victed of robbing his mafter, was faved in confequence of a recommendation by the jury, as it appeared he had been put on by his father; and of a petition after wards prefented to the king by his grandmother, a poor woman of eighty-two; whom his Majefty perceiving to totter as fhe approached him, was graciously pleased to go and meet. Being the anniversary of 29th. the restoration of Charles II. the fame was observed as usual. A fudden fire broke out, at noonday, at Bellon, in Rutlandshire, by which 27 houses were confumed, befides barns, out-houses, and granaries, and more than 170 perfons reduced to the greateft diftrefs. It was occafioned by a girl's throwing hot afhes into a back yard, which kindled the litter and fet an outhouse on fire. They write from Vienna, that fince the power of the monks is fallen, the clouds of ignorance are diffipated, and toleration has proved that the difference of religion does not either weaken the love, or leffen the fidelity, of fubjects, or fow the leaft diffenfion among them; if they are equally well ufed. By an imperial edit lately published in Hungary, it is faid to be enacted, Firft, that no fick proteftant fhall for the future be obliged to have a catholic priett. 2d, The latter are for bid going to the fick proteftants, unless they are called by the fick perfons, their relations, or proteftant friends. 3d, The proteftants fhall not for the future be obliged to have a catholic priest to attend their funerals. 4th, If a prieft is called upon on fuch an occafion, he fhall be obliged to fing.futh capticles chufe. as the proteftants shall 5th, All catholic fchool-mafters, &c. are forbid to put fuch books into the hands of their pupils, as treat of different doctrines from that which their parents profess, under pain of lofing their employments. 6th, All proceffions, &c. which take up more than one day, are abfolutely forbid. 7th, When proceffions are made in cities, the proteftants shall not be obliged to affift at them; confequently they are not to be invited, or punished for not coming. By thefe means all diforder, animofity, and profanation will be put an end to. Several Spanish frigates having been fent from Acapulco to make difcoveries, and propagate the Gofpel among the Indians to the north of California; in the month of July, 1774, they navigated as high upon the coaft as the latitude 58 deg. 20 min. fix degrees above Cape Blanco. Having discovered feveral good ports, and navigable rivers, upon the weft coaft of this great continent, they established in one of the largest ports, a garrifon, and called the port Prefidio de San Carlos; and, befides, left a miffion at every port where inhabitants were to be found. The Indians they here met with, are faid to be a docile fort of people, agreeable in their countenance, honeft in their traffic, and neat in their dress, but at the fame time idolaters to the greatest degree, having never before had any intercourfe with Europeans. M. Buccarelli, viceroy of New Spain, has received his catholic majefty's thanks for these difcoveries, as they were made under his direction, and the feveral navy officers upon that fervice have been preferred. Preferred. It is imagined that thofe new discoveries will be very advantageous, as the coaft abounds with whales, as alfo a fifh equal to the Newfoundland cod, known in Spain by the name of Baccalao. At the late Lent affizes of Maryborough, in Ireland, twelve of the deluded people called White-boys were capitally convicted on a late act, and ordered for execution. By this act, perfons found in arms, day or night, in any difguife, or diftinguished by any name other than their ufual name, are liable to corporal punishment, fine, or imprifonment; perfons maiming, wounding, fhooting at, threatening the perfon, or deftroying the property, of another, or compelling him to join in any criminal offences, are punishable with death;-perfons forcibly entering the dwellinghoufes of others in the night, or caufing any door to be opened, any arms, ammunition, or other goods, or chattels to he feized, are punishable with death; aiding, abetting, or concealing any fuch perfons, is death; and perfons killing or maiming fuch offenders in purfuing or apprehending them, are indemnified. All damages done by fuch offenders are to be made good by affeffment in the district where the damage is fuftained. Magiftrates are empow. ered to fearch for and feize all arms, &c. in the poffeffion of papifts or reputed papifts; and perfons under fuch denomination are liable to corporal punishment, fine, and imprisonment, for concealing arms, ammunition, &c. The act, however, allows time for criminals to furrender and receive pardon; and enacts, that no confef fion that may be then made, shall be brought in evidence against any perfon fo furrendering and pleading pardon. On the 15th inftant, Ellin Ellis, aged 72, and who had been married 46 years, was brought to bed, at the Four Croffes, Denbighshire. She has had twelve children by the fame father, the oldeft was 45, and