That God appoints Fate ( whereby homer means natural Causes) to bring Events about, appeals by what Jupiter himself says, Ourself will sit and see the Hand of Fate Work out our Will * Il ; 20. v. 34. And that natural Causes are appointed by God to influence the Passions ot Men, and incline them to pursue such Measures as he intends for their Reward or Punishment, Felicity or Misfortune, may be learn- ed by that Passage, where the Muse speaking Patro- clus, says, that Jove and Fate urg'd him on to his DestruCtion, which nothing could prevent. Against what Fate and powerful Jove ordain, Vain was thy Friend's Command, thy Courage vain. For he, the God, whose Counsels uncontroll'd, Dismay the Mighty, and confound the Bold; The God who gives, resumes, and orders all, He urg'd thee on, and urg'd thee on to fall. Il. 16. v. 841. We are told the same of the Sons of Merops, whose Father, skill'd in Prophecy, had warn'd them from the Trojan Field: Fate urg'd them on ; the Father warn'd in vain : They rush'd to fight, and perish'd on the Plain, Il. 11. v. 430. This is not unlike what we meet with, 2 chron. Chap. 18. where God makes use of an extraordinary Method to incline Ahab to go and fall at Ramoth- Gilead, whither he went, and was killed, not with- standing the Prophet's Warning : For wicked Ears are deaf to Wisdom's Call, And Vengeance strikes whom Heav'n has doom'd to fall. Odys. 16. v. 300. We come now to Man's Free- will, of which Homer must be himself perfectly persuaded, since he makes even Jupiter declare it in that excellent Speech of his to Minerva, wherein both the Goodness and Justice of Heaven are so strongly and finely asserted. Jupiter's Speech. Odys. 1. v. 5. Perverse Mankind ! whose Will's created free, Charge all their Woes on absolute Decree : All to the dooming Gods their Guilt translate, And Follies are miscall'd the Crimes of Fate. When to his Lust * AEgysthus gave the Rein, Did Fate, or We, th' adult'rous Act constrain? Did Fate, or We, when great Atrides dy'd, Urge the bold Traitor to the Regicide? Hermes I sent, while yet his Soul remain'd Sincere from Royal Blood, and Faith prophan'd: To warn the Wretch, that young Orestes grown To manly Years should re- assert the Throne. Yet impotent of Mind, and uncontroll'd, He plung'd into the Gulf which Heav'n foretold. * AEgysthus dishonour'd the Bed of K, Agamemnon, and vilely murder'd him. from the Universal Spectator. Qui, quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, Plenius & melius Chrysippo & Crantore dicit. Hor. Ep. 2. Lib. i. from my Houje in the Minories. WE have seen Homer's Descriptions of the Omnipotent and Supreme Being ( whom he calls by the Name of Jupiter ) his Glory, Majesty, and Power; and come now to enquire what the Opinion was of thofe early Times, as to Fate, Destiny, or Ne- cessity. It must be acknowledg'd no easy Matter to distin- guish clearly what the Sentiments of the Heathens Were upon this abstruse Point, several of their Wri- ters seeming to make Fate superior even to Jupiter himself whom they represent so far limited and controll'd thereby, that Mr. Dryden says, he was little better than Book keeper to the Destinies : But as for Homer, it is very evident he is not of this Opinion ; but imagines all Events proceeding from the sole Will and Pleasure of Almighty Jupiter, whose Appointment of the Means or second Causes of their being brought about is what he intends by Fate, which operates in such a Manner as to allow a Free Will to Man. The Dispensations of Providence are laid down in this Course by Homer, as Mr. Pope has more plainly shewn in one of his judicious Notes; We shall find, says he, if we examine his whole Works with an Eye to this Doctrine, that he assigns three Causes of all the Good and Evil that happens in this World, which he takes a particular Care to distinguish. First the Will of God superior to all. Secondly, Destiny or Fate, meaning the Laws and Order of Nature, affecting the Constitutions of Men, and dis- posing them to Good or Evil, Prosperity or Misfor- tune; which the Supreme Being, if it be his Plea- sure, may over- rule, but which he generally sufFers to take Effect. Thirdly, our own Free Will, which either by Prudence overcomes those Influences and Passions, or by Folly suffers us to fall under them. Homer begins the Iliad with asserting, that the Will of God is the sole Cause of whatever happens: The Anger of Achilles, says he, occasioned the Death of many brave Heroes, but such was the Will of Jove. 11. 