THE Lady's Magazine; For JANUARY, 1790. AVING in the courfe of my H lucubrations attracted feveral correfpondents, I muft occafionally To the Author of the INDEX. AS you feem poffeffed of a very fenfible woman for a wife, and appear yourself to be one of those communicative kind of people who are neither averse to talk, nor flow to hear, will you permit me to relate certain of my family-affairs, for the amufement, if not the benefit of your readers? I am a tradefman in a tolerable good line of bufin. fs, as we say, and though I cannot boast of opulence, and have very little ambition in my compofition yet I poffe fs as much of the former as is fully fufficient for my wants; and of the latter, just as much as prompts me to induitry to preferve my stock. My wife, with all refpect be it mentioned, is fully as industrious in her way as myself, fuperintends my houfehold affairs with conftant care, and fcolds the fervants in a voice and tone which convince me that the bas my interest at heart, as well as the expansion of her lungs. We live, in fhort, very happily; keep a decent plain table, and my houfe is none of those where want of any neceffary appears. Our bufinefs lately has been on the increafe-and our affairs very profperous-every thing to our with-and fomething at the year's end to lay by. But within these few weeks, I don't know how it is, that my wife has taken it into her head that we live extravagantly, and that it will be neceffary to curtail many family. expences. Why he thinks fo, I never could find out, until the other day, that I difcovered the had pur chafed a vile book, a very vile book, fir, called The Housekeeper's Booka fort of book to put down every thing bought for the ufe of the family. And fhe confeffed to me that having used this book for some time it has, as he calls it, "awakened her confcience," to many fhocking inftances of extravagance we have been often guilty of. Who first contrived fuch books I know not, but be who he may, I cannot help being uncharitable enough to say, that I owe him a grudge for it. Toaft and but er, in a morning, is no longer to be feen at our break faft. or 4. faft table; because Mrs. Si neon (for | finished fooner than the year 1793 - At dinner, this vile Book has Before this abominable book came Such, fir. are some of the confe- Letter to Henrietta, on the Exhibition of Portraits. 7 Mrs. Maflix and family, and am, worthy fir, Your humble fervant, SAMUEL SIMEON. Ah! Mr. Maftix, you and I know I have referred the above letter to Mrs. Maflix, who is to take it into confideration, as it belongs to Daneftic Concerns, a province I never invade. She, as fail fem good to her wifdom, will afford an antwer in due time and place convenient. LETTER to HENRIETTA, ez the Exhibition of Portraits, N° I. day, and according to annual custom, [See our Dec. Mag. Vol. XX p. 62;} I expected a bit of extra-fupperwhen, to my utter aftonifhmentwhat do you think our bill of fare of-gne confifted of one pound of tripe boil ed-three eggs ditto and a red herring-all which were duly pofle into the book after fupper that the might fhow me how expenfive good living was. I infifted, indeed, on a little tiff of punch, but did not at tain it until after much altercation, for "fugar was a filling a pound, brandy up to half a guinea a gallon, lemons at a monftrous rate, and fire paid a matter of forty fallings a year for water; who do you think can stand it?”' In your next paper, or when con. venient, I fhould be happy to hear your opinion of thefe matters, and if you can perfuade my wife that the true ufe of a book is to fhew how much he does spend, and not how little the can, you will confer a very lafting obligation on me-You will, indeed, feed the hungry and clothe the naked, as well as provide for the approaching inclement feafon.Mean time, I beg my respects to Dear Henrietta, N reading, your elegant letter to your friend, upon Portraits, I could not help reflecting upon the juft characters, you had drawn, and muft affure you, that your fe timents, upon public life, are very accurate. No one could have drawn lady L's character, more-nobly, nor have made jufter obfervations. Your thoughts upon the pharo table are fublime; for indeed, it is far from being any rational amusement : you must excufe me for taking your" letter in pieces, but there is fo much good fenfe fcattered into it, that I muft lay a greater firefs upon the more deferving part. Eafy is the defcent from virtue to vice; lady L's character, by your own reflections, has given you fufficient proof. The effects of gaming are evident from your own thoughts on the fubj: &t, and happy am I to fec. you are a girl of fpirit, to fhun the contagion. It would be a lening to your merit, to fay, you did not approve of reading, as by your let ter to your friend, I have proof to the contrary. You are not the only one that has been an infpector into public life being myself of an independent fortune, I have perufed. the lives of others, and have made it my study to obtain knowledge from the unexperienced. Being often in town, I have made it my ftudy to infpect other people's conduct, and from them, like yu, to regulate my own. I am always charmed with fuch ladies as you, who render themselves happy by the improvements of the mind, as from that, permit me to tell you, depends a great part of their happiness, which our fex looks for in yours. You find, I do not doubt, by your own obfervations, that, that girl is more admire, who cultivates her mind, and adorns it with modefty, than her who adorns her perfon, without thofe accompliments. I