generations, will ever see these eftates leflened in value, while the neighbour ing hills are compofed of little elfe but coal and ore. "The whole diftrict where thefe merals abound extends about eight miles in length, and four in breadth. Two ranges of hills bound this place, with a valley between them, in which ftands the town of Merthyr, but very contracted in its extent, by reason of the preceding very unprecedented and unmanly motives, to the great injury of our national improvement and com merce. "The first person who discovered thefe mines, and determined to work them, was a Mr. Bacon, who had a leafe granted him for ninety-nine years, at the low rent of 200l. per annum, which likewife gave him power to extend his works as far as the mines extended in the furrounding counties; but from mifmanagement, or fome unavoidable caufe, he fucceeded fo ill that the works were foon after entirely ftopped. Not long after this failure Mr. Bacon died, when his heirs let one part of this district to Mr. Crawfhay before mentioned, for the yearly rents of 5oool. Another part of this diftri&t is let to Mr. Humfray for 2000l. per annum, and a third to Meffrs. Lewis and Tate, and the fourth or last to Mr. Hill. "Each of these gentlemen employ feveral forges, which in their ftructure look like the gloomy caftles of former times, and give a very romantic appearance to the valley. "Scarcely any thing can be conceived more awfully grand than the defcent on a dark night into the Vale of Merthyr, from any of the furrounding hills, where on a fudden the traveller beholds as it were numberlefs volcanoes breathing out their undulating pillars of flame and fmoke, while the furnaces below emit through every aperture a vivid light, which makes the whole country appear in flames; nor do the immenfe hainmers, the wheels, the rolling-mills, the waterworks, uniting together their various sounds, add a little to the novelty and magnificence of the scene. The workmen employed by the different iron, mafters are very confiderable. Mr. Crawthay alone is faid to employ be tween two and three thousand men, and the other gentlemen an equal pro portion; fo that the whole population of this town is eftimated at ten thoufand persons. "Lately, under the auspices of Mr. Crawfhay, an over-fhot wheel has been conftructed, beyond comparison the largeft in the world. It is above fifty feet in diameter, and made entirely of caft-iron, which coft him above 4000!. The water that turns it is brought from a ftream in the hills about five miles off, on a platform of wood fupported chiefly by stone pillars, except in offe place, where it croffes a bridge on fupporters of wood for the space of about three hundred yards, and elevated eighty feet above the bed of the river, the whole of which forms a very fingular and sublime appearance.”— P. 89. MILFORD HAVEN "APPEARS like an immenfe lake, formed by a great advance of the fea into the land, for the space of about ten miles from the fouth to Pembroke, beyond which the tide comes up, and to Carew Caftle. It is fufficiently large and fpacious to hold the whole British navy; while the fpring tides rife thirty-fix feet, and the neap above twenty-fix, that ships may be out of this harbour in an hour's time, and in eight or nine hours be over at Ireland or the Land's End, and this with almoft any wind, day or night. This haven, after winding in many directions through the interior of Pembrokeshire, becomes united in one great bafin, where is now to be found that expen five but unfinished chain of fortifica tions, which have incurred much ridicule and cenfure, from its abfurd pofition at the bottom of a deep bay, whofe exterior points are left undefended, therefore the importance vanifhed after this difcovery. Yet this vaft harbour appears perfectly land-locked on all fides, except towards its mouth, where the fhores contracting the channel, and turning abruptly to the south-caft, prefent an aperture that might be well defended by judicious planned for tresses. "The first attempt to fortify this harbour was made by Queen Elizabeth, early in the year 1588, to protect this part of the kingdom from the threatened Spanish invafion; two forts were then erected one on each fide of the mouth mouth of the harbour. They were dug in the cliffs, not far above highwater mark, the ruins of which are ftill vifible, and are called Angle and Dale Blockhoufes, from where, tradition fays, ftrong chains were thrown across the entrance of the harbour, a distance of about three hundred yards. "The next attempt to fortify this place was in 1757, for which an act of Parliament paffed, and commiffioners appointed, with a grant of 10,000l. for carrying on the work; but after a long deliberation another act paffed in 1759, to alter and amend the former, by adding engineers to the number of commiffioners appointed, with an additional fum of 10,000l. in order to erect batteries at Peter Church Point, Weft Lanyon Point, and Neyland Point. It was alfo alleged that government had it in contemplation to erect arfenals and dockyards at the latter place, where two feventy-four gun fhips were