they humble the importance of the individual, to exalt the dignity, and to animate the labours of the species." 66 Thefe views with refpect to the probable improvement of the world, are fo conducive to the comfort of thofe who entertain them, that even although they were founded in delufion, a wile man would be difpofed to cherish them. What fhould have induced fome respectable writers to controvert them with so great an afperity of expreflion, it is not easy to conjecture: for whatever may be thought of their truth, their practical tendency is furely favourable to human happiness : nor can that temper of mind which dif poles a man to give them a welcome reception, be candidly fufpected of defigns hoftile to the interests of humanity. One thing is certain, that the greatest of all obftacles to the improvement of the world, is that prevailing belief of its improbability, which damps the exertions of To many individuals: and that in proportion as the contrary opinion becomes general, it realizes the event which it leads us to anticipate. Surely, if any thing can have a tendency to call forth in the public fervice the exertions of individuals, it must be an idea of the magnitude of that work in which they are confpiring, and a belief of the permanence of thofe benefits which they confer on mankind by every attempt to inform and to enlighten them. As in ancient Rome, therefore, it was regarded as the mark of a good citizen never to defpair of the fortunes of the Republic, fo the good Citizen of the World, whatever may be the political aspect of his own times, will never delpair of the fortunes of the human race; but will act upon the conviction, that prejudice, flavery, and corruption, muit gradually give way to truth, liberty, and virtue; and that in the moral world, as well as in the material, the further our obfervations extend, and the longer they are continued, the more we fhall perceive of order and of benevo lent design in the universe." For the EUROPEAN (To be continued.) MAGAZINE. CRITIQUE ON SOMERSET. HOUSE, LONDON, BY A FOREIGN ARCHI TЕСТ. "L'Architecture eft l'ecueil de la plus grande juftice de notre jugement & de notre imagination." THE North Front of Somerset-House borrows no aid from its felicity of fituation, being of neceffity placed on a line with the rest of the street. The Architect had on this account great difficulties to encounter, being bounded at each extreme by the adjoining houfes; he was therefore obliged to adapt his defign to a given space, a circumftance fufficient to cramp the utmost efforts of his skill; yet under thefe difadvantages he has acquitted himself with wonderful addrefs: and though his line of extent was joftled and circumfcribed at each fide by the adjoining hovels, there appears nothing conftrained or cramped throughout the whole. Before I faw this edifice, I had heard many perfons complain of the narrowness of the arcades; I have, however, at many different times feen carriages pafs through them with the greatest ease, and have examined the angles of the piers, and have found them completely uninjured; an evident proof that they are fufficiently capacious for every intercourfe. With refpect to their proportion to the rest of the front, I do not think that it could poffi. VIGNEUIL DE MERVEILLE. bly be improved, even though the Archi test had been entirely unlimited in space. The intercolumniation over these arches falls in regularly, as do the windows and piers. In every building regard is to be paid to the diftribution of the interior apartments. I have examined that part of Somerset-Houfe, and I do not recollect to have feen more judgment displayed, both in the external as well as internal arrangement of any building I have ever had reafon to contemplate. SomersetHoufe, as a national ornament, is by far the nobleft ornament of its kind in London, though, from its unhappy pofition, it is not fufficiently obferved by the paffenger in the ft. eet. Indeed, I doubt if ancient times have handed down to us any thing fuperior to it. The lower ftory is ftrong and maffive, yet fimply elegant in the diftribution of the windows with their repeated triangular pediments in the receffes. The ruftication is finely executed, and the key-ftones are mafter-pieces of emblematic fculpture. Whilft the ruftication of the lower ftory ferves for the strength and fupport of the fuperftructure, it at the fame time makes a kind of bafement or platform for the columns of the fecond (tory. The grandeft part of the whole design is an uninterrupted entablature. The line of coninsation is preferved throughout unbroken. If we compare the much-boafted production of Inigo Jones at Whitehall to the front of Somerfet-Houfe, our opinion of that muchcelebrated Architect will be greatly di minifhed. His entablature is broken and mangled, though the Columns project but three quarters of their diameters. This totally destroys the effect of his building. The attic ftory, with the cariatides over the centre of Somerfet Houfe, is happily introduced; for whilft it conceals fome objects that would be disagreeable to the fight, it terminates the building in a light and elegant manner. In one word, the front of Somerfet-Houfe, taken