the help of the Holy Virgin, St. Dennis, and St. Marcel, patrons and protectors of this diocese;

from whence they shall go to the church of St. Geneviève of the Mount, and that on the day and hour, and according to the order, which we prescribe below. We grant forty days of indulgences to the faithful who shall assist at this ceremony. We exhort them to come to it, not out of curiosity, but with a spirit of faith and repentance. We hope that they will be moved thereto by the edification which the piety and modesty of all the clergy, secular and regular, will give them. Lastly, we conjure all persons who shall be present at this solemnity, to bring dispositions with them capable of appeasing the just wrath of God, and of causing his mercies to lighten once more upon us; and we recommend to them, there to pray for the preservation of the king's sacred person, and all the royal family; as also for peace and the other needs of state. Also we order. you to make known these presents to all abbots, deans, priors, priests, and other superiors of the secular and regular communities of the city and suburbs, to the end they may not plead ignorance, but observe them, and cause them to be observed by the persons under them. Given at Paris, in our archiepiscopal palace, the 10th day of May, 1709.

66

The Queen of England alluded to the state of part of the Continent in her speech to both Houses of Parliament, November 17:

"I think it proper to take notice to you, that the great dearth and scarcity under which our neighbours abroad have suffered this year, begins to affect us in some measure at home, by the temptation of profit, in carrying out too much of our corn, while it bears so high a price in foreign: parts.

"This occasions many complaints from the poor, for whose sake I earnestly recommend to you, to take this growing evil into your consideration, having not neglected any thing on my part towards the remedying of it, that the law would allow."

Would it be credited by the subjects of Queen Anne, were they now alive, that little has been said by the present poor when they paid four times the price for a bushel of corn demanded in 1709?

THE FIRST EARL OF PORTLAND

Died in 1709, and was buried with much ceremony and splendor in King Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster. The account of him given by contemporary writers is highly creditable to his memory, and will bear repetition, as instances of fidelity and rectitude of conduct are not yet so numerous as to make the subject tedious. Mr.

Bentinck

Bentinck was the descendant of an antient family in the United Provinces, and selected by William III. when prince of Orange, for his page, from which situation he was soon advanced to the of fice of gentleman of the bedchamber. The prince had the small-pox in 1675, and that event gave his attendant an opportunity of shewing the warm attachment he had formed for his royal master: urged equally by duty and affection, Bentinck remained constantly at his post, assisted to turn the Prince, and gave him both nourishment and medicine. During sixteen days and nights the patient never called upon him that he did not immediately answer: at the close of that period the Prince became convalescent, and Bentinck's anxiety for his safety abating, nature yielded to disease and fatigue, and he was compelled to entreat permission to go home, where the small-pox reduced him to extreme danger, and he only recovered in time to attend the prince to the field of battle, in which he was ever found at his master's side.

It would have been highly ungrateful in William had he not patronized the affectionate Bentinck after such proofs of his regard; but he had still stronger motives in his courage and abilities, which entitled him to entire confidence in civil and military affairs. The invasion of England by the duke of Monmouth induced the Prince to offer James "the assistance of himself and troops

against

against the invader; Mr. Bentinck, who conveyed the message, had however but a cold reception, through some misconstruction: four years afterwards he was more successful, and contributed greatly, by his prudence, sagacity, and dexterity, to the accomplishment of the Revolution. William was thus furnished with the means of rewarding his favourite, who soon received the honour of the order of the Garter, several places of importance, and the earldom of Portland: one of the grants made to him excited some resentment, and it was mentioned with asperity in the House of Commons. In the same session he obtained equal credit, when one of the members asserted he was offered and refused £. 50,000, to forward the views of the East India Company. The King laid the foundation of the Peace of Ryswick with marshal Boufflers in the field of battle; and he confided its conclusion to the Earl, as far as prudence permitted. The next and last public honour he enjoyed was the appointment of embassador extraordinary to the court of France, where he is said to have supported the credit and interest of the British nation with considerable expence to himself.

On returning to England he had the mortification to find that the earl of Albemarle occupied the only place of which it is probable he would have been particularly tenacious that of the monarch's favourite; but this unexpected event

was

was alleviated and rendered less intolerable by the knowledge that he still possessed the esteem of his benefactor. The Earl adopted the only resource left him, and retired to the enjoyment of a plentiful fortune, and the society of an amiable wife and family. Boyer asserts, that he distributed £ 2,000. per annum in charity during his involuntary banishment.

MISSON'S TRAVELS.

is

The fourth English edition of this work was printed in 1714; and it appeared in French; but with what success the compiler of these pages unacquainted. Misson was a native of France; and we are informed, in his dedication to the earl of Arran, that the duke of Ormond entrusted him with the early education of his patron. He ap pears to have been held in considerable estimation by the English literati, and particularly by Dr. Hoadly, bishop of Bangor. A copy of this work is now in my possession, which the author illustrated with all the plates given in the English and French editions, and many marginal notes, written in a very beautiful character, and presented to the prelate just mentioned, accompanied by the following note on a leaf preceding the titlepage of the first volume:

.

"Comme j'écrivois de ma main quelques notes, dans les marges de divers endroits de ce livre, une personne qui est survenue, a désaprouvé ce qué

je