haftily reared in 1756 for fugar warehouses? The foundation of a store building for this important purpose was laid fome years ago, but the work was left off, and the money applied to the building of an arfenal, large enough for France or England, which can never be filled; towards opening ftreets in the fields, and fields in the city; in making new roads to O-as, and building palaces and fountains in the R-a Fa. Will it be believed, that in those wooden barracks, the depofitory of fuch an immenfe value, drunken porters were fuffered to rummage the warehouses with candles; as was the cafe the evening before the fire, and in all probability the cause of it? Will it be believed, after the fire was 'discovered by the centinels on duty, and the alarm given, nobody durft open the doors till an order, or the keys, fhould arrive from a perfon at feveral miles diftance, to whom a messenger was difpatched on foot? Will it be believed, that in confequence of thefe ridiculous formalities, and the absurd orders that enfued, tho' the impetuofity of thofe whofe proper. ties were at stake at last prevailed, in having the doors burst open, yet fo much time was loft, that tho' at firft, by opening a breach in the wall upon the brink of the quay, a thousand bales might have been faved, by rolling them into the river, with no great damage, and many goods entirely, by throwing them into the boats that attended in great numbers, yet not a bale was faved from the flames ? Will it be believed, that in the midft of this dreadful fcene of havock, where the wealth of nations was perishing, a person of no less confequence than the Prefident of the board of Trade fhould come and attempt to divert the attention of those who were endeavouring to ftop the progress of the flames, which threatened a large diftrict of the city, to fuch a ridiculous object as that of faving a few chairs belonging to the K-g? All this, as I have faid, will (carcely be believed. Yet all this, and more, VOL. III. is true. Such is the country we refide in, and fuch the people we have to deal with. A certain great perfonage attended, with great pomp and parade of guards and trumpets; and, it is faid, was feen to fhed tears at the fight of this dismal catastrophe. Crocodile's tears. Or perhaps he wept fincerely, to fee himself deprived in an inftant, and by an accident, of the honour of accomplishing what he has been planning and projecting for years: the ruin of the poor foreign merchants refiding here. What an inundation of galling regu lations! What a new load of impofitions are we not now to expect! Such an event as this will not fail to produce a multiplicity of laws, decrees, edicts, &c.-So many fresh snares to the poor trader.-By the fame rule that we have been paying fuch heavy taxes till now, for buildings that have never been built, and lights that have never been lighted, we may now expect to pay rent for the new arfenal, one corner of which, tho' built and unoccupied thefe three years, is found fufficient for a Custom-Houfe, with all its appendages of stores, warehoufes, &c. built of ftone, and vaulted.-By the fame rule that our property has till now been fo unjustly, fo cruelly detained, in the value of effects violently feized from us, during, and fince the war, for cloathing and feeding the K-g's troops, may we not now expect to fee it applied to the raising a new funeral pile for the future fortunes of fome future factory? The will of God, or rather the will of O-as, be done! We are in his power.-My feelings choak my utterance ! "Confider my fituation, my dear friend, and blame, if you can, the a gony I betray. I was ftript once already, you know, by the earthquake of 1755, though no man fuffered by me. By induftry and perfeverance, honeft induftry and unremitting perfeverance, I had itruggled through a thousand difficulties to the profpect once more of acquiring a competency for my little family, and for old age, which is now approaching; when, behold in a few Y y minutes, minutes, my labours are fruftrated, my hopes blafted; and I and my family reduced again to-I know not what Would to God I had no companions in this heavy misfortune: But alas! I have many. Most English houses are greatly hurt and if our friends in England do not refolve, not only to fpare, but to affift us, we are undone. What has not this wretched place fuffered within these ten years paft! Earthquakes, conflagrations, confpiracies, imprisonments, confifcations, oppreffive monopolies in trade, and a war worfe than either of the other calamities, in its confequences, and the pretext it has given for the most grievous exaction of 10 per cent, which still continues to be levied on all denominations of property and income, down to the pitiful pittance of a serving man. From the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. O for a long courfe of years; and if this method was taken of fupplying the wants of the families of clergymen, perhaps for ever.-The confequence of accumulating fuch an immense sum in the hands of the church, which many people pretend to dread already, may, by this annual method of distribution, be prevented. But fhould there be fufficient reasons against any alteration of the act for the augmentation of small livings, in the way that I have propofed, yet one remedy is still left; a remedy which is entirely in the power of the legislature, which infringes on the right and property of none of the fubjects of England, and which will be no lefs ferviceable to the state than the church, that it should be applied to the better maintenance of our parochial clergy. The reader, who does not know it, will be surprized perhaps to be told, that eftates in this kingdom, of no less value than 80,000l. are left to the fupport of religious houses and seminaries abroad. I do not publish this from common fame, for very few even of our great men know any thing of it; but I fpeak it on authority not to be contradicted. If the parliament, therefore, would addrefs the crown for these estates, which are justly forfeited, the annual produce of which is fent out of the kingdom, exprefsly contrary to law, and contrary to its religious and civil