it might be fufficient to adduce the examples of Rome and Sparta, two of the moft celebrated republics recorded in hiftory, in which this mode of punishment always obtained, and no evil like the above-mentioned appears to have arifen from the practice. But in fact these are fo far from being the probable effects, that confequences directly oppofite are more likely to happen. It muft, indeed, excite pity to fee the worst of criminals in the chains of flavery, for it is not in the character of man to hate even villainy when miferable. But our pity will be affociated with contempt; and contempt, of all the fentiments of the mind, per haps the most effectually fecures us from the fituation that excites it. However, this evil certainly arifes in every age and country, from needlessly and too conftantly expofing fuch offenders to public view. That the heart will be hardened by the fpectacle, and the terrors of imagination leffened, in his fufferings. It should be obferved, in honour of the humanity of this na tion, that even when extreme punishment is judged to be neceffary, no ap. pearance of cruelty is permitted in its execution;-the delinquent groans not under the wantonnefs of torture, nor is juftice fullied by the imputation of base revenge. It is not, however, quite fufficient that the Legislature avoid itfelf the fufpicion of this baneful and odious paffion, it were alfo to be withed that the Legiflature would reftrain revenge in individuals. For this reafon, the punishment of Imprifonment, as fometimes inflicted in this country, requires the mitigating hand of the civil power. Can it be deemed prudent, or even equitable, that a citi. zen, negligent perhaps, but not depraved, fhould be configned to perpetual confinement for his creditor's gratifi cation? When we punish folly or extravagance, it fhould not be at the command of avarice and cruelty; nor muft we open fo wide a courfe to civil vengeance, as that the innocent may be involved in its torrent. Let us fuppofe (but it is unneceffary to fuppofe the cafe, it has often happened), then, benevolence has been excited and credulity impofed upon; that an indigent individual has obtained the confidence of another, not lefs indigent, but in more can difcern in their public incredit than himself, and obtaining fums ftitutions but few traces of their upon this pledge which he is unable or intelligence and literature. "The unwilling to repay, expofes by a fud- Conftitution of England is wifer," fays den fight to the rigour of the creditor the acute and learned Montesquieu, his unfufpecting bondfman: the bondf- "because there is one part of it which man fuffers juftly, it will be faid, for his examines the Conftitution continually, folly; but it may be worth confidering, and which continually examines itself; that in fuch chaftifements the thought the errors, therefore, of government lefs are levelled with the wicked. It cannot be of long duration; and by the may be worth confidering, more efpeci-pirit of attention which they generate ally at a time when war is making in the people throughout, are often wide havock in two quarters of the ufeful to it. A free government," globe, and, therefore, when no active adds he, " cannot fubfift, unless by its and honeft citizen fhould be permitted very laws it be capable of correcto languish in a miferable and ufelefs tion." confinement. With refpect to the punishment of Slavery, it appears perfectly well fuited to the purposes of ignominy and correction; and it needed not to have been mentioned here, but for an objection which is made to it. It is urged, that this punishment, conftantly exercifed before the eyes of the citizens, habituating them to temporary fervitude, prepares them for that which is perpetual. To answer this objection, When we indulge this freedom of reflection upon the national legislation, it would be unjuft to fupprefs fentiments of refpe&t towards that Conftitution by whole mildnefs it is permitted. There are at this day many enlightened king. doms, the nature of whole government allows not alterations; and, accordingly, we It is the glory of this kingdom that it is eftablished upon fuch principles; and while the rules of decency are not wholly forgotten, that it fuffers the clamorous to perfevere unreproved; that it liftens to the impertinent with patience. It is not, indeed, from fuch that focieties will derive their improvement, but it is only where fuch are tolerated, that the aufterity of reafon will be honoured. DETACHED HISTORICAL REMARKS OF THE SAME SUBJECT. ABBE RAYNAL. The effects of defpotifm appear very ftrikingly in Raynal's lively defcription of the empire of the Moguls. "The Moguls," fays he, "had no longer that, mafculine character which they had at first brought with them from their mountains. Thofe among them who had obtained any important poft, or had arrived at great riches, changed their habitation with the change of feafons. In thefe delicious retreats they lived indeed in dwellings built only of clay, but whofe accommodations within breathed all the foftnefs of the Eaft, all the fplendour of the most corrupted Courts. In every country where men cannot procure for themselves a