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THE

Gentleman's Magazine;

For JANUARY 1765.

An Hiftorical Account of the Eruptions of Mount Vefuvius, in the year 1760, from a large Work published at Naples, by order of the Cardinal Archbishop of that City. (See M. D'Orville's Account of Etna Vol. xxxiv, p. 281.)

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N order to form an
idea of mount Ve-
fuvius, as it was on
its fummit and the
parts adjacent, in
the year 1760, one
mult fuppofe a B

mountain in the
fhape of a fugar loaf, whofe point
being taken away, leaves a fort of
platform hollow to the depth of 130
feet, forming a cup, or funnel, whofe
circumference is computed at two
thirds of a mile, or about 5624 Paris
feet. Its border is wide enough for
two men to march there abrealt. One
defcends from thence to the bottom
of the funnel thro' a foil full of chinks,
from whence exhales a fuffocating
fulphureous fmoke, and fometimes
fames, whofe colour fhews them to
be of the fame kind. Sometimes this D
ground rifes very near as high as the
border of the cup; fome of its chinks
often close, but others are perpetually
formed. From the bottom of this
funnel appears another opening which
is continually growing larger; a thick
fmoke frequently iffues from it; one
hears a noife there like the boiling of E
many large cauldrons on a very ar-
dant fire, or rather like that of a tor-
rent which dafhes violently on the
rocks from whence it falls; and at
certain feafons are difcovered there
not only a number of paths, which
the fire has made in the fides of the
abyfs, but alfo, torrents of inflamed F
matter as dazzling as melted chryftal.

Such is the form of the great and principal mouth of Vesuvius. There is another, but lefs confiderable; bedes, it is in a manner filled up, as its

fides are covered with an immenfe quantity of ashes, and calcined ftones Mention is made here only of the. firft, and all was in the ftate abovedefcribed, from the end of March, to the 20th of December 1760, the happy æra of the ceffation of an eruption which had begun in November 1759But on the 21st of December 1760, the fhocks of an earthquake for the diftance of 15 miles round Vefuvius, and after that the roaring of the fea, terrified the inhabitants of the country bordering on the mountain. The Shocks were frequently repeated for three days; on the 23d they amounted to five, in the midft of which, the Vulcano being tranquil, emitted neither flames nor fmoke, when fuddenly on the South of Vesuvius, near the place called foffo delle Campagne, in the territory della torre del Greco; one mile from the king's road to Naples, two new Vulcano's were feen to rife and expand themselves, which began to vomit forth, with a horrible noife, fmoke, flames, afhes, and a vast number of burning ftones; while a third Vulcano, fmaller than thefe, increafed their number, and while the earth thook with more violence than ever, Vefuvius began to roar, and a black fmoke iffued from it; which, after being raised like a rapid whirlwind, diffufed itlelf on all fides. The gulph threw out a prodigious quantity of afhes and pumice-ftones. It was near evening, but before the fun was fet, twelve other Vulcano's appeared at fome distance from thefe. All the fifteen, as well as the large abyfs, filled the air with their inflamed explosions, and at half paft five in the afternoon of the 24th, two of thefe Vulcano's began to pour forth with a dreadful noife, torrents of burning Lava, which uniting ran for eight days, burning and destroying on the right and left, as far as the fea, thro' a large tract of land, all that this river of fire could

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reach,

reach, plantations, hamlets, farms, &c. and fpreading terror on all fides, which was increafed by the conftant eruption of fome of the other new Vulcano's.

confiderable increase of heat, a ftrong fulphureous fmell, and more or leis traces of chinks by which it was dif fufed.

In the 4th chapter, the author deAfcribes the openings from which the Lavas iffued in three places, and the various materials of which they were compofed. The bottom of them was formed of tones of different colours, and which (if one may fo fay) were petrified with a number of ingredients; fand, antimony, talc, pyrites, and marcantes; octoedrons, & green ish, fine, and almott tranfparent ones; faline concretions, fulphureous incruftations, nitre, vitriol, fea falt, falammoniac, &c. M. de Bottis has made a chymical analysis of them, of which he has given the refult,

The above is the fubftance of the author's firtt chapter; in the fecond he obferves, one of the molt remarkable circumitances of this phænomenon, is, that fome of the ftones thrown out by thele Vulcano's, took up in falling to the ground 13, 16, and even 18 vibrations of the pule. B And if we fuppole with the author, that on account of the extreme heat in which he breathed, not far from thele vulcanoes, and in the midit of fulphureous vapours, we thould reckon two feconds, instead of one, for the interval between two pultes, even then thefe ftones had been railed to c the height of 960 Paris teet *, fince they took up 8 feconds in falling to the ground. One ftone which might weigh 260 pounds was thrown 90 paces; another, which a man could carce lift was carried 290 paces; third lighter, 280 paces, and a fourth D lighter till 390. For the above facts, the author appeals to two of his friends whom he names. Vefuvius itself, tho' extremely agitated, all the time of the explosion of the new vulcanoes, was not calmed with them, but only to commence again with great fury its own eruptions, December 26. They E . continued till the 5th of January tol lowing, together with repeated shocks of earthquakes, which greatly alarmed the city of Naples, but which by good providence had no other bad effects.

