ I thought, when compofed with the eighteenth
part
Potafli.
POT [ 247 3 POT
part of fait, it had, when frefh made, juft the tafte and
look of the Mulcovy alhes j nor could any perfon have
diftinguiftied them. This I once imagined was the pro¬
portion } but w'hen I found that the faline pungency
foon turned weaker by keeping, and that this compo-
fition would not afford the fame quantity of falts that
the Mufcovy afties did, I faw that a much greater quan¬
tity of falts was neceffary. The proportion appears to
be one of falts to four of lime, prepared in this laft way.
Three drams of afhes prepared in this way, and kept
for a fortnight, gave me but 15 grains of fait j which
is but the half of what the Mufcovy would have af¬
forded. I find, if the quicklime is firft quenched, it
does not fix the falts fo much and therefore is better
and cheaper. One dram of potafhes diflolved in a little
water, and added to three drams of quenched lime,
gave me 44 grains of a very cauftic fait. I prefer this
method as the belt.
“ The manufacturers of this fait probably pour the
lixive upon the lime, as they can know by its ipecific
gravity what quantity of falts is in the -water, and io
fave themfelves the expence of procuring the falts in a
dry form.
“ The manufacture of the Marcoft and Cafhub allies
remains yet to be explained. We have dilcovered that
both of them contained fulphur, earth, alkaline falts, and
lime ; and differ in nothing but in the Cafhub’s having
more fulphur than the Marcoft alhes. We lhall there¬
fore ednfider them together.
“ Whether thefe two fpecies of allies are of any ufe
in bleaching, may be, and has already been, difputed.
I find they contain no other principles, the fulphureous
part excepted, than the former afhes combined together.
Why then Ihould we expecl any other effects from the
fame ingredients in the Marcoft and Calhub allies,
than what we have from either of the pearl and Muf¬
covy allies mixed together ? The fulphureous principle
in the former mult have very bad effects 5 as 1 find by
experiment, that it leaves a yellownefs on cloth that is
very hard to be walked out. It is owing to this ful¬
phureous principle that linen, after it has been wallied
with foap, and is pretty w'ell advanced in whitenefs, is
apt to be difcoloured by ley which is brought to boil:
for, by boiling, the fulphureous part is extradfed from
the allies, and the ley becomes of a deep brown colour.
Daily practice, then, Ihows the difadvantage of this ful¬
phureous principle. Refides, as fulphur unites itfelf
quickly and firmly with alkaline falts, it rouft weaken
or altogether deftroy a great quantity of thefe in the
Marcoft and Calhub allies, and fo render them of no ef¬
fect in bleaching. Thefe two reafons feem to me fuffi-
cient to exclude them from the bleachfield 5 efpecially
as, by increafing the other materials, we can attain per¬
haps more fpeedily the fame end.
“ However, as cuftom has introduced them into ge¬
neral praftice, we fhall cor.fider how they are to be ma-
nufaftured. Dr Mitchell has, in a very ingenious and
ufeful paper, contained in the Philofophical Tranfac-
tions for the year 1748, delivered an account tranfmit-
ted to him by Linnaeus of the method of making
potafhes in Sweden. This account was contained in an
academical differtation of one Lundmark upon this fub-
jeft at Aboe in Sweden. The fubftance of this account
is, ‘ That birch or alder is burnt by a flow fire to alhes,
and made into a pafte with water. This pafte is plaf-
tered over a row of green pine or fir logs. Above that Potafh.
is laid tranfverfely another row of the fame j and that v n
likewife is plaftered over. In this way they continue
building and plaftering till the pile be of a conliderable
height. This pile is fet on fire ; and whenever the
allies begin to run, it is overturned, and the melted allies
are beat with flexible flicks, fo that the afhes incruft
the logs of wood, and become as hard as ftone.’ This,
in the Dodtor’s opinion, is the method of making the
potafhes that come from Sweden, Ruflia, and Dantzic :
and that there is no other difference betwixt the alhes
made in thofc different countries, but that the Ruffian,
containing more fait, muff, be made into a pafte with a
ftrong ley.
“ There would appear, by my experiments, a greater
difference than this betwixt the Sw'edifh allies, if that
is the true procefs, and thofe I have examined. I had
difeovered the greateft part of the Mufcovy afties to be
lime. I fufpe&ed it might enter into the compolition
of the Marcoft and Cafhub 3 and have accordingly dif¬
eovered it there. Without the fame grounds, none
would ever liave fearched for it. Whence then comes :
this lime ? It muff; either enter into its compofition, or
arife from the materials managed according as the pro¬
cefs direfts.
“ I have tried the birch allies made into a pafte with -
water. I have tried common charcoal made into a pafte
with a third part of potaflies, and kept them in a ftrong
reverberatory heat for fome hours, and yet no Inch cau¬
ftic fubftance appeared. I have kept earth and falts of
kelp-allies fufed together for 24 hours in the furnace of
a glafshoufe, where the heat was juft below the degree
of vitrification 3 and yet no remarkable caufticity ap¬
peared afterwards in the concreted mafs. But fuppoling
that there did, will ever this account for the generation
of lime ? Thefe chemifts do not affert that it is a calca¬
reous caufticity. The earth of vegetables kept in fufion
with their falts, is fo far from turning into a quicklime,
that the mafs takes the oppofite courfe, and becomes
glafs. Bodies that, by the laws of nature, are vitref-
cible, can never, fo far rs we know, become calcareous.
In one or other of thefe two fubftances all bodies termi¬
nate that are changeable by fire 3 anti vegetables are of
the former kind. Here it may be alked, Why then,
fince they endure fuch a fire, are they not vitrified i the
objeftion would be juft, did they contain nothing elfe
but what was found in vegetables. But if we once al¬
low that lime is one of the materials, the difficulty is
eafily lolved : for lime, we know, in proportion as it is .
mixed, hinders the vitrification of all bodies. In effeft,
the earthy part in thefe afties is almoft vitrified : and I
think that I have carried the vitrification yet farther in
that part 3 but I never was able, with the utmoft heat
of a reverberatory furnace, continued for fix hours, to
produce any thing like a thorough vitrification in thefe
allies. The heat of the fire ufed in the procefs would
feem to be very great 3 and muft, if it wrere not very
difficult, reduce them to glafs. The invitrefcible na¬
ture of thefe falts, fo far from being an objedlion, be¬
comes a ftrong proof of my opinion.
“ Thefe falts have a remarkable pungency. This we
have already feen is the natural effeft of quicklime on
falts.
“ Thefe falts are found to be the fitteft for making
foap, and to incorporate fooneft and beft with oils. .
Salts.,
POT f 248 ] POT
Potafl), Sails, we know, of themfelves do not readily unite with
P«tato. 0ii. bot when once mixed with quicklime, they have a
greater tendency to union.
“ Again, I Hnd that thefe alhes are more eafily flux¬
ed than charcoal made into a pafte with the third part
hilt •, which is much more than the allies contain. Now,
it is obferved that quicklime increafes the fluxing power
of alkaline falls; for the common cauftic made of quick¬
lime and alkaline falls is fooner fufed than the latter
alone.
“ From thefe reafons, and the experiments that dif-
cover lime in thefe allies, I am led to think, that it is
not generated by the procefs, but mixed with the alhes
when they are made into a pafte. The following expe¬
riment is a convincing proof of what I have been endea¬
vouring to make out.
“ I boiled fome peafe ftraw in a ftrong ley of pearl-
allies burnt into a black coal, and made it into a pafte
•with water. Another quantity of ftraw was boiled in
a ley made of one part of quicklime and four parts of
pearl falls, the ley being poured oft' turbid from the lime.
This ftraw was likewife burnt when dry, and made into
a pafte. Thefe two fubftances were put into feparate
crucibles, and fluxed in a reverberatory furnace. The
latter appeared to referable the Marcoft and Caftiub
alhes more than the former, which feemed to want their
j, pungency.”
Potalhes Though the only method of preparing the alkaline
and pearl- fait originally is by the combullion of vegetables, yet
allies ob- there are fome neutral falls from which if it were poi-
neuWal10111 ^ble to expel the acid, we ftiould have it in our power
falls. to procure the fineft pearl-allies in vaft quantity. Thefe-
are vitriolated tartar, nitre, &c. But there are objec¬
tions to all thofe. The vitriolated tartar, or any other
falt in which the vitriolic acid enters, cannot be decom-
pofed without converting the acid into fulphur by char¬
coal duft 5 in which cafe it is as difficult to get free of
the fulphur as of the acid. With refpeft to nitre, though
its acid may be expelled by fire, yet it is too high-
priced, and too much ufed in other manufactures, to be
thought of for this purpofe.
POTATO. See Solanum, Botany Index,
Potatoes, it is generally thought, came originally
from North America, where they were not reckoned
good for food. They were firft (we are told) introdu¬
ced into Ireland in the year 1565, and from thence into
England by a veffel wrecked on the weftern coaft, call¬
ed North Meo/s, in Lancalhire, a place and foil even
now famous for producing this vegetable in great per¬
fection. It was 40 years after their introduction, how¬
ever, before they were much cultivated about London j
and then they were confidered as rarities, wuthout any
conception of the utility that might arife from bringing
them into common ufe. At this time they were diftin-
guilhed from the Spanilh by the name of Virginia po¬
tatoes or battatas, which is the Indian name of the
Spaniffi fort. At a meeting of the Royal Society,
March 18. 1662-3, a letter was read from Mr Buck-
land, a Somerfet gentleman, recommending the planting
of potatoes in all parts of the kingdom to prevent fa¬
mine. This -was referred to a committee *, and, in con-
fequence of their report, Mr Buckland had the thanks
•of the fociety, fuch members as had lands were intreated
to plant them, and Mr Evelyn w-as defired to mention
Abe propofalsjit the clofe of his Sylva.
2
In Sweden, notwithftanding the indefatigable induftry Potato,
of Linnteus, the culture of potatoes was only introduced ——
in 1764, when a royal ediCl was publilhed to encourage
their general cultivation. They were known there,
however, at an earlier period j tor in the Memoirs of
the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden, 1747>
Charles Skytfe propofed to diftil brandy from them, in
order to fave corn, which in that country is very dear.
He found by experience, that an acre of land let with
potatoes will yield a much greater quantity of brandy
than wffien fown with barley. For a full account of the
methods of cultivating and preferving this valuable root,
fee Agriculture Index.
We have already mentioned a cheap preparation by
means of potatoes for the poor, fee Agriculture,
N° 288. j we lhall here introduce a receipt to make a
potato harrico, wffiich may be equally ufeful to thofe
whofe circumftances are not luch as to make them re-
gardlefs of economy. We take it from the Gentleman’s
Magazine, and give it in the words of a perfon who
had made the experiment.
“ Scrape the Ikin clean off four pounds of good rawr po¬
tatoes, then waffi them clean in fair water: take two
pounds of beef, one of mutton, and one of pork j or, as
you like beft, four pounds of any of theie meats ; cut
them into pieces of three or four ounces each, feaion
them very rvell with pepper and lalt and a good onion
chopped very fmall : have ready a itrong wide-mouthed
ftone-jar, fuch as hares are ufually jugged in ; flice thin
a layer of the potatoes into the jar, then a layer ot the
feafoned meat over them, and fo alternately layers of
potatoes and meat 5 let your uppermoft layer be pota¬
toes, fo that your jar be about three quarters full, but
put no water into your jar; then clo e or flop the
mouth of it with a large well-fitted piece of cork, co¬
vering the fame with a ftrong piece of canvas, and tying
it down with packthread, fo as only a little ot the fleam
may efcape in the ftewing •, for a little fhould conftantly
evaporate from the fide of the cork to fave the jar from
burfting. Then place your jar upright in a kettle of
cold water on the fire, lo as the mouth of the jar may
be always two inches above the water in the kettle when
boiling. The harrico in the jar will begin to boil fome
minutes fooner than the water in the kettle, and that
for obvious reafons. In about an hour after the water
in the kettle begins to boil, your harrico will be fully
ftewed. Then take out and open the jar, pour out the
harrico into a deep dilh, and ferve it up.
“ This excellent, wholeiome, and economical difh fup-
plies an agreeable dinner twice a week to a family con¬
fining of three growm people, and three children under
14 years of age, where neither health nor good ftomachs
are wanting, thanks to God : and, in point of economy
w?e muft obferve, that here is the whole article of butter
faved, as alfo the whole article of bread, or nearly fo}
nor does there require fo large or fo continued a fire, nor
fo much time or trouble as is neceffary for the dreffing
of many other diflres that by no means deferve the pre¬
ference to this excellent harrico.
“ We have alfo (by way of change) made it with pow¬
dered beef, fometimes with powdered pork, fometimes
with half freffi beef or mutton and half pickled pork,
and found it good in all thefe ways, particularly with
three pounds of frelh beef and one of pickled pork. We
have left off fending pies and ftews to the bakers. We
fometimes
POT
[ 249 ]
POT
Potato
J'r
Potufi.
fometimes (in a larger kettle) boil a fmall piece of pow¬
dered beef along-fide of the jar, by continuing tbe boil¬
ing an hour and a half longer, and this ferves us to eat
cold the next day, with hot garden-fluff or a pudding.”
POTATO-Bread. See BjiEAD of Potatoes.
Spanijh POTATO. See Convolvulus, Botany
Index.
POTENT, or Potence, in Heraldry, a term for a
kind of crofs, whole ends all terminate like the head of
a crutch. It is otherwife called the Jerufalem crofs.
See Heraldry.
POTENTIA (power), that whereby a thing is ca¬
pable either of attiag or being ailed upon.
POTENTIAL, in the fchools, is ufed to denote
and diftinguifh a kind of qualities, which are fuppofed
to exift in the body in potentia only j by which they are
capable in fome meafure of affefling and impreffmg on
us the ideas of fuch qualities, though not a&ually inhe¬
rent in themfelves •, in which fenie we fay, potential heat,
potential cold, &.c.
POTENTIAL Cautery, in Medicine, denotes the con-
fuming, or reducing to an efchar, any part of the hu¬
man body by a cauftic alkaline or metallic fait, &c. in-
ftead of a red-hot iron, which laft is called the aBual
cautery.
Potential, in Grammar, an epithet applied to one
of the moods of verbs. The potential is the fame in
form with the fubjunftive, and is, according to Ruddi-
man, implied in that mood, for which reafon that gram¬
marian rejefls it •, but others will have it to differ from
the fubjunflive in this, that it always implies in it either
poffhm, volo, or debeo. It is fometimes called the per-
mijfive mood, becaufe it often implies a permiffion or
concelfron to do a thing. See Grammar.
POTENTILLA, silver-weed, wild tanfey, or
cinquefoil; a genus of plants belonging to the icofandria
clafs ; and in the natural method ranking under the
35th order, Senticofee. See Botany Index.
POTERIUM, GARDEN BURNET ; a genus of plants
belonging to the monoecia clafs $ and in the natural me¬
thod ranking under the 54th order, Mifcellanece. See
Botany Index.
POTHOS, a genus of plants belonging to the gy-
nandria clafs. See Botany Index.
POTION, a liquid medicine, confifting of as much
as can be drunk at one draught.
POTIPHAR, or Putiphar, an officer of the court
of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and general of his troops,
according to our tranilation, Le Clerc, and the verffon
of the vulgate ; but according to the Hebrew and Sep-
tuagint, the chief of his butchers or cooks. The He¬
brew text, the Septuagint, and vulgate, call him Eu¬
nuch. But it is probable it in this place means only an
officer of the king’s court, for he was certainly married
and had children. We have no other accounts of him
but what appear in fcripture; and that account is too
generally known to require to be enlarged on in this
place. See Geneffs xxxvih. xxxix. &c.
POTOSI, a city of Peru in South America, fituated
dt the bottom of a mountain of that name, in which is
the richeft filver mine ever difcovered. To give an idea
of its richnefs, we {hall mention its produce at different
times. Exclufive of what was not regiftered, fays Abb6
Raynal, and was fmuggled away, the fifth part belong¬
ing to the government from 1545 to 1564, amounted
Vol. XVII. Part I.
to 36,450,000 livres * per annum. But this abun- Alton
dance of metals foon decreafed. From 156410 I585» p0||.er
the annual fifth part amounted to no more than, ^ , , ,
15,187,489 livres four fols f. From 1585 to 1624, *
it amounted to 12,149,994 livres 12 fols J. From 1624! 632,8x2!.
to 1633, to 6,074,997 iivres fix fols ||. From this lait is-
period, the produce of thefe mines hath fo evidently de-| ’
creafed, that in 1763 the fifth part, belonging to the^^^^^
king, did not exceed 1,364,682 livres i2lols§. Situ-17s. $d.
ated in W. Long. 67. S. Lat. 22. See Peru. § 46,861!.
POTSDAM, or Postdam, a town of Germany, inTSs»9d'
the circle of Upper Saxony, with a palace, belonging
to the king of Pruffia. It is leated in an ifiand 10
miles in circumference, formed by the rivers Sprae and
Havel. The palace is finely built, delightfully fituated
on a fpot 12 miles welt of Berlin. E. Long. 13. 42.
N. Lat. 52. 34. Reifbeck in his Travels informs us,
that the houfes in Potfdam are ftill finer than thole of
Berlin ; but like them they are inhabited only by per-
fons of the lower and middling ranks. The population
of Potfdam is ftated at 26,000.
POTT, Percival, was born in London in 1713.
He received the firft rudiments of his education at a pri¬
vate fchool at Darne in Kent ; and became an appren¬
tice to Mr Nourfe, one of the furgeons of St Bartholo¬
mew’s hofpital •, of which hofpital, in 1744-5, he was
elefted an affiffant furgeon, and in 1749 appointed one
of the principal furgeons. In 1736, he married the
daughter of Robert Cruttenden, Efq. His firft pub¬
lication is faid to have been planned in 1756, during his
confinement in confequence of a compound fradiure of
the leg : from that time, his pen was leldom long un¬
employed. His practice and his reputation were now’
rapidly increafing: in 1764, he wus elefted a fellow of
the Royal Society \ and afterward was complimented
with honorary diplomas from the Royal Colleges of Sur¬
geons at Edinburgh and in Ireland. In 1787, he re-
ffigned the office of furgeon to St Bartholomew’s hofpi¬
tal, “ after having ferved it (as he ufed to fay), man
and boy, half a century }” and on the 22d of Decomber
1788, after an illnefs of eight days, he expired.
“ The labours of the greateft part of his life (fays
Mr Earle, who publiflied his Chirurgical W’orks), were
without relaxation ; an increafing family required his
utmoft exertion : of late years he had a villa at Neaf-
den ; and in the autumn ufually palled a month at Bath,
er at the fea-fide. Thus, though he gathered, as he ex-
preffed it, fome of the fruit of the garden which he had
planted as he went along, and ahvays lived in a gene¬
rous and hofpitable manner, at the fame time bellowing
on four fons and four daughters a liberal and neceffarily
expenfive education, and applying large fums to their
eftablilhment during his lifetime, he left an ample pro-
vifion for them at his deceafe. Among his papers was
found, wffiat he had often mentioned, a fmall box, con¬
taining a few pieces of money, being the whole which
he ever received from the wreck of his father’s fortune.
With this was depofited an exadl; account of every indi¬
vidual fee wffiich a long life of bufinefs had produced——
abundant evidence of wrell fpent time, and the induftri-
ous application of abilities, to which the res angujla do-
mi, at the commencement, probably afled more power¬
fully as an incentive than as an obffacle.”
POTTER, Christopher, a learned Englilh divine,
was born in 1591, and bred at Oxford. In 1633, he
I i publilhed
P O V [2
Potter pubilfhed his “ Anfwer to a late Poplifh Plot,” entitled
Ij Charity rni/iaken, which he wrote by fpccial order of
cJC-lUl/ Charles I. whole chaplain he was. In 1634, he
was promoted to the deanery of Worcefter j and, in
1640, was conilituted vice-chancellor of the univerfity
of Oxford, in the execution of which office he met with
fome trouble from the members of the long parliament.
Upon the breaking out of the civil wars, he lent all his
plate to the king, declaring, “ that he would rather,
like Diogenes, drink in the hollow of his hand, than
that his majelty thould want j” and he afterwards dif¬
fered much for the royal caufe. In conlideration of this
he was nominated to the deanery of Durham in 1646,
but was prevented from being inftalled by his death,
which happened about two months after. He was a
perfon learned and religious, exemplary in his converfa-
tion, courteous in his carriage, of a fweet and obliging
nature, and of a comely prefence. He was remarkable
in his charity to the poor.
Potter, Dr John, archbiffiop of Canterbury, was
the fon of a linen-draper at Wakefield in Yorkffiire,
where he was born about the year 1674. He ftudied
at Univerfity college, Oxford } and at 19 publilhed
Variances leciioncs et notce ad Plutarchi librum de audien-
dis poetis ; et ad Bajilii magni orationem ad juvenes,
quomodo cutji fruciu legere pojjint Greecorum libros, 8vo,
1693. In 1697, came out his edition oi Lycophron,
in folio 5 which is reckoned the bell of that obfcure
writer: foon after, he publiffied his Antiquities of
Greece, 2 vols 8vo. Thefe works eftabliffied his lite¬
rary reputation, and engaged him in a correfpondence
with Graevius and other learned foreigners. In 1706,
he was made chaplain to the'queen 5 in 1715, bifhop of
Oxford j and in 1737, he fucceeded Archbilhop Wake
in the fee of Canterbury ; which high ftation he fupport-
ed with much dignity until his death in 1747. He was
a learned and exemplary churchman but not of an
amiable difpofition, being but too ftrongly tinctured
with the pride of office ; nor is it to his credit that he
difinherited his elded fon for marrying below his rank
in life. His “ Theological works, containing fermons,
charges, difcourfes on church-government, and divinity
lectures,” were printed at Oxford, in 3 vols 8vo, 1753.
POTTERY, the manufadlure of earthen-ware, or
the art of making earthen vefiels. See DELFT-lVare,
aud Porcelain.
POTTLE, an Englifii meafure containing two
quarts.
POVERTY fignifies indigence or want of riches,
and has been the lot of a large portion of men in every
age. Whether, on the whole, it has been produdfive
of good or bad confequences, has been difputed. In a
moral view, perhaps it has been, on the whole, ufeful,
as adverfity is in general more conducive to virtue than
profperity, which too often leads to luxury and vice. 
Sometimes, however, poverty has had a "baneful efiedl
upon the mind, and has prompted men to commit very
inhumap adlions •, but this in civilized communities very
feldom occurs. In a political view, poverty is thought
by fome to be hurtful : Raynal thinks it is a check°to
population (fee his Hiftory, vol. vi. p. 471.) j and Dr
Smith fo far agrees with him ; for though he afferts
and indeed proves, that poverty is no check to the pro-
duftion of children, he allows it to be very unfavour¬
able to raifing th«m. See Politjc.vl Economy j and
Poultry.
50 1 P O U
alto Smith’s Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 119, &c. See PouladufF
alfo Poor. n
POULADUFF, two large and remarkable cavities,
about a mile weft of Rofs, in the county of Cork, and
province of IMunfter,. in Ireland, 80 yards deep, in
which the fea flows by fubterraneous palfatres. They
are called Eaft and Weft Bouladuff.
POULES, or Foulques, one of the chief nations
on the banks of the Senegal. Their country extends
more than 180 miles along the river, and they demand
exorbitant cuftoms from the Senegal traders with the ii*.
terior of the country. They are of a copper colour,
fomewhat inclining to red, although their children,
who lefide for fome years at Senegal, become much
biacker. JLheir females are handfome, and many of
them are procured by the white people of Senegal.
They are, however, incapable of attachment, and their
difpofitions are bad, requiring to be narrowly watched
to prevent their infidelity : The dread of the baftinado
wull often effedf wdiat attention and compliance can ne¬
ver bring about.
Although the Poules inhabit one of the fineft Ipots in
Africa,^ they are neverthelefs a wretched people; they
are bafe, cruel, thievifh, and fanatic in the extreme.
They are commanded by a chief of their religion, which
is a contemptible mixture of Mahometanifm and idola¬
try. This chief is called the Almamy; he is always
chofen from among the tampfirs, who are 12 in number.
The tampfirs are the interpreters of the lawq and are the
moft learned, or rather the moft fanatical among them.
The almamy has the power of life and death over his
fubje&s; yet. he may be depofed by an affembly of
tampfirs : it is therefore his intereft to keep on good
terms with them. The payment of cuftoms is made to
the almamy, and is afterwards diftributed among the
tampfirs \ and although a part belongs to the former,
he neverthelefs requires a feparate prefent for himfelf.
POULTICE, a fort of medicine, called alfo a cata-
plafm. See Cataplasma.
POULIRY, all kinds of domeftic birds brought up
in yards, as cocks, hens, capons, ducks, turkeys, &c.
Almoft, if not all the domeftic birds of the poultry
kind that w^e maintain in our yards are of foreign ex¬
traction : but there are others to be ranked in this clafs
that are as yet in a ftate of nature, and perhaps only
want till they become fufficiently fcarce to be taken un¬
der the care of man to multiply their propagation. It
will appear remarkable enough, if we confider how
much the tame poultry wffiich wre have imported from
diftant climates has increafed, and how much thofc
wild birds of the poultry kind that have never yet been
taken into keeping have been diminiftied and "deftroy-
ed. 1 hey are all thinned •, and many of the fpeeies, es¬
pecially in the more cultivated and populous parts of the
kingdom, are utterly unfeen.
Under bpds of the poultry kind may be ranked all
thofe that have white flefli, and, comparatively to their
heads and limbs, have bulky bodies. They are furnifli-
ed wuth fliort ftrong bills for picking up grain, which is
their chief and often their only fuftenance. Their wings
are ftiort and concave 5 for which reafon they are not
able to fly far. They lay a great many eggs; and as
they lead their young abroad, the very day they are
hatched, in queft of food, wffiich they are fliown by
the mother, and which they pick up for themfelves.
P O U [25
Poultry, they generally make their nefts on the ground. I lie
toes of all thefe are united by a membrane as far as the
firft articulation, and are then divided.
Under this clafs we may therefore render the common
cock, the peacock, the turkey, the pintada or Guinea
hen, the pheafant, the buftard, the grous, the partridge,
and the quail. They all bear a ftrong fimihtude t:o each
other, being equally granivorous, flethy, and delicate to
the palate. They are among birds what beads of paiture
are among quadrupeds, peaceable tenants ot the field,
and ihunning the thicker parts of the foreft, that abound
with numerous animals who carry on unceafmg hollihties
againit them. _
As nature has formed the rapacious clafs for war, to
Ihe feems equally to have fitted thefe for peace, reft,
and fociety. Their wings are but thort, fo that they
are ill formed for wandering from one region to ano¬
ther : their bills are alfo ftiort, and incapable of annoy¬
ing their oppofers : their legs are ftrong indeed 5 but
their toes are made for fcratching up their food, and not
for holding or tearing it. Thefe arefufficient indications
of their harmlefs nature j wdiile their bodies, which are
fat and flethy, render them unwieldy travellers, and in¬
capable of ftraying far from each other.
f Accordingly, we find them chiefly in fociety : they
live together : and though they may have their dif-
putes, like all other animals, upon fome occafions }
yet, when kept in the fame diftridt, or fed in the
fame yard, they learn the arts of fubordination ; and,
in proportion as each knows his ftrength, he feldom
tries a fecond time the combat where he has once been
worfted.
In this manner, all of this kind feem to lead an in¬
dolent voluptuous life. As they are furniihed internal¬
ly with a very ftrong ftomach, commonly called a gi-z-
%ard, fo their voracioufnefs fcarce knows any bounds.
If kept in clofe captivity, and feparated from all their
former companions, they have ftill the pleafure. of eat¬
ing left j and they foon grow fat and unwneldy in their
prifon. To fay this more Amply, many of the wilder
fpecies of birds, when cooped or caged, pine away, grow
oloomy, and fome refufe all fuftenance whatever ; none
except thofe of the poultry kind grow fat, wdio feem to
lofe all remembrance of their former liberty, fatisfied with
indolence and plenty.
The following method of railing poultry has been
fuccefsfully praaifed by Mrs d’Oyley of Sion Hill near
Northallerton, and feems worthy of being noticed. We
(hall extraH the account of it, as it w^as given to the So¬
ciety for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. in her owm
words “ I keep”, fays Ihe, “ a large ftock of poultry,
which are regularly fed in a morning upon fteamed po¬
tatoes chopped fmall, and at noon they have barley }
they are in high condition, traaable, and lay a very
great quantity of eggs. In tne poultry-yard is a fmall
building, fimilar to a pigeon cote, for the hens to lay in,
with frames covered with net to Hide before each neft :
the houfe is dry, light, and well ventilated, kept free
from dirt by having the nefts and walls white-wafhed
two or three times a-year, and the floor covered once a-
week with frelh alhes. When I wilh to procure chick¬
ens, I take the opportunity of fetting many hens toge¬
ther, confining each to her refpeftive neft ; a boy at¬
tends morning and evening to let any off that appear
seftlefs, and to fee that they return to their proper
1 ] P o U
places : when they hatch, the chickens are taken away,
and a fecond lot of eggs allowed them to fet again, by
which means they produce as numerous a brood as be¬
fore. I put the chickens into long wicker cages, placed
againft a hot wall at the back of the kitchen fire, and
within them have artificial mothers for the chickens to
run under ^ they are made fimilar to thole deferft ed uy
M. Reaumur, in his Art de faire eclorre et d'clever cn
toutes Saifons des Oifeaux domejliques de toutes Efpeces^
&.c. in two volumes, printed at Pans, 1751 • '-hey are
made of boards about 10 inches broad, and 15 inches
long, iupported by two feet in the front four inenes i i
height, and by a board at the back two inches in
height. The roof and back are lined with lambs Ikins
dreffed with the wool upon them. The rod is thickly
perforated with holes for the heated air to efcape •, they
are formed without bottoms, and have a flannel curtain,
in front and at the ends for the chickens to run under,
which they do apparently by inftinft. The cages are
kept perfedlly dry and clean with land or mofs. 1 he
above is a proper fize for 50 or 60 new-hatched chick¬
ens, but as they increafe in fize they of courfe require a
larger mother. When they are a week old, and the weather
fine, the boy carries them and their artificial mother to
the grafs-plot, nourilhes and keeps them warm, by pla¬
cing a long narrow tin veffel filled with hot water at the
back of the mother, which will retain its heat for three
hours, and is then renewed frelh from the fteamer. In
the evening they are driven into their cages, and refume
their ftation at the hot wall, till they are nearly three
weeks old, and able to go into a fmall room appropri¬
ated to that purpofe. The room is furniihed with
frames fimilar to the artificial mothers, placed round the
floor, and with perches conveniently arranged for them
to I'ooft upon.
“ When I firft attempted to bring up poultry in the
above way, I loft immenle numbers by too great heat
and fuffocation, owing to the roofs of the mothers not
being fufficiently ventilated 5 and when that evil was
remedied, I bad another ferious one to encounter: I
found chickens brought up in this wray did not thrive
upon the food I gave them, and many of them died, till
I thought of getting coarfe barley-meal, and fteaming it
till quite foft: the boy feeds them with this and minced
potatoes alternately ; he is alfo employed rolling up pel¬
lets of dough, made of coarfe wheat flour, which he
throws to excite them to eat, thereby caufing them to
grow furpiifingly.
“ I was making the above experiments in the fummer
for about two months •, and during that time my hens
produced me upwards of 500 chickens, 400 of which I
reared fit for the table or market. I ufed a great many
made into pies for the family, and found them, cheapet
than butcher’s meat. Were I fituated in the neighbour¬
hood of London, or any very populous place, I a«i con¬
fident I could make an immenfe profit, by rearing dif¬
ferent kinds of poultry in the above method for the mar¬
kets, and felling them on an average at the price of but¬
chers meat.
“A young perfon of 12 or 14 years of age might,
bring up in a feafon fome thoufands, and by adopting a
fence fimilar to the improved flieep-fold, almoft any
number might be cheaply reared, and with little trouble*
Hens kept as mine are, and having the fame convenien¬
ces, will readily fet four times a feafon, and by fetting
I i 2 twice
Poufuy.
P O U [25
Poultry twice each time, they would produce at the loweft cal-
Poundage. culatlon eighty chickens each, which would foon make
them very plentiful.
Ihe moft convenient fize of an artincial mother,”
continues the author, “ for 40 or 50 young chickens, is
about 15 inches long, 10 deep, four high in front, and
two at the hack; it is placed in a long wicker cage againft
a warm wall, the heat at about 80 degrees of Fahrenheit’s
thermometer, till the chickens are a few days old, and
ufed to the comfort of it, after which time they run un¬
der when they want reft, and acquire warmth by crowd-
ing together. I find it advifable to have two or three
chickens among them of about a week old to teach them
to peck and eat. The meat and water is given them in
finall troughs fixed to the mitfide of the cage, and a little
is ft re wed along from the artificial mother, as a train to
the main depofit. It would have given me great plea¬
sure to have been able to fend a fpecimen of my fuperior
feed and management, if the feafon had been rather
more advanced, for I think it is not poffible for turkeys
and chickens to weigh heavier, be whiter, or altogether
better fed than mine are.
“ After a certain age, they are allowed their liber-
ty, living chiefly on fteamed potatoes; and being fi-
tuated tolerably fecure from the depredations of men
and foxes, are permitted to rooft in trees near the
houfe.
“ To prevent trouble and prejudice in the firfl outfet,
I think it neceffary to remark, that if the chickens
do not readily run under the artificial mother for want
of fome educated ones to teach them, it will be proper
to have the curtain in front made of rabbit or hare
fkin, with the fur fide outwards, for the warmth
and comfort to attract them ; afterwards they run
under the flannel ones, fimilar to the one I fent, which
are preferable for common life, on account of cleanli-
nefs, and not being liable to get into the mouths of the
* T™»f; of chickens. *”
&C. for ^’ POUNCE, gum fandarach pomaded and fifted very
18.07. t° rub on paper, in order to preferve it from
finking, and to make it more fit to write upon.
Pounce, is alfo a little heap of charcoal duft, in*
doled in a piece of muflin or fome other open fluff, to
be pdfed over holes pricked in a work, in order to mark
the lines or defigns thereof on paper, filk, &c. placed
underneath ; which are to be afterwards finifhed with a
pen and ink, a needle, or the uke. T. his kind of pounce
is much ufed by embroiderers, to transfer their patterns
upon fluffs ; by lace-makers, and fometimes alfo by en¬
gravers.
Pounces, in falconry, the talons or claws of a bird
of prey.
POUND, a flandard-weight ; for the proportion and
fubdivifions of which, fee the article Weight.
. Pound alfo denotes a money of account; fo called,
ttecaufe the ancient pound of filver weighed a pound
troy*
Pound, among lawyers, denotes a place of flrength,
in which to. keep cattle that are diftrained or put in for
trefpafs, until they are replevied or redeemed.
POUNDAGE, a fubfidy of i2d. in the pound,
granted to the crown on all goods and fnerchandifes
; exported or imported ; and if by aliens, one penny
more.
2 ] p o u
POURPRESTURE, in Lrzu, is a wrongful inclo-
fure, or mcroachment upon anotker perfon’s property
POURSUIVANT, or Pursuivant, in Heraldry.
the loweft order of officers at arms.—They are proper¬
ly attendants on the heralds when they marfhal pub¬
lic ceremonies. Of thefe in England there were for¬
merly many ; but at prefent there are only four, viz.
blue-mantle, rouge-crofs,. rouge-dragon, and port-cul-
hce. ^ in Scotland there is only one king at arms, who
is H) led Lyon 1 and has under him no lefs than fix he¬
ralds, as many purfuivants, and a great many meffengers
at arms. See Lyon. °
POURVEYANCE, or Purveyance, in Law, the
providing corn, fuel, vi&uals, &c. for the king’s houfe-
hcld ; and hence the officer who did fo was termed
pourveyor. As feveral offences were committed by thefe
officers, it was enadted by flat. 12. Car. II. that no
perfon, under colour of pourveyance, ihall take any
timber, cattle, corn, &c. from any fubjedl without his
free confent, or without a juft appraifement and payino-
for the fame.
POUSSIN, Nicholas, an eminent French painter,
born in. 1594, at Andel, a little city in Normandy,
where his father was of noble extraaion, but born to’a
fmall eilate. He was inflruaed for a few months bv
one Ferdinand Elle, a portrait-painter, and afterwards
fpent a month with L’Allemant; hnt finding- thefe ar-
tiffrs not likely to improve him fuitably to his defires,
he firfl fludied the paintings of the bell mailers, and,
then haflened to finiffi a few pieces he was engaged in.
and travelled to Italy. Here he devoted almofl his
whole attention to the ftudy of antique flatues and bas
reliefs; which was probably the caufe of his want of
knowledge in, and tafte for, the art of colouring. Be¬
ing invited back to Paris by Louis XIII. who affign-
ed. him a penfion with lodgings in the Thuilleries, he
painted for Prince Juflmiam an hiflorical pidlure rc-
prefenting Herod’s cruelty; an admirable compofition.
in which he gave fuch expreffion to every charafler, as
could not fail to flrike the beholder with terror and
pity : he. then laboured for feveral years o» the cele¬
brated piflurcs of the feven facraments of the Romifli
church. But none of Pouffin’s defigns have been more
generally admired than that of the death of Germa-
rucus ; which would have gained him immortal honour
if he had never painted another piflure. He began the
labours of Hercules in the gallery of the Louvre ; but
the faflion of Vouet’s fchool railing at him and his
performances, put him fo out of humour with his own
country, that he returned to Rome, where he d^ed in
1665. He never went beyond eafel-pieces, for which
he had a perpetual demand ; and his method was to fix
the price, he expedted on the back of the canvas, which
was readily paid.
Poussin, Gafpar. This painter, whofe real name
was Dughet, was bom at Paris in 1600; and was in¬
duced to travel to Rome, not only from a love to the
art of painting, but alfo to vifit his filler, who was mar¬
ried to Nicholas Pouffin. Sandrart fays that Gafpar was
employed at fi.rll only to prepare the pallet, pencils, and
colours, for Nicholas; but by the precepts and example
of that excellent mailer, gradually rofe to the highelt re¬
putation, and is undoubtedly one of the bed landfcape-
painters that ever appeared. It is generally thought that
P*urpref-
ture
II
Pouffin.
p o w
[ 253 ]
P R A
Pouflin
II
Powder.
no painter ever ftudied nature to better purpofe, or re-
prefented the effeds of land-ftorms more happily, than
Gafpar; all his trees (how a natural degree of agitation,
every leaf being in motion j bis fcenes aie beautifully
chofen, as are the fites of his buildings. He defigned
human figures but very indifferently 5 for which reaion
he frequently prevailed on Nicholas to paint them tor
him } and they were always introduced with the utmott
propriety. While he continued at Rome he dropped his
own name, and affumed that of his brother-in-law and
benefaftor, by which only he is now known. He died
in 1662.
POWDER, in Pharmacy, a dry medicine well bro¬
ken, either in a mortar by grinding or by fome chemi¬
cal operation.
Gun-POWDER. See GUNPOWDER. See alfo Obier-
vations on Gunpowder in the Irith franfadtions 1788,
p. 97. clafs Science, by Mr Napier. ^ <
Po WDER-Chejh, certain fmall boxes charged^ witn
powder and a quantity of old nails or fplinters Oi hoo,
and fattened occafionally on the deck and fides 01 a
{hip, in order to be discharged on an enemy wdio at¬
tempts to feize her by boarding. Xhefe cafes are ufu-
ally from 12 to 18 inches in length, and about eignt
or ten in breadth, having their outer or upper part ter¬
minating in an edge. They are nailed to feveral places
of the quarter-deck and bulk-head of the waift, having
a train of powTder, which communicates with the inner
apartments of the (hip, io as to be fired at pleafure to
annoy the enemy. They are particularly ufed m met-
chant-fhips which are furniihed with clofe-quarters to
oppofe the boarders.
POTEDER-Magazine, a bomb-proof arched building,
'to contain pow'der in fortified places.
POWDER for the Hair. The beft fort is {larch well
pounded and fifted, and generally prepared with fome
perfume.
James's POWDER. See JAMES'S Powder. In the
Philofophical Tranfaflions for I79I> there is
a paper by Dr Pearfon, containing experiments and ob-
fervations on James’s powder. Dr Pearfon fays, it was
originally a patent medicine ; but it is well known that
it cannot be prepared by followdng the direclions of the
fpecification in the court of chancery. His obfervations
and experiments, therefore, he thinks, may explain the
nature and manner of preparing this medicine, and per¬
haps may extend the hiftory of antimony. The refult
of the whole, in Dr Pearfon’s own words, is as follows :
1. James’s powder confifts of phofphonc acid, lime,
and antimonial calx •, with a minute quantity of calx of
iron, which is confidered to be an accidental fubftance.
2. Either thefe three effential ingredients are united
with each other, forming a triple compound, or phofpho-
rated lime is combined with the antimonial calx, compo-
fing a double compound in the proportion of about 57
parts of calx and 43 parts of phofphorated lime. 3* This
antiraonial calx is different from any other known calx
of antimony in feveral of its chemical qualities. About
three-fourths of it are foltible in marine acid, and afford
Algaroth powder, and the remainder is not foluble in
this meoftruum, and is apparently vitrified. It alfo ap¬
pears, that by calcining together bone-adies, that is,
phofphorated lime and antimony in a certain propor¬
tion, and afterwards expofing the mixture to a white
heat, a compound was formed^ confiding of anUaionial
calx, "and phofphorated lime in the fame proportion, and
poffeffmg the fame kind of chemical properties as James’s Pra(ftice,
powder. _
POWDIKE, in the fens of Norfolk and Ely. By hat.
22 Hen. VIII. c. 11. perverfely to cut down and deftroy
the powdike in the fens of Norfolk and Ely is felony.
See Blachf one's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 243._
POWER, has been defined the faculty of doing or fuf-
fering any thing. Power, therefore, is two-fold, viz. con¬
fidered as able to make, or able to receive, any change j
the former whereof may be called aShve, and the latter
pafive,power: but thisdiiiinction is improper. See Me¬
taphysics, N° 116.
Power, in Mechanics, denotes any force, whether
of a man, a horfe, a fpring, the wind, water, &c. wmch,
being applied to a machine, tends to produce motion.
Power, in Law, fignifies in general a particular au¬
thority granted by any perfon to another to reprefent
him, or to aft in his Head.
POWERS, in Arithmetic and Algebra, are nothing
but the products arifing from the continual multiplica¬
tions of a number or quantity into itfelf. See Alge¬
bra and Arithmetic.
POX, French-Pox, or Lues Venerea. See MEDI¬
CINE, N° 350.
Small-Pox. See Inoculation, and Medicine,
N° 222—226.
POYNING’s LAW, an a£l of Parliament made in
Ireland under Henry VII. whereby all the ftatutes of
force in England ivere made of force in Ireland $ which
before that time they were not.—Nor are any now in
force there made in England fince that time.
The law took its name from Sir Edward Poyning,
lord-lieutenant of that kingdom at the time ol its ma¬
king. See Ireland, N° 46.
POZZOLANA. See Puzzolana.
PRACTICE, in Arithmetic. See there, N° 16.
.
Gun-PRACTICE, in military education. In the fpnng,
as foon as the weather permits, the exercife of the great
guns begins, with an intention to iliow the gentlemen
cadets at the royal military academy at Woolwich, and
private men, the manner of laying, loacdng, pointing,
and firing the guns. Sometimes inftruments are ufed
to find the centre line, or two points, one at the breecn,
the other at the muzzle, which are marked with chalk,
and whereby the piece is dire<5led to the target: then
a quadrant is put into the mouth to give the gun the
required elevation, which at firft is gueffed at, accord¬
ing to the diftance the target is from the piece. When
the piece has been fired, it is fponged to clear it from
any dull or fparks of fire that might remain in the
bore, and loaded : then the centre line is found as be¬
fore ; and if the {hot went too high or too low, to the
right or to the left, the elevation and trail are altered
accordingly. This praflice continues morning and
evening for about fix weeks, more or lefs according as
there are a greater or lefs number of recruits. In the
mean time others are {hown the motions of quick-firing
with field-pieces.
Mortar-PRACTICE, generally thus. A line of 1500
or 2000 yards is meafured in an open fpot of ground
from the place where the mortars Hand, and a flag fix¬
ed at about 300 or 500 yards : this being done, the
ground where the mortars are to be placed is prepared
P R [2
Pnerrunf’- aUC^ ^eve^ec^ ^an^> ^° that they may lie at an ele-
i——^ ' K.' yation of 45 degrees j then they are loaded with a
imall quantity of powder at firft, which is increafed
afterwards by an ounce every time, till they are load¬
ed with a full charge; the times of the flights of the
fhells are obierved, to determine the length of the fuzes.
1 he intention of this practice is, when a mortar bat¬
tery is railed in a fiege, to know what quantity of
powder is required to throw the fhells into the works
at a given diflance, and to cut the fuzes of a juft
length, that the fhell may burft as foon as it touches the
ground.
PRAEMUNIRE, in /aw, is taken either for a writ
fo called, or for the offence whereon the writ is grant¬
ed ; the one may be underftood by the other.-—The
church of Rome, under pretence of her fupremacy
and the dignity of St Peter’s chair, took on her to be¬
llow moft of the ecclefiaftical livings of any worth in
England, by mandates, before they were void; pre¬
tending therein great care to fee the church provided
of a fucceffor before it needed. Whence thefe man¬
dates or bulls were called gratice expefflatrvct, or provi-
fiones; whereof fee a learned difcourfe in Duarenus de
beneficiis, lib. iii. cap. 1. Thefe provifions were fo
common,' that at laft Edward I. not digefting fo intole¬
rable an encroachment, in the 35th year oif his reign
made a ftatute againft papal provifions, which, according
to oir Edw-ard Coke, is the foundation of all the fubfe-
qucnt ftatutes of praemunire : which is ranked as an of¬
fence immediately againft the king, becaufe every en¬
couragement of the papal power is a diminution of the
authority of the crown.
In the weak reign of Edward II. the pope again
endeavoured to encroach, but the parliament manfully
withftood him •, and it rvas one of the articles charged
againft that unhappy prince, that he had given allow¬
ance to the bulls of the fee of Rome. But Edw. III.
was of a temper extremely different; and, to remedy
thefe inconveniences, firft by gentle means, he and his
nobility wrote an expoftulation to the pope : but re¬
ceiving a menacing and contemptuous anfwer, withal
acquainting him, that the emperor (who a few years
before at the diet of Nuremberg, A. D. 1323, had
eftablifhed a law againft provifions), and alfo the king
of France, had lately fubmitted to the holy fee ; the
king replied, that if both the emperor and the French
king fhould take the pope’s part, he wras ready to give
battle to them both, in defence of the liberties of the
crown. Hereupon more {harp and penal laws were
devifed againft provifors, which enaft feverally, that
the court of Rome (hall prefent or collate to no biftiop-
ric or living in England ; and that whoever difturbs
any patron in the prefentation to a living by virtue of
a papal provifion, fuch provifor {hall pay fine and ran-
fom to the king at his will, and be imprifoned till he
1 enounces fuch provifion ; and the fame punifliment is
inflicted on fuch as cite the king, or any of his fub-
jefls, to anfwer in the court of Rome. And when the
holy fee refented thefe proceedings, and Pope Urban V.
attempted to revive the vaffalage and annualrent to
which King John had fubjeaed his kingdom, it was
unammoufly agreed by all the eftates of'the realm in
parliament affembled, zp Edw. III. that King John’s
donation was null and void, being without the concur¬
rence of parliament, and contrary, to his coronation-path •
‘ X ' 4
54 1 P K
and all the temporal nobility and commons engaged, frapmunin
that if the pope Ihould endeavour by proccfs or other-
wife to maintain thefe ulurpations, they would refill and
withftand him with all their power.
In the reign of Richard II. it was found neceffary
to fharpen and ftrengthen thefe law's, and therefore it
was enadled by ftatutes 3 Ric. II. c. 3. and 7 Ric. II.
c. 12. firft, that no alien {hall be capable of letting his
benefice to farm; in order to compel fuch as had crept
in, at leaft to rehde on their preferments : and after¬
wards, that no alien fliould be capable to be prefented
to any ecclefiaftical preferment, under the penalty of
the ftatutes of provifors. By the ftatute 12 Rich. II.
c. 15. all liegemen of the king accepting ©f a living by
any foreign provifion, are put out of the king’s protec¬
tion, and the benefice made void. To which the fta¬
tute 13 Rich. II. ft. 2. c. 2. adds baniftrment and forfei¬
ture of lands and goods: and by c. 3. of the fame fta¬
tute,^ any perfon bringing over any citation or excom¬
munication from beyond fea, on account of the execu¬
tion of the foregoing ftatutes of provifors, {hall be im¬
prifoned j forfeit his goods and lands, and moreover fuf-
fer pain of life and member.
In the wwit for the execution of all thefe ftatutes, the
the words pra-munire facias being ufed to command a
citation of the party, have denominated in common
fpeech, not only the wwit, but the ofi’ence itfelf of main¬
taining the papal powrer, by the name of preemunire.
And, accordingly, the next ftatute we ftiall mention,
which is generally referred to by all fubfequent ftatutes,
is ufually called the Jlatuie of preemunire. It is the fta¬
tute 16 Richard II. c. 3. w hich enaifts, that wrhoever
procures at Rome, or elfewhere, any tranflations, pro-
ceffes, excommunications, bulls, inftruments, or other
things which touch the king, againft him, his crown,
and realm, and all perfons aiding and afiifting therein,
fliall be put out of the king’s protection, their lands and
goods forfeited to the king’s ufe, and they {hall be at¬
tached by their bodies to anfwer to the king and his
council; or procefs of preemunire facias {hall be made
out againft them as in other cafes of provifors.
By the ftatute 2 Henry IV. c. 3. all perfons who ac¬
cept any provifion from the pope, to be exempt from
canonical obedience to their proper ordinary, are alfo
fubjeffed to the penalties of praemunire. And this is
the laft of our ancient ftatutes touching this offence 5
the ufurped civil pow'er of the biihop of Rome being
pretty well broken dowm by thefe ftatutes, as his uftirp-
ed religious power w'as in about a century afterwards :
the fpirit of the nation being fo much railed againft
foreigners, that about this time, in the reign of Hen. V.
the alien priories, or abbeys for foreign monks, were fup-
preffed, and their lands given to the crown. And no
farther attempts were afterwards made in fupport of thefe
foreign jurifdidlions.
This, then, is the original meaning of the offence
which we call preemunire; viz. introducing a foreign
power into this land, and creating imperium in imperiv,
by paying that obedience to papal procefs which con-
ftitutionally belonged to the king alone, long before
the Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII. at wdrich
time the penalties of praemunire were indeed extended
to more papal abufes than before; as the kingdom then
entirely renounced the authority of the fee of Rome,
though not at all the corrupted do&rines of the Roman
* church.
P K
church. And therefore, by the feveral ftatutes of 24
Hen. VIII. c. 12. and 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19. & 21. to
appeal to Rome from any of the king's courts, which
(though illegal before) had at times been connived at •,
to fue to Rome for any licence or difpenfation, or to
obey any procefs from thence, are made liable to the
pains of prtemunire. And, in order to reftore to the
king in effedt the nomination of vacant bilhoprics, and
yet keep up the eilabliihed forms, it is enafted by fta-
tute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 20. that if the dean and chapter
refufe to eleft the perfon named by the king, or any
archbifhop or bifliop to confirm or confecrate him, they
ihall fall within the penalties of the ftatutes of praemu¬
nire. Alfo by ftatute 5 Eliz. c. 1. to refufe the oath
of fupremacy will incur the pains of praemunire } and to
defend the pope’s jurifdidion in this realm, is a praemu¬
nire for the firit offence, and high treafon for the fe-
cond. So, too, by ftatute 13 Eliz. c. 2. to import any
agnus Dei, croffes, beads, or other fuperftitious things
pretended to be hallowed by the biftiop of Rome, and
tender the fame to be ufed ; or to receive the fame
with fuch intent, and not difcover the offender; or if a
juftice of the peace, knowing thereof, Ihall not within
14 days declare it to a privy-counfellor, they all incur a
praemunire. Rut importing or felling mafs-books, or
other Popifh books, is by flat. 3 Jac. I. c. 5. § 25. only
liable to a penalty of 40s. Laftly, to contribute to the
maintenance of a Jefuit’s college, or any Popifti femina-
ry whatever beyond fea, or any perfon in the fame, or
to contribute to the maintenance of any Jefuit or Popifh
prieft in England, is by ftatute 37 Eliz. c. 2. made lia¬
ble to the penalties of praemunire.
Thus far the penalties of praemunire feem to have
kept wfithin the proper bounds of their original inftitu-
tion, the depreffing the power of the pope : but they
beino- pains of no confiderable confequence, it has been
thought fit to apply the fame to other heinous offences;
fome of which bear more, and fome lefs, relation to this
original offence, and iome no relation at all.
Thus, 1. Ry the ftatute 1 and 2 Ph. and Mar. c. 8. to
moleft the poffeffors of abbey-lands granted by parlia¬
ment to Henry VIII. and Edward VI. is a praemunire.
2. So like wife is the offence of acling as a broker or
agent in any ufurious contraft where above 10 per cent,
intereft is taken, by ftatute 13 Eliz. c. 10. 3. To ob¬
tain anv ftay of proceedings, other than by arreft of
judgment or writ of error, in any fuit for a monopoly,
’is likewife a praemunire, by flat. 21 Jac. I. c. 3. .4. To
obtain an exclufive patent for the foie making or impor¬
tation of gunpowder or arms, or to hinder others from
importing them, is aifo a praemunire by ti\o ftatutes ,
the one 16 Car. I. c. 21. the other 1 Jac. II. c. 8.
5. On the abolition, by flat. 1 2 Car. II. _c. 24. of pur¬
veyance, and the prerogative of pre-emption, or taking
any viftual, beafts, or goods for the king s ufe, at a
ftated price, without confent of the proprietor, the ex¬
ertion of anv fuch power ror the future was declared to
incur the penalties of praemunire. 6. I o afiert, mali-
ciouftv and advifedly, by fpeaking or writing, that both
or either houfe of parliament have a legiflative authority
without the king, is declared a praemunire by ftatute 13
Car. II. c. 1. 7. Ry the habeas corpus aft alfo, 31
Car. II. c. 2. it is a praemunire, and incapable of the
king’s pardon, befides other heavy penalties, to fend any
■jhbjeft of this realm a prifoner into parts beyond the
P R iE
feas, 8. Ry the ftatute 1 W. & M. ft. 1. c. 8. perfons
of 18 years of age refufing to take the new’ oaths of al¬
legiance as well as fupremacy, upon tender by the pro¬
per magiftrate, are fubjeft to the penalties of a praemu¬
nire ; and by ftatutes 7 &. 8 W. III. c. 24. ferjeants,
counfellors, proftors, attorneys, and all officers of courts,
praftifing -without having taken the oaths of allegiance
and fupremacy, and fubfcribed the declaration againlt
popery, are guilty of a praemunire whether the oaths be
tendered or not. 9. Ry the ftatute 6 Ann. c. 7. to af-
fert malicioufly and direftly, by preaching, teaching, or
advifed fpeaking, that the then pretended prince of
Wales, or any perfon other than according to the afts
of fettlement and union, hath any right to the throne
of thefe kingdoms, or that the king and parliament can¬
not make laws to limit the defcent of the crown •, fuch
preaching, teaching, or advifed fpeaking, is a praemu¬
nire : as writing, printing, or publiffiing the lune doc¬
trines amounted, wre may remember, to high treafon.
10. Ry ftatute 6 Ann. c. 23. if the affembly of peers of
Scotland, convened to eleft their 16 repreientatives in
the Rritiih parliament, ffiall prefume to treat of any other
matter fave only the eleftion, they incur the penalties
of a praemunire. 11. The flat. 6 Geo I. c. 18. (enaft-
ed in the year after the infamous South Sea projeft
had beggared half the nation) makes all unwarrant¬
able undertakings by unlawful fubfcriptions, then com¬
monly known by the name of bubbles, fubjeft to the
penalties of a praemunire. 12. The flat. 12 Geo. 111.
c. 11. fubjefts to tbe penalties of the ftatute of praemu¬
nire all fuch as knowingly and wilfully folemnize, affift,
or are prefent at, any forbidden marriage of fuch of the
defcendants of the body of King Geo. II. as are by that
aft prohibited to contraft matrimony without the confent
of the crown.
Having thus inquired into the nature and feveral fpe-
cies of praemunire, its puniftiment may be gathered from
the foregoing ftatutes, which are thus fhortly fummed
up by Sir Edward Coke : “ That, from the conviftion,
the defendant Ihall be out of the king’s proteftion, and
his lands and tenements, goods and chattels, forfeited to
the king •, and that his body (hall remain in prifon at
the king’s pleafure, or (as other authorities have it)
during life •, both which amount to the fame thing, as
the king by his prerogative may at any time remit the
whole, or any part of the punifhment, except in the cafe
of tranfgreffing the ftatute of habeas corpus. Thefe for¬
feitures here infiifted do not (by the way) bring this
offence within our former definition of Felony 5 being
infiifted by particular ftatutes, and not by the common
law.” Rut fo odious, Sir Edward Coke adds, was this
offence of praemunire, that a man that was attainted of
the fame, might have been {lain by any other man with¬
out danger of law; becaufe it Ras provided by law,
that any man might do to him as to the king’s enemy 5
and any man may lawfully kill an enemy. However,
the pofition itfelf, that it is at any time lawful to kill
an enemy, is by no means tenable : it is only lawful, by
the law of nature and nations, to kill him in the heat
of battle, or for neceffary felf-defence. And to obviate
fuch favage and miftaken notions, the ftatute 5 Eliz.
c. 1. provides, that it {hall not be lawful to kill any
perfon attainted in a praemunire, any law, ftatute, opi¬
nion, 6r expofition of law to the contrary notwithftand-
ing. But ftill fuch delinquent, though protefted as a
Pftit
OO
P R A [ 256 ] P II A
Piscnefte part of the public from public wrongs, can bring no
il adtion for any private injury, how atrocious foever j be-
Prague' , ing fo far out of the proteftion of the law, that it xvill
""*"V not guard his civil rights, nor remedy any grievance
which he as an individual may fuffer. And no man,
knowing him to be guilty, can with fafety give him
comfort, aid, or relief.
PRAtNESTE, in Ancient Geography, a town of La-
.tium, to the fouth-eaft of Rome, towards the territory
of the iEqui j a place of great Rrength. Famous for
the temple and oracle of Fortune, called Sortcs Pranef-
/zW (Strabo) ; which Tiberius wanted to deftroy, but
was deterred by the awful majefty of the place. From
a colony it ivas raifed to a municipium by Tiberius (Xn-
fcriptions, Floras, A. Gellius), on the confideration of
his recovery from a dangerous illnefs near this place.
Thither the Roman emperors ufually retired, on account
of the agreeablenefs of the lituation (Suetonius.) It
was a very ancient city, with a territory of large extent
(Livy). The temple of Fortune was built in the moft
fumptuous manner by Sylla, and the pavement was mo-
faic work (Pliny). Concerning the Sortes, there is a
remarkable paffage in Cicero \ who fays, that it was all
a mere contrivance, in order to deceive, either for the
purpofes of gain or fuperftition. The town that has
fucceeded it ftands low in a valley, and is called Pa/ef-
trina, in the Campania of Rome. E. Long. 13. 30. N.
Lat. 42. o.
PRAiSIDIUM (Notitia), a town of the Cornavii in
Britain. Now thought to be Warwick (Camden).-—
Another of Corfica (Antonine), 30 miles to the fouth
of Aleria.—A third Prajidiuni furnamed Juliutn, in
Baetica (Pliny).
PRAvTORIA augusta (Ptolemy), a town of Da¬
cia. Now called Brajfow by the natives, and Cronjlat
by the Germans (Baudrand) : a town in Tranfylvania.
E. Long. 2j°. N. Lat. 470.—Another of the Salaffii,
near the two gates or defiles of the Alps, the Grajae and
Penninae (Pliny) } a Roman colony, fettled by Auguf-
tus after the defeat of the Salaflii by Terentius Varro,
on the fpot where he encamped (Strabo, Dio Caffius,
Ptolemy), fituated on the river Duria Major. The
town is now called Aojla or Aoufl, in Piedmont. E.
Long. 7. 14. N. Lat. 45. 19.
PRiETORIUM (Antonine, Notitia Imperii^), a
towm of the Brigantes. Now Paterington (Camden),
near the mouth of the Humber in Yorklhire. Coventry
(Talbot).
PRAGMATIC sanction, in the civil law, is de¬
fined by Hottoman to be a refcript or anfwer of the
fovereign, delivered by advice of his council, to fome
college, order, or body of people, upon confulting him
on fome cafe of their community. The like anfwer given
to any particular perfon is called limply refcript.
The term pragmatic fanBion is chiefly applied to a
fettlement of Charles VI. emperor of Germany, w7ho,
-in the year 1722, having no fons, fettled his hereditary
dominions on his eldeft daughter the archduchefs Maria
Therefa, which was confirmed by the diet of the em¬
pire, and guaranteed by Great Britain, France, the
States-General, and molt of the powers in Europe. The
word pragmatic is derived from the Greek Tsr^xyy.x., ne-
gotium, “ buiinefs.”-—It is fometimes alfo called abfolute-
ly pragmatic, to Tr^aypaliKov.
PRAGUE, a city of Bohemia, and capital of the
3
whole kingdom, is fituated in 140 40' of longitude, and Prague.
50° f of latitude. It Rands on both fides the Moldau,-v—
over which there is a btidge 700 feet long, built of
large freeltone. The river, though of great breadth
here, is neverthelefs lhaltow, and not navigable. On
both fides the bridge are feveral ftatues, and among
others that of St John of Nepomuck, whom King Wen-
fel caufed to be thrown from the bridge into the river,
for venturing to reprove him upon feme occafion 3 but
in 1720 he was canonized as a faint, and is at prefent
held in fuch veneration in Bohemia, that all other faints
feem on his acccmit to be forgotten. Near the bridge,
which ftands at the upper part of the city, the number
of people is very great, but the further you go from
thence the mere defolate you find every place. The
city is about three miles long and two broad} the num¬
ber of its Chriftian inhabitants is faid to be 70,000,
and of Jews about I 2,ooq. The principal branch of
its trade confifts in brewing beer. It is divided into
the Old and the New Towns, and that willed the Small
fde ; the former lying on the eaft fide of the Moldau,
and the latter on the weft. The whole is about 12
miles in circumference. The fortifications are not of
great importance, as it may be flanked and raked on
all fides. How’ever, the king of Pruffia was not able
to make himfelf mafter of it in the late war, though
he aim oft deftroyed it with his bombs, &c. See
Prussia, N° 24, &c.—It has fuffered greatly by
fieges, and has been often taken and plundered. The
univerfity was founded by Charles IV. in the year 1347*
In 1409, when John Hufs was reft or of the univerfity,
there were no lefs than 44,000 Undents; and when the
emperor Charles V. would have retrenched their privi¬
leges, 24,000 are faid to have left it in one week, and
16,000 in a fhort time after. The Jews have the
trade of this city almoft entirely in their own hands.
They deal in all forts of commodities, efpecially the pre¬
cious ftones found in the Bohemian mines, and, by re¬
ceiving all old-fafliioned things in payment, quite ruin
the Chriftian handicraftfmen. In 1744 they narrowly
efcaped being expelled the kingdom, having been fui-
pedted of correfponding wTith the Prufllans, when they
made themfelves mafters of the city. The grand prior
of the order of Malta, for Bohemia, Moravia, and Sile-
fia, refides here ; and the church and hofpital of the
Holy Ghoft is the feat of the general and grandmafters
of the holy order of knights of the crofs w7ith the red
ftar, refiding in the above-mentioned countries, and in
Poland and Hungary. The houfes of this city are all
built of ftone, and generally confift of three ftories;
but there are very few good buildings in it, and almoft:
every thing looks dirty. The cathedral, which is de¬
dicated to St Veit, is an old building, in which there
are fome pieces of excellent architefture and many mag¬
nificent tombs of great ipen. There are 100 churches
and chapels, and about 40 cloifters in the place. On
Ratfchin-hill, in Upper Prague, moft of the nobility
have houfes, and the emperor a very magnificent palace,
and a fummer-houfe commanding one of the fineft pro-
fpefts in the w7orld. Here the tribunals of the regency
meet; and the halls, galleries, and other apartments,
are adorned w7ith a multitude of noble pi&ures. The
great hall, where the coronation feaft is kept, is faid to
be the largeft of the kind in Europe next to that of
Weftminfter. The caftle ftands on the above-mention¬
ed
P R A' [ 257 ] P R A
Prague ed mountain, called Ratfchin or the White Mountain, and
!! is very ftrong. From a window of this cattle the em-
Pratique. peror>s counfellors w7ere thrown! in 1618; but though
l'_ they fell from a great height, yet they were not killed,
nor indeed much hurt. On the fame mountain ftands
alfo the archiepifcopal palace. In the New Town is an
arfenal, and a religious foundation for ladies, called the
free Temporal Englijh foundation, over wdiich an abbefs
prefides. In the Leifer Side or Town, the counts Col-
loredo and Wallenitein have very magnificent palaces
and gardens. The ftables of the latter are very grand ;
the racks being of fteel and the mangers of marble, and
a marble pillar betwixt each horfe j over each horfe alfo
is placed his picture as big as life. Though the inha¬
bitants of Prague in general are poor, and their (hops
but meanly furnifhed, yet, it is faid, there are few cities
where the nobility and gentry are more wealthy, and
live in greater ftate. Here is much gaming, mafquera-
ding, feafting, and very fplendid public balls, with an
Italian opeia, and aflemblies in the houfes of the quality
every night. On the White Mountain, near the towm,
was fought the battle in which the Proteftants, with
the eleftor Palatine Frederic their king, w'ere defeated.
The luftres and drinking-glaffes made here of Bohe¬
mian cryfial are much eiteemed, and vended all over
Europe. Thefe cryftals are alfo polilhed by the Jews,
and fet in rings, ear-pendants, and fhirt-buttons. The
chief tribunal confifts of twelve ftadtholders, at the head
of w'hom is the great burgrave, governor of the kingdom
and city, immediately under the emperor, and the chan¬
cery of Bohemia. Though the city of Prague is very
ill-built, it is pleafantly fituated, and fome of the pro-
fpefts are beautiful, and the gardens and pleafure-houfes
are excellent. The people, Riefbeck informs us, enjoy
fenfual pleafures more than thofe of Vienna, becaufe
they know better how to conneft mental enjoyments
with them. The numerous garrifon kept in the place
(9000 men) contributes much to its gaiety and liveli-
nefs.
PRAM or Frame, a kind of lighter ufed in Holland
and the ports of the Baltic fea, to carry the cargo of a
merchant fhip along fide, in order to lade or to bring it
to fliore to be lodged in the ftorehoufes after being dif-
charged out of the veflel.
Frame, in military aflfars, a kind of floating battery,
being a flat-bottomed veffel, which draw's little wrater,
mounts feveral guns, and is very ufeful in covering the
difembarkation of troops. They are generally made
ufe of in tranfporting troops over the lakes in Ame¬
rica.
PRASIUM, a genus of plants belonging to the d'dy-
namiaclafs, and in the natural method ranking under the
4 2d order, Verticil later. See Botany Index.
PRAT IN AS, a Greek poet contemporary with Aif-
chylus, born at Phlius. He was the firft among the
Greeks who compofed fatires, which were reprefented
as farces. Of thefe 32 were a£ted, as alfo 18 of his
tragedies, one of which only obtained the poetical
prize. Some of his verfes are extant, quoted by Athe-
naeus.
PRATIQUE, or Prattic, in commerce, a nego-
ciation or communication of commerce which a mer¬
chant veflel obtains in the port it arrives in and the coun¬
tries it difeovers : hence to obtain a pratique, is to ob-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
tain liberty to frequent a port, to go alhorc, to buy and
fell, &c.
PRATT, Charles, earl of Camden, W'as the third
fon of Sir John Pratt, knight, chief-juitice ot the court
of king’s-bench under George I. by his fecond wife
Elizabeth, daughter of the Reverend Hugh Wilfon ca¬
non of Bangor, and wras born ini 1713, the year before
his father wras called to the honour ot the bench. He
received the firft rudiments of his education at Eton,
and afterwards removed to King’s college Cambridge.
Of his early life at both places there is little known,
other than that at college he wras found to be remarkably
diligent and ftudious, and particularly fo in the hirtory
and conftitution of this country. By fome he was
thought to be a little too tenacious of the rights and
privileges of the college he belonged to •, but perhaps it
w'as to this early tendency that we are indebted for
thofe noble ftruggles in defence of liberty, which, whe¬
ther in or out of office, he difplayed through the wffiole
courfe of his political life. After remaining the ufual
time at college, and taking his mailer’s degree, in 1739
he entered himfelf a tludent of the Inner Temple, and
was in due time admitted by the honourable fociety as
a barrilter at law. And here a circumftance developes
itfelf in the hiftory of this great man, which Ihow's how
much chance governs in the affairs of this world, and
that the mod confiderable talent and indifputable inte¬
grity will fometimes require the introduclion of this
miftrefs of the ceremonies, in order to obtain that wfliich
they ought to poffefs from their own intrinfic qualifi¬
cations.
Mr Pratt, after his being called to the bar, notwith-
ftanding his family introdudlion, and his owm perfonal
charafter, wras very near nine years in the profeffion,
wuthout ever getting in any degree forward. Whether
this arofe from a natural timidity of conllitution, ill-
luck, or perhaps a mixture of defpondence growing out
of the two circumftances, it is now difficult to tell j but
the fa£t w'as fo *, and he w'as fo difpirited by it, that
he had fome thoughts of relinquilhing the profeffion
of the law, and retiring to his college, w'here, in ro¬
tation, he might be fure of a church living, that wmuld
give him a fmall but honourable independence. With
thefe melancholy ideas he went as ufual the weftern cir¬
cuit, to make one more experiment, and then to take
his final determination. Mr Henley, afterwards Lord
Northington and chancellor of England, was in the
fame circuit: he wras Mr Pratt’s moll intimate friend;
and he now' availed himfelf of that friendlhip, and told
him his fituation, and his intentions of retiring to the
univerfity and going into the church. He oppofed his
intention with ftrong raillery, and got him engaged in a
caufe along wuth himfelf •, and Mr Henley being ill, Mr
Pratt took the lead, and difplayed a profeffional know'-
ledge and elocution that excited the admiration of his
brother barrifters as much as that of the w'hole courtr
He gained his caufe •, and befides, he acquired the repu¬
tation of an eloquent, profound, and conftitutional law¬
yer. It was this circumftance, togeiher with the con¬
tinued good offices of his friend Henley, which led to
his future greatnefs; for w'ith all his abilities and all his
knowledge, he might otherwife in all probability have
pafled his life in onfeurity unnoticed and unknown.
He became now one of the moft fuccefiful pleaders at
K k the
P R A [25
the bar, and honours and emoluments flowed thick upon
him. He was chofen to reprefent the borough of Down-
ton, Wilts, after the general eleftion in 1759} recorder
of Bath 1759 j and the fame year was appointed attor¬
ney-general } in January 1762 he was called to the de¬
gree of ferjeant at law, appointed chief-juftice of the
common pleas, and knighted. His lordfhip prehded
in that court with a dignity, weight, and impartiality,
never exceeded by any of his predeceffors j and when
John Wilkes, Efq. was feized and committed, to the
Tower on an illegal general warrant, his lordihip, with
the intrepidity of a Britifh magiftrate, and the becoming
fortitude of an Engliihman, granted him an habeas cor¬
pus ; and on his being brought before the court of com¬
mon pleas, difcharged him from his confinement in the
Tower, May 6. 1763, in a fpeech which did him ho¬
nour. His wife and fpirited behaviour on this remark¬
able occafion, fo interefiing to every true-born Briton,
and in the confequent judicial proceedings between the
printers of The North Briton and the meffengers and
others, was fo acceptable to the nation, that the city of
London prefented him wnth the freedom of their corpo¬
ration in a gold box, and defired his pifture, which was
put up in Guildhall, with this infcription :
hang iconem
CAROLI PRATT, EQ.
SUMMI JUDICIS, C. B.
IN HONOREM TANTI VIRI,
ANGLIC2E LIBERTAT1S LEGE
ASSERTORIS,
S. P. Q. E. *
IN CURIA MUNICIPALI
PONI JVSSERVNT
NONO KAL. MART. A. D, MDCCLXTV.
GULIELMO BRIDGEN, AR. PRiE. VRB.
This portait, painted by Reynolds, was engraved by
Bafire. The corporations of Dublin, Bath, Exeter, and
Norwich, paid him the like compliment $ and in a pe¬
tition, entered in the journals of the city of Dublin, it
was declared, that no man appeared to have acquitted
himfelf in his high ftation with fuch becoming zeal for
the honour and dignity of the crown, and the fulfilling
his majefty’s molt gracious intentions for preferving the
freedom and happinefs of his fubje&s, and fuch invincible
fortitude in adminiftering juftice and law, as the Right
Honourable Sir Charles Pratt, knight, the prefent lord-
chief-juftice of his majefty’s court of common pleas in
England, has ftiown in fome late judicial determinations,
which muft be remembered to his lordftrip’s honour while
and wherever Britifh liberties are held facred.
Higher honours, however, than the breath of popu¬
lar applaufe awaited Sir Charles Pratt. On the 16th
of July 1765 he was created a peer of Great Britain,
by the ftyle and title of Lord Camden, Baron Camden,
in the county of Kent-, and, July 30. 1766, on the re-
fignation of Robert earl of Northington, he was ap¬
pointed lord high-chancellor of Great Britain j in •which
capacity he, in a fbeech of two hours, declared, upon
the firft decifion of the fuit againft the meffengers who
arrefted Mr Wilkes, that “ it w’as the unanimous opi¬
nion of the whole court, that general warrants, except
in cafes of high treafon, were illegal, oppreflive, and un¬
warrantable. He conducted himfelf in this high office
fo as to obtain th<j love and efteem of all parties \ but
8 ] P It A
when the taxation of America was in agitation, he de-
dared himfelf againft it, and ftrongly oppofing it, was
removed from his ftation in 1770. _ v_
Upon the fall of Lord North he was againft taken in¬
to the adminiftration, and on the 27^ ot March 1782
appointed prefident of the council j an office which he
refigned in March On the 13th of May 17^6* he
was created Vicount Bayham of Bayham Abbey, Kent,
and Earl Camden.
Whether we confider Earl Camden as a Jlatefmau^
called to that high fituation by his talents*, zs-a. lawyer,
defending, fupporting, and enlarging the conflitution 5
or as a tnan, fuftaining both by his firmnefs and unlha-
ken integrity—in all he excites our general praife; and
when we contemplate his high and exalted virtue, we
muft allow him to have been an honour to his country.
He died on the 18th of April 1794 a*- ^lou^e Hiil-
ftreet, Berkeley-fquare, being at that time prefident of
his majefty’s moft honourable privy-council, a governor
of the charter-houfe, recorder of the city of Bath, and
F. R. S.
Pie married Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Ni¬
cholas Jefterys, Efq. fon and heir of Sir Jeffery Jefieiys
of Brecknock Priory, knight, wrho died in December
1779, and by whom he had iffue John Jefterys Pratt
(now Lord Camden), born 1759, and feveral daughters.
Plis feat at Camden Place, Chifelhurft, was the refidence
of the great William Camden *, on whofe death it came
by feveral intermediate owners to Weft on, Spencer, and
Pratt, and was much improved by his lordihip.
PR AX AG OR AS, a native of Athens, at 19 years of
age compofed the Hiftory of the Kings of Athens, in
tw:o books 5 and at 22 the Life of Conftantine the Great,,
in which, though a pagan, he fpeaks very advantageouily
of that prince. Pie alfo wrote the Hiftory of Alexander
the Great. He lived under Conftantius, about the year 345,.
PRAXITELES, a very famous Greek fculptorT
who lived 330 years before Chrift, at the time of the
reign of Alexander the Great. All the ancient writers-
mention his ftatues with a high commendation, espe¬
cially a Venus executed by him for the city of Cnidos,.
which was fo admirable a piece, that King Nicomedes
offered to releafe the inhabitants from their trioute as
the purchafe of it} but they refufed to part w ith it.
The inhabitants of the ifle of Cos requefted of Praxi¬
teles a ftatue of Venus ; and in confequence of this ap¬
plication the artift gave them their choice of two j one
of rvhich reprefented the goddefs entirely naked, and
the other covered with drapery. Both of thefe were
of exquifite workmanfhip. Although the former was
efteemed the moft beautiful, neverthelefs the inhabitants
of Cos had the wifdom to give the preference to the
latter, from a conviction that no motive whatever could
juftify their introducing into their city any indecent fta-
tufes or paintings, which are fo likely to inflame the paf-
fions of young people, and lead them to immorality and
vice. Whafe a reproach will this be to many Chrifti-
ans !—He was one of the gallants of Phryne the cele¬
brated courtefan.
PRAYER, a folemn addrefs to God, which, when it
is of any confiderable length, confilts of adoration, con-
fejfion,/application, intercejjion, and thanhfgiving.
By adoration we exprefs our fenfe of God’s infinite
perfeffions, his power, wifdom, goodnefs, and mercy ;
and acknowledge that our conftant dependence is upon
Him
Pratt
I!
Prayer.
P R A
[
prayer. Him by whom the univerfe was created and has been
u—yl— hitherto preferved. By confejfion is meant our acknow-
led-rment of our manifold tranfgreflions of the divine
law's, and our confequent unworthinefs of all the good
things which we enjoy at prefent or expedl to be con¬
ferred upon us hereafter. In /application we in treat our
omnipqtent Creator and merciful Judge, not to deal
with us after our iniquities, but to pardon our tranf-
greffions, and by his grace to enable us to live hence¬
forth righteoufly, foberly, and godly, in this prefent
world ; and by Chriftians this intreaty is ahvays made
in the name and through the mediation of jefus Chrift,
becaufe to them it is knowm that there is none other
name under heaven given unto men whereby they may
be faved. To thefe fupplications for mercy we may
likewife add our prayers for the neceffaries of life j
becaufe if we feek /ijl the kingdom of God and his
righteoufnefs, wre are allured that fuch things (hall be
added unto us. Intercc/Jion lignifies thofe petitions which
we offer up for others, for friends, for enemies, for all
men, efpecially for our lawful governors, whether fu~
preme or fubordinate. And thankfgiving is the expref-
fion of our gratitude to God, the giver of every good
and perfedt gift, for all the benefits enjoyed by us and
others, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glo¬
ry. Such are the component parts of a regular and fo-
iemn prayer, adapted either for the church or for the
clofet. But an ejaculation to God, conceived on any
emergency, is likew'ife a prayer, whether it be uttered
by the voice or fuffered to remain a mere affeftion of
the mind ; becaufe the Being to whom it is addreffed
difcerneth the thoughts of the heart.
That prayer is a duty which all men ought to per¬
form with humility and reverence, has been generally
acknowdedged as well by the untaught barbarian as by
the enlightened Chriftian ; and yet to this duty objec¬
tions have been made by which the underftanding has
been bewildered in fophiftry and affronted with jargon.
“ If God be independent, omnipotent, and poffeffed of
every other perfeftion, what pleafure, it has been alked,
can he take in our acknowledgment of thefe perfec¬
tions ? If he knows all things paft, prefent, and future,
where is the propriety of our confefiing our fins unto
him ? If he is a benevolent and merciful Being, he will
pardon our fins, and grant us what is needful lor us
without our fupphcations and intreaties j and if he be
likewife poffeffed of infinite wifdom, it is certain that
no importunities of ours will prevail upon him to grant
us what is improper, or for our fakes to change the
equal and fteady laws by which the world is governed.
“ Shall burning iEtna, if a fage requires,
“ Forget to thunder, and recal her fires ?
“ On air or fea new motions be impreft,
“ Oh blamelefs Bethel! to relieve thy bread ?
When the loofe mountain trembles from on high,
“ Shall gravitation ceafe, if you go by ?
“ Or fome old temple, nodding to its fall,
* Effay on “ For Chartres’ head referve the hanging wall * r”
Man. Such are the moft plaufible objections wdiich are
ufually made to the practice of prayer ; and though
they have been fet off with all the art of the metaphy-
fical wrangler, and embellithed rvith all the graces of
the poetry of Pope, they appear to us fuch grofs fo-
phifms as can operate only on a very unthinking head,
59 1 P it A
or on a very corrupt heart. For if God certainly cx-
ifts, and there is not a mathematical theorem capable of "
more rigid demonftration, it is obvious that no man can
think of fuch a being without having his mind ftrongly
impreffed with the conviftion of his own conilant de¬
pendence upon him *, nor can he “ contemplate the hea¬
vens, the wmrk of God’s hands, the m®on, and the ftars
which he has ordained,” without forming the moft fub-
lime conceptions that he can of the Divine power, wif¬
dom, and goodnefs, &c. But fuch convi&ion, and fuch
conceptions, -whether clothed in words or not, are to all
intents and purpofes what is meant by adoration ; and
are as well knowm to the Deity while they remain the
filent affedtions of the heart, as after they are fpoken in
the beginning of a prayer. Our adoration, therefore,
is not expreffed for the purpofe of giving information to
God, wTho underftandeth our thoughts alar oft} but
merely, when the prayer is private, becaufe vre cannot
think any more than fpeak without words, and becaufe
the vtvy found of wmrds that are well chofen affedls the
heart, and helps to fix our attention : and as the Being
who fees at once the paft, prefent, and to come, and to
whom a thouland years are but as one day, ftands not
in need of our information •, fo neither was it ever fup-
pofed by a man of rational piety, that he takes pleafure
on his own account in hearing his perfedlions enumerated
by creatures of yefterday j for being independent, he
has no paftions to be gratified, and being fell-lufficient,
he v'as as happy when exifting alone as at that moment
“ v’hen the morning ftars fang together, and all the Tons
of God ihouted for joy.” Adoration is therefore pro¬
per only as it tends to prelerve in our minds juft notions
of the Creator and Governor of the wmrld, and of our
own conftant dependence upon him •, and if fuch no¬
tions be ufeful to ourfelves, who have a part to aft in
the fcale of exiftence, upon which our happinefs de¬
pends (a propofition which no theill will controvert)
adoration muft be acceptable to that benevolent God,
w'ho, when creating the world, could have no other end
in view than to propagate happinefs. See Metaphy¬
sics, N° 31 2.
By the fame mode of reafoning, it will be eafy to ftiow
the duty of confe/ion and /application. We are not re¬
quired to confefs our fins unto God, becaufe he is igno¬
rant of them ; for he is ignorant ol nothing. If he
were, no reafon could be affigned for our divulging to
our judge aftions deferving of punilhment. Neither
are we required to cry for mercy, in order to move him
in w7hom there is no variablenefs, neither ftiadow of turn¬
ing. The Being that made the world, governs it by
laws that are indexible, becaufe they are the beft } and
to fuppofe that he can be induced by prayers, oblations,
or facrifices, to vary his plan of government, is an im¬
pious thought, which degrades the Deity to a level with
man. One of thefe inflexible laws is the conneftion
eftabliftied between certain difpofitions of mind and hu¬
man happinefs. We are enjoined to purfue a particular
courfe of conduft under the denomination of virtue, not
becaufe our virtuous aftions can in any degree be of ad¬
vantage to him by whom we wrere created, but becaufe
they neceffarily generate in our own minds thofe difpofi¬
tions which are effential to our ultimate happinefs. . A
man of a malignant, arrogant, or fenfual difpofition,
would have no enjoyment in that heaven, where all are
aftuated by a fpirit of love and purity j and it is doubt-
K k 2 lefs
Prayei.
P R A [ 260 ] P R A
Prayer, lefs for this reafon among others, that the Chriftian reli-
' gion prohibits malice, arrogance, and fenfuality, among
her votaries, and requires the cultivation of the oppohte
virtues. But a peri’on who has deviated far from his
duty cannot think of returning, unlefs he be previoutly
convinced that he has gone atfray. Such conviclion,
whenever he obtains it, will neceflarily impreis upon his
mind a fenfe of his own danger, and fill his heart wdth
forrowr and remorfe for having tranfgreffed the law7s efta-
bliflred by the molt benevolent of all Beings for the pro¬
pagation of univerial felicity. This con vision of error,
this fenfe of danger, and this compunftion for having
tranfgreffed, are all perceived by the Deity as foon as
they take place in the mind of the finner ; and he is re¬
quired to confefs his fins, only becaufe the a£l of confef-
fion tends to imprint more deeply on his mind his ow7n
unworthinefs, and the necefiity of returning immediately
into the paths of that virtue of which all the wTays are
pleafantnefs and all the paths are peace.
In the objeftion, it is taken for granted, that if God
be a benevolent and merciful Being, he will pardon our
fins, and grant us what is needful for us, whether we
fupplicate him or not : but this is a grofs and palpable
millake, arifing from the obje&or’s ignorance of the end
of virtue and the nature of man, Until a man be fen-
fible of his fins and his danger, he is for the reafon al¬
ready affigned incapable of pardon, becaufe his difpofi-
tion is incompatible wfith the happinefs of the bleffed.
Bat whenever he acquires this conviftion, it is impofli-
ble for him not to form a mental wijh that he may be
pardoned 5 and this with being perceptible to the all-fee¬
ing eye of his Judge, forms the futn and fubftance of a
fupplication for mercy. If he clothe it in words, it is
only for a reafon fimilar to that which makes him adore
his Creator and confefs his fins in w7ords, that juft no¬
tions may be more deeply imprinted on his own mind.
The fame reafoning holds good with refpedl to thofe
prayers which we put up for temporal bleftings, for
protection and fupport in our journey through life. We
are told by high authority, that “ the Lord is nigh unto
all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him
, in truth.” This, however, is not becaufe he is attracted
or delighted by their prayers and intreaties, but becaufe
thofe prayers and intreaties fit fuch as offer them for re¬
ceiving thofe benefits wdiich he is at all times ready to
pour upon all mankind. In his effence God is equally
prefent with the righteous and with the wicked, with
thofe w7ho pray, and with thofe who pray not; for “ the
eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the eyil
and the good.” But as the atmofphere equally fur-
rounds every perfon upon this globe, and yet in its ftate
of greateft purity does not affeft the afthmatic as it af-
fefts thofe wdio are whole •, fo the Divine prefence,
though effentially the fame everywhere, yet does not
proteft the impious as it protects the devout, becaufe
the impious are not in a ftate capable of the Divine pro-
teflion. The end for wdiich God requires the exercife
of prayer as a duty, is not his benefit but ours *, becaufe
it is a mean to generate in the petitioner fuch a difpofi-
tion of mind as muft render him a fpecial obje£l of that
love and that providential care which extend over the
whole creation.
That part of the objection which refults from the
confideration of the fixed laws of nature, and which the
poet has fo finely illuftrated, prefents, it muft be confef- Prayer,
fed, confiderable difficulties } but none which to us ap- v-——y—J
pear infur mountable. If, indeed, we fuppoie that in the
original conftitution of things, when the laws of nature
were eftabliftied, a determinate duration was given to
the top of the mountain and the nodding temple, with¬
out any regard to forefeen coniequences, it would un¬
doubtedly be abfurd and perhaps impious to expedl the
law of gravitation to be fufpended by the prayers of a
good man, w7ho ftiould happen to be palling at the in-
ftant decreed for the fall of thefe objecfts. But of fuch
a conftitution there is fo far from being evidence, that
it appears not to be confiftent with the wifdom and
goodnefs of the Author of nature. This w7orld was
undoubtedly formed for the habitation of man and of
other animals. If fa, we muft neceffarily fuppofe, that
in the eftablilhing of the laws of nature, God adjufted
them in fuch a manner as he faw would bell ferve the
accommodation of thofe fentient beings for wdrofe accom¬
modation alone they were to be eftablilhed. Let it then
be admitted, that all the human beings w7ho were ever to
exift upon this globe, with all their thoughts, words,
and adlions, w7ere at that important moment prefent to
the divine intelleft, and it furely wall not be impoflible
to conceive, that in confequence of the forefeen danger
and prayers of a good man, the determinate duration of
the mountain and the tower might be either lengthened
or Ihortened to let him efcape. This idea of providence,
and of the efficacy of prayer, is thus illuftrated by Mr
Wollafton*. “ Suppofe M (fome man) certainly to# Reugion
foreknow, by fome means or other, that, when he of Nature
come to be upon his death-bed, L would petition for delineated.
fome particular legacy, in a manner fo earneft and humble,
and with fuch a good difpofition, as would render it
proper to grant his requeft : and upon this, M makes
his lajl will, by which he devifes to L that which was
to be alked, and then locks up the will; and all this
many years before the death of M, and w'hilft L had
yet no expeftation or thought of any fuch thing. When
the time comes, the petition is made and granted; not
by making any new will, but by the old one already
made, and without alteration : which legacy had, not-
withftanding that, never been left, had the petition never
been preferred. The grant may be called the effect of
a future aft, and depends as much upon it as if it had
been made after the aft. So, if it had been forefeen,
that L w7ould not fo much as afk, and he had been there¬
fore left out of the will, this preeterition would have been
caufed by his carriage, though much later than the date
of the will. In all this nothing is hard to be admitted,
if M be allowed to foreknow the cafe. And thus the
praijers which good men offer to the all knowing God,
and the neglect of prayers by others, may find fitting ef-
fefts already forecafted in the courfe of nature.”
This folution of the difficulty prefents indeed to the
mind a prodigious fcheme, in which all things to come
are, as it wTere, comprehended under one view, and efti-
mated and compared together. But when it is confi-
dered what a mafs of wonders the univerfe is in other
refpefts •, what an incomprehenfibly great and perfeft
being God is; that he cannot be ignorant of any
thing, no not of the future wants and deportments of
particular men; and that all things which derive their
exiftence from him muft be confiftent with one another
—-it
Prayer.
* Mr Pa
ley.
P It A [26
 it mud furely be confeffed that fuch an adjuftment of
phyfical caufes to moral volitions is within the compafs
of infinite power and perfeft wifdom.
To that part of a prayer which we have termed in-
terceffion, it has been objefted, that ‘Mo intercede for
others is to prefume that we poffels an intereil with the
Deity upon which their happinefs and even the profpe-
rity of whole communities depends.” In anfwer to
this objection, it has been obferved by an ingenious and
ufeful writer *, that “ how unequal foever our know¬
ledge of the divine economy may be to a complete fo-^
lution of this difficulty, which may require a compre-
henfion of the entire plan, and of all the ends of God’s
moral government, to explain it fatisfaftorily, we can
yet underftand one thing concerning it, that it is, after
all, nothing more than the making of one man the in-
drument of happinefs and mifery to another j which is
perfedlly of a piece with the courfe and order that ob»
tain, and which we muft believe were intended to obtain,
in human affairs. Why may we not be adilled by the
prayers of other men, as well as we are beholden for our
fupport to their labour ? Why may not our happinefs be
made in fome cafes to depend upon the interceflion as
it certainly does in many upon the good offices of our
neighbours ? The happinefs and mifery of great numbers
we lee oftentimes at the difpofal of one man’s choice, or
liable to be much affefted by his conduft : what greater
difficulty is there in fuppofing, that the prayers of an in¬
dividual may avert a calamity from multitudes, or be ac¬
cepted to the benefit of whole communities.”^
Thefe obfervations may perhaps be fufficient to re¬
move the force of the obje&ion, but much more may
be faid for the praftice of mutual interceffion. If it be
one man’s duty to intercede for another, it is the duty
of that other to intercede for him •, and if we fet afide
the particular relations which arife from blood, and from
particular ftations in fociety, mutual interceffion muff
be equally the duty of all mankind. But there is no¬
thing (we fpeak from our own experience, and appeal
to the experience of our readers) which has fo power¬
ful a tendency to generate in the heart of any perfon
good-will towards another as the conftant praddice of
praying to God for his happinefs. Let a man regularly
pray for his enemy with all that ferioufnefs which devo¬
tion requires, and he will not long harbour refentment
againft him. Let him pray for his friend with that ar¬
dour which friendfhip naturally infpires, and he will per¬
ceive his attachment to grow daily and daily ftronger.
If, then, univerfal benevolence, or charity, be a difpofi-
tion which we ought to cultivate in ourfelves, mutual
interceffion is undeniably a duty, becaufe nothing con¬
tributes fo effeddually to the acquifition of that fpint
which an apoftle terms the end of the commandment.
When it is faid, that by interceding for kings, and
all in authority, we feem to confider the profperity of
communities as depending upon our intereft with God,
the objedor miftakes the nature and end of thefe inter-
ceffions. In the profperity of any community confifls
great part of the happinefs of its individual members 5
but that profperity depends much upon the condud of
its governors. When, therefore, individuals intercede
for their governors, the ultimate objed of their prayers
muft be conceived to be their own good. As it. is
equally the duty of all the members of the community
to 'pray for their governors, fuch interceffions are the
i ] P R E
prayers of the whole community for itfelf, and of every
individual for himfelf. So that in this view of the cafe,
the moil juft, we apprehend, that can be taken oi it, it
is not true that fupplications and interceffions for kings
and all in authority are the prayers of one individual for
another, but the prayers of many individuals for that
body of which each of them knows himfelf to be a
member. _
Having evinced the duty of adoration, confeffion,
fupplication, and interceffion, we need not furely wafte
our readers time with a formal and laboured vindication
of thankfgiving. Gratitude for benefits received is lo
univerfally acknowledged to be a virtue, and ingrati¬
tude is fo deteftable a vice, that no man who lays claim
to a moral charadler will dare to affiim that we.ought
not to have a juft fenfe of the goodnefs of God in pre-
ferving us from the numberlefs dangers to which we
are expofed, and “ in giving us rain from heaven, and
fruitful feafons, filling our hearts with food and glad-
nefs.” But if we have this fenfe, whether we exprefs
it in words or not, we offer to God thankfgiving •, be¬
caufe every movement of the heart is open and expofed
to his all-feeing eye.
In this article we have treated of prayer m general,
and as the private duty of every individual 5 but there
ought to be public as well as private prayer, which (hall
be confidered afterwards. (See Worship.) We have
likewife obferved, that the prayers of every Chnftian
ought to be offered in the name and through the medi¬
ation of Jefus Chrift, for which the reafon will be feen
in the article Theology. We (hall conclude our re-
flections on the general duty, with obferving, that no¬
thing fo forcibly reftrains from ill as the remembrance
of a recent addreis to heaven for protection and affift—
ance. After having petitioned for power to refill temp¬
tation, there is fo great an incongruity in not continu¬
ing the ftruggle, that we blufh at the thought, and
perfevere left we lofe all reverence for ourfelves. After
fervently devoting our fouls to God, we ftart wuth
horror at immediate apoftafy : every aft of deliberate
wickednefs is then complicated with hypocrify and in¬
gratitude : it is a mockery of the Father of Mercies, the
forfeiture of that peace in which we clofed our addrefs,
and a renunciation of the hope which that addrefs in-
fpired. But if prayer and immorality be thus incom¬
patible, finely the former ffiould not be negleaed by
thofe who contend that moral virtue is the fummit of
human perfeaion.
PREACHING. See Declamation, Art. I.—I he
word is derived from the Hebrew/wra/c/q expofuit, “ he
expounded.” _ . .
PREADAMITE, a denomination given to the in¬
habitants of the earth, conceived, by fome people, to
have lived before Adam.
Ifaac de la Pereyra, in 1655, publiffied a book to
evince the reality of Preadamites, by which he gained a
confiderable number of profelytes to the opinion : but
the anfwer of Demarets, profeffor of theology at Gro¬
ningen, publiffied the year following, put a ftop to its
progrefs •, though Pereyra made a reply.
His fyftem was this: The Jews he calls Adamites,
and fuppofes them to have iffued from. Adam ; and
gives the title 'Preadamites to the Gentiles, whom he
fuppofes to have been a long time before Adam. But
this being exprefsly contrary to the firft words of Gene-
Prayer
ii;
Preada<-
mites.
P Pi E [ 262 1 PR E
Preada- ns, Pereyra had recourfe to the fabulous antiquities of
rn|jtc the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and to fome idle rabbins,
Precentor. w^° imagined there had been another world before that
1—-y——' defcribed by Moles. He -was apprehended by the in-
quilition in Flanders, and very roughly ufed, though in
the iervice of the dauphin. But he appealed from their
fentence to Rome j whither he went in the time of
Alexander VII. and where he printed a retractation of
his book of Preadamites. See Pre-existence.
PREAMBLE, in Zaiv, the beginning of an aCt of
parliament, &c. which ferves to open the intent of the
aft, and the mifchiefs intended to be remedied by it.
PREBEND, the maintenance a prebendary receives
out of the eltate of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Prebends are diltinguilhed into limple and dignitary : a
fimple prebend has no more than the revenue for its
fupport 5 but a prebend with dignity has always a jurif-
diClion annexed to it.
PREBENDARY, an ecclefialtic who enjoys a pre¬
bend.
'1 he difference betw-een a prebendary and a canon is,
that the former receives his prebend in conlideration of
his officiating in the church, but the latter merely by his
being received into the cathedral or college.
PRECARIUM, in Sco/s Law. See Law, N°clxxiii.
9*
PRECEDENCE, a place of honour to which a
perfon is entitled. This is either of courtefy or of right.
The former is that which is due to age, eftate, &c.
which is regulated by cuftom and civility: the latter
is fettled by authority; and when broken in upon,
gives an aCtion at law\
In Great Britain, the order of precedency is as fol¬
lows : The king; the princes of the blood j the arch-
hiffiop of Canterbury ; the lord high chancellor; the
archbifhop of York ; the lord treafurer of England $
the lord prefident of the council 5 the lord privy feal 5
dukes ; the eldeft fons of dukes of the blood royal; mar-
quiffes 5 dukes eldeft fons *, earls j marquifles eldeft fons j
dukes younger fons ; vifcounts 5 earls eldeft; fons ; mar-
-quiffes younger fons; biffiops; barons j fpeaker of the
houfe of commons 5 lord commiffioner of the great feal ;
vifcounts eldeft fons; earls younger fons j barons eldeft
fons; privy counfellors not peers; chancellor of the ex-
/ chequer ; chancellor of the duchy ; knights of the gar¬
ter not peers ; lord chief juftice of the king’s bench ;
mafter of the rolls; lord chief juftice of the common
pleas; lord chief baron of the exchequer ; puifne iudges
and barons; knights banneret, if made in the field;
mafters in chancery ; vifcounts younger fons ; barons
younger fons; baronets; knights banneret; knights of
the Bath; knights bachelors ; baronets eldefl: fons;
knights eldefl: fons ; baronets younger fons; knights
younger fons; field and flag officers ; doftors graduate ;
ferjeants at law; efquires; gentlemen bearing coat ar¬
mour ; ^ yeomen ; tradefmen ; artificers ; labourers. 
Note, I he ladies, except thofe of archbiftiops, bifhcps,
and judges, take place according to the degree of qua¬
lity of their hufbands; and unmarried ladies take place
according to that of their fathers.
PRECEDENT, in Laxv, a cafe which has been de¬
termined, and which ferves as a rule for all of the fame
nature.
PRECENTOR, a dignity in cathedrals, popularly
•called the chantor, or tnafier of the choir.
PREC LP i, in L.aw, a command in writing fent by Precept
a chief juftice or juftice of the peace, for bringing a per- i!
for., record, or other matter before him. Precefllon.^
PRECEPT of Clare Confat, in Scots Law. See Law, 'v_
Part III. N° clxxx. 28.
PRECEPT of Sei/in, in Scots Law. See Law, Part III.
N° clxiv. 16.
PRECEPJLIVE, any thing which gives or contains
precepts.
Preceptive Poetry. See Poetry, N° 146, &c.
PRECESSION or the Equinoxes. The moft D;ilJa[
obvious of all the celeftial motions is the diurnal revo- volution of*
lution of the ftarry heavens. The whole appears to the ftarry
turn round an imaginary axis, which pafles through heavens,
two oppofite points of the heavens, called the poles. One
of thefe is in our fight, being very near the ftar « in
the tail of the Little Bear. The great circle which is
equtdiftant from both poles divides the heavens into the
northern and fouthern hemifpheres, which are equal.
It is called the equator, and it cuts the horizon in the
eaft and weft points, and every ftar in it is 12 fidereal
hours above and as many below the horizon, in each
revolution.
The fun’s motions determine the length of day obfefv
and night, and the viciffitudes of the feafons. By a tions'cA the
long feri.es of obfervations, the ffiepherds of Alla were Afiatic
able to mark out the fun’s path in the heavens; he beingrtiePherds»
always in the oppofite point to that which comes to
the meridian at midnight, with equal but oppofite decli¬
nation. Thus they could tell the ftars among which
the fun then was, although they could not fee them.
They difcovered that his path was a great circle of the
heavens, afterwards called the Ecliptic ; which cuts
the equator in two oppofite points, dividing it, and be¬
ing divided by it, into two equal parts. They farther
obferved, that when the fun was in either of thefe points
of interfeftion, his circle of diurnal revolution coincided
with the equator, and therefore the days and nights
were equal. Hence the equator came to be called the
Equinoctial line, and the points in which it cuts the
ecliptic were called the Equinoctial points, and the
fun was then faid to be in the equinoxes. One of thefe
was called the Vernal and the other the Autumnal
Equinox.
It was evidently an important problem in praftical To deter-
aftronomy to determine the exa£l moment of the fun’s mine the
occupying thefe ftations ; for it was natural to compute tim,e of the
the courfe of the year from that moment. Accordingly |Ufl's oc,cu‘
this has been the leading problem in the aftronomy of equine dial
all nations. It is fufceptible of confiderabk precifion, points,
without any apparatus of inftruments. It is only ne-
ceffary to obfcrve the fun’s declination on the noon of
two or three days before and after the equinoftial day.
On two confecutive days of this number, his declination
muft have changed from north to fouth, or from fouth
to north. If his declination on one day was obferved
to be 21' north, and on the next 5' fouth, it follows that
his declination was nothing, or that he was in the equi-
noftial point about 23' after feven in the morning of
the fecond day. Knowing the precife moments, and
knowing the rate of the fun’s motion in the ecliptic, it
is eafy to afcertain the precife point of the ecliptic in
which the equator interfered it. ^
By a feries of fuch obfervations made at Alexandria Hippar-
between the years 161 and 127 before Chrift, Hippar-chus’»dir.
chuSt0verI£S-
P R E [263
Freceflion. clius tlie father cf our agronomy found that the point
v——v  of the autumnal equinox was about fix degrees to the
eaftward of the ftar called Spica VIRGIS’IS. Eager to
determine every thing by multiplied obfervations, he ran-
facked ail the Chaldean, Egyptian, and other records,
to which his travels could procure him accefs, for obier-
vations of the fame kind > but he does not mention his
having found any. He found, however, fome obferva¬
tions of Ariftillus and Timochares, made about 150 years
before. From thefe it appeared evident that the point
of the autumnal equinox was then about eight degrees
eaft of the fame liar. He difcufi'es thefe obfervations
with great fagacity and rigour; and, on their au¬
thority, he afferts that the equinoctial points are not
fixed in the heavens, but move to the weftward about a
degree in 75 years or fomewhat lefs.
Wh "called This motion is called the Precession of the Equi-
the precef- NOXES, becaufe by it the time and place of the fun’s
fion of the equinoCtial ftation precedes the ufual calculations : it is
equinoxes. fully confirmed by all fubfequent obfervations. In 1750
the autumnal equinox was obferved to be 20° 21' weft-
ward of Spica Virginis. Suppofmg the motion to have
been uniform during this period of ages, it follows that
the annual precefiion is about 50"-^- ; that is, if the ce-
leftial equator cuts the ecliptic in a particular point on
any day of this year, it will on the lame day of the fol¬
lowing year cut it in a point 5o"-5- to the weft of it,
and the fun will come to the equinox 20' 23" before he
has completed his round of the heavens. Thus the
equinoctial or tropical year, or true year of feafons, is
fo much ftiorter than the revolution of the fun or the
6 fidereal year.
It is this difcovery that has chiefly immortalized the
name of Hipparchus, though it muft be acknowledged
that all his aftroiromical refearches have been conducted
with the fame fagacity and intelligence. It was natural
therefore for him to value himfelf highly for the difco¬
very ; for it muft be admitted to be one of the moft
fingular that has been made, that the revolution of the
whole heavens ftiould not be liable, but its axis conti¬
nually changing. For it muft be obferved, that lince
the equator changes its pofition, and the equator is only
an imaginary circle, equidiftant from the two poles or
extremities of the axis •, thefe poles and this axis muft
equally change their pofitions. The equinoftial points
make a complete revolution in about 25745 years, the
equator being all the while inclined to the ecliptic in
nearly the fame angle. Therefore the poles of this diurnal
revolution muft defcribe a circle round the poles of the
ecliptic at the diftance of about 23^ degrees in 25745
years j and in the time of Timochares, the north pole of
the heavens muft have been 30 degrees eaftward of
the place where it now is.
Hipparchus has been accufed of plagiarifm and in-
fincerity in this matter. It is now very certain that
the preceflion of the equinoxes was known to the aftro-
nomers of India many ages before the time of Hip¬
parchus. It appears alfo that the Chaldeans had a pret¬
ty accurate knowledge of the year of feafons. Irom
their faros we deduce their meafure of this year to be
365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 11 feconds, exceeding
the truth only by 26", and much more exaft than the
year of Hipparchus. They had alio a ftdereal year of
365 days 6 hours 11 minutes. Now what could occa-
fion an attention to two years, if they did not fuppofe
the eqiunoxes moveable i1 The Egyptians alfo had a
1
P R E
Importance
ot the dii-
covery.
Hipparchus
has been
accufed of
plagiarifrn.
knowledge of fomething equivalent to this : for they Preceffion.
had difeovered that the dog-itar was no longer the faith- ~
ful forwarner of the overflowing of the Nile } and theyp{ns {ur je
combined him with the liar Fomalhafet * in their myfii-Z0CUaque
cal kalendar. This knowledge is alfo involved in thedes Egyp-
precepts of the Chinefe aftronomy, of much older date
than the time of Hipparchus. __ _ des infer ip.
But all thefe acknowledged fafts are not fufllcient 3
for depriving Hipparchus of the honour of the difco-But falfely.
very, or fixing on him the charge of plagiarifm. This
motion was a thing unknown to the aftronomers of the
Alexandrian fchool, and it was pointed out to them
by Hipparchus in the way in which he afeertained
every other pofition in aftronomy, namely, as the ma¬
thematical refult of adlual obfervations, and not as a
thing deducible from any opinions on other fubjedls re¬
lated to it. We fee him, on all other occafions, eager to
confirm his own obfervations, and his deduftions from
them, by every thing he could pick up from other aftro¬
nomers ; and he even adduced the above-mentioned
praftice of the Egyptians in corroboration of his doc¬
trine. It is more than probable then that he did not
know any thing more. Flad he known the Indian
preceflion of 54" annually, he had no temptation what¬
ever to withhold him from ufing it in preference to one
which he acknowledges to be inaccurate, becaufe de¬
duced from the very fliort period of 150 years, and from
the obfervations of Timochares, in which he had no
great confidence. 9
This motion of the ftarry heavens was long a matter Heavenly
of difeuflion, as a thing for which no phyfical reafon motions ac~
could be aftigned. But the eftablifliment of the C°-
pernican fyftem reduced it to a very Ample affair j the p^rni ®ar°'
motion which was thought to affeft all the heavenly |yftem.
bodies, is now acknowledged to be a deception, or a falie
judgement from the appearances. The earth turns
round its own axis while it revolves round the fan, in
the fame manner as we may caufe a child’s top to fpu>
on the brim of a millftone, while the ffone is turning
{lowly rouud its axis. If the top fpin fteadily, with¬
out any wavering, its axis will always point to the ze¬
nith of the heavens j but we frequently fee, that while
it fpins brilkly round its axis, the axis itlelf has a flow
conical motion round the vertical line, fo that, if pro¬
duced, it would flowly defcribe a circle in the heavens
round the zenith point. The flat furface of the top may
reprefent the terreftrial equator, gradually turning itfelf
round on all fides. If this top were formed like a ball,
with an equatorial circle on it, it would reprefent the
whole motion very prettily, the only difference being,
that the fpinning motion and this wavering motion are
in the fame direftion •, whereas the diurnal rotation and
the motion of the equinoftial points are in contrary di-
regions. Even this difiimilarity may be removed, by
making the top turn on a cap, like the card of a mari¬
ner’s compafs. 10
It is now a matter fully eftablifhed, that while the And the
earth revolves round the fun from weft to eaft, in the earth’s.
plane of the ecliptic in the courfe of a year, it turns
round its own axis from weft to eaft in 23I1 56' 4'',
which axis is inclined to this plane in an angle of nearly
23* 28'; and that this axis turns round a line perpen¬
dicular to the ecliptic in 25,745 years from eaft to weft,
keeping nearly the fame inclination to the ecliptic.—
By this means, its pole in the fphere of the ftarry hea¬
vens deferibes a circle round the pole of the ecliptic at
the
P R E [ 264 ] P R E
of the
earth’s or¬
bit.
Preceffion the diftance of 230 28' nearly. The confequence of
-v ■ mufj. terreftrial equator, when produ¬
ced to the fphere of the ftarry heavens, wdll cut the
ecliptic in two oppofite points, through which the fun
muft pafs when he makes the day and night equal; and
that thefe points muft ftiift to the wTeftward, at the rate
of jOy feconds annually, which is the preceflion of the
equinoxes. Accordingly this has been the received
doftrine among aftronomers for nearly three centuries,
and it was thought perfedlly conformable to appear-
11 ances.
Bradley’s j>ut Dr Bradley, the moft fagacious of modern aftro-
difcover510 nomers> hoped to difcover the parallax of the earth’s or-
the parallax hit by obfervations of the afhial pofition of the pole of
the celeftial revolution. Dr Hooke had attempted this
before, but -with very imperfeft inftruments. The art
of obferving being now prodigioufly improved, Dr Brad¬
ley refumed this inveftigatiort. It will eafily appear,
that if the earth’s axis keeps parallel to itfelf, its extre¬
mity muft defcribe in the fphere of the ftarry heavens
a figure equal and parallel to its orbit round the fun ;
and if the ftars be fo near that this figure is a vifible ob¬
ject, the pole of diurnal revolution will be in different
diftmguilhable points of this figure. Confequently, if
the axis defcribes the cone already mentioned, the pole
will not defcribe a circle round the pole of the ecliptic,
but will have a looped motion along this circumference,
fimilar to the abfolute motion of one of Jupiter’s fatel-
lites, defcribing an epicycle wdrofe centre defcribes the
circle round the pole of the ecliptic.
He accordingly obferved fuch an epicyclical motion,
and thought that he had now overcome the only diffi¬
culty in the Copernican fyftem ; but, on maturely con-
fidering his obfervations, he found this epicycle to be
quite inconfiftent with the confequences of the annual
parallax, and it puzzled him exceedingly. One day,
while taking the amufement of failing about on the
Thames, he obferved, that every time the boat tacked,
the direftion of the wind, eftimated by the diredlion of
the vane, feemed to change. This immediately fug-
gefted to him the caufe of his obferved epicycle, and
he found it an optical illufion, occafioned by a combi¬
nation of the motion of light wdth the motion of his
telefcope while obferving the polar ftars. Thus he un¬
wittingly eftabliffied an incontrovertible argument for
the truth of the Copernican fyftem, and immortalized
his name by his difcovery of the Aberration of the
ftars.
He now engaged in a feries of obfervations for af-
certaining all the circumftances of this difcovery. In
the courfe of thefe, which were continued for 28 years,
he difcovered another epicyclical motion of the pole of
the heavens, -which was equally curious and unexpected.
He found that the pole defcribed an epicycle, whofe
diameter was about 18", having for its centre that point
of the circle round the pole of the ecliptic in which the
pole. wrould have been found independent of this new
motion. He alfo obferved, that the period of this epi¬
cyclical motion vras 18 years and feven months. It
ftruck him, that this was precifely the period of the re¬
volution of the nodes of the moon’s orbit. He gave a
brief account of thefe refults to Lord Macclesfield, then
prefident of the Royal Society, in 1747. Mr Machin,
to whom he alfo communicated the obfervations, gave
him in return a very neat mathematical hypothefts, by
,which the motion might be calculated.
4
Difficulties
in the at¬
tempt ob¬
viated by-
accident.
*3
His further
in vefti ga-
tion of the
fubjedt.
Plate
ceccxxxviii
Fig. x.
Let E (fig. 1.), be the pole of the ecliptic, and SPQ_ Preceffioxt.
a circle diftant from it 230 28', reprefenting the circle v*—-'
defcribed by the pole of the equator during one revolu- ^ate ...
tion of the equino&ial points. Let P be the place of
this laft mentioned pole at fome given time. Round P 14
defcribe a circle ABCD, whofe diameter AC is jg". Mathema-
The real fituation of the pole will be in the circum- the|)r^
ference of this circle j and its place, in this circum-“f the equa-
ference depends on the place of the moon’s afcending tor be fup-*
node. Draw EPF and GPL perpendicular to it j let to de-
GL be the colure of the equinoxes, and EF the colure fcnt>e a c‘r“
of the folftices. Dr Bradley’s obfervations ftrowed thatCJe*
the pole was in A when the node w'as in L, the vernal
equinox. If the node recede to H, the winter folitice,
the pole is in B. When the node is in the autumnal
equinox at G, the pole is at C ; and when the node is
in F, the fummer folftice, the pole is in D. In all in¬
termediate fituations of the moon’s afcending node, the
pole is in a point of the circumference ABCD, three
figns or 90° more advanced. ^
Dr Bradley, by comparing together a great number More exafe
of obfervations, found that the mathematical theory, andlf an ellipie
the calculation depending on it, would correfpond much be f“bftl£u-
better with the obfervations, if an ellipfe w^ere fubftitut- chde! 1 ^
ed for the circle ABCD, making the longer axis AC
18", and the fhorter, BD, 16". Mr d’Alembert deter¬
mined, by the phyfical theory of gravitation, the axes to
be 18" and i3".4. I(J
Thefe obfervations, and this mathematical theory, Thefe ob-
muft be confidered as fo many fads in aftronomy, and lervations
we muft deduce from them the methods of computing ancl this
the places of all celeftial phenomena, agreeable to the fa^jn^
univerfal. pradice of determining every point of the hea- aftronomy.
vens by its longitude, latitude, right afcehfion, and de¬
clination. ^
It is evident., in the firft place, that this equation of Obliquity
the pole’s motion makes a change in the obliquity ofot the e*
the ecliptic. The inclination of the equator to the ec-cliptlc*
liptic is meafured by the arch of a great circle intercep¬
ted between their poles. Now, if the pole be in O in-
ftead of P, it is plain that the obliquity is meafured by
EO inftead of EP. If EP be confidered as the mean
obliquity of the ecliptic, it is augmented by 9" when
the moon’s afcending node is in the vernal equinox, and
confequently the pole in A. It is, on the contrary, di-
miniffied 9" when the node is in the autumnal equinox,
and the pole in C ; and it is equal to the mean when
the node is in the colure of the folftices. This change
of the inclination of the earth’s axis to the plane of the
ecliptic wTas called the nutation of the axis by Sir Ifaac
Newton 5 who ihewed, that a change of nearly a fecond
muft obtain in a year by the adion of the fun on the
prominent parts of the terreftrial fpheroid. But he did
not attend to the change which would be made in this
motion by the variation which obtains in the difturbing
force of the moon, in confequence of the different obli¬
quity of her adion on the equator, arifing from the mo¬
tion of her own oblique orbit. It is this change which
now goes by the name nutation, and we owe its dif¬
covery entirely to Dr Bradley. The general change
of the pofition of the earth’s axis has been termed de¬
viation by modern aftronomers. xs
The quantity of this change of obliquity is eafily af- Quantity of
certained. It is evident, from what has been already lt eafily
faid, that when the pole is in C, the arch ADCO is afcertamed*
equal to the node’s longitude from the vernal equinox,
and
P R E F 2*5 ] P R E
19
Change of
the equi-
nodtul
points.