permanent fortune, nor tranfmit it to their defcendants, they are eager to condenfe all their enjoyments into the only inftant of which they are fure. They exhauft in the midst of women and perfumes every fpecies of pleafure, and the whole of their existence." MONS, GAILLARD. The character of nations as well as of their laws depends often on the difpofition of the prince who governs them. "In France," fays our Author, "after the death of St. Louis, Philip of Valois and John, both of them by being unfortunate in war, and too enterpriting at home, excited feditions among the people, and irritated the great. The nation avenged itfelf during the cap tivity of John by the moft monftrous exceffes; a people diftinguifhed by the gentleness of its manners, became a country of tigers (How applicable is this obfervation, made twenty years ago, to the prefent ftate of that distracted nation!), Charles the Fifth afcends the throne; he impreffes on his fubjects his own character-the character of moderation, prudence, and juftice. They become a nation of fages. Every thing is repaired, perfected, and embellished. The uncles of Charles the Sixth, by extortion and violence, bring back the ancient anarchy; the nation appears fmitten with the infanity of its King. Every one is Burgundian, Armagnac, Maillotin, Caboitrien; hot a fingle individual is French. The butchers and the executioner intrude themfelves into the government; the heir to the throne is driven from his country by his father and his mother; and the English reign at Paris. Where was then the national character? Charles the Seventh expels the invaders; he collects his indig nant people; he enjoys along with them his victories; and France recovers its reputation." I have only to add to the obfervations of this excellent hiftorian my fincere with, that as the prefent ftate of our unhappy neighbour resembles in fo very striking a manner the picture he has drawn of it in the reign of John of France, fo the more juft and virtuous character which they exhibited during the reign of Charles the Seventh, may be haftening to fucceed it, PAUSANIAS. When Homer fpeaks in the 11th Book of the Odyffev, fays this hiftorian, of the building of Thebes by Amphion and his brother, he mentions not a word of the walls of that city having been raifed by the power of mufic. This was the invention, I fuppofe, of later mythologifts; the Mæonian bard fpoke with more truth and fimplicity on the establishment of commenwealths. Success in any attempt to change the form of a civil government, depends often as much on a favourable concur rence of circumftances as on perfonal talents. "Cromwell," fays an illustrious author, "would have been hanged in the reign of Elizabeth, and only laugh. ed at in that of Charles the Second." JAMES THE FIRST. The laws of nations breathe not only the cruelty of defpotifm, when the Prince happens to be of that character, but alfo the folly of pedantry, and the childishness of fuperftition. By a law made in the reign of James the First, to feed, employ, or reward any evil fpirit was felony. GREECE. When the cuftoms of a nation are unfavourable to improvement, one is lefs difinclined to pardon thofe immoralities which help to correct the ignorance fuch cuftoms always generate. The courtezans of antiquity were not only tolerated, but in Greece acquir. ed immenfe fortunes, and directed the politics of nations. In that country they were the only women who poffeffed lite. rature and intellectual talents. The rea fon fon was, that they were not imprifoned in a gynæcium. ROME. Our Game Laws are not quite fo bad as one that obtained among the early Roman Emperors, by which an African peafant who fhould kill a lion, though it had ravaged the open villages or cultivated lands, incurred a very heavy penalty. Lions were referved for the pleafures of the capital. This oppreffive edict was repeated by Juftinian. HOMER. Murder was atoned for by money not only among the ancient Germans, but even in much earlier times among the Greeks. In the 18th book of the Iliad, where the fculptures on the fhield of Achilles are minutely defcribed, two men are introduced difputing before the Judges concerning the mulet for a murder committed by one of them, which he affirms that he had paid, and the other, a relation of the deceafed, denies that he has received.-Ulyffes, converfing with his fon in the 23d book of the Odyffey, defcribes himtelf as in the cafe of a man who had fled from his country for homicide; which implies, fays Euftathius, that he had not fufficient property to make an atonement. In fuch a difficulty it was ufual for the murderer to fly for refuge to the houfe of fome wealthy perfon, and there to fit down with his head covered, im. ploring for pecuniary afliftance to explate his crime This cuftom is also alluded to in the defcription of the interview between Achilles and Priam, in the laft book of the Iliad. the knout three times.