mended this to others, whose welfare, on his own account, he wished well to.

Nor had he any of those flaws in his character, such as were the clemency of Alexander and Cæsar, which nature so grossly erred in giving them, as a painter would err who should dress a peasant in robes of state, or give the nose and features of Venus to a satyr. What had these destroyers of mankind, that glorious pair, one of whom came into the world to usurp the dominion and abolish the constitution of his country, the other to conquer and enslave the whole world, at least as much as was known to him, and as the shortness of his life gave him leave to visit; what, I say, had these to do with clemency? Who cannot see the absurdity and contradiction of mixing such an ingredient with these noble and great qualities I have mentioned? Now in Wild everything was great, almost without alloy, as his imperfections (for surely he had some small ones) were only such as served to denominate him a human creature, of which kind none ever arrived at consummate excellence. Indeed, while greatness consists in power, pride, insolence, and doing mischief to mankind, while a great man and a great rogue are synonymous terms, so long shall Wild stand unrivalled on the pinnacle of greatness. Nor must we omit here, in the finishing of this character, what ought to be remembered of him on his tomb or his statue, the conformity above mentioned of his death to his life; and, that Jonathan Wild the great, after all his mighty exploits, was, what so few great men can accomplish, hanged by the neck till he was dead.

DAVID HUME.

DAVID HUME, metaphysician and historian, was born A.D. 1711, and died 1766. His chief works are: A Treatise on Human Nature; Essays-Moral, Political, and Literary, and the History of England down to the Revolution.

JEALOUSY OF TRADE.

NOTHING is more usual among states which have made some advances in commerce than to look on the progress of their neighbours with a suspicious eye, to consider all trading states as their rivals, and to suppose that it is impossible for any of them to flourish but at their own expense. In opposition to this narrow opinion, I will venture to assert, that the increase of riches and commerce in any one nation, instead of hurting, promotes the riches and commerce of all its neighbours; and that a state can scarcely carry its trade and industry very far, where all the surrounding states are buried in ignorance, sloth, and barbarism.

It is obvious the domestic industry of a nation cannot be hurt by the greatest prosperity of their neighbours ; and as this branch of commerce is undoubtedly the most important, we are so far removed from all reason of jealousy. But I go farther and observe, that when an open communication is preserved among nations, it is impossible but the domestic industry of every one must receive an increase from the improvement of the others. Compare the situation of Great Britain with what it was two centuries ago; all the arts both of agriculture and manufactures were then extremely rude and imperfect. Every improvement which we have since made has arisen from imitation and competition with foreigners; and we ought, so far, to esteem it happy, that they had previously made advances in arts and ingenuity. But this intercourse is still upheld to our advantage; notwithstanding the advanced state of our manufactures, we daily adopt in every art the inventions and improvements of our neighbours.

The commodity is first imported from abroad, to our great discontent, while we imagine it drains us of our money, afterwards the art itself is gradually imported, to our visible advantage; yet we continue still to repine, that our neighbours, foreigners, should possess such art, industry, and invention, forgetting, that had not they first instructed us, we should have been at present barbarians; and did they not continue their instructions, the arts must fall into a state of languor, and lose that emulation and novelty which contribute so much to their advancement.

The increase of domestic industry lays the foundation of foreign commerce. Where a great number of commodities are raised and perfected for the home market, there will always be found some which can be exported to advantage. But if our neighbours have no art or cultivation, they cannot take them; because they will have nothing to give in exchange. In this respect states are in the same condition as individuals. A single man can scarcely be industrious, where all his fellow-citizens are idle. The riches of the several members of a community contribute to increase my riches, whatever profession I may follow. They consume the product of my industry, and afford me the product of theirs in return.

Nor need any state entertain apprehensions that their neighbours will improve to such a degree in every art and manufacture as to have no demand from them. Nature, by giving a diversity of geniuses, climates, and soils, to different nations, has secured their mutual intercourse and commerce, so long as they remain industrious and civilized. Nay, the more the arts increase in any state, the more will be its demands from its industrious neighbours. The inhabitants, having become opulent and skilful, desire to have every commodity in the utmost perfection; and as they have plenty of commodities to give in exchange, they make large importations from every foreign country; the industry of the nations from whom they import receives encouragement; their own is also increased by the sale of the commodities which they give in exchange.

TOBIAS SMOLLET.

TOBIAS SMOLLET (A.D. 1721-1771) was a student of medicine, and served for some time as surgeon's mate on board a manof-war; his experience of naval life he has abundantly turned to account in Roderick Random, and Peregrine Pickle. He wrote also Humphrey Clinker, some lyrical pieces, and a continuation of Hume's History of England.

COMMODORE TRUNNION.

THE landlord starting up at the well-known sound, cried, "Here is the commodore with his company, as sure as I live," and with his apron began to wipe the dust off an elbow chair placed at one side of the fire, and kept for the ease of the commodore. While he was thus occupied, an uncouth voice bawled aloud, "Ho! the house, ahoy!" upon which the publican, clapping a hand to each side of his head, with his thumbs fixed to his ears, rebellowed in the same tone, "Hilloh!" The voice then exclaimed, "Have you got any attorneys aboard?" when the landlord replied, "No, no;" this man of strange expectation came in, supported by his two dependents.

He was in stature at least six feet high, though he had contracted a habit of stooping from living so long on board ships; his complexion was tawny, and his aspect somewhat hideous, by a large scar across his nose, and the patch that covered the place of one eye. Being seated in his chair with great formality, the landlord complimented him upon his being able to come abroad again, while the lieutenant sat down on the blind side of his commander, and Tom Pipes, the boatswain, with modesty, knowing his distance, took his station in the rear.

After a pause, the chief, fixing his eye upon the lieutenant, with a sternness not to be described, addressed him in these words: "Hatchway, I took you to be a better seaman than to overset our chaise in such fair weather. Did I not tell you we were running bump ashore, and bid you set in the lee-brace, and haul upon

a wind?" "Yes," replied the other, with a sneer, "I do confess as how you did give such orders, after you had run foul of the post, so that the carriage lay along and could not right itself." "I run you foul of a post," said the commander, "you are a pretty dog to tell me that above board to my face-did I take charge of the chaise ? did I stand at the helm?" "No," answered Hatchway, "I must confess you did not steer, howsumdever you conned all the way, and so, as you could not see how the land lay, being blind of your larboard eye, we were fast ashore before you knew anything of the matter. Pipes can testify the truth of what I say." "I dont value," resumed the commander, "what you or Pipes say a ropeyarn. You are a couple of mutinous-I say no more; but you shan't run your rig on me. I am the man, Jack Hatchway, that learnt you to splice a rope and raise a perpendicular." The lieutenant, who was well acquainted with the trim of his captain, did not choose to carry on the altercation; but being without the sphere of his vision, he securely pilfered his tobacco, drank his rumbo, made wry faces, and, to use the vulgar phrase, cocked his eye at him, to the no small entertainment of the spectators.

The commodore's choler having subsided, he was pleased to desire Hatchway by the familiar diminutive of Jack, to read a newspaper that lay on the table before him; and among other paragraphs, the lame lieutenant read with an elevation of voice that seemed to prognosticate something extraordinary : "We are informed that Admiral Bower will soon be created a British Peer for his eminent services during the war." Trunnion was thunderstruck; the mug dropped from his hand and shivered into a thousand pieces, his eye glistened like that of a rattlesnake, and some moments elapsed before he could say, "Avast! overhaul that article again." It was no sooner read the second time, than, smiting the table with his fist, he started up, and with the most violent emphasis of rage and indignation, exclaimed, "It's a land lie, d'ye see; and I will maintain it from