THE

Gentleman's Magazine:

For MAY 1762.

Afarther CHARGE brought by the Dutch
Eaft-India Company against that of
Great Britain. (See p. 168.)

HO' the extorted
convention of the

3d of December 1759, A
with the Englife, and
that of the 5th of
the fame month with
the Nabob, were
highly oppreffive &
injurious to the Dutch Company, yet
Caffim Cham, one of the Nabob's com- B
manders, not fatisfied with these
conventions, came on the 11th of Fe-
bruary following, before the Compa-
ny's Fort Auguftus with a great army,
and cut off all provifions from the in-
habitants, upon pretence that the
Dutch had, by letter, promifed to affift
the fon of the Mogul against the Na-C
bob; which letter had been inter-
cepted and given to the Nabob by the
Englifb: Caffim Cham, foon after he
had invested the fort, gave orders that
all the cutworkes fhould be razed, and
demanded a large fum of money, by
way of penalty. The Dutch, having
denied the charge, and remonstrated
in vain, were compelled to raze the
outworks of their fort, and to buy off
farther acts of violence, by paying
50,000 florins.

In the month of April following, the Dutch were accufed by the Nabob E of levying men, and confpiring with his enemies; upon which he fent for the chief of Cafembuzar, and demanded, by way of contribution, the fum of 500,000l. the perfon who attended for the chief was fecond in command, the chief being ill; and having in vain endeavoured to convince the Nabob that the charge was falfe, and To divert him from his unreasonable demand, he was himfelf put under - arrest, the company's factory at Caffenbuzar was invefted, and eleven can

non planted before it; the Dutch therefore, to prevent its deftruction, were obliged to pay 200,000 l. fteri promifing, at the fame time, to difcharge a few feapoys, whom they had taken into their pay to fecure their effects against the Marattas, and to fend their other troops to Hughley.

Thefe promifes they fulfilled; but the Nabob ftill continued to invest their fettlement; and when they urged him to withdraw them, he faid, "That it was not in his breast, but in that of the English." When the English were queftioned, they anfwered, "That they were informed the "Dutch correfponded with their ene"mies that they defigned to make "head against them and the prince; " and therefore it was natural they "fhould prevent them." The Dutch endeavoured to convince the Nabob, and the English, that the charge against them was falfe, but without effect; the English were inflexible, and the Moorib troops could not be made to withdraw, but under promise that commiffioners fhould be fent to CalDcutta, to terminate standing differences with the English.

During these transactions with the Moors, Mr Bijdom, the Dutch chief, received a letter from Mr Holwell, who then acted as prefident at Calcutta, in which, under the appearance of friendship, he advifed him "to fatisfy all the "Nabob's demands, and fubmit to "whatever he thould require, as they "were not in a condition to refift; "adding, that it was unneceffary to "mention the difagreeable part "which the English would be neceffiF" tated to take in the differences of "the Dutch with the Moors, and how "ardently they wished to act as me"diators:" He alfo added fome pro pofitions for an accommodation; which, with the letter, were answered in a proper manner.

Two

200-192 Litter from M. de Voltaire to Lord Littleton.

Two commiffioners, however, were
fent to Calcutta, on the 29th of May,
who, after fome months, were con-
ftrained, under the guaranty of the
prefident and council of Fort William,
to make another treaty with the Na-fhould
bob, in which, among other hard con-
ditions, violently forced upon them, it
was ftipulated, "that the Dutch should,
"whenever the Nabob fhould require
"it, permit one of his officers, ac-
"companied by one of the English, to
"mufter or vifit their troops and mi-
"litary ftores, at all their factories,
"or take fuch other method as should

company infift, that the English atë reciprocally bound by fuch treaties and that their treaty with the Nabob, fo far as it has engaged them to act in a hostile manner against the Dutch, be cancelled, in the first place; and that fatisfaction be made them for what they have already fuffered. by it!

Mr URBAN,

T HE two former Letters between M.

8

de Voltaire and Lord Lyttleton, having first appeared in your Magazine, I should be glad if you would also preserve there the jollowing jrem M. de Voltaire, in answer to his Lordship's, (which fee Vol. xxxi. p. 54.)

*

be agreed upon to affure the gover*nor and council of Fort William of "the number of Dutch troops, and "quantity of their ftores, that they, "as umpire between the Dutch and

MY LORD,

"the Nabob, might give the Nabob CTE ne peux vous remercier de ma

curity of his country."