1. v. 8. Iliad 8th. He introduces Jupiter in an Assem- bly of the Gods, fixing his Decrees according to his own Sovereign Will, and giving his Commands to Fate. Celestial States, immortal Gods give ear, Hear our Decree, and rev'rence what ye hear : The fix'd Decree, which not all Heav'n can move, Thou Fate! fulfil it Il. 20. v. 34. [ Price Two Pence.] Minerva's Answer here subjoin'd does not come properly under this Head; but as it shews that Hea- ven's Vengeance always pursues the Guilty, I could not help inserting it. O Thou ! from whom the whole Creation springs, The Source of Power on Earth deriv'd to Kings ! His Death was equal to the direful Deed ; So may the Man of Blood be doom'd to bleed I If we examine this Speech of Jupiter, we shall find, that it contains such Notions of the Deity as are conformable to true Religion : It finely teaches that the Folly of Mankind, and not the De- cree of Heaven, is the Cause of human Calamity ; and brings the Story of AEgysthus as an Instance that the Supreme Being is sovereignly Good and Just : That he forewarns Mortals of the sad Consequences of being wicked ; and whilst they remain yet inno- cent, sends his Messenger to preserve them from fall- ing. By this Messenger ( Hermes or Mercury ) we are to understand Reason, or the Light of Nature, which Heaven implants in the Breast of every Man, and which, Cicero says, is co- eternal with the Su- preme Being. He writes to this EffeCt : There was from the Beginning such a Thing as Reason, a direct Emanation from Nature itself, which prompted to Good, and averted from Evil: A Reason which djd not then become a Law, when it was first reduced to Writing, but was so even from the Moment it existed, and it existed from ever, of an equal Date with the Diving Intelligence: It is the true and primordial Law, proper to command and to forbid : It is the Reason of the great Jupiter. This Reason flows directly from the Supreme Being into the Heart of Man, and continually dictated to him, this is good, or, this is evil: It is as Homer says in another Place, Some Voice of God close whisp'ring from within, Wretch ! this is Villany, and this is Sin. Odys, 14. v. 109 There are some other Particulars worth observing in the Opinion of the Antients concerning Fate or Destiny. They imagin'd a certain fatal Moment decreed by Destiny, which could not be retarded, but might be hastened. Homer and Virgil both agree in this: Homer says, Ilion's sacred Wall May fall this Day, tho' Fate forbids the Fall. II. 20. v. 41 And Virgil writes, speaking of the Death of Dido ; nec Fato, merita nec morte peribat, Sed misera ante diem. VIRG. Lib. Orestes Son of Agamemnon, killed AEgysthus in Revenge of his Father's Murder, From Tuesday March 13. to Tuesday March 2o. 1732. ( N° 405 In short, every violent End was accounted before the fatal Time, or ( which is the same Thing ) against the natural Order : And the same may be said of any Misfortunes People draw upon themselves by their own ill Conduct. They likewise extended Destiny ( or the Care of Providence) to the very Beasts. As when the Force of Men and Dogs combin'd, Invade the Mountain Goat, or branching Hind, Far from the Hunter's Rage secure they lie, Close in the Rock, not fated yet to die. II. 95. v. 308. This Opinion agrees perfectly with the Scripture: In the Book of Jonah God's Compassion towards the brute Beasts, is one of the Reasons himself gives a- gainst desrroying Nineveh. Shall I not spare that great City, in which there are more than sixscore thousand Persons, and also much Cattle? And still more re- markably to the same Purpose is that Passage, Matt. Chap 1 o. Ver. 19. Are not two Sparrows sold for a Farthing ? and yet one of them shall not fall on the Ground without your Father. The Antients believed also, that Providence might sometimes be prevail'd upon to alter its determin'd Purpose by Mankind's earnest Endeavours, and that the impending fatal Evil might be prevented. There have been Heroes, who by virtuous Care, By Valour, Numbers, and by Arts of War, Have forc'd the Pow'rs to save a sinking State, And gain'd at length the glorious Odds of Fate. Il. 17. v. 380. And we find several Instances of the like Kind in Scripture; where, after God's Judgments have been denounc'd, and Vengeance just at Hand, Mankind, ( by a zealous Application to Heaven with Repentance and virtuous Resolutions ) have as it were struggled with and overcome their Destiny, and averted the Ruin which was ready to fall