Biographical Sketch of Dr. Jebb.-The Trifer, N° 111. the dread of obloquy for to him all thefe were light in the scale against any particle of duty. His application, his fagacity, knowledge, his tendernefs of attention in his medical profeffion, might be fupported by teftimony that would do honour to any man. Not having been defigned for it, and having devoted to other du zies much the greatest part of his life, he entered on the study and practice of phyfic with a refolution of using fuch redoubled and perfevering diligence, regardlefs either of fatigue or hazard to his health, as fhould compenfate for the circumstance of not having been earlier initiated. And nobly did he accom plish this arduous attempt. But he fell overpowered by virtuous energies," rifing into the fullness of medical fame, and, what he ever valued moft, useful nefs to others in their fufferings and dangers. His anxiety for his patients, and particularly for the pooreft, was undefcribable: it was of kindred tem per to his patriotic folicitude for the welfare of his country. Thus great, and various, and bene ficent, were his talents; thus was he eminent in literature and in fcience! Of manners unaffected, elegant, engag. ing, pure. I converfation, the goodnets and sweetness of his nature tempered shat awe most men muft otherwife have felt from the vastnefs of his abilities, and the fublimity of his virtue. He was amiable and even pleafant in familiar intercourse, to a degree of ferene gaiety but of the frivolous in him there was nothing; and from grofs or ill-natured humour he was at the great eft diftance of an heart the moft benevolent, the firmeft fpirit; virtue the most active, difinterested, devoted! A full and accurate delineation of this amiable, elevated, exemplary character, is not for the powers of the writer of this; who, while endeavouring to do juf. sice to his memory, is oppreffed by the fenfe of the event of his long dreaded departure from us; by his friends long and juftly dreaded, for themfelves and the community. With regard to him, he took pain, fickness, and death, as he took his other trials, with an equal and grateful mind'; as the difpenfations of an unerring and kind Providence, for a difcipline to improvement in good nefa. But, with his other intimate friends, it is for the perfon who offers this faint fketch to forrow in that event: not only as feparating for, this life) a friendship incapable of any other inter 195 ruption, but as a lofs to human fociety. Yet our forrow is not without hope. It has a glorious interminable prospect. At prefent only thefe few particulars must be added: that he was born Feb. 16, in the year 1736, and married Dec. 29, 1764, to Mifs Torkington, of Little Stukely, near Huntingdon. Their hearts and understanding were formed for each other. PHILAGATHUS. March 13. THE TRIFLER *, N°III. Scribit amatori meretrix, 'dat adultera munus, And grant those joys, by abfent love denied, game. F. THERE is nothing that approaches fo near to abfent reality, as the fenfations we feel during our relaxation from bufinefs and the world; we are worked upon by the apprehension of fomething good or evil, which prefents itself to our imagination in fuch strong and lively colours, as frequently to exceed what reality itfelf could have painted. This impreffion upon the hus man mind is the more aftonishing, when confidered as the reprefentation of what never has, and perhaps never can, happen, of things unnatural and unprecedented. To difcover the hidden caufe which affects our beings during this state of Jecond nature would be impoffible; and to enquire into its variety of effects equally abfurd; fince all things unknown and fupernatural can only be attributed to that Providence under whofe protection we escape thofe perils we are hourly expofed to, and upon whose private mysteries even conjecture would be impious. Nevertheless, to be terrified with the mere delufions of fancy, is the most eminent characteristio of a mind fwollen up in credulity, and even tinctured with the blindness of fuperftition. This indeed is a happinefs for us, that we feldom find even credulity distinguished in thofe to whom, as individuals, it would be mostly injurious; I mean, in men of genius and learning. It is com monly received and practifed among the vulgar part of mankind, whole birth and ignorance contribute to the We wish to be favoured with this cor refpondent's address. EDIT. propagation TRIFLER, No HI. 196 THE propagation of fo pernicious an evil. It may, perhaps, be fometimes difcoverable in thofe of more enlightened faculties; and I have had many reafons to fufpect that nothing, except his morality, more confpicuoufly marked the character of a very late eminent and able writer, whofe merit, prejudice, and fingularities, I shall make the fubject of fome future paper. However deeply the mind may be affected in the very moment of its imaginary occupations, however fenfibly the objects may be delineated, and their characters reprefented; I fcarcely remember an inftance where the perfon, having awaked from his trance, could recollect more than half the circumftances which, but a moment before, had been fo ftrongly reprefented to his imagination. Some indeed are more forcibly impreffed than others; and fome, in their very nature, more capa ble of being clearly remembered, and minutely defcribed, than others. A friend of mine once