an hour after the Admiral left it, : when he happily got into a boat from the ftern ladder, and was put fafe on board the Alderney floop. I must be deficient even to attempt a defcription of the melancholy fcene that was before me; fhrieking, cries, lamentations, bemoanings, raving, defpair, and even madness itself presented themselves. It was now high time to think of taking care of myfelf. I looked from every part of the fhip for my prefervation, and foon faw three boats off the ftern of the fhip. I went immediately to my cabin, and offered up my prayers to God, particularly thanking him for giving me fuch refolution and compofare of mind. I then jumped into the fea from one of the gun room ports, and fwam to a boat, which put me fafe on board the Alderney floop. There are near 300 people faved, and more might have been faved had the merchantmen be haved like human creatures; but they kept a long way to windward the whole time; and if poffible to their greater fhame be it fpoken, Inftead of faving the men that fwam to their boats, they were employed in taking up geefe, fowls, tables, chairs, and whatever else of the kind came near them. guish it, but the smoke was fo violent, no perfon could get near enough to find where the fire was About half past two we made the fignal of diftrefs; but to render our fituation more wretched, the fog came on very thick, and the wind freshed, and it was near four before the Glasgow and Alderney got intelligence of our condition; when they repeated the fignal, hoifted out their boats, and flood towards us; but they not knowing we had taken care to float our powder, were under fad apprehenfions we might blow up, and therefore could not (confiftent with their own fafety) give us the affiftance our deplorable condition rendered us fo much in need of. We attempted to fcuttle the decks to let the water on the fire, but the people could not ftand a minute without being near fuffocated. About half past four the fmoke increased, and the flames began to break out; the Admiral then ordered the boats to be hoisted out, got the barge out, and went off, promifing to bring a fhip along-fide of us. I obferved her fo full her gunwale was almost with the water, and, in a few mi nutes after faw her fink at fome distance a-stern, and not above three or four were faved out of near forty, among whom it pleafed God From Mr. Parry, an officer, dated to preferve the Admiral. A as above. Bout half past one at noon, being in the office adjoining to the cabin, I faw the Admiral run out, with two or three officers; on enquiring the caufe, I was alarmed with the fhip's being on fire forwards, and it was believed in the boatswain's fore ftore-room; every method was taken to extin The weather was now become clear, "but none of the merchantmen would come near us. Our officers behaved well, and endeavoured to keep the people to the pumps and drawing water, but they now were become quite ungovernable. About a quarter before five Captain Payton left the fhip, and promifed as the Admiral; but was not able to accomplish it. About five the long X 2 boat boat was endeavoured to be got out, in which were near a hundred people; but as they were hoifting her out, one of the tackles gave way, by which the overfet, and almost every foul perished. We were now reduced to the greateft diftrefs. You may have fome idea of our miferable condition, when I tell you the fhip began to be in flames fore and aft, fpreading like flax; people diftracted, not knowing what they did, and jumping over-board from all parts. I was reduced to the melancholy choice of either burning with the fhip or going over-board. Very few that could fwim were taken up, and I that could not fwim, must have little hopes indeed. About a quarter past five, I went into the Admiral's ftern gallery, where two young gentlemen were lashing two tables together for a raft; I affift ed them, and one of them propofed to make faft the lafhing to the gallery, and lower ourselves down to the tables, then cut the lafhing, and commit ourselves to the mercy of Providence ; we hoifted over the tables, but being badly lafhed, one of them we loft; as foon as the other was down, I propofed to venture firft, which they readily confented to; there was now three boats a-ftern, this was the time or never, down I went by the rope; but as there was a great fwell of fea, it was impoffible for any one to follow me, and I was turned adrift. By the cries of the people from the ship to the boats, in about 715 complement. 30 passengers to Gibraltar. 745 five minutes I was taken up, very near drowned *. From a Midshipman, dated as above. N half an hour past one in the afternoon, we were alarmed with fire in the boatswain's fore ftoreroom, which put us all into great diforder; and it being a very thick fog, we could not fee one ship in the fleet. We kept firing guns of diftrefs, and no fhip appearing in fight for an hour, we were all ia the greatest confternation; but the fog then difpelling, the Glafgow hailed us, to whom we told our condition, and earnestly begged of them to fave our lives. Thurfday the 13th, about The The fire still increasing, we were obliged to hoift out our boats, which from the confufion were near three hours fixing to the tackles, &c. every body being engaged in preparing to fave himself. poop, ftem, and quarter galleries, were lined with men and boys, crying out in a moft moving manner to be affifted. During this time out of twenty-three fail of fhips we had but three boats to our affiftance, and thofe would not come near the fhip for fear of be ing funk, the poor fellows continually jumping over-board; great numbers of whom were drowned in our fight. We got our boats out, which never returned after going once. By this time the fire had communicated itself to the middle gun deck, and 260 faved. 