Mr. Harrifon, two hundred and fifty to Mr. Wedderburn, two hundred to Mr. Barlow, and to each Lafcar as much as was reckoned equal to their full wages, had the voyage been performed in the ufual time; and at their departure gave them an order, from the court of Pekin, for carriages, lodgings, and provifions, through every district in their way to Canton.

One would be glad to know upon what Chriftian fhore any fhipwrecked crew could have met with fuch humane and generous treatment. What still the more heightens the merit of this noble behaviour, it is well known that the Chinese are not at all fond of trading with the Europeans; and it is probable enough, that fome other eastern nations may in time become as thy of them, from experience, as the fagacious Chinefe have always been from theory and fpeculation.

As generous deeds do not appear every day, even in the moft fenfible, the moft virtuous, and moft magnificent of all poffible ages, there is room here to pay fome proper respect to an act of humanity in the late emperor of Morocco, which the following extract from his letter to the grand-master of Malta will explain :

"In the name of God, the fole Almighty. To the prince of Malta, grand-mafter of the religion of St. John, and to all his council, the emperor of Morocco, Fez, Mequinez, &c. wishes health and profperity. In compaffion of feveral Tufcan flaves, who have long been in my poffeffion, and have never yet been demanded of me, I send them all to be presented to you by my fecretary Abladi Salciti; by this means procuring myself at once the double fatisfaction of making you a prefent, and of restoring liberty to thofe unfortunate people. If you

had no captives of our's in your poffeffion, I fhould defire nothing of you in return; but as I know you have, 1 fhall with great pleasure receive fuch as you may be pleased to fend me."

Along with this letter the empe ror fent thirty-feven Chriftian flaves; and that the grand-master of Malta returned exactly the fame number of Mahometan captives, muft have been owing to his having had no more.

ANECDOTE

OF THE PRESENT KING OF FRANCE.

DURING the late hard winter, fome wretched peafants dying with cold and hunger, had ftolen the ftakes placed round the glacies. The king, on being apprized of this, apologized for them by remarking, that they must have fuffered feverely in confequence of the froft. The reply was, that wood had been diftributed in each village: but his majefty here apprehended that the quantity had not been fufficient. Shortly after he was applied to for money to procure articles for the fuftenance of the royal game, "How much will they coft?". Twelve thousand livres (five hundred pounds fterling), fhould the froft continue longer. "Well," faid the mo narch, "I had rather see my game perifh than my poor fuffer: take the twelve thousand livres, but carry them to the Philanthropic So. ciety."

M. Neckar executed this com miffion on the following day.

the town, and indeed of the whole kingdom: the queen brought in the love of fine Eaft India callicoes, fuch as were then called Mafflapatan chintzes, atlaffes, and fine painted callicoes, which afterwards defcended into the humours of the common people fo much, as to make them grievous to trade, and ruinous to manufactures and the poor; so that the parliament were obliged to make two acts, at several times to restrain, and at last prohibit the use of them: the queen alfo brought in the cuftom of furnishing boules with Chinaware, which increased to a strange degree afterwards, piling their China upon the tops of cabinets, fcrutores, and every chimney-piece, to the tops of the ciclings, and even fetting up helves for their China-ware, where they wanted fuch places, till it be came a grievance in the expence of it, and even injurious to their families and eftates.

The good queen, far from defigning any injury to the country where he was fo entirely beloved, little thought he was in either of thefe laying a foundation for fuch fatal exceffes which then prevailed.

AN EXACT COPY OF THE WRIT OF SUMMONS TO PARLIAMENT, FROM RICHARD

CROMWELL, PROTECTOR, TO

JOHN LORD BARKSTED.

RICHARD, lord protector of the commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions and territories thereunto be longing. To our right, trufly, and well beloved John lord Barkitead, lieutenant of our tower of London greeting: Whereas by the advice and affent of our councell for certaine greate and weighty affaires concerneing us the ftate and the defence of the said commonwealth, wee have ordained our parliament to be held at our citty of Weftminfter the feaven and twentieth day of

January next comeing, and there to conferr and treate with you and with the greate men and nobles of the faid commonwealth. Therefore wee command you firmely enjoyneing that confidering the difficultie of the faid affaires and imminent dan gers (all excufes being fett, afide)" yee be perfonally prefent at the day and place aforefaid, to treate and give your advice with us, and with the faid greate men and nobles upon the affaires aforefaid. And this as yee love us and our honour and the fafety and defence of the faid commonwealth and the expedicon of the affaires aforefaid, yee fall in noc wife omitt. Witnes our felfe at Westminster the nynth day of December, in the yeare of our Lord, one thousand fix hundred fiftie and eight.

