200 Foreign and Dometic Intelligence. is a young German Princefs. He has demanded of the Pope his title of King of England, and the guards to attend him as they did his father, and has alfo fignified to the Roman Nobility that he expects his Lady to be paid the honours as Queen of England. The Pope has refufed the first request, of courfe the Nobility will do the fecond. There are four ladies that attend her, who appear abroad in great fplendor.” Thursday May 28. Yesterday Finden and Ifrael, two Jews, were examined before the Bench of Juftices in Whitechapel, for defrauding a poor weaver of goods to the amount of 61, and upwards It appeared that one of them dreffed and appeared in the character of a merchant, the other acted as a broker, who reprefented the pretended merchant as a perfon of great property, having many fhips at fea, a grand country-houfe at Richmond, kept many clerks, and a banker; that he always dealt for ready money, and would pay for the goods immediately; whereupon Mr. Merchant appeared, and infpected the goods with much nicety, which being approved of, they were inftantly conveyed away; the pretended merchant was fent for in great haste; foon after Mr. Broker followed, after leaving the poor man a fham note. Several of this gang of merchants appeared, and offered to bail them in any fum; but they were discovered to be of the fame fraternity. Counterfeit Portugal pieces are now circulating about town of the date of the year 1765---They are ftrongly gilt, have a coarfe milling, and the T. in Port is inverted. It seems very clear and indifputible, that the price of butchers meat would be greatly lowered if fish could by any means or measures be made plentiful and cheap at the markets of this metropolis; and for which falutary purpofe fome have propofed, that the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen fhould open the port of Billingfgate for all foreign, as well as English veffels, to bring their fish there. Others recommend that premiums fhould be given by the City of London, to fuch perfons as fhould bring fuch particular quantities of herrings, mackarel, &c. te Billingsgate marker. And fome would have the laudable fociety of gentlemen for endeavouring to reduce the high price of provifione, at the Chapter coffee houfe extend their plan, and fit out veffels for catching and bringing fish to this metropolis. Now, it appears to us, that each of thefe proposals would, if tried, tend to make fish plentiful and cheap, and confequently would reduce the high price of butchers meat; and, therefore, we should apprehend, that if all of them were at once put in execution, it would effectually anfwer the end defired. Yefterday the following prifoners under fentence of death in Newgate, were carried from thence and executed at: Ty burn, viz. Samuel Roberts and Thomas Bacchus, for high treason, in coining guineas, half-guineas, and quarter-guineas, were drawn upon a fledge; Ki chard Morgan, late porter to Mr. Hodg fon, linen-draper in Wett-Smithfield, for robbing his matter of linen-drapery goods and Peter McCloud, for breaking into the houfe of Jofeph Hankey, Efq; at Poplar; the two laft in a cart. Sheriffs attended in their carriages, and the Under-Sheriff on horfeback. M Cloud was not above 15 years. of age. On the trial of Bacchus and Roberts for coining, the following letter was read, which was found in Bacchus's pocket when taken into cuftody, directed to be left for the faid Bacchus at a public house near Hatton Garden. The "Please to fend une four pounds worth of quarters four for one, let them be bent or they will not do and please to send me four pounds worth halfs three for one let them be of the fort that you and I made agreement of when I was at your houfe and let them be according to our agree ment or elfe I will never deal with you no more I am the man that You bought the Silk for aGown and fend them to Bawtree Yorkshire by firft couch to the anchor for J. B. fend them foon enough to be there at Old Martlemas day Wich is in abt weeks time fend them to pay on delivery if the Couch will take thein and if it will not I will fend you a Bill don't fail fens ding them." The Oxford Magazine; For J For the OXFORD MAGAZINE. Effay on TASTE. ASTE is that peculiar relifh we is more or lefs perfect, according to the degree of judgment we employ in diftinguishing its beauties. It ought always to be founded on truth; but we often find it to be only the child of opinion, or the refult of accident. True Tafte is not to be acquired without infinite toil and ftudy; and we are generally too indodent to accept of an advantage upon fuch terms: this is the real occafion why a Salfe one is fo apt to prevail, and, on a divifion of mankind, would number three to one in its own favour. All men are fond of being efteemed witty, wise, or learned; but are willing to procure