heavy weight laid upon his breaft, which was gradually, though flowly, increased till he expired; during which operation he was fed with nothing but a cruft of bread, and fome dirty water. By a bill, which was now paffed, this barbarous practice was abolished, and all felons refusing to plead are adjudged to be guilty of the crimes laid to their charge.

In 1773, captain Phipps, afterwards lord Mulgrave, in the Seahorse, and captain Lutwidge in the Carcafe, were fent out by the government, in order to discover whether there was a poffibility of discovering either a north-east or north-weft paffage to the Eaft Indies; but after failing to the latitude of 81 degrees, 39 minutes, they were prevented by the mountains, or rather islands of ice they met with, from proceeding any ther, and they therefore returned home without being able to accomplish their purpose.

far

The reign of George III. indeed, feems to have been particularly diftinguifhed by the fpirit of adventure. Four different voyages have been performed round the world, for the fimilar purpose of making difcoveries in the South-fea: the firft, by commodore Byron; the fecond, by captain Wallis; the third, by captain Carteret; and the fourth, by captain Cook'; and none of them have entirely failed in the object of their deftination; each of the circumnavigators having either found out fome new countries, or fomething new in the manners of thofe that were already known. Captain Cook, indeed, performed a fecond voyage round the world; and was actually engaged in failing round it a third time, when, to the infinite regret of all lovers of real merit, he was cut off in a fcuffle with the inhabitants of one of the new-difcovered iflands in South-fea, called O-why-hee.

In 1775, hoftilities commenced in the American colonies.

In 1777, much confufion, apprehenfion, and fufpicion, were excited, by the machinery of a wretched enthufiaft and incendiary, known by the appellation of John the Painter, but whofe real name was James

Aitken,

Aitken. This perfon, who was a man of the moft abandoned character, fet fire to the rope-houfe in the dock-yard of Portsmouth, and to a warehouse and fome dwelling-houses in Quay-lane, Briftol. And it appeared by his own confeffion, that he intended to have deftroyed all the dock-yards in the kingdom, in order to impede the naval preparations, and in expectation of being liberally rewarded by the American ftates. But before he could carry any more of his infernal defigns into execution, he was feized, tried, condemned, executed, and hung in chains.

In 1778, a bold adventurer, named Paul Jones, bearing a commiflion from the American congrefs, committed feveral depredations on the coaft of Great Britain he first landed at Whitehaven, where he burnt a fhip in the harbour, and even attempted to fet ire to the town; he afterwards landed in Scotland, is native country, and plundered the houfe of the earl of Selkirk, whofe plate he fold by auction in Paris.

In 1780, there were dreadful riots in London. During the fame year, a terrible hurricane happened n the West Indies, which did confiderable damage to he fquadron there, under commodore Hotham; three hips were loft, and the reft were much injured. The torm at land destroyed nearly all the houfes and planations at Barbadoes, Antigua, St. Lucia, and St. Chriftophers. The diftrefs of the inhabitants of thefe lands is fcarcely to be defcribed, and was thought worthy of the attention of parliament, who voted them ..beral relief.

In 1794, there was a facred concert in commemoraion of Handel, under the patronage of their majefties, nd feveral of the nobility. All the eminent performers in London, vocal and inftrumental, were formed into one band; and furnished a musical entertainment fublime and pleafing beyond conception. Five concerts were performed on five different days, the firft on the 26th of May, in Weftminster-abbey, and at the Pantheon. The total fum collected during that period. amounted to 11,8311. at one guinea for each ticket,

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and

and half-a-guinea for thofe at the rehearsals. Great part of the money collected was given to St. George's hofpital, and the Westminster infirmary, &c. and part to inftitute a royal fociety of musicians, who are to provide for poor, fick, and decayed performers.

The first day of the year 1786 is rendered memorable by the lofs of the Halfewell Eaft Indiaman, captain Pierce, on the rocks of Purbeck, near the ifle of Portland, as fhe was outward bound; when the captain, his two daughters, two nieces, and two other beautiful young ladies, loft their lives. About 120 men got on fhore, but from the darkness of the morning, and furges of the fea, many of them were dafhed to pieces or drowned. Among the number faved, were eighteen officers, thirty feamen, and twenty. five foldiers.

The death of that great warrior and politician, Frede, rick III. king of Pruffia, happened on the 17th of Auguft, in the 75th year of his age. He was fucceeded by his nephew, Frederick IV.

