judices; let us endeavour to keep the just mean, between searching ambitiously for far-fetched interpretations, and admitting such low meaning, and obvious and low sense, as is inconsistent with those great and extensive views, which it is reasonable to ascribe to this excellent man. It may be yet farther asked, whether this inscription, which appears in the stone, be an original, and not rather a version of a traditional prediction in the old British tongue, which the zeal of some learned man prompted him to translate and engrave in a more known language for the instruction of future ages: but as the lines carry at the first view a reference both to the stone itself, and very remarkably to the place where it was found, I cannot see any foundation for such a suspicion. It remains now that we examine the sense and import of the inscription, which, after having long dwelt upon it with the closest and most laborious attention, I must confess myself not yet able fully to comprehend. The following explications, therefore, are by no means laid down as certain and indubitable truths, but as conjectures not always wholly satisfactory even to myself, and which I had not dared to propose to so enlightened an age, an age which abounds with those great ornaments of human nature, skeptics, anti-moralists, and infidels, but with hopes that they would excite some person of greater abilities to penetrate further into the oraculous obscurity of this wonderful prediction. Not even the four first lines are without their difficulties, in which the time of the discovery of the stone seems to be the time assigned for the events foretold by it. Cum lapidem hunc, magni Sentiet ægra metus,' Effundet patria fletus, Littoraque ut fluctu, Resonabunt oppida luctu. Nam fæcunda rubri Et pingues absque labore. Then through thy fields shall scarlet reptiles stray, He seems, in these verses, to descend to a particular account of this dreadful calamity; but his description is capable of very different senses, with almost equal probability. Red serpents, says he, (rubri colubri are the Latin words, which the poetical translator has rendered scarlet reptiles, using a general term for a particular in my opinion too licentiously,) "Red serpents shall wander o'er her meadows, and pillage and pollute," &c. The particular mention of the colour of this destructive viper may be some guide to us in this labyrinth, through which, I must acknowledge, I cannot yet have any certain path. I confess that when a few days after my perusal of this passage, I heard of the multitude of lady-birds, seen in Kent, I began to imagine that these were the fatal insects by which the island was to be laid waste, and therefore looked over all accounts of them with uncommon concern. But when my first terrors began to subside, I soon recollected that these creatures, having both wings and feet, would scarcely have been called serpents; and was quickly convinced by their leaving the country without doing any hurt, that they had no quality but the colour, in common with the ravagers here described. As I am not able to determine any thing on this Whene'er this stone, now hid beneath the lake, question, I shall content myself with collecting, The horse shall trample, or the plough shall break, Then, O my country! shalt thou groan distrest, into one view, the several properties of this pesGrief in thine eyes, and terror in thy breast. tiferous brood, with which we are threatened, as Thy streets with violence of wo shall sound, hints to more sagacious and fortunate readers, Loud as the billows bursting on the ground. who, when they shall find any red animal that "When this stone," says he, "which now lies ranges uncontrolled over the country, and dehid beneath the waters of a deep lake, shall be vours the labours of the trader and the husbandstruck upon by the horse, or broken by the man; that carries with it corruption, rapine, polplough, then shalt thou, my country, be asto-lution, and devastation; that threatens without nished with terrors, and drowned in tears; then courage, robs without fear, and is pampered shall thy towns sound with lamentations, as thy without labour, they may know that the predicshores with the roarings of the waves." These tion is completed. Let me only remark farther, are the words literally rendered, but how are that if the style of this, as of all other predictions, they verified? The lake is dry, the stone is turned is figurative, the serpent, a wretched animal that up, but there is no appearance of this dismal crawls upon the earth, is a proper emblem of low scene. Is not all at home satisfaction and tran-views, self-interest, and base submission, as well quillity? all abroad submission and compliance? Is it the interest or inclination of any prince or state to draw a sword against us? and are we not nevertheless secured by a numerous standing army, and a king who is himself an army? Have our troops any other employment than to march to a review? Have our fleets encountered any thing but winds and worms? To me the present state of the nation seems so far from any resemblance to the noise and agitation