their reputation at as eafy a rate as poffible. They have fenfe enough to obferve how cheaply this is obtained by humour and fashion, to the prejudice of true understanding, and genuine politenefs; and how zealous we are in promoting the follies we intend to practise. Like men of great ambition, and narrow fortunes, we counterfeit the gaiety we can never purchase; and frugally flatter ourselves, that our tinfel will be miftaken for the real gold it was intended to imitate. Nothing is fo common as the affectation of Taffe, nor any thing fo feldom to be met with. A variety of incidents, indeed, concur to make this misfortune almoft univerfal: Bad principles of education, when young; an ill choice of acquaintance at entering into the world; the ignorance of thofe who undertake to inform us, and continual VOL. VIII. prejudices of our own. But the fre fhould never difcourage us from endeavouring to furmount it; and if grown quite defparate, the greater vigour becomes neceflary for oppofing it. So much depends upon a true Taite, with regard to elegance, and even morality, that I fhall recommend to the utmost of my power, what I judge to be of fo much advantage. The defign of schools, the use of univerfities, the benefit of converfation, fhould all centre in this grand point; and no one can with propriety be filed a gentleman, who has not availed himself of every opportunity to enrich his own capacity, and fettle the elements of Tafte, which he might afterwards improve at leisure. There are numbers who might juftly claim reputation for a fingle excellence, that in all others are deficient, for want of this general accomplishment. A good Tafte is the height of every science, and the polish of every virtue: 'Tis the friend of fociety, and the guide to knowledge: 'Tis the improvement of pleasure, and the test of merit: By this we enlarge the circle of enjoyment, and refine upon happiness: It enables us to diftinguifh beauty, wherever we find it, and detect error under all its difguifes: It obliges us to behave with decency and elegance, and quickens our attention to the good qualities of others: In a word, 'tis the ASSEMBLAGE of all propriety; the centre of all that's amiable. Truth and beauty include in them С، every 202 Account of every thing that is excellent; and, together with their oppofites, are the only objects for the exercife of our cenfure or admiration: To diftinguifh them rightly, is the proof of a good tafte, and what naturally leads to the perfecTruth fhould be tion of judgment. confidered as the defign in painting; and beauty, the colouring and decoration. Falfhood and deformity are the contrafts of the group; and to be able to detect the one, we fhould be capable of admiring the other. The mind, which is always employed in contemplating the firit, or condemning the lait, will be partial in its knowledge, and unjuft in its decifions. Prejudice is foreign to a good Tafte. To acquire that excellence perfectly, therefore, we must be impartial in our enquiry, and cool in our judgment; quick to apprehend, and ready to determine what is error, and what is beauty; carefully examining when we condemn, if the defect be not in ourfelves; and when we praife, whether we truly underftand the object of our approbation. Many errors are occafioned by not obferving this rule: Beauties have been cenfured for want of understanding, and errors extolled, becaufe they were difguifed under the mask of truth. A true Tafe forms a found judgment of men and their writings, which it confiders by themfelves; and either contemns or refpects things past, according to their worth or defert; never oppofing what is new through a fpirit of averfion, nor praifing any thing through a fondness for novelty. The influence of a good Tafte is to be extended much farther than is gene Herefies. rally-imagined. Tis not confined only to writings of every kind, but intimately regards painting and fculpture; comprehends the whole circle of civility and good manners, and regulates life and conduct, as well as theory and fpeculation. In every one of thefe relations it is always to be obferved both in judging and acting. This would prevent a thoufand abfurdities, into which we fee people every day falling, and which politenefs is afhamed of, and reafon must condemn. It is hard to determine whether there be an eternal difference in the effence of fouls, or whether they exert themselves more or lefs vigorously, in proportion to the delicacy of the organs of the bodies they inform; or whether the force of education, habit, or fociety, gives a fuperior turn to the genius that poffeffes thefe advantages. "Tis certain there is a wide difference in men, and whatever is the caufe, fome are diftinguished by fo many perfections, as almost elevate them above the rank of their fellow-creatures, and fet them at an awful distance for