whom he always lodged; fo that upon B Mr. Jones being now in the great- D F Whilft Jones was in this agony, G her being the mother, and that his fifter often faid, the would communicate the fecret to him before fhe died. Upon this, Dowling happened to come in; and Mr. Allworthy, after making him confefs, that he was employed by Mr. Blifil againft Jones, faid, he believed, that he would not have accepted of any fuch employment, had he known that Jones was his nephew. I am fure, anfwer'd Dowling, it did not become me to take any notice of what I thought you defired to conceal.-How, cries Allworthy, and did you know then? Upon this he declared, that Mrs. Blifil's laft words were, to tell him, that Jones was her fon and his nephew, when the delivered him her letter which he brought from Salif bury. What letter, cries Allworthy? The letter to you, Sir, answered Dowling, which I delivered with the meffage to Mr. Blifil, when you was ill in bed; to which he added, that Blifil afterwards told him, he had delivered both letter and mef fage to his worship, but that out of regard to his fifter his worship intended to conceal it from the world. This brought to light the whole truth relating to Jones, and the whole villany of Blifil; on which the latter was discarded the lodging, and would have been abfolutely abandoned by Allworthy, had it not been for the interceffion of Jones, who was now declared fole heir to his uncle's eftate; and as Fitzpatrick was out of all danger, he was bailed out of prifon, and foon after married to Mifs Sophia Western. Thus ends this pretty novel, with a moft just diftribution of rewards and punishments, according to the merits of all the perfons that had any confiderable fhare in it; but this short abftra&t can only ferve as an incitement to thofe, that have not yet had the pleasure of reading it; for we had not room for many of the furprizing incidents, or for giving any of them in their beauti ful drefs. S I CK. SICKNESS. An ODE. T midnight when the fever rag'd, A By phyfick's art ftill unaffwag'd, And tortur'd me with pain; When most it fcorch'd my aching head, Like fulph'rous fire or liquid lead, And hifs'd thro' every vein: With filent steps approaching nigh, Pale death flood trembling in my eye, And fhook th' uplifted dart; My mind did various thoughts debate, Of this, and of an after state, Which terrify'd my heart. I thought 'twas hard in youthful age, Ingenious, learn'd, and gay : To wafte, diffolve, and rot; To lie wrapp'd cold within a fhroud, Mingled amongst the vileft croud, Unnoted and forgot. Oh horror! by this train of thought, My mind was to distraction brought, Impoffible to tell; The fever rag'd ftill more without, Whilft dark defpair, or dismal doubt, Made all within me hell. At length with grave yet chearful air, Repentance came, ferenely fair As fummer's evening fun; At fight of whom, ecftatick joy Did all that horrid scene destroy, And every fear was gone. If join'd in concert with one voice, I heard their joy expreft; To ber Grace the Dutchess of QUEENSBURÝ, a poetical Addrefs: By Terence Connor, in the Cells of Newgate. (See p. 95 i and Gahagan's Poem, p. 93.) Laturam mifero te mihi rebar opem. THO Ovid. HOU great protectress of th' Aonian train, Support in each cotemporary reign: Brightest devotrefs at the Delian shrine, Oft fung and courted by the facred Nine: If e'er thy kindred, of immortal fame, The Mufes lov'd, nor fcorn'd a poet's name : If e'er thyfelf vouchsaf d to touch the lyre, And join with equal voice the tuneful choir : If on the canvas, to defcribe the face With animated bloom, and living grace, To draw the vernal flow'r and tinging shape, The peach, the melon, and the ripen'd grape, To make each story, holy or proplane, Move in the landskip, and to vifion plain; If thefe, with courtly wit and eloquence, Be gifts, Apollo did to thee difpenfe, Which fure they are, in charity regard The meaneft of his fons, a captive bard; Far, far, alas! from home, and native clime, [rhime, The firft, perhaps, that did in Newgate The firft,perhaps, beneath his dreadful doom, That ever mounted the poetick loom. O! born thyself of high Pierian blood, Boaft of their times, nor yet more learn'd than good, Difplay thy bounty, where a life's at stake, And fave the wretched for the poet's fake; The poet pent in narrow darkling cell, With vagrants and banditties forc'd to dwell, In pond'rous gives of iron rudely bound, A ftone his pillow, and his bed the ground: One penny loaf the banquet of a day, And chilling water to dilute his clay; Broke ev'ry morning of his painful reft, The fcorn of turnkeys, and the keeper's jeft; Sternly rebuk'd, if he the least complains, And menac'd with a double load of chains, Thus, day and night, difconfolate, I spend, Unpitied, and debarr'd of every friend; Deferted by the Mufes, as by men, Save Elegeia's vifits now and then, Daughter of grief! an ever-plaintive Mufe, Taught only fongs of forrow to infufe: Dire comfort! thankful yet am I, that the Inspires thefe lines, O Queensbury ! to thee. Thou then, from infant years brought up in courts, [(ports; Directrefs of their houfheld, and their The brilliant grace of both the Georges age, In wit facetious. and in counsel fage, Allow, as heretofore, the fame accefs, Pity this bard, and banifh his distress; Maintain the glory of thy