in fact, but it is to roll himself about in or der to crush them to death; and he returns fo often to the charge, that he obliges them to abandon the neft; then unearthing it, he eats up all the honey and wax. He catches alfo hedgehogs, rolling them about with his feet, and forcing them to extend themselves. In fhort, he eats fhell and other fish, maybugs, grafshoppers, &c. whenever he can come at them.

This animal refembles greatly the dog, efpecially in the internal parts; yet he is different by the head, which is larger in proportion to his body; his ears are also fhorter, his tail much longer, the hair longer, more tufted and thick-let, and the eyes more inclined: He alfo differs by a very ftrong bad fmell, which is peculiar to him, and, laftly, by the most effential character, which is the natural difpofition; for he is not easily tamed, and never perfectly; he pines away when not at liberty, and dies of difgult when kept too long in a state of domefticity. He does not copulate with the bitch; and, if they are not antipathic, they are at least indifferent to one another. He produces in fewer number, and only once a year; the litters are commonly of four or five, rarely of fix, and never lefs than three. When the female is pregnant, the abfconds, and feldom goes out of her lodge, in which the prepares a bed for her young: She is in heat in winter, and young foxes are met with in the month of April. When the perceives that her retreat is difcovered, and that her cubs have been disturbed in her abfence, the carries them all off, one after the other, into another habitation: They are born with their eyes closed, as dogs, are eighteen months or two years a growing, and live, as they do, thirteen or fourteen years.

The fox's fenfes are as good as thofe of the wolf, his genius more acute, and the organ of his voice more fupple and perfect. The wolf is not heard but by dreadful howlings; the fox yelps, barks, and utters a mournful found, like the cry of the peacock. He has different tones, according to the different fenfations he is affected by: He has the voice of hunting, the accent of defire, the found of murmuring, the plaintive tone of fadness, the cry of grief and pain, which is never heard from him but when he receives fome fhot that has broke one of his limbs ; for he does not cry out on account of any other wound, and lets himself be killed by bastonading, as the wolf, without complaining; but he always makes a courageous defence. He bites dangerously, and keeps faft to his hold; fo that an inftrument of iron or a flick is neceffary for extricating one's-felf

from him. His yelping is a fort of barking, which is performed by like and very preci pitate founds; it is commonly at the end of this yelping that he fetches a stronger and louder tone of voice, like the cry of a peacock. In the winter, efpecially during the froft and fnow, he does not ceafe yelping, and, on the contrary, is almoft mute in fum mer. It is in this feafon that his hair or fus falls and is renewed; the fkins of young foxes, or foxes taken in fummer, are little valued. The flesh of the fox is of an ill quality, but not fo bad as that of the wolf; dogs, and even men, eat of it in autumn, especially in countries where he is pampered by feeding upon grapes; and his winter skin makes a good fur. He fleeps profoundly, and is cafily approached without waking: When he fleeps, he lies round as dogs; but, when he only rests himself, he extends his hind legs, and remains extended on the belly; and it is in this pofture that he watches birds along the hedges; they have so great an antipathy against him, that, the moment they perceive him, they give a little cry of warning. Jays and blackbirds particularly attend on him from the tops of trees, repeating often the cry of warning, and fometimes follow him upwards of two or three hundred paces.

I reared fome foxes that were taken young: As they have a very rank fmell, they can only be kept in remote parts, in ftalls and ftables, where they cannot be often seen; and it is perhaps for this reason, that they cannot be tamed fo well as the wolf, which may be kept nearer the house. When the young foxes were five or fix months old, they ran after ducks and hens, and were ob liged to be chained up. I kept three for twe years, a female and two males: Attempts were made, but in vain, to make them copulate with bitches; but, though they had ne ver feen females of their own species, and appeared preffed by the want of enjoyment, they could not determine themselves to it, and conftantly refused all the bitches: However, the moment of being presented with their own female though chained up, they covered her, and the produced four young ones. These fame foxes, that flew upon the hens when they were at liberty, did not touch them when they had their chain on: A live hen was often tied up near them, and they were fuffered to pass the night together, and though made to faft before, yet, in fpite of hunger and opportunity, they did not forget that they were chained, and did not touch the hen.