upon them. To men- tion but one : God had even fix'd the Time for the Destruction of Nineveh, yet forty Days and Nineveh shall be overthrown: Notwithstanding, when the People lamented their Transgressions, and cried mightily unto God, he repented of the Evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did it not. Thursdays Post. From the Evening Post, March 13. Since our last arrived one Mail from Holland, Paris, March 18. LETTERS from Barcelona of the 18th ult. advise, that the Spanish Squadron, which has been cruising this Winter, in the Mediterranean, was returning into that Road, and gave an Account, that on the 7th of that Month, they spicd an Alge- rine Corsair of 46 Guns, which was sometime since Capitana of the Squadron of Algiers; whereupon the Commodore gave Orders for chasing her, as the whole Squadron immediately did, crowding Sail to come up with her; but as she was two Leagues a- head, the Night prevented their so doing, and the Corsair took that Opportunity to set 300 Turks and some Provisions on Shore, which they carried to the Infidels Camp near Oran ; and the next Morning about Nine o'clock, the Squadron came up with the Ship, which had sheltercd herfelf under the Cannon of a Battery the Moors had upon the Coast : The Commodore ordered her to be cannonaded, which was done for three Hours; after which, he sent some Troops to sink her, the Men having left her as a- bove; and notswithstanding the Fire of the Battery and Small- Arms, those Troops got on Board her, and having stript her of all her Rigging and other Valua- bles that they could carry off, they quitted her, but not ' till the Water was come up between Decks. COUNTRY NEWS. Cambridge, March 7' This Day the Assizes end- ed here, when two Persons received Sentence of Death for robbing two Women on the Highway, one of Half a Crown in Money , and the other of a Silver Cork- Screw, a Silver Thimble, a Penknife, a Pair of Scissars, a Pair of Gloves, and a Pocket. One was ordered for Transportation, for stealing a Pair of Silver Candlesticks from Trinity College; one to be whipped for stealing a Pewter Dish, and one to be privately whipped in the Jail for stealing a Gun. LONDON, Last Thurfday Morning early, a Boat coming from Gravesend with 18 Persons in it, ran foul of a Lime Hoy near Grays; by which Accident four of them were drowned. On Saturday Morning last, a Sailor was bit by a mad Dog in the Tower; whereupon the Dog was immediately shot by one of the Centinels. On Friday the Assizes ended at Rochester, when the three following Persons were capitally convicted, viz. Joseph Corkin, for robbing the Passengers of the Dartford Stage- Coach on Black- Heath ; and James Abraham and John Marshal for Burglary. Eight were ordered for Transportation, and six acquitted. We hear that a Subscription is carrying on with great Success at Edinburgh, for erecting and endow- ing an Hospital in that City, for the Maintenance and Education of Orphans, after the Plan of Christ- Church Hospital. We hear, that the Commissioners of Excise have lately given Orders to their several Officers, who survey the Brandy Stocks in the City and Suburbs, to deliver particular Lists of all the Traders in each Di- vision ; fo that ' tis presumed, in case the new Excise upon Wine and Tobacco should take Effect, that it will be under the Survey of thofe Officers, with some few additional ones. We hear from Bristol, that the Weavers of that City being irritated against one of their Fraternity for working under Price, rose last Week in a considera- ble Body, and seiz'd the Delinquent, who underwent the Marks of their Revenge in the usual Manner of Ducking in the River, and a hearty Drubbing ; by which Usage he had the Misfortune to have one of his Eyes beat out. In the Copy of the Paper deliver'd by Sarah Mal- colm the Night before her Execution to the Rev. Mr. Peddington, Lecturer of St. Bartholomew the Great, declares, That on Sunday the 28th of January, after her Master, Mr. Kerrol, was gone to Commons, Mary Tracey came to her and drank Tea, and then it was she gave Consent to that unhappy Act of rob- bing Mrs. Duncomb, but declares she did not know of the Murder. On Saturday the 3d of February be- ing the Time appointed, they came about IO o'clock at Night, and Mary Tracey came to Mr. Kerrol's Chambers, and they all four went to Mrs. Duncomb's, and on the Stairs Sarah Malcolm met Mrs. Dun- comb's Maid, who ask'd her, whether she was go- ing to the old Maid, she answer'd Yes; and as