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of his house, was taken out the twenty-second day, and is now recovered it did not eat for fome days, but drank freely; it was emaciated, and fhewed little hopes of life at first.

From thefe inftances, from those related before of the girls at Oppido and the hogs at Soriano, and from feveral others of the fame kind, that have been related to me, but which being less remarkable I omit, one may conclude, that long fafting is always attended with great thirst, and total lofs of appetite.

From every enquiry I found, that the great fhock of the 5th of February was from the bottom upwards, and not like the fubfequent ones, which in general have been horizontal and vor ticofe. A circumftance worth remarking (and which was the fame on the whole coast of the part of Calabria that had been most affected by the earthquakes) is, that a small fisk called Cicirelli, refembling what we call in England white bait, but of a greater fize, and which ufually lie at the bottom of the fea, buried in the fand, have been ever fince the commencement of the earthquake, and continue ftill to be, taken near the furface, and in fuch abundance as to be the common food of the pooret fort of people; whereas, before the earthquakes this fith was rare, and reckoned amongst the greateft delicacies. All fish, in general, have been taken in greater abundance, and with much greater facility in thofe parts fince they have been afflicted with the earthquakes than before. I conftantly asked every fisherman I met with on the coaft of Sicily and Calabria, if this circumftance was true: and was as conftantly answered in the affirma tive; but with fuch emphasis, that it must have been very extraordinary. I fuppofe that either the fand at the bottom of the fea may have been heated by the volcanic fire under it, or that the continual tremor of the earth had driven the fish out of their ftrong holds, juft as an angler, when he wants a bait, obliges the worms to come out of the turf on a river fide, by trampling on it with his feet, which motion never fails in its ef fect, as I have experienced very often myself.-I found the citadel here had not received any material damage, but was in the fame state as I had left it fifteen years ago. The Lazaret has fome cracks in it, like thofe in the quay, and from a like caufe. The port has not received any damage from the earth quake. The officers who commanded in the citadel, and who were there during the earthquakes affured me, that on the fatal 5th of February, and the three following days, the fea, about a quarter of a mile from the fortrefs, rofe and boiled in a moft extracrdinary manner, and with a moft horrid and alarming noise, the water in other parts of the Fato, being perfectly calm. This feems to point out exhalations or eruptions from cracks at the bottom of the fea, which may very probably have happened

during the violence of the earthquakes; all of which, I am convinced, have here a volcanic origin.

[To be concluded in our next.]

FOR THE WEEKLY ENTERTAINER.

"I make my abode in the centre of an inexplicable labyrinth, where the reafon of the wife and of the foolish, of the learned and the ideot, wander together."

I

M. BERGYRÁC.

Date my existence from that memorable æra when the happinefs of our first parent was foon to be compleated by the fociety of that fair helpmate, who was the fecondary cause of perfecting his fhort-lived blifs and fubfequent difobedience. It was I that held him in a foft captivity while the partner of his future joys and ferrows was formed, and then released him to admire and love the most finished of his Creator's works.

Having thus eftablished my authority over the first parent of mankind, I have uniformly maintained it through all fucceeding ages; and fuch is the extent of my power, that not only man, but every inferior clafs of animated being, willingly bend beneath it.

The greatest heroes of ancient and modern times-men whom perfuafion could not influence, or force terrify-whose ambitious views and active fpirit, " ftrong walls of brass nor boits of adamant," inhofpitable deferts, nor unnavigable oceans could bound-folicit my fetters, and moft willingly refign themselves to my authority. Nor am I lefs the defire of the peafant; for under my mild government he finds that comfort and repofe which infpires him with new alacrity and vigour. I free him from the fenfibility of his forrows, take off the burthen of his cares, and open to his view new profpects of happiness.

I frequently entertain my fubjects with fcenes which, without my affiftance, lie beyond the limits of their faculties to contemplate. I recal to memory tranfactions and events in which they moft delighted; realize the paft; anticipate the future; and by a fpecies of magic, incomprehenfible to the mind, tranfport it," beyond the visible diurnal fphere." I bring diftant and even departed friends to their view, and renew ideas of the long diffolved bands of endearing friendship. While under my immediate care, the diftinctions of rank, fortune, ruler, and fervant, are fufpended;-the high and the low, the learned and the illiterate, are equally happy.

But

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But although the means not only of banishing pain and forrow, but of increafing human happiness, yet I am frequently abused, and then I become productive of much inconvenience. By intemperate indulgence I become detrimental to the interefs of fociety, and have often betrayed, not only individuals, bur armies, cities, and kingdoms, into rain and deftruction.

Until loxury had enervated the powers of man, fuch was my modefty, that I was feldom feen in the face of day. But in this debilitated age, numbers (and ladies of fafhon in particular) most willingly fubmit to wear my chains, till the fun blushes at their infenfibility from an elevated altitude.

I delight moft in filence, folitude, and darkness, and rarely ap pear in a croud, unless at church, where justice compels me to acknowledge my appearance is difgraceful.

At card-tables, tea-tables, and places of public diverfion, I never preíume to fhew myself, knowing right well that no coe would fubmit to my authority.

In circles where private scandal is the amusement, I am never admitted, because my prefence would flatten the zeft of defa

mation.

Of both fexes, the majority may, however, declare with truth, that the hours they spend in my service are the moft innocent, and frequently the moft happy.