In 1788, died at Rome, aged fixty-feven years, prince Charles Edward Stuart, more commonly known by the name of the pretender to the crown of these realms. His funeral obfequies were celebrated with great pomp in the cathedral of Frefcati, of which fee, his brother, cardinal York, was bithop. He left, however, a natural daughter, whom, by his pretended royal power, he created duchefs of Albany, and to whom he bequeathed all his property in the French funds, which was very confiderable.

In 1789, during the month of January, and part of February, the froft was fo intenfe, that the river Thames became a ftage for every kind of diversion. Bear-baiting, feftivals, booths, turnabouts, and all the various amufements of Bartholomew fair, were exhibited upon the ice, from Putney-bridge to Rotherhithe. The fame year, there was a grand revolution in France.

In 1790, two memorable events happened at fea, which for their fingularity and importance are worthy

to

to be recorded. The firft that attracted the public notice, was a mutiny on board the Bounty, a fhip which failed from England, in the autumn of 1787, on a voyage to the fociety iflands, for bread-fruit trees, in order to cultivate them in our Weft India fettlements. Having completed the object of her voyage, the Bounty quitted Otaheite, on the 11th of April, 1789, and was purfuing her courfe across the Pacific ocean towards the Moluccas, when, on the 28th, at day-break, captain Bligh, who commanded the Bounty, was feized in his cabin by a part of the crew, and with eighteen others, moftly officers, put into the long-boat, with a very fcanty portion of provifions and water. In hopes of making fome addition to their flock, thofe in the boat put back to one of the Friendly Iflands; but being driven from thence with the lofs of one man killed, and several wounded, they made their way for Timor, a Dutch fettleinent, which they reached on the 12th of June, after having been forty-fix days in a crazy, open boat, without any awning to defend them from the rain, which almost inceffantly fell for forty days. A heavy fea, and fqually weather, for a great part of their courfe, had augmented their mifery. Having received from the governor of Timor every neceffary fuccour, they came to Batavia, from whence captain Bligh, and a few others (the reft preparing to follow) arrived in England, in March, 1790. The mutineers in the fhip, who were twenty-five in number, headed by one Chriftian Fletcher, the master's mate, flood away, as they faid, for Otaheite.

The other memorable occurrence was the difafter that befel his majefty's fhip Guardian, lieutenant Riou commander, bound with ftores and provisions for the fettlement at Port Jackfon, in New South Wales. Pursuing their way from the Cape of Good Hope, they fell in with an ifland, or mountain of ice, twice as high as the mast-head; in which getting entangled, the fhip received fo much damage, that the greatest part of the crew took to the boats; one of which, after encountering the greatest hardships, was taken by a

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French

French fhip, and landed at the Cape of Good Hope. The Guardian continued for fome days in the fame itate, as when the boats departed, at the mercy of the winds and waves, without a rudder, and every inftant in danger of being fwallowed up in the vaft abyfs: but by the wonderful exertions of lieutenant Riou (who had before determined to fhare her fate) and the fmall part of the crew that had bravely remained with him, the was providentially enabled to make her way to the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1791, there was a dreadful infurrection of in St. Domingo.

negroes In 1792, the French convention decreed the abolition of royalty, and the formation of a republic on the principles of liberty and equality..

In 1793, the king of France was tried, and executed on the 21st of January. On the 16th of October, the queen fhared the fame fate. About this time, a yellow fever, fimilar to a plague, broke out at Philadelphia, attended with moft dreadful confequences.

In 1794, John Horne Tooke, efq. and others were committed to the tower on a charge of high treafon. They were afterwards tried and acquitted. On the 24th of July, a dreadful fire broke out near Ratcliffecrofs, by which 600 houses were confumed. The loss was computed at 1,000,000l. fterling.

In 1795, on the 8th of April, the prince of Wales was married to the princefs Caroline of Brunfwick. On the 17th of September, Covent garden church, built by Inigo Jones, was deftroyed by fire.

In 1796, on the 7th of January, the princefs of Wales was delivered of a daughter, who was chriftened Charlotta Augufla. On the 17th of Auguft, gene. ral Washington refigned the prefidency of America, and was fucceeded by Mr. Adams. On the 5th of December, a loan of 18,000,000!. was raised for gó. vernment by voluntary fubfcription, in fifteen hours and twenty minutes.

In 1797, the bank of England was ordered by the privy council to flop the payment of eafh, on account

of