UXURY is the effeminate de bater of the foul, the corrupt impoverisher of the mind, the vicious paTent of innumerable evils; from her pernicious root fprings every difeafe of the body, and every fickness of the foul; the creates want even in the mid of plenty, and converts ail nature's bleflings into curfes; fhe, like the sword, untimely crops life's beag teous flower, and like a raging peftilence, devours all human health and happiness; like Circe's Cup the intoxicates the foul, chills, and benumbs every rifing virtue; wherever her bloated countenance appears, pains or poverty attend; the, like the fhades of sight, fleals upon reason's retiring rays, and, like a cutting north-eaft wind, the blafts each virtuous bloffom of the fuul. See fmiling temperance with a beautious bloom appears, like a charming country maid, where health of body, and peace of mind, unite; here (wollen luxury, with de formed countenance, like a tainted harlot of the town, who, like fruit that is rotten before it is ripe, fhews age in youth, a withered vifage and tormented heart: Luxury brutalifes the blood, clogs and impedes the acting of the intellectual power. When we eat only to please our palates, we feed on moit pernicious poifon, and at every intem U perate draught, we fwallow down a fubtle enemy; for it is certain the more we devour of brute creatures, the more we, in our natures, refemblé them. Behold that fewgaw butterfly, the beau who looks like a girl, aid fmells like a Civet Cat, whofe very words are female, and his gesture of the doubtful gender, who plumes Limfelf upon his taylor's art, and, like a peacock, proudly fpreads hs gaudy feathers, whofe utmost knowledge is the newest mode, and highest ambition the moft admired dreis; this pretty painted paltry creature is like a rich purfe that has no money in it, or fool th book, finely gilt and cove ed; the life of this poor Narciffus, like a transforming infeft,entirely de pends upon the cut and colour of s clo ts; he lives but while they laf, and when a fresher fashion, or a fine Coat appear, he dies. But of all kire's of luxury that is furely the most ed ous and abominable where our couatry's gold is debafed and bartered an. for follies. As indufry produces plenty, an idlenefs poverty, fo all virtue ar happiefs neceffarily Ales from, every vice and evil fies to, a peop! of debauched corrupted fpirit. Luxury ftupifies the fenfes, and makes men tame, and fit for flivery; th bows their minds, and caules them to ftcop, like afles, to receive the flav burden, and bafely court the iro hand of arbitrary power; fhe, with her twin fifter corruption, have always been the bane of the greateft ftates aud empires; none but that that has truth 6.d virtue for it's bafis can ever laft, but, like a tree that has not taken a firm root, by the first ftrong adverle blaft must fall; as well may we expect a houfe to fland, whofe foundation is totally rotted and deftroyed, or.. a man to live after his bear is perish. ed, as that kingdom to continue and profper, where luxury and corruption flourish and are promoted.How careful ought all rulers to fow among their people the feeds of found morality; fince the ftability of their government, and all their glory, honour, and happiness, entirely depends thereon. I am, fir, your humble fervant. For For the BOSTON MAGAZINE. ing the force of her charms upon Extracts from DESULTORY THOUGHTS on the Intercourfe between the Sexes. T HE adage that, "A reformed rake makes the bell hufband” ought to be exploded, both because it carries abfurdity on the face of it and has manifeftly an immoral tendency: Of a man who has indulged in the groffeft fenfualities, it may be expect. ed that he will abandon his vicious courfe rather from fatiety than fentiment, and therefore but little praife is due to him on the fcore of his amendment; for where is the merit of refraining from actions, when frequences has cloyed and palled the appetite, and defroyed the force of incitement to eradicate ill habits, confirmed by long acquaintance, is a task of great difficulty. And a man who has been once a fhave to intemperance and debauchery is feldom able to ref cue his mind from the dominion of that grofs fenfuality to which he had before yelded implicit obedience. I believe I fall not run the hazard of contradiction when I affert that those who are called men of the world entertain a mont unworthy opinion of the female fex in general of this Lord Chefterfield is cne inftance, and many others might be easily produced. How can we acfount for this depravity of fentiment in men of gallantry, but by fuppofing that the riptercourfe with diffolute and abandoned women induces the belief, fhat the vices they know belong to foine, are likewife the property of others, whofe characters have not deferved the fmalleft impeachment. Upon the whole I am most clearly perfunded that a reformed rake, or a man, fatiated with fcenes of debauchery, is unworthy the preference that the ladies are too apt to allow him, and that a good hufband is only to be expected in a man of ftria moral integrity. It is not unfrequent that a playfulness of temper, and a fondness for triumphing in the conquefts the has made, without a wish to give permanent affliction to a fuiter whofe addreffes have been eucouraged, but merely with a view to exalt herself in his opinion, by fhew others; this, fay, is the motive where. by ladies are often feduced into that fpecies of coquetry, which flatters their vanity, but not without rendering their candor and ingenuousness of mind fuf pected. When this, however, is the effect