dently followed the leflon which fatal experience enables me to inculcate, how many days of anguish had I avoided! But recollection now only ferves to harrow up my hofom, and the mifery which must mark the remnant of my life, is for ever to be aggravated with the consciousness of its being justly merited. For fome time after my marriage, Sir, I expected every day to receive an overture of reconciliation from my father, and my pride began to be feverely mortified at the bare imagination that it was poflible for him to cat me wholly off from his affection. But this pride was ftill more mortified when my husband informed me, that he had lost a large fum of money at play, and that, uniefs my family unmediately did fome very handfome things for me, he must not only be under an indifpenfable neceflity of felling his commiflion, but must eternally bid adieu to his country. Thunder-ftruck at this information, I felt all the guilt of my late mifconduct with the keeneft fenfibility. Nay, my very vanity fupplied the place of virtue; and pointed out the meanness of applying only in the hour of distress, and even then of apply. ing merely for relief, to the father whom I had fo infamously deferted, for an acquaintance of a month. However, the application was unavoidable: my hufband's difficulties, if removed, were to be removed inftantiv. I therefore fat down blushing with flame, yet trembling with apprehenfion, and wrote a peniten. tial letter to my father, acknowledging my faults, fetting forth my diftreffes, and conjuring him, by all he held most dear, to take pity on my wretched fituation. This letter I difpatched by a footman; who returned in a little time with the excruciating answer, that my father had folemnly determined never to hold the leaft intercourfe with an unnatural wretch who had deftroyed his everlafting peace of mind, and brought an indelible ftain upon his houfe, by marrying a de1picable gambler. Dreadful as this reply appeared to me, the information it contained, with regard to my husband's character, was the most infupportable part of it. I always looked upon him to be a gentleman at leaft; though imprudently married, I did not fancy myself married difhonourably. But my father's opinion of my choice was unhappily too justly founded; and when the contemp tible fellow, in whofe hands I had plac the whole happiness of my life, difcove ed that my expectations of a fortu were entirely at an end, he quitted t kingdom, and the first intelligence received of his flight, came from a m to whom he had fold, not only the furm ture of his house, but all the little orn ments I carried with me from home, ven to the gown in which I was th drefled; leaving me but two goineas, enter upon an inhofpitable world, and fupport a helpless poor infant, who was cruelly deferted as its unfortunate m ther. To whom, or what, or how coul complain? In the firft moments of distraction, nothing but the agonizi fondness which I felt for my unhap little boy, prevented me from fome of defperation on my own perfon. Wh I considered the milerable state to whi I had reduced myself, my mind was bu ried into madness; but when I faw fweet innocent. and recollected his immediately depended upon mine, defpair was melted into anguish, a found relief in a plentiful flood of tea With the two guineas already mentio ed, and a few fmail fums which I ha borrowed from the friends who still cond fcended to own me, I have made a fhi Sir, to fubfift for a twelvemonth, whi has now just elapfed fince the fight my barbarous hufband. But, alas! S thefe refources now begin to fail n People industriously feek caufes to av an intercourse with the wretched, and who once thought it difgraceful even make conceflions to a father, am n obliged to fupplicate the compaffion ftrangers for a precarious bit of bre What will become of me, Heaven o knows! unless I am speedily aflifted. beautiful prattler lies at this moment da gerously ill of a fever, and muft inevi bly perifh for neceflaries, if the mi ftering angel of Providence does quickly ftretch forth fome blessed ha to his relief. To my father I dare not look up pity. Yet, venerable author of being! if you could conceive but fmallest idea of what your abandor Maria feels for her difobedience, if y could but know the pangs which tear bofom, while the thus relates her gratitude to you, and weeps upon t melancholy cradle of her expiring infar your generous heart would be ftruck t her affi tions, and your humanity would be interested for the fellow-creature, though your juftice might prevent you from looking with tenderness upon the daughter i O then, with mercy, hear her praver: the does not prefume to addres your fondness as a father, but your charity as a man:- fave her dying little one, and the afks no compilion for kerfelf:-fnatch him from the grave, and give her to death without reluctance: he is called after yourself, and may yet Five to make fome atonement for his other's crime.