10
Situation
of the fol-
ftitial and
equinodlial
coiures.
ai
liquation
of longi¬
tude from
nutation
the earth’s
Freceffion. and tliat PM is its cofme ; and (on account of the fmall-
u— nefs of AP in comparifon of EP) PM may be taken for
the change of the obliquity of the ecliptic. This is
therefore = 9" X cof. long, node, and is additive to the
mean obliquity, while O is in the femicircle BAD, that
is, while the longitude of the node is from 9 figns to 3
iigns ; but fubtra&ive while the longitude of the node
changes from 3 to 9 figns.
But the nutation changes alfo the longitudes and right
afcenfions of the liars and planets by changing the equi¬
noctial points, and thus occafioning an equation in the
preceflion of the qquinoftial points. It was this circum-
ftance which made it neceffary for us to confider it in
this place, while exprefsly treating of this preceflion.
Let us attend to this derangement of the equinodlial
points.
The great circle or meridian which paffes through
the poles of the ecliptic and equator is always the foliti-
tial colure, and the equinoflial colure is at right angles
to it: therefore when the pole is in P or in O, EP or
EO is the folftitial colure. Let S be any fixed liar or
planet, and let SE be a meridian or circle of longitude }
draw the circles of declination PS, OS, and the circles
M'EM', m¥,mr, perpendicular to PE, OE.
If the pole were in its mean place P, the equinoflial
points would be in the ecliptic meridian M'EM', or that
meridian would pafs through the interfedlions of the
equator and ecliptic, and the angle M'ES would mea-
fure the longitude of the ftar S. But ■when the pole is
in O, the ecliptic meridian will pafs through
the equinoftial points. The equinoftial points muft.
therefore be to the weftward of their mean place, and
the equation of the preceflion muft be additive to that
preceflion 5 and the longitude of the ftar S will now be
meafured by the angle m ES, which, in the cafe here
reprefented, is greater than its mean longitude. The
difference, or the equation of longitude, arifing from the
. 1 OM
nutation of the earth’s axis, is the angle OEP, or Qjg*
OM is the fine of the angle CPO, which, by what has
been already obferved, is equal to the longitude of the
node : Therefore OM is equal to 9" X long- node* and
OM . . 9" x fin. long, node
7^- is equal to ^— . 1 his equation is
OE fin. obhq'. eclip.
additive to the mean longitude of the ftar when O is in
the femicircle CB A, or wdrile the afcending node is paf-
fing backwards from the vernal to the autumnal equi¬
nox but it is fubtraftive from it wdiile O is in the femi¬
circle ADC, or while the node is pafling backwards
from the autumnal to the vernal equinox •, or, to exprefs
it more briefly, the equation is fubtraftive from the mean
longitude of the ftar, while the afcending node is in the
firft fix figns, and additive to it while the node is in the
iaft fix figns.
This equation of longitude is the fame for all the ftars,
for their longitude is reckoned on the ecliptic (which is
here fuppofed invariable) } and therefore is affected only
by the variation of the point from which the longitude
a2 is computed.
Right af- The right afcenfion, being computed on the equator,
cenfion fuf- fuffers a double change. It is computed from, or be-
fers a dou- g}ns a different point of the equator, and it termi-
ble change. nates at a different point j becaufe the equator having
changed its pofition, the circles of declination alfo change
Vol. XVII. Part I.
theirs. When the pole is at P, the right afcenfion of Preceffion.
S from the folftitial colure is meafured by the angle ""l_v
SPE, contained between that colure and the ftar’s circle
of declination. But when the pole is at O, the right
afcenfion is meafured by the angle SOE, and the dif¬
ference of SPE and SOE is the equation of right af¬
cenfion. The angle SOE confifts of two parts, GOE
and GOSj GOE remains the fame wherever the ftar S
is placed, but GOS varies with the place of the ftar.—
We muft firft find the variation by which GPE becomes
GOE, which variation is common to all the ftars. The
triangles GPE, GOE, have a conftant fide GE, and a
conftant angle G ; the variation PO of the fide GP is
extremely fmall, and therefore the variation of the angles
may be computed by Mr Cotes’s Fluxionary Theorems.
See Simpfon’s Fluxions, § 253, &c. As the tangent of
the fide EP, oppofite to the conftant angle G, is to the
fine of the angle EPG, oppofite to the conftant fide
EG, fo is PO the variation of the fide GP, adjacent to
the conftant angle, to the variation x of the angle
GPO, oppofite to the conftant fide EG.' This gives
q'/X fin-lor>£-node _. r ,
x=    . I his is lubtraclive from the
tang. obi. eclip.
mean right afcenfion for the firft fix figns of the node’s
longitude, and additive for the laft fix figns. This equa¬
tion is common to all the ftars. 13
The variation of the other part SOG of the angle, va-
which depends on the different pofition of the hour ^tlons’
circles PS and OS, which caufes them to cut the equa¬
tion in different points, where the arches of right afcen¬
fion terminate, may be difcovered as follows: The tri¬
angles SPG, SOG, have a conftant fide SG, and a
conftant angle G. Therefore, by the fame Cotefian
theorem, tan. SP : fin. SPG —PO : y, and y, or the
fecond part of the nutation in right afcenfion, —
9"X fin- diff. R. A. of ftar and node
cotan. declin. ftar 24
The nutation alfo affefts the declination of the ftars : ^nation
For SP, the mean codeclination, is changed into SO.— declinations
Suppofe a circle defcribed round S, with the diftance 0f the ftars*-
SO cutting SP in f; then it is evident that the equa¬
tion of declin. is P/rr PO X cofine Oiy—9" X fign
r. afcen. of ftar—long, of node. 25
Such are the calculations in conftant ufe in our aftro- A more
nomical refearches, founded on Machin’s Theory. When exafl^mode
ftill greater accuracy is required, the elliptical theory ^
rnuft be fubftituted, by taking (as is expreffed by the
dotted lines) O in that point of the ellipfe defcribed on
the tranfverfe axis AC, where it is cut by OM, drawn
according to Machin’s Theory. All the change made
here is the diminution of OM in the ratio of x 8 to 13,4,
and a correfponding diminution of the angle CPO. The
detail of it may be feen in De la Lande’s AJlronomy,
art. 2874 5 but is rather foreign to our prefent purpofe
of explaining the preceflion of the equinoxes. The cal¬
culations being in every cafe tedious, and liable to mif-
takes, on account of the changes of the figns of the dif¬
ferent equations, the zealous promoters of aftronomy have
calculated and publiftied tables of all thefe equations,
both on the circular and elliptical hypothefis. And ftill
more to abridge calculations, which occur in reducing
every aftronomical obfervalion, when the place of a phe¬
nomenon is deduced from a comparifon with known ftars,
there have been publiftied tables of nutation .and prece.C
L 1 fion.
P R E [2
Preceffion.
26
Preceffion
of the eqtai-
nocfial
points, &c.
,27
Obferva- •
tions of
Newton
and others
on this fub
ject.
lion, for feme hundreds of the principal ftars, for every
poiition of the moon’s node and of the iun.
It now remains to confider the preceffion of the equi-
noflial points, with its equations, arifing from the nuta¬
tion of the earth’s axis as a phylxcal phenomenon, and
to endeavour to account for it upon thofe mechanical
principles which have fo happily explained all the other
phenomena of the celeftial motions.
This did not efcape the penetrating eye of Sir Ifaac
Newton ; and he quickly found it to be a confequence,
and the moil beautiful proof, of the univerfal gravitation
of all matter to all matter ; and there is no part of his
immortal work where his fagacity and fertility of re-
lource ffiine more confpicuoufiy than in this mveftiga-
tion. It muft be acknowledged, however, that New¬
ton’s inveftigation is only a ffirewd guefs, founded on ai-
fumptions, of which it would be extremely difficult to
demenftrate either the truth or falilty, and which requi¬
red the genius ot a Newton to pick out in inch a com¬
plication of abftrufe circumftances. The fubjecl has oc¬
cupied the attention of the firlt mathematicians or Eu¬
rope fince his time } and is Hill confidered as toe mofl
curious and difficult of all mechanical problems. The
moll elaborate and accurate dilfertations on the precei-
lion of the equinoxes are thofe of Sylvabella and Walme-
fly, in the Philofophical Tranfaflions, publiffied about
the year 17545 that of Thomas Simpfon, publiffied in
his Mifcellaneous Trads 5 that of Father Frifius, in the
Memoirs of the Berlin Academy, and afterwards with
grea*- improvements, in his Cofmographia 5 that ox Eu¬
ler in the Memoirs of Berlin 5 that of D’Alembert in
a feparate diliertation 5 and that of Ds la Grange on
the Libration of the Moon, which obtained the prize in
the Academy of Paris in 1 ^e think the differta-
tion of Father Frifius the moil perfpicuous of them all,
being conducted in the method of geometrical analyfis 5
whereas mod of the others proceed in the fiuxionary
and fymbolic method, which is frequently deficient in
diilincl notions of the quantities under confideration,
and therefore does not give us the fame perfpicuous
conviction of the truth of the refults. In a work like
ours, it is impoffible to do juflice to the problem, with¬
out entering into a detail which would be thought ex¬
tremely difproportioned to the fubjefl by the genera¬
lity of our readers. Yet thofe who have the neceffary
preparation of mathematical knowledge, and wiffi to un-
derftand the fubjefl fully, will find enough here to give
them a very diliin6l notion of it 5 and in the article Ro¬
tation, they will find the fundamental theorems, which
will enable them to carry on the inveftigation. We
ffiall firft give a fhort (ketch of Newton’s inveftigation,
which is of the moft palpable and popular kind, and is
highly valuable, not only for its ingenuity, but alfo be-
caufe it will give our unlearned readers diftindl and fa-
tisfaftory conceptions of the chief circumftances of the
2g whole phenomena.
Sketch of Let S (fig. 2.) be the fun, E the Earth, and M the
Newton’s Moon, moving in the orbit NMCD/z, which cuts the
invefhga- plane of the Ecliptic in the line of the nodes N «, and
tmn ot it. ^as one rajfecj above it, as reprefented in the figure,
‘1' the other half being hid below the Ecliptic. Sup-
pofe this orbit folded down *, it will coincide with the
Ecliptic in the circle N m c dn. Let EX reprefent the
axis of this orbit, perpendicular to its plane, and there¬
fore inclined to the Ecliptic. Since the Moon gravi-
66 ] P R E
tales to the fun in the direction MS, which is all above Precaffien.
the Ecliptic, it is plain that this gravitation has a ten- -v-~ ‘
dency to draw the Moon towards the Ecliptic. Sup-
pofe this force to be fuch that it would draw the Moon
down from M to i in the time that (he would have mo¬
ved from M to X, in the tangent to her orbit. By the
combination of thefe motions, the Moon will defert her
orbit, and deferibe the line M r, which makes ihe dia¬
gonal of the parallelogram 5 and if no farther action of
the fun be fuppofed, fire will deferibe another orbit
M 5' n\ lying between the orbit MCD n -and the Eclip¬
tic, and (lie will come to the Ecliptic, and pais through
it in a point nearer to M than n is, which was the
former place ot her defeending node. By this change
of orbit, the line EX will no longer be perpendicular to
it; but there will be another line E x, which will now
be perpendicular to the new orbit. Alfo the Moon,
moving from M to r, does not move as if ffie had come
from the afeending node N, but from a point N lying
beyond it 5 and the line of the nodes of the orbit in this
new pofition is N' n’. Alfo the angle MN'/// is lefs
than the angle MN m.
Thus the nodes Ihift their places in a direclion op-
pofite to that of her motion, or move to the weftward ;
the axis of the orbit changes its pofition, and the orbit
itfelf changes its inclination to the ecliptic. Thefe
momentary changes are different in different parts of
the orbit, according to the pofition of the line of the
nodes. Sometimes the inclination of the orbit is in-
creafed, and fometimes the nodes move to the eaftward-
But, in general, the inclination increafes from the time
that the nodes are in the line of fyzigee, till they get into
quadrature, after which it diminiihes till the nodes are
again in fyzigee. The nodes advance only while they
are in the odlants after the quadratures, and while the
moon paffes from quadrature to the node, and they re¬
cede in all other fituations. Therefore the recefs ex¬
ceeds the advance in every revolution of the moon round
the earth, and, on the whole, they recede.
What lias been faid of one Moon, would be true of
each of a continued ring of Moons furrounding the
Earth, and they would thus compofe a flexible ring, •
which would never be flat but waved, according to the
difference (both in kind and degree) of the diiturbing
forces afting on its different parts. But fuppofe thefe
Moons to cohere, and to form a rigid and flat ring, no¬
thing would remain in this ring but the excefs of the con¬
trary tendencies of its different parts. Its axis would be
perpendicular to its plane, and its pofition in any moment
will be the mean pofition of all the axes of the orbits of
each part of the flexible ring 5 therefore the nodes of
this rigid ring will continually recede, except when the
plane of the ring paffes through the Sun, that is, when
the nodes are in fyzigee 5 and (fays Newton) the mo¬
tion of thefe nodes will be the fame with the mean mo¬
tion of the nodes of the orbit of one Moon. The incli¬
nation of this ring to the ecliptic will be equal to the
mean inclination of the Moon’s orbit during any one
revolution which has the fame fituation of the nodes.
It will therefore be leaft of all when the nodes are in
quadrature, and will increafe till they are in fyzigee,
and then diminiffi till they are again in quadrature.
Suppofe this ring to contracl in dimenfions, the dif-
turbing forces will diminiffi in the fame proportion, and
in this proportion will all their effe&s dimmiffi. Sup¬
pofe
P R E [
Preceflion. pofe its motion of revolution to accelerate, or the time
~v 1 of a revolution to dimxmfh 5 the linear eflfeas of the dif-
turbinsr forces being as the fquares of the times of tneir
aftion, and their angular effe&s as the times, thofe er¬
rors mutt diminitti alfo on this account} and we can
compute what thofe errors will be for any diameter of
the ring:, and for any period of its revolution. VV e can
tell therefore, what would be the motion of the nodes,
the’change of inclination, and deviation of the axis, ol a
rinsr which would touch the furface of the earth and
revolve in 24 hours ; nay, we can tell what thefe mo¬
tions would be, fliould this ring adhere to the earth.
They mutt be much lefs than if the ring were detached ;
for the difturbing forces of the ring mutt drag along
with it the whole globe of the earth. I he quantity
of motion which the difturbing forces would have pro¬
duced in the ring alone, will now (fays Newton) be
produced in the whole mafs j and therefore the velocity
mutt be as much lefs as the quantity of matter is greater :
But ftill all this can be computed.
Now there is fuch a ring on the earth : for the earth
is not a fphere, but an elliptical fpheroid. Sir Ifaac
Newton therefore engaged m a computation of the effedts
of the difturbing force, and. has exhibited a moft beautiful
example of mathematical inveftigation. He firft afferts,
that the earth mujl be an elliptical fpheroid, whole po¬
lar axis is to its equatorial diameter as 229 to 230.
Then he demonftrates, that if the fine of the inclina¬
tion of the eouator be called w, and if t be the num¬
ber of days (fidereal) in a year, tlmannual motion of
a detached ring will be 360 X'1-™ ~t • He then
(bows that the effea of the difturbing force, on this
ring is to its effedt on the matter of the fame rmg, di -
tributed in the form of an elliptical ftratum (but ftill
detached) as 5 to 2; therefore the motion of the nodes
will be 360° or l6' l6" 24'" annually. He
then proceeds to (how, that the quantity of motion in
the fphere is to that in an equatorial rmg revolving
in the fame time, as the matter in the fphere to the mat¬
ter in the ring, and as three times the fquare of a qua-
drantal arch to two fquares of a diameter, jointly :
Then he (hows, that the quantity of matter m the ter-
reftrial fphere is to that in the protuberant matter of
the fpheroid, as 52900 to 461. (fuppofing all homo-
geneousT From thefe premifesit follows., that the.mo¬
tion of 16' 16" 24w, muft be diminilhed in the ratio of
10717 to 100, which reduces it to 9" 07'" annually.
And this (he fays) is the preceflion of the equinoxes,
occafioned by the adtion of the fun •, and. the reft of the
r0I" which is the obferved preceflion, is owing t© the
aftion of the moon, nearly five times greater than that
of the fun. This appeared a great difficulty ; for the
phenomena of the tides (how that it cannot me.cb exceed
twice the fun’s force. . r
Nothing can exceed the ingenuity of this proceis.
unuauiv,.. Juftly does his celebrated and candid.commentator .Ua-
61 the form n‘el Bernoulli, fay (in his Differtation on the iid.es,
and dimen- ^4 the prp,e 0f the French Academy with
earthde- M4Laurin and Euler), that Newton faw through a veil
monftrated what others could hardly difcover with a microlcope
by M‘Lau- jn the light of the meridian fun. His determination
rin* 0f the form and dimenfions of the earth, which is the
67 ] P R E
foundation of the whole procefs, is not offered as any Preceffion,
thing better than a probable guefs., in re difficillima ; and v "
it has fince been demonftrated with geometrical rigour
by M‘Laurin. _
Flis next principle, that the motion of the nodes of
the rigid ring is equal to the mean motion of the nodes
of the moon, has been moft critically difcuffed .by the
firft mathematicians, as a thing which could neither be
proved nor refuted, f rilius has at leaft ftiown it to be a
miftake, and that the motion of the nodes of the ring is
double the mean motion of the nodes of a Angle moon :
and that Newton’s own principles ffiould have produced
a preceflion of iS-J feconds annually, which removes the
difficulty formerly mentioned.
His third affumption, that the quantity of motion
of the ring muft be ftiared with the included fphere,
was acquiefced in by all his commentators., till 13 Alem¬
bert and Euler, in 1749’
flrowed that it was not the
29
His deter¬
mination
quantity of motion round an axis of rotation which re¬
mained the fame, but the quantity of momentum or ro¬
tatory effort. 1 he quantity of motion is the product
of every particle by its velocity ^ that is, by its diftance
from the axis *, while its momentum, or power of pro¬
ducing rotation, is as the fquare of that diftance, and is
to be had by taking the fum of each particle multiplied
by the fquare of its diftance from the axis. Since the eai ill
differs fo little from a perfect fphere, this makes^no len-
fible difference in the relult. It will increafe Newton s
preceffion about three-fourths oi a fecond. # 3°
We proceed now to the examination of this pheno-Examina-
non upon the fundamental principles of mechanics.
Becaufe the mutual gravitation of the particles Ol-lonofpre_
matter in the folar fyftem is in the inverle ratio, of .the cefplon on
fquares of the diftance, it follows, that the gravitations mechanical
of the different parts of the earth to the fun or to the principles,
moon are unequal. The nearer particles gravitate more
than thofe that are more remote. . . .
Let PO/>E (fig. 3.) be a meridional feftion of the Fig. 3.
terreftrral iphere, and the iedtion of the mfenbed
fphere. Let CS be a line in the plane of the ecliptic
palling through the fun, fo that the angle ECS is the
fun’s declination. Let NCM be a plane palling through
the centre of the earth at right angles to the plane of
the meridian PQaE > NCM will therefore be the plane
of illumination. < #
In confequence of the unequal gravitation 01 the mat¬
ter of the earth to the fun, every particle, fuch as B, is
afted on by a difturbing foree parallel to CS, and pro¬
portional to ED, the diftance of the particle from the
plane of illumination ; and this force is to the gravita¬
tion of the central particle to the fun, as three times
BD to CS, the diftance of the earth from the fun.
Let ABtf be a plane palling through the particle.B,
parallel to the plane EG of the equator. . This fe&ion
of the earth will be a circle, of which Aa is a diameter,
and Q <7 will be the diameter of its feaion with, the inferi-
bed iphere. Thefe will be tw'O concentric circles, and
the ring by which the feaion of the fpheroid exceeds
the feaion of the fphere, will have AQ for its breadth .
P/- is the axis of figure.
Let EC be reprefented by the fymbol
OC or PC
—b*
EO their difference, =-
L 1 2
a T b
a
b
d
CL
P R E
Preceffion. CL
RL . -
I he periphery of a circle to radius i
The dilturbing force at the diftance I
from the plane NCM
The line of declination ECS
The coline of ECS
-x1
n
/
It is evident, that with refpeft to the infcribed fphere,
the dilturbing forces are completely compenfated, for
every particle has a correfponding particle in the ad¬
joining quadrant, which is adted on by an equal and op-
polile force. But this is not the cafe with the protube¬
rant matter which makes up the fpheroid. The feg-
ments NS s n and MT t m are more adted on than the
fegments NT t n and MS j- m ; and thus there is produ¬
ced a tendency to a converfion of the whole earth, round
an axis palling through the centre C, perpendicular to
the plane P£)/> E. We lhall diftinguilh this motion
from all others to which the fpheroid may be fubjedi,
by the name Libration. The axis of this libration
is always perpendicular to that diameter of the equa¬
tor over which the fun is, or to that meridian in which
he is.
Pros. I. To determine the momentum of libration
correfponding to any pofition of the earth refpedting
the fun, that is, to determine the accumulated energy
of the dilturbing forces on all the protuberant matter of
the fpheroid.
Let B and b be two particles in the ring formed by
the revolution of A£), and fo fituated, that they are at
equal diftances from the plane NM 5 but on oppofite
fides of it. Draw BD, b d, perpendicular to NM, and
FLG perpendicular to LT.
Then, becaufe the momentum, or power of produ¬
cing rotation,_ is as the force and as the diftance of its
line of diredlion from the axis of rotation, jointly, the
combined momentum of the particles B and b will be
/.BD.DC—(for the particles B and £, are
urged in contrary diredions). But the momentum of
B isyiBF.DC-j-/lFD DC, and that of b is f.b G.*/C 
fdQ.dC ; and the combined momentum isyiBF.D ^ 
/FD.DC+^C, = 2/BF.LF - 2/LT.TC.
Becaufe m and n are the fine and cofine of the angle
ECS or LCT, we have LT=:/«.CL, and CTrrmCL,
and LF—wz.BL, and Bh—«.BL. This gives the mo¬
mentum z=2fmn BlTE-CL3.
^ ’I he breadth AQ of the protuberant ring being very
imall, we may fuppofe, without any fenfible error, that
all the matter of the line A£ is collefted in the point
1) j and, in like manner, that the matter of the whole
ring is collefted in the circumference of its inner circle,
and that B and b now reprefent, not fingle particles!
.nit tne collected matter of lines fuch as AQ, which
terminate at B and b. The combined momentum of two
iuch lines wall therefore be ? »y~ A Q jgjp1 CL\
Let the circumference of each parallel of latitude be
umded into a great number of indefinitely fmall and
equal parts. The number of fuch parts in the circum-
feience of which Q^ is the diameter, will be n.QL.
To each pair ofthefe there belongs a momentum 'imnf
>AQ..BLJ—The fum of all the fquares of BL
which can be taken round the circle, is one half of as’
many fquares of the radius CL ; for BL is the fine
268 ] P R E
• of an arch, and the fum of its fquare and the fquare of Preceflion.
its correfponding cofine is equal to the fquare of the ' *  
radius. Therefore the fum of all the fquares of the
fines, together with the fum of all the fquares of the
cofines, is equal to the fum of the fame number of
fquares of the radius ; and the fum of the fquares of
the fines is equal to the fum of the fquares of the cor¬
refponding cofines : therefore the fum of the fquares of
the radius is double of either fum. Therefore^/n. Q L
.BL2=in.OL.^)L2. In like manner the fum of the
number n.QL, of CL2j- wall be :=n.QL.CL2. Thefe
fums, taken for the femicircle, are ^n.QL.QL2, and
in.QL.CL2, or n.QL.iQL2, and n.QL.iCL2 : there¬
fore the momentum of the whole ring will be 2 m nf
.AQ.QL.n(-£QL2—§CL") : for the momentum of the
ring is the combined momenta of a number of pairs, and
this number is -in.QL.
By the ellipfe we have OC : QLrrEO : AQ, and
AQ.= Q.LOC» :=:QL£'* therefore the momentum of
the ring is 2 ^ «/^QL2n ( JOL’—iCL2), = m n/~
Q.L2n (tQL2—CL2) : but QL2—£2—a2 j therefore
—«/a w,*  3X*.
— 2. v —2A , ——  ,
2
i Q,L2—CL2=4 b1—
therefore the momentum of the ring is m «/-n(£2—a2)
, d
m n f—7 n
2 b
(b*—4//a2 +3A'1). If we now fuppofe another paral¬
lel extremely near to A a, as reprefented by the dotted
line, the diftance L / between them being a, we {hall
have the fluxion of the momentum of the fpheroid
m n f—U. (Z'4#—4.Z'2a2a-J-3a4a), of which the fluent is
d
m
This exprefles the
momentum of the zone EA a Q, contained between the
equator and the parallel of latitude A a. Now let a
become —Z>, and we ftiall obtain the momentum of the
d
(L5—and that of
(Zs_f^+^s) nfd
hemifpheroid ~mnf—n
2b
the fpheroid —mn f-Jl
I\b*.
This formula does not exprefs any motion, but only
a preffure tending to produce motion, and particularly
tending to produce a libration by its aftion on the co¬
hering matter of the earth, which is affedted as a num¬
ber of levers. It is fimilar to the common mechanical
formula ’iv.d, where w means a weight, and d its di¬
ftance from the fulcrum of the lever.
It is worthy of remark, that the momentum of this
protuberant matter is juft one-fifth of what it would be
if it were all colledted at the point O of the equator :
for the matter in the fpheroid is to that in the infcribed
fphere as az to £2, and the contents of the infcribed
fphere is E n ZA Therefore a1 : ad b*—Znbl • 2nZ>3
a%-b* , . , . , . 1 • T
, which is the quantity of protuberant matter*
[ 269 ]
Preceffion,
- — id ;
P R E
r r a*'
We may, without fenfible error, iuppoie —
then the protuberant matter will be %nb*d. If all this
were placed at O, the momentum would be 4n
db'f.OH.HC, =4 tnnfdb*, becaufe OH.HC=to j
now 4 js 5 t™68 tx-
Alfo, becaufe the fum of all the re&angles OH.HC
round the equator is half of as many fquares of OC, it
follows that the momentum of the protuberant matter
placed in a ring round the equator of the Iphere or
fpheroid is one half of what it would be if collected in
the point O or E •, whence it follows that the momentum
of the protuberant matter in its natural place is two-
fifths of what it would be if it were difpofed in an equa¬
torial ring. It was in this manner that Sir Ifaac New¬
ton was enabled to compare the effeft of the fun’s ac¬
tion on the protuberant matter of the earth, with his
effeft on a rigid ring of moons. The preceding invef-
tigation of the momentum is nearly the fame with his,
and appears to us greatly preferable in point of perfpi-
euity to the fluxionary folutions given by later authors.
Thefe indeed have the appearance of greater accuracy,
becaufe they do not fuppofe all the protuberant matter
to be condenfed on the furface of the infcribed fphere :
nor were we under the neceflity of doing this, only it
would have led to very complicated expreflions had we
fuppofed the matter in each line AQ^ collefted in its
centre of ofcillation or gyration. We made a compen-
fation for the error introduced by this, which may
amount to T4x °f whole, and fhould not be negleft-
q*- fa* fl3,
ed, by taking d as equal to    inftead of ——7.
The confequence is, that our formula is the fame with
that of the later authors.
Thus far Sir Ifaac Newton proceeded with mathema¬
tical rigour *, but in the application he made twTo af-
fumptions, or, as he calls them, hypothefes, which have
been found to be unwarranted. The firfl: was, that when
the ring of protuberant matter is connedted with the
infcribed fphere, and fubjedled to the aftion of the dif-
turbing force, the fame quantity of motion is produ¬
ced in the whole mafs as in the ring alone. The fe-
cond wras, that the motion of the nodes of a rigid ring
of moons is the fame with the mean motion of the nodes
of a folitary moon. But we are now able to demon-
ftrate, that it is not the quantity of motion, but of mo¬
mentum, wdiich remains the fame, and that the nodes
of a rigid ring move twice as fall; as thofe of a Angle
particle. We proceed therefore to
Prob. 2. To determine the deviation of the axis, and
the retrograde motion of the nodes which refult from this
men turn of hbratory momentum of the earth’s protuberant matter,
the earth’s But here we muft refer our readers to fome funda-
protuberar.tmental propofitions of rotatory motions which are de-
monftrated in the article Rotation.
If a rigid body is turning round an axis A, palling
through its centre of gravity with the angular velocity
rz, and receives an impulfe wrhich alone would caufe it
to turn round an axis B, alfo palling through its centre
of gravity, with the angular velocity b, the body will
now turn round a third axis C, palling through its centre
of gravity, and lying in the plane of the axes A and B,
and the fine of the inclination of this third axis to the
axis A will be to the fine of inclination to the axis B as
the velocity b to the velocity a.
P R E
3*
33
When a rigid body is made to turn round any axis Preceffioti^
by the aftion of an external force, the quantity ot mo¬
mentum produced (that is, the fum of the produ£ls of
every particle by its velocity and by its diftance from
the axis) is equal to the momentum or fimilar product
of the moving force or forces.
If an oblate fpheroid, whofe equatorial diameter is a
and polar diameter by be made to librate round an equa¬
torial diameter, and the velocity of that point of the
equator which is fartheft from the axis of libration be <y,
the momentum of the fpheroid is
The two laft are to be found in every elementary
book of mechanics.
Let AN an (fig. 4.) be the plane of the earth’s equa-^S- 4*
tor, cutting the ecliptic CNK n in the line of the nodes
or equinoctial points N n. Let OAS be the feftion of
the earth by a meridian palling through the fun, fo
that the line OCS is in the ecliptic, and CA is an arch
of an hour-circle or meridian, meafuring the fun’s de¬
clination. The fun not being in the plane of the equa¬
tor, there is, by prop. 1. a force tending to produce, a
libration round an axis ZO 2s at right angles to. the dia^
meter A a of that meridian in which the fun is fituat-
ed, and the momentum of all the difturbing forces is
m nfdu b*. The produft of any force by the mo¬
ment t of its aftion expreffes the momentary increment
of velocity ; therefore the momentary velocity, or the
velocity of libration generated in the time t is Vx m nfd
T\b^t. This is the abfolute velocity of a point at the
diftance 1 from the axis, or it is the fpace which would
be unilormly defcribed in the moment J, with the velo¬
city which the point has acquired at the end . of that
moment. It is double the fpace attually delcribed by
the libration during that moment; becaufe this has been
an uniformly accelerated motion, in confequence of the
continued and uniform aftion of the momentum during
this time. This muft be carefully attended to, and the
negleft of it has cccafioned very faulty folutions of this
problem.
Let v be the velocity produced in the point A, the
moft remote from the axis of libration. The momen¬
tum excited or produced in the fpheroid is -^na'b'v
(as above), and this muft be equal to the momentum of
the moving force, or to ^TmnfdubU therefore we
3*
Effedts of
the libra-
tory mo-
matter.
obtain v.
■^mnfdub* t
.b'
, that is v— m nfdt — ox ve -
• b
ry nearly m nfdt, becaufe — == 1 very nearly. Alfo,
becaufe the produft of the velocity and time gives the
fpace uniformly defcribed in that time, the fpace de¬
fcribed by A in its libration round Z 55 is m nfd and
. . mnfdt
the angular velocity is  ^ .
Let r be the momentary angle of diurnal rotation.
The arch A r, defcribed by the point A of the equa¬
tor in this moment / will therefore be a r, that is, a x r,
CIV
and the velocity of the point A is —7-, and the angular
velocity of rotation is — .
Here then is. a body (fig. 5.) turning round an axis 5-
P R E [ 270 ] P R E
Preceffion. OP, perpendicular to the plane of the equator zoz, and
w—y-- 1 therefore fituated in the plane ZP & ; and it turns round
this axis with the angular velocity - • It has received
an impulfe, by which alone it would librate round the
. m n f d t
axis Z z, with the angular velocity  . It will
therefore turn round neither axis (n° 31.)., but round
a third axis OP', palling through O, and lying in the
plane ZP z, in which the ether two are fituated, and
the fine P’ll of its inclination to the axis of libration
Z 2 will be to the fine P/> of its inclination to the axis
. r mnfdt
Ur ox rotation as ~ to  
t a
Sig. 4. Now A, in fig. 4. is the fummit of the equator both
of libration and rotation j m n f dt* is the fpace de-
feribed by its libration in the time /; and a r is the
fpace or arch Ar (fig. 4.) deferibed in the fame time
by its rotation : therefore, taking A r to A c (perpen¬
dicular to the plane of the equator of rotation, and ly¬
ing in the equator of libration,) ns ar X.o mnf dtz, and
completing the parallelogram A.r me, A m will be the
compound motion of A (n°3i.), and a r •. mnfdtz
— I : m nf^ f ? which will be the tangent of the angle
a r
m A r, or of the change of pofition of the equator.
But the axes of rotation are perpendicular to their
equator $ and therefore the angle of deviation iu is
equal to this angle r A m. This appears from fig. 5.;
-for n P" : Vp — O p : P'/>,= OP : tan. POP ; and it is
evident that a r : m nfdtz ~ - m nf d~ , as is requir-
t a
ed by the compofition of rotations.
In confequence of this change of pofition, the plane
of the equator no longer cuts the plane of the ecliptic
in the line N«. The plane of the new equator cuts the
former equator in the line AO, and the part AN of the
former equator lies between the ecliptic and the new
equator AN', while the part Ak of the former equator
is above the newr one An’; therefore the new node N',
from wT.ich the point A was moving, is removed to
the wreftward, or farther from A *, and the newr node
to which A is approaching, is alfo moved weftward, or
nearer to A •, and this happens in every pofition of A.
The nodes, therefore, or equinoctial points, continually
Ihift to the weftward, or in a contrary direction to the
rotation of the earth •, and the axis of rotation always
deviates to the eaft fide of the meridian which paffes
through the fun.
This account of the motions is extremely different
from what a perfon fhould naturally expeCf. If the
earth were placed in the fummer folftice, with refpeft
to us who inhabit its northern hemifphere, and had no
rotation round its axis, the equator would begin to ap¬
proach the ecliptic, and the axis would become more
upright ; and this would go on with a motion conti¬
nually accelerating, till the equator coincided with the
ecliptic. It would not flop here, but go as far on the
other fide, till its motion w?ere extinguifhed by the oppo-
fing forces 5 and it would return to its former pofition,
*and again begin to approach the ecliptic, playing up
2
and down like the arm of a balance. On this account Preceffion,
this motion is very properly termed libration ; but this
very flow libration, compounded with the incomparably
fwifter motion of diurnal rotation, produces a third mo¬
tion extremely different from both. At firft the north
pole of the earth inclines forward toward the fun 5 after
a long courfe of years it wall incline to the left hand, as
viewed from the fun, and be much more inclined to the
ecliptic, and the plane of the equator will pafs through
the fun. Then the fouth pole will come into view,
and the north pole will begin to decline from the fun ;
and this will go on (the inclination of the equator dimi-
nifhing all the while) till, after a courfe of years, the
north pole will be turned quite away from the fun, and
the inclination of the equator will be reftored to its ori¬
ginal quantity. After this the phenomena will have
another period fimilar to the former, but the axis will
now deviate to the right hand. And thus, although
both the earth and fun fhould not move from their
places, the inhabitants of the earth wmuld have a com¬
plete fuccefflon of the feafbns accomplifhed in a period
of many centuries. This would be prettily illuftrated
by an iron ring poifed very nicely on a cap like the card
of a mariner’s compafs, having its centre of gravity co¬
inciding with the point of the cap, fo that it may whirl
round in any pofition. As this is extremely difficult
to execute, the cap may be pierced a little deeper,
which will caufe the ring to maintain a horizontal pofi¬
tion with a very fmall force. When the ring is whir¬
ling very fteadily, and pretty brifkly, in the direction
of the hours of a watch-dial, hold a ftrong magnet above
the middle of the nearer femicircle (above the 6 hour
point) at the diftance of three or four inches. We
fliall immediately obferve the ring rife from the 9 hour
point, and fink at the 3 hour point, and gradually ac¬
quire a motion of preceflion and nutation, fuch as has
been deferibed.
If the earth be now put in motion round the fun, or
the fun round the earth, motions of libration and devia¬
tion will ftill obtain, and the fucceflion of their different
phafes, if we may fo call them, will be perfectly analo¬
gous to the above ftatement. But the quantity of de¬
viation, and change of inclination, will now' be prodigi-
oufly diminifhed, becaufe the rapid change of the fun's
pofition quickly diminifhes the difturbing forces, annihi¬
lates them by bri ging the fun into the plane of the
equator, and brings oppofite forces into atrlion.
We fee in general that the deviation of the axis is
always at right angles to the plane puffing through the
fun, and that the axis, inftead of being railed from the
ecliptic, or brought nearer to it, as the libration wTould
occafion, deviates fidewife } and the equator, inftead of
being railed or deprefied round its eaft and wTeft points,
is twifted fidewife round the north and fouth points;
or at leaf! things have this appearance ; but wre mull
now attend to this circumftance more minutely.
The compofition of rotation fliow'S us that this
change of the axis of diurnal rotation is by no means a
tranflation of the former axis (which wTe may fuppofe
to be the.axis of figure) into a new pofition, in which
it again becomes the axis of diurnal motion 5 nor does
the equator of figure, that is, the moft prominent fec-
tion of the terreftrial fphevcid, change its pofition, and
in this new' pofition continue to be the equator of ro¬
tation. This w7as indeed fuppofed by Sir Ifaac New¬
ton 3
P 11 E [27
Pi-wllo". ton ; and tins fuppoStion naturally refulted from the
of reafomng wbich he adopted, it v\as itnct^y
true of a {ingle moon, or of the imaginary orbit attach¬
ed to it; and therefore Newton fuppofed that the whole
earth did in this manner deviate from its former pofi-
tion, ftill, however, turning round its axis of iigure.
In this he has been followed by Walmefly, Simpfon, and
moft of his commentators. D’Alembert was the firft
who entertained any fufpicion that this might not be
certain 5 and both he and Euler at laft (bowed that the
new axis of rotation was really a new line in the body
of the earth, and that its axis and equator of figure did
not remain the axis and equator of rotation. 1 liey af"
certained the pofition of the real axis by means oi a moft
intricate analyfis, which obfcured the connection of the
different pofitions of the axis with each otiier, and gave
us only a kind of momentary information. Father Irifius
turned his thoughts to this problem, and fortunately
difcovered the compofition of rotations as a general
principle of mechanical philofophy. how things of
this kind have efcaped the penetrating eye of Sir Ilaac
Newton. Even this principle had been glanced at by
him. He affirms it in exprefs terms with refpecT; to
a body that is perfedfly fpherical (cor. 22. prop. 66.
B. I.). But it was referved for Frifius to demonftrate
it to be true of bodies of any figure, and thus to enrich
mechanical fcience with a principle which gives limple
and elegant folutrons of the moft difficult problems.
But here a very formidable objedlion naturally ofters
itfelf. If the axis of the diurnal motion of the heavens
is not tire axis of the earth’s fpheroidal figure, but an
imaginary line in it, round which even the axis of figure
mult revolve } and if this axis of diurnai rotation has fo
greatly changed its pofition, that it now points at a
ikr at leaft 1 2 degrees diftant from the pole obferved
by Timochares, how comes it that the equator has the
very fame fituation on the furface of the earth that it had
in ancient times ? No fenfible change has been obfeived
in the latitudes of places.
The anfwer is very fimple and fatisiaflory : Suppofe
that in 12 hours the axis of rotation has changed from
Fig’ 6* the pofiticn PR (fig- 6.) to pr, fo that the north pole,
in Head of being at P, which we may fuppofe to be a par¬
ticular mountain, is now at />• In this 12 hours the
mountain P, by its rotation round pr, has acquired the
pofition tt. At the end of the next 12 hours, the axis
of rotation has got the pofition wg, and the axis of figure
has got the pofition y>r, and the mountain P is now at
At Thus, on the noon of the following day, the axis of
figure PR is in the fituation which tne rem axis of ro¬
tation occupied at the intervening midnight. ^ This goes
on continually, and the axis of figure follows the pofition
of the axis of rotation, and is never further removed
from it than the deviation of 12 hours, which does not
exceed -yi^th part of one recond, a quantity altogether
imperceptible. Therefore the axis of figure will alwajs
fenfibly coincide with the axis of rotation, and no change
can be produced in the latitudes of places on tne furface
* of the earth.
Application We have hitherto confidered this problem in the moft
oi this rea- general manner ; let us now apply the knowledge we
foiling have gotten of the deviation of the axis or of the mo-
ancf ire -ef mentai7 a^i°n °f the difturbing force to the explanation
fton.PK of the phenomena ; that is, let. us fee what preceffion and
i ] P R E
what nutation will be accumulated after any given time Prcccffion.
of action. # .
For this purpofe we muft afeertain the precne devia¬
tion which the difturbing forces are competent to pro¬
duce. This we can do by comparing the momentum of
libration with the gravitation of the earth to the fun,
and this with the force which would retain a body on
the equator while the earth turns round its axis.
The gravitation of the earth to the fun is in the pro¬
portion of the fun’s quantity of matter M directly, and to
the fquare of the diftance A inverfely, and may therefore
be expreffed by the fymbol qpq. Fhe difturbing roicc
at the diftance 1 from the plane of illumination is to
the gravitation of the earth’s centre to tire fun as 3 to
A, (A being meafured on the fame fcale which mea-
fures the diftance from the plane of illumination).
Therefore will be the difturbing force / of our for-
21 5
mula. ^
Let p be the centrifugal force of a particrc at the
diftance x from the axis of rotation ; and let A and . I
be the times of rotation and of annual revolution, vis.
M i A T,
fidereal day and year. Then P : ^ence
, . 3 M
we derive ~ 3P ~
A3 ” ^ 1
lar velocity of rotation, and confequently 1 X r
ti T
But fince r was the angu-
the
fpace deferibed, and —w— the velocity } and fince the
l
centrifugal force is as the fquare of the velocity divided,
by the radius, (this being the meafure of the generated
velocity, which is the proper meafure of any accele-
1 * X  r* . a f— Zr%
rating force), we have p~———>—r->ana/ -
p t1
V —. Now the formula f mn d — expreffed the fine
^ 1* a
of the angle. This being extremely final], the fine may
be confidered as equal to the arc which meafures the
angle. Now, fubftitute for it the value now found, viz.
3 r''
t1
X i_) and we obtain the angle of deviation w
• 3 if 3 d
and this is the fimpleft form in which it
a
can appear. But it is convenient, for other reafons, to
exprefs it a little differently : d is nearly equal to
2 (V
mn
nz—h1
and this is the
therefore 'M — r X ^ ^
form in which we ftxall now employ it.
• "2 /1 d2   b2 •
The fmall angle r A—- in n — is the angle in which
0 2 j_ a
the new equator cuts the former one. It is different at
different times, as appears from the variable part
the produft of the fine and cofine of the fun’s declina¬
tion. It will be a maximum when the declination is in
the folftice, for mn increafes all the way to 450, and the
declination never exceeds 23 It increafes, therefore,
from the equinox to the folftice, and then diminiffies.
Let
Fig. 7.
P K E
Erecefllon. Let ESL (fig. 7.) be the ecliptic, EAC the equa
tor, BAD the new pofition which it acquires by the
momentary aftion of the fun, cutting the former in the
angle BAE z=z r — — mn -—-—. Let S be the fun’s
2 I1 2
place in the ecliptic, and AS the fun’s declination, the
meridian AS being perpendicular to the equator. Let
a*—b1 . . it1
 r— be k. The angle BAE is then — r ——kmn. In
a 0 2T
the fpherical triangle BAE we have fin. B : fin. AE=:
fin. A : fin. BE, or — AB : BE, becaufe very fmall
angles and arches are as their fines. Therefore BE,
which is the momentary preceflion of the equinoctial
point E, is equal to A ——~r x - kmn.
lin. B ^ 11
fin. R. afcenf.
2 T*
fin. obi. eel.
35
Various Thfi equator EAC, by taking the pofition BAD,
modes of recedes from the ecliptic in the colure of the folftices
application. CL, and CD is the change of obliquity or the nutation.
lor let CL be the folftitial colure of BAD, and c l the
folftitial colure of EAC. Then we have fin. B : fin. E
— fin. LD : fin. Ic; and therefore the difference of
the arches LD and / c will be the meafure of the differ¬
ence of the angles B and E. But when BE is indefinite¬
ly fmall, CD may be taken for the difference of LD
and A, they being ultimately in the ratio of equality.
1 herefore CD meafures the change of the obliquity of
the ecliptic, or the nutation of the axis with refpeCt to
the ecliptic.
The real deviation of the axis is the fame with the
change in the pofition of the equator, P p being the
meafure of the angle EAB. But this not being always
made in a plane perpendicular to the ecliptic, the change
of obliquity generally differs from the change in the pofi¬
tion of the axis. Thus when the fun is in the folftice,
the momentary change of the pofition of the equator is
the greateft poflible; but being made at right angles to
the plane in which the obliquity of the ecliptic is com¬
puted, it makes no change whatever in the obliquity,
but the greateft pofiible change in the preceflion.
3® In order to find CD the change of obliquity, obferve
that in the triangle CAD, R : fin. AC, or R : cof.
AE=fin. A : fin. CD, =:A : CD (becaufe A and CD
are exceedingly fmall). Therefore the change of ob¬
liquity (which is the thing commonly meant by nuta-
r / * 3l'
tion) CD—Ax cof. AE, =rii
r —r.kmn. cof. AE'—r-A-
2 1* ’ 2T1
37
k X fin. declin. x cof. declin. X cof. R. afcenf.
But it is more convenient for the purpofes of aftro-
nomical computation to make ufe of the fun’s longitude
SE. Therefore make
The fun’s longitude ES
Sine of fun’s long.
Cofine
Sine obliq. eclipt.
Cofine obliq.
^ 1—x1 —
23-^ =
In the fpherical triangle EAS, right-angled at A
(becaufe AS is the fun’s declination perpendicular to
the equator), we have R : fin. ES_rfin. E : fin. AS
and fin. AS—/> Alfo R ; cof. AS=cof. AE : cof!
. ^tkp.
*UC ~2 T *15 a con“ant quantity, and the momentary nu¬
tation is proportional to xy, or to the produdl of the
fine and cofine of the fun’s longitude, or to the fine of
twice the fun’s longitude ; for xy is equal to half the
fine of twice ss.
If therefore we multiply this fraction by the fun’s
momentary angular motion, which we may fuppofe, with
abundant accuracy, proportional to 2;, we obtain the
fluxion of the nutation, the fluent of which will ex-
prefs the whole nutation while the fun deferibes the
arch of the ecliptic, beginning at the vernal equi¬
nox. Therefore in place of y put >J\—and in place
of 2; put
and we have the fluxion of the nu-
tation for the moment when the fun’s longitude is 2;,
and the fluent will be the whole nutation. The fluxio*
refulting from this procefs is x x, of which the
fluent is ^t^x
2T
—~xt. This is the whole change produ¬
ced on the obliquity of the ecliptic while the fun moves
along the arch % ecliptic, reckoned from the vernal
equinox. When this arch is 90°, is 1, and there-
r % * kp * .
tore ——- is the nutation produced while the fun moves
4-*-
from the equinox to the folftice.
The momentary change of the axis and plane of the
equator (which is the meafure of the changing force) is
^ t k
~fmn.
39
r 272 ] p r e
Eo, and cof. ES or y— cof. ASx cof. AE. There- Precefflon,
fore /wy—fin. AS x cof. AS X cof. AE, ~mn x coi. AE.
Therefore the momentary nutation CD.—r x
2 Tz J
We muft recoiled! that this angle is a certain frac¬
tion of the momentary diurnal rotation. It is more
convenient to confider it as a fraftion of the fun’s an¬
nual motion, that fo we may diredtly compare his mo¬
tion on the ecliptic with the preceflion and nutation
correfponding to his fituation in the heavens. This
change is eafily made, by augmenting the fradion in
the ratio of the fun’s angular motion to the motion of
T
rotation, or multiplying the fradion by — j therefore
the momentary nutation will be r ~}pxy. In this va-
21 ^
The momentary change of the obliquity of the eclip-The real
3 ^ ^ P. *" and mo¬
tic IS
2T
mentary
changes
greateft at
the folftices,
and at the
I he whole change of obliquity is ^----J’x*.
4 1
Hence we fee that the force and the real momentary
change of pofition are greateft at the folftices, and di-nuking.63’
minifh to nothing in the equinoxes.
The momentary change of obliquity is greateft at the
odants, being proportional to xx or to x y.
The whole accumulated change of obliquity is great¬
eft at the folftices, the obliquity itfelf being then
fmalleft.
We muft in like manner find the accumulated quan¬
tity.
Hair ('CCOXXXVILT .
P Pv E
Prectfllon. tity of the preceffion after a given time, that is, the
u" arch BE for a finite time.
We have EH : CDrrfin. EA : fin. CA (or cof.
EA)=rtan. EA : i, and EB : ERm : fin. B. There¬
fore EB : CD:=tan. EA : fin. B. But tan. EA~
cof. E x tan. ES, = cof. E x = £—
cof. long. i—x1'
r 273 ]
P R E
42
Quantity
ot precef¬
fion in a
given time
, 43
Mode of
ufmg the
formulse.
44
Therefore EB : CD =
V 1-
fin. obhq. eclip.
tan. long. 0
:/>, and CD = EB
If we now fubftitute for CD its va¬
lue found in N° 40. viz. 0 1 ^
-~xx, we obtain EB:
2I
the fluxion of the preceflion of the
q / k q xz x
-f-X^=
2T I—X
equinoxes occafioned by the adlion of the fun.' The
x'x
— xy, of which
fluent of the variable part   
V 1—x1
the fluent is evidently a fegment of a circle whole arch
is « and fine x, that is, =
25 — X,
jJ I—X1,
and the
. 4 t hq (
,5ii'xi(2-V
the equinoxes while the fun moves from the vernal
equinox along the arch 2; of the ecliptic.
Vh(l
In this expreflion, which confifts of two parts,
4T
Sir Ifaac Newton is
2311—230*
115
j p and q
are the fine and cofine of 23° 28', viz. 0.39822 and
0.91729.
Thefe data give N
and P = ■
141030 61224
which the logarithms are 4.85069 and 5.21308, viz.
the arithmetical complements of 5.I4931 and 4.78692.
cii-nplcof Let us, for an example of the ufe of this inveftiga-
the utility compute the preceffion of the equinoxes when
of the in- the fun has moved from the vernal equinox to the fum-
velbstation, j^er folffice. fo that 2; is 90°, or 224000".
VOL. XVII. Part I.
Log 324000'=: 25
Log P
Log 5". 29 2
Jv5I055
5.21308
0.72363
Preceffion.
whole preceflion, while the fun defcribes the arch 25,
V This is the preceflion of
and —x —the firft is incomparably
greater than the fecond, which never exceeds 1", and is
always compenfated in the fucceeding quadrant. The
7. thq
preceflion occafioned by the fun will be ' ~ 25, and
from this expreflion we fee that the preceflion increafes
uniformly, or at lead increafes at the fame rate with
the fun’s longitude a, became the quantity —V is con-
ftant.
In order to make ufe of thefe formulae, which are
now reduced to very great fimplicity, it is neceflary to
determine the values of the two conflant quantities
xAf, which we (hall call N and P, as factors of
4T 4T
the nutation and preceflion. Now t is one fidereal day,
. .
and T is 366I. £ is   —, which according to
of
I he preceflion therefore in a quarter of a year is
5.292 feconds 5 and, fince it increafes uniformly, it is
21". 168 annually. • ^
We mu ft now recolle£l the aflumptions on which A (Turnp-
this computation proceeds. The earth is fuppofed to lions on
be homogeneous, and the ratio of its equatorial diame-^
ter to its polar axis is fuppofed to be that of 231 totionnro-
230. If the earth be more or lefs protuberant at theceeds.
equator, the preceflion will be greater or lefs in the ra¬
tio of this protuberance. The meafures which have
been taken of the degrees of the meridian are very in-
confiftent among themfelves •, and although a compari-
fon of them all indicates a fmaller protuberancy, nearly
inftead of their difterences are too great to
leave much confidence in this method. But if this
figure be thought more probable, the preceflion will be
reduced to about 17" annually. But even though the
figure of the earth were accurately determined, we have
no authority to fay that it is homogeneous. If it be
denfer towards the centre, the momentum of the protu-
bei'ant matter will not be fo great as if it were equally
denfe with the inferior parts, and the preceflion will be
diminilhed on this account. Did we know the propor¬
tion of the matter in the moon to that in the fun, we
could eafily determine the proportion of the whole ob-
ferved annual preceflion of 50^" which is produced by
the fun’s aftion. But we have no unexceptionable data
for determining this *, and we are rather obliged to in¬
fer it from the effeft which fhe produces in difturbing
the regularity of the preceflion, as will be confidered
immediately. So far, therefore, as we have yet pro¬
ceeded in this inveftigation, the refult is very uncertain.
We have only afcertained unqueftionably the law which
is obferved in the folar preceflion. It is probable, how¬
ever, that this preceflion is not very different from 20"
annually; for the phenomena of the tides fliow th£ di¬
fturbing force of the fun to be very nearly of the di¬
fturbing force of the moon. Now 20" is ^ of 50". ^
But let us now proceed to confider the efteft of the Effe<ft of
moon’s aftion on the protuberant matter of the earth •, the moon’s
and as we are ignorant of her quantity of matter, and ^Ion
confequently of her influence in fimilar circumftances "<•.
with the fun, we (hall fuppofe that the difturbing force ter of the *
of the moon is to that of the fun as m to x. Then earth.
(cceteris paribus') the preceflion will .be to the folar pre¬
ceffion tv in the ratio of the force and of the time of its
a&ion jointly. Let t and T therefore reprefent a pe¬
riodical month and year, and the lunar preceflion will
be — This preceflion muft be reckoned on the
plane of the lunar orbit, in the fame manner as the fo¬
lar preceflion is reckoned on the ecliptic. We muft;
alfo obferve, that reprefents the lunar preceflion
only on the fuppofition that the earth’s equator is in¬
clined to the lunar orbit in an angle of 2q4- degrees..
This is indeed the mean inclination ; but it is fometimes
increafed to above 28°, and fometimes reduced to 180.
Now in the value of the folar preceflion the cofine of
the obliquity was employed. Therefore whatever is
Mm the
P R E
Prcceffiun,
^47
Fig, 8,.
the angle E contained between the equator and the iu
, . , ~ . m-xt Cof. E
nar orbit, the preceiixcn will be rr —7—. --—; —,
T Col. 234-0!
and it muft be reckoned on the lunar orbit.
Now let T B (fig. 8.) be the immoveable plane of
the ecliptic, the equator in its firft fituation,
before it has been deranged by the adtion of the moon,
AGRDBH the equator in its new politico, after the
momentary adtion of the moon. Let EGNFH be the
moon’s orbit, of which N is the afcending node, and
the angle Nmij0 8; 46".
Let
[ 274 ]
P R E
N'Y5 the long, of the node be
Sine N«y»
Cofine Nty*
Sine 0^—234
Ccfine ty> , -
Sine N~ 5.8.46
Cofine N - - -
Circumference to radius 1.—6.28
Force of the moon - - -
Solar preceffion (fuppofed ~ 14^" by obferva-
tion) - . _ _
Revolution of (J — 27d|
Revolution of ©—366^
Revolution of Nm8 years 7 months
43
Lunar pre- In. order to reduce the lunar precelhon to the ecliptic,
reflion in a we mull recolledt that the equator will have the fame
('mcTd'to" ^nc^nat^on at end of every half revolution of the fun
the ecliptic.or moon» that is, when they pafs through the
"equator, becaufe the fum of all the rhomentary changes
of its pofition begins again each revolution. Therefore
if wre negledt the motion of the node during one month,
which is only 1^ degrees, and can produce but an infen-
fible change, it is plain that the moon produces, in one
half revolution, that is, wdrile Ihe moves from H to G,
the greateft difference that fire can in the pofition of the
equator. The point D, therefore, half-way from G to
H, is that in w7hich the moveable equator cuts the pri¬
mitive equator, and DE and DF are each 90°. But S
being the folftitial point, <^8 is alfo 90°. Therefore
DSrzrfV’E. Therefore, in the triangle DGE, wre have
fin. ED : fin. G^fin. EG : fin. D, —EG : D. There-
mre DrcrEGXim. G, —EGxfin. E nearly. Again,
in the triangle <y>DA we have fin. A : fin. ty'D (or
c°f. vE) = fin. D ; fin. <r A, =D : v A. Therefore
D ‘ cof. <y> E EG • fin. E • cof. £
'Y> A
m x t fin,
~T~ ~~
fin. A
E • cof. E
cof. TtE
fin. 231-
fin. • cof. fy1
^ This is the lunar preceffion produced in the courfe of
one month, eftimated on the ecliptic, not conftant like
the lolar preceffion, but varying with the inclination or
the angle E or F, which varies both by a change in the
angle N,_ and alfo by a change in the pofition of N on
^ the ecliptic.
Nutation in We muft find in like manner the nutation SR pro-
the fame duced in the fame time, reckoned on the colure of the
time, Offices RL We have R : fin. DS=D : RS, and
RS_D fin. DS, =rD • fin. qp E. But D=:EG • fin. E.
Therefore RSrrEG • fin. E • fin. npE — m 7rtco^ E
’ T • cof. cp
X fin, E x fin. T E. In this expreffion we muft fubftitute
the angle N, which may be confidered as conftant dur- Preteffion.
ing the month, and the longitude fy> N, which is alfo near- '■““-v"”-**
ly conftant, by obferving that fin. E : fin. ^Nrrfin. N :
ThereforeRS=gL'x!hdlA-4!!lN:A5.
1 cof. ty>
But we muft exterminate the angle E, becaufe it changes
by the change of the pofition of N. Now, in the tri¬
angle f^EN we have cof. E—cof. 'Y’N'fin.N * fin. T1 
cof. N • cof. qo, —y*7 a—db. And becaule the angle E
is neceffarily obtufe, the perpendicular will fail without
the triangle, the cofine of E will be negative, and we
ffiall have col. E—a c y- Therefore the nutation
■acy)
y
a
b
c
d
t
T
c , mxt cx(bd-
ror one month will be — —■ x —-—■
T b
the node
being fuppofed all the while in N.
Thefe two expreffions of the monthly preceffion and may be con.
nutation may be confidered as momentary parts of the Seredas
moon’s action, correfponding to a certain pofition 0fmomentary
the node and inclination of the equator, ” as
fluxions ot the wdiole variable preceffion and nutation, tion.
while the node continually changes its place, and in the
fpace of 18 years makes a complete tour of the hea¬
vens.
We muft, therefore, take the motion of the node as Prec/ffion
the fluent of comparifon, or we muft compare the fluxions anc! nuta-
of the node’s motion with the fluxions of the preceffiontion com~
and nutation j therefore, let the longitude of the nodeliaied'
be 55, and its monthly changer: ssy we (hall then have
t : n=k : e, and /=—, LetTbe=i9
in order that n may be 18.6, and fubftitute for t its va-
x*
is m x n-
lue in the fluxion of the nutation, by putting V* 1 
in place ofy. By this fubftitution w^e obtain mxn-
# i
(d b x x • \
-7--- —acxx J. The fltent of this is
( db v 1 x% {Vide Simpfon’s Fluxions,
§ 77.). ^ But wrhen x is —3, the nutation muft be — 0,
became it is from the pofition in the equinoctial points
that all our deviations are reckoned, and it is from this
point that the period of the lunar aftion recommences.
But if we make x — 0 in this expreffion, the term
 2 van^es5 anfi tfie term —db\t 1—x* becomes
— —db ; therefore our fluent has a conftant part -f- db ;
and the complete fluent is mxn —(db—db^\— 
e b\
d £ \ g,
—^— J. Now this is equal to m 711 n—^ (db x verfed
fine, s —-JacXverfed fine 2«): For the verfed fine
of 2; is equal to (1 — cof. 2;) 5 and the fquare of the fine
of an arch is i the verfed fine of twice that arch.
This, then, is the whole nutation while the moon’s
afcending node moves from the vernal equinox to the
longitude <Y*N=r2;. It is the expreffion of a certain
number of feconds, becaufe x, one of its faftors, is the
folar preceffion in feconds; and all the other faftors are
numbers, or fra&ions of the radius 1 ; even e is expref-
fed in terms of the radius 1.
.1 he fluxion of the preceffion, or the xnonthlv precef-
fion,
53
54
P R E
[ 275 ]
P R E
preceffion. fion, is to that of the nutation as the cotangent of
is to the fine of This alfo appears by confidering
fig. 7. P/> meafures the angle A, or change of pofition
of the equator j but the precefiion itfelf, reckoned on the
ecliptic, is meafured by Po, and the nutation by fio; and
the fluxion of the preceflion is equal to the fluxion of
55
5*'
nutation X
fore
cot.
cot. 'V’E, „ a d+b c y ,
— , but cot. tEzz ! —; there-
fine ex
|Y'E ad-\-bcsJ —
fine fy>
This, multiplied into
a b dl
• r 1 • • mv n f a b d1
the fluxion of the nutation, gives —-—1 /   {-
Q?—dc—a b c'.pji—xx \ x for the monthly pre-
ceffion. The fluent of this——■(a d*b ^-{-(b*—a1)
a b e \
s — \ a b c1, xV 1—or it is equal
^(d1—a b z-j- (b2—a2) dc %—\ ah c2
d c x — i a
to ——
a b e
fine 2z\
Let us now exprefs this in numbers: When the node
has made a half revolution, we have 1800, whofe
verfed fine is 2, and the verfed fine of 2 «, or 360°, is
~o 5 therefore, after half a revolution of the node, the
nutation (n° 52.) becomes
2bd. If, in this ex-
preflion, we fuppofe m~2^, and 3-=i4T,» wo lhall find
the nutation to be
Now the obferved nutation is about 18". This re¬
quires w to be 2tIo, and 5T—16^". But it is evident
that no aftromomer can pretend to warrant the accuracy
of his obfervations of the nutation within 1".
To find the lunar preceflion during half a revolution
e
of the node, obferve, that then % becomes =r -, and the
’ 2
fine of
ceflion becomes
and of 22! vanifh, becomes i-
242 =
—£,l,and the pre-
57
58
Gives the
difturbing
force and
matter of
the moon.
would agree better with the obfervations, if an ellipse Prectfiion,
were fubftituted for Mr Machin’s little circle. He 1 iec'a:- ,
thought that the ihorter axis of this ellipfe, lying in the
colure of the folfiices, fiiould not exceed 16'7. Nothing
can more clearly {how the aftonifliing accuracy of
Bradley’s obfervations than this remark: for it refults
from the theory, that the pole muft really deferibe an
ellipfe, having its Ihorter axis in the folftitial colure, and
the ratio of the axes muft be that of 18 to 16.8 ; for
the mean preceflion during a half revolution of the
node
. m7in
is   \d
• — ) ; and therefore, for the longi¬
(d2—- ) : when this is taken
2
tude 2;, it will be —
from the true preceflion for that longitude (n° 54.), it
leaves the equation of preceflion——n2}de'
fine % —\ab c fine 22:-^; therefore, when the node is
in the folftice, and the equation greateft, we have it zr
m 7T n c d—a2'). We here negleft the fecond term
a b e
as infignificant.
This greateft equation of preceflion is to
£5
2 rmenc d Greateft
and the preceflion in 18 years is m % n 1—\c2.
We fee, by comparing the nutation and preceflion
. . , , AC d . . ,
for nine years, that they are as  to 1—ic nearly
as I to 17-f. This gives 313" of preceflion, correfpond-
ing to 18", the obferved nutation, which is about 35" of
preceflion annually produced by the moon.
And thus we fee, that the inequality produced by
the moon in the preceflion of the equinoxes, and, more
particularly, the nutation occafioned by the variable ob¬
liquity of her orbit, enables us to judge of her fliare in
the whole phenomenon ; and therefore informs us of her
difturbing force, and therefore of her quantity of mat¬
ter. This phenomenon, and thofe of the tides, are the
only fatts which enable us to judge of this matter : and
this is one of the circumftances which has caufed this
problem to occupy fo much attention. Dr Bradley,
by a nice comparifon of his obfervations with the ma¬
thematical theory, as it is called, furnilhed him by Mr
Machin, found that the equation of preceflion compu¬
ted by that theory was too great, and that the theory
the nutation of 18", as b2‘—a2 to 2a b ; that is as ra
dius to the tangent of twice the obliquity of the eclip¬
tic. This gives the greateft equation of preceflion
16".8, not differing half a fecond from Bradley’s obfer¬
vations.
Thus have we attempted to give fome account of this
curious and important phenomenon. It is curious, be-
caufe it affedts the whole celeftial motions in a very in¬
tricate manner, and received no explanation from the
niore obvious application of mechanical principles, which
m happily accounted for all the other appearances. It
is one of the moft illuftrious proofs of Sir Ifaac New¬
ton’s fagacity and penetration, which catched at a very
remote analogy between this phenomenon and the li-
bration of the moon’s orbit. It is highly important to
the progrefs of praftical and ufeful aftronomy, becaufe
it has enabled us to compute tables of fuch accuracy,
that they can be ufed with confidence for determining
the longitude of a {hip at fea. This alone fixes its im¬
portance : but it is ftill more important to the philofo-
pher, affording the moft inconteftible proof of the uni-
verfal and mutual gravitation of all matter to all matter.
It left nothing in the folar fyftem unexplained from the
theory of gravity but the acceleration of the moon’s mean
motion 5 and this has at laft been added to the lift of
our acquifitions by Mr de la Place.
Quae toties animos veterum torfere Sophorum,
Quaeque fcholas fruftra rauco certamine vexant,
Obvia confpicimus, nube pellente Mathefi,
Jam dubios nulla caligine praegravat error
Queis fuperum penetrare domos, atque ardua coeK
Scandere fublimis genii conceflit acumen.
Nec fas eft propius mortali attingere divos.
Halley.
PRECISE, (prectus, “ early”), the name of the
21 ft order in Linnaeus’s fragments of a natural method 5
confifting of primrofe, an early flowering plant, and a
Mm2 few
equation of
precefhon.
P R E
The
Precipitant few genera which agree with it in habit and ftru&ure,
though not always in the charafter or circumllance ex-
preffed in the title. .See Botany, Natural Orders.
PRECIPITANT, in Chemiftry, is applied to any
liquor, which, when poured on a lolution, feparates what
is diffolved, and makes it precipitate, or fall to the bot¬
tom of the velTel.
PRECIPITATE, in Chem'Jlnj, a fubftance which,
having been diffolved in a proper menftruurn, is again
leparated from its folvent, and thrown down to the bot¬
tom of the veffel, by pouring fome other liquor upon
it.
' PRECIPITATION, the procefs by which a preci¬
pitate is formed.
PRECOGNITION, in Scots Law. See Law, Part
III. n° CLXXXVI. 43.
PRECORDIA, in Anatomij, a general name for the
parts fituated about the heart, in the forepart of the tho¬
rax j as the diaphragm, pericardium, and even the heart
itfelf, with the ipleen, lungs, &c.
PREDECESSOR, properly fignifies a perfon who
has preceded or gone before another in the lame office
or employment; in which fenfe it is diitinguilhed from
anceit ir.
^ PREDES FINATION, the decree of God, W’here-
ta-ine Itated. by he hath from all eternity unchangeably appointed
whatfoever comes to pafs 3 and hath more efpecially
fore-ordained certain individuals of the human race to
everlalling happinefs, and hath paffed by the reff, and
fore-ordained them to everlafting mifery. The former
Ol theie are called the ele£l, and the latter are called the
, reprobate.
J. his dodfrine is the fubject of one of the mod perplex¬
ing controverlies that has occurred among mankind. But
it is not altogether peculiar to the Ch.riftian faith. The
opinion, that whatever occurs in the world at large, or
in the lot of private individuals, is the refult of a previ¬
ous and unalterable arrangement by that Supreme Power
which preli ies over nature, has always been a favou¬
rite opinion among the vulgar, and has been believed
•y many fpeculative men. Thus, in that beautiful fcene
in the fixth book of the Iliad, Hedlor, taking leave of
his wife and his child, fpeaks thus:
Andromache ! my foul’s far better part,
Why with untimely forrows heaves thy heart ?
No hoftile hand can antedate my doom,
TiH fate condemns me to the filent tomb.
Fix’d is the term to all the race of earth,
And fuch the hard condition of our birth.
No force can then redd, no flight can fave,
All fink alike, the fearful and the brave. 1. 624.
I he ancient Stoics, Zeno and Chryflppus, whom the
Jewifh Effenes leem to have followed, afferted the ex-
xftence ol a Deity, that, afting wifely, but neceffarily,
contrived the general fyftem of the world ; from which,
by a fenes of caufes, whatever is now done in it una-
voiuably refults. 1 his feries, or concatenation of caufes,
they held to be neceffary in every part 3 and that God
himfelf is fo much the fervant of neceflity, and of his
own decrees, that he could not have made the fmalleft
obieft in the world otherwife than it now is, much lefs is
he able to alter any thing.
According to the words of Seneca, Eadem neceffi-
tas et Deos alngat. Irrevocabdis divina par iter atque
[ 276 ]
P R E
Not pecu¬
liar to
Chnftia-
mty.
humana curfus veldt. Ille ipfe omnium conditor ac rec- Predeftina-
tor fcripjlt quidem fata fedfcquitur. Semper parct Jewel non. •"
juj]it. “ The fame chain of neceflity confframs both '—  1
gods and men. Its unalterable courie regulates divine
as well as human things. Even he who wrote the Pates,
the Maker and Governor of all things, fubmics to them.
He did but once command, but he always obeys.” The
Itoicai fate, however, differs from the Chnltian predelti-
nation in feveral points. Ihey regarded the divine na¬
ture and will as a neceffary part of a neceffary chain of
Caufes 3 whereas the Ghriitians conhder the .Deity as
the Lord and Ruler of the Univerfe, omnipotent and
free, appointing all things according to his pleafure.
Being doubtful of the immortality of the loul, the Stoics
could have no idea of the doPtrine of elehfion and re¬
probation 3 nor did they ever doubt their own freedom
of will, or power of doing good as well as evil, as we
i'i.. l preiently lee the Ciiiiitian predeitinarians have
done.
Mahomet introduced into his Koran the do&rine of
an abfolute predeftination of the comic of human af¬
fairs. He reprefented life and death, piolperity and
adverfity, and every event that befals a man in this
world, as the refult of a previous determination ol the
one God who rules over all 3 and He found this opinion
the befl engine for infpiring his followers with that con¬
tempt of danger, which, united to their zeal, lias extend¬
ed the empire of their faith over the faireft portion of the
habitable globe.
. Jhe controverfy concerning predeftination firft made when firft
its appearance in the Chriftian church about the begin- aU;tated in
mug-of the fifth century *. Pelagius a Britifti, and Cce- die church,
leftius an Irifti, monk, both lived at Rome during that * Mf’etm.
period, and poffeffed great celebrity on account of their
piety and learning. They taught that the opinion is ^ '
falfe, which afferts, that human nature is nectffarily cor¬
rupted by a depravity derived fiom our firft parents.-—
1 hey contended, that men are born at prefent in a
ftate as pure as that in which Adam was originally cre¬
ated 3 and that they are not lels qualified than he was
for fulfilling all righteoufnefs, and for reaching the
moft fublime eminence of piety and virtue : that the ’
external grace of God, which is given unto all, and'at¬
tends the preaching of the gofpel, is neceffary to call
forth the attention and exertions of men 3 but that we
do not want the aftiftance of any internal grace to pu¬
rify the heart, and to give it the firft impulfe towards
Miat is good. Having fled into Africa on account of
the Goths, who at that time invaded Italy, A. D. 410,
Cceleftius remained at Carthage as a prelhyter 3 but Pe¬
lagius went into the Eaft, where he fettled, and pro-
fpeied under the patronage of John bifliop of jerufa-
lem, to whom his fentiments were agreeable. On the ^ •
contrary, the celebrated Angufline, tit],op of Hippo,,
Itrenuouily afterted the depravity of human nature fince narian,
the fall of the firft man, the neceflity of a fpecial inter-
pofition of divine grace to enable us to do any one good
action 3 and confequently, that none could obtain iajva-
tion excepting thofe whom God has thought fit to
eleft, and upon whom he beftows this grace. The bif-
Pute was carried on with great zeal. Zozimus bilhop
of Rome decided at firft in favour of Pelagius and
Codeftius, whofe followers were called Pelagians ; but
he afterwards altered his opinion 3 and by the ac¬
tivity of Auguftine, the council of Ephefus was called,
at
P R E
[ 277 ]
P R E
predcftina- at wliicli tlie opinion of his antagonifts was formali/ con-
t'on~ demned. . ,
In the courfe of the fame century, thefe opinions at-
fumed a variety of forms and modifications. One par¬
ty, called Predejlinarians, carried Auguftine’s doctrine
fully farther than he himfelf had ventured to do in ex-
prefs words j and affected, that God had not only pre-
deftinated the wicked to punijkment, but .alfo that he
had decreed that they ihould commit thofe \zxyjins on
account of which they are hereafter to be punilhed.
Another party moderated the doclrine of Pelagius, and
were called Semipelagicins. Their peculiar opinion is
expreffed in a different manner by different writers } but
all the accounts fufficiently agree. 1 hus, i'ome repre-
fent them as maintaining that inward grace is not ne-
ceffiry to the firft beginning of repentance, but only
to our progrefs in virtue. Others iay, tnat they ac¬
knowledged the power of grace, but laid that faith de¬
pends upon ourfelves, and good works upon God; and
it is agreed upon all hands, that theie Semipelagians
held that predeffination is -made upon the forelight of
good works. The afliftance of Auguftine, though then
far advanced in life, rvas called in to combat theie te¬
nets, and he wrote leveval treatifes upon the lubjeff.
In all thefe he livenuoufiy maintained, that the prede-
ftination of the cleft was independent oi any forefight
of their good works, but was according to the good
pleafure of God only ; and that perfeverance comes from
God, and not from man. Thereafter the doftrine of
Auguftine, or St Auftin as he is often called, became
general. He wTas the oracle of the fchoolmen. 1 hey
never ventured to differ from him in fentiment ; they
only pretended to difpute about the true fenle of his
writings. . .
5 . ^ The whole of the earlieft reformers maintained theie
eaf ie^it re opinions of Auguftine. They affumed undei Luther a
formers, but more regular and fyftematic form than they had ever
more efpe- formerly exhibited. But as the Lutherans afterwards
abandoned them, they are now known by the name
of Ca/vitti/lic DoBnnes, from John Calvin ot Geneva.
He afferted, that the everlafting condition of mankind
in a future world was determined from ail eternity oy
the unchangeable decree of the Deity, arifing ajOiu
his foie good pleafure or free will. Being a man of
great ability, induftry, and eloquence, Geneva, where
he taught, and which was a free ftate, foon became tne
refort of all the men of letters belonging to the reform¬
ed churches, and wTas a kind of feminary from wftiich
miflionaries ifiued to propagate the Proteftant doftrines
through Europe. Their fuccefs was fuch, that, ex¬
cepting a part of Germany, the principles of all the
reformed churches are profeffedly Calviniftic or ftre-
deftinarian.
jvuc <ji me The opponents of the doftrine of predeftination a-
Arminians. mong the Proteftants ufually receive the appellation of
* Relatio Arm'imaru ox Remonflrants. They derive the firft
H.jlwua pPgfg appellations from James Arminius, who was A. 1).
etProg*c’Tu appointed * profeffor of theology at Leyden. He
Controller- was violently onpofed by Gomer his colleague, and
died A. D. 1609.1 After his death, the controverfy
was condufted with great eagernefs on both fides<
The Calvinifts, however, gradually prevailed. A fynod
was called at Dort, A. D. 1618, to which the moft
celebrated divines of different countries were invited.
There, in a great meafure, by the authority and influ-
ciaJiy Cal¬
vin.
6
Rife of the
fiarum
Pkrederuto
Betgio de
Frcedejli-
nat’.one
Philippi d
Limb or ch.
ence of Maurice prince of Orange, the Arminians were Precleftma-
condemned as heretics; for by this time ambitious and r;^' ,
powerful men found themfelves politically interefted in
this religious conteft. The Arminians prefented to this
fynod a remonftrance, containing a ftatement of their
faith upon the fubjefts in difpute ; and from this they
derived the appellation of Renion/lrants. I his ftatement
contained the following five articles : 1. That God from
all eternity predeftinated thofe to everlafting falva-
tion whom he forefaw would believe in Ghrift unco
the end of their lives; and predeftinated obftinate un¬
believers to everlafting punffhment. 2. Jefus Cnnfl
died for the whole human race, and for every individual
of it, but believers alone reap the benefit of his death.
3. No man can produce faith in his mind by his own
free will, but it is neceffiry that man, who is by nature
wicked and unfit for afting or thinking aright, ftiould
be regenerated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, impart-
. ed by°God for Chritl’s fake. 4. This divine grace con-
ftitutes the fource, the progrefs, and the fulfilment, of
all that is good in man ; but it is not irrefiftible in its
operation. 5’ Believers, by the affiftance of tne Hc.y
Spirit, are abundantly fitted for every good work ;
but whether it is poflible for thofe who have once been
truly fuch to fall away, and to perilh finally, is not clear,
and mull be better inquired into by fearching the lucied
feriptures.
In oppofition to thefe, a counter-remonftrance was
prefented, containing the opinions of the Calvinifts,
which was approved of by the fynod. I he iubftance
of it was afterwards adopted, and in nearly the fame ex-
preftions, into the Confeftion of Baith compiled by the
affembly of divines which met at Weftminfter, A. I).
1643, and which every clergyman and probationer for
the miniftry in Scotland is at prefent required to fub-
feribe previous to his admiftion. i o give as clear nnd pa]v;n^jc
as fair an idea as poflible of the Calviniftic doftrine up- doftrine of
on this head, we tranferibe the following paffage from predeftina-
that Confeflion : “ God from all eternity did, by the tl0n-
moft wife and holy counfel of his own will, freely and
unchangeably ordain whatfoever comes to pafs ; yet lo, as
thereby neither is God the author of fin, nor is violence
offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or
contingency of lecond caufes taken away, but rather
eftabliihed. Although God knows whatfoever may or
can come to pafs upon all funpoled conditions; yet
bath he not decreed any thing becaufe he forefaw it as
future, or that which would come to pafs upon iuch
conditions. By the decree of God, for the manifefta-
tion of his glory, fome men and angels are predeftina¬
ted unto everlafting life, and others are fore-ordained
to everlafting death, ihefe angels and men, thus pre¬
deftinated and fore-ordained, are particularly and un¬
changeably defigned ; and their number is fo certain
and definite, that it cannot be either increafed or dimi-
niihed. Thofe of mankind that are predeftinated unto
life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid,
according to his eternal and immutable purpofe, and the
fecret counfel and good pleafure of his will, hath cho-
fen, in Chrift, unto everlafting glory, out of his mere
free grace and love, without any forefight 6f faith, or
good works, or perfeverance in either of them, or any
other thing in the creature, as conditions or caufes mo¬
ving him thereunto ■, and all to the praifie of h s glori¬
ous grace. As God hath appointed the eleft unto glo-
xJi
P R E
ry, fo hatli lie, by the eternal and moil free purpofe of
his will, lore-ordained all the means thereunto. Where-
[ 278 ]
P It E
fore, they who are ele&ed, being fallen in Adam, are
redeemed by Chriif, are effe&ually called unto faith in
Chrift, by Ins fpint working in due feafon j are jtulifled,
adopted, iaiidliHed, and kept, by his power through faith
unto falvation. Neither are any other redeemed by
Chrift effe&ually called, jultihed, adopted, fandtined,
Snd faved, but the eledt only. The reft of mankind,
God w'as pleafed, according to the unfearchable counfel
of his own will, whereby he extendeth or with-holdeth
mercy as he plealeth for the glory of his fovereign power
over his creatures, to pafs by, and to ordain them to dif-
honour and wrath for their fin, to the praife of his glori-
^ ous juftice.”
Supra!ap- _ l here are two kinds of Calvinifts or Predeftinarians,
fanans and viz. the Supralapfarians, who maintained that God did
Sublapfan- originally and exprefsly decree the fall of Adam, as a
foundation for the difplay of Ins juftice and mercy j
v.hile thofe who maintain that God only permitted the
fall of Adam, are called Sub/apfarians, their fyftem of
decrees concerning eledtion and reprobation being, as it
were, fubfequent to that event. But, as Dr Prieftley
juftly remarks, if we admit the divine prelcience, there
is not, in fad!, any difference between the two fchemes;
and accordingly that diftindtion is now feldom men¬
tioned.
Difputes in was the church of Rome lefs agitated by the
the church conteft about predeftination than the firft Proteftants
Cf Rome on were. The council of Trent was much perplexed how
e ubjea-t0. fettle the matter without giving offence to the Do¬
minicans, who were much attached to the doftrine of
Auguftine, and poffeffed great influence in the council.
After much difpute, the great objed! came to be, how
to contrive fuch a decree as might give offence to no¬
body, although it fliould decide nothing. Upon the
whole, however, they feem to have favoured the Semi¬
pelagian icheme. Among other things, it was deter¬
mined, that good.works are of themfelves meritorious to
eternal hfe •, but it is added, by way of loftening, that
it is through the goodnefs of God that he makes his
Own guts to be merits in us. Catarin revived at that
council an opinion of fome of the fchoolmen, that God
chofe a fmall number of perfons, fuch as the blefled
virgin,.the apoftles, &c. whom he w-as determined ta
lave without any forefight of their good works : and
that he alfo wills that all the reft fliould be faved, pro¬
viding for them all neceffary means, but they are at li¬
berty to ufe them or not. This is called the Baxteriem
cheme m England from one of its promoters there.
But at all events, the council of Trent feems to have
been extremely anxious that any opinions entertained
among them concerning predeftination might have as
ittle influence as poflible upon pra&ical morality. “ Let
no man (fay they), while he remains in this mortal ftate
prefume that he is among the number of the elec!, and'
that, there fore he cannot fin, or fin without repentance jPredeffina-
ror it cannot be known who are elected without a fpe- tion.
cial revelation from God.1’ Sefi 6. c. 13. -
. flle demits at firft toliow^ed the opinion of Auguf¬
tine 5 but they afterwards forfook it. Molina, one of
their order, was the author of what is called the mid¬
dle fcheme, or the dodtrine of a grace fufficient for all
but fubject to the freedom of the human will. Jan-
femus, a doctor or Louvain, oppofed the Jefuits with
great vfgour, and fupported the dodtrine of Auguftine.
He wrote in a very artful manner. He declared, that
he did. not prefume to ftate his own fentiments upon
the fubjedt. He pretended only to explain and publifli
the fentiments of that great father of the church St
Auguftine. But the Jefuits, in confequence of that in¬
violable fubmiffion. to the authority of the pope which
they always maintained, had fufficient intereft at Rome
to procure the opinions of Janfenius to be condemned
there 5 but with this addition fubjoined, that nothing
was thereby intended to be done in prejudice of the
dodlrine of St Auguftine. This produced an abfurd
difpute about the. pope’s infallibility in matters of fad!,
xhe J.anfenifts affirmed, that the pope had made a mi-
ftake in condemning the opinion of Janfenius as diffe¬
rent from thoie of Auguftine j whereas in truth they
aie the fame, and the one cannot be condemned without
the other. But the Jefuits affirmed, that the pope is no
lefs infallible in points of fa& than he is in queftions of
faith ; and he having decided, that the opinions of Jan
emus are different from thofe of St Auguftine, every
good, catholic is bound to believe accordingly that they
are different. Thefe difputes have never been fully fet¬
tled, and ftill divide the Roman catholic churches.
Some of the ableft fupporters of predeftination have ap¬
peared among the Janfenifts, and particularly among; the
gentlemen of Port-Royal.
With regard to Great Britain, the earlieft Engliflr ErolJ?
reformers were m general Sublapfarians, although fometaSh
ot them were Supralapfarians. But the rigid Predefti- formers
nanans have been gradually declining in number in that Predeft*a-
church, although they ftill fubfcribe the 39 articles ofjianS-
their faith, which are unqueftionably Calviniftic. The
celebrated Scotch reformer John Knox having been edu¬
cated at Geneva, eftablilhed in this country the doarine
of predeftination in its flriaeft form : and it has pro-
bably been adhered to with more clofenefs in Scotland
than in any country in Europe.
Of late years, however, the difpute concerning pre-
deftmation has affumed a form conliderably different
from that which it formerly poffeffed. Inflead of being
confidered as a point to be determined almoft entirely
by the facred fcriptures, in the hands of a number of
able writers, it has in a great meafure refolved itfelf in-
to a queft.ion of natural religion, under the head of the
philofophical liberty or neceflity of the will (a) ; or,
whether all human adfions are or are not neceffarily de¬
termined
with a view to ffiow’ thatTeLTenh'^ffie^hvo^X" ^ ^VT'’ ^ Writ,tei}.a w.hole feaion of his Migrations,
there is no fort of refemblance, except that 1 frh.emes, of .Calrviniftic.Predeftin“tlon and philofophical neceffity,
appointed by God. In all other he^ is Certainl? f<>-known and
Jn the end, the difference in the manner by which ha^eL i! , vTf7 f ' ’ ^ fVen where they agree
y winch that end is accomphffied is fo very great, that the influence of the
two
3
P R E [ 279 ] PEE
Predeftina- termlned by motives arifing from the chara&er v/hich
tion. Qoci has imprefTed on our minds, and the train of cir-
. cumfl:arices amidit which his providence has placed us ?
We have already difcufied this point (fee Metaphy¬
sics) by giving a candid ftatement of the arguments
on both fides of the queftion. We fhall treat the fub-
je6t of predeftination in the fame manner, avoiding as far
as poffible any recapitulation of what has been advanced
under the head of NECESSITT and Liberty.
Point- at From what has been already faid, it will appear that
iffue be- the points chiefly at iflue between the parties are the
tween the following : Firft, With what views and purpofes did
predeftina- qqcj create the World and frame his decrees concerning
their oppo- manbind ? Did he contrive a great unalterable fcheme
rents. ' of creation and providence only for the fake of mani-
fefting his own glory and perfedlions ? Or did he firft
confider the free motions of thole rational agents whom
he intended to create, and frame his decrees upon the
confideration of what they might choole or do in all
the various circumftances in which he intended to
place them ?—-The fecond and following queftions are
branches of this leading one. Did Chritt die for a par¬
ticular portion of the human race, who lhall therefore
certainly be faved ? or was his death intended as a bene¬
fit to all, from which none are excluded excepting thofe
who willingly rejeft it ? Is the divine grace certainly
and irrefiftibly efficacious in all thole minds to which it
is given ? or does its effeft depend upon the good ufe
which men may or may not make of it ? Can any good
affion be done without it ? Do thofe who have once
received it certainly perfevere and obtain eternal falva-
tion ? or is it pcffible for any of them to fall away and
periili finally ?
Argumeats We lhall begin by Hating the argument on the fide
for ths doc of the predeftinarians, and in the language which they
trine commonly ufe. But it is necelfary to make this pre-
* C 1 Ini ™ous l'eraai'bj that the general* objections to their doc-
Refpovf. tr*ine are> t^iat it ls hoftile to all our ideas of the juftice
contra Pig- of God, reprefenting him as a partial being, rewarding
baium, ad without merit, and punilhing without fin } that it ren-
2dum lib. ders him the author of evil, deftroys moral diftinCtions,
makes ufelefs every effort on our part, makes every
prayer abfurd, and even the preaching of the gofpel Predeftm**
vain ; feeing that all things are immutably fixed, and, tl°n' ,
none can believe or be faved excepting the eleff, and
they muft certainly and at all events be fafe. Againft
all this they reafon thus.
The great and everlafting Author of all things ex-
ifted from eternity alone, independent and effentially
perfeci. As there was no other, he could only confider
himfelf and his own glory. He muft therefore have
defigned all things in and for himfelf. To make him
ftay his determinations till he fhould fee what free crea¬
tures would do, is to make him decree with uncertain¬
ty, and dependently upon them, which falls ftiort of
infinite perfection. He exifted alone, and his counfels
could have no objeCt excepting himfelfhe could only
then confider the difplay of his own attributes and per¬
fection. In doing this, as the end is more important
than the means, Divine Wifdom muft begin its defigns
with that which is to come laft in the execution of
them ; but the conclufion of all things at the laft judge¬
ment wall be the complete manifeftation of the wdfdom,
the goodnefs, and juftice of God : we muft therefore
fuppofe, that, in the order of things, he decreed that
firft, although with him, in the order of time, there is
no firft nor fccond, but all is from eternity. When,
this great defign was laid, the means were next defign¬
ed. Creation, and its inhabitants of every order, form
the means by which the author and difpofer of all things
accomplifhes his will. But creatures in his fight are
nothing, and are figuratively faid to be lefs than nothing.
We may entertain proud and elevated conceptions of
our own dignity if we pleafe 5 but if 'we in our defigns
regard not the dull on which we tread, or the lives of
ants and infeCts, the omnipotent Lord of all, from whom
we are more infinitely diftant, muft regard us as at leaft
equally inconfiderable, and only valuable as we ferve the
accomplifhment of his great and myfterious purpofes,
which cannot be us or our aggrandifement, but himfelf
and his own glory. 13
It is only by this view of the divine conduCt that35 nectftaJT
feme of the attributes of God can be explained, or their
exiftence rendered poffible. In the feriptufes he claims attributes,
the attribute of prefcience as his diftinguiihing prero¬
gative }
two fyftems on the minds of thofe that adopt and aft upon them is the reverfe of one another. The Calviniftic doc¬
trine of predeftination, according to a very authentic ftatement of the doftrine *, is, that “ God, for his own glory, * Shorter
ha\\\ foreordained whatfoever comes to pafs.'" The fcheme of philofophical neceffity, as ftated by an intimate friend Catechifm
and warm admirer of Dr Prieftley’s, is, “ That every thing is predetermined by the Divine Being ; that whatever A-['f
has been, muft have been ; and that whatever will be, muft be ; that all events are pre-ordained by infinite wifdom^™,
and unlimited goodnefs ; that the will, in all its determinations, is governed by the ftate of mind ; that this ftate of Wejimin-
mind is in every inftance determined by the Deity ; and that there is a continued chain of caufes and effefts, ofyfor-
motives and aftions, infeparably connefted, and originating from the condition in which we are brought into ex¬
iftence by the Author of our being.” The author or compiler of the fame book affirms, “ That all motion indeed
originates in the Deity ; that the Deity is felf-moved 5 that he poffeffes the lingular attribute underived of moving
himfelf.” But it is added in the very fame paragraph from which this laft fentence is quoted, that “ the very ar¬
gument we employ to prove one underived fource of motion and exiftence, is a grofs folecifm in logic ; and that the
afcription of this power to the Divine Being is in faft nothing elfe than the lefs of two palpable abfurdities, or ra¬
ther impojjibilities, if thefe could admit of degrees f.” \ EJfav on
The piety of thefe affertions will be obvious, we are perfuaded, to every one of our readers; but to feme it is philofophi-
poffible that their confiftency may not be apparent. We would advife all fuch “ to perufe once and again T>r cal NeceJ]i-
Prieftley’s Illuftrations,” which, we have the beft authority to fay, will remove from their minds all libertarian
prejudices, convince them “ that the hypothefis of neceffity is incontrovertibly true,” and {how them that all the
defenders of that hypothefis are in perfeft harmony with themfelves and with one another ! Ai m, ’
P Vx E
Predfftina- grtive; but there can be no prefcience of future con-
y. t'^1' tiiigencxes; for it involves a contradiction to fay, that
things which are not certainly to be ihould be certainly
forelecn. It they are certainly forefeen, they mt{/? cer¬
tainly be, and can therefore be no longer contingent.
An uncertain forelight is alfo an impeifect act, as it
may be a miltake, and is therefore inconliltent with di¬
vine perfection. On the other fide the difficulty is
eafily explained. When God decrees that an event lhall
take place, its exiltence thenceforth becomes certain,
and as fuch is certainly forefeen. For it is an obvious
abfurdity to fay, that a thing happens freely, that is to
lay, that it may be or may not be, and yet that it is cer¬
tainly iorefeen by God. He cannot foi’efee things but
as he decrees them, and confequently gives them a fu¬
ture certainty of Vxtftence j and therefore any prefcience
antecedent to his decree mull be rejeCled as impoffible.
Conditional decrees are farther atffurd, inafmuch as they
fubject the purpofes of God to the will and the aCfions
of his creatures. Does he will or wiffi that all man¬
kind fiiould be faved, and {hall they not all be faved ?
Infinite perfection can with nothing but what it can
execute : and if it is fit to wilh, it is alfo fit to execute
its wiffies. We ax-e indeed cei’tainly informed by the
fcriptures, that all fixall not be faved 5 and we therefore
as certainly conclude, that God never intended that they
Ihould be fo ; for the counfel of the Lordfandeth fqjly
and the thoughts of his heart, to all generations.
Chriftdied We conclude upon the fame principles, that al-
onl> fur the though the bleffings refulting from the death of Chrift
lect- are offered to all, yet that intentionally and a&ually he
only died for thofe whom the Father had chofen and
given to him to be faved by him. That Chrift Ihould
have died in vain is veprefented by the apoftle Paul as a
great abfurdity (Gal. ii. 21.): but if lie died for all,
he muft have died in vain with regard to the greater
part of mankind who are not to be faved by him. In
lo far as foroe inferior bleffings are concerned, which
through him are communicated, if not to all men, at
leaft to all Chriftians, he may perhaps juftly be faid to
have died for all: but with regard to eternal falvation,
his defign, to avoid rendering it fruitlefs, could go no
farther than the fecret purpofe and ek£tion of God.
I his is implied xn thefe words, all that are given me
v:y Father, thine they were, and thou gavef them me.
To thefe his interceflxon is limited •, / pray not for the
war Id, hut for thofe that thou haf given me-, for they are
thine, and all thine are mine, and mine are thine (Jo. xvii.
9, 10.) Univerfal words are indeed ufed with regard
to the death of Chrift: but the reafon is obvious, the
•fewiffi religion was confined to the family and defeen-
dants of Abraham. In contradiction to this, the gof-
pel is laid to be preached to every creature, and to all
the world; becaufe it is not limited to any one race or
nation, and becaufe the apoftles received a general com-
miffion to teach it unto all who ffiould be willing to
receive it. Thefe extenfive expreffions can only be un-
derftood in this manner, becaufe in their ftriCt accepta¬
tion they have never been verified. Nor can their mean¬
ing be canied farther without an imputation upon the
juftice of God : for if he has received a fufficient fatis-
faftion for the fins of the whole world, it is not juft
that all ftxould not be faved by it, or at leaft have the
offer of falvation made to them, that they may accept
of it if they pleafe.
P Pi E
Butt© return to the divine purpofes and attributes Hedeftma-
iu general: it is in vain to affert that God is partial and
unjuft while he prefers without merit, and predeftinates
to puniluinent thofe who have not yet offended. The
fame error mifieads men here that has fo often feduced
them from the true peth of feientific refearch. Infttad
of fubmitting to the patient and humble obfen 'ation of
nature, they boldly foi'm fome plaulible hypothelis of
their own, and vainly attempt to reconcile every appear-
ance to their favourite fyftem. This mode of procedure
never has proved, and never will prove, fuccefsful in any
branch of true philofophy. We are not entitled to
frame to ourfelves certain notions of the juftice of God,
and from thefe to decide that thus he muft aft and in
no other manner. He takes no counfel from us concern¬
ing his conduft, and we have no right lo rejudge his
judgments. What he regards as juft or unjuft between
himfelf and his creatures, is a queiiion of fact not to be
known by ingenious conjectures, but by the cautious,
obfervation of the manner in which heads in the couife
of his providence, and by attending to what he has de¬
clared concerning himfelf in the facred fcriptures. If
from thefe it ftiall appear that he does prefer where there
is no merit, and rejeCt where there is no crime ; it will
be in vain thereafter to affert that fuch conducf is un¬
juft: the fad will be on our fide of the queftion, and we
ftxall leave thofe to account for it who infill that their
limited reafon is capable of comprehending all the myf-
terious ways of an Infinite Being. r
In the courfe of providence, then, we fee the great-Great hxe-
eft inequalities take place, and luch as appear alto-qt'ftufts i»
gether contradidory to our ideas of juftice. We fee tl:e orci'na'
the fins of the fathers puniftxed in the perfons cf the '^v^nctf
children, who often derive debilitated bodies from theP °Vi
intemperance of their parents, and corrupted manners
from the example of their vices. God frequently affiids
good men in this life for a great length of time, as in
the cafe of Job, only for the manifeftation of his own
glory, that their faith and patience may be made mani-
feft. Some fins are punilhed with other fins, and often
With a courfe of fevere miferies in the perfons of thofe
who never committed them. We may transfer this
from time to eternity ; for if God may do for a little
time what is inconfirtent with our notions, and with
our rules of juftice, he may do it for a longer duration:
fince it is as impoffible that he can be unjuft for a day
as for all eternity : and the fame inequality of manage¬
ment appears in the great as in the private affairs of this
world. During many ages almoft the whole human
race were loft in the darknefs of idolatry : even fince the
Chriftian religion came into the world, howr few nations
have received it; and of thefe few, the number is ftiil
fmaller of thofe who have enjoyed it in tolerable purity.
If we confider hoxv many great nations remain under
the delufion contrived by Mahomet; if we refieft upon
the idolatry of the Indies and of China, and the fu-
perftition of the Greek church, and of the church of
Rome—wre lhall find that vexy few nations have poffeffed
the moft ordinary means of grace. Even the bleffings
of civilization, of fcience, and of liberty, ai-e fo rarely
fcattered over the face of the earth, that it is to be re¬
garded as a melancholy truth, that with a very few fa¬
voured exceptions the whole human race have hitherto
been funk in the depth of barbarifm, ignorance, fiavery,
and idolatry. When the Arminians think fit to affert,
then,
[ 280 ]
* Calvini
Trail, de
Eterna Dei
Prteiejl.
16
The lan¬
guage of
Scripture
predeftina-
rian.
*7
An objec¬
tion anfwer
td.
f Ubi/upra
P R E [2
then, that the do&rine of abfolute decrees is contrary
to their ideas of the impartiality and juftice of God, we
can only anfwer that we are forry for them if they have
formed ideas of the character of God which are contrary
to the truth. We prefume not * like them to call his
attributes before the tribunal of our underftandings 5 we
only obferve the ways of his providence, and declare
that thus Hands the fa£t. If he leave whole nations
in darknefs and corruption, and freely choofes others to
communicate the knowledge ofhimfelf to them, we need
not be furprifed if he aft in the fame manner with indi¬
viduals. For furely the rejefting immenfe empires for
fo many ages is much more unaccountable than the fe-
leftion of a few individuals, and the leaving others in
ignorance and depravity. It is in’ vain to allege that
he extends his mercy to thofe who make the belt ule of
the dim light which they have. This does not remove
the difficulty of a choice and a preference } as it cannot
be denied that their condition is very deplorable, and
that the condition of others is much more hopeful : fo
that the myfterious doftrine of eleftion and reprobation
is an unqueftionable truth under the government of God,
feeing that great numbers of men are born in fuch circum-
ftances that it is morally impoffible they fhould not pe-
rifh in them; whereas others are more happily fituated
and enlightened.
Nor are wre left to common obfervation upon this
point. The language of the facred fcriptures is pofitive
and clear. The whole reafoning in the ninth chapter
to the Romans refolves all the afts of God’s juftice and
mercy, his hardenmg as well as his pardoning, into an ab¬
folute freedom and an unfearchable depth. More pointed
expreflions for this purpofe can fcarcely be conceived
than thofe aftually made ufe of. For the children be¬
ing; not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that
the purpofe of God according to elc&ion might fand, not
of works, but of him that calleth, it was faid, The elder
/hallferve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I
loved, but Efau have 1 hated. What fhall we fay then?
Is there unrighteoufnefs with God? God forbid. For he
faith to Mofes, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compafjion on whom 1 will have
compafion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that fhoweth mercy; for
the fcripture faith unto Pharaoh, Even for this fame
purpofe have 1 raifed thee up, that I might Jhow my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on
whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he har-
deneth. If any man (hall ftill be fufficiently bold to de-
■ clare that all this is contrary to what he is pleafed to
confider as juft and impartial, we can only reply to him
in the words of the celebrated John Calvin of Geneva f.
Tibi molejlum eft ac odiofum, Detim plus poffe et facere,
quam mens tua capiat; cequali autem tuo interdum con¬
cedes, ut fuo judicio fruatur. Et tu in tanto furore, Dei
mentionem ullam facere audes? “ Is it painful to thee
that the power and the w'orks of God exceed thy limit¬
ed capacity ? Thou fometimes fuffereft thine equal to
judge of his owm conduft for himfeT, and dareft thou in
thy folly to cenfure the w^ays of God ?” Or rather vTe
may reply in thofe words of the apoftle Paul which im¬
mediately follow the paffage already quoted. Thou wilt
fay then to me. Why doth he yet findfault? for who hath
reffted his will ? Nay but, 0 man, who art thou that re-
Vol. XVII. Part I.
Sr ] P -R £
pliqft againft God ? Shall the thing formedfay to him that Predefuiii
formed it, Why haf thou made me thus? Hath not the tl0!1
potter power over the clay ; of the fame lump to make v
one veffel unto honour, and another unto di/honour? Let
thefe paffages, and even the whole of the chapter now
alluded to, be explained in any manner that is judged
proper, ftill their import with regard to the prefent ar¬
gument will remain the fame. If God loved Jacob lb
as to chufe his pofterity to be his people, and rejefted or
hated Efau and his pofterity, and this without regard to
them or their future conduft, but merely in confequence
of the purpofe and defign of his eleftion ; if by the fame
purpofe the Gentiles were to be grafted upon that flock
from which the once favoured Jews were cut off; it will
follow7, not only that the great and myfterious decree of
final eleftion is unlearchably free and ablolute, but alio
that all the means of grace are granted or withheld in
the fame unlimited and free manner according to the
fovereign wall and good pleafure of God, independent
of any forefight of merit on our part. 7 he words of
our Saviour exprefs this : I thank thee 0 Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, becaufe thou haf hid thefe tlungs
from the wife and prudent, and haf revealed them unto
' babes: The reafon of wffiich is given in the following
words, Even fo, Father, for fo it feemed good in thy fg lit,
(Mat. xi. 26.). The paffage immediately preceding this,
fhows clearly that the means of grace are not beftowed
upon thofe who, it is forefeen, will make a good ufe of
them ; nor denied to thofe who will make a bad ufe of
them. Wo unto thee Choraxin, wo unto thee Beihfaida :
for if the mighty works which were done m you had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long
ago in fackcloth and afhes. But the paffages in fcrip¬
ture are innumerable, which declare that the whole cha-
rafter and deftiny of every man is the refult of the coun-
fel and uncontrouled determination of God. I he ex-
preffion is often repeated in the book of Exodus ; God
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, fo that he would not let
his people go, (Exod. iv. 21.), &c. It is faid, that God
has made the wicked man for the day of evil, (Prov xvi.
4.). On the other hand, it is faid, as many believed the-
gofpel as were appointed to eternal life, (Afts i. 48.).
Some are faid to be written in the book of life, of the
Lamb flam from the foundation of the world (Rev. xiii.
8.). Every prayer that is ufed, or direfted to be ufed,
in fcripture, is for a grace that opens our eyes, that turns
the heart, that makes us to go, that leads us not into
temptation, but delivers us from evil. All thefe ex¬
preflions denote that we defire more than ^ powder or
capacity to aft, fuch as is given to all men. Indeed
we do not, and we cannot, pray earneftly for that
which we know all men as well as ourfelves poffefs at all
times* ^
The grace, of God 1$ the medium by which his fove-Sure effi-
remn will and abfolute decrees are accomplifhed. Ac-cacy of
cordingly, it is fet forth in fcripture by fuch .expreflions Srd ‘
as clearly denote its fure efficacy ; and that it does not
depend upon us to ufe it or not at our pleafure. It L
faid to be a creation ; we are created unto good works,
and we become new creatures: It is called a regenera¬
tion, or a new birth ; it is called a quickening and a le-
furreftion, as our former ftate is compared to a feeble-
nefs, a blindnefs, and a death. God is faid to work in
us both to will and to do : His people fhall be willing in
the day of his power : He will write his laws m their
J J N n hearts,
P R E f 2S2 ] P R E
Prededina- hearts, and make them to walk in them. In a paffage al-
non. ready quoted, the human race are compared to a mafsof
clay in the hands of the potter, who of the fame lump
makes at his pleafure vejj'els of honour and dijhonour.
Thefe paifages, and this laid more particularly, prove
that there is an abfolute and a conquering power in di¬
vine grace ; and that the love of God conttrains us, as
St Paul expreiles himfelf. Our Saviour compares the
union and influence that he communicates to believers
to the union of an head with the members, and of a
root with the branches, which imparts an internal, a
vital, and an efficacious influence. The outward means
may indeed be rejedled, but this overcoming grace ne¬
ver returns empty : thefe outward means coming from
God, the refifting of them is laid to be the reffing of
< rod, the grieving or quenching of his fpirit; and in
that fenfe we may refill the grace or favour of God ;
but we can never withftand him when he intends to
overcome us 5 For the foundation of Godfandeth fare,
having this feal, The Lord knoweth them that are his,
(2 Tim. ii. 19.). Havingpredefinatrd us unto the adop¬
tion of children by Jefus Chrif himfelf, according to the
good pleafure of his will, (Eph. i. 5.).
Perfeve- That the faints {hall certainly perfevere unto the end
ranee of is a necelfary confequence of abfolute decrees and of ef-
the faints, ficacious grace : all depends on God. He of his own
will begat us ; and with him there is no variablenefs nor
Jhadow of turning : whom he loves, he loves to the end:
and he has promifed that he wall never leave nor for-
lake thole to whom he becomes a God. Our Lord
hath faid, I give unto them eternal life, and they fall
never perjh •, neither fall any pluck them out of my
hand, Jo. x. 28.). Hence we mult conclude, that the
purpofe and calling of God is without repentance, (Heb.
xiii. 5.). And therefore, although good men may fall
into great fins, yet of all thofe wflio are given by the
fi ather to the Son to be faved by him, none are loft :
The conclufion from the whole is, that God did in him¬
felf, and for his owm glory, foreknow a determinate
number in whom he w#uld be both fandlified and glori¬
fied. Thefe he predef mated to be holy, conformable to
the image of his fon : they are to be called, not by a
general calling in the fenfe of thefe words, many are
called, but few are chofen ; but to be called according
to his purpofe. He jufifed them upon their obeying
that calling, and in the conclufion he will glorify them j
for nothing can feparate us from the love of God in
Chrift, (Rom. ix. 19.). And he is not lefs abfolute in
his decree of reprobation than he is in his eledtion: for
ungodly men are faid to be of old ordained to condemna¬
tion, and to be given up by God unto vile a feci ions, and
to be given over by him to a reprobate mind.
Arguments -• Hus far vre have defended the dodlrine of predefti-
againft the nation : wTe proceed next to ftate the arguments ufually
from*the ac^^uced in favour of the Arminian fyftem.
attributes . <^oc* merciful. In fpeaking of
of God. himfelf in feripture, he is pleafed to make appeals to the
human underftanding, and to call upon men to reafon
with him concerning his w7ays. The meaning of this
is, that men may examine his adlions and his attri¬
butes wfith that meafure of intelligence which they
pofiefs, and they will be forced to approve of them;
nay, he propofes himfelf to us as a pattern for our imi¬
tation. We are required to be holy as he is holy, and
merciful as he is merciful : wdftch is a proof that he PrecTeflina-
accounts us not incapable of forming juft notions at b°n-
leaft of thefe attributes. What then can we think of ~ y
a juftice that lhall condemn us for a fact that we ne¬
ver committed ? that deiigns firft of all to be glorified
by our being eternally miierable, and which afterwards
decrees that we ffiall commit fins to juftify this previous
decree of our reprobation ? For if God originally de-
figns and determines all things, and if all his decrees
are certainly effected, it is inconceivable howr there
ffiould be a juftice in puniftiing that which he himfelf,
by an antecedent and irreverfible decree, appointed to
be done. Or, fetling juftice afide, is it poffible that
a being of infinite holinefs, and w7ho is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity, w'ould by an antecedent decree fix our
committing fo many fins, in fuch a manner that it is
not poffible to avoid them ? He reprefents himfelf in
the feriptures as gracious, merciful, Jlow to anger, and
abundant in goodnefs and truth. It is often faid, that he
de/ires that no man Jhouldperijh, but that all'Jhould come
to the knowledge of the truth: this is even laid with the
folemnity of an oath, As I live, faith the Lord, 1 take
no pleafure in the death of fnners. What fenfe can thefe
wTords bear if we believe that God did by an abfolute
decree doom fo many of them to everlafting mifery ?
If all things that happen arife out of the abfolute de¬
cree of God as their firft caufe, then we muft believe
that God takes pleafure both in his own decrees and
in the execution of them, confequently that he doth take
pleafure in the death of fnners; and this in exprefs
contradiction to the moft pofitive language of ferip¬
ture. Befides all this, what are we to think of the
truth of God, and of the fincerity of thofe offers of
grace and mercy, with the exhortations and expoftu-
lations upon them that occur lb frequently in ferip¬
ture, if we can imagine that by antecedent a£ts he de¬
termined that all thefe ffiould be ineffectual ? In one
word, are we to regard our exiftence as a bleffing, and
to look up with gratitude to that paternal goodnefs
which has placed us in a land of hope, which formed
our nature, weak indeed and expofed to many imper¬
fections, but capable of rifing by virtuous efforts and
by a patient continuance in well-doing to excellence
and to high and immortal felicity ? or, are we to curfe
the hour in which we were born under the dominion of
a mafter, who is not only fevere, but abfurd, and even
adds infult to cruelty ; who, after placing us in a good¬
ly habitation, binds us hand and foot, locks the door,
blocks up the windows, fets fire to the fabric, and
then very mercifully calls upon us to come forth left we
perifh ?
It is not true that rational beings are nothing in
the fight of their Maker. Compared to his Almighty
ftrength and uncreated exlftence, our powers do indeed
diminiffi into weaknefs, and our years into a moment;
yet although our interefts may be unimportant in them-
fel ves, the attributes of God with which they are con¬
nected are far from being fo. There was no neceffity
for his calling us into exiftence j but the inftaqt he be¬
llowed upon us that gift, and conferred upon us facul¬
ties capable of rifing to happinefs by the contempla¬
tion of himfelf and of his works, he became our parent,
and granted to us a right to look up to him for protec¬
tion and mercy, and to hope that our exiftence and
our faculties were not beftowed in vain. Nor will he
. trample
/
P R E [ 283 1 P R E
Predeftiva-
tion.
$ Corefpon
dence be¬
tween
Price nnd
P tie filey.
21
The diffi¬
culty of
preference
folved.
trample upon tlie juft and reafonable bopes of the mean-
eft of his creatures. He is watchful over our interefts ;
he hath fent his Son to die for us $ his providence has
been exerted for no other purpoie but to promote our
welfare ; and there is joy in heaven even over one finner
that repenteth. Let it be allowed, that the univerfe
was formed for no other purpofe but to promote the
glory of God j that glory can furely be little promoted
by the exertion of undiftinguiftring and blind arts of
power, in the arbitrary appointment to eternal repro¬
bation of millions of unreftfting and undeferving wretch¬
es *. Is it not more honourable to the Deity to con¬
ceive of him as the parent, guide, governor, and judge
of free beings, formed after the likenefs of himfelf, with
powers of reafon and felf-determination, than to con¬
ceive of him as the former and condurtor of a fyitem
of confcious machinery, or the mover and controuler
of an univerfe of puppets, many of whom he is pleafed
to make completely miferable ? The moft important
and fundamental point of religion, confrdered as a fpe-
culative fcience, confifts in our forming high and juft
ideas of God and of his attributes, that from them we
may underftand the maxims of true and perfert mora¬
lity. But were we t,o attempt to form our own natures
upon the idea of the divine chararter that is given us
by the doefrine of abfolute decrees, we would certainly
become imperious, partial, and cruel; at leal! we fhould
not readily learn the virtues of kindnefs, mercy, and
compaffion.
It is true that, fetting afrde predeftination, it is
not eafy to ftiow how future contingencies (ho 11 Id be
certainly forefeen j but it is obvious that fuch forefight
involves no contradirtion, (fee Metaphysics, N° 308)*,
and if the artions of men be free, we know from the
train of prophecies, which in the facred feriptures ap¬
pear to have been made in one age and fulfilled in ano¬
ther, that contingencies are foreleen by that infinite
Being who inhabiteth eternity, and to whom a thou-
fand years are but as one day. The prophecies concern¬
ing the death and fufferings of Chrift were fulfilled by
the free arts of the Jewiftr priefts and people : Thefe
men finned in accompliftring that event, which proves
that they arted with their natural liberty. From thefe
and all the other prophecies both in the old and new
Teftament, it muft be confeffed that future contingen¬
cies were certainly foreknown, but where to found that
certainty cannot be eafily relolved. We doubt not,
however, that we may fafely refer it to the infinite per-
feftion of the Divine mind. And it ought to be ob-
ferved that this difficulty is of a very different nature
from that to which our antagonifts are reduced on their
fide of the argument. They are compelled to confefs
that they cannot reconcile their dortrine with the juftice
of God an attribute the nature of which we clearly
underftand, and which is held forth to our imitation j
whereas W’e are only at a lofs how to explain the mode
in which the divine prefcience is exerted 5 an attribute
which God claims as peculiarly his own, and which it
is not to be experted that we ffiould be able in thefmal-
left degree to comprehend. We can go farther than
this. Heaven hath given to man tvro icvelations of it-
felf. The one confifts in the knowledge wffiich we pro¬
cure by the right ufe of our rational faculties j and the
other is beftowmd by means of the facred feriptures.
