The veffel left Cape Farewell on the 31ft of March, 1770, and had fine weather and a fair wind, till the 9th of April, when they faw a tropic bird, in the latitude of 38° 29? fouth, a fight very unusual in fo high a latitude. On the 15th, they faw an egg bird, and a gannot; and on the following day a fmall land-bird perched on the rigging, from which they concluded they were near the Jand; but they found no ground at 120 fathoms, On the 18th in the morning, they faw a Pintado bird, and fome Port-Egmont hens, an infallible fign that land was not very diftant; at five o'clock in the morning of the 19th, they difcovered land four or five leagues diftance, the fouthernmost part of which was called Point Hicks, in compliment to Mr. Hicks, the firft lieutenant, who made the discovery of it. At noon they difcovered another point of the fame land, rifing in a round hillock, extremely like the Ram-Head at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, for which reafon Captain Cook gave it the fame name. What they had yet feen of the land was low and even, and the inland parts were green, and covered hwood. They now faw three water fpouts at the fame time, one of which continued a quarter of an hour; at fix in the evening the northernmost point of the main land, which was diftant about two leagues, was named Cape Howe. On the following day they had a diftant view of the country, which was in general covered with wood, and interfperfed with feveral small lawns. It appeared to be inhabited, as fmoke was feen in feveral places. At four o'clock the next morning they faw a high mountain, which, from its fhape, they called Mount Dromedary, under which there is a point which received the name of Point Dromedary. In the evening they were oppofite a point of land which rofe perpendicular, and was called Point Upright. On Sunday the 22d, they were fo near the fhore, as to fee feveral of the inhabitants on the coaft, who were of a very dark complexion, if not perfect negroes. At noon they faw a remarkable peeked hill, to which the captain gave the name of the Pigeon-Houfe, from its refemblance of fuch a building. The trees on this ifland were both tall and large, but they faw no place fit to give shelter eyen to a

boat.

(To be continued.)

Particular Account of Bridget Bonner,

(See June Mag. page 330.) THE following letter from the managers of the Kent Difpenfary at Deptford, a fet of gentlemen who had taken Bridget Bonner under their care, to the Lord Provoft of Edinburgh, who had been inftrumental

in detecting fome of her fallacies, will ferve to gratify the curiofity of our readers, concerning an affair, that for fome time engaged a great fhare of the public attention. My Lord,

On behalf of the feveral gentlemen who joined me in the letter, concerning Bridget Bonner, I have to return your Lordship their and my fincerest thanks, for the very great attention you have paid, in the discovery of the fallacy of her relation. We received on Saturday laft, a letter from Mr. Cockburn of your city, who has also much interested himself; and to whom we beg our most polite acknowledgments. Our private ideas, here on the fubject, are, and have been uniform. Her tale was too abfurd to gain confidence with men of business, and acquainted with the numerous artifices of impoftors. The opinion of the medical gentlemen, as to the danger of her life, was the only difficulty we could not solve.-Her ftory was ftill fo confidently related and perfifted in, joined with the circumstances of her exposed situation, danger, and sex, that it muft unavoidably, and did find many patrons, in a nation, where humanity and fellow-feeling, is fo generally and truly esteemed the firft of virtues: the error of the head is pardoned from the goodness of the heart. It becomes a debt due to the public, to use our beft endeavour to vindicate truth, and detect the impofture; and no pains have been fpared.

To attempt to give your Lordship an account of all her fubfequent relations, of which one feries of untruths fucceeded to another, would be of little ufe in inveftigating her ftory. Suffice it to fay, from many tedious examinations, (one of which was before two of the magiftrates of the neighbourhood, who with the utmost readinefs attended for the purpose) and after having pointed out to her several glaring abfurdities-that her ftory was no longer credited-that she would not have her liberty, till a complete difcovery of the truth was effected-and all further attempts to i pofe would be equally ridiculous and utelefs-having recommended it to her, inftead of favouring every fimple fuppofition, which the credulity of many who vifited her, led them to adopt, fhe had better tell the truth at once-giving her at the fame time the moft pofitive aflurances, if she would relate' the truth fo far as to enable us to get at her accomplices, no part that could affect herfelf, fhould ever be made public—we left her to reflection; but all in vain-the old

hackneyed tale, with little variations. One ridiculous circumftance, related by her, I fhall take the liberty to mention: a woman came from London, declared Bonner was her daughter-had a mark from a burn un