The label is indorsed, LENTHALL CH.

"To the right trufty, and right well beloved John lord Barktead, lieutenant of the tower of London, A fumons of parliament.

1

LENTHALL CH."

SPIRITED CONDUCT

OF AN ENGLISH AMBASSADOR.

JOHN Bafilowitz, or Ivan IV. great duke of Mufcovy, was fo cruel and ferocious a prince, that he ordered the hat of an Italian ambaffador to be nailed to his head, becaufe he had prefumed to be covered before him. The ambaffador of the queen of England, however, was bold enough to put on his hat in his prefence: upon which Bafilowitz asked him, if he knew how he had treated an ambassador for the like behaviour. "No," replied the intrepid Englishman;

but I am fent hither by queen Elizabeth; and, if any infult is of fered to her minifter, the has fpirit enough to resent it." 14 What a brave man "exclaimed the czar:

"Which

"Which of you," added he, to his courtiers, "would have acted and

QUET IN ABYSSINIA. [From Bruce's Travels.] EST our readers fhould too haftily difbelieve the fingular meal defcribed by Mr. Bruce, as common to the Abyffinians, we shall preface it with an adventure which befel this celebrated traveller foon after his departure from Axium, the ancient capital of Abyffinia.

In their way from this city, they overtook three travellers driving a cow before them; they had black goat fkins upon their shoulders, and lances and fields in their hands, in other refpects were but thinly cloathed; they appeared to be foldiers. The cow did not feem to be fatted for killing, and it occurred to our travellers that it had been stolen. This, however, was not their bufinefs, nor was fuch an occurrence at all remarkable in a country fo long engaged in war. They faw that their attendants attached themselves in a particular manner to the three foldiers who were driving the cow, and held a fhort converfation with them. Soon after, the drivers fuddenly tript up the cow, and gave the poor animal a very rude fall upon the ground, which was but the beginning of her fufferings. One of them fat across her neck, holding down her head by the horns, the other twisted the halter about her fore feet, while the third, who had a knife in his hand, to Mr. Bruce's very great furprife, in place of taking her by the throat, got aftride upon her belly before her hind legs, and gave a very deep wound in the upper part of her buttock. From the time Mr. Bruce had feen them

he had rejoiced, thinking, that when three people were killing a cow, they must have agreed to fell part of her to them; and he was much difappointed upon hearing the Abysfians fay, that they were to pafs the river to the other fide, and not encamp where he intended. Upon Mr. Bruce's propofing they should bargain for part of the cow, his men anfwered, what they had already learned in converfation, that they were not then to kill her, that the was not wholly their's, and they could not fell her. This awakened Mr. Bruce's curiofity; he let his people go forward, and ftaid himfelf, till he faw, with the utmost astonishment, two pieces, thicker and longer than our ordinary beef fteaks, cut out of the higher part of the buttock of the beaft. How it was done he cannot pofitively fay, becaufe judging the cow was to be killed from the moment he faw the knife drawn, he was not anxious to view that catastrophe, which was by no means an object of curiofity; whatever way it was done, it furely was adroitly, and the two pieces were fpread upon the outside of one of their fhields.

One of them still continued holding the head, while the other two were bufied in curing the wound. This too was done not in an ordinary manner; the skin, which had covered the flesh that was taken away, was left entire, flapped over the wound, and was faftened to the correfponding part by two or more fmall fkewers, or pins. Whether they had put any thing under the fkin between that and the wounded flefl, Mr. Bruce cannot tell ; but