Ꭰ

Thus, by the alliance of the Englife with the Moors, the Dutch are reftrained from fecuring their fervants and poffeffions from violence. Besides, the English pay no toll; but share, as well the toll paid by other nations, as the income of the country; fo that the great men among the natives, being deprived of their ufual revenues, endeavour to fupply the defect by acts of oppreffien and extortion committed against the Dutch, whom they know to be unable to refift, and confequently under a neceffity of complying.

mais je n'er fuis pas moins fentible a tout ce que vous me faites l'honneur demander. Permettez moi feulement d'oblerver, que ce n'eft point un, I fay, que j'ai fait avoir des paffeports a des feigneurs Anglais, c'eft un It is true. J'ai ete aflez heureux pour faire avoir des pafleports au fils de M. Fox, et a toute la famille de M. Campbell, auffi bien qu'a trois autres Anglais malades, que M. le Medecin Tronchin m'avoit recommendè: C'eft pour moi un devoir & un plaifir, de rendre fervice a tout gentilhomme de votre nation; c'est le feul droit que j'ai a vos bontès, mais tout homme en a à votre juftice. Jofe donc vous fupplier de vouloir bien faire imprimer a la fin de votre livre, & dans les papiers publics, le petit billet c'y joint. Vous ne voudriez pas que je mourufle avec la doleur de plaindre de l'homme du monde que j'eftime le plus. J'ai l'honneur d'etre, &c. Du Chateau de Ferney, en Bourgagne, par Geneve, 10 Fev. 1761.

E

The Englib ftill keep the falt-petre
trade in their hands exclufively, and
even prevent the natives from fup-
plying the Dutch with cotton cloths.
The English private traders and smug-
glers alfo, having laid it down as a
rule, that they may lawfully fail
"to, and trade at all places where it
"has pleafed God that water fhould

run," have fupplanted the Dutch
company, even in their most appro-
priated fpice trade; and this gave oc-
cafion to the commander of an Eng-G
if (quadron, in the East Indies, to
threaten, in a letter, that if the Dutch
fhould obftruct any Engiifh fhip in its
navigation or trade, he would, with
his fquadron, pay a vifit to Batavia,
which would be of the most affecting
confequence to the Dutch company.

H

As the English, on feveral occafions, have maintained, "that the Dutch could not, confiftent with

MY LORD,

**

Am not able to thanks

" company co between Holland and
"Great Britain, give any affistance to
"the Nabob or Moors," fo the Dutch

I with my own hand, being indif-
pofed; but am not the lefs fenfible,
on that account, of the honour you
do

"On s'eft trompe, a la page 134) Voltaire etoit banni de France pour les des Dielogues, en difant, que M. de ecrits. I demeure en France dans le compte de Tourney, dont il eft feigneur. C'eft un terre libre en Bourgagne dans le voisinage de Geneve t Il n'a point ete exile."

Tranflation of the about.

Remarkable Phenomenon of the Bath Watersi

furd to fuppofe that a mineral hot
fpring thould have any communica-
tion with a standing pool, whence it
could receive this plant, as it could
not receive the plant without fuch a
mixture of the water as would render
it cold, and annihilate its virtue:
That the Bath water cannot originally
produce the plant, is certain; for it
is continually in a state of agitation,
which renders the growth of it im-
poffible.

A

do me by all your commands. Permit
me only to obferve, that it is not a
bare I fay, that I have obtained pass-
ports for fome English gentlemen, but
that It is true. I have been fo happy
as to procure paffports for Mr Fox's
fon, and all Mr Campbell's family, as
well as for three other fick Englishmen,
who had been recommended to me
by Dr Tronchin. To me it is both a
duty and a pleasure to serve any gen-
tleman of your nation; this is the
only right I have to your favours, tho'
every man has a right to your justice.
I prefume, therefore, intreating your
Lordfhip to be fo kind as to caufe to
be printed, at the end of your book,
as well as in all the public papers, the
annexed little billet. Your Lordship
would not, I am fure, have me die
with a complaint in my mouth against
a person I efteem the most of any
living.
I have the honour to be, &c.
Cafle of Ferney, in Burgundy, near
Geneva, 10 Feb. 1761..

Upon a close examination of these
cakes, fome of which have a greenish
hue, I found that thofe which had
Blain near the wail for fome time un-

disturbed, had caused a natural chryftallization of the falts in the Bath wa ter; and thefe falts, on fome of the walls in the Abbey-houfe fpring, were more than half an inch thick: Such a chryftallization could not be caufed by a vegetable fubftance.

C

"We were mistaken in p. 134 of the Dialogues, in faying, that M. de Voltaire was banished France on account of his writings. He still refides in that kingdom, in the county of Tourney, of which he is Lord. This county is a free district in Burgundy, in the neighbourhood of Geneva: and the owner has never been exiled."

+95-201

D

Having now fhewn what these cakes are not, I will tell you what they are; for, upon applying the common vitrioline folvent, I found them to be neither more nor less than the mu cilagium ferri, or flimy fubftance, that' is always a concomitant of iron-ftone, iron-earth, or iron-ore; if there is any medical virtue in iron, it ought to be fought in this flimy fubftance: And I shall fhew, in a Treatife on the Bath Waters, which I am now preparing for the prefs, that the Bath waters derive great medical efficacy from these cakes, especially in external applications.

