H. OF LORDS. February 29. in faving this country from a war with Rufia. The advantages of our trade Heard Mr. Plomer in Mr. Haflings's with Ruffia, though the balance was defence. In the Commons, the fame day, Lord Markington brought in a bill for repealing the laft half-penny per pound on candles, and a bill for repealing the laft additional duty on malt; which were read the first time. The annual duty malt bill was read the third time, and paffed. Mr. Whitbread moved, that this Houfe do, immediately, refolve itself into a Committee of the whole House, to take into confideration the papers on the table relative to the fubject of the late war between the Porte and Ruffia. The Chancellor of the Exchequer oppofed the motion; which was withdrawn. Mr. Whitbread faid, that, great as was the difidence with which he ftood forward on this important occafion, it would ftill have been greater if the caufe which he was to fupport had required either ingenuity to invent, or eloquence to enforce; if the facts from which he was to reafon were not ascertained by papers upon the table; and the conclufon which he would draw, of a nature which must be evident to the plaineft underftanding. He was urged to the task by a conviction of his own duty, by a conviction that Minifers, in the tranfaction which he was about to confider, had acted contrary to the honour and interests of the country. It had been the fashion lately to beftow much praife on the Constitution; but, if they employed vigilance to guard, and firm nels to fupport it, if they iteadily purfued conftitutional means, all fuch panegyrick would be unneceffary. And, if he should fucceed in proving the mifconduct of Minifters, he trusted that the Houle would not fhrink from the tak to which they were bound, of infitting cenfure, and that no previous queftion would be brought forward to deftroy the last remnant of the Conftitution, freedom of difcuffion. When he examined the papers on the table, he muft own, he felt indignation on account of the garbled manner in which they were provuced; but on the other hand, he felt fatisfaction from the refpectable minority of last lejlin, of whom he had the honour to form one, whole vo ce had been in unifon with that of the people; and who, in fpite of a large and confiding majority, had fucceeded apparently against us, were too well known to require to be proved. It operated as a nursery for our feamen, and fupplied our manufacturers at home with thofe raw materials at a cheaper rate than they could be had elsewhere, which, in their finished ftate, we were enabled to carry with fo much advantage to the foreign markets. It had been infinuated as a ground for our armament, that this country had received ill ulage from the Emprefs of Ruffia in the bufinefs of the Armed Neutrality; but, as Pruffia was very well understood to have been at the bottom of that transaction, this ground was not tenable. Last seffion the meafures of Miniftry had been enveloped in myftery; it was impoffible to come at any true ftate of the business. It now appeared, upon the face of the papers, that the Porte wished to deprive the Emprefs of the Crimea, which had formerly been ceded to her, fo that the aggreffion was on the part of Turkey. Nay, it had been fuggefted that, though this country had allowed the justice of the ceffion, it had likewife fimulated the Turks to this unjustifiable attack; an affertion which, if true, muft reflec eternal difgrace on the British name; but which, if unfounded, as he trusted it was, he called upon Minifters, for the fake of the national honour, to con trad.&t. How little had been the effect of the negotiation and the armament to this country, must appear from the Emprefs having offered, in 1790, the very fame terms which were accepted in 1791. He would affert that Oczakow, which had been held out as the oftenfible objet of our interference, was entirely unconnected with British commerce. If there was a fpot, if there were feas, with which British merchants were lefs interefed than any other, it was that fpot, and thefe feas; and he dared fay that they could not afcertain, by any confequences affecting themselves, who was the owner. But there was another object which had not been avowed, that the demand of Oczakow from the Emprefs might have been fuppofed to induce her, in order to retain it in her own hands, to confent to the ceflion of Dantzick and Thorn to the King of Pruffia. If the balance of power meant any thing, it meant that equipoife amongst the different ftates of Europe which was necellary to preferve general? tranquillity. tranquillity. His Majefty, in his fpeech, had affured us of the continuance of this tranquillity; yet now, Oczakow, which, it had been affirmed by Minifters, was fo neceffary in order to preferve the balance of power, to put into the hands of the Turks, was