Without intending to derogate from the authority of
infpiration, it is fair to aflert, that wre are mure certain Predeftina-
that God is the author and beftower of our reafon,, tl0n‘ ,
than that he is the author of the feriptures 5 at leaft
it is certain that the laft cannot contradirt the firft, be-
caufe God cannot contradirt himlelf. By the primary
revelation from heaven then, that is, by our reafon, we
are informed that God is true, and juft, and good. If
an angel from heaven (hould preach a dortrine contrary 22
to this, we are entitled to fay with the apoftle, let him Scripture
be accurfed. If our antagonifts then ftiould fucceed in cannot con'5!
proving that the dortrine of abfolute decrees, which
reprefents the Deity as cruel and unjuft, is contained intatrsof *
feripture, the confequence would be, not that we would reafon.
befieve it, for that is impoffible, but that we ffiould be
reduced to the neceffiiy of rejerting the authority of
the feriptures, becaufe they contradirt the previous fure'
revelation of God, our reafon. We believe that the
dertrines contained in the feriptures are certainly true,
becaufe they were taught by thofe who wrought mi¬
racles and foretold future events in proof of their be¬
ing infpired by the God of truth. But miracles and
prophecy are direB evidences of nothing but the power
and xv if do m of their Author ; and unlefs we know by
other evidence, that this powerful and wife Being is
likewife the father of truth and juflice, we cannot be
fure that the feriptures, notwithftanding their fource, are
any thing better than a tiffue of falfehoods. The very
arguments therefore by which predeftination is fupport-
ed, tend to fap the foundation of that revelation from
which its advocates pretend to draw them. The cafe is
very different when no dortrine is afferted that is not con-
tradirtory to our reafon, but only above it. For exam¬
ple, when we are told that God can create rational be¬
ings, that he attends without diftrartion to the minuteft
affairs that pafs in a thoufand worlds, that he knows all
things, the paft, the prefent, and the future, we do
not prefume that we comprehend how he can do all this:
but there is nothing in it that contradirts our reafon ;
we ourfelves poffefs a certain degree of power, can at¬
tend at once to a certain number of objerts, can in fome
cafes form very fure conjertures about futurity, and we
refolve all the reft into the infinite nature and perfections
of God.
It is farther to be obferved, that prefcience does
not make effefts certain becaufe they are forefeen } but
they are forefeen becaufe they are to be : (o that the
certainty of the prefcience is not tne caule, but the
confequence of the certainty of the event. I ne. Ro¬
man republic has fallen j but our knowledge or igno¬
rance of that event does not render it more or lefs true
and certain. That it was to fall, was as lurely true be¬
fore it happened as it is now; and had we known it
beforehand, as many men of fenfe probably did, it
would neither have fallen fooner nor later on that ac¬
count. This ffiows that the knowledge which an in¬
telligent being has of a paft or future event need not
have any influence upon tne circumftances that produce
that event. f 23
On fome occafions the feripture takes notice of a con- Conditional
ditional prefcience*. God anfwered David, that Saul prefcience.
would come to Keilah, and that the men of Keilah*i Sam,
would deliver him up ; yet both the one and the other*™1-Ir*
refted upon the condition of his flaying there $ and he
going from thence, neither of them ever happened.
Such alfo was the f prophecy of Jonah, at the failure j chap. iii»
N n 2 #4-
24
Clirift aied
for the
whole
Y/ot Id.
-r- ?S
Freedom
effential t
moral
agents
P R E [2
of which he was fo abfurdly offended : and fuch was
Chrxft’s faying, That thole of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom
and Gomorrah, would have turned to him, if they had
feen the miracles that he wrought in the towns of Ga¬
lilee. S;nce, then, this prelcience may be fo certain
that it can never err or millead the exertions of provi¬
dence, and lince by this, both the attributes of God are
vindicated, and the due freedom of man is affertcd, all
difficulties feem to be thus ealily x'emoved.
With regard to the purpofe of Chrift’s death, he is
faid to be the propitiation for the fns of the whole
world; and the wicked are faid to deny the Lord that
bought them. His death, as to its extent, is fet in op-
pofition to the fins of Adam; fo that as by the offence of
one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, lb
by the nghteoufnefs of one the free gift came upon all
men to juililication of life, (Rom. v. 18.). The all on
the one fide muff be as extenfive as the all on the other :
fo, lince all are concerned in Adam’s lin, all muft like-
wile be concerned in the death of Chrift. To this we
may add, that all men are commanded and required to
beiieve that Chrilt died for their fins 5 but no man can
be obliged to believe what is not true: he muft there¬
fore have died for all. The following paffages exprefs
clearly the univerfality of the objeft of Chrift’s death.
If any man f.n, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jefus Chrifi the righteous: and he is the propitiation for
Qur fins; and not for ours only, but alfo for the fns of
the whole world, (1 Jo. ii. 1, 2.). The love of Chnf
confraineth us; becaufe we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all,
that they which live jbould not henceforth live unto thetn-
Jelves, (2 Cor. v. 14.). God fo loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whojoever believeth in
him might not perijh, but might have everlafing life.
(Jo. iii. 16.).
But a proper attention to the nature of man wall fet
the juftice of our argument in a ftill ftronger point of
view. It is obvious, that fuch an inward freedom as ren¬
ders a man the matter of his own conduct, and able to do
or not do what he pleafes, is lo neceffary to the morality of
our addons, that without it they are neither good nor evil
neither capable of rewards nor punilhments. Madmen
or men afleep, are not to be charged with the good or evil
ot what they do; therefore, at leaft fome fmall degree of
liberty muft be left us, otherwife why are we praifed or
blamed for our conduft ? All virtue and religion, all dif-
cipline and induftry, arife out of this as their firft princi¬
ple, that there is a power in us to govern our own thoughts
and addons, and to raife and improve our faculties. If this
be denied, all efforts, all education, all attention beftowed
upon eurfelves or others, become fruitlefs and vain. If a
man account himfelf under an inevitable decree, as he will
have little remorfe for the evil he does while he imputes
it to that inevitable force that conitrains him, fo he will
naturally conclude that it is to no purpofe for him to ftrug-
£’le ^ith impoffibilities. Men are iufficiently inclined to
%ow cenfure off from themfelves, and to.indulge in
incfclance ; and upon the do&rine of abfolute predeftina-
tion who can blame them, feeing that their efforts can be
oi no value ?
Matter is ina&ive of itfelf, and only moves in confe-
quence of its being afted upon by fome other being. Man
is poffeffed of a power to begin motion, and to determine
it in any dire&ion that he may judge proper. This power
84 ] P R E
and this intelligence conftitute his liberty, and form that Predefhna-
image of God that is ftamped upon his nature. Whether
man poflefles this power of afdng originally and of him-
fell, or whether he is incapable of forming any refolu- 26
tion, or making any effort, without being afted upon byLl':)erty or
a foreign caule, is not a point to be reafoned on or dif- (,ue{p* y a,-
puted about : it is a quettion of fact, which, as far as itfadt.
can polfibly be known, every man has it in his power to
determine by the evidence of his own confcioufnefs. We
do aver, then, that every man is confcious that he is a free
agent, and that it is not poffible for the moft ftaunch
predeftinarian that has ever yet appeared ferioufly and
praftically to convince himfelf of the contrary. It is not
poffible for a man in his fenles to believe, that in all thofe
ciimes which men charge themfelves with, and reproach
themfelves for, God is the agent; and that, properly
fpeaking, they are no more agents than a fword is when
employed to commit muider. We do indeed, on fome
occafions, feel ourfelves hurried on fo impetuoufty by vio¬
lent paffions, that we feem for an inftant to have loft our
freedom ; but on cool refleftion we find, that we both
might and ought to have reftrained that heat in its firft:
commencement. We feel that we can divert our
thoughts, and overcome ourfelves in moft inftances, if
we let ferioully about it. We feel that knowledge, re¬
fleftion, and proper fociety, improve the temper and
difpofition ; and that ignorance, negligence, and the fo¬
ciety of the worthlefs and abandoned, corrupt and de¬
grade the mind. From all this we conclude, that man
is free, and not under inevitable fate, or irrefiftible mo¬
tions lo good or evil, his conclufion is confirmed by
the whole ftyle of feripture, which upon any other fup-
pofition becomes a folemn and unworthy mockery. It is
full of perfuafions, exhortations, reproofs, expoftulations,
encouragements, and terrors. But to what purpofe is it
to fpeak to dead men, to perfuade the blind to fee, or
the lame to run ? If we are under impatence till the ir¬
refiftible grace comes, and if, when it comes, nothing can
wit lift and it, what occafion is there for thefe folemn dif-
courles which can have no effeft ? They cannot render
us inexcufable, unlefs it were in our power to be im¬
proved by them; and to imagine that God gives light
and bleffings, which can do no good, to thofe whom he
before intended to damn, only to make them more in-
excufable, and for the purpofe of aggravating their
condemnation, gives fo ftrange an idea of his charafter
as it is not fit to exprefs in the language that naturally
arifes out of it.
_ Our antagonifts feem to have formed ideas of the Some2 of
divine perfeftion and fovereignty that are altogether 'he .As of
falfe. There is no imperfeftion implied in the fuppo- GoA de-
fition that fome of the afts of God may depend upon [he coming
the conduft of his creatures. Perfeftion confifts in 0fhiTcrea-
forming the wifeft defigns, and in executing them bytiues.
the moft fuitable means. The Author of Nature con-
dufts the planets in their orbits with immutable preci-
fion according to fixed rules : but it would be abfurd
to pretend to manage free agents, or their affairs, in
the fame manner by mathematical or mechanical prin¬
ciples. The providence that is exerted over material
objefts is fixed and ileady in its operations, becaufe it
is fit that material obiefts which cannot move of them¬
felves ihould be moved in a regular manner : but free
and intelligent beings enjoy a wider range, and ought
not to be confined to a preferibed train of exertions; it
may
P R E [28
fredeftina. may therefore be neceffary that the providence which
rioa. fuperintends them (liould accommodate itfelf to circum-
v'~~ '' itances. This, however, is not injurious to the divine
fovereignty } for God himfelf is the author of that free¬
dom of agency which he is pleafed to watch over. He
is not leis the Lord of the univerfe 5 and furely his
wifdom and benevolence are more confpicuous when he
brings good out ot evil, and renders the perverfe wan¬
derings of the human heart fubfervient to purpofes of
mercy, than when he hurls into the immenlity of fpace
the moil enormous mafs of dead and paflive matter lub-
jedled to unerring laws.
As for the inequalities of moral fituation that are to
qualities of obferved in the wTorld, and the giving to fome na-
Providence tions and perfons the means of improvement, and the
accounted denying them to others, the fcriptures do indeed a-
^ar‘ fcribe thefe wholly to the riches and freedom of God’s
grace. And, we confefs, that the ways of Providence
are often dark and myfterious. In this world there are
many things which are hard to be underilocd, and many
which appear altogether unaccountable : we fee the
wicked man profpenng in his wickednefs, though it
impofe mifery upon thoufands ; we fee truth hiding its
head, and the world governed by fraud and abfurdity.
Still, however, we can venture to affert, that God be¬
llows upon all what is necelfary to enable them to ful¬
fil the obligations expefted from the ftate in which they
are placed •, and it is elfewhere fhown, that phyfical evil
is among men the parent cf moral good. (See Pro¬
vidence). God wlnketh at the times of ignorance •,
much is required of them to whom much is given j and
it ihall be more tolerable in the day of judgement for the
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah than for the en¬
lightened cities of Galilee. Thus God will be juft
when he judges j none will meet with condemnation ex¬
cepting thofe who are inexcufable. For although he
grants more to fome than may be abfolutely neceflary,
yet he grants lefs to none 5 and where he grants little,
he will fuit his judgements to the little which he gave.
There is no injuftice in this. If it was the intention
of the great Creator that his creation fhould contain
within its ample bofom every poftible variety of intelli¬
gent natures, it was neceffary that there (hould be fome-
where fuch a being as man and, in forming all pofiible
Varieties of human minds and fituations, it was neceffary
that every particular individual fhould exift. Hence a
man may as well complain that he was not formed one
of the flaming feraphims that furround the throne of the
Eternal, as that he is not placed in other circumftances
in life than thofe which he now occupies ; for if little
is given, little will be required from him. Thus the
defigns of Providence go on according to the goodnefs
and mercy of God. None can complain, though fome
have more caufe for joy than others. What happens
to individuals may happen to nations in a body *, fome
may have higher privileges, and be placed in happier
circumfiances than others j but none can complain of
the wife and juft difpofer of all, who has given enough,
5 ] p 11 E
although we may have good reafon to complain of our- Precleftina.
felves, for not ufing what was fufficient. , tl0n‘ ■
As to the cafe of thofe who are not bleffed with the v
light of the gofpel, we may confider, that if they have
fewer and iels advantages than others, their nature and
capacities muft likewife be inferior y to which their fu¬
ture ftate may be proportioned. God is not obliged to
make all men equally perfeft in the next world any more
than in this •, and if their capacity be rendered leis than
that of an ordinary CZiri/Han, a lower degree of happinefs
may fill it. However, we need not be extremely folici-
tous about their ftate, much lefs call any ungrateful im¬
putations on the Governor of the world for not having
dealt fo bountifully with them as he has with ourfelves •,
fince we know that Chrift died for the whole race of
mankind 5 that every one will at length be 1 accepted
according to that he has, and not according to that he
has not •, and that to whomfoever much is given, of him
(hall much be required (b). 2o
Upon thefe principles, we can eafily explain all the Scriptural
paffages in the New Teftament concerning the purpofe, ' xpreffion?}
the e/eBion, the foreknowledge, and the predefination ofexplained.
God. They relate to the defign of calling the Gentile
world to the knowledge of the Meflias : 1 his was kept
fecret, though hints had been given of it by feveral of
the prophets, fo that it was a myftery ; but it was reveal¬
ed when the apoftles, in confequence of Chrift’s commif-
fion, to go and teach all nations, went about preaching
the gofpel to the Gentiles. This was a ftumbling-block
to the Jews, and it was the chief fubjeft of difpute be¬
twixt them and the apoftles at the time when the Epift-
les were written; fo that it was neceflary for them to
clear up this point very fully, and to mention it fre¬
quently. But in the beginning of Chriftianity there was
no need of amufing men with high and unfearchable fpe-
culations concerning the decrees of God ; the apoftles
therefore take up the point in difpute, the calling of the
Gentiles in a general manner. They (how, that Abra¬
ham at fir ft, and Ifaac and Jacob afterwards, were cho-
len by a difcriminating favour, that they and their pofte-
rity {hould be in covenant with God 5 but that, never-’
thelefs, it always w-as the intention of Providence to call
in the Gentiles, though it was not executed till thefe later
times.
With this key rve can explain coherently the wdiole
of St Paul’s difcourfes upon this fubject, without aflert-
ing antecedent and fpecial decrees as to particular per-
fons. Things that happen under a permiflive and direct¬
ing Providence, may, by a largenefs of expreffion, be a-
fcribed to the will and connfel of God } for a permiflive
will is really a will, though it is not the agent or caufe
of the effedt. The hardening of Pharcali's heart may be
aferibed to God, though it is faid that his heart har¬
dened itfelf, becaufe he took advantage of the refpites
which God granted him from the plagues, to encou¬
rage himfelf to longer refiftance. Befides this, he was
a cruel and bloody tyrant, and deferved fuch judgements
for his other fins; fo that he may be confidered as at that
time
(b) See Bifliop Law’s Confiderations on the Theory of Religion, where this_ queftion is treated in a very mafterly
manner. The work, though lefs known than it ought to be, has great merit, and of the author we ha/e-given-a.
biographical Iketch,
3°
Gr?.ce not
irreliftible.
31
The great-
eft: faint on
earth may
&U.
P R E [286
time under final condemnation, and only preferved from
, the firft plagues, to afford a ftriking inilance of the
' avenging juftice of God. That this is the meaning of
the paffage, appears extremely probable from the man¬
ner in which Exod. ix. 16. is rendered in the Vatican
and Aldus’s edit, of the LXX. Inftead of faying, as in
our tranfiation, “ And in very deed for this caufe have
I rajed thee up, for to (how in thee my power, &c.”
God is reprelented in that verfion as faying, “ And in
very deed for this caufe have I kept thee alive till now,
for to fhow,” &-C. Whom he will he hardeneth, is an ex-
prefhon that can only be applied to fuch perfons as
this tyrant was. It is obvious that the words of our
Saviour concerning thofe whom his Father had given
him, are only meant of a difpenfation of Providence,
and not of a decree ; fince he adds, And / have loji
none of the?n except the fon of perdition : for it cannot be
laid that Judas Ifcariot was in the decree, and yet
was loft. And in the fame paffage in wTich God is faid
to work in us both to will and to do, we are required to
work out our own falvation with fear and trembling.
Idle word ordained to eternal life alfo fignifies fitted and
difpofed to eternal life. The queftion, Who made thee
to differ ? (1 Cor. iv. 7.) refers to thofe extraordinary
gifts which, in different degrees and meafures, wrere be-
1 lowed upon the firft Chriftians, in which they were un-
queltionably paffive.
If the decrees of God are not abfolute, neither can
his grace be fo efficacious as abfolutely and neceffarily
to determine our conduct, elfe wffiy are we required
not to grieve God'sfpirit ? why is it faid, ye do always
refijl the Holy Ghof; as your fathers didffo do ye? How
often would I have gathered you under my ’wings, and ye
would Jiot ? What could I have done in my vineyard that
has ?iot been done in it ? Thefe expreffions indicate a
power in us, by which we not only can, but often do,
refift the motions of grace. Rut if the determining
efficacy of grace be not acknowledged, it will be much
harder to believe that we are efficaciouffy determined to
fin. This fuppofition is fo contrary both to the holi-
nefs of God, and to the wffiole flyle of the facred wri¬
tings, that it is unneceffary to accumulate proofs of it.
0 Ifrael, thou haft defrayed thyfelf but in me is thy help:
ye will not co?ne unto me that ye may have life: Why
will you die, 0 Imife of Ifrael ?
As for perfeverance, wre may remark, that the ma¬
ny promifes made in the facred feriptures to them
that overcome, that continue fedfaf andfaithful to the
death, do certainly infinuate that a man may fall from
a good ftate. The words of the apoftle to the Hebrews
are very clear and pointed : For it is impofible for thofe
who were once enlightened, and have tafed of the heaven-
ly gft, and were tnade partakers of the Holy Ghof, and
have tafed the good word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, if they Jhallfall away, to renew them again
] P R E
he hath done fhall not be mentioned; in his fn that lie hath Predeftina-
fnnedJhall he die, (Ezck. viii. 24.). Thefe paffages, with ( ^on-
many others, give us every reafon to believe that a good v" "
man may fall from a good ftate, as well as that a wick¬
ed man may turn from a bad one.
We conclude the whole by obferving, that the only
difficulty which attends the queftion arifes from thciu'ties
myfterious, and apparently partial and unequal, courfelolved at
of the divine government in our prefent ftate; butthedayof
there is an important day approaching, when God winluc!atnient'
condefeend to remove thefe obfeurities, and to vindicate
the ways of his providence to man. On that great day,
we are well affured, that the queftion will be decided
in our favour; for we know that judgement will be gi¬
ven, not according to any abfolute decree, but accord¬
ing to the deeds which we ourfelves fhall have freely
done in the body, whether they have been good, or whe¬
ther they have been evil.
1 hus have we ftated, we hope with fairnefs and im¬
partiality, a fummary of the arguments on both fides of
this long agitated queftion. We need hardly add, that
it is a queftion involved in confiderable difficulties.—
Milton, who was an eminent philofopber and divine,
as well as the firft of poets, when he wifhed to exhibit
the fallen angels themfelves as perplexed by queftions
above their comprehenfion, fet them to difpute about
predeftination.
They reafon’d high, of knowledge, will, and fate,
Fix’d fate, free-will, fore-knowledge abfolute j
And found no end, in w'and’ring mazes loft.
Paradifc lof.
The weak fide of the Calviniftic dofirine confifts in 7^ ^eak
the impoffibility of reconciling the abfolute and uncon-fide of each
ditional decree of reprobation with our ideas of the doctrine,
juftice and goodnefs of God. The weak fide of the
Arminian fcheme confifts in the difficulty of account¬
ing for the certainty of the divine foreknowledge, upon
the fuppofilion of a contingency of events, or an abfo¬
lute freedom of will in man.
To elude the former of thefe difficulties, fome of the
late writers upon philofophical neceffity, and Dr Prieft-
ly is among the number, have given up the dofitrine of
reprobation, and afferted, that this world is only a ftate
of preparation for another, in which all men, of every
defeription and character, {ball attain to final and ever-
lafting happinefs, when God fhall be all, and in all.—
On the other fide, fome of the fupporters of free agen¬
cy, and Montefquieu * is among the number, have <
been difpofed to deny the divine attribute of prefei- pffp
ence.
Whatever may be thought of the praftical tendency
of the two opinions, there is one remark which we think
ourfelves bound in juftice to make, although it ap¬
pears to us to be fomewhat lingular. It is this, that
' * Lettres
unto repentance (Heb. vi. 4.). It is alfo faid, The juf fhaU from the earlieft ages down to our own days, if we con-
Uve by faith: but if he draw (c) back, my foul fhall have
nopleafure in him, (Heb. x. 38.). And it is faid by the
prophet, When the righteous turneth away from his righ-
teoufnefs, andcommitteth iniquity, all his righteoufnefs that
fider the charafter of the ancient Stoics, the Jewifti Ef~
fenes, the modern Calvinifts, and Janfenifts, when com¬
pared with that of their antagonifts the Epicureans, the
Saducees, Arminians, and the Jefuits, we {hall find that
they
(c) In our tranflation we read, “ if any man draw back,” &c. *, but the words any man are not in the original j
and if they do not make nonfenfe of the text, they muft at leaft be acknowledged to obfeure its meaning.
3
34
recom¬
mended.
P R E [
Predcftina- tliey liave excelled in no fmall degree in the praftice of
the moll: rigid and refpeftable virtues, and have been the
highefl honour of their own ages, and the bell models
for imitation to every age fucceeding. At the fame time,
it muft be confefied, that their virtues have in general
been rendered unamiable by a tinge of gloomy and fe -
vere aufterity.
So far as the fpeculaiive foundation of their princi¬
ples is conlidered, however, neither party feems liable to
cenfure in a moral point of view. Each of them withes
to fupport, though in a different manner from the other,
the honour of the divine character. The Calvinifts be¬
gin their argument with the notion of infinite perfection,
independency, and abfolute fovereignty, and thence de¬
duce their opinions} making every difficulty yield to
Mutual for-theie firft and leading ideas. Their opponents are more
bearance jea^ous Gf t]ie re{pe£t due to the divine attributes of ju-
ftice, truth, holinefs, and mercy, and deduce their fenti-
ments from the idea which they have formed of thefe.
Each party lays down general maxims that are admitted
by the other, and both argue plaufibly from their firit
principles. Dr Burnet, whom rve have here followed
^ Expo/it ion very clolely, juftly obfervesf, that “ thefe are great
of the 39 grounds for mutual charity and forbearance.”
PREDETERMINATION, in Philofophy and The¬
ology, is that concurrence ot God which makes men aft,
and determines them in all their aftions, both good and
evil, and is called by the fchoolmen physical predetermi¬
nation or premotion. See Metaphysics, Part III. chap. v.
and Predestination.
PREDIAL SLAVES. See Predial SLAVES.
PBEDIAL Tithes, are thofe that are paid of things
arifing and growing- from the ground only j as corn,
hay, fruit, &c.
PREDICABLE, among logicians, denotes a general
quality which may be predicated, or afferted of feveral
things: thus animal is predicable of mankind, beafts,
birds, fiffies, &c.
PREDICAMENT, among logicians, the fame with
category. See Category and Philosophy.
PREDICAT'D, in Logic, that which, in a propo-
fition, is affirmed or denied of the fubjeft. In theie
propositions, Jnow is ivhite, ink is not white whitenefs
Articles.
287 ] P R E
articles Creation and Earth. See alfo the Phifofo- Prfe-Miit-
phical Lffatjs of Dr Ifaac Watts, and the Principles of, ei!<:fc‘ ,
natural and revealed Religion, by the Chevalier Ramfay,
where the fubjeft of the world’s eternity is difeuffed.
Mr Hume’s fpeculations alfo, on this abftrufe and ardu¬
ous fubjeft, had a greater tendency to dnTipate its gloom
than that philofopber himfelf could imagine. 2
The pre exifience of the human foul to its corporeal Pre-exiflv
vehicle had been from time immemorial a prevailing ence of the
opinion among the Afiatic fages, and from them was
perhaps transferred by Pythagoras to the philofophy of j-a cs
the Greeks 3 but his metempfyehofis, or tranfmigration
of fouls, is too trivial either to be ferioufly propofed or
refuted. Neverthelefs, from the fentiments of Socrates
concerning the immortality of the foul, delivered in his
laft interview with his friends, it is obvious that the tenet
of pre-exiftence was a doftrine of the Platonic fchool. If
at any period of life, fay thefe philofophers, you (hould
examine a boy, of how many ideas, of what a number of
principles, of what an extent of knowledge will you
find him poffeffed : thefe without doubt could neither be
felf-derived nor recently acquired. W ith what avidity
and promptitude does he attain the knowledge of arts
and fciences, which appear entirely new to him ! thefe
rapid and fuccefsful advances in knowledge can only be
the effefts of reminifcence, or of a fainter and more indi- 3
ftinft Ipecies of recolleftion. But in all the other opera- Socratic
lions of memory, we find retrofpeftive impreffions atten- ^
ding every object or idea which emerges to her view ; "re-
nor does ffie ever fuggeft any thought, word, or aftion, !lUed.
without informing us, in a manner equally clear and evi¬
dent that thofe impreffions have been made upon our fen-
fes, mind or intelleft, on fome former occafion. Whoever
contemplates her progrefs, will eafily difeover, that af-
fociation is her molt faithful and efficacious auxiliary ;
and that by joining impreffion with impreffion, idea
with idea, circumttance with circumftance, in the or¬
der of time, of place, of fimilarity or diffimilarity, ffie
is capacitated to accumulate her treafures and enlarge
her province even to an indefinite extent. But when
intuitive principles, or fimple conclufions, are elicited
from the puerile underftanding by a train of eafy que-
ftlons properly arranged, where is the retrofpeftive aft
is the predicate which is affirmed of fnow, and denied of of memory, by which the boy recognifes thofe truths as
jnk t having formerly been perceived in his mind ? Where are
‘ ‘ the crowds of concomitant, antecedent, or fubfequent
ideas, with which thofe recolleftions ought naturally
to have been attended ? In a word, where is the fenfe
PRE-EMPTION, a privilege anciently allowed the
king’s purveyor, of having the choice and firfl buying
of corn and other provifions for the king’s houfe : but
taken away by the ftatute 19 Car. II.
PREENING, in Natural Hfori/, the aftion of birds
cleaning, compofing, and dreffing their feathers, to en¬
able them to glide more eafily through the air. For this
purpofe they have two peculiar glands on their rump,
which fecrete an unftuous matter into a bag that is per¬
forated, out of which the bird occafionally draws it with
its bill.
PRE-EXISTENCE, a priority of being, or the
being of one thing before another. Ihus a caufe, if
not in time, is yet in nature pre-exiftent to its effeft.
The peri- Thus God is pr’e-exiftent to the univei fe. Thus a hu-
patetics man father is pre-exiftent to his Ion. . The Peiipate-
inaintained though they maintained the eternity of the world,
the eternitj were fihewife dogmatical in their opinion, that the uni-
verfe was formed, aftuated, and governed, by a fove-
reign intelligence. See Arijlotle on the Soul, and our
world.
of perfonal identity, which feems abfolutely infeparabk
from every aft of memory ? This hypothefis, there¬
fore, will not fupport pre-exiftence. After the Chri-
ftian religion had been confiderably diffuied, and warm¬
ly combated by its philofophical antagonifts, the fame
doftrine was refumed and taught at Alexandria, by
Platonic profelytes, not only as a topic conftituent ofencetau'ht
their mailer’s philofophy, but as an anfwer to thofe by Chriftiau
formidable objeftions which had been deduced from Platonlfts.
the doftrine of original fin, and from the vices which
ftain, and from the calamities which difturb, human
life : hence they ftrenuoufiy afferted, that all the hu- ✓
man race were either introduced to being prior to
Adam, or pre-exiftent in his perfon 5 that they were
not, therefore, reprefented by our firft parents, but ac¬
tually concurred in their crime, and participated their
ruin.
P R E
Pre-exift- The followers of Origen, and fuch as entertained the
, ence- notion of Pre-adaraites *, might argue from the doc-
^ ~ trine of pre-exiifence with forne degree of plaulibility.
*rhmite7' ^OT human beings introduced by them to the theatre
at amites, Qt- pro5atjou had already attained the capacity or dig-
But no fo- nity °f nroral agents 5 as their crime therefore was vo¬
lution 01 hint ary, their puniihment might be jull. But thole who
original fin. believe the whole human race created in Adam to be
only pre-exiftent in their germs or Itamina, were even
deprived of this mrferable fubterfuge ; for in thefe ho¬
munculi we can neither fuppole the moral nor rational
conftitution unfolded. Since, therefore, their degene¬
racy was not fpontaneous, neither could iheir fufferings
be equitable. Should it be laid that the evil of original
fin was penal, as it extended to our lirlt parents alone,
and merely confequential as felt by their pofterity, it wall
be admitted that the diftinbtion between penal and con¬
fequential evil may be intelligible in human affairs, where
other laws, affortments, and combinations than thofe
which are fimply and purely moral, take place. But
that a moral government, at one of the molt cardinal
periods of its adminiftration, Ihould admit gratuitous or
confequential evil, feems to us irreconcileable with the
attributes and conduct of a wife and juft legillator. Con¬
fequential evil, taken as fuch, is milery fultained without
demerit ; and cannot refult from the procedure of wif-.
dom, benignity, and juftice ; but mult flow from necef-
iity, from ignorance, from cruelty, or from caprice, as
its only polfible fources. But even upon the fuppofition
of thofe who pretend that man w^as mature in all his fa¬
culties before the commiflion of original lin, the objec¬
tions againft it will itill remain in full force : for it is ad¬
mitted by all except the Samian fage, that the confciouf-
nefs of perfonal identity which was felt in pre-exiflence,
is obliterated in a fubfequent flate of being.
_ Now it may be demanded, whether agents thus refuf-
extated for punilhment have not the fame right to mur¬
mur and complain as if they had been perfe&ly innocent,
and only created for that dreadful cataltrophe ? It is
upon this principle alone that the effefls of punilhment
can be either exemplary or difciplinary ; for how is it
poflible, that the punilhment of beings unconfcious of a
crime flxould ever be reconciled either to the juftice or
beneficence of that intention with which their fufferings
are inflicted ? Or how can others be fuppofed to become
wile and virtuous by the example of thofe who are nei¬
ther acquainted with the origin nor the tendency of
their miferies, but have every reafon to think themfelves
afflifted merely for the fake of afflifting ? To us it
feems clear, that the nature and rationale of original fin
lie infcrutably retired in the bofom of Providence j nor
can we, without unpardonable prefumption and arro¬
gance, rorm the moft fimple conclufion, or attempt the
minuteft difcovery, either different from or extraneous
to the clear and obvious lenle of revelation. This fenfe
indeed may with propriety be extracted from the whole,
or from one paffage collated with another; but inde¬
pendent of it, as reafon has no premiffes, flie can lorm
no deduftions. I he boldnefs and temerity of philofo-
phy, not fatisfied with contemplating pre-exiftence as
merely relative to human nature, has dared to try how
far it was compatible with the glorious Perfons of the
facred Trinity. The Arians, who allowed the fubor-
dinate divinity of our Saviour, beiieved him pre-exiftent
to all time, and before all worlds; but the Socinians
4
PRE
who efteemcd his nature as well as his perfon merely Prc-extit-
human, inmted, that hefore his incarnation he was only ence
pie-exiftent in the divine idea, not in nature or perfon. .N
But when it is coniidered, that children do not begin P1 ^
to deduce inhrudtions from nature and experience, at a
period lo late as we are apt to imagine ; vvrhen it is ad¬
mitted, that their progrefs, though infenfible, may be
much more rapid than we apprehend 5 when the op-
poi tunnies of fenfe, the ardour ol curiofity, the avidity
of memory, and the activity of underitanding, are re¬
marked—we need not have recourfe to a pre-exiftent
ftate toi our account of the knowledge which youncr
minds difcover. It may likewife be added, that moral
agents, can only be improved and cultivated by moral
difcipline. Such effebfs therefore of any ftate, whether
happy or miferable, as are merely mechanical, may be
noxious or falutary to the patient, but can never enter
into any moral economy as parts of its own adminiftra¬
tion. Pre exiftence, therefore, whether rewarded or
punifhed, without the continued impreffion of perfonal
identity, affords no folution of original fin.
PREFACE, fomething introdudfory to a bock, to
inform the reader of the defign, method, &c. obferved
therein, and generally whatever is neceffary to the under-
ftanding of a book.
PREFECT, in ancient Rome, one of the chief ma-
giftrates who governed in the abfence of the kings, con-
luls, and emperors.
This power was greateft under the emperors. His
chief care wras the government of the city, taking cog¬
nizance of all crimes committed therein and within loa
miles.. He judged capitally and finally, and even pre-
fided in the fenate. He had the fuperintendance of the
provifions, building, and navigation.
The prefed! of modern Rome differs little from the
ancient prafechts, his authority only extending to 40
miles round the city.
PREFECT of the Preetorium, the leader of the preto-
rian bands deftined for the emperor’s guards, confiding,
according to Dion, of 10,000 men. This officer, ac¬
cording to Suetonius, was inftituted by Auguftus, and
ufually taken from among the knights.
By the favour of the emperors his power grew very
confiderable ; to reduce which, Conftantine divided the
prefedlure of the prsetorium into four prefedfures, and
each of thefe again he fubdivided into civil and military
departments, though the name was only referved to him
who was invefted with the civil authority, and that of
comes belli given him who commanded the cohorts.
PREGADI, in Hifonj, a denomination given to the
fenate of Venice, in which refides the whole authority
of the republic. At its firft inftitution, it was compo-
fed of 60 fenators, to whom 60 more have been added.
See Venice.
PREGNANCY, the ftate of a woman who has con¬
ceived, or is with child. See Midwifery.
PREHNITE, a mineral firft: brought by Colonel
Prehn from the Cape of Good Hope, whole name it
bears. See Mineralogy Index.
PREJUDICE, or Prejudgement, from pro; and Definition,
judicium, means a judgement formed beforehand, with¬
out ex, mination ; the prepofitionprce expn fling an an¬
ticipation, not fo much of time as of knowledge and due
■attention : hence the fchoolmen have called it anticipa¬
tion and a preconceived opinion.
[ 288 ]
Prejudice
P R E
[ 289 ]
P R E
Origin of
prejudice.
Prejudice. Prejudice srifes from the affociating principle, which
 r-"-'' we have explained at large in another article (fee Me¬
taphysics, Part I. chap. 5.), and it is a vveaknefs
from which no human mind can be wholly free. Some
are indeed much more than others under its influence j
but there is no man who does not occafionally aft upon
principles, the propriety of which he never inveftigated j
or who does not hold fpeculative opinions, into the
truth of which he never ferioufly inquired. Our pa¬
rents and tutors, yea, our very nurfes, determine a mul¬
titude of our fentiments: our friends, our neighbours,
the cuftom of the country where we dwell, and the efta-
blilhed opinions of mankind, form our belief; the great,
the pious, the learned, and the ancient, the king, the
prieft, and the philofopher, are charafters of mighty
efficacy to perfuade us to regulate our conduft by their
praftice, and to receive as truth whatever they may
diftate.
The cafe cannot indeed be otherwife. The occa-
fions of afting are fo frequent, and the principles of ac¬
tion are fo various, that were a man to inveftigate accu¬
rately the value of every Angle motive which prefents
itfelf to his mind, and to balance them fairly againft
each other, the time of afting would in moft initances
pafs away long before he could determine what ought
to be done 5 and life would be wafted in ufelefs {pecula¬
tion. The great laws of religion and morality, which
ought to be the general and leading principles of aftion,
no man of fcience will take upon truft •, but in the
courfe of a bufy life a thoufand circumftances will ac-
cur in ivhich ’fte muft aft with fuch rapidity, that, after
being (atisAed of the lawfulnefs of what we are about
to do, we muft, for the prudence of it, conAde entirely
in the general cuftoms of our country, or in the praftice
of other individuals placed in circumftances ftmilar to
ours. In all fuch cafes, though we may aft properly,
we aft from prejudice.
But the dominion of prejudice is not conAned to the
aftions of the man of buAnefs : it extends over the fpe-
culations of the philofopher himfelf, one half of whofe
knowledge refts upon no other foundation. All hu¬
man fciences are related to each other (fee Philo¬
sophy, N° 2.), and there is hardly one of them in
which a man can become eminent unlefs he has fome
general acquaintance with the whole circle j but no man
could ever yet inveftigate for himfelf all thofe propoA-
tions which conftitute the circle of the fciences, or even
comprehend the evidence upon which they reft, though
he admits them perhaps as truths incontrovertible. He
muft therefore receive many of them upon the autho¬
rity of others, or, which is the fame thing, admit them
by prejudice.
To this reafoning it may be objefted, that when a
man admits as true" abftraft propoAtions, which,_ though
not felf-evident, he cannot demonftrate, he admits them
not by prejudice, but upon teftimony, which has been
elfewhere ihown to be a fufficient foundation for human
belief (fee Metaphysics, N° 138.) The objeftion is
plauftble, but it is not folid ; for teftimony commands
belief only concerning events which, falling under the
cognizance of the fenfes, preclude all poflibibity of mif-
take *, whereas abftraft propcfttions, not felf-evident,
can be proved true only by a procefs of reafomng or by
a feries of experiments ; and in condufting both thefe,
the moft vigorous mind is liable to miftake. When Sir
Vol. XVII. Part I.
3
Its exten-
Ave domi¬
nion.
Ifaac Newton told the world that it was the fall of an Prejudice,
apple which Arft fuggefted to him the general law of 111'1
gravitation, he bore teftimony to a faft concerning
which he could not be miftaken; and w7e receive his
teftimony for the reafons afligned in the article referred
to. When he lays down the method of obtaining the
fluxion or momentum of the reftangle or produft of two
indeterminate quantities, which is the main point in his
doftrine of fluxions, he labours to eftablith that method
on the bafls of demonftration ; and whoever makes ufe
of it in praftice, without underftanding that demonftra¬
tion, receives the -whole doftrine of the modern geome¬
trical analyfts, not as a matter of fa£i upon the credit
of Sir Ifaac’s teflimony, but as a fyftem of abftraft truth
on the credit of his underfunding: in other words, he is
a fluxionift by prejudice.
In vain will it be faid, that in mathematical demon¬
ftration there is no room for miftake; and that there¬
fore the man who implicitly adopts the method of
fluxions may be conftdered as relying upon the veracity
of its author, who had no inducement to deceive him,
and whofe comprehenAon was confefledly greater than
his. In fluxionary mathematics, -which treat of matters
of which it is extremely difficult, if not impoflible, to
have adequate and fteady conceptions, the moft compre-
henAve mind is liable to miftake} and it is well known
that the celebrated bifliop of Cloyne wrote his Analif
to prove that the incomparable author of the method of
fluxions had committed two mifahes in his fundamental
propoAtion, which balancing one another, produced a
true concluAon by falfe reafoning. One or other of
thefe great men, of whom the leaft was an eminent ma¬
thematician, muft have been bewildered in his reafoning,
and have fallen into error •, and therefore whoever fol¬
lows either of them implicitly without perceiving the
error of the other, is unqueftionably under the influence
of prejudice. This is the cafe with the writer of the *
prefent article. He perceives not the error of Bifliop
Berkeley’s reafoning, and yet he admits the doftrine of
fluxions on the authority of Sir Ifaac’s demonftration.
That demonftration, however, he pretends not to un¬
derhand 5 and therefore he admits the doftrine through
prejudice. 4
We have made thefe obfervations, to point out the Impoflible
abfurdity of the fafhionable cry againft the harbouringt0 erachl-«te
of any prejudices. To eradicate all prejudices from :i^
the human mind is impoflible j and if it were poflible, it thenniirt,
would be very unwife: for we fee that prejudice tnay
exift on the Ade of truth as well as on that of falfehood j
and that principles profeffed and believed by any indi¬
vidual may be ufeful and true, though he was brought
to them not by a train of fair and candid reafoning,
but through the medium of prepofleflion or authority.
Indeed fucb is our nature, and fuch are the lav/s of af-
fociation, that many of our beft principles, and our ob¬
ligation to perform many of the moft amiable of our
duties in common life, muft evidently be acquired in
this way. From endearing affbciations and authorita¬
tive inftruftion, we acquire a knowledge of our duty to
our parents, and a facility in performing it, together
with the flrft principles of religion, without a Angle ef¬
fort of our own reafon. Even when reafon has begun
to aflert its power, and fliows us the propriety of fuch
duties, we are wonderfully aflifted in performing them
by the amiable prejudices which we had before acquired,
O o and
Prejudice.
. S
which
w< U:d not
be wife if
it were
poflible.
6
Good ef¬
fects of
fome
prejudices.
P R E [ 290 ] PR E
and which now appear to be natural to us. He who
has never had the advantage of fuch aifocialions, and
who acquires a knowledge of the duties fuggeilcd by
them after he has come to the years of difcretion, and
chiedy by the efforts of his own reafon, will feldom, ccc-
tens pankus, perform thefe duties with an energy and
delight equal to that of the perfon who has. This re¬
mark appears to be confirmed by experience $ for it is
often found, that the children of the great, who have
been given out to nurfe in their infancy, and who have
feldom been in the company of their parents till their
reafoning faculties have been far advanced, are much
leis dutiful and affectionate than thole in the middle or
lower ffaiions of life, who have fcarcely ever been out of
their parents company.
Would it then be wife, even if it were practicable, to
diffolve all thofe affociations which tend fo powerfully
to increafe the mutual affections of parents and chil¬
dren ? We cannot think that it would •, as we believe it
might be ealily fhown that public fpirit fprings out of
private affection.- Plato indeed held an opinion very
different from ours ; for in order to extend that affec¬
tion which is ufually lavilhed at home to the whole
ft ate, he propofed that children Should be educated at
the public expence, and never be permitted to know
the authors of their being. But this is only one of
tiie many vinonary prqjefts of that great man, of which
daily experience fbows the abfurdity. In modern times,
wc are ceriain that lefs dependence is to be had upon
the palriotifm of the man w7ho, for the love which he
pretends to his country, can overlook or forget his own
partial connexions in it, than on him who, at the fame
time that he willies his country well, is feelingly alive
to all the endearments of kindred affecfion.
Such affeelioii may be called partial, and very pro¬
bably has its foundation in that which is the fource of
all our prejudices: but if it be properly trained in early
life, it will gradually extend from our neareif rela¬
tions to the perfons with whom we affociate, and to
the place which not only gave us birth, but alfo fur-
nilhed our youthful and molt innocent enjoyments.
It is thus that the amorpairice is generated (fee Passion
and Patriotism), which in minds unfeduced by falfe
principles is exceedingly ftrongj and, though a partial af-
fection, is of the moft general utility. It is this pre¬
judice which reconciles the Laplander to his freezing
fnows, and the African to his burning fun ; which at¬
taches the native of the Highlands or of Wales as much
to his mountains and rocks, as the apparently happier
inhabitant of the fouthern counties of England is to
the move fertile and delightful fpot where he drew his
firft breath. And we find in faft, that when a native
oi Kent and a Scotch Highlander have in fome diftant
corner of the world gained a competent fortune without
being corrupted by luxury, they return, the one to his
hop-gardens, and the other to his mountains. Were
this prejudice, for fuch it furely is, wholly eradicated
from the human mind, it is obvious that large trafts of
country which are now full of inhabitants would be to¬
tally deferted ; and that the hungry, barbarians, to make
room for themfelves, would exterminate the proprietors
of more favourable climes. From an affection to our
friends and to our country, we naturally contract an af-
feftion for that mode of government under which we
live 5 and unlefs it be particularly oppreffive to our-
felves or any order of citizens, we come as naturally to PrejcXire.
prefer it to all other modes, whether ’.t deferve that pre- v
ference or not. This no doubt is prejudice, but it is a
beneficial prejudice j for were the multitude, who are
wholly incapable oi eftimatlng the excellencies and de¬
fects of the various modes of government, to become
dlffatisfied with their own, and rife in a mats to change
if for the betier, the moft horrible coulequences might
juitiy be dreaded. Oi this truth the pretent Hate of
Europe affords too melancholy and convincing a proof,
ihe man therefore who, under the pretence of enlight¬
ening the public mind and extirpating prejudices, paints
to the illiterate vulgar, in aggravated colours, the abufe
of that government which has hitherto protected them
rrom the ferocity of each other, is one of the greateff
criminals if his views be lelfifh, and one of the woift
realoners if they be ciifintereffed, that human imagina¬
tion can eafily conceive. ^ 7 ^
vVith the felfilh patriot wre have at prefent no con-Danger of
cern j but we may with propriety afk the difinterelled improper
lover of truth, whether be thinks it poflible, that in a amm!Jts to
large community, or which nine-tenths of the members 6
are necefiariiy incapable of taking eomprehenlive views
oi things, or feeling the force of political reafoniugs, any
form of government can he acceptable to the people at
large, which does not gain their affeXions through the
medium of prejudice ? It has been fhown by Mr Flume
with ^ great ftrength of argument, that government is
founded on opinion, which is of tw o kinds, viz. opinion
of intereft, and opinion of right. By opinion of intereft,
he underflands tne fenle of the general advantage
which is reaped from government, together with the
perfuafion that the particular government which is
eftabliflied is equally advantageous with any other that
could eafily be fettled. The opinion entertained of the
right of any government is always founded in its anti¬
quity j and hence arkes the pafiionate regard which
under ancient monarchies the people have for the true
Inir cf their royal family._ Thefe opinions, as held by '
the philofopher con Vert ant with the hiflory of nations,
are founded upon reafoning more or lefs conclufive ; but
it is obvious, that in the minds of the multitude they
can have no other foundation that prejudice. An illi¬
terate clown or mechanic does not fee how one form of
government promotes the general intereft more than
another ; but he may believe that it docs, upon no other
evidence than the declamation of a demagogue, who, for
felfilh purpofes, contrives to flatter his pride. The fame
is the cafe with refpeX to the rights of hereditary monar¬
chy. [he anatomift finds nothing more in the greateft
monarch than in the meaneft peafant, and the moraliil
may perhaps frequently find lefs; but the true philofopher
acknowledges' his right to the fovereignty: and though
he be weak in underffanding, or infirm in years, would,
for the fake of public peace and the ftabilily of govern¬
ment, maintain him in his throne againfl every compe¬
titor of the moft fhining talents. The vulgar, however,
who would aX with this philofopher, are influenced by
no fuch views, but merely by their prejudices in favour
of birth and family j and therefore it is ridiculous to
think of changing the public mind with refpeX to any
form of government by pure reafoning. In France a
total change in the minds of the people has indeed been
effeXed, and from the moft violent prejudices in favour
or royalty, they have now7 become more violently preju¬
diced
Prejudice.
Abfurdity
of keeping
children ig
norant of
religion
from the
dread of
prejudice.
9
Origin of
bigotry.
P R E [29
diced in favour of republicanifm. Bad as tlieir govern¬
ment un que ft ion ably was, the change that has now taken
place is-not the effect of calm reafoning and accurate in¬
quiry (for of that the bulk of mankind appears to be in¬
capable), nor are their prejudices lefs violent than they
were before. They are changed indeed y'but no one will
deny that prejudice, and that of the moft violent kind,
leads them on at prefent; nor can any one affert that
their new prejudices have rendered them more happy,
or their country more ilourifhing, than their former ones,
which made them cry Vive le Roi under the tyrannic go¬
vernment of Louis XIV.
The influence of prejudice is not more powerful in
fixing the political opinions of men, tnan in dictating
their religious creed. Every child of a religious father
receives his faith by inheritance long before he be capa¬
ble of judging whether it be agreeable or difagreeable to
the word of God and the light of reafon. ^ This experi¬
ence ihows to be the faff; and found philofophy declares
that it cannot be otherwife. Parents are appointed to
judge for their children in their younger years, and to
in ft ruff them in what they fhould believe, and wnat
they fhould praffife in the civil and religious life. This
is a diffate of nature, and doubtlefs would have been
fo in a ftate of perfect innocence. It is impoflible that
children ftrould be capable of judging for themfelves be¬
fore their minds are lurnifhed with a competent number
of ideas, and before they are acquainted with any ftnn-
cip/es and rules of juft reafaningj and therefore they can
do nothing better than run to their parents, and receive
their direffions what they thould believe and what tney
fhould praffife. ■ . .
This mode of tutoring the infant mind, and giving
to our inftruffions the force of prejudice, before reafon
can operate with much effeff, will, we know, be high¬
ly difpleaftng to many who challenge to themfelves alone
the epithet of liberal. With them it will be cramping
the genius and perverting the judgement : but we cannot
helo thinking that fuch an objeffion, if it ihould be
made, would be the offspring of ignorance; for it re¬
quires but very little knowledge of human nature to_ be
able to fee, that if children be not reftrained oy authority,
and if we do not infinuate a love of good principles in¬
to their minds, bad ones will infmuate themfelves, and
a little time will give them the force of inveterate preju¬
dice, which ail the future efforts of reafon and phftolo-
phy will find it difficult to eradicate. The idea of keep-
mg a child ignorant of the being of a God, and the
grand duties eff morality and religion, till he (hall come
to years of diferetion, and then allowing him to re a mn
them out for hitnfelf, is an abfurd chimera ; it is an ex¬
periment which never has been tried wmch to us it ap¬
pears impoffible to try, and which, if »t could be tried,
could not poffibly produce any good effeff ^ Yor iup-
pofe we had a youth juft arrived at years o. difcretion
totally ignorant of all thefe things, and unbiaffed to
any fyftem of opinions, or rather poffefied ofno opi¬
nions at all—it would, in the firft place, we fmptff, be
abfolutely neceffary to direff his thoughts into a parti¬
cular train, and for fome perfon to lead him on nom
one idea to another, till he fliould arrive at fome cone u-
fion : but in all this there is the influence authority,
affociation, and of prejudice. , ' r . .
' It being therefore abfolutely neceffary that fentiments
of religk
he inllilled inlo the minds eh children before
i ] P R E
they be capable of difeovefing by the ufe of their reafon Prejudice
whether thofe fentiments be juft or not, it need not " v
excite wonder, nor is it any reflection upon religion,
that moft men adhere with bigotry to the creed ot
their fathers, and fupport that creed by arguments
which could carry conviffion to no minds but their
own. The love and veneration which they bear to the
memory of thofe from whom they imbibed their earli-
eft opinions, do not permit them to perceive either the
falfehood of thofe opinions, or their little importance,
fuppofing them true. Hence the many frivolous de¬
putes winch have been carried on among Chriftians;
and hence the zeal with which fome of them maintain
tenets which are at once contrary to feripture, to reafon,
and to common fenfe. A due refleffion, however, on
the fource of all prejudices ought to moderate this zeal;
for no man is wholly free from that bias which he '
is fo ready to condemn in others: and indeed a man
totally free from prejudice, would be a more unhappy be¬
ing than the moft violent bigot on earth. In fcience,he
would admit nothing which he could not himfelf de-
monftrate ; in bufinefs, he would be perpetually at a
ftand for want of motives to influence his confluff : he
could have no attachment to a particular country ; tad
therefore mutt be without patnotifm, and wituout tus
folaces of friendfhip; and his religion, we are auaid,
would be cold and lifelefs. ^ 10
What, it will be faid, are the authors of a work An objec-
which profeffes ’to enlighten the public mind by laying
before it a general view'of fcience and literature, become
at laft the advocates of prejudice, which is the bane of
fcience, and the prop of f iperjiition ? No, we are advo¬
cates for no prejudice which is either inimicaPto fcience
' or friendly to abfurdity ; but we do not think.that the
moralift would aff wifely who fliould defert 'his proper
bufinefs to make himfelf mafter of the higher mathema¬
tics, merely that he might not be obliged to truft.occa-
fionall/ to the demonftrations of others. The writer of
this article is not {killed in trade; but it is not his opi¬
nion that the merchant would foon grow rich, who
fliould never make a bargain till he had previoufly cal¬
culated with mathematical exaffnefs all the probabili¬
ties of his |fain or lofs. ihat to diffolve ail the affecta¬
tions which are the fource of partial attachments of
kindred, affeffion, and private friendftiip, would tend to
promote the public happinefs, we cannot poffibly believe.
And we think, that the experience of the prefent event¬
ful day abundantly confirms Mr Hume’s opinion, that
far from endeavouring to extirpate the people s prejudi¬
ces in favour of birth and family, we fliould cherifh fuch
fentiments, as being abfolutely requifite to preferve a due
fubordination in fociety. That men would be better
Chriftians if they were1 to receive no religious in ft ruction
till they ftiould be able by their own reafon to judge ot
its truth, daily obfervation does not warrant us to con¬
clude ; for we fee thofe who have feldom heard ot c^od
when children, “ live without him in the world” when
they are men. , . r
Pernicious prejudices we have traced to their fource
elfewhere, and ffiown how they may be beft prevented
by proper attention in the education o. chndren. (bee
Metaphysics, N° 98). We {hall only add here, that
the earlier fuch attention is paid, the more efteffual it
will be found; and that it is much eafier to keep pxe-
judices out of the mind than to remove them after
/
P R E
II
Proper me¬
thods of
removing
prejudice
Prejudice.^ they have feeen admitted. This however mufl be fome
v—-' times attempted; and where prejudices are ftrong, fe-
veral methods have been recommended for rendering the
attempt fuccefsful. The following are taken moftly from
Dr Watts’s Improvement of the Mind.
i. Never attack the prejudice diretily, but lead the per-
fon who is under its iniluence Hep by llep to the truth.
^ Perhaps your neighbour is under the influence of fuper-
Jlition and bigotry in the Jimplicity of his foul; you mull;
not immediately run upon him with violence, and fliow
him the abfuidity or folly of his own opinions, though
you might be able to fet them in a glaring light; but
you mult rather begin at a diltance, and eftablifh his
aflent to fome familiar and eafy propofitions, which
have a tendency to refute his miftakes, and to confirm
the truth; and then filently obferve what impreffion
this makes upon him, and proceed by flow degrees as
he is able to bear, and you mult carry on the work per¬
haps at diftant feafons of converfation. The tender or
difeafed eye cannot bear a deluge of light at once.
Overhafinefs and vehemence in arguing is oftentimes
the effeft of pride ; it blunts the poignancy of the ar¬
gument, breaks its force, and difappoints the end. If
you were to convince a perfon of the falfehood of the
do divine of tranfubfantiation, and you take up the con-
fecrated bread before him and fay, “ You may fee, and
tafte, and feel, this is nothing but bread; therefore whilft
you aflert that God commands you to believe it is not
breads you moll: wickedly accufe God of commanding
you to tell a lie.” This fort of language would only
raife the indignation of the perfon againlt you, inftead
of making any impreflions upon him. He will not fo
much as think at all on the argument you have brought,
but he rages at you as a profane wretch, fetting up
your own fenfe and reafon above facred authority 5 fo
that though what you affirm is a truth of great evi¬
dence, yet you lofe the benefit of your whole argu¬
ment by an ill management, and the unreafonable life
of it.
2. Where the prejudices of mankind cannot be con¬
quered at once, but will rile up in arms againft the
evidence of truth, there we muft make fome allow¬
ances, and yield to them for the prefent, as far as
we can fafely do it without real injury to truth j and
if we would have any fuccefs in our endeavours to
convince the world, we mufl: praflife this complaifance
for the benefit of mankind. Pake a fludent who has
deeply imbibed^ the principles of the Peripatetics, and
imagines certain immaterial beings, called fubfantial
forms, to inhabit every herb, flower, mineral, metal, fire,
water, &c. and to be the fpring of all its properties and
operations 5 or take a Platonilf, who believes an anima
mundi, “ an univerfal foul of the world,” to pervade all
bodies, to a£l in and by them according to their nature,
and indeed to give them their nature and their fpecial
powers j perhaps it may be very hard to convince thefe
perfons by arguments, and conftrain them to yield up
thofe fancies. Well then, let the one believe his uni¬
verfal foul, and the other go on with his notion oi fub¬
fantial forms, and at the fame time teach them how by
certain original laws of motion, and the various fizes,
fliapes, and fituations of the parts of matter, allowing
a continued divine concourfe in and with all, the feve£
al appearances in nature may be folved, and the varie¬
ty of effects produced, according to the corpufcular
[ 292 }
P It E
philofophy, improved by Defcartes, Mr Boyle, and Sir Prejudice.
Ifaac. Newton ; and when they have attained a degree J
ol fkill in this fcience, they will fee thefe airy notions
of theirs, thefe imaginary powers, to be fo ufelefs and
unneceflary, that they will drop them of their own ac¬
cord. ihe Peripatetic forms will vanilh from the mind
like a dream, and the Platonic foul of the world will ex¬
pire.
We may give another inftance of the fame pra&ice,
where there is a prejudicate fondnefs of particular words
and phrafes. Suppofe a man is educated in an un-
happy form offpeech, whereby he explains fome great
do Urine of the gofpel, and by the means of this phrafe he
has imbibed a very falfe idea of that doflrine } ye he is
fo bigotted to his form of words, that he imagines if
thofe words are omitted the form is loft. Now, if w?e
cannot poffibly perfuade him to part with his improper
terms, w7e will indulge them a little, and try to explain
them in a fcriptural lenfe, rather than let him go on in
his miftaken ideas. A perfon who has been bred a Pa-
pf, knows but little of religion, yet he refolves never
to part from the Roman Catholic faith, and is obftinately
bent againft a change. Now it cannot be unlawful to
teach liich an one the true Chriftian, i. e. the Prote-
fant religion out of the Epifle to the Romans, and ftiow
him that the fame doftrine is contained in the Catholic
Epifles of St Peter, James, and Jude ; and thus let him
live and die a good Chriftian in the belief of the reli¬
gion taught him out of the New Teftament, while he
imagines he is a Roman Catholic ftill, becaufe he finds
the do&rine he is taught in the Catholic Epiftles and
in that to the Romans. Sometimes wre may make ufe
of the very prejudices under which a perfon labours,
in order t:o convince him of fome particular truth, and
argue with him upon his owm profefled principles as
though they wrere true. Suppofe a Jew lies fick of a
fever, and is forbidden flefliby his phylicianj but hearing
that rabbits were provided for the dinner of the family,
delired earneftly to eat of them j and fuppofe he became
impatient, becaufe his phyfician did not permit him, and
he infilled upon it that it could do him no hurt—furely
rather than let him perfift in that fancy and that defire,
to the danger of his life, we might tell him that thefc
animals were ftrangled, a fort of food forbidden by the
Jewilh law, though we ourfelves might believe that law
to be abolifhed.
Where w7e find any perfon obftinately perfifting in a
miftake in oppofition to all reafon, elpecially if the
miftake be very injurious or pernicious, and w7e know
this perfon will hearken to the lentiment or authority
of fome favourite name ; it is needful fometimes to urge
the opinion and authority of that favourite perfon, fince
that is likely to be regarded much more than reafon.
We are almoft affiamed indeed to fpeak of ufing any
influence of authority in reafoning or argument 5 but in
fome cafes it is better that poor, filly, perverfe, obftinate
creatures, Ihould be perfuaded to judge and aft rio-ht,
by a veneration for the fenfe of others, than to be
left to wander in pernicious errors, and continue deaf
to all argument, and blind to all evidence. They are
but children of a larger fize; and fince they perfift all
their lives in their minority, and rejeft all true reafon¬
ing, finely we may try to perfuade them to praftife
what is for their own intereft by fuch childiffi reafons
as they will hearken to. We may overawe them from
purfuing
12
Mutual
P R E [ 293 ]
prejudice purfuing their own ruin by the terrors of a folemn flia- minifhed.
dow, or allure them by a fugar plum to their own happi-
nefs. But after all, we mull conclude, that wherefoever
; it can be done, it is bell to remove and root out thofe
prejudices which obilruct the entrance of truth into the
mind, rather than to palliate, humour, or indulge them j
and fometimes this mull neceiTarily be done, before you
can make a perfon part with fome beloved error, and
lead him into better fentiments.
On the whole, we would recommend more mutual
forbearance forbearance and lefs acrimony than is commonly found
among waiters on difputed fubjefts, as the only means
111 by which our differences in religion, politics, and fcience,
ever can be healed, and truth certainly difcovered. If
men were lefs violent in defending their particular
opinions, they would always gain a more patient hear¬
ing, they would be lefs fufpe&ed of, and lefs liable to,
prejudice, and of courfe more apt either to convince
or to be convinced. They would likewife by fo doing
fhow, in the moft unequivocal manner, their attention
to found philofophy, and above all to genuine Chri-
ftianity } which, though it is far from encouraging icep-
ticifm, or a temporizing fpirit, recommends in the
ftrongeft terms, among all its profeffors, univerfal cha¬
rity and mutual forbearance. See Probability, IruiH,
and Superstition.
PRELATE, an ecclefiaftic raifed to fome eminent
and fuperior dignity in the church 5 as billiops, aichbi-
{hops, patriarchs, See.
PRELIMINARY, in general, denotes fomething
to be examined and determined before an affair can be
treated of to the purpofe.
PRELUDE, in Mujic, is ufually a flourifh or irre¬
gular air, which a mufician plays off-hand, to try if his
inftrument be in tune, and fo lead him into the piece to
be played. .
PREMISES, in Logic, an appellation given to the
twTo firft propofftions of a fyllogihn. See Logic.
Premises, in Law, properly fignifies the land, &c.
mentioned in the beginning of a deed.
PREMIUM, or Premium, properly fignifies a re-
ward or recompenfe : but it is chiefly ufed in a mer¬
cantile fenfe for the fum of money given to an mfurer,
whether of (hips, houfes, lives, &c. See Insurance
PREMNA, a genus of plants belonging to the didy-
namia clafs, See Botany Index.
PREMONSTR ANTES, or Pr^emonsTratenses, a
religious order of regular canons inftituted in 1120, by
S. Norbert ; and thence alfo called Norbertines.
The firft monaftery of this order was built by Nor¬
bert in the Lie of France, three leagues to the weft m
Laon: which he called Pramonjlre, Prcemonjiratum,
and hence the order itfelf derived its name 5 though as
to the occafion of that name, the writers of that order are
divided. At firft the religious of this order were io very
poor, that they had only a f.ngle aft, which ferved to
carry the wood they cut down every morning, and ient
to Laon in order to purchafe bread. But they foon re-
ceived fo many donations, and built fo many monalte-
ties, that in 30 years after the foundation of the ordei,
they had above 100 abbeys in France and Germany .
and in procefs of time the order fo increafed, that it a
monafteries in all parts of Chriftendom, amounting to
IOOO abbeys, 300 provoftfliips, a vaft number of prio¬
ries, and 500 nunneries. But they are now great y di-
P R E
   The rule they followed was that of St Au-
guftine, with fome flight alterations, and an addition of
certain fevere laws, whofe authority did not long furvive
their founder.
The order was approved by Honorius II. in 1126,
and again by feveral fucceeding popes. At firft the
abftinence from flefh w^as rigidly obferved. In 1245
Innocent IV. complained of its being neglected to a
general chapter. In 1288, their general, William, pro¬
cured leave of Pope Nicholas IV. for thofe of the order
to eat fbsfh on journeys. In 1460, Pius II. granted
them a general permitiion to eat meat, excepting fiom
Septuagefima to Eafter. Fhe drefs of the religious
of this order is white, with a fcapulary before the caf-
fock. Out of doors they wrear a wdiite cloak and
white hat-, within, a little cam ail \ and at church, a
furplice, &c.
In the firft monafteries built by Norbert, there was
one for men and another for women, only feparated by
a wall. In 1137, by a decree of a general chapter,
this pra&ice xvas prohibited, and the women removed
out of thofe already built, to a greater diftance irom
thofe of the men.
The Prsemonftratenfes, or monks of Premontre, vul¬
garly called white canons, came firft into England,
A. D. 1146. Their firft monaftery, called New-houfe,
was erefted in Lincolnfliire, by Peter de Saulia, an^.
dedicated to St Martial. In the reign of Edward I.
this order had 27 monafteries in England.
PRENANTHES, a genus of plants belonging to
the fvngenefia clafs j and in the natural method ranking
under the 49th order, Compoftce. See Botany Index.
PRENOMEN, Prjenomen, among the ancient
Romans, a name prefixed to their family name, and an-
fwering to our Chriftian name : fuch are Caius, Lucius,
Marcus, &c.
PRENOTION, Pr/enotio, or Pnrcogmtio, is ;a
notice or piece of knowdedge preceding fome other in
refpeft of time. Such is the knowledge of the antece¬
dent, which muft precede that of the conclufion. It is
ufed by Lord Bacon for breaking off an endlefs fearch,
which he obferves to be one of the principal parts of
the art of memory. For when one endeavours to call
anv thing to mind, without fome previous notion or
perception of what is fought for, the mind exerts itfelf
and ftrives in an endlefs manner:. but if it hath ^ny
fhort notion before-hand, the infinity of the fearch is
prefently cut off, and the mind hunts nearer home, as
in an inclofure. Thus verfe is eafier remembered than
profe ; becaufe if we ftick at any word m a verfe, we
have a previous notion that it is fuch a word as mult
ftand in a verfe. Hence alfo, order is a mamfeft help
to memory j for here is a previous notion, that the thing
fought for muft be agreeable to order. Bacon’s Works
Abr. vol. i. p. 136. and vol. ii. p. 473.
PREPARATION, in a general fenle, the abt ot
difpofing things in i'uch a manner as to render any fore-
feen event more advantageous or lefs hurtful according
to its nature. . , .
Preparation of Difonances, in mufic, is their dii-
pofition in harmony in fuch a manner, that, by iome-
thing congenial in what precedes, they may be ren¬
dered lefs harfh to the ear than they would be without
that precaution : according to this definition, every
difeord ought to be prepared. But when, m order o
Prenion-
ftrantes
Prepara¬
tion.
p R E C 2
prepare a dxffonance, it is exatled that llie found which
94 ]
P fi E
forms, it fhould before have formed a confonance, then
tnere is fundamentally but one hngle diflonance which
is prepared, viz. the feventh. Nor is'even this prepa¬
ration neceilary in the chord which contains thefenfible
note,. becaute then the dilfonance being charadterillical,
fjoiji in its chord and in its mode, the ear has fuflicient
reafon to expeft it: it accordingly does expeft it, and
recognife it 5 nor is either deceived with refpecf to its
chord nor its natural progrefs. But when the feventh
is heard upon a fundamental found which is not eflential
to the mode, it ought then to be prepared, in order to
prevent all ambiguity 5 to prevent the ear, whin! lifl-
enmg to. this note, from lofmg its train : and as this
chord of the feventh may be inverted and combined in
ieveral different manners, from this arife like wife a
number of different ways by which it may feem to be
prepared, which, in the main, always iflue however in
the fame thing.
In making ufe of diffonances, three things are to be
confidered} viz, the chord which precedes the dilTo-
nance, that in which it is found, and that which is im¬
mediately fubfequent to ity Preparation only refpe&s
the two firll 5 for the third, fee Resolution.
W hen we would regularly prepare a diicord in or¬
der to arrive at its chord, we muft choofe fuch a ca¬
reer of the fundamental bafs, that the found which
forms the diffonance may be a protraction into, the
perfeCt time 01 the fame note which formed a confo-
nance formerly (truck in the imperfect in the preceding
ciioid 5 this is what we call jincopatwn. See Sincopa-
TION.
From this preparation two advantages refult j viz.
! I. 1 hat there is neceflarily an harmonical connection
between the two chords, fince that connection is formed
by the diffonance itfelf 5 and, 2. That this diflbnance, as
ij: is nothing elfe but the continuation of the fame found
which had formed a confonance, becomes much lefs
harth to the ear than it would have been with any found
iccently Itruck. Now tnis is all that we expeCt to gain
by preparation. See Cadence, Discord," and Har¬
mony.
By what has been juft faid, it will appear that there
is.no other part peculiarly deftined for preparing the
diffonance, except that in which it is heard ; fo that if
the treble (hall exbibit a dilfonance, that mult be fin-
copated ; but it the diffonance is in the bafs, the bafs
mult be firtcopated. i hough there is nothing here but
what is quite fimple, yet have mafters of mufic miferably
embroiled the whole matter.
Some oiltonances may be found wdnch are never pre¬
pared : fuch is the fixth fuperadded: fome which are
very unfrequently preparedj fuch is the diminifhed fe¬
venth.
Preparations, in Pharmacy, the medicines when
mixed together in fuch a manner as to be fit for the ufe
Ci- the patient. See Pharmacy, under Materia
Medica.
1.reparations, in Anatomy, the parts of animal
bodies prepared and preferved for anatomical ufes.
Fj- . | manner, of preierving anatomical preparations,
jL i, *'1S either b7 drying them thoroughly in the air, or put-
■voJ. ii.'p. s. tmZ 11101X1 rnto a proper liquor.
In drying parts winch are thick, when the weather
is warm, care mult be taken to prevent putrefaction, Prepara-
fiy-blows, infeCts, &c. This is ealily done by the ui'e
ot a folution of corrofive fubllmate in fpirit of wine
in the proportion ot two drams of fublimate to a
pound ot fpirit: the part fhould be rnoiitened with
tins liquor as it dries, and by this method the body of
a child may be kept fafe even in fummer. Dried pre¬
parations are apt to crack and moulder away in keep-
m.g 5 to prevent this, their furface fhould be covered
with a thick varniih, repeated as often as occafion re¬
quires.
1 hough feveral parts prepared dry are ufeful, yet
others mult be fo managed as to be always flexible
and nearer a natural ftate. The difficulty has been to
find a proper liquor for this purpofe. Dr" Monro fays,
the heft he knows U a well rectified celourlefs fpirit of
wine, to which is added a fmall quantity of the fpirit
of vitriol or nitre. When thefe are properly mixed,
they neither change their colour nor the conliftence. of
tue parts, except where there are ferous or mucous
liquors contained in them. 1 he brain, even of a
young child, in this mixture grows fo firm as to admit
of gentle handling, as do alio the vitreous and cry-
ftalline -humours of the eye. The liquor of the feba-
ce.ous glands and the femen are coagulated by this
fpirituous mixture j and it heightens the red colour of
the injection of the biood-veffds, fo that after the part
has been in it. a little time, feveial vefiels appear which
weie before invifible. If you will compare thefe ef-
feds with what Ruyfch has faid of his balfam, you will
find the liquor above mentioned to come very near
to it.
The proportion of the two fpirits muft be changed
according to the part prepared. For the brain and
humours of the eye, you muft put two drams of fpirit
of nitre to one pound of fpirit of wine. In preierving
other parts which are harder, 30 or 40 drops of the
acid will .be fufficient ^ a larger quantity wall make
bones flexible, and even diflolve them. The part thus
preferved fhould be always kept covered with the
liquor: therefore great care fliould be taken to flop
the mouth 0i the glafs with a waxed cork and a blad-
oer. tied over it, to prevent the evaporation of the
fpiritj fome of which, notwithftanding all this care,
will fly off; therefore frefh muft be added as there is’
occafion. When the fpirits change to a dark tindure,
which will fometimes happen, they fliould be poured off*
and frefh put in their room; but with fomewhat lefs’
acid than at firft.
The glaffes which contain the preparations fliould
v, the find!: lort, and pretty thick j for through
fuen the parts may be feen very diftindtly,-and of a
tine colour, and the objeft will be fo magnified as to
fliow veffels in the glafs which out of it were not to be
feen.
As the glafs when filled with the liquor has a cer¬
tain focus, it is neceffary to keep the preparation at a
proper diftance from the fides of it, which is eafiiy
done by little fticks fuitably placed, or by fufpending it
-by a thread in a proper fituation. The operator fhould
he cautious of putting his fingers in this liquor oftener
than is abfolutely needfary; becaufe it brings on a
numbnefs on the fkin, which makes the fingers unfit for
any nice operation. The belt remedy for this is to wafh
them
tion.
2
Prepara
tion
Pie rota¬
tive.
P R E [ 29:
tTicra in water mixed with a few drops of oil of tartar
per deliquium. # _
Dr Chrift. Jac. Trew prefers the reftified fpint of
tfrahi for preferving anatomical preparations to fpirit of
wine, or to compositions of alcohol, amber, camphor,
&:c. becaufe thefe foon change into a brown colour,
whereas the fpirit from malt preferves its limpid ap¬
pearance. When any part is to be preferved wet, waih
it with water till it is no more tinftured. The water is
next to be wafhed away with fpirits, and then the pre¬
paration is to be put among fpirits in a glafs, the mouth
of which is to be clofely covered with a glafs head, c>ver
which a wet bladder and leaf tin are to be tied. Com.
Lit. Noritnb. 173 t Jeiheft. 1. fpecim. 9. ^ See aifo Poic'i
Anatomical hjirucior, and American I'ranfachons, vol.
ii. p. -a66.
PKEPENSED, in Law, denotes fore-thought. In
which fenfe we fry prepenfed malice, occ. n, when a
man is {lain upon a fudden quarrel, there were malice
prepenfed formerly between them, it makes it mur¬
der *, and, as it is called in fome iratutes, prepenfed mur-
ther. ,
PREPOSITION, in Grammar, one of the parts of
fpeech, being an indeclinable particle which yet ferves
to govern the nouns that follow it; iucn as per, pro,
propter; and through, for, with, &c.
F. Puffier allows it to be only a modificative of a part
of fpeech, ferving to circumftantiate a noun.
PREPUCE, in Anatomy, the forelkin, being a pro¬
longation of the cutis of the penis, covering the glans.
See Penis, Anatomy Index. . .
PREPtOGATiVE, an exclufive or peculiar pnvx-
C Royal PREROGATIVE, that fpecial pre-eminence which
the king hath over and above all other perfons, and
out of the ordinary courfe of the common law, 111
right of his regal dignity. It fignifies in its etymology
(from pree and rogd) fomething that is required or de¬
manded before, or in preference to, all others. And
hence it follows, that it muft be in its nature Angular
and eccentrical ; that it can only be applied to t.uve
rights and capacities which the king enjoys alone m
cmtradhTin&ion to others, and not to thofe which he
eniovs in common with any of his fubjefts : for it once
any one prerogative of the crown could be held m com¬
mon with the fubjea, it would ceafe to be prerogative
any longer. And therefore Finch lays it down ^ a
maxim, that the prerogative is that law in cafe ot the
king, which is law in no caie oi die fubject.
Prerogatives are either direct or incidental. 1 tie di-
recl are fuch pofitive fubftantial parts of the royal cha-
raefer and authority, as are rooted in, and ipnng
from, the king’s political perfon, confidered merely
by itfelf, without reference to any other extrmfic cir-
cumftance; as, the right of fending ambaffiadors of
creating peers, and of making war or peace. But
fuch prerogatives as ate incidental bear always a rela¬
tion to fomething elfe, diflindt from the king s perfon ;
and are indeed only exceptions, m favour of the crown
to thofe general rules that are eitabhffied lor the red of
the community : fuch as, that no cods {hall be recover¬
ed againft the king; that the king, can never be a joint
tenant; and that his debt fliall be preferred beiore a
debt to any of his fubjefts.
1
Thefe
P K E
fubfu
antive or direft prerogatives may again
be divided into three kinds: being fuch as regard,
fird, the king’s royal char act er or dignity; fecondiy,
his royal authority or power; and, lattly, his royal in¬
come. Thefe are neceilary, to fecure reverence to Ids
perfon, obedience to his commands, and an affluent
limply for the ordinary expences of government ; with¬
out all of which it is impoffibie to maintain the execu¬
tive power in due independence and vigour. Yet, in
every branch of this large and extenfive dominion, our
free conftitution has interpofed fuch feafonable checks
and reitriclxons, as may curb it from trampling on thofe
liberties which it was meant to fecure and edabliih.
The enormous weight of prerogative, if left to itfelf,
(as in arbitrary governments it is), fpreads havock and
deftrudlion among all the inferior movements: but, when
balanced and bridled (as with us) by its proper coun-
terpoife, timely and judicioufiy applied, its operations
are then equable and regular ; it invigorates the whole
machine, and enables every part to anfwer the end of its
conftruftion.
I. Of the royal dignity. Under every monarchical
eftabliihment, it is neceffary to diftinguilh the prince
from his fubjects, not only by the outward pomp and
decorations of majefty, but alfo by aferibing to him
certain qualities as inherent in his royal capacity, di-
ftindl from, and fuperior to, thofe of any other indivi¬
dual in the nation. For though a philofophical mind
will (fays Sir William Blackiione) confider the royal
perfon merely as one man appointed by mutual confent
to prehde over many others, and will pay him that re¬
verence and duty which the principles ot iociety de¬
mand ; yet the mafs of mankind will be apt to grow in-
folent and refraftory, if taught to confider their prince
as a man of no greater perfection than themfdves. The
law therefore aferibes to the king, in his high politi¬
cal chara&er, not only large powers and emoluments,
which form his prerogative and revenue, but likevvjie
certain attributes of a great and tranfeendent nature;
by which the people are led to confider him in the light
of a fuperior being, and to pay him that awful refpect
which may enable him with greater eafe to carry on the
bufinefs of government. This is what we underhand
by the royal dignity ; the feveral branches 01 which we
fliall now proceed to enumerate.
1. And, firft, the law aferibes to the king the attri¬
bute offovereignty, or pre-eminency. See Sovereign¬
ty.
2. u The law alfo (according to Sir William Black-
ftone) aferibes to the king, in his political capacity, ab-
folute perfection. ‘ The king can do no wrong.’ Which
ancient and fundamental maxim (fays he) is not to be
underfiood as if every thing tranfa&ed by the govern¬
ment was of courfe juft and lawful; but means only
two things, hirft, tnat whatever is exceptionable in
the conduct of public affairs, is not to be imputed to
the king, nor is he anfwerable for it perfonally to his
people: for this dedtrine would totally deftroy that con-
fiitutional independence of the crown, which is necei-
fary for the balance of power, in our free and active,
and therefore compounded, conftitution. And, {scon a-
ly, it means that the prerogative of the crov/n extends
not to do any injury; it is created for the bentffi or
the people, and therefore cannot be exerted to ir
P H E
[
Freroga- prejudice.—c< The king, moreover, (he obferves), is
^e~ , not only incapable of doing wrong, but even of think¬
ing wrong : he can never mean to do an improper thing :
in him is no folly or weaknefs. And, therefore, if the
crown Ihould be induced to grant any franchife or pri¬
vilege to a fubjeft contrary to reafon, or in any wife pre¬
judicial to the commonwealth or a private perfon, the
law will not fuppofe the king to have meant either an
unwife or an injurious aftion, but declares that the king
was deceived in his grant; and thereupon fuch grant is
rendered void, merely upon the foundation of fraud and
deception, either by or upon thofe agents whom the
crown has thought proper to employ. For the law
will not cad an imputation on that magiftrate whom
it entrufts with the executive power, as if he was ca¬
pable of intentionally difregarding his truft : but attri¬
butes to mere impofition (to which the mod perfect
of fublunary beings mud dill continue liable) thofe
little inadvertencies, which, if charged on the will
-of the prince, might leffen him in the eyes of his fub-
jefts.”
But this doftrine has been expofed as ridiculous
and abfurd, by Lord Abingdon, in his Dedication to
the colleciive Body of the Peofi/e of England. “ Let us
fee (fays he) how thefe maxims and their comments
agree with the conditution, with nature, with reafon,
with common fenfe, with experience, with fa ft, with
precedent, and with Sir William Blackdone himfelf;
and whether, by the application of thefe rules of evi¬
dence thereto, it will not be found, that (from the
want of attention to that important line of didinftion
which the conditution has drawn between the king of
England and the crown of England) what was attri¬
buted to the monarchy has not been given to the monarch,
what meant for the king/hip conveyed to the king, what
defigned for the thing transferred to the perfon, what in¬
tended for theory applied to praBice ; and fo in confe-
lequence, that whild the premifes (of the perfeftion of
the monarchy) be true, the conclufion (that the king
can do no wrong) be not falfe.
“ And, fird, in reference to the conditution : to which
if this matter be applied (meaning what it exprelfes, and
if it do not it is unworthy of notice), it is fubverfive of
a principle in the conditution, upon which the prefer-
vation of the conditution depends ; I mean the prin¬
ciple of ref/lance 5 a principle which, whild no man will
now venture to gainfay, Sir William Blackdone him¬
felf admits, ‘ is jiiflifiable to the perfon of the prince ;
when the being of the date is endangered, and the
public voice proclaims fuch refidance neceffary j’ and
thus, by fuch admiflion, both difproves the maxim,
and overfets his own comment thereupon ; for to fay
that ‘ the king can do no wrong,’ and that ‘ he is
incapable even of thinking wrong,’ and then to admit
that ‘ refidance to his perfon is judifiable,’ are fuch
jarring contradiftions in themfelves, that, until reconci¬
led, the neceflity of argument is fufpended.
“ With refpeft then, in the next place, to the agree¬
ment of this maxim, and its comment, with nature, with
reafon, and with common fenfe, I fhould have thought
myfelf fufficiently judified in appealing to every man’s
own refleftion for decifion, if I had' not been made
to underdand that nature, reafon. and common fenfe
had had nothing to do with either. Sir William Black-
done fays, ‘ That though a philofophical min'd will con-
96 ] P R E
fider the royal perfon merely as one man appointed Preroea.
by mutual confent to prefide over others, and will pay tive.
him that reverence and duty which the principles of fo- '—"V—
ciety ciemand, yet the mafs of mankind will be apt to
grow infolent and refradtory if taught to confider their
prince as a man of no greater perfeftion than themfelves •
and therefore the law afcribes to the king, in his high
political charafter, certain attributes of a great and
tianfcendent nature, by which the jieople are led to
confider him in the light of a fuperior being, and to pay
him that awful relpeft which may enable him with
greatei eafe to carry on the bufinefs of government.’ So
that, in order to govern with greater eafe (which by
the bye is mere affertion wdthout any proof), it is necef¬
fary to deceive the mafs of mankind, by making them
believe, not only wThat a philofophical mind cannot be¬
lieve, but what it is impofiible for any mind to believe •
and therefore, in the inveftigation of this fubjeft, ac¬
cording to Sir William, neither nature, reafon, nor com¬
mon fenfe, can have any concern. 
. ^ remains to examine in howr much this maxim and
its comment agree with experience, with faft, with pre¬
cedent, and with Sir William Blackftone himfelf. And
here it is matter of molt curious fpeculation, to obferve
a maxim laid down, and which is intended for a rule
of government, not only without a fingle cafe in fup-
port of it, but with a firing of cafes, that may be car¬
ried back to Egbert tire firfl monarch of England, in
direft oppofition to the doftrine. Who is the man,
that, reading the part hiftory of this country, will {how
us any king that has done no wrong ? Who is the read¬
er that will not find that all the wrongs and injuries
■which the free conflitution of this country has hitherto
fuffered, have been folely derived from the arbitrary
meafures ot our kings ? And yet the mafs of mankind
are to look upon the king as a fuperior being ; and the
maxim, that ‘ the king can do w7rong,’ is to remain as
an article of belief. But, without pufhing this inquiry
any farther, let us fee what encouragement Sir William
Blackftone himfelf has given us for our credulity. Af-
tei Hating the maxim, and prefenting us with a moft
lively pifture, ‘ of our fovereign lord thus allperfeB and
immortal; what does he make this all-perfeftion and
immortality in the end to come to ? His wmrds are
thefe: ‘ For when King Charles’s deluded brother at¬
tempted to enfave the nation,’ {no wrong this, to be
fure')i 4 he found it was beyond his power : the people
both could, and did, refift him; and in confequence of
fuch lefiftance, obliged him to quit his enterprife and his
throne together ^ ^
rJ. he fum of all is this : That the crowm of England vol. iv.
and the king of England are diftinguilhable, and not P-433-
fynonymous terms : that allegiance is due to the crown,
and through the crown to the king: that the attributes
of the crown are fovereignty, perfeftion, and perpetuity;
but that it does not therefore follow that the king can
do no wrong. It is indeed to be admitted, that in high
refpeft for the crown, high refpeft is alfo due to the
wearer of that crown; that is, to the king: but the
crown is to be preferred to the king, for the firft vene¬
ration is due to the conftbution. It is likewife to be
fippofed that the king will do no wrong : and as, to
prevent this, a privy council is appointed by the confti-
tution to affift the king in the execution of the go¬
vernment) fo if any wrong be done, « thefe men,’ as
Montefquieu
Prf’ros;**
ti ve.
Black!}.
Comment.
P R E [ 297 ] P R e;
Montefquisu expreiTes it, ‘ may be examined and pu-
nidied (a).’
“ But if any future king (hall think to fcreen thefe
evil counfellors from the jult vengeance of the people,
by becoming his own minjfter; and, in fo doing, (hall
take for his ianftion the attribute of /jerfeftion, thall truft
to the deception of his being a fuperior being, and cloak
himfelf under the maxim that the king can do no wrong;
I fay, in luch a cafe, let the appeal already made to
the conftitution, to nature, to reaion, to common fenfe,
to experience, to fad:, to precedent, and to Sir William
Blackftone himfelf, fuffice ) and preclude the neceflity
«f any further remarks from me (b).”
To proceed now to other particulars : The law de¬
termines, that in the king can be no negligence or
LACHES } and therefore no delay will bar his right.
Nullum tempus occnrrit regi, is the Handing maxim upon
all occalions : for the law intends that the king is al¬
ways bulled for the public good, and therefore has not
leifure to alfert his right within the times limited to
fuhjedls. In the king alfo can be no ilain or corruption
of blood : for if the heir to the crown w?re attainted of
treafon or felony, and afterwards the crown Ihould def-
cend to him, this would purge the attainder ipfo faElo.
And therefore, when Henry VII. who as earl of Rich¬
mond Hood attainted, came to the crown, it was not
thought neceffary to pafs an aft of parliament to reverfe
this attainder ; becaufe, as Ldrd Bacon in his hiltory of
that prince informs us, it was agreed that the affumption
of the crown had at once purged all attainders. Nei¬
ther can the king, in judgement of law, as king, ever
be a minor or under age; and therefore his royal grants
and affents to afts of parliament are good, though he has
not in his natural capacity attained the legal age of 21.
By a llatute, indeed, 28 Hen. VIII. e. 17. power was
given to future kings to refcind and revoke all afts of
parliament that Ihould be made while they were under
the age of 24 : but this was repealed by the ilatute
I Edwn VI. c. 11. fo far as related to that prince, and
both llatutes are declared to be determined by 24
Geo. II. c. 24. It hath alfo been ufually thought pru¬
dent, when the heir-apparent has been very young, to
appoint a proteftor, guardian, or regent, for a limited
time : but the very neceflity of fuch extraordinary pro-
vifion is fuflicient to demonftrate the truth of that
maxim of common law, that in the king is no mino-
VOL. XVII. Part I.
rity ; and therefore he hath no legal guardian. See Re¬
gent.
3. A third attribute of the king’s majefty is his per~
petuity. The law afcribes to him, in his political capa-(
city, an abfolute immortality. The king never dies,
Henry, Edward, or George, may die ; but the king fur-
vives them all. For, immediately upon the deceafe of.
the reigning prince in his natural capacity, his kingfliip
or imperial dignity, by aft of law, without any interreg¬
num or interval, is veiled at once in his heir \ who is, eo-
inf anti, king to all intents and purpofes. And fo ten¬
der is the law of fuppofing even a poffibility of his death,,
that his natural difi'olution is generally called his demife
dimifio regis vel coroner: an expreflion which figniiies
merely a transfer of property; for, as is obferved in Plow-
den,- when we fay the demife of the crown, we mean,
only, that, in confequence of the difunion of the king’s
body-natural from his body-politic, the kingdom is tranf-
ferred or demiied to his fucceflbr, and fo the royal dig¬
nity remains perpetual. Thus, too, when Edward IV.
in the tenth year of his reign, was driven from his
throne for a few months by the houfe of Lancafter, this
temporary transfer of his dignity was denominated his
demife; and all procefs was held to be difeontinued, as
upon a natural death of the king.
II. We are next to conflder thofe branches of the
royal prerogative which inveil this our fovereign lord
with a number of authorities ■zudpowers; in the exertion
whereof confifls the executive part of government. Thi$;
is wifely placed in a Angle hand by the Britifh conftitu-
tion, for the fake of unanimity, ftrength, and defpatch.
Were it placed in many hands, it would be fubjeft to
many wills : many wills, if difunited and drawing dif¬
ferent ways, create weaknefs in a government 5 and to.
unite thofe feveral wills, and reduce them to one, is a
work of more time and delay than the exigencies of ftatc
will afford. The king of England is therefore not only
the chief, but properly the iole, magiflrate of the na¬
tion ; all others afting by commiflion from, and in due
fubordination to, him: in like manner as, upon the
great revolution in the Roman flate, all the powers of
the ancient magiftracy of the commomvealth were con¬
centered in the new emperor; fo that, as Gravina ex-
preffes it, in ejus umus perfona veteris rei pitblicae vis
ntque majeftas per cumulatas magiftratuum potefates ex-
primebatur.
P p I*v
(a) Except the parliament, which is the great council of the nation, the judges, and the peers, who, being the
hereditary counfellors of the crown, have not only a right, but are bound in foro confcientice to advife the king for
the public good, the canftitution knows of no other counfel than the privy-council. Any other counfel, like Clif¬
ford, Arlington, Buckingham, Afhley, LauderdaV, and, as the initial letters of thefe names exprefs, is a CABAL,
and as fuch fliould be fuppreffed. Nat. Bacon, fpeaking of the lofs of power in the grand council of lords, fays,
“ The fenfe of ftate once contrafted into a privy-council, is foon recontrafted into a cabinet-council, and laft of all
into a favourite or two ; which many times brings damage to the public, and both themfelves and kings into ex¬
treme precipices; partly for want of maturity, but principally through the providence of God overruling irregular
courfes to the hurt of fuch as walk in them.” Pol. Difc. part ii. p. 201.
(B) For experience, faft, and precedent, fee the reigns of King John, Henry III. Edward II. Richard II,
Charles I. and James II. See alfo Mirror of Jufices; where it is faid, “that this grand affembly (meaning
the now parliament, or then Wittena-gemotte) is to confer the government of God’s people, how they may
be kept from An, live in quiet, and have right done them, according to the cuftoms and laws ; and more
especially of wrong done by the king, queen, or their children : to which Nat. Bacon adds this note : “ At this
time the king might do wrong, &c. and fo fay Brafton and Fleta of the kings in their, time.” Difc. part i. p. 37.,
Jmnd. 1739.
P R E [ 298 J P R E
Preroga- In the exertion of lawful prerogative the king is held
, tm’ to be abfolute j that is, fo far abfolute, that there is no
legal authority that can either delay or relift him. He
may rejedt what bills, may make what treaties, may coin
what money, may create what peers, may pardon what
offences, he pleafes : unlefs where the conftitution hath
exprefsly, or by evident confequence, laid down fome
exception or boundary j declaring, that thus far the pre¬
rogative lhall go and no farther. For otherwife the
power of the crown would indeed be but a name and a
lhadow, infufficient for the ends of government, if,
Blackfl- where its jurifdidtion is clearly ellablilhed and allowed,
Comment, any man or body of men were permitted to difobey it,
in the ordinary courfe of law : we do not now fpeak of
thofe extraordinary recourfes to the firrt principles, which
are neceffary when the contracts of foclety are in danger
of diffblution, and the law proves too weak a defence
againft the violence of fraud or oppreftion. And yet
the want of attending to this obvious diftinblion has oc-
calioned thefe dodlrines, of ablolute power in the prince
and of national reliftance by the people, to be much
mifunderftood and perverted, by the advocates for
ilavery on the one hand, and the demagogues of faction
on the other. The former, obferving the abfolute fo-
vereignty and tranfcendent dominion of the crown laid
down (as it certainly is) moft ftrongly and emphatically
in our law-books as well as our homilies, have denied
that any cafe can be excepted from fo general and pofi-
tive a rule j forgetting how impoftible it is, in any prac¬
tical fyftem of laws, to point out beforehand thofe ec¬
centrical remedies, which the hidden emergence of na¬
tional diftrefs may dictate, and which that alone can ju-
ftify. On the other hand, over zealous republicans,
feeling the abfurdity of unlimited paflive obedience, have
fancifully (or fometimes faftiouhy) gone over to the
other extreme : and, becaufe refiftance is juftifiable to
the perfon of the prince when the being of the ftate is
endangered, and the public voice proclaims fuch refift¬
ance neceffary, they have therefore alkwed to every in¬
dividual the right of determining this expedience, and
of employing private force to refift even private oppref-
iion. A doifrine produdtive of anarchy, and (in confe¬
quence equally fatal to civil liberty as tyranny itfelf.
For civil liberty, rightly underftood, confifts in protect¬
ing the rights of individuals by the united force of fo-
eiety : fociety cannot be maintained, and of courfe can
exert no protection, without obedience to fome fove-
reign power \ and obedience is an empty name, if every
individual has a right to decide how far he himfelf ftiall
obey.
In the exertion, therefore, of thofe prerogatives which
the law has given him, the king is irrefiftible and ablo¬
lute, according to the forms of the conftitution. And
yet, if the confequence of that exertion be manifeftiy to
the grievance or diftionour of the kingdom, the parlia¬
ment will call his advilers to a juft and fevere account.
For prerogative confifting (as Mr Locke has w ell defined
it) in the difcretionary power of a Cling for the public
good where the pofitive laws are' filent, if that difcre¬
tionary power be abufed to the public detriment, fuch
prerogative is exerted in an unconftitutional manner.
Thus the king may make a treaty with a foreign ftate,
which fhall irrevocably bind the nation •, and yet, when
iuch treaties have been judged pernicious, impeachments
have puriued thofe mkilfters by wdiofe agency or advice
they were concluded.
The prerogatives of the crown (in the fenfe under
which wTe are now confidering them) refpeCt either this
nation’s intercourfe with foreign nations, or its own do-
meftic government and civil polity.
With regard to foreign concerns, the king is the dele¬
gate or reprefentative of his people. It is impoflible
that the individuals of a ftate, in their collective capaci¬
ty, can tranfaCl the affairs of that ftate with another
community equally numerous as themfelves. Unanimity
muft be wanting to their meafures, and ftrength to the
execution of their counfels. In the king, therefore, as
in a centre, all the rays of his people are united, and
form by that union a confiftency, fplendor, and power,
that make him feared and refpeCted by foreign poten¬
tates ; wTho would fcruple to enter into any engagement,
that muft afterwards be revifed and ratified by a popular
affembly. What is done by the royal authority, with
regard to foreign powers, is the aCt of the whole na¬
tion : what is done without the king’s concurrence, is
the aCt only of private men. And fo far is this point
carried by our lawq that it hath been held, that ftiould
all the fubjeds of England make war with a king in
league with the king of England, without the royal af-
fent, fuch w^ar is ao breach of the league. And, by the
ftatute 2 Hen. V. c. 6. any fubjeCt committing ads of
hoftility upon any nation in league with the king, wTas
declared to be guilty of high treafon : and, though that
ad was repealed by the ftatute 20 Hen. VI. c. 11. fo
far as relates to the making this offence high treafon,
yet ftill it remains a very great offence againft the law
of nations, and punifhable by our laws, either capitally
or otherwife, according to the circumftances of the
cafe.
1. The king, therefore, confidered as-the reprefenta¬
tive of his people, has the foie power of fending am-
baffadors to foreign ftates, and receiving ambaffadors
at home.
2. It is alfo the king’s prerogative to make treaties,
leagues, and alliances, with foreign ftates and princes.
For it is, by the law of nations, effential to the goodnefs
of a league, that it be made by the fovereign power p
and then it is binding upon the whole community: and
in Britain the fovereign power, quoad hoc, is vefted in
the perfon of the king. Whatever contrads therefore
he engages in, no other powder in the kingdom can le¬
gally delay, refift, or annul. And yet, left this pleni¬
tude of authority ftiould be abufed to the detriment of
the public, the conftitution (as wTas hinted before) hath
here interpofed a check, by the means of parliamentary
impeachment, for the punifhment of fuch minifters as
from criminal motives advife or conclude any treaty,
which fhall aftenvards be judged to derogate from the
honour and intereft of the nation.
3. Upon the fame principle the king has alfo the foie
prerogative of making war and peace. For it is held
by all the writers on the law of nature and nations, that
the right of making war, which by nature fubfifted in
every individual, is given up by all private perfons that
enter into fociety, and is vefted in the fovereign power:
and this right is given up, not only by individuals, but
even by the entire body of people that are under the do¬
minion of a fovereign. It would indeed be extremely
improper,
Preroga ■
tive.
P R £
[ 299 1
P R E
Preroga¬
tive.
improper, tliRt miy number of fubjects Qioulci iiste tbe
power'of binding the fupreme magiftiate, and putting
' him againfl his will in a ftate of war. Whatever hofti-
lities, therefore, may be committed by private citizens,
the hate ought not to be aftefled thereby } unlefs that
Ihould juftify their proceedings, and thereby become
partner in the guilt. And the reafon which h given by
Grotius, why, according to the law of nations, a de¬
nunciation of war ought always to precede the aftnal
commencement of hollilities, is not lo much that tne
enemy may be put upon his guard (which is matter ra¬
ther of magnanimity than right), but that it may be
certainly clear that the war is not undertaken by pri¬
vate perfons, but by the will of the whole community ,
whofe right of willing is in this cafe transferred to the
fupreme magiftrate by the fundamental laws of fociety.
So that, in order to make a war completely eftedlual,
it is neceffary with us in Britain that it be publicly de¬
clared and duly proclaimed by the king’s authority} and
then, all parts of both the contending nations, from the
higheft to the loweft, are bound by it. And where-
ever the right refides of beginning a national war, theie
alfo muft refide tire right of ending it, or the power of
snaking peace. And the fame check of parliamentary
impeachment, for improper or inglorious condufl, in be¬
ginning, conducing, or concluding a national war, is
in general fufficient to reltram the minifters of the mown
from a wanton or injurious exertion of this gieat prero¬
gative.
4. But, as the delay of making war may lometimes
be detrimental to individuals who have lirffered by de¬
predations from foreign potentates, our laws have in
fome refpefts armed the fubjeft with powers to impel
t.he prerogative} by directing the minifters of the crown
to iffue letters of marque and reprifal upon due demand:
the prerogative of granting which is nearly related to,
and plainly dct'ived from, that other ot making war ,
this being indeed only an incomplete ftate of hoftilities,
and generally ending in a formal denunciation of w ar.
Theft: letters are grantable, by the law of nations, when¬
ever the fubje&s of one ftate are oppreffed and injured
by thoft of another, and juftice is denied by that ftate
to wdiich the oppreffor belongs. In this cafe, letters of
marque and reprifal (words in themfelves fynonymous,
and fignifying a taking in return) may be obtained, in
order to feize the bodies or goods of the fubjc.<fls of the
offending ftate, until fatisfa&ion be made, wherever they
happen to be found. And indeed this cuftom of repri-
fals feems dictated by nature herfelf; for which reafon
we find in the moft ancient times very notable inftances
of it. But here the neceftity is obvious of calling in the
fovereign power, to determine when reprifals may be
made *,&elfe every private fufferer would be a judge m
his own caufe. In purfuance of which principle, it is
with us declared by the ftatute 4 Hen. V. c. *]. that if
any fubje&s of the realm are oppreffed in time of truce
by any foreigners, the king will grant marque in due
form to all that feel themfelves grieved. See Marque.
5. Upon exa&ly the fame reafon ftands the preroga¬
tive of granting fafe-condu£ls ; without which, by the
Jaw of nations, no member of one fociety has a light to
intrude into another. And therefore Puffendorf very
juftly refolves, that it is left in the power of all ftates
to take fuch meafures about the admiffion of ftrangers as
they think convenient j thofe being ever excepted who
are driven on the coafts by neceffity, or by Iny caufe
that deferves pity or compaflion. Great tendernefs is ^
fhown by our laws, not only to foreigners in diftrefs
(fee Wreck), but with regard alfo to the admiflion of
ftrangers who come fpontaneoufly : for fo long as their
nation continues at peace with ours, and they them¬
felves behave peaceably, they are under the king’s pro¬
tection 4 though liable to be fent home whenever the
king fees occalion. But no fubject of a nation at war
with us can, by the law of nations, come into the realm*
nor can travel himfelf upon the high feas, or fend his
goods and merchandife from one place to another, with¬
out danger of being feized by our fubje£ls, unlefs lie uas
letters of fafe-condu& j which, by divers ancient fta-
tutes, muft be granted under the king’s great feal and
inrolled in chancery, or elfe they are of no effeft 5 the
king being fuppofed the beft judge of fuch emergencies,
as may deferve exception from the general law of arms.
But paffports under the king’s ‘fign-manual, or licenfes
from his ambaffadors abroad, are now more ufually ob¬
tained, and are allowed to be of equal validity.
Theft are the principal prerogatives of the king re-
fpe&ing this nation’s intercourfe with foreign nations )
in all of which he is confidered as the delegate or re-
prefentative of his people. But in domeftic affairs, he
is confidered in a great variety of chara&ers, and from
thence there arifes an abundant number of other prero¬
gatives.
1. He is a eonftituent part of the fupreme legiflative
power ; and, as fuch, has the prerogative of reje&ing
fuch provifions in parliament as he judges improper to
be paffed. The expediency of which conftitution has
before been evinced at large under the article PARLIA¬
MENT. We {hall only farther remark, that the king is
not bound by any aft of parliament, unlefs he be named
therein by fpecial and particular words. The moft ge¬
neral words that can be devifed (any perfon or perfons,
bodies politic, or corporate, &c.) affe& not him in the
leaft, if they may tend to reftrain or diminifti any of his
rights or interefts. For it would be of moft mifchievous
confequence to the public, if the ftrength of the execu¬
tive power were liable to be curtailed, without its own
exprefs confent, by conftru&ions and implications of the
fubjeft. Yet, where an a& of parliament is exprefsly
made for the prefervation of public rights and the fup-
preftion of public wrongs, and does not interfere with
the eftablifhed rights of the crown, it is faid to be bind¬
ing as well upon the king as upon the fubjeft and,
likewife, the king may take the benefit of any particular
a&, though he be not efpecially named.
2. The king is confidered, in the next place, as the
generaliflimo, or the firft in military command, within
the kingdom. The great end of fociety is to proteft
the weaknefs of individuals by the united ftrength of the
community ; and the principal ufe of government is to
direft that united ftrength in the beft and moft effe&ual
manner, to anfwer the end propofed. Monarchical go¬
vernment is allowed to be the fitteft of aiay for this pur-
pofe : it follows therefore, from the very end of its in-
ftitution, that in a monarchy the military power muft
be trufted in the hands of the prince.
In this capacity, therefore, of general of the king¬
dom, the king has the foie power of raifing and regula¬
ting fleets and armies. The manner in which they art
railed and regulated is explained under the article Ml-
P p 2 LIT4B2
Preroga¬
tive.
P R E [ 300 ] p R E
LlTJR T Suite. We are now only to confider tlie pre-
^ rogative of enlilHng and of governing them : which in¬
deed was dilputed and claimed, contrary to all reafon
and precedent, by the long parliament of King Chas. I. j
but, upon the retforation of his ion, was folemnly de¬
clared by the ftaiute 13 Charles II. c. 6. to be in the
king aione : for that the iole iupreme government and
command of the militia within all his majefty’s realms
and dominions, and of all forces by lea and land, and
of all forts and places of ftrength, ever was and is the
undoubted right of his majefty, and his royal predecef-
fors, kings and queens of England \ and that both or
either lioufe of parliament cannot, nor ought to, pretend
to tire fame.
/ ins rtatute, it is obvious to obferve, extends not
only to fleets and armies, but alfb to forts and other
places of Urength within the realm ; the foie preroga¬
tive, as well of eredling, as manning and governing of
which, belongs to the king in his capacity of general
or the kingdom : and all lands wrere formerly fubjedt to
a tax, for building of cailles wherever the king thought
proper. I his was one of the three things, from contri¬
buting to the performance of which no lands were ex¬
empted, and therefore called by the Anglo-Saxons the
tnnoda necejjitas; fc. pontis reparation arcis conJiruB 'iOn
t’i expeditio contra hojlem. And this they were called
upon to do fo often, that, as Sir Edward Coke from
M. Paris a {fares us, there were in the time of Henry II.
1.115 cailles fuofiiling in England. The inconvenien-
cies of which, when granted out to private fubje&s, the
lordly barons of thole times, were feverely felt by the
whole kingdom , for, as William of Newburgh remarks
m the reign of King Stephen, erant in Avgha quodam-
tnodo tot reges, vel potius tyranni, quot do mini caftello-
rum ; but it was felt by none more lenlibly than bv two
fucceeding princes, King John and King Henry III.
And therefore, the greateit part of them being demo-
iiilied m the barons wars, the kings of after times have
been very cautious of fuffering them to be rebuilt in a
fortified manner: and Sir Edward Coke lays it down,
that no fubjea can build a caftle, or houfe of ftrength
imbattled, or other fortrefs defenfible, without the li-
cenfe of the king ; for the danger which might enfae,
if every man at his plealure might do it.
, 11 is partly upon the fame, and partly upon a fifeal
loundation, to fecure his marine revenue, that the kino-
has the prerogative of appointing ports and havens, ot*
iach places only, for perfons and merchandife to pafs
into and out of the realm, as he in his wifdom fees pro¬
per. By the feodal law, all navigable rivers and ha¬
vens were computed among the regalia, and were fub-
je& to the fovereign of the ftate. And in England it
hath always been held, that the king is lord’ of the
■ ole ihonq and particularly is the guardian of the
ports and havens, which are the inlets and gates of the
realm : and therefore, fo early as the reign of King John,
we find (hips feized by the king’s officers for putting in
at a place that was not a legal port. Thefe legal ports
were undoubtedly at firft affigned by the crown ; fince
t?rf.af5r l!?em a court portmote is incident, the iu-
nfdichon of which muft flow from the royal authority ■
the great ports of the fea are alfo referred to, as well
known and eftablilhed, by ftatute 4 Hen. IV. c. 20.
which prohibits the landing eliewhere under pain of con-
ftcation; and the ftatute I Eliz. c. n. recites, that
tae franchiie ox lading and difeharging had been fre¬
quently granted by the crown.
But though the king had a power of granting the
fi aw nite Oj. havens and ports, yet he had not the porver
of lelumpaon, or of narrowing and confining their li¬
mits when once eftabliihed ; but any perfon Kid a right
to load or difeharge his merchandife m any part of the
haven . whe.eoy me revenue of the cuftom was much
impahed and dimintfhed, by fraudulent landings in ob-
feure and private corners. This occafioned the ftatutes
of 1 Eliz. c. 11. and 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 11. f 14,
which enable the crown by commifflon, to afeertain the
limits of all ports, and to affign proper wharfs and quays
in each port, for the exclufive landing and loading of
merchand'fe.
The eredtion of beacons, light-houfes, and fea-marks,
is alio a branch of the royal prerogative : whereof the
firft was anciently uled in order to alarm the country, in
cafe of the approach of an enemy ; and all of them are
fignally ufeful in guiding and preferving veffels at fea
by night as well as by day. See Beacov.
3. Another capacity in which the king is confidered
in domeftic afFaiis, is as the fountain of julnce and gene¬
ral, confervator of the peace of the kingdom. See the
article Fountain of JUSTICE.
4- l kin^ is likewife the fountain of honour, of of¬
fice, and of privilege : and this in a different fenfe from:
that wherein he is ityled the fountain of 'jijiice ; for here
he is really the parent of them. See the articles Foun¬
tain of JUSTICE and Fountain of Honour.
5. Another light, in which the laws of England con¬
fider the king with regard to domeftic concerns, is as
the arbiter of commerce. By commerce, we at prefent
mean domeftic commerce only; for the king’s preroga¬
tive with regard to winch, fee Regulation of Weights
and Meafures, Money, &c.
6. The king is, laftly, confidered by the laws of Eng¬
land as the head and fupreme governor of the national
church.
'Bo enter into the reafons upon which this prerogative
is founded is matter rather of divinity than of law. We
ihall therefore only obferve, that by ftatute 26 Elen,
VIII. c. 1. (reciting that the king’s majefty juftly and
rightfully is and ought to be the fopreme head of the
church of England 5 and fo had been recognifed by the
clergy of that kingdom in their convocation) it is enabl¬
ed, that tlie king {hall be reputed the only fupreme
head on earth of the church of England ; and {hall have
annexed to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the
title and ftyle thereof, as all jurifdi£Iions, authorities,
and commodities, to the faid dignity of fupreme head of
the church appertaining. And another ftatute to the
fame purport was made, 1 Eliz. c. 1.
In virtue of this authority the king convenes, pro¬
rogues, reftrains, regulates, and diffolves, all eccleftafti-
cal fynods or convocations. This was an inherent prero*
gative of the crown long before the time of Henry VIII.
as appears by the ftatute 8 Hen. VI. c. 1. and the many
authors, both lawyers and hiftorians, vouched by Sir
Edward Coke. So that the ftatute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19.
which reftrains the convocation from making or putting
in execution any canons repugnant to the king’s prero¬
gative, or the laws, cuftoms, and ftatutes of the realm,
was merely declaratory of the old common law : that
part of it only being new, which makes die king’s royal
affer.t
Preroga¬
tive
II
Prefbytae.
P R E [ o
aflent aftually neccffary to tbe validity of every canon.
The convocation or ccclefiaftical fynod, in England,
differs conhderably in its conilitution from the fynods of
other Chriffian kingdoms : thele con filling wholly of
bifliops; whereas in England the convocation is the mi¬
niature of a parliament, wherein the archbithop prefides
with regal date j the upper houfe of bithops reprel'ents
the houfe of lords •, and the lower houfe, compofed of
reprefentatives of the leveral diocefes at large, and of
each particular chapter therein, refembles the houfe of
commons with its knights of the dure and burgeffes.
This conditution is laid to be owing to the policy of
Edward I. who thereby at one and the fame time let iw
the inferior clergy to the privileges of forming ecclefiaf-
tical canons (which before they had not), and alfo in¬
troduced a method of taxing eccledadical benedces, by
confent of convocation.
From this prerogative alfo, of being the head of the
church, arifes the king’s right of nomination to vacant
bilhoprics, and certain other eccledadical preferments.
As head of the church, the king is likewife the der¬
nier rcfort in all eccledadical cauies j an appeal lying
ultimately to him in chancery from the lentence of every
eccledadical judge : which right was redored to the
crown by ffatute 25 Hen. VlII. c. 9.
III. The king’s fifcal prerogatives, or fuch as regard
his revenue. See the article Revenue.
PHEROGATi]’E-Court, an Englilh court edablilhed
for the trial of all tedamentary cauies, where the deceaf-
ed hath left bona notabilia within two different diocefes.
In which cafe the probate of wills belongs to the arch-
bilhop of the province, by way of fpecial prerogative.
And all caufes relating to the wills, adminidrations, or
legacies of fuch perfons, are originally cognizable here¬
in, before a judge appointed by the archbifhop, called
the judge of the prerogative-court ; from whom an appeal
lies by datute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19
eery, indead of the pope as formerly.
PRESAGE, in Antiquity, denotes an augury, or fign
of fome future event ; which was chiefly taken from the
flight of birds, the entrails of viciims, &c. See Augu¬
ry and Aruspices.
PRESBURG, the capital of the kingdom of Lower
Plungary, called by the inhabitants Pofony and Prefpo-
ren, fituated on the Danube, about 46 miles eafl from
Vienna, and 75 from Buda. The caflle, in which the
regalia are kept, Hands on a hill above the town. Here
the dates affemble ; and in the cathedral, dedicated to
St Martin, the king is crowned. The town is not very
large, or well built 5 but is very ancient, pleafantly fitu¬
ated, and enjoys a good air. The population is com¬
puted at 27,000. Its fortifications are only a double
wall and ditch. In the lowrer furburbs is a hill, where
the king, after his coronation, goes on horfeback, and
brandiflies St Stephen’s fvvord towards the four cardinal
points, intimating, that he will defend his country againff
all its enemies. Befides the cathedral, there are feveral
other Popilh and one Lutheran church, with a jefuits
college, three convents, and two hofpitals. It gives name
to a county •, and is the refidence of the archbifiiop of
Gran, who is primate, chief fecretary, and chancellor of
the kingdom, /egatus natus of the Papal fee, and prince
cf the holy Roman empire. E. Long. 17. 30. N.
Lat. 48. 20
PRESBYTiE, perfons -yviiofe eyes are too Hat to re-
to the king in chan-
cr 1 P R E
fract the rays fufhciently, fo that unlefs the ebjefct is at Preibyt*
fome didance, the rays coming from it will pafs through ^Jj te
the retina before their union, confequently vifion is con- rians>
fyied , old people are ufually the fubjefts of this difeafe.■■■■. >
In order to remedy, or at lead to palliate, this defedl,
the perfon fliould fird ufe glaffes which do not magnify,
and from them pafs gradually to more convex fpedtacles,
which diorten the focus.
PRESBYTER, in the primitive Chridian church, an
elder, one of the fecond order of ecclefiadics •, the other
two being bifliops and deacons. See the article Bishop
and Deacon.
Prefbyter, or elder, is a word borrowed from tbe
Greek tranflation of the Old Tettament, where It com¬
monly fignifies ruler or governor; it being a note of of¬
fice and dignity, not of age } and in this fenfe bifliops
are fometimes called prefbyters in the New Tefiament.
The prefbyters might baptize,- preach, confecrate, and
adminifler the eucharid in the biihop’s abfence, or in his
prefence if he authorifed and deputed them •, and the
bilhops did fcarce any thing in the government of the
church without their advice, confent, and amicable con¬
currence.
The grand difpute between the followers of the Ge¬
neva and Roman difeipline, is about the famenefs and
difference of prefbyters and bifliops at the time of the
apodles. See ErrscoPACY, Independents, and the
following article. 1
PRESBYTERIANS, Proteflants fo called from D'fcrimi-
their maintaining that the government of the church natinS ^ ^
appointed in the New P’eAament was by Prefbyteries,!’}^ prt-foy-
that is, by affociations of miniflers, and ruling elders, terians.
poffeffed all of equal powers, without any fuperiority
among them either in office or in order.