all together, unites grandeur with fimplicity, without the leaft attempt at fuperfluous ornament or conceit. The defign befpeaks a mind habituated to deep thought on the fubject of that very complicated art on which it has been bestowed, and a certain eafe and elegance of style that hews great practice and experience in it. This fegle production would in any polished country (except his own perhaps) entitle its Architect to the first rank amongst the molt eminent of his profeffion. He would be regarded not as a follower, but a rival of Palladio, confeffedly the greatest of all modern Architects. REMARKS ON LIFE AND MANNERS EXTRACTED FROM LETTERS WRITTEN BY THE LATE DR. COTTON. AN untable difpofition is, perhaps, ployed for the defence, and not for the little inferior even to a ftate of real pain, mitigated one hour by falfe hopes, and exalperated another by falfe fears; but when a man is once determined, and invariably purfues the fcheme he has laid down, then follow, as in a chain, fatisfaction, tranquillity, and happiness. DISSATISFACTION is very wrong; the world is a drama, and we muit not expr to be all heroes and Kings.-There mult be a fubordination of characters; and if you and I are appointed candlefnuffers, we mult take care to execute our province as well as we can. IN every diftrefs let prudence a&inate us, particularly the prudence of holding our tongues; yes, and veiling our coun tenances too. YOU, who know mankind, cannot be infenfible to the evils which always fol. low upon the alteration of friends. I dare fay you will approve a maxim which I have conftantly adopted through life Never to fland upon my own justification to the man I love, when he appears confcious that the right is on his fide. For it is ten to one whether even the fuccefs of my pleadings be not accompanied with the ill opinion of my friend; and the forfeiture of his affection and efteem will be a poor compenfation to me for the vanity of a victory. Only grofs imputations, fuch as reflect upon our integrity and virtue, ought to put us upon difputation. Our arguments, like our words, fhould be cm conquest of our friends. REFLECTIONS upon paft indifcretion are only to be encouraged when we propofe to avail ourselves, for the future, of prior mifcarriages; otherwife, fuch re views ferve to gall the mind, and render us unfit for the general duties and offices of life. They are like to the falfe pangs of parturiency, which diminish the ftrength and preclude the birth; and therefore, like all fuch impotent throes, they ought to be opiated as fast as you can. But fome times it happens, that they are reftive to fuch prefcriptions. When this is the cafe, they require a different treatment. Change the fimile, and compare thefe painful thoughts to bold intruders, who are not to be prevailed upon by tender ufage, but who require force to expel them your houfe. Fairly give them battle. A reto lute and firm oppofition, with a thorough determination to give them no future advantages over you, no future causes of triumph, will infallibly weaken their forces, procure a complete victory, and in the end regain peace to your poor distract ed breaft. THERE is no fuch thing as real unmingled felicity here below: happiness is all a vain purfuit, quite from the cradle to the grave. It is altogether an imaginary acquifition, which no man ever did or ever will poffefs, fo long as he is a fojourner amidft fublunary fcenes.-We fow hopes and withes, and pray what do we reap? The answer is obvious-- We reap difappointment and inquietude.-A miferable harveft! you will fay.-True. But nevertheless we repeat our useless labour; and thus perpetuate to ourselves vexation and forrow. He then, my dear friend, is the prudent man, who is contented to take this world as he finds it; who relishes its comforts, improves its crofes, and expects happiness only in fuperior regions. AS every year renders our opportu nities fewer, and will by and by put an end to our correfpondence, and feal up our lips in everlasting filence, the remaining intercourfes of our friendship must confe. quently rife in their value, much after the fame manner as we estimate our gold, the worth thereof is increased by a deficiency in its quantity. For when a purfe of an hundred guineas is reduced to a score, and never more can be replenished, the refidue of our coin muft of confequence mount in its valuation. This is certainly a fact; and fo far as it relates to our wealth, we are all willing to fubfcribe to the truth there. of ; but as it relates to our time, either we difpute the fact, or act inconfiftently with the inferences which it fuggefts. For what is more common than to fee a man of fixty perfonating the character of a boy of fixteen, as to prodigality of time? But the oddity of this difpofition is the more extraordinary, when we confider the abfurdity of fuch conduct in old age, and contraft it with the views and behaviour of youth. Gray hairs fquander time and hoard money; green heads are lavish of both. Now the avarice of age ought to 'be revered; for, fince the days of advanced life cannot poffibly be many, the old man, therefore, fhould not spend one moment but in purchafe of its value, becaufe he