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time. He has affigned an hour indeed when he will fee his patient; but any other time will do as well. The patient waits till the hour is paft-then he becomes impatient-if his diforder is not violent, moft probably he is cross and irritable-he frets at the doctor-and ten to one the doctor lofes his cuftom. Then the doctor believes, that no time will do fo well as the right time.

The lawyer has feveral caufes in court -he can prepare them for trial at any time. Several caufes ftand affigned for trial before his-he can finifh the pleadings at any time-by fome unforeseen accident, bufinefs takes a new turnthe court urge forward to complete it his caufes are called, and they are not ready-a nonfuit-a continuanceor fome other expenfive alternative, is the confequence.

The farmer's fence is down, and his

fields are expofed to his neighbour's cattle-but he has a little job to do first -he can repair his fences at any time before his any time comes, fifty or a hundred fheep get into his field, and eat and trample down his wheat.For want of an hour's work, he lofes ten, fifteen, or twenty bushels of wheat. His apple-trees want pruning-but he muft dress his flax before he can do it -warm weather approaches he will certainly prune his trees in a day or two-but he'll finish a little job firftbefore he has done, the feafon is paftit is too late to prune his trees-they muft go another year—and half his

fruit is loft.

at any

The lounging houfe wife rifes in the morning in hafte; for lazy folks are ever in a hurry-She has not time to put on her clothes properly, but fhe can do it time. She draws on her gown, but leaves it half pinned, her handkerchief is thrown awry across her neck, her fhoes down at her heels: fhe buftles about with her hair over her eyes; fhe runs from room to room flip-thod, refolved to do up the work and drefs herfelf; but folks who are flip-fhod about the feet are ufually flipfhod all over the houfe, and all day; they begin every thing and finifh nothing. In the mift of the poor wo man's hurry, fomebody comes in; the

is in a flutter, runs into the next room, pins up her gown and handkerchief, hurries back with her heels thumping the floor: Oh dear, you have catched us in the fuds! I intended to have cleaned up before any body came in, but I have had every thing to do this morn ing; in the mean time, the catches hold of the broom, and begins to fweep; the duft rifes and ftifles every foul prefert. This is ill manners indeed, to brush the duft into a neighbour's face-but the woman is very forry it happens fo.

Many a neighbourhood has been entertained with apologies and duft, at a friend's houfe, and wherever this takes place, depend on it, the mifirefs puts off to any time, that is, to no time, what ought to be done at the prefent time.

C

Anecdote of Suicide.

LEOMENES, king of Sparta, when fuffering under misfortunes, was advifed to kill himself by Theric on, one of his attendants; who fet of the propofal with that specious colouring which the imbecility of an oppreffed mind is apt to mistake for argument. "Thinkeft thou, wicked man," replic Cleomenes," to fhew thy fortitude b rufhing upon death; a refuge always eafily to be had, and which every man has open to himfelf. Better men tha we are, have, either by the fortune o arms, or overpowered by numbers, le the field of battle to their enemies: but the man who, to avoid pain and calami ty, or from a flavifh regard to the prais or cenfures of men, gives up the conteft, is overcome by his own cowardice. we are to feek for death, that death ought to be in action, not in the deler ing of action; for it argues bafenels to live or to die for ourfelves. by adopting thy expedient, all that we can gain is, to get rid of our prefent difficulties, without either glory to ourfelves or benefit to our country. hopes then that we fhall, fome time or other, be of fervice to our country; both thou and I, methinks, are bound to preferve life; whenever thefe hopes fhall have altogether abandoned us, death, if fought for, will readily be found."

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Intelligence refpecting Arts. Hot houfe Plants reared by the Aid of Steam; a new Difcovery.

A

GENTLEMAN, eminently diftinguifhed for his mechanical talents, and his improvements in feveral branches of rural economics, has lately contrived to rear pine-apples, melons, and other hot-house plants, without the ufe of tan, or other fermentative liquors, the neceffary heat being communicated by means of team; and after having practifed it for at leaft two years, he can now, with fome degree of confidence, pronounce that it has exceeded his higheft expectations; and is, in feveral refpects, preferable to any mode hitherto practifed for any hot-houfe plants, particularly in refpect to infects; for he does not find that any one clafs of infects, have ever attacked any of the plants that have been reared after this new method.

The circumftance that led him to the difcovery, was the difficulty of finding tan, in his particular fituation. Chagrined at this, he began to reflect if it might not be poffible to do without it. It readily occurred to him, that heat and moisture are the two great agents in promoting vegetation, and he thought, that if thefe two could be conjoined together, it could not fail to prove falutary: fteam, properly managed, feemed to promife to do this. He then contrived an apparatus by which water can be kept properly heated to tranfmit fteam; and this fteam, fo managed as to be capable of acting either by its heat only, or by its heat and moisture united, as circumftances fhould indicate to be proper; by means of flues, either horizontally difpofed under a bed of earth, or in a perpendicular wall, both the foil in which the plants grow, or the wall to which they are nailed, can be heated to any degree wanted; and by admitting the fteam itself at pleasure, either into the body of the mould, or into the hot-houfe, the plants may be fubjected to a heated bath, if you pleafe to call it, which appears, by the experience he has had of it, to be wonderfully kindly to vegetation. The whole Hib. Mag. Nov. 1792.

plant comes to be moistened with a warm vapour, which flowly condenfes into a dew, that feems to penetrate every part of the leaf, and confers an invigorating freshnefs to the whole plant which nothing elfe could have effected. It is impoffible to conceive any thing more beautiful, luxuriant, and fruitful, than the vines I saw had been reared by this mode of management.

