every attempt in any Church to bring others into its communion otherwife than by fetting the apparent evidences of its fuperior acceptableness plainly and movingly before them, is what the divine doctrine of toleration highly disapproves, and peremptorily forbids.

Religion, in its moft extenfive acceptation, denotes a voluntary concurrence on our part with the creator's purpofes; or it is an intentional co-operating with him in forwarding fuch defigns and carrying them into act. The queftion which immediately offers is, what are those ends? I answer, the common happiness of all his creatures, principally of those who are endow'd with reafon and agency. To promote this in their particular allotments, and as they are in ability to do it, is the whole fum and fubftance of the duty of a rational dependent being, looking up to God, and propofing his favour, or, more properly, their own happiness (which is the effect of it) as the ultimate end of each religious act. But the impreffions of religion can no more be excited, than they can be preferved in full force and vigour, excepting by a church; that is, nothing tends more than worship to engage men to an even and uniform discharge of all those duties flowing from the relation they ftand in to their maker and to one another; which was the reafon of his conftituting it a duty.

Or thus; man's happiness on the whole is the product of, and will be exactly proportion'd to the correspondency of his acts with the will of the Supreme Being; this correfpondency ever varies with the views from whence he conforms; which again are fuited to the ftrength and juftness of his fense of the divine administration. But this fenfe can only rife to fuch a degree as to become a directive influencing principle by religion. Worship therefore, as a means of happiness, must be a charge he cannot be released from, dur→ ing his whole confcious ftate of existence.

[To be continued. ]

R

To the STUDENT.

Mr. STUDENT,

T would have been a generous and more manly part,

had you touch'd upon the foibles of your own sex with regard to dress, before you attack'd, what you are pleas'd to call (contrary to your own good fenfe and experience) the weaker veffels. Reformation, like charity, ought to begin at home, and we with patience hear that preacher, who is himself the great example that he draws. I humbly beg therefore that we may be entertained on the following topics in your next numbers.

I. The enormous abomination of the PIG-TAIL WIG.

II. Some confiderations on the MUFF, or the beaux invafion on the female prerogative of softness and effeminacy.

III. The affectation of fine gentlemen's wearing No BEARD.

IV. On the abfurdity of some pretty fellows wearing their OWN FACE, and of others wearing NO FACE AT all.

If I am not satisfied concerning these, and ten thoufand other abfurdities of the like nature, by you, I am determined to do my felf and my own fex juftice.

Farewell, and (as the ghoft in Hamlet fays) REMEM

BER ME.

ANNE L *

AND SO I WILL, OLD TRUE-PENNY.

The STUDENT.

S the following original letter of the Lord High-Chancellor BACON has never yet been published, and does honour to the memory of that great man, by fhewing his regard for the Univerfity of OXFORD, tho' he had his education in the other University, it cannot be deemed unworthy of a place in this collection.

An ORIGINAL

LETTER,

From Sir FRANCIS BACON (Lord VERULAM) Lord High-Chancellor of England.

To the the Reverend UNIVERSITIE of OXFORD.

A

Mongst the gratulations I have received, none are

more welcome and agreeable to me than your letters, wherein the lefs I acknowledg of those attributes you give me, the more I must acknowledg of your affection, which bindeth me no lefs to you, that are profeffors of learning, than mine own dedication doth to learning itself. And therefore you have no need to doubt but I will emulate (as much as in me is) towards you the merits of him that is gone, by how much the more I take myself to have more propriety in the principal motive thereof. And for the equality you write of, I fhall by the grace of God (far as may concern me) hold the ballance as equally between the two Univerfities, as I fhall hold the ballance of other juftice between party and party. And yet in both cafes I must meet with some inclinations of affection, which nevertheless shall not carry me afide. And foe I commend you to God's goodness.

GORHAMBURY, April 12. 1617.

Your most loving

And affured friend,

FR. BACON.

To the STUDENT, at OXFORD.

My dear BROTHER,

Am a woman.—But let it not furprize you that one of

my fex should pretend to claim affinity with the STUDENT. My birth, my education, the whole tenour of my life, and my present fituation, entitle me, I prefume, to the familiarity of a fifter. I too am a STUDENT: I am mistress of the Latin language, I have founded the depths of philofophy, and perhaps have made much greater progrefs in academical erudition, than many of your matriculated dons, whofe profound knowledge folely confists in a little cap with a fhort tuft, and a large pompous grizzle wig.

Cambridge for these forty years has been the place of my refidence, as it was of my nativity. When I was four years old, I was removed from a neighbouring village, where I had been nurfed, to a reputable tonsors in this town, whofe daughter was my aunt, and took the care of my education upon her. As I grew up I fhew'd a great propenfity to learning every scrap of writing that came in my way was fure to be narrowly infpected; the wig-boxes were my perpetual ftudy; and even the curling-papers were twisted off the pipes, to be fcrutiniz'd by my insatiable curiofity. My aunt was fo exceffively fond of me, that the fuffer'd me to give a loose to my paffion for literature; and in process of time books became my conftant employ, and my pen was much oftener ufed than my needle. In the courfe of my ftudies I was directed by a grave fellow of a college, who ufed to come conftantly to our houfe, and with whom I became fo great a favourite, that he was continually caref fing me, and would often call me his child. From him I received my first rudiments of knowledge, and by him I was gradually led from one fcience to another, till I had madea confiderable progrefs through the whole circle.

Numb. II. Vol. II,

G

I was

I was fcarce feventeen when my kind tutor died of a furfeit, occafioned by feeding too freely at a gaudy. My aunt was inconfolable for his lofs, and faid, we were ruin'd: at length a marriage-fettlement was produc'd, which intitled her to his fortune; and then it was firft known to me and the world, that myself was no other than the fruits of an union, which had fecretly connected them for near twenty years. My mother (for fo I must call her) took poffeffion of his effects, which amounted to a fum fcarce fufficient to maintain us. However, fhe refolved to continue at Cambridge on my account, and we lived together in a manner much genteeler than our fortune would afford. My perfon (which, by the bye, I took as much pains to cultivateas my mind) now began to be cried up as much as my parts. I was a charming, clever, fweet, smart, witty, pretty creature: in fhort, I was as much feared for my wit, as ador'd for my beauty. From hence I had the vanity to fancy I could have any body I pleafed, and had therefore refolved within myself to be run away with by a nobleman, or a baronet at leaft.

Ten years rolled away in a perpetual round of gaiety and pleasure. During this time, I faw myself follicited by a various fucceffion of dignified humble fervants; for I was inacceffible to the approaches of any below the degree of fellow-commoner. From these, you may fuppofe, I had several advantageous proposals, which my vanity prompted me to reject: fome fuitors I difcarded, because a better match had offered; others, because a better might offer; fome, becaufe they had too much fenfe; others, because they had too little; this was too old, that too young: in fhort, tho' I had refolved to make one of them happy, I could not pitch upon any who I thought had fufficient merit or fortune to purchafe fo ineftimable a favour.

I was full twenty eight before I could perceive, that my lovers were lefs numerous, lefs affiduous, and lefs opulent. My golden dream was in fome fort difturbed, but not va

nifhed,