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connection, without informing him, in the character of a true friend, of his fentiments relating to fo precipitate a proceeding.

Soon after the above mentioned converfation between the two friends, Harry and Mifs Hofkins were linked for life, and their nuptial happiness did not expire with the honey-moon: it was, however, not a little interrupted before the end of the first

year.

Mr. Johnson, Harry's maternal uncle, on whofe patronage he plumed himself, having voted against the miniftry upon a fingu. lar occafion, was removed from all his employments. Harry himfelf, in confequence of his uncle's removal, was difmiffed from his place.

Harry was flunned with his difmiffion; he was not in the leaft prepared for fuch a blow with all his economy, he had been obliged to break in upon the little fortune which he received with his wife, and that wife was now near her time. As foon as he recovered from his furprize, he waited upon his un cle; who, inflead of adminiftering any confolation to him, doubled his diftrefs.

Mr. Johnfon, being in a very ill humour when his nephew made his appearance, afked him, in a peevifh tone, what he wanted ?

Harry, with much humility, and in a refpectful manner, requefted to be heard.

"Well, well," faid his uncle, " let me hear what you have to fay; but prithee be fhort."

Harry, then related what had happened to him.

"And fo they have turned you out to fhew their spite against me, d-n them, have they ?"

"Yes, Sir; but I hope that as I have been difmiffed entirely on your account, and not for any mifdemeanour on my fide, I fhall find you as willing as you are able to make me amends for the lofs of my place."

"What! to give you a hundred and twenty pounds a year out of my pocket! Is that your meaning, Harry ?"

"I cannot explain myfelf better than I have done, Sir:—I only beg leave to add, that my wife is near her time, and that".

"Aye! you fee now, Harry, what a foolish thing it is to marry a woman without a great deal of money. What bufinefs had you, in your fituation, to faddle yourself with a wife? You expect me to keep you both, I fuppofe; but you will be miftaken, I can affure you; I have but just enough for myself, and fo you might take yourself away, for I am going out."

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At that moment he pulled his bell with violence. Harry, too much mortified, by the reception he had met with, to utter another word, bowed submissively, and departed.

Harry, not having fortitude fufficient to brave the rebuff which he had received from Mr. Johnfon, like a philofopher, went home in a very defponding condition, and alarmed Mrs. Saunderson with his appearance.

"Blefs me, my dear," said she to him, advancing with mach anxiety in her countenance, and taking him affectionately by the hand, "what's the matter with you? You look as pale death; you are ready to faint."

Harry, pushing her away, rather unkindly, threw himself into the chair near him, and cried, in mournful accents, " We are ruined; my uncle pofitively refufes to do any thing for me in any shape."

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Mrs. Saunderfon, though fhe felt herfelf hurt by his unkind behaviour, at a juncture when the required the tendereft treat ment, pitied him extremely, because the really believed that he fuffered feverely for her fake. She, therefore, endeavoured with the most foothing expreffions, and the moft winning addrefs, to remove a dejection which would, the feared, prove detrimental to his health. My dear Harry," continued the exemplary wife, "do be perfuaded by me not to give way to defpondency: our affairs have not indeed, at prefent, a favourable afpect, but we may live to fee brighter days: we have yet got fomething, though a fmall matter, in the funds; before that is spent, we may meet with friends to affift us, or ftrike upon fome expedient to aflift ourselves. As I was not born to a fortune, I was brought up to be useful in a family by the best of mothers, and I can turn my hand to any thing: I can work, and I will, with plea fure, do all in my power not to be a burthen to you; and I dare fay you will, when you begin to think of your fituation in a proper light, find an opportunity to employ the talents with which heaven has bleffed you, to your advantage."

[To be continued.]

An ACCOUNT of the late EARTHQUAKES in CALABRIA, SICILY, &c. Communicated to the ROYAL SOCIETY by Sis WILLIAM HAMILTON,

F

[Continued from page 277.]

ROM Sicily, the accounts of the moft ferious nature were thofe of the deftruction of the greatest part of the noble

city of Meffina, by the fhock of the 5th of February, and of the remaining parts by the fubfequent ones; that the quay in the port had funk confiderably, and was in fome places a palm and a half under water; that the fuperb building, called the Palazzata, which gave the port a more magnificent appearance than any port in Europe can boaft of, had been entirely ruined; that the Lazaret had been greatly damaged, but that the citadel had fuffered little; that the mother church had fallen; in fhort, that Melfina was no more: that the tower at the point of the entrance of the Faro was half destroyed; and that the fame hot wave, that had done fuch mifchief at Scilla, had paffel over the point of land at the Faro, and carried off about twenty-four people. The viceroy of Sicily likewife.gave an account of fome damage done by the earthquakes, but nothing confiderable, at Melazzo, Patti, Terradi-Santa, Lucia, Caftro Reale, and in the ifland of Lapari.

This, Sir, was the intelligence I was poffeffed of the end of laft month; but as I am particularly curious, as you know, on the fubject of volcanoes, and was perfuaded in my own mind (from the prefent earthquakes being confined to one fpot) that some great chemical operation of nature, of the volcanic fort, was the real caufe of them; in order to clear up many points, and to come at truths, which you also well know, Sir, is exceedingly difficult, I took the fudden refolution to employ about twenty days (which was as much as I could allow, and have time to be out of Italy, in my way home, before the heats fet in,) in making the tour of fuch parts of Calabria Ultra and Sicily as had been, and were ftill most affected by the earthquakes, and examining with my own eyes the phenomena above-mentioned. I accordingly hired for that purpofe a Maltefe fperonara for myfelf, and a Neapolitan felucca for my fervants, and left Naples the 2d of May. I was furnished, by command of his Sicilian majetty, with ample paifports, and orders to the commanding officers of the different provinces, to give me every affistance and protection in the purfuit of my object.