the youngest, before the laft, 25 years of age. The laft was ftill-born, owing, as it is imagined, to the mother's being frightened by a brute of a fellow telling her a fortnight before, that, if he was with child, it must be by the devil. This is fo remarkable an event, that her pregnancy was much called in queftion. Both the and her husband looked very infirm. DIED, the Ift inftant, William Smith, Efq; aged 98, at SevenOaks, Kent. He has left an only fon, his heir, who is upwards of 60. The 8th, The wife of Mr. Ricaby, hofier, in the Borough. Her death was occafioned by a sharper's coming in to her on a pretended meffage, and haftily telling her that her husband was dropt down dead at Camberwell. The 29th, Nicholas Price, Efq; Lieutenant-Governor of Kinfale. As he was walking along Damestreet, Dublin, he ftruck a man that met him, and who he said had joftled him against the wall, a blow or two with his cane. The man, whether he knew the governor or not, never returned the blow, but contented himfelf with taking the cane with which he had been ftruck; when the governor immediately fell against the wall and [K] 2 expired. expired. Several furgeons were fent for, who attempted to bleed him, but all to no purpose. It is prefumed he burft a blood veffel in his paffion. ift. JUNE. Some experiments were tried at Woolwich before Lord Viscount Townshend, Lord Amherst, Generals Harvey and Defaguliers, and a number of other officers, with a rifle gun, upon a new construction, by Capt. Fergufon, of the 70th regiment; when that gentleman, under the difadvantages of a heavy rain and a high wind, performed the following four things, none of which had ever before been accomplished with any other small arms. Ift, He fired during four or five minutes at a target, at 200 yards diftance, at the rate of four fhots each minute. 2dly, He fired fix fhots in one mimute. 3dly, He fired four times per minute, advancing at the fame time at the rate of four miles in the hour. 4thly, He poured a bottle of water into the pan and barrel of the piece when loaded, fo as to wet every grain of the powder, and in lefs than half a minute fired with her as well as ever, without extracting the ball. He alfo hit the bull's eye at 100 yards, lying with his back on the ground; and, notwithstanding the unequalness of the wind and wetnefs of the weather, he only miffed the target three times during the whole course of the experiments. The captain has fince taken out a patent for the faid improvements. 4. It paffed the great feal on the 4th of December following. Some weeks ago, a merchant in Dublin was charged, before the privy council of Ireland, with being concerned in fhipping ammunition and warlike ftores for America; and the captain of the ship Hancock and Adams, with receiving the fame. The merchant was difcharged for want of direct proof, but the captain was committed to Newgate. Two addreffes from the 4th. general affembly of the church of Scotland; one on the disturbances in America, the other expreffing their congratulations on the birth of another princess, appeared in the London Gazette. Being his majesty's birth-day, who then entered into the thirtyninth year of his age, their majefties received, at St. James's, the compliments of a numerous and brilliant court on that occafion. [For the ode performed on the oc cafion, please to turn to our article of poetry for this year.] Came on at Guildhall, before Mr. Juftice Afton, a cause between Thomas Eden and and Christopher Court, of London, tobacco merchants, plaintiffs, and the com pany of wharfingers, defendants. The action was brought for recovery of damages fuftained on board the wharfingers lighters to and from different fhips loaded with tobacco; which being plainly proved to have been occafioned by want of proper covering, or other neceffary care on the part of the wharfinger, a verdict was given in favour of the plaintiffs, with full cofts of fuit, after a hearing of five hours. 5th. Was Was tried in the court of 5th. King's - Bench, at Guild hall, before Lord Mansfield and a fpecial jury, an action brought up. on a bond, wherein the governors of Greenwich Hofpital were plaintiffs, and a perfon who had contracted to furnish the faid hofpital with meat, defendant, to recover a penalty annexed to a breach of performance of the contract. The defendant had undertaken by bond to deliver good ox beef, instead of which he had fubftituted bull beef, and bull-ftag beef, both of which were faid to be of an inferior quality. To prove this, a late fervant of the defendant was called, who pofitively fwore, that he then often delivered the meat at the hofpital from his mafter, and that amongst it was a quantity of the two different inferior forts above mentioned. The counsel, after cross-examining the witneffes, contended, that, as the defendant's bills for the objectionable meat had been properly paffed, it was thereby proclaimed to be agreeable to the contract, and had wiped away all imputation of fraud. But Lord Mansfield, in charge to the jury, combated this frivolous and evafive plea with equal humanity and juftice. He remarked upon the iniquity of practifing a fraud, in the very article of life, upon fo extenfive a charity. As to the defence fet up, there was no colour to render it of any force; though the bills had been paffed, it was evident, that thofe who audited them were impofed on; but how ever that might be, his lordship acquainted the jury, that it was no matter for their confideration; if they were fatisfied a fraud had been committed by the defendant upon the hofpital, they would find a verdict for the plaintiffs. The jury, without going out of court, gave a verdict of one hundred pounds damages. 