der

der her breaft," which on examination was found-had not feen her for ten or twelve years that the put her to fchool in this town (Deptford) for fix or feven years the school mistress named-fent for-thought the knew her afterwards pofitive of itproduced her work-feveral fchool fellows attended-knew her well--fure it is fo-yet all ends in vapour. The mother being acquainted with our fufpicions that he was an accomplice, on recollection difowns her: and the other young ladies come to their fenfes by degrees. There is a ftrange difpofition in human nature to favour romances. Thofe who first hear them, if any part relates to actions or places they are acquainted with, foon compare notes, anticipate answers, and from a few trifling occurrences that may be true (though accidentally related) are led by a crafty person to fupport the most extravagant declarations. This is the cafe of many of the fex who have wifited her, and contributed not a little to her abftinacy-it is natural to fupport that ftory we with to be true.

Finding we could only drive her from one fory to another, without coming to the truth, and the uniformly embarraffing us, by laying the scene of action distant; we refolved to fend her to the parish workhoufe, and wait what time would produce. She has feparate apartments, very commodious, and every thing neceflary.We gave directions to the mafter to let any perfon fee her, whom he thought might throw any light upon her narrative, or defcribe her family or connections; but not permit any fufpicious perfon to be with her alone. Near ten days elapsed, when a man came from Poplar (in the neighbourhood of London) to fee her, induced by a letter from his relations in the country; on entering the room be declared her his coufin; that her father lived at Greatwell near Lincoln, was a man of property, and he referred to a gentleman in London, of too much refpectability intentionally to favour a falfehood. The gentleman came down to fee her, and verily believes her to be the perfon the man defcribed; and proposed to write to her father. She has fince acknowledged this to be fact, and from many corroborating circumstances, we believe it fo far true. She fays the quitted her father's house about two years ago, from an amour-her age now 28. -She went to Bristol after her paramour, but miffed him, and there became acquainted with a Captain Ruffell, fince dead, and Mr. and Mrs. Dunmore; with whom the has been at different parts of England and Scotland; and once for eleven months as far as Shetland, which the well defcribes.That Mr. and Mrs. D lived by illicit practices, the fufpects coining.

She

has acknowledged almoft the whole of her first narrative falfe. No uncle Ruffell, will, or legacy-No phacton from Edinburgh, or lodging in the Cowgate or Leith Wynd, but for a few days in the Cowgate, and four or five weeks in Leith Wynd, in an obscure manner-No education, or Mrs. Patterson at Dunbar-No school with Mifs Brown at Briftol-No robbery or lofs of 500 guineas, trunk, fmelling bottle, or phacton upon Black-heath, poft-boy, or horfes.-That fhe came from London on foot with Mifs Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Dunmore, and another man naked as fhe was found, and a great-coat only in addition-that they made her lie down in a gravel pit on Blackheath, in the manner fhe has defcribed, and told her no harm should happen if the would lie ftill; made her take an oath fhe would not discover them, and many other particulars, moftly falfe.-Being interrogated, how she could frame the falfehood, the firit related, as to her fituation? We can get no other anfwer than the dares not difcover the truth; and is under a dreadful oath not to do it.

Notwithstanding we have told her, her refufal to discover her accomplices, and pretended oath to do fo, muft much aggravate her offence; and that from the impudent fcene fhe has acted, and taking a previous oath not to difclose the parties or truth, fhe has proved herself the most abandoned of her fex; and that she impeached our faculties, in fuppofing we could credit fuch account, or that fo proftituted a character was under any compunction of oath; yet no fatisfactory answer can be obtained. She has cunning enough to avoid all queftions, tending to difcover the purpose for which this expofure was intended, and would have us yet believe it was compulfive.

There is no doubt, my Lord, in the moft credulous breaft here, but that fhe was the chief actress in this imposture; with a view either to fue the hundred on the ftatute, for her fuppofed lofs of 500 guineas, or excite a contribution from the generosity of the neighbourhood, or both. As to the firit, it could not have ftood the ordeal of a court of juftice; and the fecond, we took care early to prevent, by informing the visitors there was fufficient money in hand for her prefent fupport; if not, thofe gentlemen who were making inquiry into her ftory, would anfwer every expence, and that it would be better to with-hold their donations till her veracity was established. However ftrange, fhe joined in this request.