soon as she thought the Maid had got down Stairs, would have gone in herself, but thought that would give some Suspicion, and so ask'd which would go in, and James Alexander replied, he would, and the Door being left open for the Maid, against her Return, she gave James Alexander Directions to lie under the Maid's Bed, and desired Mary Tracey and Thomas Alexander to go and stay for her at her Master's Door untill her Return, which they did accordingly, and when she came, desired they would go and stay for her at Mrs, Duncomb's Stairs, who, on her Return found them there, and there they waited till after two o'clock on the Sunday Morning, which was the 4th of February, and then Sarah Malcolm would have gone in, but Thomas Alexander and Mary Tracey interrupted her, and said, if you go in, and they awake, they will know you, and if you stay on the Stairs, it may be that some one will come up and see you ; but she made Answer, that no one lives up so high but Madam Duncomb. At length it was concluded that Mary Tracey, and the other Alexander should go in, and shut the Door, and accordingly they did, and Sarah Malcolm remained untill between Four and Five o'clock, when they came out, and said Hip, and when she came higher up, they ask'd which Way they should shut the Door, and she told them to run the Bolt back, and it would spring into its Place, and accord- ingly they did, and when they came down, they asked where they should divide what they had got; she asked how much that was; they faid, about 3001. in Goods and Moneys but said they were forced to gag them all. She desired to know, where they had found it; they said, that fifty Guineas of it was in the old Maid's Pocket, in a Leathern Purse, besides Silver, that they said was loose; and above 1501. in a Drawer, besides the Money that they had out of a Box, and the Tankard, and one Silver Spoon, and a Ring which was looped with Thread, and one square Piece of Plate, one Pair of Sheets, and two Pillow- beers, and five Shifts, which they divided near Fig- Tree Court, after which Mary Tracey and the Alex- anders said to Sarah Malcolm, be sure that you bury the Cole and Plate under Ground, untill the Robbery is over; for if you be seen flush of Cole, you will be suspeCted. Mr. Alderman Parker, of Lynn- Regis in Norfolk, is come to Town with several new invented MachineS for guaging Wines and other Liquors, according to the intended Excise. From Wye's Letter, March 13. The chief News we have by a Holland Mail since my last is, that the Regencies of Tunis and Tripoli are ma - king great Preparations by Sea, to join the Turkish Sultana's, expected from Constantinople, to succour the Algerines against the Spaniards; so that the later will perhaps find it difficult to maintain their Conquests. As to the Affairs of Poland, they seem to be in such a Situation by intestine Factions, Confederacies, the violent Opposition of Parties, and the Motions of Foreign Powers, in regard to the Election of a King, that at Warsaw and Dantzick, they say, they have great Rea- son to fear, that the Tranquility of that Kingdom will have but a short Duration. In the mean Time, great Remittances are said to come from France to Dantzick, by way of Amsterdam, to promote the Interest of Sta- nislaus, whom the French Ambassador, we are told, still insists ( since he has been already crowned ) ought to be advanced to the Throne without Election. The General Court of the South Sea Company summon- ed for the 22d Instant on special Affairs, we hear, it for the Purpose of petitioning the Parliament for an to convert 3 4th of the Stock into Annuities, and the other 4th for Trade: However this is net yet certain, because so many are against continuing the said Trade any longer. And some say it is to receive the Report from the Committee of Inspection of the Company's Ac- counts. So much has been said for and against any new Ex. tise, that one would think nothing more could be said on that Subject: However more Pamphlets con- tinue to come out daily. And The Merchants appeared yesterday and this Day in great Numbers at Westminster to solicit the Members to oppose it; but to Morrow much greater Numbers an expected, to hear the Scheme and how it is received. And And considering how many Members are come up on this Occasion, there is likely to be as full a House of Com- mons as perhaps has been known. A Statute of Bankrupt has been taken out against Gambier, the Broker; he surrendred himself last Friday to those whom