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"peaceable state of Benchers. My advice to you is, only that in your pleadings you will be fhort and expreffive: To which end, you are to banish out of your difcourfes all fynonymous terms, and unneceffary multiplications of Verbs and Nouns. I do moreover "forbid you the ufe of the words Alfo and Likewife; and muft further declare, that if I catch any one among you, upon any pretence whatfoever, ufing the particle Or, I fhall inftantly order him to be ftripped "of his gown, and thrown over the bar.

..

This is a true copy:

Charles Lillie.

N. B. The fequel of the proceedings of this day will be published on Tuesday next.

N° 254. Thursday, November 23, 1710.

Splendide mendax

HOR. Od. 11. lib. 3. ver. 35.

Gloriously falfe

FRANCIS,

TH

From my own Apartment, November 22.

HERE are no books which I more delight in · than in Travels, especially those that describe remote countries, and give the Writer an opportunity of fhewing his parts without incurring any danger of being examined or contradicted. Among all the Authors of this kind, our renowned countryman Sir John Mandeville has diftinguished himself, by the copioufnefs of his invention, and the greatnefs of his Genius. The fecond to Sir John I take to have been Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, a person of infinite adventure, and unbounded

unbounded imagination. One reads the Voyages of these two great Wits with as much aftonishment as the Travels of Ulyffes in Homer, or of the Red-Crofs Knight. in Spenfer. All is enchanted ground and Fairy land.

I have got into my hands, by great chance, feveral manufcripts of thefe two eminent Authors, which are, filled with greater wonders, than any of those they have. communicated to the Public; and indeed, were they not fo well attefted, would appear altogether improbable. I am apt to think the ingenious Authors did not publish them with the reft of their works, left they fhould pafs for fictions and fables: A caution not unneceffary, when the reputation of their veracity was not yet established in the world. But as this reafon has now no further weight, I fhail make the Public a prefent of thefe curious pieces, at fuch times as I shall find myself unprovided with other fubjects.

The prefent Paper I intend to fill with an extract of Sir John's Journal, in which that learned and worthy Knight gives an account of the freezing and thawing of feveral fhort fpeeches, which he made in the territories of Nova Zembla. I need not inform my Reader, that the Author of Hudibras alludes to this ftrange quality in that cold climate, when, fpeaking of abstracted Notions clothed in a visible shape, he adds that apt fimilè,

Like words congeal'd in northern air.

Not to keep my reader any longer in fufpenfe, the relation, put into modern language, is as follows:

We were separated by a ftorm in the Latitude of feventy-three, infomuch that only the fhip which I was in, with a Dutch and French veffel, got fafe into a creek of Nova Zembla. We landed, in order to refit our vesfels, and ftore ourselves with provifions. The crew of each veffel made themfelves a cabbin of turf and wood, at fome distance from each other, to fence themselves against the inclemencies of the weather, which was fevere beyond imagination. We foon obferved, that in talking to one another we loft several of our words, and could not hear one another at above two yards distance, and that too when we fat very near the fire. After much perplexity,

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perplexity, I found that our words froze in the air, before they could reach the ears of the perfons to whom they were fpoken. I was foon confirmed in the conjecture, when, upon the increase of the cold, the whole company grew dumb, or rather deaf; for every man was fenfible, as we afterwards found, that he spoke as well as ever; but the founds no fooner took air, than they were condenfed and loft. It was now a miferable fpectacle to fee us nodding and gaping at one another, every man talking, and no man heard. One might obferve a feaman, that could hail a fhip at a league's diftance, beckoning with his hand, ftraining his lungs, and tearing his throat; but all in vain.

Nec vox nec verba fequuntur.

-Nor voice, nor words enfu'd.

