tain degree of timidity is not unfeemly, because it betokens gentleness of difpofition. Yet from those of very high rank, from a queen or an emprefs, courage in emergencies of great public danger would be expected, and the want of it blamed; we should overlook the fex, and confider the duties of the ftation. In general, however, mafcus hine boldne's in a woman is difagreeable; the term virago conveys an offenfive idea. The female warriors of antiquity, whether real or fabulous, Camilla, Thaleftris, and the whole community of Amazons, were unamiable perfonages. But female courage exerted in defence of a child, a hufband, or a near relation, would be true fortitude, and deferve the highest en cominms. The motives to fortitude are many and powerful. This virtue tends greatBy to the happinefs of the individual, by giving compofure and prefence of mind, and keeping the other paffions in due fubordination. To public good it is ellențial; for without it, the independence and liberty of nations would be impoffible. It gives to a character that elevation which poets, orators, and hiftorians, have in all ages vied with one another to celebrate. Nothing fo effectually infpires it as rational piety; the fear of God is the beft fecurity against every other fear. A true eftinate of human life; its fhortnefs and uncertainty; the numberless evils and temptations to which by a long continuance in this world we nuft unavoid ably be expofed; ought by no means to difcourage or throw any gloom on bur future profpećts: they fhould teach us, that many things are more formidable than death; and that nothing is loft, but much gained, when, by the appointment of Providence, a wellfpent life is brought to an honourable .conclufion. Let it be confidered too, that pufillanimity and fearfulnefs can never avail us any thing. On the contrary, they debafe our nature, poifon all our comforts, and make us defpicable in the éves of others; they darken our reafon, difconcert our fhemes, enfeeble our efforts, extinguith our hopes, and add tenfold poignancy to all the evils of life. In battle, the brave foldier is in lefs danger than the coward; in less danger even of death and wounds, because better prepared to defend himself; in far lefs danger of infelicity; and has before him the animating hope of victory and honour. So in life, the man of true fortitude is in less danger of difappointment than others are, because his understanding is clear, and his mind difencumbered; he is prepared to meet calamity without the fear of finking under it; and he has before him the near profpect of another life, in which they who patiently bear the evils of this will obtain a glorious reward. Fear, when it gains an ascendancy in the mind, renders life a burden. The object of fear is evil; and to be exempt from fear, or at least not enflaved to it, gives dignity to our nature, and invigorates all our faculties. Yet there are evils which we ought to fear. Thofe that arife from ourselves, or which it is in our power to prevent, it would be madness to despise, and audacity not to guard againft. External evils, which we cannot prevent, or could not avoid without a breach of duty, it is manly and honourable to bear with fortitude. Out of many instances of the fatal effects of fear recorded in writers, the following is felected as one of the moft fingular. "George Grochantzy, a Polander, who had inlifted as a foldier in the fervice of the king of Pruffia, deferted during the laft war. Α fmall party was fent in purfuit of him; and when he least expected it, they furprifed him finging and dancing among a company of peafants, who were got together at an inn, and were making merry. This event, fo fudden and unforeseen, and at the fame time fo dreadful in its confequences, ftruck him in fuch a manner, that, giving a great cry, he became at once altogether ftupid and infenfible, and was feized without the leaft refiftance. They car ried him away to Glocau, where he was brought before the council of war, and received fentence as a deferter. He fuffered himself to be led and difpofed of at the will of thofe about him, without uttering a word, or giving the leaft fign that he knew what had happened or would happen to him. He remained immovable as a flatue wherever he was placed, and was wholly pathive with re spect fpect to all that was done to him or about him. During all the time that he was in cuftody, he neither ate, nor drank, nor flept, nor had any evacua tion. Some of his comrades were fent to fee him; after that he was vifited by fome officers of his corps and by fome priests; but he still continued in the fame ftate, without discovering the leaft figns of fenfibility. Promifes, intreaties, and threatenings, were equally in effectual. The phyficians who were confulted upon his cafe were of opinion, that he was in a ftate of hopeless