The Prefbyterians believe, that the authority of their
miniflers to preach the gofpel, to adminider the facra-
ments of baptifm and the Lord’s flipper, and to feed the
flock of Chrifl, is derived from the Holy Ghofl by the
impofition of the hands of the prelbytery ; and they op-
pofe the independent fcheme of the common rights of
Chriflians by the fame arguments which are ufed for that
purpofe by the Epifcopalians, (fee Episcopacy). They
affirm, however, that there is no order in the church as
edabliflied by Chrifl and his apoftles fuperior to that of
prefoyters; that all minifters being ambaffadors of Chrifl,
are equal by their commiflion •, that prcjbyter and bijbop,
though different words, are cf the fame import ; and
that prelacy was gradually eflabliflied upon the primitive
praclice of making the jnoderator or fpeaker of the pref-
bytery a permanent officer.
Thefe positions they maintain againd the Epifcopa-Strj*aj
lians by the following fcriptural arguments. They ob-arguments
ferve, that the apodles planted churches by ordaining againft E-
bifliops and deacons in every city ; that the miniflers
which in one verfe are called bifliops, are in the next
perhaps denominated pretbyters; that we nowhere read
in the New' Teflament of biihops, prefbyters, and dea¬
cons, in any one church ; and that therefore w-e are un¬
der the neceffity of concluding bijhop and prejbyter to
be two names for the fame church officer. This is ap¬
parent from Peter’s exhortation to the e/ders or prejby-
ters who were among the Jewifh Chriflians, “ The
elders (prefbyters) which are among you I exhort, who
am alfo an elder, and a witnefs of the fufferings of
Chriftj and alfo a partaker of the glory that fhall be re¬
vealed-i
P R E [ 302 ] P R E
Prefbyte. vealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you,
, nfiri5, taking the overjight thereof (iTrarxtiTrovvlis acting as Z>z-
Jhops thereof), not by conftraint, but wdllingly j not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; neither as being
lords over God’s heritage, but being enfamples to the
* 1. Peter flock From this paffage it is evident, that the pref-
v. x, 2, 3 byters not only fed the flock of God, but alfo govern¬
ed that flock with epifcopal powers; and that the
aooltle himfelf, as a church officer, was nothing more
than a prefhyter or elder. The identity of the office of
bifhop and prefhyter is ffill more apparent from Heb.
xiii. 7. 17. and 1 ThefT. v. 12.} for the bifhops are there
reprefented as governing the flock, fpeaking to them the
word of God, watching for their fouls, and difcharging
various offices, which it is impoflible for any man to per-
3 form to more than one congregation.
Reafons for From the lafl cited text it is evident, that the bifhops
fuppofing (Trgoijeipevevs) of the Theffalbnian churches had the paf-
prefbyters^ tora^ care no more fouls than they could hold perfo-
of the fame na^ communion with in God’s worfhip •, for they were
order. fuch as all the people were to know, ejleem, and love,
as thofe that not only were over them, but alfo “ clofely
laboured among them, and admoniffied them.” But
diocefan biffiops, whom ordinarily the hundredth part
of their flock never hear nor fee, cannot be thofe bifhops
by whom that flock is admoniffied, nor can they be, what
Peter requires the biffiops of the .Tewiffi converts to be,
enfamples to the flock. It is the opinion of Dr Ham¬
mond, who was a very learned divine, and a zealot for
epifcopacy, that the elders whom the apoftle James de-
24 a^' V" ^res T t‘le lick to call for, were of the higheil perman¬
ent order of ecclefiaftical officers; but it is felf-evident
that thofe elders cannot have been diocefan biffiops, other-
wife the lick muft have been often without the reach of
the remedy propofed to them.
There is nothing in Scripture upon which the Epif-
eopalian is more ready to reft his caufe than the alleged
epifcopacy of Timothy and Titus \ of whom the former
is faid to have been biffiop of Ephefus, and the latter
biffiop of Crete ; yet the Prefbyterian thinks it as clear
as the noon-day fun, that the preffiyters of Ephefus were
fupreme governors under Chrift of the Ephefian church¬
es, at the very time that Timothy is pretended to have
been their proper diocefan.
In Afts xx. 17, &c. we read, that “ from Miletus
Paul fent to Ephefus, and called the elders (prefbyters)
of the church. And when they were come to him, he
faid unto them, Ye know, from the firft day that I
came into Afia, after wffiat manner I have been with
you, at all feafons. And now I know that ye all, among
whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, ffiall
fee my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record
this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For
I have not ffiunned to declare unto you all the counfel
of God. Take heed therefore unto yourfelves, and to
all the flock over which the Holy Ghoft hath made you
overfeers (iTrirKi-xws, bifhops'), to feed the church of
God, which he hath purchafed with his own blood. For
I know this, that after my departure ffiall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not fparing the dock. Alfo
of your ownfelves {hall men arife, fpeaking perverfe
things, to draw away difciples after them. Therefore
watch, and remember, that by the fpace of three years,
% ceafed not to warn every one night and day with tears.
And now, brethren, I recommend you to God, and to Prefbyte*
the word of his grace,” &c. bans.
From this paffage, it is evident that there was in the' v
city of Ephefus a plurality of pallors of equal authority The paft«r»
without any fuperior pallor or bidiop over them j for the of Ephefus
apoftle directs his difcourfe to them all in common, andofe<lu^
gives them fequal power over the whole dock. Dr Ham-aut‘i0r‘t^‘
mond indeed imagines, that the elders whom Paul called
to Miletus were the bifljops of Afia, and that he fent
for them to Ephefus, becaufe that city was the metro¬
polis of the province. But were this opinion well-
founded, it is not conceiveable that the facred writer
would have called them the elders of the church of
Ephefus, but the elders of the church in general, or the
elders of the churches in Afla. Belides, it is to be re¬
membered, that the apoltle was in fuch hade to be at
Jerufalem, that the facrsd hiltorian meafures his time
by days ; whereas it mud: have required feveral months
to call together the biffiops or elders of all the cities of
Afia *, and he might certainly have gone to meet them
at Ephelus in lefs time than would be requifite for their
meeting in that city and proceeding thence to him at
Miletus. They mud therefore have been either the
joint padors of one congregation, or the padors of dif¬
ferent congregations in one city } and as it was thus in
Ephefus, fo was it in Philippi; for we find the apodle
addreffing his epidle “ to all the faints in Chrid Jefus
which are at Philippi, with the bifiiops and deacons.”
From the paffage before us it is likewife plain, that the
preffiyters of Ephefus had not only the name but the
whole power of biffiops given to them by the Holy
Ghod ; for they are enjoined to do the whole work of
bilhops—noifAcuvuv r»jv £*kA>;i7-<«v rot/©eau—which fignifies,
to ride as well as feed the church of God. Whence we
fee, that the apodle makes the power of governing infe-
parable from that of preaching and watching ; and that
according to him, all who are preachers of God’s word,
and watchmen of fouls, are neceffarily rulers or gover¬
nors of the church, without being accountable for their
management to any prelate, but only to their Lord
Chrid from whom their power is derived.
It appears, therefore, that the apodle Paul left in the ~.
church of Ephefus, which he had planted, no other fuc-no bilbos*
ceffors to himfelf than prefbyter-bijhops, or Preffiyterian
miniders, and that he did not devolve his power upon
any prelate. Timothy, whom the Epifcopalians allege
to have been the fird bidiop of Ephefus, was prefent
when this fettlement was made * ; and it is furely not to * Ads xx»
be fuppofed, that, had he been their biffiop, the apodle 5-
would have devolved the whole epifcopal power upon
the preffiyters before his face. If ever there was a fea-
fon fitter than another for pointing out the duty of this
fuppofed bidiop to his diocefe, and his preffiyters duty to
him, it was furely when Paul was taking his final leave
of them, and difcourfing fo pathetically concerning the
duty of overfeers, the coming of ravenous wolves, and
the confequent hazard of the dock. In this farewel
difcourfe, he tells them that “ he had not dimmed to
declare unto them all the counfel of God.” But with
wffiat truth ,could this have been faid, if obedience to a
diocefan biffiop had been any part of their duty either
at the time of the apodle’s fpeaking or at any future
period ? He forefaw that ravenous wolves would enter
in among them, and that even feme of themfelves diould
arife
4
6
but an e-
vangelift.
* 3 Tim. iv
5-
f Phil. ii.
ip.
i. Cor. iv.
17. xvi. 10
ti.
f 1 Tim.
i* 3«
7
Prefbyte-
rate the
higheft per¬
manent of¬
fice in the
church.
P R E [ 3°
avife Tpeaklng pervcrfe tilings •, and if, as the Epifcopa-
lians allege, diocefan epifcopacy was the remedy provid¬
ed for thofe evils, is it not itrange, pafling ftrange, that
the infoired preacher did not forefee that Timothy, who
was Handing befide him, was deftined to fill that import¬
ant office or if he did forefee it, that he omitted to re¬
commend him to his future charge, and to give him pro¬
per inftru&ions for the difcharge of his duty ?
But if Timothy was not biiliop of Ephetus, what, it
may be alked, was his office in that city r for that he
refided there for fome time, and was by the apoftle in¬
verted with authority to ordain and rebuke preffiyters,
are fails about which all parties are agreed, and which
indeed cannot be controverted by any reader of Paul s
epiftles. To this the Prefbyterian replies with confi¬
dence, that the power which Timothy exercifed in the
church of Ephefus was that of an evangelift *, and not
a fixed prelate. But, according to Euiebius, the work
of an evangelift was, “ to lay the foundations of the
faith in barbarous nations, and to conftitute among
them paftors; after which he parted on to other coun¬
tries.” Accordingly we find, that Timothy was refi-
dent for a time at Philippi and Corinth -f- as well as
at Ephefus, and that he had as much authority over
thofe churches as over that of which he is laid to have
been the fixed bithop. “ Now, if Timotheus come,
fee that he may be with you without fear, for he work-
eth the work of the Lord, as I alfo do. Let no man
therefore defpife him.” This text might lead us to fup-
pofe, that Timothy was bilhop of Corinth as well as of
Ephefus •, for it is ftronger than that upon which his
epifcopacy of the latter "church is chiefly built. The
apoftle fays, “ I befought thee % to abide Hill at Ephe¬
fus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightert
charge fome that they teach no other doarine.” But
had Timothy been the fixed bifhop of that city, theie
would furely have been no neceffity for befeeching him
to abide with his flock. It is to be oblerved, too, that
the firft epiftle to Timothy, which alone was written.to
him during his refidence at Ephefus, was of a date prior
to Paul’s meeting with the elders of that church at Mi¬
letus for in the epiftle he hopes to come to him Inertly,
whereas he tells the elders at Miletus, that , they fhould
fee his face no more. T.his being the cafe, it is evident
that Timothy w7as left by the apoftle at Ephefus only to
fupply his place during his temporary absence at Mace¬
donia, and that he could not poffibly have been confti-
tuted fixed bilhop of that church, fince the epifcopal
powers were afterwards committed to the prelhyters by
the Holy Ghoft in his prefence.
The identity of the office ot bifhop and preffiyter be¬
ing thus clearly eftablilhed, it follows, tnat the premy-
terate is the higheft permanent office in the church,
and that every faithful pallor of a flock is fucccffor to
the apoftles in every thing in which they were to have
any fucceffors. In the apoftolic office there were in¬
deed fome things peculiar and extraordinary., fuch as
their immediate call by Chrift, their infallibility, their
being witnertes of our Lord’s refurreftion, and their
unlimited jurifdiilxon over the whole werid. . Thefe
• powers and privileges could not be conveyed by impoli-
tion of hands to any fucceflors, whether called, prefby-
ters or bilhops} but as rulers or office bearers in parti¬
cular churches, wre have the confeffion of “ the veiy
chiefeft apoftles,” Peter and John, that they were no-
^ ] ? R L
thino- more than prelhyters or parilh minillers. I his
being the cafe, the difpute, which in the early part oi (
the pafling century was fo warmly agitated concerning
the validity of Prelbyterian ordination, may be foon de¬
cided ) for if the ceremony of ordination be at all effen-
tial, it is obvious that fuch a ceremony, performed by
prelhyters mull be valid, as there is.no higher order of •
eccleiiallics in the church by whom it can be performed.
Accordingly we find, that Timothy himlelf, though
Paid to be a bilhop, was ordained by the laying on of
the hands of a preibytery. At that ordination indeed
St Paul prefided, but he could prefide only as />n-
mus in paribus; for we have feen that, as permanent
officers in the church of Chrift, the apoilles themfelves
were no more than preffiyters. If the apollles hands
were impofed for any other purpofe, it mult have been
to communicate thofe charifmata or miraculous guts
of the Holy Spirit, which wTere then fo frequent } out
which no modern preffiyter or biffiop will pretend to
give, unlefs his underitanding be clouded, by the grofieft
ignorance, or perverted by the molt frantic enthuli-
afm. . . 8 .
But if the office of bilhop and preffiyter was ongi-Rife of fi¬
nally the fame, how, it will be alked, came diocefan e-pifeopacy.
pifcopacy to prevail fo univerfally as it is c.onfefied to
have done before the converfion of Conllantine and the
civil eftablilhment of Chriftianity in the .Roman em¬
pire ? To give a fatisfa&ory anfwer to this queltion is
certainly the moll arduous talk which the advocate for
preffiytery has to perform j but it is a talk not infur-
mountable. . . .
From many paffages in the New Tellament *, it is * Adts xi.
evident, that when the apollles planted churches in dif-4* ^
ferent cities, they generally fettled more than one pa- j
llor in the fame church, to feed and govern it with
joint authority. The propriety of this conftitution is
obvious. In thofe days, wffien the dilciples of. Chrift;
were perfecuted for their religion, and often obliged to
meet iu the “ night for fear of the Jews,” they could
not with any degree of prudence affemble in large num¬
bers •, and therefore, had there been no more than one
pallor in a city, the Chriltian converts, though, when
aflembled, they might have amounted to but a fmall
congregation, could not all have enjoyed .the benefit
of public worffiip on the fame day ; at leaft it is obvious
that they could not poffibly have aflembled lor this pur¬
pofe fo often as their want of inftruaion, and the duty
of “ breaking of bread and of prayer,” required them
to meet. It was therefore with great wifdom that the
apoftles ordained leveral preffiyters in the fame church 5
but as thefe prefbyters would have occafion to meet fre¬
quently, and to deliberate on the Hate of the flock which.
it was their duty to feed, and over which they had all
equal authority, they would be under the neceffity of
electing one of their own number to be preftdent or rnn-
deratoroi the preffiytery, that order might be preferved,
and all things done with decency. At fir ft there is lea-
fon to believe that thofe prertdents held theii office no
longer than while the preffiyteries fat in which they were
eleSed. Among the apoftles themfelves there was no
fixed prefident. Peter indeed appears to have been moft:
frequently admitted to that honour 5 but there is one
very memorable occafion on record f, when James the f Acts xv-
Lord’s brother prefided in an aflembly of apoftles, elders,
and brethren, held at Jcrufalem, to determine the quel-
4
P pv E
Preftyte
nans.
According
to Jeronie.
tion concerning the neceffity of circumcifing the Gen¬
tiles, and commanding them to keep the law of Mofes.
Upon this model were the primitive preihyteries
formed. They confided of feveral prelhyters poffefled
ot equal powers, ivho at their meetings appointed one
of tneir own number to difcharge the office of modera¬
tor or temporary prefident; but to this prefident they
gave no prelatical powers or negative voice over the de¬
liberations of his brethren 5 for, as Jerome informs us,
the church was then governed communi prejbyterorum
concilia, “ by a common council of preffiyters.” It ap¬
pears, however, that when an apoftle, an apoftolical man,
or an evangel![1, fixed his refidence in any city, and took
upon himfelf the paftoral care of part of the dock, his
eo-prelbyters, from reipeft to his Angular gifts, made
him their conilant and fixed moderator. Hence Timo-
thy, during Ins abode at Ephefus, was moderator of the
prefbytery 5 and hence too Mark the evangelift, ivho
refided many years in Alexandria, has been called the
firif bilhop of that church, though he appears to have
been nothing more than permanent moderator. We
advance this upon the authority of Jerome, one of the
moft learned fathers of the Chritfian church, who in¬
forms us, that upon the death of the evangelilf, .the
preffiyters of Alexandria, for more than 200 years, chofe
their biffiops from their own number, and placed them
in the epifcopal chair, without dreaming that they ought
to be raifed to a higher order by a new confecration 5 
Prejhyten unum ex fe eleElum in excelfiorigradu colloca-
tum, epifeopum nominabnnt. As this practice of making
the moderator of the preffiytery of Alexandria a per^
manent officer, was thought a good expedient to guard
the infant churches againlf fchifms and divifions, thofe
churches gradually adopted it. For, as Jerome tells us,
Pojlquam unufqmfque eos quos bapli%averat,Jhos putabat
efle, non ChriJH, in toto orbe decretum ejl, ut unm de pref-
byteris eleBus, fuperponeretur cecteris, ad quern omnis ec-
clefice cura pertineret, et fchifmatum femina tollerentur.
The advantages which, in difplaying his talents and
authority, the perpetual prefident or fpeaker of any af-
fembly has over his colleagues in office, are fo obvious,
that when the praflice of electing their moderators for
life became univerfal among the preffiyteries of the pri¬
mitive church, it is eafy to conceive how ambitious men
mignt fo magnify the difficulties and importance of their
ftation, as to introduce the cuftom of filling it by a new
confecration of the bilhop eleft. But when this was
done, diocefan epifcopacy, with all its powers and pre¬
rogatives, would follow as a thing of courfe, until “ by
little and little (as Jerome expreffes himfelf) the whole
paftoral care of the flock was devolved upon one man.”
Our limits will not permit us to trace more minutely
the nfe and progrefs of this ecclefiaftical ufurpation,
as the Preffiyterian calls it 5 but the reader who willies
for fuller information, after ftudying the remains of the
four fiift centuries of the Chriftian church, may confult
An Inquiny into the ConfHtution, Difcip/ine, and Worjhip,
of the Primitive Church, faid to have been written by Sir
Peter King, afterwards lord chancellor of England
As an impartial lover of truth, he will do well to con¬
fult alfo a book entitled, An original Draught of the
Primitive Church, which was publilhed as an anfwer to
the Inquiry; and he may read with much advantage to
himfelf A Letter from a parochial bifhop to a prelatical
gentleman, with An apology for the church of Scotland,
3
r 304 i
P It E
both written by Mr Willifon fome time minifterin Dun- Pitfinfe.
dee, and both evincing confiderable learning and great nans,
ingenuity in their pious author. ° —-v-—'
Of the churches at prefent formed upon this model, -pi. r?
we believe, that without incurring the imputation of na-ot'S^otiarri'
tional prejudice, we may fafely affirm the church of
Scotland to be by much the moft refpebtable. Her
mode of worlhip is Ample and folemn ; her eftablilhed
faith agreeable to the confelfions of moft other Pro-
teftant. churches j her judicatories are calculated to
maintain the rights of the people ; and her pallors are
confefledly men oi liberal and enlightened minds. On
thefe accounts it appears to us, that we cannot more
properly conclude this article than with a lliort view of
her conftitution, as being that in which our Preffiyterian
readers are undoubtedly moft interefted.
No one is ignorant, that from the firft dawn of refor¬
mation among us, till the era of the revolution, there
was a perpetual ftruggle between the court and the peo¬
ple for the eftablifhment of an Epilcopal or a Prelbyte-
nan form of church government : The former model of
ecclefiaftical polity was patronifed by the houfe of Stu¬
art on account of the fupport which it gave to the pre¬
rogatives of the crown 5 the latter was the favourite of
the majority of the people, perhaps not fo much on ac¬
count of its fuperior claim to apoftolical inftitution, as
becaufe the laity are mixed with the clergy in church
judicatories, and the two orders, which under epifco¬
pacy are kept fo diftincl, incorporated, as it were, into
one body. In the Scottifh church, every regulation of
public worffiip, every acl of difcipline, and every eccle- Ir
fiailical cenfure, which in other churches flows from the governed
authority of a diocefan bifhop, or from a convocation of by
the clergy, is the joint work of a certain number of,men an^
clergymen and laymen a&ing together with equal autho-
rity, and deciding every queftion by a plurality of voi¬
ces. I he laymen who thus form an efiential part of the
ecclefiaftical courts of Scotland, are called ruling elders ;
and hold the fame office, as well as the fame name, with
thofe brethren * who joined with the apoftles and elders *
at Jerufalem in determining the important queftion con- ^ * XV‘
cerning the necelixty of impofing upon the Gentile con¬
verts the ritual obfervances of the law of Mofes. Thefe
lay-elders Paul enjoined Timothy f to account worthy 1 x Tim< v>
of double honour, if they ftiould rule well, and difcharge j7.
the duties for which they were feparated from the multi¬
tude of their brethren. In the church of Scotland every
parilh has two or three of thofe lay-elders, who are grave
and ferious perfons, chofen from among the heads of fa¬
milies, of known orthodoxy and fteady adherence to the
worfhip, difcipline, and government of the church. Be¬
ing folemnly engaged to ufe their utmoft endeavours for
the fuppreffion of vice and the cheriffiing of piety and
virtue, and to exercife difcipline faithfully and diligent¬
ly, the minifter, in the prefence of the congregation,
fets them apart to their office by folemn prayer ; and
concludes the ceremony, which is fometimes called ordi¬
nation, with exhorting both elders and people to their
refpective duties.
. The kirk-feffion, which is the loweft ecclefiaftical ju-The kffit.
dicatory, confifts of the minifter and thofe elders of the feffion.
congregation. The minifter is ex officio moderator, but
has no negative voice over the decifion of the feffion j
nor indeed has he a right to vote at all, unlefs when
the voices of the elders are equal and oppofite. He
may
Prefbyte-
rians.
The pref-
bytery.
*4
The pro¬
vincial fy-
nod.
15
'The gene,
ral alfem-
b-iy.
P R E [ 30s ] P R E
may indeed enter his protefi agaxnft their fentence, if he
think it improper, and appeal to the judgement of the
prefbytery ; but this privilege belongs equally to every
elder, as well as to every perlbn who may believe him-
felf aggrieved by the proceedings of the feffion. The
deacons, whole proper office it is to take care of the poor,
may be prefent in every feffion, and offer their counfel
on all queftions that come before it} but except in what
relates to the diffribution of alius, they have no dtcifive
vote with the minilter and elders.
The next judicatory is the prejhytery, trhich confifls
of all the pallors within a certain diltricl, and one ruling
elder from each parilh, commiffioned by hrs brethren to
reprefen t, in conjunction with the minilter, the feffion
of that pariffi. The prefbytery treats of Rich matters as
concern the particular churches within its limits j as the
examination, admiffion, ordination, and cenfuring of
miniilers j the licenling of probationers, rebuking of
grofs or contumacious linners, the directing of the fen¬
tence of excommunication, the deciding upon references
and appeals from kirk-ieffions, refolving cafes of con-
fcience, explaining difficulties in doctrine or difcipline t
and cenfuring, according to the word of God, any he-
refy or erroneous doctrine which hath either been pub¬
licly or privately maintained yithin the bounds of its
jurifdibtion. Partial as we may be thought to our own
church, we frankly acknowledge that we cannot alto¬
gether approve of that part of her conilitution which
gives an equal vote, in queftions of herefy, to an illite¬
rate mechanic and his enlightened pmtor. We are per-
fuaded that it has been the fource cf much trouble to
many a pious clergyman ; who, from the laudable de¬
lire of explaining the feriptures and declaring to his
flock all the counl'el of God, has employed a variety of
expreffions of the fame import, to illuftrate thole articles
of faith which may be obfcurely expreffed in the elia-
blilhed Itandards. The faft however is, that, in pref-
byteries, the only prerogatives which the pallors have
over the ruling elders, are the power of ordination by
impolition of hands, and the privilege of having the
moderator chofen from their body.
From the judgement of the prefbytery there lies an
appeal to the provincial fynod, which ordinarily meets
twice in the year, and exercifes over the prefbyteries
within the province a juriidiclion fimilar to that which
is veiled in each prefbytery over the feveral kirk-feffions
within the bounds. Of thefe fynods there are in the
church of Scotland fifteen, which are compofed of the
members of the feveral prefbyteries within the refpeftive
provinces which give names to the fynods.
The higheft authority in the church of Scotland is
the general afiembly, which confitts of a certain number
of miniilers and ruling elders delegated from each pref¬
bytery, and of commiffioners from the univerfities and
royal boroughs. A prefbytery in which there are fewer
than twelve parilhes, fends to the general affembly two
fryniUers and one ruling elder : if it contain between
12 and 18 miniilers, it fends three of there, and one ru¬
ling elder : if it contains between 18 and 24 minrfters,
it fends four mmiliers and two ruling elders : and of 24
minifters, when it contains fo many, it fends five with
two ruling elders. Every royal borough fends one ruling
elder, and Edinburgh two : whofe election mull be at-
tefted by the kirk-feffions of their refpeftive boroughs.
Every univerfity fends one commiffioner from its own
Vol XVII. Part I.
body. The commiffioners are chofen annually fix weeks Prcfbyte.
before the meeting of the afiembly j and the ruling elders r'‘|ns
are often men of the firlt eminence in the kingdom for prtjj.r;p_
rank and talents. In this affembly, which meets once tier,
a year, the king prefides by his commiffioner, who is al- ——y-——
ways a nobleman 5 but he has no voice in their delibera¬
tions. The order of their proceedings is regular, though
fometimes the number of members creates a confulion,
which the moderator, who is chofen from among the
miniilers, to be, as it were, the fpeaker of the houfe,
has not Rifficient authority to prevent. Appeals are
brought from all the other ecclefiallical courts in Scot¬
land to the general affembly ; and in quellions purely
religious no appeal lies from its determinations.-r-In the
fubordination of thefe affemblies, parochial, preffiyte-
rial, 1ovincial, and national, the lefs unto the greater,
confills the external order, iirength, and Redfalinefs of
the church of Scotland.
PRESCIENCE, in theology, previfien or fore¬
knowledge ; that knowledge which God has of things
to come.—The doftrine of predefeination is founded on
the prefcience of God, and on the iuppofilion of all fu¬
turity’s being prefent to him. See Predestination.
PRESCRIPTION, in law, is a title acquired by
ufe and time, and allowed by law ^ as when a man
claims any thing, becaufe he, his nncetlors, or they
whofe eilate he hath, have had or ufid it all the time
whereof no memory is to the contrary : or it is where
for continuance of time, ultra memoriam hon;inis, a par¬
ticular perfon hath a particular right againll another.
There is a difference between prefeription, cullom,
and ufage. Preferiptioti^Jiath refpecl to a certain perfon,
who by intendment may have continuance for ever; as
for inilance, he and all they ivhofe ejhte he hath in Rich
a thing 3 this is a prefeription : but cujlom is local, and
always applied to a certain place ; as, time out of mind
there has been fucli a cttjlom in fuck a place, Ac. And
prefeription belongeth to one or a few only •, but ctflom
is common to all. Ufage differs from both, for it mav
be either to perfons or places ; as to inhabitants of a town
to have a way, Ac.
A cuilom and prefeription are in the right; ufage is
in the pofejfton ; and a prescription that is good for the
matter and fubftance, may be Lad by the manner of fet.
ting it forth : but where that which is claimed as a cuf-
tom, in or for many, will be good, that regularly will
be (o when claimed by prefeription for one. Prefeription
is to be tune out of mind; though it is not the length of
time that begets the right of prefeription, nothing being
done by time, although every thing is done in time ^
but it is a prefumption in law, that a thing cannot conti¬
nue fo long quiet, f it was againjl right, or injurious to
another.
Prescription, in Scotch law. See Law, p. 675,
and 702.
Prescription, in theology, was a kind of argument
pleaded by Tertullian and others in the 3d century
againft erroneous doftors. This mode of arguing has
been defpifed by fome, both becaufe it has been ufed by
Papifts, and becaufe they think that truth has no need
of Rich a fupport. But finely in difputed points, if it
can be ffiown that any particular doctrine of Chrillia-
nity was held in the earlieft ages, even approaching the
apollolic, it mull have very confiderable weight 5 and
indeed that it has fo, appears from the univerlal appeals
ct
P R E [ 306 ] P R E
Prefcrip. <jf all parties to tliofe early times in fupport of their
tl0ns' I particular opinions. Befides, the thing is in itfelf natu-
"" '* ral ; for if a man finds a variety of opinions in the world
upon important paflages Jin fcripture, where (hall he be
fo apt to get the true fenfe as from cotemporary writers
or others who lived very near the apoftolic age ? and if
fuch a man fliall find any doftrine or interpretation to
have been univerfally believed in the firft ages, or as
Vincentius Lirinenfis words it, femper ubique et ab omni¬
bus, he will unqueftionably be difpofed to think fuch
early and univerfal confent, or fuch prefcription, of very
considerable weight in determining his opinion.
Prefcrip-
tions.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Introduc- A Prescription, in a medical fenfe, fignifies much
tion. 1 \ t]le fame with what in common language is called
v ’ a receipt, being “ a form of direction for the preparation
Nature of and adminiftration of fome compound medicine.” Thefe
a medical medical receipts are commonly called formula: by phyfi-
prefcrip- cians ; and the term prefcription is applied to what is
tion. written by a phyfician on feeing his patient, inftru&ing
the apothecary what medicines are to be prepared, how
they are to be compofed, and how adminiftered to the
patient. In thisfenfe, a prefcription may contain two or
more formulce.
Thefe prefcriptions are almoft always written in
Latin, and are exprelfed in a peculiar ftyle, w'hich,
though well known to phyficians and apothecaries, may
require the illuftration of an example. 1 he following is
a fpecimcn of a modern prefcription, as it would be
written by an Edinburgh and a London phyfician, ac¬
cording to the nomenclature of their refpedlive college
Pharmacopoeias.
Edinburgh Preftription.
For Mr 
Examples. & Pulv. Rad. Rhei palmati gr. xxv.
Tartritis Potafihe 5ij.
Tinfturse Sennae compofitae,
Syrupi Rofte centifoliee aa 3ij*
Aqure Menthae piperitfe Jifs.
M. f. Potio fummo mane fumenda.
Jan. 31. 1809. G. F.
London Prefcription.
Pulv. Rhei gr. xxv.
Kali Tartarifati 3ij.
Tinflurse Sense
Syrupi Rofae Sa 5ij.
Aquae Menthae piperitidis 3ifs.
M. &c.
3
Parts of a
prefcrip¬
tion.
4
Parts of a
formula.
From the above examples, it will be feen that a pre¬
fcription, properly fo called, contains feveral circum-
ftances befide the formula or receipts, as the name of the
patient, for whom the prefcription is written 5 the figna-
ture of the physician, as G. F. for George Fordyce, &c.
and the date of prefcribing ; none of which fliould be
omitted, as the prefcriptions are carefully preferved by
the apothecary, for future reference.
It may be proper to explain fome circumftances re-
fpefting the formula given in the above prefcription.
The ]$, with which it commences fignifies recipe or tale ;
and is prefixed to all medical receipts. Then follow the
feveral ingredients of wdiich the medicine is to be com¬
pofed, with the quantities of each. Thefe quantities are
ufually marked by peculiar charafters or fymbols, which
w ill be examined hereafter ; and the numbers employed Introduc-
are ufually the Roman numerals. After the ingredients tion.
have been enumerated, and their quantities Tpecified,
there follows the title of the medicine, as Potio in the
prefent inftance,'fignifying potion or purging draught,
with M. f. prefixed to it, which ftand for mfce fiat, or
mifice utfiat, mix to make 5 and laftly the direction how
the medicine is to be taken or adminiftered 5 fummo
mane fumenda ; to be taken early in the morning. In
England, thefe dire&ions are always written in Latin,
but in Scotland it is, wTe believe, more common to write
them in Englilh. We fliall confider the propriety of
this latter mode in a future part of this article.
The ingredients of which a formula is compofed have
been, by writers on medical prefcriptions, arranged un¬
der four heads: 1. The bafis of the formula, wdiich in
the prefent inftance is the rhubarb, conftituting the prin¬
cipal ingredient, on wdiofe aftion, modified where necef-
fary, the chief fuccefs of the medicine, in fulfilling the re¬
quired indication, is to depend. 2. The adjuvant or
auxiliary, added to the bafis, for the purpofe of increaf-
ing its pow'er, expediting its a£Hon, or rendering it more
eafily foluble in the juices of the ftomach ; in the above
formula the tartrate of potajb is the principal adjuvant.
3. The correcter, added to the bafis, when w e wifti to
moderate or delay its aftion, to correfl fome unpleafant
or injurious property of it, fuch as its odour, tafte, acri¬
mony, &c. or to prevent it from afting on the body in a
different manner from that w’hich the indication requires:
thus, in the prefent formula, the wrarm tinBure of fenna
is added, rather to correft the griping quality of the
rhubarb, than to increafe its aftion, and the fyrup of
rofies to corredl the unpleafant tafte of the medicine j and
the effential oil in the peppermint water contributes to
both thefe purpofes : thefe, therefore, are to be confid-
ered as the correftors. 4. The confiituent, or that in¬
gredient wdiich ferves to reduce the reft into the form
W’hich is confidered as moft convenient for the exhibition
of the medicine; in the prefent cafe the peppermint water
is the conftituent, ferving to reduce the medicine to the
form of a potion or draught.
Medical\ formula are either officinal, or extemporaneous ; Divifion 0f
the former being fuch as are direfted by authority of fome formuise.
public medical college to be kept in the {hops of apothe¬
caries, and the preparation of which is defcribed in their
pharmacopoeias or difpenfatories 5 the latter fuch as are
prefcribed by the phyfician or furgeon as occafion may
require.
Having explained the nature of a prefcription, and xxvifion 0f
enumerated the feveral circumftances which are ufually the fubjedt.
comprifed in it, wre propofe, in the prefent article, to
confider the importance of acquiring the habit of writing
prefcriptions with eafe, elegance, and fcientific accura¬
cy 3
v
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
, 7
Advanta
Importance cy J the previous information required by a phyfician,
of the ^0 enable him to preferibe properly in the feveral cafes
i Subject. whJoh come under his care j the general rules which we
v deem it neceffary to lay down for attaining the art of
preferibing with neatnefs and accuracy ; and laftly, we
propofe to give a brief hiftorical view of the progrefs of
pharmacy from the revival of literature to the prefent
time, with a critical examination of fome of the bell
writings on this fubjeft.
I. Before conildering the importance of learning the
art of preferibing, it may be proper to explain why fuch
pofition?111” an a1*' re(luire(3> or to point out the advantages to
be expe£ted from the compofition of feveral fimples in
the fame medicine. There are indeed a few drugs,
which cannot be more efficacious in the generality of
cafes than when in their molt fimple ftate. thus,
crude opium in a s|nll, cinchona bark or ipecacuan in
powder, mixed with fome ordinary liquid, afford the molt
effedtual, as rvell as the molt fimple remedies. The
fame may be remarked of nmjlard feeds, white pepper,
and garlic fwallowed whole, and fo of a few others. In
general, however, it is much more convenient, and in
many cafes it is ablolutely neceffary, to have recourfe to
compofition. Many remedies cannot be taken or ap¬
plied in their limple ftate, elpecially fuch as are ufed ex¬
ternally *, while others are rendered more certain, fafe,
or expeditious, by being combined with others. Bhus
opium and tartrate of antimony andpotajh are both dia¬
phoretics, or fweating medicines ; but when combined,
their effe6t, in this way, is confiderably increafed. (See
Kirby’s Tables,27. and 28.). So oijallap and
calomel as purgatives (Void. form. 49*)' Opiuni with
many patients produces headach $ but if Citric acid (le¬
mon juice) be added, this unpleafant fymptem felaom
takes place. {Tdolts, formula Chemical me¬
dicines are for the moft part compound frorn their very
nature j but even fuch of thefe as are Contained in the
Catalogues of the materia medico can feldom be em¬
ployed except in compofition. Mercury in its native
ftate is nearly inert, and yet how many valuable and
powerful remedies are formed by its union with other
bodies. Sulphuric acid and alcohol form cether, but aether
cannot be fwallowed except in combination. Thus we
fee, that independently of neatnefs and convenience,
which, though they ought to have their weight, are fo
condary conliderations, there are many pofitive argu¬
ments to prove the utility of compofition ^ and if com¬
pofition be of ufe, it muft furely be of fome confequence
to know the fcientiftc principles on which this is to be
founded.
The importance of acquiring a rcadinefs at writing a
neat and fcientific prefeription, feems not to be generally
underftood. Indeed few parts of a medical education
have been more neglefted than this department of phar¬
macy, efpecially in Britain. In many of the continental
medical fchools, there is a profeffor appointed to give
lectures on the art of writing preferiptions, while in our
; colleges this lubjeft is at moft confined to a iingle lec¬
ture from the profeffor of materia medica, and the itu-
dent is left to learn the art as he can, by copying the
<) preferiptions of the phyficians whofe clinical practice he
General has an opportunity of witneffing, or by attendance in an
medidnef apothecary’s ftiop.
Inlufficient When a gentleman has paffed through the ufual courfe
for prac- of education at a medical fchool, and has received a di-
■nee.
Importance
of the fub-
jtff.
3O7
ploma, it is fuppofed that he is fully qualified to enter on Importance
his career with confidence, and proceed with fucceis. <5°^^
Let us for a moment confider what are his ufual qualifi- \
cations. He has, we ffiall fuppofe, acquired a tolerably
accurate knowledge of the ftrufture and fundtions of the
human body j he has been made acquainted with the na¬
ture, properties, and, fo far as known, the mode of adlion
of the various fimple and compound bodies, which, as me¬
dicines, food, and poifons, exert an influence on the ani¬
mal economy ; he has been inftrufted in the general na¬
ture of difeafe, the various fymptoms or appearances by
which its pretence is indicated, and the general means ta
be employed for their removal. He has more particu¬
larly taken a view of many of the maladies to which the
human frame is fubjeft \ has feen them exerting their in¬
fluence on patients, and has frequently witneffed the et-
fefts of remedies in expelling them from the fyttem, or
in alleviating the diftrels which they occafioned. Here,
it will be faid, is a complete phyfician, and fuch, to
a fuperficial obferver, he may appear. With all this
knowledge, however, (and without all this no man is
qualified for the active duties of the profeflion) many gentle¬
men are ftill deficient in a moft important point, the ca¬
pacity of applying this knowledge to actual praftice. A
phyfician may be able to diftinguifh a difeale at a glance;
he may be prompt and accurate in forming his indications
of cure, and may be w7ell acquainted with the general
nature of the remedies by which thefe indications are to
be fulfilled, and ftill, if he be not' mafter of the form and
method in w'hich thefe are to be exhibited •, if he be not
familiar with the praftice of writing preferiptjons, he
will often be placed in a moft unpleafant predicament,
and will not unfrequently expofe himfell to the ridicule
of thofe who are far his inferiors in knowledge and abilities,
by writing preferiptions which, though they contain the
effential means of cure, yet, wanting the mode and fa-
ffiion of the day, will be read with a fmile, or perhaps
be imperfe&ly underftood, by the apothecary or the drug-
gift to whom they are prefented. _ IO
This, however, is an inconvenience which, as it may Neceffity of
not be attended with ferious effefts, is trifling in compa- acquiring
rifon of fome which he will encounter. a hablt ot
From a want of habit in preferibing, or from-a want fcrjpt;ons-
of fome medical or chemical information, which we (hall
prefently explain, he will be often liable to jumble toge¬
ther fubftances which, though when Angle, they are ppf-
ffeffed of fimilar medical properties, may when combin¬
ed, exert an adlion greater or lefs than he had intended
to produce, or even altogether of an oppofite nature.
By way of illuftration let us fuppofe a'young pratfti-Iiluftra.ioilj
tioner, at his firft outfet, called to a patient labouring
under tetanus, or that difeafe of which a locked jaw is
one of the moft obvious fymptoms. The patient is in
the moft diftreffing fituation, and it is expedled that
every renewal of the fpafm will end in thofe convulfions
which moft frequently bring on the fatal termination of
this formidable difeafe. How is he to aft > The reme¬
dies to be employed are evidently antifpafrnodics, and of
thefe he has beard opium and mercury highly recom¬
mended in this difeafe. Which of thefe is he to employ,
or is he to make a trial of both ? He determines to give
opium : in what form is he to order its admirriftration ?
That of pill is the moft obvious -, but perhaps the patient
cannot, in the ordinary rtate of his health, fwallow pills,
and every effort of the mufcles of deglutition increases
O q 2 the
EXTEM PORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
•303
Imports.-ice the dil'eafe. He mud then prefcribe it in a liquid form.
Sub’ecl. ^ne "'-der it in the form of laudanum to be given by
■—y-——< ^'iC attendants, or iliall he prefcribe draughts or a mix¬
ture, nith a certain proportion of tinBura opii? What is
the dofe of the opium > He knows that a perfon affe&ed
1 itn this diieale can bear a large dofe. Is he to give this
large dofe at once, or is he gradually to inereafe it ? In
a Snort time tne patient can perhaps no longer fwallow
even liquids. Can he adminitfer opium in any other
jjrm • He has heard of opiate clyfters. What is the
belt formula for them ? Is the fame quantity of opium
as when taken by the mouth, fufficient for a clviler ?
Again, if the patient cannot fwallow, how is he’to be
’imported ? By nutritive injeftions. How is the phyfi-
cian to prefenbe a nutritive injeaion ? Should it'be
iaige or Imali in quantity ? and is there any mode of
making the bowels retain it for a fufficient time, to draw
Bom it the proper nourithment ? We might carry this
illuftration, frmple as it is, to a much greater length 5
but we forbear, that we may not be thought tedious.
We need (ay little to perfuade thofe who are at all-ac¬
quainted with the practice of phyffc, that it is the duty
or every phyfician who values the comfort and fafety of
in's pcitient, or who has any regard for his oivi> reputa¬
tion and refpe&ability, to fpare no pains in enabling him-
fcit to write a prefeription with facility, perfpicuity, and
n neatnefs.
Attendance To thofe who, previous to their attending medical
necefiVy |ce^urcs_) ^javc been for "fome time in an apothecary’s (hop,
but not a- In Au&Ions for the writing of preferiptions may be
lonefuffin- tnought ufelefs or impertinent. In the daily habit of
ent. peruling and copying formulae from the hands of various
phylicians, it may be thought “ cuftom hath made it in
them a property of eafinefs.” Certainly, with refpea to
form and method, dofes and proportions, they .can re¬
quire but little information. But after all, this know-
ledge is merely imitative 5 they have learned to write
pielcrint 10ns as a parrot learns to fpeak, and unlefs they
have added confiderable chemical knowledge to their
praflical information, they can only copy what thev have
leen, and will often find themfelves very much at a lofs.
. This ‘s confidering the matter in the faired point of
view, taking it for granted that they have been under a
naffer who had abilities, leifure, and inclination to give
tnem ad the neceffary information; to point out to them
i'Ov. particular formulae were fuited to particular indica¬
tions ; to (new them why one is preferable to another,
and how they diould diffinguiffi a feientific from an em¬
pirical prefeription.
How feldom this is the cafe, and how eafy it is for a
young man to. be feveral years in an-apothecary’s (hop,
and learn but little, we leave to the judgement of others
to decide. We trud it would not be difficult to diow
that many of. the formulas which they have witnelled’
may be Amplified or improved ; that many of them are
unfcientitic, and not a few abfurd.
We would, however, by no means be underdood to
confider attendance on a Ihop as an utmeceffary part of
a medical education ; far from it. We are of opinion
that every one who intends to praftife medicine, whether
it be as, furgeon, apothecary, or phyfician, flmuld for
fome time accudom himfelf to the preparing of medi¬
cines, and the keeping of an apothecary’s day-book •
and we conceive that a young practitioner without this
experience, will commence praffice under confiderable
di fad vantages. By perufing, copying, and preparing Previous
the formulas of various practitioners, the dudent cer- Retiuiikes.
tainly acquires a readinefs at prefeription which he can- ' v*'”—'
not fo eafily and imperceptibly attain in any other way.
I o thole who have had little opportunity of profiling in
this way, and their number is by no means fmall, the in-
flruClion intended to be conveyed in the following obfer-
vattons will be peculiarly adapted; and probably fuch
as have paffed fome time behind a compter, will learn
fomething which had before efcaped their notice, or will
at lead be convinced that the lubjetd admits of conuder-
able improvement by the application of recent chemical
discoveries.
It may be thought, that fuch as have, during their
residence at college, given diligent attention'to ho-routine in.
ipital piactice, will there have received all the informa- fufficient for
tion on the fubjett of prefeription which is neceffary Private
to qualify them for private pra&ice. But thofe wholira<aice*
are familiar with both will readily agree, that what is
fufficient for the one, is by no means calculated for the
other. The unexperienced phyfician, accudomed to
the hofpital routine, thinks it fufficient if he prefcribe
the proper quantities of the proper medicines in the mod
fimple form. Is an emetic required ? He will order
gr. xv. or Bi cf powdered ipecacuanha. Is a gentle di-
aphoretic indicated ? He would prefcribe 3y cf mi-
Jhira fahna to be taken every four hours. Were his
future practice to be confined to an infirmary, to the
negroes of a Wed India plantation, or the crew cf a
man of war, this might be fufficient; but if he aim at
extend** or genteel practice, he will find it neceffary to
take a much wider range.
II. The fubjeft of-extemporaneous prefeription may
be.confidered as condiluting the finidiing part of a phy- 14
fician’s education ; fo far, at lead, as we can fay, that
the ftudy of a profeffion, for the perfect attainment of
which the father of medicine has declared life too diort,
may admit of a .completion. This is truly the practi¬
cal part of a phyfician’s duty ; it is this for which all his
previous dudies are intended to prepare him. Having
acquired a knowledge of difeafes and their remedies, he
is, when entering on the aftive duties of his profeffion,
to apply that knowledge to the bed advantage, fo as to
cure cr relieve his patient in the eafied, fafed, and mod
expeditious manner. It is not merely the mechanical
bufinefs of penning a medical receipt, which be might
copy from his memory or his tWe mecum, that we are
here confidering as the pra&ical duty of a phyfician. It
is the adapting of the means which he poffcffes to the
peculiar caie that is under his care ; the modifying his
prefeription according to the circumdances of "the" pa¬
tientthe age, fex, temperament, peculiarity of con-
llitution, feafon, climate, and many other circumdances ;
the choice of remedies, and the neceffary variation of
tnem ; it is thefe which conditute the duty of a prac¬
tical phyfician, fo far as relates to the bufinefs of pre¬
feription.
Before a phyfician can attempt^to prefcribe for his Previdifsre¬
patient, it is requifite that he poffefs much previous in- quifites.
formation.
In tlie fird place, he mud be well acquainted with the v ^ j
nature and feat of the difeafe, the cure or alleviation of
which he is about to attempt; with the fymptoms which
ufuady appear in fimilar cafes, and the variations which
are likely to take place j with the caufts, fo far as
known
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
iv.
Materia
Medico
Previous known, which predifpofe to the difeafe, or which remote-
Reqmfites. ly or immediately have a tendency to produce it j with
  v  the probable termination of fuch a cafe, and the gene¬
ral indications of cure. This knowledge prefuppoies an
acquaintance with anatomy, phyfiology, and pathology,
without a competent lhare of whigh a phyfician can no
more effect a cure of a difeafe, than an algebrailt can
accomplifh the folulion of an equation, while he is igno¬
rant of its terms.
The prefcriber muff alfo be familiar with the Mate¬
ria Medica and pharmacy, from which he learns the
natural hiffory, the chemical and medical properties
of the various fimple fubffances employed in medicine •,
their ufual doles and their officinal compounds, as con¬
tained in the phaiAiacopceia of the country in which he
tefidesj as it is thefe articles that are to form the ingre¬
dients of which the medicines he preferibes are to be
compofed. As without confiderable practical experi¬
ence few men are able to retain all the requiflte in¬
formation re fpedfing each article of the Materia Medica,
it would be of great advantage to the young prefcriber
to have by him a tabular fketch, which might, within
a fmall eomp^fs, contain the information more immedi¬
ately neceffary for writing a prefcriplion. Nothing is
found to alTitt the memory, or to facilitate the attainment
of knowledge, more than thefe tabular views 5 and fo
much is the learned world convinced of this, that fuch
309
views are daily becoming more fafhionable, and ate now Pieyious
applied to almoft every branch of fcience. It was yvith eqn nes.
the intention of affifting the young practitioner in writing lS
preferiptions, that Dr Kirby, a few years ago, pubbfhed Utility of
his tables of the PTateria Medica, containing a concife tabular
view of the moil material circumftancts refpeftmg the v,evl*
various fimple and compound medicines admitted into
the catalogues of the London, Ldinburgh, and Dublin
Pharmacopoeias. In this volume the articles are ar¬
ranged under 18 claffes; the titles and order of which
are much the fame with thofe given in our article Ma¬
teria Medica ; and of each article are given the
fyHematic name, the fynonymous pharmaceutical name,
the country in which it is produced, or from which it is
brought ; the part employed in medicine j the form in
which it is commonly adminiflered, and the ufual dofes
of the fimple, and of the feveral officinal compounds. In
the original draught of thefe tables, the circumflances
above mentioned were arranged in columns j but it
was found, that the difficulty and confequent expence of
printing the work in that form would be fo great, as
nearly to counterbalance the advantage which might
be derived from it. We are, however, of opinion, that
the arrangement in columns is better adapted to ftrike
the eye, and we ffiall here give a fpecimen of fuch an
arrangement, taken from one of the thortefl clanes in the
above work (a).
Table of EXPECTORANTS.
SIMPLES.
I. VEGETABLES. [Country
Part.
Form. Dose.
OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
5. Cevhaei.is IpecacuanhaJ E. Indies
Ipecacuanha. Ed. Lond. & Brazil
Dub.
6. Nicot i ana Tar vcum. Ed. America.
Nicotiana. Lond. Dub.
Sc 1 it.a Marttima. Ed.
Sci/Ia. Lond. Dub.
13. Allium Sativum. Ed.
Allium. Lond. Dub.
14. Ammoniacum. Ed. Lond
Dub.
15. Arum Maculatum. Ed.
Arum. Lond.
16. Coi.cmcuM Autumn ale.
Ed.
Colchicum. Lond. Dub.
Root.
Leaves.
S cuth of
Europe.
Do.
India.
Britain.
Britain.
Powder.
Smoke and
extxaCt.
gr.j. every
3 01 4
hours.
Vinum Ipecacuanhse. Ed. Lond,
Dub."
Hoot freffi
or dried.
Conferve,
powder,
pill, &.c.
Grs. I
to 2.
Freffi root.1 Subfiance.
Gum refin.
Freffi root.
Freffi root.
Dr. 1 to 2
Pill, mix¬
ture.
r!a. Acetum Scillae Maritimae.
Ed.
Acetum Scillce. Lond. Dub.
b. Syrupus Scilke Maritimae.
'Ed.
c. Oxymel Scillae. Lond. Dub,
d. Conferva Scillae. Lond.
e. Tinftura Scillae. Lond.
f. Pilube Scilliticae. Ed.
Pi/ulcc Scillce. Lond. Dub.
Syrupus Allii. Dub.
Grs. IC to
20.
Lac Ammoniaci. Lond.
Conferva Ari. Lond.
a. Syrupus Colchici autumnalis
Ed.
b. Oxvmel Colchici. Lond.
Dub.
Dose.
Dr. 1 or 2.
Cases.
Peripneumo¬
nia and ajili¬
ma.
Confump-
tion.
Dr. 2 to 4.
In compo-
fition.
Gts.30 toqo.
Gts. 10 to dr
1.
Gr, 10 to 15.
About a table
fpoonful.
Oz. I to 2,
Dr. 4 to 1.
Dr. 2 to ioz.
Do.
Peripneu¬
monia,
afthma.
(a) The fin*pies in the firft columns of the above table have numbers prefixed to them To explain why thefe do
not follow each other in a regular feries, it is necefTary to mention, that the articles marked 5* C .8, 11, and 12,
are, in the tables of Materia Medica from which this fpecimen is altered, inferted in a former clafs, viz. emetic j.
Sio
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Table continued.
SIMPLES.
I. VEGETABLES.
17. Ferula Asa foetida. Ed.
A/a fcetida. Lond. Dub
18. Hyssopus Officinalis.
Htj/bpus. Dub.
19. Marrubium Vulgare.
Lond.
20. Myrrha. Ed. Lond. Dub.
21. Pimpinella Anisum. Ed.
Anifum. Lond. Dub.
22. PoLYGALA SENEGA. Ed.
Seneha. Lond. Dub.
23. Styrax Benzoin. Ed.
BetiKomutn. Dub. Ben
•zoe. Lond.
24. Alcohol. Ed.
Spt. Vinofus Heftificatus.
Lond. Dub.
II. MINERAL PRODUC¬
TIONS.
II. SULPHURETUM AnTIMONII.
Ed. D ub.
Antimonium. Lond.
25. SulpHur Sublimatum.
Ed. Dub.
//ones Su/phuris. Lond
2. Zincum. Ed. Lond. Dub,
Country.
Perfia.
Britain.
Do.
Arabia.
Afia.
America,
Sumatra.
Part.
Form.
Dose.
Gum refin. Pill, mix
ture.
Tea.
Domeftic
fyrup.
Powder or
pill.
Infufion,
oil.
Herb.
Leaves.
Gum refin
Seeds.
Britain.
Root.
Balfam.
Decoc¬
tion.
Pill.
Grs. 10 to
I5-
10 grs. to
1 dr.
19
Explana¬
tion.
The above table contains eight columns. In the firft
are written the fcientific and correfponding pharmaceu¬
tical naities of the feveral fimple fubftances, diftributed
into departments, according as they are taken from
the vegetable or the mineral kingdom, and arranged
alphabetically ^ in the fecond is written the name of the
country where the article is found, Or from which it is pro¬
cured \ in the third the part of the fimple ufually em¬
ployed in medicine j in the fourth the form in which it is
ufually admimftered j in the fifth the dole of the fimple.
In the fixth column are arranged all the officinal prepara¬
tions of each fimple which properly belong to the clafs
OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Dose.
Lac Afae fcetidie. Lond.
Oleum Volatile Plmpinellce
Anifi. Ed.
O/. Ej/entiale Aniji. Lond.
Dub.
Decodtum Polygalse Senegas
Ed.
a. Acidum Benzoicum. Ed.
Sal. Benzoirn. Dub. Flor-
res Benzoes. Lond.
b. linftura Benzoes Compofi-
ta. Lond.
iEther Sulphuricus. Ed. Dub.
AEthcr Vitriolicus. Lond.
Tartris Antimonii. Ed.
Tartarian Antunoniattan.
Dub. Antimonium Tar-
tarifatum. Lond.
Vinum Tartntis Antimonii.
Ed.
Vinum Antimonii Tartarifati
Lond.
c. Sulphuretum Antimonii Pre-
cipitatum. Ed.
Sulphur Antimonii Precipita-
tum. Lond. Sulph. Ant.
Fufcum. Dub
Sulphur Sublimatum Lotum.
Ed. Dub.
Flores Su/phuris. Lond
Prochifci Sulphuris. Lond.
Oleum Sulphuratum. Ed.
Lond. Dub.
Sulphas Zinci. Ed. Dub.
Zincum Vitriolatum. Lond.
ioz. to 2.
Gt. 2 to 6.
loz.to i£oz
Grs. 1 to 2.
Gt. 151030
Vapour in¬
haled.
Gr. -f to 4 re
peated.
Dr. 1 to 2.
Dr. 4 to i.
Gr. 3—5.
Gr. 1 c to
dr. 4.
Ad libitum.
Gt. 10—20
Gr. 4 to 1
three times
a day.
Cases.
Hooping
cough.
Croup and
pneumonia.
Catarrh.
Afthma.
Afthma.
j
Confumption
and hooping
cough.
of expe&orants, and named according to the nomencla¬
ture of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, with the corre¬
fponding fynonymous names of the other two colleges j
in the feventh are given the ufual dofes of thefe com¬
pound medicines, and in the eighth are noted the difeafes
to which the fimple or its compound is more peculiarly
adapted.
The ufe of fuch tables is pretty obvious. Having Ufe,
before him all the remedies that are fuited to anfwer
any particular indication, as in the prefent inftance, that
of promoting expe&oration, the preferiber can feleft luch
articles as are bell fuited to the particular cafe in hand,
iwr
50
\
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
12
Chemiftry.
21
Rational
chiefly on
chemical
principles.
Previous or which can be moft eafily procured j and he has at once
Requifites. before him the circumftances refpefting it which it is
molt neceffary he fliould know.
It is next required of a prefcriber, that he be thorough¬
ly acquainted with therapeutics, a part of the inftitu-
tions or principles of medicine which inftru&s him in
the nature and effefts of the various clafles of medicines
as fuited to different indications of cure.
An extenfive acquaintance with the elementary parts
of chemiftry is alfo neceffary, as the fubjett of extem¬
poraneous prefcription forms a part of pharmacy, which
is effentially a chemical art. It is therefore as impof-
fi'ble for a phyftcian to be a fcientific prefcriber without
a competent fhare of chemical knowledge, as. for the
captain of a {hip to be a fcientific failor, without a
knowledge of aftronomy and navigation. It is cer¬
tainly poflible for a phyfician to write a prefcription
without having ftudied chemiftry, and for a failor to
conduct a vefl'el to the Weft'Indies without being, ac¬
quainted with the mathematical principles of navigation.:
but thefe men are both empirics ; they have a certain
mechanical way of proceeding, which they have learned
by long experience, and much more fevere labour than
it would have coft them to acquire a knowledge of the
fcientific principles of the arts which they profefs.
Kauonai It Is °f the utnioft importance that a phyfician fhould
prefcription be able to aflign a reafon for every article which he m-
depends ferts in his prescriptions j that he ftrould, as cofre&ly as
poflible, know wThat part each will aft in the compofi-
tion of the medicine, and what effeft the whole com¬
pound wTill produce on his patient j in ftiort, tnat he
fliould not prefcribe a certain formula merely becaufe he
has feen it prefcribed by others in fimilar cafes, but
fhould form his prefcription on fcientific principles, and
from the refult of reafon and refleftion. In the prefent’
improved ftate of chemiftry this is more peculiarly ne-
ceflary, and it is alfo become much more eafy. Not
many years ago phyficians' had Scarcely a clue to guide
them in their prescriptions, except that of experience j
they faw certain refults take place, and certain effefts
produced, but why thefe refults took place, or how thefe
effefts wTere brought about, they were almoft entirely
ignorant. The reafoning employed by old writers on
pharmacy concerning the preparation and operation of
compound medicines, is to a modern chemift highly en- •
tertaining. We {hall not fwrell this article by Speci¬
mens of fucb reafonings, but fhall refer thofe who wifh
to amufe themfelves in this way, to Strother’s LeBures
on the Rationale of Medicine; ^uincfs Complete Dif-
pcnfatory; Fuller’s Rharqiacopceia Extemporanea, and
the Pharmaceutical works of Dr Willis.
When a phyfician fits dowrn to write a prefcription,
he fhould imagine the preparation going on under his
eye, and fhould know w’hether or not the materials
wrhich he is ordering will aft chemically on each other j
and if they do, what changes will be produced. It
very frequently happens that from the union of two or
more fubftances there arifes a compound poffeffed of
very different properties, and which is likely to produce
very different effefts from any of the component articles.
The refult will fometimes be advantageous, fometimes
inert, and fometimes injurious. It is the bufinefs of tbe
prefcriber to be acquainted w’ith the advantages and
disadvantages of thefe combinations, that he may avail
himfelf of the former, and avoid the latter. This de-
3II
firable objeft is to be attained only by a correft and ex-
tenfive knowledge of chemical affinity. I his w'ill teach —1
what fubftances are capable of combining together, or
of decompofing what are already united •, and will in¬
form us whether we can derive any advantage from their
aftion. 2 5
For want of this chemical knowledge many of the Comiwen
formulae prefcribed by fbme of our beft praftical writers,
are much lefs Simple and fcientific than they might be
made by an attention to chemical principles. The fa¬
mous tonic remedy, commonly called Griffith's myrrh
mixture, fo much, and we believe, fo juftly extolled in
cafes of general debility, was originally compofed in the
following manner.
IJo Myrrh a; dr. j. Solve terendo in mortario cum
Aquae Alexeteriae fimp. unc. vi. fs.
  cujuflibet Spirituofae dr. vi. vel. unc. j.
Dein adde
Salis Abfynthii, dr. fs.
  Martis, gr. xii.
Syrupi fimplicis, dr. ij. m *.
26
Giiftuh’s
ifriyrrh mix¬
ture.
*'Griffith-
on Hectic
24
Chemical
affinity.
From the gravity with which the author fpeaks of fewr*
this compofition, and the various proportions he allows of
the fait of wormwood and the fait of fteel, together with
the different methods of mixing the ingredients, it is
pretty clear that he had no idea that any of them were
fuperfluous or unneceffary, nor probably was he aware
that the two falts aft on each other, and undergo a mu¬
tual decompofition. It feems therefore to be quite an
empirical prefcription. Analyfing it according to our
prefent chemical knowledge, we know that the prin¬
cipal part of it confifts of an emulfion of myrrh, contain¬
ing in fufpenfion a quantity of carbonate of iron, and
having diffolved in it a fmall quantity of fulphate of
potafli, and perhaps a little fubcarbonate of potaffi.
Now, as there is no reafon to believe that the two laft
are of any confequence in the medicine, it would finely
be much more fcientific to form a medicine of myrrh
and carbonate of iron, with the addition of fuch cordials
and fyrups as may add to its tonic power, and render it
palatable. A medicine of this kind is the following. _
R Pulv. Myrrh, dr. i.
Garbonat. Ferri prsecip. dr
Syrup. Citri Aurant. unc. 4* Simul tere,et adde
Aquae Menth. piper, unc. 6.
Tinftur. Cinchon. compof. unc. i. M f.
In Dr Strother’s 19th lefture there is noticed a medi
cine which was then confidered as a valuable noftrum
in the cure of fmallpox. The principal ingredients are,
fpirit of fait (muriatic acid), and fait of hartfhorn (im¬
pure carbonate of ammonia). A tyro in modern che-
miftry need not be told that this medicine contains mu¬
riate of ammonia, produced by the combination of the
acid with the alkali. If, therefore, fuch a medicine is
ufeful in fmallpox, it would furely be much lefs labo¬
rious, and much more fcientific, to employ the muriate
of ammonia, commonly called fal ammoniac, wffiich we
have prepared to our hands.
As the fecondary falts form a clafs of bodies which
conftitutes a confiderable part of the materia medica, it
is proper for the phyfician to be intimately acquainted
wath their nature and chemical properties. Here he
will again find the advantage of fyftematic tables, con¬
taining
f Kirby's
Tables,Fes*
mul. 106.
27.
28
3-1 ^ EXTEMPORANEOUS
Previous talning the principal circumftances refpefting the com-
t**, 1 ^.Il:c \ pofition and decompofition ol fuch of thefe falls as are
employed in medicine. A table of this kind is printed
in Dr Kirby’s I ables, and we (hall here give a fimilar
prescriptions.
view, only divided, for the fake of convenience, into Previous
two tables, the fMt containing the compofition of the ^c(lui^tes*
falls, and the fecond the fubftances employed in medi- ' -
cine, by which they may be decompoled.
TABLE I.
3
2J)
Explana¬
tion.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
.U3
Previous
Rc-quifites.
Salt.
22. Carbonate of Magnesia.
23. Carbonate of Potash.
24. Subcarbonate of Potash.
25. Carbonate of Soda.
26. Carbonate of Ammonia.
27. Carbonate of Iron.
28. Carbonate of Zinc.
Solubility.
Composition.
Infoluble.
6o°, 4.
2120, 1.5
Deliquefcent.
Effiorefcent.
Base.
45-
40-
Acid. I Water.
34-
21.
43-
Dry 64.
Cryft. 21.58
Dried 59.85
6o°, 2.
Infoluble.
Infoluble.
29. Acetate of Potash.
30. Acetate of Lead. Ph. Ed.
31. Subborate of Soda.
32. Supertartrate of Potash.
33. Tartrate of Potash.
34. Tartrate of Potash and Soda.
35. Tartrate of Antimony and Potash, or Emetic
Tartar.
Deliquefcent.
6o°, 4.
6o°, 18.
2120, 6.
6o°, 60.
212°, 13.
30.
14.42
40.05
I7-
64.
o.
Previous
Requifites.
58.
I7-
26.
39-
16.
44.
33-
6o°, 4.
Deliquefcent.
6o°, 5.
Efflorefcent.
6o°, 15.
212°, 3.
Tart. Pot.
54-
Ox. of Ant.
38-
Pota(hi6.
67-
Tart. of
Soda.
46.
34-
12.
In this firft part of the table of fecondary falts there
are five columns, in the firft of which are fet down the
names of moft of the fecondary falts employed in medi¬
cine, according to the moft approved chemical nomen¬
clature. The fecond column (hews the degree of attrac¬
tion which fubfifts between each fait and water, name¬
ly, how many parts of water at the temperatures of 6o°
and 212° of Fahrenheit are required to diflblve one part
of the fait, in the ftate in which it is ufually employed,
TABL
and whether the fait be deliquefcent or efflorefcent.
The three remaining columns point out, as far as has
been afcertained, the proportional quantities of the com¬
ponent parts of each fait, the third column (hewing how
many parts in the ICO confift of bafe •, the fourth how
many of acid, and the fifth how many of water of com-
pofition. In fome cafes two proportions are given, and
it is expreffed in the third column under what ftale of
the fait thefe proportions exift.
E II.
Decomposition by Single Affinity.
Barytes.
Potafti.
Soda.
Lime.
Magnefia.
Ammonia.
T annin.
Gallic Acid.
Oxalic Acid.
Tartaric Acid.
Salt.
w £
£ 0
a
0.
t-)
a
C/3
w
Oh
D
CO
Decomposition by Double Affinity.
Nitrate of Potafh.
 Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
  Lime.
  Soda.
  Ammonia.
Carbonate of Barytes.
   Lime.
   Magnefia.
 Potafh.
 Soda.
  — Ammonia.
Acetate of Lead.
Subborate of Soda.
VOL. XVII. Part I.
Rr
3r4
Previous
Requifites.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Decomposition by Single Affinity.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Soda.
Lime.
Ammonia.
Barytes.
Barytes.
Potaih.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Soda.
Lime.
Magnefia.
Ammonia.
Tartaric Acid.
Muriatic Acid,
Zinc.
Iron.
T«V
Barytes.
Potafh.
i Soda.
Lime.
Magnefia.
Ammonia.
Same as the laft.
Salt.
w
H
<
K
Ph
)-l
D
CO
Decomposition by Double Affinity.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
- ■ Lime.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Red Muriate of Iron.
Carbonate of Lime.
   Potafh.
 Soda.
 Ammonia.
Acetate of Mercury.
 Lead.
Subborate of Soda.
Tartrate of Potafh.
■<
H
O
pH
W
H
«
Ph
hi
D
co
«
o
CO
w
H
<
X
Ph
X
£>
CO
O
U
w
H
X
FM
hi
C3
CO
I ^
hi o
X £4
CO
<-n
O
w
H
<!
X
w
H o
^ a
£N
eg °
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
 Lime.
  Soda.
   Ammonia.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Phofphate of Soda.
Carbonate of Barytes.
Acetate of Mercury,
 Lead.
Tartrate of Potafh, partially.
Previous
R equifites.
W“—y—--/
Nitrate of Potafh.
 Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
Lime.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Acetate of Mercury.
Lead.
Tartrate of Potafh.
Subfulphate of Mercury.
Nitrate of Potafh.
 Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
   Lime.
  —. Soda.
  Ammonia.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Phofphate of Soda.
Carbonate of Potafh.
1 Soda.
Acetate of Mercury.
   Lead.
Subborate of Soda.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
— Lime.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury,
Acetate of Mercury.
———  Lead.
Subborate of Soda.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
Acetate of Lead.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Previous
Requilites.
Decomposition dy Single Affinity.
Barytes.
Sulphuric Acid.
Heat.
V.
Barytes.
Petal'll.
Soda.
Lime.
Magnena.
Ammonia.
Zinc.
Muriatic Acid.
Tin.
Phofphoric Acid.
Copper.
Mercury.
Sulphuric Acid.
Barytes.
Pota(h.
Magnefia.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Boracic Acid.
Phofphoric Acid.
Barytes.
Potafli.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Barytes.
Potadi.
Soda.
Lime.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Barytes.
Potalh.
Soda.
Lime.
Magnefia.
Ammonia.
Copper.
Salt.
H
£
W w
h £
< b
►1 2h
Ki <)
£ w
M .
H W
s
w t-i
Oh J
O
H <
O
Ci cO
D
o
W Q OS
q w
oi H
Oh nt!
O w
u 05
Decompostion by Double Affinity.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafli.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
■— Soda.
Muriate of Barytes.
  Lime.
All the Sulphates employed in Medicine.
Muriate oi Barytes.
  Lime.
   Soda.
  Ammonia.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Red Muriate of Iron.
Antimony.
Phofphate of Soda.
All the Carbonates employed in Medicine.
Subborate of Soda.
All Sulphates more or lefs.
Nitrate of Silver.
Phofphate of Soda.
Carbonate of Potafli.
*  Soda.
■     ■ ■ Ammonia.
Subborate of Soda.
3*5
Previous
Requifites*
All Sulphates.
Nitrate of Silver.
Phofphate of Soda.
Carbonate of Ammonia.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafli.
Sulphate of Potafli.
 Copper.
Nitrate of Silver.
Acetate of Mercury.
  Lead.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafli.
Sulphate of Potafli.
 Copper.
Nitrate of Silver.
Carbonate of Barytes.
 Potafli.
 Soda.
Acetate of Potafli.
Subborate of Soda.
Tartrate of Potafli.
Molt Sulphates.
Carbonate of Barytes.
 Lime.
 Magnefia.
 Potafli.
 Soda.
 Ammonia.
R r 2
3i6
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Previous
Requifites.
Decomposition by Single Affinity.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Soda.
Phofphoric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Muriatic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Barytes.
Oxalic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Tartaric Acid.
Phofphoric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Muriatic Acid.
Citric Acid.
Boracic Acid
Acetic Acid.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Soda.
Lime.
Oxalic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Muriatic Acid.
Tartaric Acid.
Citric Acid.
Boracic Acid.
Acetic Acid.
Barytes.
Lime.
Oxalic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid.
Muriatic Acid.
Tartaric Acid.
Citric /Vcid.
Boracic Acid.
Acetic Acid.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Lime.
Oxalic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Nitric Acid, &c. as before.
Barytes.
Potafh.
Soda.
Lime.
Oxalic Acid.
Sulphuric Acid, &c. as above.
Salt.
w
S3
£ -9
c/j 03
O
X
(X
o
W !/?
H W
■"t H
X S*
C Pi
P «!
^ CO
U
w
X
o
p
p
<
o
Decomposition by Double Affinity.
Sulphate of Potafh.
  Copper.
Nitrate of Silver-.
Muriate of Barytes.
   Lime.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafh.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
 Potafh.
 Soda.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Ammonia.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafh.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
Nitrate of Silver.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Supertartrate of Poiafh.
w
H
o.
p
p
-<?
U
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potalh.
Nitrate of Silver.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Carbonate of Iron.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
<
H
O
P-i
W
H
X
o
p
p
<1
o
w
H ■
< <1
X P
o o
P 03
P
u
All the Sulphates except thofe of Potafh and Soda,
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
 Ammonia.
Corrofive Muriate of Mercury.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
Sulphates as in the laft.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
  Soda.
Previous
Requifites.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
Supertartrate of Alumina and Potafh.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriates of Barytes and Lime.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
Previous
Requisites.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Decomposition by Single Affinity.
Acids as in the laft.
Salt.
o o •
9 w o
H S
< <! ^
J
Acids as in the laft, and, betide,
Phofphoric Acid.
o 0 *
9 w g
H . .
Sulphuric, Nitric, Muriatic, and PhoTphoric
Acids.
Oxalic, Tartaric, Boracic, and Citric Acids.
w
H W
cn
a 0 H
u o
<1 pH
Barytes.
Potaftr.
Soda.
Lime.
Ammonia.
Magnefia.
Gallic Acid.
Muriatic Acid.
Oxalic Acid.
Phofphoric Acid.
Sulphuric Acid.
Tartaric Acid.
Citric Acid.
Boracic Acid.
Subftances as above, and nearly in tbe fame or¬
der.
Five firft fubftances as before.
Tin.
Gallic, Sulphuric, Oxalic, and Tartaric Acids.
Benzoic, Muriatic, Nitric, and Citric Acids,
Lime.
Barytes.
Magnefia.
Gallic Acid.
Sulphuric, Nitric, and Muriatic Acids.
Phofphoric Acid.
Oxalic and Tartaric Acids.
Citric and Acetic Acids.
Lime.
Barytes.
Magnefia.
Potafh,
Soda.
Ammonia.
Almoft all other Acids.
Lime.
Barytes.
Magnefia.
Decomposition by Double Affinity.
Supertartrate of Potafh.
H Q
<< <
H K
w h4
ai 9
O O
pq CO
M
C3
CO
Muriate of Ammonia.
Tartrate of Potafh alid Soda.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
 Potafh.
—.—  Soda.
 Copper.
  Iron.
Muriate of Soda.
Sulphates of Alumina, Magnefia, Potafh, Soda,
Copper, and Iron.
Muriate of Soda.
Superfulphate of Alumina and Potafh.
Sulphate of Magnefia.
   Copper.
  Iron.
Nitrate of Silver.
Muriate of Barytes.
 Lime.
317
Previous
Requifites.
oC n.
Carbonates of Barytes, Lime, Magnefia, Potafh,
Soda, Ammonia, and Iron.
Sulphates of Magnefia, Potafh, and of Soda.
Muriate of Ammonia.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Decomposition by Single Affinity.
Barytes. '
Lime.
Sulphuric, Muriatic, and Nitric Acids.
Soda.
Lime.
Ammonia.
Gallic, Sulphuric, Nitric, and Muriatic Acids.
Salt.
a
w
3 a
Oh H O
H o 00
^ Ph -a
_j U-H C
“i O o*
^ S o
s
Decomposition by Double Affinity.
Carbonate of Soda.
  Ammonia.
Previous
Requifites.
30
Explana* ^ his fecond part of the table of fecondary falts con-
fifts of three columns. In the middle column are let
down the names of the fecondary falts employed in me¬
dicine, in the lame order as in the former table •, and in
the adjoining columns on each fide are noted thofe fub-
flances employed in medicine which are capable of ef-
fe&ing a decompolition of each fait 5 thofe in the left-
hand column being fuch as decompofe the fait by what
is called Jingle affinity, in confequeqce of that fubftance
having a fuperior attraaion for the acid or the bale of
the fait; while the fubftances in the right-hand column
are fecondary falts, between which and the oppofite fait
in the middle column fuch an aftion may take place as
to effefl: their mutual decompofition.
life s'of the ta^ies °/ this kind before him, a prefcriber will
tables. avoid feveral miftakes into which he might be betrayed
from a deficiency of chemical knowledge. Thus,
knowing the folubility of any fait, he will not prefcribe
a greater quantity of it than is capable of being retain¬
ed in folution in the -watery part of any draught or mix¬
ture which he is to order. For inftance, knowing that
fulphate of potajh requires fixteen parts of water at 6o°
for its folution, he will, if he propofed to prefcribe a
draught containing two drams of this fait, be aware
that fuch a quantity would require at lead: four ounces
of water ; but this making the draught too large is a
great obieffion to giving the medicine in that. form.
Or luppofe that he wilhed to give half an ounce offuper-
tar irate of pot aft (crystals of tartar), by way of laxative;
he fees, that to diffolve this quantity it would require at
leaf! two pounds of water, and therefore that he cannot
order it in the form of folution, though, when mixed up
wfith fyrup into an eledluary, it affords a good and effi¬
cacious cooling laxative. Again, knowing that ful¬
phate of foda efflorefces in the air, and thereby lofes
neaily .half its weight, he will take care always to pre-
fcnoe it in the form of cryltals j and if he is to order a
laxative draught containing one ounce of this fait, he
mud prelcribe at lead three ounces of liquid.
The information conveyed in the fecond column re-
tpecling the deliquefcence or efflorefcence of certain
dalts, or the readinefs with which they imbibe water
frorn the atmofphere, or part with their water of cryflal-
lization, is extremely ufeful in pointing out the proper
forms of exhibition. Seeing, for indance, that acetate
bf potajh' {diuretic fait) is a deliquefeent fait, no one
would think of preferibing it in the form of pills j while,
on the other hand, carbonate of foda being efflorefeent!
is well adapted to that form, and accordingly has been
4
fo preferibed by Dr Beddoes ; (fee Kirby's Tables, for¬
mula 153).
Knowing the proportional quantities of the compo¬
nent part of any fait, we can, by calculation, afeertain
pretty nearly bow much of the one is required to de¬
compofe the other, and thus employ no more of either
than is neceffary. Thus, fuppofe it were required to
decompofe 100 grains of green fulphate of iron by car¬
bonate of foda, in ‘order to procure the greated poffible
quantity of carbonate of iron. We find by the fiid
table, that 100 grains of the fulphate contain 28 grains
of oxide of iron, and to faturate this, we find by com¬
putation, that there are required 9 grains of carbonic
add. Now, on examining the compofition of carbonate
of foda, we find that 100 grains of this fait contain
about 14T grains of carbonic acid, and confequently,
that about 60 grains of carbonate of foda are fufficient
to decompofe 1 co grains of green fulphate of iron.
Further, knowing the fubdances that are capable of
decompodng any particular fait, a prefcriber will not
order any of thefe fubdances in the fame formula with
that fait, unlefs fome manifed advantage were to be the
refult of their mutual a&ion. He knows that fulphate
of s&inc and acetate of lead decompofe each other, and
that the acetate of ■zinc formed by their mixture, is a
better remedy in cafes of ophthalmia than either of the
former falts. Here then is an advantage. Tartrate of
antimony and potajh is a good remedy in fever, fo is
decochon of Peruvian ba' k ; but we find by the tables,
that this fait is decompofable by gallic acid, and we
know that dccociion of cinchona contains this acid, ef-
pecially after having dood for fome time. It would
therefore be improper to prefcribe thefe remedies in con-
jmxdion, as has fome times been recommended, becaufe
the fait would be fo much altered by the decompodtion
as to be no longer the medicine we propofe to admini-
der. A fimilar indance of unfcientific prefeription, arif-
ing from a want of chemical knowledge, occurs in a
formula attributed to Mr Coleman,-and pub! 1 fl ed in the
fifth edition of the Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica, p. c;8.
under the title of Collyrmm hydrargyri muriati cuni
calce. It is compofed of a fcruple of muriate of mer¬
cury diffolved in an Englifh pint of boiling diddled
water, with the addition of two drams of quick!me,
and afier the whole is completely mixed, we are diredl-
ed to filter the clear liquor through paper. The author
of this Pharmacopoeia feems aware that “ the different
eledlive. attraftions operating in the mixture of the lime
with the folution of muriate of mercury, are fuch as
produce
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS. 3'9
3*
Dover’s
powder.
Previous produce a new chemical arrangement, in which the acti-
Requifites. vj(_y 0f the ingredients is mutually diminiihed. The
faft; js> large quantity of lime here diredted will
completely decompofe the muriate of mercury, fo that
the clear liquor will contain nothing but uncombined
/ime, and muriate of lime. Hence the muriate of mer-
cunj is an unnecellary ingredient, and if the medicine
be efficacious as a collyrium, it w7ould be better to form
it at once by the addition of a fmall quantity of muriate
of lime to limewater.
A phyfician who is familiar with the priciples of che-
miftry will not direft a chemical medicine to be pre¬
pared of more ingredients, or in a more operofe manner,
than is requifite to produce the delired effect. When
Dr Dover firft gave to the public the compofition of his
fudorific powder, he ordered it to be prepared in the
following manner. Four ounces of nitre, and the fame
quantity of vitnolated tartar (fulphate of potafhf are to
be thrown into a red-hot crucible, and kept ftirring till
the deflagration ceafes. To the mixture, while hot, is
to be added an ounce of fliced opium. The whole is
then to be reduced to powder and well mixed with an
ounce of powTdered ipecacuanha, and the fame quantity
of pow7dered liquorice root. It is well knowm to the
chemifts of the prefent day, that nitrate of potajh, when
thrown on an ignited combuftible body, deflagrates,
and is decompofed ; but that it does fo when throwm
into an ignited crucible, with an incombuftible body,
fuch as the fulphate of potajh, we can fcarcely conceive.
If it does, the effecl muff be, that the nitric acid is car¬
ried off, and there remains the potafh, which is an un-
neceffary ingredient in the compofition. Again, the
only ufe of heating the fait, would be to dry the opium
and thus render it more eafily pulverifed; but as dried
opium is always kept in the (hops, and by means offul-
phate of potafh, is very eafily reduced to poivder, that
part of the operation is fuperfluous. Accordingly, a
powder equally efficacious, and much lefs operofe, is
prepared by rubbing together fulphate of pota/h, opium,
and ipecacuanha, forming the prefentpulvis ipecacuanha
et opii, Ed. or pulvis ipecacuanha compojitus, Lond.
From the fame want of chemical knowdedge, fome
medicines have been extolled as efficacious remedies,
from not knowing their real nature. Thus burnt
fponge has long been celebrated for the cure of fcrofula.
We do not altogether deny its efficacy in this complaint
but as burnt fponge is compofed almoft entirely of char¬
coal, with the addition of a little carbonate of foda, a
1 powder compofed of thefe ingredients muff be equally
efficacious.
Errors i re Uiffier this head we may notice an error which is fre-
fpcd to con- querffdy made by prefcribers who have-not been ac-
fiitence. cumftomed to fee and orepare the remedies which they
prefcribe. We have often feen a mafs for pills ordered
to be prepared of fuch ingredients as are naturally too
hard to form into pills, as for inftance, extratt of cin¬
chona, and extradt of liquorice, and yet there has been
diredted a quantity of liquorice powder, to form the
mafs of a proper confiftence. Sometimes again, the
matters diredted are already too foft, or become too
Ml by mixture, as when aloes and extradt of gentian
are diredted to be beaten together with a proper quan¬
tity of fyrup, to form a mafs for pills. See the Edin.
-5 Pilar, edit. 1783.
Water. We ihall conclude thrs part of our fubjedt with re¬
33
Burnt
fponge
marking, that it is of confequenee in a chemical point Previous
of view, to prefcribe as the conliituent of a liquid me- ,Req^hte5°,
dicine, fuch water as will not decompofe any of the
other ingredients. It is common to order the water by
the name of aqua pura, or aqua fontana. Now, if this
water be hard, x. e. impregnated with fulphate of lime,
&c. it will decompoie many of the fecondary lalts, and
thus diminilh their efficacy. Acetate of lead, for in¬
ftance, is always decompoi'ed by hard water, and a tur¬
bid liquor is thus formed, which by Handing depofits a
fediment. It would therefore be better in all cafes to
prefcribe diffilled water, or where this is not likely to
be found, as in fmall country towns, foft water.
III. We have thus confidered at fome length the J
previous knowledge required by a prailitioner before
lie can pretend to preicribe for his patient in a fcientific
manner. We ffiall now endeavour to apply the obfer-
vations that have been made, and from the application
deduce fome general rules for extemporaneous prefcrip-
tion. 37
When a practitioner is called to a patient, he will Practical
firft examine into the fymptoms and cauies of the ma- bints-
lady under which the patient labours, and attend to the
age, fex, and peculiar habit of the patient. He will
then confider whether or not a cure is probable, or
whether it may be in his power only to relieve the di-
ftreffing fymptoms. If a cure appears to be praClicable,
he will proceed to form his indications, and in conformi¬
ty with thefe he will prefcribe the remedies that feem
beft adapted to the cafe. It is this method of procedure
that diftinguilhes the fcientific praftitioner from the
ignorant empiric. The latter, from a luperficial view
of the moft obvious fymptoms, haftily determines' the
nature of the complaint, which he probably contrives
ffiall be fome one of which he has witneffed many cafes,
or for the cure of which he is in poffefllon of fome fa¬
vourite remedy. Having refolved what the difeafe
fliall be, he has nothing to do but apply his remedy, and
this he does without confidering whether exifting cir-
cumftances may not render the adminiftration of it im¬
proper.
To return from this digrefiion, we fliall endeavour to
give an example as Ample as will anfwer our purpofe, to
illuftrate the above method of procedure. We Ihall
fuppofe that a pra&itioner is fent for to a middle-aged
man, in moderate circumftances, who has been for feme
days labouring under ? tertian intermittent fever, with
which he had never before been affected, but had com¬
monly been ftrong and healthy. The practitioner fees
nothing in the circumftances of the cafe which can lead
to an unfavourable prognofis, and he therefore has little
hefttation in pronouncing, that the fever will probably
foon be removed. Confidering the indications ufually
laid down in praCtical writers on intermitlents, he pro¬
ceeds to prefcribe the remedies which appear beft fuited
to the cafe in point. Thus the indications given by Dr
Cullen are,
1. In the time of intermiflion to prevent the recur¬
rence of paroxyfms.
2. In the time of paroxyfms to conduCl thefe fo as to -J
obtain a final Elution of the difeafe.
3. To take off certain circumftances which might
prevent the fulfilling of the two firft indications *. * Cullen's
In confidering the firft indication, the praCHtioner Cirji Lines,
refle&s on the effeCt of the ufual exciting cax.feof an in-§
tennktentj
320
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Example of
prefer jp.
tion.
Ruies for termitteht, vwrfl) iniufnata, which he fees to be a debi-
J tions ^" the fyhem. This he learns is to be re-
moved by tonics 5 and of thole the bark of the cinchona
officinalis is jultiy celebrated in the cure of intermit-
tents. This then he would immediately preferibe j but
that experience has rtiewn it to be better to begin the
adminiftration of this medicine as foon as poflible after a
paroxyftn. We (hall fuppole, however, that the laid pa-
roxyfm took place the day before he faw the patient,
and confequentiy may be expefled to return the next
day. He finds alfo that the patient is coftive, a circum-
ftance which muft be removed according to the third
indication. Now, attending to the fecond indication,
he knows that this is generally beft fulfilled by the ex¬
hibition of an emetic at the commencement of the cold
fit, and of an opiate at the commencement of the hot
fit; but the coftivenefs of the patient contraindicating
the ufe of opium, he muff endeavour to find for it a
fubflitute which has not a tendency to excite or increafe
conflipation. He will perhaps preferibe as follows :
Vini ipecacuanhae, unc. 1.
    Tartritis antimonii (^Ec/in.') unc. i. M. fiat
hauflus.
Signetur. The emetic to he taken jujl as the next
cold fit is coming on.
I£). Pulveris Rhei Palmati, gr. 25.
Submuriatis Hydrargyri, gr. 3.
Succi Spiflati Hyofcyami, gr. 4.
Syrupi q. s. Fiat bolus.
Signetur. To be taken jujl as the next hot Jit is com¬
ing on.
R. Pulveris Cinchonae officinalis, fcr. 2.
  Croti Elutheriae, gr. 1 o. M. f. pulvis.
Signetur. One to be taken in a little wine and water
as foon as the hot ft has gone of and repeated every two
hours till the expeBcd return of the next coldft.
I he analyfis of this prefeription will afford us fome ufe-
ful pradlical obfei vations.
39 J • It will be obferved that the formula; are arranged
Arrange- ^le order in which the medicines are to be exhibited, a
ment of circumftance to which it is always proper to attend,
tomuilae. when the prefeription is to contain more than one for¬
mula or circumftance to be dire&ed by the pradlitioner.
Ihus when any thing is required immediately, as bleed-
mg, the application of leeches, or of-a blifter, this
fhould form the firfl claufe in the prefeription, in the
following manner.
Mittatur fanguis e brachio statim ad unc. 12.; or,
Applicentur quamprimum temporibus hirudines fex ; or,
Appliceturfatim emplafrum vefcatorium capite rafo.
40 2‘ ^ lls _ ingredients direEled in each formula fhould be
Arrange- arranged in the order in which they are to be mixed by
Se°ntr f0790under' This may be thought a matter of
* importance, but it is more delerving of notice
than is geneially fuppofed. For the mofl part, indeed
in whatever order the praaitioner may arrange 'the in¬
gredients in his formula, a fkilful apothecary will com¬
bine them in that order which experience has fhewn
him to be the mofl convenient j but it is finely much
neater that the order of preparation fhould be preferred
in the piefcription, this being confidered as the guide by Rules for
which the compounder is to direct his operations. Sup- i'rt;fciiP-
po!e we were to preferibe a medicine containing cafor t!°ns' .
oil, dft died water, mucilage of gum arable, fyrup of
rhubarb, and tinciure of fenna. In the preparation of
this medicine the apothecary will firit rub together the
oil and mucilage ; he will then add the fyrup, and per¬
haps the tinciure, and laftly the water. In this order
then it would be bed to exprefs the formula. See
Kirby’s Tables, formula 54. In this manner the neat-
nefs of the medicine is iniured, and the preparation of it
rendered more eafy and expeditious. It is very ulual
for preferibers to begin with the article that is to be
moft abundant in the medicine, as the water, and fo
gradually deicend to that of lead quantity •, and parti¬
cular care is generally taken to place in fucceffion thole
ingredients that are employed in equal quantities, with
the fign (da jingulorum, of each) after the lad. This
feems rather a puerile method, and is commonly incon¬
fident with the pra&ice of compofition.
There are other reafons for arranging the ingredients
in the order of compofition. In fome cafes a very vola- \
tile fubdance forms a part of the medicine, as aether, or
ammonia ; and it is proper that this diould be the lad
ingredient in the compofition of the medicine, that as
little as pomble of it may be diitipated. It ii proper,
therefore, that it diculd dand lad in the formula (fee
Kirby’s tables, formulae 126, 129 and 130). There is
a formula given in the Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica for an
embrocation, to be compofed of 2 drams of tinBure of
camphor (camphorated fpint), 1 dr. of water of aceta-
ted litharge (Goulard'1 s extraiT) and a pound of dfilled
water.' We are told that the mixture of thefe ingre¬
dients is to take place in the order in which they are let
down, otherwife the camphor will be feparated *. * Pkartn.
We have already mentioned (N° 3) the names oiChirurg.
the feveral parts of which a compound medicine may be ^ ec*lt*
formed, as the bafs, the adjuvant, the correBor, and^'
conjlituent; and have explained the reafons for the ad¬
dition of the three latter. There are fome rules re-
fpedling thefe, which it will be proper to confider in this
place.
3. The bafs Jhould always be fngfe, unlefs fome wo-Rules for
advantage is expected to arife jfvom the employment bafis;
oj two or more remedies of the fame kind. The reafon
of this rule is fufficiently obvious, as the effedl of a fingle
remedy is much more eafily determined and proportion¬
ed than that of two or more employed together. The
advantages of fimplicity in prefeription will be confider¬
ed prefen tly.
4. If more than one bafs be employed, they fhould be
of the fame nature, or fuch as produce the fame effcBs.
1 his needs no illuftration.
5* With reipefl to the adjuvant, we fhall remark on-for the ad-
ly that one ufe generally affigned to it, viz. that of fa-iuvant>
cilitating the folution of the balls in the ftomach, ap¬
pears equivocal. It is not uncommon to order refinous
drugs to be made up into pills with foap, which is con¬
fidered by many as afling in the way of promoting folu¬
tion. Soap is often a good conflituent, but we do not
think it can produce the effect above alluded to. 43
6. The ufe of the correBor requires a little more dif-^ort*ie cor'
cuffion. . One of the firft intentions of the corredlor isredlor*
to diminifh the too violent adtion of the principal reme¬
dy, or to prevent its exerting an aftion in an improper
part of the body. ilius7 mucilage may be added to
colony nth,
Rules for colocynlJi, (bitter apple), or given after it, to blunt
Rrtfcnp- or le|]'en the acrimony which this fubitance is commonly
t!0ns‘ , found to polfefs. So again, mercury is often combined
with opium, when it is required to introduce a confider-
able quantity of the former into the fyftem, or to fpeak
more properly, to acquire the full benefit of its accum-
mulated ftimulus. This can fcarcely be elfecled, if it
be allowed to run off by the bowels. Camphor is often
given after the application of a blifter, to obviate the
llrangury which frequently attends the external appli¬
cation of catitharidcT. In fame cafes the cinchona bark
produces ffeknefs or purging, and here the addition of
a few drops of tinclure of opium to each dofe is pro¬
per.
7. Another ufe of the correftor rs to obviate or dif-
guife the unplehfant tude or odour of the principal re¬
medy. Thus, the emetic in our prefeription is ordered
to be prepared of the voine of ipecacuanha inttead of the
powder, as the wine that forms the folvent of that re¬
medy difguifes its unpleafant tafte. The articles ufually
employed as correctors of flavour, are fyrups and tinc¬
tures of various kinds, effential aromatic oils, &c. and
the ufe of thefe has been often much abufed. The ad¬
dition of a large quantity of fugar, in fome cafes, efpe-
cially in dijfpepfa or indigeflion, feldom fails of increaf-
ing the fymptoms of the difeafe, as in a debilitated ftate
of the ftomach it quickly paffes into a dale of fermen¬
tation, and produces flatulence, pain, and anorexia or
lofs of appetite, the very fymptoms which we are to re¬
move. It is a common pra&iee to add fyrup to feveral
of the neutral falts, as fulphate of foda, fulphate of iron,
&c. with a view to improve their flavour ; but we ap¬
prehend that wdroever has tailed the naufeous mixture
will fcarcely agree with the preferiber that he has gain¬
ed his point.
8. The abufe of alcohol in the form of tinctures has
been fometimes carried to a great, and, we think, a cul¬
pable excefs. This has arifen fometimes from the de-
fife of the patient to have his medicines made flrong and
good, and not unfrequently, perhaps, from mercenary
views in the practitioner, to induce the patient to fwal-
low a greater quantity of medicine, becaufe it is ren¬
dered agreeable to his palate. We have no doubt that
many well-meaning practitioners order a confiderable
dofe of tincture from a miftaken complaifance to their
patients, without apprehending any, ill confequer.ces
from it; but in faft, the intemperate ufe of thefe tinc¬
tures is injurious to the ftomach, and has, we believe,
not unfrequently drawn fome of the moil fober perfons
into ^ habit of dram-drinking. The propenfity to the
ufe of cordials, which is now become fo prevalent, has
probably arifen from this fource. The quantity of al¬
cohol ordered by fome preferibers is truly aftonifhing.
A book lately came into our hands, which is called a
tranjlation of elegant medical preferiptions for various
diforders, by the late Dr Hugh Smith. For the accu¬
racy of the translation we cannot vouch, not having feen
the original 5 but if it be accurate, the fpirituous cinna¬
mon water [fpirit of cinnamon'), feems to have been a
very favourite article in Dr Smith’s catalogue of medi¬
cines, as it is no unufual thing to fee an ounce, or 14-
ounce of it ordered in a fingle draught, or four ounces
in an eight-ounce mixture. Did not this occur fo fre¬
quently in the preferiptions of Dr Smith, we fhould fup-
pofe it to be fome blunder of the tranflator or tranferiber,
Vol. XVII. Part I.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
in miftaking the charafter denoting dram for the fym-
321
Ru'es for
Preferip¬
tions.
44
Abuie of
tindtures.
bolical character iignifying ounce.
9. A third ufe of the correftor is to render the me   
dicine more agreeable to the ftomach. Thus, fulphate 45
of foda is to many perfons very naufeous, and is not un¬
frequently rejefted by vomiting ; but the addition of a
fmall quantity of le?)ion juice, or offupertartrate of pot-
cijh, is found to correft this unpleafant quality. The
bark of cinchona does not agree with feme ftomachs,
without the addition of an aromatic j the cafcarilla or¬
dered in the above powders, affords a ufeful addition,
with the view of rendering it more agreeable to the
ftomach.
The unpleafant odour of a medicine is more difficult 4
to correft than its flavour. In internal medicines this
is ufually beft effefted by regulating the form in which
they are exhibited j as, in preferibing the fulphuret of
potalh, it is better to order it in the form of a powder
to be fweetened with fugar, to be fwaliowed dry (fee
Kirby’s Tables formula 68), than by way of draught or
mixture. The odour of external medicines is belt cor- ,
refted by the effential oils and perfumes. Thus, in uf-
ing fulphur for cutaneous difeafes, it is ufual to add a
quantity of effence of bergamot or oil of lavender,
which, though they do not entirely deftroy the odour
of the fulphur, have a confiderable effeft in difguifing
it-' _ _ i 47
10. In ordering a correftor, the praftitioner ffiould Quantity
be aware that it is not the quantity of the balls, but its °^
quality that he is to correft. If a dofe of digitalis or , !
offquill makes the patient lick, we Ihould not think of
giving opium or effervefeing draughts to prevent this
effect, but we fhould leffen the quantity of the medicine
at its next exhibition. We have been rather minute on
the fubjeft of the correftor, as we conceive that much
will depend on the adroit management of this part of
a formula, in fhowing' the neatnefs and addrefs of the
preferiber. By a proper ufe of correctors he can often
regulate the aftion of a medicine, and conflderably re¬
lieve the feelings of bis patient.
11. The confituent employed in a formula will ofR-emaiks
courfe vary with the fonn of the medicine. In the ”';.^Ecoa*
more folk! compofitions, as bolufes, pills, and eleftua-
ries, it is generally fyrup, conferve, confeftion, or ex¬
tract. In liquid medicines, it is either fimple water,- or
fome watery liquid, as deco&ions, infifons, or water
difilled from fome aromatic plant. It is proper to re¬
mark, that the preferiber flisuld confider whether a
conftituent ordered as fucb, be neceffary, for it often
happens, that the extrafts or pilular mafles kept in the
fhops, are already of a proper conliftence for making in¬
to pills. It is obvious that the conftituent, if it be not
fimple water, Ihould have fimilar qualities with the
other parts of the medicine, unlefs when it contains in
it the correftor. ^
12. In the prefeription which we have given as an Names of
example, the names of the articles are written at length, ingredients
We do not, however, approve of this being generally !Atten sA
done in praftice. To an apothecary’s apprentice it can length,
anfwer no other end than to exercife his latinity, and
difplay the erudition of the preferiber. In faft, it may
even tend to miflead him j for as the names of the ar¬
ticles kept in his mafter’s (hop, are always painted on
the labels, or drawers, in an abbreviated form, the
words at full length ate not better underftood by the
S f compounder,
q22
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Rules for
Prefcrip-
tions.
—
5C.
'Symbolical
characters
to be a-
voided.
Compounder, and indeed they are often more intelligible
in the concife form in which he is accuftomed to fee
them. Add to this, that the writing of the words at
full length may occafionally betray the pradlitioner in¬
to an unguarded millake, which may call in queftion
Ids grammatical accuracy. In Fox’s Formulae Selectee,
calotvelas perpetually occurring as the genitive in (lead
of calomclanos; and in a work on midwifery, publifh-
ed by Dr Pugh of Chelmsford, grammatical errors
both in the names and in the directions are to be detedt-
<d paJTim. The only advantage that writing at length
feems to pcffefs, is lhat it teaches a beginner to read a
prefeription, which by the way is often at firft no eafy
matter. But practice foon renders this familiar.
13. The quantities of the ingredients in the above
prefeription are not expreffed in the ufual fymbols, but
we have employed the contradled forms of the words
uncia and drachma, and the common Arabian figures,
as recommended in the preface to Dr Kirby’s tables.
The diiecfions alfo are written in F.nglifh. The rea-
fons alfigned in the work above referred to, are as fol¬
low7. “ The characters 5 and 3 are fo fimilar, that they
may eafily be written for each other, and that they have
fometimes been fo written cannot be denied. The con-
fequence is obvious; a ftroke of the pen too much may
kill the patient, and a ftroke too little may produce a
medicine of little or no efficacy. Strange ! that phy-
ficians fhould have been fo mifled by an affedlation of
myftery or concealment, (for to what elfe can be
attributed the ufe of thefe hierogylyphics ?) as to
place the fafety of their patients at the mercy of a lapfus
penned Unc. and dr. can never be written for each
other, and we fee no good reafon why thefe ab.breyia-
tions fhould not be employed for uncia and drachma, as
well as gr. and git. for granum and gutta. Dr. Spens,
in his elegant edition of the Phannacopccia Nofocomii
Fdinburgenfis, has employed thefe contradled words,
but has retained the Roman numerals.
“ The ufe of the Arabian figures appears calculated
to infure both perfpicuity and difpatch. They are more
eafily written, occupy lefs room in a preferipdon, and
(by their familiarity) remove all poffibility of mil-
take.
“ As to the diredrions, they fhould always be writ¬
ten in the vernacular language. In a prefeription, per¬
fpicuity is always our firft ■ objedi •, it is not here that
we are called upon to difplay our learning and claffical
elegance ; and w'hoever confiders that thefe are proper¬
ties not alw'ays to be met with in the fhop of an apothe¬
cary or,a druggift, wall readily wave them, in order to
infure the perfedt underftaiding of "his preferiptions. It
does not indeed require any great knowledge of Latin
to tranflate the dirediions which ufually occur in pre-
feriptipns *, but as there are cafes in which a long and
rather complex diredHon is employed, we fhould leave
nothing to the contingency of the learning or ignorance
of the compounder, but by writing the directions our-
felves in the received language of the country, put it
out of his power to injure our reputation, or endanger
the fafety of the patient.”
The dofes of medicines muft, in a great meafure, be
the dofes of determined by experience ; but after having thus afeer-
tained the medium dofe proper for an adult under ordi¬
nary circumftances, and of an ordinary conftilution,
there are certain general confiderations, according to
51
Rules for
medicines.
which we may proportion the dofes of the fame fubftance
to various conftitutions and ages. In regulating the
dofes of medicines, we are to attend chiefly to the fol¬
lowing confiderations.
a. The circumiiances of the difeafe and the vital
powers of the patient.
b. The powers, mode of exhibition, and particular
intention of the medicine employed.
c. The age, fex, conftitution, and habits of the pa-
tIent- . . S2
14. The circumjlances of the difeafe to be attended to, Dofes regu-
are its nature, feat, period, and degree of violence. lateci by
There are feveral diieafes that require Herculean reme- ^!e difeafjk
dies, and thefe in very large dofes. It is well known ,
that maniacs require much greater dofes to produce the
fame effect than molt other patients. If we are to ad-
snir.ifter an emetic to a perfon in this fituation, it would
be of no ufe to preferibe 2 or 3 grains of tartrate of
antimony and potafo, or a fcruple of ipecacuanha, the
ufual dofes in ordinary cafes. Lefs than 6 gis. of the
former will fcarcely excite .vemriting, and it is fome¬
times nectffary to order 10 or 15 gis. If we wifh to
procure deep to thefe w retched beings, a few grains of
opium are a trifle. Dr Darwin mentions two cafes of
infanity, in cne of which 2 fcruples of folid opium were
adminiftered, and four hours after, a third fcruple } while
in the other, a furious maniac was rendered calm and
rational in the fpace of a few hours by a dofe of 400
drops of tinfture of opium.
Again, the more violent the difeafe, the larger dofes
are generally required for its removal; but on the other
hand, the later the period or ftages of feveral difeafe?,
as fever, confumption, and fimilar affections attended
with great debility, the lefs is the quantity required to
produce the fame effeCt ; or rather the lefs able will the
patient be to bear the ufual dofes. When the vital
powers are much diminifhed, a large dofe may be at¬
tended with very feiious confequences. rJ bus, in cafes
of fufpended animation by drowning, where the vital
energy is nearly exhaufted, if, when the powers of life
are juft returning, w7e were to oblige the patient to
fwallow’ a quantity of brandy, or even a glafs of pure
wine, we ft.ould probably Another the glimmering fpark.
Again, in cafes of torpor from cold, if we expofe the
frozen limb to a fudden confiderable heat, a gangrene
enfues •, whereas, had we in the former cafe given a lit¬
tle wine and wTater, and in the latter applied a /node-
rate gradually increafing warmth, attended with gentle
frlflion, wtc fhould probably have reftored the patient,
and preferved the limb.
15. The powers, form, and intention of the medicine By the na-
vwfi le confdered. The more a Clive remedies muft be u,re anc*
adminiftered with greater caution than fuch as are °f
inferior efficacy. Thus, if we are to exhibit the corrofve cines.
muriate of mercury, the oxide of arfenic, the nitrate of
fiver, or other powerful and dangerous remedies, we
muft; begin with a quantity rather below7 than above tire
medium dofe, and gradually increafe it according to
the effcCI produced. On the other hand, how7ever, we
muft not defeend to dofes that are trifling and inert. -It
is as ridiculous to preferibe a fcruple of cinchona twice
or thrice a day, to reftore vigour to a debilitated fyftem,
as it would be improper to order half an ounce of rhu¬
barb for an ordinary cathartic. A prudent praCHtioner
yrill avoid both extremes of timidity and rafhr.efs, and
will
Rules for will neither rifle the fafely of his patient by an exceflive
Prefcrip- nor give him lingering fufpenfe and pain, for
tions- vvant of the due application of the proper remedies.
v Much will depend on the form in which the medicine
is to be exhibited. Thus, if we are to employ exter¬
nally, or by way of blifter, fuch medicines as are ufually
given by the mouth, it is neceffary to order them in
much larger quantity. The ufual dofe of tincture ot
opium is 25 or 30 drops} but if this is to be applied by
fridtion, from 2 drams to half an ounce will lonielimes
be required for one application } and in a glyitei it is
ufual to preferibe a dram or two. The tinfture of can-
tharides, whether given internally, or applied by fric¬
tion to the lurface, is a powerful remedy ; but in the
former cafe, 20 or 30 drops are fufficient, while in the
latter a dram or two is ufually employed. Similar re¬
marks might be made with refpedl to the ufe of mercu¬
ry, and many other remedies.
The intention with which the medicine is admimflered
mud alfo be taken into confideration, as there are many
fubftances that produce different effedfs, according to
the quantity employed. ihus, tartrate vf antimony
and potajh may be given as an emetic, a diaphoretic., an
expsBorant, or a cathartic, according to the magnitude
or repetition of the dofe. X wo or three grains given at
once, or a grain every 15 minutes, ufually excite vo¬
miting } but from T gr- to 1 gr- glven every. 5 or
6 hours, generally keeps up a conflant naufea without
vomiting, and thus, by fympathy, the medicine.adts as
a diaphoretic or antifpafmodic. Lhe medicine given in
the defe of a third of a grain twice or thrice a day is a
good expedtorantq and in the dofe of X gr* eveiy
two or three hours, uiually operates by the bowels. It
is well known that the effect of opium varies confidera-
bly, according to the dofe and the interval at whicn it is
adminiftered. If wTe wifh to promote ileep, o. relieve
pain, we give what is called a full dofe, that is,, a grain
or tw’o. It thus adts as a narcotic, and an antifpafmo¬
dic or a diaphoretic. Given in fmall repeated doles, it
adts as a general Itimulus, promotes abtorption, and an-
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS..
fivers ttie purpofes of a diuretic and an aHringent. Ten M'V"
or twelve grs. of aloes exhibited at once, are cathartic j tions.
but one or two grs. given twice or thrice a day gently
ftimulates the redlum and neighbouring parts, and adts
in particular cafes as an emmenagogue.
We need fcarccly remark, that when two or more
articles' of a fimilar nature ar6 preferibed in the fame
formula, the dofe of each muff be proportionally leffen-
ed. 1 »• 7 ^
16. We mud regulate our dofes according to the age,
fex,conjiitution, and habits of the patient. . _ tient. ^
It is evident that various ages muff require various
proportions \ but experience Ihew'S that the required
dofes are not diredtly proportional to the ages, as might
a priori be^xpedtedj and as the mathematical phyficians
in the beginning of the 18th century bebe.ved (e)*-
, Experience has enabled us to conftrucl a table, in v hie
may be ihewn the dofes proportioned to various ages,
adjuited from a certain medium dofe for an adult:
fuch a table is the following.
Age.
Weeks,
Months,
7
14
28
Proportional dofe 1.
A bfolute dofe, dr. 1.
SS-
Cable*
grs. 4
grs.
grs.
grs.
5
10
12
Years,
3;
5
7
14
21
7 7
100
grs.
fcr.
dr;
fcr.
dr.
gr-
gr-
fcr.
lS
1
2
1
55
5°
2
S f 2
The
rnv At the tjme w^en Newton had by his difeoveries rendered the ftudy of mathematics as fafluonable as it is ufe-
Ful, medicine partook of the general.bias and feveral phyficians of m^nuity a
theory and praaice under the dominion of.their favourite Fclenc £ % Physico-mathic* et Medico-praBicce.
^ » vev/p.u.ofop.uc. m.umer Ore geucrel
mode 0/regulating Urefe accovdiug to t,re »d ^
termined by their celerity multiplied by their quantity of matter, p V prams of any
tion in the following maimer.
3° ; 1 " 6o:(l5 = )10
3°
In order to render this generally applicable to every cafe, he calls in the aid of algebra, and fubflituting fymbots
for the above numbers we have
r—the greater age given
<7=cthe lefs age given
/=rthe dofe given
«■—the dofe required.
Then r \ a v. t
57
Climate
. 58
Idmlyn-
cracy.
EXTEMPORANEOUS
1 jie above table ntay ferve as a general guide to tbe
young practitioner. Ihe lecond column fhotvs the ali¬
quot parts of the medium dole for an adult, that are
auapted to different ages from feven weeks to ioo years,
fnppoling lids medium dofe to be i ; and the third column
gives the abfolute quantities in grains, &c. taking the
medium dofe at i dr. 1 his table, however, will by no
means apply in all cafes. I'hus, the dole of opium ad-
juhed troin this table, for a child of five years old, is
4 gr- and that of fab-muriate of mercury or calomel
I gr. ; but in cafes of phrertitis hydrocephctlica (water in
the head), we may adminiiter half a grain of the for¬
mer, and three or four of the latter. Females in general
require lefs defes than males \ and perions of a robutt
and vigorous conftitution, fuch as country labourers, the
more S&ive mechanics, fervants, and ihofe of the’me-
lancholic and phlegmatic temperaments, will, all other
tnmgs being equal, require larger dofes than perlbns of
an oppofite defeription.
1 he climate alfo feems to have fame influence in this
refpea. ^ In America and the Welt Indies we are in¬
formed that muen larger dofes of lubmuriate oi mercury
are given than are ufually preferibed in Britain. In ca¬
lcs where we would give three or four grains, they would
oroer 10 or 15. We are toid, too, that in fame parts of
India, in order to excite vomiting in a native it is
jometimes neceffary to give 20 fcruples of ipecacuanha.
I he Germans, and efpecially, according to Gaubius, the
inhajitants of Saxony and Weftphalia, require much
iprgv.i doles than the inhabitants ol any other country in
Furope. J
Peculiarities of conllitulion, commonly called idiopni-
crafies, require attention on the part of the preferiber.
It is therefore proper to inquire whether any circum-
ftance of this kind occurs in any individual, efpecially
wnen called for the firft time.
The habits of the patient mull alfo be regarded, as in
general medicines lofe fame of their effect by being of¬
ten repeated, and therefore require to have their dofe
mcreafed. Thus, perfons who are accuftomed to the
urn of opium, will derive no benefit from the ordinary
notes of that medicine, but when labouring under a com¬
plaint that requires the exhibition of opium, they mull
take a quantity fomewhat larger than that to which they
PRESCRIPTIONS.
a:e nabituated. It is well known what quantities of Rules for
opium-are confumed by fume of the eailern nations j and Erefarip.
ihe writer of this article has feen a travelling gypfy who tioi!S
never went to reft without taking more than half a dram
of fohd opium (c).
l hl\ I.^Fpicuity is effentially neceffury in writinu a ferfaicuity,
prefcnption, and every thing which can in any decreea brindpal
dimimth it ought to be carefully avoided. Many onheConfldera'
observations already made have been direded to tbisU011'
point 5 and we have yet one or two remarks to comofave
this part of our fubject. A preferiber fhould be very
careful not to introduce into his prefeription articles
which are obfblete, or which are no longer contained in
our pharmacopoeias, unlels he is certain that the apothe¬
cary who is to prepare the medicine keeps fuch articles
be fide him ; and even then, as it is moil likely that they
have been long prepared, and have loft much of their
efticacy, he cannot depend on their anlwering the end
hepropofes. I hus, few would now think of preferibing
the corife 1:^ paulina, the theriaca Andrornachi, or the
aTua alexitenajimplex, or many other compounds, which
have given place to more Ample and convenient forms. (>*,
18. The lame cautions will apply, though perhapsObfokte
with fame limitations, to thole medicines which areor unccm-
rarely met with, or have been newly introduced intomon me
our Pharmacopoeias. _ Before we venture to preferibe an ordered
article of this delcnption, we .fhould afeertain w hether u ith cau-
or not it is to be procured in or near the place where
the patient refides, or, where poffible, we fhould <five
timely notice to the apothecary io provide himielf with
feme of it, 'Many unpleafant circumftances may a rile
from not attending to this caution, efpecially where the
patient is. apprifed that he is about io take a new re-
medy which has been found very beneficial in cafes
firm la r to his own. For inftance, the Rhus Toxi-
coccndron has lately been much extolled in the cure of
paky. Suppofe a phyfician in a provincial town, at a
great diftance from the capital, were to preferibe this
medicine. The apothecary has none of it, nay, perhaps
has never heard of the medicine, and it muft be procured
from the capital. This occafions a delay for feveral
days, and in the mean time the paralytic perfon is im¬
patient to try the tfihci of the new remedy, and probably
ret ales to take any other. When the medicine arrives,
the
and
we
be
aud
' M "ogbe :i;tdabv .ti r r- - ftr—, propored,
mean that of abolifhing the ufual method of m °f ' ° ln 1 e lnlencfed new edition of their Pharmacopoeia,
no doubt that in many cafes of ^ * r° m ^ of %uids ^ ^ps. There cm __
of courfe the quantity of liquid which tliev contain^ v^rv’ * ^ f lo Sre^ UI1certsnity ; the fize of the drops, aud
and form of the neck of the phial from wdrich thev ? ^ T?? ,fieat/ accordinS to l^e nature of the liquid, the fize
by meafure, of di/IiUed ^ w ! Xd ont ftod f ’ ^ ftate of the »tmofphere. The dram,
diameter; whereas the fame bulkof irrorT^rit d k' f;?m,a".0lxlinaiT two ounce phial with a neck of tbe ufual
mo've. Confidering this uncertltv^t 120 droPs» and ^e tiueftures will afford many
employ the fmall graduated meafures of Lane * fa ° fa Wl/ "n ver^.na,™f 0* droPs {KutL) ln preferiptions, and to
ca!le4™W. Thus, inftead of " d rinT, f’ " 'l ^ in'° l*
O^mfmiau cf poujb, &c. fo
lciw4l!ifa'^TI4'™lddfproormi"ht be‘made’ “, ,he fo di.Iute,d ,hat th.e ** n.all not be
tea-fpoon now contains a dram, ° ' " 1 u Uie that ftiouid contain that quantity, as an ordinary
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Rules for the patient has perhaps, as not unfrequently happens,
TrOciip- 20p. gnthufiaim, and begins to take it with reluc-
lance or diiguft, feelings which not a little influence the
fuccefs of a remedy, and thus difappoint the hopes both
of the patient and phyflcian.