6th, At five o'clock in the morning, a violent shock of an earthquake was felt at Gibraltar, both afhore and on board the fhips in the harbour: it lafted about fifty feconds; but, happily, neither the houfes nor the fortifications received any damage. Came on in the court of King'sBench, at Guildhall, before Lord Mansfield, a claufe wherein Nathaniel Lane, of the city of London, grocer, was plaintiff, and a schoolmafter, or mafter of an academy, near Barnard's Caftle in Yorkshire, defendant. The action was brought by the plaintiff against the defendant, to recover a satisfaction for the defendant's neglect of the plaintiff's fon, who had been entrusted to his care, particularly with regard to a fwelling in the child's arm, which happened while at his fchool; by which neglect the child nearly loft the use of it.The jury, without going out of court, gave a verdict for the plain. tiff, with 50l. damages and cofts of fuit. A dreadful fire broke out at Akefund, fituated in the middle of the province of Nericia, in Sweden. It reduced to afhes all that little, but rich and populous, town, not excepting the public buildings, and the iron manufactories, even thofe of Nagels. Two old women perished in the flames. The Jews of the city of Mantua having affembled not long fince in a [K] 3 large large room up three pair of ftairs, to celebrate a wedding, and there being a great number of guests, the weight of them broke down that floor, and thofe underneath, quite to the cellar, by which unhappy accident fixty-fix perfons were killed, and fixteen or feventeen dangerously wounded. The bride and her mother were among the former; but the bridegroom, whofe name was Finzi, not being arrived when the accident happened, efcaped the fate of his relations and friends. The provincials failed in 8th. a very bold attempt to furprife the king's troops, at a troops, at a place called the Three Rivers, in Canada, with the lofs of two hundred prifoners, befides thofe killed and wounded; and next day, the main body of them began their retreat from Canada, burning in their way every fort through which they paffed. General Richard Smith, and Thomas Brand Hollis, Efqrs. the late members for Hindon, were brought before the court of King's Bench, in order to receive fentence, having before been convicted of bribery at the general election; when Sir Richard Afton prefaced their fentence with a pathetic fpeech, in which he expatiated on the enormity of the crime, as, by violating the freedom of election, and corrupting the electors, the British conftitution, the moft perfect in the world, could only be undone; that the crime of which they had been guilty was aggravated by the tendency it had to lead the ignorant and unwary to the commiffion of that horrid and foul fin of perjury, the only barrier between God and man. From these and other reafons equally forcible, he inferred the neceffity of an exemplary punishment, and adjudged them to pay a fine of 1000 marks each (6661. 13 s. 4 d.) to the king, and to fuffer fix months imprifonment; and one of them, (General Smith) at the expiration thereof, to enter into a recognizance of 1000l. himself, and two fecurities in 500l. each, for his good behaviour for three years. The day following, one of the voters at the fame election was brought before the fame court, to receive fentence for wilful and corrupt perjury, in his evidence before the houfe of commons; when he received fentence to stand on and in the pillory, with a paper on his forehead fignifying his crimeWilful and Corrupt Perjury-twice in the town of Hindon on market days, between eleven and two; the first time to-morrow fe'nnight, and the fecond the Thurfday following. And, accordingly, on Wednesday the 19th following, he was brought from the King's Bench prifon to Fifherton gaol, Wiltshire, and on Thursday was carried to Hindon, where he was placed in the pillory for the first time. He was met on the road by a number of his friends, with two flags, and blue ribbons in their hats. The populace treated him very favourably, their attention being taken off in a great meafure, by a perfon mounted on a ftool, who fung and fold an election ballad, much to their entertainment. He was brought back to Fisherton gaol in the evening, and is to undergo the remainder of his fentence the Thursday fol lowing. At Congleton, in Cheshire, one |