known laws of this kingdom, to confine, foreftall, and monopolize the beams of the fun. And whereas the faid catoptrical victuallers have undertaken by burning glasses made of ice to roast an ox upon the Thames next winter; we conceive all fuch practices to be an encroachment upon the rights and privileges of the company of watermen.

THAT the diverfity of expofition of the feveral kitchens in this great city, whereby fome receive the rays of the fun fooner, and others later, will occafion great irregularity as to the time of dining of the feveral inhabitants, and confequently great uncertainty and confufion in the difpatch of bufinefs: and to thofe, who, by reason of their northern expofition, will be ftill forced to be at the expences of culinary fires, it will reduce the price of their manufacture to fuch inequality, as is inconfiftent with common juftice: and the fame inconve niency will affect landlords in the value of their rents.

THAT the ufe of the faid glaffes will oblige cooks, and cook-maids to study optics and aftronomy, in order to know the due diftances of the faid focus's, or fires, and to adjuft the pofition of their glaffes to the feveral alti tudes of the fun, varying according to the hours of the day, and the feafons of the year; which ftudies, at thefe years, will be highly troublefome to the faid cooks. and cook-maids, not to fay any thing of the utter incapacity of fome of them to go thro' with fuch difficult arts; or (which is ftill a greater inconvenience) it will throw the whole art of cookery into the hands of astronomers and glafs-grinders, perfons utterly unskilled in other parts of that profeffion, to the great detriment of the health of his Majefty's good subjects.

THAT it is known by experience, that meat roafted with fun-beams is extremely unwholefome; witnefs seve ral that have died fuddenly after eating the provifions of the faid catoptrical victuallers; forafmuch as the fun-beams taken inwardly render the humours too hot and aduft, occafion great fweatings, and dry up the retual moifture.

THE fun-beams taken inwardly fhed a malignant influence upon the brain by their natural tendency towards the moon; and produce madness and distraction at the time of the full moon. That the conftant use of so

great

great quantities of this inward light will occafion the growth of quakerifm to the danger of the church, and poetry to the danger of the state.

of

THAT the influences of the conftellations, thro' which the fun paffes, will with his beams, be conveyed into the blood; and when the fun is among the horned figns, may produce fuch a spirit of unchastity, as is dangerous to the honour of your worships families.

THAT mankind living much upon the feeds and other parts of plants, thefe being impregnated with the funbeams, may vegetate and grow in the bowels, a thing of more dangerous confequence to human bodies than breeding of worms; and this will fall heaviest upon the poor, who live upon roots; and the weak and fickly, who live upon barley and rice-gruel, &c. for which we are ready to produce to your honours the opinions of eminent phyficians, that the tafte and property of the victuals is much altered to the worse by the said solar cookery, fricaffes being deprived of the haut gout they acquired by being dreffed over charcoal.

Laftly, Should it happen by an eclipfe of an extraordinary length, that this city fhould be deprived of the fun-beams for feveral months; how will his Majefty's fubjects fubfift in the interim, when common cookery, with the arts depending upon it, is totally loft?

In confideration of these, and many other inconveniencies, your petitioners humbly pray, that your honours would either totally prohibit the confining and manufacturing the fun-beams for any of the ufeful purposes of life, or, in the insuing parliament, procure a tax to be laid upon them, which may anfwer both the duty and price of coals, and which we humbly conceive cannot be less than thirty fhillings per yard fquare, referving the fole right and privilege of the catoptrical cookery to the royal fociety, and to the commanders and crew of the bombvefiels, under the direction of Mr Whifton for finding out the longitude, who by reafon of the remotenefs of their ftations, may be reduced to ftreights for want of firing.

AND

AND we likewife beg, that your honours, as to the forementioned points, would hear the Reverend Mr Flamstead, who is the legal officer appointed by the government to look after the heavenly luminaries, whom we have conftituted our trusty and learned folicitor.

It

It cannot rain but it pours,

OR,

London ftrowed with Rarities.

Being an account of the arrival of a white bear, at the house of Mr Ratcliff in Bishopsgate-street: as also of Fauftina, the celebrated Italian finging woman; and of the copper-farthing Dean from Ireland. And laftly, Of the wonderful wild man that was nurfed in the woods of Germany by a wild beaft, hunted and taken in toyls; how he behaveth himself like a dumb creature, and is a Chriftian like one of us, being called Peter and how he was brought to court all in green, to the great aftonishment of the quality and gentry, 1726.

;

WE fhall begin with a defcription of Peter the favage, deferring our other curiofities to fome following

papers.

ROMULUS and Remus, the two famous wild men of antiquity, and Orfin that of the moderns, have been justly the admiration of all mankind: nor can we prefage lefs of this wild youth, as may be gathered from that famous and well known prophecy of Lilly's, which being now accomplished, is moft eafily interpreted:

When Rome Shall wend to Benevento,
And Efpagne break the Affiento;
When eagle Split shall fly to China,
And Chriftian folks adore Fauftina:
Then fhall an oak be brought to bed
Of creature neither taught nor fed;
Great feats fall be atchieve-
VOL. VIII.

Cc

THE

THE Pope is now going to Benevento: the Spaniards have broke their treaty; the Emperor trades to China; and Lilly, were he alive, must be convinced, that it was not the Empress Fauftina, that was meant in the prophecy.

Ir is evident, by several tokens about this wild gentleman, that he had a father and mother like one of us; but there being no register of his christening, his age is only to be gueffed at by his ftature and countenance, and appeareth to be about twelve or thirteen. His being fo young was the occafion of the great disappointment of the ladies, who came to the drawing-room in full expectation of some attempt upon their chastity: so far is true, that he endeavoured to kifs the young lady Walpole, who, for that reafon, is become the envy of the circle; this being a declaration of nature in favour of her fuperior beauty.

ARISTOTLE faith, that man is the most mimic of all animals; which opinion of that great philofopher is ftrongly confirmed by the behaviour of this wild gentleman, who is endowed with that quality to an extreme degree. He received his firft impreffions at court:whis manners are first to lick people's hands, and then turn his breech upon them; to thruft his hand into every body's pocket; to climb over people's heads; and even to make use of the royal hand to take what he has a mind

to.

At his first appearance he seised on the Lord Chamberlain's staff, and put on his hat before the King; from whence fome have conjectured, that he is either defcended from a grandee of Spain, or the Earls of Kingfale in Ireland. However, there are manifeft tokens of his innate ambition; he is extremely tenacious of his own property, and ready to invade that of other people. By this mimic quality he difcovered, what wild beaft had nurfed him obferving children to ask bleffing of their mothers, one day he fell down upon his knees to a fow, and muttered fome founds in that humble posture.

It has been commonly thought, that he is Ulrick's natural brother, because of some resemblance of manners, and the officious care of Ulrick about him; but the fuperiority of parts and genius in Peter demonftrates this to be impoffible.

THO'