a

M. de Bottis had not confined his obfervations to what paffed at the foot of F Vefuvius, especially on the fouth. He has collected alfo what happened on the west and on the north of the mountain, and accompanied them with fuitable reflections in Chap. 3. There we find that the afhes of Vesu vius were thrown as far as Nocera, Sar no, Nola, Somma, & other places, even G 12 miles d ftant; that these eruptions Occafioned earthquakes, even after they had cealed, by the fubterraneous fires which they kindled, and whose effects extended by degrees to a great distance.

The author, who vifited many places where these fhocks were mot violent, H found there, by the thermometer. a

A Paris foot is 4-5ths of an inch more an a foot Englife.

All these volcanoes being formed in a plain, almost entirely cultivated, the damage which was done to it by the torrent of lava, with which this plain was overflowed as far as the fea, could not but be very confiderable. Numbers of peasants were by this means reduced to beggary, and a multitude of perfons of all ranks put in mourning, their houses being confumed, and their potit fons fwallowed up.

The evil did not even end there. Our author fhews, in the 6th and last chapter, how fatal were the confequences, in various refpects, in the districts bordering onVefuvius, to which neither the eruption of flames, ftones, and ashes, nor the inundation of the burning lava extended. When the conflagration of the volcanoes was over, their explosions ftopped, & the earth was at reft; exhalations iffued from various places, in fome degree peftilential, which at two different times, viz. first in January and fix months after, in July and Auguft, occafioned great alarms. Thefe exhalations, or, as they are called by the peafints of thofe parts, Mojetes, infected the air and the waters, killed many animals, and were fatal even to the lives of fome perfons, as well as to the health of many others. Some approaching conflagrations were apprehended, and, indeed, one of the new volcanoes began again to fend forth, in July, much fmoke; fome flames aifo illued from it; the earth round about was perceived to fhake; but it was abandoned thro' fear; and fince that time no mention has been made of any eruption, either of Vesuvius, or of the fmall mountains which have rifen as it were out of its bosom. Mr

I

Mr URBAN,

Have with no fmall fatisfaction

read in your Magazine of laft month, an account of the famous Anna Louifa Durbach, there justly termed a literary prodigy.

As your correfpondent has given the publick the hiftorical part of this extraordinary perfon, give me leave to add a few words con erning the nature of her genius and other productions, as they are fet forth by the editor, in the preface to the collection of her poems from whence your narrative is taken.

"Plato, in his difcourfe called Jo, lays it down as the character of a "true poet, that he delivers his "thoughts by inspiration, himself "not knowing the expreffions he is "to make ufe of. According to him

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on fluently, and the is never at a "löfs for thought or imagery. The "moft delicate turns of the fubject A" and expreffion arife in her mind, " (whilft the is yet writing) as if they "were dictated to her."

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the harmony and turn of the verse produce in the poet an enthufiafm, C

"which furnishes him with fuch "thoughts and images, as in a more "compofed hour he would have "fought for in vain.

"This obfervation is verified in "our authoress, who, without design, "without art, and without inftruéti"on is arrived at a wonderful per. "fection in the art of poetry, and "may be placed amongit poets of "the first clafs. It is from this caufe, "the has been more fuccesful in fuch "pieces as the has written whilft her

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imagination was warm, than in "thofe which the has compofed cooly E. "deliberately and in leisure hours; "the latter always bearing fome "marks of art and betraying the ab"fence of the mule.

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"Whenever our authorefs is in a particular manner ftruck by any object, either in her folitary hours, F or when he is in company, her "Spirits immediately catch the flame, "the has no longer the command of herfelf, every fpring of he foul is in motion; the feels an irrefittable impulse to compofe, and with an a mazing quickness commits the "thoughts to paper, which the muse "infpires her with; and, like a watch

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jult wound up, as foon as her foul " is put into motion by the impref "fon the object has made on her, "the expreffes herself in poetry without knowing in what manner the H "ideas and figures arife in her mind.

