houfe a month, and then, after avowing his paffion for her, to pretend to delicacy, fentiment, and honour. But colonel Taplow was not to be diverted from his purpose: he determined to be heard; and, addreffing himself to the judge, "My lord," fays he, "it is my duty to offer to you my reafons for refufing to comply with your injunctions to abandon the lady I have had the honour to protect. My lord, I am now well acquainted with the lady's amiable and excellent qualities; I know her to be virtuous, mild, gentle, and inoffenfive; and as incapable of giving caufe for the injuries fhe has fuftained, as the is of refifting the repetition of them. Her hufband I know to be groundlessly jealous, abfurdly fufpicious, and brutally cruel; and, under fuch convictions, will your lordship think me impertinent or affuming, if I affert, that not even your authority, nor all the united powers of the law, fhall force me to furrender into fuch hands my deareft, my beloved Maria-my fifter!" It is impoffible to exprefs, nor is it neceffary to attempt defcribing, the aftonishment of the company, and in particular of the ftill doubting Marwood. An eclairciffement, however, took place, which completely convinced even him, that his lady had. found a brother in her protector; and that this discovery had been made by the colonel the firft moment he beheld her, even during the deprivation of fenfe and motion. And that the hufband should be unacquainted with the name of Taplow, was accounted for by the lady herself; who informed him, that she had affumed that of Weft, by which he had known her in her unmarried ftate, at the request of a female relation, who had received her at the death of her mother; and having at her death left her the bulk of her fortune, had enjoined her to continue to use that name only, which the had prevailed upon her to take for feveral years before. The highly delighted judge now earnefty entreated the colonel, his fifter, and her more than half-converted husband, to accompany him to his houfe, where his excellent advice paved the way for a total reformation in Mr. Marwood's temper and conduct, and a perfect reconciliation between him and his wife; both which have fince taken place, and past injuries are never remembered but in the pleafantries of the colonel, who now and then reminds his brother-in-law to take care of a relapfe, as he is very certain his lady's next champion will appear in a different character from that of a brother. HINTS HINTS for the IMPROVEMENT of WASTE LANDS in ENGLAND. "Wafte fandy vallies, once perplex'd with thorn, TH To leaflefs fhrubs the flowery palms fucceed, And fecret tranfport fires the conscious swain." HE barrennefs of Bagfhot-Heath, in the heart of a wellcultivated country, muft ftrike a ftranger with wonder. The late duke of Cumberland fet an example of turning that very extenfive wafle to an useful purpofe; and converted to an ornament, what was before a deformity. If his enclosures were extended fo as to afford protection and fhelter to young plants, the feeds blown from the old trees, would, in a few years, cover great part of that dreary defart with plantations of thriving timber. It is a pity that his royal highnefs did not plant a greater mixture of the pine kind. The inhabitants of the Alps prefer the larch to what we call the Scotch fir, which is also the Norway fir. The Hon. Mr. Hamilton has alfo fhewn, at Pain's-Hill, that the fame wafte may be turned to a beautiful and useful purpofe. In many fuch fpots, where the foil is richer than common, pafture might be eftablished. Many fuch places are interfperfed with more barren parts, which, though covered with heath, might by induftrious fkill be made to answer very useful ends. Mr. Hamilton planted, on a very barren part of the heath, birch; which thrives well, is pleafing to the eye, affords good sweet fire-wood, and in fpring, whilst the fap continues to How, yields plenty of very pleafant juice for drink inftead of waMr. Evelyn recommends it as an excellent prefervative against the ftone and gravel; and fome make of it a very palatable wine, with the addition of sugar. ter. Archibald, late duke of Argyle, fet an example on Hounflow-Heath, which is well worthy the imitation of all gentlemen of eftates. Around his villa there, he planted great variety of trees, and among them almoft every fpecies of American trees, in order to afcertain, fo far as his experiments go, which kinds of them thrive beft in different foils and fituations. The flourishing state of his plantations fhews of what great national advantage it might be, if the whole of that heath was divided, enclosed, enclosed, drained, and duly cultivated. Such parts of it as have been enclofed, produce plenty of corn and grafs, instead of that fcanty unhealthy food the reft of it at prefent yields to a few meagre fheep, among whom the rot abounds, owing to the wetness and dampnefs of fo flat a surface. His late grace of Bedford has, in a fimilar manner, embellifhed as dead a fand near Woburn, as is perhaps in any part of England; and his example is moft laudably followed by an enterprizing, fenfible gentleman, Mr. Moore, on a fimilar foil. As a traveller paffes into Wiltshire, and to the weftward, the verdure of the rifing and dry grounds pleases the eye; the contraft being great between black heath and fuch beautiful verdure. The eye is alfo agreeably entertained with the numerous flocks of fine healthy fheep fed on thefe green paftures.