Under this head o! avoiding uncommon medicines, it
may be proper to remark, that though a phylician in
this empire is adowed to preferibe articles irom any of
the national difpenfatories, he fnould in general confine
himfelf to that which is molt ufed in the part of the em¬
pire where he refides, jud if he mentions an article from
either of the others, he thou Id fubjoin to the name of
that article the initials Fh. Ed. F/i. Land, or Fh. Dub.
to prevent miftakes, thus,
R. Tinclurse Scillaj {Fh. Land.) dr. 2.
R. Tindlune Anguftune [Ph. Dub.') unc. 1.
R. Solutionis muiiatis Calcis {Ph. Ed.) dr. 1.
recipes of old practitioners handed down from father to
fon, or from mafter to apprentice, which feera to owe
their celebrity chiefly to the multitude of their ingredi¬
ents. The Liflion diet drinks have long been famous in
the cure of difeafes of the fkin. The following is one
of thefe, as taken from the Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica.
R. Decoctum Lufitahicum, No. 2.
Sarfaparillae concifie,
Ligni fantali rubri,
Ligni fan tali ciXnm '^Jing. unc. ifs. j
Radicis glycyrrhizae,
Radicis mezerei,j/f«^. drach. ij.j
Ligni rhodii,
Lxgni guaiaci officinalis,
Ligni ialTafras.yfwo-. unc. fs. j
Antimonii unc. i.
Aquae diliiilala. lb v. ■ -
325
Rules Fir
Frefcrip-
tions.
63
Errors in
point of
fimplicity;
(ii
Compound*,
not offici¬
nal, to he
fpecifically
deferibed.
19. With the fame view of enfuring perfpicuity, tve
flmuld never preferibe a compound medicine which is
not officinal, merely by its ufual title, without fpecifying
the component parts, or at leaft the proportions of thefe.
fl hus, if we propofe to order an infufioti of quajfia, or a
dccoEHon of oak bark, it would not be fumcient to write
in the formula wftji qua fur, or decoSii quercus , but
it would be proper, either to preferibe the mode of pre¬
paring them at full length, thus—
R. Rafurse ligni qua film excelfie, dr. 1.
Aquae diftillatse ferventis, fbj
Infunde per horarn, et cola ; or,
R. Quercus contufi, unc. t.
Aquae diftillatae tbij.
Coque ad dimidium, et cola ;
And then to preferibe the proper quantity, as,
R. Infufi hujufee, unc. 7, &c. or,
R. Decofti fupra praeferipti, unc. 8, &c.
Or, it would at leafl be proper to mention within a
parenthefis, the proportions to be employed in the com-
pofition, in the following manner ;
R. Infufi quaffice excelfe (cum dr. 1. ad aquae
Ibj. &c.) j or,
R. Decodti quercus (cum corticis uncia 1 ad
aquae fbj.) &c.
i\gain, it would be abfurd in private pradfice to pre-
f ribe the citrate of potajb or of ammonia by the names
of mi fur a fa/ina, or julepum neutrale ; but it would be
neceflary to introduce into the formula the proper quan¬
tities of lemon juice and of carbonate of potafh, or car¬
bonate of ammonia, to prepare thefe fecondary falts.
See Kirby’s 'FDAes, formula 13.
Simplicity 2°- That we maij the better avoid miftakes in compo-
to be Itu- ftion, it is advifable to fhtdij fmplicitij as much as pofft-
cikd. b/g : the phyfician is confidered as the affiflant of na¬
ture, and ought to follow her example in producing ef¬
fects by the moft Ample means. Nothing looks fo un-
fcienlific as a crouded formula ; it bears the marks of
empiricifm in its very face, and always reminds us of
thofe monuments of pharmaceutical folly, the theriaca
and the mithridate to be hereafter noticed. Itfeems as
if the preferiber faid to himfelf, “ I will put plenty of
ingredients into this medicine, and the deuce is in it if
feme of them do’nt £infwer.” There are many favourite.
Thefe ingredients arc to be macerated for 24 hours,
and afterwards boiled till the fluid is reduced to half its
original quantity. From one to two pints are given
daily *. * Pharm.
Some praflitioners adhere to this form j but others, lefs Ehinag.
bigotted to old cuftoms, have recourle to a contracted ^ u
form of it, retaining only the guaiacum, faflafias, and li¬
quorice, and adding raifins, fimilar to the decoCtum guai¬
aci compofitum of the Pharmacopoeias.
The following is given in Fox’s Formulae as a remedy
for dropfy.
R. Succ. limon. rec. unciam,
Salabyfynth. fcrupulos duos,
  corn. cerv. fcrupulum,
Tinct. cinnam. et
Aceti icWYit.fng. drachmas duas,
TinCt. cort. Peruv. femunciam,
Aq. menth. vulg. limp, et
——— purse fog. unciam,
Vini antim. Pluxhami guttas quadraginta,
TinCt. Theb. guttas viginti.
Fiat miftura, pro dofibus duabus.
On examining this prefeription, we fliall find the re¬
fill ting medicine to be compoled of citrate of potajb,
acetate of ammonia, a folution of tartrate of antimony
and potajb, and tinBure'of opium, all which are dia¬
phoretics ; of fquill, which is diuretic; and of cinna¬
mon, Peruvian bark, alcohol, and mint water, which are
tonic and Jlwiulant. Now, a diaphoretic, a diuretic,
and a ftimulant, may not form a bad compound in drop¬
fy, but as they may be given in a much more Ample
form, the prefent medicine is abfurdly complex and un-
fcientific. It might be reduced as follows.
R. Aquae- acetitis ammoniac, unc. 1.
Tindturee fcillae, dr. 1.
■  lauri cinnamomi, unc. -|»
Vini tartritis antimonii, dr. 1.
TinCturae opii, gt. 40.
Aquae diftillatae, unc. vi. M.
We fliall quote one other example of a medical far-;
rago, taken from De Gorter’sFormulre. It is for a pow¬
der formed of vegetables; and we may remark it is in
the vegetable kingdom that preferibers have molt exu¬
berantly difplayed their talent at compofition.
R. Rad,
326
Rules for
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
. 64
Difad van¬
tages of
complex
formulae.
R. Rad. Imperator
Arillolochii utriufque
 zedoar.
Siler, montan. aa dr. 1.
Zinzib. fcr. 2.
Flor. Centaur, min. dr. I.
  Rorifmar. fcr. 1.
  Gratiol. German, dr.
Bacca Lauri
 jurdp* Sa dr. ifs.
Thy mi,
Serpylii,
Abfinthiae,
Tanaceti,
Summitat. Santon.
dr. 1. M. f. pulv.
Such a powder as this may vie in compofition with
the theriaca and mithridate of redoubted fame. As this
medicine is compofed of fo many ingredients, poffeiTed of
various powers, it mail of com fe be endowed with many
virtues, or muit be a pulvit polychrejius. Accordingly,
its author acquaints us, in the margin, that it is refolvent,
fudorific, ftimulant, roborant, calefacient, aromatic, ifo-
machic, difcutient, diaphoretic, diuretic, and aperient )
that it is of fervice in dropfy, chlorofis, paralysis, apo¬
plexy, fever, delirium, and fifty other difeafesand morbid
afteftions, for a full detail of which we mult refer our
readers to the work itfelf.
One rvould think that the abfurdity of thefe complex
formulae would be abundantly evident to every man of
common fenfe-, but the empirical prefcriber w ill probab¬
ly fay, fuch is the medicine which I have frequently feen
given with fuccefs, and how am I fare that, by omitting
one of the materials, I may not deflroy the efficacy of
the medicine !
The more compounded a medicine is, the more diffi¬
cult it wall be to afcertain and proportion the efife&s
produced by its feveral parts on the human fyftem.
When feveral articles are employed at the fame time,
we cannot be certain to which of them we are to attri¬
bute the benefit which appears to refult, or the noxious
qualities which the compound may poffiefs. This rage
for compofition has been one great oblfacle to the im¬
provement of medicine. The effects of various fubfian-
ces on the body have been but little attended to j and
Indeed the inveiligation is difficult, and requires a long
feries of careful and nice experiments, and thefe made,
not on the inferior animals, but on man himfelf. The
adminiftration of medicines to the lower claffes of ani¬
mals, can throw' but little light on their a ft ion upon the
human body. Several fubftances which are highly inju¬
rious to man, are taken by feme other animals with im¬
punity. The old ftory of the origin of the name of an¬
timony is probably vrell known to many of our readers.
See Antimony. On the contrary, fome fubflances are
poifons to many of the lower animals, but are much lefs
injurious to man. A fmall quantity of nux vomica will
deftroy a garden moufe, but a man may take five or ten
grains with fafety, and even advantage. The dofes of
medicines, too, bear no proportion in the various ani¬
mals. A few grains of aloes are fufficient to purge a
man, but a horfe requires from half an ounce to a wdiole
©unce. It is therefore neceffary that man himfelf ffiould
be the fubjeft of experiment; and where great nicety is
required, the enquirer ffiould make the experiment on
- 3
his own perfon. Innumerable are the dogs, birds, and Ruks for
frogs, that have been facrificed on the altar of fcience. JJretcnP-
Few experimentalifts have, like Pelletier and Davy, ven- ' .
tured to operate on themfelves; and even where this has
been done, the eftefts of prejudice and previous hypo-
thefis have confiderably diminiffied the value of their re-
fearches.
It is advifable that every pmftitioner ffiould, from the
number of his patients, feleft a few cafes to which he
may particularly attend, carefully obferving and com¬
paring the effefts of the medicines preferibed. In this
W'ay he will in time colleft a body of information, from
which he may be able to draw fome valuable conclufions.
It is more peculiarly requifite to make obfervations on
the effefts of compound medicines, and compare them
with thofe produced by the component limples, when
given feparately. *
It would be unfair to difmifs this part of our fubjeft, All com-
without admitting that there are fome compound medi-pkx medi¬
cines, the good effefts of which muft be acknowledged, nut tG
though w'e cannot, in the prefent date of medical fcience, jemuej
explain their aftion. There are twTo medicines of this
kind, which the w'riter of this article has often feen pre¬
feribed by phyficians ofwhofe abilities and experience he
lias a high opinion, with evident good effeft, and which
yet have much of the complex empirical air that wTe have
been condemning. One of thele is a remedy for the ad¬
vanced Itage of dyfentery, and is preferibed nearly in the
following manner.
Infufi quaffiae (cum dr. I. ad aquae Ibj) unc. 6.
Magnefiae uftae dr. 2.
Tinfturae fennae unc. 2.
 cpii dr 2.
Eleftuarii aromatici dr. 1.
Syrupi Rhei dr. 3. M.
Signetur. Three or four table fpoonsful to be taken
every fx hours, fhahing the phial, and one fpoonful after
every loofefool.
Here are a bitter, an abforbent, a ftimulmt, a laxa¬
tive, and a narcotic, combined jn the fame medi¬
cine. To which of thefe are we to attribute the good
effefts which have appeared to us to refult from the ex¬
hibition of the whole ? Probably the flight laxative
and the abforbent are here of little ufe, and the chief
benefit is to be aferibed to the bitter and the flimuli,
confidering the opium in this light.
The other medicine to which we allude is confidered
as an antifeptic, and is frequently ordered in putrid dif-
eafes, efpecially in cynanche maligna or fcarlatina angi-
nofa. It is as follow's.
/
Muriatis fodee dr. l-y-
Succini limonis, dr. i-J.
Sacchari purificati, unc. J.
Spiritus myrillic. mofehati, dr. 3.
ZEtheris fulphurici cum alcohole, dr. 2.
Aquae menthae piperitse, unc. 6. M.
Signetur. Three table fpoon ful to be taken every
four hours (and in cynanche fome of it to be frequently
ufed by way of gargle).
What an apparent confufion of fait and four, of fweet
and llrong ! It is true that there is here no decompofition,
and yet the medicine is certainly unfcientific and empiri¬
cal.
21. A
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS. ?27
Rules for 21. A prefcriber Jhouid adapt 1m prcfcription, as far
Prefcrip- as may be, to the worldly circumjlances of his patient, di-
tl0ns- renting for the poorer clafs thofe forms which are leaft
,_l' f expenfive, fuch as powders, pills, electuaries, and ingre¬
dients for teas and decoctions, with proper directions how
to prepare them. To his more wealthy patients he may
prefcribe thofe forms which, by uniting neatnefs with
convenience, will both pleale his patient, and allow an
adequate remuneration to the apothecary, who in molt
places derives from his practice little profit, except what
arifes from the lale of his medicines. The forms heft
adapted to fuch patients are thofe of draughts, bolules,
powders, and julep, &c.
Neatnefs to 2 2. Neatnefs in prefeription fhoiild always be regarded•,
be obfer- for as the effects of medicines often depend much on the
yed, feelings of the patient, we (hould take care that his tafte,
fight, and fmell, he offended as little as poflible, that dil-
guft may not either prevent his taking- the medicine at
all, or at leaft prevent him from taking it with confi¬
dence. In liquid medicines, we ought as much as pof-
fible to avoid powders, and eveiy thing which can ren¬
der the liquid unpleafant to the eye : and if we prefcribe
a formula containing oil, we ought to take care that
this be intimately mixed with the other ingredients.
Thus, fuppofe, when about to employ opium by friclion,
we were to order equal parts of fiuffure of opium and oil
of olives. Though, when well ftiaken together, thefe in¬
gredients would incorporate fufficiently to anfwer the pur-
pofe of opiate fridtion, yet when allowed to Hand, they
would fpeedily feparate, and give the embrocation an un-
pleafant appearance. It would be belter, therefore, to
infure their combination by adding a little folution of
ammonia.
23. In this refpecl much will depend on the form of
the medicine ; and a phyfician {hould be perfedlly aware
what form is beft adapted to the articles he is to em¬
ploy, as well as what is moft agreeable to the patient.
This fubjeef of forms wras fufficiently explained in the
6S article Materia Medica, Part III. chap. 2.
Recapitu- We have now finifhed all that appeared moft import-
lation. ant on the general rules for extemporaneous preicrip-
tions but it may be proper to bring under one general
view the principles which have been laid down. The
great objedl of a practitioner is to cure his patient fafely,
agreeably, and expeditioufiy. That he may cure him
fafely, he is to ftudy perfpicuity and fimplicity. To in¬
fure perfpicuity, he {hould arrange his formulae in the
order of exhibition 5 write the words fo that they may
be moft intelligible ; arrange the articles of each formu¬
la in the mode of compofition 3 ufe abbreviated wmrds
for quantities inftead of fymbols ; employ the common
numerals; write the direclions in Englith ; avoid obfo-
lete or uncommon remedies, and order no article, not of¬
ficinal, merely by its name. To infure funplicity, he
muft employ no more ingredients than are neceffary.
That he may cure his patient agreeably, he muft ob-
ferve neatnefs in his preferiptions •, adapt his forms to
the nature of the remedies employed, and not prefcribe
offenfive remedies where thofe that are agreeable or pa¬
latable will anfwer the fame purpofe.
That he may cure his patients expeditioufly, he {hould
employ the moft efficaceous remedies in the proper dofes,
and take care they are adminiftered in fuch a manner as
to be moft likely to produce the defired effefh
We {hall now conclude thefc general obfervations on
prefeription with a few practical cautions, for which we Rules for
are chiefly indebted to Dr Percival. *
1. A practitioner {hould attend to the feelings and , ' ’ .
prejudices of his patient. Dr Percival ordered bleeding
to a patient labouring under peripneumony, who had a
great dread of the operation, and appears to have died
in confequence of its having been attempted.
2. A phyfician, after having afeertained the nature
of a difeafe, in confidering the treatment which he means
to adopt, {hould firft reflefl wffiether any evacuation be
neceffary, as bleeding, the application of leeches or of
blifters, cupping, vomiting, purging, &c.
3. He ffiould next enquire whether any particular*
fymptom, fuch as hemorrhage, great pain, exceflive
vomiting or purging, be fo violent or fo diftreffing as to
require immediate attention.
4. He is to confider wdielher the difeafe under notice
is one for the cure of which any (pecific remedy has been
difeovered, fuch as jnercury in fiphylis, cinchona in in-
termittents. Sic.
5. In chronic difeafes, where the ufual remedies fail,
of fuccefs, it is often of confequence to endeavour to
roufe the fyltem into a new action by mercury, eleCtri-
ci'y, opium, &.c. This praftice appears rather empiri¬
cal, but the experience of many able phyficians has evin¬
ced its propriety.
6. In commencing the treatment of any cafe, it is pro¬
per to begin with the fimpleft and fafeit method 5 and if
this does not fucceed, to try others of a more complex
and bolder defer!ption.
7. A phyfician fhould not change his plan or his re¬
medies too focn or too often.
8. The cafe's of new born infants require peculiar
caution, as a moderate dofe of a powerful medicine may
prove fatal. Four drops of tinifture of opium have been
.given to a child a few weeks old for gripes. The in¬
fant was feized with ftupor and convulfions, and died.
A practitioner of midwifery gave an infant two tea-
fpoonsful of caftcr oil by way of' purgative 5 fevere
vomiting and convulfions came on, and the child funk
under them. ^
IV. Modern pharmacy may be faid to commence Orfein of
about the middle of the 15th century, at which time it modem
appears to have been in a moft deplorable ftate of empi- pliarinacy*
rical barbariiy. Though it is probable that, among the
earlier practitioners of medicine, remedies were employ¬
ed in their moft limple forms, the art of compounding a
number of fimples together into one medicine had, by
the time of which wT£ are now fpeaking, arrived at a
pitch of extravagance which has never been exceed¬
ed.
What carried this oftentation of compofition to the
higheft excefs, was the projeCt of framing antidotes,
which being previoufly adminiftered, might defend a-
gainft any poifen whatever, that fhould afterwards be
taken into the body. To this fcheme is owing the enor¬
mous length of the celebrated mithridate and theriaca ;
for fuch medicines muft of courfe recommend themfelves
by the number and variety of their ingredients, as they
were to contain a proper antidote for eveiy poffible fpe-
cies of poifon, and more efpecially as thefe compofitions
were to be farther wrought up into little lefs than uni-
verfal remedies for all difeafes to which the human body
is fubjeft.
The firft of thefe antidotes was faid to be compofed
from
Sketches.
70
date.
32S
Hiftorical from flic refult of experiments made feparately with all
dnds of Ample antidotes by tlie famous king whofe
name it bears; but as no records are' left us of any of
Account of thofe particular experiments, we may reafonably conli-
the miihri- der this tale as fabulous. As it is not likely that this
medicine and the theriaca will ever again appear in our
Pharmacopoeias, we iliall, for the amufement of our
readers, deferibe the competition of each, as given in the
London Pharmacopoeia publiihed in 1746. The mi-
thridate is thus compofed.
“ bake or cinnamon 14 drams, of myrrh n drams;
agaric, fpikenard, ginger, tafi’ron, feeds of treacle mu-
tlard, or of mithridate muitard, frankincenfe, chio tur¬
pentine, of each 10 drams; camel’s hay, coitus, or in
its Head zedoary, Indian leaf, or in its Head mace,
French lavender, long pepper, feeds of hartwort, juice
of the rape of ciflus, drained itorax, opopanax, drained
galbanum, balfam of Gilead, or in its dead exprefled oil
of nutmegs, Ruffian cador, of each an ounce ; poley-
mountain, wrater-germander, the fruit of the balfam
tree, or in its dead cubebs, white pepper, feeds of the
carrot of Crete, bdellium drained, of each feven drams ;
Celtic nard, gentian root, leaves of dittany of Cre"e,
red rofes, feeds, of Macedonian pardey, the leffer cardo-
mom feeds freed from their hulks, fweet fennel feeds,
gum Arabic, opium drained, of each five drams ; root
of the fweet dag, root of wild valerian, anife-feed, faga-
penum drained, of each three drams ; fpignel, St John’s
wort, juice of acacia, or in its dead Japan earth, the
bellies of feinks, of each two drams and a half; clarifi¬
ed honey, thrice the weight of all the red. Difiblve the
opium fird in a little wine, and then mix it with the honey
made hot; in the mean time melt together in another
veffel the galbanum, dorax, turpentine, and the balfam
of Gilead, or the expreffed oil of nutmeg, continually
ftirring them round, that they may not burn ; and as
foon as thefe are melted, add to them the hot honey, fird
by fpoonfuls, and afterwards more freely : ladly, when
this mixture is nearly Cold, add by degrees the red of
the fpecies reduced to powder.
The preparation of the Theriaca andromachi, or Ve¬
nice treacle, is thus diredled.
“ Take of the troches of fquills, half a pound; long
pepper, opium drained, dried vipers, of each three
ounces ; cinnamon, balm of Gilead, or in its dead ex¬
preffed oil of nutmeg, of each two ounces ; agaric, the
root of Florentine oiris, water germander, red rofes,
feeds of navevv, extracl of liquorice, of each an ounce
and a half; fpikenard, faffron, ammomum, myrrh, co-
dus, or in its dead zedoary, camel’s hay, of each an
ounce ; the root of cinquefoil, rhubarb, ginger, Indian
leaf, or in its dead mace, leaves of dittany of Crete, of
horehound, and of calamint, French lavender, black
pepper, feeds of Macedonian parfley, olibanum, Chio tur¬
pentine, root of wild valerian, of eachlix drams ; gentian
root, Celtic nard, fpignel, leaves of poleymountain, of St
John’s wort, of ground pine, tops of creeping germander
with the feed, the fruit of the balfam tree, or in its dead
cubebs, anifefeed, fweet fennel feed, the Idler cardamom
feeds freed from their hulks, feed of bilhop’s-weed, of
hartwort, of treacle mudard or mithridate mudard,
juice of the rape of cidus, acacia, or in its dead Japan
earth, gum Arabic, dorax drained, fagapenum drained,
Lemnian earth, or in its dead bole Armenic or French
2
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Hifton’cai
Sketches.
7T r
Account ot
the the¬
riaca.
bole, green vitriol calcined, of each half an ounce ; root
of creeping birthwort, or in its dead of the long birth-
wort, tops of the leffer centaury, feeds ot the carrot ot
Crete, opoponax, galbanum drained, Rullia cador, jews
pitch, or in its dead while amber prepared, root of the
fweet flag, of each two drams; of clarified honey thrice
the weight of all the red. The ingredients are to be
mixed in the lame manner as in the mithridate.
The theriaca may be confidered as a modification of
the mithridate by Andromachus, though we are not in¬
formed what were his reafons for the variations, except
that by the addition of the viper’s fleih the medicine
was rendered more ufeful againd the bite of that ani¬
mal *. The theriaca was in fo great repute before the * Galen de
decline of the Roman empire, that even the wife Mar- ^vtulotu,
cus Aurelius was induced to make a daily ufe of it, to ; l' C"I'' ^
the great prejudice of his health ; for we are told by
Galen, that his head was fo much affeefed, that he doled
in the midlt of bufinefs ; and when on this account he
-omilted the opium in the compofition, he could-not
deep at all. . 73
It is not a little amufing to obferve the reafons that
induced the ancient compounders of medicines to croud L"e
their receipts with fuch a multitude of ingredients. Me- tRf A
dicines were then didributed into four qualities, of heat¬
ing, cooling, drying, and moifiening, by the combination
ot which, and the ftru&ure of the lubdance in which
they adhered, whether confiding of grors or fubtle parts,
was deduced another head of qualities from corffequen-
tial effefts they were fuppofed by this means to have
on the body, oF inciding, attenuating, incj'ajjating, re-
laxing, ajlringing, and the like ; by a farther profecu-
tion of this fpeculation was derived from the fame lource
a third arrangement of cephalics, hepatics, Jiomachics,
diuretics, and others; thefe orders being doled by a
fourth head, to comprehend fuch, whole effects fur-
mounted even the acutenefs of this fydern to explicate ;
thefe were laid to operate tota fuhjlantia. The fird of
thefe qualities, as well as tiiofe which depended on
them, were farther divided into four degrees, and
each of thefe into three fubdivifions, whereby medicines
might be adapted to each cafe with the nicelt fubtilty
by the rules of arithmetic. Again, when the compofi¬
tion was thus happily adjufted, it was farther to be en¬
quired, whether the medicine after all might not be fuf-
pecled of fome noxious quality, requiring correction ;
and this, whether real or imaginary, was by the farther
addition of fome proper accompaniment to be provided
for. It was alfo to be confidered, that a medicine
might be ferviceable to a.remote part, butexpofed to be
deitroyed by the powers of digeftion before it arrived
there ; then it was to be affnted by fome material, by
which it thould be defended and condudted fafely, fo as
neither to be afted upon, nor aft, till it readied the de-
figned part, and then be left to operate without impe¬
diment, its guide and protector being itfelf there oppor¬
tunely confumed : fome medicines were pretended to
run too fwiftly through the body, others to move on too
fluggilhly; the firit of thefe required a cutb, the others a
fpur: often a director was neceffary, that the medicine
might not ftray from its deltined courfe ; every medicine
was fuppofed to have its peculiar Ration, in which, left to
itfelf, its operation would be exerted ; if it were requi¬
red to perform its office fooner, it was to be committed
to
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Hiftorical to the cuilody of Tome other, which might fix it to the
, ^etchcs- region defired j if it were defigned to proceed farther,
it muft have an aflift ant to open it a pafiage.
Ho\v much ingenious men have bees perplexed to
account for thefe irregularities and fuperfluities of the
earlieif pharmaceutical writers, may in fome meafure be
conceived from Bauderon’s comment on the Aurea
Alexandrina, the firft compofition in the collection of
Nicholaus whom we final! prefently notice. Opium,
it leems, is the bafe whofe powers are heightened by
other ingredients, which require alfo others to correct
their ill qualities. Befides thefe, one lift of ingredients
is to direct the operation to the head, another let to the
bread, others to the heart, ttomach, fpleen, liver, kid¬
neys, and other parts 5 infomuch, fays the author, that
this one medicine, in regard to the difeafes he enume¬
rates, may very juftly be confidered as a whole apothe¬
cary’s thop, contained in a gallypot. Rondelet, in his
remarks on the Syrupus HyJJbpi Mefuce, feems lefs dif-
pofed to admire what he did not underftand, when he
tells us, he long doubted with himfelf, under what head,
whether of attenuants or incraffants, it ought to be ranged,
it containing fo many fpecies of each kind 5 and at lad
has recourfe to tins frank reafon for retaining it at all,
erit nobis ufm, cum nondum erimus certi, incrajfarene^
an attinnare oporteat.
Improve- When the alchemids had extended the bounds of
merits in- their art from the mere drudgery of manufacturing gold
tlie alche-^ an<^ ^Vei" t0 ^ more l10'^e a!'d philofophic employ-
mifts.U °; compofing an univerfal elixir that Ihould fecure
its pofleffor from difeafe, and prolong his life to an in¬
definite period, pharmacy derived from their labours
confideraole and foiid advantages. I ne experiments
indituted by thefe vifionaries with the metals, led to
the accidental difcovery of fome of the mod edicacious
remedies which we at prefent employ, efpecially the
preparations of antimony and mercury, and mod of what
are called the neutral or fecondary falls. By calling in
the aid of fire, they enabled us to produce in bodies,
changes which, without the aflidance of this powerful
agent, we diould have been unable to effedt. Now,
every thing was fubmitted to digcjiion, calcination, fer¬
mentation, dfiliation, and fublimation; but, as general¬
ly happens in cafes of innovation or reform, thefe new
methods of obtaining adlive remedies were carried to an
abfurd and ridiculous extent. Finding that the healing
powers of many fubdances were eliminated or increafed
by the application of heat, they feemed to imagine that
the fimple medicine could in no cafe poffefs any medi¬
cal virtue till it had been placed upon the fire, or kept
for fome hours in a furnace. Hence the immenfe num¬
ber of diddled waters and fpirits, eflential and empyreu-
matic oils, with which the old pharmacopoeias are
crowded, and which feem in many cafes to poffefs no
other powers than what they derive from the water or
the fpirit that forms the bulk of the preparation. Not
only plants and minerals, but animals and animal mat¬
ters of all kinds were diddled, digeded, or calcined.
1 hus, we find a water of fnails, a fpirit of millipedes,
an oil of earth worms, &c. &c. The abfurd and
pompous names by which the preparations were didin-
guidied. are truly ridiculous. Magferial balfam, litera-
picra, Ethiops mineral, ens veneris,fores mortis, ca¬
lorie las, aqtiila alba, are a few which long retained their
feat, both in public and private difpenfatories. As thefe
Vol. XVII. Part I.
329
preparations were, from their contrivers, denominated Hlftoncal
chemical; the more ancient medicines which were drawn Skttvl>es.
almod entirely from the animal and vegetable king- **
doms, were denominated Galenical, becaufe chieily em¬
ployed by the followers of Galen. Hence the divifion
of medicines into Galenical and chemical, a divifion
which obtained for fome hundred years, and which only
a few years ago was preferved in the fale catalogues of
the London druggids.
However amufing to a fcientific modern chemid it /4
may be to wander through the labyrinths of the earlier
pharmaeutical writers, it is necefiary for us to be brief
upon the iubjccl. Ihefe abfurdities are now fad dif-
appearing j and pharmacy, guided by the increafing
brightnels of her younger but more enlightened fiber,
has begun to aflume a more fcientific and a more de¬
cided character. ihe principles and improvements of
modern chemidry have been introduced into our phar¬
macopoeias, and the civilized nations of Europe are now
vying with each other in the amelioration of thefe guides
to the medical practitioner. In our own country, the
Edinburgh college led the way to this reform. They
have been followed by the Dublin phyficians j and we
may foon expeCt the completion of the revolution in our
na.ional pharmacy, by the pubhfhing of a new edition of
the London Pharmacopoeia, which is, we underband, now
under review.
The progrefs of our prefent officinal pharmacy, from the progr/fs of
time of its firft introduction by the Arabians, fofar as we modern
can trace it through the obfeurities attending its origin, has l>haimaC^’
been as follows. Saladinus of Afcoli, an author who wrote
about the middle of the fifteenth century, while as
yet there were no pharmacopoeias edablifhed by any
public authority, informs us, that the books with which
the apothecaries were generally furnifhed, were thefe :
a book of Avicenna and another of Serapion, which
treat on fimples 5 Simon Januenfis de fynomjmis ; a trea¬
dle of an Arabian author under the name of Liber Ser-
vitoris, containing the preparations of fimples, and the
chemical medicines then in ufe ; likewife two Antido-
taria, one of Johannes Damafcenus or Mefue, and ano¬
ther of Nicholaus de Salerno.
Some time after, Nicholaus Praepofitus of Tours wrote
a general difpenfatory, that might fupply the place of
all thefe; in which the compofitions are almod entirely
taken from Mefue, and the forementioned more an¬
cient Nicholaus. T he Thefaurus Arotnatariorum written
near the fame time, and Ait Lumen Apothecariorum, con-
fid alfo of fimilar extra&s •, and in the Luminare Ma-
jus publifiued foon after, which contains a more'exten-
five colleftion, thefe two authors generally lead each
head. "I lie fame Antidotarta have alfo been made the
general bafis of the modern pharmacopoeias, though
we know little more of their authors than that they
were the favourites of thofe barbarous times in which
they lived.
It is probable that Mefue lived about the 12th cen- Me lie.
tury, which is all that we can afeertain refpedling a wri¬
ter to whofe authority fuch implicit fubmiffion has been
paid , and even this circumdance has been difputed :
foi^ fome have confounded him with a much earlier
wliter of the fame name, who refided at the court of
Bagdat.
. Of other father of pharmacy, Nicholaus, little more
is known. From his being dyled of Salerno, we might
l t ' imply
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
33° .
Hiftorical imply that he refided in that fchool. Of his work, Sa-
Sketches ladin gives the following account: that there were two
' " “ *'" Antidotaria under the name of this Nicholaus, the one di-
ftinguithed by the title of Nicholaus Magnus, and the
other by that of Nicholaus Parvus ; that the latter was
in mod; frequent ufe, and was only an epitome of the
former, containing but a part of the compofitions, and
thofe reduced to lefs quantities. Among the colle&ions
of pieces often publifhed together as a fupplement to
Melue, one is entitled Antidotariuvi Nicholai, and in this
are contained the compofitions which were delivered by
difpenfatory writers, under the name of Nicholaus.
This is the lefler antidotarium, and there is alfo a copy
of the greater, publifhed under the name of Nicholaus
Alexandrinus, as tranflated from the Greek by Nicho¬
laus of Reggio, the fir ft tranflator of Galen. In this
tranflation, as in the former antidotarium, the compofi¬
tions are arranged in the order of the Latin alphabet 5
whereas, in the original, the Greek alphabetical order
feems to have been followed. Here, befide a much
greater number of articles than in the other Nicholaus,
thofe which they have in common are in greater quanti¬
ties.
78 The firft Pharmacopoeia which was fet forth by pub-
Foreign Uc authority, was that of Valerius Cordus, publifhed in
Pharma CO J5425 under the fanction of the fenate of Nuremberg,
prcias. ' This confifts almoft entirely of colleclions from the two
authors above mentioned, with fhort notes in relation
to fuch names of plants or drugs in the oompofitions as
were of doubtful fignification. Subfequent pharmaco¬
poeias, however they might be rendered more copious
by additions from other authors, alfo paid the like re¬
gard to Nicholaus and Mefue. This Pharmacopoeia of
Cordus has been made more celebrated from the com¬
ments made on it by Ploffman. In 1561, Clufius pub¬
lifhed at Antwerp a Latin tranflation of the Florentine
Antidotarium. In 1581 was publifhed at Bergamo, in
Italy, the Pharmacopoeia Bergamenjis, which was fol¬
lowed by the Pharmacopoeia Augujlana, at Augfburg
in 1601 5 republifhed at Rotterdam, with notes by
Zwelfer, in 1654, and again in 1666. The Pharmaco¬
poeia of the faculty at Paris firft appeared in 1637, anc^
about the fame time there was publifhed at Paris a col¬
lection of Arabian formulae, called the Perjian Phar¬
macopoeia. In the latter end of the 17th century, the
incorporated phyficians of Sweden publifhed their Dif¬
penfatory under the title of Pharmacopoeia Holmieiifis,
which was republifhed in 1775 anc^ I7^4 ^7 title
of Pharmacopoeia Suecica. The Pruftian Difpenfatory,
Pharmacopoeia BoruJJica, was firft publifhed in 1799<
The Pharmacopoeia of Vienna was firlt publifhed in 1^20),
and republifhed in 1765.
Befides thefe, we have feen or heard of the follow-
ing.
The Difpenfatory of Wirtemburg, of which the firft
edition is that of 1771.
Pharmacopoeia Genevenfis, publifhed in 1780, re¬
publifhed in Italian in 1800.
Difpenfatorium Lippiacum in 1792.
Pharmacopoeia Bremenjis in 1792.
Pharmacopoeia Aujlriaco-provincialis, 1794.
Pharmacopoeia Aujlriaco-cqflrenfis, 1795,
Pharmacopoeia Rojfica, publilhed at St Peterfburgh
firft in 1798, and again in 1803.
Of the Britifh Pharmacopoeias^ the earlieft is that of
the London college, which was firft publifhed in 1618. Hlflorical
It was again publifhed either at the clofe of the 17th, Sketches.^
or beginning of the 18th century in iBmo ; again in " J
1746 in 4.10, and laft in 1791. The college is nowfiritini pUb.
preparing a new edition, and has circulated among its lie Pharma-
members a fpecimen of the propofed alterations. WeC0i3Cefa!-
have been favoured with a perufal of this fpecimen, and
we have no doubt, that with refpeft to accuracy of pre¬
paration, and judicious feleftion of remedies, the new
work will not be inferior to the late editions of the
Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. In point of
nomenclature, however, rve cannot help thinking, that
the committee have in a great meafure failed in their
defire to avoid error and confufion. Should the no¬
menclature of the fpecimen be adopted in the publijhcd
edition, we fear that the novelty of the terms will be
the fmalleft objeClion to their ufe ; but that being fo
perfectly different, both from the language of modern
chemiftry and of the late pharmacy of the London
druggifts and apothecaries, will occafion ferious inconve¬
nience both to preferibers and compounders. It would
be indecorous for us to particularize inftances, but we
chiefly allude to the names ot the fecondary falts, which
we confider as very objectionable. The new edition
will be evidently much improved, many newr articles are
admitted, and not a few of fuch as were lefs efficacious,
or which may be prepared extemporaneeufly, are omit¬
ted.
The college of Edinburgh firft publifhed their Phar¬
macopoeia in 1722 j and improved editions have fuccef-
fively appeared in 1736, 1747, 1756,. I775> I7^3>
1792, 1803, and 1805, this laft being little more than
a new impreflion of the preceding. The Dublin col¬
lege firft publifhed, or rather printed, a Pharmacopoeia
in 1794; and they have lately, viz. in 1807, republifhed
it with confiderable improvements. In this edition they
have chiefly followed the plan of the Edinburgh Phar¬
macopoeia, but they retain the ufual pharmaceutical
names of the fimples, though they have in general
adopted the reformed chemical nomenclature. The
moft material improvements will be noticed in the ap¬
pendix to this article. gg
Befides the Pharmacopoeias printed under the autho- Foreign
rity of public colleges, a great many have been pub- private Dii-
lifhed by individuals both on the continent and in Bri-PeilfatorifcS*
tain. We fhall notice the principal of thefe in chrono¬
logical order.
The earlieft of thefe that w^e find on record, after
thofe of Nicholaus, is the Antidotarium Speciale of
Wecker, which was printed in 1561. Four years after
appeared the Antidotarium of Montagna, publifhed at
Venice } and at the fame place in 1600, appeared a
work by Fioraventi, entitled Secret 1 Rationah Interna
Alla Medicina. In 1608, Renodseus publifhed at Pa¬
ris his Ofjicina Pharmaceutica feu Antidotarium. Myn-
ficht’s Armamentarium Medico-chymicum appeared in
1631 •, and in 1656, Schroeder publilhed at Leyden
his Pharmacopoeia Medico-Chemica. In 1676 Charas
publifhed his Pharmacopee Galenique et Cherniyue at Pa¬
ris, and in 1684 the fame work was republifhed in La¬
tin at Genoa. In 1698 appeared the celebrated Phar-
tnacopee Vniverfelle of Lemery •, and in the fame year
the Pharmacopoeia Spagyrica of Poterius. Of thofe that
have appeared in the 18th century, befide thofe men¬
tioned in the introdu&ion to Materia Medic a, wre
may
Britifh pri¬
vate Dif-
Hiitelcal may notice as being of fuperior merit; Triller’s Difpen-
» es. fatorium Pharmaceuticum Umverfa/e, publifhed at Frank¬
fort in 17645 Spielman’s Pharmacopceia Generalis at
Strafburg in 1783, andReufs’s Difpenfatorium Univerfale
at the fame place.
In our own country, feveral ufeful works of this kind
penfatories. haVC been Produced* One of the earlieft (d), and
' among the moft refpe&able of thefe, is the P/iat •tnaco-
preia Officinalis ct Extcmporanea, [or Complete Englijh
Difpenfatory of Dr Quincy, which was firft publilhed in
jyiS, again in 1722, and in 1739 had reached the
eleventh edition, now before us. Confidering the time
at which it was written, this is an excellent perfor¬
mance, and is the more interefting, as it formed the
foundation on which were compofed thole more accu¬
rate . and fcientific works, the New EifpenJatorij of
Lewis, and the Edinburgh New Difpenfatory. Quin¬
cy s Difpenfatory was followed by limilar works, as by
.lames’s Difpenfatory in I747j Lewis’s in 1753, and
the Edinburgh New Dfpenfatoi~y by Webfter in 1786.
At length, in 1803, -Dr Andrew Duncan, Junior, pub¬
lilhed his Edinburgh New Dfpenfatory, which, from
the important additions and improvements progreflively
introduced in four editions, mult be confidered as a new
work, and has entirely fuperfeded every limilar publica-
82 tion.
CoHechons Qf colle&ions of formulae, both by continental and
£E- writers, there is no want 5 but it will be diffi-
cult for an unexperienced prefcriber to make a judicious
ieletfion from among them. The belt we have feen in
tms country are, the 1 hefaurus Medicaminum, now ad¬
mitted to be the produdion of Dr. R. Pearfon ; the
I harmacopoeia Chirurgica; and perhaps we may add thofe
publilhed in Dr Kirby’s tables of the Materia Medica.
I he firll of thefe was publilhed in 1794, and a third edi¬
tion of it materially improved appeared in 1804. The
Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica is a valuable feledion of for¬
mulae, chiefly intended for fiirgeons, and drawn up prin¬
cipally from the practical Pharmacopoeias of the differ¬
ent London hofpitals. I he firft edition appeared, we
believe, in 1794 ; and in 1802 there was publiflied a
loth edition, with the addition of a fynoptical table of
the formulae contained in the Volume, arranged accord¬
ing to the order of their principal ingredients. The
formulae annexed to each of the claffes in Dr Kirby’s
J ables are intended principally to ferve as examples of
tne method of prefcribing the principal articles enume¬
rated in the clafs to which they are attached. They
aie felefted partly from the bell writers on extempora¬
neous prelcription and the pra&ice of medicine, and are
partly derived from the private experience xff the author
or his medical friends.
Of the older colleflions of formulte, we may notice
f.y Pharmacopeia Extemporanea of Fuller, which con¬
tains 1000 feleft formulae, arranged in alphabetical or-
1 t i, and accompanied by pra£lical and pharmaceutical
lemarks. Phis work went through many editions, both
m Engiand and on the Continent. The bell which we
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
331
have feen is that publifhed at Paris in 1768, under the Hlftorical
care of Iheodore Baron. Sketches.
We know of very few works that have been written,V””*?  
containing praftical rules for the writing of prefcrip- Workfon
tions. In our own country, almoft the only work on extempore-
the lubjefl with which w’e are acquainted, is neons prr.
LeBures on Pharmacy 5 a work now very little known, fcnPtun>-
though the principal parts of it were introduced under
their proper heads, in the later editions of the complete
Englifh Difpenfatory. Quincy’s rules, though now a
little antiquated, are for the moft part very good 5 and
allowing lor the imperfett ftate of chemical fcience in
the beginning of the 18 th century, may ftill be perufed
with advantage. Similar rules, which were indeed lit¬
tle more than modifications of thole given by Quincy,
weie laid down by Dr Lewis in his New Difpeniatory. „
One of the moft celebrated foreign elementary wmrks Gaubl?.
on this iubjeft, and that which we believe is belt known
in this country, is Libellus de Methodo Concinnandi For¬
mulas Medicamentorutn, by Gaubius, a fecond edition of
wdiich wns publiflied at Leyden in 17^2. After laying
down fome general rules to be obferved before prefcrib¬
ing, Gaubius gives an account of the nature and con-
ftruftion of formulae in general, and then treats particu¬
larly of the feveral forms of medicines ufually employ¬
ed. Thefe he divides into internal and external, reckon¬
ing among the former powders, bolufes, eleftuaries, ec-
legmata or lyn&ufes, pills, lozenges, &c. which he diftin-
guifhes into tab dice and rotuli, infufions, decoctions, ex-
preffed juices, emulfions, juleps, mixtures, and draughts
or contrafled mixtures. External forms he divides into
injections, adfpergines (powder fprinkled on the furface),
fomentations, dry epithems, cataplafms or poultices,
baths, fumigations, platters, cerates, ointments, odorifer¬
ous balfams, liniments, epifpaftics or bliftering plafters,
friftions, collyria or eye-w7aters, errhines or fnuffs, denti-
fnces or tooth-powders, apophlegmatifms, gargles, cly-
fters, fuppofitories, and peffaries. He gives ample rules
or the preparation of each of thefe forms, with ex¬
amples. _ This work, however, from the antiquated ftyle
and prolixity with which it is written, and the obfolete
names that every where occur throughout the examples,
is of little ufe except as a book of reference. -
In 1754, Joannes Petrus Eberhard, profeffor of me-Ebcrhawj.
dicine in the univerfity of Halle, in the duchy of Magde-
bmg, puoiiftied his Mcthodus Confcnbendi Formulas Mc-
uicas, a fraall pamphlet in iBmo, containing rules
ai ranged in a tabular form. In this little wTork the au¬
thor firft treats of the nature of a medical formula, and
explains the characters uiually employed in prefcription.
He then lays down his plan of divifion, aad Jaftly treats
of the preparation of each particular form, with practi¬
cal hints refpedting the ingredients proper for each form,
Tith their proportional dofes, and the cafes to which
they are more particularly adapted. This work was firft
intended for the profeffor’s pupils, but he publilhed it
under the conviaion that it Would be found of advan¬
tage by practitioners in general. On the whole, it is a
f 2 ufeful
believ'’ The pt,PhamaCOraS W°rth. n°tlce in thls country that .preceded the Difpenfatory of Quincy were we
332
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Hiftovical
Sketches.
8?
Ahbert.
ufeful publication, but is as much too brief as that of
Gaubius is too prolix. The rules are not iiluftraled by-
ex amples.
The beft work that we have feen on the elements of
extemporaneous prefeription, is entitled, Via et Ratio
Formulas Medicos confcribendi, by Gruner, profefi.br of
medicine in the univerfity of Jena. As we have fee a
only one copy of this work, belonging to the college lib¬
rary Edinburgh, and when this article went to prefs,
could not procure a fecond perulal of it, we cannot pre-
fent our readers with any analyns of its contents ^ but
from the favourable impreflion we received on examin¬
ing it feveral years ago, we coniider it as a valuable
work.
The laft writer on this fubjeht whom we fhall notice
is M. Alibert, who, at the end of the fecond volume of
his Nouveaux EHimens de Therapeutique et de Mahere
Medica/e, has given what he calls a New Efiay on the
Art of Prefcribing •, in the firlt part of which he treats of
the general rules of the art, and in the fecond explains
the particular formulae which ail on the vital properties
of the different organic fyllems of the human body. M.
Alibert’s arrangement is peculiar, and we (hall therefore
give a Iketch of it. He arranges his formulae under
fix feclions, and divides each lection into feveral articles.
In the firlt feftion he treats of the formulae or com¬
pound medicines which the medical art principally di-
re£ls towards the vital properties ot the fyftem of the
digeftive organs. In the firft article of this lection lie
deferibes the compound medicines which are particular¬
ly directed to the mufcular contra&ihty of the fiomach,
in common language, emetics •, in the fecond article,
thole which are particularly direfled to the mufcular
contractility of the inteftinal canal, viz. cathartics j
in the third article he treats of thofe which are particu¬
larly adapted to the changes of the vital properties that
refult from the prefence of worms in the ftomach and Hiftorical
inteftines, namely, anthelmintics j in the fourth article, Sketches..
of thole which are particularly direcied againft the ef¬
fects of poifons introduced into the ilomach or intei-
tines j and in the fifth, of thofe compound medicines
which aie particularly diredled to the vital properties of
the larger intellines.
In the fecond ftclion he treats of thefe medicines
which the art particularly adapts to the vital properties
of the urinaiy paffagesj diuretics.
In the third fe&ion he delcribes thofe that particular¬
ly refer to the vital properties of the refpiratory or¬
gans, viz. expectorants and refrigerants.
In the fourth ledtion he treats of thofe compound me¬
dicines which are particularly directed to the vital pro¬
perties of the dermoid fyjleni, or the fkin } namely, dia¬
phoretics, emollients, and epilpaftics.
In the fifth fection he notices thofe medicines which
are particularly directed to the vital properties of the
nervous fyftem ; viz. antifpafmodics, narcotics, fternuta-
tories and fialagogues.
In the fixth and laft feftion he treats of the compound
medicines that the art particularly diredts toward the
vital properties of the fyftem of generation.
Some other late Trench writers on Pharmacy have
given a number ot examples of medical formula*., elpe-
cially M. Bouillon La Grange, in his Manuel du Fhar*
macien. In all thefe formulae is employed the new
French ftandard of weights and meatures, commonly ac¬
companied by the fynonymous troy weights anu mea-
fures, as ufed by the French apothecaries under the
old government 3 but as neither of thefe are familiar to
Englifli readers, we ihall here add two rabies ot the
French weights and meafures of capacity, reduced to
Engliih wine meafures and troy and apothecary weights..
Table I. A Comparifon of French Grammes with Troy, French, and Nuremberg, Apothecary Grams.
Givmmes.
2—
3=
4=
5—
6=
7=
8=
9=
10=
Troy grain'
15-444—
30.888=:
46.332=
61.776=
77.220=
92.664=
108.108=
123.552=
138.906=
154.440=
Old French Grains. Nuremberg Grain
18.883 =
27.766=
56.649=
75-532—
94-4I5=
113.298=
132.181 =
151.064=
169.947=
188.830=
16.128
32.256
48.384
64.512
80.640
96.768
112.896
129.024
I45-I52
161.280
TABLE IT. French Meafures of Capacity, reduced to cubic inches, and Englifh Wine Meafure.
French Meafures
E: ’Sj'ifli cnbi. inches.
Tuns
Millilitre =
Centilitre =
Decilitre =
Litre =
Decalitre =
Hecatolitre =
Chiliolitre =
Myriolitre =
.06102
.61028=
6.10280=
61.02800=
610.28000=
6102.80000=
61028.00000=
610280.00000=
o
o
o
o
o
o
I
10
Hhds
Gallons.
Pints.
O
O
O
O
2
26.419
12.19
58-9
.002
.0211
.2113
2.1133
APPENDIX
Appendix.
S3
s9
Carbonate
of ammo¬
nia.
90
Solution of
carbonate
of ammo¬
nia.
91
Hydroful-
phuret of
ammonia.
92
Aromatic
ammoniat-
ed alcofiol.
EKofphate
cJ lime.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
APPENDIX.
The new edition of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia hav¬
ing appeared lince the printing of our.article Materia
Medic A, it becomes us to notice the principal improve¬
ments introduced by the Dublin college 5 and as parti¬
cular circumiiances prevented our doing fo under Phar¬
macy, we have referved them for an appendix to the
prefent article. We ihall alio take this opportunity of
fupplying fome omiflions in the article Materia Me¬
dic a, rendered unavoidable by the circumftance of that
article coming on at the conclufion of a volume, beyond
which we could not with propriety extend it, el'pecially
by the addition of a complete table of the fynonymous
Lai in names of all the officinal compounds.
We ffiall notice the additions and improvements of
th^Dublin college in the fame order which we have ob-
ferved in Materia Medica, Part IV.
Chap. I. Animal Subjlances.
2. Murias Ammonia: (e).
Preparation c. Carbgnas AmmoNIAE. See Mate-
ria Medica, N° 238.
In the preparation of this fait, the Dublin college
now employ carbonate of foda for decompoling the mu¬
riate of ammonia, inllead of chalk. The only advantage
of this feems to be that the decompofuion is jlfedled at a
lower temperature.
Preparation d. Aqua Carbonatis Ammonia:. Ma¬
teria Medica, N° 239.
Here too carbonate of foda is employed in the pro¬
portion of 28 oz. to the pound of muriate of ammonia.
Preparation f. Hydrosulphuretum Ammonia:.
Materia Medica, N° 241.
This is now introduced into the Dublin Pharmaco¬
poeia, and is direfted to be prepared much in the fame
manner as in the pharmacopoeia of Edinburgh.
Preparation h. Alcohol Ammoniatum Aroma-
ticum. Materia Medica, N0, 243.
The only change made in the preparation is, in fub-
ftituting \ oz. of nutmegs for 2 drs. of the effential oil,
and diftilling off the ammoniated alcohol, thus render¬
ing the folution of the aromatic principles more com¬
plete.
5. Cervus Elaphus.
Preparation a. PflOSFHAS CALCIS. Materia Me-
DICA, N° 254.
The Dublin college order this und^r the name of
Pulvis cornu cerviniujli, to be prepared in the ufual man->
ner as direfLd by the Edinburgh pharmacopoeia.
Preparation b. Decoctum CoRNU CERVINI, Dub. Appendix.
Decoftion of hartffiorn. '""-“v '
94.
This is made by boiling two ounces of burnt hsrtf- Oecctbou
horn reduced to powder and 3 drs. of gum arabic, in 3
pints of water to 2 pints, continually ftirring, and then 1J
itraining the liquor.
In this way a confiderable quantity of the phofphate
of lime is, by means of the gum arabic, fufpended in the
water $ but we do not think this fo good a method of
adminilteriiig the remedy as giving the powder itlelf,
mixed with lyrup or mucilage.
Chap. II. Vegetable Subjlances.
24. Alcohol, Materia Medica, N° 294.
Preparation a. Alcohol. Alcohol.
The new procefs of the Dublin college for preparing
alcohol is as follow's : A gallon of rediified fpirit ot wine
is firit mixed with an ounce of cauftic potath in powder •,
then a pound of pearl allies dried at the heat of 300°
ol Fahrenheit, and reduced to powder, is added while
Hill warm, and the mixture digeited for three days in a
clofe vellel wTith frequent agitation. The fpirit is then
poured off, mixed with halt a pound of dried muriate of
lime (which is uiually obtained from the refiduum after
the preparation of pure ammonia), and diffilled with a
moderate heat till wdiat remains in the retort begins to
grow thick.
26. Acidum Acetosum impurum.
Preparation b. Acidum acetosum forte, E. Ma¬
teria Medica, N° 307.
Acidum aceticum, Dub.
This is prepared by putting into a tubulated re-Acetic acid,
a retort, 3 ounces by weight of lulphuric acid, and add¬
ing to it gradually in fmail portions, 6 ounces of acetate
of potaffi, waiting after each addition till the mixture
be cold ; and after the w-hole is mixed, diffilling to dry-
nefs. What comes over is the acetic acid.
Preparation d. Acidum acetosum camphoratum,,.
E. Materia Medica, N° 309.
Acidum aceticum oamphoratum. Dub.
97
Prepared much in the fame manner with the. Edin-CamP}l0.ra"
burgh acid, only with half the quantity of acidi ^acetic
29. Cera. Materia Medica, N° 319.
Preparation a>. Cera flava purificata, Dub.
Purified yellow wTax.
98
Wax is purified by melting it with a moderate heat Panfie<*
{as in a water bath), feumming it, and pouring off thewax’
clear fluid from the dregs.
32. Angustura* Materia Medica, N° 331.
Preparation
(e) In the following enumeration the numbers prefixed to the fimple articles correfpond to thofe in the fame fi-
hiation in the arrangement of Part IV. in Materia Mfdica ; while thofe which follow’ fome of the articles re*
fe-r to the paragraphs of that article as numbered in the marginal notes,.
334 EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Appendix.. Preparations. Tinctura Angustur;e, Dub. Tine- This is made by adding to the purging clyfter to be Appendix.
ture of Anguftura. deferibed prefently, 2 drs. of tinfture of afafoetida. ■" J
This is prepared by digeftxng two ounces of coarfely
powdered anguftura bark in two pints of proof fpirit for
99 feven days, and ftraining.
Tincture of This preparation, now firft made officinal by the Dub-
anguftura. pn college, is a good form for exhibiting the anguftura
in fmall dofes. Ordinary dofe about 2 drs. generally in
eompofition.
Class II. Order 3. Diandria Trigynia.
/
45. Piper Nigrum.
too
Ointment of Preparation a. UNGUENTUM PlPERIS KtGRI, Dub.
black pep- Ointment of black pepper. A ftimulating ointment,
*)er’ made by mixing 4 oz. of finely powdered black pepper,
with a pound of prepared hogs lard.
Class III. Order 1. Triandria Monogynia.
48. Valeriana Officinalis, Materia Medica,
N° 354.
IOI
Infufion of Preparation </. InfuSUM ValeriAN2E, Dub. Infu-
vaierian. £on 0f valerian.
This is made by digefting 2 drs. of valerian root,
coarfely powdered in 7 oz. by meafure of boiling water,
for an hour, and draining off the liquor when cold.
This is a good antifpafmodic, efpecially in hyfteric
cafes, and the ftomach is faid to bear it better than the
powder. Dofe, a glafsful twice or thrice a-day.
In our Materia Medica, in the names of the pre¬
parations of valerian, the genitive cafe of Valeriana is in¬
advertently printed valcnani.
Class V. Order 1. Pentandria Monogynia.
102 69. Hyoscyamus Niger.
henbane. Preparation b. Tinctura Hyoscyami Nigri, Ma¬
teria Medica, N° 392.
Now added by the Dublin college, and made rather
ftronger than the Edinburgh tinfture, the proportions
being 2^ ounces of the dried leaves in coarfe powder, to
an Englifh pint of proof fpirit.
1 ©3 72. Cinchona Officinalis.
cinchona^ Preparations. InfUsum ClNCHOKS OFFICINALIS, E.
Materia Medica, N° 402.
Infusum Cinchona sine galore, Dub.
Class VI. Order 2. Hexandria Trigynia.
. 112 *. Rumex Aquaticus, Dub. Great water dock. Great tz.
T. he root. ter dock.
One of the new additions to the Dublin Materia Me¬
dica.
It ranks among aftringents, and has been celebrated
as a remedy in feurvy, difeafes of the fkin, and venereal
complaints. It is generally given by way of infufion.
Class VII. Order 1. Heftandria Monogynia.
113. ^Esculus Hippocastanum. 107
Now adopted by the Dublin college*
127. Cassia Senna.
icS
Preparation k. Syrupus SeNNJE, Dub. Syrup ofsyruPof
Senna. See Syrupus Manna:, Materia Medica,lenna*
N° 795-
Class X. Order i. Decandria Monogynia.
130. Swietenia Febrifuga. ic9
Now alfo firft adopted in the Dublin pharmacopoeia.
134. Quassia Excelsa.
Preparation a. Tinctura Quassia:, Dub. Tine-Tindhire of
ture of quaflia. quaflia.
This is prepared by digefting an ounce of quafila
/havings in 2 pints of proof fpirit for 7 days, and filter-
in$\ .
This forms a ftrong folution of the bitter principle of
quaflia.
137. Styrax Officinale.
nr
Preparation b. Pilula: E styRace, Dub. Storax Storax pilk
pills.
Prepared by beating well together 3 drs. of purified
ftorax, 1 dr. of foft purified opium, and the fame quan¬
tity of faffron.
This may properly be confidered as a preparation of
opium, of which it contains a fifth part.
Prepared by macerating an ounce of cinchona bark in
coarfe powder in 12 ounces of cold water for 24 hours 5
then pouring off the liquor.
Order 2. Digynia.
Decoaton 84‘ ULMUS CAMPESTRIS.
of elm bark. Preparations. DecoctuM Ulmi*
The Dublin college order this decoction to be prepar¬
ed much in the fame manner as that of the London phar¬
macopoeia.
go. Ferula Asafoetida.
105
Fetid ciy- Preparation/. Enema FOETIDUM, Dub. Fetid clyfter.
fter.
Class XI. Order 2. Dodecandria Digynia.
T I 2
142 *. AgrimonIa EuPATORIA, Dub. The herb. Agrimony,
A flight aftringent now added by the Dublin college.
Class XII. Order 5. Icosandria Polyginia.
158. Geum urbanum, Dub. Avens. T//e root.
This has now obtained a place in the pharmacopoeia
of Dublin, and as a ufeful indigenous tonic^ merits par¬
ticular notice. Dofe of the powder from half a dram
to a dram.
Class
Appendix. CLASS XIII. Order I
160. Papaver Somniferum.
Opium.
. ”4
Opium.
As the account of this important remedy given in the
article Botany may not be deemed fufficiently fatisfac-
tory by our medical readers, and as in the Materia Me-
dica we were fo much confined that we could only refer
to the bell writers that have treated on opium, we lhall
here fupply that deficiency, by giving a comprehenfive
view of the effe&s of opium •, of the difcoveries that
have been made by late chemical analyfes refpedfing the
nature of its narcotic principle } (hall point out the ge¬
neral means by which the ill effe&s which fometimes at¬
tend the exhibition of this medicine may be obviated,
and enumerate thofe articles of the Materia Medica
which may be moft conveniently employed as fubftitutes
for a drug now become fo fcarce and expenfive.
Perhaps no article of the Materia Medica ranks
higher in point either of antiquity or efficacy than opium.
Its peculiar properties and mode of operation have, how¬
ever, been long a fubjeft of debate, both among theore¬
tical and practical writers. The place affigned to it in
fyftematic arrangement has been continually fluctuat¬
ing ; Cullen and his followers confidering it as one of
the moll powerful fedatives which we poflefs, while
Brown, Darwin, and the advocates for their doClrines,
as ftrennoufly contend that it ought to be ranked amongft
the moft aCtive and diffufible ftimuli. In fad, the par¬
ties engaged in this controverfy appear chiefly to differ
about words, and probably they are both partly right
and partly wrong.
They agree that the effeCts of opium are fimilar to
thofe of wine and alcohol, liquors which are generally,
though indeed not univerfally, accounted ftimulants. If
opium produces fimilar effeCts with thefe, we fee no good
reafon why it fhould not be arranged in the fame clafs.
All thefe fubftances may indeed be confidered as both
ftimulant and fedative, according as we advert to their
primary or fecondary effefts. If by a ftimulant be meant
fomething which increafes the force and frequency of
aCtion in the mufcular fibres, and poffeffes the power of
fultaining or increafing the vital powers, which is, we
believe, the generally received definition, we can furely
not refufe this character to alcohol, and its modifications.
Who that has ever felt the cheering influence of wine,
that has experienced the exhilaration, the flow of fpirits,
and the energy of aCtion, which are the ufual effeCts of
the bottle, can refufe to acknowledge the effeCts of the
ftimulating powers of this toofafcinatingbeverage. Again,
if by a fedative we are to underftand fomething which
diminiflies the force and vigour of mufcular aCtion, and
depreffes all the vital energies, every one who has felt
the effeCts confequent to a too free libation at the flirine
of Bacchus, will readily admit that wine and alcohol
are, in an eminent degree, poffeffed of fedative powers.
Now, that opium refembles alcohol in both thefe cir-
cumftances, is generally admitted.
When a moderate quantity of opium (we mean not
lefts of opi more than two grains), is received into the ftomach, it
excites there a gentle warmth, which is gradually diffu-
fed over the whole body, attended with an itching of
the fldn, and ufually followed by an increafe of perfpi-
ration. I he pulfation of the heart and arteries is at firft
rendered fuller and more frequent, and there is commonly
a heat and flufhing of the face j the eyes appear enliven-
IT5
General ef-
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS. S3-
Polyandria Monogynia ed, and the fpirits are exhilarated. Pain is alleviated, Appendix.
and all care for the time forgotten. The effeCts of this
fubftance on thofe who fwallow it as a fubftitute for wine,
as is ufual in the eaft, are familiar to moft of our read-
eis, and fufficiently prove its ftimulating effeCt. Simi¬
lar proofs appear to have been exhibited during the pre¬
fect war, among Europeans. We are told that the
I rench loldiers are plied indifferently with opium or
brandy, in order to increafe their courage and ferocity j
and we have been credibly informed, that fome of the
moft celebrated performers on the London ftage, parti¬
cularly in tragic parts, which require peculiar lelf-com-
mand, or energy of expreffion, are accuftomed to take
dofes of opium proportioned to the circumftances of the
charaCler which they are to perform.
I he excretion of urine is fometimes increafed ; but as
an increafe of abforption is a ufual confequence of opium,
other excretions, except, as w’e have laid, the perfpi-
ration,. appear to be diminifhed. Opium alfo aCls as a
powerful ftimulus to the genital organs, and excites the
venereal appetite. _ It is laid that on examining the bo¬
dies of i urks flain in battle, the penis has been often
found in a ftate of ereClion, even in old men *. * Murray
Alter thefe effeCls have continued for a time, appear- Apparat.
ances of a different nature prefent themfelves. A.\.
a languor and laffitude not unpleafing come on, and are tosm-"■
foon followed by yawning and a flrong propenfity to2 2"
fleep. If the quantity taken has been confiderable
(above two gr.), the previous fymptoms of excitement
are more remarkable, but they generally continue for a
fhorter time, and are followed by a proportional depref-
fion. Confiderable naufea fupervenes, and fometimes a
feyere vomiting is excited, by which great part of the
opium is expelled from the ftomach. But if this fhould
fail to take place, and often when it has to a partial
degree appeared, a heavy ftupor comes on, attended with
giddinefs and headach ; the breathing becomes difficult
and laborious ; the perfon falls into a profound fleep,
fiom which lie is roufed with great difficulty, and into
which, if left to himfelf, he fpeedily relapfes ; the face
becomes pale, the lips livid, the extremities cold, univer-
fal torpor feizes the limbs, and is followed by convul-
fions and fatal apoplexy. II(J
On examining the bodies of thofe animals which have Appearan-
fallen vidlims to opium, the ftomach is found diftended,ces ?n dif"
and containing frothy mucus, its internal coat in a ftate fedion‘
of inflammation, and fometimes the pyloris contrafted.
1 he vefiels of the brain are exceedingly turgid, and
commonly an effufion of blood is found to have taken
place.
When a perfon awakes after having taken opium, he
ufually finds himfelf heavy and giddy, and not unfre-
quently complains of headach and dimnefs of fight; his •
bowels are coftive, and his appetite defective? Some
people, fo far from being foothed and lulled to fleep by
opium, are rendered exceedingly irritable and reftlefs j
others, if they are made to fleep by the influence of this
medicine, are haraffed with frightful dreams, and awake
unrefreffied.
Effects fimilar to what we have defcribed arife from
opium when injefted into the redtum j but they require
a largei dole. W hen this fubftance is applied to the
^ 1 jie lfr(Lthra’ °r other lenfible parts, it excites pain * Crrmte’s
and rednefs , which, however, do not long continue. Enquiry p>
When merely applied to the ffirface of the body, while W
the
336 ' EXTEMPORANEOUS
Appendix, the cuticle is entire, it produces no change •, but when
U*^'r— the tinfture of opium, or opium in fine powder,, mixed
with an oily fubllance, is rubbed on the (kin, pain is al¬
leviated, deep induced, delirium affuaged, and other Se¬
dative effefts brought on j but the flimulating effects of
the medicine are, in this wdy, faid to be le(s appa-
Ill effeds of The ill effects which fometimes attend the exhibition
opium. of opium, may arife, either dire&ly from its ftimulating
powrer, or from contequent exhauflion.
I. The ill effects which appear to be the immediate
confequence of this ftimulus are, excitement, increafed
abforption, and determination of the blood to the head.
Thefe effects render it an improper remedy in the early
ft ages of inflammatory difeafes, particularly in phreni-
tis, pneumonia, catarrh, and dyfentery. By increafmg ex¬
citement and determining to the head, opium is. impro¬
per in phrenitis; and it is hurtful in the other difeafes by
increafing abforption, and hence leffening expectoration,
and producing coftivenefs. In fome caies ot inflamma¬
tion, however, where increafed perfpiration is defirable,
as in rheumatiim, if the medicine be io managed as to
produce full fweating in a fhort time after exhibition, it
may be employed with advantage.
II. The ill effeCts which arile from the fecondary cir-
cumftances following the adminiftration of opium, are
chiefly headach, general debility, tremors, fpafms, pa-
ralyfis, and hypoc'hondriafis. Of courfe, in cafes where
thefe fymptoms and difeafes are to be apprehended, it
s mult be employed with confiderable caution..
Analyfis of Opium has been analyfed by feveral chemifts, efpeci-
opium. ally by Gren, Bucholtz, Joffe, Prouft, Dr Duncan junior,
and very lately by Derofne. “ By evaporating a wa¬
tery folution of opium to the confiftence of a fyrup, De¬
rofne obtained a precipitate, which was increafed by di¬
luting it with water. He diffolved this in hot alcohol,
from which it again feparated on cooling. When puri¬
fied by repeated folutions, it cryftallifed in reft angular
prilms, with rhomboidal bafes, had no tafle or Imell,
was infoluble in cold water, and foluble in qoo parts of
boiling water, did not affect vegetable blues, was foluble
in 24 parts boiling acohol and no cold ; foluble in hot
ether and volatile oils, and feparated from them as they
cooled 5 very foluble in all acids, and highly narco-
Duncan's tic *.
Drfpen. 4th ^ confiderable proportion of the fubftance of opium is
•edit. p. 329 inf0luble, both in water and alcohol ; and it is remark¬
able that the infoluble part is very dift'erent in Turkey
opium from what it is in that which comes from the
Eafi: Indies*, being in the former a duCtile, plaftic, cohe¬
rent mafs, in the latter an incoherent powdery matter,
diffufible in water. According to Dr Duncan the aftive
conftituent of opium appears to be of a volatile nature *,
and as this muft be carried off by boiling or diftillation,
the ufual proceffes for purifying opium, tend to diminith
its medical effeils.
The ill effedds of opium are to be obviated or coun-
terafted by regulating the dofe according to the effect
intended to be produced^ by the mode of adminiftra-
fefts of opi- tion^ whether internally, or by friclion, or by combi-
nin<r with it fome correcting fubftance which has the ef-
fe£t of counteracting its unpleafant properties, fuch as le¬
mon-juice, ammonia, tartrate of antimony and potajh,
fulmar late of mercury, or aromatics. The languor and
119
Means of
obviating
the ill ef-
PRESCRIPTIONS.
general debility felt after having taken opium, are beft .Appembx..
relieved by wine and exercife.
When a perfon has fwaliowe-d fuch a quantity of
opium as there is icafon to fear will prove fatal, if its et-
fects are not prevented or counteracted, it is proper to ex¬
hibit an emetic as foon as convenient, in order to evacuate
from the flomach as much of the opium as poflible.
With this view*, a fcruple cr half a dram of fulphate of
zinc dixTolved in a little water, is to be given, and the
a&ion of vomiting promoted feveral times by proper di¬
luting liquors. We ftiould then adminifter lemon juice
in conllderable quantities ; and if the ftnpor be very
great, all methods are to be employed for roufing the
patient, and obliging him to exert himftlf in moving
about. If the more alarming fymptoms are made to
yield, we fliould give wine, ether, or other ftimulants,
in moderate doles, ftill taking care to keep alive the at¬
tention of the patient. Strong coftee has been highly
recommended in thefe cafes. 120
As opium is now become a very expenfive article, it Subftitutej
is of confequence to confider what other remedies that are :U1 0l'‘um'
likely to produce the fame good cffecls may be fubftitu-
ted for it. Several of the narcotic vegetables have been
employed for this purpofe, efpecially laBuca virofa,
comum maculatum or hemlock, datura framomum or
thorn apple, atropa belladonna or deadly nightftiade,
hamulus lupulus or hop, and hyofeyamus niger or hen¬
bane. Of thefe the two laft feem to be beft adapted to
this purpofe.
Preparation d. Extractum opii aquosum, Dub. ^
The Dublin College have made fome alteration in Watery ex-
their mode of preparing this extract, though they pre-tl lU^ 0i
ferve the fame proportions. They direct the opium to v‘'
be triturated with hot water for ten minutes, when the
water is to be poured off, a freth quantity added, and the
trituration continued for the fame period. This tritura¬
tion to be repeated a third time. Then all the liquors
are to be mixed together, fuffered to Hand in an open
veffel for two days, ftrained through linen, and then iu-
fpiffated to the confiftence of an extrack
Class XIV.
MIA.
Order 1. Didynamia Gymnosper-
168. Mentha Viridis.
12 2
Preparation d. InFUSUM CoMPOSITUM, Dub. Com- Compound
pound infufion of mint. inlulion of
x mint.
This is prepared by firft digefling, for half an hour, in
a dole veffel, two drams of dried mint in as much boil¬
ing water as, when ftrained, may produce fix ounces,
and then mixing with the ftrained liquor, two drams of
fine white fugar, and three drops of effential oil of mint,
previoufly diffolved in half an ounce of compound tinc¬
ture of cardamom.
This forms a very grateful ftomachic.
123
1*74. Teucrium ChatvLEDRys, Dub. Wall ger-Vail ger¬
mander. The herb. mander‘
An indigenous tonic, employed in domeftic medicine
in cafes of chlorofs, gout, and intermittent fever.
Order
2
Appendix. Order 2. AXGIOSPERMIA.
180. Digitalis purpurea.
124
Tinflure of Preparation b. Tinctura Digitalis purpure/e.
digitalis. . .
I ins medicine is now introduced into the Dublin
Pharmacopoeia, and is prepared in the fame manner as di-
redted by theEdinburgh college.
337
Order 2. CrYPTOGAMIA. Fuel. Appendix-
255*. Fucus vesiculosus, QUERCUS MARINA, ^7"^
Dub. Yellow bladder wrack. Bladder
A common indigenous lea-weed, the charcoal from
which is employed in the following preparation.
n. Pulvis quercus marinte, Dub. Powder of fea- Powder of
wrack. fea-wrack.
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Class XXIV.
Class XIX. Order 2. Syngenesia Polygamia
SUPERFLUA.
115 216. Anthemis Nobilis.
Compound ^ .
decdclion of 1 reparation a *. Decoctum ChamEmaxi composi-
chanaomile, TUM. Dub. Compound decodtion of chamomile.
Made by boiling for a little half an ounce of chamo¬
mile flowers and two drams of fweet fennel feeds in a
pint of water, and draining.
Ufed chiefly for clyllers.
I his is prepared by drying and cleaning any quantity
of yellow bladder wrack, gathered while in fruit 5 then ex-
pofing it to the fire in an iron pot or crucible, covered
with a perforated lid, till the volatile matters have eva-
porated, and the mafs becomes of a dull red colour.
1 his is to be reduced to a very fine powder, and kept
in clofe veffels.
I he medical virtues of this preparation, if it have any,
are fimilar to thofe of burnt fponge, and it may be given
in the fame dofe.
Order 3. Algx:.
Class XXI. Order 8. Monoecia PolYxVNDRia.
I2(J 226. Quercus Cerris. Gal/s.
Tinfture of
galls. Preparation «; Tinctura Gallarum, Dub. Tinc¬
ture of galls.
Prepared by digefting four ounces of powdered galls
in two pints of proof fpirit for feven days, and llrain-
ing.
A ftrong folution of the aflringent principle of galls.
Order 10. Monadelphia.
I27
plafterCient 22^‘ PlNUS Abies. Burgundy pitch.
Preparation b. Emplastrum CALEFACIENS, Dub.
Calefacient platter.
A wrarm fllmulating plafter, made by melting toge¬
ther, with a moderate heat, feven parts of Burgundy pitch
and one part of ointt?ient of cantharides.
Order 12. Syngenesia.
12S
Compound 236. CuCUMIS CoLOC YNTIIIS.
pills of co-
locynth. Preparation A Pilulat. CoLOCYNTHIDlS COMPOSITxE.
Dub. Compound pills of colocynth.
129
Savine oint¬
ment.
Thefe are prepared by beating together half an ounce
of the pith of colocynth, half an ounce of hepatic aloes,
and the fame quantity of fcammony, all in powder, with
twro drams of Spanifh foap, a dram of cloves, and a fuf-
ficient quantity of fimple fyrup, to form a mafs for pills.
T his is a ftrong cathartic, and may be given in a dofe of
10 or 15 grains.
244. Juniperus Sabina.
. Preparation d. Unguentum Sabinx, Dub. Savine
ointment.
256. Lichen Islandicus, N° 799.
Preparation a. Decoctum Lichenis
Dub. Decoftion of Iceland liverwort.
IsLANDICI
132
Beeodlion
’ of Iceland
liverwort—
This is prepared by digefting half an ounce of Iceland
liverwort in a pint of hot water for two hours, in a clofe
veffel, then boiling for 15 miifutes, and draining off the
liquor while hot.
Chap. III. Mineral Subjlances.
Sect. 2. Inflammable Subfances.
260. Sulphur sublimatum.
133
Preparation g. Aqua Sulphureti Kali, Dub. Wa-Water ot .
ter of fulphuret of potafli. 01
This is prepared by boiling together half an ounce of
fublimed fulphur with nine ounces by meafure of cauftic
ley for 10 minutes, and ftrairting through paper. The li¬
quor is to be kept in veffels w'ell cloferf.
The fpecific gravity of this liquid is aftigned by the
Dublin college to be to that of diftilltd water, as ii20\
to 1000.
Preparation h. Aqua Sulphureti Ammonite, Dub. Wai^of
Water of fulphuret of ammonia. fulphuret of
rrn • • , . „ , . r- ammonia.
I his is prepared by flaking four ounces of freflv
burnt lime in an earthen veffel, which is to be kept cov¬
ered till the lime has fallen into powder, and become
cool ; when there are to be added four ounces of powder¬
ed muriate of ammonia, and two ounces of fiiblimed
fulphur mixed together, avoiding the vapours. The
whole is now to be put into a retort, and diftilled with
a hidden and pretty ftrong heat, and the liquor that
comes over is to be kept in a phial well clofed with a
glafs ftopper.
Prepared by. boiling half a pound of frefh favine
leaves, bruifed, in two pounds of prepared hog’s lard till
they become.crifp, then prefling out the lard and melt¬
ing in it half a pound of bees wax.
A ftimula'Jng ointment, ufed in drefling iffues, for
which it is faid to be preferable to cantharides oint¬
ment.
Vol. XVII. Part I.
Sect. 4. Alkalies and Alkaline Salts.
265. NlTRAS POTASSiE.
Preparation g. Ayther NitRosus, Dub. Nitrous
ether.
n 11 - ether.
1 repared by pouring gradually, and in different por¬
tions, upon a pound and a half of nitre, dried and coariely
powdered, in a tubulated retort, placed in a bath of cold
U u -water,
A i penclix
i3<5
Oxymuri-
atic alka¬
line water.
T37 .
Oxjmari-
atic water,
EXTEMPORANEOUS
water, a pound of fulphuric acid previoufly mixed witli
19 ounces by meafure of redtified fpirit of wine, the
mixture having been allowTed to cool. With a very
flight degree of heat, fuch as that of tepid water, an e-
therial liquor will pafs over from the retort, and the
heat which foon fpontaneoufiy arifes in the retort muft
be moderated by cooling with cold water. 1 he receiv¬
er Ihould alfo be cooled with ice or fnowq and furnilhed
with a proper apparatus, to carry oft and condenfe-the
fuperabundant vapours. The elherial liquor that fpon-
taneoufly comes over, is to be put into a phial with a
ground glafs ftopper, and as much dry fubcarbonate of
potafh added as may be futftcient to faturate the fuper¬
abundant acid, which is commonly done after the addi¬
tion of about a dram of the fait. The ether which now
floats on the upper part of the phial, is to be feparated
by means of a funnel, and kept for ufe.
" Nitrous ether i$ a powerful ftimulus, but is feldom
employed in medicine.
266. Murias Soda:.
Preparation r/. Aqua Alkalina OxymuriaTica,
Dub. Oxymuriatic alkaline water.
This is prepared by putting into a matrafs two
pounds of dried muriate of foda, and a pound of powr-
dered manganefe mixed, then pouring on two pounds
of water, and gradually adding at different times twm
pounds of fulphuric acid, adapting a proper apparatus of
tubes and recipients, that the gas which comes over
may pafs through a folution of four ounces of carbonate
of potalb, in 29 ounces by meafure of water.
This preparation is a folution of oxmuriate of potafh,
a fait which was lately in great efteem as a remedy in
feveral difeafes, efpecially typhus, fcurvy, and fphilis,
from an idea that it imparted to the fyftem the oxygen
defeftive in thefe difeafes. 1 he remedy is already out of
faftiion in this country.
Preparation e. Aqua OXYMURIATICA, Dub. Oxy¬
muriatic water.
Made by palling the gas extricated from the mixture
of muriate of foda, manganefe, and fulphuric acid, in
the preceding preparation, through a pound of dittilled
w-ater, by which this is impregnated with oxymuriatic
acid gas.
Forms a good bleaching liquor, but is fcarcely em¬
ployed in medicine.
Sect. 6. Earths and Earthy Salts.
Water of
muriate of
lime.
139
Precipitat¬
ed chalk.
PRESCRIPTIONS.
273. Sulppias Magnesia:.
Preparation d. Enema Catharticum,
Append*.
Dub. Pur- I4Q
ging clyfter. Purging
Made by diffolving an ounce of manna in 10 ouncesc!^c‘J
by meafure of compound decoftion of chamomile, (fee
N° 125), and adding an ounce of olive oil, and half an
ounce of fulphate of magnefia.
A
Sect. 7. Metals and Metallic Preparations.
275. Acidum Arseniosum.
Arfeniate ofArfeniate
272. Carbonas Calcis.
Preparation/ Solutio Muriatica Calcis, E. Ma¬
teria Medica, N° 876. AOUAMURIATIS CAL¬
CIS, Dub. Water of muriate of lime.
The Dublin college direft this to be prepared by dif¬
folving an ounce of chalk in coarfe powder in two ounces
of diluted muriatic acid, and ftraining.
Preparation g. Creta FRa:cipitata, Dub. Preci¬
pitated chalk.
Prepared by precipitating the chalk from the above
folution, by adding carbonate of foda, filtering and waffl¬
ing the precipitate.
The carbonate of lime is thus procured very pure and
in a very fine powder.
Preparation a. Arsenias Kali, Dub.
potalh. of potafli*
The Dublin college direfl this fait to be prepared by
mixing together an ounce of white oxide of arfenic, and
the fame quantity of nitrate of potalh, feparately reduced
to powder, putting them into a glafs retort placed in a
fand bath, and applying a gradual heat, till the bottom
of the retort afliimes an obfeure red 3 then diflblving the
refiduum in four pounds of boiling diftilled water, eva¬
porating, and fetting it afide to cryftallize.
The ufe of arfenic, in the cure of many difeafes of de¬
bility, has of late been much extended. It is now em¬
ployed, not only in intermittents, but in protrafled rbeu-
matifin, and many other cafes where the vital powers are
much diminiffied.
276. SULFHURETUM AnTIMONII. ^
Preparation k. OxiDUM ANTIMONII NITRO-MURIATI-^ltro m0!
cum, dim CALX STIBII PRiECIPITATA, Dub.
(See N° 879.). Nitro-muriatic oxide of antimony. m0ny.
This precipitate is now dire£led to be prepared by
mixing together 11 ounces by meafure of muriatic acid,
and 1 ounce by meafure of nitrous acid, taking care to
avoid the fumes, and gradually adding to the mixture
2 ounces of prepared fulphuret of antimony 3 then di-
gefling with a gradually increafed heat, till the effervef-
cence ceafes, and boiling for an hour 3 filtering the li¬
quor when cold, fo that it may drop into a gallon of
water. The powder which falls to the bottom is to be
repeatedly waflied till the water poured from it is per-
feftly free from acid, and is then to be dried on blotting
paper.
143
Preparation^. TARTRAS ANTIMONII ET PoTASSAX Antimoni-
_ ated tartar.
TARTARUM ANTIMONIATUM, sive eme-
TICUM, Dub. Antimoniated or emetic tartar.
In the Dublin pharmacopoeia we are directed to pre-
pare this medicine by boiling 18 ounces by meafure of
diitilied water in a glafs veffel, and gradually throwing
into it 2 ounces of nitro-muriatic oxide of antimony,
and 21 ounces of powdered cryftals of tartar, previouf¬
ly mixed, continuing the boiling for half an hour, then
filtering the liquor, and cooling it gradually, that cryf¬
tals may be formed.
277. Hydrargyrum.
Preparation «. Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia,Quickfilvef
ub. Mercury with magnefia. with mag-
This is a new preparation, formed by firft: rubbing re^a'
together an ounce of quickfilver with the fame quantity
of manna, adding now and then a few drops of water,
fo
Dub
EXTEMPORANEOUS
Appendix, fo as to reduce the mixture to the confiftence of fyrup,
till the whole of the mercury difappears 5 then ftill con¬
tinuing the trituration, adding tirfl: a dram of magnefia,
and when all are well mixed, a pint of hot water, and
fliaking the mixture. When the fediment has complete¬
ly fubfided, the liquor is to be poured off, and the wafh-
ing twice repeated, fo as to d'iffolve the whole of the
manna. To the fediment, ftill moift, are to be added
three drams more of magnefia, and the compound is to
be dried on blotting paper.
This pi-eparation is fimilar in its medical effe&s to the
hydrargiirus cum creta. deferibed in Materia Medi-
I45 CA, N° 914.
Preparation ^
liate of
piercury.
146
Tin<fhire of
aceute of
ginc.
PRESCRIPTIONS.
Employed chiefly in preparing thtf eXymuriatic alka¬
line water.
287. Sulphas Ferri nativus.
Preparation <?*. Acetas Ferri. Dub. Acetate
339
Appendix.
147 ,
0£ Acetate of
Made by digefting half an ounce of carbonate of
iron in 3 ounces by meafure of acetic acid, and fil¬
tering.
148
SUBMURIAS HyDRARGYRI AMMO-
NIATUM. Dub. Ammoniated fub-muriate of mercury.
Prepared by adding to the liquor from which preci¬
pitated fubmuriate of mercury has been obtained, a quan¬
tity of cauftic water of ammonia, waffling the precipi¬
tate with cold diftilkd water, and drying on blotting
paper. The fame with the calx hydrargyri alba, Lon¬
don.
278. ZlNCUM.
Preparation g. Ttnctura Acetatis Zinci. Dub.
Tin£lure of acetate of zinc.
Made by rubbing together an ounce of fulphate of
zinc, and the fame quantity of acetate of potafh, then
adding a pint of redlified fpirit of wine, macerating for
a week writh frequent agitation, and filtering the tinc¬
ture.
Chiefly ufed as an external aftringent.
280 *. Oxidum Manganesii nigrum. Manga-
tiefium, Dub. Black oxide of manganefe.
Preparation f. Tinctura Muriatis ferri CUM Tincture of
oxido rubro, Dub. Tinfture of muriate of iron with muriate of
red oxide. ^ron
red oxide.
Prepared by digefting an ounce of red oxide of iron
with four ounces by meafure of muriatic acid for 24
hours, then boiling for half an hour, evaporating the
filtered liquor to the confiftence of fyrup, and when
cold, adding reflified fpirit of wine, with frequent agi¬
tation, till the tindlure acquires the fpeciiic gravity of
1050.
A modification of the tinclure of muriated iron de¬
feribed under Materia Medica, N° 965, and is em¬
ployed in fimilar cafes.
The above appear to be the moft material change*
made in the new edition of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia'.
A few articles of lefs confequence are emitted, and
the new names of others will be feen in the followf-
ing Table. In this Table we have follow’ed the alpha¬
betical order of the laft: Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia,
and in the third column we have caufed the London
names to be printed in Italics, leaving a fpace above
each for the infertion of fuch new names as may occur
in the new' edition of their Pharmacopoeia wdneh the
London College is expected foon to publiflr.
Table of Synonimous Names of the Officinal Compounds-
Edinburgh Names.
Acetis hydrargyri.
Hydrarpyrus acetatus.
Acetis plumbi.
Saccharum faturni.
Acetis potaffie.
Lixiva acetata.
Acidum acetofum deftillatum.
Acetum vini dijiillatum.
Acidum acetofum forte.
Acidum acetofum camphoratum.
Acidum benzoicum.
Flores betiKoini.
Acidum fulphuricum.
Acidum vitriolicutn.
ZEther fulphuricus.
JEther vitriolicus.
Alcohol.
Spiritus vinofus re&ificatus.
Alcohol ammoniatum.
Spiritus ammonice.
Alcohol ammoniatum aromaticum.
Spiritus ammonice aromaticus.
Alcohol ammonia turn feetidum.
Dublin Names.
Acetas hydrargyri.
Hydrargyrum acetatum.
Acetas plumbi.
Ceruffa acetata.
Acetas kali.
Alhali vegetabile acetatum.
Acetum diftillatum.
Acidum aceticum.
Acidum aceticum camphoratum.
Acidum benzoicum.
Sal bensaoini.
Acidum fulphuricum.
Acidutn vitriolicum.
./Ether fulphuricus.
JEther vitriolicus.
Alcohol.
Spiritus ammoniae.
Spiritus alhali volatilis.
Spiritus ammoniae aromaticus.
Spiritus alkali volatilis aromaticus.
Spiritus ammoniac foetidus.
U U 2
London Names in 1791.
Hydrargyrus acetatus.
CeruJJa acetata.
Kali acetatum.
Acetum dijiillatum.
Acidum acetofum.
Flores ben<x,oes.
Acidum vitriolicutn.
JEther vitriolicus.
Alcohol.
Spiritus ammonice.
Spiritus ammonice compojitus.
Spiritus djnmonice fatidus.
Ammoniaretum
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Edinburgh Names.
Ammoniarelum cupri.
Cuprum ammoniacum.
Aqua acetitis ammoniae.
Aqua ammenice acetatre.
Aqua ammoniac.
Aqua ammonia: caujhccc.
Aqua carbonatis ammoniac.
Aqua ammonia.
Aqua potaffy;.
Aqua lixiva caujlicce.
Carbonas ammoniac.
Sal ammoniacus volatihs.
Carbonas calcis prseparatus.
Creta alba.
Carbonas ferri praeparatus.
Rubigo fern.
Carbonas ferri praecipitatus.
Carbonas magnetite.
Magnefa alba.
Carbonas potaffas.
Lixiva pur if cat a.
Carbonas fodac.
Soda.
Decoctmn antbemidis nobilis.
Dec odium commune.
Decochrm guaiaci compofitum.
Decacium lignorum.
Decodtum cinchonae officinalis.
Eledluarium aromaticum.
ConfeBio cardiaca.
Eleftuarium caffiae fennoe.
EleBuarium lervtruum.
Eledluarium mimoffe catechu.
ConfeBio Japonic a.
Eledluarium opiatum.
EleBuarium thebaicum.
Emplaftrum gummofum.
Dublin Names.
Cuprum ammoniatum.
London Names in 1791.
Appendix*
Aqua acetatis ammoniac.
Liquor alkali acgtatrs volatilis.
Aqua ammoniac caufticse.
Aqua alkali volatilis caufici.
Aqua carbonatis ammoniac.
Liquor alkali volatilis mills.
Aqua cupri ammoniati.
Liquor cupri ammoniati.
Aqua kali cauftici.
Lixivium cauficum.
Aqua fubcarbonatis kali.
Uxivium mite.
Carbonas ammoniac.
Alkali volatile mite.
Creta praeparata.
Carbonas xerri.
Magnefia.
Carbonas potaffae.
Alkali vcgetabile mite.
Carbonas fodae.
Alkalif.file mite.
Decoctum chanuemeli.
Decodlum farfaparillae compofitum.
Decodlum corticis cinchonae.
DecoBurn corticis peruviani.
Eleftuarium aromaticum.
Eledluarium fennae.
Eledluarium catechu compofitum.
Aqua ammonicc acetatce..
Aqua ammonicc puree.
Aqua ammonice.
Aqua cupri ammoniati.
Aqua kali puri.
Aqua kalipreeparati.
Ammonia prerparata.
Creta preeparata.
Rubigo ferri.
Magnefa alba.
Kali preeparatum.
Natron preeparatum.
DecoBum pro enemate.
DecoBum farfaparillec compofiutn.
DecoBum corticis peruviani.
ConfeBio aromatica.
FJcBuarium e fenna,.
Emplaftrum galbani.
ConfeBio opiata.
Emplafrum lithargijri compoftum.
Emplaftrum meloes veftcatorii.
Emplafrum vefcatorium.
Emplaftrum oxidi plumbi femivitrei.
Emplafrum commune.
Emplaftrum oxidi ferri rubri.
Emplafrum roborans.
Emplaftrum refinofum.
Emplafrum adheefvum.
Emplaftrum faponaceum.
Emulfio amygdali communis.
Emulfo communis.
Emulfio mimofse niloticae
Emulfo Arabica.
Emulfio camphor at a.
Emplaftrum aromaticum.
Emplaftrum cantharidis.
Emplaftrum lithargyri.
Emplaftrum thuris.
Emplaftrum lithargyri cum refina.
Emplaftrum faponis.
Emplafrum faponaceum.
Emulfio Arabica.
Miftura camphorata.
Emplafrum ladani compoftum.
Emplafrum cantharidis.
Emplafrum lithargyri.
Emplafrum thuris.
Emplafrum lithargyri cum refna.
Emplafrum faponis.
Lac amygdala.
Mfura camphorata.
Extradlum anthemidis nobilis.
Extradlum cinchona; officinalis.
ExtraBum corticis peruviani.
Extradlum florum chamsemeli.
Extradlum cinchonae rubrae refin.
ExtraBum corticis peruviani.
ExtraBum chamecmeli.
ExtraBum corticis peruviani cum
ref no.
Extraclum
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS..
Append!'*. EDINBURGH NAMES.
^ Extraflura convolvuli jalapae.
ExiraElum jalapcr.
Extra&um glycyrrhizse glabrae.
Extrafl. haematoxyli campechiani.
ExtraBum ligni compechcnjis.
Extraftum rutae graveolentis.
Extra&um fohorum rutct.
Dublin Names.
Extrafium jalapae.
Extraflum glycyrrbizae.
Extraftum fcobis hsematoxyli,
Extraftum foliorum rutae.
London Names in 1791.
Extrattutn ja/apii.
ExtraBum ghjcyrrh 'mce.
ExtraBum ligni campechenjls.
ExtraBum mice.
34*
Appendix-
Infufum cincbonae officinalis.
Infufum rofae gallicae.
Infiftim rofarum.
Infufum t^marindi cum fenna.
Magnefia.
Magnejia ujla.
Mucilago aftragali tragacantha.
Muci/ago gummi tragacanthce.
Mucilago mimofae niloticse.
Muci/ago gummi Arabic/.
Murias ammoniae el ferri.
F/ores martiales.
Murias hydrargyri.
Mercuriusfublimatus corrojivum.
Murias antimoniL
Butyrum antimonii.
Nitras argenti.
Caujlicum lunare.
Oleum ainmoniatum.
Linimentum volatile.
Oleum volatile juniperi communis.
Oleum volatile lauri faffafras.
Oleum lavandulae fpicae.
Oleum juniperi fabihae.
Oleum volatile menthae piperitse.
Oleum volatile myrti pimentae:
Oleum volatile pimpineilse anifi.
Oleum volatile pini.
Oleum volatile roris marini officinalis.
Oleum fulphuratum.
Balfamum fulphuris.
Oxidum antimonii cum phofpbate
calcis.
Anlimoniumcalcareo-phofphoratum.
Oxidum antimonii cum fulph. per ni-
trat. potaffae.
Crocus antimonii.
Oxidum antimonii cum fulphure vi-
trificatum.
Vitrum antimonii.
Oxidum ferri nigrum.
Ferri fqua nice.
Oxidum rubrum.
Ferrum vitriolatum ujlum.
Ox id.hy drargy ri per acidum nitricum.
Mercurius preecipitatus ruber.
Hydrargyrum cum creta.
Infufum cinchonae line calore.
Infufum rofae.
Infufum fennae cum tamarindis;
Magnefia ufta.
Mucilago gummi tragacanthae.
Mucilago gummi Arabic!.
Murias ammoniae et ferri.
Murias hydrargyri corrofivum.
Hydrargyrum muriatum corrojivum.
Nitras argenti.
Argentum nitratum.
Linimentum ammoniae.
Oleum cornu cervi re&incatum.
Oleum baccarum juniperi.
Oleum corticis et ligni faffafras.
Oleum florum lavandulae.
Oleum foliorum fabinae.
Oleum herbae florefeentis menthce
piperitidis.
Oleum baccarum pimento.
Oleum feminum anili.
Oleum terebinthinse recfificatum.
Oleum roris marini.
Pulvis antimonialis.
Oxydum ferri nigrum.
Oxydum ferri rubrum.
Oxydum hydrargyri.
Oxydum hydrargyri nitricum;
Hydrargyrum fubnitratum;
Hydrargyrus cum creta,
Infufum rofee*
Magnejia rfia.
Mucilago tragacanthce.
Mucilago Arabici gummi.
Ferrum ammoniacale.
Hydrargyrus muriatus.
Antimonium muriatum.
Argentum niiratum.
Liniment 11m ammonia.
Oleum animale.
Oleum cjfcntiale baccce juniperi.
Radicis Jafafras.
Oleum lavandu/a.
Oleum mentha piperitidis.
Oleum ejfentiale aniji.
Oleum terebinthincc reBificatunt,
Oleum roris marini.
Oleum fulphuratum.
Pulvis antimonialis.
Crocus antimonii.
Antimonium vitrifiedtum.
Hydrargyrus calcinatus.
Hydrargyrus nitratUs ruber.
Oxidunr
/
> ■
!
342 EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Append!*. EDINBURGH NAMES.
v ' Oxidum hydrargyri cinereum.
Pulvis mercurii cinereus.
Oxidum zinci.
Calx %inci.
Phofphas fodae.
Soda phqfphorata.
Pilulae aloeticae.
Pilulae aloes cum colocynthide.
Pilulce ex colocynthide cum aloe.
Pilulae afaefoetidae compofitoe.
Pilulce gummofce.
Pilulae fcilliticae.
Potaffa.
Caujlicum commune acerrimum.
Potaffa cum cake.
Caujlicum commune mitius.
Potio carbonatis calcis.
Polio cretacea.
Pulvis carbonatis calcis compofitus.
Pulvis cretaceus.
Pulvis ipecacuanhae et opii.
Pulvis doveri.
Solutio fulphatis cupri compofita.
Aqua Jlyptica.
Spiritus aetheris nitroli.
Spin it us nitri dulcis.
Spiritus ammoniae aromaticus.
Spiritus volatilis aromaticus.
Spiritus lauri cinnamomi.
Aqua cinnamomifpirituofa.
Dublin Names.
Oxydum hydrargyri cinereum.
Oxydum zinci.
rLincum ujlum,
Phofphas fodae.
Pilulae aloes cum zingibere.
Pilulce aloeticce.
Pilulae colocynthidis compofitae.
Pilulae myrrhae compofitse.
Pilulae fcillae cum zingibere.
Pilulce fcilliticce.
Kali caufticum.
Alkali vegetabile caufticum.
Kali cum cake.
Caufticum mitius.
Miftura cretae.
Miftura cretacea.
Pulvis ipecacuanhae compofitus.
Spiritus aethereus nitrofus.
Liquor cethereus nitrofus.
Spiritus ammoniae aromaticus.
Spiritus alkali volatilis aromaticus.
Spiritus cinnamomi.
London Names in 1791.
TAncum calcinatum.
Pilulce aloes compofttce.
Pilulte e gumnli.
Pilulcefcillce.
Kali purum.
Calx cum kalipuro.
Miftura cretacea.
Pulvis cretce compefttus.
Pulvis ipecacuanha compofttus.
Spiritus cetheris nitroji.
Spiritus ammonice compojitus.
Spiritus cinnamomi.
Spiritus myrifticae mofchatae.
Subacetis cupri praeparatus.
JErugo ceris.
Submurias hydrargyri.
Hydrargyrus muriatis mitis.
Submurias hydrargyri proecipitatus.
Subfulphas hydrargyri flavus.
Mercurius ftavus, vel turpeth. min.
Suceus fpiffatus conii maculati.
ExtraSlum feminum cicutce.
Succus fpiffatus momordicae elatefii.
Elaterium.
Sulphas aluminae exfrccatus.
Alumen uftum.
Sulphas ferri.
Sal mortis.
Sulphas potaflk.
Lixiva vitriolata.
Sulphas potaflae cum fulphure.
Sal polychreftus.
Sulphas fodae.
Soda vitriolata.
Sulphas zinci.
Vitnolum album.
Sulphuretum antimonii praecipitatum.
Sulphur antimoniipreecipitatum.
Spiritus nucis mofchatae.
.cErugo praeparata.
Submurias hydrargyri fublimatum.
Hydrargyrum muriatum mite fub-
» limatum.
Submurias hydrargyri praecipitatum.
Hydrargyrum muriatum mite pree¬
cipitatum.
Submurias hydrargyri ammoniatum.
Oxydum hydrargyri fulphuricum.
Succus fpiffatus cicutae.
Elaterium. %
Alumen uftum.
Sulphas ferri.
Ferrum vitriolatum.
Sulphas kali.
Alkali vegetabile vitriolatum.
Spiritus myrifticce.
AErugo preeparata.
Caiomelas,
Hydrargyrus muriatis mitis.
Calx hydrargyri alba.
Hydrargyrus vitriolatus.
Succus Acuta fpiffatus,
Elaterium.
Alumen uftum.
Ferrum vitriolatum.
Kali vitriolatum.
Sulphas fodae.
Alkali ftftjile vitriolatum. Natron vitriolatum.
Sulphas zinci.
Zincum vitriolatum. Zincum vitriolatum.
Sulphur antimonii fufeum.
Append!*.
3
Sulphuretum
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS.
Appendix. EDINBURGH NAMES.
V—Sulphuretum hydrargyri nigrum.
JEthiops mineralis.
Sulphuretum hydrargyri rubrum.
Ctnnabaris faBitia.
Sulphuretum potaffse.
Hepar fulphuris.
Syrupus citri aurantii.
Syrupus e cortice aurantiorum.
Syrupus citri medici.
Syrupus efucco malorum limon.
Syrupus dianthi caryophylli.
Syrupus caryophyllorum.
Syrupus toluiferi balfami.
Syrupus balfamicus.
Tartris antimonin
Tartarus antimonialis Jive emet.
Tartris potaflce.
Tartarum folubile.
Tartris potaffse et fodae.
Sal rupellenjis.
Dublin Names.
Sulphuretum hydrargyri nigrum.
Hydrargyrumfulphuratum nigrum,
Sulphuretum hydrargyri rubrum.
Hydrargyrum fulphuratum rubrum.
Sulphuretum kali.
Alkali vegetabile fulphuratutn.
Syrupus aurantii.
Syrupus limonis,
Syrupus caryophylli rubri.
Tartarum antimoniatum.
Tartarum Jlibiatum.
Tartaras kali.
Alkali vegetabile tartarifatum.
Tartaras fodae et kali.
Sal rupellenjis.
London Names in 1791.
Hydrargyrus cum fulphure.
Hydrargyrus fulphuratus ruber.
Kali fulphuratum.
Syrupus corticis aurantii.
Syrupus limonis.
Syrupus caryophylli rubric
Syrupus tolutanus.
Antimonium tartarifatum.
Kali tartarifatum.
Natron tartarifatum.
Tin&ura aloes et myrrhaj.
Tin&ura aloes compofita.
Tinciura aloes compofta.
Tin&ura ariftolochiae ferpentarias. Tin£tura ferpentariae.
Tinftura benzoin compolita.
Balfamum traumaticum.
Tinftura camphorae. Spiritus camphoratus.
Spiritus vinofus camphoratus.
TinBura ferpentarice'.
TinBura ben-zoes compofta.
Spiritus camphoratus.
Tinflura convolvuli jalapas.
Tin&ura jalapae.
TinBura jalapas.
34^
Appendix.
Tin&ura ferulm afaefoetidm. Tin&ura affaefoetidae.
Tin&ura lauri cinnamomi. Tin&ura cinnamomi.
TinBura ajfafcetidce.
TinBura cinnamomi.
Tin&ura meloes veficatorii. Tin&ura cantharidis.
TinBura cantharidum.
Tin&ura mimofae catechu. Tin&ura catechu.
TinBura japonic a.
TinBura cantharidis.
TinBura catechu.
Tin&ura muriatis ferri.
Tin&ura opii ammoniata.
Elixir paregoricum.
Tin&ura muriatis ferri. TinBura ferri muriati.
Tin&ura opii camphorata.
TinBura opii camphorata.
Tin&ura rhei palmati.
Tin&ura faponis.
Linimentum faponaceutn.
Tin&ura faponis et opii.
Linimentum anodynum.
Tin&ura toluiferi balfami.
TinBura tolutana.
Unguentum acetitis plumbi.
Unguentum faturninum.
Unguentum album.
Unguentum nitratis hydrargyri.
Unguentum citrinum.
Unguentum oxidi plumbi albi.
Unguentum e ceruffa.
Unguentum meloes veficatorii.
Unguenlum epifpaf. epulv. canth.
Unguentum refinofum.
Unguentum bafilicum.
Unguentum fubacetitis cupri.
Vinum tartritis antimonii.
Vinum e tartaro antimoniali.
Tin&ura rhei. TinBura rhabarbari.
Linimentum faponis.
Linimentum faponis compoftum ,
Tin&ura balfami tolutani.
Unguentum acetatis plumbi.
Unguentum cerae.
Unguentum fupernitratis hydrargyri.
Unguentum hydrargyri nitrati.
Unguentum ceruflae.
Unguentum cantharidis.
Unguentum refini albi.
Unguentum aertfginis.
Unguentum ceruffee acetatce.
Unguentum cercc.
Unguentum hydrargyri nitrati,
Unguentum cantharidis.
Unguentum refniflavi.
Vinum antimonii tartarifati.
INDEX-
344
EXTEMPORANEOUS PRESCRIPTIONS,
I N D E X.
Acetate of potafh, compofiuon of,
P-3l3
fubftances de-
compofing, 317
lead, compofition of, 313
.fubltances decom-
pofing, 317
mercury, fubftances decom-
pofing, ib.
iron, fubftances decompofmg, tb.
Dublin preparation of, N° 147
Acetic acid, preparation of, 96
campborated. 97
Adjuvant of a formula, what, 4
rule for, 42
Agrimony, 112
AJchemi/ls, improvements in pharmacy,
introduced by, 73
Alcohol, Dublin preparation of, 95
Jiliherf's new effay-on the art of pre-
fcribing noticed, 87
arrangement of compound me¬
dicines, ib.
Antidot aria, account of, 77
Antidotes, frequency of, in the middle
ages, 69
Arrangement of formulae in a prefcrip-
tion, 39
ingredients in a formula, 40
Arfeniate of potalh. 141
Aurelius, Marcus, ftupified.himfelf by the
habitual ufe of theriaca, 71
Avens, 2x3
B.
Aajis of a formula, what, 4
rules for, 41
Carbonate of barytes, compofition of, p. 312
fubftances decom-
pofing, ^ 316
lime, compofition of, 312
fubftances decompo-
fing, _ 316
magnefia, compofition of, 313
fubftances de-
compofing, 316
potafh, compofition of, 313
fubftances decom-
pofing, 316
foda, compofition of, 313
fubftances decom-
pofing, _ 316
ammonia, xompufition of, 313
Dublin prepa¬
ration of, N° 89
fubftances decom-
piofing, p. 316
Carbonate of iron, compofition of, P- 3 x 3
fubftances decompo-
fing> . 31?
zinc, compofition of, 313
fabftances decompo-
„ . . finS’ 31?
Chalk, precipitated, N° 139
Chemical affinity, attention to, in pre-
fcription neceflary, 24
common errors from
ignorance of, 23
Chemiftry, knowledge of, neceffary to
a prefcriber, 22 etfeq.
Clyster, foetid, 105
purging, _ 130
Compojition of medicines, advantages of, 7
Cotnpound medicines, when not officinal,
to be fpecifically defcribed, 61
Conji/lence of medicines, errors refpect-
.ing> 34
Conjhtuent in a formula, what, 4
rules for, 34, 35, 48
Cor re Cor in a formula, what, 4
rules for, 43
D.
Decoflion of hartftiorn, 94
elm bark, 204
compound of chamomile, 125
Iceland liverwort, 132
Difeafes, knowledge of, neceffary, 16
Difpenfatories, private foreign, enumer¬
ated, 80
Britifh, enumerated, 81
Dock, great/water, 106
Dofes of medicines examined, 3 2
regulated by circumftances, 32
by the nature and in¬
tention of the medicines, 5 3
by the age, fkc. of the
patient, 54
by climate, 37
by idiofyncracy and ha¬
bit, 58
table of, for different ages, 53
explained, 36
algebraical formula for, p. 223. note(B)
Do'XwV powder examined, N° 32
Dropping of liquid medicines inaccurate,
p. 3 24. note (c)
Dropfy, complex remedy for, how fim-
plified,. N° 63
Dublin Pharmacopoeia, account of, 79
new improvements in.
See Appendix.
E.
Eberhard's work on extemporaneous
prefeription, account of, 88
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, editions of, 79
Ether, nitrous, ' 1^3
ExpeSiorants, table of, p. 309
Extraft, of opium, N° 121
F.
Formula;, how differing from prefeription, 1
parts of, 4
divifion of, 3
arrangement of, in a prelcrip-
. tion, .39
complex, difadvantages of, 64
not always to be con¬
demned,
parts of, origin of the, 72
colledbion of, noticed, 82
Fucus veiiculofus, 130
G.
Gaubius's work on extemporaneous pre-
fcriplion, account of, 84
Germander, wall, \ 23
Geum urbanum, 113
Griffith's myrrh mixture examined, 26
fimplified, ib.
Griiner's work on extemporaneous pre¬
feription noticed, 86
PI.
Hints to a young practitioner, 37, 68
Infuffon of valerian, joi
cinchona, 103
compound, of mint, 122
L.
Lifbon diet-drink, complex formula for, 63
London Pharmacopoeia, editions of, 79
M.
Materia medica, knowledge of, necef¬
fary to a prefcriber, 17
tables of, utility of, 18, 20
exemplified, p. 309
explained, N° 19
Mefue, a pharmaceutical writer in the
middle ages, 76
Mithndate, account ot, 70
Muriate of barytes, compofition of, p. 312
fubft^nces decompo-
fing’ r 31J
nme, compofition of, 312
. fubftances decompo-
fing, _ 313
ioda, compofition of, 312
fubftances decompofing, 313
ammonia, compofition of, 312
fubftances dccom-
_ poling, _ 315
mercury mild, compofition
of, 312
corrofive, compofi¬
tion of, 312
fubftances decom-
pofing, 313
antimony, compofition of, 312
N.
EXTEMPORANEOUS
N.
Names of ingredients in a formula need
not be written at length, N° 49
Naufevus medicines, how correCled, 45
Neatnefs to be obferved in writing pre-
fcriplions, " 67
Nicho/aus, a pharmaceutical writer of
the middle ages, 77
Nitrate of potato, compofition of, P-312
Jubilances decompo-
fing> . 3J5
fiver, compofition of, 312
fubftances decompo-
o.
Obfolete medicines to be avoided, N° 60
Odour of medicines, w hen unpleafant,
how corrected, 46
Ointment of black pepper 100
of favine, 129
account of, 114
general effects of, 115
appearances on differing ani¬
mals killed by,
ill effects of,
how obviated,
analyfis of
fubfiitutes for,
Oxide of antimony, nitro muriatic,
P.
Pecuniary circumftances of the patient
to be regarded in prefcription, 66
Perfpicuity, a principal confideration in
prefcription, 59
Pharmacopoeias, public foreign, enume¬
rated, 78
Britito, enumerated, 75
Pharmacy, modern, origin of, 69
progrefs of, 75
Phojphate of lime, compofition of, p. 313
foda, compofition of, . ib.
fubftances decompo-
fing, 316
Pills, ftorax, N° 111
compound of colocynth, 128
Plajlcr, calefacient, 127
Powder of many virtues, formula for,
from De Gorter, P-326
of fea wrack, N0 131
Prefcriptions, medical, nature of, 1
examples of, 2
parts of, 3
neceflity of ac¬
quiring a habit
of vrriting, 18
j 16
117
118
119
120
142
Prefcriptions, medical, previous requifites
for, N° 15
art of rvriting, im¬
portance of, 8
general courfes of medicine
infufticient for, 9
neceflity of, 10
illuftrated, 11, 38
not to be learned
by attending a
(hop, 11
nor in an hofpital, 13
the fiuifliing part
of a phylkian’s
education, 14
works on, noticed, 83
- . r Qs
Quantity of a remedy to be regulated
rather than its quality cor-
refled, - 47
with magnefia. 144
R.
Recapitulation of the principal rules to
be obferved in prefcrip¬
tion, 68
Rumex aquaticus, 106
S.
Salts, fecondary, tables of, p. 312, 313.
explained, N°29, 30
ufes of, 31
Simplicity to be ftudied in prefcription, 62
errors in point of, 63
burnt, examined, 33
Subborate of foda, compofition of, P- 3 • 3
fubftances decompo-
07, r fing’ - 317
Subcarbonate of potato, compofition of, 313
Submuriate of mercury, ammoniaied, N° 145
5Wy?/^!>/;77teofmercury, compofition of, p. 3 1 2
Sulphate of magnefia, compofition of, ib.
fubftances decom-
pofing, 314
potato, compofition of, 312
fubftances decompo-
fing? 3X4
foda, compofition of, 312
fubftances decompofing, 314
copper, compofition of, 312
Jubilances decompo-
fing, . 3T4
green, of iron, compofition
of, 312
fubftances decempo- ^
fing,. 3I4
zinc, compofition of, 312
PRESCRIPTIONS. 345
Sulphate of zinc, fubfiances decompo-
fing, . p.314
Superfulphate of alumina and potafti, com¬
pofition of, 312
fubftances decompo¬
fing, 314
Supertartrate of potafti, compofition of, 313
fubftances de¬
compofing, 317
Symbolical characlers to be avoided in
prefcriptions, N° 50
Syrup of fenna, 108
T’
Table of expedlorants, p. 309
fecondary falts, 312
dofes, 3 23
French weights and meafures, 332
fynomymous, of officinal com¬
pounds, 339
Tartar, antimoniated, N° 143
Tartrate of potafti, compofition of, p. 313
fubftances decompo-
fing, . 317
and foda, compofition of, 313
fubftances de¬
compofing, 318
antimony and potato, compo¬
fition of 313
fubftances de-
compofing,3i8
Teucrium chamaedrys, N° x 23
Therapeutics, knowledge of, neceffary
to a prefcriber,
Theriaca, account of,
TinBurc of anguftura,
henbane, Dublin,
quaflia,
galls,
acetate of zinc,
muriate of iron with red
oxide,
Tin&ures, abufes of, deprecated,
U.
Uncommon remedies to be prefcribed
with caution,
w.
Water, cautions refpe&ing the prefcrip¬
tion of,
of fulphuret of potato,
ammonia,
oxymuriatic,
alkaline,
of muriate of lime,
Wax, purified.
Wrack, bladder,
21
71
99
102
no
126
146
148
44
60
35
*34
*37
136
*38
98
130
P R E
Prefence,
Prefent
Tenie.
PRESENCE, a term of relation, ufed in oppofition
to abfence, and fignifying the exiftence of a perfon in
a certain place.
PRESENT Tenfe, in Grammar, the firft tenfe of a verb,
exprefting the prefent time, or that fomething is now
‘ Vol. XVII. Part I.
P R E
performing ; as fcribo I write, or am waiting. See
Grammar.
PRESENTATION, in ecclefiaftical lawr. See Pa-
Prefenta-
tion. .
TRONAGE.
P RESENTATION of the Virgin, is a feaft of the Rom-
X x ift\
P R E [ 346 ] P R E
Prefenta- ifli churcti, celebrated on the 2iCx of November, in me-
n mory of the Holy Virgin’s being prefented by her parents
Preferva- ^ie temple, to be there educated. Emanuel Comne-
tion IHand. nus, who began to reign in 1143, makes mention of
this feaft in his Conftitutions. Some imagine it to have
been eftablidied among the Greeks in the nth century j
and think they fee evident proofs of it in fome homilies
of George of Nicomedia, who lived in the time of Pho-
tius. its inftitution in the Weft is afcribed to Gregory
XL in 1372. Some think it was inftituted in memory
of the ceremony pra£!ifed among the Jews for their new¬
born females 5 correfponding to the circumcifton on the
eighth day for males.