A Letter from Dr D. W. Linden to Dr
Sutherland, at the Hot Wells, Bristol, g
concerning a remarkable Phenomenon
of the Bath Waters.

DEAR SIR,

F

N compliance with your request, I of examination of the Bath waters: The phænomenon which moft ftruck me, was certain cakes, of a blackish colour, which at this time of the year are found floating upon the furface of thefe waters, and which I had never feen before, having been at Bath only in the winter months, when they do not appear. I had, indeed, heard much of them, and was told that they were a vegetable fubftance, the con ferva gelatinofa; but, upon examination, I found this to be a mistake, and that the black cakes were mineral.

Thofe perfons who have fuppofed thefe cakes to be vegetable, have been deceived into that opinion, by the folid fibrous parts which they have difcovered in them, after having washed them from the mud and other extraneous bodies, that have been found mixed with them. But those who are acquainted with practical mineralurgy, a fcience which is effentially neceflary to those who undertake the analysis of mineral waters, know, that the flimy fubftance in iron-ore, when agitated in waters that contain falt, will form itself into fibres and Branches, refembling thofe of vegetables; and upon this principle it is, that, in curious cheiniftry, fmall branches and fibres are formed in liquids by the foiution of metals and minerals, and have obtained the name of philofophical trees.

G

H

Some experiments, indeed, have been made upon these cakes, by distillation; and it has been presumed,

that

That they are not the conferva ge latinofa is manifeft, from their appearing to early as the beginning of May for the conferva does not appear tili July, and it does not flower till Augu. Befides, the conferva is found only en stagnant waters; and it is ab

202 194 202

Confiderations on the

prefent State of the War.

A

that they are vegetable, because they
yield only an infipid water, without
any metalline or mineral particles;
but this is wholly fallacious and in-
conclufive; for the mucilagium ferri,
or any other metal or mineral, mixed
with common or faline water, will, in
diftillation, yield only an infipid wa-
ter, without mineral particles, because
thefe particles are prevented from
rifing in the team, by their own
weight. I am, Sir, Yours, &c,
D.W.LINDEN.

fources of both nations; and I like.
wife prefume that no body will deny
that the French commerce, and the
duties, impofts, and reveuues thence
proceeding, are reduced to the lowest
ebb; and that the commerce of Britain,
and the fupport to the national ex-
pence afforded by it, was never at a
greater heighth. The wants of Eu-
rope are at prefent in great measure
fupplied by Great Britain; thofe wants,
at leaft, which France and Britain here-
tofore fupplied. Thus the power of
Great Britain to profecute the war is
fuperior to that of France. As to her
allies, France muft at leaft fupport
them with men, a farther reduction
of her natural force.

B

Confiderations on the prefent War, as it
refpects England and France.

TH

HE prefent war is a war of expence, and that nation which can the longest bear it, will, if every thing elfe is equal, prove victorious.

Those who are beft acquainted with the finances of Britain and of France, best can tell on which fide the balance inclines; for my own part, I give it in favour of Britain, provided the talents of our negotiators are not inferior to thofe of the French.

с

The Auftrians and Rufians have coft France more by fubfidies, than their common caufe has received benefit. A moderate fubfidy to the King of Prufia, has coft France millions to keep these two courts in an unnatural combination. It may be justly doubted, on this view of things, whether if Denmark and Ruffia become fubfidiaries to Britain, the alliance will not be a benefit to France, as it eases them of a certain expence, for which they never have received equivalent advantages.

My reafons for being of this opinion
are thefe: Britain and France have each D
two refources of money; one natural,
which is the land & the revenues it pro-
duces in respect to taxes, duties, and
impofts on the produce of the land;
the other is artificial, this proceeds
from commerce, the duties arifing
from the imports and exports of mer-
chandize, the fruits of commerce. In E
times of peace France exceeds Britain
in regard to the firit fource of power;
the country is of much greater extent,
the people more 'numerous, and the
taxes higher in proportion. In time.
of war more hands are drawn from
the plough in France than in England
in proportion; the taxes decreafe, or
which is worfe, thofe who are to bear
the burthen of them are ruined.

F

I prefume that these positions will appear felf-evident to those who have been accustomed to compare the re

Whilft Britain, at a great expence of money, and of many valuable lives, has oppofed the French in Germany, and urged them to keep up a prodigious force in a country that is now, and ever has been, and ever will be, their ruin, at an expence fuperior to ours: Whilft it has hindered them from pro tecting their colonies, and left us entirely at liberty to carry on the war where it was most to our advantage, can it be doubted in the least, whether it was or was not our interest to bring as numerous a French army from home, and as far from home as poffible, to a country that could not polfibly fupply them with forage and provifion, but where they muft either purchafe it at as dear a rate as ourTelves, or bring it at a ftill greater expence along with them; and where a Frenchman or a French hoife, would require as much fuftenance as an Englif one; and confequently, if the French had 120,000 men, and the allies but To or 70,000, the balance was fo much in our favour. Upon confidering all thefe circumstances, it feems to me that the expence of France is much greater than the expence of Britain; and likewife, that France is much lets able to bear it.

