was greatly enraged at not feeing a fingle man of the company of guards. He, however, entered the houfe, followed by only one domeftic, and went directly to the room where the confpirators were affembled; and faluting them, faid, that having obferved light in the windows as he was paffing along, he concluded they uft be making merry and as it was not yet bed-time, he wished to drink a glafs with them. The confpirators expreffed their happiness on account of this unexpected vifit, drank to his health, and he frankly pledged them. In a few minutes one of them made a fignal to Sukawnin, and faid to him in a low voice," Brother, it is time." Sukawnin answered with another fignal, "Not yet." That inftant the Czar rushed forward like a lion, giving him a blow on the face with his poignard, which brought him to the ground; cried, If.it is not time for you, villain, it is time for me. The confpirators immediately fell at his feet, and confeffed their crime. The hour of eleven now ftruck, and the captain with his foldiers entered the room. Peter ordered the confpirators to bind one another; and then turning to the captain, in the firft tranfport of his rage he ftruck him, and reproached him with failing to come at the hour appointed. He on the other hand, produced his order; which Peter had no fooner glanced at, than he threw his arms about his neck, embraced him cordially, and, declaring that he was a good and faithful officer, committed the prifoners to his charge. Character of the late Lord Viscount Sackville. (From Mr. Cumberland's Pamphlet) LORD Sackville, was brought up at Westminster school, and took his degrees in the University of Dublin; but the early avocations of a military life, and perhaps a want of taste and difpofition for claffical ftudies, prevented his advances in literature, fo that in fact he was not fo well read as people of his rank and condition ought to be, and indeed generally are; but he knew his weaknefs in this particular, and, though a willing hearer when thefe topics were in converfation, never ventured beyond his knowledge. In the modern hiftory of nations, and particularly of his own, he was uncommonly correct; of the memoirs of illufrious perfons, interefting anecdotes and events, he had a fertile stock of memory, and with fingular precision of facts and dates; of many confiderable affairs with in his own time he had perfonal knowledge, many others (and feveral of a curjous and fecret nature) he had collected from the best authorities: he had a happy talent for relating, and having always been given to enquiry and refearch, poffeffing withal a very retentive memory, he may fairly be accounted one of the very bet companions of the age, though he had neither the advantages of literature, the brilliancy of wit, nor any fuperior pretensions to a fine tafte in the elegant arts: it is, therefore, much to be lament-. ed, that these pleasant and engaging qualities for fociety were fo fparingly difplayed; and that habit had fo contracted his circle, that he could not afterwards, without violence to his nature, extend and enlarge it. This was conftant matter of regret to me through the whole courfe of my intimacy with him; and I lamented that any man, poffeffing fuch a fund of informa tion, with a benevolence of foul that comprehended all mankind, a temper most placid, and a heart most focial, fhould fuffer in the world's opinion by that obfcurity, to which his ill-fortune, not his natural difpofition, had reduced him; for I am verily perfuaded that his bittereft defamers, even the anonymous flanderers that raked into the very dregs of infamy and pollution to afperfe his character, would have repented had they known him. Mr. Cumberland feems to admit that his lordship was not guarded against flattery; and he accounts for this foible in a manner both natural and ingenious.. He was fo little ufed to receive juftice from mankind, fays our author, that perhaps he was over grateful for common approbation; and praife, if by chance he ever met it, feemed to take his fenfes by furprife.' The fubfequent extract prefents us with a pleafing account of his Lordship's good nature and politeness. In argumentation no one went fooner to the truth, or fubmitted to conviction with a better grace: though he had the gift of feeing through a question almost at a glance, yet he never fuffered his dif cernment J cernment to anticipate another's explanasion, or interrupted his argument, how tedious foever. If any one fpoke with heat in difpute, or raifed his voice above its natural pitch, or if more than one fpeaker talked at a time, it gave him great pain; these are defects in temper and manners too commonly met with in the world, but to which he never gave occahon, by pushing an advantage too hard upon any one: a fingle word, or even an offer at interruption, ftopt him in a moment, though in the middle of a fentence; and this I have feen him bear repeatedly, and in many different inftances, without a Tymptom of peevishness, taking up his thoughts in the very place where he had left them, and refuming his difcourfe with perfect complacency. To fift out the truth by difcuffion, feemed his only object for contefting any opinion; and whether that was attained by the refult of his own or another's reafoning, was a difcovery he had fo little defire to arrogate to his own fagacity, that he was very ingenious in shifting it from himself to any other he converfed with; for he was an adept in that art, which tends to put others in humour with themfelves, and which I take to be of the true fpecies of polite