in the poffeffion of Ruffia. Such was the coníequence of a policy, which Was every thing by turns, and nothing long. If the intercourfe between nation and nation was not fomething very different from the intercourse between man and man, he certainly fhould confider the means of plainnefs and candour as much better, and more effectual, than thofe of chicanery and avarice. It furely was not neceffary to fend envoy after envoy, merely to affure the Court of Ruffia that we would tell the truth. And what, after all, was the object for which Minifters have fupplicated? the free navi gation of the Dniefter, which was, in this inftance, for the first time, he believed, the object of negotiation. They had at laft condefcended to beg of the Empress to let them off upon as cafy terms as poffib'e. They had stated, that every thing was granted which the had appeared to defire, and appealed to her goodness and generofity on the occafion. And what was the effect of our armed negotiation ?-did it produce an aweful fufpence among the powers at war? did it fheath the fword of the Emprefs? Quite the contrary was the cafe; as the profusion of Turkish blood fpilt afforded too melancholy a proof. This fyltem of arming and difarming, manning and unmanning, upon every flight occafion, was a fource of much mifery. The poor and industrious were torn from their families and occupations to be put a-board our hips, and then thrown back, in a very different ftate, upon a publick which had no claim to their gratitude. Minifiers had made an attempt to throw over the fcene of their political infconduct the veil of the nation; but, though our pulte might beat high, this, though no doubt a good fym ptom, was not the infallible criterion of permanent health. It might be influenced by accident, or by fome temporary caufe, and, when that influence had ceafed to act, might again fink in proportion as it had before been directed. But the Minifter had imputed the failure of his measures to his having facrificed his own opinion to the fenfe of the country. From this confeffion he could de rive but little credit; it would appear that he had facrificed the character, and what he confidered as the interefts, of the country, to momentary popularity and, inftead of acting the part of the juftum & tenacem propofiti virum, he had yielded to the numbers of thofe prava jubentium. He then concluded by moving the following refolutions : "Firft, that the poffeffion by Ruffia of Oczakow, and the district between the Bog and the Dniefter, did not affect the intereft of this country, or justify the armament; fecondly, that the negotiation between this country and Rufha had been unfuccefsful; and, thirdly, that his Majefty's Ministers had been guilty of grofs misconduct, tending to increase the expence, and diminish the influence, of Great Britain." Col. M Lead fupported the motion, and reprobated the armament as impolitic and unjust, and declared that the conduct of adminiftration in the late negotiation, had induced him to withdraw all confidence from them. Mr. Jenkinson (fon of Lord Hawkefbury) in a maiden fpeech, which was delivered with an eafe and correctness by no means ufual on fuch occafions, took an extenfive view of the politicks of the Continent as connected with the interefts of this country. The tranfac tion of the Ruffian armament, he faid, was not merely to be confidered by itfelf, but as it flood connected with other circumftances. The greatest praife of Miniflers would be to have pursued a fyftem, if that fyftem was proved to be good. It would not be difputed how defirable and ufeful an alliance with Holland was to this country. But, if we valued that alliance, it was necellary that we fhould likewife cultivate a connexion with Pruffia, which could afford to Holland that military fupport of which it ftood in need, and which it was not convenient for us to fupply. It became then our intereft to prevent Prullia from falling into fuch a ftare as would incapacitate it to afford that fupport. And in that cafe it was neceffary that we should not allow the Turkish Empire to fink in the fcale, fo that Auftria and Ruffia, which were combined, might acquire too great a preponderance. The enemy and rival of this country was France, which had always been in alliance with Auftria. It was neceffary, that we should acquire a degree of weight, which should enable us to counterba lance lance their influence. He was fenfible, that thefe principles did not apply to the prefent fituation of France, which was moft deplorable indeed, and fuch as was far from giving any grounds of apprehenfion. But it was not to be expected that this fituation fhould always continue. In a few years the confufion must ceafe, and the government be again eftablished upon a regular footing. If the old arbitrary fyftem fhould be renewed, they would