hardly know how to believe the relations of those that have) so that you must undavoidably take up in the town with some fauce loon, who will stick to you as close as the ivy does to the oak, and for the same reason too, to draw away your sap from you. The scholars go like sword-men, and never can be called the gens togata, till they are laureated, i. e. take their degrees of masters of arts, which is constantly done at four years standing, and not unfrequentiy, especially if there be money in the case, sooner; then they oblige you with a most ample diploma, written in an effeminate sort of Latin, and as fulsome as a mountebank's panegyrick on his own balsam, or wonder-working Panacea: The scope of it is to satisfy your friends, to whom returning, that you have spent much money, travelled many miles, endured great hardships, and taken extraordinary pains, to very little purpose.

This college is divided into five distinct classes: Each of these has a several regent, who, from nine till twelve in the morning, and from two till five in the afternoon, shall entertain you with a lecture as jejune as a homily, but as terrible for length, as an old parliament fast; and they, you know, were reckoned dreadful enough. The only degree they confer, is that of master of arts; Dr. Rule, the present principal, is doctor of medicine, though a divine. They have two pretty tolerable philosophers, one an Aristotelian, the other a disciple of Cartes; but not a good mathematician, or sound Grecian, in their whole college. For their divinity, it is so so. They are intirely of the presbyterian cut, and made more haste to throw out bishops, than the Israelites did of old to expel the Canaanites. Theft, as being one of their liberal sciences, is rather cherished than punished: But adulterers and fornicators are miserably persecuted by them. If they detect a lady of pleasure, they oblige her, publickly, in the time of divine worship, to mount a theatre of ignominy, called, forsooth, the stool of repentance, to the end all the geude brethren may know where to have a whore. They are professed foes to all copy-hold tenures in divinity, and will much rather preach extempore nonsense, than use notes. In the time of King James I. soon after his coming into England, one of his own country thus accosted him, Sir,' says he, 'I am sorry to see your Majesty so dealt with by your prelatical tántivies, as you are: Alas! they can neither preach, nor pray, but by a beuk; if your Majesty will please to hear me, Ise doe bath without.' And so he did, till the King told him, He preached and prayed, as if he had never leuked in a beuk in his whole life.'

In the College library, they keep Buchanan's scull; however the lining be wanting, which had, methought, a pretty distich upon it: The first line I have forgot, but the second was thus:

Et decus es tumulo jam, Buchanane, tuo.

But I must correct myself. I intended only a letter, but have insensibly swelled it to the dimensions of a treatise. I will conclude my observations of the country with one short, and true, story. The

VOL. X.

famous Duke of Lauderdale, when first minister of state, was invited to dinner by the then Lord Chancellor, and as splendidly entertained as the poverty of the country would permit : At taking leave, says he, My Lord, Ise con you mickle thanks for your generous and noble treat, which puts me in mind of one proverb we have in use amongst us, viz. That feuls make feasts, and wise men eat them.' The other, loth to be out-done in point of civility, replied, Ye say vary right, my Lord; and it is as true, That wise men make proverbs, and feuls repeat them.' Well, lest I should surfeit you with my rugged prose, I will, for once and away, try to fall into the amble of rhyme doggrel:

And what, dear Sir, then is it quid reale,
That you design an iter boreale?

Are you so much a stoick, that this hot-land
You fear not to exchange for gelid Scotland?
Where, when you rise 'ith morning, e're a dozen
Can well be told, your fingers-ends are frozen.
Debate's the only fuel of that nation;
And you'll be hot alone in disputation.
Here you may warm your inside with a bottle,
But there must try to do't with Aristotle.
Good food's a thing so scarce too, that I'll tell ye,
Philosophy alone must fill your belly.

Instead of having that with dainties cram'd,
You must take up with Cartes and Le Grand.
And, if you'd keep your purse-strings quiet,
Live merrily on a Chamelion's diet.
Next: For its dressing 'tis assuredly
A perfect antidote 'gainst gluttony:
For he, that on their carbonado's looks,

Must needs say, God sends meat, the devil cooks.
Be therefore rul'd for once, abstain from it,
Unless you mean to take a northern vomit:
To be a brute's the only thing in fashion;
And nastiness the genius of that nation.
The things, that are abominated there,

Are clean shirts, swines-flesh, and the common-prayer.
But stay-What's your pretence? come let me know,
Is't to refine your intellect you go?

Sir, you affront your English education,

To borrow learning from its neighbour nation.
Whate'er there have been, I'm afraid you'll light on,
But few such men as Buchanan and Creighton...
They're all apostatiz'd to arrant sots,

Baotum Terra is the land of Scots.

In short, if naught's sufficient to dissuade you,
Wou'd all the dreadful plagues of Scotland had you.
Hunger, slovenliness, and troops of vermin,
Companions of Scotch gentry, and English carmen:

All these you are sure to meet, with many more,
More grievous than those mentioned before.
Your voyage all your cordial friends lament,
Where you'll be under rule, not government.
But he especially, who protests he's fervent,
When he subscribes himself your humble servant.

E. B.

PROPOSALS FOR CARRYING ON

AN

EFFECTUAL WAR IN AMERICA,

AGAINST THE FRENCH AND SPANIARDS.

Bellum justum, quibus necessarium, & pia arma, quibus in armis spes est.

TIT. LIV.

Humbly offered to the Consideration of the King's most Excellent Majesty, the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Honourable the House of Commons.

