THE

Gentleman's Magazine;

For OCTOBER 1765.

The Principles of the late Changes impartially examined: In a Letter from a Son of Candor to the Public Advertiser.

HIS Letter is an anfwer to a paper A in the Public Advertifer of the 20th of July; in which the writer, in addref. fing himself to his Friend in the country, doubts much, whether the B then late change of the ministry, ftriking as it is, will be able to remove his prejudices, with refpect to the pretended influence of the Earl of Be, on all what the K- does, or refolves to do; he hopes, however, that this Prince will find means, fooner or later, to convince the public, that he did not want to be influenced by any body to feel and to refent the behaviour of fome of his late fervants towards himself; and that he had magnanimity and refolution enough of his own, to rid himself of their arrogance, and his people of their infufficiency, by forgetting and forgiving the paft conduct of this new Set of Men. If thefe, adds he, are grown wife by the fate of their predeceffors, they will strive to please the nation by better meafures, than an attempt to betray their royal mafter into the paffing of an act, derogatory to the honour of his crown and family; and by a better and more decent conduct, than that of fo ungratefully and ungracefully flying in his face, &c.

D

produce very good proof, that they did not at that time contradict the R-1 pleafure? They brought a load upon themselves, by the violent profecution of that caufe, which had well nigh overfet them. But can any man fpecify an overt act of the late adminiftration, that was ever fo much as infinuated to be a ground for the charge of flying in the face of the, or in which his mind was forced, till the bufinefs of the Regency Bill came in hand?

That, 'tis true, brought to light fome part of the dark fcenes, and gave a peep through the curtain. But before that time, the heads of the adminiftration had been fufpected of fubmitting to the influence of Lord B-te; they were called his deputies Chat accufation, often made, was, that and delegates. Their defence against they abjured him: They ftated themfelves to be in reality, what they were officially, the K's Minifters, and refponfible as fuch: They found themfelves at laft obliged to fay, and they did it publickly; that they thought it was as neceffary as fit, in order to carry on the public bufinefs, that thofe who had the charge of it fhould have their mafter's confidence; and that it was neither decent nor expedient, that great measures of government, highly interefting to the commonweal, fhould be concerted and planned without the participation of thofe who, by their offices, are anfwerable both for the propriety and the fuccefs of the K-'s counfels: They believed, fomething more was due to them than just to be called upon to execute and carry thro what others, to whom it did not belong, and with whom they had no communications, advised, & projected.

E

To the charge, that the late Minifters New in the face of their Royal Mafter, fays the Examiner, let the facts decide. Was there ever greater zeal, fays he, F than the late minifters manifefted, for what they called the honour of the -, tho' a great part of the nation thought it was no ways concerned in the affair? and perhaps they could

If the manner in which the affair of the Regency was produced, the hiftory of which is now no fecret, gave thefe minifters room to think the 's confidence was not where it ough

be, the event has juftified their opi-
nion. But what was their conduct on
that occafion? They would not reject
a falutary measure, because they were
not the first advifed with upon it:
They adopted the scheme with all that
duty that it became fubjects as well A
as fervants to receive the motions of
the K's paternal care of his people
and family: They even admitted a
part of it, which, whoever advised,
gave bad and hazardous counfel to the
Crown; and they are hardly to be ex-
cufed for yielding, against their opi. B
nions, to a deviation from the only
compleat model upon record, of the
molt recent and refpectable authority,
in fuffering a propofition to be made
for an unexampled encroachment up-
on the most inherent, moft fundamen-
tal, and most effential rights of Par-
liament, and a dangerous precedent C
for an addition to the pretensions of
the Crown, by entrusting to the fole
and fecret nomination of the Prince
upon the Throne, the appointment of
the perfon to exercise the regal autho-
rity; for, it may be, not only a long
minority, but an unhappy fucceffion D
of them. Will this writer, therefore,
himself fay, that, in this inftance, the
late Minifters flew in the face of their
Royal Mafier?

