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law of England does not, in this refpect, make any distinction between foreigners and natural-born fubjects, and is conformed to the conftitution of the emperor Frederic II. tit. 1. fect. 10. and is founded as well on natural justice, as commercial reafons.

It is to be observed, that this clear and exprefs opinion is figned by the lord chief juftice of England, by the king's advocate and attorney-general, and confequently that it has all the marks of authority that any one can defire in matters of this kind.

In fhort, independently of the proofs which refulted from these pieces, Mr. and Mifs Howard offered farther to juftify, by the regifters of the courts of juftice in England, a crowd of examples of fucceffions of perfonal eftates, which have been recovered by French people of their English relations. They cited, among others, that of Mrs. Cantillon, a French woman, actually refiding at the Nouvelles Catholiques, in Paris, who having claimed, during the laft war, the perfonal eftate of Mr. John Cantillon, her nephew, who died in Ireland, in 1754, be ing a captain in one of his Bri tannic majefty's regiments, was put into poffeffion of the effects of this fucceffion, by the court of Doctors Commons, to the prejudice of his other relations; and fhe has received, in confequence, 6501. fterling, and the remainder to be remitted to her immediately.

So many proofs accumulated, left no refource for the pretended argument of incapacity, which they had at firft oppofed to Mr. and Mifs Howard they waited patiently the fuccefs of their de

mand, till they understood, with an extreme furprize, that it had been rejected by a fentence of the Chatelet. And the affair being afterwards carried before parlia ment, an arret was paffed, which confirmed that fentence.

An account of the entertainments given his royal highness the Duke of York, at Venice.

TH

HE morning after his royal highness arrived (25th May, 1764) he received the compli ments of the doge by four Venetian noblemen, who were ordered to attend him during his ftay. The two following evenings his highnefs went to the opera. On the third day he visited the arfenal, where the Venetian nobility of both fexes were prefent to pay their refpects to him. He was conducted to the different parts of this extenfive building in a magnificent felucca built on purpofe, and attended by three other feluc cas, all rowed by men in the drefs of English failors, and the three laft filled with English and other foreigners of diftinction, and with noble Venetians. Three thoufand hands were employed in building and fitting out fhips and gallies; one of which was put upon the ftocks in the prefence of his royal highnefs, which he was furprized to fee nearly compleated before he left the arfenal. Having vifited the feveral docks, the rope-walks, the forges, &c. he was at length conducted to the grand armory, where a concert of mufic was prepared, and from the balcony of which he faw the fhews called Le

forze

forze d'Ercole, and the Moressa dance, with which his highness expreffed the greatest pleasure. On his return, he was conducted back by the noblemen appointed to attend him. But all this was little in comparison to what was preparing for the further entertainment of his royal highness. The four noble attendants, animated with an earneft defire to answer the intentions of their republic, devifed public races upon the great canal, and fixed the exhibition of them to the 4th of June, his Britannic majesty's birth-day. The numerous and fplendid barges, that appeared on this occafion, fet out from the lower end of the great canal about three in the afternoon, and advancing towards the Rialto bridge, followed the course of the great canal to the mount of St. Anthony, where, the fignal being given, his highness faw many competitors in a boat with one oar start, and in a biffona faw the whole of the race, which paffing along the great canal and returning back to the middle of it, formed a course of about four miles, and ended at a confpicuous ftructure, erected upon barges, reprefenting the palace of Joy; in the front of the firft ftory of which appeared Venice embracing Britain. The firft race being over, his royal highness was pleafed to go to a palace upon the great canal, fitted up and adorned on purpose, where, from a balcony, furrounded with ladies and gentlemen, he faw the four fubfequent races. In the mean time, in fight of above two hundred thousand fpectators, nine magnificent peotas moved flowly about the canal, amidft feveral thoufand gondolas and other light barges; while the fwift and equal