the vulgar of mankind to wonder at. But how great foever is the capacity, infinite toil and labour are neceffary to form it into beauty and regularity; fo many difficulties are to be furmounted; fo many mortifications to be endured, and fuch a labyrinth of knowledge to be struggled with, that were it not for ambition to prompt, and vanity to flatter us, fcarce one in a thousand would have courage to undertake to arduous a task; either the very profpect would deter him from the attempt; or paffion, or indolence hinder him from accomplishing the end. For the OXFORD MAGAZINE. An ACCOUNT of HERESIES, concluded from p. 163, of our laft. Origenists, publifhed his errors about the year of Chrift, 247, which continued above 300 years after his death. They taught that there was a Revolution of fouls, from their condition after death, into the bodies again; that reprobates and devils should be saved af ter a thousand years; that the Son is co-effential with the Father, but not coeternal, which they alerted could not be, because the Father created both him and the Holy Ghoft; that fouls had à being long before the creation of the world; and that for finning in heaven, Luman they were thruft out from thence, and Account of Hereftes, human bodies became their prifons--They turned the fcriptures into allegoties, and brought the hiftorical truth of them into contempt and fufpicion. Thefe herefies were condemned in the Council of Alexandria,, two hundred years after his death; and afterwards in the firit general council at Conftantinople, under the emperor, Juftinian I. Arius, the founder of the Arians, was a prefbyter of Alexandria. He taught, that Chrift was a created being, had a human body, but not a human foul, for that the Divinity fupplied the place of it. The doxology of this fect was--Glory be to the Father, by the Son, and in the Holy Ghoft. He broached his opinions about 290 years after Chrift; and in procefs of time, they overrun a great part of the Chriftian world. This herefy was condemned by the council of Nice, held under the Emperor Conftantine; and when Arius had attained the pinacle of his pride and ambition, being feized with a dyfentry, he voided his bowels on a dunghill, and died miferably. Lucifer, Bishop of Coralitanum in Sardinia, was author of the Luciferians, who held, that the world. was made by the devil, that the foul of man is corporeal, and was propagated with the body. This herefy began about 333 years after Chrift, in the reign of Julian the apof tate. Tertullian, leader of the Tertullianrits, lived under the emperor Severus, about 170 years after Chrift. He taught, that God was a bodily fubftance, but without members; that men's fouls were corporeal, having members like the body, which encreafed and decreafed in the fame manner; that the original of fouls is by traduction; that the fouls of wicked men, after death, are turned into devils; and that the Virgin Mary was married to another husband after the birth of Chrift. They rejected fecond marriages, as a fin no lefs heinous than adultery. Neftorius, a German by birth, and clandeftinely made patriarch of Conftantinople, gave rife to the Neftorians, about 400 years after Chrift, in the reign of the emperor Theodofius the younger. He maintained, that in Chrift were two diftinct perfons, the Son of God, and the 203 fon of Mary; that at his baptifm, the Son of God defcended into the fon of Mary, and dwelt there as an inhabitant of a houfe. He made the humanity of Chrift equal with his divinity, and fo confounded the properties and operations of each Eutyches, Abbot of Conftantinople, published his herefy Anno Chrifti, 413. He afferted, that before the hypoftatical union, Chrift had two diftinct natures; but afterwards only his divinity, which had fwallowed up the humanity. He affirmed, that the Godhead fuffered and died, and that Chrift did not derive his human nature from the Virgin Mary; which herefy was condemned, first in a provincial fynod at Conftantinople, and afterwards in the general council of Chalcedon, under Marcian the emperor. Novatius, the ringleader of the Novatian heretics, was born in Africa 220 years after Christ, in the reign of Decius the emperor. They denied the benefit of repentance to thofe who relapfed after baptifm; were great boafters of their fanctity; condemned fecond marriages as adulterous, and used rebaptifation like the Donatifts. Their herefy continued 150 years. Donatus, author of the Donatifts, was born in Numidia, and held, that no church was to be communicated with that was not entirely pure, and without blemish; and that fuch a fpotlefs church was only their own. They condemned magiftracy, and taught that the efficacy of the facraments depended upon the dig nity of the ministers. With the Arians, they degraded the Son, making him inferior to the Father; and the Holy