Your Lordship will perceive we have made fome progrefs, and give me leave to affure you, are not difpofed to relax our inquiries, or part with her, till we get the truth; the publication of which, we intend

as the only recompence in our power to the public, whofe generofity and feelings have been called forth on this occafion, to anfwer the purpose of a defigning and abandoned woman. She has had a very contracted education, but poffeffes more cunning than any perfon can believe, who has not frequently converfed with her. Her penetration is fo great, that amidst this tragi-comic fcene, and her numerous vifitants, we have had no fmall pleasure to see her exert it in anfwering questions; the foon difcovers which way the perfons lead, fo favours their credulity, and nurses the conference, that nineteen out of twenty went away satisfied with her fufferings, and real profelytes to the ftory.

We now wait to hear from her family, and when any thing further occurs worthy your Lordship's notice, we will trouble you with another letter.

Your Lordship may make ufe of this in any manner you please for the fatisfaction of the public. I have the honour to acknowledge myself, my Lord,

Your Lordfhip's much obliged,

and most humble fervant. Deptford, Kent, 29th June, 1785. Effay on the Influence of physical and moral Caufes on the buman Mind.

IAN author, who, in my opinion, is

more indebted for his reputation to his ingenuity than his judgment, has attempted to deduce the laws, cuftoms, and government of nations from the phyfical inAuence of climate, situation, and foil. The theory was too well adapted to the genius of his country not to be implicitly followed; and, in its fupport, the advocates for materialism among ourselves have lately favoured us with fome ponderous volumes.

The arguments for this hypothefis are chiefly drawn from the apparent effects of climate, atmosphere, and food, upon the individual. Cold, fav thefe authors, contracts the fibres, renders them rigid, and diminishes their fenfibility; heat, on the contrary, relaxes and debilitates, difcolours the fkin, renders the body tender and obnoxious to difeafe. On fudden tranfitions from heat to cold, or from cold to heat, we experience fomething like thefe effects extended to the mind. A moist or dry atmof phere has a fenfible effect upon the fpirits; and the alterations produced by thefe in our bodily health, may contribute fill to their influence upon the intellectual faculties. The effects of diet, they add, are confiderable. Not only gluttony and intemperance blunt the understanding, and deftroy the finer feelings, but particular kinds of food, taken even in moderation, are faid to produce this effect more than others. It has been afferted, that those who fubfiit on fleli are commonly

ferocious and cruel; and that thofe, on the contrary, whofe chief fupport is vegetables, are of milder and lefs warlike difpofitions. Notwithstanding thefe fpecious arguments, there are fome reafons which incline me to queftion the influence of phyfical caufes upon the human mind; and to believe it, on, the whole, a very uncertain criterion of national characters.

Firft. It is very little underftood, how far the mind is connected with the body, and dependant on it. It is certain that pain diftracts the attention, and fickness enfeebles the understanding; but we are hardly juftified in affirming, that imbecility of mind is the natural concomitant of a relaxed or weak habit of body. Some of the strongest minds have exifted in very frail bodies; nay, under the immediate oppreffion of ficknéfs, pain, and infirmity; on the other hand, it is not all uncommon to meet with idiots of a found and healthy conftitution. Perhaps what we experience on tranfitions from cold to heat, may be the effect only of a temporary fever: and as foon as recovered from the firft fhock, which the mind, from its union with the fenfes, receives by fuch diforder in the external frame, it will exert its ufual faculties, whatever may continue to be the ftate of the atmosphere. On the fame principles, the effects of excels in eating and drinking may

be accounted for, being attended with a fpecies of disease. But, that particular kinds of food have any power or influence over the mind, further than the moral confequences attending an increase of bodily health, is utterly deftitute of proof; and is contradicted by fo many facts, that there is reafon to believe the hypothefis founded only on a fantastical analogy.

Secondly. If it were granted, that the mind is in many refpects dependant on the body; yet the latter is endued with an accommodating power, and has a difpofition to retain its natural temperament in all climates. I apprehend there are no proofs, that, while the body continues in health, the mind can be physically injured; now, health and vigour are enjoyed in almost all climates, though it requires fome time to feafon and habituate the body to a different climate.

Thirdly. The difference of climate could only affect savage nations; for its effects among polished nations may be, and generally are, counteracted. There are means of preferving the body temperate in hot countries; and a cooling regimen, more fruit and vegetables, are made use of there, and lefs of intoxicating or ftrong liquors, than in those regions that approach nearer to the poles. I fpeak of countries that have been long inhabited by the fame race of people; our colonies abroad are not fair examples, they being too lately settled to defert

the

the manners of the parent country. On the other hand, in cold climates, the use of fire, and warm clothing, are fubftitutes for a dry atmosphere and a genial fun. Thus an inhabitant of Britain may live as luxurioufly in his own country, as at Conftantinople or Bengal.