built fome time before: but before any thing was completed, it was difcovered that both this fort and the intended dockyard were entirely commanded by the hills that overhang on both fides the water, and ultimately admitted that a few men landed any where below might, by gaining the hills, take the fort without a poffibility of refiftance; therefore, after expending 20,000l. the works were inftantly abandoned!" P. 142. TALIESIN'S BED. "GWYL Taliefin, or Taliefin's Bed, in the parish of Llanvihangle. It stood by the high road, about four miles from Aberyft with. Tradition informs us this was the fepulchre of Talie fin-benbeirdd Cymru, who flourished about A. D. 540. "It feems to have been a fort of ciftvaen, four feet long and three broad, compofed of four ftones, one at each end, and two fide ftones, the highest nearly a foot above the ground; but no part of this monument is now remaining, fome ruthlefs hand having broken the ftones, and converted them afterwards to gate-posts." P. 172. CAPTAIN GAM, THE FLUELIN OF "IN this town (Machynllaeth) is fhown an old building, conftructed of the thin flaty ftone of the country, where Owen Glyndwr fummoned the nobility and gentry of Wales, in 1402. Among the number Sir David Gam, knight, attended *, but not with the fame delign-his intention being to murder Glyndwr; but fortunately the plot was difcovered, and Sir David fcized, for which he would have fuffered inftantaneous death but for the interceffion of his best friends, who with difficulty got the fentence changed to confirement, in Machynllaeth, where he continued fome time, till Owen gave him his liberty, on condition he would continue quiet. Sir David being releafed, began foon to manifeft a contrary difpofition, which rather enraged Glyndwr; that, as a refentment, he burnt his houfe, and spoke extempore to Sir David's fervant, as follows: "This gentleman we find, in 1415 (or battle of Agincourt), a captain in the English army under Henry V. and fent by that monarch to reconnoitre the French forces, then fix times the number of the English; but no way difmayed by their numbers, Captain Gam only made this report: There were enough to * be killed, enough to be taken prisoners, and enough to run away! However, in the heat of the battle, and juft as the first line of the French was routed, the fecond line began to march up to interrupt the progrefs of the victory. Henry V. perceiving this, alighted from his horfe, and fhowed himself at the head of his men, where he fought on foot, encouraging fome and affifting others: but in an inftant eighteen French cavaliers, who were resolved to kill him or die in the attempt, rufhed forth together, and in advancing one of them ftunned him with a blow of his battle-axe. They then fell upon him in a body, and he was juft going to fink under their blows, when David Gam, this valiant Welshman, and two more of the fame country, came to his aid; which foor turned the atten tion of the French from the king: but being at laft overpowered them.lves, they fell at his feet, after killing (it is recorded) fourteen of the enemy for which the king, after recovering his fenfes, knighted them all three in the field of battle, though dying of their wounds! Sir David Gam was also the person Shakespeare defcribes in the character of Captain Fluelin.” VOL. V. No. LI. 3 S • O gweli O gweli di wr côch cam Yn ymofyn y Girnigwen Dywed ei bod hi tan y Lan A nod y glo ar ei Phenn.' "However, Sir David was fortunate enough to escape Owen's meditated vengeance, by retiring into England, where he continued in great confidence about the court of Henry V." P. 192. DOWNING, THE SEAT OF MR. "DOWNING, in the parish of Whiteford, near Holywell, beautifully fituated among woods, but principally known to the world as the feat of the late Thomas Pennant, Efq. to whofe indefatigable researches the natural hiftory and topography of Great Britain is under many obligations. Downing is alfo the principal house in the townfhip, and built about the year 1627; but the prefent name is evidently a corruption of Eden - Owain, or the township in which it ftands. The houfe was founded by John Pennant, of Bychton, who, marrying a rich heirefs of this place, erected an elegant manfion, with ftone, brought from a dingle called Nant-y-bi, oppofite the modern edifice. The prefent ftructure is erected in the form of a Roman H; a mode of architecture common in Wales at that period, with this ancient and pious motto on the front: Heb Dduw heb ddim, a duw a digon,' fignifying, Without God there is nothing: with God enough. The grounds are very extenfive, with walks along fine fwelling lands beneath the fhady depth of glens, or through the contracted meads which meander quite to the fhore; with delightful views towards the hills, and the ancient Pharos on Garreg. Over the channel of the Dee are the Hilbree Ifles, on one of which are fome remains of a cell of Benedictines; but the fea view is ftill more animated, with the fight of numerous fleets entering and failing out of the port of Liverpool. Below the house are the ruins of the Abbey of Malandina, which add confiderable