-Hift. of Ruffia, A. D. 1648. AULUS GELLIUS. Republican Governments, compared with Monarchies, have been thought favourable to the arts of Peace; and yet both Rome and Sparta are exceptions to this opinion. The warlike character of the firft-mentioned Government is too well known to require illustration; but the method employed by the Lacedæmonians to convey intelligence through hoftile countries by the Skutale, though inferior to the modern method of writing in cyphers, yet fhews that this fimple and ignorant State had arrived at fome degree of refinement in the art of War. Aulus® Gellius defcribes it as confifting of two wands of exactly the fame dimenfions, round one of which was rolled a bandage of leather with letters halved on each circumlocution, and the other halves on the circumlocution fucceeding Thefe letters compofed words, expreffing the fecret withes of the writer He only who was in poffeffion of one of thefe wands, could read what had been indited on the rollers of the other. The fame author defcribes a curious device of one Hifticus, an Afiatic, who thaved one of his flaves under the pretence of curing him of a weakness in his eyes,and then wrote on his bald pate fome fecret intelligence to a friend, named Ariftagoras. Having difclofed his mind on this living tablet, he kept the flave closely confined till his hair was grown again, after which he fent him to Ariftagoras to be fhaved.-Lib. 17. cap. 9. BRANTOME. The edious principles of Machiavel which to be detefted need only to be known, have hitherto been confidered as confined to Monarchies, though the recent calamities of France prove that no nominal form of Government is fafe from their poifonous effects. The infamous Catharine of Medicis feems to have furpaffed her inftructor, and to have equalled her fucceffors, in this mifchievous policy. Having determined, previously to the Malfacre of St. Bartholomew, to attract to, and fe cure within the walls of Paris, Condé, Coligny, and the other leaders of the Huguenot party, the had recourfe to her ufual engine, the influence of female attractions. Brantome tells us, by by the bye, and feemingly without being himfelf aware of the importance of the remark, that all the Maids of Honour during this period were Huguenote. The licentioufnefs of the Court during the reign of Charles the Ninth, was entirely the contrivance of this vile woman. AMBROSE PARE was the only Proteftant faved, by the order of the King himfelf, from the horrible Maffacre abovementioned. He was the King's firft Surgeon, and the first practitioner in Europe, and was indebted to his talents for his fafety. "Let us take care," fays Charles, "not to deprive a man of his life who is able to preferve the lives fo many," CHARLES the NINTH, notwithstand. ing the odium juftly attached to his memory for the murder, though by the Lattigation of his mother, of fo many thousand Proteftants, poffeffed a great ardour for glory, and a defire for every fpecies of information, which if a longer life had enabled him to difplay, be might have held a diftinguished rank among Princes. "Having difcovered," ays Mezeray, "that wine had made him guilty of fome violence of behaviour, he abftained from it for the reft f his life. He difcontinued alfo en TABLE tirely promifcuous connections with women, having fuffered in his health from an amour with one of his mother's Maids of Honour." We may judge from thence of the diffolute manners of the Court. At the siege of St. Jean d'Angely, in 1569, Charles was conftantly in the trenches, like a common foldier. His curiofity was without bounds, and comprehended not only the rudeft Arts, but thofe alfo which at that time were reckoned ignoble, if any Art can be ignoble that is ufcful. He understood the method of forging gun-barrels, and of making horse-shoes. He was defirous alfo of coining money, and even of counterfeiting the current coin. He produced to the Cardinal of Lorraine two pieces of his own manu facture, which every-body fuppofed to be equally genuine, though one was counterfeited. The Cardinal, who had the fuperintendance of the Finances, and of the Coinage, obferved in reply, that the King carried his pardon in his pocket, but that he fhould not advife any other man to be equally ingenious. The reign of Charles the Ninth, which indeed is the reafon of our having expatiated on his character, was, under the aufpices and direction of the celebrated Chancellor de L'Hopital, the Golden Age of Legislation in France. OR, TALK; C. H. CHARACTERS, ANECDOTES, &c. OF ILLUSTRIOUS AND CELEBRATED BRITISH CHARACTERS, DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. (MOST OF THEM NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.) [Continued from Page 351. ] HENRY JONES.-Concluded. JONE TONES's mufe not only reached the principal performers of his time, but occafionally ftooped to flatter thofe of that profeffion who might be fer viccable to him in h's wants and his pleafures. The fact is, he had the lower part of the Green Room at that time under a kind of contribution. He lived with them either at their lodgings or at alchoufes, borrowed morey of them, &c. &c. and for this he repaid them with puffs and poetical compliments preceding their benefits. He could be coarie too upon pars cular occations; and, like his friend Hifferran, was fubj.