former days, And intercede to fave a fon of Gay's; Nor be it ever faid, in British land, That a poor bard was mercilessly hang'd., JOURNAL JOURNAL of the PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES in the POLITICAL CLUB, We had lately a Debate in our Club Mr. Prefident, W HEN I rife up to speak in favour of the question now under confideration, B I confider myself as an advocate for the poor and the unfortunate part of mankind; and as every man, who has any tenderness in his heart, must be touched with compaffion, when he fpeaks in fuch a caufe, I hope, you will excufe me, fhould I be C hurried into fome expreffions, that are more proper for moving the paffions than convincing the reafon of thofe that hear me. E Sir, when I confider the many misfortunes, which poor labouring people are liable to, and the distress D they are often drove to by any little disappointment; when I confider the haughtiness, the felfifhnefs, and the avarice of many of the rich, efpecially those who are bred up in a mercantile way, I cannot help being furprifed, that this bufinels of pawnbroking has not long fince been put under proper regulations, and authorifed by law. I believe, it will be allowed, that the taking of a moderate intereft for money lent, in proportion to the lender's trouble and risk, is neither a crime nor a fin; F and I am fure that a man's giving a pledge for fecuring the repayment of what money he borrows, was never reckoned criminal or finful by the laws of any country, or the principles of any religion. For this reafon, many great and good men G have fupported the maxim, that the rate of interelt ought not to be af February, 1749. continued from Page 17. certained, or what is vulgarly called ufury prohibited, by the laws of any country. They admit, that a man who lets out his money, has not the fame pretence for intereft, that a man who lets out his houfe, his horse, or any other perishable commodity, has for rent or hire; but as he who lends his money, must be at some trouble, and generally runs fome risk, he has a right to infift upon fome premium, or price, for that trouble and rifk; which premium, or price, if it be left to its natural course, muft, like the price of all other commodities, rife and fall according to the demand, and according to the circumftances of the buyer and feller, or borrower and lender; both which are liable to fuch a multiplicity of variations, that it is impoffible to regulate the price by a general law, without putting in most cafes a hardfhip upon the borrower or lender. Now, Sir, tho' the wisdom as well as justice of this maxim may be enforced by many powerful arguments, yet it has been the practice of moft nations to afcertain the rate of intereft by a law, and to lay high penalties upon those who take more. Whether this be prudent or no, I fhall not now inquire; but this I will averr, that when this, which is cal led the legal intereft, is very much below the natural, it always inhances the diftrefs of the neceffitous borrower; for in all countries there are two forts of borrowers, the voluntary and the neceffitous. former are those who borrow money upon fome fcheme of trade, or improvement; and, if fuch a borrower finds he must pay fuch an interest for the money he borrows, as will eat up the profits he expects by his pro. ject, he lays his project afide, and refolves to borrow no money, when he finds he can thereby get nothing but his labour for his pains. On the other hand, the neceffitous borrower H The is is he who, by fome misfortune or If in your laws againft ufury, you do not make thefe diftinctions, Sir, one of these two confequences must enfue: Either your legal rate of intereft, with refpe&t to large fums and good fecurities, must be a great deal above the natural, and confequently can have no manner of effect; or upon fmall fums and bad or troublefome fecurities, it must be a great deal below the natural, and in that cafe you expose the poor and neceffitous to the exactions and oppreffions of cunning extortioners and ufurers, by rendering it impoffible for any humane and good-natured man to employ his money in that way. Having faid, Sir, that a law, which fixes the legal intereft of money at a rate much above the natural, can have no manner of effect, I think it neceffary to explain myfelf a little farther upon this head; and in order thereto I must observe, that in all wife states it is a maxim, to take every method that can be thought of, for compelling the rich to employ their money in trade or commerce. This is the true reason why in most countries ufury, or the taking of an intereft or hire for the loan of money, has been abfolutely forbid, or reftrained within certain bounds; and in determining those bounds, fome regard muft always be had to the natural intereft of money in that country, and at that time. For example, if the natural as well as legal intereft of money were at 10l. per cent. per ann. a moneyed man would chufe to lend his money at that interest, rather than give himself the trouble of employing it in any trade or bufinefs, by which he could expect no greater yearly profit: In these circumftances, if a law fhould be made for redu The crying hardship of this cafe, Sir, is fo evident that, I think, it deferves our most serious attention. Ufurers, extortioners, and fuch