at

ays Mr. Bruce, that we condemn he eating of raw flesh; no precept, livine or human, forbids it; and if t be true, as later travellers have difcovered, that there are nations gnorant of the ufe of fire, any law against eating raw flesh could never have been intended by God as obigatory upon mankind in general. At any rate, it is certainly not cleary known, whether the eating raw Hefh was not an earlier and more general practice than by preparing it with fire; many wife and learned men have doubted, whether it was at firft permitted to man to eat animal food at all. God, the author of life, and the best judge of what was proper to maintain it, gave this regimen to our first parents-" Behold, I have given you every herb bearing feed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding feed to you it fhall be for meat." And though, immediately after, he mentions both beafts and fowls, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth, he does not fay that he has defigned any of these as meat for man. On the contrary, he feems to have intended the vegetable creation as food for both man and beaft-"And to every beaft of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was fo.' Af ter the flood, when mankind began to repoffefs the earth, God gave Noah a much more extenfive per

far from home, through fear of be ing furrounded and swept away by temporary torrents, occafioned by fudden fhowers on the mountains; in a word, when a man can say he is fafe at home, and the fpear and field are hung up in the hall, a number of people of the best fashion in the villages, of both fexes, courtiers in the palace, or citizens in the town, meet together to dine between twelve and one o'clock. A long table is fet in the middle of a large room, and benches befide it for a number of guests who are invited. Tables and benches the Portugueze introduced amongst them; but bullhides, fpread upon the ground, ferved them before, as they now do in the camp and country. A cow or bull, one or more, as the company is numerous, is brought clofe to the door, and his feet ftrongly tied. The fkin that hangs down under his chin and throat is cut only fo deep as to arrive at the fat, of which it totally confifts, and, by the feparation of a few fmall bloodveffels, fix or feven drops of blood only fall upon the ground. They have no ftone, bench, nor altar upon which thefe cruel affaffins lay the animal's head in this operation. Mr. Bruce begs his pardon indeed for calling him an affaffin, as he is not fo merciful as to aim at the life, but, on the contrary, to keep the beaft alive till he be nearly eaten up. Having fatisfied the Mofaical law, according to his conception, by pouring thefe fix or feven drops upon the ground, two or more of

11

re pieces,

bones, or

much effufion of blood; and the prodigious noife the animal makes is a fignal for the company to fit down to table.

There are then laid before every gueft, instead of plates, round cakes, if they may be fo called, about twice as big as a pancake, and fomewhat thicker and tougher. It is unleavened bread, of a fourish taste, far from being difagreeable, and very easily digefted, made of a grain called teff. It is of different colours, from black to the colour of the whiteft wheat-bread. Three or four of thefe cakes are generally put uppermoft, for the food of the perfon oppófite to whofe feat they are placed. Beneath thefe are four or five of ordinary bread, and of a blackish kind. Thefe ferve the mafter to wipe his fingers upon, and afterwards the fervant for bread to his dinner. Two or three fervants then come, each with a fquare piece of beef in their bare hands, laying it upon the cakes of teff, placed like dishes down the table, without cloth or any thing elfe beneath them. By this time all the guests have knives in their hands, and their men have the large crooked ones, which they put to all forts of ufes during the time of war. The women have small clasped knives, fuch as the worft of the kind made at Birming ham, fold for a penny each. The company are fo ranged that one man fits between two women; the man with his long knife cuts a thin piece, which would be thought a good

they lay upon

piece of the teff bread, ftrongly powdered with black pepper, or Cayenne pepper, and foffile-falt; they then wrap it up in teff bread like a cartridge.

In the mean time, the man having put up his knife, with each hand refting upon his neighbour's knee, his body stooping, his head low and forward, and mouth open very like an idiot, he turns to the one whofe cartridge is first ready, who ftuffs the whole of it into his mouth, which is fo full, that hè is in constant danger of being choaked. This is a mark of grandeur. The greater the man would feem to be, the larger piece he takes in his mouth; and the more noife he makes in chewing it, the more polite he is thought to be. They have, indeed, a proverb that fays, " Beggars and thieves only eat fmall pieces, or without making a noife." Having difpatched this morfel,, which he does very expeditioufly, his next female neighbour holds forth another cartridge, which goes the fame way, and fo on till he is fatisfied. He never drinks till he has finished eating; and, be fore he begins, in gratitude to the fair ones that fed him, he makes up two finall rolls of the fame kind and form; each of his neighbours open their mouths at the fame time, while with each hand he put their portion into their mouths. He then falls to drinking out of a large handfome horn; the ladies eat till they are fatisfied, and then all drink together. A great deal of mirth and

'joke