-No!-'tis too late; be is now in his laft agonies; and all ill be speedily over with MARIA MORTIMER. IMPORTANT EAST-INDIA AFFAIRS. THE following propofals, made by a majority of the directors of the Eaft India company to the Lords of the TreaJury, and their Lordships answer thereto, have been tranfmitted to us by one of our correspondents, who took them down in fort hand whilft the clerk of the compaBy was reading them to the proprietors, at the Eaft-India court, Dec. 21 ; and as they were ordered to be read a fecond time, he had an opportunity of correcting fome few mistakes he had made. Upon the whole, he fays, we may venture to give them to the public as being nearly accutate copies. NUMBER I. 3. To prolong the charter five years. 4. The public to receive, or allow int payment, what may be due to the company for the expences incurred by them in the reduction of Manilla. 5. The company to be impowered to raile 500,cco l. on bond. A. My Lords are of opinion, that the matters contained in the 3d, 4th, and 5th articles, are fo totally feparate and diftin& from the confideration of the territorial acquifitions lately obtained in India, that their Lordships cannot approve of their being mixed with, or making any part of, a propofal to be offered to parliament for a further agreement refpecting faid arquifitions and revenues; but my Lords are nevertheless willing to direct, that the demand of the 4th article be inquired into, and liquidated, in order that if, upon inquiry, it thall appear the company have any jutt claim on the public, they may receive fatisfaction on that account. 6. Whatever furplus fhall remain after the difcharge of the company's fimple-contra& debts bearing intereft, and the reduction of their bond-debt to the fum that fhall be due from the public to the company, faid furplus fhall be lent to the public at two per cent. per ann. A. My Lords approve of the general plan of the 6th article; but do not think themselves fufficiently informed to give a full and complete opinion on the terms of this propofition, till the court of directors fhall have laid before their Lordships the amount of the fimple-contract debts of the company bearing intereft, and of the excels of their bonds above what is due from the public to the company. 7. In cafe of a war in Europe, if the company fhall be obliged to lower their dividends, the public to abate in proportion from the fum of 400,000 l. above offered. A. Mv Lords fee no objection to the 7th article. Propofitions from the Court of Directors for an agreement with the Public; and the Board of Treafury's answer thereto. Pr. 1. To O continue 400,000l. a-year to the public for tive years. 2. The company to be at liberty to inreale their dividend to twelve one half cent. during the said term, but not exceed one per cent. in any one year. A My Lords would not have thought My Lords are further of opinion, that delves justified in confenting to re- in cafe there is an agreement between mend the 1st and 23 articles of the the public and the company, the company retors propofals to the confideration of ought to be obliged by exprefs covenant to lament, if any fum lefs than 400,000l. export every year, during the continuPrann. had been offered to be paid to the ance of fuch agreement, goods and merPic during the term of the agreement, chandife of the growth or manufacture if the liberty to increase their dividend of G. Britain of the like value, and of twelve one half per cent. had not the like amount, as fhall appear to have een propofed to be fo regulated and been exported annually on an average trited, as that this increase fhould five years preseding fuch agreement. Bot exceed one per cent. in any one year. C 2 NUM NUMBER II. Propofitions from the Court of Directors for an agreement with the Public on the following terms. 1. That from the net annual profits of the company's trade there fhall be deducted, for the benefit of the compamy, fix per cent. on their capital, (which was the dividend to the proprietors before they had poffeffion of the Dewannee), and the remainder fhall be equally divi ded between the public and the company. 