interefts, there is no doubt but the crown would grant them; and these estates, together with the royal bounty, would make an effectual augmentation of all the small livings, as well as fome provifion for the widows and children of the clergy. F the nine thousand and some hundred churches and chapels which we have in England and Wales, fix thousand, I fpeak it on the best authority, are not above the value of 40 1. a year. As to queen Anne's bounty, it will indeed be the work of ages before all the livings entitled to an augmentation can receive any benefit from it; and it will be 500 years before every living can be raised to 60l. a year by this royal bounty, fuppofing the fame money to be distributed as there has been for fome years paft. Would it not therefore better anfwer the defignation of the first fruits and tenths, in reliev-************* ing the wants and miseries of the inferior clergy, that the tenths at leaft, if not the interest of the fum accumulated, fhould be annually divided among fuch widows or children of the clergy as are in distress? I prefume to say it would. The great fum in hand, with the first fruits continually adding to it, would be fufficient to answer the demands of augmentation according to the present a&, termined for Inoculation with fuch confidence, that any thing now offered against it is treated with contempt and ridicule. It is indeed true, that the arguments which have hitherto been ufed by the oppofers of Inoculation, are fuch as have difgraced the cause, and that, as far as they go, the triumph of their antagonists is juft. When a man tells you gravely, after he has admitted that life, upon the whole, is preferved by Inoculation, that to inoculate is to tempt God, and to take the arbitrement of life and death out of his hand, he deferves to be treated with the fame contempt that we fhew for the Turks, when they give the fame reason for not fecuring themselves against the plague by fuch methods as Providence has put in their power. But it seems that the practice has too haftily been admitted to be in favour of life, for the boafted proof of this fact is manifeftly fallacious. It is faid, that of a certain number who have the small pox by inoculation, a much fmaller proportion dies than of the fame number that take it naturally; but admit this to be true, it does not follow that Inoculation is a practice favourable to life. The chance of not having it at all seems to have been always very much under-rated; we fee that when the small pox gets into a country town the place is comparatively deserted; fo that the inhabitants generally find it neceffary to advertise that health is reftored among them, in order to prevent the delertion of their markets and the stagnation of their trade; but by whom are thefe places deferted? by thofe, certainly, who have never had the distemper, or who fear to carry the contagion among those that have never had it; and do thofe appear to be fo few as is pretended? do not the very advertisements imply, that perfons be ing ill of the small pox in a country town is an uncommon thing, and that the numbers that are intimidated by it are great? But not to infift upon this, it may be demonftrated, granting all that has been faid in favour of inocu lation for the fmall pox, that it is a practice deftructive of life, at least as it is now managed. It is inconteftibly like the plague a contagious disease, what tends to ftop the progress of the infection tends to leffen the danger that attends it; what tends to spread the contagion, tends to increafe that danger; the practice of Inoculation manifectly tends to spread the contagion, for a contagious discafe is produced by Inoculation, where it would not otherwise have been produced; the place where it is thus prodųced becomes a center of contagion, whence it fpreads not lefs fatally or widely, than it would fpread from a center where the disease should happen in a natural way; these centers of contagion are manifeftly multiplied very greatly by Inoculation, and the places to which the disease is carried from fuch artificial centers, become alfo centers of contagion by means of the diseases ar tificially produced, and the numbers of the fick in a natural way being thus encreafed by an artificial production of the disease, the number of deaths must also be encreased in the proportion in which this disease is found to be fatal; and what then avails it to the advocate of Inoculation, when, with his ufual parade and confidence, he tells you, the individual that was inoculated had a better chance for his life by twenty to one, than if he had been taken with the natural small pox. Our registers of births and burials fecure this argument against the charge of fanciful exaggeration of mere poffibilities, by incontestible fact. Inoculation was first practifed in London in the year 1721, and continued gradually to gain ground; fo that in 1758 it had been practifed upon numbers continually encreafing 38 years. During this 38 years the number of births in London was 613,608: the number of burials was 958,527. And of the dead, thus registered by their burial, 78,500 died of the fmall pox. It appears, therefore, that during 38 years, immediately following the introduction Y y 2 of of Inoculation into London, the number dead of the small pox was to the number born as 127 to 1000, and to the registered dead as 81 to 1000. But in the 38 years immediately preceding the introduction of this practice, that is, from 1683 to 1720 inclufive, the number of births in London was 595,058; the number of burials was 840,370; of the buried 54,040 died of the small pox; it therefore appears, that before Inoculation the number of the dead by this diftemper was to the number born as 90 to 1000, and to the number buried as 64 to 1000; fo that fince Inoculation has been practifed in London, the mortality by the fmall pox is augmented in the proportion of 127 to 90 computing by the births, and in the proportion of 81 to 64 computing by the burials. It seems, therefore, to follow by neceffary confequence, that before Inoculation can be favourable to life in general, fome effectual method must be taken to