informed me of a circumstance, the fact of which I fhould Arongly be induced to mistrust, had I ever had the leaft reason to doubt the veracity or honour of my author. He told me, that having fat up late one evening in the enjoyment of his favou rite amusement, and the interim of many a vacant hour, the worship of the Mufes he left them fuddenly, while his imagination was yet warm, and his genius in its full vigour, in order to repofe himself during the remaining part of the night. He had not long been in bed when he fell into a found fleep; and, during this fate, his poetical fancy framed fix or eight couplets, but the emotions he felt as foon as he had finished the laft line, And lull'd ber foft bosom on mine, inftantly awoke him. In attempting to repeat them, he fucceeded to a degree almoft incredible, without forgetting a fingle fyllable. Perceiving it to be moon-light, he raised himself on his bed, and reaching his pocket-book from our of his coat-pocket, attempted to pencil them; but, alas! his ideas were confufed, his poetry forgotten, and the very thought vanished from his head; he could neither trace the rhyme of a single verfe, nor recollect the fmalleft particle of his fancy-woven compolition, except the line mentioned above, which being fo effective as to awake him in the midst of a dream, was alfo fufficiently effective to be re tained in his memory. This is the only inftance I ever remember to have met with of an ability to compose and methodically digeft, while the mind is abftracted from its reafon, and the ideas loft in themselves. The unexpected abruptnefs with which the verses thus framed were fnatched from his memory, may be a convincing proof of the vola tility and infignificancy of dreams; they are indeed, when confidered with : vifions, fo oppofite in their nature, and do trifling in their confequence, that a moment's reflection may be fufficient to convict the falfeft fophifm, and expose the blindeft fuperftition. But, among the lower fpecies of mankind, who have neither reason nor reflection for their guide, this contagion has fpread itself with inch unbounded rage, to mastered their affections, and fo influenced the whole tenor of their actions, that with them conviction itself stands unfupported by approbation, and reafon gives way to prejudice and fancy. It may, perhaps, by fome be thought of very little confequence whatever measures this community may pursue,' and whatever prejudices their ignorance may incur; but this is a falle notion. The fecurity and welfare of a state depends net fo much upon the caprice of its immediate governors, as upon the difpofitionsand inclinations of the greater part of its fubjects. The number of thofe temporary magiftrates who prefide at the helm of government, is nothing when compared to that of the pooler populace. It is true, the power of thofe extends itself to all ranks of people, and can do more execution in one hour than whole ages can be able to re-place; while the power of thefe (if they have any power at all) is confined by certain rules, and limited to a few individuals only. But authority in the clutches of a people violent in their motions, inconceivable in their numbers, and subborn in their refolves, would be little more than a chicken in the claws of an eagle; it could neither enforce obedience, nor expect mercy. Since then the vulgar part of mankind is by far the moft numerous and refolute, is it not evident that, were an infurrection to take place among them, they could effeet more by force than authority, and more by example than all the threats of magistrates? For this reafon, particular care should be taken to eradicate the growing evil of credulity, while in its infant ftate, from the minds of our common THE TRIFLER, N HI. common people, left, by the cultivation of fo many thousands, Ikilful to cherith, and able to preferve, every tender bud from the blasts of reafon, and the at.tacks of learning, it grow to marure fuperftition, and fpread itfelf over the whole globe in fuch luxuriance as neither authority nor time can destroy. Should this ever be the cafe, that go vernment, at prefent effablished upon fuch firm principles, and fwayed by fuch wife and able minifters, must become the nursery of ignorance, and the dupe of fuperftition. -But here I could with a proper dif. tinction to be obferved between the mere chimeras of the brain, and teal vifions. They bear, in fact, fo little refemblance to each other in any of their circumstances, that, while I am treating upon dreams, no perfon can be fo unreasonable as to fuppofe, under that fpecies, I include thofe kind of vifions, which, as they appear fo rarely, and upon fuch extraordinary occasions, are manifefly the effect of fome fupernatural caufe. It is certain that no perfon can pretend to difpute the reality of that which our eyes have openly attefted. For vifions do not affect our imagination only in the moments of found fleep, in the fame manner as -dreams do, but appear to us either while we are in that state of dofing liftleffnefs, which neither utterly excludes us from the feelings and paffions of human nature, nor totally expofes us to the perception of outward and inactive objects. Or they appear while we are openly awake. The former, perhaps, may be the reafon why they infufe fuch a terror into the mind of the waking perfon; he is fuddenly roufed from his stupidity by