he had so much defrauded. We hear that the Gin Act will be repealed, and ad- ditional Duty laid on all Brandy imported from Dun kirk, and a Drawback of 61 8 s. per Tun on all Bri- tish Spirits exported, for the Encouragement of that Manufacture, the Consumption of British Grain, and that of Rum from our Plantations. This Day the Lords read the first Time a Bill for clearing up a Doubt which may arise by the Act, that all Proceedingi at Law shall be in English after next Lady Day. Read the 2d Time a Bill for making the River Dun navigable. Also a Bill for dissolving the Marriage of Sir John Rud, Bart, with Lettice Vaughan, when a School Boy at Caermarthen, and enabling him to marry again ; after hearing Council and examining Witnesses, to prove open Adultery against her, and her having three Children by one Suick, adjourned to Thursday. A Letter from a Merchant in Bristol to a Member of Parliament. SIR, Bristol, March 1731. THE Inclosed is what I am desired to send to you; another of the same is sent to Mr. which is what we think ourselves obliged to do, to vindicate ourselves from the vile scandalous Falsities in that Pamphlet, in which are so many Things con- trary to Fact, that show's the Writer's Design was only to defame the Merchants trading in Wine and Tobacco, without any Regard to Truth. As to the former, I know nothing of it; but as to Tobacco, he says our Bonds are for three Years, which are but 18 Months, we have Liberty to ship off Tobacco any Time within three Years after Importation; but the Bonds are demandable in 18 Months ; nor do I know of any Instances of longer Indulgence. The Frauds mentioned Page 13. are such as we complain'd of to the Parliament, as committed in Scotland in 1721 ; but that such hath been committed by the English Merchants, the Author should have proved before he charged us with such vile Practices, which we abhor, and as to this City, can declare are abso- lutely false, and without the least Foundation ; and are ready to clear ourselves, as by the Inclosed ; the best Way will be that ol the proper Officers sending up an Account of the imported Weights, compared with those they have from Virginia; for by a late Law in Virginia, all their Tobacco is weigh'd naked, and the Weights of each Hogshead sent to the Offi- cers here, by which any considerable Fraud will be discover'd, except common Shrinking, which ap- pears to be about six or seven per Cent. Difference the Virginia Weights and those taken here, where there is no Damage or Pilferage. In Page the 28th he says we press it to make it dry or light; which is ridiculous; it is press'd in the Plantations to make it heavy, on account of saving in the Freight, which is so much per Hogshead, be it heavy or light. And he further saith, we wet or water it to the Increase of 14th of the Weight on Exportation ; whereas wetting Tobacco intirely spoils it, unless it be roll'd, which formerly were shipp'd off in great Quantities, and an Increase was allow'd on it, for the Encou- ragement of that Trade, which is now in Disuse, or in very small Parcels. Exorbitant Commission is another Article brought in, only to discredit Mer- chants among those that know not the Meaning of such a Charge: It sometimes happens the Planters send bad Tobacco, and the Markets low, that it will nett little more than the Freight Duty and incident Charges, which the Merchant advances, whose Com- mission may amount to eight, to twelve Shillings, and may be more than the Hogshead clears; must the Merchant be arraign'd for an Extortioner for taking his allow'd Commission of Two and a half per Cent, must not he be a Villain that uses Mankind in this Manner? Fix the Frauds on particular Persons, Mer- chants or Officers, and punish them as severe as the Laws will allow; but it's vile to decry and defame Men that have more Virtue and greater Sense of Honour than himself, becaufe they are Merchants, by whom alone the Nation hath been enabled to raise such vast Sums as it annually doth. To call the Opposers of Excise, Jacobites, Republicans, Enemies to the King, & c. looks as if the Writer was a Garretteer instead of a Member of Parliament. I am, Your Obedient Humble Servant, L. L. From the Evening Post, March 15. Since our last arrived one Mail from Flanders. Vienna, March 7. THE Emperor has taken a new Resolution on the Affair of the Investiture of Parma and Act of Dispensation, in Favour of the Infante Don Car- los; and an Express is sent thereon to Spain, the Purport whereof