Ghoft, inferior to the Son. This herefy was efpoufed by the Circumcellians; a fect that lived in cells and caves, and who very piously murdered all they could conquer, who were not of the fame principles. Pelagius, a native of Britain, and a Romish monk, was the founder of the Pelagians. He flourished under Theodofius the emperor, 380 years after Chrift. From Rome he came into England, where he gained many profelytes to his opinions. He afferted, that death was not the wages of fin; that Adam's fall affected none but himself; that man had free will to do good or evil; that С с г his his own fect was perfectly finlefs, nor could they be otherwife, even if they were fo minded. St. Auftin and Alypius wrote against them. They were condemned by five African councils, and by a fixth fynod at Carthage, Anno Chrifti, 419, and in the tenth year of the emperor Honorius. Prifcillianus, about the year of Chrift, 341, began to publifh his herefy in Spain, from whence, like an infectious difeafe, it over-run the western parts of the world. With the Sabellians they confounded the perfons of the Trinity: With the Origenifts they taught the pre-exiftence of fouls: With the Aftrologers, that all human events were go verned by the ftars: With the Stoics, that we fin neceffarily, and by compulfion and with the Manichees, that the world had the devil for its author. They abstained from flesh, and rejected the authority of the patriarchs and prophets. He was condemned for thefe herefies at Rome, by Pops Damafcus, but appealed to Maximus the emperor, who confirmed the fentence; whereupon he was put to death, together with four others, his brethren in iniquity. His corps was afterwards, with great ceremony, carried into Spain by his difciples, who confidered him as a martyr, and honoured him as a faint; and in matters of religion, it was their custom to fwear by his name. Fauftus Socinus was born at Sienna in Italy. His herefy has diffufed itself, like a canker, throughout the greatest part of the Chriftian world, and has been but too greedily received in England. He taught, that Chrift by his death, did not make fatisfaction for fin, but only obtained for us a power to make fatisfaction for ourselves, by faith and obedience: That he died for himfelf, not indeed for his fins, for he was without fin, but for the mortality and infirmities of our nature, which he affumed: That eternal death is nothing more than an everlasting annihilation ; and everlasting fire a total extinction of being to the wicked, who shall be found alive at the laft day: That the incarnation of Chrift is against reafon, and cannot be proved from fcripture: That Chrift and the Holy Ghoft are inferior to the Father: That there is not a Trinity of perfons in the Godhead, and that the Old Teftament is of no ufc to a Chriflian. The Muggletonians have their rife from Lodowick Muggleton, who, with one John Reeve, perfuaded his difciples, that they two were the last witnelles of Chrift, fent by his fpirit, to feal the foreheads of the elect and reprobate. They taught, that the fouls of men were as mortal as their bodies, and of the fame nature: That there are three witnesses on earth; water, blood, and the spirit; that by water is meant, the commiffion given to Mofes and the prophets under the law; by blood, the commiffion given to the apoftles and minitters under the gofpel; and by the fpirit, the commiflion of the two witneffes that were to come in the laft age, meaning themfelves : They moreover afferted, that they had the power of blefling and curfing, without the poflibility of the fentence being reverfed. The Ranters had for their founder one George Copping of Effex: They made an open profeflion of lewdnefs and irreligion; a fect, whofe god was their lufts, whofe glory was their fhame, and who held Chriftianity in the utmost contempt. They maintained, that God, Heaven, and Angels; Devils and Hell, were mere fictions; and that Mofes, John the Baptift, and Chrift were notorious impoftors. In their letters they were ftrangely prophane, blafphemous, and atheiftical: The following fentences are fpecimens of their horrid language: 66 My own heart's blood, from which I daily receive life and being, and to which be afcribed all honour, &c.---Thou art my garment of needle-work, my garment of Salvation."----Their imprecations ran in fuch strains as are too impious to be mentioned. I fhall conclude this fhort sketch of heretical notions with obferving, that there is no fuch mafk for the greatest impieties as the veil of Religion. The licentioufnefs of the prefent age, with refpect to its opinions, has long been the fubject of the most pathetic complaints. The methods which have been used to ftop the growth of this evil, have hitherto proved as ineffectual as Quack Remedies in difeafes of the body. I remem ber fomewhere to have met with a Nof trum, |