From a Quarto Edition, printed at London, in the Year MDCCII.

ALL LL Europe is justly alarmed at the succession of Spain so unexpectedly falling to the house of Bourbon, already too great. The intire reconciliation, and, as may be said, union of these two formidable monarchies, cannot but with good reasons cause the utmost jealousies in all their neighbours, who may be in danger of becoming their prey. Insomuch that a general confederacy, and well-cemented league, is absolutely necessary to support a vigorous and sudden war.

If you give these two powers time, they will more firmly unite together, induced to it, by the apprehensions they have of other nations. The French will inspire the Spaniards with their active and martial temper,

Residesq; movebit.

Rursus ad arma viros.

with their art of government and management of their revenues, with their methods of advancing and engrossing trade; and we must expect in a short time to see the riches of the West-Indies fall into hands of these two nations, and they exclude all others.

Of all their neighbours the English have the greatest interest to hinder this mischief, and England is the only power that can, and ought to do it; since its colonies are so vast, and populous, and

since America is the only place where England can well with honour and profit enlarge its dominions, and soon become the most potent nation in the world: And it looks as if Providence had pointed out that way, when we consider the vast increase of the English in the West-Indies.

The English may easily ruin all the French colonies in America, and drive all the Spaniards out of their vast, but ill-fortified plantations. They are effeminate, and would surrender to a general enemy, and many of them are willing to be transported to Spain, where they have estates in land or money.

The Spaniards have possessed the fountains of gold and silver long enough; it is high time, they should pass into the hands of the English, who have in the same part of the world so many populous colonies, and out of which young people may be drawn, and transported to better places, as swarms out of bee-hives, to the incredible advantage of the nation in general.

If twenty-four years experience in those parts, some employments not very inconsiderable in peace and war, which the writer of this paper has had among the English and the French; if having seen and been concerned in most, if not all the actions that have been in those countries; if all these things can enable him to judge rightly of the matter, he thinks that he may, upon very good grounds, affirm, that a war in America may be very practicable, and, with God's assistance, very successful.

The miscarriages and ill success of most of the undertakings there in the late war, and the great mortality which fell among the forces sent thither, is, perhaps, an objection, but many things may be replied to it: The incapacity of most of the commanders, their little skill in military affairs, the disaffection in some, the want of discipline and order in general: And you may add to this, the ill practices about the plunder; such disorders will hinder the best troops from doing any thing, much more such people as those forces were composed of.

As to the mortality and the great loss of men, it could not well be otherwise with unruly, drunken, and dissolute people, who, falling sick, had no body to assist and look to them. Good discipline, good order, good provisions, good physick, and such like necessaries, would certainly remedy all these evils.

I do here, with all submission and respect, propose a method by which I am persuaded, that a war may be carried on in America with very little charge; I mean, by managing the plunder, and other things of that nature, in such a manner as the proposed war should feed and maintain itself; and there is no doubt, but that, making war in a rich country, if affairs are rightly and honestly carried, the conquered people may be made to defray the charges, and so consequently the war would be enabled to support and maintain itself.

I likewise propose to raise forces as soon as possible in all the colonies out of the young people, who could be more easily transported any where. I would order them all into independent com

panies, each of an hundred centinels, with one captain, two. lieutenants, one ensign, and four serjeants. When they form a battalion, or go upon service, the eldest or senior officer should command.

Regimenting of forces is subject to a great many inconveniences, and is of no use when the regiment is not all together, and serves in different places; besides that, the state-major takes up all the spoil.

All the standing forces the French have, in America, and all their militia are independent companies. When they draw into a battalion, the senior officer takes the right hand, and every other according to the seniority of their commission; so that the service is performed as well as if they had colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors, and it saves the king a great sum of money.

Perhaps his Majesty may think it convenient to model after that manner the forces raised here in England, to be sent to the WestIndies, since, in a series of time, it would save a great sum of money, please very much the militia, and take off all occasions of dissatisfaction and murmurings about the division of spoil and plunder, which might then be all equally divided to the several companies, without distinction of standing and militia forces. The militia never repines at the right hand and post of honour being taken by the standing forces, but cannot willingly see those, who are allowed pay, pretend to a greater share than they who have no salary, and endure commonly more hardship, and are usually put upon more difficult service.

The well-ordering of plunder, and justly and impartially dividing it, is of very great consequence; all our divisions and misunderstandings proceeded from thence.

At the taking of St. Christophers some were very busy about getting, hiding, securing, and transporting of plunder, whilst others were intent on service, and minded their duty, so that the division of the spoil and plunder was not justly made.

I would provide good arms and good powder; and, as most of those countries have store of horses, I would carry a great number of small ordinary saddles and bridles, to mount the greatest part of the forces, and make them dragoons, the most useful sort of troops.

People in those parts use, upon travelling in woods, or such like places, to carry along with them each man his pavilion to sleep under, and defend him from gnats, a most troublesome and intolerable insect, and of an extraordinary bigness in some places. This pavilion is made of thin canvas, in such a form that, being spread and supported upon some sticks planted in the ground, a man lies under it, the canvas falling like the curtains of a bed, and so leaves no room for gnats to get in. The man has his

fusee between his legs, and lies upon some grass or leaves, and in a march carries his pavilion like a shoulder-belt. Tents would never hinder the gnats. This is the buccaneers fashion, and