idiocy. It was at first suspected, that thofe appearances were feigned; but these fufpicions neceffarily gave way, when it was known that he took no fuftenance, and that the involuntary functions of nature were in a great meature fufpended. After fome time they knocked off his fetters, and left him at liberty to go whither he would. He received his liberty with the fame infenfibility that he had showed upon other occafions: he remained fixed and immovable; his eyes turned wildly here and there with out taking cognizance of any object, and the mufcles of his face were fallen and fixed like those of a dead body. Being left to himself, he passed twenty days in this condition, without eating, drinking, or any evacuation, and died on the twentieth day. He had been fometimes heard to fetch deep fighs; and once he rushed with great violence on a foldier who had a mug of liquor in his hand, forced the mug from him, drank the liquor with great eagerness, and let the mug drop to the ground." To turn from the ferious to the ludicrous effects of fear, the following inftance of the latter fort, quoted from a French author by Mr. Andrews in his volume of Anecdotes, fhows upon what flight occafions this paffion may be fometimes excited in a very high degree, even in perfons the most unlikely to entertain fuch a guest. "Charles Guftavus (the fucceffor of Chriftina of Sweden) was befieging Prague, when a boor of a moft extraordinary vifage defired admittance to his tent; and, being allowed entrance, offered, by way of amusing the king, to devour a whole hog of one hundred weight in his prefence. The old general Konigfmarc, who stood by the king's fide, and who, foldier as he was, had not got rid of the prejudices of his childhood, hinted to his royal matter, that the peasant ought to be burnt as a forcerer. Sir,' faid the fellow, irritated at the remark, if your majefty will but make that old gentleman take off his fword and his fpurs, I will eat him immediately before I begin the hog.' General Kol nigfmare (who had, at the head of a body of Swedes, performed wonders against the Auftrians, and who was looked upon as one of the bravest men of the age) could not fland this propofal, efpecially as it was accompanied by moft hideous and preternatural expanfion of the frightful peafant's jaws. Without uttering a word, the veteran fuddenly turned round, ran out of the court, and thought not himself safe till he had arrived at his quarters; where he remained above twenty-four hours locked up fecurely, before he had got rid of the panic which had so severely affected him." The influence of fear, both in occafioning and aggravating diseases, is also very great. No man ought to be blamed for a decent concern about life; but too great a defire to preserve it, is of ten the cause of lofing it. Fear and anxiety, by deprefling the fpirits, not only difpofe us to difeafes, but often render those diseases fatal which which an undaunted mind would overcome! Sudden fear has generally violent effects. Epileptic fits, and other convulfive diforders, are often occationed by it. Hence the danger of that practice, fo common among young people, of frightening one another. Many have loft their lives, and others have been rendered miferable, by frolics of this kind. It is dangerous to tamper with the human pallions. The mind may easily be thrown into such disorder as never again to act with regularity. In acute difeafes frights have evidently killed many, by the agitation into which they have thrown the fpirits, already too much difordered. We have alfo accounts of perfons abfolutely killed by terrors when in perfect health at the time of receiving the fhock from them; and people ordered to be executed, but with private orders for a reprieve, have expired at the block without a wound. CAPTURE CAPTURE OF TOBAGO. OBAGO is one of the Caribbee fituate 20 miles north-east of the island of Trinity, and 120 miles fouth of the inland of Barbadoes; being 52 miles long, and 12 broad. It was originally planted by the English, who were driven from it by the Caribbees on the neighbouring continent. Some time after this it was feized by the French, but formally ceded to the English by the peace of 1763, who built a hand fome town upon it, called 'Scarborough. It is a very desirable and fruitful ifland, producing large quantities of fugar, and every thing elfe that the Caribbee iflands produce. During the American war, it was taken from us by the French; and was retaken by General Cuyler, and Admiral Sir John Laforey, in April 1793, as defcribed at length in our last Magazine, and to which may be added the following particulars: The difpofition of attack was ordered by the General to take place in the night. The two light companies of the 9th and 60th regiments, under the command of Major Gordon, (who gallantly requested