but to carry on a defensive part: but his argument could not avail in the council of war. Upon which a great detachment of foot, and the whole of the horse of the King of Portugal's army, passed the river, and with some pieces of cannon did good execution on the enemy. Upon observing this, the Marquis de Bay advanced with his horse, and attacked the right wing of the Portugueze cavalry, who faced about, and fled, without standing the first encounter. But their foot repulsed the same body of horse, in three successive charges, with great order and resolution. Whilst this was transacting, the British general commanded the brigade of Pearce to keep the enemy in diversion by a new attack. This was so well executed, that the Portugueze infantry had time to retire in good order, and re-pass But that brigade, which rescued them, was itself surrounded by the enemy, and MajorGeneral Starkey, Brigadier Pearce, together with both their regiments, and that of Lord Galloway, lately raised, were taken prisoners. the river. During the engagement, the Earl of Barrimore, having advanced too far to give some necessary order, was hemmed in by a squadron of the enemy; but found means to gallop up to the brigade of Pearce, with which he remains also a prisoner. My Lord Galloway had his horse shot under him in this action; and the Conde de Staint Juan, a Portugueze General, was taken prisoner. The same night the army encamped at Aronches, and on the ninth moved to Elvas, where they lay when these dispatches came away. Colonel Stanwix's regiment is also taken. The whole of this affair has given the Portugueze a great idea of the capacity and courage of my Lord Galloway, against whose advice they entered upon this unfortunate affair, and by whose conduct they were rescued from it. The prodigious constancy and resolution of that great man is hardly to be paralleled, who under the oppression of a maimed body, and the reflexion of repeated illfortune, goes on with an unspeakable alacrity in the service of the common cause. He has already put things in a very good posture after this ill accident, and made the necessary dispositions for covering the country from any further attempt of the enemy, who still lie in the camp they were in before the battle. Letters from Brussels, dated the twenty-fifth instant, advise, that notwithstanding the negociations of a peace seem so far advanced, that some do confidently report the preliminaries of a treaty to be actually agreed on, yet the allies hasten their prepations for opening the campaign; and the forces of the Empire, the Prussians, the Danes, the Wirtembergers, the Palatines, and Saxon auxiliaries, are in motion towards the general rendezvous, they being already arrived in the neighbourhood of Brussels. These advices add, that the deputies of the States of Holland, having made a general review of the troops in Flanders, set out for Antwerp on the 21st instant from that place. No 18. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1709. Quicquid agunt homines—— nostri est farrago libelli. Juv. Sat. i. 85, 19. Whate'er men do, or say, or think, or dream, From my own Apartment, May 20. P. IT is observed too often that men of wit do so much employ their thoughts upon fine speculations, that things useful to mankind are wholly neglected · and they are busy in making emendations upon some enclitics in a Greek author, while obvious things that every man may have use for, are wholly overlooked. It would be a happy thing, if such as have real capacities for public service were employed in works of general use; but because a thing is every body's business, it is nobody's business: this is for want of public spirit. As for my part, who am only a student, and a man of no great interest, I can only remark things, and recommend the correction of them to higher powers. There is an offence I have a thousand times lamented, but fear I shall never see remedied; which is, that in a nation where learning is so frequent as in Great Britain, there should be so many gross errors as there are in the very directions of things wherein accuracy is necessary for the conduct of life. This is notoriously observed by all men of letters when they first come to town (at which time they are usually curious that way) in the inscriptions on sign-posts. I have cause to know this matter as well as any body; for I have, when I went to Merchant-Taylors' school suffered stripes for spelling after the signs I observed in my way; though at the same time I must confess, staring at those inscriptions first gave me an idea and curiosity for medals, in which I have since arrived at some knowledge. Many a man has lost his way and his dinner by this general want of skill in orthography; for, considering that the paintings are usually very bad, that you cannot know the animal under whose sign you are to live that day, how must the stranger be misled if it be wrong spelled, as well as ill painted? I have a cousin now in town, who has answered under bachelor at Queen College, whose name is Humphry Mopstaff (he is a-kin to us by his mother); this young man going to see a relation in Barbican, wandered a whole day by the mistake of one letter; for it was written, "This is the Beer," instead of "This is the Bear." He was set right at last, by inquiring for the house of a fellow who could not read, and knew the place mechanically, only by having been often drunk there. But, in the name of goodness, let us make our learning of use to us, or not. Was not this a shame, that a philosopher should be thus directed by a cobler? I will be sworn, if it were known how many have suffered in this kind by false spelling since the Union, this matter would not long lie thus. What makes these evils the more insupportable is, that they are so easily amended, and nothing done to it; but it is so far from that, that the evil goes on in other arts as well as orthography; places are confounded, as well for want of proper distinctions, as things for want of true characters. Had I not come by the other day very early in the morning, there might have been mischief done; for a worthy North Briton was swearing at Stocks Market that they would not let him in at his lodgings; but I, knowing the gentleman, and observing him look often at the King on horseback, and then double his oaths, that he was sure he was right, found he mistook that for Charing Cross, by the erection of the like statue in each place. I grant, private men may distinguish their abodes as they please; as one of my acquaintance, who lives at Marybone*, has put a good sentence of his own invention upon his dwelling-place+, to find out where he lives: he is so near London, that his conceit is this, "the country in town;" or, "the town in the country;" for you know, if they are both in one, they are all one. Besides that, the ambiguity is not of great conse * The Duke of Buckingham is humourously said to have lived at Mary bone, as he was almost every day on the bowlinggreen there, and seldom left it until he could see no longer. On Buckingham-house, now the Queen's palace, were originally these inscriptions. On the front, "Sic siti lætantur Lares;" on the back front, "Rus in urbe." On the side next the road, "Spectator fastidiosus sibi molestus;" on t North side, "Lentè incæpit, citò perfecit." N quence; if you are safe at the place, it is no matter if you do not distinctly know where the place is: but to return to the orthography of public places. I promise, that every tradesman in the cities of London and Westminster shall give me sixpence a quarter for keeping their signs in repair, as to the grammatical part; and I will take into my house a Swiss Count of my acquaintance, who can remember all their names without book, for dispatch sake, setting up the head of the said foreigner for my sign; the features being strong, and fit for hanging high. St. James's Coffee-house, May 20. This day a mail arrived from Holland, by which there are advices from Paris, that the kingdom of France is in the utmost misery and distraction. The merchants of Lyons have been at Court, to remonstrate their great sufferings by the failure of their public credit; but have received no other satisfaction than promises of sudden peace; and that their debts will be made good by funds out of the revenue, which will not answer, but in case of the peace which is promised. In the mean time, the cries of the common people are loud for want of bread; the gentry have lost all spirit and zeal for their country; and the King himself seems to languish under the anxiety of the pressing calamities of the nation, and retires from hearing those grievances which he hath not the power to redress. Instead of preparations for war, and the defence of their country, there is nothing to be seen but evident marks of a general despair processions, fastings, public mournings and humiliations, are become the sole employments of a people, who were lately the most vain and gay of any of the universe. The Pope has written to the French King on the subject of a peace; and his Majesty has answered in the lowliest terms, that he entirely submits his Probably John-James Heidegger, Esq. |