have to dread a return of the fame chicanery and artifice. And if the government fhould be established upon the principles of a well-regulated freedom, the oppofition which they had to apprehend would be more formidable. He then entered into a detail of the war between the Porte and Ruffia. By the intervention of this country the Turkish Empire had been faved from ruin amid the victories of Ruffia. The principle upon which Minifters wished to engage the Empress to give up Oczakow to the Porte was, that Oczakow, which in the hands of the Turks was only a place of defence, in the hands of the Ruffians could be converted to offenfive purpofes. Re fpcing the Ruffian armament, there had exifted a divifion in the fentiments of that Houfe and of the country. If no divifion had exifted, the object might have been gained, and the Empress would in all probability have yielded to the unanimous voice of the nation. As to the advantages of our trade with Ruffia, he could take upon him to ftate, that what we gained from her we might gain elfewhere, but that what the fends to us fhe could fend no where elfe. The difference between the value of the imports and exports was too ftriking to require to be infifted on. He could affert as a pofitive fact, that, upon the first intelligence of our interference, an alarm had prevailed for a fhort time in Rullia, till the difpatches arrived from their Ambaffador at this Court, of whofe contents every perfon in this country must be ignorant, but which no doubt contained an account of the divifion of fentiment that exifted on that fubject. So that, inftead of the boafts of oppofition being well founded, that they had faved the country from a ruinous war, it appeared plainly, that they had prevented a molt completely fuccesful iffue, which might otherwife have attended the tranfaction. There was no difgrace incurred on the part of this country in accepting a conditional modincation, in a tranfaction where we had her out with terms which we did not mean to enforce as pofitive, especially as the other party had like. wife concurred in that modification. The regard due to the fense of the country had been much canvaffed; the opinion of the country, he thought, ought always to be attended to, though not implicitly followed. Oczakow had been unfairly ftated, as the fole object of the negotiation; it formed the means rather than the object. Upon the whole, he was of opinion, that Minifters had in this tranfaction acted the part to which they were bound, by a due regard to the balance of fyftem, which he confidered as a fyftem of wisdom, juftice, and mederation. After speaking for about two hours, he concluded by giving his negative to the refolutions. Several other Members spoke for and against the motion; and at four in the morning Mr. M A. Taylor propofed an adjournment of the debate, which took place accordingly. (To be continued.), MR. URBAN, N your Volume LXI. p. 534, the fa IN vour of a communication relative to Robert Parfons, a Jefuit in the reign of Eliz. was requested by one of your correfpondents; but, I believe, no additional account ever appeared. It might probably have efcaped the notice of genilemen of the Catholic Church, who, from their course of study, are the better qualified for investigations of that nature. Many have of late appeared in your ingenious publication. In your last was inferted a catalogue of feveral pieces, relating to the late application to parliament for the act for the relief of Catholicks. Their writings are in general liberal, learned, and ingenious. They are unknown, however, from prejudice; and unread from bigotry. The fermons and works of divinity of their clergy are written with the ele gance of gentlemen; and the benevolent fpirit of "true religion." A catalogue of their writers would, I believe, facilitate their introduction to the liberal part of mankind, could any of your correfpondents favour a future Magazine with it. An acquaintance with their works would foon extenuate the prejudice fo long and unjustly emertained against them; and rank them in the clafs of polite literature which they ought to hold Hitherto, like the poor fellow in Goldfmith, we hate them from "hearfay;" and, like his defpiting the French only becaule they wear "wooden thoes," we hate them "we know not why." C--x. 136. Ob. TH Lime. "The equipage provided for my brother and myself is called a litiga, which is a fort of fedan-coach, or vis-a-vis, fupported by two poles, and carried by mules. This litiga, or double fedan, has no glafs in the windows, but thick curtains, in cafe of rain; neither has it any doors, but you are lifted in and out through the windows by two men, holding a little board for you to put your foot on. The fides are painted with fuperftitious devices, to fecure you from dangers: among thefe, the Virgin and child, and