permiffion to leave the command of his own regiment to lead the light infantry,) were to be fupported by the two grenadier companies under the command of Major Bailey, and the fourth batallion of the 6oth regiment, under the command of Captain de Vifme; the referve of a few mariners, under the command of Ma-. jor Bright; the artillery to remain with their guns. It was now about three o'clock in the morning; and, as the only chance of fuccefs was forming the works in the dark, Major Gordon began the attack. The fort began a very warm fire of grape fhot, but nothing could withstand the bravery and coolnefs of the British troops; they never attempted to fire a fhot, but carried every thing with their bayonets. They got into the ditch of the fort, where they found the rampart high and perpendicular, whereas it had been reper. fented to General Cuyler, that they could run up the ramparts of the fort. The men were very much fatigued, and the enemy were keeping up a tre of halt of a few minutes, Major Gordon called out, "God fave the King, follow me;" which was anfwered by the men with three cheers, and up he went, and a corporal followed, and they pulled up the colours, and about a dozen men by their firelocks. The first four were wounded and fell down again, but there were foon about 10 men more up, lying on the flope of the parapez along-fide of him, close to the guns (eighteen-pounders) which were firing over them. As foon as they found a fufficient number of men up, they charged into the battery, drove every man from the guns, and formed, till they were joined by all the rest of the men, and then, for the first time, began to fire upon the French, who were drawn up in front of their barracks, and firing from all quarters of the inner fquare. As foon as Major Gordon found all his men up, he ordered the firing to ceafe, and to charge. In a few minutes M. Montel, the Governor of the island, called for quarter, and delivered up his fword. To the honour of the British foldiers be it told, that, after their commanding officer called out that the governor had furrendered, there was not a perfon wounded. They were occupied until daylight fecuring prifoners, who were more than double the number of the affailants. When daylight appeared, the general joy, on seeing the British colours Alying over those of the French, is not easily to be defcribed. 1 Monf. Montel, the French Gover nor, by his letter to M. Rochambeau, with the account of the capture of the ifland, feems perfectly fenfible of the bravery and generofity of the British troops; which he expreffed as follows: General Cuyler was wounded at the commencement of the attack: 'Major Gordon, who took me, behaved, as did his troops, with a valour and generosity above all praife. Both the General and his officers continue to treat us with the fame generofity.' POETRY. PO E T THE BATTLE. Abstracted from "Songs of the aboriginal Bards," by the Rev. G. RICHARDS. AMID the darkly rolling forms, That gird Helvellin's craggy fides, With afpects fierce, and warrior strides, The painted Britons' giant forms Ruth in wild tumult to the vale below; With fiery rage their eyeballs glow! Their rude arms clash with hideous clang; Flash round the rocks a direful glare: Wide Windermere with mountain echoe's rang And Ketwick's filent lake fhook with the thout of war. High on dark cliff's beetling brow, Which cafts its broad embrowning shade Acrofs the rugged dell below, The Bards, in radiant rows difplay'd, To the fierce troops, that wildly pafs beneath, Their kindling numbers breathe. Gallant warriors, fo your fires, The faulchions, now that glittering rife, Fir'd by mufic's magic sway Each on the other looks with speechless gaze; Then views around the dying and the flain, Sadly revolves the palm of happier days, And thinks with keen regret on Zama's plain. But foon the fouls, that fir'd the Britons, fall: R Y. 5. Thus be we failors all the go, BOADICEA BOADICEA, QUEEN of the BRITONS. WHE HEN the British warrior queen, Bleeding from the Roman rods, Sought, with an indignant mein, Counsel of her country's gods, Sage beneath a spreading oak Sat the Druid, hoary chief, Ev'ry burning word he spoke, Full of rage and full of grief: Princefs! if our aged eye. Weep upon thy matcleis wrongs, 'Tis because refentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. Tramples on a thousand states, Heedlefs of a foldier's name, From the forefts of our land, Thy pofterity fhall fway, None invincible as they. Of his fweet but awful lyre. On SLAVERY, and the SLAVE- BUT UT ah! what wifh can profper, or what pray'r, For merchants rich in cargoes of defpair, Who drive a loathlome traffic, gage and span, And buy the mufcles and the bones of man ? The tenderties of father, hufb nd, friend, A ftroke as fatal as the fcythe of death. Depriv'd of her and freedom at a blow, |