fomething which inftantly ftrikes him with the idea of what is commonly termed a ghost. Thus, without a moment for reflection or compofure, his pations may be lo difordered, as neither time can wear off the impreffion, nor medicine, restore him to his former health and happiness. On the contrary, whenever they appear to the perfon while in perfect poffeffion of all his fenfitive faculties, he is of courfe already prepated to receive them without feel ing thofe fudden attacks of terror and furprize. The vifion which appeared to the Duke of Buckingham's iteward, previous to that nobleman's death, happened at a time when he was perfectly awake, his fenfes were as keen and ensire as the most public time of day-light 197 could have made them; and this is e vidently the reafon why he bore the attack with fuch courage and unconcernednets, as even to venture to fleep alone after the old Duke had appeared twice before to him, and without even mentioning fo extraordinary a circumftance. Among the innumberable ftories that have circulated in every part of the world relating to ghosts and hobgoblins, I remember not one that is even said to há e appeared in the day time. I mention this, in order to remark the fingu Tar opinion which Locke feems to have entertained concerning thefe traditions. "The ideas of goblins and fpirits (fays he) have really no more to do with darkness than light; yet let but a foolish maid inculcate thefe often on the mind of a child, and raife them there toge ther, poffibly he never fhall be able to feparate them as long as he lives, but darknefs fhall ever after bring with it thofe frightful ideas, and they fhall be fo joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other." This is a strange deviation from common opinions; and, were it not advanced on the authority of fo eminent a writer on the fubject of ideas in general, would long fince have been buried in the ruins of oblivión. And I ftill believe that the fame author of this opinion, had he been put to the teft, could not have illustrated it with a fingle example. In darkness and folitude the mind is naturally in clined to feel thefe impreffions of horror and fear. At the shaking of a bramble, or the whiftings of a breeze, we are ftartled atthe ridiculous apprehenfion of fomething that relates to spirits, and fo terrified, that even darkness itself be comes a peft to our imagination; or, as Virgil nobly expreffes it, Horror ubique animos, fimul ipfa fileatia terrent. There is, it is true, in the above quotation, a very just and pertinent obfervation, relating to the terror which children naturally conceive against darknels, arifing from the various tales which parents and nurses impose upon their tender and credulous minds. It may be owing chiefly to this, that chil dren in particular difcover a strong averfion to walk out in the evening, or fleep alone. It is a pity but this prac tice were utterly abolished, and other flories from history and common experience, equally entertaining, fubftituted in their room; that instead of a race of weak, 198 Original Letters of Aagnon. Dr. Andrew Kippis, THE juftice you have done to his To the Hon. Major DAVID DUNBAR, " 1715. "I this morning urged to my Lord Lieutenant, every thing which you fuggeft in your letter, and what elfe came into my thoughts. He told me it stopped with the Secretary, and that he would fill fee what could be done in it. I fpoke to Sir William Saint Quintin to remove all difficulties with the Secretary, and will again plead your eaufe with his Excellency to-morrow morning. If you send me word where I may wait on you about eleven o'clock, in fome byecoffee-houfe, I will inform you of the iffue of this matter, if I find my Lord Sunderland at home, and will convince you that I was in carneft when I wrote to you before, by thewing myself your moft difinterefted, humJ. ADDISON." ble fervant, * Whilft I am tranfcribing, I am tempted to think your readers will have no objection to fee two other Addifonian letters from the fame too-muchneglected fource of information. *To Mr. COLE, at Venice. “Whitsbel, 08.3 Ky 3707. “Yefterday we had news that the body of Sir Cloudefty Shovel was found on the coaft of Cornwall. The fishermen, who were fearching among the wrecks, took a tin box out of the pocket of one of the carcaffes that was floating, and found in it a commission of an admirał; upon which, examining the body more narrowly, they faw it was poor Sir Cloudelly. You may guefs the condition of his unhappy wife, who loft, in the fame fhip with her husband, her two only fons by Sir John Narborough. We begin to defpair of the two other men of war, and the firefipp that engaged among the fame rocks. "I am, &c. J. ADDISON. "To the Earl of MANCHESTER, at Paris "My LORD, Cockpit, July 23, 1708. "I make bold to congratulate your Lordfhip on the appearance of fo honourable a conclufion as your Lordship is putting to your difpute with the fenate of Venice. I had the pleasure to-day of hearing your Lordship's conduct in this affair very much applauded by fome of our firft peers. We had an unlucky business about two days ago that befel the Muscovite ambassador, who was arrested going out of his house, and rudely treated by the bailiffs. He was then upon his departure for his own country, and the fum under a hundred pounds that ftopt him; and what makes the bufinefs the worfe, he has been punctual