is yet a Secret. Our last Courier to Warsaw was stopt on the Frontiers of Poland, under Pretence his Passport was not in Form ; upon which he was obliged to stay for new Orders from this Court. Paris, March 13. Orders are sent for reinforcing the Garrisons along the Moselle, upon Advice that the Imperial Troops are much increas'd of late in Luxembourg and that Neighbourhood. SCOTLAND. Berwick, March 8. We have the following dis- mal Account from Holy Island, that about two Miles from thence, a Miller having killed a Swine in the Sight of one of his Sons, the Boy went home and told his Brother he could shew him how his Father killed a Hog, which the other innocently consenting to, he cut his Brother's Throat : Their Mother coming home presently after from winding of Corn, affrighted at this Tragical Scene, threw the winding Cloth, which she had in her Hand, into the Cradle, where her youngest Child was asleep, and smother'd it unawares; mean while the Boy who killed his Brother, run away and hid himself in the Coghole of the Mill, and his Father going to work, not knowing what had happened, or his Son being there, set on the Mill, whereby he was killed also. This Chain of Misfortunes had made the Parents in a de- plorable Condition. LONDON, Letters from Chester say, that it was believed Sir Charles Banbury, Bart, would be chosen Member of Parliament for that City without Opposition, in the Room of Sir Thomas Grosvenor, Bart, deceas'd; for that Mr. Manley, the Attorney, who was there, would have perswaded Alderman Bennet to stand as a Candidate, but he refused; and Mr. Manley him- self was very Sick of the last Election, having no Interest but a forc'd or purchas'd one. An Address will be presented to his Majesty, pray- ing Directions may be given for building a new Par- liament House, the old one being in a very ruinous Condition. Yesterday died at his House in Dover- street, Sir Robert Furnese, Bart, one of the Knights of the Shire for the County of Kent. The Earl of Middlesex, Son and Heir to the Duke of Dorset, will stand a Candidate for the County of Kent in his room. On Wednesday last the Assizes ended at Gloucester, when the two following Persons receiv'd Sentence of Death, viz. Richard Flackson for stealing a Mare, and John Turner for cutting about three Yards of Cloth oft the Racks of Mr. Beard of Rodborough ; both of whom are since repriev'd. Seven Persons were cast for Transportation. We hear from Salisbury, that Isaac Smith and John Harding, two of the Kingswood Colliers, for- merly mentioned, were tried at the Assizes there, and convicted of Felony, for destroying the Turnpikes near Chippenham in Wiltshire; and that Stephen Crow, a Boy about 17 Years old, was indicted for the said Offences, and acquitted. They write from Bath, that an Order has been lately made there, that for the future no Person shall be admitted to partake of the Charitable Provision made for poor Strangers in the Hospital of that City, unless they bring with them the Opinion of some Physician, that the Waters are likely to be of Use to them ; also a Certificate from the Place whence they come; and a Deposite of twenty Shillings to defray the Expence of their Funeral, in case they should happen to die there. From Wye's Letter, March 15. The Reasons given for the Bill to prevent the infa- mous Practice of Stockjobbing are, That great Inconve-, niencies have arisen, and do daily arise, by the wicked, pernicious, and destructive practice thereof, whereby many of his Majesty's Subjects have been, and are di- verted from pursuing and exercising their lawful Trades and Vocations, to the utter Ruin of themselves and Fa- milies, to the great Discouragement of Industry and to the manifest Detriment of Trade and Commerce; but the Means for preventing this, ( which many think will be very Difficult ) we cannot yet bear. The Distillers, in their Reasons humbly offered to Parliament for repealing the Act for laying a Duty on compound Spirits, remark, That the Consumpiion of those Spirits is not only an Advantage to this Nation, as they are made from Corn and Molasses, but from Cherries, Rasberries, Spices, and some thousand Hogs- heads of Sugar used annually for dulcifying them, which render them much more wholesome than plain Malt Spirits; and that the Prohibition of them hath given great Encouragement to the Importation of French Bran- dy, under the Flemish Duty only, to the great Prejudice of the Landed Interest. So great a Number of Merchants and