Does he then mean that they did it,
by an amendment that was made up-
on the first draught of the Bill, and
was authorized by a meffage figned E
with the's own hand, only to give
the princes of the blood a certain place
in the council of Regency, as the
great offices of ftate do to those who
hold them? This, I conceive to have
been thought a flying in the face of
the Favourite, who was thereby put
to wait till a vacancy should happen
in the number, before he could be
named one of the Council. But as the
amendment was an indifpenfible act
of justice and of duty to the Royal
Family itfelf; fo for the prefent dif
appointment it occafioned to Ld B—e
of a primary object of the bill as firft
concerted, perhaps to be a fort of e-
ventual entail of power or influence,
I believe the late minifters may, with
great fafety, take their trial by their
country.

If the Writer of the Letter thinks there yet femains to fupport his charge of flying in the face of the, the other amendment made to obviate a doubt ftarted concerning the extent of the Royal Family, in regard to the sapacity of being Regenj, he may

pleafe to recollect, that the doubts which forced the amendment did not fpring from any member of the admi niftration, and tho' the Sy of Se, who brought in the Bill, did afterwards propofe the amendment, which was unanimously agreed to, he did it not till after he could have, and certainly had the communications, which were understood to be his authority for offering the alteration; nor even quite fo foon as he might, after he had thefe: For, fo far was be from being precipitant, that our Letterwriter may have information from Ld Bte himfelf, that he, fitting in the Houfe, preffed Ld H to propofe the limiting words a day before he did it; and for this reafon did he prefs it, as he himself faid, that it would make an end of the debate, and becaufe he knew he then had the authority for doing it. There is furely, therefore, as little ground for the charge in this article; and if the amendment was afterwards confidered as difagreeable any where, and therefore caufed to be amended, perhaps, with more of indelicacy than of true refpect both to the and his family, the minifters fhewed themselves ready and zealous to enforce and make effectual the fuppofed compliment to his, because it was urged under that notion.

The annals of the late adminiftration do not furnish another act which our author can charge to his purpose, except the removal of Mr M-e the brother, and of Ld H-1-d, the coadjutor and trulty counsellor of the Favourite, unless it be that they agreed all to go out together, rather than any one of them to enlift under Ld B-te's banner; which I fancy the Writer of the Letter has an eye to, as one of thefe Arange and unnatural connections to which Parties often owe their Arength.

These removals, and especially Mr M's, I have admitted, was fying in the face of the Favourite; it touchG ed him in the apple of his eye, and was both the fign and the completion of Rebellion against him; the minifters thereby declared open war against that influence, and avowed they did fo.

It was not their unpopularity, nor Canada bills, the Manilla ranform, the demolition of Dunkirk, encroachments in the fibing of Newfoundland, or dif turbances in the fettlements on the coaft of Africa, nothing of the foreign fyftem, or domeftic management of affairs, that haftened thefe minifters to their

end.

end. They were not offered up to the complaints, the cries, nor the wishes of the people: Neither were they victims to the refentment of foreign ceurts, as fometimes has been the fate of minifters: for the minifters refident,here, from those powers, whofe averfion would not be a bad rule for our choice, A were foolish enough at the time openly to speak out their apprehensions of a changé, declaring, in a manner as infolent as indecent, but that should indeed give us a leffon, if we had ears to hear, that their courts would confider the reinftating of Mr P-- 28 little short of a declaration of war, and would prepare themíelves accordingly."

For that L-T and Mr P-were forced from the K-'s counsel for an advice, of which the declaration of war against Spain was a moft ample vindication, tho' it was a laboured apology for oppofing it. For that the D- of after having been induced. to concur in chafing away Mr P-, was himself difmiffed with ignominy, G to leave in fole poffeffion the Favourite, whom his Grace had thought fit, by an act of his own, to bring into a minifterial office, to counterbalance the weight of Mr P-. For that we got a glorious peace, and bought from ourfelves an approbation of it, because we were not able to carry on a war, the fucceffes of which had almoft made an end of its expence. For that we diffolved our natural alliances abroad, and renounced all connections with