like monsters, will grind the face of the C poor and neceffitous, let us do all we can to prevent it; but, for Godfake! do not let us, by prohibiting what we cannot prevent, fharpen the claws, and whet the tufks of thefe monsters. I fhall not fay, that there ought to be no law againft ufury, no D rate of intereft fettled by law; but this I will fay, that fuch a law ought not to be general, as to all fums and all forts of fecurities; because there is a great deal of more trouble in lending fmall fums, than in lending great; and much more danger in E Lending upon fome forts of fecurities, than upon others. Therefore, some distinction ought to be made between the rate of intereft allowed to be saken upon fmall fums, and that which is allowed to be taken upon large fums; and a higher rate of F intereft fhould be allowed to be taken upon perfonal fecurity, than upon mortgages, or pledges: Then with regard to pledges, a difference. ought to be made between pledges of jewels, of gold, or of filver, and thofe of any other forts of goods or G merchandize; for, as the inconveniences of lending upon the latter are much greater than thofe of lending upon the former, a higher intereft bught to be allowed. 1 cing the legal intereft of money to 81. per cent. with a penalty upon thofe that took more, the moneyed man muft then lend his money at the legal intereft, or run the risk of the penalty, by lending at the natural; and rather than lend at 81. per cent. or or run the risk of lending at ten, fome of the moneyed men at leaft will chufe to engage in any trade or bufinefs, by which they can make a fure yearly profit of 10l. per cent. and the rest who content themselves with lending at eight, will thereby A encourage poorer men to engage in projects of trade, and to borrow mo ney for that purpose, if by fuch projects they can get a certain yearly profit of tol. per cent. whereas no man would ever borrow money for carrying on any fuch project, if he B were obliged to pay iol. per cent. intereft for the money he borrows. D To illuftrate what I have faid," Sir, I fhall confider the prefent circumstances of this country with re gard to the intereft of money. Every one knows, that as to the legal intereft, it is at present fix'd at 51. per cent. per annum, by a general law, and without any diftinction as to the fum, or fecurities. A man that lends 55. must content himfelf with that intereft, or run the risk of the penalty; and a man that lends 5000l. may demand and take the fame intereft, if he can find any man of credit that will agree to pay it: A man that lends 100%. upon perfonal fecurity, must content himself with that intereft, or run the risk of the penalty; and a man that lends the fame fum upon double the value, of plate or jewels, as a pledge in hand, may demand and take the fame intereft. This, Sir, is the law at prefent; but nature is much more juft: Nature has confider'd, and always will confider, the trouble and the rifk of the lender; and if we add to that risk by penal laws against usury, nature will confider it, and add to the interest or value of that risk in proportion. In this cafe, it is abfolutely impossible to prevent the operation of nature; for without a proof the law can punish no crime, and it is impoffible to prove what paffes be Thus, Sir, you fee, that by fettling the legal intereft at a rate fomething below the natural, you produce a good effect, by increafing the trade and commerce of your C country; but no fuch effect can ever be produced by fettling the legal at a rate fomething above the natural. Such a fettlement can never, indeed, be of any ufe; because no man will agree to pay the legal intereft, as long as he can have what money he wants to borrow at a lefs. But as the natural interest of money is always different according to the different cafes I have mentioned: That is to fay, the natural intereft upon fmall fums is always higher than that upon large fums, and the natural in- E tereft of money upon perfonal fecurity is always higher than that upon pledge or mortgage; therefore to fix the legal interest at a rate a little above the natural intereft upon large fums fecured by mortgages, but a great deal below the natural inte- F reft upon fmall fums, can have no effest with regard to the increase of our trade and commerce, or with regard to the opulent moneyed men amongst us, and will always have a very bad effect with regard to the poor and neceflitous; becaufe no man will G be at the pains to lend them what little fums they ftand in need of at the legal intereft, and confequently they must pay extravagantly for the rifk thofe people run, that lend at any intereft above the legal. tween the borrower and lender. The former may complain, may exclaim against the extortion of the latter; but no jury will convict upon his fingle teftimony, if unfupported by any circumftance. e Therefore, Sir, the natural intereft of money will have its full fwing, in fpite of any laws we car make, and will rife in proportion the feverity of the laws we do me. There is no preventing this y following nature, by making fame diftinctions the makes, and3y keeping the legal intereft, i, every dif tinct cafe, fo little bele the natural, as to render it not w th any man's while to tranfgref the laws of his country; in this we all find, we H 2 have |