Presentation of our Lady alfb gives the title to
three orders of nuns. The firft, projected in j6i8, by a
maid named Joan of Carnbray. The habit qf the nuns,
according to the vifion fhe pretended to have, was to be
a grey gown of natural wool, &c, j but this projeft was
never accomplifhed. The' fecond was eftablfthed in
France, about the year 1627, by Nicholas Sanguin, bi-
ftiop of Senlis 5 it was approved by Urban VIII. This
order never made any great progrefs. The third was
eftablifhed in 1664, when Frederic Eorromeo, being
apoftolical vifitor in the Valteline, was intreated by fome
devout maids at Morbegno to allow them live in com-
. . . C* .
muhity in a retired place ; which he granted, and erec¬
ted them into a congregation, under the title of congi-e-
gation of our Lady. They live under the rule of St
Auguftine.
PRESENTMENT, in Law. See Prosecutiov.
A prefentment, generally taken, is a very comprehen-
five term j including not only prefentments properly, fo
called, but alfo inquifitions of office, and indictments by
a grand fury. A prefentment, properly fpeaking, is the
notice taken by a grand jury of any offence from their
own knowledge or obfervation, without any bill of in¬
dictment laid before them at the fuit of the king : As
the prefentment of a nuifance, a libel, and the like; upon
which the officer of the court muft afterwards frame an
indictment, before the party prefented can be put to an-
iwer it. An inquifttion of office is the aCt of a jury,
fummoned by the proper officer to inquire of matters re¬
lating to the crown, upon evidence laid before them.
Some of thefe are in themfelves convictions, and cannot
afterwards be traverfed or denied 5 and therefore the in-
queft, or jury, ought to hear all that can be alleged on
both fides. Of this nature are all inquifitions 0$fe/o de
fe; of flight in perfons accufed of felony j of deodands,
and the like j and prefentments of petty offences in the
fheriff’s tourn or court-leet, whereupon the prefiding of¬
ficer may fet a fine. Other inquifitions may be after¬
wards traverfed and examined ; as particularly the co¬
roner’s inquifition of the death of a man, when it finds
any one guilty of homicide ; for in fuch cafes the offend¬
er lo prelented muft be arraigned upon this inquifillon,
and may difpute the truth of it ■, which brings it to a
kind of indiClment, the moft ufual and effeCtuai means
of profecution. See Indictment.
PRESERVATION if and, a fmall ifland on the fouth-
ern coaft of New Holland, and one of the groupe
called Furneaux iflands, derives its name from the
circumftance of the crew of a {hip which was wreck¬
ed on the coalk having faved their lives, and redd¬
ed for fome time upon it. This ifland is in moft
places extremely barren, and is remarkable for large.
blocks of granite fcattered on its furface in many Preferva.
places. Eut one of the moft Angular phenomena int!0n ^anfl.
the hiftory of this iiland was, the diicovery of a petrified refci%mg-i
wood in the midft of a patch of naked fand } and at
leaft 100 feet above the level of the lea. Some of
the flumps of the trees rofe a foot and a half above the
furface 5 fome were furniflied with branches, and even it
is {aid a green leaf was feen on one of them when they
were firft difeovered. The petrifactions were found to
be of a calcareous nature. We think it probable that
the trees here faid to be petrified may be of the the na¬
ture of corals, may have been formed as ufual at the bot¬
tom of the fea, and elevated to their prefent fituation by
fome convulflon.
In fome parts of the ifland a little vegetation was
obferved, with iome brufh wood and Hunted trees. Small
kangaroos were found in abundance, with different kinds
ot birds and fome noxious fnakes. Collins''s Account
New South Wales, II.
PRESERVING lives of flnpwrccleed perfons. In our
account of life-boats, we laid before our readers every
thing that feemed ufeful on ib important a fubjeCt which
was then Jcnown to us. Since that time we have met
with the following defeription of a fimilar invention by
a Mr Lukin of London, fuggefted during his cafual
refidence at Loweftoff in Suffolk.
A boat conftruCted on tins principle cannot be over-
fet or funk by any power of wind and water, in proof
of which the following particulars and defeription of
the conftruftion are made public, with the hope of ren¬
dering more generally known the eafy means of favmo¬
rn any valuable lives; which might certainly be done, if
one or two of thefe boats were built at each of our ports,
and every ftiip furniftied with one [at leaft) in proportion
to her fize.
Difcriptlon and Dunenfons of the Low fof Lfe-Boat.
Feet. Inches.
Length aloft - - 40 o
 keel - - 37 o
Breadth amidfinips - 10 o
Depth _ . - exclufive of
a moveable wafli ftrake of o 8
The form the fame as the yawns of that coafi: 5 the
ftern poft nearly upright.
External gunwales hollow, forming an oblique fec-
tion of a parabola with the fide of the boat, and pro-
jefting nine inches from it on each fide : thefe gunwales
are reduced a little in their projeftion towards their ends,
and are firft formed by brackets and thin boards, cover¬
ed at top and bottom with one thicknefs of good found
cork, and the extremity or apex of the projeftion having
two thickneffes of cork, the better to defend it from any
violent blows it may meet with in hard fervice. The
depth of thefe gunwales from top to bottom was 15 inches,
and the whole covered with very ftrong canvas, laid on
with ftrong cement to refill the water, and that will not
flick to any thing laid upon it.
A falfe keel of wrought iron three inches deep, made
of three bars rivetted together, and bolted under the
common keel, which it greatly {Lengthens, and makes
a very effential part of her ballaft ■, being fixed fo much
below the floor, it has nearly double the power the fame
weight would have if laid on the floor, and therefore
( much
F R E [ 3ZJ.7 ] P R E
Preferving much preferable to any other ballaft that can be ufed
!l . for failing boats.
. Pic.u;^. Thwarts and gang-board as ufual j three malls and
lug fails, and I 2 Ihort oars.
In this ilate, this boat is much fafer than any common
boat of the fame dimenfions, will carry more fail, and
bear more weather •, but to make it completely unim-
mergible, empty calks of abput 22 inches diameter were
ranged along withinfide the gunwales, laflied firmly to
the boat, lying even with the tops of the gunwales, and
relting upon brackets faltened to the timbers for that
purpofe : alfo two fuch calks in the head, and two in
the Hern, and all removable in a Ihort time, if defired ;
there were alfo fome empty calks placed under the gang-
board 5 thefe would be an addition to the buoyancy if
empty, and an increafe to her ballad if full.
Thus equipped, this boat was launched on the 19th
of November, in a very fqually day. About 20 men
were launched in her, molt of them pilots or feamen.
They ran her immediately from the beach acrofs the
Corton fand, in the midlt of the breakers, which -would
have been almoft certain deftruftion to any common fail¬
ing boat, as that would have been filled and funk imme¬
diately. They then turned to the fouthward along the
top of the fand to its end 5 when they tacked and dcod
to the northward, pulled up the plugs in her bottom,
and let in as much water as would come that way ; the
water rofe very little above the thwarts. With all this
water in it, the boat failed better than without it. The
plugs were now put in again, and water poured in by
buckets, until it ran over both gunwales 5 ami in this
date it was the opinion of thole on board that Ihe would
have carried 60 men without finking, and to upfet it is
not pollible. But it is Mr Lukin’s opinion that more
than 50 men Ihould not be taken in when the boat is
full of water, and all her calks empty.
It is particularly advifable that all life boats Ihould be
built of the form mod approved by the pilots or feamen
on the coal! where they are to be ufed ; as no one form
will fuit all Ihores •, and thefe principles of fafety are ap¬
plicable to every form.
To tins defcription we have only to add, that Mr
Lukin is faid to be the inventor of the firll life-boat ever
built in England, and to have obtained a patent for it
in the year 1785. It would appear, too, that he pub-
• lilhed a pamphlet, on the lubjecl, but this pamphlet we
have had no opportunity of feeing.
PRESIDENT, Freeses, is an officer created or
elected to prefide over a company or aflembly ; fo called
in contradiftindlion to the other members, wdio are term¬
ed rejidents.
Lot ■cl PRESIDENT of the Council, is a great officer of
the crown, who has precedence next after the lord chan¬
cellor and lord treafurer 5 as ancient as the time of King
John, when he was dyled con/iliarws capital is.—His office
is to attend on the king, to propofe bufinefs at the coun¬
cil-table, and to report to the king the feveral tranfac-
tions there. See PMVY~ Council.
PRESIDIAL, was a tribunal, or bench of judges,
edabliffied (before the Revolution) in the feveral confi-
derable cities of France, to judge ultimately, or in the
lad refort, of the feveral caufes brought before them by
way of appeal from the fubaltern judges. The prefidials
made one company with the officers of the bailliages and
fenefchauflfees, where they were edabliffied.
PRESS (Prelum), in the mechanic arts, a machine Prefs.
made of iron or wood, ferving to fqueeze or comprefs ;
any body very clofe.
_ The ordinary preffes confift of fix members, or
pieces j viz. two flat fmooth pianks j between which
the things to be prefl'ed are laid ; two fcrews, or
worms, fadened to the lower plank, and palling through
two holes in the upper ; and two nuts,* in form of an
S, ferving to drive the upper plank, which is move-
able, againd the lower, which is dable, and without
motion.
_ Presses ufed for expreffing Liquors, are of various
kinds; fome, in mod refpects, the fame with the com¬
mon preffes, excepting that the under plank is per¬
forated with a great number of holes, to let the juice
expreflcd run through into a tub, or receiver, under¬
neath.
A very ufeful machine for a prefs, in the procefs of
cyder-making, has been condructed by Mr Andice,
who, with his well-known zeal for the improvement
of mechanics, permits its to lay before our readers the
following defcription of it.
A A fig. 1. two pieces of timber, 21 feet long, 12 by piate
6 inches, laid fide by fide at the didance of 12 inches, ccccxxxix
and fecured in that fituation by blocks placed between Flk r-
and bolts palling through them 5 this frame forms the
bed of the machine. BB, two uprights, 1 2 feet long,
6 by 8 inches, morticed upon them, and fecured in their
pofition by pins and iron fquares. CC, two uprights,
five feet long, fix by ten inches, morticed near the end
oi the under frame, and fecured as before. D, a lever,
17 feet long, 12 by 13 inches, turning on a large bolt
which paffes through the fliort uprights, alfo through
iron draps, which fecure them to the bed infide, and a
dirrup of iron which paffes over the end of the lever,
and which makes the turning point in the line of its
lower fide, and not through its middle. E, a lever 20
feet long, fix by eight inches at its larged part and ta¬
pering towards the other end : this lever turns on a bolt
in the uprights BB. _ F, 1, 2, 3, 4. four pieces of oak
(which he calls needles, 10 feet long), four by two and
an half inches, morticed loofely into the upper lever, and
hung thereto by bolts, fo as to fwing perpendicularly,
and play in a long mortice or channel cut through the
large lever to receive them. Thefe needles have inch-
holes pretty clofely bored through them (in a direc¬
tion crofling the machine), from the lower ends as far
upwards as the great lever will reach, when it is as high
as it can go. G, a bed to receive what is to be preff-
ed. H, a frame to fupport a winch worked by a
handle at I. At the end of the fmall lever two blocks
or pulleys are fixed, one above, and the other below it;
a rope of about half an inch diameter is then fadened to
the cieling (or continuation of the uprights of the
winch frame if neceffary) at K; then palled* through the
upper block on the lever, from thence paffed through
a block at L, and then goes with four turns round the
winch, from whence it is carried through the block un¬
der the lever, and fallens to the machine at M; by this
means, if the winch be turned one way, it raifes the
end of the fmall lever if the other depreffes it.
I o work the machine. If we fuppofe the great
lever bearing on the matter to be preffed, an iron pin
mud be put into one of the holes in the needles above
the great lever ; and when the fmall lever is worked as
X x 2 . far
Prefs.
P R E [ 348 ] P R E
Fig. 2.
far as it will go, either up or down, another bolt is to
be put into the hole, which comes neareft above the
great lever on the other fide of the uprights BB, and
the winch then turned the contrary way, by which
means the prefiing goes on whether the fmall lever riles
or falls. Before the refiltance is very great, the needles
faftheft from the fulcrum of the fmall lever are ufed ;
after that the neareft; are employed, which doubles the
power of the machine. In railing the great lever, or
lowering it to its bearing, the needles molt diftant from
the fulcrum of the fmall lever, are ufed under inftead
of over it. As the rope is liable to ftretch and get
Hack, he paffes it, after taking two turns on the
winch, through a pulley, to which is fufpended a weight
of half a hundred, and then takes two turns more be¬
fore it is carried through the other block, by which
means the flack is conftantly gathered in, and the weight
holds on without increaflng the friftion, as by hanging
under the winch it counteracts the preffure upwards on
its axis.
The power of this machine is very great, being as one
to 1136 nearly, and capable by a trifling addition of
any other proportion. It is applicable to many pur-
pofes beftde cyder prefling, and is more Ample, and lefs
liable to injury, than any other which has fallen under
our obfervation. Perhaps, however, it would be an im¬
provement to ufe, inftead of the ropes and pulleys, by
which the lever E Is moved, a fmall wrheel or pinion of
10 or 12 teeth, on the axis of the winch W (flg. 2),
and a ftilf beam e n down from the lever, having on its
lorver end an iron rack, of which the teeth take into
thofe of the pinion. The action of thefe teeth would,
in our opinion, be lefs diminiflred by friftion and obli¬
quity, tha*n the pulleys are by fribtion and the ftiffnefs
of the rope ) and the machine would retain all its other-
advantages.
PRESS ufed by Joiners, to keep clofe the pieces they
have glued, efpecially panels, &c. of w'ainfcot, is very
Ample, conAfting of four members 5 viz. tvro ferews,
and twro pieces of wood,. four or Ave inches fquare, and
tw-o or three feet long ; whereof the holes at the two
ends ferve for nuts to the ferews.
PRESS ufed by Inlayers, refembles the joiner’s prefs,
except that the pieces of w-ood are thicker, and that
only one of them is moveable } the other, wrhich is in
form of a treffel, being fuftained by two legs or pillars,
jointed into it at each end. This prefs ferves them for
flawing and cleaving the pieces of wood required in mar¬
quetry or inlaid w-ork.
Founder's Press, is a ftrong fquare frame, conAfting
of four pieces of wmod, flrmly joined together with te-
•nons, &c. This prefs is of various Azes, according to
the Azes of the moulds ; two of them are required to
each mould, at the two extremities of which they are pla¬
ced ; fo as that, by driving wooden wedges between the
mould and the Ades of the preffes, the two parts of the
mould wherein the metal is to be run may be prefled
clofe together.
Printing-Press. See PRINTING-Prefs.
Rol/ing-PRESS, is a machine ufed for taking off
prints from copper-plates. It is much lefs complex than
that of the letter-printers. See its defeription and ufe
under the article Rolling prefs PRINTING.
PRESS, in Coining, is one of the machines ufed in lin¬
king of money 3 differing from the balance, in that it
has only one iron bar to give it motion, and prefs the
moulds or coins 3 is not charged with lead at its ex¬
treme, nor drawn by cordage. See Coining.
Binder's Cutting-PRESS, is a machine ufed equally by
book-binders, ftationers, and pafteboard-makers 3 con¬
Afting of two large pieces of wood, in form of cheeks,
connected by two ftrong wooden ferews 3 which, being
turned by an iron bar, draw together, or fet afunder,
the cheeks, as much as is neceffary for the putting in
the books or paper to be cut. The cheeks are placed
lengthwife on a wooden Hand, in the form of a cheft,
into which the cuttings fall. Aftde of the cheeks are
two pieces of wood, of the fame length with the ferews,
ferving to direct the cheeks, and prevent their opening
unequally. Upon the cheeks the plough moves, to
which the cutting-knife is fattened by a ferew 3 which
has its key to difmount it, on occaAon, to be Aiarp-
ened.
The plough conAfts of feveral parts 3 among the reft
a wooden ferew or wrorm, which, catching within the
nuts of the two feet that fuftain it on the cheeks, brings
the knife to the book or paper which is faftened in the
prefs between two boards. This ferew, which is pret¬
ty long, has two directories, which referable thofe of the
ferews of the prefs. To make the plough Aide fquare
and even on the cheeks, fo that the knife may make an
equal paring, that foot of the plough wThere the knife is
not Axed, Aides in a kind of groove, faftened along one
of the cheeks. Laftly, the knife is a piece of fteel, fix
or feven inches long, flat, thin, and ftiarp, terminating
at one end in a point, like that of a fword, and at the
other in a fquare form, which ferves to fallen it to the
plough. See BoOK-binding.
As the long knives ufed by us in the cutting of books
or papers, are apt to jump in the cutting thick books,
the Dutch are laid to ufe circular knives, with an edge
all round 3 which not only cut more fteadily, but laft
longer without grinding.
Press, in the Woollen Manufa&ory, is a large wooden
machine, ferving to prefs cloths, ferges, rateens, &c.
thereby to render them fmooth and even, and to give
them a glofs.
This machine conftfts of feveral members 3 the prin¬
cipal whereof are the cheeks, the nut, and the worm
or ferew, accompanied with its bar, which ferves to
turn it round, and make it defeend perpendicularly on
the middle of a thick wooden plank, under which the
fluffs to be preffed are placed. The calender is alfo
a kind of prefs, ferving to prefs or calender linens, Aiks,
&c.
Prefc,.
Preffing,
Liberty of the PRESS. See LlBERTT of the Prefs.
PRESSING, in the manufactures, is the violently
fqueezing a cloth, fluff, &c. to render it fmooth and
g lofty.
There are twro methods of preffing, viz. cold and
hot.
As to the former, or cold prefling : After the fluff
has been fcoured, fulled, and fhorn, it is folded fquare
in equal plaits, and a fkin of vellum or pafteboard put
between each plait Over the w'hole is laid a fquare
w'ooden plank, and fo put into the prefs, which is ferew-
ed down tight by means of a lever. After it has lain
a fufficient time in the prefs, they take it out, removing
the palteboards, and lay it up to keep. Some only lay
the fluff on a firm table after plaiting and pafteboarding,
cover
P R E S S C^ydei*.
. </./&// &W". //"/.*< /t'tt/f ({(>>'' /rtf/ .
*
V)
■f
P R E [ 349 ] P R E
cover the whole with a wooden plank, and load it with
a proper weight.
The method of prefling hot is this: When the fluff
has received the above preparations, it is fprinkled a
little with water, fometimes gum-water ; then plaited
equally, and between each two plaits are put leaves of
pafteboard ; and between every lixth and feventh plait,
as wTell as over the whole, an iron or brafs plate well
heated in a kind of furnace. This done, it is laid upon
the prefs, and forcibly fcrewed down. Under this prefs
are laid five, fix, &c. pieces at the fame time, all fur-
nilhed with their pafteboards and iron plates. When
the plates are wTell cooled, the Huffs are taken out and
Hitched a little together to keep them in the plaits.
This manner of prefling was only invented to cover the
defedls of the fluffs } and, accordingly, it has been fre¬
quently prohibited.
Pressing, or ImpreJJing. See Impressing.
PRESSION, or PRESSURE, in the Cartefian philofo-
phy, is a fuppofed irnpulfive kind of motion, or rather
an endeavour to move, impreffed on a fluid medium, and
propagated through it.
PRESSURE of air. See Pneumatics.
Pressure of Fluids. See Hydrodynamics and
Pneumatics.
PREST, is ufed for a duty in money, to be paid
by the fheriff on his account, in the exchequer, or for
money left or remaining in his hands: 2 & 3 Edw. VI.
c. 4.
PUEST-Money, is fo called from the French word
prefl, that \s, promptus, expeditus ; for that it binds thofe
who receive it, to be ready at all times appointed, be¬
ing commonly meant of loldiers.
PRESTATION-money, is a fum of money paid
yearly by archdeacons and other dignitaries to their
bilhop, pro exteriorijurifdiBione.
Prestation (prajlatid), was anciently ufed for other
payments : Et quietiJint de prafationc muragii. Chart.
Hen. VIT. Sometimes alfo for pourveyance.
PRESTEIGN is a town in Radnorfhire, diflant
140 miles wefl-north-wefl from London, in the diredf
road to Aberyflwith, and throughout South Wales, in
N. Lat. 5 2° 12', bounded to the north and north eafl
by Herefordlhire. It is a neat well built town, with
clean and regular Hreets, and is the refidence of.many
genteel families. The neighbourhood abounds with all
the comforts and conveniencies of life. It is feated on
a gravelly foil on the banks of the river Lug, and at the
head of a very fertile vale: the mountains to the weff
and north-weff of the town forming, as . it were, an
amphitheatre round it. The name of it in Wellh, is
S/an-Andras, which is fuppofed to be derived from the
church, which is dedicated to Saint Andrew. The
towTn is divided into four wards, which have each a Se¬
parate jurifdidlion, feparate officers, levies, &c. The
curfew-bell of William the Conqueror Hill remains in
this place, and is rung every night. It is a borough by
prefcription, and is governed by a bailiff annually elec¬
ted, and fworn in by a Reward appointed by the crown.
The living is a redlory and vicarage united, and report¬
ed to be worth from 500I. to 600I. per annum; the
parifh lying in two counties. Here is an excellent tree
fchool well"endowed. The county hall, the county gaol,
the county bridewell, and houfe of correftion, are kept
in this place. The markets are held on Saturdays j and
there are two fairs in the year. About a century and Pretteign
a half ago Prefleign was confiderably larger; had a pre|on
good woollen manufactory, of which the very large 1
buildings now Handing (formerly belonging to clothiers)
bear ample teflimony •, but a fire, fucceeded by the
plague, in the town, about the year 1636, reduced the
lame, and with it its confequence as a manufacturing
town. The pariffi embraces a circle of at leafl 19 miles ;
and is reckoned very healthy.
PRESTER John, or Jean, an appellation former¬
ly given to an emperor of the Tartars who was over¬
come and killed by Jenghiz Khan. Since that time it
has been given to the emperor of Abyffinia or Ethio¬
pia ; however, in Ethiopia itfelf this name is utterly
unknown, the emperor being there called the grand ne¬
gus.
Prester, a meteor, confiding of an exhalation
thrown from the clouds downwards wdth fuch violence,
as that by the collifion it is fet on fire. The word is
Greek, w-gursig, the name of a kind of ferpent, called
alfo dipfas, to which this meteor is fuppofed to bear a
refemblance. The prefler differs from the thunderbolt
in the manner of its inflammation •, and in its burning
and breaking every thing it touches wdlh greater vio¬
lence.
Prester, a wrord ufed by fome to exprefs the ex¬
ternal part of the neck, which is ufually inflated in an-
ger.
PRESTIMONY, in Canon Law, is derived a prce-
Jlatione quotidiana ; and is, by fome, defined to be a kind
of benefice, ferved by a Angle priefl. Others fay, it is
the incumbency of a chapel, without any title or colla¬
tion ; fuch as are mofl of thofe in caflles, where prayers
or mafs are faid; and which are mere unendowed
oratories. Whence the term is alfo applied, in the Ro-
mi(h church, to certain perpetual offices bellowed on ca¬
nons, religious, or others, for the faying of maffes, by
way of augmentation of their livings. Others think it
is a leafe, or conceffion of any ecclefiafiical fund or re¬
venue, belonging to a monaflery, to be enjoyed during
life. Du Pvloulin calls it a profane benefice, which,
however, has a perpetual title, and an ecclefiaflical of¬
fice, with certain revenues attached to it; wffiich the
incumbent is allowed to fell, and which may be pof-
feffed w ithout tonffire ; fuch as the lay church-wardens
of Notre-dame. He adds, that, in propriety, the ca-
nonries of chapels are benefices of this nature. The
mofl probable opinion feems to be, that preflimony is a
fund, or revenue, appropriated by the founder for the
fubfiftence of a pried, without being eredled into any
title of benefice, chapel, prebend, or priory j and
which is not fubjefl either to the pope or to the ordi¬
nary, but whereof the patron, and tncie wTho have a
right from him, are the collators, and nominate and con¬
fer plena jure.
PRESTO, in the Italian mufic, intimates to perform
quick 5 as prefiijfimo does extremely quick.
PRESTON, a town of Lancalhire in England, feat¬
ed on the river Ribble, over which there is a handfome
Hone bridge. Here is held a court of chancery, and
other offices of juflice for the county palatine of Lanc.a-
Her. It is noted for the defeat of the rebels here in
1715, when they were all made prifoners, and fent up
to London. It contains about 11,887 inhabitants. W.
Long. 2. 26. N. Lat. 53. 45.
PRESTRE,
[
1‘ R E
L JO
Preftre PRESTRE. See VauBAN.
!l PRETENSED or pretended right, in law,, is
Preyarica- ^]lere one js Jn poileflion of lands and tenements^ which
‘ t*^1' another, who is out, claims and hues for. Plere the
pretenfed right is in him who fo claims or hies.
PRETERITE, in Grammar, a tenfe which expref-
fes the time paft, or an aftion completely finithed 5 as,
fcripji, t{ I have written.” See PERFECT and GRAM¬
MAR.
PRETERITION, or PRETERMISSION, in Rhetoric,
a figure whereby, in pretending to pais over a thing un¬
touched, we make a fummary mention thereof. 1 will
not fay he is valiant, he is learned, he is jujl, &c. The
molt artful praifes are thofe given by way of preterition.
See Oratory.
PRETEXT, a colour or motive, whether real or
feigned, for doing fomething.
Toga PRETEXTA, among the ancient Romans,
a long white gown, with a border of purple round the
edges, and worn by children of quality till the age of
puberty, viz. by the boys till 17, when they chan¬
ged it for the toga virilis ; and by the girls till mar¬
riage.
PRETIUM SEPULCHRT, in old law books, &c. thofe
goods accruing to the church wherein a corpfe is buri¬
ed. In the Irifii canons, lib. xix. cap. 6. it is ordered,
that along with every body that is buried, there go his
cow, horfe, apparel, and the furniture of his bed ; none
of which may be dripofed of otherwife than for the pay¬
ment of debts, &c. as being familiars and domeilics of
the deceafed.
PRETOR, a magiftrate among the ancient Romans,
not unlike our lord chief juftices, or lord chancellor, or
both in one; as being vetted with the power of diftrj-
buting juftice among the citizens. At firif there was
only one pretor •, but afterwards, another being created,
the firlt or chief one had the title of prertor urbanus,
or the “ city pretcr the other was called peregrinns,
as being judge in all matters relating to foreigners. But,
befides thefe, there were afterwards created many pro¬
vincial pretors •, who were not only judges, but alfo af-
iifted the confuls in the government of t he provinces, and
even were invefted with the government of provinces
themfelves.
PRETORIAN GUARDS, in Roman antiquity, were
the emperor’s guards, who at length were increafed to
10,000 : they had this denomination, according to fome,
from their being Rationed at a p1ace called Vreetonum:
their commander was Ilyled prafeElus preetoru.
PRETORIUM, or Prtetorium, among the Romans,
denoted the hall or court wherein the pretor lived, and
wherein he adminiftered juftice.
It likewife denoted the tent of the Roman general,
wherein councils of war, &c. were held : alfo a place in
Rome where the Pretorian guards were lodged.
PREVARICATION, in the civil law, is where the
informer colludes with the defendants, and fo makes on¬
ly a (ham profecution.
Prevarication, in our laws, is when a man falfely
feems to undertake a thing, with intention that he may
deftroy it} where a lawyer pleads booty, or a£ts by col-
lufion, &c. It fignifies alfo the falfe and contradictory
teftimony of a witnefs ; and denotes fometin es the fe-
crec abufe committed in the exercife of a public office,
or of a commiffion given by a private perfon.
2
50 1
P R I
Price
PRIAM, king of Troy, was the fon of Laomedon. Priam
Pie was carried into Greece after the taking of that city
by Hercules \ but was'afterwards ranfomed, on which
he obtained the name of Rriam, a Greek word flgnify-
ing “ ranfomed.” At his return he rebuilt Ilium, and
extended the bounds of the kingdom of Troy, which
became very flcurifhing under his reign. He married
Hecuba, the daughter of Ciffeus king of Thrace, by
whom he had 19 children j and among the reft Paris,
who carried off Helen, and occafioned the ruin of 1 roy,
which is luppofed to have been lacked by the Greeks
about 1184 B. C. when Priam was killed by Pyr¬
rhus the fen of Achilles at the foot of an altar where
he had taken refuge, after a reign of 52 years. See
Troy.
PRIAPISMUS, or Priapism, is an eredion of
the penis without any concomitant pain, or the con-
fent of other parts. It is thus called, becaufe the per¬
fon in this ftate refembles the lewd god Priapus. Coe-
lius Aurelianus'fays it is a palfy of the feminal veflels,
and other nerves diilributed to the parts about the pe¬
nis, by the diftenfion of which this diiorder is produced.
It is of the lame nature as the fatyriafis. See MEDI¬
CINE, N° 372.
PRIAPUS, in Pagan woifliip, the fon of Bacchus
and Venus, who prefided over gardens and the molt in¬
decent actions. He was particularly adored at Lampla-
cus, a city at the mCuth of the Hellefpont, laid to be
the place of his birth •, and Ins image was placed ip
gardens to defend them from thieves and birds deftruc-
tive to fruit. He was ufually reprefented naked, with
a ftern countenance, matted hair, and holding either a
wooden fword or fickle in his hand, and with a mon-
ftrous privity j from whence downward his body ended
in a {hapelels trunk. The facrifice offered to this ob-
foene deity was the afs j either on account ot the natu¬
ral uncomelinefs of this animal, and its propenfity to
venery, or from the difappointment which Priapus met
with on his attempting the chaftity of Vella, while that
goddefs was afieep, when Ihe cleaned the injury defign-
ed her by her being awaked by the braying of old Sile-
nus’s afs.
PRICE, Rev. Richard, D.D. L.L.D. fellow of
the Royal Society of London, and of the Academy of
Sciences, New England, was born at i ynton in Gla-
morganlhire, February 22. I723* •^‘iS ihther was a
diffenting minifter at Bridgend in that county, and
died in 1739. At eight years old he was placed under
a Mr Simmons of Neath •, and in four years removed
to Pentwyn in Caermarthenfliire under the Rev. Samuel
Jones, whom he reprefented as a man of a very enlar¬
ged mind, and who firff infpired him with liberal lenti-
ments of religion. Having lived as long with him as
with Mr Simmons, he was fent to Mr Griffith’s acade¬
my at Talgarth in BreconIhire. In 1.740 he loft his
mother •, and on this he quitted the academy and came
to London. Here he was fettled at that academy, of
which Mr Eames was the principal tutor, under the pa¬
tronage of his uncle the Rev. S. Price, who was co-
paftor with Dr Watts upwards of 40 years. At the
end of four years he left this academy, and refided with
Mr Streatfield of Stoke Newington in the quality of
domeftic chaplain, while at the fame time he regularly
affifted Dr Chandler at the Old Jewry, and occafionally
affifted others. Having lived with Mr Streatfield near
13
Price.
P R I | 3
13 years, on Ins death and his uncle’s he was induced
w—v——~ e i, , • , . » rrc was inaucea
fitUf°n’. and in '757 married Mifs S.
Blundell of Leicefterftiire. He then fettled at Hack¬
ney, but being fhonly after choien mini Iter at Newincr.
tonGres”, he lived there until the death of his wife,
tv inch was m 1786, wiien he returned to Hack¬
ney. He was next chofen after-noon preacher at the
meeting houfe in Poor Jewry direct, but this he refign-
ed on being elefted pallor of the Gravel-pit meeting
Hackney, and afternoon-preacher at Newington Green.
Hide he refigned with a farewel-fermon in February
^ 791 • 1 .1?r*h'Ga^er ^ie was attacked with a nervous
lever, which difappearing was fucceeded by a diforder
m his bladder, which reduced him to fuch a degree
that, worn out with agony and difeafe, he died without
a groan on the 19th April 1791. He left his property
to a filler and two nephew’s.
i }Jl rVpFs» fpeaking of his learning and purfuits,
. , fr::>ferr^e? that1 “ hls cWef aim was to lay a foundation
4tlt7obi 1 Hud if’by “ Tlici“ion to
Svo. noblelt kind. It was on the great and fundamental
principles and obligations ot morality, on the higher
Ipecies of mathematics, on the fublimer parts of natu-
Tfl P:”io.ophy, on the true balls of government, and on
tne quehions which relate to the eifential welfare and
y’'17 cji man, that his iludies were employed ; and in
tie prosecution of thefe iludies he not only enriched
'.s cava mind, but wras enabled to become of eminent
ieryice to his country and to the world. In his moral
Wiitings he has laboured with diftinguifhed ability to
builu tne fcience of ethics on an immutable bafis : and
v hat he lias advanced will always Hand high in eilima-
tmn as one of the flrongeit efforts of human reafon in
favour ot the fyllem he has adopted. For myfelf (adds
Ur Kippis), I fcruple not to fay, that I regard the
treatiie reierred to as a ricli trealure of valuable infor¬
mation and as deferving to be ranked among the firft
productions of its kind. With refpeft to "his other
ethical works, every one mull admire the zeal, earnefl-
ne s’ .and ii/ength, with which he endeavours to lead
men into pious views of God, of providence and prayer-
and to promote the exercife of devout and amiable
diipofitions. In confequence of his profound know-
tecge in mathematical calculations, he was qualified at
a particular cnfis for being of lingular utility to his
fellow-citizens. A number of fchemes for infurance
tor lives, ahd the benefit of furvivorfhip, promifing
migiUy advantages, were rifing up in the metropolis,
i nele ruinous fchemes would have been carried to great
exce.s had not Dr Price ftepped forward and difpelled
tne delufion. ^ Gratitude will not allow us to forget the
aoiuty and fpirit with which he awakened the attention
of his countrymen to the reduftion of the national debt.
With him it was that the fcheme of the prefent minifter
lor that purpofe is underffood to have originated. What
crowned the whole of his character was, its being an
aiiemblage of the moft amiable and excellent private vir¬
tues. His piety was fincere, humble, and fervent: his
loul pufe and elevated; in his views difinterefied and
nohie; and m his manners mild and gentle : the ap-
piame o. ais talents and virtues will be tranfmitted to
iuture ages, and he will be united in the catalogue with
the^molt eminent benefa&ors of mankind.”
This is the. panegyric of a friend ; but with few abate¬
ments it will be admitted by every candid reader. In
5i ] P R I
morals Dr Price’s principles were thofe of Cudworth
and Glarke ; and by many who have themfelves adopted "
a very diuerent theory, he is allowed to have defended
tuo e ■principles with greater ability than any other
writer m the Fnghlh language (fee MORAL Phi/ofo. h/.
is. Bymetaphyfics he was perhaps too great an
admirer of Plato, from whom he has borrowed a doc¬
trine concerning ideas which we confefs ourfelves unable
to comprehend, fie was a firm believer in the imma¬
teriality ot the foul; but, with Dr Law, the late learn¬
ed biihop of Carhfle, he thought, that from death to
t.ie reiurreftion of the body it remains in a dormant or
quielcent Ifat^. He contended for its indiviability, but
maintained at the fame time its extenfion : which fur-
nilhed Dr Prieilley with lome advantages in their ce-
feorated controyerfy, which his own acutenefs would
never have obtained. In propagating his political prin¬
ciples which were republican, he fometimes expreffed
iiimielf with undue vehemence ; and he was a zealous
enemy to all religious elfablifliments, which, in his opi¬
nion, encroach upon that liberty wherewith Chrilf has
made us free. His faith refpeding the Son of God
was what has been called fometimes low Arwmjm and
fometimes Semi-arianifm. From a very early age he
claimed the privilege of thinking for himfelf'on every
iubjetf. liis father was a rigid Calvinift, -and fpared
no pains to inftil his own theological dogmas into the
tender mind of his Ion; but young Hichard would
often Hart his doubts and difficulties, and fometimes
incur the old man’s difpleafure by arguing againft his
favourite fyiiem with an ingenuity that perplexed, and
a lolidity that could not be eafily overturned. He had
once the misfortune to be caught reading a volume of
Glarke s fermons, which his father in great wraffi fnatch-
ed from him and threw into the fire. Perhaps he could
not have taken a more effeftual method to make the
book a favourite, or to excite the young man’s curiofity
after the other works of the fame author ; and it is by
no means improbable that this orthodox bigotry con¬
tributed more than any other circumftance to lay the
foundation of his fon’s Arianifm.
But whatever may be thought of Dr Price’s fpecu-
lative opinions, whether political or religious, his vir-
tues in pnvate life have never, been called in queifion.
Gf his practical religion it is impoffible to fpeak in
terms too high. There was a fervour even in his
Public prayers which indicated the ftrongeft fenfibili-
ty as well as fincerity in himfelf, and communicated
its warmth to thofe who joined with him. But in his
family devotions he gave Hill fuller fcope to the pious
emotions of his foul, and proved to thofe friends who
were occafionally prefent at them how deeply he felt
religious impreffions, and how happily he blended in this
as well as m other things the cool decifions of the un-
demanding with the amiable and exalted fenfibilities of
tne heart.
. But 11 ^7as not in devotion only that thefe fenfibili¬
ties were difplayed.. He was as exemplary in affeaicn
to his relatives as m love to his Maker/ Of this he
gave a Hriking though private inflance before he firft
quitted his native place to try his fortune in London.
His lather had left to an elder brother by a former
raamage a very confiderable fortune; to Richard he
fe^t a mere trifle ; and to each of two fillers Hill lefs.
Our author divided his fliare between his lifters, refer-
vingy
Frier.
P R I
Price, ving to lilmfelf only a few pounds to detray the expences
”7—of his journey, and trufting for his future fupport to
the bleffing of God upon his talents and his induilry.
As in early life he was an affectionate and generous
brother, in old age he was a loving and attentive hu!-
band. His wife, who for a confiderable time, before
her death was almoft wholly helplefs, found during the
laft years of her li e hardly any enjoyment except in a
game at whift j and though our Hoftor difliked cards
as a wafte of time, and never touched them on any
other occafion, to amufe her he would fit down every
evening to the card-table, and play till it was late, with
a cheerfulnefs and good humour which charmed every
perfon who had the happinefs of viewing him in that
endearing fituation.
Yet, though thus attentive to the obligations of do-
meftic life, he did not fuffer his private affeftions to en¬
croach upon his focial duties. His talents and his la¬
bours were ever ready at the call of friendfhip j nay
fo much did his nature abound with the milk of human
kindnefs, that he could not refill without extreme reluc¬
tance even troublefome and unreafonable folicitations.
His hours of Itudy and retirement were frequently bro¬
ken in upon by applications for afTiflance and advice,
efpecially in matters relating to annuities and life-infu-
rances; and in this rvay he facrificed much of his per-
fonal convenience to individuals of whom he knew but
little, and from whom he would accept of no pecuniary
recompenfe. His good nature in this refpect amounted
almolt to a foible; and fubjefled him to importunities
and lofs of time, of which he wrould fometimes complain
as interfering materially with more important and more
generally ufeful ftudies.
Whilft he thus obliged the rich by his mental talents,
he fuccoured the poor with his earthly fubftance. A
fifth part of his annual income was regularly devoted
to charitable purpofes \ and he was laudably anxious to
diftribute it in fuch a way as might produce the great-
eft good. In the pra£lice of this, and indeed of all his
virtues, he was utterly devoid of oftentation. Simpli¬
city and humility were among the ftrong features of
his character. No man was ever lefs fenfible of his own
excellence, or lefs elated by his own celebrity; and in
no man was the dignity of artlefs manners and unaffedted
modefty more happily difplayed.
His face was the true index of his mind. It beam¬
ed with philanthropy ; and when lighted up in conver-
fation with his friends, affumed an afpeft peculiarly
pleafing. His perfon was flender, and rather below
the common fize, but polTeffed of great mufcular ftrength
and remarkable activity. A habit of deep thought had
given a ftoop to his figure, and he generally walked a
brifk pace with his eyes on the ground, his coat button¬
ed, one hand in his pocket, and the other fwinging by
his fide.
It is natural to fuppofe that fuch a man as Dr Price,
fome of whofe workings were tranfiated into foreign
languages, would be very generally refpecled in the re¬
public of letters, and have many correfpondents. The
fuppofition is well founded. In 1763 ori764 hewTas
chofen a fellow of the Royal Society, and contributed
largely to the tranfaftions of that learned body *, in
1769 he received from Aberdeen a diploma creating
him DD. •, and in 1783 the degree of LL.D. was con-
/erred upon him by the college of Yale in Connecticut.
P R I
As in 1770 he had refufed an American degree which Pnre.
had been conveyed to him by Dr Franklin, his accep-
tance of one 13 years afterwards can be attributed only
to his extravagant attachment to a republican form o:
government } which was the greateft defeCt in his cha¬
racter,"and lhowTs what prejudices the moft vigorous
mind will imbibe by thinking ahvays on the fame iub-
ieCts, and in the lame track. Among his cori'efpon-
dents, the moft eminent in his own country were the
late Lord Chatham, Lord Stanhope, Lord Lanfdowne,
the late biihops of Carlille and St Alaph, and the pre-
fent biftiop of Landaff; Mr Hume, Mr Harris of Sa-
lifbury, Dr Gregory of Edinburgh, and the celebrated
Mr Howard, wTo lived with him on terms of the great-
eft intimacy •, in America he correfponded with Dr
Franklin, Dr Chauncey, Mr Adams, and others •, and
in France with the celebrated Turgot,, the Duke de
Rochefoucault, and feveral of the firft national affembly.
One of his female correfpondents Iketched his character
with great juftnefs many years ago under the fiClitious
but well applied name of Simplicius; and with this cha-
ra&er we {hall cloie thefe ftiort memoirs.
“ While the vain man is painfully ftriving to out-
ftiine the company and to attraCl their admiration by
falfe wit, forced compliments, and ftudied graces, he
muft furely be mortified to obierve how conftantly Sim¬
plicius engages their attention, refpeCl., and complacen¬
cy, without having once thought of himfelf as a penon
of any confequence among them. Simplicius imparts
his fuperior knowledge, when called upon, as eafily and
naturally as he would tell you what it is o’clock ; and
with the fame readinefs and good will informs the moft;
ignorant or confers with the moft learned. He is as
willing to receive information as to give it, and to join
the company, as far as he is able, in the moft trifting
converfation into which they may happen to fall, as in
the moft ferious and fublime. If he difputes, it is w ith
as much candour on the moft important and interefting
as on the moft infignificant fubjedls; and he is not lefs pa¬
tient in hearing than in anfwrering his antagonift. If you
talk to him of himfelf or his works, he accepts praife or
acknowdedges defefls with equal meeknefs, and it is im-
poftible to fufpecl him of affe&ation in either. We are
more obliged by the plain unexaggerated expreffions of
his regard, than by the compliments and attentions of
the moft accomplilhed pattern of high breeding j be-
caufe his benevolence and fincerity are lo ftrongly mark¬
ed in every look, wmrd, and adlion, that wre are convin¬
ced his civilities are offered for our fakes, not for his
own, and are the natural effedls of real kindnefs., not
the ftudied ornaments of behaviour. Every one is de-
firous to Ihow him kindnefs in return, which w^e know
will be accepted juft as it is meant. All are ready to
pay him that deference which he. does not defire, and
to give him credit for more than he affumes, 01 even
more than he poffeffes. With a perfon ungraceful, and
with manners unpoliflied by the world, his behaviour is
always proper, eafy, and refpedlable j as fiee from con-
ftraint and fervility in the higheft company, as. from
haughtinefs and infolence in the lowed. His dignity
arifes from his humility j and the fweetnefs, gentlenefs,
and franknefs of his manners, from the real, goodnefs
and reftitude of his heart, wdiich lies open to infpe6lion
in all the fearleffnefs of truth, without any need ol dif-
guife or ornament.”
buch
[ 352 1
Price,
Pride.
p R 1 r 3
Such was Dr Price.—Of his public principles men
^vill think differently^ of his private worth there can
be but one opinion. Pie will live in the memory of his
friends till memory has loft her power. ‘ To pofterity
his works will be his monument. They are: A Re¬
view of the principal Queftions and Difficulties in Mo¬
rals, 8vo, 17585 Differtations on Providence, Sec. 8vo.
1767; Obfervations on Reverfiofiary Payments, &c.
8vo. 1771 j Appeal on the Nitional Debt, &c. 8vo.
I778 5 Obfervations on the Nature of Civil Liberty,
17765 on Materialifm and Neceffity, in a correfpon-
dence between Dr Price and Dr Prieftley, 17795 on
Annuities, Affurances, Population, &c. 8vo. 17795 on
the Population of England, 1780 5 on the Public Debts,
finances, Loans, &c. 8vo. 17835 on Reverfionary Pay¬
ments, 2 vols, 1783 5 on the importance of the Ame¬
rican Revolution, 1784: belides Sermons, and a variety
of papers in the Philofophical Tranfa&ions on aftrono-
mical and other philofophical fubjefts.
PRIDE, inordinate and unreafonable felf-efteem, at¬
tended with infolence and rnde treatment of others.—
It is frequently confounded with vanity, and fornetimes
with dignity 5 but to the former paffion it has no rc-
femblance, and in many circumftancesit differs from the
latter. Vanity is the parent of loquacious boafting 5
and the perfon fubjeft to it, if his pretences be admit¬
ted, has no inclination to infult the company. The
proud man, on the other hand, is naturally filetit, and,
wrapt up in his own importance, he feldom fpeaks hut
to m ke his audience feel their inferiority. It is this
circun- ’ranee which diffingunhes pride from dignity,
and co ftitutes its ffnfulnefs. Every man poffeffed of
great powers of mind is confcious of them, and feels
that he holds a higher rank in the fcale of exiftence than
he whole nowers are lefs. If he recolleff, at the fame
time, that he has nothing which he did not receive, and
that his ftiperiority is owing to the good pleafure of
Him ivho forms his creatures differently, as the potter
forms his clay 5 he will be fo far from infulting his in¬
feriors, that when neceffarily in company with them,
he will bear with their foibles, and, as far as is proper,
make them lofe light of the diftance which the laws of
God and man have for ever placed between them and
him. This condefcenfion, however, if he be a man of
dignity, will never lead him to joift with them in any
mean or dirty aftion. He will even excufe in them
many things which he would condemn in himfelf, and
give them Ins good wifhes, after they have forfeited his
efteem. Such a character is amiable and refpeftable,
and wffiat ever man fhould labour to obtain. From the
weaknefs of human nature, however, it is too apt to de¬
generate into pride.
To a man of great intellecftual powers and various
erudition, the converfation of ordinary perfons affords
neither inffruebon nor amulement 5 and fuch converfa¬
tion, when often repeated, muff, from the nature of
things, become tedious and irkfome. But it requires
gre,at command of temper and of manners to prevent
uneafinefs long felt from fometimes betraving itfelf by
external fymploms, fuch as peevifh expreftions, a for¬
bidding look, or abfence of mind 5 and thefe are the in¬
fallible indications of contempt for the company, the
very world ingredient in the paffion of pride. If this
contempt be often excited, it will be formed into a ha¬
bit 5 and the proud man will be fo much under its influ-
Vol. XVII. Part L
53 ] P R I
ence, as to infult his inferiors, and fometimes his equals,
without forming the refoluticn to inlult either the one
or the other. Such a chara6der is hateful to every
company, and is fo far from indicating true dignity of
mind in him to whom it belongs, that it'is obvioufly
affociated with meannefs, and indicates a confcioufneis
of fome radical defeid. He who poffeffes real and con-
fpieuous merit has no occaffion to deprefs others for the
purpole of railing himlelf 5 his fuperiority will be cheer¬
fully acknowledged : but when a man of undoubted
eminence in one refpedd, is fo fvvollen with pride as to
make him with to appear great in all refpefts, he has
no other means of enforcing his ill-founded claim, than
difplaying his acknowledged fuperiority, with fuch in¬
folence as may drive at a diftance from him every per¬
fon by whom he is confcious that in many inftances he
might be more than rivalled. Whoever is proud of
knowledge, would do well to conftder how much know¬
ledge he wants.
The fame obfervations which we have made oft pride
of parts will apply to every other fpecies of pride, fuch
as pride of birth, office, or riches, &c. The peace and
order of fociety require difference of rank, accompanied
with different degrees of authority 5 and he who inhe¬
rits a title or office from his anceftors, may without
pride be confcious of his fuperiority, provided he forget
not that fuch fuperiority is conferred on families and
individuals, not tor their own fakes, but for the good
of the community. The peer, who keeps this circum-
ftance in mind, may maintain his Ration, and reprefs
the forward petulance of the plebeian, without giving
offence to any thinking man 5 but if he dwell upon his
rank with loo much complacency, he will in procefs of
time be apt to confider himfelf and his family as fupe-
rior by nature to thofe upon whom no title has been
conferred, and then his pride will become intolerable.
If we could trace our defeents, fays Seneca, v:e ftiould
find all flaves to come fror/ princes, and all princes from
Haves. To be proud of knowledge, is to be blind in
the light 5 to be proud of virtue, is to poifon ourfelves
with the antidote 5 to be proud of authority, is to make
our rife our downfal. The belt way to humble a proud
man is to negleft him.
PRIDE AUX, Humphry, a learned clergyman of
the church of England, was born at Padjtow in Corn¬
wall in 1648. Pie ftudied three years at Weftminfter
under Dr Bulky 5 and then was removed to Chrift-
church, Oxford. Here he publifhed, in 1676, bis
Marmora Oxonienjia ex Arnndelianis, Seldenianis, a/iif-
aue conjlatn, arm perpetuo Commentario. 'This introdu¬
ced him to the lord chancellor Finch, afterward earl
of Nottingham, who in 1679 prefented him to the rec¬
tory of St Clements near Oxford, and in 1681 bellowed
on him a prebend of Norwich. Some years after he was
engaged in a controverfy with the Papifts at Norwich,
concerning the validity of the orders of the church of
England, which produced his book upon that fubjeft.
In 1688 he was inftalled in the archdeaconry of Suf¬
folk 5 to which he was collated by Dr Lloyd, then bi-
Ihop of Norwich. In 1691, upon the death of Dr
Edward Pocccke, the Hebrew profefforfhip at Oxford
being vacant, ■was offered to Dr Prideaux, but he re-
fufed it. In 1697, he publifhed his Life of Mahomet,
and in 1702 wTas inftalled dean of Norwich. In 1710
he was cut for the ftone, which interrupted his ftudies
Y y for
/
P R I
Priene, for more than a year. Some time after his return to
Prieft. London, he proceeded with his Connexion of the Hi-
ftory 0f the Old and New Teftament 5 which he had
begun when he laid afi.de the defign of writing the Hi-
ftory of Appropriations. He died in I724’
Chandler's PRIENE, an ancient town of Afia Minor. It is
Travels in now called Samfun, and Samfun-kateji, which do not
Afia Mi- however appear to be very recent. It was taken in
nor' 1391 by Bajazet, who fubdued Ionia. It had former¬
ly, without including the citadel, three gateways ; one
of which was towards Kelibefii, an adjoining village •,
and without it are vaults of fepulchres. The entrance
was not wide. A part of the arch, confifting of a
fingle row of maflive ftones, ftill remains : but thofe on
which it refts are fo corroded by age, broken, or di-
ilorted, as to feem every moment ready to yield and let
down their load. A rugged way leads to a fecond
opening in the wall oppofite to this, and about a mile
from it 5 beyond which are likewife vaults of fepulchres.
Between thefe was a gate facing to the plain ; and on
the left hand going out of it is a hole, refembling the
mouth of an oven, in the fide of a fquare tower; and
over it an infeription in fmall charafters, exceedingly
difficult to be read. It fignifies, that a certain Cyprian
in his deep had beheld Ceres and Proferpine arrayed in
white ; and that in three vifions they had enjoined the
worfhip of a hero, the guardian of the city, and pointed
out the place where, in obedience to them, he had ereft-
ed the god. This was probably fome local hero, whofe
little image was fet in the wall, and whofe name and
memory have perifhed. \
PRIEST, a perfon fet apart for the performance of
facrifice, and other offices and ceremonies of religion.
Before the promulgation of the law of Moles, the firft-
born of every family, the fathers, the princes, and the
kings, were priefts. Thus Cain and Abel, Noah, A-
braham, Melchizedec, Job, Ifaac, and Jacob, offered
themfelves their own facrifices. Among the Ifraelites,
after their exod from Egypt, the priefthood was con¬
fined to one tribe, and it confifted of three orders, the
/z/jj/i-prieft, priejls, and Lev lies. The priefthood was
made hereditary in the family of Aaron, and the firft-
born of the oldeft branch of that family, if he had no
legal blemilh, was always the high-prieft. This divine
appointment was obferved with confiderable accuracy
till the Jews fell under the dominion of the Romans,
and had their faith corrupted by a falfe philofophy.—
Then, indeed, the high-priefthood was fometimes fet
up to fale, and inflead of continuing for life, as it ought
to have done, it feems, from fome paffages in the New
Teftament, to have been nothing more than an annual
office. There is fufficient reafon, however, to believe,
> „ that it was never difpofed of but to fome defeendant
. of Aarofi, capable of filling it, had the older branches
been extintt. (For the confecration and offices of the
Jewiffi priefthood, wre refer our readers^to the books of
Mofes). In the time of David, the inferior priefts
were divided into 24 companies, who were to ferve in
rotation, each company by itfelf, for a week. The
order in which the feveral courfes were to ferve was de¬
termined by lot; and each courfe was in all fucceeding
ages called by the name of its original chief.—All na¬
tions have had their priejis. The Pagans had priejls of
Jupiter, Mars, Bacchus, Hercules, Ofiris, and Ifis, Sec. j
and fome deities had priejlejjes. The Mahometans have
P R I
priefts of different orders, called fchiek, and mufti; and Priefl-,
the Indians and Chinefe have their bramins and bonzes. Prieftley.
It has been much difputed, whether, in the Chri- v**—'v*-*-
flian church, there be any fuch officer as a priejl, in the
proper fenfe of the word. The church of Rome, which
holds the propitiatory facrifice of the mafs, has of courfe
her proper priejlhood. In the church of England, the
word priejl is retained to denote the fecond order in her
hierarchy, but we believe with very difterent fignifica-
tions, according to the different opinions entertained of
the Lord’s fupper. Some few of her divines, of great
learning, and of undoubted Proteftantifm, maintain that
the Lord’s fupper is a commemorative and eucharif ical
facrijice. Thole confider all who are authorifed to ad-
minifter that facrament as in the ftrifteft fenfe priejls.
Others hold the Lord’s fupper to be a feajl upon the
one facrifice, once offered on the crofs ; and thefe too
muft confider themfelves as clothed with fome kind of
priefthood. Great numbers, however, of the Englilh
clergy, perhaps the majority, agree with the church of
Scotland, in maintaining that the Lord’s fupper is a
rite of no other moral import, than the mere comme¬
moration of the death of Chrift. Thefe cannot confi¬
der themfelves as priejls in the rigid fenfe of the word,
but only as prejbyters, of wffiich the w-ordpriejlis a con-
traefion of the fame import with elder. See SUFFER of
the Lord.
PRIESTLEY, Joseph, LL. D. F. R. S. and mem¬
ber of many foreign literary focieties, was born on the
24th of March 1733, at Field-head, in the parilh of
Birftall, in the wTeft riding of Yorklhire. Flis father
was a cloth manufafturer, and both his parents were
refpedlable among Calviniftic diffenters. A ftrong de¬
fire for reading wras one of the firft paffions which this
philofopher exhibited, and which probably induced his
parents and friends to change their mind refpefting his
deftination, and inftead of a tradefman, to fit him for
fome learned profeffion. He acquired a knowledge of
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, in the fchool of an eminent
teacher at Bartley, and at the age of 19 became a
theological ftudent in the academy of Daventry. When
about the age of twenty-twro he was made choice of to
be affiftant minifter to the Independent congregation of
Needham-market, in Suffolk. Having ftaid at Need¬
ham for about three years, he received an invitation to
be pallor of a fmall Hock at Namptwfich, in Chefhire,
of which he accepted. Plere he opened a day-fchool,
in the management of which he difplayed that turn for
refearch, and that fpirit of improvement, which wrere
afterwards deftined to be fuch prominent features of his
charadler. His reputation as a man of extraordinary
talents and diligent enquiry foon fpread among his pro-
feffional brethren, and when Dr Aikin was chofen to
fucceed the reverend Dr Taylor as tutor in divinity at
Warrington, the vacant department of belles lettres
W'as afligned to Mr Prieftley.
His literary career may properly be faid to have com¬
menced at Warrington j and the extent, as well as the
originality of his purfuits, were foon announced to the
world by a variety of valuable publications. Much of
his attention about this period was taken up with gene¬
ral politics, on which he delivered a number of leftures.
Although it was reafonable to think that his time would
be fufficiently occupied by his academical and literary
employments, yet his unwearied adlivity and induftry
found
[ 354 ]
P R 1 [ 355 ] P R I
Prieftley. found means to accomplith the firft great work in phi-
lofophy which laid a folid foundation for his future
fame.
Having long amufed himfelf with an eleftrical ma¬
chine, and felt himfelf interefted in the progrefs of dif-
covery in that branch of phyfics, he undertook a hiftory
of ele&ricity, with an account of its prefent date. This
work made its firft appearance at Warrington in the
year 1767, which was fo well received by the learned
world, that it went through a fifth edition in 4to in the
year 1794. It is juftly deemed a valuable performance,
and its original experiments are allowed to be very in¬
genious.
About the year 1768, he was chofen pallor of a
large and relpecdable congregation of Proteftant diffent-
ers at Leeds, which made him turn a very large (hare
of his attention to theological fubjedfs. His mind is
faid to have been ftrongly impreffed with fentiments of
piety and devotion from a child ; and though he
changed moft of thofe religious fentiments in which he
had been inftrudled, for fuch as he regarded to be more
rational and confiftent with truth, his piety and devotion
never deferted him.
He was at the head of the modern Unitarians, whofe
leading tenet is the proper humanity of Chrift, confining
every fpecies of religious worlhip and adoration to the
one fupreme. Some, we believe, have charged him
with a defign to fubvert the Chriftian religion; but
fuch an infinuation argues a total want of candour, as
zeal for Chriftianity, as a divine difpenfation, and the
moft valuable of all gifts beftowed upon the human race,
was his ruling palfion.
His Hiftory and Prefent ftate of Difcoveries relating
to Vifion, Light, and Colours, appeared in 1772, in
two vols 410. This is allowed to be a performance of
great merit, having a lucid arrangement 5 but it did
not bring him fuch a large {hare of popularity as his
Hiftory of Eleftricity, as it is probable that he was
fcarcely qualified to explain the abftrufer parts of the
fcience. In the year 1770 he quitted Leeds for a fitu-
ation entirely different. Elis philofophical writings,
and the recommendation of Dr Price had made him fo
favourably known to the earl of Shelburne, that this
nobleman made him fuch advantageous propofals for
.refiding with him, that a regard for his family would
not permit them to be rejedled. The domeftic tuition
of Lord Shelburne’s fons having been previoully com¬
mitted to a man of merit, they received no inftrudlions
from Dr Prieftley farther than fome courfes of experi¬
mental philofophy. He alfo attended his lordlhip in a
vifit to Paris, where he had an opportunity of feeing
fome of the moft celebrated men of fcience in that
country, whom he aftonilhed by afferting a firm belief
in revealed religion, which had been prefented to their
minds in fuch colours, that they thought no man of
fenfe could hefitate in rejecting it as an idle fable.
In 1775, he publilhed his examination of Dr Reid
on the Human Mind ; Dr Beattie on the Nature and
Immutability of Truth ; and Dr Ofwald’s Appeal to
.Common Senfe. The defign of this volume was to
refute the new dodtrine of common fenfe, employed as
the teft of truth by the metaphyficians of Scotland.
He never intentionally mifreprefented either the argu¬
ments or purpofes of an opponent •, but he meafured the
refpedl with which he treated him by that which he
felt for him in his own mind. In the year 1777, he Prieftley.
publilhcd his difquifitions relating to Matter and Spirit,
in which he gave a hiftory of the philofophical dodtrine
refpedting the foul, and openly fupported the material
fyftem, which makes it homogeneous with the body.
This fubjedted him to more odium than any of his other
opinions. As he materialized fpirit, fo he in fome mea-
fure fpiritualized matter, by afligning to it penetrabi¬
lity and fome other fubtle qualities. About the fame
period he became the champion of philofophical necef-
fity ; a dodtrine not lefs obnoxious to many, on account
of its fuppofed effedts on morality, than the former.
So aftonilhing w'as the verfatility of his mind, that he
at the fame time carried on that courfe of difeovery
concerning aeriform bodies which has rendered his
name fo illuftrious among philofophical chemifts. A
fecond volume was publilhed in 1775, and a third in
177^* borne of his moft memorable difcoveries wrere
thole of nitrous and dephlogifticated or pure air 5 of
the reftoration of vitiated air by vegetation •, of the in¬
fluence of light on vegetables, and of the effedts of re-
fpiration on the blood.
The name of Prieftley was by thefe means fpread
through the countries of Europe, and honours were heap¬
ed upon him from fcientific bodies in various parts. The
term of his engagement with Lord Shelburne having
expired, Dr Prieftley was at liberty to choofe a new fi-
tuation for himfelf, retiring with a penfion for life of
150I. a-year. He chofe the vicinity of the populous
town of Birmingham, as it was the refidence of feveral
men of fcience, fuch as Watt, Withering, Bolton, and
Keir, whofe names are well known to the public. Plere
he was invited to become pallor of a diffenting congre¬
gation, of which he accepted about the latter end of the
year 1780. Soon after this appeared his Letters to
Bilhop Newcome, on the Duration of Chrift’s Miniftry,
and his Hiftory of the Corruptions of Chriftianity, which
were afterwards followed by his Hiftory of Early Opi¬
nions.
He difplayed his attachment to freedom by his Effay
on the Firft Principles of Government 5 and by an an¬
onymous pamphlet on the State of Public Liberty in
this country *, and had Ihewn a warm intereft in the
caufe of America at the time of its unfortunate quarrel
with the mother country.
The celebration of the anniverfary of the deftrudlion
of the Baltile, by a public dinner, on July 14th 1791,
at which Dr Prieftley was not prefent, gave the fignal
of thofe riots which have thrown lafting infamy on the
town of Birmingham, and in fome degree on the nation¬
al charadler. Amidft burning houfts of worlhip and
private dwellings, Dr Prieftley was the great objedt of
popular rage ; his houfe, library, manulcripts, and ap¬
paratus, were made a prey to the flames ; he was hunt¬
ed like a criminal, and experienced not only the furious
outrages of a mob, but the moft unhand feme treatment
from feme who ought to have fuftained the parts of gen¬
tlemen, and the friends of good order. He now lay
under a load of public odium and fufpicioti, and he was
conftantly haraffed by the petty malignity of bigotry.
It was of confequence not to be wondered at, that
he looked for an afylum in a country to which he had
always Ihewn a friendly attachment, and which he hip-
pofed was in poffeflion of all the bleflings of civil and
religious liberty. In the year 1794 he took leave of
Y y 2 ‘ his
P R I [ 356 ] P R I
Pritfl-lfy. hig native country, and embarked for Nortli America.
He took up his retidence in Northumberland, a town in
the interior of the ftate of Pennfylvania, which he fe-
Icfled on account oi the purchafe of landed property in
its neighbourhood $ otherwife its remotenefs from the
fea-ports, its want of many ©f the comforts of life, and
of all the helps to fcientific purfuit, rendered it a pecu¬
liarly undefirable abode for one of Dr Prieltlcy’s habits
and employments. The lofs of his amiable wife, and of
a moft promlling fon, as well as repeated attacks of dif-
eaie, fevrerely tri(;d the fortitude and refignation of this
great and good man. (
In America he was received with general refpeft,
and the angry contefts of party wrere not able wholly to
deprive him of the efleem due to his charafter. He
was heard as a preacher by fome of the moil diitinguidi¬
ed members of congrefs ; and be was offered, but de¬
clined, the place of chemical profelfor of Philadelphia.
It became his great object to enable himfelf in his re¬
tirement at Northumberland to renew' that courfe of
philofophical experiment, and efpecially that train of
theological writing, which had occupied fo many of the
bed years of his life. By numerous experiments on the
conditution of airs, he became more and more fixed in
his belief of the phlogidic theory, and in his oppodtion
to the new French chemical fyllem, of which he lived
to be the only opponent of any celebrity. By the libe¬
ral contributions of h's friends in England, he was en¬
abled to commence the printing of twro extenfive works,
on which he was zealoufly bent, a Church Hitlory, and
•an Expofition of the Scriptures ; and through the pro-
grefs of his final decline he unremittingly urged their
completion.
An article in ibre Philadelphia Gazette fpeaks of him
in the following honourable terms: >
“ Since his illnefs at Philadelphia, in the year 1801,
he never regained his former good date of health. His
complaint w'as condant indigeftion, and a difficulty of
fwallowing food of any'kind. But during this period
of general debility, he was bufily employed in printing
his Church Hidory, and in the fird volume of his notes
on the Scriptures, and in making new and original ex¬
periments. During this period, likewife, he wrote his
pamphlet of .Tefus and Socrates compared, and reprinted
his Effay on Phlogidon.
“ From about the beginning of November, 1803, to
the middle of January, 1804, his complaint grew more
ierious ; yet, by judicious medical treatment, and drift
attention to diet, he, after fome time, feemed, if not gain¬
ing drength, at lead not getting worfe •, and his friends
fondly hoped that* his health would continue to improve
as the feafon advanced. He, howrever confidered his life
as very precarious. Even at this time, befides his mif-
cellaneous reading, which was at all times very exten¬
five, he read through all the wmrks quoted in his Com-
parifon of the different Sydems of Grecian Philofophers
with Chridianity •, compofed that wmrk, and tranfcribed
the whole of it in lefs than three months j fo that he has
left it ready for the prefs.
“ In the lad fortnight of January, his fits of indigef¬
tion became more alarming, his legs fwelled. and his
weaknefs increafed. Within two days of his death he
became fo weak, that he could w7alk but a little way,
and that with great difficulty. He w7as fully fenfible
.that he had mat long to live, yet talked yrilh cheerful-
nefs to all who called on him. He dwelt Upon the pe- Priefifey
culiarly happy fituation in which it had pleafed the di- j .U
vine Being to place him in life, and the great advantage
he had enjoyed in the acquaintance and friendfhip of — -
fome of the bed and wifed men of the age in w'hich he
lived, and the fatisfaftion he derived from having led an
ufefjl as-well as happy life. On the 9th of February
1804, he breathed his lad, fo eafily, that thofe w’ho were
fitting dole to him did not immediately perceive it. Pie
had put his hand to his face, which prevented them from
obferving it.”
In the conditution of Dr Priedley’s mind ardour and
vivacity- of intelleft were united with a mild and placid
temper. With a zeal for the propagation of truth wThich
nothing could fubdue, he joined a calm patience, an un¬
ruffled ferenity, which rendered him proof againd dis¬
appointments. The rights of private judgement wreie
rendered facred to him by every principle of his under,,
danding, and his heart wmuld not have fuffered him to
injure his bittered enemy. He was naturally difpofed
to be cheerful, and when Ids mind was not occupied
with ferious thoughts, could unbend with playful eafe
and negligence, in the private circle of friends. He
commonly fpoke little in large and mixed companies,
and in the domedic relations of life was uniformly
kind and affeftionate. His parental feelings were thole
of the tendered and bed of fathers. Not even malice
itfelf could ever fix a dain on his private conduct, or
impeach his integrity.
PRIIYI/E vite, among phyficians, denote the whole
alimentary duft ; including the oefophagus, domach, and
intedines, with their appendages.
PRIMAGE, in Commerce, a fmall duty at the wa-
ter-fide, ufually about 1 2d. per ton, or 6d. per bale, due
to the mailer and mariners of a drip.
PRIMARY, fird in dignity, chief, or principal.
F HI MAH T Qualities of Bodies. See Metaphysics,
n° 152.
PRIMATE, in church-polity, an archbifhop, wrho is
inveded with a jurifdiftion over other biffiops.
PRIME, primus, an appellation given to whatever
is fird in order, degree, or dignity, among feveral things
of the fame or like kind ; thus ive fay, the prime mi-
nider, prime cod, &c.
Prime is fometimes ufed to denote the fame with de¬
cimal, or the tenth part of an unit.
PRIME-Figure, in Geometry, one which cannot be
divided into any other figures more fimple than itfelf,
as a triangle among planes, and the pyramid among fo-
lids.
For prime numbers, in arithmetic, fee the article
Number.
PRIME of the Moor, is the new moon when die fird
appears, which is about three days after the change.
PRIME Vertical, is that vertical circle which paffes
through the poles of the meridian, or the ead and wed
points of the horizon ; whence dials projefted on the
plane of this circle are called prime vertical, or north-
andfouth dials.
Prime, in the Romidi church, is the fird of the ct-
nonical hours, fucceeding to lauds.
Prime, in Fencing, is the fird of the chief guards.
See Guard.
PRIMER seasin, in Feodal Law, was a feodal bur¬
den, only incident to the king’s tenants in capite, and
net
P R 1 [ 357 1 PHI
Primer not to thofe who held of inferior or mefne lords. It
Seafm was a right which the king had, when any of his ten-
Priroo'-err ants ‘n ccPlt€ a knight’s fee, to receive of
ture. (provided he were of full age) one whole year’s
-y—' profits of the lands if they were in immediate poffefiion,
and half a year’s profits if the lands were in reverfion
expectant on an eftate for life. This feems to be little
more than an additional relief, (fee Relief) 5 but
grounded upon this feodal realon, That, by the ancient
law of feeds, immediately upon the death of a vaffal the
Superior was entitled to enter and take feifin or poiTefiion
of the land, by wTay of proteftion againft intruders, till
the hej}- appeared to claim it, and receive inveftiture ;
and for the time the lord fo held it, he was entitled to
take the profits •, and unlefs the heir claimed within a
year and day, it was by the tfri£f larv a forfeiture. This
practice however, feems not to have long obtained in
England, if ever, with regard to tenures under inferior
lords ; but, as to the king’s tenures in capite, this prima
fpifina was exprefsly declared, under Henry III. and Ed¬
ward II. to belong to the king by prerogative, irt con-
tradiftimflion to other lords. And the king was en¬
titled to enter and receive the whole profits of the land,
till livery was fued ; which fuit being commonly within
a year and day next alter the death of the tenant, there¬
fore the king ufed to take at an average the Jir/l fruits,
that is to fay, one year’s profits of the land. And this
afterwards gave a handle to the popes, who cl ;imcd to
be feoda! lords of the church, to claim in like manner
from every clergyman in England the fir If year’s pro¬
fits of his benefice, by way of pnmitue, or firft-fruits.—
Alt the charges arifing by primer feifin wrere taken away
by 1 2 Car. II. c. 24.
PRIMING, in Gunnery, the train of powder that is
laid, from the opening of the vent, along the gutter or
* channel on the upper part of the breech of the gun ;
which, when fired, conveys the flame to the vent, by
which it is further communicated to the charge, in order
to fire the piece. 'Phis operation is only ufed on fhip-
board at the proof, and fbmetimes in garrifon ; for, on
all other occafions, tubes are ufed for that purpofe.
PRIMING-lVire, in Gunnery, a fort of iron needle
employed to penetrate the vent or touch-hole of a piece
of ordnance, when it is loaded : in order to difeover
whether the powder contained therein is thoroughly dry
and fit for immediate fervice •, as likewife to fearcli the
vent and penetrate the cartridge, when the guns are not
loaded with the loofe powder.
Priming, among painters, fignifies the laying on of
the firff colour.
PRIMPILUS, in antiquity, the centurion of the firff
cohort of a legion, who had the charge of the Roman
eagle.
PRIMITIVE, the firlf-frults gathered off the earth,
whereof the ancients made prefents to the gods.
PRIMITIVE, in Grammar, is a root or original
word in a language, in contradiftinffion to derivative;
thus, God is a primitive ; a derivative ; and god-
lihe, a compound.
PRIMOGENITURE, the right of the firft-born,
has among moft nations been very confiderable. The
firft born fon in the patriarchal ages had a fuperiority
over his brethren, and, in the abfcnce of bis father, was
priefl to the family. Among the Jews, he was confe-
crated to the Lord, had a double portion of tire inheri* Pnmegifrr-
tance, and fucceeded in the government of the family or tu^e
kingdom. It is, however, remarkable, and unqueflion- pr:nJu]a
ably (hows the connexion between this inffitution and 1 -••T— <
the birth and office of our Saviour, that if a woman’s
fii'it child was a girl, neither the, nor the children that
came after her, were confecrated.
In every nation of Europe, the right of primogeniture
prevails in feme degree at prefent, but it did not prevail
always. The law which calls the elder-born to the
crown, preferably to the others, was not introduced in¬
to France till very late ; it was unknown to the firfl
race of kings, and even to the fecond. The four fons
of Clovis fhared the kingdom equally among themfelves-5
and Louis 1c Debonnaire did the fame : it was not till
the race of Hugh Capet, that the prerogative of fuccef-
fion to the crown was appropriated to the firlt-born.
By the ancient enffom of Gavel-hind, If ill preferved
in fbme parts of our ifland, primogeniture is of no ac¬
count ; the paternal elfate being equally ffiared by all
the fons. And it has been a matter of violent and
learned difpute, whether, at the death of Alexander III.
Baliol or Bruce was, by the law as it then (food, heir
to the crown of Scotland. The former had undoubted¬
ly the right of primogeniture, but the latter Rood in
one degree of nearer relation to the deceafed fovereign j
and the Scottiffi barons, not being able to determine
whofe claim was bell founded, referred the queftion to
Edward I. of England, and thereby involved their
country in a long and ruinous war. See Scotland.
PRIMORIE, is a name given by the Slav! to that
tra£f of fea coaft which lies between the two rivers Cet-
tina and Narenta, the firil of which is the Neftus and
Tiluras, and the fecond the Narus, of the ancients ;
comprifing what was properly called Dalmatia two ages
before our era, and which was known to the Greeks of
the low times under the name of Paratalajia. Appian
informs us, that the Ardei or Vardei poiTefled many ci¬
ties there, part of which they feized before the invafion
of the Romans, and part they built themfelves. We
learn alfo from the Tabu/a Peutingeriana, that after the
conquell many of thofe cities remained, and were inha¬
bited by the conquerors, who alfo founded new fettle-
ments. And indeed were thefe proofs wanting, the nu¬
merous inferiptions found near the fea, and fometimes
among the hills, would render it nt leatf probable. The
coaif is extremely pleafant, the foil fertile, and the fitu-
ation moft convenient for commerce with thehnland pro¬
vinces. By bad m'anagement, however, much ground
has been loft near the fea, by its being covered with
gravel, and by imprudent cultivation of the hills, the
impetuous fury of the mountain torrents has rendered
a part of it uninhabitable. Macarfka is now the only
town in the territory, and it appears to have rifen out
of the ruins of the ancient Rataneum of Pliny. It
formed a part of the Narentan date for feveral ages, and
afterwards, together with the reft of Primorie, palled
under the obedience of various Chriftian princes. It af¬
terwards became fubjeft to the Ottoman Porte, and at
laft voluntarily fubjedfed itfelf to the Venetian republic.
See Dalmatia and Macarska. See alfo Fortis’s
Travels into Dalmatia, p. 265.—218.
PRIMULA, the Primrose ; a genus of plants be¬
longing to the pentandria clafs ) and in the natural me¬
thod!
P R I
[ 358 ]
P R I
'Primula tbod ranking under the 21ft order, Precue. See Bo-
p II TANY Index. This genus includes the prirnrofe, the
. ‘1^cc' cowllip, the polyanthus, and the auricula; fome of the
earlielt and molt beautiful ornaments of the tlower-gar-
. den. For the mode of culture, fee Gardening.
PRIMUM MOBILE, in the Ptolemaic aftronomy, the
ninth or higheit fphere of the heavens, whofe centre is
that of the world, and in comparifon of which the earth
is but a point. This is fuppoled to contain within it all
other fpheres, and to give them motion, turning them
quite round, as well as revolving itfelf, in 24 hours.
PRINCE, Piunceps, in polity, a perfon inverted
with the fupreme command of a date, independent of
any fuperior.
Prince alfo denotes a perfon who is a fovereign in
his own territories, yet holds of fome other as his fupe¬
rior } fuch are the princes of Germany, who, though ab-
folute in their refpeclive principalities, are bound to the
emperor in certain fervices.
Prince alfo denotes the iffiie of princes, or thofe of
the royal family. In France, before the revolution, they
were called princes of the blood, and during the fliort
continuance of the conftitution of 1791, French princes.
In England the king’s children are called fons and
daughters of England; theeldeft fon is created prince of
Wales} the cadets are created dukes or earls as the
king pleafes $ and the title of all the children is 7-oyal
highnefs : all fubje&s are to kneel when admitted to kifs
their hand, and at table out of the king’s prefence they
are ferved on the knee. See RoTAL Fa?nihj.
PRINCE of the Senate, in old Rome, the perfon who
was called over firft in the roll of fenators, whenever it
was renewed by the cenfors: he was always of confular
and cenforian dignity. See the article Senate.
PRINCE's Metal, or Pinchbeck, an alloy of copper
and zinc, which has a refemblance to gold. See Che¬
mistry, N° 2014.
Princetown. See New Jerse T.
Prince of Wales'1 s If and, or Pulo Penang, is fituat-
ed in the entrance of the ftraits of Malacca, in loo0
of eaft longitude, and in 50 of north latitude. It is
about feven leagues in length and three in breadth, and
is fuppofed to contain about 160 fquare miles. Its
northern extremity runs nearly parallel with the main
FJSi. Phil, kmd at a diftance of about two miles, by which a fine
Tranf. v. iii. channel is formed, where the greateft fleets might ride
p. 13..&C. in perfeft fafety, the height of the furrounding moun¬
tains afting as a barrier againft the force of the prevail¬
ing winds.
The purchafe of this ifland from the king of Qued-
dah, on the oppofite Malay coaft, was made on behalf
of the Eaft India Company by Mr Light, who took
pofleflion of it on the 12th of Auguft 1786. The fet-
tlement continued to enjoy peace and fecurity till the
year 1791, when a jealoufy, on the part of the king of
Oueddah, probably arifing from a collifion of interefts,
threatened it with the calamities of war. Mr Light,
however, anticipated the attack of the enemy, and car¬
ried the fcene of a6!ion to his own fhores. A fort, con-
ftrucled by the Malays at the town of Prya on the op¬
pofite fhore, and only two miles diftant from George
Town in Prince of Wales’s ifiand, wras taken by aflault;
and almoft the whole of the prows collected in the river
” for the conveyance of troops to attack the Britifh fettle-
ment, were deftroyed. A new treaty was entered into,
by which it was rtipulated, that the Malay king Ihould
receive an annual payment of 6000 dollars. In 1800,
a tradl of land on the oppofite Ihore, of 18 miles in
length and three in breadth, was ceded to the company
by the king of Queddah, on condition of receiving an¬
nually an additional fum of 4000 dollars. The number
of inhabitants in 1797 was computed at about i2,oco
perfons of all defcriptions.
The climate, confidering its vicinity to the equator,
is remarkably mild. The thermometer on the high
grounds never rifes above 78°, feldom more than 740 ;
and falls as low as 66° 5 while on the plain it ranges
from 76° to 90°. Its healthfulnefs is certainly not fur-
pafled by that of any European fettlement on the coaif.
Out of a garrifon of 300 troops (natives of Hindoftan),
not one died for the Ipace of 14 months ; a lingular fadl
to be experienced by a new fettlement in an uncleared
country. This great falubrity is perhaps the effect of a
conftant ventilation, fupported by almoft continued but
gentle breezes, added to the drynefs of the foil, the uni¬
form but gradual elevation from the fea to the foot of
the hills preventing thofe ftagnations of water which, in
tropical latitudes, are fo highly prejudicial to the health
of man.
A ridge of beautiful mountains, deeply indented with
valleys, and covered with evergreens, divides the ifland
longitudinally. Flagftaff hill, nearly the higheft on the
iftand, is eftimated at 2500 feet above the level of the
fea. Innumerable rivulets receive their origin from thele
mountains, and are remarkable for the tranfparency and
coolnefs of their waters. The foil, which is light and
fandy near the fea, gradually changes to a rich clay as
it approaches to the high lands. There the fugar-cane
grows with the utmoft luxuriance, and the molt plenti¬
ful crops of rice are everywhere produced. The gar¬
dens have already fumifhed the inhabitants with cabba¬
ges and potatoes } and when induftry {hall have reached
the tops of the mountains, it will be no furprile to fee
in the plantations moft of the produclions of Europe in
their utmoft perfe&ion. Here are alfo produced pep¬
per, cocoa-nuts, coffee, cotton, ginger, yams, fweet po¬
tatoes, a great variety of vegetables, and many different
forts of fruits. Among the exotics are the clove, nut¬
meg, cinnamon, pimento, hyapootee, colalava, and a
number of other plants from the Moluccas and Eaftern
ifles, introduced only a few years ago. In decorating
the landfcapes of this little iftand, nature has been pecu¬
liarly lavith. An affemblage of flowering trees and
Ihrubs in perpetual bloffom, and endlefs in the variety
of their fpecies, form the firft {hade. Thefe are over¬
topped by foreft trees of an immenfe height, which
fpread their vaft branches on every fide, and are cover¬
ed with the richeft foliage. Flere llrangers feel with
rapture the effeft of the breezes, which, from whatfo-
ever quarter they blow, are ftrongly impregnated with
the fragrance of the groves.
The original animal produftions of this ifland are
very limited. Of quadrupeds, the wild hog, deer, and
fquirrel, nearly comprehend the whole j but the abfence
of the tiger and leopard, whofe numbers and ferocity al¬
moft render the oppofite ftiores uninhabitable, amply
compenfates for this deficiency. The flying fox and
Prince
fquirrel are natives of this iftand the
former a non-
deferint,
I
p R 1 C 359 ]
P R I
Prince.
defcript, and a great natural curiofity. Of birds there
are alfo but few, and only one which is remarkable for
the melody of its notes. The crow and fparrow, the
never-failing attendants on population, have but lately
made their appearance. They are now, however, ra¬
pidly increafmg and multiplying. All the domeftic ani¬
mals arrive here at great perfection.
The fea which furrounds the ifland, affords a vaft va¬
riety of fifh of the molt delicious flavour, and its Ihores
abundance of the fineit turtle and oyfters. In no fitua-
tion indeed are the conveniencies and luxuries of life en¬
joyed in greater profuflon. The advantages of the
ifland in a political and commercial view are very confi-
derable. There were nothing but wooden bridges on
this ifland in the year i Boo, which were perpetually
liable to be injured, which the rapid fwell of the rivers
frequently carried away •, but four fubltantial bridges of
brick and mortar were 'loon after that period completed,
their foundations being of ftone.
The markets are well fupplied with different kinds of
fiih, poultry of all forts, pork, grain, and great variety
of the fineft fruits and vegetables. The quality of the
beef and veal is none of the bell, and they import flieep
from Bengal. Milk, butter, and bread, bear a high
price, the two former of which are not very abund¬
ant.
Prince of Wales Ifland produces a great variety of
timber, fit for every purpofe of fliip-building, and can
iurnilh mails of any dimenfions. Ships of 74 guns were
provided with lower malts of one piece in the courfe of
the late war.
There are few, if any places, more abundantly fup¬
plied with water, than this ifland, numerous Itreams of
water flowing from the hills in jgvery direction. Three
or four of thefe ftreams unite, and form the Penang ri¬
ver, after traverfing a confiderable fpace ; and it dif-
charges itfelf into the fea, about a mile to the fouthward
of the town.
This ifland contains mines of tin j but it is faid they
have never been worked.
Perfons conviCted of felonies, &c. in any of the
Britilh fettlements in the Eaft Indies are frequently
banilhed to Prince of Wales ifland, fo that it may be
confidered as the Botany Bay of the Eaft.
The following table exhibits the revenue and dif-
burfements of the ifland, at feveral different periods,
from 1789 to 1804.
Revenue.
Dollars.
1789 2500
1790 4100
1791
1795 19,612
1796 28,000
l8o°' 53»r5J
1802 74,280
1803 75500° eftimated.
The imports of this iflaijd
ral productions of the eaft, a
of the manufactures of the
thofe regions.
In 1799, 95 Englifh flaps.
„ Dijhurfemerits.
Dollars.
78,884
96,274
108,290
115*3 79
192,598
184,469
176,000
180,000 eftimated.
confift of the various natu-
is well as of a great variety
induftrious inhabitants of
37 American, Portuguefe,
and Danifli, and 36 Afiatic, arrived in this ifland. The Prince,
total number of arrivals, in 1800, amounted to 193 5 Principal,
and in 1802, to 241, equal nearly to 57,000 tons. -
Prince William's Sound, fituated on the north-weft
coaft of America, and fo named by Captain Cook in
1778. The men, women, and children of this found
are all clothed in the fame manner. Their ordinary
drefs is a fort of clofe frock, or rather robe, which
fometimes reaches only to the knees, but generally
down to the ancles. Thele frocks are compofed of the
fldns of various animals, and are commonly worn with
the hairy fide outwards. The men often paint their
faces of a black colour, and of a bright red, and fome¬
times of a bluilh or leaden hue 5 but not in any regular-
figure. The women punCture or ftain the chin with
black, that comes to a point in each of their cheeks.
Their canoes are of two forts j the one large and open,
the other fmall and covered. The framing confifts of
flender pieces of wood, and the outfide is compofed of
the Ikins of feals, or other fea animals, ftretched over
the wood. Their weapons, and implements for hunting
and filhing, are the fame as thofe ufed by the Green¬
landers and Efquimaux. Many of their fpears are head¬
ed with iron, and their arrows are generally pointed
with bone. The food they were feen to eat was the
flefli of fome animal, either roafted or broiled, and
dried filh. Some of the former that was purchafed had
the appearance of bear’s flefli. They alfo eat a larger
fort of fern-root, either baked or dreffed in fome other
method. Their drink, in all probability, is water; for,
in their canoes, they brought fnow in wooden veffels,
which they fwaliowod by mouthfuls. Our knowledge
of the animals of this part of the American con¬
tinent is entirely derived from the {kins that were
brought by the natives for fale. Thefe were principal¬
ly of bears, common and pine martens, fea otters, feals,
racoons, fmall ermines, foxes, and the whitilh cat or
lynx. The birds found here were the halcyon, or great
king’s-fifher, which had fine bright colours ; the white-
headed eagle, and the humming-bird. The fifti that
were principally brought to market for fale were-torlk
and holibut. The rocks were almoft deftitute of fliell-
fifli; and the only other animal of this tribe that was
obferved was a reddifti crab, covered with very large
fpines. Few vegetables of any kind were obferved }
and the trees that chiefly grew about this found were
the Canadian fpruce pine, fome of which were of a con¬
fiderable fize. E. Long. 115. 21. N. Lat. 59. 33.
PRINCIPAL, the chief and meft neceffary part of
a thing. The principal of a college or hall is the mafter
thereof.
In commerce, principal is the capital of a lum due
or lent) fo called in oppofition to intereft. See Inte¬
rest.
It alfo denotes the firft fund put by partners into a
common flock, by which it is diftinguiftied from the
calls or acceflions afterwards required.
Principal, in Mufic. See Fundamental, in Mu¬
sic, and Generator, in Music.
Principal, in Law, is either the. affor or abfolute
perpetrator of the crime, who is called a principal, in
the firft: degree ; ox he who is prefent, aiding and abet¬
ting the fa£t to be done, who is denominated a principal
in the fecond degree. The prefence of a principal need
not.
P K I [ 360 ] P Pv I
Pnr.: ;pa1, nol always be an acluul immediate {landing by, within
in. ip'e. ^ght or hearing of the faff } but there may oe.alio a
Bluck'l corlftruftive prefence, as when one commits a robbery
Comment, or murder, and another keeps watch or guard at fome
b. iv. c. 3. convenient drftancc. And this rule has alfo other ex¬
ceptions •, for, in cafe of murder by poifoning, a man
may be a principal felon by preparing and laying the
poiibtt, or giving it to another (who is ignorant of its
poifonous quality) for that purpofe } and yet not admi-
nifter it himfelf, nor b'e prefent when the very deed of
poifoning is committed. And the fame reafoning will
hold, with regard to other murders committed in the
abfence of the murderer, by means which he had prepa¬
red before-hand, and which probably could not fail of
their mifchievous etleft. As by laying a trap or pit-fall
for another, w’hereby he is killed j letting out a wild
beaft, with an intent to do mifchief •, or exciting a mad¬
man to commit murder, lo that death thereupon enfues :
in every one of thefe cafes the party offending is guilty
of murder as a principal, in the firlt degree, bor he
cannot be called an acceifory, that neceflarily prefuppo-
fing a principa'l } and the poifon, the pit-fab, the bead,
or the madman, cannot be held principals, being only
the inftruments of death. As therefore he muft be cer¬
tainly guilty, either as principal or acceffory, and can¬
not be fo as acceflbry, it follows that he muft be guilty
as principal j and if principal, then in the firft degree 5
for there is no other criminal, much lefs a fuperior in
the guilt, whom he could aid, abet, or aftift.
Principal Point, in PerfpeBive, is a point in the
perfpective plane, upon which a line drawn from the
eye perpendicular to the plane falls.
’ This point is in the interfeftion of the horizontal and
vertical plane ; and is alfo called the point of fight, and
point of the ei/e. See Perspective.
Principal Ray, in PerfpeBive, is that which paffes
perpendicularly from the ipeflator’s eye to tne perfpec¬
tive plane, or piflure.
Whence the point where this ray falls on the plane,
is by fome alfo called the principal point, which oftier
writers call the centre of the piBure, and the point of con¬
currence.
PRINCIPATO, the name of a province of Italy, in
the kingdom of Naples, which is divided into two parts,
called by the Italians the Principato Ultra and the Prin-
cipato Citra, that is, the Hither and Farther Principato.
The Hither Principato is bounded on the north by the
Farther Principato and part of the I erra-di-Lavoro, on,
the weft and fouth by the luican fea, and on tne eaft
by the Baftlicata. It is about 60 miles in length, and
30 in breadth ; the foil is fertile in wine, corn, oil, and
faflfron ; and they have a great deal of filk, befides fe-
veral mineral fpriugs. The capital town is Salerno.
The Farther Principato is bounded on the north by the
county of Molefe and the Terra-di-Lavoro, on the weft
by the Tufcan fea, on the fouth by the Hither Princi¬
pato, and on the eaft by the Capitanata. It is about
3 >7 miles in length, and 30 in breadth. The Apennine
mountains render the air cold $ and the foil is not very
fertile either in corn or wine, but it produces chefnuts,
and paftures in great plenty. Benevento is the capital
towm.
PRINCIPLE, PRINCTPIUM, in general, is ufed for
the caufe, fource, or origin of any thing.
Principle, in human nature. See Disposition.
3
Principle, in fcience, is a truth, admitted without Prinriple,
proof, from which other truths are inferred by a chain of
reafoning. Principles are of two kinds, primary and ge-
ncral; and to the laft the name of axioms is ufually given
on account of their importance and dignity. An axiom
or general principle, when the terms in which it is ex-
preffed are undeiftood, mult be a felf-evident truth ; but
from its very nature it cannot be is fr/l truth. Our firft
truths are all particular. A child knows that two par¬
ticular lines, each an inch long, are equal to one an¬
other, before he has formed any general notions of
length and equality. “ Things equal to one and the -
fame thing are equal to one another,’’ is the firft of
Euclid’s axioms; and an axiom it undoubtedly is, but
to no man has it been a frf truth. It is, if we may
ufe the exprefilon, a genus or clafs of truths, comprehend¬
ing under it numberlefs individuals. Were a full-grown
man introduced into the world, without a {Ingle idea in
his mind, as we may luppofe Adam to have been, he
would inftantly perceive, upon laying together three
pieces of wood each a foot long, that they were alt equal
in length •, and if he were to cut another to the fame
length with any one of them, he would find upon trial
that it was of the fame length with them all. After a
few fimple experiments of this kind, he would, by a law
of human thought, infer, that all things equal in length
or in any other dimenfion, to any one thing, are in that
dimenfion equal to one another.
It was not therefore with fuch weaknefs as fome
have imagined, that Hobbes affirmed thole propofitions
commonly called axioms, not to be primary but lecon-
dary principles. A primary principle deferves not the
name of an axiom, as it is only a particular truth in¬
cluding in it no other truth. 1 here is not one of Eu¬
clid’s axioms which has not been the refult of indudrion,
though we remember net the time at which the indue-
tion was made. That the whole is greater than any
of its parts is a general truth which no man of com¬
mon fenfe can controvert j but every one difeovered
that truth by obferving that his body was larger than
his head, his foot, or his hand *, that a mountain is
larger than a mole-hill in the middle of it 5 and that a
piece of timber meafuring what is called a yard is longer
than any one of the divilions manced upon it, and
termed inches. The particular obfervations are made
through the fenfes and treafured up in the memory j
and the intelleft, by its conftitution, compares them
together, marks in what they agree and dnagree, and
thence draws its axioms or general principles. He, there¬
fore, who fhould admit the truth of an axiom, and
deny the evidence of fenfe and perception, would aft as
abfurdly as he who accepts payment in a bank-bill, and
refufes it in the individual pieces of gold or filver which
that bill reprefents. General axioms are of infinite
ufe in the purfuits of fcience j but it is not oecaule
they create new truths •, they only ffiorten the proceis
in the difeovery of fuch as might be found, with labour,
through the medium of particular propofitions. See
Campbell's Philofophy of Rhetoric and Tat ham's Chart
and Scale of Truth.
Principles, in Physics, are often confounded with
elements, or the firft and fimpleft parts whereof natural
bodies are compounded, and into which they arc again
refolvable by the force of fire.
PRINGLE, Sir John, an eminent phyfician and
philofopher.
*
PR1 [ 361 ] P R I
Pringle, pliilofopher, was a younger fon of Sir^ John Pringle of Diffolution of the Bones,” ib. p. 297.
Stitchel, in the fture of Roxburgh, Baronet; took the
degree of M. D. at Leyden, 1730; and publithed there
Differtatio Inauguralis de Marcore Seni/i, 410. After
having been fome years profeffor of moral philofophy
at; Edinburgh, he was in June 1745 appointed phyfi-
cian to the duke of Cumberland, and phyfician-general
to the hofpital of the forces in Flanders, where the
earl of Stair appears to have been his patron. In Fe¬
bruary 1746, Dr Pringle, Dr Armftrong, and Dr Bar¬
ker, were nominated phyficians to the hofpital of
lame, maimed, and Tick foldiers, behind Buckingham-
houfe j and in April 1749’ -^r Pringle was appointed
phyfician in ordinary to the king. In 1750 he pub¬
lithed “ Obfervations on the Nature and Cure of Hof¬
pital and Gaol Fevers, in a Letter to Dr Mead,” 8vo
(reprinted in 1755); and in he favoured the
public with the refult of his long experience in an ad¬
mirable treatife under the title of “ Obfervations on
the Diforders of the Army in Camp and Garrifon,”
8vo. On the 14th of April 1732, he married Char¬
lotte, fecond daughter of Dr Oliver, an eminent phyll-
cian at Bath. In 1756 he was appointed jointly with
Dr Wintringham (now Sir Clifton Wintringham, Bart.)
phyfician to the hofpital for the fervice of the forces of
Great Britain. After the acceflion of his prefent ma-
jefty, Dr Pringle was appointed phyfician to the queen’s
houfehold, 1761 ; phyfician in ordinary to the queen in
1763, in which year he was admitted of the college of
phyficians in London j and on the 5th of June 1766,
he was advanced to the dignity of a baronet of Great
Britain. In 1772 was eledted prefident of the
Royal Society, where his fpeeches for five fucceflive
years, on delivering the prize medal of Sir Godfrey
Copley, gave the greateft fatisfadlion. Sir John Pringle
*n J777 was appointed phyfician extraordinary to the
king. He was alfo a fellow of the College of Phyfi¬
cians at Edinburgh, and of the Royal Medical Society
at Paris; member of the Royal Academies at Paris,
Stockholm, Gottingen, and of the Philofophical So¬
cieties at Edinburgh and Haerlem •, and continued pre¬
fident of the Royal Society till November 17785 after
which period he gradually withdrew from the world,
and in 1781 quitted his elegant houfe in Pall Mall
(where he had long diftinguifhed himfelf as the vearm
friend and patron of literary men of every nation and
profeffion), and made an excurfion to his native coun-
try. He returned to London in the latter end of the
year; died greatly beloved and refpefted January 18.
1782 5 and having no children, was fucceeded in ellate,
and alfo (agreeably to the limitation of the patent)
in title, by his nephew, Sir James Pringle Bart. A-
mong the worthy phyfician’s communications to the
Royal Society, the following are the Principal: 1.
“ Some Experiments on Subftances refilling Putre-
fa&ion,” Phil. Tranf. N° 493. p. 380 5 and N0 496,
P’ 525> 55°j reprinted, with additions, in Martin’s
Abridgement, vol. xi. p. 1363. 2. “ Account of fome
Perfons feized with the Gaol Fever by wmrking in
Newgate, and of the manner by w-hich the Infection
was communicated to one entire Family,” vol. xlviih
p. 42. At the requeft of Dr Hales, a copy of this
ufeful paper w7as inferted in the Gentleman’s Magazine,
I7S3’ P- 71’ before its appearance in the Tranfa61ions.
3.‘‘ A remarkable Cafe of Fragility, Flexibility, and
Vol. XVII. Part I.
, 4. “ Account
oi the Earthquake felt at Bruffels,” vol. xlix. p. 346.
S' Account of the finking of a River near Pontypool
in Monmouthfhire,” ib. p. 347. 6. “ Account of an
Earthquake felt Feb. 18. 1736, along the coait of
England, between Margate and Dover,” ib. p. 570.
7. “ Account of the Earthquake felt at Glafgow and
Dumbarton 5 alfo of a Shower of Dull
falling
on a
Ship between Shetland and Iceland,” ib. p. 509. 8.
“ Several Accounts of the Fiery Meteor which appeared
on Sunday, November 26. 1738, between eight and nine
at night,” vol. 1. p. 2x8. 9. “Account of the Vir¬
tues of Soap in diffolving the Stone, in the Cafe of the
Reverend Mr Matthew Simfon,” ib. p. 221. 10. “ Ac¬
count of the effects of Electricity in Paralytic Cafes ”
ib. 481. And fee a letter to him on that fubject fiom
Profeffor Winthorp. “Some Account of the Succefs
of the Vitrum Ceratum Antimonuf was printed in the
Edinburgh Medical Effays, vol. v.
PRINOS, in Botany, a genus of the monogynia or¬
der, belonging to the hexandria clafs of plants 5 and in
the natural method ranking under the 43d order Du-
mofa:. The calyx is fexfid 5 the corolla monopetalous
and rotaceous; the belly hexafpermous.
PRIN TER, a perfon who compofes and takes im-
preflions from moveable characters ranged in order, by
means of ink and a prefs.
PRINTING, the art of taking impreffions from
characters or figures, moveable and immoveable, on pa¬
per, linen, filk, &c. There are three kinds of print¬
ing : the one from moveable letters, for books; ano¬
ther from copper-plates, for piaures 5 and the laid from
blocks, in which the reprefentation of birds, flowers,
&c. are cut, for printing calicoes, linen, &c. The firft
is called common or letter-prefs printing; the fecond
rolling-prefs printing 5 and the lait, calico, &c. printing!
The principal difference between the three confifts in
this, that the firft is call in relievo, in diftina pieces •
the fecond engraven in creux ; and the third cut in re¬
lievo, and generally ftamped, by placing the block up¬
on the materials to be printed, and ftriking upon the
back of it.
Of the above branches, Letter-press PRINT-Letter-
ING is the moft curious, and deferves the moft par- Prefs print-
ticular notice: for to it are owing chiefly our deli-Ins*
yerance from ignorance and error, the progrefs of learn¬
ing, the revival of the fciences, and numberlefs improve¬
ments in arts, which, without this noble invention,
would have been either loft to mankind, or confined 2
to the knowledge of a few. “ To the art of printing Utility of
(fays an elegant effayift *), it is acknowledged we owetllisart-
the reformation. It has been juftly remarked, that if *
the books of Luther had been multiplied only by the
flow procefs of the hand-w7riting, they muft have been
few, and wmild have been eafily fuppreffed by the
combination of wealth and powder 5 but, poured forth
in abundance^ from the prefs, they fpread over the land
with the rapidity of an inundation, which acquires ad¬
ditional force from the efforts ufed to obftruft its pro¬
grefs. He who undertook to prevent the difperfion
of the books once iffued from the prefs, attempted a
tafk no lefs arduous than the deftru£Hon of the hydra.
Refiftance was vain, and religion was reformed : and
w7e who are chiefly interefted in this happy revolrtion
muft remember, amidft the praifes beftowed on Luiher,
Z z that
Dr Knox-
p ft I [ 362 ] p ft I
Printing, that his endeavours had been ineffeftual, u mi fluted by
*“—the invenlion of Fauftus.
,3 , “ How greatly the caufe of religion has been promo-
evil refult- ted by the art, muft appear, when it is confidered, that
ing from it. it has placed thole facred books in the hand of every
. individual, which, befides that they were once locked
up in a dead language, could not be procured without
great difficulty. The numerous comments on them of
every kind, which tend to promote piety, and to form
the Chriftian philofopher, would probably never have
been compofed, and certainly would not have extend¬
ed their beneficial influence, if typography had ftill been
unknown. Ey that art, the lignt, which is to illumi¬
nate a dark world, has been placed in a fituation more
advantageous to the emiflion of its rays : but if it has
been the means of illuftrating the dodlrines, and en¬
forcing the pradliee of religion, it has alfo, particularly
in the prefent age, ftruck at the root of piety and mo¬
ral virtue, by propagating opinions favourable to the
fceptic and the voluptuary. It has enabled modern au¬
thors wantonly to gratify their avarice, their vanity, and
their mifanthropy, in diffeminating novel fyftems fub-
verfive of the dignity and happinefs of human nature:
but though the perverflon of the art is lamentably re¬
markable in thqfe volumes which iflue, with offenfive
profulion, from the vain, the wicked, and the hungry j
yet this good refults from the evil, that as truth is
great and will prevail, flie muft derive frefli luftre, by
diplaying the fuperiority of her ftrength in the conflid
with fophiftry.
“ Thus the art of printing, in whatever light it is
viewed, has delerved refped and attention. From the
ingenuity of the contrivance, it has ever excited me¬
chanical cuiiofity } from its intimate connedion with
learning, it has jufily claimed hiftorical notice j and
from its extenfive influence on morality, politics, and
religion, it is now become a fubjed of very important
4 fpeculation.
Its good “ But however we may felicitate mankind on the in-
effeifb vention, there are perhaps thofe who wifh, that, tcge-
ovcrbahince tjler Jts compatriot art of manufaduring gunpow-
.uc a . y,a(j not yet geen brought to light. Of its effeds
on literature, they aflert, that it has increafed the num¬
ber of books, till they diftrad rather than improve the
mind ; and of its malignant induence on morals, they
Complain, that it has often introduced a falfe refinement,
incompatible with the fimplicity of primitive piety and
genuine virtue. With refped to its literary ill confe-
quences, it may be faid, that though it produces to the
world an infinite number of worthlefs publications, yet
true wit and fine compofition will ftill retain their value,
and it will be an eafy talk for critical difcernment to fe-
led thefe from the furrounding mafs of abfurdity : and
though, with refped to its moral effeds, a regard to truth
extorts the confeflion, that it has diffufed immorality
and irreligion, divulged with cruel impertinence the fe-
crets of private life, and fpread the tale of fcannal Pr'nting.
through an empire j yet thefe are evils which will either
ilnink away unobferved in the triumphs of time and
truth over falfefhood, or which may, at any time, be fup-
prefied by the legiflative interpofition,” ^
Some writers have afcribed the origin of this art toniftoryof
the Faff, and affixed a very early period to its inven-the inven¬
tion j particularly P. Jovius, (Ei/i. lib. xiv. p. 226. ed.1^^
Florent. 1550), from whom Oforius and many others'jnntln^~
have embraced the fame opinion. But thefe have evi¬
dently confounded the European mode of printing with
the engraved tablets which to this day are ufed in Chi¬
na. The invention of thefe tablets has been afcribed by
many writers even to an earlier period than the com¬
mencement of the Chriftian era j but is with moie pro¬
bability afligned, by the very accurate Phil. Couplet, to
the year 930. The Hijfona Sinenjis of Abdalla, writ¬
ten in Perfic in 1317, fpeaks of it as an art in very com¬
mon ufe. Meerman, vel. i. p. j6. 21S, 219, vol. ii.
p. 1 86. N. Trigault aflerts that the Chinefe pradifed
the art of printing five centuries before. Count Ferre
Rezzonico found at Lyons plates with words and names
engraven-by a Nuremberger 1380.
The honour of having given rife to the European me¬
thod has been claimed by the cities of Harlemy Merit*,
and Strajburg. And to each of thefe it may be afcribed
in a qualified fenfe, as they made improvements upon
one another. _ 6
I. The firft teftimony of the inventor is that recorded Claim ef
by Hadrian Junius, in his Batavia, p. 253, ed. Lugd. Harlem.
Bat. 1588 ; which, though it hath been rejeded by ma¬
ny, is of undoubted authority. Junius had the relation
from two reputable men ; Nicolaus Galius (a), who was
his fchoolmafter j and Quirinius Talefius, his intimate"
and correfpondent. He aferibes it to La UR ENT 1 us, the
fon of John (iEdituus, or Cuftos, of the cathedral of
HARLEM, at that time a refpedable office), upon the
teftimony of Cornelius, fome time a fervant to Lauren-
tins, and afterwards bookbinder to the cathedral, an of¬
fice which had before been performed by Francifcan-
friars. Plis narrative was thus : “ That, walking in a
wood near the city (as the citizens of opulence ufe to
do), he began at firft to cut fome letters upon the rind
of a beech tree •, which, for fancy’s fake being impreffed
on paper, he printed one or two lines, as a fpecimen for
his grand-children (the fons of his daughter) to follow.
This having happily fucceeded, he meditated greater
things (as he was a man of ingenuity and judgement) $
and firft of all, with his fon-in-law Thomas Peter (who,
by the way, left three fons, who all attained the confu-
lar dignity), invented a more glutinous writing-ink, he-
caufe he found the common ink funk and fpread j and
then formed whole pages of wood, with letters cut upon
them j of which fort I have feen fome effays, in an anony¬
mous work, printed only on one fide, intitled, Speculum
nojlrce falutis : in which it is remarkable, that in the in-
(a) Galius feems to be the fame wdio is called Claes Lottynf*. Gael, Scabinus Plarlemi, as it is in the bafti of
that city, in the years 1531, 1533, and 1 ?3 Qutrinus in the fame Fafti is called Mr Quiryn Dirkfzoon.
He was many years amanuenfis to the great Erafmus, as appears from his epiftle, 23d July. I529- l°m* Hi. Oper.
p. 1222. He was afterwards Scabinus in 1537 & feq. and Conful in 1552 ^ the troubles of Hol¬
land he was cruelly killed by the Spanifh foldiers, May 23. 1563. There are fome letters ot Hadrian Junius to this
Talefius, in the Epi/lolce Junianae, p. 198.
P R 1 [363
Printing, fancy of printing (as nothing is complete at its firft in-
*" vention) the back tides of the pages were patted toge¬
ther, that they might not by their nakednefs betray their
deformity. 1 hele beechen letters he afterwards changed
for leaden ones, and thefe again for a mixture of tin and
lead as a lefs flexible and more folid and dur¬
able fubftance. Of the remains of which types, when
they were turned to watte metal, thefe old wine-pots
were caft, that are ttill preferved in the family-houfe,
which looks into the market-place, inhabited afterwards
by his great-grandfon Gerard Thomas, a gentleman of
reputation j rshom I mention for the honour of the
family, and who died old a few years fince. A new
invention never fails to engage curiofity. And when a
commodity never before feen excited purchafers, to the
advantage of the inventor, the admiration of the art in-
creafcd, dependents were enlarged, and workmen mul¬
tiplied 5 *.he firit calamitous incident! Among thefe was
Bower and
Nichois's
Origin of
Printing.
one John, whether, as we fufpefl, he had ominoully the
name of Faujlus (b), unfaithful and unlucky to his
mailer, or whether it was really a perfon of that name,
J fir all not much inquire 5 being unwilling to moleft the
blent fhades, who fuffer from a conlcioufnefs of their
paft aftions in this life. This man, bound by oath to
keep the fecret of printing, when he thought he had
learned the art of joining the letters, the method of
cafting the types, and other things of that nature,
taking the molt convenient time that was poffible, on
Chrillmas eve, when every one was cuftomarily employ¬
ed in luftral facrifices, feizes the collection of types, and
all the implements his mailer had got together, and,
wilh one accomplice, marches off to Amfterdam, thence
to Cologne, and at lalt fettled at Mentz, as at an afylum
of fecurity, where he might go to work with the tools
he had ftolen. It is certain, that in a year’s time, viz.
in 1442, the Doflrinale of Alexander Galius, which was
a grammar much ufed at that time, together with the
Tra&s of Peter of Spain, came forth there, from the
fame types as Laurentius had made ufe of at Harlem.”
Thus far the narrative of Junius, which he had fre¬
quently heard from Nicolaus Galius 5 to whom it was
related by Cornelius himfelf, who lived to a great age,
and ufed to burft into tears upon reHefting on the lofs
his maker had fuftained, not only in his fubftance, but in
his honour* by the roguery of his fervant, his former
affociate and bedfellow. Cornelius, as appears by the
regifters of Harlem cathedral, died either in 1515, or
the beginning of the following year ; fo that he might
very well give this information to Nicolaus Galius, who
was fchoolmafter to Hadrian Junius.
1 hough this circumftance is probable as to the main
faCl, yet we muft fet afide the evidence of it in fome
particulars. 1. The firft obvious difficulty is noticed
by Scriverius ; “ that the types are laid to be made of
the rind of beach, which could not be ftrong enough to
bear the impreffion of the prefs though this is re¬
moved, if, inftead of the barh, we fubftitute a bough of
the beech. The idea of the barb, when Junius wrote
this, was perhaps ftrong in his mind, from what Virgil
] P R I
tells us (Eel. v. 13.) of its being ufual to cut words on Printing
the bark of a beech j and thence he was eafily led to
make a wrong application of it here.
2. The letters were at firft wooden, and are faid to be
afterwards exchanged for metal types; from which the
wine-pots were formed, remaining in the time of junius.
According to tradition, printing was carried on in the
fame houle long after the time of Laurentius : thefe
pots might therefore be formed from the wafte metal of
the printing-houfe, after the ufe of jujile types became
univerfal.—But Laurentius leems to have carried the
art no farther than feparate wooden types. What is a
remarkable confirmation of this, Henry Spiechel, who
wrote, in the 16th century, a Hutch poem intitled
Hertfpiegel, expreffes himfelf thus : “ Thou firft, Lau¬
rentius, to fupply the defect of wooden tablets, adapted!!
wooden types, and afterwards didft conned! them with a
thread, to imitate writing. A treacherous fervant fur-
reptitioufly obtained the honour of the difeovery. But
truth itfelf, though deftxtute of common and wide-fpread
fame j truth, I fay, ftill remains.” No mention in the
poem of metal types; a circumftance 'which, had he been
robbed of fuch, as well as of wooden ones, would fcarcely
have been palled over in filence.
When Laurentius firft deviled his rough fpecimen of
the art, can only be gueffed at. He died in 1440, af¬
ter having publiffied the Speculum Be/gicum, and two
editions of Donatus, all with different wooden types ;
which it is probable (confiderlng the difficulties he had
to encounter, and the many artiils whom he muft necef-
farily have had occafion to confult) coft him fome years
to execute j fo that the firft effay might be about 1430,
which nearly agrees with Petrus Scriverius, who fays
the invention was about 10 or 12 years before 1440.
See Laurentius.
3. What was the fpecimen he firft diverted himfelf
with in cutting, at the diftance ox three centuries, one
would think impoffible to be difeovered. And yet
Job. Enfchedius, a printer, thinks he was fo happy as
to find it, being an ®ld parchment Horarium, printed
on both fides, in eight pages, containing the Letters of
the Alphabet, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apoftles Creed
and three fliort prayers. And Mr Meerman having
fliown this to proper artifts who were judges of thefe
matters, they gave it as their opinion that it agreed
exaflly with the defeription of Junius. It is conforma¬
ble to the firft editions of the Dutch Speculum Salvationis,
and the fragments of both .Donatus's of Holland, both
which are the works of the fame Laurentius, and were
preceded by this. In thefe types, which are certainly
moveable, cut, and uneven, there is a rudenefs which
Mr Meerman has not obferved in any other inftances.
There are no numbers to the pages, no fignatures, no
direBion-words, no divifions at the end of the lines ; on
the contrary, a fyllable divided in the middle is feen,
thus, Sp iritu, in p. 8. 1. 2, 3. There are neither dif-
tinftions nor points, which are feen in the other works
of Laurentius ; and the letter i is not marked with an
accent, but with a dot at the top. The lines through-
Z z 2 out
(b) John bavft, or TuJ}, is by many fuppofed to have derived his name from fauflus, “ happy ■,” and Dr Fauftus
teems to carry an air of grandeur in the appellation : but very erroneoufly. John Faii/l, or Fuji, is no more than
John Hand, whence our name Fiji.
P R I [ 364 J P R I
Printing- out are uneven. The fhape of the pages not always
the fame; not (as they fliould be) reftangular, but
fometimes rhomb-like, fometimes an ifofcele trapezium :
and the performance feems to be left as a fpecimen botli
of his piety, and of his ingenuity in this effay of a new
invented art. Mr Meerman has given an exadt engrav¬
ing of this lingular curiofity.
But, whatever elie may appear doubtful in the nar¬
rative of Junius, it is very clear, that the firll efiays
of the art are to be attributed to Laurentius, who ufed
only fcparate wooden types. See the article Lauren¬
tius.
II. Some of Laurentius’s types were llolen from him
by one of his fervants (c), John GEINSFLElCHfenior;
who fled therewith to MENTZ. Having introduced
the art from Harlem into this his native cityi he let
with all diligence to carry it on ; and publilhed, in 1442,
AlEXANDRI GALL! Doctrinale, and PETRI HlSPANI
TraBatus; tw7o works, which, being fmail, belt fuited
his circumitances ; and for which, being much ufed in
the fchools, he might reafonably expedt a profitable fale.
They were executed with wooden types, cut. after the
model of thofe he had Itolen.
In 1443 he hired the houfe 2Suirt 3fungcn ; and was
aflilted
Printing;
Claim of
Mentz.