nefs, not laying out for admiration by difplay. According to the reprefentation given by our author, Lord Sackville was not lefs happily qualified by nature for a high department in the ftate than for difcharging the duties of private life. He had all the requifites of a great minifter, unless popularity and good luck åre to be numbered amongst them; in punctuality, precifion, difpatch, and in tegrity, he was not to be furpaffed; he was fitted both by habit and temper for bufinefs; no man could have fewer avocations, whether natural or artificial, for he was flave to no paffion or excefs, indulged no humour unlefs that of regularity may be called a humour, which he obfer ved to a fcrupulous minutenefs; and as for his domeftic affairs, they were in fuch a train of order and economy, that they demanded little of his attention: he had ftudied the finances of the nation, and her refources both in war and peace; had taken uncommon pains to obtain authentic and early intelligence of the councils and operations of foreign ftates, and readily difcerned how the interefts of this country were affected thereby. He was of an active indefatigable mind intempe 8 rance never difturbed his faculties; neither avarice nor ambition corrupted them eafy in his private circumstances, and totally void of every with to accumulate, his zeal for his country, and his applica tion to bufinefs, were not fubject to be diverted from their proper exertions a fcene of activity was what he delighted in, for he was full of operation and project, and of a fpirit fo incapable of def ponderey, that difficulties and dangers which would have depreffed fome men, ferved to animate him. In the interchange of confidence with him it was neceflary to have no reserve, or holding back of circumftances, for he had fuch power of feeing into the heart of hypocrify, and his own was fo 'free from duplicity, that on fuch occafions you must impart the whole or nothing; when this was fairly done, he was your own to all honeft intents, and (humanly fpeaking) to all time; for he was a fteady faithful friend: his mind was fo ftrong, that it could not eafily be overburthened with the weight of affairs, fo clear that the variety of them was not apt to per plex it: hecould fhift his attention from one thing to its oppofite with fingular facility; he wifhed to do bufinefs, not to dwell upon it; and as his punctuality. as I before obferved, went with the hand of the clock to the very point of the minute, he was pleasant to all who served with him, or were dependent on his motions, and their hours of relaxation were hours of fecurity.' His Lordship appears likewife to great advantage when viewed in the different relations of a mafter, a father, and a friend. The establishment of his houf hold is faid to have been the model of a liberal ceconomy; the health, the exercifes, and even the amufement of his fervants, were the objects of his attention; and in regard to the poor, his charity was directed with fo much judgement, that their induftry and morals paffed under his infpection, and were influenced by it. Among the few incidents recorded in his life, the author mentions his having been fhot in the breaft, at the head of Barrel's regiment, when this brave corps was almoft cut to pieces in the battle of Fontenoy. From his Lordship's behaviour on this occafion, and his natural ferenity of mind, which forfook him not even at the approach of death, Mr. Cumberland invalidates, with great probability, the po pular pular imputation respecting the tranfaction acMinden. The following paffage in the conclufion of the character, does honour both to the morals of his Lordip and the fenfibility of the author. It is not in my remembrance through the courfe of my acquaintance with him, ever to have heard a word from his lips that could give offence to decency or religion; but in this lauter period, of which I am fpeaking, and throughout which I conftantly attended him, his fentiments were of that exalted and fuperior kind, as to render the fpectacle of his death one of the most edifying contemplations of my life. The two following Letters bearing ftrong marks of authenticity, and being very expreffive of the manner of Dr. Johnson, we have reprinted then from the St. James's Chronicle, for the amusement of our readers, and to preferve them from oblivion. THE LETTER I E following Dialogue, between the great Dr. Johnfon and myself, I committed to paper on the very day it happened. I am confident it is very accurate, for I have a retentive memory, whatever other talents I may want. The occafion was this during the first year of my marriage with the best of husbands, find ing myself extremely unhappy, and fuppofing myfelf cruelly treated by the man, who, I knew, loved me, and of whom I was palionately fond, I paid a visit to Dr. Johnfon, in order to confult him on this extraordinary cafe. He was reading when I entered the room. I thus began: "I beg your pardon, Sir, for interrupting your ftudies with fo little ceremony; but, if I may judge from your writings, you are good natured and humane. You may refufe me your advice; but, when I tell you I am unhappy, it is not in your power to refuse me your compaffion. You may command your tongue; but you cannot command your heart." He hook his head, The fituation of Lord Sackville commanding a fingle regiment at Fontenoy, under an English Prince and General, was very different from his fituation at Minden, com manding the British forces under a foreign Prince and General: in the former cafe his duty was only that of an officer, it was