-Sheep formerly yielded thofe fine fleeces which were the ftaple, and the fources of the wealth and strength of England. The French have now fupplanted us in many foreign markets, especially in the Levant; and are likely to preserve that fuperiority, profiting by our neglect and iniquitous conduct. Formerly, bales of English cloth paffed by land, unopened, to the most distant markets; foreign merchants placing full confidence in the contents being fuch as the invoice fpoke them. So high was then our national character! Of late our frequent deceits in this respect (of which the author of these remarks has been a witness) has loft us all credit of that kind with ftrangers; not a piece of English cloth circulating now amongst them, before it has been opened and examined. To prevent fuch fraudulent practices as our manufacturers and other dealers have been too guilty of, the French wifely stamp their woollen cloths with the name of the examining-officer, and of the place where they were examined; that fo recourse may be had against him, in cafe of the least deceit. This has eftablished the characters and credit of their cloths, and will probably long preserve them. What appears pleafant at firft fight, if too long and uniformly continued, tires the eye. Thus, the uninterrupted verdure in Wiltshire, and weftward, with the general naked face of the country, lofes its firft impreffion of beauty, and the traveller wishes for an intermixture of trees. The inhabitants, indeed, fhould wish for the fame; not only as an ornament to the country, but also as a fupply of timber for ufe in building, &c. and as fire-wood, both of which are greatly wanting there. Elm, beech, and birch, would grow on the fummits of their highest rifing grounds; which being dry, and therefore yielding little pafture, fuch plantations would incroach very little on the food of their flocks. VOL. 1. 9. 2 C Another Another deformity, which muft ftrike a ftranger in the county here fpoken of, is, that in many parts of it not a houfe or cottage is to be feen for miles, or as far as they can reach, though plowed lands are frequently interfperfed. This may fometimes be occafioned by there being few fprings or little running water on the downs. The farmers are thereby tempted to build in the val lies, on account of the ftreams which generally run in them. Thefe low fituations may at times become unhealthy, and muft always be accompanied with a difadvantage which does not feem to be fufficiently attended to by the inhabitants. Time, properly employed, is the fource of wealth; and that fource becomes more or less valuable, in proportion as more or lefs is joined in equal spaces or portions of it. A farmer generally rents his land at an average value of fo much an acre; very little regard being paid to the diftance of one part of it from another. The acre that is near his house must be much more profitable to him than a diftant acre, because much less time is employed in carrying to and from that acre every article either fent to or brought from it. On the contrary, a distant acre becomes expenfive in proportion to the time employed in going to or coming from it; an expence which in the year may amount to a much greater fum than may at first appear. For example; fuppofe a man and a team to be valued at a certain expence a day, and the distance of two acres to be, the one a mile, and the other half a mile, the expence of every load of manure fent to the diftant acre, and of every load of corn or hay brought from it; let him alfo confider the time that the men and horfes wafte in going to and returning from plowing there, and in every other petty journey thither: let him laftly confider, what is perhaps not a lefs expence of time than any of the former, the time idly loitered away by fervants, when out of their mafter's fight: let all thefe expences of time be added together, and the farmer may find that the rent of his plowed fands will be very different, in proportion to their distances. He will then, perhaps, find the difference greater than he could have conceived without fuch a calculation. There is yet another reafon, and that, in my opinion, a most pernicious one, to which the fcarcity of houfes here complained of may be owing. I mean the prefent mode of throwing toge ther feveral fmall farms, in order to make a large one. The pretence for this practice is, to fave the expence of building. On this principle, fo foon as a farm falls on hands, it is added to a neighbouring farm, and the buildings upon it are pulled or allowed to tumble down; fo that, by degrees, the farmer's dwel ling-house, which was originally in the centre of his moderate farm, farm, is now found to be fituated in a corner of his great farm ; and then he incurs all the above inconveniencies and expences. I feel myself full of wrath against large farms!-Ît is astonifhing to fee how the richest and best lands in the vale of Evefham, for instance, are neglected and over-run with thistles, &c. in the hands of a large farmer, and produce neither the quantity of grain nor of grafs which they ought to do. On perufing a minute and accurate defcription of Dorfetfhire, lately published, I could not help lamenting exceedingly the number of parishes there faid to become almost uninhabited, by the former inhabitants having been in many inftances forced to quit; fo that many parishes contain, in fact, but one family in each; and the parifh thus unpeopled is added to another, perhaps fcarcely more populous. Another evil attending large farms, and which should claim the attention of the legislature, is, that large farms, especially in grazing counties, are certainly a means of depopulating the country. It is faid that towns encrease in proportion as the number of inhabitants decrease in the country. The numbers may, perhaps, for a while, be nearly the fame; but they are different fpecies of animals, the dwellers in cities being puny, debauched, and fhort-lived; instead of the hardy, fober, and induftrious race, which formerly fupplied the king with foldiers and failors, and the artifans with honeft apprentices. I faid before, that want of water obliged the farmers to build in the vallies. This confideration fhould put the landlords on trying whether water may not be found on the eminences, by digging. Springs are often found in rifing grounds, and they are fometimes very durable. I faw an inftance of this in the highest ground in the neighbourhood of a place, when all the fprings in the lower grounds were dried up. Where water is found by digging in fuch fituations, and in fufficient plenty to fapply the farm-yard, the landlord may be enabled to difperfe his farms over these extenfive downs, fo as greatly to leffen the farmer's expences in time, and thereby encreafe his own in come. NEW DESCRIPTION of the CAPE OF GOOD-HOPE, and of the native and Dutch Inhabitants. [From Travels into Europe, Afia, and Africa, just published.] HE establishment which the Dutch Eaft-India Company have made on either fide of the Cape of Good-Hope, TH 2 C 2 (the |