(c) Authors differ as to the perfon who committed this robbery. It is clear from all accounts that his name wTas
John; but what his furname was is the difputed point. Junius, after fome hefitation, afcribes it to John Full;
but with injuftice; for he wras a wealthy man, who aflifted the find printers at Mentz with money ; and though he
afterwards was proprietor of a printing-office, yet he never, as far as appears, performed any part ol the bufinefs
with his own hands, and confequently he could never have been a fervant to Laurentius. Nor is the conjedture of
Scriverius better founded, which fixes it upon John Gutenberg, who (as appears by authentic teltimonies) refided
at Stralburg from 1436 to 1444, and during all that period employed much fruitlefs labour and expence in endea¬
vouring to attain this art. Mr Meerman once thought, “ it might be either John Meidenbachius, (who, we are
told by Seb. Munfter and the author of Chronographia Moguntinenjis, was an affiftant to the firlt Mentz printers) ;
or John Peterlheimius (who was fome time a fervant to Fuff and Schoeffer, and fet up a printing-houfe at Francfort
in 1459) : or, laftly, fome other perfon, who, being unable through poverty to carry on the bufinefs, difcovered it
to Geins/leich at Mentz.” But more authentic intelligence afterwards convinced him there were two perfons of this
name ; and that John Geinsfieich fenior * was the dilhoneft fervant, who was born at Mentz, and wffio in the papers
publilhed by Kohlerus, wre find there in the year 1441, and not before : for though he was of a good family, yet
he was poor, and feems to have been obliged, as wreil as his brother, to feek his livelihood in a foreign country; and
perhaps was content to be under Laurentius, that, when he had learned the art, he might follow it in his owm. But,
to leave conjefture, we may produce fome certain teftimonies.
1. It is what Junius himfelf fays, that the perfon w'ho ftole the types did it with a view to fet up elfewhere ; nor
is it likely that he would either make no ufe of an art he had feen fo profitable to Laurentius, or that he would teach
it to another and fubmit to be again a fervant.
2. The Lambeth Record (which is printed below, from Mr Atkyns) tells us, that “ Mentz gained the art by
the brother of one of the workmen of Harlem, who learned it at home of his brother, who after fet up for himfelf
at Mentz.”—By the ftrifteft examination of the beft authorities, it is plain, that by thefe two brothers the two
Geinsfleiches muff be meant. But as the younger (^Gutenberg') was never a fervant to Laurentius, it muff be the
fenior who carried off the types, and inftrufted his brother in the art; who firft applied himfelf to the bufinefs at
Strafburg, and afterwards joined his elder brother, who had in the mean time fettled at Mentz.
What is ftill ftronger, tw7o chronologers of Stralburg, the one named Dan Speklinus, the other anonymous (in
Meerman’s Documenta, N° lxxxv. lxxxvi.), tells us exprefsly, that John Geinsfleich (viz. the fenior, w7hom
they diftinguiffied from Gutenberg), having learned the art by being fervant to itsfirjl inventor, carried it by theft
into Mentz his native country. They are right in the faft, though miftaken in the application of it ; for they
make Stralburg the place of the invention, and Mentelius the inventor, from whom the types wrere ftolen. But
this is plainly an error : for Geinsfleich lived at Mentz in 1441, as appears from undoubted teftimonies ; and could
not be a fervant to Mentelius, to whom the before mentioned writers afcribe the invention in 1440, though more
ancient ones do not attempt to prove that he began to print before 1444 or 1448. Nor will the narrative agree
better with Gutenburg, w7ho wTas an earlier printer than Mentelius ; fince, among the evidences produced by him
in his law-fuit, 1439, n0 Geinsfleich fenior appears, nor any other fervant but Laurentius Beildek. The narra¬
tion therefore of the theft of Geinsfleich, being fpread by various reports through the world, and fubfifting in the
time of thefe chronologers, w7as applied by them (to ferve the caufe they wrote for) to Stralburg ; but ferves to
confirm the truth, fince no writer derives the printing fpoils from any other country than Holland or Alfatia,
The chronologers have likewnfe, inftead of Fuff, called Gutenberg the wealthy man ; w'ho, from all circumftances,
appears to have been poor. They alfo call Schoeffer the fon-in-lawr of Mentelius; when it is clear that he married
the daughter of Fuff.
^ He was called Geinsfleich xar i^ofcviv; the other was diftinguiflied by the name of Gutenberg- They were both poor; though of a
family diftinguitlied by knighthood, t hey were both married men ; and were moft probably brothers, as it was not uncommon in that
age for two brothers to have the fame Chnftian name. Thefe both appear in a difreputable light. The eldeft robbed his mailer, with
many aggravating circumllances. The youngefl was remarkably contentieus; and, after entering into a contradl of marriage with
Anna, a noble girl of The Iron Gate, refufed to marry her till compelled by a judicial decree; and afterwards cared not what became
of the lady, but left her behind at Strafburg when he removed to Mentz. He had not.only frequent quarrels with his wife; but with
Andreiu Dripeheir, Andrew Heilmann, and John Riff, all of whom were affociated with him at Strafburg in his different employments
of making ot looking glaffes, polifhing of precious ftones, and endeavouring to attain the art of printing ; and with thefe he involved
aimfelf in^three law-fuits. See Meerman, vol. i, p. 163, Sec. N.
P R I [ 36s ] P R I
Printing, aflifted witli money by Fust, a wealthy perfon, who in
 v   return had a fhare of the bufinefs: and about the fame
time John Mcidenbachius was admitted a partner, as were
fome others whofe names are not tranfmitted to our
times •, and in 1444 they were joined by Gutenberg,
who for that purpofe quitted Strafburg. Wooden
types being found not fufticiently durable, and not an-
fwering expectation in olher refpeCfs, the two brothers
firft invented cut jnetal types. But while thefe were pre¬
paring, which muft have been a work of time, feveral
works were printed, both on wooden fcparate types and
on wooden blocks } which were well adapted to fmall
books of frequent ufe, fuch as the Tabula Alphabetical the
Catholicon, Donati Grammatical and the Confejjionalia.
From the above-mentioned printers in conjunction, af¬
ter many fmaller effays, the Bible was publilhed in 1450,
with large cut metal types (d). And it is no wonder,
conlidering the immenfe labour this work coft, that it
fhould be feven or eight years in completing. In this
fame year the partnerfhip was diffblved, and a new one
entered into, in Auguft, between Fuji and Gutenberg ;
the former fupplying the money, the latter {kill, for
their common benefit. Various difficulties arifing,
occafioned a law-fuit for the money which Fuft had ad¬
vanced •, which was determined againft Gutenberg. A
diffolution of this partnerfhip enfued in 1455; and in
1457 a magnificent edition of the Pfalter was publifhed
by Fuji and Schaeffer, with a remarkable commendation,
in which they affumed to themfelves the merit of a new
invention (viz. of metal types'), ad inventionem artijiciofam
imprimendi ac charaEieri%andi. This book was uncom¬
monly elegant, and in fome meafure the work of Guten¬
berg ; as it was four years in the prefs, and came out but
18 months after the partnerfhip was diffolved between
him and Fuft.
The latter continued in pofleflion of the printing-
office : and Gutenberg, by the pecuniary afliftance of
Conrad Humery fyndic of Mentz (e), and others,
opened another office in the fame city ; whence appear¬
ed, in 1460, without the printer’s name, the Catholicon
Jo .de Janua, with a pompous colophon in praife of its
beauty, and aferibing the honour of the invention to the
city of Mentz. It was a very handfome book, though
inferior to the Ffalter which had been publifhed in 1457
by luff: and Schoeffer. Both the Pfalter and Catholicon
were printed on cut metal types (f). It may not be im¬
proper to obferve here, that as the Pfalter is the earlieft
book which is known to have a genuine date, it became
a common praCtice, after that publication, for printers
to claim their own performances, by adding their names
to them.
III. The progrefs of the art has been thus traced
through its fecond period, the invention of cut metal types.
But the honour of completing the difeovery is due to
Peter Schoeffer (g) de Gernfheim.
A very clear account of this final ccpapletion of the
types is preferved by Trithemius (h). Foji luec invent is invention
fuccejjerunt fubtiliora, inveneruntque modum fundendi for- of caft
mas omnium Latini alphabeti liter arum, quas ipji matri-VP65*
ces nommabant: ex quibus rurfum eeneos Jive Jianneos
charaBeres fundebant, ad omnem prejfuram fufficientes,
quos pnus mambus fculpebant. Et revera Jicuti ante
xxx ferme annos ex ore Petri Opilionis de Gern/heim,
avis Moguntini, qui gener erat primi artis invent or is,
audivi, magnam a pnmo inventionis fuce lure ars wipref-
fona habuit difficultatem.—Petrus autem memoratus Opilio,
tunc famulus pojiea gener, fcut diximus, inventoris primi
Johannis Fuji, homo ingeniofus et prudens, faciliorem mo¬
dum fundendi charadleres excogitavit, et artem, ut nunc eji,
complevit.
Another ample teftimony in favour of Schoeffer is
given by Jo. Frid. Fauftus of Afchaffenburg, from pa¬
pers preferved in his family : “ Peter Schoeffer of Gernf¬
heim, perceiving his mafter Fuft’s defign, and being him-
felf ardently defirous to improve the art, found out (by
the good providence of God) the method of cutting
(incidendi) the characters in a matrix, that the letters-
might eafily be ftngly caf inftead of being cut. He pri¬
vately cut matrices for the whole alphabet 5 and when he
fhowred his mafter the letters caft from thefe matrices,
Fuft was fo pleafed with the contrivance, that he promif-
ed Peter to give him his only daughter, Chriftina, in mar¬
riage >
Printing*
(d) Many writers have fuppofed that this was the edition of which fome copies w’ere fold in France, by Fuft, as
manuferipts, for the great price of 500 or 600 crowms, wdiich he afterwards lowered to 60, and at laft to lefs than
40. But it was the fecond and more expenftve edition of 1462, that w7as thus difpofed of, when Juft went to Paris
in 1466, and which had coft 4000 florins before the Uind. quaternion (or quire of four (beets) wras printed. Meer-
MAN, vol. i. p. 6. 151, 152.
(E) At the death of Gutenberg, Conrad Humery took-pofleflion of all his printing materials-, and engaged to
the archbiftrop Adolphus, that he never would fell them to any one but a citizen ot Mentz. I hey wrere, how¬
ever, foon difpofed of to Nicholas Bechtermuntze of Altavilla, who, in 1469? publifhed Vocabularium Latino-1 eu-
tonicum, which was printed with the fame types which had been ufed in the Catholicon. I his very curious and
fcarce Vocabulary was (flown to Mr Meerman, by Mr Bryant, in the duke of Marlboroughls valuable library at
Blenheim. It is in quarto, 35 lines long, contains many extracts from the Catholicon, and is called Ex quo, from
the preface beginning writh thofe words. Meerman, vol. ii. p. 96.
(f) Gutenberg never ufed any other than either wooden or cut metal types till the year 1462. In 1465 he wTas
admitted inter Aulicos by the eleftor A dolphus, with an annual penlion ; and died in February 1468. His elder
brother Geinsfleich died in 1462. Their epitaphs are printed by Mr Meerman, vol. ii. p. 154, 295.
(g) In German, fedjeeffer ; in Latin, Opilio; in Englifti, Shepherd. Pie is fuppofed by Mr Meerman to-
have been the firft engraver on copperplates.
(h) Annales Hirfaugienfes, tom. ii. ad ann. 1450.—As this book wras finiflied in 1514, and Trithemius tells us
he had the narrative from Schoeffer himfelf about 30 years before j this will bring us back to 1484, when Schoeiler
muft have been advanced in years, and Trithemius about 22 years old, who died in 1516. See Vojf. Plift. Lat. L
1. c* 10. Fabr. Med. & Infim. iEt. 1. 9.
P R I
Printing rlage 5 a promifc which he foon after performed. But
tilere were as many difficulties at fir ft with thefe letters,
as there had been before with wooden ones ; the metal
being too foft to fupport the force of theimpreffion : but
this defeat was foon remedied, by mixing the metal with
a fubftance which fufticiently hardened it (i)-”
■ Fuft and Schoeffer concealed this new improvement,
by adminiftering an oath of fecrecy to all whom they in¬
truded, till the year 1642 } when, by the difperfion of
their fervants into different countries, at the lacking of
Mentz by the archbithop Adolphus, the invention was
publicly divulged.
The fir ft book printed with thefe improved types was
Durandi Rationale, in 1459 ; at which time, however,
they feem to have had only oneJi%e of cajl letters, all the
larger characters which occur being cut types, as appears
plainly by an infpeftion of the book. Frftm this time to
1466, Fuft and Schoerfer continued to print a confider-
able number of books; particularly two famous editions
of Tul/y's Offices. In their earlieft books, they printed
more copies on vellum than on paper, which was the cafe
both of their Bibles and Tullifs Offices. This, however,
was foon inverted ; and paper introduced for the greateft
part of their impreffions 5 a few only being printed on
vellum for curicfities, and for the purpofe of being illu¬
minated. How long Fuft lived, is uncertain j but in
1471 we find Schoeffer was in partnerlhip with Conrad
Henlif and a kinfman of his mailer Fuft. He publilhed
many books after the death of his father-in-law ; the laft
of which that can be difcovered is a third edition of the
Pfalter in 1490, in which the old cut types of the firft
9 edition were ufed.
Claim of IV. With regard to the claim of STRASBURG :
Stratburg. jt kegn already mentioned, that Gutenberg was en¬
gaged in that city in different emjdoyments 5 and, among
others, in endeavouring to attain the art of printing. That
thefe endeavours were unfuccefsful, is plain from an au¬
thentic judicial decree of the fenate of Strafourg in 1439,
after the death of Andrew Drizehen (k).
But there are many other proofs that Gutenberg and
his partners were never able to bring the art to perfec¬
tion.
* Epitome j. Wimphelingius *, the oldeft writer in favour of
Rerum Ger- Strafburg tells us, that Gutenberg was the inventor of
ed. Argent. “ a r,ev>T art of writing,” ars imprejforia, which might
150;, alfo be called a divine benefit, and which he happily
Meerman, completed at Mentz ; but does not mention one book
!‘ of his printing : though he adds, that Mentelius print-
woLffi ed many volumes correctly and beautifully, and acquired
P- 139-
P 11 1
great wealth ; whence we may conclude that he per- Printing,
tedled what Gutenberg had in vain effayed.
2. Wimphelingius, in another book f, tells us, the
art of printing was found out by Gutenberg incomplete ;gint. j.oS.
which implies, not that he prasftned the art in an im- Mcerman,
perfect manner (as Laurentius had done at Harlem),ut *llPriU
but rather that he had not been able to accomplifh what
he aimed at.
3. Gutenberg, when he left Strafburg in 1444 or
the following year, and entered into partnerfnip with
Geinsfleich lenicr and others, had occafton for his bro¬
ther’s affiffance to enable him to complete the art j
which fhows that his former attempts at Strafburg had
been unfuccelsful t- f Mcerman
4. Thefe particulars are remarkably confirmed by«t fupra.
Trithemius, who tells us, in two different places |.j, that
Gutenberg fpent all his fubftance in quell of this artet,
and met with fuch infuperable difficulties, that, in fe-chron.
fpair, he had Pearly given up all hopes of attaining it, Sponhtim.
till he was affifted by the liberality of Fuft, and by his ^ce
brother’s Ikill, in the city of Mentz. man,\o .
5. Ulric Zell fays* the art was completed at Mentz
but that fome books had been publiftred in Holland ear- * Chronkon
Her than in that city. Is it likely that Zell, who was ^Colonne,
German, would have omitted to mention Stralburg, ifl499-
it had preceded Mentz m printing ?
There is little doubt, therefore, that all Gutenberg’s
labours at Stralburg amounted to no more than a fruit-
lefs attempt, which he was at laft under the neceffity of
relinquilhing : and there is no certain proof of a lingle
book having been printed in that city till after the dif¬
perfion of the printers in 1462, when Mentelius and Eg-
geftenius fuccefsfully purfued the bufinds. •
In fine, the pretenlions of Strafburg fall evide*tly to
be fet afide. And as to the other two cities, Harlem
and Ment%, the difputes between them feem eafily clear¬
ed up, from the twofold invention of printing above-
mentioned : the firft with feparate WOODEN types at
Harlem, by Laurentius, about 1430, and after conti¬
nued by his family •, the other with METAL types, firft
cut, and afterwards caf, which were invented at Mentz,
but not ufed in Flolland till brought thither by Theodo-
ric Martens at Aloft about 1472.
From this- period printing made a rapid progrefs in
molt of the principal towns of Europe. In 1490, it
reached Conftantinople } and, according to Mr Palmer,
p. 281, &c. it was extended, by the middle of the next
century, to Africa and America. It was introduced
into Ruffia about 1560 : but, from motives either of
. policy
[ 366 1
(1) See Meerman, vol. i. p. 183. who copied this teftimony from Wolfius, Monument. Typograph. vol. i. p. 468.
feq.
(k) Their firft attempts were made about 1436 with wooden types. Mr Meerman is of opinion that Geinsfleich
junior (who was of an enterprifing genius, and had already engaged in a variety of projedls) gained fome little in¬
fight into the bufinefs by vifiting his brother who was employed by Laurentius at Haerlem, but not fufficient to
enable him to praCfile it. It is certain that, at the time of the law-fuit in 1439, much money had been expended,
without any profit having arifen 5 and the unfortunate Drizehen, in 1438, on his death bed, lamented to his con-
feffor, that he had been at great expence, without having being reimburfed a fingle dolus. Nor did Gutenberg
(who perfifted in his fruitlefs endeavours) reap any advantage from them ; for, when he quitted Stralburg, he was
overwhelmed in debt, and under a neceffity of felling every thing he was in poffeffion of. [Meerman, vol. i. p.
198—202.]. All the depofitions in the law-fuit above mentioned (with the judicial decree) are printed by Mr
Meerman, vol ii. p. 58*—88. N.
2
PHI [ .36
Pnrtfng. policy or fupcrftition, it was fpeedily fupprelTed by the
ruling powers j and, even under the prefent enlightened
emprels, has (carcely emerged from its obfcurity.—That
it was early prafaied in the inhofpitable regions of Ice¬
land, we have the refpeftable authority of Mr Bryant :
“ Arngnm Jonas was born amidft the fnows of Ice¬
land j yet as much prejudiced in favour of his country
as thofe who_ are natives of an happier climate. This
is viilble in his Crymogcea^ but more particularly in his
Anatome B hi k im an a. 1 have in my poflellion this cu¬
rious little treatife, written in Latin by him in his own
country, and printed Tyfns Hplcnjibus in IJlandia Borea-
h, anno t6i2. Ho/a is placed in fome maps within the
Ardf’c circle, and is certainly not far removed from it.
I believe it is the iartheft north of any place where arts
and fciences have ever redded.Obfervations and In¬
quiries relating to various parts of Ancient Hglory, 1767,
30 p. 277
Xritrcduo
tion of the
art into
Britain.
II
The fiift
printing-
prefs fet up
in England
v. as at Ox-
Jcrd.
It was a conftant opinion, delivered down by our hif-
torians, as hath been obferved by Dr Middleton, that
the Art of Printing was introduced and firft pradtifed in
Lngland by William Caxton, a mercer and citizen of
London \ who, by his travels abroad, and a refidence of
many years in Holland, Flanders, and Germany, in the
affairs of trade, had an opportunity of informing himfelf
of the whole method and procefs of the art; and by the
encouragement of the great, and particularly of the ab¬
bot of VVeftminfter, firft fet up a prefs in "that abbey,
and began to print books foon after the year 1471.
This ivas the tradition of our writers ; till a book,
which had fcarce been obferved before the Relloration,
w as then taken notice of by the curious, with a date of
its impreflion from Oxford, anno 1468, and was confi-
dered immediately as a clear proof and monument of
the exeixife of printing in that univerfity feveral years
before Caxton began to deal in it.
This book, which is in the public library at Cambridge,
is a fmall volume of 41 leaves in 410, with this title :
Expoftio SanBi Jeronimi in Simbolum Apojlolorum ad
PapamLaurentium : and at the end, Explicit expoftio, b'c.
hnprejfa Oxonie, et fnita Anno Domini M.CCCC.LXVIH.
XVII. die Decembris.
I he appearance of this book has robbed Caxton of
a glory that he had long pctTeffed, of being the author
of printing in this kingdom; and Oxford has ever fince
carried the honour of the firft prefs. The only difficulty
was, to account for the filence of hiftory in an event fo
memorable, and the want of any memorial in the univer¬
fity itfelf concerning the eftablilhment of a new art
amongfl; them of fuch ule and benefit to learning. But
tiffs likewife has been cleared up by the difcovery of a
record, which had lain obfcure and unknown at Lam-
beth-palace, in the liegifter of the See of Canterbury,
and gives a narrative of the wdiole tranfa&ion, drawn up
at the very time.
An account of this record was firft publiftied in a thin
quarto volume, in Englifli ; with this title: “ The O-
riginal and Growth of Printing, colle£ted out of Hi¬
ftory, and the Records of this Kingdome: wherein is
alfo demonftrated, that Printing appertaineth to the Pre¬
rogative Royal, and is a Flower of the Crown of F.ng-
land. By Richard Atkyns, efq.—Whitehall, April the
25. 1664. order and appointment of the right ho¬
nourable Mr Secretary Morrice, let this be printed.
7 1 phi
-I ho- Rycaut. London : Printed by John Streater, for
the Author. I664.,, qto.
It fets forth in fhort, “ That as foon as the art of
printing made lome noife in Europe, Thomas Bour-
chier, archbifiiop of Canterbury, moved the then kino1
(Henry VI.) to ufe all poffible means for procuring a
printing mould (for fo it was then calledJ) to be brought
into this kingdom. The king (a good man, and much
given to works of this nature) readily hearkened to the
motion ; and taking private advice how to effefl his
defign, concluded it could not be brought about with¬
out great fecrecy, and a confiderable fum of money gi¬
ven to fuch perfon or perfons as would draw off feme
of the workmen of Plarlem in Holland, where John
Gutenberg had newly invented it, and was himfelf per-
fonally at work. It was refolved, that lefs than 1000
merks would not produce the defired effed ; towards
which fum the laid aichbiffiop prefented the king 300
merks. The money being now prepared, the manage¬
ment of the defign was committed to Mr Robert 1 ur-
nour, who then was mailer of the robes to the king,.and
a perfon molt in favour with him of any of his condition.
Mr Tournour took to his afliftance Mr Caxton, a citizen
of good abilities, who traded much into Plolland; which
was a creditable pretence, as well for his going, as flay
in the Low Countries. Mr Tournour wTas in difguile
(his beard and hair fhaven quite off ) ; but Mr Caxton
appeared known and public. They, having received'
the laid fum of 1000 merks, wrent firft to Amfterdarn,
then to Leyden, not daring to enter Hailem itfelf ; for
the town was very jealous, having imprifoned and ap¬
prehended divers perfons who came from other parts for
the fame purpofe. They ft aid till they had fpent tho
whole thoufand merks in gifts and expences : fo as the
king was fain to fend 500 merks more, Mr Tournour
having ivritten to the king that he had almoft done his
work ; a bargain, as he faid, being ftruck betwixt him
and two Hollanders, for bringing off one of the under¬
workmen, whole name was Frederick Corfells (or rather
Corfellis), who late one night Hole from his fellows in
difguife into a veffel prepared before for that purpofe ;
and fo, the wind favouring the defign, brought him fafe
to London. It was not thought fo prudent to fet him
on work at London : but, by the archbifhop’s means
(who had been vice-chancellor and aftenvards chancellor
of the univerfity ofOxon), Corfellis was carried with a
guard to Oxon ; which guard conftantly watched, to
prevent Corfellis from any poffible efcape, till he had
made good his promife in teaching them how to print.
So that at Oxford printing was firft fet up in England,
which was before there was any prjnting-prefs or prin¬
ter in France, Spain, Laly, or Germany (except the ci¬
ty of Menlz), which claims feniority, as to printing,
even cf Harlem itfelf’, calling her city, Urbem Mogun-
tinam artis typographicce inventricem priniam; though it
is known to be otherwife, that city gaining the art by
the brother of one of the workmen of Harlem, who
had learnt it at home of his brother, and after fet up for
himfelf at Mentz. This p-refs at Oxor was at leaft ten
years before there w’as any printing in Europe, except
at Harlem and Mentz, where it was but new-born. This
prefs at Oxford was afterwards found inconvenient to
be the foie printing-place of England ; as being too far
from London and the fea. Wherefore the king fet up a
prefs
P XI X
[ 368 ]
P XI I
Printing, prefs at St Alban’s, and another in the city of Weftmin-
* *  fter, where they printed feveral books of divinity and phj-
Jic : for the king (for reafons belt known to himfelf and
council) permitted then no law-books to he printed ; nor
did any printer exercile that art, but only fuch as were
the king’s fworn fervants ; the king himfelf having the
price and emolument for printing books.—By this means
the art grew fo famous, that anno prime Richard III.
c. 9. when an aft of parliament was made for reftraint
of aliens for ufing any handicrafts here (except as fer¬
vants to natives), a fpecial provifo wTas inferted, that
ftrangers might bring in printed or written books to fell
at their pleafure, and exercife the art of printing here,
notwithftanding that aft : fo that in the fpace of 40 or
50 years, by the indulgence of Edward IV. Edward V.
Richard III. Henry VII. and Henry VIII. the Eng-
lilh proved fo good proficients in printing, and grew lb
numerous, as to furnilh the kingdom with books 5 and
fo fkilful, as to print them as well as any beyond the
feas j as appears by the aft 25 Hen. VIII. c. 15. wdiich
abrogates the faid provifo for that reafon. And it
was further enafted in the faid ftatute, that if any per-
fon bought foreign books bound, he fhould pay 6s. 8d.
per book. And it was further provided and enafted,
that in cafe the faid printers or fellers of books were
unreafonable in their prices, they Ihould be moderated
by the lord chancellor, lord treafurer, the two lords
chief juftices, or any two of them, who alfo had power
to fine them 3s. 4d. for every book wdiofe price fhould
be enhanced.—But when they were by charter corpora-
ted with bookbinders, bookfellcrs, and founders of letters,
3 and 4 Philip and Maty, and called The Company of
Stationers—they kick’d againftthe power that gave them
life, &c.—Queen Elifabeth, the firft year of her reign,
grants by patent the privilege of foie printing all books
that touch or concern the common laws of England, to
Tottel a fervant to her majefty, who kept it entire to
his death j after him, to one Yeft Weirt, another fer¬
vant to her majefty •, after him, to Weight and Norton $
and after them, King James grants the fame privilege to
More, one of the fignet \ which grant continues to this
day, &c.”
From the authority of this record, all our later wai¬
ters declare Corfellis to be the firft printer in England j
Mr Anthony Wood, the learned Mr Maittaire, Palmer,
firft printer. arid one John Bagford, an induftrious man, who had
publilhtd propofals for an Hiftpry of Printing, (Phil.
Tranf. for April 1707). But Dr Middleton has called
in queftion the authenticity of this account, and has ur¬
ged feveral objeftions to it, with the view of fupporting
Caxton’s title to the precedency with refpeft to the
introduftion of the art into this country *, of which we
(hall quote one or two, with the anfwers that have been
made to them.
Objeftion x.—“ The filence of Caxton concerning a
faft in which he is faid to be a principal after, is a fuf-
ficient confutation of it: for it was a conftant cuftom
with him, in the prefaces or conclufions of his works,
to give an hiftorical account of all his labours and tranf-
aftions, as far as they concerned the publithing and
printing of books. And, what is ftill ftronger, in the
continuation of the Polychronicon, compiled by himfelf,
and carried down to the end of Henry the Sixth’s reign,
lie makes no mention of the expedition in queft of a
printer : which he could not have omitted had it been
4
12
Whether
Caxton of
Corfellis
was the
true ; whilft in the fame book he takes notice of the Printing,
invention and beginning of printing in the city of v
Mentz.”
Anfwer.—As Caxton makes no mention in his Poly-
chronicon of his expedition in quejl of a printer ; fo nei¬
ther does he of his bringing the art into England, w hich
it is as much a wonder he ftiould omit as the other.
And as to his faying that the invention of printing was
at Ment%, he means, of printing on fufile feparate types.
In this he copies, as many others have, from the Faf-
ciculus Tempo rum ; a work written in 1470, by Wer-
nerus Rolevinch de Laer, a Carthufian monk, a MS.
copy of wThich was in the library of Gerard Jo. Voflius
(fee lib. iii. de Hifor. Latin, c. 6.) $ and afterwards
continued to the year 1474, wdien it was firft printed
at Cologne typis Arnoldi ter Huernen. It was republiflied
in 148J by Heinricus Wirczburgh de Vach, a Cluniac
monk, w ithout mentioning the name either of the prin¬
ter or of the place of publication. It is plain that Cax¬
ton had one at leaft, or more probably both, of thefe
editions before him, when he W'rote his continuation of
Polychronicon, as he mentions this wTork in his preface,
and adopts the fentiments of its editor. (See Meer-
man, vol. ii. p. 37. and his Documenta, N° vii. xxiv.
and xxv.)
Obj. 2.—“ There is a farther circumftance in Caxton’s
hiftory, that it feems inconfiflent with the record j for
we find him ftill beyond fea, about twelve years after
the fuppofed tranfaftiofis, “ learning with great charge
and trouble the art of printing” (Recule of the Hi/lories
ofTroye, in the end of the 2d and 3d books) ; which
he might have done with eafe at home, if he had got
Corfellis into his hands, as the record imports, fo many
years before : but he probably learnt it at Cologne,
where he refided in 1471, {Recule, &c. ibid.), and
whence books had been firft printed with date the year
before.”
Anf.—Caxton tells us, in the preface to The Hi/lory
ofTroye, that he began that tranflation March 1. 1468,
at Bruges j that he proceeded on with it at Ghent j
that he finifhed it at Cologne in 1471 } and printed it,
probably, in that city with his own types. He was 30
years abroad, chiefly in Holland ; and lived in the court
of Margaret duchefs of Burgundy, After of Edw’ard
IV. It wTas therefore much eafier to print his book at
Cologne, than to crofs the fea to learn the art at Oxford.
But further, there was a fpecial occafion for his print¬
ing it abroad. Corfellis had brought over fo far the
art of printing as he had learned it at Harlem, which
was the method of printing on wooden feparate types,
having the face of the letter cut upon them. But the
art of cafing metal types being divulged in 1462 by the
workmen of Mentz, Caxton thought proper to learn
that advantageous branch before he returned to Eng¬
land. This method of calling the types w as fuch an im¬
provement, that they looked on it as the original of
printing ; and Caxton, as moft others do, afcribes that
to Mentz.—Caxton was an afliftant with Tumour in
getting off Corfellis ; but it is nowhere fuppofed that he
came w'ith him into England. (See MEERMAN, vol. ii.
p. 34. B.)
Obj. 3.—“ As the Lambeth record was never heard
of before the publication of Athyn’s book, fo it has never
fince been feen or produced by any man *, though the
regifters of Canterbury have on many occafions been di¬
ligently
P R I [
Printing, ligently and particularly fearclied for it. They were
' v examined, without doubt, very carefully by Archbiflrop
Parker, for the compiling his Antiquities of the Briti/h
Church ; where, in the life of Thomas Bourchier, though
he congratulates that age on the noble and ufeful in¬
vention of printing, yet he is filent as to the introduc¬
tion of it into England by the endeavours of that arch-
bifhop : nay, his giving the honour of the invention to
Straiburg clearly thews that he knew nothing of the
ftory of Corfellis conveyed from Harlem, and that the
record was not in being in his time. Palmer himfelf
owns, “ That it is not to be found there now } for that
the late earl of Pembroke affured him, that he had em¬
ployed a perfon for fome time to fearch for it, but in
vain {II i/I. of Printing, p. 314.). On thefe grounds
we may pronounce the record to be a forgery } though
all the writers above mentioned take pains to lupport its
credit, and call it an authentic piece.
Atkyns, who by his manner of writing feems to have
been a bold and vain man, might poflibly be the inven¬
tor ; for he had an intereft in impofing it upon the world,
in order to confirm the argument of his book, that
printing was of the prerogative royal; in oppofition to
the company of fationcrs, with whom he was engaged
in an expenfive fuit of law, in defence of the king's pa¬
tents, under which he claimed fortie exclufive powers of
printing. For he tells us, p. 3. ‘ That, upon confi-
dering the thing, he could not but think that a public
perfon, more eminent than a mercer, and a public purfe,
muft needs be concerned in fo public a good : and the
more he confidered, the more inquifitive he was to find
out the truth. So that he had formed his hypothefis be¬
fore he had found his record; which he publifhed, he
fays, as a friend to truth ; not to futfer one man to be
inti tied to the worthy atchievements of another ; and as
a friend to himfelf, not to lofe one of his beft arguments
of entitling the king to this art.’ But, if Atkyns was
not himfelf the contriver, he was impofed upon at leaf!
by fome more crafty man; who imagined that his intereft
in the caufe, and the warmth that he {hewed in profecu-
ting it, would induce him to fwallow for genuine what¬
ever was offered of the kind.”
Anf.‘—On the other hand, is it likely that Mr At¬
kyns would dare to forge a record, to be laid before the
king and council, and which his adverfaries, with whom
he was at law, could difprove ?—(2.) He fays he recei¬
ved this hiftory from a perfon of honour, who was fome
time keeper of the Lambeth library. It was eafy to
have confuted this evidence, if it was falfe, when he pu
blifhed it, April 25. 1664.-—(3.) J°hn Bagford (who
was born in England 1651, and might know Mr At¬
kyns, who died in 1677), in his Hiftory of Printing at
‘Oxford, blames thofe who doubted of the authenticity of
the Lambeth MS. 5 and tells us that he knew Sir John
Birkenhead had an authentic copy of it, when in 1665
[which Bagford by fome miftake calls 1664, an^ ’s f°^'
lowed in it by Meerman] he was appointed by the houfe
of commons to draw up a bill relating to the exercife
of that art. This is confirmed by the Journals of that
.houfe, Friday Ocb 27. 1665, vol. viii. p.622, where
it is ordered, that this Sir John Birkenhead fhould carry
the bill on that head to the houfe of lords for their con-
lent.—The a£t was agreed to in the upper houfe on
Tuefday 0£1. 31. and received the royal affent on the
fame day ; immediately after which the parliament was
Vol. XVII. Part I.
369 ] P R I
prorogued. See Journals of the Houfe of Lords, vol. Printing,
xi. p. 700.—It is probable, then, that after Mr At- l'—■■'V—
kyns had publifhed his book in April 1664, the par¬
liament thought proper, the next year, to inquire into
the right of the king's prerogative; and that Sir John
Birkenhead took care to infpedt the original, then in
the cuftody of Archbiihop Sheldon : and, finding it not
fufficient to prove what Mr Atkyns had cited it for,
made no report of the MS. to the houfe ; but only mo¬
ved that the former lawr fliould be renewed. The MS.
was probably never returned to the proper keeper of it ;
but was afterwards burnt in the fire of London, Sept.
13. 1666.—(4.) That printing was praftifed at Ox¬
ford, was a prevailing opinion long before Atkyns. Bry¬
an 1 wyne, in his Apologia pro Antiqmtate Academice Ox-
onienfs, publifhed 1608, tells us, it is fo delivered down
in ancient writings ; having heard, probably, of this
Lambeth MS. And King Charles I. in his letters pa¬
tent to the Univerfity of Oxford, March 5. in the ele¬
venth of his reign, 1635, mentions printing as brought
to Oxford from abroad. As to what is objefted, “ that
it is not likely that the prefs fhould undergo a ten or
eleven years fleep, viz. from 1468 to 1479,” it is pro¬
bably urged without foundation. Corfellis might print
feveral books without date or name of the place, as Ul-
ric Zell did at Cologne, from 1467 to 1473, and from
that time to 1494. Corfellis’s name, it may be faid,
appears not in any of his publications ; but neither does
that of Joannes Peterfhemius. [See Meerman, vol. i.
p. 34. ; vol. ii. p. 21—27, &c.]
Further, the famous Shakefpeare, who was born in
1564, and died 1616, in the Second Part of Henry VI.
a<ft iv. fc. 7. introduces the rebel John Cade, thus up¬
braiding Lord Treafurer Say : “ Thou haft moft traite-
roufly corrupted the youth of the realm, in creating a
grammar-fchool : and whereas, before, our forefathers
had no other book but the fcore and the tally, thou haft
caufed Printing to be ufed j and, contrary to the king,
his crown, and dignity, thou haft built a paper-mill.”—
Whence now had Shakefpeare this accufation againft
Lord Say ? We are told in the Poetical Regifter, vol. ii.
p. 231. ed. Lond. 1724, that it was from Fabian, Pol.
Vergel, Hall, Hollingfhed, Grafton, Stow, Speed, &c.
But not one of thefe aferibes printing to the reign of
Henry VI. On the contrary, Stow, in his Annals,
printed at London, 1560, p. 686, gives it exprefsly to
William Caxton, 1471. “ The noble fcience of print¬
ing was about this t;me found out in Germany at Ma-
gunce, by one John Guthumburgus a knight. One
Conradus an Almaine brought it into Rome : William
Caxton of London, mercer, brought it into England
about the year 1471, and firft praiftifed the fame in the
abbie of St Peter at Weftminfter 5 after which time it
was likewife praftifed in the abbies of St Auguftine at
Canterburie, Saint Albons, and other monafteries of
England.” What then {hall we fay, that the above is
an anachronifm arbitrarily put into the mouth of an ig¬
norant fellow out of Shakefpeare’s head ? We might be¬
lieve fo, but that wre have the record of Mr Atkyns con¬
firming the fame in King Charles II.’s time. Shall we
fay, that Mr Atkyns borrowed the ftory from Shake¬
fpeare, and publifhed it with fome improvements of
money laid out by Henry VI. from whence it might be
received by Charles II. as a prerogative of the crown ?
But this is improbable, fince Shakefpeare makes Lord
3 A Treafurer
P R I [3
Pr.’n'.inj. Treafurer Say the inftrument ot importing it, of whom
—— Y—w Mr Atkyns mentions not a word. Another difference
there will ftill be between Shakefpeare and the Lambeth
MS.; the poet placing it before 1449, in which year
Lord Say was beheaded ; the MS. between 1454 and
-i459, when Bourchier was archbilhop. We muff fay,
then, that Lord Say firft laid the fcheme, and fent fome
one to Harlem, though without fuccefs ; but after fome
years it was attempted happily by Bourchier. And we
muff conclude, that as the generality of writers have
overlooked the invention of printing at Harlem with
wooden types, and have afcribed it to Mentz where me¬
tal types were firft made ufe of 5 fo in England they
have puffed by Corfellis (or the firft Oxford Printer,
whoever he was, who printed with wooden types at Ox¬
ford), and only mentioned Caxton as the original ardft
who printed with metal types at Weftminfter. [See
Meerman, vol. ii. 7, 8.]. It is ftrange, that the
learned commentators on our great dramatic poet, who
are fo minutely particular upon lefs important occafions,
fhould every one of them, Dr Johnfon excepted, pafs by
this curious paffage, leaving it entirely unnoticed. And
how has Dr Johnfon trifled, by flightly remarking,
“ that Shakefpeare is a little too early with this accufa-
tion !”—The great critic had undertaken to decipher
obfolete words, and inveftigate unintelligible phrafes 5
but never, perhaps, beftowed a thought on Caxton or
Corfellis, on Mr Atkyns or the authenticity of the
Lambeth Record.
But, independent of the record altogether, the book
ftands firm as a monument of the exercile of printing in
Oxford fix years older than any book of Caxton’s with
a date. In order to get clear of this ftrong fa£t Dr Mid¬
dleton,
1. Suppofes the date in queftion to have been falfified
originally by the printer, either by defign or miftake ;
and an X to have been dropped or omitted in the age of
its impreflion. Examples of this kind, he fays, are
common in the hiftory of printing. And, “ whilft I
am now waiting, an unexpected inftance is fallen into
my hands, to the fupport of my opinion •, an Inaugura¬
tion Speech of the Woodwardian Profejfor, Mr Mafon,
juft freih from the prefs, with its date given 10 years
earlier than it fhould have been, by the omiffion of an x,
viz. mdccxxiv and the very blunder exemplified in
the laft piece printed at Cambridge, which I fuppofe to
have happened in the firft from Oxford.” To this it
has been very properly anfwered, That we fhould not
pretend to fet afide the authority of a plain date, with¬
out very ftrong and cogent reafons •, and what the Doc¬
tor has in this cafe advanced will not appear, on exami-
' nation, to carry that weight with it that he feems to
imagine. There may be, and have been, miftakes and
o ] P R I
forgeries in the date both of books and of records too j Printing,
but this is never allowed as a reafon for fufpeCting fuch —y—
as bear no mark of either. We cannot from a blunder
in the laft book printed at Cambridge, infer a like blun¬
der in the firft book printed at Oxford. Befides, the
type ufed in this our Oxford edition feems to be no fmall
proof of its antiquity. It is the German letter, and
very nearly the fame with that ufed by Fuft [who has
been fuppofed to be] the firft printer •, whereas Caxton
and Rood ufe a quite different letter, fomething between
this German and our old Englifh letter, which was foon
after introduced by De Worde and Pynfon.
2. “ For the probability of his opinion (he fays),
the book itfelf affords fufficient proof: for, not to infift
on what is lefs material, the neatnefs of the letter, and
regularity of the page, &c. above thofe of Caxton, it has
one mark, that feems to have carried the matter beyond
probable, and to make it even certain, viz. the ufe of
Jignatures, or letters of the alphabet placed at the bot¬
tom of the page, to ftiow the fequel of the pages and
leaves of each book ; an improvement contrived for the
diredion of the bookbinders 5 which yet was not prac-
tifed or invented at the time when this book is fuppofed
to be printed 5 for we find no fignatures in the books of
Fault or Schoeffer at Mentz, nor in the improved or
beautiful impreflions of John de Spira and Jenfon at Ve¬
nice, till feveral years later. We have a book in our
library, that feems to fix the very time of their inven¬
tion, at lealt in Venice j the place where the art itfelf
received the greateft improvements : Baldi le&ura fuper
Codic. Iss'c. printed by John de Colonia and Jo. Manthem
de Gherret%em, anno MCCCCLXXiiu. It is a large and
fair volume in folio, withoutfgnatures, till about the
middle of the book, in -which they are firft introduced,
and fo continued forward : which makes it probable,
that the firft thought of them -was fuggefted during the
impreffion j for we have likewife LeBura Bart holt fuper
Codic. &c. in two noble and beautiful volumes in folio,
printed the year before at the fame place, by Vindelin
de Spira, without them : yet from this time forward
they are generally found in all the works of the Vene¬
tian printers, and from them propagated to the other
printers of Europe. They were ufed at (l) Cologne,
in 1475 } at Paris, T476j by Caxton, not before 1480:
but if the difcovery had been brought into England, and
praflifed at Oxford 12 years before, it is not probable
that he would have printed fo long at Weftminfter with¬
out them. Mr Palmer indeed tells us, p. 54, 180, that
Anthony Zarot w(l) * * * * * 7as efteemed the inventor of fignatures j
and that they are found in a Terence printed by him at
Milan in the year 1470, in which he firft printed. I
have not feen that Terence j and can only fay, that I
have obferved the want of them in fome later works of
this,
(l) Dr Middleton is miftaken in the time and place of the invention of fignatures. They are to be found even
in very ancient MSS. which the earlieft printers very ftudioully imitated ; and they were even ufed in fome editions
from the office of Lawrence Cofter (whence Corfellis came), which confifted of wooden cuts, as in Figurce typicce
et entity piece Novi Teflamenti; and in fome editions with metal types, as in Gafp. Pergamenfs epifolae, publiftied
* Seeitfah-at Paris, wdthout a date, but printed A. D. 1470, (Maittaire*, Annal. vol. i. p. 25.); -Axulm. MammetreBus,
taire. printed by Helias de Llouften, at Bern in Switzerland, 14705 and in Z)i? Tondeh vifione, at Antwerp, 1472-
Venice, therefore, was not the place where they were firft introduced.—They began to be ufed in Baldus, it
feems, when the book was half finilhed. The printer of that book might not know, or did not think, of the ufe
of them before. See Meerman, vol. ii. p. 18. j and Phil. Tianf. vol. xxiii. N° 2c8. p. 1509.
ill
P R I
Printing, tills’, as well as or other excellent printers of the fame
\place. But, allowing them to be in the Terence, and
Zarot the inventor, it confutes the dale of our Oxford
book as effectually as if they were of later origin at Ve¬
nice ; as 1 had reafon to imagine, from the teltimony of
all the books that I have hitherto met with.”- As
to thefe proofs, firft, the neatnefs of the letter, and the
regularity of the page, prove, if any thing, the very re-
verfe of what the Doctor afferts. The art of printing
was almoft in its infancy brought to perfection ; but af¬
terwards debafed by later printers, who confulted rather
the cheapnefs than the neatnefs of their work. Our
learned differtator cannot be unacquainted with the la¬
bours of Fuft and Jenfon. He mult know, that though
other printers may have printed more correCtly, yet
fcarce any excel them, either in the neatnefs of the
letter, or the regularity of the page. The fame may be
obferved in our Englilh printers. Caxton and Rood
were indifferently good printers ; De Worde and Pyn-
fon were worfe; and thole that follow them moll abo¬
minable. This our anonymous Oxford printer excels
them all \ and for this very reafon w'e Ihould judge him
to be the moft ancient of all. Our differtator lays great
ftrefs on the ufe of fignatures. But no certain conclu-
fion can be drawn either from the ufe or non-ufe of
thefe leffer improvements of printing. They have in
different places come in ufe at different times, and have
not been continued regularly even at the fame places.
If Anthony Zarot ufed them at Milan in 1470, it is
certain later printers there did not follow his example j
and the like might happen alfo in England. But, what
is more full to our purpofe, w^e have in the Bodleian li¬
brary an /Efop’s Fables printed by Caxton. This is, it
is believed, the firft; book which has the leaves number¬
ed. But yet this improvement, though more ufeful than
that of the fignatures, was difufed both by Caxton him-
felf and other later printers in England. It is therefore
not at all furprifing (if true) that the fignatures, though
invented by our Oxford printer, might not immediately
come into general ufe. And confequently, this particu¬
lar carries with it no fuch certain or effeCfual confutation
as our differtator boafts of.
3. What the DoCtor thinks farther confirms his opi¬
nion is, “ That, from the time of the pretended date of
this book, anno 1468, wre have no other fruit or produc¬
tion from the prefs at Oxford for 11 years next follow¬
ing *, and it cannot be imagined that a prefs, eftablifhed
with fo much pains and expence, could be fuffered to be
fo long idle and ufelefs.”-—To this it may be anfwered,
in the words of Oxonides, ift, That his books may
have been loft. Our firft printers, in thofe days of ig¬
norance, met wdth but fmall encouragement; they print¬
ed but fewT books, and but few copies of thofe books.
In after times, when the fame books were reprinted
more correftly, thofe firft editions, which were not as
yet become curiofities, wrere put to common ufes. This
is the reafon that wre have fo few remains of our firft
printers. We have only four books of Theodoric Rood,
who feeros by his own verfes to have been a very cele-
- brated printer. Of John Lettou-William de Machlinia,
and the fchoolmafter of St Alban’s, we have fcarce any
remains. If this be confidered, it will not appear im-
poffible that our printer fhould have followed his bufinefs
from 1468 to 1479, and yet time have deftroyed his in¬
termediate works. But, adly, We may account ftill
Printirrg.
71 ] P R I
another way for this diftance of time, without altering
the date. The Civil Wars broke out in 1469: this
might probably oblige our Oxford printer to Ihut up his
prefs; and both himlelf and his readers be otherwife en¬
gaged. If this w^ere the cafe, he might not return to
his work again till 1479 5 and the next year, not meet¬
ing with that encouragement he deferved, he might re¬
move to fome other country wdth his types.
Dr Middleton concludes wdth apologizing for his
“ fpending fo much pains on an argument fo inconfider-
able, to which he was lead by his zeal to do a piece of
juftice to the memory of our worthy countryman Wil¬
liam Caxton ; nor luffer him to be robbed of the glory,
fo clearly due to him, of having jirji imported into this
kingdom an art of great ufe and benefit to mankind : a
kind of merit that, in the fenfe of all nations, gives the
belt title to true praife, and the belt claim to be com¬
memorated with honour to pofterity.”
The fatft, however, againft which he contends, hut
wdnch it feems impollible to overturn, does by no means iaims 0f
derogate from the honour of Caxton, who, as has been Caxton and
Ihown, wTas the firft perfon in England that pra&ifed theCorfell18 re¬
art of printing wdth fujile types, and confequently thelt>e<^ively^
firft who brought it to perfedtion ; whereas Corfellis
printed with feparate cut types in wood, being the only
method which he had learned at Harlem. Into this de¬
tail, therefore, we have been led, not fo much by the
importance of the queftion, as on account of feveral anec¬
dotes connedled with it, w’hich feemed equally calculat¬
ed to fatisfy curiofity and afford entertainment.
Caxton had been bred very reputably in the way of
trade, and ferved an apprenticelhip to one Robert Large
a mercer j wrho, after having been Iheriff and lord mayor
of London, died in the year 1441, and left by will, as
may be feen in the prerogative office, xxnil merks to
his apprentice William Caxton : a confiderable legacy
in thofe days, and an early teftimonial of his good cha-
radter and integrity.
From the time of his mailer’s death, he fpent the
following thirty years beyond fea in the bufinefs of mer-
chandife: where, in the year 1464, w7e find him em¬
ployed by Edward IV. in a public and honourable ne-
gociation, jointly with one Richard Whitehill, Efq. to
tranfadl and conclude a treaty of commerce between the
king and his brother-in-law the duke of Burgundy, to
whom Flanders belonged. The commiffion ftyles them,
ambajjiatores, procuratores, nuncios, et deputatos fpeci-
ales ; and gives to both or either of them full powers to
treat, &c.
Whoever turns over his printed works, muff; contract
a refpedl for him, and be convinced that he preferved
the fame charadler through life, of an honeft, modeft,
man ; greatly induftrious to do good to his country, to
the bell of his abilities, by fpreading among the people
fuch books as he thought ufeful to religion and good
manners, wftiich wrere chiefly tranflated from the French.
The novelty and ufefulnefs of his art recommended him
to the fpecial notice and favour of the great; under
w’hofe proteflion, and at whofe expence, the greateft
part of his works w7ere publilhed. Some of them are
addreffed to King Edward IV his brother the duke of
Clarence, and their filler the duchefs of Burgundy; in
wLofe fervice and pay he lived many years before he
began to print, as he often acknowledges with great
gratitude. Fie printed likewife for the ufe, and by
3 A 2 the
Printing.
. x4
Difterent
characters
when firft
ufed in
printing.
P R I , [ 372 ] P R I
the exprefs order, of Henry VII. his fon Prince Ar¬
thur, and many of the principal nobility and gentry of
that age.
It has been generally afferted and believed, that all
his books were printed in the abbey of Weftminfterj
yet we have no affurance of it from himfelf, nor any
mention of the place before the year 1477 :
he had been printing feveral years without telling us
where.
There is no clear account left of Caxton’s age : but
he was certainly very old, and probably above fourfcore,
at the time of his death. In the year 1471 he com-
plained of the infirmities of age creeping upon him, and
feebling his body : yet he lived 23 years after, and pur-
fued his bufinefs, with extraordinary diligence, in the
abbey of Weftminfter, till the year 1494, in which he
died 5 not in the year following, as all who write of him
affirm. This appears from fome verfes at the end of
a book, called “ Hilton’s Scale of Perfedbion,” printed
in the fame year :
Infynite laude with thankynges many folde
I yield to God me focouryng with his grace
This boke to finyffie wffiich that ye beholde
Scale of Perfedfion calde in every place
Whereof th’ audlor Walter Hilton was
And Wynkyn de Worde this hath fett in print
In William Caxftons hows fo fyll the cafe,
God reft his foule. In joy ther mot it ftynt.
Impreffus anno falutis MccccLXXXxiiii.
Though he had printed for the ufe of Edward IV.
and Henry VII. yet there appears no ground for the
notion which Palmer takes up, that the firft printers,
and particularly Caxton, wTere (worn fervants and prin¬
ters to the crowm j for Caxton, as far as can be obfer-
ved, gives not the leaft hint of any fuch charadler or
title ; though it feems to have been inftituted not long
after his death } for of his two principal workmen,
Richard Pynfon and Wynkyn de Worde, the one was
made printer to the king, the other to the king’s mo¬
ther the lady Margaret. Pynfon gives himfelf the firft
ti tle, in The Imitation of the Life of Chrift ; printed by
him at the commandment of the lady Margaret, wdio
had tranflated the fourth book of it from the French,
in the year 1504 : and Wynkyn de Worde affumes the
fecond, in The Seven Penitential Pfalms, expounded by
Biffiop Fiffier, and printed in the year 1509. But there
is the title of a book given by Palmer, that feems to
contradift what is here faid of Pynfon : viz. Pfalterwm
ex mandato VLctorioJiJJifjii Angina Regis Hennci Septimi,
per Guild mum Fanque, imprejjbrem regium, anno MDim 5
which being the only work that has ever been found of
this printer, makes it probable that he died in the very
year of its impreffion, and was fucceeded immediately by
Ptichaid 1 jnfon. No book hath yet been difeovered
printed in Scotland in this period, though the Engliffi
printers w7ere able to export fome of their w'orks to other
countries. See Henry’s Hiftory of Great Britain, vol, v.
p. 471.
Before x 465, the uniform charafter was the old Go¬
thic or Gentian ; whence our Black was afterwards form¬
ed. But in that year an edition of Ladlaistius was
printed in a kind of Semi-Gothic, of great elegance,
and approaching nearly to the prefent Roman type \
which laft was firft ufed at Rome in 1467, and foon af- Printing,
ter brought to great perfeftion in Italy, particularly by L—y--—>
Jenfon.
Towards the end of the 5th century, Aldus invented
the Italic charadler which is now in ufe, called, from his
name, A/dine or curjivus. This fort of letter he con¬
trived, to prevent the great number of abbreviations that
were then in ufe.
The firft eflays in Greek that can be difeovered are a of the firft*
few fentences which occur in the edition of Tully’s Of- Greek
fees, 1465, at Mentz j but thefe were miferably incor-Paring,
redl and barbarous, if we may judge from the fpeci-
mens Mr Maittaire has given us, of which the following
is one:
OriCaraa^agr^aKara TaT*)r»*a.
In the fame year, 1465, was publilhed an edition of
Ladlantius’s Infitutes, printed in monaferio Suhlacenf,
in the kingdom of Naples, in which the quotations from
the Greek authors are printed in a very neat Greek let¬
ter. They feem to have had but a very fmall quantity
of Greek types in the monaftery 5 for, in the firft part
of the work, whenever a long fentence occurred, a blank
was left, that it might be written in with a pen : after
the middle of the work, however, all the Greek that
occurs is printed.
The firft printers who fettled at Rome were Conrad
Sweynheim and Arnold PannarLz, who introduced the
prefent Roman type, in 1466, in Cicero’s Epi/lolce Fa-
miliares: in 1469 they printed a beautiful edition of
Aldus Gellius, with the Greek quotations in a fair cha¬
radler, without accents or fpirits, and with very few ab¬
breviations.
The firft whole book that is yet known is the Greek
Grammar of Conftantine Lafcaris, in quarto, revifed by
Demetrius Cretenfis, and printed by Dionyfius Palavi-
finus, at Milan, 1476. In 1481, the Greek Pfalter
was printed here, with a Latin tranflation, in folio ; as
was AZibp’s Fables in quarto.
Venice foon followed the example of Milan •, and in
i486 were publilhed in that city the Greek Pfalter and
the Batrachomyomachia, the former by Alexander, and
the latter by Laonicus, both natives of Crete. They
were printed in a very uncommon charadler; the latter
of them with accents and fpirits, and alfo With fc ho Ha.
In 1488, however, all former publications in this
language were eclipfed by a fine edition of Homer's
Works at Florence, in folio, printed by Demetrius, a
native of Crete. Thus printing, fays Mr Maittaire,
(p. 185.) feems to have attained its ctKpv of perfedlion,
after having exhibited moft beautiful fpecimens of La¬
tin, Greek, and Hebrew.
In 1493, a fine edition of Ifocrates was printed at
Milan, in folio, by Henry German and Sebaftian ex
Pantremulo.
All the above works are prior in time to thofe of Al¬
dus, who has been erroneoufly fuppofed to be the frf
Greek printer : the beauty, however, corredlnefs, and
number of his editions, place him in a much higher rank
than his predeceflbrs } and his charadlers in general were
more elegant than any before ufed. He was born in
1445, and died in 1515.
Though the noble Greek books of Aldus had raifed
an univerfal defire of reviving that tongue, the French
were backward in introducing it. The only pieces print¬
ed
P R I t 373 ] P R I
Printing, ed by them were fome quotations, fo wretchedly per-
'■—■“v  formed, that they vt'ere rather to be gueffed at than read j
in a charafter very rude and uncouth, and without ac¬
cents. But Francis Tiffard introduced the ftudy of this
language at Paris, by his BiZxog » yvMy*ciyv£ixti, in 1 $07 •,
and that branch of printing was afterwards fuccefsfully
praflifed by Henry, Robert, and Henry Stephens. See
the article Stephens.
The earlieft edition of the whole Bible was, ftriftly
fpeaking, the Complutenfian Polyglott of Cardinal
Ximenes 5 but as that edition, though finUhed in 1517,
was not publiihed till 1522, the Venetian Septuagint
of 1518 may properly be called the firft edition of the
whole Greek Bible \ Erafmus having publifhed the New
Teftament only at Baiil in 1516.
Of the fiift ^ very latisfaftory account of Hebrew printing is
Hebrew given by Dr Kennicott in his Annual Accounts of
printing. the Collation of Hebrew MSS. p. 1x2. “ The method
which feems to have been originally obferved in print¬
ing the Hebrew Bible was juft what might have been
expedited: 1. The Pentateuch in 1482. 2. The Prior
Prophets, in 1484. 3. The Pofterior Prophets, in i486.
4. The Hagiographa, in 1487. And, after the four
great parts had been thus printed feparately (each with
a comment), the whole text (without a comment) was
printed in one volume in 1488 ; and the text continued
to be printed, as in thefe firft editions, fo in feveral
others for 20 or 30 years, without marginal Keri or
Mafora, and with greater arguments to the more an¬
cient MSS. till about the year 1520 fome of the .Tews
adopted later MSS. and the Mafora ; which abfurd pre¬
ference has obtained ever fince.”
Thus much for the ancient editions given by Jews.
In 1642 a Hebrew Bible was printed at Mantua un¬
der the care of the moft learned Jews in Italy. This
Bible had not been heard of among the Chriftians in
this country, nor perhaps in any other) though the
nature of it is very extraordinary. The text indeed is
nearly the fame with that in other modern editions ; but
at the bottom of each page are various readings, amount¬
ing in the whole to above 2000, and many of them of
great confequence, collefted from manufcripts, printed
editions, copies of the Talmud, and the works of the
moft renowned Rabbles. And in one of the notes is
this remark :—“ That in feveral pafiages of the He¬
brew Bible the differences are fo many and fo great, that
they know not which to fix upon as the true read¬
ings.”
We cannot quit this fabjeel without obferving, on
Dr Kennicott’s authority, that as the firft printed Bibles
are more corredt than the latter ones ; fo the variations
between the firft edition, printed in 1488, and the edi¬
tion ofVander Hooght, in 1705, at Amfterdam, in 2
vols. 8vo, amount, upon the whole, to above 1200.
See further Bowyer and Nichols, p. 11 2—117.
Anecdotes When the art of printing was firft difeovered, they
of early only made ufe of one fide of a page : they had not yet
printing, found out the expedient of imprefling the other. When
their editions were intended to be curious, they omit¬
ted to print the firft letter of a chapter, for which they
left a blank fpace, that it might be painted or illumina¬
ted at the option of the purchafer. Several ancient vo¬
lumes of thefe early times have been found, where thefe
letters are wanting, as they negledled to have them
painted.
When the art of printing was firft eftabliftied, it was Printing,
the glory of the learned to be corredlors of the prefs to 1' v“-"“
the eminent printers. Phyficians, lawyers, and bifhops
themfelves, occupied this department. The printers
then added frequently to their names thefe of the cor-
reftors of the prefs 5 and editions were then valued ac¬
cording to the abilities of the correftor.
In the productions of early printing may be diftin-
guiftied the various fplendid editions they made of Pri¬
mers or Prayer-booh. They were embellithed with cuts
finiflied in a moft elegant tafte : many of them were lu¬
dicrous, and feveral were obfeene. In one of them ai\
angel is reprefented crowning the Virgin Mary, and
God the Father himfelf aflifting at the ceremony. We
have feen in a book of natural hiftory the Supreme Be¬
ing reprefented as reading on the feventh day, when he
refted from all his works. Sometimes St Michael is
feen overcoming Satan 5 and fometimes St Anthony ap¬
pears attacked by various devils of moft hideous forms.
The Prymer of Salijbury, 1533, is full of cuts: at the
bottom of the title page there is the following remark¬
able prayer :
God be in my Bede,
And in my Underftandynge.
God be in my Eyen,
And in my Lookynge.
God be in my Mouthe,
And in my Spekynge.
God be in my Herte,
And in my thinkinge.
God be at myn ende,
And at my departynge.
13
Stereotype Printing. Different perfons in differentHittory.
countries have claimed the merit of this invention ; but
from Mr Nicholls’s Biographical memoirs of William
Ged, it appears undeniable that he was the firft by
whom it was invented. Mr Tilloch, the editor of the
Philofophical Magazine informs us, that he had turned yol x.
his attention to the fubjeCt for a number of years, and
having hit at laft upon the difeovery, he flattered him¬
felf that it was purely original, even feeling vexed when
given to underftand that he had been anticipated by
Mr Ged of Edinburgh, who had printed books from
plates about 50 years before.
So far back as the year 1725, we find that Mr Ged
had begun to profecute plate-making. In 1727, he
entered into a contraft with a perfon who had a fmall
capital, but who was fo intimidated by the infinuations
of fome printer, that he expended no more than 22I. in
the courfe of two years. In this manner he had printed
both bibies and common prayer-books, but the compo-
fitors when they correfted one fault, purpofely made
half a dozen more 5 and the preffmen when the mafters
were abfent, battered the letter to fecond the compofi-
tors. In confequence of thefe abominable proceedings,
the books w^ere fuppreffed by authority, and the plates
fent to the King’s printing-houfe, and from thence to
the foundery.
In confequence of Mr Tilloch’s invention and im¬
provement, Stereotype printing wTas aftenvards praCtifed
by him in conjunction with Mr Foulis, printer to the
univerfity of Glafgow, who obtained patents both for
England and Scotland, as Mr Ged’s invention had died
with
P R I [ 3
Printing, vvltli Ills Ton. This art, therefore, .may he faid to have
" v " been twice invented in Britain •, after which Didot, a
French printer, publiihed feveral Latin claflics in the
fame manner, and to wdiom fome of his countrymen
wdfhed to afcribe the merit of the invention, wdiich muft
be a miftake. We admit it poflible that he might have
■difcovered the fecret of the art for himfelf *, but it is not
fuppofeable that he could be ignorant of Ged’s progrefs
and that of Mr Foulis, efpecially fmce, when patents
are obtained, a fpecification of the procefs muft be put
upon record, of which any one may obtain an office co¬
py at a fmall expence.
Neither is it at all probable that ftereotype printing
■was the invention of a Dutchman, wffio is faid to have
praftifed the art even before Ged 5 fince we are aflured
that Ged himfelf had offers from Holland repeatedly,
either to go over there, or fell his invention, which
could not poffibly have been the cafe, had they been
in poffeffion of their own countryman’s.
Founding of pages, on the firft vierv of it, promifes
many advantages of an economical nature, and to fci-
ence it holds out what can never be obtained in any
other way ; we mean editions of books without a fingle
-error. From books caft into folid pages, no more co¬
pies would be printed than might be wanted for imme¬
diate fale ; the money thus faved from being funk in pa¬
per, to be piled up in warehoufes for years, as is the
cafe at prefent, would ferve as furplus capital to print
other works 5 thus the printer, his workmen, and the
bookfellers, would all be benefited.
Some are of opinion, that the expence of ftereotype
precludes the ufe of it, except in the cafe of ftandard
authors, whofe works are fure of an extenfive fale; but the
very reverfe of this is the truth. If there would be an ad¬
vantage in applying the ftereotype art to books of rapid
fale, there would be a ftill greater one in the cafe of
fuch whofe fale would not be fo certain, as at the worft
there could only be the lofs of the plates, inftead of that
of the paper and prefs-work of a whole edition, which
in almoft every inftance would amount to a much larger
fum. To the advantages already mentioned wo may
add a fewT others, as ftated by Mr Willon, Stereotype
office Duke ftreet, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The expence
of Stereotype plates is not 20. per cent of that of move-
able type pages. A room that is fire-proof wall hold
Stereotype plates of works, of wffiich the dead ftock in
printed paper would require a w'arehoufe twenty times
the fize; and thus warehoufe rent and infurance are
faved ; wuth the additional advantage, in cafe of acci¬
dent by fire, that the ftereotype plates may be inftantly
put to prefs, inftead of going through the tedious opera¬
tions of mpveable type printing 5 and thus no lofs will
be fuftained from the wmrks being out of print. In fte¬
reotype, every page of the moft extenfive wTork has a
feparate plate; of confequence all the pages of the faid
wrork muft be equally new7 and beautiful. The types of
each ffieet are diftributed by the old method, by which
the fubfequent fheets are comnofed •, fo that, although
the firft few ffieets o*7 a volume may be well compofed,
the laft part of the volume will appear to be executed
in a very inferior manner. Stereotype plates admit of
alteration ; and it will be found that they wall yield at
leaft twice the number of 'mpreffions that moveable
types are capable of producing. It feems evident upon
74 ] P R I
the wffiole, fays Mr Wilfon, that a faving of from 25 to Printing.
40I. per cent, will accrue to the public in the prices of w—
all books of ftandard reputation and fale, W’hich, he be¬
lieves, are pretty accurately afcertained to comprehend
three-fourths of all the book printing of England, Scot¬
land, and Ireland. It is fair to conclude, therefore,
that both foreign and domeftic fales will be much in-
creafed, and that the duties on paper wall be propor¬
tionally produffive ; fo that the public will reap advan¬
tage in a twrofold w7ay hy the general adoption and en¬
couragement of the ftereotype art.
The advantages of this mode of printing now7 men¬
tioned, are fuch as have been fuggefted by men who
were competent judges; but we leave it to our readers
to determine for themfelves, wffiether the adoption of the
ftereotype art of printing w7ould be more beneficial to
fociety at large, than the publilhing of books by means
of moveable types.
The workmen employed in the art of printing are of ^ *9 , ^
tw7o kinds ; compofitors, wTho range and difpofe the let- pnnUng '
ters into words, lines, pages, &c. according to the copy
delivered them by the author ; and preffmen, who apply
ink upon the fame, and take off the impreffion. The
types being caft, the compofitor diftributes each kind
by itfelf among the divifions of twTo wmoden frames, an
upper and an under one, called cafes ; each of wffiich is
divided into little cells or boxes. Thofe of the upper
cafe are in number 98 : thefe are all of the fame fize ;
and in them are difpofed the capitals, fmall capitals,
accented letters, figures, &c. the capitals being placed
in alphabetical order. In the cells of the lower cafe,
which are 54, are placed the fmall letters, with the
points, fpaces, &c. The boxes are here of different
fizes, the largeft being for the letters moft ufed; and
thefe boxes are not in alphabetical order, but the cells
which contain the letter ofteneft wanted are neareft:
the compofitor’s hand. Each cafe is placed a little
afiope, that the compofitor may the more eafily reach
the upper boxes. The inftrument in which the letters Plate
are fet is called a compojing-jh'ck (fig. 1.), wrhich confiftsCCCCXE
of a long and narrow plate of brafs or iron, &c. on the 1^'
right fide of w'hich arifes a ledge, which runs the whole
length of the plate, and ferves to fuftain the letters, the
fides of which are to reft againft it; along this ledge is
a row7 of holes, which ferve for introducing the fcrew ay
in order to lengthen or ffiorten the extent of the line,
by moving the Aiders b c farther from or nearer to the
ftiorter ledge at the end d. Where marginal notes are
required in a w7ork, the two Aiding pieces b c are open¬
ed to a proper diftance from each other in fuch a man¬
ner as that while the diftance between d c forms the
length of the line in the text, the diftance between the
two Aiding-pieces forms the length of the lines for the
notes on the fide of the page. Before the compofitor
proceeds to compofe, he puts a rule or thin Aip of brafs-
plate, cut to the length of the line, and of the fame
height as the letter, in the compofing-ftick, ag linft the
ledge, for the letter to bear againft. I lungs thus pre¬
pared, the compofitor having the copy lying before him,
and his flick in his left-hand, his thumb being over the
Aide r c; with the right he takes up the letters, fpaces,
&c. one by one, and places them againft the rule, while
he fupports them with his left thumb by preffing them
to the end of the Aider c, the other hand being con-
ftantly
4
PHI [ 3
Printing, ftantly employed in fetting in other letters! the whole
—v being performed with a degree of expedition and addrels
not eafy to be imagined.
A line being thus compofed, if it end with a word
or fyliable, and exa&ly fill the meafure, there needs no
further care; otherwife, more fpaces are to be put in,
or elfe the diftances leffened, between the feveral words,
in order to make the meafure quite full, fo that every
line may end even. The fpaces here ufed are pieces of
metal exactly lhaped like the lhanks of the letters : they
are of various thicknefl.es, and ferve to fupport the let¬
ters, and to preferve a proper diflance between the
words 5 but not reaching fo high as the letters, they
make no imprefllon when the work is printed. The
firfi: line being thus finiihed, the compofitor proceeds
to the next-, in order to which he moves the brafs-
rule from behind the former, and places it before it,
and thus compofes another line againft it after the fame
manner as before j going on thus till his flick is
full, when he empties all the lines contained in it into
the gaily.
The compofitor then fills and empties his compofing-
itick as before, till a complete page be formed ; when
he ties it up with a cord or pack-thread ; and fetting
it by, proceeds to the next, till the number of pages to
be contained in a flieet is completed ; which done, he
carries them to the impofing-ftone, there to be ranged
in order, and faftened together in a frame called a chefs;
and this is termed impofng. The chefs is a rectangular
iron frame, of different dimenfions according to the fize
of the paper to be printed, having two crofs-pieces of
the fame metal, called a long and Jhort crofs, mortifed at
each end fo as to be taken out occafionally. By the
different fituations of thefe croffes the chefs is fitted for
different volumes: for quartos and odtavos,one traverfes
the middle lengthwife, the other broadwife, fo as to in-
terfedl each other in the centre : for twelves and twen¬
ty-fours, the fhort crofs is drifted nearer to one end of
the chefs; for folios, the long crofs is left entirely out,
and the flrort one left in the middle ; and for broad-
fides, both croffes are fet afide. To drefs the chefs, or
range and fix the pages therein, the compofitor makes
ufe of a fet of furniture, confifling of flips of wood of
different dimenfions, and about half an inch high, that
they may be lower than the letters: fome of thefe are
placed at the top of the pages, and called headflichs ;
others between them, to form the inner margin ; others
on the tides of the croffes, to form the outer margin,
where the paper is to be doubled; and others in the
form of w7edges to the tides and bottoms of the pages.
Thus all the pages being placed at their proper diftan¬
ces, and fecured from being injured by the chefs and
furniture placed about them, they are all untied, and
faftened together by driving fmall pieces of wood called
quoins, cut in the wedge-form, up between the flanting
fide of the foot and the tide-flicks and the chefs, by
means of a piece of hard wood and a mallet; and all
being thus bound faft together, fo that none of the let¬
ters will fall out, it is ready to be committed to the
preffmen. In this condition the work is called a form ;
and as there are two of thefe forms required for every
Iheet, when both tides are to be printed, it is neceffary
the diftances between the pages in each form (hould be
placed with fach exaftnefs, that the impreflion of the
75 1 P R I
pages in one form thall fall exactly on the back of the Printing,
pages of the other, which is called regifter. v7—~
As it is impoffible but that there muit be fome mif-
takes in the wurk, either through the overfight of the
compofitor, or by the cafual tranfpofition of letters in
the cafes; a flieet is printed off, which is called a proof
and given to the corrector; who reading it over, and
rectifying it by the copy, making the alterations in the
margin, it is delivered back to the compofitor to be cor¬
rected.
The compofitor then unlocking the form upon the
correCting-ltone, by loofening the quoins or wedges
which bound the letters together, rectifies the miftakes
by picking out the faulty or wrong letters with a flen-
der fliarp-pointed fteel-bodkin, and putting others into
their places. After this another proof is made, lent to
the author, and corrected as before; and laftly, there is
another proof called a revife, which is made in order
to fee whether all the miftakes marked in the laft proof
are corrected.
The preffman’s bufinefs is to work off the forms thus-
prepared and corrected by the compofitor ; in doing
which there are four things required, paper, ink, balls,
and a prefs. To prepare the paper for ufe, it is to be
firft wetted by dipping feveral iheets together in water :
thefe are afterwards laid in a heap over each other ; and
to make them take the water equally, they are all pref-
fed clofe down with a weight at the top. The ink is
made of oil and lamp-black; for the manner of prepa¬
ring which, fee Printing-lNK. The balls, by which the
ink is applied on the forms, are a kind of wooden fun¬
nels with handles, the cavities of which are filled with
wool or hair, as is alfo a piece of alum leather or pelt
nailed over the cavity, and made extremely foft by fock-
ing in urine and by being well rubbed. One of thefe
the preffman takes in each hand ; and applying one of
them to the ink-block, daubs and "works them together
to diftribute the ink equally ; and then blackens the
form which is placed on the prefs, by beating with the
balls upon the face of the letter.
The printing-prefs, reprefented fig. 2. is a very cu-Fig. ■
rious though complex machine. The body confifts of
two ftrong cheeks a, a, placed perpendicularly, and join¬
ed together by four crofs-pieces; the cap h; the head
c, which is moveable, being partly fuftained by two iron
pins or long bolts, that pafs the cap ; the till or flielf
d d, by which the fpindle and its apparatus are kept in
their proper pofition ; and the winter e, which bears
the carriage, and fuftains the effort of the prefs beneath.
The fpindle f \s. an upright piece of iron pointed with
fteel, having a male fcrew which goes into the female
one in the head about four inches. Through the eye g
of this fpindle is faftened the bar h, by which the prefl-
man makes the impreffion. The fpindle paffes through
a hole in the middle of the till; and its point works in¬
to a brafs pan or nut, fupplied with oil, which is fixed
to an iron plate let into the top of the platten. The
body of the fpindle is fuftained in the centre of an open
frame of poliflred iron, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, fixed to it in
fuch a manner as, without obftrudHng its free play, to
keep it in a fteady diredlion ; and at the fame time to
ferve for fufpending the platten. This frame confifts
of two parts ; the upper called the garter, 1, I ; the
under, called the crane, 2, 2. Thefe are connected to¬
gether
pei r 376 i PEi
Fiinting.
getlier by two fhort legs or bolts, 3, 3. j which being
fixed below in the two ends of the crane, pafs upward,
through two holes in the till, and are received at top
into two eyes at the ends of the garter, where they are
iecured by fcrews. The carriage / / is placed a foot
below the platten, having its fore-part fupported by a
prop called the forejiay, while the other refts on the
winter. On this carriage, which fuftains the plank,
are nailed two long iron bars or ribs 5 and on the plank
are nailed fhort pieces of iron or heel called cramp irons,
•equally tempered with the ribs, and which hide upon
.them when the plank is turned in or out. Under the
carriage is fixed a long piece of iron called the fpit, with
-a double wheel in the middle, round which leather-girts
are fahened, nailed to each end of the plank : and to
the outfide of the fpit is fixed a rounce ///, or handle to
turn round the wheel. Upon the plank is a fquare frame
or coffin, in which is inclofed a poliffied hone on which
the form n is laid } at the end of the coffin are three
frames, vi%. the two tympans and frifket: the tympans
o are fquare, and made of three flips of very thin wood,
and at the top a piece of iron hill thinner 5 that called
the outer tynipan is fahened with hinges to the coffin :
they are both covered with parchment ; and between
the two are placed blankets, which are neceffary to take
off the impreffion of the letters upon the paper. The
irifket /> is a fquare frame of thin iron, fahened with
hinges to the tympan: it is covered with paper cut in
the neceffary places, that the ffieet, which is put be¬
tween the frifket and the great or outward tympan,
may receive the ink, and that nothing may hurt the
margins. To regulate the margins, a ffieet of paper
is fahened upon this tympan, which is called the tympan
Jheet; and on each fide is fixed an iron point, which
makes two holes in the ffieet, which is to be placed on
the fame points when the impreffion is to be made on
the other fide. In preparing the prefs for working,
the parchment which covers the outer tympan is wetted
till it is very foft, in order to render the impreffion
more equable ; the blankets are then put in, and fecured
from hipping by the inner tympan: then while one
prefsman is beating the letter with the balls q, covered
with ink taken from the ink-block, the other perfon
places a ffieet of white paper on the tympan-ffieet $
turns down the frifket upon it, to keep the paper clean
and prevent its hipping.-, then bringing the tympans
upon the form, and turning the rounce, he brings the
form with the hone, &c. weighing about 300 lbs.
weight, under the platten ; pulls with the bar, by
which means the platten preffes the blankets and paper
clofe upon the letter, whereby half the form is printed ;
then eafing the bar, he draws the form ftill forward ;
gives a fecond pull 5 and letting go the bar, turns back
the form, takes up the tympans and frifket, takes out
the printed ffieet, and lays on a freffi one ; and this is
repeated till he has taken off the impreffion upon the
full number of fheets the edition is to confift of. One
fide of the ffieet being thus printed, the form for the
other is laid upon the prefs, and worked off in the fame
manner.
To the above defeription of the printing prefs, we
ffiall add that of one invented by Mr Nicholfon, and for
which a patent was granted in 1 790. This machine is
recommended by the inventor as being fuperior to other
printing preffes in cheapnefs, accuracy, and neatnefs, and
1
is adapted with fome flight variations in its conflruftion
for printing on paper, linen, cotton, and woollen. Three
particulars are to be attended to in the invention.
iji. The manner of preparing and placing the types,
engravings, or carvings, from which the impreffion is to
be made j tdly, In applying the ink or colouring matter
to types or engravings 3 and, ^dly, In taking off the im¬
preffion.
Printing:.
\fl. The moulds, punches, and matrices, for cafiing
letters, are made in the fame manner, and with the fame
materials, as other letter-founders do, excepting that, in-
ftead of leaving a fpace in the mould for the Item of one
letter only, he leaves fpaces for tw-o, three, or more let¬
ters, to be caff at one pouring of the metal *, and at the
lowrer extremity of each of thofe fpaces (which commu¬
nicate by a common groove at top) he places a matrix, or
piece of copper, with the letter punched upon its face in
the ufual way. And moreover, he brings the ftem of his
letters to a due form and finiffi, not only by rubbing it
upon a ftone, and feraping it when arranged in the finiffi-
ing-ftick, but likewife by feraping it, on one or more
fides, in a finifhing-ftick whofe hollowed part is lefs deep
at the inner than the outer fide. He calls that fide of
the groove which is neareft the face of the difpofed let¬
ter, the outer fide and the purpofe accompliffied by
this method of feraping is, that of rendering the tail of
the letter gradually fmaller the more remote it is, or
farther from the face. Such letters may be firmly im-
pofed upon a cylindrical furface, in the fame manner as
common letters are impofed upon a flat ftone.
idly, The ink or colouring matter is applied to the
types, forms, or plates, by caufing the furface of a cy¬
linder, fmeared or rvetted with the colouring matter, to
roll over the furfaces of the faid forms or plates, or by
caufing the forms or plates apply themfelves fucceffively
to the furface of the cylinder. The furface of this co¬
louring cylinder is covered with leather, or with wrool-
len, linen, or cotton-cloth. When the colour to be
ufed is thin, as in calico-printing, and in almoft every
cafe, the covering is fupported by a firm elaftic fluffing,
confifting of hair, or wool, or woollen cloth wrapped
one or more folds round the cylinder. When the co¬
vering confifts of w7oollen cloth, the fluffing muff be de¬
fended by leather, or oillkin, to prevent its imbibing
too much colour, and by that means lofing its elaflicity.
It is abfolutely neceffary that the colouring matter be
evenly diffributed over the furface of the cylinder; and
for this purpofe, when the colour is thick and ftiff, as
in letter-prefs printing, he applies two, three, or more
fmall cylinders, called diftributing-rollers, longitudinally
againft the colouring cylinders, fo that they may be turn¬
ed by the motion of the latter ; and the effe£l of this ap¬
plication is, that every lump or mafs of colour which may
be redundant, or irregularly placed upon the face of the
colouring cylinder, wnll be preffed, fpread, and partly
taken up, and carried by the fmall rollers to the other
parts of the colouring cylinder •, fo that this laft wrill
very fpeedily acquire and preferve an even face of co¬
lour. But if the colouring matter be thinner, he does
not apply more than one or twro of thefe diftributing-
rollers \ and, if it be very thin, he applies an even
blunt edge of metal, or wTood, or a ftraight bruffi, or
both of thefe laft, againft the colouring cylinder, for
the purpofe of rendering its colour uniform. When he
applies colour to an engraved plate, or cylinder, or
through
1J H J‘ j iS S T’xnrting' .
ri«te c c c c X] * .
Println'r.
•>£■ 3-
g- 4-
P R f [ 377
througK tKc mterftices of a perforated pattern, as in the
manufacturing of feme kinds of paper-hangings, he ufes
a cylinder entirely covered with hair or bridles in the
manner of a bruth.
3<% The impreOions, even in letter-prefs printing,
are performed by the tuftion of a cylinder or cylindrical
iiirface. The following is the conftruaion of this ma-
chme. Fig. 3. reprefents a printing prtfs, more efpe-
cially applicable to the printing of books. A and E are
two cylinders, running or turning in a itrong frame of
wood, or metal, or both. The cylinder A is faced with
woollen cloth, and is capable of being prefled with more
©r lets force upon FIX, by means of the lever M. HI is
a long table, which is capable of moving endwife, back¬
wards and forwards, upon the rollers E and K. The
roller A ads upon this table by means of a cog wheel,
or by ftraps, fo as to draw it backwards and forwards
by the motion of its handle L. The table is kept in
the fame line by grooves on its fides, which contain the
cylinder A. ^ 13 is a chefs, containing letter fet up and
impofed. B is a box, containing a colouring-roller, with
its diftributing-rollers CC 5 it is fupported by the arm N.
O is a cylinder faced with leather, and lying acrofs an
ink-block 5 this cylinder is fixed by the middle to a
bended lever moveable on the joint Q.
Hie a61 ion. When 13, or the letter, is drawn beneath
the cylinder B, it receives ink ; and when it has pafled
into the pofition R, a workman places or turns down a
tympan with paper upon it (this tympan differs in no
refpeft from the ufual one, except that its hinge opens
fidewife) *, it then proceeds to pafs under the cylinder
A, which preffes it fucceffively through its whole fur-
face. On the other fide, at S, the workman takes off
the paper, and leaves the tympan up. This motion
caufes the cylinder B to revolve continually, and confe-
quently renders its inked furface very uniform, by the
aftion of its diftributing-rollers CC ; and, when the
table has pafled to its extreme diflance in the direction
now fpoken of, the arm G touches the lever P, and
raifes the cylinder O off the ink-block, by which means
it dabs againff one of the diftributing-rollers, and gives
it a fmall quantity of ink. The returning motion of
the table carries the letter again under the roller B,
which again inks it, and the procefs of printing another
ftieet goes on as before.
Fig. 4. is another printing-prefs. In this, B is the
inking-roller ; A is a cylinder, having the letter impo¬
fed upon its furface 5 and E is a cylinder, having its
uniform furface covered with woollen cloth : thefe three
cylinders are connefled, either by cogs or ftraps at the
edges of each. The machine is uniformly turned in
one direction by the handle L. The workman applies a
Iheet of paper to the furface of E, where it is retained,
either by points in the ufual manner, or by the appara¬
tus to be deferibed in treating of fig. 4. The paper paf-
fes between E and A, and receives an impreffion 5 after
which the workman takes it off, and applies another
fheet ; and in the mean time the letter on the furface of
A paffes round againft the furface of B, and receives ink
during the rotation of B. The diftributing-rollers CC do
their office as in the machine fig. 1. 5 and once in every
revolution the tail F, affixed to B, raifes the inking-piece
G, fo as to caufe it to touch one of the diftributing-rol¬
lers, and fupply it with ink. In this way therefore the
repeated printing of flieet after ffieet goes on.
Vol. XVII. Part I.
1 p it t
Fig- 5’ ^ a printing prefs, more particularly adapted Printb)£.
to print cottons, hlks, paper-hangings, or other articles    
which run of a mnUrlF.rr.kU a _ t .
a confiderable length^ A is a cylinder Fl^ 5-
covered with woollen cloth, or other foft fubftance. The
web or piece of cotton, or other goods, is pafl’ed round
t ns cylinder, fiom the carrying-roller F to the receiving-
roders GH 5 which are conne&ed by a piece of linen,
woollen, or hair-cloth, in the manner of a jack-towel’
lewed round them ; the rotation of this towel carries
away the printed ftuff or goods, and depofits them at I.
KL is a moveable box, containing three rollers, which
move againft each other in rotation. The loweft roller
C revolves in a mals of colour, contained in a trough or
veflel m the bottom part of the box KL 5 the furface of
this colour is reprefented by the line MN. The next
imler B is ftuffed and covered as deferibed in fe£tion 2.
The preffurc of B againft C prevents the cylinder B from
receiving too much colour. 13 is a cut or carved cylin¬
der, which receives colour, during the rotation, from the
roller B, and impreffes it upon the web as it paffes round
the cylinder A ; in this way the conftant and effe&ual
aftion of the machine is fufficiently obvious. It muff be
obferved, that the cylinders ADB and G are conne&ed
together by cog-wheels, ftraps, or other well-known equi¬
valent contrivances ; fo that the handle P drives the
whole, without their neceffarily depending on any adhe-
fion or friction at their furfaces. The preflure of B a-
gamft D is governed by an adjuflment of the axis of D,
whofe lockets are capable of a fmall motion ; and the
Preflure of D againft A is governed by the pofition of
the whole box KL. When it is required to print more
than one colour upon the lame piece, it muft pafs two or
more times through the machine : or, in thole cafes where
the materials are liable to change their dimenfions, it is
neceffary to apply, at one and the fame time, two or
more fuch boxes as KL, with their refpeftive cylinders,
lb that the pattern cylinder of each may make its im¬
preffion upon the web or material to be printed on.
Fig. 6. is a printing-prefs, chiefly of ufe for books and fig. 6.
papers. 1, 2, 3, 4, reprefent a long table, with ledges
on each fide 5 fo that the two cylinders A and B can run
backwards and forwards without any fide fhake. In ®ne
of thefe ledges is placed a ftrip or plate of metal cut into
teeth, which lock into correfpondent teeth in each cylin¬
der ; by which means the two cylinders roll along, with¬
out the poffibility of changing the relative pofitions of
their furfaces at any determinate part of the table. This
may alfo be effected by ftraps, and may indeed be accom-
plilhed, with tolerable accuracy, by the mere rolling of
the cylinders on the fmooth or flat ledges without any
provifion. A is the printing-cylinder, covered with wool¬
len cloth, and B is the inking-cylinder, with its diftri¬
buting-rollers. The table may be divided into four com¬
partments, marked with a thicker bounding line than the
reft, and numbered r, 2, 3, 4. At 1 is placed a ftieet
of paper ; at 2 is the form or chefs, containing letter fet
and impofed 5 at 3 is an apparatus for receiving the
printed flieet 5 and 4 is employed in no other ufe than
as a place of ftanding for the carriage E, after it has paf-
fed through one operation, and when it takes ink at F.
Its atftion is as follows : the carriage is thruft forward
by the workman, and as the roller A paffes over the
fpace numbered 1, it takes up the flieet of paper pre-
vioufly laid there, while the roller B runs over the form
and inks the letter. The flieet of .paper, being wrapped
3 B round
P R I
[ 378 ]
P R I
Printing, round the cylinder A, is preflfed agamft tlie fornt as that
“ cylinder proceeds, and confequently it receives an impref-
fion. When A arrives at the fpace numbered 3, it lets
go the (heet of paper, while the prominent part of the
carriage G flrikes the lever P, and railes the inking-
piece, which applies itlelf againit one ot the diftributing-
rollers. In this manner therefore the cylinder A re¬
turns empty, and the cylinder B inked, and in the
mean time the workman places another Iheet of paper
ready in the fpace numbered x. i bus it is that the
operation proceeds in the printing of one fheet after
another.
The preceding defcription is not encumbered with
an account of the apparatus by which the paper is
taken up and laid down. This may be done in feveral
Tig. 11, 12. ways : Fig 11. and 12. reprefent one of the methods.
DE is a lever, moving on the centre pin C, and having
its end 1) preffed upwards by the aclion of the fpring
G. The fhoulder which contains the pin C is fixed
in another piece F, which is inferted in a groove in the
furface of the cylinder A (fig. 6.), fo that it is capable
of moving in and out, in a direction parallel to the
axis of that cylinder. As that cylinder proceeds, it
meets a pin in the table; which (letter P, fig. 11.) aft-
ing on the inclined plane at the other end of the lever,
throws the whole inwards, in the pofition reprefented in
fig. 1 2.; in which cafe the extremity D ihoots inwards,
and applies itfelf againft the fide of the cylinder.
F>g- *3* In fig. 1 3, is a reprefentation of part of the table ; the
dotted fquare reprefents a fheet of paper, and the four
final! (haded fquares denote holes in the board, with pins
Handing befide them. When the lever DE (fig. 12.)
(hoots forward, it is fituated in one of thefe holes, and
advances under the edge of the paper, which coa-
fequently it preffes and retains againft the cylinder
with its extremity D. Nothing more remains to be
laid refpefting the taking up, but that the cylinder
is provided with two pair of thefe clafps or levers,
W'hich are fo fixed as to correfpond with four holes
reprefented in fig. 13. It will be eafy to underitand
how the paper is depofited in the compartment N° 3.
(fig. 6.). A pin P (fig. 12.) riling out of the plat¬
form or table, a£ts againft a pin E, projecting fidewife
cut of the lever, and muft of courfe draw the fiider
and its lever to the original polilion ; the paper con¬
fequently will be let go, and its difengagement is
rendered certain by an apparatus fixed in the compart¬
ment numbered 3. (fig. 6.) of exactly the fame kind as
' that upon the cylinder, and which, by the aCtion of a
pin duly placed in the furface of the cylinder A, takes
the paper from the cylinder in precifely the fame manner
as that cylinder originally took it up in the compartment
numbered 1 (fig. 6.).
Eg- 7> t). Figs. 7, 8, and 9, reprefent a fimpler apparatus for ac-
complilhing the fame purpofe. If A c B & (fig. 9.) be
fuppofed to reprefent a thick plate of metal of a circular
form, with two pins, A and B, proceeding fidewife or
perpendicularly out of its plane, and diametrically oppo-
tite to each other, and G another pin proceeding in the
tlireClion of that plane, then it is obvious that any force
applied to the pin A, fo as to prefs it into the pofition a
j(by turning the plate on its axis or centre X), will at
the fame time caufe the pin G to acquire the pofition g;
and, on the other hand, when B is at b, or the dotted re-
prefentatiou of the fide-pin, if any prelfure be applied to
reftore its original politico at B, the pin g will return Printing;
back, to G. Now the figures 7 and 8 exhibit an appa-' v
ratus of this kind, applied to the cylinder A ; and that
cylinder, by rolling over the pins P and />, properly fixed
in the table to re-a<B upon the apparatus, will caufe
its prominent part G either to apply to the cylinder
and clafp the paper, or to rife up and let it go. J he
compartment numbered 3 (fig* 6.) mult of courfe have
an apparatus of the fame kind to be ahted upon by pins
from A, in order that it may take the paper from that
cylinder.
There
machine
carnage
numbers
form of
back
is one other circumftance belonging to this
which remains to be explained. When the
E (fig. 6.) goes out in the direction of the
I, 2, 3, 4, both rollers, A and B, prefs the
letter in their paffage ; but in their return
again the roller A, having no paper upon it,
would itfelf become foiled, by taking a faint impreffion
from the letter, if it were not prevented from touching
it : the manner of effefting this may be underftcod from
fig. 14. The apparatus there reprefented is fixed upon Fig. 14.
the outfide of the carriage E, near the lower corner, in
the vicinity of the roller A ; the whole of this projects
fidewife beyond the ledge of the table, except the fmall
truck or wheel B. The irregularly-triangular^ piece,
which is {haded by the ftroke of the pen, carries this
wheel, and alfo a catch moveable on the axis or pin E.
The w’hole piece is moveable on the pin A, which con-
nedls it to the carriage. CD, or the part which is
fhaded by dotting, is a detent, which ferves to hold the
piece down in a certain pofition. It may be obferved,
that both the detent and the triangular piece are fur-
nifhed each with a claw, which holds in one direciic.
but trips or yields in the ether, like the jacks of a harp-
fichord, or refembling certain pieces uled in clock am",
watch making, as is clearly reprefented in the figure.
Thefe claws overhang the fide of the table, and their
eifedf is as follows : There is a pin C (fig* 6.) between
the compartments of the table numbered 2 and 3, but
which is marked F in fig. 14. where GH reprefents
the table. In the outward run of the carriage the fa.
claws ftrike that pin, but with no other efTccf than that
they yield for an inflant, and as inftantly refume their
original pofition by the aftion of their refpective (lender
back-fprings. When the carriage returns, the clarv of
the detent indeed ftrikes the pin, but with as little effect
as before, becaufe its derangement is inftantly removed
by the action of the back fpring of the detent itfelf;
but, when the claw of the triangular piece takes the
pin, the whole piece is made to revolve on its axis or
pin A, the wheel B is forced down, fo as to lift that
end of the carriage, and the detent, catching on the
piece at C, prevents the former pofition from being re¬
covered. The coniequence of this is, that the carriage
runs upon the truck B (and its correfpondent truck on
the oppofite fide) inftead of the cylinder A, which is
too much raifed to take the letter, and foil itfelf ; but
as foon as the end of the carriage has paffed clear of
the letter, another pin R (fig. 6.) takes the claw of the
detent, and draws it off the triangular piece ; at which
inftant the cylinder A fubfides to its ufual place, and
performs its funftions as before. I his laft pin R docs
not affeft the claw of the triangular piece, becaufe it is
placed too low ; and the claw of the detent is made the
longeft, on purpofe that it may ftrike this pin.
Fig.
P R I [
^Printing. Fig. io. reprefents an inftrument for printing floor-
cloths, paper-hangings, and the like, with ftiff paint and
j£> ‘ a brufh. D is a copper or metallic cylinder fixed in a
fiame A, like a garden-roller; its carved part is thin,
and is cut through in various places, according to the
defired pattern. 1 A ftrong axis paffes through the cy¬
linder, and its extremities are firmly attached to the
frame A. To this axis is fixed a veffel or box of the
fame kind, and anfwering the fame purpofe as the box
KL S’ ^ carries a cylinder P, which revolves
in the colour; another cylinder E, which revolves in
contaft with P ; and a third cylinder B, whofe exterior
furface is covered with hair, after the manner of a
brufh, and revolves in contaft with E. This cylinder
B is adjulled by its axis, in fuch a manner that its
bruih-part fweeps in the perforated parts of the metallic
cylinder D. The circle C reprefents a cog-wheel fixed
concentric to the cylinder D, and revolving with it; this
wheel takes another wheel concentric to, and fixed to,
B ; hence the action is as follows: When the metallic
Cylinder is wheeled or roiled along any furface, its cog¬
wheel C drives the brufh B in the contrary direction ;
and this brufh cylinder, being connected by cogs or
otherwife with E and P, caufes thofe alfo to revolve and
fupply it with colour. As the fucceffive openings of the
cylinder D, therefore, come in contaCt with the ground,
the feveral parts of the brufh wall traverfe the uncovered
part of that ground, and paint the pattern upon it. The
wheel G, being kept lightly on the ground, ferves to de¬
termine the line of con tail, that it fliall be the part op-
pofite to B, and no other.
Chinefe PHINTING, is performed from wooden planks
or blocks, cut like thofe ufed in printing of callico, pa¬
per, cards, &c.
Rolling-prefs PHINTING, is employed in taking off
prints or impreffions from copperplates engraven, etched,
or fcraped, as in mezzotintos. See Engraving.
This art is faid to have been as ancient as the year
1540, and to owe its origin to Finiguerra, a Florentine
goldfmith, who pouring fome melted brimffone on an
engraven plate, found the exa<Sl impreflion of the engra¬
ving left in the cold brimftone, marked with black ta¬
ken out of the ftrokes by the liquid fulphur : upon this
he attempted to do the fame on filver plates with wet
paper, by rolling it fmoothly with a roller; and this
Tucceeded ; but this art was not ufed in England till the
reign of King James I. when it was brought from Ant¬
werp by Speed. The form of the rolling-prefs, the
compolition of the ink ufed therein, and the manner of
applying both in taking off prints, are as follows :
T5* The rolling-prefs AL, fig. 15. may be divided into
two parts, the body and carriage : the body confilts of
two wooden checks PP, placed perpendicularly on a
Hand or foot LM, w'hich fuftains the whole prefs.
Prom the foot likewife are four other perpendicular
pieces, c, c, c, c, ioined by other crofs or horizontal
ones, d, d, d, which ferve to fuftain a fmooth even plank
cr table HIK, about four feet and a half long, two feet
and a half broad, and an inch and a half thick. Into the
cheeks go two wooden cylinders or rollers, DE, FG,
about fix inches in diameter, borne up at each end by
the cheeks, whofe ends, which are leffened to about
two inches diameter, and called trunnions, turn in the
cheeks about two pieces of wood in form of half-
moons, lined with polifhed iron to facilitate the mo-
.979 1 p R 1
tiom Lafily, To one of the trunnions of the upper rol- Printing,
ler is fattened a crofs, confiding of two levers~AB, or Print'.'
pieces of wood, traverfing each other, the arms of ^
which crofs ferve inftead of the bar or handle of the
letter-prefs, by turning the upper roller, and when the
plank is between the two rollers, giving the fame motion
to the under one, by drawing the plank forward and
backward.
The ink ufed for copperplates, is a compofitlon made
of the ftones of peaches and apricots, the bones of dieep
and ivory, all well burnt, and called Frankfort black,
mixed with nut-oil that has been well boiled, and ground
together on a marble, after the fame manner as painters
do their colours.
The method of printing from copperplates is as fol¬
lows : They take a fmall quantity of this ink on a rub¬
ber made of linen-rags, ilrongly bound about each
other, and therewith fmear the whole face of the plate
as it lies on a grate over a charcoal fire. The plate be¬
ing fufficiently inked, they firft wipe it over with a
foul rag, then with the palm of their left hand, and
then with that of the right ; and to dry the hand and
forward the wiping, they rub it from time to time in
whiting. In wiping the plate perfectly clean, yet.
without taking the ink out of the engraving, the ad-
drefs of the workman confiils. The plate thus prepa¬
red, is laid on the plank of the prefs ; over the plate
is laid the paper, firit well moiftened, to receive the
imprefiion ; and over the paper two or three folds of
flannel. Things thus difpofed, the arms of the crofs
are pulled, and by that means the plate with its furni¬
ture palled through between the rollers, which pinching
very itrongly, yet equally, prefs the moillened paper
into the ftrokes of the engraving, whence it licks out
the ink.
Prints, the imprefiion taken from a copperplate. See
the laft article, and Engraving.
From the facility of being multiplied, prints have de- Strvtt's
rived an advantage over paintings by no means inconfi--D/<5?. of
berable. They are found to be more durable ; which Engravers,
may, however, in fome degree be attributed to the dif¬
ferent methods in which they are preferved. Many of
the belt paintings of the early mailers have generallv
had the misfortune to be either painted on walls, or de
pofited in large and unfrequented, and confequenth
damp and deftruftive buildings ; wdiillt a print, palling,
at diftant intervals, from the porte feuillc of one colleclor
to that of another, is preferved without any great exer¬
tion of its owner : And hence it happens, that whilit
the piflures of Raphael have mouldered from their walls,
or deferted their canvas, the prints of his friend and co-
temporary Mark Antonio Raimondi continue in full
perfection to this day, and give us a lively idea of the
beauties of thefe paintings, which, without their afftft-
ance, had been loft to us forever; or at lealt, could
have been only known to us, like thofe of Zeuxis and
Apelles, by the deferiptions which former writers on
thefe lubjects have left us.
Independent of the advantages which prints afford us,
when confidered as accurate reprefentations of paint¬
ings, and imitations of fuperior productions, they are
no lefs valuable for their politive merit, as immediate
reprefentations of nature. For it mult be recolleCted,
that the art of engraving has not always been confined
to the copying of other productions, but has frequent-
3 B 2 ly
PHI [ 380 ] P R X
Prints, ly itfelf afplrcd to originality, and has, in this light,
produced more infiances of its excellence than in the
other. Albert Durer, Goltzius, and Rembrandt,
among ft the Dutch and Germans ; Parmigiano and
Della Bella amongft the Italians, and Callot amongft
the French, have publifhed many prints, the fubjedis of
which, there is great reafon to fuppofe, were never
painted. Thefe prints may therefore be confidered as
original pictures of thofe mafters, deficient only in thofe
particulars in which a print muft neceflarily be inferior
to a painting.
The preceding diftindiion may perhaps throw fome
light on the proper method of arranging and clafling a
colledlion of prints, which has been a matter of no fmall
difficulty. As an art imitating another, the princi¬
pal fhouid take the lead, and the defign, compoirtion,
and drawing, in a print, being previous requifites to the
manner of execution and finifhing ; prints engraved af¬
ter paintings fhouid be arranged under the name of the
painter ; and every perfon who looks upon engraving
only as auxiliary to painting, will confequently adopt
this mode of arrangement. But when engraving is
confidered as an original art, as imitating nature with¬
out the intervention of other methods, then it will cer¬
tainly be proper to regulate the arrangetnent according
to the names of the engravers.
PRINTS, method of cleaning. The following method
of cleaning prints, is recommended as fafe and effica-
cieus.
“ Provide a certain quantity of the common muria¬
tic acid, for example three ounces, in a glafs bottle,
with a ground ftopper, of fuch a capacity that it may
be only half full. Half an ounce of minium muft then
be added ^ immediately after which the ftopper is to
be put in, and the bottle fet in a cold and dark place.
The heat, which foon becomes perceptible, fhews the
beeinning of the new combination. The minium aban-
dons the greateft part of its oxygen with which the
fluid remains impregnated, at the fame time that it ac-
q*ires a fine golden yellow, and emits the deteftable
fmell of oxygenated muriatic acid. It contains a fmall
portion of muriat of lead ; but this is not at all noxious
in the fubfequent procefs. It is alfo necefiary to be ob-
lerved, that the bottle muft be ftrong, and the ftopper
not too firmly fixed, otherwife the active elaftic vapour
might burft it. The method of ufing this prepared acid
is as follows :
“ Provide a fufficiently large plate of glafs, upon
which one or more prints may be feparately fpread out.
Near the edges let there be raifed a border of foft white
wax half an inch high, adhering well to the glafs and
flat at top. In this kind of trough the print is to be
placed in a bath of frefli urine, or water containing a
fmall quantity of ox-gall, and kept in this fituation for
three or four hours. The fluid is then to be decanted
off, and pure warm water poured on, which muft be
changed every three or four hours until it paffes limpid
and clear. The impurities are fonaetimes of a refinous
nature, and refill the adlion of pure water. When this
is the cafe, the wafhed print muft be left to dry, and
alcohol is then to be poured on and left for a time.
After the print is thqs cleaned, and all the moifture
drained off, the muriatic acid pvepared with minium is
to be poured on in fufficient quantity to cover the
print j imipediately after which another plate of glafs is
to be laid in contaft with the rim of wax, in order to Prints,
prevent the inconvenient exhalation of the oxygenated Prior,
acid. In this fituation the yellowed print will be feen ' " v
to recover its original whitenefs in a very fhort time.
One or two hours are fufficient to produce the defired
effe£l } but the print will receive no injury if it be left
in the acid for a whole night. Nothing more is necei-
fary to complete the work, than to decant off the re¬
maining acid, and wafti away every trace of acidity, by
repeated affuiions of pure water. The print being then
left to dry (in the fun if poflible) will be found white,
clear, firm, and in ho refpeft damaged, either in the
texture of the paper, or the tone and appearance of the
impreflion.”
It is farther recommended to thofe who fhall adopt
the whole procefs for clearing prints, to make the firft
trial with a print of little value, and in this way he will
di(cover what portion of water fhouid be employed in
diluting the acid to prevent the corrofive aftion of the
latter on the paper. Nichol. Joarn. ii. 265. 4to.
PRIOR, in general, fomething before or nearer the
beginning than another, to which it is compared.
Prior, more particularly denotes the fuperior of a
convent of monks, or the next under the abbot. See
Abbot.
Priors are either claufral or conventual. Conventual
are the fame as abbots. Claufral prior, is he who go¬
verns the religious of an abbey or priory in commendam,
having his jurifdielion wholly from the abbot.
Grand PRIOR, is the fuperior of a large abbey, where
feveral fuperiors are required.
Prior, Matthew, an eminent Englifh poet, was
born at London in 1664. His father dying while he
wTas very young, an uncle, a vintner, having given him
fome education at Weftminfter fchool, took him home
in order to breed him up to his trade. However, at
his leifure hours he profecuted his tludy of the daf¬
fies, and particularly of his favourite Horace. This in¬
troduced him to fome polite company who frequented
his uncle’s houfe ; among whom the earl of Dorfet took
particular notice of him, and procured him to be fent to
St John’s college in Cambridge, where, in 1686, he
took the degree of A. B. and afterwards became fel¬
low of that college. Upon the revolution, Mr Prior
w^as brought to court by the earl of Dorfet ; and in 1690
he was made fecretary to the earl of Berkeley, plenipo¬
tentiary at the Hague ; as he was afterward to the am-
baffador and plenipotentiaries at the treaty of Ryfwick in
1697 *, and the year following to the earl of Portland,
ambaffador to the court of France. He was in 1697
made fecretary of ftate for Ireland * and in 1700 was
appointed one of the lords commiflioners of trade and
plantations. In 1710, he was fuppofed to have had a
{hare in writing The Examiner. In 1711, he was made
one of the commiftioners of the cuftoms; and was fent
minifter plenipotentiary to France, for the negotiating a
peace with that kingdom. Soon after the acceflion of
George I. to the throne in 1714, he prefented a memo¬
rial to the court of France, requiring the demolifliing of
the canal and new works at Mardyke. The year fol¬
lowing he was recalled ■, and upon his arrival was taken
up by a warrant from the houfe of commons, and ftriftly
examined by a committee of the privy-council. Robert
Walpole, Efqj moved the houfe of commons for an
impeachment- againft him) and Mr Prior was ordered
P R I [
Tnories. into clofe cuftody. In 1717, he was excepted out of
r^" the aft of grace j however, at the clofe of that year,
he was fet at liberty. The remainder of his days he
fpent in tranquillity and retirement, and died in 1721.
His poems are well known, and juilly admired. He
is faid to have written the following epitaph for him-
felf :
“ Nobles and heralds, by your leave,
Here lie the bones of Matthew Prior,
The fon of Adam and of Eve :
Let Bourbon or NaiTau go higher.”
Alien PbIORIES, were cells of the religious houfes in
England which belonged to foreign monaileries : for
when manors or tithes were given to foreign convents,
the monks, either to increafe their own rule, or rather
to have faithful ftewards of their revenues, built a fmall
convent here for the reception of fuch a number as they
thought proper, and conftituted priors over them,—
Within thefe cells there wras the fame diitinftion as in
thole priories which were cells fubordinate to feme
great abbey •, fome of thefe were conventual, and, ha¬
ving priors of their own drooling, thereby became entire
focieties within themfelves, and received the revenues
belonging to their feveral houfes for their own ui’e and
benefit, paying only the ancient apport (a), acknow¬
ledgement, or obvention, at firit the furplufage, to the
foreign houfe •, but others depended entirely on the fo¬
reign houfes, who appointed and removed their priors
at pleafure. Thefe tranfmitted all their revenues to
the foreign head houfes } for which reafon their elfates
tv ere generally feized to carry on the wars between
England and France, and reftored to them again on re¬
turn of peace. Thefe alien priories were mod of them
founded by fuch as had foreign abbeys founded by them¬
felves or by fome of their family.
The whole number is not exaftly afeertained ; the
Monafticon hath given a lid of 100 : Weever, p. 338.
fays 1 x o.
Some of thefe cells wrere made indigenous or deni¬
zen, or endenized. The alien priories were fird feized
by Edward I. 128 5, on the breaking out of the war
between France ftnd England j and it appears from a
roll, that Edward II. alfo feized them, though this is
not mentioned by our hidorians ; and to thefe the a£t
of reditution, 1 Ed. III. feems to refer.
In 1237, Edward III. confifcated their edates,
and let out the priories themfelves with ail their lands
and tenements, at his pleafure, for 23 years ; at the
end of which term, peace being concluded between the
two nations, he redored their edates 1361, as appears
by his letters patent to that of Montacute, county of So-
merfet, printed at large in Rymer, vol. vi. p. 311. and
trandated in Weever’s Funeral Monuments, p. 339. At
other times he granted their lands, or lay penfions out
of them, to divers noblemen. They were alfo feque-
ftered during Richard II.’s reign, and the head mona¬
ileries abroad had the king’s licence to iell their lands to
other religious houfes here, or to any particular perfons
who wanted to endow others.
381 ] P R 1
Henry I\. began his reign with (bowing iome fa¬
vour to the alien priories, redoring all the conventual
ones, only referving to himfelf in tin ♦ of war what they <_
paid in time of peace to the foreign abbeys.
I hey were all diffolved by aft of parliament 2
Flenry V. and all their edates veded in the crown,
except fome lands granted to the college of Fothering-
hay. The aft of diffolution is not printed in the da-
tute books, but it is to be found entire in Rymer’s Fee¬
der a, ix. 283. and in the Parliament Rolls, vol. iv.
p. 22. In general, thefe lands were appropriated to
religious uies. Henry VI. endowed his foundations at
Eton and Cambridge with the lands of the alien prio¬
ries in purfuance of his father’s defign to appropriate
them all to a noble college at Oxford. Others were
granted in fee to the prelates, nobility, or private per-
lons. Such as remained in the crown were granted by
Henry VI. 1440, to Archbilhop Chichley, &c. and
they became part of his and the royal foundations.
See So?nc Account of Alien-Priories, &c. in two volumes
oftavo.
PRIORITY, the relation of fomething confidered
as prior to another.
Priority, in Lavo, denotes an antiquity of tenure,
in comparifon of another lefs ancient.
PRISCIANUS, an eminent grammarian, born at
Csefarea, taught at Condantinople with great reputa¬
tion about the year 525. Laurentius Valla calls Prif-
cian, Donatus, and Servius, triumviri in re grammatica ;
and thinks none of the ancients who wrote after them
fit to be mentioned with them. He compofed a work
De arte grammatica, which was fird printed by Aldus
at Venice in 14765 and another De naturalibus quec-
Jlionibus, which he dedicated to Chofroes king of Per-
fia : befide which, he trandated Dionyfius’s defeription
of the world into Latin verfe. A perfon w7ho writes
falfe Latin, is proverbially faid to “ break Prifcian’s
head.”
PRISCILLIANISTS, in Church-hijlory, Chridian
heretics, fo called from their leader Prifcillian, a Spa¬
niard by birth, and bidxop of Avila. lie is faid tohav^
praftifed magic, and to have maintained the principal
errors of the Manichees ; but his peculiar tenet was,
That it is lawful to make falfe oaths in order to fupport
one’s caufe and intereds.
PRISM, in Geometry, is a folid body, whofe two
ends are any plane figures which are parallel, equal,
and fimilar; and its hides, connefting thofe ends, are
parallelograms.
PRISMOID, is a folid body, fomewhat refembling
a prifm, but its ends are any diflimilar parallel plane
figures of the fame number of hides, the upright hides
being trapezoids. If the ends of the prifmoid be bound¬
ed by didimiiar curves, it is fomeiimes called a cy-
lindroid.
PRISON, a gaol, or place of confinement.
Lord Coke obferves, that a prifon is only a place of
fafe cuftody, falva cufodia, not a place of puniftiment.
If this be the cafe, prifons ought not to be, what they
have been in mod, and dill are in fome places of Eu¬
rope,
Prisries
Jl
Prifon.
(a) Apportus or apport agium (Li-om port are'), an acknowledgement, oblation, or obvention, to the mother hqufe
er church. Du Cange. 1
P 11 I [ 382 ] P R I
Vope, loatlifome dungeons. Any place where a perfon
is confined may be faid to be a prifon •, and when a pro-
cel's is iffued again £ one, he mult, when arrefted there¬
on, either be committed to prifon, or be bound in a re¬
cognizance with fureties, or elfe give bail, according to
the nature of the cafe, to appear at a certain day in
court, there to make anfvver to what is alleged againit
him. Where a perfon is taken and dent to prifon, in a
civil cafe, he may be releafed by the plaintiff in the
fuit; but if it be for treafon or felony, he may not re¬
gularly be difcharged, until he is indidled of the faft
and acquitted. See Indictment.
But a prifon is not only to be confidered as a place of
fafe cuftody, according to its original delign, but alfo
as a place of temporary punilhment for certain crimes,
and perhaps this punilhment might be fubftituted more
frequently than it is, for tranfportation and death.
Probably this is done in no country to better purpofe
than in Pennfylvanla; and no where has imprifonment
been more abufed than in Venice under the old govern¬
ment.
By the laws of Pennfylvania, imprifonment is im-
pcfed, not merely as an expiation for paft offences, but
alfo for the reformation of the criminal’s morals. The
regulations of the gaol are calculated to produce this
edebl in the fpeedieif manner poffrble, fo that fuch a
building may rather be denominated a penitentiary houfey
than & gao/. When a criminal is committed to prifon,
he is made to walhj his hair is (horn, and he is furnifh-
-ed with clean apparel, if he has no decent clothes of his
own. He is then put into a folitary cell, where he is
excluded from the fight of every living being except
the gaoler, whofe duty is to attend to his mere neceffi-
ties, but not to converfe with him upon any account.
If committed for an atrocious crime, he is even debar¬
red from the light of heaven. The treatment of each
prifoner varies in proportion to the nature of his crime,
and his fymptoms of repentance. The longed period of
(Confinement is for a rape, which is not to be lefs than
ten years, nor to exceed 215 and for high treafon it is
not to be under 6, nor above 12.