beauty to the view. "The house, much improved by Mr. Pennant at different times, confifts of a hall and tibrary, with a large parlour adjoining, and a fmoking-room moft antiquely furnished with ancient carvings, and the horns of all the Eu ropean beasts of chase. Above stairs is an elegant drawing-room and a tea room. "The library, which, if minutely defcribed, would fill a handfome volume of itself, contains a numerous and choice collection of books, chiefly of hiftory and natural hiftory, and many fcarce editions of the claffics, with a great collection of MSS. being folely the labour and industry of the late Thomas Pennant, Efq. among which are his MS. volumes of The Outlines of the Globe, in twenty-two volumes, folio, on which uncommon expenfe has been bestowed, in transcribing, of naments, and illuminations. In the hall are fome very good pictures by Peter Paillou, an inimitable painter of animals and birds: the parlour is also filled with portraits and paintings, moftly reduced from originals by the ingenious Mofes Griffith, an untaught genius of North Wales, who accom panied Mr. Pennant in moft of his tours through England, Scotland, and Wales. "The eftate alfo abounds with coalworks, as do the environs with leadmines, particularly one hill, on which is a cavern, fuppofed to be made by the Romans when they worked these and the neighbouring mines." P. 235. "THIS neighbourhood, in 1694, was annoyed by a very fingular phenomenon, in appearance like a prodigious fire, or kindled exhalation, proceeding from the fea, which fet fire to fixteen ricks of hay and two barns. In this deftructive manner it lafted about twelve days, ravaging the county about Harlech, and poisoning the grafs with its ftench. The flame, which was pe culiarly destructive in the night, had a weak blue appearance, and eafily extinguished, without injuring the peo ple, who frequently ventured to it, and often in it, to fave their effects; yet it was of that infectious nature, that it abfolutely killed the cattle which fed on the grafs; not only the time it lafted confpicuous to the eyes, but for three years afterwards, it caufed a great mortality among the cattle, horfes, and fheep. "Mr. H. Llwyd attributes this ftrange phenomenon, unprecedented in history, hiftory, to locufts, that arrived here about two months before, which, being drowned in the fea, or dying of extreme cold on land, are fuppofed to have occafioned this infection. This hypothefis is founded on the number of locufts found dead near the feafhore, and is a very rational argument in favour of its origin. It is alfo added, that it appeared chiefly in ftormy nights, and fometimes in calm evenings, but any great noife, fuch as founding of horns, firing of guns, &c. did repel it, and often extinguish the fame; which means are faid to have faved many hay-ricks and corn from its baneful effects." P. 253. PENMAEN-MAWR, "A MOST ftupendous mountain, about eight miles from Bangor, being one thousand four hundred feet perpendicular from its base, and to travellers extremely dangerous. In 1772, a good turnpike road was attempted to be carried over the middle of the mountain, but from its fituation, clofe to a frightful precipice, it was found impracticable to render it permanent and fecure; therefore a ftone wall was erected, to defend the traveller from the dangers of the horrid precipice below him, and the fea, which breaks juft before the wall clofe to the road. When proceeding up the fide of this ftupendous mountain, among numerous fragments of ftones, fallen or ftarting through the rugged furface, we are happily concealed from the perpendicular declivity to the fea by a wall five feet high, erected on arches of stone bedded in ftrong mortar, but with fuch little foundation, that a large portion of it is continually falling into the Irish fea, or obftructing the road. A more horrific fituation it is impoffible to depict, or the imagination to conceive, for every moment threatens unavoidable deftruction! "On the summit of this impregnable mountain ftands Braich y Ddinas, an ancient fortification, encompaffed with a ftrong treble wall, and within each wall the foundation of at least one hundred towers, all round, and of equal bignefs, being about fix yards in diameter within, in other places two yards thick, or fometimes only three. The caftle feems to have been impreg nable, there being no way to affault it, because the hill is so high, steep, and rocky, and the walls fo uncommonly ftrong. The way or entrance to it afcends by many turnings, so that one hundred men might defend themselves against a legion; yet there appears room for twenty thousand men within its ruinous walls. At the fummit of the rock, within the innermoft wall, is a well, which affords plenty of water even in the drieft fummer. Tradition makes this the ftrongeft retreat the Britons had in Snowdon: while the magnitude of the works fhows it to have been a princely fortification, ftrengthened by nature and art, and feated near the fea on one of the higheft mountains in Carnarvonfhire. "Mr. Pennant, in his examination of this place, discovered four very