The fpecies of foxes is very fubject to the influences of climates, and almost as many

varieties

they refolved to attempt the tacking of it to the land-tax bill. Accordingly, on the fecond reading of the occafional bill, Mr. Bromley made a long speech, wherein, among other things, he urged, That the practice of occasional conformity was fuch a fcandalous hypocrify, as was no way to be excufed upon any pretence whatfoever. That it was condemned even by the better fort of Diffenters themfelves. That the employing perfons of a different religion from that established by law had never been practifed by any wife Government, and was not allowed even in Holland. That the facramental-teft was appointed by the wildom of the Legislature to preferve the eftablished Church; which Church feemed in as much danger from the Diffenters at this time, as it was from the Papifts, when the act was made. That, this law being to necefiary, and having been twice refuled in the House of Lords, the only way to have it pafs was to tack it to a money-bill. That it had been an ancient practice to tack bills, that were for the good of the fubjects, to money-bills, it being reasonable, that, while grievous taxes were laid upon the fubject, for the fupport of the Crown, the Crown fhould, in return, pafs fuch laws as were for the benefit of the people. That the great neceffity there was for the money-bill's paffing was rather an argument for than againft this proceeding. For what danger could there be, that the Lords, who pretended to be fuch great patriots, fhould rather lofe the neceffary fupplies, than pais an act fo requifite for the prefervation of the Church? That, however, if they should fuppofe them to unreafonable, the matter was not yet fo bad, for it was only but proroguing the Parliament for a few days, and then the Commons might pafs the land-tax bill again without the tack.' He concluded with moving, That the bill to prevent occafional conformity might be tacked to the land-tax bill.' This motion occafioned a long and warm debate. The defign of the party was, that the Lords fhould be put under a great difficulty; fince, if they thould untack the bill, and feparate one from the other, then the House of Commons would have infifted on a maxim, which was now fettled among them as a fundamental principle never to be parted from, that the Lords cannot alter a money-bill, but muft either pis it, or reject it, as it is lent to them -On the other hand, the Lords could not agree to any fuch tack, without departing from that folemn refolution, which was in their books figned by most of them, never to admit of a tack to a money-bill; and, if they yielded now, Bey taught the Houle of Commons the 3

way to impofe any thing on them at their pleasure. The party in the Commons put their whole ftrength on the carrying this point. They went farther in their defign; that, which was truly aimed at by thefe in the fecret, was to break the war, and to force a peace. They knew, that a bill with this tack could not pafs in the Houfe of Peers; for fome Lords even of their own party confeffed, that they would never pass it in that manner. By this means money would be stopped; and this would throw all inatters into great confusion both at home and abroad, and difpofe the allies, as defpairing of any help from England, to accept of fuch terms as France would offer them. Thus an artful defign was formed to break, or at leaft to fhake, the whole alliance. The Court was very apprehenfive of this, and the Lord Treafurer Godolphin opposed it with much zeal. The party disowned the defign for fome time, till they had brought up their whole ftrength, and thought they were fure of a majority. The debate held long: Thofe, who oppofed the tacking, urged, that it was a change of the whole Conftitution, and was in effect turning it into a Commonwealth, for it imported the denying, not only to the Lords, but to the Crown, the free ufe of their negative in the Legiflature. If this was once fettled, then, as often as the public occafions made a moneybill neceffary, every thing, which the majority in the Commons had a mind to, would be tacked to it. It is true, fome tacks had been made to money-bills in King Charles's time; but even thofe had still fome relation to the money which was given. But in this cafe a bill, whofe operation was only for one year, and which determined as foon as the four fhillings in the pound were paid, was to have a perpetual law tacked to it, which muft continue in force, after the greatest part of the act was expired. Befides thefe arguments, Mr. Secretary Hedges and the Lord Cutts reprefented to the Houfe, that the Duke of Marlborough had lately concluded a treaty with the King of Pruffia for eight thoufand of his men, to be employed towards the relief of the Duke of Savoy, who was in molt imminent danger. That there troops were actually on their march, upon the credit of a vote of that Houfe, that they would make good her Majefty's treaties : And that the obstructing the money-bills, which the tacking would infallibly do, would put an immediate stop to the march of thofe troops, and thereby occasion the intere ruin of the Duke of Savoy. The Lord Cutts urged, That the English nation was now in the highest confideration abroad:

That

That all Europe was attentive to the refolutions of this Parliament; and that, if any divifions thould happen between the two Houfes, it would caft a damp upon the whole confederacy, and give the French King almolt as great advantage, as we had gained over him at Blenheim. Mr. Boyle, Chancellor of the Exchequer, fpoke on the fame fide, and atked, Whether any wife man amongst them would venture his whole eftate upon a vote?' And, antwering himself in the neg tive, Then, added he, shall we now venture the fafety of all England, nay, of all Europe, upon this vote? Sir John Hollis perceiving, that many Members had left the High-church party, observed, That, for his own part, he had been against this bill from the beginning, but he wondered, that thofe Gentlemen who had all along pretended, that the Church of England was on the brink of ruin, unless such a bill fhould pafs, did not purfue the only method that might fecure the paffing of that bill. I put it (added he) to the confcience of thofe Gentlemen, who are come over to us, whether they were before fatisfied, as to the reasonableness and neceffity of this bill, fince now they defert their own friends? I wish they had voted on our fide two years ago, for it would have faved us a great deal of trouble, the greateft part of the nation a great deal of uneafinefs, and themselves the confufion of abandoning their party at a pinch.'

Sir Thomas Littleton fpoke on the fame fide, and said, By tacking this bill, we mean to throw a necessity upon the Lords to país it. But fuppofe the Lords think fit to untack what we have tacked, and to acquaint us that they are ready to pafs the money-bill, but will confider of the other; whofe fault will the nation account it to be, that the Queen's business is retarded?' In anfwer to all these objections, fome precedents were alledged, and the neceflity of the bill for the prefervation of the Church was urged, which they faw was not like to pafs, unless fent to the Lords fo accompanied; which fome thought was very wittily expreffed by calling it a portion annexed to the Church, as in a marriage; and they faid they did not doubt but thole of the Court would exert themselves to get it paffed, when it was accompanied with two millions as its price. Upon the divifion, the tack was rejected by a majority of two hundred and fifty-one voices against one hundred and thirty-four.

Thus that defign was loft by those who had built all their hopes upon it, and were now highly offended with fome of their own party, who had, by their oppofition, wrought shemfelves into good places, and forfook that

intereft to which they owed their advancement. Thefe, to redeem themselves with their old friends, feemed ftill zealous for the bill, which afterwards went on coldly and flwly in the Houfe of Commons, for they loft all hopes of carrying it in the House of Lords, now that the mine they had laid was fprung. However, it was fent up on the 14th of December; and the next day it was read for the first time. If the Queen had not been prefent, there would have been no long debate on that head, for it was fcarce poffible to fay much that had not been formerly faid; but to give her Majefty full information, fince it was fuppofed that the had heard that matter only on one fide, it was refolved to open the whole in her hearing. The topics most infifted on were the quiet that the nation enjoyed by the toleration, on which head the feverities of former reigns were laid open, both in their injustice, cruelty, and their being managed only to advance Popery, and other bad defigns. The peaceable behaviour of the Diffenters, and the zeal they expreffed for the Queen and her Government, were likewife copiously fet forth, while others fhewed a malignity to it. That which was chiefly urged was, that every new law, made in the matter, altered the ftate of things from what it was, when the act of toleration first passed. This gave the Diffenters an alarm : They might from thence juftly conclude, that one step would be made after an other, till the whole effect of that act should be overturned. It did not appear, from the behaviour of any among them, that they were not contented with the toleration they enjoyed, or that they were carrying on defigns against the Church. In that cafe it might be very reasonable to look for a further fecuring; but nothing tending that way was fo much as pretended: All went on jealoulies and fears, the common topic of fedition. On the other hand, to fupport the bill, all stories were brought up to Thew how rettlets and unquiet that fort of men had been in former times. The Archbishop of York declared, That he was for fo much of the bill as concerned the Church. Whereupon the Earl of Peterborough faid,

That he was glad to hear that learned PreJate make a diftinction between the ecclefiaftical and political part of the bill; and he hoped, that all the Lords, who, in their confciences, were fatisfied, as his Grace feemed to be, that the bill was framed to serve a temporal, as well as a fpiritual end, would vote against it. The queftion being put, whether the bill fhould be read a fecond time, it was carried in the negative by a majority of feventy-one voices again fifty;

fifty-one Members prefent, and twenty proxies, being for rejecting it; and thirtythree Peers in the Houfe, and feventeen proxies, for giving it a second reading.