of gaity of difpofition, it may be excufed as a levity of the mind, which time will gradually leffen, inftead of being condemned as proceeding from any actual corruption of the heart. If a woman avails herfelf of every occaЛen of throwing out lures to new admi rers, and affording them reafon to imagine that their refpe&ive pretenfions will be countenanced, her character for fincerity muft be utterly ruined; and the will have to regret that the vanity of endeavouring to render herfelf an object of general admiration, had irreconcileably difgufted the man who alone poffeffed the requifites for making her as happy as this mortal ftate will admit of, by conducting himfelf towards her in the chara&er of a "married lover." AM a fort of retainer to the mufes; I and, though I cannot boaft of much familiarity with themselves, hold a fubordinate intimacy with feveral branches of their family. I never made verses, but I can repeat feveral thoufands. Tho' I am not a writer, I am reckoned a very ready expounder of Enigmas; and I have given many good hints towards the compofition of fome favourite Rebuffes andCharades. I have alfo a very competent fhare of claffical learning; I can conftrue Latin when there is an English verfion on the oppofite column, and read the Greek charafler with tolerable facility: I fpeak a little French and can make thift to understand the fubject of an Italian opera. With thefe qualifications, fir, I am held in confiderable eftimation by the wits of both fexes. I am fometimes allowed to clap firft at a play, and pronounce a firm Encore after a fashiona ble Misfortunes of Gubbins, Gubbleftones and Clutterbuck. 337 Die fong. I am confulted by feveral Every one must have obferved the Were I to illuftrate this by an appo -Suppofe, fir, one had a mind to write he chanced to meet Mr. Clutterbuck haftening to an interview with his deftined bride. Stung with jealoufy and rage, reckless of life, and regardless of the remonftrances of his rival, he drew, and attacked him with defperate fury. Both fwords were fheathed at once in the breafts of the combattants. Clutterbuck died on the fpot: his antago nift lived but to be carried to the house of his implacable enemy, and breathed his luft at the feet of his mittrefs. The dying words of Gubbleflones, the fucceeding phrenzy and death of Gubbins, the relenting forrow of their parents, with a defcription of the tomb in which Gubbins, Gubblestones and Clutterbuck were laid, finish the piece, and would leave on the mind of the reader, the highest degree of melancholy and diftreis, were it not for the unfortunate founds which compofe the Names of the actors in this eventful ftory; yet these names, Mr.Mirror, are really and truly right English furnames, and have as good a title to be unfortunate as thofe of Mordaunt, Montague, or Howard. Nor is it only in the blime or the pathetic that a happy choice of names is effential to good writing. Comedy is fo much beholden to this article, that have known fome with fcarcely any wit or character but what was contained in the Dramatis Perfona. Every other fpecies of writing, in which humour or character is to be perfonified, is in the fame predicament, and depends for great part of its applaufe on the nack of hitting off a lucky allufion from the name to the perfon. Your brother effayifts have been particularly indebted to this invention, for fupplying them with a very neceffary material in the conftruation of their papers. In the Spe&ator, I find, from an examination of my notes on this fubject, there are 532 names of chara&ers and correfpondents, 394 of which are defcriptive and characteristic. Having thus fhewn the importance of the art of NAME-MAKING, I proceed to inform you of my plan for affifting authors in this particular, and faving them that expence of time and fludy which the invention of names proper for different purposes muft occafion. I have I have, from a long courfe of ufeful and extensive reading, joined to an uncommon #trength of memory, been enabled to form a kind of dictionary of names for all forts of fubjects, pathetic, fentingentil, ferious, fatirical or merry. For novel fts, I have made a collection of the bit founding English, or EngJith like, French,or French-like names; I fay, the best founding, found being the only thing neceffary in that depart ment. Forcomic writers, and effayifts of your tribe, fir, I have made up, from the works of former authors, as wel is from my own invention, a lift of names, with the characters or fubjects to which they aliude, prefixed. A learned fnend has furnished me with a parcel of figniteres for political, phi. lofophical, and religious effayifts in the newfpipers, among which are no fewer than eighty fix compounds, beginning with PHILO, which are all from four to leven tylubles long, and cannot fail to have a powerful tendency towards The ed ficution and conviction of country readers. For the ufe of ferious poetry, I have a fet of names, tragic, elegiac, paftoral, and legendary; for fongs, fatires, and epigrams, I have a parcel properly correfponding to thofe departments. A column is fubjoined, fliewing the number of feet whereof they confift, that being a requifite chiefly to be attended to, ina names defined for the purposes of poetry. Some of them, indeed, are fo happily contrived, that, by means of an eafy and natural contadion, they can be fhortened or lengthened (ke a pocket telescope) according to the firucture of the line in which they are to be introduced ; others, by the athftance of proper interjctions, are ready made into fmooth, flowing