diftinct walls placed one above the other, one of which was fix feet high, and one and a half thick. In moft places the facing appeared perfect, but all of dry work. Between the walls, in all parts, were innumerable fmall build ings, moftly circular, regularly faced within and without, but not difpofed in any certain order; though in fome places the walls were interfected with others equally ftrong, and very judiciously calculated to cover the paffage into Anglefea, being apparently im pregnable to every thing but famine. "Of this Braich y Ddinas, or the arm of the city, Governor Pownall, who examined it many years ago, has, contrary to the received opinion, con jectured that it has been one of the Druids confecrated high places of wor、 fhip, and never intended for a place of defence; however, the opinions of Llwyd and Pennant, with what I have feen myself, are to me fufficient evi dences of its having been originally a British fort." P. 287. of the French Academy's Dictionary, printed at Paris, in 1798; with the new Syftem of Weights, Measures, and Coins. The Whole forming a Remembrancer of the French Revolution, as comprifing a fhort Hiftory of it, and a View of the Republic, with Anecdotes, &c. &c. By WILLIAM DUPRE'. 8vo. pp. 311. 7s. 6d. Clement. EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE. "HIS vocabulary contains nearly a thoufand words; not all, indeed, of new creation, but fuch of them as are to be found in the dictionaries hitherto published in this country, will be found here with the new acceptations which they have lately received. This number of words might have been greatly enlarged, had not fome attention been paid to the rejection of fuch as appeared with the character of neologifm, by which name the French critics have ftigmatized the pruriency of many modern writers of their country in the matter of new words. It was, therefore, judged best to admit into this vocabulary thofe only which had been made use of by good writers or eloquent speakers, together with fuch as had already found a place in the lateft dictionaries publifhed at Paris. A lift of the publications made use of in forming this collection of new words will be found at the end, the citations not being always accompanied with the name of the authority in the body of the work." P. xvii. EXTRACTS. "A-BAS, interj. Down with him! down with it! A favourite expreffion with the French during the revolution, and much ufed by the mobs of Paris. It is a word of profcription, a fignal of political anathema, which marks in a triking manner the fickleness of the French character; fince they have called out à-bas! againft all perfons at different times, the idol of the evening being the object of their execration the next morning. (A-bas M. Veto! Down with M. Veto!-A-bas Tallien! Down with Tallien!--A-bas Petion! Down with Petion!-A-bas le Directoire! Down with the Directory!—4-bas les 3 rois! Down with kings!-A-bas les faints! Down with the faints!— A-bas les impies! Down with the impious wretches!-A-bas les athées! Down with the atheifts!-A-bas les Sans-Culottes! Down with the Sans-Culottes.” P. 1. Inftitut aéroftatique, f. m. aeroftatic inftitution. This was first cftablished by the Committee of Public Safety at the palace of Meudon, and is conducted with great fecrecy. The company of aeronauts confifts of fifty enterprifing young men who are conftantly in practice. Balloons are by this inftitution prepared for the different armies, and have their appropriate names; that employed at the battle of Fleurus on the 26th of June 1794 is called the Entreprenant. An aeronaut and two officers of rank afcended in it twice, and by their fignals made with flags contributed to the fuccefs of the, day (or rather fucceffive days), which was of the greatest consequence to the republican arms. When the labours of the aeroftatic inflitution shall have attained to a degree of general utility and perfection, the tranfactions, it has been said, will be published; at prefent the French public know but little of what is doing. The greatest improvement the inflitution has hitherto made, has been to add a kind of telegraph falling below the gondola, and fufpended from it, confifting of eight cylinders of black taffeta, which form the fignals by opening and shutting, and appear like fo many paper lanterns. This fimple apparatus forms two hundred and fixty-five changes, and has been found fufficient for the purposes of correfpondence. The principal engineer has had in contemplation the conftruction of a telegraphic balloon which might be worked on terra firma, by means of ftrings communicating with the cylinders before mentioned, at the height of twelve feet from the ground." P. 8. “ Attaché, f. m. a fervant. Mon attaché is now generally used in France inftead of mon valet de chambre, mon laquais, mon garçon, &c. (Le miniftre public de France fit fon entrée à Gênes, précédé de deux attachés, portant habit de citoyen et la cocarde nationale tricolore au chapeau, &c. The public minifter of France made his entry into Genoa, preceded by two fervants, dressed in the habit of a citizen, having |