By this time the Lords were engaged in an affair which made no lefs noife than the conformity-bill, and was occafioned by a speech of Lord Haveriham; his Lordship having acquainted the Peers, that he had matters of great importance to lay before them, but that he defired it fhould be in a full Houfe; all the Lords in town and in the neighbourhood were fummoned to at tend three days after, when his Lordship made a fpeech, of which these are the most remarkable paffages:

I would be far from detracting or leffening any man's juft praife, and do really believe, that the wonderful victory obtained over the French, under the conduct and command of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough, if considered in all its circumstances, efpecially the unusual fecrecy with which the orders were executed, is the greatest any hif tory can fhew us.

And, though our fuccefs at fea was not equal to what it was at land, yet the English courage and bravery fhewed itself the fame. I cannot indeed congratulate Sir George Rooke's intire victory over the French; but I can, and do most heartily, his fafe deliverance from them.

Let our victories be what they will afhore, while France is thus powerful at fea, and more fo daily, not only by her new additions, but by our too eafy conceffions, as were thofe of St. Chriftophers, Newfoundland, and Hudson's-bay; while our trade is thus neglected, and your Lordfhips faithful and provident advice baffled by the dark counfels of nobody knows who; England, in my opinion, can never be fafe.

Another thing that I fhall take notice of is the present state of the coin; and I dare venture to fay, that, if fuch vaft exportations be much longer continued and allowed, we fhall have very little left at home. France. may be beaten, but England must be beggared. I know we are not fo fenfible of this, because there is a paper-money now current; but, fhould there ever happen to be a stop there, I pray God preserve us from finking

accordingly fome were difplaced to make room for others, taking fome from each party, who might influence the reft. Things being thus prepared, and a motly Minikry fet up, the Parliament met about the 6th of July lat. And, though the fucceffion to the Crown in the Proteftant line was the main thing recommended with the greatest earneftnefs by the Queen in her letter to them, yet it was fo poftponed and baffled, that at length it came to nothing; partly, becaufe the Miniftry was fo weak and divided, that, inftead of doing every thing, they could do nothing; and partly from a received opinion, that the fucceffion itself was never fincerely and cordially intended, either by the Miniftry there, or by thofe that managed the Scots affairs here.

This is very evident; for, at the opening of the feffion, my Lord Secretary himself diftinguishes between a fecret and revealed will. And not only that, but upon the fourth Sederunt (as they call it) a motion was made for a bill of exclufion; I take it formally to be fo, though it bears the title of an act of fecurity, which was read the first time on the 7th, and ordered to lie on the table till they heard from England; and, on the 10th, it paffed into a law. Now can any reasonable man believe, that those who promoted a bill of exclufion there, or those who here advised the paffing of it, could ever be really and cordially for the English fucceffion. I know there is an exception in the act itself; but it is fuch a one as might have full as well been left out. For he, that afks what he knows before will never be granted, only afks the denial. And yet this is not all, but in this very bill of exclufion, as I call it, all the heretors and boroughs are not only allowed, but ordained (as the word is) to be armed, and to exercife their fencible men once every month.

This being the fact (and, I think, I have ftated it very truly) furely, my Lords, it is what deferves your confideration; and I fhall make but one or two obfervations to your Lordships. There are two matters of all troubles; much difcontent and great poverty; and whoever will now look into Scotland, will find them both in that kingdom. It is certain, the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland are as learned, and as brave, as any nation in Europe can boaft of; and these are generally difcontented. And, as to the common people, they are very numerous and very ftout, but very poor. And who is the man that can answer what fuch a multitude, fo armed, fo difciplined, with fuch leaders, may do, especially fince opportunities do fo much alter men frem demfelves?

And