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"Another, and more nice obferva❝tion of Plato's, is, that the harmo"ny and turn of the verfe, keep up "the inspiration. Of this truth like

Of her extempore performances, Mr Urban, we have an excellent fpecimen in that beautiful Ode facred to the memory of her deceafed Uncle, the inAructor of her infancy, written in the year 1761, at a time when the happened to be engaged in company of the firft rank at Berlin: it confifts of eight ftanzas of fix lines each, of which the 3d and 6th have nine fyllables, the others ten. It feems, whilft fhe was in this felect company, fhe was touched by a fudden reflection, with a keen fenfe of the great difference between her prefent condition, and her fituation in the early part of her life, and of the great obligation fhe was under to the good old man, who, by his tendet care for her better parts, had laid the foundation of her prefent happiness. Overcome with the sense of her happiness, and with a heart replete with gratitude, the could contain herself no fonger, but, before all the company, poured forth the overflowings of her foul (it must have been a very affecting fcene, Mr Urban) nearly in the following words:

"Arife from the duft, ye bones that reft in the land, where I paffed my infant years. Venerable Sage, re-animate thy body; and ye lips that fed me with the honey of inftruction, once more be eloquent.

"Or thou, bright shade! look down upon me from the top of Olympus : Behold! I am no longer following the cattle in the fields. Obferxe the circle of refined mortals that furround me. They all speak of thy niece's poems; Olisten to their converfation, thy praife.

"For ever flourish the broad lime, under whofe shade I was wont to cling round thy neck, full of tenderne's, like a child to the best of fathers, whilst thou waft repofing thyself on the moffy feat, tired as the reaper with the fatigues of a fultry day.

"Under yon green arched roof, I ufed to repeat to thee twenty paffages in praise of God lupreme, tho' they

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6 A Comparison of Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio, and Cæfar.

were much above my comprehenfion; and when I asked thee the meaning of many a dark fentence in the Chriftians facred records-Good Man! thou didst explain them to me.

"Like a Divine in sable veft, who from the lofty pulpit points out the way that leads to life; fo didst thou inform me of the fall of man, and covenant of grace; and I, all raptures, fnatched the words from thy lips with eager killes.

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"Thou inhabitant of some celestial sphere! behold the silent tears of joy ; may they often well.down my cheeks. If thou canst fpeak, dear fade, tell me, Didft thou ever conceive any hopes of my prefent fortune and ho nour, at the time when my eyes were fucceffively engaged in the reading of C books, every day more improving.

"When at thy fide on fome rofy bank I fat, weaving into chaplets for thy temples, the flowers my little hands had gathered, and looking up to thee, fmiled filial love; did thy D foul then prefage the good things that are now come to pass?

In

perfonal virtues, Scipio feems to me, by his wifdom, his moderation, and the whole tenor of his life, to have been the most virtuous of the three.In Alexander may be teen many marks A of an excellent difpofition, of a noble generofity, and of an heroic virtue ; But clouded by an exceffive brutality, an impetuofity of temper, and violent paffions; by a foolish and ridiculous vanity, and by the extravagance of his defigns. In Hannibal's conduct may be obferved the fierce & haughty genius of his nation, void of humanity, and unfaithful to their treaties and their promifes. But I do not here examine what were their moral talents. I attend only to their military virtues; and in them I give by far the preference to Hannibal. He waged war with the molt valiant men, the best difciplined troops, and the moft powerful itate, then in the known world; being already_master and conqueror of his own. Before he was 25 years old, he was declared Generalif three years be conquered Spain, freed mo of the Carthaginian armies. the Pyrenees, he forced his way thro' Gaul, he defeated all who oppofed his progrefs, and paffed the Rhone in the fight and in fpite of the efforts of the Gauls; he pierced the Alps at the head of his army, with a boldness and an addrefs of which one could not have thought Hercules capable before him. He fought many battles with the Reman armies, commanded by brave and experienced generals, fcarce meeting with the leaft check. He carried the terror of his arms even to the gates of Rome; and tho' he was but weakly ,fupported by his countrymen, who envied his glory, he found means to keep his footing for fixteen years in the enemy's country. When he left it, he left it voluntarily, and without being compelled by force, but only to obey the orders of the Carthaginians, who recalled him. He loft, 'tis true, a battle against Scipio, but then he loft it against the Romans, the most warlike people then in being. And

"Mayft thou be cloathed with three fold radiance; and mayst thou be refreshed with the emanations of divine complacence more than the fouls of thy companions. May every drop of temporal pleasure, with which my cup of joy overflows, be rewarded unto thee with continual draughts E from the ocean of eternal beatitude." Jan. 18, 1765. Yours, &c.

A Comparison between Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio, and Cæfar.