texameters, and will be found extremely uleiul, particularly to our witers of tragedy. All their, tr, the fruits of feveral years labour and indu@ry, I am ready To cominunicate for an adequate confderation, to anthors or other perfons whom they may fuit. Be pleated, therefore, to inform your correlpondents, that by applying to your pub. 1 Gier, they may be miormed in the language of Faliteffe," where a com modity of geud o ames is to be bought." As for your own particular, fir, I am ready to attend you Gratis, at any time you may fand in need of my affiftance; or you may write out your papers blank, and fend them to me to hil ug the names of the parties. I am yours, &c. NOMENCLATOR. For the BOSTON MAGAZINE. A Prayer-by M. de Voltaire from his treatife of toleration. N OT unto men, but unto thee, the God of all beings, of all worlds and of all ages, do I addrefs myfelf; if feeble creatures, loft in the immensity, and imperceptible to the reft of the univerfe, may prefume to afk of thee any thing; of thee who haft given all; of thee, whofe decrees are va changeable, as they are eternal-- Condefcend to look in pity on the errors infeperable from our nature, and let them not be to us the ground of calamities--Thou haft not given us hearts to hate one another, nor hands to cut one another's throats: Grant that we may mutually affift one another to fupport the burden of a painful and tranfitory life: Let not the little diffe rences between the vefiments that cover our feeble bodies; between our defe&ive langauges ; between our ridiculous cuftoms; between our many im perfect laws: between our many foolish opinions; between our feveral conditions fo unequal in our eyes, but fo equal in thine; let not the many little diflinc tions, that denote the feverai clafies of atoms called men, be fignals of hatred and perfecution. May thole who light up wax tapers at noon day, to celebrate thee, bear with thofe, who are con tent with the light of the fun thou haft placed in the firmament Let not those who, to tell us we muft love thee, cover their robe with white linnen, hold in deteftation thofe, who tell us me fame in a cloak of black woolen: Miy it be the fame to adore thee in a jargon formed of an ancient language or in a jargon more modern. May they whofe veflure is dyed with red or purple who rule over a fmall parcel of a Small heap of the mud of this earth and who who paffefs fome rounded bits of a cer- T For the BOSTON MAGAZINE. On making Mortar. (Continued from page 294.) HE ancients had a kind of mor tar fo very hard and binding,that after fo long a duration, it is nex: to impoffible to feperate the parts of fome of their buildings; tho' there are fome who afcribe that exceffive frength to time and influences of certain properties in the air, which is found to hard. en fome bodies very furprisingly. De Lore obferves, that the best mortar is that made of Puzzuoli; adding, that it penetrates black flints, and turns them white. The lime ufed in the ancient mor. tar. is faid to be burnt from the hardeft ftones, and even the fragments of marble. As for the fcaling (or crimp. ing) of mortar out of the joints of fone and brick walls, fome are of opinion it proceeds from the badnefs of the find or Ime, or both, as well as from the feafon of year when work is done. Befdes the commen merter used in haying ftones, bricks, &. there are feveral other kinds, as white mortar vfed in plifiering the walls and cielings which are often firft plaiftered with loss, and is made of ox er cow hair, mixed and tempered with lime and water, without any fand. The common allowance in making this kind of mortar is one bushel of hair to fix bufhels of time; the hair ferves to keep the mortar from cracking; binding it, and holding it fast together. The mortar ufed in making watercourfes, cifterns, &c. is very hard and durable, as may be feen in Rome at this day. It is ufed not only in building of walls, but alfo in making of cifterns to hold water, and all manner of water works, and alfo in finishing or plaiftering of fronts, to reprefent ftone work. There are two kinds of it, the one is compounded with lime and hog's greafe and mixed with the juice of figs; and the other is of the fame ingredients, but has liquid pitch added to it, and is firft wet or flaked with wine, and then pounded or beaten with hogs greafe, and juice of figs. That which has pitch in it, is eafily diftinguished from the other, by its 'colour; and what is plaiftered with this kind of mortar, is washed over with linfeed oil. Mortar for furnaces, &c. is made with red clay, wrought in water, wherein horfe dung and chimney foot has been fleeped, by which a falt is communicated to the water, binding the clay, and making it fit to endure the fire: This clay ought not to be too fat, left it fhould be fubject to chiaks; nor too lean or fandy, left it fhould not bind enough. Some operators in metal, ufe a kind of mortar to plaiffer over the infide of their veffels in which they refine their metals, to keep the metal from running out and this kind of mortar is made with quick lime and ox blood; the lime being firft beaten to powder, and fifted, and afterwards mixt with the blood, and beat with a beater. The glafs makers in France are said to ufe a fort of mortar (for plaiftering over the infides of their furnaces) which is made of a fort of Fuller's earth, which is procured at Behere, near Forges, which is the only earth in France that has the property of nat melting in this exceffive heat; and alfo the pots which hold the melted metal, are made of this fort of earth, and |