The

ly rich biffonas and margarotas, with young nobles, attended, armed with bows and pellets, and cleared the way for the racers.— The four firft peotas reprefented the four elements; the first of them, entirely filvered over, and fymbolizing the element of Water, reprefented the triumph of Neptune, adorned with figures of tritons, fword-fifh, dolphins, &c. The fecond expreffed the Earth, fymbolized in the goddefs Cybele, crowned with towers, and adorned with various products, plants, flowers, and animals, the whole be ing gilt and filvered over. third was fky-colour and filver, denoting the element of Air, expreffed by the rape of Orithya by Boreas, with Zephyrs and Cupids playing around in the air. The fourth was of flame-colour, with ornaments of filver, indicating the element of Fire, admirably expreffed by the forge of Vulcan, Vulcan fweating at the anvil, with his naked Cyclops in gigantic figures, with Venus oppofite in her car, drawn by doves, and with other allufions agreeable to the fable. These four peotas bore the arms quartered of the four attendants. The other five peotas were fitted out by their neareft relations. The firft reprefented Great Britain led in triumph by Europe; the fecond fhewed the whale-fifhing, admirably reprefented; the third exhi bited the triumph of Venus, in her car drawn by four doves; the fourth, the chariot of the fun, drawn by four horfes, preceded by Aurora, in the act of difperfing night; the fifth and laft, the triumph of Pallas, with trophies and allufions to that deity, &c. all ri valling each other in pomp, and glittering

glittering with filver and gold, particularly the various elegant dreffes of the rowers, musicians, and other figures, in each peota, richly adorned with laces, befides the long fringes and taffels of filver playing upon the water. The fingularity of the fhow, poffible to be executed only in Venice, animated, the four noble deputies to manifeft at once to the whole world, the fincere friendship of the republic towards the crown of Great Britain. [Biffonas are barges of eight oars, margarottas of fix, and ballitonas of four.]

Some account of the German emigrants, so hospitably received and provided for by this nation in the course of the present year.

。.TH

a

Aug. 30. Here appeared in one Here appeared in one of the daily papers letter from Mr. Wachfell, minifter of the German Lutheran church of St. George's in Goodman's fields, giving an account, that about fix hundred proteftant Wurtzburghers and Palatines, of both fexes and all ages, brought over from their native country by a German officer, with a promife of being immediately fent to fettle at his own expence in the island of St. John in America, being abandoned by him through an inability to make his promife good, were in the utmoft danger of perifhing for want of affiftance, being too numerous to lie entirely on the hands of their countrymen here, who had already contributed handfomely to their relief; that about four hundred of them, having wherewith to pay their paffage, were fuffered to come afhore, whilft the reft were detained on board fhip; that VOL. VII.

they were all in a manner without food, many without cloaths, and fome fick, yet obliged to lie in the open fields, expofed to all the inclemencies of a rainy feafon; that one poor woman had been actually delivered there, and perished with her child for want of proper care and affiftance; that these wretched beings would think themselves extremely happy, if the British government would be graciously pleafed to take them under its protection, to allow them, for the prefent, fome ground to lie on, tents to cover them, and any manner of fubfiftence, till it fhall be thought proper to fhip them off, and fettle them in any of its colonies in America; where, he doubted not, they would give their protectors and benefactors conftant proofs of their affection and gratitude for fuch kindness; but that they had no friend, who had interest enough to intercede effectually for them, or even knew the proper method of application, which was his rea fon for thus addreffing the public.

It is fcarce poffible to exprefs, how foon, and how powerfully, this letter worked on the charity of all ranks. That very morning they were fupplied with one hundred tents from the tower, with all neceffaries thereto belonging, by orders of the king; and, before night, the paffage of all the poor captives on board fhip was paid and they releafed from their wretched confinement in filth and naftiness, by the fame bountiful hand. The tents from his majefty were foon. followed by contributions from all quarters, fome of one hundred pounds each, many of ten; and by exprefs, and from unknown benefactors. Subfcriptions were like, wife opened at feveral coffee-houses, [L]

and

and collections made at feveral churches after sermons preached to enforce them; both with no fmall fuccefs. Their majefties fent a further contribution of 3001. An eminent physician, a furgeon and man midwife, and an apothe cary, offered their perfonal affiftance; fo that, in two or three days, to the great honour of the nation, they faw themselves from the loweft ftate of wretchednefs, many in a comfortable, all in a tolerable fituation. Their most preffing wants being thus anfwered, the gentlemen, who had formed themfelves into a committee for the application of thefe contributions, applied to his majefty to know his royal will with regard to them, and received a moft gracious anfwer by lord Halifax, purporting, that they fhould be fent to, and eftablifhed in, South Carolina, and one hundred and fifty stands of arms delivered for their defence.

Upon this, the committee pubfifhed the following advertisement in regard to their paffage; which advertisement we infert at large, as a ftriking specimen of the great at tention of those gentlemen to the welfare of these poor people, and the great generofity of the fubfcribers, who enabled them to make fo comfortable a provifion.