A

prifing these two crimes in one indict
ment, as the procedure in Murder is
quite incompatible with that on the
trial of Inceft. The inference from
this obfervation naturally follows
from this maxim in the law of Scot
land, Quod jure prohibente fit, eft ipfo jure
sullum; i.e. that every act in which
the direction of law is not observed,
is abfolutely void, and of no more a
vail than if it had never been done.
From whence it is concluded, that as
the direction of law was not obferved
in this criminal procefs, all the
proceedings in it are of no avail. The
indictment is void, because two crimes
which cannot be profecuted in one
and the fame manner, are conjoined
in one profecution. All the proceed-
ings relative to the crime of Murder
are void, because these proceedings C
were had with fout doors in contempt
of the law; and the proceedings re-
lative to the crimes of inceft are fo
wrapt in this cafe with thefe relative
to the murder, that they cannot be
feparated, and, confequently, must
partake of the same fate.

.

who has feen them can pretend to say, No part of the skeleton has been found except fome of the fkull and jaw. bones, both which are so broken, that it is impoffible to form any judgment of them. The teeth that are largest are broken off jult at their infertion into the jaw; their shape and dimenfions are as follow, viz. the largest in length 34 inches, and 4 in. round, grooved with deep furrows from the apex to the bafe; another in length 2 inches, and round 4 inches; a third 2 inches in length, and 4 in. round. They are all axle-teeth, of the fame texture, and were joined close to one another, inferted into one fide of the jaw. Allowing thefe to be all the axle-teeth on one fide of the mouth, and to take up 4 1 half inches in extent, the fore-teeth and grinders on the other fide must confequently take up twice as much room; which makes the capacity of the mouth at leaft 13 inches and a half. What a prodigious fize! The remains of the teeth are very fresh; and a more perfect guess of what fort of animal it has D been may probably be made, as there are fome perfons intending to fearch for the skeleton.It has, without doubt, been of the granivorous kind, as the hard plates of bone in the teeth are difpofed at certain diftances, in a perpendicular direction, from the top to the bottom of the E teeth. I am, Sir, Yours, &c.

The next question, is, What court can adjudge thefe proceedings to be void, and give the defired relief? In order properly to answer this queftion, it must be obferved, that the Scotch parliament, if it now fubfifted, would be the proper court to take cognizance of proceedings, which are an open contempt of their authority. That court, like all other fovereign courts, might certainly defend their own fuperiority over the court of jufticiary; and there can be as little doubt but that any fubject who is injured by a contempt of a fupreme court, has an unquestionable right to F fly to that court for protection; fo that there can be no doubt but that if the Scotch parliament was now in being, thefe miferable convicts would be well entitled to their protection.

This being the fact, 'tis reasonable

to believe that the House of Peers, by the genius of our conftitution, inhe rits all the judicial authority which formerly belonged to that parliament, and confequently is the proper court to be applied to in this cafe. To give time for the decifion of this point of law, feems to be the occafion of his frequent refpitings (See Hift. Chron.)

Mr URBAN,

OME days ago, near South Tyne fide, about three miles above this place, re found fome furprisingly large

but of what animal, no body

Randall Holme, Chr. Richardson. near Aldfone, Get. 25, 1765,

Extras from two Letters to the late
Profefor Colfon, of Cambridge Uni-
verfity, when Mafter of an Academy at
Rochester, containing Anecdotes of the
firft fetting out of two very remarkable
Perfons now living.

To the Rev. Mr Colfon, &c.
Lichfield, Feb. 5, 1736.

My dear old Friend,

G lefs wonder at feeing a letter from me. Having not been in town fince the year thirty-one, you will the But I have the pleature of hearing of you fometimes in the prints, and am glad to fee you are daily throwing in your valuable contributions to the republick of letters.

But the prefent occafion of my writHing is a favour I have to ask of you. My neighbour Captain Garrick, (who is an honest valuable man,) has a fon, who is a very fenfible young fellow, and a good fcholar, and whom the Captain hopes in fome two or three

years,