the fouls in purga tery, are feldom omitted. The like is on all their boats, particularly on what are called 136. Obfervations and Remarks in a fourney fcribes the bodies as dried in tempered through Sicily and Calabria, in the Year 1791; with a Pofifcript, containing feme Account of the Ceremonies of the laft Helyweek at Rome, and of a fhort Excurfion to Tivoli. By the Rev. Brian Hill, A. M. late of Queen's College, Oxford, and Chaplain to the Earl of Leven and Melvill. HERE is fcarcely any traveller from whom something may not be learned, either as corrective of former relations, or of his own. Every one lavs a foundation for the notice of thofe who follow him; and, in fuch a route as Mr. Hill's, attention is more particularly awake; and, however he may ap pear too minute in the difagremens of the tour, which we find the too common complaint against foreign accommoda. tions, inns unglazed, and filled with vermin, and perpetual alarms of banditti, he has afforded us a great degree of information and entertainment. The great merit of this work is, that it fucceeds others, and brings us acquainted with the prefent ftate of things in thefe countries, fo ravaged by earthquakes. In company with his brother Sir Richard, and others, he failed from Naples Jan. 30, 1791; and, after pafting the ifland of Caprea, landed at Palermo, Feb. 2. The principal circumftance that trikes us here is his account of the catacombs: "It confifts of four wide paffages, each about forty feet in length, into which the light of the fun is admitted by windows at the ends. Along the fides of thefe are niches, in which the bodies are fet upright, cloathed in coarse garments, with their heads, arms, and feet bare. They are prepared for this fituation by broiling them fix or seven months upon a gridiron, over a flow fire, till all the fat and monture are confumed. The fkin, which looks like pale-coloured leather, remains entire, and the character of the countenance is in fome degree preferved. A man who was with us pointed out his father-in-law, who had been dead two years. Except the bodies of two reputed faints, one of which had been there 150 years, and the other 10, they are all of modern date, as appears by an intcription on a fmall piece of pateboard hung to the arms of every corpfe, fignifying the name of the perfon, and the time of his decease. In fome of the higher niches they are laid out at full length, and at the top are children of fix or feven years of age. On the floor are handfome trunks. containing carcafes of perfons of diftinétion, the keys of which are kept by the relations." This account differs from former ones. De Non (fee nur vol. LX. p. 52) deGENT. MAG. July, 1792. the Sproronara" (p. 49). Mr. Hill further notices at Palermo the prodigious number of taylors (p. 34), and the frequency of murders and poifoning (p. 36-40); defcribes the. monftrous ornaments of the Palagonia palace (p. 87), and the magnificent monaftery of S. Martino, for noblemen's fons, who, after feven years education, are obliged to turn monks, or knights of Malta, and of whom there are at prefenc only ten, but divided into two parties, who hate each other cordially (p. 9092). Mr. H. interfpeifes his defcription of Palermo with an account of his Neapolitan Majefty's hurtings, and his tale for painting, difplayed in the reprefentation of these atchievements, in the moft glaring colours, without the leaft fhade. In a note Mr. H. obferves, that the poifon of the tarantula, if there be any, is cured by the profufe [weats occafioned by exercife; and that the breed of white fheep, for which Tarentum was celebrated, is changed into black (pp. 71, 72). At Termini a company of merchants eftablished a fociety for the purpofe of robbery and murder, moft of whom have been taken-up and hanged. Mr. Tough, our refident at Palermo, fupped with one of them, and, from his great agitation, and frequently going out of the 100m, and returning again, is perfuaded he was then engaged in his bloody occupation, and perhaps forming fome plan to take away his life. He has, however, been executed (p. 103). The inhabitants of Palermo are stated at 320,000. The land of Procita was once part of a Greek colony; and to this day all the women and giris wear the antient Grecian drefs, which is very fingular and becoming (p. 65). From Palermo our travellers go Eastward, by Stefano, Ce falu, and Barcelonetta, to Mefina, where Shocks fhocks of earthquakes are fill fo familiar, that, on enquiring how long it had been face the laft, Three days ago," faid the landlord; No, five,' faid the waiter (p. 120). The account of the fatal earthquake of 1783 is thus defcrib. ed, in the words of one who was a fpectator of the dreadful fcene. But, however terrible the earthquakes were at Melfina, they were much more fo in Calabria, where mountains were changed into