of a tempestuous sea, that it may be much more properly compared to the dead stillness of the waves before a storm. as of cruelty, mischief, and malevolence. I cannot forbear to observe in this place, that as it is of no advantage to mankind to be forewarned of inevitable and insurmountable misfortunes, the author probably intended to hint to his countrymen the proper remedies for the evils he describes. In this calamity, on which he dwells longest, and which he seems to deplore with the deepest sorrow, he points out one circumstance, which may be of great use to disperse our appre hensions, and awaken us from that panic which the reader must necessarily feel at the first transient view of this dreadful description. These serpents, says the original, are HAUD PUGNACES, of no fighting race: they will threaten, indeed, and hiss, and terrify the weak, and timorous, and thoughtless, but have no real courage or strength. So that the mischief done by them, their ravages, devastations, and robberies, must be only the consequences of cowardice in the sufferers, who are harassed and oppressed only because they suffer it without resistance. We are therefore to remember whenever the pest here threatened shall invade us, that submission and tameness will be certain ruin, and that nothing but spirit, vigilance, activity, and opposition, can preserve us from the most hateful and reproachful misery, that of being plundered, starved, and devoured by vermin and by reptiles. Horrida dementes Rapiet discordia gentes, Plurima tunc leges Mutabit, plurima reges Natio. Then o'er the world shal! discord stretch her wings, Kings change their laws, and kingdoms change their kings. Here the author takes a general survey of the state of the world, and the changes that were to happen about the time of the discovery of this monument in many nations. As it is not likely that he intended to touch upon the affairs of other countries any farther than the advantage of his own made it necessary, we may reasonably conjecture, that he had a full and distinct view of all the negotiations, treaties, confederacies, of all the triple and quadruple alliances, and all the leagues offensive and defensive, in which we were to be engaged, either as principals, accessaries, or guarantees, whether by policy, or hope, or fear, or our concern for preserving the balance of power, or our tenderness for the liberties of Europe. He knew that our negotiators would interest us in the affairs of the whole earth, and that no state could either rise or decline in power, either extend or lose its dominions, without affecting politics and influencing our councils. This passage will bear an easy and natural application to the present time, in which so many revolutions have happened, so many nations have changed their masters, and so many disputes and commotions are embroiling almost in every part of the world. That almost every state in Europe and Asia, that is, almost every country then known, is comprehended in this prediction, may be easily conceived; but whether it extends to regions at that time undiscovered, and portends any alteration of government in Carolina and Georgia, let more able or more daring expositors determine. Conversa In rabiem tunc contremet ursa The bear enrag'd th' affrighted moon shall dread. The terror created to the moon by the anger of the bear, is a strange expression, but may perhaps relate to the apprehensions raised in the Turkish empire, of which a crescent or new moon is the imperial standard, by the increasing power of the Einpress of Russia, whose dominions lie under the northern constellation called the Bear. apt representation of that country; and their flourishing over wide-extended valleys, seems to regard the new increase of the French power, wealth, and dominions, by the advancement of their trade and the accession of Lorain. This is at first view an obvious, but perhaps for that very reason not the true, inscription. How can we reconcile it with the following passage, Nec fremere audebit Leo, sed violare timebit, Omnia consuetus Populari pascua lætus, Nor shall the lion, wont of old to reign Despotic o'er the desolated plain, Henceforth th' inviolable bloom invade, Or dare to murmur in the flow'ry glade; in which the lion that used at pleasure to lay the pastures waste, is represented as not daring to touch the lilies, or murmur at their growth? The lion it is true is one of the supporters of the arms of England, and may therefore figure our countrymen, who have in ancient times made France a desert. But can it be said, that the lion dares not murmur or rage, (for fremere may import both,) when it is evident, that for many years this whole kingdom has murmured? however, it may be at present calm and secure, by its confidence in the wisdom of our politicians and the address of our negotiators. Ante oculos natos Calceatos et cruciatos Jam feret ignavus, Vetilaque libidine pravus. His tortured sons shall die before his face, While he lies melting in a lewd embrace. Here are other things mentioned of the lion equally unintelligible, if we suppose them to be spoken of our nation, as