"Wanted, two fhips, of not lefs than 200 tons burthen, to carry the poor Palatines to South Carolina; not more than 200 perfons in each fhip. To be ready to fail in 10 days. ~The neceffaries that are expected to be provided, as follow:

One pound of bread, of 16 ounces, for each perfon, men, women, and children, every day.

One man, one woman, and three children to a mess.

Sunday, for each mefs, a piece of beef, 4lb. flour, 3lb. fruit, or fuet, half-pound; and a quart of peas.

Monday, ftockfish, 3lb. butter, 1lb. cheefe, 1lb. potatoes 3lb. Tuesday, two pieces of pork, 6lb. rice, 2lb.

Wednesday, gritts, 5lb. butter, 2lb. cheese, 2lb.

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Thursday, the fame as Sunday, only potatoes instead of peas. Friday, grey peas, two quarts; butter, 2lb. cheese 2lb.

Saturday, flour, 2lb. fruit, halfpound; potatoes, 2lb. butter, 2lb. cheefe, 21b.

Sufficient vinegar, pepper, and falt, every day.

A ton of water for every three perfons.

Six quarts of good fhip beer, each mefs, for the first three weeks; and for the remainder of the voyage, a pint of British spirits each day.

Medicines, and a doctor to each fhip, provided by the committee.

Half of the freight to be paid before failing from Gravefend; the other moiety at their delivery at South Carolina: deducting onehalf of the fecond payment for every person that dies on their paffage.

All that exceed fourteen years on the 1ft of September, to be deemed whole passengers.

All under that age, two to be deemed as one paffenger.

Security will be required for the exa& performance of the contract.

Proposals may be left at the bar of Batfon's coffee-house, Cornhill, for the committee, on or before Tuefday the 18th inftant, at 12 o'clock."

On the 5th of October, these poor people broke up their camp in the fields behind Whitechapel church, in order to embark.

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Their departure formed a moft moving fpectacle. Some gentlemen of the committee attended on the occafion, and accompanied them to the water-fide, and particularly the reverend Mr. Wachfell, whofe pious labours are above all praife. On his taking leave of them, tears flowed plentifully on both fides, especially from the fick, and pregnant women who were near their time. Many of the perfons prefent could not refrain from fympathizing with them. They were carried in lighters to the ships lying at Blackwall, finging hymns all the way, and a great number of boats filled with fpectators, attended them, who feemed greatly affected with their devout behaviour, and demonftrations of gratitude to the nation which had fo hofpitably treated them. Twenty-one, who

were

judged too fick or weak to venture on fo long a voyage, were left behind at Gravefend, but fent away as foon as they recovered.

Many unthinking people murmured much at the great and ready relief fhewn to these strangers, when we had fo many poor of our own to provide for. They did not confider that all our own poor are intitled to a provifion in their refpective parishes, and to be fent to their parishes, be it at ever fo great a distance.

It is very remarkable, that, the very day after the reverend Mr. Wachfell's letter appeared in our papers, the following advertisement appeared in the Hague gazette; by whofe orders we are not told; probably by that of our ambaffador there; for, as it is impoffible our miniftry in England fhould know any thing of thefe poor wretches being here without know

ing of their fufferings, fo it is full as improbable, that they fhould know of their fufferings, and not immediately relieve them. The advertisement is as follows:

"One I. H. C. de Stumpel, who ftiles himself a colonel in the fervice of the king of Great Britain, having engaged a number of perfons to go into England, upon affurances which he gave them, that he was authorized by his Britannic majesty to promise them fettlements in America; and that they should be carried there at the king's expence in order to prevent his continuing to impose upon the credulity of the public in this refpect, it is thought proper to advertise, that the faid Stumpel was never authorized as he pretends, to engage people for thofe fettlements, nor to make any promifes on the part of the British miniftry."

Some account of the principal debates among the proprietors of East India stock, mentioned in our Chronicle, p. 49.

THE

HE firft fubject of these debates was, the behaviour of their fervants in the Eaft Indies, who had been very far from unanimous in tranfacting the company's affairs there for fome time paft, and whofe enemies and friends were now very liberal in their accufations and recriminations, not much to the honour of either party, or of those who permitted them to facrifice the honour of the nation to their private views. The next fubject, was the direction of their affairs at home and abroad, moft, if not all, of them, looking up to lord Clive as the only perfon [L] 2 qualified

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