Traders of this City went down yesterday to Westminster, about the Ex- cise Affair, that the Lobby of the House of Commons and Court of Request would scarce contain them, and ths Exchange was observed to be very thin : However, all was Quiet and Peaceable. The Prince of Wales, the Foreign Ambassadors, and many Lords, were to hear the Debates, which lasted till between two and three this Morning. And according to what hat already passed and what has appeared to the House, ' tis generally be- lieved, that the Scheme ( which it for the better Secu- rity and Improvement of the Duty and Revenues alrea~ dy charged and payable from Tobacco) will take Place., but under such Restrictions, at to be neither prejudicial to Trade, nor the Liberties of the Subject. However the Merchants and Traders seem not sufficiently satisfied with it. And more Pamphlets continue to be published against it at well as for it, than have been seen perhaps on any other Occasion, the late Affair of the Test Act not excepted. The Members present were 471 in Number. We hear also, that the Excise Laws will be altered at to Appeals, which for the Future are to be brought before the Judges, and that all Forfeitures and Penal- ties are to go to the Publick. The Affair relating to the Wine Duty is not to come unde Under Consideration till next Week, or the Week after. This Day the Lords read a 2d Time the River Dun Bill; also that for building St. George's Church South- wark; and that for clearing up a Doubt which may arise in tbe English Law Bill, and in a Committee went thro' Sir John Rud's Bill of Devorce. A fine Sermon was preached this Day at Bow Church, by the Rev Mr. Burton, before the Trustees of Georgia, recommending the Charity for settling that Colony, since so many poor Objects, Foreigners as well as Na- tives, want Support; and that the Lands of that Co- lony ( tho' fertile by Nature ) so much want Inha- bitants. From the Evening- Post, March 17. Since our last arrived one Mail from Holland, and one from France, Barcelona, Feb. 15. ALL the Troops appointed for the secret Expe- dition, are new cloath'd, and ready to march at Command: They work incessantly on the Equip- ment of the Fleet, which will be very numerous, and ready to sail in April ; the general Rendezvous will be at Cadiz, whither the Men of War have al- ready Orders to repair that winter'd in Galicia. The new Galley building here is to serve as Capitana, and will be ready very soon; ' tis the finest has been seen: The rest are all ready. Madrid, February 18. Since the Action of the 7th, the Moors before Oran keep quiet in their Trenches. The Garrison there is very busy in finish- ing a new Fort to command the Springs near the Town and cut off the Communication of fresh Water from the Enemy. LONDON, We hear by a private Letter from Paris, that the new Colds ( as they are call'd ) continue to make great Devastation in that City, and its Neighbour- hood ; and that about 18,000 Persons have died thereof, since the late Fogs, without reckoning the poor People in the Hospitals into the Number. By a Computation that has been lately made with some Exactness, it appears that near 60,000 Persons have been blooded there within the last Month, on Occa- sion of this Distemper. Yesterday a Duel had like to have happened in the Court of Requests at Westminster, between two Per- sons of Distinction. On Thursday last at Three in the Morning the Prince of Wales, Sir Robert Walpole, with several other Members of the House of Commons, supp'd with the Earl of Hallifax, at his House in the Ex- chequer. A Corporal of the Army having written an Histori- cal Account of the Ten Campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough, the same is going to be published by Subscription, under the Patronage of some Persons of the first Rank. From Wye's Letter, March 17. Tho' the Scheme for the better collecting the Du- ties on Wine and Tobacco, will in all Probability take Place, yet the Merchants and Traders continue to be Assidious as ever in their Application against it. This Affair admitted yesterday of near 12 Hours Debate in the grand Assembly at Westminster; but we hear the Affair relating to the Duty on Wine will not come under Consideration till the beginning of April. A certain Person, formerly Surveyor of the Cu- stoms on Tobacco, and the reputed Author of some Reflections, in his Writings on the Subject of the Excise, against the Merchants of London, narrowly escaped being chastized this Day by some