prevent it from spreading the natural small pox, From the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. Interefting Letters respecting Commerce. Paris, July 9. WE E were fome time last year amufed with an account of a new discovered ifland, from which the people of this country proposed to themselves immense advantages; and which, as I remember, was treated on your fide of the water as an abfolute chimæra. It was not fo. The Eagle, of 20 guns, commanded by Capt. Duclos Guyot ; and the Sphinx of 10 guns, commanded by Capt. Giraudais Chenard, both under the direction of M. de Bougainville, failed last September to make the discovery; and it was at that time given out, that they were gone to the Eaft-Indi.s. On the 25th of last month, the Eagle returned, and having put M. Bougainville on fhore at Morlaix, proceeded to St. Malo, while that gentleman came poft to court, where he made his report, That, in pursuance of his inftructions, he had discovered a very fair and fruitful ifland, 200 leagues in extent, very advantageoufly fituated; and from which great commercial benefits might be expected; that he had conftructed a tolerable fort, defended by 14 pieces of cannon, a fair house, large magazines, and had left a sufficient garrifon to maintain the poffeffion, with the news of which he had dispatched the Sphinx to Guadaloupe. This island, it is faid, lies 80 miles diftant from the continent of South America, over-against the Straits of Magellan, in the latitude of 52 degrees. It is, however, no new discovery, having been seen and vifited by several ships of St. Malo in the first year of the current century, who, by touching on several fides, and entering feveral ports, believed it to be a cluster of islands, to which they gave the name of Ifles Malouins, or the Islands of St. Malo, in honour of that haven from which they were fitted out. It apppears, however, now to be a fingle ifland, of the extent before-mentioned, very fair and fertile, abounding with large woods, many fine harbours, all the neceffaries of life in great plenty, and from whence, as you will easily perceive by its fituation, a very extensive commerce may be carried on. It is reported, that three fhips of a confiderable force are to fail as foon as poffible to this new fettlement, of which the most fanguine expectations are formed. F Not a Spanish veffel can now come with money to this island, but what is seized by officers either under the Admiral or Governor. We have been prevented receiving in this island (fince I arrived) near a million of dollars, in confequence of those orders being put in execution against the Spaniards. They now carry their money to the French and Dutch iflands, which would otherwife have cen tered with us. What can be the reafon of fuppreffing fo beneficial a part of commerce, is a mystery to all people here, as what goods they took from us were chiefly British manufacture, and we in return received their fpecie. If this trade is not suffered, this island in a few years will be depopulated. We feel the effects already in a moft fenfible manner. The accounts I have from Havannah, are, that the Spaniards are very active in repairing the fortifications, and are clearing all away from the city as far as the hill where the head quarters were; are planning batteries to be erected in feveral places from thence to the hill; and are going to level all the village of Guardaloupe. The citadel on the Cavannas is going on brifkly; they have already three 74 gun fhips on the stocks; and all the flip-yards are full of timber. Every inhabitant is obliged to mufter under arms from 9 o'clock in the morning to 12 at noon, and from 3 to 6 in the afternoon; and I am told, the militia is near as well difciplined now as the regulars. They have 7000 regulars. Conftantinople, June 14. THE English trade in these parts is reduced to a very low state, in comparison of what it was 30 or 40 years ago, when our wrought plate was preferred, and our watches greatly fought after; but the plate trade is now of no confequence, and there has been of late such an inundation of watches brought hither, which were made at Geneva, and other places, with English names to them, that the English watches are now no longer in the reputation they were with the Turks. But there is still a worfe circumftance attending our trade in these parts, which is, that the English cloth is come into difrepute; and, indeed, it is no wonder it thould do fo; for, during the late war, many French fhips were taken in the Mediterranean, containing confiderable quantities of French manufactured woollen cloth in bales: these cloths, when the prizes were fold, were many of them bought up by Englifhmen, who, not having the reputa tion and good of their country at heart, molt difingenuously fold them again to the Turks, in feveral ports, for English manufactured cloths. This fraud, however, was foon difcovered in wearing; but it has made the Turks every where jealous of being impofed on, and will, I fear, be a lafting hurt to this branch of commerce. Barbadoes, June 1. THE affair of the longitude engrof fes a great deal of our conversation, as fome aftronomers are come over,' by order of the lords of the admiralty, to make trials of Meff. Irwin and Harrifon's feveral schemes. The marinechair, invented by the former, is a very ingenious piece of mechanifm; and the watch, made by the other, is, as I am informed, a very curious time-piece as to the reft, we are quite in the dark, nothing having transpired respecting the fuccefs either of them has had. Some curious people here would willingly have feen the work of the movement, but the owner was too wife to fhew it. It is faid he fets out for England in a few days; when the other learned astronomers will leave us, I know not; they fay, however, that before they go, they are ordered to make fome aftronomical obfervations in this island, in order to correct fome obfervations which were made many years ago refpecting the longitude of fome of our principal headlands, which cannot but be of infinite use to all navigators. Quebec, May 24Refer you to Captain Moore for the particulars of our voyage: I can hardly |