2. That the faid net profits fhall be afcertained as follows. [By an account ftated by the company's accountant, of the net profit of the company's trade for the year 1768, it appears, 11.45 That the freight due for one year. cent. on the company's grofs fales is That the intereft on bonds, more than what is due from the public, is That what is due to private-trade proprietors, for goods belonging to them, included in the company's fales is That the discount is And in lieu of warehouse-rent, falaries, and all other charges 1.4 3.22 6.5 5 27.57 And in cafe of a war in Europe, thefe charges to be 32 per cent. The form, therefore, of making up the account will be as follows. There fhall every year be taken an account of the company's grofs fales for one year, ending the 1st of March, to which Thall be added luch fums as may be paid into the company's treasury in England for bills drawn on the prefidencies in India and China. And from the faid account fhall be deducted the expences on the faid fales, conGifting of the following articles. What fhall be due for bills drawn upon the company in England for the like value paid into their treasuries in India and China. The amount of all goods and bullion exported. What fhall be due to government for indemnity on tea. And in lieu of freight, and all other charges whatever, twenty-seven one half per cent. and in case of a war thirty-two per cent. as before stated. The remainder, after these deductions, fhall be deemed the net annual profit the company's trade.] 3. That the faid profits fhall be, excl five of bullion, imported to Europe fro India during the term of five years, whi the company agree fhall be equally div ded between them and the public. 4. That the company shall not be r trained from dividing eleven per cent. their capital at Midfummer 1769; a when their fimple-contract debts bearin intereft are dilcharged, they may divi twelve one half per cent. for the r mainder of the five years, the time of th agreement. 5. That the company's proportion b yond the dividend of twelve one half p cent. mentioned in the preceding articl fhall be applied to reducing the bon debt to what is due from the public the company and if in the course of t faid five years the fame debt fhall be di charged, and a furplus remain, such fu plus thall be lent to the public at two p cent. 6. That the company's capital be in creased 400,000 1. each proprietor of 800 ftock to have 100 l. additional stock 250 per cent. 7. That the company's charter be pro longed fourteen years beyond the prefer term, for which they agree to pay th fum of 500,000l. in the courfe of th year 1769. 8. And that the company be impowere to borrow on bond 400,000 1. Though these two propofitions we offered to the Lords of the Treafury, f them to make choice of the one th fhould appear beft calculated to compr hend the mutual advantage of the publ and the company; yet it is natural fuppofe, that No II. has been rejecte as there has been no notice taken of by their Lordships. After the proposals were read, t chairman informed the proprietors, th the court of directors had, on the prec fwer they had received from the treasur ing day, taken into confideration the a board, and had come to the following r folution. "At a Court of Directors held on Tue day the 20th of December, 1768, R Jolved, THAT it be recommended to the cour of proprietors, to concur with the prope fitions from the board of treasury, as cor tained in the 1st, 2d, 6th and 7th articl of the directors propofitions; but that a further reprefentation be made, fetting forth the neceflity for a prolongation of the charter for five years, and of a power being given to borrow 500,000l. on bond, in cafe the exigency of the company's affairs fhould require it; and that it be further reprefented, that the company base no intention of leffening the value of their exports, yet nevertheless cannot confent to lay themselves under covenant to do that which must depend upon the fate of the markets abroad, there being already a fpecific clause in the charter relative to the exports." After which a debate enfued, which lafted until past five o'clock, when it apspeared to be the fenfe of a great majoharity of the proprietors who fpoke, that the propofition (even though every article it of it had been agreed to by the Lords of the Treasury) had not been formed upon a plan fuitable to the interests of the com=pany. They feemed to be all unanimous in thinking that a fhare, and a liberal one too, fhould be allotted to the public from thefe foreign revenues; but that if the money is to be paid in England, the pu blic fhould not be fecured in a fixed determinate fum, whilft the proprietors were left to all the contingencies incident to an Indian war, befides those of com merce, in bringing home the returns of their merchandise, and the produce of their foreign revenues. It alfo appeared, that the directors had been by no means unanimous in the above refolution of their court.