In fcenes of intemperance my influence is frequently fronger than that of reafon : I often flop their career, and by degrees reftore them to their fenfes.

But although my authority extends over all fenfible beings, 1 am accused of being partial to those who are leaft acquainted with affliction.-I admit the charge, and can only plead that my conduct refults from neceffity. I have a fecret but unconquer able averfion to fcenes of woe and the buttle of human cares.

The man of forrow, whom fickness, misfortunes, or adverfity caufe to water his couch with tears, frequently awaits my mandate with unavailing folicitude. In the acuteft paroxims of human mifery, I am, however, the best reftorer of quietude and peace.

I have been termed, and not improperly, the reprefentative of a conqueror more potent than myfelf; and I might add much on the fimilarity of our power and influence.

But with all thefe qualifications I fear it will never be in my power to perfuade the vicious, the diffolute, and the circulator of private fcandal, to lay afide their beloved employments, and fink for happiness into the embraces of

SLEEP.

MEMOIRS

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MEMOIRS of a CORNISH CURATE.
Written by HIMSELF.

O pourtray one's own life with impartiality, and to lay open. with candour the movements of the heart; to dare to confefs its foibles, and by the teft of justice to try its merits, is perhaps as difficult a tafk as can well be conceived: but, actuated by a regard for the happiness of thofe who have not yet determined on their future courfe of life, and hoping that my ftory I may ferve either to direct or to deter, I venture to lay it before the public.

I was born in a diftant county, in a remote part of the kingdom. My parents were above indigence, and their honour I above imputation. A family pride, which had been handed down through a fucceffion of generations, prevented them from ftooping to the drudgery of trade; while their hereditary estate, being infufficient to fecure a genteel independence to themselves, was of course too limited to enable them to provide for the contingency of a numerous offspring.

I was the third fon, and of course had but little to expect. My father early intended me for the church, and I was placed under an approved mafter, at a celebrated grammar-fchool. My diligence, let me fay it, fince I can without vanity make the affertion, foon procured me the good-will of my mafter; and the meeknefs of my difpofition, the favour of my school-fellows, of whom I was in a few years confidered as the chief, and on every public occafion felected by my master to prove his own diligence, and difplay my acquifitions. In feven years I finished my ca reer of claffical education, and left the good old gentleman with tears of filial affection, who heightened my feelings by the fympathetic regard which was confpicuous in his own looks.

And here I cannot forbear fondly indulging my fancy with a retrofpective view of thofe happy days, thofe years of unmingled felicity, when care has not planted her fting in the human breast, or thought launched out into fcenes of future action, where mi. fery so often dashes the cup of life with her bitter draught!

There are, I believe, but few perfons, however happy they I may have been in their progrefs through life, who have not made the fame reflections, and recurred with pleafure to those cloudless hours, when the talk, or the dread of correction, were the worst ills that could befil them; when the joys of the heart were pure and unallayed, the tear foon forgot, and the mind indifferent to what events might occur. If the fortunate have made these reflections, well may I, who have journeyed on one dreary road fince I first entered the path of life, and fcarcely VOL. II. 42. 3 A.

have

have known thofe intervals of blifs which the mendicant himfeif is not forbidden to tafte!

From the grammar-fchool I was removed to the university of Oxford, and entered on the foundation of Exeter College. The fame diligent application which had marked my former studies, fcon rendered me confpicuous in the university; and I was com plimented, on every occafion, as a youth of uncommon genies, and unwearied affiduity. My heart began to be elated with the applaufes which were fo lavishly bestowed upon me: I was animated to yet farther exertions of application, and, in four years, took my batchelor's degree, with an eclat which has fel dom diftinguished a lefs diligent fcholar. I foon became the ebject of univerfal admiration in the univerâty; my future greatnefs was prognofticated in the molt flattering terms, as one who would be an honour to literature, and a luminary in the church: but thefe compliments, however foothing to the youthful bofom, only operated to diftrefs me. The lefs affiduous could not endure me to bear away the palm of genius on every publicecafion; and the proud, the honoured, and the great, began to affect a fupercilious contempt of my prefence, which I am confdent was neither fanctioned by their fituations, nor deferved by my conduct; but, as our harmonious Pope fays

"Envy will merit as its fhade parfue;

"And, like a fhadow, proves the fubstance true.” The charms of fcience, and the maxims of philofophy, coold neither infpire me with fortitude, nor lull my fenfibility. To partial, perhaps, to my own merit, I was impatient of the flighte appearance of difrefpect; and my feelings were, about this time, put to a moft fevere trial, by the death of my father, after fo fhort an illness that I was prevented from receiving his lif benediction. This calamity more deeply affected me than al my fubfequent misfortunes; it was the first I ever fuffered, and the keen edge of delicate fenfibility had not yet been bluntity a frequent repetition of mifery. I refigned myfelf into the arms of melancholy, and, fecluding myfelt from the impertinent or affected condolers of my lofs, indulged that exquisite kind of forrow which thuns the obtrufion of the world.

By my father's will I found myself entitled to 50l. which was all I had to combat the world, and establish myself in lie: but, bad I been rendered by my patrimony what the prudent call perfectly eafy, my grief would not have been lefs poignant, nor my feelings lefs acure.

As my finances would no longer decently fupport me at college, and my affliction for the lofs of a beloved parent tified

every

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