Fourthly. The phyfical principles that have been enumerated, can only be confider ed as predisposing caufes at most. They cannot give ideas; now ideas are, as it were, the parents of each other. All our reafoning confifts in comparing, all our fancy, in combining, ideas. The moft potent of the paffions, avarice, and ambition, depend on thefe combinations of ideas, and these are directed by education and fashion. Phyfical causes, on this account, can have little effect on the manners and cuftoms; they can only reduce the mind to a state more proper for receiving certain ideas than others: but the first inventions, and firft principles of fcience introduced into a nation, however introduced will in reality influence the national genius.

Mr. Hume has very accurately enumerated several striking inftances, in contradic tion to the theory of Montefquieu and his difciples. Thus he obferves, that an uniformity of manners prevails throughout the whole empire of China, though the climate varies confiderably; while the laws and manners of small states bordering on each other materially differ. The flavery of the female fex is the fame in Ruffia, as in the warmer climates of Afia; only differing, as moulded by the different religions of Mahometanifm and Christianity. Those customs, which are adopted through extensive tracts of territory, feem evidently to have been borrowed by the people of those territories from one another. An argument not lefs decifive is, that remarkable differences in manners fubfift among people who live together, but whofe peculiar laws and cuftoms prohibit intimate connections: this is exemplified in the difference between the Turks and the native Greeks, who live under their government. The Jews are uniformly the fame, wherever they are scattered. A child, if taken away from his parents, will have nothing of the peculiar temper of his countrymen. A Janizary is the fame, whether his native country be Greece or Arabia: and hence arife profeffional characters.

Were national genius and manners dependant on phyfical principles, as long as the food, climate, &c. continued the fame, we fhould expect the inhabitants would retain the fame difpofitions; yet we observe, that very fudden revolutions in government will produce a total change in manners; and thofe people who retain their ancient civil conftitution are feldom altered by tranfplan

tation. The oldeft colonies in America retain their primitive manners. The Canadian and the Boftonian were, at the peace of 1763, as different as at the first peopling of thofe countries. What relation, what likenefs have the modern Greeks to their free and polished ancestors? Do the modern Italians in the least resemble the brave and highspirited Romans? Where are the ferocious Lombards? Where are the Gauls, the Franks, the conquerors of Rome ?-Not among the petit maitres of Paris. How different have been the manners of Britain before and after the conqueft by the Romans, before and after the Saxon invasion, and the Norman establishment? Look into the hiftory of moft nations, and you will find fimilar revolutions.

II. We must look then for a folution of the phenomena of national character upon other principles. And firft, I will not deny all manner of influence to foil and climate; but that influence, I affert, is only exerted through the medium of a moral caufe. A fruitful country will certainly promote indolence and luxury, but it is, because little labour or exertion is required to procure a fubfiftence; and thefe, I grant, will often terminate in arbitrary government. In like manner a fterile, inhofpitable country will inure its inhabitants to induftry and hardships, and will also excite a spirit of emigration and commerce. Yet, in refpect to cultivation of the mind, there are advantages peculiar to each fituation. If the leifure, which a fertile country and a mild climate afford, be favourable to curiofity and contemplation, the fterility of colder regions calls forth the exertions of ingenuity, and rouses to action all the mental powers.

Secondly, Situation will have effect in the early stages of fociety. A vicinity to the fea inclines the inhabitants to be commercial, hofpitable, and of course in some degree refined. In inland fituations, the people are commonly of jealous and avaricious difpofitions; the natural effect of the labour and difficulty with which they acquire their fubfiftence in the task of agriculture. The Germans, from their mediate fituation, are frequently at war; they will therefore, in all probability, ever remain a nation of hardy foldiers: and the want of commerce (which employs fuperfluous hands, or those not wanted in agriculture, and alfo introduces the luxury of other countries) will contribute to this effect. A hilly, romantic country, and long fummer, will difpofe to the paftoral life: long nights, and confinements, invite to study and meditation.

Local circumftances will also affect the arts. The Oriental architecture (improperly called the Gothic) is uniformly the fame, and imitates the ramifications of trees,

becaufe