OVID

R. WYNNE.

We continued here three weeks in this difmal plight. At length, upon a turn of wind, the air about us began to thaw. Our cabbin was immediately filled with a dry clattering found, which I afterwards found to be the crackling of confonants that broke above our heads, and were often mixed with a gentle hiffing, which I imputed to the letter S, that occurs fo frequently in the Engli tongue. I foon after felt a breeze of whispers rushing by my car; for those being of a foft and gentle fubftance, immediately liquefied in the warm wind that blew across cur cabbin. These were foon followed by fyllables and fhort words, and at length by entire fentences, that melted fooner or later, as they were more or less congealed; fo that we now heard every thing that had been Spoken during the whole three weeks that we had been Silent, if I may ufe that expreffion. It was now very early in the morning, and yet to my furprize, I heard fome body fay, Sir John, it is midnight, and time

for the fhip's crew to go to bed." This I knew to be the Pilot's voice, and upon recollecting myself I concluded that he had fpoken these words to me fome days before, though I could not hear them until the prefent thaw. My reader will eafily imagine, how the whole crew was amazed to hear every man talking, and fee no

man

man open

his mouth. In the midft of this great furprize we were all in, we heard a volley of oaths and curfes, lafting for a long while, and uttered in a very hoarfe voice, which I knew belonged to the Boatfwain, who was a very choleric fellow, and had taken his opportu nity of curfing and fwearing at me when he thought I could not hear him; for I had feveral times given him the ftrappado on that account, as I did not fail to repeat it for thefe his pious foliloquies, when I got him on fhipboard.

I must not omit the names of feveral Beauties in Wapping, which were heard every now and then, in the midst of a long figh that accompanied them; as, dear Kate! pretty Mrs. Peggy when fhall I fee my Sue again? This betrayed feveral amours which had been concealed until that time, and furnished us with a great deal of mirth in our return to England.

When this confufion of voices was pretty well over, though I was afraid to offer at fpeaking, as fearing I hould not be heard, I propofed a vifit to the Dutch cabbin, which lay about a mile further up in the country. My crew were extremely rejoiced to find they had again recovered their hearing; though every man uttered his voice with the fame apprehenfions that I had done,

Et timidè verba intermiffa retentat.

OVID. Met. lib. 1. ver. 747:

And try'd his tongue, his filence foftly broke.

DRYDEN

At about half a mile's diftance from our cabbin, we heard the groanings of a bear, which at firft ftartled us but upon enquiry we were informed by fome of our company that he was dead, and now lay in falt, having been killed upon that very spot about a fortnight before, in the time of the froft. Not far from the fame place, we were likewife entertained with fome pofthumous faaris and barkings of a fox.

We at length arrived at the little Dutch fettlement; and upon entering the room, found it filled with fighs that smelt of brandy, and feveral other unfavoury founds,

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that

that were altogether in articulate. My Valet, who was an Irishman, fell into fo great a rage at what he heard, that he drew his fword; but not knowing where to lay the blame, he put it up again. We were ftunned with. these confufed noifes, but did not hear a fingle word. until about half an hour after; which I afcribed to the harsh and obdurate founds of that language, which wanted more time than ours to melt, and become audible.

After having here met with a very hearty welcome,. we went to the cabbin of the French, who, to make amends for their three weeks filence, were talking and difputing with greater rapidity and confufion, than L ever heard in an affembly even of that nation.

Their

language, as I found, upon the first giving of the weather, fell afunder and diffolved. I was here convinced of an error, into which I had before fallen; for I fancied, that for the freezing of the found, it was neceffary for it to be wrapped up, and, as it were, preferved in breath: But I found my mistake, when I heard the found of a kit playing a minuet over our heads. I asked the occafion of it; upon which one of the company told me, it would play there above a week longer, if the thaw continued; for, fays he, finding ourselves bereft of fpeech, we prevailed upon one of the company, who had his mufical inftrument about him, to play to us from morning to night; all which time we employed in dancing, in order to diffipate our chagrin, & tuer le temps.

Here Sir John gives very good philofophical reafons why the kit could not be heard during the froft; but as they are fomething prolix, I pafs them over in filence, and fhall only observe, that the honourable Author feems by his quotations to have been well verfed in the ancient Poets, which perhaps raifed his fancy above the ordinary pitch of hiftorians, and very much contributed to the embellishment of his writings.

Saturday,