in his payments, and had given order that this very fum fhould be paid the day after. However, as he is very well convinced that the govern ment entirely difapproves fach a proceeding. there are no ill confequences apprehended from it. Your Lordship knows that the privileges of ambassadors are under very little regulations in England, and I believe that bill will be promoted in the next parliament for fetting them upon a certain foot; at least it is what we talk of in both offices on this J. ADDISON." occafion. I am, &c. If these are inferted, you shall hear again from Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, N M. GREEN. March 24. the infcription from Sleaford church, in your Magazine for February, p. 98, there is an error of the prefs, which requires to be corrected. The Andrew Kippis there mentioned did not die at the age of 48, but of 84. The names following that of his wife Bridget are of fuch of their children as died in their infancy. Befides thefe, they had three fons who grew up to years of maturity; the fecond of whom, Robert, a filk hofier at Nottingham, and who was carried off in early life, was father to the editor of the new im preflion of the Biographia Britannica. MR. Caen Academy Prize, University Profefforfhips, &c. 199 Mr. URBAN, March 24. AVING juft received a letter from Hthe secretary to the Royal Academy regard it in a trifling light, which is the of Arts, Sciences, and Belles-lettres at Caen in Normandy, informing me of the fubject propofed by that academy for the year 1786, with a prize of 500 livres for the beft differtation thereon, I cannot lofe any time in communicating it to the public through the channel of your very interefting Mifcellany. Yours, &c. D. R. "Existe-t-il des mines de Charbon de terre près Caen, & quels feroient les moiens les plus avantageux à employer pour leur exploitation ?" Are there any coal mines near Caen, and what will be the most advantageous method of working them? MR. URBAN, nicious, or to humour the times' and foften that fevere affirmation, we may very beft in which it can be placed and in which every person, must view ir who recalls to mind the ludicrous appearance made by the leader of a band banging the time, a finger cracking the corners of his mouth, a trumpeter collecting the winds in his cheeks, or a fidler working out the fleeves of his coat the ridiculoufnefs of thefe fpectacles are only exceeded by the agonizing raptures of a ravifhed audience. The Audy of mufic requires much time, much labour, and much attention; whilft the refult of all lofes itself in empty air, to fay no more of it. Give me leave to afk your correfpondent Ricardus Vitus Bafinftochius, Feb. 14. whether his letter is to be understood WAS much pleafed with a very feriously or ironically? Is he really fenfible letter in your laft Magazine, the defcendant of the Juta or Viti, figned A. Y. Z. containing hints for ftanding up in a good-humoured way eftablishing univerfity profefforfhips for for the honour of his ancestors? or does architecture, painting, and fculpture, he only affect this character, to add three arts not only ornamental but ufe force to his juftification in favour of an ful. The inconveniencies arifing from be- ancient colony unjustly afperfed? If he ing expofed to the wind, fnow, and rain, is really a defcendant of the Viti, and excited mankind to devife fome protec- will favour the public with further partion against them: thence originated ticulars of his family, your readers will architecture; firft, fimple architecture, have reafon to think themfelves very to which we owe one of the prime com- much obliged to him, as particulars of forts of life; and next, improved archi- fuch an ancient family must be extecture, which adds celebrity to thofe tremely interefting and curious; and countries embellished by it. Thus ar- your Magazine is a very proper recepchitecture forms our habitations; paint-tacle for them, and publishing them can certainly be no difparagement. Yours, &c. ing and sculpture adorn them: painting and fculpture borh preferve to us the refemblances of deceased friends, and commemorate the actions of the great and good. "Example goes beyond precept:" great living examples are only deftined to continue a certain pe riod; painting and fculpture tranfmit them to pofterity. Sculptural testimonies of public esteem are incentives to morality and glory. It appeared to me very extraordinary, that arts productive of works fo durable, and effects fo permanent and beneficial, fhould have been entirely neglected in our great feminaries of education, whilft that of mufic, tending to no one good purpose whatever, has been encouraged, and honoured with a profeffional chair. But may not this extraordinary fact be accounted for by remarking, that mufic operates on the paffions of mankind, whilft painting, architecture, and fculp ture, recommend themselves to the rea font Hence mufic may be deemed per$ PEDRIDUS. I have received your Lop of Novem. 2d, weh the King has read, but gave me no order upon it. I fent your LoP enclosed a letter of cachett, in Latin, to the Emperor, as your LoP defired; but being the first of its kind, I fend you a copy of it, that if it be not in due forme, you may forbeare to deliver it. It is in answer to the Emperor's, in behalfe of the Earle of Carlingford, whom his Majty will gratify in his request as far as lye in his |