Virginia Merchants, who met him on the Exchange which raised a Hubbub for some Time, till he retired. Affairs in Poland, according to Advices by a Holland Mail, are s0 nice and critical, made so by the several Confederacies and Associations entered into, besides that of Cracow, not to choose any but a Native of Poland of equal Rank to those who have signed them, that though they have excluded all Foreigners from being elected King, yet ' tis foreseen such Differences will arise about the Individium, or Person to be elected, that all those Confederacies appear, as they talk at Warsaw, to be nothing less than Preparations in Order each to support his Party with Fire and Sword against the others. In the mean Time we are told, that Sweden is re- solved to second Powerfully the Efforts of France to ad- vance stanislaus to the Throne. And we are told from Paris, that in order to put that Prince on an eligible Foot, his Abdication of the Crown is to be sent to Poland, and that he himself will go thither in Person, on Board a French Squadron, this Spring On the other Hand ' tis wrote from Vienna, that if this should happen, Troubles in the North will naturally result from it, inasmuch as other Powers will oppose, with all their Forces, tbe Return of tbat Prince to Warsaw. By a Mail from France this Day we learn, that King Stanislaus's Act of Abdication has been approved of by ihe Court of France, and is already sent to Poland, and that his Interest is very strong there, the Confederacy of Cracow being for him. On Thursday last before Divine Service and the Ser- mon, mentioned in my last, at Bow- Church, before tbe Trustees for the Colony of Georgia, the said Trustees held a Board in the Vestry Room there, and choose by ballot- ing nine additional Lords and Gentlemen to make up the Common Council 24, ( which was before but 15 in Number ) viz. the Right Hon. Anthony Ashley Cowper, Earl of Shaftsbury ; Lord Viscount Limerick ; Lord Vis count Tyrconnel; John White, Esq , Thomas Frederick, Esq, William Heathcoate, Esq; Member of Parliament for Southampton ; Henry La Potre, Esq ; Robert Ken- dall, Esq ; one of the Aldermen of London ; and Ri- chard Chandler, Esq; Son to the Lord Bishop of Durham. And the Number of the Trustees, which was 21, was at the same time augmented to 38, of whose Names we may perhaps give you an Account. Yesterday the Lords read the first Time a Bill for the free Importation and Exportation of Diamonds, Pearls, Rubies, Emeralds, and all other Jewels and precious Stones. Also a Bill for more effectual preventing frivo- lous and vexatious Arrests, and for the more easy Reco- very of Debts and Damages in the Courts of Great Ses- sions in the Principality of Wales, and in the Court of Assize in the County Palatine of Chester. And ordered the Bill for dissolving the Marriage of Sir John Rudd, Bart, to be engrossed , and adjourned to Monday. BANKRUPTS, since our last. Thomas Powel, of St. Giles's in the Fields, in Middlesex, Meal- Factor. Lydia Peck, Spinster, of St. Paul's Church- Yard, London, Milliner. Henry Sherman, of Witnesham, in the County of Suffolk, Maltster. John Duell, of St. Clement Danes, in Middlesex, Chapman. Christen'd Males 167. Females 175. In all 541 Buried Males 166. Females 176. In all 541 Increased in the Burials this Week 35. South Sea 101 3 8ths. Annuities 110 3 qrs. Bank 15 1. India 159 1 half. Advertisements. ANew Velvet Paul to be Lent, at Mrs. Sarah Butterfield's in Hallifax. To be LETT, To enter to at May- Day next. THE House and Shop in Briggate Leeds, now inhabited by Mr. John Overend, Linnen Drapcr, who it going to leave off Trade, and will Sell all sorts of Linnen- drapery Goods, very cheap, with all the Shop Furniture, Enquire at the said House, or of Mr. Thomas Wolrich in Leeds aforesaid. To be LETT, A Handsome dwelling House, in the Mar- ket Place in Wakefield, with a good Shop fit for a Tradesman ; the House being in very good Repair, and well Sash'd, late in the Possession of Mr. George Waugh, also 30 Acres of rich Meadow Ground, lying all together. adjoining upon the River below Wakefield Bridge; to be taken with or without the said House. Enquire of Stephen Sayner of Wake- field aforesaid. N. B. If the said Ground cannot be lett conveniently, to one or two Persons, Milk Cows will be taken in to Joist at reasonable Rates LEEDS: Printed and Sold by the Executors of JOHN HIRST; where Advertisements are taken in at 2s. 6d. each And all other Printing Work performed at reasonable Rates.