fimply to fight and to obey, and that duty he performed; in the latter bis duty was that of a General accountable to his country for fomething more than his conduct, in the hour of battle, for his counfels and opinions, and many other complicated and delicate affairs, in alf which a man, whofe zeal for the peculiarinterefts of his own country exceeded any other confiderations that respected himself only, muit be subjected to dangers that need not be pointed • out head, without looking up or fpeaking aword. I alfo continued filent about five minutes. I was then going to begin a fe cond apology, and had juft pronounced, "I am forry, Dr. Johnfon"--when, with out raifing his eyes from the ground, he faid" There wants no apology. That a woman fhould feek confolation where it is not to be found, excites neither anger nor furprife. The infelicities of which mankind complain, are generally the offfpring of vise or folly. I accufe you of neither; but to-day I am bufy. You may recite your flory to-morrow morning. I fhall be at home till two o'clock. Ma dam, I wish you a good day."-Doctor, your fervant."And to ended our firft converfation, ACCORDING to my promife, I now fend you the Dialogue between Dr. Johnfon and myfelf. I prefume you will think it worth your acceptance, as it is a curiofity of which none of his Biographers are poffeffed. I told you, in my laft letter, that the Doctor, when I first waited on him, was bufy, and that he promifed to give me audience the day following. I was punctual to the time, and found him in his parlour with a thick book before him. I As he continued his ftudy, I had an opportunity of obferving a fingularity in his manner of reading. As often as he came to the end of a line, he brought his eyes back again to the beginning of the next, by turning his head, which feemed to move fo regularly upon a pivot, that his nofe fwung feconds like the pendulum of an eight-day clock. DoctorWell, Madam, what is your pleasure with me? Lady A Defcription of the City of SURAT; with the Manners of the SUR People, Illuftrated with a View, elegantly Engraved. URAT is fituated in the province of Guzurat, a little to the northward of Bombay, about fixteen or twenty miles up the river Tappee, which has nothing remarkable, though the city on its banks is perhaps one of the greateft inftances in the known world of the power of trade to bring, in a fhort time, wealth, arts, and population, to any fpot where it can be eftablished. It was only in the middle of the laft century that a few merchants repaired to this place, and under the fhelter of an old caftle, built a town, which in a few years became one of the most confiderable in the world, both for its trade and extent, it being at least as large, and as populous as London within the walls, and contains many good houfes according to the Indian architecture. Soon after its taking the form of a town, a wall was built round it to defend it from the infults of the Marattahs, by whom it had been twice pillaged, but this wall is far from being capable of ftanding a regular fiege, and the caftle, which is by the river fide, and which you pafs in your way up to the city, feems a strange huddle of buildings, mounted here and there with cannon without order, or meaning, and without the leaft attempt at any thing like military architecture. Before the English Eaft India company obtained the poffeffion of Bombay, the prefidency of their affairs on the coaft of Malabar was held at Surat; and they had a factory established there, which received from the Mogul government feveral important privileges, and even after the prefidency was transferred to Bombay, the factory was continued at one of the beft houfes in the city, and this becoming too little to contain their effects, they hired another nearer the water fide, which obtained the name of the New Factory. Mean while this city flourishing extremely, it became the centre, and indeed the only ftaple of India, it being much frequented on account of the ready market goods of all forts met with there, from whence they were diftributed to the inland provinces; and at the fame time the manufactures of the country form A confiderable part of its commerce. Thus there is hardly any article of merchandize that can be named but is always to be found here, almoft as readily as in London itself. The company annually carries on a large trade in piece goods, efpecially of the coarfe ones, by rampauts, chelloes, and others, for the Guinea market. While the Mogul government was in its vigour, there was fuch a fhew of juftice, as induced the merchants of all religions and denominations to fhelter themfelves under it, particularly the Gentoos. At that time no flagrant acts of oppreffion were committed; but the merchants, from perfonal pique or jealoufy, would fometimes find means to engage the government to interfere in their quarrels, to which it was not averfe, being fure to be the only gainer. The ftreets of Surat are irregularly laid out, but have one advantage which renders them agreeable to thofe who walk through them during the heat of the day; that is, they are fufficiently wide at the bottom; but the stories of the houses projet fo far over each other, that the uppermoft apartments on each fide of the ftreet are fo clofe, that people may easily converfe from them, by which means the ftreets are overfhaded, and a free ventilalation is preferved. But the shops in this great trading city have a very mean appearance, the principal dealers keeping their goods chiefly in warehouses, and felling by famples. In fummer, when the