485 loft. 745 nobody : nobody could go down below, every one expecting his death every minute, either by fire or water, and were taking leave of each other. Soon after going out of the Admiral's cabin, I faw the flames coming out in the hatchway of the upper gun deck; I returned immediately, and took my leave of the petty officers that were there, and went over the starboard ftern ladder, to fave myfelf by fwimming, and, thanks be to Almighty God! reached a boat, and was taken up. I had just got clear of the fhip, when the flames became general, and those poor unhappy wretches that could not fwim, were obliged to remain upon the wreck, with the fire falling down upon them. Shortly after the mafts went away. and killed numbers, and thofe that were not killed by the mafts, thought themselves happy to get upon them. But the fhip rolling by reafon of the great fea, the fire had communicated itself to the guns, which swept them off the deck in great numbers, they being all loaded and fhotted. Such a terrible fight the oldeft men in the fleet fay they never faw. Thus ended our unhappy ship, after burning about fix hours and a half, who had as complete a crew, and was as well manned as any fhip that ever failed from England. as then the upon which I made what fail I could and went down on him. At one in the afternoon I could difcern the Prince George on fire ; at two drew pretty near her, but thought they might have quenched the fire. At three o'clock I faw plainly there was no quenching it. I was within a hundred yards of her ftern, but durft not venture along-fide, the fea beating high; befides, the going off of her guns, and danger of blowing up. At four in the afternoon the Admiral was taken up fwimming by a merchant-fhip's boat, fhips that had boats were all out, and a good many of them loft. The weather proving bad, towards night I was within pistol fhot, and there remained fome time; and picked up four of her crew and had not two of my men run away with my boat the night before we failed from St. Helen's, I am confident I could have faved fixty or eighty of them at least, as I was all the time nearer to them than any fhip in the fleet. What made me venture fo near was, that I knew my ship went well, and was under good command. At fix, what a difmal fight! the maft and fails all in a blaze; hundreds of fouls hanging by the ropes alongfide, I could count fifty of them hanging over in the ftern ladder, others in the fea on oars and pieces of wood; a melancholy fpectacle! befides the difmal cries from the fhip, which ftill ring in my ears. Half an hour paft fix the flames broke out at her broadfide, and in less than five minutes Literary and Miscellaneous Effays. T HIS head of our collection is not of fo uniform a nature as the foregoing divifions. But we have endeavoured at ast much order in the difpofition of the several pieces which compose it, as the diverfity of the fubjects would admit. The first piece we give is upon the fubject of Tafte. It is faying enough in its praise, to fay it is written by Monf. de Montefquieu, who fo happily employed philofophy to illuftrate and improve the laws of all the nations of the world. So far as this piece goes, (for it is but a fragment) he employs philofophy with equal happiness to explain and improve the polite arts. As the piece is long, we have in fome places abridged it. In fome few places it may poffibly feem a little obfcure. If any blame fiould, on that account, be laid on the tranflator, we must not forget that the excellent author himself, through an extreme refinement, was not wholly free from obfcurity. AN ESSAY ON TASTE, TASTE, in the most general definition of it, without confidering whether good or bad, juft or not just, is that which attaches to us a thing by fentiment; which does not hinder its being applied to intellectual things, the knowledge of which gives fo much pleasure to the foul, that it was the only happiness that certain philofophers could conceive. The foul receives her knowledge through her ideas and through her fentiments; the receives certain pleasures through thefe ideas and thefe fentiments. For al though we oppofe idea to fentiment, yet when the foul fees a thing, he feels it; and there is nothing fo intellectual, that he does not fee, or think fhe fees, and confequently that he does not feel. Of curiosity, Our foul is made for thinking; that is to fay, for making difcoveries. Such a being ought then to have curiofity; for as all things are in a chain, where each idea precedes one, and follows another idea, you cannot leave the fight of one thing without having a defire to fee another; and if we had not this defire of feeing more, we fhould not have had any pleasure in feeing what we do fee. Thus when a part of a picture is fhewn to us, our defire to fee the part which is yet concealed, is in proportion to the pleafure we have had in what was hewn to us. It is then the pleasure we have in one object that leads us towards another. Hence it is, that the foul always feeks novelty and is never at reft. Thus will you be fure to delight the foul, when you X 4 make |