& to fall under the tvranny of the tankard. In these moods he used to abafe the profeffion of the ftage, calling the performers Parrots, who folely depended upon the words which the authors put into their mouths for their reputation and fupport. A life of this kind daily wore off that fpirit of independence and respect for character, without which man is poor indeed.-Jones foon entirely loft fight of fame, as well as establishment, and only roufed himself for the provi fron of the day. The mifery attending this fituation can readily be conceived; and our author must have felt it at times, though he had not refolution to alter his conduct. Hence he experienced all the viciffitudes of an indigent and degraded condition; "the thifting tides of fear and hope, the peril and efcape, the famine and the feaft;" the noify moment of intoxication, and the brooding melancholy hours of defpondence and defpair. His diftreffes daily gaining on him, and no effort on his part exerted to relieve him, he frequently fell under the gripe of the law, and the Spunging boufe was a place that not infrequently claimed his habitation.-Here he generally drew upon his mufe for his fupport; and, as he could affume fome addrefs and foftnefs in his manners, he generally found out the weak fide of the daughter or wife of the bailiff, and flattered them fo with a copy of verses, either on their beauty or talents, as to make his quarters both comfortable and convenient. - Many ftories have been told of his addrefs in those matters. Sometimes he would make himfelf useful by drawing petitions and memorials for perfons under the fame roof with him; fometimes he would affift at the tap; and fometimes would be fo far confided in, as to be appointed guardian of the inner door. Two anecdotes he used to relate with no little pride, as proofs of the prevalency of his talents. The one was his borrowing two guineas of the bailiff whilft in his houfe under an arreft for ren pounds; and the other of his writing fome verfes on the daughter of a bailiff, who, like a fecond Lucy, gave her lover his liberty at the expence of her father's purfe and refentment. It would be difficult to trace Jones through all the labyrinths of his fortune. A life fo totally unguarded must hang upon the events of the hour, and if known muft form a repetition of fcenes as difgufting in the exhibition as difgraceful to the actor. It is fufficient to know, that after experiencing many reverfes of fortune, which his impracticable temper and unaccountable imprudence drew on him, his fituation at laft excited the pity of Mr. H-d-n, the mafter of the Bedford Coffee-houfe; a man who, to the virtues of frugality and attention in his bufmefs, difplayed, upon all proper occafions, a very feeling heart, and was well known to be particularly attentive to the wants of diftreffed gentlemen, decayed artifts, &c. This man, knowing Jones's story, and ftruck with the fhabbinefs of his appearance as he took his morning perainbulation round the Piazzas, made him an offer of a room in his houfe, and board every day that he was not otherwife better engaged. Jones accepted this propofal with gratitude, and for fome time kept within the regulations of a private family. But the natu! love of a more mixed and enlarged fociety, the fpirit of domineering, of contraft, of diffipation, foon prevailed; and eloping one morning early from his lodgings, he did not return that night; the next night came, and Mr. H—d—n again missed his inmate. This roufed his inquiries, when it appeared, that Jones, after being in a state of inebriety for two days, was found run over by a waggon on the night of the third, in St. Martin's Lane, without his hat or his coat. In this difgraceful and mutilated fituation he was taken to the workhoufe of that parish, where he died a few days after (April 1770); a ftrong and miferable example of the total want of that prudence, which to men with or without talents is fo abfolutely neceffary to conduct them through all the affairs of life. As a man, Jones, from the report of thofe who knew him in the early parts of life, poffeffed many amiable quali ties. He was generous, affable, goodnatured, and complying; and perhaps his only fault was in being too much addicted to the pleafures of the table. He received his firft patronization under Lord Chief Juftice Singleton and the principal inhabitants of Drogheda too unspoiled, but the patronage of Lord Chesterfield in time fapped the ftrength of his mind. To be felected by fuch a character as his Lordfhip from the common mats of authors, without edu. cation or family connections; to be tranfplanted afterwards by him to England, as a foil more congenial to his talents; to have the entrée of his Lordship's houfe; to be fupported by him in fubfcriptions and private recommendations-thefe raifed a fudden tide of profperity, which overflowed the bounds of our author's difcretion, and drove him into the great ocean of life without rudder or compafs. He was, however, under fome kind of reftriction in his conduct till he broke altogether with Lord Chefterfield. The awe of his Lordship's high character, the expectations he raised upon his proteflion, and the neceffity there was for an appearance both in drefs and converfation when before him ;-all the fe checked |