W

F

HEN Minos paffes judgment, in Lucian, between these great Generals, and places Alexander first, then Scipio, and latt of all Hannibal, I cannot agree with him any more than with Appian, who has been of the fame opinion, in his Treatife on the wars of the Romans in Syria. It appears, that they have judged.of the merits of thofe heroes by their enter-G prizes, and the consequences that have attended them; and not, as they should have done, by their actions feparately confidered, and by the conjunctures and difpofitions of time and place. If they had carried their reflections thus far, they ought, in my opinion, to H have given Hannibal the first place, Scipio the fecond, and Alexander the third. I confine myltit to their military talents; for if we attend to their

who is the General that has not fuffered fome reverfe, in a long fucceffion of wars? Does one defeat efface the glory of an infinite number of victories? That victory indeed was very brilliant, as it put a period to the fecond Punic war, not fo much by the lofs the Carthaginians fuffered, as by the brutality and fierceness of their Anfwer, The Black Prince, and the D. of Marlborough.

government, which prevented Hann i.
bal from taking the neceffary mea-
fures to repair that lofs. Did those
Kings of Afia, Antiochus and Prufias,
with whom he took fhelter, fuffer the
leaft lofs while he managed their af-
fairs, and till their haughty and capri- A
cious tempers forced him to confult
his own fafety?

When Scipio, therefore, in Lucian
and Appian, ridicules Hannibal for ha-
ving dared to prefer himself, by whom
he had been conquered, he feems to
me not to reafon confequentially, be- B
cause one fingle event does not deter-
mine the difference between them.
As to Alexander, I give him only the
third place. In the flower of his age,
he found himself at the head of an
army of brave Macedonians, trained to
war by his father Philip; but poor, un- C
acquainted with the elegancies of life,
and inhabiting a barren and unfruit-
ful country. He was abfolute mafter
of his kingdom, and of his troops,
and had only his own will to confult
in the undertaking, conducting, and
fupporting a war. He attacked an e-
nemy enervated by pleasure, and by D
long profperity; and a fouthern na-
tion, by the heat of their climate, is
naturally indolent, and always infe-
rior in courage and ftrength to the
people of the North. Alexander, in-
deed, was perfonally brave, intrepid,
and refolute, but rafh and inconfi-
derate; valiant as a foldier, but not
as a general; by his genius, but not
by reafon; and not rightly employing
his valour for the good of his army
and of his fubjects. Though if we
compare Cafar with thefe great Gene-
rals, in whatever light we confider
him, we shall without doubt find him F
greatly fuperior to them all; and we
must acknowledge that former ages
furnish us with no inftance of fo great
an affemblage of virtues; and, in a
word, that Cafar was the noblest ef-
fort of Nature.
HUETIANA.

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T is fomething remarkable, that ever fince the regulations were made laft year, concerning the North American trade, we hardly read a newspaper that does not mention manufacturers of one kind or another going from England, Scotland, or Ireland, to fettle in thofe colonies; which, if true, is certainly a matter that should to the last degree prove alarming.to thefe kingdoms.

Nothing can be more weak, than the imagination that any people will con.

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tentedly ftarve, or go naked, either
in those countries or in these.
they are deprived of the means of
felling their fuperfluities of food, in
order to purchase cloathing of us,
they must of neceffity leffen their ap-
plication to agriculture, the great pro-
ducts of which will be of no use to
them, and apply themselves to ma-
nufacturing, for the fupplying of them-
felves with thofe neceffaries which they
cannot otherwise obtain.

If from real want in the nation, or by iniquitous practices, our manufac turers and other labouring people here cannot acquire the means of comfortable fubfiftence, can it be imagined that they will not feek in other countries what they cannot find at home?

Is it to be confidered as good policy, to reduce our colonies to the neceffity of inviting over our manufacturing and other labouring people? and at the fame time increase their temptations to leave us, by fuffering them to experience great mifery and want? and are there not great proofs of that want and mifery, from the fubfcriptions that have been and are raifing for their relief in several parts the kingdom?

The numbers of labouring people of all kinds in any country, are juftly confidered to be the ftrength and riches of a state. It must therefore be

well worthy of timely confideration, if we are not two ways contributing to the undoing of ourselves; for with a transfer of arts and people, we make fuch a transfer of strength and property, as will foon throw out of our own hands all power and wealth. Muft it then not be worth while to look a little way before us?

The following Advices have been received, from the Hon. Major General Gage, Commander in Chief in North-America, to the Earl of Halifax, one of the Secretaries of State, dated at New-York the 13th of Dec. 1764.

GTHE perfidy of the Sbarenese and Dela

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wares, and their having broken the ties which even the favage nations hold facred amongst each other, required vigorous measures to reduce them. We had experienced their treachery so often, that I determined to make no peace with them but in the heart of their country, and upon fuch terms as should make it as fecure as was poffible. This conduct has produced all the good effects which could be wifhed or expected from it. Thofe Indians have been humbled, and reduced to accept of peace upon the terms prescribed to them, in fuch a manner as will give reputation to his majefty's arms amongst the feveral nations. The regular and provincial troops under C Bonavet, having been joined by a good bad.

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