that he lies sluggish, and depraved with unlawful lusts, while his offspring is trampled and tortured before his eyes. But in what place can the English be said to be trampled tice or contempt? What nation is there from pole or tortured? Where are they treated with injusto pole, that does not reverence the nod of the ed? Are not the riches of the world our own? British King? Is not our commerce unrestrainDo not our ships sail unmolested, and our merchants traffic in perfect security? Is not the very name of England treated by foreigners in a manner never known before? Or if some slight injuries have been offered, if some of our petty traders have been stopped, our possessions threatened, our effects confiscated, our flag insulted, or our ears cropped, have we lain sluggish and unactive? Have not our fleets been seen in tritimentos, and is not Haddock now stationed at umph at Spithead? Did not Hosier visit the Bas Port Mahon? En quoque quod mirum, And, yet more strange! his veins a horse shall drain, It is farther asserted in the concluding lines, that the horse shall suck the lion's blood. This is still more obscure than any of the rest; and indeed the difficulties I have met with ever since the first mention of the lion are so many and great, that I had, in utter despair of surmounting them, once desisted from my design of publishing any thing upon this subject: but was prevailed The lilies borne by the kings of France are an upon by the importunity of some friends, to whom Tunc latis The lilies o'er the vales triumphant spread. I can deny nothing, to resume my design; and I must own, that nothing animated me so much as the hope they flattered me with, that my essay might be inserted in the Gazetteer, and so become of service to my country. That a weaker animal should suck the blood of a stronger without resistance, is wholly improbable and inconsistent with the regard for self-preservation, so observable in every order and species of beings. We must therefore necessarily endeavour after some figurative sense not liable to so insuperable an objection. Were I to proceed in the same tenor of interpretation, by which I explained the moon and the lilies, I might observe that a horse is the arms of H But how then does the horse suck the lion's blood? Money is the blood of the body politic. But my zeal for the present happy establishment will not suffer me to pursue a train of thought that leads to such shocking conclusions. The idea is detestable, and such as, it ought to be hoped, can enter into the mind of none but a virulent Republican, or bloody Jacobite. There is not one honest man in the nation unconvinced how weak an attempt it would be to endeavour to confute this insinuation. An insinuation which no party will dare to abet, and of so fatal and destructive a tendency, that it may prove equally dangerous to the author, whether true or false. As therefore I can form no hypothesis on which a consistent interpretation may be built, I must leave these loose and unconnected hints entirely to the candour of the reader, and confess that I do not think my scheme of explication just, since I cannot apply it throughout the whole without involving myself in difficulties, from which the ablest interpreter would find it no easy matter to get free. Being therefore convinced, upon an attentive and deliberate review of these observations, and a consultation with my friends, of whose abilities I have the highest esteem, and whose impartiality, sincerity, and probity, I have long known and frequently experienced, that my conjectures are in general very uncertain, often improbable, and sometimes little less than apparently false, I was long in doubt whether I ought not entirely to suppress them, and content myself with publishing in the Gazetteer the inscription, as it stands engraven on the stone, without translation or commentary, unless that ingenious and learned society should favour the world with their own remarks. swered, after a short pause, that, with all proper deference to the great sagacity and advanced age of the objector, I could not but conceive that his position confuted itself, and that a reader of the Gazetteer, being by his own confession accustomed to encounter difficulties, and search for meaning where it was not easily to be found, must be better prepared than any other man for the perusal of these ambiguous expressions. And that, besides, the explication of this stone, being a task which nothing could surmount but the most acute penetration joined with indefatigable patience, seemed in reality reserved for those who have given proofs of both in the highest degree, by reading and understanding the Gazetteer. This answer satisfied every one but the objector, who, with an obstinacy not very uncom mon, adhered to his own opinion, though he could not defend it: and not being able to make any reply, attempted to laugh away my argument, but found the rest of my friends so little disposed to jest upon this important question, that he was forced to restrain his mirth, and content himself with a sullen and contemptuous silence. Another of my friends, whom I had