hath but few moments to spend. The riches he withholds, he ought to be liberal of, because his wealth preponderates his time as to quantity. The young man is profufe of time, becaufe ne expects to attain to longevity (though, by the by, he is wrong in his arithmetic, be caufe he counts upon uncertainties.)However, this is not inconfiftency of chaacter: but what follows is great inconfiftency; I mean the fquandering away his money. For if he reckons and depends upon a multitude of years, prudence fhould hint to him frugality; becaufe, in proportion to the length of his life, the greater and more frequent will be the demands of life his purfe. upon IF there is any fuch thing as happiness (for I am not fure there is any fuch thing), various in different perfons, I fufpect that They refemble eunuchs, who, confcious of their deficiency, are irritated at their inability, ape a tafte for pleafures which they can never enjoy, and thereby become the dupes of impotence and affectation. [To be continued. ] ANCIENT PLACE OF TOURNAMENT AT SENLIS. [WITH A VIEW. ] THIS ancient place of tournament was built by James Duke of Vendome, about the year 1500. The age of chivalry being, as Mr. Burke expreffes it, departed, and a difpofition appearing in our neighbours the French to deftroy every veftige of former times, we here prefent our readers with a VIEW, which may in fome measure preferve their remembrance from total oblivion. The invention of tournaments is afcribed to Geoffrey Preulli, who died in 1066.From the French courts they paffed into thofe of England and Germany; intro duced into the latter, it is faid, by Henry the Fowler; and from the Byzantine Hiftory we learn, that the people of the Eaft adopted them from the French, who have always diftinguished themfelves in thefe exercises above all other nations, to the time of Brantome; who fays (fpeaking of the departure of Charles the Eighth of Naples), "This noble King left his kingdom in peace, and gave to the lords and the ladies of that kingdom many pleasures, paftimes, and magnificent tournaments, according to the cuftom of France, and in which Charles the Eighth was the firft diftinguished for the elegance of his mien, and the skill of his arms. While they were preparing the lifts deftined for the tournaments, they exhibited through the cloifters of fome neighbouring monafteries, the armorial fhields of thofe who defigned to enter the lifts. It was the ancient cuftom to carry the coats of arms, helmets, &c. into the monaftery before the tournaments began; and to offer up at the church, after the victory was gained, the aims and the horses with which they had fought: the former was done that they might be viewed by the lords and ladies, and the Joung gentlewomen,to fatisfy their curiofity, and a herald or purfuivant at arms named to the ladies the perfons to whom each belonged; and if amongst these pretenders there was found any one of whom a lady had caufe to complain, either for fpeaking ill of her, or for any other fault or injury, the touched the helmet, or the fhield, of thefe arms, to demand juftice, and fignifying that the recommended her caufe to the judges of the tournaments. Thefe, after having gained the neceffary information, were to pronounce fentence, and if the crime had been judicially proved, the punishment followed immediately. As by the laws of chivalry it was ordained that nobles alone were to be admitted to the tournaments, they alfo made enquiry into the rank and condition of those who prefented themselves, in the fame manner as was practifed in the time of St.Chryfoftom in the combats of the Circus. The Agonothete demanded in aloud voice, if any one could say, that he who offered at the combat was a flave; in which cafe he was rejected.Thofe knights alfo, who, in the examination of their lives and manners, were adjudged guilty of adultery or incontinence, were punished. If any one, thus degraded, prefented himself nevertheless at the lifts, the other knights chaftifed him; and fometimes the ladies themfelves joined in the contempt and punishment thus inflicted for his temerity, and taught him better to respect their honour and the laws of chivalry. The befeeching their mercy, with a loud and fervent fupplication, was the only means of obtaining pardon for the criminal.— The inftrument by which the knight was corrected was a fort of switch, or gantlope, which Euftache Defchamps calls "the branch of tournament." It would be endlefs to enter minutely on the defcription of the lifts for the tournament, or the places for these martial exercifes; fome of which were erected in cities before palaces or great houfes. Sauval, in his Hittory of Paris, fpeaks of lifts fet up in the palace of the Louvre, at the Hotel of St. Paul, and other places in Paris, which belonged to the Princes of the Blood, and the great officers of the Crown, and the privilege of having barriers placed before fuch great houfes, originated from the honour due to thofe alone who were able to give at their hotels the grand spectacles of joufts and tournaments. A defcription of feveral tournaments both in England and abroad, may be found in Seager "On Honour, Military and Civil, Folio. 1602. STATE |