heats are most intenfe, though they are never fo intolerable as in many other places, the principal inhabitants have country houses a little way out of town, where they refide, or go in parties to enjoy themselves in their gardens and frescades, by the fide of the waters withwhich they are furnished. The English company in particular have a very pleasant garden kept for the use and recreation of the gentlemen of the factory, though the incursions of the Marattahs have fometimes rendered these rural recesses very unfafe. While the communication with the country is kept open, there is no better place in the world for provifions; for be fides the abundance of every article, which an unbounded importation brings into the market, the natural productions of the foil are excellent in their kind, All manner of catables are at a reasonable price, and as good as can any where be found, particularly the wheat of Surat is famous all over India for its remarkable whiteness, fubftarce, and taste, and nothing can exceed the roots and fallads. There are likewife many kinds of wild fowl and game exceeding cheap. The Europeans depend chiefly on importation for their wines and fpirituous liquors, few of them relishing the diftillery of the country, which produces various ftrong fpirits to which the natives give very odd names, as the fpirit of deer, spirit of mutton, fpirit of goat, which arife from their throwing into the still a haunch of venifon, a joint of mutton, or a quarter of a goat, which refpectively give their names to the diftillation, and this flesh they imagine gives the liquor a mellownels and foftnefs that corrects its fiery fpirit. Moft of the hard labouring people of Surat, and especially the hamals or port. ers, who get their living by carrying goods to and from the warehouses, and bear loads of a very great weight, have contracted fuch a habit of taking opium, that an author of great veracity fays, he has been credibly affured, that fome of thefe fellows will take at one dofe three copper gorze weight of this drug without danger, which is confiderably above an ounce, and pretend that it enables them to work and carry heavy burdens. Many of the great and wealthy alfo contract a habit of it, from their confidering it only as a high point of fenfua lity, on account of the pleasing deliriums they experience from it, but as an extraordinary provocative; they ufually take it in milk, boiled away from a large to a fmall quantity, and when they would put an end to its operation, they fwallow afpoonful or two of lime juice, or any other acid of the fame kind; but thofe who use it, by thus forcing nature, wear out its fprings, and prematurely bring on all the inconveniences of old age; but this is of lule weight with the generality of the Orientalifts, who are always more actuated by prefent enjoyments, than a regard for the greatest remote advantages. The Gentoo women of the best fashion at Surat make no fcruple of going to the river, and bathing publickly in the fight of the men. They indeed go into the water with their cloaths on, but wetting them makes them cleave fo close to their bodies that they perfectly exprefs the tura of their limbs. When they come out of the water, and change their wet for dry cloaths, they shift themselves with such dexterity, that though it be done openly not the leaft glimpfe of any thing immodeft can be feen. All religions are tolerated in this city, than which nothing can be more political in a place of fuch univerfal trade The Moors, who have the government in their hands, here feem to lay aside that rigour, and that fondness for making profelytes, which they have fhewn in most other parts where there religion prevails. Thus, if they take an European, into their fervice in quality of gunner, (for they imagine all Europeans are born engineers) they never give themfelves the leaft concern about his religion. The inhabitants of Surat and the neighbouring country are commonly very induftrious, and have a number of manufactures; but the moft confiderable of them is the atlaffes, or fattins flowered with gold or filver, which have a rich subftantial look, but are not performed in a very elegant tafte, the flowers being illfancied, without air, and the red ground, moftly used, dull, and unpleasant. The governor of Surat keeps his feat of adminiftration at what is called the Durbar, where he is generally present in perfon, and gives his orders. All actions of a criminal and civil nature are brought be fore him, and fummarily difpatched in the eaftern manner. He obferves one piece of ftate that appears pretty remarkable: he never, on any material affair, fpeak to his attendants; but writes his orders, in the Perlian tongue, upon finall flips of paper that lie before him ready for that purpofe, and when written must be obeyed without reply. Thefe are afterward brought him, and being ftrung, ferve as a record of his actions; fo that this practice may have arifen more from a regard to precision than from fupercilious haughtiness. The emperor has an officer who is ftyled his admiral, and receives a revenue called the tanka, of the yearly value of three lacks of rupees, arifing from the rent of adjacent lands, and the taxes levied on Surat. Siddee Muffoot, who enjoyed this poft, being difgufted at fome failure in the accustomed payments, feized upon the castle of Surat, and committed great outrages on the merchants exercising an arbitrary authority over the lives and properties of all perfons refiding there, until his death in 176, when his fon aflumed the fame jurisdiction. In |