assembled on this occasion, having owned the solidity of my answer to the first objection, offered a second, which in his opinion could not be so easily defeated. "I have observed," says he, "that the essays in the Gazetteer, though written on very impor tant subjects by the ablest hands which ambition can incite, friendship engage, or money procure, have never, though circulated through the kingdom with the utmost application, had any re markable influence upon the people. I know many persons of no common capacity, that hold it sufficient to peruse the papers four times a year; and others who receive them regularly, and, without looking upon them, treasure them under ground for the benefit of posterity. So that the inscription may, by being inserted there, sink once more into darkness and oblivion, instead of informing the age, and assisting our present ministry in the regulation of their measures." Another observed, that nothing was more unreasonable than my hope, that any remarks or elucidations would be drawn up by that fraternity, since their own employments do not allow them any leisure for such attempts. Every one knows that panegyric is in its own nature no easy To this scheme, which I thought extremely task, and that to defend is much more difficult well calculated for the public good, and there-than to attack; consider then, says he, what infore very eagerly communicated to my acquaint-dustry, what assiduity it must require, to praise ance and fellow-students, some objections were and vindicate a ministry like ours. started, which, as I had not foreseen, I was un- It was hinted by another, that an inscription able to answer. which had no relation to any particular set of It was observed, first, That the Daily Disser-men amongst us, but was composed many ages tations published by that fraternity, are written with such profundity of sentiment, and filled with such uncommon modes of expression, as to be themselves sufficiently unintelligible to vulgar readers, and that therefore the venerable obscurity of this prediction, would much less excite the curiosity and awaken the attention of mankind, than if it were exhibited in any other paper, and placed in opposition to the clear and easy style of an author generally understood. To this argument, formidable as it was, I an before the parties, which now divide the nation, had a being, could not be so properly conveyed to the world by means of a paper dedicated to political debates. Another to whom I had communicated my own observations in a more private manner, and who had inserted some of his own arguments, declared it as his opinion, that they were, though very controvertible and unsatisfactory, yet 100 valuable to be lost; and that though to insert the inscription in a paper of which such numbers are daily distributed at the expense of the public, | nument; they will extend much farther: for the would doubtless be very agreeable to the gene- commentators having sharpened and improved rous design of the author, yet he hoped that as their sagacity by this long and difficult course of all the students, either of politics or antiquities, study, will, when they return into public life, be would receive both pleasure and improvement of wonderful service to the government, in exfrom the dissertation with which it is accompa-amining pamphlets, songs, and journals, and in nied, none of them would regret to pay for so drawing up informations, indictments, and inagreeable an entertainment. structions for special juries. They will be wonderfully fitted for the posts of Attorney and Solicitor General, but will excel, above all, as licensers for the stage. It cannot be wondered that I have yielded at ast to such weighty reasons, and such insinuating compliments, and chosen to gratify at once the inclination of friends and the vanity of an author. Yet I should think I had very imperfectly discharged my duty to my country, did I not warn all whom either interest or curiosity shall incite to the perusal of this treatise, not to lay any stress upon my explications. How a more complete and indisputable interpretation may be obtained, it is not easy to say. This will, I suppose, be readily granted, that it is not to be expected from any single hand, but from the joint inquiries and united labours of a numerous society of able men, instituted by authority, selected with great discernment and impartiality, and supported at the charge of the nation. I am very far from apprehending that any proposal for the attainment of so desirable an end, will be rejected by this inquisitive and enlightened age, and shall therefore lay before the public the project which I have formed and matured by long consideration, for the institution of a society of commentators upon this inscription. I humbly propose, that thirty of the most distinguished genius be chosen for this employment, half from the inns of court, and half from the army, and be incorporated into a society for five years, under the name of the SOCIETY OF COMMENTATORS. That great undertakings can only be executed by a great number of hands, is too evident to require any proof; and