The

G

We are not fo much affected by war in refpect to our natural refource. If we are not equal to the French in time of peace, we are much nearer an equality in time of war; and therefore our natural fource of wealth is very little inferior in time of war to that of France. But in refpect to the artificial fource of power, the fruits of commerce, in times of peace, ours affords by much the more abundant fupply; it counter-balances their natural fpring of wealth, and places us at leaft upon an equality with them.

H

Specific for the Hiccough.-Sin against the Holy Ghost. 195-203

A

thecary, at length took a fmall quan-
tity of fpirits by way of cordial, and
was agreeably furpriz'd with imme-
diate relief from the hiccough. He
has fince frequently repeated the re-
medy upon the return of the hiccough,
and always with the fame fuccefs. He
has prefcribed it to others, and has
never known it fail. He therefore re-
commends it as a fpecific, and requests
that those who make trial of it would
communicate the effect, whether re-
lieved or not, which fhall be faithfully
published in this Magazine..

I am Yours, &c. W. P.

The confequence is, that if we fteadily proceed on the plan we have hitherto purfued, every thing else being equal, we must be victorious, and at length impofe on the French what terms we pleafe. Should therefore any M-r or M-s be confcious of their inequality to pursue their country's good, to vindicate her honour, and provide for her future fecurity by arms; should they forefee that their power is at an end, if any unfortunate event caft up, and that the nation would jointly call for abler hands; fhould they for any particular view determine upon advifing and promoting an inglorious and infecure peace, what, my countrymen, is due to fo difhonourable a conduct?

B

Mr URBAN,
UR Bleed

the fin against the Holy Ghoft,
Matt. xii, 32, fays, that it fhall not be
forgiven, neither in this World, neither in
the world to come, a threatening which
the generality of our Proteftant inter-,
preters feem at a lofs to explain; while'
the Popish Divines ufe it as an argue
ment in favour of their purgatory,
Please to hear my fentiments upon it.

It is evident from the facred wri tings, that there are fome finners whom the Supreme Being thinks proper to punith in the prefent life, that the fpirit may be faved in the day of the Lord; and fome who receive their portion of good things here, and the punishment of their offences in a future itate; but our bleffed Lord affures us, that the fin against the Holy Ghoft

F

G

fhall not be forgiven, that is, in other words, It fhall most certainly be pu nifhed both in this world, and in the world to come. Perhaps this may be the cafe with that untoward genera, tion, who were in the greatest degree guilty of this unpardonable crimeIn a few years the city and temple of which they boafted, were destroyed with fuch astonishing marks of vengeance as are almost incredible to pofterity-And our Saviour foretelling the deftruction of Jerusalem, gave such an account of it, that it has often been miftaken for a prophecy concerning the confummation of all things. He told of fuch fearful fights and great figns from heaven, as if defcribing the omens that were to precede the diffo. lution of the univerfe. The Jews, because they refifted the Holy Ghoft in the most aggravated fenfe, were expofed to fuch intollerable affliction, as no people ever were before them; and thofe who have read Jofephus, will not be furprized when they confider, that all these things came upon them in confe

H

Yet perhaps the fatal compact is not decreed: roufe then, and make C the party to it tremble: America is not ours; Louifiana is ftill French : half of Hifpaniola is yet theirs; Cayenne is in their poffeffion. The fisheries they will not give up. What then have you got? Without these you have no firm peace. Perfift therefore a little longer; Spain wavers already, and it D is your own fault if France troubles Europe again in our days, perhaps not even in our pofterity's.

Britons, Englishmen, my countrymen, if you would be happy and fafe, he unanimous accept of peace on no other terms, or in twenty years more you have this fatal maze once more to tread.

If you cannot prevent the war from being ended dishonourably, you can at leaft bring the authors and advifers of it to juftice.

Let not a reign commenced fo aufpiciously be ftained with ignominy; nor a tranfaction be permitted, which would leffen the reverence which pofterity would feel at the mention of our Sn. Remember the peace of Utrecht !

Mr URBAN,

A

per

S the prefent epidemical diftemis frequently attended with a convulfive hiccough that has been found very difficult to cure, give me Jeave to inform the public through your means, that a thimble full of brandy, rum, or geneva, taken when the hiccough is most violent, has been found an infallible remedy. This was discovered accidentally by a person so violently affected, that he defpaired of relief, and having tryed all that was preferibed by the phyfician and apo,