-Some of them gave very forcible reasons for their diffent; whilft others with equal confidence, (and one of them with fome vehemence), fupported their opinions in having agreed to it, yet it was evident they had been led to make thefe offers, rather from a perfuafion that they could not obtain better terms from the prefent ministry, than from a conviction that they were confiftent with the intereft of the company, or even fuch as in their own opinion the company had a title to ask, and would have obtained, if they had not concluded fach an abfurd bargain two years ago. Upon the whole, the debate was carried en with great moderation and good order, and, what is rather remarkable in Leadenhall-street meetings, with lefs animo ty and acrimony without than within the bar. Publ. Adv. BOHEMI A. Moral forefts and deserts. GERMANY. Its heroes, like Italian pictures, fhew beft at a diftance: the reft parcel out to deferts, petty tyrants, priests, pedigreed beggars, and pedants, and all her neighbours know Germany. Yet this is the mother of Arminius and Frederick; of Leibnitz and Wolfe; of Handel and Graun; of Mengs and Donner; of Winkelman and Reimarus. SWITZERLAND. The land of liberty. - Trade, taste, knowledge, difcovery among the Proteftants, vigour in all; defpifers of death; slaves of money abroad. Abroad a contemptible fwarm of valets, clerks, officers, artifts, fchemers; the leeches of fools. Here are scholars, civilians, la orious triflers, trade. Here abfence of mifery is happiness; indifference, contentment; profit, honour. Here fentiment is nonfenfe; plain fenfe, wit; jollity, pleasure; pofleflion, enjoyment; money, the anchor of minds, the gale of pallions, the port of life. ENGLAND. The domain of liberty and property, the country of extremes. Virtue is here divine, vice infernal. Here are liberty of confcience, political liberty, civil li berty, commercial liberty, liberty of thought, tongue, and pen, to and be yond the limits of the most profligate li cence; news-papers, magazines, pamphlets, registers; heaven and earth a job; turfs, cockpits, clubs, Maccaroni's, blackguards, stocks, lotteries, fchemes, lame ducks, clever fellows, humour, and Novembers big with fuicide; port-chaifes, Italian mufic and pictures, but few ears or eyes; the nest of foreigners; the country of Shakelpeare, Newton, Hogarth.“ FRANCE. The country of CITOYENS and MODE. Here things are estimated by their air a watch may be a master-piece, without exa&iness; and a woman rule the town, without beauty, if the has an air. Here life is a dance, and aukwardnets of step its great difgrace. Character here is diffolved into the public, and an original a name of mirth. Cela le fait, & cela ne fe fait pas, are here the fupreme umpires of conduct. Their religion is fuperftition, fashion, fophifm; the ladies lay on rouge in equilateral fquares, and powder with brick-duft. Tyranny may grind the face, but not the Countenance of a Frenchman; his feet are made to dance in wooden fhoes. The parliaments refemble an old toothJefs maftifl. France was the country of Le Sueur and Racine, and is that of Voltaire. SPAIN. The dregs of a nation two centuries paft, the arbiters of Europe, and leaders of difcovery. Still fenfe, fapacity, and cool courage, are tamely fubmitted here to the iron yoke of inquifition; and each note of humanity drowned in the yells of Dominic's victims. The prerogatives of fociety moulder here in provincial archives. These are the execrable lords of one hemifphere, and the humble factors of Europe. To fee a fceptre in the gripe of women: Confeffors and favourites make no characteristic of Spain; nor is the An unweeded garden, its inhabitant flies bred on a dead horfe. -Slavery and licence. Each moral principle th pimp of pampered organs: The countr of arts, tricks, caftration, and banditti of Raphael, Goldoni, Farinelli, Archangeli To JOHN WILKES. I Cannot, my friend, conceal my fur prile at this your fecond refolution o being an Alderman; I am fure it canno be thine own free will and choice: know thou defpifeft the grandeur and va nity of this world; thou only doeft this to please thy friends in power; or (a fome people fay, though I cannot believe it) thole, I know not whether to fay in or out of power, the Mobility. Thou canft not think that an Aldermanship will add any happiness to thy life; for if thou thinkeft that feafting, which is the characteristic of an Alderman, will give thee any pleafure, alas! how art thou mistaken! it is a plealure that lasteth but for a moment, it vanitheth away like a dream, and it is gone. Perhaps thou expecteft to reap fome joy from the grandeur of that carriage which is faid to be now building for thee; but let me tell thee, my friend, it is nought but vanity: though the populace should yoke themselves, and (Gince I have not heard thou art at prefent mafter of any other a nimals) draw it for thee, it could not give thee half the happiness that innocency could; innocency, that jewel of the foul, which not all the jewellers of England or Paris, nay not even thofe jewels thyself haft obtained, can equal. Therefore, my friend, I advile thee to retire, and efcape from the noife and vanity of the world, as foon as thou art able: retire to fome place diftant from this troublefome town, where thou mave{} live in true felicity with thy wife and family, fometimes, whilft thou lookefl back with forrow on thy time foolfhiy confumed in thefe frivolous contentions, remembering thy true and faithful friend and adviser. A QUAKER. AMI |