I am afraid all that read this scheme will think that it is chiefly defective in this respect, and that when they reflect how many commissaries were thought necessary at Seville, and that even their negotiations entirely miscarried, probably for want of more associates, they will conclude that I have proposed impossibilities, and that the ends of the institution will be defeated by an injudicious and ill-timed frugality. The gentlemen of the array will equally adorn the province to which I have assigned them, of setting the discoveries and sentiments of their associates in a clear and agreeable light. The lawyers are well known to be very happy in expressing their ideas, being for the most part able to make themselves understood by none but their own fraternity. But the geniuses of the army have sufficient opportunities, by their free access to the levee and the toilet, their constant attendance on balls and assemblies, and that abundant leisure which they enjoy beyond any other body of men, to acquaint themselves with every new word and prevailing mode of expression, and to attain the utmost nicety and most polished prettiness of language. It will be necessary, that during their attendance upon the society, they be exempt from any obligation to appear in Hyde-Park: and that upon no emergency, however pressing, they be called away from their studies, unless the nation be in immediate danger by an insurrection of weavers, colliers, or smugglers. There may not perhaps be found in the army such a number of men, who have ever condescended to pass through the labours and irksome forms of education in use among the lower classes of people, or submitted to learn the mercantile and plebeian arts of writing and reading. I must own, that though I entirely agree with the notions of the uselessness of any such trivial accomplishments in the military profession, and of their inconsistency with more valuable attainments; though I am convinced, that a man who can read and write, becomes, at least, a very disagreeable companion to his brother soldiers, if he does not absolutely shun their acquaintance; that he is apt to imbibe from his books odd notions of liberty and independency, and even sometimes of morality and virtue, utterly inconsistent with the desirable character of a pretty But if it be considered, how well the persons gentleman: though writing frequently stains the I recommend must have been qualified by their whitest finger, and reading has a natural teneducation and profession for the provinces as-dency to cloud the aspect, and depress that airy signed them, the objection will grow less weighty and thoughtless vivacity, which is the distin than it appears. It is well known to be the con-guishing characteristic of a modern warrior; yet stant study of the lawyers to discover in acts of parliament, meanings which escaped the committees that drew then up, and the senates that passed them into laws, and to explain wills into a sense wholly contrary to the intention of the I know that the knowledge of the alphabet is testator. How easily may an adept in these so disreputable among these gentlemen, that admirable and useful arts, penetrate into the those who have by ill fortune formerly been most hidden import of this prediction? A man taught it, have partly forgot it by disuse, and accustomed to satisfy himself with the obvious partly concealed it from the world, to avoid and natural meaning of a sentence, does not the railleries and insults to which their education easily shake off his habit; but a true-bred law-might make them liable: I propose, therefore, yer never contents himself with one sense when there is another to be found. Nor will the beneficial consequences of this scheme terminate in the explication of this mo on this single occasion, I cannot but heartily wish, that by a strict search there may be discovered in the army fifteen men who can write and read. that all the officers of the army may be examined upon oath one by one, and that if fifteen cannot be selected who are at present so qualified, the deficiency may be supplied out of those who having once learned to read, may perhaps, with the assistance of a master, in a short time refresh their memories. It may be thought, at the first sight of this proposal, that it might not be improper to assign to every commentator a reader and secretary; but it may be easily conceived, that not only the public might murmur at such an addition of expense, but that by the unfaithfulness or negligence of their servants, the discoveries of the Society may be carried to foreign courts, and made use of to the disadvantage of our own country. distinctions of men among us, to lay aside for a OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF FROM THE LITERARY MAGAZINE, NO. IV. THE time is now come in which every Englishman expects to be informed of the national affairs, and in which he has a right to have that For the residence of this society, I cannot expectation gratified. For whatever may be think any place more proper than Greenwich- urged by ministers, or those whom vanity or Hospital, in which they may have