shall conclude, with a fenfible remark from Dr. Gregory's Compararive View: "that no man ever despised the fex, who was a favourite with them, nor did any one speak contemptoufly of love who was confcious of loving a woman of merit." Your's, dear Heneritta, CANDIDUS. Account of BOTANY BAY. [With a beaut ful Engraving, from Nature.] "Bo tern and northern parts were first discovered by Van Nuytz, a Dutch navigator, in 1627, but whether they formed part of an ifland or a continent was not ascertained till 1770, when captain Cook explored the eastern part to the extent of more than two thousand miles.Captain Cook took poffeffion of this ifland in the name of his prefent majefty, giving it the appeilation of New South Wales. BOTANY BAY is fituar above coaft, in about thirty-four degrees South latitude, aud an hundred and fifty-one degrees of Eaft longitude. It received the name of Botany Bay from the vast variety of plants with which it abounds. The country is finely variegated with woods and lawns, and is exceeding prolific in tall and ftraight trees, having little or no underwood. The foil in general is a deep black mould, and is fuppofed to be excellently adapted for producing all kinds of grain. The meadows are faid to be the finest in the world; but there are rocky spots in different parts of the ifland, the ftone being being fomewhat of a fandy quality, and well adapted for building. The ifland is not known to produce more than two kinds of wood which may properly be called timber; one tall and straight, like the pine, and, the other hard, heavy, and dark-coloured, like lignum vitæ, yielding a red gum. Mangroves and palms grow in great abundance. Great quantities of fhellfish contribute to the fupport of the NEW Holland, of which Bar pacives, who are of a chocolate com tany Bay, the fubject of our plate is a part, is the largest ifland in the known world, being declared equal in extent to all Europe. It is fituated in the Eaftern or Indian Ocean, extending from nine degrees to forty-four South latitude, and from one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifty-four degrees Eaft longitude from London. The wef plexion, tall, and well made. Our fettlers there had not, when the laft accounts came away, been able to form an intimacy with the natives-but, it is generally fuppofed, that the colony in time will be very flourishing, provided the poor wretches can be made indus. trious, and to forget their vicious. habits. THE The Life of the late John Elwes, Efq. T Shaftesbury's Charact. HE family name of Mr. Elwes was Meggot: and as his name was John, the conjunction of Jack Meggot made ftrangers fome. times imagine that his intimates were addreffing him by an affumed appellation. His father was a brewer of great eminence. He purchafed, during his life, the estate now in poffeffion of the family, at Marcham, in Berkfire, of the Calverts, who were in the fame line. The father died while the late Mr. Elwes was only four years old; fo little of the character of Mr. Elwes is to be attributable to him; but from the mother it may be traced at once-for though he was left nearly one bundred thousand pounds, by her husband -the farved herself to death! The only children from the marriage above, were Mr. Elwes, and a daughter who married the father of the late colonel Timms-and from hence came the intail of fome part of the prefent estate. At an early period of life, he was fent to Westminster fchool-where he remained for ten or twelve years. During that time he certainly had not mifapplied his talents-for he was a good claffical fcholar to the laft-and it is not a little remarkable, though well authenticated, that he never read afterwards. Never was he feen at any period of his future life with a book, nor has he in all his different houfes left behind him, VOL. XXI. 9 books that would, were they collected together, fell for two pounds. His knowledge in accounts was still more trifling-and in fome meafure may account for the total ignorance he always was in, as to his own affairs. The contemporaries of Mr. Elwes, at Westminster, were Mr. Worfley,, late mafter of the board of works, and the prefent lord Mansfield; who, at that time, had no objection to borrow all that young Elwes, even then, would lend. His lordhip, however, has fince changed his dif pofition, though Mr. Elwes never altered his. From Weftminfer fchool, Mr. Elwes removed to Geneva, where he foon entered upon purfuits more agreeable to him than ftudy. The riding mafter of the academy there had then to boast three of the best riders in Europe, Mr. Wortley, Mr. Elwes, and fir Sidney Meadows. Of the three, Elwes was reckoned the most defperate: the young horfes were always put into his hands, and he was the rough rider to the other two. During this period he was introduced to Voltaire, whom he fomewhat refembled in point of appearance; but though he has mentioned this circumstance, the genius, the fortune, the character of Voltaire, never feemed to strike him-they were out of his contemplation, and his way: the bores in the riding fchool he remembered much longer, and their respective qualities made a much deeper impreffion on him. On his return to England, after an absence of two or three years, he was to be introduced to his uncle, the late fir Harvey Elwes, who was then living at Stoke, in Suffolk, perhaps the most perfect picture of human penury that ever exifted. The attempts in faving money were in him fo extraordinary, that Mr Elwes perhaps, never quire reached them, even at the last period of his life. To fir Harvey Elwes he was to be C the |