I had a pleafant voyage in my Maltefe fperonara (which are excellent boats, and the boatmen very skilful,) along the coalt of the Principato Citra, and Calabria Citra, after having paffed the gulph of Policaftro. At Cedraro I found the firft fymptoms of the earthquake, fome of the principal inhabitants of that city having quitted their houfes, and living in new-erected barracks; though not a houfe in the whole town, as I could fee, had fuffered. At St. Lucido I perceived that the baron's palace and the church fteeple had fuffered, and that mot of the inhabitants were in barracks. The barracks are just fuch fort of

buildings

buildings as the booths of our country fairs, though indeed many I have feen are more like our pig-ftyes.

As my object was to get as faft as poffible to the centre of the mifchief, having little time, and much to fee, I contented my. felf with a diftant view of Maida, Nicaftro, and Santo Eufe mia, and pushed on to the town of Pizzo, in Calabria Ultra, and landed on the evening of the 6th of May. This town, fituated on the fea, and on a volcanic cuffa, had been greatly damaged by the earthquake of the 5th of February, but was complex ly ruined by that of the 28th of March. As the inha bitants of this town (amounting to about five thousand) had sufficient warning, and had left their houfes, and taken to barracks on the first fhock the 5th of February, the mortality on the 28th of March was inconfiderable; but, from the barracks having been ill-constructed, and many fituated in a very confined, unwhole fome fot, an epidemical diforder has taken place, and carried off many, and was ftill in fatal force whilft I was there, in fpite of the wife endeavours of government to ftop its pro grefs. I fear, as the heats encreafe, the fame misfortune will attend many parts of the unfortunate Calabria, as alfo the city of Meflina. The inhabitants of Pizzo feemed to me to have habituated themfelves already to their prefent inconvenient man ner of living, and fhops of every kind were opened in the freets of the barracks, which, except fome few, are but poorly conftructed. I was affured here, that the volcano of Seromboli, which is oppofite, and in full view of this town, and at the dif tance of about fifty miles, had fmoked lefs, and thrown up a kis quantity of inflamed matter, during the earthquakes, than it had done for fome years paft; and the night I flept here, on board the fperonara, drawn on fhore, I was awakened with a mart one, which feemed to lift up the bottom of the boat, but it was not attended with any fubterraneous noife. My fervants, in the other boat, felt the fame.

The next day I ordered my boat to proceed to Reggio, and I went on horfeback to Monteloene, about fix miles from Rzz0, up hill, on a road of loofe ftones and clay, fcarcely paffable in this feafon, but through the most beautiful and fertile country I ever beheld perfect gardens of olive-trees, mulberry-trees, fruit-trees, and vines; and under thefe trees the richest crops of corn or lupins, beans, or other vegetables, which feemed to thrive perfectly, though under a thick fhade. This is the file of the whole plain of Monteloene, except that here and there are vaß woods of oak and olive-trees mixed; and their olive-trees are

of

This was the only token of former volcanic explofions that I met

with in Calabria.

of fuch a fize as I could never have conceived, being half as big as oaks themfelves, which are fine timber-trees, and more than treble the fize of the olive trees of the Campagna Felice. The olive-woods, in fome parts of the plain, are regularly planted in lines, and in others grow irregularly.

Though the object of my prefent journey was merely to take a hafty view of the fpots which had fuffered fo much by the calamity, my attention was continually called away, and I was loft in the admiration of the fertility and beauty of this rich province, exceeding by many degrees (as to the first point) every country I have yet feen. Befides the two rich products of hik and oil, in which this province furpaffes every other, perhaps in the whole world, it abounds with corn, wine, cotton, liquorice, fruit, and vegetables of every kind; and if its population and industry kept pace with its fertility, the revenue of Calabria Ultra might furely be more than doubled in a fhort time. I faw whole groves of mulberry-trees, the owners of which told me they did not let for more than five fhillings an acre, when every acre would be worth at least five pounds, had they hands to gather the leaves and tend the filk-worms.

The town of Monteloene, antiently Vido Volentia, is beautifully fituated on a hill, overlooking the fea and the rich plains above-mentioned, bounded by the Appenines, and crowned by Afpramonte, the highest of them all, interfperfed with towns and villages; which, alas! are no more than heaps of ruins. The town of Monteloene fuffered little by the first fhocks of the earthquake, but was greatly damaged by that of the 28th of March (though only twelve lives were loft), and all the inhabitants are reduced to live in barracks, many of which are well conftructed with either planks or reeds, covered with plaister on the outfide.As this country has ever been fubject to earthquakes, the barons had ufually a barrack near their palaces, to retire on the leaft alarm of an earthquake. I inhabited here a magnificent one, confiling of many rooms well furnished, which was built by the prefent duke of Monteloene's grand-father.

I owe the fafety and the expedition of the very interefling journey which I have taken through this province to this duke's goodness, as he was pleafed at Naples to furnifh me with a letter to his agent; in confequence of which, I was not only moft hofpitably and elegantly treated in his barrack, and fupplied with excellent fure footed horfes for myfelf and fervant, but alfo with two of his horfe-guards, well acquainted with the crofs roads of the country; without which, it would have been impoffible, with any degree of fafety, to have vifited every curious fpot between Monteloene and Raggio, as I did, in four days.

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