The world is indebted for this difcovery to Mr. Wakefield of Liverpool, a gentleman who, to indefatigable activity and induftry, conjoins a fpirit of refearch, and a talent for mechanical invention, that gives room to hope for many additional difcoveries from that quarter: among others he has already made a machine for cutting chaff, which, from its fimplity of conftruction, facility in working, and perfection in performing its bufinefs, deferves to be more generally known. Mr. Wakefield has communicated to Mr. Moreland of Manchefter all the drawings of his apparatus for managing fteam in the rearing of plants, with the full inftructions for conducting the whole operations; and the latter gentleman is juft now preparing the materials for publication; fo that the public will foon have an opportunity of being fully informed as to all thefe.

Mr. Wakefield's attention is but incidentally directed towards his garden. He is active in the profecution of agricultural improvements on a large scale; his dairy, confifting of about one hundred cows, cannot perhaps be paralleled by any in the ifland-his calves he ufually fells at ten guineas, new dropped; his bull is a fine animal, whose portrait ought to be preferved;--he intends to have it drawn by Stubbs. Thefe cattle are chiefly fed in winter. with the grains he gets from the large brewery of Liverpool, a monopoly of which article he has obtained for feveral years: this enables him to keep a very large ftock of cattle, in proportion to the fize of his farm; which affords fo much cung as muft enable, him, if he fhould live a very few years, to make it one of the richest fields in England. When wealth, industry, and good fenfe are united, great is their power! Anecdot

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394

Anecdote of a Bojeporean Robber *.

AT the fecond encampment of the to remain concealed.

English in Bojepore, one of the officers had a horfe ftolen by a native, who miffing the road before he could clear the tents, was detected and brought back. The gentleman highly pleafed at recovering his horfe, and much furprifed at the fellow's dexterity in carrying him off, while fix or feven grooms were fleeping around him, was more inclined to admire the addrefs and expertnefs of the thief, than to punish him for the robbery. The next morning, when his refentment was entirely fubfided into curiofity; he ordered the Bojeporean to be brought before him, and enquiring by what contrivance he had effected his defign; the fellow anfwered, that he could not clearly relate it, but that if his honour defired it, he would fhew him the mode in which he had conducted the theft. "Well then," replied the officer, "fince you are fo bad at verbal defcription, let us fee how you did it." Being arrived at the pickets, the fellow crept "Now, foftly under the horfe's belly. Sir," faid he, "pray take notice-this is the manner I crawled over the grooms: the next thing I had to do, was to loofen the horfe's ropes behind, which I accomplifhed thus; I then put a halter----obferve, Sir, if you please-over his neck thus." "Admirably clever, by Jove," exclaimed the officer, laughing and rubbing his hands." "In this manner," continued the thief, "I jumped upon his back, and when once I am mounted, I defy the devil to overtake me."-In faying which, he gave the horse a kick, and galloped away in an inftant, to the aftonithment of the gaping croud, and the mortification of the cajoled officer.

British Theatre.

N Friday, October 19, was per

Theatre, for the first time, a new mu-
fical after piece called THE PRISONER.

N о T E.
*The Zemindars of Bojepore employ
a great number of thieves, who pay them
a certain part of the booty collected from

This petit piece is the production of a gentleman, who has before written fuccefsfully for the ftage, but who wishes He has taken Mr. Atwood to his aid as a compiler and compofer, whose coup d'effai in muficals we are to confider it, and a powerful aide-de-camp he has proved himfelf, fince the mufic is the chief recommendation of the performance.

The French, who make more of every thing, than any other people, have, of late years, dropped their long dialogues, and taken up the mode of engrafting good fongs and pleafing spectacle upon flight fables, by which an effect is produced much better than fuch writing as is now to be had, or the flage could have by the ordinary affiftance of the actors. This is a thing of that fort Its beft fcene, where the prifoner is fhewn in an iron cage, has fcarcely any dialogue; yet this is interefting, and the others are entertaining, while the whole is a pleasant pafticcio.

The characters are thus reprefented: Marcos, Mr. Kelly; Bernardo, Mr. Dignum; Pafqual, Mr. Sedgwick; Roberto, Mr. Suett; Goaler, Mr. Wewitzer; Narciffo, Mafter Walf; Clara, Mrs. Crouch; Therefa, Mifs De Camp; Nina, Mrs. Bland; Juliana, Mifs Menage.