thirty apart-interest make the followers of ministers, conments fitted up for them, that they may make cerning the necessity of confidence in our govertheir observations in private, and meet once a nors, and the presumption of prying with proday in the painted hall to compare them. fane eyes into the recesses of policy, it is evident that this reverence can be claimed only by counsels yet unexecuted, and projects suspended in deliberation. But when a design has ended in miscarriage or success, when every eye and every ear is witness to general discontent, or general satisfaction, it is then a proper time to disentangle confusion, and illustrate obscurity, to show by what causes every event was produced, and in what effects it is likely to terminate; to lay down with distinct particularity what rumour always huddles in general exclamations, or perplexes by undigested narratives; to show whence happiness or calamity is derived, and whence it may be expected; and honestly to lay before the people what inquiry can gather of the past, and conjecture can estimate of the future. If the establishment of this society be thought a matter of too much importance to be deferred till the new buildings are finished, it will be necessary to make room for their reception, by the expulsion of such of the seamen as have no etensions to the settlement there, but fractured abs, loss of eyes, or decayed constitutions, who have lately been admitted in such numbers, that it is now scarce possible to accommodate a nobleman's groom, footman, or postillion, in a manner suitable to the dignity of his profession, and the original design of the foundation. The situation of Greenwich will naturally dispose them to reflection and study: and particular caution ought to be used, lest any interruption be suffered to dissipate their attention or distract their meditations: for this reason, all visits and letters from ladies are strictly to be The general subject of the present war is sufprohibited; and if any of the members shall be ficiently known. It is allowed on both sides, detected with a lap-dog, pack of cards, box of that hostilities began in America, and that the dice, draught-table, snuff-box, or looking-glass, French and English quarrelled about the boun. he shall for the first offence be confined for three daries of their settlements, about grounds and months to water-gruel, and for the second be ex-rivers to which, I am afraid, neither can show pelled the society. any other right than that of power, and which neither can occupy but by usurpation, and the dispossession of the natural lords and original inhabitants. Such is the contest, that no honest man can heartily wish success to either party. Nothing now remains, but that an estimate be made of the expenses necessary for carrying on this noble and generous design. The salary to be allowed each professor cannot be less than 20001. a year, which is indeed more than the re- It may indeed be alleged, that the Indians gular stipend of a commissioner of excise, but it have granted large tracts of land both to one must be remembered, that the commentators and to the other: but these grants can add little have a much more difficult and important em- to the validity of our titles, till it be experienced ployment, and can expect their salaries but for how they were obtained; for if they were exthe short space of five years, whereas a com- torted by violence, or induced by fraud; by missioner (unless he imprudently suffers him-threats, which the miseries of other nations had self to be carried away by a whimsical tenderness for his country) has an establishment for life. It will be necessary to allow the society in general, 30,000l. yearly for the support of the public table, and 40,000l. for secret service. Thus will the ministry have a fair prospect of obtaining the full sense and import of the prediction, without burthening the public with more than 650,000l. which may be paid out of the sinking fund; or if it be not thought proper to violate that sacred treasure by converting any part of it into uses not primarily intended, may be easily raised by a general poll-tax, or excise upon bread. Having now completed my scheme, a scheme calculated for the public benefit, without regard to any party, I entreat all sects, factions, and shown not to be vain, or by promises of which no performance was ever intended, what are they but new modes of usurpation, but new instances of cruelty and treachery? And indeed what but false hope or resistless terror can prevail upon a weaker nation to invite a stronger into their country, to give their lands to strangers whom no affinity of manners, or similitude of opinion, can be said to recom mend, to permit them to build towns from which the natives are excluded, to raise fortresses by which they are intimidated, to settle themselves with such strength that they cannot afterwards be expelled, but are for ever to remain the masters of the original inhabitants, the dictaters of their conduct, and the arbiters of their fate? When we see men acting thus against the precepts of reason, and the instincts of nature, |