The prifoners muft bathe twice in the week, having
proper conveniences within the prifon, and they are re¬
gularly fupplied with a change of linen. Prifoners in
iolitary confinement fubfift upon bread and water
luch as labour are allowed broth, puddings, &c. They
;are allowed meat in fmall quantities twice a week, and
no beverage except water k brought into the prifon.
"tine room is fet apart for flioe-makers, another for tay-
lors, and fo of every other trade. There are done-cut¬
ters, fmiths, nailors, &tc. in the yards. Such a prifon
has all the advantages of the rafping houfe of Amder-
dam, without any of its enormous defefts.
The following account of the common prifon at Ve¬
nice, is given by Dr Mofely who vifited this horrible
place in September 1787.
“ I was conducted (fays he) through the prifon by one
of its inferior dependants. We had a torch with us.
We crept along narrow paflages as dark as pitch. In
fome of them two people could fcarcely pafs each other.
The cells are made of maflfy marble 3 the archite&ure of
the celebrated Sanfovini.
“ The cells are not only dark, and black as ink, but
being furrounded and confined with huge vails, the
fenalled breath of air can fcarcely find circulation in
2
them. They are about nine feet fquare on the floor, Pi
arched at the top, and between fix and ieven feet high u"~'"
in the higheft part. There is to each cell a round
hole of eight inches diameter, through which the pri-
foner’s daily allowance of twelve ounces of bread and a
pot of water is delivered. There is a fmall iron door
to the cell. The furniture of the cell is a littie draw
and a fmall tub 3 nothing elie. The ltr;uv is renewed
and the tub emptied through the iron door occafion-
ally.
“ The diet is ingeniouily contrived for the perdura-
tion of punifhment. Animal food, or a cordial nutri¬
tious regimen, in fuch a fituation, would bring on did
pafe, and defeat the end of this Venetian juilice. Nei¬
ther can the foul, if fo inclined, ileal away, wrapt up in
flumbering delufion, or fink to reft 3 from the admo¬
nition of her fad exiftence, by the gaoler’s daily re¬
turn. .
“ I faw one man who had been in a cell thirty
years ; two who had been twelve years 3 and feveral
who had been eight and nine years in their refpeclive
cells.
“ By my taper’s light I could difeover the prifoners
horrid countenances. They were all naked. The man
who had been there thirty years, in face and body was
■covered with long hair. He had loft the arrangement
of words and order of language. When I [poke to him,
he made an unintelligible noiie, and exprdled fear and
furprife 3 and, like iome wild animals in deferts, which
have fuffered by the treachery of the human race, or
have an infiindnve abhorrence of it, he would have fted
like lightning from me if he could.
“ One whofe faculties were not fo obliterated 3 who
flill recollected the difference between day and night j
whofe eyes and ears, though long clofed with a filent
blank, ftill languifhed to perform their natural func¬
tions—implored, in the moft piercing manner, that I
would prevail on the gaoler to murder him, or to give
him fome inftrument to deftroy himfelf. I told him I
had no power to ferve him in this requeft. He then
entreated I would ufe my endeavours with the inquiff-
tors to get him hanged, or drowned in the Canal’ Or-
fano. But even in this I could not ferve him : death
was a favour I had not intereft enough to procure for
him.
“ This kindnefs of death, however, was, during
my ftay in Venice, granted to one man, who had
been ‘ from the cheerful ways of man cut off’ thirteen
years.
“ Before he left his dungeon I had fome cenverfa-
tion with him 3 this was fix days previous to his execu¬
tion. His tranfport at the profpeft of death was fur-
prifing. He longed for the happy moment. No faint
ever exhibited more fervour in anticipating the joys of
a future ftate, than this man did at the thoughts of be¬
ing releafed from life, during the four days mockery of
his trial.
“ It is the Canal’ Crfano where veffels from Turkey
and the Levant perform quarantine. This place is the
watery grave of many who have committed political or
perfonal offences againft the ftate or fenate, and of ma¬
ny who have committed no offences at all. They are
carried out of the city in the middle of the night, tied
up in a fack with a large ftone faftened to it, and thrown
into the water. Fiihermen are prohibited, on forfeiture
of
P R I [
of tfieir lives, agciinft fiftting in this diftrift. The pre¬
tence is the plague. This is the fecret hi (lory of people
Jacob's
Law Dicl.
being loft in Venice
“ The government, with age, grew feeble; was afraid
of the difeuffion of legal procefs and of public execu¬
tions ; and navigated this rotten Bucentaur of the A-
drialtc by Ipies, prifons, affaffination, and the Canal’
Orfano.”
PRISONER, a perfon reftrained or kept in prifon
upon an adlion civil or criminal, or upon commend-
uicit : and one may be a prifoner on matter of record
or matter of fact. A prifoner upon matter of record,
is he who, being prefent in court, is by the court com¬
mits d to prifon ; and the other is one carried to prifon
upon an arreft, whether it be by the Iheriff, conftable,
or other officer.
PHIS ITS, the SAWFISH, Is generally confidered as
a fpecies of the fqualus or Jharh genus, comprehending
under it feveral varieties. See Squaiais, Ichthyology
Index. But Mr Latham is of opinion that it ought to
be confidered as a diitinft genus, and that the cha-
racleriftics of the feveral varieties are fufficient to conili-
tute diflinft fpecies.
PRIVATEERS, are a kind of private men of war,
the perions concerned wherein adminiller at their own
coils a part of a war, by fitting out thefe (hips of
force, and providing them with all military itores ;
and they have, inftead of pay, leave to keep what
they take from the enemy, allowing the admiral his
fhare, &c.
Privateers may not attempt any thing againft the
laws of nations ; as to afiault an enemy in a port or
haven, under the protection of any prince or republic,
whether he- be friend, ally, or neuter; for the peace
of fuch places muft be inviolably kept ; therefore, by
a treaty made by King William and the States of Hol¬
land, before a commiffion {hall be granted to any pri¬
vateer, the commander is to give fecurity, if the fiiip
be not above 150 tons, in 1500b, and if the fhip ex¬
ceeds that burden, in 3000b, that they will make fa-
tisfadlion for all damages which they (hall commit in
their courfes at fea, contrary to the treaties with that
Hate, on pain of forfeiting their commiihons ; and the
fhip is made liable.
Befides thefe private commifilons, there are fpecial
commiffions for privateers, granted to commanders of
fhips, &c, who take pay; who are under a marine
difcipline ; and if they do not obey their orders, may
be punifiied with death: and the wars in later ages
have given occafion to princes to ifiue thefe Commif¬
fions, to annoy the enemies in their commerce, and
hinder fuch fupplies as might flrengthen them or
lengthen out the war ; and likewife to prevent the re¬
paration of fhips of greater force from their fleets or
fquadrons.
Ships taken by privateers were to be divided into five
parts ; four parts whereof to go to the perfons intereft-
od in the privateer, and the fifth to his Majefty : and
as a farther encouragement, privateers, &c. dtftroying
any French man of wTar or privateer, {hall receive, for
every piece of ordnance in the {hip fo taken, 10I. re¬
ward, &c.
By a particular ftatute lately made, the lord admiral,
or commiffioners of the admiralty, may grant commif¬
fions to commanders of privateers, for taking fhips, &c.
Privy-
Comjcil.
383 ] P R I
which being adjudged prize, and the tenth part paid to Privation
the admiral, &c. wholly belong to the owners of the
privateers and the captors, in proportions agreed on be¬
tween themfelves.
PRIVATION, in a general fenfe, denotes the ah-
fence or want of fomething ; in which fenfe darkilefs is
only the privation of light.
PRIVATIVE, in Grammar, a particle, which, pre¬
fixed to a word, changes it into a contrary fenfe. Thus,
among the Greeks, the « is ufed as a privative; as in
atheift, acephalus, &cc. The Latins have their
privative in ; as, incorrigibilis, indeclinahilis, &cc.
as, incorngw
1 he Englifh, French, &c. on occafion borrow both the
Latin and Greek privatives.
PRIVERNUM, (Livy, Virgil) ; a town of the.
Volfci, in Lab urn, to the call; of Sctia. Privernates,
the people. Whole ambaffadors being afked, What
punifhment they deferved for their re- ok ? anfwered,
What thofe deferve who deem themfelvts worthy of
liberty. And again, being afked by the Roman con-
ful, flrould the punilhment be remitted, What peace
was to be expecied with them ? If you grant a good
peace, you may hope to have it fincere and lafting ; but
if a bad one,you may well expect it of Ihort continuance.
At which antwer, the Romans were to far from being
difpleafed, that by a vote of the people they had the
freedom of the city granted them. Privernas, -atis, the
epithet. The town is now called Piper no VeccJiio, fitu-
ated in the Campania of Rome. E. Long. 10. c. N.
Lat. 41. 30.
PRIVET. See Ligustrum, Botany Index.
PRIVILEGE, in Law, fome peculiar benefit grant¬
ed to certain perfens or places, contrary to the ufual
courfe of the law.
Privileges are faid to be perfonal or real.
Perfonal privileges are fuch as are extended to peers,
ambaffadors, members of parliament, and of the convo¬
cation, &c. See Lords, Ambassador, Parliament,
Arrest, &c.
A real privilege is that granted to feme particular-
place; as the king’s palace, the courts at Wellminfter,
the univerfities, Sec.
Privileges of the Clergy. See Clergy.
PRIVY, in Law, is a partaker, or perfon having
an intereft, in any action or thing. In this fenfe they
fay, privies in blood : every heir in tail is privy to re¬
cover the land intailed. In old law-books, merchants
privy are oppofed to merchants ftrangers. Coke men¬
tions four kinds of privies. Privies in blood, as the
heir to his father; privies in reprefentation, as execu¬
tors and adminiftrators to the deceafed ; privies in u ,
as he in reverlion and he in remainder, donor and do¬
nee, lefibr and leflee : laftlv, privy in tenure, as the
lord by efeheat; i. e. when 1 md efeheats to the lord tor
want of heirs.
PRIVY-Council. See Council. The king’s will is
the foie conftituent of a privy-counfellor; and it slip
regulates their number, which in ancient times was
about twelve. Afterwards it increaftd to fo large a
number, that it rvas found inconvenient for fecrecy
and difpatch; and therefore Charles II. in 1679, li¬
mited it to 30; whereof ij were principal officers of
ftate, and to be counfellors ex officio ; and the other 15
were compofed of 10 lords and five commoners of the
king’s choofing. Since that time however the number
has
P R I [ 384 ] P R I
'Privy- has been mucli augmented, and now continues indefi-
Council, njj;e> t]ie time alf0j the ancient office of lord
~_v prefident of the council was revived, in tlie perfon of
Anthony earl of Shaftefhury. Privy-counfellors are
made by the king’s nomination, without either patent
or grant; and, on taking the neceflary oaths, they be¬
come immediately privy-counfellors during the life of
the king that choofes them, but fubjeft to removal at
his difcretion.
Any natural born fubject of England is capable of
being a member of the privy-council } taking the pro¬
per oaths for fecurity of the government, and the teft
for fecurity of the church. By the a£l of fettlement,
1 2 and 13 W. III. cap. 2. it is enafted, that no perfon
born out of the dominions of the crown of England,
unlefs born of Engliih parents, even though natura¬
lized by parliament, (hall be capable of being of the
privy-council. The duty of a privy-counfellor appears
from the oath of office, which confiffs of feven articles.
I. To advife the king according to the belt of his cun¬
ning and difcretion. 2. To advife for the king’s
honour and good of the public, without partiality,
through aft'eftion, love, meed, doubt, or dread. 3.
To keep the king’s counfel fecret. 4. To avoid cor¬
ruption. 5. To help and flrengthen the execution of
what fhall be there refolved. 6. To withffand all per-
fons who would attempt the contrary. And, laft-
ly, in general, 7. To obferve, keep, and do all
that a good and true counfellor ought to do to his fove-
reign lord.
The privy council is the primum mobile of the ftate,
and that which gives the motion and direction to all
the inferior parts. It is likewife a court of juftice of
great antiquity •, the primitive and ordinary way of go¬
vernment in England being by the king and privy-
council. It has been frequently ufed by all our kings
for determining controverffes of great importance:
the ordinary judges have fometimes declined giving
judgment till they had confulted the king and privy-
council ; and the parliament have frequently referred
matters of high moment to the fame, as being by long
experience better able to judge of, and, by their fe-
crecy and expedition, to tranfadf fome ftate affairs, than
the lords at*d commons. At prefent, the privy-coun¬
cil takes cognizance of few or no matters except fuch
as cannot well be determined by the known laws and
ordinary courts *, fuch as matters of complaint and hid¬
den emergencies : their conftant buftnefs being to con-
fult for the public good in affairs of ftate. This power
of the privy-council is to inquire into all offences againft
the government, and to commit the offenders to fafe
cuftody, in order to take their trial in fome of the
courts of law. But their jurifditlion herein is only to
inquire, and not to punifh $ and the perfons committed
by them are in titled to their habeas corpus by ilatute 16
Car. I. cap. 10. as much as if committed by au ordinary
juftice of the peace.
In plantation or admiralty caufes, which arife out of
the jurifdicHon of this kingdom, and in matters of lu¬
nacy and idiocy, the privy-council has cognizance, even
in queftions of extenfive property, being the court of
appeal in fuch caufes *, or, rather, the appeal lies to the
king’s majefty himfelf in council. From all the domi¬
nions of the crown, excepting Great Britain and Ire¬
land, an appellate jurifdiction (in the laft refort) is
' 3
veiled in this tribunal j which ufually exercifes its judi- Privy-
cial authority in a committee of the whole privy-council, Council
who hear the allegations and proofs, and make their re-
port to his majefty in council, by whom the judgment is l—
finally given.
Anciently, to ftrike in the houfe of a privy-counfel¬
lor, or elfewhere in his prefence, was grievoufty puniffi-
ed : by 3 Hen. VII. cap. 14. if any of the king’s fer-
vants of his houfehold confpire or imagine to take
away the life of a privy-counfellor, it is felony, though
nothing {hall be done upon it j and by 9 Ann, cap. 16.
it is enabled, that any perfons who {hall unlawfully at¬
tempt to kill, or {hall unlawfully affault, and ftrike, or
wound, any privy-counfellor in the execution of his of¬
fice, {hall be felons, and fuffer death as fuch. With
advice of this council, the king iffues proclamations
that bind the fubjeft, provided they be not contrary to
law. In debates, the loweft delivers his opinion firft,
the king laft; and thereby determines the matter. A
council is never held without the prefence of a fecretary
of ftate.
The difl'olution of the privy-council depends upon
the king’s pleafure 5 and he may, whenever he thinks
proper, difcharge any particular member, or the whole
of it, and appoint another. By the common law alfo
it was diffolved bp/o faflo by the king’s demife, as deri¬
ving all its authority from him. But nowq to prevent
the inconveniences of having no council in being at the
acceflion of a newT prince, it is enabled, by 6 Ann,
cap. 7. that the privy-council {hall continue for fix
months after the demife of the crown, unlefs fooner de¬
termined by the fucceffor. Blacbjl. Com. book i. p. 229,
&.C.
The officers of the privy-council are four clerks of the
council in ordinary, three clerks extraordinary, a keeper
of the records, and two keepers of the council-chamber.
See President.
PRIVT Seal, a feal which the king ufes previoufly
to fuch grants, &.c. as are afterwards to pafs the great
feal.
The privy feal is alfo fometimes ufed in matters of
lefs confequence, which do not require the great feal.
Lord PR1VT Sea/. See KEEPER of the Privy Seal.
Clerks of the PRIVT Seal. See Clerk.
PrIVT Chamber. See CHAMBER.
PRIZE, or Prise, in maritime affairs, a veffel taken
at fea from the enemies of a ftate, or from pirates •, and
that either by a man of war, a privateer, &c. having a
commiffion for that purpofe.
Veffels are looked on as prize, if they fight under any
other ftandard than that of the ftate from which they
have their commiffion ; if they have no charter-party, in¬
voice, or bill of lading aboard ; if loaded with effe&s
belonging to the king’s enemies, or with contraband
goods.
In {hips of war, the prizes are to be divided among
the officers, feamen, &c. as his Majefty ffiall appoint
by proclamation ; but among privateers, the divifion is
according to the agreement between the owners.
By flat. 13 Geo. II. c. 4. judges and officers,^ failing
of their duty in refpeft to the condemnation of prizes,
forfeit 500k, with full cofts of fuit j one moiety to the
king, and the other to the informer.
PROA, Flying, in navigation, is a name given to
a veffel ufed in the South leas, becaufe with a brilk
trade-wind
PRO
Pr»a, trade-wind it fails near 20 miles an hour.
Probability ftru&ion of the proa
In the con-
the head and Item are exactly
alike, but the fides are very different 3 the fide intend¬
ed to be always the lee-fide being flat 3 and the wind¬
ward fide made rounding, in the manner of other veflels ;
and, to prevent her over-fetting, w’hich from her fmall
breadth, and the ftraight run of her leeward fide,
wctold, without this precaution, infallibly happen, there
is a frame laid out from her to windward, to the end
of which is fattened a log, fafliioned into the fhape of
a fmall boat, and made hollow. The weight of the
frame is intended to balance the proa, and the fmall
boat is by its buoyancy (as it is ahvays in the water)
to prevent her overfetting to windward j and this frame
is ufually called an outrigger. The body of the vef-
fel is made of two pieces }oined end wife, and fewed to¬
gether with bark, for there is no iron ufed about her 3
flie is about two inches thick at the bottom, which, at
the gunwale, is reduced to lefs than one. The fail
is made of matting, and the malt, yard, boom, and out-
riggers, are all made of bamboo. See Anfon's Voyage,
quarto, p. 341.
PROBABILITY is a word of nearly the fame im¬
port with likelihood. It denotes the appearance of
truth, or that evidence arifing from the preponderation
of argument wdiich produces opinion. (See Opinion.)
Locke claffe? all arguments under the heads of demon-
Jirativc and probable : Hume with greater accuracy db
.vides them into de/nonjfrations, proofs, and probabilities,
Demonfiration produces fcience ; proof, belief; and pro¬
bability, opinion.
Hardly any thing is fufceptible of flrict demonftration
befides the mathematical feiences, and a few propofitions
in metaphyfical theology. Phyfics reft upon principles,
capable, fome of them, of complete proof by experience,
and others of nothing more than probability by analogi¬
cal reafoning. What has uniformity happened, we expeift
with the fulleft confidence to happen again in fimilar
circumftances 3 what has frequently happened, we like-
wife expeeft to happen again 3 but our expeftation is not
confident. Uniform experience is proof 3 frequent expe¬
rience is probability. The ftrongeft man has always been
able to lift the greateft weight 3 and, therefore, knowing
that one man is ftronger than another, we expert, with
confidence, that the former will lift more than the lat¬
ter. The beft difeiplined army has generally proved
victorious, when all other circumftances were equal. We
therefore expect that an army of veterans will, upon fair
ground, defeat an equal number of new levied troops :
out as fudden panics have fometimes feized the oldeft
foldiers, this expectation is accompanied with doubt,
and the utmoft that we can fry of the expected event is,
that it is probable; whereas in the competition between
the two men, we look upon it as morally cert am. (See
Metaphysics, Part I. chap. vii. fee. 3.) When two
or three perfons of known veracity atteft the fame thing
as confiftent with their knowledge, their teftimony
amounts to proof if not contradicted by the teftimony
of others 3 if contradicted, it can, at the utmoft, amount
only to probability. In common language we talk of
circumftantial proofs and prefumptive proofs 3 but the
exprelTions are improper, for fuch evidence amounts to
nothing more than probability. Of probability there
aie indeed various degrees, from the confines of certain¬
ty down to the confines of impoflibility 3 and a variety
Yql, XVII. Part I,
t 385 ] P R O
of circumftances tending to the fame point, though they Pro'baRilityr
amount not to what, in ftri&nefs of language, fhould be jl
calledafford to the mind a very high degree ofv, lu lty*
evidence, upon which, with the addition of one direcT
teftimony, the laws of many countries take away the life
of a man.
PROBABILITY ofan Fvent, in the Do&rine of Chances,
is greater or lefs according to the number of chances
by which it may happen or fail. (See EXPECTATION).
'I he probability of life is liable to rules of computation.
In the Encyclopedic Methcdique, we find a table of the
probabilities of the duration of life, conftmefted from
that which is to be found in the feventh volume of the
Supplemens a PHi/loire de M. de Bujfon ; of which the
following is an abridgement.
Of 23994 children born at the fame time, there will
probably die
-y ^ In one year
•y £ Remaining ot 15996
i \ In eight years
4 (^Remaining 4 or 11997
-45 In thirty-eight years
y \ Remaining 4 or 7998
| y In fifty years
4 t Remaining L or 5998
4 y In fixty-one years
4 t Remaining 4 or 3999
fr> y lo feVenty years
Tvl Remaining Wr or 2399
y In eighty years
T5- L Remaining d* or 599
S 1° ninety years
lioi Remaining T4s' or 80
In a hundred years
Remaining or 2*
L1TY.
7998
11907
15996
17994
19995
21595
22395
23914
23992
See Bills of MOBTA-
PROBATE of a will or teftament, in EaW, is the
exhibiting and proving of laft wills and teftainents be¬
fore the ecclefiaftical judge delegated by the bifhop#
who is ordinary of the place where the party died.
PROBATION, in the univerfities, is the examina¬
tion and trial of a Undent who is about to take his de¬
grees.
Probation, in a monaftic fenfe, fignifies the year,
of a novitiate, which a religious muft pafs in a convent,
to prove his virtue and vocation, and whether he can
bear the feverities of the rule.
Probation, in Scots Law. See Law Index.
PROBATIONER, in the church of Scotland, a
ftudent in divinity, who bringing a certificate from a
profeffor in an univerfity of his good morals, and his
having performed his exercifes to approbation, is ad¬
mitted to undergo feveral trials 3 and, upon his ac¬
quitting himfelf properly In thefe, receives a licence to
preach.
PROBATUM est h is provedf a term frequent¬
ly fubjoined to a receipt for the cure of fome difeafe.
PROBE, a furgeon’s inftrument for examining the
circumftances of wounds, ulcers, and other cavities,
fearching for ftones in the bladder, &c.
PROBITY means honefty, fincerity, or veracity 3
and confifts in the habit of adlions ufeful to fociety, and
in the conftant obfervance of the laws which juftice
3 C and
P II o
Probity and conference irapofe on us. Tire man who obeys all
II the laws of fociety with an exaft pundluality is not
. therefore a man of probity ) laws can only refpeft the
external and definite parts of human condudf, but probi¬
ty refpefts our more private actions, and fuch as it is
impoffible in all cafes to define ; and it appears to be in
morals what charity is in religion. Probity teaches us
to perform in fociety thofe actions which no external
power can oblige us to perform, and is that quality in
the human mind from which we claim the performance
of the rights commonly called unperfeB. See Moral
Philosophy.
PROBLEM, in Logic, is a propofition that neither
appears abfolutely true nor falfe ; and, confequently,
may be afferted either in the affirmative or negative. *
Problem, in Geometry, is a propofition, wherein
fome operation or conftruftion is required j as to divide
a line or angle, eredt or let fall perpendiculars, &c. See
Geometry.
PROBOSCIS, in Natural Hijlory, is the trunk or
fnout of an elephant, and fome other animals and in¬
fects.
Flies, gnats, &c. are furnilhed with a probofeis or
trunk } by means of which they fuck the blood of ani¬
mals, the juice of vegetables, &c. for their food.
PROBUS, Marcus Aurelius, was the fon of a
gardener, and became, by his great valour as a foldier,
and his eminent virtues, emperor of Rome, to which
dignity he was railed by the army. Having fubdued
the barbarous nations who made incurfions into different
parts of the empire, where they committed horrid cruel¬
ties, he managed the affairs of government with great
wifdom and clemency. He was maffacred in the year
282, and the 7th of his reign, by fome foldiers who
were wreary of the public works at which he made them
labour.
PROCAT ARCTIC CAUSE, in Medicine, the pre-
exifting, or predifpofing caufe or occafion of a difeafe.
PROCELEUSMATICUS, in the ancient poetry,
a foot confilling of four Ihort fyllables, or two pyrrhy-
chiufes •, as hominibus.
PROCELLARIA, a genus of birds, belonging to
the order of anferes. See Ornithology Index. Clu-
fius makes the procellaria pelagica or fiormy petrel the
Camilla of the fea.
Vel mare per medium JhiBu fufpenfa tumenti
Ferret iter, celeres nec tmgetet cequore plantas.- VlRG.
She fwept the feas *, and, as (lie fkimm’d along,
Her flying feet unbath’d on billows hung. Dryden.
Thefe birds are the cypfelli of Pliny, which he places
among the apodes of Arirtotle } not becaufe they want¬
ed feet, but were or had bad or ufelefs ones j
an attribute he gives to thefe fpecies, on a fuppofition
that they were almoff always on the wing.
PROCESS, in Lmv, denotes the proceedings in any
caufe, real or perfonal, civil or criminal, from the origi¬
nal writ to the end thereof.
In a more limited fenfe, procefs denotes that by
which a man is called firfl. into any temporal court.
It is the next ftep for carrying on the fuit, after fuing
out the original writ. See Suit and Writ.
It is the method taken by the law to compel a com¬
pliance with the original writ, of which the primary
PRO
flep is by giving the party notice to obey it. This no- Procefs.
tice is given upon all real praecipes; and alfo upon all v—-
perfonal writs for injuries, not againft the peace, by
fummons ; which is a warning to appear in court at the
return of the original writ, given to the defendant by
two of the fheriff’s meffengers called fummoners, either Comment.
in perfon, or left at his houfe or land : in like manner
as in the civil law the firfl; procefs is by perfonal cita¬
tion, in jus vocando. This warning on the land is given,
in real adlions, by erecting a white flick or wand on the
defendant’s grounds (which flick or wand among the
northern nations is called the baculus nunciatorius), and
by ftatute 31 Eliz. c. 3. the notice muff alfo be pro¬
claimed on fome Sunday before the door of the parifh-
church.
If the defendant difobeys this verbal monition, the
next procefs is by writ of attachment, or pone ; fo called
from the words of the writ, pone per vadium et fahos
plegios, “ put by gage and fafe pledges A. B. the de¬
fendant,” &c. This is a writ not iffuing out of chan¬
cery, but out of the court of common-pleas, being
grounded on the non-appearance of the defendant at
the return of the original writ; and thereby the fheriff
is commanded to attach him, by taking gage, that is,
certain of his goods, which he (hall forfeit if he doth
not appear} or by making him findy^ pledges or fure-
ties, which (hall be amerced in cafe of his non-appear¬
ance. This is alfo the firfl: and immediate procefs, with¬
out any previous fummons, upon actions of trefpafs vi
et armis, or for other injuries, which, though not for¬
cible, are yet trefpaffes againfl: the peace, as deceit and
confpiracy ; where the violence of the wrong requires a
more fpeedy remedy, and therefore the original writ
commands the defendant to be at once attached, with¬
out any precedent warning. ,
If, after attachment, the defendant negledts to appear,
he not only forfeits this fecurity, but is moreover to be
farther compelled by writ of diftringas, or diftrefs infi¬
nite : which is, a fubfequent procefs iffuing from the
court of common-pleas, commanding the fheriff to di-
ftrain the defendant from time to time, and continually
afterwards, by taking his goods and the profits of his
lands, which are called ijjues, and which he forfeits to
the king if he doth not appear. But the iffues may be
fold, if the court {hall fo diredt, in order to defray the
reafonable colls of the plaintiff. In like manner, by the
civil law, if the defendant abfeonds, fo that the citation
is of no effecl, mittitur adverfarius inpojfejjionem bsnorum
ejus.
And here, by the common as well as the civil lawr,
the procefs ended in cafe of injuries without force : the
defendant if he had any fubftance, being gradually {trip¬
ped of it all by repeated diftrefies, till he rendered obe¬
dience to the king’s writ •, and, if he had no fubftance,
the law held him incapable of making fatisfadlion, and
therefore looked upon all farther procefs as nugatory.
And befides, upon feodal principles, the perfon of a
feudatory was not liable to be attached for injuries
merely civil, left thereby his lord flrould be deprived of
his perfonal fervices. But, in cafes of injury accompa¬
nied with force, tfie law, to puniftr the breach of the
peace and prevent its difturbance for the future, provided
a'lfo a procefs againft the defendant’s perfon, in cafe he
negledled to appear upon the former procefs of attach¬
ment, or had no fubftance whereby to be attached 5 fub-
jeding
[ 386 1
V ft O [
Procefs. jetlirg his body to imprifonment by the writ of cafiias
ad refpondendum. But this immunity of the defendant’s
perfon, in cafe of peaceable though fraudulent injuries,
producing great contempt of the law in indigent wrong¬
doers, a capias was alfo allowed, to arreft the perfon in
aftions of account, though no breach of the peace be
fuggefted, by the ftatutes of Marlbridge, 52 Hen. III.
c. 23. and Weftm. 2. 13 Edw, I, c. 11. in aftions of
debt and detinue, by ftatute 25 Edw. III. c. 17. and
in all aftions on the cafe, by ftatute 19 Hen. VII. c. 9.
Before which laft ftatute a practice had been introduced
of commencing the fuit by bringing an original writ of
trefpafs quare claufum fregit, by breaking the plaintiff’s
clofe, vi et armts ; which by the old common law fub-
jedted the defendant’s perfon to be arretted by writ of
capias: and then afterwards, by connivance of the court,
the plaintiff might proceed to profecute for any other
let's forcible injury. This practice (through cuftom ra¬
ther than neceflity, and for faving fome trouble and ex¬
pence, in fuing out a fpecial original adapted to the par¬
ticular injury) ftill continues in almott all cafes, except
in aftions of debt •, though now, by virtue of the fta¬
tutes above cited and others, a capias might be had upon
almoft every fpecies of complaint.
If therefore the defendant, being fummoned or at¬
tached, makes default, and neglefts to appear $ or if
the fheriff returns a nihil, or that the defendant hath
nothing whereby he may be fummoned, attached, or
diftrained, the capias now ufually iffues : being a writ
commanding the Iheriff to take the body of the defen¬
dant, if he may be found in his bailiwick or county, and
him fafely to keep, fo that he may have him in court
on the day of the return, to anfwer to the plaintiff of
a plea of debt, or trefpafs, &c. as the cafe may be.
This writ, and all others fubfequent to the original
writ, not iffuing out of chancery, but from the court
into which the original was returnable, and being ground¬
ed on what has paffed in that court in confequence of
the ftieriff’s return, are called judicial, not original, writs;
they iffue under the private feal of that court, and not
linder the great feal of England j and are tejled, not in
the king’s name, but in that of the chief juftice only.
And thefe feveral writs being grounded on the iheriff’s
return, muft refpeftively bear date the fame day on
which the writ immediately preceding was returnable.
This is the regular and orderly method of procefs.
But it is now ufual in praftice to fue out the capias in
the firft inftance, upon a fuppofed return of the iheriff;
efpecially if it be fufpe&ed that the defendant, upon
notice of the aftion, will abfeond ; and afterwards a fic¬
titious original is drawn up, with a proper return there¬
upon, in order to give the proceedings a colour of re¬
gularity. When this capias is delivered to the fheriff,
he by his under fheriff grants a warrant to his inferior
officers or bailiffs to execute it on the defendant. And,
if the fheriff of Oxfordftrire (in which county the injury
is fuppofed to be committed and the attion is laid) can¬
not find the defendant in his jurifdi&ion, he returns
that he is not found, non eft inventus, in his bailiwick :
■whereupon another writ iffues, called a tejlatum capias,
directed to the fheriff of the county where the defendant
is fuppofed to refide, as of Berkfhire, reciting the form¬
er writ, and that it is teftified, tejlatum ejl, that the de¬
fendant lurks or wanders in his bailiwick, where he is
commanded to take him, as in the formeh capias. But
587 ] PRO
here alfo, wdien the aftion is brought in one county
and the defendant lives in another, it is uiual, for faving
trouble, time, and expence, \.o neike. qvX tejlatum ca¬
pias at the firft j fuppofing not only an original, but alfo
a former capias, to have been granted; which in faft
never was. And this fidfion, being beneficial to all
parties, is readily acquiefced in, and is now become the
fettled praflice ; being one among many inftances to il-
luftrate that maxim of law, that inJidiione juris confi/iit
ccquitas.
But where a defendant abfeonds, and the plaintiff
would proceed to an outlawiy againft him, an original
writ muft then be fued out regularly, and after that a
capias. And if the fheriff cannot find the defendant:
upon the firft writ of capias, and returns a non ejl inven¬
tus, there iftues out an alias wuit, and after that a plu-
ries, to the fame effect as the former: only after thefe
words “ we command you,” this claufe is inferted, “ as
we have formerly,” or, “ as we have often commanded
you “ ficul alias,” or, “ Jicut pluries, pracepimus.”
And if a non ejl inventus is returned upon all of them,
then a writ of exigent or exigifacias may be fued out,
which requires the fheriff to caufe the defendant to be
proclaimed, required or exafted, in five county-counts
fucceffively, to render himfelf; and if he does, then to
take him, as in a capias: but if he does not appear, and
is returned quinto exaBus, he fhall then be outlawed by
the coroners of the county. Alfo by ftatute 6 Hen. VIII.
c. 4. and 31 Eliz. c. 3. whether the defendant dwells
within the fame or another county than that wffierein the
exigent is fued out, a writ of proclamation fhall iffue out
at the fame time with the exigent, commanding the
fheriff of the county, wherein the defendant dwells, to
make three proclamations thereof in places the moft no¬
torious, and moft likely to come to his knowdedge, a
month before the outlawny fhall take place. Such out¬
lawry is putting a man out of the protection of the law,
fo that he is incapable to bring an aftion for redrefs of
injuries ; and it is alfo attended with a forfeiture of all
one’s goods and chattels to the king. And therefore,
till fome time after the cohqueft, no man could be out¬
lawed but for felony : but in Bradlon’s time, and fome-
what earlier, procefs of outlawry W'as ordained to lie in
all aftions for trefpaffes vi et armis. And fince, by a
variety of ftatutes (the fame which allow the writ of
capias before mentioned) procefs of outlawry doth lie in
divers actions that are merely civil ; providing they be
commenced by original and not by bill. If after out¬
lawry the defendant appears publicly, he may be arreft-
ed by a wuit of capias utlagalum, and committed till the
outlawry be reverfed. Which reverfal may be had byT
the defendant’s appearing perfonally in court (and in
the king’s bench without any perfonal appearance, fo
that he appears by attorney, according to ftatute 4 & 5
W. & M. c. 18.) and any plaulible caufe, howTever
flight, will in general be fufficient to reverfe it, it being
confidered only as a procefs to compel an appearance.
But then the defendant muft pay full cofts, and put the
plaintiff in the fame condition as if he had appeared be¬
fore the wTrit of exigi facias was awarded.
Such is the firft procefs in the court of common pleas.
In the king’s bench they may alfo (and frequently do)
proceed in certain caufes, particularly in aftions of ejefl-
ment and trefpafs, by original unit, with attachment and
capias thereon : returnable, not at Weftminfter, where
3 C 2 the
Procris.
PRCT
[ 388 ]
PRO
Procefs. the common picas are now fixed in cpnfequence of meg-
" “v ' ■ na chart a, but uhicunque fuenmus in Anglia, wheieioever
the king lhall then be in England •, the king’s bench
being removeable into any part of England at tne plea¬
sure and difcretion of ti e crown. But the more utual
method of proceeding therein is without any original,
but by a peculiar fpecies of procefs entitled a bill of
Middlefex; and therefore fo entitled, becaufe the court
now fits in that county} for ii it fat in Kent, it .would
then be a bill of Kent. I'or though, as thejuftices of
this court have, by its fundamental conhitution, poiver
to determine all ohences and trefjrafles, by th.e coinirion
law and cuftom of the realm, it needed no original
writ from the crown to give it cognizance of any mif-
demefnor in the county wherein it refides; yet as, by
this court’s coming into any county, it immediately fu-
perfeded the ordinary adminiftration of juftice by the
general commiffions of eyre and of oyer and terminer, a
procefs of its own became neceffary, within the county
where it fat, to bring in fuch perfons as were accufed of
committing afty forcible injury. 1 he bill of Middlefex
(which was formerly always founded on a plaint of
trefpafs quare chiufum fregit, entered on the reccros of
the court) is a kind of capias, directed to the fheiin of
that county, and commanding him to take the defendant,
and have him before our lord the king at Wellminfter on
a day prefixed, to anfwer to the plaintiff of a plea of
trefpafs. For this accufation of treipafs it is that gives
the count of king’s bench jurifdidfion in other civil caufes,
fince, when once the defendant is taken into cuftody of
the marfhal, or prifon-keeper of this court, for the fuppo-
led trefpafs, he, being then a prifoner of this court, may
here be profecuted for any other fpecies of injury. et,
in order to found this jurifdiftion, it is not neccfiaiy that
the defendant be adlually the marfhal s prnoner \ for,
as focn as he appears, or puts in bail, to the procefs,
he is deemed by fo doing to be in fuch cuftody of the
marlhal as will give the court a jurifdiftion to proceed.
And, upon thefe accounts, in the bill or procefs, 2
complaint of trefpafs is always fuggeffed, whatever elfe-
may be the real caufe of aftion. J his bill of haiddle-
lex muff be ferved on the defendant by the (lieriff, if
he finds him in that county : but if he returns, non c/1
inventus, then there iffues out a writ of latitat, to the
ffieriff of another county, as Berks ; which is fimilar
to the tejlatum capias in the common pleas, and recites
the bill of Middlefex and the proceedings thereon, and
that it is leftified that the defendant latitat et difiurnt,
luiks and wanders about in Berks *, and therefore com¬
mands the flieriff to ta|se him, and have his body in
court on the day of the return. But as in the corrynon
pleas the tejlatum capias may be fried out upon onry a
luppofed, and not an a£lual preceding, capias; fo in
the king’s bench a latitat is usually fried out upon
only a fuppofed, and not an aflual, bill of Middlefex.
So that, in fadt, a latitat may be called the firft procefs
in the court of king’s bench, as the tejlatum capias is in
the common pleas. Yet, as in the common pleas, if the
defendant lives in the county wherein the action is laid,
a common capias fuffices j fo in the king’s bench like-
wife, if he lives in Middlefex, the procefi muff ffill be
by bill of Middlefex only.
In the exchequer the firft procefs is by -writ of quo
minus, in order to give the court- a jurifdiftion over
pleas between party and party. In which wiit the
plaintiff is alYged to be the king’s farmer or debtor,
and that the (defendant hath done, him the injury com¬
plained of, quo minus fujfciens exi/ht, by which he is the
lefs able to pay the king his rent or debt. And upon
this the defendant may be arrefted as upon a capias from
the common pleas,
Thus differently do the three courts fet out at firft,
in the commencement of a fuit, in order to in title the
two courts of king’s bench and exchequer to hold plea
in fubjeefs caufes, which by the original conftitution of
Weftminfter-hall they were not empowered to do. Af¬
terwards, when the caufe is once drawn into the refpec-
tive courts, the method of purfuing it is pretty much the
fame in all of them.
If the flieriff had found the defendant upon any of
the former writs, the capias latitat, &c. he was ancient¬
ly obliged to take him into cuftody, in order to produce
him in court upon the return, however fmall and minute
the caufe of action might be. For, not having obeyed the
original fummons, he had fliown a contempt of the court,
and was no longer to be trufted at large. But when
the fummons fell into difufe, and the capias became in
fact the firft procefs, it was thought hard to imprifon a
man for a contempt which was only fuppofed : and there¬
fore, in common cafes, by the gradual indulgence o^ tiie
courts (at length authorifed by ftatute 1 2 Geo. I. c. 29.
which was amended by ftatute 5 Geo. II. c. 27. and
made perpetual by flatute 21 Geo. II. e. 3-) tne iherill
or his officer can now only perfonally ferve the deiend-
ant with the copy of the writ or procefs, and with no¬
tice in writing to appear by his attorney in court to de¬
fend this aiftlon j which in effect reduces it to a mere
fummons. And ii the defendant think proper to ap¬
pear upon this notice, his appearance is recorded, and
he puts in fureties for his future attendance and obe¬
dience j which fureties are called common bail, being
the fame two imaginary perfons that were pledges for
the plaintiff’s profecution, John F)oe and Richard Koe.
Or, if the defendant does not appear upon the return of
the writ, or within four (or in fome cafes eight) days
after, the plaintiff may enter an appearance for him, as
if he had really appeared j and may file common bail
in the defendant’s name, and proceed thereupon as ii the
defendant had done it himfelf.
But if the plaintiff will make affidavit, or affert up¬
on oath, that the caufe of a61 ion amounts to ten pounds
or upwards, then in order to arreft the defendant, and
make him put in fubftantial fureties for his appearance,
called fpecial bail, it is required by flatute 13 Car. II.
flat. 2. c. 2. that the true caufe of adlion ffiould be ex-
preffed m the body of the writ or procels j eke no fecu-
rity can be taken in a greater fum than 40I. 'I
ftatute (without any fuch intention in the makers), had
like to have oufted the king’s bench of all its jurifdic-
tion over civil injuries without force : lor, as the bill
of Middlefex was framed only for adtions of trefpafs, a
defendant could not be arrefted and held to bail there¬
upon for breaches of civil contradls. But to remedy
this inconvenience, the officers of the king’s bench de-
vrfed a method of adding what is called a claufe of ac
etiam to the ufual complaint of trefpafs *, the bill of
Middlefex commanding the defendant to be brought in
to anfwer the plaintiff of a plea of trefpafs, and alfo to a
bill of debt: the complaint or trefpafs giving cogniz¬
ance to the court, and that of debt authorifing the ar-
_ reft.
Procefs.
*
PRO [ 3% ] PRO
Prnccf?. reft. In imitation of which, lord chief juftice North,
—v ' a few years afterwards, in order to fave the fuitors of
his court the trouble and expence of fuing out fpecial
originals, direfted, that in the common pleas, befides
the ufual complaint of breaking the plaintiff’s clofe, a
claufe of ac etiam might be alfo added to the writ of
capias, containing the true caufe of adtion j as, “ that
the faid Charles the defendant may anfwer to the plain¬
tiff of a plea of trclpafs in breaking his dole : and alfo,
cc etiam may anfwer him, according to the cuftom of
the court, in a certain plea of trefpafs upon the cafe, up¬
on promifes, to the value of 20I. &c.” The fum fworn
to by the plaintiff is marked upon the back of the writ \
and the fheriff, or his officer the bailiff, is then obliged
adiually to arreft or take into cuftody the body of the
defendant, and, having fo done, to return the writ with
a crpi corpus indorfed thereon. See Arrest.
When the defendant i>> regularly arreffed, he muff
either go to prifon, for fafe cuftody *, or put in fpecial
hail to the ftieriff. For, the intent of the arreft being
only to compel an appearance in court at the return of
the writ, that purpofe is equally anfwered, whether the
fheriff detains his perfon, or takes fufficient fecurity for
his appearance, called hail (from the French word bail¬
er, “ to deliver),” becaufe the defendant is bailed, or
delivered, to his fureties, upon their giving fecurity for
his appearance •, and is fuppofed to continue in their
friendly cuftody inftead of going to goal. See Bate.
The method of putting in bail to the fheriff is by en¬
tering into a bond or obligation, with one or more fu¬
reties, (not fiftitious perfbns, as in the former cafe of
common bail, but real, fubftantial, refponlible bendf-
men), to infure the defendant’s appearance at the return
of the writ •, which obligation is called the bail bond.
The ftieriff, if he pleafes, may let the defendant go with¬
out anv fureties ; but that is at his own peril : for, after
once taking him, the fheriff is bound to keep him fafe-
fv fo as to be forthcoming in court ; otherwife an ac¬
tion lies againft him for an efcape. But, on the other
hand, he is obliged, by ftatute 2y Hen. VI. c. 10. to
take fif it be tendered) a fufficient bail-bond ; and, by
ftatute 1 2 Geo. I. c, 29. the ftieriff fhall take bail for no
other fum than fuch as is fworn to by the plaintiff, and
indorftd on the back of the writ.
Upon the return of the writ, or within four’days af¬
ter, the defendant muff appear according to the exi¬
gency of the writ. This appearance is effeUed by put¬
ting in and jeftifying bail to the aciion ; which is com¬
monly called putting in bail above. If this he not done,
and the bail that were taken by the ftieriff below are
refponfible perfons, the plaintiff may take an affignment
from the flieriff of the bail-bond (under the ftatute 4 and
r Ann. c. 16.) and bring an aftion thereupon againft
the ftieriff’s bail. But if the bail fo accepted by the
ftieriff be infolvent perfons, the plaintiff may proceed
ao-ainft the fheriff himfelf, by calling upon him, f.rft to
return the writ (if not already done), and afterwards to
bring in the body of the defendant. And if the ftieriff
does not then caufe fufficient bail to.be put in above, he
will himfelf be refponfible to the plaintiff.
The bail above, or bail to the action, muff be put m
either in open court, or before one of the judges theie-
of ■, or elfe, in the country, before a. commiftioner ap¬
pointed for that purpofe by virtue of the ftatute 4 W.
and M, c. 4. which muft be tranfmitted to the court.
Thefe bail, who muff at leaft be two in number, muft Proecftl
enter into a recognizance in court, or before the judge v ”
or commiflioner, whereby they do jointly and feverally
undertake, that if the defendant be condemned in the
adlion, he (hall pay the coifs and condemnation, or ren¬
der himfelf a prifoncr, or that they w ill pay it for him :
which recognizance is tranfmitted to the court in a flip
of parchment, intitled a bail piece. And, if required,
the bail mult jujlifu themfelvcs in court, or before the
commiftioner in the country, by fwearing themfelves
houfekeepers, and each of them to be worth double the
fum for which they are bail, after payment of all their
debts. This anfwers in fome meafure to the Jlipulatio
or fatifdatio of the Roman laws, which is mutually given
by each litigant party to the other : by the plaintiff that
he will profecute his fuit, and pay the cofts if he lofes
his caufe; in like manner as our lawr ftill requires no¬
minal pledges of profecution from the plaintiff’: by the
defendant, that he fhall continue in court, and abide the
fentence of the judge, much like our fpecial bail 5 but
with this difference, that the jidejuffores were there ab-
folutely bound judicatum folvere, to fee the cofts and
condemnation paid at all events : whereas our fpecial
bail may be difeharged, by furrendering the defendant
into culfody within the time allowed by law j for which
purpofe they are at all times entitled to a warrant to ap¬
prehend him.
Special bail is required (as cr courfe) only upon ac¬
tions of debt, or adfions on the cafe in trover, or for mo¬
ney due, where the plaintiff can fwear that the caufe of
adfion amounts to ten pounds : but in actions where the
damages are precarious, being to be affeffed ad libitum
by a jury, as in adlions for words, ejectment, or trefpafs,
it is very feldom poflible for a plaintiff to fwear to the
amount of his caufe of adfion ; and therefore no fpecial
bail is taken thereon, unlefs by a judge’s order, or the
particular di reft ions of the court, in fome particular fpe-
cies of injuries, as in cafes of mayhem or atrocious bat¬
tery ; or upon fuch fpecial circumftances as make it ab-
folutely neceffary that the defendant ftiould be kept
within the reach of juftice. Alfo in affions againft:
heirs, executors, and adminiftrators, for debts of the de-
cealed, fpecial bail is not demandable ; for the aftion
is not fo properly againft them in perfon, as againft the
effefts of the deceafed in their poffeflion. But fpecial
bail is required even of them, in aflions for a devajlavit,
or wTafting the goods of the deceafed 5 that w^rong being
of their own committing.
Thus much for procefs; which is only meant to
bring the defendant into court, in order to conteft the
fuit, and abide the determination of the law. When
he appears either in perfon as a prifoner, or out upon
hail, then follow the pleadings between the parties. See
Pleadings.
'Process upon an Indictment. See Prosecution..
The proper procefs on an indi&ment for any petty
mifdemefnor, or on a penal ftatute, is a wnit of venire
facias, which is in the nature of a fummons to caufe the
party to appear. And if by the return to fuch venire
it appears that the party hath lands in the county where¬
by he may be diftrained, then a dijlrefs infinite fhall be
iffued from time to time till he appears. . But if the
ftieriff returns, that he hath no lands in his bailiwick,
then (upon his non-appearance) a writ of. capias fhall
iffue, which commands the fLeriff to take his body, and
Procefs.
PRO
liave him at the next affizes j and If he cannot b
upon the firft capias, a fecond and a third fhall ifTue,
called an alias, and a planes capias. But, on indict¬
ments for treafon or felony, a capias is the firit procefs :
and, for treafon or homicide, only one lhall be allowed
to iflue, or Iwo in the cafe of other felonies, by Itatute
25 Edw. III. c. 14. though the ufage is to iflue only
one in any felony ; the provifions of this flatute being
in mofl: cafes found impracticable. And fo, in the cafe
of mifdemefnors, it is now the ufual praCtice for any
judge of the court of king’s bench, upon certificate of
an indictment found, to award a w-rit of capias immedi¬
ately, in order to bring in the defendant. But if he ab-
fconds, and it is thought proper to purfue him to an
outlawry, then a greater exaCtnefs is neceflary. For, in
inch cafe, after the feveral writs have iflued in a regular
number, according to the nature of the refpeCtive crimes,
without any effeCt, the offender fhall be put in the exi¬
gent in order to his outlawry : that is, he fhall be ex-
aCled, proclaimed, or required, to furrender, at five coun¬
ty-courts ; and if he be returned quinta eXaBus, and does
not appear at the fifth exaCHon or requifition, then he is
adjudged to be outlawed, or put out of the proteCfion of
the law 5 fo that he is incapable of taking the benefit of
It in any refpeCl:, either by bringing aCtions or otherwife.
[ 39° 1 ' PRO
taken furmifed that a partial or infufficient trial will probably
be had in the court below, the indiftment is removed,
in order to have the prifoner or defendant tried at the
bar of the court of king’s bench, or before the juftices
of nijiprius : or, 3. It is fo removed, in order to plead
the king’s pardon there : or, 4. To iflue procefs of out-
lawny againil: the offender, in thofe counties or places
where the procefs of the inferior judges will not reach
him. Such writ of Certiorari, when iflued and deliver¬
ed to the inferior court for removing any record or other
proceeding, as well upon indictment as otherwife, fuper-
fedes the jurifdiCtion of fuch inferior court, and makes
fill fubfequent proceedings therein entirely erroneous and
illegal} unlefs the court of king’s bench remands the re¬
cord to the court below, to be there tried and determined.
A certiorari may be granted at the inflance of either the
profecutor or the defendant: the former as a matter of
right, the latter as a matter of difcretion ; and therefore
it is feldom granted to remove indictments from the juf¬
tices of goal-delivery, or after ifiue joined, or confeflion
of the faCt in any of the courts below.
At this ftage of profecution alfo it is, that indictments
found by the grand jury againlt a peer, muff, in confe-
quencO of a writ of 'certiorari, be certified and tranfmit-
ted into the court of parliament, or into that of the lord
^ -n r  O & — —<-<1 jJanicancuL, ui imo mar or me iora
ihe pumfhtnent for outlawries upon indiftments for high ffeward of Great Britain j and that, in places of
lidemefnors. IS tile {ptmp HQ fnr rmf-lciT/<rriP>c nnrvn /■'iTTtl * ^— xl .   
mifdemefnors, is the fame as for outlawries upon civil
.aCtions; viz. forfeiture of goods and chattels. But an
outlawry in treafon or felony amounts to a conviction
and attainder of the offence charged in the indictment,
as much as if the offender had been found guilty by his
country. His life is, however, ftill under the protection
of the lawr, as hath elfewhere been obferved ; (fee Ho¬
micide) : that though anciently an outlawed felon was
faid to have caput lupinum, and might be knocked on
the head like a wolf, by any one that fhould meet him ;
becaufe,. having renounced all law, he was to be dealt
.■with as in a ftate of nature, when every one that fhould
find him might flay him : yet now, to avoid fuch inhu¬
manity, it is holden that no man is intitled to kill him
wantonly or wilfully ; but in fo doing is guilty of mur¬
der, unlefs it happens in the endeavour to apprehend
him. For any perfon may arreft an outlaw on a crimi¬
nal profecution, either of his own head, or by writ or
warrant of capias utlagatum, in order to bring him to
execution. But fuch outlawry may be frequently re-
verfed by writ of error, the proceedings therein being
(as it is fit they fhould be) exceedingly nice and circum-
ftantial ; and if any Angle minute point be omitted or
mifconduCted, the wdiole outlawry is illegal, and may be
reverfed : upon which reverfal the party accufed is ad¬
mitted to plead to, and defend himfelf againft, the in¬
diament. .
f hus much for procefs to bring in the offender after
indictment found ; during w'hich ftage of the profecu¬
tion it is that waits of certiorari facias are ufually had,
though they may be had at any time before trial, to cer¬
tify and remove the indiament, with all the proceedings
thereon, from any inferior court of criminal iurifdiaion
into the court of king’s bench ; which is the fovereign
ordinary court of juftice in caufes criminal. And this
is frequently done for one of thefe four purpofes; either,
\. To confider and determine the validity of appeals or
indiaments and the proceedings thereon ; and to quafh
m confirm them as there is caufe ; or, 2. Where it is
exclufive jurifdiaion, as the two univerfities, indiaments
muft be delivered (upon challenge and claim of cog¬
nizance) to the courts therein eftablifhed by charter,
and confirmed by aa of parliament, to be there refpec-
tively tried and determined. See Plea.
Process, in Chemi/lry, the whole courfe of an experi¬
ment or feries of operations, tending to produce fome-
thing new.
Process, in Anatomy, denotes any protuberance or
eminence in a bone.
PROCESSION, a ceremony in the Romifh church,
confifting of a formal march of the clergy and people,
putting up prayers, Stc. and in this manner vifiting fome
church, See. They have alfo proceffions of the hoft or
facrament, &c. See Host.
PROCHEIN amy, in Law, the perfon next a-kin
to a child in non-age, and who, in that refpea, is allow¬
ed to aft for him, and be his guardian, &c. if he hold
land in foccage.
I o me, an infant is not allowed to make an attorney ;
but the court will admit his next friend as plaintiff, or
his guardian as defendant.
PROCKIA, a genus of plants belonging to the poly-
andria clafs; and in the natural method ranking with
thofe of which the order is doubtful. See Botany In¬
dex. \
PROCLAMATION, a public notice given of any
thing of which the king thinks proper to advertife his
fubjefts.
Proclamations are a branch of the king’s preroga¬
tive * ; and have then a binding force, w'hen (as Sir
Edward Coke obferves) they are grounded upon and
enforce the laws of the realm. For though the ma¬
king of laws is entirely the work of a diftinft part, the
legifladve branch of the fovereign power, yet the man¬
ner, time, and circumftances of putting thofe laws in
execution, muft frequently be left to the difcretion of
the executive magiftrate. And therefore his conftitu-
tions or ediSls, concerning thofe points which we call
Proclamations,
* See Lrt.
czgativt.
PRO
froclanaa-
tum
II .
Procopius.
Proclamations, are binding upon the fubjefi, where they
do not either contradift the old laws, or tend to efta-
blifh new ones j but only enforce the execution of fuch
t laws as are already in being, in fuch manner as the
king fhall judge neceffary. Thus the eftablilhed law
is, that the king may prohibit any of his fubjedfs from
leaving the reaim : a proclamation therefore forbidding
this in general ior three weeks, by laying an embargo
upon all (hipping in time of war, will be equally bind¬
ing as an aft of parliament, becaufe founded upon a pri¬
or law. Eut a proclamation to lay an embargo in time
of peace upon all veffels laden with wheat, (though in
the time of a public fcarcity), being contrary to law,
and particularly to ftatute 22 Car. II. c. 13. the ad-
vifers of fuch a proclamation, and all perfons afting
under it, found it necelfary to be, indemnified by a fpe-
cial aft of parliament, 7 Geo. III. c. 7. A proclama¬
tion for difanning Papifts is alfo binding, being only
In execution of what the legifiature has firft ordained :
but a proclamation for allowing arms to Papifts, or for
difarming any Proteftant fubjefts, will not bind ; be¬
caufe the firft would be to affume a difpenfing power,
the latter a leg!ftative one 5 to the veiling of either of
which in any (ingle perfon the laws of England are ab-
folutely ftrangers. Indeed, by the ftatute 31 Hen. VIII.
c. 8. it was enafted, that the king’s proclamations
fhould have the force of afts of parliament: a ftalute,
which was calculated to introduce the moft defpotic ty¬
ranny ; and which muft have proved fatal to the liber¬
ties of this kingdom, had it not been luckily repeal¬
ed in the minority of his fucceffor, about five years
after. By a late aft of parliament the king is empower¬
ed to raife regiments of Roman Catholics to ferve in the
prefent war.
PROCLUS, furnamed Diadocus, a Greek philo-
fopher and mathematician, was born in Lycia, and lived
about the year 500. He was the difciple of Syrianus,
and had a great (hare in the friendftiip of the emperor
Anaftafius. It is faid, that when Vitalian laid fiege to
Conftantinople, Proclus burnt his (hips with large brazen
fpeculums. This philofopher was a Pagan, and wrote
againft the Chriftian religion. T here are ftill extant
his Commentaries on fome of Plato’s books, and other
of his works written in Greek.
PROCONSUL, a Roman magiftrate, fent to govern
a province with confular authority.
The proconfuls were appointed out of the body of the
fenate 5 and ufually as the year of any one’s confulate
expired, he was fent proconfiil into fome province.
The proconfuls decided cafes of equity and juftice,
either privately in their pretorium or palace, where they
received petitions, heard complaints, granted writs un¬
der their feal, and the like ; or elfe publicly, in the com¬
mon hall, with the ufual formalities obferved in the court
of judicature at Rome. .1 hey had befides, by virtue of
their edifts,’ the power of ordering all things relating
to the tributes, taxes, contributions, and provifions of
corn and money, &c. Their office lafted only a year.
See Consul.
PROCOPIUS, a famous Greek hiftorian, born in
Ccefaria, acquired great reputation by his works in the
reign of Juftinian, and was fecretary to Belifarius du¬
ring all the wars carried on by that general in Perfia,
Africa, and Italy. He at length became fenator, ob¬
( 391 1
R O
and was made
tained the title of illujlrious,
Conftantinople.
PROCREATION, the begetting and bringing forth
young. See Generation and Semen.
PROCTOR, a perfon commftfioned to manage an¬
other perfon’s caufe in any court of the civil or "eccle-
fiaftical law.
Proctor, in the Englifti univerfities. See Univer¬
sity.
PROCURATION, an aft or inftrument by which a
perfon is empowered to treat, tranfaft, receive, &c. in
another perfon’s name.
PROCURATOR. See Proctor.
PROCYON, in AJlronomy, a fixed ftar of the fe'cond
magnitude, fituated in canis minor, or the little dog.
PRODIGALITY, means extravagance, profufion,
wafte, or exceflive liberality, and is the oppofite ex¬
treme to the vice of parfimony. By the Roman law, if
a man by notorious prodigality was in danger of wafting
his eftate, he was looked upon as non compos, and com¬
mitted to the care of curators, or tutors, by the praetor.
And by the laws of Solon, fuch prodigals were branded
with perpetual infamy.
PRODUCT, in Arithmetic and Geometry, the faftum
of two or more numbers, or lines, &c. into one another:
thus 5x4=20 the produft required.
PROEDRI, among the Athenians, were magiftrates,
who had the firft feats in the public affemblies, and whofo
office it was to propofe at each affembly the things to
be deliberated upon and determined. Their office al¬
ways ended with the meeting. Their number was nine,
fo long as the tribes were ten in number.
PROFANATION, the afting difrefpeftfully to fa-
cred things.
PROFANE, a term ufed in oppofition to holy ; and
in general is applied to all perfons who have not the fa-
cred charafter, and to things which do not belong to the
fervice of religion.
PROFESSION means a calling, vocation, or known
employment. In Knox’s EJfays, vol. i. page 234, we
find an excellent paper on the choice of a profeflion,
which that elegant writer concludes thus: “ All the
occupations of life (fays he) are found to have their ad¬
vantages and difavantages admirably adapted to preferve
the juft equilibrium of happinefs. This we may confi¬
dently affert, that, whatever are the inconveniences of
any of them, they are all preferable to a life of inac¬
tion *, to that wretched liftleffnefs, which is conftrained
to purfue pleafure as a bufinefs, and by rendering it the
objeft of fevere and unvaried attention, deftroys its very
eflencp.”
Among the Romanifts profeffion denotes the entering
into a religious order, whereby a perfon offers himfelf
to God by a vow of inviolably obferving obedience, cha-
ftity, and poverty.
PROFESSOR, in the univerfities, a perfon who
teaches or reads public leftures in fome art or fcience
from a chair for that purpofe.
PROFILE, in ArchiteBure, the draught of a build¬
ing, fortification, &c. wherein are expreffed the feveral
heights, widths, and thickneffes, fuch as they would ap¬
pear rvere the building cut down perpendicularly from
the roof to the foundation. Whence the profile is alfo
called the feBion, fometimes orthographicalJeBion, and
by Vitruvius alfo fciagraphy.
Projiiej
pretor of Procreation
Profile.
P It o
f 392 I
PRO
'Profile “Profile, in this fenfe, amounts to the fame with elcva-
II . tion; and Hands oppofed to plan or ichnographj.
g * Profile is alfo ufed for the contour or outline of a
figure, building, member of archite&ure, or the like;
as a bafe, a cornice, &.c. Hence profiling is fometimes
ufed for defigning, or defcribing the member with rule,
compafs, &c.
Profile, in fculpture and painting.—A head, a por¬
trait &c. are faid to be in profile, when they are repre*
fented fidewife, or in a fide-view ; as, when in a portrait
there is but one fide of the face, one eye, one cheek,
&c. fliown, and nothing of the other.—On almoft all
medals, the faces are reprefented in profile.
PROFLUVIUM, in Medicine, denotes a flux, or li¬
quid evacuation of any thing.
PROGNOSTIC, among phyficians, fignifies a judge¬
ment concerning the event of a difeafe} as whether it Program-
fhall end in life or death, be Ihort or long, mild or ma¬
lignant, &c.
PROG RAM M A, anciently fignified a letter fealed
with the king’s feal.
Programma is alfo an univerfity term fqr a billet of
advertifement, polled up or given into the hand, by way
of invitation to an oration, &c. containing the argu¬
ment, or fo much as is neceffary for underftanding thereof.
PROGRESSION, in general, denotes a regular ad¬
vancing, or going forwards, in the fame courfc and man¬
ner.
Progression, in Mathematics, is either arithmetical
or geometrical. Continued arithmetic proportion is,
where the terms do increafe and decreafe by equal dif¬
ferences, and is called arithmetic progrefijim ;
In 4. 6; 8, -o, &C. inc;:afi„g|by ^ ^ 2
Geometric Progrefiioh, or Continued Geometric Proportion, is when the terms do increafe or decreafe by equal
.ratios: thus,
a, ar, arr, arrr, &c. increafingn /- _ ^
&c.dccreafing|f’romacontinual|divifionCall° |byr-
s: 342; >{Sca,;on]by-
r rr' rrr
2, 4, 8, 16,
64, 32, 16,
See the articles Fluxions, Geometry, and Series.
PROJECTILES.
% rPHIS is the name for that part of mechanical philo-
Objedt of ^ fophy which treats of the motion of bodies any-
the fcience. howr prajefted from the furface of this earth, and influ¬
enced by the aftion of terreflrird gravity.
Effedt of demonftrated in the phyfical part of afironomy,
gravity on a body projefted muft deferibe a conic fedlion,
projected having the centre of the earth in one focus j and that it
bedies, will deferibe round that focus areas proportional to the
times. And it follows from the principles of that fci¬
ence, that if the velocity of projeftion exceeds 36700
feet in a fecond, the body (if not refilled by the air)
would deferibe a hyperbola j if it be juft 3670O, it Would
deferibe a parabola; and if it be lefs than this, it would
deferibe an ellipfis. If proje&ed dire&ly upwards, in the
firft cafe, it would never return, but proceed for ever j
its velocity continually diminilhittg, but never becoming
lefs than an aflignable portion of the excefs of the initial
velocity above 36700 feet in a fecond j in the fecond
«afe, it would never return, its velocity would diminifli
without end, but never be extinguilhed. In the third
cafe, it would proceed till its velocity was reduced to an
aflignable portion of the difference between 36700 and
its initial velocity 5 and would then return, regaining its
Velocity by the fame degrees, and in the fame places, as
it loft it. Thefe are neceflary confequences of a gravity
dira&ed to the centre of the earth, and inverfely propor¬
tional to the fquare of the diftance. But in the greateft
proje&ions that we are able to make, the gravitations
arc fo nearly erp*al, and in directions fo nearly parallel,
that it would be ridiculous affeCtation to pay any regard
to the deviations from equality and parallelifm. A bul¬
let rifing a mile above the furface of the earth lofes only
TcVo °1 its weight, and a horizontal range of 4 miles
makes only 4' of deviation from parallelifm.
Let us therefore aflume gravitation as equal and pa¬
rallel. The errors arifing from this aflumption are
quite infenfible in all the ufes which can be made of this
theory.
The theory itfelf will ever be regarded with fome ve¬
neration and affeCIion by the learned. It was the firft
fruits of mathematical philofophy. Galileo was the firft:
who applied mathematical knowledge to the motions of
free bodies, and this was the fubjeCt on which he exer-
cifed his fine genius. ^
Gravity muft be confidered by us as a conftant or uni-conftant or
form accelerating or retarding force, according as it uniform,
produces the defeent, or retards the afeent, of a body.
A conftant or invariable accelerating force is one which
produces an uniform acceleration j that is, which in
equal times produces equal increments of velocity, and
therefore produces increments of velocity proportional
to the times in which they are produced. Forces are of
themfelves imperceptible, and are feen only in their ef¬
fects ; and they have no meafure but the effeft, or wLat
meafiures the effeft ; and every thing which we can dif-
cover with regard to thofe meafures, we muft affirm with
regard to the things of which we affmae them as the
meafures. Therefore,
The
Confe-
P R O J E
The motion of a falling body, or of a body proje&ed
qiiences of direaiy downwards, is uniformly accelerated 5 and that
this fadhj a ^ody P^ojedted direftly upwards is uniformly retard¬
ed . that is, the acquired velocities are as the times in
which they are acquired by falling, and the extinguifh-
ed. velocities are as the times in which they are extin-
guifhed.
Corollaries Lor. 1. If bodies limply fall, not being projected
drawn from downwards by an external force, the times of the falls
it. are proportional to the final velocities j and the times of
alcents, which terminate by the aftion of gravity alone,
are proportional to the initial velocities.
2. I he fpaces deferibed by a heavy body falling from
reft are as the fquares of the acquired velocities j and
the differences of thefe fpaces are as the differences of
the fquares of the acquired velocities : and, on the other
hand, the heights to which bodies projected upwards
will rife, before their motions be extinguilhed, are as
the fquares of the initial velocities.
3. i he fpaces delcribed by falling bodies are propor¬
tional to the fquares of the times from the beginning of the
fall; and the fpaces deferibed by bodies projefted dire&ly
upwards are as the fquares of the times of the afeents.
4. The fpace delcribed by a body falling from reft
is one half of the fpace which the body would have uni¬
formly deferibed in the fame time, with the velocity ac¬
quired by the fall.—And the height to which a body
will rife, in oppofition to the aftion of gravity, is one
half of the fpace which it would uniformly deferibe in
the fame time with the initial velocity.
In like manner the difference of the fpaces which a
falling or rifing body deferibes in any equal fucceflive
parts of its fall or rife, is one half of the fpace which it
would uniformly deferibe in the fame time with the dif¬
ference of the initial and final velocities.
This propolition will be more conveniently expreffed
for our purpofe thus :
A body moving uniformly during the time of any
fall with the velocity acquired thereby, will in that time
deferibe a fpace double of that fall ; and a body projeft-
ed direftly upwards wall rife to a height which is one
half of the fpace which it would, uniformly continued,
deferibe in the time of its afeent with the initial velocity
of projeftion.
Thefe theorems have been already demonftrated in a
popular way, in the article Gunnery. But we would
recommend to our readers the 39th prop, of the firft
book of Newton’s Principia, as giving the moft general
inveftigation of this fubjeft j equally eafy with thefe
more loofe methods of demonftration, and infinitely fu-
perior to them, by being equally applicable to every va¬
riation of the accelerating force. See an excellent ap¬
plication of this propofition by Mr Robins, for defining
the motion of a ball difeharged from a cannon, in the
article Gunnery, N° 15.
5. It is a matter of obfervation and experience, that
IV force 3 heavy kocty *6 feet and an inch Englifh meafure
of gravity *n a fecond of time j and therefore acquires the velocity
in falling of 32 feet 2 inches per fecond. This cannot be afeer-
bodies can tained direftly, with the precifion that is neceffary. A
fee afeer- fecond is too fmall a portion of time to be exaftly mea-
aine ' fured and compared w7ith the fpace deferibed 5 but it
is done with the greateft accuracy by comparing the
motion of a falling body with that of a pendulum. The
time of a vibration is to the time of falling through
Vol. XVII. Part I.
39
C T I L E S.
half the length of the pendulum, as the circumference
of a circle is to its diameter. The length of a pendu¬
lum can be afeertained with great precifion j and it can
be lengthened or fhortened till it makes juft 86,400 vi¬
brations in a day : and this is the way in which the
fpace fallen through in a fecond has been accurately af¬
eertained.
As all other forces are afeertained by the accelerations
which they produce, they are conveniently meafured by
comparing their accelerations with the acceleration of
gravity, rihis therefore has been affumed by all the
later and beft writers on mechanical' philofophy, as the
unit by which every other force is meafured It gives us a
perfeftly diftinft notion of the force which retains the moon
in its orbit, when we fay it is the 3600th part of the
weight of the moon at the furface of the earth. We
mean by this, that if a bullet wrere here weighed by a
fpring fteelyard, and pulled it out to the mark 3600 ;
if it were then taken to the diftance of the moon, it
wmuld pull it out only to the mark x. And we make
this affertion on the authority of our having obferved
that a body at the diftance of the moon falls from that
diftance part of 16 leet in a fecond. We do not,
therefore, compare the^/oratr, which are imperceptible
things ; we compare the accelerations, which are their
indications, effefts, and meafures.
This has made philofophers fo anxious to determine Two modes
with precifion, the fall of heavy bodies, in order to have of deter-
an exaft value of the accelerating power of terreftrial mining the
gravity. Now we muft here obferve, that this meafurefalIofhea-
may be taken in two ways: we may take the fpacevy bodies*
through which the heavy body falls in a fecond ; or wre
may take the velocity which it acquires in confequence
of gravity having afted on it during a fecond. The
laft is the proper meafure ; for the laft is the immediate
effeft on the body. The aftion of gravity has changed
the ftate of the body—in what way ? by giving it a de¬
termination to motion downwards this both points out
the kind and the degree or intenfity of the force of
gravity. The fpace deferibed in a fecond by falling,
is not an invariable meafure 5 for, in the fucceflive fe-
conds, the body falls through 16, 48, 80, 112, &c.
feet, but the changes of the body’s ftate in each fecond
is the fame. At the beginning it had no determination
to move with any appreciable velocity ; at the end of
the firft fecond it had a determination by which it
would have gone on for ever (had no fubfequent force
afted on it) at the rate of 32 feet per fecond. At the
end of the fecond fecond, it had a determination by
which it would have moved for ever, at the rate of 64
feet per fecond. At the end of the third fecond, it
had a determination by which it would have moved
for ever, at the rate of 96 feet per fecond, &c. &c.
The difference of thefe determinations is a determination
to the rate of 32 feet per fecond. This is therefore
conftant, and the indication and proper meafure of the
conftant or invariable force of gravity. The fpace fal¬
len through in the firft fecond is of ufe only as it is
one half of the meafure of this determination ; and as
hal ves have the proportion of their wholes, different ac¬
celerating forces may be fafeiy affirmed to be in the pro¬
portion of the fpaces through which they uniformly im- S
pel bodies in the fame time. But we ftiould always re- Vfiftakes of
colleft, that this is but one half of the true meafure of matbema“
the accelerating force. Mathematicians of the firft rank tiauUbjedt.
3 D have “
394- P Pv O 3 E
have commitled great miftakes by not attending to this j
and it is neceffary to notice it juft now, becauie cafes will
occur in the proiecution of this lubjeft, where we lhall be
very apt to confound our reafonings by a confufion in the
ule of thole meafures. Thole mathematicians who are
accuftomed to the geometrical conftdcration of curviline-
al motions, are generally difpoled to take the actual de-
JleBion from the tangent as the meafure of the deilefting
force } while thofe who treat the fame i'ubjeft algebrai¬
cally, by the affiftance of fluxions, take the change of ve¬
locity, which is mealured by twice the deflection. 1 he
reafon is this : when a body paffes through the point B
plate r of a curve ABC, fig. I Af the deflecting force were to
CCCGXLI. ceaf-e at tjlat in^ant, the body would delcribe the tan-
I" gent BD in the fame time in which it deferibes the arch
BC of the curve, and DC is the deflection, and is
therefore taken for the meafure of the deflecting force.
But the algebraift is accuftomed to conftder the curve
by means of an equation between the abfciffae H a,
H£, He, and their refpeCtive ordinates A a, B i>, Cc;
and he meafures the defledtions by the changes made on
the increments of the ordinates. Thus the increment of
the ordinate A a, while the body deferibes the arch AB
of the curve, is BG. If the deflecting force were to
ceafe when the body is at B, the next increment would
have been equal to BG, that is, it would have been EF j
but in confequence of the defleCtion, it is only CF : there¬
fore he takes EC for the mealure of the defleCtion, and of
the deflecting force. Now EC is ultimately twice DC;
and thus the meafure of the algebraift (derived folely
from the nature of the differential method, and without
any regard to phyfical conftderations) happens to coin-
9 cide with the true phyfical meafure. There is therefore
Particularly great danger of mixing thefe meafures. Of this wre can-
til Leibnitz. nQt g-;ve a more remarkable inftance than Leibnitz’s at¬
tempt to demonftrate the elliptical motion of the planets
in the Leipfic ACls, 1689. He firft confiders the fub-
jecl mechanically, and takes the defleftion or DC for
the meafure of the deflefting force. He then intro¬
duces his differential calculus, where he takes the dif¬
ference of the increments for tire meafure 5 and thus
brings hirnfelf into a confufion, which luckily compen-
fates for the falfe reafoning in the preceding part of
his paper, and gives his refult the appearance of a
demonftration of Newton’s great difeovery, while, in
fa£l, it is a confuied jumble of affumptions, felf-con-
tradiclory, and inconfiftent with the very laws of me¬
chanics which are ufed by him in the inveftigation.
Seventeen years after this, in 1706, having been cri-
ticifed for his bad reafoning, or rather accufed of an
envious and unfuccefsful attempt to appropriate Nerv-
ton’s invention to himfelf, he gives a correftion of his
paralogifm, which he calls a corre£Hon of language.
But he either had not obferved where the paralogifm
lay, or would not let himfelf down by acknowledging
a miftake in what he wiflied the world to think his own
calculus (fluxions') ; he applied the corre<ftion where no
fault had been committed, for he had meafured both
the centrifugal force and the felicitation of gravity in the
fame way, but had applied the fluxionary expreflion to
the laft and not to the firft, and, by fo doing, he com¬
pletely deftroyed all coincidence between his refult and
the planetary motions. We mention this inftance, not
only as a caution to our mathematical readers, but alfo
qs a very curious literary anecdote. This differtation of
C TILE S.
Leibnitz is one of the moft obfeure of his obfeure writ¬
ings, but delerves the attention of an intelligent and
curious reader, and cannot fail of making an indelible
impreflion on his mind, with relation to the modeily,
candour, and probity of the author. It is preceded
by a differtation on the lubjedt which we are now
entering upon, the motion of projectiles in a refilling
medium. Newton’s Principia had been publifhed a few
years before, and had been reviewed in a manner Ihame-
fully flight, in the Leiplic Acts. Both thefe lubjecls
make the capital articles of that immortal work. Mr
Leibnitz publiftred thefe diflerlations, without (lays he)
having leen Newton’s book, in order to fliow the world
that he had, lome years before, difeovered the lame
theorems. Mr Nicholas Fatio carried a copy of the
Principia from the author to Hanover in 1686, where
he expected to find Mr Leibnitz j he was then ablent,
but Eatio law him often before his return to France in
1687, and does noi fay that the book wras not given him.
Read along with thele differtations Dr Keill’s letter to
John Bernoulli and others, publilhed in the Journal Lite-
raire de la Hayee 1714, and to John Bernoulli in 1719.
New ton has been accufed of a fimilar overfight by Newt:on a(N
John Bernoulli, (who indeed calls it a miftake in prin-Cufed of a
ciple) in his Propofition x. book 2. on the very lub-fimiiar mif-
jeCt we are now coofidcring. But Dr Keill has Ihown ^ ke G J-
it to be only an overfight, in drawing the tangent on u 1 1
the wrong fide of the ordinate. For in this very pro¬
pofition Newton exhibits, in the ftridteft and moft beau¬
tiful manner, the difference between the geometrical
and algebraical maimer of confidering the lubject j and
exprefsly warns the reader, that his algebraical fymbol
expreffes the deflediion only, and not the variation of
the increment of the ordinate. It is therefore in the Em falfely
laft degree improbable that he would make this mil-
take. Fie moft exprefsly does not j and to the real
miftake, which he corredfed in the fecond edition, the
waiter of this article has in his pofleflion a manulcript
copy of notes and illuftrations on the whole Principia,
written in 1693 by Dr David Gregory, Savilian profeffor
of aftronomy at Oxford, at the defire of Mr Newton,
as preparatory for a newr edition, where he has rectified
this and ieveral other miftakes in that work, and fays
that Mr Newgon had feen and approved of the amend¬
ments. We mention thefe particulars, becaufe Mr ^ ^ 12
Bernoulli publifhed an elegant differtalion on this 0't: {^noidli
fubjedt in the I^eipfic Adts in 1713 5 in which he with re¬
charges Newton (though with many proteftations offpedlto
admiration and refpedt) with this miftake in principle j ■^ewtl>n'
and lays, that he communicated his corredtion to Mr
Newton, by his nephew Nicholas Bernoulli, that it
might be corredled in the new7 edition, which he heard
was in the prefs. And he afterwards adds, that it ap¬
pears by fome fheets being cancelled, and new ones fub-
ftituted in this part of the w7ork, that the miftake wmuld
have continued, had he not corredfed it. We would
defire our readers to confult this differtation,, which is
extremely elegant, and will be of fervice to us in this
article j and let them compare the civil things which is
here faid of the vir incomparabihs, the omni laude major,
the fummus Newtonus, with what the fame author, in
the fame year, in the Leipfic Adis, but under a bor¬
rowed name, fays of him. Our readers wall have
no hefitation in aferibing this letter to this author.
For, after praifing John Bernoulli as fummus geometra,
natus
*3
Accurate
me afare of
the accele¬
rative pow¬
er of gravi¬
ty.
14
Genral fot>
mulse de¬
duced.
15
Examples
of their ufe
in falling
bodies.
ualui ad fummorum geometarum paralogifmos corrigen-
dos,fu7>wn candoris ut et modcjhcc^ he betrays himfelt by
an unguarded warmth, when defending J. B.’s demon-
ftration of the inverle problem of centripetal forces, by
calling it ME AM demonjlrationem.
Let our readers now confider the fcope and inten¬
tion of this diHertation on proje&iles, and judge whether
the author’s aim was to inftruft the world, or to acquire
fame, by corredling Newton. The differtation does
not contain one theorem, one corollary, nor one ftep of
argument, which is not to be found in Newton’s firft
edition j nor has he gone farther than Newton’s fingle
propofition the xth. To us it appears an exaft com-
panion to his proportion on centripetal forces, which he
boafts of having fiift demonftrated, although it is in
every ftep a tranfcript of the 42d of the ill Book of
Newton’s Principia, the geometrical language ©f New¬
ton being changed into algebraic, as he has in the pre-
fent cafe changed Newton’s algebraic analyfis into a
very elegant geometrical one. *
We hope to be forgiven for this long digreflion. It
is a very curious piece of literary hiilory, and (hows
the combination which envy and want of honourable
principle had formed againft the reputation of our illu-
ifrious countryman •, and we think it our duty to embrace
any opportunity of doing it juftice.—To return to our
fubjeft :
The accurate meafure of the accelerative porver of
gravity, is the fall ibA feet, if we meafure it by the
fpace, or the velocity of 32^ feet per fecond, if rve take
the velocity. It will greatly facilitate calculation, and
will be fufhcienllv exadt for all our tmrpofes. if we take
16 and 32, iuppofing that a body falls 16 feet in a fe¬
cond, and acquires the velocity of 32 feet per fecond.
Then, becaufe the heights are as the fquares of the
times, and as the fquares of the acquired velocities, a
body will fall one foot in one fourth of a fecond, and
will acquire the velocity of eight feet per fecond. Now
let h exprefs the height in feet, and call it the PRO-
DUCIKG HEIGHT 5 v the velocity in feet per fecond, and
call it the produced velocity, the velocity due j
and t the. time in feconds.—We fhall have the follow¬
ing formulae, which are of eafy recolleftion, and will
ierve, without tables, to anfwer all queftions relative to
prqfedtiles.
I. s/nSv^, =8X4'> =32'
II. t~ V-,=--
4 32
III. =4/
IV. 7;=^-, =i6/*.
64
To give fome examples of their ufe, let it be requi-
red,
1. To find the time of falling through 256 feet.
Here 7=256, ^256=16, and —=4. Anfwer 4".
2. To find the velocity acquired by falling four fe¬
conds. t—.\ . 3 2 X 4= * 28 feet per fecond.
3. To find the velocity acquired by falling 625 feet.
7=62i; . fh = 25 • 8^/7=200 feet per fecond.
4. To find the height to which a body will rife
when projected with the velocity of 56 feet per fecond,
PROJECTILES.
or the height through which a body mult fall to acquire
this velocity.
v=c6 . -g-=7, =t/7 . 7s=7, =49 feet,
or 56*=3i36 . ---=49 feet.
395
t6
In bodies
projected
upwards,
*7
5. Suppofe a body projected direftly downwards with and diredt-
the velocity of 10 feet per fecond ; what will be its ve-iy down-
locity after four feconds? In four leconds it will have wards,
acquired, by the aftion of gravity, the velocity of 4x32,
or 128 feet, and therefore its whole velocity will be 138
feet per fecond.
6. To find how far it will have moved, compound its
motion of projection, which will be 40 feet in four fe¬
conds, with the motion which gravity alone would have
given it in that time, which is 256 feet 5 and the whole
motion will be 296 feet.
7. Suppofe the body projected as already mentioned,
and that it is required to determine the time it will take
to go 296 feet downwards, and the velocity it will have
acquired.
Find the height x, through wdiich it muft fall to ac¬
quire the velocity of projection, 10 feet, and the time
y of falling from this height. Then find the time ss of
falling through the height 296-f-v, and the velocity v
acquired by this fall. The time of defcribing the 296
feet will be 2;—y, and v is the velocity required.
From fuch examples, it is eafy to fee the way of an-
fwering every queftion of the kind. iS
Writers on the higher parts of mechanics always Wore gene-
compute the aftions of other accelerating and retarding "'al forma‘
forces by comparing them with the acceleration of gra-,a;‘
vity, and in order to render their expreflions more gene¬
ral, ufe a fymbol, fuch as g for gravity, leaving the rea¬
der to convert it into numbers. Agreeably to this
view, the general formulae will hand thus :
I. 2gh,J.. e. \l2\/g\/h, =gf
II. ,= v-,=d0, =Jf=fl
§
1111.7=—, =
2g
2/
_gf
2
2g
S
In all thefe equations, gravity, or its accelerating
power, is eftimated, as it ought to be, by the change
of velocity which it generates in a particle of matter in
an unit of time. But many mathematicians, in their
inveftigations of curvilineal and other varied motions,
meafure it by the defleftion which it produces in this
time from the tangent of the curve, or by the incre¬
ment by which the fpace defcribed in an unit of time
exceeds the fpace defcribed in the preceding unit. This
is but one half of the increment which gravity would
have produced, had the body moved through the whole
moment with the acquired addition of velocity. In this
fenfe of the fymbol g, the equations Hand thus :
I. V=2\/gLll\—2g t
/ 7| v
II. t=J-\, =—
M 2g
1V- and
It is alfo very ufual to confider the accelerating force
3 D 2 of
PROJECTILES.
396
of gravity as the unit of comparifon. This renders the
expreffions much more Ample. In this way, v expreffes
not the velocity, but the height neceflary for acquiring
it, and the velocity itfelf is exprefled by To re¬
duce fuch an expreflion of a velocity to numbers, we
mull multiply it by V2g, or by 2 Vg, according as
we make g to be the generated velocity, or the fpace
fallen through in the unit of time.
Bodies pro- This will fuffice for the perpendicular afcents or de-
;iedted ob- fcents of heavy bodies, and we proceed to conlider their
iiquely. motions when proje&ed obliquely. The circumftance
which renders this an interefting fubjedl, is, that the
flight of cannon fhot and fhells are inftances of fuch
motion, and the art of gunnery muft in a great mea-
fure depend on this dodlrine.
Fig1, s. Let a body B (fig. 2.), be proje&ed in any direc¬
tion BC, not perpendicular to the horizon, and with
any velocity. Let AB be the height producing this
velocity 5 that is, let the velocity be that which a heavy
body would acquire by falling freely through AB. It
is required to determine the path of the body, and all
the circumftances of its motion in this path ?
I. It is evident, that by the continual a6Hon of gra¬
vity, the body will be continually deflected from the
line BC, and will defcribe a curve line BVG, concave
20 towards the earth.
Defcribes a 2. This curve line is a parabola, of which the vertical
parabola, fine ABE is a diameter, B the vertex of this diameter
and BC a tangent in B.
Through any two points V, G of the curve draw
VC, GH parallel to AB, meeting BC in C and H,
and draw VE, GK parallel to BC, meeting AB in E,
K. It follows, from the compofition of motions, that
the body would arrive at the points V, G of the curve
in the fame time that it would have uniformly defcribed
BC, BH, with the velocity of proje&ion ; or that it
would have fallen through BE, BK, with a motion uni¬
formly accelerated by gravity 5 therefore the times of
defcribing BC, BH, uniformly, are the fame with the
times of falling through BE, BK. But, becaufe the
motion along BH is uniform, BC is to BH as the time
of defcribing BC to the time of defcribing BH, which
we may exprefs thus, BC : BH=rT, BC : T, BH, ~
T, BE : T, BK. But, becaufe the motion along BK
is uniformly accelerated, we have BE : BK^T1
BE : T2, BK, = BC2 : BH2, = EV2 : KG2 ; there¬
fore the curve BVG is fuch, that the abfcilEe BE,
BK are as the fquares of the correfponding ordinates
EV, KG •, that is, the curve BVG is a parabola, and
BC, parallel to the ordinates, is a tangent in the
point B.
3. If through the point A there be drawn the ho¬
rizontal line AD</, it is the direttrix of the para¬
bola.
Let BE be taken equal to AB. The time of falling
through BE is equal to the time of falling through
AB; but BC is defcribed with the velocity acquired by
falling through AB : and therefore by N° 4. of per¬
pendicular defcents, BC is double of AB, and EV is
double of BE 5 therefore EV^qBE2, rrqBExAB,
= BEX4AB, and 4AB is the parameter or /alus rec¬
tum of the parabola BVG, and AB being one-fourth
of the parameter, AD is the dire&rix.
4. The times of defcribing the different arches BV,
VG of the parabola are as the portions BC, BH of
the tangent, or as the portions AD, A d oi the direc¬
trix, intercepted by the fame vertical lines AB, CV,
HG j for the times of defcribing BV, BVG are the
fame wdth thofe of defcribing the correfponding parts
BC, BH of the tangent, and are proportional to thefe
parts, becaufe the motion along BH is uniform } and
BC, BH are proportional to AD, A d.
Therefore the motion eftimated horizontally is uni¬
form.
5. The velocity in any point G of the curve is the
fame with that which a heavy body would acquire by
falling from the direftrix along d G. Draw the tangent
GT, cutting the vertical AB in T j take the points a,
f equidiflant from A and d, and extremely near them,
and draw the verticals ab,fg ; let the points a,f, con¬
tinually approach A and d, and ultimately coincide
with them. It is evident that B b wdll ultimately be to
g G, in the ratio of the velocity at B to the velocity at
G ; for the portions of the tangent ultimately coincide
with the portions of the curve, and are defcribed in
equal times; but B £ is to ^ G as BH to TG : there¬
fore the velocity at B is to that at G as BH to TG.
But, by the properties of the parabola, BH2 is to
TG2 as AB to G j and AB is to ^ G as the fquare
of the velocity acquired by falling through AB to the
fquare of the velocity acquired by falling through dQx \
and the velocity in BH, or in the point B of the para¬
bola, is the velocity acquired by falling along AB 5
therefore the velocity in TG, or in the point G of
the parabola, is the velocity acquired by falling along
dG. # ax
Thefe few Ample propofitions contain all the theory The para,
of the motion of projectiles in vacuo, or independent I501’0 l*ieor7
on the refiftance of the air ; and being a very eafy and ^f^oHiuIe
neat piece of mathematical philofophy, and connected in prac„
with very interefting practice, and a very refpeCtable tice.
profefilon, they have been much commented on, and
have furnifhed matter for many fplendid volumes. But
the air’s refiftance occafions fuch a prodigious diminu¬
tion of motion in the great velocities of military pro-
jeCtiles, that this parabolic theory, as it is called, is
hardly of any ufe. A mulket ball, difcharged with the
ordinary allotment of powder, iffues from the piece
with the velocity of 1670 feet per fecond : this velo¬
city would be acquired by falling from the height of
eight miles. If the piece be elevated to an angle of
450, the parabola fhould be of fuch extent that it would
reach 16 miles on the horizontal plain ; whereas it does
not reach above half a mile. Similar deficiencies are
obferved in the ranges of cannon (hot. 23
We do not propofe, therefore, to dwell much on this A fhort
theory, and fhall only give fuch a fynoptical view of itview of it.
as {hall make our readers underftand the more general
circumftances of the theory, and be mailers of the lan¬
guage of the art.
Let OB (fig. 3.) be a vertical line. About the Fig. 3.
centres A and B, with the diftance AB, defcribe the
femicircles ODB, AHK, and with the axis AB, and
femiaxis GE, equal to AB, defcribe the femi-ellipfe
AEB : with the focus B, vertex A, diameter AB,
and tangent AD, parallel to the horizon, defcribe the
parabola APS.
Let a body be proje&ed from B, in any dire&ion
BC,
397
PROJECTILES.
EC, witli the velocity acquired by falling through AB.
By what has already been demonftrated, it will defcribe
a parabola BVPM. Then,
1. ADL parallel to the horizon is the dire£lrix of
every parabola which can be defcribed by a body pro¬
jected from B with this velocity. This is evident.
2. The femicircle AHK is the locus of all the foci
of thefe parabolas: For the diltanee BH of a point B
of any parabola from the directrix AD is equal to its
diftance BF from the focus F of that parabola ; there¬
fore the foci of all the parabolas which pafs through
B, and have AD for their directrix, muft be in the cir¬
cumference of the circle which has AB for its radius,
and B for its centre.
3. If the line of direction BC cut the upper femi¬
circle in C, and the vertical line CF be drawn, cutting
the lower femicircle in F, F is the focus of the para¬
bola BVPM, defcribed by the body which is projected
in the direction BC, with the velocity acquired by fall¬
ing through BA : for drawing AC, BF, it is evident
that ACFB is a rhombus, and that the angle ABF is
bif&fted by BC, and therefore the focus lies in the line
BF j but it alfo lies in the circumference AFK, and
therefore in F.
If C is in the upper quadrant of ODB, F is in the
upper quadrant of AFK 5 and if C be in the lower
quadrant of ODB (as when BC is the line of direction)
then the focus of the correfponding parabola B “y M is
in the lower quadrant of AHK, as atj^
4. The elliplis AEB is the focus of the vertex of
all the parabolas, and the vertex V of any one of them
BVPM is in the interfection of this ellipfis with the
vertical CF : for let this vertical cut the horizontal
lines AD, GE, BN, in 0, x, N. Then it is plain that
N A is half of N <5, and A V is half of C 0; therefore NV
is half of NC, and V is the vertex of the axis.
If the focus is in the upper or lower quadrant of the
circle AHK, the vertex is in the upper or the lower
quadrant of the ellipfe AEG.
5. If BFP be drawn through the focus of any one
of the parabolas, fuch as BVM, cutting the parabola
APS in P, the parabola BVM touches the parabola
APS in P : for drawing P ^ » parallel to AB, cutting
the direddrix O* of the parabola APS in x, and the
direftrix AL of the parabola BVM in 5, then PB rr P*;
but BF=BA, — AO, — : therefore P 3—PF, and
the point P is in the parabola BVM. Alfo the tan¬
gents to both parabolas in P coincide, for they bifeft
the angle * PB ; therefore the two parabolas having a
common tangent, touch each other in P.
Cor. All the parabolas which can be defcribed by a
body projected from B, with the velocity acquired by
falling through AB, wall touch the concavity of the pa¬
rabola APS, and lie wholly within it.
6. P is the moft dillant point of the line BP which
can be hit by a body projefted from B with the velocity
acquired by falling through AB. For if the direction
is more elevated than BC, the focus of the parabola de¬
fcribed by the body will lie between F and A, and the
parabola will touch APS in fome point between P and
A , and being wholly within the parabola APS, it
muft cut the line BP in fome point within P. The
fame thing may be ftiown when the direction is lefs
elevated than BC.
7. The parabola APS is the focus of the greateft
ranges on any planes BP, BS, &c. and no point lying
Without this parabola can be ftruck. >
8. The greateft range on any plane BP is produced
when the line of diredlion BC bifedls the angle OBP
formed by that plane with the vertical : for the para¬
bola defcribed by the body in this cafe touches APS in
P, and its focus is in the line BP, and therefore the
tangent BC bife&s the angle OBP.
Cor. The greateft range on a horizontal plane is made
with an elevation of 450.
9. A point M in any plane BS, lying between B and
S, may be ftruck with two diredlions, BCandBc;
and thefe directions are equidiftant from the direction
B t, which gives the greateft range on that plane : for
if about the centre M, with the diftance ML from the
direCtrix AL, we defcribe a circle LF^ it will cut the
circle AHK in two points F and,/^ which are evident¬
ly the foci of two parabolas BVM, B v M, having the
direCtrix AL and diameter ABK. The interfeCtion
of the circle ODB, with the verticals FC, /V, deter¬
mine the directions BC, B c of the tangents. Draw
At parallel to BS, and join / B, C c, F f; then OB ^
= 4 GBS, and B / is the direction which gives the
greateft range on the plane BS : but becaufe Fy'is a
chord of the circles defcribed round the centres B and
M, Fjf is perpendicular to BM, and C c to A /, and
the arches C /, c t are equal j and therefore the angles
CB /, c B / are equal.
Thus we have given a general view of the fubjeCt,
which (hows the connection and dependence of every
circumftance which can influence the refult; for it is evi¬
dent that to every velocity of projection there belongs
a fet of parabolas, with their directions and ranges;
and every change of velocity has a line AB correfpond¬
ing to it, to which all the others are proportional. As
the height neceffary for acquiring any velocity increa-
fes or diminifhes in the duplicate proportion of that
velocity, it is evident that all the ranges with given ele¬
vations will vary in the fame proportion, a double ve¬
locity giving a quadruple range, a triple velocity giving
a noncuple range, &c. And, on the other hand, when
the ranges are determined beforehand (which is the
ufual cafe), the velocities are in the fubduplicate pro¬
portion of the ranges. A quadruple range will require
a double velocity, &c.
On the principles now eftablifhed is founded the or-EXpeiienc,r
dinary theory of gunnery, furnifhing rules which are to principally
direft the art of throwing fliot and ftiells, fo as to hit^’r^s die
the mark with a determined velocity. ounnen
But we muft obferve, that this theory is of little fer-°
vice for directing us in the praCtice of cannonading.
Here it is neceffary to come as near as we can to the
objeCt aimed at, and the hurry of fervice allows no time
for geometrical methods of pointing the piece after each
difcharge. The gunner either points the cannon di-
reCtly to the objeft, when within 200 or 300 yards of
it, in which cafe he is faid to (hoot point blank (pointer
au blanCy i. e. at the white mark in the middle of the
gunners target) ; or, if at a greater diftance, he efti-
rnates to the belt of his judgment the defleClion corref¬
ponding to his diftance, and points the cahnon accord¬
ingly. In this he is aided by the greater thicknefs at
the breech of a piece of ordnance. Or, laftly, when
the intention is not to batter, but to rake along a line
occupied
398
projectile s.
occupied by the enemy, the cannon is elevated at a con-
iiderable angle, and the (hot difcharged with a fmall
force, fo that it drops into the enemy’s port, and bounds
along the line. In all thefe fervices the gunner is di¬
rect'd entirely by trial, and we cannot fay that this pa¬
rabolic theory can do him any fervice.
The principal ufe of it is to direC the bombardier in
throwing tliells. With thefe it is propofed to break
down or fet fire to buildings, to break through the vault¬
ed roofs of magazines, or to intimidate and kill troops
by burlting among them. Thefe objefts are always un¬
der cover of the enemy’s works, and cannot be touched
by a direC Ihot. The bombs and carcaffes are there¬
fore thrown upwards, fo as to get over the defences and
produce their effeC.
Thefe fhells are of very great weight, frequently ex¬
ceeding 20olbs. The mortars from which they are
difcharged mull therefore be very flrong, that they may
refift the explofion of gunpowder which is neceffary for
throwing fuch a mafs of matter to a diilance ; they are
confequently unwieldly, and it is found moft convenient
to make them almoll a folid and immoveable lump.
Very little change can be made in their elevation, and
therefore their ranges are regulated by the velocities
given to the (hell. Thefe again are produced by the
quantities of powder in the charge ; and experience (con¬
firming the beft theoretical notions that we can form of
the fubjeC) has taught us, that the ranges are nearly
proportional to the quantities of powder employed, only
not increafing quite fo fall;. This method is much ea-
fier than by differences of elevation; for we can feleft
the elevation which gives the greateft range on the given
plane, and then we are certain that we are employing
the fmalleft quantity of powder with which the fervice
can be performed : and we have another advantage, that
the deviations which unavoidable caufes produce in the
real direftions of the bomb will then produce the fmall¬
eft pofiible deviation from the intended range. This is
24 the cafe in moft mathematical maxima.
in^forcJ' Proje&ifos the velocity is produced by the
in^theory fxP^0^on a quantity of gunpowder 5 but in our theory
different ^ ls conceived as produced by a fall from a certain height,
from that by the proportions of which we can accurately determine
in pradlice. its quantity. Thus a velocity of 1600 feet per fecond
is produced by a fall from the height of 4000 feet, or
1333 yards.
4* i he height CA (fig. 4.) for producing the velocity
of projedlion is called, in the language of gunnery, the
impetus. We ftiall exprefs it by the fymbol /i.
The diftance AB to which the ftiell goes on any
plane AB is called the amplitude or the range r.
The angle DBA, made by the vertical line and the
plane A B, may be called the angle of POSITION of that,
plane, />.
The angle DAB, made by the axis or direction of
the piece, and the direction of the obje<ft, may be called
the angle of ELEVATION of the piece above the plane
AB, c.
The angle ZAD, made by the vertical line, and the
direction of the piece, may be called the ZENITH dif¬
tance,
The relations between all the circumftances of velo¬
city, diftance, pofition, elevation, and time, may be in¬
cluded in the following propofitions.* sd- 2-
I. Let a fhell be projected from A, with the velocity Relations
acquired by falling through CA, with the intention 0fb€rtween.
hitting the mark B fituated in the given line AB. l|_if dip-mce
Make ZAcssqAC, and draw BD perpendicular to the &C. ’
horizon. Defcribe on ZA an arch of a circle ZD A,
containing an angle equal to DBA, and draw AD to
the interle&ion of this circle v ith DB ; then will a
body projefted from A, in the diredtion AD, with the
velocity acquired by falling through CA, hit the mark
B.
For, produce CA downwards, and draw BF parallel
to AD, and draw ZD. It is evident from the con-
ftruftion that AB touches the circle in B, and that the
angles ADZ, DBA, are equal, as alfo the angles AZD,
DAB j therefore the triangles ZAD, APB are fimi-
lar.
Therefore BD : DA=DA : AZ,
And DA1—BD X AZ ;
Therefore BF1 = AF x AZ,—AFx 4AC.
Therefore a parabola, of which AF is a diameter, and
AZ its parameter, will pafs through B, and this para¬
bola will be the path of the ftiell projected as already
metioned.
Remark. When BD cuts this circle, it cuts it in two
points D, d; and there are two directions which will
folve the problem. If BTV only touches the circle in
D', there is but one direction, and AB' is the greateft
poflible range with this velocity. If the vertical line
through B does not meet the circle, the problem is im-
poflible, the velocity being too fmall. When B'D'
touches the circle, the two directions AD' and Ad'
coalefce into one direction, producing the greateft range,
and bifeCting the angle ZAB y and the other two di¬
rections AD, Ad, producing the fame range AB, are
equidiftant from AD', agreeably to the general propofi-
tion.
It is evident that AZ : AD~S,ADZ : S,AZD —S,DBA : S,DAB,= S,* : S,c
And AD : DE=S,DBA : S,DAB,= ' S,/>: S c
And DB : AB—S,DAB : S,ADB,= S,e : Sps
Therefore AZ : AB=S%/> X S,c : SV x S, * •, : S, c x S,*
Or 4/; : r =Sl,/> : S, <? xS, 2;, and 4 /i-x S, c x S, zzzrx S1,/*
Hente we obtain the relations wanted.
Thus h= , and r=
48,^ X S,25 S\/>
* 1 c r X S*/> r x S’,A
And o, % — —77-, and S, e~~ .
4« X 8,e 4// X 8,55
The only other circumftance in which we are intereft-
ed is the time of the flight. A knowledge of this is ne¬
ceffary for the bombardier, that he may cut the fuzes of
his fhells to fuch lengths as that they may burft at the
very inftant of their hitting the mark.
Now AB : DB — Sin, ADB : Sin, DAB, — S, 2; :
Sfe, and DBcr—But the time of the flight is
16
To calcu¬
late the
time of
flight.
2
the
399
27
The rheory
of gunnery
compared
with expe¬
riment.
28
This com-
parifon
fliews the
deficiency
of the theo¬
ry-
PROJECTILES.
the fame with the time of falling through Dii, and 16
feet : DEm" : t"z. Hence tn2‘~ '9 - , and we have
16b, a’
the following eafy rule.
From the fum or the logarithms of the range, and of
the line of elevation, fubtiaht the lum of the logarithms
of 16, and of the fine ot the zenith diitance, halt the re¬
mainder is the logarithm of the time in Seconds.
'1'his becomes itill ealier in practice for the mortar
fhoulu be fo elevated that tne range is a maximum : in
which cafe and then half the difterence of the
logarithms ot AB and oi 16 is the logarithm of the time
in leconds.
Such are the deductions from the general propofitions
W'hich conftitute the ordinary theory of gunnery. It re¬
mains to compare them with experiment.
In fuch experiments as can be performed with great
accuracy in a chamber, the coincidence is as great as
can be wilhed. A jet of water, or mercury, gives us
the finefl example, becaufe w^e have the whole parabola
exhibited to us in the firnultaneous places of the luc-
ceeding particles. Yet even in thefe experiments a de¬
viation can be obferved. When the jet is made on a
horizontal plane, and the curve carefully traced on a
perpendicular plane held clofe by it, it is found that the
diitance between the higheft point of the curve and the
mark is lefs than the diitance between it and the fpout,
and that the defending branch of the curve is more
perpendicular than the afcending branch. And this
difference is more remarkable as the jet is made wdth
greater velocity, and reaches to a greater diftance. This
is evidently produced by the refiftance of the air, which
diminithes the velocity, without affecting the gravity of
the proje&ile. It is ftxll more fenfible in the motion of
bombs. Thefe can be traced through the air by the
light of their fuzes *, and we fee that their higheft point
is always much nearer to the mark than to the mortar
on a horizontcl plane.
The greateil horizontal range on this plane fhould
be when the elevation is 450. It is always found to be
much lower.
The ranges on this plane fliould be as the fines of
twice the elevation.
A ball difcharged at the elev. 190. 5' ranged 448 yards
at 9- 45 33°
It fiiould have ranged by theory 241
The range at an elevation of 450 fliould be twice the
impetus. Mr Robins found that a mulket-ball, difchar¬
ged with the ufual allotment of powder, had the velo¬
city of 1700 feet in a fecond. This requires a fall of
45156 feet, and the range fliould be 90312, or 17^-
miles ; whereas it does not much exceed half a mile. A
24 pound ball difcharged with 16 pounds of powder
fliould range about 16 miles •, whereas it is generally
fliort of 3 miles.
Such facls fliow incontrovertibly how deficient the
parabolic theory is, and how unfit for diredfing the prac¬
tice of the artilleriit. A very fimple confideration. is
fufficient for rendering this obvious to the moft unin-
flrudled. The refiflance of the air to a very light body
may greatly exceed its weight. Any one will feel this
in trying to move a fan very rapidly through the air;
therefore this refiftance would occafion a greater devi-
tion from uniform motion than gravity would in that
body. Its path, therefore, through the air may differ
more from a parabola than the parabola itfelf deviates
from the llraight line.
It is for fuch cogent reafotis that we prefume to fay,
that the voluminous treatifes which have been publifhed
on this lubjeel are nothing but ingenious amufements
for young mathematicians. Few perfons who have been
much engaged in the ftudy of mechanical philofophy
have milled this opportunity in the beginning of their
itudies. The fubject is eaiy. Some property of the
parabola occurs, by which they can give a neat and
fy hematic folution of all the queflions ; and at this time
of ftudy it feems a coniiderable eflay ot fkiil. They are
tempted to write a book on the lubjebt j and it finds
readers among, other young mechanicians, and employs
all tiie mathematical knowledge that moil of the young
gentlemen of the military profeffion are pofiefled or.
But thefe performances deferve little attention from the
practical artillerifl. All that feems poflible to do for
his education is, to multiply judicious experiments on
real pieces of ordnance, with the charges that are ufed
in abtual fervice, and to furnifti him with tables calculat¬
ed from fuch experiments.
Thefe obfervations will ferve to juftify us for having
given fo concife an account of this dodtrine of the para¬
bolic flight of bodies. 29
But it is the bufmefs of a philofopher to inquire into Gaufts of
the caufes of fuch a prodigious deviation from a well-t'1’s f*e“cl""
founded theory, and having difcovered them, to afcer-cl‘cy'
tain precifely the deviations they occafion. Thus we
ftiall obtain another theory, either in the form of the pa¬
rabolic theory corrected, or as a fubject of independent
difcuflion. This we (hall now attempt. ^
The motion of projedtiles is performed in the atmo- Effect of
fphere. The air is difplaced, or put in motion. What-the atmo-.
ever motion it acquires mult be taken from the bullet. fphere>
The motion communicated to the air muft be in the pro¬
portion of the quantity of air put in motion, and of the
velocity communicated to it. If, therefore, the dilplaced
air be always Jimilarly difplaced, whatever be the velo¬
city of the bullet, the motion communicated to it, and
loft by the bullet, muft: be proportional to the fquare of
the velocity of the bullet and to the denfity of the air
jointly. Therefore the diminution of its motion muit be
greater when the motion itlelf is greater, and in the
very great velocity of (hot and fhells it muft he prodi¬
gious. It appears from Mr Robins’s experiments that
a globe of \\ inches in diameter, moving with the velo¬
city of 25 feet in a fecond, fuftained a refiftance of 315
grains, nearly ^ of an ounce. Suppofe this ball to move
800 feet in a fecond, that is 3 2 times fafter, its refift¬
ance would be 32x32 times ^ of an ounce, or 768 oun¬
ces or 48 pounds. This is four times the weight of a
ball of caft iron of this diameter 5 and if the initial ve¬
locity had been 1600 feet per fecond, the refiftance
would be at leaft 16 times the weight of the ball. It is
indeed much greater than this. *
This refiftance, operating conftantly and uniformly corrip,ire<j
on the ball, muft take away four times as much from with that
its velocity as its gravity would do in the fame time, of gravity, .
We know that in one fecond gravity would reduce the
velocity 800 to 768 if the ball were proje&ed ftraight
upwards. This refiftance of the air would therefore re¬
duce it in one fecond to 672, if it operated uniformly ;
but as the velocity diminiflies continually by the refift¬
ance, and the refiftance diminithes along with the velo-
cfty* >
4oo PROJECTILES.
city, the leal diminution will be fomewhat lefs than 128 force of refiftance.
32 ,
and confi-
dered as a
retarding
force.
33
The refift-
form.
feet. We ihall, however, fee afterwards that in one fe~
cond its velocity will be reduced from 800 to 687.
From this liniple inltance, we fee that the refinance of
the air muft occafion great deviation from parabolic mo¬
tion.
In order to judge accurately of its effect, we muft
confider it as a retarding force, in the fame way as we
conlider gravity. The weight W of a body is the ag¬
gregate of the action of the force of gravity g on each
particle of the body. Suppofe the number of equal par¬
ticles, or the quantity of matter, of a body to be M,
then W is equivalent to In like manner, the re¬
fiftance R, which we obferve in any experiment, is the
aggregate of the aftion of a retarding force R' on each
particle, and is equivalent to R'M : and as g is equal to
W . R
jyp fo R' is equal We ftiall keep this diftindlion
in view, by adding the differential mark ' to the letter
R or r, which expreffes the aggregate refiftance.
If we, in this manner, confider refiftance as a retard-
ance of the ing force, we can compare it with any other fuch force
sur not uni- by. means Qf t]ie retardation which it produces in fimilar
circumftances. We would compare it with gravity by
comparing the diminution of velocity which its uniform
aftion produces in a given time with the diminution
produced in the fame time by gravity. But we have
no opportunity of doing this direftly ) for when the re¬
fiftance of the air diminifhes the velocity of a body, it
diminifties it gradually, which occafions a gradual dimi¬
nution of its own intenfity. This is not the cafe with
gravity, which has the fame aftion on a body in motion
or at reft. We cannot, therefore, obferve the uniform
a£lion of the air’s refiftance as a retarding force. We
muft fall on fome other way of making the comparifon.
We can ftate them both as dead preffures. A ball may
be fitted to the rod of a fpring ftillyard, and expofed to
impulfe of the wind. This will comprefs the ftillyard
to the mark 3, for inftance. Perhaps the weight of the
ball will comprefs it to the mark 6. We know that
half this weight would comprefs it to 3. We account
this equal to the preffure of the air, becaufe they ba¬
lance the fame elafticity of the fpring. And in this way
we can eftimate the refiftance by weights, whofe pref¬
fures are equal to its preffure, and we can thus compare
it with other refiftances, weights, or any other preffures.
In fadt, w’e are meafuring them all by the elafticity of
the fpring. This elafticity in its different pofitions is
fuppofed to have the proportions of the weights W'hich
keep it in thefe pofitions. Thus wre reafon from the na¬
ture of gravity, no longer confidered as a dead preflure,
but as a retarding force ; and wre apply our conclufions
to refiftances which exhibit the fame preffures, but which
we cannot make to a£l uniformly. This fenfe of the
words muft be carefully remembered whenever we fpeak
of refiftances in pounds and ounces.
The moft diredl and convenient way of ftating the
comparifon between the refiftance of the air and the ac¬
celerating force of gravity, is to take a cafe in which
fw.!!116"we know tliat they are equal. Since the refiftance is
here affumed as proportional to the fquare of the velo¬
city, it is evident that the velocity may be fo increafed
that the refiftance {hall equal or exceed the weight of
the body. If a body be already moving downwards with
this velocity, it cannot accelerate 5 becaufe the accele¬
rating force of gravity is balanced by an equal retarding
4
34
Gravity
and refift¬
ance com-
they are
equal.
It follows from this remark, that
this velocity is the greateft that a body can acquire by
the force of gravity only. Nay, we {hall afterwards fee
that it never can completely attain it ; becaufe as it ap¬
proaches to this velocity, the remaining accelerating
force decreafes fafter than the velocity increafes. It may
therefore be called the limiting or terminal velocity
by gravity.
Let a be the height through which a heavy body
muft fall, in vacuo, to acquire its terminal velocity in
air. If projefted diredtly upwards with this velocity, it
will rife again to this height, and the height is half the
fpace which it would defcribe uniformly, with this velo¬
city, in the time of its afcent. Therefore the refiftance
to this velocity being equal to the weight of the body,
it w'ould extinguilh this velocity, by its uniform aftion,
in the fame time, and after the fame diftance, that gra¬
vity would.
Now let g be the velocity which gravity generates
or extinguifhes during an unit of time, and let u be
the terminal velocity of any particular body. The theo-
u*
rems for perpendicular afcents give us g—~, u and a
being both numbers reprefenting units of fpace 5 there-
fore, in the prefent cafe, w7e have r’——. For the w'hole
2a
refiftance r, or r'M, is fuppofed equal to the weight, or to
g M ; and therefore r' is equal to g,
u
:—, and
2a
2a zs.
—. There is a confideration w'hich ought to have place
S
here. A body defcends in air, not by the whole of its
weight, but by the excefs of its weight above that of
the air which it difplaces. It defcends by its fpecific
gravity only as a ftone does in water. Suppofe a bo¬
dy 3 2 times heavier than air, it wrill be buoyed up by
a force equal to of its weight; and inftead of ac¬
quiring the velocity of 32 feet in a fecond, it will only
acquire a velocity of 31, even though it fuftained no
refiftance from the inertia of the air. Let p be the
weight of the body and 5r that of an equal bulk of air:
the accelerative force of relative gravity on each particle
• AT . .
will be ^X1— — } and this relative accelerating force
might be diftinguifhed by another fymbol y. But in
all cafes in which we have any intereft, and particular¬
ly in military projedliles,^ is fo fmall a quantity that it
would be pedantic affedlation to attend to it. It is
much more than compenfated when we make g—^ feet
inftead of 3 2 /^ which it Ihould be.
Let e be the time of this afcent in oppofition to gra¬
vity. The fame theorems give us eu~2a; and fince
the refiftance competent to this terminal velocity is
equal to gravity, e will alfo be the time in which it
would be extinguifiied by the uniform aftion of the re¬
fiftance } for which reafon we may call it the extinguiih-
ing time for this velocity. Let R and E mark the re¬
fiftance and cxtinguiftiing time for the fame body mov¬
ing with the velocity 1.
Since the refiftances are as the fquares of the veloci-
• • ‘U*
ties, and the refiftance to the velocity u is —, R wall
%