The fable of the piece is as follows; Lon Bernardo being enamoured of Clara, demands her of her brother Don Marcos, who, from a family pique, haughtily refuses, and fends her into a diftant province. Marcos, accidentally feparated from a hunting party, is feized by Bernardo and thrown into prifon; this circumftance gives name to the piece; but it is not till two years afterward that the fcene commences, with an account of fome difturbances among the flaves, which Bernardo relates to his friend Pafqual, together with his fears that Clara has been deftroyed; on which

vengeance on the prifoner, by immediate execution. The fecond fcene discovers Clara as a foldier, with Nina, who has enlifted as a drummer; they affume this difguife, the better to learn what has become of Marcos, and (Clara acknow lades with no little anxiety) to know

the

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the fituation of her lover. In the third fcene, Therefa, (Bernardo's fifter,) in a foliloquy, betrays her affection for the prifoner, on having been witness to the heroic fpirit he fhewed on being feized and dragged to a dungeon, lamenting her inability to extricate him. At this 2 time the gaoler's children appear, when the thought ftrikes her to obtain his releafe through their means, by working upon their feelings. She got the promife that they would ufe their endeavour; and, after an arch device of the girl to prevent the difcovery of a letter, a trio clofes the fcene: The fourth difcovers to Clara, through the miftake of Nina, that her lover has a mittrefs in his tent, beautiful and beloved. This enrages her to a fort of diftraction, and the determines on vengeance.

The fecond act is one complete fcene of a prifon, the stage being divided; on one fide exhibiting the dungeon, on the other the keeper's lodge. The gaoler's children introduce Roberto (Marcos' fervant) with wine for their father. He gets this introduction, to learn whether his mafter is confined there; and when, from fome circumftances, he collects it to be him, retires in order to apprize his friends of it, who are fuppofed to be among the mutinous flaves. The gaoler then enters, through the perfuafion of his children; he tipples not a little, but eplaces himself in fuch a manner, that when afleep they ftill feem effectually precluded from getting into the dungeon; but having taken the keys out of their father's pocket, at length, by ingenious and perilous management, they get into the cell, when a new obftacle arifes, for they find Marcos chained down, and faftened by a padlock they have no key of. This obliges them cautioufly, and almost hopelessly, to return for it; they procure it at laft, and effect his releafe; but juft as he is in the attitude of ftepping over the gaoler's head, he rifes, but it is only to yawn and fall afleep again, which gives Marcos the opportunity of a complete efcape. Pafqual and Bernardo then appear to demand the Prifoner, learn his escape, and on an alarm being founded, the act concludes with a chorus of the foldiery,

The third act fhews Marcos at the head of his party. In the third scene Clara ftands centinel before the tent of her lover; and being agitated by jealoufy on feeing him ruth into his fifter's arms, whom she supposes a mistress, attempts Therefa's life, but is prevented by Pafqual. Marcos being taken prifoner, he and Clara are brought to the General's tent. An eclairciffement fucceeds through the confufion of Nina and at the interceflion of Therefa, a general pardon, when they exchange fifter for fifter, and the curtain drops.

The following are the moft approved Airs.

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Deeds of arms my foul infpire

As the battling thunders roll,
She and fame my bofom fire,

And to conqueft light my foul.
And 'mid flaughter madly wounding,
Heroes dying, groans refounding,
Armour clafhing,
Lightning flashing,
Angel pinion'd o'er her lover,
With protecting wing he'll hover;
Valour's genius-Memory's pleasure,
Guardian of life's facred treasure.

What can check the foldier's course,
Who, where war delights to rove,
Strikes with more than mortal force,
Urg'd by fame, impell'd by love,
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On wealth alone few joys attend,
She found with anguifh aching:
He funk, and gave her such a look,
Juft as his heart was breaking.

Hiftories of the Tete-à-Tete annexed; or,
Memoirs of the Studious Lover, and
Mrs. Charlotte B--

IT is generally fuppofed that ftudious

:

men are lefs attached to the fair, than thofe of a volatile thoughtless difpofition Sir Ifaac Newton, in particufar, is mentioned by many authors as a remarkable inftance of the juftness of this remark, as he was proverbially chafte. Admitting what has been said of Sir Ifaac to be fact, it must not therefore be concluded that he was indifferent about women, but only that he had a fronger propenfity to fcience: and that, of the two, he was fonder of making obfervations on the celestial milky way, than in furnishing a milky way on earth, by an honourable connection with an amiable female.

Antonio, the hero of this tale, fpends much of his time in reading, and making experiments in philofophy and mathematics: he has alfo a good tafte for works of genius, brilliance, and imagination, having produced feveral poetical compofitions, fome of which have been defervedly admired for their harmony and tenderness. Had he been merely a mathematic an, it would not have fallen to our fhare to have been his biographer; but being alfo a poet, he felt the force of amorous emotions.

Unfortunately for him, however, he had no relifh but for forbidden fruit: that which was the moft tempting to appearance, and might be procured, without difficulty, he had an averfion to; but where difficulties and dangers were to be furmounted to obtain a much inferior fort, the latter was always the object of his choice. This difpofition, however, cannot excite our aftonifhment, for fimilar characters are daily exhibited to our view, and have exifted on the banks of the Thames and Severn, as well as anciently on the Eu

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