vallies, and vallies into mountains, rivers turned, lakes formed, and the whole face of the country vifibly altered. "In a place called I lago del Monte, about a mile from Seminara, a cottage with an adjoining orangery, and a man upon it, were carried to the distance of a mile. "In the diftrict of Cofoleto, a large plain, called Cineti, funk above 300 palms, and formed a deep valley, and a cottage was removed two gun-shots above its former fituation, without receiving any injury. "In St. Criftina, a vineyard fituated upon an eminence, and a plantation of olives upon a plain, together with a tower erected upon it, changed places, fo that the vineyard was upon a plain, and the plantation of olives upon an eminence, with the tower standing as before. In the fame diftrict fome perfons funk into a chafm, which opened under their feet, and were immediately thrown out again, without receiving any material hurt; while others, who were traveling on horfeback, were thrown from their feats, and buried in the abyfs. In Soriano, two mountains were united, thirteen perfons were killed, and a large lake formed. "In a plain between Seminara and Le Pietre Negre, there appeared an hot lake throwing up its waters into the air. In the territory of Setizano, a large portion of land was joined to another belonging to Cofoleto, by means of which the courfe of a river was ftopped, and the country laid under water, for the space of feveral miles. A mountain above Sinopoli was torn frem its centre, and carried across a valley to the distance of a mile and a half. But the most extraordinary circumftance happened to a Greek ship near the inland of Lipari, which either fank, or feemed to fink, from the waves being thrown up very high on each fide, into the depths of the fea, and which recovered its former fituation, not only without damage, but without receiving a drop of water in its infide. The most violent force of the fhocks was extended through a tract of country 58 miles long, and zo broad, including a space of 1160 fquare miles” (p. 132). "From the fatal 5th of January, 1783, to the end of July, almost all the fhocks (which, befides 62 in the first 24 hours, amounted to near ico) were preceded by a long streak of clouds, near the horizon, extending from the Eaft to the South, which grew darker after funfet, and were foon confounded with the other clouds *. In the courfe of the fame year, particularly in the month of July, there was an extraordinary appearance of the Aurora Borealis, and fuch terrible thunder and lightning as was never fire, a foot in diameter, was obferved flowly before known; a few days after, a globe of moving through the air, between the South and South-eaft, leaving behind it luminous particles, fimilar to thofe meteors vulgarly called falling stars, which alfo were teen every evening great quantities. "The fun generally appeared obfcured by a mift, which spread itself fo thickly in the lower regions of the atmosphere, as to obftruct the view of the Calabrian coaft. The moon, at night, was in like manner darkened, or furrounded by an halo. It must, however, be obferved, that on the days when this mit was thickest no fhock was ever felt. "The winds were variable and inconftant, except at the time of a fhock, when there was a dead calm; but as foon as it was over they sprang up again, and in the fpace of 24 hours would change to every point in the compafs. "The fea frequently rofe higher than ufual, with an uncommon roaring noife, and the wells at the fame time became thick and turbid; a fure indication that an earthquake would follow in a few hours afterwards; and as the latt fignal, which only took place a few feconds before, Volcano and Stromboli caft up denfe globes of fmoke, very different from what was obferved at other times. "The brute creation gave manifeft indications of fome extraordinary revolution, particularly before the great shock which happened on the 7th of February. Some oxen that were feeding in a meadow near Meflina placed their feet ftrongly against the earth, as if to oppofe a force from beneath, and, raifing their heads into the air, bellowed with all their ftrength. "The birds fled about in a confufed manner, and feemed afraid to perch upon the trees, or light upon the ground; and immenfe quantities of fea-geefe were seen fwimming upon the waters of the Faro. "A fmall fish, called Cicinello, esteemed a very great delicacy, was fo plentiful at this time in all the Sicilian feas, that the fishermen were unable to find purchafers. An unufual quantity of other fish were allo taken at this time on the Western fide of the ifland, whither they feemed to have retired from an apprehension of impending danger” (p. 137). "The Duke of Scylla, whofe palace at Bagnara was leveled with the ground, went "The fame was remarked in the year1693, and in 178c.” upon |